There are a lot of web hosting companies out there. Many of them are good, have been in business for a long time, and are reputable – but they will not help an ecommerce business that is growing.
There is more to web management than storage and bandwidth. I’ve hosted with ‘good’ webhosting companies. However, if you create a good ‘customer friendly’ content management system, with all the features needed to keep users, then you run into problems.
The servers can only handle so many queries. A single web page can have 20 – 30 database queries, especially if there is advertising on the page. This increase the ‘time’ needed for the server to handle the page.
Some of the common web hosting sites will start limiting the site as soon as more than a dozen people start hitting the site. One night they closed my website down when 5 people entered the chat room.
Netfirms has ‘shared servers.’ If one site cannot handle the weight of the queries on a server, it merely borrows more from the next server. This means that I can now have 50 people in a server without problems.
This doesn’t mean I can have my sites on the $4.90 a month service. I use the $12.99 business service, but I can host multiple websites with individual domains, without worrying.
The important thing is that I can ‘upgrade’ to managed servers at a later date, if needed, and still keep the shared servers.
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Mar 18, 2008
Review: Netfirms
Make Money By Pimping Myspace
Myspace is one of the biggest social networking tools on the net. Myspace drives more traffic to websites than Yahoo and MSN combined. Most users fail to incorporate even a part of the power of Myspace.
There are several products and systems that let users pimp their pages. I like peerspin.com.
The service is free.
What You get:
1) 50 homepage themes
4) find people who share your love of music
5) send glitter text and create postcards with no cut or paste
6) customize your mail messages with graphics and text in your signature, no copy and paste
Mar 16, 2008
Why Buy Web Traffic?
If you want to make money, you need to buy traffic. I operated websites that earned millions of hits a year, and earned less than $500 from those sites. That was because my traffic was not ‘pre sold.’
I didn’t start making money until I started buying traffic. However, you cannot buy any traffic, and it won’t work for any product, blog, or website. You need to find the right company to work with the right campaign.
That said, don’t expect your first traffic selling company to be your best. The company I use sells me 10 000 hits for $12.00. This earns about $50 - $70 per campaign. I do this on 10 blogs, earning $28 - $58 each, $280 - $580 a month.
This is one of the best passive income streams I have created. I can put 3 different campaigns on a single blog, at the same time.
I run Adsense ads on some blogs, and others have a combination of Adbrite.com and commissionjunction.com ads. The traffic I buy is ‘international untargeted’ but it works because people click to my site to read information, then click on to a ‘service provider.’
I also have a good level of users subscribing to my feed. This is increasing the PR rate of my site. I’ve also found that the extra traffic is increasing my RealRate and my Google Page Rank.
The objective is to start small and build slow. This isn’t a scam, or a secret. All the big SEO marketers buy traffic.
The problem is, there is no ‘one solution for all.’ My company is helping me earn lots of money from my health blogs, but it performs poorly on my business sites. This doesn’t mean that the program doesn’t work on small business websites. It may mean that my set up is wrong for the target audience, it may mean that my articles are not relevant. The fault is not always the service providers.
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Mar 14, 2008
Why You Need To Change Computer Keyboards
There is only one piece of equipment that every work at home professional cannot do without. That is an ergonomic keyboard. There are many different varieties of ergonomic keyboards. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. But, there are some things you need to consider.
The one thing you want is a split keyboard. The one I use lets me place my hands at a turned position. My shoulders are not forced forward. My wrists are not forced to turn. The palms sit on the support between the back and forward button.
Over the years I've had people ask how I get so much work done, without breaking down, without getting tired. I now have an answer - my keyboard. I proved this just last week. My keyboard broke and although Microsoft has it guaranteed, it will be three weeks before it comes in. I had no choice but to use the cheap flat keyboard that came with my computer.
Within hours I felt tired, there was a pain between my shoulders, and my wrists were 'tight.' After a few hours I grew accustomed to this and kept working, but I was aware of the problem. I also noticed that my typing speed slowed dramatically. I can drop the keyboard into my lap, sit with my feet on a footrest, and with the aid of a proper office chair, I can work about two hours at a shot.
When I used the flat keyboard the pain forced me to take a break or slow down every 20 - 30 minutes to relieve the tension. I needed to get up more often. I am not touting this as a perfect tool for working more. I am stating that my keyboard kept me at a comfortable position - just as comfortable as sitting on the couch watching television.
The difference was so dramatic that I sent my husband 2.5 hours away to buy me another keyboard after only a day - I have a great hubby.
This keyboard (Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000) is Vista safe, with a plug-in from the MS website. I have already made back the $70 the keyboard cost me.
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Warning: ‘Full Disclosure Badge’
Warning: Do Not Put ‘Full Disclosure Badge’ on Your site
This is only my warning, based on my experience, but the sites I did put a disclosure badge on have dropped from PR3 and PR4 to PR0 and have never climbed back up.
This includes PayPerPost and non PPP blogs. I don’t find the tracking image bother’s Google at all. I’ve found that blogs with site wide PPP tools and ‘blog ethics’ tags that alerted Google.
I did find that putting the small tag ‘Proud PPP Blog’ did not appear to effect Google’s page rank.
I have put the IZEA tag onto a couple of my blogs to see what happens. No one has figured out whether Google will be happy to have competition in the page ranking field.
The thing is, the full disclosure badge means nothing. I have several blogs, and I do not write any post I don’t want to. If the sponsor doesn’t inspire me to write a post, then I don’t. The disclosure blog is the result of amateur writers stopping the flow of their blog to write an ad.
Honestly, I am guilty. I remember the days when we would write posts and end with an ad, or write ‘horridly’ slanted articles. Blog ads were new, and no one knew the rules. Today, I am sure there are people who cannot write around their blog.
I will use the tag SPONSORED or put the word REVIEW in my tags or title to let my readers know the site is affiliate or paid post slanted. It is fairly easy if you know how to do it.
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Mar 13, 2008
How I Succeeded
I am currently having a hard time managing my health. I've been sedentary all winter, and I am noticing it. If you want to succeed at home, you must look after your health. The first thing is to drink lots of water. In fact, health gurus say that drinking at least two bottles of water a day can reduce the risk of disease.
I was doing well this winter until recently when I stopped drinking water and started to drink more coffee. It is also important to eat vegetables. It is amazing how many work at home professionals stop eating properly.
Some days I need to force myself to eat well. It is so easy to pop something into the microwave and get back to work. This is short sighted. I have two friends who started into work at home businesses about the same time I did. Both of them have needed to quit because of health problems. We all worked the same hours, and endured the same stress. The difference was simple, I did not take my health for-granted.
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Mar 12, 2008
Friday Workshop: Branding Yourself - Become Famous
We are doing a few major workshops for Small Press Month. We are hosting one of our biggest workshops this week.
Place: www.inspiredauthor.com (click the chat-room button at the top of the page.
Time: 7 - 9 eastern (come when you can)
Membership: none needed - just enter your screen name and enter
Katie Adams
Katie Adams is a highly successful grant writer. In fact, she obtained over $12 million in grants for her clients in only 3 months! She can help you learn how to get free publicity, money to promote your writing, and much more! If you want to become famous overnight, then be at the Inspired Authors chat on Friday night.
Katie has offered to host a 2 hour workshop to help authors promote themselves and their work, build winning PR campaigns, and launch their careers. Have your questions ready! She is also looking for cream of the crop writers for her new business venture. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime chance.
Authors must be well known even before releasing their first book. This takes a “presence” that is only accomplished by proactive marketing. If you miss this one, you will regret it.
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Mar 11, 2008
Small Business Computer Survival: Ram
I purchased 2gig of ram when I bought my computer 14 months ago. I already need more. I've noticed my computer slowing down in the last two months as driver upgrades, Internet graphics improve, browser demands, and virus control features eat up more of my ram.
I always try to buy 25% more ram than the manufacturer claims that I need. I am going to be moving this up to 50% in the future. The lack of ram can slow down a computer drastically. This can make it difficult to work from home. Most days, I need to keep at least three software programs open at the same time. Opening only one, can reduce my productivity by two hours a day.
Installing a Good Amount of Ram Can Help You Avoid Headaches
When it comes to computers the most common problem is the operational speed. When users first buy a computer with the famous and common Windows based operating system they are often impressed with the amount of hard disk space, the graphics card, the fabulous wide screen, the nice keyboard and the many cute extras smart sales people include as a bundle in order to make the sale.
Computer savvy users understand that the most important thing in a computer besides storage capacity and processing speed is the RAM memory capacity/speed. RAM stands for "random access memory" simply put, this is the memory all your applications use to operate once they have been launched or clicked. If you notice, once you open an application there is a small lag between the click and the fully launched program, the reason you have to wait a bit is because the program is being loaded into RAM as well as all the modules, extensions and plug-ins it uses.
Once it is open the application "caches" all the information in your RAM modules instead of the hard drive because RAM can be accessed much faster than the information in the HDD. As the application uses RAM to buffer data the computer slows down because other programs might be running and demanding for some RAM space as well, this is the reason why many people say "the more things you install in your PC the slower it gets" and it is true.
If your computer has very little random memory then the operating system can lock up, freeze or show you error messages and the all time famous BSD (Blue screen of death), when this happens it is often because a program has requested/used a lot of memory resource which were not available or because of poorly coded programs which are often downloaded from the web (freeware)
In order to optimize your PC you must learn how to use the task manager, this is the small but useful window that comes up when you press Control + ALT + Delete. In Windows XP it will bring up the window immediately, in Vista however you need to select the "start task manager option" once you have pressed the three key combination. The task manager window will show you how much memory you have available, the number of programs running and which program is taking a lot of memory space as well as CPU power; if you determine a certain application is using too much memory or CPU you can choose to terminate it, if it isn't a critical system module that is!
Some people know that popular applications such as Mozilla Firefox has memory leak problems, this is effective up to version 2.0 which will soon be upgraded to version 3 and hopefully corrected. This useful internet browser is preferred by many users because it is easier to use than Internet Explorer and has less security problems but after a couple of hours of use, the task manager reports an increase in memory occupied by the application, with just a few tabs (3-6) you can be using up to 100MB of RAM, if you have 512MB of RAM this is already 20% of your physical memory, if you leave it open and use it for an extended period of time this can go up to 500MB+ in machines with more capacity.
To make the story short, most problems you may experience with your computer are directly related to RAM, this is why it is recommended to buy computers with at least 1GB of RAM if you are using Vista (2GB+ would be an optimum amount) If your PC doesn't have this much memory you need to make sure you find compatible modules which match the speed and amount of pins your motherboard RAM slots have. Some modules are DDR (Double data rate) which run at different speeds (100-200MHz) in newer computers you will find that the modules used are DDR2 or even DDR3 which operate at much faster speeds. If this all sounds like gibberish to you it is recommended you contact a computer technician to inspect your computer and do the upgrade which can help your computer run faster and will definitively help you avoid headaches.
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Mar 9, 2008
Crossposting to Multiple Weblogs
Each of these tools has their own benefits, and their own weaknesses. I do not think there is one perfect tool for everyone. You need to use trial and error to find the best tool for yourself. However, I do not think that each of your blogs should be a carbon copy of the rest. Each should have somehting unique.
Wordpress
There is a plug in called http://www.woprot.com/full.php . I do not know anyone who has used this tool. It is not offered free.Wordpress also has their import/export feature in the new versions. I am going to give these a try as soon as I upgrade some of my older blogs.
I have used this feature. It does have some formatting problem. Most new bloggers learn which of their blogs are text, and which are html becuase one blog looks good - another has formatting problem. The intelligent thing to do is set up 2 accounts, one for HTML blogs, one for text. I also suggest not writing the blog first in Word as the posts pick up hidden code.
I build all my blogs on two platforms, blogger and Wordpress. Microsoft has a new tool http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!D85741BB5E0BE8AA!174.entry This tool works well with blogger.Windows Live Writer is an excellent tool although it is now out of betta.
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Mar 7, 2008
Free Author Promotion Workshop: Three Famous Speakers
Free Author Promotion Workshop: Three Famous Speakers
We had a great chat on promotion last night. There were a lot of things covered, and we had the author of one of the top SELLING BOOKS book on Amazon (3 days on Amazon and in the top 50 000). Nikki gave us some excellent tips and advice.
We also explained the difference between promotion by spamming your name, and promotion by Branding.
After 2 hours, there were still questions, so I decided to devote tonight's chat on 'becoming famous' without spending money.
I have invited a PR person, Katherine Adams who works with businesses and CEOs. She is writing a book on landing six figure jobs. If she comes, she can tell us more about 'branding' yourself. She won her clients 12million last year - so she is no 'small fish' when it comes to PR.
Mirella Patzer will tell how she became a popular speaker and was invited to speak (paid) in Italy, the setting of her book - all within less than 2 months.
Nikki Leigh will be there. Her current book on promotion has only been on amazon for 3 days and is in the top 50 000 (out of 3 million) selling books.
We also have Lori Chance, a book coach, and a few other tentative speakers.
I am also saving transcripts. So if you were one of the people who felt you just didn't know that you 'could' become famous without a lot of hassle - and you wanted to know more - come to the IA chat tonight.
http://www.inspiredauthor.com/ - Click Chat. You do not need to become a member.
Chat is Every Friday 7PM Eastern
Tonight's event will have the chat room at www.inspiredauthor.com open from 6 - 9+ You do not need to become a member, or enter any personal information. Just type in a screen name and you are in the chat.
Mar 6, 2008
Get Paid to Post Video Classifieds and Sell Your Home
Most new ecommerce business owners are unaware of all the options available to them. They find out about the obvious ones, but it often takes too long to learn the 'good ones.' That is why so many online business owners fail. They quit long before they ever learn how successful online business owners do business.
For example, why list on craig if you can list on Listasaurus.
Listasaurus not only lets people sell online using video ads. It also pays them for listing on their site. This is a vast difference from the mainstay venues which charge people to list on their service. Listing one video is free. Businesses only pay $5 for a 30 day listing of a video. Remember, this is per listing - not per sale, or per product.
Using video classifieds can vastly increase the chances of selling a car, showing the whole car, inside, outside, and even when it is moving. The video is perfect for selling a home also. Instead of a picture, a video can walk the home owner through the house.
It is perfect for any product sold at the 'bay.' Instead of a picture of a computer - show the computer downloading, operating, and the screen quality through video. This is a more powerful sale's pitch than just adding a 'We guarantee no DOA' clause in the ad.
And don't forget - you are being paid by listasaurus to put your video classifieds on their site. So you can increase exposure for the items you are selling, and your business, while being paid to do it.
Mar 5, 2008
Are Download Contracts Safe?
There are dozens of websites that offer small businesses free contracts, or offer downloads of 'boilerplate' contracts. These can be a good thing, but they are never 'one size fits all' and they can turn into a nightmare if the business owner doesn't make sure they know the laws in their State/Province.
What You Should Know Before Copying Contracts from the Internet
Copying contracts from the Internet is a bit like wearing your old cousin’s hand-me-down dresses . . . in order to walk into a bee’s nest (an incongruous image, I know): yes, you’re \"covered,\" but the style is outdated and they usually don’t fit you well. Plus, they won’t provide you with the protection you need for your particular purpose.
Most small businesses can’t afford the Versace of contracts, and, frankly, it’s often not necessary. Sometimes, Kmart will do nicely. However, when you download something for free, it’s usually worth what you paid for it. Internet contracts need to be mended and altered to make sure they truly fit how you want to do business. But if you have limited experience in making clothing, you risk having the garment unravel at the seams if you try to do it yourself.
In the interest of saving money, you may have downloaded a freebie contract from the Internet. But it’s often what you don’t know -- and what’s not included in the document -- that can hurt you. Internet contracts can be helpful resources for identifying issues for you to think about, but are usually not well thought out, nor are they tailored to the needs of your particular business. If an agreement is not drafted in your favor, it may not give you the flexibility and protection that you really need from your business relationships.
For example, I’ve know of business owners who have formed limited liability companies (LLCs) and have downloaded their ownership agreements from the Internet. When \"Jemma\" got hers from a freebie Internet site, it looked long enough and comprehensive enough, so she and her co-owner (neither of whom are lawyers) signed it. Four months later, Jemma wanted to move to a different state to accommodate her husband’s career path; plus, Jemma learned that she was pregnant. So the time was right to transition to her new stage of life. But her LLC agreement only allowed her to leave the business (1) if she had died (which she hadn’t) or (2) as long as her co-owner agreed (which she didn’t). In short, Jemma’s agreement had no meaningful \"exit strategy.\" And Jemma did not know that these were among the issues she needed to focus on in creating and signing such an agreement. There were a whole host of things that the LLC agreement did not include, such as how to deal with the client base that each owner brought to the business, how to place a dollar value on the intellectual property that each owner contributed, and how to leave the business should life changes (other than Jemma’s death) arise. Jemma’s agreement didn’t cover any of these issues. In the face of an irate business partner and an insufficient agreement, Jemma found herself staring down the barrels of (1) a lengthy and expensive lawsuit to dissolve the business or (2) a less expensive (but more costly than it needed to have been) way to extricate herself from her business partner.
Similar things can happen with even the simplest of contracts with your customers. Download from the Internet all you like, but recognize that the document you copy (1) may not reflect the most recent changes in the law (how will you know? -- ask a lawyer!); (2) may contain provisions that are harmful to your business (or omit ones that could help you), and (3) may not properly reflect how you want to do business with your customers. Internet contracts may raise some of the important issues, without a doubt. But they don’t necessarily deal with the specific issues of your situation. In short, when downloading from the Internet: \"one size fits all\" usually means that \"one size fits none.\"
How to avoid this pitfall: ideally, by working with an attorney who really understands the legal issues that small businesses face. Although some entrepreneurs may try to economize with a do-it-yourself approach, they often end up costing themselves more because they are not trained, as attorneys are, to spot the issues and problems that can harm them. Taking the time to find a lawyer who meets your needs is one of the best investments you will ever make in the growth of your business. Find out more about how to hire and work with attorneys -- and keep your costs down -- by listening to the free audio class available through www.WiseCounselPress.com. With the help of your lawyer, you can start to make the smart decisions that will protect your company and save you money!
© 2005 Wise Counsel Press LLC. Nina L. Kaufman, Esq., is a small business attorney and the founder of Wise Counsel Press LLC, which offers easy-to-understand legal strategies that protect small businesses and save them money . . . wisely. To learn more, and to sign up for their FREE how-to articles and FREE audio class, visit www.WiseCounselPress.com.
With the help of your lawyer, you can start to make the smart decisions that will protect your company and save you money! © 2005 Wise Counsel Press LLC. Nina L. Kaufman, Esq., is a small business attorney and the founder of Wise Counsel Press LLC, which offers easy-to-understand legal strategies that protect small businesses and save them money . . . wisely. To learn more, and to sign up for their FREE how-to articles and FREE audio class, visit http://www.wisecounselpress.com/.
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10 Steps to Disaster Proofing Your Business
Every business should have an exit plan. This will prevent the small business owner from spinning their wheels trying to make a business work, when it is doomed to fail. It will also keep them from abadoning a business just before it starts becoming profitable.
I held onto one business for almost 2 years of failure before it took off. Today's failure doesn't necessarily mean that the business doesn't have a chance to succeed. Then some times, there are problems that just cannot be predicted ...
10 Steps to Creating Your Smalll Business Disaster Plan
I'm a recent Hurricane Rita evacuee and survived the evacuation and the ensuing hurricane. Running from a hurricane isn't something I've ever had to do before, nor is it something I'd ever like to do again. However, as a solo business owner, I'm quite thankful that I have a virtual business. The fact that I'm virtual and can operate from anywhere that there's electricity and phone service was of great help to me in this disaster and helped me reopen my business a scant 4 days after the landfall of Hurricane Rita.
As a solopreneur, what can you do to make your business disaster-proof? It seems that we have an increasing number of hurricanes making landfall in the coastal states, and add to that an increased number of other types of natural disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, mud slides, ice storms, blizzards, etc. makes me think that there is no ideal location in which to operate a business. Now accepting that natural disasters are here to stay, here's what I learned from my hurricane evacuation that helped me get my business back up and running quickly:
1. Know the location of your vital papers. You should be able to quickly put into a folder the following for you and your family: your marriage license, birth certificate, social security card, driver's license or state ID card, car title/mortgage info and insurance contact info, house deed/mortgage info and insurance contact info, employee ID card, and apartment lease or copy of a utility bill. In a disaster, you'll be asked to prove where you live and that you are who you claim you are, especially when applying for disaster assistance.
2. Have an online backup of all of your computer data. I back up my computer in two ways--to an external portable hard drive as well as to an online backup service. I use both because my files are my livelihood -- I would be dead in the water without them -- so I want to leave absolutely no room to lose my data. For my external backup, I use a 30 GB portable drive made by Iomega, www.iomega.com, and for my online backup, I have 10 GB of space that I pay for at XDrive, www.xdrive.com.
3. Create an file with vital contact information. I copied a file with all of my usernames and passcodes for websites, bank accounts, etc. to my USB flash drive (a key chain-like device with 512 MB or 1 GB of memory -- I use one from Lexar, www.lexar.com) as well as the physical and email addresses and all phone numbers of friends, clients and family members -- anyone I needed to contact during the evacuation period. You'll also want to take along your children's school contact info to be able to check on the current operating status of your child's school, as well as local media website info. My lifeline in getting current information about my home city was through the websites of Beaumont's newspapers and television and radio stations. If you keep your contact info in Outlook and have a Yahoo account, Yahoo offers a synchronization feature in which you can synchronize all of your info in Outlook to your Yahoo account. Find out more here: http://help.yahoo.com/help/intsync. All you need to access your info in Yahoo is a computer and to know your username and password.
4. Know the primary office/computer equipment that will be required to get your business up and running. I had operated with a minimal amount of my office equipment recently due to my being a house sitter for a friend for 2 months. So, upon receiving the mandatory evacuation order, I knew in relatively short order that to run my business, I needed my desktop PC, flat panel monitor, wireless mouse and keyboard, speakers, modem and associated cords, backup portable external hard drive, office telephone and associated cords, laptop computer, printer, box of software, and scanner. It sounds like a great deal of equipment, but I packed it all into 2 boxes from UHaul (1 small and 1 medium box). I knew I could work for at least 2 months comfortably with just this equipment.
5. Primary paper files for your clients/business. I have 2 sets of files -- ones for the immediate short-term that I use frequently and my lateral file drawer files that are primarily reference files. I grabbed the contents of the two drawers of my 2-drawer file cabinet (which hold my immediate short-term files), all of which fit into one small UHaul box.
6. A backup telephone plan. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for phone service for my business, as all of my clients are scattered across the US and in Canada. Just to be safe, I upgraded my cell phone plan, and had a prepaid calling card (purchased an AT&T calling card at Sam's, www.samsclub.com) at my disposal if I needed it. As luck would have it, my hotel offered an unlimited Internet access/long distance plan for an additional $1.88 per day, so I happily signed up for that, saving myself a fortune in phone calls and Internet service fees.
7. A backup Internet access plan. Since power restoration to my home was estimated at 2-8 weeks, I had to find temporary lodgings. I looked for a hotel that offered high speed Internet access and was able to use their system for my Internet access. However, once I found the hotel, I also called the tech support of my DSL ISP and found the local dial-up numbers for the area in which the hotel is located. I never had to use the dial-up service, but it was good info to have. If you have cable or DSL Internet service, now is the time to discover alternate Internet access plans to be able to get online should your DSL or cable access be out-of-service. You should also know how to access your email online through your ISP if you don't have access to your computer. If your ISP doesn't offer a version of webmail, you can use this service free-of-charge, www.mail2web.com.
8. Adequate office supplies for a month. I threw in pens, pencils, post-it notes, a calculator, stamps, envelopes, tape, stapler, paper clips, note pads, etc. that would last me at least a month while I was out of my office. I used a portable plastic file case in which to carry these items.
9. Outline of your office procedures to help you operate independently or be able to delegate tasks. I carry much of my info in my head to run my office, or have what I need stored in various files across my computer. What makes more sense for the future is to document all of my office procedures, as well as computer and client info, so that everything I need is in one document. I can then upload this doc to my Yahoo account, my backup files, or carry it with my on my USB flash drive. My colleague, Jean Hanson, has designed a great template that asks you to note and record everything someone would need to know to get your business back up and running. It's the Home Office Procedures Manual, available for purchase here: http://tinyurl.com/bagxs
10. Digital camera to record the event and/or record damages to personal property. I wish I'd had a digital camera to record all that I witnessed during my evacuation from Hurricane Rita. My sister took tons of pics, but I would've loved to have had the same opportunity. More importantly, however, is the need for a digital camera to record damage to your home and property. In a wide-spread disaster, it can be at least a month before your insurance adjuster will be able to assess damages to your property. In the meantime, however, you need to start repairs, like placing a tarp on your roof, boarding up broken windows, removing downed trees from your house or yard, or cleaning your refrigerator of spoiled food. In many cases, your insurance will cover the repairs or food replacement, but you need to carefully document the "before" scenario in order to receive compensation for your loss.
Don't let a natural disaster destroy your business. Take some time now to prepare your disaster-readiness plan, and get back into business as soon as you can!
Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps self-employed professionals make more profit in less time online. To sign up for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE ebook, TurboCharge Your Productivity: 50 + Tools To Help You Automate Your Business and Make More Profit in Less Time Online!, visit her site at http://www.OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com .
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Success Starts With The Image in the Mirror
Most home based business owners do not think of their image before they start business. I agree with the PJ story in the following examples - I also know that people who work this way accomplish less in their first 2 years than those who treat their home based business as if it were an office or retail biz.
All business owners must create a PR campaign to 'brand' themselves. Step one: start with your image of yourself.
Are You Packaging Yourself Professionally As A Home Business Owner?
We all have our own tastes, styles and preferences when it comes to how we dress, style our hair, even what we drive, and one of the great things about running a business from the comfort of home is that we can be exactly who we are with no need to impress anyone.
Like you, I have personal preferences. I love the fact that I can work in my PJ's during the early hours of the day while I coach overseas clients, and comfortable gym clothes or shorts and a T-shirt during the day.
It's great that working from home gives us this freedom to dress as we choose, but it's also important to recognize that this is where it stays - at home.
When you're out in the community or meeting with clients or prospects, put your personal preferences aside and shift your thinking to image management.
Whether it's fair or not, image is critical. How someone perceives you is going to determine whether or not they will do business with you.
Psychologists have learned that most people will form an impression of you in the first four minutes and that 80 percent of that impression is based on nonverbal data.
What you say has very little impact compared to your visual appearance.
Just like changing packaging for a product can mean the difference between boom or bust, the same can be applied to your physical packaging.
When I met my accountant for the first time, I was stunned. He came out of his office in his socks, his shirt was hanging out of his pants and he had no tie. His hair was disheveled and he looked like he had just wrestled a bear.
The first thing that may come to mind is he was having an afternoon cavort with his assistant, but he had a glass window on one side of his office and several support staff surrounding his workspace, so I gathered this was his customary work attire.
Most of what he said to me traveled in one ear and out the other because I was too busy trying to tame the battle going on in my head ...
"If he cares that little about his appearance and is that sloppy in his own business, why would he be any different with my finances?"
"Laurie, your colleague recommended him and said he did good work, that's got to count for something."
This internal battle dominated our meeting and I left with a pit in my stomach.
In the months that followed, I stayed on top of him like a wild dog on a slab of meat. I didn't trust his judgment or quality of work. I watched every entry he made like a hawk and double-checked everything he did.
I eventually brought the relationship to an end and transferred my business to another accountant.
Maybe it was shallow and terribly unfair, but the fact remains - appearance does have a major impact on business relationships.
I couldn't get past my first impression or the subsequent impressions as I continued to visit his office, and if I didn't call and ask for something, or put a deadline on it, I don't know if it would have been done.
His poor professional image translated to substandard performance and unfortunately, the two are often connected, and that's where our perceptions and judgments come into play.
An eternal truth in business is, you will succeed based on what is, not on what it should be.
Physical appearance and its impact on business success has been tested and measured and you can try it out for yourself to demonstrate.
One day, dress casual for meeting prospects and arrive in your aging pick-up truck. The next day, wear a business suit and complement it with accessories like a good quality pen, briefcase and your newer model car.
You'll notice a remarkable difference in the results you produce.
You'll also notice that you're treated with more respect, courtesy and receive much better service and response than you are when dressed in your "at home" business clothes.
The importance of personal packaging is a fact of business life. It may seem unfair or superficial, but the fact remains - to resist, deny or ignore it would be disastrous to your success.
Take a few moments to reflect on how you're presenting yourself to the world. Is there room for improvement? If so, make a change and test it. I'm certain you'll be impressed by the results.
2006 © Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source
Laurie Hayes is the expert and visionary behind "The HBB Confidential," a FREE bi-weekly ezine for home-based business owners. Each issue delivers simple strategies you can use right away to build a profitable home business while creating fun and freedom in your life! Go to http://www.thehbbsource.com to subscribe.
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Eliminate Agonizing Hand Pain
There are very few freelance workers who do not need to manage pain once or twice in their career. Hand pain is caused by holding your wrists off the keyboard, or not using a wrist support. It can also be caused by holding your hands at an unnatural position. It can also be caused by the onset of arthritis.
Eliminate Agonizing Hand Pain Quickly and Easily!
According to Dr. Nathan Wei, “The hand and wrist are the mirrors of disease.” While the cause of hand pain can be a localized problem, hand pain can also be the presenting sign for other diseases.
The wrist and hand are capable of power and precision. As a result, pain and swelling are often accompanied by weakness of grip in hand disorders. A careful history and a complete physical examination are important. The presence of symptoms elsewhere in the body is important to establish.
Two serious hand problems are:
• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD). This is caused by a disorder of the sympathetic nervous system. Typically, it is described as a burning pain. The precipitating factor may be trauma Color changes including purplish discoloration of the fingers may occur. The treatment involves a special procedure called stellate ganglion block. Usually performed by an anesthesiologist, this procedure is often very effective.
• Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. The hand becomes swollen and painful. This picture occasionally occurs in patients with underlying cancers.
Other hand problems that point to other diseases:
• Psoriasis may also cause pitting or lifting up (onycholysis) of the fingernails.
• Abnormal blood vessel patterns near the fingernails may signify auto-immune diseases like lupus.
• Raynaud's phenomenon... When fingers blanch (turn white) this may be a sign of an underlying autoimmune problem such as systemic lupus erythematosus or scleroderma.
• Bumps, called “nodules” can develop as a result of osteoarthritis, gout, and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Depuytren’s contracture is a problem where the skin in the palm may become thickened and shortened. A cord of tissue develops and causes fingers to bend into the palm. Treatment for this problem may be steroid injection, splinting, and physical therapy. Surgery is often needed. This condition occurs with other medical diseases.
Virtually all types of arthritis can affect the wrist and hand.
Arthritis when untreated or poorly treated will lead to deformity. Tendonitis is another common problem in the wrist and hand. In the wrist, tendonitis usually causes pain and localized swelling. Tendonitis can be confused with arthritis.
Tendonitis in the hand is most common in the palm. This causes locking or triggering of the fingers. Steroid injection and physical therapy are usually effective treatments. Treatment consists of anti-inflammatory medication, steroid injection, splinting, and occasionally physical therapy.
Tips to make your hand pain better...
• Wear splints if you’re going to be doing a lot of repetitive motions
• Use your whole arm instead of just your hand and wrist
• Enlarge the handles on your tools. You can get kitchen utensils and writing implements with enlarges handles. They’re worth it.
• Make sure to take rest breaks.
• Avoid repetitive movements when possible.
• Carry objects with the palms open and flat. This will take the pressure off your wrists and fingers.
A common cause of hand pain is carpal tunnel syndrome
... pinching of the median nerve in the wrist. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a symptom- much like fever... it is not a disease! It is the most common cause of tingling in the hands. Besides tingling, burning pain may also occur. Patients often have discomfort at night that is relieved by hanging the affected hand over the side of the bed or vigorously shaking the hands.
The discomfort of carpal tunnel syndrome can also be brought on by holding up the newspaper while reading, or by driving. Causes of carpal tunnel syndrome include arthritis, endocrine problems, pregnancy, trauma, infection, tumors, and overuse. Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome depends on the severity. Mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome is treated with splinting, sometimes steroid injection, and avoidance of overuse. For patients with carpal tunnel syndrome that doesn’t respond to conservative measures or where the carpal tunnel syndrome is severe, surgery is indicated.
Radial nerve damage leads to wrist drop. Radial nerve pressure in the wrist can occur as a result of repetitive motion, tight pressure (handcuffs, watchbands, bracelets), diabetes, and trauma. Ulnar nerve damage and compression in the wrist can cause a "claw hand." Treatment consists of anti-inflammatory medication, rest, splinting, injection, and sometimes surgery.
Treatment of hand disorders is entirely dependent on making an accurate and specific diagnosis.
Dr. Wei (pronounced “way”) is a board-certified rheumatologist and Clinical Director of the nationally respected Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center of Maryland. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and has served as a consultant to the Arthritis Branch of the National Institutes of Health. He is a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology and the American College of Physicians. For more information on arthritis and related conditions, go to:
http://www.arthritis-treatment-and-relief.com/
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Review: Godaddy
In the last ten years, I have hosted my multiple blogs, major web sites, and ecommerce sites on various websites. I’ve never used Godaddy, because it is more expensive, but only because I can handle a lot of my own trouble shooting.
However, for domain names – Godaddy cannot be beat. Their prices are reasonable, the services is unparalleled on the web, and the site is easy to navigate and use. Anyone can manage their own domains at Godaddy, even if they are new.
But, this is not why I recommend this service to everyone. I’ve hosted my domains with others. The one that promised the cheapest price was cheap, then at the renewal they wanted $40.00 a year. This is not uncommon. I am still paying the same price for my domains at Godaddy that I did 3 years ago. In fact, I can still buy domains for $1.99, and if a sale comes up, I can renew them for that price.
I hosted my domains with 2 or 3 sites that ‘stole’ them. When I left the site, or did not want to pay the price, they kept the domain. In fact, if I have a free domain now, I just park it. I never use it in a link campaign. At least, not until I move it to godaddy.
I learned the hard way. I had a good domain name, it attracted a lot of traffic. However, when the hosting service started complaining because I was using too much CPU burden, and I moved, they kept the domain name. They would not reply to my emails.
Then- there was the company that went under ‘overnight’ and I lost everything.
It takes a long time to build an ecommerce business. I own blogs that earn several hundred of dollars a month. If I were to lose those domain names then I lose 3 years of Internet Marketing
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Feb 27, 2008
What Is IZEA RealRank?
Tired of Google changing the rules? Tired of their sliding scale that changes your rank every few months? So is everyone else. Google is irrelevant in most cases. The unpredictable nature is valuable to their advertisers, but few other people. They have also started to ‘hit’ other paid advertising mediums, such as paid posts, by lowering the page rank of sites that use those revenue generating systems.
RealRank data is a javascript that gathers traffic information. It ranks websites:
70% weighted towards visitors per day
20% weighted towards amount of ‘active’ inbound links ‘per day’
10% weighted towards page views per day
The problem is that IZEA only tracks blogs that opt in and put a script according to some pro blogging sites. However, I have blogs at several paid posts and have a rank on them, even though I have not opted in.
If you are with payperpost, then the script is already installed on your blogs through the PPP tool.
The problem is that real rank doesn’t take into account the social networking. Most important, RealRank ignores RSS feeds. One site may buy 10 000 hits, while another is 100% organic with 1000 subscribers, and yet the first site ranks higher.
The second problem – based on gossip – is that inbound links are measured only from other IZEA sites and blogs. This means that anyone with 10 – 20 blogs that link to each other, then that site will earn more link credit after a while than a site with a few hundred organic inbound links.
What makes the problem? The embedded IZEA link, it makes the system ‘exclusive.’ Ah well – we couldn’t expect it to be perfect.
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What Is Internet Marketing?
Internet marketing is complicated. Most small businesses end up buying the wrong services, then are left jaded, believing that most internet marketing programs are scams.
Internet marketing involves anything that attracts visitors to a website, increases the sites’s exposure on search engines, and increases the site’s chances of generating revenue.
Buy Traffic
Buying traffic is good. Expect to waste a few campaigns until you match the websites with the traffic. Low performance numbers does not mean a problem with the service provider or the website. There are several factors that can ruin an internet marketing campaign.
Blogging
Blogging is a type of Internet Marketing. Multiple blogs can be used to build inbound links, pre-sell visitors, and can attract traffic. But, that is the ‘amateur version.’
Every time an article is published, the blog search engines ‘ping’ the blog search engines. This increases the site’s exposure. A blog can also be submitted to blog directories, which increase their page rank, in turn, increasing the rank of the main site.
Blogs can also be submitted to social networks. A website can be submitted once. A website that is networked to blogs, can be submitted 11 times.
Article Submission
This is a great method of building links- if you use a paid submission service such as www.isnare.com. The problem is, after a while the articles are so deep in the system that they are no longer registered by search engines. That means that the articles must be rewritten, and resubmitted, at least once a year.
The only site you should manually submit to is www.ezinearticle.com and a couple of the top ranking sites, as long as isnare doesn’t submit to them.
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Feb 9, 2008
Three Time Management Methods
The biggest misunderstanding about time management is the concept of managing time. Time passes, whether it is managed or not. There are people who can write all day and finish one page and others who write all day and finish three.
The results of poor time management on a writer can be devastating. The causes of poor time management are not found in a person’s organization skills, but in their attitude toward life. It is easy for a councilor or coach to say ‘prioritize.’ It is much harder to prioritize in an effective manner.
Two Methods
Work First
When prioritizing effectively determine what is the most important task, by the consequences of neglect. Start keeping a journal. Chart the amount of time spent on tasks that do not generate an income and those that do. A productive writer sits down and writes for a pre-determined length of time. They trained themselves to do this. It doesn’t come easy. At first, a writer will sit and stare at a blank screen, doing creative writing exercises in an attempt to fill the time. In the short term, this solution can be justified.
A better solution is to pick a subject and start writing. It doesn’t matter if there is a market for the article. A professional writer knows that every article and short story can be rewritten and resold a hundred times. The first attempt is never the last. This in this case the writer is putting the need to be productive ahead of their personal need to feel comfortable and satisfied with their writing.
However, this method is not the best one for all writers.
Self Actualization First
The writer who puts their own needs first, the job next, and the success third is not always counter productive. If satisfying their needs is important to their self-actualizing, the person should set aside time aside to focus on each task, preventing their personal needs from overriding their goal of publication.
The danger for this writer is that they will never write anything unless they receive what they consider fair compensation, or the affirmation of a large publisher. The likelihood of this writer ever reaching their goals without a schedule is slim.
Once you pick a method of managing your day, stick to it at least three months before making any dramatic changes.
Prioritizing for Procrastinators
Many people waste more time managing and organizing their time than they would loose if they just took each day as it came.
List your tasks in order of the consequences if the task is not completed, not the greatest importance. Starting a list with the tasks that bear the greatest consequences, if not finished, causes a dramatic paradigm shift. The tasks you thought were most important, probably because they represented a personal need or goal are near the bottom. The tasks near the top, earning an income, become the focus of the day.
The next step is to start – and finish – each job in order. For some, this may mean allowing the answering machine to pick up the phone. For others it may mean viewing your writing job as if it were a position with an employer. You could not stop work in an office to do laundry, run errands, or catch your favorite show. Why stop writing to answer the phone?
Finish One Job Before Starting the Next
“A job worth doing is one worth doing well.” Many people are confused by the concept of finishing a job. A job is not finished until it can be put away, or delivered, without needing to rework the task. The household laundry is a good example. People drag all the laundry to the basement and sort it, then go do something else. Then, they return to wash a couple loads, and then leave the clean laundry in baskets. Eliminating the interruptions, and finishing one task before starting another, is more productive. After a routine is established, the familiarity will reduce the time needed to finish the task.
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Jan 29, 2008
Better Website ROI - a New Form of Advertising
Better website ROI (return on investment) is a goal that anyone who runs a website is interested in. Webmasters are always searching for new ways to generate money from whatever traffic they are able to get to their sites. Until recently, all website income was generated from some action that website visitors had to take once they landed on the site, whether that be purchasing something from the site (or eventually purchasing something from a follow-up email campaign), or clicking on some type of pay per click (PPC) ad such as a banner ad or Google Adsense ad. As we all know, just because someone visits your website, it doesn't mean they are going to generate money for you. Until now, that is!
Better website ROI is guaranteed through a new form of internet advertising being called PPP or pay per play. PPP ads are somewhat similar to PPC ads in that the webmaster receives a percentage of the ad cost paid by the advertiser to the sponsor (such as Google in the case of AdSense). The difference is, with PPP advertising, the webmaster gets paid whenever someone visits a page that is set up with the PPP scripting - the visitor doesn't have to do anything other than simply visit the page. Another huge difference is that PPP ads do not draw visitors away from the webmaster's site like pay per click ads do.
Better website ROI is certain when using PPP ads and they have the advantage of not redirecting traffic from the webmaster's site. A PPP ad is typically a short audio ad lasting about 5 seconds (with a few minutes between ads) and ads are played automatically on any page set up with the PPP scripting. So, all traffic to the site means money to the webmaster, and PPP payments are quite competetive with what webmasters currently earn on a PPC basis.
In addition, at least for the short-term, multi-tiered affiliate earnings are available for webmasters who get involved with PPP ads. The leading PPP program pays the webmaster 25% on ads on the webmaster's own site, plus 5% on the ads on sites of webmasters he or she refers, plus 5% on the ads on sites those referred webmasters refer. So, not only does PPP result in better website ROI directly on the webmaster's own sites, but he or she can make residual income on the advertising placed on other webmasters' sites that he or she refers to the program.
With PPP, now every webmaster has the opportunity for better website ROI.
George Best is a webmaster for several sites. For more information on profiting with PPP advertising, visit Better Website ROI.
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