meta content= One major key to be successful in a decentralized business is the idea of Information Democracy, ID, a principle of equality that demands actionable insight for all.' name='description'/> meta content= information democracy, article marketing, application of information technology, business management' name='keywords'/> Information Democracy: 2011-07-03

Saturday, July 9, 2011

10 Things to Expect from Your SEO Copywriter

From the perspective of a business owner, webmaster, or marketing manager, the change exhibited by the Internet is profoundly exciting, yet profoundly disturbing. The information (and misinformation and disinformation) it offers, the business benefits it promises, and the rules it is governed by change at such a rapid rate that it's almost impossible to keep up.

These changes have led to a growing appreciation of the value of quality web copy. This appreciation has, in turn, led to an influx of opportunistic 'copywriters' promoting themselves as website copywriters or SEO copywriters. Don't get me wrong, there are quite a few excellent SEO copywriters out there, and you should definitely shop around. The purpose of this article isn't to scare you; it's to help you find the SEO copywriter who'll deliver honest service and excellent results.

So with that in mind, take a look at the following ten tips. These are the things you have a right to expect from anyone wearing a name badge that reads "website copywriter", "SEO copywriter", "internet copywriter", or "web copywriter"… (See also 10 Things to Expect From Your Website Copywriter and How to Make the Most of Your Website Copywriter.)

1) An understanding of SEO

Obviously, your SEO copywriter must have a solid understanding of the essentials of Search Engine Optimization. They must know that ranking is essentially the result of a website's relevance (i.e. keywords) and importance (i.e. inbound links). There are a whole lot of other factors involved, but if your SEO copywriter doesn't understand these two basics, you should look elsewhere. If you'd like to ensure your SEO copywriter knows a little more than just the basics, take a look at SEO for CEOs, Writing SEO Copy, SEO Trade Secrets, Web Copy - How Much is Enough?, and How to Top Google by Writing Articles for some clues as to what you might like to ask in order to assess their knowledge.

2) Proven experience

The proof is, as they say, in the pudding. It's not enough that your SEO copywriter can talk the talk; they must also be able to walk the walk. Ask to see some examples of websites for which they've obtained some good rankings. Note that it may be very difficult to find an SEO copywriter who has actually worked on both keywords and link generation, so if you find one who has, and they write well, snap 'em up! They'll have a very broad and useful working knowledge of search engines.

3) An understanding of how many keywords to use

You don't want to fill every page up with every keyword you're targeting. This simply dilutes your site's relevance and reduces readability. Ask your SEO copywriter how many keywords they would recommend targeting on each page. Hopefully they'll suggest no more than 3, preferably 2. By targeting 2 keyword phrases per page, you can use them a lot without impacting readability.

4) Clear agreement on who will provide keywords

Someone needs to perform a keyword analysis in order to figure out what words you should be trying to rank highly for. Your SEO copywriter should be able to do this for you, but it's quite often more cost-effective if someone a little closer to the business does it. Either way, make sure your agreement with your SEO copywriter makes it very clear who is performing this task. Don't assume the SEO copywriter is going to do it, because they may assume you're going to do it, and then you'll blow your budget.

5) Keywords or keyword phrases

Expect your SEO copywriter to offer some advice regarding how specific you should be with your keywords. In most industries, the competition for keywords is so fierce that you'll be forced to target very specific keywords in order to rank – at least at the outset. For instance, if you're in IT, you probably wouldn't start out by targeting the keyword "IT". The competition is immense (at the time of writing, there were approx 3,240,000,000 results for this search in Google.com) and the IT giants already dominate the search engines for this keyword. Instead, try using a more specific keyword phrase like "IT infrastructure consulting new york" (at the time of writing, there were only around 4,000,000 results for this search in Google.com). The other benefit to targeting more specific keyword phrases is that you'll generate more relevant leads.

6) Agree on word count per page
Always make sure your SEO copywriter gives you an indication of the number of words they expect to write per web page. While it's necessary to have a decent body of words on most of your web pages, you certainly shouldn't have too many. What "too many" is all depends on your industry, the objective of the page, and the needs of your audience. It's always a delicate balance, but it's certainly possible to rank highly with only 100-200 words per page. So don't be fooled into paying for copy you don't need!

7) Density targets & measure

SEO of a web page is NOT guess-work. A good SEO copywriter will talk about density measures. This is a measure of the number of time the keyword phrase appears on the page. It's expressed as a percentage of the total word count of the page. So if your page has 200 words, and your keyword phrase appears 10 times, its density is 5%. As a rule of thumb, your SEO copywriter should be aiming for a density of approximately 5% for your primary keyword phrase and 3-5% for your secondary keyword phrase. If your density measures are much higher than this, readability will be reduced, and you'll risk being perceived as spam by the search engines. Make sure your SEO copywriter understands keyword density, is prepared to state the target density for each keyword phrase, and is also happy to be measured by that standard (should you decide to measure).

8) Where to place keywords

The question of keyword placement has been the subject of much debate amongst SEO copywriters. While it is still unclear how much impact placement has, there is a general consensus that it has SOME impact. Be sure that your copywriter is aware of this impact. Popular opinion has it that keywords are more effective if they appear in headings, bolded text, links, and generally toward the beginning of the page.

9) Some comment on structure & links

Websites are generally better indexed by search engines if their spiders can traverse the entire site using text links. This means your SEO copywriter should be linking each page to every other page using text links. If your site is complex, this may be impractical, so your SEO copywriter will need to create a hierarchical structure for your site. First, they should break your subject material down into categories. Then for each category, they should write a summary page. These summary pages should be accessible from higher level pages via text links. They should also be accessible from each other. Each summary page should link – using text links – to a number of pages discussing the finer details of the category. And each detail page in a particular category should link to every other detail page in that category (once again, using text links). This way the spiders are able to travel from the top of your hierarchy to the bottom, and from left to right across any level.

10) Don't believe grand promises

SEO copywriters can play a significant role in increasing your search engine ranking. But they can't do it overnight. By optimizing your site for your target keyword phrases, an SEO copywriter is simply declaring the relevance of your site. If you engage an SEO copywriter to write helpful articles containing a byline with a link back to your site, you can then submit these articles for publication on the Internet, and this will steadily increase your ranking. But if an SEO copywriter tells you they can dramatically increase your ranking in a matter of hours or days, be wary. NOTE: Your SEO copywriter should be able to submit your articles to various submit sites on the Internet. These sites are closely watched by hundreds of thousands of publishers of e-newsletters and article pages from all around the world. High quality articles are quickly snapped up and published prolifically. And each time your article is published, you've got another link back to your site, thus increasing the importance of your site (to the search engines). If you'd like to submit your own articles, your SEO copywriter should be able to sell you a list of 50 or more submit sites for as little as USD$99.

Conclusion

An SEO copywriter is a valuable addition to your marketing function. But you need to make sure you choose wisely. When you know what questions to ask, the battle is half won.
  http://Infosdemocracy.com

The Secret of Adsense Advertisement Blending

Adsense advertisement blending is somewhat of an art. Many successful Adsense publishers will tell you that their websites and blogs generated more income when they took the time to blend their units into their pages.

Today, it seems that the vast majority of Web surfers have conditioned themselves not to click on anything that resembles blatant Adsense advertising. By blending your advertisement units in your web pages, you are increasing the chances that your visitors will click on them believing that they are part of the content.


In the past, some of the most common Adsense locations have been, either the top or bottom of a page or at one side . They are so common; in fact, statistics show that even when these advertisement units display very relevant ads, visitors will not click through. This is commonly known as 'ad blindness'.


Many webmasters have found some degree of success by placing advertisement units directly before the first paragraph, of each article or page. The theory behind this success is that readers will notice relevant ads, while they are searching for the beginning of your text.


Another blending method that has proved to be successful is placing the largest rectangular unit between paragraphs. These spaced out units give readers the opportunity to pause between each thought that the article or page is trying to convey. 
This is actually the same method used in television advertising. No doubt, you are familiar with the success of commercials. Just as television advertisers sell their products during program pauses, your goal is to generate Adsense income because of a pause, with your text.

Probably the most obvious way to blend your ad units is to change the background and border color of your advertisement to the same color as the location where the ad unit will be placed. Doing so, makes it seem more like the advertisements are part of your actual content

You may even want to experiment using these methods together. Like any other type of advertising with a lot of the success, is due to experimenting and trial and error. You can begin by testing out certain format for two weeks and see how it goes before further tweaks are implemented.

It is important to remember that success with Adsense program will not happen overnight. Take the time to try several methods of advertisement blending, because in the long run it is definitely worth the effort and dedication.http://Infosdemocracy.com

The Secret Of Success - Desire, Duty, Or Dereliction?

People go through this thing that we call life and while some are incredibly successful, there are others who just "get by" until the final curtain is drawn.

Determining your level of actual involvement in your life – and thus, your level of success – can be broken down into 3 categories: Desire, Duty, or Dereliction.


Desire


Following the path of desire is simply doing what you choose to do with your life. From a standpoint of health, wealth, and happiness, the person who follows their desires is fueled by one thing, and one thing only – their own desires.


Duty


A life filled with a dedication to duty is one where even though you keep your own desires in mind, your primary focus always seems to be on the welfare of others. Whether you are talking about a dedication to your children or your family, or if you have a very high work ethic, the person motivated by duty always has plenty of things to focus on.


Dereliction


Dereliction is a pretty strong term, but it needs to be because this type of person doesn't care about much of anything. They aren't necessarily "evil" as most people would consider the meaning of that term, but this person isn't concerned about very much. Whether considering what happens with their own life, or considering the needs of others or the world at large, this person is pretty much just floating through life without any real sense of duty or desire.


So now the question becomes which one of those personality types is most likely to succeed? Each of those people will achieve massive success on their chosen path because they are doing exactly what they feel they are supposed to be doing, and so they will continue to attract that type of lifestyle.


The person who is completely driven by their own desires and refuses to do anything that doesn't match that direction will rarely be found engaging in any activity that is not centered around whatever it is that they want to be doing at that moment.


The duty-bound individual will continually find new ways to be duty-bound. When one commitment is handled, they will attract or create a new commitment for themselves, often without even realizing that they are doing it.


For the person who is practicing the opposite of duty – dereliction – their entire focus is on not focusing on much of anything. By not having any real direction for their life, and by not really caring one way or the other about what happens with other people, this person will continue to manifest that lifestyle. Their circumstances will require them to have as little input or responsibility as possible. For a more clear definition of this individual, think one word: Teenagers. 
So who is right? Which one of these people is going to have the most happiness in their life?

If you define happiness as being "successful," then each of them will be just as happy. They will each attract into their lives the people and the circumstances that will allow them to continue to successfully be exactly the type of person that they are choosing to be.

The key to determining which one of them will be the most successful does not rely on "standard" markers such as financial success, career satisfaction, personal life, etc., because those methods of measuring success only matter to the person who cares about those types of measurements.

The "starving artist" doesn't care about financial success, at least not initially. Your average painter, illustrator, sculptor, or musician would probably do what they do for free, as long as they still had a roof over their head and enough resources to survive.

A family-focused mother or father will gladly give of their time and their financial resources, usually to the point of putting their own health, retirement, and even their sanity on the line. Yet they continue to honor what they believe to be their commitment to their children, regardless of the consequences.

The person who doesn't much care one way or the other will happily float through life without a real financial plan, without any solid family or friendship commitments, and without even knowing what their own life is going to hold in store for them. However, they are choosing that life for themselves, so does that make them wrong?

The answer to all of these questions is that none of these people are "right" and none of them are "wrong". They are only seen in a positive or a negative light by the person who is observing them, and they are being judged by the observing person's belief system.

The fact of the matter is that the concepts of "right" or "wrong" don't really exist. All that exist are the belief systems of individuals, and it is neither appropriate nor even in our power to judge others based on what we believe to be true.

The "secret of success" is that each of these individuals is 100% successful because they are doing exactly what they choose to be doing with their lives. In fact, failure itself does not even exist, as it is just another example of one person's beliefs about what is good or what is bad.

Desire, duty, and dereliction will all bring success to the individuals who live their lives from that point of view. Not because that point of view is right or wrong, but simply because that is what that person wants to do. What greater success is there than that? http://Infosdemocracy.com

How do I build a winning business plan?

Using sample business plans and their structure, along with studying as many business plan examples as you can, will provide you with the necessary framework to consider your business from every possible angle.

Starting or running your business without a business plan is akin to being a human without a skeleton!

Not only will using a sample structure highlight any areas you haven't fully thought through, but it will also provide you with a good idea of what makes a good business plan, and what doesn't.

The importance of your business plan as a motivational factor in running or starting your business cannot be underestimated. You will find that your commitment continues to build as you collect information, research and write each section.

Your business plan should always accompany requests for Small Business Loans , and lenders or any kind of angel investor will simply refuse to consider your business proposal without one.

Lenders and investors want to see your plan with the aim of satisfying key questions before they make their decision to grant funding or not.

Once you've commenced trading your small business plan will act as a steak in the ground, and help you measure where you expected to be against where you actually are. It will help you take corrective action as necessary.


Sample Business Plan Structure

All plans should include at least the elements listed below, and perhaps additional sections depending on the type of industry. <



Executive Summary
Company Background
Products or Service Overview
Unique Selling Proposition and competitive advantages
The Marketplace
Operations
Leadership and management profiles including professional competencies
Professional Support
Risks and Threats assessment
Financial forecasts including key assumptions
Relevant appendices

Collecting the information for all the sections is time consuming and sometimes difficult. The business section of your local library is always a good place to start research. Ask your friendly librarian about how to look up market research reports, and how to investigate competitors.

If you are not familiar with spreadsheet software, constructing the necessary financial forecasts represents a significant hurdle. You have 2 choices:

Pay someone to put part or all of the plan together for you, or a small investment in some business planning software.

The advantage of using a professional is you will receive the benefits of their experience, combined with a professional looking plan.

The disadvantage is that it won't be easy to make changes, and more importantly, because you will not have been as involved in its preparation, you won't be as familiar with its contents as you should be. Make sure to learn the contents well. 
One final tip though, remember it's the quality of the information you put into it that determines what comes out. http://Infosdemocracy.com

99 High Paying Keywords: The Secret Is Out!

Incorporating high paying keywords into your site is critical to maximizing your income. Who has the time to figure it all out? How much are you willing to pay for this type of information? The secret is out: Here are 99 keywords you can use with payouts averaging $2-$100 per click:

1. Structured settlements

2. Mesothelioma

3. Acne

4. Life Insurance

5. Death Insurance

6. Bextra

7. Asbestos

8. Car Insurance

9. Dental Plans

10. Private Jets

11. Debt Consolidation

12. Credit Cards

13. Rewards Cards

14. Equity Loans

15. Equity Line Credit

16. Loans

17. Mortgages

18. Pay Day Loans

19. Cash Advance

20. Bankruptcy

21. Reduce Debt

22. Refinance

23. Jet Charter

24. Vioxx

25. Wrongful death

26. Legal Advice

27. Taxes

28. Investing

29. Bonds

30. Online Trading

31. IRA Rollover

32. Refinance Quotes

33. Adult Education

34. Distance Learning

35. Alcohol Treatment

36. Rehab

37. Drug Rehab

38. Spyware

39. Cell Phone Plans

40. Calling Cards

41. VOIP

42. Weight Loss

43. Canadian Pharmacy

44. Depression

45. Spam Filter

46. Lasik

47. Facelift

48. Teeth Whitening

49. Annuity

50. Anti Virus Protection

51. Adult Diaper

52. Free Credit Report

53. Credit Score

54. Satellite

55. Anti Spam Software

56. Dedicated Hosting

57. Domain Name

58. Need Money

59. Bachelor Degree

60. Master Degree

61. Doctorate Degree

62. Work at Home

63. Quick Book

64. Extra Money

65. Eloan

66. Malpractice Lawyer

67. Lenox China

68. Cancer

69. Payperclick


70. Personal Injury Attorney

71. Lexington Law

72. Video Conferencing

73. Transfer Money

74. Windstar Cruise

75. Casinos Online

76. Term Life

77. Online Banking

78. Borrow Money

79. Low Interest Credit Cards

80. Personal Domain Name

81. Cellular Phone Rental

82. Internet Broker

83. Trans Union

84. Cheap Hosting

85. University Degrees Online

86. Online Marketing

87. Consolidate

88. Helpdesk Software

89. Web Host

90. Homeowner's Insurance

91. Yellow Page Advertising

92. Travel Insurance

93. Register Domain

94. Credit Counseling

95. Email Hosting

96. Business Credit

97. Consumer Credit

98. Blue Cross

99. Laptop Computer

Actual payouts vary depending on whose PPC program you belong to and on the amount that has been bid per click by advertisers. Still, the savvy web administrator will take good care to incorporate some of these key words and reap results higher than they ever expected. http://Infosdemocracy.com

Friday, July 8, 2011

A Successful Business Financial Projection Can Be The Key To Securing Financing

A business seeking capital can't afford to underestimate the importance of business financial projections. A business financial projection is simply forecasting your sales and revenue to the lender. This information is important because it is a key indicator to your ability to repay a loan.

If you are unsure about financial forecasting and how it relates to your business it is best to hire someone who does know. Most lenders will want to see a three or five year projection. There are 14 different items to include and fully support in your financial projections. With these different items it is best to give a month-by-month breakdown for the first year, a quarterly breakdown for the next two years, and an annual breakdown for the final two years you are projecting.

The different items to include in your projections are; sales revenue estimates, administrative costs, production costs, sales costs, capital expenditures, gross margin by product line, sales increase by product line, interest rates on debts, income tax rate, accounts receivable collection plan, accounts payable schedule, inventory turnover, depreciation schedules, and the usefulness or depreciation of assets.

The income projection enables the owner/manager to develop a preview of the amount of income generated each month and for the business year, based on industry supportable predictions of monthly levels of sales, costs, and expenses. When determining the total net sales you will be finding out how many units of products and services you expect to sell at the prices you are projecting. Make sure to think of what returns, allowances, and markdowns can be expected. The sales costs needs to be calculated for all products and services used. Ensure that when determining the costs of sale that you don't forget anything such as commission paid to sales representatives, transportation costs, or any direct labor costs. 
For the gross profit you would subtract the total cost of sale from the total net sales. To get your gross profit margin you will divide the gross profits from the total net sales. This will be expressed as a percentage of total sales or revenues.

When formulating your business financial projections there are five items that will ruin the accuracy of your projections, and hurt your chances of being approved for business financing. The first one is wishful thinking or being over-optimistic about your sales potential. Ask yourself: "Is it possible to achieve the sales levels you're forecasting?". A good example is that a sales team can only visit a certain number of customers each week or a factory can only manufacture a given amount of products on each shift. Make sure to keep your projections realistic and even more important to be based on supportable evidence. It is imperative to also make sure that your sales assumptions are linked directly to your sales forecast or your information will contradict itself. Most lenders are "by the numbers", so if your numbers don't add up, you will get declined. A good example of this is to say that you expect increased sales in a market that is declining. That just does not add up.

Another thing not to do when projecting your business finances is to spend a lot of time refining the forecast. Try to avoid tinkering with the target numbers once they are set. Many business owners neglect to ask the opinions of the sales people who know the buyer's intentions about what they think the projected sales should be. It is important to make sure your sales team agrees on any sales targets that will be set. One other fatal mistake made by business owners when working on financial projections is not getting feedback on the projections from an accountant. http://Infosdemocracy.com 

Why some people should lower their Google Adwords click through rates

Once you've started your Google AdWords campaign and chosen a great set of keywords, your ads may still need some work. No matter how relevant your keywords are, your campaign needs to woo your potential customers, not just freebie seekers.

This seems to be an area that most PPC marketers fall down on. With all this talk about click thru rate, people miss the bigger issue: the clicks are next to worthless if they don't convert to sales. In fact, they aren't even worthless – they lose you money. Return on investment is what matters, and everything else is subordinate to that, including (perhaps especially) how many people click on your ads.

So, how do we target buying customers and get rid of the click-hungry tire kickers? Well, there are several strategies I use, and taken together they ensure I get healthy returns on my clicks.

Firstly, pay very close attention to your keywords. By on large, the broader the keyword, the greater the chance of random non-buyers clicking on your ad and costing you money. For example, someone searching for "Adwords" might want to log into their Adwords account, they might be searching for free content, or they could just be killing time.

Contrast this with a very targeted keyword such as "buy Adwords e-book". Well, there is no comparison, the second will tend to convert at ten times the rate of the first, more general keyword – but people tend to pay the same for each keyword. I don't know if it's because no-one tracks their conversions properly anymore, but in any event don't fall into the trap of believing that all keywords are created equal.
If you are a merchant and have conversion tracking setup on Adwords, pay close attention to where your sales are coming from. The truth might surprise you.

Secondly, add "free" as a negative keyword to your campaign – this will cut out the blatant tyre kickers before they even get a chance to click on our ads.

A third possible strategy is to put your price in the ad, possibly in the headline, eg "super new gizmo only $50". However, I don't like this method too much – the reason being that the freebie hunters will click anyway, and many potential buyers will be dissuaded from clicking (many copywriters make their price as invisible as possible on the sales letter, why advertise it before they have even read the benefits?)

What I tend to do instead is make a subtle reference to the fact that the information does come with a price tag, using a word such as "cheap", "low cost", "inexpensive", "limited offer", "discounted price" etc. This tends to not only dissuade the hardcore freebie hunters, but will actually make borderline potential buyers curious and more willing to read the sales copy. And that can only be a good thing.

Remember, click through rate is important but only if the people who click are buying. If not, you would be better off pausing your campaigns and trying a more forgiving advertising method.
  http://Infosdemocracy.com
 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

How to Keep Customers For Life

Being is business isn't just about getting a customer, selling him something and moving onto the next one. It's all about making sure that your customers keep coming back to you … and spend more money!

But how can you make sure that your customers stay customers for life? What strategies can you put into practice to keep bringing them back for more? A planned customer retention programme is something every established small business should have in place. That sounds great, but what is a retention plan and what should it include?


Do the Groundwork


Before starting a retention programme, you need to understand where your business stands now as regards its retention track record. Ask yourself these 3 questions:


1. Do you know how many customers you have lost in the last 12 months?


2. If you do know how many, do you know why they stopped dealing with you?


3. Have you ever quantified the impact these losses have had on your bottom line?


Before you can put an effective retention plan in place, you have to answer these questions. They are the key to understanding and implementing an effective retention strategy. Let's look at each of them in turn.


How Many Have You Lost?


It's essential you know how many people stop doing business with you at any one time. Keep a database of all your frequent customers; how often they buy; what they buy and in what quantity. Every month review the information and see if you can spot any worrying trends. Has the average order value been declining over the last 3 months? Has one customer's regular order dried up altogether? If someone orders a large range of items each month but suddenly stops purchasing one particular range, why?


If you can't track the customers you are loosing, how can you keep them or tempt them back?


Why Have They Turned Their Back On You?


Armed with the information on who's deserting you, the fight back can start in earnest! There are sometimes very good reasons why business can dry up – the owner could have died, moved away, or closed down. Not a lot you can do about that! But what about more worrying reasons? Your product quality has gone down hill; the customer feels he is no longer getting value for money; your general service levels have declined. These are areas you have to know about, so you can get the business back on track


If you see a slippage in business and you can identify who is contributing to it, then pick up the phone and get talking! Find out what the problem is. If you can bring them back into the fold, then great but if it's genuinely too late, then at least you have gathered some important knowledge about where the business is going wrong.


What Has It Cost You?


You may be thinking that the odd customer here and there is not going to have a major impact on your lifestyle. Think again! Remember, it's not just one sale, it's a lifetime of sales that you are loosing. Supposing a customer spends $1,000 per month with you. He walks away into the sunset and you never see him again. Imagine that he could have been doing business with you for the next 20 years – that's $240,000!


Interested now? Well you should be! Working out the financial impact of loosing just one customer can really bring home the impact on the business. This should galvanise you into action and get you working on a retention plan.


Your Retention Plan


Having now convinced you that you need a Customer Retention Plan, what exactly should it include?


1. Have a system in place which allows you to answer all the questions we have just reviewed. Understand what is going on in the business, so you can identify and put matters right. Make sure you know who you lost, why you lost them and how much it has and will cost you


2. Get your staff together on a regular basis and remind them of the importance of retaining your customers. If you don't get them on board then you have no hope


3. During your staff meetings hold brainstorming sessions so everyone can come up with ideas on how to hold onto your customers


4. Implement the good ideas and measure the results so you know what is working and what is not


A good retention plan can be just as effective as a good marketing plan; they achieve the same results – a contribution to profit. So, sit down and have a think about the steps you can put in place to keep your customers.


I saw a sign in shop one day, it said, "It's not how many come in, it's how many come back that's important." Doesn't that say it all!
http://Infosdemocracy.com

Forget Conventional Dream Interpretation: Learn to Cultivate Your Dreams Today!

One of my favourite quotes of all time and I am sure many of you share my thoughts, is the speech by Martin Luther King at the civil rights march in Washington, 1963, which went like this:

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood..."

"I have a dream..." Indeed. Inspiring stuff. I want to discuss our dreams in a very practical way today.

I want to talk about how to cultivate your dreaming. It really is a tremendously valuable thing to do. I want to steer away from conventional dream interpretation and will explain why.

As of today, pay attention to your dreaming and your daydreaming. Dreams are important to us in many ways, because they do the following:

Firstly, when you dream you actively process information and feelings.

Secondly, dreams are always involving many senses, so the highly sensory experience is very rich. It is quite rare for us to use all our senses at once as we do when we dream.

Thirdly, dreams give us valuable information about what is going on in our lives, whether directly or more often in a disguised or symbolic form.

Fourthly, dreams are strongly sequenced, though often in a way which is emotionally rather than logically organised.

Finally, dreams draw upon a rich range of unconscious, associative, creative links between many kinds of information.

Some people remember their dreams; others tend to forget all but the most dramatic bits as soon as they wake. When you dream or daydream, take time to replay as much of it as you can in your mind before the events of the day overlay it. Relive the story of that dream. Remind yourself of the events, pictures, sensations and other sensory information it involved.

This dream was the product of your mind. Marvel at your own creativity! This is amazing stuff here; get excited by it.

If you get into the habit of asking yourself when you wake, "what did I dream?" you may at first only remember a few particularly strong feelings or vivid images: write them down and review it regularly. I actually used to write a dream journal and wrote everything down as soon as I opened my eyes each morning. It provided me with such inspiration when I required it.

Naturally, lots of you may want to start with dream interpretation straight away. Resist the urge for dream interpretation, ok?

Do your best not to assume that there is necessarily a single clear meaning which can be interpreted according to psychological theories or books on dream significance or dream interpretation. How can your dreams have the same meaning as someone else? Is your brain the same as that persons? For now, ease off the dream interpretation.

I have found that the most useful assumption to make about dreams is that they have some kind of significance for you, the dreamer: they come from your internal, unconscious mind's storehouse of feelings, experiences and images, and are an active and useful way of processing that is quite different from – and just as useful as – the processing that belongs to the logical conscious part of your mind.

Often a strong feeling will be your first clue to the meaning a dream has for you: so note it, and wonder about it, but don't try to rush to tie it down by conscious analysis. The real work of the dream is often done simply in the dreaming of it: the conscious mind does not always have to understand, and when it tries to translate dreams into its own terms it may be limiting it, just as poetry translated from another language usually loses something of its more subtle tapestry of meanings.

Think about the value of dreams.

Dreams demonstrate a different level of mental functioning from conscious, disciplined thought. When you pay attention to them, and even cultivate them, you are learning to become familiar with, to trust and to draw upon a fuller range of your own mental resources: in other words, you are using more of what you've got. Hey, this stuff is going to keep happening, so why not really use it.

The mind works both consciously and unconsciously. Conscious thought is formally taught in our education system. Its strength is its systematic and disciplined way of handling information. Its limitation is that it tends to be rule-bound and too narrow in its problem-solving approach.

The brain also processes information at an unconscious level: mostly, this is associative and depends on links, similarities and feelings. This processing produces dreams, as well as much of our other "creative" or "expressive" experience. That is why we are often surprised by the spontaneous connections we make or insights we have, and by our imaginative inspiration: it is not what we would have come up with consciously at all, yet it seems somehow completely "right". This way of thinking works "laterally" – it expands, goes sideways and finds multiple avenues rather than just one.

We need both kinds of functioning if we are to make the most of our brain power. Logic and intuition, discipline and divergence, are all vital tools that enrich and enable us. But whereas we are used to working with the conscious mind, in part because we are aware of it and can monitor it as it works, many people are less at ease trusting and using the unconscious processes. Paying attention to your dreams, and deliberately cultivating daydreaming, are both ways of stretching yourself into this area.

So let us have a look at the value of deliberate daydreaming. Where dreams come unbidden, you may find it useful to deliberately evoke the conditions for daydreaming, if, like many people, you have not really valued the activity before now.

How is it valuable? Daydreaming brings us escape and relaxation; visions of the future that inspire and help us to bring about what we have dreamed of; solutions to apparently unsolvable problems; inventions and creative possibilities. Daydream states allow the unconscious, associative parts of the mind to work in their own playful and imaginative ways, bringing not only pleasure but results that our usual deliberate, attentive, rational thought does not. We need space in our lives for both ways of processing if we are to realise ourselves as fully as possible.

The key to daydreaming is to be in that right state. If you want to practice, please visit my website and download the free hypnosis session there, or learn self-hypnosis, read my book "The Secrets of Self-Hypnosis" or invest in the self-hypnosis masterclass audio programme, there is nothing else as good in the world today, really there isn't. There is a kind of automatic abstractedness that goes along with daydreaming. Mostly it just seems to happen – but when you know about creating and changing states, you can choose to make it happen.

Here are some ways you can cultivate and work with your daydreams:

Firstly, notice when you have been daydreaming. Is there any pattern of circumstances that helps bring about your particular daydreaming state?

Some people find that repetitive, relatively automatic, activities such as jogging, ironing or walking create the right state. Perhaps it is a warm bath, swimming a few lengths, or sitting in the garden. Or it may be swaying to the movement of a train, staring into space, looking out of the window of a bus on the way to work, or going on a long drive.

Once you find what helps you daydream, use it and make space for it in your life on a regular basis, imagine that you are in that experience, recreate those circumstances inside of your mind. Let daydreaming come to you, and notice what kinds of windows it opens from our ordinary world into what other kinds of possibilities. Some of your best ideas and inspirations may come at these times.

Secondly, next time you have a decision to make, or a problem to solve, or a challenge to overcome, you can set up the circumstances so that you can trigger your daydreaming state – and allow yourself to explore your problem or decision in this way. When you have done so, make some notes of what you experienced and discovered. Add that to your conscious thinking on the subject: you now have much more information, and the advantage of having engaged more of your mental resources.

Thirdly, for today, forget dream interpretation. That is a conscious and limiting thing to do. Did I make myself clear? Forget conventional dream interpretation. For now use your dreams in personal ways to you.  http://Infosdemocracy.com

The work-life balance


Balance. It's a nice word but the reality is hard to pin down. It may not even put us on the right track in our 21st century quest for fulfillment and happiness. In this article we will talk about the integration of work and family life, beginning not with the workplace and the employer's role in sorting things out, but with the person and her priorities.

Generally than people talk about work-life balance they mean the challenge of managing their family commitment when they've got children, while juggling the demands of a career. That's the traditional focus, but the concept has evolved quite a bit. There are now many younger people in the workforce, in their late 20s and early 30s, who may not even have home or family but they want a sense of balance in their life.

Often we are thinking of some sort of perfection, where nothing is out of place, there's no stress, and this of course is unrealistic. It automatically means a trade-off between work and life. If I give more time to my family I won't be able to do my job properly, or if I spend more time on the job my family will suffer. Yet I want to be able to have it all, to do it all, right now.

Let's think about integration, which means bringing the various pieces of our lives into a cohesive whole. We each have many roles, goals, responsibilities and life plans. We have to get it together. The attractive idea of finding ways to bring life into a unity will give us the harmony and happiness we seek.

Experience shows what people who have very clear priorities and their own clear definition of success succeed best at balancing their lives. They know what's most important in their lives. These are people who can say, before it happens: If I have to make a choice, if work and family come head to head, I know what my biggest priority is. People who realize it may have slow their career for a period of time, perhaps while a child is younger, and have a less demanding job so they can have more time at home. And they can be at peace with that, because their definition of success is not necessarily the one that society tells them.

Usually we have to just go through life and let the new promotion or the new demands of the job dictate what you do, to feel you don't have a choice. This is not balanced life road. We need to stop and reflect, communicate more with your husband, your wife, your manager at work, and basically be more pro-active.

The today's truth is that we have too much to do. Technology has changed things and made people accessible 24 hours a day, encroaching on the peaceful time people used to have. Yet some things don't change. We still have 24 hours a day. We all have the same amount of time and how we use it comes down to a personal choice.
The disorganization traits usually come from avoiding the choice and try to do too much. Even a simple thing like, What are we going to have for dinner tonight? can become a huge job if we feel, Oh, I've a lot of work and will not be able to do grocery shopping. Obviously, if we have the knowledge and skills to make something simpler than we're going to gain more time. This is what AcePlanner is built on - using good systems to simplify daily tasks so you don't spend inordinate amounts of time on work.

For balanced life planning and other basic management skills have to be used at home as well as in the workplace. One of the reasons why many people prefer going out to work to working at home is what we're very organized in the workplace, we use time management there, and then we come home and just ride the waves, consuming ourselves with the latest problem that has cropped up.

However there's nothing wrong with wanting to go out to work. We do need multiple interests to enrich our lives and many times we have talents that we need to give to the workplace and to the world. But it is true that work on the job is often more attractive because it is more project-oriented and very linear, and at the end of that piece of work we get the praise and a sense of accomplishment, whereas at home every day it's the same thing.

Human beings have certain basic needs that have to be taken care of every day, and although we can feel a sense of accomplishment that we have organized something at home, it's soon going to be dirtied again, or another meal is going to have to be put on the table. And this means changing your sense of where you get your satisfaction - not just from accomplishing the task or from the process of doing it, but from the motive.

We are all expecting a reward or praise for completed work. Lack of reward will kill our desire to work what leads to reduced productivity. This is why we prefer working for others than doing something for ourselves. Promise yourself a reward for completing each task or finishing the total job. For example let yourself watch an interesting movie when you finish developing page or new promotion plan.  http://infosdemocracy.com

Finding Your Ecommerce Cranny on the Web

Online or off, a time tested method of succeeding in business is to focus on an unexploited area. You are probably wondering how. Here is your answer.

Finding Your E-commerce Cranny

When we talk about a nook, we are simply identified a very focused area of business. There are a zillion sites selling movies, but very few selling French movies from the 1960s. If there is sufficient interest in such movies, you could build a business around selling such classic movies. This concept applies to any business area regardless of whether you are selling products or offering services.

You need to do some daydreaming. Most people make the mistake of focusing on a subject that they think will make a ton of money. Problems can occur with this approach because if you have no inherent interest in the area besides money, you will eventually grow disillusioned with it. If you are going to start a business, you want it be enjoyable. If it is just another job, you have made a bad mistake. This brings us back to daydreaming.

You need to give serious thought to your interests, and not just your interests today. What have you always been interested in? Don't worry about how you will make money, just focus on the subject matter. Remember the clich̩ Рfind something you love and the money will follow. This is exactly what you want to do. Once you have an idea, it is time to figure out how to make money off of it.

For a web business, you want to focus on something known as keyword research. Keyword research is crucial because you can type in a phrase and see the exact phrases people have used to search on Google, Yahoo and MSN that incorporate the world. Even better, you can see how many people use the phrase each day. Doing keyword research lets you determine if there is enough interest in your area and the exact phrases your prospects are using to find things in the area. It doesn't get much better than that!

There are a variety of tools you can use. Overture offers a free tool that will give you a general idea, but is not the most accurate. Wordtracker is much better, but will set you back a few bucks. Keyword Discovery is similar, but runs a few more dollars yet. Regardless of your choice, make sure to use one of these for keyword research.

Once you identify the phrases used by your prospects, you can determine if there is enough interest in your nook. You can also identify the exact phrases they are using and tailor your site and marketing to those phrases. http://Infosdemocracy.com

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Ten Top Tips For Successfully Setting Goals

 "Goals. There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there's no telling what will happen when you act upon them." ~ Jim Rohn

Would you like to achieve positive results in your life and get what you really want? This tried and tested goal setting strategy is an effective way to set and achieve your goals. My Ten Top Tips are as follows:

• Write them down. By writing down your goals you are showing personal commitment and declaring your intention to succeed, as well as helping to clarify your thinking.

• Be specific. Write down goals that are specific, measurable and positive. Focus clearly on what you desire, not what you lack or want to get rid of from your life.

• Have a time limit. Set a date by which you will have achieved each of your goals. Otherwise, it's like starting a football match without having agreed when the game is to end!

• Think of the benefits. Think through all the benefits of achieving your goals, and write them all down. This helps you clarify why they are important to you, visualise and feel what it will be like to achieve them, check how committed you are to working on them - and all this will help energise and motivate you if the going gets tough.

• Consider options and obstacles. How many ways can you think of to achieve your goal? Evaluate the results and consequences of each. What could stop you or cause a problem? And what about subconscious obstacles? Complete this sentence several times to find out more – "I want to achieve (name your goal) but………"
"Goals. There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there's no telling what will happen when you act upon them." ~ Jim Rohn
Would you like to achieve positive results in your life and get what you really want? This tried and tested goal setting strategy is an effective way to set and achieve your goals. My Ten Top Tips are as follows:

• Write them down. By writing down your goals you are showing personal commitment and declaring your intention to succeed, as well as helping to clarify your thinking.

• Be specific. Write down goals that are specific, measurable and positive. Focus clearly on what you desire, not what you lack or want to get rid of from your life.

• Have a time limit. Set a date by which you will have achieved each of your goals. Otherwise, it's like starting a football match without having agreed when the game is to end!

• Think of the benefits. Think through all the benefits of achieving your goals, and write them all down. This helps you clarify why they are important to you, visualise and feel what it will be like to achieve them, check how committed you are to working on them - and all this will help energise and motivate you if the going gets tough.

• Consider options and obstacles. How many ways can you think of to achieve your goal? Evaluate the results and consequences of each. What could stop you or cause a problem? And what about subconscious obstacles? Complete this sentence several times to find out more – "I want to achieve (name your goal) but………"
• Make a detailed plan. Having chosen your preferred way forward, identify all the actions you'll need to take. This breaks a seemingly big and daunting task down into manageable steps, enables you to plan what to do, prepare for problems, and reduces resistance to actually getting started.

• Identify resources. What skills, knowledge, ability and contacts do you already have? What additional resources will you require? What changes do you need to make? Realistically review and assess this when making your plan, and ask for extra support as required.

• Balance and fit. Check that all the areas of your life are in balance – if not, will your various goals make this happen? Will your goals support your long term plans and fit your ambitions, are they worthy of you, do they reflect your values? So while you are building that great career or business, ensure that you are also looking after your health, relationships, fun time, wealth and personal development etc.

• Take action! Make a start. Actually take the first step you identified when you formed your plan of action.

• Review and reward. Set some interim milestones as part of your initial strategy. This means you can check your progress regularly and see that you are moving in the right direction. And as part of this process acknowledge your achievements along the way and reward yourself for everything you accomplish. Celebrate!  http://Infosdemocracy.com

Cracking the Pareto Code

Ever heard of the "80/20 Rule"? That's the well-known principle that says that in every sales organization 20% of the salespeople win 80% of the sales (and money!) while the remaining 80% are all splitting up 20% of the revenue. So, which category do you want to be a part of - the Top 20%, or what I refer to as the Sales HEROES, right?

Where did this rule come from? In fact, the 80/20 rule is not a rule, it's a "law." It comes from the work of Vilfredo Pareto, an eighteenth-century Italian economist. His studies on economics and productivity led to the conclusion that in just about any endeavor, 80 percent of the productivity will come from only 20 percent of the efforts. Eighty percent of the profits are produced by 20 percent of the employees. In a police force, 80 percent of the arrests are made by 20 percent of the officers. It can be applied another way: 20 percent of a business's customers create 80 percent of the problems. And so on.

Want to be a Sales HERO? You can use Pareto's Law to your advantage! Create an action plan that embraces the law rather than fights it. Meetings, crisis management, phone calls, office chat, paperwork, getting your ducks all lined up in a row are NOT part of the 20 percent of your activity that is directly attributable to creating new business. There is only one task proven to directly lead to achieving your sales objectives: cold calling or prospecting. I have seen every possible attempt to find a way around Pareto's Law but none has succeeded. Once you accept the reality that you cannot change the rules of the numbers game, you will be able to make the decision simply to play by the rules or quit.

How many prospecting calls do you have to make? Let's apply Pareto's Law to find out. Let's say you decide to "complete" 100 prospecting calls in a given period of time. According to Pareto's Law, you will have had to walk through about five doors or made five phone attempts to actually reach one decision maker (20 percent of the total). Therefore, you will make 500 attempts to attain your goal of completing 100 prospecting calls. Of the 100 decision makers you actually spoke with, 20 (20 percent) are going to have a genuine interest and will stay in the game - your pipeline - for further follow up, while 80 (80 percent), no matter how good at selling you are or how much you know they need what you have to offer, are simply not going to be interested - they are out of the game for the time being. Now, through appointments, proposals, and follow-up calls, you will find that 80 percent (or 16) of the 20 prospects that were still IN the game are not going to buy (at least not right now), for whatever reason. 
There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It's not you, it's the law. Don't worry, they may get back in the game later! That leaves four decision makers who buy your product now! Congratulations, you just made your first four sales! At first this may seem like small reward for all your efforts, but you will learn that it is a good, solid formula that will always help you get from ZERO to Sales HERO in 90 days! 
Try this - Invest 80% of your productive time prospecting for new business for three straight months. If you do, you'll find that from there forward you will never need to invest more than 20% of your time prospecting to keep your momentum going.
As you mature in your sales career you will learn many skills, techniques and ideas that will help you learn to work smarter rather than harder, and to leverage relationships and referrals to build your sales empire. Just remember – whenever you start fresh with a new opportunity, or if you find yourself in a slump and need to get out of it fast – start a 90 day action plan that embraces Pareto's Law – I guarantee you will be on your way to the Top 20% of all salespeople in the world!  http://Infosdemocracy.com

7 Tips to Starting a Successful Small Business

Getting a small business off the ground is challenging to say the least. Here are some tips which will prepare the ground for running a successful small business.

Have Goals

This is where it all starts – the foundation for success. Know exactly where you are heading. What will the business 'look' like in the future? How will you know when your business is a success? When you wake up in the morning, do you know what actions you have to take to get you on the road to success?

Take Action

The difference between success and failure is down to the actions you take. The failures in life are the people who know what they have to do but never do it. The successful small business owners are people who take action on their ideas, ones who never say, "I wish I had done …"

Seek Feedback

There is a saying that feedback is the breakfast of champions. During the early days of your business you must continually seek feedback about all aspects of your business. What works? What doesn't work? What needs changing slightly? Speak to customers, suppliers, your bank manager, your accountant - anyone who can provide you with a fresh perspective 
Find Out What Do You Don't Know

You can't expect to know everything about running a business. Undertake your own skills analysis and find out your areas for development. Once you know your knowledge gaps seek out courses, books and advice, which will get you on track.

Be Focused

Let no one distract you from achievement of your goals. At the start of every day get yourself into the frame of mind that you will only do tasks which will get you closer to your goal – nothing else matters.

Take Risks!

You will never achieve anything if you're not prepared to jump off the cliff a few times! We're not talking about risks which will put the business in jeopardy; just risks which are planned and thought out, yet at the same time test the edge!

Think Positive

Yes, the oldest cliché in the book, but totally true. See the positive in everything. If something has not gone right train yourself to ask, "What good has come out of this?" Understand that in every problem there is potential for good. http://Infosdemocracy.com
 

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Truth About Making more than Pennies with Google Adsense



Many people have been highly successful making money with Google's Adsense, some actually make thousands of dollars per day. But there are many who struggle that only make 1 or 2 dollars per day which can be very frustrating. Common mistakes are made by these people, and with just a little extra effort, their earnings could be greatly improved.

If you are interested in Adsense the first thing you need to do is choose a niche to work with. Don't just choose a niche just because of the high paying keywords it offers. You need to find something that you have a passion for or know a lot about. You will need to update your site regularly to keep up with competitors, and it's much easier to do this if you actually like your niche. The second point id like to make is that you need to assess your competition. If your niche has been done to death or there are too many competing sites you are decreasing your chances of success.

Another common problem is the content people put on their sites, it needs to be useful to your visitors and offer them value. Duplicate content is all over the net today and it is easy to find what I call adsense only sites which offer visitors nothing new just the same content from the previous site they visited. If you choose a niche you have a passion for, and knowledge about, you should be able to create a site with unique information that your visitors will value. If you do this your visitors will return and maybe even recommend your site to others.

The next mistake people make is the placement of there ads. It is very important to place your ads in strategic positions. If you don't spend the time doing this your click through rate, and earnings will be low. I recommend using google's help section in your adsence account. Do a search for 'heat map' this heat map shows you the positions that people are most likely to click. This type of information is invaluable, and will help improve your click though rate and earnings dramatically 

t's also extremely important to track your results. Google has channels you can create and use to track your ads so you can see what works best. Spending the time trying different positions and ad types on your site is well worth the effort.

All this information is useless unless you have a steady stream of website traffic. I recommend learning basic on page optimization which is tips on making your site search engine friendly. On page optimization includes things like using keyword pacific page titles, and correct use of meta tags.

More importantly people need to learn off page optimization which is basically getting links from other websites to your own. This will improve your search engine rankings and give you traffic from other websites. Off page optimization includes article submission, posting on forums relevant to your niche with your website in your signature, and swapping links with other webmasters.


Now you are ready to get out there and implement or improve your websites. We have learnt to, choose a niche we have a passion for, provide visitors with unique, and quality content. Place your ads strategically to improve your click through rate with the help of google's heat map. Tracking your ads with channels to see what works and what doesn't. How to get traffic to your website using on-page and off-page optimization.

For more information on these topics I recommend you watch these videos form Michael Cheney who has earned thousand from adsence. He spent a whole year locked away studying adsence strategies and come up with a system that is guaranteed to work for you. If you're not happy with Michael's videos he will happily refund your money no questions asked. You can find a link to his site in my biography box.  http://Infosdemocracy.com

Frequently Asked Questions about Articles of Incorporation

What are Articles of Incorporation?

Articles of incorporation are needed when a business decides to incorporate. Articles of incorporation are a set of rules that determines how a corporation should be managed and they are filed with the government in your area. In order for a business to become a corporation, the Articles of Incorporation must be filed with the appropriate agency. It is important to know that in, they may not be called Articles of incorporation in your area. They may also be referred to as Certificate of Organization, Certificate of Formation or Certificate of Organization.

Where do I file the Articles of Incorporation?

Articles of Incorporation must be filed with the government in the area in which you intend to incorporate. Typically the forms are filed with the Secretary of State. However, if approved you may use another regulatory agency or company. There will be a fee associated with filing Articles of Incorporation and this will vary depending on where you live.

The forms needed to file the Articles of Incorporation should be readily available to you from a variety of venues. You can obtain them by printing them on your computer from the web site of the Secretary of State. You can also obtain the forms needed by writing to or calling your Secretary of State and asking them to mail the form.

What information is contained on the Articles of Incorporation?

There is a variety of information that is required when you file the Articles of Incorporation. These are the basics in all areas. However, your local government may require additional information. It is important that you conduct full research on what your area may require.
The first piece of information to be listed on the Articles of Incorporation includes the name of the corporation. This will be the legal business name under which the corporation will conduct business. This should include any designators at the end such as Inc. or Ltd.

You will also be required to determine the purpose of your corporation as stated by the government in your area. The name and address of the person responsible for accepting any legal notices in regards to the business named, such as an attorney.

Another piece of information that is required on the Articles of Incorporation includes the number of shares the business is allowed to issue. The type of business the corporation is conducting will determine the amount of shares issued and how many people can hold them.

The final requirement for the Articles of Incorporation are the signatures. This should be of the incorporator or any directors along with the addresses of all signatories.

Other requirements that may be required in your specific area could include the duration of the corporation, if the corporation will have preemptive right or cumulative voting and if the business will offer various classes of their stock shares. It is important that you research all areas of the Articles of Incorporation and understand what is required and what additional items may be added to your filing.   http://infosdemocracy.com

Advertising in Yellow Pages isn’t Enough



Some people believe that yellow pages do not receive response like other advertising methods do and this is true to some extent but not in totality. When talking about traditional yellow pages, there sure is a decline in number of people opting for advertising in it. According to a recent report, even the most attractive advertisement in a particular section is not getting the response from callers like they used to get before. On the contrary, the prices of placing ads in directories are on a rise, which speaks a different, story altogether.
In reality different categories are witnessing different rates of decline. Like the lawyers category is seeing the maximum decline, where as emergency service provider’s section has the same call rate. And sections like mobile phones, real estate and furniture are seeing a rise due to the increasing customer demand. Altering the size of the advertisement or changing the look cannot do wonders any more.
Experts suggest that relying on yellow pages to get customers isn’t enough. Other options should be considered as well along with it. With the Internet reaching every home, nearly half of the Internet users use the net everyday. They prefer to buy stuff online, from the comfort of their homes. Research should be done on the Internet to get reviews about the product. People, who don’t usually shop online, also are also opting to shop online as information is provided at the click of a mouse. It is easier for people to trust as customers who used the product give their feedback about the product after using it.
A relatively newer concept is the yellow pages going online. The good thing about them is that they are updated frequently unlike the printed directories and can be viewed from any part of the world. According to researches conducted, the response increased by twenty five percent every year. So those who are interested to invest in yellow pages advertising can think of going online.  Directories are submitted to search engines, which on typing a keyword or phrase bring the results. Small and local businesses, too, can land on the pages brought by the result. The cost of creating a website can be saved if all the relevant information about the company is included in the online yellow pages. Look out for the date to renew the directory listing, and if there is a need to change the advertisement, it is not a big problem on online yellow pages. Some starter websites offer to place advertisement in their yellow pages for free. Search out for such websites on the Internet.
Larger businesses can start their own websites and place links in the online yellow pages. Articles can be framed about the business and can be submitted to Ezines and websites related to the area of business. Some websites also allow posting articles for free. The purpose of the yellow pages is basically to get potential customers but that doesn’t mean that existing customers should be neglected. Steps should be taken to strengthen the relationship with them and to retain their trust by maintaining the standard of the products supplied to them. Once they are completely satisfied, the price-rise won’t bother them and they will talk about the company to people they know, which will fetch new customers.
The objective is to work smartly and select the right method of advertising. If a business isn’t using any other method for advertising apart from using yellow pages, it can cause problems and the products may not sell. Analyze how much money is spent on placing ads in directories and estimate whether the amount of customers the business gets is desirable. Whenever a call is received from a potential customer, ask them how they got to know about the enterprise. This will help to analyze which advertising method is ideal for the business. It is never late to correct the mistake and go for the right method. http://Infosdemocracy.com

The Basic Ingredients For Advertising For Free


Advertising for free seems like an impossible thing when heard. But there are several ways by which the cost of advertisement can be conserved, with the help of some imagination and creativity.
A business wanting to advertise, can write articles related to their field of expertise that can be submitted to media and publications having interest in that particular field. The advertising article can have information about the company and dealership opportunity. Due to the rise in Internet users and websites, new websites have sprung up which offer free services. Articles can be written for these websites and they can be broadcasted for free, which will be viewed by hundreds of people everyday.
Once the business has gained some recognition, within no time it will gain popularity also among the crowds. This popularity can lead to them being invited on radio and television talk shows and even to interviews. Such kind of opportunities shouldn’t be missed as they provide a chance for free promotion. If it is taking a long time to get a break, the producer can be addressed with a letter that can be followed up by a telephone call or in-person visit. During the visit, the nature of expertise can be discussed about the business, which will be of interest to the viewers of the particular channel. Once a businessperson gains the status of being public-friendly, more offers start pouring in. 
Free bulletin board located in the neighborhood, like in grocery stores, libraries, and salons, are another good idea. Advertising circulars can be posted on such boards for free. Circulars for mass distribution can be handed out at the mall, shopping center, bus stops, particularly on weekends when there is a big rush. Students can be hired on part time basis for this purpose.
Promotional advertisement can be printed on the envelopes used by the business firms. Both the sender and the receiver can view this advertisement.  Promotional offers can be sent to customers by postcards, which should be utilized to its full, leaving only place left for writing the address.
Some of the new mail order publications offer free first time and seasonal deductions for advertisers. Other publications offer pay per inquiry space. Inquiries can be made about stand-by space, which means that the publication holds the submission of advertisement until the space is not sold and in that case, thirty three percent saving can be achieved. Usually local newspapers provide these kinds of offers.
If the business is involved in ad sheet or catalog publishing, other publishers can be contacted for the purpose of bartering an advertising exchange. 
They can place advertisement in their publication, in return for placing their advertisement in the business’s publication.   Free offers can be provided to the customer. 
This can be done by emailing or printing newsletter about information regarding the area of interest of the targeted customers and can be made popular by using tag lines. Attach a free coupon with it, which the customers can use it for shopping, if a criterion is met like minimum purchase of $ 50. By this the response will be huge and most of them will purchase something or the other to avail the free offer. The basic ingredient for advertising for free is imagination and research. Opportunities should be searched and a strong working force should be applied to increase the sales.  http://Infosdemocracy.com