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Internet Forums – Six Ways To Avoid Disaster

Oct 18

Posted by Elaine Currie in internet business | No Comments

Internet Forums are highly popular, they cater for all tastes and deal with every topic imaginable. People visit Internet forums for a variety of reasons, the most common being the search for information or entertainment. The Internet forum is a safe environment if you behave sensibly but you can find yourself in dangerous territory if you ignore the following warnings.

Don’t Join Internet Forum Flame Wars

An Internet Forum flame war is to be avoided at all costs. The airing of differing points of view, debate and discussion are healthy things for an Internet forum: they keep it lively. An Internet forum flame war can make entertaining reading but don’t be tempted to join in or start one. If you make a habit of leaping into forum flame wars, you will acquire a reputation as a trouble-maker and you could find yourself barred from a forum because of your behaviour. Another good reason for avoiding forum flame wars is that you could find yourself caught in the crossfire. Before you know it, people will be firing at you from every direction when all you intended to do was have a bit of fun.

Don’t Make Jokes On An Internet Forum

Well, you can if you really must, but remember that the Internet forum has the same drawback as email: the reader can’t see your expression or gestures. The smile, shrug or grimace which can lift your comment from serious to humorous will be missing and your message will be something which the reader has to interpret. If the reader gets it wrong, you might very well find that you just started your very own Internet forum flame war quite unintentionally. You can safely tell a joke on a forum (provided that your joke’s content is appropriate) but sarcasm and irony are dangerous and best avoided.

Don’t Be An Internet Forum Drama Queen

The Internet forum is not a suitable stage for you to perform your very own drama. If you flounce about making extravagant statements merely for effect, you will be the object of ridicule by other forum members even if nobody tells you so. If you are a member of a support forum for a particular programme, it is quite in order to post a message to the forum saying something along the lines of “I’ve started to feel unsure about [whatever], I don’t think it’s going to work out unless I make some changes. Can anybody suggest what I should try next?” Compare this to the next post in drama queen style: “I quit! This Sucks. I’ve done everything right so it must be this ****ing programme. You will never hear from me again!” Which forum member would you want to help? There will be kind people who feel the drama queen’s pain and offer support and suggestions. When the drama queen makes a big re-entrance to the forum after a few days sulking, posts “I’m back!” and expresses a resolve to work diligently towards success, the kind people who offered support will feel that their advice must have done the trick. When the forum drama queen posts another “Goodbye Forever!” message, the same kind people will empathise as the drama queen is obviously being affected by an emotional roller coaster and they will offer further sound advice. The kind forum members will be pleased when the drama queen makes a further “I’m Back And Here To Stay!” recovery. By about the third or fourth “I Quit!” drama, even the kindest people will be wishing the drama queen had stayed quit the first time round and Internet forum credibility for the drama queen ends there.

Don’t Be An Internet Forum Puppy

A real puppy can’t help chasing after everything that moves, getting under people’s feet and being hyperactive to the point where it sometimes becomes annoying: that’s just its nature. The Internet forum member who behaves like a puppy can help it and should desist. I am talking about the person who joins an Internet forum for the sole purpose of getting the links in his signature file on the forum as often as possible. The annoying forum puppy will respond to every message posted whether he knows anything about the subject or not. He will post messages which are of no value to anyone, these messages will range from boring pointless observations to obscure drivel to requests to poll an unimportant question which bears no relevance to the forum. If you are desperate to plaster your signature file all over the place, join lots of Internet forums and just post a few messages on each. With any luck, you will grow out of this time-wasting pursuit before the other forum members form a lynching party.

Don’t Be An Internet Forum Seconder

Have you ever come across Mr Me Too? If you have, you will know who I mean. He is about as annoying as the Internet forum puppy. Mr Me Too will post a response to every thread that appears on a forum. It won’t take him long as he won’t bother to read through the thread, all he will do is add a comment saying “me too” or “I agree”. This gets his signature file posted with the link back to his website and that’s all he wants. Mr Me Too does not go to the Internet forum for entertainment or information or to contribute anything useful. If you are subscribed to a forum thread and receive notification that someone has posted a further message on the topic, it is very irritating to log in at the forum only to find that someone has posted a message saying “me too” or “I agree” just to give his signature file an airing. It is sadly true that the Internet forum puppy and Mr Me Too will get their links on the Internet alongside the forum members who post meaningful messages. When the day arrives that Search Engine Robots are able to distinguish the difference between valuable forum messages and drivel, those two offenders will find that it’s pay back time for their transgressions.

Don’t Attack The Internet Forum Moderators

If you have a message removed or edited by an Internet forum moderator, there will be a reason, so don’t post complaints on the forum. Even if you don’t understand or don’t agree with the decision, there is no point in arguing. Attacking a moderator is like holding up a placard saying “I’m a pest, throw me out”. The moderators are there to ensure the Internet forum is kept to the required standard. Remember that somebody owns this forum and invests time and energy in keeping the environment — well — moderate. The Internet forum is not your private sand-pit, you are a guest and if your behaviour is not appropriate, your invitation to play could be withdrawn. You should also remember that anything you post on an Internet forum will be available for public scrutiny for years to come.

The dictionary definition of the verb to moderate is: “to keep within measure or bounds; to regulate; to reduce in intensity; to make temperate or reasonable”. If this does not sound like your kind of environment, perhaps you should stay away from Internet forums.

Copyright 2005 Elaine Currie

Author: Elaine Currie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Electric Pressure Cooker

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Small Business Websites The Beginning of Something Big

Mar 17

Posted by admin in internet business | No Comments

Nowadays people check on the internet first when they want to find a product or a service. This popularity has made the Internet the biggest market wherein you can find a product or a service to cater to your needs. Many enterprising people have discovered this and have started their own business or have expanded their businesses to include an Internet division.

If you have a business then you need to have a website. It’s important that you learn enough about how the internet works, and how your business will benefit from having a website. There are lots of potential customers and profits in the internet and you need to have a small business website so that you can join the game.

This website shall serve as your virtual store and you have to do lots of things to make your website easy to find in search engines. With that they can find you and can look at the things that you can offer anytime of the day or even night whatever they prefer.

A small business website can provide an attractive and interesting electronic brochure. Good content attracts visitors and makes it easier to promote the website, but doesn’t necessarily push products. It gives readers a reason to visit the site, giving you a chance to do business with them. Your content mix needs to be unique and well-targeted at your audience’s interests.

Everything on your website needs to be accurate and written for an international audience. Your website success depends on what it has to say and how it says it, so it’s important that you articulate your goals to your website designers to make sure that they understand not just what you’re putting on your website, but what you want to achieve. Having these all done they can now already see if they like the look of your business before directly contacting you.

You’ll read all sorts of “small business” data, but be careful to understand what it covers. Sometimes the report is more interested in businesses that aren’t huge, but still purchase hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars of products and services, and have dozens or hundreds of employees. These reports probably exclude many small businesses. Other reports use a more inclusive definition of a business. When mixing information from different reports, be careful to look at the data to see how it was gathered, how it is segmented, and what it covers.

Small business websites specialize in writing and developing accessible websites for other small businesses, organizations, charities and individuals. Nobody knows your business better than you do. If you don’t tell your website designers how your website will improve your business, it will only be profitable by accident.

Many people assert that all small businesses will become ebusinesses. Doing most of their selling, communicating, and computing on the internet. They see a huge, almost untouched market bursting forth right now.

Others don’t see wide acceptance of the internet by small business, or view the notoriously fragmented nature of this market and reluctance to spend, as reasons why there’s no money to be made here. It is believed that these views are both wrong.

A big percentage of small businesses are obviously willing and able to spend a large amount of money just to be able to use the internet as part of their relationship with customers (and will benefit from such use), but only for the right purposes, such as basic informational web site.

Basic web sites are becoming a core part of the marketing mix for many small businesses. The business owners know they need one — even if they are not exactly sure why. And the cost of basic Internet uses, such as simple web sites, fits well within the marketing budget of most small businesses.

About the Author
Jay Peterson writer, web designer, marketer. TicTacWebsites is the easiest do-it-yourself website builder on the web. No programming or design skill required. Get your small business online in just 5 minutes with www.tictacwebsites.com loaded with 30+ business features.

Article source:
Small Business Websites The Beginning of Something Big

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Building An Income With Affiliate Programs

Jul 5

Posted by Bobby Ryatt in business, internet business | No Comments

Type in the words Affiliate Programs into any search engine and your results will display thousands upon thousands of pages that offer work at home affiliate programs. How on earth is anyone supposed to understand what to do with that?

Of course just like anything else it is possible to narrow down your searches for affiliate programs so that you only have about three thousand pages of results to meander through. Some people go with the basic principle that if they are on top then it must be a good company. This is not entirely true. It may be a good company. It may be a great company or even the best company. They may very well also be a terrible company or an affiliate scam. Anyone with enough money to pay for the top slot will get the top slot. There is no integrity test to determine who is entitled to the top spots. They are purchased.

Affiliate marketing has experienced a tremendous market boom in the last few years, and affiliate marketing is making very wealthy individuals all over the world from the benefits of their programs. Affiliate marketing can be very lucrative for those who find the right program, understand whats involved, and have the wherewithal to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

Affiliate marketing is not a get rich quick plan. Get rich quick plans seldom work. I would say never, but occasionally someone with the absolute perfect concept hits the market as the absolute perfect time and they do become overnight financial tycoons. However, relying on a get rich quick plan almost always gets people further into the poorhouse with nearly nothing to show for their efforts. Fortunately, affiliate programs are not get rich quick plans.

A get rich quick plan requires a lot of luck. In fact, a get rich quick plan is mostly luck. Affiliate marketing requires knowledge, the application of that knowledge, and of course, a persistent and dedicated effort. While get rich quick plans may seem like more fun, they dont work, and affiliate marketing does. Improve Building An Income With Affiliate Programs chances.

Nearly every form of business website offers an affiliate program. If they are selling something, they like to sell more without paying for advertising costs, so they lease out their name and their products and they call you an affiliate. The word affiliate is different from associate, and the difference it makes in business is significant. An associate is someone who you do business with, and while they may enhance your paycheck in some fashion, your paycheck and their business are not necessarily interconnected. An affiliate is someone who does part of your business for you, and therefore your paycheck is directly affected by their efforts. Affiliate programs are basically packages that allow you to become a subcontractor of marketing and advertising for that business and they in turn will pay you a commission for your efforts.

The Affiliate Business Plan

Whether you already understand the basic concepts of internet marketing or you are just now learning them, joining an affiliate program requires an affiliate business plan. An effective affiliate business plan consists of numerous aspects, some which can only be determined by you and the business you have chosen. Some aspects of an effective affiliate business plan are somewhat universal. A chosen method or methods of advertising is essential, and it is typically best to know what has worked for others and why. An effective affiliate business plan includes room for learning, typically through a mentor or an online service provided through your affiliate program of choice. Many affiliate programs will lay out an affiliate business plan for you. Only you can determine if this is an affiliate business plan that works for you or not.

An appropriate affiliate business plan needs to be practical. Donating of your monthly income to advertising in hopes that you will have tons of traffic to your website and you will quadruple your investment is not very practical. Appropriating a percentage of your weekly or bi-weekly income to dedicate it to your affiliate business plan is more practical. Remember this is not a get rich plan, it is a business plan.

If you are looking atBuilding An Income With Affiliate Programs then you first need a plan. An affiliate business plan requires constant education. Building online businesses is not something that everyone can do with just the knowledge they were born with, most people need a little guidance along the way. Most affiliate programs include mentors, but often it is necessary to go in search of your own education, as mentors are people just like you who are trying to build an affiliate business. This is good, because you are all motivated, but often their learning curve becomes your learning curve. It is possible to become smarter than your mentor.

One of the most comprehensive affiliate marketing websites on the internet today is theaffiliatepit. This is the place to land if you are looking to outperform your mentor, and his mentor, and of course their mentor as well. The best laid affiliate marketing plan needs to be subsidized heavily with self education. Self education can mean something as simple as reading the well researched articles that appear on affiliatepit or finding what separates one affiliate business from another. Regardless of which area of internet affiliate marketing you need to educate yourself about, stop by affiliatepit for the information that can set you far ahead of the pack.

The final main ingredients to a successful affiliate business plan are integrity, patience, endurance, creativity, and longevity. Since we have already established that we are not dealing with a get rich quick plan, but we are building an online income from an affiliate business plan, success is not going to strike overnight. A little patience and persistence can change your life faster than you think. In fact, a little patience and persistence can change your life in a matter of months, if you are consistent.

People in general are not very patient creatures. It is not uncommon to develop a solid affiliate business plan and set it into motion and go two or three weeks and begin to doubt your eventual success. Because it can take a few weeks to really get a good affiliate business plan rolling, in that time it can easy to become distracted with three other businesses and decide that really this one over here looks much better anyway. If you never pick something and dedicate yourself to making it successful, you will never be successful. That is why we develop affiliate business plans that are practical. If we make our affiliate business plan something we can follow, we are less likely to get frustrated or distracted and move on to the next big plan. If you give up on the first one so easily, what prevents you from giving up on all of them so easily?

You have to leave behind the get rich quick plan mentality and focus on the small steps that will add up to your success. The get rich quick plan mentality keeps a person flitting about from one great plan to another, but never investing themselves in any one given plan for more than a week or two in hopes of overnight riches. You want long term income, not a quick burst of cash that you can blow through a little over a month of frivolous spending. Long term and solid effort that follows a long term and solid affiliate business plan creates the income and the freedom that you are so desperately in search of. These things simply do not happen by themselves with no dedicated effort or without true commitment. Otherwise, everyone in the world would have a successful affiliate marketing business and we could shut down welfare programs and state assistance and college loan programs. They take effort, and dedication, and the number on killer of well thought out affiliate business plans is the ability to become distracted.

Affiliate Market Research

Remember that affiliate businesses are really the borrowing of someone elses name and product, and often even their affiliate business plan. Most of these companies have done quite a bit of affiliate market research on their own in an effort to discern the hottest programs and the best products. This shouldnt deter you from doing your own affiliate market research. This of course can be easier said than done, as the search engine positions can be purchased. However, affiliate market research consists of more than just typing in a few words in a search engine. Look deeper into the companies and the products available, as well as their payment plans and schedules.

Author: Bobby Ryatt
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News

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5 Rules to Reduce Risk When Starting a Business

Mar 31

Posted by admin in business, business startup, internet business, mindset, mitigating risk, strategies | No Comments

5 Rules to Reduce Risk When Starting a Business in the Other 8 Hours

By Robert Pagliarini

I have a metal paperweight on my desk with the inscription, “What would you do if you could not fail?” It’s a nice ornament with a feel good message, but it’s completely wrong and dangerous. Anybody can fail at anything. If you start a new venture without first thinking about and limiting risks, you can put your finances — and worse yet — your relationships in jeopardy. What starts as a way to build a dream life during the other 8 hours, become your own boss, or make a fortune can turn into a nightmare if you don’t limit your risk.

A better and more useful message would be, “What would you do if it didn’t matter if you failed?” To me, that’s much more realistic and powerful. Instead of taking a risk that could end in a cataclysmic strikeout, your goal is to limit the risk of financial catastrophe. This means containing projects so that a swing and a miss doesn’t have the potential to ruin your life.

Here are 5 rules to reduce risk when starting a business in the other 8 hours:

  • Get free help. You should enlist the support of others. Find service partners willing to invest their time a piece of the venture’s future income instead of upfront cash. The same person who would laugh you out of their office if you asked them for a $2,500 investment may gladly trade $2,500 of their services for a small piece of ownership in a promising new venture. Why? Like you, most people are looking for an opportunity to get ahead without risking too much. If someone can invest a little of their time with the hopes of making a huge return, they may jump at the chance.
  • Make small bets. In the investing world, everyone talks about risk tolerance — a measure that determines how psychologically comfortable you are with the possibility of losing money. This is good to know, but more critical is knowing your risk capacity — that is, how much money can you afford to lose without it destroying your finances and your ability to pay your rent? Start small and start slowly. Immediately committing thousands of dollars to an idea is as ridiculous as walking up to a girl you’ve never met and asking her to marry you. You need to put a little out there and get a little back. Then you can put a little more out there and hopefully get a little more back.
  • Negotiate fiercely. You must be relentless about getting what you need. You don’t have the luxury of a six-figure budget. You’ve got to get your ventures up and running as cheaply as you can. One way to minimize risk is to negotiate everything. Don’t accept anything as is. Negotiate discounts, concessions, bonuses, terms, etc. It will feel awkward at first, but keep practicing.
  • Limit liability. If you are producing a product or providing a service that could lead you to get sued, you must protect yourself against lawsuits by incorporating and by having the proper liability insurance. Don’t risk financial disaster by not shielding your personal assets from your business assets.
  • Keep your day job (at least for now). It’s important to have that steady and predictable income during the day while you swing for the fences at night.

Unless you’re sports-challenged, you know if you get three strikes you’re out. But what if that weren’t the case? What if you could swing and swing and swing without ever striking out? A swing and a miss is not a failure when you follow these rules. A swing is simply one swing closer to a hit.

You can download several free resources(assessment, poster, audio interview, video, and more) at www.other8hours.com and learn more about my new book, The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth & Purpose.

Read More

* Bad Day? 5 Tips to Keep Your Motivation
* Is it Too Late to Improve Your Finances?
* Make Money From Your Hobbies

(Baseball image by Scott Ableman, CC 2.0)

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4 Biggest Lies in Real Estate

Mar 9

Posted by admin in internet business, investing, marketing, mitigating risk, real estate | No Comments

This post was originally published at CBS MoneyWatch and was written by Ilyce Glink.

A funny thing about the digital age — the more information we have access to, the more misinformation we get hit with. In the not-so-long ago days when the Internet was mainly for e-mail and facebooks were made of paper, homes were mostly advertised through newspaper ads. As long as you understood that TLC meant you needed to be handy with a hammer and an “efficiency kitchen” meant you’d better like take-out, you could avoid getting suckered.

Anyone gearing up to buy or sell a house this spring, however, has to bring a bit more skepticism to the process. Sure, the Internet has transformed the process of buying and selling a home in wonderful ways, but it has also increased the opportunities for mischief. Fall for bogus listings and lousy home price “data” and you could wind up overpaying for a home or finding yourself stuck, unable to unload the one you have. Don’t get taken by these big lies:

1. Phony Photos and Videos

Digital photos and video have been a godsend for real estate agents, homebuyers and sellers, enticing prospects to drool over images of Viking ranges, sparkling pools and lush lawns. Lately, agents have been posting interactive photos and floor plans, letting buyers view rooms and exteriors from different vantage points. Some houses have their own YouTube sites.

Problem is, it’s easy to Photoshop photos and edit video to make a house and its neighborhood seem far more attractive than they are. Some sellers post photos of kitchens and gardens you won’t find in the actual property. Videos get color-corrected so the grass, flowers and trees seem fresh and alive. A house may seem newly painted, even though the photo was taken five years ago.

Get the Truth: Go to Google Street View or Microsoft Live Search Maps for a reliable third-party look at a neighborhood or home exterior. They won’t show the inside of a house, though, so you’ll need to drive to the property and see it for yourself.

2. Valuations Lacking Value

Knowing how much a house is truly worth is vitally important whether you’re a buyer or seller. With home values down an average of 30 to 40 percent since 2005 in major metro areas, every penny counts. But you can’t always trust the numbers on home valuation sites such as Zillow,CyberHomes and Realtor.com.

When I plugged in a particular 5-bedroom/4-bath house on these sites, I received vastly different valuations and sometimes incorrect information about the number of bedrooms and bathrooms it had. I’d estimate the house is worth between $1.2 and $1.4 million. Zillow’s “Zestimate” (a calculation also used by RealEstateABC.com) was $943,000; CyberHomes suggested a range of $960,000 to $1.2 million and Realtor.com went with $788,036.

Get the Truth: It’s fine to start with online valuation sites for ballpark estimates. But to get a reliable valuation, get out of the virtual world and into the real world. If you’re selling, invite several real estate agents to walk through your home and analyze its value based on recent comparable sales. You might also hire an independent appraiser (cost: around $350 and up). If you’re buying, hire an agent who has worked the area for years, if not decades. It’s generally a waste of money for a buyer to hire an appraiser, since the lender will require its own appraisal before granting a mortgage.

3. Mortgage Rates You Can’t Get

Visit a mortgage aggregating site such as Bankrate.com and you’ll naturally want to apply for the lowest rate shown. But that rate may not really exist — at least not for every applicant.

Mortgage lenders often advertise fake low rates online without explaining that you can’t get them if your down payment or credit score is too low or you’re not willing to pay extra-high closing costs. At worst, the rate may be a “bait and switch” and wholly unavailable.

Get the Truth: Start your mortgage shopping by identifying a well-known national or regional bank, a small local lender, a well-regarded mortgage broker, a credit union (if you belong to one or can join one), and an Internet mortgage aggregator such as Priceline. Then go toAnnualCreditReport.com to pull a copy of your credit history and to pay to get your credit score. Next, find out what each lender on your list would really charge for your loan. Use the quotes to negotiate the best deal.

4. Unreal Property Descriptions

The old saw, “You can’t believe everything you read” is often true about online listings. A property advertised as having a “water view” might feature a glimpse of the ocean if you open the window, stick your head out, and look left.£ A “light, bright” apartment implies loads of sunshine, but may instead describe the wattage from overhead lighting. A condo’s listing sheet promoting “Southern exposure” might leave out a key fact: The front rooms look south, but the rest of the place faces a warehouse 10 feet away. A mention of an “in-law” or “rentable” apartment over the garage won’t say whether renting out that room is illegal, subjecting you to a future showdown with local zoning officials.

Get the Truth: To weed out unreal estate, do some fact-checking. If the beachfront condo supposedly has a water view, tell the broker to e-mail you a floor plan for the entire building. When a listing sheet says the house had a substantial renovation, check it out before you get too excited. And if you get serious about the property, you can always ask the town building department to confirm a renovation; there may be blueprints on file. If you’re counting on renting out a room above the garage, ask the building department if it’s allowed.

Bonus: Euphemism Alert

One thing that the digital revolution hasn’t changed at all — the extraordinary ability of real estate agents to put lipstick on a pig. Here’s a guide to words and catchphrases you’re likely to encounter and what they really mean:

The Listing Says… The Listing May Mean…
Cozy/Dollhouse The house is tiny, cramped and everyone over 6 feet tall will bump their head on the ceiling.
Handyman’s Special You’ll need to do a gut remodel if you want to make the home livable.
Great View You might have to crane your neck out the window to see the water.
Rentable In-law Apartment This might be a separate room, a half-finished basement, or completely illegal.

About the Author

Ilyce R. Glink is the author of several books, including 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask and the upcoming Buy, Close, Move In!. She blogs about money and real estate onMoneyWatch and at ThinkGlink.com.

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Are You Cut Out to be an Entrepreneur? Take This Test

Feb 20

Posted by admin in business, business startup, internet business, mindset | No Comments

By Sean Silverthorne

February 18th, 2010 @ 5:49 am

Although it is easy to glamorize the life of the entrepreneur — make your own hours, be your own boss — anyone who has tried it will tell you that starting your own business is one of the hardest things you can do.

Are you cut out for that life? This simple test may tell you all you need to know.

Developed by Babson College professor Daniel Isenberg, this 20-question quiz on HBR.org takes just a few minutes to complete. Here is a sample:

  1. I get an adrenaline rush from selling things.
  2. I have friends who run their own businesses.
  3. I don’t like being told what to do by people who are less capable than I am.
  4. People get excited by my ideas.
  5. I always look for new and better ways to do things.

Speaking of motivation, don’t expect entrepreneurship to be your path toward untold riches, Isenberg warns.

“All else being equal (and all else is rarely equal in the real world), on the average, people who set up their own businesses don’t make more money, although a few do succeed in grabbing the brass ring. But the ‘psychic benefits’ — the challenge, autonomy, recognition, excitement, and creativity — make it all worthwhile.

Take the test and come back here to tell us your next steps for opening your own business.

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