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The Cpu Cash Newsletter December 2,2005


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CONTENTS:
1. Quick profit or long term income?
2. Spam: Where it Came From, and How to Escape It
3. the Wisecrackin' Guru ( a humor filled article)

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1. Quick profit or long term income?
by Robert Nixon

When you start an internet home based business, you must look at what you can achieve in return for your efforts and investments.

Too many have somehow gotten the idea that what they want is a quick profit from making multiple one time sales.

This sort of thinking will end up with you either not making anything or a short term gain, then nothing. The reason is that you will constantly be working to make a sale, over and over and over again. Most businesses, whether on the internet or not, make their income by REPEAT sales to the same people. What if you owned a local 'supermarket' and your local community members only came in ONCE? You would quickly close your doors. NO, they make it by you coming in over and over.
A good business has products people know about and desire, related products and are there for more than, let's say for the sake of this sample, a year. Your supermarket carries not only milk and bread but canned goods, meats, and what you need for them like seasoning, eating utensils, plates.....well you get the idea.

It is the same with you, what you are indeed looking for is called residual income.
This is making money from repeat business. You want a product that performs in order for the person that purchases it, will 'renew' or 'up-grade' on a cyclic basis. Many do this by charging 'membership' fees for associates, or 'term' fees for the use of software.
I have a program that will only cost you about $20.00 a month for the use of a great marketing package of marketing software. If you want to save money then you can get it on a yearly basis at a reduced cost. Every month you pay your dues, I make money. MONTH after MONTH after MONTH. IF you pay for it once I will make $5.00 once and that's it. BUT if you renew monthly for say ten months...you do the math.

IF I invest $10.00 a month for your purchase, then I only need two sign ups to break even. Everyone after that is pure profit. If I make $2.00 on every sale you make and you make five sales a month, I get my ten back EVERY month from your efforts. This is called 'tier' payments and a great way to make income just by my relationship with you. Many companies will call this your 'downline'. The best way to create and keep a 'downline' is by maintaining a two way relationship by providing training, support and advice to them.

Is this easy or hard for you? If it is hard, then you are doing something wrong. You will have to look at your product or service and how you are advertising it, and where. If you have a good product or service that performs well for you but the problem seems to be with your site returns from search engine inquires, then you will want to work on the ranking of your site.

When I had my shareware business I made income from people coming back and ordering the 'full' versions of my products. I would give the authors a percentage and after shipping, etc, I would make my income. The money was in the 'hard disk', as on-line down loading was very difficult on the early internet and most PC's would not have the disk space nor the connection speeds to do this effectively.
Once the internet caught on, then it seemed the whole internet became with scams and con artists that sold people on the idea of investing with them to make the quick buck. Many of the programs sold (and still being sold) is really 'shareware' that people use for promotions. The market of selling 'shareware' is flooded and only so many can make a living selling it.
You need a solid product such as a health supplement or credit card service (those were examples only but you get the idea), then use your 'shareware' to promote the product or service, not the shareware. Only sell the shareware when your customers ask for it. This is how real money is made on the internet, first providing a good, tangible product and making income by repeat sales.

About the Author
Robert Nixon is the owner of http://www.cpucash.net and editor of a free weekly newsletter, both dedicated to assisting new internet business people that have their own domains but low start up budgets, how to achieve good rankings, etc on the internet at no charge for the information.


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2. Spam: Where it Came From, and How to Escape It
by Beka Ruse


In 1936, long before the rise of the personal computer, Hormel Foods created SPAM. In 2002, the company will produce it's six billionth can of the processed food product. But that mark was passed long ago in the world of Internet spam. Who Cooked This!? (How did it all start?) Why Does Bad Spam Happen to Good People? Stop The Flood to Your Inbox Stay Off Spammed Lists in the Future Think You're Not a Spammer? Be Sure. The Final Blow

Who Cooked This!? (How did it all start?) The modern meaning of the word "spam" has nothing to do with spiced ham. In the early 1990's, a skit by British comedy group Monty Python led to the word's common usage. "The SPAM Skit" follows a couple struggling to order dinner from a menu consisting entirely of Hormel's canned ham.

Repetition is key to the skit's hilarity. The actors cram the word "SPAM" into the 2.5 minute skit more than 104 times! This flood prompted Usenet readers to call unwanted newsgroup postings "spam." The name stuck.

Spammers soon focused on e-mail, and the terminology moved with them. Today, the word has come out of technical obscurity. Now, "spam" is the common term for "Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail", or "UCE."

Why Does Bad Spam Happen to Good People? Chances are, you've been spammed before. Somehow, your e-mail address has found it's way into the hands of a spammer, and your inbox is suffering the consequences. How does this happen? There are several possibilities.

Backstabbing Businesses Businesses often keep lists of their customers' e-mail addresses. This is a completely legitimate practice and, usually, nothing bad comes of it. Sometimes though, the temptation to make a quick buck is too great, and these lists are sold or rented to outside advertisers. The result? A lot of unsolicited e-mail, and a serious breach of trust.

Random Address Generation Computer programs called random address generators simply "guess" e-mail addresses. Over 100 million hotmail addresses exist - howhard could it be to guess some of them? Unfortunately for many unsuspecting netizens - not too hard. Many spammers also guess at "standard" addresses, like "support@yourdomain.com", "info@yourdomain.com", and "billing@yourdomain.com."

Web Spiders Today's most insidious list-gathering tools are web spiders. All of the major search engines spider the web, saving information about each page. Spammers use tools that also spider the web, but save any e-mail address they come across. Your personal web page lists your e-mail address? Prepare for an onslaught!

Chat Room Harvesting ISP's offer vastly popular chat rooms where users are known only by their screen names. Of course, spammers know that your screen name is the first part of your e-mail address. Why waste time guessing e-mail addresses when a few hours of lurking in a chat room can net a list of actively-used addresses?

The Poor Man's Bad Marketing Idea It didn't work for the phone companies, and it won't work for e-mail marketers. But, some spammers still keep their own friends-and-family-style e-mail lists. Compiled from the addresses of other known spammers, and people or businesses that the owner has come across in the past, these lists are still illegitimate. Why? Only you can give someone permission to send you e-mail. A friend-of-a-friend's permission won't cut it.

Stop The Flood to Your Inbox Already drowning in spam? Try using your e-mail client's filters - many provide a way to block specific e-mail addresses. Each time you're spammed, block the sender's address. Spammers skip from address to address, and you may be on many lists, but this method will at least slow the flow.

Also, use more than one e-mail address, and keep one "clean." Many netizens find that this technique turns the spam flood into a trickle. Use one address for only spam-safe activities like e-mailing your friends, or signing on with trustworthy businesses. Never use your clean address on the web! Get a free address to use on the web and in chat rooms.

If nothing else helps, consider changing screen names, or opening an entirely new e-mail account. When you do, you'll start with a clean, spam-free slate. This time, protect your e-mail address!

Stay Off Spammed Lists in the Future Want to surf the web without getting sucked into the spam-flood? Prevention is your best policy. Don't use an easy-to-guess e-mail address. Keep your address clean by not using it for spam-centric activities. Don't post it on any web pages, and don't use it in chat rooms or newsgroups.

Before giving your clean e-mail address to a business, check the company out. Are sections of its user agreement dedicated to anti-spam rules? Does a privacy policy explain exactly what will be done with your address? The most considerate companies also post an anti-spam policy written in plain English, so you can be absolutely sure of what you're getting into.

Think You're Not a Spammer? Be Sure. Many a first-time marketer has inadvertently spammed his audience. The first several hundred complaints and some nasty phone messages usually stop him in his tracks. But by then, the spammer may be faced with cleanup bills from his ISP, and a bad reputation that it's not easy to overcome.

The best way to avoid this situation is to have a clear understanding of what spam is: If anyone who receives your mass e-mails did not specifically ask to hear from you, then you are spamming them.

Stick with your gut. Don't buy a million addresses for $10, no matter how much the seller swears by them! If something sounds fishy, just say no. You'll save yourself a lot in the end.

The Final Blow The online world is turning the tide on spam. In the end, people will stop sending spam because it stops working. Do your part: never buy from a spammer. When your business seeks out technology companies with which to work, only choose those with a staunch anti-spam stance.

Spam has a long history in both the food and e-mail sectors. This year, Hormel Foods opened a real-world museum dedicated to SPAM. While the museum does feature the Monty Python SPAM Skit, there's no word yet on an unsolicited commercial e-mail exhibit. But, if all upstanding netizens work together, Hormel's ham in a can will far outlive the Internet plague that is UCE.


About the Author
Beka Ruse fights spam as the Business Development Manager at AWeber Communications. Ad tracking, live stats, and a strict anti-spam policy: Find out about a spam free way to connect with your customers here: http://www.bsleek.com/emarketing


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3."At last, the Wisecrackin' Guru finally speaks and reveals his little known and jealously guarded secret for how to make money now!"
by The Wisecrackin' Guru


Hi there, how's it going? I'm the Wisecrackin' Guru. Yes, that's me, the internet marketing extraordinaire that you've all heard about, and I'm here to help you, with the best money making tip you'll ever learn. Hey, I'm rich and you're not, but don't worry, I'll still talk to you. Even though I'm way too important to do anything like that. But I'm feeling generous today so I'll give you the glorious gift of one minute of my precious time. But please- try to keep drooling to a minimum.

You might think I'm an obnoxious jerk, but you'll get over it. I prefer to think of myself as lovable and adorable and here to help you. I tell it like it is- you want to hear the truth right? Right! And in this article I'm gonna reveal to you a great truth that ALL rich people have in common. And once you know and apply this great truth, then YOU too will know what it takes to make money and get rich.

So who the heck am I? I'm the guy whose ferrari you see taking up two parking spots and you think to yourself "You bastard!" And you know what- you're absolutely right. But I couldn't care less cause I'm filthy rich. You've probably heard of my cousin the Rich Jerk. Yes, that's him- the famous millionaire maker. He's so smart that he's got his own fan club. I know, I know what you're thinking- you're thinking "What a brilliant gene pool". Well, if you insist.

So how's it going anyway? How's life been treating ya? Yes I know- life's tough I hear you moan. It's getting harder and harder to make ends meet on the pathetic 20 bucks an hour your miserable employer pays you. Life's not fair right? Well of course life's fair! If you want to be rich then you have to actually do something to make it happen! Yes that's right my friend! How ya gonna make more money if your bum is permanently welded to the couch? You have to unmould your bum off the couch, you can do it! Yes, grab a crow bar and prise it off slowly, and listen up cause I've got something to tell ya.

Like they say- the greatest journey ever made started out with a single step, and the first step you can make is away from the TV and the six- pack, at least for a minute while I tell you something. I tell it like it is. I cut through the bullcrap. Sure I might offend you, but you'll get over it. You might think I'm rude and obnoxious and once again you're absolutely right! But I don't care cause I'm filthy rich. And whether you like it or not you want to be filthy rich too like me or else you wouldn't be reading this now. So let me tell you this fact- you can never get filthy rich just earning 20 bucks an hour, or whatever pathetic amount your employer pays you. You have to take ACTION and do something extra if you want to make more money and be rich. And that my friend is part one of THE great truth that you must know. All successful people take action- they don't just sit around and wait for something to happen.

But there's one more part to this secret that most people never find out. And here it is: If you're gonna take action, then you have to make sure it's the right kind of action. That's right- if you want to get rich then the action you take must be geared towards making you rich. I mean, getting up at 6.00am every morning and killing yourself to get ready and drive to work is action, but it sure as heck ain't the kind of action that's gonna make you rich.

If you wanna take the right kind of action that's gonna make you rich then there's only one way to do it and this is it: only take advice off people who are already successful! And nobody else! Sounds simple when you put it like that huh? But most people spend their whole lives doing the exact opposite. Most people spend their lives taking crappy advice off losers.

And that my friend is the golden secret that most people never "get". Sure, Fred your next door neighbour might think he's an expert in the sharemarket and try to dish out his money making tips to you. But is he rich? No! And what about your great Aunt Mildred who constantly lectures you about what kind of job you should have if you want to make more money. Is she rich? No! And what about your boss at work who spends all day telling you how hopeless you are. Is he rich? No! So why should you take advice off them?

The best retort you can give all these big mouth so-called-experts is simply this: "If you're so smart, why ain't YOU rich?" It works every time! Just try it and see how quickly they vanish! "But I've got a good job" I hear you wail!. Sure you've got a good job, but that miserable 20 bucks an hour isn't gonna last forever you know. Sooner or later you're gonna need more money just to survive, and then what are you gonna do? Sell your false teeth? And anyway, do you really want to spend the rest of your life being bossed around and abused by some bastard 20 year old boss? I mean, most of the miserable bosses out there have got the kinds of personalities that light up a room- when they walk out!

And watch out if you make a mistake! They'll whip you till ya light and fluffy. Personally, I couldn't care less- I'm already filthy rich- you're the one who's gonna be a miserable 60 year old employee one day, with a whinging 20 year old boss telling you what to do. Unless you decide to take some action!

You know that facts show that if you are only an employee working for an hourly wage, you have less than a 1% chance of retiring rich. I don't know about you but I don't like those odds one bit. You wouldn't even bet on a horse race with those odds. I mean, if a bookie offered you those odds on a horse race you'd tell him to get stuffed right? So why would you want to gamble your whole future with those same odds? Sheesh!

And even if you are one of those people who actually likes going to work for the social life, at least when you're filthy rich you can tell your boss to get stuffed with an extra ring of confidence. It's a beautiful thing to see.

But hey, I'm not a total snob. I've even got a few friends myself who work for an hourly wage, sure I do. One of them came out for a drink with me recently. He's still paying it off.

Hey, I know that some people think that work can be a great institution- but I'm not ready for an institution.

I mean, you could always go to university or college where they give you books about how to make money and get rich. These books should not be tossed aside lightly. They should be thrown with great force. Their authors never made a dime anyway. I mean- have you ever seen a university professor rocking up to work in a ferrari? Didn't think so. And anyway- if textbooks made you rich then librarians would all be millionaires. Ever seen a millionaire librarian? Didn't think so.

Like I said, the authors of those textbooks never made a dime in the real world anyway- only in their textbook fantasies. I mean, if you're gonna take financial advice from somebody, then at least make sure it's from somebody who's actually making money in the real world. Duh!

And how much harder it is if you have kids! Yes, those adorable darling whining little money munchers can clean out your bank account in no time! I mean, don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against kids- in fact a lot of good friends of mine used to be kids. It's just that if you've got some you might as well cut a hole in the bottom of your purse or wallet and carry it around like that, just to get into practise.

But enough about me. Let's talk about you. What do you think of me? Yes, I know, I know- you think I'm lovable and adorable. It's only natural that you feel that way. In fact, I'm so important that I can't even believe that I'm sitting here talking to you right now.

Like I said, I couldn't care less if you think I'm obnoxious. I like it that way. At least that way you'll stay away from me if you ever see me in the street. I'm way too important to care anyway. I mean don't get me wrong, I love humanity- it's just the people I can't stand.

Anyway, stop ya whining. Being filthy rich can have its drawbacks too you know. Like when you tell them to paint your porsche medium salmon, and they do it orange instead. Sheesh! And you thought you had problems! Or when your pet cheetah eats too much caviar, and then gets an upset stomach and passes wind for three days. Now that's a problem! Sheesh! And you thought you had problems trying to earn a living.

So what are you gonna do? Are you gonna sit there and be miserable, or are you gonna take action? You can ignore this article and keep working hard for the rest of your life for a miserable 20 bucks an hour, or whatever pathetic amount you make, and when you're sick of it, you'll be back. Or else you can take action and start taking steps right now to improve your financial situation.And that, my friend is the secret to riches- you can put it off, or you can take action right now to improve your life. The choice is yours!

Good luck to you! from The Wisecrackin' Guru

Ps- Whatever you decide, I'll be down by the pool sipping cocktails.




About the Author
Hey, I'm way too important to sit here and write out a resource box, so I'll make it short. If you want to stop being a pathetic loser and start making money then come to http://www.makeprofit.com.au and find out how. Personally, I couldn't care less whether you do or not. I'm not about to beg you to come to my website. I'm already filthy rich- you're the one with the problem.

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The Cpu Cash Newsletter December 9,2005


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CONTENTS:
1. First impressions

2. The New Marketing Landscape

3. Measuring Importance

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1. First impressions for the small internet home business
by Robert Nixon

Marketing and promoting a website is easy. All you have to do is submit your url and basic information to the various types of engines.

Promoting is the process of advertising ( submitting). Marketing is what your site does for you once someone goes there.

When you are promoting to engines,some will charge either with a money charge or requiring a link back, and some will not. The more information required to submit means you have more competors or the longer the submission will remain valid once it is accepted at what ever level you determine. Getting a 'free' submission to become higher in the returns can be done with some wise efforts in the corrrect places. You can pay a million dollars for a keyword but if your competition is listed more often across the board, who will the prospect go to?

Once the prospect goes to your site, can you keep them? Now you have to market yourself, your product or service. This is your chance to make an impression on your prospect. How does your site look overall? What message does it convey?

Having a site that keeps your prospects coming back and the ease of the purchase is paramount to producing income however. Getting prospects to come back depends upon your products 'shelf life'. How often do they have to re-new or re-fill? Is your product worth it?

This will depend upon your relaying of the benefits of your product or service for the prospect.
You will have keywords for the benefits and you will have keywords for the product or service.

You will want to give your prospects a choice. (are they cost driven or quality driven?)
Offer them short term and long term solutions.

Do they want to save money only? Then if you are selling forks, steer them to the plastic line.
If they are looking for something that will last, then steer them to the metal line. If they are looking for the designer type in order to use for 'special occasions' then steer them to the embossed line.

With each level the cost goes up but the so do the benefits.
Inside each of the levels you may have volume packages, such as ten for dollar of the cheapest, a serving set size ( for four,six,etc) or something likewise.

You may want to offer 'specials', or you may want to ask if they want to be notified of specials.

More cars are sold at the end of the model year because of the 'clearance' specials to those that could not afford to get what they wanted at the regular price. It is not just a car they want but one with a radio,heater,automatic transmission and power steering. If it was just a basic car, sure it would be cheaper ( if you can find one ), but people are driven by the benefits or peer pressure. My work truck has a stick shift,radio and heater, after all it only carrys tools and me to job sites. My family car has much more in creature comforts.

Content is all so critical and does not have to fill up your entire main site page. This is where you should put a 'for more information' link. Have more than one product? Then the brief description that will make them continue to that products 'link' or page is the key.

Bells and whistles?
Things like flash presentations,music, glowing banners, a lot of pictures don't really belong on the main site page. Should you have them? Sure, but have a link to them for the prospect to opt to see. They may be sold already, don't delay the process. If they are just browsing, then they will go there anyway to compare your product with your rivals.

REMEMBER; You only have one chance to make a first impression.


Robert Nixon
http://www.cpucash.net

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2. The New Marketing Landscape
By Lee Traupel

Many of us in the marketing services and/or agency business are starting to see some real tangible marketing patterns emerging that businesses need to be aware of if they want to leverage their marketing dollars in this "post .com implosion economy."
Good Web Site Design Increasingly More Important

It's imperative for a company to have a quality web site today - but many firms are still throwing up web sites that are just poorly designed or overly complex. Poor navigation (menus and overall site structure) when coupled with low quality graphics is really problematical (!) - online visitors think less of your company as a result which will hurt revenue in the long run. Many think just doing a minimal job is sufficient but they aren't factoring in how close your competition is! On the web any potential customer is only one clïck away from seeing a high quality web site that is well designed and conveys a quality image.

A good rule of thumb when budgeting for a web site is to assume you will pay approximately $250-300 USD per page - this should include your graphics design, content development, setting up registration forms, etc. This may sound too expensive for many companies but for better or worse perception is reality in the online world! So, don't short change yourself, put some resources into your web site and be prepared to continue to do so - it's nöw a vital component of any company's ongoing marketing processes that needs constant upgrading like traditional marcom (PR, print, etc.) materials.

Opt-ïn E-Mail Trending Down but still Viable

Opt-ïn or permission based e-mail (meaning people give you "permission" to market to them) response rates for Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer are dropping below where they were a year ago by 30-50% on average. What's happening? The ever-increasing deluge of Sp@m is negating the throughput (response rates, purchases, etc.) of quality opt-ïn e-mail.

Opt-ïn e-mail is still a viable and excellent way to market your company but expect less results, lower costs/fees (more vendors equals more competition which is good) and the need to repeat your campaigns if you want to see tangible results. And don't get dazzled by a design firm or your in-house marketing staff that wants to design a fancy HTML e-mail message for you - 65-75% of the market today still doesn't want fancy graphics, they want a short message, delivered concisely with short paragraphs in a text format. Less is more!


Perförmance Based Marketing on Upswing

Publishers and advertisers are more and more willing to accept advertising which is ""perförmance based"" and/or based on a "cost-per-click" or even a revenue share basis. Meaning, it's not like putting an ad in the USA Today and hoping people respond to the publication - you can nöw work with list brokers, online publishers and marketing organizations to setup very targeted campaigns that are based on your paying a small cost for an actual response to your message via an opt-ïn e-mail campaign, text link ad on a web site and/or an insert in a newsletter.

Case in point, companies like Virtumundo, Inc. (they are a pioneer in the perförmance based market) are nöw willing to charge nothing upfront in many cases for an advertising campaign and to just do a revenue share with you on the back end; this is typically 20-40% of your SRP, but will vary depending upon your goods and/or services. And, they will do a test campaign prior to a full-bore campaign to make sure that the response rates will be worth their investmënt.

Another key benefit to any business that wants to leverage the shifts occurring in performance-based marketing is its inherent ability to be highly targeted. You can tie a marketing process (campaign) to a web site, newsletter or pay-per-click search engine (Overture and nöw via Google's Ad Words Program) with specific demographics that are highly qualified and targeted. Contrast this again with the traditional print medium where you can target to a certain extent; but not like performance-based marketing. Consider an ad again (for example) in the sports section of the USA Today - it will clearly deliver a sports enthusiast, but not a male who plays tennis that lives in the Western US, etc. And, better targeting will always deliver better results, assuming all other issues are on a level playing field.


Search Engine Marketing still a Mystery to Many

I hate to say it but most of the web sites we analyze still don't have the basic HTML fundamentals (Title, Keywords, Description) in-place so their sites can/will be indexed (reviewed by an automated bot/software agent) properly. Their title is wrong (don't repeat your company name), there are too many keywords (you want 8-12) or the wrong keywords and the description of the company is either poorly written or reads like yet another "mission statement" that has been developed by the CEO/CFO and three Senior VPs. This is basic block and tackling marketing and should be setup properly when a web site is designed.


Be prepared to deploy some marketing resources for quality Search Engine Marketing - it's fiercely competitive for web site rankings; you've got 3-5K web sites coming online every single day of the week and many are trying to drive market awareness via S/Engine ranking. What's a rule of thumb of what to pay for standard S/Engine Marketing Services: i.e. Title/Description Development, Keyword Analysis, Content Rewrites, etc.? Costs can vary tremendously, depending on your market segment, web site size, what type of services you outsource, competitive issues, etc. Generally expect to pay $3-6K for a basic 3-4 month campaign and then some modest fee for ongoing maintenance (say $200-500 per month). There are alternative sophisticated S/Engine processes that cost much more than this, but these are typically suited for companies that have a good sized marketing budget and/or a large web site that necessitates a different approach.


About The Author
Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of marketing experience. He is the co-founder of a Northern California and Brussels Belgium based, privately held, Marketing Services and Software Company, Intelective Communications, Inc.. Intelective focuses exclusively on providing services to small-to-medium-sized companies that need strategic and tactical marketing services. He can be reached at Lee@intelective.com.




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3.Measuring Importance:Usability Strategy Ranks High With Search Engines
By Jim Hedger (c) 2005, StepForth News Editor,StepForth Placement Inc.

Usability is already a critical component of successful online ventures but with the advent of Google Analytics and the implementation of the Jagger algo update, user-activities and behaviours are going to play an influencing role in search engine rankings. How people act when they visit a website or document is being measured and accounted for, even for sites without Google Analytics tracking codes in the <head> section of the document source-code.

Google is concerned with how people find information and what they do when they access a document found in the Google index. Which document in a site they tend to land on, how long users spend on that document and how much, if any, time does a user spend exploring information in a domain, are all pertinent to how Google perceives the relevance of documents listed in the index. As long-term online marketers know, this is where usability comes into the picture.

Usability, as defined by Kim Kraus Berg is, "... the ability to successfully, comfortably and confidently learn or complete a task. For the web site designer or application developer, it's the mechanics of designing and building a web site or Internet-based application so that it can be understood and easy to accomplish any task."

According to local (Victoria-based) website marketing expert, Michael Linehan, a focus on site usability is simply common sense marketing. Leading visitors towards goal-orientated outcomes makes as much sense for a functioning website as it does for a functional building and, to follow through on the analogy, it all starts with a smart architect.

Michael knows his stuff, so much so StepForth considers him to be one of our marketing and site usability gurus. If our assumptions about user-behaviours and the post-Jagger Google SERPs are correct, Michael's talents will play an important role in our overall SEO techniques.

"It's all about marketing," Michael explains (exclaims is probably a better word, ML is pretty passionate about this stuff), "and marketing is all about envisioning an effective strategy." While most people involved in business understand the concept, surprisingly few actually take the time to implement and follow a marketing strategy in relation to their websites.

"Website owners have to prioritize their messages and make their websites easier to use. It's a matter of measuring the importance of different parts of their marketing strategy and their websites."

Michael suggests that over 95% of companies he has worked with use opportunistic marketing tactics with separate strategies being employed out of sync with each other. A simple example would be the Yellow Pages ad that does not mention the website URL or a printed brochure that does not include an email address in the contact information. A more complex example can be found by looking at most business websites.

"When a business owner gets a website for their business, they often expect the designer to know how to market their new website." said Michael. "That's just ludicrous. Website designers already have a difficult and mentally demanding job. Expecting them to be proficient marketers is like expecting your architect to act as your real estate agent."

Michael deconstructs websites, pulling them apart to find or add the little things specific to a business website designers often can't customize for. His work could be described as user-outcome optimization.

He has a good point. Search engine marketing is becoming much more complicated. The web is rapidly adopting a more professional attitude as it grows into the global mainstream marketplace. As this maturing takes place, two factors should drive website owners and webmasters towards a more professional view of their online marketing strategies.

The first factor is the increased analytic abilities of the major search engines. As previously mentioned, Google is taking stock of a number of user-sensitive factors surrounding documents in its index. In March 2005, Google filed a patent titled, Information retrieval based on historical data. The patent application outlines the historic record Google keeps on every document and file in its index. One of the items mentioned covers user behaviours touching on the following points:

• how much time an average user spends examining a document,
• the entry and exit paths of users,
• if users store reference to the document in bookmarks,
• how users access the document (via search engine, typing URL, link from other document, or bookmarks),
• an evaluation of search traffic driven by Google and related keywords the document was found under


Each of those points should lead webmasters to think about how visitors use their site. Website marketing is not necessarily about search engine placements. It is about using your website as a marketing tool. In the context of website marketing, usability is about moving visitors from the entry point to the goal line and off again to another compellingly relevant website experience.

The second factor is the evolving needs of website users and their increased analytic abilities. The Web is almost second nature to most of its users. People are experienced in the environment and, at least in the case of work-related web use, know what they want. As it stands today, there are a lot of websites that no longer live up to user expectations because those expectations have moved beyond the design of those websites.

Usability is a component in smart and informed website marketing simply because it implies making the website experience simpler and clearer for visitors. Strategically moving a site visitor from the entry point to the information or sales point (goal lines) is common sense. It is also providing the visitors exactly what they want.

Google placing more weight on user behaviours makes sense. User behaviour is a logical extension of the democratic concept of PageRank in that the users' collective judgment is incorporated into that of the webmasters who coded incoming links. Webmasters of sites supporting AdWords advertising are already super-charged, stoked about Google providing detailed data that can help drive traffic.

All good marketing strategies are goal orientated and center around a clear vision. As time goes on, it can get pretty complicated, especially when clarity and ease of use are the ultimate design goal. Objective planning might involve rethinking the design of your website but moving into the near future, rethinking the design of your website might just become essential.


About The Author
Jim 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 opportunity to share his experience through interviews, articles and speaking engagements. He can be reached at jimhedger@stepforth.com.

 

The Cpu Cash Newsletter December 17,2005


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CONTENTS:

1. The most common 'home business' mistakes

2. Why Does Nobody Visit My Web Site?

3. How To Design A Website If You're A Novice On The Internet

________________________________

1. The most common 'home business' mistakes
by Robert Nixon


For every person that will attempt to start an internet home based business, there are at least a million that have no desire to do so. They are looking for a solid product or service. You have to realize that your product or service is not what everyone is looking to purchase. The most common mistake many make with their first internet business is trying to find other distributors for a product, instead of people that want the product itself.

Look at your product.
Is it designed for a 'specific' type of prospect? IF so, this prospect is your 'target' market. If you have a product that no only offers itself, but is looking for distributors too, then the distributor site for that product should be under a different category than the product itself.

My 'target' market is those that want to 'do it' themselves and have complete control of every aspect of their website from it's creation and it's promotional and marketing methods without spending money on things that won't produce, or those with initial smaller start up budgets that have to 'roll over' much of their initial profits back into their sites to get it where they need it to be. Those that do not mind taking the time to do it one step at a time and willing to let time take it's course are my 'targets', as to do so takes a 'learning curve' period.

I have spent years using various methods to increase site rankings, and have made my site the 'test bed'. The difference between me and many others is that I have the ability to invest in various methods just to see what happens.
I do not sell what I have learned but report the results and move to another method and test to see what happens. I share the results with my newsletter subscribers but on my site I do not, instead I inform visitors with background information on what they have to look forward to overcoming before they attempt the same thing, and offer them a few various basic products in case they do want to do it themselves( in the newsletter and on my site). Also in my newsletter I show them how to do it without 'deep pockets' but I make no promises the results I achieve will be the same for them. You must understand it takes years to build not only a good ranking doing it yourself but a setting a budget for the research and development that you can invest with no return in sight. So, I share with them what I have used that produces and what it may cost to do so and I leave it up to them to follow the course THEY desire.

Making a profit:

Your profit will either be from your 'mark up', that is the difference between what you buy something for and what you sell it to others for or from your being the 'middle man' in the transaction.
Do not be surprised if many of your prospects go directly to the source to purchase and try to 'side-step' you. If you are with a solid company, you will be protected by them not selling direct but through you ( or other distributors ) only. They will have areas set up or require you to be a 'certified' re-seller and have you on a list to send the prospects to you in order for them to purchase the product.

For them to do otherwise means you are in competition with the very one you are working for and you should re-think your association with them.

Many people starting an internet home based business focus on making a profit too quickly. When they don't, they tend to 'jump' from one program to another, without giving any of them time to produce. They are their own worst enemy but won't admit it. You have to look at it as you would the stock market. Do not follow the daily or monthly ups and downs but look at the long term, year to year. Over a period of years most stocks will show a profit if the company lasts. It is the same with an internet business. The engines and others will look for those that have been there for a longer period of time and give them a better ranking over comparable sites when called to produce results from a keyword search.

Robert Nixon
owner/webmaster http://www.cpucash.net

_________________________________


2. Why Does Nobody Visit My Web Site?
by Peter Dobler
(courtesy of http://www.site-reference.com/articles)

After endless hours of writing, designing and programming your brand new web site is ready for prime time. You tested your shopping cart software and you made sure that all your external affiliate links have your affiliate id. You’re making sure that you will get the commissions you deserve. This is a very exiting moment. You will expose your writing skills and your ability to design an attractive web site to the whole world. All of you who have a website know what I’m talking about.

Your web site is online and you’re open for business. Ready to take as many orders as you can possibly handle. A day goes by and there are no orders. Another day goes by and there are still no orders. You give it a week. People need to warm up to your new business. Still nothing, not even a single visitor. Well, you are about to experience what thousands of webmasters experienced before. Nobody even knows that you are in business or what you’re selling.

What is your first reaction to this? Submit the website to as many search engines as possible. We all did this before. It takes weeks, even months, before you appear on the major search engines and your ranking stinks. There are ways to achieve great success with search engine optimization. This is a very complex topic and I will devote another article series to this topic.

Ok, search engines are not the solution you’re looking for. The only effective way to instantly create traffic to a brand new web site is through email subscriptions. Of course this is not a free ride, but there are many opt-in email lead providers who offer great service at a great price. My favorites are listed at the end of this article.

You’re anxiously waiting for the first list of email leads, delivered by your leads provider. Also you made sure, that you are not spamming. The good news is that all the people on the list want to hear what you have to offer. You could manually send an email to every one of them. This works for a couple of emails, but you probably will get hundreds of email leads. The solution for this problem is called autoresponders. Autoresponders are email robots automatically sending out emails to a pre-defined list of recipients on your behalf. They’re taking care of the initial welcome letter and send follow-up emails. My favorite autoresponders are listed at the end of this article.

Now you’re on your way to unbelievable traffic to your web site, right? Wrong! What are all these people subscribing to? You are in desperate need of something you can offer to your subscribers. You might have a killer welcome letter, but nothing else. Most of your emails will never be opened, because they never passed the spam filters. The words you’re using are not convincing enough to attract readers to your web site.

Worst off all, your headline is so lame that nobody even opens your email. Keep in mind, that most people are using free email accounts for their subscriptions. That’s right! The same rules you apply for your own email habits apply to your prospective subscribers. Would you subscribe to newsletters or online offers with you primary email address? Of course not, you guard your primary email address like your bank account. Most free email accounts don’t offer preview panels like you’re probably used to with your Outlook Express email program. So the headline is your most important asset.

There are many reasons why you still not getting the results you’re looking for. This is frustrating, but the name of the game is persistence. Learn as much as you can about effective marketing strategies. Apply proven strategies to your business. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Stick to what’s working for others to achieve the results you’re looking for.

The topic on writing effective marketing emails is very complex and is definitely out of scope for this little article.

As mentioned before here’s my list of great email services to supercharge your business.

Autoresponders:

- Getresponse, a free autoresponder with great service.

Email Leads:

- ListOpt, pay per lead generator. Seamlessly integrates with Getresponse’s autoresponder.

- ListBuilder, another pay per lead generator. Very high quality email leads. They even offer triple opt-in (three confirmation emails before address is send to you and you’re billed for it, now that’s quality!).

- PushButton leads; unlimited email leads for one low monthly fee. If you write a very deceptive ad for your newsletter, this will probably be the cheapest email leads you can get.

Armed with this knowledge and a killer newsletter for your product, you’re on your way to enormous business success.

About This Author:

Peter Dobler is a 20+ year veteran in the IT business. He is an active Real Estate Investor and a successful Internet business owner.
Learn more about the concept of residual income at http://www.fl-home-biz.com or send a blank email to mailto:pdobler@getresponse.com



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3.How To Design A Website If You're A Novice On The Internet
by Sydney Johnston
(courtesy of http://www.site-reference.com/articles)

Most of my students are Internet novices and ask many apprehensive questions about how to design a website. They worry about their ability to design an attractive site and are anxiously seeking the quickest and best alternative.

After years on the Net, I believe you need to learn how to design your sites yourself, and here's why ...

The Internet is made up of two elements:

1. Text
2. Pictures

Yes, audio and video technologies are growing fast. But if you hope to sell on the Net, it's critical to appeal to your audience, those folks who are willing to pull out their credit cards and buy your products. A huge percentage of these are still on dialup and certainly aren't very sophisticated and fancy techniques will isolate you from many of them.

So what are your choices if you want to build a website?

1. Buy a template:

This can work sometimes. I've bought them myself and they do look great. But there are some real problems with templates:

* They can be expensive - especially if you want multiple websites. Good templates aren't cheap. The few I've bought are in the $60-$70 range.

* If you don't know what you're doing, you can waste your money on templates that won't work for you. For instance, you will often see templates with icons, pictures, company logos, "Buy Now" buttons and more. Yes, they look great. But when you download the images they are not editable because if they are in jpg or gif format, you can't make changes. The most common 'editable' images are in 'psd' format. If you own image editing software, like Photoshop (which usually sells for about $600), you can make the changes you wish. But iff you don't own this kind of software then forget it - your images can't be changed.

* Editing templates isn't easy. You might unwittingly purchase a template that allows 8' of space - and your copy needs 10" of space. Now what? Cheaper templates require the purchaser to "slice" them. This is tedious and time consuming and requires editing knowledge that most people don't have. Higher quality templates allow the owner to edit them without slicing, but they are more expensive.

* Even if you can edit your new template, do you really think that you should allow a designer to dictate the placement of your sales copy? Beautiful design does not equal sales. Just because something looks good doesn't mean it's a good sales site. Many novices are impressed with the good looks of a template, but Madison Avenue beauty doesn't equal profits on the Net. Earning money comes from effective direct response marketing which means testing the elements on your sales page and changing them until you have a winner. If your design is forced on you you are limited in the changes you can make.

2. Pay a website designer to build a site for you:

* Hiring a professional can be expensive. I currently have a goal of building two websites each week for a year. Let's assume I pay someone $500 to build a website (which is quite a reasonable amount for a well done site - it often costs much more.) That means I will be paying $1,000/week, every week, for a year. My money is better spent on marketing than design.

* Every time you want to make a change on your site, you must wait on a designer to make the changes. This is expensive and can be time consuming if the designer is busy with multiple clients.

* Just like a purchased template, most web designers are focused on looks and appearance, rather than functionality or sales. All the best marketers acknowledge that plainer sites are more lucrative because the focus is on the copy, the words, rather than fancy graphics or beautiful colors. Take a look at the top money-making sites on the net. They rarely are flashy or dramatically impressive.

* Relying on a web designer creates dependency. Generally the motivation of entrepreneurs is freedom so waiting for another person to make even the smallest changes to your site isn't taking you in the direction you want to go.

3. Buy site-making software:

Every program I have seen involves a learning curve. One popular site builder, for example, has a 500 page manual, is expensive and a lot of the learning doesn't transfer to other site systems. I looked at another one recently with a 300 page manual. The time that you spend learning these methodologies could be spent learning an HTML editor that will make you fully capable of building your own sites, whenever you choose, for almost zero cost.

Spend the time and learn do it yourself websites. I personally spent two weeks in 'Dreamweaver Hell' several years ago. All reviews indicated that Dreamweaver is the best HTML editor, so I bought a book and determined to learn the software on my own. The first book wasn't long enough so I returned it for a second - and longer - book, which eventually was exchanged for an almost-1200 page manual. There were moments of frustration, tears, triumph, cursing and the thrill of success, and I emerged able to put together websites whenever I chose.

Saying "I want to be an Internet marketer" and not learning how to build websites for yourself is like wanting to be a dentist - and refusing to learn about teeth; like being a star athlete - and refusing to practice your sport. So what if your first sites won't win a design award? You'll get better. And you will be independent. Isn't that the entire point of working on the Internet?

About This Author:

Starting an eBay business is easier with mentoring from an eBay expert. Learn from our offers an 11 Day Course that teaches how to sell on ebay: http://auction-genius-course.com/11days.shtml


 

The Cpu Cash Newsletter December 31,2005

But you should not stop there, you will want to cover more bases with the same article. Once I write an article, I will save it at my 'article content' site page, so I can submit it to the search engines every month or so as the content grows, showing it is fresh, at least to the engines that don't use robots that will follow my re-visit meta tag. I also have this page listed at my 'site map'. My article content page may be found at: http://www.cpucash.net/RobertArticles.html

I also have my 'newsletter' archive site that has most of the newsletters I have ever put out to my subscribers sorted by year and month. At this site I have taken out the ad's so each is just the articles themselves. The difference is that the content site has only the articles I have written where the newsletter site also has articles by other's that I think should be shared with my subscribers. When you use articles by other's make sure you follow the guidelines by asking the author for permission or making sure to but always give them credit. My newsletter archive page may be found at: http://www.cpucash.net/newsletterlist.htm

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Hamad Kadmany helps real people succeed online through his newsletter and his website. He makes it easy for anyone to succeed online by providing techniques, strategies and hot tips. Join his newsletter and claim your free report to discover the essential keys to succeed online at http://www.OnlineBizKnowHow.com