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TOP 12 SEO TIPS

By Steven Havill, Owner, IC Online Services and SEOMe.com

The following are what I’d have to consider to be the most important issues when it comes to building a web presence. If not understood, they become the primary reasons why people are unsuccessful at creating a profitable online business. Many times they have never been made aware of, or don’t understand the basic concepts of how search engines work and their importance to a website. Failing to follow just a few basic principles of content building, navigational structure, and page architecture can drive a website business under. This list is by no means complete when it comes to SEO and Search Engine Marketing but it is a very good start.

1) Have Patience and Don’t Give Up: The web isn’t static, it’s constantly changing and your ability to change with it to meet new goals and adjusting to those changes will be an important part of your success. Results might not be seen for days, weeks, or months and you’ll need to have the patience to deal with these delays. Rarely is there instant gratification when it comes to search marketing and SEO. Frustration isn’t in short supply either and there will be plenty of disappointment in the process of building up an online business. Developing the knowledge you’ll need to make proper marketing decisions will replace these bad experiences with positive ones. Have patience, don’t give up and stick with your business plan.

2) Learn Your Market: Marketing is a competition between you and the other guys that are also trying to court the same customer base. Every client you gain is one less that your competition will have and vise versa. The more “Happy Customers” you can make the more word of mouth will spread and this should snowball into your market share. Do your homework, learn your industry and apply that knowledge to your marketing ventures. You’ll need to gain a firm understanding of your industry, competition, product lines and customer base to target your niche effectively and to be successful at building your market share.

3) Plan: Building a successful business requires planning first and foremost. In many cases the planning phase of a project may take longer than the building of the project itself. If you sincerely intend to be a success, creating a detailed business plan is unavoidable. By dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s you’ll have a better chance at avoiding nasty little surprises that can suck the life out of your business (and bank accounts).

4) Discover and Imitate: Your Top Competitors Knowing your competitions business practices is a fundamental rule to a good business plan. I’m sure you’ve heard terms like “Corporate Spying” or “Corporate Espionage”, companies historically use extreme tactics to spy on their competitors. They will actually plant spies inside of a rival company posing as employees or advisors. These tactics were for the single purpose of learning the other companies marketing, R&D, and industrial secrets. Clothes designers are well known for stealing each others secrets and using them for their own product lines. If you understand how your competition goes about doing their business, you could have a decided edge on them. There isn’t a time in history when spying on another company has been easier than it is these days. Every time a new website goes online it’s like handing out the keys to the office. There’s simply no excuse for you to not know who the top 5-10 players in your industry or niche are, I’ll bet you a dollar they do.

5) Research and Apply: Discovering keywords and keyword phrases, PPC/PPI advertising costs, competitors advertising practices, competitors use of keywords, competitors content layout, search results positions for targeted phrases, and a host of other statistics is an absolute necessity. If you are to compete for web position then you’ll need to understand how you are going to drive traffic to your site, how much it will cost, how your competition succeeds or fails at it, which terms are searched and which terms aren’t, where the hotspots are on your pages, how to optimize each page to correctly take advantage of changing content, which terms are possible to rank with as well as those terms you’ll never be able to rank well with. Research is an endless process that will help you to succeed in the long run.

6) Choosing the Right Domain Name: Are you already running an established business? A domain named after an existing business is probably the way to go. You can also consider a name that might include a part of a slogan or catch phrase if it’s available and makes sense. Graphical location has become the latest “fad” in domain naming and with good reason. The internet was first a national and then global phenomenon, however with time you’d have to expect that as the web grows it will become more GEO Targeted by nature. This is the natural progression of such a beast.

EXP: Lets say our ficticious jewlery store is located in San Francisco, a good geographical domain might be “SFJewelers.com” or Sanfranciscojewelry.com” which plays on both location and industry directly. Most jewelers won’t be competing on an international level but they can certainly grab the bulk of organic searches for any geo-location.

The parts of a domain name that should be considered are;

Keywords – When and if possible try to use a domain name that includes a primary search term used in a grammatically correct fashion. Don’t choose a domain name simply because it includes a keyword anywhere in the name.

EXP: jewelrydeals.com is much better than dealsjewelry.com simply because a natural search would be for jewelry deals rather than the other way around. Length – The shorter the better, if it’s easy to type it’s easy to get to.

Syllables – You should keep the syllables to 4 or less, anything more and your running a risk of losing memorability

Dashes – This has to be one of the biggest mistakes from both sides of the SEO aisle. A dash does NOT HURT a domain name. Google strips the dash so any dash delimited domain could be a bargain. If you can get a two keyword domain separated by a single dash like jewelry-store.com then you should jump on it. This domain would jump right to the top of the results on a search for “jewelry store”. There are still very good domain names available using a single dash, but not for long. People have gotten wise to this fact and they are starting to gobble up all of the strong 2 keyword phrases right now.

Memorability – How easy is your domain to remember the first time someone reads it? Unless you have the cash to buy a short single dictionary term then your domain will need to be creative and memorable.

Single keyword domains are very expensive because of the built in advantage they have for search. FUND.com recently sold for $8m, Vodka.com sold for $4m, Bank of America purchased LOAN.com nearly 10 years ago for over $1m.

Market Demographics - Does the domain name target a huge, large, medium or small market? Small markets are fine if you can grab the lions share of that market. Huge markets carry the risk of dilusion which might make it an uphill battle for you. Would you open a hardware store next to a Home Depot? Weigh the risks with the benefits of the market you’ll be targeting.

Note: Do try to get a .com extension but don’t let that be a requirement. Some experts conclude that extentions outside the .com, .org and .net are spammy or unusable. A single keyword .net, .biz, or .info extension will have much better results than a poor .com would. Some wannabe SEO pseudo guru is right now shaking his head and saying no way. Just for you, I present Arron Wall of SEOBook fame as my primary example. Please take a look at this. Anyone in the industry knows of Arron Wall (or should) and his little PR5 .info WITH A DASH is proof that extensions are only a barrier of the mind, not the internet. So suck it up and find a 2nd tier extension if it means the difference between a poor domain name and a killer keyword rich name. (I hope Arron appreciates this free tout, as if he needs one!)

Choosing a domain name that has no keyword value but that is short and easy to remember could be a brandable name. Building a brandable domain name is always an option, but it will require additional marketing and probably a larger budget to do it right. Be prepared to pay for additional advertising costs when branding a site.

7) Content Management: Once you have all of the above figured out you’ll need a way to easily manage and publish your information. A good Content Management System or CMS should be a priority on your list of to do’s, but where to start? Keep in mind that you’ll most likely be married to whichever CMS you decide to use and the last thing you’ll want is to find out is that the software won’t do exactly what you need it to do, especially after spending days or weeks setting it up. OPEN SOURCE CMS – If you are on a tight budget then I would suggest Joomla or Mambo as a starting point. The support is second to none with a history of security updates, active user forums and a top CMS status. There are literally thousands of 3rd party extensions and plugins that give Joomla unlimited potential and expandability. WordPress is another very popular blog style CMS that also has a huge following and offers many 3rd party templates, plugins, widgets and active support forums making it a good choice. Commercial or Custom CMS – Buying a commercial CMS offers a number of advantages which include commercial support and service level agreements. A commercial CMS may already exist for your needs and will likely be faster to implement than an open source CMS. Documentation and training are usually much stronger than for an open source product. The drawback will most certainly be the expense of the software itself. You pay for what you get and sometimes you’ll pay quite a bit just to find that it may not be exactly what you need. Never purchase any software without a test drive or access to a demo site including back end (admin) access. You must do your homework and investigate the company as well as their platform. What do other customers think of their product and are there good reviews of the company and the software? Make sure that they offer a level of support that meets your needs and are made aware of any added charges or annual fee’s for continued support. The CMS you decide on should be able to implement the MOD_REWRITE function to create search engine friendly paths. Whatever CMS you choose must be able to apply the following steps to be of any use to you in your marketing and optimization plans:

8) Titles, Descriptions and Keywords: You’ll need the ability to edit and modify any pages Title, Description and the Keywords separately. These three items of a website are either “abused” or “not used” by designers and webmasters. It is so simple to create a good title yet better than 50% of the websites out there hack this tag by throwing in “HOME”, “INDEX” or “MY PAGE”, or worse yet they’ll place the URL in the title as if people don’t already know where they are once they get there. Each page has its own unique content and the title, description and keyword tags should all be designed with that particular pages content in mind. Having the same tags on all pages of a site is like a candy company putting the same wrapper on all of it’s different candy bars. Would you buy a Snickers bar if you didnt know there was actually a Snickers bar inside? Titles and descriptions from the human perspective. You need to look at your Title and Description as a single ad unit which is divided into two parts. You’ll want to create a title that is compelling and include a keyword or two inside it. The closer to beginning of the title that you can place your keyowrd the better but dont just stuff 4 keywords in there and call it a title. It needs to make sense to the reader otherwise they wont be inspired to click on your listing. The title should grab attention and then lead the reader into a description that makes them want to click on the listing. Clean and Simple advertising in its purest form.

9) Content Layout: Take a look at your top competitors websites and figure out what they’re doing to propel their sites to the top of the SERPs. What are the search engines looking at within the content of those pages. Follow their lead by implementing similar (NOT EXACT) methods to compete on their level. Use header and alt tags properly to reinforce content. The search engines love seeing keyword content spread over different areas of your pages but you’ll need to understand what constitutes keyword spamming and why, and how to use keyword percentages to build perfect pages. Navigation of a site should be intuitive and easy to follow.

10) Plan Your Paths: Care should be taken to design your paths to be strong to content just as content is made strong to keywords and phrases. By naming categories, directories and files to be keyword rich you reinforce the search engines perception of content strength. Using our ficticous Jewelry site that sells silver chains as our example lets see how path naming can be done in a way to optimize content for “silver rope chains”; Good> ://jewelrysite.com/silver-chains/rope-chains.html Bad> ://jewelrysite.com/silver-deals/rope.html While it is true that tons of people may search for “rope”, I doubt we’ll be seeing the kind of traffic that “rope chains” should receive. It’s a very easy task to design and create SEO friendly paths that will be optimization for search.

11) Alt Tags: Allows authors to specify alternate text to serve as content when the element cannot be rendered normally. Specifying alternate text assists users without graphic display terminals, users whose browsers don’t support forms, visually impaired users, those who use speech synthesizers, those who have configured their graphical user agents not to display images, etc. By using alternate text to build and reinforce content you can radically improve a websites SERP. Also, by creating pages that text to speech readers and speech synthesizers can understand, you’ll be widening your target market to include the visually impaired. Google is now giving extra weight to websites that build T2S compliant pages.

12) Understand The Costs and Benefits of Different Advertising Channels: Getting the best bang for the buck is the bottom line here. Let’s talk about Google since they provide about 62% of all search referrals. Google’s advertising program (ADWORDS) consists of keyword bidding on the Google search engine, Google Partners network and content placements. Create your free Adwords account and choose Standard edition with the post payment option. Once you’ve created your Adwords account, DO NOT start by choosing every keyword in you

IC Online Services is a leading marketing and optimization company who actively helps guide small to medium companies into a more profitable online experience. Free SEO help can be found at http://www.seome.com and free marketing articles at http://www.seome.org

What to Look for in Ecommerce Web Hosting

Ecommerce hosting includes all hosting services related to the exchange of goods, services, and investments online. While we usually think of ecommerce hosting as online shops where you can buy books, CDs, and computer accessories, there are many other kinds of ecommerce hosting. Ecommerce hosting plans include powerful site design software that allows you to create an online presence for your company. You can sell one product or ten thousand.


The Shopping Cart — You have probably seen or used a virtual shopping cart provided by an ecommerce website. This is a program that allows you to browse and select one or more products or services from a website before proceeding to a checkout point for purchasing. This program uses cookies to remember each customer and the items in his/her shopping cart. All ecommerce hosting plans offer one or more shopping cart programs, though they vary in complexity and ease of use.


Payment Gateways & Merchant Accounts — Ecommerce hosting also includes a payment gateway so that customers can purchase your goods or services from the convenience of their homes. Together with a merchant account, your customers can purchase goods or services from your site with a variety of payment options including: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, cheque, or sometimes by telephone. A merchant account acts as an online banking account where sales revenue is stored for later transfer or withdrawal.


These services can often be purchased independently of the ecommerce plan, which allows you to choose the best services for your needs. Before choosing a particular company, ensure that the shopping cart, payment gateway, and merchant account are all compatible. If they are bundled together then this will probably not be an issue. It is also important to compare merchant account/ payment gateway providers, as they have different transaction costs, application requirements and operating procedures.


Secure Sockets Layer — If you will be accepting payments online you must have some form of SSL. SSL (secure sockets layer) encrypts data such as credit card numbers and addresses so that it is not visible as it passes through other computers. Without SSL all your personal information would be visible to everyone with access to the internet. If your ecommerce plan includes shared SSL, than you can use the host’s shared SSL certificate (ex. https://secure.yourhostsdomain.com/~username).


Or you can opt for a private SSL certificate. With a private SSL certificate you must pay a fee and you must have a dedicated IP address (check your hosting plan details). Your private account does not include your web hosts name in the IP address (ex. https://secure.yourdomain.com). This is more expensive than a shared SSL certificate because you must pay a yearly fee to renew your private certificate.


Plan Carefully — Ecommerce sites require many more considerations than regular business web sites. You should develop a detailed growth plan that enables you to choose hosting services that will grow with your site and allow your business to incorporate additional features as you see fit. It is important to choose a host that offers reliable technical support. You will likely require support in setting up your payment gateway and SSL certificate. However, you will probably also need assistance to setup your shopping cart.


You will need to incorporate a database to store all of your products and customer information. This can be a daunting task made more difficult when using complicated application software. Before purchasing a hosting plan, you should first talk to a sales representative who can answer any questions. You should also ask to see/use a demo for any important software you will need (such as a shopping cart).


If you don’t have an in-house web developer or are uncomfortable with the complexity of ecommerce hosting, it may be easier to choose a plan with a ready-made website that you can simply plug in your pictures and product descriptions. Again, try using the demo first. Keep in mind, ecommerce hosting requires more disk space and data transfer than regular hosting so ensure that you will have an adequate amount for the future growth of your website.


You need a hosting provider that can really offer 99.9% uptime. The last thing you want is paying customers that can’t access your website. Don’t settle for the hosting provider’s glowing testimonials. Search long and hard for reliable impartial reviews.


Conclusions– Ecommerce hosting provides a means of selling products and services online. When choosing a hosting plan, ensure that the shopping cart is easy to use and that your payment gateway/merchant account are compatible with your shopping cart software. Find out if your plan includes a shared SSL certificate.


If not, you will have to purchase a private certificate at added expense. Importantly, make sure your plan includes enough disk space and bandwidth for your growing site and the uptime and technical support to see you through any unexpected obstacles. Reliability of the hosting provider is key, so take the time to carefully research the host(s) of your choice.

The author is the developer and operator of numerous sites on the web. To read more articles on ecommerce and web hosting, visit This Directory of Computer and Internet Articles or Browse hosting providers in this easy-to-use hosting directory.

Home Security Sensor Basics

In this day and age, it is very easy to get caught up in the gadgetry of home security systems.  From simple motion detectors to the more sophisticated video cameras and biometric systems, the advancements of technology has certainly made it both easy and difficult to protect yourself, your loved ones and all you value in your home. 

Technology has made it easier in terms of providing different levels of protection and access.  But the plethora of choices available sometimes makes choosing the right home security system a bit daunting.  This is where hiring a reputable home security company can help.

If the homeowner has a basic idea of what he is looking for, the better he will be able to explain his needs to the home security company that is installing the system.  If the homeowner’s security needs and budget do not seem to match the security system choice, a reputable home security company will offer advice and some options.

Although there are a lot of do-it-yourself home security kits available in the market, it is advisable for those who are serious about protecting their home and loved ones to hire professionals. 

Home security companies are well worth the expense.  Can you put a price on your peace of mind?  Can you put a price on the safety of your loved ones?  Hiring a reputable home security company ensures the proper installation of your home security system.  Don’t do it yourself unless you are a licensed expert at installing home security systems yourself.

So here’s a little bit of help for those who are intimidated by the wide array of home security choices.  Treat this as a basic guide to helping the harried and hurried homeowner make a faster decision on his home security needs.

Perimeter sensors indicate when a window or door has been breached.  Indoor sensors such as mats strategically placed under windows, let the homeowner know if there has been a break-in.  Another type of indoor sensor detects motion such as a burglar entering a house through a window.  Ask your home security expert for details about perimeter and indoor sensors.

Ultrasonic sensors are more sophisticated than the simple motion detectors.  These sensors send out sound waves to detect movement in or around the house.  Your home security expert will know if this is the right choice for your home given the layout of your house and the relative location of windows and air vents.

If the ultrasonic sensors won’t work in your home, an alternative might be a microwave sensor.  Instead of sending out sound waves, these sensors send out microwave radio waves which are unaffected by air currents.  If not installed properly, this type of home security system can be triggered by movement around the corner of the home.  It is best to have a home security installation expert install a microwave sensor to avoid the hassles and fines of false alarms.

More sophisticated security systems are the photo-electric sensor and the passive infrared sensor.  The photo-electric sensor is a light sensor that triggers an alarm when blocked.  The passive infrared sensor is a more intelligent version of the motion detector.  Ask your home security professional for details.

Now consider yourself equipped with the basic knowledge about home security system options for your home.  Your home security professional will be able to guide you to the right security system given your security desires, the size of your home, and your budget.

 

Crime up in the neighborhood? Get an alarm system. A home alarm can help protect the people and things you love.

Some Definite Home Security No-Nos

We talk a lot about all of the things you have to do to protect your home and family against the dangers of burglaries, fires, floods, and other disasters that can strike at home. There are a lot of things you want to do to help keep your home and family safe, but there are just as many things you want to avoid doing as well. There are certain simple things you don’t want to do because these are the things that attract burglars.

Don’t leave doors and windows unlocked, or otherwise left open, not even just a crack. Burglars have keen eyes for windows cracked open, and of course they will check for easy entrances first, not hesitating to go in through an open window or unlocked door.

Don’t let your mail and packages stack up when you’re away from home for an extended period of time. This is a big sign that the home in question in momentarily uninhabited. Burglars case neighborhoods and look for this exact scenario. It’s a dead giveaway that no one is home. There’s a real chance you could come home to an empty house.

Don’t leave home without arming your monitored ADT home security burglar and fire alarm system. This might seem overly simplistic, but a lot of people have made this mistake. You care enough about home security to have you new system professionally installed, so why leave home without arming it? You might as well leave your front door open, or post a sign in your yard that says something about a yard sale, walk right in.

If it feels like you’ve left something undone, or something’s not quite right, there’s a good chance you’re right. Home security is a balance of knowledge and common sense, which is why ADT monitoring and a reliable home security system are the perfect fit in your house.

After 30 years in the industry I know a lot about ADT alarm systems and have written a great deal on home security. Read some more of my home security tips

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A Checklist for Moving Your Site to a New Server

If you have decided to move your website to a new hosting company, there are many different things that will need your attention to ensure a smooth and seamless transition. Here is a handy checklist to help you make this transition even easier.

1. Coordinate your switch. If you have a month-to-month hosting account, try to purchase your new hosting package about a week before your old account will expire. This will save you from paying for two hosting packages in one month, but still give you enough time to get everything done. However, if you need more time, than you may need to have more of an overlap.

2. Back-up all of your data. This is the most important thing to do when you are moving your server. Unless your new host offers a transferring feature, you will need to take care of all of this yourself. You will need to save all of your data to your computer’s hard drive, including any directories that may contain scripts, images, or other important information.

3. Check on your paths. If your new server has a different path to perl or a different way of handling PHP or CGI, you may need to tweak your current scripts to make sure that they function correctly.

You may also need to check your SQL paths to make sure that they are up-to-date. Each host handles SQL creation differently, so it is important to make sure that your script files contain the correct information.

4. Back-up your SQL or other databases. If you are on a Unix platform, you can use phpMyAdmin to easily back up the entire contents of your SQL database. If you are on Windows, you may need to use a different method or contact your current host to make sure that it will be saved.

5. Begin transferring files. Once you have your new IP address, you can begin uploading your site’s back-up to your new server. If you do this right away, there will be less downtime during the switch.

If you have scripts that call certain directories, make sure that you name the new directories on your new server so that they will match. Don’t forget to upload the contents of the directories you have backed-up from your old server.

6. Load your database back-ups on your new server. This will be the reverse of step 4. Most databases offer the ability to easily add your existing data to your new account.

7. Change your nameserver. Once you have all of your data on the new server, you can change you nameserver with your domain name registrar to reflect your site’s new home.

8. Thoroughly check all of the files on your site. Make sure that there are no dead links or scripts that are not functioning correctly.

Although transferring is never easy, with a little work on your part, you can make it through with the least amount of hassle and the least amount of downtime for your visitors.

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Choose a Moving Company That Fits Your Needs

Sometimes people have to shift their home regarding new job or job transfer. Anyway whatever the reason for shifting, it is always a tiresome and boring issue. Whether it is home shifting or office shifting, and residential relocation or commercial relocation, shifting to the new destination is always a hectic and tedious process. People often want to get rid of these annoying issues. So they want to hire a moving company for their shifting or relocation needs.

There are several moving companies in India offering full range of moving services like packing services, unpacking services, loading services, unloading services, transportation, moving services, car carrier & transportation services, moving tips, packing tips, etc. They provide moving services in all the major cities of India. But the question arises – how to choose a moving company – which company is suitable for your relocation needs – what will be the cost, etc.

When it comes to hiring a moving company you keep your minds on following facts

• Hire an experienced moving company.
• Hire a registered and licensed moving company.
• Hire a moving company that is economical.
• Hire a moving company that fulfills your relocation needs.
• Hire a moving company that assists you in shifting at reasonable prices with quality services.
• Hire a company that provides door to moving services with utmost care and ensures safe and secure delivery of your valuable households in time.
• Hire a company that provides hassle free and quick moving services.
• Never hire a moving company that is not licensed. It may create problem for you.
• Check out customer references to find out a reliable moving company.
• Before hire a moving company you must know about their reliability and cost.
• You should find details of moving companies from their previous clients. • Ask from your friends, relatives or neighbors and colleagues who had made their shifting before with the help of a professional moving company.
• Ask moving company questions about their cost, services, experiences, etc
• Don’t shy asking questions when choosing a professional moving company.
• Any truly professional moving company will be glad to go into detail about what they have to offer.
• If a moving company fulfills your relocation needs and preferences of Packers & Movers , you can hire it for your shifting.

Keeping mind on above mentioned facts you will surly able to choose a right packers and movers company for your shifting or relocation. You can also find information about packers movers companies on internet. There are several web portals of leading moving companies offering packing and moving services within the country and across the country. Also there are several online web directories providing information about leading, experienced and reputed moving companies of India. You can choose one of them according to your need or preferences.

Once you hire a professional movers and packers, you need not to worry. The company will take all your relocation work in hand form packing to unpacking, loading to unloading, unpacking to rearranging of your household items. An experienced and truly professional packers and movers company is outfitted with all modern technologies and has dedicated, trained, and experienced workers. Workers are expert in their job and perform their job with utmost care without making any mistake or damage. Thus, you can make hassle-free shifting to a new destination by hiring a professional, reliable, experienced and reputed moving company.

Michael Braganza is an amateur writer focusing primarily on Business related topics. For more information Movers and Packers in Mumbai and Packers Movers,Packers Movers Hyderabad to visit http://www.indiamoverspackers.com/

Typical Costs to Work From Home

One of the biggest concerns revolving around a work at home business is the typical costs. How much will it cost for a website, the marketing campaigns, the upfront investment, or anything else that is present? Do you need to purchase a computer or laptop? These are definitely things you need to know, but it’s all going to depend on the type of online business you plan on promoting.

We’re going to go over a few scenarios today so you can get a better idea of what you’re looking at here. However, it’s important to understand that if you don’t have a budget in the beginning or no money to put forth, you can also take the route that is free. Don’t worry though; we’ll cover that as well.

The Budget and Business

If you do have money to work with and invest, the total amount will depend on the business you choose. For instance; if you want to get involved in a multi-level marketing program that has a setup fee, purchasing quota, and various other initial investments the cost will be more. This will depend on the company you choose and your marketing strategies.

Now, if you are looking into something like an affiliate marketing program and you need all the essentials, we’ve got an estimate below. This includes the website, and what you might start out spending in the promotional areas:

*Domain Name- $Free-$18
*Web Hosting- $.50-$50
*Security Cert.- $10-$30
*Privacy- $10-$15
*Articles- $Free-$10 each
*PPC Campaign- $Free Credits-$Endless
*Time- Up to You

Keep in mind these all depend on the route you’re going to take. If you plan on being an affiliate marketer, you can find web hosting that offers a site, domain, and the hosting for around $20-$30 in the beginning and maybe $5-$10 each month you stay with it. Articles can be written on your own, pay per click campaigns can have a budget set or you can get $25-$50 free credits through the web hosting program.

What to Do if You Don’t Have a Budget

Let’s just say for the sake of argument you have no money to invest. While it’s feasible to take the free route, you have to remember that your options are limited. If you need a website you can try freewebs.com or similar sites that offer a free domain with their main website name in it. So if you’re promoting self help books it might read; www.selfhelpbooks.freewebs.com.

In order to build links back to your site you can write articles and submit them to directories on your own. Even though this is the cheaper route, it definitely takes more time so be prepared. If you want to try a pay per click campaign, you can offer services for trade. Maybe if you write 5 articles for someone or offer to link them on your website, they will give you a $25 voucher for Google Adwords.

What it comes down to is you can take both angles to be successful online. Even if you don’t have a laptop or computer you can utilize the one at your local library. If you take the free route first, put some of your earnings aside and use it to start investing in a real website and marketing plans. There will be growing pains, but whichever way you choose, you can definitely work from home.

Article by Sally Gerard, check out our deals on

How To Select The Best Home Security Company For Your Needs

Home security is a growing field and lots of companies have entered into it with a wide variety of products being offered to consumers. And there is something available for almost every budget too. So how do you choose what security system to buy, and where should you buy it?

Well obviously, one of the largest factors that needs to be considered is how much money your budget will allow you to spend on a new home security system. There is no need to be looking at high end security systems if you can’t afford them anyway. Another important factor to consider is not just the security system itself, but also the installation. Are you a good do-it-yourselfer? Are you familiar with home wiring and doing home improvement work? If so, you may choose to install the alarm system yourself and can save a lot of money by doing so. In fact, the money you save on installation costs can allow you to upgrade the security system itself. In this case, there are some great security systems available online for a lot less than you would pay otherwise and can even further reduce the purchase cost.

If you feel that you are like most of us though and cannot do the installation yourself, then you most likely will want to talk with a home security specialist from one of the major companies in that field. It’s a good idea to do a little advance research beforehand though. Home security alarm systems are becoming increasingly more common, so why not ask your friends, family, co-workers and others you know if they have had any good or bad experiences with a particular security company? If you ask enough people in your area, you will usually start to get a good feel for both companies that have treated their customers well, and those that don’t.

Many companies will send a field representative to your home to inspect it firsthand and make specific recommendations on the type of security system that they feel will suit you best. The thing to keep in mind in these situations is your predetermined budget. Don’t allow anyone to talk you into a more expensive security system than you can really afford just because it has more features. Remember that even the most basic security system is better than none at all.

It’s best to stay with companies that are authorized representatives of a major home security company, as they tend to need to protect their reputation in the community and have a more long term vision for their business which includes treating customers well. Avoid independent contractors that don’t already come with extremely good recommendations from people that you can trust.

Just a few of these simple guidelines can help insure that you choose a home security system that works well for you and does not cost more than it should.

Find out more about a home security system and home security products by visiting our Home Security Review website.

Home Security ? Are you Doing All You Can to Protect your Family?

Protecting them from physical attacks

Physical attacks can occur in the home or away from home and there are several things you can do to enhance the personal safety of family members:

1. Consider self defense courses for all family members;
2. Install a home security system that can keep unwelcome visitors out;
3. If it’s legal in your state, consider purchasing personal protection sprays for family members who go out at night or work in high risk areas like the city.

Guarding against theft and property damage

There are some simple steps you can take to protect your home and property from theft and damage.

1. – whether it’s a state of the art system or an inexpensive one – will help. If you’re on a budget you can consider inexpensive wireless systems or fake cameras.

2. External lighting – good motion detection lighting outdoor is a great deterrent. Potential intruders don’t want to be visible to either passers-by or the house occupants.

3. Keep any shrubs or trees near your front doors and windows trimmed – bushy sections might make your home feel more private but they also offer cover for

burglars.

4. If you’re going to be away for a few days or more, ask a neighbor to clear any mail from your letterbox, put your bin out on rubbish collection day and collect any delivered newspapers. Thieves notice unoccupied homes.

Financial Losses

You may not think of financial loss when you think of home security but you should. Here’s why:

Identify theft
Lack of or insufficient insurance

Invest in a shredder to destroy any documents you are discarding that contain personal, credit card or banking details. It’s very easy for identity thieves to rifle through rubbish bins under cover of darkness. While banks might cover your losses, it could take weeks for them to return funds to your account. Having your identity stolen can also wreak havoc with your credit rating and result in people chasing you for money for several years.

Make sure you have adequate insurance on your home and its contents. Consider it part of your home security strategy. Review your policy annually and make sure you have any particularly valuable items (like special collections or jewelry) scheduled on the policy or separately insured – otherwise you might find they’re not covered in the event of a burglary. When it comes to home insurance policies always check the exclusions and when you receive any letters from an insurer advising of changes to the policy read them carefully.

Living in fear is no fun at all but ignoring potential dangers is asking for trouble. Take a common sense to home security and personal safety – put preventative measures in place, exercise due caution and have good insurance!

Don?t be victims; take control of your Home Security.
Burglar Proof Your Home Today!

Can small Online Backup Companies compete with Larger $5/month Services?

You see them everywhere – advertisements for companies like Mozy and Carbonite who offer to back up your personal computer for $5 a month, often offering “unlimited” storage space. So, how does a small Online Backup company compete? The answer is: Don’t.

As a small Online Backup Service Provider with, say, fewer than 1,000 accounts, you most likely cannot afford to sell services to home users for $5 a month; nor should you want to.

If you have 5,000 or more accounts, then of course the economy of scale works in your favor. With the right plan and the right marketing, you might be able to profitably approach $5/month and address the home market. But let’s just say for the sake of this discussion, you have fewer than 250 accounts.

Two hundred and fifty accounts at $5/month would gross out at $1250 a month, or $15,000 a year. I don’t know about you, but for the trouble of giving 250 customers an adequate level of service while maintaining your equipment and trying to turn a profit, I am not at all interested in this business. I’m not even interested at $10/month, or $15/month.

However, at $19.99 a month I’m bringing in $60,000 a year and beginning to show a little interest. At $29.99 a month I’m making $90K; and at a very reasonable $89.99 a month for the kind of business-class service I can offer with RBackup, I am VERY entertained by my $270,000 a year from my loyal group of 250 small business customers.

Now, please understand that I am not trashing the $5/month services. In high enough numbers, $5/month can make money.

In a “Fireside Chat” sponsored by Future Forward (FutureForward.com) on Nov 23 2008 David Friend, CEO of Carbonite (one of the $5/month services) said that he has more than 15 billion files in storage. He spends about $50 to acquire each new customer, and charges $49.95 per year for his service. He says he keeps each customer for 4.5 years, so, David is paying $50 for $225. I’ll do that all day long.

David claims his average customer retention period is 4.5 years, although I wonder about that.

Carbonite was founded in 2005 (PRNewswire Nov 20 2008), so he’s only been in business about 3 years. David says he spends a million dollars a month on advertising.

So, at $50 per customer, and discounting referrals, Carbonite must be signing up more than 22,000 customers a month, none of whom have dropped the service.

Personally, I’m skeptical. But, we know from Relativity Theory that with numbers as large as David’s, normal mathematics breaks down. So, maybe it’s possible to wormhole four and a half years into three.

Now, David is a smart guy – a serial entrepreneur with many successes under his belt. He has been able to attract many millions of dollars in venture capital for Carbonite. So, not only does Dave believe in $5/month services, so do a lot of other smart people with a lot of money.

So sure, there’s gold in them thar little customers – but only in large numbers. My advice is to leave them to Mozy and Carbonite, and move on to the far more lucrative small business market.

Here at Remote Backup Systems, we know that backing up business computers isn’t just clicking a link, paying your money, and that’s that. Small businesses are a huge and lucrative part of the market. They need someone to design the proper backup strategy and protocol for their specific needs; then install and test the service, monitor it, test regularly, and change settings it as businesses evolve.

Small businesses need software capable of being programmed and configured EXACTLY for their specific and individual needs. They need support for Exchange and SQL Server, for open files and Domain Controllers.

Five-dollar-a-month services simply can’t do that.

However, eighty-nine dollars a month buys RBackup software and a service that has been in use by millions of businesses for two decades, designed specifically for businesses, that in the hands of a skilled backup expert, can be engineered on the spot to back up exactly how each customer needs to be backed up.

For $89/month you get a full service live expert who can help you properly manage your backups, software that backs up open files, Exchange, SQL Server, System State, Active Directory, and all your special business files. Your files will be 100% secure, signed, sub-file backed up, washed, dried, and delivered on a silver platter.

Small businesses need, and are willing to pay for, expert advise, hands-on support, a phone call, and the feeling of safety and security knowing that there’s a live person they can call, who is personally looking after their business data 24/7.

If a business customer asks you to compare your service to those charging $5/month, you are welcome to recite the above six paragraphs. Be sure to stand up strait, pull up your socks, and look offended while you do.

The most lucrative Online Backup Service providers I work with have grown by concentrating on one or two niche markets at a time. Learn about the kinds of data Dentists (for example) need to back up. How long do they need to keep the data? What regulations do they need to comply with?

Who does backups now? How are they done? Who makes decisions regarding business services like yours? Become an expert in backing up dental offices, then go out and back them up. When you have one customer, ask him for referrals. Then ask the referrals for referrals.

Even if you don’t ask for a referral, you can say, “I’d like to ask for a minute of your time to come show you how to come into compliance with HIPAA regarding your practice data, save money on computer backups, and even save your practice from disaster by backing up your data offsite over the Internet. I’ve installed such a system for Dr. Jones.”

The future looks very bright for Online Backup Services. I wouldn’t worry about Mozy or Carbonite or any of those $5/month services. With the right software, you have the wind in your sails and smooth seas if you sell your services on expertise, service, and market niche rather than on price.

Perhaps because of the gloomy economy, we are looking at only the tip of the online backup iceberg. Businesses are looking for ways to scale back, and they are scared. Rather than buy that expensive backup device and software, and learn how to use it, they’ll sign up for an online backup service that lets them rest easily at night.

Show them how much they are paying to do inadequate and dangerous manual backups now, and how much they are risking to do so. Calculate the monetary cost of manual backups using network down-time, tapes, salaries for someone to do backups, maintenance on the drive, etc. Tell them the dangers (and possible legalities) of taking unencrypted tapes out of the office and leaving them in the car. You know, all the usual sales tactics.

Forget the economy. It works in our favor. We are in a recession-friendly business, with an unlimited supply of willing customers who are now seeking us out to pay $89/month (and more) for a service that someone (Not you!) is spending millions of dollars a month to promote. How sweet is that? Our customers stay with us month after month, year after year, allowing us to ROI in far less time than other businesses that are as quick and inexpensive to start. I love this stuff.

There’s now more room than ever for companies entering the market, and our part of the market is not particularly price sensitive.

I can absolutely tell you, strait from the front lines, that the online backup market is not now, nor will it ever be, saturated. New computers are coming online too fast for us to keep up with them. Storage is moving online faster than I can produce new Online Backup Services. Niche markets are opening up quicker than I can produce software to fill them.

The pool of customers to draw from is getting larger and more diverse. The big guys are spending millions of dollars convincing our customers that Online Backup is a great solution. As a result, more businesses than ever are signing up.

Five dollars a month? You don’t have time for it. Be sure to thank Mozy and Carbonite on your way to the bank.

Rob Cosgrove is the founder of the Online Backup industry and the CEO of Remote Backup Systems, the oldest Online Backup company in the world. He preformed the first commercial backup and continues to be a leader and pioneer in the industry. More information can be found on RBS’ website, http://www.remote-backup.com .