Webmaster Discussions

There are more than a hundred websites; in fact the number of website is exploding exponentially. If there were only a hundred Web sites, you might think they would each get a lot more attention, but that’s not the case. If there only a hundred web sites, no one would bother surfing the Web at all. It’s the large number of sites covering a large range of topics that has caused hundreds of millions of people to go online.

Web presence is not a zero sum game. That’s a term that economist use to describe a situation where one person making a gain means that someone else is making a loss. Instead, the more people who play the Internet game, that surf and interact online, , the more audience and money there is to go around. Because of this, other sites aren’t the enemy. Other sites are your friend.

Here in Toronto, there is a district that seems to be saturated with computer stores. You can get computer parts at great prices. There is intense competition, as the different stores compete on price, on the latest technology, on selection and quality. If you think about it, these shops are all cooperating. Even if the owners of the shop never speak to each other, even if they despise one another, they make the district the place to go for computer parts. And by offering such a huge selection overall, they make sure that anyone looking for a part is sure to find it there ? no matter how obscure. In contrast, the shopper at an unattached computer store may not find the desired part.

The stores are in competition, but competition and cooperation are not mutually exclusive. If you start an online site offering currency trading education and three other sites do the same, you are in competition with them. However your real competition is the similar educational tools in brick & mortar bookstores. If people start thinking that the web is the best place of tried and true trading strategies, then it helps you all.

All that is passive cooperation. It doesn’t require anyone to directly make plans with anyone else. Most of the active cooperation you are likely to be involved in will be with sites that are not offering exactly the same products and services that you are. Instead, you should try cooperating with sites that share the same audience but different products. A site that offers Country music may cooperate with a site that sells Cowboys hats.

The overall point is that there is a large ocean of potential clients out there, and when you cooperate with others trying to fish in this ocean, you increase your chances of success. Better to have 1% of a billion dollar market than 100% of a million dollar market.

Think about working together with others online ? learn from people who are doing what you want to do. The internet market is still growing ? in both the number of users, but even the current users’ willingness to engage in commerce online. Be a part of it ? even if it’s a small part, the rewards will blow your mind.

Thanks for reading,
Your Rich Cousin
(Author and Business Success Story) Get the free e-book that got me started and helped me start making money at http://www.richcousin.com It’s so straight forward and easy to understand AND you will have the support you need to start making a great income online.

What technology tools do successful websites use? Remember that a website is a store front; it’s your customer service rep, delivery guy and your marketing department rolled up into one.

“We are open”
People don’t enter stores that have a closed sign at the door. (Well some do, but? you know, we talking about the law abiding kind here.) Nothing says ‘Closed” louder on a website than old content: old date references and postings. So one of the best things you can do is to get a script that keeps the current date front and center for your visitors. You don’t have to update it everyday ? it does it all by itself.

Now that people think you are home, and open for business, they may inquire about your product. You must have a customer service desk. This can take the form of a form where they fill out their name and email. It can be to simply subscribe to your newsletter or they may have a specific question. If you want to have a ‘stress-free’ site, try post an FAQ section ? Frequently Asked Questions. Then one of the important things you will want to have is an autoresponder.

An autoresponder will keep your site in the mind space of your potential clients who have signed up for your newsletter or requested more information. It will send out preformatted emails at defined intervals automatically. Did you know that after 5 emails, the likelihood of making a sale increases steadily? It may seem like you are being intrusive, but they will be able to unsubscribe if they wish.

Urgency Sells: When you offer limited time offers, you cause people to make decisions. You need a script that keeps a deadline up to date on your website. It would generate a line that looks like this: This offer expires on XX/XX/XX, so act quick!

The Popup Generator – Pop up windows that appear on your web site when a visitor enters or leaves your web site have been shown to dynamically boost subscriber rates and sales. Even if you don’t have any programming knowledge, you’ll be able to add a popup to your site with a single click

Tell A Friend Generator – No matter what promotional tools you use on your site, no tool is a match for the power of viral marketing. Use this generator to create a quick, one-step button that you can add to your web site that will let your visitors tell their friends about your site with just one click! Add this to your site and watch a whole new flood of targeted traffic come in!

All these types of scripts are available for free or for a small fee online. I suggest that in addition to these sites, that you visit lots of sites you would like to emulate and see what they do well, what strategies are particularly effective and find ways to incorporate them.

I know even just the little bit above seems overwhelming. Well perhaps a mentor, someone who has done all the above and more would be of interest to you.

Thanks for reading,
Your Rich Cousin
(Author and Business Success Story) Get the free e-book that got me started and helped me start making money at http://www.richcousin.com It’s so straight forward and easy to understand AND you will have the support you need to start making a great income online.

VRE — better known as “Virtual Real Estate” is literally everywhere online.

That’s right. Everytime you do a search on whatever it is your searching for via the Internet you get a list of results. Within that list of results lye’s thousands, if not, millions of pages of Virtual Real Estate that is making someone out there on the WWW some handsome profits.

The question is… “what have you done in order to stake your Internet “VRE” claim so you too can enjoy some of that profit as well?”

If you haven’t started anything yet, that’s okay because I did a little research for you and came up with these “6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense” so you too can benefit like the many others out there online.

The first VRE business model I’d like to talk about are — Article Directories.

VRE Model #1. Articles Directories.

Article Directories are in my mind are probably one of the best VRE business models on the web simply because they offer your audience and publishers Multiple Channels of information on any topic.

And the facts are, people come online for information.

So, what do Article Directories contain?

That’s right… Information! … and lots of it.

The other great benefit to Article Directories is that you don’t have to write a single word if you don’t want to because the whole purpose of starting your Article Directory in the first place is to get other people(we also call them authors) to submit their content for your readers and/or publishers to read and use.

Now, the Rule Of Thumb is simple when it comes to growing your Article Directory and that is… the more authors you recruit, the more your Article Directory will grow, filling it full of targeted information for your readers to digest and for publishers to use on their websites.

It gets better, so keep reading.

Did you know that the more pages you have within your Article Directory means… the more search engine food you’ll have for the search engines to come and index into their database which will then be displayed within the search engines search results.

Remember in the beginning of this article when I was talking about the search engine results being full of Virtual Real Estate. This is where your Article Directories webpages(or your Virtual Real Estate) will be listed for web surfers find.

This also means that you’ll receive a lot of FREE targeted search engine traffic to your Article Directory as it grows giving your authors FREE targeted traffic to their sites and keeping them happy, and at the same time, will be building your VRE nest egg on the WWW.

Are you starting to see the benefits to starting your own Article Directory on the Internet?

I hope so.

But don’t go anywhere just yet, I’m not finished.

There’s two more things I want to talk to you about before this part of the article series ends.

The first is RSS — better known as “Real Simple Syndication” and what RSS does is it allows you to syndicate your Article Directories content or just content in general through an RSS feed so that any reader and/or publisher who subscribes to a particular RSS feed within your Article Directory will receive ANY new updated content that is published… INSTANTLY!

The other benefit to a RSS feed is… lets say you have 1000 publishers subscribed to one of your RSS feeds and one of your authors submits a new article at your Article Directory, all those publishers who subscribed to that RSS feed will receive it once that RSS feed updates and when someone clicks on the link within that RSS feed to read the new article, guess where the visitor is sent to?

You guessed it, your Article Directory, with your Google Adsense ads(I’ll talk about that in a second) and whatever other related affiliate links you have on that webpage.

Now… for the BEST part, how-to make a $Profit$ with your Article directory.

I’m telling you, this is the easiest money you’ll ever make for simply supplying your viewers and the Internet(A.K.A. The Information Super Highway) with what it needs the most, Information!

How do you do it?

Heard of Google Adsense(as I mentioned just a minute ago), because if you haven’t, now you have.

What is Google Adsense?

Google Adsense is Googles affiliate program for publishers and how it works is it displays ads targeted towards the content on that particular webpage being viewed.

How do you get paid? Simple. Your reader just has to click on one of the ads within the Google Adsense ad box on that webpage and depending on what the topic is and keyword could pay some handsome commissions(usually between 35% to 50%).

And, guess what? You didn’t even have to do any selling OR follow-up.

Not bad and believe me those clicks add up Fast and by having the search engines returning frequently for regular indexing and having RSS feeds(remember, when someone clicks on the RSS feed link on someone elses website they get redirected back to yours with your Google Adsense ads on it and other affiliate links) for other publishers to use on their websites you’ll soon see your Google Adsense profits get Bigger and BIGGER!

Well, that’s it for now. So be sure to be on the look out for my next installment of the “6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense”.

When someone starts an online business, and many do, they tend to think that they know what they are doing. In other words, they don’t have a clue. Everyone keep telling them that they need a nice looking website, throw some affiliate programs on it, advertise at free classifieds pages, and watch the money roll in. Easy money, right? That’s what they think.

“I don’t need anyone to show me how to do this. It shouldn’t be hard at all. Actually, it should be a walk in the park.” Many people probably think like that. So they advertise here and there. Free classifieds. Free advertising. Maybe some forum posting every day. Free traffic, right?

A few days go by. Then a few weeks go by and they only made about $30 in sales in one month. Many continue to do this and think that if they keep doing the same thing, maybe a miracle will happen.

Not so……

It so very true that the online work at home arena is highly competitive. If you are doing the same thing and keep getting the same results over and over again, not only are you killing your potential for online success, but you are allowing other competitors to pass you by. The only thing that you need to do is to stop and find someone who is already succeeding with their online business. Become like an investigator. Investigate what they do EXACTLY on a daily basis that created that wealth for them.

Here are a few good pointers on what you can do to succeed online:

1) Start Getting Educated……

Again, find someone who is very successful online and see what they are doing on a daily basis that creates their success. Do some detailed research online as to what methods and techniques are working for them and others. You can not succeed if you keep associating yourself with people who aren’t successful online. So you need to take yourself by the hands and start to associate with successful online friends.

2) You need an Auto-responder…..

Before I go into explaining this subject, it is important that you know that you will want to work with an opt in email subscribers who will come to your site and give you their personal permission to send them periodic emails. What you will not want to do is to buy email subscribers. If you do buy them and send them your emails, then this can kill you and your online reputation.

Having and opt-in email list will allow you to free up lots of your time because your prospects will be receiving messages from you periodically and automatically. The nice thing about email marketing is that instead of you having to call them each time you want to promote something, which will take you forever, your auto-responder system will be working for you while you go out and have fun.

Imagine having an opt in list of 10,000 subscribers. If you were to call each one of them to promote one of your programs, think how long it will take you to reach all of them. It would be impossible for you. With email, you can contact them all in a matter of a few seconds or minutes. You write one email and hit the “submit” button, and you are all done.

“If I don’t get an auto-responder and email subscribers, will this cut my chances of succeeding online?”

I am not saying that it will, but if you do get one, your income will just keep growing all the time as your subscribers do.
3) Find a mentor

After you find someone who is very successful online, email them and tell them that you will want to work with them one on one if it is possible. Don’t try going into their training thinking that you know it all. Listen and follow each guideline that they are recommending to you.

This person will be your mentor. Your coach and most of all, your friend.

By stepping out and trying a proven way to make money online, you will begin to see that you too can make a nice income online. And the best advice that I can also give you is to never ever give up. A lot of people are making nice incomes online and so can you. Believe in yourself and you will succeed.

So you want to build that website ? for whatever reason, perhaps you’ve started a business or simply wish to share pictures of the new addition to your family. Let me tell you it’s easier than you think ? all you need is directions that you can follow and you will soon be online.

Let’s talk what it will cost upfront. For $10 – $20/month you can have a working website (Imagine: www.yourname.com), available to anyone in the world with internet access. That’s a trip to your favourite fast food joint. (Yes, you can afford it!) There are also some ways of getting a free site ? still residing at www.yourname.com, but lets learn about all those weird internet terms first.

There are 3 basic components required to building a personal, custom website.
You need:
- A domain name
- A hosting account and
- Content written in HTML or some other web language.
I know, what’s a domain name!!!?

Here is an analogy I teach:

You live in a home that is built on a certain piece of land (that you rent or buy). That piece of land has a specific address.

Your website (a collection of individual web pages) sits on a hosting account that you rent. That hosting account is found at a specific address ? called a domain name.

Your Home Your Website
Your Street Address: e.g. 1 John St, Anytown
Your domain name: e.g. www.yourname.com
Your plot of land Your hosting account
Your physical house Your web content

Here is the 3 step process:
STEP 1: Choose your address
STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet
STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in step 2

Let’s explain each step:
STEP 1: Choose your address (a domain name)
With the internet you can choose what you want your address to be (your domain name). What are you selling? What would make a cool name? Understand that after over 10 years of public internet access ? a lot of good names have been taken. So get creative, and be unique but understandable. An easy place to start with is your full name for a family/personal site or your product name for a business site. Make a list of about 10 possibilities that you like in this format www.yourdesiredname.com Move to the next step.

STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet (A hosting account)
With a quick search for the words “Web Hosting” on the internet, you get a list of web hosting companies ? all eager to sell or rent you some space on their computer. GoDaddy.com and 1and1.com are some recommended companies ? feel free to look into others, but there are thousands upon thousands ? so don’t waste your time searching for the cheapest (you pay for what you get, but $10+ will get you a decent hosting account.

Many of the hosting companies will either give you or sell you your choice of domain name at the same time you start your hosting account. Bring out your list from STEP 1, and when instructed in the purchase process, enter in your first domain name choice. You will be informed if that name is available or not. Keep trying out your names in order of your preference until you find on that is available. Finish the purchase process and let the hosting company instruct you on how to access you account. (They’ll send you an email ? and if you go with one of the companies I recommended, you can call them with your questions.)

STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in step 2
You have some choices to make here:
A – You can ask someone to build you a site.
B – You can build it yourself.
C – Use a free website builder ? (like a blog)
Each has its pros and cons.

The first option is great if you can afford it and can find someone reliable. If you want cheap, post a job at your local high school ? someone in computer club will be able to help you for really cheap. The problem is that they may not always be around when you need them to make changes. Enter choice B

It’s great to learn a new skill, and you can learn for free online ? just invest a little time. Remember once you know how? you own that knowledge forever and you will never depend on someone else to build your site. Again search online for “how to build a website” They will tell you how to design, build and upload your site onto your hosting account form STEP 2.

If you don’t really require a customized design and all you want to do is place some text and perhaps some pictures online. I suggest starting what’s called a blog – these are often free, and have a really simple “HTML CODE FREE” way of adding your content. All you do is type and publish. You can often still have your own domain name here, but each blogging company is different. Again search online for blogging ? and read what the various companies offer.

Content
There is one thing that is really important and that ONLY you can do! That is come up with the content and the idea. Think about what you have to offer and what problem it solves for your visitors and prepare your content so as to answer that problem. E.g. You write great jokes. People are looking for jokes? your website should give people some jokes and perhaps they can register for your daily joke email.
Write simply, write short, write clearly. As time goes on, remember to keep your site fresh. Keep the content updated and relevant to your ideal visitors.

The goal of this article was to give you easy steps of how to get a website for yourself. Naturally you can learn more about each step, and there are many people who can give you help, but now you can start the journey. Create your list of domain names, purchase a hosting account (including the domain name you want) and build your site and keep the content fresh.

In future articles I’ll take about next steps:

- “I build it, but they ain’t coming to see it.”

- “I built it, but nobody’s buying”

- “I built it, but I don’t know how to improve it.”

A journey of a million miles starts with one step ? so go to step 1 and start. (Don’t worry ? this is not a long journey ? but it’s exciting!).

Here to Help You!

Thanks for reading,
Your Rich Cousin
(Author and Business Success Story) Get the free e-book that got me started and helped me start making money at http://www.richcousin.com It’s so straight forward and easy to understand AND you will have the support you need to start making a great income online.