I have realised with dismay the frustration one has to get before one gets information about activities on the floor of the stock exchange. I recently visited the site of the NSE and realised that to get information about daily trades, I must be a subscriber with a minimum annual fee of N15000. I then decidedd to visit the NASDAQ and amazingly, I didn't see any login nor subscription link.
I don't know when this corruption would stop
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Detroit exhibition
Detroit carmakers were trying to impress at a recent expo.
DETROIT – We're different, and our new stuff is really good. In a nutshell, that's what General Motors, Ford and Chrysler tried to tell consumers — and taxpayers — Sunday as they rolled out an array of new vehicles at the North American International Auto Show.
They told their stories in different ways, with Chrysler LLC making its senior executives available to assure people that it remains a viable company. General Motors Corp. held a pep rally with hundreds of cheering employees and supporters who watched a parade of 17 new and upcoming vehicles. Ford Motor Co. emphasized its plans for electric vehicles, joining the list of automakers that have promised one next year.
The fanfare, on opening day of the Detroit show's press preview, comes after a year of dismal sales that forced GM and Chrysler to get $17.4 billion in federal loans to stay alive. Ford doesn't need money now but says it might in 2010 if U.S. sales don't improve.
But industry analysts say the automakers could still be in trouble this year if U.S. auto sales don't recover. Several are predicting annual sales of around 10.5 million — almost 6 million below 2007 levels — as consumers delay major purchases due to economic uncertainty. In the third quarter of last year, GM and Ford each spent more than $1 billion per month above their income.
On Sunday, the U.S.-based automakers touted new products with a focus on fuel efficiency that they say will help return them to financial health and ensure that their cars and trucks will roll off assembly lines for years to come.
GM said it would build a 40-mile-per-gallon minicar for the U.S. market, and it unveiled an electric-powered Cadillac concept car.
Ford announced plans to put a battery-powered commercial van on the market in 2010, with an electric car coming a year later, followed by plug-in versions of its gas-electric hybrid vehicles in 2012.
Chrysler showed off a sleek new midsize electric concept car called the 200C, and one of its executives said it could be the inspiration for a new midsize car to compete with Toyota's top-selling Camry.
Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli told reporters that while its key new products won't show up in dealer showrooms until next year, the Auburn Hills automaker expects to survive 2009 and remain an independent company.
Yet many analysts say that because of Chrysler's 30 percent sales drop last year and 53 percent decline in December, and a model lineup that doesn't change significantly this year, the company will be forced to sell itself to another automaker or be sold off in pieces by majority owner Cerberus Capital Management LP, a New York private equity firm.
Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press said dealers are reporting they are losing 25 percent of sales in showrooms due to a lack of available credit, and says sales will improve if credit loosens. He also said the December sales drop was due to an intentional cut in low-profit sales to rental car companies and other fleet buyers.
Nardelli said the company came out with the new Dodge Ram pickup, Journey crossover and Challenger sports car in 2008, all excellent products that should sell in a better economic environment.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner said his company's restructuring plans submitted to Congress, which include concessions from the United Auto Workers union and other cost cuts, combined with GM's lineup of new products, will make the company prosper when the worldwide auto market recovers.
"We'll be in a position to run the business at break-even or profitable at a much, much smaller industry than frankly a year ago that we ever felt would be possible to deal with," Wagoner said.
The new vehicles GM introduced Sunday included the Chevrolet Spark subcompact, which was called the Beat when GM unveiled it as a concept car in 2007. The three-door hatchback with a 1.2-liter turbocharged engine is about the size of a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris and is set to go on sale in Europe next year and in the U.S. in 2011.
GM also announced that the Chevrolet Orlando seven-passenger crossover vehicle will go on sale in North America that same year.
But the surprise of the automaker's event was the unveiling of the Cadillac Converj concept car, which is designed to go 40 miles on electric power alone after being recharged from a standard wall outlet. A small gasoline engine would extend the range to hundreds of miles.
It's the same powertrain technology GM is using in the Chevrolet Volt, a much-anticipated extended range vehicle set to go on sale next year.
GM's Wagoner said the Detroit automaker's vehicles are smaller, smarter and more fuel efficient, with "enough towing capacity" to pull GM out of its current troubles.
Toyota Motor Corp. confirmed plans to have an all-electric vehicle on U.S. roads by 2012, introducing an ultra-compact battery-powered concept car at this year's Detroit show. It also unveiled the 2010 Lexus HS250h sedan that will go on sale this summer. It's the first standalone gas-electric vehicle for the Japanese company's luxury nameplate.
Honda Motor Co. unveiled its next-generation hybrid, the Insight, which will arrive in U.S. showrooms in April. The much-anticipated car is expected to compete head-on with the Toyota Prius, which remains the top-selling hybrid in the U.S.
BMW AG said it's ramping up its production of gas-electric hybrid vehicles, giving consumers hybrid options with the 7 Series and X6 crossover vehicle.
Volkswagen AG showed off a concept sports car — the Bluesport — that is expected to get 55 miles per gallon based on clean diesel technology, while Lamborghini showed off its new Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder, which sprints to 62 mph in four seconds and gets 20 mpg on the highway, respectable for such a high-end sports car.
The 2009 Mini Cooper convertible made its global debut. The four-seater has a powered soft-top roof that allows the driver to open and close it while going up to 20 mph.
___
AP Auto Writer Bree Fowler reported from New York. Associated Press Writers Kimberly S. Johnson, Ken Thomas and David Runk in Detroit and Dan Strumpf in New York contributed to this report.
DETROIT – We're different, and our new stuff is really good. In a nutshell, that's what General Motors, Ford and Chrysler tried to tell consumers — and taxpayers — Sunday as they rolled out an array of new vehicles at the North American International Auto Show.
They told their stories in different ways, with Chrysler LLC making its senior executives available to assure people that it remains a viable company. General Motors Corp. held a pep rally with hundreds of cheering employees and supporters who watched a parade of 17 new and upcoming vehicles. Ford Motor Co. emphasized its plans for electric vehicles, joining the list of automakers that have promised one next year.
The fanfare, on opening day of the Detroit show's press preview, comes after a year of dismal sales that forced GM and Chrysler to get $17.4 billion in federal loans to stay alive. Ford doesn't need money now but says it might in 2010 if U.S. sales don't improve.
But industry analysts say the automakers could still be in trouble this year if U.S. auto sales don't recover. Several are predicting annual sales of around 10.5 million — almost 6 million below 2007 levels — as consumers delay major purchases due to economic uncertainty. In the third quarter of last year, GM and Ford each spent more than $1 billion per month above their income.
On Sunday, the U.S.-based automakers touted new products with a focus on fuel efficiency that they say will help return them to financial health and ensure that their cars and trucks will roll off assembly lines for years to come.
GM said it would build a 40-mile-per-gallon minicar for the U.S. market, and it unveiled an electric-powered Cadillac concept car.
Ford announced plans to put a battery-powered commercial van on the market in 2010, with an electric car coming a year later, followed by plug-in versions of its gas-electric hybrid vehicles in 2012.
Chrysler showed off a sleek new midsize electric concept car called the 200C, and one of its executives said it could be the inspiration for a new midsize car to compete with Toyota's top-selling Camry.
Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli told reporters that while its key new products won't show up in dealer showrooms until next year, the Auburn Hills automaker expects to survive 2009 and remain an independent company.
Yet many analysts say that because of Chrysler's 30 percent sales drop last year and 53 percent decline in December, and a model lineup that doesn't change significantly this year, the company will be forced to sell itself to another automaker or be sold off in pieces by majority owner Cerberus Capital Management LP, a New York private equity firm.
Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press said dealers are reporting they are losing 25 percent of sales in showrooms due to a lack of available credit, and says sales will improve if credit loosens. He also said the December sales drop was due to an intentional cut in low-profit sales to rental car companies and other fleet buyers.
Nardelli said the company came out with the new Dodge Ram pickup, Journey crossover and Challenger sports car in 2008, all excellent products that should sell in a better economic environment.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner said his company's restructuring plans submitted to Congress, which include concessions from the United Auto Workers union and other cost cuts, combined with GM's lineup of new products, will make the company prosper when the worldwide auto market recovers.
"We'll be in a position to run the business at break-even or profitable at a much, much smaller industry than frankly a year ago that we ever felt would be possible to deal with," Wagoner said.
The new vehicles GM introduced Sunday included the Chevrolet Spark subcompact, which was called the Beat when GM unveiled it as a concept car in 2007. The three-door hatchback with a 1.2-liter turbocharged engine is about the size of a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris and is set to go on sale in Europe next year and in the U.S. in 2011.
GM also announced that the Chevrolet Orlando seven-passenger crossover vehicle will go on sale in North America that same year.
But the surprise of the automaker's event was the unveiling of the Cadillac Converj concept car, which is designed to go 40 miles on electric power alone after being recharged from a standard wall outlet. A small gasoline engine would extend the range to hundreds of miles.
It's the same powertrain technology GM is using in the Chevrolet Volt, a much-anticipated extended range vehicle set to go on sale next year.
GM's Wagoner said the Detroit automaker's vehicles are smaller, smarter and more fuel efficient, with "enough towing capacity" to pull GM out of its current troubles.
Toyota Motor Corp. confirmed plans to have an all-electric vehicle on U.S. roads by 2012, introducing an ultra-compact battery-powered concept car at this year's Detroit show. It also unveiled the 2010 Lexus HS250h sedan that will go on sale this summer. It's the first standalone gas-electric vehicle for the Japanese company's luxury nameplate.
Honda Motor Co. unveiled its next-generation hybrid, the Insight, which will arrive in U.S. showrooms in April. The much-anticipated car is expected to compete head-on with the Toyota Prius, which remains the top-selling hybrid in the U.S.
BMW AG said it's ramping up its production of gas-electric hybrid vehicles, giving consumers hybrid options with the 7 Series and X6 crossover vehicle.
Volkswagen AG showed off a concept sports car — the Bluesport — that is expected to get 55 miles per gallon based on clean diesel technology, while Lamborghini showed off its new Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder, which sprints to 62 mph in four seconds and gets 20 mpg on the highway, respectable for such a high-end sports car.
The 2009 Mini Cooper convertible made its global debut. The four-seater has a powered soft-top roof that allows the driver to open and close it while going up to 20 mph.
___
AP Auto Writer Bree Fowler reported from New York. Associated Press Writers Kimberly S. Johnson, Ken Thomas and David Runk in Detroit and Dan Strumpf in New York contributed to this report.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Bazillion credit contest
Are you a blogger and wishes to get more audience for your blog , there is a contest going on right now at entrecard
Prizes I'll like to win:
Games, Downloads, Walkthroughs - 25,000ec
Google Stalking - 20,001ec
Fragile Heart - 20,000ec
Atlanta Realtors - 10,000ec
The Beauty Denominator - 5,000ec
Norwegian Programmer - 5,000ec
nuke it dot org - 5000ec
Lofty Matters - 3000ec
Random Detox - 3000ec
Guilty Pleasures - 3000ec
Freebies - 3000ec
Project Kickass - 3000ec
Total Web Review - 3000ec
Realm of Prosperity - 2000ec
Fantasy Baseball Rankings - 2000ec
Webbiestuffs - 2000ec
Tazdog - 1500ec
Niacin Flush - 1000ec
Reading Lounge - 1000ec
Fendi Bags For Sale - 1000ec
Michael Aulia - 1000ec
Fish Oil Benefits - 1000ec
Better Interpersonal Communication - 1000ec
Singaporean in London - 1000ec
Diva Fabulosa - 1000ec
Expat wife blogging - 1000ec
Baby Frog Gifts For The Princess In Your Life - 1000ec
Health and Beauty Diva - 1000ec
Certified Pinoy Blogger - 1000ec
Make Money Online With Makoy - 1000ec
Versace Designer Sunglasses - 1000ec
Botany Extracts Aromatherapy Massage Oils - 1000ec
Makoy’s Take On The Arts And The Entertainment - 1000ec
Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff - 1000ec
PRIZES THAT ARE NOT CREDITS, BUT STILL SPECTACULAR
Total Web Review - 1 month text link ad, 1 month 125×125 ad and a Blog Review (that’s three separate prizes)
Momma Wannabe - 1 month text link ad
Charcotrip travel blog - 1 Month 125×125 ad.
Celebrity Pics - A mousepad.
HOW TO ENTER:
1. Write about this contest and just mention the one prize you want to win. Then leave a comment on this blog post with the link for us to see. 1 ENTRY
2. Write about this contest on your blog, mention the prize you want to win and copy ALL of the sponsors. Then leave a comment on this blog post with the link for us to see. 3 ENTRIES
This contest will end exactly at 12:01 AM on 1/31/09.Prizes I'll like to win:
- Bazillion entrecard credit
- 1 month text link ad
- 1 month 125×125 ad
- a Blog Review
- 1 month text link ad
- 1 Month 125×125 ad
- A mousepad.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Investment in Crude oil
Just before Christmas Eve 2008, oil prices fell to their lowest level in four-and-a-half years -- $33.87 per barrel of NYMEX Light Sweet Crude.
Bad Santa
So forgive petro-investors if they're looking a bit glum these days. Even after Santa's conciliatory post-holiday boost in oil prices, the fact remains that when Christmas arrived, all these guys and gals got was (if you'll forgive the inexorable mixed hydrocarbon metaphor) a lump of coal.
Now, it's worth pointing out at this point that, as far as prices have fallen, we're still a ways away from the lowest price in recent memory -- $10.72, a nadir hit on Dec. 10, 1998, or $13.97 in today-dollars.
Today, oil trades for $42.63. In other words, for it to regain the crest of its recent super-spike -- $145.29, reached on Independence Day Eve 2008 -- it must more than triple in price. To revisit its lows of the decade, it must fall only 60%. And so I submit to you that ...
We're closer to the bottom than the top
Now, I'm not necessarily saying we'll see $145 oil, but at least based on these historical prices there's about 70% downside versus 240% upside. On the face of it, that makes for an interesting proposition, yes? For those of us who missed Big Oil's last bull run, now looks like a pretty propitious moment to jump in and catch the rebound.
So let's take a moment to consider a few options for how we might accomplish that:
| Price on Dec. 5, 2003 | Recent Price | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) | $5.60 | $27.08 | 394% |
| ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) | $36.31 | $79.09 | 137% |
| Chevron (NYSE: CVX) | $33.46 | $74.24 | 122% |
| Transocean (NYSE: RIG) | $21.75 | $56.63 | 160% |
| Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) | $11.54 | $21.16 | 83% |
Data courtesy of Yahoo! Finance. Stock prices adjusted for splits and dividends.
As it turns out, oil stocks haven't been hit as hard as oil prices. To the contrary, despite oil barrels selling for little more than they fetched five years ago, oil stocks are sitting on sizable gains. Why might that be?
Super-spike me!
I suspect that investors' memories are still fixated on that super-spike price of six months ago. Years of watching oil go nowhere but up conditioned us all to believe that this was the normal, usual, natural state of affairs. All the evidence seemed to point this way, right? After all:
- We're not making any more dinosaurs, hence no new oil.
- The cheapest oil has already been extracted. What's left is going to cost us.
- Remember China and India? They're becoming richer than ever before and signing up for driver's ed.
- Two-thirds of petroleum in the U.S. is used in transportation, so even if green energy companies like Suntech (NYSE: STP) and SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) achieve grid parity, that won't have too meaningful an impact on oil prices in the absence of plug-in hybrid use.
As so oil bulls say that oil prices naturally want to gush, and today's downturn is just a temporary loss of pressure -- easily fixed. Problem is, with the global economy in recession, and oil demand dropping like a stone, it may take longer than people think for revenues to resume pumping.
Manage your expectations
But here's the thing: By the time oil is finally ready to rebound, people's recent experience may well have shifted once again. The longer oil stays down, the more people will expect this new trend to continue, and undervalue oil companies accordingly. That's just the way the human brain works -- we tend to take the recent past, and project it into the future. Fortunately, clever Fools can take this built-in psychological glitch and turn it into an opportunity for profit. Here's how.
Fools must:
- Recognize that when the reversal comes, it will surprise all of us. No one can time the market, so spread your investments out over time.
- When you do invest, demand a margin of safety, and make sure to buy with a 3-to-5-year time horizon. This process will take time to play out.
- Meanwhile, make sure your stock pays you to be patient, in the form of regular, robust dividends.
Ready to get started? Then sign up today for a free trial of Motley Fool Income Investor, where we have eight active energy recommendations that we think will profit from this opportunity.
Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any company named above. Petroleo Brasileiro is a Motley Fool Income Investor recommendation. Suntech Power is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers selection. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy has been collecting dividends for 15 years, and is saving up to buy a Prius.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Under 1000 dollar homes
Like a blogger once commented on my post, Real estate prices are now going for bargains. Here is a post I got from yahoo
The real estate market is so awful that buyers are now scooping up homes for as little as $1,000.
There are 18 listings in Flint, Mich., for under $3,000, according to Realtor.com. There are 22 in Indianapolis, 46 in Cleveland and a whopping 709 in Detroit. All of these communities have been hit hard by foreclosures, and most of these homes are being sold by the lenders that repossessed them.
"Foreclosures have turned banks into property management companies," said Heather Fernandez, a spokeswoman for Trulia.com, the real estate Web site. "And it's often cheaper for them to give these homes away rather than try to get market value for them."
In Detroit for instance, Century 21 Villa owner Randy Eissa has a three-bedroom, one-bath bungalow of about 1,000 square feet listed at just $500. It's a nice place with lots of light, but it needs a total rehabilitation inside, which Eissa estimates will cost between $15,000 and $20,000. But that's not bad, considering that the home last sold for $72,000 in late 2007, according to Zillow.com.
With prices this low, lenders aren't looking to make any money on these deals. They just want to get these houses off their books, so they don't have to bear the cost of maintaining them and paying property taxes.
In fact, the $500, $1,000 or $3,000 that a buyer forks over often goes straight to the real estate brokers as a commission. And often the lenders have to kick in extra cash to make it worthwhile for a realtor even take the listings, according to Eissa.
"Usually these homes are bank repossessions that the lenders have already tried to sell on the market, perhaps then put up for auction without success and then re-listed," he said.
Fixer uppers
These houses are almost always small fixer-uppers. Wiring, plumbing and heating systems have to be replaced, walls and ceilings sheet-rocked, plumbing and light fixtures installed and new kitchen cabinets and counters put in. Few come with working appliances.
Often buyers are legally required to rehab these homes to bring them up to code. In Detroit, buyers are required to sign Affidavits of Compliance Responsibility, which obligates them to make repairs outlined in an inspection report. Only after that can a certificate of occupancy will be issued, which makes the house legal to live in.
But even factoring in these costs, they're still bargains.
And as the housing crisis drags on, there are more and more four-figure listings popping up, as lenders try to unload their repossessed properties.
Cleveland is another city with many incredibly inexpensive homes. On Ardenall Avenue, in East Cleveland, McMullen Realty has a listing for a four-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath house for $1,900. It's been vandalized inside, but the outside is in good shape.
It features a deep front porch with Doric columns, double dormer windows and a separate garage. It's an excellent opportunity, according to agent Tonya Stoudamire. The last time it sold was in March of 2008 when it went for $16,677, according to Zillow.
"East Cleveland has a beautiful housing stock," she said. "These houses just need someone to come in and love them a little."
Another property for sale in Birmingham Ala. is priced at $1,900. The one-bedroom, one bathroom home was built in 1923 and has major fire damage, according to its listing broker, Tom Murphy Realty. The listing states that "Rooms are hard to distinguish."
But it's on a nice-sized lot, about 0.38 acre, close to downtown and transportation and has all utilities. Nearby, comparable homes in good condition sell for about $100,000, according to Zillow.
Rehab money
Most of these $1,000 homes can be renovated relatively inexpensively, and buyers can actually get government help to finance these repairs. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a special loan program for just such purchases.
Its rehabilitation mortgage insurance, available through FHA-approved lenders, was designed to encourage banks to issue a single, long-term loan to buyers that covers both the acquisition and rehabilitation of a property, according to HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan.
He adds that there may also be grant money available from the $4 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was a part of the massive housing rescue bill passed by Congress in July, to assist buyers with grants for down payments.
Buying homes like these is certainly a leap of faith; they're generally not in the best of neighborhoods and they're often surrounded by many other vacant and deteriorating homes. Still, some of these neighborhoods may turn around and provide residents with good, dirt-cheap housing.
"It's a sad time," said Stoudamire. "But it's also a time of opportunity, especially for low and moderate income people."
The real estate market is so awful that buyers are now scooping up homes for as little as $1,000.
There are 18 listings in Flint, Mich., for under $3,000, according to Realtor.com. There are 22 in Indianapolis, 46 in Cleveland and a whopping 709 in Detroit. All of these communities have been hit hard by foreclosures, and most of these homes are being sold by the lenders that repossessed them.
"Foreclosures have turned banks into property management companies," said Heather Fernandez, a spokeswoman for Trulia.com, the real estate Web site. "And it's often cheaper for them to give these homes away rather than try to get market value for them."
In Detroit for instance, Century 21 Villa owner Randy Eissa has a three-bedroom, one-bath bungalow of about 1,000 square feet listed at just $500. It's a nice place with lots of light, but it needs a total rehabilitation inside, which Eissa estimates will cost between $15,000 and $20,000. But that's not bad, considering that the home last sold for $72,000 in late 2007, according to Zillow.com.
With prices this low, lenders aren't looking to make any money on these deals. They just want to get these houses off their books, so they don't have to bear the cost of maintaining them and paying property taxes.
In fact, the $500, $1,000 or $3,000 that a buyer forks over often goes straight to the real estate brokers as a commission. And often the lenders have to kick in extra cash to make it worthwhile for a realtor even take the listings, according to Eissa.
"Usually these homes are bank repossessions that the lenders have already tried to sell on the market, perhaps then put up for auction without success and then re-listed," he said.
Fixer uppers
These houses are almost always small fixer-uppers. Wiring, plumbing and heating systems have to be replaced, walls and ceilings sheet-rocked, plumbing and light fixtures installed and new kitchen cabinets and counters put in. Few come with working appliances.
Often buyers are legally required to rehab these homes to bring them up to code. In Detroit, buyers are required to sign Affidavits of Compliance Responsibility, which obligates them to make repairs outlined in an inspection report. Only after that can a certificate of occupancy will be issued, which makes the house legal to live in.
But even factoring in these costs, they're still bargains.
And as the housing crisis drags on, there are more and more four-figure listings popping up, as lenders try to unload their repossessed properties.
Cleveland is another city with many incredibly inexpensive homes. On Ardenall Avenue, in East Cleveland, McMullen Realty has a listing for a four-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath house for $1,900. It's been vandalized inside, but the outside is in good shape.
It features a deep front porch with Doric columns, double dormer windows and a separate garage. It's an excellent opportunity, according to agent Tonya Stoudamire. The last time it sold was in March of 2008 when it went for $16,677, according to Zillow.
"East Cleveland has a beautiful housing stock," she said. "These houses just need someone to come in and love them a little."
Another property for sale in Birmingham Ala. is priced at $1,900. The one-bedroom, one bathroom home was built in 1923 and has major fire damage, according to its listing broker, Tom Murphy Realty. The listing states that "Rooms are hard to distinguish."
But it's on a nice-sized lot, about 0.38 acre, close to downtown and transportation and has all utilities. Nearby, comparable homes in good condition sell for about $100,000, according to Zillow.
Rehab money
Most of these $1,000 homes can be renovated relatively inexpensively, and buyers can actually get government help to finance these repairs. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a special loan program for just such purchases.
Its rehabilitation mortgage insurance, available through FHA-approved lenders, was designed to encourage banks to issue a single, long-term loan to buyers that covers both the acquisition and rehabilitation of a property, according to HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan.
He adds that there may also be grant money available from the $4 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was a part of the massive housing rescue bill passed by Congress in July, to assist buyers with grants for down payments.
Buying homes like these is certainly a leap of faith; they're generally not in the best of neighborhoods and they're often surrounded by many other vacant and deteriorating homes. Still, some of these neighborhoods may turn around and provide residents with good, dirt-cheap housing.
"It's a sad time," said Stoudamire. "But it's also a time of opportunity, especially for low and moderate income people."
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Marketing summary
Staying up-to-date with online marketing
The key now is to apply what you’ve learned to your business and continue to learn more. The Internet is continually changing. Six months down the road, the most effective marketing strategies may be completely different; therefore, you must stay up-to-date with what is working and what is not.
The best way to do this is to stay close to different Internet marketing websites. Many of these websites have free monthly newsletters that you can subscribe to as well as tons of free content on their sites. Some of the best marketing sites online are the following:
www.marketingtips.com
www.wilsonweb.com
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.mycomputer.com
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.jimtools.com
www.ts100.com
www.business2.com
www.trafficzilla.com
www.emarketer.com
www.websitegarage.com
www.webmarketingnow.com
www.webpromote.com
www.efuse.com
www.proboost.com
Converting traffic to sales
As you implement the marketing and continue to see the amount of traffic you get to the site increase, you will want to focus more and more on converting that traffic to actual sales. Much of that conversion comes in the marketing and the preparation for the marketing of your site. However, if you need additional ideas, read the following article: www.clickz.com/sales/traffic.
Marketing and conversion are a continuous, intertwined process. You'll find the strategies that work best for you, but there's always room for improvement. Make sure to stay close to your website tracking statistics. You may find that you are losing most of your visitors at the same place on your website. If this is the case, you will want to change around that page to keep people from leaving from it. Some great tracking programs are at www.webtrends.com and www.mycomputer.com.
Creating multiple streams of income
Understand that most people don't strike it rich on their first business start-up. It is a learning process. Therefore, utilize the information and knowledge you've gained to apply to other possible Internet start-ups to create multiple streams of income for yourself. If doesn't take much more time to market five Internet businesses as it does to market just one.
Internet Success Team
If you are interested in further information and guidance on marketing your online business, you can check our MyBusinessKit.com’s Internet Success Team. The Internet Success Team consists of a group of individuals who have been down the road of online success. They’ve been in the same place you are now, and they know how to help you become successful.
As part of the Internet Success Team, you will receive a personal coach to walk you through business topics such as business set-up principles, website design strategies, and online marketing tactics.
To learn more about the Internet Success Team, call 801-787-6597.
Online websites and resources
www.marketingtips.com
www.wilsonweb.com
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.mycomputer.com
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.jimtools.com
www.ts100.com
www.business2.com
www.trafficzilla.com
www.emarketer.com
www.websitegarage.com
www.webmarketingnow.com
www.webpromote.com
www.efuse.com
www.proboost.com
www.clickz.com/sales/trafficwww.webtrends.com
The key now is to apply what you’ve learned to your business and continue to learn more. The Internet is continually changing. Six months down the road, the most effective marketing strategies may be completely different; therefore, you must stay up-to-date with what is working and what is not.
The best way to do this is to stay close to different Internet marketing websites. Many of these websites have free monthly newsletters that you can subscribe to as well as tons of free content on their sites. Some of the best marketing sites online are the following:
www.marketingtips.com
www.wilsonweb.com
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.mycomputer.com
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.jimtools.com
www.ts100.com
www.business2.com
www.trafficzilla.com
www.emarketer.com
www.websitegarage.com
www.webmarketingnow.com
www.webpromote.com
www.efuse.com
www.proboost.com
Converting traffic to sales
As you implement the marketing and continue to see the amount of traffic you get to the site increase, you will want to focus more and more on converting that traffic to actual sales. Much of that conversion comes in the marketing and the preparation for the marketing of your site. However, if you need additional ideas, read the following article: www.clickz.com/sales/traffic.
Marketing and conversion are a continuous, intertwined process. You'll find the strategies that work best for you, but there's always room for improvement. Make sure to stay close to your website tracking statistics. You may find that you are losing most of your visitors at the same place on your website. If this is the case, you will want to change around that page to keep people from leaving from it. Some great tracking programs are at www.webtrends.com and www.mycomputer.com.
Creating multiple streams of income
Understand that most people don't strike it rich on their first business start-up. It is a learning process. Therefore, utilize the information and knowledge you've gained to apply to other possible Internet start-ups to create multiple streams of income for yourself. If doesn't take much more time to market five Internet businesses as it does to market just one.
Internet Success Team
If you are interested in further information and guidance on marketing your online business, you can check our MyBusinessKit.com’s Internet Success Team. The Internet Success Team consists of a group of individuals who have been down the road of online success. They’ve been in the same place you are now, and they know how to help you become successful.
As part of the Internet Success Team, you will receive a personal coach to walk you through business topics such as business set-up principles, website design strategies, and online marketing tactics.
To learn more about the Internet Success Team, call 801-787-6597.
Online websites and resources
www.marketingtips.com
www.wilsonweb.com
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.mycomputer.com
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.jimtools.com
www.ts100.com
www.business2.com
www.trafficzilla.com
www.emarketer.com
www.websitegarage.com
www.webmarketingnow.com
www.webpromote.com
www.efuse.com
www.proboost.com
www.clickz.com/sales/trafficwww.webtrends.com
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Offline marketing
The importance of offline marketing
Many website owners will put together a site and then think that they can advertise to the whole world, which they can. However, many people fail to realize that there is a local market in their area that they will also want to market to. That is done through offline marketing strategies.
Examples of offline marketing strategies
There are hundreds of offline marketing strategies that you could apply to an online business. Here will be listed a few of them; however, your imagination is the limit.
You will want to be creative and apply as many offline marketing strategies as you can to your website. That doesn’t mean that you should be thinking about how to design a Superbowl commercial, but there are many offline marketing tactics that can be applied to you website at a very low cost that can bring is tremendous traffic. Some examples of offline marketing strategies are listed below:
§ Word-of-mouth advertising
§ Hand out business cards
§ Put a sticker or magnet with your website address on your car
§ Sponsor a little-league baseball team
§ Hand out flyers
§ Get a billboard ad
§ Post an ad in a newspaper or magazine
§ Create a radio ad
§ Speak at seminars or hold free conferences about the subject of your website
Keys to a successful offline marketing program
Get your website address on everything – every brochure, receipt, box, anything. Make sure your website address is on it all.
Be creative. The only limit is your imagination.
Start small and inexpensive. Don’t do a commercial for your first offline marketing strategy. Start with small, inexpensive tactics, like handing out flyers for your website or putting a sticker with your website address on your car.
Online websites and resources
www.allbusiness.com
www.inc.com
www.businessknowhow.com
www.americanexpress.com
www.nolo.com
www.gosmallbiz.com
Many website owners will put together a site and then think that they can advertise to the whole world, which they can. However, many people fail to realize that there is a local market in their area that they will also want to market to. That is done through offline marketing strategies.
Examples of offline marketing strategies
There are hundreds of offline marketing strategies that you could apply to an online business. Here will be listed a few of them; however, your imagination is the limit.
You will want to be creative and apply as many offline marketing strategies as you can to your website. That doesn’t mean that you should be thinking about how to design a Superbowl commercial, but there are many offline marketing tactics that can be applied to you website at a very low cost that can bring is tremendous traffic. Some examples of offline marketing strategies are listed below:
§ Word-of-mouth advertising
§ Hand out business cards
§ Put a sticker or magnet with your website address on your car
§ Sponsor a little-league baseball team
§ Hand out flyers
§ Get a billboard ad
§ Post an ad in a newspaper or magazine
§ Create a radio ad
§ Speak at seminars or hold free conferences about the subject of your website
Keys to a successful offline marketing program
Get your website address on everything – every brochure, receipt, box, anything. Make sure your website address is on it all.
Be creative. The only limit is your imagination.
Start small and inexpensive. Don’t do a commercial for your first offline marketing strategy. Start with small, inexpensive tactics, like handing out flyers for your website or putting a sticker with your website address on your car.
Online websites and resources
www.allbusiness.com
www.inc.com
www.businessknowhow.com
www.americanexpress.com
www.nolo.com
www.gosmallbiz.com
Friday, January 02, 2009
Unique marketing sites
Why unique marketing sites
There are a lot of websites out there that offer great products and services that help with Internet marketing that don't fall under any of the categories we've covered. These sites we categorize at unique marketing websites. For example, Respond.com falls under this category.
Finding unique marketing sites
You can find these different unique marketing websites through Internet marketing newsletters. Within these different newsletters, you will find sponsoring companies with ads for their businesses. These companies usually offer some type of product or service that can help with Internet marketing campaigns. A list of good Internet marketing newsletter websites will be given in the Marketing Conclusion.
Free traffic sites
Many sites have offers for ways to generate "free" traffic to your site. Some are better than others. Most of these are not methods to center your marketing campaign around; however, they can help to generate additional traffic to your site. Some of the free traffic methods are listed below:
Browser Start Pages. When you set your home page on your browser to a Browser Start Page, you earn credits that translate into hits to your site. Some sites that offer this are www.startblaze.com, www.trafficg.com, and www.nomorehits.com.
Exit Exchanges. When a surfer accesses a page with an exit exchange code, a new window is opened in the background. The ad waits in the background for the user to close their current window. Once closed the ad in the background receives the full attention of the surfer. Some sites that offer this are www.exitexchange.com and www.exitblaze.com.
Surf for Traffic. For the most part these are not targeted and not worth your time unless you're focusing on giving freebies.
Classified Ad Multiplier Sites. Generally not very targeted or effective.
Pop-under Exchanges. Basically the same idea as with the exit exchanges.
Online websites and resources
www.startblaze.com
www.trafficg.com
www.nomorehits.com
www.exitexchange.com
www.exitblaze.com
There are a lot of websites out there that offer great products and services that help with Internet marketing that don't fall under any of the categories we've covered. These sites we categorize at unique marketing websites. For example, Respond.com falls under this category.
Finding unique marketing sites
You can find these different unique marketing websites through Internet marketing newsletters. Within these different newsletters, you will find sponsoring companies with ads for their businesses. These companies usually offer some type of product or service that can help with Internet marketing campaigns. A list of good Internet marketing newsletter websites will be given in the Marketing Conclusion.
Free traffic sites
Many sites have offers for ways to generate "free" traffic to your site. Some are better than others. Most of these are not methods to center your marketing campaign around; however, they can help to generate additional traffic to your site. Some of the free traffic methods are listed below:
Browser Start Pages. When you set your home page on your browser to a Browser Start Page, you earn credits that translate into hits to your site. Some sites that offer this are www.startblaze.com, www.trafficg.com, and www.nomorehits.com.
Exit Exchanges. When a surfer accesses a page with an exit exchange code, a new window is opened in the background. The ad waits in the background for the user to close their current window. Once closed the ad in the background receives the full attention of the surfer. Some sites that offer this are www.exitexchange.com and www.exitblaze.com.
Surf for Traffic. For the most part these are not targeted and not worth your time unless you're focusing on giving freebies.
Classified Ad Multiplier Sites. Generally not very targeted or effective.
Pop-under Exchanges. Basically the same idea as with the exit exchanges.
Online websites and resources
www.startblaze.com
www.trafficg.com
www.nomorehits.com
www.exitexchange.com
www.exitblaze.com
Usenet
What the usenet is
The Usenet consists of two areas: newsgroups and chat-rooms, or online conversation areas. Newsgroups are not live conversation areas. You can go into a newsgroup, ask a question, and then check back the next day for the answer to the question. Chat-rooms are live conversation areas. You can talk one-on-one with people about many different subjects.
Newsgroups can be very profitable because they are demographically targeted (broken up into different interest groups), easy to access, and read by millions of users each day. There are a lot more people that read along and follow conversations in newsgroups and chat-rooms than the number of people that are actually talking on them, so this can be a very powerful marketing tool.
However, you cannot blatantly advertise in some newsgroups or chat-rooms. If you do, you may get "flamed," which means that a bunch of people will send you hate email telling you not to advertise in their newsgroup or chat-room. If you get flamed, don't ever respond; it will only encourage and agitate them further.
Therefore, you have to apply schizophrenic marketing tactics. This is essentially having conversations with yourself as people follow along and read. You will be asking and answering questions that would guide people to your website.
Steps to using the usenet to advertise
There are four steps to applying schizophrenic marketing to the usenet:
Set up 2-3 free email accounts
Find newsgroups that consist of people from your target market
Register your different email accounts under different names
Apply schizophrenic marketing techniques
1. Set up 2-3 free email accounts
To talk on the newsgroups, you must have an email address and a name. To find free email accounts, go to the search engines and type in "free email" and hundreds of sites will come up that offer free email services. Many of the major search engines, like yahoo and msn, offer free email. Some free email sites are the following:
www.hotmail.com
www.yahoo.com
www.juno.com
2. Find newsgroups that consist of people from your target market
There are newsgroup categories for just about every subject under the sun. Think about the characteristics of your potential customers. Then choose some categories that would have people with these characteristics discussing things in them.
A good place to start would be to go to www.google.com. Google has a directory of online newsgroups. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will also have newsgroups to register and talk on.
You can also find newsgroups through searching the Internet with the different search engines. Go to the different search engines and search for newsgroups in the category of your target market. Focus on the newsgroups at the top of the searches. You don't want to waste time talking in newsgroups that don't have many people talking on them.
3. Register your different email accounts under different names
Again, in order to talk on the newsgroups, you must have an email address and a name. Don't use your own name, or they will know that you are advertising. Therefore, make up different names for each email account so it looks like completely different people.
4. Apply schizophrenic marketing techniques
Before you begin guiding people to your site in the newsgroups, you'll want to build a rapport with the people out there. Spend 2-3 weeks asking and answering questions without referring to your site at all.
When your site is completed, begin asking and answering your own questions in the different newsgroup areas guiding people to your site. Ask a question with one email address and name, and then answer that question with your different email address and name by referring to your website. For example:
Q: I’m looking for a website that offers a great budgeting spreadsheet to help with doing a family budget.
A: I was just at www.myfinancialsoftware.com and they have a great Excel spreadsheet that can help with family budgeting.
Remember, there are a lot more people that are following along and reading in the newsgroups than those that actually talk on them; therefore, as you get your website address in front of people through schizophrenic marketing, they will visit your site.
Chat-rooms essentially work the same way. You cannot blatantly advertise here either; therefore, you must apply the same schizophrenic marketing tactics.
Online websites and resources
www.hotmail.com
www.yahoo.com
www.juno.com
www.google.com
The Usenet consists of two areas: newsgroups and chat-rooms, or online conversation areas. Newsgroups are not live conversation areas. You can go into a newsgroup, ask a question, and then check back the next day for the answer to the question. Chat-rooms are live conversation areas. You can talk one-on-one with people about many different subjects.
Newsgroups can be very profitable because they are demographically targeted (broken up into different interest groups), easy to access, and read by millions of users each day. There are a lot more people that read along and follow conversations in newsgroups and chat-rooms than the number of people that are actually talking on them, so this can be a very powerful marketing tool.
However, you cannot blatantly advertise in some newsgroups or chat-rooms. If you do, you may get "flamed," which means that a bunch of people will send you hate email telling you not to advertise in their newsgroup or chat-room. If you get flamed, don't ever respond; it will only encourage and agitate them further.
Therefore, you have to apply schizophrenic marketing tactics. This is essentially having conversations with yourself as people follow along and read. You will be asking and answering questions that would guide people to your website.
Steps to using the usenet to advertise
There are four steps to applying schizophrenic marketing to the usenet:
Set up 2-3 free email accounts
Find newsgroups that consist of people from your target market
Register your different email accounts under different names
Apply schizophrenic marketing techniques
1. Set up 2-3 free email accounts
To talk on the newsgroups, you must have an email address and a name. To find free email accounts, go to the search engines and type in "free email" and hundreds of sites will come up that offer free email services. Many of the major search engines, like yahoo and msn, offer free email. Some free email sites are the following:
www.hotmail.com
www.yahoo.com
www.juno.com
2. Find newsgroups that consist of people from your target market
There are newsgroup categories for just about every subject under the sun. Think about the characteristics of your potential customers. Then choose some categories that would have people with these characteristics discussing things in them.
A good place to start would be to go to www.google.com. Google has a directory of online newsgroups. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will also have newsgroups to register and talk on.
You can also find newsgroups through searching the Internet with the different search engines. Go to the different search engines and search for newsgroups in the category of your target market. Focus on the newsgroups at the top of the searches. You don't want to waste time talking in newsgroups that don't have many people talking on them.
3. Register your different email accounts under different names
Again, in order to talk on the newsgroups, you must have an email address and a name. Don't use your own name, or they will know that you are advertising. Therefore, make up different names for each email account so it looks like completely different people.
4. Apply schizophrenic marketing techniques
Before you begin guiding people to your site in the newsgroups, you'll want to build a rapport with the people out there. Spend 2-3 weeks asking and answering questions without referring to your site at all.
When your site is completed, begin asking and answering your own questions in the different newsgroup areas guiding people to your site. Ask a question with one email address and name, and then answer that question with your different email address and name by referring to your website. For example:
Q: I’m looking for a website that offers a great budgeting spreadsheet to help with doing a family budget.
A: I was just at www.myfinancialsoftware.com and they have a great Excel spreadsheet that can help with family budgeting.
Remember, there are a lot more people that are following along and reading in the newsgroups than those that actually talk on them; therefore, as you get your website address in front of people through schizophrenic marketing, they will visit your site.
Chat-rooms essentially work the same way. You cannot blatantly advertise here either; therefore, you must apply the same schizophrenic marketing tactics.
Online websites and resources
www.hotmail.com
www.yahoo.com
www.juno.com
www.google.com
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Online classified ads
Why online classifieds are important
The search engines are not the only place where Internet surfers look for things. Classified ads are also a popular resource to find great deals on products. Online classifieds are similar to the classified ads you would find in regular newspapers. On the Internet, however, these classified ads are listed in more specific categories so that it is easier to find what you are looking for.
Steps to a successful online classified ad campaign
There are three main steps in putting together a successful online classified ad campaign:
Write the headline
Write the rest of the classified ad
Post the ad
1. Write the headline
The key to writing a good classified ad is in the headline. Make it short and to the point – about 6-12 words long. You don't want to try to sell anything in the headline, just create enough interest for a lead.
Use headlines that are packed with keyword phrases and action words that would appeal to consumers. If possible, offer something for free or at a discounted price.
Some tips on writing good headlines are the following (adapted from Bill Guting’s Marketing System for the Internet):
Make your headline newsworthy. For example, do you have a new product? Or a new use for an existing product? People want to hear about what's new, what's improved, what's different, etc. Begin your headline with the word "Announcing". One thing your customers and/or prospects are always asking is "what's new?" Well, this one word opening answers that question and gets a lot of people's attention. For example: "Announcing Amazing New Phone Tool That…" or "Announcing a Great New Way to Make a Living From Your Home…”
Create curiosity in your headline. Curiosity should be part of your headline and not a stand-alone element, this happens way too frequently. Look into any major magazine, newspaper or banner ads and you'll see advertisement after advertisement, which use nothing but curiosity in their headlines to try and get a response. Remember, if you use curiosity, make sure to combine it with a major benefit or newsworthy announcement.
Keep your headline positive. Avoid negative words, or the dark, gloomy side of the picture. For example, Dale Carnegie's first headline to his famous book was "How to Ruin a Good Marriage" and it bombed! His second attempt at a book title was "How to Win Friends and Influence People." This simple change of a title helped sell millions and millions of copies of his famous book.
Feature a free offer. Free is and probably will always be the most powerful 4-letter word in marketing. Giving something away to prove your worth is probably the most "sure-fire" strategy that leads to future sales or sign-ups. Use it in as many applications as you can.
Address your headline to a specific person or group. This type of headline does two important things: 1st it targets and hits your prospects like a laser beam and 2nd it allows you to offer up a solution that is close to your prospect's heart.
2. Write the rest of the classified ad
The rest of the ad will be just 2-3 short sentences focusing on the main benefits of your products or services. Include a link back to your homepage in your classified ads (some classified ad places do not allow this, but if they do, take advantage of it). Promote link exchanges in your classified ad. Use these networks to advertise your desire to trade links.
3. Post the ad
In posting your classified ad, the key is to get your ad circulated in as many categories as you can. For example, an ad in 10 categories running for 1 week will be much more effective than an ad in 1 category for 10 weeks.
You might place 6-10 ads in different classified categories and rotate those ads each week to build the most effective classified ad campaign. Or you can keep the same ad and just rotate the headline occasionally.
The best place to post your classifieds are at Yahoo. Yahoo has more people that look at their classified ad network than any other site out there. To register to Yahoo’s classified ad network, go to www.classifieds.yahoo.com. Other good sites are the following:
www.freeclassifieds.com
www.classifiedsforfree.com
www.uran.net/imall/mother.html
There are also many classified ad submission services that will offer to post your ad in multiple classified ad areas automatically. Once you find an ad that is bringing a lot of traffic to your site, you can submit your ad to a submission service.
Submitting to several different classified ad networks can be a lengthy process; therefore, utilizing a submission service will allow you to post your ad in large number of ad networks for a small fee. Be sure to test your ad on a free classified ad network prior to posting the ad with the submission service.
A method of finding submission services is to go to the search engines and type in "classified ad submission services.” This will pull up a list of websites that can assist you in this process.
Online websites and resources
www.classifieds.yahoo.com
www.freeclassifieds.com
www.classifiedsforfree.com
www.uran.net/imall/mother.html
The search engines are not the only place where Internet surfers look for things. Classified ads are also a popular resource to find great deals on products. Online classifieds are similar to the classified ads you would find in regular newspapers. On the Internet, however, these classified ads are listed in more specific categories so that it is easier to find what you are looking for.
Steps to a successful online classified ad campaign
There are three main steps in putting together a successful online classified ad campaign:
Write the headline
Write the rest of the classified ad
Post the ad
1. Write the headline
The key to writing a good classified ad is in the headline. Make it short and to the point – about 6-12 words long. You don't want to try to sell anything in the headline, just create enough interest for a lead.
Use headlines that are packed with keyword phrases and action words that would appeal to consumers. If possible, offer something for free or at a discounted price.
Some tips on writing good headlines are the following (adapted from Bill Guting’s Marketing System for the Internet):
Make your headline newsworthy. For example, do you have a new product? Or a new use for an existing product? People want to hear about what's new, what's improved, what's different, etc. Begin your headline with the word "Announcing". One thing your customers and/or prospects are always asking is "what's new?" Well, this one word opening answers that question and gets a lot of people's attention. For example: "Announcing Amazing New Phone Tool That…" or "Announcing a Great New Way to Make a Living From Your Home…”
Create curiosity in your headline. Curiosity should be part of your headline and not a stand-alone element, this happens way too frequently. Look into any major magazine, newspaper or banner ads and you'll see advertisement after advertisement, which use nothing but curiosity in their headlines to try and get a response. Remember, if you use curiosity, make sure to combine it with a major benefit or newsworthy announcement.
Keep your headline positive. Avoid negative words, or the dark, gloomy side of the picture. For example, Dale Carnegie's first headline to his famous book was "How to Ruin a Good Marriage" and it bombed! His second attempt at a book title was "How to Win Friends and Influence People." This simple change of a title helped sell millions and millions of copies of his famous book.
Feature a free offer. Free is and probably will always be the most powerful 4-letter word in marketing. Giving something away to prove your worth is probably the most "sure-fire" strategy that leads to future sales or sign-ups. Use it in as many applications as you can.
Address your headline to a specific person or group. This type of headline does two important things: 1st it targets and hits your prospects like a laser beam and 2nd it allows you to offer up a solution that is close to your prospect's heart.
2. Write the rest of the classified ad
The rest of the ad will be just 2-3 short sentences focusing on the main benefits of your products or services. Include a link back to your homepage in your classified ads (some classified ad places do not allow this, but if they do, take advantage of it). Promote link exchanges in your classified ad. Use these networks to advertise your desire to trade links.
3. Post the ad
In posting your classified ad, the key is to get your ad circulated in as many categories as you can. For example, an ad in 10 categories running for 1 week will be much more effective than an ad in 1 category for 10 weeks.
You might place 6-10 ads in different classified categories and rotate those ads each week to build the most effective classified ad campaign. Or you can keep the same ad and just rotate the headline occasionally.
The best place to post your classifieds are at Yahoo. Yahoo has more people that look at their classified ad network than any other site out there. To register to Yahoo’s classified ad network, go to www.classifieds.yahoo.com. Other good sites are the following:
www.freeclassifieds.com
www.classifiedsforfree.com
www.uran.net/imall/mother.html
There are also many classified ad submission services that will offer to post your ad in multiple classified ad areas automatically. Once you find an ad that is bringing a lot of traffic to your site, you can submit your ad to a submission service.
Submitting to several different classified ad networks can be a lengthy process; therefore, utilizing a submission service will allow you to post your ad in large number of ad networks for a small fee. Be sure to test your ad on a free classified ad network prior to posting the ad with the submission service.
A method of finding submission services is to go to the search engines and type in "classified ad submission services.” This will pull up a list of websites that can assist you in this process.
Online websites and resources
www.classifieds.yahoo.com
www.freeclassifieds.com
www.classifiedsforfree.com
www.uran.net/imall/mother.html
Monday, December 29, 2008
Webrings
What webrings are
Webrings are a collection of websites that have organized themselves into a circle. Each site in the ring displays a webring navigator that links it to the next site in the ring. The whole point of a webring is to share traffic with the owners of other sites in the ring.
For example, if a person is interested in basketball, they could visit every single site in the basketball webring without ever having to go back to a search engine. Webrings are usually free services that can be added to your website.
Finding webrings
The best place to find what types of webrings are available is a http://www.webring.org/. Webring.org anchors thousands of webrings. They have an easy to navigate directory where you can browse the available webrings by topic. This is a free service as well.
Once you find a webring you think is appropriate and relates to your site, take some time navigating through the ring. Compare your website to the ones you find in the webring. You will want to join webrings that have many other sites registered at the ring because they are the ones that are receiving most of the traffic.
Utilizing webrings
After you have navigated through a webring you like and that relates to your site, then you want to apply for membership to that ring. The process is simple. You only need to fill out the online application form. Your application will be reviewed to make sure that you site is appropriate to the ring (this is why you want to do your own research on the ring ahead of time, so you won't get rejected).
If you accepted then you will receive some source code (HTML) that represents the navigator for the webring, which you need to add to your website. Some webrings are strict and insist that the navigator be on the front page of member websites. Once you've done that, you will be added into the ring within a few days, and you should start receiving traffic right away.
Online websites and resources
http://www.webring.org/
Webrings are a collection of websites that have organized themselves into a circle. Each site in the ring displays a webring navigator that links it to the next site in the ring. The whole point of a webring is to share traffic with the owners of other sites in the ring.
For example, if a person is interested in basketball, they could visit every single site in the basketball webring without ever having to go back to a search engine. Webrings are usually free services that can be added to your website.
Finding webrings
The best place to find what types of webrings are available is a http://www.webring.org/. Webring.org anchors thousands of webrings. They have an easy to navigate directory where you can browse the available webrings by topic. This is a free service as well.
Once you find a webring you think is appropriate and relates to your site, take some time navigating through the ring. Compare your website to the ones you find in the webring. You will want to join webrings that have many other sites registered at the ring because they are the ones that are receiving most of the traffic.
Utilizing webrings
After you have navigated through a webring you like and that relates to your site, then you want to apply for membership to that ring. The process is simple. You only need to fill out the online application form. Your application will be reviewed to make sure that you site is appropriate to the ring (this is why you want to do your own research on the ring ahead of time, so you won't get rejected).
If you accepted then you will receive some source code (HTML) that represents the navigator for the webring, which you need to add to your website. Some webrings are strict and insist that the navigator be on the front page of member websites. Once you've done that, you will be added into the ring within a few days, and you should start receiving traffic right away.
Online websites and resources
http://www.webring.org/
Gateway Pages
What gateway pages are
Gateway pages are free one-page websites that link to your original homepage. They are an alternate way for people to find your website, other than through your homepage. The whole purpose of gateway pages is to make your website more visible on the search engines. So instead of people having to find your website only through your homepage, they can find it through multiple pages.
In order to be found in the search engines, you must rank in the top 10-30 matches found. To do that that requires the creation of pages that appeal to each search engines' preferences. These pages are often called gateway pages, doorway pages, splash pages, or bridge pages since they act as a doorway or an alternate entrance to your website.
Methods of utilizing gateway pages
There are two main methods of utilizing gateway pages:
To focus on different keyword phrases
To build pages specific to certain search engines’ preferences
1. To focus on different keyword phrases
Remember back in the first marketing strategy when you read about what search engines look for? The emphasis was to build your homepage focused on a couple keyword phrases so that the search engines will rank you higher. Creating gateway pages allows you to build multiple pages focusing on different keyword phrases. So instead of an Internet surfer only being able to find you under a couple keywords, he or she can find you under many.
For example, if you are in the competitive category of "travel" and find it too difficult to obtain a high ranking on the word "travel," then create pages that describe in detail one particular destination or activity. Perhaps create a gateway page discussing "sailing in the Caribbean.”
Most people try to be specific in their search engines today because they know if they don't, they will get back thousands of pages that they aren't interested in. Therefore, you can create gateway pages for specific elements of your website to allow for a higher ranking in the search engines. A great website to help you research keyword phrases is http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion.
2. To build pages specific to certain search engines’ preferences
Every search engine is different and looks for different elements in ranking pages. No single page can rank well for all search engines because all search engines are different. Therefore, you must customize your gateway page to the different search engines you are registering at.
For information and tips on what the specific search engines look for, go to the www.searchengines.com, www.searchenginewatch.com, and www.searchengineforums.com.
Steps to setting up a gateway page
There are three main steps to follow in setting up a gateway page:
Find free web space
Put together page
Register page to the search engines
1. Find free web space
There are many different resources that offer free web space that you can take advantage of on the Internet. Many of these places are online builders that do not require you to know any HTML to build a page.
Some of those websites that you can use are the following:
www.freeservers.com
www.homestead.com
www.thefreesite.com
Many Internet service providers also give out free web space as well for using their services. In choosing a place to build the page, make sure the URL that they give you is not just the domain name of the site and then /whatever at the end of it. The domain name must look something like www.camping.freeservers.com instead of like www.freeservers.com/camping. This is primarily for the search engines. Many search engines are ignoring domain names that look like free sites, like in the second example.
2. Put together page
In actually building the page, you will set up a gateway page just like you would set up a regular homepage. You will want the text laid out introducing your website and products. You will also want a keyword phrase that you are focusing on to be repeated throughout the text and meta tags.
You will also want graphics on the page to make it look more eye appealing. A consistent logo on each gateway page would be a good idea so that people know that they are at the same place. As well as similar color schemes on the gateway page and your actual homepage.
The main difference between a gateway page and a regular homepage is that with a gateway page you don't need working navigation buttons. You'll usually have Click here to enter in a couple places on the site, which, when clicked on, would link to your original homepage or whatever page you'd like it to link to on your site.
3. Register page to the search engines
Once you’ve got the gateway pages built, you are now ready to register them to the search engines. The fastest and easiest way to do that is to use free submission sites like www.jimtools.com.
Online websites and resources
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.searchengineforums.com
www.freeservers.com
www.homestead.com
www.thefreesite.com
www.jimtools.com
www.webposition.com offers a very advanced software program that automatically creates gateway pages to rank high on search engines for you. The program is called Web Position Gold.
Some great articles on gateway pages are at www.searchengines.com/doorway_pages.html and www.wordtracker.com/articles.
Gateway pages are free one-page websites that link to your original homepage. They are an alternate way for people to find your website, other than through your homepage. The whole purpose of gateway pages is to make your website more visible on the search engines. So instead of people having to find your website only through your homepage, they can find it through multiple pages.
In order to be found in the search engines, you must rank in the top 10-30 matches found. To do that that requires the creation of pages that appeal to each search engines' preferences. These pages are often called gateway pages, doorway pages, splash pages, or bridge pages since they act as a doorway or an alternate entrance to your website.
Methods of utilizing gateway pages
There are two main methods of utilizing gateway pages:
To focus on different keyword phrases
To build pages specific to certain search engines’ preferences
1. To focus on different keyword phrases
Remember back in the first marketing strategy when you read about what search engines look for? The emphasis was to build your homepage focused on a couple keyword phrases so that the search engines will rank you higher. Creating gateway pages allows you to build multiple pages focusing on different keyword phrases. So instead of an Internet surfer only being able to find you under a couple keywords, he or she can find you under many.
For example, if you are in the competitive category of "travel" and find it too difficult to obtain a high ranking on the word "travel," then create pages that describe in detail one particular destination or activity. Perhaps create a gateway page discussing "sailing in the Caribbean.”
Most people try to be specific in their search engines today because they know if they don't, they will get back thousands of pages that they aren't interested in. Therefore, you can create gateway pages for specific elements of your website to allow for a higher ranking in the search engines. A great website to help you research keyword phrases is http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion.
2. To build pages specific to certain search engines’ preferences
Every search engine is different and looks for different elements in ranking pages. No single page can rank well for all search engines because all search engines are different. Therefore, you must customize your gateway page to the different search engines you are registering at.
For information and tips on what the specific search engines look for, go to the www.searchengines.com, www.searchenginewatch.com, and www.searchengineforums.com.
Steps to setting up a gateway page
There are three main steps to follow in setting up a gateway page:
Find free web space
Put together page
Register page to the search engines
1. Find free web space
There are many different resources that offer free web space that you can take advantage of on the Internet. Many of these places are online builders that do not require you to know any HTML to build a page.
Some of those websites that you can use are the following:
www.freeservers.com
www.homestead.com
www.thefreesite.com
Many Internet service providers also give out free web space as well for using their services. In choosing a place to build the page, make sure the URL that they give you is not just the domain name of the site and then /whatever at the end of it. The domain name must look something like www.camping.freeservers.com instead of like www.freeservers.com/camping. This is primarily for the search engines. Many search engines are ignoring domain names that look like free sites, like in the second example.
2. Put together page
In actually building the page, you will set up a gateway page just like you would set up a regular homepage. You will want the text laid out introducing your website and products. You will also want a keyword phrase that you are focusing on to be repeated throughout the text and meta tags.
You will also want graphics on the page to make it look more eye appealing. A consistent logo on each gateway page would be a good idea so that people know that they are at the same place. As well as similar color schemes on the gateway page and your actual homepage.
The main difference between a gateway page and a regular homepage is that with a gateway page you don't need working navigation buttons. You'll usually have Click here to enter in a couple places on the site, which, when clicked on, would link to your original homepage or whatever page you'd like it to link to on your site.
3. Register page to the search engines
Once you’ve got the gateway pages built, you are now ready to register them to the search engines. The fastest and easiest way to do that is to use free submission sites like www.jimtools.com.
Online websites and resources
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.searchengineforums.com
www.freeservers.com
www.homestead.com
www.thefreesite.com
www.jimtools.com
www.webposition.com offers a very advanced software program that automatically creates gateway pages to rank high on search engines for you. The program is called Web Position Gold.
Some great articles on gateway pages are at www.searchengines.com/doorway_pages.html and www.wordtracker.com/articles.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Press Releases
The importance of press releases
In the newspaper business, editors hate “white space.” White space is when there are open areas in the paper that aren’t filled with articles or ads. Every now and then, an article will fall through for a newspaper at the last minute, so the editor will have to scramble to fill the area where the article was going to be placed; this space is called white space. At these times, the editor will usually look into a special file that he or she has for such occasions and find something to fill the space. This special file usually consists of press releases that have been written and submitted to the paper.
A press release is an article that is placed in a newspaper or other press area to fill the white spaces. The press release is usually announcing a major event for a business, like the launching of a website, a new product coming to market, a service project that the company performed, or just sales and growth announcements. Once your website is completed, you will want to have a press release written up and ready to be submitted to the online and offline newspapers and other press areas.
Many people first hear of websites through press releases. Millions of people read the papers every day, both online and offline. Therefore, if you can get articles making announcements about your business in these press areas, your website traffic can increase substantially.
Steps to using press releases
There are three main steps to writing and submitting press releases:
Do research on what to write in your press release.
Write at least two press releases.
Submit the press releases to both online and offline areas.
1. Do research on what to write in your press release.
A press release is essentially free advertising. Editors are not interested in putting free advertising in their papers; therefore, you will need to research as much as you can to know what the editors look for in a press release. The more research that you do, the better chance you'll have to get your press release included.
The best way to this research is to go to the search engines and type in "how to write a press release" or "writing a press release" or something like that. Make sure you put quotation marks around the phrase your searching for – this will narrow down your search. This research will give you information on what you want to have in your press release – information like articles from actual editors as to what to include and not include.
Some great press release research websites are www.press-release-writing.com and www.newsbureau.com.
2. Write at least two press releases.
Once you’ve done your research, the next step is to actually write the press release. You will want to write at least two press releases – one to a local audience and one to a national audience.
The press release for the local audience will focus on the fact that you're from the local area in which you reside. Make it personal or "hometown" sounding. The national press release will be submitted to a national audience both online and offline. Make this press release more general.
In writing the press release, make it short and to the point, and make sure that it does not sound like an advertisement. Come up with a newsworthy angle about your online business. Focus on how your company can benefit the community.
The primary functions of a press release is not to publicize your business or help sell your products, but to provide news, entertainment, and relevant information to readers. Write your press release with this in mind.
The 1st paragraph is the lead paragraph. This should not be longer than 3-4 lines long. Answer the 5 W's: What? Why? Who? When? & Where? The rest of the paragraphs should be simple sentences answering these questions. The paragraphs should be short.
Write in 3rd person so that it doesn't look like you're writing an ad for your company. To get your release noticed, position your company against competing companies in some way, the press loves conflict.
3. Submit the press releases to both online and offline areas.
Now that the press release is written, it’s time to get it out there in front of people. In dealing with submitting your press release, you will want to submit to both online and offline areas.
In working with offline submission, realize that it is very difficult to get a press release in large publications, make certain your press release stands out from the rest by tailoring it to specific magazines or newspapers. Only 1 in 10 press releases actually get submitted – this is why you want to do good research ahead of time.
Treat each editor like a unique customer, and cater to his or her needs. Develop a relationship with each editor. Get to know them. After a relationship is solid, it is quite easy to convince them to write a feature article on you, your product/service, or something special you offer.
In working with online submission areas, submit your press release to as many areas as you can. Use the free submission sites. As you do research and find sites that deal with writing your press release, you'll also find sites that will offer to submit your press release.
You can also go to the search engines and type in "free press release submission" and you will find many articles giving websites that offer to submit your press releases.
Online websites and resources
personal finance
www.press-release-writing.com
www.newsbureau.com
www.searcher.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
www.gebbieinc.comwww.gapent.com/pr
In the newspaper business, editors hate “white space.” White space is when there are open areas in the paper that aren’t filled with articles or ads. Every now and then, an article will fall through for a newspaper at the last minute, so the editor will have to scramble to fill the area where the article was going to be placed; this space is called white space. At these times, the editor will usually look into a special file that he or she has for such occasions and find something to fill the space. This special file usually consists of press releases that have been written and submitted to the paper.
A press release is an article that is placed in a newspaper or other press area to fill the white spaces. The press release is usually announcing a major event for a business, like the launching of a website, a new product coming to market, a service project that the company performed, or just sales and growth announcements. Once your website is completed, you will want to have a press release written up and ready to be submitted to the online and offline newspapers and other press areas.
Many people first hear of websites through press releases. Millions of people read the papers every day, both online and offline. Therefore, if you can get articles making announcements about your business in these press areas, your website traffic can increase substantially.
Steps to using press releases
There are three main steps to writing and submitting press releases:
Do research on what to write in your press release.
Write at least two press releases.
Submit the press releases to both online and offline areas.
1. Do research on what to write in your press release.
A press release is essentially free advertising. Editors are not interested in putting free advertising in their papers; therefore, you will need to research as much as you can to know what the editors look for in a press release. The more research that you do, the better chance you'll have to get your press release included.
The best way to this research is to go to the search engines and type in "how to write a press release" or "writing a press release" or something like that. Make sure you put quotation marks around the phrase your searching for – this will narrow down your search. This research will give you information on what you want to have in your press release – information like articles from actual editors as to what to include and not include.
Some great press release research websites are www.press-release-writing.com and www.newsbureau.com.
2. Write at least two press releases.
Once you’ve done your research, the next step is to actually write the press release. You will want to write at least two press releases – one to a local audience and one to a national audience.
The press release for the local audience will focus on the fact that you're from the local area in which you reside. Make it personal or "hometown" sounding. The national press release will be submitted to a national audience both online and offline. Make this press release more general.
In writing the press release, make it short and to the point, and make sure that it does not sound like an advertisement. Come up with a newsworthy angle about your online business. Focus on how your company can benefit the community.
The primary functions of a press release is not to publicize your business or help sell your products, but to provide news, entertainment, and relevant information to readers. Write your press release with this in mind.
The 1st paragraph is the lead paragraph. This should not be longer than 3-4 lines long. Answer the 5 W's: What? Why? Who? When? & Where? The rest of the paragraphs should be simple sentences answering these questions. The paragraphs should be short.
Write in 3rd person so that it doesn't look like you're writing an ad for your company. To get your release noticed, position your company against competing companies in some way, the press loves conflict.
3. Submit the press releases to both online and offline areas.
Now that the press release is written, it’s time to get it out there in front of people. In dealing with submitting your press release, you will want to submit to both online and offline areas.
In working with offline submission, realize that it is very difficult to get a press release in large publications, make certain your press release stands out from the rest by tailoring it to specific magazines or newspapers. Only 1 in 10 press releases actually get submitted – this is why you want to do good research ahead of time.
Treat each editor like a unique customer, and cater to his or her needs. Develop a relationship with each editor. Get to know them. After a relationship is solid, it is quite easy to convince them to write a feature article on you, your product/service, or something special you offer.
In working with online submission areas, submit your press release to as many areas as you can. Use the free submission sites. As you do research and find sites that deal with writing your press release, you'll also find sites that will offer to submit your press release.
You can also go to the search engines and type in "free press release submission" and you will find many articles giving websites that offer to submit your press releases.
Online websites and resources
personal finance
www.press-release-writing.com
www.newsbureau.com
www.searcher.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
www.gebbieinc.comwww.gapent.com/pr
online auctions
The importance of online auctions
When people think of online auctions, the first thing they think about is Ebay. Ebay is the largest online auction site on the web and most people only think of Ebay as a resource for buying and selling your and other peoples’ junk. However, Ebay and the other online auction sites can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. There are three main reasons to utilize the online auctions:
To make money selling products
To build a database of customers and potential customers
To drive traffic to your website
1. To make money selling products
As you post your products on the online auctions, you will find buyers for those products. You may not make as much money selling them on Ebay as you would just selling them on your site, but the auctions are a good way to get some revenue coming in.
2. To build a database of customers and potential customers
As you start making sales on the auctions, you will creating a database of customers and potential customers to your website. Down the road, as you have other similar products that you are offering, you could send them an email letting them know about the deals that you could provide them.
3. To drive traffic to your website
The main feature of the online auctions is in the ability to link your website to your auction listing. This is a great way to generate qualified traffic to your website because even if someone doesn't bid on your product, they may be interested enough to go to your website and perhaps purchase an entirely different product. You will want to include your website address in the description of the product that you have for bid.
How online auctions work
There are many different online auction sites on the Internet and they all work a little differently. However, the basic concepts work the same and are outlined in the following steps:
A vendor, or seller, goes to an auction site and fills out a simple online form. On this form, included is all the information about the product, including the minimum bid to accept and the length of the auction time period.
This information then becomes available to site buyers on the auction website.
Buyers will then bid on the products of their choice via the Internet.
If one buyer gets outbid by another buyer, he or she will be notified by an email message, which includes a link back to the bidding area.
Once the bidding time period is over, the top bidder and seller are emailed so that they can get together and finalize the sale.
Online auction companies
There are many different online auction sites out there and Ebay is larger than all of them combined, but here’s a list:
Ebay – www.ebay.com
Ubid – www.ubid.com
Cnet.com auctions – http://auctions.cnet.com
Amazon’s auctions – www.auctions.amazon.com
Yahoo’s auctions – www.auctions.yahoo.com
For an extensive list of different online auctions on the Internet, check out www.auctionsa-z.com.
Selling on the online auctions
Before you begin selling your products on the auction sites, make sure you take some time reviewing each auction’s listing guidelines. Also, make sure to browse around the site and check out what is selling and what is not. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to even post a bid on a product to see how the process works.
Once you feel comfortable with the auction site, then set up an account with them. This will usually be free, and all it takes is providing some personal and contact information from you.
Once you’ve got an account, you will want to do some preliminary work before you post your products to sell. You will want to create the following policies: shipping, international sales, a refund, guarantee, and payment. These policies will outline exactly what you will do and will not do for the customers.
Once you’ve gotten your policies written, then you will want to also choose the type of auction you want to hold. There are four major types:
Straight – Here you will set a minimum opening bid and then sell to the highest bidder. This is the most common auction type.
Reserve – With this type you set a price below which you will not sell your item. Bidders will not know the reserve price, and you only have to sell to the highest bidder if it is above that price.
Dutch – This type of auctions allows you to sell multiple identical items to multiple bidders. Bidders can specify not only their bid price, but also the amount of items they want. All of the top bidders would pay the same amount, or the lowest successful bid.
Private – This type is the same as a straight auction, but the seller and bidders are not revealed.
Once you’ve picked the auction type, then you will want to choose a category for your item. Obviously, you will want to choose the category that best describes your product, but also one that receives a lot of traffic, which drives up the price. Usually, the more popular categories have more products up for bidding on them.
You will also want to take some pictures of your item. Most buyers won’t bid on something unless they can see it. Digital cameras work best for this. The key is to take pictures that persuade people to buy.
Next you will want to write a title for your ad. The title is usually between 40 and 50 characters long. The description is the next element. Your description should anticipate questions, impart detail, and acknowledge any flaws, all while making a compelling and convincing sales pitch. In the description, you will want to include the name of your website, this will bring traffic to your site.
Once you’ve gotten all this preliminary work done, then you are ready to post your products to the auctions. As you do so, you will want to monitor the auction’s progress and make sure to respond quickly and clearly to inquiries from bidders.
Once the auction is over, you will want to exchange information as quickly as possible with the winning bidder so that you can get them your products right away. Once you’ve exchanged information and accepted payment then ship the product out promptly.
Online websites and resources
www.ebay.com
www.ubid.com
http://auctions.cnet.com
www.auctions.amazon.com
www.auctions.yahoo.com
www.auctionsa-z.com
www.auctionwatch.com - this site offers powerful tools to manage your auction listings
When people think of online auctions, the first thing they think about is Ebay. Ebay is the largest online auction site on the web and most people only think of Ebay as a resource for buying and selling your and other peoples’ junk. However, Ebay and the other online auction sites can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. There are three main reasons to utilize the online auctions:
To make money selling products
To build a database of customers and potential customers
To drive traffic to your website
1. To make money selling products
As you post your products on the online auctions, you will find buyers for those products. You may not make as much money selling them on Ebay as you would just selling them on your site, but the auctions are a good way to get some revenue coming in.
2. To build a database of customers and potential customers
As you start making sales on the auctions, you will creating a database of customers and potential customers to your website. Down the road, as you have other similar products that you are offering, you could send them an email letting them know about the deals that you could provide them.
3. To drive traffic to your website
The main feature of the online auctions is in the ability to link your website to your auction listing. This is a great way to generate qualified traffic to your website because even if someone doesn't bid on your product, they may be interested enough to go to your website and perhaps purchase an entirely different product. You will want to include your website address in the description of the product that you have for bid.
How online auctions work
There are many different online auction sites on the Internet and they all work a little differently. However, the basic concepts work the same and are outlined in the following steps:
A vendor, or seller, goes to an auction site and fills out a simple online form. On this form, included is all the information about the product, including the minimum bid to accept and the length of the auction time period.
This information then becomes available to site buyers on the auction website.
Buyers will then bid on the products of their choice via the Internet.
If one buyer gets outbid by another buyer, he or she will be notified by an email message, which includes a link back to the bidding area.
Once the bidding time period is over, the top bidder and seller are emailed so that they can get together and finalize the sale.
Online auction companies
There are many different online auction sites out there and Ebay is larger than all of them combined, but here’s a list:
Ebay – www.ebay.com
Ubid – www.ubid.com
Cnet.com auctions – http://auctions.cnet.com
Amazon’s auctions – www.auctions.amazon.com
Yahoo’s auctions – www.auctions.yahoo.com
For an extensive list of different online auctions on the Internet, check out www.auctionsa-z.com.
Selling on the online auctions
Before you begin selling your products on the auction sites, make sure you take some time reviewing each auction’s listing guidelines. Also, make sure to browse around the site and check out what is selling and what is not. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to even post a bid on a product to see how the process works.
Once you feel comfortable with the auction site, then set up an account with them. This will usually be free, and all it takes is providing some personal and contact information from you.
Once you’ve got an account, you will want to do some preliminary work before you post your products to sell. You will want to create the following policies: shipping, international sales, a refund, guarantee, and payment. These policies will outline exactly what you will do and will not do for the customers.
Once you’ve gotten your policies written, then you will want to also choose the type of auction you want to hold. There are four major types:
Straight – Here you will set a minimum opening bid and then sell to the highest bidder. This is the most common auction type.
Reserve – With this type you set a price below which you will not sell your item. Bidders will not know the reserve price, and you only have to sell to the highest bidder if it is above that price.
Dutch – This type of auctions allows you to sell multiple identical items to multiple bidders. Bidders can specify not only their bid price, but also the amount of items they want. All of the top bidders would pay the same amount, or the lowest successful bid.
Private – This type is the same as a straight auction, but the seller and bidders are not revealed.
Once you’ve picked the auction type, then you will want to choose a category for your item. Obviously, you will want to choose the category that best describes your product, but also one that receives a lot of traffic, which drives up the price. Usually, the more popular categories have more products up for bidding on them.
You will also want to take some pictures of your item. Most buyers won’t bid on something unless they can see it. Digital cameras work best for this. The key is to take pictures that persuade people to buy.
Next you will want to write a title for your ad. The title is usually between 40 and 50 characters long. The description is the next element. Your description should anticipate questions, impart detail, and acknowledge any flaws, all while making a compelling and convincing sales pitch. In the description, you will want to include the name of your website, this will bring traffic to your site.
Once you’ve gotten all this preliminary work done, then you are ready to post your products to the auctions. As you do so, you will want to monitor the auction’s progress and make sure to respond quickly and clearly to inquiries from bidders.
Once the auction is over, you will want to exchange information as quickly as possible with the winning bidder so that you can get them your products right away. Once you’ve exchanged information and accepted payment then ship the product out promptly.
Online websites and resources
www.ebay.com
www.ubid.com
http://auctions.cnet.com
www.auctions.amazon.com
www.auctions.yahoo.com
www.auctionsa-z.com
www.auctionwatch.com - this site offers powerful tools to manage your auction listings
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Sponsors and Affiliates
Why sponsors and affiliates are important
Sponsors and affiliate programs fulfill two primary purposes for your website:
Increase revenues to your website
Make your site look more credible to Internet surfers
1. Increase revenues to your website
Sponsors would pay you a monthly fee for you to place their logo or ad on your website. Affiliate programs pay you commissions as you refer visitors to other sites. Therefore, these two methods allow you to increase revenues to your site without having to sell your products/services.
2. Make your site look more credible to Internet surfers
Sponsors and affiliates make your site look more credible to people visiting the site because others would see name-brand companies advertising on your website. This increases the credibility to others, especially if they are not knowledgeable about the affiliate program concept.
How sponsors work
On many websites you'll see Please visit our sponsors followed by some logos of different websites that would link to the perspective sites. If you had someone sponsor your website, you would place their logo on your site, and, in turn, they would pay you a certain amount of money each month.
Having sponsors benefits both the sponsoring company and also your site because it brings traffic to the sponsoring company. It also adds credibility to your site because of all the sponsors on it, as mentioned above. Sponsoring also allows your website to earn some extra money. You can charge anywhere between $50-$200 a month to have someone sponsor your site. If you had 4 sponsoring companies on you site all paying you $50 a month, which would be $200 a month, and this is at the low end of the pay scale.
Finding companies to sponsor you
As you look for complementary companies to exchange links with, you can also look for companies to sponsor you. Usually larger organizations or companies will sponsor other sites, but any business may do this. Also, as you talk to businesses about trading links or banners, you can also ask them to be your sponsor.
Initially, you would not charge a large fee per sponsor because you would not have much traffic coming to your website. However, as your traffic increases, you can increase these fees to have companies sponsor you.
How affiliate programs work
Have you ever been on a site and seen Amazon.com's little banner on it? If you click on that banner and go to Amazon and buy something, the site that you left to go to Amazon makes 10-15% of whatever you spend.
Having affiliate programs on your site allows you, as the site owner, to earn extra income on your website. Usually it's about 10% of the sale price for most affiliate programs.
Finding and signing up for affiliate programs
As you surf the surf the Internet and look for complementary sites, you will oftentimes see on websites Become our Affiliate or Affiliate with us. If you see this, you can join those sites' affiliate programs. A couple websites that list the different affiliate programs that are available are at www.cj.com and www.linkshare.com.
When you sign up for an affiliate program, the company that you're signing up under will email you the source code (HTML code) that represents the banner or ad which you would then copy and paste to your website.
It usually does not cost anything to become an affiliate of someone else. All you need to do is sign up and add the code to your site to get involved with the different affiliate programs. Then as you get clicks on the banner or ad to the affiliate program sites, and people buy, you will get paid, usually on a monthly or quarterly basis, a commission on each sale (usually about 10% of the sale). The affiliate companies have tracking software that keeps track of your visitors and purchases. You would not want to add the affiliate program banners to your products page if you are trying to sell products of your own.
Creating your own affiliate program
Affiliate programs are a great method of driving traffic to your website, and you don't pay a cent unless someone actually buys something, so it's very effective.
In order to make your website ready to accept affiliates, you will need to apply some pretty advanced programming that will track where visitors are coming from and store a database of affiliates that have signed up. This will require hiring a professional programmer to get this type of system set up, but it will be well worth the cost. A lower cost method of starting an affiliate program on your site is to use www.clickbank.com.
Online websites and resources
www.bcentral.com/articles/whitman/102.asp
www.amazon.com
www.cj.com
www.linkshare.comwww.clickbank.com
Sponsors and affiliate programs fulfill two primary purposes for your website:
Increase revenues to your website
Make your site look more credible to Internet surfers
1. Increase revenues to your website
Sponsors would pay you a monthly fee for you to place their logo or ad on your website. Affiliate programs pay you commissions as you refer visitors to other sites. Therefore, these two methods allow you to increase revenues to your site without having to sell your products/services.
2. Make your site look more credible to Internet surfers
Sponsors and affiliates make your site look more credible to people visiting the site because others would see name-brand companies advertising on your website. This increases the credibility to others, especially if they are not knowledgeable about the affiliate program concept.
How sponsors work
On many websites you'll see Please visit our sponsors followed by some logos of different websites that would link to the perspective sites. If you had someone sponsor your website, you would place their logo on your site, and, in turn, they would pay you a certain amount of money each month.
Having sponsors benefits both the sponsoring company and also your site because it brings traffic to the sponsoring company. It also adds credibility to your site because of all the sponsors on it, as mentioned above. Sponsoring also allows your website to earn some extra money. You can charge anywhere between $50-$200 a month to have someone sponsor your site. If you had 4 sponsoring companies on you site all paying you $50 a month, which would be $200 a month, and this is at the low end of the pay scale.
Finding companies to sponsor you
As you look for complementary companies to exchange links with, you can also look for companies to sponsor you. Usually larger organizations or companies will sponsor other sites, but any business may do this. Also, as you talk to businesses about trading links or banners, you can also ask them to be your sponsor.
Initially, you would not charge a large fee per sponsor because you would not have much traffic coming to your website. However, as your traffic increases, you can increase these fees to have companies sponsor you.
How affiliate programs work
Have you ever been on a site and seen Amazon.com's little banner on it? If you click on that banner and go to Amazon and buy something, the site that you left to go to Amazon makes 10-15% of whatever you spend.
Having affiliate programs on your site allows you, as the site owner, to earn extra income on your website. Usually it's about 10% of the sale price for most affiliate programs.
Finding and signing up for affiliate programs
As you surf the surf the Internet and look for complementary sites, you will oftentimes see on websites Become our Affiliate or Affiliate with us. If you see this, you can join those sites' affiliate programs. A couple websites that list the different affiliate programs that are available are at www.cj.com and www.linkshare.com.
When you sign up for an affiliate program, the company that you're signing up under will email you the source code (HTML code) that represents the banner or ad which you would then copy and paste to your website.
It usually does not cost anything to become an affiliate of someone else. All you need to do is sign up and add the code to your site to get involved with the different affiliate programs. Then as you get clicks on the banner or ad to the affiliate program sites, and people buy, you will get paid, usually on a monthly or quarterly basis, a commission on each sale (usually about 10% of the sale). The affiliate companies have tracking software that keeps track of your visitors and purchases. You would not want to add the affiliate program banners to your products page if you are trying to sell products of your own.
Creating your own affiliate program
Affiliate programs are a great method of driving traffic to your website, and you don't pay a cent unless someone actually buys something, so it's very effective.
In order to make your website ready to accept affiliates, you will need to apply some pretty advanced programming that will track where visitors are coming from and store a database of affiliates that have signed up. This will require hiring a professional programmer to get this type of system set up, but it will be well worth the cost. A lower cost method of starting an affiliate program on your site is to use www.clickbank.com.
Online websites and resources
www.bcentral.com/articles/whitman/102.asp
www.amazon.com
www.cj.com
www.linkshare.comwww.clickbank.com
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Banners
The importance of banners
Banners are advertisements on websites that, when clicked on, link to an advertiser’s website. They are usually ¾” by 6” in size. Banners fulfill two purposes:
To increase traffic to a website. This happens as Internet surfers click on the banner they are taken to the website directly.
Establish name recognition or branding. The more people see a website’s banner, the more the company name gets branded into their minds, like commercials.
Banners are viewed a lot by many people as they surf around the Internet; however, banners are not always being clicked on all the time. Here you will learn how to effectively utilize banner campaign to increase traffic and sales for you business.
Methods of getting banners on the Internet
There are many different methods to get your banners out in front of your target customers; here three main methods will be reviewed:
Purchasing impressions
Banner exchanging
Banner placement on search engines
1. Purchasing impressions
Impressions are the number of times a banner is seen online. As someone pulls up a website with your banner on it, then that counts as one impression. The average impression cost throughout the industry is $0.02 to $0.05 per impression. A click-through is when someone clicks on your banner, which transfers him or her to your site immediately. The industry click-through rate is less than one percent. This doesn't sound too good, but here you will learn how to increase that click-through rate.
There are banner networks out there that will allow you to purchase impressions from them. You can utilize these companies to advertise; however, make sure that they allow you to control the types of websites/categories that your banners are shown in. If they are just placed on random categories, you will not get a high click-through rate. However, if they allow you pick the website categories that your banner will be shown in, this can be an effective method of placing banners online.
2. Banner exchanging
A second method of getting banners online is through banner exchanging. Through this method, you are actually finding websites that complement or go hand-in-hand with your own and offering to trade banner ads with them. So you would place their banner on your website, and then they would place your banner on their site. This is effective because you are actually controlling the eyes of who is viewing your banner. So you’ll get a much higher click-through rate.
If the company that you want to trade banners with does not want to trade, they may be interested in you just paying to have your banner placed on their site, which is also fine. However, in purchasing banner space, try to get the company to charge you on a cost-per-click (CPC) method. This means that you are only paying when someone actually clicks on your banner. Most companies will charge on a CPM method, or they charge you a flat rate for every 1,000 impressions your banner gets. Which is fine, but this does not guarantee any traffic, so paying on a CPC method is better.
3. Banner placement on search engines
A third method of placing banners online is through targeted banner placement on the search engines. Any time an Internet surfer searches for something on a search engines, a banner that relates to what they searched for will usually appear at the top of the page of the search results. This is where you would want to advertise. So you would want to pay for advertising space for the banners that appear at the top of a search under specific keyword phrases that relate to your site.
Many search engines charge on a CPM method, so you are paying for every thousand impressions. You can do this, or a better method is to find search engines that pay on a CPC method, so you do not have to pay anything unless someone actually clicks on your banner and goes to your website.
Designing effective banners
The key to a successful banner is to have a good headline. The headline is 5-7 words long, like a magazine advertisement headline. It would be a good idea to look through magazines and read through the different advertisement headlines and see what grabs your attention, and then write your headline.
Focus your headline on words that are action oriented that grab the attention of consumers. The following is a list researchers at Yale University say are the most powerful attention-grabbing words: free, secrets, discover, easy, guarantee, health, love, money, money-back, new, powerful, proven, own, results, save, tested, and you are some examples.
Once you’ve got the headline written, you’ll want some graphics for your banner. These can be either animated or static, but keep in mind that your banner is small, so your graphics cannot be really large. Some good graphic websites are the following:
www.mediabuilder.com
www.bellsnwhistles.com
www.animfactory.com
www.eyewire.com
www.andyart.com
www.photodisc.com
For the finishing touches to your banner, make sure you have Click here written on your banner somewhere. Also, you’ll want to have your domain name on the banner, this will help with branding.
When programming the banner, you can either pay a website design company to program the banner for you, which would cost between $100 and $200 per banner. Or you can design it yourself through website building and editing programs like PhotoShop, DreamWeaver, or other programs that you may find.
Online websites and resources
www.bannersgomlm.com
www.mediabuilder.com
www.bellsnwhistles.com
www.animfactory.com
www.eyewire.com
www.andyart.com
www.photodisc.com
Banners are advertisements on websites that, when clicked on, link to an advertiser’s website. They are usually ¾” by 6” in size. Banners fulfill two purposes:
To increase traffic to a website. This happens as Internet surfers click on the banner they are taken to the website directly.
Establish name recognition or branding. The more people see a website’s banner, the more the company name gets branded into their minds, like commercials.
Banners are viewed a lot by many people as they surf around the Internet; however, banners are not always being clicked on all the time. Here you will learn how to effectively utilize banner campaign to increase traffic and sales for you business.
Methods of getting banners on the Internet
There are many different methods to get your banners out in front of your target customers; here three main methods will be reviewed:
Purchasing impressions
Banner exchanging
Banner placement on search engines
1. Purchasing impressions
Impressions are the number of times a banner is seen online. As someone pulls up a website with your banner on it, then that counts as one impression. The average impression cost throughout the industry is $0.02 to $0.05 per impression. A click-through is when someone clicks on your banner, which transfers him or her to your site immediately. The industry click-through rate is less than one percent. This doesn't sound too good, but here you will learn how to increase that click-through rate.
There are banner networks out there that will allow you to purchase impressions from them. You can utilize these companies to advertise; however, make sure that they allow you to control the types of websites/categories that your banners are shown in. If they are just placed on random categories, you will not get a high click-through rate. However, if they allow you pick the website categories that your banner will be shown in, this can be an effective method of placing banners online.
2. Banner exchanging
A second method of getting banners online is through banner exchanging. Through this method, you are actually finding websites that complement or go hand-in-hand with your own and offering to trade banner ads with them. So you would place their banner on your website, and then they would place your banner on their site. This is effective because you are actually controlling the eyes of who is viewing your banner. So you’ll get a much higher click-through rate.
If the company that you want to trade banners with does not want to trade, they may be interested in you just paying to have your banner placed on their site, which is also fine. However, in purchasing banner space, try to get the company to charge you on a cost-per-click (CPC) method. This means that you are only paying when someone actually clicks on your banner. Most companies will charge on a CPM method, or they charge you a flat rate for every 1,000 impressions your banner gets. Which is fine, but this does not guarantee any traffic, so paying on a CPC method is better.
3. Banner placement on search engines
A third method of placing banners online is through targeted banner placement on the search engines. Any time an Internet surfer searches for something on a search engines, a banner that relates to what they searched for will usually appear at the top of the page of the search results. This is where you would want to advertise. So you would want to pay for advertising space for the banners that appear at the top of a search under specific keyword phrases that relate to your site.
Many search engines charge on a CPM method, so you are paying for every thousand impressions. You can do this, or a better method is to find search engines that pay on a CPC method, so you do not have to pay anything unless someone actually clicks on your banner and goes to your website.
Designing effective banners
The key to a successful banner is to have a good headline. The headline is 5-7 words long, like a magazine advertisement headline. It would be a good idea to look through magazines and read through the different advertisement headlines and see what grabs your attention, and then write your headline.
Focus your headline on words that are action oriented that grab the attention of consumers. The following is a list researchers at Yale University say are the most powerful attention-grabbing words: free, secrets, discover, easy, guarantee, health, love, money, money-back, new, powerful, proven, own, results, save, tested, and you are some examples.
Once you’ve got the headline written, you’ll want some graphics for your banner. These can be either animated or static, but keep in mind that your banner is small, so your graphics cannot be really large. Some good graphic websites are the following:
www.mediabuilder.com
www.bellsnwhistles.com
www.animfactory.com
www.eyewire.com
www.andyart.com
www.photodisc.com
For the finishing touches to your banner, make sure you have Click here written on your banner somewhere. Also, you’ll want to have your domain name on the banner, this will help with branding.
When programming the banner, you can either pay a website design company to program the banner for you, which would cost between $100 and $200 per banner. Or you can design it yourself through website building and editing programs like PhotoShop, DreamWeaver, or other programs that you may find.
Online websites and resources
www.bannersgomlm.com
www.mediabuilder.com
www.bellsnwhistles.com
www.animfactory.com
www.eyewire.com
www.andyart.com
www.photodisc.com
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Viral marketing
What viral marketing is
Viral marketing is getting people to refer others to your website. Viral marketing is any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence. Off the Internet, viral marketing has been referred to as “word-of-mouth” marketing.
A classic example of viral marketing is Hotmail.com. They attach a message at the bottom of every email that says: “Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com.” Then they just stand back as everyone sends this message along with every email that they send out.
For a website, a good viral marketing strategy is to have a link that an Internet surfer can click on that will email the page or website to a friend. Many news websites have this feature at the bottom of the articles that are written.
Elements of a viral marketing strategy
There are many different elements that make up a good viral marketing strategy. Here we will give you five of them. A viral marketing strategy does not need to contain all of these elements, but the more the better. The five elements are the following:
Gives away products or services
Provides for effortless transfer to others
Exploits common motivations and behaviors
Utilizes existing communication networks
Takes advantage of others’ resources
1. Gives away products or services
There is not a more powerful marketing word than “free.” A good viral marketing strategy will incorporate the free concept by giving away products or services to attract attention. For example: free information, free graphics, free software programs, etc. Obviously, you will not make money up front offering things for free. However, the profits will come as you increase your potential customer base, and viral marketing does just that, it attract people to your website, who eventually turn into purchasers.
2. Provides for effortless transfer to others
Viruses only spread when they are easy to transmit. So you must make it easy to transfer your message to others. For example: “Click here to email this article to a friend” or “Send this article” are good examples. Then link that message so that when it’s clicked on, all they have to do is type in their friend’s email address and click send, and away it goes. The shorter the message is and easier to send, the better the viral marketing strategy.
3. Exploits common motivations and behaviors
Greed drives people, and so does the hunger to be popular, loved, and understood. The resulting urge to communicate produces millions of websites and billions of email messages. Design a viral marketing strategy that builds on common motivations and behavior for its transmission, and you’ll be successful.
4. Utilizes existing communication networks
Social scientists say that each person has a network of 8 to 12 people in their close network of friends, family, and associates. A person’s broader network may consist of hundreds or thousands of people. People on the Internet develop networks of relationships by collecting email addresses, adding websites to their favorites, signing up for affiliate programs, etc. Learn to place your message into existing communications between people, and you will rapidly multiply its dispersion.
5. Takes advantage of others’ resources
The most creative viral marketing plans use others’ resources to get the word out. Affiliate programs, for example, place their banner or ad on others’ websites. Authors who give away free articles try to position their articles on others’ web pages. A news release can be picked up by hundreds of periodicals and form the basic of articles seen by thousands of readers. Now someone else’s newsprint or website is relaying your marketing message. Someone else’s resources are depleted rather than your own.
How to implement viral marketing
There are many methods of implementing these principles of viral marketing to your website, here we will list a few examples.
One thing that you can do is write articles and encourage others to post them on their site as free content. Only let others use the articles if it contains links to your site. Another method is to set up an affiliate program to encourage links to your products. Make sure you pay enough to make this attractive to site owners. You could send out news releases for your site.
Word of mouth strategies are also effective. If you know some CGI or JavaScript you can install a “Email article to friend” link at the bottom of each article that you write. If you don’t know how to do this, you can just encourage readers to email the article on their own to friends.
You can also include some free products or services to get the word out like a free e-greeting card or free email or free software. Most importantly, think of unique ways you can build viral marketing techniques into your future marketing programs.
Online websites and resources
There are a number of articles on viral marketing at http://www.wilsonweb.com/cat/cat.cfm?page=1&subcat=mm_Viral that you can look into. For tips on adding the HTML to your site to apply viral marketing, try checking out www.wilsonweb.com and www.htmlgoodies.com.
Viral marketing is getting people to refer others to your website. Viral marketing is any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence. Off the Internet, viral marketing has been referred to as “word-of-mouth” marketing.
A classic example of viral marketing is Hotmail.com. They attach a message at the bottom of every email that says: “Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com.” Then they just stand back as everyone sends this message along with every email that they send out.
For a website, a good viral marketing strategy is to have a link that an Internet surfer can click on that will email the page or website to a friend. Many news websites have this feature at the bottom of the articles that are written.
Elements of a viral marketing strategy
There are many different elements that make up a good viral marketing strategy. Here we will give you five of them. A viral marketing strategy does not need to contain all of these elements, but the more the better. The five elements are the following:
Gives away products or services
Provides for effortless transfer to others
Exploits common motivations and behaviors
Utilizes existing communication networks
Takes advantage of others’ resources
1. Gives away products or services
There is not a more powerful marketing word than “free.” A good viral marketing strategy will incorporate the free concept by giving away products or services to attract attention. For example: free information, free graphics, free software programs, etc. Obviously, you will not make money up front offering things for free. However, the profits will come as you increase your potential customer base, and viral marketing does just that, it attract people to your website, who eventually turn into purchasers.
2. Provides for effortless transfer to others
Viruses only spread when they are easy to transmit. So you must make it easy to transfer your message to others. For example: “Click here to email this article to a friend” or “Send this article” are good examples. Then link that message so that when it’s clicked on, all they have to do is type in their friend’s email address and click send, and away it goes. The shorter the message is and easier to send, the better the viral marketing strategy.
3. Exploits common motivations and behaviors
Greed drives people, and so does the hunger to be popular, loved, and understood. The resulting urge to communicate produces millions of websites and billions of email messages. Design a viral marketing strategy that builds on common motivations and behavior for its transmission, and you’ll be successful.
4. Utilizes existing communication networks
Social scientists say that each person has a network of 8 to 12 people in their close network of friends, family, and associates. A person’s broader network may consist of hundreds or thousands of people. People on the Internet develop networks of relationships by collecting email addresses, adding websites to their favorites, signing up for affiliate programs, etc. Learn to place your message into existing communications between people, and you will rapidly multiply its dispersion.
5. Takes advantage of others’ resources
The most creative viral marketing plans use others’ resources to get the word out. Affiliate programs, for example, place their banner or ad on others’ websites. Authors who give away free articles try to position their articles on others’ web pages. A news release can be picked up by hundreds of periodicals and form the basic of articles seen by thousands of readers. Now someone else’s newsprint or website is relaying your marketing message. Someone else’s resources are depleted rather than your own.
How to implement viral marketing
There are many methods of implementing these principles of viral marketing to your website, here we will list a few examples.
One thing that you can do is write articles and encourage others to post them on their site as free content. Only let others use the articles if it contains links to your site. Another method is to set up an affiliate program to encourage links to your products. Make sure you pay enough to make this attractive to site owners. You could send out news releases for your site.
Word of mouth strategies are also effective. If you know some CGI or JavaScript you can install a “Email article to friend” link at the bottom of each article that you write. If you don’t know how to do this, you can just encourage readers to email the article on their own to friends.
You can also include some free products or services to get the word out like a free e-greeting card or free email or free software. Most importantly, think of unique ways you can build viral marketing techniques into your future marketing programs.
Online websites and resources
There are a number of articles on viral marketing at http://www.wilsonweb.com/cat/cat.cfm?page=1&subcat=mm_Viral that you can look into. For tips on adding the HTML to your site to apply viral marketing, try checking out www.wilsonweb.com and www.htmlgoodies.com.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
email advertising
The benefits of email advertising
Many of the large companies on the Internet find new customers through different email advertising campaigns. You can probably tell that many companies use this if you get hundred of emails a week offering different products or services.
You, like many others, probably find this process rather annoying; however, companies have found that with a good email list, they can generate about a 7-15% visit rate to their websites through this advertising medium. Therefore, this is a strategy that you will not want to ignore for your business.
How to collect email addresses
There are many ways to collect email addresses. Listed here will be three of the most effective methods:
Purchase email lists
Autoresponders
Pop-up windows
1. Purchase email lists
There are many companies that offer email lists that you can purchase and utilize for your website. These lists range in price and quality, but the general rule is that to get a decent list, it will cost a good amount of money.
Any time Internet users purchase or register for something online, they are usually asked to select boxes related to their interests to be sent more information on those particular topics. These are called opt-in and opt-out email lists.
An opt-in email list is where someone would actually select the appropriate box related to his or her interests. An opt-out list is where boxes are pre-selected and the Internet user has to deselect the box so that they are not sent the information.
You can purchase these lists from many different resources; however, they can be quite expensive if it is a good list. Two companies to look at in purchasing such lists are www.postmasterdirect.com and www.yesmail.com. If you’d rather not spend the money to purchase your lists, there are ways to create your own, and those ways are through the use of autoresponders and pop-up windows.
2. Autoresponders
An autoresponder is a tool that allows you to collect email addresses as people visit your website and request info from you. Your main goal as people visit your website should be to get them to purchase from you. Your second goal should be to collect their email address. Email addresses in Internet marketing are like gold, and autoresponders can help you to create your own email database without having to purchase an email list.
The key to an effective autoresponder is to have a good headline. For example, if you have Click here to subscribe to our guest book, nobody will ever subscribe to it. So the key is to have a headline that provides information that people would be interested in. Think about your potential customers and the type of information that they would be interested in and provide that in the headline. For example, if you are selling camping gear, you could say something like Enter your email address now to get 10 secrets to improve your camping experience. This would be something that people would more likely be interested in on a camping website.
There are many places where you can get free autoresponders for you website, a couple great ones are the following:
www.royal-responder.com
www.getresponse.com
www.infogeneratorpro.com
On those websites you can sign up for a free autoresponder and get that added to your website. Usually you will just need to copy and paste some HTML code to your site to get it going.
3. Pop-up windows
A third method of collecting email addresses is to utilize pop-up windows. A pop-up window is a window that appears on your screen as you go to a website. These windows can either pop up in front of the page that you are looking at, or they can pop behind the page. Pop-up windows force you to take action: either close the window, or click on it to learn more.
Most people find pop-up windows as rather annoying. This is because usually they do not relate at all to what is being searched for, so people just close them. However, pop-up windows can be effectively used to gather information, like email addresses, of people that visit your website. The key is to have a pop-up window that relates to what the visitor to your site is interested in. For example, if you are selling camping gear, you can have the pop-up window offer a contest for a free monthly shopping spree giveaway on your website if a visitor enters their email address.
Pop-up windows basically fulfill the same purpose of autoresponders; however, pop-up windows do a much better job collecting those email addresses because they force the visitor to either enter their email address or close out the pop-up window.
A great place to get a pop-up window program for your website is at www.marketingpopup.com. You can sign up there and then customize the pop-up window to offer anything that you would want.
What to do with those email addresses
Now that you’ve collected those email addresses either through purchasing a list or creating your own, the question is what do you do with them? One of the main things that you can do with email addresses is back-end advertising. Back-end advertising consists of sending advertisements to those on your email list offering your products or services.
The statistics show that Internet surfers will visit a website 7-10 times before they actually purchase anything. Therefore, you will want to get those visitors back to you site as much as possible if you want to make them customers. A great way to do that is through back-end advertising.
Another thing that you can do with those email addresses is called email exchanging. This consists of finding websites that complement your own and have some type of email list of their customers. Then you can offer to email your database of email addresses an ad or offer that would advertise their website in return for them to send an email to their database offering your products/services.
You would never want to just give out your email list to another company. So you would have them write the ad, and then you would just send it out. You could do this each month with a new company and really build up your customer base very quickly. And the great thing about this is that it’s free. You are just exchanging services.
Creating ezines or newsletters is another use for your email list. You could send out a monthly email with free tips and information to your potential customers. In this email you could have the free tips, an ad for your products/services, as well as an ad for another company, like an email exchange. Therefore, with the use of a newsletter you can apply all these strategies to your potential customers.
Online websites and resources
www.postmasterdirect.com
www.yesmail.com
www.royal-responder.com
www.getresponse.com
www.infogeneratorpro.com
www.marketingpopup.com
Many of the large companies on the Internet find new customers through different email advertising campaigns. You can probably tell that many companies use this if you get hundred of emails a week offering different products or services.
You, like many others, probably find this process rather annoying; however, companies have found that with a good email list, they can generate about a 7-15% visit rate to their websites through this advertising medium. Therefore, this is a strategy that you will not want to ignore for your business.
How to collect email addresses
There are many ways to collect email addresses. Listed here will be three of the most effective methods:
Purchase email lists
Autoresponders
Pop-up windows
1. Purchase email lists
There are many companies that offer email lists that you can purchase and utilize for your website. These lists range in price and quality, but the general rule is that to get a decent list, it will cost a good amount of money.
Any time Internet users purchase or register for something online, they are usually asked to select boxes related to their interests to be sent more information on those particular topics. These are called opt-in and opt-out email lists.
An opt-in email list is where someone would actually select the appropriate box related to his or her interests. An opt-out list is where boxes are pre-selected and the Internet user has to deselect the box so that they are not sent the information.
You can purchase these lists from many different resources; however, they can be quite expensive if it is a good list. Two companies to look at in purchasing such lists are www.postmasterdirect.com and www.yesmail.com. If you’d rather not spend the money to purchase your lists, there are ways to create your own, and those ways are through the use of autoresponders and pop-up windows.
2. Autoresponders
An autoresponder is a tool that allows you to collect email addresses as people visit your website and request info from you. Your main goal as people visit your website should be to get them to purchase from you. Your second goal should be to collect their email address. Email addresses in Internet marketing are like gold, and autoresponders can help you to create your own email database without having to purchase an email list.
The key to an effective autoresponder is to have a good headline. For example, if you have Click here to subscribe to our guest book, nobody will ever subscribe to it. So the key is to have a headline that provides information that people would be interested in. Think about your potential customers and the type of information that they would be interested in and provide that in the headline. For example, if you are selling camping gear, you could say something like Enter your email address now to get 10 secrets to improve your camping experience. This would be something that people would more likely be interested in on a camping website.
There are many places where you can get free autoresponders for you website, a couple great ones are the following:
www.royal-responder.com
www.getresponse.com
www.infogeneratorpro.com
On those websites you can sign up for a free autoresponder and get that added to your website. Usually you will just need to copy and paste some HTML code to your site to get it going.
3. Pop-up windows
A third method of collecting email addresses is to utilize pop-up windows. A pop-up window is a window that appears on your screen as you go to a website. These windows can either pop up in front of the page that you are looking at, or they can pop behind the page. Pop-up windows force you to take action: either close the window, or click on it to learn more.
Most people find pop-up windows as rather annoying. This is because usually they do not relate at all to what is being searched for, so people just close them. However, pop-up windows can be effectively used to gather information, like email addresses, of people that visit your website. The key is to have a pop-up window that relates to what the visitor to your site is interested in. For example, if you are selling camping gear, you can have the pop-up window offer a contest for a free monthly shopping spree giveaway on your website if a visitor enters their email address.
Pop-up windows basically fulfill the same purpose of autoresponders; however, pop-up windows do a much better job collecting those email addresses because they force the visitor to either enter their email address or close out the pop-up window.
A great place to get a pop-up window program for your website is at www.marketingpopup.com. You can sign up there and then customize the pop-up window to offer anything that you would want.
What to do with those email addresses
Now that you’ve collected those email addresses either through purchasing a list or creating your own, the question is what do you do with them? One of the main things that you can do with email addresses is back-end advertising. Back-end advertising consists of sending advertisements to those on your email list offering your products or services.
The statistics show that Internet surfers will visit a website 7-10 times before they actually purchase anything. Therefore, you will want to get those visitors back to you site as much as possible if you want to make them customers. A great way to do that is through back-end advertising.
Another thing that you can do with those email addresses is called email exchanging. This consists of finding websites that complement your own and have some type of email list of their customers. Then you can offer to email your database of email addresses an ad or offer that would advertise their website in return for them to send an email to their database offering your products/services.
You would never want to just give out your email list to another company. So you would have them write the ad, and then you would just send it out. You could do this each month with a new company and really build up your customer base very quickly. And the great thing about this is that it’s free. You are just exchanging services.
Creating ezines or newsletters is another use for your email list. You could send out a monthly email with free tips and information to your potential customers. In this email you could have the free tips, an ad for your products/services, as well as an ad for another company, like an email exchange. Therefore, with the use of a newsletter you can apply all these strategies to your potential customers.
Online websites and resources
www.postmasterdirect.com
www.yesmail.com
www.royal-responder.com
www.getresponse.com
www.infogeneratorpro.com
www.marketingpopup.com
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Reciprocal linking
What reciprocal links are
Links are words or phrases on websites that link to other sites on the Internet. Many Internet surfers find websites through linking. So they would be on a website, then see an ad or link to another site, and then click on it.
Reciprocal linking involves finding websites that would compliment your own, and then offering to trade links, or ads, with them. So you would place their link on your website, and then you would have them place your link on their website.
The importance of reciprocal linking
The reason that you would want to place reciprocal links is because many Internet surfers find websites through linking, so it is a great way to increase traffic to a site. The number one way people find sites for the first time is through the search engines. The number two way is through links, or ads, from other websites. Therefore, the more places that you have linking in to you, the easier people can find your website.
Another reason that linking is important is because of a principle called “link popularity.” Many of the major search engines are starting to rank websites higher if they have many other websites linking in to them. The search engines have termed this link popularity.
Basically, search engines figure that if many other websites are linking, or advertising, to your site, then your site must be a good one. Therefore, the more companies that you get to link to you, the higher the search engines will rank you.
Some good articles on link popularity are at: http://www.searchengines.com/linkpopularity.html and http://www.searchengines.com/linkpopularityinc.html.
Steps to placing reciprocal links
In order to properly apply this marketing strategy, there are five main steps to go through:
Make sure you’ve got a links page on your website
Find complementary websites to exchange links with
Call/email the companies to offer to exchange links
Exchange links with those that are interested
Check back monthly to make sure your link is still there
1. Make sure you’ve got a links page on your website
Before you can place reciprocal links, you must have a place to put those links. Therefore, you will want to have a page on your website called links, or favorite links, or related links.
On this page you will want to have a couple paragraphs that explain the importance of trading links, and then the links underneath that listed by category. In talking about the importance of trading links, you can use the information from this document to help as we just went over that above. A good example of this is found at www.mybusinesskit.com. Go there and click on Related links, and you’ll see the type of information that you’d want to include.
The reason that you would want to include the importance of trading links on this page is because many other business owners will also come to your site wanting to advertise with you. Therefore, as they come and check out your links page, it will help sell them on the idea to trade links, so they will contact you to offer to trade links.
2. Find complementary websites to exchange links with
Once you’ve got your links page in place, you will want to find as many companies as possible to exchange links with. A complementary company is one that offers products/services that go hand-in-hand with your own product/services. These would not be direct competitors. By doing this, you are basically learning where your target audience hangs out online.
The best way to find these complementary companies is to use the search engines and type in words that would describe these companies and then check out the websites. As you find them, then keep a database somewhere of their website addresses, contact names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Many of the marketing strategies that you will be applying will be to work with these types of complementary companies, so the more you can find the better.
A great way to find out contact names and phone numbers of websites is to use the whois lookup function on places that you can register a domain name, like www.networksolutions.com. You can go there and click on whois lookup and type in a website address. Then this will pull up the name and contact information for who registered the domain name for that website.
3. Call/email the companies to offer to exchange links
Once you’ve found the companies to work with, you will then want to call or email the companies’ and offer to exchange links with them. In contacting them, calling will give you a much better success rate; however, through email, you can contact more companies in less time, so either way works.
In contacting these companies, explain that you have a website and that you are interested in advertising with them. Then you’d want to include four main points in talking to or emailing them:
Compliment their website. Tell them what you like about it. Give them specific details.
Explain your site. Explain how your site would complement, or go hand-in-hand with theirs.
Explain the importance of exchanging links. Emphasize how linking will help them bring more traffic to their site as well as get a higher search engine ranking.
Offer to exchange links. You can even give them the information to exchange links with you here so that they can just copy and paste it to their site.
This is a marketing strategy that you will continuously be applying to your website. It’s a free strategy, and very effective, so you’ll want to find as many companies as possible to exchange links with.
If you are emailing out this information instead of calling, make sure that the subject box of the email is very specific to their company. For example, you could have as the subject: Questions about MyFinancialSoftware.com (or whatever website it is). This would be much more likely to be opened because many people just go through and delete the emails that they get that look like advertisements.
4. Exchange links with those that are interested
As you find companies that are interested in exchanging links, you will want to give them your linking information, and then get their linking info. In exchanging links, you will need the following info:
Name of the website
Brief description of the site
URL address to link to
Give the company your information, and get theirs, and then add the link to your site. In talking to the company about adding your link to their site, ask them to put your link on an exit page (a page that a visitor would leave from). The homepage is the most popular exit page, so ask them to include the link at the bottom of the homepage if possible. If they have a links page, they will probably want to put it there, and that would be fine as well.
5. Check back monthly to make sure your link is still there
Make sure the company keeps your link on their site as long as you have theirs on your site. Check back to the site on a monthly basis to make sure you're both linked. And if you find that your link isn't there anymore, then contact them about it, or take their link off your site.
Online websites and resources
There are some great tools and online resources to utilize in helping you exchange links. Some of them are listed below:
www.links4trade.com is an online resource of companies wanting to exchange links. So you can register here, and then find other small business owners to trade links with.
www.cyber-robotics.com is also an online resource of companies wanting to exchange links. Go there and check out their Zeus program to read more about it.
www.linkpopularity.com will help you tell how many links are pointing to your website.
Links are words or phrases on websites that link to other sites on the Internet. Many Internet surfers find websites through linking. So they would be on a website, then see an ad or link to another site, and then click on it.
Reciprocal linking involves finding websites that would compliment your own, and then offering to trade links, or ads, with them. So you would place their link on your website, and then you would have them place your link on their website.
The importance of reciprocal linking
The reason that you would want to place reciprocal links is because many Internet surfers find websites through linking, so it is a great way to increase traffic to a site. The number one way people find sites for the first time is through the search engines. The number two way is through links, or ads, from other websites. Therefore, the more places that you have linking in to you, the easier people can find your website.
Another reason that linking is important is because of a principle called “link popularity.” Many of the major search engines are starting to rank websites higher if they have many other websites linking in to them. The search engines have termed this link popularity.
Basically, search engines figure that if many other websites are linking, or advertising, to your site, then your site must be a good one. Therefore, the more companies that you get to link to you, the higher the search engines will rank you.
Some good articles on link popularity are at: http://www.searchengines.com/linkpopularity.html and http://www.searchengines.com/linkpopularityinc.html.
Steps to placing reciprocal links
In order to properly apply this marketing strategy, there are five main steps to go through:
Make sure you’ve got a links page on your website
Find complementary websites to exchange links with
Call/email the companies to offer to exchange links
Exchange links with those that are interested
Check back monthly to make sure your link is still there
1. Make sure you’ve got a links page on your website
Before you can place reciprocal links, you must have a place to put those links. Therefore, you will want to have a page on your website called links, or favorite links, or related links.
On this page you will want to have a couple paragraphs that explain the importance of trading links, and then the links underneath that listed by category. In talking about the importance of trading links, you can use the information from this document to help as we just went over that above. A good example of this is found at www.mybusinesskit.com. Go there and click on Related links, and you’ll see the type of information that you’d want to include.
The reason that you would want to include the importance of trading links on this page is because many other business owners will also come to your site wanting to advertise with you. Therefore, as they come and check out your links page, it will help sell them on the idea to trade links, so they will contact you to offer to trade links.
2. Find complementary websites to exchange links with
Once you’ve got your links page in place, you will want to find as many companies as possible to exchange links with. A complementary company is one that offers products/services that go hand-in-hand with your own product/services. These would not be direct competitors. By doing this, you are basically learning where your target audience hangs out online.
The best way to find these complementary companies is to use the search engines and type in words that would describe these companies and then check out the websites. As you find them, then keep a database somewhere of their website addresses, contact names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Many of the marketing strategies that you will be applying will be to work with these types of complementary companies, so the more you can find the better.
A great way to find out contact names and phone numbers of websites is to use the whois lookup function on places that you can register a domain name, like www.networksolutions.com. You can go there and click on whois lookup and type in a website address. Then this will pull up the name and contact information for who registered the domain name for that website.
3. Call/email the companies to offer to exchange links
Once you’ve found the companies to work with, you will then want to call or email the companies’ and offer to exchange links with them. In contacting them, calling will give you a much better success rate; however, through email, you can contact more companies in less time, so either way works.
In contacting these companies, explain that you have a website and that you are interested in advertising with them. Then you’d want to include four main points in talking to or emailing them:
Compliment their website. Tell them what you like about it. Give them specific details.
Explain your site. Explain how your site would complement, or go hand-in-hand with theirs.
Explain the importance of exchanging links. Emphasize how linking will help them bring more traffic to their site as well as get a higher search engine ranking.
Offer to exchange links. You can even give them the information to exchange links with you here so that they can just copy and paste it to their site.
This is a marketing strategy that you will continuously be applying to your website. It’s a free strategy, and very effective, so you’ll want to find as many companies as possible to exchange links with.
If you are emailing out this information instead of calling, make sure that the subject box of the email is very specific to their company. For example, you could have as the subject: Questions about MyFinancialSoftware.com (or whatever website it is). This would be much more likely to be opened because many people just go through and delete the emails that they get that look like advertisements.
4. Exchange links with those that are interested
As you find companies that are interested in exchanging links, you will want to give them your linking information, and then get their linking info. In exchanging links, you will need the following info:
Name of the website
Brief description of the site
URL address to link to
Give the company your information, and get theirs, and then add the link to your site. In talking to the company about adding your link to their site, ask them to put your link on an exit page (a page that a visitor would leave from). The homepage is the most popular exit page, so ask them to include the link at the bottom of the homepage if possible. If they have a links page, they will probably want to put it there, and that would be fine as well.
5. Check back monthly to make sure your link is still there
Make sure the company keeps your link on their site as long as you have theirs on your site. Check back to the site on a monthly basis to make sure you're both linked. And if you find that your link isn't there anymore, then contact them about it, or take their link off your site.
Online websites and resources
There are some great tools and online resources to utilize in helping you exchange links. Some of them are listed below:
www.links4trade.com is an online resource of companies wanting to exchange links. So you can register here, and then find other small business owners to trade links with.
www.cyber-robotics.com is also an online resource of companies wanting to exchange links. Go there and check out their Zeus program to read more about it.
www.linkpopularity.com will help you tell how many links are pointing to your website.
payperclick search engines
With pay per click search engines, you pay for your listing location, or ranking, on a particular keyword phrase. The more you pay, the higher up on the list they will rank you. The benefit to the pay-per-click search engines is that you do not pay a penny unless someone actually clicks on your website, so it’s guaranteed advertising. There are not many marketing strategies out there that will guarantee results.
The most popular pay-per-click search engine is Overture.com (formerly GoTo.com). When you go to www.overture.com and type in a keyword phrase, it will tell you next to each listing what the Cost to advertiser is. This is how much the website is charged every time someone clicks on their listing. On popular keyword phrases, it might cost $3-$4 to get a top ranking. You will not want to pay any more than $.10 per click up front. If you bid too high, you will go through money rather quickly.
The overall concept
Establish an initial deposit by paying an up-front fee to the search engines that you’re listing with ($50 is the minimum initial deposit at Overture).
Research the keyword phrases that you’d like to bid on – using Overture’s Search Suggestion Tool at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion.
Bid on as many keyword phrases that you can by entering your pay-per-click amount. This is what you pay each time a visitor comes to your websites. The pay-per-click amount at Overture starts at $.05 per click and you must spend at least $20 a month or the difference is taken out of your account.
Each time an Internet surfer goes to the search engines (www.overture.com) and enters the keyword phrase that you’ve listed under in the search box, and clicks on you site from the search, then the amount that you paid for is taken out of your initial deposit. So with $50 at Overture bidding $.05 a click, you can get 1,000 visitors to your website.
Registering at Overture & other details
To register at Overture, go to www.overture.com and click on Advertise your site and then proceed to the Self serve sign up method. This way it doesn’t cost you any more money up front. Then start typing in your search terms with the title, description, URL, and maximum bid amount. They will review your listings within a couple business days so you’ll start receiving traffic very soon.
The main benefit of Overture is their Premium listings. The premium listings are websites that are listed in the top 3 listings with Overture under a specific keyword phrase. If you are listed in the top 3, then you get listed at the top of searches done on other major search engines, like Yahoo, MSN, InfoSpace, Ask Jeeves, AltaVista, and Netscape. This list is always changing, but the main players here are Yahoo and MSN.
You will receive far more traffic from these partnership listings than you ever will from Overture directly. Therefore, getting into the top 3 search result are very important. However, don’t get sucked into the trap of bidding high just to be in the top 3 or you’ll spend hundreds of dollars a day. Follow our keys to success listed below and you should be just fine.
Google’s pay-per-click program
Another search engine that offers a pay-per-click program is Google.com. Google is one of the most popular search engines out there, and they’ve learned from Overture how to make money in the search engine game, so they’ve incorporated their AdWords Select program along with their regular search results. So by registering to this program, you can get listed on the right hand side of the Google.com searches and only pay for that listing when someone clicks on your website.
Google is a very popular search engine, and with their AdWords Select program, you have the opportunity to gain valuable visibility with the search engines for your website. Another benefit is that Google has a partnership with Aol.com, so if you are listed with Google, your search results are also shown on www.aol.com when someone does a search there for your keyword phrase. So between Overture and Google, your website can be found with the main web portals on the Internet and gain incredible visibility.
To register with Google, go to www.google.com and click on Advertise with us, then click on AdWords Select, and you can read about the program there and sign up.
Keys to success
Key #1 – Know what your per/click profit is.
The per/click profit is the average profit that you make for each click/visit to your website. This is important because with knowing your per click profit, you can then know what your marketing budget would be for each marketing strategy out there, especially the pay-per-click search engines.
For example, we’ll assume that you get 1,000 unique visitors to your site on an average day. Out of those visitors, 30 people buy and spend $1,000. After you take out your expense, lets assume that your profit is $500 from those orders. Therefore, your per/click profit is $.50, or $500/1000 visitors.
If you find that you make $.50 for each visitor to your website, then you know that if you spend more than that, you will lost money on average. You will not know this information if you are just starting out with your website; therefore, you will want to keep your bids low (at the most $.10 per click) or you will go through too much money too fast. Once you know your per/click profit, then you can increase your bids.
In order to calculate the per/click profit, you will need to know how many unique visitor are coming to your website, as well as what your revenue and expenses are. The Accounting Software from MyBusinessKit.com will help you with your bookkeeping in keeping track of your revenue and expenses, and you can get tracking software for free at www.sitemeter.com. If you’d like a more advanced tracking software package, check out www.webtrends.com and www.mycomputer.com.
Key #2 – Bid on as many specific keyword phrases that you can as low as possible.
The more keyword phrase that you bid on, the more visitors you’ll get to your website. Make sure these keyword phrases are as specific as possible because this will increase the quality of your visitors and also give you a better chance of being listed in the premium listings area with Overture.
The best way to come up with many keyword phrases is to use Overture’s search suggestion tool at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion. Go there and type is general keywords that deal with your website and then print off the listings that it provides. Then take that list and highlight the keyword phrases that relate to your website. Then type in each one into a Microsoft Word document. Separate them by clicking return on your keyboard so you have a long list of keyword phrases. By doing this, you won’t have to retype each keyword phrase when you submit your site to other pay-per-click search engines like Google.
You’ll want to come up with hundreds of keyword phrases to bid on. Even if the phrase was searched for only 10 times at on the search suggestion tool, still bid on it.
Key #3 – Register to many of the pay-per-click search engines.
There are hundreds of pay-per-click search engines out there now. You don’t need to try to register to all of them because many are very small, but the main ones are important. At least register to Overture and Google, then you can go to www.payperclicksearchengines.com to get a list of the top other search engines to register with.
A great tool to use in getting listed with many of these types of search engines at a low cost is through PPCNow.com. PPCNow has partnerships with over 100 pay-per-click search engines. How it works is you go to www.ppcnow.com and pay them an up front fee of about $200, and then they’ll give you over $3,500 worth of combined credit with there partnership search engines. This is a great way to utilize the other pay-per-click search engines and get a ton of credit for a low price.
Online websites and resources
www.overture.com
www.google.com
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.ppcnow.com
www.sitemeter.com
www.webtrends.com
www.mycomputer.com
The most popular pay-per-click search engine is Overture.com (formerly GoTo.com). When you go to www.overture.com and type in a keyword phrase, it will tell you next to each listing what the Cost to advertiser is. This is how much the website is charged every time someone clicks on their listing. On popular keyword phrases, it might cost $3-$4 to get a top ranking. You will not want to pay any more than $.10 per click up front. If you bid too high, you will go through money rather quickly.
The overall concept
Establish an initial deposit by paying an up-front fee to the search engines that you’re listing with ($50 is the minimum initial deposit at Overture).
Research the keyword phrases that you’d like to bid on – using Overture’s Search Suggestion Tool at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion.
Bid on as many keyword phrases that you can by entering your pay-per-click amount. This is what you pay each time a visitor comes to your websites. The pay-per-click amount at Overture starts at $.05 per click and you must spend at least $20 a month or the difference is taken out of your account.
Each time an Internet surfer goes to the search engines (www.overture.com) and enters the keyword phrase that you’ve listed under in the search box, and clicks on you site from the search, then the amount that you paid for is taken out of your initial deposit. So with $50 at Overture bidding $.05 a click, you can get 1,000 visitors to your website.
Registering at Overture & other details
To register at Overture, go to www.overture.com and click on Advertise your site and then proceed to the Self serve sign up method. This way it doesn’t cost you any more money up front. Then start typing in your search terms with the title, description, URL, and maximum bid amount. They will review your listings within a couple business days so you’ll start receiving traffic very soon.
The main benefit of Overture is their Premium listings. The premium listings are websites that are listed in the top 3 listings with Overture under a specific keyword phrase. If you are listed in the top 3, then you get listed at the top of searches done on other major search engines, like Yahoo, MSN, InfoSpace, Ask Jeeves, AltaVista, and Netscape. This list is always changing, but the main players here are Yahoo and MSN.
You will receive far more traffic from these partnership listings than you ever will from Overture directly. Therefore, getting into the top 3 search result are very important. However, don’t get sucked into the trap of bidding high just to be in the top 3 or you’ll spend hundreds of dollars a day. Follow our keys to success listed below and you should be just fine.
Google’s pay-per-click program
Another search engine that offers a pay-per-click program is Google.com. Google is one of the most popular search engines out there, and they’ve learned from Overture how to make money in the search engine game, so they’ve incorporated their AdWords Select program along with their regular search results. So by registering to this program, you can get listed on the right hand side of the Google.com searches and only pay for that listing when someone clicks on your website.
Google is a very popular search engine, and with their AdWords Select program, you have the opportunity to gain valuable visibility with the search engines for your website. Another benefit is that Google has a partnership with Aol.com, so if you are listed with Google, your search results are also shown on www.aol.com when someone does a search there for your keyword phrase. So between Overture and Google, your website can be found with the main web portals on the Internet and gain incredible visibility.
To register with Google, go to www.google.com and click on Advertise with us, then click on AdWords Select, and you can read about the program there and sign up.
Keys to success
Key #1 – Know what your per/click profit is.
The per/click profit is the average profit that you make for each click/visit to your website. This is important because with knowing your per click profit, you can then know what your marketing budget would be for each marketing strategy out there, especially the pay-per-click search engines.
For example, we’ll assume that you get 1,000 unique visitors to your site on an average day. Out of those visitors, 30 people buy and spend $1,000. After you take out your expense, lets assume that your profit is $500 from those orders. Therefore, your per/click profit is $.50, or $500/1000 visitors.
If you find that you make $.50 for each visitor to your website, then you know that if you spend more than that, you will lost money on average. You will not know this information if you are just starting out with your website; therefore, you will want to keep your bids low (at the most $.10 per click) or you will go through too much money too fast. Once you know your per/click profit, then you can increase your bids.
In order to calculate the per/click profit, you will need to know how many unique visitor are coming to your website, as well as what your revenue and expenses are. The Accounting Software from MyBusinessKit.com will help you with your bookkeeping in keeping track of your revenue and expenses, and you can get tracking software for free at www.sitemeter.com. If you’d like a more advanced tracking software package, check out www.webtrends.com and www.mycomputer.com.
Key #2 – Bid on as many specific keyword phrases that you can as low as possible.
The more keyword phrase that you bid on, the more visitors you’ll get to your website. Make sure these keyword phrases are as specific as possible because this will increase the quality of your visitors and also give you a better chance of being listed in the premium listings area with Overture.
The best way to come up with many keyword phrases is to use Overture’s search suggestion tool at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion. Go there and type is general keywords that deal with your website and then print off the listings that it provides. Then take that list and highlight the keyword phrases that relate to your website. Then type in each one into a Microsoft Word document. Separate them by clicking return on your keyboard so you have a long list of keyword phrases. By doing this, you won’t have to retype each keyword phrase when you submit your site to other pay-per-click search engines like Google.
You’ll want to come up with hundreds of keyword phrases to bid on. Even if the phrase was searched for only 10 times at on the search suggestion tool, still bid on it.
Key #3 – Register to many of the pay-per-click search engines.
There are hundreds of pay-per-click search engines out there now. You don’t need to try to register to all of them because many are very small, but the main ones are important. At least register to Overture and Google, then you can go to www.payperclicksearchengines.com to get a list of the top other search engines to register with.
A great tool to use in getting listed with many of these types of search engines at a low cost is through PPCNow.com. PPCNow has partnerships with over 100 pay-per-click search engines. How it works is you go to www.ppcnow.com and pay them an up front fee of about $200, and then they’ll give you over $3,500 worth of combined credit with there partnership search engines. This is a great way to utilize the other pay-per-click search engines and get a ton of credit for a low price.
Online websites and resources
www.overture.com
www.google.com
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.ppcnow.com
www.sitemeter.com
www.webtrends.com
www.mycomputer.com
Monday, December 15, 2008
Search engines
Why search engines are important
According to any market research study out there, you’ll find that about 90% of Internet surfers find sites for the first time through the search engines. Therefore, the first marketing strategy that you will want to focus on is the search engines.
However, in focusing on the search engines, you will not want to put aside all other marketing strategies. The search engines are important, but if you focus so much on your search engine rankings and forget about the other marketing strategies that you will be learning, you will be missing out on a lot of traffic and sales.
Different types of search engines
There are 4 main types of search engines out there:
Regular search engines
Directories
Hybrids
Pay-per-click search engines
In this article, we will focus on the first three types of search engines, and the pay-per-click search engines will be covered in the next marketing strategy. It is such an important marketing tactic that we’ve given it it’s own article.
Regular search engines
Search engines help people find information on the Internet. They maintain huge databases of web sites that users can find by typing in a keyword. These databases are compiled by programs are called "spiders." These programs "crawl" across the Internet or web by following links from site to site and then they index each site they visit. Search engines are tricky because each will use its own set of criteria to determine how they index the sites. For example, some search engines index each page in a website, while others index only the main page.
Also, the criteria each individual search engine uses to organize or rank web sites for its users vary. Some will list the results of a search according to which sites have the most links from other sites, called link popularity. Others concentrate more heavily on the summary information that is found in the Meta tags. There are actually quite a few other ways to do this and most search engines will use combination of criterion.
Directories
Directories are often confused with search engines, however they are much different in the way they work even though they appear to have similar results to Internet surfers. Instead of using spiders to crawl the web, directories, like Yahoo and Looksmart, have actual people review and determine the ranking of their sites. They have many more guidelines you must follow to be found in their directories as well. That is why directories' indexes tend to contain a smaller number of high-quality links.
Directory editors evaluate the quality of a site: its functionality, content, and design. Many directories will list sites in each category alphabetically, like the phone book. Therefore, having a company name that begins with a letter close to “A” will help with the directories.
Hybrids
Hybrid search engines are a combination of a directory and a search engine. This is a "best of both worlds" technique, done in an effort to provide users with the most complete set of results. Today the top ten search sites are hybrids. Yahoo! Actually started out as a directory, but now it supplements its manually compiled listings with search results from Google, which is a regular search engine.
What search engines look for
For the most part, search engines look at millions of variables in ranking a page. It would be impossible to know all of these, and the minute that you get close, they will all change, so it would be a waste of time. However, there are a few main variables that most of the search engines will look at that you will want to focus on. Most of these variables focus on keyword phrases, or words or phrases that Internet surfers would type in to find your website.
In dealing with keyword phrases, there are a few main words that you will want to keep in mind: relevance, prominence, proximity, and density.
Relevance
Keyword relevance means that the keyword phrases that you choose will want to be ones that people are actually typing in to find you. There is a great tool from Overture.com that will help you come up with relevant keyword phrases. This tool is called the Search Suggestion Tool and is found at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion. Go there and type in a word or phrase that relates to your business. Then this tool will tell you how many times that word or phrase was searched for in a previous month at Overture.com as well as give you a list of phrases that were search for that have that same word or phrase in it.
This tool will give you the demand for different products/services by telling you what people are actually searching for. Overture.com is one of the major search engines on the Internet, so it will give you a good idea as to what is being searched. However, Overture.com only covers about 2.7% of all searches done, so it gives you a fraction of what the entire Internet is doing. From here, you’ll want to pick out about 50 keyword phrases that best describe your site and then type them down somewhere. And then select 5 from that list that you will emphasize on the homepage of your website.
Prominence
Keywords demand the most prominent positions on your page. The top of the page is the single most important place to include your keywords. You will want to place your top five keyword phrases as close to the top of your page as you can. This will ensure a higher ranking on many search engines.
Proximity
Keyword proximity relates to how close your keywords are to one another within the text of your site. The closer your keywords are to each other, the higher you will rank in the search engines. For example, if you have the keywords scented and candles, you could use either of the following sentences:
We specialize in scented candles of all types.
We specialize in candles, which come in a variety of scents.
In this case, the first sentence would receive a higher ranking because the keywords are closer in proximity next too each other than they are in the second sentence.
Density
Keyword Density refers to how often you repeat your keyword in relation to the rest of the text. The optimum density is between 3 and 7 percent. In other words, for every 100 words of text you have on your homepage, you should use your keyword 3 to 7 times. The areas that you will want keyword phrases repeated are in the title, headline, body text, meta tags, hyperlinks, other tags (like alt tags that appear when you roll your mouse over an image), and in the first sentence of the homepage.
Methods of registering to the search engines
There are three main methods of registering to the search engines and directories that you will want to follow:
1. Initial launch using site submission tools
2. Register monthly to the top search engines individually
3. Register to Yahoo and the other directories
1. Initial launch using site submission tools
The initial launch consists of using site submission tools, or websites that will automatically register you site to many of the search engines. There are two main websites that we will use for this: www.inktomi.com and www.jimtools.com.
Inktomi.com is a great submission service that will continuously reregister your site to the top search engines on the Internet. It costs $39 a year to utilize their services, but it's well worth it. They will get you to the top of many of the main search engines. To register, go to www.positiontech.com and register there. Many of the major search engines get their results from Inktomi, so that is why it is such a great resource.
Jimtools.com is a free submission service that will submit your web site to 46 of the top search engines and also to over 100 directories. To register, go to www.jimtools.com and click on the Submit tab. Here you can register your web site to many of the top search engines and directories for free. Only submit to the Search Engine Submitter and Directory Submitter; don't submit to the FFA links or the WAP Directory (if you do, you'll get about 1,000 emails.
2. Register monthly to the top search engines individually
The third method of registering is to register monthly to the top search engines manually. The reason that you'll do this is because search engine rankings are like playing "king of the hill." One week you're at the top, and the next week you'll have fallen, so reregistering each month is important, and it's also important to register to each search engine individually. Inktomi and JimTools will register to the top search engines for you, but the ones that you're not ranking high on, you'll want to go to and manually register.
The best way to register to these is to go to www.searchengines.com and click on Submitting to the top search engines (this is under the How to submit your site area). This site has a listing of the top search engines and direct links to the place to register your site, as well as tips on registering, so it's very effective.
With this type of registering, you don't have much control as to where you get ranked on the list. One method of controlling your rankings on the search engines is to register to pay-per-click search engines, which is discussed in detail in the next marketing strategy.
3. Register to Yahoo and the other directories
Yahoo is the largest search portal on the Internet. They are a hybrid, so a combination of a search engine and directory. Yahoo has their own directory categories that you will want to register to, and their search results come from Google.com. Yahoo searches consist of about 30% of all searches done online, so being in here is important. However, Yahoo also knows this, so they will charge you a pretty penny to get listed. Right now it is at about $300 a year. Therefore, you may not register to Yahoo initially; however, once you start making some money on your website, Yahoo is the first place to go.
In registering to Yahoo, you will want to read through their submission guidelines. These can be found by going to www.yahoo.com and clicking on How to Suggest a Site. You will want to read these carefully because if you do not follow their guidelines, they will take your $300 and not get you registered.
Once you’ve done that, you will want to pick a category to be listed in within the directory. To do this, type in main keyword phrases that you think people will type in to find you. Then look at the categories that are listed. You will want to be found within the category that comes up most often when your keyword phrases are typed in. You can also choose a category by looking at your competition to see where they are listed.
Once you’ve picked the category, then you’ll all set to register. So go to the category of your choice, and click on Suggest a Site. Then follow the registering steps.
General Yahoo tips
§ If you sell any types of goods or services on your website, you will need to go through the Business and Economy category from the Yahoo homepage. Then you must also go through either the Business to Business or Shopping and Services categories.
§ Make sure your title is the actual name of your website or company.
§ Keep the description short. They say up to 25 words long, but they like it better if it’s 10-15 words in length.
§ Pick a category that would be found if people type in the main keyword phrases for your website. These are the categories most often looked at.
Other Directories
There are other directories to be listed in as well, other than Yahoo. One is the Open Directory found at www.dmoz.org. Dmoz is another very popular directory that supplies listing to many of the major search engines as well, including AOL, which is another of the major search portals people use. To register there, go to www.dmoz.org and find the category that would be best for your website (following the same method as you did with Yahoo). Then click on Add URL. Then follow the steps to register.
Another directory is Looksmart. They are another hybrid search engine and are a good one to be listed with because MSN get their search results from Looksmart’s listings. And MSN is another one of the major search portals on the Internet. Looksmart currently has a pay-per-click feature for small businesses. This means that it will cost you a certain amount of money each time your website is clicked on. The current cost is $.15 per click. To register, go to www.looksmart.com and click on Submit a Site and just follow the steps.
Online websites and resources
§ www.searchengines.com
§ www.searchenginewatch.com
§ www.searchengineforums.com
§ www.spider-food.com
According to any market research study out there, you’ll find that about 90% of Internet surfers find sites for the first time through the search engines. Therefore, the first marketing strategy that you will want to focus on is the search engines.
However, in focusing on the search engines, you will not want to put aside all other marketing strategies. The search engines are important, but if you focus so much on your search engine rankings and forget about the other marketing strategies that you will be learning, you will be missing out on a lot of traffic and sales.
Different types of search engines
There are 4 main types of search engines out there:
Regular search engines
Directories
Hybrids
Pay-per-click search engines
In this article, we will focus on the first three types of search engines, and the pay-per-click search engines will be covered in the next marketing strategy. It is such an important marketing tactic that we’ve given it it’s own article.
Regular search engines
Search engines help people find information on the Internet. They maintain huge databases of web sites that users can find by typing in a keyword. These databases are compiled by programs are called "spiders." These programs "crawl" across the Internet or web by following links from site to site and then they index each site they visit. Search engines are tricky because each will use its own set of criteria to determine how they index the sites. For example, some search engines index each page in a website, while others index only the main page.
Also, the criteria each individual search engine uses to organize or rank web sites for its users vary. Some will list the results of a search according to which sites have the most links from other sites, called link popularity. Others concentrate more heavily on the summary information that is found in the Meta tags. There are actually quite a few other ways to do this and most search engines will use combination of criterion.
Directories
Directories are often confused with search engines, however they are much different in the way they work even though they appear to have similar results to Internet surfers. Instead of using spiders to crawl the web, directories, like Yahoo and Looksmart, have actual people review and determine the ranking of their sites. They have many more guidelines you must follow to be found in their directories as well. That is why directories' indexes tend to contain a smaller number of high-quality links.
Directory editors evaluate the quality of a site: its functionality, content, and design. Many directories will list sites in each category alphabetically, like the phone book. Therefore, having a company name that begins with a letter close to “A” will help with the directories.
Hybrids
Hybrid search engines are a combination of a directory and a search engine. This is a "best of both worlds" technique, done in an effort to provide users with the most complete set of results. Today the top ten search sites are hybrids. Yahoo! Actually started out as a directory, but now it supplements its manually compiled listings with search results from Google, which is a regular search engine.
What search engines look for
For the most part, search engines look at millions of variables in ranking a page. It would be impossible to know all of these, and the minute that you get close, they will all change, so it would be a waste of time. However, there are a few main variables that most of the search engines will look at that you will want to focus on. Most of these variables focus on keyword phrases, or words or phrases that Internet surfers would type in to find your website.
In dealing with keyword phrases, there are a few main words that you will want to keep in mind: relevance, prominence, proximity, and density.
Relevance
Keyword relevance means that the keyword phrases that you choose will want to be ones that people are actually typing in to find you. There is a great tool from Overture.com that will help you come up with relevant keyword phrases. This tool is called the Search Suggestion Tool and is found at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion. Go there and type in a word or phrase that relates to your business. Then this tool will tell you how many times that word or phrase was searched for in a previous month at Overture.com as well as give you a list of phrases that were search for that have that same word or phrase in it.
This tool will give you the demand for different products/services by telling you what people are actually searching for. Overture.com is one of the major search engines on the Internet, so it will give you a good idea as to what is being searched. However, Overture.com only covers about 2.7% of all searches done, so it gives you a fraction of what the entire Internet is doing. From here, you’ll want to pick out about 50 keyword phrases that best describe your site and then type them down somewhere. And then select 5 from that list that you will emphasize on the homepage of your website.
Prominence
Keywords demand the most prominent positions on your page. The top of the page is the single most important place to include your keywords. You will want to place your top five keyword phrases as close to the top of your page as you can. This will ensure a higher ranking on many search engines.
Proximity
Keyword proximity relates to how close your keywords are to one another within the text of your site. The closer your keywords are to each other, the higher you will rank in the search engines. For example, if you have the keywords scented and candles, you could use either of the following sentences:
We specialize in scented candles of all types.
We specialize in candles, which come in a variety of scents.
In this case, the first sentence would receive a higher ranking because the keywords are closer in proximity next too each other than they are in the second sentence.
Density
Keyword Density refers to how often you repeat your keyword in relation to the rest of the text. The optimum density is between 3 and 7 percent. In other words, for every 100 words of text you have on your homepage, you should use your keyword 3 to 7 times. The areas that you will want keyword phrases repeated are in the title, headline, body text, meta tags, hyperlinks, other tags (like alt tags that appear when you roll your mouse over an image), and in the first sentence of the homepage.
Methods of registering to the search engines
There are three main methods of registering to the search engines and directories that you will want to follow:
1. Initial launch using site submission tools
2. Register monthly to the top search engines individually
3. Register to Yahoo and the other directories
1. Initial launch using site submission tools
The initial launch consists of using site submission tools, or websites that will automatically register you site to many of the search engines. There are two main websites that we will use for this: www.inktomi.com and www.jimtools.com.
Inktomi.com is a great submission service that will continuously reregister your site to the top search engines on the Internet. It costs $39 a year to utilize their services, but it's well worth it. They will get you to the top of many of the main search engines. To register, go to www.positiontech.com and register there. Many of the major search engines get their results from Inktomi, so that is why it is such a great resource.
Jimtools.com is a free submission service that will submit your web site to 46 of the top search engines and also to over 100 directories. To register, go to www.jimtools.com and click on the Submit tab. Here you can register your web site to many of the top search engines and directories for free. Only submit to the Search Engine Submitter and Directory Submitter; don't submit to the FFA links or the WAP Directory (if you do, you'll get about 1,000 emails.
2. Register monthly to the top search engines individually
The third method of registering is to register monthly to the top search engines manually. The reason that you'll do this is because search engine rankings are like playing "king of the hill." One week you're at the top, and the next week you'll have fallen, so reregistering each month is important, and it's also important to register to each search engine individually. Inktomi and JimTools will register to the top search engines for you, but the ones that you're not ranking high on, you'll want to go to and manually register.
The best way to register to these is to go to www.searchengines.com and click on Submitting to the top search engines (this is under the How to submit your site area). This site has a listing of the top search engines and direct links to the place to register your site, as well as tips on registering, so it's very effective.
With this type of registering, you don't have much control as to where you get ranked on the list. One method of controlling your rankings on the search engines is to register to pay-per-click search engines, which is discussed in detail in the next marketing strategy.
3. Register to Yahoo and the other directories
Yahoo is the largest search portal on the Internet. They are a hybrid, so a combination of a search engine and directory. Yahoo has their own directory categories that you will want to register to, and their search results come from Google.com. Yahoo searches consist of about 30% of all searches done online, so being in here is important. However, Yahoo also knows this, so they will charge you a pretty penny to get listed. Right now it is at about $300 a year. Therefore, you may not register to Yahoo initially; however, once you start making some money on your website, Yahoo is the first place to go.
In registering to Yahoo, you will want to read through their submission guidelines. These can be found by going to www.yahoo.com and clicking on How to Suggest a Site. You will want to read these carefully because if you do not follow their guidelines, they will take your $300 and not get you registered.
Once you’ve done that, you will want to pick a category to be listed in within the directory. To do this, type in main keyword phrases that you think people will type in to find you. Then look at the categories that are listed. You will want to be found within the category that comes up most often when your keyword phrases are typed in. You can also choose a category by looking at your competition to see where they are listed.
Once you’ve picked the category, then you’ll all set to register. So go to the category of your choice, and click on Suggest a Site. Then follow the registering steps.
General Yahoo tips
§ If you sell any types of goods or services on your website, you will need to go through the Business and Economy category from the Yahoo homepage. Then you must also go through either the Business to Business or Shopping and Services categories.
§ Make sure your title is the actual name of your website or company.
§ Keep the description short. They say up to 25 words long, but they like it better if it’s 10-15 words in length.
§ Pick a category that would be found if people type in the main keyword phrases for your website. These are the categories most often looked at.
Other Directories
There are other directories to be listed in as well, other than Yahoo. One is the Open Directory found at www.dmoz.org. Dmoz is another very popular directory that supplies listing to many of the major search engines as well, including AOL, which is another of the major search portals people use. To register there, go to www.dmoz.org and find the category that would be best for your website (following the same method as you did with Yahoo). Then click on Add URL. Then follow the steps to register.
Another directory is Looksmart. They are another hybrid search engine and are a good one to be listed with because MSN get their search results from Looksmart’s listings. And MSN is another one of the major search portals on the Internet. Looksmart currently has a pay-per-click feature for small businesses. This means that it will cost you a certain amount of money each time your website is clicked on. The current cost is $.15 per click. To register, go to www.looksmart.com and click on Submit a Site and just follow the steps.
Online websites and resources
§ www.searchengines.com
§ www.searchenginewatch.com
§ www.searchengineforums.com
§ www.spider-food.com
Friday, December 12, 2008
The evolution of the Nation-State in pre-historic times brought with it some attributes, which was designed by early thinkers to make it easier for the State authorities to carry on its assigned roles in society. As the citizens of the Nation-State subdued their individual rights to that of organised civil society where they agreed to be governed by uniform rules and regulations of human conduct, and also confer on the State some rights to sanction deviant behaviour, the modern day society as we know it today gradually evolved from the “Hobbestian state of nature”, where life was nasty, brutish and short, and might was right.
One of the mechanisms through which the State, not being itself engaged in any income generating ventures, was expected to generate resources with which to provide for the common good of all, was to take a little of that income which accrued to individuals, and create a pool of funds from which common amenities like security, roads, utilities, schools, healthcare, etc., could be provided. Thus evolved the concept of taxation, as we know it today. From humble beginnings when taxation was no more than 5% of average income of individuals, the appetite of the State to more funds grew as the needs of society became more complex. Different taxes and levies started being imposed on individuals and corporate organisations, and what initially started as a voluntary contribution to the State gradually assumed a compulsive nature, such that laws were made to punish evasion of taxes by different governments.
To date, the average direct tax rate the world over is 30% of earned income, with variations from country to country. Tax relief became a tool of manipulation and political campaigns at election times. The governments which promised the most tax relief were more favoured by the citizenry, who often paid taxes under duress, obviously having better things to do with their incomes than handing it over to a bogus apparatus called the State, as they were not always able to tell the direct benefits they obtained from the government for payment of those taxes.
The level of resistance to taxation in different places differs in degree and complexity. Whereas citizens of most underdeveloped and developing countries rely on the non availability of population and income data in the hands of the taxing authorities to evade taxes, thereby leaving the burden of taxation to be borne by a few in regular employment, in the more advanced and sophisticated economies, people rely on the services of tax planners and other experts to cleverly avoid tax through lawfully recognised means. One common feature in resistance to taxation is however the perception of the populace towards their governments in the area of effectiveness in meeting their common needs. In areas where the governments are perceived to be up and doing, and people can visibly assess the impact of government on their daily lives, governments have been more able to rely on taxes as a major chunk of their national income than other places where governments are perceived as non-performing.
It must however be borne in mind that the basic justification of the state in collection of taxes remains the need to raise funds to provide amenities for the common good. Where those amenities are either lacking completely, or where they exist, are largely provided by the citizens themselves without any input from government, then the moral or legal right of the State to impose such taxes becomes suspect.
This paper attempts to examine the various facets of life in Nigeria from the point of view of the respective obligations of the citizens to pay their taxes, and the duty of the State to provide amenities, and comes to the inevitable conclusion that nowhere in the world is there a better justification for evasion of taxes than in Nigeria, as the governments here have done little or nothing to deserve any form of contribution from the citizens by way of taxes. That being so, the paper advocates a well articulated and structured resistance to taxation, especially by workers in the oil and gas industry in the country, who are undoubtedly the most unjustly taxed sector of the Nigerian economy.
For the purpose of this paper, the amenities legitimately expected from Government can be classified into Personal Security, Roads, Public Utilities, Schools, Social Security, Medicare, Housing, and a general enabling environment for economic and social activities to thrive, as would be expected of any civilised human setting. These different aspects will be discussed in turn, to establish that in all these areas, successive Nigerian governments have failed woefully in its social contract with the citizenry, and that any form of taxation in Nigeria is unjustified and amounts to blatant stealing by government.
One of the mechanisms through which the State, not being itself engaged in any income generating ventures, was expected to generate resources with which to provide for the common good of all, was to take a little of that income which accrued to individuals, and create a pool of funds from which common amenities like security, roads, utilities, schools, healthcare, etc., could be provided. Thus evolved the concept of taxation, as we know it today. From humble beginnings when taxation was no more than 5% of average income of individuals, the appetite of the State to more funds grew as the needs of society became more complex. Different taxes and levies started being imposed on individuals and corporate organisations, and what initially started as a voluntary contribution to the State gradually assumed a compulsive nature, such that laws were made to punish evasion of taxes by different governments.
To date, the average direct tax rate the world over is 30% of earned income, with variations from country to country. Tax relief became a tool of manipulation and political campaigns at election times. The governments which promised the most tax relief were more favoured by the citizenry, who often paid taxes under duress, obviously having better things to do with their incomes than handing it over to a bogus apparatus called the State, as they were not always able to tell the direct benefits they obtained from the government for payment of those taxes.
The level of resistance to taxation in different places differs in degree and complexity. Whereas citizens of most underdeveloped and developing countries rely on the non availability of population and income data in the hands of the taxing authorities to evade taxes, thereby leaving the burden of taxation to be borne by a few in regular employment, in the more advanced and sophisticated economies, people rely on the services of tax planners and other experts to cleverly avoid tax through lawfully recognised means. One common feature in resistance to taxation is however the perception of the populace towards their governments in the area of effectiveness in meeting their common needs. In areas where the governments are perceived to be up and doing, and people can visibly assess the impact of government on their daily lives, governments have been more able to rely on taxes as a major chunk of their national income than other places where governments are perceived as non-performing.
It must however be borne in mind that the basic justification of the state in collection of taxes remains the need to raise funds to provide amenities for the common good. Where those amenities are either lacking completely, or where they exist, are largely provided by the citizens themselves without any input from government, then the moral or legal right of the State to impose such taxes becomes suspect.
This paper attempts to examine the various facets of life in Nigeria from the point of view of the respective obligations of the citizens to pay their taxes, and the duty of the State to provide amenities, and comes to the inevitable conclusion that nowhere in the world is there a better justification for evasion of taxes than in Nigeria, as the governments here have done little or nothing to deserve any form of contribution from the citizens by way of taxes. That being so, the paper advocates a well articulated and structured resistance to taxation, especially by workers in the oil and gas industry in the country, who are undoubtedly the most unjustly taxed sector of the Nigerian economy.
For the purpose of this paper, the amenities legitimately expected from Government can be classified into Personal Security, Roads, Public Utilities, Schools, Social Security, Medicare, Housing, and a general enabling environment for economic and social activities to thrive, as would be expected of any civilised human setting. These different aspects will be discussed in turn, to establish that in all these areas, successive Nigerian governments have failed woefully in its social contract with the citizenry, and that any form of taxation in Nigeria is unjustified and amounts to blatant stealing by government.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Managing a real estate property
At every stage in life, you’ve got to take another step. If you really, want to make money in real estates, you’ve got to take a step from single-family home level with proper finances, if you own about ten-unit apartment building or strip mal, you may be able to have good positive cash flow from the onset. How could hire someone to manage the property so you don’t have to constantly be undertaking to be collecting the rents, fixing the house, etc.
On the other hand, its not as rosy as it may sound, there is also a great potential for loss. Assuming you had just one single- family, home, you need just one need a large number of tenants.
In tough times, you may not be able to rent out the lot hence resulting in a serious negative cash flow therefore when going big, you should bear in mind that there are lots of risk to undertake. It is always good to aim at an object and not the image similarly, in investment, you’re got to know where the profits are coming from.
With single – family homes, prices go up as overall residential market value increases. If you buy with lets say 20% down and the value of the property goes up by 10%, you’ve made a profit of 50% (forgetting the costs of transaction temporarily). A house may cost twenty five million Naira and then you deposit five million naira. The value of that house goes up by 10%. The value of that house is now N27, 500,000 your equity is now N7.5million one and a half time
49
what you started with for a fifty percent profit. On the other hand, considering an apartment building, prices are mainly tied to rental income. If you increase your rents, you will have significant profits in a short while rental rates of apartment building does not move the same way with single family homes. Suppose you have an apartment building lets say a 15 unit building where each unit is rented for N1,000,000 annually. The value of the property is based on that rental rate. If you decide to increase the rental rate to let’s say N1, 600,000 annually. The value of the property is a product of number of units and the new rental rate which equals N24, 000,000. this can happen without the prices of single family houses moving. If you paid N15, 000,000 for that building initially, by lifting the rents 60%, you have raised the value of the house 60%. If you kept 20% as deposit, i.e. N3, 000,000 on your apartment building, forgetting temporarily of your mortgage your profit is now 300% which is N9,000,000.
Commercial buildings operate in a similar way to apartment buildings. Their value is also directly determined by their rental income. The greater the rental income, the greater the value. If you buy a building at one level of rental income and increase the rents, you can sell at a higher price. The rent for commercial properties is determined by the front foot. Access to the public is essential for businesses to survive, the more exposure, the more valuable the location. Therefore, a tenant will pay defending on the number of people that will directly flow into their location or how many feet is directly accessible to the public. A commercial tenant on the second floor of a commercial building is most likely to pay a reduced rent than a commercial tenant on the first floor of the building.
On the otherhand, office buildings does not hold access to the public as a valuable factor rather the major factor is the total amount of floor space. Therefore, such buildings are rented out on the basis of square footage. This is the reason why most office buildings are very high as is observable in Marina, the official hob of Lagos. here the higher the building and the larger the office room, the higher the rent.
50
Another vital area in real estates is investing in bare land and developing properties. The basis of all property value is the land. In most cases price appreciation is attributable entirely to land. The structure never goes up in value, it is the land. Land is immobile, it is a natural resource, it is a store of value. Working on a bareland could be very complicated or simplified. Those who specialize in bare land are called speculators. Land speculation entails buying plots of land and developing them for a resell. This is mostly common in rural areas. You could also buy a large plot of land and split it before reselling thereby making substantial profit. You could buy and Acre of a for N9, 000,000 and resell it in halves for N6, 000,000 each and make a profit of N3, 000,000. You could also buy a piece of land and change the land use to suit what you are willing to do with it e.g. you could buy an arable land for a lot low price and change the land use to industrial purposes and later resell the land for a lot of profit on capital. Although this usually involves a lot of expenses but at the end it will be worth the expenses. You could also buy broken-down buildings scrape off the serap and construct new structures on the land. You could also buy poor buildings located on a profitable land, scrape off the building and construct a new building that matches the quality of land. This is usually carried out on old houses which are obsolete but which the land underneath is a very good investment sometimes, you see that a small building stands on a massive acre of land. If such buildings are put up for sale, I will advise that you take up the opportunity immediately.
51
On the other hand, its not as rosy as it may sound, there is also a great potential for loss. Assuming you had just one single- family, home, you need just one need a large number of tenants.
In tough times, you may not be able to rent out the lot hence resulting in a serious negative cash flow therefore when going big, you should bear in mind that there are lots of risk to undertake. It is always good to aim at an object and not the image similarly, in investment, you’re got to know where the profits are coming from.
With single – family homes, prices go up as overall residential market value increases. If you buy with lets say 20% down and the value of the property goes up by 10%, you’ve made a profit of 50% (forgetting the costs of transaction temporarily). A house may cost twenty five million Naira and then you deposit five million naira. The value of that house goes up by 10%. The value of that house is now N27, 500,000 your equity is now N7.5million one and a half time
49
what you started with for a fifty percent profit. On the other hand, considering an apartment building, prices are mainly tied to rental income. If you increase your rents, you will have significant profits in a short while rental rates of apartment building does not move the same way with single family homes. Suppose you have an apartment building lets say a 15 unit building where each unit is rented for N1,000,000 annually. The value of the property is based on that rental rate. If you decide to increase the rental rate to let’s say N1, 600,000 annually. The value of the property is a product of number of units and the new rental rate which equals N24, 000,000. this can happen without the prices of single family houses moving. If you paid N15, 000,000 for that building initially, by lifting the rents 60%, you have raised the value of the house 60%. If you kept 20% as deposit, i.e. N3, 000,000 on your apartment building, forgetting temporarily of your mortgage your profit is now 300% which is N9,000,000.
Commercial buildings operate in a similar way to apartment buildings. Their value is also directly determined by their rental income. The greater the rental income, the greater the value. If you buy a building at one level of rental income and increase the rents, you can sell at a higher price. The rent for commercial properties is determined by the front foot. Access to the public is essential for businesses to survive, the more exposure, the more valuable the location. Therefore, a tenant will pay defending on the number of people that will directly flow into their location or how many feet is directly accessible to the public. A commercial tenant on the second floor of a commercial building is most likely to pay a reduced rent than a commercial tenant on the first floor of the building.
On the otherhand, office buildings does not hold access to the public as a valuable factor rather the major factor is the total amount of floor space. Therefore, such buildings are rented out on the basis of square footage. This is the reason why most office buildings are very high as is observable in Marina, the official hob of Lagos. here the higher the building and the larger the office room, the higher the rent.
50
Another vital area in real estates is investing in bare land and developing properties. The basis of all property value is the land. In most cases price appreciation is attributable entirely to land. The structure never goes up in value, it is the land. Land is immobile, it is a natural resource, it is a store of value. Working on a bareland could be very complicated or simplified. Those who specialize in bare land are called speculators. Land speculation entails buying plots of land and developing them for a resell. This is mostly common in rural areas. You could also buy a large plot of land and split it before reselling thereby making substantial profit. You could buy and Acre of a for N9, 000,000 and resell it in halves for N6, 000,000 each and make a profit of N3, 000,000. You could also buy a piece of land and change the land use to suit what you are willing to do with it e.g. you could buy an arable land for a lot low price and change the land use to industrial purposes and later resell the land for a lot of profit on capital. Although this usually involves a lot of expenses but at the end it will be worth the expenses. You could also buy broken-down buildings scrape off the serap and construct new structures on the land. You could also buy poor buildings located on a profitable land, scrape off the building and construct a new building that matches the quality of land. This is usually carried out on old houses which are obsolete but which the land underneath is a very good investment sometimes, you see that a small building stands on a massive acre of land. If such buildings are put up for sale, I will advise that you take up the opportunity immediately.
51
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Real estate
Another form of residual income is real estate. Real estate is investment in landed properties. This requires a lot of work and concentration unlike investment in stocks. It is a profitable venture which one can easily take his profit because properties have a high tendency to appreciate over the years no matter its location or size.
Atimes, you may want to serve your hard earned Naira from depreciating, them you should try offshore property investment. But before we cover offshore property investment, lets consider real estates in Nigeria. Having your own home is the largest and preferential investment you’ll ever make. In buying a home, there should be several qualities a home must possess before you take ownership of it because if you do not watch out for those qualities, that house may form out to be the worst nightmare you’ve ever had. Such qualities
- Good Neighbourhood schools. This contributes a lot to the value of homes, the better the schools, the faster and higher home prices appreciate an vice versa.
- Pride of ownership. A clean Neighbourhood free from pollution with a serene environment is better. Buying a home in such is such places would yield high dividends in time to come.
- Low crime Rate: Imagine living in a neighbouhood where crime is the order of the day. It is a bitter experience that no one ever dares to face. No one ever desires to live in a battlefield neither does one ever appreciate living in places that cannot be distinguished from a jungle. You naturally love to live in areas with low crime rates. Therefore to make your home a rewarding
42
investment for you, always make sure to know the crime rates of places before buying any home.
- House Size: The size of the house is very essential to enable you make a good investment on your home. Not so many people love large houses except they’re got 80 many children. Nevertheless, depending on the area of real estate you want to undertake large houses may be unavoidably advantageous.
For beginners, it’s a lot more effort investing in real estates as fulltime jobs. Basically, the best way to invest in properties is usually on a part-time basis. It’s important to note that initially, it is unlikely for your properties to yield enough income for you to live on. After a few years when the properties values and rental rates have gone up, it is a different ball game entirely. But for the first ten years, it’s better to think in terms of reinvesting rather than withdrawing income. Like stocks, real estate is planned for the long run (the more properties you own, the greater your wealth overtime). It takes a great deal of patience to make money out of your real estate. Probably 10-20 years with positive cash flow due to rise in rental rates (because of reasons like inflation and national housing shortages in many areas – rural and urban), just as prices always bound to be a degree of risk in everything an individual carries out. In real estates there could be hitches such as a bad year with a loss of job etc but nevertheless, you’ll still have the homes you own to fall back on.
There are several ways of finding good investment properties thus
- Agents: Agents with trusted experience, who is honest and has the interest of his client at heart should be picked. Tell your agent exactly what you want in a house both as a home and an investment. Agents who are hasty in the procession of real estates should be simply avoided. Work with an agent who dedicates his time to the service of his client
- Properties sold by owners. These are properties that are not usually listed but are sold directly by their owners. Buying directly from the owner is a risky business, therefore an agent is needed to handle the paper works for you. there is less risk in single family home investments than there is with
43
other types of real estates investments. Never homes are better than older homes because of lower cost of maintenance.
Sometimes properties are bought to boost the age of their buyers, so depending on your financial strength and prevailing on your market conditions make your selection of high priced or cheaper properties. Before going ahead to purchase a property you should ensure that you carry out a thorough inspection of the property Never rely on the seller’s disclosures.
Another important aspect of real estate is investing in offshore property. Now, I know some people would be wondering if it is good to invest outside his country and why answer is a scintillating "yes" The growth of offshore property market has been showing positive results over the years. Such is applicable in the United Kingdom where the population and how mortality rate has led to an undersupply of homes. Offshore property investment is a good way of preserving the value of your money from depreciation. Offshore property investment is advantages because of the system in obtaining mortgage for repayment over a 25 year pen. When planning to invest in offshore property the most vital thing to do is to budget about thirty percent for the deposit and buying cost.
When buying a home, you need a mortgage except if you have the money readily available. To obtain this, you get a long-term loan from a bank or building society the terms which are set out in a legally – binding mortgage deed or agreement. The home is usually put up as security for the loan which may be for a period of 25 years.
Nevertheless, the term could be more than or shorter than the twenty five years I’ve stated. A mortgage consists of borrowed capital with an added interest paid over it.
Note: The longer the repayment term, the smaller the monthly installments but the greater the interest paid on such loans.
44
The mortgage company would need an assurance on the credibility of the borrower and also whether the value of such homes covers the value of the loan should there be any default in payment conversely, the borrowers also have to consider the type of loan they want from the mortgage company. Should it be a repayment or interest-only mortgage type? The repayment mortgage type is such that part of the borrower’s monthly repayment plays off the capital while the other part pays off the interest monthly installments change as interest rate rise or fall. An interest only mortgage on the other hand requires interest to be paid on the full loan each month. The capital is repaid at the end of the term most of the mortgages cover interest loans.
Once you have determined what repayment method you want to stick with, you’ll need the services of a mortgage broker in order to determine the most suitable type of mortgage. Some terminologies associated with mortgages rates include.
- Standard variable: This moves up and down in accordance with the Central Bank of base rate instance
- Fixed rate: The interest rate to be paid is set for a given period.
- Capped: This is a variation on the fixed rate with the guarantee of an upper limit on monthly repayments within the given period. Beneath this ‘cap’, the rate moves up and down with henders standard variable.
- Discovated: offers a discount on standard variable for a defined period
- Base rate tracker: tracks the apex banks base rate
- Flexible: this allows borrowers to have a greater control on the installment payment. Here there is no cap and atimes, the borrower could take a payment holiday.
- Cash back: Offers a tax free lump sum once the mortgage is set but may be restrictive
When planning to obtain a mortgage you should arrange a meeting with a mortgage broker. Discuss how much you want to borrow know what you can afford. Be familiar with the fact that you have to cover other expenses such as deposits,
45
surveys, legal fees stamp duty, council tax, utility bills, phone bill etc before venturing into owning a home. You also need furniture. The best way to succeed in mortgages is to have the mortgage agreed in principle. Failing to do this may entail your losing the desired property to a third party. The more organized you are the better off your chances by acquiring your desired property.
Once you’re found a property that matches your criteria, make an offer. If the offer is accepted, you should consider the legal and financial process in buying a home. You’ll need to find a solicitor to vet all legal aspects of the sale and carryout a local authority search, which looks for planning proposals such as developments in the vicinity which might affect your chosen property. If the survey results show good results and all legal arrangements have been undertaken, you are now ready to exchange contracts. Once this is done, you and the seller will fix a date for the exchange of keys from the previous owner to the current owner. If for any reason you opt out of the deal, you lose everything you deposited and also the seller cannot accept any higher offer for the property on the completion date, the seller’s solicitor mandates the agents to release the keys.
When buying a home, you should be very careful to follow the following
- Buy at a reasonable price. The more you overpay for a property, the lower your profit is likely to be and the longer you will have to hold unto the property before you can breakeven. You can always acquire properties at reasonable prices because of circumstances the seller may find himself at a given time.
- Don’t over borrow the fatter the deposit you are able to make on a property, the thinner your monthly repayment. This is advantageous because you could repay the monthly repayments without having to rely on tenants.
- Factor in Interest Rate increases while lower interest rates are good news for buyers, it is advisable for you to stress test" your budget before taking the plunge. You need to ensure that you do not over commit yourself
46
financially while interest is low, and that you will be able to take the heat when interest rates bounce back up
- Diversify take some of the profits you realize from your real estates and spread your investment risk by investing in equities and other assets.
Now let’s look at how an individual can realize more money to cover the expenses. If your rents aren’t enough, can you increase them? In real estates, you are engaged in a competition and if you try to offset prices to suit you sarcastically, you may eventually lose tenants. Nevertheless, you could still increase rents depending on the difference between the price you want to change currently and what your competitors are charging and the quality of the property you are renting out at that price and the quality of other properties in the area.
Assuming you’ve done all you can to increase your rental income, you may want to break even on a property you already own quickly. Let’s see if you can cut down expenses. There are basically two types of expenses in owning and maintenance of a house thus:
- Fixed Expenses
- Variable Expenses
Fixed expenses include tax
- Taxes: You cannot cut your property takes except you want the erase tax. This you must pay.
- Insurance: Insurance is fixed the only way of reducing insurance expenses is by shopping around for a cheaper policy which may not be very good. How may need liability insurance in case a tenant gets hurt on the property and takes you to court.
- Maintenance: This covers all routine expenses such as water bills etc. you cannot cut this figures below what is given in the bill.
47
- Repays: You may need to lay aside a particular sum of money monthly incase of repairs that may be carried out in the house. Depending on the age of the house, you could be able to reduce this sum.
Variable expense includes
- Mortgages: the mortgage payment can be reduced in a number of ways such as buying less expensive home. You could also reduce mortgage by getting a lower interest rate as I have stated before. You can plan ahead so that if interest rates are high, you can go for an adjustable rate loan. This savings can be huge. This type of loans often begin with teasers" rates that is below market. However, these teasers rates disappear rather quickly. Often within a year or two, you interest rate on the adjustable loan will rise to market or even above. At this point, you’ve got to refinance, it possible to a lower-rate mortgage.
On the other hand, if interest rates happen to be low when you buy, get a fixed-rate-30-year loan. This will lock your mortgage into the low rate so that with increased interest rates, your monthly expenses remains stagnant. Always go for the longest-term mortgage you can get to reduce your monthly expenses. It’s also very good to know the relationship between your monthly expenses and how much you put into the property.
The less you put of your own money, the greater your leverage and ultimately the greater your profits. However, you will have a greater monthly expenses because you’ll have a bigger mortgage. On the otherhand, if you put more of your money into a property, the lower your mortgage payments and the difficulty you’ll have in covering them with rental income. Put more money down and you’ll have lower mortgage payments.
Summarily, if you can find a property that offers high rent with low expenses and with proper finances, you can get by putting in little or no cash of your own. Conversely, if you buy a property with lower rental income, you’ll have to put in your own money to offset the mortgage amount to where the monthly payments
48
are balanced by rental income. Some people buy properties for a resale and not for rental so you overlook buying close to breakeven and instead buy a property which the rental income is far lower than the expenses. Here putting in a lot of cash to keep the mortgage payments low is advantageous.
Atimes, you may want to serve your hard earned Naira from depreciating, them you should try offshore property investment. But before we cover offshore property investment, lets consider real estates in Nigeria. Having your own home is the largest and preferential investment you’ll ever make. In buying a home, there should be several qualities a home must possess before you take ownership of it because if you do not watch out for those qualities, that house may form out to be the worst nightmare you’ve ever had. Such qualities
- Good Neighbourhood schools. This contributes a lot to the value of homes, the better the schools, the faster and higher home prices appreciate an vice versa.
- Pride of ownership. A clean Neighbourhood free from pollution with a serene environment is better. Buying a home in such is such places would yield high dividends in time to come.
- Low crime Rate: Imagine living in a neighbouhood where crime is the order of the day. It is a bitter experience that no one ever dares to face. No one ever desires to live in a battlefield neither does one ever appreciate living in places that cannot be distinguished from a jungle. You naturally love to live in areas with low crime rates. Therefore to make your home a rewarding
42
investment for you, always make sure to know the crime rates of places before buying any home.
- House Size: The size of the house is very essential to enable you make a good investment on your home. Not so many people love large houses except they’re got 80 many children. Nevertheless, depending on the area of real estate you want to undertake large houses may be unavoidably advantageous.
For beginners, it’s a lot more effort investing in real estates as fulltime jobs. Basically, the best way to invest in properties is usually on a part-time basis. It’s important to note that initially, it is unlikely for your properties to yield enough income for you to live on. After a few years when the properties values and rental rates have gone up, it is a different ball game entirely. But for the first ten years, it’s better to think in terms of reinvesting rather than withdrawing income. Like stocks, real estate is planned for the long run (the more properties you own, the greater your wealth overtime). It takes a great deal of patience to make money out of your real estate. Probably 10-20 years with positive cash flow due to rise in rental rates (because of reasons like inflation and national housing shortages in many areas – rural and urban), just as prices always bound to be a degree of risk in everything an individual carries out. In real estates there could be hitches such as a bad year with a loss of job etc but nevertheless, you’ll still have the homes you own to fall back on.
There are several ways of finding good investment properties thus
- Agents: Agents with trusted experience, who is honest and has the interest of his client at heart should be picked. Tell your agent exactly what you want in a house both as a home and an investment. Agents who are hasty in the procession of real estates should be simply avoided. Work with an agent who dedicates his time to the service of his client
- Properties sold by owners. These are properties that are not usually listed but are sold directly by their owners. Buying directly from the owner is a risky business, therefore an agent is needed to handle the paper works for you. there is less risk in single family home investments than there is with
43
other types of real estates investments. Never homes are better than older homes because of lower cost of maintenance.
Sometimes properties are bought to boost the age of their buyers, so depending on your financial strength and prevailing on your market conditions make your selection of high priced or cheaper properties. Before going ahead to purchase a property you should ensure that you carry out a thorough inspection of the property Never rely on the seller’s disclosures.
Another important aspect of real estate is investing in offshore property. Now, I know some people would be wondering if it is good to invest outside his country and why answer is a scintillating "yes" The growth of offshore property market has been showing positive results over the years. Such is applicable in the United Kingdom where the population and how mortality rate has led to an undersupply of homes. Offshore property investment is a good way of preserving the value of your money from depreciation. Offshore property investment is advantages because of the system in obtaining mortgage for repayment over a 25 year pen. When planning to invest in offshore property the most vital thing to do is to budget about thirty percent for the deposit and buying cost.
When buying a home, you need a mortgage except if you have the money readily available. To obtain this, you get a long-term loan from a bank or building society the terms which are set out in a legally – binding mortgage deed or agreement. The home is usually put up as security for the loan which may be for a period of 25 years.
Nevertheless, the term could be more than or shorter than the twenty five years I’ve stated. A mortgage consists of borrowed capital with an added interest paid over it.
Note: The longer the repayment term, the smaller the monthly installments but the greater the interest paid on such loans.
44
The mortgage company would need an assurance on the credibility of the borrower and also whether the value of such homes covers the value of the loan should there be any default in payment conversely, the borrowers also have to consider the type of loan they want from the mortgage company. Should it be a repayment or interest-only mortgage type? The repayment mortgage type is such that part of the borrower’s monthly repayment plays off the capital while the other part pays off the interest monthly installments change as interest rate rise or fall. An interest only mortgage on the other hand requires interest to be paid on the full loan each month. The capital is repaid at the end of the term most of the mortgages cover interest loans.
Once you have determined what repayment method you want to stick with, you’ll need the services of a mortgage broker in order to determine the most suitable type of mortgage. Some terminologies associated with mortgages rates include.
- Standard variable: This moves up and down in accordance with the Central Bank of base rate instance
- Fixed rate: The interest rate to be paid is set for a given period.
- Capped: This is a variation on the fixed rate with the guarantee of an upper limit on monthly repayments within the given period. Beneath this ‘cap’, the rate moves up and down with henders standard variable.
- Discovated: offers a discount on standard variable for a defined period
- Base rate tracker: tracks the apex banks base rate
- Flexible: this allows borrowers to have a greater control on the installment payment. Here there is no cap and atimes, the borrower could take a payment holiday.
- Cash back: Offers a tax free lump sum once the mortgage is set but may be restrictive
When planning to obtain a mortgage you should arrange a meeting with a mortgage broker. Discuss how much you want to borrow know what you can afford. Be familiar with the fact that you have to cover other expenses such as deposits,
45
surveys, legal fees stamp duty, council tax, utility bills, phone bill etc before venturing into owning a home. You also need furniture. The best way to succeed in mortgages is to have the mortgage agreed in principle. Failing to do this may entail your losing the desired property to a third party. The more organized you are the better off your chances by acquiring your desired property.
Once you’re found a property that matches your criteria, make an offer. If the offer is accepted, you should consider the legal and financial process in buying a home. You’ll need to find a solicitor to vet all legal aspects of the sale and carryout a local authority search, which looks for planning proposals such as developments in the vicinity which might affect your chosen property. If the survey results show good results and all legal arrangements have been undertaken, you are now ready to exchange contracts. Once this is done, you and the seller will fix a date for the exchange of keys from the previous owner to the current owner. If for any reason you opt out of the deal, you lose everything you deposited and also the seller cannot accept any higher offer for the property on the completion date, the seller’s solicitor mandates the agents to release the keys.
When buying a home, you should be very careful to follow the following
- Buy at a reasonable price. The more you overpay for a property, the lower your profit is likely to be and the longer you will have to hold unto the property before you can breakeven. You can always acquire properties at reasonable prices because of circumstances the seller may find himself at a given time.
- Don’t over borrow the fatter the deposit you are able to make on a property, the thinner your monthly repayment. This is advantageous because you could repay the monthly repayments without having to rely on tenants.
- Factor in Interest Rate increases while lower interest rates are good news for buyers, it is advisable for you to stress test" your budget before taking the plunge. You need to ensure that you do not over commit yourself
46
financially while interest is low, and that you will be able to take the heat when interest rates bounce back up
- Diversify take some of the profits you realize from your real estates and spread your investment risk by investing in equities and other assets.
Now let’s look at how an individual can realize more money to cover the expenses. If your rents aren’t enough, can you increase them? In real estates, you are engaged in a competition and if you try to offset prices to suit you sarcastically, you may eventually lose tenants. Nevertheless, you could still increase rents depending on the difference between the price you want to change currently and what your competitors are charging and the quality of the property you are renting out at that price and the quality of other properties in the area.
Assuming you’ve done all you can to increase your rental income, you may want to break even on a property you already own quickly. Let’s see if you can cut down expenses. There are basically two types of expenses in owning and maintenance of a house thus:
- Fixed Expenses
- Variable Expenses
Fixed expenses include tax
- Taxes: You cannot cut your property takes except you want the erase tax. This you must pay.
- Insurance: Insurance is fixed the only way of reducing insurance expenses is by shopping around for a cheaper policy which may not be very good. How may need liability insurance in case a tenant gets hurt on the property and takes you to court.
- Maintenance: This covers all routine expenses such as water bills etc. you cannot cut this figures below what is given in the bill.
47
- Repays: You may need to lay aside a particular sum of money monthly incase of repairs that may be carried out in the house. Depending on the age of the house, you could be able to reduce this sum.
Variable expense includes
- Mortgages: the mortgage payment can be reduced in a number of ways such as buying less expensive home. You could also reduce mortgage by getting a lower interest rate as I have stated before. You can plan ahead so that if interest rates are high, you can go for an adjustable rate loan. This savings can be huge. This type of loans often begin with teasers" rates that is below market. However, these teasers rates disappear rather quickly. Often within a year or two, you interest rate on the adjustable loan will rise to market or even above. At this point, you’ve got to refinance, it possible to a lower-rate mortgage.
On the other hand, if interest rates happen to be low when you buy, get a fixed-rate-30-year loan. This will lock your mortgage into the low rate so that with increased interest rates, your monthly expenses remains stagnant. Always go for the longest-term mortgage you can get to reduce your monthly expenses. It’s also very good to know the relationship between your monthly expenses and how much you put into the property.
The less you put of your own money, the greater your leverage and ultimately the greater your profits. However, you will have a greater monthly expenses because you’ll have a bigger mortgage. On the otherhand, if you put more of your money into a property, the lower your mortgage payments and the difficulty you’ll have in covering them with rental income. Put more money down and you’ll have lower mortgage payments.
Summarily, if you can find a property that offers high rent with low expenses and with proper finances, you can get by putting in little or no cash of your own. Conversely, if you buy a property with lower rental income, you’ll have to put in your own money to offset the mortgage amount to where the monthly payments
48
are balanced by rental income. Some people buy properties for a resale and not for rental so you overlook buying close to breakeven and instead buy a property which the rental income is far lower than the expenses. Here putting in a lot of cash to keep the mortgage payments low is advantageous.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Google adsense payment via western union
I bumped into this information today and decided to share it with you guys,especially adsensers from Nigeria.This is good news as the days of having to wait for your cheque to be sent to nigeria is over.Google now pays through western Union money transfer.Below are the details as copied from google adsense website.If you would like to receive your earnings by Western Union Quick Cash, please complete the following steps. Please note that at this time, this payment option is only available to individual publishers.Sign in to your account at www.google.com/adsense.Visit the My Account tab.Click the 'edit' link adjacent to the 'Payment Details' header.Select the Western Union Quick Cash radio button.Click 'Continue'.Click 'Save Changes' to save your payment type.Please make sure that the name on your account exactly matches that on the government issued ID card that you will bring to pick up your Western Union Quick Cash payments. If you need to update your payee name in your account, please let us know and we will be happy to help you to do so.Also, please note that we are unable to guarantee payment for the next payment cycle in this form if your selection was made after the 15th of the month. For example, to ensure payment by Western Union Quick Cash for your March earnings, please complete the steps above before April 15th
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Obama
This is one that very few people have had the oppurtunity of seeing. Even the President-elect before he had his day saw a reason to commit things to the father. My greatest worry now is why are they only black people praying for him. Maybe they saw it as a battle between blacks and whites. Anyway it is good
Saturday, November 29, 2008
motivation
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A little boy once asked his mother: “if work is such a fun, how come rich people don’t do it?” His mother replied that rich people do not only work but do much harder work. What the little boy’s mom did not tell him is that Bill Gate who was at one time the richest man in the world(now the third) did not make his money by laying video games. He was motivated by the desire to be rich, hence he put all his time and energy to work. Every normal person is motivated to perform. So whether you are a clergy, a businessman, a sportsman, an employee or a salesman, you are motivated to do what you are doing.
What is motivation?
Motivation is a set of reasons that compels one to engage in a particular behaviour. The term is generally used for human motivation but theoretically can be used to describe the causes for animal behaviour as well. Here the focus is on human motivation which is the force within or external of a person that arouses the enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a particular course of action.
According to motivation theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimise physical pain and maximise pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting or a desired object; hobby, goal, state of being, ideal; or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, morality or overcoming mortality.
According to psychologists, employee motivation affects productivity. Therefore, part of the duties of the manager is to channel motivation toward the accomplishment of organizational goals.
Do you motivate employees?
So how do you treat your workers? Do you treat them such that they do not feel a sense of belonging? Or do you treat them as sacks of potatoes? Do you give priority to other factors of production than you give to your employees? Do you consider your employees when you take decisions that affect them? Are you too busy that you cannot attend to the needs of an employee even though they are part of your responsibilities? Do you lie to them? Do you fulfil your promises to them as well due? Do you meet your financial obligations to them? Do you at all bother that workers can be motivated and find out what motivates them? How do you motivate them
Work can be fun if people are motivated to work; that is if managers make efforts to motivate them. Happy workers lead to happy customers and happy customers lead to a successful business. On the other hand, unhappy worker leads to unhappy customers which is very disastrous for the business. When employees are unhappy, they are likely to leave the business and when they do , the organization bears the cost of replacements and the cost of waiting for them to acquire the necessary skills while learning on the job. Added to this are the loss of intellectual capital, decreased moral, increased employee stress and negative reputation. Another form of cost that arises from this is sabotage. Frustrated workers are likely to sabotage the organization and at the end it is the organization that bears the brunt. It is therefore the duty of the manager to motivate employees towards common organisational goals.
Incentive theory
Motivation is all about reward. According to psychologists, a reward, tangible or intangible is presented after the occurrence of an action i.e. behaviour with the intent to cause the behaviour to occur again. Associating positive meaning to the behaviour does this. Studies show that if the person receives the reward immediately, the effect would be greater and duration lengthens. Repetitive action rewarding combination can cause the action to become a habit. Motivation comes from two things: you and other people. There is extrinsic motivation which comes from others and intrinsic motivation which comes from within you.
What can be gleaned from the preceding argument is that there are two types of reward namely intrinsic and extrinsic. An intrinsic reward means satisfaction a person gets in the process of performing a particular action. The belief that one is making contributions to the progress of an organization or society is a form of intrinsic reward. An extrinsic reward is something given to one by another, in this case the manager in recognition of good works. Typically, it comes in the form of pay increase, promotions and gifts
Brief Analysis of Motivation theories
At lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, such a s physiological needs, money is a motivator, however it tends to have a motivating effect on staff that lasts only for a short period ( in accordance with Herzberg’s two factor model of motivation). At the higher level, praise respect, recognition, empowerment and a sense of belonging are far more powerful motivators than money, as both Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation and Douglas McGregor’s theory X and theory y( pertaining to the theory of leadership) demonstrate.
Maslow has money at the lowest level of the hierarchy and shows other needs are better motivator to staff. McGregor places money in his theory X category and feels it is a poor motivator. Praise and recognition are placed in the theory Y category and are considered stronger motivators than money.
- Motivated employees always seek better ways to do a job
- Motivated employees are more quality oriented
- Motivated workers are more productive
The average workplace is about midway between the extremes of high treat and high opportunity.
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