Wednesday, April 28, 2010

“Confessional Secrets from a Bargain Shopper”

I love a deal. Take me to any store and if I see "Clearance Signs", I'm inbags_boxes love. Awwwwhhhhh, the smell of a good deal. I'm no different when I shop online. Anymore if there's something I'm planning on purchasing I do all of my research right online before deciding where to purchase.

My number one weapon of choice for this is Google's shopping search engine Froogle http://www.froogle.com/ Just type in what you're looking for and it comes back with products and prices. By selecting sort order of lowest to highest I can right away see who's got the cheapest price. Nice.

There are plenty of other good tools and fantastic websites that will bring the bargains to you on a daily basis. Just make sure that credit card doesn't get too hot. Here are a few places I check for deals almost daily.

Woot http://www.woot.com/ - This site brings you one daily special every 24 hours something new. Always cool and useful you never know what the catch of the day will be. They have great prices and a great sense of humor, which always helps anything in life. They also have branched off into other mini-specialized sites such as:

http://kids.woot.com/  Just as the domain implies all you'll find here is stuff kids will love. So you don't have kids? Well, I'm sure you have nieces, nephews or your friend's kids that you'll need birthday and or Xmas presents for at some point.

http://deals.woot.com/  A multitude of deals all on one site, deals changing every 24 hours.

http://wine.woot.com/ - Now I'm not a big wine drinker but for those of you who like to be steeped in grapes this ones for you.

Woot really is a great company and I've bought more than my share of products that I've been very happy with. I'm a Wooter!

Now what about Ebay? Consistently serving up the deals but one you may not know about that serves up daily specials is http://deals.ebay.com/ A variety of products go up for grabs usually with free or very low cost  shipping.

Another website to check daily is http://deals.yahoo.com/ click on the "daily deals" tab to see what's up for grabs that day. They feature everything from clothing, jewelry, perfume, electronics to big appliances. You  never know what you'll find.

Before I ever buy anything online I always check to  see if there are any online coupons or discount codes I can use on their website. A fast easy way to do this is to use this site http://www.retailmenot.com/ Just type in the store or site name and it comes back with any promotional deals that store has going on at the moment. Just write down the code and when checking out at the vendor's site type it into the promo code box to reap the savings.

In no particular order here are some other online savings sites and blogs I really like and recommend.

http://www.groupon.com/ - Using their "collective buying power" you can score great deals on products and services. Type in your city to see what's available that day in your area.

http://www.thegrocerygame.com/  The price of food these days has many people looking for a short term loan just to feed their families. The owner of this site does all the hard work of couponing and finding all the deals at  your local supermarket and/or drugstore. All you have to do is login every week to print it out. You can sign up for a free 28 day trial to see how you like it. If you choose to stay it's 10.00 for one store membership every eight weeks, two stores will run 15.00 every 8 weeks, and three stores 20.00. If you have the time to go to the stores and grab the suggested deals you really can save a lot of  money on your grocery bill.

http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/ An informative blog written by a Certified Public Accountant and MBA who left the workforce to become a stay at home mom for her kids.  She shares her money saving tips and tricks so you too can live frugally.

For great deals on electronics I do love http://www.buy.com/ Make sure to sign up for their daily deals newsletter so you can quickly see what's on sale for the day.

Another one that's been around forever but still my favorite for books is Amazon http://www.amazon.com/ If you don't want to pay full  price then always check the used section to see if you can get what you want for less, but many times you can't beat Amazon's free shipping with any 25.00 order for the best savings. I've also turned to Amazon for  my music downloads to. If you sign up for their mailing list you'll be notified of what the daily deal downloads are and even be shown free mp3's you can get. Good stuff Maynard!

Last but definitely not least is http://www.MyBargainBuddy.com/blog Sign up to be notified of all the daily deals or you can follow her on Twitter. Lots of goodies and always a variety of products.

So there you have it. All of my shopping secrets all in one place. So next time you set out to purchase something online, before you hit that buy button, or type in your credit card number, make sure you've done all you can to ensure you're getting the best possible price. From one bargain shopper to another, have fun and snag those deals!

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Sunday, April 25, 2010

“9 Article Marketing Tips”

Article marketing can do a lot for your business. You just have to know a few things and here are some tips to help you out. sunflower

1. First, you have to make sure that whatever you are writing about is relevant. If you know for a fact that your product could be very useful, then do some research about it and then end the article with a link to your website.  Spell check and proof read it when finished or have someone else do it for you.

2. Just like what you read in the newspaper or see on television, the article must be both timely and newsworthy. This will allow you stay in touch with what is happening in the world. One good way to stay up on current events is signing up with a site that gives you alerts with regards to the latest happenings online. Google Alerts works well for this http://www.google.com/alerts

3. Make writing a regular activity.  It’s best to write one or two articles per week if you can. Make writing a weekly task on your promotional schedule.

4. You should also make your articles viral. What this simply means is allowing other people to publish your article just as long as nothing is changed and you are given credit for it. Another way of doing this is offering your writing services to others which could mean more revenue for you.  It’s easy to compile a list of ezine publishers and article directories where you can submit to on a regular basis.

5. Each article you write must be short and simple. It must be short so that it will not bore the reader. Simple so that they will be able to understand the message you are trying to convey. Less then 600 words is usually best if you want to see it published. If longer then that you can break it up into a article series.

6. Just how many articles must your write to increase traffic? The good news is that you only need 2 to get things started. A good title will be “ how to do something” and “ x number of tips for something.” If this catches their interest, that person will most likely click on the link to your site and then buy something.

7. If you have multiple websites, you can write more articles and then use different resource boxes at the end of each one  to drive traffic to those sites too. 

8. Aside from posting your written work in other websites, don’t forget to also put these in your own. If you have written 10 or more about the same topic, put these together to what is known as an e-book and then pass this along for free. Again, if people like what is written there then people wouldn’t remind reading it several times.  PDF format is generally best for ebooks as it works on Mac or PC. Repackage your articles to get the most mileage out of them.

9. Aside from posting in websites, make use of RSS feeds. There are plenty of them around so make good use of them.

There are two ways to get into article marketing. The first is to write it yourself and just hope that people will appreciate your writing style. The other is to hire someone to do it. Some charge by the hour while others charge per word. It may be worth it if this increases traffic to your site. Another options is PLR, private label rights. This is content you can purchase or sometimes get for free and edit it and use it as you wish. If you need help there’s also software that will help with the writing process.

When article marketing is done as part of a weekly promotional schedule you’ll be surprised at the amount of free traffic you’ll pick up on a regular basis.

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Saturday, April 24, 2010

"Download TweetGlide Free"

I just downloaded this Free Twitter Desktop App: TweetGlide

Not only does it make using Twitter a lot more easier because you can easily manage all aspects of your account from one location......it also has a built in traffic network designed to send you free traffic to your website when you post updates from inside the app.

You have to see it in action! It was developed by Mike Filsaime and if you know anything about Mike, then you know that this will be a viral traffic generating machine for you. All you have to do is download it for free and maintain the same Twitter activity you were before you heard about this. Only now, you will get free traffic from it.

Here's how using this App will get you free traffic. It has a similar user interface to popular Twitter apps such as Twirl and Tweet Deck, where you have different panels for the Twitter Stream, your @ replies, and your direct messages. But what makes TweetGlide different, and more importantly, what gets you TRAFFIC is the additional
panel called the "Members Ad Stream"......where your ad (which looks like a Twitter post) that you created from inside the app will be displayed on OTHER TweetGlide users "Ad Stream" panel.

It's credit based and all you have to do is post, like you normally do, and you will earn ad credits which will convert to your ad being displayed in the stream. Pretty straight forward, but extremely powerful. But here's where it gets even better. In addition to getting credits for posting, you will get credits for referring other members, and even more credits for members YOUR referrals get to use TWeetGlide - 5 levels down!

Go download it now and start getting more traffic today.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

"Internet Marketing For Beginners Bootcamp"


Are you trying to earn an income online? Take it from someone who's been at it for about 15 years now, it aint easy. There's no secret formula or overnight trick that will do it for you. Just as there's no diet pill that will help you to lose that last 10 pounds and still eat all of those chips. It "aint gonna happen". But, there are plenty of excellent resources and teachers who can take you by the hand and guide you along the right path.

Sign up for this no-charge "Freedom to Be Your Own Boss" weekly instructional emails for Internet marketing beginners, and free report. You'll learn the basics first-it's like boot camp for Internet Marketers. You'll need to learn to walk before you can run so to speak.

You'll have to give up your email address to download the goods. Check it out here.

Monday, April 19, 2010

“Top Internet Business Ideas- Easy to Start”

The Internet offers many business opportunities. You can become a part of someone else’s enterprise, such as with affiliate marketing, or create adollar business of your own. There are many advantages to starting an Internet business. Being your own boss and working the hours that fit your schedule to name just a few.Here are the top Internet business ideas to help you find that appropriate niche you are looking for.

Every day people search the Internet for all sorts of opportunities. With this economy, the number one search is for ways to make money with low startup costs. Many of the basic equipment needed to begin Internet businesses are in your home right now. If you have a computer with a high-speed Internet connection, a telephone, a desk, and a printer, you can get going right away. Remember, it takes a lot of hard work and you won’t make a fortune overnight, but if you work at it daily eventually you’ll be surprised at what you’re capable of.

1.    Blogging. This is the way to create an online presence without the technical issues of owning your own website (that comes later). Most blogs are offered with free hosting and come with already installed features so set up is easy. Blog about anything that you find interesting and will be interesting to other readers. A blog with a niche will perform better a personal one. Blogs can also make money with programs like Google Adwords and AdSense. Pay per Click advertising also works for generating revenue.

WordPress is the most popular blogging software out there. If you need a nice looking template check this site out.

Affiliate Niche Packs are a perfect way to get started as the research and hard work has been done for you.

Start a Review Blog. or a Craft Blog.

Need Help with your blog content? See Automatic Blogger.

2.    Internet research. Anyone who can navigate the Internet and find out almost anything, can market themselves as an Internet researcher. Large and small companies will pay you to find out information for them, create reports from the research.

3.    Selling products. If you have a hobby like making and selling crafts you can expand your business online with a website. Set up a website that caters to your product offerings. Market these products online to drive traffic to your website.  If you don’t want to start your own site you can use a third party craft site to sell your wares. A few are:

Etsy- http://www.Etsy.com
ArtsEfest- http://www.artsefest.com/home.php
Craft Mall- http://www.craftmall.com/
Artfire- http://www.artfire.com/

4.    Selling on eBay. With this idea, you set up shop on the Internet. You can sell products you created or items you own that you want to sell. Many now make a living selling on eBay. As your business grows, you can expand to involve other product markets.

5.    Freelancing. Many online and offline businesses are looking for help. Freelancers lower the overhead of the company thus becoming more profitable for many jobs than hiring someone to work in the office. Depending on your talent, hire yourself out at a freelance writer, graphic artist, website designer or programmer. There are plenty of websites online where you can post your resume and the type of work you’re looking for.

6.    Virtual assistant. Virtual assistants are the going trend for many businesses. In the beginning, virtual assistants performed the administrative duties of a company from their home. Now, VA’s can be found in all career specialties like medical, real estate, marketing and publishing. They perform tasks above administrative such as website administrator, report creation and Internet research.  How about being a transcriptionist.

7.    Membership sites. You see more of these around these days. With a membership site, you choose a niche, such as online marketing. Customers pay to join at a certain level (gold, silver, bronze) and are rewarded with certain perks for their membership that include newsletters, videos or articles on marketing and services to help expand their own business. You create the website and supply the materials yourself or through outsourcing each month to your members.

For an inexpensive ebook on starting your own membership site that even comes with resell rights go to- http://www.merlesworld.com/Membership_Ebook/membership_ebook.htm

Do you have an idea of what your Internet business idea might be? This list should get you started. Feel free to add your ideas and comments below. I’d love to hear from you.




Saturday, April 17, 2010

"Why does Google index blogs faster than other sites? "

Listen in as Matt Cutts answers the question "Why does Google index blogs faster than other sites?"

Thursday, April 15, 2010

"Rampant Rudeness on the Internet: What Would 'Miss Manners' Say?"

Give some people a computer and an Internet connection and they think it's a license for rudeness. What is it about the Internet that causes some folks to take all they learned about basic etiquette and throw it right out the window?

Think about it: Just because your reader can't see you doesn't give you the right to be rude, but there are millions of Net users who feel that it does. I've been called names I'd rather not repeat in polite company and have been replied to in ALL CAPS. I'm not deaf.... THERE'S REALLY NO NEED TO YELL.

I attribute this newfound sense of rudeness to the feeling of invisibility one gets while sitting behind the keyboard. I mean, would you really come up to me face to face and call me a "Jackass" when you can't read simple directions on how to unsubscribe yourself from my ezine? I think not.

In this new digital age it appears we've taken everyday common courtesy and thrown it right out the window. Whatever happened to "please" and "thank you?" My mother, who taught me as a child to call all adults 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.' would have cardiac arrest over the emails I receive on a daily basis.

Remember the "Golden Rule?" "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you." Translation: before you call someone names, swear at them, report them for Spam  or do any other annoying gesture, stop and think. Maybe you did subscribe to that ezine and just don't remember. Try giving someone the benefit of the doubt before firing off an ugly email message that a real live breathing human being with feelings is going to read. Computers may not have feelings, but people do and there's a person behind every email address and/ or website.

Here are the 'Top 10 Do's and Don'ts' for online communication:

1) Don't reply to someone in all caps; it's equivalent to screaming at them.

2) If you receive a newsletter and can't figure out how to unsubscribe, before threatening to sue or reporting the publisher for Spam, politely ask the publisher to be removed. Any ezine publisher worth his salt will be happy to oblige. We really don't want to hold you captive.

3) Try to reply to all of your email messages within 48 hours. If not, many people get annoyed and will think you're avoiding them.

4) If you publish an ezine or blog make sure you place subscribe and unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of every issue or on your site.

5) Don't use foul language in an email; that will get you nowhere. If you're upset about something, please state the problem clearly along with how you'd like to see the problem resolved.

6) If you visit a website and it's not to your liking, don't fire off a nasty email stating what a loser the site owner must be. Remember what your Mom use to say "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

7) Make sure every page of your website contains an email address to contact you. Please don't make me fill out a long form just to ask you a simple question.

8) When replying to an email, keep the original message intact so the person you're replying to knows what you're talking about. Personally I receive over 300 messages a day, so I need to see your message in context -- otherwise, I may not understand it.

9) If you buy or sell products/services online, make sure you're using an online payment service like PayPal.com in order to move money around quickly. Don't make snail mail your only payment option.

10) Pay your bills in a timely fashion. If you owe someone money online don't make them send out 10 emails telling you your payment is overdue. Pay promptly.

So there you have it; my Top 10 rules for being more polite and less rude online. If you incorporate these tips into your daily Internet dealings you'll find the Net a little warmer and a friendlier place to be.
There's enough road rage in the world, so when traveling the information highway please remember that we're all human. Your computer is just a tool used to communicate with others. Please be KIND to them!

"Must Have Marketing Resources" by Merle is loaded with VALUABLE online resources you need to know about, when it comes to running your web business. Get your copy now at ... http://mcebook.mcpromotions.com/

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Download My Tweet Ebook

I love Twitter and spend quite a bit of time finding valuable content to pass on to my followers. It's a lot of fun and a great way to meet others in your industry.

Have you ever thought about making a book out of your Tweets? Yep, you heard me. A real live downloadable ebook. It's easy to do with Tweetbook http://www.tweetbook.in/index.php Simply sign in with your Twitter user name and password and it goes to work. This would be a great little add on for your webpage or blog to encourage others to sign up for your Tweets. The only thing I wish I could change would be to make the links clickable inside the book.

I compiled mine and it's available for your downloading pleasure here.
http://www.merlesworld.com/e-books/Merles_Tweets.zip
Let me know what you think of it and if you plan on creating your own.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

“Essential Tools Every Online Entrepreneur Needs”

Are you an online entrepreneur? If you make your income orbird4 part of your income on the Internet, you most definitely are. With more and more people earning an income online,many tools and software have been created to help them with their online business chores.

If you know about these tools, they can make your life as an "online warrior" a lot easier. There's a lot of work involved with running your own Internet business. You need to wear many different hats and be at least slightly skilled in many areas.

Let's take a look at some of the resources you should have in your "Entrepreneur Toolbox."

1) Websites: The structure and design of your site is very important. It needs to look "clean" and professional. You can use software to create your site from scratch, pay someone else, or use an online template.

A) Some resources for learning HTML:

Dave's HTML Guide:
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/html/

HTML Goodies
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/

W3 Schools- Online Tutorials
http://www.w3schools.com/

B) For Templates, see:

Template Monster
http://www.templatemonster.com/

Basic Templates
http://basictemplates.com/

C) For Software, some free:

The Free Site
http://thefreesite.com/Free_Software/HTML_freeware/

A handy tool to check your website for broken
links online:
http://www.stickysauce.com/cgi-local/linkcheck/linkcheck.pl

To make sure you haven't created an overblown site
that takes forever to download, use this online tester:

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/

2) Utility Programs: There are a few basic utilities you'll need to have on hand for everyday tasks. These include a good FTP program for uploading your files to your web server and a program to zip and unzip files. You'll need to zip files when they are large, to compress them for Internet downloading.

Check out:

Sofotex:
http://www.sofotex.com/download/FTP_Software/

Zipper:
http://www.trans4mind.com/personal_development/zipper/

Zip It Fast: http://www.zipitfast.com/

3) Email: As your business grows you'll come to rely on email as your primary means of communication. The most common email programs are Outlook and Outlook Express which come standard with Windows, and Eudora, which many power users prefer:

Eudora: http://www.Eudora.com

Whatever you use for an email client make sure you're
familiar with how it works, and how to create folders and autoresponders. With today's spam problem, you'll have to use a good filtering program, such as: Cloudmark: http://www.cloudmark.com/ or a third party service like: http://www.spamarrest.com/

4) Mailing List Management: Any website owner worth his salt knows the importance of collecting visitors' email addresses. It doesn't matter if you'll be sending out a monthly newsletter or just periodic site updates, you need software that's up for the task. Make sure whatever you use is capable of handling multiple lists, as when your online business grows you may need to keep lists for different things. For example, you might have one for those who like to swap ezine ads with you, one for those who have
expressed an interest in advertising with you, etc.

Here are a few great resources:

Groupmail: (the one I use) http://www.infacta.com/

Subscribe Me: http://www.siteinteractive.com/subpro/

Aweber- Everyone’s Favorite

Here's a list of some others:
http://www.emailaddresses.com/email_mailing.htm

With everyone using filters on email these days make sure you download this program that checks your email for "trigger words" and improves your chances of making it through to the inbox. It's called Email Advisor

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/emailadvisor.html

5) Graphics Program: You'll find you need graphics for many of your online activities. Maybe for your website, a banner for an exchange, a cover for an ebook, etc. The two most popular online today are Photoshop http://www.Adobe.com and Paintshop Pro http://www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro/

If you don't want to part with your cash, there
is a free one:

http://oriens-solution.com/enhancer/default.asp

6) Autoresponders: An autoresponder works much like Fax on Demand and automatically replies to any email sent to it with a pre-formatted message. For example you might have a "thanks for emailing me" response that replies to all incoming messages or you might want to set one up for "price lists," "product information," "advertising rates," etc. Autoresponders are very powerful and can help to automate many aspects of your daily email chores. You can use a third party service, or install software on your server, or configure them from within your email client itself.

Aweber the Best Autoresponders in Town
SendFree: http://www.sendfree.com/
Get Response: http://www.getresponse.com/

7) Online Payments: If you're going to be doing business online, you'll need to be able to accept online payments. If you don't want the expense of a merchant account there are plenty of other inexpensive third party services you can use.

PayPal: http://www.PayPal.com
ClickBank http://www.ClickBank.com
Ikobo: https://www.ikobo.com/
2 CheckOut: http://www.2checkout.com/
Shopping Cart- http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?pr=1&id=119465

8) PDF Software: If you want to offer downloadable
documents from your website or create and sell ebooks or reports, you'll need a way to convert Word and text documents to PDF. There are many other options besides Adobe:

PDF Moto: http://PDFMoto.com
Gymnast: http://www.oakworth.demon.co.uk/gymnast.htm
Win2PDF: http://Win2PDF.com

9) Ebook Creators: Ebooks are very popular and can be sold or given away for free. If you give them away, they become very powerful viral marketing tools that can generate a consistent traffic flow to your site. If sold, they can produce a nice income for you. Most ebooks come in PDF
(portable document format) or .exe. To create an .exe format you'll need what's called a compiler.

HTML Executable: http://www.gdgsoft.com/htmlexe/index.aspx
Ebook Generator: http://www.ebookgenerator.com/
Ebooks Writer: http://www.ebookswriter.com/

Nice directions on how to create PDF Ebooks:
http://www.adobe.com/epaper/tips/acr5ebook/main.html

For professional ebook covers see:
Cover Software http://www.coversoftware.com/
Ebook on Making Covers: http://tinyurl.com/2l4o2

10) Virus/Firewall Protection: It's a dangerous world online and you need to protect yourself from the "bad guys" who create and send out viruses. You'll need to install a good virus protection program and keep it running constantly in the background in order to steer clear of infections. If you have a "constant on" Net connection like DSL or cable, you'll also need to run a firewall program to keep out hackers. Take a look at:

McAfee: http://us.mcafee.com/default.asp
Norton: http://www.symantec.com/index.htm
AVG: http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php
Firewall Protection:
http://www.tinysoftware.com/home/tiny2?la=EN
Spyware Remover: http://lavasoft.de

11) Accounting Software: As an entrepreneur, you'll
need to be able to generate invoices and track your
income and expenses for the "tax man." Three of the
best are:

Quickbooks: http://www.Quickbooks.com
Internet Tax Helper: http://www.internettaxhelper.com/
Netledger: http://www.Netledger.com

12) Marketing/Promotional: It may have worked for Kevin Costner in "Field of Dreams," but online, the saying "build it and they will come" is just not true. You need to be proactive by promoting and marketing your website constantly  to bring in the paying customers. Here are some excellent resources:

Self Promotion: http://www.selfpromotion.com/
Bruce Clay: http://www.bruceclay.com/
http://www.PRWeb.com

13) Typing Shortcuts: At the end of the day you may feel
you've typed so much your fingers will fall off. Repetitive typing comes with the territory. You'll find yourself answering the same questions about your products and services, as well as posting your sig line to hundreds of posts in discussion boards...all of which adds up to a lot of repetitive typing. A typing shortcut tool stores short snippets
of text for you so when you need them you just hit a key or a combination of keys, and it will type out your pre-stored text for you. This really saves a lot of valuable time.

Type It In: http://www.wavget.com/typeitin.html
ShortKeys: http://www.shortkeys.com/
ClipMate: http://www.clipmate.com/

14) Misc: Here are some tools that don't categorize easily -- but can be extremely useful to you. As you move around the Net, you'll find many useful tools and software that can help you in your daily entrepreneur life. Make sure you bookmark or download them for later use.

TextPad: A more powerful alternative to Notepad
http://www.TextPad.com

FeedReader: RSS is becoming very popular online so
you'll need a reader to subscribe and read them.
http://www.FeedReader.com

Music: For your musical enjoyment while doing
your web work I highly suggest..
http://www.Itunes.com

WebBBS: A shareware discussion board to install
on your website.
http://awsd.com/scripts/webbbs/index.shtml

The Directory of Ezines: A pay for membership site that will give you access to over 800 newsletters you can purchase ad space in or swap ads or submit articles to. http://www.lifestylespub.com/

ICop: If you'd like to join a group of online professionals you'll want to take a look at this organization: http://www.i-cop.org/

PLR Content: One thing you need a lot of is content. And sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day to create it yourself, that’s where PLR content can be your best friend.

TweetBrand: Brand your Tweets.

If you need help, then Outsource.

Being an online entrepreneur involves juggling a lot of balls to keep everything running smoothly. By using the right tools for the job you'll save yourself a lot of time and energy that can be used to grow your business in a very successful direction.

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