Information Country

7:00 a.m., the silence in the house is broken by my child’s call to me, from another room, “Mom, please take care of my Opie eye!”

Huh?…

My mind is spinning trying to process this information, what sort of illness is Opie eye? Is it a variation of Pink eye? What is the cure? What is the cause? Why didn’t I notice it? Why hadn’t I heard of it?

I must be a terrible parent.

My mind goes back the 1960’s sitcom ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ where Ron Howard played the sheriff’s young son Opie. This must be the reference for Opie eye, I surmised. I can’t think of a single thing wrong with the adorable little guy’s eyes.

I’m not doing well sorting this out.

Then I hear it again, “MOM, Puh-lease take care of my Opie eye…. I can’t go to school until you do!”

I decide to go to my child and have a look, perhaps this problem has another name that I’m familiar with.

As I walk up to her, tilt her head toward the light and have a look at her eyes she says in her best teenage I’m-disgusted-with-you tone, “What ARE you doing?”

“Why, I’m looking at your eyes. Which one is bothering you?” I counter in my best Doctor Mom voice.

To which she flatly retorts, “There is nothing wrong with my eyes.”

“Then what is all this about you having Opie eye?” I asked now very confused.

She held out an extended hand with a form and a pen. The form that she wanted signed was saying that I have seen and agree with her Spanish teacher’s guidelines for (are you ready) an Oral Proficiency Interview.

That’s right, O.P.I.

In my best Gomer Pyle voice I loudly declare, “Shazzam! Andy call Aunt Bee to bake a pie, my child don’t have Opie eye!”

While we laughed ourselves silly over this early morning incident, it provides a very important lesson in business. Nothing defeats your purpose faster than using acronyms that nobody understands.

I have articles submitted to me for publication every day using acronyms that are meaningless to my readers…. they are not published here. I receive publications everyday, that I can not find the web site because the publication is sent as an acronym and I don’t know or can’t remember what the acronym stands for.

You can’t sell to people that don’t know what you’re talking about. Therefore, by using acronyms you defeat your purpose andI would advise that you stop P.D.Q. (Pretty Darn Quick) It is your job to educate, not intimidate or confuse your clientelle.

About The Author

Thea Swafford is the owner of, The Shepherd’s Inn Inc. and two very successful web sites that focus on helping both the novice and netpreneur to reach their objectives with wisdom and humor.http://Targeted-Ad.Com and http://Secrets-To-Your-Successful.Com, for our free newsletter secrets@a1ebiz.com

thea@secrets-to-your-successful.com

If all your affiliate Internet marketing promotional articles do just these four things, then you are bound to get more traffic than you can possibly imagine, let alone handle.

i) Every Affiliate Internet Marketing Article Or Post Must Be Based On Carefully Selected Popular But Low-Competition-Keywords

When every post and entry to your blog or site is based on a certain carefully selected keyword phrase that is not too competitive, you will inevitable attract a sizeable chunk of targeted traffic from the search engines.

How do you get a keyword phrase that is not too competitive? It’s simple you take a look at how many people usually search for it and then take a look at the top sites in a search engine query for that keyword phrase. What is the ranking of those sites, how many links has Google indexed that point at that site? Is it almost the same number of links as you have? If so, you are in a good position to challenge for that keyword, so write an article or brief post quickly that shares some valuable tips and yet uses that keyword phrase.

If each keyword phrase you use attracts say, only 50 hits per day, it means that if you get just 20 similar keyword phrases, you will be able to generate 1,000 hits per day to your site.

ii) Don’t Waste Time Posting Your Affiliate Internet Marketing Articles To Low Traffic Directories

When you can go further and ensure that you post your best affiliate Internet marketing articles at certain high traffic article directories, then you will be able to effectively do two important things. You will generate lots of highly targeted traffic immediately. This traffic will tend to be much more targeted than the one you will usually receive from search engines. Secondly, you will also be creating valuable one way links pointing at your site that search engines will index, thus greatly improving your rankings.

iii) Affiliate Internet Marketing Link-Baitng Articles Will Get You Plenty of High Traffic Links

When you can also write link-baiting articles regularly for your affiliate Internet marketing, then sooner or later your site will in the leading pack of sites as far as links are concerned. The chances are that you will not hit a home run on your first try, however with each attempt you make to write a link-baiting article or post, you will be getting closer to your home run. Sooner or later you are bound to create the sort of link-baiting article that will get other bloggers to link to your page like crazy. Some folks have ended up with hundreds of links from a single link-baiting post within a few hours.

The more controversial, the better. Study some blog posts that you have linked to recently and then try and replicate the same sort of idea.

iv) Generate Affiliate Internet Marketing Articles That Will Help You Build An Opt-in Email List Quickly

Then there are affiliate Internet marketing articles that leave the reader so amazed at what they have just learnt and hungry for even more information. When you suggest that they subscribe to your regular email newsletter or course, many will not hesitate and that is how you quickly build an opt-in email list that will help you sustain your traffic and affiliate product profits.

When you can practice all these four article techniques regularly for a couple of months, you will be absolutely amazed at how successful your affiliate Internet marketing will become and how quickly your affiliate income will take off.

Christopher Kyalo has many affiliate programs running successfully and he uses only articles to generate enough traffic to his affiliate blogs. Read the other parts of this article at his affiliate Internet marketing blog. You can also get his amazing free special report How To Use A Free Blog, The Adsense Program And Your Favorite Affiliate Schemes To Generate $7,777 A Month. Get it NOW by subscribing to his article promotion newsletter. Send a blank email to articlesrgold-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you work with clients, at some point in your career,
you’ve probably been asked, “What’s your hourly rate?” or “How much do you charge per hour?”

Now, you and I both know this question isn’t totally
relevant, even if you provide services like I do. Because it
doesn’t really matter how much I charge per hour. What the
client really wants to know is, “How much is this going to
cost me?”

But they don’t want to pay some astronomical hourly fee,
either. They want to feel like you put some effort into
their work.

So what you really need to know is, “How much is it worth to
this client to have this problem solved?”

Sure, I could quote an hourly rate. But usually I don’t.
They’d be shocked. Because I’ve been doing what I do for
about 30 years, so I can often write a brochure in “record
time,” which wouldn’t pay me enough to stay in business.

So I don’t charge an hourly rate. I charge for my “smarts”
– my knowledge and experience. And if the project rate is
within the client’s budget, they’re willing to pay it.

But how’d you like to get out of the piecework business
altogether? I know I would!

That’s why lots of people take the risk of commissioned
sales. That is, they sell something and then get paid a
commission–no salary. And some programs, like Mary Kay,
are two-tier commissioned sales–meaning you get commissions
on what YOU sell AND you get commissions on what your
“downline” sales force sells.

So you and your underlings go out and beat the pavement,
looking for new and returning customers to sell makeup to.
You also keep your eye out for more sales reps who want to
join your team, too. You’d never think of advertising your
product in the newspaper, would you? No, because Mary Kay is
direct sales.

Well, the online world of marketing has taken this a little
farther. It’s called affiliate sales.

Some programs pay one-tier and some pay two-tier
commissions. It’s basically the same as Mary Kay. But what’s
different is that usually you’re being paid for “electrons”
instead of makeup.

Someone writes an ebook that you decide to sell for them
through your website. You put it up in your store, and then
you forget it. Every once in awhile, someone buys it and you
get a commission. Maybe you’ve recruited others through your
affiliate link to sell the same product. They put it up on
their website and make sales. You get a commission every
time you sell the product AND every time your downline
affiliate sells the product.

AND you have the option to advertise the product using pay-
per-click campaigns on Google and Overture (and other
places). You write such a good ad that tons of people click
on it and visit your website. Because you have such a
terrific sales page for the product, let’s say that half the
people buy it when they visit.

Now you’re cookin’!

You also improve your search engine rankings–meaning you
do all the right things and every time someone searches on
your keywords, you come up on the FIRST PAGE of search
results. So more people visit your website.

And while they’re there, they might buy something or not.
Or, they might see a Google ad that interests them and click
off to someone else’s site.

You got it! You make money on that, too! And after awhile,
your website becomes your product.

Now you want to add more revenue streams to your business
(firing every difficult client you have and replacing that
revenue with something else…wouldn’t that be great?!!?).
So you write your own ebooks or nifty little software
product that you can sell the same way you sell other
people’s electronic products, as well as through an ezine. But this time YOU KEEP ALL THE MONEY. Because it’s your product.

Unless, of course, you recruit affiliates to sell your
product for you. And who wouldn’t? It gets your product out
to LOTS more people. So you have to pay them 40% of the
sales price. What does it cost you? Zip. Zero. Nada. It’s
just electrons.

You did all the work up front, so you can collect the money
over and over and over as sales are made.

THAT’S PASSIVE INC0ME!

Lois Carter Fay, APR, is a 30-year veteran in the P.R. and marketing field. She now produces three marketing ezines, Brainy Tidbits, Brainy Flash, and Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs. All are free.

Visit http://www.MarketingIdeaShop.com or http://www.WomenMarketing.com to subscribe and claim your free special report.

Those of us doing business over the internet have to become especially adept at our listening and speaking skills since we don’t have the luxury of talking with our customers face to face. It’s especially important to give those on the phone extra attention - listening to their voice, because that is the only thing you have to go on, to sense their emotion. You can’t observe their body language or their eyes like you can in person. They have the same limitations in listening to us. A great method to use when talking on the phone to come across as being really interested is to raise your eyebrows and smile as you talk. It will give you voice a lift. Try it on one your friends. It really works. It makes you sound very cheerful, etc. The thing is, they can’t see you either, so you have to work a bit harder to let them know that you’re really with them. They can’t see you smile, so they have to hear the warmth of your heart through your voice. If you practice, it’ll start to come naturally to you.

Another very important tip is to realize the value of remembering and using the name of the individual in whom you are engaged in conversation. I can’t stress this enough. People love their name and love to hear their name - and the fact that you remember it means more than you know. We sell personalized cards because we know that people like to see their name in print, plus it looks more professional to have it printed. But hearing one’s own name is music to one’s ears. Always be listening closely to catch the name and somehow make a mental note, or even quickly write it down so you won’t forget it. We have a tendency to be so concerned about impressing others with what we are going to say or how we are going to respond to them, that the name escapes us. Big mistake. It’s not easy, but is of paramount importance. Also try to find out something you can ask them about that they would enjoy sharing with you.

For a complete report including 8 simple things you can do, any one of which will boost your relationships - personally and professionally, you can download it at: www.designcrafters.com - wait for the popover.

Debby Sibert is the president of Design Crafters, a thriving internet business specializing in Personalized Christmas Cards and invitations. They attribute most of their success to their dynamic customer serivce. Get more tips at http://www.designcrafters.com

What is your customer saying about you? Do you really know? Does your customer really know who you are?

If you don’t know what your customer thinks about you, your business, your product and your services, then you might as well close shop!

A customer is the lifeblood of every business and you must always strive to be in tune with what your customer thinks and how they feel. Don’t leave your customers unattended and in the dark. Invite feedback. Add a feedback form to your website or a simple “mailto:” link that looks something like this:

“Questions? Comments? Send email to

People love to give their opinion especially if they decide that your product or services, which they have purchased, needs improvement. How will you know this if you don’t provide a means to communicate with your customers?

A customer’s independent review of your site or product carries far more weight than your own ravings about how great your site is. Sure you know that your products and services are great or you wouldn’t be selling them, but you will be more convincing if you can get honest endorsements from people who have tried them.

Oh, what are you thinking now? Yeah, Yeah. I know. Yahoo! Has already given you special attention. Even Wired Magazine has profiled your entrepreneurial skills. That’s all good! But Yahoo or Wired Magazine doesn’t know anything about your business because they haven’t actually tried your products or services.

People should endorse your business not because they think it looks good but because they know it is good. If they have problems with your products, they can be a great source of objective advice to you on how to make improvements and if you allow a customer to critique your product or services, they will be happy and proud to endorse it.

Satisfied customers are another great source of endorsement. Approach your customers for testimonials about your product or services. If you don’t yet have satisfied customers, ask someone to use your product for free or offer your services for free, then ask for their comments. If they are satisfied with using your product or services, ask permission to use their comments on your site.

Make your site interactive for your customers. Give them a reason to return to your site and especially to tell others about your unique product and/or services.

Here are some suggestions:

• Provide a help number - give people a number to call if they have questions about their order or your site.

• Return an acknowledgement that you have received their payment or their email.

• Create a feedback form as previously mentioned.

• Create a “tell your friends about this site” form that enables visitors and customers to email information about your site, directly from your site to others telling them about how great your site is.

• Create a guest book and invite customers and visitors to sign it so you can know who visited your site and you will be also able to send follow up emails to them.

• Be sure your site has contact information or contact link - too many sites forget to include such important information.

• Be sure to have an “About Us” link that includes information about your business as well as a mission statement.

OK - Now you are saying you have all that!! Now What? Well, if you have done all that, you are on the right track but there are many more things that can be done to create awareness and a liaison between you and your customers. You have to be very creative and design new and unique ways that you can continue to interact with your customers.

One of the proven methods that have worked consistently for me is sharing my expertise, especially through this medium - writing articles. The article you are reading suggest that I have knowledge of certain topics and you can use this to enlighten your readers and gain their respect. Put a link on your site that lists all the articles that you write. This is a very good source that will provide “inside tips and goodies” to your customers that they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else and will also bring new customers to your site.

Another way is to provide a “Tips Corner” on your website or a discussion board that your customers can find helpful and valuable information. They will develop trust and respect for you and this will bring you success in no time.

Every business person wants to attract a wide range of customers and as an Online business owner, you have a greater advantage when it comes to how far your business reaches but it all depends on how the effect you have on your customers. The web can be a lonely place. Find ways to let your customers talk back to you.

Copyright © by Cheryline Lawson.

About The Author

Webmaster of Startbiz at http://internet-home-employment.net, newsletter publisher of Homebiz4U and Freejobs4U. To subscribe to the newsletters and receive 7 free gifts, you may send a blank email to homebiz4u-subscribe@topica.com and freejobs4u-subscribe@topica.com.

If you are like me you have said to yourself: ” I need to make
some more money but how?” Who do I trust? Who’s telling the
truth? How much is this going to cost me? How long is this going
to take to turn a profit? I know people are making money on the
Internet but can I?

A week ago I asked these very questions and began a search of
the Internet and found a incredible site. It was my type of site
a honest, straight forward approach to teaching people like
myself about how to market and Profit from the Internet. All at
a price I couldn’t refuse. It was FREE. The site was very
informative full of interactive courses of audio,video e-books.
That took you from the basics of Internet Marketing to advance
marketing. This format made the learning rather easy to follow
without getting bored. This was quite amazing for FREE. One of
the concepts I learned was how to pick a competitor to do a
Joint Venture with.

Joint Ventures: A collaboration between people or businesses
that is mutually benefiting. That expands their reach into a
market that was previously restricted.

Rule 1 You must have a Internet presence and the ability to
capture e-mail addresses and names, before you try to sell any
product on the Internet.

Steps to consider: 1.Research your competitors/potential
partners. Why? Because they are already making money and have a
client list you can market to. 2.Compile a list of 5-10
potential partners in your market. 3.Go to Internet site
GODADDY.com. From this site you can see how long your potential
partner has been on the Internet. 4.Go to ALEXA.com. From this
site you can check your potential partner in the following
manner. Find their Internet rank by typing in their site name in
the search area. Hit the “Traffic Details” tab. This tells you
the site Internet rank over a period of time. Hit the ” Reach”
tab. This tells you how many people in a million hit that site
per day. Hit the ” Page viewed” tab. This will tell you how many
pages the visitor viewed.

Once you have done the above 4 steps you need to assign points
to the competitors for 2 reasons: To identify if they are good
in the chosen market. To either confirm your in the right market
or you should look in another area.

Where does the competition rank:

0 - 25,000 ( If competitors Alexa Ranking between this range
they receive the following pts) 7Pts. 25,001 - 50,000 6Pts.
50,001 - 75,000 5Pts. 75,001 - 100,00 4Pts. 100,001 - 150,000
3Pts. 150,001 - 300,000 2Pts. 300,001 - 500,000 1Pt.

Conclusion: You have picked your 5-10 potential partners and
assigned them points based on their ALEXA ranking. You are
trying to accumulate a total of 25 points. Once you have added
the points of all the potential partners. As mentioned before if
this total is 25 points or higher you know you are in the right
market with the right partners. If it’s below 25 you may have to
research new potential partners or chose a different area to
market. Now this may same like a lot of work but the sites
author advises in his material that when his site had an ALEXA
ranking of 500,000 he was making a yearly 6 figure income. Once
his ALEXA ranking went to 100,000 his monthly income was 6
figures. And he was able to boast his ranking and income through
Joint Ventures. This is one concept I learned on the site, and I
believe the technique will boast any business. Hit the link
below to learn how you too can Profit on the Internet.