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Jul
30th

Personalizing Autoresponders

Posted by Wesley

Have you ever walked into a store in your town, and
been addressed by name? This has probably
happened to you at stores that you frequent often.
The shop owner knows your name, and uses it. He
remembers you, and he wants you to know that he
cared enough about you and your business to
remember you. In the offline world, this is just one
aspect of customer support.

Customer service like this is almost impossible to
achieve on the Internet, but some semblance of it
can exist when you personalize your autoresponder
messages. Autoresponder messages can be set up
to address people by their first or last name – or both.
In fact, there is quite a bit of personalized information
that can be added, depending on the autoresponder
that you are using.

The information is included in the autoresponder
messages by using codes. Each autoresponder will
use different codes to insert the information in your
messages. You simply write your message, and put
the codes where you want the personalized
information to appear. For instance, your message
may start out with ‘Hello (code for first name)! In this
case, the person’s first name will be inserted where
that code is.

Personalizing your autoresponder messages will
most likely improve your response rate. Research
has shown that emails that are personalized with the
person’s first name are opened more often, and
those people are generally more receptive to the
contents of the email message. It is usually very
easy to do. You write one message, using the
codes where you want the personalization,
then, no matter who that one email is sent out to,
their personal information will appear where the
codes are.

Of course, the autoresponder must collect the
information first. This is done with the use of forms
that activate the autoresponder. For instance, if you
are giving away a ebook, and you have your
visitor fill out a form with their email address to receive
the download instructions for the ebook by email, that
form should collect any type of information that you
want for personalization – such as a first name, as
well as the email address. If that information is not
collected, the autoresponder won’t have anything to
insert where that code appears in your messages!

Take a look around the control panel of your
autoresponder, and find out what type of
personalization you can add to your autoresponder
messages. You may be very surprised at the
improved results!

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Jul
30th

Online Surveys: The Good, The Bad And The Really Ugly

Posted by Wesley
An email box folder of spam messages.Image via Wikipedia

There are approximately 500 different Online Survey Companies advertised on the Internet. I’ve participated in several online surveys for cash and researched hundreds of them. I’ve found that, just like everything else in life, there are the good, the bad, and the really, really ugly.

The good survey companies consist of those that actually pay you a little bit of money for your time, don’t sell your information to telemarketers, don’t send you thousands of e-mails, most of which end up in your bulk mailbox, and tell you exactly what each survey you’re taking is worth in terms of dollars. The good survey companies are an excellent way to bring in a few extra dollars from the privacy of your home. They’re usually maintained by parent marketing research companies and confirm your acceptance via e-mail. Their website will provide extensive information regrinding the company and earning incentives.

The bad news about the “good” companies is that the surveys are few and far between, are usually only available by e-mail invitation and take a while to get a check or deposit into your Paypal account. If you’ve ever participated in a survey at the mall or through a neighborhood research firm, you know that you’re lucky to make $100 a year doing this.

The good news about the “good” companies is that you don’t have to worry about them selling your information to unscrupulous companies, charging your phone bill for something you didn’t buy or trying to “trick” you into buying anything. A good company doesn’t operate that way.

The “bad” survey companies are the ones that offer cash, actually pay cash, but fill your e-mail inbox up with so much spam that you end up spending a good 15 minutes a day deleting all of it. The “bad” survey companies are legitimate to the point that they actually do pay cash once you’ve accumulated a certain amount, but are also interested in getting you to visit the websites of their marketing partners, where you will be pressured into signing up to learn more about affordable health insurance. If you show any sign of interest, expect at least three calls a week from various telephone representatives.

The bad news about the “bad” companies is that you have to keep on your toes. You’ll often find yourself directed to other websites, they will try to sell you many products that you don’t need or want. You have to stay one step ahead of them, or participating in a survey will cost you more than you’ll make.

The good news about the “good” sites is that they’re easy. And that you can make money by referring others to the site. And if you learn the ropes (never, under any circumstances, say that you’re interested in learning more about health insurance), you can earn a few bucks. Cashcrate is one of these sites. It’s bad because you’re constantly being barraged with ads during the course of the survey, but it’s good because you can pick the surveys you want to take and they pay cash once you’ve accumulated $20. You just have to make sure you empty your spam folder every day, delete your cookies each day and sift through a lot of junk e-mail.

The really, really ugly sites are just downright scams. They won’t offer you any money, instead, they’ll offer you a chance to win “thousands” in their sweepstakes. Or they’ll make ridiculous claims about making “thousands of dollars a week” on their site. They will attempt to get as much information from you as possible and then promptly sell it to third parties. They will try to trick you into accepting “” magazines and charge your telephone bill for a subscription. They will ask for your cell phone number and charge you for ringtones. They’ll do anything and everything to try to weasel money out of you and you’ll receive nothing in return.

There’s nothing good about these really, really ugly sites except that they’re easy to spot for anyone with an IQ over 60. Unfortunately, the elderly, the young and the very greedy are their favorite prey. Beware of any online survey site that charges a “fee” to join, or has a bunch of “testimonials” from people claiming to have made $10,000 a month on their site. If it was that easy, no one would work; we’d all stay home and do surveys.

So enjoy the good, be careful with the bad and stay away from the really, really ugly. There endith the lesson.

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Jul
29th

Increase Your Business with a Blog

Posted by Wesley

When running your own business, a blog can really help to make your website successful.
It can give readers information about your product and can also actually be the thing that
brings new visitors to your site. It is a business tool that can help you update your site
with informative content to keep readers coming back for more.

There are two main reasons that you should include content on your website. Content
can help visitors develop trust in your product and your knowledge. Also, it will help to
increase your site’s appearance in internet search engine ranks.

First of all, having content that is relevant can help to increase the credibility of your
business. It can do so by providing important information to your clients and potential
clients. If your blog is full of interesting and relevant information, people naturally
assume that your company is interesting and relevant to them. This improves your
chance of adding these readers as future customers. Once they realize that you are
providing an informative service to them, they will gain trust in your and your product,
thus producing sales in the future.

Secondly, the only way to increase your site’s chances of being ranked high with search
engines is to include that good content. With optimized content you are able to keep your
site in the top picks. Search engines will locate and rank your site based on the content
provided there. If they determine that the content is good, unique, and relevant to people,
your ratings will improve. Higher rankings mean potential customers can more easily
search and find your company, and that, in turn, means higher profit for you!

So, you have decided that you are ready to try blogs. You are confident that you can
write good, relevant articles to promote your business and product. However, you just
are not sure how to get started? You need to figure out how to publish your articles and
make sure search engines are aware of the content available on your site. To do this, you
should employ the use of blogging software, blog directories, and article directories.
Let’s consider your choice of blogging software.

Blogging software can help you to manage the articles that you write. Most will provide
features such as word processing, database storage, archiving, search options, and RSS
newsfeed. Each of these, along with others offered, can help make using a blog more
effective and time efficient for you.

In many cases, you can order customizable blog software. This means you can choose
which features to use, adding or deleting various features at any time. For example, some
bloggers choose to turn off the comments feature to discourage spammers from leaving
unrelated comments just to leave their own link.

You can choose between two main types of blogging software. You can choose hosted or
integrated, depending on your needs. Both can help you manage articles, and there are
even some options available.

Hosted blog versions are those such as Wordpress and Blogger. They are websites that
host individuals’ blogs for . Any articles published on a company’s blog are actually
held or stored on the website that is provided by the software company. You will not use
your own website as the address of your blog but instead will use the company’s website
with an extension that is personal to you. This option is good for those with limited
funds, but it also can be less beneficial to your website since your content is not available
on your site itself.

An integrated version of blogging software means that articles and software used to
manage them are all set up live on your own website. Your site will increase due to the
blog being hosted there and the new visitors that are attracted by that content. It also
helps to increase your site’s rankings with search engines and helps to make your
business seem professional and credible.

When setting up a blog to use in your marketing plans, consider your options carefully.
There are number of ways you can go with blogs, but be sure to use the one that is right
for you. Consider your needs and take some time to research your options before making
a final selection.

Jul
26th

Plan Your Strategy To Boost Profits

Posted by Wesley

Beat your Competition

Boosting profits of your business requires planning
and focus. The first thing you can do is study your
Competition and see if you can offer a benefit to your
Customers your competition doesn’t this could really put
your sales on the up-turn.

Allow your customers to give feedback and tell you what they
Would like to see offered on your site or suggestions on how
to improve your business.

Returning Customers

Give your customers a reason to come back to your site,
Offer quality content and product. Give freebies on
Occasions to reward them, ask them to invite their friends
To visit and offer rewards for this, occasionally run some
Type of contest, nothing fancy just keeps interest up.

E-zine Publishing

Put your e-zine on a rss feed allowing your subscribers to
get updated when your content changes or you have a special
Offer this is a good way to boost your profit.
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Site Navigation

Navigation on your site is always important make sure visitors can
Easily get around your site. You can add a directory to your
Site allowing visitors to add links to their site, then you
can exchange links and help build one anothers ranking. Never
be afraid to help others by helping improve their ranking .
The more popular each link you have helped gets it also
improves your ranking .

Article Promotion

Write articles and submit to directories. Writing useful
Content and submitting it with information about your
Business, the services you provide and a link to your site.
This will provide traffic for a very long time. Good
Content is picked up by other sites and then more potential
Customers are exposed to your site information.

Joint Ventures

Joint Ventures are a great way to increase traffic and you
Can also build your list, this is very important to the
Profitability of your business.

Socialize

Join social, news and bookmarking sites, this will bring
more traffic thus improving profits. Make sure you use these
sites correctly do not yse them ,obviously to promote your
business, Always provide useful comments and information ,
try to help others with problems you have already had and
found answers for. The more authority you gain and orhers
see you as an expert the more traffic you will gain.

Customer Service

Never stop improving your custoner support. This builds
trust and customers will buy from those they trust and from
businesses they know will provide support when they need it.

Negotiation Skills

Improving your negotiation skills will help when building
your business by selling ads, obtaining supplies,joint
ventures and enployee wages and benefits.

Problem Solving

Through customer comments and running surveys find a common
problem and yse your website to solve this problem this will
increase your site authority,increase traffic and boost
profits.

Web Hosting

Use a reliable hosting service for your business cheep is
not always good nor is expensive. Service is what counts
research your hosting service . If your customers can’t find
you they may not try again.

Auto-Responder

You will need a reliable auto-responder to build your
customer base and stay in touch with them.This will provide
a way to generate profits by sending emails to your customer
list. Followup followup this is the answer , but don’t
always send offers and promotions. Remember it isn’t just
about you and your business .Those who signed up for youre
e-zine, newsletter, or whatever you called it did so for the
information and help they thought tou would give them, Don’t
let them down or they will opt-out of your list. Their needs
come first, building your business is the result of helping
them with their needs.

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