by: Clifford Mee
Have you ever heard of the expression, "You'll laugh all the way to the bank"? Well people who've discovered the magic of autoresponders don't even do that anymore, because when the money rolls in it's automatically sent to their bank accounts...they just laugh!If you don't know what an 'autoresponder' is, it's simply an 'email automatic responder'. But the simplicity stops there, because autoresponders are probably the single greatest business innovation to happen since the birth of the Internet.They have completely revolutionized what can be done.And you can use them too, to make an instant impact on your business.So here are eleven proven methods for maximizing your business, even when you're fast asleep, using the magic of autoresponders.1. Instead of answering every customer question that's sent to you, publish a "Frequently Asked Questions" using your autoresponder. This saves you time, money and effort.2. Use them like a library. Make all your past newsletters or promotional pieces available from your autoresponders. Visitors appreciate having access to your archives.3. Create an email training course in several parts delivered by autoresponder. This automatically builds a relationship with your prospects which positively influences their decision to become your customers. To see an autoresponder training course in action send an email to trainingcourse@aweber.com and you'll receive a course showing you the '20 Quick Tips' on how to use training courses to increase your traffic and sales.4. Collect valuable customer satisfaction information by publishing a survey via autoresponder. People like to give their opinions and you benefit from this by knowing what your customers want.5. Publish reports with your autoresponder. The reports should be related to your business or web site. Giving away good content will quickly increase your traffic. This gives you greater exposure, makes you an instant authority and ultimately results in more sales.6. Provide instant customer acknowledgement to those who send you a message. Let the autoresponder message reassure them you have received their message and when to expect your reply.7. Offer an e-book through your autoresponder in easy to read chapters. You could include promotional resource links covering each chapter of the book when delivered. 8. Create an index of all the information which is available from your autoresponders. Then set this up as an autoresponder to enable your customers to retrieve the particular information they are interested in.9. Publish a complete list of all your products and services which you offer with their order forms and other sales material. Consider including a time sensitive discount coupon code in the autoresponder message to stimulate more sales.10. Convert your entire web site into autoresponder format. Visitors may not want to stay online reading web pages. Give them the option of downloading all the information from your autoresponder to print off and read at their leisure.11. Upload all your testimonials, endorsements and articles to your autoresponder if you don't have space in your advertising copy. The more interactive you make the experience for your prospects the more sales you will likely make.Now that you have eleven sure-fire ways to use autoresponders in your business, the most pressing consideration is how to implement them without it becoming a headache. As with any vital business operation, rock solid reliability is the most important factor when choosing what kind of autoresponder solution to go for. In autoresponder terms this is deliverability of your messages and information. There's little point using autoresponders if what you send out ends up in a virtual black-hole because of vicious Internet Service Providers' anti-spam filters. That's why when choosing how to implement autoresponders in your business you must check on the solutions deliverability.It is the absolute key for a service you can put your trust in. (c) Clifford Mee - All Rights Reserved http://www.PrivateMarketingClub.com** Attention Ezine editors / Site owners **Please use my article in your ezine and/or your website as long as you include my resource box and you'll receive a gift for doing so. Please email me here articles@privatemarketingclub.com
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
What Is Spyware - An Overview Of Spy And Malware
by: Matt Garrett
Spyware is malicious software that can intercept and take control of your computer without your knowledge or consent. The presence of spyware in the computer of a person is a major threat to the privacy and productivity of a person. Spyware can get very easily installed to your computer without your knowledge. There are some software which can help you in fighting off the menace of spyware. Reading spyware reviews can help you in buying the best spyware remover available in the market. For, there are different types of spyware removers available in the market. Spyware reviews contain all the features of the spyware remover. The reviews tell the customers about all the different features of the particular spyware remover. You can come to know about the effectiveness of the spyware remover. You can find the reviews from magazines, newspapers and different online sites. Reviews are reliable as they are written by people who have already used the product. Thus you can also come to know about the negative aspects of the software as well. The spyware reviews can help you in choosing to buy the remover which best suits your requirements. Spyware is not the same as worms and virus found in the computers. Spyware is designed to exploit the infected computers for commercial gains by the makers. The typical tactic adopted by spyware is through the use of pop up advertisements, theft of personal information and also monitoring the web browsing activity of the user. The spyware which gets installed in your computer without your knowledge monitors your internet habit and this information is sent out to a third party who can use this for advertisement purpose. Different types of spyware exist so it becomes very difficult to remove them from the infected computers. The most common form of spyware is adware. Adware works through sending one pop up ad after another pop up ad for different products and services while you are working online on your computer. The adware maker is thus able to collect your personal information and then starts bombarding you with spam and junk emails. This can at times become very frustrating to the user. In fact at times spam and junk emails outnumber the normal emails which you receive daily in your mail inbox. There are some online companies that give its customers free trail of the spyware removers. You can read spyware reviews and find out about sites which provide its customers with such facilities. You can visit such sites and download the software and see for your self if it is effective for you or not. Such offers will help you in buying the spyware remover that will suit your requirements. Always ensure that you go through different spyware reviews before you actually purchase the one. If you do not purchase the proper spy remover you could end up causing damage to your computer. Spyware reviews are the best sources to help you out in buying the best spyware remover.
Spyware is malicious software that can intercept and take control of your computer without your knowledge or consent. The presence of spyware in the computer of a person is a major threat to the privacy and productivity of a person. Spyware can get very easily installed to your computer without your knowledge. There are some software which can help you in fighting off the menace of spyware. Reading spyware reviews can help you in buying the best spyware remover available in the market. For, there are different types of spyware removers available in the market. Spyware reviews contain all the features of the spyware remover. The reviews tell the customers about all the different features of the particular spyware remover. You can come to know about the effectiveness of the spyware remover. You can find the reviews from magazines, newspapers and different online sites. Reviews are reliable as they are written by people who have already used the product. Thus you can also come to know about the negative aspects of the software as well. The spyware reviews can help you in choosing to buy the remover which best suits your requirements. Spyware is not the same as worms and virus found in the computers. Spyware is designed to exploit the infected computers for commercial gains by the makers. The typical tactic adopted by spyware is through the use of pop up advertisements, theft of personal information and also monitoring the web browsing activity of the user. The spyware which gets installed in your computer without your knowledge monitors your internet habit and this information is sent out to a third party who can use this for advertisement purpose. Different types of spyware exist so it becomes very difficult to remove them from the infected computers. The most common form of spyware is adware. Adware works through sending one pop up ad after another pop up ad for different products and services while you are working online on your computer. The adware maker is thus able to collect your personal information and then starts bombarding you with spam and junk emails. This can at times become very frustrating to the user. In fact at times spam and junk emails outnumber the normal emails which you receive daily in your mail inbox. There are some online companies that give its customers free trail of the spyware removers. You can read spyware reviews and find out about sites which provide its customers with such facilities. You can visit such sites and download the software and see for your self if it is effective for you or not. Such offers will help you in buying the spyware remover that will suit your requirements. Always ensure that you go through different spyware reviews before you actually purchase the one. If you do not purchase the proper spy remover you could end up causing damage to your computer. Spyware reviews are the best sources to help you out in buying the best spyware remover.
The 10 Most Important Questions To Ask Your Web Host NOW!
by: Bob Roth
So, you’re looking to build a web site or so fed up with your current web host that you are desperate to transfer your site elsewhere? You may not even be aware of your current host’s vulnerabilities in an industry where each week there is news about a host going down for one reason or another. Your first problem is narrowing the thousands of choices down to a few that you can research further. Seek friends or associates that have a web site and ask for their advice. Visit one of the many forums about web hosting, ask the members for advice or search threads from those that have asked before you. Once you’ve located a few hosts to research, the ten questions below will take you a long way towards making an informed decision. You may be able to find many of the answers to these questions on the hosts’ web sites, but always feel free to call the host and quiz them about their operations. The quality of the answers and degree of professionalism you get from a potential host often transfers to the type of support you’ll receive once you become a customer. Without further ado, the ten question to ask your web host:1. How long has the web host been in business?2. Does the web host own its data center?3. How many upstream Internet providers does the web host have?4. Does the web host monitor its customers’ sites twenty-four hours per day? How?5. Does the web host provide 24/7/365 phone and email support?6. What levels of redundancy does the web host’s architecture provide?7. Does the web host automatically backup customer web sites in case of data loss? How often?8. What is the web host’s billing policy?9. Does the web host provide the features that you need for your web site?10. Does the web host have the products and services to handle your growth?1. How long has the web host been in business?The length of time that a host has been in business can be related to their ability to provide a quality, reliable product. If your host can satisfy its customers, then those customers are likely to stick with the host’s service. Therefore, stay in business. There are, of course, situations where this is not applicable or becomes a bit hazy. Be sure to also inquire about whether a host has recently been involved in a merger, acquired what was once a well-known brand name, or launched a new brand. If any of these apply, then delve deeper into the story behind what has happened and determine whether quality resources are still with the company.• Complete a domain name “whois” lookup on the web host: http://www.internic.net/whois.html. Type in the web host’s domain name and determine what year the domain was registered. If only registered in the recent past, ask the host about it. If the domain name was recently registered this is not necessarily a red flag. Simply inquire with the host about it. They may have recently launched an affinity-based brand to cater to your market.• Type the host’s name into a search engine and check out the results that you get, other than those from the host itself. You may run across reviews, interviews, or industry articles about the host.2. Does the web host own its data center?A data center is the foundation from which all products and services are built upon. If your host owns its own data center, then they are likely quite entrenched in the hosting business. They also have an experienced staff and knowledge base from which to draw from when supporting your web site and building new products. In other words, if a host owns its own facility, then it controls more of the variables that can make or break your web presence.3. How many upstream Internet providers does the web host have?Your web site performance is not just a measure of your web server's speed. The ability of your web host to route traffic through the cleanest Internet connections is also of great importance. It is crucial that your provider have multiple connections to the Internet. Accidental fiber cuts in construction or telecom work and data center equipment failure can cause your site to go offline for an extended amount of time. This can be avoided if your web host has other connections to the Internet that will reroute traffic that would have normally been carried on the failed circuit. Yes, this means your host must also have extra capacity on hand to handle normal traffic levels when one connection is lost; which is another area where a host can attempt to cut cost. This is much like when driving your car, there are several streets that you can take to get to your desired destination. Sometimes you will encounter construction or an accident that will require you to take an alternative street. Well, the Internet works the same way. There are several routes that traffic can take to a destination. Your host should be able to choose the cleanest, or most efficient, route to your web site visitor. In fact, your host should be able to continually tune these routes to find the best path to your visitors. Another way to achieve this is by minimizing the number of different networks traffic will pass through before reaching its destination. It is extremely important for your host to have direct connections to networks that have lots of eyeballs. In other words, your web site will be served better if your web host is using connections with networks that facilitate Internet access to large volumes of subscribers.4. Does the web host monitor its customers’ sites twenty-four hours per day? How?There are a couple of factors that can influence the answer to this question. Does the host own its own data center? If not, then they are physically removed from their servers and likely paying a co-location company to provide monitoring for them. When another company controls the environmental systems that provide the home for the host, one can argue that you’ve created another potential point of failure; that being the communication of an issue from the data center to the web host. That point of failure can increase the latency between an issue and its resolution, resulting in increased downtime for your web site. Second, if your web host has an issue with its own infrastructure, then there may be travel time associated with their engineers getting to the data center to resolve it or, once again, increased latency by trying to remotely resolve an issue.5. Does the web host provide 24/7/365 toll free phone and email support?You might be surprised at how many web hosts don’t provide 24/7/365 support. The industry’s hosts run the gamut from only email support to providing phone and email support 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. The best way to eliminate not having support when you need it, is to choose a host that can assist you whenever you need it. When an idea wakes you from a slumber at 3 A.M., it’s nice to have your host on the other end of the phone to discuss it. When your site malfunctions due to a programming glitch the night before your store is to open, it’s wonderful to have your web host on the phone to decipher the issue with you. When your cat accidentally deletes some important files, know that your host is there to help recover them. Also make sure that your host is providing support over the major holidays. Many web hosts will close their support center, decrease their support to only email, or send their support team home with a pager to be called in case of emergency. All of these decreases can create latency if your web site goes offline. And, holidays are often days which persons will spend time on the Internet after they’ve completed all of their social plans. Matter of fact, word-of-mouth business is one of the most effective means to customer acquisition. When people get together, they exchange ideas.6. What levels of redundancy does the web host provide?Failures that cause your site to lose connection can happen. Therefore, it's crucial to find a provider whose hosting architecture provides the least-risk of failure. Redundancy is necessary. Single points of failure are very bad, but many hosts attempt to cut costs by risking single points of failure. Ask your web host about their redundancy in server architecture (web, email, and DNS servers), load-balancing, and file storage.A web server is the hardware and software combination that serves requested web pages, files, or other information. Servers answer requests from web browsers to provide information from web sites, email, and databases. They then send that information to the requesting browser. Load balancing divides the amount of work that a server has to do between multiple servers, which also adds redundancy, so that more work gets done in the same amount of time and, in general, all web sites requests within the network get served faster. The load balancers stay in constant contact with the servers to determine how busy they are and/or if one of them has failed. It may sound like a no-brainer, but having your site connected to the Internet is the whole reason for having a web site and a load-balanced, redundant network is vital to that endeavor.Has your email server ever been down? Redundancy is also vital for email and DNS servers. A Domain Name System (DNS) server translates requests to locate a web site. As you can imagine, keeping email and DNS servers online is a mission-critical task for a web host. For file storage, seek a host that uses a reliable storage solution with multiple auto-fail over and hot-swappable drives to ensure continuous delivery of your web site.7. Does the web host automatically backup customer web sites in case of data loss? How often?Backing up web sites should be a routine part of your web host’s operation. Backup is the activity of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case of equipment failure or any other catastrophe.8. What is the web host’s billing policy?Look for a web host that provides a money-back guarantee. This will allow you to try out the host’s service. Should you find that the service is sub-par in site performance, reliability, or lacking the features that you seek, the ability to request your money back, within the parameters of the guarantee, is priceless and liable to save you from later trouble. It is always a good to idea to inquire about the web host’s cancellation procedures. There are many out there who require you to send them an email or make a phone call to cancel, which can extend the time frame to cancellation. A host who is confident in their service will have a cancellation form or online avenue within their control panel. Now, they will likely also have a retention program, so don’t be surprised when they call or email you to ask why you are leaving. After all, your feedback helps them to evaluate their service.9. Does the web host provide the features that you need for your web site?Sometimes people choose a host because it has the exact feature set that they need, but later find that feature set means nothing when access to those features is unreliable. Make sure that a host has your desired features and is also reliable. To make sure that the host you are evaluating has everything you need, use the following list:• A domain name, but be sure to look for hidden registration fees or renewal fees• An ample amount of versatile email accounts including web-based, POP3, and IMAP• Email spam filtering and virus protection are a must these days, unless you are providing this on your own• Enough disk space to meet your site’s needs• Monthly bandwidth allotments that will cover your traffic and the ability to increase that allotment based on your site’s success• Site building tools such as extensions for FrontPage or other online/downloadable site building programs• Ease of upload to your site via FTP or other means• Access to a robust traffic analysis program or the raw logs for you to process yourself• Programming languages, including CGI, PHP, MIVA (if needed)• Ecommerce shopping cart alternatives• Database capability, dependant upon your application preference10. Does the web host have the products and services to handle your growth?You might be surprised how many sites that once started for fun or as a hobby have grown into some of the most popular sites on the Internet. Hence, you never know when you’ll outgrow your current product or service and need to move up the ladder to the next rung. Make sure that your web host can meet your anticipated growth, not only within the product range of shared hosting, but should you ever need a dedicated server or co-location solution, your host is there to discuss and provide the best solution.Do your homework by using the above questions as a template and you will likely save yourself some major headaches down the road. If you’ve gathered information about multiple hosts, you can now compare apples to apples and decide on the best host for your needs. Hopefully, the work that you’ve done will avoid forcing you to use your gut, but rather make an informed decision based on the facts. Perhaps, the best piece advice that you will find in any article or forum about choosing a host is, if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
So, you’re looking to build a web site or so fed up with your current web host that you are desperate to transfer your site elsewhere? You may not even be aware of your current host’s vulnerabilities in an industry where each week there is news about a host going down for one reason or another. Your first problem is narrowing the thousands of choices down to a few that you can research further. Seek friends or associates that have a web site and ask for their advice. Visit one of the many forums about web hosting, ask the members for advice or search threads from those that have asked before you. Once you’ve located a few hosts to research, the ten questions below will take you a long way towards making an informed decision. You may be able to find many of the answers to these questions on the hosts’ web sites, but always feel free to call the host and quiz them about their operations. The quality of the answers and degree of professionalism you get from a potential host often transfers to the type of support you’ll receive once you become a customer. Without further ado, the ten question to ask your web host:1. How long has the web host been in business?2. Does the web host own its data center?3. How many upstream Internet providers does the web host have?4. Does the web host monitor its customers’ sites twenty-four hours per day? How?5. Does the web host provide 24/7/365 phone and email support?6. What levels of redundancy does the web host’s architecture provide?7. Does the web host automatically backup customer web sites in case of data loss? How often?8. What is the web host’s billing policy?9. Does the web host provide the features that you need for your web site?10. Does the web host have the products and services to handle your growth?1. How long has the web host been in business?The length of time that a host has been in business can be related to their ability to provide a quality, reliable product. If your host can satisfy its customers, then those customers are likely to stick with the host’s service. Therefore, stay in business. There are, of course, situations where this is not applicable or becomes a bit hazy. Be sure to also inquire about whether a host has recently been involved in a merger, acquired what was once a well-known brand name, or launched a new brand. If any of these apply, then delve deeper into the story behind what has happened and determine whether quality resources are still with the company.• Complete a domain name “whois” lookup on the web host: http://www.internic.net/whois.html. Type in the web host’s domain name and determine what year the domain was registered. If only registered in the recent past, ask the host about it. If the domain name was recently registered this is not necessarily a red flag. Simply inquire with the host about it. They may have recently launched an affinity-based brand to cater to your market.• Type the host’s name into a search engine and check out the results that you get, other than those from the host itself. You may run across reviews, interviews, or industry articles about the host.2. Does the web host own its data center?A data center is the foundation from which all products and services are built upon. If your host owns its own data center, then they are likely quite entrenched in the hosting business. They also have an experienced staff and knowledge base from which to draw from when supporting your web site and building new products. In other words, if a host owns its own facility, then it controls more of the variables that can make or break your web presence.3. How many upstream Internet providers does the web host have?Your web site performance is not just a measure of your web server's speed. The ability of your web host to route traffic through the cleanest Internet connections is also of great importance. It is crucial that your provider have multiple connections to the Internet. Accidental fiber cuts in construction or telecom work and data center equipment failure can cause your site to go offline for an extended amount of time. This can be avoided if your web host has other connections to the Internet that will reroute traffic that would have normally been carried on the failed circuit. Yes, this means your host must also have extra capacity on hand to handle normal traffic levels when one connection is lost; which is another area where a host can attempt to cut cost. This is much like when driving your car, there are several streets that you can take to get to your desired destination. Sometimes you will encounter construction or an accident that will require you to take an alternative street. Well, the Internet works the same way. There are several routes that traffic can take to a destination. Your host should be able to choose the cleanest, or most efficient, route to your web site visitor. In fact, your host should be able to continually tune these routes to find the best path to your visitors. Another way to achieve this is by minimizing the number of different networks traffic will pass through before reaching its destination. It is extremely important for your host to have direct connections to networks that have lots of eyeballs. In other words, your web site will be served better if your web host is using connections with networks that facilitate Internet access to large volumes of subscribers.4. Does the web host monitor its customers’ sites twenty-four hours per day? How?There are a couple of factors that can influence the answer to this question. Does the host own its own data center? If not, then they are physically removed from their servers and likely paying a co-location company to provide monitoring for them. When another company controls the environmental systems that provide the home for the host, one can argue that you’ve created another potential point of failure; that being the communication of an issue from the data center to the web host. That point of failure can increase the latency between an issue and its resolution, resulting in increased downtime for your web site. Second, if your web host has an issue with its own infrastructure, then there may be travel time associated with their engineers getting to the data center to resolve it or, once again, increased latency by trying to remotely resolve an issue.5. Does the web host provide 24/7/365 toll free phone and email support?You might be surprised at how many web hosts don’t provide 24/7/365 support. The industry’s hosts run the gamut from only email support to providing phone and email support 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. The best way to eliminate not having support when you need it, is to choose a host that can assist you whenever you need it. When an idea wakes you from a slumber at 3 A.M., it’s nice to have your host on the other end of the phone to discuss it. When your site malfunctions due to a programming glitch the night before your store is to open, it’s wonderful to have your web host on the phone to decipher the issue with you. When your cat accidentally deletes some important files, know that your host is there to help recover them. Also make sure that your host is providing support over the major holidays. Many web hosts will close their support center, decrease their support to only email, or send their support team home with a pager to be called in case of emergency. All of these decreases can create latency if your web site goes offline. And, holidays are often days which persons will spend time on the Internet after they’ve completed all of their social plans. Matter of fact, word-of-mouth business is one of the most effective means to customer acquisition. When people get together, they exchange ideas.6. What levels of redundancy does the web host provide?Failures that cause your site to lose connection can happen. Therefore, it's crucial to find a provider whose hosting architecture provides the least-risk of failure. Redundancy is necessary. Single points of failure are very bad, but many hosts attempt to cut costs by risking single points of failure. Ask your web host about their redundancy in server architecture (web, email, and DNS servers), load-balancing, and file storage.A web server is the hardware and software combination that serves requested web pages, files, or other information. Servers answer requests from web browsers to provide information from web sites, email, and databases. They then send that information to the requesting browser. Load balancing divides the amount of work that a server has to do between multiple servers, which also adds redundancy, so that more work gets done in the same amount of time and, in general, all web sites requests within the network get served faster. The load balancers stay in constant contact with the servers to determine how busy they are and/or if one of them has failed. It may sound like a no-brainer, but having your site connected to the Internet is the whole reason for having a web site and a load-balanced, redundant network is vital to that endeavor.Has your email server ever been down? Redundancy is also vital for email and DNS servers. A Domain Name System (DNS) server translates requests to locate a web site. As you can imagine, keeping email and DNS servers online is a mission-critical task for a web host. For file storage, seek a host that uses a reliable storage solution with multiple auto-fail over and hot-swappable drives to ensure continuous delivery of your web site.7. Does the web host automatically backup customer web sites in case of data loss? How often?Backing up web sites should be a routine part of your web host’s operation. Backup is the activity of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case of equipment failure or any other catastrophe.8. What is the web host’s billing policy?Look for a web host that provides a money-back guarantee. This will allow you to try out the host’s service. Should you find that the service is sub-par in site performance, reliability, or lacking the features that you seek, the ability to request your money back, within the parameters of the guarantee, is priceless and liable to save you from later trouble. It is always a good to idea to inquire about the web host’s cancellation procedures. There are many out there who require you to send them an email or make a phone call to cancel, which can extend the time frame to cancellation. A host who is confident in their service will have a cancellation form or online avenue within their control panel. Now, they will likely also have a retention program, so don’t be surprised when they call or email you to ask why you are leaving. After all, your feedback helps them to evaluate their service.9. Does the web host provide the features that you need for your web site?Sometimes people choose a host because it has the exact feature set that they need, but later find that feature set means nothing when access to those features is unreliable. Make sure that a host has your desired features and is also reliable. To make sure that the host you are evaluating has everything you need, use the following list:• A domain name, but be sure to look for hidden registration fees or renewal fees• An ample amount of versatile email accounts including web-based, POP3, and IMAP• Email spam filtering and virus protection are a must these days, unless you are providing this on your own• Enough disk space to meet your site’s needs• Monthly bandwidth allotments that will cover your traffic and the ability to increase that allotment based on your site’s success• Site building tools such as extensions for FrontPage or other online/downloadable site building programs• Ease of upload to your site via FTP or other means• Access to a robust traffic analysis program or the raw logs for you to process yourself• Programming languages, including CGI, PHP, MIVA (if needed)• Ecommerce shopping cart alternatives• Database capability, dependant upon your application preference10. Does the web host have the products and services to handle your growth?You might be surprised how many sites that once started for fun or as a hobby have grown into some of the most popular sites on the Internet. Hence, you never know when you’ll outgrow your current product or service and need to move up the ladder to the next rung. Make sure that your web host can meet your anticipated growth, not only within the product range of shared hosting, but should you ever need a dedicated server or co-location solution, your host is there to discuss and provide the best solution.Do your homework by using the above questions as a template and you will likely save yourself some major headaches down the road. If you’ve gathered information about multiple hosts, you can now compare apples to apples and decide on the best host for your needs. Hopefully, the work that you’ve done will avoid forcing you to use your gut, but rather make an informed decision based on the facts. Perhaps, the best piece advice that you will find in any article or forum about choosing a host is, if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
9 Steps to Protect your MS Windows System from Viruses
by: Evgeny Kovalenko
Nowadays as the Internet and other networks are greatly developed computer viruses are distributed rapidly and intensively. Everyday several new viruses capable to damage considerably your computer system arise. Anti-virus specialists work hardly to make updates their software against new viruses as soon as possible. The viruses can get inside computer in different ways. That is why there is no simple method to protect system. Only series of measures can give you reliable protection from the infection. Below are 9 steps to protect MS Windows based PC system from viruses.1. Make regular backups. It should be said that there is no absolutely safe way of protection. Virus creators regularly find holes in new computer products to use them for infection of computer systems. Some dangerous viruses can considerably damage data files or even erase entire file system. Make regular backups of your data files to separate file storage device. It can be separate hard drive, flash card, compact disc or another file storage device which you choose. To ease the procedure you can use some automatic backup software. And be ready if the system will die because of virus infection. 2. Be ready to reinstall your system if it dies because of viruses. Get distributives of your operation system and distributives of software which you use and keep them together, for instance, on a set of CDs not far away from you. In this case if virus infection will cause unrecoverable system failure you can rapidly reinstall your working medium.3. Protect your network connection with Firewall. Firewall is a software which blocks suspicious potentially dangerous connections to preventing viruses from network to penetrate into your system. Windows XP system has quit simple but reliable built-in firewall. You can enable it as follows. 1) in Control Panel, double-click Networking and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections. 2) Right-click the connection on which you would like to enable firewall, and then click Properties. 3) On the Advanced tab, check the option to Protect my computer and network.If you need more flexible control of connections with network you can get and install more advanced firewall software like Norton Personal Firewall or Outpost Firewall. If you use this software you have ability to permit or to block particular connections and to monitor network activity.4. Use antivirus software. Install antivirus software which will scan your system searching and erasing viruses on a regular basis. Leaders in antivirus software products for Windows systems are Norton Antivirus, McAfee, Kaspersky Anti-Virus and PC-cilin.5. Regularly update operating system. Windows XP has built-in automatic update service. It regularly contacts Microsoft server to find updates and notifies you if updates are ready to be installed. Updates are important because hackers regularly find holes in operating system which are often used by virus creators.6. Don't install and don't run suspicious software. Check new programs which you are going to install with anti-virus software. Don't download software from suspicious websites. To download software always seek website of software creator or official distributor. Do not open applications received by email from unknown persons.7. Limit access to your computer.Protect enter to system with password.8. If you use Internet Explorer, consider moving to another browser. As IE is the most distributed browser today virus creators actively use defects in its security system to infect computers. Infection may arise if you will visit webpage which contains invisible harmful code. You are more safe if you use less known browser only because virus creators do not pay much attention to it. Major IE competitors Firefox and Opera browsers provide now the same comfortable interface and range of services for working on the Web.9. Use spam protection.Viruses are often distributed via email. Switch on spam filters in your email box to block spam receiving. If you need assistance with using of the filters you can ask your email service provider.
Nowadays as the Internet and other networks are greatly developed computer viruses are distributed rapidly and intensively. Everyday several new viruses capable to damage considerably your computer system arise. Anti-virus specialists work hardly to make updates their software against new viruses as soon as possible. The viruses can get inside computer in different ways. That is why there is no simple method to protect system. Only series of measures can give you reliable protection from the infection. Below are 9 steps to protect MS Windows based PC system from viruses.1. Make regular backups. It should be said that there is no absolutely safe way of protection. Virus creators regularly find holes in new computer products to use them for infection of computer systems. Some dangerous viruses can considerably damage data files or even erase entire file system. Make regular backups of your data files to separate file storage device. It can be separate hard drive, flash card, compact disc or another file storage device which you choose. To ease the procedure you can use some automatic backup software. And be ready if the system will die because of virus infection. 2. Be ready to reinstall your system if it dies because of viruses. Get distributives of your operation system and distributives of software which you use and keep them together, for instance, on a set of CDs not far away from you. In this case if virus infection will cause unrecoverable system failure you can rapidly reinstall your working medium.3. Protect your network connection with Firewall. Firewall is a software which blocks suspicious potentially dangerous connections to preventing viruses from network to penetrate into your system. Windows XP system has quit simple but reliable built-in firewall. You can enable it as follows. 1) in Control Panel, double-click Networking and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections. 2) Right-click the connection on which you would like to enable firewall, and then click Properties. 3) On the Advanced tab, check the option to Protect my computer and network.If you need more flexible control of connections with network you can get and install more advanced firewall software like Norton Personal Firewall or Outpost Firewall. If you use this software you have ability to permit or to block particular connections and to monitor network activity.4. Use antivirus software. Install antivirus software which will scan your system searching and erasing viruses on a regular basis. Leaders in antivirus software products for Windows systems are Norton Antivirus, McAfee, Kaspersky Anti-Virus and PC-cilin.5. Regularly update operating system. Windows XP has built-in automatic update service. It regularly contacts Microsoft server to find updates and notifies you if updates are ready to be installed. Updates are important because hackers regularly find holes in operating system which are often used by virus creators.6. Don't install and don't run suspicious software. Check new programs which you are going to install with anti-virus software. Don't download software from suspicious websites. To download software always seek website of software creator or official distributor. Do not open applications received by email from unknown persons.7. Limit access to your computer.Protect enter to system with password.8. If you use Internet Explorer, consider moving to another browser. As IE is the most distributed browser today virus creators actively use defects in its security system to infect computers. Infection may arise if you will visit webpage which contains invisible harmful code. You are more safe if you use less known browser only because virus creators do not pay much attention to it. Major IE competitors Firefox and Opera browsers provide now the same comfortable interface and range of services for working on the Web.9. Use spam protection.Viruses are often distributed via email. Switch on spam filters in your email box to block spam receiving. If you need assistance with using of the filters you can ask your email service provider.
The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should Ignore by Kai Chandler
by: Kai Chandler
The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should IgnoreThe internet is undoubtedly a fantastic resource forfamilies and offers a rich vein of educational content. However, there are potential dangers - welcome to theseedy world of viruses, spam, trojans, pornography, spywareand other nasties. Here are the Top Twelve Threats No Computer User ShouldIgnore: 1. Viruses - A computer program that copies itself. Theyoften disrupt your computer system or damage your data.Viruses are usually received by email attachments so becareful opening anything from a dubious source. They canaffect anyone, for example, the destructive Mydoom wormaffected one out of three small and mid-sized businesses.2. Spyware - Sends information about you and your computerto somebody else. Spyware may send the addresses of sitesyou have visited or worse still, transmit personalinformation. With today's concerns about identify theftthis is a real worry. For example, CoolWebSearch may hijackweb searches, home page, and other Internet Explorersettings. Spyware is normally received as part of sharewareor freeware downloaded from the web.3. IP Spoofing - A technique to gain unauthorized accessto computers, whereby the intruder sends messages to acomputer with an address indicating that the message iscoming from a trusted host.4. Trojans - An apparently legitimate computer programthat is really intended to disrupt and damage computeractivity by sending information, perhaps even passwordsonto a third party without you knowing. As an example,recent emails entitled "Osama Bin Laden Captured" attemptedto download the "Trj/Small.B." Trojan if the embedded URLwas clicked. This trojan attempts to hijack the PC.5. Spam - Unsolicited mail often promoting products of adubious financial or sexual nature. Don't leave your emailaddress on websites and internet bulletin boards as theyare harvested by spammers.6. Adware - puts advertisements on your screen. These takemany forms including popups, popunders and advertisementsthat appear later, even if your browser is closed. Some aresent using the Windows Messenger service which allows aspammer to direct an advertisement straight to yourcomputer by sequentially sending messages to IP addresses.Always irritating, they are also often of a pornographicnature.7. Diallers - for those of us still with dial up modems,dialler programs redirect calls to a very expensive number.You won't know until you get the bill.8. Hijackers - Hijackers take control of your web browserand may reset your home page, search bar and search pages.They can redirect you to undesirable sites or stop yougoing to particular sites.9. Hackers - With so much personal data available onlineto anyone with a password you must be sure your password issecure. If you are using your mother's maiden name, yourcat's name or your birthday then your password is at risk.Here are two tips for making a secure password. Method One -pick two random unrelated three letter words and twodigits. Mix them up and what do you have? A secure passwordsuch as "red19cat" or "hotpin73". Method Two - pick a shortsequence of words such as Now Is The Winter Of OurDiscontent Made Glorious' and you have a password of"nitwoodmg". You could even change the I's and O's todigits.10. Phishing - Emails purporting to come from reliablesources such as Paypal, Ebay or your bank. Often wantingyou to verify your account details, they can look veryrealistic but are generally scams to harvest usernames andpasswords. Always open a new browser winder and type theaddress there, rather than clicking on the link provided.11. Hoaxes - Chain letters, scams, false alarms. At bestthey take up time and bandwidth but at worst vulnerable canbe victims of fraud. Pass it on!12. Stranger-danger - For those of us with children - doyou know what they actually do when they are online? Arethey working on homework tasks, downloading illegal musicor pornography? Or are they chatting to strangers in chatrooms? You should consider blocking access to undesirablesites and logging their activity with a surveillance tool.Oh, and don't forget that where children are concerned,computers should always be kept in a family room and neverin their bedroom.Three Step Action PlanThere are three essential steps that should be taken toensure your PC is kept threat-free.Firstly, be sensible when opening attachments or followingemail instructions from apparently reputable sites.Secondly, make sure you are using the latest service packof Windows as Microsoft is continually closing loopholes totighten up security.Finally, there's a range of low cost tools such asfirewalls, antivirus, spam blockers and spyware killersavailable. Like everything else they vary in quality andyou tend to get what you pay for so always do your researchfirst and perhaps try a free trial before getting yourcredit card out.http://www.surfcontrols.com specializes in providingreviews and recommendations of top-rated tools to helpprotect your online experience. There's a quick referencelist to dozens of top sites promoting different aspects ofsafe surfing packed with useful information and there'salso a great set of top tips for safe surfing.Copyright Kai Chandler (#12t5109)
The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should IgnoreThe internet is undoubtedly a fantastic resource forfamilies and offers a rich vein of educational content. However, there are potential dangers - welcome to theseedy world of viruses, spam, trojans, pornography, spywareand other nasties. Here are the Top Twelve Threats No Computer User ShouldIgnore: 1. Viruses - A computer program that copies itself. Theyoften disrupt your computer system or damage your data.Viruses are usually received by email attachments so becareful opening anything from a dubious source. They canaffect anyone, for example, the destructive Mydoom wormaffected one out of three small and mid-sized businesses.2. Spyware - Sends information about you and your computerto somebody else. Spyware may send the addresses of sitesyou have visited or worse still, transmit personalinformation. With today's concerns about identify theftthis is a real worry. For example, CoolWebSearch may hijackweb searches, home page, and other Internet Explorersettings. Spyware is normally received as part of sharewareor freeware downloaded from the web.3. IP Spoofing - A technique to gain unauthorized accessto computers, whereby the intruder sends messages to acomputer with an address indicating that the message iscoming from a trusted host.4. Trojans - An apparently legitimate computer programthat is really intended to disrupt and damage computeractivity by sending information, perhaps even passwordsonto a third party without you knowing. As an example,recent emails entitled "Osama Bin Laden Captured" attemptedto download the "Trj/Small.B." Trojan if the embedded URLwas clicked. This trojan attempts to hijack the PC.5. Spam - Unsolicited mail often promoting products of adubious financial or sexual nature. Don't leave your emailaddress on websites and internet bulletin boards as theyare harvested by spammers.6. Adware - puts advertisements on your screen. These takemany forms including popups, popunders and advertisementsthat appear later, even if your browser is closed. Some aresent using the Windows Messenger service which allows aspammer to direct an advertisement straight to yourcomputer by sequentially sending messages to IP addresses.Always irritating, they are also often of a pornographicnature.7. Diallers - for those of us still with dial up modems,dialler programs redirect calls to a very expensive number.You won't know until you get the bill.8. Hijackers - Hijackers take control of your web browserand may reset your home page, search bar and search pages.They can redirect you to undesirable sites or stop yougoing to particular sites.9. Hackers - With so much personal data available onlineto anyone with a password you must be sure your password issecure. If you are using your mother's maiden name, yourcat's name or your birthday then your password is at risk.Here are two tips for making a secure password. Method One -pick two random unrelated three letter words and twodigits. Mix them up and what do you have? A secure passwordsuch as "red19cat" or "hotpin73". Method Two - pick a shortsequence of words such as Now Is The Winter Of OurDiscontent Made Glorious' and you have a password of"nitwoodmg". You could even change the I's and O's todigits.10. Phishing - Emails purporting to come from reliablesources such as Paypal, Ebay or your bank. Often wantingyou to verify your account details, they can look veryrealistic but are generally scams to harvest usernames andpasswords. Always open a new browser winder and type theaddress there, rather than clicking on the link provided.11. Hoaxes - Chain letters, scams, false alarms. At bestthey take up time and bandwidth but at worst vulnerable canbe victims of fraud. Pass it on!12. Stranger-danger - For those of us with children - doyou know what they actually do when they are online? Arethey working on homework tasks, downloading illegal musicor pornography? Or are they chatting to strangers in chatrooms? You should consider blocking access to undesirablesites and logging their activity with a surveillance tool.Oh, and don't forget that where children are concerned,computers should always be kept in a family room and neverin their bedroom.Three Step Action PlanThere are three essential steps that should be taken toensure your PC is kept threat-free.Firstly, be sensible when opening attachments or followingemail instructions from apparently reputable sites.Secondly, make sure you are using the latest service packof Windows as Microsoft is continually closing loopholes totighten up security.Finally, there's a range of low cost tools such asfirewalls, antivirus, spam blockers and spyware killersavailable. Like everything else they vary in quality andyou tend to get what you pay for so always do your researchfirst and perhaps try a free trial before getting yourcredit card out.http://www.surfcontrols.com specializes in providingreviews and recommendations of top-rated tools to helpprotect your online experience. There's a quick referencelist to dozens of top sites promoting different aspects ofsafe surfing packed with useful information and there'salso a great set of top tips for safe surfing.Copyright Kai Chandler (#12t5109)
Tops in toolbars?
by: Jakob Jelling
Most internet marketers are aware of, and probably use, the Google Toolbar. After all, it has been the only indicator of Google's PageRank number that has been assigned to a given web page. Whether the number is accurate, important, or even updated any more is a matter of debate on the marketing forums. But the only feature that was really worthwhile for more casual surfers, other than being able to use the Google search box directly, was the popup window blocker feature, which oddly enough, is the least favorite feature of many an internet marketer. But for many surfers now, the Yahoo Toolbar may well be a better choice. A 3 megabyte download for computers running Windows 98 or higher and Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, the Yahoo Toolbar not only offers greater interactivity with Yahoo and My Yahoo, but now offers some benefits for your PC as well. In addition, to the Search Yahoo box and quick access to Yahoo News, email, and bookmarks, the Yahoo Toolbar offers a Pop-Up blocker, and perhaps even more importantly for many surfers these days, Anti-Spy, to detect and remove spyware from the user's PC. Yahoo even has an anti-spyware community that is tied in with the Anti-Spy software on the Yahoo Toolbar. Many people prefer Google for search, feeling that it offers better results with fewer "spammy" sites while Yahoo search is going through a rebirth. However, many surfers prefer the amazing My Yahoo portal, that offers email, calendar, notes, and multiple news and information pages that you can customize just about any way you like. Since it offers such quick and easy access to My Yahoo, in addition to a Pop-Up Blocker and Anti-Spy, the Yahoo Toolbar may be worthy of a place on your browser controls. Even if it means you have to type in the name of your favorite search engine!
Most internet marketers are aware of, and probably use, the Google Toolbar. After all, it has been the only indicator of Google's PageRank number that has been assigned to a given web page. Whether the number is accurate, important, or even updated any more is a matter of debate on the marketing forums. But the only feature that was really worthwhile for more casual surfers, other than being able to use the Google search box directly, was the popup window blocker feature, which oddly enough, is the least favorite feature of many an internet marketer. But for many surfers now, the Yahoo Toolbar may well be a better choice. A 3 megabyte download for computers running Windows 98 or higher and Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, the Yahoo Toolbar not only offers greater interactivity with Yahoo and My Yahoo, but now offers some benefits for your PC as well. In addition, to the Search Yahoo box and quick access to Yahoo News, email, and bookmarks, the Yahoo Toolbar offers a Pop-Up blocker, and perhaps even more importantly for many surfers these days, Anti-Spy, to detect and remove spyware from the user's PC. Yahoo even has an anti-spyware community that is tied in with the Anti-Spy software on the Yahoo Toolbar. Many people prefer Google for search, feeling that it offers better results with fewer "spammy" sites while Yahoo search is going through a rebirth. However, many surfers prefer the amazing My Yahoo portal, that offers email, calendar, notes, and multiple news and information pages that you can customize just about any way you like. Since it offers such quick and easy access to My Yahoo, in addition to a Pop-Up Blocker and Anti-Spy, the Yahoo Toolbar may be worthy of a place on your browser controls. Even if it means you have to type in the name of your favorite search engine!
Does Your PC Have Worms?
by: Joel Walsh
Worms aren't just for dogs anymore. Find out how to inoculate your computer against these nasty parasites.What Are Worms?Worms are descended from viruses and are even nastier. Just as ever stronger doses of pesticide breed ever more resilient locusts, better and better anti-spyware software bred ever more devious viruses.Finally, some virus designers stopped having their creations infect and take over files the way real viruses infect and take over cells. Instead, they created programs that could stand on their own and cause plenty of trouble without the help of any other software applications. Just worms are independent organisms that can infect a host directly, so do computer worms infect computers directly.What Do Worms Do?Worm designers are often even more sinister than virus designers, since worm designers are not just vandals. Worm designers often use their creations to achieve specific goals:• Backdoor creation. Worms often try to set up another kind of malware, a backdoor. A backdoor is a hidden opening in your network connection that lets the worm send data out and take data in. Practically speaking, the data it's sending out are often spam emails, and the data it takes in are instructions on spam emails to send.• Denial of service attack. Some worm designers really are vandals rather than profit-hungry con artists sending spam. But their vandalism can be more targeted. They use worms to send out numerous requests to remote computers, such as web servers, in order to overwhelm them and therefore shut them down. This is called a denial of service attack.• Spyware, Trojan, adware, and virus installation. Worms are often used simply to unleash other forms of malware on a computer that might otherwise block them.• Information theft and fraud.Worms can multitask in order to set up spyware that gathers sensitive information--often financial information--and then set up backdoors, Trojans, viruses, or dialers to disseminate the stolen data.How Do Worms End Up on a PC?Worms enter PCs just as viruses, spyware and other malware do: any way they can! Some favorite points of entry for worms:• Websites can actually download software to your computer without you realizing it. This software includes not only worms, but also spyware, adware, viruses, and other malware. These malware programs find their way into websites either by the deliberate design of the site owner or because hackers have installed the software on the website's server.• Peer-to-peer file-sharing networkscontain many nice-enough-looking files that are really worms. One of the sneakiest disguises is a filename that indicates the spyware is really a video of a beautiful actress.• Email, the favored route of viruses, can still be exploited by Spyware. But since new email programs usually block the automatic opening of file attachments, this is less of a problem than it used to be.• Any internet connection inevitably lets data flow both in and out, and so is vulnerable to attacks by worms.How Do You Get Rid of Worms?There's really only one good way to make sure your computer is rid of worms: scan it with multiple antivirus and anti-spyware programs using a full-system scan. Worms are tricky, so anything less than a full-system scan might let them escape. Worse, with new worms coming out all the time, some antivirus and anti-spyware packages may not even know about a new worm until after its wreaking havoc on your machine. That's why you should try using more than one antivirus program and more than one anti-spyware program to increase your odds of successfully detecting the malware.Don't have more than one anti-spyware and antivirus software? You'd better start downloading. After all, worms won't take excuses.
Worms aren't just for dogs anymore. Find out how to inoculate your computer against these nasty parasites.What Are Worms?Worms are descended from viruses and are even nastier. Just as ever stronger doses of pesticide breed ever more resilient locusts, better and better anti-spyware software bred ever more devious viruses.Finally, some virus designers stopped having their creations infect and take over files the way real viruses infect and take over cells. Instead, they created programs that could stand on their own and cause plenty of trouble without the help of any other software applications. Just worms are independent organisms that can infect a host directly, so do computer worms infect computers directly.What Do Worms Do?Worm designers are often even more sinister than virus designers, since worm designers are not just vandals. Worm designers often use their creations to achieve specific goals:• Backdoor creation. Worms often try to set up another kind of malware, a backdoor. A backdoor is a hidden opening in your network connection that lets the worm send data out and take data in. Practically speaking, the data it's sending out are often spam emails, and the data it takes in are instructions on spam emails to send.• Denial of service attack. Some worm designers really are vandals rather than profit-hungry con artists sending spam. But their vandalism can be more targeted. They use worms to send out numerous requests to remote computers, such as web servers, in order to overwhelm them and therefore shut them down. This is called a denial of service attack.• Spyware, Trojan, adware, and virus installation. Worms are often used simply to unleash other forms of malware on a computer that might otherwise block them.• Information theft and fraud.Worms can multitask in order to set up spyware that gathers sensitive information--often financial information--and then set up backdoors, Trojans, viruses, or dialers to disseminate the stolen data.How Do Worms End Up on a PC?Worms enter PCs just as viruses, spyware and other malware do: any way they can! Some favorite points of entry for worms:• Websites can actually download software to your computer without you realizing it. This software includes not only worms, but also spyware, adware, viruses, and other malware. These malware programs find their way into websites either by the deliberate design of the site owner or because hackers have installed the software on the website's server.• Peer-to-peer file-sharing networkscontain many nice-enough-looking files that are really worms. One of the sneakiest disguises is a filename that indicates the spyware is really a video of a beautiful actress.• Email, the favored route of viruses, can still be exploited by Spyware. But since new email programs usually block the automatic opening of file attachments, this is less of a problem than it used to be.• Any internet connection inevitably lets data flow both in and out, and so is vulnerable to attacks by worms.How Do You Get Rid of Worms?There's really only one good way to make sure your computer is rid of worms: scan it with multiple antivirus and anti-spyware programs using a full-system scan. Worms are tricky, so anything less than a full-system scan might let them escape. Worse, with new worms coming out all the time, some antivirus and anti-spyware packages may not even know about a new worm until after its wreaking havoc on your machine. That's why you should try using more than one antivirus program and more than one anti-spyware program to increase your odds of successfully detecting the malware.Don't have more than one anti-spyware and antivirus software? You'd better start downloading. After all, worms won't take excuses.
So, Is It Possible To Earn Free Money Online Fast?
by: Gerardas Norkus
The answer is - yes! You can earn free money online fast,even without any web site or affiliate marketing. You'llonly need to invest some of YOUR time and a small amount ofmoney. It doesn't matter if you are a stay-at-home Mom or Dad; acollege student or a teacher; someone looking for abusiness opportunity; saving up for something special; oryou just need to pay off some bills. The bottom line isthis - you could use an extra source of income, right? To begin here are some quick Questions & Answers you mayhave about free Internet cash: Q: How much money can I make? A: Several hundred. It depends only on YOU. Q: How fast? A: You'll have the money in your bank no later then 3months. Usually, on average it should take about 2 months. Q: Can anyone do it? Yes, but in this article I will explain how to earn freemoney online only if you are: from the USA, you have acredit card, and you can invest some small money in orderto make much, much more. ---------------SIDEBAR---------------If one thing is for sure, it's that nothing out there istotally free. (And if someone says it is, they're probablyselling something.) Whatever business online or offline -in order to make money you must invest some first. And Iwill tell you shortly where and how to do that. Just keepreading on...------------------------------------- Q: Is it safe to use my credit card? A: Yes, absolutely. Q: Must I have a web site or a list? A: Nope. If you are from the USA and if you have a creditcard, you can start earning free money online immediately. OK, enough of playing the questions and answers game. Youronly question left by now must be... Where And How Do I Get The Free Cash?The short answer is - using online rewards programs.Don't know what a rewards program is? A rewards programpays cash for all your actions: completing offers,shopping, reading emails, referring your friends, and more.You can visit http://www.cash4offers.com and see what atypical rewards program looks like and how it works. Now I guess there should be two categories of readers. Theinternet "newbies", who will say they don't understand howit all works; and the internet gurus who will say that allreward programs are scams. Wait! I will prove to you that they work in a moment; andthat you can make not only extra cash but receive somegreat stuff too. To get started making money with incentive companies, oneneeds to create an account with a rewards program likeCash4Offers. You will need an email address to sign up... Worried about your privacy and spam? Please don't! Theywill never send you spam, you can cancel anytime, and theemail address is only used to track all of your actionswhen you complete offers, shop, etc. That's how they knowwho to pay the free money. Hey, in most cases you will get a sign-up bonus just forsigning up! And now, I'll explain to you... How to Earn Free Money Online Completing Offers?Here is the Cash4Offers offers section link:http://www.cash4offers.com/offers.php?c=ALL&email=&uid= If you click on the above link you can see that there aremany various offers available, ranging from credit cardapplications to internet service provider deals. And, theyall will pay a certain amount of cash to your Cash4Offersaccount if you accept them... But, just to warn you, mostof the offers will require that you use your credit card.That's why I told you about the money you'll need to investin the beginning. Not to worry though, you can definitelymake more than you spend, and most of the offers are greattrial deals where you can receive not only free cash buttop merchandise too. There were total of 111 offers available when I wrote thisarticle on 22/11/2004. ---------------SIDEBAR---------------Make sure to log-in to your account and access the offersfrom the member's area when completing the offers so thatyour cash is credited to your account.------------------------------------- If you wonder where the free money comes from, here is theanswer - incentive companies are affiliated with top onlinemerchants (advertisers), and the merchants pay a commissionfor advertising their products and services. Rewardscompanies pass the majority of the commission they make onto YOU, the customer, when you accept their offers! And here is my promise to you... A Proof You Can Earn Free Money OnlinePlease open or download the following excel file to yourcomputer:http://www.cash4offers.com/offers_rewards.xls As you can see I have selected only the offers thatinterested me from the first 3 pages of all availableoffers at Cash4Offers. And look what my earnings potentialis -- I can make $65.40 after completing only 13 offers(approximately $5.00 for each offer), and receive a bunchof great merchandise too! Remember there were 111 offersavailable. Imagine how much I could earn if I completed allof the offers?! It doesn't matter if you have already signed up with arewards program or not, I advise you to explore allavailable offers and use the above excel file as a templatein order to evaluate your earnings potential. Just click oneach offer that interests you and make notes of all offerdetails - how much you earn, how much you have to invest,your profit, the merchandise you receive, and your totalprofit. Use the template every time you decide to completeoffers online. It really helps to decide which offers are the best choicefor you and what you will receive by completing each ofthem. Of course, although there are well over one hundredoffers available, you should complete only the ones thatreally interest you. You are not going to apply for allavailable credit card offers, or get a free trial of allISPs, are you? My guess is that you should be able to makeabout $200 - $500 by completing all of the offers thatinterest you. ---------------SIDEBAR---------------How long does it take to receive cash for completing theoffers? Well, some offers pay instantly! And some may takeup to 30 days (e.g. some credit card applications) beforeyou receive your cash to your reward program's account.------------------------------------- If you don't receive the cash from the offer within 30days of accepting it, you should contact the rewardsprogram and send them all of the details related to theoffer: 1. The date of offer completion 2. The confirmation email 3. Your contact info: name, email address, phone number etc.Usually the rewards company will do the investigation foryou and if you really completed the offer (offers) theywill credit your account with the offer cash amount withinabout 3 weeks. Got your cash in your account? Great! What's next? Now,the last step... Request Payment & Verify Your AccountWhy do reward programs ask you to verify your account byphone or mail? The answer is simply this - they are tryingto protect their advertisers and themselves from fraud. So, request your payment either by check or another methodif available, and expect a phone call several days beforeyour payment is processed. You should receive your paymentin about a week or two! Well, it was easy making free cash on the internet, wasn'tit? But your earning potential doesn't stop there, youcould make even more by receiving cash-back for shopping orreferring your friends. But that's another story for thenext article. P.S. FYI, you can choose to receive great free stuff likecomputers, TVs, gift cards and much more instead of freecash, again, by completing offers. Visit http://www.1st-in-rewards.com for more information about all available onlinerewards that you can take advantage of.
The answer is - yes! You can earn free money online fast,even without any web site or affiliate marketing. You'llonly need to invest some of YOUR time and a small amount ofmoney. It doesn't matter if you are a stay-at-home Mom or Dad; acollege student or a teacher; someone looking for abusiness opportunity; saving up for something special; oryou just need to pay off some bills. The bottom line isthis - you could use an extra source of income, right? To begin here are some quick Questions & Answers you mayhave about free Internet cash: Q: How much money can I make? A: Several hundred. It depends only on YOU. Q: How fast? A: You'll have the money in your bank no later then 3months. Usually, on average it should take about 2 months. Q: Can anyone do it? Yes, but in this article I will explain how to earn freemoney online only if you are: from the USA, you have acredit card, and you can invest some small money in orderto make much, much more. ---------------SIDEBAR---------------If one thing is for sure, it's that nothing out there istotally free. (And if someone says it is, they're probablyselling something.) Whatever business online or offline -in order to make money you must invest some first. And Iwill tell you shortly where and how to do that. Just keepreading on...------------------------------------- Q: Is it safe to use my credit card? A: Yes, absolutely. Q: Must I have a web site or a list? A: Nope. If you are from the USA and if you have a creditcard, you can start earning free money online immediately. OK, enough of playing the questions and answers game. Youronly question left by now must be... Where And How Do I Get The Free Cash?The short answer is - using online rewards programs.Don't know what a rewards program is? A rewards programpays cash for all your actions: completing offers,shopping, reading emails, referring your friends, and more.You can visit http://www.cash4offers.com and see what atypical rewards program looks like and how it works. Now I guess there should be two categories of readers. Theinternet "newbies", who will say they don't understand howit all works; and the internet gurus who will say that allreward programs are scams. Wait! I will prove to you that they work in a moment; andthat you can make not only extra cash but receive somegreat stuff too. To get started making money with incentive companies, oneneeds to create an account with a rewards program likeCash4Offers. You will need an email address to sign up... Worried about your privacy and spam? Please don't! Theywill never send you spam, you can cancel anytime, and theemail address is only used to track all of your actionswhen you complete offers, shop, etc. That's how they knowwho to pay the free money. Hey, in most cases you will get a sign-up bonus just forsigning up! And now, I'll explain to you... How to Earn Free Money Online Completing Offers?Here is the Cash4Offers offers section link:http://www.cash4offers.com/offers.php?c=ALL&email=&uid= If you click on the above link you can see that there aremany various offers available, ranging from credit cardapplications to internet service provider deals. And, theyall will pay a certain amount of cash to your Cash4Offersaccount if you accept them... But, just to warn you, mostof the offers will require that you use your credit card.That's why I told you about the money you'll need to investin the beginning. Not to worry though, you can definitelymake more than you spend, and most of the offers are greattrial deals where you can receive not only free cash buttop merchandise too. There were total of 111 offers available when I wrote thisarticle on 22/11/2004. ---------------SIDEBAR---------------Make sure to log-in to your account and access the offersfrom the member's area when completing the offers so thatyour cash is credited to your account.------------------------------------- If you wonder where the free money comes from, here is theanswer - incentive companies are affiliated with top onlinemerchants (advertisers), and the merchants pay a commissionfor advertising their products and services. Rewardscompanies pass the majority of the commission they make onto YOU, the customer, when you accept their offers! And here is my promise to you... A Proof You Can Earn Free Money OnlinePlease open or download the following excel file to yourcomputer:http://www.cash4offers.com/offers_rewards.xls As you can see I have selected only the offers thatinterested me from the first 3 pages of all availableoffers at Cash4Offers. And look what my earnings potentialis -- I can make $65.40 after completing only 13 offers(approximately $5.00 for each offer), and receive a bunchof great merchandise too! Remember there were 111 offersavailable. Imagine how much I could earn if I completed allof the offers?! It doesn't matter if you have already signed up with arewards program or not, I advise you to explore allavailable offers and use the above excel file as a templatein order to evaluate your earnings potential. Just click oneach offer that interests you and make notes of all offerdetails - how much you earn, how much you have to invest,your profit, the merchandise you receive, and your totalprofit. Use the template every time you decide to completeoffers online. It really helps to decide which offers are the best choicefor you and what you will receive by completing each ofthem. Of course, although there are well over one hundredoffers available, you should complete only the ones thatreally interest you. You are not going to apply for allavailable credit card offers, or get a free trial of allISPs, are you? My guess is that you should be able to makeabout $200 - $500 by completing all of the offers thatinterest you. ---------------SIDEBAR---------------How long does it take to receive cash for completing theoffers? Well, some offers pay instantly! And some may takeup to 30 days (e.g. some credit card applications) beforeyou receive your cash to your reward program's account.------------------------------------- If you don't receive the cash from the offer within 30days of accepting it, you should contact the rewardsprogram and send them all of the details related to theoffer: 1. The date of offer completion 2. The confirmation email 3. Your contact info: name, email address, phone number etc.Usually the rewards company will do the investigation foryou and if you really completed the offer (offers) theywill credit your account with the offer cash amount withinabout 3 weeks. Got your cash in your account? Great! What's next? Now,the last step... Request Payment & Verify Your AccountWhy do reward programs ask you to verify your account byphone or mail? The answer is simply this - they are tryingto protect their advertisers and themselves from fraud. So, request your payment either by check or another methodif available, and expect a phone call several days beforeyour payment is processed. You should receive your paymentin about a week or two! Well, it was easy making free cash on the internet, wasn'tit? But your earning potential doesn't stop there, youcould make even more by receiving cash-back for shopping orreferring your friends. But that's another story for thenext article. P.S. FYI, you can choose to receive great free stuff likecomputers, TVs, gift cards and much more instead of freecash, again, by completing offers. Visit http://www.1st-in-rewards.com for more information about all available onlinerewards that you can take advantage of.
How to protect yourself from online attack
by: Frann Leach
It's a jungle out there on the net, but by using these few simple tricks and traps, anybody can protect themselves from the virtual beasts that lurk there, waiting to attack the unwary.Online security is not just for big corporations. It's true that they stand to lose more, in terms of value, than you or I, but they have sufficient reserves to be able to weather the storm, whereas the average small business or man on the street is in a much more precarious position.Using your credit or debit card online is no longer as dangerous as it once was, but there are other ways in which use of your computer can be made difficult, even impossible. Viruses are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many different ways in which your computer can be preyed on whilst you are online, and even after you have disconnected. Apart from worms, viruses, trojans, data miners, and keystroke loggers, there is spyware, adware and who knows what else out there. All of them trying to take advantage of you and/or your computer. These products have many purposes. Very few of them are purely vindictive or disruptive. For example, many viruses which install themselves onto a computer do it no harm at all. Instead, they use the email program running on the computer to send out spam, starting with everyone in the computer's address book. And although everybody I know deletes spam immediately, presumably there must be some sales, or this type of virus would be of no value to the author.It is important to be as secure as you can, because in extreme cases, your very identity can be stolen, and used in ways that will disadvantage you for a long time to come. And though this may be quite rare, there are many viruses or trojans which disrupt the data you have on your computer, in some cases causing so much damage that you have to reformat the disk and start again - which is fine if you have kept backups (as we have all been taught to do), but how many of us really do back our data up? We know we should do this, but when was the last time you made a complete copy of all your data?This sort of attack tends to be at the amateur end of the scale. But if you have children who surf the net, or you correspond with someone who has kids who surf, you are at risk. The areas where they surf are some of the most likely sources of this type of virus. But any of us can fall victim just by a single moment of inattention when checking through our emails. So how can you protect yourself from all these different threats?- Get yourself a firewall. Sysoft offer a free personal firewall that is very good, and makes your computer invisible to many types of attack - the best defence possible.- If you haven't got one already, install a virus-checker, such as AVG, which is available for free download and set it to start up whenever you turn on your computer.- Schedule a daily or weekly update for your virus checker at a time when you are usually online, but not using the computer for anything requiring 100% of its resources.- Get a copy of Ad-Aware, available for free download, and run it once a week.- Download and install a free copy of Spyware Blaster This will load up when you start up your computer and sit in the background, preventing access to your private data by thousands of different types of spyware. Do make sure it is regularly updated, though, or you may fall foul of a new attacker.- Run Spybot Search and Destroy once a week to check for anything missed by your other lines of defence.- Even though you may have installed all these pieces of software, keep them up to date and use them religiously, it is still vital to take care with incoming emails. If you get an email which is very short and doesn't 'sound' like the person it is supposed to be from, with an attachment, DO NOT open it. Delete it straight away. If there is any doubt, still delete it, but you could email your friend and just check with them that they didn't send you anything. It is far better to be safe, and cause a tiny bit of inconvenience, than to end up trashing your hard disk.- When making a payment online, make sure the connection is secure. Secure sites start with https:// instead of the usual http://. On IE, a yellow lock symbol will appear in the bottom right hand corner of the screen in the status bar.- Don't make payments on public computers, such as at internet cafes, libraries and so on. You don't know how secure these are, they are very likely to be infected by keystroke recording viruses. - In addition, if logging onto an Instant Messenger such as Yahoo or MSN on a public computer, make sure the box to remember the password is UNCHECKED, or someone could steal your identity and send offensive material to your buddies (this happened to a friend of mine).- Finally, if it is practical, change your password regularly. However, do not fall into the trap of changing it so frequently that you cannot remember it and have to write it down or put it in a data file. That would be a lot less secure than keeping to the same password you've always had.(To make it easy for you, I have collected links to all the above-mentioned security programs http://www.informationzone.biz/security.htmlUsing these tools, you can protect yourself from almost any malicious program, and if you do pick up a virus or piece of spyware, for example, you will catch it quickly, before it can do irrecoverable damage.
It's a jungle out there on the net, but by using these few simple tricks and traps, anybody can protect themselves from the virtual beasts that lurk there, waiting to attack the unwary.Online security is not just for big corporations. It's true that they stand to lose more, in terms of value, than you or I, but they have sufficient reserves to be able to weather the storm, whereas the average small business or man on the street is in a much more precarious position.Using your credit or debit card online is no longer as dangerous as it once was, but there are other ways in which use of your computer can be made difficult, even impossible. Viruses are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many different ways in which your computer can be preyed on whilst you are online, and even after you have disconnected. Apart from worms, viruses, trojans, data miners, and keystroke loggers, there is spyware, adware and who knows what else out there. All of them trying to take advantage of you and/or your computer. These products have many purposes. Very few of them are purely vindictive or disruptive. For example, many viruses which install themselves onto a computer do it no harm at all. Instead, they use the email program running on the computer to send out spam, starting with everyone in the computer's address book. And although everybody I know deletes spam immediately, presumably there must be some sales, or this type of virus would be of no value to the author.It is important to be as secure as you can, because in extreme cases, your very identity can be stolen, and used in ways that will disadvantage you for a long time to come. And though this may be quite rare, there are many viruses or trojans which disrupt the data you have on your computer, in some cases causing so much damage that you have to reformat the disk and start again - which is fine if you have kept backups (as we have all been taught to do), but how many of us really do back our data up? We know we should do this, but when was the last time you made a complete copy of all your data?This sort of attack tends to be at the amateur end of the scale. But if you have children who surf the net, or you correspond with someone who has kids who surf, you are at risk. The areas where they surf are some of the most likely sources of this type of virus. But any of us can fall victim just by a single moment of inattention when checking through our emails. So how can you protect yourself from all these different threats?- Get yourself a firewall. Sysoft offer a free personal firewall that is very good, and makes your computer invisible to many types of attack - the best defence possible.- If you haven't got one already, install a virus-checker, such as AVG, which is available for free download and set it to start up whenever you turn on your computer.- Schedule a daily or weekly update for your virus checker at a time when you are usually online, but not using the computer for anything requiring 100% of its resources.- Get a copy of Ad-Aware, available for free download, and run it once a week.- Download and install a free copy of Spyware Blaster This will load up when you start up your computer and sit in the background, preventing access to your private data by thousands of different types of spyware. Do make sure it is regularly updated, though, or you may fall foul of a new attacker.- Run Spybot Search and Destroy once a week to check for anything missed by your other lines of defence.- Even though you may have installed all these pieces of software, keep them up to date and use them religiously, it is still vital to take care with incoming emails. If you get an email which is very short and doesn't 'sound' like the person it is supposed to be from, with an attachment, DO NOT open it. Delete it straight away. If there is any doubt, still delete it, but you could email your friend and just check with them that they didn't send you anything. It is far better to be safe, and cause a tiny bit of inconvenience, than to end up trashing your hard disk.- When making a payment online, make sure the connection is secure. Secure sites start with https:// instead of the usual http://. On IE, a yellow lock symbol will appear in the bottom right hand corner of the screen in the status bar.- Don't make payments on public computers, such as at internet cafes, libraries and so on. You don't know how secure these are, they are very likely to be infected by keystroke recording viruses. - In addition, if logging onto an Instant Messenger such as Yahoo or MSN on a public computer, make sure the box to remember the password is UNCHECKED, or someone could steal your identity and send offensive material to your buddies (this happened to a friend of mine).- Finally, if it is practical, change your password regularly. However, do not fall into the trap of changing it so frequently that you cannot remember it and have to write it down or put it in a data file. That would be a lot less secure than keeping to the same password you've always had.(To make it easy for you, I have collected links to all the above-mentioned security programs http://www.informationzone.biz/security.htmlUsing these tools, you can protect yourself from almost any malicious program, and if you do pick up a virus or piece of spyware, for example, you will catch it quickly, before it can do irrecoverable damage.
The email blues
by: Justin Boyce
I wonder how people cope on the net who are making a living from selling their services to others. Do they get up like me at 6 in the morning and start sorting through the 2000 or 3000 emails they have got after submitting their site to a search engine software program. Or they made the mistake of putting their company email address in an article they just wrote and now have to sort through 200 miles of spam.Yes I've made this mistake a few times lately was tired and forgot my golden rule whenever I submit an article to be published or subscribe to a mailing list use my alternative addresses. Well its not all bad news a funny thing happened to me the other day I used my hotmail address in an article and got a message that so and so wanted authorization for me to add them so I did . Next thing I've got these two obviously drunk ladies on vid camera telling me that they wanted some of my products but didn't have any cash and would I be willing to trade . I asked her what goods she had and she then whipped out her breasts and said these . I said lovely product line you got there but I have to get my purchases approved by my wife as we are on a budget. Well anyway I wont go into details but lets just say I haven't laughed so hard for ages .Anyway im getting off topic here I promised in a early post that id talk about my experiences in trading on the net i've just gotten my first pay check from an affiliate I signed up with nearly two months ago and I was pleasantly surprised usually takes a few months for them to be paying what I consider to be reasonable returns. I've put some details about some of the programs I've joined since being an online trader . I think at last count I had tried close to 700 different ones . I put a couple of my top performers on my main trader site and well as some that don't perform as well but they are worth having for the free exposure to a large audience. If you'd like to learn more then feel free to visit my site www.nzpcs.co.nz
I wonder how people cope on the net who are making a living from selling their services to others. Do they get up like me at 6 in the morning and start sorting through the 2000 or 3000 emails they have got after submitting their site to a search engine software program. Or they made the mistake of putting their company email address in an article they just wrote and now have to sort through 200 miles of spam.Yes I've made this mistake a few times lately was tired and forgot my golden rule whenever I submit an article to be published or subscribe to a mailing list use my alternative addresses. Well its not all bad news a funny thing happened to me the other day I used my hotmail address in an article and got a message that so and so wanted authorization for me to add them so I did . Next thing I've got these two obviously drunk ladies on vid camera telling me that they wanted some of my products but didn't have any cash and would I be willing to trade . I asked her what goods she had and she then whipped out her breasts and said these . I said lovely product line you got there but I have to get my purchases approved by my wife as we are on a budget. Well anyway I wont go into details but lets just say I haven't laughed so hard for ages .Anyway im getting off topic here I promised in a early post that id talk about my experiences in trading on the net i've just gotten my first pay check from an affiliate I signed up with nearly two months ago and I was pleasantly surprised usually takes a few months for them to be paying what I consider to be reasonable returns. I've put some details about some of the programs I've joined since being an online trader . I think at last count I had tried close to 700 different ones . I put a couple of my top performers on my main trader site and well as some that don't perform as well but they are worth having for the free exposure to a large audience. If you'd like to learn more then feel free to visit my site www.nzpcs.co.nz
Tiscali Broadband
by: Robert Michael
What Is ? The name for Tiscali Broadband comes from a village in Sardinia. Tiscali Broadband is part of Tiscali Spa. Their headquarters are located in Cagliari, Italy. Tiscali is a provider of broadband in most of Europe, but they have the most subscribers in the UK. Tiscali is currently fourth in the rank of largest ISPs in the UK. Tiscali has broadband connections at 1Mbps, and 2Mbps. They also give you a free connection and modem. Another perk is that they will allow you to download as much content as you would like, as they have no limit cap like some other ISPs. The reputation of Tiscali as an ISP is not very good. The customer service with Tiscali has suffered along with all the other ISPs who lower their package costs to attract customers. Tiscali's call center, which is located in India, is expensive, inefficient and downright frustrating to use. They offer little real advice, and emailing Tiscali does not seem to work, either. Tiscali sends automated responses that do not solve your problem. People who don't believe that there are problems with Tiscali customer support quickly find out that it is a major problem. The email accounts at Tiscali are so loaded down with spam that this creates downtime and connection speed issues. With BT opening their Local Loop phone line network, other ISPs now have the option to use their own equipment instead of BT's. This has been good for the other ISPs, because they can provide ADSL service cheaper and have a faster connection than in the past. This is how Tiscali has been able to have such competitive prices. Tiscali has set up their own line at each telephone exchange. The problems arise when a number of local residents try to use this small line, which is split among all of them. BT and the other services that continue to use their equipment have the advantage of using larger lines that are connected to the BT network. Tiscali's choice to set up their own equipment has a result of subscribers finding their connection is slow and their download speeds are also very limited. The speed of the connection for Tiscali subscribers is directly related to how many other subscribers are using the local Tiscali network. Tiscali plans to address this issue in the future, but many customers have become frustrated with Tiscali and moved to other broadband providers. Tiscali has a Pay As You Go and unlimited dialup access that runs at 56kbps. Their service for this is currently cheaper than BT's. There is also a package that includes a mid-band speed of either 150kbps or 256kbps. Tiscali offers email, web space, and exclusive downloads and video channels with all their accounts, whether they are dialup or broadband. Tiscali offers good prices, which is why they are the fourth largest broadband provider in the UK. Their top three packages are very similar to BT's. They also manage to stay close to their competitors in terms of speed and price. The only thing that is considered reliable about Tiscali is that they are one of the cheapest options for broadband service. However, subscribers must put up with the poor reputation they have earned with their bad customer service and speed problems.
What Is ? The name for Tiscali Broadband comes from a village in Sardinia. Tiscali Broadband is part of Tiscali Spa. Their headquarters are located in Cagliari, Italy. Tiscali is a provider of broadband in most of Europe, but they have the most subscribers in the UK. Tiscali is currently fourth in the rank of largest ISPs in the UK. Tiscali has broadband connections at 1Mbps, and 2Mbps. They also give you a free connection and modem. Another perk is that they will allow you to download as much content as you would like, as they have no limit cap like some other ISPs. The reputation of Tiscali as an ISP is not very good. The customer service with Tiscali has suffered along with all the other ISPs who lower their package costs to attract customers. Tiscali's call center, which is located in India, is expensive, inefficient and downright frustrating to use. They offer little real advice, and emailing Tiscali does not seem to work, either. Tiscali sends automated responses that do not solve your problem. People who don't believe that there are problems with Tiscali customer support quickly find out that it is a major problem. The email accounts at Tiscali are so loaded down with spam that this creates downtime and connection speed issues. With BT opening their Local Loop phone line network, other ISPs now have the option to use their own equipment instead of BT's. This has been good for the other ISPs, because they can provide ADSL service cheaper and have a faster connection than in the past. This is how Tiscali has been able to have such competitive prices. Tiscali has set up their own line at each telephone exchange. The problems arise when a number of local residents try to use this small line, which is split among all of them. BT and the other services that continue to use their equipment have the advantage of using larger lines that are connected to the BT network. Tiscali's choice to set up their own equipment has a result of subscribers finding their connection is slow and their download speeds are also very limited. The speed of the connection for Tiscali subscribers is directly related to how many other subscribers are using the local Tiscali network. Tiscali plans to address this issue in the future, but many customers have become frustrated with Tiscali and moved to other broadband providers. Tiscali has a Pay As You Go and unlimited dialup access that runs at 56kbps. Their service for this is currently cheaper than BT's. There is also a package that includes a mid-band speed of either 150kbps or 256kbps. Tiscali offers email, web space, and exclusive downloads and video channels with all their accounts, whether they are dialup or broadband. Tiscali offers good prices, which is why they are the fourth largest broadband provider in the UK. Their top three packages are very similar to BT's. They also manage to stay close to their competitors in terms of speed and price. The only thing that is considered reliable about Tiscali is that they are one of the cheapest options for broadband service. However, subscribers must put up with the poor reputation they have earned with their bad customer service and speed problems.
Anatomy Of A Reciprocal Linking Campaign
: John Taylor
Reciprocal linking means forming partnerships with other sites who place a link from their Web pages to yours. You then give them a similar link in return.When you look for people to swap links with, make sure that you don't reduce the quality or content of your own site. You don't want users to click straight through without reading your content; you want them to take action on your own site rather than have them leave empty handed.One way to stop them from running away too quickly is to create a "Webmasters Resource Page" and link to that page from your homepage. This doesn't take away from the content on your homepage and the links are just one click away rather than being buried deep within the site, giving value to your partners.In any case, you want to be sure that your site is more than just a page full of links. If your site contains more links than content, it will look like a link farm and it will certainly not be attractive to webmasters, search engines or users.Picking your partnerYour link partners should be sites your target market will visit. Think about your product and its subject area and brainstorm to determine where people interested in your product might be looking online.For example, if you're trying to shift your book about blackjack strategy, it makes sense that the people visiting online casinos would make great customers. Online casinos then could be good partners. Identify top-ranked, high quality casino sites and find the email address, telephone number and snail mail address of their webmasters.You can also identify your competitors and see where they trade links. After all why reinvent the wheel when you can use your competitors hard work!Seven Top Tips For Requesting reciprocal Links...1. Before you contact webmasters, place a link to their site on your resource page to assure them that you will actually provide a quality link.2. Create a subject line that will encourage them to read your message rather than deleting it - you don't want them to think you're spamming them. (Something about their site or product is sure to capture their attention; they will open it, thinking you're a potential customer.) Hint - subscribe to their ezine and then reply using the ezine subject line as the subject of your reply.3. Begin your message by talking about your visit to their site and what you found interesting about it. Detail your product or service in one line and ask them to exchange links with you.4. Tell them in detail where you have placed their link, include the precise URL, tell them where to find their link on the page and emphasize that it is only one click away from your homepage.5. Tell them that if you don't hear back from them in a specific number of days, you will consider that to a negative response and that you will remove their link from your site. Give them enough time to respond but don't leave it open ended.6. Sending a reciprocal link request by email is becoming less and less effective due to Spam filters and the high volume of email traffic received by webmasters of busy sites. Try sending your request on a postcard or better still make a phone call.7. Tell the webmaster how they will benefit from the reciprocal linking arrangement - explain what's in it for them and use your selling and persuasion skills!Copyright John Taylor PhD August 2005 - All rights reserved.
Reciprocal linking means forming partnerships with other sites who place a link from their Web pages to yours. You then give them a similar link in return.When you look for people to swap links with, make sure that you don't reduce the quality or content of your own site. You don't want users to click straight through without reading your content; you want them to take action on your own site rather than have them leave empty handed.One way to stop them from running away too quickly is to create a "Webmasters Resource Page" and link to that page from your homepage. This doesn't take away from the content on your homepage and the links are just one click away rather than being buried deep within the site, giving value to your partners.In any case, you want to be sure that your site is more than just a page full of links. If your site contains more links than content, it will look like a link farm and it will certainly not be attractive to webmasters, search engines or users.Picking your partnerYour link partners should be sites your target market will visit. Think about your product and its subject area and brainstorm to determine where people interested in your product might be looking online.For example, if you're trying to shift your book about blackjack strategy, it makes sense that the people visiting online casinos would make great customers. Online casinos then could be good partners. Identify top-ranked, high quality casino sites and find the email address, telephone number and snail mail address of their webmasters.You can also identify your competitors and see where they trade links. After all why reinvent the wheel when you can use your competitors hard work!Seven Top Tips For Requesting reciprocal Links...1. Before you contact webmasters, place a link to their site on your resource page to assure them that you will actually provide a quality link.2. Create a subject line that will encourage them to read your message rather than deleting it - you don't want them to think you're spamming them. (Something about their site or product is sure to capture their attention; they will open it, thinking you're a potential customer.) Hint - subscribe to their ezine and then reply using the ezine subject line as the subject of your reply.3. Begin your message by talking about your visit to their site and what you found interesting about it. Detail your product or service in one line and ask them to exchange links with you.4. Tell them in detail where you have placed their link, include the precise URL, tell them where to find their link on the page and emphasize that it is only one click away from your homepage.5. Tell them that if you don't hear back from them in a specific number of days, you will consider that to a negative response and that you will remove their link from your site. Give them enough time to respond but don't leave it open ended.6. Sending a reciprocal link request by email is becoming less and less effective due to Spam filters and the high volume of email traffic received by webmasters of busy sites. Try sending your request on a postcard or better still make a phone call.7. Tell the webmaster how they will benefit from the reciprocal linking arrangement - explain what's in it for them and use your selling and persuasion skills!Copyright John Taylor PhD August 2005 - All rights reserved.
Do I Need an RSS Feed?
by: S. Housley
RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way. Benefits for Publishers1.) Avoid Spam FiltersStatisticians estimate that 70% of the email transferred each day is spam (unsolicited email). With that statistic, even opt-in users risk losing valuable messages in the cesspool of spam. RSS feeds effectively nullify spam as an issue. Requesting feeds allow users to maintain complete control over the content they view. Users can easily opt-in and out of feeds that provide content of interest or importance. 2.) Expanded ReachRSS allows publishers to reach a number of new and different markets that typically are less crowded with competition. Many small businesses are often slow to adopt or learn new technologies, giving businesses that lead the way a competitive advantage. 3.) Content SyndicationSyndication of feeds increases exposure. 4.) Repeat Visitors RSS is all about repeat visitors. Users who have previously visited a site often have a stronger connection to the site and are more likely to purchase or trust the information on the site. 5.) Free web traffic As the internet has evolved, many webmasters have found that what was once free traffic must now be paid for in order to sustain decent visitor statistics. RSS is in a unique position to bring free traffic because they are content-driven, and if they include interesting or valuable information, will pique the curiosity of web-surfers and entice them to visit a particular site. 6.) Less Effort Newsletters and E-zines undeniably bring visitors, but the effort involved in creating, distributing and maintaining a newsletter can be a burden. Maintaining the list, ensuring the list is clean, growing the subscriber base, updating and removing bad e-mail addresses, all take time. RSS feeds are not burdened with those issues. There are easy-to-use RSS feed creation tools that require little effort, allowing publishers to recycle content, often simply cutting and pasting into RSS feed creation software.FeedForAll RSS feed creation - http://www.feedforall.comConsider supplementing existing communication venues with RSS. Place the contents of newsletters into feeds and measure the results. You might be surprised at the added traffic. Examples of various feeds with different intended purposes - RSS feed - http://www.rss-specifications.com/blog-feed.xmlEstablishing expertise in a specific field. Business Feed - http://www.notepage.net/blog-feed.xmlContains product and industry information.Marketing Feed - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog-feed.xmlBuilds relationships, endorses products in industry sector. RSS has potential to help companies develop strong relationships with consumers and creating brand loyalty with customers. While the world will not end tomorrow, nor will business come to a screeching halt if you don't use an RSS feed, there are a number of reasons online businesses should consider using RSS feeds.
RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way. Benefits for Publishers1.) Avoid Spam FiltersStatisticians estimate that 70% of the email transferred each day is spam (unsolicited email). With that statistic, even opt-in users risk losing valuable messages in the cesspool of spam. RSS feeds effectively nullify spam as an issue. Requesting feeds allow users to maintain complete control over the content they view. Users can easily opt-in and out of feeds that provide content of interest or importance. 2.) Expanded ReachRSS allows publishers to reach a number of new and different markets that typically are less crowded with competition. Many small businesses are often slow to adopt or learn new technologies, giving businesses that lead the way a competitive advantage. 3.) Content SyndicationSyndication of feeds increases exposure. 4.) Repeat Visitors RSS is all about repeat visitors. Users who have previously visited a site often have a stronger connection to the site and are more likely to purchase or trust the information on the site. 5.) Free web traffic As the internet has evolved, many webmasters have found that what was once free traffic must now be paid for in order to sustain decent visitor statistics. RSS is in a unique position to bring free traffic because they are content-driven, and if they include interesting or valuable information, will pique the curiosity of web-surfers and entice them to visit a particular site. 6.) Less Effort Newsletters and E-zines undeniably bring visitors, but the effort involved in creating, distributing and maintaining a newsletter can be a burden. Maintaining the list, ensuring the list is clean, growing the subscriber base, updating and removing bad e-mail addresses, all take time. RSS feeds are not burdened with those issues. There are easy-to-use RSS feed creation tools that require little effort, allowing publishers to recycle content, often simply cutting and pasting into RSS feed creation software.FeedForAll RSS feed creation - http://www.feedforall.comConsider supplementing existing communication venues with RSS. Place the contents of newsletters into feeds and measure the results. You might be surprised at the added traffic. Examples of various feeds with different intended purposes - RSS feed - http://www.rss-specifications.com/blog-feed.xmlEstablishing expertise in a specific field. Business Feed - http://www.notepage.net/blog-feed.xmlContains product and industry information.Marketing Feed - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog-feed.xmlBuilds relationships, endorses products in industry sector. RSS has potential to help companies develop strong relationships with consumers and creating brand loyalty with customers. While the world will not end tomorrow, nor will business come to a screeching halt if you don't use an RSS feed, there are a number of reasons online businesses should consider using RSS feeds.
Banned By Google And Back Again.
by: T. O' Donnell
The date: 29th July 2005. The time: early morning. I got out of bed and fired up my PC. Opened my browser to check my site. Had a look at the third-party Google toolbar plugin (http://toolbar.google.com/) on said browser (FireFox). It showed grey.Ice formed in my stomach. I opened my bugged version of Internet Explorer: my PageRank was 0. By now I was frantic. I went to http://www.google.com and typed in 'site:www.tigertom.com': no pages listed. I did this for two other satellite sites of mine: ditto.What had happened?TigerTom.Com (http://www.tigertom.com) had been banned by Google. I went to the WebmasterWorld forum (http://www.webmasterworld.com), and found out the awful truth. Google was doing one of its periodic updates of its algorithm, and had filtered out my sites completely.Further research there, and a bit of soul-searching, revealed why. I had too many pseudo-directory pages with auto-generated external links. Snippets from search engine results were used as descriptions of said links. Said links were run though a redirect script. These are hallmarks of pseudo-directories and 'AdSense scraper'* sites. Google is reportedly trying to filter these from its 'SERPs'**. I say reportedly, because Google doesn't announce these purges. They are inferred.To compound my sins, these pages were also effectively doorway pages†.The theory was that legitimate sites had been hit as 'collateral damage'. I say theory, in that Google rarely comments on individual cases. It won't tell you exactly why your site was banned. I guess this is for reasons of time, and to give no clues to spammers.In my case the ban was justified for my two satellite sites; while not looking like spam, they were effectively doorway sites.My main site was different. It had offending pages, but was mostly a diverse labour of seven years; a personal site on steroids.Google bans sites algorithmically: a site that fits their 'spammer' profile gets dropped via software from their index automatically. Real spammers shrug their shoulders and move on; honest webmasters write emails begging for mercy.Like me.I did some searching via Google, to find out how to do a re-inclusion request. Here's how:1. First, you check your site is truly gone, by going to http://www.google.com, typing 'site:www.yourdomain.com' without the apostrophes. If it returns no pages at all ...2. You check Google's webmaster guidelines at http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html. These are not really guidelines; you should treat them as iron-clad rules.3. You stop the offending content from being web-accessible, permanently.If you're familiar with Apache web-server mod_rewrite you can:- Send a 410 'Gone' response to requests for the offending pages, or- CHMOD them to 600, which will return a 403 'Forbidden' response, or- Move them to a different directory if you need to keep them, or- Just delete them.Don't try to be clever. Just get rid of them.4. You go to http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py, tick the relevant boxes, and type 'Re-inclusion request' in the subject box of the form.4a. You add the complete URL of your site i.e. http://www.naughtydomain.com,4b. You state that you have read the webmaster guidelines above,4c. You admit what you did wrong; simply, succinctly, with no carping or special pleading.Don't try to be clever. Don't argue. Don't lie. Don't waffle.Google has cached copies of your site. When an engineer checks your site, he'll look for the offending content, and compare it against their cache. He'll spend about two minutes on it; don't give him a reason to continue to exclude you.5. You ask for re-inclusion.6. You wait.In my case, it took about a week; a long, unpleasant, fretful week. I sent follow up emails saying what I was doing, and a fax, and I was going to write letters if that didn't work. That was probably excessive. Once you have a ticket number, that's all that should be necessary.They emailed a standard reply saying "the problem had been passed to their engineers". That's good. I understand they send no reply to spammers.A week later my site was back in. Lesson learnt. To make sure I'm not so vulnerable again, I'm splitting my content to different sites, on the principle of 'best not to have all your eggs in one basket'.Have I learnt anything from this? Yes. Have more than one site as your 'money-maker'. Spend less time on search engine optimisation and more on traditional marketing. Come up with a unique selling proposition that compels people to link to your site. Easy(!)
The date: 29th July 2005. The time: early morning. I got out of bed and fired up my PC. Opened my browser to check my site. Had a look at the third-party Google toolbar plugin (http://toolbar.google.com/) on said browser (FireFox). It showed grey.Ice formed in my stomach. I opened my bugged version of Internet Explorer: my PageRank was 0. By now I was frantic. I went to http://www.google.com and typed in 'site:www.tigertom.com': no pages listed. I did this for two other satellite sites of mine: ditto.What had happened?TigerTom.Com (http://www.tigertom.com) had been banned by Google. I went to the WebmasterWorld forum (http://www.webmasterworld.com), and found out the awful truth. Google was doing one of its periodic updates of its algorithm, and had filtered out my sites completely.Further research there, and a bit of soul-searching, revealed why. I had too many pseudo-directory pages with auto-generated external links. Snippets from search engine results were used as descriptions of said links. Said links were run though a redirect script. These are hallmarks of pseudo-directories and 'AdSense scraper'* sites. Google is reportedly trying to filter these from its 'SERPs'**. I say reportedly, because Google doesn't announce these purges. They are inferred.To compound my sins, these pages were also effectively doorway pages†.The theory was that legitimate sites had been hit as 'collateral damage'. I say theory, in that Google rarely comments on individual cases. It won't tell you exactly why your site was banned. I guess this is for reasons of time, and to give no clues to spammers.In my case the ban was justified for my two satellite sites; while not looking like spam, they were effectively doorway sites.My main site was different. It had offending pages, but was mostly a diverse labour of seven years; a personal site on steroids.Google bans sites algorithmically: a site that fits their 'spammer' profile gets dropped via software from their index automatically. Real spammers shrug their shoulders and move on; honest webmasters write emails begging for mercy.Like me.I did some searching via Google, to find out how to do a re-inclusion request. Here's how:1. First, you check your site is truly gone, by going to http://www.google.com, typing 'site:www.yourdomain.com' without the apostrophes. If it returns no pages at all ...2. You check Google's webmaster guidelines at http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html. These are not really guidelines; you should treat them as iron-clad rules.3. You stop the offending content from being web-accessible, permanently.If you're familiar with Apache web-server mod_rewrite you can:- Send a 410 'Gone' response to requests for the offending pages, or- CHMOD them to 600, which will return a 403 'Forbidden' response, or- Move them to a different directory if you need to keep them, or- Just delete them.Don't try to be clever. Just get rid of them.4. You go to http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py, tick the relevant boxes, and type 'Re-inclusion request' in the subject box of the form.4a. You add the complete URL of your site i.e. http://www.naughtydomain.com,4b. You state that you have read the webmaster guidelines above,4c. You admit what you did wrong; simply, succinctly, with no carping or special pleading.Don't try to be clever. Don't argue. Don't lie. Don't waffle.Google has cached copies of your site. When an engineer checks your site, he'll look for the offending content, and compare it against their cache. He'll spend about two minutes on it; don't give him a reason to continue to exclude you.5. You ask for re-inclusion.6. You wait.In my case, it took about a week; a long, unpleasant, fretful week. I sent follow up emails saying what I was doing, and a fax, and I was going to write letters if that didn't work. That was probably excessive. Once you have a ticket number, that's all that should be necessary.They emailed a standard reply saying "the problem had been passed to their engineers". That's good. I understand they send no reply to spammers.A week later my site was back in. Lesson learnt. To make sure I'm not so vulnerable again, I'm splitting my content to different sites, on the principle of 'best not to have all your eggs in one basket'.Have I learnt anything from this? Yes. Have more than one site as your 'money-maker'. Spend less time on search engine optimisation and more on traditional marketing. Come up with a unique selling proposition that compels people to link to your site. Easy(!)
My Top 10 Favorite Internet Tools
by: Jim Edwards
- by Jim Edwards(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reservedhttp://www.thenetreporter.com-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-When you make your living on the Internet, you cansometimes forget that the tools and resources you take forgranted might rate an incredible discovery to someone whodoesn't already know they exist. Whether they help you save time, save money, or avoidfrustration, these tools and services rate my highestrecommendation for just plain making life easier, fasterand cheaper.1. Short Keys - Available free at www.shortkeys.com/lite.htm, Short Keysallows you to create shortcut keys to cut down onrepetitive typing tasks. I absolutely love this programbecause of the amount of time it saves me every single day.2. Good Keywords - Available free at www.goodkeywords.com, Good Keywordsenables you to condense hours of keyword research into afew seconds. Find out the top keywords your target audiencesearches for so you can put your advertising dollars in theright spot to catch the biggest fish. 3. Mail Washer - Available free at www.mailwasher.net, this program enablesyou to spot and delete spam and viruses before downloadingthem to your computer. With so much spam clogging my emailin-box, I couldn't survive any more without this program!4. ClickBank - If you sell a downloadable product such as an ebook,report, or software, you can't beat clickbank forprocessing credit card payments. Not only do they take thepayments and send you a check twice a month, they also plugyour product into an existing network of thousands ofaffiliates who can sell it for you.5. GoDaddy.com - Cheap, reliable, easy to use domain name registrar thatonly charges $8.95 per year for each domain name youregister. Godaddy rates cheaper and just as, if not more,reliable than any other domain registrar.6. GroupMail - Visit www.infacta.com to download the free version ofGroupMail. The program allows you to email and do mailmerge to your entire database of contacts. It's a great wayto stay in touch with customers, family, and clients.7. Google - As far as I'm concerned, Google.com rates as the Web's bestsearch engine. When I need to find something online in ahurry, Google usually produces exactly what I want tolocate!8. Front Page - Say what you want about Microsoft, but the FrontPage htmleditor has served me well for the last 5 years andcounting. Though I don't use the more advanced features, Ican always count on FrontPage to help me get my web pagesdone quickly and easily.9. Smart FTP - Log on to www.smartftp.com and download a free copy of theeasiest FTP program I've every used. If you need totransfer files to and from a web server and you know how touse Windows Explorer, Smart FTP will enable you to uploadfiles to the web like a pro in minutes.10. Note Tab Light - Perhaps my favorite tool of all. Note Tab enables me toeasily format text messages for my newsletters, manipulatehtml code and remove formatting from word processingdocuments. Log on to www.notetab.com for a free copy of the"light" version.
- by Jim Edwards(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reservedhttp://www.thenetreporter.com-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-When you make your living on the Internet, you cansometimes forget that the tools and resources you take forgranted might rate an incredible discovery to someone whodoesn't already know they exist. Whether they help you save time, save money, or avoidfrustration, these tools and services rate my highestrecommendation for just plain making life easier, fasterand cheaper.1. Short Keys - Available free at www.shortkeys.com/lite.htm, Short Keysallows you to create shortcut keys to cut down onrepetitive typing tasks. I absolutely love this programbecause of the amount of time it saves me every single day.2. Good Keywords - Available free at www.goodkeywords.com, Good Keywordsenables you to condense hours of keyword research into afew seconds. Find out the top keywords your target audiencesearches for so you can put your advertising dollars in theright spot to catch the biggest fish. 3. Mail Washer - Available free at www.mailwasher.net, this program enablesyou to spot and delete spam and viruses before downloadingthem to your computer. With so much spam clogging my emailin-box, I couldn't survive any more without this program!4. ClickBank - If you sell a downloadable product such as an ebook,report, or software, you can't beat clickbank forprocessing credit card payments. Not only do they take thepayments and send you a check twice a month, they also plugyour product into an existing network of thousands ofaffiliates who can sell it for you.5. GoDaddy.com - Cheap, reliable, easy to use domain name registrar thatonly charges $8.95 per year for each domain name youregister. Godaddy rates cheaper and just as, if not more,reliable than any other domain registrar.6. GroupMail - Visit www.infacta.com to download the free version ofGroupMail. The program allows you to email and do mailmerge to your entire database of contacts. It's a great wayto stay in touch with customers, family, and clients.7. Google - As far as I'm concerned, Google.com rates as the Web's bestsearch engine. When I need to find something online in ahurry, Google usually produces exactly what I want tolocate!8. Front Page - Say what you want about Microsoft, but the FrontPage htmleditor has served me well for the last 5 years andcounting. Though I don't use the more advanced features, Ican always count on FrontPage to help me get my web pagesdone quickly and easily.9. Smart FTP - Log on to www.smartftp.com and download a free copy of theeasiest FTP program I've every used. If you need totransfer files to and from a web server and you know how touse Windows Explorer, Smart FTP will enable you to uploadfiles to the web like a pro in minutes.10. Note Tab Light - Perhaps my favorite tool of all. Note Tab enables me toeasily format text messages for my newsletters, manipulatehtml code and remove formatting from word processingdocuments. Log on to www.notetab.com for a free copy of the"light" version.
5 Good Reasons For Using Yahoogroups To Start Your Own Ezine
by: Silvia Hartmann
List servers and list serving software can be a TOTAL NIGHTMARE. Trust me, I know ... If you are new to Internet Marketing, or just new to the way of web business, and there's all these other things to learn and think about, there are five VERY good reasons to leave commercial list serving software systems alone for now and simply use a Yahoogroup to do all the work for you. 1. EVERYBODY Knows ... ... what a Yahoogroup is, and even if they don't, they'll soon pick it up. By using Yahoogroups, you are tapping into a long, long established institution that is globally known and trusted; this will make it much easier to get people who don't really know you yet to subscribe to your ezine or newsletter. 2. Yahoogroups are very easy. Even for absolute beginners, Yahoogroups are easy to set up and easy to manage. You don't have to worry about the vagaries of AOL emails, double opt in procedures, anti-spam declarations, unsubscription features or any of it, it's all taken care of for you. They also come with little sign up boxes and buttons, and the admin interface, although not exactly intuitive, can soon be worked out by trial and error. 3. Yahoogroups messages don't get caught in spam filters. Spam filters are the SCOURGE of ezines and email delivery. When you send your messages via the Yahoogroups delivery system, this is not a problem; as Yahoo is such a mega beast, it has its own exceptions in mostly all spam filters known to mankind and your messages WILL at least reach their intended recipients. 4. Yahoogroups have useful extra features. You can do a lot with a Yahoogroup if you are willing to spent some time on it. Weblinks, an attractive group page, bookmarks, file downloads and more are all available for the beginner web entrepreneur to optimise and use, easily at that. 5. Yahoogroups are FREE. Alright, so the group messages carry third party advertising, but that is a very small price to pay for access to a system that can easily and very elegantly serve hundreds of thousands of messages, that is reliable and steady and so well known. Other than that, there are no set up fees, no ongoing charges, and it's there for you whenever you want it. Once you are ready to do so, you can export your list and put it on your own personal commercial list server systems, complete with technicians who take care of everything behind the scenes - until then, and if you haven't done this before, to simply use Yahoogroups for ezine delivery is a really good way to get started with your ezine and to build up your subscriber base.
List servers and list serving software can be a TOTAL NIGHTMARE. Trust me, I know ... If you are new to Internet Marketing, or just new to the way of web business, and there's all these other things to learn and think about, there are five VERY good reasons to leave commercial list serving software systems alone for now and simply use a Yahoogroup to do all the work for you. 1. EVERYBODY Knows ... ... what a Yahoogroup is, and even if they don't, they'll soon pick it up. By using Yahoogroups, you are tapping into a long, long established institution that is globally known and trusted; this will make it much easier to get people who don't really know you yet to subscribe to your ezine or newsletter. 2. Yahoogroups are very easy. Even for absolute beginners, Yahoogroups are easy to set up and easy to manage. You don't have to worry about the vagaries of AOL emails, double opt in procedures, anti-spam declarations, unsubscription features or any of it, it's all taken care of for you. They also come with little sign up boxes and buttons, and the admin interface, although not exactly intuitive, can soon be worked out by trial and error. 3. Yahoogroups messages don't get caught in spam filters. Spam filters are the SCOURGE of ezines and email delivery. When you send your messages via the Yahoogroups delivery system, this is not a problem; as Yahoo is such a mega beast, it has its own exceptions in mostly all spam filters known to mankind and your messages WILL at least reach their intended recipients. 4. Yahoogroups have useful extra features. You can do a lot with a Yahoogroup if you are willing to spent some time on it. Weblinks, an attractive group page, bookmarks, file downloads and more are all available for the beginner web entrepreneur to optimise and use, easily at that. 5. Yahoogroups are FREE. Alright, so the group messages carry third party advertising, but that is a very small price to pay for access to a system that can easily and very elegantly serve hundreds of thousands of messages, that is reliable and steady and so well known. Other than that, there are no set up fees, no ongoing charges, and it's there for you whenever you want it. Once you are ready to do so, you can export your list and put it on your own personal commercial list server systems, complete with technicians who take care of everything behind the scenes - until then, and if you haven't done this before, to simply use Yahoogroups for ezine delivery is a really good way to get started with your ezine and to build up your subscriber base.
What’s with all this fraud and theft on the Internet?
by: Jesse S. Somer
My friends in the web hosting business have recently informed me that the big problem this year (2004) is security and fraud. I have read that currently the F.B.I. receives over 9,000 complaints per month pertaining to bogus email and websites. Why is this happening? Are just a few ‘bad apples’ doing it, or is it the result of a lopsided world economy where the underprivileged are finally striking back like the infamous Robin Hood? Whatever your moral view, I’ve got the strange feeling it stems from a growing unconscious greed in the social consciousness of modern society. People worship money, not spirituality or love. Am I wrong?Technically, the main problems at the moment are ‘phishing’ or ‘spoofing’ scams. This is where the use of Spam or junk-email is used to lure computer users to look-alike websites where they are deceived into giving out personal information and financial data. Often these emails are coming from trusted sources where hackers have altered links to send you straight into their ‘pockets’. The Internet user is duped into thinking that they are visiting a trusted website page, when actually it is an excellent copy of the original. There might be only one tiny change in the web address that is often not easily recognizable.Identity theft is where multiple tricks are employed to make you fill out fake forms on fake sites to get all sorts of information that can then be used by thieves to steal money or get free Internet access. Anything from credit card numbers to account information, passwords, billing data and personal phone numbers and addresses have been stolen and used for criminal purposes.These tricksters, few or many, are wizards at finding loopholes in mail systems of legitimate sites. Just go to the site entitled www.crimesofpersuasion.com and read some articles about a few of the more famous scams that have been busted or that are still in circulation. There’s a story about a 17-year-old boy who was arrested with over a million dollars in misappropriated funds hidden in a Costa Rican casino account! Smart kid, but how smart is he really if he got caught? On the site above there are also tips for consumers generally focusing on how not to give your information away to anyone at any time. Check them out.It worries me a little, this huge amount of illegal activity. I know that a lot of people feel that currently the world is very imbalanced in terms of wealth and spirituality and that this new epidemic is just a karmic reaction of the oppressed masses. The United States earns 50 percent of the world’s economy, of course some of the other 95% of Earth’s population is going to be keen for a piece of the pie, right? Steal from the rich and feed the poor like that guy in the green tights.The funny thing is I think that a lot of these thieves are living in America and unbeknownst to themselves be already part of the top 5% of wealthy humans. The problem is that they always want more. Money can become addictive in a consumerist society whose advertising and marketing schemes are constantly bombarding us with stimulus relating to the next new product that we ‘need’ in our lives. We are never satisfied with what we’ve got. The next purchase’s momentary injection of adrenalin becomes more of an imperative than any concept of lasting spiritual happiness.Feel sorry for these people that have to go through all the rigmarole of sorting all these frauds from the real sites out there. I doubt there is a religion on Earth that teaches that theft is a balanced respectful action. I do know that when the country of Australia was founded it was done so on the backs of convicts, many of who had only stolen bread to survive. That’s a kind of theft that will question your moral value system. I’ll leave you with one last question: If the ‘first world’ has nearly all the money on our planet, are we the biggest thieves of all?
My friends in the web hosting business have recently informed me that the big problem this year (2004) is security and fraud. I have read that currently the F.B.I. receives over 9,000 complaints per month pertaining to bogus email and websites. Why is this happening? Are just a few ‘bad apples’ doing it, or is it the result of a lopsided world economy where the underprivileged are finally striking back like the infamous Robin Hood? Whatever your moral view, I’ve got the strange feeling it stems from a growing unconscious greed in the social consciousness of modern society. People worship money, not spirituality or love. Am I wrong?Technically, the main problems at the moment are ‘phishing’ or ‘spoofing’ scams. This is where the use of Spam or junk-email is used to lure computer users to look-alike websites where they are deceived into giving out personal information and financial data. Often these emails are coming from trusted sources where hackers have altered links to send you straight into their ‘pockets’. The Internet user is duped into thinking that they are visiting a trusted website page, when actually it is an excellent copy of the original. There might be only one tiny change in the web address that is often not easily recognizable.Identity theft is where multiple tricks are employed to make you fill out fake forms on fake sites to get all sorts of information that can then be used by thieves to steal money or get free Internet access. Anything from credit card numbers to account information, passwords, billing data and personal phone numbers and addresses have been stolen and used for criminal purposes.These tricksters, few or many, are wizards at finding loopholes in mail systems of legitimate sites. Just go to the site entitled www.crimesofpersuasion.com and read some articles about a few of the more famous scams that have been busted or that are still in circulation. There’s a story about a 17-year-old boy who was arrested with over a million dollars in misappropriated funds hidden in a Costa Rican casino account! Smart kid, but how smart is he really if he got caught? On the site above there are also tips for consumers generally focusing on how not to give your information away to anyone at any time. Check them out.It worries me a little, this huge amount of illegal activity. I know that a lot of people feel that currently the world is very imbalanced in terms of wealth and spirituality and that this new epidemic is just a karmic reaction of the oppressed masses. The United States earns 50 percent of the world’s economy, of course some of the other 95% of Earth’s population is going to be keen for a piece of the pie, right? Steal from the rich and feed the poor like that guy in the green tights.The funny thing is I think that a lot of these thieves are living in America and unbeknownst to themselves be already part of the top 5% of wealthy humans. The problem is that they always want more. Money can become addictive in a consumerist society whose advertising and marketing schemes are constantly bombarding us with stimulus relating to the next new product that we ‘need’ in our lives. We are never satisfied with what we’ve got. The next purchase’s momentary injection of adrenalin becomes more of an imperative than any concept of lasting spiritual happiness.Feel sorry for these people that have to go through all the rigmarole of sorting all these frauds from the real sites out there. I doubt there is a religion on Earth that teaches that theft is a balanced respectful action. I do know that when the country of Australia was founded it was done so on the backs of convicts, many of who had only stolen bread to survive. That’s a kind of theft that will question your moral value system. I’ll leave you with one last question: If the ‘first world’ has nearly all the money on our planet, are we the biggest thieves of all?
Predicting The Future Online
by: Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reservedhttp://www.thenetreporter.com=====================================The psychic Hotline won't help you in this article!However, I want to share my predictions for 2003 and thetrends I see affecting how you will use the Internet forboth business and pleasure. ** Anti-Spam! Anybody with an email account for more than three days hasgotten unsolicited email (referred to as Spam) from peoplethey don't know. These people offer to sell them everythingfrom acne treatment to inkjet cartridges. As federal and state lawmakers weigh into the battleagainst Spam, you can expect two significant developmentsthis year: First, anti-Spam software sales will skyrocket among homeand business users. Unfortunately, unless somebody inventsa solution that actually works well, the end results won'tfit the promises made to sell the products. On a side note: It will prove very interesting to see howmany of the anti-Spam product vendors will actually useSpam to sell their wares! Second, anti-Spam sentiment will massively affectlegitimate online business owners trying to communicatewith their customers via e-mail. New services will spring up to help even the smallestbusinesses secure their communications with customers andavoid the "Spam filters."** Lights, Camera, Action! The use of multimedia, including video, pictures, andsound, along with other interactive devices, will reallytake off this year. However, the proliferation of multimedia will not occurbecause of higher Internet access speeds through DSL orcable.Cheaper and better computers, combined with improved"streaming" software technology, will drive this multimediatrend. As computers and web servers on either end of theinformation exchange get faster at encoding and decodingdata, the need for broadband access lessens. ** Sold to the Highest Bidder Expect auction sites to see all-time highs in sales andrevenues this year. With a sluggish economy, people lookto save and make money any way they can, and buying througheBay makes it easier than ever. ** Do you Yahoo? Search giant Yahoo will rebound this year from a couple ofpoor business decisions. Expect them to regain the topspot as the world's number one search portal by the end of2003. ** "Micro-Businesses" Will Dominate Using "guerrilla marketing" tactics, small businesses willspread like wildfire online. These businesses won't botherwith startup capital, or IPO's; they'll simply reachprofitability within 30 days or close up shop. Also, expect to see "Big" business start adapting thesetechniques by creating special units within largercorporations that reward the entrepreneurial online spirit.So take the challenge! Cut out this article, put it on your bulletin board, and 12months from now we can all see if my psychic abilities ratewith the most popular 900 numbers or whether flipping acoin would have achieved the same or better results. :-)
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reservedhttp://www.thenetreporter.com=====================================The psychic Hotline won't help you in this article!However, I want to share my predictions for 2003 and thetrends I see affecting how you will use the Internet forboth business and pleasure. ** Anti-Spam! Anybody with an email account for more than three days hasgotten unsolicited email (referred to as Spam) from peoplethey don't know. These people offer to sell them everythingfrom acne treatment to inkjet cartridges. As federal and state lawmakers weigh into the battleagainst Spam, you can expect two significant developmentsthis year: First, anti-Spam software sales will skyrocket among homeand business users. Unfortunately, unless somebody inventsa solution that actually works well, the end results won'tfit the promises made to sell the products. On a side note: It will prove very interesting to see howmany of the anti-Spam product vendors will actually useSpam to sell their wares! Second, anti-Spam sentiment will massively affectlegitimate online business owners trying to communicatewith their customers via e-mail. New services will spring up to help even the smallestbusinesses secure their communications with customers andavoid the "Spam filters."** Lights, Camera, Action! The use of multimedia, including video, pictures, andsound, along with other interactive devices, will reallytake off this year. However, the proliferation of multimedia will not occurbecause of higher Internet access speeds through DSL orcable.Cheaper and better computers, combined with improved"streaming" software technology, will drive this multimediatrend. As computers and web servers on either end of theinformation exchange get faster at encoding and decodingdata, the need for broadband access lessens. ** Sold to the Highest Bidder Expect auction sites to see all-time highs in sales andrevenues this year. With a sluggish economy, people lookto save and make money any way they can, and buying througheBay makes it easier than ever. ** Do you Yahoo? Search giant Yahoo will rebound this year from a couple ofpoor business decisions. Expect them to regain the topspot as the world's number one search portal by the end of2003. ** "Micro-Businesses" Will Dominate Using "guerrilla marketing" tactics, small businesses willspread like wildfire online. These businesses won't botherwith startup capital, or IPO's; they'll simply reachprofitability within 30 days or close up shop. Also, expect to see "Big" business start adapting thesetechniques by creating special units within largercorporations that reward the entrepreneurial online spirit.So take the challenge! Cut out this article, put it on your bulletin board, and 12months from now we can all see if my psychic abilities ratewith the most popular 900 numbers or whether flipping acoin would have achieved the same or better results. :-)
Amazing Explosive Ways To Turbo-Boost Your Sales
by: Massimo D Amico
Oh yes...One of the top questions arrived into my email-box is related about "sales".You can explode your orders by following some easy steps...Why not to write them down?Entice people to link to your web site by giving them something free in return. This'll increase your ranking in some search engines.Trigger your reader's emotions in your ad copy. Example, if you sell a book on gambling tips, tell them the feelings they'll get when they win money.Add a chat room or message board to your web site. People want to interact with other people that have they same interests as them.Offer something that is really free. If people go to your site and what you said was free really isn't, you'll lose their trust and they won't buy anything.Ask people questions in your ad copy that make them think about their problems. For example: Do you want to be free of your debts?Magnify the size of your prospects problem in your ad; show how your product can solve it. The bigger the problem, the more sales you'll have.Make sure your site looks good in all browsers. You could be losing sales because it looks distorted in some web browsers.Increase your sales by e-mailing full page ads to your e-zine subscribers. Remember to tell people before they subscribe or they may consider it spam.Right, right my friend.Be sure to put your best efforts into your site and products. Results will arrive soon!
Oh yes...One of the top questions arrived into my email-box is related about "sales".You can explode your orders by following some easy steps...Why not to write them down?Entice people to link to your web site by giving them something free in return. This'll increase your ranking in some search engines.Trigger your reader's emotions in your ad copy. Example, if you sell a book on gambling tips, tell them the feelings they'll get when they win money.Add a chat room or message board to your web site. People want to interact with other people that have they same interests as them.Offer something that is really free. If people go to your site and what you said was free really isn't, you'll lose their trust and they won't buy anything.Ask people questions in your ad copy that make them think about their problems. For example: Do you want to be free of your debts?Magnify the size of your prospects problem in your ad; show how your product can solve it. The bigger the problem, the more sales you'll have.Make sure your site looks good in all browsers. You could be losing sales because it looks distorted in some web browsers.Increase your sales by e-mailing full page ads to your e-zine subscribers. Remember to tell people before they subscribe or they may consider it spam.Right, right my friend.Be sure to put your best efforts into your site and products. Results will arrive soon!
Are You A Spam Zombie?
by: Niall Roche
Over the past few years you've all become familiar with the terms spam, spam filter, whitelists, blacklists and a whole myriad of other terminology associated with the problem of spam. You now have to add a new and extremely worrying phrase to that list - spam zombie.With the net closing in around them spammers are looking for new and more inventive ways to send out their junk email. Spam filters and challenge response systems are becoming progressively more intelligent and blocking more spam each day. What was a spammer to do? The spammers took the next step - infiltrating your PC and using it as a spamming tool. When most of you think of the word zombie you're reminded of old B movies with groaning zombies chasing the terrified actress through a castle, swamp or whatever low cost setting the movie revolved around. Spam zombies are, however, far more real and far more dangerous.A spam zombie is when your computer is taken over by a type of virus called a Trojan. Once this Trojan virus is on your computer it sets up an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) application which allows it to begin sending email directly from your PC to tens of thousands of victims. This all happens invisibly in the background and can be difficult to detect for even the experienced computer user.How do these Trojans get onto your computer? As in most cases they come from porn, warez or similar sites. One of the first spam zombie trojans to appear became available via a link on sites promising viewers free access to a porno webcam. One click later and the Trojan is installed on your computer ready to send out spam. Phatbot and Proxy-Guzu are two of the more common Trojans used for the purpose of turning your computer into a spam zombie.How can you check if your computer has become a spam zombie? Make absolutely certain that both your anti-virus and firewall software have current detection signatures and have been completely patched and updated. Working online without taking these necessary security precautions is simply asking for trouble.Internet Service Providers are under huge pressure to quarantine the IP address of any computer which has been turned into a spam zombie. This is done on the basis that the ISP risks their entire IP range being blacklisted or banned by some spam filtering services or companies.The very least you owe yourself is to run a full virus and spyware scan on your computer today. You might be unpleasantly surprised at what you'll find lurking there.
Over the past few years you've all become familiar with the terms spam, spam filter, whitelists, blacklists and a whole myriad of other terminology associated with the problem of spam. You now have to add a new and extremely worrying phrase to that list - spam zombie.With the net closing in around them spammers are looking for new and more inventive ways to send out their junk email. Spam filters and challenge response systems are becoming progressively more intelligent and blocking more spam each day. What was a spammer to do? The spammers took the next step - infiltrating your PC and using it as a spamming tool. When most of you think of the word zombie you're reminded of old B movies with groaning zombies chasing the terrified actress through a castle, swamp or whatever low cost setting the movie revolved around. Spam zombies are, however, far more real and far more dangerous.A spam zombie is when your computer is taken over by a type of virus called a Trojan. Once this Trojan virus is on your computer it sets up an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) application which allows it to begin sending email directly from your PC to tens of thousands of victims. This all happens invisibly in the background and can be difficult to detect for even the experienced computer user.How do these Trojans get onto your computer? As in most cases they come from porn, warez or similar sites. One of the first spam zombie trojans to appear became available via a link on sites promising viewers free access to a porno webcam. One click later and the Trojan is installed on your computer ready to send out spam. Phatbot and Proxy-Guzu are two of the more common Trojans used for the purpose of turning your computer into a spam zombie.How can you check if your computer has become a spam zombie? Make absolutely certain that both your anti-virus and firewall software have current detection signatures and have been completely patched and updated. Working online without taking these necessary security precautions is simply asking for trouble.Internet Service Providers are under huge pressure to quarantine the IP address of any computer which has been turned into a spam zombie. This is done on the basis that the ISP risks their entire IP range being blacklisted or banned by some spam filtering services or companies.The very least you owe yourself is to run a full virus and spyware scan on your computer today. You might be unpleasantly surprised at what you'll find lurking there.
What are the best strategies or ideas for Internet Marketing?
by: Matt Clarkson
There are many ways for you to do effective Internet Marketing campaigns. The first thing you need to do is build a targeted database of customers. Then you can make offers to these people over and over again. You can do Joint Ventures with other people who may be more advanced with their Internet marketing and send out a campaign to their list. This is not spamming if the JV partner is the one doing the email and endorsing you with a link. Placing advertisements on other peoples or company’s websites, and in the search engines like Google and Yahoo, is also an effective may to conduct Internet marketing campaigns. How about combining traditional and Internet marketing strategies to get offline people to your website with a great introductory offer? There are many online marketing companies you can go to and either purchase information products from or get direct consultations.Search engine marketing is a new and exciting dimension for every business owner. Most businesses were usually stuck at one location and had to wait for walk past traffic to gain business. Now with the Internet you can market to the whole world using Pay-Per-Click Search engine Marketing. There are many search engines that you can advertise with but it requires a fair bit of time and effort to manage effectively. Finding a search engine marketing company to help you could be a worthwhile investment as they do this every day and know all the tips and secrets. But shop around as there are a number of options available and choosing the right search engine marketing company for your business can make a big difference to your results.There are many ways for you to do effective on line Marketing campaigns. The first thing you need to do is build a targeted database of customers. Then you can make offers to these people over and over again. You can do Joint Ventures with other people who may be more advanced with their on line marketing and send out a campaign to their list. This is not spamming if the JV partner is the one doing the email and endorsing you with a link. Placing advertisements on other peoples or company’s websites, and in the search engines like Google and Yahoo, is also an effective may to conduct on line marketing campaigns. How about combining traditional and on line marketing strategies to get offline people to your website with a great introductory offer? There are many on line marketing companies you can go to and either purchase information products from or get direct consultations.
There are many ways for you to do effective Internet Marketing campaigns. The first thing you need to do is build a targeted database of customers. Then you can make offers to these people over and over again. You can do Joint Ventures with other people who may be more advanced with their Internet marketing and send out a campaign to their list. This is not spamming if the JV partner is the one doing the email and endorsing you with a link. Placing advertisements on other peoples or company’s websites, and in the search engines like Google and Yahoo, is also an effective may to conduct Internet marketing campaigns. How about combining traditional and Internet marketing strategies to get offline people to your website with a great introductory offer? There are many online marketing companies you can go to and either purchase information products from or get direct consultations.Search engine marketing is a new and exciting dimension for every business owner. Most businesses were usually stuck at one location and had to wait for walk past traffic to gain business. Now with the Internet you can market to the whole world using Pay-Per-Click Search engine Marketing. There are many search engines that you can advertise with but it requires a fair bit of time and effort to manage effectively. Finding a search engine marketing company to help you could be a worthwhile investment as they do this every day and know all the tips and secrets. But shop around as there are a number of options available and choosing the right search engine marketing company for your business can make a big difference to your results.There are many ways for you to do effective on line Marketing campaigns. The first thing you need to do is build a targeted database of customers. Then you can make offers to these people over and over again. You can do Joint Ventures with other people who may be more advanced with their on line marketing and send out a campaign to their list. This is not spamming if the JV partner is the one doing the email and endorsing you with a link. Placing advertisements on other peoples or company’s websites, and in the search engines like Google and Yahoo, is also an effective may to conduct on line marketing campaigns. How about combining traditional and on line marketing strategies to get offline people to your website with a great introductory offer? There are many on line marketing companies you can go to and either purchase information products from or get direct consultations.
5 Linking Strategies that Work
by: Jinger Jarrett
One of the most effective ways to promote your business online, especially if you use search engine optimization to build traffic, is linking.However, as a certified Web CEO professional, and someone who also uses only "white hat" optimization strategies, I see people make a lot of mistakes when using this technique.Below are some of the strategies that I use to make linking more effective, as well as raise my rankings in the search engines.1. Do your homework first.You're probably wondering what "white hat" techniques are."White hat" techniques are techniques that will always work with the search engines, like writing articles, blogs, and press releases, and optimizing individual pages for the search engines.These are the primary techniques I use in addition to linking because they work.Just ask Tinu Abayomi-Paul, the owner of http://www.freetraffictip.com. Tinu is an expert when it comes to using search engines to build traffic to her sites.She wrote me the other day to thank me for "inspiring her". I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I do know that she uses a lot of the same techniques I do to promote my sites. She now has over 90,000 relevant entries in Google, more than a lot of the top "gurus" on the internet.The fact is, the more pages you have listed in the search engines, and the more links you have pointing back to your site, the more likely you are to be found.Although writing articles, blogs, press releases, and optimizing pages definitely works, you still have to do your homework. This means actually doing a search in the search engines to find out how sites get to the top, i.e. what keywords they use, how their pages are optimized, etc.I use Alexa, http://www.alexa.com, for this because it allows me to look at traffic stats, as well as see what sites are linked to eachother.To get started, search for the keywords you are targeting. Take a good look at the sites at the top. This includes studying the keywords, titles, and descriptions they use in their headers. Also, read the text of the pages. It's not that hard to optimize your page(s). Just write search engine friendly content that repeats your keywords. Make your content easy for your readers to read and understand though.Now this may sound juvenile, but again, it works. Tools like Keyword Density Analyzer, http://www.keyworddensityanalzyzer.com, and Web CEO, http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com/ht/search.html, can tell you if you are on the right track.You can also read Linking Matters, http://www.linkingmatters.com. This short, and free ebook in PDF, will give you more tips on linking.2. Link to complementary sites.I get link requests all the time, and I have to reject about half of them. The reason why is that I won't link to sites that have nothing to do with mine.I offer small business, internet marketing, and search engine optimization and submission products and services. Links to quote sites, joke sites, and shoe sites don't fit with this.The key here is to understand that not only does Google, the most important of all the search engines, look at how many links are pointing back to your site, but they also look at the relevance of the links.Sites that are similar, or complementary to yours, give you more credibility and higher page rank than having tons of sites pointing back to you that have nothing to do with your site.Make the links pointing back to your site relevant.3. Choose relevant, highly searched for, low competition keywords for your anchor text.This tip relates to tip four. Before you start sending out link requests to other webmasters, make sure that you're targeting the right keywords. Not only are a lot of relevant links important, but your keywords should be keywords that will get you traffic.4. Change your anchor text.Recently Google decided that links with the same text between your {{a href=""}} and {{/a}} text should be different. Too many links pointing back to your site that had the same text "looks" like spam. This doesn't mean it is spam, and sometimes, you don't have control over how others link back to your site.However, if you decide to exchange links with others, vary your anchor text.5. Try other alternatives to software.Although there are many software programs out there you can use to help you automate this process, I caution you to be careful when using this kind of software. Although it may speed things up for you, you may also end up with a lot of links pointing back to you that have no relevance. Also, these programs really won't help you as much as you think if you don't change your anchor text once in awhile.If you do choose to use software to automate the process, make sure that you personalize your emails. Again, do your homework and make sure that you are actually sending out email to sites that complement yours. No one likes to receive emails that say "Dear Webmaster". Using a directory script on your site can help you because others can visit your site and add their links. Just make sure that you check your directory once in awhile to see who is linking to you. Also, make sure that you set up your script in such a way that others have to have a link pointing back to you first before your script will accept their site.Link Management Assistant - http://www.dirfile.com/link_management_assistant.htmYou can also find reciprocal link exchange sites like Link Metro, http://www.linkmetro.com. Sites like this will allow you to choose your partners, search for new partners, and exchange links without being bombarded with email or generic requests.Regardless of how you develop a linking strategy for your site, you need to develop one if you want high rankings in the search engines.
One of the most effective ways to promote your business online, especially if you use search engine optimization to build traffic, is linking.However, as a certified Web CEO professional, and someone who also uses only "white hat" optimization strategies, I see people make a lot of mistakes when using this technique.Below are some of the strategies that I use to make linking more effective, as well as raise my rankings in the search engines.1. Do your homework first.You're probably wondering what "white hat" techniques are."White hat" techniques are techniques that will always work with the search engines, like writing articles, blogs, and press releases, and optimizing individual pages for the search engines.These are the primary techniques I use in addition to linking because they work.Just ask Tinu Abayomi-Paul, the owner of http://www.freetraffictip.com. Tinu is an expert when it comes to using search engines to build traffic to her sites.She wrote me the other day to thank me for "inspiring her". I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I do know that she uses a lot of the same techniques I do to promote my sites. She now has over 90,000 relevant entries in Google, more than a lot of the top "gurus" on the internet.The fact is, the more pages you have listed in the search engines, and the more links you have pointing back to your site, the more likely you are to be found.Although writing articles, blogs, press releases, and optimizing pages definitely works, you still have to do your homework. This means actually doing a search in the search engines to find out how sites get to the top, i.e. what keywords they use, how their pages are optimized, etc.I use Alexa, http://www.alexa.com, for this because it allows me to look at traffic stats, as well as see what sites are linked to eachother.To get started, search for the keywords you are targeting. Take a good look at the sites at the top. This includes studying the keywords, titles, and descriptions they use in their headers. Also, read the text of the pages. It's not that hard to optimize your page(s). Just write search engine friendly content that repeats your keywords. Make your content easy for your readers to read and understand though.Now this may sound juvenile, but again, it works. Tools like Keyword Density Analyzer, http://www.keyworddensityanalzyzer.com, and Web CEO, http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com/ht/search.html, can tell you if you are on the right track.You can also read Linking Matters, http://www.linkingmatters.com. This short, and free ebook in PDF, will give you more tips on linking.2. Link to complementary sites.I get link requests all the time, and I have to reject about half of them. The reason why is that I won't link to sites that have nothing to do with mine.I offer small business, internet marketing, and search engine optimization and submission products and services. Links to quote sites, joke sites, and shoe sites don't fit with this.The key here is to understand that not only does Google, the most important of all the search engines, look at how many links are pointing back to your site, but they also look at the relevance of the links.Sites that are similar, or complementary to yours, give you more credibility and higher page rank than having tons of sites pointing back to you that have nothing to do with your site.Make the links pointing back to your site relevant.3. Choose relevant, highly searched for, low competition keywords for your anchor text.This tip relates to tip four. Before you start sending out link requests to other webmasters, make sure that you're targeting the right keywords. Not only are a lot of relevant links important, but your keywords should be keywords that will get you traffic.4. Change your anchor text.Recently Google decided that links with the same text between your {{a href=""}} and {{/a}} text should be different. Too many links pointing back to your site that had the same text "looks" like spam. This doesn't mean it is spam, and sometimes, you don't have control over how others link back to your site.However, if you decide to exchange links with others, vary your anchor text.5. Try other alternatives to software.Although there are many software programs out there you can use to help you automate this process, I caution you to be careful when using this kind of software. Although it may speed things up for you, you may also end up with a lot of links pointing back to you that have no relevance. Also, these programs really won't help you as much as you think if you don't change your anchor text once in awhile.If you do choose to use software to automate the process, make sure that you personalize your emails. Again, do your homework and make sure that you are actually sending out email to sites that complement yours. No one likes to receive emails that say "Dear Webmaster". Using a directory script on your site can help you because others can visit your site and add their links. Just make sure that you check your directory once in awhile to see who is linking to you. Also, make sure that you set up your script in such a way that others have to have a link pointing back to you first before your script will accept their site.Link Management Assistant - http://www.dirfile.com/link_management_assistant.htmYou can also find reciprocal link exchange sites like Link Metro, http://www.linkmetro.com. Sites like this will allow you to choose your partners, search for new partners, and exchange links without being bombarded with email or generic requests.Regardless of how you develop a linking strategy for your site, you need to develop one if you want high rankings in the search engines.
The Money Keyword List - Superchrage Your Website’s Earning Power! - Part 1 Of 2
by: Kenneth Echie
Many webmaster are making money or want to make money with Google AdSense. The problem is that some of them don’t know the keywords to use in their websites. It’s become necessary that those of us in the know share this key information with them to cut down their frustration. It should also help those webmasters boost their income.Below are the keyword list I use when I build my AdSense websites. I call it “My Money Keyword List”. They pay from $1.00 to $100.00 per click. Can you feel the power in this list?The list is in alphabetical order. A few keywords may drop in and out of the list from time to time, but 99.9f them stay on the list.In the interest of saving space and not make this a very long document, I’m presenting this list in 2 parts. This is part 1 of 2 of the list.Drum roll please-----:-)1. Acne2. Adult Diaper3. Adult Education4. Alcohol Treatment5. Annuity6. Anti Spam Software7. Anti Virus Protection8. Asbestos9. Bachelor Degree10. Bankruptcy11. Bextra12. Blue Cross13. Bonds14. Borrow Money15. Business Credit16. Calling Cards17. Canadian Pharmacy18. Cancer19. Car Insurance20. Cash Advance21. Casino Online Game22. Casinos Online23. Cell Phone Plans24. Cellular Phone Rental25. Cheap Hosting26. Consolidate27. Consumer credit28. Credit Cards29. Credit Counseling30. Credit Score31. Death Insurance32. Debt Consolidation33. Dedicated Hosting34. Dental Plans35. Depression36. Distance Learning37. Doctorate Degree38. Domain Name39. Drug Rehab40. Eloan41. Email Hosting42. Equity Line Credit43. Equity Loans44. Extra Money45. Facelift46. FHA Mortgage47. Fioricet48. Free Credit Report49. Gambling50. Gambling UK51. Gambling Online52. Helpdesk Software53. Home Equity54. Home Equity Loan55. Home Insurance56. Homeowners Insurance57. Internet Broker58. Internet Poker59. Investing60. IRA Rollover61. Jet Charter62. Laptop Computer63. Lasik64. Legal Advice65. Lenox China66. Lexington law67. Life Insurance68. Loans69. Low Interest Credit Card70. Malpractice Lawyer71. Master Degree72. Mesothelioma73. Mortgages74. Need Money75. Online Banking76. Online Casino77. Online Casino Gambling78. Online Gambling79. Online Marketing80. Online PokerCopywrite © Kenneth Echie.You can get part 2 on my website: http://www.extra-income-ideas.com/articles.html or my AdSense Money E-Book: http://www.bye925.com/adm
Many webmaster are making money or want to make money with Google AdSense. The problem is that some of them don’t know the keywords to use in their websites. It’s become necessary that those of us in the know share this key information with them to cut down their frustration. It should also help those webmasters boost their income.Below are the keyword list I use when I build my AdSense websites. I call it “My Money Keyword List”. They pay from $1.00 to $100.00 per click. Can you feel the power in this list?The list is in alphabetical order. A few keywords may drop in and out of the list from time to time, but 99.9f them stay on the list.In the interest of saving space and not make this a very long document, I’m presenting this list in 2 parts. This is part 1 of 2 of the list.Drum roll please-----:-)1. Acne2. Adult Diaper3. Adult Education4. Alcohol Treatment5. Annuity6. Anti Spam Software7. Anti Virus Protection8. Asbestos9. Bachelor Degree10. Bankruptcy11. Bextra12. Blue Cross13. Bonds14. Borrow Money15. Business Credit16. Calling Cards17. Canadian Pharmacy18. Cancer19. Car Insurance20. Cash Advance21. Casino Online Game22. Casinos Online23. Cell Phone Plans24. Cellular Phone Rental25. Cheap Hosting26. Consolidate27. Consumer credit28. Credit Cards29. Credit Counseling30. Credit Score31. Death Insurance32. Debt Consolidation33. Dedicated Hosting34. Dental Plans35. Depression36. Distance Learning37. Doctorate Degree38. Domain Name39. Drug Rehab40. Eloan41. Email Hosting42. Equity Line Credit43. Equity Loans44. Extra Money45. Facelift46. FHA Mortgage47. Fioricet48. Free Credit Report49. Gambling50. Gambling UK51. Gambling Online52. Helpdesk Software53. Home Equity54. Home Equity Loan55. Home Insurance56. Homeowners Insurance57. Internet Broker58. Internet Poker59. Investing60. IRA Rollover61. Jet Charter62. Laptop Computer63. Lasik64. Legal Advice65. Lenox China66. Lexington law67. Life Insurance68. Loans69. Low Interest Credit Card70. Malpractice Lawyer71. Master Degree72. Mesothelioma73. Mortgages74. Need Money75. Online Banking76. Online Casino77. Online Casino Gambling78. Online Gambling79. Online Marketing80. Online PokerCopywrite © Kenneth Echie.You can get part 2 on my website: http://www.extra-income-ideas.com/articles.html or my AdSense Money E-Book: http://www.bye925.com/adm
Honesty and the Internet
by: Eric L Graves
What I want to discuss in this article is the basic idea of honesty. The internet is a wonderful place to do business, but with the continuous flood of spyware, malware, and spam, it can be a horrible and very frustrating place for the average user. I am amazed, but not surprised, by the unethical practice of businesses using popups and spam to sale a product. It isn’t surprising because the fact is that those business practices work. Any of us that have worked in this field for awhile know that traffic is king. My experience has been one of honest return for honesty when dealing with customers. Maybe it’s not a quick buck, but I can look at myself in the mirror in the morning and know I did the right thing. I would rather have a customer for life than a fly by night sale to a customer that I tricked into buying my product. It isn’t always about the bottom line of making cash. It should be about service and product value. Over the past couple of years I have had more business cleaning up computers that have been completely overran with viruses, trojans, and spam than I’ve done computer builds. The number one complaint is ‘I just want to be able to use my computer, not worry about viruses and trojans and updates!!!’ Do I profit from unethical business practices? Yes I do, when I spend an hour cleaning up a computer. Do I take the time to teach the user? You bet I do! I typically spend an hour to two with a client after I do a cleanup or new computer build, explaining to a client some of the several things – not to do. Do I lose money with this practice? Yes I do, but only in the short term. I gain respect from the client though and that customer will always come back prepared to gladly spend some more money with our company. The one major challenge with doing business online is that we don’t always get to be face to face with our customers. Even so, there are ways around this that will bring value to your customer and value in repeat business. It doesn’t cost that much to call and thank someone for their business. It doesn’t cost much to send out a thank you card. I think at times we forget that email isn’t the only way to communicate. With the prevalence of spam it isn’t always the best way to communicate either. It’s too easy for that email to be routed off to the trash can by an over vigilant filter program.The internet can be a very impersonal place. It is ethically challenging to all of us who try to sale a product or business online. Is there a chance of giving away too much with little return? Of course, that is always a chance we take when we offer advice or tips to a customer. I can guarantee that over time, the word gets around, and your business will develop a core group of customers who value your service and will tell others. Being a small business is a challenge in the fast paced retail world of chain stores. We can’t offer the huge discounts the major chain stores can, but we can offer service value for the product. I challenge anyone in the IT industry to take that little bit of extra time to teach users the do’s and don’ts of surfing the web. It will benefit your business and benefit the customer as well.
What I want to discuss in this article is the basic idea of honesty. The internet is a wonderful place to do business, but with the continuous flood of spyware, malware, and spam, it can be a horrible and very frustrating place for the average user. I am amazed, but not surprised, by the unethical practice of businesses using popups and spam to sale a product. It isn’t surprising because the fact is that those business practices work. Any of us that have worked in this field for awhile know that traffic is king. My experience has been one of honest return for honesty when dealing with customers. Maybe it’s not a quick buck, but I can look at myself in the mirror in the morning and know I did the right thing. I would rather have a customer for life than a fly by night sale to a customer that I tricked into buying my product. It isn’t always about the bottom line of making cash. It should be about service and product value. Over the past couple of years I have had more business cleaning up computers that have been completely overran with viruses, trojans, and spam than I’ve done computer builds. The number one complaint is ‘I just want to be able to use my computer, not worry about viruses and trojans and updates!!!’ Do I profit from unethical business practices? Yes I do, when I spend an hour cleaning up a computer. Do I take the time to teach the user? You bet I do! I typically spend an hour to two with a client after I do a cleanup or new computer build, explaining to a client some of the several things – not to do. Do I lose money with this practice? Yes I do, but only in the short term. I gain respect from the client though and that customer will always come back prepared to gladly spend some more money with our company. The one major challenge with doing business online is that we don’t always get to be face to face with our customers. Even so, there are ways around this that will bring value to your customer and value in repeat business. It doesn’t cost that much to call and thank someone for their business. It doesn’t cost much to send out a thank you card. I think at times we forget that email isn’t the only way to communicate. With the prevalence of spam it isn’t always the best way to communicate either. It’s too easy for that email to be routed off to the trash can by an over vigilant filter program.The internet can be a very impersonal place. It is ethically challenging to all of us who try to sale a product or business online. Is there a chance of giving away too much with little return? Of course, that is always a chance we take when we offer advice or tips to a customer. I can guarantee that over time, the word gets around, and your business will develop a core group of customers who value your service and will tell others. Being a small business is a challenge in the fast paced retail world of chain stores. We can’t offer the huge discounts the major chain stores can, but we can offer service value for the product. I challenge anyone in the IT industry to take that little bit of extra time to teach users the do’s and don’ts of surfing the web. It will benefit your business and benefit the customer as well.
Simple Identity Theft Prevention
by: Lyle Sharp
How many of you bank, shop, or transact other business online? There are at least 4 million Department pf Defense employees that access their pay records online only. Even offline, stored financial data can be placed at risk in computers that are used on the Internet as well. As one of the fastest growing crimes in America, identity theft is a concern for everyone.A criminal gaining access to your bank or credit card accounts or personal information can wreak havoc with your credit and leave you holding the bag. Protecting your personal data at home and online is not too painful and lowering your risk for a reasonable effort level is well worth it.Before we tackle the computer and online environment, let's take a quick look at your other home risks. Your garbage can and mail box are prime targets for identity thieves. Bills, old checks, financial statements, credit offers, the list goes on. All of these documents need to be shredded with a crosscut shredder before discarding and mail should never be left in the mail box for long. Arrange for someone to pickup mail if you are going to gone from your home for more than a day. In short, anything with your full name combined with any other sensitive information should be shredded before discarding.Phishing and social engineering are methods to get you to divulge your data to a criminal by making you believe the criminal represents an organization or interest with access or rights to your information. Any phone call you receive from someone requesting your personal information or credit card numbers should be suspect. Request a way to call them back via the organization's published numbers and verify the number is associated with the organization before proceeding. Suspect good deals that come to you out of the blue via the telephone or any other method. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.Now for your computer, there are a few things you should do here. Your online activities pose the greatest risk. You need a hardware, or good software firewall. You need good Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software. The software versions will need regular updates to keep ahead of the hackers out there.You also need to take some precautions with your own personal online and offline habits. Online, you should use different, complex passwords for each identity related account you access. You should set your browser security settings as high as possible for general surfing and avoid clicking advertising links from unknown vendors, or links in emails that come from unknown senders or are out of character for the known sender. Never follow links sent via email purporting to be from your creditors or financial institutions asking you to validate your account information. Call them instead, if you believe it is valid. Most financial or credit organizations will never send you an email unless you have asked to receive account updates. The last thing you need to be aware of online is who you are doing business with. Be careful about providing your credit card numbers online. While ensuring the site is secure is absolutely the bare minimum, ensuring the vendor is honest and keeps your data secure is necessary too.Offline, you should secure any financial, health, insurance, or other documents containing your personal information by using encryption and password protection. Most financial software packages have this feature built in. Use it as well as Windows encrypted folders to make your private data secure from undetected Spyware, or short term physical access to your computer by a criminal. Don't use Windows auto-logon features and always use complex passwords that are at least eight characters long, contain numbers, letters, and both upper and lower case. Never use a common word, name, or other easily guessed password. Something like T8$f~lly can be easy to remember, though very hard to guess and extremely time consuming to hack. Finally, change all of your passwords frequently and use a secure password manager to keep them organized.The last thing you need to do is monitor your accounts and credit. Keep on eye on your financial account activities and your credit record. If you notice something amiss, call the financial organization or credit reporting agency and report it, change your passwords and pat yourself on the back for catching it early.My own Yahoo account was recently compromised. While this wasn't a costly identity theft situation, it did put my name on some rather unsavory low-level spam operations. A password change was all that was needed to shut down the activity.Follow the directions I've provided and you will lower your risk of identity theft and fraud related debts to almost zero. Keep in mind that if you have Bill Gate's level of assets, you are in a different class of high risk targets and should hire a security team to manage those risks and lower your insurance rates. You can also call me and I'd be happy to help you put that together. ;-)
How many of you bank, shop, or transact other business online? There are at least 4 million Department pf Defense employees that access their pay records online only. Even offline, stored financial data can be placed at risk in computers that are used on the Internet as well. As one of the fastest growing crimes in America, identity theft is a concern for everyone.A criminal gaining access to your bank or credit card accounts or personal information can wreak havoc with your credit and leave you holding the bag. Protecting your personal data at home and online is not too painful and lowering your risk for a reasonable effort level is well worth it.Before we tackle the computer and online environment, let's take a quick look at your other home risks. Your garbage can and mail box are prime targets for identity thieves. Bills, old checks, financial statements, credit offers, the list goes on. All of these documents need to be shredded with a crosscut shredder before discarding and mail should never be left in the mail box for long. Arrange for someone to pickup mail if you are going to gone from your home for more than a day. In short, anything with your full name combined with any other sensitive information should be shredded before discarding.Phishing and social engineering are methods to get you to divulge your data to a criminal by making you believe the criminal represents an organization or interest with access or rights to your information. Any phone call you receive from someone requesting your personal information or credit card numbers should be suspect. Request a way to call them back via the organization's published numbers and verify the number is associated with the organization before proceeding. Suspect good deals that come to you out of the blue via the telephone or any other method. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.Now for your computer, there are a few things you should do here. Your online activities pose the greatest risk. You need a hardware, or good software firewall. You need good Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software. The software versions will need regular updates to keep ahead of the hackers out there.You also need to take some precautions with your own personal online and offline habits. Online, you should use different, complex passwords for each identity related account you access. You should set your browser security settings as high as possible for general surfing and avoid clicking advertising links from unknown vendors, or links in emails that come from unknown senders or are out of character for the known sender. Never follow links sent via email purporting to be from your creditors or financial institutions asking you to validate your account information. Call them instead, if you believe it is valid. Most financial or credit organizations will never send you an email unless you have asked to receive account updates. The last thing you need to be aware of online is who you are doing business with. Be careful about providing your credit card numbers online. While ensuring the site is secure is absolutely the bare minimum, ensuring the vendor is honest and keeps your data secure is necessary too.Offline, you should secure any financial, health, insurance, or other documents containing your personal information by using encryption and password protection. Most financial software packages have this feature built in. Use it as well as Windows encrypted folders to make your private data secure from undetected Spyware, or short term physical access to your computer by a criminal. Don't use Windows auto-logon features and always use complex passwords that are at least eight characters long, contain numbers, letters, and both upper and lower case. Never use a common word, name, or other easily guessed password. Something like T8$f~lly can be easy to remember, though very hard to guess and extremely time consuming to hack. Finally, change all of your passwords frequently and use a secure password manager to keep them organized.The last thing you need to do is monitor your accounts and credit. Keep on eye on your financial account activities and your credit record. If you notice something amiss, call the financial organization or credit reporting agency and report it, change your passwords and pat yourself on the back for catching it early.My own Yahoo account was recently compromised. While this wasn't a costly identity theft situation, it did put my name on some rather unsavory low-level spam operations. A password change was all that was needed to shut down the activity.Follow the directions I've provided and you will lower your risk of identity theft and fraud related debts to almost zero. Keep in mind that if you have Bill Gate's level of assets, you are in a different class of high risk targets and should hire a security team to manage those risks and lower your insurance rates. You can also call me and I'd be happy to help you put that together. ;-)
Niche Software Steals Microsoft's Thunder
by: Jim Edwards
© Jim Edwards - All Rights reservedhttp://www.IGottaTellYou.com/blog/-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-When you think of software and personal computers (PCs), you think Microsoft.The global software giant dominates the PC market in both penetration and pocketbook.It seems you can't go a single day without seeing at least one news story and several advertisements for Microsoft or a Microsoft product.But that doesn't mean Microsoft dominates in every corner of the market; in fact, as the software behemoth gets bigger, numerous niche software offerings spring up to fill in the gaps left in Microsoft's wake.As you'll see, a couple of these niche software programs have managed to either beat Microsoft to the punch, or even steal market share away from the seemingly invincible company.** FeedDemon **FeedDemon software ($29.95) enables you to subscribe to and read RSS Feeds (Real Simple Syndication).RSS has emerged as the preferred way to share news and other content with subscribers across the Internet without the use of email.The advantage to subscribers: as news, blogs, or other content updates somewhere online, subscribers receive virtually instant notification just by opening up their reader. This represents a huge time savings since subscribers can receive updates without surfing individual sites to chase down stories or wading through piles of spam to find the content they actually want.The advantage to publishers: no worrying about whether email notifications, news releases, or blog updates made it past the spam filters or unreliable mail servers.Though many free RSS reader software packages exist (just do a search on Google.com for "free rss reader"), FeedDemon offers an unmatched suite of tools that enable serious RSS subscribers the power and flexibility to mix and match feeds, including the new "POD Casting" craze where content providers syndicate audio content (MP3) over the web.Available from www.bradsoft.com/feeddemon/, FeedDemon sets the standard for RSS readers in a market that Microsoft has yet to even address with any of its software products.I'll make a daring prediction here: watch for Microsoft or another large player to purchase FeedDemon rather than try to reinvent the wheel and build a product brand themselves.** FireFox Web Browser **Security problems always seem to plague the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) Web browser.In fact, last year the problem got so bad, it forced Microsoft to release one of the largest free software upgrades (Service Pack 2) in the history of computing.According to both OneStat.com and Webside Story, two of the Web's leading Web analytics companies, Microsoft's IE market share has dipped below 90%. See actual stats from WebSide Story Here:http://www.websidestory.com/services-solutions/datainsights/spotlight.htmlIn response to serious security threats to Internet Explorer, an upstart browser named FireFox from Mozilla.org took off like a rocket ship in late 2004.Available free from www.Mozilla.org, FireFox offers not only a full-featured Web browser without the security problems, but also a number of features not available on Internet Explorer.Probably the most popular feature Firefox offers over IE is "Tabbed Browsing," which enables you to open multiple Web pages without opening multiple windows.Firefox also limits harmful Active-X controls and pop-up windows.Firefox tends towards a less forgiving attitude on HTML coding and may display some Web pages awkwardly, where IE displays most pages as the designer intended.Despite this, Firefox makes an excellent browser and Microsoft should take heed that market dominance doesn't last forever once consumers see a viable alternative. And the lesson in all of this for all you would-be entrepreneurs out there with the next great idea?It doesn't matter how big or small your organization, it always comes back to a simple formula: Meet the needs and solve the problems of a specific niche audience better than the next guy and you'll be the winner!
© Jim Edwards - All Rights reservedhttp://www.IGottaTellYou.com/blog/-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-When you think of software and personal computers (PCs), you think Microsoft.The global software giant dominates the PC market in both penetration and pocketbook.It seems you can't go a single day without seeing at least one news story and several advertisements for Microsoft or a Microsoft product.But that doesn't mean Microsoft dominates in every corner of the market; in fact, as the software behemoth gets bigger, numerous niche software offerings spring up to fill in the gaps left in Microsoft's wake.As you'll see, a couple of these niche software programs have managed to either beat Microsoft to the punch, or even steal market share away from the seemingly invincible company.** FeedDemon **FeedDemon software ($29.95) enables you to subscribe to and read RSS Feeds (Real Simple Syndication).RSS has emerged as the preferred way to share news and other content with subscribers across the Internet without the use of email.The advantage to subscribers: as news, blogs, or other content updates somewhere online, subscribers receive virtually instant notification just by opening up their reader. This represents a huge time savings since subscribers can receive updates without surfing individual sites to chase down stories or wading through piles of spam to find the content they actually want.The advantage to publishers: no worrying about whether email notifications, news releases, or blog updates made it past the spam filters or unreliable mail servers.Though many free RSS reader software packages exist (just do a search on Google.com for "free rss reader"), FeedDemon offers an unmatched suite of tools that enable serious RSS subscribers the power and flexibility to mix and match feeds, including the new "POD Casting" craze where content providers syndicate audio content (MP3) over the web.Available from www.bradsoft.com/feeddemon/, FeedDemon sets the standard for RSS readers in a market that Microsoft has yet to even address with any of its software products.I'll make a daring prediction here: watch for Microsoft or another large player to purchase FeedDemon rather than try to reinvent the wheel and build a product brand themselves.** FireFox Web Browser **Security problems always seem to plague the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) Web browser.In fact, last year the problem got so bad, it forced Microsoft to release one of the largest free software upgrades (Service Pack 2) in the history of computing.According to both OneStat.com and Webside Story, two of the Web's leading Web analytics companies, Microsoft's IE market share has dipped below 90%. See actual stats from WebSide Story Here:http://www.websidestory.com/services-solutions/datainsights/spotlight.htmlIn response to serious security threats to Internet Explorer, an upstart browser named FireFox from Mozilla.org took off like a rocket ship in late 2004.Available free from www.Mozilla.org, FireFox offers not only a full-featured Web browser without the security problems, but also a number of features not available on Internet Explorer.Probably the most popular feature Firefox offers over IE is "Tabbed Browsing," which enables you to open multiple Web pages without opening multiple windows.Firefox also limits harmful Active-X controls and pop-up windows.Firefox tends towards a less forgiving attitude on HTML coding and may display some Web pages awkwardly, where IE displays most pages as the designer intended.Despite this, Firefox makes an excellent browser and Microsoft should take heed that market dominance doesn't last forever once consumers see a viable alternative. And the lesson in all of this for all you would-be entrepreneurs out there with the next great idea?It doesn't matter how big or small your organization, it always comes back to a simple formula: Meet the needs and solve the problems of a specific niche audience better than the next guy and you'll be the winner!
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