Saturday 29 June 2013

Mississauga Web Design Company | 1-800-571-TASK




In these short few years, many new web design standards, technology and design concepts have come to bear. That is on top of the immense amount of knowledge distribution and demand for more functional and independent web design packages and tools.

The knowledge distribution has also led to shift in demand to the content management systems which facilitate content updates. These updates have become immensely necessary to keep the consumer’s interest for visiting the web site again and again and also to keep the consumer abreast with latest happenings regarding the company and its products and services. A great example of a company that keeps their customers up to date is iConnect Media, a iConnect Media Mississauga website design company.

CMS or Content Management System is quickly becoming the standard with web design organizations. They have come to realize that CMS is the future of web site design and may be left behind in the industry if they do not begin offering CMS services.

CMS does not in any way spell doom to web designers. CMS certainly saves the company’s time it spends on web design and allows them to put more efforts into marketing. CMS gives the company the freedom it needs by providing them with an ability to update the site when needed, not when convenient. CMS also saves the company’s costs by not having to run to the web designer every time an update is needed.

Even the most basic content management system has the following:

  • Provides an interface to Add/remove/edit pages.
  • Provides easy interface to update content of each page.
  • Capability to add or remove images where needed.
  • Interface to update contact information.
  • Display updated listings (ex: Mortgage and interest rates).
  • Facilitates addition of news on the industry everyday.

UI (or user interface)

A web design organization should seriously consider offering CMS to their clients to prepare for the future. It is still at a nascent stage, so if a web design and development organization is considering developing a customised CMS and marketing it, they can still see success in the near future.

For more information contact iConnect Media.

Wednesday 12 June 2013

3 Tips for Finding the Best Website Developers

When you have the daunting task of looking for a web design company, you may find that you’re not quite for sure what to look for.

You may find yourself asking questions like "What qualifications will a good company have?" and "How expensive will a good web design company be?" There are several things that you should be on the lookout for in your endeavors.

1) Their Website

A good web design company will have a professional looking website. Their website will look like it is carefully maintained, and have a call to action on almost every page. The graphics on their site will look professional and high quality, and will load quickly. Their content copy will not have grammatical mistakes. Lastly, a good web design company’s website will be helpful and easy to navigate. If a web design company’s own website isn't well managed, why trust them to work with yours?

2) Willingness to Work with You

A web design company should have content on their site that is geared towards you, the potential customer. If they display an eagerness to work with you on your needs, then they understand that you may have different needs than other clients. A "one site fits all" solution for one low price is not the answer when it comes to custom web design. The good web design companies have multiple ways for you to contact them, located in an easy to find area of their site. If a web design company doesn't want to understand your needs, how can they satisfy them?

3) The Contact

If the company you’re looking at has satisfied both of the above descriptions, it is time for you to contact them. There are several things that you should look for within the first conversation you have. You should look for a company that has a personable representative who cares about your needs. They should let you lead the conversation, and respond with interest and helpfulness. A good web design company will be honest with you about what they can do and how they do it. Last but not least, the company should always advise you in your best interest, regardless of whether the sale is closed. If the company has your best interest in mind and is easy to work with, they will produce results greater than what you expect!

After you've found a good web design company that satisfies the three descriptions above, you are on your way to having a great website. But more importantly than that, you will develop a working relationship with an expert that can give you good advice when you need it!

Thanks for reading.


Friday 24 May 2013

Lowering Website Bounce Rate


How can you increase the conversion rate on your website?

The first consideration should be lowering bonce rate.

It's a great question.


We make use of a free web program called TinyPNG, you simply upload your PNG there and will also compress it without losing any resolution, transparency or something that you could have in the image. Afterwards, a 3 megabyte image is about 150 kilobytes. That's a tremendous difference.
The next tip is usually to possess a user-friendly 404 page. Why with that occurs when someone goes to a page that either doesn't exist on your own website any more or they've used an improper link, a lot of the times they'll search for a 404 page. The 404 page is definitely basically telling them that that doesn't exist.

What you would like to complete is that you want to create a user-friendly version of that. You want to add a link returning to your homepage and also you want to will include a url to your contact and your search as well; when you can will include a search bar every one of the better. You would like to make an actual handy resource. So if someone does inadvertently get there, they have every one of the tools and details to return to your homepage as well as to find what exactly they're seeking.

Monday 13 May 2013

How to Create Business Relationships Online


Because of the anonymous nature of the internet people are generally more skeptical when it comes to doing business online. Owing partly to famous internet scams sensationalized by the media and to bad personal experiences online, people are less likely to trust a party whom they've never met in person. As an online marketer, you face the challenge of building trust and loyalty without the benefit of a physical handshake, a face-to-face meeting, or even a smile.

To this end online forums can provide an excellent way to build meaningful relationships with people and attract new customers. By joining a forum in your area of expertise, you gain access to a community that shares your interests as well as a pool of potential customers. There are countless forums dealing with just about any topic imaginable. The vast majority of forums do not charge you a fee to register or post messages. Many allow you to include with your posts self-promotional "signatures" that you can use to promote your business and link to your website. A good way to locate a forum relevant to your line of business is to do a keyword search using one of the major search engines.

 Why a major search engine?

A Google search for "website marketing forum," for example, will not only return dozens of relevant forums on website marketing, but will also give you an indication of how highly they are regarded by the search engine giant, as gauged by how high they rank for that key phrase. Forums that rank higher on the search engine result pages (SERPs) are the ones of which you'll want to become a member. Forums allow you to share knowledge and gain reputation as an expert in your field. Offering concrete advices that are immediately useful to other people is an especially effective marketing technique. Once you've gained credibility in your field, you will be sought after for your professional expertise without your having to promote yourself. Participating in forums is also an excellent way to humanize yourself and your business. 

When people deal with you, they'll know that they're dealing with a real person, not a nameless, faceless business entity. By staking your reputation online, you demonstrate that you are willing to accept some degree of accountability for your actions. If you're a generally honest and agreeable person in the real life, there is no reason to hide behind a company name when conducting business online. The personal qualities that make you likable in the real world will also make you likable in cyberspace. Indeed, establishing meaningful relationships online is a lot like making friends in the real world.

After all, on the other side of the terminal is a real person with real emotions just like you. Another key to meaningful online relationships is to create an atmosphere of openness and transparency. Although you normally use a nickname to start and respond to posts in public forums, you should use your real name in private correspondences. It is good practice to begin your messages with a salutation, addressing them by their real name whenever possible. A little courtesy can go a long way in building loyalty and trust. Apart from selling your personal qualities, you must have something of value to offer to people-- and at prices that are fair to everyone!

On a venue where your personal reputation is not at stake, you can price a widget for any amount you want and hope someone will come along and buy it. When you do business on forums, however, you must be extra value-conscious when pricing your product or service. If you overprice your widget, you risk receiving flames from other members that could harm your reputation. This is why it's so important to research what other members are charging for a similar widget and to price yours competitively. Often you'll end up charging lower prices to members of your forum than to other customers with whom you have not developed as close a relationship for the same widget. Building positive relationships is about making people feel important. Just as you want to feel good for having sold your product or service, people want to feel good for having bought it.

This is why it is so important to promptly answer their questions and attend to their concerns. Listen to their inputs and incorporate their ideas into your business practices. This is how you make your customers a part of your team. It's not a stretch to speak of your customer as a member of your team. When you really think about it, no business can exist without its customers. Teamwork is not limited to interacting with other members of your company. It also takes teamwork to build a constructive, mutually beneficial relationship between you and your customers. But I still believe the best forums are the paid. Essentially the premium communities.

If you want to find out more about the best ones to join, head over to LMM for details. There are more tips for building business relationships online

Tuesday 23 April 2013

PROBLOGGING: MAKING MONEY FROM BLOGS


A weblog (or simply blog) is a website that 'publishes' or features articles (which are called 'blog posts', 'posts', or 'entries'), written by an individual or a group that make use of any or a combination of the following:

· Straight texts
· Photographs or images (photoblog)
· Video (videoblog)
· Audio files (audioblog)
· Hyperlinks

Usually presented and arranged in reverse chronological order, blogs are essentially used for the following purposes:

· Online journal or a web diary
· Content managament system
· Online publishing platform

A typical blog has the following components:

· Post date -the date and time of the blog entry

· Category - the category that the blog belongs to

· Title - the title of the blog

· Main body - the main content of the blog

· RSS and trackback - links the blog back from other sites

· Comments - commentaries that are added by readers

· Permalinks - the URL of the full article

· Other optional items - calendar, archives, blogrolls, and add-ons or plug-ins

A blog can also have a footer, usually found at the bottom of the blog, that shows the post date, the author, the category, and the 'stats' (the nubmer of comments or trackbacks).

There are numerous types of blogs. Some of them are the following:

1. Political blog - on news, politics, activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).

2. Personal blog - also known as online diary that may include an individual's day-to-day experience, complaints, poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends.

3. Topical blog - with focus either on a particular niche (function or position) that is usually technical in nature or a local information.

4. Health blog - on specific health issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features medical news from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases.

5. Literary blog - also known as litblog.

6. Travel blog - with focus on a traveler's stories on a particular journey.

7. Research blog - on academic issues such as research notes.

8. Legal blog - on law (technical areas) and legal affairs; also known as 'blawgs'.

9. Media blog - focus on falsehoods or inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a television network.

10. Religious blog - on religious topics

11. Educational blog - on educational applications, usually written by students and teachers.

12. Collaborative or collective blog - a specific topic written by a group of people.

13. Directory blog - contains a collection of numerous web sites.

14. Business blog - used by entrepreneurs and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their work.

15. Personification blog - focus on non-human being or objects (such as dogs).

16. Spam blogs - used for promoting affiliated websites; also known as 'splogs'.

Blogging is typically done on a regular (almost daily) basis. The term "blogging" refers to the act of authoring, maintaining, or adding an article to an existing blog, while the term "blogger" refers to a person or a group who keeps a blog.

Today, more than 3 million blogs can be found in the Internet. This figure is continuously growing, as the availability of various blog software, tools, and other applications make it easier for just about anyone to update or maintain the blog (even those with little or no technical background). Because of this trend, bloggers can now be categorized into 4 main types:

· Personal bloggers - people who focus on a diary or on any topic that an individual feels strongly about.

· Business bloggers - people who focus on promoting products and services.

· Organizational bloggers - people who focus on internal or external communication in an organization or a community.

· Professional bloggers - people who are hired or paid to do blogging.

Problogging (professional blogging) refers to blogging for a profit. Probloggers (professional bloggers) are people who make money from blogging (as an individual blog publisher or a hired blogger).

Below are just some of the many money-making opportunities for probloggers:

· Advertising programs
· RSS advertising
· Sponsorship
· Affiliate Programs
· Digital assets
· Blog network writing gigs
· Business blog writing gigs
· Non blogging writing gigs
· Donations
· Flipping blogs
· Merchandising
· Consulting and speaking

The following are a few things that you need to consider if you want to be successful in problogging:

1. Be patient. Problogging requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention a long-term vision.

2. Know your audience. Targeting a specific audience or group is a key to building a readership.

3. Be an 'expert'. Focus on a specific niche topic and strive to be the "go-to" blogger on that topic.

4. Diversify. Experiment with various add and affiliate programs that enable you to make money online (aside from blogging).

5. Do not bore your readers. Focus on the layout. White spaces, line spacings, and bigger fonts make a blog welcoming to read.

Certainly, it is possible to earn money from blogs. One just needs to take risks, the passion, and the right attitude in order to be a successful problogger.

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Facebook Marketing: The Tools To Reach Out To More Clients


First of all, Facebook is a social networking website that was primarily designed for use for Ivy League college students. However, because of the interactive tools that it can offer, it is now widely available for many people from different parts of the world. Whichever college or school you go to and wherever you are, you will now be able to join Facebook.

With Facebook, you will now be able to keep in touch with your friends as well as make new friends. However, the best thing about Facebook is probably its tools that you can use to market your business. Facebook is now one of the most popular websites today. With over 62 million active members from all over the world and still growing, you will see that this website is now somewhat of a large community.

You will see different people here from all walks of life.

With this figures, you will see that it will have the potential in providing you a way to market your products or services. It has tons of traffic and a lot of potential in providing your website with more targeted traffic.

You may ask why Facebook became one of the best places to market on the internet. Basically, Facebook is different from other social networking websites. Unlike other social networking websites, you will see that Facebook will be able to offer you different kinds of useful applications or tools that you can use to market your products or services. The applications on Facebook will let you market your products or services far more effectively than the available tools in most social networking websites.

By adding applications in your Facebook page, such as games, groups, and quizzes, you will be able to get people to view your Facebook page and help you market your products or services. The best thing about the application is that it is free.

Facebook is definitely a great place in the internet to market in. With the ability to drive targeted traffic to your website, you can be sure that you will be able to have lots of fun marketing your products. You have to consider the fact that Facebook is about networking. If a particular person in your friends list loved your products, they will most likely tell their friends in their Facebook friends list about the product and encourage them to purchase from you.

This is how Facebook marketing basically works. You'll be surprised as to how many people will be quite interested in what you have to offer. You have to remember that targeted traffic is the key to internet marketing. If you are marketing your products or services in Facebook, you can be sure that you will be able to get a lot of targeted traffic in your business website.

So, the next time you plan on marketing on the internet, you might want to join Facebook. It's free, it's easy, and it's a lot of fun. With Facebook, you will really have great time marketing and also profit from it at the same time.

With Facebook, internet marketing is easier and a lot cheaper than ever before. Remember these things and you will be able to see how much potential Facebook will be able to provide your business with.

Sunday 7 April 2013

Enjoy Your Life: Change Your Point of View


"Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one sees the stars."- Frederick Langbridge, A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts

If you’ve placed second in a writing contest, will you jump for joy and push for better results the next time or will you be discouraged and find an excuse not to join again?

In life, you are always filled with choices. You may opt to have a pessimist’s view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to take the optimist’s route and take a challenging and fulfilling life.

So why nurture an optimist’s point of view? And why now?

Well, optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale; to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success; to popularity; to good health and even to long life and freedom from trauma.

On the other hand, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. It affects middle-aged adults the same way it hits younger people. The mean age of onset has gone from 30 to 15. It is no longer a middle-aged housewife’s disorder but also a teen-ager’s disorder’ as well.

Here’s how optimists are in action and researches that back up why it really pays to be an optimist:

Optimists expect the best.

The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events, which will last a long time and undermine everything they do, are their own fault.

The truth is optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world. What differs is the way they explain their misfortune---it’s the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case.

Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the 'problem' at hand. They use 'positive reinterpretation.' In other words, they most likely reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unfazed by bad situation, they perceive it is a challenge and try harder.

They won’t say “things will never get better,” “If I failed once, it will happen again” and “If I experience misfortune in one part of my life, then it will happen in my whole life.”

Positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, sudden tragedies and unlikely turn of events. If they fall, they will stand up. They see opportunities instead of obstacles.

People respond positively to optimists

Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their happiness. They find no need to control or manipulate people. They usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those they are with.

Optimism seems a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted while those who spread gloom, panic and hysteria are treated unfavorably.

In life, these people often win elections; get voted most congenial and sought for advice.

When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher

Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding dealing with problems. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when difficulties arise.

They persevere. They just don’t give up easily, they are also known for their patience. Inching their way a step closer to that goal or elusive dream.

Optimists are healthier and live longer

Medical research has justified that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body's ability to fight disease.

Optimists’ health is unusually good. They age well, much freer than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age. And they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts.

So why not be an optimist today? And think positively towards a more fulfilled life.

Why not look forward to success in all your endeavors? Why not be resilient? Like everybody else you are bound to hit lows sometimes but don’t just stay there. Carry yourself out of the mud and improve your chances of getting back on the right track. And why not inspire others to remove their dark-colored glasses and see life in the bright side?



Thursday 4 April 2013

Newer is not Always Better When it Involves Search Engine Optimization


We live in a world where everybody wants the latest and greatest, somewhere along the way we have come to the conclusion that the newer something is the better. If we are buying a CD it has to be the latest release from the new one hit wonder, we don't care if the song writer couldn't tell melody from harmony or that the singer is incapable of carrying a tune, all that matters is that it's new. Each fall hundreds of people scramble to get to car dealerships, frantic to drive the next years models, barely capable of waiting for them to be unloaded off the truck, it doesn't matter if we are six months behind on car payments on last years model which is in perfect running condition, we're blinded by all the bells and whistles that the new cars have to offer. People will stand in a long line, overnight, in an electrical storm to simply to spend an unhealthy amount of money on the latest electronic gadget just because it is brand new, we don't care that in just a few months it will be a fraction of the cost, we have to have it now.

Even internet service suffers from the right now syndrome. For years we were content with dial-up service. Sure it was slow but it was that or nothing. Heck we hardly noticed that it took hours to download a simple, days to upload a couple of pictures, download a video... that was practically unheard off. We didn't know any better. Now that the world has found out about all the new options for internet service we have to have that. It doesn't matter that it is double the monthly cost or we have to default on are student loans in order to purchase the necessary equipment. If it is cordless, faster, and designed with the latest technology we have to have it...right now.

We don't care if the old stuff is made with better materials, last longer, and is cheaper. In our minds old equals junk.

Search engine optimization is one spot where we should force ourselves to shed our weird inhibitions about old stuff. When it comes to search engine optimization, age rules over youth.

Search engine optimization is the art and science of making web pages attractive to the search engines. The more attractive a web site appears (search engines are attracted, not to beauty, but to repetitious algorithms) the higher it ranks in the search engines search result. A low ranking could potentially be the kiss of death to an internet based business because studies have shown the internet users seldom look past the second page of hits.

Search engines use web crawlers to determine a websites ranking.

Older websites and the webmasters who manage them have had more time to develop and maintain their algorithms. They are already itemized and ranked by the search engines, in some cases it can take three months for a web crawler to get around to spidering a brand new website that has been submitted to the search engine, old sites are already appearing and gaining customer recognition. If an older site has been around long enough to have earned a loyal customer base, even if a shuffle in the rankings causes the aged web site to be bumped from prime ranking position, loyal customers will still look for it.


Tuesday 2 April 2013

Facebook: An Effective Tool to Increase Your Sales


Today, the internet is one of the most popular places for businesses to advertise in. Every website you visit, you will see that there will be advertising everywhere. This is called internet marketing.

If you have a business of your own and you want to effectively market your products or services, you will see that the internet will be one huge bulletin board that you can advertise in. Here, you will be able to virtually advertise anything and it is open for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

With hundreds of millions of people visiting the internet on a daily basis from all over the world, you can be sure that advertising here will definitely increase your sales.

One great website that you may want to concentrate your online advertising campaign on is Facebook. Today, this social networking website is now considered to be one of the largest social networking websites existing. Here, you will see that over 62 million people are now active members and are still continually increasing.

With figures like this, you know that it will provide you with a very big opportunity to increase your sales and your profit. In fact, it is so huge that large companies or corporations are now marketing on Facebook.

Basically, Facebook is a social networking website. Once you join, you will be able to find your friends who are also a member and add them to your list. This will create a small group of your friends and it will enable you to view their profiles and know more about them and vice versa. You can even send and receive messages as well as comments.

Also, you will be able to post on bulletins that your friends will be able read.

These are the things that you can do with Facebook. It is basically the fastest growing social networking websites today. Because of this, a lot of people have started marketing on Facebook. The great thing about Facebook marketing is that it provides a free and easy way to promote products and services. With the included tools in Facebook, you will be able to take advantage of it, such as the Stumble Upon and Digg buttons to promote your website or your products and services.

This is a great way to generate targeted traffic to your website and it will enable you to increase the potential in selling your products and services as well as increase the volume of sales.

Because Facebook is available for people from all over the world, your business will be able to reach out to more people if you advertise on Facebook.

In today's ever competitive business world, you know that you need to use every tool available in order to get ahead of your competitors. So, the next time you are thinking about marketing your business online, you might want to try marketing in Facebook. Here, you will be able to reach out to more people and it is also easy to do so and the best thing about it is that it's free.

With Facebook, you will definitely be able to efficiently market your business. Marketing in Facebook is free, easy, and fun.

These are the things that you need to remember whenever you want to try marketing online. Try joining Facebook and you will see the potential on letting it help your business grow.

Friday 15 March 2013

Blog Marketing That Gets Results


Blog marketing is something that most anyone that has a blog can do. However, can just anyone that owns a blog do it and do it effectively so that it gets results? Yes, just about anyone that has a little bit of internet knowledge and common sense can market a blog so that it will get the results that you are looking for. If you are wanting to begin marketing a blog that you started a while a go, and are familiar with blogging and what that entails then you are a step ahead of the beginners.

If you are beginner blogger, then there are some things that you will need to know. The simplest thing that you can do is to start one, and just journal in it for a while. This will allow you to learn just what it takes and what it is all about to keep up a blog. When you are just journaling your thoughts and what is on your mind, you have nothing to lose and nothing to gain. You don’t even have to make your blog public if you don’t want others to read what you have to say. That is a personal preference. However, doing this will let you see how it works. Then you can move on to trying to market a product or a service. Just to get familiar with blogging though, you should have a practice one. You will be glad that you did that later.

Content is king, and so very important when you are marketing a blog, website, or what ever you choose to market. When you have your own blog, you are in charge of the content that is posted on it. You can decide what is said, and what is not. You are after all writing it all, right? So, the sky is the limit. Whether you want a blog that does website reviews and takes nominations, or you want to sell things that you make out of your home, the choice is yours. Using a blog to get the word out about whatever you want too is a great way to market and promote something. You will get results that you will love by using good content that is original.

Blog marketing is only as complicated as you make it. You are going to see that anyone can market something if they have the mind set to do so. Getting your blog up and going is the first step and most important one make sure that you have chosen a topic niche that will get you good results as well. As that will mean that there is not as much competition for the topics that you choose, but yet there are many searches that are done for it as well. Finding a niche that hardly no one else has touched is kind of hard to do at times, but can be done if you look hard enough. Start by thinking about things that interest you and things that you like to do yourself. If at all possible, find something that you know all about all ready or can learn quickly to become an expert in that field.

Blog marketing is all about results. If you market long enough and hard enough, you are going to get the results that you want and are looking for. The keys to achieving this are patience and determination. Something that you have to have to do most anything.

Friday 1 March 2013

"What Really Makes You Tick?" 10 questions you should ask yourself: a preparation to self-improvement


Be all you can be, but it's not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it's hard to think of anything else when there are real issues to be discussed.

Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful.

So we're all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn't even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks… or can they?

1. What do I really want?
The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day.

Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is worth it.

2. Should I really change?
Today's generation has taken another level of redefining 'self', or at least that's what the kids are saying. Having an army of teenage nieces and nephews has taught me that there are far worse things that they could have had than acne or maybe even promiscuity. So how does that fit into your lifestyle?

If history has taught us one thing, it's the life that we have gone through. Try to see if partying Seventies style wouldn't appeal to the younger generation, but dancing is part of partying. Watch them applaud after showing them how to really dance than break their bones in break-dancing.

3. What's the bright side in all of this?
With so much is happening around us there seem to be no room for even considering that light at the end of the tunnel. We can still see it as something positive without undergoing so much scrutiny. And if it's a train at the end of the tunnel, take it for a ride and see what makes the world go round!

4. Am I comfortable with what I'm doing?
There's always the easy way and the right way when it comes to deciding what goes with which shoes, or purse, shirt and whatnot. It doesn't take a genius to see yourself as someone unique, or else we'll all be equally the same in everything we do. Variety brings in very interesting and exciting questions to be experimented.

5. Have I done enough for myself?
Have you, or is there something more you want to do? Discontentment in every aspect can be dangerous in large doses, but in small amounts you'll be able to see and do stuff you could never imagine doing.

6. Am I happy at where I am today?
It's an unfair question so let it be an answer! You love being a good and loving mom or dad to your kids, then take it up a notch! Your kids will love you forever. The same goes with everyday life!

7. Am I appealing to the opposite sex?
So maybe I don't have an answer to that, but that doesn't mean I can't try it, though. Whether you shape-up, change the way you wear your clothes or hair, or even your attitude towards people, you should always remember it will always be for your own benefit.

8. How much could I have?
I suppose in this case there is no such things on having things too much or too little, but it's more on how badly you really need it. I'd like to have lots of money, no denying that, but the question is that how much are you willing to work for it?

9. What motivates me?
What motivates you? It's an answer you have to find out for yourself. There are so many things that can make everyone happy, but to choose one of the may be the hardest part. It's not like you can't have one serving of your favorite food in a buffet and that's it. Just try it piece by piece.

10. What Really Makes You Tick?
So? What really makes you tick? You can be just about anything you always wanted to be, but to realize that attaining something that may seem very difficult is already giving up before you even start that journey. Always remember, that self-improvement is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it's something that you really want.

Thursday 21 February 2013

Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is a self-employed business owner who provides administrative support to their clients. The clients may want a one time job, or a long term position.  A virtual assistant may do secretarial duties, such as writing up letters and memo’s or contacting other business people for the client.  Other duties a virtual assistant may cover are customer service, messaging services, email blasts or autoresponders, email support, fax paperwork, and many other duties.  A virtual assistants duties really does vary drastically.

There are a few key attributes to a great virtual assistant.  Good grammatical skills are necessary; no spelling errors are going to be acceptable.  A virtual assistant must be extremely organized because no one will hire an assistant who does not have their files arranged and handy.  A virtual assistant with a wide range of skills is sought after.  Being technically savvy is essential especially when you are a virtual assistant because it is what people expect and need in such an internet related business world.  Also, in this technological world, you must be able to take directions, understand them without too many questions or issues, and get the work done, perfectly.  A virtual assistant must be on their toes, on the lookout for unforeseen issues that may have been overlooked.  Virtual assistants have great communication skills, negotiating rates, deadlines, and project plans.  But, unfortunately, these assistants must make sure that they make time for work.  It is really easy to get caught up in housework or the kids and not set aside work time at home.  When deadlines are missed, it looks bad on your reputation as a virtual assistant.

A virtual assistant can make their own hours, as stated before, but they can also make their own rates, which is excellent.  They do not have to settle for getting paid too little for a big job.  They do not have to worry about long commutes, and therefore expensive gas, leaving their children at daycare, and stressful co-workers and bosses.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Knowing How To Blog with WordPress


Blogging with Wordpress

Wordpress is one of the many options available to bloggers who are looking for free software online which makes it incredibly easy to publish their own blog. This software is easy to use, provides a variety of templates and offer excellent support to bloggers. There are many options available to bloggers and other blogging programs may be better known and offer slightly different features but many bloggers are quite pleased with Wordpress. This article will offer some useful information for bloggers who are considering starting a blog with Wordpress such as reasons to choose Wordpress, tips on starting a blog and information about the support offered by Wordpress. Based on this information as well as their own research bloggers can decide whether Wordpress is right for them or whether they should seek out a different blog network.


Reasons to Choose Wordpress

There are many great reasons to choose Wordpress to start a blog. Some of these reasons include a great variety of templates, the ability to categorize and tag posts easily, features such as spell check, previews and autosave, the ability to post text, audio files and video files, a variety of privacy options and the ability to track statistical data related to the blog in addition to other great features. Some of these features may be more important to some bloggers than others so deciding whether or not Wordpress is right for you will largely be a matter of personal preference. For example bloggers with little or no programming experience may enjoy the myriad of templates available on Wordpress while bloggers who are concerned about privacy issues may be more interested in the privacy options available through Wordpress. Carefully investigating these features will help bloggers determine if they should start a blog with Wordpress.


Starting a Blog with Wordpress

Bloggers who opt to start a blog with Wordpress will certainly not be disappointed by the amount of time it takes to start a blog. A blogger can literally start a blog with Wordpress within minutes. This is tremendously important to bloggers who are eager to get started and do not want to deal with a long process to start a blog. The only requirements for starting a blog are a valid email address and a username.

The blogger enters this information into the signup page and receives a password almost instantly. Next the blogger simply has to check his email, follow the activation link provided and use the password provided and the process is complete. The blogger can start blogging immediately.

Later on, you will find out that the journey does not start nor end in there. There are many ways to explore and enjoy more on WordPress. One of the things you can learn in the future is how to clone Wordpress. You can do this by exploring some other programs or software. The thing is, you have the option on what to employ.


Support Offered by Wordpress

For many first time bloggers the type of support offered is very important. This is because first time bloggers may have quite a few questions about the process of starting a basic blog and once they establish a basic blog they may have additional questions about using advanced features and customizing the blog.

Wordpress offers a great deal of support for bloggers of all skill levels. The support offered by Wordpress includes the ability to contact the support staff as well as the ability to receive support from other members through online forums. Although the support staff is incredibly responsive some bloggers enjoy the ability to communicate with other bloggers in forums. This is because the forums are active 24 hours a day and bloggers can find support from peers at any time.

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Generating Traffic and Earning More From Your Site

Whether you have created a website for your business or your website is your business you need people to actually view it in order to get your return on investment. But how does one do this? Well like anything out in the Internet there is no "one size fits all" solution for your website. You need to employ a multi-pronged attack in order to get more traffic to your website. Hopefully I will show you how to dramatically increase the traffic to your website using these simple yet effective techniques.

The first technique is to actually pay for advertising for your website. This can be done using such services provided by Google, Yahoo and MSN where you pay to have your website listed in their sponsored links section when a user searches for a key term. This will get traffic to your website almost immediately. Always refine each campaign to see if you can maximize the return on investment for each time you place ads on these search engines.

The second technique is to write articles and content. Have content on your website that pertains to the products and services you are selling. Make sure you check your website logs to see what terms people are searching for and then make sure you write about those topics. Do not have enough time to do this yourself? A good way around this is to use a freelance service such as eLance.com or rentacoder.com. You could even partner up with a student at a local college or university to write the articles for you. The student would benefit by gaining the valuable experience and would gain writing samples for their portfolio. This is by far one of the most effective techniques of gaining traffic to your website. You must also make sure you publish some articles to those syndication sites that will allow other website owners to benefit from your experience and knowledge.

The third technique I would recommend is to submit your website to the top three search engines. These search engines include Google, Yahoo and MSN. By doing this you will get increased traffic by users searching for content that you have developed using the above technique.

The fourth technique is to partner up with someone else on the Internet that is selling similar complimentary products. Exchange links with these partners in order to increase your rankings on the search engines. be careful who you partner up with and make sure they are reputable in the field as you are attaching your name to this person or company and what they do could adversely affect you as well.

The fifth technique is to find newsgroups that pertain to your products or services and participate in the conversations. Try not to oversell your products or services as you will most likely be banned from them and really create a bad impression for yourself. Rather, only answer the questions that people ask to make yourself the true expert in the field so that people will visit your website.

These techniques are low cost in order to get people to visit your website. While not the only techniques out there for driving traffic to your website these are some of the most effective techniques that will help establish your website as a true leader in the field.

Friday 8 February 2013

Unfortunate Age Discrimination in the Current Employment Act


The first thing a lawyer will tell you when you approach him in this matter is that you can sue somebody, if you happen to be the kind of person that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act applies to. Well, that might sound like stating the obvious, but it isn't.

The thing is, it doesn't apply to everyone who is of the right age (which would be the age of 40). There are some glaring exceptions, and in at least one instance, they actually allow age discrimination.

That exceptional instance covers executives. An executive who makes more than $44,000 a year, if he isn't doing a good enough job and the company suspects that it's because of this age, can find himself forced to retire. And he can't sue under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

And there are other people who can't sue too – people like police officers or firefighters or air traffic controllers. These people need to be alert and quick-minded. They can't sue if they're forced to retire because of they've reached a certain age. And oh – if your employer runs a really small company – less than 20 people – then you can't sue.

That said, there are  going to be so many cases filed under the Age Dscrimination in Employment Act starting now. Social Security has changed its rules. You can't begin to draw your full benefits until a higher age now. That will mean that people want to stay on at their job for longer. And companies are not going to like this often. They will try to push them out sooner.

If you win upon suing the compensation you get can be substantial. You wil get overtime pay, back pay, front pay, emotional distress compensation, and they'll multiply all these as punishment for how they violated the law. If all you want is to be rehired, the law will make them do that, too. In addition
to giving you all of these.

There are no real figures on how many discrmination violations occur in this country. But the bad economy means the that there are plenty of them. Employers have their pick of younger and more energetic workers at all times for less pay.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that over the past five years, complaints made over age discrimination have jumped up 20%. People over 40 who have been laid off are just not getting a second chance. They think that it's because of their age. These people sue a lot.

Usually, you can begin to suspect age discrimination if at an interview, you're asked something about your age or if the interviewer says something about how you are probably not technologically competent.

Avoid These Brutal Affiliate Marketing Mistakes


Myths concerning affiliate marketing are appealing and attractive.  People who do not know the entire system the wrong way round are prone to believing that it is something capable of giving them great fortune overnight.  Stories concerning affiliates who earn tremendous amounts of money swim in their heads, and while these stories are as true as they can be, there are those who believe that they are going to have the same fortune once they indulge in this particular business.

It is true enough that affiliate marketing is financially rewarding.  People who have gone through everything to be able to succeed in this business are reaping the seeds that they untiringly sowed.  Many of them enjoy the kind of existence that was not possible for them to have had under ordinary circumstances.  Having gone through the A-Z of affiliate marketing, however, these people are the ones who know that while such business is lucrative, there is absolutely no easy money in it.

Ignorance of this fact is one of the main reasons why there are people who fail miserably in the internet business.  There are those who believe in myths concerning the easy money involved in systems such as affiliate marketing.  They do not know that there are those who have wasted time, effort and too many resources in trying to pursue the life of ease that they believe this business will give them.  And so they go into affiliate marketing armed with nothing but myths and fantastical notions of wealth swimming in their consciousness, never realizing that they bound to make mistakes that would prove to be their downfall.

What may be the reason why in businesses such as affiliate marketing, many are called but few are chosen?  Perhaps the answer lies on the fact that many affiliates make mistakes that result from their ignorance of facts concerning how the entire business runs.  Affiliate marketing is not as simple as an affiliate promoting a merchant’s wares through his website and getting paid for it.  It is also about knowing the market and the customers at hand.

Discovering what the most common mistakes affiliates make can perhaps dispel the gloom about myths surrounding affiliate marketing by correcting some wrong notions about it.  It might also be able to make those concerned understand that like any other business, there are dos and donts involved in this one if they want to make each of their steps count.  The first common mistake affiliates make is their lack of knowledge concerning principles involved in their business.  This refers to the affiliate’s knowledge of search engines in particular.

Affiliate marketing involves advertising, and advertising through the internet could not have been better without the existence of search engines.  What every affiliate has to do is to make these search engines his best friend through studying search engine optimization closely.  This way, he is able to know what to do in connection with building a better website to ultimately use for his business.

The second is that affiliates make the mistake of stuffing their sites with banners that do not provide enough information about the product at hand.  The best way to battle this mistake is to provide good content hand-in-hand with such banners.  It is important for customers to know and understand the features of a product, and good content will be able to help them realize this goal.

The third is that there are affiliates who make the mistake of promoting only one product.  Consequently, customers are not given enough options to choose from.  There is also the risk of generating fewer sales as compared to having more options for customers ponder about.  It is always better to give them a few better alternatives than to give them only one.

The fourth is that there are affiliates who make the mistake of promoting too many products.  As a result, customers are confused and end up beyond making a choice.  It is perhaps good to give them only the best choices.  This is because it is ultimately up to them to judge which one is the best for them to patronize.

All in all, affiliates that are doomed to fail in this business are those who do not exert enough effort to understand everything involved in the industry that they are in.  Knowing their path step by careful step will prove to be beneficial to them, as there is no other way to succeed than to go through any path slowly but surely.