1. Bar Charts
There is more to bar charts than meets the eye with data visualization. Bar charts is just one example of many visual tools which can be used to convey information in the most effective way. Bar charts, bar graphs, pie charts, or other charts and graphs are one of the most common methods of displaying information of various kinds. Everyone from children to adults use them in school, study, and business. Data visualization works with bar charts to create informational displays to reach virtually any kind of audience.
2. Interactive Map
In addition to bar charts, other informational tools become interactive with data visualization. An interactive map allows information to be displayed on various levels by clicking on the part of the map about which one may want more information. This is called “drilling down.” The interactive map is a method of data visualization used by many business, government, and community programs. Many airlines proved an interactive map of the plane interior so that travelers can choose their own seating. Many governments or communities create interactive maps of their countries, states, and cities. To learn more about a specific area, all on has to do is click on it. Information interacts with a user’s needs.
3. Reporting Tool
This article has already covered examples of how data visualization conveys information to various types of users for travel or education, but data visualization can also be used as a reporting tool. Imagine making a presentation for school or business come alive with an interactive map or bar charts. Information is presented in a helpful and meaningful way, often simplifying complex levels of information to become digestible to those to whom the presentation is given.
4. Convert HTML to PDF
A presentation is one thing, a handout or file copy is another. By far, one of the biggest challenges with data visualization in the past has been printing HTML information without getting it cut off on one of the margins. In the past HTML format did not automatically format itself for computer printout. Data visualization software can create PDF images of HTML displays for others to follow during the presentation or to file after.
5. Data Mapping
Research, geographical data, and other information can be effectively conveyed using data mapping. Data visualization provides a method for mapping data in a simple display, assisting the presenter in his or her ability to make important data understandable.
6. Business Mapping
Sometimes data mapping involves visual diagrams of business departments. Data visualization helps with business mapping. One example of business mapping is the creation of a department map for the shipping department of a business. Real-time information is available for inventory management and location, including inbound and outbound shipping information. Everything going on in the warehouse is visualized on a computer screen.
7. Executive Dashboard
Though information can be compiled into state of the art data visualization, the information still needs to be managed somehow. Data visualization would be incomplete without an executive dashboard with which executives can customize and manage all data visualization displays and reports.
8. Flash Graphs
Using flash technology, information can also be displayed in a state of the art format. Dashboards and data visualization displays are unencumbered by too much information all smattered on the charts and graphs. Flash chart, flash graphs, and flash maps display only what one needs when one needs it by responding to a mouse or cursor moving over it. As the mouse finds its target, information and options are immediately displayed. Web site are presented in a tidy and manageable way.
9..Net Technology
.Net technology, including .net graphs, .net charts, and .net maps is internet technology interfacing other pages on the internet with anchored text on a report or other data visualization display. In addition to .net, perl graphs, perl charts, and perl maps, as well as coldfusion charts, coldfusion graphs, and coldfusion maps, are useful tools employed as part of data visualization. These technologies can also be used in .net PDF attachments.
10. 508 Compliance
Data visualization has also made itself accessible to those with disabilities complying with section 508 which requires government and public information to be viewable by those with disabilities. Data visualization is still capable of catering to the needs of its users.
Business, communities, and educational programs throughout the country are adopting data visualization to serve the need of the Information Age. Information is now available at a new level of simplicity, even at the most detailed and complex levels.
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Friday, July 12, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
How to tap the riches that Cyber Space Promises
Everyone from industrial giants to corner flower shops currently wants to stake a profitable claim in cyberspace.
The lure of low startup costs compared to brick-and-mortar operations and the promise of high rewards draws an ever-swelling crowd of merchants to the online marketplace.
Yet despite the optimism statistics tell us that 80% of these "e" businesses will fail within their first 12 months of operation.
People from all over the country ask me what it takes to succeed in the e-commerce world once they've completed the basic steps for getting online.
The following three keys virtually *guarantee success* for any online enterprise.
The First Key:
A Quality product or service with highly evident and readily understood benefits for consumers.
If your product or service does not represent the highest quality and value possible, and if consumers don't understand exactly why they should purchase from you, the speed of the Internet will just expose your shortcomings to the marketplace that much quicker.
In the offline world a product's benefits, not the features, cause consumers to make purchaseing decisions.
A man doesn't purchase a car with a 5 liter engine because of the horsepower, he purchases it for the feeling of supremacy and control he thinks it will give him.
Kids don't want a 3000mHz computer with a Nvidia or AMD card for computing power in doing homework, they want to play the latest games. The Internet magnifies this "what's in it for me" benefits- driven evaluation by consumers.
Products or services presented with readily understood, self-serving benefits for consumers sell best online (and off).
The Second Key:
An excellent website that loads fast, provides pertinent information to targeted consumers, and allows them to make online purchases quickly and securely.
Your website should: · Load fast by making conservative use of graphics. (Go to yahoo.com for an excellent example.)
· Provide exactly the information your potential customers want and need.
· Make it extremely easy for surfers to navigate your site and find exactly what they want by paying attention to navigation menu layout.
The Third Key:
Consistent, targeted website traffic by consumers capable of purchasing your product or service.
Imagine purchaseing a 50 foot billboard and, instead of putting it out by the highway, you hid it in your basement. Nobody would see it!
The same thing happens if you don't actively and continuously promote your website to attract visitors.
With its incredible speed and communications power, the Internet acts as a magnifying glass for any organization's strengths and weaknesses. E-commerce, e-mail, and a website won't do the job of marketing, selling, and customer service for any company.
They will, however, help every organization perform all of those business functions better, faster, and less expensively with the real and tangible result of "striking it rich" in cyberspace!
The lure of low startup costs compared to brick-and-mortar operations and the promise of high rewards draws an ever-swelling crowd of merchants to the online marketplace.
Yet despite the optimism statistics tell us that 80% of these "e" businesses will fail within their first 12 months of operation.
People from all over the country ask me what it takes to succeed in the e-commerce world once they've completed the basic steps for getting online.
The following three keys virtually *guarantee success* for any online enterprise.
The First Key:
A Quality product or service with highly evident and readily understood benefits for consumers.
If your product or service does not represent the highest quality and value possible, and if consumers don't understand exactly why they should purchase from you, the speed of the Internet will just expose your shortcomings to the marketplace that much quicker.
In the offline world a product's benefits, not the features, cause consumers to make purchaseing decisions.
A man doesn't purchase a car with a 5 liter engine because of the horsepower, he purchases it for the feeling of supremacy and control he thinks it will give him.
Kids don't want a 3000mHz computer with a Nvidia or AMD card for computing power in doing homework, they want to play the latest games. The Internet magnifies this "what's in it for me" benefits- driven evaluation by consumers.
Products or services presented with readily understood, self-serving benefits for consumers sell best online (and off).
The Second Key:
An excellent website that loads fast, provides pertinent information to targeted consumers, and allows them to make online purchases quickly and securely.
Your website should: · Load fast by making conservative use of graphics. (Go to yahoo.com for an excellent example.)
· Provide exactly the information your potential customers want and need.
· Make it extremely easy for surfers to navigate your site and find exactly what they want by paying attention to navigation menu layout.
The Third Key:
Consistent, targeted website traffic by consumers capable of purchasing your product or service.
Imagine purchaseing a 50 foot billboard and, instead of putting it out by the highway, you hid it in your basement. Nobody would see it!
The same thing happens if you don't actively and continuously promote your website to attract visitors.
With its incredible speed and communications power, the Internet acts as a magnifying glass for any organization's strengths and weaknesses. E-commerce, e-mail, and a website won't do the job of marketing, selling, and customer service for any company.
They will, however, help every organization perform all of those business functions better, faster, and less expensively with the real and tangible result of "striking it rich" in cyberspace!
Triple Your Adsense Earnings in 60 Minutes!
Google's Adsense is one of the most powerful weapons in website publisher's arsenal. It enables you to monetize your sites easily and if used properly can generate a very healthy income. However, if you're not using it properly and maximizing the income you squeeze from it, your leaving money on the table – something we all hate doing.
Boosting your return from Adsense can be done very easily and quickly, and you'll be amazed by the results.
I ran Adsense on my sites for over a year before I discovered these techniques, and like many people, I though I was doing pretty well. My clickthrough rates and CPM figures were very healthy, and I didn't honestly think that they could be improved a great deal. How wrong I was. Immediately after I implemented a few quick changes my clickthrough rate more than doubled, and by doing some fine tuning I manged to get nearly three times as many people to click on the ads as had been previously doing so.
The first technique is one that was 'discovered' by the amazingly helpful Debs, on SiteSell's SBI! forums. When I read it originally, it made sense and I decided to goive it a go, but I wasn't prepared for the immediate impact it would have on my income. It involves making only a few simple changes to the format and positioning of your Adsense ads.
Firstly, forget about using banners or skyscrapers. These ad formats are almost universally ignored by surfers. Why? Because we've all been conditioned to recognise a skyscraper or banner as an advert and as these adverts are rarely of any interest, we ignore them. What's needed is a way of integrating Adsense ads into the editorial on your site as seamlessly as possible. To do this you need to do three things:
1. Use the 250 x 250 rectangle format 2. Make the background color of the ad the same as the background color of your site, or as close to it as possible. 3. Make the ads borderless by setting the border color to be the same as the background color of the ad.
These changes can be made by logging into your Adsense account and creating a custom format. Just select the 250 x 250 ad format, and create a custom color palette. Use the color picker to pick the coor you want. The Javascript is automatically generated at the foot of the page, ready for you to copy and paste into the pages on your site.
Now, you need to position your ads where surfers are most likely to click on them. Research using retina scanning technology has shown that the place that surfers tend to look at first and most often is the top left. I don't know the reasons for this, perhaps it's because that's where we're used to seeing the most useful search engine results (at the top of the rankings) and search engines are the sites we most often visit, so we automatically look at the same place on other sites.
Whatever the reasoning, as soon as I made the above changes to my Adsense ads, clickthrough rates doubled, immediately.
The second technique is much newer and one which is entirely based on my own experience. Google has recently added a new type of Adsense format, called Adlinks. This displays a series of links on your page in the same style of Ad unit as regular Adsense ads. When a user clicks a link they are taken to a page of adverts that resembles regular Google search results. As a publisher, you are paid every time a user clicks one of those ads.
Adventurous soul that I am, I jumped in with both feet and started to trial Adlinks on my most visited pages as soon as it was launched. I'm using the four links in a square box format, positioned top left of my page content. After a few weeks of running Adlinks alongside regular Adsense ads, it's clear that the return on Adlinks is about a fifth to a quarter higher than regular ads. There's no clear reason for this but one explanation may lie in the fact that clicking on an Adlink takes the user to page of 'results'. When a user clicks on one of these, you are paid for the click. If the user finds what they want, great, if not, it seems that they hit the Back button on their browser and try again, just as you would for normal search engine results. Then they click on another result, and you get paid again. So it's possible to be paid more than once from the same Adlink click. Now, this reasoning is speculative, but it does make perfect sense in the light of my Adlinks results.
Finally, Adsense has some excellent tracking statistics that allow you to track your results across a number of sites on a site by site, page by page, or just about any other basis you choose. This is a very powerful tool and you should use it to find out which ads are performing best for you and fine tune your Adsense and Adlink ads accordingly.
So you see, by spending an hour or so of your time making a few adjustments to the Adsense ads on your sites, you can very quickly treble your Adsense income. Give it a go, you'll be amazed by the results.
-Kenny Hemphill
Selling Your Crafts Online
Artists, craftspeople and photographers are successfully selling their wares everyday on the online auction site, eBay. According to a recent analysis of eBay sales, a crafts-related item is sold every nine seconds, a scrapbook item is sold every minute, and 40 cross-stitch items sell in an hour on eBay. Sales of craft items on eBay have grown almost 60 percent in the past year.
But, at the same time, many would be sellers are listing their pieces for sale on auctions and getting no bids, concluding that eBay just doesn't work.
The Best Place to Read on How To Sell Your Crafts on Ebay would be from the horse's mouth itself - Ebay has nice page to explain the process. However, here are some tips from James Dillehay, craft artist, eBay seller and author of the new book, "Sell Your Crafts on eBay" (Warm Snow Publishers), on how to profitably sell your wares online:
1. Anyone who can type and has access to the Internet can sell on eBay. But the creative person has an advantage on eBay when she turns that creativity toward researching overlooked opportunities.
For example, during the months before Christmas, more than 3,000 Christmas items are sold every 24 hours on eBay. Research methods outlined in Sell Your Crafts on eBay showed that between February 12 and March 12 of this year, 4,107 auctions with 'Christmas ornament' in the title completed successfully at an average price of $17.34. Imagine how much more money a smart crafter can make all year long knowing how to ferret out this kind of information from eBay sales.
2. A word's spelling impacts an item's profitability. For example, the word 'handmade,' spelled as one word, was part of 2,233 auction titles with an average closing price of $16.29. However, auction titles that included 'hand made' as two words were found in 1,358 listings, but with an average auction closing price higher, at $27.81, or $11.52 more profit per item.
3. Go to eBay.com and find the search box. Type in the word or phrase that describes your art or craft item. Then scroll down the links on the left side of the page and click on the link for "completed items." Here, you'll be able to see the demand for this type of product. Do searches for your items every two to three weeks to chart purchaseing patterns.
4. Find out how much people are willing to pay for your wares. Click on the link that says "highest price." This will give you a list of completed auctions from highest priced items to lowest priced ones. You want to know what people are willing to pay for items like yours. If you can't make and sell your product for a profit, eBay might not be your marketplace.
5. Determine how much money you'll make on your product. To determine your profitability, use the cost of your materials plus the cost of your labor plus the cost of your selling price, which should be the minimum price to recover your expenses. If it takes you eight hours to make a piece of jewelry and the highest priced similar item sells on eBay for $26, you won't make a profit.
6. Look at the elements of successful sellers of products that are similar to yours. Examine their winning auction titles. Observe how much detail they use to describe their item. See if the seller used any of eBay's special features such as gallery photos or a bold, featured listing. Evaluate the starting price, starting day of the week, and duration of winning auctions.
But, at the same time, many would be sellers are listing their pieces for sale on auctions and getting no bids, concluding that eBay just doesn't work.
The Best Place to Read on How To Sell Your Crafts on Ebay would be from the horse's mouth itself - Ebay has nice page to explain the process. However, here are some tips from James Dillehay, craft artist, eBay seller and author of the new book, "Sell Your Crafts on eBay" (Warm Snow Publishers), on how to profitably sell your wares online:
1. Anyone who can type and has access to the Internet can sell on eBay. But the creative person has an advantage on eBay when she turns that creativity toward researching overlooked opportunities.
For example, during the months before Christmas, more than 3,000 Christmas items are sold every 24 hours on eBay. Research methods outlined in Sell Your Crafts on eBay showed that between February 12 and March 12 of this year, 4,107 auctions with 'Christmas ornament' in the title completed successfully at an average price of $17.34. Imagine how much more money a smart crafter can make all year long knowing how to ferret out this kind of information from eBay sales.
2. A word's spelling impacts an item's profitability. For example, the word 'handmade,' spelled as one word, was part of 2,233 auction titles with an average closing price of $16.29. However, auction titles that included 'hand made' as two words were found in 1,358 listings, but with an average auction closing price higher, at $27.81, or $11.52 more profit per item.
3. Go to eBay.com and find the search box. Type in the word or phrase that describes your art or craft item. Then scroll down the links on the left side of the page and click on the link for "completed items." Here, you'll be able to see the demand for this type of product. Do searches for your items every two to three weeks to chart purchaseing patterns.
4. Find out how much people are willing to pay for your wares. Click on the link that says "highest price." This will give you a list of completed auctions from highest priced items to lowest priced ones. You want to know what people are willing to pay for items like yours. If you can't make and sell your product for a profit, eBay might not be your marketplace.
5. Determine how much money you'll make on your product. To determine your profitability, use the cost of your materials plus the cost of your labor plus the cost of your selling price, which should be the minimum price to recover your expenses. If it takes you eight hours to make a piece of jewelry and the highest priced similar item sells on eBay for $26, you won't make a profit.
6. Look at the elements of successful sellers of products that are similar to yours. Examine their winning auction titles. Observe how much detail they use to describe their item. See if the seller used any of eBay's special features such as gallery photos or a bold, featured listing. Evaluate the starting price, starting day of the week, and duration of winning auctions.
How Does One Make Money From a Blog
One of the questions I see frequently asked on online discussion forums is, "Can You Really Make Money From Blogging?" People want to know if there's some way to profit from the time they spend maintaining their weblogs or personal online journals.
My answer is an emphatic "YES," because I do it... everyday!
Today I'll share with you how I do it.
Let me begin by saying that I don't make thousands per month from MOST of my blogs. However, I do have many making hundreds. Since I don't put in a lot of time maintaining them, and I enjoy blogging, I consider the money a bonus. I blog while sitting in my yard with my laptop (on a wireless connection)... watching the clouds roll by.
Another bonus I get from blogging is that it helps my regular websites that are set up as my "money machines."
The search engines visit my blogs more often than they visit my regular sites, and they follow the links from my blogs pointing to other sites. Some of these links point to my sites, and some point to sites of partners. This does help the search engine rankings of these sites MASSIVELY.
How Do I Monetize My Blogs?
I monetize my blogs by creating blogs on topics people are searching for... and that they are spending money on. I know which niches are hot to an extent based upon what my research proves pay-per-click advertisers are willing to spend their advertising dollars on.
I run Google AdSense ads on my blogs. I simply insert these ads in my menu bar and other strategic places on the webpage. I also experiment with other paid advertising on my blogs.
I sell affiliate products from my blogs. I simply find affiliate products at places like PayDotCom.com and Commission Junction. I incorporate these into my blogs. I do things like product reviews, how-to articles, etc. You can also locate suitable affiliate products by typing your target keywords + "affiliate program" at any major search engine. This should point out numerous websites with suitable affiliate programs to you.
How Do I Setup/Host My Blogs?
I have blog hosted on some of my own domains using Moveable Type. This is just one of many great pieces of blogging software. You have other choices... my programmer recommended this one to me.
I also have blogs hosted for free on Blogger.com. I have them on Blogger.com because they are incredibly easy to set up and maintain. A secondary reason I have them on Blogger.com is that Google OWNS Blogger.com and they index webpages hosted on their servers OFTEN and FAST!
The secret to getting Google and Yahoo! to visit your blogs often is a technique called "blogging and pinging." It's a method of notifying all of the major search engines, and blog directories, each time that you update your blog. The search engines come to take a look and they follow links from your blog to spider other blogs/sites. It's very powerful.
Examples Of Profitable Blogs?
I know, you want to see examples of profitable blogs :-)
To show you how simple it can be I'll show you just ONE. It was less than 2 months old :-)
The problem is that as soon as I show a site to anyone as an example, it's instantly ripped off. So, I "sacrificed" one making me about $60 per day from affiliate product sales and about $20 per day in AdSense revenue. That site is at: http://cure-nail-fungus.blogspot.com
The above site ranked Number 6 on Yahoo for the term "cure nail fungus." It's a small niche but one that made me $2400 per month... just from that one blog.
If you searched on the same term at Google, this site is not very highly ranked. However, THIS page is Num ber4: http://www.chitterlings.com/no-more-nail-fungus.html
That happens to be one of my pages too :-) I won't tell you what ALL I'm up to on that page... that's another article. The technique involves using your own domains to promote affiliate products rather than advertising someone else's domain... so it improves your link popularity.
I'm not going to show more of my blogs because that just invites competition. Instead, I'm going to answer another question you have to be wondering...
"How do I find time to maintain all of these blogs, even if they are profitable?"
Well, first of all, I don't really need a lot like the "sacrificial lamb" that I showed you above to keep me satisfied.
I do have a number of secret weapons though. One is called AutoBlogger.
What AutoBlogger does is allow me to queue up a number of posts for my various blogs in advance. It lets you queue up "articles" which can really be anything you want. Then you tell the software at what frequency to make a post.
My AutoBlogger account allows me to automatically post to an UNLIMITED number of blogs.
WARNING: A program like AutoBlogger can get you in trouble if you misuse it! If you use it to spam or abuse the search engines, it's just going to get you banned. If you use it to abuse the blog hosts, they're just going to delete your blogs.
Here's how I use AutoBlogger:
I have sites where I discuss Internet marketing... as just one example. On these sites I share many of my articles and tidbits. I simply queue up these articles/tidbits to post at a given frequency. This frequency can be a set number of hours, days, weeks, or months. So theoretically, I can set up a blog, pre-schedule 50 posts, and not touch it in months, while it is automatically posted to for the next 50 intervals.
AutoBlogger even lets you set it to start rotating through the posts again when they run out, if you want to. I personally wouldn't do this since you'd just be posting duplicate content.
AutoBlogger allows you to insert RSS feeds right into your blog posts. So in addition to posting articles you can also auto-update by adding new RSS feeds at a set interval. Since I HATE sending my traffic to other sites (without reciprocation), these RSS feeds generally pull from MY sites. That way, my traffic is only sent to my other sites.
If you don't even feel like queuing up a lot of posts, you can go to a site like Elance.com and hire someone else to do it for you... or just hired your kids to do it for you. It can be as easy as you want to make it.
OK, I've just proven to you that you can make money off of blogs. In-fact, you can make more money than many people make off of their REGULAR websites. It just takes a little thinking outside the box!
It also takes not being too greedy. What I just showed you works for me because I'm not doing anything that's likely to get me banned from the search engines, Google AdSense, Blogger.com, or any affiliate program. It's only when you get carried away, and do things that harm the search engines that you "shoot yourself in the foot."
Set up blogs providing useful content. Make regular posts to these blogs but not in a manner that seems unnatural. By that, I mean don't auto-post twenty times in an hour, or post every hour for a month! No human can possible post to a blog at these rates for long, so the search engines detect something is "wrong." They don't generally prohibit you from using tools to make your job easier... just don't get carried away!
My answer is an emphatic "YES," because I do it... everyday!
Today I'll share with you how I do it.
Let me begin by saying that I don't make thousands per month from MOST of my blogs. However, I do have many making hundreds. Since I don't put in a lot of time maintaining them, and I enjoy blogging, I consider the money a bonus. I blog while sitting in my yard with my laptop (on a wireless connection)... watching the clouds roll by.
Another bonus I get from blogging is that it helps my regular websites that are set up as my "money machines."
The search engines visit my blogs more often than they visit my regular sites, and they follow the links from my blogs pointing to other sites. Some of these links point to my sites, and some point to sites of partners. This does help the search engine rankings of these sites MASSIVELY.
How Do I Monetize My Blogs?
I monetize my blogs by creating blogs on topics people are searching for... and that they are spending money on. I know which niches are hot to an extent based upon what my research proves pay-per-click advertisers are willing to spend their advertising dollars on.
I run Google AdSense ads on my blogs. I simply insert these ads in my menu bar and other strategic places on the webpage. I also experiment with other paid advertising on my blogs.
I sell affiliate products from my blogs. I simply find affiliate products at places like PayDotCom.com and Commission Junction. I incorporate these into my blogs. I do things like product reviews, how-to articles, etc. You can also locate suitable affiliate products by typing your target keywords + "affiliate program" at any major search engine. This should point out numerous websites with suitable affiliate programs to you.
How Do I Setup/Host My Blogs?
I have blog hosted on some of my own domains using Moveable Type. This is just one of many great pieces of blogging software. You have other choices... my programmer recommended this one to me.
I also have blogs hosted for free on Blogger.com. I have them on Blogger.com because they are incredibly easy to set up and maintain. A secondary reason I have them on Blogger.com is that Google OWNS Blogger.com and they index webpages hosted on their servers OFTEN and FAST!
The secret to getting Google and Yahoo! to visit your blogs often is a technique called "blogging and pinging." It's a method of notifying all of the major search engines, and blog directories, each time that you update your blog. The search engines come to take a look and they follow links from your blog to spider other blogs/sites. It's very powerful.
Examples Of Profitable Blogs?
I know, you want to see examples of profitable blogs :-)
To show you how simple it can be I'll show you just ONE. It was less than 2 months old :-)
The problem is that as soon as I show a site to anyone as an example, it's instantly ripped off. So, I "sacrificed" one making me about $60 per day from affiliate product sales and about $20 per day in AdSense revenue. That site is at: http://cure-nail-fungus.blogspot.com
The above site ranked Number 6 on Yahoo for the term "cure nail fungus." It's a small niche but one that made me $2400 per month... just from that one blog.
If you searched on the same term at Google, this site is not very highly ranked. However, THIS page is Num ber4: http://www.chitterlings.com/no-more-nail-fungus.html
That happens to be one of my pages too :-) I won't tell you what ALL I'm up to on that page... that's another article. The technique involves using your own domains to promote affiliate products rather than advertising someone else's domain... so it improves your link popularity.
I'm not going to show more of my blogs because that just invites competition. Instead, I'm going to answer another question you have to be wondering...
"How do I find time to maintain all of these blogs, even if they are profitable?"
Well, first of all, I don't really need a lot like the "sacrificial lamb" that I showed you above to keep me satisfied.
I do have a number of secret weapons though. One is called AutoBlogger.
What AutoBlogger does is allow me to queue up a number of posts for my various blogs in advance. It lets you queue up "articles" which can really be anything you want. Then you tell the software at what frequency to make a post.
My AutoBlogger account allows me to automatically post to an UNLIMITED number of blogs.
WARNING: A program like AutoBlogger can get you in trouble if you misuse it! If you use it to spam or abuse the search engines, it's just going to get you banned. If you use it to abuse the blog hosts, they're just going to delete your blogs.
Here's how I use AutoBlogger:
I have sites where I discuss Internet marketing... as just one example. On these sites I share many of my articles and tidbits. I simply queue up these articles/tidbits to post at a given frequency. This frequency can be a set number of hours, days, weeks, or months. So theoretically, I can set up a blog, pre-schedule 50 posts, and not touch it in months, while it is automatically posted to for the next 50 intervals.
AutoBlogger even lets you set it to start rotating through the posts again when they run out, if you want to. I personally wouldn't do this since you'd just be posting duplicate content.
AutoBlogger allows you to insert RSS feeds right into your blog posts. So in addition to posting articles you can also auto-update by adding new RSS feeds at a set interval. Since I HATE sending my traffic to other sites (without reciprocation), these RSS feeds generally pull from MY sites. That way, my traffic is only sent to my other sites.
If you don't even feel like queuing up a lot of posts, you can go to a site like Elance.com and hire someone else to do it for you... or just hired your kids to do it for you. It can be as easy as you want to make it.
OK, I've just proven to you that you can make money off of blogs. In-fact, you can make more money than many people make off of their REGULAR websites. It just takes a little thinking outside the box!
It also takes not being too greedy. What I just showed you works for me because I'm not doing anything that's likely to get me banned from the search engines, Google AdSense, Blogger.com, or any affiliate program. It's only when you get carried away, and do things that harm the search engines that you "shoot yourself in the foot."
Set up blogs providing useful content. Make regular posts to these blogs but not in a manner that seems unnatural. By that, I mean don't auto-post twenty times in an hour, or post every hour for a month! No human can possible post to a blog at these rates for long, so the search engines detect something is "wrong." They don't generally prohibit you from using tools to make your job easier... just don't get carried away!
What is an Autopilot Model that Makes Money
I would like to share with you one simple strategy in creating income with your own website. This is just one method out of simply millions that you could create for yourself. Remember the internet provides no limits. This is one example that does work for me, and may give you an insight into exactly a website model, that you may like to put into action for yourself. Affiliate marketing and/or sales of any kind on the internet, requires a real commitment, as I am sure you do already realize. The internet is really one of the greatest training grounds in the world for sales. You can try and fail many times, until you find that system and approach that will work for you. But the commitment that you show in meeting this challenge, will be a lesson that you will always remember. Success is always achieved in no matter what you do, through simple hard work. There is no easy path to success, but when you achieve the success you are after, there is no greater feeling. So lets begin. In this example my website, which for the purposes of this article i will call '????'. I will give you the exact profit breakdowns.
With this website I treat all my affiliate products as purely residual income, much like adsense. Adsense itself generates for me, on this website, on average around $2 per day. I also use various other companies affiliate products, which generate around $200 per month. Also within the website, I sell e-book informational products, which I own the full resale rights for, which generate around $700 per month. And here lies the answer to making money online, no matter what you sell. The products, that generate the most income, are the ones that you will own yourself. Certainly I should be making more from the affiliate info products that I sell. But I lose commissions through simple affiliate url tampering. Commissions that are stolen or lost are a real pain. You can try every method in the book to protect your affiliate codes. But after all the hard work is done, you still lose that valuable income. The people who sell the original affiliate product know this, which is mostly why a high percentage of the sales price is offered to an affiliate to begin with. Because they realize that a very high ratio of sales made on their products will give them the total profit back. The reasons why people change affiliate product codes etc, could run into pages. Lets just say it is inevitable. This is the reason why I treat all my affiliate based products as purely residual income.
But as you can see in this example clearly where the highest return on investment lies. And that is in the products that you actually own. You can purchase resale rights for info products easily, and it involves not much money at all, most products are available for under $50. Or if you have the time and patience to search the internet. You can find amazing e-books that have free resell rights and the information they contain is really valuable. You will find these types of treasures occasionally, and the lights will start flashing in your eyes when you do. The information that you have just discovered is of value and that is a real key to success. This is why I, at this point, strongly emphasize the importance of this one principle. Only sell products that you feel strongly about and you know that will be of great value to the person who may purchase it. That includes products you have bought the resale rights for, or a free product, you have discovered with resale rights.
If you sell strong products with real informational value consistently you will always succeed. Your customers will return, quite simply because they know where the value of the information they seek is the greatest. And that is at your website. Always remember to put yourself into your visitors shoes. Ask yourself the question? Would you purchase the products you are selling? Answer this question with a Yes. And you will be really on the start too online success.
-Michael Keenan
With this website I treat all my affiliate products as purely residual income, much like adsense. Adsense itself generates for me, on this website, on average around $2 per day. I also use various other companies affiliate products, which generate around $200 per month. Also within the website, I sell e-book informational products, which I own the full resale rights for, which generate around $700 per month. And here lies the answer to making money online, no matter what you sell. The products, that generate the most income, are the ones that you will own yourself. Certainly I should be making more from the affiliate info products that I sell. But I lose commissions through simple affiliate url tampering. Commissions that are stolen or lost are a real pain. You can try every method in the book to protect your affiliate codes. But after all the hard work is done, you still lose that valuable income. The people who sell the original affiliate product know this, which is mostly why a high percentage of the sales price is offered to an affiliate to begin with. Because they realize that a very high ratio of sales made on their products will give them the total profit back. The reasons why people change affiliate product codes etc, could run into pages. Lets just say it is inevitable. This is the reason why I treat all my affiliate based products as purely residual income.
But as you can see in this example clearly where the highest return on investment lies. And that is in the products that you actually own. You can purchase resale rights for info products easily, and it involves not much money at all, most products are available for under $50. Or if you have the time and patience to search the internet. You can find amazing e-books that have free resell rights and the information they contain is really valuable. You will find these types of treasures occasionally, and the lights will start flashing in your eyes when you do. The information that you have just discovered is of value and that is a real key to success. This is why I, at this point, strongly emphasize the importance of this one principle. Only sell products that you feel strongly about and you know that will be of great value to the person who may purchase it. That includes products you have bought the resale rights for, or a free product, you have discovered with resale rights.
If you sell strong products with real informational value consistently you will always succeed. Your customers will return, quite simply because they know where the value of the information they seek is the greatest. And that is at your website. Always remember to put yourself into your visitors shoes. Ask yourself the question? Would you purchase the products you are selling? Answer this question with a Yes. And you will be really on the start too online success.
-Michael Keenan
Forex Beginners - What is MACD and RSI
As a forex trader your main objective must be to become a profitable trader. In order to achieve this goal, it is vital that you learn how to use the widely known technical indicators. These are very useful parameters that will tell you with a high probability what the forex markets are more likely to do in their apparently disordered behavior as observed on the forex charts.
Among these indicators you will find the MACD and RSI; but what’s the meaning of these letters?, you may be asking yourself. Well, here is the answer:
Moving Average Convergence Divergence: MACD is a more detailed method of using moving averages to find trading signals from price charts. Developed by Gerald Appel, the MACD plots the difference between a 26-day exponential moving average and a 12-day exponential moving average. A 9-day moving average is generally used as a trigger line, meaning when the MACD crosses below this trigger it is a bearish signal (time to sell) and when it crosses above it, it's a bullish signal (time to purchase).
As with other studies, traders will look to MACD studies to provide early signals or divergences between market prices and a technical indicator. If the MACD turns positive and makes higher lows while prices are still tanking, this could be a strong_purchase signal. Conversely, if the MACD makes lower highs while prices are making new highs, this could be a strong bearish divergence and a sell signal.
RSI stands for Relative Strength Index. The RSI measures the markets activity as to whether it is over bought or over sold. It gives a trader an indication as to which way the Market is moving. It is important to note, that this is a leading indicator and thus allows one to see what the market is about to do and then act accordingly. The higher the RSI number, the more over bought it is and conversely the lower the RSI number, the more over sold it is. It is a great leading indicator for the micro and macro reversals in the forex market. By using an RSI on the 1 minute chart set at a period of 18 and overlaid on the bottom of your charts tend to give the best entry signals. This can also be applied to the 5-minute chart as well. The two significant entry numbers are 25 and 75.
Profitable Trading Using the Fibonacci Forex Trading Secret
It was mentioned in a past article that Fibonacci forex trading is the basis of many forex trading systems used around the world by profitable forex traders. These systems are all based on the famous Fibonacci ratios (.236, .50, .382, .618, etc.) and each of them can specialize in a particular ratio along with other minor indicators in order to make the pinpointing of the entry and exit levels as accurate and profitable as possible.
One of the widely used Fibonacci ratios is the 0.382 ratio. As it can be easily seen on any forex chart, currency prices are continually changing and they follow an oscillatory pattern with peaks and valleys. The limit of the peak is usually called a resistance level while the valley is usually called a support.
In order to find the 0.382 ratio level what you do is, first; measure the size of the drop or rise over your time of interest. Once you have that value you multiply this by 0.382. Now depending on what you are looking at, a rise or a drop on the price of the particular “currency pair” you are trading, you will add the last value you calculated to the total drop or subtract the value from the total rise.
These operations will give you the 0.382 Fibonacci ratio level, either for a rise or a drop on the chart you are analyzing. Once you have the value you can then start planning the strategy you will follow in order to make a high probability profit from this valuable information. For the 0.382 ratio level calculated for a recent rise in the “currency pair” exchange price, your calculated level will be a highly probable support and for the case of a level calculated for a recent drop of the prices your level will be a highly probable resistance.
Knowing this ahead of the market and having the proper secondary indicators, will give you a huge advantage over most forex traders, and that’s something any trader would like they could count on. That’s why Fibonacci trading is so widely accepted over the world, and of course, why it’s so profitable and successful.
-Adrian Pablo
One of the widely used Fibonacci ratios is the 0.382 ratio. As it can be easily seen on any forex chart, currency prices are continually changing and they follow an oscillatory pattern with peaks and valleys. The limit of the peak is usually called a resistance level while the valley is usually called a support.
In order to find the 0.382 ratio level what you do is, first; measure the size of the drop or rise over your time of interest. Once you have that value you multiply this by 0.382. Now depending on what you are looking at, a rise or a drop on the price of the particular “currency pair” you are trading, you will add the last value you calculated to the total drop or subtract the value from the total rise.
These operations will give you the 0.382 Fibonacci ratio level, either for a rise or a drop on the chart you are analyzing. Once you have the value you can then start planning the strategy you will follow in order to make a high probability profit from this valuable information. For the 0.382 ratio level calculated for a recent rise in the “currency pair” exchange price, your calculated level will be a highly probable support and for the case of a level calculated for a recent drop of the prices your level will be a highly probable resistance.
Knowing this ahead of the market and having the proper secondary indicators, will give you a huge advantage over most forex traders, and that’s something any trader would like they could count on. That’s why Fibonacci trading is so widely accepted over the world, and of course, why it’s so profitable and successful.
-Adrian Pablo
Do You Have an Additional Passive Income yet?
Marty and his wife live at home with their 2 children. They own a 3 bedroom house in a middle class neighborhood and try to live within their means. Marty works full time in the Printing Industry, while his wife is in charge of the home and looking after the children.
They've accumulated some credit card debt and have 2 years left on a car loan. They try to stay out of debt as much as possible and together they've managed to contribute a total of $32,000 to their own Retirement Fund. It is kept in term deposits receiving 5% interest annually.
Two years prior, the couple bought an older house that they fixed-up and rent out for $850 a month. After paying the mortgage and taxes $300 is left over each month. This goes into their savings account each month.
At Christmas, the family bought themselves a new computer and decided to start a home-based business. Things started out fairly slowly but after 8 months they were receiving a steady check of $400 a month which also goes into their savings account. This part-time business will continue to grow with the effort they dedicate to it.
This business also offers them some very lucrative tax savings. By taking advantage of these Tax Strategies they are able to save an additional $300 a month on tax that was normally deducted from Marty's paycheck at work. This monthly income is also added to the couple's savings.
Marty has just begun writing an E-book about his "production expertise" at work. His plan is to market this book on the internet for profit
Every Sunday the couple takes a drive to stay familiar with the Real Estate market in their area. They're looking for another property, a "handyman's special" to fix-up and rent out. They have saved enough for a down payment and their credit with the bank is well established.
The family's total monthly expenses are $2000. Now, here's the question: Does Marty's family have Wealth yet?
To answer this question properly you first have to understand exactly what "wealth" means.You achieve wealth when: *Your Passive Income is the same or greater than your Expenses.* So what does this mean?
First, what is Passive Income?
Passive Income is money that you are paid over and over again for work that you only do once. (This excludes using a gun or finding cash on the street) Some examples of this would be royalties for writing a book or a song, commissions that you receive for sales that others make and interest from bank savings or dividends on stocks/options that you own.
Second, what Expenses are we talking about? This one's a little easier to understand. Expenses are the total amount it takes to run your household and your life. This includes, rent, mortgage payments, car insurance, food, credit card and loan payments, etc………
Let's look at Marty's family a little closer…………. Does Marty have any Passive Income? Yes he does. Marty's salary is not considered Passive Income. That's because he has to work 40 hours a week just to get the basic amount. If Marty doesn't go to work then he doesn't get paid. His overtime also doesn't count as Passive Income.
The interest from their Retirement Fund does though. It's paid to him month after month as long as it's left in that account. So, $32,000 at 5% is $1600 a year. Divided by 12 months equals $133 a month in interest. Ok…..what else? After the mortgage and expenses are paid with the rent money they receive on their rental property they are left with $300 every month. This is Passive Income. Just as long as the tenant stays and pays his monthly rent.
How bout that $400 from the home-based business and the Tax savings. Is this Passive Income? Well, Marty's wife made sure that she chose a company where she could sign new business accounts and get paid commissions on those accounts over and over again. They've made a 5 year commitment to build this business part-time. So yes, both the $400 and the $300 in Tax Savings would apply as Passive Income. Let's add up Marty's total Passive Income.
Interest $166.00 Rental Income $300.00 Home Based Business$400.00 Tax Savings $300.00 Total $1166.00
Not including Marty's salary from work, his family's Passive Income is $1166.00. Not bad. Every month this amount flows into the family's bank account, regardless of anything else they do. We said that Marty's monthly expenses total $2000.00 a month. And we also said………… You have Wealth when: *Your Passive Income is the same or greater than your Expenses.*
$2000 Expenses subtract $1166 Passive Income = $834 monthly balance needed to have Wealth.
Marty's Expenses are still more than their Passive Income so they're not wealthy just yet. But they're well over half-way there. With this kind of knowledge a family can know exactly where to focus their financial attention.
Maybe when Marty writes that ebook he could get some sales and royalties from it. Also the new Real Estate and more work on their Home-based business would certainly help them to attain more Passive Income. Once Marty's Passive Income is more than the family's Expenses then Marty could start to have much more freedom. He may even choose to quit his job and continue developing his Passive Income streams.
Take a look at your own finances. What are your monthly expenses? Do you have more Passive Income than your Expenses? If you do Congratulations. You're Wealthy!!! If you don't. It's time to get started and start adding Passive Income from other
areas as soon as possible.
When you truly understand this principle, you'll be well on your way to becoming wealthy soon enough!
They've accumulated some credit card debt and have 2 years left on a car loan. They try to stay out of debt as much as possible and together they've managed to contribute a total of $32,000 to their own Retirement Fund. It is kept in term deposits receiving 5% interest annually.
Two years prior, the couple bought an older house that they fixed-up and rent out for $850 a month. After paying the mortgage and taxes $300 is left over each month. This goes into their savings account each month.
At Christmas, the family bought themselves a new computer and decided to start a home-based business. Things started out fairly slowly but after 8 months they were receiving a steady check of $400 a month which also goes into their savings account. This part-time business will continue to grow with the effort they dedicate to it.
This business also offers them some very lucrative tax savings. By taking advantage of these Tax Strategies they are able to save an additional $300 a month on tax that was normally deducted from Marty's paycheck at work. This monthly income is also added to the couple's savings.
Marty has just begun writing an E-book about his "production expertise" at work. His plan is to market this book on the internet for profit
Every Sunday the couple takes a drive to stay familiar with the Real Estate market in their area. They're looking for another property, a "handyman's special" to fix-up and rent out. They have saved enough for a down payment and their credit with the bank is well established.
The family's total monthly expenses are $2000. Now, here's the question: Does Marty's family have Wealth yet?
To answer this question properly you first have to understand exactly what "wealth" means.You achieve wealth when: *Your Passive Income is the same or greater than your Expenses.* So what does this mean?
First, what is Passive Income?
Passive Income is money that you are paid over and over again for work that you only do once. (This excludes using a gun or finding cash on the street) Some examples of this would be royalties for writing a book or a song, commissions that you receive for sales that others make and interest from bank savings or dividends on stocks/options that you own.
Second, what Expenses are we talking about? This one's a little easier to understand. Expenses are the total amount it takes to run your household and your life. This includes, rent, mortgage payments, car insurance, food, credit card and loan payments, etc………
Let's look at Marty's family a little closer…………. Does Marty have any Passive Income? Yes he does. Marty's salary is not considered Passive Income. That's because he has to work 40 hours a week just to get the basic amount. If Marty doesn't go to work then he doesn't get paid. His overtime also doesn't count as Passive Income.
The interest from their Retirement Fund does though. It's paid to him month after month as long as it's left in that account. So, $32,000 at 5% is $1600 a year. Divided by 12 months equals $133 a month in interest. Ok…..what else? After the mortgage and expenses are paid with the rent money they receive on their rental property they are left with $300 every month. This is Passive Income. Just as long as the tenant stays and pays his monthly rent.
How bout that $400 from the home-based business and the Tax savings. Is this Passive Income? Well, Marty's wife made sure that she chose a company where she could sign new business accounts and get paid commissions on those accounts over and over again. They've made a 5 year commitment to build this business part-time. So yes, both the $400 and the $300 in Tax Savings would apply as Passive Income. Let's add up Marty's total Passive Income.
Interest $166.00 Rental Income $300.00 Home Based Business$400.00 Tax Savings $300.00 Total $1166.00
Not including Marty's salary from work, his family's Passive Income is $1166.00. Not bad. Every month this amount flows into the family's bank account, regardless of anything else they do. We said that Marty's monthly expenses total $2000.00 a month. And we also said………… You have Wealth when: *Your Passive Income is the same or greater than your Expenses.*
$2000 Expenses subtract $1166 Passive Income = $834 monthly balance needed to have Wealth.
Marty's Expenses are still more than their Passive Income so they're not wealthy just yet. But they're well over half-way there. With this kind of knowledge a family can know exactly where to focus their financial attention.
Maybe when Marty writes that ebook he could get some sales and royalties from it. Also the new Real Estate and more work on their Home-based business would certainly help them to attain more Passive Income. Once Marty's Passive Income is more than the family's Expenses then Marty could start to have much more freedom. He may even choose to quit his job and continue developing his Passive Income streams.
Take a look at your own finances. What are your monthly expenses? Do you have more Passive Income than your Expenses? If you do Congratulations. You're Wealthy!!! If you don't. It's time to get started and start adding Passive Income from other
areas as soon as possible.
When you truly understand this principle, you'll be well on your way to becoming wealthy soon enough!
Help With Annnuity Payments
Many people today are looking for annuity help. The biggest challenge seems to be that most of the help is biased. What exactly do I mean? I mean that there is always a vested interest for the person who is helping you with your annuities. They are out to sell you something so you don't know if they are doing it for your best interest or for theirs.
For instance, let's say you were looking for a fixed annuity. If you work with an agent who has a bias towards variable annuities or gets paid more for selling variable annuities, you may end up with something that doesn't fit your needs. Also, if you end up with a banker or financial advisor who does not do a good job at addressing your financial needs and concerns, you may end up with the investment of the day instead of the investment that's right for you. And by the time you realize it, it may be too late.
So how do you get help with your annuity? First and foremost you must help yourself. What is really good is to take inventory of where you are currently and where you want to be. Look at your current investments and your goals. Take a snapshot of your financial situation. This may sound elementary but most people don't do it. But the key is to do it before you seek help from an outside source.
Look, the reason is simple. The more you know going in, the better the chance that you will get what you want. Doing your financial homework is a critical piece of getting the right help. A good financial advisor will ask you to help him understand you so you can help him to help you. This is crucial to your financial future. Getting help with your annuity or your investments means helping yourself first.
The most important aspect of this comes at the time you need to make a financial decision about your annuities or your investments. If you know what you want, you will be able to figure out what you don't want. For example, if you want safety of principal and the advisor offers you a variable annuity, you can easily say no because you know that won't fit your goals. Also, the opposite is true. If you don't know what you want, you may know what you don't want and that may be a good place to start.
The bottom line is annuity and investment help begins with yourself. Understand your financial situation, your time frames, your needs for liquidity, and your goals. The specific investments and annuities you will use to accomplish your goals will come second. The more you help yourself, the more likely it is you will end up with the right annuity. Good luck and remember...
Ignorance is not bliss...
-Tony Bahu
For instance, let's say you were looking for a fixed annuity. If you work with an agent who has a bias towards variable annuities or gets paid more for selling variable annuities, you may end up with something that doesn't fit your needs. Also, if you end up with a banker or financial advisor who does not do a good job at addressing your financial needs and concerns, you may end up with the investment of the day instead of the investment that's right for you. And by the time you realize it, it may be too late.
So how do you get help with your annuity? First and foremost you must help yourself. What is really good is to take inventory of where you are currently and where you want to be. Look at your current investments and your goals. Take a snapshot of your financial situation. This may sound elementary but most people don't do it. But the key is to do it before you seek help from an outside source.
Look, the reason is simple. The more you know going in, the better the chance that you will get what you want. Doing your financial homework is a critical piece of getting the right help. A good financial advisor will ask you to help him understand you so you can help him to help you. This is crucial to your financial future. Getting help with your annuity or your investments means helping yourself first.
The most important aspect of this comes at the time you need to make a financial decision about your annuities or your investments. If you know what you want, you will be able to figure out what you don't want. For example, if you want safety of principal and the advisor offers you a variable annuity, you can easily say no because you know that won't fit your goals. Also, the opposite is true. If you don't know what you want, you may know what you don't want and that may be a good place to start.
The bottom line is annuity and investment help begins with yourself. Understand your financial situation, your time frames, your needs for liquidity, and your goals. The specific investments and annuities you will use to accomplish your goals will come second. The more you help yourself, the more likely it is you will end up with the right annuity. Good luck and remember...
Ignorance is not bliss...
-Tony Bahu
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Smart Trick For displaying Highest Cost Per Click on Adsense
There are no guarantees in life, so I don’t guarantee that following these tips will bring you more money every time. However, I do guarantee that they will greatly increase your chances of pulling more of the top-paying AdSense ads to your site than if you don’t follow these suggestions.
Enough with the disclaimers, let’s get down to the business of making money. Google lets advertisers bid anywhere from a minimum of .05 per click right up to a whopping $100. It should be pretty obvious that you’re not going to get rich running .05 cent ads on your site, but getting a few $100 ads, or even some $10, $20, or $30 ads can’t be a bad thing, right?
Ok, Pay attention as this could be a great Small Business Marketing Idea. We need to first know which of the advertisers on Google are paying high to what kind of Keyword. To see that, you first need to have a Google Adword account.
Login to your account and Look to the right side of your dashboard. You should have a button called "Columns". Click on That and Check Mark as show below
Once thats done, You can now type in a keyword of you choice and see high paying keyword results for yourselves! It's that simple!
Btw, Here are High paying keywords from Google's scratchpad.
MESOTHELIOMA LAW FIRM ($ 179.01)
DONATE CAR TO CHARITY CALIFORNIA ($130.25)
DONATE CAR FOR TAX CREDIT ($126.65)
DONATE CARS IN MA ($125.58)
DONATE YOUR CAR SACRAMENTO ($118.20)
HOW TO DONATE A CAR IN CALIFORNIA ($111.21)
SELL ANNUITY PAYMENT ( $ 107.46 )
DONATE YOUR CAR FOR KIDS ($106.01)
ASBESTOS LAWYERS ( $ 105.84 )
STRUCTURED ANNUITY SETTLEMENT ($100.8)
ANNUITY SETTLEMENTS ($ 100.72 )
CAR INSURANCE QUOTES COLORADO ($100.93)
NUNAVUT CULTURE ($99.52)
DAYTON FREIGHT LINES ($99.39)
HARDDRIVE DATA RECOVERY SERVICES ($98.59)
DONATE A CAR IN MARYLAND ($98.51)
MOTOR REPLACEMENTS ($98.43)
CHEAP DOMAIN REGISTRATION HOSTING ($98.39)
DONATING A CAR IN MARYLAND ($98.20)
DONATE CARS ILLINOIS ($98.13)
CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS FLORIDA ($98.07)
BEST CRIMINAL LAWYER IN ARIZONA ($97.93)
CAR INSURANCE QUOTES UTAH ($97.92)
LIFE INSURANCE CO LINCOLN ($97.07)
HOLLAND MICHIGAN COLLEGE ($95.74)
ONLINE MOTOR INSURANCE QUOTES ($95.73)
ONLINE COLLEDGES ($95.65)
PAPERPORT PROMOTIONAL CODE ($95.13)
ONLINECLASSES ($95.06)
WORLD TRADE CENTER FOOTAGE ($95.02)
MASSAGE SCHOOL DALLAS TEXAS ($94.90)
PSYCHIC FOR FREE ($94.61)
DONATE OLD CARS TO CHARITY ($94.55)
LOW CREDIT LINE CREDIT CARDS ($94.49)
DALLAS MESOTHELIOMA ATTORNEYS ($94.33)
Enough with the disclaimers, let’s get down to the business of making money. Google lets advertisers bid anywhere from a minimum of .05 per click right up to a whopping $100. It should be pretty obvious that you’re not going to get rich running .05 cent ads on your site, but getting a few $100 ads, or even some $10, $20, or $30 ads can’t be a bad thing, right?
Ok, Pay attention as this could be a great Small Business Marketing Idea. We need to first know which of the advertisers on Google are paying high to what kind of Keyword. To see that, you first need to have a Google Adword account.
Login to your account and Look to the right side of your dashboard. You should have a button called "Columns". Click on That and Check Mark as show below
Once thats done, You can now type in a keyword of you choice and see high paying keyword results for yourselves! It's that simple!
Btw, Here are High paying keywords from Google's scratchpad.
MESOTHELIOMA LAW FIRM ($ 179.01)
DONATE CAR TO CHARITY CALIFORNIA ($130.25)
DONATE CAR FOR TAX CREDIT ($126.65)
DONATE CARS IN MA ($125.58)
DONATE YOUR CAR SACRAMENTO ($118.20)
HOW TO DONATE A CAR IN CALIFORNIA ($111.21)
SELL ANNUITY PAYMENT ( $ 107.46 )
DONATE YOUR CAR FOR KIDS ($106.01)
ASBESTOS LAWYERS ( $ 105.84 )
STRUCTURED ANNUITY SETTLEMENT ($100.8)
ANNUITY SETTLEMENTS ($ 100.72 )
CAR INSURANCE QUOTES COLORADO ($100.93)
NUNAVUT CULTURE ($99.52)
DAYTON FREIGHT LINES ($99.39)
HARDDRIVE DATA RECOVERY SERVICES ($98.59)
DONATE A CAR IN MARYLAND ($98.51)
MOTOR REPLACEMENTS ($98.43)
CHEAP DOMAIN REGISTRATION HOSTING ($98.39)
DONATING A CAR IN MARYLAND ($98.20)
DONATE CARS ILLINOIS ($98.13)
CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS FLORIDA ($98.07)
BEST CRIMINAL LAWYER IN ARIZONA ($97.93)
CAR INSURANCE QUOTES UTAH ($97.92)
LIFE INSURANCE CO LINCOLN ($97.07)
HOLLAND MICHIGAN COLLEGE ($95.74)
ONLINE MOTOR INSURANCE QUOTES ($95.73)
ONLINE COLLEDGES ($95.65)
PAPERPORT PROMOTIONAL CODE ($95.13)
ONLINECLASSES ($95.06)
WORLD TRADE CENTER FOOTAGE ($95.02)
MASSAGE SCHOOL DALLAS TEXAS ($94.90)
PSYCHIC FOR FREE ($94.61)
DONATE OLD CARS TO CHARITY ($94.55)
LOW CREDIT LINE CREDIT CARDS ($94.49)
DALLAS MESOTHELIOMA ATTORNEYS ($94.33)
Beginners' Guide to Google Adlinks
Have you noticed or tried the Google Adlinks module? This ad system presents a list of 4 or 5 vertical links(you can pick either 4 or 5 and Google will supply the actually links) to your site visitors, when the visitors click on one of the targeted contextual words it displays a results page from Google listing ten Adwords advertiser’s ads for this related topic.
Here is what Google says Adlinks are: “What are Ad Links by Google?
Ad Links are a new form of text advertising that we're offering to our AdSense publishers. Using the same contextual targeting algorithm that targets Google ads to your content pages, Ad Links units display a list of topics that are relevant to your page. Each topic, when clicked, brings the user to a page of related advertisements.
The result is advertisements that are closely targeted to the interests of your users. By selecting the topics through interaction with the ad unit, users are presented with useful information in the form of related advertisements. Their direct involvement with the evolution of the ad unit guarantees an interest in the ads that are presented.”
Positive Aspects of Adlinks:
They allow you to blend this in with sections of your links which will get more visitors to click on them, inevitably increase your Adsense revenue.
The Adlinks ads display 10 ad results when clicked without cluttering you page.
Google’s rules allow you to place three Adsense code block on a website. If you are doing this near say a 500 word article it can distract the visitor from viewing the article. With Adlinks you can still display 1 block of normal Adsense code and the Adlinks block and it keeps your page relatively nice looking while still giving you revenue potential.
Negative Aspects of Adlinks:
Adlinks requires your visitors to make two clicks. One on the original Adlinks block and one when they view the Adlink results. As any marketer knows the more actions you need a visitor to take the less the response rate.
Where are the best places to display Adlinks ads?
The best place to display them are within your navigation menu. Try to make them blend in as best as possible.
Another great place to put them is at the end of an article suggesting an interested reader view these resources. When doing this the reader is very targeted since they red your whole article and if they are likely leaving your website, why not let them leave through Adlinks and make some money?
Here is what Google says Adlinks are: “What are Ad Links by Google?
Ad Links are a new form of text advertising that we're offering to our AdSense publishers. Using the same contextual targeting algorithm that targets Google ads to your content pages, Ad Links units display a list of topics that are relevant to your page. Each topic, when clicked, brings the user to a page of related advertisements.
The result is advertisements that are closely targeted to the interests of your users. By selecting the topics through interaction with the ad unit, users are presented with useful information in the form of related advertisements. Their direct involvement with the evolution of the ad unit guarantees an interest in the ads that are presented.”
Positive Aspects of Adlinks:
They allow you to blend this in with sections of your links which will get more visitors to click on them, inevitably increase your Adsense revenue.
The Adlinks ads display 10 ad results when clicked without cluttering you page.
Google’s rules allow you to place three Adsense code block on a website. If you are doing this near say a 500 word article it can distract the visitor from viewing the article. With Adlinks you can still display 1 block of normal Adsense code and the Adlinks block and it keeps your page relatively nice looking while still giving you revenue potential.
Negative Aspects of Adlinks:
Adlinks requires your visitors to make two clicks. One on the original Adlinks block and one when they view the Adlink results. As any marketer knows the more actions you need a visitor to take the less the response rate.
Where are the best places to display Adlinks ads?
The best place to display them are within your navigation menu. Try to make them blend in as best as possible.
Another great place to put them is at the end of an article suggesting an interested reader view these resources. When doing this the reader is very targeted since they red your whole article and if they are likely leaving your website, why not let them leave through Adlinks and make some money?
Beginners Guide to Buying & Selling on eBay or any other eCommerce Sites
The 26 tips listed here will save a lot of your money & hair eventually as you learn to trade on eBay or any other similar platforms. The irony of eBay is that as it grows to be ever more successful, it draws the unsavory element of the internet towards it. I'm talking about people who make it their business to attempt to defraud you and I in our eBay and PayPal transactions.
Of course, not all dodgy dealings on eBay are fraudulent. Some are just mischievous. Others are by chancers, who perhaps reckon their victims won't be bothered to pursue them.
Whoever causes it, it's left to the targeted purchaseer or seller to try and sort out the problem. All that we as users can do is to be extremely vigilant and cautious in all our eBay and PayPal activities.
Here is a list of practical steps, in no particular order, which purchaseers and sellers can take to help avoid becoming the next victim.
Hopefully you are already aware of some of these. It doesn't necessarily follow that if one of these applies the auction or person is fraudulent. But if you use your head, and build up a view of the overall transaction based based upon a number of these factors, you will reduce your chances of getting conned.
a) Stock photos and descriptions
Because they don't have the item they are "selling", some fraudsters use a stock photograph of the item. And they will probably use the manufacturer's product description too. So, stock photos and no original description might be a sign. Search for other auctions by the same seller, and see if they are brazen enough to advertise the same item more than once.
b) A price too good to be true often isn't true
A fraudster wants your money quickly, so you may find they offer to close their auction early with you as the "winner" having bid a price which you know to be somewhat of a bargain. Why would anyone close their auction early if the price hadn't reached market levels? I'll give you one guess.
c) High value or high volume, newly registered sellers
Although the vast majority of new sellers are genuine and honest, be cautious of purchaseing from people selling high value items in bulk, very early on in their eBay career. This pattern isn't quite normal. Think back to your own first sales. You would have been tentative, and probably have tried single, low value items initially. So, a new seller fitting this profile may be someone who has perhaps been previously suspended and has registered another ID.
d) 1 day listings
Although 1 day listing are used by genuine sellers who have more than one item or who want a quick sale, unfortunately this duration is attractive to fraudsters too. They sometimes use a 1 day auction duration to gain a quick sale before their actions can be reported and acted upon. So, be extra wary on auctions with 1 day listing.
e) Invitations to trade off-eBay
This is a classic ploy of fraudsters. Having made some kind of contact with you, or you with them, they will invite you to purchase or to sell off eBay i.e. without using eBay's auction services. The attraction here to the fraudster is that they can drive the transaction along the lines they prefer, whether that be escrow, PayPal etc. Another reason why trading off eBay is not a good idea is that you have to keep your own formal records of the transaction, and you forfeit any cover from eBay purchaseer protection and PayPal purchaseer protection. Plus, and this might be a minor point, but you will not be able to leave feedback to let others know your experience with this seller/purchaseer.
f) Payment methods with no recourse
Fraudsters prefer to chose payment methods in which the purchaseer has no protection, like wire transfers where the purchaseer has no way of tracing where the money is going. Western Union Money Transfers and BidPay are favourites and should be totally avoided. Postal orders are similar although they are a popular payment method among the genuine sellers as they require no clearance time. Bank transfers and cheques can only provide the possibility of your bank investigating the details of the account the money was transferred into. For the best protection use Paypal and fund with a Credit Card. Note there are limits on eBay and PayPal protection, and you should make yourself aware of what these are.
g) Unusual sales pattern
If your seller's feedback indicates that they normally deal in collectables, DVDs or other specific items, be suspicious that they are suddenly listing laptops, plasma TVs or other high value items. The change may indicate that this seller's account has been hijacked.
h) Bad english gives you a pointer
Some fraudsters operate from abroad but pretend to be in UK or USA. As they aren't particularly adept at the english language they might use a translation tool like Babelfish to create their emails to you. So, watch out for emails that are not good english. In itself, it doesn't prove anything, there are plenty of genuine eBay sellers for whom english is not their first language. But it might add to further evidence you have.
i) Location Location Location
In the case of lazy fraudsters you might find their locations don't match up. By that I mean the auction says the goods are in the UK, but the seller's ID details show their location to be, say, Ukraine. This is not a good sign. Often in these cases if you contact these sellers you will receive an excuse as to why the item is not in the UK, and therefore can't be collected in person. In short, if an auction says the item is in the UK and the seller says that it is not, I would avoid the auction. And don't forget to cross check with their PayPal account, and see in which country this resides.
j) Ask questions
Always, always ask your seller a question. Any question. Their response, if you receive one, will help you judge how genuine the seller is. Beware auctions that carry a message asking you to contact the seller via a given email address as opposed to via the 'Ask seller a question' link. This could be an account hijacker trying to prevent purchaseers from 'Asking the seller a question'. They want to stop this from happening because such questions could be routed to the real account owner.
k) "eBay can vouch for me" email
A warning about a relatively new tactic used by fraudsters. If you are proving hard to land as a purchaser/seller, they may claim they can get eBay to email you proof of their validity so that you can trust them. eBay, of course, will NEVER do this. The email sent out, however authentic looking, is fake and is designed to get you to part with your money or your goods. This applies equally to Square Trade and PayPal. They will never email you certifying the genuineness of anyone.
l)A PayPal warning
There are fraudsters who use stolen PayPal accounts to accept payments. To lower the possibility of this, check your seller's location as shown in eBay, and then see if it is one of PayPal's permitted countries by clicking here: http://www.workwinners.com/nlr701.htm. If PayPal don't offer their service in the country that the seller resides, be very wary.
m) Passwords
Never have the same password on your eBay and PayPal accounts. Or indeed on any other financial or personal site. Change your passwords every 30-60 days on both eBay and PayPal.
n) Escrow
If your seller asks you to use escrow, and proposes an escrow company they've used before, this is a clear indication they are fraudulent. There are many fake escrow sites which will take your money fraudulently. The only escrow site recommended by eBay is http://www.escrow.com. An alternative in the UK is http://www.auctionpix.co.uk Please don't be tempted to use any other escrow company, however professional looking their websites might be. It is a fact that 99% of escrow companies on the internet are fraudulent. They are set up solely to defraud money out of unsuspecting purchaseers, and to get goods without paying for them from unsuspecting sellers.
o) Pointers in feedback
Try to read the positive feedback as well as the negative. Read the way your seller responds to negative feedback as this will often give you an idea of how the seller will react if something goes badly wrong. If the seller is offering high value goods, be wary if their feedback has been built up quickly from low value purchases. Also, if the overall rating is good, but there are a disproportionate number of negatives in recent days/weeks, this might indicate the account has been taken over. Finally, be aware that feedback is not the guarantee it once was. Feedback can easily be manufactured. Also, if the user ID has been hijacked, you'll be reading the feedback of the original account owner, not the person with whom you're currently dealing!
p) Credit Card payment
For high value items, or for amounts of money you can't afford to lose, make sure you pay by credit card which has online fraud protection. This will give you some recourse if the seller is fraudulent. In this context, paying via PayPal is not the same. PayPal do have a purchaseer protection scheme, but there are criteria which the eBay auction has to satisfy in order to qualify. Even if the transaction qualifies, PayPal's standard protection currently has a maximum value of $1,000. Note that payment by debit card provides zero protection.
q) Address and Telephone check
Use the Ask the seller a question link, and request they email you with their address and telephone number. Any reputable seller will give you their address and telephone number. When you get the number, call it, and see if you get through to the genuine seller.
r) Keystroke capturing virus
This is a computer virus which you inadvertently download onto your PC. It's task is to capture the keystrokes you make, and to send them to the virus placer. The fraudster then uses pattern recognition software to identify and extract personal information, like username, password, credit card numbers etc. To avoid this happening to you, it is wise to have good, up-to-date virus, firewall and spyware checking software on your PC. Here is where you can get free software for each of these functions:
Virus protection - http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Firewall - http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/comparison.jsp?lid=ho_za
Spyware checking - http://www.lavasoft.com/support/download/
s) Shill bidding
Shill bidding is where people work in cahoots to inflate the bidding on an item. A seller has a "partner" who makes bids on the seller's items with a view to bumping up the bid price. They have no intention of purchaseing the item. Fortunately, shill bidders and their associated seller can be stupid. The shill bidder will usually makes bids on other items from the same seller. Here's how to check to see if shill bidding is a feature of a particular seller. First, look at the seller's closed auctions over the last 30 days. If most of the closed auctions have no bids, it is unlikely the seller has shill bidders working with them. If all of the closed auctions have bids, take a look at the bid history. See if the same bidder appears in the list of bidders, usually with aggressive bidding and normally at the start of the auction. If so, you may have uncovered a shill operation, so avoid that seller's auctions.
t) Keep your transaction information
Keep your own record of the transaction when you're purchaseing. Don't just rely on eBay. You want a record of the seller's identification, the item description, emails sent and received, plus the time, date and price of your bid.
u) "I noticed your bid...."
Never deal with anyone who contacts you after seeing your bid on another auction. They will say something like, "I saw you bidding on that digital camera. I have the same model available for sale. I don't have time to list it on eBay. It has more accessories than the one you lost out on. You can have it for xyz." If you bite, they'll probably take you down the fake escrow route. Also, if you entertain this proposition, you're operating outside of eBay and therefore have no auction protection whatsoever.
v) Changed eBay ID
Never deal with anyone who has a changed ID icon next to their name. This icon menas they've changed their ID in the last 30 days. Few legitimate people change their eBay ID. When was the last time you changed yours? There's a 1% chance that an ID change is genuine, but 99% that it is fraudulent. Why take the risk?
w) Changed email address mid-stream
If a seller or purchaseer changes their email address on you in the middle of a transaction, stop dealing with them. It is likely their previous email account was closed down due to some irregularity - such as a previous victim reported them. If you think about it, why would any genuine purchaseer or seller change their email address whilst corresponding on a transaction they wish to conclude expeditiously?
x) Complications
Never get involved in any transaction where the seller/purchaseer tries to introduce a third person into the financial arrangements. They might ask you to pay xyz, who will then pay the seller, and you will receive a discount or commission for your co-operation. Such proposals are always fraudulent. They prey on greed. Don't be tempted.
y) Time is of the essence
This is a scam which is has more potential for success than traditional phishing attacks, as it is time sensitive. The fraudster searches for high value auctions that have just ended. The bid history for an auction contains hyperlinks to each bidder. The fraudster checks to see if the winning bidder is selling any items of their own. If so, they go to that auction and embed a request for payment from the first auction within a question for seller. This works because winning bidders are expecting request for payment shortly after an auction ends. A variation of this is to offer a bidder a "second chance". This time the "Ask the seller a question" email pretends that the real winner has backed out, and offers the item at a lower price. The purchaseer, believing the story, is lured into paying to whom they believe is a genuine seller. Many eBayers have heard of the second chance system, but have no experience of it. This unfamiliarity coupled with the fact that a few weeks might have passed, makes this an effective method for fraudsters. The moral of this story is never get involved in any transaction which arrives in your inbox via the Ask the Seller a Question feature.
z) eBay IDs
Never use your email address as your eBay ID, or part of your eBay ID. Fraudsters have software which monitors internet traffic looking for information such as this. If your eBay ID and email address are the same, it is simple for a fraudster to plausibly communicate with other eBay members in your name.
That's all in my list. If you have any further ideas on how to prevent fraudulent transactions on eBay, please let me know and I will promote these through future newsletters.
In the meantime, be aware, and be safe in your eBay purchaseing and eBay selling.
About the author:
Brian McGregor specializes in showing website owners how to make more money from their sites by applying inventive and original use of eBay.
Of course, not all dodgy dealings on eBay are fraudulent. Some are just mischievous. Others are by chancers, who perhaps reckon their victims won't be bothered to pursue them.
Whoever causes it, it's left to the targeted purchaseer or seller to try and sort out the problem. All that we as users can do is to be extremely vigilant and cautious in all our eBay and PayPal activities.
Here is a list of practical steps, in no particular order, which purchaseers and sellers can take to help avoid becoming the next victim.
Hopefully you are already aware of some of these. It doesn't necessarily follow that if one of these applies the auction or person is fraudulent. But if you use your head, and build up a view of the overall transaction based based upon a number of these factors, you will reduce your chances of getting conned.
a) Stock photos and descriptions
Because they don't have the item they are "selling", some fraudsters use a stock photograph of the item. And they will probably use the manufacturer's product description too. So, stock photos and no original description might be a sign. Search for other auctions by the same seller, and see if they are brazen enough to advertise the same item more than once.
b) A price too good to be true often isn't true
A fraudster wants your money quickly, so you may find they offer to close their auction early with you as the "winner" having bid a price which you know to be somewhat of a bargain. Why would anyone close their auction early if the price hadn't reached market levels? I'll give you one guess.
c) High value or high volume, newly registered sellers
Although the vast majority of new sellers are genuine and honest, be cautious of purchaseing from people selling high value items in bulk, very early on in their eBay career. This pattern isn't quite normal. Think back to your own first sales. You would have been tentative, and probably have tried single, low value items initially. So, a new seller fitting this profile may be someone who has perhaps been previously suspended and has registered another ID.
d) 1 day listings
Although 1 day listing are used by genuine sellers who have more than one item or who want a quick sale, unfortunately this duration is attractive to fraudsters too. They sometimes use a 1 day auction duration to gain a quick sale before their actions can be reported and acted upon. So, be extra wary on auctions with 1 day listing.
e) Invitations to trade off-eBay
This is a classic ploy of fraudsters. Having made some kind of contact with you, or you with them, they will invite you to purchase or to sell off eBay i.e. without using eBay's auction services. The attraction here to the fraudster is that they can drive the transaction along the lines they prefer, whether that be escrow, PayPal etc. Another reason why trading off eBay is not a good idea is that you have to keep your own formal records of the transaction, and you forfeit any cover from eBay purchaseer protection and PayPal purchaseer protection. Plus, and this might be a minor point, but you will not be able to leave feedback to let others know your experience with this seller/purchaseer.
f) Payment methods with no recourse
Fraudsters prefer to chose payment methods in which the purchaseer has no protection, like wire transfers where the purchaseer has no way of tracing where the money is going. Western Union Money Transfers and BidPay are favourites and should be totally avoided. Postal orders are similar although they are a popular payment method among the genuine sellers as they require no clearance time. Bank transfers and cheques can only provide the possibility of your bank investigating the details of the account the money was transferred into. For the best protection use Paypal and fund with a Credit Card. Note there are limits on eBay and PayPal protection, and you should make yourself aware of what these are.
g) Unusual sales pattern
If your seller's feedback indicates that they normally deal in collectables, DVDs or other specific items, be suspicious that they are suddenly listing laptops, plasma TVs or other high value items. The change may indicate that this seller's account has been hijacked.
h) Bad english gives you a pointer
Some fraudsters operate from abroad but pretend to be in UK or USA. As they aren't particularly adept at the english language they might use a translation tool like Babelfish to create their emails to you. So, watch out for emails that are not good english. In itself, it doesn't prove anything, there are plenty of genuine eBay sellers for whom english is not their first language. But it might add to further evidence you have.
i) Location Location Location
In the case of lazy fraudsters you might find their locations don't match up. By that I mean the auction says the goods are in the UK, but the seller's ID details show their location to be, say, Ukraine. This is not a good sign. Often in these cases if you contact these sellers you will receive an excuse as to why the item is not in the UK, and therefore can't be collected in person. In short, if an auction says the item is in the UK and the seller says that it is not, I would avoid the auction. And don't forget to cross check with their PayPal account, and see in which country this resides.
j) Ask questions
Always, always ask your seller a question. Any question. Their response, if you receive one, will help you judge how genuine the seller is. Beware auctions that carry a message asking you to contact the seller via a given email address as opposed to via the 'Ask seller a question' link. This could be an account hijacker trying to prevent purchaseers from 'Asking the seller a question'. They want to stop this from happening because such questions could be routed to the real account owner.
k) "eBay can vouch for me" email
A warning about a relatively new tactic used by fraudsters. If you are proving hard to land as a purchaser/seller, they may claim they can get eBay to email you proof of their validity so that you can trust them. eBay, of course, will NEVER do this. The email sent out, however authentic looking, is fake and is designed to get you to part with your money or your goods. This applies equally to Square Trade and PayPal. They will never email you certifying the genuineness of anyone.
l)A PayPal warning
There are fraudsters who use stolen PayPal accounts to accept payments. To lower the possibility of this, check your seller's location as shown in eBay, and then see if it is one of PayPal's permitted countries by clicking here: http://www.workwinners.com/nlr701.htm. If PayPal don't offer their service in the country that the seller resides, be very wary.
m) Passwords
Never have the same password on your eBay and PayPal accounts. Or indeed on any other financial or personal site. Change your passwords every 30-60 days on both eBay and PayPal.
n) Escrow
If your seller asks you to use escrow, and proposes an escrow company they've used before, this is a clear indication they are fraudulent. There are many fake escrow sites which will take your money fraudulently. The only escrow site recommended by eBay is http://www.escrow.com. An alternative in the UK is http://www.auctionpix.co.uk Please don't be tempted to use any other escrow company, however professional looking their websites might be. It is a fact that 99% of escrow companies on the internet are fraudulent. They are set up solely to defraud money out of unsuspecting purchaseers, and to get goods without paying for them from unsuspecting sellers.
o) Pointers in feedback
Try to read the positive feedback as well as the negative. Read the way your seller responds to negative feedback as this will often give you an idea of how the seller will react if something goes badly wrong. If the seller is offering high value goods, be wary if their feedback has been built up quickly from low value purchases. Also, if the overall rating is good, but there are a disproportionate number of negatives in recent days/weeks, this might indicate the account has been taken over. Finally, be aware that feedback is not the guarantee it once was. Feedback can easily be manufactured. Also, if the user ID has been hijacked, you'll be reading the feedback of the original account owner, not the person with whom you're currently dealing!
p) Credit Card payment
For high value items, or for amounts of money you can't afford to lose, make sure you pay by credit card which has online fraud protection. This will give you some recourse if the seller is fraudulent. In this context, paying via PayPal is not the same. PayPal do have a purchaseer protection scheme, but there are criteria which the eBay auction has to satisfy in order to qualify. Even if the transaction qualifies, PayPal's standard protection currently has a maximum value of $1,000. Note that payment by debit card provides zero protection.
q) Address and Telephone check
Use the Ask the seller a question link, and request they email you with their address and telephone number. Any reputable seller will give you their address and telephone number. When you get the number, call it, and see if you get through to the genuine seller.
r) Keystroke capturing virus
This is a computer virus which you inadvertently download onto your PC. It's task is to capture the keystrokes you make, and to send them to the virus placer. The fraudster then uses pattern recognition software to identify and extract personal information, like username, password, credit card numbers etc. To avoid this happening to you, it is wise to have good, up-to-date virus, firewall and spyware checking software on your PC. Here is where you can get free software for each of these functions:
Virus protection - http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Firewall - http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/comparison.jsp?lid=ho_za
Spyware checking - http://www.lavasoft.com/support/download/
s) Shill bidding
Shill bidding is where people work in cahoots to inflate the bidding on an item. A seller has a "partner" who makes bids on the seller's items with a view to bumping up the bid price. They have no intention of purchaseing the item. Fortunately, shill bidders and their associated seller can be stupid. The shill bidder will usually makes bids on other items from the same seller. Here's how to check to see if shill bidding is a feature of a particular seller. First, look at the seller's closed auctions over the last 30 days. If most of the closed auctions have no bids, it is unlikely the seller has shill bidders working with them. If all of the closed auctions have bids, take a look at the bid history. See if the same bidder appears in the list of bidders, usually with aggressive bidding and normally at the start of the auction. If so, you may have uncovered a shill operation, so avoid that seller's auctions.
t) Keep your transaction information
Keep your own record of the transaction when you're purchaseing. Don't just rely on eBay. You want a record of the seller's identification, the item description, emails sent and received, plus the time, date and price of your bid.
u) "I noticed your bid...."
Never deal with anyone who contacts you after seeing your bid on another auction. They will say something like, "I saw you bidding on that digital camera. I have the same model available for sale. I don't have time to list it on eBay. It has more accessories than the one you lost out on. You can have it for xyz." If you bite, they'll probably take you down the fake escrow route. Also, if you entertain this proposition, you're operating outside of eBay and therefore have no auction protection whatsoever.
v) Changed eBay ID
Never deal with anyone who has a changed ID icon next to their name. This icon menas they've changed their ID in the last 30 days. Few legitimate people change their eBay ID. When was the last time you changed yours? There's a 1% chance that an ID change is genuine, but 99% that it is fraudulent. Why take the risk?
w) Changed email address mid-stream
If a seller or purchaseer changes their email address on you in the middle of a transaction, stop dealing with them. It is likely their previous email account was closed down due to some irregularity - such as a previous victim reported them. If you think about it, why would any genuine purchaseer or seller change their email address whilst corresponding on a transaction they wish to conclude expeditiously?
x) Complications
Never get involved in any transaction where the seller/purchaseer tries to introduce a third person into the financial arrangements. They might ask you to pay xyz, who will then pay the seller, and you will receive a discount or commission for your co-operation. Such proposals are always fraudulent. They prey on greed. Don't be tempted.
y) Time is of the essence
This is a scam which is has more potential for success than traditional phishing attacks, as it is time sensitive. The fraudster searches for high value auctions that have just ended. The bid history for an auction contains hyperlinks to each bidder. The fraudster checks to see if the winning bidder is selling any items of their own. If so, they go to that auction and embed a request for payment from the first auction within a question for seller. This works because winning bidders are expecting request for payment shortly after an auction ends. A variation of this is to offer a bidder a "second chance". This time the "Ask the seller a question" email pretends that the real winner has backed out, and offers the item at a lower price. The purchaseer, believing the story, is lured into paying to whom they believe is a genuine seller. Many eBayers have heard of the second chance system, but have no experience of it. This unfamiliarity coupled with the fact that a few weeks might have passed, makes this an effective method for fraudsters. The moral of this story is never get involved in any transaction which arrives in your inbox via the Ask the Seller a Question feature.
z) eBay IDs
Never use your email address as your eBay ID, or part of your eBay ID. Fraudsters have software which monitors internet traffic looking for information such as this. If your eBay ID and email address are the same, it is simple for a fraudster to plausibly communicate with other eBay members in your name.
That's all in my list. If you have any further ideas on how to prevent fraudulent transactions on eBay, please let me know and I will promote these through future newsletters.
In the meantime, be aware, and be safe in your eBay purchaseing and eBay selling.
About the author:
Brian McGregor specializes in showing website owners how to make more money from their sites by applying inventive and original use of eBay.
10 Things You MUST NOT Do With Google Adsense
There is no question that you can make some good money with Google AdSense, but you’re setting yourself up for disaster if you make any of these Top 10 mistakes!
1. Do not use fake information when opening your Google AdSense account.
Google says that’s a no-no and they will cut your account off and keep all the money you may have earned. Besides, trying to hide your true identity can cause serious problems with the I.R.S. or whoever your tax authority is.
2. Do not hack or modify Google AdSense code other than to change the parameters that Google authorizes you to change.
Any attempt to bypass Google’s built-in algorithms not only poses a danger to the integrity of the network, but it threatens the financial modle that Google operates under. You’re not dealing with some Mom-and-Pop company here, and Google has the legal muscle and deep enough pockets to drag you through every court in the land if you damage their business with your hacking antics.
3. Keep AdSense ads off of your registration, confirmation, and all "thank you" pages.
Don’t ask me why you can’t put your ads there. It makes sense to me that those would be wonderful locations. Google thinks otherwise, however, and doing so is a hanging offense according to their Terms of Service.
4. Do not display AdSense ads and a competitor's ads (like Overture's) on the same page at the same time.
That just makes plain good sense. Google doesn’t demand 100% SITE loyalty from you, but they do insist that their own ads not be cluttered up by offerings from their competitors.
5. Don't "beg for clicks" or provide any incentive for clicking on your Google AdSense ads.
This is a biggie and you see this rule violated all the time. Any of the “get paid to do stuff” sites that put Google ads in the member’s control panels are walking the plank and they don’t even realize it. Even those sites with the polite little messages asking you to “help keep my site running by clicking on our sponsor’s ads” are asking to be cut off if those happen to be Google ads.
6. Never click on the ads running on your own site, even if you are genuinely interested in the product or service and are thinking of purchaseing it!
Nothing screams FRAUD louder than a webmaster running up his or her own click counts by happily clicking on ads fromtheir own site. The Google Gods can track this activity and it won’t be long until you find yourself getting a goodbye note from their fraud team.
7. No misleading labeling
Google is very specific about what text can be placed around their ads. Their Terms of Service state: “Publishers may not label the ads with text other than ‘sponsored links’ or ‘advertisements.’ This includes any text directly above our ads that could be confused with, or attempt to be associated with Google ads.”
This is to keep visitors from becoming confused and barking up Google’s tree when they clicked on an ad that led to a porn site instead of the recipe site they were expecting to visit.
8. Avoid keyword spamming and other divisive tricks
You may be tempted to purchase one of those “generates thousands of key-word rich pages in seconds” programs that are so popular these days but I’ll tell you this: Their days are numbered. Google is wise to such shenanigans and they will be hot on your trail. Other prohibited gimmicks include:
• ”Sneaky” page redirects that send a visitor off to a different site then they were expecting to visit.
• Multiple sites, domains, pages, etc. which have substantially duplicate content.
• Hidden text or links of any type.
• Excessive outbound links on any page. Google recommends no more than 100. I’d keep it way below that.
• And here is a nugget of wisdom straight from Google’s mouth: “Do not participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web as your website may be affected adversely by those links.
9. Don’t advertise anything on Google’s prohibited items list.
It’s a lot shorter lists than PayPal’s or eBay’s, but it includes a lot of the same stuff like hacking/cracking content, porn, illegal drugs, gambling sites, beer or hard alcohol (I guess wine is OK), weapons, and the other usual stuff.
10. And the 10th dumbest thing NOT to do with Google AdSense is to let the other nine things stop you from running an honest site that’s designed to make the most out of this very profitable opportunity that Google offers!
Author - Diane (deeljeabiz@gmail.com)
1. Do not use fake information when opening your Google AdSense account.
Google says that’s a no-no and they will cut your account off and keep all the money you may have earned. Besides, trying to hide your true identity can cause serious problems with the I.R.S. or whoever your tax authority is.
2. Do not hack or modify Google AdSense code other than to change the parameters that Google authorizes you to change.
Any attempt to bypass Google’s built-in algorithms not only poses a danger to the integrity of the network, but it threatens the financial modle that Google operates under. You’re not dealing with some Mom-and-Pop company here, and Google has the legal muscle and deep enough pockets to drag you through every court in the land if you damage their business with your hacking antics.
3. Keep AdSense ads off of your registration, confirmation, and all "thank you" pages.
Don’t ask me why you can’t put your ads there. It makes sense to me that those would be wonderful locations. Google thinks otherwise, however, and doing so is a hanging offense according to their Terms of Service.
4. Do not display AdSense ads and a competitor's ads (like Overture's) on the same page at the same time.
That just makes plain good sense. Google doesn’t demand 100% SITE loyalty from you, but they do insist that their own ads not be cluttered up by offerings from their competitors.
5. Don't "beg for clicks" or provide any incentive for clicking on your Google AdSense ads.
This is a biggie and you see this rule violated all the time. Any of the “get paid to do stuff” sites that put Google ads in the member’s control panels are walking the plank and they don’t even realize it. Even those sites with the polite little messages asking you to “help keep my site running by clicking on our sponsor’s ads” are asking to be cut off if those happen to be Google ads.
6. Never click on the ads running on your own site, even if you are genuinely interested in the product or service and are thinking of purchaseing it!
Nothing screams FRAUD louder than a webmaster running up his or her own click counts by happily clicking on ads fromtheir own site. The Google Gods can track this activity and it won’t be long until you find yourself getting a goodbye note from their fraud team.
7. No misleading labeling
Google is very specific about what text can be placed around their ads. Their Terms of Service state: “Publishers may not label the ads with text other than ‘sponsored links’ or ‘advertisements.’ This includes any text directly above our ads that could be confused with, or attempt to be associated with Google ads.”
This is to keep visitors from becoming confused and barking up Google’s tree when they clicked on an ad that led to a porn site instead of the recipe site they were expecting to visit.
8. Avoid keyword spamming and other divisive tricks
You may be tempted to purchase one of those “generates thousands of key-word rich pages in seconds” programs that are so popular these days but I’ll tell you this: Their days are numbered. Google is wise to such shenanigans and they will be hot on your trail. Other prohibited gimmicks include:
• ”Sneaky” page redirects that send a visitor off to a different site then they were expecting to visit.
• Multiple sites, domains, pages, etc. which have substantially duplicate content.
• Hidden text or links of any type.
• Excessive outbound links on any page. Google recommends no more than 100. I’d keep it way below that.
• And here is a nugget of wisdom straight from Google’s mouth: “Do not participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web as your website may be affected adversely by those links.
9. Don’t advertise anything on Google’s prohibited items list.
It’s a lot shorter lists than PayPal’s or eBay’s, but it includes a lot of the same stuff like hacking/cracking content, porn, illegal drugs, gambling sites, beer or hard alcohol (I guess wine is OK), weapons, and the other usual stuff.
10. And the 10th dumbest thing NOT to do with Google AdSense is to let the other nine things stop you from running an honest site that’s designed to make the most out of this very profitable opportunity that Google offers!
Author - Diane (deeljeabiz@gmail.com)
Why To Do Joint Venture Deals on eBay
eBay is THE most popular home business in the USA, but it's not without its problems. Many have tried to succeed but have failed due to confusion over what products to sell, giant numbers of competitors, copy and picture theft from other sellers and eBay and Paypal that eat into profits.
One way to avoid this swamp, though, is to do a Joint Venture with established eBay sellers. This allows a JV partner to build her own mailing list and sell products off eBay.
There are multiple advantages to this way of doing business on eBay:
1. The biggest uncertainty for would-be eBay sellers is what products to sell. Sometimes vendors risk large sums of money on untried products, only to lose their investment, become sour and give up. With a Joint Venture there is no risk except for a few hours of time.
2. Since there are no auctions listed on eBay, no one can steal copy or pictures from JV sellers - because there is nothing to copy. In effect, we become invisible - no one even knows we exist and this hidden aspect has many advantages.
3. eBay JVs are usually done with a digital product that can be instantly downloaded. This is great for any entrepreneur because inexpensive autoresponders mean that her entire business is handled via autopilot. Contrast this with the usual way of doing business on eBay which involves mailing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of boxes.
4. eBay and Paypal have lots of rules. It's easy to break some unwittingly, and even the most honest seller does so from time to time. A JV merchant isn't answerable to eBay, however, but only to her customers.
5. A JV seller never directly lists on eBay, thus avoiding eBay and Paypal fees.
6. Successful Powersellers have large numbers of customers and there are lots of administrative details involved. Implementing a sales system can cost time and money because without attention to detail packages won't be mailed in a timely fashion, payments won't be accurate, items will be sent to the wrong purchaseers, and so on. A JV partner eliminates all of that because all transactions can be funneled through a hands-off system.
7. eBay selling lives or dies through the 'feedback' system. Negative feedback can kill sales instantly and lack of feedback causes purchaseers to hesitite and choose other sellers. Feedback is totally irrelevant to a Joint Venture seller because she is using the reputation of carefully chosen other sellers. She knows in advance that their feedback is high quality or she doesn't do deals with them.
8. Inexperienced sellers sometimes drag wiser merchants into price wars. In a panic over sales, they foolishly slash prices, beginning a chain reaction that results in bare bones bids that allow no one to make any money. A Joint Venture seller floats serenely above such hiccups in the marketplace.
9. Best of all, a JV seller doesn't settle for a one time sale. She concentrates her efforts on a mailing list of happy customers that she can sell to again and again and again. In this way, not only is she ensuring repeate profits, but she gets paid for creating this list, rather than having to pay someone else for names.
With its 147,000,000 registered users, eBay is the best source of targeted, Net-savvy purchaseers on the web. By putting together Joint Venture deals with established sellers, anyone can add large numbers of qualified purchaseers to their database efficiently and inexpensively.
One way to avoid this swamp, though, is to do a Joint Venture with established eBay sellers. This allows a JV partner to build her own mailing list and sell products off eBay.
There are multiple advantages to this way of doing business on eBay:
1. The biggest uncertainty for would-be eBay sellers is what products to sell. Sometimes vendors risk large sums of money on untried products, only to lose their investment, become sour and give up. With a Joint Venture there is no risk except for a few hours of time.
2. Since there are no auctions listed on eBay, no one can steal copy or pictures from JV sellers - because there is nothing to copy. In effect, we become invisible - no one even knows we exist and this hidden aspect has many advantages.
3. eBay JVs are usually done with a digital product that can be instantly downloaded. This is great for any entrepreneur because inexpensive autoresponders mean that her entire business is handled via autopilot. Contrast this with the usual way of doing business on eBay which involves mailing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of boxes.
4. eBay and Paypal have lots of rules. It's easy to break some unwittingly, and even the most honest seller does so from time to time. A JV merchant isn't answerable to eBay, however, but only to her customers.
5. A JV seller never directly lists on eBay, thus avoiding eBay and Paypal fees.
6. Successful Powersellers have large numbers of customers and there are lots of administrative details involved. Implementing a sales system can cost time and money because without attention to detail packages won't be mailed in a timely fashion, payments won't be accurate, items will be sent to the wrong purchaseers, and so on. A JV partner eliminates all of that because all transactions can be funneled through a hands-off system.
7. eBay selling lives or dies through the 'feedback' system. Negative feedback can kill sales instantly and lack of feedback causes purchaseers to hesitite and choose other sellers. Feedback is totally irrelevant to a Joint Venture seller because she is using the reputation of carefully chosen other sellers. She knows in advance that their feedback is high quality or she doesn't do deals with them.
8. Inexperienced sellers sometimes drag wiser merchants into price wars. In a panic over sales, they foolishly slash prices, beginning a chain reaction that results in bare bones bids that allow no one to make any money. A Joint Venture seller floats serenely above such hiccups in the marketplace.
9. Best of all, a JV seller doesn't settle for a one time sale. She concentrates her efforts on a mailing list of happy customers that she can sell to again and again and again. In this way, not only is she ensuring repeate profits, but she gets paid for creating this list, rather than having to pay someone else for names.
With its 147,000,000 registered users, eBay is the best source of targeted, Net-savvy purchaseers on the web. By putting together Joint Venture deals with established sellers, anyone can add large numbers of qualified purchaseers to their database efficiently and inexpensively.
Dolls that Sell/Sold well on The Internet
next to Text books, these dolls were the best sellers on The Internet.
1. The Cabbage Patch Kids began in 1978 and are never "sold". They are 'born' at Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia and proud parents pay an 'adoption fee'. The Cabbage Patch Kids were one of the greatest toy phenomenons of the later 20th century. At one time, it was a common sight to see grown women shopping and lunching with their babies in hand. In restaurants, the Kids had their own chairs and were always appropriately dressed for the weather.
2. Precious Moments began in the early 1970s when creator Sam Butcher began drawing the endearing teardrop-eye children as gifts for family and friends. Today Sam's Precious Moments artwork is among the most recognized in the world, and eBay prices reflect this popularity.
3. Madame Alexander dolls were created in 1923. These beloved dolls range from Charlie Brown to babies and children to elegant dressed women to glamorous and famous women like Greta Garbo and Judy Garland. With all the varieties of costumes, a single doll can be a 1920s flapper
as easily as a member of the court of Louis XIV.
4. Lee Middleton dolls, according to legend, are so real in appearance that grown men sent for a rescue squad to save "the baby" from a locked car! Mistaken identity is supposedly a frequent occurrence and the dolls have been counted as "passengers" on airplanes and rescued from store
countertops to prevent the 'baby' from falling. As one happy owner says, "These dolls are so lifelike it's uncanny."
5. American Girl dolls are loved by millions of little girls (and grown ups, too!) They are not only from different times and places, but are ethnically diverse: Felicity from colonial Virginia; Josephina from the 1830's in New Mexico; Kirsten is "a pioneer girl of strength and spirit growing up in Minnesota in 1854"; Addy is alive in the 186o's, having escaped from slavery with her mother; Samantha is "a bright
Victorian girl living with her wealthy grandmother in 1904"; Kit is growing up in 193os, during America's Great Depression; Molly lives in the 1940's while her dad is away at war; Kaya is a Nez Perce Indian living in the northwest.
6. Hasbro dolls are one of the products of the gigantic Hasbro company, who claim to have been making toys for eight generations, including famous games like Monopoly, Scrabble and Clue.
7. Bratz dolls, unlike older dolls like Madame Alexander and Cabbage Patch Kids, have no long history as favorite toys or collectibles. Nevertheless, their price has astonished eBay sellers and the Bratz collection was one of the 'super hits' of the 2003 holiday season and sales have been strong ever since.
8. And, no surprise, Barbie is the best-selling doll on eBay. Since Mattel has recently announced that Ken and Barbie will no longer be an "item", dolls from the 'good old days' when the name "Barbie" was rarely heard without 'Ken', will inevitably become more valuable.
1. The Cabbage Patch Kids began in 1978 and are never "sold". They are 'born' at Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia and proud parents pay an 'adoption fee'. The Cabbage Patch Kids were one of the greatest toy phenomenons of the later 20th century. At one time, it was a common sight to see grown women shopping and lunching with their babies in hand. In restaurants, the Kids had their own chairs and were always appropriately dressed for the weather.
2. Precious Moments began in the early 1970s when creator Sam Butcher began drawing the endearing teardrop-eye children as gifts for family and friends. Today Sam's Precious Moments artwork is among the most recognized in the world, and eBay prices reflect this popularity.
3. Madame Alexander dolls were created in 1923. These beloved dolls range from Charlie Brown to babies and children to elegant dressed women to glamorous and famous women like Greta Garbo and Judy Garland. With all the varieties of costumes, a single doll can be a 1920s flapper
as easily as a member of the court of Louis XIV.
4. Lee Middleton dolls, according to legend, are so real in appearance that grown men sent for a rescue squad to save "the baby" from a locked car! Mistaken identity is supposedly a frequent occurrence and the dolls have been counted as "passengers" on airplanes and rescued from store
countertops to prevent the 'baby' from falling. As one happy owner says, "These dolls are so lifelike it's uncanny."
5. American Girl dolls are loved by millions of little girls (and grown ups, too!) They are not only from different times and places, but are ethnically diverse: Felicity from colonial Virginia; Josephina from the 1830's in New Mexico; Kirsten is "a pioneer girl of strength and spirit growing up in Minnesota in 1854"; Addy is alive in the 186o's, having escaped from slavery with her mother; Samantha is "a bright
Victorian girl living with her wealthy grandmother in 1904"; Kit is growing up in 193os, during America's Great Depression; Molly lives in the 1940's while her dad is away at war; Kaya is a Nez Perce Indian living in the northwest.
6. Hasbro dolls are one of the products of the gigantic Hasbro company, who claim to have been making toys for eight generations, including famous games like Monopoly, Scrabble and Clue.
7. Bratz dolls, unlike older dolls like Madame Alexander and Cabbage Patch Kids, have no long history as favorite toys or collectibles. Nevertheless, their price has astonished eBay sellers and the Bratz collection was one of the 'super hits' of the 2003 holiday season and sales have been strong ever since.
8. And, no surprise, Barbie is the best-selling doll on eBay. Since Mattel has recently announced that Ken and Barbie will no longer be an "item", dolls from the 'good old days' when the name "Barbie" was rarely heard without 'Ken', will inevitably become more valuable.
Beginner's guide to make money using blogging
There are multiple benefits to having a blog including the low cost (or no cost), the resources that will help you get traffic to your blog and the fact that you can provide your blog as an RSS feed. An RSS feed will allow readers to automatically receive your updates into their RSS reader.
1. Set up your blog. You will need to decide what you are going to blog about. You should decide on a theme and name your blog appropriately.
There are a number of free ways to set up a blog & to have it hosted for free. We will go with Blogger.com for our first blog.
Blogger will allow you to set up a blog for free they will host it for free and they will ping search engines every time you update, meaning you will get spidered & found.
Visit blogger.com & click the button on the front page labelled 'create your blog now' then follow the step by step instructions that Blogger provide.
Some key settings you will want to get right are:
I) 'Host your blog at Blogger' = Yes
II) 'Add your blog to our listings' = Yes
III) 'Ping Weblogs.com' = Yes
IV) 'Publish Site Feed' = Yes
2. Write some content. Before we move any further there has to be some information on the site & that means that you have to make some entries. You can write some of these entries yourself & some can be quotes from sites of interest to your reader that you can post using the Google Toolbar.
You can download the Google toolbar for free at toolbar.google.com. The toolbar includes a Blogger button. When you visit a site that has something of interest to your readers you can highlight the appropriate text & click the Blogger button. The content will then be added to your blog along with a link back to the site.
3. Once you have some content eg a weeks worth of blogging with 1 or 2 entries for everyday, you can apply for an adsense account. When you sign in to Blogger you will see an invitation to join Adsense. Use this link and apply for an account.
You can find out all about Adsense on the Adsense page but basically you get Google ads on your site & get paid if your visitor clicks them.
Google will decide what adverts show on your site based on the content it finds within.
You need to be aware that Google will decline your application if your site is not considered to have content. Nobody outside of Google knows the precise rules on this.
Once you have been accepted you can get some javascript from Google to add to you site. Copy this & then log in to Blogger.
Once you have logged into your blog you will see that one of the tabs across the top of the screen is labelled 'Template'. Click this. You will need to know a little bit of HTML to help find the right location to paste your Google code. But with a little experimentation you will find the right place for you. See the resource box at the end of this article for more help.
I would suggest that the ads need to be seen when the site loads but should not be too obvious or dominate your site.
4. Write some more content. Try and keep your content coming at regular intervals as a number of directories will check on your site at regular intervals & the smarter ones will visit on a schedule based on your update schedule. They will probably determine this in the hours after you first submit to them. Which is what we will do next.
5. Submit your site to Blog & RSS directories. Because you are hosting at Blogger, Weblogs.com will already be notified when you update your blog. (That means that every time you make a new entry they are automatically notified) You will need to manually submit to the various other directories some of which will require a link on your site to theirs. You can add these links to your template below your Blogger logo.
6. Keep writing interesting content. Ideally you want people to come back again and again. As with customers its harder to get a new visitor than to keep existing visitors. So make it interesting, in fact make it so interesting that they can't help but tell all their friends about it also.
As with most free ways to make money this will take time to get going, but if you can build a following you will make money.
About the author:
Darren Power is the author of The Money Seed, your step by step guide to making money online. For supplimentary information & free resources related to this article visit www.themoneyseed.com/rss
How to maximize revenues from your Google Adsense
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about people who earn over $10,000 a month just from Adsense. Furthermore, there are rumors of a few individuals who earn over $1 million a year just from using the power of Google advertisements.
how can you use this program to earn a six-figure income?
Here's how it works:
Webmasters obtain a special code from Google which then displays targeted ads on their website. Whenever a visitor clicks on one of these ads, the webmaster earns a commission. Unlike other online businesses, there is no selling involved. All you need to do is get people to click on the ads.
Although this is an excellent way to generate an income, many websites are not effectively maximizing their Adsense potential. As a result, they are leaving a lot of cash on the table.
The question is how can you increase your Adsense revenue without increasing the number of web visitors?
The key to earning an income with Google Adsense is to have your ads match the rest of the site, making them look like part of your content. Your focus is to avoid having the Adsense blocks look like blatant advertisements.
The following are six ways that you can do this and increase your revenue at the same time:
1) Find the right place- Most website visitors read content that is in the middle of a webpage. As a result, the best place to put your Adsense block is in the top part of the page, at the beginning of your web content. You want to weave the Google Ads into your web content to give the appearance that they are extra links which expand on the information of the page.
2) Use the Large Rectangle-With Google Adsense, you have the option of picking different ad formats. Most of the time people opt to use the Leaderboard (728x90) or Wide Skyscraper (160x600) style ads. Unfortunately, this is the wrong choice, because both look like blatant advertisements. Instead smart webmasters have found that using the Large Rectangle (336x280) yields the best amount of click-thrus.
3) Ditch the border- Many people experience a sharp increase in Adsense revenue when they changing their border. What they change is very simple…they get rid of the border on their Adsense blocks. This is another way to make the advertisements look like useful web content.
4) Adapt the font- Whenever you write content, it should be the same font size and style as your Google Adsense block. This will help make it appear that the advertisements are a natural part of your website.
5) Match the colors- In addition to changing the fonts, you also should match the colors of your website. For instance, if your content is written in black, and your hyperlinks are blue, then the Adsense blocks should also be the same color. Again, this helps the advertisements appear to be normal web content.
6) Don't have too many distractions- On a webpage, it is important to give web visitor a limited number of options. By having too many links and graphics, the web visitor might go to a section that doesn't help increase your profits. While it is important to inform and entertain your web visitor, it is also vital that you monetize your site. So if the main focus of your site is to earn an income through Google Adsense, then get rid of all non-essential links and graphics.
By taking the time to implement these six simple steps, you'll see a dramatic increase in the click-thru ratio of your ads. If added to all of the content of your site, your Adsense income will skyrocket!
Author - Scott J. Patterson
To Sell or Not to Sell on Ebay
eBay is a one-stop solution to any one who wants to make money online. Whether you just selling a few unwanted items from around your house or your want to develop a work from home business, eBay removes many of the obstacles for you. Not many other websites can help you drive targeted traffic towards your sales, process the order on your behalf and accept payment though paypal. All you need to do then is dispatch the item to your winning bidder.
And let's not forget the biggest advantage over selling on eBay. The majority of users have money in their hand just waiting to find the right item.
So if eBays so great why would you want to drive traffic AWAY from your auctions?
Well there are a few reasons why you'd be better off selling from your own website, rather than though eBay. Firstly & most importantly, think of all the listing fees & final value fees you could save if everything you sold on eBay you could sell on your own website. Personally it would save me thousands of dollars per year alone in listing fees.
Secondly, you'll be protecting yourself from eBay policy change. Imagine you were selling thousands of ebooks weekly and then suddenly eBay policy changed to prevent any ebook listings.
Overnight your business would simply disappear & your income would vanish. It's the same with listing fees - A sudden hike in fees could wipe out your business & profit overnight.
With any business, especially an online one you need to safeguard yourself against measures that are out of your control. So by driving traffic away from your auctions to your own website you'll slowly start building up an alternative source of revenue. The following methods can be used on eBay. Some are on the borderline of eBay policy & you should check out any policy violation before using them. Saying that, a huge proportion of sellers use these on a daily basis.
1) Image Hosting
All the best sellers have auction templates developed to maintain a professional listing. And of course those sellers ALWAYS use images or graphics to accurately show the condition of the items their offering.
eBay itself allows you to upload the images to their servers, other commercial & free services are available. However really you want to store any images on your own server. Not only will search engine robots follow the links from your listings to your site (helping in improved visibility in any search engines), but many browsers will show the address of where the images are loading from in the status bar - For instance "Loading Image From http://www.visitmyshop.com" or "Waiting For http://www.visitmyshop.com". This is a great way for your visitors to see to become familiar with your site.
2) Feedback
Many sellers include their own website in the feedback comments they use. Strictly it is against eBay policy but many Powersellers use comments like "Thanks for your custom from http://www.Visitmyshop.com" as standard. This is perhaps one of the widely violated policies on eBay. I've never known of anyone receive a warning for this policy, but use it with caution as you could be the first.
3) Email Address.
eBay allows your listings to contain one email link address, in addition to the "Ask The Seller A Question Link" they already provide. Use the opportunity to show the an email account associated with your domain name for example sales@visitmyshop.com. The only condition about showing your email address is the one shown must also be your registered email account with eBay. Before you list it, make sure they match up.
4) About Me Page
eBay actually allows you to link to your own website from your About Me page, as long as the actual page does not directly offer to sell items. Therefore make it an information or about us page that you link to, BUT one where visitors can easily navigate to your catalog of items for sale. Additionally drive traffic to your About Me Page by including a link on every listings, for example "Click here to learn about me". An average basic shop on eBay will get over 1500 item views within a month. If you can drive just a small proportion of these to your about me page & then to your site you'll certainly see a difference in your non-eBay sales.
5) User Id
While eBay does not allow your user id to be that of an website, you should have it as closely to resembling your site name as possible. You CAN NOT attach .com, -com or *com to the end of your user id - this is strictly against eBay policy. However nothing would stop your id being VisitMyShop. The idea is to get your eBay visitors comfortable with dealing with you away from eBay.
I hope these tips help you drive traffic away from your auctions towards your site & lessens eBays grip on your business. Remember, Ignorance is not an excuse eBay accept if you do violate their policy. While you initially get a warning for policy violation continuous offences may result in your account being suspended. Having said that, eBay mostly rely on policing from other users to enforce their policy so as long as no reports you should be in the clear.
Good luck with your eBay activity.
- jason James
And let's not forget the biggest advantage over selling on eBay. The majority of users have money in their hand just waiting to find the right item.
So if eBays so great why would you want to drive traffic AWAY from your auctions?
Well there are a few reasons why you'd be better off selling from your own website, rather than though eBay. Firstly & most importantly, think of all the listing fees & final value fees you could save if everything you sold on eBay you could sell on your own website. Personally it would save me thousands of dollars per year alone in listing fees.
Secondly, you'll be protecting yourself from eBay policy change. Imagine you were selling thousands of ebooks weekly and then suddenly eBay policy changed to prevent any ebook listings.
Overnight your business would simply disappear & your income would vanish. It's the same with listing fees - A sudden hike in fees could wipe out your business & profit overnight.
With any business, especially an online one you need to safeguard yourself against measures that are out of your control. So by driving traffic away from your auctions to your own website you'll slowly start building up an alternative source of revenue. The following methods can be used on eBay. Some are on the borderline of eBay policy & you should check out any policy violation before using them. Saying that, a huge proportion of sellers use these on a daily basis.
1) Image Hosting
All the best sellers have auction templates developed to maintain a professional listing. And of course those sellers ALWAYS use images or graphics to accurately show the condition of the items their offering.
eBay itself allows you to upload the images to their servers, other commercial & free services are available. However really you want to store any images on your own server. Not only will search engine robots follow the links from your listings to your site (helping in improved visibility in any search engines), but many browsers will show the address of where the images are loading from in the status bar - For instance "Loading Image From http://www.visitmyshop.com" or "Waiting For http://www.visitmyshop.com". This is a great way for your visitors to see to become familiar with your site.
2) Feedback
Many sellers include their own website in the feedback comments they use. Strictly it is against eBay policy but many Powersellers use comments like "Thanks for your custom from http://www.Visitmyshop.com" as standard. This is perhaps one of the widely violated policies on eBay. I've never known of anyone receive a warning for this policy, but use it with caution as you could be the first.
3) Email Address.
eBay allows your listings to contain one email link address, in addition to the "Ask The Seller A Question Link" they already provide. Use the opportunity to show the an email account associated with your domain name for example sales@visitmyshop.com. The only condition about showing your email address is the one shown must also be your registered email account with eBay. Before you list it, make sure they match up.
4) About Me Page
eBay actually allows you to link to your own website from your About Me page, as long as the actual page does not directly offer to sell items. Therefore make it an information or about us page that you link to, BUT one where visitors can easily navigate to your catalog of items for sale. Additionally drive traffic to your About Me Page by including a link on every listings, for example "Click here to learn about me". An average basic shop on eBay will get over 1500 item views within a month. If you can drive just a small proportion of these to your about me page & then to your site you'll certainly see a difference in your non-eBay sales.
5) User Id
While eBay does not allow your user id to be that of an website, you should have it as closely to resembling your site name as possible. You CAN NOT attach .com, -com or *com to the end of your user id - this is strictly against eBay policy. However nothing would stop your id being VisitMyShop. The idea is to get your eBay visitors comfortable with dealing with you away from eBay.
I hope these tips help you drive traffic away from your auctions towards your site & lessens eBays grip on your business. Remember, Ignorance is not an excuse eBay accept if you do violate their policy. While you initially get a warning for policy violation continuous offences may result in your account being suspended. Having said that, eBay mostly rely on policing from other users to enforce their policy so as long as no reports you should be in the clear.
Good luck with your eBay activity.
- jason James
How to make profit on ebay + What to sell on ebay?
Secret #1: Find a ‘real’ wholesale and drop ship company
Do you know what one of the biggest problem is to be successful on eBay? ‘What should I sell”? I can tell you, I get many emails per day from eBay sellers, asking me what they can sell. Let me explain this more in detail.
Let’s take John and David for example. Both are sellers and try to make money on eBay. Let’s start with John. He mainly gets his items from garage sales. So, every Saturday morning he gets up very early, hops into his car and drives around the neighbourhood to check out the garage sales. So he went last Saturday. John did not purchase anything on the first two garage sales, but on his third garage sale, he found a little treasure. An old book from 1897 - for a bargain price of $10. Bingo! John was proud! ‘I can sell this for huge profit’, he thought and he went home. He took his digital camera and he made a high quality digital photo. It took quite some time but finally he was happy with the result. Then he had to upload this picture to his computer and he spent some time writing the sales copy. Late Saturday afternoon finally he was finished and launched this book onto eBay. 7-10 days later his item got sold for $75!! John is excited. He packs the item, labels it with the purchaseers address and then he drives to the nearest post office. Oh no, what a long line. After 15 min of waiting he could finally post this item to his customer! Wow, a lot of work for $65 profit? Don’t you think?
Let’s look at David. He usually gets up very late – usually at Saturday around lunchtime. He is still in his pyjamas and he makes himself a nice cup of coffee and gets onto the Internet. He logs into his drop ship account and browses through some hot selling product. ‘Yes, I can sell that” - A nice laptop for a bargain price of $550 (wholesale price). But David does not have to pay upfront for this item, so he just downloads the professional digital photos offered by his drop ship company to his computer. ”Oh wait”; David has just discovered that this drop ship company has also a ‘ready-to-use’ auction sales letter available. That’s really cool …and David copies and pastes the source code of this letter into his eBay listing and he launches his auction. A Dutch auction, since the drop ship company announced that they have more than one of this laptop currently available. Great, David could sell 6 laptops. He hits the submit button for this Dutch auction of 6 laptops and enjoys his coffee (which is still hot by the way). After 7-10 days David has sold all 6 laptops for $830 each. All what David does is the following: He waits until he gets the payment from his 6 customers in his paypal account, sends the address of the customers together with 6 x $550 (wholesale price) to his drop sip company via paypal. He has made pure profit of 6 x $280 = $1,680 in about 25 min of work – total. That’s why David is a smarter eBay seller than John. I think the idea is clear …drop shipping can be the answer to your problem what to sell on eBay and it can saves you a lot of time too. No packing, posting etc.
Secret #2: Have a professional auction listing
A professional eBay auction site is like your business card. If you are serious selling on eBay you should show your potential customers that you are a professional seller and that you are selling high quality products. Please, don’t just upload a photo and type the text in the description box. Do your homework and learn some HTML. Look around there are many professional tutorials and ebooks around helping you in that matter. It’s definitely worth it. And you’ll be surprised, because if your auction listing looks nice and professional potential purchaseers stay longer on your site and usually it’s more likely that they place a bid.
Secret #3: The money is in the follow up
“Yes, I’ve heard this before”, you may say. But, this is a very important aspect of your successful eBay career: Follow up with your customers. Send them an email ~10 days after they have purchased the product and ask them how they are going with the product and if everything is all right. Invite them to have a look at your other auctions. (You have to be careful though not offending anyone, but if the products are related and you ask how they went with the product, that’s fine). I never got complaints by doing that and your customers are happy to get some “insider tips”. You’ll be amazed how many customers will purchase from you again, since they value you as a seller. Keep in mind that it is easier to keep an existing customer, instead of getting a new customer. You could also send them a thank you gift in form of a downloadable digital information product. That’s easy for you and they get some valuable information. You’ll see that your existing customers will be very thankful and they feel good that they have bought from you and will do again in the future.
Secret #4: Sell internationally
This aspect is often neglected by many eBay sellers: Sell internationally! First, check with your drop ship company in which countries they are shipping and how much postage they charge to send the item overseas. If you have sort out these details, you can go ahead and list your item internationally. You’ll be surprised how many more items you are selling when the potential purchaseers see: Ship worldwide. Don’t miss this opportunity or you are leaving big bucks on the table.
Secret #5: Be creative – Be different
How do you think your listing will be stand out from the crowd? Good question isn’t it. In my 4 years of being an active Power Seller, I have tried and tested a lot. First have the photo in the gallery; it just costs a bit more to list but these additional cents are well spend. A recent study has shown that people almost ignore listing without a picture in the gallery. So that’s mandatory! The next step is your title. Do you know that only the title is spidered by eBay when potential customers are searching for specific products? So, you have to make sure that your title includes as much keywords as possible. But be careful here, eBay does not like “keyword stuffing”. So, be creative and come up with 2-3 different titles for the same item. Try them all and you’ll see what works best.
-Jason James
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