Tuesday, May 27, 2008

10 Really Dumb Ways of Promoting a Website


We've all tried different ways to get that holy grail of websites - traffic eager to buy! Schemes come and go and leave behind them a trail of disappointed people. It's time for some group therapy as we all admit to past mistakes and the 10 really DUMB ways of promote a website. How many have you fallen for?

1. Bought traffic - average waste $100 - This is the number one dumb way to waste money launching a website. The idea that you can buy tens of thousands of website visitors is just pure nonsense. Hey, don't worry we've all fallen for this quick fix and all had the same lousy results. Zero opt-ins and zero sales. If any real visitors actually get delivered, and I suspect many are just simple scams, and then there is no way that this will actually ever work. Think about it. It's like rounding people up at random, forcing them onto a bus and driving them to your store. Are they really going to buy? Nope, not a chance.

2. Gave it to a relative to do - average waste $500 - Just because your nephew is good at video games it doesn't mean he can create wonderful website for you. It amazes me that people fall for this. Once they've asked them to do it they are trapped. If he doesn't deliver then the risk of family rifts put so much extra pressure to accept what is finally given.

3. Was sold something pretty but useless - average waste $20 every month - $240 a year - "Choose from 500 templates" is the headline that attracts so many into the website scam. These meaningless websites are easy to set up because they are empty. These quick fix websites quickly die and do absolutely nothing for you or your company. The only people that they help are the scam artists that sell you them and then charge you every month to host a dead website.

4. Used an agency - average waste $20,000 - This is a more expensive version of using a relative and is part of the same problem. You hand over ownership and control of your website to someone else. By handing over control your site stops being yours and you break what could be an incredibly profitable relationship between you and your customers.

5. Used a copy writer improperly- average waste $3000 - You should never ever exclusively use a copy writer to create copy for your website. This is expensive and created content that isn't yours - content that lacks your personality, knowledge and passion that is supposed to appeal to your customers. This won't ever work. There is a better way and that's to work with a copywriter. Create your own copy and then rework it with a copywriter or editor. This is quick, simple and much, much cheaper.

6. The bargain scam - Improve Google rankings for $xxx - average waste $100 - If these scams actually worked then they would be a lot more expensive! That's the hard truth that we all know but we seem to turn our brains off and fall for what seems to be the easy option.

If they are remotely genuine then they can do some SEO work and charge you twice the price.

7. Visitors come and go and never return - average waste $Your sales? - If you manage to get some real people visiting your site and you do nothing to capture them then they will come and then they will go and you'll never know why. Failing to capture them will destroy your sales. Capturing them can mean getting them to leave their email address or capturing their interest so that they return.

8. All links are good links - average waste $? - All links are not good links and you should resist the temptation to rush around and collect as many links as you humanly can get. The problem is that search engines such as Google love relevant content and if your links lead to irrelevant content you will suffer. This may lead to increased fees for Adwords advertising or even get you dumped out of the Google listings.

9. Knowledge is power - average waste $5000 - Do you waste money buying book after book that may be read but then forgotten? This habit can get even more expensive online with ebooks and courses - some costing thousands of dollars that is a lot in any currency!

This habit has two serious dangers. If you read without acting then you will never get anywhere as it is only through action that knowledge has any point at all. The second danger is that you will always think of yourself as a newbie or beginner and never develop further.

10. No plan - average waste $1000 - "People don't plan to fail - they fail to plan". We all know this saying and we all know its true but when it comes to launching a website our brains somehow go offline and we leap into things without planning and then we wonder why they don't work. One reason why we don't plan is that we don't know how to plan properly and what the key elements are.

by Tony Hetherington

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Empowering Questions- Ask To Succeed

We ask ourselves so many questions without thinking about them. The questions we ask can lead our mind to despair, or they can lead us to constructive action, joy and hope. Empowering questions give us joy and hope. Questions such as why I am a failure, why I can not do anything right, why everybody hates me and so on have no use in our life except causing depression and despair. If I were to ask empowering questions they would be such as-

How can I further my purpose or career today?

How can I improve my health today?

How can I improve my self-esteem today?

How can I improve my financial situation today?

How can I improve my relationships today?

How can I improve my attitude today?

What adds happiness to my life today?

These questions make us think about how to improve in different areas of life. They make us think positively. When we find the answers they help us get more out of life and succeed. Now break the main questions into parts. For example-

How can I improve my health today?

I'm going to drink 3 liters of water today.
I am going to exercise for 15 minutes.
I'm going to make myself healthy meals.

How can I improve my financial situation today?

I have a potential customer interested in hiring me to make something for them.
Today i can do pricing and options, and communicate that to him.

What can I do to improve my relationships today?

I've been rather uncommunicative lately.
I have a friend I should have called back by now.
I will call today, and also call some relations.

This way write down main questions and then try to answer them. Implement the answers and you will find that you are improving everyday.

By: CD Mohatta

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Getting Ready For A Family?

When first thinking about starting a family, there are a number of things that both parents have to think about before going ahead with it. These sorts of things have to do with whether the parents are really ready to raise a family yet, where will the kid be going to school, how are they going to bring up the kid and how do both members in the family believe the kid should be raised. There are also considerations to be made regarding the health of the parents, such as whether they are capable of looking after the kid and if the woman is physically healthy enough to have a child.

It has always been recommended that before parents have a child, they both have a physical to ensure that both are healthy enough to have a kid. A check through family history to see what diseases might be present is also a good idea, this way the parents can be prepared to handle a possible disease that the child might inherit. With today's technology, planning for a family has become more complex, but it has also allowed for people to plan for the normally unplanned things.

A few decades ago, most parents would never have thought to contact a therapist or a counselor to discuss having a kid. Today, however, this is something that is becoming the norm because more expecting parents would like to make sure they cover all the angles to ensure that their child will have the best chance at life. A therapist or a counselor can help the soon to be parents think of all those angles, including how to set up the best atmosphere in the home for the kid. They will help bring things to the attention of the couple that the couple might not have thought of on their own. Parents who are serious about having a healthy family seriously consider therapy or counseling to ensure they have covered all the basics to ensure the best environment for their baby.

Online therapy or online family counseling can be a helpful resource for parents who are planning to have a child. Speaking with these professionals is easy in that they can be contacted from the comfort of the home, and this could help expectant parents be more prepared. Becoming a parent is something that everyone should be properly prepared for. The online therapist can also offer many helpful advice and suggestions for couples who are trying to become parents. These online therapists and counselors are there when people need them and can offer help on just about any subject. Whether it is looking for sessions to become more prepared for the role of the parent, or it is to find some helpful advice and suggestions about childrearing, they are there. All a person has to do is find them online and send them a message. These professionals will be more than happy to help in any way that they can to make the experience less stressful.

Jennifer B. Baxt, LMHC, LMFT offers online audio/video counseling and works with children, individuals, couples, geriatric patients, depression, bipolor, anxiety and substance abuse.Please contact Complete Counseling Solutions via email jennifer@completecounselingsolutions.com or visit our website http://www.completecounselingsolutions.com for any further information.

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A Real Life Indiana Jones - How To Earn Money While Traveling The World

Ever dreamed of being like a real life Indiana Jones, the character from the popular movie series who travels the world going from adventure to adventure? I know I have. But the question arises: how in the world could you make a living doing this? I mean would a museum really pay you enough to live off of. I really don't know.

The one thing I do know is that we all want the freedom to come and go as we please and still earn enough money to have a reasonably comfortable life. How in the world could that be possible? Well let's break it down. As a single person you probably would need to make about $2,000 per month to cover you basic expenses in most parts of the world. If you are married and your spouse works probably just double the figure for the both of you. If you have kids probably add an additional $1,000 per kid. So if you have a spouse and two kids we're talking about $6,000 per month after taxes. That's a lot of money. How can I travel the world, live out my adventure fantasy and earn that kind of money?

Well, Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Network Marketing, Infopreneurship or some combination of them is about the only way you can actually move around the globe and still earn that kind of money. With internet cafes existing even in some parts of the world not known for their infrastructure and wealth it is possible. I am not talking about internet scams here either.

To learn how to do this check out my Free E-Course at: http://www.successonthebeach.weebly.com/free-e-course.html Bill Stroud is an experienced business consultant who advises entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs and small businesses on how to "unlock the creativity within" and launch their infopreneur businesses. He offers a wealth of resources and how to's that he's learned by doing not just teaching. He can help you get started in just 3 days time and a commitment from you to be successful. Go to http://www.successonthebeach.netto learn more.

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The Top 10 Things To Remember When Falling In Love

I'm a romance writer and I've had to 'study' the subject of love for my novels. From everything I've seen, heard, learned and lived, here are my top 10 things to remember when falling in love. Break them at your own peril.

1) Be your own best friend. Don't expect him to be your 'anything' except your love.

2) Don't change anything about yourself to please 'him'. Be who you are! If he likes and accepts you that way, fine. If not, move on. He's not the one for you.

3) Remember, you're not just marrying him; you're also marrying his lifestyle. If you like the opera on a Saturday night and he likes beer and pizza on the couch, it may not matter today because you can always go to the opera with your friends. But it will matter one day down the road, when you need him to come with you that one time and he won't go. Or maybe you're the one who likes beer and pizza...

4) Remember, you're not just marrying him, you're marrying his family. Take a good look at what degree of dysfunctional relationship he has with them.

5) What is his relationship with his mother? Look closely, because you'll see clues about how he'll treat you.

6) Remember... you can't 'change' him. WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET!!!! Contrary to popular opinion, he won't 'change' after you move in together/get engaged/get married.

7) You can't 'save' him. He can only 'save' himself.

8) Drugs/alcohol problems/gambling/other addictions are all deal breakers because he will always love his addiction more than he loves you.... unless he gets help. And he can only do that if he WANTS to get help. He can't do it for you... or because you want him to. He has to want to do it for himself.

9) If you catch yourself saying, "He makes me feel loved, he makes me feel strong, he makes me feel safe, etc"... STOP. No one should be 'making you' feel these things. You have to feel them for yourself... within yourself... first. YOU have to make yourself feel loved, strong, safe, etc.

10) If you decide to marry him, always make sure you have enough money secretly stashed away in case you need to leave him.

Anna Mara
Author of the New, Funny Romance Novel, HER PERFECT REVENGE
Visit http://www.annamara.com and read the first 3 Chapters FREE