Business Opportunity<<<

Feeds for Business Opportunity Leads [Business Opportunity Leads by Jim Eberle and TriPowerTeam.com ]

1. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads...The Power Of SEO! Do you know why to Use It? Why Use It Now? There are many ways of generating business opportunity leads both ethically and unethically. Using SEO (search engine optimization) in my thought process is the way to go! It does take a lot of work in most cases to obtain top page organic positions. Why would you use it?

First off...it is free! Well, that is after you purchase a domain name and hosting company. You have to purchase those things anyway if you are starting a home based business. Many people, especially the ones starting out now are basically getting involved with home businesses because of the economy and a fixed income that is becoming not sufficient to meet their needs. I began looking at SEO to get my business opportunity leads because of situations like I just described.

The second reason is the targeted traffic you receive! Search engines like Google make their money from advertising. People more and more often are using search engine advertising by either looking for a specific item, product, or service...or selling that item, product, or service through the internet. Those numbers whatever they might be are going to continue growing rapidly. It is more conducive for people to do and have a home based business at home, especially with the cost of fuel these days. Because people are using keyword search phrases to find what they are looking for, and they end up clicking on your link..."You are getting business opportunity leads looking specifically for what you have!!". These are the highest of quality leads you can get for your business opportunity!

Why should you do this now?

SEO is (like everything else) going to be more competitive in the future to grab certain keyword phrases. The one thing about search engine optimization you need to know..."You have to be in the first page of the search engines for your specific keyword phrase"! Why? Think about it..How many times while searching for something on the internet do you go looking for something that is on (for example) page eleven for your search term?. Not very often! Sure you might get some traffic on page two or three but generally speaking, you have ten spots on the front page or you lose! That is the bad thing about SEO, there is not much middle ground.

All in all, targeted traffic using SEO gives you the highest quality of business opportunity leads and can make whatever you are involved in powerful!

(read more)

Jim Eberle
631.348.7563

Leads
Free Leads

2. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

Designing A Website To Send Your Business Opportunity Leads? So you are building your internet business and you're finding out that it can be extremely complicated. The learning curve is very high expecially if this is fairly new to you. Now you need to build a website to capture your business opportunity leads and if you are like me, it can be a real struggle. If you do a search on the internet, there are many free html tools out there to build that web site.

There are even WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) programs that are free that will build them for you. I downloaded several of them and I still ran into all kinds of problems - you still have to know something about the code. I struggled for literally several months working on building a home based business website. Not to mention, I'm the kind of person who wants everything to be perfect.

That's when a good friend of mine told me about Wordpress which is what millions of people are using for blogging. That was all good and dandy but I needed to design a web site where I have a main theme and I needed many "pages" related to the theme but under different topics. I needed that content for my home based business team website to always be there and remain "static", never changing. To my good fortune, Wordpress can do this through the use of plugins. As a matter of fact, there are many hundreds of plugins to address all of your needs. If you are building a web site, take my advice and scrap the html. With Wordpress, there are thousands of existing templates to pick and choose from and you can have your website built literally in minutes.

The plugins (whatever you decide to use to modify your website load just as quickly. Other than placing your content into the web site, you are ready to start driving those business opportunity leads to your business. One word of caution though. Not all templates are compatible with the various plugins and widgets available. Oh, widgets are plugins but they are used for your sidebars or columns. I ran into problems with some of the templates in this regard.

If you decide to use Wordpress, check reviews on the template(s) you are looking at to make sure there are no reported problems. Good luck driving those business opportunity leads to your site!

Before I begin, know that this is so very important! this is the first thing Google looks at for SEO and the title is the first thing that your viewers look at. They are going to either look or pass that article by...and all within a few seconds. Just what should be in your title? You want it all! This is important for SEO purposes and getting your business opportunity website to the top of the search engines.

You want that name recognition because what many people do not understand, most people sign up or buy into a home based business because of YOU! It has nothing to do with the business. SEO is very important as well. Do you know that at least 85% of all people who access a web site on a daily basis, do so because they were looking for something using keyword phrases in a search engine like Google! That is a big number!!

Here is what you should do. I always put my keywords into the very first part of my title. Maybe it looks dumb, I do not know and I do not care! It works! That is what Google likes! With the rest of the title, you should try and find some way to include one or more of those keywords if you can. Know that there are words that Google calls "stop words" which they always pass over. These are basic words like "an", the", "a",...you get the picture. They are your very common filler type words.

By knowing this though, you can maybe have keywords separated by stop words and come up with a good title and a variation of your keyword phrase! Obviously for emails, you would not need to include keywords like business opportunity leads.

Business Opportunity Leads - Want To Know What Page Rank Is And What It Does For SEO? If you are using SEO (search engine optimization) to get business opportunity leads to your web site, knowing what page rank is and how it works is probably important to you...at least it should be!

Optimizing your web site with specific keyword phrases definitely is important and very necessary. It is a must to configure your title tag, headings H1, 2, 3 etc. tags correctly and your content should have good keyword density. Having a good page rank is actually much more important! There is a major misconception about this though.

Page rank for your home based business website is basically a number that Google gives your web site based on the popularity it has. The higher the number (ex. PR5 verses PR1) the better. This number is based on the amount of web pages (or votes) you are getting links from. Here is the deal though, those votes are not always the same. They are based on an algorithm where one vote or link might be important because of the web page linking to you is the more relevant and they might have a very good page rank themselves. You might have another link coming to your web site which might be worthless because of where it came from.

It is very possible you can have a thousand links coming to your home based business site and you will still have a low page rank because of the "relevancy" or importance that Google associates with those inbound links. Look at it like this: A higher page "rank" will usually result in a higher "search engine ranking".

Here is the catch though. Let's say you have a web site in front of you in "search engine ranking" yet you have a much higher number of links and backlinks. This other web site might only have a small number of links going to it. If all of your links came from let's say, a forum in which you can manipulate, you will not get much in the way of page rank. Let's say they have a back link from a .gov site which is hard to get. They might have a much smaller amount of links, but the relevancy is much more important to Google. In this way, they would have a better position in "search engine ranking". You might have a better "page rank" but the more relevant web site is ahead of you.

Search engine ranking and page rank are two different things yet they work hand in hand with each other. Because there are algorithms involved, a site could have a higher "search engine ranking" yet have a lower "page rank". That seldom happens though, usually the higher page rank results in a higher search engine ranking. So...A high page rank means better positioning in search engine rankings which means more business opportunity leads for you!

A good place to be and learn is at (read more)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691
Work Smarter

5. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads|Why Use That Keyword Phrase To Get Your Leads? So, you are at that point where you are brainstorming and formatting a plan to get your business opportunity leads through SEO. You are at that point where you are deciding which keywords and keyword phrases to go after. Remember, generating leads for your business opportunity depend on this step!

Hopefully while you are doing this, you are looking at the same time what your domain name is going to be as you want two or more of your keywords (at the very least, one) to be part of it as well. What is it that many people miss when they are selecting their keywords? Following is the answer.

First, you need to realize most people simply do not know anything about SEO - search engine optimization and can't be bothered to learn it. Sometimes picking and choosing a keyword phrase will breach into "other" keyword phrases. Actually, this is what you are wanting to do as well to optimize your home based business website. Decide what keywords you would like to go for that have the flexibility to mix and match other keyword phrases at a later time! I'm hoping I can explain this...For example, say that you are going for "work at home scams".

If you do a search in Google, you will find 815,000 sites listed for that search term. This is the amount of web sites figuratively for that phrase and it can be found in the top bar on the right hand side of your page. That search term would be easy to take normally by just doing a few things here and there with content because remember this.....most people DO NOT know what they are doing.

When I first started learning about all of this for my home based business, a friend of mine went after a keyword phrase he was wanting to get his leads from. A search in Google showed 1.5 million sites listed. I thought he was crazy for trying. He created a video and two articles to move all the way to the top 3-4 pages! He knew what he was doing and that keyword phrase was an extension of the keywords he was going for originally. Now, look at "work at home scam". It might be obtainable but let me point out to you what you "really" might be competing with.
If you do a search for "work at home", you will find 415 million sites. It is a phrase that a very large amount of people are using to search with at home. He who wins this has an enormous amount of business opportunity leads every day! Many people would love to be on the front page of a search engine for this one! I want to point out two things.

My first point is this. With the enormous amount of people going for this particular keyword phrase, I can guarantee the people on the first 3-4 pages know exactly what they are doing. Besides that, their web site has probably "aged" (been in existance for quite some time). Because they know what they are doing, they more than likely have a foot in the door for other keywords phrases such as "work at home scams".

My second point is this. No matter what phrase you are going for, if you know what you are doing, you are going to easily pass up many of those sites listed. But, being on the 3rd or 4th page isn't enough. You have to "Win" this game and be on the 1st page if you want those business opportunity leads.

Pay carefull attention to what the sites are doing on the first couple of pages. Page three might be obtainable but getting higher than that could be very tough indeed. The point is, this is where your competition is!

A good place to be and learn is at (read more)

Jim Eberle
631.348.7563
Leads

6. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

If you have been involved in network marketing, you have probably been approached or called by other network marketers. What should you do if approached about someones' business opportunity. First off, we're not talking about friends or family trying to sign you up into some home based business or MLM. If we are, the answer if a resounding but polite "No". You don't really want to get involved with something like this. Here's one of the best pieces of advice I ever received if another network marketer called me. Thank them and have a conversation to get to know them.

For one thing, there is a limited amount of people you can connect with if your not using the internet. If you are a business opportunity lead and maybe you became that by signing up into some web site for more information....the answer is maybe. Let's go on.... There are so many rewarding things about getting involved in a home based business, but the one thing that will make you wilt away and fail is not having a good upline. I'm talking about the person who you sign up under.

The next is the business opportunity itself! Good news is that you can turn the tables on the person trying to sign you up in their home based business as well as do some research on the business itself. When you talk to this person, they're going to immediately start pushing hard on why this business opportunity is the best. That's okay! When they are done with the pitch, ask the following questions:

How much money have you made? How long have you been involved with this particular business? What is your method for getting traffic to your web site? Okay, "You" might not know anything about that last question.

If they don't know what they're doing though, it "will" trip them up. If they can give good logical answers with explanations to your questions, they might be the one to do business with. There is also the question of whether or not that particular business is any good! You are now going to use one of the best functions of the internet.....name dropping.

Just get on the internet and do a search on the persons' name you were talking to as well as the name of the company. You can also do a search on scams if need be. With the internet, if there is an issue with someone or some company, you can bet it's out their on the web. Here is something else you can do! If you are looking at a particular business opportunity to get into, do a search on the company and start browsing the search results. If you find a particular persons' web site or article or whatever close to the top of the search engine results....I would give that person a call. This just might be the person to get in with. Good Luck in your search in finding a good business opportunity!

A good place to be and learn is at (read more)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691
Work Smarter

7. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

One Step On Your Way To Getting Business Opportunity Leads Many People Forget To Do! You are ready to do SEO (search engine optimization) so that you can start acquiring business opportunity leads to your niche web site. You have got a web site, a company to host it, and you've gone through the patient practice of selecting and choosing a domain name.

The domain name is based on the keyword phrases you hope to pursue using search engine optimization to get your home based business web site to the top page of the search engines. One thing many people either aren't aware of, don't know how to do, or basically forget all about doing on their way to obtaining business opportunity leads is...submitting your web site address to Google or at least one of the other search engines.

When I started learning about using the internet for marketing and building my home based business, I absolutely had no clue about this. I actually wasted months before I found out I needed to do this. I don't know if it's true but I've heard from others that this is must if you ever want to get your site indexed. I don't know if that's true but why take a chance?

Submitting your web site to Google ensures that your web sites address is indexed the next time they "crawl" the web. There is a possibility you could get picked up naturally when Google is doing its thing but like I said earlier, I wouldn't take the chance. Even when you submit your site, it could take a month or two before they even get there. It is definitely important you do this as soon as you can.

I'm talking about Google but it sure doesn't hurt to do the same thing at Yahoo or MSN. It doesn't matter who scrawls the site first, other search engines will quickly pick it up then. To submit your website through Google, go here, Submit links While you're here, go ahead and save this page into your "favorites" on your browser. This isn't on the same topic but when you get a chance, sign up and check out "Google Webmasters Tools". I won't get into that now but it's something you'll want to sign up into at a later time.

Both of the pages you were just on have a lot of good information on them. Just go ahead now and follow the instructions and Good Luck! Don't miss doing this or it might be awhile before you start generating business opportunity leads!

A good place to find out more: (read more)

Jim Eberle
631.348.7563
Work Smarter

8. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

What Happens To Those Business Opportunity Leads After They Have Signed Up - Breaking This Down! I was talking to some friends of mine recently who are both involved in the same nutritional company. They've been involved for at least three years. I actually signed up under them when they started! I didn't have a clue when I got involved.

I know that instead of using the internet to get business opportunity leads, they were pushing this through friends and family. Because all of their business opportunity leads were through word of mouth, their business has become stale. When I was talking to them, I found out that they were making between $300 to $500 dollars a month...not too bad for a home based business...but that is after at least three years plus! When I started explaining to them how to use the internet to grow their business opportunity, I could tell they weren't getting it.

I started thinking about the number of people involved with a home based business and I really do believe there is a very large people who "Aren't" using the internet and those who are, after my recent experiences over the last year and a half, don't know what they're doing. This is even after they have been trying to market for business opportunity leads much longer than me!

(read more)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691
Work Smarter

9. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

The essence or foundation of SEO and obtaining top positions involves writing content and lots of it for high traffic keywords. Sometimes picking and choosing a keyword phrase will breach into "other" keyword phrases. Actually, this is what you are wanting to do as well. Decide what keywords you would like to go for that have the flexibility to mix and match other keyword phrases at a later time! I'm hoping I can explain this...maybe by example.

For example, say that you are going for "work at home scams". If you do a search in Google, you will find 815,000 sites listed for that search term. This is the amount of web sites figuratively for that phrase and it can be found in the top bar on the right hand side of your page. That search term would be easy to take normally by just doing a few things here and there with content because remember this.....most people DO NOT know what they are doing.

Tip #1

If you want to obtain top positions, keep 3 things in mind. Write content, submit that content to article marketing directories, blogger accounts, websites etc, but slightly change the content for each place you post, and linking your information back to your target sites.

When I first started learning about all of this, a friend of mine went after a keyword phrase he was wanting to get his leads from. A search in Google showed 1.5 million sites listed. I thought he was crazy for trying. He created a video and two articles to move all the way to the top 3-4 pages! He knew what he was doing and that keyword phrase was an extension of the keywords he was going for originally.

Now, look at "work at home scam". It might be obtainable but let me point out to you what you "really" might be competing with. If you do a search for "work at home", you will find 415 million sites. It is a phrase that a very large amount of people are using to search for a home based business. He who wins this has an enormous amount of business opportunity leads every day! Many people would love to be on the front page of a search engine for this one!

I want to point out two things. My first point is this. With the enormous amount of people going for this particular keyword phrase, I can guarantee the people on the first 3-4 pages know exactly what they are doing. Besides that, their web site has probably "aged" (been in existence for quite some time). Because they know what they are doing, they more than likely have a foot in the door for other keywords phrases such as "work at home scams". My second point is this. No matter what phrase you are going for, if you know what you are doing, you are going to easily pass up many of those sites listed. But, being on the 3rd or 4th page isn't enough. You have to "Win" this game and be on the 1st page if you want those business opportunity leads.

Pay careful attention to what the sites are doing on the first couple of pages. Page three might be obtainable but getting higher than that could be very tough indeed. The point is, this is where your competition is!

A good place to be and learn is at (read more)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691

Work Smarter

10. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

Okay, I'm stopping. You see the picture I'm attempting to paint. If you notice, words in quotes are me being sarcastic. I could keep going on but I think you get the point. If you are in a business opportunity, more than likely you are in an affiliate program. You are given a website to promote your home based business which, if you can get people to land on it, the site should do a good job of selling for you.

There are some elements that you need to be aware of for affiliate websites. Yes, many look good and will be adequate to get your message across, but how will they find your site? The answer is they won't because its an affiliate website. If you can't SEO optimize your home based business website, then you have zero chance of getting to the top of the search engines.

This is where SEO begins in generating traffic to your home based business site. You don't have to call a list of 100 names of friends and family that you've gathered up. You don't have to stumble through scripts and cold calling. I'm sure you didn't go to college for four years and get an associate degree in selling to strangers. There is a better way! The only feasible way to attract visitors to your web site is through the use of your "own" web site. In this way, you can use SEO to generate traffic and create business opportunity leads.

In other words, the site you've been given doesn't allow for you to get into the source code and place strategic keywords into the tags or content. By having a seperate web site that you CAN optimize for search engine optimization, you can now perform tasks to try and get your web site to the top page of the search engines. You then send your business opportunity leads to your main affiliate site.

This doesn't cost anything but your effort. I take that back. You will have to get a domain name and a hosting service. Trust me though, not much money involved doing this. That is really the main point I wanted to get across. In reality, there is much you need to know to make this work. It is a job if you do the work it takes to get SEO for your keywords but the rewards can be great financially.

There are many things you need to learn to build an effective and stable home based business, but I can guarantee you this: Your chances of success the other way is very small indeed. Getting your business opportunity leads through search engine optimization is the way to go! You can do a search on the internet and literally get a ton of information on how all of this works. I plan on doing another article with more specifics and not so much sarcasm as well.

A good place to go to hang out and learn is (Read More)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691

11. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

Getting business opportunity leads start right here. You've decided to start your own home based business or you've signed up as an affiliate into a nutritional company or whatever. Either way, you "must" get a domain name. I was browsing the internet the other day (and I've seen this often), if you go do a search on one of the search engines for a keyword phrase, you will notice that many of the URL's (Web sites) have some kind of weird URL that doesn't directly reflect what their web site is all about. Those particular web site addresses not having specific keywords in them make them more difficult to get to the top of the search engines.

This is basic level SEO! To get your business opportunity leads, how hard is it going to be if your web site address doesn't contain any of the keywords you need to get to the top of the search engines? Yet, as I was doing my browsing, it's apparent that not some, but a bulk of the web sites I was scanning through didn't have anything remotely close to what they need. If you want your home based business website to be seen at the top, then you need to first understand SEO and then apply the knowledge.

To make matters worse, I noticed that by looking at the source codes on some of these home based business websites, they really didn't have "any" plan to use search engine optimization. They didn't know what they are doing! These people are struggling with their home based business and I can point it out because I've been there, not knowing what to do.

(read more)

Jim Eberle
631.348.7563

12. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

Getting traffic to your web site is critical in generating business opportunity leads. A big part of search engine optimization is having your keyword or keyword phrases in your page "titles". The text that you place in your title tag is what shows up on the tab of your browser. It is what you place in between those in your code that reflects this. Again, this is critical in getting leads for your home based business via SEO.

The most common mistake you will see beginners make when they first start off in a their own home based business is to make the title some strange name or maybe a business name that might be important to the person that created the web site. This can be seen easily just by getting on a web site page that has low ranking. Get on a web site and right click your mouse button, then go to view source and click. Here it will show you the title tag. Obviously, you can just look at the tab of your browser and see what they have included. Having a cute or catchy phrase might seem like a good idea, but for SEO purposes its a mistake to do that. Focus on what keyword you want top organic positions on and try and buy a domain name around that keyword.

However, if you are really motivated to include your business name, find a way to mix in your keyword phrase with it. Wait, I take that back! Just use your keywords!

Business Opportunity Leads Via SEO....A Few Things About Links! You need business opportunity leads. So you've done all of the things you need to do up to the point of having a carefully designed web site in place for your new home based business opportunity, specific keyword phrases selected, and your web site is optimized with the keywords you've deliberated about for SEO. Now what do you do for your home based business?

What's next to get those business opportunity leads by driving traffic to your site? Linking! Linking and the amount of links you have are essential for SEO. There are two kinds of links. One is in which you link to someone elses' site from your own, the other is called a backlink in which another site links to you. Some people or documents you might read will refer to outbound and inbound links - outbound being the ones that start from your site. This isn't an instruction manual on how to get those links, just to alert you that they are "Very" important when it comes to getting higher site rankings within the search engines.

As far as linking goes, it is much easier to link to other sites than it is to receive them. What I "will" tell you is that there are good links and bad links - good backlinks and bad backlinks. Backlinks are more important to the search engines basically because these are other people linking to "your" site. This holds a lot more water than you linking to whatever. Those who link to your site are making a statement that they hold your web site in regard. The best kinds of backlinks for your home based business site are the ones that come from reputable sites or a site sharing your niche market. Bad links could come from link farms or generally speaking, disreputable sites. Backlinks tend to come in time in relation to the content or service you are providing.

I know there are places on the internet where you can purchase good quality backlinks. It happens all of the time and as far as I know, you aren't penalized for doing it. Why not have some fun though! Build yourself a reputable business, pump out quality content, and over time....the links "and" backlinks will be there. Soon you will have quality business opportunity leads pouring into your site. That's you goal! Driving high quality business opportunity leads into you web presence. A good place to be and learn is at (read more)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691

Jim Eberle

14. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

It all starts with researching a home based business, then deciding on what the best way to develop such a business. You want to create your own referrals, rather than buying useless leads. So, you brainstorm and format a plan to get your business opportunity leads through SEO. You are at that point where you are deciding which keywords and keyword phrases to go after for your home based business. Remember, generating leads for your business opportunity depend on this step! There are no short cuts to obtaining top positions for keywords for your home based business. Especially if you are going after something like business opportunity. There is a tremendous amount of competition for that keyword.

(read more)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691

15. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

Okay, I'm stopping. You see the picture I'm attempting to paint. If you notice, words in quotes are me being sarcastic. I could keep going on but I think you get the point. If you are in a business opportunity, more than likely you are in an affiliate program. You are given a website to promote the business which, if you can get people to land on it, the site should do a good job of selling for you. It probably has a good autoresponder that keeps selling after they leave the site.

That's all good! This is where SEO begins for your home based business. You don't have to call a list of 100 names of friends and family that you've gathered up. You don't have to stumble through scripts and cold calling. I'm sure you didn't go to college for four years and get an associate degree in selling to strangers. There is a better way!

The only feasible way to attract visitors to your home based business website is through the use of your "own" web site. In this way, you can use SEO to generate traffic and create business opportunity leads. In other words, the site you've been given doesn't allow for you to get into the source code and place strategic keywords into the tags or content. By having a seperate web site that you CAN optimize for search engine optimization, you can now perform tasks to try and get your web site to the top page of the search engines.

You then send your business opportunity leads to your main affiliate site. This doesn't cost anything but your effort. I take that back. You will have to get a domain name and a hosting service. Trust me though, not much money involved doing this. That is really the main point I wanted to get across. In reality, there is much you need to know to make this work. It is a job if you do the work it takes to get SEO for your keywords but the rewards can be great financially.

There are many things you need to learn but I can guarantee you this: Your chances of success the other way is very small indeed. getting your business opportunity leads through search engine optimization is the way to go! You can do a search on the internet and literally get a ton of information on how all of this works. I plan on doing another article with more specifics and not so much sarcasm as well.

A good place to go to hang out and learn is (Read More)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691

16. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

Why Generating Business Opportunity leads Through SEO Is The Way To Go! Okay, to begin....this article applies to the typical person who was talked into joining one of the thousands of internet businesses that are out there. Wait, before even joining, did you at least research the company,products/services, compensation, owners and if they manufacture their own products? Well if you did, great, but if you didn't, then may I strongly suggest you go back and check them out. Now getting back to the original theme of the article was discussing getting leads for your home based business opportunity via SEO.

Here's a typical set up when you first get started. You are given a web site and some "tools" to make it "easy" to generate business opportunity leads. You find out you can "purchase" "fresh" business opportunity leads for X amount of dollars. These leads have just recently been obtained, they are double optin and these "high level" lead generated customers are anxious to hear what you have to say. You, like me and most other people, have now paid hard earned money to call your supposed "business opportunity leads".

Are you even aware that leads brokers will re-sell your leads multiple times. In fact, some leads are re-sold dozens of times. No wonder people get ticked off when you call and then hang up. You might have been the 10th or 15th person calling about a business opportunity.

I'm sure the last thing you really wanted to do when you got in this business is to place calls to total strangers....and you're probably reading from one of several "scripts" to do the selling. Those pages of scripts also contain what to say in response to specific kinds of rejection you surely are getting.

Whether you are new or veteran of the industry, you need to understand that if you are buying leads, you can stop now because the leads that you buy are nothing but digital trash. The best way to build your home based business opportunity is to create your own premium leads by SEO techniques and strategies.

(read more)

Jim Eberle 631.348.7563

17. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

As the economy struggles to get a footing, thousands more people are looking for financial options. Many people are turning to the internet for a home based business opportunity. However, prior to joining any program, you need to conduct proper research on the company and determine first if they are a good fit for you. One of the areas that you will encounter is with information about purchasing leads. If you are new or a veteran, this article applies to you.

Here's how the set up typically works for some affiliate programs. You are given a web site and some "tools" to make it "easy" to generate business opportunity leads. You find out you can "purchase" "fresh" business opportunity leads for X amount of dollars. Well not exactly. Please read on.

These leads have just recently been obtained, they are double opted in and these "high level" lead generated customers are anxious to hear what you have to say. You, like me and most other people, have now paid hard earned money to call your supposed "business opportunity leads". Did you really sign up for an affiliate program to go out and purchase a bunch of useless leads. That's because they are exactly that -useless digital trash.

I don't want to call a bunch of strangers. How many times have you heard that in a recruiting conversation. If you are like my, a bit skeptical, I completely understand for not wanting to buy business opportunity leads for your new home based business venture.

If you would like to learn more about utilizing a business model of co-operative marketing and being able to Buy Customers directly, then (read more)

Michael Hall
530.354.2691

18. Business Opportunity Leads

Business Opportunity Leads

When it comes to SEO (search engine optimization) in driving business opportunity leads to your web site, it is important to deviate from the main keyword phrase you are concentrating on. Let me tell you why? Before I begin, it is important that you have the tools on or for your web site to monitor your web sites statistics. If the hosting company you use does not provide one, do a search on the internet and find a good reputable one..you will need it!

You are also going to need a good keyword analysis tool which...you should already be using one. Okay, let us say you are going after a particular keyword phrase. You have already optimized your web site and pages for those keywords. You have already been involved with writing content, building links, and creating back links to your site. Let us say you have been doing it for weeks already and maybe you are getting some forms of business opportunity to your site. By looking at your statistics on an on going basis, you will find that people will find your site by using a variation or 'variations' of your keyword phrase.

A keyword phrase that you had never thought about before! If you are doing SEO correctly, you came up originally with a keyword phrase of 2-3 words like home based business. With the ongoing content that you are placing out there on the web, there is a whole myriad of phrases that people could be using to locate your site. Keyword phrases that you might have high rankings for that you did not even know you had! What should you do if you notice a trend? Well, you give the people what they are looking for! You can change or variate the content on your web site by maybe creating a new page and optimizing it. You can also start writing content specifically for any upward trend on a certain phrase.

Here is the deal. If you are writing content for a keyword phrase that you have researched and it theoretically would drive thousands of visitors to your site on a monthly basis, writing content for those lower keyword phrases will actually help drive up the positioning of your "main" keyword phrase!! Take over the top spot in Google or the search engines for a lesser keyword phrase that might only drive in 20 visits a day...it still helps drive your main keyword phrase to the top that would give you thousands and you are already getting some traffic to your site! What the heck, take over 10 or so of those lesser keyword phrases and maybe the combination would give you hundreds of highly targeted business opportunity leads each day.

You really can not go wrong by using trend and analysis. You started off with a plan when you began your SEO, you just have to alter it from time to time. Nothing you do is going to hurt where you are listed or ranked in the search engines at all as long as you have one or more of those keywords in the new phrase you are after. I do not know about you but would it not be better to start getting targeted business opportunity leads early on even if they are only trickling in? Those rain drops could turn out to be a downpour! (read more)

19. Business Opportunity Leads
If you search the internet for business opportunity leads for your business opportunity, you will find various tools and ways to monitor your SEO (search engine optimization) for driving those business opportunity leads. Here is something that you might not be aware of but it can be used to monitor not only your own stats but those of your competitors for certain things! Google Toolbar does many things but I do not really want to get into most of them. I have to say though there are a few that come in really handy!

I want to let you know about the one item that is helpful for monitoring SEO. You will have to search the internet for "Google Toolbar" and then download the version that you will need whether it is for Firefox, Windows, etc. It is a short bit of code and the install goes quick. Once you have this loaded, on your browser bar, go to about the middle.

There you will see an icon that says "PageRank". This is what you are looking for! If you move your mouse and let it hover over that icon, it will show you the page rank for whatever web site you have pulled up. By clicking on the down arrow to the side of the "Page Rank" icon, you have other options which include Cache, Similar Pages, and Backlinks. Clicking on "Cache" will show you the last time Google has last crawled that web site. This comes in handy if monitoring your web site or competition to see how often Google goes there. It also can give you an idea of keyword term positioning if you follow things closely.

The option for "similar pages" does not really help you. Clicking the "Back Links" option will tell you obviously how many back links that web site has. Good to know for what you and others are doing. As I said earlier, there are other things this toolbar can do that definitely makes life easier on the internet but if you are using SEO for acquiring business opportunity leads, this toolbar is worth the download!

Michael Hall
530-354-2691
Skype ID: MentoringWithMike

and

Jim Eberle

Copyright © 2007 Sohomatic.com.

Feeds for The SOHO Quest [Online Reviews & Resources for Small Office + Home Office ]

1. SpiderWeb Will Rock the Web
Whoa Baby! This blog is getting whiskers. Anyone that has followed my path will know that I now have been heavy into educating myself about Internet marketing. Thus, the reason for no posts.

But I have been busy and on assignment. One of the keepers is a beta program known as The SpideWeb Marketing System. If you have seen it in passing, but did not consider it...time to time warp for a reconsider. I think this is going to be the next big monetizing scheme for the web.

Many have tried to create a self-sustained or auto-pilot system. This puppy started out with 12 streams of income, but now has 22. I have a gut feeling it's going to be a winner.

It still is in beta, so do get in now to position yourself. Leave a comment if you want to join my team. It's no cost, but I also don't need any slackers. Yes, I will drag you along, but you have to do exactly as I say and follow a plan of action.

Check out my blog on the subject, too, at "The SpiderWeb System Information and Reviews".

2. How to Produce 365 Videos in One Year
(Archived in: Online Income Reviews)

If you have been involved in the blogosphere for long, you know that many bloggers are gravitating towards video aka Video blogs, Vlogs, Vidcasts, or a Video Podcast.

This is a heads up on Mark Wielgus at 45n5.com. Mark is on top of online trends, and I am here to tell you that he researches, tests, and reports on things you will come to appreciate on a daily basis. All the information in this post was gleaned from 45n5. My belief is that Mark combines some marketing savvy with geekdom knowhow. He even writes simple, but useful utility programs and then gives them away for free on the blog. Here is a recent link to one he dubs "Keyword Scrubber".

45n5.com has turned into one of the few blogs I simply must check out on a daily basis. Now Mark is committed to deciphering Affiliate Marketing as a top priority. Another project he is combining with this effort is his personal mission to produce and post a video every day in 2008.

I think with 365 videos in the planning, his little experiment is one to watch for trends, plus the techniques, tips and tricks he is bound to uncover along the way. So, if you want to make 365 videos in one year, watch this guy in 2008 and I think you will learn something.

3. Prioritize Your Blogging for 2008
(Archived in: Social Media Marketing Social Media Optimization)

Welcome to the New Year! I have been spending the last week planning for 2008, which has included changes to my blogging style. If you follow my blogs, you know that I have decided to concentrate on Digital Nomads and The Rugged Notebooks Blog as my main focus for blogging, and with less frequent posting to this blog and The Sovereign Journey.

This is not for a lack or loss of interest, but merely a necessity of time management. Regardless, my blog niche revolves around the central theme of mobility and using technology to be independent. So, you can always check back here and/or catch my more frequent updates at the Rugged Notebooks or Digital Nomads sites. My plan this year is to move to private domains.

One thing I have been doing is writing more focused posts...themed, if you will, or a series of posts on a subject of interest. Recently, this has had a major slant towards telecom, and in particular new gadgets like MagicJack and VoIP telephoney solutions like Google GrandCentral.

I am finding that being more focused on a particular subject area makes it easier and more interesting to research, test, review, and write. I think my readers appreciate it a well and it is helping in the SERPS.

If you are still blogging, drop me a line and let me know how you are getting on. There seems to have been a drop in the number of friends I met online in 2007 that have continued to blog, or scaled back like I have. -Digital Nomad

4. Twelve Step Program for Email Addicts
(Archived in: Online Usability Reviews)

I saw this over at the BigString 2.0 website and thought it was good advice. BigString is an interesting concept in itself, which I will let you discover for yourself. These 12 items have been edited somewhat, so not to get dinged for duplicate content. There were some typos in the original text anyway. Enjoy.

1. Do not send email when you are angry. Wait until you calm down before you send that email. Feelings and thoughts can be difficult to interpret and easily misconstrued.

2. Never send a sarcastic email that could be taken out of context. Sarcasm and email do not mix. You can easily offend someone in an email without intent to do so.

3. Do not send email gossip. You never know where the email will end up. Just make a commitment to yourself not to participate in any gossip.

4. Never end significant relationships via email. Email is the equivalent of an electronic paper trail. Not good for any sour ending, whether business or personal.

5. If you don't want your boss or coworkers to see it, better not send that email from work.

6. Never put anything in writing that may come back to haunt you. A good overall policy. Not just for email.

7. Never, ever, hit ‘Reply to All’ when you just want to send an email to one individual.

8. Don’t email pictures of yourself to others. Especially, online acquaintances and complete strangers.

9. Don’t make promises or commitments via email that you cannot or will not keep.

10. When you send attachments, be sure that you have selected the correct files and documents.

11. Good advice from New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, “Never write when you can talk. Never talk when you can nod. And never put anything in an email.”

12. Try BigString recallable email. If you do happen to make errors...the recallable, erasable, and non-forwardable features will help to correct such mistakes.

5. How to Build 10-Minute Affiliate Website Mashups
(Archived in: Online Income Reviews)

If you are searching for ways to be innovative with your online marketing, then here is another plug for many of the ideas featured at 45n5.com authored by Mark Wielgus. No, this is not a paid post.

This is the good stuff, it's an addendum to the post on "30 Websites in 30 Days", and Mark calls this his YouTube-Ebay-Amazon Affiliate Website Mashup Thingy.

I have had a few email exchanges with Mark, and these are a few of his cautionary thoughts by way of how he has explained the ideas behind how it should work. Most people will not succeed with this mashup concept, or any other website scripting without the underlying concept and knowledge (or experience from learning) of how to build such a niche site.

Cranking out "out of the box" and rubber stamp solutions is what everybody else is doing. Doing the same thing that everyone else is doing online will bring the same results...which happens to be not making any money online. This also happens to mirror Einstein's theory of insanity, and he was no dummy. It's also making many people wealthy for some pretty worthless online information products.

So, if you use the script out of the box, most of your money will be made from luck or successful keyword research (aka) what words and topics you use to build these niche minisites in mass production.

Now is the time to learn. Take the time to consider doing it right. - Digital Nomad

6. A SOHO Reprise of Honest Riches System
(Archived in: Online Income Reviews)

A 25 Year Old Entrepreneur Making a Living Online from Home

You probably have read about or heard of The Rich Jerk and Chis X of Day Job Killer. If not you better stop and do a Google search right now. About 2 years ago, Holly Mann, a young mother started to successfully market directly against high profile Internet marketing gurus like these guys.

Living in a foreign country with no job and few resources, Holly decided she could research, design, and deliver a kinder and gentler approach to online marketing. Evidently she found her niche selling "How-To" information, because she has become successful in a short period of time (well, a couple of years).

"Honest Riches 2" is a 95 page proven guide. Holly shows all the techniques she has used to make money online through affiliate programs starting with no website and no start-up money, then on to free websites that can easily be setup with little or no experience, including free advertising that most people don't know or think about.

Yes, it seems possible to make money online and work from home just about anywhere (Holly lives in Thailand), but don't quit your day job just yet. You need a system and you need the right tools and knowledge to be successful. Changing your career is a life altering decision.

Before taking the leap, do plenty of due diligence and adequate research for information and resources about starting an online business and becoming an online entrepreneur. This e-book is geared for beginners, but is a valuable resource for all online marketers. No "get-rich-quick" schemes here....like any real business endeavor, it involves some effort and some work. But you will learn strategies and techniques to start making money right away.

To read more about Holly Mann techniques and other online marketers, visit Thank You Holly Mann.

7. John Chow Calls It Quits on Agloco
(Archive in: Weblogs and Business)

After many attempts at beating a dead horse, everyone involved in the Agloco fiasco can now uncross their fingers. It ain't gonna happen. Even John Chow has finally admitted defeat along with almost 30,000 signed up in his Agloco network.

Here is a partial screenshot of his last post on the subject, and here is a link to the post about the Agloco demise at TechCruch. Like John says...it shows that all those MBAs don't always muster up success, even the second time around. For posterity, watch the video on the Agloco viewbar attributes, and think about all the gurus that were on board for this.

8. How to Build 30 Websites in 30 Days
(Archive in Ecommerce SOHO Online Usability)

It may sound implausible, but it is not impossible. Follow this Digital Nomad and you know that just feeding the blogs is not going to cut it anymore. Blogging should be part of your online marketing network, but not a diversion.

I have been searching heavy for the folks that are making it online and not the wannabes. One such source is 45n5.com authored by Mark Wielgus. This guy tells it straight. You have to hunt an peck to find the good stuff, and you will have to piece it together, but I think a good start is on this website.

Mark will show you how to find a niche, create a website in 10 minutes, and then shove it in the pipeline with some SEO tricks. Theoretically, there is no reason why you could not do this everyday for a month and then have 30 minisites up and running for affiliate programs in thirty days. That's if you want to have a website between you and the merchant.

I am finding that you maybe don't even need a website to market affiliate programs, but you do have to commit to spending some money for Google Adword campaigns. Better have a pad and pen ready.

There is always something to learn. Take the time to learn something new each day. - Digital Nomad

9. Thinking Blog Celebrates First Year with A Free Laptop Giveaway
(Archived in: Shoutouts Social Media Marketing)

Anything that goes viral online can be fun to watch, but sometimes it's even more exciting if you are part of the effort with some skin in the game. The Thinking Blog will make you think about many different things, and it will also make you think about viral marketing with the chance to start the new year right with a new laptop computer as part of an online promotion.

You should know Ilker Yoldas as a website developer and graphic designer. Ilker is also a professional blogger. A great combination for promoting ideas and new products online.

The Thinking Blog celebrates its first anniversary with an online giveaway to help get a new product line of rugged computers noticed online and hopefully taking it viral. Few things work as good as "FREE", except maybe these two words combined: "FREE COMPUTER".

The giveaway rules from Ilker state, "To enter our giveaway, all you have to do is write about it in your blog. Ensure you have two links on your blog post, one link with rugged related keywords to RuffPC.com (e.g. "rugged computer", "water resistant laptop", "spill proof notebook", and the likes) and another link to this giveaway post."

With a worldwide entourage of blog buddies and faithful readers, some bloggers become the experts of online marketing by disclosing this online information by showing you what to do. "TTB" is in this category with over 1600 subscribed RSS readers and several thousand new and returning visitors to the blog each day.

To win the free laptop giveaway at The Thinking Blog you have to participate by writing a review in your own blog post. This promotion is being sponsored by Ruff PC, and the computer giveaway is worthy of your participation.

The computer is a brand new, rugged, water resistant laptop called the RuffBook Tech. This road-worthy laptop has a magnesium alloy case, and is built to survive the harshest conditions.

Stop reading about it in this post, and go read the complete entry rules at The Thinking Blog. Now go get your chance at owning a new rugged laptop before the end of 2007. Also, congratulate llker by leaving a comment or two on the blog.

Happy Anniversary! -Digital Nomad

Related Links:

www.thethinkingblog.com or email: ilker@thethinkingblog.com
Contact: Alan Shad, President: www.ruffpc.com
Telephone or email: sales@ruffpc.com

Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur

10. Stop Feeding Your Blogs with Endless Content
(Archived in: Social Media Marketing Social Media Optimization)

I wanted to make a quick update in reference to writing and submitting Pillar Articles to article directories vs. the chore of "Feeding Blogs" with endless content. This test is progressing nicely. I have submitted 5 pillar articles since about the middle of last month.

I know this is working, as I have been posting less to all the blogs I author in varying degrees as a test. This has not affected the blog traffic much at all. Traffic is actually improving, according to StatCounter and Alexa for two of the blogs that I author. One averaging over 10 page views per visitor at the time of this writing.

It may also be that I am now writing better, more focused content, since I do not feel pressured to try and post something every day for the sake of trying to post so frequently.

The five recent pillar articles have been downloaded for publication over 100 times in less than 30 days, and this is just for GoArticles. I periodically will submit similar articles to several of the more popular article directories.

OK. You can "stop feeding your blogs" now, and you also can stop making endless comments on popular blogs, trying to get made a "Fav" on Technorati, and otherwise making the meter go up on metrics that have much ado about nothing when it comes to quality traffic.

I think submitting to article directories will also create better traffic with better long-term and permanent links.

Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur

11. A Cheap Way to Secure Any Domain Dot Com
(Archive in Ecommerce SOHO Online Usability)

Here is possibly a way to secure a domain name when you are in a hurry, and at the worst an extra free email account. You can use your own domain to create a personalized email address for you, a business, or anything else through an AOL service called My eAddress. You have up to 100 invites for others to get their own email address on your domain. The free service is called AOL My eAddress.

Just a few comments and cautions from the TOS. You have to give out quite a bit of personal information, like a valid cell phone number in the US or Canada. Additionally, if you use the "Bring your Own Domain" option, you can use any hosting company you like while using free email service from AOL. However, if you choose the "Popular Custom Domain" option, you will be stuck with AOL as the administrator for the domain, so you will not be able to host a website at that domain.

This could be a catch 22 for your future plans, so please read the "Terms of Service" carefully at AOL My eAddress.

Source: www.nofullstop.com

Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur

12. Planting Seeds with Pillar Articles
(Archive in Ecommerce SOHO Weblogs and Business)

Bouncing around the blogosphere, you may find that many of the well known bloggers are coming to the same conclusions that I already have. Get back to basics, don't worry about PR, Technorati, or Alexa ranking...and concentrate on traffic.

For some people this still means spending horrific amounts of time networking and hitting the social network scene. I am more convinced that writing pillar articles for submission to article directories is a much better approach.

This involves spending more time on research and organizing your thoughts far enough into the future to determine how you can approach a particular subject. You need to write for yourself, but you also need to write about things other people will have an interest in reading.

In many ways this is much better than the prospect of having to write posts just for the sake of writing a post. I know at many times people get a writing block, or just get bored, or even fed up with the notion that they have to "feed the blog" (I think I just coined a useful phrase).

Some of the additional rewards of pillar articles, is that your writing will be more involved and engaging, you will be building authority in one or more areas of personal interest or a niche, and you will be expanding your own knowledge base as you research and process information.

Additionally, you will have a greater chance of having your articles republished elsewhere on blogs and mentioned in references in such a manner that they are permanently linked back to your blogs and websites. Go plant some seeds for future traffic building, and resist the urge to "Feed the Blog".

Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur

13. Google Page Rank Drops Like A Rock for SEO Stars and Network Gamers
(Archive in Ecommerce SOHO Weblogs and Business)

The Death of Page Rank! Everyone is complaining about their PR, or Google Page Rank dropping. I say, "Get over it and move on". As I wrote in a recent post about traffic strategy, it is becoming more obvious all the time that all these ranking metrics really prove is nothing...unless you want to post and brag about how you make the meters move.

Just like Technorati, or Alexa ranking, PR has little or nothing to do with traffic and successful marketing. Anything ill-gotten is just that, "ill-gotten". So, if you have spent months or years gaming the system, don't be surprised to see what your true worth might be in the Blogosphere and the Arpanet.

Take a deep breath, get back to work...and try to learn how to add value to your online projects and for your readers and visitors. Like the book says "Do What You Love, and The Money Will Follow."

I think that all this nonsense is amazing to the true online marketers that know how to push the buttons to make things really work. It once again boils down to Niche, Traffic, Monetization, with the actual "Product" bringing up the rear.

Maybe backwards of how the analog world works, but after all it is a "Market of One" when it come to the Internet and online marketing. Build a better mouse trap and you will be found.

Besides, you really can't toss rocks at Google for trying to plug holes in the dam by making the PR rank more honest. More fun for gamers, too, who just have a burning desire for shortcuts and beating the system.

Now we can all look forward to posts on new theories, new techniques, new ebooks, new widgets, new podcasts, new videos, new ezines, new seminars, new gurus, and new yearly conventions. Page Rank is alive and well, it just no longer is what it had become.

Apologies in advance for all the cliches. - Digital Nomad

Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur

14. What Do Your Phone Numbers Spell?
(Archived in: Social Media Marketing Related Miscellany)

It's the middle of the weekend, so no heavy thought riddled posts today. Just some fun and games to let your mind roam a little. Maybe this should become a habitual weekend exercise to post about. Find something that is lighthearted, but still interesting and write a quick post about it.

I have had this bookmarked for some time, and today finally tried out PhoneSpell.org. Oddly enough, my telephone number does not spell anything. What are the chances of that. I tried both 7-Digit and 10-Digit combinations. This is no joke. Mouseover and click to see larger in a new window.

Oh well, give PhoneSpell a link up and see what you come up with for your numbers. It may give you an idea for a new blog or domain name, jog your memory for a new marketing approach, or just make you laugh. Maybe we can resurrect the notion of the "enum" network.

Sometimes we just need some levity. While you are there, check out the Voice Nation link at the bottom, and help PhoneSpell pay some bills.

Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur

15. Article Directory Submissions vs. Frequent Blog Posting to Drive Traffic
(Archived in: Ecommerce SOHO Weblogs and Business)

Are you lost in the blogosphere? Tired of posting and timestamps? I have been doing some experimenting with the different blogs that I write, including analysis and research about blogs versus websites. This has involved researching the current methods to create traffic, which everyone and their brother has rehashed in posts and how-to SEO ebooks and seminars.

You know, like leaving comments on blogs, posting frequently, writing interesting posts, viral contests, linkbating, joining social networks, etc. These all do work. The caveat is that if you are using some of the monetization schemes that everyone writes about, you first have to have a presence with regard to a Techorati rank, and Alexa rank, or both to get in the game.

The long and the short is that both of these ranking systems have little to do with making money in my mind. I personally have no interest in PPP, PPC, PPA, or any of the advertising schemes that require tons of time and effort. It is a double edge razor blade in my opinion, because you have to spend an unbelievable amount of time socializing and creating backlinks. It also is why bloggers burn out fast.

Technorati is notoriously bad for not sending traffic. And get this...everyone that measures traffic knows that bloggers don't click on ads or text links. So what is the point of pandering to other bloggers in the blogosphere to get their traffic. Even Darren Rowse has recently admitted that Adsense income was no longer worth cluttering his Problogger blog up with ads.

I can almost guarantee that if you spend much of your time in forums and social networks to gain popularity, you will have little to show for it except some nice ranks and bragging rights. All this indicates that it's time to get back to the idea of selling a niche product or service (a real product that fills a need) using a static website and driving traffic to that website. That is what online marketing is about. By best accounts, only a few dozen bloggers make a full time living out of 100 million blogs. Not a very good business model if you ask me.

A good Technorati and Alexa rank may be giving you the illusion that you are successful. The same is true for frequent posting. I have deliberately cut back on posting to see what would happen. You guessed it...Technorati and Alexa ranks drop like a rock, and very quickly. The effort to maintain your rankings is an endless nightmare of posts to blogs, and posting comments to social networks and forums. It is like being a shark, stop swimming and you die.

I am beginning to think a better approach is to use your blogging as part of a network traffic strategy to create desirable traffic. I also am going back to writing "pillar articles" for article directory submission. These end up as permanent links and keep on giving for years to come.

There are only four things that matter in online marketing, and they are in this order of importance:

1. Niche
2. Traffic
3. Monetization
4. Product

Notice that the product is the least important thing. Unless, you just write for kicks or the truly original purpose of blogging...to keep a journal, my money is on investing time online that will produce recurring revenue and better return on your investment of both time and money.

What are your thoughts or experience?

Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur

16. Consider Buying A Rugged Laptop
Author: John Smith

If You Work in Difficult Conditions, Then A Rugged Laptop
May Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

Rugged laptops are not cheap, you may know that already since you are interested in them. And they also don't come with the same configuration as the other commercial laptops you may be used to. What you get instead with a rugged laptop, is the possibility and flexibility to work in a lot of tough locations on difficult weather. That is the real value of a rugged laptop, value that earns all the money you may have paid for it.

If you work in a place where you find one of the below listed conditions, then you should really consider buying a rugged laptop:

Liquid All Over (including on your rugged laptop)

Rugged laptops have sealed keyboards that won't let the water or any other liquid to seep inside. Also, the ports that you will find on a ruggedized laptop are usually protected by efficient covers that keep the liquid away from connectors so you won't experience any unpleasant situations in wet environments.

Strong and Persistent Vibrations

Rugged laptops were designed with this issue in mind, they have strong components, a hard drive that resists to strong vibrations, things that commercial laptops don't do. Put a normal laptop in a vibrating environment and you may have the surprise of loosing data. Not with a rugged laptop.

They are also tested for...

Drops, Drops, Drops

During a work day you may drop your rugged laptop more than once. You should know that all the components inside it are strong and tested to withstand a strong impact: CPU, hard drive, optical devices, etc. The rugged laptop case is also strong not easy to break.

Electromagnetic Fields

Commercial notebooks won't perform well near an electromagnetic area such as radio transmissions, power generators, etc. A rugged laptop was actually designed to work in such environments, environments where commercial notebooks may actually stop working.

About the author:
John Smith is the editor of MagicLaptop.com. Read the complete guide on "How To Buy A Rugged Laptop"
www.MagicLaptop.com

17. Understanding SOHO Shoutouts
(Archived in: Shoutouts Social Media Marketing)

Do you have a list of bloggers you like and want to recognize? This is what my Saturday Shoutouts project is all about.

This is where I give people a mini review as a mention in a weekly post, and then Stumble, Netscape, use other bookmarks, and write a few comments to their blog posts.

This week will be fairly brief with four bloggers instead of the targeted five blogs I attempt to call out each Saturday afternoon. Charlene is recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month by doing a pink overhaul at her Casual Keystrokes blog. Scott is happy to be an S.O.B. at Finding Your Marbles (great name for a blog). Then David points out the marketing value of YouTube in a post on Social Media Optimization, and there is Ilker at The Thinking Blog, who is always thinking for us.

Leave a comment and let me know what you are up to with your blogging efforts.

Making Money Ideas for The Online Entrepreneur

18. Review of SOHO Phone Guide
(Archived in: Ecommerce SOHO Online Usability)

Doing a recent search on "SOHO", the obvious acronym for Small Office/Home Office (assuming that you are not from New York City), I came across this website for the SOHO Phone Guide.

It is a good example of "soft selling" and using what looks like a free consumer information guide to steer readers to a commercial enterprise. In this case, a shameless plug for Onebox. In my early marketing days before the days of the Internet, this may have also been referred to as an advertorial. A thinly disguised attempt at making an advertisement look like editorial content.

In this case the marketing message may be useful for those that are lazy, or perhaps less adept a putting some of the free online telephony solutions together for use in there small business adventures.

I was a Onebox early adopter when it first came online, and prior to it becoming a paid service. All-in-all, still a good option for those willing to pay a monthly fee for unified messaging and a one number follow-me type telephone service.

Making Money Ideas for The Online Entrepreneur

19. Saturday Shoutout Roundup
(Archived in: Shoutouts Social Media Marketing)

Once again time to acknowledge new friends and blogs worthy of note and interest. As is the new twist, you should get 3-4 extra links from being mentioned in my Saturday Shoutouts. Not sure why, but Shoutwire was being obstinate last week. That bookmark has been replaced with a bonus link. You also get a few comment or two on your blog and another Stumble for being picked.

This week we have Patrick from Top Secret Blogger and advice about staying on topic, John the Cow man is proud of his new look at John Cow Dot Com, and thoughtful design with Dawud at DawudMiracle. Round it out with what's up about music and cats at Wtfzup, plus Wendy at the new eMoms at Home (and Dads with Dawud again).

As might be expected, I too need the favors of social media networking, and those beloved comments on my personal blogs at the links that follow. -Digitalnomad

The SOHO Quest
Digital Nomads
The Sovereign Journey
The Rugged Notebooks Blog

Making Money Ideas for The Online Entrepreneur

20. TokBox Alternatives to Video Messaging
(Archived in: Online Usability Technology in Plain English)

Here are a few other online Video Messaging systems I should have mentioned in my last post about TokBox. Everyone that uses the tried and true Skype will know that they have video capability. Other contenders are OoVoo.com, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, and many others I don't care to mention or promote.

Festoon,Inc. had a plug-in for video chat that supposedly worked with both Skype and Google Talk, but the free download is no longer available (website www.festooninc.com domain expired 8-30-07) .

The best of the lot is said to be SightSpeed. Below are two promotional screenshots from the Skype and SightSpeed websites to give you an idea if what to expect.

Sorry to say that I am behind on my testing, and hope to report my personal findings in the near future. No doubt that as telephones and computers continue to converge there will be more "Talk-and-See" options, just like predicted in the Dick Tracy comics and Flash Gordon movies from the 1930s.

Making Money Ideas for The Online Entrepreneur

21. TOK While You Chat and Alternative Talk Online with TokBox
(Archived in: Online Usability Technology in Plain English)

This was noted on Jimmy Huen's Blog some time ago last month, and I must admit I was intrigued. Also a little bit embarrassed as I did not have a video camera to test it out. I finally ran out and bought a camera (still in the box).

I do fancy free or near free telephony and communication solutions, and probably will end up building my own private network one way or another. The idea of video chat will certainly figure into those plans. I want to be able to at least have this capability with a rugged laptop and some wireless solutions when on the road.

I still have not had a chance to test TOKBOX, but wanted to at least post about it, and then I can come back and do an update. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch also has said some nice things about it.

"While there are plenty of video chat products out there on the market, including Skype, most of them require at least some software download to the computer. Something about the simplicity of TokBox, which is entirely a web application, suggests it might get very popular very fast."

Making Money Ideas for The Online Entrepreneur

22. Saturday Shoutouts On A Cool September Day
(Archived in: Shoutouts Social Media Marketing)

Here are some Saturday Shoutouts featuring new blog buddies that are always there when you need them. These blogging bright spots help to boost the morale of those around them. There are many, so this will be the first of several posts.

I also want to thank you with these extra links. For this post we have Liz from Successful Blog Dot Com and her well known SOB promotion, Agent Sully at Life Learning Today, Loren with his always interesting Search Engine Jounal, Sujan and Single Grain Dot Com, plus Charlene with some essential info at her Essential Keystrokes Blog.

As an added bonus I also have cast some Reddit votes, Shoutwire (or something else special) for individual posts I have read on your sites. I hope this gets you some extra juice to your blogs.

Should you be inclined to return the favor, I have listed embedded links to all of my personal blog endeavors below to make it easy. Thanks for being there.

The SOHO Quest
Digital Nomads
The Sovereign Journey
The Rugged Notebooks Blog

Leaving a comment or two on my blogs is also always appreciated. -Digitalnomad

Making Money Ideas for The Online Entrepreneur

23. Everything in the Known Universe about Technorati-Illuminati
(Archived in: Related Miscellany Weblogs and Business)

Well not quite everything. I had not updated this blog since sometime in August until today. In the process of checking my stats on Technorati I came across this anomaly.

As you can see from these screenshots taken today, I have two Technorayi scores. One says that this blog is in the Top 10K with a rank of 7,680, and the other screenshot shows this blog ranked at nearly twice that number with a rank 14,659. This descrepency occurs by clicking on different links within the Technorati UI.

I actually discovered something was wrong when I was checking the stats for JaKelDaily.com. I usually make the top comments there each month, and keep tabs on Jason. I new something was awry, because Technorati shows Jason's blog with an authority of "1" (-1-) and a rank of 3,915,745. Statistic that keep getting worse instead of better.

Many people get bent out of shape over Technorati stats and the ranking system, and for some good reasons. This is why I have in the past called Technorati the