Business Building Tips for Entrepreneurs

Clate Mask

I'm curious. What drove you to start your own small business? A passion for the product or service you provide? A desire to be your own boss? A chance to dust off some ambition? A drive to stick it to "the man?"

Did you become a small business owner because you enjoy marketing? Probably not. But, if you're going to continue to grow your business you have to realize this important fact: you are a marketer, not a widget provider.

Let me quickly show you the difference between a marketer and a widget provider.

A Widget Provider: Has products Talked to prospects Has customers Owns a business Hopes they'll stay in business

A Marketer: Sells products Continually talks to a list of prospects Builds relationships with customers Grows their business Is building their business future

So how do you become a marketer? I'll get into that with subsequent emails. However, here are a few questions I want you to think about:

• Do you know the difference between advertising and marketing?
• Are you building your prospect and customer lists?
• Does your business have a marketing "system" in place?

Remember, marketing can make the difference between doing alright, and skyrocketing your business!

Sincerely,

Clate Mask
CEO, Infusionsoft

10 Reasons Social Media isn't Replacing Email ?

They Can Work Together Just Fine

The Wall Street Journal just ran a piece about the evolution of communication technology, chronicling the rise and alleged fall of email to social media. "Email no longer rules," the title reads.

Do you agree that email no longer rules? Tell us why or why not.

"We all still use email, of course," says Jessica E. Vascellaro, the author of the piece. "But email was better suited to the way we used to use the Internet—logging off and on, checking our messages in bursts. Now, we are always connected, whether we are sitting at a desk or on a mobile phone. The always-on connection, in turn, has created a host of new ways to communicate that are much faster than email, and more fun."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all social networks also require logging on to use? Sure, you can set them up to remember your info so you don't have to log-in every time, but the same could be said for most email services. That's beside the point though.

It's fun to look at how communication has evolved, and it's easy to declare the old medium dead (although to be fair, Vascellaro didn't exactly go that far). It's just not the case.

WebProNews recently ran an article about how social media will not replace search, despite plenty of mutterings to the contrary. I will go ahead and declare the same thing about email. Social media will not replace email. Just as it did with search, it may replace it in some (even many) instances, but there is room for both forms of communication. In fact, they do a pretty good job of complimenting each other (for better or for worse).


Reasons Email Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon

1. People still send hand-written letters via snail mail, even though they could instead make a phone call, send an email, text message, or status update.

2. Nearly all sites on the web that require registration require an email address. Some are starting to integrate social media into this process (through things like Facebook Connect), but that is still a very small fraction, and they typically still allow for email information as well.

3. Email notifies you of updates from all social networks you are a part of (provided your settings are set up that way).

4. We haven't seen any evidence yet that Google Wave really is the next big thing and will catch on on a large scale.

5. Email is universal, and social networks are not. Nearly everybody on the web (while there are no doubt some exceptions) has an email address. Many places of employment give employees email addresses when they begin working there. Meanwhile, a great deal of them are banning workers from even accessing social networks.

6. There are plenty of people who have no interest in joining social networks. Frequent news stories about security, privacy, and reputation issues do not help convince them.

7. Email is still improving. It hasn't screeched to a halt with the rise of social media. There is still innovation going on, and integration with social media. Look at how Google is constantly adding new features to Gmail. Look at the new Yahoo Mail.

8. Even social networks themselves recognize the importance of email. Never mind that they update users about community-driven happenings via email. MySpace (still one of the biggest social networks) even launched its own email service recently.

9. More social media use means more email use. Look at these recent findings from Nielsen. The people consuming the largest amount of social media are also the people consuming the largest amount of email.

10. As far as marketing is concerned, email is doing pretty well, as many companies continue to struggle to find the right social media strategy to suit their needs.

Do you think social networks will replace email? Share your thoughts here.

The Last Word in PPC vs. Article Marketing

By Valerie Mellema (c) 2009



There is always a big discussion when it comes to comparing two of the best ways to advertise online: PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising and article marketing, otherwise known as "organic" or "natural" search engine optimization. There is no denying that both methods can be effective. However, which method is better? Which gives you a bigger bang for your buck?

You may get varying statistics on this issue, depending on which website you visit for information. Oh yes, this matters, because you have to consider the source of the statistics and who is sponsoring the article. For example, two sources of information (respectively, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and ComScore) recently produced studies indicating that PPC advertising was more cost-effective on average. However, did the fact that Yahoo/Overture and Google were sponsoring this major study play any role in determining the final outcome? Of course it did - those are the two biggest PPC companies on the net!

In figuring out which of the two is better, you have to consider cost-effectiveness as well as click-through-rates and direct conversion from visiting user to paying customer. We are going to review some statistics a little bit later on. For now, let's consider some logical points that illustrate how PPC and article marketing differ.

Search engine result pages display more listings than PPC results, which does have a psychological effect on the user. For some users seeing ten search results (each one relevant to the search) is enough to convince them that there is enough web information on the subject and that "fishing" PPC ads might not be necessary.

The catch is that in order to actually rank in the Top 10 SEO results for your keyword, you have to have relevant website content, not to mention technical prowess in HTML coding. Search engines will be focusing on their proprietary algorithms, or the most relevant websites based on the search term queried. There is no "bribery" here, whereas in PPC, it is quite the opposite: whoever bids highest for each word usually gets the top listing. A quality algorithm definitely plays a part in PPC, but in the end money talks. In article marketing, we haven't quite come to the point where "money talks". The best websites still win the search engine contest and that is an important factor to consider in your marketing campaign.

Even PPC proponents will admit that PPC is largely style over substance. With PPC advertising you are trying to grab attention in just a few loud and occasionally obnoxious words. You direct the user to a carefully crafted page that "sells" the idea. This operation contrasts with article marketing, which doesn't necessarily sell an idea on a single page, nor does it grab attention with a few words. With article marketing, there is an entire article waiting for the visitor, which uses a methodical and "indirect" approach. Assuming you are listed in the Top #10, your listing means that the search engine agrees that your website is the best authority on the keyword subject - for the time being. People in a hurry or on a whim will probably click on PPC. People on a mission will be looking for relevant content on their chosen keyword.

Therefore, the question now becomes which methodology works better for your business? Are you appealing to the fast clicker or the thoughtful user? Let's now consider two sources of statistics for a clearer view of the issue. First, one in favor of article marketing, the next in favor of PPC.

In Favor of Article Marketing

Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D. and principal founder of the Nielsen Norman Group researched the behavior of users who found search engine results pages and noticed some trends. Forty-two percent of users selected the #1 search listing for their result, leaving 58% that selected another Top 10 Result. The #1 site listed held the majority of clicks. This indicates that almost two thirds of Internet users were not content to choose even the #1 listing on a natural SEO search. That means that these users (and the majority of all users) are actually using independent judgment in deciding what links are most relevant to their needs.

Other related statistics (with sources from ComScore, Webxico, iProspect, SEOResearcher and Hotchkiss, Garrison, and Jensen) concluded that 77% of search users choose organic listings over PPC ads. There were also studies that suggested organic click-through generated 25% higher conversion rates than equivalent PPC click-through.

In Favor of PPC Advertising

Now to be fair, we have to consider some advantages that PPC advertising has. The best feature PPC has is that it gets instantaneous results. SEO advertising takes time, especially if you have a new website just submítted to the all of the major search engines. Yes, this can be frustrating. PPC brings you immediate traffic and sometimes brings in thousands of users. Seeing your Alexa ranking take a drastic jump certainly pumps up your adrenaline!

ComScore recently published statistics in favor of PPC, stating that their studied users had an 18.3% click-through-rate on "paid" search results versus a 4.3% click-through rate for organic search results. The conversion rate was also higher according to ComScore, stating that PPC had a 1.4% versus SEO's 0.6%.

The Real Issue: Longevity

However, the downside here (even if you didn't contest these suspicious results) is that instant and high volume traffic is, frankly, cheap and not as exciting as it first appears to be. Remember that when you use PPC ads you are making a pitch and capitalizing on your audience's curiosity. When that curiosity fades, they forget your website - especially if it's just a glorified advertisement. PPC campaigns can also be costly and time consuming when you consider your duties as a manager.

Another problematic scenario with PPC is that they have no staying power - unless of course you have thousands of dollars a month to blow in this recession. With article marketing you get more quality traffic, and perhaps more importantly to you, you earn customer trust over time. Internet users aren't stupid, the popularity of Yahoo Answers notwithstanding. Most users know that PPC ads usually aren't relevant to their search - they're just there because someone is consistently paying to get noticed.

You can consider article marketing as an investment that continually pays all through the life of your company (or until you shut the website down) since it generates traffic forever. You can easily spend thousands a month on a brilliant PPC campaign and soon run out of money, meaning your ads go extinct. Therefore, we can conclude that article marketing does have specific advantages over PPC, which are intrinsic because of the differences in operation.

• Article marketing generates traffic forever

• Article marketing improves your natural SEO ranking and backlinks

• Article marketing establishes trust - you appear as a professional in your industry

• Article marketing doesn't cost you extra on top of fees spent on websites, landing pages and superfluous domains

How About Return-On-Investment?

ROI is another key issue, as short-term and long-term profit must equal out. Article marketing, by some authorities appears to have a slower ROI -(especially if you make revenue on CTRs). However, studies suggest that organic ROI is more consistent than PPC. Consider some independent research conducted by popular blogger Gord Hotchkiss who explained the situation in crystal clear terms. Let's say you have 50 high traffic search terms. Now for these 50 terms, there are 2.8 million searches being launched in a month. If statistics like ComScore's are correct and unbiased, that translates to 456,000 visitors thanks to PPC and 153,000 visitors thanks to article marketing.

The total cost of those 456,000 PPC visitors would amount to over $500,000 with an average CPC of $1.18. Even if you work with an SEO company that charges top dollar ($10,000 a month, let's say) you're still paying $10,000 compared to half a million. That means article marketing's virtual CPC amounts to $0.07. Even if you apply PPC's higher conversion rate, 3,647 converted visitors, you are paying $147.08 for each individual person. Compare that to 611 visitors you earned through article marketing - you are paying $16.37 for each visitor. And in doing so, you are also earning a higher quality of customer and generating traffic until the end of days.

Does your final ROI number take into account your total expenses? Absolutely! While both methods of advertising have their place online, when it comes to earning quality traffic, article marketing gets the last word.

About The Author
Words You Want is your one stop resource for all of your writing needs. Words You Want offers a variety of services including SEO packages, article directory submission, SEO article writing, ghostwriting, eBook writing, travel writing, equine writing and more.

Start making money with HighProfits today!

Step 1: Launching Your First Website:

Below you will find details on how to launch your first website with HighProfits. Launching websites is the best way to build your online business. If you already have an existing site then all you need to do is grab our marketing resources and get your links live. You may also want to checkout our marketing guides and video tutorials.

• Choose and download a FREE review website
• Choosing your domain name
• Set-up your domain name and web-hosting account
• Editing your site with NVU web editor
• Uploading your website

Choose and download a FREE review website:

Get ready to launch your very own online business. Don't worry you don't need any design skills or knowledge of website code to get your website online just follow the simple step-by-step instructions and you will have a high converting, money making website online within a few hours.

Our team of marketers and designers have created a series of professional websites for you to choose from. Websites of this quality would usually cost you well over $1,000+ each! However, at HighProfits we are dedicated to helping our affiliates make as much money as possible so we give them to you 100% FREE.

You can choose and download your professional money making website by clicking here!

You can either choose the website based on which product is rated top or on the design you like best. All of the websites that are available have been tested and are proven to convert traffic to sales.

You will see all the different products listed on the left and on the far right you will see links for each product which says 'Website Templates'. Click through the links and you will see all of the great websites you can choose from.

Choosing your domain name:

Now you have chosen your website you need to buy a domain name to suit the site and the products that are advertised on there.

For example if you are promoting one of the 'make money' or 'work at home' products like 123CashFormula.com then you could consider the following domain names:

www.makemoneyreviews.co.uk
www.topmakemoneyprograms.com
www.workathomereviews.com
www.workathometips.com

Your domain name should usually be made up of generic keyword and extras words like: tips, reviews, info, advice, faq, deals, 101 etc

Unless you are building a site to target a certain long tail keyword it's recommended to avoid using too many words in your domain name, e.g.: www.thisisthemakemoneyonlineproductlist.com

When selecting your domain name, remember that the most popular extension is the .com extension so most of them will be taken. So you may want to consider other extensions, like, .org, .net, .co.uk in order to get a shorter and more relevant domain name. The different country extensions are also ok if you want to target a particular country.

Please see the top country extensions below:

Australia = .au
Canada = .ca
United Kingdom = .co.uk
Germany = .de
Spain = .es
France = .fr
India = .in
Italy = .it
Norway = .no
Sweden = .se

A useful tool for finding a good domain is:
http://www.webconfs.com/keyword-rich-domain-suggestions.php

Just type in the keyword for example 'work from home' and it will find relevant domain names that contain searched keyword phrases. You will see that a lot of the domain names for specific topic keywords like 'make money' have been taken so try adding extra words for example 'make money at home'.

If you find a domain name that is getting over 200+ searches a month that is great as it means with very little SEO work you can get all of that traffic for free.

This is because choosing a domain name that contains keywords is a great way to achieve good search engine results and search engine optimisation. For more information please visit HighProfits SEO Guide section.

Another great tool is SEO Books keyword tool check it out here.

Web Hosting:

Now you have you have chosen your website and domain name it's time to set-up your online hosting so that you can upload your website.

We have got a great package for you that not only lets you get your domain name and hosting, but also includes;

Thats $125 in advertising vouchers for instant traffic!!

But read this section first.

We highly recommend HostClear and here's why:

After so many years online we think this company is the best. Just look at what you get:

• UNLIMITED disc space. Host UNLIMITED sites.
• UNLIMITED bandwith. This means you can cope with ANY amount of vistors without paying more.
• Problem free hosting (99.9% uptime) due to their team of dedicated engineers. High uptime means you're always open for business.
• Great customer support staff 24/7/365 just in case you have a problem
• Ultra fast servers. Fast page loads so your visitors are not kept waiting.
  

Plus thanks to a special discount for HighProfits members, you can be up and running for less than $20 - making this the the cheapest package on the internet!

To take advantage of this amazing offer just click here. Your $20 discount will automatically be applied!

Come back here when you're done to move on to the next step.

Editing your site with the FREE NVU web editor:

Once you have chosen your website and set-up your domain and hosting. Then you will need to learn how to edit your site. Don't worry it's really simple, pretty much the same as using MS Word.

First of all you need to download the free website software NVU web editor.

Then download and read through the HighProfits.com website editing guide

Uploading your website:

To upload your templates you need to download a free FTP client called FTP WinSCP - Click here to download it now.

Then just follow the instructions in the HighProfits WinSCP guide and your site will be live within the next 5 minutes - Click here!

Step 2: Free Traffic Generation:

Now your site is live you need to start driving traffic to it in order to make some sales. Remember you can have the best designed website in the world but without any visitors you will never make any sales.

Look at it this way, if you started a business and put all of your advertising on the side of dirt road with minimal traffic, then you probably won't see any fruit produced by that effort. In the same way, you want your store to be located in a busy part of town where casual shoppers linger. Your best business may come from people who just dropped in while window-shopping.

The key to succeeding in any internet related business is traffic. You must find ways to lead potential customers to your front page. Below we will discuss different methods of driving traffic to your website.

We will start with Free Traffic Generation methods and then move on to Paid Traffic Generation.

Refer Your Friends:

Take a look at which products you believe your friends will be interested in 'Grab your linking codes'

Write an email describing the product and why your friends would be interested in it. Remember to include your linking code and then email it to all the people in your email list who you think would be interested in it. You should also ask them to pass it on to others!

Result? On average this usually results in 1 - 2 sales.

Article Marketing:

Who knew writing a few articles and giving them away for free could be one of the best things you could do for your own web site? This is the precept behind article marketing, and comprises the ultimate in white hat or honest and straightforward marketing techniques. With article marketing you provide what other web sites need, you give a reason for the search engines to send traffic your way, and most of all you give readers the information they seek.

Read the HighProfits Article Marketing Guide and see how you can drive highly targeted visitors to your site for free whilst also boosting your search engine rankings - Click here!

Link Directories:

Basically Link Directories are sites which list links to lots of other sites. They are like the yellow pages of the internet. People search the directories much like they would a search engine. Placing your site on Link Directories is not only a good way to get traffic to your website, it is also a great way of building links to increase your sites search engine rankings.

Read the HighProfits.com Link Directories Marketing Guide - Click here!

Social Bookmarking:

Early in the days of Internet browsing, someone got the bright idea of keeping placeholders, or bookmarks for web sites we've visited and enjoyed. It was a great way to keep track of things. Before long, someone else got the brilliant idea there should be a way to share these bookmarks with our friends.

Suddenly, a world of social bookmarking came into existence. But how can you, the internet marketer, tap into this social network? Is there a way social bookmarking can build traffic for your site?

Read the HighProfits.com Social Bookmarking Guide and discover a few proven methods of putting social bookmarking to work for you, bringing hundreds of new visitors to your site - Click here!

Use this free tool to submit your links to lots of various social bookmarking sites: http://www.socialmarker.com/

Social Backlinks:

The ultimate way to get your website ranking higher in the search engine is by creating links to your website from highly powered social networking sites. Huge sites such as Facebook and MySpace block any external links from Google but some people find smaller social sites which do NOT block outgoing links and you can rise up in Google search results very quickly by using them! One professional service for this is Paul's Quality Backlinks which shows you many different sites to get those all important backlinks each month - click here for more details.

Blogging:

Just in case you haven't heard, the term blog is short for web log. Originally blogs were similar to an online diary, or a log of places you visited on the web. But today the blog platform has emerged as a content manager, an easy way to create a web site and manage your articles and other posts.

You've probably noticed the amazing number of blogs that have been grabbing a spot on the front page of Google these days. That's simply because blogs are designed to give the search engines exactly what they want . . . fresh, unique and original content.

Read the HighProfits.com Blogging Guide and discover how you can use blogs to make thousands in affiliate commissions - Click Here!

Squidoo:

A short time ago word started spreading about a brand new site called Squidoo. It sounded like an interesting concept, a little like a blog and a little like an "About Me" page, they asked you to sign up and create something called a "lens". It was certainly a unique idea, and everyone wondered if it would catch on. Now more than a year later the true benefits of making a lens at Squidoo are clear. It is a great place to create a new site about your hobby, passion or business, but even more it is a great place to promote any existing web site you may have. Not only can you tell Squidoo visitors about your site, but a lens gives the search engines another reason to place your site higher on the results pages; a Squidoo lens is a perfect place to build "backlinks" and attract visitors to your web site.

Read the HighProfits.com Squidoo Guide - Click here!

Forum Posting:

Promoting your site across online forums and news groups is a great way to build traffic. However, it has to be done in the right way to make the maximum impact. Online forums and newsgroups are usually tight communities of like-minded people. You can network, build relationships, learn and grow your business through online communities. But if you spam these loyal and tight knit groups, you had better be ready to run for cover.

Read HighProfits.com Forum and News Group Guide to discover how to successfully drive visitors to your site without being accused of spam - Click here!

Step 3: Paid Traffic:

Pay Per Click Ads:

Pay per click advertising is one of the most successful and popular forms of advertising on the internet. It is a billion dollar industry. You pay for your ad to be placed on search engines, such as Google, Yahoo or MSN and whenever someone searches for the keyword(s) you specify in your ad, it will be displayed (dependent on a few other conditions).

What makes pay per click so profitable is that you are able to target the customer at the exact time he/she is searching for a product such as yours. As the customer is already interested in your type of product, all that's left is to seal the deal. Also, you can start making money within the next 30 minutes using this method (Google only).

Most pay per click search engines allow you to bid on a particular keyword. What this means is that you will set the maximum amount you are willing to pay for one click and this amount will determine the position you are displayed in the search results (highest bids being at the top of course).

Don't worry, we provide you with free credit so you can start out without any investment and experiment until you get the hang of it. You should expect an approximately 50%-100% return on your investment (ROI). In other words, if you spent $50, you should at least make between $75-$100.

Our most recommended search engines are:

Google Adwords
MSN Adcentre
Yahoo Search Marketing
Miva

*Remember, you get over $100+ worth of free Pay-Per Click credits + 1 FREE domain name for life when you sign up to our exclusive MidPhase hosting offer - Click here to claim your free adverting credits now!

Read the HighProfits.com PPC Marketing guide and learn how you can make money from your website within the next 30 minutes - Click here!

Ad Networks:

An advertising network or ad network is a company that connects web sites that want to host advertisements with advertisers who want to run advertisements. Ad networks are a great way to get visitors to your site. However, you may want to be selective with which sites you show your ads on. Generally the more relevant the site your ad is displayed on the greater the conversion.

We would suggest doing a small test buy on a website before purchasing a large package.

These are the top performing ad networks on the internet:

Adbrite - The largest and certainly one of the best well known ad marketplaces is a great place to start with to start selling ad space, and advertising your own site to expand it's popularity.

AdToll - While not as old and established as Adbrite, AdToll more than makes up for it with a very fast user interface and intuitive options.

Bidvertiser - Another relatively new marketplace type network to the scene, they offer predominately text based links.

Clicksor - Clicksor offers a wide spectrum of advertising formats such as banners, pop-unders, XML feeds, layer ads, search boxes, and inline text links. They have one of the largest ad networks. However, we would advise taken caution and optimizing your campaigns as Clicksor tend to have lower converting traffic sources than the other ad-networks.

Step 4: Search Engine Optimisation:

Your website can also bring you traffic, without you having to lift a finger. You need to set up certain parts of your site, in a certain way and this is called search engine optimisation, or SEO.

The search engines like Google will visit your site (called 'spidering') and collect the info it needs to index your site. So you need to 'optimise' your site so the search engines list it in the right way.

For example you need to make sure you are using the correct keywords and you have put these in the right places. The more care you take with your SEO, the more the search engines will reward you.

Once you have set it up it will continue working for you

Read the HighProfits.com SEO guide and learn how to ensure your website gets the visitors you deserve Click here!

Backlink Building:

Backlinks are what fuel Google; generally a site with more backlinks is considered more important in Google's eyes and that site will appear higher in the search results! Building backlinks is an important step in fast-track SEO and once you have made your website you should start doing it straight away. Article Marketing is a great way to build a great few backlinks (by placing a link to your site in the author box) but if you want to build up a lot of quality links in a short space of time then we recommend you use a backlink packet service such as Paul's Quality Backlinks.

Step 5: Email marketing

Email marketing is a great way to boost the revenues on the site. By building up an email list you have a list of potential customers that you are able to market to again and again.

Setting up an email capture and mailing your list is simple and cost effective. Click here to learn how to get started

7 Tricks to Get a Goooooooooooogle of Links

By Richard Gilmore (c) 2009



SEO is a race. And in any race learning from your competitors makes you a better runner. Even when you're running first it's sometimes good to look back and check the runner-ups. And if you're not the yellow jersey guy, you absolutely should examine the leaders: their gear, their training, their strategy. In SEO the most interesting thing about your competition are their links.

Whether you like it or not SEO is still pretty much about links. Good link profile can make up for almost any lack of optimized content and other onpage flaws. Love or hate, the best thing you can do about it is embrace the fact and run with it.

So let's go through some tricks that will enable you to look deeper into your competition's link profile granting you access to the restricted areas: their locker room, dirty laundry and even the briefing hall where they plan their link building strategies.

Let's Talk Competitive Link Research

Finding out where your competitors' links come from is not all that hard. You just go to Yahoo! or Google and type in link:www.your-competitor.com to get a list of inbound links to the site.

Yahoo's much better in that respect as it tends to give more extensive and accurate data. The problem here is that there's a limit of 1,000 links per website which is often not enough as the fattest link sources get left behind the limit fence. Here're some tips to break through to the other side.

Note: If you're lazy like me skip to the end of the article where I'll share a tool that does it all much quicker.

Trick 1: Search for Links to Particular Web Pages of a Competing Site

Alongside with link:www.your-competitor.com search for

link:www.your-competitor.com/products.html or
link:www.your-competitor.com/services.html

and so on.

Trick 2: Exclude Internal Links

You may examine the internal linking structure of your competition if you want to gain some insight on their navigation and marketing steps. But as we want to find more external links, let's exclude the internal ones.

You can do this by adding -site:site.com operator to your search query. Type in:

link:http://www.your-competitor.com -site:your-competitor.com or
linkdomain:www.your-competitor.com -site:your-competitor.com

and you'll get a list of external backlinks only.

There's a dropdown option in Yahoo! site explorer that does the same.

Trick 3: Exclude Links Coming from Certain Domains

The -site: modifier lets you exclude links coming from specific sites. So, whenever you see a large chunk of links coming from the same domain add -site:thisdomain.com modifier to your query and the links from this site will get replaced with new ones.



You can add -site: multiple times in one query so that you have something like this:

link:http://www.cnn.com -site:cnn.com -site:en.wikipedia.org

Trick 4: Check Links Coming from Certain TLDs

This is a little known trick. The site: modifier actually lets you get a list of links coming from domains with certain TLDs: .com, .org, .edu, .co.uk and so on. Just type in

link:http://www.your-competitor.com site:.gov or
linkdomain:www.your-competitor.com site:.gov

and you'll get a list of .gov sites linking to your rival.

Note: Do this in Yahoo! regular search, not site explorer

Trick 5: Exclude Links Coming from Certain TLDs

This is an even lesser known trick. You can exclude certain TLDs from the results with the -site:.tld modifier. Usually the biggest chunk of links comes from .com's so add a -site.com modifier and you'll get lots of new link data.

Trick 6: Use Different Combinations of the First 5 Tricks

Try link:http://www.your-competitor.com/page.html -site:your-competitor.com -site:.com
Or link:http://www.your-competitor.com site:.org -site:wikipedia.org

Give it a thought and I'm sure you'll come up with lots of ideas. Feel free to share your findings in the comments.

Trick 7: Use the Above 6 Tricks in Different Search Engines

Don't limit your searches to Yahoo! and Google, go to AltaVista, Alexa, (Bing doesn't give you link data, so forget about it) but then there're Exalead, Excite and tons of regional search engines. Search them, get rid of the the duplicates and you'll have a goooooooooooooooogol of competitor's links to study.

Note: Some search engines have a different set of operators so you'll need to type domain: instead of link:.

Getting It All Done Fast

This sure seems like a lot of work and it is. Moreover, getting the links list is only the beginning and the easy part of competitive link research. Once you get the list you need to analyze each link, weed out poor quality sites and only leave the ones you can get a link from. Now THAT's a lot of work.

I'm too lazy to do this all by hand, besides I value my time too much to waste it on such kind of work. That's why I use SEO SpyGlass an advanced link analysis tool that employs all the tricks described in this article (plus some more advanced ones I don't even know) to get up to 25,000 links per domain, which is much, much more than any other tool can get.

SEO SpyGlass also finds all the data I need to analyze the links:

• Google PR of the domain and linking page
• The URL and title of the linking page
• The anchor text and description
• Whether the link is still on the page (sometimes the link gets removed but search engines will
think it's there till they reindex the page).
• Whether the link is no-follow or dofollow
• How many other links are on the page
• How much link value the link passes
• And some other data like TLDs, domain age, country, etc.

If you want to do competitive link research seriously, I'd strongly recommend trying SEO SpyGlass out. And of course you can always use my tricks whenever you want to run a quick background check on that new guy on your block.

Note: This article first appeared on Site-Reference.com

About The Author
Get more link building advice and SEO software to help you implement it. Richard Gilmore is an Internet marketer, freelance SEO, author and addicted guitar player.

Business Building Tips for Entrepreneurs

If you've been in business for very long, you already understand how difficult running your own business can be. There are employees to manage, customers to wow, and overhead to maintain.

What usually happens is small business owners get so caught up in running a day-to-day marathon that they don't take the time to put a system in place. However, without a system small businesses owners:

• Must work harder
• Must work longer
• Lose potential sales
• Often make mistakes

No matter what type of small business you own, implementing a system is critical to effectively manage your company. Think about how quickly fast food restaurants are able to serve their customers. Consider how smoothly employees at an amusement park get people through the lines and onto the rides.

When a business owner takes the time to put functional systems in place, they:

• Work smarter
• Work faster
• Make more money
• More accurately fulfill customer needs

Don't trudge through the chaos. Systemize your company and watch how easy managing your business becomes.


Sincerely

3 Sebab Mengapa Pemula Internet Marketing Gagal

Apabila anda telah atau akan berkecimpung di dunia Internet Marketing, tentunya anda pasti sudah ada niat untuk mendapatkan duit dari Internet.

Masalahnya adalah banyak pemula seringkali bingung mau mulai bisnis Internet ini dari mana? Biasanya banyak dari pemula ini yang meragui apakah bisnis Internet adalah bisnis yang nyata atau hanya tipuan/scam.

Dan biasanya juga mereka yang menilai bisnis Internet adalah tipuan/scam adalah mreka yang belum/tidak mendapatkan hasil dari Internet Marketing.

Menurut Business Week, “64.2% of the businesses failed in a 10-year period”. Artinya 64.2% bisnis dalam periode 10 tahun gagal.

Bagimana dengan bisnis Internet Marketing? Saya juga tidak tahu angka yang pastinya, namun saya yakin sekali tingkat kegagalan seseorang yang baru saja mulai terjun di Internet Marketing lebih tinggi dan lebih cepat gagal.

Serakang pertanyaannya adalah mengapa para pemula Internet Marketing seringkali gagal?

Menurut saya, ada 3 sebab:

1. Mau hasil instant, mau yang gampang, tidak mau bekerja keras

Saya sudah sering mengatakan bahwa untuk mendapatkan hasil dari Internet Marketing maupun dari bisnis apapun, anda MUTLAK harus sabar, MUTLAK harus mengalami frustrasi dan kegagalan terlebih dahulu, MUTLAK harus bekerja keras, dan MUTLAK harus bekerja cerdas juga.

2. Cepat menyerah

Ketika mengalami kegagalan sementara, mereka langsung down dan tidak berdaya, lalu langsung menyerah.

Saya menggunakan kata “kegagalan sementara” karena sejujurnya memang itu, kegagalan sementara. Untuk mendapatkan hasil tentu anda harus gagal terlebih dahulu.

Mana ada pemula yang baru terjun di bisnis online langsung sukses tanpa gagal sekalipun!

Teman, saya mengatakan kepada anda sekali lagi: Tidak ada seorangpun yang menekuni suatu bidang, apapun bidang tsb, dan langsung mendapatkan hasil tanpa mengalamai kegegalan sementara.

Kalau anda sekarang sedang kerja di sebuah perusahaan dengan posisi supervisor, manager, atau direktur, coba ingat kembali apakah untuk mendapatkan posisis tsb gampang? Apakah proses mendapatkan posisi tsb selalu mulus terus tanpa ada rintangan apapun?

Tentu jawabannya tidak! Kalau mendapatkan posisi tsb gampang semua orang sudah menjadi manager dan direktur dong.

3. Bingung mau mulai dari mana

Jangankan orang pemula, saya saja sampai saat ini masih mengalami information overload.

Apa itu information overload? Information overload artinya informasi yang anda peroleh terhadap sesuatu saking banyaknya sampai akhirnya anda bingung mau mulai dari mana.

Kalau dalam Internet Marketing, seringkali kita mendapatkan informasi bahwa untuk mendapatkan duit dari Internet anda harus belajar bagaimana mencipatakan produk sendiri untuk jual kepada orang lain, bagaimana menggunakan Google Adwords untuk mendatangkan traffic, bagaimana menggunakan social bookmarking dan social networking untuk meningkatkan traffic, bagaimana JV (kerjasama) dengan para Internet Marketer lainnya, bagaimana melakukan on-page atau off-page SEO yang benar untuk mendapatkan traffic dari Google, bagaimana menulis artikel untuk mendapatkan pengunjung, dll.

Kelihatannya Kenyataannya banyak sekali yang harus dikerjakan, dan akhirnya karena bingung mau mulai dari mana, kita ngomong ke diri sendiri: “ah entar aja deh gue coba pelajari lagi, pusing pala gue…”

Dan akhirnya you know dong apa yang akan terjadi?

Ya, tidak akan terjadi apa-apa karena tidak ada ACTION. Selamat kepada kita semua

Ketika anda bingung mau mulai dari mana, pahami posisi anda sekarang terlebih dahulu. Anda sekarang berada di mana?

Kalau anda adalah seorang pemula di Internet Marketing, tentunya untuk saat ini anda tidak perlu pelajari bagaimana JV (kerjasama) dengan para Internet Marketer lainnya, karena sudah *hampir* pasti penawaran anda kepada mereka akan ditolak.

Kecuali penawaran anda begitu dahsyat dan menarik, kalau tidak jangan harap mereka mau bekerja sama dengan anda. Coba saja anda memposisikan diri anda sebagai pakar di Internet Marketing, lalu ada newbie yang datang menawarkan kerjasama dengan anda. Kira-kira anda mau terima penawaran tsb?

Intinya adalah, anda harus menyadari diri anda ada dimana saat ini. Yang tidak perlu anda pelajari saat ini, ya di skip saja untuk saat ini. Fokus kepada ilmu dan pekerjaan yang bisa menghasilkan paling banyak untuk anda saat ini.

Tahukah anda tidak semua ilmu dan pekerjaan mempunyai kepentingan yang sama. Ada yang lebih penting, ada juga yang kurang penting, dan ini tergantung kepada posisi anda saat ini.

Pernah dengan Hukum Pareto? Dikutip dari Wikipedia:

“The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.”

Artinya 20% pekerjaan akan menghasilkan 80% penghasilan.

Sebaliknya pun sama, 80% pekerjaan akan menghasilkan 20% penghasilan.

Tugas anda dan saya tentunya adalah menentukan 20% pekerjaan yang menghasilkan 80% penghasilan.

Jadi kuncinya adalah FOKUS kepada tugas dan pekerjaan anda yang paling penting saat ini.

Jadi tips untuk anda hari ini adalah:

1. Siap bekerja keras dan cerdas, sabar, dan menyadari bahwa mendapatkan hasil dari Internet Marketing adalah sebuah proses yang sulit dan panjang

2. Kuatkan mental anda dan yakinkan kepda diri sendiri bahwa anda MUTLAK HARUS mengalami kegagalan sementara, dan maju terus

3. FOKUS kepada 20% pekerjaan anda yang menghasilkan 80% penghasilan anda. Yang tidak anda perlu pelajari saat ini diabaikan saja

-Welly-

Keep On Top Your Finance

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Monday, October 19, 2009


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Pengirim Iklan Baris Massal

Sudahkah anda menggunakan Software Pengirim Iklan Masal ?
Terakhir kali saya lihat software ini mampu mengirim ke 800 situs iklan hanya dalam 10-20 menit saja dalam sekali kirim..

Memang tidak Gratis..
Alias memiliki biaya Rp.30.000,-/bulan
atau sekitar Rp.1.000,-/hari

Tapi Coba berfikir sebagai pebisnis..
Berapa WAKTU & BIAYA Online yang anda keluarkan untuk memasang iklan di 800 situs sekaligus ? tentu tidak cukup 10 - 20 menit dan lebih dari Rp.1.000,- bukan..??

Loh Ko Harus BAYAR Si..??
Kelihatannya memang BAYAR..
Dan itu yang membuat kita jadi enggan, tapi sesungguhnya dengan bayar sedikit kita justru jauh lebih hemat dan lebih cepat mendatangkan keuntungan baru (bayangkan 800 situs iklan tentu peluang iklan yang kita pasang akan jauh lebih besar)

Dengan Rp.1000,- dalam 1 hari itupun anda bisa memasang iklan apa saja dan berapapun yang anda inginkan..

Jadi berfikirlah seperti seorang pengusaha..
Buat kerja anda lebih EFEKTIF dan EFISIEN dengan Software pengirim Iklan Masal yang anda bisa dapatkan di sini

Salam sukses

GO BLOG STATION: AKSI PRIHATIN TERHADAP SKEMA BISNIS ANNE AHIRA

GO BLOG STATION: AKSI PRIHATIN TERHADAP SKEMA BISNIS ANNE AHIRA

AKSI PRIHATIN TERHADAP SKEMA BISNIS ANNE AHIRA

Hampir semua orang ingin kaya dan tercukupi kebutuhannya. Punya usaha sendiri tanpa harus bekerja untuk orang lain adalah impian kita semua. Tidak ada yang salah dengan ingin menjadi usahawan yang mandiri.

Tapi usahawan yang sejati, tahu dan bisa membedakan mana tawaran mimpi dan mana usaha yang legitimate. Karena:

Segala sesuatu yang menjanjikan mimpi biasanya memang.


Dibawah ini naskah keprihatinan bersama sebagai peringatan, terutama untuk saya sendiri.
AKSI PRIHATIN TERHADAP SKEMA BISNIS ANNE AHIRA

Kami, warga masyarakat dan komunitas Internet, merasa prihatin terhadap model bisnis yang diterapkan oleh Anne Ahira. Kami keberatan bahwa bisnis ini diasosiasikan dengan melakukan marketing di Internet. Marketing yang dilakukan di Internet sebenarnya adalah sesuatu yang baik dan wajar asalkan dilakukan dalam batas-batas etika dan kewajaran.

Setelah melakukan penyelidikan, kami berkesimpulan bahwa bisnis ini hanyalah sebuah praktik skema piramida yang dibungkus dengan istilah Internet Marketing. Hal ini jelas terlihat dari apa yang harus dilakukan oleh setiap anggota Elite Team, yaitu merekrut empat anggota baru.

Skema piramida sejatinya merupakan penghisapan oleh segelintir individu terhadap banyak orang. Menurut kami, Internet tidak perlu dikotori dengan pemasaran dari bisnis tidak jelas seperti itu. Silakan melakukan pemasaran via Internet sejauh masih dalam batas-batas kewajaran dan bisnisnya adalah bisnis yang baik dan jelas.

Lebih jauh lagi, kami melihat bahwa Elite Team menawarkan janji yang menyesatkan, yaitu menyatakan bahwa tujuan Elite Team adalah agar semua anggota Elite Team memperoleh penghasilan $6.688 per bulan, dan bahwa ini adalah tujuan yang realistis.

Tetapi REALITA-nya adalah: seandainya semua anggota Elite Team bekerja keras dan teguh pada regimen Elite Team, hanya 1 dari 341 orang, atau 0,29%(!) yang memperoleh $6.688 per bulan. Sangatlah jauh dari apa yang diakui sebagai tujuan realistis Elite Team.

Produk yang ditawarkan Anne Ahira/EliteTeam adalah keanggotaan representative (rep.) di Financial Freedom Society, Inc. (FFSI), di mana setiap rep. harus membayar $54,95 per bulan kepada FFSI. Setiap rep. memperoleh komisi dari menjual keanggotaan FFSI ke orang lain sehingga menjadi rep. baru.

Orang yang direkrut ini disebut sebagai affiliate, atau di MLM lain dikenal dengan nama downline, dan setiap rep. juga memperoleh komisi dari penjualan yang dilakukan oleh downline-nya sampai empat tingkat downline.

Selain dari keanggotaan FFSI, boleh dibilang TIDAK ADA PRODUK atau JASA yang dijual oleh Anne Ahira dan Elite Team.

Dalam sistem Elite Team, besar penghasilan bulanan seorang anggota TERGANTUNG dari jumlah downline FFSI-nya dan bagaimana struktur downline tersebut karena tidak ada atau hampir tidak ada penghasilan seorang anggota Elite Team selain dari komisi FFSI.

Dengan perhitungan satu anggota mendapatkan 4 anggota baru, seperti yang dipraktikkan oleh Elite Team, maka hanya dalam 17 tingkat piramida jumlah anggota keseluruhan menjadi sebanyak 5.73 miliar. Sedangkan jumlah populasi manusia keseluruhan di dunia hanyalah 6.4 miliar. Jika seluruh 5.7 miliar manusia tersebut mengikuti program ini, maka hanya 89 juta orang yang akan berpenghasilan $6.688 per bulan. Sementara 5.3 miliar lainnya merugi!

Dengan demikian kami menghimbau masyarakat Internet untuk tidak mudah terjebak oleh iming-iming kekayaan yang dijanjikan oleh Anne Ahira, Elite Team maupun pihak-pihak lainnya.

Kami berharap masyarakat Internet bisa menyadari adanya model bisnis semacam itu sehingga dapat lebih waspada. Kepada redaktur media massa juga kami berharap untuk selalu melakukan investigasi terlebih dahulu ketika membahas bisnis-bisnis yang tidak memiliki kejelasan seperti itu agar nantinya tidak dimanfaatkan oleh pihak-pihak tertentu sebagai promosi terselubung.

Internet, 28 Maret 2005

Tertanda,
Enda Nasution


ps. Bagi rekan-rekan penulis blog yang ingin menyebarkan pernyataan sikap ini dapat menyalin seluruh isi tulisan ini pada blog masing-masing. Tetapi tidak menutup kemungkinan rekan-rekan yang bukan penulis blog untuk mengikuti aksi ini.