Saturday, June 30, 2012

Taking Care Of Your Pet

People think having a pet and taking care of it is easy it isn’t. Before you buy a pet do a lot of research, buy a book or look online.

Cats are the easiest pets to look after as they tend to look after themselves, buy a cat flap so they can come in and out as they please, clean the litter tray daily, keep water and food down for them, as cats eat little and often. Also booster injections every year.

Before you go out and buy a dog there are a lot of things to consider. Is the garden big enough? Is there always someone around to take it for walks? Are you going to take it on holiday with you, or put it in kennels? A happy dog can give you years of happiness. Dogs can be expensive to keep, injections when they’re puppies, then a booster every year. If you’re not going to breed from your dog, neutering it is also expensive. Don’t overfeed your dog with scraps, cheese, chocolate and milk isn’t good for your dog. If you take your dog out in the car, always keep a window slightly open; take a bowl and plenty of water with you, especially if it’s hot.

Rabbits and Guinea Pigs can live together, but not if the rabbit is male, as they will fight. Rabbits need to be cleaned out two or three times a week. Never give a rabbit lettuce as this could kill it. Don’t keep your rabbit or Guinea Pig in the hutch all the time, build them a run, this way they can exercise and get plenty of fresh air, also keeps the grass down. In the winter if you’re not going to keep it in the house, protect it from the cold, by putting it in a shed.

Fish pretty much look after themselves. If you’re going to buy fish it can be expensive for a start, with all the equipment you will need, water pump, air filter etc, this will save you cleaning the tank out every few days. If you’re using furniture polish or fly spray cover the tank if it hasn’t got a lid, the fumes from these can kill fish.

If you’re going for the more exotic animals such as Snakes and Spiders, always go to a reputable dealer, there are a lot of these exotic animals for sale on the black market. These tend to need expert care.

Friday, June 29, 2012

How To Register A Domain Name

You may be wondering if you should get a .com, .net, .info, or .whatever kind of domain. So many different kinds of domain extensions to choose from, and so little time. If you are registering a domain name for a for profit business, you should always register a .com domain. From a brand perspective, there is no better domain than a .com domain. Most people associate business domains with the .com extension just like they associate school domains with the .edu extension.

It may not make any difference in the beginning, but the more successful you become the more it could hurt you. Let’s say you develop a new product idea and the .com domain name you want to call it is not available, so you register the .net domain instead. Sounds harmless enough. Now, let’s fast-forward a couple of years. You have spent time and money to develop your brand and people are searching for your product online with the .com extension simply because they expect you to own the domain with the .com extension.

Another reason to shy away from other than .com domain names is that someone may already have copyright protection for the domain name you want to register. Look further if the .com domain you desire is not available. Even if you don’t find the exact domain you initially searched for, you may find one that is better than your original idea.

Whenever the domain you desire is not available through the registrar, you can try purchasing it from the registered owner. Unfortunately, many people register domain names to take advantage of others. The common name for such a person is domain squatter. I only recommend buying domain names from domain squatters if you have money to burn. The more they know you want it, the worse your chances of getting a good deal.

In other situations, someone may have good reason to own your desired domain name. It is unlikely that you’ll be able to buy the domain name from a thriving online business. It is possible that you run across a Web site with the perfect domain name for your business.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

On To AOL For Broadband..

If you are switching from dialup Internet service, and already use AOL, they may offer you AOL for broadband when you make the switch. For many AOL users, this is something they do because they don’t want to lose their AOL email address that they may have been using for years. But for those who have never had AOL, you might wonder if this is something you want to do.

The last time I moved, I signed up for a free test with AOL dialup before I decided I’d rather have DSL or cable Internet. The trial was fine, but I had a hard time getting out of it once I decided to go another way. They pursue me to purchases AOL for broadband, even though I repeatedly said I didn’t need it.

It was an extra cost above and beyond what I needed to pay for my Internet service. The more I said no, the more they tried. I have to hand it to them, they are good at what they do, and I realize the person I was talking to was only doing their job. The competition for your Internet dollar is fierce, and they want to get and keep all the customers they can. I wasn’t convinced that I needed to pay an extra five dollars a month for AOL for broadband, and in the end they finally listened.

AOL for broadband has its advantages, and you will find many customers who have used AOL for dialup with stay with them for broadband services. While I don’t know for sure, AOL has probably come up with a better way to keep customers, perhaps by offering the entire package for the same price you might get from your phone or cable company. However, if you have been unhappy in the past, you may be excited to try someone else.

The time you have spent with AOL may make your decision for you. If you have not had a pleasant experience with them on dialup, you may not want to get AOL for broadband when you switch to a faster connection. If you want to stay with them, ask them for a deal. They may give you what you want to keep you as a customer. Just like any other product, AOL for broadband will have its good points and its bad points the final decision should be about service and price.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Finding And Adding A Cool Profile Layout

MySpace comes with the same basic profile layout on all of its free accounts. There is nothing striking about it, and be able to fail to express your individual personality. Custom and pre-made layouts are available in order to assist you in customizing the profile that best fits you. The next section will touch on locating and using the custom and pre-made layouts for your MySpace profile

Although newbie to Myspace will primarily begin with a basis profile design provided, usually members choose to modify their profiles by exploring one that suits their taste. A large number of websites offers customized design codes that extremely transform the appearance of your MySpace profile, customize it to better fit you!

Using your preferred search engine, you can produce a list of websites which offers a range selection of layouts. Enter the words “MySpace Layouts” on your search engine to seek. With that, it will produce a list of links to provide you potential sites that offer layouts of your choice.

The moment you decide which layout to use for your MySpace profile, that’s the point where you set the code in its proper place. Every layout normally has a code related to it, and you need to copy the code. Paste the code on your wordpad and minimize the window.

Now it's time to set the code into your MySpace profile. To do that, you need to be logged into your MySpace account. Once you’re in, you must see a link to click, in order to "Edit Profile”. The link can be found beside your picture at the top of the list. When you click this link, you will be set to add your new layout code.

You will notice a part that says "About Me" on the "Edit Profile" page of your MySpace account. Now you have to copy again the profile code from the wordpad where you saved it earlier. Paste the saved code into the top of your "About Me" part, before any text or graphics you may have previously place in this area. Click "Save All Changes", at the top the page, and it is all set. Once you view your profile, you will now see the new layout.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Advantages Of Website Blocking

The Internet is like one huge portal for people worldwide to connect all hours of the day and night and find fun things to do online, great reading, wonderful sites full of information and research materials, convenient shopping and plenty of other services and features. This portal to the world comes with some major problematic issues, and thankfully solutions for them as well.

Here are three main issues of concern with the Internet:

1) Unwanted Sites - One major problem with websites is that a large amount do not feature what you might call G-rated content; i.e. content for all ages. Plus for many people, the content is explicit, hateful, hurtful and very much unwanted.

Examples are porn sites, gambling sites, sites for people to voice their dislike over other races, religions, sexual orientation and more. Not only do you get crude language and x-rated photos on the sites, you can pick up computer bugs or unwanted cookies from the sites, attract nuts and place yourself in danger if you interact with others there. So for all ages, these sites can be dangerous and unwanted.

2) Fun Sites - Many fun sites like those offering interesting interactions with forums, fun safe games like cards or gaming like the kinds played with Xbox or Nintendo systems, are great - -but time consuming. This may be alright for time off, but for students who should be studying and adults and teens who should be working, they can cause:

- Loss in work production
- Loss in homework time
- Loss in family time
- Low grade
- Low work reviews = lower pay

Additional stress and loss in personal rest-and-relation time also results. So time needs monitored on these types of sites.

3) Unsafe Sites - Some websites might look like they have a lot to offer, but once you click them on, you can run into technical trouble. For example, you might get scripts that automatically try to take over your computer in different ways, banners and pop-up ads that try and do insert tracking devices into your systems and much more.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Build Your Telemarketing Lead List Using Webrings

Using webrings to build your telemarketing lead list is a excellent way to acquire leads. Webrings serve two purposes. First they can bring your websites much exposure. Second you will find websites in pretty much every field that can help you, with whatever you are trying to accomplish.

Before you can start using webrings to gain exposure for your websites, you must register. Go to http://webring.com and sign up. After you have completed the signing up process go through their start-up pages. One other point, when you decide to join a webring you will have to paste their code on your webpage.

Now this is the tricky part of using your webrings to build your telemarketing lead list. You must look for webrings that have high traffic. After that you want to find webrings that are relevant to your websites. For example if your websites are about dogs, it would not make any sense to join a webring focused on stock tips. Make sure your website is well done, having a good website will help you get accepted into a webring. Normally the high traffic webrings want only quality websites added to their webrings. So it is vital that your website is looks good and has quality content. Next you need to have a form on your webpage that asks for the customers info. Explain to them on the page that they will be receiving a call to qualify them and you now have a lead.

If you have friends with similar websites, you should think about starting your own webring.
If you plan are starting your own webring, here are somethings you should follow. Never allow a poorly done website in your webring. The websites reflect on you and your business. Demand the very best. The more quality websites you have the more traffic you will get. Next, find websites that you like and ask the webmasters to join your webring. Explain the benefits of the free traffic they will be getting. Follow this formula and you should have your own traffic producing webring in no time.

Using webrings to build your telemarketing lead list can bring you endless leads.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Working From Home, Freelance Business Opportunities

Working at home in a freelance job means that you are not guaranteed a regular pay cheque. But the advantage is that you can make a lot more money.

So what kind of jobs can you do as a freelance operator?

The best kind of work involves creative ability. Working as a freelance writer can be lucrative. Your business could involve writing text for web pages, writing articles and submitting them, being a ghost writer for a busy executive, proof reading and even just basic data entry.

Knowing how to use the internet is helpful because often you will be asked to write about subjects where your own knowledge is very limited.

Working at home as a free lance web designer can be profitable if you understand web site design and are a bit of a techie! According to recent reports 53% of small businesses now have a website. This means that there are still 47% of businesses that do not have a web presence.

Another area of opportunity lies in getting targeted traffic to existing and new websites. Most people assume that once they build a great website, traffic will come naturally. This is far from true.

Another type of business that you can work from home is turning your passion for taking pictures into a serious free lance business opportunity. With the advent of digital cameras this is no longer as expensive as it used to be and you can view all the pictures on your computer screen before deciding which ones to use and which ones to print!

To make it successful working from home it is important to become very good at one skill. There are many opportunities out there for people who are dedicated and can perform a task well.

Working from home is also becoming very popular with larger businesses who allow their employees to work from home. This allows them to keep great staff who feel they would like to spend more time with the family. If more companies followed suit then just maybe there would be less traffic on the road during rush hour.

Here's to your success.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Obtaining Financial Independence Online

Part I: Gearing Up to Work at Home

Note: In part one of our three-part "obtaining financial independence" series, we'll explore three ideal ways to gear up to work at a home business.

It is absolutely possible to obtain financial independence and professional freedom by working in a home business. However, it's important that before beginning your online business you prepare yourself and your surroundings for the work at home adventure.

1. Pick a Place to Work

Working from a home office sounds like fun, but it's often difficult to figure out where your personal life begins and your work life ends. Thus, it's critical as part of your work at home journey that you set up a specific area of your residence to be devoted 99.9% to work.

This can be a corner of your living room, an extra bedroom, or even a transformed walk-in closet. Equip your home business with a computer desk (always necessary, especially if you're launching an online business), ergonomically-safe chair, and plenty of good lighting. You may also need to install a phone line or data line.

2. Get Your Head "In the Game"

If this is your first foray into the work at home world, you have to make sure you're personally ready.

Many individuals who work at home choose to get up at a certain time each day, as if they are leaving for offsite work. Even those folks who operate online business companies (and who rarely meet with clients or colleagues) can find this technique helpful. After all, if you're in your pajamas, it can be tough to feel like buckling down.

3. Have Support

Finally, it's critical that you have the financial and emotional support of your family and friends. If you do not, operating a successful home business can be maddening (and may be destined to fail in the long run). You don't have to explicitly ask your loved ones to sign a formal document stating they'll stand by your work at home venture, but do make certain that they understand how important this is to you.

Next in our three part series, we'll look at how to launch your online business with ease.

Friday, June 22, 2012

The Truth About First Magnus

Truth or Fiction? Was this yet another lender who showed up to the Credit Orgy invite that went bad?

Recently posted articles and blog comments about First Magnus Financial Corporation, relay the plight of another lender gone bad...closes its doors, almost all of its 6,000 employees out of a job, and First Magnus officials say a bankruptcy filing is possible.

What is most interesting about this lender is that the corporation decided to point fingers at all parties except themselves...and ruined the lives of many by doing so. This author has received many calls and emails from former First Magnus employees that detail internal underwriting tactics that would make the hair on the back of your neck rise.

There are also factual instances of aggressive underwriting such as exposing a risk of $640,517 to the Federal Housing Administration’s insurance fund (See: Inspector General Arizona Audit Report No. 2006-LA-1018). Additional lawsuits and fines involving First Magnus can be viewed at http://www.TalkingPanther.com blog.

First Magnus in one specific instance lent almost $1.8 Million dollars to just one person in less than 30 days so that he could buy 6 properties in Las Vegas. On information and belief, this buyer submitted a stated income loan, which in the credit orgy days of 2003-2006, meant that if you had a pulse, you can get a loan. Imagine being able to get $1.8 Million of start up capital to start a real business that would do good for the economy, employ people and create a product!

This author, Maria Gudelis has been named in a slanderous lawsuit filed by First Magnus that caused severe damage to reputation and business. The lawsuit is filled with utter viciousness and oozes witch hunt all over. Over a hundred pages of allegations and interpretations that will curl your toes. One will question, as our attorney did, how did they come up with such fiction? Even a Hollywood screen writer could not have done a better job.

It is interested to note that the week we are filing a $50 Million counter suit, that First Magnus will most likely file bankruptcy.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Seo - Use Dmoz For Excellent Results

There have been many discussions about how registering with DMOZ affects your sites ranking. However, the majority of Search Engine Optimisers (SEO) will agree that registering with the DMOZ directory will help your site significantly improve in the search engine results. It’s not always going to make the biggest difference to your site but on the whole it should help your site jump up quite a few places. Even if it does nothing for your site, it is still a link back to your site.

There are two common ways to get your site listed in the DMOZ directory. The first is to try and find your relative category; this is by far the hardest way to go about registering your site with DMOZ. Speaking from experience, I would not suggest this way as people almost always get their DMOZ entry in the wrong category. This will delay your insertion into DMOZ by months and months.

The second way in which you can apply to get your site listed in DMOZ is by going through your regions until you find your specific town or city. I would certainly suggest going about registering your site with DMOZ in this manner.

When registering your site with DMOZ, you will be asked to fill out a little bit of information about your website. Make it matter of fact as if it was another person describing what your site offers. Avoid words that promote your site, like best, leader, brilliant etc. DMOZ does not want sales pitches in their descriptions they simply want to know what your website has to offer. Since I am an editor as DMOZ, I can confirm that having to rewrite website descriptions does not motivate me to registering a particular site. I usually do all the websites that don’t need much work and then get around to registering the ones that do.

As of writing this article DMOZ has been out of action for almost two months, this has stopped any new websites being registered. It is assumed that DMOZ will be back online and accepting new website submissions by the beginning of 2007.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Grow Your Business Through Franchising

Most business owners would like to significantly grow their business. Franchising can be a very effective way to do this with the added advantage that minimal investment in additional premises, business equipment and employees is required. Franchisees fund this expansion for them. This approach makes franchising a low risk option for business owners providing they have a robust product or service.

A major problem for business owners in expanding their business is finding the right employees to take the company forward. Franchising enables you to find highly committed, capable and motivated franchisees who invest their own capital to purchase your business franchise. They are very focused and follow your business systems, quality pricedures and processes.

The types of business that are suitable for franchising are endless too. Many different industries use franchising to distribute their products and services across the market place. If a business has a good profit margin and can teach franchisees to replicate their systems and processes then it is likely that it can be franchised.

The main income streams from franchising a business can include some or all of the following, the franchise fee, a monthly support fee, a percentage of turnover , the supply of products and services to franchisees, buying power discounts, and increased sales of products and services (both front end and back end).

The Franchise Model is the key factor in the success of a franchise. It's aim is to maximise the income of both the franchisor (the franchising business) and the franchisee. The success of the franchisees will ultimately determine how many franchises the business can sell and at what price it can sell them at.

A robust Franchise Model effectively implemented has the potential to significantly increase turnover and profits. This makes franchising a strategy worth researching for most Business Owners. Research can be done for virtually zero cost and most Franchise Consultants will offer a Free Evaluation Service.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Truth About Gold Mines

Since your childhood you have probably seen people panning for gold and wondered if they ever struck it rich. Using only a pan and water, and of course some magical stream, you may have thought a few establish gold mines of considerable substance.

But in reality, gold reserves are more substantial in rock formations than in the pebbles at the bottom of a creek bed. Industrially, panning for gold is an inefficient way to find the ore. However, modern gold mines bring risk which many investors simply don't want to shoulder.

Gold has enduring value, but at the same time it is getting harder to find. The age of Globalization, we now have an economic boom in parts of the world where it has not happened in centuries. In a few of these countries, gold is revered.

Take, for instance, India and China, both which have a significant impact on world economic trends. They also both have cultural ties to gold as the measure of wealth. Throughout the world, countries are gaining stature, and at the same time, buying gold as an investment.

So what's happening? Well, the rapid demand for gold right now, is passing what the mines can bring out of the ground. The search for new gold has never been certain and has proven to be risky. And the mines, who knows how long they will hold out? Estimates are made, but not always accurate. There is also significant time from discovery to production - sometimes years.

Mines are dangerous places, as we've experienced throughout history. Gold mines carry an additional risk of waste that may seep into the water table. Although production methods have greatly improved, many countries are still not up to speed.

All this makes it an excellent time to invest in gold. The demand is there and can be verified. The rarity of gold is real. Mines can't produce it fast enough. New mines may be years away from production. Yield cannot be accurately calculated. It makes sense to at least look into gold investing. See what you can afford and purchase some for your financial portfolio. You'll be glad you did.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Domain Name Complications

Some of the tell tale sites of domain name that may be easier to obtain are a home to low quality Web sites. If you find yourself in this situation, contact the registered owner and ask if they would consider selling it to you. If the price is right, you may be able to make a deal. To maintain a cool head during the process, don’t act desperate to own the domain.

If the registered owner is willing to sell you the domain name be sure to use an escrow company. There are reputable escrow companies that will guide you through the buying process while minimizing your risks. It is worth spending a modest amount to ensure that you don’t get burned in cyberspace.

Your Web address is part of your brand strategy, and you have to make sure it is easy to remember. Try to pick a name that is easy to remember. I once worked for a company called ZZYZX. The domain name was www.zzyzxdotcom. Even though it is a short name it is a terrible name, because nobody knew how to spell it or pronounce it. You want your customers to be able to remember and refer your brand to others, so make it as easy for them as you can.

Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters, but I don’t know why would anyone want a domain name 67 characters long. Your domain name can include 26 letters of the English alphabet, numbers 0-9, and hyphens (-).The domain name cannot begin or end with a hyphen but, it can contain one or more hyphens. Don’t settle for a short domain name that doesn’t compliment your business just to avoid a longer one. As a general rule, shorter domain names are easier to remember, easier to type and far less susceptible to mistakes. For example, "hellodotcom" is easier to remember and less prone to typos than "saygoodmorninginthemorningandgoodeveningintheeveningdotcom".

Others argue that a longer domain name is usually easier on people because it is easier to attach meaning. A short but cryptic name such as zzyzxdotcom is not at all better name than a longer meaningful domain name such as raidsforlessdotcom.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Business De-bugging

Bug tracking software is an application that helps programmers keep track of problems in their software programs. These problems are referred to commonly as bugs. Another name for bug tracking software is issue tracking software or system.

Many bug-tracking software programs, primarily open source programs (those that allow users to make changes) will let any users report these bugs as soon as they locate them. Other bug tracking software applications are only used in-house by an organization or business entity that is developing its own software. Most of the time bug tracking software is integrated with other project management software.

Bug tracking software is highly regarded in the world of software development, with software development firms using it extensively.

One of the major components of any bug tracking software is a database for recording facts about the bugs that are known. These facts could include the date and time the bug was first recorded, how severe it is, the erroneous behavior it exhibits or produces, and the details about reproduction of the bug. The software should also provide for documentation of the name of the person reporting each as well as the name of any engineers or programmers who are working on correcting it.

Most bug tracking software supports the bug life cycle concept. This is tracked by assigning a status to each bug. The bug tracking program should let administrators determine which users are allowed to editor or view a bug in what status, who can move each bug to a different status, or delete it altogether. The application should also let administrators configure the status of each bug and what status it is allowed to relocate to.

A bug tracking software can generate reports in a corporate environment. These reports note the programming productivity associated with repairing bugs. Generally bug tracking software is used by a team of professionals who specialize in application support or help desk functions, keeping track of issues that they convey to software developers.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bug_tracking

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Inbound Links Role In SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is one of the most important aspects of owning and operating a web site on the web today. While some people are still trying to ignore this procedure, the experts cannot stress how important the issue is if you plan to make a play for the top spot in the search engines. Then one must consider all of the different roles that are in play when it comes to SEO. Take the inbound links role in SEO. Many people are overlooking the inbound links role in SEO and that is a big mistake to make in this day and age. Just because you believe that you site is unique does not make it so. Over all there is a big deal when it comes to the inbound links role in SEO and one that should not be ignored by anyone who wishes to be successful in the world of ecommerce from any stand point.

When you are looking at the inbound links role in SEO one must think about doors. Doors are a passage or entry into a building. A house will most likely have only two doors, a front and a back. This is due to the fact that there is not a lot of traffic going in and out of the doors and therefore more is not needed. But what about a large retail establishment? They have a big reason to have more then one door to their place, so they can allow more customers to come and go all at the same time. The same is true of inbound links and your web site. An inbound link is a link that is housed on another web site and points to your web site. So in all truth this is a passage or a door to your business. Much like a live brick and mortar business, you want to have as many doors as possible to your site. This is the inbound links role in SEO. There is the matter that having more ways to get into your site will make it more friendly and appealing to not only the customers, but also the search engines.

The more sites that the search engines find with your inbound link on them the higher the ranking in the search results the site will get. This shows that the site is popular with a lot of people and they are willing to point the people that visit their site to the doors of your site.

Friday, June 15, 2012

A Few Tips For Starting A Business That Will Succeed

Plans for starting a new business are a dime a dozen but without any forethought or planning these plans could remain pipe dreams. Here a few way to turn your business into a money-maker.

Do something you really love: Considering the amount of time and energy you are going to spend setting up the business, it is really important that you love what you do and do what you love.

Make a business plan: Put your ideas down on paper and include detailed plans - right from how much money you need to start the business and where you intend to get it from; to what your proposed marketing strategies include and how much profit you hope to make. Remember, if you cannot make your plan work on paper, chances are it may not take off the ground in real life as well.

Do in-depth research: Don’t just skim the surface when researching the business you are planning on starting up. Become an expert in your chosen field. Uncover every stumbling block and loophole you may encounter along the way and plan in advance how to avoid or overcome them.

Be totally committed: Starting up a business requires a lot of long hours and hard toil. Be prepared to spend endless days and sleepless nights as you tie up loose ends and put your plan together.

Sort out your finances: Know in advance where your money is coming from. If you have not managed to save enough, approach potential lenders and investors and figure out what your chances are of raising enough money to start your business and have some extra to fall back on. Don’t presume anything. Check everything out for sure.

Entice your customers before you open shop: Hard sell your product or your service to potential clients before your business officially starts up. Advertise; give away free samples and promos. Good marketing is the key to a successful business.

Get professional help: Don’t try to handle the marketing as well the financial and legal aspects of the business. You’ll soon be overwhelmed by it all and more than likely to give it up. Delegate it to people who know more about it than you do.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

San Diego Directories

The San Diego Directories are great to have whether you live there or on vacation. These guides offer you the best places to eat, places to see, business listings and some even have company profiles. There are a couple of directories online that can help you look for anything you need in the city of San Diego. They can help with residence or business locations.

The Old Town San Diego Business Directory can provide you with yearly local events, historical places to see, parks and beaches to go to. It will provide you with bus lines and train stations. In addition it can help with locating a certain business you need. Or like the Yellow Pages it groups the same types of businesses together for easy use.

Then there is the San Diego Yellow Pages Directory. This is a business directory where the types of business of categories alphabetically and then list all of the businesses accordingly. There are also the San Diego White Pages, this is a residential directory. If someone has a listed phone number they will appear in the directory. These White Pages has State, Local and Government pages listings. Emergency numbers as local police and hospital information.

In this day and age of the computer, there are online directories as well. One being the City of San Diego.com, this offers a complete online directory of hotels, places of interest, beach location, attractions, such as the San Diego Zoo and Sea World. They also offer apartment rentals, almost like our next directory Craig’s List.

Craig’s List is a great city directory; it can give you jobs postings, items for sale, people offering their services. It is more of a personal directory than some of the larger directories. Another online directory is called 1800 San Diego.com. San Diego Biz Smart.com

All of these directories we have mentioned even the online directories, all contain any information you will need about who is in San Diego as well as what is in Sam Diego. Things to see, things to do, transportation and local yearly events and not to mention reference numbers as well.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Are There Any Good Ebay Alternatives?

When it comes to selling your items at auctions, I’m frequently asked what some good alternatives to eBay are. Usually, the person asking wants an alternative to eBay because they think the fees are too high or there is too much competition eBay.

I too have dabbled in eBay alternatives. The overwhelming problem for the vast majority of these sites is that the traffic to these sites is simply too low or nonexistent to bring in good prices.

According to http://Alexa.com, eBay is the world’s 12th most popular site. That means there are millions of people a day who go to eBay to shop. So just going to a site where the fees are lower doesn’t necessarily make sense if they’re attracting less traffic since the prices you’ll get tend to be lower as well.

That’s not to say there aren’t any viable options to eBay. The key to doing well with eBay alternatives is to find a niche auction site.

You want to find a site that specializes in the items you’re selling. For example, in the past I’ve sold coins on specialty auction sites and got better prices than I would have on eBay. However, the fee was actually higher than it would have been had I used eBay.

There are also sites that specialize in selling jewelry, electronics, art, and even links to websites. These sites may not have near the traffic levels that eBay has, but are able to be successful because they attract a very targeted audience.

So should you use eBay or should you go with the niche sites? It depends. Yes, the fees on eBay may be higher than some of those other auctions sites. However, the fees the eBay charges may be lower than some of the specialized sites. You need to test the prices you get to help you determine which is the best for you. You may even find that both are effective ways to sell your items.

For those of you who sell a lot of different items, then you’ll probably want to stick to eBay since you can build up your feedback for all the different items you sell and can manage everything from one centralized account.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Using The Web: Search Engines, Directories And Safety, Part 1

Next, we'll be learning about directories and portals and protecting your safety on the Internet.

Now that you've mastered the search, you can make your life even easier by letting someone else do the work for you – directories and portals.

Directories and portals are sort of a simpler form of search engine. A directory divides items and information into categories to make it easier to find. A portal does the same thing, but it will often display feature items or news stories that it thinks may interest you. Most directories and portals are sorted by topic. If you want information on 'cruises,' just look under their 'Travel' category and you'll find it!

The Internet is a great tool. There are many benefits to using the Internet, but there are also risks. These risks include contracting computer 'viruses' that can harm your computer and having your personal information fall into the wrong hands. Here are some tips for avoiding both these problems:

First – computer viruses; computer viruses are small pieces of software and like real viruses, they spread from one computer to another. They can cause your computer to malfunction or work very slowly. The best defense against computer viruses is installing up-to-date anti-virus software. Other defenses include not opening email attachments unless you are expecting a file, and not downloading any files from the Internet unless you trust the source.

Second – keeping your personal information safe; the best way to do this is to keep your personal information private. Never give out passwords or information to people or websites that aren't safe and trusted. Keep your credit card and banking information as protected as you would in real life. It's okay to shop on-line, but do so at sites that have privacy and security policies.

The Internet is an amazing resource. Whether you're buying the latest bestseller, sending emails to your family, getting local movie times or researching – it can all be done quickly on-line. But, it's important to stay safe and, of course, have fun!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Keep Visitors Returning To Your Web Site

All successful websites depend on returning visitors as they account for a significant proportion of their traffic. Returning visitors are easier to convert into paying customers because of the credibility issue: the more visits, the more trust is built up. Therefore, to keep your visitors coming back to your website, try some or all of the following methods:

1) Start a forum

When you start a forum, you provide your visitors with a place to voice their opinions and interact with other visitors. As conversations build, a sense of community follows and your visitors will come back to your site religiously.

2) Start a blog

Create a blog attached to your website and keep it updated with the latest news or stories. Human beings are curious creatures and they will return to your website if you post fresh content frequently. You will also build up your credibility as you are proving to them that there is also a real live person behind the website.

3) Carry out polls or surveys

Polls and surveys are other forms of interaction that you should consider adding. They provide a quick way for visitors to interact with your website. Be sure that the polls or surveys are relevant to your website’s theme. Your visitors will return to find out the results.

4) Puzzles, quizzes, games and jokes.

How many bored people are out there looking for something stimulating or amusing. People will keep visiting your site if you provide them with interesting, amusing or addictive forms of entertainment. You could also hold competitions and reward the winners. This will definitely keep people coming back trying to win a prize or read the joke of the day.

5) Update frequently

Update your site frequently with fresh content so that every time your visitors return, they will have something new to read. This is the most effective method of attracting returning visitors, but this it is also the least carried out one. No one wants to browse a site that looks the same year in year out, so keep your site updated with fresh content.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Tell-A-Friend Script As A Viral List Building Tool - Part I

This is no secret but have you been using it for your business?

Getting free referrals from your existing contacts, subscribers or customers is a brilliant way to grow your mailing list.

As lots of people keep on claiming that money is in the list and you have to find multiple ways to increase your subscriber database, you wouldn't want to avoid using this simple, yet powerful tool.

A Tell-A-Friend Script.

What the script does is give your website visitors the ability to refer other people to your website. Just by simply adding a few names and email addresses, your subscribers can refer their friends and contacts to your website without having you to bug them to do so. If done properly, your website visitors will be more than happy to refer not only one, but probably 5 to 7 contacts at one time.

I've done some marketing test on a product using just a tell-a-friend strategy and within 2 weeks, I collected more than 700 subscribers. I know that 700 is not a big number but if it's free marketing, why not do it?

Moreover, you install the tell-a-friend script on your webhost once and your marketing effort can run on its own over time. It won't stop there. The people that have been referred to your website will find the tell-a-friend webpage and use the script to refer more people.

This is when the marketing effort takes care on its own.

However, not all tell-a-friend scripts are created equal.

If you do a search on Google, you'll find many companies or individuals that offer free tell-a-friend services. Beware that most of the time 'free' does not always mean 'free'.

These companies might be offering the services for free. In return, they will put their own ads in front of the people your website visitors refer, or worst, they collect your referrals info as well.

I find that installing a script on my own web server is the best for me, but it's up to you to decide if there is any other services that suit your need.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Seo - Copyright Issues - What You Need To Know

The minute you upload something online you become a publisher. As an online publisher it is your responsibility to know a little bit about copyright law. This book is not a legal guide however here are some of the basic things that you need to know about blogging on the Internet.

First of all if you are going to copy someone else’s material you must ask permission first. This means contacting the author or the publisher and asking them for reprint rights. However sometimes the availability rights are printed right on the article along with information that you must credit to the author. This could include the date of original publication, where it was first published or the name of the publisher if it is from a book. Some articles may not be quoted or reprinted from unless you also provide a link to the URL of the author’s choice.

Crediting an article to its rightful source is called attribution. You must always attribute the work of others and you must do it every time you quote from the article. This is true of direct quotes and paraphrasing. You can’t condense someone else’s writing and then assume that the readers will know that it belongs to ideas that are quoted earlier on in the article. That is called plagiarism.

Another important copyright issue is “fair use.” This is a legally defined terms that allows U.S. citizens to copy and distribute the work of others as long as they adhere to certain legal terms. For instance, in the United States bloggers are allowed to quote sentences and short passages as long as the quote is credited to the author.

However giving credit is sometimes not enough and length may have a great deal to do with what you can replicate on the web. For instance you cannot copy and distribute your favorite piece of music through a web blog. Also laws vary from country to country. Don’t fall for the common myth that it is somehow all right to copy material by writers from other countries just because it is the Internet.

Friday, June 8, 2012

SEO - Can Software Increase Web Traffic

An examination of software and programs that promise to bring you “real visitors” to your site and whether or not it is a good SEO strategy to use them.

You have probably heard of programs that advertise bringing 10,000 real visitors to your web site. These types of programs are usually sold places like Clickbank and promise to bring live people to view your site. These programs usually cost between $80 and $180 and advertise themselves as being the one stop advertising center delivers targeted traffic to your URL with just a few clicks. The problem with this tactic is that the traffic is not targeted. This means that all this kind of software will do is bring you untargeted traffic.

The reason this does not work that well in terms of being an SEO strategy is that the web site traffic is not sourced from the usual pop under or pop over sites but instead garnered from a huge network of domains. A good example of one of these large monster networks is Advertise to Millions. There are some programs that differ in this regard. You have to search for the ones that will bring you truly targeted traffic.

There is no doubt that this type of software is sleek and works well. When someone types key words to do a search in a search engine, the results that will be displayed will be from the huge network. There is a huge choice of categories to put your keywords to as well. The topics, services and businesses covered usually include: Automotive, Flowers, Software, DVDs, Vitamins, Health, Business Opportunities, Lottery Gift Items, Jewelry, Web Site Hosting, Mortgage, Finance, Beauty, Music, Casino and much, much more. When the surfer clicks on the listing for the network, he or she is redirected to your domain. This type software also includes a "real time" statistics panel that shows you valued information about just how much targeted traffic you are receiving and at what time of day. This means you can view the progress of your targeted traffic campaign at any time

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Spot V's Process Colours

What are spot colours?

Colours created without screens or dots, such as those found in the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM®, are referred to in the industry as spot or solid colours. From a palette of 14 basic colours, each of the spot colours in the PANTONE MATCHING System is mixed according to its own unique ink mixing formula developed by Pantone. You probably mixed yellow and blue paint to get green in your youth. Creating a PANTONE Spot colour is similar in concept, but with the added need for precision.

The precision begins with the printing ink manufacturers who are licensed by Pantone to manufacture inks for mixing PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM colours. To retain their license, they must annually submit samples of the 14 basic colours for approval by Pantone. Printers can then order the colours by number or mix it themselves according to the ink mixing formula in a PANTONE formula guide. A PANTONE Chip supplied with the ink and/or job ensures that the printer achieves the colour desired by the customer.

Colour numbers and Paper Stock

Each colour in the System has a unique name or number followed by either a C, U or M. The letter suffix refers to the paper stock on which it is printed: C for Coated paper, U for Uncoated paper and M for Matte paper. Also created without screens, PANTONE metallic and pastel colours are considered part of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM.

Due to the gamut of the 14 basic colours, some spot colours will be cleaner and brighter than if they were created in the four-colour process described below. Spot colours are commonly used in corporate logos and identity programs, and in one, two or three-colour jobs.

Who are Pantone?

Pantone, as it is today, was founded in 1962, when the company—at the time a small business which manufactured colour cards for cosmetics companies—was bought by Lawrence Herbert, who had been an employee since 1956. He immediately changed its direction, developing the first colour matching system in 1963. Herbert remains the CEO, Chairman, and President of the company.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Improving SEO With The Mini Net

A definition and examination of the notion of the mini-net and how Internet gurus recommend it like Michael Campbell as a way of improving your SEO.

Mini-net is just a buzz word coined by SEO guru Michael Campbell (who wrote a book called The Revenge of the Mininet) that means dynamic linking. Dynamic linking is a skill that is used by affiliate marketers to improve their search engine optimization and often cuts the actual time they spend at the computer by fifty percent.

In essence, creating a mini-net is about creating a network of tinier sites. These sites are linked together to create a mininet. The theory is that in terms of SEO the search engines find these smaller, dynamically linked sites to be more attractive then one large sprawling site. In a way you are creating an empire of links, even if those links are only linking back to your own sites. However the search engine spiders are supposed to be intrigued by these intricate online webs.

Campbell claims that this approach helps build your credibility with both the search engines and customers, makes your pages easier to search and allows you to efficiently employ keywords so that you attract customers as opposed to surfers to your site. It also teaches you how to tease individuals into clicking on your links and cloak your source code to prevent affiliate theft.

However adopting this type of SEO strategy is not for everybody and it is definitely not for newbies. First of all you have to be savvy about creating web pages, using an HTML editor and FTP software. You of course, have to be actively enrolled in an affiliate program and know how to paste affiliate traffic codes into your web site pages. This is not rocket science but being even just a little bit experienced at being a web master or web mistress helps with this. It is probably helpful to read up a bit on this topic before deploying it as an SEO strategy as it only takes one or two small flaws to cause the search engines to ignore your site.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

How To Use Link Building For Great Seo Results

With the numerous drag and drop web site builders available, almost anyone with internet access can create a website without too much difficulty. The real challenge, is how to get a website listed in the search engines, so that people actually find it when they are searching for information and products online. One way to increase your search engine visibility is with link building.

One important aspect of optimizing a website is the number of incoming links to your site. There are a variety of ways you can get incoming links to your site, even if you are having difficulty finding other website owners who are willing to link into your website.

One method of link building is to submit your website URL to the many free or paid web directories. Web sites like Dmoz are designed to allow people to submit their website into appropriate categories based on the content of the website.

Another method is to write articles on your website subject matter, and create an author resource box at the end of your article that includes a link back to your website. Then spend a couple hours submitting your articles to as many of the free article directories that you can find- each place you submit the article will count as an incoming link to your site, and you never know if another website owner will reprint your article on their own site- thus increasing the number of inbound links over time.

Another way you can increase your inbound links is to visit blogs, and just start visiting blogs of people who write about things related to your website. On blogs that welcome comments, you can comment on the blog posting and leave a signature that includes a link to your own site. Many blogs now use nofollow attributes on links, though, so any links from those blogs would not help you.

Increasing the number of links to your website is a good strategy for improving the search engine optimization of your website. Many of the methods of link building are free and only take you some time and elbow grease to implement them and the results are well worth the effort.

Monday, June 4, 2012

A Healthier You By The Use Of Visualization

With all the technology we have on the market, is it true that we can use visualization and "think" ourselves healthier?

First let's look at the benefits of visualizations as used in exercising. Visualization tools can help with exercise techniques and in the way of working of muscles. Many researchers have said that the use visualization helps those that muscles you will be working. Visualization provides those muscles with a better sense of preparedness for the "strain" they will endure. What images do you need to visualize in order for this to work. The images can be different things and range from different scenarios depending on the person doing the visualization. For example, visual images and pictures might be helpful visualization for one person, whereas the use of how the body may feel (Kinesthetic) can be better suited for another. Some people even using hearing the roar of the crowd as their visualizations tool to prepare themselves. It is thought by some that mental rehearsal of both the mind and the body one can train to actually perform the skill that they are visualization.

Secondly using visualization as a form of mediating can help you relieve stress and feel a sense of calmness. By purely taken several deep breathes, closing your eyes, and visualization that you are in a relaxing environment can help you be relaxed. Visualization works well here by allowing your mind to imagine the scene, the smells, and the feeling that you will encounter if you actually were at your destination. Learning to use visualizations techniques as a means to provide alternative stress relieves methods, you will gain the imagination needed in visualization.

Now medically, can visualization make you healthier? In a sense it can. By exercise and not having a lot of stress, a person is naturally healthier. So if you combine visualization with your normal activity of stress relievers as well as your exercise routine you are surely to benefit from the rewards of being healthier. Visualization does provide some great ways to be healthy and stay fit.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Squidoo A New Permission Based Marketing Forum

Here is something really cool I thought you all might be interested in listen to this folks they're claiming this is the future for all marketing including adsense. Read my little blurb about possibly the wave of the future below.

A permission based marketing forum called Squidoo has been started by Seth Godin he's an early pioneer of "Viral Marketing".

Nearly ten years ago, Seth founded Yoyodyne, which originated the idea of permission marketing online. After Yahoo acquired Yoyodyne, he served as VP of Direct Marketing for Yahoo for about a year.

In 2000, Godin focused full-time on his career as an acclaimed public speaker, an author and a blogger. Several of Seth's books have been bestsellers somewhere around the world, and his blog has been picked as the best business blog by several leading publications. Seth's head is one of the most recognizable author icons in business.

Right now Squidoo is in Beta, eventually it will be a co-op which will pay Squidoo "writers" called Lensmasters, or let them build a Squidoo page for a charity. It is still in Beta but even before coming out of Beta it is now
paying Lensmasters.

Rumor has it a major media campaign about to be launched concerning Squidoo by a PR firm and expert who helped launch MillionDollarHome http://Page.com for Alex Tew, which led to 3-million unique visitors in a month.

With all that being said check it out it may well be worth your time to investigate this new opportunity check out my first lens and let me know what you think here it is: http://www.squidoo.com/locals

If your interested in your own lensmaster page. Here is a link you can go to and start your own Squidoo page http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/referral/Smiley Hey this is a way to have fun and make some extra cash too! The cool thing is this it's free and I think it probably always will be free knowing Seth Godin.

If you like this article and check out my Squidoo Lens why not give me a vote it would be very much appreciated.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

If You Want To Buy A Warship - Forget Ebay

If you ever want to buy a warship, or kit yourself out head to toe in genuine military equipment forget eBay. There is a new player in town, the British Government or The Ministry of Defence (MOD) Disposal Services Agency to be precise.

They have now launched a new web site at www.edisposals.com, which offers a wide range surplus and ex-government military equipment at knock-down prices. This has got to be a good source of supply for onward sellers and I suspect many items purchased from this site will find there way onto eBay. However, if you are interested you now have the option of purchasing from the source from source, the MOD.

Among the items currently on offer you will find aircraft, ships, and strangely enough an 8 man Cambridge rowing boat. You can also buy IT, medical and dental equipment as well as items of memorabilia. If it is clothing you are after and camouflage green is your colour there is a huge range including “his and hers” combat clothing. If you are concerned about your personal security how about an armour plated Land Rover Discovery or an ex police motorcycle or a Quad bike.

"The DSA recognises that with more and more transactions being carried out online, we must adapt our approach in order to maximise the return to the Ministry of Defence and to the taxpayer," said DSA spokesman Les Taylor.

He added that the site is likely to appeal to specialist collectors, scrap metal merchants, adventure training companies and scout groups. And I would think eBay resellers.

Although you could kit out your own military force you will not be able to arm it because the site does not offer any arms or ammunition and certain of the more sensitive items on offer can only be sold to registered buyers.

Traditionally the MOD has sold its Government surplus at specialist auctions in various parts of the UK. I suspect that if this new web site proves successful then we can expect to see the scope and range of this site to increase in size and range. No doubt other Government departments will be looking at this option with interest.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Seo - Learning How To Write Like Claude Hopkins

A discussion of the persuasive advertising copywriting techniques of advertising copywriter Claude Hopkins and how his techniques can benefit your SEO

If you want to write persuasive copy for your website (and there is no better form of natural SEO) then you might want to study the work of Claude Hopkins. Hopkins was famous for his careful considerate copy that outlined every aspect of a product's virtues. Rather than just creating an ad of about two or three lines he would create a small essay. In this Internet world where both people and search engine spiders prefer to read well-written articles you can certainly learn from following his examples.

Claude Hopkins writings have recently come into the public domain and there are all kinds of self styled Internet gurus on Clickbank and elsewhere selling compilations of his best work. Gurus that are selling his stuff include Yanik Silver, Roy Williams, Brian Tracy, Denny Hatch, Michael Masterson, Jay Abraham, David Ogilvy, Dan Kennedy, Gary Halbert, Ted Nicholas, Joe Sugarman, Jeff Paul, Joe Vitale, Micheal Senoff and Bill Bonner. Almost all of these gurus use the works of this prominent copywriter as the skeleton for a teaching course in basic advertising copywriting and then go on to explain how the techniques that he pioneered in advertising agencies applies to today’s virtual market. Michael Senoff has put together a collection of his rarer advertising examples that are excellent for newcomers to writing to study.

In these ad compilations you can find some of Claude Hopkins most famous ads including his ones for Schlitz Beer, Palmolive Soap, Quaker Oats, Pepsodent Toothpaste, Lord and Thomas, Van Camps Pork and Beans and Liquozone.

The main reason you want to read him is because he was the master of the short sentence which in a way is what writing for Google Ads, in and out of context titles, banner titles, site descriptions and photo captions that attract the search engines is all about.