122 Social Media Sites With Page Rank

Yea, I admit it. I do like social media. Presently I use Facebook, MySpace and I'm a Twitter Junkie too. Do they have classes for that? Social Media Marketing is hot right now and for good reason. Many companies and people are using it to brand themselves, listen to their customers, and help to drive the one thing we all crave "website traffic".

If you're not sure where to start, here's a nice list of 122 Social Media Sites which also includes page rank. Very nicely done. Kudos to the author. Check it out

http://www.squareoak.com/blog/122-social-media-sites-sorted-by-pagerank/

Too Much to Do??

I don't know about you but lately my "to do" list looks more like a scroll. It gets bigger and bigger by the week and many times I don't finish what I've started so I'm continually bringing tasks forward from week to week. Does all this sound familiar? We all have a lot of responsibilities from personal, to work, to hobbies so trying to cram it all into the space of one day is tough.

Need some help? I was browsing the net and found this wonderful article that includes 77 ways to get more done. It's very insightful and for an "old dog" even I learned a new trick or two. So don't let this languish in your "to do" file, rush over and see if there's a trick or two you can incorporate into your day in order to be more productive.
http://aureliustjin.com/77-ways-to-help-you-get-more-done

Gia and Baxter

Two Trouble Makers- Thinking up their next plan.

Gia the queen relaxing in the summer sun! It's a dogs life, but someone has to do it.

"110 Success Quotes"- Free Ebook

Aurelius has a great blog filled with advice for internet marketers. With this post he's giving away a free ebook filled with 110 success quotes you can use every day to inspire yourself. We all can use a little inspiration from time to time, right? If you like it feel free to download it and give it away to your own subscribers or from your website.

Download your free PDF version here:

http://aureliustjin.com/110-success-quotes

Google Web Elements

With Google Web Elements you can easily add your favorite Google products onto your website. It's easy to add by just copying and pasting some code onto your page.

Here are some of the things you can add to your site:

1) Google Calendar
2) Conversation Element
3) Custom Search
4) Maps
5) News
6) Presentations
7) Spreadsheets
8) YouTube News

Where to Find the Best Free Photos Online

The Internet is full of photos and graphics, so what? Well, did you ever think of the possibilities and what you could do with some of them? Maybe you have, maybe not so much. Well this site will show you where to find the absolute BEST free photos online and gives you some very creative ideas as to what you can do with them. For example, how about making your own greeting cards? Might save a buck or two a the store.

The Library of Congress and NASA and the New York Public Library all have their collections online, there's plenty of copyright-free graphics to go around. So if you have some free time on your hands take a walk down days gone by. You might just find something really cool.

"Google Docs Makes Your Documents & Presentations Portable"

One of the things I love about Google is that they're constantly coming up with new inventions. Not just content to be the king of the search engines - they actually have a full house of powerful tools and gadgets.

Have you ever been traveling, at work or maybe a friend'shouse, and wished you had access to a Word document, PowerPoint presentation, or Excel spreadsheet that was at home on your hard drive? This actually happened to me, which is when I found and fell in love with Google Docs. http://www.google.com/docs

Imagine having access to your documents from anywhere,with just a computer and Internet access. Google docsis compatible with Microsoft Office so it can handle any of your existing documents, but even if you don't own it, now you don't have to. Google Docs is a full fledged word processor, presentation creator and spreadsheet maker all rolled into one. No need to buy and install expensive software that takes upvaluable hard drive space. This online beauty can do it all for you, even offering an extensive array of templates at your disposal.

All docs created with Google can be exported and savedto your computer in these formats: Doc, ODS, ODT, PDF,RTF, even HTML. This makes it easy to save the finished product to your hard drive and print them out later. It even includes a "print preview" feature if you need to check your formatting.

Another nice benefit of using Google Docs is the ability for multiple people to edit and work on the same projectall at the same time. It's easy to invite others to viewor edit your docs by sending them an email invitation. You can even choose to be notified by email when others you're working with make any changes to it. How cool is that?

Google Docs offers support for 40 languages. Need to turn a project into a web page? Not a problem. Are you a Blogger?Type up your post and when it's done have it posted to your Blog with one click. This is a handy tool for any Blogger to add to their toolkit.

So what else can you do?

- Create drawings and diagrams and easily use them in your creations.

- Add footnotes to reports

- Create forms- you can even grab the code to embed the form on your web page.

- Making a presentation? It's easy to add those speaker notes.

- Add videos to your presentations.

- Color code all of your Google Doc folders to sort and find things easily.

- Need to put images in a spreadsheet? No problem.

- Upload PDF's to share. You can't edit them yet, but you can select sections of text and copy them to other documents.

- Take slideshows you create and embed them on to any web page, or your blog.

- Need access to your docs from your cell phone? Google's got you covered. Just point your browser to http://docs.google.com/m

- Chart creation is a snap

- OffiSync- Brings the power of Google Docs to Microsoft Office http://www.offisync.com/

This is just a small sampling of some of the things you can do with this online document creator. Now that you know your options, the next time you need to create a presentation or document, why not try Google Docs? It's free and you'll absolutely love the fact of all of your documents being "portable". I know I do.

(photo above courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ )

Domains 101: How to Choose A WinningName- Part 1 of a 3 Part Series

What's in a name? When choosing one for your domain, it could mean the difference
between success and failure. Giving birth to a website requires the same thought and effort you'd put into naming your flesh-and-blood babies. After all, you're going to have to live with it for a long time. So you need to choose something you're not only going to love, but will also work to your benefit.

Let's begin by examining domain extensions that are available to you:

1) .COM- Still the King and the best choice for most online businesses

2) .NET- In the beginning this was meant for ISP's but now it's the most common alternative
when the .com extension of a domain you really want is already taken.

3) .ORG- Designed for Non-Profit sites

4) .INFO/.BIZ- Fairly new but starting to spread in usage

5) .US- Country extension domains are also available for most countries

As you can see, you have many extensions available to choose from but if possible, always go with .com. It's the most widely recognized and still the default people use when looking for a website.

After registering your .com name you may want to "lock up" the .net version to keep out any would-be competitors from registering it and trying to infringe on your traffic. You can also use these other domains as "mini-sites" that concentrate on one aspect of your business that also link to your main website.

The next step is choosing your name. If you ask ten people how to pick a domain name you'd probably get ten different answers. Get out a sheet of paper and just start writing names that appeal to you or that pop into your head. Keep the following pointers in mind:

1) Keep it Short- Under 13 characters is the ultimate in length.

2) Include Keywords- If possible, try to include your
most important keyword in your name. You'll hear many
conflicting stories on this, but opt for a keyword in
your domain name if possible. It helps with the search
engines and is also more descriptive of your site
and what you do.

3) Odd Characters- Stay away from dashes and numbers
in your domain name. This will make it harder for
people to remember it when they go to type it in.

4) Be Memorable: Try to choose something that will
stick out in people's minds if you can.

5) Spelling: Make sure it's easy to spell. You don't
want people mis-typing the name in and not being
able to find you at all, do you?

6) Trademarks: Make sure the name you choose is not
trademarked to avoid any problems down the road.
Do a free quickie search here...
http://www.nameprotect.com/

If you're having problems coming up with good names you may want to try an online
"name generator" services for some quick inspiration:

1) NameBoy.com- http://www.nameboy.com/

Type in a primary word or if you like, a secondary one and hit go. NameBoy will come back with a list of names showing what is and isn't taken.

2) DomainFellow.com- http://www.domainfellow.com/

Type in a keyword and choose a category, then hit search. The list generated shows what's available and what's not.

For even more tips on domain names check out..
http://www.domainguru.com/

So now that you have taken your list of possibilities and have finally narrowed it down to your best selections, so where do you go to register your new found beauties? In part 2 of this series we'll discuss some of the cheapest and best places to register names, the fine art of buying expired and deleted domains and some of the best domain management tools to help you keep track of your new treasures.

“Generate Your Own Disclaimers and Privacy Policies”

First my own disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, nor do I pretend to be and this is not legal advice. In case you didn’t know if you offer anything for sale on your website you need to have a privacy policy and a disclaimer. Many times it’s hard to know where to start. This site allows you to generate basic templates which you can then edit to suit your needs.  Check it out at:

http://www.easyriver.com/free_utilites.htm

There are also a few other nifty tools which you can use to generate other items you may need for your site. Very cool.

“Shorten and Track Those Twitter Links”

TwitPwr is a short url service that will track the number of clicks the links you send out to your Twitter followers actually get. Good information to know right? I mean you spend a lot of time communicating with Twitter every day, but is anyone really listening??

This site also assigns a power rating to users who’s links receive the most clicks. It’s free to sign up and once you register and send out a link, here’s what you’ll see on your profile page: A Screenshot of the site, Traffic Data, Alexa Stats, Related Links and more.

If you’ve been sending out aimless links to your Twitter followers why not try out this free tracking service and find out who is really paying attention to you. It should be a real eye opener.

http://twitpwr.com/

“My Personal Online Shopping Tips”

Do I have your attention? Good. What I’m about to tell you is “top secret”….ok, maybe not, but when it comes to shopping online I am a pro. I love to shop, like most women when I find a great deal I get excited as a turkey on Thanksgiving. Yea, maybe that was a bad analogy. But seriously you can find some really good prices online if you know what you’re doing. Here are my personal tips and what I do before making a purchase.

1) First for a little comparison pricing I hop over to Froogle http://www.froogle.com/ if it sounds familiar it’s owned by Google and it’s their shopping engine. Just type in what you’re looking for and out it goes to scour the net and come back with what you’re looking for from various sites. You can then sort by price “lowest to highest” and browse away for the best price. This is a smart thing to do before making any major purchase to make sure you’re not paying more then you need to.

2) Once i decide on what I’m going to pay and who I’m going to purchase from…I jump over to http://www.retailmenot.com/ to see if there are any discount offers or free shipping offers for the particular vendor I’m buying from. Many times you’ll find another 10 or 20 percent off that you would not have known about, so check here first. You can also subscribe to be notified of any special coupons for your favorite vendor while you’re there.

3) If you’re purchasing a big ticket item you can always use one of the free services that will monitor the price and let you know if it detects a price decrease. Check out: http://www.priceprotectr.com/

4) One final tip: When it comes to electronics and techy gadgets these are my fav sites- http://www.buy.com/ (offers free shipping on most big ticket items) and http://www.woot.com/ Woot offers a daily special and sometimes they are AWESOME! Once you become addicted to Woot you'll be a "Wooter" for life.

There you have it. A few simple “Merle Secrets” that will save you some money. Don’t worry….you can thank me later. Now get out those credit cards and “go shopping”!

Part II- "Dress Up Your Website With Fantastic CSS Tricks"

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the different ways of implementing style sheets into your site and the basic layout of tags. Now, let's move on to some of the fun ways you can dress up your site with some standard CSS tags.

Have you ever been to a website and saw text that appeared to have been highlighted with a yellow highlighter pen? Many sales-oriented sites use this technique to call attention to ad copy they want to stand out.

The tag looks like this:

<span style= "background-color:yellow"> Text Here </span>

Pretty simple, really. How about sites that remove the underlining from hyperlinks? Think it can't be done? Think again. Here's how to do it:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
A:link {text-decoration:none}
A:visited {text-decoration:none}
-->
</style>

or like this -

A:link, A:visited, A:active { text-decoration: none }

How about setting your link colors? And how about making the links change colors when you hover over them? This is easy, too, but be aware it only works in Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher.

<style type="text/css">
<!--
A:link { color: #0000FF }
A:visited { color: #000000}
A:hover { color: #FFCC33 }
-->
</style>

Many sites you go to these days have fancy colored scroll bars instead of boring gray ones. This code only works in Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher; Netscape users will still see the standard gray.

<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
<!--
body {scrollbar-3dlight-color:#ff9909;
scrollbar-arrow-color:#000099;
scrollbar-base-color:#ff9909;
scrollbar-darkshadow-color:#000099;
scrollbar-face-color:#ff9909;
scrollbar-highlight-color:#000099;
scrollbar-shadow-color:#ff9909}
-->
</STYLE>

If you'd like some free software that will generate the colored scroll bar tags easily, go to
http://www.harmonyhollow.net/cool_web_scrollbars.shtml  You'll also find an online tool you can use to generate the code at: http://www.draac.com/mouseover-scrollbars.html

Page Margins are easy to control with CSS and can be set in mm,cm,in,points (pt) or pixels (px).

Example: To set a left margin
margin-left: 2.0 in;

To set all 4 margins at once use
Body {margin: 2 in }

To set individual margins at once use
Body {margin: 2% 5% 10% 12% }

Did you know some sites even use CSS to lay out their tables? This is a pretty advanced topic and not for the faint of heart:

http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/02/28/table-based-layout-is-the-next-big-thing/

Want to keep a background image from tiling on your pages?

Body {background: #333399 url (filename.gif) no-repeat center}

Think indenting paragraphs online is impossible?

P { text-indent: .50in }

Tables don't have to be boring. You can give em fancy borders by inserting this instruction into your table tag:

Style= "border: 4px solid red"

You can change the above color and px size to whatever you'd like.

Ever notice how almost all submit buttons are all dull gray? Yours doesn't have to be. Use the following tag between the <form> tags.

<form>
<input type= "submit" value="submit" style="background-color:
#333399>
</form>

For more information on dressing up your forms with CSS see these tutorials:

http://outfront.net/tutorials_02/adv_tech/funkyforms1.htm

These are just a few of the page elements you can control with CSS. For more tricks and tips, visit some of these sites:

http://www.boogiejack.com/intro_to_CSS.html
http://www.w3.org/Style/Examples/007/
http://www.mako4css.com/Tutorial.htm

Using CSS to dress up your site is really pretty simple. Just a few tags can have you looking like an instant Webmaster Genius. Try some today and your friends will be dying to know your secrets. Whether you share or not is up to you.

How To Make A Small Fortune Online With Small Reports

Today, I'd like to share with you a business idea that is oftentimes overlooked by online marketers.

We all know about writing and selling ebooks. Perhaps you don't know HOW to do it, but we know that it's a great business model.

But, ebooks can be a pain to write. I mean, really, who has time to write 50 to 100 pages before making a cent? Yikes!

Here's a business model that's JUST as profitable, and a lot less work.

I'd like to introduce you to your new best friends --

Small Reports & Jimmy D. Brown (the guy who's going to teach you about them).

After you read this excerpt, be sure to grabbing the FREE report "5 STEPS TO A BIG-PROFIT, S.M.A.L.L.™ REPORT BUSINESS: How To Turn 7-15 Page Small Reports Into A Six-Figure Information Empire" at this site:
http://www.infoprofitshare.com/go.php?offer=dakota6969&pid=5

But, first -- I'll share the first few pages of the actual paid course.

-----

How To Make A Small Fortune Online With Small Reports

Hello, this is Jimmy D. Brown. Welcome to Small Reports Fortune™ where I’m going to teach you “How To Make A Small Fortune Online With Small Reports”.

We’ll talk at length about how to do this, but I want to kind of encapsulate everything into one opening statement as we begin our presentation –

The ultimate information business is finding a target audience and then convincing them to make repeated purchases from you.

An age-old marketing law is this: "it's much easier to sell MORE to existing customers than it is to find new customers to sell to". Your information business stands to gain serious momentum when you offer multiple, related offers to your customer base.

Instead of selling a customer a $20 ebook and then looking for the next customer, you'll want to setup a system to offer her a $20 ebook, then a $40 product, then a $497 product and finally a $1997 offer. (These are just "generalities", of course)

And it’s all going to build upon this foundation of creating short, 7-15 page reports.

The important thing is to get your existing customers to spend MORE money with you. Learn this: the more money each customer spends with you, the less customers you'll need to reach $100K per year.

The idea is simple: get your target audience (subscribers + customers) to repeatedly spend money with you.

Once you have worked to secure a customer or subscriber, why not allow them to spend as much money with you as they are willing?

I'm not suggesting that you exploit your relationship with others and coerce them into purchasing sub-par products or things they don't really have a need to buy. I'm talking about making products and services available that provide genuine usefulness to those who are in a position to buy.

There's a big, big difference between these two statements:

"This product is going to change your business forever ... it's the best product I've seen in months ... if you don't buy this today, then you're absolutely nuts ... it's what I consider to be a 'must-have' for anyone who’s serious!"

"If you're ready to XYZ, then I've found this product to be very beneficial in my own business. I use it myself and here are the results that I've achieved. I highly recommend it and will even give you a free copy of XYZ if you are one of the first 50 who buy it."

Both are attempting to get the sale. But one is full of hype and the other is reasonable.

Back to my point. You need to get your target audience to buy from you. And buy again. And again. And again.

Despite popular belief, you can do this without being a money-hungry, conscious-less, in-your-face, psychological mind-games coercer. (That's a mouthful, huh?!)

So, that's the backdrop of the Small Reports Fortune™ course. I’m going to teach you how to -

CHOOSE a market, CREATE small reports to sell to them and CASH-IN on your own money-making information business.

What I want to teach you to do in this series is to create small, 7-15 page reports that you sell to your list members in the $10-$20 range...and how to spiral them into premium-priced offers down the road.

You can make a "small fortune" with "small reports" - and I'm going to show you how to do it.

Here's what it looks like 12 months from now:

You have 12 reports available for $10 each. (One per month) Customers buy the first one and, in time, buy most of the others. (Multiple customer purchases)

You put together package deals of 12 reports for $97. (Larger chunks of cash per transaction)

You launch an affiliate program for the $97 package and sell large quantities of the bundle. (Affiliates love ~$50 commission per order!)

You use your reports to launch “high ticket” offers that sell for $1,000 or more. (Skyrocket your profit!)

You make a "small fortune" with "small reports" (Yes, YOU!)

And it all begins right here.

-----

The great thing is that you can get more of a peek into this course by grabbing the FREE report "STEPS TO A BIG-PROFIT, S.M.A.L.L.™ REPORT BUSINESS: How To Turn 7-15 Page Small Reports Into A Six-Figure Information Empire" at this site:

http://www.infoprofitshare.com/go.php?offer=dakota6969&pid=5

"11 Things Every Successful Website Needs"

So you've put together a spectacular website, and you're ready to go live on the Internet for the whole world to see. Not so fast there Bucky. In case you didn't know, there are a few essential requirements that every site needs to include in order to be successful.

Let's review, shall we:

1) Privacy Policy/Disclaimer: Now, I'm not a Lawyer and
don't claim to be one, but these two documents should be
standard issue for every site you have. People want to
know how you're going to use their personal information,
and a "privacy policy" does just that.

In today's litigious society you'll also need to include
a disclaimer/terms of use page. This protects you and
spells out to your visitors what they're agreeing to by
using your website. If you don't know where to start in
generating these documents, you'll find plenty of help
online.

DMA Privacy Policy Generator
http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/PPG/

OECD Privacy Statement Generator
http://tinyurl.com/5plgpc

Google Adsense & other Ad Networks Privacy Policy Generator
http://www.serprank.com/privacy-policy-generator/index.php

Privacy Policy Generator
http://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/

Free Site Disclaimer
http://www.easyriver.com/free_disclaimer.htm

This is not legal advice, and if you need help in this
department, consult with a local attorney.

2) Contact Us Information: I can't tell you how many sites I've been
to that fail to include a way to contact the owner. If
you can't include a phone number, at the very least have an
email address or a "contact us" form. By providing this
information, you'll make your visitors feel more comfortable
knowing there's a way to reach you should the need arise.

If you need a form and don't know how to create your own,
try one of these free form services.

Bravenet: http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/emailfwd/

Freedback: http://freedback.com/

Email Me: http://www.emailmeform.com/

3) Search Box/Site Map: If your site is rather large,
you'll also want to include a way to search, or have what
is called a "site map". There are many ways to add a
search function to your site, the easiest being to
use Google's free service at-
http://www.google.com/sitesearch/

or try PicoSearch: http://www.picosearch.com/

A site map sounds technical, but it's just one web
page that contains links to every page of your site,
usually broken down by category. Here are some
resources to help.

FreeFind: http://www.freefind.com/

4) Google Analytics/Tracking System: Once your site is
up and running you'll want to keep your eye on traffic.
Who's visiting your website, what pages are the most
popular, where is the traffic coming from. All of these
questions and more can be answered by using a good
analytics program.

There are several ways to add a thorough tracking system
to your site, but the easiest and one that won't cost
you a dime is Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics/
Once registered, you can add as many sites as you like all
under one user ID and password. You'll be given some
code to copy and paste on your pages. Simple, easy, and
you're done.

5) Newsletter Sign Up/RSS Feed: There's an old saying
that people won't buy from you the very first time they
come to your website, so you need a way to stay in touch
with them to bring them back again and again. By offering
a newsletter, also known as an ezine, you'll be building
a list of possible prospects which is invaluable to any
site owner.

You'll find a multitude of free and low cost newsletter
services online. It's up to you, depending on your needs
and what you can afford. If you don't want to pay anything,
my favorite free services are:

FreeAutoBot: http://www.FreeAutoBot.com
Yahoo Groups: http://www.yahoo.com/groups

You can also offer an RSS feed for your newsletter, or
updates to your blog or site. This makes it easy for
others to keep up with your most recent posts. The
best service for this is...
FeedBurner: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home

6) Consistent Navigation: This might sound like a no
brainer, but many folks get it wrong. No matter what
type of menu system you decide upon, make sure it stays
the same across the board on all pages of your site.

Your job is to guide your visitors through your website,
making sure they always know where they are and how to
get to where they need to go.

For more see:

Eye on Web: http://tinyurl.com/dyh9fm

Web Page Mistakes:
http://www.webpagemistakes.ca/website-navigation/

7) Search Engine Optimized Copy: At first glance you might
not think this is so important, but trust me it is. You
want your pages to rank well with the search engines and
there are a few steps you can take to ensure this happens.

Each page of your website should be optimized for 2,
or at the  most 3 keywords/phrases. Weave the keywords
into your titles and into the body of each page. You
can also include them in your image titles, alt tags,
even in the names you give your pages. Look at each
page individually and decide what it's about, then optimize
accordingly.

For help see:

MarketLeap: http://tinyurl.com/ce8ffd
CopyBlogger: http://www.copyblogger.com/seo-copywriting/

8) Social Media Share Button: With the popularity of
social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace,
you'd be foolish not to include an easy way for your
content to be shared with others.

You'll find many free services that will give you the
code you need to instantly add a "share button" to
your web pages so that visitors can instantly share
them with their friends.

To generate your own buttons see:

AddThis: http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php

TwitThis: http://www.TwitThis.com

9) Meta Tags: Some may tell you that meta tags are
dead. Don't listen. Meta tags should be included
in your HTML code at the top of every page. Many
search engines  will read them to pull a description
to include in their search results.

Again, each page should be optimized separately and
have a unique title, keywords, and description tags.

For help see:

Submit Express: http://www.submitexpress.com/metatag.html
Submit Corner: http://www.submitcorner.com/Tools/Meta/

10) Copyright Notice: Sounds simple but forgotten by
many. All pages should include a copyright notice. If
you don't want to have to update it manually every year,
find a simple Javascript that will automatically do
it for you. You'll find one such script at:

Uncle Jims: http://jdstiles.com/java/copyright.html

11) Trust Seals/Testimonials: I grouped these two items
together as they both instil trust and confidence in
your visitors. Remember, when someone comes to your
website, they don't know who you are and if you're
selling something, they may not feel comfortable giving
out their credit card information. To help them feel
more "warm and fuzzy", include trust seals for any
organizations you belong to:

For example:

iCop: http://www.icop.net
BBB: http://www.bbb.org/us/Business-Accreditation/
Honest E Online: http://www.honesteonline.com/index.html

Also, if you have testimonials from happy customers, or
ezine subscribers, weave them into your site copy. People
always love to hear that others have had a happy experience
with your products/services. Make sure you get permission
first from the testimonial writers before placing them
on your website.

So there you have it -my short list of what every site needs to succeed online. Now that you're armed with this information, get out the magnifying glasses and take a close look at your own website to see what may be missing.

It's not hard to create a website, but for one that stands out head and shoulders above the rest, you need to include these important elements. When you launch your next site you want it to be successful, not average. So what are you waiting for? You've got a lot of work to do, so get busy.

"Appealing to Customers Thru Colors"

One of the first steps you should think about when designing your Website is 'what colors will I use?' Sometimes that decision is made for you in advance, as when your assignment is to put together a corporate site that already has pre-determined company colors that must be used. If not, and the field of color choice is wide open, you need to think long and hard about the psychological effects of different colors and the mood they create.

Let's say the desired effect you're looking for is to create a restful, calm site for a nursing home. You probably won't want to choose an excitable color like red. How many colors should you use? Try to limit your site to two or three at the most. Any more than that will tend to create confusion and look unprofessional.

Since colors can trigger reactions in people, you want the ones associated with your website to be favorable. You want your visitors to fill out that form, purchase that product, sign up for your newsletter. Good color choices can help move them along to the desired response.

Understanding a little about color theory will go a long way in helping you make the most out of your color selections. Below are some basic colors and meanings.

Brown - Comfortable and Enduring
Red - Excitement, energy, passion
Purple - Associated with royalty/mystery
Black - Elegance and sophistication
Yellow - Betrayal- Fear
White - Innocence and Purity
Blue - Reliability and Trust

Are you starting to get an idea of why using the right colors can make or break a site? For example, a site that sells baby merchandise would want to stick with pastel soft colors, not outrageous purple or black.

To learn more about color theory check out these sources:

Choosing the Right Colors for Your Website
http://www.avangate.com/articles/color-web-site_59.htm

Do Colors Influence Website Visitors?
http://www.graphic-design.com/Web/web_color.html

Choosing the Right Colors for Your Website
http://www.outsourcingtemps.com/articles/choosing-the-right-colors-for-your-website

Color is a very powerful aspect of Web design. Take advantage of it and you'll have a successful site that evokes just the right mood and gets the response you're looking for.

"Website Updates are a SNAP With Server Side Includes"

If you ever had to make a change to your website that needed to be carried onto every page, you know what a tedious job it is. Well, have I got news for you. It doesn't have to be. Welcome to the world of Server Side Includes, also known as SSI. The best part about SSI is that it will make your life as a site owner 'oh so sweet.' You're going to want to kiss me after I give you the lowdown on this little beauty.

Let me give you an example. Let's say you have a site with over 50 pages and you need to add another link to your navigation bar. Can you imagine how long it would take you to open each page and update it? By putting your navigation bar into an SSI file, you would only open up that one file and update that -- and the change to your navigation bar will show up site wide. See how simple that was? By editing one file you have updated your entire site instantly.

The most common use of an include file is for your top navigation, your bottom text navigation, copyright, logo or any other piece of info needed to appear on all pages of your site.

So how do you create an SSI file? Glad you asked! An include file can be an HTML file or a simple text file. It should be whatever HTML coding you need for that element of your site, minus  the <HTML> or <Body> tags which should remain on your individual pages.

An easy way to make them is to design your web page and cut and paste the code you want into individual files and name them things like topnavigation.htm or bottomnav.htm. By giving them descriptive names, you'll know at a glance which file is which when it comes time to perform those updates.

After creating the files you plan on using as your includes,you'll need to open your web pages and insert a line of code where you want the SSI information to show up in your documents.

The code looks like this:

  <!--#include virtual="nameofSSIfilegoeshere.htm" -->
  If your includes are located at the root level on  your
  web server your path would look like this:
  <!--#include virtual="dropdownmenu.htm" –>

That's it. Pretty simple, really. After you get the hang of it you'll wish you would have learned about them years ago. They really do make global updating a snap.

Here are a couple of good sites to learn more about SSI:

Big Nose Bird-
http://www.bignosebird.com/ssi.shtml

CGI Resource-
http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Documentation/Server_Side_Includes/

New Breed Software
http://www.sonic.net/~nbs/unix/www/ssi/

Web Reference
http://www.webreference.com/programming/ssi/intro/

Before you start implementing SSI you need to ask your web host if they support them (most do), and also if they will need to be named with any special extensions. Some servers may require you to give them specific extensions like .asp (if it's NT) or .shtml (for many Unix servers). Although the majority won't,  it's always better to ask first. Better safe then sorry.

By designing your website with server side includes you'll save yourself a ton of headaches when it comes time to updating your site. SSI is a Webmaster's best friend, so I suggest you spend some time getting acquainted.

PodCasting 101: "Everything you Need to Know to Get Started"

Everywhere you turn online these days you hear the word "podcast" or "podcasting." No, it's not some broadcasting method used by Martians, even though it might sound like it. A Podcast is just an audio file that is syndicated via an RSS feed, that you download and listen to with your computer or a portable device such as an iPod.

What makes it different from an ordinary RSS feed is the audio component included in the "enclosure field." Think of it as a feed that talks to you.

Podcasting is increasing in popularity. According to Forrester Research, by 2010 podcasting should have about 12.3 million listeners. That's a pretty big audience. For more info see http://tinyurl.com/84tyo

Similar to a talk radio show, podcasts can also take the format of an interview. Topics range from business to hobbies; even rants and obsessions. Lengths vary, but a typical podcast will run anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, but I have seen some longer. So far, there are not many music podcasts due to the red tape and cost of music licensing -- although musicians and/or small record labels bypass that issue by utilizing their own recordings.

Before you think you need some special device to listen to a podcast, let me assure you that youdon't. Most RSS readers have the capability built in to play podcasts. Any software that can play a sound file can play a podcast. If you want to take them with you to listen to while on the road you'll want to invest in a portable MP3 device like an iPod.

Like other RSS feeds, you decide which ones you want to subscribe to and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Online business owners should think of podcasting as yet another avenue for promoting your products and services. Like an ezine or the RSS feeds you already use, it's a simple inexpensive method of syndicating your audio files online. It would appear that a podcast is a bit more personal. Instead of just reading, like a newsletter, people can listen to the sound of your voice and make a more personal connection.

Now that I have your attention you may be wondering "How do I create a podcast?" Well, it's really pretty simple if you follow the easy steps below:

1) First you'll need to use software to record your own audio file. A good free one is Audacity which you can download at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ While there, you'll also need to download the Lame MP3 Encoder which allows MP3 exportation.

2) Once your audio is recorded you'll need to create an RSS feed file which is simply a special text file with an RSS extension that also includes a particular enclosure tag. For step by step directions on making a feed file see this site:http://make-rss-feeds.com/making-an-rss-feed.htm

There's also a great tutorial on RSS here:

http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/

3) Once your audio and RSS files are completed you'll need to upload both of them to your server/website.

If you'd like to read more here are some more online sites to help guide you.

Create Podcasts Using Your PC http://tinyurl.com/9jfcb

If you don't want to do all this work manually there are software tools specific to podcast creation.

ePodCast Creator http://tinyurl.com/do7sq

GCast- http://www.gcast.com

That's it. Wasn't that simple? Remember, you can't get subscribers if people don't know about your feed, so make sure you add it in a prominent place of your site. You want to make it easy for them to subscribe and add your feed to their news reader.

If you think you're going to have a hit on your hands and want to try to generate cash from your podcast, check out http://www.premiumpodcasting.com/ . They provide a system that allows you to charge for your shows and also include private access to them, track who is listening and more. You can try them out for a four day trial for only one dollar.

Once your podcast is live you'll want to make sure you list it with the various directories
that exist for just this purpose. You'll find a nice list here: http://tinyurl.com/create.php

Podcast Bunker
http://tinyurl.com/9qayk

Podcasting Station
http://tinyurl.com/7qlzq

Robin Good has a huge list at
http://tinyurl.com/9rusq

So now that you see how easy it is to create a podcast, what's stopping you? Remember, this
is a great tool to add to your marketing mix and if you're a bit on the creative side this might be just the ticket. Have fun with it, experiment and you'll become an expert podcaster
in no time.

----------------------------

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Promotion? Discover everything you need to know
in this brand New Ebook, "How to Use Articles to
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The Ultimate Website Checklist

When you're getting ready to launch a new website there are plenty of things you need to check and double check. I keep a list myself. You need to make sure you cross yout t's and dot your i's...so to speak. Here's a nice PDF checklist of all the things you need to check before your next website goes live. Very well done.

"Your Website & The Importance of Keeping an Eye on Bounce Rate"

When you hear the word "bounce", you're probably more inclined to associate it with a checking account, not your website. But for those who study and understand website statistics, they understand that "bounce rate" is an important measure of your website's effectiveness.

Bounce rate, simply put, is the percentage of people who come to your site, then immediately leave without viewing any of the inside content pages. Think of it like window shopping. Say you browse by a shop and don't really care to enter based on what you saw at first glance through the window. The window in this case is your home page. A bad first impression, or irrelevant content, can chase away a visitor and stop them from freely investigating the full content of your site.

Google Analytics defines bounce rate as:

"The percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page. Use this metric to measure visit quality - a high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance pages aren't relevant to your visitors."

Therefore, a high bounce rate is bad but a low bounce rate is a positive sign that your visitors are engaging and exploring your website. So what constitutes a good rate? This is a very hard question to answer, but if you do some research, most say it needs to be under 50%. It also will depend on the type of site that you have. For example, if you're a blogger, many times a visitor will come to your blog to read the latest updates then leave. Thus more often a blog will have a higher bounce rate than a "normal" site as there is no need for them to go any deeper.

How do you know what your bounce rate is? One free program that makes it easy is "Google Analytics". Register, list your sites and paste some HTML code on your pages and you're ready
to go. You'll clearly see your bounce rate go up and down as you view the in-depth reports.

So, how can you improve your bounce rate? First, you'll need to track the rate over time, and also look at the amount of time your visitors are sticking around. Also, take note of the traffic sources. Where is the majority of the traffic coming from? Search engines, direct links, social networking sites like Stumble Upon or Twitter, etc. The source of the traffic and the quality of that traffic will contribute to the overall bounce rate being higher or lower for the week. Some traffic, depending on the source will naturally convert better than others.

Once you know your statistical rate, you'll need to start making small changes, then run tests to see if it improves over time. It all starts with trying to improve the usability of your site's landing page. Translation: what people see when they come to your home page.

You can make changes to the design, look and feel of your site. Make sure there are other links readily available to peak the visitor's interest so they'll want to dive further into your content. Of course, you always want to make sure your site's navigation is user friendly, and that the site itself is easy to use and well organized. Another trick is to play around with different headlines, even change your website's copy. Another big problem is a heavy load time. Make sure your site loads quickly so the visitor isn't reaching for their back button before it even finishes loading.

Change one thing at a time, and keep your eye on the bounce rate to see if it improves. If you're not doing so already, have Google Analytics email your site reports weekly in PDF format. This will make your homework a little easier.

As you can see, bounce rate is an important statistical measure and says a lot about the "stickiness/effectiveness" of your website. There are also those who believe it plays a role in search engine algorithms and how they rank your site. If this is true or not, I don't know - but if it is true it gives you some extra motivation in working on improving it. For more on this controversial subject see:

http://searchengineland.com/bounce-rate-as-a-ranking-factor-15643

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/11/21/is-bounce-rate-a-google-ranking-factor

By studying your site's bounce rate, you really can learn a lot as to what's working and what's not with your website. It really is an important number to know and one you'll want to continually strive to improve upon.

Like costly heated air leaking out a drafty window, you'll want to do what you can to plug those leaks and try to keep visitors at your site a little longer. It's only when they are fully engaged that they'll make a purchase, subscribe to your ezine or do whatever action you consider a conversion. In the end, isn't that what it's all about? If your site's been losing visitors as fast as they enter, it's time to follow the "bounce rate" and make some much needed changes.

"Put Your Web Biz on Autopilot with Autoresponders"

Anyone who has a web-based business will tell you that answering emails is one of the most time consuming chores they face on a daily basis. After answering your emails for any length of time, you'll soon see that many of the requests you receive are for the same information over and over. Instead of typing the same responses again and again you can streamline this process with the use of  autoresponders.

Autoresponders work much in the same way as fax on demand. They're pre-determined email responses that are triggered to go out automatically to specific email inquiries.

There are many ways you can use autoresponders in your online business. Here are my Top Ten:

1) FAQ (Frequently asked questions)- How many times do you get questions on how your site or service works? Take them and answer themall in one text document.

2) Advertising Rates- If you sell ads in your ezine or on your website, set up a document
containing your ad rates and demographic information.

3) Help Responses- For tech support on your site; you can make a list of possible problems
with the solutions along with a note that you'll be in touch soon. This can also be used for tech support with your software or e-books.

4) Copy of your Ezine- If you publish an ezine, make sure you have an issue people can request a copy of by autoresponder. Many times people like to see an issue before they subscribe.Make sure you include subscribe information inside as well.

5) Price Lists-  If you sell products on your site, supply a comprehensive list of items with pricing.

6) Services-  If you perform multiple services, list them along with a brief description and
pricing and how to order.

7) Vacation- If you're going to be out of touch for a week or two you can set up an autoresponder to answer your incoming mail, with a canned response of when you'll return.

8) Short Courses- Many site owners use autoresponders to teach lessons or set up a tutorial on a subject, with one lesson being sent every day over a period of a week or two.

9) Sample Chapter- If you sell an e-book, you could offer a free sample chapter to arouse interest and encourage purchases.

10) Articles- Writing articles (like this one) and distributing them online is a great way to
promote your website. Setting them up on autoresponders makes it extra easy to offer them
to others for possible inclusion in their ezine or on their sites.

If you're in need of an autoresponder service, check out some of these:

Send Free http://www.sendfree.com/
Get Response http://www.getresponse.com/
Free Autobot http://www.freeautobot.com/
123 Response http://www.123response.com/

These are just some ideas for getting mileage from autoresponders. If you take a look at what information is requested most by your business, you'll come up with many more that will suit your need and help put your web-based business on autopilot.

"Make Your Website Talk"

Have you noticed the latest online craze? No, it's not how to make a million dollars overnight, although that idiotic idea is still floating around... It's adding voice to your website. "Ma Bell" meets the Internet, so to speak. If you spend any amount of time online I'm sure you've seen a number of sites employing this technology.

So who's behind this phenomenon and what's the benefit of adding voice to your website? I'm so glad you asked. In the cold, impersonal world of the Net,your voice adds a touch of warmth and personalization that can increase credibility, thus raising your conversion rate. Sound good? (No pun intended.) Of course it does.

So now that you're considering adding the sweet sound of your voice to your site, where might you want to use it? Depending on your website's content and theme, there are a variety of ways to incorporate your voice into it. For example:

- You might place a welcome message on your front page, summarizing your site's highlights, informing visitors of what they'll find, and thanking them for stopping by.

- If you have an "about us" page on your site, you might want to record a brief message to accompany your background info. This will help people feel as if they're actually meeting you.

- Since testimonials are a great enhancement to any site imagine if you actually added them in your customer's own voice. If you use one of the phone recording services you could give them the number and they could easily record how they feel about your products/services.

- If your site has been featured in an online interview or radio show, imagine including this audio in our site. Just think of it as your very own live press room.

One thing to consider is the quality of your voice. If it's not all that pleasant to listen to, you may want to employ the help of a friend, or you could hire a "professional" voice-over service. Do a search at Google and you'll find plenty of options. One such service is
http://www.jennifervaughn.com/

So now that you're actually thinking of recording something and adding it to your site, how do you do it? There are many different ways, some more expensive then others. Let's examine some of your choices a little more closely.

1) MP3 Sound Stream: http://mp3soundstream.com/

Creates streaming audio from MP3 or Wav files. Produces high quality output for only $39.95.

2) Audio Player Pro: http://www.audioplayerpro.com/

Starting at only $47.00. This produces a code that you can paste onto your website that will enable the viewers' default player.

3) Audio Generator: http://www.audiogenerator.com/

Streaming audio using just your browser. Easy to use, you can phone in your message or use MP3 files. Excellent sound quality. After recording your message paste some code onto your site and a button appears with your audio. $29.95 monthly.

4) SoundNails: http://www.soundnails.com/

This program converts several MP3 files into the popular Flash format. The sounds can then be played in streaming mode without the need of a player like (Windows Media Player or Real Player) in a user-friendly way. 30 day free trial is available, with two versions offered ranging from $10.00 to $65.00.

5) Sonic Memo http://www.sonicmemo.com/

Includes a step-by-step tutorial. You'll have to create your own MP3 files and upload them to your server. If you record WAV files, you'll have to first convert them to MP3 format. This software sells for $97.00.

6) Instant Audio: http://instantaudio.com/

Just record a message by phone and your website or e-mail is instantly audio-enabled. To check their sound quality call the phone number listed on the site, leave a message, then hit the play button on the site to listen. This service will cost you 29.95 a month.

Other Resources of Interest:

Free ebook that shows you how to add audio to your site at absolutely no cost to you. The book is rebrandable if you sign up for the affiliate program.
http://www.novasoft-inc.com/ebook.asp

Internet Audio Guy:
http://internetaudioguy.com/

Some pretty good resources here on adding audio, and if you subscribe to the ezine, you receive a 22-page free report entitled "Web Pages with Sound and Video."

Your site has been sending non-verbal messages for years; now it's time to break free and let it send a message everyone can hear. Adding audio to your website is not only easy to do, it can help you gain the trust of your site's visitors, thus increasing your conversion rate. So stop wasting your time and money, and start getting the sales you may be missing.

“Death Through a Window”

A few days ago as I was going about my usual daily routine when I heard the sound of a blaring fire truck. When I looked out the window I saw a frantic woman in the driveway across the street waving her hands as the local police pulled up in the driveway. An ambulance arrived and took its place next to the police car, as a fire truck parked on the street. Definitely a lot of commotion going on at an elderly woman's home which is usually very quiet.

Almost as if watching a movie I couldn't tear myself away from the window as I watched the woman explaining that she could see the lady who lived in the house clearly through the window but when she rang the doorbell there was no response. The police decided to bust the glass and go in. I saw the emergency squad rush in with the gurney. When they came out less then 5 minutes later with no patient onboard. I just knew she was dead. My boyfriend said he saw the flutter of a white sheet through the front window of her home as they covered her body.

Not long after the fire truck and ambulance left leaving only the cop to stand guard over the body until the men in black came for her. My sister said when there's a death the police will stay until the body is picked up. I found it so strange that the police have to guard someone who is dead. I mean, do they think someone is going to run away with the corpse? Is she going to get up and walk away on her own? I don't think so. I found the whole process very strange.

Hours went by and family members started arriving and hugging each other in the driveway. Most certainly trying to console each other. The cop kept moving his car and pacing back and forth in the driveway as more and more people filled up the home.

The woman who lived there was old. I didn't know her that well, but I would presume her to be in her eighties. My dogs barked at her every day as she walked to her mailbox to pick up her daily correspondence. Now they would bark no more. This quiet woman who seemed to be so independent was now gone. Her whole life came to an end on this Spring like day. Was she sick? or did God just decide her time here was through? I had so many questions about someone I really didn't even know. I mean I saw her pull in and out of her driveway, her family and friends would come to visit, but to say I knew her. No, I did not. Yet, I felt sad that day knowing as everyone rushed about with their daily activities that this woman who had a family of her own, was now dead.

Her whole life came down to waiting for two guys in black suits to take her away. Take her away from where she had lived her entire married life. From the home where she had raised her children, created a life for herself and her husband, where so many memories were made. Now they were taking her away......and I couldn't stop staring out that window as they slowly drove down the street with the body of a woman whom I saw yesterday getting her mail and today was dead. There was just something not right about all of it.

I know we all have to die someday, but to be honest it scares me. None of us know when it will come or how it will all end. I just hope that when my time comes people will say kind things about me and my family and friends will miss me. I hope that I will have done worthy things and leave the world a little better of a place then it was when I entered. What can I do that might live on forever long after I'm gone.

We all wonder "what's the point?" What happens to us when we die? where do we go? Do our souls really leave our bodies and travel on? Until we each experience death for ourselves we'll never really know the answer to these questions. All I knew as I stared out the window that day was that death had come calling right across the street. I felt a sign of relief that it wasn't one of my family members or someone I deeply loved, but yet it was someone who mattered to someone else.

I slowly closed the blinds feeling safer already from deaths outstretched hand,and went back to my mundane daily existence but I couldn't shake the sad feelings I had as my day was interrupted by "death through a window".

“RTLinks.com Makes it Easy for Others to Retweet Your Tweets”

I’ve been using Twitter a lot more lately and discovering more ways to take advantage of this push type of marketing. I’m sure everyone has their own reasons for using it and specific types of “tweets” they like to get. Me, I like interesting sites and articles. Things I can learn from to help me with  my online marketing. Not so much interested in what you had for dinner last night or what you’re watching on TV. Sorry. I know it makes you human, but not so much what I want to know. TMI…..

If you use Twitter you know how important it is to get others to “retweet” your tweets. If you don’t know that means they take what you sent out and send it out to their followers. This is called “retweeting”. 

Here’s a really slick service called RTLinks that shortens your link and at the same time makes it simple for others to retweet your message. When you shorten a link the page that comes up when someone clicks on that link has a frame at the top which includes a link to easily “retweet”, a link to your profile. Simple to use and free. Check it out at http://rtlinks.com/

Google Chrome Gets an Update

It's no secret that I love all things Google. They have a knack for taking good things on the net and making them even better. Hell, if they could rule the world, that would be OK with me. Do you use their Chrome browser? If you do you might want to know that they released an updated beta version which you can download at the link above.

So what's new and improved? According to the Google Blog it's speed. They claim it's 25% faster on their V8 benchmark and 35% faster on the Sunspider benchmark than the current stable version.

I'll admit I haven't played with Chrome a lot. I did download it on my desktop but my boyfriend uses it a lot more then I do. It's a pretty plain browser but it gets the job done. I don't think their going to take over Internet Explorer or FireFox anytime soon, but it's a nice addition to the browser family.

Seems as if every time I turn on the TV or open a newspaper it's all bad news. More people out of work, more people losing their homes, this company going bankrupt, that one going bankrupt. It's all so negative I'm getting to the point where I don't even want to watch the news. Can we just say something positive for once? I really think that all of this negativity just breeds more of the same. Anyone with me on this?

Well, I've got something good for you. If you're looking for a job this site, Razume will help you with your resume. You can build your own resume using their "ResumeBuilder" or if you already have one you can upload it and receive high-quality feedback on it. So how much is all of this expertise going to cost you? Absolutely nothing. Isn't that music to your ears? Yes Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus and sometimes you can get something for nothing. So if you need resume help strap on your hiking boots and get over to http://razume.com/

Another cool site, since we're talking about finding a job is http://www.indeed.com/ - Just type in the kind of work you're looking for and it goes out and searches thousands of job boards, newspaper classifieds, and company websites. Can you say "EASY".

I hope you find these two sites helpful and next time you see someone who's down take a minute to do something nice for them or say something positive. One person really can make a difference.

NOTE: The following is a guest post from one of my favorite internet marketing mentors. Why I Love Affiliate Marketing - Part 1 By Jimmy D. Brown of "Affiliatenaire"

Do you find yourself "starting" to create your own product to sell online, but never "finishing" it? One of the things I love about affiliate marketing is --

** You don't need to create your own products **

Many people find the idea of creating their own products tobe an overwhelming and even paralyzing task.

* I don't have any good ideas!* I'm not a writer!* There's too much competition!* I don't know how to set everything up!* I can't figure out where to start!* It's too hard!

These are just a few of the valid reasons many people givewhen it comes to not creating their own products to sell. I'm sure with a few minutes of brainstorming, we could come up with a list of many more.

With affiliate marketing, you don't need your own products.You simply promote someone else's already proven successful offer for a commission.

And, truth be told, even if you ARE a writer and you DO havelots of ideas and you CAN figure it all out...

** Nobody wants to create new products all the time **

As good as you may be, you don't know everything! Why try to create a product on every topic imaginable in your market when you can earn just as much money by simply promoting someone else's really good offer as one of yourprofit streams?

That's why I love affiliate marketing. You don't need to create your own products.
.........................
Jimmy D. Brown is the author of "Affiliatenaire", teaching you how to create big-time affiliate commission checks in only 1-3 hours each week. Discover how you can get cash in the bank without a website, experience or even an idea! Visit http://tinyurl.com/bb72jw
.........................

"The Fast-Track to Using Google Adwords"

Remember back when Al Gore allegedly said he "invented the Internet?" Well, he didn't, it was Google. Alright, I'm kidding, but sometimes it does appear that way. Google has consistently launched one killer application after another, and they weren't playing around when they entered into the pay-per-click arena with their "Adwords" program. Adwords is one of the largest online advertising networks, reaching more than 80% of all Internet users.

So how does it work? You choose keywords/phrases that are related to your products/services, write the text ads that will be shown when someone performs a search for your keywords, set a daily budget and the cost you want to pay every time someone clicks on your ad (C.P.C), and you're ready to run. There is no activation fee and no minimum monthly spend amount.

Ads are called "sponsored links", and appear along with search results on Google, as well as other affiliated search engines and "content sites" in the Google Network. This type of keyword based advertising will help you to reach a highly targeted audience quickly and easily. Not only can you run text ads, but also image/animated ads - even video. If you're a beginner at pay-per-click marketing, I would suggest you start out with text ads. You'll need to "learn to walk" before you run.

So what does a text ad look like? It consists of a 25 character headline, a description that is 2 lines of no more than 35 characters, and what's called a "display url". This url can reflect any domain you like because when it is clicked upon, the browser will take them to your "destination url". This is set up behind the scenes and does not appear in the ad itself.

A 3 line text ad might sound like a lot of room, but it's not. You've got a small area to make a huge impact on the searcher and make them want to click. Don't underestimate the power of a well written ad. If you don't know a lot about how to write "good copy", I suggest you study up. You'll want to include what's referred to as a "call to action" somewhere in the description. You'll also want to include your keywords if possible in your title and ad copy so they will appear in a bold font when your ad is displayed. For help see: http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/text/18779.html

You also need to send them to the page that's most relevant to your ad copy. This page is called a "landing page", and you'll want to make sure it converts. A conversion happens when the visitor performs the action you intended. For example, signs up for your newsletter, buys your product, etc. With Adwords conversion tracking you'll be given a snippet of code to paste on your web page wherever any conversion takes place. For example, your thank you page. This allows you to track how well your pages are converting. You can also use Google Analytics. For more see: http://www.google.com/analytics/

Now that landing page load time is being factored into "quality score", you'll also want to pay attention to your page's load time. Quicker is better. For more information on this topic see....http://tinyurl.com/4bsyaq

Now, let's talk about keywords. The biggest mistake most people make is choosing single keywords. You're much better off with two and three word combinations. For example if you sell dog food, instead of targeting a generic term like "dogs", you'd be better off selecting "dog food". Remember, these keywords will be responsible for triggering your ads to appear, so do your homework and choose wisely. Targeting the wrong keywords can be a very expensive lesson. For help in choosing keywords use Google's tool located at- https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

When setting up your keywords, you'll also need to choose what's called a "match type". Here are your options:

1) Broad Match: The default setting. Searchers can
enter your keywords in any order and your ads
appear. Not the best option for targeted traffic.
2) Phrase Match: Your keywords must appear in
the exact order for your ads to appear. This is
more targeted than Broad Match.

3) Exact Match: This is the most targeted option.
The searcher must type in your key-phrase
exactly for your ads to appear.

4) Negative Match: You choose words you don't
want your ads to appear for when searched upon. For
example, typing in the word “-free” would stop your ads
from appearing if someone typed that word before
your key-phrase.

So who decides which ads will appear at the top? This is called "ad rank". Ads with the highest ad rank will appear at the top. Here's the formula, at least at this time as it's always open to change. Ad Rank=C.P.C. (cost per click) X Quality Score To understand this formula you'll need to know what factors go into "quality score".

Quality Score is determined by :

1) How relevant the keywords and ad copy are to the search query.

2) "The historical Click-through rate of the ad, and of the matched keyword on Google".

3) It also includes your account history, which looks at the click through rate of your keywords and ads.

4) Landing page load time.

And, according to Google "other relevant factors". One tip to increase your ad rank is to increase your cost per click, and improve your ad copy and keywords in order to increase your quality score. Ad ranking is determined slightly differently for the search network compared to the content network.

For the content network it looks like this:

Ad Rank= Content Bid X Quality Score

What is the difference between the Content Network and Search Network? Good question. I thought you'd never ask. This is another option you'll have to decide upon when setting up your account. If you choose "search sites", your ads are displayed on search results pages only. Google's search network consists of: AOL, Netscape, Earthlink, Compuserve, AT&T, Worldnet, Ask.com, Shopping.com, Froogle and of course Google itself.

If you choose for your ads to appear in the "content network", this includes community websites, online publications and other information based sites that choose to display Adwords ads. Partners in the content network include sites such as: Google's Gmail, About, Lycos, NY Times.com, Infospace, Reed Business, HowStuffWorks, Business.com, Food Network, HGTV, MarthaStewart.com and many other content based websites. Ads are targeted to the content of the individual pages.

You'll also have some control over where your ads appear and don't appear with what's called "placement targeting". You can actually pick and choose from websites you'd like your ads to appear on, or not to appear on. For more on placement targeting see http://tinyurl.com/5zwfy9

You can opt in to both search and content networks, or just one.

At this point you're probably thinking this is a lot to learn. And you're right - it is, but there are plenty of online resources to help you such as:

Adwords Help Center
http://www.adwords.google.com/support/

Adwords blog
http://adwords.blogspot.com/

Google is a powerful Internet giant and makes for a mighty advertising partner. Make sure you harness some of that muscle, and you too can become an Internet force to be reckoned with.

Google Adsense Launches New Ad Format "Expandable Ads"

Google Adsense is a great way to make a little side income with your website. Google announced today a new ad format called "Expandable Ads". These are rich media ads that when clicked by the user, expands the ad beyond the original size of the ad unit. Expandable ads are run on Google's content network. To find out more go to:

https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=19440&sourceid=aso&subid=ww-en-et-asblog_2009-03-04&medium=link

My New NetBook

I just finished watching "The Girls Next Door" and I gotta tell ya I'm a bit choked up. Yea, yea, go ahead and have your fun, but I really loved that show. Those damn twins had to come in and ruin everything. The kicker is Holly is the one who discovered them and brought them home in the first place. Then they turn around and take over the mansion. See what happens when you're nice.

Anyway, I wanted to fill you in on this cool little netbook I recently purchased. They call em e-machines or netbooks as they're way smaller then your traditional notebook and their sole purpose really is to surf the web and email. From the first time I say one in Cosco I had to have one. Now I have my trusty IBM workhorse so I really didn't need one, but I love gadgets and for a little over 300.00 how could I resist.

The one I bought is by ASUS and you can get a look at it here:
http://www.buy.com/prod/asus-eee-pc-904ha-8-9-netbook-intel-atom-n270-1-6ghz-1gb-160gb-hd/q/loc/101/209708382.html

The look of it is very sleek. It's shiny ebony case is very designer looking but it does have a drawback of holding onto my fingerprints. The FBI would love this thing (LOL). It has a high-resolution screen at 1024X600 but if you don't mind scrolling you can set it higher if you like. Wireless is built in so cyber cafe here I come. It also has 160 GB of storage, 1.3 Megapixel WebCamera. It has an Intel Atom N270 1.6GH processor inside with an 8.9" LCD display. There's also a nice multimedia memory slot in the front for your camera or phone card which makes it easy to upload your pictures.

I've always been an XP fan and this comes pre-loaded with Win XP home edition and Microsoft Works for your document creation. The keyboard is not that much smaller but it does take some getting use to and the touch mouse is new for me. I'd also like to see the mouse selection controls to be a little easier on the fingers. Besides that this thing is really tough. I know you're jealous, aren't ya. The size is unbelievable at about 10.47" X 7.53" and it weighs about 3Lbs. This one was a little heavier then some of the other models I looked at but it came with a 6 volt battery. Most of them come with a 3 or 4 volt so you'll want to pay attention to that when deciding on which one you want. To me the whole point of a netbook is to be wireless and what good would it be if the battery was dead all the time. This one should last about 5 hours on a full charge.

So there you have it. Merle has a new toy and now I'm off to play.

"100 Percent GiveAway Looking for JV Partners"

I just wanted to let you know.. 100 Percent Giveaway is set to launch soon! Like the name says, this giveaway offers 100% commission on all upgrades made by contributors and members that you invite.

Some of the biggest names in the business are going to be promoting this event, directing tons of members and new leads to your gift.

All you have to do is sign up, submit a gift, and promote the event to start earning 100% commissions while building your list! The event opens its doors on March 20th.

Hurry up and get in on this while you can! The sooner you start promoting the better!
http://100percentgiveaway.com/go/159/jv