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    Using Digital Publishing as an Alternative to Traditional Publishing Medium

    November 20th, 2009

    If you are an ardent budding young author, inspired writer or perhaps a smaller inspired corporation hopeful to report smart suppositions or possibly bring one’s personal imprint upon this peculiar world then maybe more traditional publishing may ofttimes be a bitter stumbling post to getting your carefully crafted words of love and wisdom out and about, into the public eye. Take heed you who may be downcast, there are also sharp digital and original online alternatives accessible which should take the headache, sorrow and a reasonable amount of the complicatedness out of publishing one’s textual jewels. There is no revelation you may be highly thrilled to hear that you can often steer clear of those pesky editors, sub-editors and haughty publishers through assuming your own positive actions toward broadcasting your own work.

    So you have an unbelievable piece that you have been working extremely hard on for years, or feasibly very valuable facts and figures which you just know many users would more than happily their homes to acquire. One might well have interesting information from a particular research survey, or probably even a set of inventive photographs, pictures or additional innovative artworks that you would like to compile as a unique compilation of creative works to show off your artistic flair and to get priceless exposure to the exceptional services you provide and get your specialist products acknowledgment. What about simply having your say as to those things that truly trouble you; maddening people, contrived politics, society, fickle culture and communicating your outlook with other concurring folks.

    Currently you could find yourself in a fantastic situation where you could have put in the exceptionally gruelling labour and have got the produce; a brilliant piece of ingenious work which is exceedingly useful, however, you will still need to negotiate with a publisher and satisfy them that you own special work are also worthy to be eternalised in print. Sadly this may often be the ending of the line for tons of authors, wordsmiths, poets, scribes, reporters and biographers. Even if the publisher has been persuaded another stumbling post will often be brought to the fore. This prices of all those annoying extras; editors, designers and other resources necessary to convert an unbelievable brainchild into a fulfilled reality can often fall just outside of what it is likely that you feel is reasonable or you may not be able to give good reason for the expense. First-time writers and authors are now able to consider self publishing as a means of disseminating their works.

    The money involved in broadcasting is not the only curb or wearisome tripping block, for many folk the turn around times for the more traditional publishing are far too long. This is often the case in the instance of stories, data or facts that is really fresh, relating to hot trends or topics and could routinely devalue as time passes and the narrow window of opportunity for influence begins to close up.

    Modern technology comes to the rescue once again, offering you a fast track alternative method. In our fast-paced, technologically advanced outrageous world a substantial array of services that have commonly been offered offline are fast making the mass migration into the ethereal pioneering online sphere, making these services far more accessible to anyone who desires to use them and often at a far smaller price to the user too. Intelligent digital broadcasting is just one of those services and it provides you, the developing writer, with the facility to publish you own handiwork yourself without the annoying hindrance and great charges associated with the more “historical” mediums.

    Digital broadcasting will often also offer you the flexibility you could be seeking for in terms of the ease of modernising information, data or even adding entire chapters to an already published work. Then there is the growing attraction of rich media such as; interactive applications, animations, videos and widgets. With an online or digitally published special works this flexibility is fully possible and a large range of extras and rich media are easily integrated into the magazine, article, or e-book.

    In summary, a budding writer, small research creative enterprise or photographic studio no longer needs to kiss up to haughty publishers or hold up a small bank to see their works out and about in the public eye. We live in today’s digital age and this weird world of clever digital has come to rescue to help you realise you own broadcasting dreams.


    Human-edited Website Directories and How They Show Trust

    October 27th, 2009

    Everybody is familiar with browsing the internet with search engines in 2009, since they allow us to discover websites so speedily. This is crucial, however search engine results aren’t moderated by humans, instead it’s done by an algorithmic rule. Why is that important? Imagine you are browsing for a hotel in Milton Keynes as an example. One would enter this keyphrase into Yahoo! (for example), then a list of results would appear. How do you know if these results are reliable if they’ve never been filtered by a human editor? Here’s how: search engines employ human-administered online directories as a primary filter.

    Directories still play a substantial role on the web, and the most discriminating directories will be necessarily human edited. A person may recognize that (for instance) : “hmm, that hotel has been awarded a michelin star, that’s a really good sign”. A well-known online directory will receive many entries everyday. An administrator will investigate these entries, and if the administrator is happy that the level of the entry is good enough, it is added to the online directory. This is why Google still loves online directories. Both the Yahoo! directory and dmoz.org are interrogated by search engines as filters to determine the veracity of a website – whether it’s included in dmoz.org / Yahoo! directory or not, since they are human-edited and have demanding guidelines.

    So do not minimize the implication of internet directories just because almost everyone uses search engines to discover things. A directory with tight guidelines can act as an essential measuring device as to how trustworthy a website is. If you are a website owner, also look to get your website included in a niche directory, like a gardening directory, a bed and breakfast directory, or a fine dining directory.

    While humans are requiring to act upon signs of trust, the internet will always need individuals to issue their seal of approval, and so directories will forever play a part.


    Domain Registration and Web Site Hosting – a Sober View

    September 10th, 2009

    Picking out the best domain name and getting the most desirable registration are the initial items to research when you are establishing a web site. Nevertheless, this isn’t a painless decision. In a nutshell, the easiest method of making sure that your needs are met is to carry out some thorough research.

    Reviews of domain hosting are helpful, but how to determine what exactly it is you’re looking for? Before you make any decisions you must determine the features that are crucial to your market. Many people opt to get their web site hosted by the same provider they have chosen for their domain registration. Do be mindful, however, that even after your web site has been launched, features like customer service will probably become very significant. Any feedback found on the provider’s web site won’t be enough to go on. It’s crucial to look at an unbiased assessment before you make a choice. You should make the time to study as broad a variety of reviews as possible taking into account what every client has to say. What are the common issues, if there are any? Do any of the comments illustrate any strengths demonstrated by the provider you are looking at? Is the feedback mostly good or bad?

    Count on finding positive and negative customer feedback for every company. Keep an open mind and study any info you can get ahold of. Of course, the price must be taken into account, but have a look at what extras are included in the cost. We have included some questions to follow up on when trying to find the best hosting for your requirements. Does the company offer twentyfour seven technical support with a toll-free phone line, and can you discover from the feedback if they have a good response time? What kind of network uptime will they commit to? Precisely how much bandwidth will be available to you? You can negotiate a package including unlimited hosting and bandwidth, occasionally they also include sweetners such as software packages to run your web site, vouchers redeemable for PPC marketing ads, and discounts on extra domain names. Do they offer a convenient way to pay? Can every payment be approved separately or is there an automatic alternative, and are any deductions made available for payment in full? What level of technical support is provided in the case of a server going off-line? In the end this is an individual decision, even so make sure you have correctly determined all the alternatives. Taking a look at several domain hosting reviews will give you the opportunity to save time and money later on.


    Shakespeare Did Not Need The Internet.

    June 8th, 2009

    I was tempted to start out by saying something like, ‘Gee Mozart was great, but think what he would have done with the help of the Internet to link him with all of the other composers, musicians, and instrument makers in the world?’ However, I’m not sure he would have massively benefited from being able to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. The same goes for Picasso, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, or any of the other grandmasters of various arts. William Shakespeare was a genius who created one thousand seven hundred new words, one in ten of all the words he used. Hard to imagine such a genius being helped much by being connected with the rest of the world’s writers.

    However, I think the inverse is true. Think of what being connected with other writers of the world (including William Shakespeare) would have done to help writers of that era. Imagine a young woman, ten years younger than Shakespeare, living in a tiny village in Ireland. She had a true shining gift for plot and description which could have made her one of the great writers of her age. Sadly, she didn’t have an understanding of character motivation. So she lived, struggled with character motivation, died, and was forgotten. She would have benefited greatly from being able to go into a chat room and then talking to William Shakespeare about creating well-rounded characters. If they’d had the Internet, any number of failed sixteenth century writers might have learnt how to overcome their weaknesses and written excellent plays, enriching the world some fraction of the amount Shakespeare did. Even if they didn’t talk to William Shakespeare, they could have discussed writing with a broad range of other writers from all over Europe. Assuming they possessed some talent, they could have found someone who was strong in the areas that they were weak in, and have helped others who were weak in areas they were gifted in.

    Thankfully we have the Internet. Online chat rooms and writing forums allow would-be authors anywhere to talk to experienced writers and make friends with other aspiring writers. A young woman in the smallest village in Norway, hours away from the nearest person with any serious thought of being a writer, can talk to other writers everyday. Aspiring songwriters can talk to other composers, painters to other artists. Anyone can talk to the leading expert in their field (if she will give them a few minutes of her time) without long trips by coach or car, or arranging an appointment many weeks ahead of time.

    Hopefully with this ease of connecting with anyone, anywhere, anytime, and the broad support gained through connecting, people who have the potential to be geniuses will be encouraged. They may grow into another Shakespeare, another Mozart, or another Michelangelo.


    Chain E-Mails and Unnecessary Bulk Mail: Stop the Insanity

    June 5th, 2009

    Not everything that comes through the mail is valid. Most of the mail I receive–be it through US Post office or my e-mail–is just plain annoying. Still, there must be some people, even friends, who assume that I enjoy receiving so much garbage. They do not get it, even when I tell them, that the deletion of such stuff is an imposition on my time.

    Why do they do it? I think, because someone else has sent it to them to be forwarded to a number of people, friends being the key word, and they don’t have the backbone to stop the chain. When this type of a chain e-mail comes from a friend, it is worse than getting it from a stranger, because I can’t block his e-mail since I want to keep my friends.

    Chain letters, first in snail mail then in e-mails, started out as pranks or jokes or for circulating information, whether the receiver wanted to get such mail or not and whether he got the joke or the purpose of the mailer or not. In the beginning, I used to send the chain e-mail back to the sender to make him understand, but now I just delete it.

    Then sometimes, I get another e-mail scolding me why I broke the chain. Some of the letters used to come with a warning such as: “If you break this chain and do not send this to seven other people, great misfortune will follow you and someone close to you will face adversity.” Nowadays, these types of warnings are passé. Still, the bulk mailing and chain letters remain as the preferred mode of communicating someone’s objectives that do not concern the receiver.

    On the other hand, I enjoy receiving personal letters and e-mails from friends greatly and I love it when a friend e-mails me an article or a URL that he knows will interest me. I even like the bulk mail if the content is of concern to me and is sent by someone I know or work with in some capacity.

    There are numerous kinds of unconstructive bulk mails and chain letters. A true list would fill volumes. A few examples to those are: addressing one’s soft side by imploring help to the poor, sick, missing, or dying people; political truths or falsehoods under the guise of news; matchmaking or meet-your-soulmate mail; online rumor against one institution, company or person; virus warning hoaxes; mail of advertisements with doctored photos or pictures; e-mail activist petitions that ask a person to add his name to a list; a prize for nothing frauds; and pyramid schemes hiding under false pretenses. Most of these are scams to get the receiver’s money, but even when they aren’t, they are just as leechlike because they take up your time and inbox space.

    Although the Federal Trade Commission came up with a “Do Not Call List,” there are no laws I know of that forbid sending junk e-mail and chain letters, leaving spammers and swindlers free to gather e-mail addresses or personal information leading to identity theft and other harassments. FTC acts like a powerless waif against spamming and scamming mail and e-mail.

    I believe, the best way to fight this trend is to not to forward any chain letter to anyone else, even when the content appeals to us and even if we think we know and trust a respectable company or business. Most scammers hide behind well-known names, associations and companies. The only weapon to fight this ill is to break the chain and just delete the e-mail from your inbox.


    Interactive TV Services for IPTV

    May 26th, 2009

    IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a method of distributing television content over broadband that enables a more customised and interactive user experience. IPTV will mean a fundamental change in viewing habits. Viewers will be able to watch what they want, when they want to. Interactive TV services will be a key differentiator for the multitude of IPTV offerings that are emerging. Interactivity via a fast two-way connection will lift IPTV ahead of today’s television.

    IPTV brings together the television, internet and telephone. Much like cable or satellite television, IPTV uses a set-top box (STB) that allows viewers to watch hundreds of channels and order movies through video-on-demand (VOD). IPTV uses broadband ADSL, the same technology that delivers high-speed Internet to the computer. This opens the door to much more interactivity and the potential for thousands, as opposed to hundreds, of channels.

    Find What’s On

    All IPTV services will offer basic interactivity to support navigation and search of the vast amounts of content. An electronic programme guide (EPG) will allow viewers to browse the linear and on-demand content that is available.

    EPGs are likely to allow viewers to look at programme listings up to two weeks in advance, and also look back over programmes from the previous seven days broadcast schedule. A powerful search facility will allow viewers to look for programmes by title, genre and keywords. Filters will allow viewers to display lists of movies, music, pay-per-view events and high definition programmes.

    The EPG will be customisable by viewers, who will be able to create their own line-up of favourite channels and content. As well as full-screen layouts, EPGs will have a mini-overlay mode which will allow the viewer to keep watching the current programme while browsing the schedule.

    Personal Video Recorder

    Many IPTV set top boxes will incorporate a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) that will allow programmes and interactive content to be recorded. Viewers will be able to watch one programme while recording another. They’ll also be able to use interactive services or video on demand while recording in the background. While watching linear TV programming, viewers will be able to pause and rewind live television.

    The PVR will be programmed via the Electronic Programme Guide. Intelligent series linking will allow programme episodes to be recorded based on preferences; first-runs, repeats, or all occurrences. Programme and movie trailers will contain interactive links that can be selected to schedule a recording. Remote scheduling of recording will also be possible using a mobile phone or the web.

    Enhanced TV

    With IPTV, viewers will be able to watch a lot more television at the same time. Sports fans will be able to keep an eye on six games at once, on the same screen, or study one game from multiple camera angles. Viewer involvement will be encouraged through voting, competitions and messaging services.

    Advertising

    Interactive advertising will extend traditional linear advertising. It will allow advertisers to give product information in the form of an on-screen interactive brochure. This will re-enforce the brand messages and encourage viewer involvement with the product. It will also allow a direct element to be added to any TV campaign, with responses being captured from viewers.

    Communication Services

    The two-way nature of an IPTV connection makes it ideal for providing person-to-person communication services. Instant messaging services will allow viewers to ‘chat’ via text messages while continuing to watch TV. Video conferencing over television will allow virtual family gatherings when family members are spread across the world.

    Services will be used both as stand-alone applications, and as add-ons to programming. Friends will be able to chat while watching a programme ‘together’ in different locations. Phone-in shows will be able to display callers, linked directly from their home.

    Community Services

    IPTV will provide many feeds of news, entertainment and information. Viewers will be able to personalise their ‘feed reader’ to match their particular interests. This will then collect up-to-date information such as news headlines, sports results, share prices and travel updates in a single place.

    Dating services will allow subscribers to set up a profile and find compatible ‘matches’ to communicate with. Messages will be exchanged quickly, cheaply and safely, without the security concerns of meeting in the real world.

    Betting & Gaming

    IPTV will offer a range of betting and gaming on demand services. These will include sports betting services, where bets are placed on both live and virtual sports. The betting will be closely linked to the TV coverage, and will include in-running betting. There will also be a range of casino style games including roulette, blackjack, slots and poker. Some of these will be stand-alone games, others will be linked to programming with either live or virtual presenters.

    Personal Content

    IPTV will enable the secure sharing of video recordings, photos and music. Users with a home network will be able to share digital content with other devices such as PCs and portable media players. IPTV will be a key component in the connected home.

    Users will also be able to share content with family and friends across the Internet. Effective digital content protection with consumer flexibility will be essential for such sharing to flourish. IPTV could even allow users to have their own television channel where they could share their views, photos and videos with the rest of the world as a video podcast.

    Conclusion

    Interactive television will provide genuinely useful applications that enhance the overall user experience of IPTV. Interactive services must be seen as part of the overall infrastructure of delivering television – not just a bolt on.

    To get the right interactive services to meet consumer demands will require experimentation. Content providers, broadcasters and network owners need to develop, trial, refine and roll-out interactive services. A lot has been learnt over the past ten years about interactive TV. This knowledge can help inform the design of interactive services for IPTV.

    John Withnell is Managing Director of Long Dog, a company that provides a one-stop-shop for project planning, design and build of interactive TV solutions. See http://www.longdog.tv/ for details.


    Meeting Your Bandwidth Requirements For Supply Chain Management Applications

    May 26th, 2009

    In today’s business world it is critical for companies to deploy supply-chain management (SCM) systems to enhance efficiency across the product lifecycle by streamlining procurement, production, fulfillment, and distribution processes. Deploying an SCM solution that provides the intended return on investment requires that the applications, servers, and enterprise network infrastructure work together seamlessly. This is easier said than done and will necessitate a thorough evaluation of your bandwidth needs to meet the demand.

    SCM solutions require integration of applications and data across multiple geographically dispersed supply chain partners, as well as internal integration with legacy systems. To ensure success, your organization must deploy robust, end-to-end dedicated bandwidth that delivers highly reliable and strictly monitored QoS (Quality of Service).

    An SCM solution is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. Access to SCM applications and data must be guaranteed for all of your users, inside and outside the enterprise. Your company must provide sufficient bandwidth to support constant data flow between desktops and servers at the company headquarters, geographically dispersed suppliers and partners, manufacturers, distributors, customer service call centers, and for mobile users and teleworkers. Connections between servers and desktops must provide the necessary bandwidth to deliver resource-intensive services, real-time application data to all users, and enable integration of disparate data sources.

    At your headquarters office, where corporate Web, application, and database servers reside and WAN links converge, availability and security are key. A redundant backbone switching architecture with Gigabit Ethernet connectivity to servers and access switches is often indicated, along with a modular, enterprise-class routing platform that supports advanced security features and WAN bandwidth management.

    In order to ensure availability over time, a successful SCM solution should be built on an application design, server architecture, and network infrastructure that can grow easily as your business grows. This is called scalability. The solution must provide the ability to easily provision more WAN bandwidth to meet peak needs, to scale with fluctuating traffic between vendors and partners, and to adapt quickly as supply chain partners are added or replaced. To accomplish this, the solution should readily accommodate new server connections, partners, and locations. Network routers should provide enough capacity to easily and economically provision additional bandwidth as traffic increases, or to add new locations as the geographic reach of the supply chain expands.

    Each location involved in your SCM infrastructure will require dedicated bandwidth to meet the functions conducted at that location. This likely will involve some combination of the following choices and is dependent on the complexity of the deployed SCM system and the size of your organization:

    - DS3 bandwidth, also known as a T3, is the reliable, all-purpose, digital connection for extremely high-volume requirements. Operating at 45 Mbps (equivalent to 28 DS1 circuits, or 672 DS0 channels), DS3 can provide a cost-effective solution for smaller locations in the SCM network. With DS3, you can link your high-volume host computers for resource sharing and load balancing.

    - OC3 bandwidth is a fiber optic line delivering 155 Mbps (equivalent to 3 DS3 circuits) designed for those who expect constant, high bandwidth requirements. For a mid to large size business implementing a SCM system….this will likely be your choice for infrastructure backbone (e.g. headquarters) bandwidth.

    - Gigabit Ethernet is a version of Ethernet, which supports data transfer rates of 1 Gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second. Large scale deployment of SCM systems and larger organizations will likely consider this solution.

    The process to determine and than find the appropriate bandwidth solution for your SCM application can be a daunting task. Use of an unbiased professional bandwidth broker will save your IT staff countless hours of effort and headaches while guiding them through the technology minefields towards the best choice for system reliability and cost. I strongly suggest you take advantage of their expertise.

    Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications….including DS3-Bandwidth.com Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you’re always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.


    Make money Online with Fusion Branding

    May 20th, 2009

    Most entrepreneurs would know the importance of developing a brand for the products or services they offer. Most would say that branding helps consumers to uniquely identify their products and services. Furthermore, after establishing the brand name, the value or worth of the “brand name” can be “pumped up” without having fears that the investments would be dissolved by competitors. At least these seem to be the main reasons for branding. However, most netrepreuners are still ignorant of the effective approaches of developing a brand on the World Wide Web.

    Developing your brand with great content
    Content marketing has evolved much for the advertiser. Now online, advertisers have learnt that their adverts have to blend into the publishers’ website as great content. Only by providing content would the website visitors be drawn to the adverts rather than to just skip them. We now know that website visitors seek original, fresh and great content. It is information that they seek and not flashy graphics or logos. It is great content that makes your site “sticky”, thus helping your visitors to return well so often. So how do we provide the fresh content? Well, there are many ways. First and foremost, be generous in inserting concise details and organized information on the products and services you offer. Make sure that the website is structured in a very organized fashion. Do not make the mistake of providing irrelevant information. Providing the latest news or information on the market trends regarding your products will be useful. Inclusion of a manual or guide to using your products is most encouraged. Detailed comparisons with your competitors will be appreciated by your visitors. Insert articles and forum posts by your existing customers. Their comments and suggestions will definitely be welcomed by your site visitors and prospects. As there can be many other ways of providing great content, remember to keep it fresh by updating your site content regularly and with original information.

    Customer relationship is King
    Another important aspect of building your website brand name is the relationship development with your customers and website visitors. On the World Wide Web, this vital factor has been much emphasized by gurus yet overlooked by webmasters and netrepreuners. Before website visitors decide to make a purchase, they would like to have the experience that they are being treated with extra care and not just like another client. They would like to know unconsciously what kind of caring and considerate person you are. They may not get a clear picture of what kind of personality you have the first time they visit your site, but will form a better image of you after returning many times or after receiving many of your follow-up emails. Most visitors will only be converted to customers after being convinced that your support team or you yourself are motivated by support care for your clients. It has also been proven that good customer relationship is even more effective when extended to webmasters who are leaders. Website visitors will be easily converted to your supporters when you can prove to be their reliable leader in their quest to their goals. As their leader, your desired personal character is to personally know your supporters, care for them, attend to their personal needs with haste and optimistic if not motivational.
    A few simple steps can be carried out to enhance good customer care: promote communication both ways and attend to your visitors’ needs and questions quickly; be polite and considerate when communicating with visitors and customers alike. Simple communication mediums or tools can be set up to aid the communication process. Leave your contact email address so that the website visitors can contact you. If you are afraid that your email address will be misused, then you may use ticketing systems where the visitors fill to submit ticket forms. You may also consider using detailed “Frequently Asked Question” sections to help you. Forums also prove to be a useful communication tool. “Live-support” and chat rooms are helpful as visitors can get their doubts cleared and questions answered on the spot.

    Building a community
    Most people would like to be part of a team. The sense of belonging especially to a more elite group has been identified as an important driving characteristic of consumer behavior. Being part of a community, most people feel that they are able to get non-biased communication, opinions and even help from other members of the related community. Many people also have the concept that successfully developed communities usually enjoy higher standards of privileges as compared to individuals, single visitors or buyers to the website. This is usually true as Webmasters tend to “take care” of their nurtured community groups with gifts, offers and privileges. After all, it’s convenient for the webmaster to contact the entire group than many individuals. Therefore members of a group will be contacted or updated frequently with new information and privileges. It is wise if you are able to build some sort of community related to your web site. These community groups can be maintained using tools such as emailing systems and auto-responders. Forum softwares are also very useful to maintaining constant communication with the entire community. Chatrooms are great when members need to talk to each other or with you.

    Your ultimate pot of gold
    Are there really “Pots of Gold” to be realized in business including that of the Internet? Well, to better illustrate what these “Pots of Gold” are, let’s look at a simple real life example. The producers of the Blockbuster movie “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” released this first movie in 2001. It was a hit and made millions , despite the fact that many had never even read the book. After reaping in the mega profits, did the producers stop there? The answer is no; they went ahead with the filming of other Harry Potter movies. They knew that the consequent movies will be almost guaranteed instant mega Blockbusters. This is simply because the same people who enjoyed the first Harry Potter movie will most likely return to watch the other Harry Potter movies.
    Let’s take another practical example. Today, millions have been served and are still being served in the chain outlets of McDonalds worldwide. It is not by coincidence that McDonalds also sell children toys with their value meals. It is not surprising that the volume of toys sold by McDonalds worldwide now surpasses any toy retailer company. In fact, McDonalds is now ranked number 1 as the world’s largest toy distributor, above Toys “R” Us and Walmart. (example source : www.fool.com/News/mft/2004/mft04090301.htm ) . You may ask how it became so. Well, there is no secret. The McDonalds corporation has built its enormous network of chain stores worldwide which are repeatedly patronized by their respective customers. Every time McDonalds introduce new products, they will be instantly introduced to a ready market of potential buyers!
    From these examples, we now understand that the direction for any growing business is to build our network of dedicated clients. This clientele may have been your past customers but you have to stay in good relations with them as they have a good chance to purchase your products and services in future. As long as they have enjoyed and appreciated your past products, services, contacts, communications and customer relations, they will definitely consider the next quality relevant products and services that you introduce to them. Communicating with your past internet customers will be easy as you already have their emails and contacts from their last purchase.

    To summarize this important aspect of internet marketing, let’s layout the plan of actions that builds your “Pot of Gold”.
    a. Ensure that your first and consequent products and services are of the highest grades
    b. As you make the sales, remember to keep your customers’ emails addresses and contact profiles.
    c. Remember to keep in contact with your customers so that you preserve and enhance the good relations with them. Use emailing softwares and tools to send your updates, newsletters and emails.
    d. As you update your subscribers on your future plans, remember to highlight your brand name or company name so they can associate their past pleasant experience with you to your brand name and company.
    e. When you introduce the new products and services to your past clients, remember to highlight your brand and company name. They will cognitively associate their past good experience to their current needs for the new product or service.
    f. Never, ever introduce non-relevant products and services to your clients. This will spoil their image of you as a professional in the scope of field you are in. Imagine an example where you manage a site that deals with recipes. As your site grows, you accumulate a list of loyal subscribers to your regular updates and newsletters. It will be ridiculous if you were to suddenly introduce sports shoes to your subscribers!

    To understand more of our web services, please log on to http://www.netbizsolutions.com

    Eugene Yeng is the Managing Director of Netbizsolutions.com .
    An Internet Advertising Guru leading A Internet Advertising Consultancy.
    He is also the author of the paperback book Killer Internet Cashflow Strategies.


    Xsitepro, is this the only Honest Review on the Internet?

    May 7th, 2009

    Unlike many of the Xsitepro reviews that you might find on the Internet, this is a fully unbiased review that does not include a single affiliate link. You see, it is my opinion that you can not properly review a product if you are hoping to encourage people to click through via your affiliate link in order to earn you a commission. It’s fairly obvious, that if you’re looking for affiliate commission, your review is going to be good, this means that it is not a fair review.

    First off, let me explain what Xsitepro actually is. It’s a product that is aimed at people without a technical background who would like to have the freedom and flexibility to launch multiple web sites. There are a number of reasons why people would like to do this, most notably to create a web site that can be used to launch or sell a product, earn affiliate revenue or make money from contextual advertising, such as Yahoo Publishing or Google Adsense.

    The reason why Xsitepro is so powerful, is that someone without a technical background is able to launch a fully fledged web site within just a few hours. This means that you are only limited by your ambition and time.

    To give you an idea of how easy it is to create a new web site, I have provided this walk through below. However, it is very much worth pointing out that the tutorials and documentation provided with this product are excellent. This is very important as it ensures that you’re able to realise your return on investment much quicker if you can leverage the full capabilities of the program.

    Creating a website in Xsitepro.

    Simply open your Xsitepro program and select “Add Project”. As you’d expect, this creates a new project, you can name this and add notes. You can also include your project description and add your keywords.

    Highlight your new project and select “Add web site”, you will then be given a choice of 4 different web site layouts. These include, a blank web page, graphical sales letter, sales letter and affiliate templates. Upon selecting any of these choices, you will be presented with multiple choice of Xsitepro templates.

    For this example, I will select a blank web page, once selected you will be asked to provide a name. Once you have decided upon a name, you have the option to provide the following web page details, title, description, keywords, author, copyright and other notes. You can complete this immediately, or come back to it at a later date.

    Across the top of your console, you will see the following tabs, website information, page layout, web pages, other and publishing details. Our next step is to select web pages, this is the page that we can add new pages, product pages, article pages, external links or simply import multiple pages into the system. It is possible to create 1,000 page web site by simple importing your keyword list via the multiple page option, Xsitepro will even capitalise the words if you choose to include them on your navigation bar.

    For each page that you create, you have the option of checking a box should you wish that page to appear on the navigation bar, page footer or site map. For the actual page content, you can choose a traditional HTML view, or you may prefer the Design view which is similar to a word processor. If you have content in other programs, you can simply cut and paste into your page.

    A very unique feature with Xsitepro is that it helps you to create pages that are search engine friendly. Each page that you create is measured for SEO effectiveness, this means that your “On Page SEO” is always taken care of if you follow the suggestions made by the program.

    Once you have created your pages, you might want to include your Adsense code or other affiliate links such as Amazon. In Xsitepro, this is as easy as right clicking. Once you have added your Adsense and affiliate link information to the program, you simply right click and “Add Adsense Code” or “Add Snippet”.

    Now that your site has content and links, you might well be ready to upload your site. Again, in Xsitepro this is very easy. Before Xsitepro came along, I always had enormous difficulty uploading web sites, this all changed very quickly.

    To upload a site, you need to do the following, enter your domain name, home directory, FTP Server, username and password, once entered, you select “Tools” and “Publish” . That’s it, your site begins to upload and you’ll be online shortly.

    Obviously, this describes building a very simple web site and uploading it to the Internet. The objective of explaining how to create a web site in Xsitepro was to give you a sense of how easy it is. The real benefit of this product is taking advantage of all of the other features and functions. Don’t worry, you do not need to be a technical wizard to get the hand of these, you’ll pick them up quite quickly and before long you’ll be creating stunning web sites.

    Once you start to gain a little bit of experience from using Xsitepro, you may identify what I consider to be the only real weakness of the product, that is the lack of templates that are available out of the box. It is possible to create original templates for yourself, however this requires a certain amount of artistic flair and knowledge of a program such as Photoshop. Unfortunately, these skills were not handed to everyone.

    Fortunately, there are great companies out there that are starting to provide great Xsitepro templates. These are usually available via download and you can simply import these templates into your own Xsitepro program, this allows you to build your content around the new template.

    One of the better companies offering these templates is Xsiteprotemplates4U.com, they already have a wide selection of templates available and are adding to their portfolio on a daily basis, so there should be something there for most people, best of all is that these fun and original designs will not break the bank.

    I hope that you found this review helpful. I plan to follow this article up with some more detailed tips and tricks and how to really start to get the most of this great product.

    Oh, in case you have not already guessed, I think that Xsitepro is a great product. Their sales page does not do it justice at all. Whether you’re technical or non technical and currently use Dreamweaver or Frontpage to create your web sites, I fully recommend that you look into Xsitepro. There’s a one year guarantee, so really there is nothing to lose!

    Good luck.

    For the very latest Xsitepro Templates or Xsitepro designs, please visit the following web site and sign up for their newsletter.

    Charlotte Alice represents Xsitepro Templates and Online Web Publisher


    What is Broadband?

    May 7th, 2009

    Defining broadband can get complicated

    There are many different takes on how to actually define the word: broadband. The first and most obvious way to define it is a transmission medium that allows for multiple pathways and types of data, far exceeding simple voice communication devices. Simply, put it is the ability to access a variety of data through one connection at a reasonable speed.

    Where a phone line severely limits the amount of information it can transmit, a broadband line, which has bandwidth greater than 2 mbps, unlike a standard dial-up connection which will only have 56kbps, can allow for a variety of different frequencies and channels to travel down its wide pathway. This makes it optimal for those who play video games on the Internet or are involved in heavy graphics work that they need to import, send and receive along the information superhighway.

    The minimum width of a broadband line has become a matter of debate. While initially, the broadband definition was a line that was greater than 2 mbps in width, other experts began asserting that it should be at least 3 mbps wide. Still others complain that at least 20 would be appropriate. But now, broadband services start as low as 1 mbps, for those who are trying out broadband for the first time. So who really knows what the minimum level of bandwidth is needed in order for it to be called broadband? One thing is certain though. DSL service which an range from 256 kbps capacity on the downstream and upstream side up to 1.5mbps, or even higher, is considered a broadband service as well. So are cable television modems, which have similar speeds. So, in reality anything with greater capacity than a narrow line, like a telephone line, which can only hold up to 64 kbps, is technically considered a broadband service.

    Broadband services have become all the craze in the past few years. When the Internet started to become more mainstream in the 1990s people were content with simple dial-up Internet services, which used only narrow lines. But as the need for speed became important, especially as files and Web pages became more elaborate, requiring more computer storage space and memory, the need for larger bulks of information being able to be sent and received at a quicker pace became essential. Hence, we have the broadband revolution. Today, hardly anyone uses narrow band service, or dial-up. Broadband Internet access is the name of the game. And if you work in an office it is absolutely essential, as larger chunks of information are frequently sent to and from businesses on a regular basis. Simply put, if you don’t have broadband today, you are probably a person who does not need the Internet for a living. With the number of telecommuting jobs available today, the need for broadband services is only likely to expand greatly.

    About The Author:

    Neil Shevlin is the owner of
    UK Cheap Broadband which is a great place to find broadband links, resources and articles.

    For more information go to:
    UK Cheap Broadband

    http://www.ukcheapbroadband © Copyright 2005

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