A new definition of "Buyer Beware".

by: Jesse S. Somer

"Who's Suzie?" My wife Katrina had been acting strangely ever since I had returned home from my Native American cultural class, not to mention the weird phone call I received just before I left, full of little pauses instead of our usual fast-paced communication. Now that I was home she had been pretty much ignoring me completely, then comes this strange question. Katrina was calm but I could tell there was something under her skin as she chopped up the vegetables for the night's dinner. "I don't know anyone named Suzie." I replied. "Well come to think of it, there's my old friend Peter's wife Suzie." My wife remained calm, " Do you want to tell me anything?" she replied. "There is nothing to tell Kat." Katrina was heating up; her trademark rosy cheeks had evolved to boiling teapot. Still however, no steam or whistle had been emitted from her pretty spout. She looked at me thoughtfully, "Well, I looked at your cell phone today. It seems you've been sending text messages to a woman named Suzie. I've read around thirty of her texts in the archive; they're all like "I love you heaps" and "Thinking of you right now". Who is she Tom?" A strange feeling overcame me. Katrina seemed absolutely sure that I was guilty of something. Accused yet innocent, her eyes spoke of the obvious evidence that was piled against me. The thing is, we were really having serious relationship problems at the time, with many arguments and rarely seeing eye-to-eye. Katrina was on the brink of tears and I simply didn't know what she was talking about. Looking down I could see the cell phone gripped tightly in her hands. Funny, I hadn't thought about the fact that I own two phones and she was holding the one that I rarely use. A few months back I bought it off eBay as it is extremely small and I don't want to have to carry my big expensive "computer" phone on me when I am riding my mountain bike. It was actually my second 'extra' phone as my wife had killed the first when she had put it through the washing machine. "Are you talking about that phone Kat? Give me a look at it." She handed the phone over reluctantly, as if it were evidence in a murder trial. I looked at the messages and sure enough there were a whole bunch from someone named Suzie. Some of the messages were quite raunchy indeed. Straight away I started to search for the dates of the archived messages, as they would surely prove my innocence. "Look Kat, the dates of these messages were several months ago. I've only had the phone for a couple months. They are obviously someone else's." Her look of disbelief was starting to rattle me. It is a really horrible feeling when somebody you love so much doesn't have trust in you. I then searched and found the receipt from eBay for when I bought the phone. After showing the date on the form to her I could tell she was starting to see that I was telling the truth, but the wall of disbelief still hung over, clouds covering her bright face. Finally I decided to search for the guy who sold me the phone. If this didn't prove my case nothing would save me from eternally sleeping in the doghouse. Using the email address he had used in the sale proved fruitless as my message kept coming back 'Return to sender.' Let me tell you I was really beginning to panic! Then, bang! The sound of the gun rang in my ears...just joking. It didn't get that serious! No, the bang was the sound of the flash of inspiration that suddenly entered my mind. I went back on the Internet and eBay and searched for the guy's name. I found it with a different email address, as he must have changed his Internet Service provider. A huge feeling of calmness rushed over me like the first wave at the beach when you have been in the heat all day. Next I sent him a message asking him about the archived messages to 'Suzie' and asked him to 'Carbon Copy' (Cc) his response to my wife's email address so she would see that it was authentic. The man then replied with a message that said he was very embarrassed about not deleting the messages on the cell phone. All right, pay dirt! He also went on to say that his wife was named Suzie and gave her address so Kat could then contact her if necessary. He seemed especially nervous about the content of the messages and said that he hoped nothing too x-rated was there as he and his wife often used risquι language to keep their relationship's fire 'stoked up! O.K. So there's my story. My main message to you from the whole experience is that if you are buying or selling a product on eBay, make sure you clean up any unwanted information. It can really cause problems! Let me also tell you that now I am back searching on eBay as my new phone has also been sent on a mission back to the creator as it too has been on the 'Quest for the spin cycle'! About the author: Jesse S. Somer M6.Net http://www.m6.net *This story is based on a true story of someone (not the author) with names changed. Jesse S. Somer is a creative writer working at M6.Net: 'The web-hosting company for humans.' M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet, to share their information and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Circulated by The Widow Web

An Ebay Seller’s Checklist.

by: Kirsten Hawkins

Being a seller is a lot of responsibility, and sometimes you might feel like you’re not doing everything you should be. This simple checklist will help you keep on top of things. Have you found out everything you possibly could about your items? Try typing their names into a search engine – you might find out something you didn’t know. If someone else is selling the same thing as you, then always try to provide more information about it than they do. Do you monitor the competition? Always keep an eye on how much other items the same as or similar to yours are selling, and what prices they’re being offered at. There’s usually little point in starting a fixed price auction for $100 when someone else is selling the item for $90. Have you got pictures of the items? It’s worth taking the time to photograph your items, especially if you have a digital camera. If you get serious about eBay but don’t have a camera, then you will probably want to invest in one at some point. Are you emailing your sellers? It’s worth sending a brief email when transactions go through: something like a simple “Thank you for buying my item, please let me know when you have sent the payment”. Follow this up with “Thanks for your payment, I have posted your [item name] today”. You will be surprised how many problems you will avoid just by communicating this way. Also, are you checking your emails? Remember that potential buyers can send you email about anything at any time, and not answering these emails will just make them go somewhere else instead of buying from you. Do your item description pages have everything that buyers need to know? If you’re planning to offer international delivery, then it’s good to make a list of the charges to different counties and display it on each auction. If you have any special terms and conditions (for example, if you will give a refund on any item as long as it hasn’t been opened), then you should make sure these are displayed too. Have you been wrapping your items correctly? Your wrapping should be professional for the best impression: use appropriately sized envelopes or parcels, wrap the item in bubble wrap to stop it from getting damaged, and print labels instead of hand-writing addresses. Oh, and always use first class post – don’t be cheap. Do you follow up? It is worth sending out an email a few days after you post an item, saying “Is everything alright with your purchase? I hope you received it and it was as you expected.” This might sound like giving the customer an opportunity to complain, but you should be trying to help your customers, not take their money and run. Being a really good eBay seller, more than anything else, is about providing genuinely good and honest customer service. That’s the only foolproof way to protect your reputation. Of course, you might be wondering by now whether it’s really worth all the hassle to get a good reputation on eBay. Won’t people buy from you anyway, and couldn’t you just open a new account if it really comes down to that? Our next email will set you straight. About the author: Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visithttp://www.auctionseller411.com/for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions. Circulated by The Widow Web

Anatomy Of A Reciprocal Linking Campaign

by: 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 partner Your 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 2008 - All rights reserved. About the author: To learn more information about Reciprocal linking I strongly recommend that you visithttp://www.Link-Advantage.com Circulated by The Widow Web

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! About the author: Massimo D'Amico is an Italian computer teacher. He has invented a way for any website owner to get unlimited massive traffic. http://www.thebesttrafficofyourlife.com Circulated by The Widow Web

A Look At Third Party Ebay Tools.

by: Kirsten Hawkins

There are plenty of companies out there offering third party eBay tools. Most of them are web-based instead of downloadable, so you pay a monthly fee instead of just buying the software. But do you know what these sites can do for you? It can be hard to get to grips with what’s out there using a search engine, so here’s a quick rundown of the key players. Andale (http://www.andale.com). Andale offer lots of small products instead of one solution that does everything: you can take your pick from a lister, image hosting, counters, analysers, a gallery, a checkout and an email manager. The price plans are a bit of a maze, but quite reasonable as long as you don’t go and use everything. Andale’s real claim to fame is that they’ve been doing it for so long – they’re not some fly-by-night organisation, and many eBay sellers have been using their free counters for absolutely years. They also have a reputation for being very responsive to customers, and will often talk to you directly on their forums and implement any suggestions you might have for improving their software. Vendio (http://www.vendio.com). Vendio offer two editions of their software, Sales Manager: a Merchandising edition and an Inventory edition. The difference between the two is that the Merchandising edition is designed to make it easier to list individual auctions, while the Inventory edition is for sellers who sell many of the same item. They offer a pay-as-you go price of 10c per auction. They also offer software called Tickets Manager, special software for people who sell lots of tickets on eBay – an odd product to have, but useful if you happen to sell tickets. Other services offered by Vendio include web and image hosting, fancy Flash galleries of your products for your listings, and stores. ChannelAdvisor (http://www.channeladvisor.com). ChannelAdvisor offer their software in three versions: Enterprise, Merchant and Pro. Enterprise and Merchant are both designed for very big businesses, though, and the chances are that the Pro version does everything you’d want. ChannelAdvisor is popular among sellers who want a solution that they know is used and trusted on a very large scale by enterprise-level customers. It offers all the standard bulk listing and inventory features, as well as the unique feature of being able to create auctions from an Excel spreadsheet of your inventory. The cost is high, though, at $29.95 per month. And Many, Many More… eBay maintain a comprehensive directory of third-party software, which you can browse through anytime you have a few days to kill. You can look either for complete solutions or for each part of what you want individually – the choice is so daunting that there’s bound to be something out there for you. You can look at their directory at http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SolutionsDirectory. Once your items have sold and you’re about to ship them, you might be a little nervous about whether you can trust your buyer. Our next email will give you a few tips for spotting problem buyers before you send them anything. About the author: Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visithttp://www.auctionseller411.com/for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions. Circulated by The Widow Web

A Look at IT Help Desk Software -

by: Kent Pinkerton

IT help desk software can be a valuable resource for technicians to manage and resolve troubleshooting tickets. Most companies realize the benefits of purchasing help desk software since it is a reliable way to manage customer inquiries and complaints. IT help desk software is preferred by both companies and clients over a traditional call center. In traditional call centers, customers often complain of long hold times and unreturned voicemails. Other times, the less-than-technically-savvy customer may become frustrated in his or her attempt to explain the problem. Help desk software allows an IT department to effectively manage and direct certain issues to the appropriate personnel. Many IT help desk software programs offer the convenience of a user-friendly menu and easy-to-manage files. Customers can choose from a variety of help topics and even copy and paste error messages to send to IT. For those customers who are not technically advanced, menus can be set up to offer a variety of common questions. HelpDesks.com is an excellent resource for extensive IT help desk software reviews and information. This site allows you to compare the leading providers of the products to find the right program for your needs. Convenient charts allow you to see various amenities offered such as whether or not the program is web-based, costs associated with purchase and upgrades and the number of users allowed for each program. One of the most popular IT help desk software programs, according to consumer reviews, is FootPrints. On a scale of one to ten, it has a rating of 9.2 and has multiple consumer reviews. This is a web-based program, and the initial cost is around $6,000. FootPrints offers unlimited user capabilities and free upgrades with their annual maintenance contract. This program is compatible with Linux, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Unix operating systems. It also offers searchable databases, assignment of reference numbers, F.A.Q databases, billing databases and much, much more. About the author: Help Desk Software Info provides detailed information on help desk software solutions, including IT help desk software, web-based help desk software, free help desk software, help desk tracking, help desk support software, and reviews of help desk software programs. Help Desk Software Info is the sister site of Recruiting Software Web. Circulated by The Widow Web

All About Spam

by: Kara Glover

Feel free to reprint this article in newsletters and on websites, with resource box included. If you use this article, please send a brief message to let me know where it appeared: kara333@earthlink.net Word Count = 375 Word Wrapped to 60 characters per line URL: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com author photo: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com date of copyright: March 2008 All About Spam by Kara Glover kara333@earthlink.net Spam is annoying. Period. Why people would want to send all of us stupid messages about buying prescription drugs or getting some outrageously good mortgage rate is beyond me. Well, not really. You might ignore those emails. But not everyone does. And that's why they're sent. Emails cost so little (or nothing) to send. So sending out a million of them could be a cakewalk. Let's say one out of every 1,000 recipients falls for their ploy. Someone just got 1,000 new customers! How in the heck did those spammers get your address in the first place? Well, they actually use a variety of techniques. They use programs called spambots to search the web and pick up any email addresses that could be listed on websites. They use what's called the "Dictionary" technique, where they take a well-known email extension (earthlink.net, for instance), and make up all kinds of possible user names to go with it. For example, with me they could try the usernames "kara", "kara1", "kara2" and so on, until they can confirm one of those connected to an earthlink.net extension is a valid email address. Kinda like going page by page through the dictionary. Ever fill out a registration form on a website and find a little checkbox, probably near the bottom, asking if you want to receive additional information, newsletters, or something of that nature? Often the box is checked, and in order NOT to receive the info, you have to UNCHECK it (or else). Well if you miss those types of boxes on the wrong kinds of sites, your email addresses may be handed to spammers on a silver platter. Well, almost. Often a zillion email addresses are sold for next to nothing to spammers on CDs. (Couldn't you almost call those silver platters?) Many internet service providers (those guys that keep you connected to the internet so you can send and receive email) use a variety of methods to block spam before it ever gets to you. Nevertheless, we all know that some spam inevitably gets through to our inboxes. That's when we need to take a proactive stance and install some sort of software to filter it out! © 2008 by Kara Glover About the author: For help on installing anti-spam software, check out this article on Kara Glover’s website:http://www.karathecomputertutor.comYou can also find more articles, tips and tutorials on topics such as Microsoft Word., Excel, and PowerPoint there. Kara is a Computer Tutor and Troubleshooter. Circulated by The Widow Web

All About Computer Viruses

by: Kara Glover

Feel Free to reprint this article in newsletters and on websites, with resource box included. If you use this article, please send a brief message to let me know where it appeared: kara333@earthlink.net Word Count = 1,500 Word Wrapped to 60 characters per line URL: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com Author photo: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com Date of copyright: November 2004 All About Computer Viruses by Kara Glover kara333@earthlink.net Your computer is as slow as molasses. Your mouse freezes every 15 minutes, and that Microsoft Word program just won’t seem to open. You might have a virus. Just what exactly is a virus? What kind is in your computer? How did it get there? How is it spreading and wreaking such havoc? And why is it bothering with your computer anyway? Viruses are pieces of programming code that make copies of themselves, or replicate, inside your computer without asking your explicit written permission to do so. Forget getting your permission down on paper. Viruses don’t bother to seek your permission at all! Very invasive. In comparison, there are pieces of code that might replicate inside your computer, say something your IT guy thinks you need. But the code spreads, perhaps throughout your office network, with your consent (or at least your IT guy’s consent). These types of replicating code are called agents, said Jimmy Kuo, a research fellow with McAfee AVERT, a research arm of anti-virus software-maker McAfee Inc. In this article, though, we’re not talking about the good guys, or the agents. We’ll be talking about the bad guys, the viruses. A long, long time ago in computer years, like five, most viruses were comprised of a similar breed. They entered your computer perhaps through an email attachment or a floppy disk (remember those?). Then they attached themselves to one of your files, say your Microsoft Word program. When you opened your Microsoft Word program, the virus replicated and attached itself to other files. These could be other random files on your hard drive, the files furthest away from your Microsoft Word program, or other files, depending on how the virus writer wanted the virus to behave. This virus code could contain hundreds or thousands of instructions. When it replicates it inserts those instructions, into the files it infects, said Carey Nachenberg, Chief Architect at Symantec Research Labs, an arm of anti-virus software-maker Symantec. Corp. Because so many other types of viruses exist now, the kind just described is called a classic virus. Classic viruses still exist but they’re not quite as prevalent as they used to be. (Perhaps we could put classic viruses on the shelf with Hemingway and Dickens.) These days, in the modern era, viruses are known to spread through vulnerabilities in web browsers, files shared over the internet, emails themselves, and computer networks. As far as web browsers are concerned, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer takes most of the heat for spreading viruses because it’s used by more people for web surfing than any other browser. Nevertheless, “Any web browser potentially has vulnerabilities,” Nachenberg said. For instance, let’s say you go to a website in IE you have every reason to think is safe, Nachenberg said. But unfortunately it isn’t. It has virus code hidden in its background that IE isn’t protecting you from. While you’re looking at the site, the virus is downloaded onto your computer, he said. That’s one way of catching a nasty virus. During the past two years, another prevalent way to catch a virus has been through downloads computer users share with one another, mostly on music sharing sites, Kuo said. On Limewire or Kazaa, for instance, teenagers or other music enthusiasts might think they’re downloading that latest Justin Timberlake song, when in reality they’re downloading a virus straight into their computer. It’s easy for a virus writer to put a download with a virus on one of these sites because everyone’s sharing with everyone else anyway. Here’s one you might not have thought of. If you use Outlook or Outlook Express to send and receive email, do you have a preview pane below your list of emails that shows the contents of the email you have highlighted? If so, you may be putting yourself at risk. Some viruses, though a small percentage according to Nachenberg, are inserted straight into emails themselves. Forget opening the attachment. All you have to do is view the email to potentially get a virus, Kuo added. For instance, have you ever opened or viewed an email that states it’s “loading”? Well, once everything is “loaded,” a virus in the email might just load onto your computer. So if I were you, I’d click on View on the toolbar in your Outlook or Outlook Express and close the preview pane. (You have to click on View and then Layout in Outlook Express.) On a network at work? You could get a virus that way. Worms are viruses that come into your computer via networks, Kuo said. They travel from machine to machine and, unlike, the classic viruses, they attack the machine itself rather than individual files. Worms sit in your working memory, or RAM, Nachenberg said. OK, so we’ve talked about how the viruses get into a computer. How do they cause so much damage once they’re there? Let’s say you’ve caught a classic virus, one that replicates and attacks various files on your computer. Let’s go back to the example of the virus that initially infects your Microsoft Word program. Well, it might eventually cause that program to crash, Nachenberg said. It also might cause damage to your computer as it looks for new targets to infect. This process of infecting targets and looking for new ones could eventually use up your computer’s ability to function, he said. Often the destruction a virus causes is pegged to a certain event or date and time, called a trigger. For instance, a virus could be programmed to lay dormant until January 28. When that date rolls around, though, it may be programmed to do something as innocuous but annoying as splash popups on your screen, or something as severe as reformat your computer’s hard drive, Nachenberg said. There are other potential reasons, though, for a virus to cause your computer to be acting slow or in weird ways. And that leads us to a new segment – the reason virus writers would want to waste their time creating viruses in the first place. The majority of viruses are still written by teenagers looking for some notoriety, Nachenberg said. But a growing segment of the virus-writing population has other intentions in mind. For these other intentions, we first need to explain the “backdoor” concept. The sole purpose of some viruses is to create a vulnerability in your computer. Once it creates this hole of sorts, or backdoor, it signals home to mama or dada virus writer (kind of like in E.T.). Once the virus writer receives the signal, they can use and abuse your computer to their own likings. Trojans are sometimes used to open backdoors. In fact that is usually their sole purpose, Kuo said. Trojans are pieces of code you might download onto your computer, say, from a newsgroup. As in the Trojan War they are named after, they are usually disguised as innocuous pieces of code. But Trojans aren’t considered viruses because they don’t replicate. Now back to the real viruses. Let’s say we have Joe Shmo virus writer. He sends out a virus that ends up infecting a thousand machines. But he doesn’t want the feds on his case. So he instructs the viruses on the various machines to send their signals, not of course to his computer, but to a place that can’t be traced. Hotmail email happens to be an example of one such place, Kuo said. OK, so the virus writers now control these computers. What will they use them for? One use is to send spam. Once that backdoor is open, they bounce spam off of those computers and send it to other machines, Nachenberg said. That’s right. Some spam you have in your email right now may have been originally sent to other innocent computers before it came to yours so that it could remain in disguise. If the authorities could track down the original senders of spam, they could crack down on spam itself. Spam senders don’t want that. Ever heard of phishing emails? Those are the ones that purport to be from your internet service provider or bank. They typically request some information from you, like your credit card number. The problem is, they’re NOT from your internet service provider or your bank. They’re from evil people after your credit card number! Well, these emails are often sent the same way spam is sent, by sending them via innocent computers. Of course makers of anti-virus software use a variety of methods to combat the onslaught of viruses. Norton, for instance, uses signature scanning, Nachenberg said. Signature scanning is similar to the process of looking for DNA fingerprints, he said. Norton examines programming code to find what viruses are made of. It adds those bad instructions it finds to its large database of other bad code. Then it uses this vast database to seek out and match the code in it with similar code in your computer. When it finds such virus code, it lets you know! ©2004 by Kara Glover About the author: Kara Glover is a Computer Tutor and Troubleshooter. You can find her articles and tutorials on topics such as Microsoft Word�, Excel�, and PowerPoint� on her website:http://www.karathecomputertutor.com Circulated by The Widow Web

Alert marketing - Get Google search results by e-mail

by: Jakob Jelling

By Jakob Jelling http://www.sitetube.com Sometimes our jobs as marketers means we need to look beyond the obvious. Google, for example, offers their Google Alerts service. At first glance, this may seem most useful to companies who want to track certain searches within their industry, or to hobbyists who want to stay on top of changes in their topics of interest. But Internet marketers can also use Google Alerts to help keep track of what's going on around the net, and even to keep tabs on their direct competition for that matter. Google Alerts, which are email notifications, can be created based on the top 10 Google news stories, but more helpful to marketers is the possibility of creating alerts for the top 20 Google web search results. By setting up alerts for your competitor's company, web site, brand, or product name, you can monitor search results for changes. Some results may indicate a new product launch, or perhaps a publicity campaign, and you will be able to make appropriate adjustments in your own business. If you want to market an affiliate product through SEO, you can monitor the top 20 results for a search on that product. You will know if and when your site breaks into the top 20 results, and can watch it as it hopefully continues climbing to that first position. There are other uses as well. SEO firms can monitor clients' results. Niche marketers can easily monitor both industry news and niche search results. You can even monitor search results for your best keywords and your own high ranking pages. Google Alerts, though free, can provide valuable marketing intelligence to online entrepreneurs who take advantage of it. About the author: Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.comVisit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites. Circulated by The Widow Web

A guide to VoIP

by: James Rogers

What is VoIP? Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the ability to transmit voice over the Internet to either a receiving computer, telephone or even a mobile phone. VoIP phone is becoming the popular worldwide telephone service for both consumer and the business communities. VoIP works by using a network technology known as Packet Switching Network whereas landline telephones use the Circuit Switching Network. This is referred to as the Public Switched Telephone Network. What's the difference between VoIP normal phones? The main difference between Packet Switching and Circuit Switching, is that Packet Switching uses (data) or Packets and sends them over the Internet while Circuit Switching is accomplished by using electrical circuits to make a telephone connection. Circuit Switching is like the old switchboard operators, frantically trying to connect the right caller with the receiver. Packet Switching is used to transfer data all across the Internet including E-mail. Packet Switching converts audio formats into data packets and transmits them over the Internet, then reassembles them on the other person’s phone or computer in real time. By using a Broadband Internet Connection, microphone and speakers a conversation can take place similar to traditional telephone. VoIP phones have been round for sometime, but increases in technology it is becoming increasingly popular. Several years ago many applications were available offering some form of free VoIP phone service. Majority of these have gone or now charge a fee for the use of their service as VoIP phone provider. Moreover, VoIP is developing higher standards of quality every day, and it has proved that it is a viable force for telecommunication for the future. Who is providing VoIP phone service? Telephone and Internet service provider companies are expanding to allow for monthly VoIP phone services. Companies such as AOL, Verizon and Sprint have VoIP phone offerings. Recently eBay has joined the ranks of VoIP phone service providers by purchasing skype VoIP software, with its vast membership base the VoIP message will soon reach the man on the street. What's special about VoIP? Instant messaging programs such as MSN massager have been using VoIP technology for years. Now, most of these messaging programs come with voice enabled features which allow you to call a member of your buddy list. By using a microphone and speakers, you will be able to converse anywhere in the world, by VoIP and your Instant Messaging program. With instant messaging VoIP incorporates different areas into one program. With your voice enabled programs, you can hook up a digital camera,web cam and use video, while you are speaking on your microphone and listening to on your speakers, and you can type back and forth with your chat program. You could even write an email at the same time. The potential for VoIP phones use is nearly limitless. VoIP has this unique ability to integrate many forms of telecommunication applications into one package can handle data, audio, video, E-Mail, and web based applications simultaneously. This makes VoIP an incredible boost to business world and provides a cost effective choice of telephone service. VoIP phone service providers are increasing in popularity with many people discovering all of the benefits available to them by switching from using their land line telephones to VoIP service. First, VoIP phone services costs significantly less than standard phone service, and this is a great attraction for bringing in new customers. Many VoIP phone plans will let you make unlimited long distance calls or provide you with a plan for very inexpensive rates. Many of the features that are often included for a fee with traditional phone service are often included for free with VoIP services. Features such as Call Waiting, Call Block, Call Forwarding, Conference Calling, Voice Mail are usually charged as extras by the traditional phone companies but these are usually free with the VoIP phone packages.Another benefit to VoIP services is that you can usually keep your existing phone number, or allow you to select a new area code. The means if you select an area where most of your friends and family live, a call to you will be treated as local call. For a remote business VoIP service can give the perception of having multiple office locations. What's the future for VoIP Make no mistake about it VoIP phone services is a the emerging contender in the telecommunication world.It is a proven technology, can seamlessly integrate into many existing applications, does not require special equipment anyone with a PC with a microphone and speakers can use the service and it is very cost effective. Talk will be cheap! About the author: James Rogers makes it easy to understand and take full advantage of VoIP which is the future of cheap worldwide communications. To learn more visit: http://www.voip-phone-services.net Circulated by The Widow Web

Adware Installation Stealth Tactics

by: Joel Walsh

When adware can't trick you into installing it, it often resorts to a secretive invasion. Find out how to defend yourself. Adware Installation Stealth Tactic 1: Expensive Freebie • How it works: adware may get installed with so-called free software without any mention of it being included anywhere in the software's license or documentation. Or any mention of the bundled software is buried deep within a click-wrap licensing agreement. • How to protect yourself: It's become an endlessly repeated clichι, but it's true: only install software from developers you trust. That doesn't mean you can never try any software from a new company. Just familiarize yourself with the developer's reputation before opening wide your hard drive. Search the developer's name on search engines. If a dozen anti-spyware advertisements are listed alongside the search results, that's not a good sign. • How to fight back: If you've already downloaded the expensive freebie, it's probably too late to simply uninstall it. The bundled adware will likely stick around on your computer long after the software that came with it has been sent to the recycling bin. Instead, you need to use an anti-spyware program, and preferably two to be sure. Tactic 2. Adware Drive-by • How it works: adware may hide in a website's code and download itself automatically onto the site visitor's hard drive. This is often called a "drive-by" installation. • How to protect yourself: drive-by installations of software tend to happen on obscure commercial websites, rather than personal homepages, blogs, or the websites of established businesses. If you can avoid surfing in those kinds of rough waters, you'll be a lot safer from adware attacks. • How to fight back: If you do suspect that a site has downloaded software onto your computer, close it immediately and fire up your anti-spyware and antivirus software. You may also want to delete your browser's cache and also any program downloads folders and temporary internet folders, just in case the adware is a new kind of adware that isn't in your anti-spyware software's database yet. Tactic 3: The Old-Fashioned Way: Email • How it works: you know the drill: just as with viruses, adware may come as an email attachment. The stealth part is that simply not opening attachments may not be enough to protect you. The attachment may not display an attachment icon and is set to auto-install as soon as the message is opened. • How to protect yourself: make sure your email software does not open attached files automatically. With most new email software applications the option to block automatic downloads of attached files is set as the default. But to be really safe, you should set your anti-spyware software to automatically monitor all email. • How to fight back: delete the offending email without opening it or the attachment (assuming that hasn't happened already). Run a full scan of your hard drive using anti-spyware and antivirus software. About the author: Joel Walsh writes for spyware-refuge about spyware and adware removal:http://www.spyware-refuge.com?spyware adware remover [Publish this article on your website! Requirement: live link for above URL/web address w/ link text/anchor text: "spyware adware remover" OR leave this bracketed message intact.] Circulated by The Widow Web

Access Your PC From The Road

by: Jim Edwards

© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved http://www.thenetreporter.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Have you ever sat in front of your computer and wished you could show someone else what appeared on your screen? Maybe you were experiencing a problem, or couldn't figure out how to make something work, but you knew if someone else could see what was happening on your screen, they could help you fix the problem immediately. Ever had a phone conversation with someone about a particular business topic, but you just couldn't "connect" with your ideas because it was too hard to explain over the phone? Now, visualize jumping on the phone with that same person and literally sharing your computer's desktop to collaborate, discuss, and create virtually anything together, even if you are separated by thousands of miles. Though this may sound like an episode of Star Trek, remote computer sharing is actually a daily business reality. Imagine you need to take a trip and you either don't want to or can't take your computer. The thought of emails piling up for days makes you crazy and you also need to monitor some things on your pc. Instead of trying to lug your laptop (or fit your desktop into your suitcase), you can use "remote desktop" software that allows you to access your computer through the Internet from any other computer in the world. One of the most common remote desktop services is GoToMyPC.com, which provides a safe and secure way for you to go down to the local internet cafι, log on, and access your office or home computer just like sitting at your own desk. Now, before you panic and think anyone can access your computer, let me explain security. First, you log in to the GoToMyPC.com website with a username and password. Once logged in, you then click a link to log onto your PC, which will then ask you for another password. GoToMyPC.com has even thought of a solution for those of you worried about people looking over your shoulder as you enter your passwords on a public computer or if the computer you use might carry a keystroke logger. Before leaving home, you can program in a series of up to 99 passwords that only work one time. This means even if someone watches you log into your computer or records your keystrokes, the password you used won't work again. If a would-be thief tries to access your computer too many times, GoToMyPC.com will shut down all access attempts to your PC. The benefits of remotely accessing your PC from the road are numerous, but the bottom line is that it enables you to use your computer from the road like you never left home. For example: while traveling to a conference this weekend, my wife (and business partner) accessed our office computer from my laptop and, instead of the usual pile of 4,000 emails that would normally await after 5 days away, we just picked up this morning like we'd never been gone. The same company that offers GoToMyPC.com also offers a service called GoToMeeting.com which allows you to remotely host a meeting where multiple users can share and collaborate on a single computer desktop. This service makes it super simple to provide online training, do software demos, and even make complete sales presentations. I personally use both of these services and find them easy, reliable and well worth the price. About the author: Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links... Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to your website for weeks, even months... without spending a dime on advertising! ==> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com Circulated by The Widow Web

A brief history of email

by: Deepshikha Khosla

The desire to communicate is primal among most living creatures, and especially among humans. Since time immemorial, the means and techniques of communication have been worked upon and refined. The early humans communicated verbally or in writing. They used pictorial representations, still visible on ancient cave walls. If there was a physical distance between the parties that wished to communicate, messages were physically carried by a messenger. Early ‘jungle drum’ and ‘smoke signal’ transmissions were evidence of the first form of remote communication where a messenger was not physically sent to the desired destination. Email stands for ‘electronic mail’. By this definition, the first electronic mails were sent in the last century via telegraphic transfer and Morse code transmissions. Business extensively used the telex network for communication all over the world from the mid 1920’s through the mid 1980’s. A telex machine would connect and communicate with any other telex machine anywhere in the world, independent of the telephone network. Security was also tight as telex machines did an identifying handshake. However, to send telex messages, a dedicated telex line had to be installed and then telex messages were charged on the basis of the amount of data transmitted. This requirement of a dedicated line, made telex communication an expensive affair. Additionally, in order to use telex, a telex terminal was usually needed which needed trained operators to operate it. Surprisingly, telex is still popular all over the world, despite the growth of the Internet. Mainframe and miniframe computers were quite popular with many large companies in the 1960’s and 1970’s. They exchanged email on these computers. Users (in this case, employees of the company) of their computers (terminals) could send messages to each other. Gradually, companies’ central systems, known as hosts, began to be connected to branch offices. Now the employees could communicate with their counterparts via email on a world wide basis. The APRANET was developed by the US Department of Defense as part of its research on computer networks during this time. Network email was developed for the APRANET, and has now evolved into the email technology in its current form. The first APRANET email message was sent in 1971. The late 1970’s and 1980’s saw the astronomical growth in the personal computer market with the entry of Apple and IBM. This led to the creation of new email technologies. Proprietary ‘dial up’ systems such as MCI Mail, Telecom Gold and AppleLink were to be found among these. This meant that for two people to communicate via email on these systems, both had to be subscribers. Most of these systems eventually became obsolete because they were not reliable. It should be noted here, that email messages were being sent and received by thousands of personal computer users using ‘dial up’ systems before the Internet became available for use by everybody. Another development was taking place parallel to the above – the development of ‘LAN-based’ email systems within companies, by connecting the personal computers being used by their staff to the mainframe systems. These systems were easier to use, and more functional. They even allowed for attachments to be sent with emails. Gradually, the use of the Internet for access to information was gaining immense popularity. With time, as more and more people had access to the Internet, email applications evolved from proprietary email systems within company networks to ‘Intranets’ which can be best described as private mini-Internets. Hence, we can say that ‘electronic mail’ itself is not a new phenomenon. What is new is that it is more easily available on a world wide basis, is cheap and a lot easier to use. About the author: Email is now pervasive but how did evolve and how new is it really? Circulated by The Widow Web

A1 Technology Launches its independent SEO division A-1 Internetdesign

by: john parker

A-1 Technology Inc., a US based Offshore outsourcing firm launched its SEO division as a separate company, A-1 Internetdesign Inc. Having established itself in the field of software and website development, the company expanded to provide vertical services covering all domains of Online Marketing. Established in 1999, A-1 Technology has been providing web solutions to companies across industry sectors with special focus on Finance, Real estate and Health care Industries. The company has its headquarters in New York and other locations include New Jersey, Chicago, London(UK), Stuttgart(Germany), Singapore, Chandigarh and Delhi (India), thus ensuring a global presence. Two years ago, A-1 Internetdesign was started as a division in the company to provide search engine optimization as a complimentary service to its existing clients. As the importance of the search engines grew in doing business over the internet, the requirements of the clients also grew to include other marketing techniques to the portfolio. Ecommerce Maintenance projects were also being accepted that included SEO as a central task. In order to give greater independence, it was decided to turn the division into a separate entity. The new company under the name of A-1 Internetdesign Inc. would provide Ecommerce maintenance services including Search Engine Optimization, Blogging, Email marketing, ongoing development and design alterations. The offshoring advantage will ensure that the prices are competitive. All the services can be seen at the company’s corporate website www.a1internetdesign.com About the author: The author of this article is John Parker, A-1 Technology, Inc, an offshore outsourcing company Circulated by The Widow Web

90s Web Design: A Nostalgic Look Back

by: Joel Walsh

A nostalgic look back at 90s web design, and a warning to anyone whose website is an accidental anachronism. Remember the days when every PC was beige, every website had a little Netscape icon on the homepage, Geocities and Tripod hosted just about every single personal homepage, and "Google" was just a funny-sounding word? The mid-late 1990s were the playful childhood of the worldwide web, a time of great expectations for the future and pretty low standards for the present. Those were the days when doing a web search meant poring through several pages of listings rather than glancing at the first three results--but at least relatively few of those websites were unabashedly profit-driven. Hallmarks of 1990s Web Design Of course, when someone says that a website looks like it came from 1996, it's no compliment. You start to imagine loud background images, and little "email me" mailboxes with letters going in and out in an endless loop. Amateurish, silly, unprofessional, conceited, and unusable are all adjectives that pretty well describe how most websites were made just ten years ago. Why were websites so bad back then? Knowledge. Few people knew how to build a good website back then, before authorities like Jakob Nielsen starting evangelizing their studies of web user behavior. Difficulty. In those days, there weren't abundant software and templates that could produce a visually pleasing, easy-to-use website in 10 minutes. Instead, you either hand-coded your site in Notepad or used FrontPage. Giddiness. When a new toy came out, whether it was JavaScript, Java, Frames, animated Gifs, or Flash, it was simply crammed into an already overstuffed toy box of a website, regardless of whether it served any purpose. Browsing through the Internet Archive's WayBack Machine, it's hard not to feel a twinge of nostalgia for a simpler time when we were all beginners at this. Still, one of the best reasons for looking at 90s website design is to avoid repeating history's web design mistakes. This would be a useful exercise for the tragic number of today's personal homepages and even small business websites that are accidentally retro. Splash Pages Sometime around 1998, websites all over the internet discovered Flash, the software that allowed for easy animation of images on a website. Suddenly you could no longer visit half the pages on the web without sitting through at least thirty seconds of a logo revolving, glinting, sliding, or bouncing across the screen. Flash "splash pages," as these opening animations were called, became the internet's version of vacation pictures. Everyone loved to display Flash on their site, and everyone hated to have to sit through someone else's Flash presentation. Of all the thousands of splash pages made in the 1990s and the few still made today, hardly any ever communicated any useful information or provided any entertainment. They were monuments to the egos of the websites' owners. Still, today, when so many business website owners are working so hard to wring every last bit of effectiveness out of their sites, it's almost charming to think of a business owner actually putting ego well ahead of the profit to have been derived from all the visitors who hit the "back" button rather than sit through an animated logo. Text Troubles "Welcome to…" Every single website homepage in 1996 had to have the word "welcome" somewhere, often in the largest headline. After all, isn't saying "welcome" more vital than saying what the web page is all about in the first place? Background images. Remember all those people who had their kids' pictures tiled in the background of every page? Remember how much fun it was trying to guess what the words were in the sections where the font color and the color of the image were the same? Dark background, light text. My favorite was orange font on purple background, though the ubiquitous yellow white text on blue, green or red was nice, too. Of course, anyone who will make their text harder to read with a silly gimmick is just paying you the courtesy of letting you know they couldn't possibly have written anything worth reading. Entire paragraphs of text centered. After all, haven't millennia of flush-left margins just made our eyes lazy? "This Site Is Best Viewed in Netscape 4.666, 1,000x3300 resolution." It was always so cute when site owners actually imagined anyone but their mothers would care enough to change their browser set up to look at some random person's website. All-image no-text publishing. Some of the worst websites would actually do the world the service of putting all their text in image format so that no search engine would ever find them. What sacrifice! Hyperactive Pages TV-envy was a common psychological malady in 1990s web design. Since streaming video and even Flash were still in their infancy, web designers settled for simply making the elements on their pages move like Mexican jumping beans. Animated Gifs In 1996, just before the dawn of Flash, animated gifs were in full swing, dancing, sliding, and scrolling their way across the retinas of web surfers trying to read the text on the page. Scrolling Text Just in case you were having a too easy time tuning out all the dancing graphics on the page, an ambitious mid-1990s web designer had a simple but powerful trick for giving you a headache: scrolling text. Through the magic of JavaScript, website owners could achieve the perfect combination of too fast to read comfortably and too slow to read quickly. For a while, a business owner could even separate the serious from the wannabe prospects based just on how (un)professional their business websites looked. Sadly, the development of template-based website authoring software means that even someone with no taste or sense whatsoever can make websites that look as good as the most biggest-budget design of five years ago. Of course, there are still some websites whose owners seem to be trying to spark a resurgence in animated gifs, background images, and ugly text. 'll just have to trust that everyone is laughing with them, not at them. About the author: If you want to avoid these mistakes in your website Joel Walsh recommends you check outhttp://www.ezgenerator.com/documents/167.html?%20web%20authoring%20software[Publishthis article on your website!Requirement:live link for above URL/web address w/ link text/anchor text:"web authoring software" OR leave this bracketed message] Circulated by The Widow Web

12 Steps to Creating a Business Online

by: Jim Edwards

(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved http://www.thenetreporter.com ===================================== "E-commerce" A word pervading our society, making headlines around the world, and causing the stock market to rise and fall with startling ease. It seems every business news story centers on some technology company’s "DOT-com" or "DOT-bomb"! With all the positive and negative hoopla, business owners of any size company can throw up their hands and feel the "E" world has left them behind. Every business owner, salesperson, or professional asked one of two questions in the past year, either "Am I using e-commerce correctly?" or "How do I effectively get involved in e-commerce?" You can buy hundreds of books and pay thousands in consulting fees to analyze and debate the answer to the first question. To answer to the second question just follow these 12 steps. Step 1 - Buy a domain name (your own DOT com). Go to www.NetworkSolutions.com and research names. Can a customer easily spell and remember it? Step 2 - Write down your online goals and prepare a time and money budget. How soon do you want your e-commerce site up and running? How much will you spend? How many hours will you devote to the site and when? Step 3 - Surf the web to find other sites you like and dislike. Learn from others’ successes and mistakes by taking the best of what their sites offer and adapting it for your own use. Step 4 - Design your site on paper. Define elements, look, feel, colors etc. Step 5 - Hire a professional to set up the graphics and navigation, but with the intention of you or your staff maintaining the site’s day to day operations, communication and updates. Step 6 - Invest in a digital camera and web publishing software such as Microsoft Front Page or Adobe Acrobat to keep up with the site’s maintenance. Step 7 - Maintain, change, and update your site at least once a month. (The one exception to this rule are those one- page, sales letter websites. Once you have one of those that performs well and makes sales, don't change it!!) Step 8 - Promote your site at every opportunity. Tell people about it. Put your web address on your business cards and in all your ads. Some companies even advertise their web address when they put you on hold on the telephone. Step 9 - Give people a self-serving reason to visit your site. Coupon savings, discounts, special incentives, free information, and free newsletters represent excellent enticements for attracting visitors to your site. Step 10 - Concentrate on obtaining an email address from every customer and potential customer. Obtain permission to send periodic, value added malings to your database. Use a list server to organize and maintain your mailing list. Step 11 - Always look for and use the simplest solution or option. Whether adding a shopping cart, database or other option to your e-commerce operation, seek out and use the simplest answer for your needs. Step 12 - Become educated and stay current in the world of e-commerce. Learn the marketing and sales techniques of the online world. About the author: Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links... Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to your website for weeks, even months... without spending a dime on advertising! ==> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com Circulated by The Widow Web

11 Proven Methods For Maximizing Your Business (While You Sleep) By Using The Magic Of Autoresponders

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 About the author: Clifford Mee is an author, wilderness explorer, information publisher and success life coach. After many disappointments Cliff finally discovered a completely trustworthy autoresponder service. If you want the magic of autoresponders to maximize your business then avoid hassle and visit http://www.autorsp.com Circulated by The Widow Web

10 Ways to Avoid Being Ripped Off on eBay

by: Karen Walker

It is important to remember that eBay is a lot like a marketplace. There will always be a dodgy guy in the corner, selling things that most people wouldn’t touch. The trouble is that, on the Internet, these people can be a little harder to spot. Here are ten tips to help you keep an eye out for the rip-off merchants. 1. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is: This holds for everything in life, but especially for eBay. Things that seem too cheap are usually too cheap for a reason – it might be a complete scam, or the items might just be of extremely poor quality. Investigate before you go further. 2. Know the value of what you want to buy: There are people on eBay who regularly bid such high prices for used cameras that they might as well have gone out and bought them brand new. Check around for prices first. 3. Only bid on real things: eBay has plenty of people who are trying to sell all sorts of schemes and scams. It is never worth bidding for these, no matter how cheap they might be. 4. Don’t do anything outside eBay: Occasionally people will ask you to send them money outside eBay, to avoid the fees eBay charges sellers. Any money you send this way is entirely insecure – don’t do it. 5. Be careful where you send payment: People may hack into others’ accounts, and ask you to send payment to addresses that eBay has not confirmed as belonging to that account – you might send your money and receive nothing in return. 6. Look out for sellers who suddenly change what they sell: Sellers can look like they’ve made lots of transactions, when really they’ve never sold anything of worth. If they suddenly start selling $1,000 televisions, steer clear – the chances are they’re planning to run off with the money. 7. Beware the shill bidder: If someone who doesn’t seem to have bought anything before is constantly outbidding you on a certain item, be suspicious. It might be a seller ‘shill bidding’ to force up his item’s price. 8. Don’t use the seller’s escrow service: If an escrow service is recommended to you by a seller, it could well be owned and run by them – and they’re quite likely to keep your money and send you nothing. 9. Pay electronically: You are more likely to be able to recover any losses if you pay using a credit card instead of sending out cheques and money orders – these low-tech payment methods can’t be tracked as easily. 10. Buy from reputable sellers: Each seller has a number next to their name, which is their feedback rating. The higher this rating, the more you can trust them. On that last point, feedback ratings are the most important way that buyers and sellers can protect themselves on eBay – and you, as a buyer, have a rating too! Now that you won’t get ripped off, the next email will be all about your rating, and what you can do to make sure people know that you’re not going to rip them off either. About the author: Karen Walker is a professional Life and Business Coach who specializes in helping others discover their passions, and realise their goals and dreams. Cash Flow Quest | Work At Home Directory Circulated by The Widow Web

10 Tips For Web Success

by: David Risley

The webmaster's biggest job is to get their traffic up and keep customers/visitors coming back. Building the site is one thing, but simply building and posting a website does not guarantee traffic. In fact, a website could be beautiful and an example of all the latest technology and still not attract a single visitor if not promoted correctly. Here are 10 tips to guide you to success with your website. (1) The internet is a new medium. At least compared to print, it is. A website is a waste if it simply re-hashes something which could easily be put into print. Don't have the site be just an online brochure. Put up features which take advantage of the internet as a medium of communication. Filter information for them. Provide search capability. Provide interactivity with features like forums, quizzes and tools. Web visitors like to interact. (2) Treat the Customer's Time as Valuable. When a person visits your website, you have their attention for that point in time. You either need to use it or you will lose it - fast. Most visitors have short attention spans, what you need to design your site homepage so that it grabs their attention and provides what they are looking for right away. Its like walking into a restaurant. If you walk in and just stand there and nobody comes to greet you, you might wonder what is happening. But, if the hostess comes and greets you right away and walks you to a table, then you will be there for awhile and eat. The same analogy goes for websites. Don't overcomplicate your website homepage. Best results will be obtained if you make it very clear where to click to find what they need. (3) Design the site for customers, not the company. Your site needs to satisfy the needs of customers, not the company. So, don't post content which is not really useful to the site's customer. And avoid over-flattering marketing hype about the company. It inflates the ego of the company more than it helps your customer. (4) Involve the Visitor. Keep the visitor involved and make them feel like a valuable contributor. Actively ask for the feedback and suggestions. Ask for communication from your visitors and answer that communication swiftly. When getting that communication, capture their email address. This will allow you to communicate with them long after they have moved on and forgotten about you. (5) Keep it Current. You need to have content on your website which is timely and relevant to the customer's life. Posting month-old news is not interesting. Posting dry product information which never changes is not interesting. Yes, you need to have product information and other information on your site that won't change much, but you can also post more timely content. You can, for example, post content about how your products can be used in certain situations in life. Provide tips and techniques - things which are immediately applicable and solve a problem. (6) Pay Attention to Form/Design. Some sites simply over-do it on the eye-candy. Big graphics just for the sake of graphics often impress the site's designer more than the visitor. Do not use graphics that are large and purposeless. Remember, some visitors may still be accessing your website via dial-up. Your site needs to load up quickly for all users. A slow website will cause your users to leave quickly. Also, pay attention to graphic and design size. Many web designers operate on fairly large screen resolutions and sometimes forget that even though a graphic looks great to you, it will appear enormous to somebody on a smaller resolution. On the flip side, don't go too light on graphics. A site which is poorly designed and using the default font and no color is not very aesthetically pleasing. Any web visitor, whether they admit it or not, judges your company by your website unless they have something else to go on. A well-designed site communicates professionalism. A poor design makes the site seem like an afterthought. (7) Promote. When a visitor communicates to you via email, it is best to use a web form. not only will this keep your email address from being picked up by spammers, it will also allow you to ask your customers for their email address and then store that address for later use. Employ the "push/pull" marketing strategy. A visitor coming to your website is the pull, but later you want to push content back to them in the form of a newsletter or other promotional material. Start a mailing list and use it. Invite visitors to sign up. Promotion makes or breaks a business, and as long as you respect the ethical considerations of your mailing list, you should use it. (8) Don't Operate in a Cocoon. The internet is a medium which is shared by millions. When you set up your website, don't operate as if you are a self-contained island. Get out there and keep in tune with what is happening on other websites related to your own. Participate in forums. Post links to other websites and ask for a link in return. Form partnerships with other sites if it is appropriate. When it comes to communication, people like personal contacts. Hiding behind general email address like "sales" and "info" is OK as long as there is a way to also email you directly. A company site which allows email direct to the management is good. Just remember how much you hate calling a company and getting stuck in their phone system. Sometimes you just want to talk to somebody. Give your visitors that ability. (9) Have a Plan to Attract Repeat Traffic. Use newsletters, out-going email, contests, forums, clubs, auctions - anything that will cause people to return to your website. When posting links to other websites, don't just send your visitors somewhere else. They may never return. Provide them an exit page. Give them a pop-up when they try to leave your site. Or at the very least make external links open in a new window. (10) Track Your Visitors Pay attention to your site's statistics and react accordingly. What are people reading? How are they finding you? Do they just come and leave right from your homepage? How long as they are on your website? Do they return? This data is immensely valuable in fine-tuning your website based on customer needs and wants. Remember, the biggest mistake of any webmaster is designing the site for what THEY want. A successful website is designed for the target audience, not to impress the site's owner. About the author: David Risley is a web developer and founder of PC Media, Inc. (http://www.pcmedianet.com). Specializes in PHP/MySQL development, consulting and internet business management. He is also the founder of PC Mechanic (http://www.pcmech.com), a large website delivering do-it-yourself computer information to thousands of users every day. Circulated by The Widow Web

10 Things to Ponder Before Moving Your Office Network

by: Gregory Hudson

Moving the office network? How hard could it be? Anybody who's ever moved the office network knows the risks and challenges associated with this colossal task. This mighty endeavour is not merely a case of logging-off, shutting down and pulling the plug. The move requires careful, systematic planning, forethought and a little luck. The following considerations provide valuable guide ropes for hauling serious office technology. Think of the move as the evolutionary-growth to a better network An office move can provide the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate your IT systems, introduce new technology and upgrade your equipment. Consider the future of your company and the flexibility your network will need as your company expands. Assess your needs and work out exactly what you will need to add to provide for your future growth. Hire a network specialist to fine tune your systems Obtaining expert advice helps cut corners, taking the guesswork out of what equipment you'll need, design and implementation of the network and the difficulties associated with troubleshooting. “We take great pride in our work. As a reliable, efficient and highly specialised IT company in London, you'll be afforded the peace of mind that with us, your computers and network are in the hands of professionals” says Andrew Cruise, Managing Director of Hypercubic. You also get an idea of what the costs will be, including the benefits of on-going maintenance and support. Planning the installation process with a professional takes the load off your shoulders and many thorns out of your side. Save on downtime Install the new system over the weekend, this way there will be minimal disruption to the business. Think about how many emails, phone calls and enquiries you will be missing if you move during the week. If the installation takes longer, inform clients or users in advance so they know what to expect. One businessman reported, “Before we moved offices, we sent an email to all of our clients informing them about the move and provided all our clients with contact details. Our manager received valuable business related calls via his mobile phone thanks to this pre-planning”. Moving valuable, sensitive equipment requires care Moving several floor-standing servers or a couple of 42u racks may take more than a fat guy with a slipped disk. Depending on the size of the server lifting the equipment may require hoists, trolleys and ropes. A removal truck is obviously an essential part of the office move, though extra care needs to be taken concerning packaging. Prepare for impact Your delicate robotics need to travel comfortably between cushioned barriers, preventing devices from jarring together. Wrapping the equipment in anti-static bubble wrap shields the equipment against magnetic fields, preventing the loss of valuable data. Equipment should ideally be placed in computer crates. Each crate should be dedicated to one complete system that is labelled for easy identification. Think seriously about Insurance When it involves your bread and butter being stored in digital format, ensure you have a back-up plan in case something happens during the move. Most insurance companies offer various policies for insuring computers against theft and damage. Find out if your new building has the facilities for your network Be sure to conduct a site survey and evaluate what your network needs are. This helps to curb overspending on equipment and identifies the best possible locations for installing access points. It also ensures that cable runs meet the local building codes. Things just work better when cabling is installed before the move Before the move goes ahead, the new network's cabling and network infrastructure should be in place, conveniently ready for each labelled workstation crate to be placed next to the correct plugs, power leads and phone lines. Power On: Booting-up the network Expect a few glitches; problems are inevitable with a new network. Hiring a professional at this point is an invaluable asset. Installation support ensures that the company can deal with any unforeseen teething problems during the initial start-up period. Lastly, don't even think about doing it yourself Most companies, before seeking advice from professionals, go down the DIY networking route. Unless you have a qualified team, installing a network can turn ugly and about as frustrating as unravelling 3000 feet of fishing line with one hand. About the author: Hypercubic is a London based IT Support Company specialising in the installation and support of computer networks. Their IT support technologies help save time and effort, especially when moving a network to a new location. Circulated by The Widow Web

10 Reasons Why People Don't Visit Your Web Site

by: David Riewe

1. You don't offer free original content. It's important to give your visitors information they can't find anywhere else. If you're the only source for a certain type of information, people will flock to your web site. 2. You don't offer free software. Most people like to find good deals on software for their computers. If the software is free, that is even better. 3. You don't offer a free contest or sweepstakes. It's a fact, people like to win things. If you can fulfill that need, people will stop by to visit. 4. You don't offer a free directory. Create a directory of web sites on a particular topic that is related to your target audience. People will visit because they will find what they're looking for, all in one place. 5. You don't offer a free e-zine. Most people love to get free information that they're interested in emailed to them on a regular basis. This saves them time and money. 6. You don't offer a free community. People like to have a place were they can have discussions with others on a particular subject. You could add a chat room or message board to your web site. 7. You don't offer a free affiliate program. One of people's basic needs to survive is money. When you offer them a free opportunity to make money they'll line up to visit your web site. 8. You don't offer a free online utility. When you offer a utility that can solve a problem, people will visit your web site. The utility could be a free autoresponder, e-mail account, search engine submission, etc. 9. You don't offer free current information. Supply news stories related to your web site. People want up-to-date news on the topics they are interested in. They will also be interested in visiting your web site. 10. You don't offer free samples of your product or service. Have you ever been to a store and you jumped at the chance to get a free sample of food? This same concept will also attract people to visit your web site. About the author: "Not Only Will I Give You the Secret Blueprint that I Use to Make Six-Figures Per Year Online, I'll Also Provide You with the Products, Resources and Services Needed to Do It Yourself!" http://www.push-button-online-income.com/pbp Circulated by The Widow Web