By Cheryl Mustian
http://www.CherylWorksAtHome.net
To know why Adsense is essential for your content sites is to know first how this works.
The concept is really simple, if you think about it. The publisher or the webmaster inserts a java script into a certain website. Each time the page is accessed, the java script will pull advertisements from the Adsense program. The ads that are targeted should therefore be related to the content that is contained on the web page serving the ad. If a visitor clicks on an advertisement, the webmaster serving the ad earns a portion of the money that the advertiser is paying the search engine for the click.
The search engine is the one handling all the tracking and payments, providing an easy way for webmasters to display content-sensitive and targeted ads without having the hassle to solicit advertisers, collect funds, monitor the clicks and statistics which could be a time-consuming task in itself. It seems that there is never a shortage of advertisers in the program from which the search engine pulls the Adsense ads. Also webmasters are less concerned by the lack of information search engines are providing and are more focused in making cash from these search engines.
The first reason why Adsense is essential for content sites is because it already has come a long way in understanding the needs of publishers and webmasters. Together with its continuous progression is the appearance of more advanced system that allows full ad customization. Webmasters are given the chance to choose from many different types of text ad formats to better complement their website and fit their webpage layout.
The different formatting enables the site owners the possibility of more click through from visitors who may or may not be aware of what they are clicking on. It can also appeal to the people visiting thus make them take that next step of looking up what it is all about. This way the people behind the Adsense will get their content read and making profit in the process.
The second reason is the ability of the Adsense publishers to track not only how their sites are progressing but also the earnings based on the webmaster-defined channels. The recent improvements in the search engines gives webmasters the capability to monitor how their ads are performing using customizable reports that has the capacity to detail page impressions, clicks and click-through rates. Webmasters and publishers can now track specific ad formats, colors and pages within a website. Trends are also easily spotted.
With the real-time reporting at hand, the effectiveness of the changes made will be assessed quickly. There would be time to sort out the contents that people are making the most clicks on. The ever-changing demands would be met while generating cash for the webmasters and publishers. The more flexible tools are also allowing webmasters to group web pages by URL, domain, ad type or category, which will provide them some accurate insight on which pages, ads and domains are performing best.
The last and final reason is that the advertisers have realized the benefits associated having their ads served on targeted websites. Thus increasing the possibility that a prospective web surfer will have an interest in their product and services. All because of the content and its constant maintenance. As opposed to those who are no using Adsense in their sites, they are given the option of having other people do their content for them, giving them the benefit of having successful and money-generating web sites.
Adsense is all about targeted content, the more targeted your content is, the more target the search engines’ ads will be. There are some web masters and publishers who are focused more on their site contents and how best to maintain them rather than the cash that the ads will generate for them. This is the part where the effectiveness is working its best.
There was a time when people were not yet aware of the money to be achieved from advertisements. The cash generated only came into existence when the webmasters and publishers realized how they can make Adsense be that generator. In those days, the content was the most important factors that are taken quite seriously. It still is. With the allure of money, of course.
About the author:
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.CherylWorksAtHome.net
Friday, August 31, 2007
Credit Cards, Merchant Accounts, and Your Bottomline
Q: I'm opening a gift shop and want to be able to accept credit cards. I talked to the branch manager at my bank, but he didn't seem to know much about how it all worked. He did say that I would need something called "a merchant account" and something else called "a credit card processor." Beyond that he seemed as clueless as I am. I'm thinking about going to another bank. Can you explain how that all works?
-- Mary Ann G.
A: Mary Ann, I'm going to give your banker the benefit of the doubt and say that a lack of knowledge regarding the specifics of credit card processing is not necessarily a reflection of the banker's competence. I have found over the years that most bankers, no matter how experienced or knowledgeable about the banking business they my be, don't really know much about how credit card processing and acceptance really works. That's because the task of accepting and verifying credit card purchases is handled by third party service companies who process and deposit (or settle) the funds into a bank merchant account.
The decision to accept credit cards is a wise one for any retailer. I agree with financial guru Dave Ramsey's teachings regarding the use and abuse of credit cards. Many people dig deep holes with credit cards that are hard to climb out of.
But, from a practical business point of view, any retail business that does not accept credit cards is leaving money on the table. Research has shown that accepting credit cards increases revenue and helps with cash flow since you receive the money within a couple of days instead of waiting up to a week for a check to clear.
Credit cards don't bounce, as some checks have a tendency to do. Credit card users are also more likely to buy on impulse and spend more when they do. Bad news for them, but good news for you. If you have a social conscience concerning the use of consumer credit cards, a retail operation probably isn't the business for you.
To accept credit cards at a brick and mortar location you typically need four things. The requirements may vary a little, but the following applies in most cases.
You will need: (1) A way to enter the customer's credit card information into a verification and processing system. This can be done with a swipe terminal, point of sale system, or by calling the credit card in by phone; (2) A credit card gateway company to verify the credit card's validity and process the payments; (3) A credit card merchant account in which the gateway company will deposit payments made to you; and (4) A business bank account into which the settled funds will ultimately be deposited for your use.
Here's how the process works. (1) You make a sale and the customer pays by credit card. (2) Using a card swipe machine or telephone, you contact what is known as a "gateway company" who takes the card information you submit and verifies that the card is valid and the charge can be made against the card account. The gateway company returns an approval code for the purchase.
With a swipe machine or point of sale terminal the verification process happens in a matter of seconds. If you're doing telephone verification it can take a couple of minutes. You call the gateway company, give them the credit card number and expiration date and they give you an approval code that you write on the credit card charge slip. Either way, the money is typically deposited in your merchant account within 24 to 48 hours (less fees, of course).
You'll also need to apply for merchant status with each credit card company whose card you want to accept. To do business with American Express and Discover all you have to do is fill out an application, but to accept Visa and MasterCard you must have a merchant account. A merchant account is a special bank account set up for the expressed purpose of accepting credit card payments processed by the gateway company. Merchant accounts are usually associated with banks, though you can also use credit card merchant account service companies to perform the same function if you can not get approved for a bank merchant account.
Applying for a merchant account at a bank is much the same as applying for a loan. The only difference is sometimes a loan is easier to get. There is the prerequisite paperwork to complete and pledging of the first born, followed by an approval process that can take up to several weeks. And you are not guaranteed that the bank will approve your merchant account, even if you have been a favored customer for many years. Banks have strict regulations regarding the granting of merchant accounts and if issuing you a merchant account in anyway puts the bank at risk of losing money, you will be turned down. Banks always make decisions based on economics, not relationships (no matter what your banker tells you).
Requirements for qualifying for a merchant account varies among banks, but in general the bank will look at the following criteria:
How long have you been in business? Business longevity suggests a history of stability, efficient management, and good financial health.
What is your product or service? Does your product lend itself to a high rate of returns and chargebacks? A chargeback is a disputed credit card charge that is refunded to the buyer and charged against your account. You are accessed a chargeback fee that can be as much as $20 per event. If your business lends itself to high chargebacks, you will not get the merchant account.
How's your credit report? Banks always look at how much you owe and how you pay your bills, so it's important to have good financial and trade references. If you have a history of late payments or defaults to vendors, it will count against you.
What is your anticipated volume of sales and average transaction amount? The more money you make, the more money the bank makes. If you anticipate just a few credit card charges per week it may not be enough to justify the merchant account in the bank's eyes.
Is your business categorized as a "high risk merchant?" High risk merchants are those with the highest instances of credit card fraud and chargebacks. High risk merchants include many types of internet-based businesses, telemarketers, travel and cruise businesses, and membership clubs. Being a high risk merchant dramatically decreases your chances of getting a merchant account with a bank.
Being a high risk merchant doesn't mean that you can't get a merchant account from somewhere else. Thanks to the growth of ecommerce in recent years there are a number of alternative companies that will provide you with a merchant account, sometimes with more perks than a traditional account, but almost always with higher fees.
Also, not all banks support internet merchant accounts. If yours does not, shop around for one that does. We'll take a look at accepting credit cards online in next week's column.
Here's to your success.
Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
About the Author: Tim Knox
Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker
Tim Knox is a nationally-known small business expert who writes and speaks frequently on the topic.
For more information or to contact Tim please visit one of his sites below.
http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
http://www.smallbusinessqa.com
http://www.timknox.com
-- Mary Ann G.
A: Mary Ann, I'm going to give your banker the benefit of the doubt and say that a lack of knowledge regarding the specifics of credit card processing is not necessarily a reflection of the banker's competence. I have found over the years that most bankers, no matter how experienced or knowledgeable about the banking business they my be, don't really know much about how credit card processing and acceptance really works. That's because the task of accepting and verifying credit card purchases is handled by third party service companies who process and deposit (or settle) the funds into a bank merchant account.
The decision to accept credit cards is a wise one for any retailer. I agree with financial guru Dave Ramsey's teachings regarding the use and abuse of credit cards. Many people dig deep holes with credit cards that are hard to climb out of.
But, from a practical business point of view, any retail business that does not accept credit cards is leaving money on the table. Research has shown that accepting credit cards increases revenue and helps with cash flow since you receive the money within a couple of days instead of waiting up to a week for a check to clear.
Credit cards don't bounce, as some checks have a tendency to do. Credit card users are also more likely to buy on impulse and spend more when they do. Bad news for them, but good news for you. If you have a social conscience concerning the use of consumer credit cards, a retail operation probably isn't the business for you.
To accept credit cards at a brick and mortar location you typically need four things. The requirements may vary a little, but the following applies in most cases.
You will need: (1) A way to enter the customer's credit card information into a verification and processing system. This can be done with a swipe terminal, point of sale system, or by calling the credit card in by phone; (2) A credit card gateway company to verify the credit card's validity and process the payments; (3) A credit card merchant account in which the gateway company will deposit payments made to you; and (4) A business bank account into which the settled funds will ultimately be deposited for your use.
Here's how the process works. (1) You make a sale and the customer pays by credit card. (2) Using a card swipe machine or telephone, you contact what is known as a "gateway company" who takes the card information you submit and verifies that the card is valid and the charge can be made against the card account. The gateway company returns an approval code for the purchase.
With a swipe machine or point of sale terminal the verification process happens in a matter of seconds. If you're doing telephone verification it can take a couple of minutes. You call the gateway company, give them the credit card number and expiration date and they give you an approval code that you write on the credit card charge slip. Either way, the money is typically deposited in your merchant account within 24 to 48 hours (less fees, of course).
You'll also need to apply for merchant status with each credit card company whose card you want to accept. To do business with American Express and Discover all you have to do is fill out an application, but to accept Visa and MasterCard you must have a merchant account. A merchant account is a special bank account set up for the expressed purpose of accepting credit card payments processed by the gateway company. Merchant accounts are usually associated with banks, though you can also use credit card merchant account service companies to perform the same function if you can not get approved for a bank merchant account.
Applying for a merchant account at a bank is much the same as applying for a loan. The only difference is sometimes a loan is easier to get. There is the prerequisite paperwork to complete and pledging of the first born, followed by an approval process that can take up to several weeks. And you are not guaranteed that the bank will approve your merchant account, even if you have been a favored customer for many years. Banks have strict regulations regarding the granting of merchant accounts and if issuing you a merchant account in anyway puts the bank at risk of losing money, you will be turned down. Banks always make decisions based on economics, not relationships (no matter what your banker tells you).
Requirements for qualifying for a merchant account varies among banks, but in general the bank will look at the following criteria:
How long have you been in business? Business longevity suggests a history of stability, efficient management, and good financial health.
What is your product or service? Does your product lend itself to a high rate of returns and chargebacks? A chargeback is a disputed credit card charge that is refunded to the buyer and charged against your account. You are accessed a chargeback fee that can be as much as $20 per event. If your business lends itself to high chargebacks, you will not get the merchant account.
How's your credit report? Banks always look at how much you owe and how you pay your bills, so it's important to have good financial and trade references. If you have a history of late payments or defaults to vendors, it will count against you.
What is your anticipated volume of sales and average transaction amount? The more money you make, the more money the bank makes. If you anticipate just a few credit card charges per week it may not be enough to justify the merchant account in the bank's eyes.
Is your business categorized as a "high risk merchant?" High risk merchants are those with the highest instances of credit card fraud and chargebacks. High risk merchants include many types of internet-based businesses, telemarketers, travel and cruise businesses, and membership clubs. Being a high risk merchant dramatically decreases your chances of getting a merchant account with a bank.
Being a high risk merchant doesn't mean that you can't get a merchant account from somewhere else. Thanks to the growth of ecommerce in recent years there are a number of alternative companies that will provide you with a merchant account, sometimes with more perks than a traditional account, but almost always with higher fees.
Also, not all banks support internet merchant accounts. If yours does not, shop around for one that does. We'll take a look at accepting credit cards online in next week's column.
Here's to your success.
Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
About the Author: Tim Knox
Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker
Tim Knox is a nationally-known small business expert who writes and speaks frequently on the topic.
For more information or to contact Tim please visit one of his sites below.
http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
http://www.smallbusinessqa.com
http://www.timknox.com
The Facts About Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software
Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software
Gone are the days when having a web presence was enough. In this world dominated by continuous market dynamics, a website needs to do much more than being the face of the company on the Internet. A website now has to function just like the physical shop or even better. It must be able to handle the sales of products to customers worldwide. To put it in one line, the website must be able to conduct business over the Internet across the globe! In today's world buying online has become a second nature to customers. Businesses are keeping pace with this change by enabling their website to conduct Ecommerce, i.e. buying and selling over the Internet from the comforts of one's own place. If you still do not have Ecommerce enabled website, its high time you put your act together, for losing a customer just because he couldn't buy your product over the Internet would mean a serious threat to your business.
The Shopping Cart
The ideal shopping cart of a website must be
§ Easy to Navigate
§ Secure for money transactions
§ Able to work for business transaction for any customer location
How to choose the right kind of software
You would need to use software to be able to know whether it is the one you had been looking for. It is important that you have listed properly what exactly you would want your software to do for you. The next step would be to find out the different types of software available in the market and doing a comparison of their features and functioning. Most of the service providers would give you a free trial ranging from 7 days to full one year! You would need to download the software from the company's website and install it to your website to make it Ecommerce ready.
A great shopping cart software should have the following characteristics
§ It must provide excellent shopping experience to the buyer
§ It must have a speedy functionality. Payment processing should not take much time
§ It must automatically include the exact shipping charges for delivering the product at the customer's doorstep
§ It must have adequate support and service from the service provider so that it is continuously upgraded keeping customer's changing requirement in perspective
§ It must be affordable and must prove beneficial for your business
However do not expect your software to be a perfect magic for business success. It may so happen that you may need to try and change few different software before you actually meet the one that is closest to your needs and expectations. Your Ebusiness success would depend on how flexible and integrated is your technology infrastructure. The idea is that your customers should come back, not your products!
About the Author: You can visit http://www.webcart.net David can be reached by phone: 323-933-9291
Gone are the days when having a web presence was enough. In this world dominated by continuous market dynamics, a website needs to do much more than being the face of the company on the Internet. A website now has to function just like the physical shop or even better. It must be able to handle the sales of products to customers worldwide. To put it in one line, the website must be able to conduct business over the Internet across the globe! In today's world buying online has become a second nature to customers. Businesses are keeping pace with this change by enabling their website to conduct Ecommerce, i.e. buying and selling over the Internet from the comforts of one's own place. If you still do not have Ecommerce enabled website, its high time you put your act together, for losing a customer just because he couldn't buy your product over the Internet would mean a serious threat to your business.
The Shopping Cart
The ideal shopping cart of a website must be
§ Easy to Navigate
§ Secure for money transactions
§ Able to work for business transaction for any customer location
How to choose the right kind of software
You would need to use software to be able to know whether it is the one you had been looking for. It is important that you have listed properly what exactly you would want your software to do for you. The next step would be to find out the different types of software available in the market and doing a comparison of their features and functioning. Most of the service providers would give you a free trial ranging from 7 days to full one year! You would need to download the software from the company's website and install it to your website to make it Ecommerce ready.
A great shopping cart software should have the following characteristics
§ It must provide excellent shopping experience to the buyer
§ It must have a speedy functionality. Payment processing should not take much time
§ It must automatically include the exact shipping charges for delivering the product at the customer's doorstep
§ It must have adequate support and service from the service provider so that it is continuously upgraded keeping customer's changing requirement in perspective
§ It must be affordable and must prove beneficial for your business
However do not expect your software to be a perfect magic for business success. It may so happen that you may need to try and change few different software before you actually meet the one that is closest to your needs and expectations. Your Ebusiness success would depend on how flexible and integrated is your technology infrastructure. The idea is that your customers should come back, not your products!
About the Author: You can visit http://www.webcart.net David can be reached by phone: 323-933-9291
Paid Directory Submission Checklist
Every online business needs traffic, which comes with increased visibility on the web. One great way to get noticed is to get listed in the major directories. Links from good directories increases your site's visibility many fold.
There are thousands of web directories on the net and selecting the good ones to submit your site can be a time consuming task.
Also there are free directories and paid directories. You need to submit to both types of directories.
The following checklist is for paid directory submission only. This checklist will help you choose the best and worthwhile paid directories on the net.
Submission Check List:
1. Check out if the directory is indexed in major search engines.
2. Check the robots.txt file. Make sure that search engine bots are allowed to crawl the pages where you intend to put your
listing. Check the Meta tags to make sure that search engine spiders are not prevented from following links in it. A Meta tag
with noindex/nofollow will not be indexed or spidered and links in that page are not followed by bots.
3. Check if the directory is being maintained regularly. Visit the directory from time to time to see if errors are getting corrected, site information is getting updated and the like. In short, look for positive activity on the directory.
4. Check if the listings in category pages match in theme and content or not. Directories with tight focus on relevant grouping of web sites are useful for visitors and tend to show up frequently in SERPs for keyword searches.
5. Check out the age of the directory. Do a whois search (http://www.whois.net) to get this information. Many new directories vanish after a few months due to lack of maintenance
and promotion. With older directories you can at least be sure that you listing will remain visible for a reasonable period.
6. Check if the directory consists of too many empty categories - it is not useful for visitors and also does not send a too good
signal to the SEs about the directory. Think twice before submitting to such directories.
7. Check if the contact information is available on the site. Proper businesses will provide you with some kind of contact
information.
8. Check the Alexa rank of the directory - it is not accurate, yet you can get an idea of traffic the directory receives.Look for directories with decreasing Alexa Rank as it indicates that the directory is getting popular.
9. Check if the directory provides SE friendly urls. No JavaScript link or redirection. Also watch out for dynamic urls.
Sometimes search engines find it difficult indexing or recognizing dynamic urls with parameters like http://www..com/index.html?cat=1&p=12... An example of SE friendly URL is http://www.hedir.com/business.html
10. Check whether category pages have too many outgoing links. If your link is one of 100 links on a page, visitors will find it
difficult to locate your site.
About the Author: Lakhya Phukan is the webmaster of Hedir Web Directory. Search for some Directory Resources at hedir. Or you can also submit your site for free.
There are thousands of web directories on the net and selecting the good ones to submit your site can be a time consuming task.
Also there are free directories and paid directories. You need to submit to both types of directories.
The following checklist is for paid directory submission only. This checklist will help you choose the best and worthwhile paid directories on the net.
Submission Check List:
1. Check out if the directory is indexed in major search engines.
2. Check the robots.txt file. Make sure that search engine bots are allowed to crawl the pages where you intend to put your
listing. Check the Meta tags to make sure that search engine spiders are not prevented from following links in it. A Meta tag
with noindex/nofollow will not be indexed or spidered and links in that page are not followed by bots.
3. Check if the directory is being maintained regularly. Visit the directory from time to time to see if errors are getting corrected, site information is getting updated and the like. In short, look for positive activity on the directory.
4. Check if the listings in category pages match in theme and content or not. Directories with tight focus on relevant grouping of web sites are useful for visitors and tend to show up frequently in SERPs for keyword searches.
5. Check out the age of the directory. Do a whois search (http://www.whois.net) to get this information. Many new directories vanish after a few months due to lack of maintenance
and promotion. With older directories you can at least be sure that you listing will remain visible for a reasonable period.
6. Check if the directory consists of too many empty categories - it is not useful for visitors and also does not send a too good
signal to the SEs about the directory. Think twice before submitting to such directories.
7. Check if the contact information is available on the site. Proper businesses will provide you with some kind of contact
information.
8. Check the Alexa rank of the directory - it is not accurate, yet you can get an idea of traffic the directory receives.Look for directories with decreasing Alexa Rank as it indicates that the directory is getting popular.
9. Check if the directory provides SE friendly urls. No JavaScript link or redirection. Also watch out for dynamic urls.
Sometimes search engines find it difficult indexing or recognizing dynamic urls with parameters like http://www..com/index.html?cat=1&p=12... An example of SE friendly URL is http://www.hedir.com/business.html
10. Check whether category pages have too many outgoing links. If your link is one of 100 links on a page, visitors will find it
difficult to locate your site.
About the Author: Lakhya Phukan is the webmaster of Hedir Web Directory. Search for some Directory Resources at hedir. Or you can also submit your site for free.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 penetrates the websphere with a projectile force
The .NET Framework is a software development platform developed by Microsoft and is based on the use of a virtual machine that runs an Intermediate Language (IL). Codes/Programs are written to produce IL which is further distributed to users to run on virtual machines. C#, VB.NET and C++ compilers are accessible from Microsoft for developing IL. .NET has given new functionalities and tools to the application programming interface. These improvisations facilitate the process of developing applications for Windows, as well as for web services. .NET framework provides a contemporary, insightful, object-oriented API. High flexibility standards have been implemented in its design to make it multi-language compatible.
.NET Framework 3.0
The .NET 3.0 is the latest version of the .NET Framework released by Microsoft. It is based on the .NET 2.0 Framework and includes in combination with it the following technologies:
• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) – The API that is based on XML and vector graphics and aids in the development of the User Interface aspect of an application.
• Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) – The API which enables computers connected by a network to communicate with each other. It combines Web Services, .NET Remoting, Distributed Transactions and Message Queues into a singe model.
• Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) – This technology enables developers to build and manage workflow based applications. XAML a XML based language is used to define the workflow structure.
• Windows CardSpace (WCS) – WCS is used to store and secure digital identities of users transacting over the Internet.
.NET 3.0 was formerly known as WinFX. The run time components of .Net 3.0 framework are installed by default in Windows Vista but are also available with Windows XP service pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 service pack 1.
Since .NET 3.0 makes use of all the run time components of .NET 2.0 it is completely backward compatible with .NET 2.0.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Operating Systems:
• Microsoft Windows 2003 SP1 or later
• Windows XP SP2 or later
• Windows Vista
Hardware Requirements:
• 500 MB free hard disk space, 256 MB RAM, 1 GHz Pentium Processor
Enterprise Infrastructure
.NET provides a platform-independent structure for software development, with numerous built-in features. It completely depends on software components and the component based programming models.
The two principal components of .NET are the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) and the Common Language Runtime (CLR). The CLI is a set of terms for a runtime environment, which includes a common type system, Common Intermediate Language (CIL) code, which is machine independent and a base class library. The CLR offers a platform for managing code that conforms to the CLI. The CLR translates the CIL into a local machine code before its execution.
CIL is self-describing through .NET metadata. The metadata is checked by CLR to make sure that the correct method is being deployed. Developers are enabled to generate metadata; though it is also generated by the language compilers in some cases. If a language implementation generates CIL, it can be hosted using the CLR and can then interact with data produced by any other .NET language.
.NET Security
.NET security mechanism has two basic features:
Code access security
Code access security is evidence oriented, which is linked with a particular assembly. Characteristically the evidence is the source of the assembly. It is either directly installed on the native machine or can be downloaded from the internet. Evidence is used by code access security to verify the permissions granted to the code. Other code can demand that calling code is granted a specified permission. The demand results in the CLR performing a call stack walk. In this process every assembly of each method in the call stack is verified for the required permission.
Validation & Verification
Validation & Verification are the two tests performed by CLR when the assembly is loaded. During the validation process the CLR verifies the presence of metadata & CIL and also verifies for the validity of internal tables. By deploying a few algorithms the verification mechanism checks to see if the code does any thing that is 'unsafe'.
.NET Languages
The CLI has been designed in a way that it supports any object-oriented programming language by sharing a common object model and a large common class library. Some of the languages supported in .Net Framework are:
• C# 2.0
• VB.NET 2005
• J# 2.0
• XAML
• ASP.NET 2.0
About the Author: Payal, .Net Consultant. webmaster@icreon.com
For complete software development solutions visit http://www.icreon.com/
.NET Framework 3.0
The .NET 3.0 is the latest version of the .NET Framework released by Microsoft. It is based on the .NET 2.0 Framework and includes in combination with it the following technologies:
• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) – The API that is based on XML and vector graphics and aids in the development of the User Interface aspect of an application.
• Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) – The API which enables computers connected by a network to communicate with each other. It combines Web Services, .NET Remoting, Distributed Transactions and Message Queues into a singe model.
• Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) – This technology enables developers to build and manage workflow based applications. XAML a XML based language is used to define the workflow structure.
• Windows CardSpace (WCS) – WCS is used to store and secure digital identities of users transacting over the Internet.
.NET 3.0 was formerly known as WinFX. The run time components of .Net 3.0 framework are installed by default in Windows Vista but are also available with Windows XP service pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 service pack 1.
Since .NET 3.0 makes use of all the run time components of .NET 2.0 it is completely backward compatible with .NET 2.0.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Operating Systems:
• Microsoft Windows 2003 SP1 or later
• Windows XP SP2 or later
• Windows Vista
Hardware Requirements:
• 500 MB free hard disk space, 256 MB RAM, 1 GHz Pentium Processor
Enterprise Infrastructure
.NET provides a platform-independent structure for software development, with numerous built-in features. It completely depends on software components and the component based programming models.
The two principal components of .NET are the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) and the Common Language Runtime (CLR). The CLI is a set of terms for a runtime environment, which includes a common type system, Common Intermediate Language (CIL) code, which is machine independent and a base class library. The CLR offers a platform for managing code that conforms to the CLI. The CLR translates the CIL into a local machine code before its execution.
CIL is self-describing through .NET metadata. The metadata is checked by CLR to make sure that the correct method is being deployed. Developers are enabled to generate metadata; though it is also generated by the language compilers in some cases. If a language implementation generates CIL, it can be hosted using the CLR and can then interact with data produced by any other .NET language.
.NET Security
.NET security mechanism has two basic features:
Code access security
Code access security is evidence oriented, which is linked with a particular assembly. Characteristically the evidence is the source of the assembly. It is either directly installed on the native machine or can be downloaded from the internet. Evidence is used by code access security to verify the permissions granted to the code. Other code can demand that calling code is granted a specified permission. The demand results in the CLR performing a call stack walk. In this process every assembly of each method in the call stack is verified for the required permission.
Validation & Verification
Validation & Verification are the two tests performed by CLR when the assembly is loaded. During the validation process the CLR verifies the presence of metadata & CIL and also verifies for the validity of internal tables. By deploying a few algorithms the verification mechanism checks to see if the code does any thing that is 'unsafe'.
.NET Languages
The CLI has been designed in a way that it supports any object-oriented programming language by sharing a common object model and a large common class library. Some of the languages supported in .Net Framework are:
• C# 2.0
• VB.NET 2005
• J# 2.0
• XAML
• ASP.NET 2.0
About the Author: Payal, .Net Consultant. webmaster@icreon.com
For complete software development solutions visit http://www.icreon.com/
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
How Not To Get Web Design Work
I get the occasional web design lead from my website. I wanted to find a company I could pass these onto. So I put an ad on a freelance site. It specified the programming qualifications needed, stated that the successful candidate should have good English, and was for companies only.
The replies I got were enlightening. So much so, I made a list of things applicants did wrong. Here it is.
I should point out I was initially prepared to give everyone a fair go. After the first twenty-odd emails, my attitude changed. I was looking for reasons to delete applicants. I only needed one successful one; with 100+ replies it was getting to be a headache, so I decided a brutal approach was needed.
1. Failed to read the spec.
Many applicants couldn't write properly in the English language. Many were individuals only. Result: instant deletion.
2. Failed to address the spec's criteria.
Applicants bragged about how great they were. Many copy-and-pasted standard marketing guff about 'solutions' and 'partnerships' into their emails.
To engage anyone's interest about a proposal you need to talk less about yourself and more about the benefits to *them* of using you. One of the first things I learnt about applying for jobs is you need to show how you meet the criteria in the job description; see if you can find the employer's wavelength.
3. Lots of jargon.
You quickly tune this out. Anyone dealing with web companies probably gets a lot of this. Applicants should talk to the client about *the client's* site and *their* needs, and avoid techno-babble.
Write an application letter. Leave it for a while, then edit it. Brutally. Short punchy sentences, no guff. Talking convincingly about how you can make the client money would be an attention-getter.
4a. 'Coming soon' client-listing pages.
You say you've done work for lots of clients, then put up a 'coming soon' sign on the web page where your client list is supposed to be. Hmmmm.
4b. 'Under construction' pages on your company web site.
This looks bad; something you'd see on an amateur's site. Another reason to bin your application.
4c. Only put up pictures of sites you've done, rather than links to the actual sites.
I'd have liked to see some working example sites. Pictures can be faked, and they don't show background programming.
4e. No mention of your main web site URL.
Let us guess where your own site is (if you have one). It's more fun! I tried guessing from the email address. After a while I didn't bother.
4f. No hyperlinks at all.
Just a short email spiel saying "I am great designer, hire me". Next!
5. Using Yahoo.com or Hotmail.com for your email address.
A pro designer shouldn't use a freebie email address service. Basic web hosting costs $5 a month these days.
I can conceive that a web designer might use a freebie account for some special purpose, but your own domain name is a basic advert that goes out in each email you send.
6. Bad spelling and grammar.
Western civilisation is doomed, if using SMS jargon becomes the standard way to write to people. It doesn't impress old frts lik me, fr strtrs :( Especially if you're looking for work where good spelling and grammar are important.
7. Front-loading Flash designs.
I admit it, I don't like Flash. I especially don't like it when it loads slowly on my broadband connection. I suppose it might impress an ignorant client, who doesn't know the economic consequences of having a Flash-heavy site.
8. Don't phone the employer up.
Unless they say 'canvassing will disqualify', 'phoning the employer is a good idea. Why? Because geeks are famously introverted and tongue-tied, supposedly. So if a web site designer can communicate clearly over the telephone, that, coupled with a good application, puts you streets ahead of the email-only applicant.
No need to jabber. A polite enquiry to establish contact will do. "Just checking you've got my CV", that sort of thing.
9. Keep yourself mysterious.
Emails are impersonal. Anything that can establish you as a human being, a person, a potential ally and friend, is good. It'll make you more memorable. No need to jump out of a giant cake, 'though!
However, you have to fulfil all the other criteria as well. However great a guy you are, if you're a Unix man and they want Windows, forget it.
10. Leaving unclear phone messages.
One chap left a phone message, in which he mentioned his site, twice, but not his 'phone number. His pronunciation was bad, so I guess I'll never know how good he was.
11. Too far away.
Most replies were from India, Ukraine, Romania etc. Anyone who was closer to home (the UK) stood out. I mention it simply as a winnowing criterion.
Also, I needed someone who could land contracts from UK residents; good English, written and oral, was important.
12. Give your rates per hour.
Forget that. You're not a lawyer. Web design jobs can be clearly defined, in terms of time, work and software required. A definite price can be agreed on in advance. It's called a contract. Otherwise, you leave the client open to escalating bills, and yourself to mission-creep.
13. Delay applying.
The first few applications were more scrutinised. After that, fatigue set in. After one hundred, only an applicant who seems a real prospect would be given more than five seconds' scrutiny.
About the Author:
T. O' Donnell ( http://www.tigertom.com ) is an ecommerce consultant and curmudgeon living in London, UK. His latest project is an ebook on conservatories, available at http://www.ttconservatories.co.uk. T. O' Donnell freeware may be downloaded at http://www.ttfreeware.co.uk.
Web Site Design Mistakes – Database Parameters In URLs
Creating a web site takes thought, planning and execution. Unfortunately, many designs are dead in the water before they are even published as far as search engine optimization is concerned. Whatever you do, avoid these critical mistakes.
Database Parameters in URL
Many web site designers don’t take into account the effect of database parameters in site URLs. A database parameter tells the server what should be loaded onto a particular page when a viewer tries to see it. In essence, the page is “dynamic” because it is being pulled together with each click. Robot programs that are used by search engines to index sites hate dynamic pages. Often, they will not even index the pages and the page of your site is not listed in the search engine.
Let’s look at an example using the Nomad Adventure Journals site. The home page URL is aptly, http://www.nomadjournals.com - a static page. In this URL, there are no parameters telling the server to load anything other than a static web page. All search engines will index this page without any problem.
Now, what if we changed the page to something dynamic. Let’s say we designed it to record the session identification [identify the viewer] and dynamically load the pictures on the page. We would have one parameter for the session identification and four parameters for the various pictures on the page. The URL for the home page might look something like:
http://www.nomadjournals.com/home/index.html?&DID=9&User_ID&CATID=15&ObjectGroup_ID=39
What a mess. A search engine robot is going to balk at indexing such pages. It simply can’t tell what is on the page. If you have parameters and session identifications in the URLs of your site pages, you are going to have a very difficult time getting into the search engine rankings. Obviously, that precludes you from getting any top rankings and free traffic.
Fixing The Problem
Fixing the problem often is lengthy and costly depending on the number of pages on your site. If you have over 100 products, a complete re-design may be the best answer. If you have a relatively small number of pages, there may be less brutish options.
Converting pages to static html is a definite solution for smaller sites. Essentially, one would take the page for each product and convert it into a static html page. The domain would then be converted to short sub-domain. If a user then clicked on the “buy” button for the product on the page, they would be sent to a dynamic database page. The viability of this solution is dependent upon the layout of the site. Some sites can be fixed, some simply cannot.
In Closing
The database parameter problem is surprisingly common with sites selling products. A majority of site designers do not understand search engine optimization and don’t realize the problem they are creating. If you intend to build a database driven site, make sure you bring in a search engine optimization specialist before it is created. Nobody wants to spend the money to design a site twice.
About the Author:
Halstatt Pires is with http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing and advertising company comprised of a search engine optimization specialist providing meta tag optimization services and Internet marketing consultant providing internet marketing solutions through integrated design and programming services.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The Full Adsense Formula
Adsense is the best income generating program ever spawned! Why?
There is no product or service to promote. Only your domain. Webspace, an Adsense account, and highly targeted traffic is needed. Your success with adsense, you will soon learn, is as easy as driving s car or cooking a four course meal. The reality is Adsense Success and everything else has to be learned. When you learned how to drive a car it became simple and after a couple of months of driving everyday or so. It became second nature. Once you learn the Adsense formula and it's variables. The sky's the limit with Google Adsense
Learn The Adsense Craft.
You can't cheat your way to success or for some a healthy adsense income. Just like anything other skill in life, it has to be learned. Everything that everyone knows was learned from a teacher(I.E. Anyone), a book, an article(I.E. Newspapers, Magazines, and the Internet), or by word of mouth. You have to learn the adsense formula and all the adsense variables. I have a A.A.S in Computer Programming and Engineering. So believe me I know how to give low-level instructions. No one can tell YOU how to make YOUR site a success, only guide you in the right direction.
The Adsense Variables
TT(High CTR) + Content = Adsense Earnings
Content - try to have a 1000 words of keyphrase-rich content.
High CTR - highly optimized placement of the adsense code.
TT - Highly Targeted Traffic
Yes that's it. The "Adsense Formula" is just a basic math problem and as we all know any on can learn math. We're not near finished. These variables the make up the Adsense Formula is the key to your success. Why refer to them as variables, because these Adsense elements constantly change and YOU are in full control of them. Imagine a indoor plant and its variables. Sunlight, Soil PH, CO2, Fertilizer, and Water. You control every variable and if each one is highly optimized then you will have a healthy fast-growing plant. If you highly optimize each adsense variable then you will in turn receive a healthy fast growing adsense income. Now that we have an understanding let's evaluate this "Adsense Formula."
Adsense Content
Keywords are a bad idea! High paying or not. In fact don't choose high paying keywords, not because of the saturation of SEO experts, but because keywords are to broad. Adwords is ying and Adsense is yang. Broad keywords have low payouts and ctr. You want to target keyphrases, so your site only displays high paying adsense ads, not .15 adsense ads from some beginner with one of your terms in their adwords campaign. There is a lot of free content online, but it is best to use unique content for search engine purposes. To accomplish this hire a writer or choose niche subjects that you are familiar with, so that you can write your own articles and e-books. Don't base your site on money rather than your passion. Example. My passion is computers and networking.
Adsense CTR
Optimal adsense ad placement is the heart of high adsense ctr. There are four locations on a webpage the receives the most clicks.
1. Just above the fold. The fold is the end of the section of the page you can view without scrolling.
2. All along side the left column.
3. In your content, if very interesting and informative.
4. At the end of your content after a reader finishes.
Adsense ad format effects ctr greatly whether or not they are placed in the right spots. Squares receive the most clicks, beginning with the largest and so on. The ads should blend with your page. Only the link title should be a different color than the text and url. No borders unless red or yellow. They attract viewer's eyes.
The link color should match your site's links, but blue and red work the best. Incredibly Increase your adsense ctr up to 400% by placing related images above or to the left of adsense ads.
Highly Targeted Traffic
Yes, there is a difference between targeted traffic and highly targeted traffic. Someone looking for an online business would be targeted traffic to this article, but someone looking for an adsense business would be a highly targeted visitor. Why high quality traffic? Your Ctr will be amazing and unbelievable because all of your traffic will be looking for YOUR site. Don't be surprised if you have certain days where 97% of your visitors clicked an adsense ad. How? Blogs, Articles, E-books, Rss Feeds, and most SERP(search engine results page) traffic. Never use traffic exchanges or links from other sites unless their content is similar to yours.
About the Author: In my experience TrafficSwarm is the only echange that will get you clicks without getting your adsense account terminated.
I have given you the full adsense formula in detail, but for more info please visit Adsense Secret Tips or my blog at Adsense Secret Tips Blog
Blogs, Podcasting, and RSS
You probably have heard all these terms an awful lot lately. You wonder about what these technologies do? What value to they provide? If you aren't up to speed on these new applications and how they are impacting retail online interaction then read this brief further.
Will these technologies impact you? To be honest, it's too early to tell - but awareness drives innovation and maybe your team will develop an idea/application that truly changes a portion of your eCommerce business.
Here's the rundown:
Blogs
What it is:
Probably the most well known of the three, blogs allow everyday people to quickly develop a website and distribute any type of content that they desire. Many web entrepreneurs use this functionality to develop online stores within niche markets, while using search popularity to beat out larger retailers on the specific terms within the market.
Where Blogs make make sense is within targeted online communities. Certain blog authors develop a large base of specific visitors, hence the site becomes a target market for viral marketing. By integrating your brand image within the site experience at that SPECIFIC blog, you as an online marketer are able to truly segment your marketing PRIOR to converting someone as a customer.
Should you care:
If you have a very unique value proposition, or sell to a very specific or high-value customer segment, blogs can be a great way to increase overall brand awareness. You can better connect with your customers and provide detail into the current sales/promotions that you are providing.
Podcasting
What it is:
Pocasting should be just called mobile video broadcasting - Apple's marketing/development team did a great job with branding their device to a type of emerging media! Similar to traditional radio and television, mobile video broadcasting delivers branded content in either a paid/free environment, on someone's mobile MP3 player (Apple only does video currently, but that will change shortly). Retailers can use this communication channel to further connect to their customers with promotional events, while transmitting specialty programming to meet an interest need.
Should you care:
Not really. Until video podcasting penetration increases, it's still a limited channel for advertising. The best application available right now would be an online content segment that is digitally delivered to an opt-in list. As technology advances, you can potentially do this from your current opt-in page from your website and not from Apple's iTunes platform.
RSS
RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication and is a method for electronic content distribution. RSS is transmitted via the internet, but what makes it unique is that no downloading efforts are needed by the end receiver of the content. It streams instateneously. Consumers can have news readers on their computers, either integrated into an emal client, or an aggregated web application such as News Gator, and are able to get information relating to their interests.
Already gaining steam in the travel industry and within comparison shopping engines, RSS seems to be a valuable way to push news, offers, and infomrmation to customers. Travel companies are able to provide a streaming supply of last minute airfare offers to their customer segments, without that customer having to open an email or visit a webpage.
Should you care:
Depends on the nature of your business. Do you consistently offer new prices? Do you get new pieces to your assortment consistently? Do you have a customer base that is extremely loyal that you want to reach out to with messaging? If so, RSS may another channel to help build your brand.
Craig Smith
Trinity Insight LLC
http://www.trinityinsight.com
About the Author: Craig Smith is the founder of Trinity Insight LLC - a leading consulting firm for the eCommerce sector
http://www.trinityinsight.com
Web Designing as a Profession
Internet, technology of computer, is a boon to the 21st century. New Technologies, latest software are coming out daily to cop up with the increasing demand of the consumers. Nobody can even think of successful life without the help and assistance of with these technologies. Internet is the largest medium that provides you access to various website and in turn to the profession of web designing. Many people who surfs the internet daily for long hours, donot know the exact hardwork and creativity of Web Designer behind those web pages. Now Let us start with exactly what is web designing.
What is Web Designing?
Web designing is the design of web pages, websites and web applications. It is the complete web page outlay which is visible to the viewer It is a medium used by companies to promote their business and corporate agencies to market several products to the customers. It is simply like fine art, creative art of designer.
Web site is a collection of number of web pages, it is very necessary that there is a direct link between each documents loaded on the web site so that the viewer can have access to all the pages. In other words, we can say web site is a bigger picture of web pages.
The task of Web designer is to combine the graphic, textual and other elements of a site to create an appealing layout. They exhibit their passion for creativity. They love to be provoked with new web site design ideas and designs. Web Designing is the process by which web designer make visitors able to access the web pages at one platform with several images, texts, links, graphics etc.
Web Designing Skills or Documentation:
Web designing is a career in which a professional simply sell his high creative web designing skills. Quality of your design and programming skills determines whether you are a truly professional web designer. Web designing is a skill that cannot be learnt overnight. Your designs and formats should be well organised and well maintained. Content is the main integrients needed in any website that should be well written and easy to understand. A web designer should also create a coherent and consistent "look and feel" for the entire web. Site graphics and images should be according to the theme of website. Symmetry between the pixels and links should be unbroken. Colour combination is another factor that web designer has to keep in mind. Your site should be such that it attracts the visitors with all the relevant information. To become a skilled professional, these qualities need to be advanced and worked over the period of 2-3 years. To be a successful web designer you not only need hard work and perseverance but also a through combination of creativity and new ideas which can appeal to the masses.
Website Layout:
To start his work, every web designer must fully understand the requirement of client. He must start his work by keeping in mind those requirements. Heavy animations and images often imposes heavy burden on the site. Such websites consume much time to load and most people quickly lose interest in such websites. The competition is only a couple of clicks away, and if clients become dissatisfied, they can simply go elsewhere.
Designers art becomes more and more refined over the passage of time. His creativity and quality of the web pages improves day by day with hardwork and adaptation of new skills. Web designer's goal is to help you design effective and aesthetically pleasing web pages while keeping in mind what the client wants him to depict. A good designer knows how to achieve the effects called for in the most flexible, efficient, and elegant way.
Scope of Web Designing:
As more and more websites are been developed in every field so the demand and scope of a professional web designers is increasing. New technologies are coming out daily, so the web designer has to stand up with them to give best work. There are several web design jobs which are available online, offer people the chance to express both their creativity and talent to the entire world.
Web design career for small business continues to be a profitable marketplace, this results to many medium companies setting up specialising in the creation of 'company for websites'. Internet will grow continously in the coming years, as a result of which more demand of web designers would occur. A designer who can deliver the latest as per the market demands like designs for ecommerce website, content management systems, optimized flash headers will surly have a bright future.
Thousands of potential customers visit a site on a daily basis, providing your products and services with a high visibility. Designing for a computer screen has its own set of problems. Add to these the elastic nature of a web page, which has to work across different computer platforms and screen sizes and browsers, and the problems get even worse. It is the designer's job to understand these issues and to address them - to maintain some kind of control when everything else is shifting.
In the end we can conclude that web designing as a profession has a wide scope in the coming times if the person has the creativity inside him along with knowledge of the latest skills and the ability to adopt to new changing world of website designing.
About the Author
The Article is written by Megrisoft Web Designers Team - Web Design Company
__________________________
Copyright information.... This article is free for reproduction but must be reproduced in its entirety, including live links & this copyright statement must be included. Visit Web Design Services for free Internet marketing and web development articles, tutorials and tools! Web Design Articles Index
About the Author: Megrisoft is a leading IT services company and has been providing Internet services for business since it was established in 1998. Megrisoft an established player in the IT market for well over 8 years is a leading provider of comprehensive web products, solutions and internet services.
Web Hosting Basics
Web hosting can be a bit overwhelming for beginners. Most people think that you have to hire an expensive company to handle their web hosting services. However, the simple truth is that if you have an internet connection and a computer, you can easily handle your own web site with very few problems. Any good website has three main ingredients: the actual website pages, the domain name (which if you have a business, works best with your own domain, not some existing inexpensive domain), and a place for your site to reside (a web server – basically a computer attached permanently to the internet).
Your first challenge is, obviously, to design your website pages. There are a few ways you can do this. You could hire someone else to design them for you. In the end, though, that can get rather expensive. You could try to design them yourself using HTML, which doesn’t take long to learn, but for those who are not so technically savvy, this can be a difficult process that may simply be not worth the hassle. One of the best ways to design your website pages if you aren't as good with computers is to choose a hosting company that offers you templates, or web page design software built in to the system. This way you just fill in the details – company name, description, contact details, etc, and the software creates the website for you. Many web hosting companies will do this, such as [web host name], which actually goes the extra step by offering you a free hour of web programming every month – all you need to do is call them and tell them what you need, and if it takes an hour or less, they’ll do it for free. That’s like having a hundred dollars worth of web design every month – not a bad deal!
Once you've designed your pages, you need enough storage space and bandwidth to make sure you can deal with the ensuing traffic. For that you need a web server. If you intend to host your own site, you need to have a computer dedicated to being online and you need to run server software. For most people, that’s just not worth the effort. If you choose to instead go with a web hosting service, you need to find a company that offers you as much uptime as possible. In fact, you might want a company that guarantees at least 99% of uptime.
If you do choose to go with a host service, there are thousands of companies to sort through. Some offer free services, some offer free software and features that can improve your site, and some offer slightly more expensive services that give you more space and more bandwidth. One of the biggest problems with free services is that your customers will have to enter a very long name before they ever get to your site name, such as http://www.freewebsitesandstuff.com/clients/yourcompanyname.
You could, though, go with another type of free host service. With these, you purchase your domain name, and they host your site for free, provided you allow them to run their advertisements on your page. Most people prefer to spend a couple of bucks a month to avoid this, however, since you should be making money from your own ads, rather than sending your traffic away.
There are other, more expensive web hosting companies, and in order to choose the right one for you, you should consider their package deals carefully. The best option, as far as we’re concerned, if to find a web hosting company that will actually answer the phone and talk to you, and to that end, the offer of an hour of free web consultation from [web host name] above indicates a pretty good starting point. In the end, however, read a few reviews of a host before you jump in, and you’ll do just fine.
About the Author:
For more information on hosting contact http://www.flizard.com or phone Toll Free: 1-800-598-6934. Flizard is a Vancouver Web Hosting Company.
Monday, August 13, 2007
The Freelancers Field Guide to Contract Work
The Freelancers Field Guide to Contract Work
By Peter Ferrigan Admin@ContractList.com
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What is Outsourcing?
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Outsourcing is a great way to earn extra money or even a full time living. When a company outsources its work this means they are looking for people outside the company (you) to complete jobs for them on a contract or short term basis. Most freelance work can be found on freelance marketplaces across the internet. For a list of freelance websites search Google, or some of the freelance directories available.
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Getting Started
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The first thing that you should do is compile your past work history into a portfolio. Many freelance websites allow you to post your work online. The other option is to open a free hosting account and place your work into an online demonstration of your ability. Include references, past work, testimonials and anything else that highlights your talents. One thing this should not be is in resume format. The internet changes a lot rules for hiring employees and freelancing is changes them even more. Here you will find that experience and ability weigh more heavily in a hiring decision then education or status.
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Getting Hired Today
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The easiest way to find contract or freelance work is to visit one of the many freelance marketplaces available on the internet. A majority of the websites are divided into two sections, one for Freelancers (you) and the other for Project Managers (people looking to hire you). The first thing you need to do is register as a freelancer. Once registered be sure to upload a profile and details of your most recent work.
It is important to remember that work on the internet (especially when you are new) is built on trust. The best thing you can do to increase your chances of getting your bid selected is to put detailed information in your profile.
The basic setup for a freelance website is that the Project Manager will post the project and you as the Freelancer have the opportunity to place your bid for the work. A bid includes the time it will take you to complete, the price for the job and a short description.
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Placing the Bid
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Your bid should be a complete summary of the required work. It should be detailed, accurate and relevant to the project. This is why the biggest mistake you can make is placing a bid which contains: ‘can be done’ ‘I can do it’ or ‘No Problem :)’. Even these are better then the copy and paste bid description. This is something like “COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE. WE GIVE U A 100% ACCURATE WORK.” These bids are not at all relevant to the project.
Each project manager would like to think that his/her project is the only one that you want. They want to believe that you are gearing your whole day into getting this job. Increase your chances and move ahead of the competition by placing a short, polite description that is relevant to the project. Here is an example:
“Hi _(Project Manger’s name)_, I have placed the details of my bid in the private message board. I look forward to working with you and can get started immediately. Thank you for your consideration, __(your name)__.”
That’s it for the bid. If your cost estimate and time to delivery are not completely off then you can increase your odds by posting in the private message board.
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The Private Message Board
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The Private Message Board is a feature on most websites that allows Freelancers to communicate with the Project Manager about the details of the job. Unless requested, this is the worst place to put your resume.
That’s right; don’t place your list of work history in your private message board. From the eyes of the Project Manager every one has the same resume unless you are getting interviewed for a job. If you have a resume, place it in your profile. The only mention of this material should be: “For additional references please see my profile located here: ___”
The rest of your communication should be about the project. Even if you already think you understand everything, ask the Project Manager about of specific details. This extra step will place you miles ahead of the competition. Asking questions shows that you are genuinely interested in getting an accurate description of the work involved. It communicates to the Project Manger that your bid will be exact and that you are excited about working with them.
In addition to asking questions, place your time zone and when you are available to work. Let the other person know that you are available via email and instant messengers. While you might be tempted, do not include your contact information. This is against most Terms of Service and gives the other person an impression of dishonesty.
The next thing you should do is repeat the same steps. It’s necessary to spread your chances over a few projects to ensure that you receive enough work. Unless you are experienced it is crucial that you start out slow. If you overload yourself with work, not only will you poorly perform on the work you were hired to do, you will receive bad reviews from everyone who hired you. The only thing worse then no feedback is having bad feedback.
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How to Get All Star Feedback
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Most websites rate each freelancer with a history of work called ‘Feedback’. This is a scoring system that allows Project Managers you have worked with in the past to record their experience with you. Starting out new you won’t have any feedback which will hinder your freelancing efforts. Start out slow by placing bids and communicating with Project Managers who post small, quick jobs. Go the extra mile with these people to ensure that they are happy and satisfied with the work. Check in consistently to report your progress, and make sure that everything is done to their exact specifications. When your work is complete, ask them if there is anything else you can do. Just one or two great feedback scores can boost your freelance efforts tremendously.
If you are desperate, offer to do work for free in exchange for a great review. Be extraordinary in your efforts to help and anticipate your employer’s needs. Not only will you receive great feedback but you might also gain a repeat customer.
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Advanced Field Tactics
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Want to get more bids accepted, race ahead of your competition and be able to pick only the best job opportunities? That is exactly what this section is about. We have already discussed the best and worst things to place in your bids and pmb. Now I will show you how to move your freelancing efforts up a few notches.
Private Message Board Tactics: Once the Project Manager responds with the answer to your question. Reply with “If I understand the work correctly, you require:” then make a numbered list of the work required as you understand it.” At the bottom “If the above is correct, I can begin work immediately and have everything completed in under ______”.
This does two things, first it conveys to the Project Manager that you fully understand the work required. Second it shows the Project Manager just how much work is really involved.
Time: If your estimate of time to completion is 5 days and under write in your description and messages the time in hours, and always put “I can have this completed tested, installed and ready in under ___ hours.” That ‘under’ statement really gives the impression of speed and excellence in your work.
If your project will run over 5 days, write out the dates that you will have everything ready, not just the number of days. “Today is the 15th; on the 17th I will complete the first mockups. Then on the 20th I will complete the admin section”. Of course the hard part comes in keeping this timeline. If you can deliver each stage on time, and to completion you will receive great feedback, more repeat customers and great work opportunities.
Portfolio Tactics: If your portfolio is online, create a completely different portfolio for each of your talents. Not just a separate page, you will need to create a completely separate website. For example if you are a website designer, create a portfolio just for flash, one for straight HTML, and one for 3D graphics work. You can even divide by style of design. When you present your work to the future client, present the portfolio that best matches his/her needs. Even if you are multi-talented, presenting a list of relevant past work will give the impression that you are a focused, dedicated professional.
Presentation Tactics: Compile the information that you have received from the project description and the questions / answers from the Project Manager into a detailed proposal for your work. While the style of the proposal can change a simple effective method is to write it out on a simple numbered HTML page. Include the title of the project, your name and a bulleted list of the work required. At the bottom place any questions you have about the project in addition to your bid and the time to completion. Upload this page to your online portfolio and then post the link in the private message board. This one act will win your more bids then anything else you can do.
Follow Up Tactics: There are two types of webmasters. Those who post a project and it closes 1-2 days later because they know exactly what they want. Then there are those who post a project and wait 10-15 days before selecting a freelancer for the job.
For these Project Managers the best thing you can do is follow up. After placing your bid and inquiring via the Private Message Board the next step is to send the Project Manager a quick note after about 2 days. Something along the lines of “Hi, I just wanted to follow up with my bid and see if you had any questions or concerns. If you do please let me know and I will get back to you promptly. Thank you, _(your name)_.”
This action shows each Project Manager that you are thorough in your work and care about getting their contract.
****
Additional Help
****
You now have all of the tools that you need to get started. Each step has been covered from signing up to getting great feedback. We have also gone over some advanced topics that will help ensure your bid is accepted over the competition. You are ready to start freelancing today.
I look forward to hearing from you and I hope that you have found this guide helpful and informative.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you,
Peter Ferrigan
http://www.ContractList.com
Admin@ContractList.com
By Peter Ferrigan Admin@ContractList.com
****
What is Outsourcing?
****
Outsourcing is a great way to earn extra money or even a full time living. When a company outsources its work this means they are looking for people outside the company (you) to complete jobs for them on a contract or short term basis. Most freelance work can be found on freelance marketplaces across the internet. For a list of freelance websites search Google, or some of the freelance directories available.
****
Getting Started
****
The first thing that you should do is compile your past work history into a portfolio. Many freelance websites allow you to post your work online. The other option is to open a free hosting account and place your work into an online demonstration of your ability. Include references, past work, testimonials and anything else that highlights your talents. One thing this should not be is in resume format. The internet changes a lot rules for hiring employees and freelancing is changes them even more. Here you will find that experience and ability weigh more heavily in a hiring decision then education or status.
*******
Getting Hired Today
*******
The easiest way to find contract or freelance work is to visit one of the many freelance marketplaces available on the internet. A majority of the websites are divided into two sections, one for Freelancers (you) and the other for Project Managers (people looking to hire you). The first thing you need to do is register as a freelancer. Once registered be sure to upload a profile and details of your most recent work.
It is important to remember that work on the internet (especially when you are new) is built on trust. The best thing you can do to increase your chances of getting your bid selected is to put detailed information in your profile.
The basic setup for a freelance website is that the Project Manager will post the project and you as the Freelancer have the opportunity to place your bid for the work. A bid includes the time it will take you to complete, the price for the job and a short description.
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Placing the Bid
****
Your bid should be a complete summary of the required work. It should be detailed, accurate and relevant to the project. This is why the biggest mistake you can make is placing a bid which contains: ‘can be done’ ‘I can do it’ or ‘No Problem :)’. Even these are better then the copy and paste bid description. This is something like “COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE. WE GIVE U A 100% ACCURATE WORK.” These bids are not at all relevant to the project.
Each project manager would like to think that his/her project is the only one that you want. They want to believe that you are gearing your whole day into getting this job. Increase your chances and move ahead of the competition by placing a short, polite description that is relevant to the project. Here is an example:
“Hi _(Project Manger’s name)_, I have placed the details of my bid in the private message board. I look forward to working with you and can get started immediately. Thank you for your consideration, __(your name)__.”
That’s it for the bid. If your cost estimate and time to delivery are not completely off then you can increase your odds by posting in the private message board.
****
The Private Message Board
****
The Private Message Board is a feature on most websites that allows Freelancers to communicate with the Project Manager about the details of the job. Unless requested, this is the worst place to put your resume.
That’s right; don’t place your list of work history in your private message board. From the eyes of the Project Manager every one has the same resume unless you are getting interviewed for a job. If you have a resume, place it in your profile. The only mention of this material should be: “For additional references please see my profile located here: ___”
The rest of your communication should be about the project. Even if you already think you understand everything, ask the Project Manager about of specific details. This extra step will place you miles ahead of the competition. Asking questions shows that you are genuinely interested in getting an accurate description of the work involved. It communicates to the Project Manger that your bid will be exact and that you are excited about working with them.
In addition to asking questions, place your time zone and when you are available to work. Let the other person know that you are available via email and instant messengers. While you might be tempted, do not include your contact information. This is against most Terms of Service and gives the other person an impression of dishonesty.
The next thing you should do is repeat the same steps. It’s necessary to spread your chances over a few projects to ensure that you receive enough work. Unless you are experienced it is crucial that you start out slow. If you overload yourself with work, not only will you poorly perform on the work you were hired to do, you will receive bad reviews from everyone who hired you. The only thing worse then no feedback is having bad feedback.
**********
How to Get All Star Feedback
**********
Most websites rate each freelancer with a history of work called ‘Feedback’. This is a scoring system that allows Project Managers you have worked with in the past to record their experience with you. Starting out new you won’t have any feedback which will hinder your freelancing efforts. Start out slow by placing bids and communicating with Project Managers who post small, quick jobs. Go the extra mile with these people to ensure that they are happy and satisfied with the work. Check in consistently to report your progress, and make sure that everything is done to their exact specifications. When your work is complete, ask them if there is anything else you can do. Just one or two great feedback scores can boost your freelance efforts tremendously.
If you are desperate, offer to do work for free in exchange for a great review. Be extraordinary in your efforts to help and anticipate your employer’s needs. Not only will you receive great feedback but you might also gain a repeat customer.
****
Advanced Field Tactics
****
Want to get more bids accepted, race ahead of your competition and be able to pick only the best job opportunities? That is exactly what this section is about. We have already discussed the best and worst things to place in your bids and pmb. Now I will show you how to move your freelancing efforts up a few notches.
Private Message Board Tactics: Once the Project Manager responds with the answer to your question. Reply with “If I understand the work correctly, you require:” then make a numbered list of the work required as you understand it.” At the bottom “If the above is correct, I can begin work immediately and have everything completed in under ______”.
This does two things, first it conveys to the Project Manager that you fully understand the work required. Second it shows the Project Manager just how much work is really involved.
Time: If your estimate of time to completion is 5 days and under write in your description and messages the time in hours, and always put “I can have this completed tested, installed and ready in under ___ hours.” That ‘under’ statement really gives the impression of speed and excellence in your work.
If your project will run over 5 days, write out the dates that you will have everything ready, not just the number of days. “Today is the 15th; on the 17th I will complete the first mockups. Then on the 20th I will complete the admin section”. Of course the hard part comes in keeping this timeline. If you can deliver each stage on time, and to completion you will receive great feedback, more repeat customers and great work opportunities.
Portfolio Tactics: If your portfolio is online, create a completely different portfolio for each of your talents. Not just a separate page, you will need to create a completely separate website. For example if you are a website designer, create a portfolio just for flash, one for straight HTML, and one for 3D graphics work. You can even divide by style of design. When you present your work to the future client, present the portfolio that best matches his/her needs. Even if you are multi-talented, presenting a list of relevant past work will give the impression that you are a focused, dedicated professional.
Presentation Tactics: Compile the information that you have received from the project description and the questions / answers from the Project Manager into a detailed proposal for your work. While the style of the proposal can change a simple effective method is to write it out on a simple numbered HTML page. Include the title of the project, your name and a bulleted list of the work required. At the bottom place any questions you have about the project in addition to your bid and the time to completion. Upload this page to your online portfolio and then post the link in the private message board. This one act will win your more bids then anything else you can do.
Follow Up Tactics: There are two types of webmasters. Those who post a project and it closes 1-2 days later because they know exactly what they want. Then there are those who post a project and wait 10-15 days before selecting a freelancer for the job.
For these Project Managers the best thing you can do is follow up. After placing your bid and inquiring via the Private Message Board the next step is to send the Project Manager a quick note after about 2 days. Something along the lines of “Hi, I just wanted to follow up with my bid and see if you had any questions or concerns. If you do please let me know and I will get back to you promptly. Thank you, _(your name)_.”
This action shows each Project Manager that you are thorough in your work and care about getting their contract.
****
Additional Help
****
You now have all of the tools that you need to get started. Each step has been covered from signing up to getting great feedback. We have also gone over some advanced topics that will help ensure your bid is accepted over the competition. You are ready to start freelancing today.
I look forward to hearing from you and I hope that you have found this guide helpful and informative.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you,
Peter Ferrigan
http://www.ContractList.com
Admin@ContractList.com
Can drop shipping work for your online business?
If you resell products on eBay, you have your own home based
ecommerce website or you are looking for products to resell for a
profit, please take the time to read this, you'll be glad you did.
There is much discussion throughout usenet, chatrooms and forums about
drop shippers, and I have sat through many heated threads about the
subject. Many will tell you that drop shipping is a scam, it don't
work, you'll never make any money...But I know these things just not to
be true,
as I have talked with those doing it, work with those who do, and am
the webmaster of the site belonging to someone who manufactures and
drop ships his products. I have also used this method in the past.
First of all, using drop shippers is not a get rich scheme, or is the
answer to all of your problems, and, like any home based business,
requires some research and some work, but done correctly, can be very
profitable.
Let me explain the proccess in a nutshell.
First you decide what you are going to sell online.
You then find a drop shipper that carries the product. You place the
images and descriptions on your website or auction. When you make a
sale, you send the order on to your drop shipper, who in turn sends the
product to your customer. The profit that you make is the difference in
the price that you charge.
That is the process in a nutshell, but it is a bit more complicated
than that. Let me explain...
Deciding what to sell is one of the most important decisions that you
will make, and this is where many trying to get into the business
fail. You must take the time to research the market. This research
involves finding out these things...
1)Pretend for a moment that you have decided to sell remote controlled
coffee makers,(I am using this as an example, as one of these sounded
real good yesterday morning. Pardon me if I sound like your Junior
Achievement teacher in high school.)
and Is there alot of people selling these handy little devices? If
there is, this just might not be a good thing, as an oversaturation of
a product makes it difficult, or impossible market to compete in. You
can find this out by going to eBay, or to search engines and looking at
what others are doing. An over saturated market such as home
electronics is just about impossible to compete in, without cutting
prices, and right square into your profits. This is why someone selling
rolling pins or dog shampoo might just make a killing, while the guy
selling car stereo systems is not selling anything but a pretty cool
website.
2)Are there people actually buying Remote Controlled Coffee Makers?
One way to find out, is by going to eBay and looking at how many bids
and clicks that those who are selling these coffee makers are getting.
Of course there are many other ways to research this,such as market
research software, and I will get into these in a later article. There
must be a market to sell your products to, or you are just chasing your
tail. This part is called "demand". Demand for the product that you are
selling. This is why those home based businesses that are involved in
"niche markets" seem to thrive. Before you should start selling these
jumped up java makers, you should find out if there is a market of
people who will by them from you.
3)Where can you get these coffee makers. are you getting them from the
manufacturer or authorized wholesale distributor? If you don't you
might be getting ripped off. Research your Sources! Do they drop ship?
If not, then you will have to stock your inventory. You can save a grip
of money by doing this, if you have the room to do this. Buying in bulk
can save you money, if the shipping fees (do the research first!) don't
eat all of your profits. If you are just starting out on a shoestring
budget, then drop shipping might be your better bet.
4)Do the math!!! Figure in all of your costs! After you have decided
what to sell, you must figure what you are going to sell it for. Once
you have added in selling fees (if you are using auctions to sell), you
must consider shipping fees (if you are not using drop shippers),
taxes, and any overhead that you might have. License fees and hosting
fees, if you own your own site.
(I hope these things that I have mentioned here do not discourage you,
because these are the same things that you need to run any business. If
these things do overwhelm you, you might want to consider affiliate
programs for your first internet venture, as they cost nothing).
With all this considered, you should still be able to make a profit
with the product that you choose to sell. If the math don't add up to
profit for you, then you should find a different product to sell.
I have only touched on the basics here, but I hope that this article
has helped you to understand how drop shipping works.
Troy Breitmeyer
http://dropshippers-directory.com
About the Author: Troy Breitmeyer has been involved in affiliate marketing since 1996, has been interviewed on Chris Malta's "Common Sence Internet Radio", and is currently writing an ebook that is geared towards helping the new affiliate marketer. For more information , please visit http://dropshippers-directory.com
Social Bookmarking for programmers
Are you computer or web programmer? Do you have a collection of favorite web resources or links you often visit for references? Do you have a website providing tools, articles or other programming related content that may be helpful to other programmers?
If you do, there is a new website I lunched just about a week ago that will let you store, share, promote and easily access all of your favorite programming websites.
The website is called Proglin.com and it is a social bookmarking website for programmers. Besides the ability to store, share and access your favorite links, Proglin.com provides you with customized profile page, which you can use to post information about you, your company or your services. You also get a custom contact page.
Adding links to Proglin is very easy. All you need to do is create an account and click on "Add link" button. Fill in your link information and click submit.
Proglin.com provides you with "Add to Proglin" code, which you can use to allow your website visitors to add your programming related articles to their Proglin favorites.
Proglin also allows you to add your favorite link compilation to del.icio.us, which is another social bookmarking website.
With Proglin my hope is to create good web and computer programming resource compilations that are recommended by professionals.
Give it a try and share, store and promote your favorite programming resources with Proglin.com.
About the Author: Owner and head developer of BeWebmaster.com and Proglin.com
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Building Your Own Website is Easy - A Tutorial
Building a simple website is easy, even for non-IT people. If you have the following basic requirements, then you can create your own website.
Basic Requirements:
- Basic knowledge of HTML
- Computer set & Internet Connection
- Website Design Layout or Template
- Website Content
- Domain Name and Web Space or Host
Let me explain to you each of the above requirements:
Basic Knowledge of HTML
A website is composed of one or more web pages. A page layout is produced by using html codes or tags. HTML means Hyper-Text Markup Language and tags are enclosed by < and > signs. If you have zero knowldge of html, well here is the outline of a web page:
Outline of a web page:
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>
Here you will place the title of the page. The texts here are displayed at the topmost left of a browser or web page.
</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<meta name="keywords" content="you must type here the main keywords of your content like this keyword1,keyword2,keyword3,etc. Words that are frequently used in this page content must be included here for search engine optimization. />
<meta name="description" content="You must type here the summary of this page content using the page's main keywords for search engine optimization" />
<meta name="author" content="Your name here" />
<meta name="copyright" content="The year you built your website" />
<style type="text/css">
This is the place for Cascading Style Sheets or known as CSS. CSS defines the styles you will use in your web page such as font color and size of the text, background image, boxes, etc. These are effected in the body but most of the style definitions affects only those areas where you use them.
</style>
</head>
<body>
Here you will implement the layout using style definitions you have made in the "style" section. Without putting anything here the page will be blank except for the title that will appear at the topmost left of the page. You will also place here the content of your website. It may be mixed of texts, images, audios and videos.
</body>
</html>
The above must be saved as a html page with extension of html or htm. Your homepage or the starting page must be named as index.html or index.htm. When you open a site like my site www.freetipsandwits.com, it will automatically open the index page (my site starts with index.php as my site is php-based). This is also the same with html page.
To see it with your two eyes, copy the above html codes from <html> to </html>, then open your Notepad and paste it. In the Notepad or its equivalent, Click File - Save - Type mywebpage.html or mywebpage.htm - Click All Files - Click OK. Then in the Windows Explorer or its equivalent, find the the file and open it...See the power of HTML. That's your first web page. With those few codes, you can create your own web pages. For more basics of creating a web page, click here.
Computer set & Internet Connection
This is a computer equipment (desktop or laptop computer) that has a modem and internet connection (Dial-up or DSL). This means that you can access or surf the web. You will be using an internet connection to upload your web page files and to browse your website in action after uploading. You may use your own computer or you may rent in internet cafe, whichever is more comfortable to you.
Website Design Layout or Template
Website Layout Design is the graphical presentation of your site in a web page. Like in Freetipsandwits.com, the page layout is composed of header box, right box, left box and footer box. The design layout will be your guide where to place your content in every web page.
If you don't have time to learn html or let's say, you are not interested in learning html, you still have options to have your web design layout. Buy or get free web templates from the web. If you have a budget and you want to have a design based on your preference, you may hire a coder or simply buy a web template. See our site or search Google by typing "web templates" or "free web templates".
Website Content
This is the meat of the website. Your website is nothing without a content. It is like a house without people and furnishings. People are looking for contents. They want something from your website.
The content is the physical presentation of the purpose of your website. It may be personal (about your personal life or life of other people), community (a forum or discussion of a group of people), free or non-profit services (a directory, educational, tutorial, freebies, etc.) or commercial (for selling or marketing products or services).
Your content may include texts, graphics, sounds, videos, programs, etc. depending on your purpose or on what you like other people or visitors to see in your site and on the available materials with you. But, putting sounds, videos or softwares make require an advanced knowledge of html and scripts.
You may source your content materials from the web, free or priced. Check our site or search Google by typing "free web templates", "web templates", "web template freebies" or other keywords that are appropriate based on your need.
Domain Names and Web Space
Domain Name
A domain name usually consists of two or more parts, separated by dots. This is the unique text name corresponding to the IP address of the website. The domain name of this site is FREETIPSANDWITS.COM. The rightmost label is what we called the top-level domain (TLD) such as .com, .net, .org, .biz, .ws, etc... Sub-domains are the labels on the left next to TLD and are dependent on the domain to the right. "FREETIPSANDWITS" is the sub-domain (second-level domain) and dependent of the ".com" domain.
Choose a descriptive name for your site to give short information to your target visitors on what your site is all about. You may use your own name too if you want to. For search engine optimization, it is advisable that you name your site with descriptive keywords. Each word must be separated by hyphen or dash like best-online-business-ever.com, affiliate-marketing-tips.com and hot-product-reviews.com.
To have your own second-level domain name, you have to pay for registration on a yearly basis with ICANN-accredited website-registrars but you may register a name for a number of years paying the equivalent amount. TLD's have different prices some are cheaper than others but common TLD's such as .com, .net, and .org are more expensive.
You may also go for free sub-domain with sites offering free hosting but it will be a third-level domain like in geocities, your website address will be your-choice-name.geocities.com or in tripod, it will be your-choice-name.tripod.com. Your domain name will be depedent of geocities or tripod.
If you really want to build a website using your own tradename and would like to earn profit from it, it would be better to at least invest a little amount of money. You may check if the name you plan to give to your site is still available with GoDaddy.Com, Register.com or other "domain name registrars".
Web Space and Hosting
The next thing you need is the web space where you will place your registered domain name and other stuff for your site. Normally, domain names are offered with web space. If you register a domain, you will be given a free but limited web space.
Usually, a free web space is ad-supported and subject to a number of restrictions. Meaning, the hosting site will put an ad to your site without paying you and it will not allow you to do or put some stuff.
So, if you want a clean web space where you can do whatever you want "legally", it is advisable that you lease your own web space. It is also offered on a yearly basis but you may also lease it for a number of years.
You may buy or lease domain or web space separately. You may register a domain name from one website and lease a web space from another. If you register domain name separately from web host, then you need to link the namservers from your host to your domain name. The nameservers will be given to you by your host and you need to enter this to your domain DNS (Domain Name Servers) setup.
For paid and free domain name registrants and web hosts, check our site or search Google by typing "domain name and webhosting" or "domain name registration" or "web hosting".
The following are the easy, simple and complete procedures to build your own website:
- Determine your purpose of your website.
- Prepare all the materials to be placed in your site as your website content.
- Plan the lay-out or design of your site. Get free or buy template.
- Create web pages. Learn our tutorial on creating your own web page or use ready-made web templates.
- Name your site with keywords relevant to your site content. Check the availability.
- Buy domain name and web space or get free web-space.
- Upload your web pages. You may upload your web files by web browser or by ftp. Check your with your host for instruction on how to do it.
- Check your website live. Check all the links if all are working fine.
- Submit your site to search engines and directories to inform the world that you have built your own website.
Now, you may start building your own website and make money from it.
About the Author: Hardi Budd is affiliated to www.freetipsandwits.com and http://free-website-tips-guides-tutorials.blogspot.com that offer Free website tips, guides, tutorials and web resources for affiliates, internet marketing, online business, search engine optimization, website promotion and internet security. Supported with affiliate programs, freebie directory, add URL, link exchange, english tagalog jokes, news and more. This is free for republishing as long as the author byline with active link to our sites is retained as-is.
Web Design - Some Quick Tips To Get Started
Web design can be quite a daunting prospect if you are new to the Internet. You would like to create your own site but have no idea where to start. Html? Photoshop? Fireworks? FrontPage? Dreamweaver?
This article/tutorial will give you some tips and hints on how to get started with web design - and which shortcuts to take!
~ Tip 1: Learn HTML ~
I can hear you groan. I said I was going to give you some shortcuts, now I suggest you learn HTML! Unfortunately there is no way around it. Even if you make use to the shortcuts to web design that I am going to suggest, learning HTML will still be the best investment that you can make. It is really not that difficult and it will greatly aid in your understanding of web design.
A really good place for online tutorials on HTML can be found here: http://www.w3schools.com/html/
Depending on your enthusiasm and level of technical skill I would also suggest that you learn a bit about CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). Cascading style sheets can assist you tremendously with controlling the layout, colors and images on your web page. You can also find good CSS tutorials on the w3schools website.
~ Tip 2: Use a web template for web design ~
Now this is really a shortcut to web design! I suggest that you create your first website by making use of a web template. There are lots of commercial templates available, and frankly, they are beautiful, but I am going to give you some hints on where to find free web templates. Most people would think that searching for 'free web templates' in Google would be the most obvious way of doing it - but I suggest that you rather search for 'open source web templates'.
Here are three sources with open source (basically - free to use) web templates. The advantage of these templates is that they are normally well designed and will also teach you good web design principles (as opposed to most of the commercial templates which, while they are undeniably beautiful to look at, they are normally not built making use of good web design principles).
My favorite Open Source web design site is http://www.oswd.org
This site has over a 1600 free designs to choose from. Download any design and build your site! Most of these designs make use of CSS as well which is why it is a good idea to learn CSS.
Another site with lots of free template designs is http://www.daydreamgraphics.com
I suggest that if you are just starting out you stick with the designs made with tables. These are the easiest to manipulate and use. The templates on Daydreamgraphics are not for everyone - they are mostly geared towards a young funky look, so if you are looking for a design that you can use for your business or company, you might do better to rather select a design from OSWD, but if you are looking at setting up a personal website, a hobby site or a site related to music or entertainment, these designs will work very well.
~ Tip 3: Use Wordpress or Joomla to create your site ~
This option is really by far the best way to create your website in the long term. Theoretically you do not need to know HTML and CSS to create and modify your site but in practice it pays off to learn these skills since it will help you master these tools just so much faster.
The steps to creating your website using these tools are as follows:
1. Log into your CPanel control panel (if you are not using a host that provides you with a CPanel control panel and Fantastico scripts - frankly, my only advice is to change to one that does!)
2. Select Fantastico from the control panel
3. Select either Wordpress or Joomla from the menu on the left.
4. Install Wordpress or Joomla in the root folder. You will have to select an administrator username and password to access the admin side of your site.
Log into the admin backend (normally /wp-admin for Wordpress and /administrator for Joomla). There are lots of free Wordpress tutorials available - just do a Google search for 'free Wordpress tutorials' and to get started in Joomla, do a search for 'how to use Joomla'.
To change the look and feel of your Wordpress or Joomla website is really easy! You simply install a new template. Wordpress and Joomla templates are specific to these tools (you cannot use any templates). For a guide to where to find the best free Wordpress and Joomla templates you can take a look at these resources:
http://www.tm4y.co.za/joomla-tips/best-joomla-templates.html
and
http://www.tm4y.co.za/wordpress-tips/wordpress-templates.html
I hope that these tips will help you on your way to creating your own website - web design the easy way!
About the Author: Christine Anderssen is the owner of Tailormade4you Web Design and Internet Web Hosting for South Africa. After spending 20 years in the corporate IT world she recently started her own Web Design and Development company specializing in custom built Internet solutions for small businesses. Visit her website for free tutorials and tips on how to use Joomla and Wordpress for Web Design.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
eCommerce Fundamentals
eCommerce can be VERY complex. To offer a world class customer experience, retailers must incorporate technologies and functionality that exceeds rising customer expectations.
On the flip side however, site fundamentals still play a very large role in converting visitors into customers. Many retailers surprisingly lose sight of these site basics and leave significant sales on the table. This brief examines 4 quick “fundamentals” every eCommerce manager cannot afford to lose sight of.
Think Fast
Speed has become less of a problem due to the penetration of broadband, but don’t forget that a significant number of people still shop by a dialup connection. When creating a site framework, designers and e-commerce teams should ensure that the site is developed with pages loading in less than 9 seconds (over a dial-up connection).
Our recommended page size is within 60-70k in bytes. At that amount, sites will likely load within the maximum wait time of 9 seconds. Online retailers should avoid flash at all costs within their transactional site. Flash’s artistic aspects may help you establish a brand presence – but it will likely lose potential customers before they have even searched within your store.
Image is important
Images are a very important aspect of selling online and are often neglected. All product images should be of the highest resolution possible, be much larger than the product page original, and have
multiple views. Dynamic imaging capabilities can improve the user experience to an even higher level by increasing interactivity (zoom & rotate). At a minimum – retailers should have at least two additional views outside of the product page image to help build emotion.
Be my guest
Shoppers do not like being forced to do anything, especially when they are ready to open their wallets. Forcing a shopper to register on your site before purchasing is a sure way to drive a portion of your traffic to your competitors. Too often, shoppers do not have the time or the inclination to fill out a lengthy form explaining what types of information they desire.
Always offer the ability to checkout as a guest. You will see less customer leakage within the checkout process and can still offer the option to register when the sale is completed.
Make sure it’s “above the fold”
Your homepage is the most important page within your eCommerce store. It sets the initial tone for the shopping experience and offers your best promotions and products to your visitors. Users typically visually scan a web page from top to bottom and then from left to right. All critical content and navigation options should be obvious to the shopper without having to scroll down. If you have your best promotions “below the fold” – you can bet that a large percentage of browsers are not scrolling down to see it.
Craig Smith
Trinity Insight LLC
http://www.trinityinsight.com
About the Author: Craig Smith is the founder of Trinity Insight LLC - a leading consulting firm for the eCommerce sector
Your E-Commerce Website and Search Engine Optimization
E-Commerce has been around only since the early 1990s, when Amazon.com and eBay.com became two of the first companies to sell products on the Internet. But E-Commerce is already revolutionizing the way goods are bought and sold around the world.
Buyers love E-Commerce because they can “shop till they drop” while lounging at home in their pajamas or riding the subway during rush hour. Sellers love it because they can offer their wares to people around the world without expensive marketing campaigns.
But successful internet marketing has become more and more challenging, especially for new businesses. With the proliferation of websites offering similar products, buyers have become overloaded with information. Typing one simple item in a search engine can return thousands of entries spanning multiple screens. A small entrepreneur can invest a huge amount of money to create a fantastic website, but the website won’t attract customers if it appears far down the list produced by a search engine. Competition has become fierce among vendors to ensure that their company is listed at the top of the list, on the first screen that the searcher sees.
One way to accomplish this is with a Paid Listing. These are advertisements, similar to paid ads in a magazine or newspaper. Whenever a potential buyer searches on a particular word or phrase, these ads will usually appear on the right side or very top of the page under the “sponsored links” heading.
The other way to get your company listed near the top of the search list is to employ a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialist. Search Engine Optimization basically means getting qualified customers to visit your website by insuring that your website is ranked high on the list when a potential buyer searches on a particular word or phrase related to your product. A good SEO will also be able to easily tie their software to your existing software, including your financial packages and shopping cart software, in order to help you track sales and produce return sales.
SEOs use a variety of techniques to get your business and to drive customers to your website. Unfortunately, they aren’t all ethical. Google and other search engines are able to spot unethical techniques, and will remove your website from their index if it employs such techniques. You can find advice on Google’s website for choosing a reputable SEO firm. Google’s first admonition is to be wary of SEO firms that send you emails out of the blue (spam) soliciting your business. Google also recommends that you have a contract in writing that includes pricing. The contract should also require the SEO to stay within the guidelines recommended by each search engine to include your site in its search results.
Achieving a high search engine ranking has become so important in the world of E-Commerce that experts now recommend including search engine optimization techniques in the design of any new website.
Buyers love E-Commerce because they can “shop till they drop” while lounging at home in their pajamas or riding the subway during rush hour. Sellers love it because they can offer their wares to people around the world without expensive marketing campaigns.
But successful internet marketing has become more and more challenging, especially for new businesses. With the proliferation of websites offering similar products, buyers have become overloaded with information. Typing one simple item in a search engine can return thousands of entries spanning multiple screens. A small entrepreneur can invest a huge amount of money to create a fantastic website, but the website won’t attract customers if it appears far down the list produced by a search engine. Competition has become fierce among vendors to ensure that their company is listed at the top of the list, on the first screen that the searcher sees.
One way to accomplish this is with a Paid Listing. These are advertisements, similar to paid ads in a magazine or newspaper. Whenever a potential buyer searches on a particular word or phrase, these ads will usually appear on the right side or very top of the page under the “sponsored links” heading.
The other way to get your company listed near the top of the search list is to employ a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialist. Search Engine Optimization basically means getting qualified customers to visit your website by insuring that your website is ranked high on the list when a potential buyer searches on a particular word or phrase related to your product. A good SEO will also be able to easily tie their software to your existing software, including your financial packages and shopping cart software, in order to help you track sales and produce return sales.
SEOs use a variety of techniques to get your business and to drive customers to your website. Unfortunately, they aren’t all ethical. Google and other search engines are able to spot unethical techniques, and will remove your website from their index if it employs such techniques. You can find advice on Google’s website for choosing a reputable SEO firm. Google’s first admonition is to be wary of SEO firms that send you emails out of the blue (spam) soliciting your business. Google also recommends that you have a contract in writing that includes pricing. The contract should also require the SEO to stay within the guidelines recommended by each search engine to include your site in its search results.
Achieving a high search engine ranking has become so important in the world of E-Commerce that experts now recommend including search engine optimization techniques in the design of any new website.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Marketing a New or Small Business on a Budget
There are almost as many opinions and views on marketing as there are companies to market. The big names and multinationals will have an extraordinary amount of funding set aside in which to convey their marketing message to the masses.
The process will involve an inordinate amount of people, multiple marketing agencies, countless ‘creativity’ meetings and thousands of work-hours. From television adverts to full pages in the newspapers and glossy magazines, brand names and logos jump out at us and are instantly recognisable - such is the power of advertising on an extremely large budget.
Easily missed then in this marketing free-for-all are the smaller or new businesses. After the usually costly process of setting up a business with its requisite equipment, possibly an office or other type of premises, there is usually little or no funds available for marketing or advertising.
From the first trading day of a new business enterprise, the going is tough. It is small wonder therefore that most new businesses do little or nothing about marketing because of what they see as prohibitive costs.
There are instances of course where new businesses have originated from someone’s hobby or part-time occupation; in these cases the market is usually already there and forming a company was the next logical step, immediate marketing was obviously not required to generate the first customer.
There are many advertising agencies that say there is no need for small businesses to spend a fortune on marketing. This is totally true, but what money a small business does have to advertise should be spent wisely and not just thrown at an agency that might end up failing to deliver. There are far cheaper and more effective ways to get a business on the map.
A website is essential to any business these days and will certainly be an asset. However, your site will be one amongst many millions of others and will not be of immediate use due to the nature of search engines and the way the Internet works in general; therefore you will need to look to other methods.
One of the most important things to bear in mind is not to run before you can walk.
Start small, start local. Unless you already have contracts from further afield, there is no point in casting nationwide for business when a vast amount is already likely to be on your doorstep.
Depending on what type of business you run, leaflets and flyers to other businesses or homes are a good way to get yourself known.
Always carry a business card with you they are invaluable, you never know when you are going to meet someone who wants printed contact details – hey presto! - Instant advertising.
If you have access to a computer, join an online business forum. These are an excellent source of information help and advice from people in the same situation as you. Even those in the same line of business as yourself will usually be happy to offer their help – don’t be afraid to take it, you can always return the favour.
Contact your local Chamber of Commerce for practical sound advice on any aspect of business. They are there to help and are extremely knowledgeable and friendly people.
Business breakfast clubs are normally held once a week in most towns and cities and are another rich source of information and a great place to make contacts, again, don’t forget to take your business cards with you.
The methods I have mentioned are by no means the only ways to market on a budget and have no doubt been written about before, and although they take lots of effort and are very time-consuming, they do produce results.
New and small business owners can often be the most innovative and creative marketers there are. They don’t have the huge budgets of the corporate giants; they don’t have large teams of creative designers, advertising executives, brainstorming committees, PR agencies or even a tea person! However, enterprising cash-strapped individuals are constantly striving to invent novel and cheaper methods of marketing their businesses, often with varying degrees of success. What must be reiterated though is that marketing and advertising need not cost a fortune, but can still be very effective depending on how you approach it.
About the Author: John Sheridan is a professional proofreader of hard copy items and website copy. He also writes web copy and occasionally accepts small copy-editing assignments. He can be contacted at: john@textcorrect.co.uk website: www.textcorrect.co.uk
This article is the property of the author and may only be reproduced in its original form.
UK Sales and marketing terminology
Terminology / Acronyms
ABC figures: This is the independently audited sales figure for all recognised publications in the UK. By using the ABC figure, you can quickly establish how much the advertising will cost per 1,000 readers.
Account Managers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximising revenue returns from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Account Manager” will be good at winning new clients.
Blue Bird: This is an unexpected sales opportunity that has a high chance of turning into profitable business.
BRAD: This book lists every UK publication including magazines, newspapers, vertical publications etc. It also contains key information i.e. “ABC figures”, advertising deadlines etc and is one of the most useful tools available if you are looking to place advertising or embark on DIY PR.
Comfort Factor Statements: Also known as credibility statements they show that you can deliver exactly what you say you can. They must not be emotive i.e. include words like “the best”, “fantastic”, “amazing”, “superior” or contain anything that cannot be proven i.e. “high level of customer satisfaction”, “unparalleled support”, unless supported by facts.
Commission Plans: This is how a salesperson is paid for their efforts. It is strongly advised that you include a minimum contribution and ensure that if you plotted a graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve.
CRM: “Customer Relationship Management” This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything from £80.00 per user upwards i.e. ACT! Goldmine etc. Previously known as TCM.
Double Bubble: Sales slang for two people being paid out the full amount of commission on a specific deal / incentive or the same person being awarded double the amount of commission.
Elevator Pitch: This term comes from the theory that if you are in a lift on the 10 th floor of a building you should be able to explain what you do before it gets to the ground floor i.e. about 10 seconds. This is often the opening statement of any form of communication and is predominantly used in lead generation and marketing activities.
Farmers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximising revenue streams from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Farmer” will be good at winning new clients.
Gross Margin: The difference between your buy price and your sell price.
Hunters: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as New Business Sales Exec’s.
Kick Back: This is when a company gets an extra soft margin when they buy sufficient numbers / value of a product. i.e. if you buy 10 cars we will give you / or the company free servicing.
Minimum Contribution: This is the account value that all sales staff are required to reach, in gross margin terms, before any commission. This is put in place to ensure that commission is not paid before staff have covered their basic salary plus all other costs i.e. NI, travel, phone, expenses etc.
New Business Sales Exec’s: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as “Hunters”.
OTE: “On Target Earnings” This is how much the sales person will earn if they hit their sales target. Please note that when the person has achieved 50% of target they should not earn more than 30% of their OTE. By using this method it creates a further incentive for the salesperson to hit the their sales target.
Over Ride: This is the term used when a sales person over achieves his target and hence is given a large bonus. Remember the bigger the “over rider”, the bigger the incentive and hence this increases the motivation to over achieve the gross margin sales target.
PPC: “Pay Per Click” This is a much-targeted method of advertising and enables sponsored links to be placed at the top of search engine results when your particular key words or phrases are encountered. For each sponsored link placed you are charged from as little as 10 pence upwards.
Prospect: A company / person that you know will require your services and they are looking to purchase. Particularly if you have been asked to bid for the work
RTR: “Ready to Run” This is the term used mainly by advertising agencies or company’s for an advert which is ready to be placed. It is then common practice to place the advert on the deadline in order to get the lowest possible price.
Sales Forecast: The system that sales people and managers use to look at how much business is likely to be won each month, unfortunately these are often misleading due to sales processes that minimise inaccuracies not being implemented.
Sand Bagging: This is a tactic used by sales people who hold back orders so that as many as possible fall in the same month or quarter and hence they over achieve the target to win a large Over Rider. This is not only expensive because extra commission is paid but can also have very negative effects on cash flow. By having a properly implemented Sales Forecast it is very easy to establish if this is occurring.
SEO: “Search Engine Optimisation” This is the method of making sure that your website gets lots of traffic and enables your company to be listed higher in the search engines for specific key words and phrases i.e. car hire Newcastle, buy discount fishing rods, mortgage advice etc. The downside of this methodology is that it takes several months for your website to get a good position on the major search engines i.e. Google, Yahoo etc.
Soft Margin: This is most commonly found in the reseller market and generally provided by the manufacturer in form of marketing assistance i.e. for every £10,000 of product x sold we will provide you with y amount of money that must be spent on promoting our product / service.
Suspect: A company / person that you know will require your services but nothing else is known.
TCM: “Time Contact Management” This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything from £80.00 per user upwards i.e. ACT, Goldmine etc. Now known as CRM.
TMUP: “Target Market User Profile” this is the type of company / person that would be a prime target for your business i.e. single male 30 – 40 and divorced or SME services based companies with staff of between 3-10 people based within 5 miles of central London etc. Finding and Targeting your prime TMUP will reduce the cost of sales and increase marketing and new business efficiency’s.
Tyre Kicker: This is a company / person who pretends to be interested in your product / service. This term comes from the motor trade when customers would kick the tyres to fain interest when they had no intention of buying a car and were just browsing / looking for a test drive. Sales people who are not performing and wish to give the impression that their sales pipeline is strong often put this type of prospect on their sales forecast.
USP’s: Unique Selling Points i.e. what makes your company different from its competitors. This is used predominantly in lead generation and marketing activities and therefore is a MUST HAVE for any sales strategy to work.
For further information please visit www.bizal.com
About the Author: Paul Scott works for BIZAL Ltd (www.bizal.com) who provide sales development services for the UK market from sales strategy to lead generation.
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