Investing Wisely When Buying a Laptop

I think many of us have now noticed the prices of laptop computers recently and certainly purchasing one can be quite a big investment for any one these days, but it all depends on you just how much you want to invest in one. When trawling through the paper on a Sunday there are flyers dotted all over the place offering various models on sale week by week. When people were first looking at purchasing a laptop they would select the one they wanted by looking at each laptops specifications and its general appearance (was it pleasing to the eye). Yet in todays market these are not the sole choices that any one will have to make when purchasing a new laptop, and because the choice of laptop now available is so extensive that are you sure that the choice you have made is the right one for you. Provided below are several points that should be taken into consideration when looking to purchase a new laptop.

Firstly let us talk about the CPU (Central Processing Unit) and which is the main component of any laptop and this determines just how well your laptop will perform as well as controlling the heating and the length of life of the battery. But remember there is no way that you can have high quality CPU whilst comprising on the quality of the battery and power provided. So if your laptop is going to be replacing your desktop computer because you will be away from the office for extended periods traveling then there are several options that you could look at which offer a CPU that is integrated in to the laptops main board such as P4. Also if you should be using your laptop for business or schooling then it may well be worth considering purchasing one that has a more suitable CPU and certainly one fitted with an AMD Athlon may be the perfect solution for you. The Athlon processor has been designed for those users who are looking for an economical solution both in cost and the way it is used. Although older Athlon models certainly do not quite have the performance of the Intel Pentium Processor models with regard to performance, certainly the more recent models such as the 2800+ are strong enough now to compete as it has P4 2.8GHz of power.

However there seems to be one model of CPU more than any other that people prefer and this is the Centrino. The Centrino has been produced by Intel to provide a balance between performance and mobility issues for all laptop users. It comes with 2MB second level cash, and the Pentium CPU has been modified for laptop use which results in the easing of the burden placed on the CPU itself. This then helps to decrease the levels of heat and power consumption produced.

Next we will discuss RAM (Random Access Memory) and also the graphics card. Both these two items are important for the laptop to be of a high quality. You will find that there are 2 sorts of RAM now available on the market, SD RAM and DD RAM, and certainly if you are looking for a RAM providing you with high quality then look no further than the DD RAM. But you should still be careful when purchasing your RAM to look at the clock specification. If you purchase RAM in your laptop of 3.0MHz clock speed then you will see that the performance supplied is to the whole system. Also if possible do not look at purchase a laptop that has two slots of 256MB Ram x 2 as this will not be sufficient for your use, rather you should be looking at a laptop which comes equipped with 3.0Mz, 512MB, DD RAM.

Now as for video cards there are many varieties around today and the first thing that should look at when purchasing a video card is its ON-Board specification. Video cards are integrated into the laptop main board and normally run off of the main RAM for the video memory. So if you want to use your laptop for general purposes rather than gaming or 3-D design work (which would require 3D hardware acceleration) those laptops with onboard video cards are the right ones for you. But say you are someone who plays Counter Strike professionally then you would certainly be disappointed with the way the screen freezes and play becomes delayed.

The final technical matter that anyone should be looking at when purchasing a laptop is the hard disk. When purchasing a hard disk there is a detail you should be looking at which is more important than the capacity it provides and the RPM (Rotation per Minute) which determines how fast data can be transferred to the CPU to be processed. So this specification should be carefully considered as it plays a major role in the laptops abilities when dealing with multimedia functions.

So if you are considering purchasing a new laptop then certainly one to be considered is the Centrino with its onboard video card, big RAM (for those planning to use it at school or for their business) and if you want to occasionally watch a movie or listen to music. Yet you could also consider the Pentium laptops with AGP or PCI Express off board video cards which would provide you with the performance of a desktop computer (as long as you dont mind the weight, noise and heat produced) in a laptop.

So with so many decisions to be considered when thinking of purchasing a laptop it is wise if you take your time and carry out your research thoroughly in order to make a wise investment for the future.

Allison Thompson a work from home mum living in Spain who is now an expert author in many fields. She has built a number of sites with her husband and one is relating to laptops and their peripherals. If you would like to learn more please visit Kathlin Blog74503
Karol Blog97207

Marketing Your Website

Your new website is up and running, it's time to inform the purchasing public. Marketing a web-based business is just as important as marketing a brick-and-mortar business. Even though a marketing plan is probably one of the most important elements of successful business, it is usually the least thought of aspect of any new business. Formulate a strategic marketing plan. A properly instituted marketing plan gives your website an acceptance level far above the average website by providing a rational direction for your marketing activities.

Creating a good marketing plan is the best thing that you can do to help assure a new web based business's growth. Your marketing plan should be your guide on which you base your marketing decisions and it will help to ensure that everyone involved in marketing your website works toward the same goals. Optimally, a marketing plan and it's budget should cover promotion and advertising for 6-12 months.

Don't forget to include in your plan budget a sizable allotment for market research. What you know about your target market and the information gleaned from marketing research will give you the basis for your marketing strategy. Research is the only way you will know what is necessary to design your marketing plan to reach the 25-30% of your website customers that are not brought to your site by search engines and directories. The plan should lay the groundwork for campaigns that will encourage customers to place an order, or to take some kind of action, that will allow you to respond.

When drawing up your marketing plan, think about where you want your business to be in three years and how you plan to get there. Marketing your web-based business is a never-ending task. Once you have your information and your marketing plan in place, you must continuously revisit, revise, refine and revamp it to accommodate changes in your marketplace.

With an internet marketing plan in place you have a consider strategy to outmaneuver your competition by capitalizing on their weakness and emphasize your web-based business's strengths. By increasing market awareness of the offerings of your website, you acquire new customers.

Matt Kuren is a successful Internet Marketer. Visit his website http://www.WaysToMakeMoney.biz and subscribe for a free 7 weeks ecourse on how to make money online and learn how to start your own "work from home internet busines"s.Karna Blog61929
Kristina Blog72306

Tinker Toys Marketing

As I was putting the finishing touches on my new "Web Site ToolKit" last night I realized how much that putting together any marketing strategy or campaign is like assembling Tinker Toys or Legos.

If you're not familiar with these, they're kid's toys with pieces or components that fit together to make something bigger and more complex - a machine you can play with.

And if everything isn't put together correctly, the machine doesn't run and do what it was meant to do.

On Sunday night I announced the Web site ToolKit to the InfoGuru Support Forum and discovered that in the process of people ordering the ToolKit, a few parts of my online "marketing machine" were broken.

They were easily fixed but it got me thinking about how everything in marketing is much like this: it either works flawlessly or it breaks down because some component wasn't properly attached to the other components.

This is one reason why so many marketing activities don't produce the result they were designed to do: attract more clients. We go through the motions; it *looks* like marketing but the "machine" has actually broken down and we don't realize it.

Here are three "marketing machines" you may be familiar with:

Networking - You decide to get into networking and spend a lot of time at events meeting people, but you attract very few clients. Are all your marketing components in place and working? Personal presentation, Audio Logo, asking questions, business card, article to send to potential prospects, the follow up call.

Speaking - You want to give talks to potential clients, but it's hard to book presentations, let alone attract clients. Which marketing of these components need work? Speaker's kit, phone call to organizations, talk promotion, the talk itself, overheads and handouts, a call-to-action, your follow-up email and call to interested prospects.

Web Site - You have a web site but you're disappointed in the results you're getting. Have you missed some of the components or failed to fine-tune them? Quality design and text format, page headlines, outline of problems, addressing prospects' issues, case studies, detailed service information, free information, eZine signup, optimized for search engines.

Every single marketing machine you create will usually work a lot better if you do the following things:

1. Do some research. Find out what works from someone who has experience. Books, manuals, online courses, consultants and coaches should all be considered. Don't try to make this stuff up, copy success.

2. Create a plan. What are you going to do and when are you going to do it? What resources do you need? What information do you have to assemble? What written or online materials are required? Do you need to rehearse or test before you "go live."

3. Give it your best shot. Pay attention to the details - all the components that need to fit together for the marketing machine to work. Fine-tune and adjust as you go. Try to look from the prospect's points of view. Be flexible while still making a commitment to do the best you can do.

4. Evaluate and readjust. Some things probably went well, some could have been better, and others were total flops. Document what worked and what didn't, so the next time you can do even better. Work at developing a bullet-proof marketing machine that gets results every time.

If you don't take these steps, all you can expect from your marketing is random results. You won't have a marketing machine that's designed to attract clients consistently. Your marketing will be like a broken tinker toy - useless and no fun to play with.

Think of your marketing as a machine with several essential components that all have to work in harmony to produce the marketing results you desire - more clients attracted to your business.

Robert Middleton, the owner of Action Plan Marketing, has been helping Independent Professionals be better marketers since 1984. On his web site http://www.ActionPlan.com find valuable resources, products and programs for attracting more clients. Get a free copy of his Marketing Plan Sart-Up Kit.Kathlene Blog64247
Karly Blog41954

You Know You Have Nothing Left To Say...

Working at Home – The internet, broadband, emails and blackberry have allowed us to work from home but what are we actually doing. A recent US survey has shown that one in eight men don’t bother getting dressed at all, just one third wash and shave and one in five take an afternoon nap! From the boss’s perspective, women don’t fair much better with one in 14 naked at their computer and only half taking a shower. 40% of people us the time to do regular housework but interestingly 75% believe working from home improved their productivity which begs the question what are they wearing and doing at work!!

Boredom Detector – Just when we thought we had a gadget for everything this was created, although its original purpose was noble. A talker, via a wearable camera and software that measures facial expressions and movements, could know whether he has lost touch with a listener (via signals from eyebrows, lips, nose, etc.). In studies it had 64% accuracy in detecting boredom in the listener. Some of us probably know friends and colleagues we would like to buy this for. Originally it was designed to help autistic people understand people they were communicating with.

The new sexual revolution – In Canada in an extensive study of young people, 87% of respondents reported having sex over Instant Messenger, Webcam or Telephone. As youngsters are more susceptible to utilise technology it is not surprising that these devices are being used more and more but the levels surprises the researchers. Some 2,684 students from more than 150 university and college campuses across Canada took part in the survey. Fifty-one per cent of the participants were female and 49 per cent were male. Of those surveyed, 53 per cent of students enjoyed sex over instant messenger, while 44 per cent did the deed using a webcam and over the phone.

Internet Tax – You think that if a Government could find a way to tax our breathing they would but it now seems at least 19 states in the US want to tax any purchases made over the Internet by individuals and organisations. Thus on the tax return form there is a line where you have to declare how much in purchases you made over the Net and then you will have a specified tax rate applied to it. Of course individuals are free to put $0 in this field but if you ever got audited and were found to be lying the penalties could be severe. Let us hope that this is one US innovation that we don’t adopt!

Charity Websites – Most of us probably contribute to the generous volunteers who come to our doors or the money tins located in various places but did you know it is now even easier to contribute to these many worthy causes. Two of our most worthy causes, Canteen (www.canteen.org.au) and the Starlight Foundation (www.starlight.org.au), both whom try to brighten the lives of seriously ill children, many of whom barely make it to their teens as well as help their families have a secure online donation facility. Just using your credit card you can make a donation and through very little effort on your part make an enormous difference to somebody else.

TILL NEXT TIME.....

Chris JacobKip Blog92993
Kai Blog2332

Cruise Port of Call: Nassau, Bahamas

History

The Bahamas were discovered by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage. He called the area baja mar, which means low or shallow sea, and the name stayed to this day. The British arrived in the 1600s after the Spaniards had left in search of gold, and many British fleeing the American Revolution settled there, along with southerners during the American Civil War. The Bahamas became an independent member of the British Commonwealth in 1973.

Nassau, the capital city, is located on New Providence Island. There are many historic sights including the Government House, the Queens Staircase and the statue of Queen Victoria in Parliament Square.

Things to Do

Nassau is a fun port to visit, and you can do everything from swimming with the dolphins to shopping at the Straw Market. You may choose to explore Nassau on your own, or sign up for a shore excursion to the nearby Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. Here is a list of some of the more popular activities in Nassau:

Take a harbor cruise around Nassau harbor;

Enjoy snorkeling or scuba diving in the beautiful coral reefs;

Have a once-in-a-lifetime encounter swimming with dolphins;

Enjoy the beach and casino at Cable Beach or Paradise Island;

Tour the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, which includes a unique themed aquarium; or

Enjoy a relaxing day shopping on Bay Street for unique items from around the world.

Getting Around

Getting around Nassau is relatively easy, whether you decide upon a shore excursion or to explore on your own. If you are planning on staying in town to enjoy the shops and sights, than a self-guided walking tour may be your best bet. If you are planning to visit the beaches and casinos at either Cable Beach, or across the bridge at Paradise Island, taxis and jitneys are available as you leave the wharf.

Weather

They say that its better in the Bahamas, and concerning the weather they are generally correct! Temperature in this subtropical area range from about 70-90 degrees Fahrenheit, with warm ocean breezes. Enjoy a beautiful day in the Bahamas!

Stephanie Larkin is the editor of http://www.WaltDisneyCruise.net, as well as http://www.CruiseNewsOnline.info. She and her family love to cruise - her 3 children especially love the towel animals and chocolates left on the beds at night!Katharine Blog19145
Karylin Blog1857

Democrats Urge George Bush To Run For Third Term

Congressional Democrats, delighted with George Bushs stubborn resistance to their every request, have invited him to run for a third term. Forgoing support for their own roster of Democratic candidates, they have offered to vote for an exception to the 2-term limit.

Senator Harry Reid, outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq said, Were just having such a darn good time failing to get the President to listen to common sense that wed like to keep it up for four more years. Think how dull it will be having someone whos actually responsive to Congress.

Bush seemed pleased by the offer, saying, Ive been concerned that, if by a long shot, a Democrat gets elected, my policy on Iraq might get changed. So I welcome the Democratic initiative to help me keep the war on track.

Hillary Clinton, a bit miffed by her loss of Democratic support, commented, I just dont understand what Democrats are doing asking George Bush to run for another four years when they could have just as much fun bashing me.

Senator Barack Obama joined in the disinclination to support the initiative, saying, While I understand the entertainment value four more years of George Bush would offer the Democratic party, support for this alarming idea is enough to make me consider becoming a Republican.

Exactly how the new Democratic push to reelect President Bush will work out remains uncertain. Apparently, their support for it depends on the unwavering obstinacy of the President.

Tom Attea, humorist and creator of http://NewsLaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway. Critics have called his writing "delightfully funny," "witty," with "good, genuine laughs" and "great humor and ebullience."Lanita Blog58030
Koren Blog43186

These Are The Niche Marketing Secrets

Niche marketing is a simple concept, that can help your business to gain an advantage, even in very competitive online categories.

You know that 20 percent of buyers consume 80 percent of your product, so the idea is that you could sell much more products with much less effort if you can identify that 20 percent and find others like them.

People that's interested in it, and consume your product, can be thought as a market niche.

So the idea behind the niche marketing is to target, communicate, sell and obtain feedback of your best customers.

Consumers are becoming each day more demanding because their choices trend to expand in this global economy that we live now.

So the idea behind the niche marketing is the need to satisfy and keep that part of the market that really want your product or services.

But not any niche market will be good for you, you need to estimate the size of your target or niche market.

It should be big enough to sustain your business year after year. Once you have identified your niche market you need to have information about your niche market's size, and the numbers that you need to know are not only the total size of the niche market but, the size of the niche market that's interested in your products, the size of the niche market that your company can reach with advertising and then distribution.

When you decide to pick a niche market you need to be sure that you are going to have enough sales volume and profitability, and you also need to know how strong are your competitors to attract your niche buyers away from your products.

And you also need to have an idea of how many competitive products are going to be offered to your potencial niche marketing prospects.

You might think that the niche maketing was invented to help the new or small companies, but even the large ones have embraced the niche marketing idea, and keep on trying to divide their market and target it with different offers.

And you know why?

Very easy to answer!

If you are interested in buying a dog, would you care for a shampoo advertise?

You need to offer dogs to the people that want dogs and shampoo to the ones that want to wash their hair, you need to make niche offers to your niche market and then you will maximize your selling chances.

Those that repeatedly use your products, your "heavy users" are the niche market that you should try to dominate.

You should divide the whole universe of your potential buyers, into different segments, based on different factors.

Your can divide them by age, by family size, by gender, by economic status or by geographic locations.

It all depends on: what are you going to offer them?

All these niches need, or are interested, in different goods and or services. And the question is: Do you expertize or have a special knowledge in a certain niche?

For example you might be an experte selling used cars, of fixing bicicles, or writing articles, etc.

No matter what niche market you can cover, you can always atract that specific kind of people to your web site and that's exactly what you have to do.

If you are trying to sell a mass articles, unless you are so creative that have a unique aproach to the products, it can be very tough to market them

This is an interesting point, you can have a very special niche article OR a very special niche aproach to an article.

The result is the same: look for a very targeted traffic to your web site and you will sell well.

The same that happens to mass articles it happen to some niche markets: they are tough to reach.

So you must narrow the focus of your site, the more narrow the focus, the easiest will be the niche marketing.

There should be tons of oportunities in your field of interest, if you narrow your focus.

But if your business is broad based, then niche marketing is not for you, you should develop a good affiliate's program, then thousands of affiliates can work the search engines, reaching for their particular niche, and then offer your goods or services.

Theme based content sites are perfect for niche maketing and for making good profit from the search engines.

If you sell dogs, then it won't be difficult to find a niche for dog's food, dog's shampoo, dog's brushes, etc.

Once you define your niche you must look for the most profitable keyword for that niche, then determine the demand and the suply for that niche market, and this will give you the profitabilitty of each keyword (How to Sell on The Web teaches you how to do it).

When you have chosen the most profitable keywords for your niche market, you only have to start writing good content web pages.

My last words: before starting your niche marketing business, make sure that your niche market it does exist on the web, that's big enough to produce continuous good profits, and that's within your reach.

Writen by Dr. Roberto A. Bonomi

Dr. Roberto Bonomi is a successful e-book writer that shares his home business experience at: http://intmarketing.easy-home-business.com And you can post free your own articles, or find free articles for your web site or ezine at http://articles.drbonomi.com.Krissie Blog19338
Larisa Blog16531

How To Make Karaoke CDs

Karaoke is a growing past time and if you haven't tried it you really should. You'll quickly understand what the rage is! Why not begin by learning how to make your own karaoke CDs.

Most CD RW drives are not able to burn CD+G discs due to missing internal firmware. This firmware recognizes files that contain the graphic extensions of the Red Book. Some of the older CD RW drives that were able to write CD+G files are not compatible with the newer software so you might need to upgrade your drive.

Drives by Plextor are the only ones that seam to be working with the new burn software packages. Plextor drives support CD+G read write capabilities as well as the technology to prevent buffer overruns. They also have the capability of choosing optimum recording speed.

Not all discs are equal. Although Plextor drive can burn almost all brands but there are always a few brands that can give grief so test your discs. CDs used to burn Karaoke should be no more than 6x and 4x is actually best.

Now that we've got the hardware covered it's time to look at the software that's needed to make those karaoke CDs.

1. Video Karaoke Studio

It has all the tools you need to create a professional karaoke video. It's quick and easy to use. In fact it's never been easier. You can create your own video karaoke files using different multimedia sources. When you're done you can take your files from VKStudio to Video-CD, DVD and SVideo-CD. Synchronized lyrics, video, and picture files have never been easier.

2. Karaoke-to-Text

Can automate the process of extracting song text from karaoke files and then determine the right cords. It has Midi file processing and a key signature finder. It's convenient to use and helps with transpositions.

3. Dart Karaoke Studio CD+G 1.49 CDGP

Not only can you make your own Karaoke on your computer you can also play it. This software turns your computer into a player.

The CD recorder makes capturing both digital and analogue music easy. You can rip and burn CD+G tracks from playlists. The Dart DeVocalizer removes the vocals from commercial recordings during playback.

The Dart Karaoke Author is used to edit, import, and synchronize the lyrics to your music. Just flag the word or phrases you want to synchronize along the waveform.

The CD+G Track Generator lets you customize your graphics, choose your fonts, number your verses, work out your presentation style and so much more. The wizard has an onscreen guide that will walk you through the entire process.

The Karaoke Player is where you get to have some fun with that creation. You've made your Karaoke cd now you get to use it. Select your tack, use the controls and as the lyrics appear it's sing along time.

4. Karaoke Song List Creator 2005

Lets you sort by title, artist, track number, and even producer. The toolbar provides a quick and easy way to catalogue all of your Karaoke disks. You can create lists buttons and track all your songs. You can even print your songbook.

5. Power CD+G Pro

This is a software package that supports BIN, CDG, MP3+G file formats converting your PC into an easy to use karaoke machine. Make your disk using this easy to use software which includes key transposer so you can adjust the songs to your own voice, seekbar, and playlist management. Then play back in full screen mode.

After you've chosen your software you can search online to find many different sites that provide Karaoke tunes for you to download. Some are even free, others charge a nominal fee. Be sure to check them all out.

If you love music and you love karaoke making your own Karaoke CDs and have a great time with your friends.

Nan Edemann worked in a karaoke bar for 9 years before starting his own audio electronics store. His store specializes in karaoke machines and accessories and has a much larger variety of items than almost all large department stores. At http://www.karaokeadvisor.com, he shares his experience with you by listing out the top karaoke essentials with buying advice on various products.Kimberlyn Blog9248
Korella Blog70855

How To Find Mp3 Files Online

Almost everyone has heard about the legal proceedings regarding the distribution of music files online. Regardless of which side of the issue someone mind find themselves on, downloading music on the Internet has struck a chord with nearly everyone. For someone who owns or plans to own an MP3 player it is important to play by the rules to ensure they don't wind up in the middle of this ugly fight. Here are a few online sources for downloading digital music legally that charge reasonable amounts and have respectable names.

1. AOL Music Now--America Online has been a major name in the Internet world since the early nineties and boasts over 1.5 million songs in their database for members to use. AOL's service is available on a free trial and then for $0.99 per downloaded song.

2. F.Y.E.--After a free trial period, F.Y.E. (a leader in downloadable music) provides 1.2 million songs to choose from for a flat $1 per download.

3. MusicMatch--While MusicMatch does not offer a free trial period, the MusicMatch software will make personal recommendations for its users, among other services. They charge $0.99 per download.

4. MSN Music--Microsoft, another leading name in the Internet and in computers, offers one million songs that are available for $0.99 per download. Like MusicMatch, MSN does not offer a free trial period.

5. Napster--Napster, the name that started it all, is once again one of the premier outlets for music downloads, this time on a monthly membership fee basis. With around one million songs in their database, Napster offers downloads for $9.95 a month on up to three computers. Napster also offers a seven day free trial.

6. PassAlong--Relatively new to the scene, and sporting a smaller database than most download services of around 400,000 songs, PassAlong offers a nice perk in exchange. A member can earn bonus points that reduce the price of future downloads by making recommendations to their friends for certain types of music. PassAlong does not offer a free trial and starts at $0.99 per download.

7. PureTracks--Canadians benefit from WMA files from just $0.99 in Canadian dollars. Puretracks has over 1 million songs.

Barbara Jackson writes for several online magazines, such as http://products-site.com and http://super-reviews.com.Kettie Blog12806
Kameko Blog55264

Fishy Salespeople? How to Finally Stop Handing Out FREE Fish to Your Sales People

Do you remember the good ole days when sales managers used to just sit back and wait for their salespeople to come into their offices and ask for help?

Maybe they needed the old veteran to come in and nail down the close. Well, we all know you just can't do that any more. Sure, that would put a few more sales in the win column (in the short term). But in the long term what are you creating? Nothing but needy, dependent salespeople without an ounce of personal selling confidence.

Showing your people HOW to prospect, HOW to set appointments and HOW to close sales makes your job easier and everybody's paycheck fatter.

If that's the kind of vision you have for your sales team, then it's time to close down the all-you-can-eat fish-fry and open up the all-you-can-catch fishing school.

Wouldn't that be nice? You bet it would. AND profitable, too.

And so we've come to the reason for this article. You see, Self-Sustaining Salespeople are not found; they are developed. Sure, it still takes a certain style of person to succeed in this business, but once you find them, everything else can (and should) be taught. And it's all been broken down into an easy to follow step-by-step system.

But before we teach our future sales stars the secrets to prospecting and closing, we have to help them. HOW? We show them how to make the shift from just hitting their revenue goals to (with our inspiration) becoming Self-Sustained Business Professionals.

Did you notice I used the phrase "business" professional, not just "sales" professional?

That's because to be a superstar in sales, you have possess the proper insight and mindset about business.

That means having a keen insight into the details of your own business cycle, from pre-contact to revenue receipt, as well as an understanding of your prospect's world, and how it relates to their business objectives and what is important to them. Not you, but to them. You must understand how your prospects measure success.

Let me put that another way:

Sales Superstars must understand the business they are in. They must respect the business the prospect is in and they must recognize what the prospect values in that business.

To do that, Sales Professionals MUST become Business Professionals.

I've interviewed hundreds of sales people for every type of position.

I found it funny that most candidates were quick to put down a "higher" level of achievement on their resume compared to their peers and the quota objective from prior sales positions.

However, when I asked them what their system and process are to achieve such "superior" results, most (amazingly) could not explain their results from a "business" level.

So, how do you do it? Inspire self-sustain business professionals?

I can tell you that just affirming the objective of executing to revenue is not enough to make it happen. Eavesdrop on any Monday morning sales meeting, and you will see that just about every Sales Manager has the same intention. They may not be "achieving" it, but is always their marching orders.

What those of us in Sales management really need to do is develop a customized Masters level curriculum in "Executing to Revenue" and "Becoming a Self-Sustained Business Professional."

To achieve that ideal, you need to indoctrinate every new sales employee to a system that develops a result-oriented plan, executes to proven tactics and manages the everyday conditions that tend to throw us off track.

Sound good. But can it really be done? And done quickly?

Well, the first step to becoming a self-sustained professional is running your business with critical metrics, processes and systems. Sounds a lot like the way an entrepreneurial business owner runs their enterprise, right?

In the Business of Core Competencies, I help sales individuals and management identify their essential components, and the performance metrics necessary for successful results.

We classify those metrics and discover how they are inter-related with each other and dynamic to preferred results. And by training specifically to these core competencies one at a time, we can control our destinies and routinely achieve our desired results.

You see, there are basically two kinds of people when it comes to results.

Those who point their index finger outward say it's not their fault things didn't turn out well. There were "conditional" reasons for their poor results. But, those who point their index finger inward evaluate what they could have done differently to avoid the negative outcome.

They know the difference between factors, which they can control and conditions, which are outside of their control. They seek out and modify routines and behaviors that are within their control, to improve efficiencies in gaining the required results.

So, ask yourself: Are you inspiring self-sustained professionals or management-sustained individuals?

Interesting question, isn't it?

Self sustained business professionals identify the essential elements and components that comprise your selling process. They realize how they affect your desired result dynamically, and make adjustments in routines and tactics to assure consistent results. No matter what month it is!

Now, here's a sure-fire method to identify self-sustained business professionals in your sales organization.

Evaluate the sales results for the month of December. Who was at or above quota? Realistically, December has only 13-15 selling days versus the normal 20-23 selling days in the rest of the calendar year.

December brings with it holidays, personal vacations, and general mental re-grouping for the new year. For most B-to-B selling individuals, if you don't have your number by midmonth or so, you might as well forget it.

But, if you understand your essential core competencies and performance metrics that lead you to desired results, you will customize a plan to achieve those results. You will start to execute to the plan prior to the holiday month, and your December revenue goal can be routinely met. And the same goes for a personal vacation month.

Makes sense doesn't it? Great! So, what are you waiting for? Go inspire those Self-Sustained business professionals on your team!

Jeff Hardesty is a National sales speaker, Sales performance improvement consultant and the Developer of the X2 Sales System, a blended sales prospecting training system that teaches sales professionals the competency of setting targeted C-level business appointments. Laraine Blog8707
Kelci Blog58910

Consumer Facts On Free Satellite TV Deals

Free satellite TV! Get free satellite TV system free for 4-room, get free DVR, free HDTV, free incentive gifts like iPod and home theater system, free installations sounds familiar with the slogan? Dont worry; this is not another free satellite TV promotion advertisement. Instead, we will examine some facts of these satellite TV promotions here: Are these free deals really for free? Are they worth the money? Do such satellite TV deals suit my need?

Are free satellite TV deals for real?

To answer the question, you need to know what are given free in such deals. Free satellite TV means you get the satellite decoder system for free. You will get satellite dish, decoder system (up to 4 rooms), and remote control for free. The free satellite TV deals do not include a free television for you. However the satellite systems are compatible with almost any television in the market so if you have one at home, you dont need to buy extra TV with special features.

So back to the questions - without a doubt, these free deals are for real. But it comes with conditions. You will get the satellite TV system for free, if you are their first time customer and you must be willing commit to a service contract up to 18 months. If you read those free satellite TV ads carefully, you should notice that such free deals are only for first time customer (for Dish Network or DirecTV).

Are the free deals worth the money?

The answer is yes and no.

The Yes:

Free satellite TV deals are lucrative not because they give out free satellite TV system for free. It is good because with a very low monthly subscription fees, you can get hundreds of 100% digital satellite pictures. By paying just little amount of money, you will get premium movie channels like HBO, Starz, ShowTime; you will get your favorite sport actions such as NFL, NHL, or NBA; you will also get lots of news channels like CNN, CNN2, Bloomberg, BBC. As you can see the wide programming selection is why satellite TV deals look attractive. Dish Network or DirecTV, you can now enjoy top class TV entertainment service with satellite TV without paying anything up front (satellite TV system are given for free, remember?). It certainly gives something that cable does not have.

The No:

Nevertheless, the free satellite TV deals do not worth the money if you dont spend time long enough in front of the TV. If you hardly spend an hour in TV within the whole week, that is the point of having 255 TV channels? All you need is some crap TV talk shows to tease you before you get to bed and sleep, why get satellite TV?

Often consumers order satellite TV deals blindly just because the free ads flyers are too attractive. Do not buy and then regret. The conclusion, do not spend money on free satellite TV deals just because their deals are too good to resist. The free deals are worth the money if you watch TV a lot; if you dont, locals should be good enough.

Consumer facts (in case you are still wondering is the free deals worth the money or not)

Due to the demise of Pegasus and Voom services, there are only two major satellite TV providers in the USA -- Dish Network and DirecTV. Both companies are providing 100% digital satellite pictures; both companies are offering amazing free satellite TV systems; and both companies have the finest sales support team for their customer services.

Since Dish Network and DirecTV were officially launched in 90s, millions had switched from cable TV to Dish Network. J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Dish Network and DirecTV as the top TV broadcasting companies. Both DirecTV and Dish Network are higher in customer satisfaction than any of the cable TV companies for the last five years.

Ordering Dish Network Satellite TV

Dish Network require $49.99 activation fee. The fee will be credited to your programming bill however, so in essence, your satellite TV system is free. With Dish Network you have the option to upgrade to a DVR (digital video recording) receiver, or an HDTV (high definition TV) receiver at no charge. Dish Network services at a monthly cost of $19.99. However, Dish Network standard programming fees start at $31.99 per month (for standard 60 program channels). The monthly subscription fees then goes up to around $86.00 for 230 channels including Showtime, Starz!, HBO, Cinemax, and Sirius radio.

DirecTV Satellite TV Service

Depending on your credit rating, when you order a free satellite TV system from DirecTV you may be required to pay a deposit or prepayment. Because the deposit is refunded to you and the prepayment goes toward your programming fees, the DirecTV satellite dish and receivers are free. Installation is also free. If you want a DVR receiver you will be charged an additional $49.99. The charge for HDTV receivers is $299.99. DirecTV programming packages start at $29.99 per month for 115 channels (including 31 music channels), and go up to more than $90 per month for 185 program channels, including Showtime, Starz!, HBO, Cinemax, and 31 music channels.

Closing things up: Is free satellite TV deal the right thing for you?

The answer is actually lies inside of you. If TV is one of your primary forms of entertainment and you want the biggest variety of shows, movies, sports, and news -- then we satellite TV deals should be something you should seriously consider. Cable TVs nowadays doesn't looks like a good deal to go for as their monthly fees increase a lot every year.For football fans that wish to get every NFL games- DirecTV is what you are looking for; for normal family, Dish Network seems to be a better choice.

However, if you watch just a few television programs a week and have access to over-the-air TV, then satellite TV probably isn't for you.

Teddy LC., expert writter on consumer products reviews. Check out his latest satellite TV related website and get more info on http://www.satellitetvissue.com Dish Network deals.Kora Blog16373
Lanny Blog93547

5 Ways To Grow Your Business Using Thenetworkmarketingmagazine.com

There are many, many ways (more than just 5) to use TheNetworkmarketingMagazine.com to grow your business but lets start with the most popular and the one that any networker, either seasoned veteran or one of the newest members of this industry can employ, TODAY!

Business building tip # 1

Partner up with the industry experts and let them talk to your prospects.

My favorite and the one that gets the fastest results is partnering up with industry and company experts and let them talk to your prospects through their article. Every article in the magazine has an email function. This function allows you to pass any article on to any prospect. When you read an article that appears in TNMM you will quickly observe there will be people that will come to mind that could use this information. Dont keep it to yourself! At the top of every article there is an email icon. When you click on this icon, a box opens up and in this box you can put your name, email address and a personalized message to your contact with their email address. When you click the send button, your personalized message along with that article will appear in their email. The article will not be an attachment. Many people will not open attachments today, and this guarantees that so long as the recipient opens your email, your message and article will get through.

OK, so lets get specific. Here is my favorite article for results. Go to the November 2005 issue (yes, a past issue. All of our subscribers have access to all of our past issues, thats why TNMM is a growing business library for you). Go to the article by Sandy Botkin titled, If you dont have a home-based business, start one today! First of all read this great article, its a classic.

If you ask any successful leader, you will find that this group of people have heard far more nos than yess. They have come to realize that they dont take it personally; these people who say no arent saying no to them, it just might not be the right time for them or they just might not have enough information to make a decision. This group of no people can be a great source of people to build your business.

Make a list of the last 20 people that have said no to you. Armed with their email address, and using the email function with Sandy Botkins article send a personalized message to each one on your list. The message may read: Dear Mary, I came across this article and I thought of you. Sandy Botkin is an attorney, a CPA and a former head trainer of IRS auditors. He teaches how to put thousands of dollars each year into your pocket and I thought you would find this interesting. Ill call you tomorrow to see what you thought. Best wishes, Cathy.

Do that 20 times and dont forget to follow up with all 20. You will find that Sandy Botkin can talk to your prospect through the credibility of his article in a different way than you can. He also gives you credibility. He also makes a lot of sense for many people that havent considered the major tax benefits a home-based business offers. We have found that this one exercise alone has been instrumental in many new business partners joining businesses. Only some on your no list will become a yes using this exercise. Thats ok, any nos that turn to yes is great. As you continue to read different articles, continue to drip on your no prospect list with other pertinent articles that will speak to them.

One last success story about this first tip, Elizabeth did this 20 email exercise and then did it with a larger list of her last 100 nos. She then shares TheNetworkMarketingMagazine.com with her business building team members and also had her team do this exercise with their last 100 nos. Today, Elizabeth has the fastest growing team in her company and this exercise is the only strategy she has changed in building her business. Try this exercise and then send me an email to share your results, george@TheNetworkMarketingMagazine.com

Business building tip # 2

Duplicate what the successful network marketers have done to grow their successful businesses

There are stories and interviews of some of the most successful network marketers in TNMM. Wisdom comes to us in a number of ways. We can gain knowledge and wisdom through our own experience. This could be slow and inefficient at times. We can also learn from others that are already where we want to be.

How would you like to duplicate the activity that the successful network marketers have done to grow their incredible businesses? Through the stories and interviews, you will be able to hear some of the greatest secrets, techniques and strategies that these super stars implemented to grow there business. If you happened to be a distributor in their company, you might have already heard these stories at a convention or read them in your company newsletter, but what TNMM offers is stories that come from many company leaders that you probably have never heard before. How great is it to hear how some of these million dollar earners started out, probably just like you and have found ways to grow their business into what you would like to have. How great is it to have many stories to study that come from such a diverse background of companies, personalities and techniques that you can choose to implement ideas into your own business. Its like having a close relative in the busine!
ss that has a real vested interest in your success.

Skim through these stories. Take one a day. They will inspire you into action and will guide you to success.

Business building tip # 3

There is only one of me!

Network Marketing can have a direct sales component to it, however the real leverage is the team building component that offers the geometric growth that fuels so many success stories. A good friend and leader from Canada, Bob McKay once said to me, there is only one of me! I came to understand what Bob meant.

Bob has been a student of this business for many years, learning from the best that the industry has to offer. As a leader of his own growing business, Bob shared with me that he no longer had time to teach each and every person that is coming into his business the things that he has learned from his many teachers over the years. He said, There is only one of me, and now armed with The Network Marketing Magazine, I can give a new person an assignment to read a number of articles from my mentors and when theyre done, then I can then help them along their journey.

The way Bob McKay uses TNMM leverages his time and effectiveness in training his people to become great leaders. The added benefit is that this is a very duplicatable process to create other leaders in your business, teaching the teachers to teach. There is only one of all of us. Isnt it nice to partner with the best teachers, coaches and mentors to help in your effort!

Business building tip # 4

Competence leads to confidence that leads to results. When a competent, confident individual gets results, they make money and they dont quit!

To build a successful business you must have a strategy to work on yourself more than you work on anything else. We all have skills that are our strengths and skills that we need to work on. Becoming stronger in our strengths and developing a strategy to become more competent in skills that we are weak in, is what we should invest in. This works both for us and our team, a competent, confident individual that is getting results will make money and will not quit.

Every article in our magazine is tagged with multiple subjects and keywords. In the browse area of the magazine, we are able to go to the area that we want to work on to become extremely competent in that arena. One of the subjects in this browse area is on the subject of prospecting. This is a common area that needs to be worked on. Almost 2 dozen articles come up on this subject. What would happen to the person who starts the month reading an article a day on this subject and gets the perspectives from some of the best teachers of this subject, by the end of the month. That person gains a new level of competence! This is why TNMM is a perfect strategy for developing competence that leads to confidence. Try it out on a skill set that you want to work on and let me know about your results!

Business building tip # 5

Audio learning, clearly for a third of us, is the best way we absorb information.

There is a marathon runner that lives in Australia that is growing her network marketing business as she trains each and every day. Jane Manthorpe writes;

I am a competitive marathon endurance athlete, and I have been listening to the audios as I am training on my long runs. This has made my long runs exciting and very educational. If you saw me while I was running you would have caught me either laughing or slowing down to really grasp what was being said. I would then run home the last few kms as fast as I could and once home, immediately write down all the ideas that had come into my head whilst running so that I could take action on them and incorporate them into my business.

The Network Marketing Magazine offers its subscribers over 70 hours of free downloadable mp3 audio teaching. It becomes a university in the car while you commute, or while youre doing laundry or working out in the gym or even training for a marathon. The point is there is no excuse now, what ever way we learn, we can increase personal development and professional growth and this all leads to building a successful business!

The Network Marketing Magazine can become your business building library, that will educate, motivate and inspire you and your team in the wonderful business that you are building. Some of these 5 business building ideas can produce results right away, others will take time. Isnt that like life itself? There is no easy button that we can push to make everything the way we want. There are easier ways of accomplishing your goals and targets that you set; The Network Marketing Magazine is here to partner with you to do just that!

Aim high!
George Madiou
Publisher and Co-founder
http://TheNetworkMarketingMagazine.com

George Madiou, is a full-blooded Entrepreneur, complete with validating credentials, Degrees in Marketing and Management from SUNY and NYU To date George has owned over 20 businesses. George partnered with his good friend John Milton Fogg to start http://www.TheNetworkMarketingMagazine.comKiele Blog97431
Kaja Blog4609

Wedding Planning Checklist Tips

So the lucky couple have finally decided to do the decent thing and get married. To make their relationship a permanent matrimonial fixture and start planning for the big day. These days weddings arent exactly a cheap affair, so budgeting and planning are high on the priority list. Unless youve won the lottery or the latest poker championship, the chances are money is something that is finite even if you do want to throw caution to the wind. Then there is the cost of the honeymoon to consider. If you want everything to run as smoothly as possible, there is no better place to start than with a wedding planning checklist. You need it fully written up well in advance of the big day.

You may be wondering what types of things you would write in a wedding planning checklist. Well, once you sit down, it soon becomes clear that there is a ton of stuff. Firstly you need basic things such as the date you are going to get married on, the location of the wedding and even the exact time. Then you need to decide on the type of ceremony you are going to be having. Is it going to be a small affair or is it going to be filled to the rafters with people that youve invited. Once you know this, you can then think about what accommodation and food will be provided and served. The further ahead you plan all these details and write them down on your wedding planning checklist, the better. With a comprehensive planning checklist things should run without a hitch as youve covered all the bases well before.

You will also need to decide upon who is going to marry the couple, the all important wedding cake, the flowers and special rings that no bride and groom can be without on their wedding day. So, as you can see, a wedding planning checklist will need a lot on it and its something very important to utilize in preparation for the big day.

Article by Richard Davies at http://www.weddingplanningchecklist.us. Dedicated to help you plan for the big wedding day. Katharyn Blog84433
Kimberley Blog24327

Understanding The Importance Of A Clean Registry

Most people do not know what the registry is, least of all the role it plays in the efficient running of the system. Knowledge of this will help them learn how to maintain a good registry.

The Windows Operating system registry is the most important part of a Windows-based computer system. This registry is never to be tampered with by anyone. It is by itself a fully automatic database that forms the backbone of the windows operating system. The registry is a system-defined database used by the operating system to store configuration information used to operate the PC. Understanding the importance of a clean registry using a good registry cleaner is very important.

All Windows applications record data to the registry during the installation of the program. The system components store and retrieve this configuration data through the registry. The data stored in the registry varies according to the version of Microsoft Windows and the years or months the system has been used. This is because as programs and applications are added to and removed from the system the entries are made to the registry but are seldom removed if at all. Because of this automation of the system the registry constantly grows. It may become so large that the system will slow down and ultimately crash bringing everything to a halt. This is why it must be cleaned regularly with registry cleaner software.

How To use a Registry Cleaner?

Registry cleaners are available in abundance on the Internet. They are free versions and trial versions of registry cleaner software. You may decide to try out a registry cleaner before deciding if you want to buy it. A search on Google will turn up thousands of registry cleaners such as Tweaknow registry cleaner, XP registry Cleaner, Win registry cleaner and the like. All these registry cleaners work fine. They can the registry for redundant data and useless entries like broken links and remove them automatically. All this is dome within seconds and the system runs smoothly and faster than before the registry cleaner was run.

The registry cleaner scans the registry for information that does not need to be on the system but is there nevertheless. This slows the system down every time the registry is scanned for information that is needed to run the system. The scan always starts from the beginning of the registry and continues until the data is found. The scan will include going through all the entries including the bad entries that serve no purpose to the system. There are tens of thousands of such entries. Going through each one slows the system greatly. Registry cleaner software removes these entries and then compacts the registry by filling in the spaces left by removing the useless data. This is how a registry cleaner speeds up a system.

Arvind Singh is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Window Cleaner, Anti Spam Filter etc. More information can be found at http://www.pcmantra.comKellsie Blog12782
Kyrstin Blog97091

Domestic Goddess Aprons

Become a domestic goddess, or look like one in a Jesse Steele vintage style domestic goddess aprons.

As a pioneer in the new wave of nostalgic apron fashion, these vintage goddess aprons are set to take the country by storm Christmas 2006.

A womans place is anywhere she wants to be these days and the smart, modern woman wants to be seen there in these retro-chic vintage aprons. Designed in vibrant colours, flirty patterns and figure flattering shapes, these recent visions from a bygone era have become the ultimate fashion accessory in our out of the kitchen. As seen on Oprah and Desperate Housewives the apron is back in fashion, whether your organising an intimate dinner for two or feast for ten in these domestic goddess aprons you are covered.

These are currently sold in over 800 stores worldwide but they are about to take the UK by storm and www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk are the UK distributor.

As online retailer www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk have over 1000 gift ideas this is the perfect platform to sell these Jesse Steel signature 1940s and 50s flavoured apron chic.

The Carmen domestic goddess apron emulates Audrey Hepburns classy, yet understated style with the use of elegant, sheer fabrics.
http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/gift-ideas-for-women/womens-gifts/apron-carmen.html

The Pink Polka dots domestic goddess apron is the perfect look for the girl about town this fabulous print.
http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/gift-ideas-for-women/womens-gifts/apron-pink-polka-dots.html

The Ava domestic goddess apron is just the cutest with the red cherry print and the flattering cut.
http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/gift-ideas-for-women/womens-gifts/apron-ava-cherries.html

The Onyx domestic goddess apron, for the true fashionista amongst you with the stylish black and white fabric flatters any womanly shape.
http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/gift-ideas-for-women/womens-gifts/apron-onyx.html

The 'French Boutique' a gorgeous black and white french style print cut into a chic apon.
http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/domestic-goddess-apron-french-boutique.html

Repeat after me I am a domestic goddess..I am a domestic goddess!!!! Sarah Hague newly created domestic goddess.

So no matter what the occasion, you will be dressed to impress!!!

Cut to flatter any woman, these feminine A-line aprons are made of the finest linens and cotton fabrics are which are sourced to create each stunning piece. The attention to detail in these domestic goddess aprons, flattering fit, combined with the prints and styles leave you with one thought in mind..Which one will I choose its like Belgian chocolates, you cant have just one!

Jesse Steele vintage hostess aprons created for the modern woman.

To see the full range click below

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/search_results.asp?keywords=goddess&category=-1&pricerange=0

For any additional information on these fabulous domestic goddess aprons please email sarah@findmeagift.com or call 01926 691010

Regards

Sarah Hague
Domestic Goddess.
Sarah@findmeagift.com
http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/

Sarah HagueKiele Blog97431
Keelia Blog30470

Microsoft Office Integration

Two-way links place Access Accounts on the main menus of Excel, Project and Word, enabling you to work on your accounts data using the functionality you feel most comfortable with. You can even customise your Outlook Today screen, to display a range of vital accounts information, ongoing management reporting tasks and functionality (attach e-mails directly to your customer and supplier records).

This level of integration is ideal for extending the benefits of Access Accounts to staff who rely on accounts information but do not need to be given the complete Access solution, as well as those who are involved in the management reporting process. You control how much information is made available, while by-passing the need for full user licences.

The range of productivity tools provided by Office Integration is substantial. Here we highlight just a few of the more powerful features

Access Analytics

Access Analytics is a powerful integration tool between Microsoft Excel and Access Accounts. Available directly from the menu bar, Access Analytics is the first solution to provide your data pre-formatted in Excel ready for analysis.

In just 3 easy steps you can start your analysis, skipping the time consuming element of data preparation. And, once youve got your data, you can alter your analysis criteria without having to extract data all over again. Access Analytics is the easiest, most cost-effective way of analysing your business data, and its all available within your existing Microsoft Excel.

http://www.softwarereviewblog.com

Source: http://www.access-accounts.com

Jack DorenKatharyn Blog71321
Kipp Blog88216

Are UGLY URLs Keeping you from Making Money?

What is an UGLY URL? An UGLY URL is one that is long and has special characters in it. It could look much like this: http://www.yourdomain.com/get.php?ref=yourname&value=6.

How would you get a UGLY URL like that? When you begin promoting other peoples products you will be assigned a URL to promote the product. In many cases these URLs are not pretty at all. In fact they are darned right UGLY.

Now that you know what an UGLY URL is and how you might end up with one what can you do about it? There are many options. You could create what is called a redirect which is a way of sending someone from one URL to another.

Many hosting companies have the capability of setting up a redirect in there control panel. This method works well but takes a bit of time to setup each time you need a new redirect.

Another method is to create an index.html file or a index.php file with code in it to redirect anyone who goes to that page to another. This method will only allow one redirect per website and many people will want to have many redirects for that site.

You can use the same method but instead name the file something different which will allow you to redirect many URLs.

The other option is to go to one of the redirect sites. http://www.tinyurl.com is one such website that will allow you to redirect those UGLY URLs.

Many times you will also want to cloak your URL. What is cloaking? Well when you cloak your URL it will never show the actual UGLY URL at all. All the other methods above will show the UGLY URL when they arrive at that page.

There is however one other method that is convenient, personalized and cloaked. This is a piece of software that you would load on your server. The software will personalize your UGLY URL by giving it your domain name. Its very fast to add a new URL it can be done in less than a minute and upon arrival at the site you will not see the UGLY URL displayed.

Some versions of this software will have added features that include click statistics and places to store the information of the site so you can keep track of your affiliate programs.

In summary I suggest you find one of the programs available and install it on your own server. It has been proven that this method will increase your click-thrus, opt-ins and sales.

Glen Barnhardt is owner of Barnhardt Enterprises and Author of URL Makeover a software designed to redirect URL's. http://www.urlmakeover.comKacie Blog51829
Lara Blog43635

Automation - The Key to Success Online

If you've been looking into selling products online then you've probably heard some "expert" somewhere recommend that you create a web site that is fully automated and helps you make money 24 hours a day. While that might sound great, what they often forget to tell you is HOW to do that.

Well, I'm going to tell you right now, in this article!

First, what IS a Fully Automated Web Site? A Fully Automated Web Site can be defined as one that is equipped with an integrated suite of both e-commerce and internet marketing tools in a fashion that will allow you to be the most profitable with the least amount of effort.

Most e-commerce systems are equipped with the following essentials:

- A shopping cart.
- Acceptance and processing of credit cards.
- A maintenance system that allows you to add/change products.
- An order-retrieval system that enables you to fulfill orders.

However, what most of them are lacking are marketing tools. If your website hits it big and you don't have the proper tools in place, then you will be a slave to e-mail and order processing. I'm sure that's not what you intended.

There are several marketing strategies that are essential in the creation of a successful e-commerce web site:

- Email marketing (broadcasting) of prospects/customers
- Effective use of autoresponders (generate automatic email messages)
- Online Newsletter
- Online Form / Survey to capture your prospect's email address
- Electronic Product Delivery (if you sold a digital product)
- Advertisement (Ad) Tracking
- Back End Sales
- Affiliate program

Now, if you had a system that would support the integration of ALL of these marketing tools in addition to the necessary e-commerce essentials, then you would have a Fully Automated Web Site. After all, it has been shown that it often takes 7 or more ad exposures before prospective customers actually make a purchase. Consider the following scenario:

A prospect clicks on an advertisement in an online magazine.

This action increments a counter for this particular ad to help you determine how well its working. They dont decide to buy as of yet but join your newsletter. They are now considered a prospect. You begin to send them a monthly email newsletter. Additionally, an autoresponder kicks in to thank them for joining the newsletter as well as scheduling them to get email twice a month for the next 90 days reiterating your product benefits and inviting them to purchase.

Upon sending them one of your "juicy" offers that they couldn't refuse, they finally purchase. They will automatically be removed from your prospect list and added to your customer list.

Based on the particular product or service theyve purchased, they will receive a series of emails every two weeks for the next 6 months offering complementary products.

This will be the engine that will drive your back end sales and keep your customers coming back to your web site.

Being able to play out a scenario such as this using one integrated system would be pretty impressive dont you think?

The internet big boys do this with expensive e-commerce platform suites produced by vendors such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle.

Having your system automatically perform these follow up tasks frees you up to spend more time on your business, your health or your family!

=====> What can you do to create a fully automated web site?

Fortunately, there are ways that you can automate your website in much the same way that the big boys do. The best and most cost-effective way would be to sign up with one of the handful of Application Service Providers available on the internet which provide a shopping cart integrated with a full suite of marketing tools. Normally, the shopping cart and tools are very flexible and can be incorporated into any website.

=====> Are there any other ways to automate your business besides working with a total solution provider?

You can accomplish some level of automation without an integrated shopping cart system, however, it will require manual intervention and of course it would be incomplete. I believe that the most important asset of your e-commerce business is your email lists. Therefore, concentrate on the implementation of a good autoresponder/list server system to "enhance" your present e-commerce website. There are several good ones on the market.

Look for providers that allow you to:

- Create multiple lists.
- Add prospects via a web form, email, or manually through a management console.
- Send out an unlimited number of autoresponder messages.
- Send out an unlimited number of email broadcasts.
- Set up and distribute a newsletter.

When setting up your autoresponder system, create one list for your "prospects" and another one for your "customers". Now, here's where you come in: when a person orders your product, you will have to perform the extra task of logging into your autoresponder system and manually remove them from the prospect list and add them to the customer list. This action will then trigger your customer autoresponder series of messages to be sent.

Remember, the key to building a successful e-commerce web site is to automate your marketing engine as much as possible and drive your prospects and customers back to your web site. This will certainly create a money magnet e-commerce web site for you!

© Izzy Camacho

****************

To learn more about website automation and to download the complimentary ebook, "Easy Ezine Marketing", visit Izzy Camacho at http://www.internet-marketing-made-easy.com/Automation.htm.

Izzy Camacho is an accomplished software developer with approximately 20 years of experience. He has a degree in computer science from a distinguished university. For the last several years he has been involved in the creation of web site applications for corporate America.Katleen Blog9972
Kai Blog58680

The Perfect Home Recording Studio

Home computer music recording has become extremely popular, both as a hobby and as a legitimate means of live recording and mixing. For the serious musician or recording technician, the computer/software combination offers ease of use and lower cost, and it requires less space than traditional methods of recording.

Recording can be accomplished by using a "mixing board" to pre-mix multiple signals with their corresponding analog effects (if desired) before sending them to the computer, or each "plain" signal can be recorded independently to its own track through a computer audio interface, software effects applied, and the individual tracks then mixed together.

Using a mixer and analog effects, one could conceivably record without the benefit of multiple tracks, resulting in the need for less expensive, more simplistic software. For much greater control and a more polished sound, a quality multitrack software with effects is preferred.

Although more difficult to learn and use, multitrack software provides many more options for the user. The cost for quality multitrack recording software can range from $40 to several hundred dollars. Don't let the low prices fool you though, many a great recording has been made with shareware recording software.

If you aren't experienced in multitrack recording, purchasing at the low end of the spectrum makes sense. It's best to choose a product that will accept plug-ins, though. Plug-ins are small pieces of software that provide various functions (typically effects) that can be installed into the multitrack software, providing greater flexibility to the sound engineer. Several companies produce audio software plug-ins of the vst or directx variety that will work with even low cost software. A number of the plug-ins are actually offered free of charge.

For the more serious enthusiast, the computer (pc) should contain at least a Pentium 4 or Athlon 64 processor, 200gb, 7200 rpm IDE or Serial ATA hard drive, 1 gigabyte of dram, a good video card, and a high quality sound card. Any on-board video should be disabled in the cmos setup and a quality graphics card with at least 64mb ram installed.

A flat panel monitor with a 19" screen is preferred over a crt. With the large viewing area, the video resolution can be set at 1280 x 1024, enabling more of the audio recording software to be viewed on the screen at one time.

On-board audio (if available) should also be disabled and a high quality sound card installed into the computer. Also, invest in a pair of quality, amplified, near-field monitors. These speakers are designed specifically for music recording. Remember, if you're serious about your recordings, you'll want the music to be reproduced as realistically as possible.

A computer audio interface of some sort is a real necessity. It should have 1/4" inputs for instruments such as electric guitars or keyboards, as well as XLR inputs for microphones. 48v phantom power should be avaiable for condensor mics, as well. A mixer could even be plugged into the audio interface if more flexibility is needed.

More and more, musicians are realizing the high quality and low costs associated with producing their own recordings, while those interested in the technical side of recording can see the increased benefits of digital recording, mixing and mastering.

Steve Leedy is a local government computer IT and webmaster with a keen interest in home music recording. His website, http://www.pcmusicstuff.com/ contains a variety of software and information for anyone interested in learning digital audio recording.Kylie Blog77444
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Things To Look For In A Management Membership Site Software In The Web

User-friendly Interface

It would be useless to obtain a sophisticated piece of software that claims all good functionality but you would not be able to use it. You really have to ensure that the management membership site software you purchase will not disappoint you and will truly serve to make things easier for you. A user-friendly interface will enable you to master the software more easily and you will be able to give less time for learning it and more time to actually using it for your purposes.

Usability

The software you buy for your membership site must be something that you can use conveniently. It must be easy to install, fast in loading and not intricate or prone to hang when you are using it simultaneously with other programs you use in your computer. You must also check the system requirements of the software to ensure that you get attain supreme functionality of your software and it is very much compatible with whatever you are using it with.

Affordability

How much does it cost? Is it under your budget? You must be able to weigh your options carefully. This will require you to really scour the market for this software and choose the best based on your needs and your available budget for this software. If you find something beyond your initial budget allotment but see that it is worth all that excess money, make the adjustments.

Company Credibility

Before buying anything, you must also check if the provider of the software is reliable in this field. You will be ensured of better service if there are more satisfied customers from the company you are buying your management software from. There are some companies which give more advanced features at a lower price, but if they are relatively new to the business and not yet established in this field, you may want to give a second though before buying from them.

Warranty and Effective Customer Service

Warranties of return if you get dissatisfied with the performance of the software, as well as the ready customer service available should you encounter glitches that require troubleshooting are essential and you must never take these for granted. The presence of a warranty ensures that the company is confident that you will be satisfied with their product and that they are willing to return your money if your expectations are not met. Companies with a no return, no exchange policy are much more riskier and may prove to be fatal if they are unreliable with their products.

Free Trials, if applicable

Free trial of the software will give you a feel for the product and allow you to gauge if it is really worth your money and time. Have as much free trials from different bands as you possibly can before making the decision of what brand to purchase. Check also once you try the software if they fit the exact descriptions they place when marketing the product.

Customizations of Features that can Suit Your Specific Needs

In line with checking for functionality, it is also very important that you can customize the software functions to suit your particular needs. Extra features will be useless if you will not find any concrete use for them. It is better to have a low end customizable software than have a high end one but not be able to truly use the benefits which require the extra dollar payments.

Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information about membership software or membership management software checkout http://www.extrememember.comKarna Blog96614
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Simple Web Design Steps to Improve Your Website's Readability

Websites that make their customers work to read them are not the best way to get business. Miniscule fonts, text in colours that make it hard to see against the background colour, and lines that are piled on top of each other are problems, but they're easy to correct. Let's jump right in and look at five easy fixes:

Format your text using CSS.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are the way to go - use one style sheet and control how text looks on your entire site. Make a change to the style sheet and your whole site is updated. It makes life a lot simpler

Make the font size big enough to read

Consider your target audience. Even if they are a group of teenage girls looking for new shoes, it's never a good idea to use tiny type. It doesn't have to be enormous, but up to a point, larger type is better. 12-pt Verdana is better than 8-pt Verdana.

Make the text contrast with its background.

The more contrast, the better. Black-on-white or white-on-black are examples of the highest contrast you can get. Use colours if you like, but if you squint at the page and your text basically vanishes, there's not enough contrast.

Give the lines room to breathe.

Don't stack lines on top of each other. Use the line-spacing directive in CSS and give it some space; I'll often set line-spacing to 140% of the height of a typical line.

Break text up into chunks.

No matter how good a writer you are, people don't want to read endless pages of text. Break it up by using headlines that reflect the subject of the paragraph(s) to follow so people can scan down to the parts that really interest them, or use bulleted lists to change the pace of the writing and slow down the scanning.

And finally (not one of the 5 Easy Ways to Improve Legibility but still quite important) check your spelling. Nothing irritates me more on a web page than spelling errors - it simply makes you look like you don't care enough to get it right. Use that ubiquitous spell-check tool.

Making your website's content more legible is easy. It doesn't take a lot of time, mainly common sense. The payoff will be text that's more readable, customers that stick around long enough to get your message, and improved credibility with your visitors.

Copyright 2007, Mark Webster Kizzee Blog8689
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Education Can Be A Lifelong Process

Studies have shown that seniors who spend time on educational activities have better cognitive function and retain their memories longer than seniors who do not. Additionally, attending educational programs give seniors the opportunity to interact with others of their age group and with younger people as well. This helps alleviate the isolation and depression that many seniors develop.

Seniors living in retirement communities will find no lack of educational opportunities. These communities offer courses on everything from foreign languages to ballroom dancing. There are myriad clubs and organizations available to residents. Outside lecturers and performers are often brought in for extra entertainment. But how can seniors living on their own, outside a retirement community, find appropriate educational programs?

The first place to look for such programs is at the local level. Most communities have a governmental department dedicated to serving seniors in the community. They often publish a list of activities available to area seniors and frequently are able to provide transportation to and from activities. In addition to meal programs and social gatherings, these departments often offer educational courses in many different subjects.

Local public schools are also a good source of interesting courses and opportunities. Many school systems publish a continuing education guide that lists the content, times and prices of classes that are held in the evening or on weekends at public schools. These courses range from academic enrichment like English as a Second Language, to arts and crafts and exercise classes. These courses are open to the community and typically consist of a wide range of people of all ages.

Community colleges also offer a wide range of continuing education experiences. Continuing education courses are taught on a non-credit basis and cost far less than for-credit courses. However, if a senior has the time and inclination community colleges are more than happy to enroll seniors in their degree programs. Seniors may be eligible for a tuition discount, depending on their age. Although some seniors may be intimidated by attending classes with much younger students, the experience can be extremely gratifying. Younger students often appreciate having seniors share their courses and instructors enjoy teaching seniors who are often more disciplined and interested than their younger counterparts.

Finally, the community library often offers activities specifically tailored to seniors like book clubs, discussion groups and the like. Libraries also offer computer literacy courses and courses on how to use the Internet, sometimes tailored specifically to seniors.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://4-edu.net/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://aboutoursociety.com/ and http://computerinformationsource.com/Lanita Blog63147
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"Do You Make This Marketing Mistake?" Harvard Business Review...

In a recent piece in the Harvard Business Review, the authors remind us what a normal person wants when they buy something. And no, it is NOT the thing they buy.

Harvard marketing professor Theodore Levitt, they write, used to tell his students,

"People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!" (Harvard Business Review, 12.05)

Think about your product. Are you selling its features, benefits, ingredients, or scientific validity? Or are you offering what someone might do or make happen with it?

Like the drill - it's used to make a hole where there was none before.

So when talking about your products, especially when you're talking to women, tell first how you used the products - what they did for you. Tell YOUR story (AKA Your First Date Script).

Women (a big fat 80% majority of network marketers) always want to know FIRST how others are using the products you are offering - what they DO with it. Not what's in it. That's a big difference between how women and men buy. (Marketing to Women, Barletta) .

So, what if you start with YOUR story? My company's introducing a product for women who... (...who want to get X done, like I did.). Then you tell how YOU use the product and how it helped you do X. How it gave you the "quarter-inch hole" you wanted (AKA Your First Date Script). You end it by asking for someone like you - someone who wants to get the thing done that YOU got done.

Professor Levitt had the insight: Consumers, us, want to get things done. We all buy stuff (and hire people) to get those things done, including buying it just to be able to show it or talk about it with others.

So, what 'got done' for you, by using your product?

Next ask yourself: might there be others out there who'd like to know about a product that did that for you?

And if the answer is yes, that is your market. Isn't it?

Kim Klaver is Harvard & Stanford educated. Her 20 years experience in network marketing have resulted in a popular blog, http://KimKlaverBlogs.com, a podcast, http://YourGreatThing.com and a giant resource site, http://BananaMarketing.com.Karon Blog34936
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Points To Consider

Internet Marketing

When you think about Marketing, what do you think of first? Which aspects of Marketing are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Millions of individuals are taking full advantage of the Internet these days. And they should considering how many great ways there are to earn extra cash. Some even make the decision to earn a living completely from home. Far too many folks are sick and tired of dealing with major companies and random lay-offs. You simply never know when it might be your turn to go. Therefore they begin making money online. Now, there are several ways one can go about this. Some people choose to start their very own Internet business, which can likely be ran from their home. While others dabble in adsense and make cash off of daily web traffic. Believe it or not, there is a great deal of money to be made this way.

It's crucial to consider what you need to avoid if your goal is making money online. Along with all the wonderful options at your fingertips, there are scams galore. I can't tell you how many scammers I've spotted online selling their hoopla. They pitch a great game about making money online. Virtually all of them will tell you how much can be made on the web if you do this and this, and then they proceed to pitch a product they're selling. Most likely it's a DVD or some sort of bogus software. This is where you have to stop and think for a moment. If they can really make so much cash doing what they're encouraging you to do, then why are they spending their time and effort pitching something to you? Wouldn't they be off making money online themselves? Instead they've chosen to sell a gimmicky product, which basically just amounts to some information. Obviously they weren't doing to well.

Once you begin to move beyond basic background information, you begin to realize that there's more to Marketing than you may have first thought.

When striving to earn cash via the web, avoid product pitches that guarantee riches. You can attain the crucial information you need for starting an online business, building websites and earning adsense revenue, or selling products via auctions, just by scouring the web. It's all free. Begin by contemplating how you want to start making money online and what aspect of web-business you'd excel at. The more time and effort you put into your online money-making, the more turn-over you'll surely see.

As your knowledge about Marketing continues to grow, you will begin to see how Marketing fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

Warwick Motley is the webmaster of :- Kora Blog16373
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7 Guaranteed Ways To Increase Your Website Traffic

Internet businesses can be very profitable, tapping the vast resource that is the World Wide Web. But it is not as simple as simply setting up a website or an online shop and watching the money come in! The importance of generating traffic for your website cannot be stressed enough, and almost all articles you will read about online success will agree.

Traffic generation should be planned along with the plan for the website itself, and should start as soon, or even before, the website itself is published online. The following are some surefire ways to increase your website traffic.

1) Invest in good advertisement with the popular search engines.

Google and Yahoo are the top two search engines on the Internet, and these two sites draw huge amounts of traffic. They also offer great advertising schemes, Google with its Adwords and Yahoo with Overture. A lot of websites feature these advertising schemes, and you can be assured that your ad will be displayed quite widely, and will get readership.

Of course, advertising with Google or Yahoo will not come free of charge. If you have the money to spare, and feel that better advertising will benefit your online business, then by all means deal with the best and sign up with Google Adwords or Yahoo Overture.

2) Trade links with other sites and online shops.

Link trades or link exchanges are when two websites agree to feature hyperlinks to each other?s websites on their respective websites. These links can usually be found in a list, or sometimes on a separate page on the website. Link exchanges can benefit both parties, as the traffic to each can then ?cross over? to the other website.

These are also free, requiring only an agreement between the two parties. This means that you can work on creating a lot of link exchanges (thus drawing more traffic) without having to spend a penny!

3) Market virally.

Viral marketing is a new form of marketing that originated on the Internet. Viral marketing is different from conventional forms of advertising by being undercover, as it were. Usually, creative videos or games, or interesting articles, are spread on the Internet through blogs and other sites. The company?s name is actually attached to these viral pieces (even just a logo and tagline at the end of the video, or on one corner of the game window).

Viral marketing is low-cost, but depends heavily on the creativity and attractiveness of the viral pieces you use to market your company.

4) Determine and use the proper search keywords and keyword phrases for your site.

Search engines are essential tools for anyone on the Internet, as they allow easy access to desired information or services. Online businesses should take care to make their websites search engine friendly ? that is, easily accessible by these search engines. The process of improving a website with regard to search engines is called search engine optimization. This usually consists of creating new content for the website which includes the specific keywords and keyword phrases associated with the business of your company.

5) Create articles to spread awareness and increase interest in your site.

Similar to the previous tip, you can write articles about subjects related to your company?s field. For instance, a car dealership can create articles about car sales or car parts. These articles can be put up on the company website itself, or submitted to other sites that deal with the same subjects as the company.

6) Participate in forums and create your own online communities.

Forums are great ways to advertise your site. If more and more people become convinced that your company provides quality service, then you can gain an online following. Take advantage of this and try to lead it to form a full-blown online community. This community will not only maintain your current market, but also attract new customers.

7) Finally, make newsletters available.

Newsletters are another way of increasing awareness of and interest in your company. Just be sure that you can provide good information and quality content, and people will subscribe to your newsletter and help spread the word about your company.

Phill Johnson is a traffic strategist expert who helps service professionals, small business owners and marketing professionals to get more traffic and sales using traffic generation tactics that works. To learn more on how to increase web traffic, please visit: http://SecretOfTrafficsRevealed.comLacy Blog93875
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