How to use the Power of the World's Easiest and Most Effective Headline Format to Torbo Charge Your Business

=======================================================

by Yanik Silver
www.InstantSalesLetters.com

=======================================================

Did you notice the title for this article?

Of course, it's a headline. That's right and it uses a
shop-worn classic format which still continues to amaze me
with its power. Just 2 simple words...

"How To..." Stick with me on this, I know it sounds too
easy.

The simple, lowly "How to" headline is still tops in my
book for simplicity and effectiveness. You really cannot go
wrong with it. The 'how to' headline is so versatile. You
can follow it with several benefits, a question, an offer,
almost anything - and it works great!

In fact, using the 'how to' formula is one of the best
places to start when writing headlines because it forces
you to think of what your product/service actually does for
the person.

Here are a couple of winning examples to get your juices
flowing:

How to Collect from Social Security at Any Age

How To Get FIVE Money-Making Web Sites In 29 Minutes Or
Less...Without Spending A Fortune!

How to avoid the biggest mistake you can make in building
or buying a home

How to cruise the world for $19 a day

How to get Enthusiastic Applause - Even a Standing Ovation
- Every Time You Speak (Ted Nicholas)

How To Win Friends And Influence People

How to make your car invisible to radar and laser!

How to make your computer as easy to use as your telephone

How to fix cars

Check out the last winning headline on our list - "how to
fix cars". I mean it really can't get any simpler than
that, but it works...and it works big time!

Now here are a few "How To.." headlines you can plug-in
and use right away when brainstorming:

=============== "How to" Formulas ===============

How to get ____________
How to have __________
How to keep__________
How to start __________
How to begin _________
How to become ___________
How to improve your _________
How to develop _____________
How to get the most out of_____________
How to avoid ________________
How to end________________
How to get rid of _____________
How to conquer _____________
How to enjoy _______________

Even just adding the word "how" in front of a headline
gives it an additional appeal. Compare these 2 examples:

A strange accident saved me from baldness

How a strange accident saved me from baldness

Which one is more compelling? I think you'll agree #2 does
the trick. And that one is a winning headline used over and
over.

Okay, but maybe the tried and true "how to" is too boring
for you. No problem! Spice it up by adding a little
something before the 'how to'

Here's HOW TO...

Discover HOW TO...

If you think a 12% annual return on your money is good,
here's HOW TO set your sights on 100% or more

All new course reveals HOW TO use Pop-Ups to double your
opt-in rate, explode your sales, and squeeze up to 300%
more revenue out of each visitor to your Web site!
(Jonathan Mizel)

I'll show you HOW TO hit golf shots as straight as you can
point, or this video golfing lesson is free...and I'll pay
you $25 for wasting your time! (Jeff Paul)

Ohio man discovers the secret of HOW TO escape the American
Rat Race

Or if you still want to change it up a little - just use
"How you..." or "How I..." like these winning examples:

HOW I earn my living in 4 hours a day

HOW YOU Can Make Well Over $300,000.00 Per Year As A Real
Estate Agent Working Less Than 40 Hours A Week.... Have A
Top Income AND A Life..... And NEVER Have To Make A Call
You Dread Or Waste Your Time With Unrealistic Sellers Or
Insincere Buyers, Ever Again (Craig Proctor)

I think you'll agree for getting the most bang for your
buck - "how to" headlines are the way to go.

==========================================================
Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on
creating automatic, moneymaking websites...and he still
doesn't know how to put up a website.

He is the author, co-author or creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools,
http://33days.check-free.info/
==========================================================

Navigational Options for Your Website : Choose Wisely

By Merle MCPromotionsPress.com

So you've decided to it's time to revamp your website's navigation, or maybe you're putting together a new site and are trying to decide the best navigational menu to use. Before you choose one type over the other, you'll want to consider the size of your site and your anticipated growth, as the menu structure you select may have to expand.

There are many types of navigation methods to choose from. You must carefully consider the layout of your site so you can choose the system that will work best. You want to make it easy for your visitors to find their way around and not frustrate them in the process. You need to keep it consistent across all pages of your site, with some standards like the placement of your logo (which is generally in the upper left hand corner of your website) linking back to your home page.

1) Left Side Menu: Probably the most common menus you'll find, with text or button links running vertically down the left hand side of the page. This generally works best for small websites with a limited number of pages.

2) Text Links at Bottom of Pages: Not a complete navigation system on its own, but always a good idea to complement your main navigation. If you use Flash, it's always a good idea to give the search engines an easy way to spider your site -- and text menus do just that. Your visitors will also appreciate not having to scroll back up to the top of the pages to make another selection. Keep it small.

3) DHTML or Java-Script Menu: My favorite and the most expandable of menu types. Generally you'll have your main page topics running horizontally across the top of the page. When a user hovers over one of the main topics a drop down will appear with more menu options. The advantage to this type of menu is that it's easy to add new pages. You'll only need to create the page then add the text links to the scrïpt.

Here are some software solutions:

DHTML Menu
Deluxe Menu
Java DropDown Menu

4) Java-Script Pull Down Menu: If you're cramped for space, then drop down menus are sweet as they are so compact and hardly take up any room. You can display a lot of links in a small area. They look like small förm boxes that display a main option, but when you clïck on them a drop down menu appears with all of the various pages of your website.
Create your own, then copy and paste the code:

Pull Down Menu
Drop Down Generator
Javascrïpt Menu Master

5) Tabs Menu: Looks like file folder tabs running across the top of your pages horizontally. A good example of this is at Amazon.com. You'll find an easy way to create them at:

Dynamic Drive

The look of tabs can also be done using Cascading Style Sheets. Chëck out:

WebCredible
GRSites Menu Maker
Apycom Software

6) Search Function: Many people overlook the advantages of adding a simple search box to their sites. Hurried visitors can simply type in what they're looking for and find it quickly without frustration. If your website is rather large you might want to consider adding this option, even if you have a great navigation system.
You can download scripts and install them on your server or use a third party service.

Google Search
FreeFind
PicoSearch

Site Search

Matt's Scrïpt Archive

7) Site Map: If your site is rather large you also may want to include a "site map." Basically, it's a page on your website that lists all of the pages on your site, complete with text links. It gives users an overview of your website's contents.
Make sure you include a link to your site map from your main navigation. Search engines love site maps as they make for excellent "spider food" helping your site to be indexed.

Site Map Creator Service

Likno

SiteMap Pro

eXact Mapper Lite

8) CSS Menus: Cascading Style Sheets have made it possible to add an endless array of navigational options to your website. There's no bloat or lag in downtime, either. They allow you to control the appearance and format of your website separately from the webpage coding itself, which makes them easy to update and alter the look of your site whenever you like.

Vertical Navigation
Cool Rollover Menu
Stylish Menus
CSS Vault

Do yourself a favor and take a long hard look at your website's navigation. Does it need an update? Now that you know all of your options there's no reason you can't create an exciting navigational system that users will just love. Don't underestimate the power of good navigation; if not done correctly visitors will be reaching for the exit button sooner than you think.

About The Author"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/.

New World Wide Web Emerging Meet the New Network

By Jim Hedger (c) 2005, StepForth News Editor,StepForth Placement Inc.

An interesting phenomenon is coming to a monitor near you, perhaps the one you are looking at right nöw. The days of convergence are upon us. The trend towards the merging of media via the Internet is already causing significant cultural shifts as witnessed by the power bloggers have exercised in relation to TV and print journalism. What a difference an era makes. A decade ago, the traditional media set the pace by telling our stories and provided practical means of mass-communications. Today, the Internet provides a globally stable transmission line and the Web serves as both production studio and broadcast medium. The Internet's growth and more importantly, the ease of access for anyone with a computer, a connection and a bit of talent, has pushed the majority of traditional media outlets into a period of survival strategy and planning

The Internet, as a means of content-distribution has been recognized as the emerging standard as opposed to the add-on it had previously been. Just as cable killed broadcast, IPTV and HDTV will replace the current cable TV distribution model. (Imagine the threat to satellite TV providers.) That doesn't mean the demise of your local cable company but it does mark a change in the way they will be doing business in the future. For most sectors of the entertainment, marketing, distribution and search industries, the only thing left to do is to actually figure out how to do it and how it will work.
The recent discussions between Google, Yahoo and CBS, along with the combined support of AOL and ASK for Internet TV start-up Brightcove show a definite shift in thinking among the US TV networks. Along with that shift, two unique experiments in business model development appear to be underway.
In an interview with Reuters, Les Moonves, CBS chairman said, "We're talking to them [Google] about a whole slew of things including video-on-demand, including video search."
The distribution power of four of the five largest search engines and the business model proposed by Brightcove can be seen as an experiment in marketing and content-distribution. The TV networks have recognized they need to work with the Internet and to do so they need to work with the Web's core information providers, the major search engines.
"They need our content, we need their technology," he said in the Reuters interview, referring to broader discussions with Internet companies. "We argue about which is more important. I think ultimately my content, no matter how you get it, content is still the most important thing."
Google, Yahoo, ASK, AOL, et al, view virtually all "open" information on the web as freely spiderable. They make lists that everyone else can chëck twice. Even without formal agreements signed, Google and Yahoo have both made video search of TV show snippets uploaded by fans available on demand. Quotes from the shows can be found based on the transcripts of closed captioning broadcasts.
For producers of Web-ready television content, it's no use producing content for mass-distribution over the Internet if you aren't in the new-media version of the TV guide. The problem for both the search-information providers and the content creators is making a profït providing the service. While Google, Yahoo and the major TV networks will, for the most part, be able to rely on current advertisers for revenues, three important factors threaten to challenge the stability of that traditional marketing environment.
The first is the dramatic increase in ease of access to the industry. Making video has nevër been cheaper or easier and with the proliferation of broadband access (often via the traditional cable TV companies); delivery of product is virtually instänt and universal. In other words, consumers no longer have to go to an expensive movie theatre to watch a production that cost a fortune to produce. Access to the market and means of production is literally open to anyone. In the near future, there could even be competition for click-through revenues between traditional commercial driven television production and the increasingly professional but independent amatëur productions.
The second factor stems from the proliferation of video entertainment production. If there is a sudden increase in quality and availability of independent productions and those independent producers show credible commercial competition, what is to become of the massive media machines behind the scenes of most network shows? Someone has to pay the bills and the predominantly successful model, (pay-per-click or in this case, pay per view), might not provide sufficient revenues for the highly expensive network shows against popular independent productions.
The third is the portability of information. Handheld, pocket-sized devices such as Blackberrys and cellphones are increasingly web-capable and can handle video. Content produced for the web must also be available where portable media users are looking for it.
Brightcove thinks it has the answers to these issues. Founded in Cambridge Ma, in 2004 by Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove is "an open Internet TV service that empowers video producers and programmers to build broadband businesses while giving viewers more choices and control over their use of video and television." (source: brightcove.com)
Its prevïew page shows that Brightcove is working to tie advertisers to video produced by individual users and mainstream networks. It also looks to AOL, ASK and other search related businesses to send traffïc in the form of branded user features and video-on-demand services. Distribution is the major factor that places the Web far above other forms of media. Taking a page from Google's early playbook, Brightcove is also working to harness the massive distributive power of the Internet by inviting website owners to inquire about syndicating video content.
The opportunities for small business advertisers and website marketers are enormous. The emergence of the Web as the primary means of delivering video information offers website marketers a new area to present client products and services.
The Internet and the Web, while already remarkably versatile, has become a vital link in distribution for the largest traditional media companies, including the major TV networks. The Web is also absorbing a great deal of the advertising monëy that was previously spent on print. It even threatens the mainstay revenue generator for most urban newspapers, the classified ads section.
Over the past few weeks, stories about Google Automat, a service procedure Google wrote a patent application for nearly two years ago have emerged. The patent application, which was published in early September of this year, is for "a system and method for providing online user-assisted Web-based advertising." The patent application goes on to describe a service that appears remarkably similar to Google Base.
"Preferably, such an approach would guide a user in the creation of advertisements describing offerings of goods or services, creatives associated with the advertisements, and advertising budgets. Such an approach would also help create and host a Web presence for individual and other advertisers. Such an approach would also facilitate driving Web traffïc to hyperlinked advertisements through targeting." (source: Patent Abstract)
The patent shows Google is preparing to enter the collection and distribution of small, personal sized classified ads, like the ones printed in the back of your local newspaper. As Google collects them, many industry analysts expect them to begin distributing them through the online classified sections of those same major newspapers.
This presents another wide-open opportunïty for search and website marketers to promote client messages and services. In order to take advantage of the new landscape, search and website marketers should take time to learn as much as they can about a number of technologies, techniques and complimentary services.
For instance, a good To Do list would include,
- Lean about FLASH and other video-editing software. Chëck out pre-established businesses such as SiSTeR.TV to see if their products or services can help.- Learn about the creation and optimization of files for podcasting. These files can be video based or simple audio streams but the trick is learning how to help search engines find them.- Learn as much about the amorphous catch-phrase Web2.0. Social networking and information recommendation have become important facets in website marketing campaigns.- Find a way to gently break the news to long-term clients. We all have a lot of work ahead of us.
About The AuthorJim Hedger is a writer, speaker and search engine marketing expert based in Victoria BC. Jim writes and edits full-time for StepForth and is also an editor for the Internet Search Engine Database. He has worked as an SEO for over 5 years and welcomes the opportunïty to share his experience through interviews, articles and speaking engagements. He can be reached at jimhedger@stepforth.com.

GetResponse

It amazes me on how many people just "don't get it" when it
comes to following up with potential customers.

Did you know that it can take up to 7 times contacting
someone before they purchase a product - it's true! But
again, there are a growing number of people out there that
are trying to make sales without doing something as simple
as setting their marketing on auto-pilot.

Thankfully there's an online service that provides anyone
with the kind of marketing system they need that can almost
guarantee success. And one that I can whole-heartedly
recommend!

GetResponse.com is one of the most recognized follow-up
systems on the Internet; and there's good reason.

GetResponse.com uses some of the fastest and most reliable
email servers available. This, combined with more
specialized features that any other autoresponder, is it any
wonder everyone raves about it?

But... despite how good GetResponse.com is, it just got
better! That's right, the new Smart Responder Pro 2005 has
just been launched and it has an incredible number of
powerfully new features.

Just take a look at what you get with Smart Responder 2005!

- Personalization of emails
- Unlimited follow-ups
- Complete import and export features
- Send a broadcast email to your entire list all in one shot
- Attach files to any or all of your autoresponses
- Track your leads and responses
- Your choice of 19 different domains names to send from
- Send HTML-enhanced messages
- Your own "confirmation" screen
- Selective broadcasting
- Block unwanted email addresses
- Bounce-back management
- Full activity reports via email
- Free, unlimited technical support
- much, much more!

As you can see, this is way more than your everyday run-of-
the-mill autoresponder systems - using any other just
doesn't make good business sense!

So what are you waiting for? You owe it to yourself and
your online business to at least take a look at what
GetResponse.com can do for you.

Check it out today at:
http://getresponse.check-free.info/


Sincerely,

Phil Bradshaw


P.S. If your sales are in a slump, do what all the 'gurus'
do, follow-up with your potential customers and watch the
sales roll in! It's simple and it's effective!

P.P.S. Did you know you can try out GetResponse for free?
Click here for details now!
http://getresponse.check-free.info/

Local Search Marketing The Next Wave

Local Search Marketing provides the opportunïty to geo-target customers like nevër before.

The Good News:

Local customers are actively searching for a business likes yours on the Internet. And studies show that these customers have a serious buying intent.

The Problem:

As a local business you have to figure out how to cost-effectively connect with them. You probably have heard of search engine marketing or pay-per-click advertising; but what does that mean to your local business

The Internet is changing the way your customers are searching for your type of business. The days of lugging out a 12 lb. telephone book to find very limited and outdated business information are coming to an end. People are still letting their fingers do the walking, but they're doing it over a computer keyboard. Below are some revealing facts from the Kelsey Group.

1. 74% of U.S. households use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally.


2. Approximately 45% of local searches had a buying intent.


3. The percentage of respondents who used yellow page directories decreased from 75% to 62%. (If you have a yellow page ad, it is time to consider buying a smaller ad and shifting your marketing dollars to the Internet.)

As a local business, you can no longer ignore these facts. If you want to compete and survive, you must have a presence where your customers are searching. Local search marketing is vital to the future of your business.

Where Are Your Customers Searching?

1. The major search engines, including Google, Yahoo and MSN. All three of these search resources have a local search feature.


2. Internet Yellow Pages. The offline Yellow Pages see the writing on the wall and are scrambling to transfer their business model to the Internet.


3. Local Directories and Portals. There are national directories like CitySearch that offer localized business information. In addition, there are directories and portals that only service local regions.


4. Industry Specific Directories. There are numerous directories that focus on specific types of businesses and services and will list them geographically. For example, wedding photographers, realtors, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and web designers.

As A Local Business Where Should You Be Listed?

Search Engines

This is the primary location for your business to have a listing, because the search engines are the primary places your customers are searching. There are basically two methods to list your business in search results. They are through Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click advertising.

Search Engine Optimization -

Search engine optimization has become a major industry because of the potential profït from a prominent search ranking. Through proven techniques, you can optimize your web pages and get prominent ranking for no chärge. But you must first understand the dynamics of the search engines and learn how they reward pages with top listings. They are in the business of providing the best search results possible to their audience. That's how they make monëy.

So, if you are a wedding photographer in Seattle and someone is searching for a wedding photographer in Seattle, the search engines want you both to connect. In order to connect, you must create a page that is optimized for the term "Wedding Photographer Seattle." But equally as important, you must solicit quality in-bound links from other web sites that relate to your business.

The search engines determine ranking by:

1. How a page is optimized for a particular keyword/phrase.


2. How many websites point to your site with external links.

Why are quality in-bound links important to your search engine ranking? The search engines consider external links pointing to your site as a vote of confidence. Particularly if these sites are industry related, or are important portals in your community. Basically, the formula for search engine ranking is as follows:

Optimized Pages + Quality In-Bound Links = Prominent Search Ranking

Pay-Per-Click Advertising - In conjunction with search engine optimization, a pay-per-click advertising campaign should be an integral part of your online marketing strategy. If you search for a term on Google, Yahoo, or MSN, you will notice a list of sites on the very top of the page and along the right hand column. These are PPC sponsored advertisements. Businesses pay the search engines to advertise on specific keywords/phrases.

If a person clicks on your ad, you pay a per-click price. The position of your ad in the listing and the price you pay is based on a bidding/auction model. The popularity and the competitiveness of the keyword will determine how much businesses are willing to pay-per-click. A keyword like "home mortgage" can command more then $50 per clïck because of the potential profït involved

As a local business, you would bid on terms that reflect your products and services, and combine those terms with regional terms. An example would be "Wedding Photographer Seattle," or "Golf Property Pinehurst." Or, you can advertise through PPC in a define radius (5, 10, 50, 100 miles).

The appeal of pay-per-click advertising is that you are in control. You determine which keywords you'll bid on, you set the maximum price per-click, you determine your daily budget, and you can turn on or off your campaign at any moment. In just a few years, pay-per-click advertising has grown to a multi-billion dollar industry. That's due to the efficiency and profitability of this advertising model.

Frëe Listings in Local Resources, Search Engines, Yellow Pages and Directories

In addition to SEO and PPC, there are a number of opportunities to get listed for frëe in a number of local resources. Identifying these online resources and taking advantage of this valuable opportunïty is a must for your business. Examples, are Google Local, Yahoo Local and Superpages.com. But there are also regional or industry specific resources that will allow you to list your business for frëe.
Paid Listings in Local Resources, Search Engines, Yellow Pages, and Directories

There are a number of profitable opportunities to advertise in local resources. But you must use caution, since the majority will waste your monëy. Determine if they reach your prospects and have ample traffïc. Most important, track and analyze your results.
The Internet is changing how local businesses are marketing. The future of your business will be determined by your ability to effectively adapt to this media.

Local search marketing is the next wave of the Internet, in fact, it will be a tsunami. Nöw is an excellent opportunïty to position yourself and get the jump on your competition. Will you be ready to ride the wave?

About The AuthorFred Waters is the author of the Take No Survivor Guide to Local Online Marketing. Designed for local businesses that want that want to reach new customers through the Internet.

When Is Your Independene Day?

=========================

When Is Your Independence Day?

By Yanik Silver

========================


July 4th for Americans is a chance to celebrate our independence.
Trust me, I'm not going to get on a soapbox and start waving the
flag - but I do think it's important no matter what country
you live in to really think about that word "independence"
and its meaning for you.

My father reminded me that July 3, 1976 was his
"Independence day" since that's the date my family came
over to the United States from Russia. (Pretty cool
since it was right before the bi-centennial celebration.)

For me, my independence day was on July 1, 1999.

That's the date I left my father's business to work on my
own. It was by far one of the hardest decisions of my life.
You see, I had worked for my dad since I was 12 and he
thought I was going to take over the company. I had that
same thought as well until I got the "bug".

In fact, my wife, Missy, and I were talking about this
recently. She was talking about how when she met me 9 years
ago, I had only one thought: "how to grow my father's
business". I would stay late working on new ads and
marketing pieces. I was in early calling my accounts trying
to make sales, etc. etc.

Now I had been studying direct marketing, and results were
really paying off for my dad's business. (Actually they
still use a lot of the ads I wrote in 1998 because they
still work today.) But with every ad I wrote I was getting
more and more aggravated. Not because the ads weren't
producing sales - they were - but because of the grief and
politics I had to deal with. Everybody seemed to be an
advertising expert even though they've never studied or
read anything on the subject. People mistakenly believe
that if they wouldn't "read all that copy" then nobody
will. Or if the ad is "ugly" and has no pictures or pretty
graphics it won't work.

Complete and total crap.

For every ad I wrote I had to fight to get it out there. I
got sick of it and decided I would create my own product so
I could write ads for myself. My first product was to help
dermatologists who wanted new cosmetic patients. It was a
big kit (manual, tapes, reports, diskette, etc) based
around some marketing consulting I was doing on the side
for one of my customers.

I ran my first ad in April 1998 in Dermatologic Surgery
magazine. I got 10 responses so I sent them the 20-page
sales letter I'd written selling this $900 kit. Not one
order.

I waited...

Sent out a 2nd notice to those 10 respondents.

Nothing...

Then I sent a 3rd notice telling them the expiration date
to get all the free bonuses was only 10 days away. Finally
on the very last day of the expiration date I got one order
over the fax machine.

Yipeee!!

I still remember that doctor's name in Flushing, NY. What
an incredible feeling. That was the start of my
independence. I realized I now had the power to chart my
course as I wanted. That first sale. That's one of the
greatest feelings in the world - when something you've
created is sold. It took me a little over a year after that
first order to realize I wanted my freedom and I finally
quit on July 1, 1999.

Maybe it's the new confidence you get when you realize
you've created something that people want and are willing
to exchange money for. That first sale is usually the
hardest (but also the most rewarding).

It's wonderful when I help turn on that light in people.
I've seen it first-hand working my Apprentices and seeing
them launch their products. How amazed they are by the
money pouring from around the globe. I love it!

And my wife is striking out on her own with a little bit of
my help. She set up her first web site -
(www.InstantThankYouLetters.com) and she's getting
checks each month.

So when will your independence day be?

If you've already achieved it - I bet you can remember it
perfectly. Sometimes the bleakest times that we believe are
terrible actually turn into a perfect opportunity.

Take my good friend, Jim Edwards', for example. His
independence day came because he got fired. To him that
wasn't a blessing at first but as he looks back on it -
it's the best thing that ever happened.

I remember the conversation we had right after it happened.
I was drinking a bourbon and Jim was having a beer. We were
talking about different projects he could try and pursue
and do now. We were throwing around some ideas and we came
up with "33 Days to Online Profits".
(www.33daystotoonlineprofits.com)

It was right there during that call that we outlined each
of the days and moved forward from there. And "33 Days" has
been a tremendous six-figure income earner for both of us
and it doesn't seem to let up.

So what can you do to achieve your independence?

I'll give you a couple things to take to heart. I can't
remember the author who said this but he said if you show
me what a man does in his spare time I'll show you the type
of man he'll become. What are doing with your spare time?

- Watching TV or reading?

- Napping or practicing your copywriting?

- Yakking to your friends or studying direct marketing?

It all comes down to the choices we make every single day.
In fact, you shouldn't let one day go by without making
sure you are taking at least one proactive step towards
your own independence. Just because the thought of you
doing what you want when you want may seem so far away -
don't let that stop you from taking those baby steps each
and every day. That's one of my rules and I hope you'll
adopt it.

What else?

Learn to be different. The truth is you need to become
extraordinary to achieve extraordinary results. You can't
be like everyone else (and why would you want to). That
means doing the things other don't (or won't) do. That
means not listening to their advice (unless they are doing
what you want to do). Frankly, if you simply did the exact
opposite of what everyone else is doing you'd turn out
okay. Why? If only 5% of people are truly successful and
the 95% are the mediocre majority - doesn't that mean the
majority is wrong? Don't engage in their thinking. Don't
follow their lead. Don't adhere to the same values and
standards the "95-percenters" do.

Two people who really helped me clarify my thinking on
this was Early Nightingale and also Dan Kennedy. (See
next article for his insight and a special gift I've
arranged for you.)

Please don't get me wrong - in no way am I trying to be
elitist. I'm not. But it is tremendously important to go
through your day with your eyes wide open. The truth is
most of your friends (right now) probably don't want you to
change and succeed. That would imply that they are losers.
That would mean they are failures. Nobody is going to
propel you to succeed except yourself.

So get on it and proclaim your own Independence Day
starting T-O-D-A-Y!


(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

==========================================================
Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on
creating automatic, moneymaking websites...and he still
doesn't know how to put up a website.

He is the author, co-author or creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, which can be
found at http://33days.check-free.info/
==========================================================

Access Your PC From The Road

© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
    http://www.thenetreporter.com
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Have you ever sat in front of your computer and wished you
could show someone else what appeared on your screen?

Maybe you were experiencing a problem, or couldn't figure
out how to make something work, but you knew if someone
else could see what was happening on your screen, they
could help you fix the problem immediately.

Ever had a phone conversation with someone about a
particular business topic, but you just couldn't "connect"
with your ideas because it was too hard to explain over the
phone?

Now, visualize jumping on the phone with that same person
and literally sharing your computer's desktop to
collaborate, discuss, and create virtually anything
together, even if you are separated by thousands of miles.

Though this may sound like an episode of Star Trek, remote
computer sharing is actually a daily business reality.

Imagine you need to take a trip and you either don't want
to or can't take your computer.

The thought of emails piling up for days makes you crazy
and you also need to monitor some things on your pc.

Instead of trying to lug your laptop (or fit your desktop
into your suitcase), you can use "remote desktop" software
that allows you to access your computer through the
Internet from any other computer in the world.

One of the most common remote desktop services is
GoToMyPC.com, which provides a safe and secure way for you
to go down to the local internet café, log on, and access
your office or home computer just like sitting at your own
desk.

Now, before you panic and think anyone can access your
computer, let me explain security.

First, you log in to the GoToMyPC.com website with a
username and password.

Once logged in, you then click a link to log onto your PC,
which will then ask you for another password.

GoToMyPC.com has even thought of a solution for those of
you worried about people looking over your shoulder as you
enter your passwords on a public computer or if the
computer you use might carry a keystroke logger.

Before leaving home, you can program in a series of up to
99 passwords that only work one time.

This means even if someone watches you log into your
computer or records your keystrokes, the password you used
won't work again.

If a would-be thief tries to access your computer too many
times, GoToMyPC.com will shut down all access attempts to
your PC.

The benefits of remotely accessing your PC from the road
are numerous, but the bottom line is that it enables you to
use your computer from the road like you never left home.

For example: while traveling to a conference this weekend,
my wife (and business partner) accessed our office computer
from my laptop and, instead of the usual pile of 4,000
emails that would normally await after 5 days away, we just
picked up this morning like we'd never been gone.

The same company that offers GoToMyPC.com also offers a
service called GoToMeeting.com which allows you to remotely
host a meeting where multiple users can share and
collaborate on a single computer desktop.

This service makes it super simple to provide online
training, do software demos, and even make complete sales
presentations.

I personally use both of these services and find them easy,
reliable and well worth the price.

--
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how
to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted
visitors to your website, affiliate links, or blogs...

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Ego Searches and RSS

Ego searches are frëe and simple searches designed to monitor blogs and news portals for mentions of your company, product, competitors or other specific keywords. Conducting ego searches not only allows you to stay informed, but also allows you to maintain a strategic advantage over competing companies.

A number of new Internet services are freely available that make these 'ego searches' painless and easy.

Automated tracking of specific subjects or industry trends, based on keywords, provide businesses a great deal of valuable information.

Ego searches are a great way for businesses to keep an ear to the ground, without having the expense of conducting a market survey or competitive analysis.

Businesses can use the frëe "ego search" resources to stay informed about what customers are saying.

The dynamically created keyword based RSS feeds, update in your RSS reader or news aggregators, each time new information containing the keyword appears in the searched resources. The dynamic feeds match requests against new information, as it comes online in real time.

The following frëe services allow for RSS feed ego searches.
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Editorial Note:

If you have not yet installed RSS Reader/News Aggregator software, we recommend the following popular freeware readers/aggregators:
BlogExpress - Easy to use and has built-in Web viewer.
Pluck RSS Reader - Browser-based RSS reader plug-in for Internet Explorer and/or FireFox.
SharpReader - Handles all RSS versions. Numerous useful features.

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Google News - Simply conduct a keyword search of Google News and then clïck the text that says "RSS" then save the url of the RSS feed into your news reader. Every time a new article with that keyword appears in Google News the feed in your RSS reader will automatically update.

BlogPulse - Find out what is being said about your products, company or your industry in the blogosphere. Conduct a keyword or url search on BlogPulse. Clïck the orange RSS icon above the search results and save the feed in your reader. Each time the keyword appears in a blog indexed by BlogPulse you will receive a new item in your feed reader. Another feature of BlogPulse is it will graph the keyword occurrences, providing a picture representation so that trends can be easily visualized. Hovering over the lines of the graph will provide details of actual blog mentions

PubSub - Search on a keyword, then save and add the feed to your RSS reader using the icons provided. Optionally with PubSub you can direct your search to only alert you of posts in specific areas of interest including Press Releases, SEC/EDGAR Filings, Newsgroup Posts, or Weblog Entries.

Technorati - Create watch lists, by entering the search term add item to the watch list and then scroll to the bottom clïck the blue RSS icon to obtain the url of the RSS feed that can be added to your reader. Technorati is a real-time search engine that keeps track of what is going on in the blogosphere. In order to setup a watchlist you will have to create a Technorati account.

Ice Rocket - Simply search Ice Rocket then clïck the RSS 2.0 button to obtain the url of the RSS feed that contains your search term. Add the url to your RSS reader or newsaggregator.

Find Articles - Traditional media channels can even be monitored using RSS. FindArticles routinely scans magazines and publications for keyword mentions. Conduct a search then clïck "RSS Alert" to obtain the url to the RSS feed. Add the feed to your reader to receive instänt notification of new articles.

NewsTrove - NewsTrove indexes millïons of news articles from a myriad of sources. Build an RSS feed on any topic imaginable. Enter your search words in the search box. Clïck 'Search', then clïck the orange XML icon on the right side of the search results page and save the feed to your news reader.

BlogDigger - BlogDigger monitors the blogosphere and generally what is said daily in the blogs. Conduct a search on Blogdigger and clck the orange XML icon to retrieve the url of the search feed. The feed should then be added to your RSS reader.

DayPop - Conduct a search and clïck the icon on the right that says XML, save the feed to your RSS aggregator. Only the most recent search results will appear

Yahoo News - Conduct a search then clïck "view as RSS" in the right column and save the feed in your aggregator. The feed will chëck Yahoo news for mentions.

TalkDigger - TalkDigger is a meta-search engine. The results of which can be displayed using RSS. TalkDigger essentially aggregates the mentions that occur in a number of other blog search engines.
Overall, ego searches are an excellent way to stay informed and maintain a strategic advantage over competitors. Knowing exactly what your online competitors are doing provides a competitive edge that can be used to your advantage. Keyword RSS feeds can be used to monitor key phrases for trademark abuses or monitoring the effectiveness of a specific press promotion.
Updates to RSS feed searches occur in what could be considered realtime. An additional subscriber benefit to RSS based ego searches, is that subscribers don't have to release any private information or an email address, to monitor keywords. Although they sound daunting, utilizing frëe resources to conduct ego searches is simply good business sense.

About The AuthorSharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition, Sharon manages marketing for FeedForDev an RSS component for developers.

Yahoo Publisher Network: Another Way to Have Your Website Earn Its Keep

Have you ever wished for someone to come along and compete with "Google's Adsense Program"? With the launch of "Yahoo's Publisher Network"(YPN) you could say that some wishes really do come true.
If you're not familiar with Adsense or YPN, both programs allow you to add specialized coding to your website pages and then display text-based ads which are related to the content on the page. For example, if you have a sports related website theme, then ads would be shown for sporting goods and services.
Google had this market cornered for a long time, but with YPN there's nöw some "friendly competition" -- which is a good thing for everyone involved.
Yahoo's Publisher Network (YPN) is currently in beta and önly available to publishers in the United States. You can apply for the program at http://publisher.yahoo.com. Word on the "Internet Street" is that Yahoo hopes to be out of beta by the end of the year and has plans for offering additional services as well.
Once accepted into the program (which they're calling "Content Match"), you'll need to log into the YPN control panel to select your ad formats and colors. There are 10 different ad unit sizes to choose from. For example: Square 250X250, Large Rectangle 336X280, Small Rectangle 180X150, Banner 468X60, and so on. Most of the sizes offered are similar to those you'll find on Google's Adsense.
Customized color schemes can be created for your ad layout, or you can go with any of the standard ad colors. You can set background color, text and link colors.
YPN offers full reporting and tracking capabilities. You can track up to 50 channels to find out which pages and ads are your top performers
Once the code is in place on your pages, Yahoo will crawl your site's content to insure that relevant ads appear. If no targeted ads are available, public service ads will be shown.
YPN gives you a bit of control over competitors' ads showing up on your site, with the option of blocking up to 200 of them.
In their efforts to differentiate themselves from Adsense, YPN is also offering something called "Ad Targeting." This allows you to choose up to two ad categories for your entire site, or just for specific pages. This is done in order to target your visitors with ads based on their specific interests. This in no way guarantees that önly ads from those categories will be shown; it just gives Yahoo a better idea of what types of ads you'd like to see appear on your site.
You can choose up to two categories per targeted URL, to a maximum of 50. If you don't see a category that fits your pages, you can always suggest it be added. There are currently 20 categories to choose from. For example "automotive, B2B, computing," with 109 sub categories.
If you've been showing Google ads on your site for some time nöw and are thinking about adding YPN's to increase your revenue, keep in mind it is against Yahoo's terms of service to display any other contextual ads on the same pages as theirs. So if you want to run both programs on your site you'll have to put one on each page, or get your hands on a rotation scrïpt that will rotate both ad types, one at a time, on all pages of your site. One such scrïpt can be found at Shoemoney.
Another really nice feature that Google is lacking is Yahoo's "Balance Transfer Option." If you also use Yahoo's Search Marketing Program for your pay-per-click advertising and you use the same user name and password for both, you can transfer monëy from your publisher network account at YPN to your sponsored search account. There are no minimum amounts for transfers and you'll need to manually make the request in order to move the funds, but this is a handy feature.
When it comes to payday and any earnings you may have coming to you, there is a minimum payout of $100.00 before Yahoo will cut you a chëck. Checks are sent 45 days after the close of the calendar month. For example, any earnings made in September will be paid to you by November 15th. I'd like to see them shorten up the pay cycles in the future, as most small entrepreneurs generally need cäsh sooner rather then later.
It's going to be interesting to watch this new race heat up between Google and Yahoo. Competition is always a good motivator and who knows, it may encourage Google to offer new features as well knowing they don't have the corner on the contextual market.
Keep your eyes peeled for future changes and enhancements and may the best man wïn!
About The AuthorArticle by Merle- Want to Know the SECRETS of Article Promotion? Discover everything you need to know in this brand New Ebook, "How to Use Articles to Drive Website Traffïc". Get your F-r-e-e Copy today at http://articleannouncer.mcpromotions.com

Raise Your Website Traffic with RSS-Blogs and YAHOO (Part1)

It is the trend du jour. They are the subject of pundit press, guru glare, and are ready for mainstream adoption. RSS feeds and their communication kin the blog -- are bandied about as the next big thing.
Everywhere you look there are articles and ebooks touting the electronic affinity and high value of these two forms of media creation and distribution. However can these two forms of digital media drive more traffïc to your site, or -- are they just hype?
Blogs are short for web logs and are like daily dairies on the web. Blogs started out as ways for Internet reality types to share their lives with other people on the web, without having to learn very complicated web design applications like Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage.
While on the other hand RSS feeds are the natural extension of Blogs. RSS without getting into all the arguments over the name (for the purpose of this article) stands for Really Simple Syndication.
RSS feeds can take your blog postings and syndicate a prevïew of your blog headlines all over the Internet. Therefore in theory RSS feeds can drive traffïc to your blogs and websites similar to how search engines have become major marketing channels.
If your blog's headlines are syndicated on major high traffïc websites, RSS directories and Internet Portals, it could be another major source of traffïc to your website. But how effective is blog marketing to the average Internet marketer who doesn't have a major personal brand name like John Reese, Yanik Silver, or Dr. Ken Evoy?
This question is reflected in the concerns of bottom-line focused Stephanie McIntyre, president of eSales Unlimïted, an eBay Power Seller, auction trainer and coach. Stephanie has generated over $200,000 in profitable salës on eBay and has low tolerance for marketing hype.
"I am not convinced that blogging can really drive traffïc or profitable salës states Ms. McIntyre. Internet Gurus like James Maduk haven't convinced me that I can really make monëy with a blog."
She isn't alone in her skepticism. Many online business people are confused why all this hype is being created about blogs and RSS feeds. Many wonder if they can really deliver on their potential to drive more traffïc and salës to business oriented Internet websites.
In short, can blogs and RSS boost really boost our website traffïc? I put the technology to the test in the last four weeks to get some definite answers.
I found blogs are having some major income impact on the bottom-line of some companies and business people.
Despite many reservations by some Netpreneurs, blogs and RSS feeds have been boosting the bottom-lines of some marketers. Willie Crawford, a well known Internet marketer generates over $1000 dollars a day from mostly blog generated Adsense™ revenue. Blogging for Crawford has become yet another profitable part of his business.
Weblogs Inc., a publisher of almost 100 targeted niche blogs is noted as being on its way to generating 1 million dollars in Adsense™ revenue! This had to be a compelling reason for AOL to recently buy Weblogs Inc., for a whopping 25 million.
Still another very successful Internet business person I spoke with (who doesn't what to be identified) uses blogs as a förm of buzz advertising, resulting in $50,000 in indirect eCommerce salës when properly timed. This business person does close to 17 million dollars in online salës.
I also have been having good success saving time and monëy by publishing quickly with blogs. My blogs generated good income for me, however I wanted to see if the distribution of my blog headline via RSS feeds would bring in any new revenues.
One of the promotional ways blogs and RSS are purported to increase your online traffïc is the strategy of increasing your website's traffïc with what I call horizontal SEO. Horizontal SEO is called "winning the search engine lottery" by Internet salës star John Reese
Most SEO firms and web marketers focus solely on high rankings for popular keywords (Vertical SEO). In contrast a more comprehensive search engine driven Internet marketing campaign would scale more horizontally or deeper with more rich keyword informed content pages.
In other words a horizontal SEO campaign would be like playing the lottery. Your odds of winning the lottery are greater if you have more tickets.
According to Reese "search engines algorithms change from day to day. Therefore, your ranking will go up or down. But if you have more and more tickets in the SEO lottery you have a better chance of winning."
Blogs and RSS feeds give you the ability to create and distribute a lot of web information (content) on the fly that's distributed throughout the Internet at myriad media outlets. Blogs and RSS feeds drive more traffïc to your site by helping you wïn the SEO lottery with horizontal SEO.
Blogs and RSS can be the easiest and most efficient way to wïn the SEO lottery. They do this by creating lots of targeted niche content on your, and other partner, sites that carry your feeds.
In the last 4 weeks, I launched a website with a blog component without optimizing it in the traditional vertical SEO fashion. It doesn't appear on top of any search engine results worth mentioning. I wanted to see if the blog powered by RSS feed would drive significant traffïc to my site.
The results are amazing! I have been totally blown away by the research. Chëck out why I have become a big believer in blogging and RSS in part 2 of this article. Visit http://www.searchengineplan.com/blog.htm to stay informed on the latest blogging, RSS, and SEO developments.
About The AuthorKamau Austin is publisher of eInfoNEWS.com and runs SearchEnginePlan.com. He is author of Always On Top "How to Get the Highest Search Engine ranking for your website. See more about his strategies at AlwaysOnToptheBook.com.

Using New Content to Build Links

Sometimes, link building is more than just searching out sites to request links from. Sometimes you have to get creative in how you build links.
In this article, we look at another way of building links that doesn't really require you to go out and search for relevant sites to request links from.
The web is growing at a phenomenal rate
Technorati, a popular blog search and syndication site estimates that the blogosphere alone doubles in size every 5 months. As of the end of July 2005, Technorati was tracking over 14.2 million weblogs, and over 1.3 billion links.
Who knows how much the rest of the web grows? I would bet that while it doesn't double every 5 months its rate of growth is pretty impressive.
It is because of this growth in the web that other forms of link building become somewhat easier. I am talking about building links through content creation and publishing.
Chances are you are reading this article on the Text Link Brokers blog, or one of a number of syndication partners who agree to republish the article with links intact.
Through such syndication, you could come across this article through a variety of high profile websites on the web. In addition, these high profile sites are industry specific.
This means that any links I embed into this article (which is then syndicated) will ultimately point back to this site on important key phrases.
Think about this, for the time it takes me to write this article, I could have built as many as 2 dozen high quality, keyword rich links back to both the main site as well as the blog site.
Normally, for me to build 2 dozen high quality links for one of my clients I'd have to start with a list of about 500 somewhat related sites, filtering out those that are lower quality and submitting to 50 to 100 sites in hopes of achieving those 20 or so links.
And it has been my experience that I would be lucky to achieve 5 to 10 links from that initial list of 500 sites.
All this would have taken me about 5 or 6 hours - even longer if I hadn't used a few tools to help gather those links.
Yet hëre I am with much less effort, able to achieve almost the same number of links.
That's the nice thing about content - it can do so many things for your site:

1. A growing site helps encourage search engine crawlers to visit repeatedly.


2. A growing site has more pages which have the potential to rank for other phrases.


3. A growing site offers more entry points to searchers.


4. A growing site offers more opportunities for others to link to it.


5. A growing site can help positively influence link popularity (if internal navigation is coded properly)


6. And More...

There are many other great reasons for starting an ongoing content development program. Aside from the link building opportunities, you can also begin to develop your online reputation as an expert in your field.
Further, as visitors do searches on search engines, there is a greater opportunïty for your content to appear for those searches, helping to build your brand.
If you take your content development program a step further and syndicate your content to a wider audience (via blog pings and so on) you can reach even more people, potentially building even more links and allowing your name (and brand) to reach beyond the "traditional" web.
For example, when I do a search for my name, I find myself in traditional organic SERPs but also on sites like Google News, as well as most of the main blog search engines. This is because this site, and others I write for, are syndicated. Plus those sites that I mentioned earlier - the syndication partners - are also syndicated.
So my articles appear numerous times for the same search. This helps build my reputation online.
Not only does my name appear throughout the web, but articles like these also get picked up by even more sources. Ones that perhaps didn't read this blog, or one of the syndication partners, but they may have found it on Bloglines, Technorati or any of the other large blog search engines.
Then, the article gets picked up by even more sources, in its entirety, with links and all.
So, the number of new links I've created has nöw jumped from the original two on this article, to a couple dozen on our syndication partners to ????
It's interesting to see where articles get picked up. I've found myself quoted in PDFs belonging to Universities, on foreign sites where I've been translated into Korean, Chinese and even Russian. And, you guessed it, the links remain intact.
That's because these articles aren't like news - they last much longer than a press release which, while gaining huge exposure for 2 or 3 days, quickly disappears.
The articles last "forever" because they continue to be circulated by various sites who find them in searches, and either copy them or link to them. Then their sites get syndicated and found by others who then also link or copy the article.
You may begin to see that this type of linking can go on almost forever, because what I'm writing hëre isn't necessarily newsworthy, but it is an article that people will find useful for months and years to come (I hope). As it becomes more and more established on the web (and more entrenched, because of the number of high quality related links already pointing to it) it begins to take on a life of its own.
And the more articles which I write for this site which appear like this, the better it is for the site.
So, what is the downside to this plan?
The only one, really, is that you have to be able to write. And not just scribble your ideas down, but make them intelligible and easy to read.
This is what takes the practice. But I can tell you that while you may (and likely will) labor for hours over your first few articles, over time they do get easier.
So much so that you will begin composing them in your sleep, or while you are waiting for your bus, or any place else where you have "down time."
So if you are concerned that a massive and costly link building campaign is your only option to increasing your online visibility think again. Sometimes something as simple as an "I was thinking" article can drive dozens of new relevant links to your site.
About The AuthorRob Sullivan - SEO Specialist and Internet Marketing Consultant. Any reproduction of this article needs to have an html link pointing to http://www.textlinkbrokers.com.