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January 30, 2007
Why Web Directories are so effective
Every day, there is a growing number of web directories. Many wonder if the market is being oversaturated. While there are a lot of directories that are not very noteworthy, the others are absolutely worth using for both people doing searches, or for webmasters trying to promote their site.
Directories are very useful those who are searching for information and don’t want to use the big search engines, but are looking for perhaps a smaller, specialized site that may not rank on the first page or two of a given search.
If you have no more than a general idea of what you are looking for then you can use the search form when exploring a directory, remember that you are not searching the text of the actual WebPages of a particular site. Instead you are searching the text contained in the site title and the description of the site. These titles and descriptions are made by the websites owner and sometimes by the directory webmaster.
It is important to be sure that when you do the search, you use the option search within directory, and not search the net. If you choose search the net, it will take you to a major search engine and out of the directory that you have been using.
It is possible to look for a website by not using the search option. The first page of most directories has a list of general categories like arts, internet, health, etc. From there, you can click the category you want and it will take you to a list of subcategories which are more specific.
It is important to note that once you have entered the subcategory, the results are usually displayed by page rank, alphabetical order, or in chronological order of when the website was submitted to the directory.
Directories usually come in two forms, general, or niche. The general directory is good for basically all websites. An example of a general directory can be found at the Sites of Note Web directory. The niche websites are great for specializing in one specific theme. An example of this kind is the audiobook and ebook directory www.audiobookhq.com .
For webmasters, directories are a very important tool. One thing that submitting your website to a directory can do is bring increased traffic from people searching the directory for specific topics.
If you have a website selling baby clothes, and there is a person searching the directory for the category clothing, and then the subcategory babies, then they can find your site which is a fit for what they were looking for.
Another benefit of using for directories for webmaster is they can increase your page rank and can increase the trust that major search engines have in your site. The more quality incoming links to your site, then they higher your page rank will be and this will lead to your site listing higher on organic searches on major search engines.
While some may say there are too many web directories out there, I disagree. Directories are both useful for someone searching for a website that fits their need, and for webmasters who want to help promote their websites. If you have not yet discovered how a directory can help you, I urge you to get started on using them today.
Posted by David at 1:19 AM | TrackBack
January 28, 2007
Do you want to learn to speak Spanish?
Do you want to learn to speak Spanish?
Today there are more reasons then ever before to want to learn to speak Spanish. According to wikipedia, the Spanish language was spoken by approximately 364 million people in the year 2000. It is currently estimated that there are 400 million Spanish Speakers world wide which makes Spanish the third most widely used language after English and Mandarin Chinese.
In American Schools, it is the most widely taught non-English language. It is estimated that as many as 100 million people in the United States have some basic knowledge of Spanish.
There are many reasons to learn Spanish including:
• A better understanding of your neighbors.
• To help you understand the native language when traveling.
• There is a growing need for bilingual employees at nearly every business.
There are many methods to learn Spanish. Listening to audiobooks that teach Spanish is gaining popularity. Audiobooks that teach Spanish is a great complement if you are taking a Spanish course at school or university. The audiobooks will help reinforce what you are learning in your class and will give you an edge over the other students.
You learn pronunciation and grammar by listening to audiobooks. You can repeat phrases and words with the speaker on the audiobook. In a classroom you cannot hit pause, rewind or fast-forward like you can with an audiobook.
This allows you to repeat a section that you may be struggling with. >Learning Spanish from audiobooks is also a great way to be efficient with you time. You can learn as you drive, clean the house, exercise or in any other downtime over the day.
Learn to speak Spanish audiobooks can be downloaded right on your computer from the internet. This is great because you do not have to order a product and wait for it to come in the mail or you don't have to sign up for an expensive class at a college or university.
Posted by David at 11:25 PM | TrackBack
January 27, 2007
Speaking Spanish: An essential business skill today
If you've ever wondered whether it was important to learn Spanish, consider this:
#The U.S. Hispanic population has grown by 60% in just one decade.
# The buying power of U.S. Hispanics is expected to exceed $926 million by 2007.
# The dramatic growth in the Spanish language and Spanish speaking populations has sparked world wide demand for Spanish language radio, newspapers, and other media. In 2004, for example, China launched a Spanish television channel.
Spanish is now the world's third most spoken language, after Chinese and English, and ranks second in terms of native speakers.
Around the globe, an estimated 500 million people across the world speak Spanish. In the United States, 29 million US residents above the age of 5 speak Spanish at home. That's approximately 1 of every 10 US residents.
The best way to learn short of a multi-thousand dollar immersion course is through Spanish language audiobooks that teach you the language through listening to and practiciong spoken Spanish.
Now's the time!
Posted by David at 2:42 PM | TrackBack
January 22, 2007
Whats the best retirement location?
retirement approaches for all of us and with it come many questions.
Among the most daunting is where to live?
Let's face it, for many caught in the nation's snowbelt and the cold tier of states along the
northwern border, the lure of sunny skies and warm temperatures are what make those fabled Golden
Years golden for retirement.
That means Florida, the warm Southwest or Southern California.
Chosing a destination to retire to is not something that should be undertaken without careful
thought, planning, and yes, prayers. Making a bad choice or moving to an area where inflation is
increasing faster then the rest of the country can turn into a nightmare.
The first step is to carefully research the retirement area that interests you. Check out the cost
of living and the cost of housing. Look at employment rates, crime rated, educational rates.
A good relocation realtor can help you get that data easily. But examine it carefully.
Make sure you look into communities before just blindly buying because you like the
midels in the sales center. What about grandkids? Can they visit and spend the night with you? SOme
senior housing developments are very restrictive towards overnight guests, especially children.
What about recreation facilities? Exercise is very important the older we get. You'll want lots of
room for long walks, without having to cross busy streets. Check out the condition of tennis
courts, exercise equipment and activity centers. Make sure they are neat and clean and well
maintained.
A major factor in choosing a location is proximity to medical care and hospitals. Make
sure there are clinics, too. The closer the better as we get up there in age.
All in all, choosing a retirement location is not a simple task. It takes planning and careful
attention. But w=nce you have chosen, Happy !
Posted by David at 10:06 PM | TrackBack
January 17, 2007
Get Paid for Answering Survey Online
Getting paid for answering surveys online is an easy way to make some extra money. Surveys are a great way to earn extra money while you sit at home in from of your own computer. Many people take the money from their survey pay day and use it as a part-time income. It is possible to take surveys and make a pretty decent living.
Paid surveys have been around forever. We have all heard the statistics in the news and in newspapers. The newscaster will quote, "a study...". That study was likely conducted through a paid survey. There are a variety of ways to take paid surveys, but online is the most convenient. Other paid surveys often occur at shopping centers or malls at various times during the year.
The pay for an online survey can range drastically from $10 to $100, depending on the company you are taking the survey for. It is important to look at all the details of the questionnaire before you begin taking it. All reputable survey companies will explicitly state the terms under which you will get paid. If the terms of the survey have not been shared with you, the survey may not be legitimate or you may not get paid to take the survey.
Once you develop a system for taking online surveys, it will be easier to begin earning money. After you have completed a cash paid survey and any other requirements of the survey company, your pay is often transferred into an easily used online payment system like PayPal. Many people use these types of systems to transfer money while conducting business on the Internet.
Through an online payment system, you can access your pay easily and conveniently. It is a secure way to get paid for your survey taking. You can also elect to receive a check for the surveys you take. Checks are a little more inconvenient because you have to wait for them to come in the mail. But for people who are not comfortable using an online payment system, checks offer a way to participate in the paid survey market.
Taking surveys online and getting paid for your opinion is a great way to make extra cash. Many different market research companies use paid online surveys to help them make decisions about their product lines, marketing, and other consumer decisions.
If you can devote a couple of hours per day to online surveys, then it is possible to make a pretty decent income from them. For others who just want to do an occasional survey, you can earn some decent spare cash for just sharing your opinions.
Getting paid to answer surveys is for people of all ages. It does not matter what age, gender, or economic class you are in. Paid surveys are for everyone. The purposes of the surveys are to get a representative sample of the population, and you are that sample. So don't worry about if you aren't the right age or the right type of person to do paid online surveys...jump in and try them out... you might just enjoy yourself!
Posted by David at 10:04 PM | TrackBack
January 16, 2007
Marketing Success with Direct Mail
Many companies have gained prominence and have experienced marketing
success with
marketing. There many reasons for the success of some and failures of others but
important lessons can be learned from these successes and failures. The
Internet provides many tools of varying degrees of complexity and sophisticated
toolboxes for marketing and selling that these companies employ.
The secret behind the success of many marketing companies lies in their
employing Internet marketing from a cross-functional perspective as well as for
leveraging the strength of several traditional marketing and sales channels
that have been available for some time. For example, your marketing success
will be achieved through traditional means using direct mail as well as using
email as a channel for promotion.
The more successful companies have also redesigned their customer
marketing interface in order to increase its value, reliability and
responsiveness as well as provide better quality of service to its clients,
instead of simply automating these functions when shifting from the manual
system to computerized systems.
The Internet is not an isolated
direct mail
channel but an integral part that has played and will continue to play a
pivotal role in achieving marketing success. Its usage is twofold and it is
used both as a channel to provice support and to leverage other sales channels
that helps transact and close deals, without outside support. While it's been
found that trying to change the buying habits of customers as well as
motivating them to adopt new buying habits is both costly and difficult, your
marketing success will still be achieved through integration with the
traditional means of marketing and sales.
Posted by David at 1:46 AM | TrackBack
January 11, 2007
Are Search Engine Submission Services Worth It?
o, what does it mean to use an SE submission service and how do you know which one to go with?
In your research effort, read the guidelines and fine print disclaimers. For instance, Yahoo! Accepts free submissions, but those free submissions are prohibited in the commercial directory section, which costs. [Free submission is restricted to non-commercial sites.]
Also important to pay attention to…are those search engine submission services that GUARANTEE number one ranking. Submission services just submit (do all the grunt work so you don’t have to); they do not have any control over acceptance of your site, ranking statistics, or any other such omnipotent, or god-like, promises. In fact, if you ignore careful investigation, such services may offer keyword and other manipulation that will instead get you black-balled by the top search engines.
So, try a professional service that is up front, efficient, and effective in helping you do what would otherwise take repeated and timely effort on your part (as you have to submit your site/pages on a recurring basis, staying fresh and updated every few months, that is).
Consider the following service, keeping in mind this writer has NO affiliation or investment in it…besides having used the service with great results:
Selfpromotion.com is a premier service. As you can probably tell by the name, you do some of the work, too. That is, you register with Tooter (selfpromotion.com), you set up your profile and check the engines and indexes you want to submit to, and tooter does the rest.
If you are satisfied, you “donate” to the brains behind the service, Robert Woodhead (who is clear, concise, exacting, knowledgeable, and funny as all get out).
I am almost embarrassed to admit I sent a piddly ten dollars (as a new freelancer still building…), but will now return as Woodhead has done for me and so many others every few months, and send some more thank-you money.
A good search engine submission service is hard to find and should be revered!
************************
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Posted by David at 2:31 PM | TrackBack
January 9, 2007
Don't Equate Retirement With Golf…
…not if you're short with your self directed IRA targets.
Besides, we suspect retirement is going to be an extinct word in everyday conversation soon. There was pending legislation recently in Ontario, Canada stating that employees 65 and over must not be forced to retire if they don't want to, and can now work past that age. Sign of the times?
Looking at some statistics provided by Robin Ryan in her MSN article, it looks like not many people can truly afford 100%
retirement:
People need 80% of their working salary to be able to afford their retired lifestyle; Business Week discovered in a survey of retired people that 67% of them still want to work provided the job was less stressful and more flexible; A Worth magazine survey of new retirees learned that 41% of them considered retirement very difficult;
Some doctors are telling their patients that if they were once very active and then suddenly retired completely, they could die within six months, so many potential retirees do not want to retire.
Sometimes, the answer "it depends what you enjoy doing" no longer applies to many retirees' question about what they can do once they leave corporate life. It's really more "can you really afford to retire now?".
You can read Robin Ryan's article here:
http://boomers.msn.com/articleCB.aspx?cp-documentid=376674.
Posted by David at 1:26 PM | TrackBack
January 6, 2007
How To Start A Home Business
Thinking about working from home? Looking for the freedom and lifestyle you believe will follow? Not to mention the money. Here are some tips on how to start your home business.
There are many factors to consider before you start a home business. First, you need to assess your skills and personality. Determine what your strengths are, what you're good at, and try to find a way to monetize those strengths. You also need to think about whether your personality is suitable to the variability that comes with owning a home business. There are times, especially at first, when you may not be bringing in a regular paycheck or be able to pay for the health benefits or other perks you are accustomed to.
Next, you need to decide what kind of business you want to start. Will you provide a service? Will you sell a product? Will you run a strictly Internet based business? Will you buy a franchise? These are only a few of the ways you can make money working from home. Some of the more common new ways to work from home include doing free surveys, mystery shopping, or “typing at home." As you know, many of these can be scams, and you need to be careful before getting started.
Third, you need to decide what type of structure your business will take. Most home businesses began as sole proprietorships, meaning your business is not a separate legal entity, and you pay taxes on your business income along with your personal income. Some professional service businesses will establish themselves as a partnership, but this is not necessary if you are the only employee. Organizing as an LLC can have tax benefits as can corporate organization, but you should check with your accountant and/or lawyer before making this decision.
Fourth, you should have a business plan. This does not need to be a complicated document but you should lay out the basics such as a vision for your company long-term and short-term strategic goals and steps to take to reach those goals. Have a simple financial plan, including assets and liabilities, income projections, and expense projections. It is vital to keep a close eye on your cash flow, as that is the blood of your business.
The fifth, take action. Whatever business you have decided to begin, throw yourself into it with passion and zeal. Following your business plan, take daily steps towards reaching your goals. Only by taking "massive" action can you hope to be successful. The best business plan in the world is no good if it just sits on your desk, shelf or computer and does not guide you in your daily actions.
The rewards of running a home business can be many. If you are successful, you can have the lifestyle, money, and free time you've always wanted. However, it takes hard work, often years worth of hard work, to learn how to start a home business and reach your goals. If you believe in yourself and your business, you'll have the motivation to continue working even when times get hard, and you will eventually reach your goal.
Learn more about how to start a home business.
Posted by David at 6:06 PM | TrackBack
January 5, 2007
How Do You React When Your Stocks Are Losing Your Money
There is a lot of money to be made when trading stocks, however, losses are a fact of life for every stock market investor. The difference between successful traders and the rest is simply in how they deal with those losses. Its that strategy that will either make you money, or simply add to your losses.
The buy and hold method of trading large and small caps has been preached to and from the choir loft. Yet it is one thing to hear and know that this is a solid investment tactic and another thing in which to follow through when your stock has dropped 20 points during the course of a single afternoon.
Anyone has suffered through the woes of a bear market knows that it is quite difficult to stick to your initial investment strategy when all around you people are jumping ship and liquidating assets. This is an investment strategy that requires discipline along with nerves of steel. Fears of depression often have investors heading for the hills and using logic that is at best faulty and at worst financially devastating.
If you have done your due diligence on your investment before you bought, then you should be able to weather the storm over the long term. As a matter of fact, the drop may provide the perfect opportunity to add to your position. Its important to remember that the buy and hold strategy works best with large cap stocks.
During bear markets, its perfectly normal for normally stable stocks to start to sell off. There are plenty of legitimate reasons, including, those who need to liquidate their positions (to buy a house, pay off some bills, go on vacation etc), to those who are looking to take some profits off the table. If your investment is up 50%, you too may be tempted to take some money off the table and invest it in something else. Since we don't know the motivation of the sellers, its something that we shouldn't spend too much time trying to figure out. Unless there has been news out that changes the direction of the company, its a safe presumption that the share price should continue to move higher.
We've put together 3 fundamental truths that should help you to weather the storm.
Its More Than Just A Sheet Of Paper
What you hold in your portfolio is a part of a company. Unlike day traders who buy and sell over the short term, hoping to make money by playing the up and down movement of the share price, long term investors are looking to own a piece of a company; to share in the story of the company. What your shares represent is a piece of everything the company owns. From pens to buildings, you own a portion of it.
Owning a portion of a company is no different than owning anything else. From a car to a home, whether you own it outright, or own it with someone else, in both cases, you need to do your due diligence. The price of everything fluctuates, whether its the value of a home, or a collectible hockey card, its value will move according to how the market is valuing the item. Stocks are no different. If you have researched, asked questions, and followed the movements of the share price, each of these actions has one thing in common: the do not involve emotion. If you let emotion dictate or influence your investing decisions in any way, you need to stay away from the stock market - you are going to lose money.
When a stocks share price moves lower, its for one of two reasons. Either the company has issued a material news release, which changes the variables you used to base your decision to buy on, or, for some reason that is not apparent at the moment. This is where you need to assess your position with a clear mind. Is this a signal of the future direction of the company, or, a great opportunity to add more shares to your portfolio at a great discount. You wont be able to make that assessment if you let emotions cloud your thoughts.
Focus On The Big Picture
Are you trading large and small caps with the big picture in mind? If you look at any chart over the long term, you can easily identify areas where a company has dipped, only to trade much higher a few months later. In most businesses, there are seasonal changes that affect the share price. If you are trading stocks with the big picture in mind, then you can easily identify this as an opportunity to add to your portfolio. When the company releases news, how will it impact the company? Plenty of companies have for example, sought financing by issuing shares. Typically, this involves providing the buyer with the shares at a discount to the current market price. Not surprisingly, the share price drops to that amount. This is usually where the traders bail (hitting their stop losses on the way down). However, if the company is a solid one, that is going to use the money for expansion, acquisition or debt repayment, the market will reward investors over the long haul. If you sold based on one days trading actions, you would be out of a position, just when the company is poised to move higher.
Whether your are trading large and small caps for the short term or long term, the following tips should help to improve your returns:
Consider buying after a major correction. Markets go up and markets go down. Over time, they always go in an upward direction. Often corrections will provide excellent buying opportunities because of the "herd mentality". This often creates an oversold situation, which is perfect for buying! Just ensure that you are buying a strong company.
Remember: trading large and small caps is not an exact science. It is better to be approximately right than definitely wrong. You don't need to sell at the peak to be a successful investor. I would rather have sold a stock at 20% off it's 52 week high than 20% higher than it's 52 week low!
An educated investor will take on greater risk if the anticipated reward is sufficient. If the research shows that a company is going to do very well, taking extra risks at the right time can increase your returns. Using margin can add risk to your portfolio, thus potentially increasing your return. Ensure you have a Plan B incase your research turns out to be incorrect.
Having a loss here and there in the stock market should be expected. It isn't how you deal the gains so much as how you deal with the losses you make along the way. If your ultimate goal in life is wealth then you are missing some of the greatest value that this world has to offer in your pursuit of that goal. Keep your investing goals realistic and honorable-be prepared to take hits along with the wins and learn to roll with the punches. That is what separates a successful investor from a failure as a person.
Posted by David at 8:46 PM | TrackBack
January 4, 2007
Purchasing a Hi8 Camcorder
A Hi8 camcorder may be on your list of things you want to purchase. When purchasing your Hi-8 camcorder there are some things to consider. You will want to make sure you do some research and some shopping around before you make your big purchase. There are many different cameras available such as the hi definition camcorder, or the digital video camera, and the hi-Res camcorder. There are many features available for you to choose from. Some of the features to pay attention to are the viewing screen, the zoom, and if it has the capability to take still pictures.
Read more about the HI8 camcorder...
Posted by David at 11:43 PM | TrackBack
January 1, 2007
Why Web Directory sites are so helpful
The greatest challenge for new Web sites is getting noticed.
That's why Web Directory are so handy.
The Net is awash in them, by the hundreds. Yahoo! started it all, with handy lists, arranged by categories, of Websites large snd small. Then Google and MSN and dozens of other search engines came along and consumers got used to looking in directories for relevant Web sites.
Now those very same search engines scour the thousands of other Web Directories out there, making note of the sites listed there. Those links are then calculated by the search engines for listing Websites of that category.
And those so-called "organic" search results are what gets you site listed for consumers searching for information specific to the niche of your site.
When posting to a Web Directory, here are three tips:
1. Look for free listings. many sites will try to get you to pay for a listing. A paid listing means nothing more than a free listing to a search engine. If you can only get listed on a directory by paying, make sure it has a high page rank (over 5) before buying that link.
2. Post only in the category that is specific to your niche. The surest way to get de-listed or outright banned is by blindly trying to get linked in any old category. Directory Webmasters are very serrious about mismatched categories. Don't get on their bad side by listing your site in a non-relevant category.
3. Be selective in giving reciprocal listigs. Some Web diectories are so traffic-starved that they need your link more than you need theirs. Only recirrpcal link with sites that have a greater pag ranking than you have.
