Pavel kapysh p.30 p.43 The sam Walton story » CONCEPTION » CREATION » MONETIZATION » SOCIALIZATION » AUTOMATION » RECREATION LEARN HOW TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE Gadgets interviews products Q and A SUBSCRIBE TO WEBSITE MARKETING MAGAZINE TO WIN AN IPAD2 P.15 plus + + Whats the secret to building a successful online business p.20 Pavel Kapysh Nick Barth Emmanuel Kigen get your copy today Sam Walton Super charge your freelance career p.11 JANUARY 2012
35 WMM Marketplace Buy & Sell domains and websites.
37 Featured Products & Contributors
The people and products that helped make this edition.
43 Back Story
10 Rules for Building a Successful Business
The Wal Mart success story
[ JANUARY 2012 ]
6 Editor’s Letter Welcome to the August edition.
7 WMM Inbox
Got something to say? Tell us what you think.
8 What’s On
Seminars, Expos and Summits, oh my!
10 WMM News
Stuff you should know about. 12 WMM Success Story
The Story Behind Zappos’ Success
15 Subscribe Subscribe for free to win an ipad.
16 Ask the Expert
Stephen Covey on His Morning Routine, Blogs, Technology, GTD
22 WMM Gadgets and Toys You know you want them.
25 Advertise in WMM
Be seen by your potential customers. 26 WMM Tools
Books, Courses, Software etc.
28 WMM Videos Watch useful videos on internet marketing etc
30 Q&A Your burning questions answered.
33 WMM Useful Links All the links in one handy place.
wmm contents
11 Supercharge you Freelance Career By: Emmanuel Kigen
20 What’s the Secret to Building A
Successful Online Business
By: Nick Barth 21 Beware of the Stealth Commiserating
Online Relationship Marketing Technique
By: Lance Winslow
23 Personalized Web Emails- Why They of Benefit to all
By: David Pagi
29 Are you a Starter?
By: Christopher Ellis 34 Raise you Klout Score
By: Gina Carr 40 The 2 Main Ingredients of Success in
Internet Businesses By: Lawrence Thomson
Contributors
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[ JANUARY 2011 ]
Raise Your Klout Score 34
Blog vs. Social Network 42
38
41 Am I being Folowed Online? By: Gowri Kumara
42 Blog vs Social Network
By: Darren Chow
wmm editors letter
Welcome to the January edition of Website Marketing Magazine. I'd like to welcome our new contributors this month. We have some great contributions from Sam Walton,
Nick Barth and Emmanuel Kigen and other innovators contributing some great articles that you should get a lot out of. With the new year upon us, you should have a firm internet marketing strategy in place to stand you in good stead for a successful year online. We’ll help kick things off for you with some great content you can use straight away. If you haven't had a chance to download out iPhone App, check it out now, as we have recently updated it. Get access to the latest issue of the magazine right from your iPhone or iPad. It's available in the app store, see our website for further details. I hope you enjoy this month's issue of the magazine, and as always please email me if you have any comments, contributions or feedback. The Editor
An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today.
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What should I be doing to start off the year on the right foot? I started out online last year and was fairly successful. What should I be doing to ensure my continued success throughout 2012? -‐ Jacob. First of all, congratulations on taking the step to being an online business owner. The most important thing you can do right now is map out a business plan and strategy that you will follow to ensure your success online in 2012. You need to know what it is you want to achieve. -Ed.
>>Email Us: CLICK HERE
The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer. Did you know:
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TOP EMAIL
I want to start an offline consultancy, how do I go about it? I've got some experience in setting up websites and social profiles. How would I go about setting up a consultancy?-‐ Shane.
First of all you are going to need type of client acquisition funnel. You need to show your prospects what you are capable of achieving and how this can benefit their business. Next, you’ll want to show them some case studies, and complete a proposal for them to peruse and sign off on. Finally, you’ll want a contract in place before starting any work. Once you have a contract, you’ll complete the consulting work, then bill the clients. If you set it up right, you can bill them on a monthly basis for ongoing profits. Check out www.socialsiphon.com -Ed.
Are .xxx domain names worth it? I heard I can make a lot of money with .xxx domains, is that right? -‐ Nick. Hi Nick, unless you’re in the adult entertainment industry, I’d steer clear of these types of domains. Although there will be some people that will make money, it’s few and far between. Best to focus on a traditional business or methodology. -Ed.
The Affiliate Summit provides an exclusive forum for affiliate marketers and key decision makers to gain a competitive advantage by offering insights from leading industry experts. These experts will share their personal affiliate marketing strategies with you through tactical discussions, panels, workshops, and one-of-a-kind networking opportunities.
23-‐30 JAN
Internet Dating Conference
Social Networking
Conference
JAN 23-‐30
The Social Networking Conference are the industry's largest events that attended by those that manage enterprise online community operations. The next event will be held on September 16-17, 2010 at the Hotel Concorde Lafayette in Paris, FRANCE. The Paris focuses on all the online community market in the E.U.. The event will discuss: European business strategies, mobile technologies in the E.U.
what’s on
Date: January 31- February 2, 2012
DOMAINfest Hollywood is a
global event built to bring together the largest audience
of domainers in a central location for an intense three days of learning, networking,
and fun.
Great domain industry minds will come together to share knowledge and build new
ideas and explore new avenues to keep our progress
going. Look forward to big speakers, big topics, and big
fun!
Quotable:
The Internet Dating Conference are the industry's largest events that cover management and marketing for the Online Dating and Social Networking industry. The next event will be held on September 16-17, 2010 at the Hotel Concorde Lafayette in Paris, FRANCE. The Paris event focuses on all business aspects of the internet community markets to Europe. The event will discuss: European business strategies, mobile technologies, software, partnerships, E.U. venture capital, legal issues, marketing to the E.U. and payments.
wmm what’s on WMM 8
“
>
<
DOMAINfest GLOBAL
Get more customers, Leverage the
internet, Monetize Social Media, and Growth Your Business
The Internet is the world's largest library. It's just that all the books are on the floor. John Allen Paulos
I have an almost religious zeal -‐ not for technology per se, but for the Internet which is for me, the nervous system of mother Earth, which I see as a living creature, linking up.
wmm news
“
WMM 10
Jeff Johnson is closing the ‘Non-Stop Traffic Formula’ doors soon.
Johnson says, “The doors to my brand new “Non-Stop Traffic Formula” are getting ready to close to new students.
So I’m willing to hook you up with even more “cool free stuff” when you join today.
In fact…
I just added a second Lifetime Membership just a few minutes ago
Check it out: http://www.nonstoptrafficformula.com/sp/7607-join“.
Quotable:
Facebook Timeline Arrives
with a Ticking Clock
Facebook unveiled their new Timeline design back in September but since then, it’s only been available to a section of users. Now,Timeline is ready for mass consumption.
As of right now, you can change your Facebook profile to the Timeline style, but once you click the button, the countdown clock begins. Facebook is giving users up to 7 days to review the Timeline layout and make changes before it goes public.
When I first saw the 7-day notation, I thought, so what? That’s plenty of time to erase any incidents you don’t want to revisit. Or not. Zack at ZDnet said it took him four days of tedious work to clean up his timeline. He probably has a lot more on his Facebook than most, but it’s still an indicator of where this is headed. . . into trouble.
Feature Article . .
Supercharge Your
Freelance Career
By Emannuel Kigen
Search queries such as how to make money online usually dominate search engine statistics. The main purpose of this article is to demystify the topic concerned with boasting online earnings so that by the end of the article one will be enlightened on an issue or two about supercharging freelance career. Making money online first and foremost involves identifying whether or not one has a marketable skill.
What exactly is a marketable skill?
In simple terms, this refers to a skill that is in high demand. Presently, programming and writing skills are in high demand. This can be attributed to the fact that many businesses want to establish an online presence. Writing is not a job for everyone. Some consider writing as a talent. However, I usually see writing as something that is developed over time. It is actually a skill that was developed during the earlier ages then through constant practice it is perfected.
Whether or not programming career is a preserve of a few is definitely a hot topic. However, it is important to remember that anybody can make money online as a freelance programmer. All one has to do is to study some programming courses such as Java and C++.
So I am a writer, how do I supercharge my online writing career?
This section applies to individuals who are presently making money online as writers. Many writers with awesome potential have stuck to dead end $1 projects in some funny freelance sites. Yeah! For a start $1 is not bad irrespective of the country you are in. It is important to remember that at the beginning it is more about building your portfolio than earning real income. So, you have already gotten one supercharging fact: Build a solid portfolio.
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Build a good portfolio
People who make money online easily are those who have impressive portfolios. So, work diligently in the low paying jobs so that you get good feedback. With good feedback scores it will be easy to convince one to award you a higher paying job.
Start a blog
Another secret of making money online effortlessly as a freelance writer is starting a blog. In such a site, one should place very outstanding articles. By doing so, one is advertising his writing skills. It is likely that someone needing some articles may stumble upon one's blog and decide to order articles. So as to have a continuous flow of customers it is advisable to charge fair rates in exchange for high quality articles.
So I am a programmer, how do I supercharge my online programming career?
A full time freelance programmer will definitely want to supercharge his freelance career so that he can earn a good income. So that such is the case there will be need for one to sharpen his skills and to have a well designed website. If one is a professional web designer, he should design his business website without external assistance.
Well designed website
Nothing will sell a programmer or a web designer more than a well designed website. It is common sense that it is only a person who has a top notch site that can make a first rate website. If one is biased towards the programming side of things, he can parade some of his programs on the site. This form of marketing can end bringing many new customers.
Sharpening Skills
The programming niche is very dynamic in nature. As a result of this, one must constantly sharpen his/her skills. A person who is well versed with most new technologies will give customers value for money therefore he will be the choice of many.
The bottom line is that to supercharge one's freelance writing or programming career so as to make money online hassle free, effort must be dedicated towards building a nice portfolio, sharpening skills and some marketing. To carry out online marketing, a highly functional website is needed. It is also important for the website to have an impressive look.
Leave dead end online jobs and join the bandwagon of online millionaires. Visit my site: http://emmformoney.blogspot.com/ and peruse through the various resources. I am a personal finance expert and I can give you ideas free of charge on making money online and surviving the present day recession.
But as with any new business in startup mode, if you devote extra effort up-front, whether that be by investing your own time or investing money to hire someone else, you’ll see the dividends pay off in the future.
The Story Behind Zappos’ Success Lies Behind Two Empowering Words: Deliver Happiness It was last year at the South by Southwest interactive conference where I
first heard about Tony Hsieh (@zappos) and Zappos, for that matter. But over the next few days after Hsieh’s incredible keynote, I got a chance to chat with some of the Zappos team that were present and passing out playing cards as part of a contest Zappos was having. It only took the span of the conference to see exactly what the company culture was all about. It was from here that I started to pay more attention to the company over the next 12 months. More often I would hear Hsieh’s name pop up in conversation or perhaps even showing up at a conference, but the next milestone really hit when the company announced its acquisition by Amazon.com. From here, I needed to find out more information about the history about the company and just how did Zappos become so successful. Just months before this year’s recent South by Southwest conference, I heard through Twitter that Hsieh was putting together a book. What would it be about? I wouldn’t know until a few weeks ago. And after reading on the Zappos site that they were giving out review copies to qualified people and bloggers, I jumped at the chance. And within a few days, I received a package containing a letter from the company and my very own copy of Delivering Happiness: A Path To Profits, Passion, And Purpose. I don’t know what intrigued me more about this book…even before I read it, I had no idea about what Hsieh would say. Yes, he’s very successful as an entrepreneur but I didn’t know whether this would be a business book, autobiography or life lesson-style production. Turns out that it was a little bit of both and that worked out fine for me. All of the books that I’ve read in the past have had a different effect after being read – none are better than the other, but withDelivering Happiness, I was really interested in hearing what Hsieh had to say. After all, the environment of openness and “keeping it real” at Zappos is widely known and it’s respected for being a really great company. So once I started reading, I could tell it wasn’t one to use a lot of big words…in fact, it seemed almost “conversational”.
wmm success story
Quotable:
The Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life. Andrew Brown
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“
”
WMM 13 If you have a chance to pick up Delivering Happiness and start to read it, you’ll find that Hsieh concedes a few points in the very beginning. First, while it’s divided up into three sections: Profits, Profits & Passion and Profits, Passion & Purpose, it is by no means purely a business book where you, as a marketer or entrepreneur, should try and mimic. In fact, consider Delivering Happiness as something more like a journey through the mind of a business person – the success, the failures, tips, resources and tricks employed to get where he is today. A second concession made is that Hsieh admits it’s not meant to be “a comprehensive corporate history of Zappos” or any of his other businesses he’s been involved in. Lastly, this book is not written in formal english as you would expect any published book to be. I would probably dare to compare Delivering Happiness to being a really lengthy blog post authored by Hsieh, but with parts contributed by his friends, employees, and colleagues. As Hsieh put it, he did this because he wanted the writing to “reflect how I would normally talk”.
With this spirit of transparency set in place, I began reading Delivering Happiness and it was an enlightening book. It starts off with Hsieh’s life and how he first started his own business, at the age of nine where he tried to make money selling earthworms. The book continues on this path of describing Hsieh as hungry for business and finding ways to make money, but don’t get this confused with him being greedy. The picture being painted is of Hsieh being someone who always tried to think “outside the box” and was a naturally gifted to being an entrepreneur and not being one destined to be stuck in a cubicle working forsomeone. He wanted to become his own boss and in doing so, he’s gained some real experiences from this journey. Things that you’ll get to learn about Hsieh is how his heritage and family helped shape who he was and also discover the background behind his first triumph as a millionaire with LinkExchange when it was purchased by Microsoft for $265 million.
Fast forward and you’ll be treated to anecdotes spread throughout the book by Hsieh’s colleagues, many of whom were involved in some of the most pivotal and crucial parts of his life. Some of the business points you’ll gain from Delivering Happiness is Hsieh’s lessons in poker and how they could be applied to business, specifically in how to evaluate market opportunities, marketing & branding, financials, strategy, continuing education and culture. Other things you’ll find out is the humble start of Zappos and how Hsieh and his partners started their venture firm to then become full-time employees of Zappos. But here’s where it gets really interesting. For about the first half of the book, you’re treated with tales about Hsieh’s life growing up and the trials and tribulations that he went through. In the second part of the book, you’re now talking about Zappos which has essentially taking center stage. In fact, while the book is still more conversational and less points are explicitly stated, by reading deeper into the story, you’re going to be able to look and see that whether he meant it to be or not, Delivering Happiness is a giant case study. Additionally, you can see how the fact that core values stems from the top of the company hierarchy and branches down to the very last person – so if the executive doesn’t believe in the company mission, then how will the lowest guy/girl on the proverbial totem pole? But in an interesting twist, Hsieh also shows that within Zappos, it’s a two way street – the company culture works in reverse so it can start from the janitor or the night watchman and matriculate up to the executive causing a whole new culture to exist. Thus, Zappos’ culture was created and how everyone is trained from day one…the team is empowered to strive to do just one main thing: deliver happiness.
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We’ve all heard stories about Zappos and how they go far beyond their way to please their customers and this book goes to show you just why and how they do this. Just look attheir core values (they have ten of them): 1. Deliver WOW Through Service 2. Embrace and Drive Change 3. Create Fun And A Little Weirdness 4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded 5. Pursue Growth and Learning 6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication 7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit 8. Do More With Less 9. Be Passionate and Determined 10. Be Humble
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It’s such a thrill to share with you this interview with one of my heroes, author Stephen Covey of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People fame.
Covey, of course, is one of the inspirations of this site, and has informed all of my writings (including Zen To Done) that talk about getting important things done, not just everything on your to-do list.
Besides The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, some of his other best-selling books (which I highly recommend) include First Things First, Principle Centered Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, and his most recent book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness.
He’s also started up his own website, Stephen R. Covey: The Community, which is a community of his readers, with exclusive articles, video and audio, as well as forums, blogs, and tools for those trying to live the 7 habits.
The 7 Habits include being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, thinking win/win, seeking first to understand, synergizing, and sharpening the saw. His 8th habit boils down to “Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.” Indispensable reading.
I was able to connect with Mr. Covey through email, and in this interview I tried to keep the questions to a minimum (he’s a busy guy), avoid repeating too much of what’s already available in his books, get a little more personal, and give you guys (and myself) a little insight into someone who has found a way to live his life according to his principles.
I hope you enjoy this interview!
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
“
Did you know: “
WMM 16
”
Steve Jobs' annual salary was $1, just enough to keep company health benefits.
Zen Habits: For a lot of people your books are so full of mind-blowing and life-changing ideas, that they get overwhelmed. They want to start, but don’t know how to. What would be the best first step they can take to make a positive change?
Covey: Listen to your conscience regarding something that you simply know you should do, then start small on it—make a promise and keep it. Then move forward and make a little larger promise and keep it. Eventually you’ll discover that your sense of honor will become greater than your moods, and that will give you a level of confidence and excitement that you can move to other areas where you feel you need to make improvements or give service.
ZH: To give us some insight into your life, what is your typical morning routine on a work day, that incorporates some of your principles into your everyday life? Covey: I make an effort every morning to win what I call the “private victory.” I work out on a stationary bike while I am studying the scriptures for at least 30 minutes. Then I swim in a home pool vigorously for 15 minutes, then I do yoga in a shallow part of the pool for 15 minutes. Then I go into my library and pray with a listening spirit, listening primarily to my conscience while I visualize the rest of my entire day, including important professional activities and key relationships with my loved ones, working associates and clients. I see myself living by correct principles and accomplishing worthy purposes. One of my favorite quotes is, “The greatest battles of life are fought out every day in the silent chambers of one’s own soul.” (David O. McKay) Much of this listening and visualizing work is very challenging, so I win the private victory when I have made my mind up and commit to live by correct principles and to serve worthy purposes.
wmm ask the expert
>>
WMM 17
ZH: Do you have any thoughts you can share about filtering out the noise in life (especially noise from technology) to focus on the things that are truly important. How can we be sure to see time-sensitive emails but not live in our inboxes?
Covey: I am fortunate to have a very helpful team that enables me to spend time doing things that are important but not necessarily urgent. This requires the development of a personal mission statement to give a larger context and also the determination of what is truly important but not necessarily urgent. People who have no such team need to also make these larger decisions so that they can cheerfully say No to that which is urgent but not important. Learn to use technology in such a way as to filter out that which you really know is important to you personally and professionally. Remember, technology is a great servant, but a terrible master.
ZH: What is your work setup? What tools do you use? What kind of computer and software are indispensable for you? How do you set things up to optimize your effectiveness?
Covey: I work with a complementary team, which means you build on your strengths and organize to make your weaknesses irrelevant. Modern technology is one of my weaknesses, but my associates make this weakness irrelevant because they are superb at it. I also find most meetings are a waste of time, because they are so ill-prepared and there’s little opportunity for true synergy in producing better solutions than what anyone originally thought of. So I work hard to only attend those meetings that have strategic importance and miss all kinds of other seemingly urgent meetings. I keep my phone number unlisted and rely on my associates to handle all voice mail, e-mail, faxes.
ZH: Besides your books, what other reading would you recommend as indispensable, including books, magazines, websites, or blogs? Do you read blogs?
Covey: I don’t read blogs but occasionally people tell me about what they contain, and I do take questions that come from blogs, like this one. My team and I also make occasional blog postings and will do so more and more in the future. I believe that the habit of constant reading of good books and scholarly periodicals and magazines in many disciplines is vital to give a larger perspective and to constantly sense the interdependent nature of life. I probably average 2 hours per day reading. I also am sent many books for endorsement purposes, which enables me to stay relevant in my own field, and I have people that help me decide which ones I should read and endorse.
ZH: Have you read Getting Things Done and The Secret? What are your thoughts on those two separate phenomena?
Covey: I have read these books and have enjoyed them and believe they contain elements of wisdom and practical suggestions. But for me and my world they are too simplistic and superficial.
Editor’s note: Credit is due to my blogging friends Andrew of Legal Andrew and David of LivSimpl for providing a couple of the interview questions. Thanks guys!
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“We may be very busy, we may be very
efficient, but we will also be truly effective only when we begin
As much as we would like to think that building an online business is made up of many different secrets, the truth is that the ultimate secret is a razor sharp focus on a singleness of purpose, driven by exceptional passion. However that singleness of purpose and passion will consist of several critical components. Singleness of purpose will start with the selection of one right product or one right service.
The more you focus on a single product or a single group of products, the more you can focus your research, as well as all other related activity associated with building an online business. When building a new business, diversification results in delays, wasted resources, and financial problems.
Once you have selected one product or service, your commitment to become an absolute expert as it relates to your product or service, will be critical in not only building your online presences, but also in providing the very best customer support. Singleness of purpose and absolute focus, eliminates doubt, maybe's, or any other uncertainty that can all contribute to second guessing and failure.
Finding the right keywords, or setting up the right marketing campaign is so much easier, and certainly so much more effective, when all your attention is focused, and your passion is allowed to take charge. In building any new business, hesitation, doubt, or spreading yourself too thin, are the primary causes of early failure. Singleness of purpose and focus, is the only way that you will have access to all your passion about your business, which is the most valuable asset you have to start with.
Feature Article . .
By: Nick Barth
With a razor sharp focus on one thing and one thing only, you will also gain the patience to deal with all the obstacles and setbacks that any new business encounters. Patience is a valuable commodity, and is instrumental in building a new business, repeating mistakes and hoping for a different outcome however will destroy any business. By having a singleness of purpose and focus, you will be able to differentiate between the need for patience, or the need to change what you're doing, and that's how you get past the initial challenges of a new business.
Always keep mind, what was behind your original business idea, and never let that slip out of your sight. Whatever it is, wealth, fame, or any other motive, your original idea is the reason you're in business, and it is the driving force behind your passion. One you abandon this idea, you're abandoning your passion, which in turn will eventually turn your business into a burden and failure.
Yes of course there are many very specific business steps to building a business, and you should make an effort to get that information from one single source. But none of that information will be of any long term value, unless you apply the real secrets to building a business, and that is a singleness of purpose and focus, with a strong driven passion.
Beware of the Stealth Commiserating Online Relationship Marketing
Technique!
By Lance Winslow
Okay so, how do you trust someone who contacts you online? Well,
what's that famous Spy Quote; "Trust no One" and if you've read any
John le Carre novels, you know what I am talking about and I
suppose that's a lot like Washington DC politics for all those "know
lots, say little" beltway insiders. Now then, let me give you some
advice about doing business online, especially if you are already in
some sort of a home based online business.
You see, there are tons of folks who will try to get your ear, perhaps
opening up with some "sob story" or specially crafted commiseration
tale. Apparently, this is to get you to spill your guts and tell of your
problems - then, out of the blue "BAM" the sales pitch comes hard-
and-fast "really, that's too bad, but let me tell you of a special
program I have to solve all of your problems!" - then this is usually
followed by a price.
Not long ago, someone tried this on me, and told me of a personal
financial tragedy and the tough rows they've hoed - how they were
working their way back to financial independence. So, I explained,
good for them, and that, well, indeed, I hold the "adversity builds
character" motif myself.
WMM 21
You see, as I told them, I can recall eating top ramen in
college taking 33-credits in one-semester, running 10 miles a
day (hard) for track, and running my company. I can
remember 17-hour days with no days off for 20-years straight
building my company, sometimes wondering if the latest risk I
took was really going to pay off or if the game was going to
end. The intensity so great, half paranoid, half driven to find
every little detail to tip the table to opportunity - literally willing
events in my favor and agreeing to never give up. It paid off.
Now then, I'd say this; "Good things happen to good people,
bad things happen to bad people, and crap, well it happens to
everyone."
So, press on! Have perseverance and never give up. When
you do, you will outlast the game and win. I also believe in
this motto; "nothing good in life is ever easy" with a corollary;
"if it was, you wouldn't respect it, or value it anyway."
It seems the individual was setting me up for a sales pitch
and wanted to befriend me online, not that I need any more
friends, in fact, I'd like to someday reduce the load. Seeing
the trap they were laying, I told them; sure, we can start a
conversation, but if you are selling something, I am not
interested, and in that case, I congratulate you for your sales
methods, but condemn the lack of integrity to your approach
of course, thus, if this is a real conversation, let's talk, if it's a
sales pitch, let's not.
Anyway, assuming you are sincere in your contact, then
indeed, of course, go ahead and pick a subject or topic,
unlimited here, so anything is fine. Well, know I wonder what
their secondary online technique will be, how they will attempt
to subtly play it next. Stay tuned. In the meanwhile,
remember, be careful online, and until you know; trust no
one.
wmm gadgets & toys
Some of us have tablets or e-readers, and they can be a little tedious when you have to hold them up with one hand and use them all day.
I suppose you could get yourself some sort of Folio stand, but you might want to try out the Flote. The Flote is simply a way to “free your hands”, which is the official slogan.
You want it
ast month GoldVish has added a new masterpiece in its portfolio – the new phone Equilibrium is the latest luxurious creation of the Swiss company.
The company addresses Equilibrium to successful business men / women and gives them the possibility to combine harmonious work and home – this being the main focus of this phone. Thereby it comes with two SIM slots, and it also has the possibility to maintain one of the SIM allocated to the home-‐area, while traveling in other countries
MicroVision SHOWWX+ HDMI is
first RIM pico projector
GammaTech churns out tough devices such as notebooks, and one of their latest releases would be the Durabook R13C – which is essentially an upgraded version of model R13S, where the R13C is one tough cookie that has passed Military Standard 810G certification for drop, shock, and spill protection, in addition to shaking off explosive atmospheres, while being compliant with salt, fog, and freeze/thaw standards.
Micro Folio for the iPad2 from
XtremeMac
Mazda works on regenerative system with electric double layer capacitor
Did you know
WMM 22
Go on splurge – you deserve it. It’s time to spend your hard earned cash.
http://www.coolest-‐gadgets.com/
Since I just got finished reporting on the Flote, a stand devoted to the iPad, I figure that I should discuss XtremeMac’s Micro Folio case.
I got a chance to try it out for myself, and I found that it can cover both the front and back of the iPad. The cover is a lot like the Smart Cover, as it can wake or sleep upon opening or closing.
Flote holds your tablet or e-reader
Dell Computers was started by a 19 year old with only $1,000.
http://www.coolest-‐gadgets.com/
http://www.coolest-‐gadgets.com/
http://www.coolest-‐gadgets.com/
Feature Article . .
WMM 23
Personalised Web E-Mails - Why They Are Of Benefit To All
By: David Pagi
How much do you use email? I'll bet it is a lot! Email is part of our world, whether we like it or not and a great deal of the communications that take part online are through electronic mail. So your email address is important. It tells people who you are or what you are about or what is important to you. Having an address like cutesinglechickatyourhostdotcom is not usually a good idea, especially if you do any sort of business.
Instead, you should choose a personalised address that serves a specific purpose. Are you mostly emailing with friends and family? Then choose an email address that has some form of your name in it. You might not want to have your full name in it but you could use your first initial and your last name or even just your initials. Make it something that will be easy for your friends and family to remember.
Many people are doing business online and having a personalised email will help people to find you easier. If you use your first and last name, it will be easier for past clients to find you when they need to work with you again. This will also make it easier for people to refer you to others if they can remember that you email has your first and last name in it.
Other options for a personalised email address that is easy to remember is to use your business name. Using your business name in your email address will still be easy to remember but it might make you feel a little bit safer because your name won't be all over the Internet. If you are a private person this might make you more comfortable.
One of the nice things about a custom email is that you can have several of them for different purposes. If you want to get all your emails from you book club at one address you could use yournameatbookclubdotcom. You could have a different email address for family and another email address for schoolmates.
Ask yourself how many emails you remember off the top of your head. Three? Four? Maybe five? It likely isn't many. If you email address isn't memorable it might not get used that often. So use a custom email address so that the people who are important to you can remember it easily and use it all the time.
These gadgets can have varying parameters depending on the type of gadget.
After setting the parameters up, the webmaster then clicks the "get the code" option. This allows the webmaster to get the code for the latest gadgets. He then pastes the simple code on any part of his website. The gadget starts working immediately.
Finally, a person can contribute to the latest Google gadgets available by designing one himself. It is fairly easy for someone with programming and web design skills.
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If you've been seeking a practical, day-by-day, do-it-yourself plan for success in your Internet marketing, this is the book for you. The latest in the very popularHour a Day series, this book gives you step-by-step instruction and clear action plans for all crucial aspects of successful internet marketing.
Internet Marketing: An Hour a Day
The Internet has revolutionised marketing practice, connecting potential customers to businesses in a way never before possible. Today, with online audiences spending more time using price comparison sites, search engines and social networks, this text explains how marketers can find new and engaging ways of getting their message across.
Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice
> Books, Courses, Software, Tools
and other Resources to help you succeed online.
WMM 26
Guerilla Marketing on the Internet:
The Definitive Guide from
the Father of Guerilla
Marketing The Father of Guerrilla
Marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson, changed marketing forever when he unleashed
his original arsenal of marketing tactics for
surviving the advertising jungle on a shoestring
budget.
Did you know: Warner Chappel Music owns the copyright to the song 'Happy Birthday'. They make over $1
million in royalties every year from the commercial use of the song.
The other day I was listening to an interview between Darren Hardy and David Heinemeier Hansson and it was pretty interesting. David was asked about the term Entrepreneur being overused and I really liked his answer. He stated that the term Entrepreneur has been saturated and the meaning has been taken to a level where the meaning has started to scare people from business instead of inspiring them to start one. He said that entrepreneur means to risk everything for a one in a million shot to make it and most people cannot and will not relate to that because of the many difficult situations that the economy has caused so people are shying away from being asked to be entrepreneurs. Instead of using entrepreneur, David suggest to replace it with Starter because everyone can relate to starting something which bring a little more ease to people. To me using the word starter is great because it takes away the immediate reaction of risking so much by using the word entrepreneur. Of course this is not the only word to be used or that I really like as I have also used other words to help bring ease and take the immediate risk feeling away from people. You may have other words to use as well and if they are working for you please do continue to use them but if you don't take the suggestion of David Heinemeier Hansson and replace entrepreneur with starter and see how it goes. I am a Starter!
Everyone has the ability to be a starter because it simply means you are starting something. Don't be afraid to start something because we all have started things that maybe didn't work out the way we had hoped but the most important thing that came out of those situations was the fact that we would have never known what we could do until we did it. In all experiences in life whether good or bad we must learn something whether it be from our own mistakes or the mistakes of others. We all have been afraid of risk associated with being an entrepreneur but most of us don't have the same fear about starting something. We understand that sometimes when we start a project it may start slow or take some time to learn how to do something in the beginning and as I encourage you to become a starter it is never about how you start it is always about how you finish. Become a Starter today!
wmm Q&A
-‐Stephen Colbert
WMM 30
Pavel Kapysh Interview Today I am bringing to you an interview with a successful online businessman from Russia, Pavel Kapysh. He is 25, lives in Saint Petersburg and currently owns multiple high-visited websites in Russian — about 200,000 unique visitors altogether monthly — that bring him a significant profit. Two of his sites are TEKKU.ru and DriveBlog.ru.
K: — Why working online? Why have you chosen this path?
P: — Well, I am Capricorn and value independence most. I needed free schedule and no boss. That's why I got in online-business. And only the persistence I have allowed me to get my first profit.
K: — How exactly is your business profitable?
P: — I own more than 40 thematic web-projects that are on many reasons ads placement-friendly. That includes banners, context ads, paid reviews, and other tying services. More than half of profit is brought by affiliate programs, the rest comes from the direct ads placement.
K: — How successful do you consider you business in its current state?
P: — I measure successfulness with comfort and growth dynamics. Every year at the same period my profit doubles. I try to stick with the 8-10% monthly profit growth dynamics. I am quiet comfortable now and the dynamics makes me happy :-)
K: — As far as I know your business is mostly Russia-oriented: you work with Russian audience and with Russian developers.
P: — Yeah, I work for the Russian-speaking audience, but there recently have appeared several experimental projects for English-speakers. I have a Russian-speaking team containing people from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
K: — I know you've spent several years in Germany, even wanted to stay there. Please tell a little about managing a Russia-based project from abroad?
P: — That's actually very easy with the help of Skype,
Pavel is a very interesting young man, a living proof of the huge financial potential Russian Internet has. In this interview he tells his success story (which has just begun), shares his views on eCommerce in Russia and Germany and the future of online-market in Russia.
Konstantin: — Hello Pavel! Tell for how long have earned your living with online business only?
Pavel: — Hi, Konstantin. I earned my first money at 14 using computer: I used to make and print price tags for three shops near my home. The Internet was extremely unreachable at the time. I could use a dial-up connection in my father’s friend's house for about an hour a month.
In January 2003 I got interested in everything connected with gadgets and the growing Internet. I got a 3-inch mini-CD MP3-player and decided to write an article about it. I also decided to sell the article to a huge online-magazine on Runet.
Note: The magazine is 3D News. Here is the article, in Russian. I sent it to three magazines and one of them accepted it, and so I got my first $27 along with a job offer. I started writing reviews and, later, news. With all that happening I got a remote job in another magazine. That's the moment I decided I needed to go further and started studying forums on the subject of the web moneymaking.
At the end of 2004 I registered my first .ru domain name (in Russia in those days that meant concluding a treaty in writing, approved by a lawyer in a personal meeting). In 2005 I quit the magazine I worked in. I devoted myself to commercial photography for photostocks to make a living (actually, I still keep getting money from them).
One can say my online-only business started in 2005.
P: — That's actually very easy with the help of Skype, Google Docs, DropBox, etc. There's also a book that helped me a lot — Rework by the 37signals founders. Working remotely in the boundless information space in far more effective and advantageous than doing it in an office. I made sure of that according to my personal experience. Also, there's a convenient possibility to pass tasks to freelancers in case they're not finished on time. Another great advantage in working with remote employees is the labor price. I am loving to deal with great Ukrainian and Belarusian specialists who agree to work for relatively moderate fees.
At the time I have a steady team that does all my projects work. There are three content-managers, a designer and two programmers, one is responsible for web programming and the other for the Adobe Flex adds.
K: — How long did you live in Germany and what stopped you from staying there permanently? You eventually returned, is Germany no good enough for living and working? And why do you think Russia is better in this sense?
I spent altogether 2 years there, first in Bonn, then in Essen and in the end in Dusseldorf. I really liked it in the beginning, liked to manage business remotely.
At the same time I learned German and even entered a private design school to develop my photography skills and see how real professionals in task handling work. But after three months I understood this education suits perfectly to those willing to be employed.
It was all fine in Germany until I faced German life and manners. Their way of life completely did not and still does not suit me. There's lot of bureaucracies and rules that sometime contradict one another.
There is very much money in Russia and Russian Internet has not even reached its peak, audience grows, investors keep coming, and it is just the beginning. Runet is on the level of English-speaking Internet as it was 5 years ago.
K: — Do you think it is possible for a foreigner to run the same business as yours in Russia? What would they need to?
P: — Certainly yes! That's a very popular scheme of making money in the US, for instance. But one should keep in mind the differences Russia has. For example, the biggest search market player is not Google, but Yandex, and the social network number one is not Facebook, but Vkontakte.
K: — A couple of practical issues: what payment systems do you use? PayPal, Yandex.Money, Webmoney? And how did you handle money transfer from and to abroad?
P: — At the moment I use WebMoney and a little Moneybookers. What I do like in Russia in contrast to Germany is a huge number of payment systems and services to cash money in a couple of seconds at any time of a day.
Living in Germany I used to use official exchange points. To transfer any sum of money from WebMoney to a bank account I had to wait 1-2 days, and that is if it's not weekend. So I just transferred money to a debit Visa card of a Russian bank.
Talking about banks in Russia everything is just fine here. The service gets more modern and convenient every year. The only useful thing there is in Germany and is not in Russia is the possibility to pay directly from a bank account in online-shops. Alas, that feature is unlikely to appear in Russia, the reason is Russian hackers who have already once put their hands on PayPal.
And talking about PayPal, I used it a couple of times abroad, but I don't like the policy of this payment system — unfriendly interface and comparatively high commission.
K: — What irritates you the most about Russia? Is it Kindle they don’t ship here? PayPal you can’t use here? Maybe the bloody regime? :-) In general, what does Russia lack the most in the area of business-friendly environment?
P: — Before moving to Europe there was plenty of such things. And now having this experience I came to a conclusion that the problems are more or less the same everywhere. About the bloody regime you mentioned: I'd like to notice that both here and there people wish to have social guarantee that they will be fine doing as little as possible.
I am deeply sure happiness and comfort are created by a man himself. Creating and having pleasure from doing it is a guarantee of personal happiness. After realizing it I was determined Russia was my favorite motherland where I myself, my wife and my children would live.
There's probably nothing you can't buy and ship to Russia today. There appeared a lot of purchase services for online-shops that don't ship to Russia.
In my opinion, today Russia needs new legislation and tax system that would fit the needs of Internet-business. But I don’t like the prospective of following the US or England with their progressive taxes on bloggers income, which total near 50% of the revenue. In general, everything is quiet OK for me.
K: — And the last question for today. There's a popular point of view that Russians are not ready to buy online. Schemes that are popular and accustomed to in other countries are only becoming usual in Russia and still lack buyer confidence. How do you see the future of eCommerce in Russia?
P: — Just recently a new indicator has been introduced — Internet-GDP (gross domestic product), which totaled about 2% of common GDP (more that $20 billion) this year whereas in America this index is on the level of 7-8%.
Trends and state of opinions are changing rapidly. Already today people of 50-70 eagerly buy or get as gift Kindle-like readers and read their favorite books and magazines in the underground and at home.
The content market is new for Russia. And if before there were opening online-shops with different “offline”-goods, now there are eContent-oriented stores, interactive TV services that work on “more content for the lowest price” motto. For the third year already Russia experiences a discount (or coupon) websites boom. Those sites keep bringing millions of dollars of revenue.
Russia is following the American way of eCommerce development where you can use your phone to open a bank account, order you favorite food on the Internet and pay bills through online-banking using your iPhone.
K: — Thanks for the most interesting conversation Pavel.
Raise Your Klout Score: Don't Make These Three Huge Mistakes
WMM 34
By Gina Carr
People all over the world are trying to figure out how to raise their Klout score. Klout is sort of like a public credit score for online influence. Klout measures your online influence by using data from your social networks - Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and more.
Major companies like Virgin America, KIA, and Microsoft are using Klout scores to select people to sample hot new products. Additionally, Klout is becoming a go-to site for journalists and bloggers to find people who are influential about specific topics. Here are some of the biggest mistakes people are making when it comes to Klout.
Mistake 3. Broadcasting too much. Some people think that just because they are sharing a lot of content, they are doing a good job with social media and they should have a high Klout score. Klout places much more value on interaction and engagement.
One of the best ways to get more interaction is to initiate interaction. Send an @reply to someone on twitter or RT their tweet. Give a +1 in to a post in Google+. LIKE someone's Facebook post and share it with your friends. The Law of Reciprocity works like magic in the social media world.
Well, there you have it - the top 3 mistakes that people are making when trying to raise their Klout scores today.
Mistake 1. Obsessing about your score. Are you constantly checking your score and worrying about why it went down or worrying about why it went up? Only a daily step on the bathroom scales can cause more confusion and frustration.
Give yourself a break. Much like keeping the number on the scales down, keeping your Klout score up is a result of doing some basic things right day after day - interact, engage, and communicate with your friends, followers, connections, and subscribers.
Mistake 2. Spreading yourself too thin. Many people are spreading themselves out too thinly among too many social media platforms. People with high Klout scores seem to focus their efforts in one, two, or three primary networks. You can achieve a high Klout score from being really involved in a single platform. In the past, Klout was heavily influenced by Twitter and heavy tweeters had higher score. Not so any more.
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Quotable: We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true. ~Robert Wilensky, 1996
Resell Rights Profits Have you ever wondered how those other online marketers
pump out product after product week in - week out while you struggle to get your first development project off the ground? The simple answer is they leverage other people's time and resources to create the products for them! That's right, you
may have heard of Resell Rights products - also known as PLR (private label rights), white label products and MRR.
WPMemberSite.com Creating a Wordpress Membership Site just got a whole lot
easier with this Wordpress Membership Site plugin! Introducing WP member Site. The Wordpress Membership Site plugin that allows you to quickly and easily turn your
Wordpress Blog into a recurring income machine. Charge your members a monthly fee and watch your Paypal account expand
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We have the cheapest article packs on the internet. Our experienced english speaking writers will quickly and expertly craft quality articles that will help you promote your business online and increase the ranking of your web pages. We also
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iPad2
Any iPad description you read will make note of the new slimmer size for the iPad 2, and it's one of the bigger features
that Apple are promoting. The differences are very small, though anything that improves portability is useful for a device like this. If you're used to the old iPad, you'll probably notice
the changes.
WMM 37
wmm contributors
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs
the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net
Nick Barth is an Online and Offline Business Consultant, with over 45 years of domestic and international
marketing experience, with special focus on small to medium size companies.
The author owns and operates a personalised emails website that offers people any customised web
address they can think of.
Darren Chow is the founder of a successful Article Distribution Service and has been marketing online since
2001.
Emmanuel Kigen
Darren Chow
Nick Barth
Lance Winslow
David Pagi
WMM 38
Leave dead end online jobs and join the bandwagon of online millionaires
wmm contributors Christopher Ellis
Gina Carr
Lawrence Thomson Lawrence M Thompson is in his forties. He loves his
family, a loving and lovely wife, an active baby boy and his laptop.
Creator of GudAdvice.com A user friendly medical search engine that helps you
quickly find accurate answers to your health questions from only the most trusted online sources.
Hazli Khalim
WMM 39
A graduate of the Harvard Business School, Gina Carr is known as "The Tribe Builder." She works with
passionate leaders who want to build powerful tribes of raving fans.
I am a entrepreneur that enjoys life and taking care of my family.
Feature Article . .
The 2 Main Ingredients of Success in Internet Businesses
WMM 40
By Lawrence Thomson
TribePro is GENIUS! Getting your blog site on the first page of Google is no easy feat and you also must be pretty savvy using your online marketing and advertising to make that happen, but I've got a terrific strategy for you. Why not get a community of others to help you BLAST your articles or blog posts all over the net? Yeah that's correct, you can do this with TribePro.
What Is TribePro?
You already understand that you will need to get backlinks to your blog site. So, you are half way there. My recommendation right now is to make certain that you aren't relying on a single source for your on-line marketing. If a traffic generator dries up then you have to have many approaches of driving traffic to your web site. So, look into TribePro as a complimentary online advertising and marketing tool. There are 3 ways to join TribePro. You can sign up with TribePro for free, the Plus membership or the Pro membership. You will need to start out by writing your profile and joining a tribe to be able to get started making relationships. Next, you will need to add your content and that is the genius of the TribePro as well. Having the power of the tribe makes it possible for your articles or blog posts to be syndicated to NUMEROUS social networking sites all around the web and establishing backlinks to your blog site and giving rise to your Google ranking.
How Will You Benefit From TribePro?
Imagine that your TribePro network has at least 100 other people within the tribe(s) that you chose. Now imagine that each of these people are syndicating your post FOR YOU in their social networks like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, and Digg just to name a few. A number of these other people have MANY more social networks that they syndicate to. It's easy to see the sheer numbers that we could be dealing with here. You could literally post an article and 5 minutes later have it shared in many social networks HUNDREDS of times! That's impressive! It's clear in this example, that not simply are you acquiring backlinks to your web site, but you are no doubt receiving exposure.
Play The TribePro Game Right!
I have noticed subscribers of TribePro not truly making use of it to it's full advantage. You will maximize your TribePro benefits of having your post syndicated once you learn a few fundamental details. The "auto-syndication" aspect is a "cultural" element of TribePro. The culture of the tribe is summed up like this. "I scratch your back, you scratch mine." It's a relatively simple premise. The "auto-syndicate" aspect is available with the Plus and the Pro memberships. Once you network with other people in your tribe(s), you can syndicate ANYONE'S article, BUT when you "auto-syndicate" someone's content and get them to "auto-syndicate" you BACK, then your post is automatically syndicated by this particular person over and over again. Your aim is to get as many individuals to "auto-syndicate" your articles as you can. This is a preferred option as opposed to the free membership in which other people will "manually" share your article to a very limited scale. The free membership will nevertheless get you backlinks but it's frankly a FRACTION of the number of syndication that you may get in the Plus and Pro memberships. The trick is to locate posts with a high share value which shows that it has been shared a LOT. This indicates that the person knows how to get their articles or blog posts shared and this can be a perfect person to network with. You may like to "follow" them and "auto-syndicate" them. Most people return the "auto-syndication" within just a day or so automatically, but every now and then you get a busy person who won't. So, it is possible to head over to their profile and tell them you are "auto-syndicating" them and could they return the favor. This works most of the time, but if for whatever reason they don't, you can "unfollow" and "un-syndicate" them. TribePro is a GREAT group and you'll discover it to be a effective tool in addition to a fantastic networking opportunity. My recommendation is to go straight for the Plus or Pro memberships mainly because you're going to get the most out of TribePro. Here's to letting your TribePro network promote your articles in a BIG way!
Am I Being Followed Online?
WMM 41
By Gowri Kumara
Right People at the Right Time:
This is the most common selling slogan for advertising companies. This is commonly called targeted advertising. The advertisers get to choose the demographic of the advertisers that they want to sell their products to. Even beyond applications like Facebook where people voluntarily share information like Relationship status and Likes, there are other companies that collect similar data based on user activities online.
Through the hundreds of web pages that you visit everyday, you're leaving a trail of information that advertising companies can track. All these websites are able to provide all the free services that they do, only because they can make up the costs through advertising. So success for the websites comes from driving traffic through their websites. Success for advertisers comes from providing the most relevant ads for each user so they end up clicking on the ads and possibly paying money for products or services they are selling. They data the advertising agencies track is not something that you can erase by closing your browser or even restarting your machine.
Web Cookies:
According to the wikipedia - A cookie is used for an origin website to send state information to a user's browser and for the browser to return the state information to the origin site. The state information can be anything that is actually stored on your computer. So should you permanently disable cookies? Usually it is a good thing to allow cookies on your computer inorder to enjoy full benefits of a website. For e.g. when you're shopping on Amazon.com and you added a few items to your shopping cart, you should have cookies enabled to be able to come back the next day and continue shopping from where you left off. So it is a very good thing in terms of convenience.
Advertising companies use the same technique to store cookies on your computer and track your online activities. This page ( http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp ) lists cookies from advertising platforms that are currently working on your computer. If you watched carefully it will be advertisements placed by one of these companies, that will be most relevant to your recent online activity.
How to protect myself:
Even though most ad companies are not malicious and don't profit by selling your personal information, it is good to aware of what is happening so close to you. There is some information that you'll never want to share with anyone, like maybe your medical situation. For such information you should know how to protect yourself from involuntarily divulging it to online companies. Here are a few tips:
• Delete your cookies once in a while. There is plenty of help online on how to do it.
• Beware of malicious sites. Remember they too can place cookies on your computer.
• When entering secure data like bank details or passwords, make sure that page is encrypted by HTTPS. You also get plenty of help if you search online on this topic.
• Once in a while, look at the cookies on your computer to make sure that someone else using that computer is not going to malicious sites.
There is online security organizations and security enthusiasts who check advertising companies if they try to go over board. It is good to know a few of these organizations:
Particular care must be taken when you're searching for medical answers online. Usually search engines store IP addresses of its users so it can trace a particular search query to an individual quite easily. When doing medical searches, try to use websites that don't store any information that can be used to identify you. Try to find services that do not store any information that be used to trace a search query back to you and thus protecting the privacy of your medical information.
Conclusion:
Prevention is better than cure. The Internet is still evolving and we don't know what it be look like tomorrow. It is better to protect any sensitive data and continue enjoying all the benefits of the Internet.
Feature Article . .
WMM 42
By Darren Chow
5 Ways to Be Yourself Again By Ari Galper, Creator of Unlock The Game®
In most instances, the Internet marketing campaigns of companies are anchored on blog and social media marketing interventions. Of course, we would always seize every opportunity to improve our marketing programs, and this is the main reason why we see companies undertake marketing strategies anchored on these 2 popular platforms.
However, business owners and stakeholders would want to determine the incremental contribution and impact of the blog marketing and social network marketing interventions so that they can make a more appropriate strategic decision.
The Pros and Cons of Social Media Marketing
Marketing programs and activities that are geared towards popular social networking sites provide opportunities for companies to reach out to segments of the market which are not normally accessed through traditional marketing techniques. The social interaction aspect opens a lot of opportunities and present business prospects which may not be available through traditional marketing medium.
Internet marketers can also tap Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to build brand loyalty. These social interaction platforms also create an ideal environment for companies to project their corporate image and generate goodwill. In this way, you can bring the marketing activity down to a more personal level.
However, you also have to take into account the major challenges which are associated to social media marketing. Generally, marketing efforts that are geared towards social media have longer gestation period. You may have to wait for a longer period of time before you can see significant positive results. It is also an aspect of Internet marketing which will demand much of your time and resources.
The Pros and Cons of Using Blogs for Internet Marketing
Blogs are effective marketing tools for companies in "selling" ideas and solutions. Effective marketing highlights the need for us to generate the "pull" by focusing on information and solution instead of the products or services. Those online journal entries offer some of the best opportunities for you to turn readers into strong believers.
Blogs can also be used by company owners and managers as an effective feedback mechanism. It is where you give your growing customer base the opportunity for them to ventilate their issues, concerns and preferences. From the perspective of the Internet marketer, this unique setup provides a great way for them to get into the minds of their target clients and learn more about their preferences and expectations.
However, you must also take cognizance of the downsides or challenges of blogging. It is a permanent commitment and in order to obtain the optimum results, you need to allocate a significant amount of your time and resources to generate quality content for your readers and target audience.
Of course, it is also one aspect of Internet marketing that you must closely manage and control. Blogging opens the company to possible profanity and personal attacks. Your competitors may also use this medium in order to peddle damaging information or acts which might undermine the interest of your company.
wmm back story 10 Rules for Building a Successful
Business
WMM 43
Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, grew up poor in a farm community in rural Missouri during the Great Depression. The poverty he experienced while growing up taught him the value of money and to persevere.
After attending the University of Missouri, he immediately worked for J.C. Penny where he got his first taste of retailing. He served in World War II, after which he became a successful franchiser of Ben Franklin five-and-dime stores. In 1962, he had the idea of opening bigger stores, sticking to rural areas, keeping costs low and discounting heavily. The management disagreed with his vision. Undaunted, Walton pursued his vision, founded Wal-Mart and started a retailing success story. When Walton died in 1992, the family's net worth approached $25 billion.
Today, Wal-Mart is the world's #1 retailer, with more than 4,150 stores, including discount stores, combination discount and grocery stores, and membership-only warehouse stores (Sam's Club). Learn Walton's winning formula for business.
A SAM WALTON STORY By: Peter Krass
Sam Walton grew up poor during the Great Depression, yet rose to start the biggest retail store Wal-‐Mart. In Sam Walton's "Running a Successful Company: Ten Rules that Worked for Me," learn Walton's winning formula for business.
Rule 6: Celebrate your success. Find some humor in your failures. Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm — always. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song. Then make everybody else sing with you. Don't do a hula on Wall Street. It's been done. Think up your own stunt. All of this is more important, and more fun, than you think, and it really fools competition. "Why should we take those cornballs at Wal-Mart seriously?"
Rule 7: Listen to everyone in your company and figure out ways to get them talking. The folks on the front lines — the ones who actually talk to the customer — are the only ones who really know what's going on out there. You'd better find out what they know. This really is what total quality is all about. To push responsibility down in your organization, and to force good ideas to bubble up within it, you must listen to what your associates are trying to tell you.
Rule 8: Exceed your customer's expectations. If you do, they'll come back over and over. Give them what they want — and a little more. Let them know you appreciate them. Make good on all your mistakes, and don't make excuses — apologize. Stand behind everything you do. The two most important words I ever wrote were on that first Wal-Mart sign: "Satisfaction Guaranteed." They're still up there, and they have made all the difference.
Rule 9: Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage. For twenty-five years running — long before Wal-Mart was known as the nation's largest retailer — we've ranked No. 1 in our industry for the lowest ratio of expenses to sales. You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.
Rule 10: Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction. But be prepared for a lot of folks to wave you down and tell you you're headed the wrong way. I guess in all my years, what I heard more often than anything was: a town of less than 50,000 population cannot support a discount store for very long.
Rule 1: Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anybody else. I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don't know if you're born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it. If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you — like a fever.
Rule 2: Share your profits with all your associates, and treat them as partners. In turn, they will treat you as a partner, and together you will all perform beyond your wildest expectations. Remain a corporation and retain control if you like, but behave as a servant leader in your partnership. Encourage your associates to hold a stake in the company. Offer discounted stock, and grant them stock for their retirement. It's the single best thing we ever did.
Rule 3: Motivate your partners. Money and ownership alone aren't enough. Constantly, day by day, think of new and more interesting ways to motivate and challenge your partners. Set high goals, encourage competition, and then keep score. Make bets with outrageous payoffs. If things get stale, cross-pollinate; have managers switch jobs with one another to stay challenged. Keep everybody guessing as to what your next trick is going to be. Don't become too predictable.
Rule 4: Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners.The more they know, the more they'll understand. The more they understand, the more they'll care. Once they care, there's no stopping them. If you don't trust your associates to know what's going on, they'll know you really don't consider them partners. Information is power, and the gain you get from empowering your associates more than offsets the risk of informing your competitors.
Rule 5: Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. A paycheck and a stock option will buy one kind of loyalty. But all of us like to be told how much somebody appreciates what we do for them. We like to hear it often, and especially when we have done something we're really proud of. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free — and worth a fortune.
