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The Secrets of Writing a Good Press Release
Does the thought of trying to get publicity for your business seem like something that you can't do yourself, and would have to hire a professional for? Do you think that writing a press release is totally outside your ability to do? Does the thought of talking to the media about your business make your mouth go dry and your stomach clench? If so, take heart, because you're about to learn how you can take care of your own publicity, simply and easily.Getting publicity for your business can seem like an impossible task -- something that only happens for "big" companies that can afford to hire publicists.The reality is, getting free publicity for your business isn't that difficult. Welcome to "Media Training 101 -- The Secrets of Writing a Good Press Release". By the time you finish reading this article, you'll not only understand the basics, you'll know what goes into the process, and what you have to do to get started writing your own press release.First of all, let's go over some basic terminology you need to be familiar with.Press Release: A statement with useful and relevant information that is written for distribution to the media.Hook: The information or larger story that you can use to attach your press release to. Using the right "hook" in the right way can help you to get more publicity for your business.Spin: Telling your story your way.The good news about learning to write a Press

ain points.

(a) the first thing Google instructs its raters to do is read and learn the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

You can read the full guidelines here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Let's have a quick look and see what Google have to say about what makes a site good.

Summary of Google's Webmaster Guidelines:

Under the section Design and Content Guidelines, there are some useful tips on how you link the pages of your site together.

GOOGLE: "Make a site with a clear h

Why Hire a Professional Transcriptionist to Convert Your Dictation or Audios to Typed Text?
In a discussion forum for non-fiction writers (where I had posted my introduction of myself and my professional transcription business), another member replied and mentioned that for simple dictation, she uses a voice recognition software program.When what she had said really sank in, I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach!Then my reaction was huge dismay and questioning, "Why should I even stay in business?" This came JUST after spending almost two months getting clear on why my transcription business feels exciting to me and realizing that I want to assist and support creative, positive, motivated people to succeed in ways they have not been able to before, working on interesting projects!I imagined emptying my transcription business website of all information -- just leaving a notice (as a ‘public service’) pointing out to the people who THINK they need me to transcribe their audios that they should go and buy that software instead!Yikes! Drastic thoughts!But seriously, then I started thinking some more...I mean, it's a legitimate question! Why SHOULD someone hire me if they can buy software for dictation?In what situations would dictation software be inferior than having a live, intelligent human being (who is passionate about helping her clients succeed) listening and transcribing their audio material instead?Knowing such software exists, ANYONE might appropriately ask

What's all this about thin affiliates?

In a "leaked" document reportedly coming from Google, the big G gave guidelines to human spam-busters on how to classify affiliate sites as thin or not.

A "thin affiliate" is basically one that creates pages with the sole intention of ranking well and directing traffic to an affiliated merchant site, without adding anything unique to the World Wide Web.

It seems that the algorithms at Google HQ are no longer the only ranking factors involved in where your pages end up in the search results. Now, human beings are scouring the Internet looking for sites to penalise.

Some have called it a hoax, others have seen it as the end of affiliate marketing, but if you actually read this report, you will hopefully see what I see:

(a) Affiliate sites are here to stay

(b) If you do things right, you will end up with less competition from other affiliate marketers (since so many will ignore this report and continue to churn out thin sites created with little or no focus on the visitor).

This report was apparently given out to people chosen to work for "Google's spam department" as "Raters" - maybe they should be called ratters ;o).

That's right, Google apparently has hired people around the world to do web searches, look at the results in Google, and identify those sites that Google should penalize for Spam.

With Google doing such weird stuff lately, and some affiliate sites disappearing without trace, things are starting to make sense.

This "leaked" report details what the raters should look out for, what to label as spam, and what not to label as spam. I am sure that you agree, whether this document is real or not, it is certainly something we should all look at carefully.

Below, I have highlighted the main points of the report. I hope to show you exactly what you need to do to stay on the right side of these "Raters" and of course Google itself.

Before we begin, I just want to say that I don't think any of this is new. I think that what Google is trying to achieve here is what they have always tried to achieve - relevant quality results without spam. I think that Google's filters only go so far, and Google realise this. There is nothing as reliable as a human for determining quality, so hiring people to search out spam was the next logical step forward.

OK, let's look the main points.

(a) the first thing Google instructs its raters to do is read and learn the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

You can read the full guidelines here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Let's have a quick look and see what Google have to say about what makes a site good.

Summary of Google's Webmaster Guidelines:

Under the section Design and Content Guidelines, there are some useful tips on how you link the pages of your site together.

GOOGLE: "Make a site with a clear hi

Affiliate Marketing: Keep your Visitors with you Forever
Affiliate marketing goal is to make money. You need not design a flamboyant website to capture visitors. Remember, ultimately you are going to send them away to someone else’s website. What you need in the first place for a good affiliate marketing campaign is a good lead capture page.Do you know what your visitors are interested in? If they are interested in how to make money by selling on eBay, you can create a page containing links to useful programs and articles based on “How to be a successful seller on eBay”? But before you create the affiliate marketing links on the page, stop for a moment and think about some important questions:·How would you get your visitor back on your page? ·How would you know who has visited your page? ·If you are a seller in eBay, how would you contact those potential clients as wellThe key answer is to capture their emails before sending them off to someone else’s website. Good affiliate marketing and a good affiliate program should be like a symbiotic relationship and not parasite. Other websites flourish at the cost of yours is not what can be categorized as a good affiliate marketing program.One of the easiest ways to capture an email address is to offer something for free that interests your customers or visitors. You can start with offering a free newsletter or a free e-book. This way you can contact your visitors again and again.Another good idea to capture emails

for sites to penalise.

Some have called it a hoax, others have seen it as the end of affiliate marketing, but if you actually read this report, you will hopefully see what I see:

(a) Affiliate sites are here to stay

This report was apparently given out to people chosen to work for "Google's spam department" as "Raters" - maybe they should be called ratters ;o).

That's right, Google apparently has hired people around the world to do web searches, look at the results in Google, and identify those sites that Google should penalize for Spam.

With Google doing such weird stuff lately, and some affiliate sites disappearing without trace, things are starting to make sense.

Below, I have highlighted the main points of the report. I hope to show you exactly what you need to do to stay on the right side of these "Raters" and of course Google itself.

OK, let's look the main points.

(a) the first thing Google instructs its raters to do is read and learn the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

You can read the full guidelines here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Let's have a quick look and see what Google have to say about what makes a site good.

Summary of Google's Webmaster Guidelines:

Under the section Design and Content Guidelines, there are some useful tips on how you link the pages of your site together.

GOOGLE: "Make a site with a clear h

Four Trends That Can Make You Wealthy
The wealthiest people in the world acquired their wealth through a careful recognition and exploitation of a major trend. For example, Bill Gates took advantage of the birth of personal computers and made billions by marketing software that enabled people to use their computer. Sam Walton took advantage of a trend in retail sales and developed a self-service, discount department store concept that became Wal-Mart.We are at the brink of four major trends. These trends are the Internet, the aging of the world’s population, the exploding home-based business market, and the growth of the wellness industry.First, the Internet is an exciting marketplace, made up of nearly 1 billion global users. People have become accustomed to using the Internet to purchase products, and have gained confidence in its security and ease of use.Second, the world’s population is aging. One-third of the population was born between 1946 and 1962, and over 18,000 people turn 50 years old everyday. This offers a huge market potential for people who can address the needs of older adults.Third, the home-based business craze is sweeping the world to the tune of over 14,000 new home-based businesses starting each day. People are coming to terms with the fact that Social Security and pension funds will not allow them to enjoy a standard of living that meets their expectations. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates most people in America will

o).

That's right, Google apparently has hired people around the world to do web searches, look at the results in Google, and identify those sites that Google should penalize for Spam.

With Google doing such weird stuff lately, and some affiliate sites disappearing without trace, things are starting to make sense.

Below, I have highlighted the main points of the report. I hope to show you exactly what you need to do to stay on the right side of these "Raters" and of course Google itself.

OK, let's look the main points.

(a) the first thing Google instructs its raters to do is read and learn the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

You can read the full guidelines here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Let's have a quick look and see what Google have to say about what makes a site good.

Summary of Google's Webmaster Guidelines:

Under the section Design and Content Guidelines, there are some useful tips on how you link the pages of your site together.

GOOGLE: "Make a site with a clear h

Do Your Store Displays Sell?
Your store displays are key to attracting customers and selling your products. When you are creating displays, you should have a clear plan and purpose for each display.Effective retail displays should:* communicate a wide variety of information to consumers* play an integral part of a coordinated sales strategy* tell a visual story* speak for you even when you are busy with other customersDisplays are an invitation to a customer to look a little closer at what you have to offer. It is a non-threatening way of enticing your customer to explore your product. With current technology, displays can be very powerful multimedia experiences, or with a little thought and design, simple, inexpensive presentations of merchandise can be dramatic statements.By putting more thought and planning into your merchandising and display, you can have an impact on your bottom line. It might be a difference of one sale each day. Even if that sale is only $5.00, you have increased your monthly sales by $150.00. Imagine if each of your store displays could do that!Consider all the potential display areas in your store. Take into account the store windows, the ends of aisles, the back wall, columns or pillars, point-of-sale displays, front tables, etc. These are all opportunities that can be maximized to become effective sales areas.To present your merchandise in the most ef

ed the main points of the report. I hope to show you exactly what you need to do to stay on the right side of these "Raters" and of course Google itself.

OK, let's look the main points.

(a) the first thing Google instructs its raters to do is read and learn the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

You can read the full guidelines here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Let's have a quick look and see what Google have to say about what makes a site good.

Summary of Google's Webmaster Guidelines:

Under the section Design and Content Guidelines, there are some useful tips on how you link the pages of your site together.

GOOGLE: "Make a site with a clear h

Good Business Strategies - The Key to Success
In order for any business to be successful today, it needs to have a good set of business strategies in place which have been developed and executed in the proper manner. In this article we will look at various ways of helping you to develop your own business strategies, as well as how to execute them in a well ordered, consistent manner. If you are like many other people today who are either thinking of setting up a new business, or are looking to expand the business they already have, then you need to have a good strategy in place to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible - right from the start.There are things that you will need to do in order to evaluate those situations which are extremely critical if you wish to succeed in any business venture you have. Although you may find that there is sufficient space in the market for what you are offering, you will still need to look at other factors to ensure that you can achieve your goals and that your business will thrive. You will need to spend time looking not at just what your target audience wants and needs are, but also at those companies who you will be competing against... in order to grab your share of the market.All this information you collect will help provide you with accurate knowledge of what the customer needs, rather than what you think they want. Below, we take a look at some of the things that should be included within your company's busines

ain points.

(a) the first thing Google instructs its raters to do is read and learn the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

You can read the full guidelines here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Let's have a quick look and see what Google have to say about what makes a site good.

Summary of Google's Webmaster Guidelines:

Under the section Design and Content Guidelines, there are some useful tips on how you link the pages of your site together.

GOOGLE: "Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link."

This should make sense. If a page has no links to it, the search engines cannot find it. In addition, links pointing to pages help that page rank well (because of the influence of link text).

GOOGLE: "Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages."

A sitemap is there to help users, but the search engines use them to find new pages. When you add a new page to your site, add a link on the sitemap, and the search engines will find it. If you want the spiders coming back to your sitemap frequently, consider adding an RSS feed to your sitemap. Last week I mentioned some software that makes adding a feed to your site very simple, so there is no excuse for not using the technology available to you.

GOOGLE: "Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content."

Here we have a reference to content. Quality content is the way forward. Page generators that create 1000s of pages with no unique content are struggling to survive.

GOOGLE: "Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it."

An invitation to use primary and secondary keywords.

GOOGLE: "Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images."

An indication here how highly Google ranks keywords, especially in text links. For a well-optimized site, I do not recommend using fancy image navigation buttons built with JavaScript. Good old-fashioned text links will help your site get indexed better, and rank higher.

GOOGLE: "Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and accurate. "

Reading between the lines - don't stuff keywords. Write these tags naturally and with ALT tags, make sure they reflect the image (since these tags are used by blind visitors). The title tag is very important, so do use your primary keyword in the title. However, be careful with ALT tags. Keyword stuffing is likely to result in a penalty.

GOOGLE: "Check for broken links and correct HTML."

Do you have any broke

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.memberyou.net/article/53890/memberyou-How-to-Avoid-Being-a-Thin-Affiliate.html">How to Avoid Being a Thin Affiliate</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.memberyou.net/article/53890/memberyou-How-to-Avoid-Being-a-Thin-Affiliate.html]How to Avoid Being a Thin Affiliate[/url]

What is stopping you from really getting what you want from your business? This is a question I ask small business computer consulting company owners on a regular basis. Many times business owners are like waves crashing onto a beach. They approach a project much like a wave does, starting out many miles away from the coast or, in this case, project or idea.

Grant “writing” is really a misnomer, because so much of getting a grant has nothing to do with writing, but with relationship building. Some foundations support your organization year after year, and yet have never actually met you! Why not take the first step in relationship building and invite them to come visit? In my first full-time grant writing job, I learned just how valuable this small step could be: to the tune of $60,000 of unexpected funding!

Dentists start their practice for one of three reasons: to improve their quality of life, for freedom and independence, or to gain control over their personal and financial destiny. Guess the first three things you give up when you start your own business? Learn how to turn it around with these tips.

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