This month's donation in support of Breast Cancer Awareness will help customers order specialty gift baskets made with quality, brand name products, and help a nonprofit organization in the process. Customers who purchase from an eGiftBaskets.com merchant can choose from a wide range of brand name gift items and products for their order, and eGiftBaskets.com business owners can now extend another incentive to purchase a gift basket this month; a portion of each sale will be donated to the American Cancer Society in support of breast cancer efforts.

Promotions and marketing campaigns are the sole responsibility of each owner, and eGiftBaskets.com provides extensive administration and marketing support to launch and manage a business of any size. Donating to a worthwhile cause is just one way that eGiftBaskets.com gives back to the community. Home-based business owners interested in participating in charitable giving can now promote their eGiftBaskets.com business in support of breast cancer awareness and research.

The dream of owning and operating a successful home-based business is a reality for thousands of entrepreneurs enjoying the rewards of selling gift baskets through eGiftBaskets.com. eGiftBaskets.com offers a range of online business templates for anyone interested in building and marketing a completely customized gift basket business. With the eGiftBaskets.com system, each business owner has a chance to interact with customers, initiative marketing campaigns, and even work with suppliers -- all without ordering inventory or even building the gift basket themselves. eGiftBaskets.com allows entrepreneurs to take advantage of low start-up fees and no royalty payments; it's easy for anyone to set up their very own home-based gift basket business in a few simple steps.

Now business owners can promote their products and themed baskets for a good cause. This November, eGiftBaskets.com will donate 2% of all sales, up to $1,000 per business, to the American Cancer Society. The donation will help support women and families who are living with breast cancer, and the initiative allows eGiftBaskets.com business owners and customers to take part in a noteworthy charitable cause.

About eGiftBaskets.com

eGiftBaskets.com (http://www.egiftbaskets.com) provides home-based business opportunities for stay at home parents, working professionals, and anyone interested in running and operating their own small business. eGiftBaskets.com has launched gift websites that include gift boutique websites, flower websites, and other gift-related online shopping opportunities.

Co-founders Harvard Young and Nouriel Gino Yazdani did intensive research and then created this online community in 1997. Their mission is to provide clients a low-cost start for their own gift basket business. Discounted prices, marketing support, a free list of drop shippers, and more, are available.

Over three billion dollars was generated by sales of gift baskets and flowers last year alone, and home business profits in the US are growing. eGiftBaskets.com business owners can now help fight breast cancer with a donation to the American Cancer Society throughout the month of November.
Nov 6, 2007

Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed

-Corita Kent.

Boost Your Metabolism, Lose Those Inches

We would all love to know the magic bullet to trim those extra few inches around the abdomen and hips, or under the chin, wouldn't we? Wish I could tell you there were one such thing but unfortunately there isn't. What I could offer you though is some sound yet effective advice if you read on.

Research has made a lot of advances in weight loss research over recent decades, given our current epidemic of obesity and its resulting complications such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease. But even those of us who are just looking to improve our self image by fitting into the clothes we love could benefit from what we are now finding out.

First, spot reducing simply does not work. No matter how many sit ups you do, your waistline won't change a bit. Though the muscle underneath the fat may get firmer, inches won't come off unless you are raise your overall metabolic rate. Consider your metabolism like a furnace. Feed more coal and guess what happens – that's right, more heat is produced. Well

calories work the same way. Calories are the amount of heat your body gives off in response to increased workload, and in the case of your metabolism, more calories (and fat) will be burned in the process.

In fact, what we are now looking at is not so much how many calories we burn during exercise, but the overall effect that a particular exercise session has on our metabolism over a 24 hour period. That means that with consistent exercise, our metabolism will be reset to a new, higher level so that we are burning calories even while we sleep! Essentially, what we are doing is tricking the body into letting off more heat (thus burning more calories) than it is used to by simply increasing our exercise frequency, duration, and intensity.

First of all, start small. If walking is your thing, try to maintain a consistent pace for say 15 minutes, uninterrupted, 3 times a week. Set a goal to add an extra 5 minutes a week until you are up to a 45-60 minute session; then maybe add an extra day here and there till you are up to 5 or 6 times a week. It could take you a couple of months to get there but look at what you've done in the process. Boost your intensity by adding some hills or stairs to your walk or maybe even carry some one pound hand weights along with you. Later on you might consider introducing some cross-training into your routine that will have you using different muscle groups and again boosting your calorie output. Some great fun ideas might be cycling, swimming, rollerblading, or rock climbing. Most gyms offer group exercise classes such as yoga (my favorite), aerobics, and pilates, where you have the motivation of others around you to keep you on track.

Whatever your choice of exercise, be consistent, make it fun, and you will most certainly reach your goals in due time. Just intending to do it won't help – you have to invest the time, make it a priority, and I promise you, no I guarantee you, success. Check back in a week or two for nutrition strategies that will boost your metabolism as well!

This information has been provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. **

Healthiest regards,


Dr. Carlos
Oct 18, 2007

An easy-to-run gift baskets business connects military wives with a small business dream. egiftbaskets.com, a gift baskets start-up website, provides low-cost, full support to wives who want to start a gift basket business.

“We’re beside them 100% with our customer support,” says
General Manager Danine McCulloch, a gift basket business owner herself. Motivated military wives seek an uplifting, profitable way to earn a living from home, and sending gift baskets really appeals to them. “As the largest global gift basket company, we can offer them everything they need.”

Co-founders Harvard Young and Nouriel Gino Yazdani did intensive research and then created this online community in 1997. Their mission is to provide clients a low-cost start for their own gift basket
business. Discounted prices, marketing support, a free list of drop shippers, and more, are available.

Over three billion dollars was generated by sales of gift baskets and flowers last year alone, and home business profits in the US are growing. Military wives located across the globe find they enjoy and benefit from starting a gift basket business.

For additional information:

MEDIA CONTACT Charlene Lee

Charlene@StevenPr.com
Aug 21, 2007

No matter how good your company is, some people will always write something negative about your site, even if you tried your best to help them. What can you do if web pages with negative comments appear on the first result page for your company name?

1. Just ask

Send the webmaster of the web page in question a polite email and ask for removal of the negative comments. Be friendly and don't threaten the other person. Many webmasters will cooperate if you explain the issue.

2. Give web pages with positive comments a boost

Find web sites that contain positive comments about your site. Link to these pages from your own website to increase the link popularity of these pages. The web pages with the positive comments might get more inbound links and higher rankings then.

You could also suggest web pages with positive remarks about your website on social network sites such as Digg.

3. Use Wikis if appropriate

Websites like AboutUs.org allow you to create an article about your company. If your company is important enough, you might even create an entry in Wikipedia. These Wiki pages might also get listed when someone searches for your company name.

It's very important that you don't spam Wikis. Only add information about your company if it is appropriate. Spamming Wikis will backfire on you.

4. Ask for testimonials

If you receive positive feedback from customers, ask them to write a review on ConsumerReview.com, Epinions.com or similar sites.
Jun 25, 2007

The New York Times has recently published (June 19th 2007) an article about Amit Singhal. Amit Singhal is in charge of Google's ranking algorithm. The interview reveals some interesting facts about Google's ranking algorithm.

Google knows that its algorithm is not perfect

"Tweaking and quality control involve a balancing act. 'You make a change, and it affects some queries positively and others negatively,” [...] 'You can’t only launch things that are 100 percent positive.'"

"[...] Any of Google’s 10,000 employees can use its 'Buganizer' system to report a search problem, and about 100 times a day they do."

Why Google changes its algorithm

The article lists a concrete example why Google could change its algorithm:

"Recently, a search for 'French Revolution' returned too many sites about the recent French presidential election campaign — in which candidates opined on various policy revolutions — rather than the ouster of King Louis XVI.

A search-engine tweak gave more weight to pages with phrases like 'French Revolution' rather than pages that simply had both words."

If you want to get high rankings on Google, it's important to know whether you should use your keywords as a phrase or as separate words on your web pages.

This can be different for different keywords. Fortunately, there is a way to find out how you should use your keywords on your web pages.

PageRank is just one of many factors

While PageRank was very important when Google was new, Google now uses many more factors to determine the rankings of web pages:

"PageRank is but one signal. Some signals are on Web pages — like words, links, images and so on. Some are drawn from the history of how pages have changed over time. Some signals are data patterns uncovered in the trillions of searches that Google has handled over the years."

There are many factors that influence the ranking of a web page on Google. If you want to get high Google rankings for your website, then you have to work on all of these factors.
Jun 25, 2007

Last week June 12th 2007, Google's Matt Cutts had a Q&A on the SearchMarketingExpo in Seattle. Here's a summary of the most important statements:

Google's supplemental index

Pages in Google's supplemental results are parsed differently than pages in the regular index. Pages from the supplemental results can get into the main index. According to Matt Cutts, phrase relationships are handled a bit differently for supplemental pages. He didn't reveal details.

Webmasters shouldn't be worried if they have pages in the supplemental index. Matt Cutts has hundreds of his own pages in the supplemental index.

Paid links

Google considers buying links to be outside of their guidelines and they might take strong actions against that in the future. Matt Cutts indicated that "Google might take action" if webmasters buy links anyway.

Outbound links

Matt Cutts said that links to other websites are good for users, and therefore good for search engines.

The impact of spammy domains that are owned by the same person

Matt Cutts indicated that a webmaster who owns many spammy websites might get trouble with his other websites.

Catalog pages and online store search result pages

Google tries to avoid online store result pages in its own result pages. If an online store search result page looks like search results that are available anywhere else, then Google doesn't like the page. It's much better if it has unique content.

Category pages in online shops work better according to Matt Cutts. However, a product should only be listed in the best-applicable category instead of being listed in 30 different locations.

Matt Cutts recommended to analyze the web pages that currently have high rankings because webmasters can learn from them.
Jun 25, 2007

STARTUP

As with any new business, you will have to make a number of decisions. What types of
baskets will you offer? If you are working from home do you have enough space for
creating your baskets?

What is your target market? And most of all how will you reach them? If you plan to
start on a shoestring budget, start slow and work from home. Running your business
from home will allow you to save on overhead expenses. EgiftBaskets.com offers wide
variety of Gift Basket Business websites at different price levels, they also offer
financing.

Income Potential

Your income potential depends on how hard you work and market your business.
Industry insiders estimate potential revenues to range from 50,000 annually working
part time from home.

Your Gift Baskets

You can either offer a wide selection of gift baskets, or focus on a smaller market.
Some of the common gift baskets being offered include the following:

Gourmet/Food Gift Baskets. These are the most popular gift baskets businesses give
to their clients, friends and family.

Bath and Body Gift Baskets. These are very popular! Ingredients of these baskets
include toiletries like scented soaps, fragrances, oils, lotions, and aromatherapy
products. These are just a few selections of gift baskets offered, the list goes on.

Egiftbaskets.com can supply you with a large list of Gift Basket drop shippers to
keep your business fully stocked.

Danine M

June 2007
Jun 2, 2007

1. Identify your audience. A basic precept of any business is just as essential with your blog. It's critical to pinpoint your audience and, in the process, decide what you're going to say that will make them read what you write. "It's really a process of elimination —what's not being covered by someone else?" says Scott Allen, co-author of the upcoming book "The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Using Online Social Networks." "What's your unique spin? If you don't have an original voice, why is anybody going to read it?"

2. Decide where your blog should live. Next up is determining where to locate your blog. There are numerous software packages that let you add a blog section to an existing Web site. A more automated and perhaps easier option is a blog hosting site (with a link from your Web site bringing visitors over). Here, the setup is easy, as the site usually provides preformatted designs and other options from which you can choose. In particular, watch for features that may be helpful in building traffic, such as trackers that identify recent posts and the most popular message threads.

3. Start talking. At this point, bringing your blog live will mean little more than placing your thoughts, observations and insights into the blog for others to read. But to really kick start your blogging traffic, don't just vent marketing-speak about how great your business is, or chatter about news and current events for which you offer no expertise. Instead, aim for a fresh, unique take. Provide a perspective that is heartfelt, compelling, and has the potential to help you market yourself and your business.
One way to get up to speed on what to say is to read other blogs and, in turn, offer your own viewpoint on an industry or business topic for which you know something about. "It's not a matter of competing with other blogs," Allen notes. "But one way to attract other bloggers to your site is to start reading other blogs and commenting on what they're writing about."

4.Get into the practice of "blogrolling." Getting regular visitors to your site isn't just a matter of fresh, insightful commentary. Building traffic between blogs is another central element to luring repeat visitors. Here, "blogrolling" is an effective tool. This, in essence, is a set of links on your blog site that identifies other sites on the Internet --- related to your business, industry or expertise --- which you find valuable. Developed in conjunction with a fresh voice, blogrolling encourages a steady back and forth between various sites, including other blogs. "Write commentary about what other bloggers have written, then link to them," Allen says. "That really gets you into the overall bloggers' pool."

5.Emphasize keywords. Search engine hits are another element of generating traffic. One strategy to attract search engine interest is through careful use of keywords in both your headlines and blog copy. For instance, if your topic focuses on marketing a business overseas, use of the words "marketing" and "overseas" as often as possible and in varied permutations can help push your blog site toward the head of the search engine line. "Stay on one topic, so your content is focused on keywords," advises Sally Falkow, a Pasadena, Calif., brand strategist who uses a blog in her business. "That, and link to other blogs on the subject."

6.Keep it fresh. One cardinal snafu that can bring down even the best intentioned of blogs is stale content. Nothing is more discouraging to prospective readers than returning to a blog site to find old or outdated material. So, be prepared to work at keeping your blog as fresh and current as possible.

That doesn't necessarily mean regular entries as lengthy as a Michener novel — indeed, many engaging blogs are built of short, concise messages. But make a commitment to update your blog on as regular basis as your schedule reasonably permits. “You need to develop what I describe as a ruthless persistence toward posting, particularly if you disseminate the blog's address, and customers or suppliers come to depend on the information," says Rich Hanley, director of graduate programs in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. "People view blogs as daily information vehicles, not once in a while musings on a stray issue. Think of blogs as a conversation, and that will help with the daily focus."

7.Watch your traffic closely. Don't make the mistake of feeling locked into your blog's initial topic. Monitor the amount and quality of the traffic you receive. If things seem slow or stagnant, don't be gun-shy about varying your themes or subjects to boost interest. But don't stray too far from your business or expertise. Also, advises Falkow, "Investigate how effective the [publishing] platform you choose to blog in is. I have tried several that did nothing for my search visibility."

Danine M

May 2007
May 4, 2007

Running my at home-based Gift Basket business, built by EGiftBaskets.com, has become a large part of my identity. Not in a selfish, “See what I can do!” way, but in a positive sense. It has given me the confidence to know that I accomplish things that I never thought possible. Before I was a work-at-home mom, I wanted to be able to be at home with my children, but I also felt that I needed more. I needed something for me alone that would make me feel strong and confident. I also needed the opportunity to keep in touch with others to avoid the isolation that often accompanies stay-at-home moms.

There are three keys areas in my life that I believe my home-based business has helped me develop:

Passion

When I began my gift basket website, made for me by EGiftBaskets.com, it truly was something for ME. I found the perfect opportunity that would allow me to stay at home with my children and have something all my own.

Confidence

In college I was shy and very unsure of myself. I felt like there was not any one thing that I was truly good at. My grades were average, my athletic ability was average, and on and on. Being a successful business owner has opened my eyes to the fact that there are things that I am good at.

Finding EGiftBaskets.com and having them create a business for me has been the best decision for me. Owning a business has taught me to believe in my skills and myself. My fear of success has long since vanished as well; I can now say that I’m proud to own a successful virtual assistant business.”

Courage

Being a business owner has given me courage. Courage to take chances and go beyond my comfort level. Once I have a few successes behind me, I realized that I could do it all. Also, even my failures make me stronger. I found that my business didn’t shut down with each mistake I made and I always found a better way of doing things. Owning my own business has inspired me to do more in all aspects of my life. I love the warmth of success so I try and take the right steps to achieve it. Just as I want the best for my family, I also want the best for my business as well. I’ll often find the courage to go the extra mile and reach far beyond what I think is possible and what I find is that most of the time, I reach those goals.

Having “something all my own” has benefited me in many ways – passion, confidence, courage – and so much more. I’ve been inspired to do things that I never thought possible. If you desire to work from home you’ll find that it’s worth the time and effort that it takes to get started. Take the chance, step out on faith, and work until you succeed. EGiftbaskets.com made it easy for me to succeed. -Joanne Winters, Miami, FL.

April 2007

Danine M.
Apr 3, 2007

There's no need to compromise your goals. There are lots of great, budget-smart tactics that will put your business on the fast track--even if you don't have deep pockets.

Here's a list of eight proven marketing tools and tactics specially created for the budget-conscious entrepreneur.

Opt-in e-mail: E-mail is a low-cost, high-return way to enhance customer relationships and increase sales. E-mail campaigns can be conducted for a fraction of the cost of other tactics and can be executed in weeks, not months.

The key is to e-mail as often as twice monthly, but only to an in-house list of members who have agreed to receive e-mail from you. Keep the content extremely relevant, and you'll see response rates climb.

Local paid search: The vast majority of American shoppers do research online before making a purchase. They already know what they want to buy-they're just looking for the right place to buy it.

www.overture.com among others, offer services for local
advertisers, and www.overture.com Local Sponsored Search program provides a locator page that will drive traffic to your store even if you don't have your own website. Visit www.overture.com and click on "Market Your Business Online" to find out more.

Marriage mail: Trying to reach consumer households in specific market areas? Your own direct-mail campaign could cost a small fortune. Instead, use "marriage mail"--send your ad or coupon in a joint mailing with other advertisers.

A leading provider is Valpak, which designs, prints and mails more than 20 billion ads each year, providing an affordable alternative to stand-alone direct mail. Grass-roots advocacy: Word-of-mouth is often the most desirable form of marketing.

To get people talking, run a contest, stage an event, or assemble a group of "influencers." The creator of a series of books and products for preteen girls, for example, has used its website to enroll several hundred girls to act as advisors on everything from book characters to plots. The members are also the first to receive information on new products. You can bet these influencers share their inside news
with friends.

Marketing partnerships: When money is tight, it often pays to partner with another company that targets the same audience. You can forge marketing partnerships with businesses that offer complementary services and pool your prospect lists or share
advertising costs.

A Restaurant could partner with a gift basket business to market full-service custom gift baskets, for example, or neighboring
companies might jointly promote their region as a gift corridor.

Cinema advertising: Over 27,000 movie screens run advertisements. Screenvision Directworks with local advertisers to produce advertising slides that run during the pre-show entertainment. And with rates as low as $25 per week per screen, you'll pay just $1,000 a month to reach nearly everyone who sees any movie at your neighborhood 10-screen multiplex.

Danine

March 2007
Mar 14, 2007

Indeed, job security is a rare commodity in today's workforce. And maybe that's why
more and more disillusioned corporate refugees are leaving the 401k fold, opting to
put their skills to use by going into business for themselves. The entrepreneurial
spirit is alive and well. But the reality of it is that start-up businesses require
risk. Likely more risk than the average corporate castaway would care to take. And
that's why small businesses have become popular solutions for many job seekers.

Today, entrepreneurs around the world are discovering that running a small business
from your own office can not only be convenient and enjoyable, but also a smart move
financially. In the U.S., over 20 million businesses are run from home-offices. Most
Americans consider this kind of business to be legitimate and often times; we envy
people who own these businesses.

With the help of computers and technology, online gift basket businesses can be
run from your home. There are many reasons why this is the smart choice for
entrepreneurs, people who need supplemental income and for those disillusioned
corporate refugees who want something better.

First, the cost of the online gift basket business is significantly lower because you will not
need signage, interior branding or to buy or lease commercial property.

Second, your overhead will be greatly lowered, putting more cash in your pocket. You
will not have to pay real estate fees, including additional taxes. In fact, you
might be able to enjoy tax deductions because you are operating a business out of
your house.

Third, you'll no longer have to commute to work, lessening wear and mileage on your
vehicle and allowing you to spend that typically lost time focusing on family,
interests, or putting it back into your business.

Whether you're a parent who desires to own a business while raising children or
you're an entrepreneur who's simply conscious of overhead, owning a online gift
business could be a smart decision for you.

So if starting a small business sounds like it could be your best career move, but
you still want more information, then sign up today for your complimentary
consultation with a small business expert at eGiftBaskets.com.

Danine

January 2007
Jan 22, 2007

Here are some proven tips using business cards
to increase your chances of landing a large order or creating a business
opportunity.

1. NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM. Before leaving home, your
checklist should be expanded to include your business cards. Any
'per chance' meeting is an opportunity to give out a business
card. A morning run or a quick trip to the local store could be
an opportunity to network.

2. INSERT A BUSINESS CARD WHEN MAILING BILL PAYMENTS. You may not
think a person in South Dakota who opens your credit card bill
payment can help you. Never underestimate the power of
networking.

3. USE PROPER BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE. Whenever you give a
business card, ask for a business card. When given a business
card, don't just take it and place it in your pocket. Make the
person feel important by looking at their card for a few seconds.
Write comments on the card such as date, location and common
points of interest.

4. BE GENEROUS. Give business cards out to everyone, including
family and friends. Don't let vanity stop you from giving out
your last business card or giving 2 at a time to each person. I
have met many people who have totally missed the purpose of a
business card. I once asked a person for a second business card,
so I could refer his services. His response was "I only have a
few cards left and I need them", as he looked again at his name
on the card. Hoarding your business cards only makes your wallet
feel full, not your bank account.

5. ASK FOR REFERRALS. When giving a business card you should ask,
"I would appreciate a referral, if you know anyone that could use
my services". People naturally like to do favors for people. This
places you in a good position with them and they will feel better
about helping you. Give them 2 cards.

6. MAXIMIZE EVERY "PER CHANCE" MEETING. You never know when you
might meet someone who can help you. Family or friends' social
events could produce unexpected encounters with people. Don't
discount those events.

7. PLACE YOURSELF AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. Consider
volunteering to help out at the job fair or other types of
events. This puts you in a better strategic position for
presenting your resume or business card. Company representatives
might view you differently, if they know you are willing to go
the extra mile in helping them make their presence easier to
manage.

8. USE "IN YOUR FACE" FOLLOW UP. Today's
economic climate dictates you might be competing with 20, 50, 100
or more other people for the same position. So it's up to you to
give a person a reason to call you back. Immediately after a
meeting send a hand written note thanking the person for their
time. Insert your business card. Now you're in the driver's seat
in standing out from other people.

9. USE PROMOTIONS TO PROMOTE YOU, INC. Consider getting some
blank greeting cards. Search the internet to find out the address
of the company's executive offices. Send the blank card with a
hand written note sincerely congratulating a person on their
promotion. Insert your business card. You have just made
someone's day and may create an impression that makes a person
feel compelled to respond back to you.

10. BRAND YOURSELF WITH A SLOGAN. Print a slogan on your business
card that answers the question "Why should I hire you" Or "What
makes you different from everyone else?" A catchy phrase or
slogan makes all the difference between getting hired or not,
because people will remember you long after a meeting.

Carl E. Reid, B2B Consultant & Career Coach

Nov 2006
Nov 7, 2006

They could well be the closest thing to the perfect gift because they can be totally customized to suit the giver, the recipient, the occasion and the desired price. For some people, creating them is the perfect business: an opportunity to be artistic, creative and entrepreneurial.

The product is gift baskets. And as an artistic, creative and entrepreneurial individual, you've decided this is the business for you.

Certainly it's an industry with tremendous "fun" potential. You get to buy lots of cute, clever gift items; you get to pull those items together in an attractive container and create a charming presentation; and you get to provide a product that delivers infinite pleasure to the recipient. Both givers and receivers of gift baskets appreciate the creativity and uniqueness of the concept.

There's also a respectable profit potential. As popular as they are, the market for gift baskets is still wide open and the sales opportunities are virtually limitless. But this isn't a game; it's a serious business. It doesn't require a great deal of startup capital--many successful gift basket businesses were started with just a few hundred dollars. What it does require is thoughtful planning, preparation and commitment fueled by a strong dose of excitement and enthusiasm.

Sign up for egiftbaskets.com FREE ecourse and learn what you need to be sucessful in the gift basket business world today.

entrepreneur.com

Sept 8th 2006
Sep 11, 2006

Here are a few easy ways to spread the news.

ANNOUNCE YOUR ONLINE GIFT BASKETS BUSINESS:

- Send out an email announcement to all your friends, family and professional contacts

DISTRIBUTE YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS:



- Add it to your email signature, business card and stationery

- Record it on your business voicemail

- Update your company with different online directories

Once people have your website address and know they can place orders online
wherever they want, they'll be placing orders with your website in no time - So don't
hide one of your most important contact points - Get your website address out today!

And remember...the more they visit your site, the more orders you will receive

The egiftbaskets Team
Aug 21, 2006

Keyword Research

The first step in SEO is to identify the search terms for which you would like your web site to rank well on search engines. We might believe that we know these terms already, but our intuition is often incorrect about how popular or competitive search keywords actually are in reality. People use all kinds of variations of phrases as they are searching for information on the internet. It's important to identify these terms and use them in your site content exactly as people type them into search engines. To discover what these search terms are, a keyword research tool should be used. There are several free tools available, such as the Keyword Selector provided by Overture, but most of the robust keyword research tools are subscription based.

Web Site Optimization

You now have your well researched keyword list in hand, and are ready to use the keywords in your web site content. How should these search terms be integrated into your web pages? How often should the phrases be used, and in what sections of the pages? Those are excellent questions and the answers are not known exactly because they depend on the algorithms used by search engines. However, it is generally agreed upon that search engines look at several different sections of a page when evaluating its content:

Title tag

Heading tag

Meta Keyword and Meta Description tags

Text within the Body area

Link text and Link URL

ALT attribute for Image tags (the ALT tag may be less significant than other areas of the page)

Search engines look at the various sections of the document for repeating patterns of keywords or phrases. For this reason, it's important to have a keyword density within a specific range. What should that keyword density be? Software tools like Page Critic can help to answer that question. The Page Critic works by looking at the keyword density (and other statistics) of pages that are already ranking well on search engines. Since the search engines keep the details of how their algorithms work a secret, a reasonable strategy is to emulate pages that are well positioned.

HTML Validation
It's important to ensure that the HTML code that makes up a web page is correctly formatted. If there are errors in the code, then search engine spiders may have difficulty indexing the page's content.

Site Map

It's always a good idea to create a site map to make it easy for search engine spiders to index the site's content. Link to every page on the web site that has relevant content, and place a link to the site map on the site's home page. It may also help to sign up for the Google Sitemaps program to help ensure your content is indexed by Google.

Develop a Site Theme

One aspect of web site design that is often overlooked is theme development. If possible, organize your content so that particular themes are reinforced.

Avoid Duplicate Content
It's important to avoid duplicating content on the web site.

Comply with Search Engines' Terms of Service
There are several practices to avoid to stay on good terms with search engines. Techniques like cloaking, hidden text, or spamming, for example, violate search engines' terms of service. If a site is found to be using these types of blackhat techniques, it will typically be removed from the search engine's index.

Build Link Popularity
The Link Popularity of a page is a term that refers to the number of other web sites that link to that page. Search engines typically consider how many other sites link to a page as a factor in determining that page's ranking. The idea behind this is that if others link to a page, then they must consider that page's content to be valuable in some way. However, all links are not weighted equally and it's therefore important to try to encourage high quality web sites within your own theme area to link to your site.

Monitor Performance

Once your optimized web site is online, you'll want to monitor its performance on the search engines. If the site is brand new, it should of course be submitted to the search engines, or perhaps resubmitted if necessary. Monitor the site's positions on search engines for keywords of interest to identify areas where the site is performing well and areas that can be improved.

A web site that is positioned well in search engines should start receiving a significant number of visitors. To monitor traffic and other useful web site statistics, a web analytics solution such as WebTrends is recommended.

Conclusion
The art of SEO is a set of skills that can be learned and implemented by anybody who manages a web site. However, proper optimization and maintenance of the site requires time and effort, and the fundamental elements of SEO discussed above must be put into practice. Those who find they do not have the time or desire to implement their own SEO program, should search on how to best seek out professionals that can help.

By Richard Rowlen

July 12, 2006
Jul 26, 2006

The Process

Developing and refining a PPC advertising management process is essential. It enables a company or individual to train, automate and scale a PPC program, compounding the ROI. There are four key components of a winning PPC advertising program: explore, evaluate, expand and enhance. By following the 4E process, you can virtually guarantee an ROI on your PPC advertising program.

Explore

The exploration phase requires information gathering and assessment, which includes historical PPC account data, internal Web analytics data and peripheral research on customers and competitors. Determining the amount of additional keyword and competitive market research depends on the quality and quantity of information collected in the initial research phase. The desired goal is to formulate a PPC advertising program test campaign that runs anywhere from two to four weeks in duration.

Evaluate

The evaluation phase consists of implementing the PPC program test strategy (keywords, text ads and associated landing pages) and monitoring performance. In this phase, the goal is to determine which keyword phrases, ad copy, landing pages and bid strategies have the greatest potential, and will serve as the foundation for the ongoing PPC advertising program.

Expand

The expansion phase focuses on leveraging insights from the evaluation phase to increase the number of keyword phrases in the overall PPC advertising program to generate the desired quantity of leads or sales without sacrificing conversion performance. For example, a test campaign may incorporate 50 keyword phrases, while the expanded campaign may include 500.

Enhance

The enhancement phase involves constant tuning and tweaking of keyword phrases, text ad copy, landing page elements and bid strategies. Typically, this phase incorporates A/B or multivariate testing to ensure optimal PPC program performance. Developing a highly successful PPC advertising program is an iterative process that is never fully-optimized due to changes in the technology, industry and competitive landscape. As such, it is often necessary to cycle back to the exploration phase and test peripheral keywords, ad copy and landing page creative.

Campaign Elements

Once you’ve mastered the “4E process” concept for PPC advertising, the next step is to apply it to the core PPC advertising campaign elements: keywords, structure, copy, landing page, bid strategies and testing. Each of the following campaign elements are incorporated into each phase of the 4E process.

Keywords

There are an abundance of tools and techniques for identifying possible keyword phrases. While compiling your list of keywords for testing in the evaluation phase, don’t forget to explore “tail” terms, which are typically 4 to 6 keywords in length and are highly focused. Although they generate less traffic, they are often more qualified, less expensive and have a higher conversion rate. Always look at your competitor’s sites and PPC advertising campaigns to enlighten your overall PPC strategy.

Account Structure

One of the most overlooked aspects of a PPC advertising campaign is the PPC account structure. An improperly configured PPC account can nullify brilliant keyword selection, ad copy and landing page creative. Key considerations in PPC account setup include the use of campaigns and ad groups that focus on business or keyword seasonality, geographic targeting, branded terms and the buying cycle.

Ad Copy

When it comes to creating PPC text ad copy that generates clicks and conversions, pay close attention to the following elements: messaging, offer and display URL. Utilizing dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) in Google AdWords can be very powerful, but can backfire if not properly implemented. For example, try a search for “scum” on Google and look at the PPC text ads.

Landing Page

The single most important element of an effective landing page is the “scent.” Does the scent, or theme, of the PPC text ad carry through to the landing page? If not, you can all but guarantee low performance. For example, there are very few good reasons to direct PPC text ads to a home page. Beyond targeting each PPC text ad to a specific landing page, ensure that messaging is consistent across campaigns. Also offer limited options to maximize conversion. If you haven’t implemented conversion tracking by this point, you’ll never be able to truly optimize your PPC advertising campaign.

Bid Strategies

With keywords, text ads and landing pages set up and ready to go; the next step is to determine the overall bid strategy. Are you going to manually manage the PPC advertising program, or utilize automated bid software? There are benefits and drawbacks to both, but our experience is that PPC bid software is overrated, even for larger campaigns. Consider PPC platform capabilities such as geographic targeting and day-parting in your overall PPC strategy. Also consider what time of day, days of week or months of the year you will advertise heaviest.

Testing

Virtually every component of a PPC program can be tested, but that doesn’t mean it should be done all at once. An effective approach to optimizing a PPC advertising program includes a structured and methodical assessment of each component, one at a time. Once you’ve mastered A/B testing of text ad copy and landing page creative over time, move on to simultaneous multivariate testing. This requires additional infrastructure and support, but can boost overall conversion in a time-compressed manner.

Conclusion

Utilizing the 4E process (explore, evaluate, expand and enhance) ensures maximum ROI on your PPC advertising program. This process requires assessing key elements of your PPC advertising campaign: keywords, account structure, ad copy, landing page, bid strategies and testing. In the end, you’ll be pleased with the results.

By Kent Lewis

July 19, 2006

Key Components That Guarantee a Return on Investment for PPC Management
Jul 26, 2006

Below is an example of what you may use:

<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOODP">

If you want to just exclude a specific engine, use:

<META NAME="msnbot" CONTENT="NOODP">

<META NAME="googlebot" CONTENT="NOODP">

Google has responded by adding support for these new Meta elements as well. This is good news for webmasters caught in the dilemma of having poor or outdated descriptions, pulled from the Open Directory listings. These older listings can have a negative effect on your organic traffic because a search engines user's impression of your site's description often determines whether they will select your link or a competitor's. Ultimately these changes will impact the effect that site improvements have on bottom line sales and revenue.

It is important to understand that changes to this information in a search engines database will take time to update. Updating your tags today may take several weeks to have an impact on the engines listings. In one test that we have preformed Google has visited the site numerous times over the past 3 weeks; the cached copy indicated a cache date of July 13th. The updates to the site were made prior to the 13th, and had not yet appeared in the cached portion of the search results. It appears that there may be a delay between the caching of the site, and the publishing in Google's search results.

By Curtis Friedl

July 20, 2006
Jul 26, 2006

The forecast $211.4 billion includes travel, a category valued with revenues of $73.4 billion in 2006. The top non-travel categories include computer hardware and software ($16.8 billion); autos and auto parts ($15.9 billion); and apparel, accessories and footwear ($13.8 billion). Cosmetics and fragrances ($800 million) and pet supplies ($500 million) are expected to experience over 30 percent growth in 2006, more than any other categories. Pet supplies is a new category tracked in this year's report.

Integration between online and offline activity is key for retailers who report 22 percent of offline sales are influenced by the Web. Retail Web sites are also a viable channel to reach new customers; 38 percent of online customers are first-time buyers.

The study finds the Internet can serve as a means of window shopping. Consumers compare prices, find gift ideas and research products. Some of the resulting sales are transacted offline. To integrate the experience online and offline, 79 percent of retailers have instituted consistent pricing across channels, and 46 percent allow for customers to buy and redeem gift cards on the Web site as well as at brick-and-mortar locations. Thirty-three percent of retailers have loyalty programs to retain customers, and 26 percent offer in-store product availability information online.

Payment over a secure channel remains an important task. Sixty-three percent of retailers surveyed require card verification value (CVV) codes at checkout. Private-label cards are accepted by 25 percent of retailers. Twelve percent of online retailers offer third-party e-mail payment options, and nine percent accept eChecks. A further seven percent offer third-party credit accounts.

Data in the report are derived from sales data reported from 174 surveyed retailers and publicly available earnings statements. Forecast figures for 2006 are estimated based on the percentage of individual product categories that will move online and compared against a list of top online retailers by category.

By Enid Burns

July 5, 2006
Jul 20, 2006

You've paid for those clicks; now how do you convert new website visitors into customers? Most marketing experts agree that it takes an average of seven contacts with a prospect before they'll buy. So the way to convert site visitors into prospects and prospects into customers (and first-time customers into repeat customers) is by building relationships over time. E-mail marketing supports pay-per-click advertising efforts by giving businesses a tool to reconnect immediately and directly with new visitors by:

* telling them more about products and services,

* learning more about visitors' specific interests,

* offering value through content prior to purchase, and

* initiating those critical business-to-customer relationships before those leads go cold.

Being found online is a start, but communication is what builds the relationship. Here are three basic steps to unite e-mail marketing with paid search advertising.

1. Collect Visitors' E-Mail Addresses
The first step is getting new site visitors engaged enough to share their e-mail addresses with you. A "Join My Mailing List" box is fine for people already engaged with your business, but for newcomers who don't know you, it's not enough. You need a direct call to action and a reward. Entice them with something valuable that you give them for free in exchange for their e-mail address, such as:

A free white paper that educates them about the problems your business solves.


A free educational seminar or webinar that helps them evaluate what you sell.
* A free consultation or evaluation (which can lead to a proposal for their business).


Or offer your free e-newsletter as an enticement to sign up. (See "Creating Newsletter Content" for ideas.)

Don't feel squeamish about asking for contact information upfront. It's a classic marketers' dilemma--whether to use that first communication to passively educate visitors toward conversion or to directly ask for contact information to learn more about them over time. Given you've paid for that click, it's better to entice them to share their e-mail address immediately than risk their leaving without it. Because when they're gone, they're gone.

2. Send Paid Clicks to a Special Landing Page
You may want to drop pay-per-click visitors onto a specially designed landing page that provides more direct communication and less other distraction than your regular homepage. Landing page content should be geared specifically to the search term the visitor clicked on, while putting your other navigation and content section links lower on the page. A sporting goods store that bought the search term "tennis" may create a special landing page with tennis content and offers, rather than directing paid-click visitors to its general web store, where tennis content might not be so obvious. Make it easy for them to find what they were searching for while engaging them and building confidence in your business. Put your "Join My Mailing List" box and free offer right on that landing page. It's your one chance to grab 'em while they're interested.

3. Think About Ways to Re-Engage New Signups
Now that you have their e-mail address, you can re-engage these potential new customers through a multi-step e-mail marketing campaign combining promotional and informational content. Follow through on their signup with a thank-you note targeting what you know about them based on their encounter with your website. Invite them to sign up for your e-newsletter (if they haven't already), and when they do, track which links they click on and target mailings to their interests and habits. You can even segment people who found you through search engine marketing in a separate mailing list from your general list and think about ways to connect your online and offline customers. (See "5 Key Ways to Build Customer Relationships" for other engaging ideas.)

Paid search advertising combined with e-mail marketing is an opportunity to say something meaningful about your business to potential customers. Picture yourself at a networking event meeting the perfect prospect. You wouldn't shake hands and walk away. You would want to spend some quality time getting to know them and understanding how you might do business together. Think of your pay-per-click prospects that same way. Make sure that first virtual handshake is only the beginning of a long, valuable relationship, and that your website is never just a one-hit wonder.

By Gail F. Goodman

July 2006
Jul 12, 2006

The recent Internet Retailer survey, reported in a lead article by Mark Brohan,
shows that 40% of the retailers taking part in the survey anticipate growth
of 30% over 2005, but 39.5% of chain retailers, catalogers, virtual merchants
and consumer brand manufacturers are ready to reduce expenses, including their
marketing, fulfillment and general overhead, to sustain profitability.

Conducted by WebSurveyor Corp., participating company profiles indicate that:

* 87.5%, are privately held and have been in business for at least two years.


* 79% established their web retailing operations 4 to 9 years ago

* 7% have been in business for a decade or longer and only

* 4.5% are just starting out

The survey also reveals that:

* Among participating companies, 79%, are profitable

* Among all companies, 50.5% of virtual merchants have been profitable for 3
to 6 years

* 44.3% of chain retailers' web operations have been profitable for 3 to 6 years


* 28.1% of catalogers' web operations have been profitable for 3 to 6 years


* 20% of consumer brand manufacturers have been profitable for 3 to 6 years

57.4% of catalog companies have been operating web sites profitably for more
than 6 years, followed by consumer brand manufacturers at 25%, virtual merchants
at 17.9% and chain retailers at 6.7%.

Brohan says, "... web merchants are connecting with customers by employing
the right mix of merchandising, pricing and site experience while keeping their
expenses in check. And... the retailing organizations taking part in Internet
Retailer's latest survey expect to finish the year with solid gains in both
sales and net income. A total of 40% expect annual sales to grow by more than
30% versus 47.5% at between 10% and 30% and just 12.5% that anticipate a yearly
gain of below 10%. Consumer brand manufacturers... are the most bullish, with
45.5% expecting sales to grow in excess of 30% in 2006, followed by web-only
merchants at 42.6%, chain retailers at 40% and catalogers at 17.6%."

With regard to spending on marketing and advertising as a percent of sales,
the survey shows:

* 7.7% spend less than 1%

* 18% spend between 2% and 3%

* 19.9% between 4% and 5%

* 28.1% from 6% to 10%

* 21.9% from 11% to 25%

* 4.1% of all companies earmark more than 25%



* 46% of catalogers allocated 6% to 10% of sales to marketing and advertising,


* 31.8% of manufacturers

* 27.8% of virtual merchants

* 20% of chain retailers

Research Brief for Monday, June 12, 2006:

(c) 2006 MediaPost Communications

“Sole proprietorships are a vital part of our economy,” said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy. “Many are homebased micro businesses; collectively they generate a significant amount of economic activity. For the average sole proprietor, their business provides benefits of entrepreneurship that go beyond just income and revenue.”

The report presents a comparison of homebased and non-homebased sole proprietorships. For example, it finds that the average homebased sole proprietor earned $22,569 in net income while their non-homebased counterparts earned $38,243. Due to lower expenses, particularly in rent and labor costs, the average homebased sole proprietor consistently gained a higher return on gross revenues at 36 percent, versus 21 percent for the non-homebased.

The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues.

John McDowell

June 2006
Jun 1, 2006

First, let's start with the numbers. If you study categories, you will discover a simple but startling reality about market share: Your place in the market tends to be geometric. If the leader has a 40% share, the number two brand usually has half that, or a 20% share. Number three has half again, or a 10% share, while number four has a 5% share. Believe me, over time these numbers are very accurate. This means that number one is wonderful, number two can be terrific, number three is threatened and number four can be fatal.

Jack Welsh of General Electric fame made his reputation on the following principle. He said to his people, "I want to be a number one or number two. If not, I will sell the business." What he recognized was what I call "The Law of Duality." Most markets, over time, become a two-horse race.

The bottom line supports what we have always said, "Better to be first than to be better."

Let's continue to talk about why leadership is a powerful communications message. As I wrote in the New Positioning, my 1996 sequel to Positioning, the human mind tends to be insecure when it comes to purchasing things.

Psychologists have outlined five basic risks that come into play, depending on what you are buying. They are:

-- Monetary Risk: Is it worth the money?

-- Functional Risk: Will it work as promised?

-- Physical Risk: Is it safe to use?

-- Social Risk: How will I look to my friends and neighbors if I buy it?

-- Psychological Risk: How will I feel about myself for buying this product?

In other words, to most people, purchasing things can be a risky business. That's why most people don't know what they want, and most people buy what they think they should buy.

Based on this premise, another psychologist developed a theory that can be described as "following the herd." His point is that "we determine what is correct by finding out what other people think is correct. We view a behavior as correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it."

This is why leadership as a concept is a powerful communications idea. It tells people what others are buying, which makes them comfortable in their purchases. It's also why word-of-mouth is a powerful motivator; you are being told by others why they purchased a product.

An example of the herd effect? Consider the sport utility vehicle craze in recent years. You couldn't watch television without seeing one of these vehicles driving into a jungle, through a desert or up a glacier. But how many of these vehicles actually leave the highway? Less than 10%. Ask a person if they are about to drive their vehicle into the bushes, and they will say, "What? And scratch up my $40,000 car?" When you ask them why they bought it, they will probably answer, "Hey, you never know. I might have to go into the woods some day."

Want the real reason? They bought it because everyone else bought one.

The same could be said for the current MP3 craze. It's hard not to buy an iPod after you've seen 20 or 30 people walk by with those things plugged into their ears. (What are they listening to that I'm missing?)

Finally, leadership can be expressed in many ways, and you don't have to hit people over the head with your No. 1 status.

Many years ago, Cadillac came out with a great way to express their leadership (at the time). Their line: "The leader should do more. It's only right."

Nike could nail down their leadership by simply stating the obvious, "What the world's best athletes wear." (Nike should know this since they bought them all.)

There are also times where your leadership is clearly understood by your customers, so it doesn't have to be mentioned. Quiksilver the dominant and very hip leader in surf and skate clothing, probably should keep their size and dominance under wraps. The founder, when asked why they didn't expand into wider distribution, replied, "Big is the enemy of cool."

So there you go. If you want to use a meaningless slogan instead of declaring your leadership, be my guest. Or if you feel you'll find happiness as an also-ran, all I can say is good luck.

Jack Trout

May 2006
May 23, 2006

At the rate we're going, this could become the unfortunate fate for a frightening number of today's workers. It presents a big problem for the country and for the people that work in its companies. Now is the time to tackle it.
How did we get into this mess? It's simple: Think of retirement funding as a three-legged stool, in which needed savings comes from the workplace, the government and from personal savings.

Traditional pension plans are in jeopardy. Witness the recent decision by IBM to freeze its pension plan or the push by General Motors and Ford to scale back their pension obligations to remain solvent.
They also cannot count on Social Security, which will provide only a small portion of living costs. Add to this a personal savings rate in the United States that stands below zero and, unfortunately,
none of the retirement cylinders look to be firing right now.

While the lion's share of attention is focused on big corporations and their pension problems, America's small-business community cannot "fiddle while Rome burns." There are more than 10 million small businesses in the United States.
Collectively, they employ about a third of our country's workforce. More than 80% of small businesses do not offer 401(k) plans to employees (translation: about 30% of all workers don't have access to a retirement plan).
And for those employees with access to a 401(k), data shows that utilization is far below what it needs to be. This must be addressed.

One could argue that the actions of any single small business may not have a big effect on the country or the economy, but how small-business owners or managers make decisions about employees can and will affect a great many lives.
It's time small businesses step up to the plate. A small business itself, I think we have an obligation to our employees concerning their retirement. Today, we face a myriad of legally prescribed obligations to employees,
such as paying salary, withholding taxes, accommodating the disabled and maintaining a safe work environment.

Other duties fall under what I call our "moral obligation" as employers--treating people fairly, providing reasonable benefits and doing more than the minimum to facilitate retirement planning.

This may sound like an unnecessary burden for small-business owners, but I challenge anyone to find a sector in our economy that is better positioned to help solve a looming financial problem than they.
Getting employees started right financially won't cost business owners much, and it can be simple to implement. It will also pay long-term dividends in the form of better productivity and lower attrition.

If your company doesn't have a 401(k) plan, make 2006 the year you implement one. Get your employees to start saving now.

If you have a 401(k) plan, conduct a critical plan review to determine if it's efficient. Many plans have high sales charges or fund expenses that unfairly burden employees (and you as a participant)
with lower investment returns. Deducting 2% or 3% each year from a lifetime of savings makes a huge difference.

Adopt "best practices" and get employees to use the 401(k) plan to its fullest. Encourage your workers to enroll in the plan and teach them how to use it.

And what are those best practices?We've come up with the following "Retirement Plan Manifesto" for small businesses to adopt for their employees.

Actively talk about your own 401(k) plan. Promote participation and endorse your plan benefits. Make your 401(k) a cornerstone of your annual benefit review.

Build in "auto-enrollment," which automatically puts each employee into the plan. (They can opt out.) Have a goal of higher-than-90% participation, with a default contribution of 3% of gross pay.

Provide a match. If you can afford to match, then do so. Walk the talk with your employees. Consider annual profit-sharing contributions as the alternative.

Select low-cost, diversified investments so employees can maximize their long-term wealth accumulation goals. We provide people the ability to choose exchange-traded funds or low-cost index funds as a core investment.
Keep company stock out of the plan to avoid conflicts of interest.

Simple is good; too many choices will overwhelm employees into a state of paralysis. Limit the number of investment options to 15 or fewer with enough diversification.

Install a program of automatic retirement savings increases such that an employee's deferral automatically increases when there's a salary increase.

Reduce employees' temptation to borrow and spend their retirement savings by restricting 401(k) loans to hardship cases only.

Build in an automatic IRA rollover to ensure that departing employees secure their retirement savings instead of spending the money. Counsel them not to "cash-in" their 401(k) plan when departing.

Why should we, as employers, subscribe to these themes? Because we as business decision-makers can make a difference, and because it's the right thing to do.

With the weakened foundations of Social Security and the decay of the corporate pension plan, we as employers need to step up and promote better investing and retirement planning for our workers.

Taking care of employees, leading by example and demonstrating that you're interested in helping build their security will have a collateral benefit. And that, in turn, will do nothing but increase your own financial security.

Jeff Seely

May 2006
May 11, 2006

Here are seven tips to get your Web log up and blogging.

1.Identify your audience. A basic precept of any business is just as essential with your blog. It's critical to pinpoint your audience and, in the process, decide what you're going to say that will make them read what you write.
"It's really a process of elimination —what's not being covered by someone else?" says Scott Allen, co-author of the upcoming book "The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Using Online Social Networks."
"What's your unique spin? If you don't have an original voice, why is anybody going to read it?"

2.Start talking. At this point, bringing your blog live will mean little more than placing your thoughts, observations and insights into the blog for others to read. But to really kick start your blogging traffic,
don't just vent marketing-speak about how great your business is, or chatter about news and current events for which you offer no expertise. Instead, aim for a fresh, unique take.
Provide a perspective that is heartfelt, compelling, and has the potential to help you market yourself and your business.

3.One way to get up to speed on what to say is to read other blogs and, in turn, offer your own viewpoint on an industry or business topic for which you know something about.
"It's not a matter of competing with other blogs," Allen notes. "But one way to attract other bloggers to your site is to start reading other blogs and commenting on what they're writing about."

4.Get into the practice of "blogrolling." Getting regular visitors to your site isn't just a matter of fresh, insightful commentary. Building traffic between blogs is another central element to luring
repeat visitors. Here, "blogrolling" is an effective tool. This, in essence, is a set of links on your blog site that identifies other sites on the Internet --- related to your gift business,
industry or expertise --- which you find valuable. Developed in conjunction with a fresh voice, blogrolling encourages a steady back and forth between various sites, including other blogs.
"Write commentary about what other bloggers have written, then link to them," Allen says. "That really gets you into the overall bloggers' pool."

5.Emphasize keywords. Search engine hits are another element of generating traffic. One strategy to attract search engine interest is through careful use of keywords in both your headlines and blog copy.
For instance, if your topic focuses on selling baby gift baskets, use of the words "baby gifts" and "baby gift baskets" as often as possible and in varied permutations can help push your blog site toward the
head of the search engine line. "Stay on one topic, so your content is focused on keywords," advises Sally Falkow, a Pasadena, Calif., brand strategist who uses a blog in her business. "That, and link to other
blogs on the subject."

6.Keep it fresh. One cardinal snafu that can bring down even the best intentioned of blogs is stale content. Nothing is more discouraging to prospective readers than returning to a blog site to find old or
outdated material. So, be prepared to work at keeping your blog as fresh and current as possible. That doesn't necessarily mean regular entries as lengthy as a Michener novel — indeed, many engaging blogs are
built of short, concise messages. But make a commitment to update your blog on as regular basis as your schedule reasonably permits. “You need to develop what I describe as a ruthless persistence toward posting,
particularly if you disseminate the blog's address, and customers or suppliers come to depend on the information," says Rich Hanley, director of graduate programs in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac
University in Hamden, Conn. "People view blogs as daily information vehicles, not once in a while musings on a stray issue. Think of blogs as a conversation, and that will help with the daily focus."

7.Watch your traffic closely. Don't make the mistake of feeling locked into your blog's initial topic. Monitor the amount and quality of the traffic you receive. If things seem slow or stagnant, don't be gun-shy
about varying your themes or subjects to boost interest. But don't stray too far from your gift business or expertise.

By Jeff Wuorio

May 2006
May 2, 2006

Knowledge@Wharton: What prompted you to write this book?

Emery: It started with a conversation that Mark and I had with Jerry Porras about whether the ideas in the original Built to Last might apply to individuals. That idea was further fueled in the intervening years between the publication of the hard copy edition and the paperback edition. Jerry and Jim (Collins) received letters from people who had reported successfully using some of the principles of Built to Last in their personal lives. This prompted a whole lot of inquiry which gave birth to Success Built to Last.
T

hompson: The original premise of Built to Last was visionary companies. The idea was that a visionary organization would have more enduring success -- but what about individuals in terms of their work and lives? What about careers built to last? What about a life built to last? What could we learn from people from a wide variety of professions who had had enduring impact in their work for decades? These were not one-hit wonders or superficial successes; these were people who were able to make a contribution and have enduring impact. That is what we wanted the new book to explore.
K

nowledge@Wharton: Is that the main difference between Built to Last and Success Built to Last -- the first book focused on companies while the new one is about individuals? Are there other differences as well?

Thompson: That was the fundamental driving principle that created the project. As Stewart was saying, the fact is that people were reaching out and looking at their careers and their lives to see if they could find a way to use the metaphor and the power of [the book].

Emery: Historically there are a couple of other things that have transpired in the 11 or 12 years between when this book will come out and the original Built to Last hit the bookstores. Life expectancies have gone up, and it turns out that people are likely on average to far outlive the average life of corporations. So how do you create a life built to last, particularly from the point of view of Success Built to Last? And then, if you consider the fact that people might have multiple careers, what are the attributes that are essential to the individual to allow that kind of reinvention? While careers may come and go, the success of the individual is sustained across multiple careers. That became a driving force as we got into our research.

Knowledge@Wharton: You interviewed a number of remarkable people -- or 'builders,' as you call them -- for your book. What were your initial findings and how did these individuals think about success?

Thompson: We found that three fundamental principles drive lasting success; these need to interact with one another and also to be integrated and aligned. We describe them in our first chapter in a diagram with three intersecting circles -- meaning, thought and action -- and the bull's eye is where they all come together. We found that individuals across the spectrum of professions were striving to find something that mattered to them in a very fundamental way. This prompted them to drive their thoughts to frame a way of producing those results -- and then acting on those results.

If you take any one of those principles away -- for example, if you take meaning away from thought and action -- you might be successful in the short term. This is because you have a plan in your head and execute against it. But if your plan is disassociated from meaning, it might not matter. And it wouldn't have the meaning which sustains you through the inevitable challenges and difficulties of trying to create a career. That fundamental step of finding meaning, finding the passion that matters to you and that drives your behavior, is often skipped.

When we interviewed people for our book, we learned that whether you are Jack Welch or the Dalai Lama, it is dangerous not to do what you love. If you don't have a level of passion that drives your thinking about what you're doing day in and day out, there will be others out there who are passionate who will overtake and outrun you. People who care will take the initiative away from those who are half-hearted. So loving what you do is a competitive imperative, not simply a nice thing to have.

Knowledge@Wharton: Loving what you do and being passionate about it is certainly a necessary condition for success. But don't you think that timing and chance also play a part? For example, what about people whose ideas are too far ahead of their times?

Thompson: You earn your luck in those circumstances. In other words, if you are willing to invest in going deep into developing your skill set and knowledge, and you are passionate about what you do, then when circumstances work in your favor or against you, you're better prepared for opportunities that present themselves.

There is one thing that we discovered consistently about people who were enduringly successful. If you ask them about their careers, they will say, "Well, it was a bit of a serendipitous journey. I started out with a focus area that I cared about and became an expert at, and then the opportunities started to present themselves." And yes, many of them stayed with their chosen area when the timing wasn't right and when the circumstances did not work in their favor. If you ask them about it, they will describe the pain that they went through, and how difficult that was, and how they stuck with it and eventually prevailed.

We have a chapter in the book that's called "Wounded Wisdom." It deals with people who found that they were better off taking advantage of a later opportunity than an earlier one. Now, it's hard to say whether they are re-framing that question after the fact in an optimistic fashion. But people describe their journey as one where they had many setbacks and difficulties, but because they had the courage of their convictions, they were able to prevail and have lasting impact.

Emery: The question you asked earlier was about how these people think about success. The answer is that they don't. People don't start out to be successful -- they start out to be very good at what matters to them. And when timing and circumstances come together, then they end up with success.

One of the issues we are very clear about is that success needs to be redefined. This is because if you read the definition of success in the dictionary, it sounds like it was written for sociopaths. If you go to Oxford or Webster -- whether you take a dictionary from either side of the Atlantic -- they define success in the same way, as the accumulation of influence, power, wealth and accolades. We see a lot of people chasing that kind of success. What's remarkable is that a few people whom we talked to have achieved that kind of success, but it was never their goal.

A lot of people are experiencing incredible success. Although they don't think about it per se, they have rich lives and they are having an impact that will probably benefit the world way beyond their lifetime. The traditional definition of success doesn't fit their lives at all. What we have here is an historic opportunity to start a global dialogue about success. That's our intention -- to challenge Webster to alter its dictionary definition. That is why we decided to do a global success survey.

Knowledge@Wharton: Do people think about success in the same way over time or does that definition change? For example, do people think about success in the same way in the beginning of their careers as they do at the end?

Thompson: That's very interesting, because the definition might shift over time. We've spoken to CEOs who, for example, learned from earlier experiences that perhaps they were too focused on getting into the corner office, and they might feel about it differently later in terms of what their priorities should be. But in terms of the overarching focus in their lives, it wasn't the traditional definition of success.

Emery: I'd say what appears to be constant is that the principles don't change over time. What defines these people's lives is their commitment to doing something that is meaningful to them. If they're pursuing a cause of public service, certainly they are living a life of service, but they are also clear that this life serves them. So it's not an either/or situation. They never talk about it as a sacrifice, and so that principle of having an anchor to what is meaningful to them never changes.

And another thing we noticed in our research is that when you talk to these people, after a while you feel something is missing from the conversation. Mark and I have explored this, and we realized that what is missing is that they never blame anybody for their circumstances or their mishaps.

They also never hold themselves to be victims of anything. It was astonishing to be with Senator John McCain in his office in Washington. Regardless of your politics, it's astonishing to listen to a man who is a true hero, who went through extraordinary physical pain and deprivation, and who talks about being grateful for the transformational experience he had in Vietnam.

Knowledge@Wharton: One of the most interesting ideas in your book is that successful people harvest their failures. How do successful people stay successful?

Thompson: The chapter we spoke about earlier focuses on people who take their wounds and turn them into wisdom. For example, Charles Schwab, the founder of the successful investment bank, is a lifelong dyslexic. John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco Systems, and Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin, also had learning disabilities. Even though some of these difficulties were intractable, they chose to see them as an opportunity.

Some people have enormous setbacks in their lives, or they make mistakes, but you have to learn from your mistakes. As Quincy Jones, the musician, asked us, when was the last time you actually did that? When did you take the lessons from a setback and put them to use? These people were very consistent about looking to success and failure as feedback. In other words, it's all input. Sometimes, success can make you sloppy, just as a setback can make you [understand] more clearly what works and what doesn't. They're disciplined about looking at how things had good or bad results and seeing them as opportunities for improvement.

Wharten Business School Interview

Published: April 19, 2006
Apr 20, 2006

For whatever reason, a free shipping offer that saves a customer $6.99 is more appealing to many than a discount that cuts the purchase price by $10, says Wharton marketing professor David Bell. Bell noticed this phenomenon a few years ago while doing research for an online grocery store, and the observation prompted him to look more closely at the ways Internet retailers use shipping charges -- or the lack thereof -- as a promotional tool.

The result is a model that can help managers set shipping fees in ways that both appeal to customers and drive them to buy in quantities that can be efficiently processed. "There is no direct analog to this in the traditional retail world," Bell says. "It seemed to us that firms had not figured out the 'right' shipping policy, so there's a lot of experimentation going on without clear guidelines."

Internet-based shopping is the fastest growing sector of retailing in the U.S., Bell says, with sales exceeding $110 billion during 2004. Approximately 60% of online retailers cite "free shipping with conditions" as their most successful marketing tool.

Consumers like free shipping offers, perhaps because it makes the online retail transaction more comparable with that at the neighborhood store. Whatever the reason, it's clear that consumer behavior changes when shipping fees are imposed. With fees, shoppers will make fewer shopping trips and purchase more goods at a time -- not unlike shoppers who drive great distances to a particular store, Bell says, and decide they had better stock up while they're there. Alternately, fees can prompt consumers to simply walk away. A survey from 2004 found that shipping and handling costs triggered 52% of the abandonment of online shopping carts, Bell says.

While some might argue that shipping fees are merely a substitute for the time and travel costs involved with visiting a bricks-and-mortar retailer, consumers may not buy that argument, Bell notes, adding that the link might not be so clear in the minds of many because travel costs are not collected at the traditional retailer's point of sale.

Some companies have struck a middle ground by waving shipping costs when customers exceed a threshold -- a strategy that can indeed make customers think differently about price, Bell says. Whereas higher prices always are bad for consumers in traditional retailing, customers of online retailers can benefit from higher prices because they push the total closer to the free shipping threshold.

Setting Thresholds -- and Prices

In a recent paper titled, "Free Shipping and Repeat Buying on the Internet: Theory and Evidence," Bell and two colleagues -- Skander Essegaier, a professor at Koc University in Istanbul, and Yinghui Yang, a professor at the University of California at Davis -- developed a model that shows how firms can use this dynamic to their advantage, while not putting customers at a disadvantage.

Bell gives an example of a firm that lowers its free-shipping threshold to induce customers to purchase smaller quantities with greater frequency. If the company's goal is to leave consumers equally well off in terms of their long run costs, should the threshold change be accompanied by price increases or decreases? Bell's model shows that the answer depends on where the firm's prices currently stand.

A firm with already low prices, relative to the model, should drop prices further when lowering the threshold. A failure to do so would give consumers a benefit at the firm's expense, Bell said, because consumers would hit the free shipping threshold more often. Conversely, a firm with high prices should increase them further when lowering the free shipping threshold, since the company is likely to be paying shipping costs more often. "In the latter case, people pay more for the products, but they will more often get free shipping. In the other case, they will pay less for the products, but more for shipping," Bell says. "So, the total cost of products and shipping cost will net out to be the same in both cases. ... Ultimately, the rational consumer is indifferent."

If consumers are indifferent, why should managers care? Because a firm might be able to more efficiently deliver the same quantity of products to a customer in, for example, four purchases over a period of time than the same quantity all at once or in eight smaller purchases.

Bell cites the example of Net Grocer, an online grocery firm that calculates shipping costs based on the size and location of particular orders. The company uses shipping fees to push consumers away from ordering either tiny or massive quantities of goods, both of which can be more costly for the company to fill. Companies that want to fill relatively few orders will raise their free shipping threshold; firms that want customers to visit regularly -- perhaps so they can sell ads on their site -- might prefer low shipping thresholds.

Bell points out that Amazon.com has experimented with free shipping thresholds since 2002. Initially, Amazon offered consumers free shipping if they spent $99, and then lowered the bar twice during 2002 -- first to $49, then to $25. Data from comScore, a firm that tracks Internet browsing and purchasing behavior for academic research, documented the impact of the changes. When a $49 purchase triggered free shipping, the average purchase quantity of products per order was 3.31. When the threshold fell to $25, the average purchase quantity dropped to 2.53. The comScore data included 45 purchasers who bought from Amazon.com when both thresholds were in place. Those consumers spent $17 less per "free-shipping" order under the lower threshold, and purchased 1.82 fewer items.

In addition, the Amazon case shows that lower thresholds for free shipping also lead to greater variation in prices for the same goods. It makes sense, Bell says, because as free shipping thresholds drop, consumers have less reason to make purchasing decisions on price alone. A similar dynamic explains why there is less price dispersion -- a smaller gap between the minimum and maximum price at a specific point in time -- for pharmaceutical products used chronically, rather than episodically. In an extreme world where price information about a particular good can be obtained from many sellers at zero cost, there should be no price dispersion. This is because there is no effort or search cost for consumers that make it possible for different sellers to charge different prices for the same item. In the pharmaceutical example, users should be more willing to shop around for drugs that are used repeatedly for longer periods. "The more incentive there is to search on price, the less dispersion there should be," he says.

As Internet retailing grows, there likely will be more opportunities for research on trends in free shipping. Bell's model, for example, is based on consumption patterns in which the purchaser shops, stores the inventory and then replenishes once the inventory is depleted. So, while the model works for describing how people buy groceries or even books, it's not applicable to durable goods, such as household appliances, automobiles, or other large ticket, infrequently purchased items. Even in the world of non-durable goods, there's room for more research as companies innovate.
Amazon.com, for example, now offers what Bell calls an "all you can eat" express shipping option, called Amazon Prime, for an annual fee of $79. "While we do not consider this variation explicitly, our research is a first attempt at an analytical framework for understanding the effect of such policies," Bell and colleagues write. "Future work might also consider different classes of shipping service defined by delivery speed."

The researchers do note, however, that it is unlikely the "all you can eat" policy will be valued by Amazon users who purchase sufficient volumes of products. These customers can "strategically" time the placement and volume of orders in order to always hit the free-shipping threshold and avoid such fees altogether. From a purely rational perspective, Bell says, these strategic and/or heavy use customers, therefore, have little to gain from paying $79 to avoid shipping fees when they can already avoid them through judicious purchasing strategies. On the other hand, if this kind of annual fee leads consumers to make purchases that are truly incremental, it could be worthwhile.

Wharten Business School

Published: April 19, 2006
Apr 20, 2006

Yet, I still insist that everyone is successful no matter who they are and what they are doing. That is, without question, a fact. The question is not whether or not a person is successful; rather what they are being successful at.

Remove the idea that success means that there is a positive outcome. Think more about success as the ability to follow through with behavior to produce any outcome. A definition of success is “to end up with the intended result.” Nothing is ever achieved, good or bad, without successful behavior.

The results in our lives (be they positive or negative) take time to realize. No one walks into a gym and gets in shape the same day. Getting in shape requires that you develop successful behavior towards the result of being in shape. First, the person makes a choice, either on a conscious or unconscious basis, which internalizes the decision to get in shape. Next, the person follows through with the behavior, works out, and eats correctly so that over time the result of being in shape is realized.

We consider the behavior of getting in shape and producing that result a success. Conversely, the same is true about negative results. It takes successful behavior to produce a negative outcome. Just as getting in shape takes time, an alcoholic does not become addicted the first time he or she has a drink. They internalize a decision either on a conscious or unconscious level and follow through with consistent behavior that successfully results in alcoholism.

Therefore, whether you are making money or not, either is a result of your successful behavior. If you are in shape or overweight, both are successes. Whether you have a good or a bad relationship, a job you like or not, A’s or F’s in school, everything is a result of the choices you are making and each is a success in that regard.

The importance of recognizing both your positive and negative results as successes means that you recognize that you do have the ability and power to produce results through successful behavior. What this also means is that you know how to be successful. The problem is not your inability to be successful, but rather the choices you make in what you decide to be successful towards.

This means that you do not need to learn how to be successful. You need to learn how to make different choices and then follow through with the successful behavior you already know. Interestingly enough this applies equally to negative and positive behavior. The most successful people you can think of in business, entertainment or other, often are not flourishing in other areas of their lives. One can have isolated success yet maintain a very unhappy or dissatisfied life.

I often challenge people to decide to mirror their positive successful behavior in all areas of their lives creating what I call a balanced successful life. You can achieve this through recognizing your successful behavior and working towards positive outcomes and self-development. The guidance of a proper self development program can work as a roadmap to the life you want to create.

I like to over simplify the idea of success and say that if you can put on a pair of shoes, then you are successful. In order to put on a pair of shoes a person has to first make a decision to do so, select the shoes they wish to put on then follow through with the behavior to put on the shoes. Once the shoes are on, that person has produced a success. The question now is what shoes are you successfully deciding to walk through your life in? The truth is you can wear any shoes you choose!

By Devlyn Steele

Life Coach Advice

April 2006
Apr 14, 2006

If at some point you have the thought to change a certain area

of your life, deciding to create change is just the first step

to making a transformation. Falling into the same approach to

change that failed in the past will only lead to the same

result. In order to get new results you have to change your

mental patterns. Learn how to use success thinking and you will

create the life you want.

It is said, "We become what we think." In other words, we are

shaped by our thoughts. When you were born, your brain

contained over 100 billion cells. Imagine that! Granted, these

cells had yet to develop any real circuit connectivity.

Over time, you developed synopses that became the road map to

your thoughts resulting from environmental exposure. Everything

you have seen and experienced has shaped and defined the patterns

of your thoughts. These thoughts drive the engine of your

actions.

Learning takes place in the region of the brain called the

cerebral cortex. When we are actively learning we are

consciously concentrating. Once we have an activity fully

understood, our learning passes from the conscious to the

unconscious. Think back to when you learned to tie your

shoelaces, drive a car, or brush your teeth. These activities

once required a great deal of our focus and concentration yet

now we are able to perform them with very little or often no

thought at all.

Think of all the activities you do without thought. Think about

your breathing, your heart, your arms moving, walking. The

"automatic brain" performs much of what we do.

Your brain develops automatic activity from every single

experience, thought and emotion. The words you speak to

yourself will determine your brain patterns. You need to once

again become conscious and take an active role in your life.

When we fail, we fail largely because of our own self-limiting

thoughts and partly because of our desire to make changes in our

circumstances without changing our thinking. There are no magic

bullets or magic answer that will solve your situations. There

are no magic diets, magic exercise machines or get-rich-quick

programs.

Success requires a shift in thinking. Success is not limited to

a few arbitrary individuals. Success is only limited to those

who learn how to think positively with the genuine belief in

their ability to achieve. This means you have to change the way

you talk to yourself.

Get actively involved in changing how you are thinking. Take a

new mental approach and you will find your life changing as a

result. The way to achieve a change in your thinking patterns

is to use empowering affirmations. The words you speak are the

ideas with which you train yourself and those around you to

accept.

The only limitations on your life are the limitations you place

on your life by how you think. In Tools-To-Life, the approach

to changing your thinking is called "correctional thinking."

This method allows you to substantiate how you should think to

achieve your goals. The result is success thinking that

actualizes your ability to re-create your life and make it what

you want it to be.

-------

By Devlyn Steele

Life Coach Advice

But surprisingly, constant rejection is avoidable. The real problem is that
you may be using and old sales approach that triggers rejection from your prospects.

Here are 3 common cold calling techniques that you should probably avoid:

Mistake #1: Center the conversation around yourself and what you have to offer

In the old approach, you introduce yourself, explain what you do, and suggest
a benefit or feature of your product. And then you close your eyes and pray
that the other person will be interested. Unfortunately, the moment you stop
talking you usually hear, "Sorry, I'm busy," or "Sorry, I'm not
interested."

You see, you've started your cold call by talking about your world and what
you have to offer. But realistically, most people aren't all that interested
in you. When you talk about your company and your product, it's just another
advertisement to them. You haven't engaged them, so they often just "turn
the page."

Prospects are much more interested in themselves and what's important to them.
So if you start the conversation by focusing on their world, they're more likely
to interact with you.

So instead, talk about an issue or problem they may need solving. Focus on
them rather than on what you have to offer. And see where it takes you.

Mistake #2: Be confident they should buy your product or service

In the old cold calling mindset, you're taught to focus on the sale and be
completely confident that what you're offering is something the other person
should buy.

The problem with this approach is that you haven't asked them to determine
this along with you. So think about it—in the old mindset, you're really
deciding for someone else what's good for them. I know this isn't intended,
but that's exactly what comes across to your prospects.

So rather than being full of confidence and enthusiasm, stop for a minute and
think about the other individual. Relax into a real conversation instead of
moving into a persuasive strategy or sales pitch. Put yourself in their shoes
and invite them to explore along with you whether what you have to offer is
a match for them.

Others really can distinguish the difference. You're inviting them to see if
you might be able to help them solve a problem. This makes for a much better
connection right at the beginning, and you'll get that immediate rejection reaction
much less.

Mistake #3: When someone brings up an objection, try to overcome it

You know, one of the reasons cold calling is so difficult is that sometimes
you may not be very familiar with the other person and their business. When
you make that first call, you don't know very much about their issues, problems,
budget, and time constraints. Chances are, not everyone is going to benefit
by your product or service.

So realistically, your company or product isn't going to be a match for everyone.
And yet, when someone brings up an objection ("we don't have the budget
for that," etc.), the old cold calling mindset trains you to "overcome,"
"bypass," or "override."

But when you do that, you put the other person on the defensive. Something
they've said is being dismissed. And here's where rejection can happen very
suddenly.

So it's much better to listen to their concerns and continue to explore whether
what you're offering makes sense for them. There are some wonderful phrases
you can use that validate their viewpoint without closing the conversation.

So now you've discovered the 3 major cold calling mistakes people often make.
See if you can shift away from those old self-sabotaging mindsets. When you
do, you'll notice that people will engage you much more, and the immediate rejection
you've grown so accustomed to will happen much less.

by Ari Galper


Mar 22, 2006

In the competitive search engine arena, the Link Builders always rank higher
in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) for any given keyword or keyword
phrase. Why? Because the top search engines know that "on-the-page"
SEO can never hold any significant value since to searchers because it's way
too easy to manipulate keywords on web pages. Anybody with a computer and Microsoft
FrontPage can "stuff" a web page full of keywords.

This shows you that Relevant Links and PageRank are critical to achieving high
search engine rankings.

For example, do a search at Google for the highly competitive keyword "computers"
and you'll find Apple and Dell rank numbers 1 and 2 in the Search Engine Results
Page (SERP). Now, click through to the Apple and Dell pages and look for the
word "computers" in their web page text. What did you find? Neither
www.apple.com or www.dell.com have the word "computers" in their text!

CONCLUSION:

Relevant Links and PageRank Win!

The sites with the most relevant links and highest Google PageRank win every
time and rank the highest at the top search engines.

Think about it, who doesn't want to improve something

in their life?

Clients come to me everyday and tell me about the changes

they want to achieve in career, relationships, weight,

finances, attitude, addictions and more.

After they get through telling me what they want, I tell them

that they really don't want what they say they do. What

they really want is for a way for them to get what they want

without having to put the effort in. If you really want change

you are willing to do what it takes to get it.

"Determine what you want, then resolve to pay the price to

get it." -Bunker Hill

Avoid the instant gratification junk being sold, it doesn't

work.

If you have been getting these newsletters for a while, you

have seen a consistent theme of pushing you to get motivated

and get into action.

Success is a five-part process:

1. Decide what you really want.

2. Develop a plan

3. Get Motivated

4. Get into action

5. See results

Devlyn Steele

www.LifeCoachAdvice.com
Mar 14, 2006

It's cold and rainy and the parking lot outside the store is packed, except for a spot way out in the corner. The shopper pulls up, only to find a shopping cart blocking the space. Inside, the store is jammed. The digital cameras are hard to find, and it's impossible to know why one costs $150 and another $300. The two models that are on sale are out of stock, and it takes a clerk five minutes to bring another one from the back of the store. At checkout, the line is stalled while those on either side are flowing smoothly. Finally, when the customer reaches the cashier, he is told his $25-off coupon is not valid until the next day.

Wharton marketing professor Stephen J. Hoch, who suffered through this scenario first hand during a recent shopping trip, says customers are bound to talk about these kinds of experiences. And, according to new Wharton research, such word-of-mouth communication should be a big cause of concern to retailers.

Results of The Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study 2006 -- conducted by The Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at Wharton and The Verde Group, a Toronto consulting firm, in the weeks before and after Christmas 2005 -- show that only 6% of shoppers who experienced a problem with a retailer contacted the company, but 31% went on to tell friends, family or colleagues what happened. Of those, 8% told one person, another 8% told two people, but 6% told six or more people. "Even though these shoppers don't share their pain with the store, they do share their pain with other people, apparently quite a few other people," says Hoch.

Overall, if 100 people have a bad experience, a retailer stands to lose between 32 and 36 current or potential customers, according to the study.

The complaints have an even greater impact on shoppers who were not directly involved as the story spreads and is embellished, researchers found. Almost half those surveyed, 48%, reported they have avoided a store in the past because of someone else's negative experience. For those who had encountered a problem themselves, 33% said they would "definitely not" or "probably not" return. "This storytelling has even more impact on the people the story is told to than the people who told the story," says Hoch. The data is based on a survey of 1,186 shoppers.

Those surveyed were asked to discuss their most recent shopping experience. Half said they had at least one problem. On average, survey respondents reported experiencing three problems on the shopping trip, during which they spent an average of $163. The top three categories of merchandise purchased were clothing, 23%; groceries, 16%; and electronics, 12%.

Paula Courtney, president of The Verde Group, says the exponential power of negative word-of-mouth lies in the nature of storytelling. "As people tell the story the negativity is embellished and grows," she says. For example, the first time the story is told, it might be about a customer service representative who was rude. By the time the third or fourth person hears the story, the customer service representative becomes verbally abusive. "To make a story worth telling, there has to be some entertainment value, a shock value," says Courtney. "Storytelling hurts retailers and entertains consumers."

Why don't shoppers confront the retailer directly? "If they were boiling mad, they would complain to the management during the store visit or maybe after, but they don't do that very often," says Hoch. "Some people figure it's going to happen again and they can't do anything about it. They are resigned to it. But the main reason they don't complain is it's too difficult to go out of their way to deal with every service slight."

Indeed, the survey showed that 46% of those who had a problem expect they would definitely or probably experience the same problem in the future.

Jammed Parking Lots, Crammed Merchandise Racks

Parking was a major source of aggravation for shoppers, according to the survey. It topped the list of problems, with 40% of those surveyed reporting dissatisfaction in the parking lot.

According to William Cody, managing director of the Baker Initiative, parking problems set the stage for customers to "arrive angry," which can make them more likely to have a troubled shopping experience. Most retailers, he says, don't consider the parking lot to be part of their operations, but he advises them to take a closer look at their landlord's management of parking problems and try to come up with creative solutions.

He notes that during the Christmas selling season one mall in New Jersey hired people to wave flags -- indicating available parking spots -- at shoppers circling to find space. Even if this doesn't speed up the parking process, Cody says the presence of the flag wavers might provide some psychological comfort to shoppers by signaling the stores were at least attempting to address their concerns.

In addition to parking problems, shoppers surveyed complained that it took a long time for them to be waited on (24%) or to pay (33%). Shoppers who had to wait for service complained about it to 2.1 other people, on average, and those who had to wait a long time to pay told an average of 1.4 people.

Customers' time has become an important part of the retail value equation, along with price, merchandising and other traditional components of the industry, according to Courtney. "Retailers haven't caught up to the phenomenon that consumers have no time. Time is a rare and precious thing." Yet because the Internet allows shoppers to buy around the clock, there is more pressure on retailers to respect their customers' time. "The Internet has erased all the boundaries that existed with shopping in terms of when you can shop."

Courtney told about her own experience buying a briefcase in an airport shop in Philadelphia. She used her mobile phone to call her husband in Toronto and ask him to go online to research the brand. He discovered that the same model, which was on sale for $475 in the airport, was available online for $230. Courtney used the information to negotiate a 50% reduction in price at the airport store. "We are much savvier shoppers," she says. "We have no time and we don't want to overpay -- all the more reason retailers have to worry."

Meanwhile, she adds, retailers continue to focus on merchandise, jamming stores with inventory that overwhelms customers and cuts into the time they have to shop. According to the survey, shoppers are likely to tell 2.5 people, on average, about their inability to find an item because the store was cluttered with merchandise. "Retailers are putting as many jeans and shirts out as they can get on the racks." In the end, she points out, retailers will wind up reducing the price on merchandise to make up for the negative experience, eroding their profit margins.

Gatherers vs. Grazers

According to Hoch, the survey shows some slight differences in attitudes among shoppers who were reporting their experiences at a mass merchant versus a specialty store. "People who are in a specialty store are more in the pleasure-seeking experience, while people going to a mass merchant are on a mission."

He notes the study did not find huge differences in the attitudes of male and female shoppers, although men were more likely to complain. "It's clear that males are hunters and gatherers and females are grazers and gleaners. When the male is frustrated in his attempt to get the task accomplished, he is more likely to be irritated. Females are more interested in the customer service interaction."

Cody says retailers historically have paid a great deal of attention to how to satisfy the customer, but have not been too interested in finding out what makes them dissatisfied. "In retail, it's hard to focus on the dissatisfied because your customers are anonymous, unlike a direct sales or business-to-business model. Wal-Mart has 100 million shoppers a week, so it's hard to do. Historically it has focused more on product and experience as a way to create satisfaction."

And despite the value in learning about consumer gripes, retailers have resisted asking their customers what they do wrong for fear of stirring up negative thoughts, Courtney adds. "They have been reluctant to present consumers with a laundry list of things they may have experienced because it would turn people off."

Retailers, Cody suggests, need to find ways to get customers to share complaints with management, not friends and family. One way is for retailers to ask customers to check a box on their credit card slip indicating they had a problem at the store. Retailers could then attempt to follow up, or give the customer a phone number or web address to make their complaints directly. If nothing else, he says, it would give the customer a chance to blow off steam. That could prevent them from spouting off to others who might then embellish the experience and make matters that much worse for the retailer.

Courtney recommends that retailers pay closer attention to recruitment and hiring of front-line sales people and other workers with direct customer contact. "The least-trained, lowest-paid people are the ones you put in front of your customers, particularly during the Christmas season."

Wharton School of Business

March 2006
Mar 9, 2006

How do undergraduate business students at Wharton depict and describe the essence of leadership? Since 2000, all Wharton freshmen have been required to answer that question through Images of Leadership, a project sponsored by Wharton's undergraduate leadership program, led by director Anne M. Greenhalgh and associate director Christopher I. Maxwell.

From fall 2000 through fall 2003, Greenhalgh and Maxwell asked 1,918 freshmen enrolled in Management 100: Leadership and Communication in Groups to select or design an image that represented leadership, and then write a 100-word essay explaining why they selected that image. Each student's response was posted to a secure website.

In an effort to understand students' perceptions of leadership before they began instruction, the two directors then conducted a detailed, automated search of the information submitted in order to identify the most frequently used images as well as the nouns, adjectives and verbs students chose to portray leaders.

In a recent report called, Images of Leadership: The Story Emerging Leaders Tell, Greenhalgh and Maxwell discuss the students' responses. First, the students selected what Greenhalgh and Maxwell called the "sort of images we might expect" -- namely, images of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Napoleon on horseback, George Washington crossing the Delaware River, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, Confucius, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and New York City firemen after 9/11, and sports figures like Michael Jordan.

Many students, however, also posted unusual and even unique images of leadership. These include trees (leaders are grounded yet visionary); a sieve and funnel (leaders generate or collect ideas and get them into focus); a crew team (pulling together to provide leadership); silly putty (a leader must be flexible); a pillow (accommodating); a steering wheel (a leader provides direction); a chessboard (strategic qualities); and geese flying in formation (suggesting that leaders often work both separately and interdependently). Said Greenhalgh: "Flying geese are very popular images of leadership.... It's representative of the fact that leadership is shared -- one goose steps forward and another steps back."

The next tier of leadership images used by the students, said Greenhalgh, are objects that reflect multiple, interlocking parts. These images illustrate that "we are in this together and we are interdependent," and range from padlocks and clasped hands to charm bracelets and puzzle pieces.

Team Jordan

By analyzing the most frequently used essay words, Greenhalgh and Maxwell discovered that the undergraduate business students describe the "essence of leadership in plural, moral and inspirational language." Translation?

When it comes to "plural" language, Greenhalgh and Maxwell return to the images of charm bracelets, flying geese, crew teams and tall trees. "Plural is easy," said Greenhalgh. "We don't always have a lone figure, a solo person. In the overarching story, the students talk about leadership in plural ways. It's not leadership as the 'lone Marlboro man.' When you point to the most frequently used words, the individual leader is always seen in the context of others, group, people, team. That's what we mean by 'plural.'"

Greenhalgh and Maxwell pointed to the popularity of retired basketball star Michael Jordan as an image of leadership. But leadership essays often have nothing to do with Jordan's individual career statistics, and everything to do with how he elevated the performance of the entire team, another example of how students describe leadership in a "plural" context. "It's not about the leader, but what the leader brings out in other people," said Greenhalgh.

To understand the students' use of "moral" language to describe leadership, the two directors analyzed the most frequently used adjectives. Across the board for both males and females, these include words like good, great, best, able and true. When it comes to "inspirational" language, the students were most comfortable with words that reflect a sense of possibility -- the possibility to become, believe, achieve, create.

One essay, written by a male student, used plural, moral and inspirational language to describe Mother Teresa: "... Being a true leader, Mother Teresa was someone who was not afraid to do the right thing or motivate others to do so.... She went out into the world and dedicated her life to a worthy cause. Not many people would willingly give up the comforts of modern society and undergo a frugal lifestyle in order to help others. Yet this marvelous woman did so and succeeded. Through her actions and dedications, she motivated many people to contribute to helping the poor of the world, when otherwise those same people would never have helped the poor in any way. Thus, Mother Teresa embodies what it means to be a leader. She helped when no one would and in so doing inspired others to do the same thing. Leaders are not made, they are born, and Mother Teresa showed the world that she was definitely one of those rare individuals who can be called a leader."

While the study confirmed that male and female students agree on many word choices, Greenhalgh and Maxwell discovered some subtle, although important, differences between the sexes. Among their key findings:

· Female students show sensitivity to gender when selecting adjectives and nouns. For instance, given the choice between using his or her in essays to refer to leadership, males choose her nearly 12% of the time, while females use her roughly three times more frequently. For males, her ranks 10th in frequency; for females, her ranks 3rd. When it comes to nouns, male students more often choose gender-specific nouns like male while female students choose gender inclusive words like member, which can refer to males and females.

· The verbs used by males and females to talk about leadership action are largely transformational rather than transactional. Transformational verbs such as lead, make, follow, inspire, achieve, believe and become are more prevalent in the students' essays than transactional verbs such as take, order and give.

According to Greenhalgh, transformational leadership reflects "leadership with the capacity to direct others to undertake new tasks, as opposed to transactional leadership, which we tend to associate with top-down hierarchies. Transformational leadership is more of a pull; transactional leadership is more of a push."

To further explain the differences in the two leadership styles, Greenhalgh turned to one of the students' favorite examples -- Braveheart, a 1995 movie starring Mel Gibson as William Wallace, a commoner who unites the 13th century Scots in their battle to overthrow English rule. "He lifts up an entire army of men and inspires them to be willing to sacrifice their lives for freedom. Bringing up others and transforming others to a higher goal ... leaving the world a better place, is at the heart of transformational leadership. This is very different from transactional leadership, which is basically, 'Give me something in exchange.'"

The predominant use of transformational verbs by both male and female students surprised the Wharton directors. Previous research on this topic has clearly been divided into two camps: One suggests that women view leadership in more transformational styles, while men choose more transactional models; the second view suggests that any evidence that men and women engage in different leadership styles is overstated. Based on findings from The Images of Leadership study, Greenhalgh and Maxwell support the theory that men and women do not engage in different leadership styles as much as previously thought. While pointing out that males and females talk about leadership action in slightly different ways, the study confirms that male and female students "do not talk about the leadership action in a way that is gender stereotypic."

Moral Leadership

Of the 1,918 freshmen students who participated in the study from 2000 to 2003, 62.9% were male and 37.1% female; 46% were identified as minority and 16% as international; the average age was 18. The vast majority of the images chosen by students came from the Internet, although a few students elected to generate or draw their own. All students were required to post their images and essays before the first class. Throughout the course, students referred back to the images and were asked to incorporate them into discussions and exercises that explored such questions as: Do leadership traits really matter? Which ones matter most? "The students all agreed that leadership traits do matter," said Greenhalgh. "And from the data that they give us, we know that they are interested in moral leadership that is good, better, ideal."

From the outset, Maxwell said, he and Greenhalgh hoped to achieve several goals through the Images of Leadership project: To gather perceptions of leadership before beginning instruction on leadership; to gather images of leadership as the basis for class discussion and exercises; to examine gender differences by subjects, qualities and actions; and to construct the overarching story "told by students as a whole and also by gender."

Both Greenhalgh and Maxwell are acutely aware that their students' views of leadership may not always mesh with the current realities of the working world.

The most obvious example of this? Citing statistics from 2002 that women accounted for "just 15.7% of top executives" that year, Greenhalgh and Maxwell point out that "we know from our study that emerging female leaders show a somewhat greater willingness to include both men and women as the subject of leadership. If our female students are seeking images of top male and female leaders in nearly equal measure, they will be disappointed....The challenge for the future is how to make both male and female transformational images of leadership a reality as emerging leaders enter the workforce."

The students, Greenhalgh notes, "are all idealistic, without a question. And when we analyze the images and words they choose, I think another question might be, 'Are they looking into the world and into the workplace and finding these images, or are these images that the students themselves aspire to?' We don't know the answer to that. That could be another study."

Wharton School of Business

March 2006
Mar 9, 2006

What is drop shipping?

Drop shipping is when a supplier ships their product directly to your customers.
You do not purchase any merchandise until you have sold the item and received payment from the customer.
You then contact your supplier and place the order and it is shipped directly to your customer.
This allows you to sell a broad range of products with no upfront inventory investment.
The profit potential is enormous. With no expensive inventory or warehouse to maintain you can focus
on building your customer base and marketing your online gift basket business

9 benefits of Drop shipping



1. You can offer a wider array of gift baskets. You can offer flowers, balloons, wines, candies and cookies
along with gift baskets on your gift site.

2. You don't have to worry about old inventory.

3. You can update the images on your gift site quickly to reflect holidays.

4. You serve your clients with minimum effort.

5. You earn money with minimum effort. 45% to 90% profit margin on each product.

6. You get around any state or country laws that may prohibit you from selling foods, alcohol or other products.

7. You still have the option of creating gift baskets yourself and adding it to your gift site from your admin page.

8. Easy online ordering and tracking

9. Affordable membership fees, one sale will cover most monthly membership fees.

We can provide you a list of 500 gift suppliers, 25 gift drop shippers, and 350 gift recipes.
We would love to share that information with you but we keep all suppliers confidential until you purchase a
package from our company. We can provide you images of the drop shippers products and their prices upon request.

Written by Gino Yazdani

February 2006
Feb 27, 2006

Most online retailers generate the bulk of their revenue during the pre-holiday season, so the months of January, February and March can be a little on the slow side by comparison. This doesn't mean your business has to come to a halt, however. Here are a few tips that can help you generate some extra sales during this traditionally slow period.

Clear your inventory with post-holiday specials.
Most retail stores slash prices on December 26 to clear their inventory, and customers flock to the mall to take advantage of this. Consider doing the same thing on your site to clear the leftover items from your supply. Remember, getting something for these items is better than letting them take up space.

Consider selling a gift-of-the-month club item during the early-year holidays.
If you have a scrap booking supply company, for example, you could sell a monthly themed gift pack with card stock scissors and other items according to events in the coming months (Valentine's Day, Mothers Day, Easter, Fourth of July, and so on). The gift giver gets the pleasure of giving a gift that comes once a month, and you get the opportunity to include catalogs, coupons and other promotional materials for the recipient.

Let your customers help market you.
Some of your customers may have bought holiday merchandise from your store as a gift. The gift recipient may not be familiar with you, so include a note introducing your store and offer a coupon for items in your store similar to the items purchased. This is a great way to introduce yourself to new customers and boost your revenue during the off-season.

Take your customer service to the next level.
Though it's crunch time, don't let your service image suffer. If a buyer selects gift wrapping, is shipping to an address other than the billing address, and did not fill in a gift message, take a moment to send an email asking if they would like to include one. You may just turn a one-time buyer into a loyal customer whose lifetime value far exceeds the time it took you to send them an email.

Feb 2006

Yahoo! Small Business newsletter
Feb 1, 2006

Consider how search engines navigate through your site.

Search engines learn about your site/pages from your site when you submit to the engines and from other web pages that link to you. Because other sites can link to any given page on your site, the engines do not have to start indexing your site from your base URL; for example "http://www.site.com". In their scan of a page, they normally find text based links and links embedded in simple graphics.

Search engine robots do not completely understand human language in the way that we do, but do attempt to emulate the way that we learn about language and explore written language. In some ways you might think of them as archeologists with a rosetta stone, attempting to decipher the HTML and words used on your site in order to discover the overall theme(s) in a given page, section of your site, or site overall. Thus, using a keyword in the URL and/or in the link text could certainly help an engine to better understand the focused term/concept/idea.

Engines normally do not 'see' the words in graphics, nor do they fill out web based forms, and they can have a difficult time following links embedded in technologies like flash, DHTML, javascript, and other interesting/interactive technologies. So while you could have a normal graphic with words telling a customer that your product information can be found by clicking the graphic... Why not put that information in text link? You could do this either near the graphic, create a text based link to the product on a side bar somewhere or even create a site map with text based links to your most important pages... like this:

The phrase 'content is king' is very, very true in SEO. Those sites that provide a depth of knowledge on a given topic across many pages are often viewed as more relevant than a site or a section of pages with only a limited number of pages on a subject.

As a best practice we -do not- recommend that you duplicate the same page over and over with only slight tweaks for one engine or another. Some companies take this to an extreme and create many, many duplicated pages that differ only slightly from one another, then attempt to employ techniques to keep each engine from reading content designed for the other. While this technique may have been useful in the far past, the engines are more savvy today and can often catch this type of action, failing that, competitors may catch and report this behavior as well. So your best bet is to create lots of good, content rich, unique pages that work well for site visitors who visit them, as well as search engines.

By implementing text based links that contain your keyword or phrase in the link text or the URL, adding more depth to your site's content, and optimization you can help improve your rankings and become more friendly to your site's visitors.

January, 2006

By Scott Goodyear
Jan 31, 2006

According to the Nielsen Netratings report, the top search engines by share for November, 2005 were:

• Google Search (46.3% of searches)
  
  
• Yahoo! Search (23.5% of searches)
  
  
• MSN Search (11.4% of searches)
  
  
• AOL Search (6.9% of searches)
  
  
• My Way Search (2.5% of searches)
  
  
• Ask Jeeves Search (2.3% of searches)
  
  

A total of 5.1 billion searches were performed in November, 2005. Google, Yahoo!, and MSN remain the top 3 search engines as measured by share, with Google still dominating in this category. The study reports that both the total number of searches conducted and the relative positions of the top 5 search engine leaders have not changed in the last month.

More interesting than the top performing engines by share are the results of the top search terms typed into the engines in the United States. The study shows that most people use search engines to find even well known websites, like ebay.com, google.com, or yahoo.com. Take a look at the top 10 search terms typed into search engines in November, 2005:

ebay, google, yahoo, mapquest, yahoo.com, pogo.com, walmart, ask jeeves, msn, ebay.com

These search terms demonstrate that most internet users prefer to use a search engine rather than simply type common website domains that they already know into a web browser address bar. This behavior might be attributable to simple habit, or it might just be a preferred way to navigate the internet for most users. (Personally, I usually make use of the address bar for domains that I already know). The first search term on the list that is not a common domain is the word "weather", which appears at position 22.

Whatever the reasons may be for using search engines to "find" known domains, this behavior is good news for search engines: it means an increased number of page views and potential advertising revenue. It also indicates that internet users are becoming very accustomed to using search engines, and will very likely continue to use them as their preferred method of internet navigation in the future.

The widespread use of search engines by internet users underscores the importance of maintaining good search engine visibility for your website for search terms of interest to you

All of this information leads us to the question of what exactly are the factors that the algorithm considers relevant? The answer is exactly what any search engine optimization (SEO) professional already knows: relevant content, good web site design, and inbound links. These are the fundamental principles behind SEO that we have been emphasizing here on marketposition.com for years.

Creating relevant, high quality content is critical to the success of your web site. First identify the keywords that are most appicable to the theme of your web site. Next, write compelling copy that makes use of the keyword(s) throughout the page. Keep in mind that it's best to focus on a single keyword or phrase on each page. If you have identified several keywords, then you will need to create several pages to accommodate them. Use a search engine optimization tool like WebPosition's Page Critic to help you optimize each page for the keywords of interest

January , 2006

Richard Drawhorn
Jan 31, 2006

Not getting started is common. Even with all the great enthusiasm and excitement we had about the year, the diversion of the holidays and then just trying to get back into our normal routines didn’t allow us to incorporate our new goals into our old schedules. The goals we initially set now seem too difficult to know where to start. Simply put, we are busy and distracted by the overall tasks of our lives. Don’t worry. There is always “tomorrow” or next year.

The other common element to resolution failure is burn out. It is comically predictable, but have you ever noticed the level of activity the first week of January? Go to any gym and you will see it packed. In fact, January 1st and 2nd are two of the busiest days in gym attendance. Weight loss groups, dating sites, financial planners, career advisors, and support groups all report high activity the first week of January.

Everyone wants to get in shape, lose weight, meet someone, get a better job, save money, quit smoking, quit drinking and more. So we start out the year no holds barred and go for it! Unfortunately the results we want don’t come as fast as our initial enthusiasm and when we don’t see quick changes we lose our motivation. As the weeks go by the crowds disappear and soon everything is back to normal activity levels as we all slip back into our routines. Then we stay there until another failed attempt next January. The result is that 2006 will be yet another year you failed to achieve the changes you wanted.

The New Year motivates us to start, but we need to develop a habit of successful behavior. As Jim Ryan put it, “Motivation is what gets us started. Habit is what keeps us going.”

You can develop success habits and remedy lack of or diminished motivation with a life coach technique called “ABC.”

A = Action. Start taking action today. We don’t achieve change through thinking about it, but by doing something.

B = Bite size. Reduce all your new activities to small daily actions. It truly is amazing how doing something small doesn’t overwhelm us and produces amazing results. When we take on too much we either don’t start or can’t keep it up. Work out 10 minutes a day; send out one resume a day, save a little money every day and the results will materialize over time.

C = Consistency. Through the accumulation of small actions, we get big results. Do your bite size action activities daily!

We all want big changes, but literally think about the change in your pocket. We have all taken our daily change and placed it in a container of some sort. Before long, that pile of nickels and dimes had grown to several dollars. If you want to produce real changes, concentrate on the ABC Success Habits. Get into action today with small bite size activities consistently and before you know it, you’ll be going to the bank at the end of 2006 with a sizable deposit of results.

http://www.lifecoachadvice.com/index.html

Life Coach Advice

http://www.lifecoachadvice.com/index.html

By Devlyn Steele

Jan 2006
Jan 17, 2006

Analytics features an elegant user interface that leverages modern web technologies
like Flash and DHTML. Although it seems a little rough around the edges (the
Flash components don't display correctly in Firefox on my Linux system) the
service is moderately impressive. It can export data in several formats, including
XML and CSV. With Analytics, you can determine where your visitors are coming
from, which links on your site are getting the most hits, how long the visitors
spend on various pages of your site, and more:

Learn how visitors interact with your website and identify the navigational
bottlenecks that keep them from completing your conversion goals. Find out how
profitable your keywords are across search engines and campaigns. Pinpoint where
your best customers come from and which markets are most profitable to you.
Google Analytics gives you this and more through easy-to-understand visually
enhanced reports.

It is still relatively difficult to get a good feel for the usefulness of the
system at this point, but with over 80 pre-built reports, support for interactive
report construction, and tracking for countless attributes, the amount of data
it provides is downright prodigious. In addition to providing critical marketing
data, it also tracks browser features so that web developers can make informed
design decisions. Analytics will tell you the screen resolution and connection
speed of your visitors, as well as whether or not their browsers support Flash
and Java. Flash-rendered graphs are provided with each data collection so that
you can get a quick visual overview.

Although it may not be especially useful compared to some of the critical features,
the geographical map overlay is probably one of the coolest features. Analytics
will generate a Flash-based map of the world that shows you which regions your
traffic comes from. You can click individual regions to get additional statistics,
and you can use Flash's built-in zoom feature to get a closer look at specific
locations.

The site overlay mechanism is one of the other particularly interesting features.
It will superimpose click statistics on top of your actual page so that you
can (hypothetically) see what people are clicking just by browsing your site.
During my experiments with Analytics, I had some trouble getting the site overlay
feature to work correctly. Clicking the individual links in the site overlay
caused the Analytics start page to load in the iframe rather than the actual
content.

To learn more about Google Analytics, go to analytics.google.com

Of the major engines, only Froogle and Shopzilla offer free listings. In addition
to the free listings, though, Froogle — an outgrowth of Google — does
charge merchants to participate in its advertising plan, AdWords, in return
for preferred placement in a column to the right of the nonpaid results. Similarly
Shopzilla provides free product listings, but it also charges merchants to appear
at the top of the search results.

The costs to participate in paid-inclusion comparison sites such as MySimon,
NexTag, PriceGrabber, and Shopping.com vary depending on product category. Most
sites do not charge a set-up or joining fee but instead charge $0.05-$0.10 per
lead (cost-per-click, or CPC) in categories with low-margin products such as
books and toys, and $1.00 or more per lead in high-margin categories like ink
cartridges. Most sites, however, allow merchants to purchase or bid for higher
CPC rates to appear in preferred merchant rankings.

From price to sponsorship, comparison shopping sites use a variety of algorithms
to sort product search results. Most of the major search engines use product
price as a common sorting focus, followed by store rating and reviews, popularity,
relevancy, and placement bids.

All the major shopping engines accept data feeds — files with pricing,
product, shipping, and other details that the merchants supply to search engines
or affiliates. Only some of the engines, however, will crawl your Website —
in other words, coming to you to gather information rather than your pushing
data to them. Among those that crawl are Shopping.com, Froogle, and Shopzilla.

According to Jupiter Research, 8% of online shoppers used comparison shopping
sites during the 2003 holiday season, whereas 64% used general search engines.
But while fewer online shoppers use comparison engines than general-purpose
engines, comparison engine users are overall “more intense” shoppers,
says Jupiter Research retail analyst Patti Freeman Evans.

Indeed, “one thing that's really cool is that the people looking to comparison
shopping sites are looking for exactly what they need,” says Heather Lloyd-Martin,
president/CEO of Bellingham, WA-based agency SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solutions.
Any shoppers who come to your site via a comparison engine are in effect prequalified
and should have higher conversion rates than other visitors.

As a result, says Alan Rimm-Kaufman, founder of Charlottesville, VA-based Rimm-Kaufman
Group, an online marketing consultancy, the cost to acquire customers via comparison
engines can be as little as half the cost of acquiring buyers via traditional
list rentals. And with shopping engines, catalogers can start out with only
a smattering of product listings to see how many new leads they will generate
before investing more money.

According to Sarah Leary, vice president of product at Brisbane, CA-based Shopping.com,
a comparison shopping engine is “an ROI-positive investment the day you
spend [the money], and that is unheard-of marketing. That's what performance
marketing is all about.” Shopping.com charges merchants $0.05-$1.00 per
lead and has a conversion-to-sale rate ranging from 2% to 10%.

Most comparison shopping sites will supply merchants with detailed analysis
on the number of sales leads in a day in various product categories and customer
feedback about how their products are selling. In comparison, Leary says, a
company can spend millions of dollars on advertising campaigns in traditional
formats such as television without any record of how many people actually viewed
the advertisements.



Getting started

One of the beauties of comparison search engines is their testability. Rimm-Kaufman
advises testing the various comparison shopping sites as well as the products
that work best on those sites before making a commitment. Some sites specialize
in particular product categories; what's more, not all the sites attract the
same type of shopper.

“You should be able to dip a toe in the water without long-term onerous
costs or time constraints,” says Rimm-Kaufman, who encourages catalogers
to dig into the reports issued by the comparison sites to see what's really
going on. High-ticket items may not be selling well, for instance, but lower-ticket
items with add-ons and upsells can easily make up for the difference. Rimm-Kaufman's
best advice: Evaluate the data often, and don't be afraid to “slice and
dice” the information to take out underperforming products.

Make a point of visiting the shopping sites yourself, suggests Lloyd-Martin,
paying attention to the categories you click on, and looking at listings in
categories you're interested in entering. From those findings, you'll know what
you need when you're ready to start working with the shopping engine to maximize
the reach of your listings.

Lloyd-Martin also recommends talking with other companies who use comparison
shopping engines to gain a better understanding of how to streamline submitting
data feeds and pictures and how to analyze ROI. “Get a hint of what you're
up against and dealing with,” she says.

As to whether to go with free listings with comparison shopping sites like
Froogle or paid sites like PriceGrabber.com, “everyone digs the free stuff,”
notes Lloyd-Martin. Although free listings may not generate as many purchases
as paid listings, the added revenue is money that cost you virtually nothing
to earn.

Lloyd-Martin doesn't recommend using only free listings, however, because they
may not provide a significant lift in sales. Instead, she advocates supplementing
free listings with paid listings on other sites such as Shopping.com and Yahoo!
Shopping.

And even if you don't offer the lowest price on a comparison engine, most experts
recommend getting in on the game. About 70% of click-throughs on comparison
sites are not on the merchant with the lowest price, says Jupiter's Evans. More
online shoppers are seeking a quality experience. “Yes, people care about
price, but it's not necessarily all about price,” she says. “It's
about the customer getting the best deal and getting the best product at the
right price from the right retailer at the right time.”

And before you take the plunge, be sure that your Website is ready to handle
the increased traffic that will be sent its way, says Rimm-Kaufman. If your
site has a poor transaction mechanism, think carefully before hooking up with
a comparison shopping engine. These customers are ready to buy, so your site
must be ready to handle the transaction quickly.

Making it work

Just because your company is listed on a comparison site doesn't mean shoppers
will click the link to your site. “Realize that on that search results
page you have little opportunity to make an impact,” Lloyd-Martin says.

Which means you need to make the most of what opportunity you have. Most experts
agree that consumer interest increases with each additional bit of information
you can provide them. So to encourage shoppers to click on your link as opposed
to the link above or below yours, try including a logo with your listing and
citing the total costs including shipping and tax; you might also add consumer
reviews.

On your own site, it's crucial to pack each product page with your company's
basic information. Visitors directed to your site from a comparison shopping
engine will be bypassing your home page and parachuting directly onto the product
page.

“Product pages need to be mini home pages,” says Rimm-Kaufman. “You
not only need to make the case of why they should buy a widget, but why they
should buy a widget from you.”

Kent, WA-based outdoor-gear merchant Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) struggles
with how best to greet customers arriving directly on a product page. “That
puts a burden upon us to tell our story on that product page and put our value
proposition on that page,” says REI spokesperson Mike Foley.

To make a strong impression on its product pages, REI includes detailed information
about the product, how to use it, and its benefits. The pages also feature links
to REI's contact and guarantee information and to the FAQs page. While he won't
share details, Foley says that comparison shopping engines have indeed helped
increase sales and traffic to the REI Website.

Once you're up and running on a comparison shopping engine you need to constantly
review the information you're providing the shopping site and the information
it's providing you.

Relegating the data feed for products to your IT department is a “huge
mistake” according to Rimm-Kaufman, because feeds are marketing documents
in that the choice of words, offers, and structures is vital to success.

Retail Brand Alliance, which owns apparel merchants Brooks Brothers and Casual
Corner, has been working with direct response marketing firm SendTec to improve
its data feeds. On Shopping.com recently, for instance, only five Brooks Brothers
listings appeared in the men's clothing category, says Angie McCloskey, vice
president of business development for St. Petersburg, FL-based SendTec. In the
same category, outdoor products marketer Bass Pro Shop had 6,252 products listed.

“What that's telling you is that products are not pulled correctly through
data feeds,” McCloskey says. But by fine-tuning the feeds with better-written
copy and an understanding of how the comparison engine categorizes products,
she adds, you can increase a company's visibility on a comparison site.

For Kristen Pollock, search and affiliate manager for Brooks Brothers and Casual
Corner, improving the brands' visibility on Froogle and Shopping.com is a priority.
“We have extensive product catalogs for Brooks Brothers and Casual Corner,
and obviously these are places we want to be,” she says.

Google recognizes different purposes for search queries and has

redesigned its search engine results page accordingly.

Important Google Links For Your Reference

Gift site owners who follow the guidelines and avoid Google's "Thou shalt

nots" usually have no problem getting listed and showing up under the

search terms they desire.

* Google Today (absolutely the best information you

can read about the "how and why" of Google's results

- http://www.google.com/corporate/today.html

* How Do I Get My Site Listed on Google?

- http://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html

* My Web Pages Are Not Currently Listed (a good 'primer'

on how and why Google works so well)

- http://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html

* PageRank Information (covers both Google's PageRank and

SERPS)

- http://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html

* Webmaster Guidelines (contains both the dos and don'ts)

- http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

* Google Facts & Fiction (can you buy your way to a

high ranking in Google?)

- http://www.google.com/webmasters/facts.html

* Search Engine Optimizers (some good advice on what to look

for if you're going to hire a Search Engine Optimizer)

- http://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html

* Frequently Asked Questions (pretty much what it says, but

definitely worth wading through)

- http://www.google.com/webmasters/faq.html

* Remove Content from Google's Index (just in case you feel

a burning need to start all over again)

- http://www.google.com/remove.html

Other Sources of Information

There is also good information from many of the top search engine

optimization experts, such as

* Detlev Johnson, Search Engine Guide

- http://www.searchengineguide.com/detlev/

* Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Watch

- http://www.searchenginewatch.com/

* Jill Whalen, High Rankings

- http://www.highrankings.com/

* Shari Thurow, Web Pro News (and quoted all over the Internet)

- www.webpronews.com/

who all have columns or newsletters to which you can subscribe and

keep abreast of the best way to use good content for better

positioning in search engine results.

In addition, Webmaster World - http://www.webmasterworld.com/ - has

discussion boards on most of the search engines. While some of the

discussions are anecdotal and/or questions for information, there is

usually enough discussion to keep abreast of what seems to be

happening.

There is an entire section devoted to Google at:

- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/

It never hurts to keep track of the discussions; but remember, trying

to optimize for search engines only is like trying to hit a moving

target. You'll notice among the more experienced contributors to the

discussions - plus the SEO experts listed above - that there really is

no substitute for content,and relevant links.

Search engines are constantly improving their search results and will

continue to do so.

Written by Ben Shavleyan

December 2005
Dec 16, 2005

The key to understanding affiliate marketing is learning the lingo. First, there is a "publisher" (also known as an affiliate), a Web site that promotes the products or services of an "advertiser" (also known as a merchant). The advertiser develops "offers," such the ads, text links, e-mail campaigns and search listings that appear on the affiliate. The advertiser pays the publisher a commission if there is a certain event, such as filling out a form or making a purchase.

The temptation is to focus on major publishers. But this can be a big mistake. "It is not an 80-20 rule," said Delly Tamer, CEO and founder of LetsTalk.com, an online provider of wireless products and services. "Several smaller-volume affiliates are smart, creative and contribute great ideas. We leverage the best ideas into our own marketing mix and let a lot of the more resource-intensive trial and error go on with our affiliates."

An affiliate marketing program involves such tasks as contracting with affiliates, tracking performance, paying commissions and even dealing with online fraud.

"As a small business, you may not have the resources to run a strong campaign that also focuses on good customer service to affiliates," said Danay Escanaverino, marketing manager for Global Resource Systems. "If this is the case, outsourcing your program is always an advisable option."

The largest third-party affiliate network is Commission Junction, which is part of online marketing company ValueClick (nasdaq: VCLK - news - people ). Not only small publishers use third-party affiliate networks. EBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) uses Commission Junction for most of its affiliate marketing programs.

"Don't expect to set up an affiliate program, sit back and rake in the dough," said Miki Dzugan, CEO of online marketing firm Rapport Online. "It takes at least six months of hard work to recruit the affiliate who will effectively sell your product."

After all, you are competing against offers from major companies. Thus, you need to craft a strong commission structure, compelling ad copy and support tools (such as FAQs on the product or service).

Phyllis Brasch Librach, president and founder of SydneysCloset.com, an e-tailer that sells special-occasion dresses to plus-size teens and women, has these suggestions"

--Create custom banners and text links just for the affiliate site.

--Extend special offers to the affiliate's visitors (e.g., free shipping).

--Cultivate one-on-one relationships through personal e-mails and phone calls.

--Reward top performers. (For example, on Valentine's Day, SydneysCloset.com sent its top affiliates baskets of chocolates.)

Another idea comes from Theo Ivanov, marketing director at Aplus.Net, a Web-hosting and information technology firm focused on small businesses. "Companies should use volume incentives," he said. "For example, if a company pays a $30 affiliate fee for every gadget sold, it is a good idea to increase that fee to $35 if a certain volume is met. It is amazing how many companies do not use this simple, yet powerful, incentive."

E-tailer SmartBargains.com also has realized the impact of affiliate marketing. "In affiliate marketing," said Dan Beder, vice president of marketing for SmartBargains.com, "consumers win because they are receiving a great offer from SmartBargains, the affiliate sites win because they are getting commissions from SmartBargains, and SmartBargains wins because we are gaining a new customer."

Forbes Magazine
Nov 9, 2005

An overwhelming 42% of participants, who indicated that they use at least one online tool or service to research products, cited search engines first, well ahead of the 17% who turn to retailer/seller web sites first.

When search engines are the first tool to which people turn to find more information, 54% of respondents use search engines to find a web site from which to buy or 53% search to investigate where to purchase. 43%, indicated they use search engines to find an offline retailer from which to buy.

82% of men ages 18-34 and 80% of men age 55 years and older, of the 74% who use search engines to research products/services look to learn more about their intended products.

60% of adults who use search engines to research products/services before buying online said they click on sponsored links at least sometimes, and 16% indicated they do so always/often. Just 9% indicated they never click on sponsored links when looking for a specific product or service.

Older shoppers are more likely to click on sponsored links


* 48% of adults aged 18-34 click on sponsored links at least sometimes

* 61% among those aged 35-44,

* 64% in the 45-54 age group

* 75% among adults over the age of 55.

Two-thirds of online-shopping adults (66%) indicated they spent up to $500 online in the past year. 40% of men said they spent more than $500 versus just 20% of women. Only 15% of online adults who have done any online shopping have spent more than $1,000 a year. Those that do skew disproportionately younger. Only 11% of 18-34 year olds spent $1,001-$5,000 in the past year, but accounted for 31% of those in this spending bracket.

79% of respondents indicated that they tend to do their online purchasing from home, versus just 8% who online shop at work. 9% said they buy online from home and work with equal frequency.

72% of online adults who identified travel as a product they buy online make travel arrangements online more often than offline. For items that have a greater tactile component, such as clothing, sporting goods, jewelry and groceries, there has been less offline displacement.

The report also noted that, although blogs have had a dramatic effect on arenas such as current events and politics they remain a negligible source of information for adults conducting product research before making a purchase.

(c) 2005 MediaPost Communications, 1140 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Nov 7, 2005

Earning an income from advertising on your website is often proclaimed as The Dream To End
All Dreams where you earn even while you sleep (which is true).

Here are some tips to help you increase your takings from your advertisements.

1. Time

Before you jump out of that window, you have to realize that, like many things, these things
take time. In general, for many webmasters starting out with their first affiliate program,
their first month's income is usually rather pithy. This is normal. The income improves as
you fine-tune your site and the advertisements and banners you use.

2. Targeting Your Advertisements

There's really no short cut to this. Unless you signed up for one of those programs that
will rotate ads on your site automatically, you should try to fit the banners and links you
display on your site to the audience that you expect your site to attract.

For example, if your site is about gift baskets, put up advertisements and banners that would
interest people who come to your site. Think about it - gift sites would interest at
least three types of people: Corporate, doctors and realtors. Choose advertisements
that would interest them. Note that this does not mean that you exclude all other types of
advertisements. Some ads are general enough to appeal to many types of audience.

3. Ads About Free Stuff Do Better

Let's face it. When we go to a physical shop to get something, we expect to pay money for
the goods we obtain. But when we go to a website, we bring with us a different mindset. We
expect information, goods and services free of charge.

Because of this, advertisements about things that your visitors can obtain free will usually
fare better than those about things that they have to pay money for.

If your affiliate program has free stuff on offer, try them out on your site to see how it
performs.

4. Traffic is Everything

No visitors, no money. To have people clicking on your banners and taking up the offers
given there, you need to work on the traffic going through your site. There's no substitute for
this. No amount of fine-tuning of your advertisements is going to help you if you have only a
few visitors going to your site each day.

Remember that not every visitor is going to click on your banner. (When was the last time you
clicked on a banner on another site?) So to earn any income at all, you must generate
enough traffic.

5. Content is King

I have seen many sites whose webmasters obviously decided that they'll make a quick buck by
loading up their site with affiliate program links. Their site contains nothing but
advertising links, along with comments that these are "fantastic offers",
"great offers", "best" and what not.

If your site is like this, you should be aware that aggressive promotion may get you many
visitors, but those visitors are unlikely to bookmark your site and return for more. There
will be some (if not more) that will be so fed up that they won't even look at what you have
to say.

Our suggestion - your website must have genuine content. Unending lists of
advertising links may fool some people, but not for long.

6. Credibility

Some advertisers tell you that you should personally recommend their products,
and if you do so, the advertising link will do much better.
True. But unless you yourself have used their product or service, and also agree that it is what
*you* claim it to be, putting such a link can be counterproductive.
There is a relationship of trust between you and your visitors. People start off
generally believing what you say until you demonstrate that you're just
a salesperson trying to make a quick buck.
My recommendation is that if you don't really know much about a product, or have
not tried it, do not pretend otherwise. Of course if you're using it
yourself and think the world of it, by all means, recommend it.

Basically, just be honest. Believe it or not, honesty is the best business policy.

7. Text Links Vs Banners

You'll read on some sites that nowadays, text links fare better than banner links. Other sites
claim that banners are coming into vogue again. I think that such blanket claims
have to be qualified somewhat.

Our experience is that text links that are part of the content of your site will generally do
better than banners or other text links.

We used to think that text links that are not part of your site content need to be short and
sharp in order to do well. However, we have seen some sites that have an elaborate long
advertising copy for its link. The webmasters of such sites have apparently found that long
stories like these work well for their type of audience. You may wish to do some testing
on your own gift site to see which type of text advertising work for your audience.

As for banners, they seem to work fine. The ones on the main pages tend to fare
better since more people visit those than the sub-pages. As with all ads, the better targeted
ones do best.

8. Rotation and Weeding

Always monitor your advertising statistics. If an advertisement does well initially, and its
performance slowly drops over time, it is probably time to rotate that banner or button. If it
remains too long on the page, people tend to stop seeing it. Sometimes you can prolong the life
of the advertisement by simply using a different banner from the same advertiser (assuming they
provide more than one banner).

Likewise, if an advertisement seldom has any takers, remove it. There are at least a couple of
common reasons for this: the picture doesn't attract anyone to click on it (banners that are too
wordy often have this deterrent effect); or your site's target audience is not interested in
this type of service or product. Don't keep it around just because it has a high payout rate -
what's the point of a high payout rate if no one ever takes it?

Above all, be patient. Keep working on improving your traffic and fine-tuning the ads that
appear on your pages. After all, Rome was not built in a day.

List of Affiliate companies


www.affiliateguide.com

www.affiliateprograms.com

www.Linkshare.com

www.CJ.com
Nov 4, 2005

Worldwide, online buyers spent $354 billion in 2004 and are predicted
to spend $5 trillion by 2005. (Source: Internet Shopping Heading for
Trillions.Rick Perera. IDG News Service.)

Ecommerce revenues in the Asia-Pacific region were $76.8 billion in
2004 and are anticipated to rise to $338.5 billion by 2004. (Source:
Market Research.com.)

In the Asia-Pacific region business to consumer sales were $8.2
billion in 2001 and predicted to rise to $38 billion in 2004. (Source:
emarketer.)

In Brazil, business to consumer ecommerce revenues reached $16 billion
in 2003. (Source: Top US Export Prospects.)

According to Hitwise, the market share of visits to the top comparison
shopping sites increased by 22% this year.

The top US leaders are:

Bizrate

Shopping.com

NexTag

PriceGrabber

MSN eshop

Calibex (owned by NexTag)

Froogle

Dealtime (owned by shopping.com)

Price Watch

Shopzilla (Bizrate’s new name/service)

(Source: Hitwise.)

Comparison shopping search sites around the world. The
ranking are from Hitwise.

UK market leaders.

Kelkoo

Dealtime UK

MSN eShop

Pricerunner

Ciao

Nex Tag

NexTagUK

Compare Store Prices

1Shop Genie

Australia

MSN eShop

Bizrate

Price Grabber

Epinions

NexTag

Kelkoo

Shopping.com

Dealtime

Ciao.co.uk

Froogle

Hong Kong

MSN eShop

NexTag

PriceGrabber

Kelkoo

Shopping.com

Bizrate

Dealtime

epinions.com

Ciao.co.uk
Nov 4, 2005

Steve Spiwak, an economist with Retail Forward, says "Higher energy costs are the main culprit for the falloff in spending intentions for October."

Two thirds of consumers reported that they are reducing spending in other areas to pay for more expensive gasoline. 31% said they are spending much less and 36% said somewhat less. Throughout all income categories, the report finds, more than half of consumers said they are spending less in other areas as a result of higher gasoline prices.

In addition, Americans' charitable contributions to hurricane relief are dampening their consumer spending.


* 53% of consumers have made a monetary contribution to hurricane relief

* 46% of consumers said they have cut back spending elsewhere as a result

* 42% of consumers said the effect of the hurricanes will reduce their holiday shopping

The biggest losers in spending will be travel and entertainment, says the report. Areas where consumers will reduce their spending, and the percent who cited each one, are:


* Vacations/travel, 45%

* Dining out, 37%

* Entertainment outside the home, 32%

* Consumer electronics, 23%

* Clothing, shoes and accessories, 23%

* Home decorating, 22%

* Appliances, 18%

* Other, 4%

MediaPost Communications, 1140 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Oct 26, 2005

8950 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 126, Beverly Hills, CA 90211

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