The Art of Using Blogs to Their Full Marketing Potential by Peter Dimas

As an Internet entrepreneur, you're more than likely aware of the ability of blogs to increase the bottom line of your e-business. Most everyone who sells online, either their product or someone else's, or runs a blog that they have monetized with ads from Google Adsense or some other source does some kind of blog advertising because it is free and eventually gets indexed by the search engines, especially when using Blogger.com blogs. However, there are a few ways that you can really use blogs to enhance your business online, and these tips can be used whether you are selling products on your own site or simply running your own monetized blog.

The first thing you need to think about when generating new blog entries is "how do people know that I have any/new content available here?" Luckily, most blog servers and software automatically create RSS site feeds (in the form of a file called atom.xml) that can be sent to the many RSS feed servers available online. Think of it is an announcement to the world through Really Simple Syndication that an update has been made to your blog and everyone should come and check it out. These updates are then posted on thousands of other websites and seen by people who are watching the site feeds for up to date news. This benefits you in two ways: First, it gets automatic traffic flowing into your site (you posted your web address in your blog post, didn't you?), and second many sites will carry your blog post creating one-way links to your web site. And just in case you don't know, one way links are the most powerful types of links to have.
However, doing so manually can be slow and extremely time consuming. There are many major RSS feeds available online, and posting your blog to each one each time can take forever.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to automate it; a little piece of software called RSS Announcer. (http://www.easyrssannouncer.com) To use this software all you do is point it to the URL of your atom.xml file (which is created automatically with virtually all blog software and can be found in your setup), choose which RSS feeds you want to post to, and hit a button. The rest is taken care of for you automatically, and your blog posts are then syndicated across many thousands of web sites. Do you think that might make a difference in the number of visitors to your site?

The next important part of running a blog is always having new and fresh content for visitors to check out. When someone comes to your site or your blog, you want them to keep coming back, and one of the best ways to do that is to constantly update content. The problem is that even the most prolific of writers can't write more than one or two articles a day, and if you start running several blogs the amount of writing can quickly become overwhelming. I have run as many as 18 blogs at a single time and there's no way I would ever be able to create enough new content to keep users coming back. This is especially important if your blogs are monetized with Adsense advertising. Let's say, for instance, that you run a blog about Home Mortgages because it is a subject you know a lot about and are passionate about. In order to produce income you include Adsense on your site, and visitors to your blog read not only your content, but also see ads relating to Mortgages. Some of these visitors are going to click on your ads and generate income for you. In fact, if you're really good, 20% or more of your visitors will click on an advertisement and put money in your pocket. Soon some money starts coming in and you decide to put up another blog about Refinancing. After a while the blog starts to take off, and more Adsense revenue starts rolling in. At some point, you will find yourself trying to run so many blogs that there is no way you can write enough content for each of them.

Fortunately, there's an answer for the problem as well. It comes in the form of a piece of software called RSStoBlog. (http://www.dimasenterprises.com/rsstoblog.html) RSStoBlog will automatically, on a schedule that you decide, post relevant content to your blogs either from News sources, RSS Feeds, or search engines. If you're running a blog about Mortgages, instead of constantly writing new content for your blog, you can automate the posting of Mortgage information to your blog every day, several times a day. How does this benefit you as a blog owner? First, it relieves the burden of having to come up with so much original content by yourself. Second, it will send a "ping" to all the blog directories on every new post alerting them of new content at your blog. Third, if you are running a website relating to your blog, you can post the URL's of different pages of your website in your blog content, and those pages will quickly be indexed by the various search engines.! Have you seen those advertisements about "get your site indexed in 3 days for only $XX"? That's how they do it: add your page to a blog and ping the directories. If you're unfamiliar with this technique it is called Blogging and Pinging, and it is great for getting sites quickly indexed. RSStoBlog lets you do this quickly and easily. For all that it does, RSStoBlog is very under priced. It is definitely worth checking out if you are serious about marketing your websites or monetizing your blogs.

The last problem I'd like to address is that of link building. We all know that one of the keys to a long term search engine optimization strategy is high quality link building. This can include reciprocal links, purchased one-way links with related web sites, or even free links with unrelated websites. Many search engine experts agree that having some links, even if they're from sites totally unrelated to your own, are better than no links at all. Links to your site are like "votes" that the search engines see as your site containing real content. I assume that the people who run search engines feel that someone who takes time to build links to their site actually wants the site to stick around a while. However, as usual, link building can take a long time if it is not automated in some way.

Now, you're probably scratching your head and wondering "what does that last paragraph have to do with blogs?" Well, once again a piece of software comes to our rescue to automate our link building. It is called Blog Link Generator (http://www.cheapbloglinkgenerator.com), and can be used to quickly create hundreds or thousands of one-way links from blogs relating to your website (or even your own blog). It does this by searching for blogs relating to keywords that you input, and automatically posting to those blogs with a message from you and a link to your website. Let's say, for example, that you have a website or blog about Car Insurance. You enter the keywords "car insurance" into the software, and it will search through many thousands of blogs relating to car insurance and on each of those blogs post a message from you saying something like "I really enjoy car insurance blog. I have a website relating to car insurance you may find interesting at http://www.whateve! rsite.com. Please come and visit when you have a chance." This is a piece of software you can use as little or as much as you want. There is no shortage of blogs on just about any topic imaginable, so creating one-way links to your site or blog on nearly any subject becomes extremely easy. Believe me when I say that you will quit before the software does. So as you can see, there are several ways you can add to the power of blogs to bring more revenue to your e-business. Whether it is getting more people to know about your site or simply automating tasks that would normally consume too much time, software products are available to free up that time so you can get to the business of doing more business.

Suggested Resources: http://www.cheapbloglinkgenerator.com http://www.dimasenterprises.com/rsstoblog.html http://www.easyrssannouncer.com
Yours in Success, Peter Dimas

About the Author
Peter Dimas is a full time Internet and Affiliate marketer living in Las Vegas, NV. He also runs a Search Engine Optimization company which specializes in all types of SEO including White, Gray, and Black Hat tactics. If you would like more information, please contact him at seo@dimasenterprises.com and ask him how he can flood your site with targeted visitors.

Art Collecting as a Home Business by: Amy Hutton

When we think of art collectors, we generally think of wealthy sophisticates combing glamourous fine art galleries for the hottest new painter’s works. That may have been true in the past, but today there are many online art collectors who make a good living without ever visiting a brick and mortar art gallery.

Today a small movement has begun where average people are buying fine art online, holding it for a year or more, and earning a profit from resale. And what’s interesting is that almost all of these new online collectors have never had any experience with fine art beforehand. These savvy folks are buying limited edition fine art prints on canvas, printed in the expensive giclee process. Each one of these prints is so close to the original that only an expert can tell the difference.

These beautiful prints come with certificates that are signed by the artist and numbered. Once the limited edition sells out, it is common for the print to increase in value as much as 2-4 times the original price.

All an online art collector has to do is to visit a million dollar art gallery via the internet and learn about the various hot new artists, see their current offerings, and learn which artists are selling the most prints. Then with a couple clicks the online art collector can purchase a limited edition print at a 20% discount from what the print is selling for at retail. They buy a print with a 20% profit built in! No brick and mortar gallery means lower overhead.

The works of some artists sell out incredibly fast, making it easy to make a quick profit.
Where do these online art collectors sell their sold out art prints, you might ask. The biggest online galleries have built in a resale market. Three times a year the online collectors gather to buy and sell fine art that they own.

Now, nobody can guarantee how much profit a sold out print will make. But you should make a good profit if you choose wisely and the edition sells out quickly. And while you are waiting for the print to sell out, you’ll have wonderful fine art to grace your walls.

If you are looking for a fun and profitable home business, and a way to surround yourself with beautiful fine art, you should consider becoming an online art collector.

About The Author
Copyright 2005
Amy Hutton is an art collector who lives in South Florida. Visit http://amy.globalartgroup.com for information on online fine art collecting.

Create Your Own Cash e-Products! by: Anthony Jewell

You may be wondering how you can sell products online that will be profitable but also how you can cut the middle man out of your profits. Then you are looking at e-products. Now you may be wondering what they are and how you can get your hands on them? It is very easy. E-products are products that are created from your own mind with information that you have gained or found out one way or another. Such as an ebook on "how to make the worlds best tuna fish sandwich" or "how to set up your own server". This information is created by you and put down so that it is useful to others who are in need of this information(for those who don't know how to make a tuna fish sandwich). It gives them valuable information based on your own experiences and helps them with the problems they are facing. The best thing about it is that you own any copyright on products you create and they only take a few minutes of your time to come up with.

The important part about e-products is that they must fill a void of information people are searching for. Usually common knowledge doesn't sell as well, such as an ebook on "how to slice bread" might now sell as good as another ebook on "how to make your own homemade bread". People have to feel that they need the product and that they can't find this information anywhere else. So presenting your e-product is a user friendly professional way is also key.
Once you figure out what to create your e-product on and what it will be(whether it will be an article, ebook, how to guide or something else). You then need to figure out two things: 1. where you will sell it(such as on your website, others websites or on ebay) and 2. How much it will cost. These are two important steps as they will determine your market for your product and also the price. Remember when pricing that if it is too high no one will buy. Also remember that any profit you will make will be 100% yours so keeping prices a bit lower will still give you the same return rate if you were to sell someone else products(probably a better return rate actually).
Whenever you go to create an e-product just make sure to take your time with it. Try as hard as possible to make it the best it can be and also do some research to see what is already out there as well what people are needing. This will allow you to create a nice income while being in full control.

About The Author
Anthony Jewell has over 6 Years experience in the Web & Graphics World. You can visit my business and join in conversation at http://www.logo2d.com & http://www.logo2d.com/forum .
©Copyright 2005 Logo2D.com

The Home Biz Roller Coaster by Eric Garner

Like much in life, building a home-based business is cyclical. It's like taking a ride in a roller coaster. You start on the ground, go slowly up in the air, and then when you reach the top, fall down the other side at dizzying speed until you're back on the ground again. Just like a roller coaster, the uphill part of building your business can seem painfully slow. It's almost as if you have to push the carriage up the slope yourself. But at the top you reach a point called the Tipping Point. That's the point when you don't have to push any more. The hard work is done. You can just sit back and enjoy the ride downhill. So, get ready for the ride of your life as I show you the 6 phases of the Home Biz Roller Coaster.

1. Getting Off The Ground. Don't believe the hype that surrounds a lot of home-based businesses. There is no such thing as instant success. The truth is, you can't succeed in phase one. It's practically impossible. Why? Because you don't know enough yet. But don't worry. This is the phase where you're going to do all your learning. And remember, we often do our best learning by failing. So, in this first phase, be ready for a few uncomfortable bumps. Insulate yourself against them - perhaps by keeping on that full-time job - and be encouraged that, once you get past this phase, there's no getting off: you're already a success in the making!

2. Identify The Opportunities. In phase one, you'll have learnt what works, and what doesn't work in your particular neck of the woods. In phase two, you're going to identify the opportunities that will eventually define your business. At first, it will only be an inkling, a few ideas blowing in the wind. Something someone said tying up with something you know about. But seemingly out of nowhere, you'll come up with the idea, product or service that only you could have discovered. Looking back later, it will seem simple. You'll ask yourself: why didn't I think of that before? It's like the man who invented ice cream cones 2000 years after the invention of ice cream. It was just waiting for the right time to be invented.

3. Produce Something Special. Once you have your knowledge and your big idea, you now have to turn it into a product or service that people will queue up to buy. We're still on the upward curve of the roller coaster, which is defined as hard work, with no money coming in but plenty of money going out. But don't worry. Remember the cyclical nature of the trip you're on. If you stay on board, it will come. Phase three's theme is partnerships. OK, you may be able to develop a great product on your own, but the chances are you need someone else to help you. Ferret these people out. Make sure they share your dreams. And work together to produce something special that nobody's created before.

4. Work Like Hell and Advertise. Up till now, there's only been a steep hill ahead of you. It's been like climbing Everest, with no apparent end in sight. But, now, with your product created, you might just be able to glimpse the summit ahead. But don't get ahead of yourself. There's still a lot of work to do. The final uphill phase is about marketing yourself to your customers. If your business is an Internet business, it means working non-stop to create a marketing-oriented website, offering great content, building joint ventures, publishing articles that enhance your expertise, and advertising. If you want some good advice in this phase, take a leaf out of the book of the billionaire media mogul, Ted Turner, whose recipe for success was: "Early to bed, early to rise; work like hell and advertise."

5. Establish Working Systems. The fact is that everything up to this point has been hard graft. OK, I know there are satisfying moments on the uphill curve, but let's face it, you're in business to make money not spend it. Well, the good news is, that, if you've researched your market, developed your idea, created great products, and marketed till you're blue in the face, things are now going to change. Instead of Money Out, it's going to be Money In. Instead of being predominantly active, your role is going to be predominantly passive. Instead of pushing the carriage up the hill, you can now get in and enjoy the ride downhill. Of course, it doesn't mean you have nothing to do. On the contrary, you need to establish systems that ensure you run your home-based business like a proper business, even if you're still in the garage or bedroom. And that includes systems to collect and account for the money coming in. But who knows? You might even be able to pay yourself a wage!

6. Deliver Excellent Customer Service. We're now racing down the downhill curve of our roller coaster on the last phase. There's a good chance that, while the uphill phase seemed painfully slow, the downhill phase is exactly the opposite: fast, chaotic, and out of control. Your one focus in this phase is on your customers. Whereas in the uphill phase, there was just you and the dog for company, you now have people knocking on your door at all hours of the day and night. You're in demand. Your response must be to deliver outstanding customer service to everyone who wants a bit of the action. That way, if you want, you'll come up with an idea or proposition that will start off the whole roller coaster journey all over again!

The Home Biz Roller Coaster can be exciting, frustrating, painful, crushing, never-ending, wonderful, and exhilarating. If you make it to the end, you'll have experienced one of the greatest rides of your life. I'm still on it and so, I suspect, are you. I wish you a great trip! See you at the other end!

About the Author
© Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com
For instant solutions to all your management training needs, visit http://www.managetrainlearn.com and download your FREE personal copies of our training software. And while you're there, make sure you try out our prize quiz, get your surprise bonus gift, and subscribe to our newsletter. Go and get the ManageTrainLearn experience now!

Stop Falling For Get Rich Schemes by:Jonathan Cook

YOU'VE SEEN IT ALL!

Whether it's EBay reselling, Google adwords, affiliate programs, reselling cd roms, rewriting ebooks or whatever, you've probably seen it or bought it. I suppose I am completely gullible because I have fallen for pretty much all of them. This month I finally sat down and decided to take a realistic look at all the pure crap that's out there promising to make you rich.

If there's even a slight chance that you can make money at somthing, somone will write an ebook and claim that you can make a bundle at it at home in your undies.

What I found is that every single program I purchased, from the $9.95 ebook to the $350 binder were mostly recycled filler material. There is literally nothing that 99% of the ebooks on the Internet can teach you that you don't already know or could learn for free.

There is one ebook on the Internet that sells quite well by a man who claims to make millions every year online. For $97 he'll show you exactly how to do it. No B.S. Interested? So was I. I bought it. Another good chunk of cash down the drain.

Well at least you can benefit from my mistake and listen to what I learned from this phony "millionaire". Here is a direct excerpt from his ebook on how to make a lot of money selling your own informational product: "Notice the top 10 selling products...These things sell. So don't reinvent the wheel. Make a similar site, make it look better, sound better, and price it lower." Now listen to this part: "I always make a killer website that sells. And you can give people hope in many ways with many different products, but I find it most effective with informational products because somehow you can get away with practically promising the world, and then under-delivering. You are basically telling people what they want to hear."

Here's someone who sells ebooks and other digital products online admitting that he promises the world and then under delivers as a standard practice. Oh did I mention that he also wants you to resell his worthless ebook as an affiliate?

Is there no hope for making a decent profit on the Internet? It seemed that way to me, especially after reading so much expensive garbage. But I did find something that really gave me a sense of hope again. One day a couple of months ago I stumbled on something called E-Currencies investing and exchanging. 'Oh great, another stinking scam', I thought. But the more reading I did, the more I began to regain a sense of hope that there really was a great way to make income online. I found forums where real people were doing this as though it were nothing new. I found a training company with a real phone number and called it and got an actual person on the phone! This was different.

So, I took the plunge. I purchased their (rather expensive) course at and went for it. I invested what was left in a stock market account that had gone south – around $2,000 into the system. You can actually get started with as little as $50-$100 but I wanted a head start. The business is to join a network of people that converts one type of Internet based currency to another form for a fee. Apparently Internet based currencies like E-Gold have become enormously popular internationally.

Each day I administered my portfolio of E-Currencies as I had been taught and each day it grew. About two months latter, my portfolio is now up to just over $10,000.00. I didn’t gamble my money because this is not stock or commodities or any other securities investing. So your portfolio does not go down. It only goes up at different rates.

I had finally made some money on the Internet. And the best part was that I didn’t have to sell anything or place a single ad or even compete with another person. A lot of people hear about this market and call it a scam because it sounds too good to be true. I don’t blame them, but I don’t really care what they think because I’m finally profitable.

The conclusion? Do yourself a favor and quit falling for all those lame ebooks and programs. Find a real online business and quit trying to get rich over night. Maybe E-Currencies are your ticket, maybe not. The training program that I used is at www.dxprofessional.com. Their program is not cheap, but as we’ve learned here, you can’t get into a new profitable business online by buying a $97 ebook from some fake “millionaire”.

Whatever you do, I wish you the best success and next time, think twice before pushing the buy button on that ebook promissing to make you rich.

Copyright 2005 Jonathan Cook

About The Author
Jonathan Cook is an Internet entrepreneur who looks for the rare ideas and software which stand on their own to make a profit. Somtimes he tells about what he's found at http://www.manabun.com.

Home Based Opportunity by: Nial Robbins

It seems home based business opportunities are a bit more common in the US than in Europe. However the European marketplace is quickly catching on to the phenomenon of home based business and network marketing. The advantages of a home based business are evident: low cost, flexible working hours and tax benefits, to name but a few. But these advantages have pretty much been there for many years, so why the sudden growth? Why do so many people start their own home based business right now, and why would network marketing be a good thing to consider for so many others?

First of all there is worldwide economic uncertainty and many economies are either facing a recession or are in the middle of one. Turn open any newspaper and you can't miss articles on companies downsizing and laying off employees by the thousands. Network marketing offers people the chance to create a part time auxiliary income, right beside their day job. This kind of extra income has proven a great help to many families across the world. Of course many network marketers have made a full time living out of there business. Some of them have made fortunes. But this level of success, although available to anyone who is willing to do the work, will not be for most people. Most network marketers run a part time business for a small number of hours a week earning them a couple hundred bucks a month.

Then there is the phenomenon of cocooning, where the consumer tries to shield itself from all sorts of marketing messages. Do-no-call lists are in place, making it harder and harder for companies to get their messages across to the consumer. Network marketing, which is based on moving a service or product to the end consumer based on personal relationships, delivers a strong answer to these challenges. More and more traditional companies have discovered that network marketing is a very cost effective way to reach consumers.

Of course we can't forget about the internet. This technology has greatly helped making the world smaller, making it easier to find and disperse information. Network marketing companies have pioneered the internet to inform, train and motivate their independent distributors.
The cost of home office equipment has decreased considerably.

These days you can set up a home office for just a couple hundred bucks. Some may argue that you don't even need that much. Any computer with an internet connection and a phone would be enough for most network marketers to operate their business. This makes it affordable for everyone to start a home based business. Compare this to the cost of running a normal business and it becomes clear why more and more people are being attracted to a home based opportunity.

And then there is the growing lack of trust in the corporate world. Not too long ago, people where quite used to having a job for life. Or at least until they decided to quit. Nowadays many people have come to realize that job security is a joke. Too many people have lost their jobs more than once only to find out that they were nothing but a number to their corporate employer. It's not just the fact that you have to go out to find another job to feed your family. It's also the fact that you've been listening to your employer bloating about the importance of their human assets when in the end in turns the employees where just considered human asses.
Network marketing not only offers people a chance to create some extra income, it also provides them with the opportunity to get some of their dignity back. Helping them realize that they don't necessarily have to depend on their employers paycheck. The support structures that many good network marketing companies offer are a great help to individuals joining this type of business. Not only will they receive the proper training on their company's products and services. They will also be educated on personal development
The advantages of a home based business are evident and in the near future we will certainly see more of it. Looking at today's trends in the economy it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the era of monolithic companies offering jobs for life has ended. It's time to have the courage to bet on yourself again and home based business is a good way to do so. And for those people that decide to take this step, taking a serious look at network marketing is just common sense. Even in a time where common sense isn't that common anymore.

About The Author
Nial Robbins owns the work at home directory website located at: http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com

Come by and visit us today! Also, be sure to check out our "top pick" work at home opportunity at: http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-9525

!!!ATTENTION!!!
We can help ANYONE become MORE Successful in their CURRENT BUSINESS!!!
http://www.free-homebusiness.com

The Lessons The Homeless Taught Me About Marketing My Home Based Business by: Chris Stirling

Like so many people in North America I live in a city that has too many people living on the streets and who are homeless or in need of financial assistance. So often these people approach me asking for "spare change" or "help". I always just ignore these request and continue on my way, except yesterday.

Yesterday I had an eye opening moment, actually 2 moments, that happens every so often. You see I was minding my own business walking along the sea wall in my home city. I just happened to be walking behind a person asking for "spare change" from every person he encountered on the sea wall. He was not very successful as most people just pretended they did not hear the request or even see him. But, every 20th person, or so, he would encounter a receptive individual who would indulge in his request for "spare change". This man taught me 2 lessons:

1 - Be consistent with your messaging. I'm sure this man did not do much scientific testing but he did believe in the message of "spare change" and he delivered his message to every person he encountered with confidence that it would be successful eventually. I realized I could do the same with my marketing message. Instead of having multiple marketing ads out there I should find a message that works and run with it.

2 - Every "no" gets you closer to a "yes". This man was never deterred by a person ignoring him or a "no". He just continued on, knowing that eventually he would receive a "yes". I realized this is the same for my business. Not everybody will be interested in my home based business opportunity or products and that is OK. If I believe in my message, eventually I will encounter someone who is.

Later that day I was driving home and I noticed another homeless man standing at a very busy stop light intersection holding a cardboard sign asking for help. As I was sitting there waiting for my light to turn green watching every 7th or 8th car hand him some change I realized this man also taught me 2 lessons about marketing:

3 - A captive audience is valuable. This man realized that standing on the side of the road was no good for him because there was no foot traffic and the cars would not stop to read his story. Once he stood at the intersection he knew that people would be stopped at the location for a couple of minutes giving him time to have his message read and increasing his chances of receiving help. His message was more elaborate than the "spare change" request of the first man I encountered today. He was able to tell his story on the piece of cardboard and telling his audience why he needed assistance. This type of exposure is extremely valuable to this man. The increased exposure time resulted in him not receiving "spare change" but I saw people giving him paper money. I realized that I needed to get my message onto locations with a large captive audience to be successful.

4 -High traffic areas are worth the costs. This man did not choose any intersection to stand at, he chose one of the busiest ones in the city. I then remembered yesterday there was a man at this location but not the same person as today. In fact I have never been at this intersection without someone standing there with a sign asking for help. I am sure this location is difficult to secure but for the person who does get there first they will be rewarded. This is not a revelation but it can often be forgotten lesson. Often the high traffic locations can be more expensive or more difficult to secure, but if you are willing to do what it takes to get your message seen in this location you will receive the fruits of your hard work.

Today I gave "spare change" and "help" to two homeless men in my city and they both gave me lessons that were far more valuable. I saw these lessons in action with results I would be happy with in my own business and plan on putting them into action immediately!

Copyright 2005 Chris Stirling

About The Author
Chris Stirling is the owner of http://www.stirls.com and publisher of Work At Home Top Picks Newsletter.His Home Business Directory website is designed to help other people achieve their goal of having their own work at home business. http://www.stirls.com.

Help for the Home Based Business by:Nial Robbins

Wouldn’t it be great to get some good, affordable, reliable help, even though you work out of your home? But finding workers and figuring out where to meet or when to bring them into your home office can pose some difficult juggling, personal and security issues.

A popular solution is outsourcing. When you outsource, you can hire experienced people and let them use their creative talents while you focus on other tasks. Another benefit is that the workers you hire may be more up to date on the latest information and technology in their specific fields and can be assets to your clients, as well, offering improved quality service.

OUTSOURCE
Here are the basics to outsourcing:

Focus:
Focus on outsourcing some of the major tasks of your workload. First, sit down for a breather and look around your ‘To Do’ lists and office area. What CAN you outsource? Which work seems to pile up the most?

For example, maybe you can’t seem to find time to update your website each month. Maybe your newsletter is STILL not getting out regularly. Or perhaps your direct mail campaign is not quite as direct as it should be; i.e. it is sitting directly in the same pile it was three months ago.
Then write out one-page project description for these major tasks. Focus on WHAT exactly you’d want done, WHEN and HOW the end product should turned in to you.

Take Action:
Then look for service providers. For example, with the sample tasks above, find people who can help with Internet websites, newsletter creation and sending out direct mail campaigns. Call round and surf the Internet and ask other home based business operators which companies they recommend. Check forum posts; inquire for advice and suggestions. Shop around for comparisons.

Then set up trial periods and test a couple. Remember, no one is perfect. See who you can communicate with pretty easily and who’s flexible to work as a team player. Check out the quality (and quantity) of their work. Then choose a candidate. Remember, this decision is not carved in stone. And you can always hire the other person as a back up or second helper down the road. So be kind to all who test, make decisions and keep your business moving forward.

ROI:
Make the most out of your investment and get a great return by investing in your time wisely, too. Outsourcing will hopefully free up more time for you to focus on the work you like and allow more time for marketing and advertising, to increase sales and projects. Don’t forget to brush up on your skills and keep up with the industry now, too. Read the latest ezines in your field and take a brush up course or workshop to improve your skills.

Network and seek out joint venture opportunities.

Outsourcing is a great way to help small businesses grow larger while still remaining at home. So reach out and give it a try!

About The Author
Nial Robbins owns the work at home directory website located at: http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com. Come by and visit us today! Also, be sure to check out our "top pick" work at home opportunity at: http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-9525

Web Publishing Guide for the Internet Entrepreneur by: Rick Tanzo

"The best things don't come easy." - Quoted

The finished web pages in your hands could be likened to a painting by Michelangelo without the Sistine Chapel. In your case, the Sistine Chapel would be the web server to host your web site masterpiece.

This is the first part of a series of articles touching on various aspects of publishing on the web. In this edition, we will dwell on the aspect of domain name and web hosting.

Domain Name
First, you need to register your domain name. FYI, a domain name is the location of your web site on the Internet, just like http://www.internetmarketinglearningcenter.com/.

You should have your own domain name if you envision yourself to be a successful Internet entrepreneur. BTW, the domain name you have registered with some free hosting services is not too professional to be used for your business operation. Unless you are on some form of an experiment, get your own domain name. The cost of getting one has considerably gone down than say five or two years ago.

People would take your product or service seriously if you do have your own domain name. There are a host of domain name registrars out on the Net for you to choose from.

Before you go out and register your domain name, check it out first if the domain name you are planning to register is still available. There are a number of free services to check the names of registered domain names on the web.

If you check my web site you will find a listing of better domain name checkers. It will save you a lot of time. Some of these free services offer domain name registration - for a fee, of course.

Web Hosting
After you have decided on - and subsequently registered - your domain name, the next big task is for you to find a host server to which your domain name will be pointing to.

The choice of your web site host is crucial enough to be left to guesswork. For one, a downtime in your host's server will severely impact your online operation. The profit returns of your business will be at stake.

Tip: You often come across an advertisement that says: "We guarantee 99.9% uptime." Come to think of it, a 0.1% downtime translates close to 9 hours within a year that your web site can not be accessed by your clients. Can you afford this? My advice is for you to do your math if a web host is giving you this type of advert.

Web Hosting Checklist
The following checklist will help you select a reliable and efficient web site host:

Does it offer 24/7 technical support?
Does it have a reliable performance record? (Go for the near zero per cent server downtime)
Does it offer a fast connection speed?
Does it offer a quick and easy access to your log files?
Are CGI scripts allowed for your package?
Is autoresponder services being offered?

Web Server Categories
There are three types of web hosting services you can categorize web servers. List down these three categories and put under the appropriate item the name of the web host you are evaluating. Two things worth checking are pricing and performance record of the web host.
Offhand, a web host could fall into three types, namely, cheap web hosting, affordable web hosting, and free web servers. For reasons already discussed above, you have to opt out the free web hosting type, if you want to make serious your Internet business venture.

A study was conducted by our group on the cheap and affordable web hosting services currently being offered. You may want to check it out yourself from our web site. It may save you time.
Tip: You can get cheap web hosting for as low as $0.50 a month. Some web hosts claim to offer free web hosting if you register your domain name with them. Check this out very carefully because the cost of the web hosting may already be added to the cost of the domain name registration. See if the cost of domain name registration is high compared to the web host's competitors. Also check out the performance record of the web host.

Uploading Web Files to the Server
After you have registered your domain name and signed a web host, the next big task is uploading your files to the host's server. The popular and traditional way of transferring files to your web host's server is via an FTP program (for Windows) and Fetch (for Macintosh). If you belong to the 95 per cent of the computing population (i.e., Windows based), the best FTP program for you is still the WS-FTP software. You can download if for free from the web.
Most web hosts offer control panels where you can directly browse your file source and upload the files to the server. In this case, there's no need for you to use an FTP program.

Tip: Some web hosts offer state of the art control panels. Others have amateurish control panels. You have to choose between simplicity and time-consuming operation. My advice is for you to choose the easy to operate panel that offers hassle-free transferring of files.

About The Author
Rick Tanzo is the webmaster of the InternetMarketingLearningCenter.com. Internet marketing and home business articles are featured in his web site. Reprint rights are granted so long as article, by-line and active links are reproduced intact. To learn more about Internet marketing and home based business, visit http://www.internetmarketinglearningcenter.com/.