Guest Article: Online Predictions For 2007
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It’s coming up to the end of 2006 and it’s supposedly the most wonderful time of the year!
You’ve probably been looking back on 2006 and checking your initial goals and aspirations.
Can you honestly say that you have achieved your goals or maybe far surpassed what your aspirations?
Personally I have found that the majority of my goals have been achieved in respect to personal life and establishing a realistic timetable to get those necessary tasks done. Without putting too much emphasis on getting them done by a workable deadline.
Most importantly of all to keep a healthy attitude to work, life and making new lifelong online partnerships with likeminded individuals.
Today I would like to share Jim Edwards’s article on his predictions for the coming year of 2007.
I’ve definitely more positive about using multimedia on my web sites and on landing pages.
There really is no excuse not to use them.
There is a wealth of low cost and free multimedia resources that you would be plain lazy not to be using audio and video to enhance your site.
Besides if you’re shy like me you don’t necessarily have to plaster your photo or scare your visitors away with your photo or video starring yours truly.
You can use audio for web site introductions, recorded interviews. Or use video to produce step-by-step tutorials, MS PowerPoint style presentations and so forth.
Just use your imagination or head on down to some of the free video sharing sites for an abundance of ideas.
Anyway on to todays article which I hope will inspire you to think ahead and take action to get essential tasks and plans into gear.
Online Predictions For 2007
by Jim Edwards
© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
Around this time of year I always like to make a few
predictions about what the upcoming year holds in store for
those of us who use the Internet with any regularity.
By the way, I’d like to point out that I was screaming from
the rooftops about online video 3 years ago and look where
we are now!
So, let’s peer into my crystal ball, delve into the future,
and take heed of the following signs of things to come.
* Isolation and Info-Overload *
Anyone who does business online, either full or part time,
knows the avalanche of information has not abated.
If anything, the "info-overload" syndrome worsened in 2006
as we were pelted with new offers, new opportunities, and
new things to do online.
Though this trend will only increase in 2007, all is not
lost.
Because of these feelings of isolation and overload, new
opportunities will arise to lessen, eliminate and, in some
cases, even fix these problems.
These solutions will manifest themselves in many ways
online.
* "Mash-Ups" and "Widgets" Will Rule *
"Mash-Ups" are sites that combine data from multiple sites
or databases to give the user the benefit of a unique
perspective not available on any one individual site.
For example, Maps.Google.com not only enables you to plot
destinations, but find specific locations, stores and points
of interest.
Search "hardware store Williamsburg VA" and Google returns a
list of local hardware stores and plots them for you on the
map.
"Widgets" take an opposite approach.
Widgets are small software applications that use only a part
of the massive amounts of data available from a specific
site or sites.
An example is the little weather widgets available from many
TV stations or even Weather.com that keep you updated.
Instead of logging on to a website to wade through all the
ads and extraneous information you don’t want, a widget
automatically delivers exactly what you need.
Both mash-ups and widgets save incredible amounts of time
and help to greatly reduce info-overload.
* Social Networking Sites *
Feelings of isolation create the need for social networking
sites.
Don’t believe me?
Look at the explosive growth of MySpace.com, eHarmony.com,
Match.com and other sites where people go to meet, greet,
and get a sense of community and belonging.
As the software and server power to create these sites gets
cheaper and more powerful, expect to see social networking
sites with very specialized "niche" audiences to appear and
thrive.
* Video, Video, Video *
It’s hot right now and will only get hotter in 2007.
With Google forking out over a billion dollars for
YouTube.com, the video train has left the station.
However, one trend to watch for is anything that will bridge
the gap between online video and people’s TV sets.
Despite the popularity of online video, people still enjoy
sitting in the Lazy-Boy with a cold one flipping channels.
I predict TiVo will come out of the gate with an easy way
for online video content providers to broadcast to a more
traditional audience.
They operate the equipment, have the audience, and it just
makes sense that TiVo will take the distribution of online
videos to the next level.
—-
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-
author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to
work less, get paid more… and have tons more fun!
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Boost Your Conversion Rates With Crazy Egg
How would you like to find out what people are looking at on EACH web page at your site without using intrusive spyware or compromising the privacy of your visitors in any way?
Well you can with CrazyEgg’s innovative tracking service.
CrazyEgg offers various levels of free and paid click tracking tools for monitoring the mouse activity of your visitors on you web pages. CrazyEgg tracks and monitors the click through activity on your web pages to reveal the most frequented hyperlinks. It doesn’t end there because you also get data on non-hyperlink area. Using intelligent ‘heat maps’ to display the most frequently click through areas and where your visitors are looking. Going above and beyond the capabilities of most common tracking tools to bring you information a visual map of what people are looking at on your pages.
CrazyEgg will reveal the navigation of visitors by tracking the mouse movements so that you can use the data to help improve the navigation and position of hyperlinks, images and content on your site.
Just think of how you can improve on your site and promotional efforts so that you can tweak and improve conversion rates for those vital promotional campaigns such as:
- Landing Pages
- Sales Pages
- Newsletter and Opt-in Pages
You can begin using the service on up to 4 pages for free teat run. Registration is free for up to 4 web pages which have no more than 5000 page views per month. This will give you an idea of how the service works and you can make your own tests to determine whether the service is of benefit to you before committing to the paid service.
Visit CrazyEgg to open an account.
I’ve just added begun to use the service a few days ago so I will report back with my findings. Have you used the service and would like to share your findings with other readers feel free to add your comments.
Relates Services:
Markus Frind’s Plenty Of Fish Dating Site Featured On The News
Dating site owner Markus Frind continues to astound online news with the revelation of his huge Google AdSense checks in excess of $900,000.
This follows up from my earlier reference to the Plenty Of Fish online dating service. Many people are dumbstruck as to how such a plain looking site attracts huge numbers of visitors. This man could easily charge a fee to further boost his million dollar income yet he prefers keep the service free.
What an amazing feat by any standards for a single AdSense publisher working from a tiny office.
I admire Mark’s candid approach to what at first appears as an accidental road to riches in his candid statement.
"I suppose if I went paid a site this size could make hundreds of millions, but it just wouldn’t be fun anymore and I’d have to hire people and I don’t know I just like what I’m doing now."
YouTube is definitely one of the best video file sharing sites to get free publicity for your site, interviews, product launch or anything else you can think of.
I couldn’t begin to imagine how he built this site from scratch to now be pulling in enormous traffic from a free site. It’s definitely one of the best examples of viral marketing, especially in such a popular industry as online dating. Long before video and audio were made more accessible to users online.
How To Design Your Own WordPress Theme Quickly And Easily
I’ve found a link to a must have resource for WordPress enthusiasts courtesy of Pamela Heywood. Now you can create your own WordPress theme using any template of your choice. You can preview your designs and store them for up to 90 days giving you ample time to make a final decision.
The best part is the ThemePress service is only $10 per theme to use making it a true bargain.
This is great news for people who want to create their own designs but did not have the technical know-how to achieve it.
I highly recommend bookmarking the ThemePress site so that you too can make some tests designs for yourself.
On the subject of themes have you seen the new look Associates Program and Rosalind Gardner’s site? They look awesome. All of their main web site pages, newsletter and forums have the same design flow.
Both use the three column template very well. As Rosalind points out, according to OneStat.com
"…the number one provider of real-time intelligence web analytics, today reported that more and more internet users choose for screen resolution 1024 x 768 which is the most popular screen resolution for exploring the internet. The finding has important implications for web site designers because most web sites are designed for a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels."
This new tool may be what many webmasters are looking for to revamp their web sites for 2007 maybe. 
Read Rosalind Gardner’s best selling ebook here. Or get the softcover version at Amazon today!
Conquer Your Niche Marketing Forum From Russell Brunson
I’ve been invited by Russell Brunson to join his new Conquer Your Niche Forum. It’s like no other forum I have seen online.
As you may already know by now, your participation in busy high profile forums can help you to network with likeminded individuals. You can use the forum to:
- Make Lasting Joint Ventures
- Get Answers To Your Questions From Other Members
- Place Your Free Ads In Front Of Members
Membership has leaped well over 6,658 and is sure to keep on growing. I suggest your sign up now and get your business in front of thousands today.
Remeber that time old saying…
"The Early Bird Catches The Worm"
Paul Kleinmeulman’s Best PLR Product Launched Today!
Another valuable resource was launched just a few hours ago from Paul Kleinmeulman. Paul has been making a good six figure income online through products he did not pesonally create. Instead he has outsourced the bulk of his product creation. All of which has enabled him to leave his office job to work for himself.
You can share some of Paul’s success now that his new site, Automatic Niche Profits, is open for business as of today.
This is the first private label rights membership to bring its customers incredible quality, industry experience, real support, and cutting edge audio and video products that you WILL NOT find sold anywhere else!
Automatic Niche Profits will be a limited and exclusive membership open to only 500 marketers. You’ll need to get to the site early to secure your spot.
So what will it mean to you to be a member of this exclusive site? Quite simply, it’s your chance to take your business and your life to an entirely new level.
Well, it’s your turn to take it easy a bit and profit off of someone else’s hard work, and that’s the EXACT premise and driving force, behind Automatic Niche Profits.
As an exclusive member you’ll have the luxury of 2 brand new and in demand niche products each and every month that you can edit and personalize as you see fit.
What’s more, these products are yours…you own them, you put your name on them…you sell them for 100% profits.
It is a license to print money and it is an opportunity for you to leverage the many professional resources that would take you months to produce by yourself.
So, how do you get your spot in this coveted membership site?
You’ll want to register immediately to avoid disappointment by securing your spot at the Automatic Niche Profits membership site.
Oh I almost forgot to mention include that you will get audio and video versions of the ebooks to make even more attractive for you and certainly to your customers. 
To your online success,
Nancy P Redford
Guest Article: Ten Ways To Clear Bad Press From Search Engine Results
Ten Ways To Clear Bad Press From Search Engine Results
By Linda Bustos (c) 2006
What do you see when you search for your company or brand name?
Is there anything on the first page of the search engine results
that you wouldn’t be proud to display on your home page?
Consumer review sites, blogs and forums have made it easy
for anyone to say whatever they want about your company,
whether they be disgruntled customers or competitors who
like to play dirty.
If you’re in a situation where negative publicity is front
and center in search results, there are ways you can reclaim
search engine real estate for your corporate identity.
Though you can’t make negative results disappear from the
search engine indexes entirely, the following strategies
can help them slip off the first few pages of search engine
results.
1. Good Old Fashioned Networking
The first thing you should do is contact the webmasters of
the sites in question with a polite request for removal of
negative comments. There’s a good chance they’ll be willing
to co-operate. Note that, even if they do remove the listing,
the cached pages may remain in the search engine indexes for
some time. But users who click through the search engine
results will land on a page with the comments removed.
Check out some of the sites that already have something good
to say about you. Send them an appreciation note, and offer
them a link back from your site. You could even create a
special page called "Gary’s Garage On The Web"
(if that’s the name of your business) or "Press Room."
2. Tap Into the Power of Wiki
Wiki websites allow users not only to add their own content,
but also edit pages. They get their name from the Hawaiian
word "wiki wiki" meaning "rapidly." There are many wiki pages
like AboutUs.org and LoveToKnow.com that you can use to create
content about your company. If your company name is "notable"
enough, you might also be able to create a page in Wikipedia.
3. Raise Your Profile
Some websites like PR.com allow you to post your company’s
profile. An annual fee might be required. It’s not easy to
find these sites, but you may find some opportunities by
searching your competitors’ names and discovering where
they are listed.
4. Become A Socialite
Using social bookmark sites like Netvous and Del.icio.us is
an easy way to add content through the web. You can create an
account for yourself that bookmarks all of your positive press,
and anything interesting on your website, such as articles or
videos. Or create a photo gallery in Flickr.
The links themselves are not given much weight by search
engines, but you have an not opportunity to use your company
name in the titles and descriptions of your bookmarks and
photos. Make sure you make good use of the tagging feature,
using general keywords as these will also begin to rank for
your name. For example, Gary’s Garage should tag:
"Garys Garage," "garage," "autobody," "mechanic," "mechanics,"
"body shop," "car," "auto body" and so on.
5. Become A Lensmaster
A company blog is certain to rank well, and it’s easier than
ever to create one with Squidoo.com. When you create a "lens"
for your site, you can easily upload pictures and also make
use of tags. Unlike other blogs, Squidoo won’t show the
posting date, so your lens won’t look neglected if you ever
stop posting. You can build your blog’s link popularity by
submitting it to blog directories like LSBlogs and BlogHub,
and linking to it from your site.
6. Write!
Articles can help you kill three birds with one stone. Not
only can articles rank for your company name, they also build
valuable backlinks to your site and position you as an expert
in your field. You can use your company name in the resource
box at the end of an article along with a link back to your
site. Using your company name in the article body gives it a
better chance of ranking well. You can research potential
sites to submit your article to by searching for one of your
industry keywords in a search engine like this:
"car mechanics" + "submit article." Or submit it to various
article directories like Article Alley.
7. Encourage Testimonials
If you have customers who have given you positive feedback
or provided testimonials for your site, you could ask them
to write a review for you on a website like Epinions.com,
CoffeeGeek.com or ConsumerReview.com.
8. Explore Shopping Engines
If you sell products online, consider listing them in comparison
shopping sites, or "shopping engines" like Shopping.com, Bizrate
or Nextag. If you are not ready to manage a new e-commerce
channel for many products, you might consider listing one product
in one engine to start.
9. Use Directories For Deep Links
Search engines still consider a page’s number of relevant
backlinksto be a strong indicator of quality and relevance to
a search term. Octopedia, WorldSiteIndex and Microsoft’s Small
Business Directory are a few examples of solid directories that
allow you to link to deeper pages of your own site, like your
About Us page, to help raise their rankings for your company name.
10. Post An E-Help Wanted Sign
Leverage the strength of sites like Craigslist.org to post your
company’s current job offerings. Make sure you use your company
name first in the posting headline: "Gary’s Garage Now Hiring
Junior Grease Monkeys," for example. This will ensure the title
tag for that page is optimized, which is very helpful for SEO.
And make sure to describe your company in the ad, repeating your
name three or four times.
Tracking Results
I strongly recommend setting up an account with Google Alerts
(free) which monitors the top 50 results, or with Google Alert,
a professional tracking system that will monitor the top 200
results for you for as little as $4.95/month. You will be
notified daily when new references to your name have been
found in Google – not only to see when your articles, profile
pages, blog posts and so on get indexed, but also to keep on
top of any new negative or positive references to your name
outside of your own reputation management efforts.
How Long Will This Take?
Results may vary but they won’t come overnight. You will get
out of your reputation management efforts what you put in.
It could take anywhere from a few months to a year.
Conclusion
These ideas are not exhaustive. You may come across your own
tactics on your own through competitor research or your own
ingeniousness. If you are not familiar with SEO, consider
hiring a consulting firm skilled in copywriting and public
relations. The key is to look at reputation management as a
long term activity and to take advantage of all the options
you have tokeep the search engine results positive.
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About The Author
Linda Bustos is the Marketing Director for Image X Media,
a Vancouver web design and Internet marketing firm.
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Quick links to web site links featured in the above article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Grave Mistakes Not To Be Repeated With Your Next Product Launch
Unless you’ve lost your internet access or your PC has died on you you’ve probably been subject to quite a few new product launches.
One particular video promotion that caught my attention was for Product Launches Exposed featuring Wes Odom. The video action was extremely effective to capture your interest and drew you in to find out what the heck was going to happen next.
Now that the site has finally opened up and divulged their content of high value audios where online marketers give a candid interview to reveal of some of the mishaps they had to deal with during their own product launches.
The build up was fantastic with the blacked out images of the 6 unusual suspects on the header graphic and within the free PDF reports for secrecy.
I wonder how you and others reacted to the launch day when all 6 members were revealed!
1. Jeff Dedrick
2. Keith Wellman
3. Liz Tomey
4. Eric Holmlund
5. Ray Edwards
6. Tom Beal
You may comment on that if you like!
Anyway I have listened to all recordings and found Brad & Matt Callen’s account helpful as he revealed how his credit card processor suspended their account due to the sudden surge in orders over a short period of time. Even after he had contacted them to two week’s prior to his product launch. The good news was that they were still able to receive incoming orders but he had to contact his credit card processor to explain the situation again to get their account restored to normal.
It’s good to know that even highly successful marketers are human and no matter how much planning and preparation they made in the run up to launch that some things can still go wrong. We can learn from their painful mistakes by obtaining their insider information so that we do not fall foul to the same problems.
I’m intrigued to find out who had the mammoth problem of loosing all affiliate commission data and had to hire programmers to resolve the issue.
"Guru Code Name "Affiliate Monster" and the embarrassing mistake that could cost him a lot of future profits — and some friends, too".
Wes Odom
Knowing my luck they will save the best for last keeping me hanging on the edge in anticipation. This will more than likely be reserved for the ’Alliance‘ member area they have recently opened up.
A very enjoyable introduction video, free reports and great audio interviews that didn’t cost a single dime!
Great stuff and a big testimonial for Jeff Walker’s Product Formula course that has help skyrocket the results of many online marketers new products. In addition to further testament that the knowledge and wisdom of John Reese.
Study these product launches and watch how different niche markets create buzz and interest to start off a viral explosion.
If you’re of Jeff Walker’s mailing list you will have been exposed to real life case studies of hugely successful product launches regardless of their niche market.
P.S.
There was some confusion for pre-launch registrants. You need to sign up again to receive to get access to the free audios.
Recommended Products:
Marlon Sander’s Amazing Formula
PPC Advertising On Amazon Via Clickriver
How would you like to capture a slice of Amazon’s online consumers through pay-per-click ads on their site?
I found an interesting article from Darren Prowse highlighting the company Clickriver who are currently running a beta PPC ad program on Amazon. Unfortunately the program is currently only available to US residents. I hope to see this service opened up to the wider audience so that international advertisers will get an opportunity to participate.
As for now we will have to sit back and wait for the resulting feedback and progress.
This could be another channel for investing PPC advertising in areas other than Google, Yahoo etc. As it is very new those who are participating will have the benefits of being the first to get their message across to Amazon’s ever growing community of online shoppers.
If you are fortunate enough to get into the Clickriver PPC ad program I’d like to hear your results in the near future.
Amazon appears to be branching out with their introduction of AStores and continuing development of the stores for current associate program.
What do you think the chances are that they will raise their commission structure?
Yeah, I know that is wishful thinking. However most of us do shop at Amazon at one time or another. I know I do and find some good bargains from time to time.
Web 2.0 Product Launch For Jon Carder’s Innovative MojoPages
Have you been inundated with product launches?
Well there are a lot of tips we can learn from the process of steps taken in each different product launch regardless of the industry. Take for instance the new MojoPages site.
MojoPages looks set to be a highly interactive enhanced yellow pages network with interactive modules such as multimedia incorporating a user rating system to actively encourage business to adhere to the highest customer services. It’s primary aims are to boost your business credibility and give customers an avenue to air their personal experiences with local business.
"Next Generation Yellow Pages and combine it with social networking so you have insights into how these business treat their customers.”
Jon Carder,
Entrepreneur & Founder of MojoPages
The background music puts me in the mood for more and makes me want to be a part of MojoPages. I’ve signed up for the updates and added their blog feed to my news reader to ensure I receive first alerts for the highly anticipated launch of the MojoPages service.
It’s The Mojo Rising!
More videos will be posted at the MojoPages Blog during the final stages of pre-launch.
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