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The Mason Jar Experiment

2011-10-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

Starting your own business has never been easier. Thrive Learning is one resource that can help you improve what you’re already doing, but before that I think it’s time we address one simple fundamental that keeps many people from their dreams. The Flee.

When thinking of everything we have access to these days the easiest thing you can do, if you really want it, is make money online. It’s really not that hard. However; a lot of people are trapped into thinking it’s impossible and because of this they leave it to others to go out and start businesses that they’ll just simply seek to work for. This can be summed up in this illustration: Flees are one of the smallest insects in the world but their ability to jump is up to 3 meters. If you catch a flee and put it in a regular mason jar and place a lid over the top with a hole or two for it to breath but small enough so it can’t jump out the flee will jump for a period of time smashing its head into the lid. After a short period of time the flee will adjust and jump just shy of hitting its head, pretty smart right? Once this happens you can take the lid off. The flee will continue to jump, but it will never jump hirer then when it had the lid on. It’s been conditioned and given the mindset that it cannot achieve anymore then what we limited it to. And yet, we know it can jump up to 3 meters with ease.

Owning your own business and making money online is easy. It only takes a bit of effort on your part to get it done. If you’re unsure about how it would work exactly and want to wait until you know everything there is to know about it, remember this: you can imagine all day long what a pizza smells like, what it looks like, and what it feels like, but until you’ve actually had a slice you’ll never know what it tastes like. Go out and start your business today. It doesn’t have to be perfect when you set it up, that’s the beauty of the whole thing, you get to improve it over time as you learn. And, if it turns out you don’t like it, fine, scrap it and start over, or better yet, sell it.

In closing, are you still stuck in the mason jar even though the lids off?

How Double Chocolate Changed PR

2011-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Today I had the fortunate experience to relive what it truly means to be in PR and the power that it can have in online marketing. When you want to really thrive learning from what others have done is key in making great improvements. Here’s the story:

Its not secret that many large, hotshot companies want their products in the faces of customers around the globe and that a lot of that happens through social media and popular bloggers. In this particular case it was a combined effort. Scott Stratten is one of the many online social bloggers I follow. I always find that his posts show facts and his personality. So instead of just reading words blindly I’ve come to understand and know Scott more. That said in his most recent post he talks about the caliber of the PR/Agency People that are “Awesome”. You’re welcome to go and read his post but what I really wanted to emphasize was the matter in which things happened not only for him but the company in general.

When we approach customers with our products and ideas it’s important to always remember they have the freedom of choice. They can choose to accept or reject our offer. Our main goal in marketing is to provide the customer with the information and the ability to get what they want. When Scott was approached Duri and Magnum he tells us that they just wanted him to be him. To be honest about what he thought, to blog and tweet only if he wanted to. And it paid off big time, but only After a follow-up. We’ll come back to that. After shipping a crate of ice cream to Scott and trying several flavors Scott got on and made a quick little video talking about how dumb the title was of one of the ice creams. It was labeled something like double chocolate. In the video he expresses, that’s impossible, it should be called quad chocolate because there’s four layers of chocolate. Scott mentions how his regular readers, family and friends enjoyed the video. He also mentions that he really wasn’t trying to sell the product. In fact, the title of the video was “Magnum’s False Advertising”. Now lets skip ahead to the follow-up.

The main reason this became a big story and that Scott wrote the post was based off of the follow up. The PR group from Duri and Magnum watched the video and then shipped Scott a special package. Four cartons of “Magnum Quadruple Chocolate”. It also had his name across the top.

This type of follow up is key in our efforts to not only get on the good side of our customers but to get a better idea of how we can improve ourselves as a company.

Small Niche Web Sites: Lots of Patience and Hard Work

2010-01-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

With hundreds of home business opportunities, how is a person supposed to be able to choose one that's going to be good for them. Perhaps things are going well for you financially, but you could still use a little extra spending money or some money to replace your savings spent on holiday gifts. So, what is a person to do? You want to make some cash without putting too much of a monetary investment into the endeavor so you decide to start a small niche website.

Hundreds of get rich quick schemes tell you that you can make thousands of dollars a month or even a week, immediately. I'll be honest with you, unless these people are going to give you a gold or diamond mine for free, there's very little chance that you're going to make that much money in a week right away.

What if I told you there's a way to make money and you only have to spend about ten dollars a month plus any fee your supplier may charge. I'm not saying you'll make thousands of dollars a week, you may not even make that in a month, but I can tell you that if you choose a good niche and work hard, you will see great results a few months after starting up a small niche website with Thrive Learning Institute.

Have you ever needed something very specific and you couldn't find it in any brick and mortar stores but you did find it on a small website? Well, that website was probably a niche site. Good news, it's not that hard to set one up, if you give it the time and the effort that is needed to begin.

To begin, you will need a tax ID number, a business license, a website, and a supplier. You may hire someone to build you a web page or you can build your own. There are sites on the Internet such as Weebly.com and Yola.com that will allow you to easily and quickly set up your own website. You can also use blog sites such as Blogspot and Wordpress. These sites are free to use but may require a small fee to forfeit advertising on your page.

Once the site is up, you have a business license and a tax ID number (when applicable), and a supplier, you can get going on your business. However, I would suggest getting started on optimizing your business in search engines shortly after purchasing a domain name. You can put a placeholder on the site and begin building links to it which will help your site rank higher in search engines such as Google.

So you see, it's not terribly difficult, all you really need is a lot of patience, hard work, and someone to show you the way.

Please visit our site for more information about Thrive Learning Institute.

The Importance of Tracking Traffic to Your Website

2009-12-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

There are so many people out there who believe that as long as they're getting traffic to their website, and they know they're getting traffic to their site, that it doesn't matter where the traffic is coming from. Those people are wrong. To be honest, if you're not tracking your traffic effectively, you could be losing thousands of dollars a month. How? Well, are you paying for Internet advertising of any kind? If so, do you know how much traffic is coming in from each ad? Perhaps there isn't any traffic coming in from any of your paid advertising which means no conversions, if so, why are you paying to advertise if you get nothing in return?

The interesting thing is that you may be getting the majority of your conversions through various sites that are ranking on the first page of search engines for your specified keywords. If this is the case, you are receiving thousands of dollars of free advertising; something any business should be ecstatic to get. I mean, really, what business doesn't like receiving free advertising, free traffic, and free conversions.

Adwords

It's about time you stop paying for unnecessary adwords that aren't even bringing in any conversions. Keeping any kind of ad that you're not actually making any money off of is like pouring money down the drain. If an ad isn't converting, it's time to change it. Constant corrections and changes are a necessity when advertising online. So you're getting clicks, good for you, but if you're not getting conversions what's the point of paying for people to simply view your website?

Social Media and Articles

How much of your traffic is coming from social media sites and articles you have posted on the web? This is something to consider as you try to link it to ranking organically. What exactly are you doing to help your site rank? It's very important to track the percentage of conversions that are actually coming from social media and article marketing. If it's working for you and it's getting you ranked in search engines, keep at it.

Ranking in Search Engines

If your site is ranking high in search engines for your designated keywords, you may not even need paid advertising. In fact, you might be funneling thousands of dollars into pay per click ads that aren't actually converting. If this is the case, perhaps it's time to reassign your marketing budget and decide if search engine optimization should carry greater weight than pay per click advertising.

All in all, it's up to each individual company to decide what is going to work best for them. Assess the marketing goals of your company in order to discern if your current marketing strategy is helping you reach them. If it is, keep up the good work but continue to search for anything else you could do in order to make even more improvements. If it's not working at all for you, it's probably a good time to do a marketing overhaul.

For more information, please visit Thrive Learning Institute.

Thrive Learning Institute Podcasts Help Students Learn

2009-12-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

Press Release - For Immediate Release - December 7, 2009

Thrive Learning Institute Podcasts Help Students Learn

Students of the Thrive Learning Institute are getting fast-breaking tech news and up to the minute internet marketing advice via the "Audible Commerce" Podcast. The weekly half-hour audio show shares discussion of the latest in tech business.

The podcast often includes interviews with SEO gurus and other computer professionals. A recent episode featured discussion with a top Utah-based SEO firm. Their rep shared his insights into the value of inbound linking, and strategies to get those links.

"It's often difficult for our students, many of whom are still working out the building of a website or a blog, to understand the intricacies of the news in the tech world." Said Jim Young, "But that news can have a strong impact on their businesses." Recent tech news segments in the podcast have included commentary on Windows 7, and discussions of how mergers among the big companies can impact smaller mom-and-pop web shops.

The Audible Commerce Podcast resides within the Thrive Learning Institute's online learning center, recently updated to version 3.0. This update included not only a revised interface (completely reworked to facilitate access and learning), but a full revision of the curriculum as well. The podcast was added along with the new material, to give students an additional method of receiving the information. The podcast format also allows for discussion of more immediate and timely topics.

Jim Young continued, "The Audible Commerce podcast shows Thrive's committment to helping our students learn, no matter what background they bring to the table." He added that the podcast hosts are experts at taking complex technical issues and making them understandable to those without a deep tech background. Those that are more experienced in the computer world are still finding benefit by learning about the money-making applications.

Some of the more business-related topics that have been covered include the importance of branding in the long-term promotion of a website, as well as how having a secure computer can impact your business. How can having an obviously secure website impact your ability to convert visitors into buyers? How can having good keywords impact your search engine ranking?

For more information on how to access the Audible Commerce podcast, visit the Thrive Learning Institute's website, http://thrivelearninginstitute.com.

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Search Engine Optimization vs. Pay Per Click

2009-12-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of people out there who are dumping more and more money into what some would call a lost cause. They are literally throwing money away, apparently with the idea that money is made to be lost. There is, however, an easier way, a way to multiply money instead of giving it up. In this article, I will be discussing the difference between search engine optimization and pay per click.

Okay, so the biggest difference should be inherently obvious to everyone, yep, you guessed it. Search engine optimization is free, whereas, pay per click uses that one little word that sends shivers up and down the spines of new business owners and seasoned veterans alike, “pay”. I suppose it's all well and good until you begin adding up all the costs of pay per click, it's then that your tongue swells and it all of a sudden becomes hard to speak, hard to breath. This is the point where you finally realize that you have actually lost $20 on the sale you just made on your small niche website; it's the point where you realize that your pay per click campaigns are eating giant holes in your profit. In fact, they're not just eating giant holes in it; they're devouring it, eliminating it all together.

You find yourself scrambling for a solution, a way to kill that ugly beast that continually eats without lamentation. You find the solution, could this really be? A way to get more traffic by paying nothing at all? After pinching your arm to wake yourself, you find that this is not a dream. The answer, search engine optimization. A way to give your site notice in search engines without spending a single red cent on it.

You know, there is a much easier way, get rid of the profit eating beast. Within months, you can actually be ranking on the first page of Search Engines. This happens if you're smart about things and build good quality links. Of course, you may have to lean on pay per click for long enough to get ranking on your own so that you don't lose traffic all together. Once you're ranking high in search engines, you may decide to get rid of pay per click, I would. You'll find that when this happens, your traffic will rise and so will your profit.

Give it a shot, it can't hurt, right? Get out there and do some research on Search Engine Optimization and Marketing. You may be surprised at some of the simple things one may do to help their site rank higher in search engines such as Google. You can start with working on the obvious things (ie. Your title and content) then you can move into some of the more intricate details of search engine optimization. For more information about search engine optimization, please read the Thrive Learning Institute Blog. And, trust me, it will be worth your effort to get very familiar with search engine optimization and how it can help you save expenses.

Marketing: Back to Basics for Small Business

2009-12-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

Writing a business plan can be the most difficult element of business. Executing the business plan is also very difficult at times but writing it presents a myriad of challenges. It can take months to write a decent business plan, but don't loose patience. Then again, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you're struggling writing a business plan, perhaps it's time to consult an expert.

This article will walk you through the sections of a business plan. After reading this, you should have a pretty good idea of what you need to do in order to get started on your plan. Doing research on and including these sections in your business plan, will help you formulate better decisions about your business and how to lay it out.

There are several sections every business plan should contain. These sections include: executive summary, company description, product/service description, market analysis, operations, web plan, management summary, critical risks, financial plan, and the appendix.

Executive Summary

The executive summary should be a summary of everything that is in the document as a whole. One should be able to read your executive summary and understand what each section of your business plan will cover.

Company Description

Your company description will describe the legalities of the company. It will also tell about how the company got started and its history.

Product/Service Description

What exactly are you selling? Describe the product or service you are putting out on the market. Make sure you describe the benefits which it has and how it is going to benefit your target consumer.

Market Analysis

Who is your target market? What is the demographic and psychographic of your customers? What needs are you fulfilling with your product or service?

Operations

How is this whole thing going to operate? What kind of management plan are you going to have? Create a calendar of how your plan will be implemented; make this trackable and fulfillable

Web Plan

This section is included if your company or service is online. Discuss any and all aspects of your business which are online.

Management Summary

This will show how your company is going to be organized and also tells about the management team such as who is on it, etc.

Critical Risks

Describe any risks which are in the area such as competition and environmental risks.

Financial Plan

Include any accounting information such as cash flow tables and information on your predicted profit and loss on a profit and loss sheet.

Appendix

Include any sheets such as the complete financial results in this appendix and then site that it is there in the actual document.

You don't have to start writing a business plan in this specific order, in fact, I believe it will be easier not to. Simply use common sense and complete it in an order which makes sense to you.

How to Rank Even Higher in Search Engines

2009-11-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

What are you missing?

Would you believe there is a very simple way to get you ranking higher in search engines such as Google, so long as you're not already following these guidelines. Simply include your keywords or keyword phrases in your title, meta information and, of course, in your content.

Title

There are so many people out there who don't realize that simply including your target keywords in your title can actually make you rank much higher in search engines such as Google. It's been proven that those who have the specific keywords searched for, in their title, will actually come up much higher in the search engine rankings.

You can also include one keyword or more in the domain name; that should help immensely in bringing up your site in search engines. For example, if you search for “dropship directory” in Google, dropshipdirectory.org is the first result to pop up. It also has the title “Dropship Directory”. This goes to show that it really pays off to have your keywords you're trying to rank for in both your title and your domain.

To solidify the point I'm trying to make, check out the page rank of the two sites below dropshipdirectory.org. Some would suspect that these two sites would have a lower page rank since they're ranked lower but you will find that these two sites actually have a higher page rank than dropshipdirectory.org. Yet, do to the proper use of keywords, dropshipdirectory.org still ranks higher in Google.

Meta Information

There is also a lot to be said about meta information and increasing your rankings with Google. Optimize your meta tags, titles, and descriptions, being sure to use your keywords in all three. This should help boost your rankings in Google and other search engines.

Content

As always, please be sure that your content is well optimized. This means that you should be writing about your keywords and including your keywords every one in twenty-five words or so. Doing this will help search engines pick out those particular words or phrases and will help rank your site even higher.

All in all, if you're not following these simple guidelines, you're giving up a lot of potential for ranking higher. I would suggest walking through these three things to get started, then you can read up on more ways to increase your chances of ranking on Google and other search engines. If you would like to know more about Internet marketing, you may read more on the Thrive Learning Institute Blog.

Thrive Learning Institute, Making an Impact

2009-11-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

Thrive Learning Institute is giving back, in a big way by supporting their local chapter of Golden K Kiwanis, an organization which serves the children of the world.

Employees of Thrive Learning Institute are proud to work for a company that cares so much about serving the community. In an effort to help fund local children's programs, Thrive Learning Institute teamed up with the Orem Owlz, their local team, and Kiwanis Club of Orem.

Thrive Learning Institute donated over $6,000 to benefit local children's programs. To learn more about how Thrive Learning Institute, Kiwanis, and the Orem Owlz work together to bring light into the eyes of local children please visit the Orem Owlz.

Building Public Relations Through Social Media

2009-11-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

There are hundreds of places on the Internet that a company may submit their press releases or other public relations material. These sites have varying structures that they want you to follow; I would suggest going into the site, reading up on the way they would like the content to be submitted and then submitting the content accordingly.

Building a Social Media Image

There are several social media sites where a companies branding and reputation may be formed and solidified. Use these social media sites to your advantage, however, be aware that they can also be to your disadvantage. We will discuss some of the negative implications of web public relations later.

Facebook is a highly used social media site where millions of people go to share information about themselves and reconnect with friends, family, and old associates. Many businesses have now found their way to Facebook and are using it to share the word about their companies and products. I would suggest setting up a Facebook account and setting up a company profile, if you have not done so yet.

Blogger is a great site to set up a blog on. I fell in love with Blogger when I first entered the Internet marketing industry. Humanizing your company is almost always a great public relations move; you want your customers to realize that they are working with real people with real personality, just like them. It's okay to allow your companies “personality” to come out in your blog posts. Write according to the needs of your customers, answer their questions, relate to them on a personal level, and give them content that will help them learn and grow in their areas of interest.

WordPress is another great blog site. In fact, if you go to wordpress.org, you may set up a customized blog and feed it through your own website. I would suggest, for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, having a Blogger Blog and a WordPress Blog. This will enable you to have a blog on your companies web site. It will also provide a way to get some extra links and content on your Blogger Blog. Since the WordPress Blog is directly connected to your company site; I would suggest being strict about using only company-related content. By company related content I mean anything related to the company, what the company sells, and what the company is about.

Twitter is another social media site which has exploded in the past year or two. It is also a site to share information with friends, family and associates and also provides a place for a profile. I would suggest setting up a Twitter account, filling out a profile for your company, and then start Tweeting like crazy. You can tweet about your blogs, your Facebook account, new articles, new improvements in the company, etc.

Marketing Implications

Be aware that, as with everything in business, there are negative implications to these practices along with the positive. The biggest one is that social media is viral. Being viral means that it spreads quickly and, once something is posted online, it's very hard to stop the inevitable process of viral marketing. While that is a positive thing if your content is good and reflects your company in a positive way, it can also be a very negative thing if your company is reflected in a negative way. Be very careful what you post on the Internet about your company and make certain to monitor what your competition or your opposition is saying about your company; the things they say are viral too.

Save Your Reputation, Reputation Management

2009-11-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

There are some pretty funny elements of reputation management. Reputation management is much like customer service; you could use some of the same tactics used in good customer relations. You need a good reputation so you deliver good service, right? Well, everyone else wants their customers to be happy too, right? Take some advice, if you find an article effecting the “reputation” of your company and the content is not true, simply ask the site which is hosting the article to take that information off. Hosting sites don't want a bunch of libel lies spun all over the place any more than you do; it's a liability. Some sites will actually take off the post in its entirety.

I would go about it by reading up on the terms of service of the hosting site; find out if they have an anti-defamatory clause in the terms of service. If they do, all you really need to do is send them the post with all the untruths highlighted and ask that those sections be removed on the grounds that they are libel and defamatory to your company or to yourself. So you know, libel is simply the written form of defamation, slander is the spoken form. Under that scenario, assuming the content is truly an untruth, the hosting company should remove it immediately.

Now, this idea won't work for everyone or for every site but it really is worth a try. You may be surprised at how willing social media sites are to take down any content which goes against their terms of service. However, be aware that some hosting sites will post your email on their site, for all to see. Knowing this, please write respectfully and only the facts; doing this will help save the reputation of your company.

Another thing you can do to counteract getting a negative reputation is to follow through with your promises. If the statements that are against your company are true, perhaps it's time to re-think your customer service strategy or even your marketing strategy. Do you have a customer service department? Are your customers' voices being heard? Put yourself in the shoes of your customer; would you be happy, would you be content, or would you be irate with your company too? If even you would be unhappy, perhaps it truly is time to rethink the way you run things.

Also, watch out for those kamikaze customers who are out to get you simply because they have some sort of personal vendetta against you, as a company or as a person. They're so into ruining your reputation that some of them don't even care about their own reputation. These are the irate customers who don't even want to be heard by you, they want to make a name for themselves and, therefore, do not wish to discuss anything in a calm and rational manor.

If you're the customer, call the company you have a problem with and ask to speak to a customer service representative. Simply explain, in a calm and rational manner, what's going on. If you truly are in the right, most companies will hear you and then either make amends for the wrong or come to a compromise with you.

You see, companies and customers need to realize that there is a happy medium between “the customer is always right” and “the company is always right”. Sometimes it's okay to come to a compromise; neither side has to surrender everything, roll over and say uncle. Believe me, there are easier ways of doing things. Please realize that business matters are delicate and that being calm and rational will substantially increases your chance of solving the problem.

Amazon Affiliate - Domain Name Research

2009-11-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

When you're planning on creating a niche website to make money from one of the biggest factors in how quickly you rank well for your chosen keyword is the domain name you choose. Its extremely important that you get your keyword in the domain name and that the domain name be a.com,.org or.net.

There are a lot of questions and arguments out there about what is actually needed in a domain name and from my personal experience I'll just say that the best format for a domain name is "http://www.keyword.com" instead of "http://www.keywordstore.com" or "http://www.mykeyword.com". It ALWAYS best to have your exact keyword as the domain, nothing more and nothing less. I've had great success by sticking to this practice.

There's also a lot of talk about the.info domain names. Well to be honest you could get and you could rank with it however in my experience.info's aren't give as much authority as the other three (.com.org and.net). Also when you get ready to sell your sites for a nice chunk of change having one of the other three will always help your sale.

My favorite way to quickly research my keywords for domain name availability is to use the free software, "Domain Name Analyzer. Please follow the link and check it out. It allows you to put in an unlimited number domain name possibilities and then choose which extensions to search for (an extension is the.com or.org). The software makes this process go much faster and is much much easier than pounding everything out in GoDaddy.

Amazon Affiliates - Competition Research

2009-11-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

Competition research is an essential part of doing thorough market research. When it comes to doing competition research for an amazon affiliate site you need to several things. First of all head over to Google and type in your keyword. Just below the search input field you'll see a number of competing pages often times in the millions.

What you need to do is put your keyword in quotes so that you only search web pages that are optimizing for that keyword on their site. This will make the number of competing pages drop dramatically. I usually shoot for keywords with less than 100,000 competing pages when I search for my keyword with quotes around it.

Next you want to do a search for how many pages are optimizing for your keyword in the title of their page as well. To do that type this into Google's search field. "allintitle:your keyword". By doing that you'll get a reading of how many web pages have your keyword in their title. I usually try to get keywords that have less than 20,000 competing pages with their keyword in the title.

After you've gotten past those two requirements for your keywords its time to check the top results for your keyword. If they're strong websites you'll want to avoid them and if they're weak you'll know you can rank well for that keyword. I recommend using the SEO for Firefox plugin by SEO Book to do my analysis of competing websites. This will allow you to see how many backlinks these sites have, what their PR is, how old they are and how many different sites are linking to them.

Mainly you want to look at how many backlinks there are to the page thats ranking. If its over 500 then you now have a target for how many backlinks you need to get. 500 can take a little while but its very doable. For me if find that my competing sites have 500 backlinks or less I get very excited and you should too. Thats a keyword you should be able to rank well for in 2-3 months.

Amazon Associates - Product Research

2009-11-13T10:48:00.000-08:00

Product research is an incredibly important part of market research. In the context of building a successful Amazon affiliate website there are several things to watch out for when choosing a product to promote.

First of all the product should be expensive enough for you to make a decent commission on. The Amazon affiliate program offers an average of about 6% on sales so I would go for a price range of $100 or more so that you can make at least $6 per sale. However if you feel you can get a ton of sales for lower-priced products then by all means go for it.

Another factor you should take into account is the selection of products for your chosen keyword. For example I recently researched a keyword about hard drives that had a HUGE selection. However other keywords will have much lower selection like DJ Speakers (another niche I recently researched). So make sure you have a wide selection of relevant products you can promote in your niche.

You should also look at the product reviews of the products you'll be promoting. I wouldn't worry too much about the ratings of the products but more about whether or not they have ratings. They can be a great source of content for your site and can help drive sales if used properly. Also when your customers see those reviews they will more warmed up to buy instead of just going into the purchase with no input from other users.

The last thing you should check on for product research is if the products you're going to promote actually sell well online or not. The best place I've found to check that is eBay. All you have to do is login and check the completed listings for your niche. If there are a lot of sales within a small time frame (a day or two) then you know that a lot of people are willing to buy your niches products online. However if you find that those products only sell occasionally or there are a lot of listings that close without selling it may not be the best niche to build a website around.

In my experience as I've followed these basic guidelines Iv found numerous profitable products to promote with the Amazon Affiliate program.

Adwords for Beginners

2009-11-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

To be honest, when I started out with Pay-per-click, I had no idea in the world what I was doing. I had a friend who did a lot with pay-per-click but it seems like every time I asked him about it, he simply told me that it's not that difficult. He would start jabbering on about this, that, and the other. At times, I wasn't even sure we were speaking the same language. I think he was getting frustrated trying to explain it to me and I was getting frustrated trying to understand him. Thank goodness for Google or I may never have figured it out. Turns out, Google has a whole bunch of videos to help you and actually walk you through Adwords.

I'll put it into three easy steps for you. People gave me these same three steps when I first started out, and I really wish I would have listened to them a little more.

Step one: Visit the Google Adwords Learning Center

Some people will tell you that it's pointless to go to this site and check out what Adwords has to say about their program, but I say, who better to teach you how to use Adwords than those who actually created it? Seriously, watching these videos could be a miracle for the Adwords beginner. In fact, even if you know nothing about it at all, they start out at the very beginning, you're covered.

Step two: Remember to do Your Research

Okay, so you've watched the videos and you feel pretty good about things. If you don't feel good about things after watching those videos, I would suggest that you do your research on any area that you're still confused about.

I did extra research anyway. I realized that I did all my research on the physiology of Adwords but I hadn't done much research on the psychology of Adwords. I started reading up on blogs and forums; any information I could get my hands on. I even had an eBook that a friend sent me to help me out in the process. I would pick at my friends knowledge now and then and eventually, I started to feel like I knew what was going on.

I guess I should also say that I really didn't know a lot until I actually started using Adwords

Step three: Actually Start Using Adwords

Yep, that's right, it's time to actually start using Adwords. Give it a try, just don't get too excited to start off with. I'll be honest, you're going to fail. Yeah, I got pretty discouraged when my friend said that to me, but it is pretty much inevitable that you will fail miserably on your first campaign in Adwords. Even professionals, who use Adwords a lot, struggle when they first start a new campaign. There's a lot of tweaking that must be done before your campaigns will start to be effective. The tweaking process is when the knowledge you have gained from your research of various sites will really become useful to you.

Good luck to you. If you need any additional help with online business techniques, please read other posts from our blog.

Keyword Research - Amazon Affiliate

2009-11-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

The first step in this whole process is the keyword research phase. Without properly researched keywords you're entire venture will fall flat on its face, you'll get frustrated and give up calling the whole 'make money online' thing a scam. So. Lets get this right eh :)

For our keyword research were going to use a tool that Google makes available for free called, interestingly enough, the Keyword Tool. Our goal using this tool is to come up with a nice list of keywords that we can potentially build profitable websites around. In this phase we're not going for the one golden keyword, we're just compiling a big list of keywords that we'll qualify in the next few lessons.

Ok so we need to start brainstorming ideas to plug into the keyword tool. I like to go to eBay's categories to get ideas of niches that I can research because they cover just about every tangible product. So head over to eBay and plug in one of the categories.

I decided to go with "water sports" so I pasted that into the search field, entered the captcha and clicked on "get keyword ideas". Then it brings up a big table of data. I wont go into everything about the tool here, we just need to focus on a few things. Set your match type to "exact" and in the "choose columns to display" drop down menu make sure you're showing local searches and trends. Now sort the table by local searches from most to least.

Before we dig into these numbers we need to set some parameters to look for so were not completely lost and we can start building list of keywords that have an adequate amount of searches and hopefully an upward trend. I make sure the keywords I choose have at least 1000 searches (per month) and there are at least 3 words in the phrase.

We go with at least 1000 searches per month because any less than that simply wouldn't be worth it. You need enough people coming to your site so that you can make regular sales. We want to go with at least 3 words in the phrase because the longer key phrases will have less competition than one or two word keywords.

After doing a search for "water sports" and sorting by local, exact searches I only have 2 keywords over 1000 searches per month. "water sports" gets 27,100 searches which is a ton. I'm going to just pass on that because I know the competition will be very tough for that phrase because of the search count and the fact that's its only 2 words. However the second phrase "water sports equipment" has a lot more potential. with 1600 searches and 3 words it fits our parameters perfectly.

One more thing to look at is the trend. It looks like this keyword hits its peak in the summer which makes sense:) If you were looking to make quick sales this might not be the keyword for you but I'm going to keep it because it would be a good keyword to develop a site around in preparation for next summer. It will give me time to get it built up. I'm going to copy that and paste it into a spreadsheet for future research.

Now its just rinse and repeat. After you've compiled at least 20 keywords that fit those parameters go ahead and move on to the next lesson.

Amazon Affiliate Program - Market Reseach

2009-11-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

Doing market research before starting a business is like having an accurate flight plan before you go on a trip. If you don't have anything planned out there are a whole slew of hazards that can endanger your flight, make it failure and take you somewhere you don't want to go. Imagine an eager young pilot who wants to get out and be free like the birds but who has no plan. He gets up in the air and immediately has a rush of adrenaline. He's away from civilization doing his own thing.

However that rush soon fades and He finds himself a little lost. He frantically searches for landmarks or cues that will show him where he is. Instead He decides to just keep going in the same direction because he figures he find some city or airport. Unfortunately His freedom is taken right back and he is a slave to his aircraft. He soon begins to run out of fuel and has to make a crash landing. If only he had made a flight plan he could have traveled somewhere exciting. Instead he was just thrilled to be up in the air.

So it is with business. Eager young entrepreneurs romanticize about owning their own business so they rush in and find out quickly enough that they're lost and too far invested to just stop. With a business if you're just winging it even if by some slim chance you turn a profit you will most certainly end up in a place you dont want to be. You may even need to make a crash landing by filing bankruptcy. If only you had made a flight plan. If only you had done thorough market research.

In this Course we're going to review the elements of market research as it pertains to creating and profiting from websites based on Amazons Associate program. With proper, in depth research you'll discover niches that will make you consistent money by selling Amazons products.

1. Keyword research
2. Product research
3. Competition research
4. Domain name research

Before we go in depth into the "how" and "what" of each element we will discuss the "WHY". Understanding why will give you the motivation and big picture perspective necessary to really make this course successful for you and will help you realize your personal financial goals. This is going to be specific stuff that will really help you in the long run and many of this can be applied to a lot of different business models as well.

1. Why Keyword Research?

Simple. People use search engines to find what they're looking for on the internet. Search engines use keywords to organize the results they deliver to their user. Some keywords are used more than others and therefore it would be very profitable to convince the search engine that you're worthy to be served up as a website for the higher volume keywords. Why keyword research? If you choose the wrong keywords you wont get any traffic to your website. And in this game traffic=money.

2. Why Product Research?

After some keyword research lets say you come across the keyword "chocolate candy bar". The next step would be to check out what products would be relevant. Obviously chocolate candy bars would be a good thing to sell if that was your chosen keyword, however people don't buy candy bars on the internet. Not only that but candy bars are very inexpensive so even if you were able to sell any each sale would amount to pennies. This is why you do product research. You need to find products that will pay well and that people will buy online.

3. Why Competition Research?

If you were to pit a mouse and a rottweiler against each other who would you bet on? The obvious choice is the dog. He far out matches the mouse. In one swing the dog could break the mouses neck. When you're just starting out you want to choose small niches where you'll be able to reasonably compete. Don't go after the electronics industry. You'll go up against behemoths like best buy, circuit city and Walmart. The more narrow your niche market the less competition there will be and because you're just starting out you'll want to go small.

4. Why Domain Name Research?

This is what your website will be known by. You want to make sure you can get a reputable domain extension and a reasonable keyword rich name. Doing proper research on potential domain names can dramatically effect how soon you start to see sales.

Top 5 Ways to Bring Disaster to Your Website

2009-11-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

There are several mistakes made by Internet marketers all over the world. Some may see these mistakes as trivial but add up all the small mistakes and you have big problems.

Disastrous Design

One of my biggest pet peeves, when it comes to the Internet revolves around poorly designed websites. Have you ever gone to a site that looks like a rainbow it has so many colors or that looks like it's a newspaper because it has so much copy all over it? I look at sites like these and wonder how on Earth the owners are making any money off of them.

To avoid this mistake, if you know nothing about design, higher a web designer to build your website for you. I think you'll be very happy with the result, more sales. Do your research first, however, in order to make sure you're getting a website that will work well for your business needs.

Poor Product Presentation

Here's a kicker, product presentation, that will either make your site or break it. Here's a tip, when you're presenting a product to the public, you want it to be the best you have and you want to take pictures of it for your website that will show off all the wonderful amenities of the product in question.

I'll give you a poor example from my past experiences. When I was in college I was looking for an apartment for my friend and I to live in. I walked into one apartment that I will never ever forget. We walked in and low and behold right there on the floor, just inside the door, there was an ant hill. Now, you may imagine this as a small group of ants, no, it was seriously a pretty good sized pile of dirt, an actual ant hill inside the living room, right next to the kitchen. I remember thinking to myself, “if this is their model apartment and supposedly the best they have, I don't ever want to live here. So it is with your website and the way it looks. If you don't present your product in the best way you can, people are less likely to want to purchase it. In fact, they may tell their friends all about it and then they won't want to go to your site either.

Catastrophic Content

Your content says a lot about your company, your product, and your ability to run a business. Your content can have a very negative impact on the way your viewers see your site and what it stands for. Reversely, Some content can actually boomerang your site into more sales and better leads.

For example, do not fail to place some kind of privacy and security policy on your site for easy access to your customers. Having this will help give your potential customers confidence in your ability to keep their private information secure.

There are also things you can put on your site that will make your potential customers confidence diminish. This includes any content which is crude, inaccurate, and unorganized. These examples are only some of many factors.

Snail Speed

Loading speed is a huge factor in people buying your products or not. If a potential customer has to sit there and wait for your page to load, chances are they'll click away from it and go to one of your competitors. If your site isn't up and running effectively, do not pay to send extra traffic to it; if you do, you're pretty much throwing your money away at no benefit to you.

Reduced Recognition

It's very important to have good branding on your web page. Look at your own page, will potential customers know who you are and what your selling, above the fold? The part of the page above the fold is what a person sees when the page first loads before they scroll. In essence, it's the first real perception your potential customers will have on your company and your product.

Unless you're trying to have the worst web page ever, for your own sake, change your website if you need to in order to make it pleasing to the eye.

Not all Links are Created Equal

2009-11-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, first off you need to realize that not all links are created equal. This means that even if you have multiple links on forums, social media and article directories, someone else could get a more relevant link with a higher page rank that could be stronger than all your less authoritative links.

Forums

Let's be honest, you're not going to get a lot of link juice out of links from forum comments or posts. However, the time it takes and the difficulty of creating a link on a forum page is not very high. This means that you could do several forum links in the time it takes to create one more authoritative link. How does this all fit in together, well, it's anybody's guess how many non-authoritative links a person needs before they're at the same level as one link on an authoritative site with relevant data and a high page rank.

Guest Posts

Guest posts, you're getting warmer with these, a lot warmer. In fact, if you can get a site that Google terms a high authority site to allow you to write a guest post with a link in the content, you're doing pretty great. If this site is a PR 4 or 5 you should be excited, if it's a 6 or higher and it has relevant content to what you're posting about, you've pretty much hit the jackpot.

Are you wondering how hard it is to get a guest post? Well, let me paraphrase some advice given to me by a friend, “your chances go up significantly when you ask”. Meaning, I can't tell you what your chances are or exactly how to ask a person for a guest post, but I can tell you that if you don't try, your chances are pretty much zero.

Social Media

Social Media was my first love when it comes to link building. I got on this band wagon when it came through and thought it was the best thing in the world. Now-a-days, most social media site links aren't going to bring you a lot of link juice. To increase the worth of your links you should write optimized, authoritative content. Make sure that it's meaningful and lengthy enough to be deemed worth indexing.

Buy Links

The easy way out. If you have the money to do this and the sites are authoritative, have a high page rank, and are relevant to your content, do it! Don't be ashamed to do it; lots of people buy links, and there's nothing to be ashamed about. In fact, buying links can actually get you ranked in the top positions on Google a lot faster. A word to the wise, however, be very careful that you buy from credible sites.

These four examples are just four of hundreds of ways to build links to your site. Some are more simple than others and require very little maintenance, others require quite a bit of time and maintenance. You should also want to give, directory listings, social bookmarking, and other link building ideas a chance.

The moral of this post is...go for links on sites with high page ranks and use the other links to give you a little extra power.

5 Ways to Make Money Online, Your Gateway to Success

2009-11-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

Small Niche Website

One of the best ways to make a little extra money online is to start up a small niche website. Doing this is pretty simple, all you really need to do is find a niche, build a website, find a supplier and go for it.

Finding a niche can be very time consuming and, depending on your skill level, could be a difficult task. I would suggest coming up with three ideas and then see if there are some keywords you can rank for under those ideas. I can almost guarantee that your first few keywords or ideas will not be very fruitful so you may need to repeat the keyword finding process multiple times.

Affiliates

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make a little extra money online. In fact, it's relatively easy to make a little extra cash. The amount you make from affiliate marketing probably depends on how much expertise you have in that area.

If you would like to sell products as an affiliate marketer, I would suggest visiting sites like Amazon and checking out their affiliate programs. It's a great way to be an affiliate for a certain product.

Selling on Auction Sites

Selling on auction sites like eBay and Amazon has got to be a classic way of making money online. There are many ways to make money on eBay and Amazon. For example, you could sell things that you find around the house that you don't need anymore or you could even drop ship on eBay or Amazon. However, it is sometimes difficult to find good drop ship companies that will allow you to sell their products on auction sites. Be careful and only sign contracts with those companies who will allow auction site sales.

Flipping Websites and Domain Names

Flipping websites and domain names can be very profitable if done correctly. Depending on the domain names in question and the amount of profit earned each year by the site; you could sell your flipped site for thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Be aware, however, that not every site is going to bring this much money. In fact, there are websites for sale on Flippa.com right now for bids as low as twenty-five dollars.

Write an E-book

You could even write your own e-book about anything you're interested in and sell it through e-book directories. If you write about something you are really passionate about, perhaps it won't seem like work at all.

Please be aware that none of these five ways are guaranteed to make you a lot of money, business is all one big gamble.

4 Things ALL Articles Must Have

2009-10-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

The importance of articles in today’s websites and internet based companies are immeasurable. They dictate a lot in the success and the drive of traffic into one’s site. It has become a key element in making a site work and earns a profit. A website operator and owner must have the good sense to include articles in his or her site that will work for them and earn them the many benefits articles can give to their site.

Articles have been known to be the driving force in driving traffic to a website. Articles are a factor in giving site high rankings in search result pages. The higher a site ranks the bigger slice of the traffic flow pie he gets. With a huge number in traffic flow, there are more profits and more potential for other income generating schemes as well.

But, it is not just about stuffing your site with articles; they have certain requirements as well. These requirements must be met to obtain the maximum benefits an article will provide for your site. A well written article will catch the eyes and interest of your customers and keep them coming back for more. They would also be able to recommend your site to others.

Here are some tips to help you and assist you in making your articles. Below you will read about four things all articles must have to make it successful and helpful in making your site a profit earning and traffic overflowing site.

• Keywords and Keyword Phrases.

An article must always be centered on the keywords and keyword phrases. As each website visitor goes to a site, there are those who are just merely browsing but actually looking for a specific something. When this happens, a searcher usually goes to a search engine and types in the keywords they are looking for (e.g. Toyota Camry, Meningitis, Tax Lawyer and Etcetera). It could be anything they want.

The Important thing is that you have an article that has the keywords that are related to your site. For example, if you maintain an auto parts site, you must be able t have articles about cars and their parts. There are many tools in the internet that provides service in helping a webmaster out in determining what keywords and keyword phrases are mostly sought out. You can use this tool to determine what keywords to use and write about.

• Keyword Density

Know that you have your keywords and keyword phrases, you must use them fully. An article must have good keyword density for a search engine to “feel” its presence. Articles should at least have ten to fifteen percent of keyword density in their content for search engines to rank a site high in their search results. Getting a high rank is what articles do best for a site.

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used on an article. The number varies depending on the number of words used in an article. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low. With a very high density, the essence of the article is lost and may turn off a reader as well as the search engines. It comes off as overeager. A low number may be ignored by the search engines.

• Good Article Content

Like what is stated above, you cannot just riddle an article with keywords. They must also be regarded as good reading materials. Articles must be able to entertain people as well as provide good information and help for their needs. Articles should be written well with correct spelling and good grammar. If you want people to trust you, make your work good and well thought out.

People respond well to figures, facts and statistics. Try to get great information and as many facts as you can. A good and well written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field or topic. As more people believe in you. They will be able to trust you and your products.

• Linking Articles

And another important thing to remember. If you are going to submit articles to ezines and/or contribute your articles to newsletters and other sites, DON’T ever forget to include a link to your site. A little resource box with a brief description of your site and you should always be placed right after your articles that you have submitted. If people like your articles, they will most likely click on the link directing them to your site.

How to Get Started on eBay

2009-10-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in using eBay to buy the products that you need or even sell items that you no longer want? If you are, you will need to create an eBay account, if you haven’t already done so. Although many automatically assume that getting started with eBay is a complicated task, it doesn’t have to be. All you really need to do is follow a few simple steps and you should be good to go.

The first thing that you will want to do is visit eBay’s website, which is located at eBay.com. Once you are at eBay’s website, you can then click on the link that allows you to register a new account. At that stage, you will be brought to a signup form. That signup form will ask you a series of questions. For instance, you will need to enter in your full name, your address, your telephone number, as well as an e-mail address. You will also be required to come up with an eBay screen name or sign in name, as well as an eBay password, which will be used to access your eBay account. Once you have correctly filled out the form, you will be sent a verification email from eBay.

Once you have received eBay’s verification email and followed all of the instructions, which will help you validate your eBay account, you will be able to start using eBay right away. When you first get started, you may need to sign in to your eBay account. As previously stated, you will need to use your eBay sign in name or screen name and password to do so. For that reason, you may want to write down your sign in information and keep it in a safe place. Once you have signed in to your eBay account, you can then do whatever you want; buy or sell.

If you are interested in using eBay to shop online, to buy, you will want to start searching for items to buy. This can be done a number of different ways. eBay allows you to browse through their large selection of items, by detailed categories. You can also perform a standard eBay search or an advanced one. Searches are more likely to give you accurate, tailored results. When browsing or searching for something in particular, you should be able to see a large number of auction listing all on one page. The information that you will be presented with at this time is the standard, bare minimum. If you would like more information on the item in question, such as how much shipping costs or too see additional pictures, you will want to click on the link to view the detailed sales page. Should you like what you see, follow the instructions to buy and you will have made your first purchase on eBay!

As it was previously stated, if you are interested in selling on eBay, to make a little bit of extra money, you can also do so. The only difference is that you are required to pay small fees to become an eBay seller, unlike eBay buyers who have completely free accounts. The amount of money that you are charged will all depend on your auctions, particularly how much you list each item for, as well as how well each item sells. To get started with selling, you will want to click on the “sell,” link at the top of the eBay webpage. What is nice about listing items for sale on eBay is it is relatively easy to do. For instance, you need to choose a category for your item, make a headline for your auction listing, write a description of your product, upload pictures of what you are selling, outline shipping costs, as well as accepted forms of payments, but everything is outlined for you, in a step-by-step matter.

Whether you are interested in becoming an eBay buyer or an eBay seller, you can do both, in as little as a few minutes. eBay, as previously mentioned, is considered one the most shopped at online marketplaces. For you, this means that if you are looking to make money on eBay, you should be able to do so and if you are interested in buying on eBay, you should be able to find millions of products to choose from.

A Day In The Life Of An Affiliate Marketer

2009-10-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

Being in the affiliate marketing business is not that hard now with the internet at your disposable. It is much easier now compared to the days when people have to make use of the telephones and other mediums of information just to get the latest updates on the way their program is coming along.

So with technology at hand, and assuming that the affiliate is working from home, a day in his or her life would sound something like this…

Upon waking up and after having breakfast, the computer is turned on to check out new developments in the network. As far as the marketer is concerned there might be new things to update and statistics to keep track on.

The site design has to be revised. The marketer knows that a well-designed site can increase sign ups from visitors. It can also help in the affiliate’s conversion rates.

That done, it is time to submit the affiliate program to directories that lists affiliate programs. These directories are means to attract people in joining your affiliate program. A sure way of promoting the affiliate program.

Time to track down the sales you are getting from your affiliates fairly and accurately. There are phone orders and mails to track down. See if they are new clients checking the products out. Noting down the contact information that might be a viable source in the future.

There are lots of resources to sort out. Ads, banners, button ads and sample recommendations to give out because the marketer knows that this is one way of ensuring more sales. Best to stay visible and accessible too.

The affiliate marketer remembered that there are questions to answer from the visitors. This has to be done quickly. Nothing can turn off a customer than an unanswered email.

To prove that the affiliate is working effectively and efficiently, inquiries would have to be paid more attention on. Nobody wants to be ignored and customers are not always the most patient of all people. Quick answer that should appear professional yet friendly too.

In the process of doing all the necessities, the marketer is logged on to a chat room where he or she interacts with other affiliates and those under that same program. This is where they can discuss things on how to best promote their products.

There are things to be learned and it is a continuous process. Sharing tips and advices is a good way of showing support. There may be others out there wanting to join and may be enticed by the discussion that is going on. There is no harm in assuming what opportunities ahead.

The newsletters and ezines were updated days ago, so it is time for the affiliate marketer to see if there are some new things happening in the market. This will be written about in the marketer’s publication to be distributed to the old and new customers.

These same publications are also an important tool in keeping up to date with the newly introduced products. The marketer has put up a sale and promotion that customers may want to know about. Besides, they have to keep up with the deadline of these sales written in the publications.

It is that time to show some appreciation to those who have helped the marketer in the promotions and sale increase. Nothing like mentioning the persons, their sites and the process they have done that made everything worked.

Of course, this will be published in the newsletters. Among the more important information that have been written already.

The marketer still has time to write out recommendations to those who want credible sources for the products being promoted. There is also time to post some comments on how to be a successful affiliate marketer on a site where there are lots of wannabees.

Two objectives done at the same time. The marketer gets to promote the product as well as the program they are in. Who knows, someone may be inclined to join.

Time flies. Missed lunch but is quite contented with the tasks done. Bed time….

Ok, so this may not be all done in a day. But then, this gives you an idea of how an affiliate marketer, a dedicated one that is, spends the marketing day.

Is that success looming in the distance or what?

Finding Keywords and Keyword Ideas

2009-10-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Finding good keywords is not so much a difficult task as it is a time consuming one. As long as you are willing to give the time needed to find an appropriate niche product, you should be able to be very successful. In this post I will walk you through three easy steps you can take to get keywords that are right for you.

Step One: Uncovering Rare Gems

The first step of the process is to brainstorm multiple words or phrases (three to five) that have everything to do with your product niche. Once you have the ideas, open up the Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool and type your keywords in the appropriate box, then click on “get keyword ideas”. I like to click on “use synonyms” so I can get more keyword ideas that perhaps I hadn't thought of on my own. Who knows, you may just find a rare gem buried in a pile of ordinary words and phrases. Also, it's a good practice to click on “exact” in the match type drop down menu.

Once you've gone that far, make sure that the keywords you select get at least 1,000 searches per month. Also, if you're interested in making a living off of this particular product you will want to make sure that the keywords get a lot more searches per month. In fact, I would go for the highest amount of searches you can get out of a particular keyword or keyword phrase and still maintain fairly low levels of competition.

Step Two: Checking Out the Competition

Initially, you can check out the competition right there on the Google AdWords Keyword Tool by looking under the “advertiser competition” column. The less green you see in that little box, the better. Or, you can choose to actually get in there and check it out yourself. You can do this simply by going to Google Search and typing in your keyword or keyword phrase in quotations. If the keyword or keyword phrase has between 10 and 40 thousand results, you should be able to rank fairly easily in Google. The more results your keyword brings up, the harder it's going to be for you to rank in the first four positions on Google for those specific keywords and phrases.

Step Three: Using the Keywords

Now that you have some keywords, probably about three of them for your main page, you can start putting them into action. To do this, I would suggest using them in the titles of articles on your site as well as articles you use while marketing your site. You will also want to use them in your site title.

Signs of Stress and How to Cope

2009-10-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

I don't think that people really understand what's going on when they get so stressed that they feel they can't stand it any longer. Work related stress is very serious and can be very detrimental to your health.

My Dad was under a lot of stress about three years ago; I don't think he even realized how big of a tole it was taking on his body. In fact, it got so bad that he ended up checking himself into a hospital which ended in him being flown by helicopter to a larger hospital. We were told to prepare for the worst. My heart sunk; I couldn't lose him, I simply couldn't. The doctor came out later to inform us that my Dad had a heart attack when he first got to the hospital and that they were doing everything they could for him. He also told us later that his heart attack had been caused by stress.

“Stress?” The thought didn't just come to me, it hit me like a load of bricks. “Could stress really be so powerful that it could take away my Dad?” From that moment on, I realized what a powerful enemy stress can be. My Dad survived and is still working for the same company but he is a lot more careful about managing his stress levels now.

Here are some things that could have helped my Dad that could very likely help you before it's too late.

Know when you've reached your limit

There's only so much stress that one person can handle. You need to pay attention so you know the warning signs your body gives you before you reach the limit. Stress comes to all of us in different ways. It could come as anxiety, shortness of breath, slurred speech, drowsiness, and fatigue, among many other signs of stress.

If you experience these symptoms for a prolonged period of time it has been suggested that you seek medical help. In some communities there are free stress management courses.

Stop stressing over things you have no control over

The human body has enough things to stress over without you having to give it more. My sister used to recite a poem to me every time I would get stressed out over something trivial that I really couldn't change. I'm not sure where it originated but she got it from a co-worker of hers many years ago. It reads:

For every worry under the sun,
there is a remedy or there is none.
If there is one, hurry and find it
if there is none, never mind it.

If you're stressing over things that aren't your responsibility or anything you don't have direct control over then STOP! You don't deserve to have to stress over everyone else's jobs and lives.

Time management, organize your work according to priorities

Organization and time management are often key to stress relief. There have been some days when I have made a list and then numbered the items according to priority. I then get to work taking on the tasks one by one until they are all crossed out and defeated.

Exercise Your Way Out of Stress

Have you ever had that urge to run and not stop for miles. For some people, running, playing sports or any other kind of physical exercise is a natural stress reliever. If you're in a condition to exercise I would suggest trying this. Even going for a walk in a safe neighborhood can help release stress.

Serve Someone Else

Look around you and find someone who has circumstances worse than your own or who is having a bad day (there's always going to be someone) and do something nice for them. Serving others has been proven to reduce personal stress levels. I have also read about people volunteering once a month with their family at a soup kitchen or something similar. There are always people around you who need to be served. All you have to do is look around.

I remember one particular day when I was over-stressed; I was reaching my limit and I could tell I was about to come to my wits end. Off to the side of the road was an older woman trying desperately to clean up some sticks and bark before the rain came. I'm not sure why I stopped, but I did. I started helping her and, as we raked, we began to talk. She managed to reduce my stress by helping me solve my problems. My stress seemed to be raked away with the rest of the debris which had accumulated in Beth's yard.

Try some of these techniques, they may save your life one day.

Internet Based Business Opportunities, Entering Foreign Markets

2009-10-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

Business originated as bartering for this good or that, trading one service or good for another within a village. It then branched out to trading with neighboring villages and eventually with neighboring countries. That's how we have such things as chocolate, tobacco, silk, etc. Not a whole lot of advertising was taking place at the time, especially since these items were delicacies to foreign markets and were accepted with open arms.

Now we've developed into a global market place where commodities can be traded back and forth with companies across the world, all in a matter of moments. With the invention of the World Wide Web someone in the United States can buy a product from someone in China at the click of a mouse. Pretty cool huh, considering we started off using caravans of carts and horses taking extensive journeys to trade.

Thanks to technical advancements such as the Internet, we can now market to the entire world at the click of a mouse, well, to all those with an Internet connection that is. Don't think that you can get away without market research simply because you can market with a click of the mouse. That's where a lot of people go wrong; they think that everything should be able to be done in an instant. Cultural differences and government regulations are just a couple of the details that many forget about in their haste to start a business.

Identify Critical Cultural Differences

If you've never searched for funny cross-cultural differences, I think you should. If you're in the mood for a good laugh, this is one way you can get it. For example, when General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova to South America it wasn't selling very well. They quickly realized that “Nova”, in Spanish, means “it won't go”. The car was renamed and, big surprise, sales went up.

This example was mainly with brick and mortar establishments entering foreign markets but it really does apply to Internet business as well. Be weary of how you market things, what your slogans mean, what colors you use, and the entire atmosphere of the campaign.

Familiarize Yourself With Government Regulations

There are so many regulations to business in foreign countries that, in some cases, it's easier to hire a professional to figure out what you need to do. If you would like to go global, make sure that you are aware of the different government regulations surrounding imports and exports. Also, realize that in some countries, when you ship a product to the consumer, the product may end up sitting in customs for weeks waiting for someone to approve it. This is why it is imperative that you find out as much about shipping to/from a particular country as possible.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment. You may also be interested in this article about Internet based business opportunities.

Fake Amber Alerts, are People Abusing Social Media

2009-10-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

Today I received a text message about an amber alert in my area. Of course I forwarded the message on to my friends; I wanted to help. I got a message back from a friend of mine saying that she had heard on a local news channel that the alert is a hoax and has spread all over the area; thousands of people have received the fake message via text, Twitter, Face Book, and various other social media sites. At first, I was a little mad, then disappointed, and then just plain curious. I was mad at myself for forwarding the message on before checking for accuracy, disappointed at the nincompoop who started the whole thing in the first place, and curious at the fact that the message had spread so fast over a one day period. So, the question now stands in my mind, has the boy cried wolf so many times that people are going to be desensitized when the real emergency needs to go viral across social media.

What happened to social media integrity?

Have you ever received one of those seemingly robotic messages through text, email, twitter, or other social media sites. In my opinion, those people are abusing social media. They act as though they aren't human and expect the rest of us to respond with smiling faces. Seriously, what ever happened to being human? Is the world so full of machines that we now feel the need to blend in with them instead of the other way around?

There are literally thousands of people who take advantage of the benefits of social media in order to scam others, to spread false information, or make their marketing efforts mechanical and machine-like. Yes, there are those who would take the positives right out of social media, causing the rest of us, those who use it for good, to be absolutely disgusted.

The right way to use social media

Getting Amber Alerts and other emergency information out via social media sites and text message is a brilliant idea but only if people don't abuse it. If the hoax had been a real alert, thousands of people across this state and other states would have been watching for the car in question. In the case of a true emergency social media can be and should be used to spread the word as fast as possible.

The right way to use social media for marketing purposes is to make sure that your intention is to help customers or inform the public of an additional service which your company now offers. No matter what, be sure to act personable, and really get across that you truly do care about the people you are sending the message to.

In short, please do not abuse the social media system, you're human, act like it. People want to know that they are seen as real people and they want to see you as a real person too.

Goal Setting, Stop Pushing Snooze | Thrive Learning Institute

2009-09-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is for everyone who sleeps through life by continually pushing the snooze button. I'm sorry to be the one to have to be direct about this, but you're never going to be successful if all you do is dream about where you want to be in life. WAKE UP! Dreams are good and they really do come true but only if action is applied to the equation.

Thanks to Sir Issac Newton we know that the greater the force on an object, the greater the acceleration of that object. Meaning, if there is no force acting upon the object, the object isn't going to go anywhere. Likewise, if there is no force or action attributed to your dream, whatever it be, that dream is going to go absolutely nowhere.

Let's go through some simple actions you can take to add more force to your dreams so the acceleration is greater. Set specific and reachable goals for yourself, schedule a specific time that you will work on each goal and stay consistent, and always remember to follow through or you will go absolutely nowhere.

Set Specific and Reachable Goals

What are your goals? Are they realistic? Reevaluate your goals and sort them into two groups: short term, and long term. If your goal is not reachable, throw it out, like that box of junk you've had sitting in your closet for the past two years, you're better off without it.

Short term goals are goals that can be completed in a short period of time, an hour, a day, or a few weeks. Long term goals are completed over a longer period of time, a few months, a year, or even longer than a year. It is suggested that a goal setter also take the time to set several enabling goals to help them reach their long term goals. Enabling goals are groups of short term goals designed to help one reach a long term goal. For example, when I set my goal to graduate with my degree, I set several smaller, achievable goals like getting into the university I wanted to go to. It was these enabling goals that made my goal of graduating with a degree a reality.

For your sake please make sure that all the goals you set are reachable. This means that they are realistic. For example, I could set a goal to go to Mars but, in all reality, I know that's not very likely to happen given current circumstances. Seriously, if they're not realistic you may be better off not setting any at all. If goals are not reasonable, more often then not the goals will result in a disillusioned reality and therefore lead to unnecessary disappointment when they must be abandoned.

Schedule a Specific Time

For many of you your goal is to own your own brick and mortar establishment or get your web based business up and running. I would suggest, after setting specific goals in various categories (e.g., branding, construction, marketing) setting a specific time you can sit down and work on those specific goals. For example, if I set a specific goal to cook real food instead of microwavable meals I would set a time of day that I want to eat and block off that period as dinner preparation time. It may seem silly at first but, if you stick with it, it will work.

Follow Through

The third step, follow through, seems like it should be self explanatory but sadly, for many people, it is not. I set a goal years ago to work for a charitable organization that was able to make my friends life a little easier in his last weeks on this earth, I want to give back. I set enabling goals to get me to the long-term goal of being associated with this organization. I got good grades in high school and participated in various extracurricular activities so I could get into a good university, spoke to people who work for or work with this organization, gained experience in an internship with a related organization, and completed my degree in a related field. In short, I completed my enabling goals, but I kept pushing snooze on my long term goal. You may say to yourself, “why am I learning about goal setting from someone who got to the point of completion and then simply quit?” The answer, “I know what it's like to fall short of something that has been nearly a life-long goal of mine and I want you to learn from my mistakes”.

My goal is still reachable but it's getting more difficult to reach as time goes by. Take my advice please, do not lose track of your dreams and make sure you are exerting enough force to carry them through to completion.

For more information, please read similar posts by Thrive Learning Institute.

Trust Guard: Build a Relationship of Trust With Your Clients

2009-09-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Trust Guard, a website specializing in verification and certification seals, is giving business owners an opportunity to build a relationship of trust with clients. Trust Guard has issued a challenge “increase your conversion rate or double your money back”. According to the Trust Guard Website “As soon as your customers see the Trust Guard Seal, they know that your website has been verified by a reliable third-party, and they can click on the Seal to instantly verify your credentials without leaving your site, giving them confidence to complete their purchase”.

The great thing about Trust Guard is that they offer a variety of high quality packages at a lower cost than their competitors. Plus, with the Trust Guard Challenge, Trust Guard has a double your money back guarantee if your conversion rate does not go up. That seems like a pretty great deal to me. In fact, a co-worker of mine was just in here talking about his friend who has recently doubled his conversion rate while using Trust Guard. Everyone in the office thinks that's pretty amazing, which is what inspired me to write this article.

The Trust Guard packages include: the Trust Guard Daily PCI Security Scanned Seal, the Trust Guard Quarterly PCI Security Verified Seal, The Trust Guard Security Verified Seal, the Trust Guard Business Verified Seal, and the Trust Guard Privacy Verified Seal. These seals will perform the following functions, among many others.

Protect you and your customers from hackers and attacks
Scan for 30,000 and counting known vulnerabilities
Verify your SSL certificate for customers
Review your websites secure checkout process
Verify your business information

For more information and functions of the Trust Guard Seals please visit the Trust Guard website.

Thrive Learning Institute, Just Like Riding a Bike

2009-09-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was a little kid, my Parents taught me how to ride a bike. It wasn't easy for them, I am sure, because I was so afraid of everything. I'm not really sure how they finally got me up on that thing and peddling down the road, I suppose it must be due to the abnormal amount of patience my Father and Mother have always had for me. I remember the day I finally learned. My Dad had taken me out to the street and ran behind me with his hand on the back of the seat. I was peddling and before I knew it, he had let go and I was riding on my own. All of a sudden I was afraid, and I started to wobble back and forth a bit. My parents gave me some encouragement and before I knew it, I was riding straight, on my own. The only problem was that I was not sure how to turn that thing around. That's another story.

Learning to run a business is much like learning to ride a bike. You have to learn how to be steady, how to stay up on your own, and how to turn to avoid obstacles before you can really get going on your own. It takes practice to get a business going, just like it takes practice to ride a bike with ease. It's not easy but once you learn and you get it down, you could ride as far as your legs will take you.

First off, if you are going to learn how to start a business, you better have a desire to do so. If your heart is not in it, you will probably fail miserably. Start off by answering these questions: what are my hobbies, what am I interested in, what are my resources, how much am I willing to sacrifice to get started? Then, take what you have learned from answering these questions and use them to help you find a product to sell and set up a business plan.

As part of your business plan you need to have a financial plan. How are you going to get the money to start your business? What strategies will you use to keep your business going? How much are you willing to go into debt in order to have a successful business? Answer these questions and meet with a qualified financial consultant before proceeding too far.

Please realize that starting your own business is no easy task, some things will fail and you'll fall down a lot in the process. Think of it this way, while you are learning to ride a bike what happens if you just quit if you fall down? You never succeed do you? If you're serious about starting a business, you won't give up because of a little spill. If one plan doesn't work very well, stand back up again, pick up your pride, and ride away with another business plan. Try again and again if you must and once you learn which strategy will work best for you, you'll be surprised to find out that you then have the ability to simply get on the bike and ride away whenever you want to.

I don't know that anyone has ever had it easy when it comes to learning how to ride a bike or run a business. There are always hazards you need to watch out for no matter how far along you are in the process. It's not about eliminating the things that get in your way, it's about steering around them, or simply avoiding them all together. Remember, there are several pitfalls that could overcome even the most practiced businessman. To avoid some of these pitfalls, remember to keep an open mind and to be willing to change your strategy when needed. You can do it; I know you can, and when you get going, maybe you can even learn to ride with no hands.

For more information about starting your own business, please visit Thrive Learning Institute at www.thriveli.com.

Integrity...Pass it On, Thrive Learning Institute

2009-09-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

What is Business Integrity?

When I was a little child I was taught that integrity is doing the right thing, even when nobody else is looking. It's something that is not open for debate, either you have it or you don't, there's no gray area. Henry Kravis once said “If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing”. So, in a sense, integrity is everything because, without it, you have nothing.

Is Integrity a Lost Cause?

So, do you think integrity is a lost cause? Sadly enough, there are people out there who believe it is. They think that the world is going downhill so fast that there is no stopping the decrease of ethics and integrity in business or otherwise. The thing that they don't realize is that it only takes one person to make a difference when it comes to business integrity and ethics.

When I was in College, the professor of my capstone class gave us each a quarter in a plastic case with a quote illustrating the integrity we had been taught all our lives and while we were attending the University. The quarter is to help us always remember a story he told us about a man who, when at an airport, saw an associate of his drop a quarter in a paper box and then proceed to remove one paper for each of his associates, including himself, without paying for them. The man who witnessed this returned to the paper box and proceeded to drop in a quarter for the paper his friend had intended to give him. The second man, witnessing this, returned to the paper box, thinking nobody was watching, and inserted a quarter for each paper he had taken out of the box for each of his associates.

Both men learned something that day. One learned the importance of integrity and the other learned that integrity is in deed not a lost cause.

How Do We Uphold Integrity In the Workplace?

Charles Caleb Colton once said, “Nothing more completely baffles one who is full of tricks and duplicity than straight forward and simple integrity in another”. Put simply, if you want to maintain integrity in business, you better have integrity yourself. Employees of Thrive Learning Institute value integrity and ethics in the work place. They know that upholding the integrity of the business world begins with one person and it grows from there. That one person is you.

Thrive Learning Institute - Time Management

2009-09-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

H. Jackson Brown once said, "Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." How many of us would love to manage our time in such a way that would enable us to do everything we need to do and still have time left over for things we want to do. There are two categories of limitations in time management, the physical and the psychological.

Physical Limitations of Time

Obviously there are physical limitations to how much one person can do in any given day. One cannot create more time in a day just because they want to. However, a person can shift the hours of the day around to create more or less time for a given project. For example, the bartering of sleep for more time with friends as part of the expressed need for social interaction.

Try scheduling, it's a very proactive way to manage the physical limits created by time. You cannot stretch time or rearrange it in any fashion you want but you can stretch your abilities and rearrange your priorities.

Psychological Limitations of Time

Procrastination is a fearsome beast; we'll call it the devourer of opportunity. It slowly eats its way through any chance a person may have of success and decimates opportunities like the Bubonic Plague decimated the population of Europe.

Believe it or not, personality plays one of the largest parts of time management? Often times it is your personality that is the root of your time management problems. For example, can you make a decision when needed and then stick with that decision? Or, do you have problems making decisions and find yourself dwelling on the impossible, ultimately being the cause of your own time management downfall?

The Solutions

Don't worry; there are solutions to both the physical and psychological quandaries of time. Let's start with a few simple steps that may result in new windows of opportunity for time to be spent more affectively.

Step #1 Evaluate Your Time

If you find yourself with a shortage of time, could it be because you do not perceive its value? Take some time to write down everything you do in any given day. Will you be amazed by how much time you spend texting friends, watching television, or surfing the internet or will it come as no surprise that you give away several hours of priceless time to these often fruitless activities? Now look at your opportunity cost of spending so much time on these activities, what are you giving up?

Step #2 Expand Your Vocabulary, Use the Word “No”

Learn to use the word “no”. You have to be able to differentiate between necessary and unnecessary tasks. For example, you started up an internet based business, and there's work that needs to be done on your web page but your buddies just invited you to go play basketball at the court down the street. So, what's it going to be? Do you feel you have to say yes to every activity that comes along? If your business is more crucial right now you may have to learn the word no in order to get the full value out of the time you will never have again.

Step #3 Leave Time Open For Application

So, you're ready for the real world now, that's right, application. How on Earth is one supposed to know how to apply time management if everyone has their own method and must work out the logistics on their own? Realize that just like everything else, this step takes time. Take some time to figure out what's going to be most effective for you in time management and apply it.

Good luck to you. Time management really isn't as tricky as it seems, just follow the steps, value, vocabulary, and application. There are many clients and employees of Thrive Learning Institute who are working on time management. I know that there are hundreds of activities a day competing for your time, but I also know you can do it. Keep applying and before you know it you will have time management mastered.

Just Do It

2009-09-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

When it comes to entrepreneurship most people LOVE thinking about it. They love dreaming about how much money they'll make, How many products it will take to achieve their dreams and how reasonable it all seems but when it comes down to it most people are scared silly at taking action. I believe this is the case for several reasons.

We entrepreneurs build up in our minds so much the idea of success that we don't want to hurt our pride with the possibility of failure. Instead of dreaming of what will be you and I need to simply get used to feeling and fear of risking all the time. In fact I dare say we need to get addicted to risk-taking because it is the key to progress in any facet of our lives and to not take any risks is to short change ourselves.

I recently had an experience that helped me grow a bit more in this regard. While I am by no means a hugely successful entrepreneur yet I have had my fair share of experience in this regard in lifetime. I put together a simple but seemingly effective business plan that worked perfectly in theory. I would dream about it all day crunching numbers and figuring how much i could make in month If i did X amount of work. I had figured that if I devoted about 4 hours a day to this plan I would be able to make about $7500 my first month. Not bad for only 4 hours.

In fact I had been talking with one of my co-workers about this plan of mine for the past few weeks and one day after I got back from lunch he started laughing and sent me a URL to an advertisement for my business that he had put up on craigslist. My first instinct was to get angry, and then the calls and emails started coming in. I wasn't prepared for the amount of leads I was going to get but I certainly wouldn't have been at any other time.

The point is I would've never known the kind of response I'd get without first testing the market. During this whole process of cleanup I learned a LOT about how I can tweak my offer and streamline the whole business and all because my co-worker just decided to force me into action. In spite of the little mess he created for me :) Im way ahead of the game now because of everything I learned from the whole ordeal. Not only that but I got a few high quality clients from it too!

So when you dream up a great idea for making money don't just sit there go test it out and see what kind of response you get. You'll be surprised at how much you learn and you'll get used to adrenaline of rush of risk.

Quick Cash - Thrive Learning Institute

2009-09-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

There are a ton of ways to make money in this world and in this article I'm going to outline a method that I've found to be very effective at bringing in a good amount of cash to help pay the bills. Now this method probably won't make you millions but, if you work it right, you should be able to bring in a few thousand every month and could probably make enough to to quite your job.

The model is a combination of offline and online marketing. Lets start with your source of income. There are many companies on the internet that promote their products through affiliate programs. Companies like Amazon and Barnes Noble have enormous affiliate programs and there are thousands of small business that promote their products through affiliate networks like Clickbank or Commission Junction. But in this article we're going to deal solely with web hosting affiliate programs.

Web hosting companies pay handsome commissions for referring a new customer to them. Hostgator pays at least $50 per referral and FatCow pays out $100 for every person you send their way! All you'd have to do is refer 30 people per month to Fatcow to make $3000/month! So the question is how do you find these 30 people per month and how do you get them to sign up for hosting?

This is where the offline part comes in. You're job is to sell free (but legitimate) websites. Do you think you can sell a free website? I think you can too. Think of all the small time professionals that could benefit from having a nice website up that they can refer people to: Photographers, Real Estate Agents, Summer Sales Reps, Insurance Reps, brand new businesses, MLM networks and the list could go on and on. All you need to do is show these people how having a website will improve their business and your in!

Once they've signed up with hosting through your affiliate link have them send you their login information and then go in and install Wordpress. Wordpress is great because they have a lot of great FREE themes for you to use to make a site look really nice. Once you got it set up you hand it over to them and your done! TADA! At most it should take you an hour and can often take no more than 30 minutes. not a bad hourly rate if you ask me.

Getting Out of The Rut

2009-08-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

The vast majority of people are in the comfortable yet unfulfilled middle of society. They haven't accomplished their dreams and goals. They have failed to become wealthy, or live in their dream home or have fantastic relationships.

However as unfulfilled as they are they haven't hit rock bottom. They have jobs and they have pretty normal families. They go on vacation once or twice a year. They might even have a good amount in savings but they're still a slave to employment, addictions (sugar, alcohol, hard drugs, fast food, you name it) they are chained down.

We need to make the distinction that they aren't impoverished by any means. They aren't struggling for survival. They are stuck in a rut of mediocrity.

In many ways getting from mediocre to successful is harder than getting from complete failure to success. In many ways going from unfulfilled middle class to the fulfilled successful class is more difficult than going from impoverished to successful.

It is incredibly difficult to break out of the rut of satisfactory comfort.

So how do you do it? Our initial reaction is to go put in some massive about of work or expend tons of effort. This is wrong. All your work will go to naught if you don't have the right mind set. You need to get your head straight first before you put forth the effort.

The main reason those in the middle don't get out their rut is because of fear. The have accomplished a degree of success in life and so they have something to lose. If they fail they reason that they stand to lose something. So they're paralyzed and frozen in inaction.

those who are in poverty, those who have already experienced rock bottom understand what the worst is. they have lived it and therefor know that there is very little to fear. These people have less fear and are more willing to act.

so how do you destroy the fear festering in your soul without having to go rock-bottom?

You have to train your mind.

habits make a man. So to change a man you need to change his habits. To change yourself you need to change your habits. Whether its adding new ones stopping old or both (ideally) you must change your habits if you are to change yourself and your circumstances.

There are several basic things you can do to get motivated and build momentum.

Write down you goals in perfect detail. describe as much as you can about yourself as a success. what personality traits are different? what do you look like? Where do you live? What do you drive? what kind of people do you surround yourself with?

After you've written this down set aside some time every day to visualize it and add to it according to your desires. As you envision your perfect life the actions needed to realize it will be made much easier and you'll have energy and drive.

The next step is creating momentum. You need to pick one or several of your goals to focus on and commit to yourself that you'll accomplish a little bit every day toward that goal. After a week you'll have gained momentum and it will get easier and easier until before you know it you'll have accomplished your goal.

Thrive Learning Institute is here to help you change your mindset so that you too can enjoy the abundant life of your choosing. The coaches will help in every aspect of your progression and will see you through to the end. which of course will only be the beginning of your new life.

Thrive Learning Institute - "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

2009-08-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

Persistence is, by far, the most important factor in determining your success. How badly do you want it. How long are you willing to stick with it?

Malcolm Gladwell poses a provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the "self-made man," he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot."

Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky."

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell seeks to disabuse us of the notion that genius and greatness are predominantly a function of innate ability and IQ. He rightly notes that while IQ is certainly a contributor, it reaches a "point of diminishing returns" after a while: once people score about 130, IQ becomes less important and "intangibles" (my term) become more important.

"Outliers" has consistently been a New York Times bestseller ever since it was released in late 2008.

Thrive Learning Institute - How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Website

2009-08-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

At Thrive Learning Institute we are all about finding new innovative ways to market your online business and blogs are an awesome, free way to do that. In this article we'll take you through 4 basic steps to get you up and blogging in no time.

Step 1: Learning About Blogging
A "blog" is an online journal, a place where people can share their ideas, interests, and advice by writing postings every two or three days. The word "blog" comes from two words, combined: "Web log".

Begin learning about blogging by looking over your products and seeing if there are any particular themes or topics. For example, if you're selling some fishing poles and reels, then "Fishing" would be the topic of those two sites. Next, go to Google.com and search for the theme and the word "blog". In our example here, you'd search for "Fishing Blog".

Google will return with a list of a lot of blogs that deal with that particular topic. You'll simply click into each one, one at a time, and begin reading what those bloggers have written on that topic. This will help you to understand better what blogging and "the bloggosphere" (the network of blogs) is all about. Reading other people's blogs will be an ongoing part of your promotional efforts for your website.

Once you've seen what blogging is all about, it's also helpful to understand that internet marketing is all about what are called "inbound links". That means that you want to get links TO your site from as many other relevant sites on the internet as possible. Not only does that bring you traffic, but it also means you'll be found by the search engines quicker and you'll rank higher. Blogging provides the opportunity for you to do that in two ways: Using other people's blogs, and creating your own blog.

Step 2: Posting Comments

In the process of reading other people's blogs, you'll find an occasional blog entry that catches your attention, inspires you, or makes you think something. When you do, click to post a comment. Leave your own opinion (politely and respectfully, if you disagree) and experiences that relate to what the blogger is writing about. Don't just say, "Nice blog!" or "Me, too!" Add to the conversation. When you post these comments, there is often a place where you can leave your website address, creating a linkback to one of your relevant product sites. This is a great way to start to create traffic and attention to your websites.
Step 3: Creating Your Own Blog

Creating your own blog will allow you to establish inbound links to your website, and and help you to draw traffic to it. Begin, again, by looking over your products and seeing if there are any particular themes or topics. If your website is well-centered around a good niche, this should be pretty obvious. Choose the topic of your blogs. Remember that you'll want to write in this blog every two to three days, so you'll want to have a theme that you can write about often.

Go to Blogger.com, create an account, and create a blog in that account. Make a note of the address(es) of the blog(s) you create, so you can send them to your coach, and use them in your promotion.

Step 4: Blogging

Begin by writing a blog entry in each blog. A blog entry should have:

Anywhere from 250 to 500 words. That's just a guideline. Nobody's counting!
Good, usable information that relates to the theme of the website's products. It's important to not just write sales copy about the product. That's called blogspam, and Blogger might actually pull the offending blog off the web. If you're not sure what to write about, you can read what other bloggers are writing about that same topic and get ideas and information to re-write into your own blog.
Lots of good keywords that your audience is searching for. See Dropship Benchmark #3 for good information on how to discover good keywords.
Links to your website. If you're writing about the theme of the products, you could mention a particular product in the blog entry, and create a link to it. Make sure that the text that becomes the link includes some of your good keywords!
Links to other people's blogs that gave you ideas. It's not only OK to link to other people's websites and blogs, it's a good idea. Then go back to their sites, and leave a message that you mentioned them. They'll probably link back to you, so their readers can see what you said about them!
Links to any of your other blogs or websites!

Continue by writing more blog entries, creating more links, posting more comments in other people's blogs and being active in the bloggosphere!

For more tips and advice From Thrive Learning Institute browse our archives.

Thrive Learning Institute - Find Products on Clickbank

2009-08-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

Thrive Learning Institute recommends Clickbank as one of the most complete providers of information products through affiliate programs available on the internet today. The first thing to do is to go and set up an account.

1. Go to Clickbank.com.

2. There will be lots of options there on the main page to explore. There are two large areas, one labeled "Affiliate" and one labeled "Vendor". A vendor is someone who has an information product to sell, like an eBook they've written. An affiliate is someone looking to make money promoting other people's products. That's you! In the "Affiliates" box, click "Learn More"

3. You can scroll through the tutorial overview that appears on the left. On the right, click "Sign Up".

4. Fill out the forms and complete the signup and verification process.

Once you have an account setup, the next step is to go into the Clickbank market place and begin looking for products that relate to your topics. There are two basic approaches to this, and they're both valuable.

1. Literal Thinking - In this approach, you'll be looking for products that directly relate to the topics and the keywords/keyphrases that you researched in the previous benchmark. If your topic is "Organic Vegetable Gardening", then you're going to be looking for products that teach all about organic vegetable gardening. You'll probably get more visitors converting into buyers this way, because by the time they search out your site, you know they're interested. However, it can sometimes be tricky to match the products to a niche exactly.

2. Lateral Thinking - In this approach, you step back from your niche a little bit, and look for products that relate to a slightly broader topic, to a wider audience. In our example, you might search for products in "Organic Gardening", or "Vegetable Gardening". Be careful not to get too broad, or you will find yourself swimming in a sea of competition, and all that wonderful keyword research you did will be wasted.

Whether you do one or the other, or a combination of both, the process is the same. Go to the Clickbank main page, and click on the "Marketplace" link at the top. You'll be presented with a search page, where you'll input your keywords and begin searching for good products.

An important part of analyzing the Clickbank products is understanding the metrics listed underneath each listing. Here's a key to help you interpret what each of those numbers mean:

1. $/Sale -The actual amount you will earn per sale. Every time a visitor to your site clicks through and buys this product, you'll make this much money. Ideally you will want around $20-$25 a sale, or more.

2. Future $ - Some products have recurring fees that the customer pays, like a membership. When there are recurring costs, there are also recurring commissions. This is really good for you, because each sale you make can become a residual income as that customer continues to maintain their membership.

3. Total $/Sale - The percentage of the sale that is your commission. Look for at least 50%.

4. %Redf - The amount of sales coming from ClickBank affiliates.

5. Grav - "Gravity" A weighted scale representing how many people were paid by this program in the last 8 weeks. Basically, this ClickBank metric represents the popularity. The higher, the better. If you can find products related to your niche that are above 70, that's excellent. There are many products that are newer, that are good, that haven't had time to build up their gravity yet. Try to get the highest gravity you can in your niche topic.

For more tips and how-to's from Thrive Learning Institute read more posts.

Thrive Learning Institute - "Show more options" tab

2009-08-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Recently Google has come out with a little tab that you can click on with the text "show more options" and at Thrive Learning Institute having multiple options is paramount. When you click on this link you'll see a side bar pop up to the left side of the screen that has a few different options.

One of my favorite options is the Wonder wheel. This is a great tool to use for brainstorming keywords and topics to write about for a blog, to create a niche website around and to analyze competition. When you click on the wonder wheel option a wheel will appear in the middle of the screen that contains your keyword and then on a number of spokes coming out of the main wheel there will be related more long-tail keywords connected to it. This is great because you can see variations of the keyword you may not have thought of before.

Additionally you can click on one of the related terms and that will then become the main wheel and you can see terms related to that one. So you can "drill down" as many in the internet marketing world say and find unique little niches that you can exploit and profit from.

A few other features in this side par that i really like are the forums link and the videos link. If you need to find some forums to get involved in with your niche all you need to do is type in your keyword come tot he "show more options" tab and click on "forums" and a list of all the forums talking about your niche will come up. This a great way to get involved in your community fast and easy.

The Video link is also good because generally there will be less competition for videos than for text and many times you'll be able to find keywords that don't have ANY videos indexed for it. You can then quickly whip out some videos and get ranking highly for your keyword with those videos and start driving traffic to your website. There are more options on the "show more options" tab but I'll let you explore those for yourself ;)

Read more from Thrive Learning Institute to get yourself a better understanding of our philosophy and how to make money online.

Thrive Learning Institute - SEO Tips

2009-08-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Value of Linking

Thrive Learning Institute teaches that essentially, all of marketing on the internet comes down to one thing: Inbound Links. These are links that people can click on to come to your website from some other place, like another site, a directory, an article, a search engine, or even an email. There are three ways that links are important:

Direct clicking - If a visitor to another website sees that there's a link to your site, there's an opportunity for them to click through to you. It then stands to reason that the more links you have out on the net pointing to you, the more traffic they'll send. An addition benefit is that this traffic gets directly to your site, bypassing the search engines completely.

Search engine ranking - Search engines, especially Google, check to see how many other sites and other pages are linking to yours. They equate this with importance and popularity, and if you have a lot of links, you'll get ranked higher. Getting lots of quality links is called "Off-site SEO".

Search engine indexing - Search engines have programs (called, "spiders", "crawlers", and "robots") that regularly scour the internet, looking for more sites to add to their listings, and looking to update the listings of the sites they already have. The more and better links you have coming to your site, the faster you'll get added to the search engines, and the more often your site will be updated in their listings.

Stay tuned for more SEO tips from Thrive Learning Institute.

Thrive Learning Institute Spurs Entrepreneurship

2009-08-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

For Thrive Learning Institute, promoting entrepreneurship is a sure fire way of over-coming the suffering economy and fostering self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, all things needed to ensure a prosperous and happy country.

There are many different kind of people in the world with a huge array of differing talents and skills. An inspection of the differing details found amongst humans can reveal staggering extremes and bizarre cultures which can seem worlds apart. However once we get our hands out of the contrasts and into the comparisons the insights to be had can change the course of a life just by their comprehension.

Basic to all humans is the unrelenting need to create something of worth. From simple tools to the ceiling of the Sistine chapel Humans have always found a way to create something that brings enjoyment and added productivity to life.

In today's culture creativity is being snuffed out in at alarming rates. One of the tell tale signs of a famine of creativity is declining rates of entrepreneurship. The greatness of America rode on the backs of freedom loving creative people who produced products that rewarded society who in turn rewarded their makers.

in this time of economic crisis we need now, more than ever, a new influx of innovative, visionary entrepreneurs to revitalize the deteriorating trait of creativity and in turn revitalize the suffering economy. Prosperity is driven by human creativity and the most essential entrepreneurial trait is creativity.

Thrive Learning Institute is focused on the nurturing and mentoring of aspiring entrepreneurs. We are optimistic that these are people who will carry the economy out of its fragile state and back into a robust, thriving and hopeful world. The clients who come to us have inspiring vision and a salt of the earth work ethic that is so desperately needed.

The proliferation of the internet has broken down almost all barriers of entry to getting into business and can often cost as little as $10 for a domain name and $5/month to host your website on the internet. Once you're their the entrepreneurial possibilities are endless and its up to your creativity and work ethic to provide society with a solution to a problem which they in turn will reward you for.

Thrive Learning Institute provides world class coaching on three main business models (among several others): Affiliate Marketing, Drop Shipping and selling on Ebay. These business models are extremely easy to get into and will wet the appetite of anyone looking to make money for themselves and not for someone else. The principles of success in this models are the principles of success in for every business and once mastered they will open the world to you.

Affiliate Marketing: This business model is very simple and very easy to get into. However because of its ease competition is high but certainly not insurmountable. When you're and affiliate marketer you affiliate with people and /or businesses who own products and promote their products. For every sale you generate you get a percentage of the sale price. With this model you learn to master the art and mechanics of marketing. There are infinite things to learn from affiliate marketing that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Additionally the potential profits of affiliate marketing are huge. Many people have made fortunes just by promoting other peoples products.

Some other benefits of the affiliate model are the fact you don't need a product, employees or have a boss. You don't need to worry about customer service either so its a very hands free way of making money.

Drop Shipping: This business model will introduce you to working with manufacturers and distributors. As you work with them you'll learn how to set up systems for shipping products and communicating with the providers. You'll also be introduced to the world of customer service which can make or break your business.

Drop shipping will give you much better returns than affiliate marketing obviously because you're the one going straight to the manufacturer or distributor to provide the product to your customers. This a great next step in your entrepreneurship education.

Selling on eBay: eBay is an easy, small-scale way to get into business. Although its hard to build a business you can eventually sell through eBay its awesome to use as training wheels and if you're not worried about building a business you can sell you can make tons of money on eBay too. I know a guy who was pulling in $35,000 in sales every month just from eBay. He also decided to quit because for him it just turned into another job.

With these three basic avenues to take Thrive Learning Institute will guide you as you begin learning how to unleash your creativity in a way that will benefit society and yourself in huge ways. Entrepreneurship can be learned and mastered and is not in any way something you're born with. As you learn these powerful principles your creativity will be unleashed on the world and you'll never want to go back to the drudgery of employment again.

The economy needs you. We need your ingenuity if we're going to pull out of this mess. We, at Thrive Learning Institute, are confident you can become a creative, productive entrepreneur and live the life of your dreams.

Thrive Learning Institute - How To Become A Wealthy Affiliate Marketer: Stay Focused

2009-07-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know how long you've been in affiliate marketing, but if you're like most people in this business, you have a problem. And that is actually getting things done.

Maybe it's not just this business, maybe that's just how people are in general. But no matter what forum I've been in, I always see the same thing, and that is that most people have a very hard time putting out large quantities of work.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase "If you throw enough stuff at the wall, some of it is going to stick." Well let me tell you people, it's true. And anyone who is a seriously wealthy affiliate marketer will back me up on that claim. But most people's main problem is that they stop throwing too soon.

This has definitely been my biggest problem. I had been in affiliate marketing for close to a year before I really started working on it. During that time I had had some successes, and even some pretty big successes, but I still wasn't accomplishing at the rate I wanted to be accomplishing at.

The first thing I realized I needed to do was to stop learning. Or at least stop trying to learn. I realized that I knew enough to be making money, and that the learning was holding me back. I was spending more time learning than working.

By extension, I realized that I needed to get out of the forums. We go to the forums for the great information there, as well as the community they provide, but I think another reason is that being active in a forum is a great way to avoid working while feeling like you actually are.

Every person that I have known on a forum before they really achieved that success has taken a vacation from the forum in the interim. If you're trying to reach a goal, then reading and responding to posts is only going to hold you back. While I'm somewhat active in several forums, including the Wealthy Affiliate forum, if I ever hit five or so posts in one sitting, I know that I'm gotten sidetracked, and I get myself out of there as fast as I possibly can.

Keep the distractions at bay, and keep pumping out articles, or PPC campaigns, or whatever you've decided to do to make that money keep coming. And that is what's going to make it or break it at the end of the day.

Learn more about Thrive Learning Institute by reading our clients testimonials.

Thrive Learning Institute - An Online Business Is The Model For Wealth Today

2009-07-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

The economy in the US is changing and we are only now starting to see the results of that change. People who understand the change and adapt to it will do well. The majority of the people, those who can’t or won’t adapt, are destined for a lower standard of living. There will definitely be winners in this new economy, even during the Great Depression there were many fortunes made by people who were willing to understand the changes taking place and adapt themselves to take advantage of what was happening.

For the last 150 years the US economy was built on manufacturing. Giant steel plants, auto factories, and textile mills provided millions of high paying jobs to any one who wanted to work. This reliance on heavy manufacturing was a boon to the American citizen. For the first time in history a very large middle class was developed and the living standards of millions of people were at levels never even dreamed of before. A person who dropped out of high school could get a job in a factory, within a year be making a very good wage to support his family and buy himself some big boy toys, and then after 30 years retire with a full pension and health care.

This is no longer the case. Millions and millions of manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas and aren’t coming back. The jobs that are here no longer pay a living wage and forget about any benefits other than maybe some lame health insurance that won’t pay for half of what ails you. The golden manufacturing years are over and the sooner we realize that the better. The people trying to restart the old economy are wasting their time. Now we should be looking to the future.

The internet has changed everything in our society just like electricity did 150 years ago. We haven’t even seen the beginning of the online business opportunities offered by the web. More and more people are becoming comfortable with shopping online and if you need an answer to a question almost everyone “Googles” it any more. Whether it is providing information, selling products, or one of the hundreds of other business models available, a web based business is where everyone who is looking toward the future should be.

If you are tired of worrying about the future then make a commitment today to start a web based business and stake your claim on this frontier. The people who got in on the ground floor of the manufacturing economy got filthy rich and the same is going to happen to those who are smart enough to get in on the internet economy.

Start your Online Business Training by clicking this link. The sooner you start the sooner you will be on your way to the possible riches available to those who understand our economy is changing. For personal one on one coaching check out Thrive Learning Institute.

Thrive Learning Institute - Having a Vision Without a Plan

2009-07-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that once you begin your search for a business opportunity that you are often only thinking about finances? You think, well if I can just make this network marketing business work, or if I can actually make money online as an internet marketer, then it will pull me out of my current circumstances. I will not have to answer to a boss, I will not have to live on a fixed income, and I can eventually afford the finer things in life.

Finances may be the motive to try and start your own business, but it takes so much more to be a successful entrepreneur. You have to have a vision of what it is you want to accomplish and a plan of how you will accomplish your goal.

I think many feel as if they have a vision with somewhat of a plan. Often this plan is not written down and changes from day to day based on how a person feels or on a new idea that one may get that they think will work better. Remaining unfocused with a changing plan of action is a trap. It keeps you from reaching success, seeing your potential, and increasing your income!

For example, let's say you are in multi-level marketing and are working on calling MLM leads. You are in the beginning stages of building your business and have purchased 100 leads. You call about 30 with less than stellar response. You decide this must not be working and so turn to a different recruiting method. This is what I call an unfocused plan of action. It will not get you to where you want to go.

If there is one thing that all of the personal development gurus have in common, it is that you have to not just know where you're going, you have to know how your gonna get there. You have to have a map. This means that your goals and steps to reach your goals have to be written down on paper. Writing goals down is crucial to success. Brian Tracy has pointed out that only about 5% of people have written out goals.

If you haven't already developed your goal setting skills, do it now. Look up Brian Tracy. Stop trying to build something without a blueprint! If you want to some one-on-one coaching look up Thrive Learning Institute.

Thrive Learning Institute - Make Money Offline with Internet Marketing

2009-07-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

by David Godot

There is a lot of discussion about how to make money online using internet marketing techniques, and there is most certainly a lot of money to be made. But many people fail to recognize the tremendous potential of internet marketing for making money offline as well. If you're not interested in being a full-time online marketer, and want to own your own brick-and-mortar business, you actually have a better chance of accomplishing your goals than people whose businesses are entirely internet-based.

I'll use myself as an example. Like many people these days, I have a personal web site that I use to communicate certain professional information about myself. I don't like to make the information there entirely professional, because the domain name is my name and I feel like it should represent me as a person, not just as a professional. I don't want to paint myself into the corner of presenting a professional persona at all time.

Many people make the mistake of trying to brand themselves as their business, and I think that this is a tremendous mistake. First of all, the business cannot outlast you, you can never sell it, or outsource all of your work. You are the work. Once you retire, your life's work is over.

Another problem with this marketing model has to do with the problem of branding your own personal home page as a professional home page as well: you paint yourself into a corner. You have presented yourself as the product, and so you get locked into always promoting that product. For example, it is my business to be a psychotherapist in Chicago. If I were to brand my business under my own name, as many therapists do, I would have to hide as much of my life from the world at large as I am expected to hide from my patients. With the internet increasingly playing a central role in the social lives of individuals, this could have an increasingly crippling effect on the therapist as a person.

But the main reason to learn internet marketing principles for the purposes of marketing your own offline business is that, depending on your field, most of your competitors probably are not. When I search for Chicago therapists,' I realize how important my internet marketing skill-set is really going to be in the development of my career. With people increasingly finding every type of product and service exclusively through the internet, a business owner can hardly afford not to learn the principles of internet marketing, even if they have no desire to make money online.

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Thrive Learning Institute is a great provider of high level, personal internet marketing coaching.

Filling The Void. Life After Success - Thrive Learning Institute

2009-07-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

What will you do once you've arrived? When you start making $5000 a month with little to no real work what are you going to do with your time?

For entrepreneurs, filling the void is possibility one of the hardest steps of all in the process of building an abundant life for yourself. After you've put in thousands of hours working diligently on your business its hard to adjust to not needing to do anything. Often it will cause a lot of introspection that, if not tempered, could cause Howard Hughes like behavior. While Mr. Hughes was remarkable we certainly don't want you to fall into the maniacal OCD trends that he did :)

For many the busyness of a family life will be more than enough to fill the void. Being able to spend time with the kids, going to all their games, performances and events will not only keep you going but bring copious amounts of joy into your day to day life. You'll be able to help them with homework, tech them life skills and spend quality one on one time with them. If that isn't enough to fill your time though you might be in danger. You'll need to find something that will be flexible enough to continue spending quality time with your family and keep you sane.

One great option is getting involved in a charity you feel strongly for. The story of John Wood is compelling and instructive. John was a marketing executive for Microsoft in the 90's. He was in the right place at the right time. He rose within the company quickly and made a LOT of money. However when he was on a backpacking trip in Nepal he discovered a new passion. Educating the worlds children. He went on to quit Microsoft and start a wildly successful charity, Room to Read.

John Wood's path is a great blueprint to follow for those who are wealthy and need to find a passion. He found while he was traveling and enjoying life. Be sure not to skimp on your adventures and luxuries that have been well-earned but don't rule out any new challenges, You'll just get bored with life.

At Thrive Learning Institute we strongly encourage everyone to adopt a charity or cause to give back to the community and improve the world through service as well as business.

The 4-Hour Work Week, A Staple For Any Entrepreneur

2009-07-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading the popular book by Tim Ferriss, The Four Hour Work Week, and I must say I was very impressed. Tim is a serial entrepreneur and veritable renaissance man. Included in his About Me section of his blog are these accomplishments:

Graduate of Princeton university in Neuroscience and East Asian studies
First American in history to hold a tango record
National Chinese kickboxing champion
Acclaimed bestselling author whose book has been #1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists

If that doesn't grab your attention I don't know what will. He has written about his experiences traveling the world, learning and mastering 6 languages at breathtaking paces. On top of being a wildly successful entrepreneur he has also had extraordinary success in the non-profit sector, spearheading campaigns like LitLiberation and advising DonorsChoose.org.

This is a man worth listening to. His book breaks down the step by step process to liberating yourself from the drone like mentality that all too often comes with being an employee. You can see why we at Thrive Learning Institute would recommend this book to our clients. It is a great resource for successful and productive entrepreneurship but more importantly lifestyle design after you've achieved the success you want.

One of the basic and most important concepts Tim explains in his book is the difficulty and process of filling the void created by having all the time in the world and enough money to utilize it. Too many of us are addicted to work for works sake and we feel guilty when we aren't busying ourselves. What would you do if you had $20,000 coming in every month? Would you just sit around and accumulate stuff? Would you go out and buy that fancy car you've always wanted or buy a disgustingly gilded house in the wealthiest part of your neighborhood? What happens when you have all the stuff anyone could dream of? Eventually you'll get bored and go nuts.

That's why its important to have a plan in place to fill the void of not having to work 40 hours or more per week with something productive and interesting. What have you always wanted to learn? Where have you always wanted to travel? What can you do to improve the world? What causes or charitable organizations could you start that would make a dramatic, powerful impact on the world?

If you don't have the right the motivation you'll never make it as an entrepreneur. You may achieve the riches we all dream of but you'll fail at being happy.

Tim takes us through 4 basic steps to reaching a place in our lives where we are in control of our lifestyle.

1. Definition

2. Elimination

3. Automation

4. Liberation

1.Define your dreams and goals. Define what you will do and what you wont do when you have the freedom and resources to control your own life.

2. Eliminate the 80% of your efforts that are only producing 20% of your results. Tim is a huge advocate of The Pareto Principle or the 80/20 principle which defines your output in such a way that you can consistently find that 20% of your efforts produce 80% of your results and vice versa. Analyze your life and take out the unproductive parts. Limit yourself to only the necessary and important.

3. Automate your business. This is the part where Thrive Learning Institute comes in. When you start any business you must start with the goal to create a system independent of you. Do not make yourself a bottleneck for information. You'll only build a prison around yourself and defeat the purpose of building a business in the first place. You want to be able to walk away from your business and still have confidence that it will generate as much income or more than last month. Tim explain in detail exactly how to do this, flowcharts and outsourcing companies included.

4. Liberty is the most basic of all human desires. To do what we want when we want and with who we want is ultimate freedom. Most of us don't have never had that level of freedom before so Tim helps to get us in the right frame of mind to cope with such limitless possibilities.

The Four Hour Work Week is a staple for any aspiring entrepreneur. Not only will it motivate you to succeed but it will show you how to succeed both before and after the achievement of wealth. At Thrive Learning Institute we strongly encourage you to check out this book. Click the link to pick up the Four Hour Work Week today.

Make money offline using internet marketing with Thrive Learning Institute.

How To "Sitemap" - Thrive Learning Institute

2009-06-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

For a website to be seen, it must be visible. That's about as simple as we can put it. In order to make sure people get to your website, it has have a good search engine ranking. If no one has any way of knowing that your website exists, how can you expect your site to succeed?

Now there are a lot of tips, tricks, and tools that you can use to make sure your website and web pages are visible. One of these tools is the Sitemap. So, what is a Sitemap, why does it help, and when is it useful?

What is a Sitemap?
Let me speak a foreign language here for a few seconds: A Sitemap is an HTML or XML file submitted to the search engines that includes the URL links for every single page and sub-page or your website and store. This allows web crawlers to find these sub-pages more easily.

In English: A Sitemap is essentially a list of all of the pages of your website. This will include your main pages (like your home page, about us page, contact us page, or anything else you have) as well as your store pages (and the individual products inside of your store). It has to be created in a certain "web code" format -- either XML or HTML.

This means, that in addition to everything else a Sitemap is, it is also pretty difficult to make. No worries, Thats why Thrive Learning Institute is here.

Why use a Sitemap?
So, if a Sitemap is a complicated piece of website code (which you probably don't know how to make off of the top of your head), then why bother using one? What are the benefits of having a Sitemap?

Well, there are several reasons, but it all boils down to one thing: It helps Google find and read pages that it wouldn't normally find or read.

So, what are those pages? To a list a few types of pages that are hard to read:

A page made in Flash or Javascript. Pages made in Flash or Javascript usually have some sort of "moving pictures" in them. As a result, though, the pages become "hard for Google to understand."
A database. If you have a large database -- let's say a list of all of the professional football players that have played in the last thirty years, their statistics, and their teams -- it will make your website, and specifically your sub-pages, very difficult for Google to find and understand.
A very large website. If you are running a multi-national corporation, your web-page may have 3000 pages. Google's crawler will "give up" before it reads all of them.
If your site doesn't have very good "internal links" (in other words, if you have a page that you want people to find, but you don't have a link to it in your website), Google may never find that page.
Your website is brand new and doesn't have links from any other websites. Google may not even realize your site exists, at least not for a while.

So, if your website falls into one of those categories, a Sitemap can be useful.

When should I use a Sitemap?

Since most of you who are reading this probably don't have a 3000 page website, a complex database, or a flash website, we'll focus on the last two "problems" that a Sitemap helps resolve.

First, if you don't have very good internal links, should you use a Sitemap? If this is a case, a Sitemap can help resolve this problem and help Google like you more. However, the far simpler solution is simply to put in good internal links.

Second, if you don't have links from other websites and are brand new, should you use a Sitemap? If this is the case, of course a Sitemap will let Google know you exist. Again, though, the simpler solution is to submit your website to the search engines, to directories, and/or to social bookmarking sites. Since this takes a lot less effort, it's usually the better solution.

With that being said, let me clarify: a Sitemap will never hurt your search engine ranking. Its benefits are relatively insignificant in the instances mentioned above, and may well not be worth your time. However, if you have the time for it, it certainly won't hurt either.

How do I make my sitemap?

So, you've decided your site deserves a Sitemap. Now we're to the complicated part. Making your Sitemap.

I won't go over the full directions in this blog, but generally speaking, you have two options.

Option #1: Use a Generator.
There are a lot of free XML generators on the web (http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ for instance). However, many of these will not actually find all of your website pages. Most of them are restricted in many of the same ways Google's crawler is restricted. Also, don't give your e-mail address to any generator site. I promise, they will sell it.
This option is fast, easy, and much less effective.

Option #2: Build a Full Version
Click HERE for Google's tool. They provide step-by-step directions on how to download their software, create your Sitemap, and submit it to them. This is quite complicated and very time consuming, and to those of you who have never used website code, it will also be pretty confusing. However you'll learn a lot from the process. Thrive Learning Institute recommends this option.
This option is difficult and can be confusing but far more thorough.

In Conclusion:
Is a Sitemap a good thing? Absolutely.
Is it easy to make a Sitemap? Absolutely not.
Is it worth it to make a Sitemap? Not Always.

For our clients, the only case where we recommend a Sitemap, is when your site is an e-commerce site that has a few hundred products or more. In this case the benefit is usually worth the investment, but in many other cases it simply isn't.

For more information on ways Thrive Learning Institute can help your online business achieve its goals, simply visit www.thriveli.com. Learn how to make money offline by marketing online with Thrive Learning Institute

Link Baiting - Thrive Learning Institute

2009-06-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

When it comes to SEO there are several factors than contribute in a major way to the webpage's strength in the search engines. Aside from on page optimization and probably more essential is the obtaining of backlinks. In this article from Thrive Learning Institute we'll discuss what backlinks are and the different strategies you can you use them to drive traffic and profits.

What are backlinks?

Back links are links from outside sources that link directly to your website or a page within your website. The more links you have from these outside sources the higher Google will rank you, the more traffic you'll and, if you're going for money, the more $ you'll make.

Because backlinks are an essential source of income for the online community, it's plain to see why so much has been written about it and why there is so much confusion about it. I'll attempt to shed some light on one section of the art and psychology of getting quality backlinks to your site.

Link Baiting

A popular way to build high quality backlinks to your website is to use a method called "Link baiting". Now we all write content for our websites and we try and make it good, useful content that people will find useful. Many times however we write a piece just for the sake of getting some text for on page SEO where you can stick your keywords for the crawler (programs that scan your site for keywords and content relevance). Link Baiting is the process of writing a piece of content with the intent of making it go viral so it spread across the net.

There are a few different kinds of content that are more apt to catch the imagination of net dwellers than others however.

Humor
Contrary
Resource
News

Writing a humorous article and combining it with a funny picture or video is a great way to stir things up in your niche. Everyone has received those emails filled with ridiculous pictures before and it gets passed through friend networks forever. That is what you're going for with a humorous piece sans email. You want this to take hold on the social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit and propeller and you want other bloggers in your niche to link to it and comment on it. So lighten things up a bit and let it fly!

Writing a post that is contrary to popular belief or principle is another awesome way to stir things up in the community. Nothing incites more buzz than a respected blogger saying something seemingly insane but then backing it up with data and evidence. This is probably one of the hardest things to do and because of that its also one of the most effective.

Take for example, Tim Ferriss. He wrote a great book, called The Four Hour Work Week, that basically attacks the corporate employee and the corporate lifestyle. Ridiculing it as a 40 year prison and then proceeded to show the way out. This book has been in bold rebellion of the societal norm and because of that reason he has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for 2 years straight. I know this is an extreme example but it illustrated my point well. Be intelligently controversial and you could have your ticket to fame and see a dramatic increase in your income.

Creating a useful resource is an effective and easy way to get lots of backlinks. Look around your niche and find a need that hasn't been filled effectively and then put together a comprehensive resource that will be a great benefit to others in your niche. If its useful you'll see tons of new backlinks to your site as people discover your post or article.

The last method I've listed is that of writing news posts. The trick to this one is to be first. It doesn't necessarily have to be a perfect post but if you can get a thorough article out there about breaking news along with some analysis of your own it can spread like wildfire and build a LOT of valuable backlinks.

At Thrive Learning Institute we urge you to start implementing some of these strategies in the articles you write or posts for your blog and test them out. You'll find that you're better at some than others. The more you test the more successful you'll be so get to it and start building backlinks!

Simple SEO Tips - Thrive Learning Institute

2009-06-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a few tips and simple rules from Thrive Learning Institute you should follow to improve easily your rankings in the different search engines. Nothing new and nothing very complex but good tips that work straight from the knowledge base of Thrive Learning Institute.

So, I hope you enjoy reading this little "SEO Beginner Guide" and I hope it helps you grow your traffic.

Search Engine Optimization

What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It's a set of techniques and strategies to optimize websites for the search engines and get better rankings on the search results of those engines.

There are a few more abbreviations and terms you should now if you start learning SEO, among others:

SERPs: Search Engine Results Pages.

Anchor text: Text used as a link.

Backlink: Any link pointing to your web site. Also called Inbound link.

One-way link: When a site or page has a link to your site, and your doesn't have any link back to it.

Keywords density: Relation of a keyword to the other words in a web page element. For example, the web page title <>This is just an example for a web page title< / title > has a keyword density of 20% because 7 out of 35 characters in this title make the word "example".

Outbound link: Any link on your page pointing to another site.

So, let's start working on it right away!

Tip 1 - Anchor text
When you create a link to another page or another site of yours, don't just use "click here" or "go" as the anchor text. Basically, don't do this:

To join our online HTML training, < href="001.html">click here< /a>.

Instead, use the keywords related to that page:

Join now our < href="online-html-training.html">online HTML training.

Try also to use these keywords in the name of the HTML file.
Search engines algorithms are taking into consideration the text used for the link itself. (anchor text)
"click here" is meaningless. But "online HTML training" correspond exactly to your subject, and this specific page, even independantly of its content, will be considered as an interresting page for "online HTML training" by the search engines.

Tip 2 - Backlinks
Spend time to contact other webmasters who have a site about the same subject as yours and exchange text links.
Again, use the keywords that you target in the anchor text of those links. Don't always use the same keywords but sometimes, use synonims and variations.
Only consider a link exchange with sites treating the same subject. Try to get at least 40 backlinks on 40 different websites.

Tip 3 - Pages title
Give a different title to each page, use keywords related to the page.

Tip 4 - Content
Search engines (through their spiders) are indexing text content from your pages. So the first thing you have to do, is make sure you have plenty of text, related to the subject of your web site. The context of the words is also very important, so don't just list hundreds of keywords. Write correct sentences, repeating several times the words you want to focus on. Try to use all the synonyms you know. Eventually, don't correct your typos or mistakes, people will do the same typos when they do a research!

Plus:
Always set the value of the alt="" tag of your images.

< src="html-training.jpg" alt="HTML Training">

Set the description and keywords metas. If possible, write different metas for each page.

< name="description" content="...">
< name="keywords" content="...">

Tip 5 - Content Actualization
You have nice content? Plenty of backlinks and optimized pages? Great, but don't start sleeping on it.
Update your content as often as possible. Add pages, articles, news... Grow your site.

Tip 6 - Web Hosting
Make sure your site loads fast and your hosting is good. A slow web site is no good.

Tip 7 - Clean HTML code
Try to have your HTML code as clean as possible. And try to reduce it a maximum. You should have a lot of text content and a bit of HTML code, not the contrary.

Tip 8 - Directories
Do not forget to post your web site to all the Internet directories related to your subject. These links are better than links exchanges as usually, directories do not require a link back to their site. These one-way links have a very good value for search engines.
Also submit it to DMOZ directory. It will probably take a few months to get your sited indexed, but the backlinks you will get there are worth gold.

Tip 9 - HTML tags H1, H2, B, U...
Use the headers tags for your titles and subtitles, search engine will give more importance to those texts.

<>HTML Training< /h1>

The look of these tags is not so nice but you can use CSS to redefine it.

h1 { color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px }

Tip 10 - Domain name
The keywords used in the domain name have great importance for some search engines, such as Google. If possible, register a domain name with your target keywords.

A domain name like http://www.buy-flowers.com has good chances to get ranked well on "buy flowers" with a bit of SEO and appropriate content.

You can also try subdomains for your most important sections. Subdomains will usually get indexed much faster than the sub-pages and directories.
Taking our example, you could create http://roses.buy-flowers.com, http://tulips.buy-flowers.com, ... generating a kind of "mini-site" for each.

Tip 11 - Inbound/Outbound links
Make sure you have more inbound links than outbound links on your pages. If you have too much outbound links, search engines will devaluate the importance of your page, considering it's just making a gateway to other sites, without having a good value for the surfer.

Tip 12 - Experiment!
Try new things. Play with the keywords density, your site structure, HTML tags and elements.
Some techniques work good with Google, not for Yahoo or MSN and vice-versa. And moreover, the search engine algorithms are changing all the time! Some old strategy might not work anymore but suddenly work great for one of them.

Well, that's it for today! I think that covers most of the SEO Basics you need to know to start optimizing your site. Thrive Learning Institute thanks you for for reading!

Utilizing Support Sites

2009-06-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

Support sites are great resources to two main things: build traffic and build back-links.

What are support sites?

Support sites are categorized primarily by their function. These are websites that you build to strengthen your primary, money site. A support site could be a website you build completely yourself, A support site could be a Hubpage or a Squidoo page. They can be ehow's or epinions or they can even be a Yahoo Answers answer.

The support sites that you build on these user generated content sites are great because you can get listed in the search engines very quickly. These sites have a lot of authority and because of that authority if you link to your main money sites those links will carry a lot of strength from that website to yours.

My personal favorite is Hubpages because they give you a cut of profits generated from adsense ads and amazon and eBay sales. In reality you could just focus on building tons of “hubs” and make a full-time living within a few months if you target profitable keywords. Here's an example of one of our Hubpages that brings in a considerable amount of traffic: Thrive Learning Institute - Ebay Feedback

Imagine how much traffic and authority you'd receive if you were to hunker down and build 30 optimized Hubpages, 30 Squidoo Pages, 15 Ehow's and were active in answering questions in your niche on Yahoo Answers. People would stream to your websites because you provided them with the opportunities and inroads (links) to get there.

Don't underestimate the power of building a tight network of optimized and useful support sites to build traffic and authority for your main money making website. To learn how to build offline income using internet marketing just click this link: Thrive Learning Institute

Thrive Learning Institute Donates Time and Money in Cystic Fibrosis Walk

2009-06-15T09:38:00.001-07:00

PROVO UT – On June 6th Thrive Learning Institute proudly sponsored a team of volunteers, made up of employees, in Provo Utah's annual Cystic Fibrosis Walk organized and run by the United Way. Charlene Cummings a marketing assistant for Thrive organized and lead the team.

“I decided to help with the walk because my friends niece has cystic Fibrosis and they're getting closer to a cure. If they don't find one she can only expect her niece to live to her 30's. I think that's really sad; I can't imagine if that were my niece.”

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the digestive system and lungs of nearly 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide).

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was founded in 1955 very few children with CF lived to see elementary school but now, largely because of the steady, consistent effort of the Foundation, the average age of people with cystic fibrosis is 36.8 years!

The Foundation is one of the most efficient organizations of its kind. In 2005, almost 90% of every dollar raised was available for investment in cystic fibrosis research, care and education programs. The National Institute of Health and other prestigious publications, including Forbes and USA Today, have heralded the Foundation, which fosters the discovery of progressive medications and developmental programs.

When Thrive Learning Institute learned of it's employees involvement in the walk they were more than happy to pitch in and help out. Charlene Cummings at Thrive spoke highly of her company's contribution,

“It's nice to be a part of a company that is so willing to contribute to a cause as great as this, with leadership that truly sees the need to give back to the community".”

Thrive Learning Institute follows Google's mantra to "Not Be Evil" by focusing on providing industry leading service and setting a higher bar for local communities to be more involved in the communities that support them.

Thrive Learning Institute PrLog
Thrive Learning Institute FPR

Time Is Precious

2009-06-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.”

Let be honest with ourselves. We waste time, our most precious resource. Think of all the minutes that get thrown away spent on useless, shallow activities or events. The world is flooded with time-wasters and there is more and more fighting for our attention. Such an exponential growth is an attack upon our ability to make something of ourselves.

In an age when time-wasting is so prevalent there presents innumerable opportunities for those will full enough to resist the urge to fritter away their lives on video games, soap operas or the latest iphone APP.

What qualities do we need to utilize the fleeting time we have here and make something worthwhile of ourselves?

1.Discipline
2.Patience

Discipline

“Discipline is remembering what you want.”

Why is it that we do get stuck on things that waste our time? Its because we forget what we want. We forget who we are and where we want to be going. If we could always have at the fore front of our mind what our long term goals were would we really play Halo until 4 am? Would we really spend 2 hours a day watching the depressing news in the name of being “informed”? Would we really surf the net doing absolutely nothing interesting for 4 hours at work?

No. No we would not.

We would lay out a step by step process by which we would accomplish our goals. We would set intermediate goals and benchmarks to measure our progress. We would learn to say no to bar-hopping more often in exchange for more fulfilling pursuits.

How is this accomplished? How do we jolt our selves to remember what it is we want? Well, first we need to know what we want in the first place. You can't remember anything that wasn't there int the first place. Write down specific detailed goals summarize them, then come with a sentence or catch phrase that you'll associate with all those goals. What do you think you can do to help yourself remember what it is you want and what is necessary to accomplish your goals?

Is it posting your goals all over your house? I it reviewing them when you get up every morning? Meditating? Prayer? What is it? Write down your ideas and then implement them.

Practice saying “No” when you're invited to do something fun. Really, I'm being serious. The next time someone invites you to a party or to do something fun just tell them “No”. Even if you felt like you were productive that day and deserved to relax a little bit this exercise will teach you that turning people not only isn't that hard, but that it is so helpful in being productive. After you turn them down, to justify your rejection do something worthwhile that furthers your goals.

You must discipline yourself.

“For every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward.”

Patience

“Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.”

I cant count how many times I've been pumped up to being extremely disciplined only to falter because I didn't see results as soon as I was expecting. Patience is possibly more important than discipline because discipline with out patience will whither and die in its infancy.

Most things that are worth doing take longer than we want: Starting a business, writing articles, nurturing a relationship, getting in shape, winning a championship, inventing something (remember Thomas Edison?)

The best way to build patience, just a like anything else, is to practice. Be aware of when you're losing you patience and then hold on for 10 minutes longer. More often than not the result we desire is just around the corner, just 10 minutes out of reach. What a shame it is that we give up when we're so close and lose all progress.

Next time don't give up, keep going. When the desired result isn't enough to motivate you anymore do it in the name of building patience and you will achieve two goals. You'll have more patience and you'll have achieved your original goal.

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.”

Treasure your time by cultivating these two qualities. You will be surprised at how much you can accomplish with just 10% more discipline and patience. Then you will wonder what you could be with 50% more or 100% more. You dreams can be realized. Make them happen.

Thrive Learning Institute is dedicated to helping everyone fulfill their dreams. Internet marketing can be used effectively to generate offline income as well as online.

Tips For Productivity from Thrive Learning Institute

2009-06-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

When we hear the word 'productivity' or we discuss ways to be productive or first instinct is to think about how to be more efficient; how to get more done. This is faulty thinking.

Efficiency, getting a lot done in a small amount of time, means nothing if what were doing so efficiently is completely ineffective. Inversely, even if we do something that is effective (something important) inefficiently we get little done.

The goal is balance and here's a little trick I've found that can help to produce both efficiency and effectiveness:

1. At the beginning of each week write down the most important tasks for you to complete in the next week. Make sure you don't limit yourself to just work goals or just extracurricular goals. Include everything. Make sure these are things that you'd be proud of accomplishing after the week is over. Maybe its exercising 3 times a week or spending quality time with your kids 3 times that week. After you've created a list of 7-20 things you want to do choose 7, one for each day.

2. Now you need to find a place to put these important tasks in your schedule. Do just one per day. You want to keep this simple and straight forward. If you place too many in one day you'll get overwhelmed quickly. The goal here is to create consistent, daily, small victories that will spur you on and build momentum and eventually solid habits.

3. If you want to have a great day schedule the important tasks as early in the day as possible. If you can accomplish your goal for the day before 10am then the rest of the day will feel like smooth sailing even though its just like every other day. This will improve your attitude which will in turn improve your productivity throughout the rest of the day.

4. The last step of this little exercise is just sit back and feel good about getting some important tasks and goals accomplished. Savor the feeling of not only efficiency but also of effectiveness. Then aim for the future bigger, better and more effective goals to accomplish in the coming week.

Thrive Learning Institute knows that starting a business on the side while you have a full-time job and family responsibilities can be very taxing. For this reason we URGE you to develop a system where you work on your business a little bit each day. Doing a little bit every day will keep you sane and help you accomplish much more than trying to block all your responsibilities. Doing that will only cause problems and drama. So sit down take out a pen and do some basic prioritizing. Follow these steps and make your dreams come true!

To learn how to make money offline with Internet Marketing check out this post.

Press Release Guidelines

2009-06-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

Press Releases can do wonders for your marketing but many start-ups and individuals don't know exactly how to write an effective press release. If you can get a press release picked up by an editor or journalist you've hit that jackpot and there are certain rules you'll need to follow if you want that to happen.

First we need to review what a press release actually is. Thrive Learning Institute defines a press release as a statement or story prepared to be distribution to the various media outlets. The underlying purpose of a press release is to give journalists information that is both accurate and interesting.

There is a standard form and there are standard rules for writing a press release and once you get a handle of writing them, all you have to do is fill in the blanks. In fact the rules are so rigid that if you don't conform the set format then your press release probably won't even be read by journalists let alone be published. If you can get a pres release published with no changes to the content of the release then you know you've nailed it.

Lets start with the title. The title needs to be short and to the point. There is no room for superfluous writing in the title or anywhere in press release for that matter. Keep it snappy and catchy explaining the body of the release in plain terms.

The body of the release must contain the accurate and interesting story you're so eager to tell everyone about so they'll buy your stuff :) The beginning needs to start with the place and time the release originated. Very briefly, explain the who, what, where, why and how of the story.

The first paragraph of the release should tell and very straight-forward terms exactly what the press release is about. It should be clear why this story is newsworthy. Tell them what the rest of the release is about and then back it up with the details in the ensuing paragraphs.

The second paragraph explains the details. What individuals are involved? Where is the event happening? When? Why should the reader care? Also include a quote or two from participants or leaders of organizations to spice up the release and add a bit of down to earth realism. This is the paragraph you can repeat several times if necessary to get all the juicy details out there.

The last paragraph needs to be a summary of the release with extra information about the organization releasing the story and what their mission is or you could add a bit of history to provide some context.

Journalism's standards basic parameters to define the end of a press release. Its three pound symbols in a row, ###, centered directly underneath the last line of the release indicate the end of a press release.

So the next time you are asked to write a press release for your company or if you are an individual and want to get the word out about your new website,fear not, the rules are clear and concise: Accurate and interesting information portrayed within the set journalistic guidelines.

Recommended Article: Make Money Offline with Internet Marketing

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, A Review

2009-05-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

"Disarmingly funny, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur tells it like it is and yet never gives up on the little guy. After reading this book you'll feel like you can actually pull it off - because you can." --Donny Deutsch, Host of CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch and Chairman, Deutsch Inc.

Mike Michalowicz is hands down, the real deal. Get this book. I recently bought and studied a copy of the wildly popular book, “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” and was floored by the way Mike communicated his message. It like he's talking with you one-on-one. How he presents the information is incredibly funny, which makes it a fun read (especially since most of us don't have much time to read).

I fell in love with Toilet Paper Entrepreneur in the introduction where Mike shows a brilliant comparison between the "Media Darling" entrepreneur and his "Three Sheet Path." In Mike's example of the media darling, at 18-years-old the future entrepreneur is recruited to an Ivy League school only to quit and launch a wildly successful VC. Meanwhile, Mike is picking colleges based on the guy-to-girl ratios, hahaha! Needless to say many of us can relate.

He explains why a business plan is a complete waste of time and instead offers the alternate, “Three Sheet Path”, a simple, practical guide for measuring where your company is going and what the immediate health of your business is. If you're like me any way to simplify the process of starting and running a business is welcomed with open arms :)

Some Background

Mike started his first business when he was an inexperienced 24 years old, moving his young family to the only place he could afford, a retirement village. With almost no resources and certainly no experience, he systematically bootstrapped a multi-million dollar technology business, sleeping in conference rooms to avoid hotel costs. After selling his first company for way too much money, Mike launched a new business the very next day, and in less than three years, sold it to a Fortune 500 company. With his newest multi-million dollar venture, Obsidian Launch, he fosters start-up businesses with his “get rich right” approach.

In a recent article Mike explains what he feels are entrepreneurs top ten mistakes and here's number one:

Trying To Do It All

The greatest mistake entrepreneurs make is to believe they can do it all by themselves. While an entrepreneur can do most things, they do most things poorly. Just like any other person, an entrepreneur has one or two God given talents. As an entrepreneur it is your job to identify what you are great and do those few things to your fullest. Surround yourself with people who are strong where you are not. Great companies are built on the foundation of exploiting a few strengths, not on trying to be masters of everything.

If you do a Google search for content by Mike Michalowicz you are going to find a ton of video blog entries, articles and photos that can be so edgy sometimes that they are offensive to some. But in every article he writes or video he posts you are certain to find it packed with a purpose driven message.

It's so simple that it's complex. Business is not easy but it should at least be fun and Mike definitely makes it fun in The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. Make no mistake, I strongly recommend picking up The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. It will inspire you and motivate you to keep pushing toward your entrepreneurial dreams.

Recommended Article: Make Money Offline with Internet Marketing

The SEO Success Pyramid

2009-05-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

Matt Mcgee over at smallbusinessSEM.com recently wrote a column on the SEO success Pyramid.

I really liked the article because he explained in real terms that building a website isnt about making a ton of money really quickly. Its about building something worthwhile through hard work and proven principles, just like Thrive Learning Institute teaches. There are 5 levels of the pyramid culminating creating that all coveted “Trust”.

Commitment

this is a no-brainer but is such a hang up for so many. Your success is directly connected to your commitment to a project or a goal . This is true in every facet of life whether it be relationships, sport, business or spirituality. Anything worthwhile wont come to yo in a flash of undisciplined genius. Its often the steady and persistent that produce the greatest value and in fact produce the most imminent of geniuses. Commit yourself for the long run. Its worth it.

Planning

You can get far with a deep commitment to success however if you just work hard and have no plan or direction then all that work will no doubt dissolve to nothing. Set clear goals. Picture the perfect day, then break down all the steps necessary to getting there. Create several plans of action and prioritize them. Then get to work . You planning will pay off in the end as it steers all that horsepower you have toward the desired goal.

Product/Service

There is no substitute for quality. Tricky salesman ship might fool customers into buying something useless for a while but people aren't stupid and soon enough you'll find yourself out of business and out of money. Create or provide something that people need. This is the surest way to guarantee staying power.

Education/Information

In this industry access to education and information regarding the intricacies and nuances that are evolving are essential to creating a successful SEO strategy. Yesterdays success strategy could be wildly different from today's because of a new piece of software a new policy or a new up and coming competitor. You need access to high quality information so you don't get left behind in the stone ages of may 2009.

Patience

Patience is perhaps the most important quality to possess in the field of search engine marketing simply because it just takes time for the best strategies to take hold and start working their magic. There are no quick fixes or paths to instant success. There are some exceptions but they are just that, exceptions. So hunker down and get to work. Thrive Learning Institute guarantee's you'll see abundant success, just be patient.

5 Ways to Build Links to Your Site

2009-05-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

Dominate the Niche you choose with Quality Content

If you've done a lot of research on blogging or on internet marketing in general you've probably heard a lot about how important it is to have valuable, quality content. Like an echo I and Thrive Learning Institute are going to say that this is absolutely true. If you're just rehashing other people content chances are your blog or website will turn into another one of the mediocre, lost websites floating around on the web that no one reads. You'll be shouting as loud as you can in the middle of a forest.

You need to come up with interesting insights and passionate rants. You need worthwhile how-to's and engaging guides to draw people in and make people want to read your content and want to link back to it.

Find a topic you won't mind spending a lot of time with and then start asking yourself or others what they want to know about it. Then get started creating content that thoroughly answers those questions. As you increase the quality of your content the quality and number of back links you get grows exponentially.

Get Involved

One principle that I learned very well from Thrive Learning Institute is that once you have created a nice helping of yummy content then go join the community surrounding your niche. Make a list of some of the best and most authoritative blogs and websites on your topic ans start commenting, helping and answering question they have.

If you do this with gusto and always provide your own website in your signature you garner a lot of respect, a lot of traffic and unsolicited back links from others in your community.

Get Press

Obviously the more press you get the better. You can submit your press releases to free online press release directories that the big news chains sift through to find good stories to include. If you write a good article with a compelling headline you could get picked up by the new york times, The Globe and any number of other reputable newspapers and media companies. Its always a good idea to ask them specifically to link to your site because a link from a big news conglomerate will have a ton of weight. And will help out a ton with your rankings.

A great tool that Google provides is the ability to search for news stories by keyword so you ca keep track of the latest happenings in your niche. When you catch the latest news you can blog about it as soon as it comes out or contact the reporters doing the stories to build good relationships with contacts who could potentially give you a lot of press in the future. You may even be able to provide them with a source so they refer to you in their next story.

Directories

It's always smart to submit some articles to the best article directories out there so you can get some quick back links. You'll need to be careful though to make sure you vary the anchor text as Google will penalize you for what is called “Google bombing”.

Its very important not to get too stuck on this one method. It very easy to just because you can do everything yourself and its not dependent on someone else liking your content. Know that having pure article back links will not take your website to the level you probably want. Related niche sites linking to you and news companies linking to you are much more valuable.

Give people incentives to link to you.

Often times it'll feel like your trying to pull teeth to get bloggers and webmasters to link to you so you'll need to devise some potential incentives. You could propose link trading, writing a featured article about their website, or allowing them to write a relevant, valuable article that will give them some attention and allow them to demonstrate their talent and the value they can provide to your community.

When all else fails you can always offer to pay them to put a link up on their site but if you can avoid that if you create great content. So do that instead :)

Whatever you do don't give up on link-building. The heed you give to link-building alone can make or break your website. So have patience and stick with it. Get into a daily habit of link building and you'll see success sooner than you might think. Remember, if you have any questions be sure to give Thrive Learning Institute a call and discuss it with your team.

Make Money Fast

2009-05-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

Tons of people are always asking how to make money fast on the internet. Thus we see the birth of trillions of get rich quick scams that make only the dishonest and shady money while the honest are left in the dust with $597 less than before and a few sticks when they thought they were getting power tools. Thrive Learning Institute delivers those power tools.

Creating Fast Income will obviously be riskier because if it weren't then everyone would be doing it. So here's a few ideas you can use to start making money today.

Affiliate Marketing

You can make a ton of money very quickly with affiliate marketing. All you need to do is get some highly targeted paid advertising that's directed to a landing page where you advertise other peoples products. That traffic buys those products and you make a killing with a simple web page and some seed money for advertising.

Obviously there's a downside. If you mess up your ad or your site is horribly optimized for conversions then you could realistically end up in the hole instead of going down to get your new Harley. I would suggest starting with a bit of seed money that is dedicated solely to learning good PPC techniques and learning how to optimize a landing page for conversions so that when the rubber meets the road you can really rake in the dollars.

Blogging

Blogging is another way to make a good amount of money online. You'll need to find a niche that you know a lot about and can write a lot about or you will burn out quickly. But with some basic SEO knowledge and a lot of useful, entertaining content you can monetize in so many different way IE advertising networks like Adsense, affiliate marketing, and you can even create your own products over time. That's where the real money is and Thrive Learning Institute will get you there.

Start Small, Dream Big

2009-05-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

Its good to be ambitious in business. You're rewarded handsomely for it however you must have the right perspective if you're actually going to realize your ambitions. Thrive Learning Institute provides the experience and knowledge to focus those ambitions into simple, actionable tasks.

When starting an online business its never a good idea to target the broad, general terms like “health care”, or “Beauty”. There's way too much competition and unless you can wait around for 10 years all the while posting amazing content daily you will never get ranked in the search engines. You must start small if you're going to see any degree of success within a reasonable amount of time.

Select a low competition, usually long-tail, keyword phrase within the subject you want your niche in and then work to get to the top of the search engine. The process of getting to the top of the search results is pretty long and involved. Thrive can walk you through the detailed, step by step process of discovering capitalizing on, and ranking first for these keywords.

Once you've achieved the top ranking for your first keyword, choose a related keyword with the same level of competition and difficulty and repeat. Now you have two strong holds in a niche. Keep repeating the process and you'll eventually be able to start competing for those highly competitive keywords. You'll begin to dominate the market and when you dominate a market you have a fat wallet.

An example:

recently, after doing some research, found a potentially profitable keyword, “DJ speakers”. So I decided to throw up a niche site all about how to find the right DJ speakers, with videos and other related material all optimized for DJ speakers. Soon enough I'll be in the top spot when people search for that keyword and I'm already set up to begin optimizing for other keywords with related pages in my site. The next step might be “how to become a DJ” or maybe I'll just expand into the broader “DJ equipment.

So remember start small, be patient and in time you'll get that authority site you've dreamed of. Milk before meat my friends, milk before meat. Thrive Learning Institute will help you get the meat faster:)

A brief explanation of web analytics

2009-05-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

Web analytics is the objective tracking, collection, measurement, reporting, and analysis of quantitative internet data to optimize websites and web marketing initiatives. (You'll want to pick up Avinash Kaushiks Web Analytics: An Hour a Day) Thrive Learning Institute teaches how to set up, analyze and make profitable decisions from your web analytics.

Web analytics should be the lens that all business owners view the success or failure of their business and the basis for strategic decisions and tactics. They'll be able to set realistic goals by analyzing what has and hasn't worked in the past and be gather information and trends across all their marketing campaigns to discover which strategies are having the greatest impact on their customers and therefore determine which areas of the company are thriving and which could use a little more work.

For example, businesses can determine what is attainable in their future by evaluating past successes and failures. Also, by analyzing trends across marketing channels, marketers can learn which strategies have the most impact on their consumers, and therefore determine which areas of the company are thriving and which need improvement

The history of web analytics is miniscule compared to the massive tomes that grace our libraries about various subjects that have dramatically effected the human race. However, while the field is still very small,Web analytics is having a huge impact on the world of internet marketing and is making many people very, very rich. I'll give you a very brief explanation of how It's birth.

In the beginning navigating the internet was very straight forward. Type in the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and a file with links and text would be 'served' to you by a server and that was it.

Servers record their transactions in what is called a log file. Some clever person realized that these files could be read by a program to provide data on the popularity of the website. He subsequently wrote that program and thus we see the birth of Web Analytics.

These logs were capturing data on not only page hits (the number of times people accessed a websites files) but also file name, time, referrer (the website making the request) IP address, browser identification, operating system and so on. So things began to get interesting cause you got to learn about where these hits were coming from and each hit became unique.

Soon enough business people and marketers began to get interested in this information but it was unfortunately all Greek to them … or php. So another sneaky person built a program that would automatically sort out the information in the log files to produce basic metrics. The first true commercial log analyzer was released by IPRO in 1994.

The last 15 years has been a trend of gathering more useful data and making it easier for the common webmaster to analyze and from said analysis make profitable decisions.

what serious business owner wouldn't want to know what marketing techniques are actually working and which are not?

For a more comprehensive and in depth look at web analytics and how the everyday internet entrepreneur can use it effectively check out Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik.
Or sign up with Thrive Learning Institute for one on one coaching on any online business subject you want.

Tip of the Week: How to Target Your Market Niche

2009-04-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you have your website set up and you have been getting traffic for a few weeks but hardly anyone is making a purchase, what do you do? Starting a business is not as easy as it appears in a textbook or from watching your neighbor make a lot of money out of their garage. Anyone who has marketed a business or a product for a business knows that a company needs to specify their target market in order to optimize on marketing efforts.

Think of your product, determine what niche it falls into and then decide what demographic and psychographic are a part of that niche market. Once you have done this, you can research that particular group and design a marketing plan structured around their needs and wants.

For example, a company specializing in camping equipment is going to want to post articles about camping and possibly create a blog focused on camping and other outdoor activities to draw in their target market.

Narrowing your marketing strategy will help you better focus your marketing efforts in directions that will be most beneficial to your organization. You will also want to include emotional and product images on your site as well as putting your logo in a prominent location to help with business recognition. As always if you have any questions or concerns about this subject give Thrive Learning Institute a call

Website Conversion Rate

2009-04-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

In this video Thrive Learning Institute covers the methods that you will need to follow after launching your website to drive the initial visitors to your site. Most people don't understand that once their website is live the work is not over. Running an effective test market will help increase your websites conversion rate and make you a considerable amount of money.

Tip of the Week: Search Engine Optimization

2009-04-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

When it comes to SEO, keep your expectations realistic. One expectation that is initially set too high by many companies is the SEO time frame. Please realize that, realistically your SEO efforts could take months or even a year to see big rewards from your efforts. You also need to make sure that the people you work with understand how much improvements mean in SEO. Since it's a never-ending battle to stay in the top of the search engines, it's important to always be involved.

Once you have realistic expectations, you can start to examine and determine the real results of your SEO efforts. A couple main ways of examining where you stand with various search engines are to search for yourself, and to analyze the statistics on the web through programs like Google Analytics. It is very easy to see the initial rankings of your SEO efforts. Simply go to Google.com, for example, and type in your company's name. Where do you fall? An additional way to scope out where you stand apposed to the competition is to seek out web statistics which will benefit your company and give you a realistic sampling of where you stand as a company.

Dropship Companies

2009-04-16T10:08:00.001-07:00

In this post Thrive Learning Institute will teach you the easiest way to sell a physical product online. When many people get started trying to sell products online they usually get stuck on the first step which is finding the actual product. By knowing how to find quality dropship companies you will be leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

What is Dropshipping?

Sometimes companies will ship out products one at a time rather than making customers purchase them in bulk and ship them out themselves; this is known as dropshipping. One form of dropshipping is Blind Dropshipping; this occurs when the company that is dropshipping puts the receivers business name and address on the package as a return address.

Where are Dropshippers Found?

Dropshippers may be found through Dropship directories, manufacturers, and joint ventures.

Dropship Directories

These are online databases created by companies that go to trade shows and determine which companies are willing to dropship. The companies are then divided into categories based on the products they offer. Some common dropship directories include, but are not limited to, worldwidebrands.com and 123shipper.com. There may be a fee associated with the directories but they are well worth the fee for the time which will be saved by using a directory instead of taking the time to research. Some Dropshipping Directories will even offer discounts

Manufacturers

Larger manufacturers may not dropship but smaller manufacturers may. It is important to call or email the manufacturer about a specific product and tell them you are starting an online business. Next, ask if they are able to Dropship or if they have a distributer over your area or region that can. If they cannot Dropship, they may be able to list someone who can.

What Fees are Associated With Dropshipping?

It is important to know the fees which are associated with Dropshipping. There are three different ways fees may be applied: price markup, fixed rate, and a monthly fee. Price markup occurs when the manufacturer and the wholesaler mark up the price in order to make a marginal profit. Some Dropshippers may apply a fixed rate per product; say around $25. There may be a monthly fee to be a part of the warehouse allowing you to pay one flat rate for the entire month, regardless of the number of products.

Make sure to always ask the Dropshipper what kind of fees they charge. If all three fees apply, chances are a profit cannot be made on the product. However, there may not be any fees applied. Research and make sure the best deal is being made.

Tip of the Week: Building a Link System

2009-04-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

In the beginning, you will probably want to link to more popular websites from your own website but as your link building progresses other steps must be taken to ensure the best results. Eventually, you're going to want to contact companies who will benefit from your products to have them place a link to your website on their own website. Be careful how you approach the company, you want to help them realize what's in it for them not what's in it for you. Send them a personalized letter identifying core ways that adding your link to their website will increase their sales.

Internal links are another good way to build up your link system; these are easier and faster than external links. You may be thinking "I already have an internal link system set up through my navigation" but that's not enough. You need to create links from one portion of your website to another in order to get better results. Commonly, these links are found in articles, blogs, or at the bottom of the page.

You will not have immediate effects from working on a link system to your website. It takes weeks, maybe even months before you will see your website climbing in the search engine ranks.

Recommended Article: Make Money With Internet Marketing

Tip of the Week: How to Submit to Organic Search Engines

2009-04-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

It is important to register your website with various search engines. In this post, we will explain how to register with MSN, Yahoo and Google. Over-submitting to any search engine may cause the search engine to kick your website out of any future searches so be careful how often you register your sites with the same search engine.

To register with MSN, put your address in quotes in the search box ("your address here") and run a search for it. When no site is found, assuming your site is not currently registered, MSN will bring up a page saying so. Click on the option "send this address to us" and then fill out the form provided by posting your URL and then click submit URL. To register with Yahoo, scroll down to the bottom of the Yahoo homepage and click on "suggest a site", then click on "submit your site for free". Put your URL under submit a website or web page and then click submit URL. To register with Google, simply go to www.google.com/addurl and fill in the information specified.

After submission, search engine crawlers should come to your site within a month to make sure that you have the right meta tags, keyword saturation, etc. Make sure you optimize your site for the search engines. Do not expect your site to immediately come up in searches; it takes time.

Benefits of Branding

2009-04-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

In this video Thrive Learning Institute teaches you the basics of creating a brand for your business. Most people don't know that 70% of online businesses that fail online have no defined logo or branding, because of that it is critical for you to focus on the branding of your business from the very start. For more information visit www.whythrive.com.

Tip of the Week: Social Media Marketing

2009-03-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

Social media is a form of viral marketing; once you get it started there is no way to stop it. A few people will bite and then they'll send information on to their friends who will send it on to theirs. It is important to realize, however, that social marketing is not as easy as it sounds. You first have to get involved in and become part of the community you wish to market to. If you act before you are a part of that community people will not respond well to you. Then, when you try to market to that community again, you will be approached with skepticism.

Some may believe that social media is not worth your time. Those same people were the ones who thought that websites such as You tube and Facebook would never amount to anything. There is a lot of power in social media, the trick is figuring out how to effectively tap into that power. No matter what, choose your social media tactics wisely, problems are not easily solved.

Tip of the Week: Designing Your Website

2009-03-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

A good website will have three to five images on the homepage including a good logo, an emotional image, and at least one product image. The logo should be placed in a prominent location, the emotional image should make the user feel something about your product, and the product image or images should portray the best use of the product being sold.

You can create a logo yourself using one of several design programs or you can go to a logo or graphics website and pay a company to create one for you. When looking for emotional and product images, you may want to contact your supplier, look on sites that sell graphics, or take some photos of your own. You can Google search an emotional image or use one that has been taken of someone using your product. You can also use a site like iStockphoto.com for professional images that cost only a dollar or two per image.

Once you find the images you are ready to design your page. When designing your webpage, it is very important to remember to use five design principles: proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, and flow. Using these principles will make your site visually appealing to customers.

Tip of the Week: Internet Security

2009-03-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Every company needs to pay attention to how secure their computers and private files really are. Failing to protect and secure your computers is a liability. Hackers can hack into your system and steal customer or personal information; you are responsible for what is done with that information. Also, a lot of people do not know that it is possible for people to access your computer to send out spam email, attack other computers, or store unwanted files such as pornography on your computer without your knowledge. For this reason, it is very important to secure your computer.

ninety eight percent of all computers have some sort of spyware on them. Spyware itself is not so bad; it is a tool that a lot of advertisers use but hackers will sometimes piggyback on spyware to hack into your files. Identity theft is also a big problem. One in twenty Americans will suffer from identity theft this year. There are five hundred new viruses each day that can come against outdated software...update! That's why large companies have a large IT department.

Since our clients run small businesses, we suggest using Invisus Computer Security. This system offers IT professionals who can actually remote access your computer in the event of infection. Invisus will act as the IT department for your business. They offer security scans that can be downloaded. We recommend downloading and running the program to see if your computer is secure and if your computer security software needs to be updated. Scan your computer on a regular basis as there are always new viruses.

eBay Auction Management Tools Video

2009-03-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

In this video Thrive Learning Institute Covers some of the ins and outs of the best ways to manage your eBay auctions utilizing eBay Auction Management Tools. Thrive Learning Institute understands that to make real money on eBay it takes the ability to close several auctions a day and manage them effectively so that you don't end up buried in the "paperwork". For more information visit www.whythrive.com .

Customer Service and the Online World

2009-03-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

One of the most often neglected, but nonetheless most important factors in a successful online business is good customer service.

Why is it so often overlooked? Well, there are a lot of reasons. Many online business owners own multiple businesses, or have a job in the offline world in addition to their online business, and so are unable to keep up with a large volume of calls or e-mails from customers.

It is often also because of the idea of "online business" that online business owners sometimes fail to provide high quality customer service. Owners who view it is a type of "part-time" business simply don't include customer service in their plans.

But how important is it, really?

I can answer that with three words. Very, very important.

Want a longer answer? No problem. Here are a few major factors:

Better customer care increases the likelihood that you will get testimonials directly from clients, which means a more effective sales page.
Better customer care increases the likelihood that you will get good word of mouth for your website.
Better customer care increases the likelihood that you will get repeat customers.
Better customer care increases the likelihood that you will get links from other websites (the blogs or sites of your customers). That means a better search engine ranking.
Better customer care increases the likelihood that you will close sales.

So, let's look at what I just said in brief:

More traffic, more sales, and more profit.

If those things aren't important to you, then go dig a hole or something, because online business isn't for you. These are the most valuable things to online commerce.

So, here are a few quick tips to giving good customer service:

Display your contact e-mail address in a prominent location.
Respond to customer inquiries or complaints within 24 hours of receiving their e-mails.
Set up a phone to accept business calls. Either put a new message on one of your existing lines, or use a service like "Skype" to set up a new number.
Answer voice-mails within 2 hours whenever possible.
Make refunds easily for your customers. This does not mean paying for everything for them -- it means not trying to force them to not return the item, and trying to resolve their concerns as thoroughly as possible.
The line "the customer is always right" is both cliche and untrue. Anyone who has worked in customer service will tell you that the customer is usually wrong. But you should always approach calls and e-mails with the attitude that they are right.

Let me give a brief example of that last part. On my website, a customer tried to buy an item for about $130 with four different credit cards. They were all declined. She e-mailed me, furious that she had not received a confirmation that her order had been placed. I responded by phone, calmly explaining the situation to her, and saying that I'd be glad to take her payment over the phone, or that she could simply process the order again with a card that had at least $130 left on it.

Rather than doing this, she sent me an e-mail with her credit card information. More than that, it was one of the cards that she had already tried, and had been declined. I tried the card again for her, and called her again, to notify her that I simply could not process that card. I apologized, and asked if there were any other cards she wanted to try, or if she wanted to try a different method of payment. She said that if I couldn't accept her credit card, that she would just buy from someone else. Of course, I was tempted to tell her just how silly she was being, and that no one would accept these cards. Instead, though, I told her that I understood her concerns, but that it was not me but my bank that wouldn't accept those cards. I let her know that if she changed her mind, I would be glad to process the transaction for her.

A week later she contacted me with a new card to process the transaction. She sent a testimonial afterward as well, telling me that she'd been having a rough day, and appreciated my patience.

I spent less than twenty minutes overall in addressing her concerns, and the transaction landed me about $40 in profit. For those of you counting at home, that's about $120 per hour, if we were to calculate my "wages."

Again, let me repeat. Customer service is important to online business. How important? Very, very important.

For more on how an online coaching company can help your business thrive, simply visit www.thriveli.com.

Building a Following: It's Twitter Time!

2009-03-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

Our last entry discussed the details of getting friends on different social networking groups, and how to get started, but this week I want to go more in-depth on one in-particular: Twitter.

Twitter, a relatively new phenomenom, involves "following" others and being "followed." Everyone can make whatever updates they'd like on their life or whatever else, and when you're following someone, you see their updates. When they're following you, they see yours. It's that simple.

But it's a bit hard to build a following if you don't know what you're doing. I'm going to give some step-by-step directions to help you get started on Twitter.

Register for Twitter! Obviously important.
Make a couple of updates. The first should tell the world something about you, and your business. The second should be something interesting. If you want to do one or two more to share other interesting facts or websites, feel free.
Go to "Find People" at the top of the site. Search for a major keyword for your industry. For example, if you were to sell Motorcycle Parts, you could search for the term "Motorcycle."
The list that pulls up will include people who have the word "Motorcycle" in their name or their description of themselves. The ones that have the most followers are listed at the top. Click on the first one that looks like it applies to your industry (so if the first one is "Motorcycles Suck," don't follow it -- go for "Motorcycles Rock" or whatever applies below that).
Follow them! Now look at the right hand side. You can see how many followers they have. Click on where it says "### followers."
You know two things about these people. 1) They are the sort who follow others in your industry. 2) They have some sort of interest in your industry.
"Follow" down the list. Don't over-do it. Twitter may not like you if you send out 2000 follows in a day. Keep it reasonable, but add a lot of follows.
Wait 48 hours. Check your e-mail. You should have several hundred "This Person is Now Following You on Twitter" notifications.

Congratulations! You've just leeched off of the following of others, establishing your own with people who are likely to be interested.

Of course, this is just the beginning, and there are a lot of tricks of the trade to be learned. To find out more about how a quality coaching company can help bring your online business out of the dark ages and into the modern world of social networking, just visit http://www.thriveli.com.

Negative Keywords: Not a Bad Thing!

2009-02-26T17:26:00.001-08:00

Ah, yes. One of my favorite, and most often misinterpreted, tools in Google AdWords. Now . . . this entry does assume you have at least a basic background in Google AdWords, so keep that in mind. If you do know Google AdWords, or have wrestled with them before, this will prove to be a valuable tool.

Negative keywords are words you can add to your campaigns to make Google show your ad less. And, believe it or not, this is a good thing.

Why? Well, you will choose words that will prevent your Ad from showing. For example, by putting in the word "free" as a negative keyword, people who searched for your website keywords, but used the word "free" (for example, "free camping gear"), wouldn't see your website Ad. It just wouldn't come up.

That's the first important step. You wouldn't pay for this person to come upon your site -- they're clearly not a "buyer." They're looking for a free gift, or perhaps free information or a something similar. It's not that it's horrible if they ran across your site. You just don't want them doing it on your dime.

Beyond that, these people are less likely to click on a "sales-pitch" type Ad anyway, so by not showing your Ad to them, you are increasing your CTR (or "Click Through Rate"). A better Click Through Rate will actually lower your cost per click with Google.

Here's how you add negative keywords to your campaign:

Go to the Keywords section of any given AdGroup.
Use the "quick add" option for your keywords.
Type in the minus sign (-), followed by any keywords you want as negative keywords.
Here are a few negative keywords that are a good idea to use: free, info, information, image, images, pic, picture, wiki.

So, there's a basic overview. If you want to learn more about how a quality coaching company can help your business soar, simply visit www.thriveli.com.

"Making Friends" - How to Start on Social Networking Sites

2009-02-20T15:19:00.001-08:00

One type of website marketing that is vastly underestimated is that of Social Networking. By this, I mean using sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and potentially about 50 other sites, to promote your website.

This applies whether your site is a retail site, a blog, or pretty much anything else. Though many of these social networking sites were intended for individuals, not companies, the resources they provide can be used to great benefit by your online business.

The why, what, and how are another story. Right now, I want to go over how to get started on Social Networking, and the most important first step. "Making Friends."

When people start out on these sites, they often don't know how to start. The only thing that these sites seem to promote in order to make friends is adding friends from your personal contact list. Well, why don't you? Many business owners I know are hesitant to add their own friends to the list, but this is one of the best places to start. It's highly unlikely, after all, that your friends will give you negative PR, reject your friendship requests, or anything similar. Plus, by establishing a group of friends, you will show other potential "friends" that you're already established (even if you're not).

A second thing you'll want to do as you set up on these sites is to be certain that your company's profile looks nice. You should fill out all the information that's asked for (by whatever site you're working on), and you should add a non-salesy, smooth description of your site. Here's one as an example:

Genie in a Bottle is glad to be here on MySpace to continue networking, finding new business connections, and provide an additional way that our customers can get updates about upcoming events, sales, or other promotions. We sell the best Genies in lamps around. If you're interested in checking out our website, it can be found at http://www.example.com. If you're interested in hearing about upcoming promotions, receiving special discounts through MySpace, or getting in touch with us, just add us to your friends list.

Then, be sure that your profile is set to "public view," so people who aren't your friends already can check it out. Also, put information on which social networking sites you're using on your website, and mention that you occasionally give out promotion codes, or give word of new products, through these sites. This will prompt some of your buyers, and even some of your non-buying site visitors, to add you on these sites.

Now, these things alone may bring in a new friend from time to time, but you'll need to be a bit more active than that to start making connections. There are five words that sum up what you need to do:

Be active on the site.

It's hard to give specific directions on what you need to do (since every site is different), but being active is really the key. If the site has forums, participate in the forums! If it has blog features, participate in the blog features! Commenting on other people's blogs, or responding to their posts in forums, is one of the best ways to start meeting people.

Another tactic to use is to join groups on these websites. Most of these websites have different "groups" based on an interest in a similar subject. If you're selling pocket knives, wouldn't a group interested in camping make a great set of leads for you?

Oh, but let's be careful. I just called them "leads," and it's important to remember, these aren't just "leads." They're potential friends to your business, and you should treat them as such. You should not try to push your business on these people, and you should always be respectful.

Here's another piece of simple advice. One of the best ways to find friends is to be a friend to others. This works somewhat differently on each site, and on sites like Facebook and MySpace, it's not wise to "add a friend" who has no idea who you are. But on sites like Twitter, "following" someone is one of the best ways to get "followed." By finding someone who has interests that seem to be in relation to your site, and following them, they are likely to notice you, check your profile, and may or may not follow you in return.

So, let's answer in brief, why should you bother spending all this time doing this? Well, it's very simple. This is a waiting customer list. Once you have established friends, you can make "posts," "updates," or "notes" (the name is different for each site). Everyone on your friends list will be able to see these updates, and if you phrase your "notes" in a way that invites people to your site, you'll see increased traffic through these mediums.

So, yes, once again, it's all about traffic, spreading the word, and getting people to your site. It may take a while to establish yourself on each of these Social Networking sites, but once you have, it provides a completely free resource to build significant traffic to your website.

For more information on how a quality coaching company can help increase the traffic to your site, or help you build a new online business from scratch, simply check us out at www.thriveli.com.

Writing Articles: Why and how?

2009-02-13T16:21:00.001-08:00

Website articles are a powerful tool to help promote your website. Whether it's an online store or an affiliate website, articles can help bring increased traffic.

Why is this? Well, to break it down into the simplest possible terms, when you post an article you will be talking about something related to the products on your site. When Google notices that a link to your website appears on a lot of sites that have relevant content, it decides that your website is more relevant to that subject.

As an example, if you were selling painting supplies, and your link appeared on an article where you talked about the different types of paints and how the different amounts of thickness effects the end result, Google would say "Oh! That website must really be about the subject of paint."

Most of us, however, do not have a college degree in the subject that our websites are talking about (and it is, in fact, hard to get a degree in things like paintball or medieval reenactment accessories). So how do you decide what to talk about in your web articles?

Here is a step-by-step of how I usually decide what to write articles for my website on:

Do some research.

I know, it's not the funnest thing in the world, but you have to have information before you write your article. More than that, it will help you decide what you will want to write about. Simply looking at a wikipedia article on your topic may give you an idea. Maybe researching golf will give information on upcoming tournaments, world records, or obscure facts. These things are great starting points for your article!

Obviously, in most cases you won't stop at Wikipedia. By finding the names of players, tournaments, or whatever else you've found, you will be able to do simple Google searches to find out more.

I really want to emphasize -- don't ever steal the work of others. Never copy their text, and never steal their pictures. This will not do well for you business -- the last thing you need is a lawsuit.
Collect your information.

Once you've visited several websites, write down the key points of what you learned. Let's continue with the hypothetical golf scenario. If we were looking at the world records for the number of yards before a hole in one, we would write down the information, who originally set the record, who beat that record, what the course was, what the weather conditions were, any quotes or statements from the players -- and anything else that applies! There is usually plenty of information.
Write what's interesting to you.

If you find yourself yawning as you read about the subject of your article, you may well find others do as well. This isn't good! Write about things that keep you interested in your own articles. If you can do that, you should be able to snag the attention of others.
Use your keywords!

It's possible to talk about golfing clubs in your article, but only mention the actual term "golfing clubs" once. By constantly referring to the term "golfing clubs" as "it," "they," or simply by not mentioning golf clubs, you're cheating yourself out of some good article keywords.

A good guideline is to use at least one major keyword or keyword phrase per article, and to repeat that keyword or keyword phrase 12 to 18 times (assuming it's the standard 500 word article).

These are just basic guidelines, but it should give you a place to start when you write your online articles. For more information on how a quality coaching company can help your online business succeed, simply visit www.thriveli.com.

The Art of Being Controversial

2009-01-30T18:48:00.000-08:00

If I started blogging about my personal political or religious views on this blog (that is, the Thrive Learning Institute Blog) it is quite likely that they would fire me. Those things are far too controversial for a professional to be talking about on a professional blog like this one.

Your blog, however, is an entirely different matter, especially if you're involved in affiliate marketing (revenue gained from people clicking on Ads on your site). In that case, do anything that would get you fired at work!

It may seem a little strange, but by upsetting people, you're guaranteeing yourself increased traffic. It's not so much about getting people involved in a positive way as it is about getting people emotionally involved -- and as deeply emotionally involved as you possibly can.

Why does this work? Well, human's are idiots, to start with. When we see a set of headlines online, if we know we agree with one, we are only somewhat likely to click on it. On the other hand, if we see something that upsets us, we immediately dive in -- knowing fully well that it will just make us more angry.

People who disagree with you will make long comments trying to prove to you that you're wrong -- and then those who agree with you will become upset with them. This is a way that you can get a lot of "content" generated for your blog, with little to no effort from you! People engaged in these internet arguments will check back frequently, sometimes get friends involved, and are likely to check back in for future posts.

So, yes! Be controversial, and be willing to step way out of your boundaries. By emotionally entrenching people, you're getting yourself a group of people who will return to your blog again and again -- and thus, a group of people who are likely to make you money through your affiliate ads.

Of course, having a successful blog of affiliate site is far more than talking about controversial subjects -- and there are many ways to maximize your profit. For more information on how a quality coaching company can help your business succeed in affiliate marketing, e-commerce, or any other branch of making money online, simply visit www.thriveli.com.

The Recession and Online Commerce

2009-01-30T12:49:00.001-08:00

A comment I hear pretty frequently is something to the tune of "I'm worried with the economy -- will this effect my online business?"

When I explain the reality of the situation, people are usually quite surprised. To give the most brief possible summary: E-Commerce is still growing! While other businesses, including brick and mortar retail stores, are faltering, e-commerce remains strong.

In 2008, the e-commerce industry on the whole did $214.4 billion in sales. That's a 7% increase when compared to 2007, meaning that e-commerce is still alive and well in today's world. So, why is this? Here are a few major reasons:

Saving on gas prices. Though this was far more influential when gas prices were $4.00 per gallon, people are still looking for ways to scrimp and save, and so staying at home to do your shopping can help.
Saving on retail costs. Unlike retail stores, you don't have an overhead! Because you don't have an overhead, you can offer lower prices. Savvy shoppers are now turning online to find better deals.
Generation Y -- they're growing up. Those born in the late 80s are now adults. Those born in the early 80s are not only adults now, they're starting to settle down and have families. Those in generation Y are far more computer savvy. They were raised on the internet -- and it's where they are now turning to shop.

There are, of course, many other reasons as well, but the end point is that the online industry is still blossoming. To find out how you can get your piece of the pie, and how a quality coaching company can help you in doing so, just visit www.thriveli.com.

Web 2.0 -- What is it? How can I use it?

2009-01-26T15:18:00.001-08:00

The first question that most people pose about Web 2.0 is "What is Web 2.0?" I'll give a brief history for you, and some definitions.

For a long, long time, the internet was all about information. You would visit a website, get whatever information, images, or other sources that you needed, and you would move on to the next site -- revisiting the original site only if something changed, or you needed to re-check the information. Over the last decade, however, our use of the internet has been changing.

New platforms for business have opened up. Many new ideas have come to the market. New concepts include online commerce, the idea of "wikis" (or publicly editable encyclopedias), sites like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube -- and so much more. These are things that no one could have imagined when the Internet was invented (by Al Gore, right?).

Here is his exact description of what he meant by Web 2.0:

"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move of the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules of success on that new platform."

In other words, Web 2.0 is an idea -- the idea of using the web creatively in order to have successful websites (which offer more than just information). It has been used to refer to websites with advanced functionality -- like Facebook or YouTube.

So, can your website be Web 2.0? It certainly can be. By selling online alone, you are already stepping over that threshold. However, there are some other aspects of Web 2.0 (video marketing, as an example) that you can use to make your website more appealing. Equally, if not more importantly, is making sure that you use Web 2.0 to your advantage. Using sites like Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo -- and many more -- will allow you to take advantage of the ways the internet has evolved.

There are essentially limitless new possibilities that can help you market your website, or otherwise help your website succeed.

For more information on how a quality coaching company can help you achieve your business goals, and can help you take advantage of the new ideas of Web 2.0, simply visit www.thriveli.com.

Finding Good Keywords For Your Small Business Website

2009-01-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

If you own a small business website, chances are at some stage you'll have wondered which "keywords" or "keyword phrases" to include within your WebPages.
Simply stuffing a webpage full of your favorite keywords will do nothing for your search engine visibility.

Although the "KEYWORD" meta tag is not thought to be of great importance to Google (the "TITLE" tag being much more important, remember this), the phrases used throughout each webpage document will be picked up and used to determine how relevant the search engine thinks your page is for a given search term.

Finding good keywords and phrases is an important area of SEO and overall web marketing, but how on earth do you find out which phrases are suitable for your site, and which are way too competitive to even bother with.

Here are a few suggestions for keyword research:

Keyword Suggestion Tools

Good keywords are frequently searched for (high demand) but not being targeted by many other websites (low competition). There are a number of tools out there that can help you find them.

Google Adwords Keyword Tool

The best free tool, which generates synonyms and variants of your suggested keywords. You simply type in the words (or phrases), which are relevant to your site content, and the tool will return some helpful statistics related to them.

For example, how strong the advertiser competition is for those words (a good indicator), and the approximate search volume for those words. If competition is very strong for your chosen words, try using longer phrases, as you're better of going for a large number of less competitive phrases than the most competitive single words.

Google Insights

The majority of people do not know about this wonderful tool. Google insights it’s a keyword tracker. With Google Insights for Search, you can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames. It will do categories, narrowing down data to specifics, like finance, health, and sports ect ect.

It will also perform seasonality searches, meaning showing you anticipated demand for a keyword this is great for small business so you can budget and plan accordingly even in regards to your Adwords account.

Geographic distribution is a possible “cheery on top” to Google insights if used correctly. It knows where to find your customers. It sees search volumes and distributes them across regions and cities worldwide. Giving you exact locations of the demographics you’re looking to aim your site at. Google’s insights tool is even better when applied to your Adwords account.

Remember that keywords are your ticket to reaching customers. So choosing the correct keywords is very important. All this can be done when you use the right tools and spend a little time along with doing a bit of research you will be on your way to reaching the customers looking for your site.

Google Search Suggest Get Ads, Links & Answers

2008-12-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, Google Suggest finally made it to the Google home page. The feature suggests queries as you begin typing in the search box. Now Google is testing providing links to web sites, direct answers and even ads that appear within the Google Suggest list.

Not everyone will see these changes. Google’s showing them to a small, randomly selected group of people in the US. The experiment might end at any time and not necessarily become a permanent feature.
Below, you can see how when typing in the beginning letters of New York Times (new york t…), “regular” Google Suggest offers some suggestions to complete your query:

Now consider a change that some are seeing, where a link that leads directly to the New York Times appears:

It might also appear like this:

In the example below, a search for [space shu...] suggest actual news results related to the space shuttle recently being flown from California to Florida right in the drop-down:

I don’t have an example of an actual answer being provided in results, but that’s something Google says will come.
The most dramatic change is the inclusion of AdWords ads in this box. Here are some of the ones I’ve spotted:

In the one above, I started typing the characters [new...] and got an ad for Newsweek. When I continued on, doing [new york t...], rather than seeing a link to the New York Times as with the example shown earlier, I got this ad from the New York Times itself:

And here’s yet another ad I got when I started typing [up...]:

I’m somewhat concerned about the ads appearing at the top of the list. For one thing, I think it’s way too easy for people to click on an ad to reach a web site where Google should be sending them to for free (consider the New York Times example, where one case shows a “free” navigational link while the other is a New York Times ad).
Fortunately, Google said it’s also testing an implementation where the ads appear at the bottom of the list, like this screenshot they sent me:

I prefer this much more.

The ad test is yet the latest way Google is expanding where ads might appear in its services. Just some of the others in recent weeks are covered in the articles from us below:

Google Expands AdSense For Domains

Google Ads For Hard Alcohol & Liqueurs Now Allowed

Drill, Baby, Drill: Google Finance Gets Ads; Google News Testing Them

YouTube Formally Introduces ‘Sponsored Videos’

Google AdWords: Now With Images

Google Puts New AdSense Ads Under Maps

Google Now Allowing Ads For Beer

Google AdWords Allowing Gambling Ads In UK

Why change Search Suggest in this manner?
“This is another example of search becoming more dynamic and Google getting users to the correct results as fast as possible,” said Johanna Wright, director of product management at Google.

Overall, the links seem like a good idea. In many cases, they might save people even more time to find what they want than having to wait (even though it’s a tiny time) for the search results page to load. I just hope that if the ads stay, they move to the bottom of the list.
By by Danny Sullivan From Search Engine Land

Ebay Top Ten Ways to Bring you holiday traffic!

2008-11-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

We want you to ring in this holiday season with more sales and higher profits. So we're making big investments to bring shoppers your way, with hard cash reasons to buy on eBay. Massive coupon campaigns are hitting millions of eBay buyers, wherever they're searching--watch for our "pull-out-all-the-stops" Cyber Monday blitz. Up to 30% cashback deals reward buyers who get to your listings through a search on Microsoft Live. Irresistible "Daily Deals" on hot holiday items and a special holiday deals hub will keep shoppers coming back. Find out how you can cash in on all these great holiday programs.

(1) Get more exposure and a free subtitle

Offer your buyers free shipping

to help generate new sales. How? Until December 31, items listed with free shipping get a free subtitle. Plus, free shipping gives you a boost in search results. Most of all, buyers love it. And now, when buyers leave Feedback, they get a reminder you offered free shipping--a not-so-subtle hint that you deserve a perfect 5 for shipping cost.

(2) Buyer and Seller Protection

Just in time for the holidays: PayPal Buyer Protection now covers buyers' purchase price and original shipping costs with no coverage limit. See eligibility. PayPal Seller Protection for all US PayPal accounts is also improved. You're now better protected against claims, chargebacks and reversals for unauthorized payments, and items not received. Every eligible claim is covered at no additional cost. Coverage is extended to eBay purchases made by buyers in 190 countries including items shipped to unconfirmed addresses. See eligibility.

(3) Grab more buyers: 2 proven ways to boost holiday sales
This year more than ever, holiday shoppers want a deal. Two big ways to grab their attention and make the sale:
1) Entice buyers into action with Best Offer listings. Buyers can make you an offer. You can set your listings to auto-reject low-ball offers and auto-accept those above the price you want. Adding Best Offer to your listings is free.
2) Highlight savings by applying Markdown Manager to your listings. Strike-through pricing emphasizes savings and value to move your inventory fast. Markdown Manager is free with your Stores subscription.

(4) Make Best Match work for you
Best Match helps shoppers find just what they're looking for from sellers they trust. Bottom line, delivering great value and service to your buyers is key to getting a top position in Best Match search results.

Remember, Auction-style and Fixed Price listings are now sorted differently and then intermingled to give buyers a good mix of both. Auction-style gets a boost when the listing's about to end (time ending soonest). Fixed Price gets a boost based on recent sales--the more items that sell in a listing, the better position it can get in search results.

Number one tip to build recent sales: combine multiple identical items into one 30-day Fixed Price listing. See the top six ways to improve the position of your Fixed Price and Auction-style listings.

(5) Your listing "Featured First"
Give your Auction-style and Fixed Price listings a chance to appear in the featured spot at the top of the first page of search results with the new Featured First listing upgrade. It's an especially good way to jump start recent sales for new Fixed Price listings.

(6) Stand out on new product pages
We've made shopping for many hot holiday items faster and easier with new product pages--one for books, movies, music and video games and one for other categories such as cell phones and digital cameras. To make sure interested buyers find your items on these new pages, just list with pre-filled item information.

(7) 5 cent fees and a free subtitle
From now until the end of the year, when you list books, music, movies and video games in Fixed Price with pre-filled item information, Insertion Fees are just 5¢. And, when you list with pre-filled item information in either Fixed Price or Auction-style, you get a free subtitle--even if you don't offer free shipping.

(8) Turn negative Feedback into positive
Great news for sellers: now you can submit a request for a buyer to change a Feedback rating, Feedback comment, or detailed seller ratings when negative Feedback is left in error or when you've been able to resolve an issue with your buyer.

(9) More tips to get high shipping DSRs
Good communication goes a long way to get high shipping DSRs from happy holiday shoppers. Here are a few more proven strategies:

Clearly state shipping costs, service and handling time in
your listing.
Notify buyers when you receive payment, and inform them of
any delays such as waiting for their payments to clear.
Ship within 24 hours of receiving payment.
Stock up on packaging supplies before the holiday season.
Order free U.S. Postal Service shipping supplies.
Pack properly, and make sure the box can handle the item's
weight. Use recycled packaging that's in good condition.
Package fragile items well.
Include colored packing slip. It's a great opportunity to recap
your return policy, show your appreciation for their business
and encourage buyers to leave positive feedback.
Resolve any problems quickly and professionally.

Get more tips for getting top DSRs.

(10) Get exact shipping costs in no time
The eBay Shipping Calculator is a great way to accurately calculate shipping costs. When using the calculator, it is important to specify the right package size. The size and weight of the package will determine the shipping cost, so have an idea of what packaging you're going to use before you list. It'll often speed up your fulfillment once you make the sale.

BONUS: Need more time to update your listings?
You got it! To help you focus squarely on holiday selling, we're holding off on requiring a return policy and handling time until early 2009. And we'll give you at least 30 days notice before the requirement takes effect. Note, including a return policy and handling time is still a best practice so we encourage you to start listing with both now. Check the seller checklist to stay on top of the latest timelines and best practices. Take advantage of eBay's bulk editing tools to make all your required updates at once.

All Tips are thanks of Ebay.com

Resolution

2008-10-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

After our blog "Above the Fold," we received some very intelligent questions.

"Wouldn't 'the fold' be different depending on what type of computer you're using? Can't it be different for different people?"

The answer? Yes, absolutely it can. But it's not based on your type of computer. It's based on your resolution settings. Resolution is a little bit tricky to explain without starting to speak "tech talk," but we'll give it a shot nonetheless.

Every picture, program, website, etc., that you have on your computer, has a size. Now, while in real life we measure size in inches (or centimeters, for you crazy metric addicts out there), on the internet, and with computers in general, we measure things in "pixels."

So, let's say we have an image. Let's say, in fact, that we have this image:

This specific image is 600 pixels wide and 315 pixels tall. Now, don't go trying to measure this in inches, because pixels and inches aren't really mutually compatible.

The reason for this is your resolution settings. When you choose your screen resolution, you're choosing how many pixels to show on your screen. This setting might be anywhere from 640 x 480 up to 1680 x 1050, or even more. If you change your resolution, images will seem to be different sizes. In reality, they're the exact same size as they were (in pixels), but since you're showing more pixels at once, they're comparitively smaller.

The higher your resolution (meaning the bigger the numbers -- like the 1680 x 1050 number), the higher the quality and smaller t he size of items on your screen (whether that's websites, images, or whatever else).

So, hopefully that give you a general idea of what resolution is, and what resolution means. But what does resolution mean for your website? How will it impact your online business?

Well, with different people viewing your site at different sizes, it's going to look different to people who are using different resolutions. People with higher resolution are going to see more of your site. Your "fold" will change depending on your customer's resolution.

So when you're trying to decide where to put things on your website, what resolution should you be using? What should you be basing these decisions on.

Here's a basic chart that gives an idea of the most common resolutions:

Date	Higher	1024x768	800x600	640x480	Unknown
January 2008	38%	48%	8%	0%	6%

In brief, 1024 wide by 768 high is what you should be judging on. Many of the "higher resolution" settings are actually 1280 wide by 768 high. Since the "fold" is determined by the height of the website, you should make sure your resolution is set to 768 high when you make decisions about placement. This is what we can call the most common "fold" for your website.

I know, I know! It's incredibly technical sounding, and a little difficult to explain. But here are a couple general hints about how the different resolution settings should affect your work.

Never make your banner (the top section of your website, which contains your logo, etc.) more than 800 pixels wide. If you do, 8%-14% of your visitors will have to scroll left and right to be able to see your entire website, which we want to avoid.
When making decisions on placement, make sure you're using either a 1024 x 768 or a 1280 x 768 resolution.
Don't freak out about exactly how your text looks on your site. Some people spend a lot of time changing their wording, just so certain words stay on the same line together. This isn't going to be very effective, though, since the different resolutions are going to make the text look different anyway.

And the end point, of course, is that understanding this will help you make smart decisions about where to place content. Smarter placement means more sales. More sales means having a successful online business.

To learn more about how a quality coaching company can help you in gaining the knowledge you need to run an online business, simply visit www.thriveli.com.

How frequently should I update my site?

2008-10-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

Whether you have a blog or a website, you will want to update it semi-frequently. The main reasons for this are that Google and other search engines will declare a website "dead" once it has been unchanged for too long.

There are different schools of thought on exactly how often you should update your site, but research has shown that updating your site once per week in some way helps to increase your search engine ranking.

However, they have also found that updating your website once every three weeks is almost as effective in helping your search engine optimization.

So, what is the best thing to do? Well, opinions differ, but generally speaking, as long as you're making some minor updates about once every three weeks, you should be fine. This can mean adding or removing an image, changing text slightly, or anything similar. Don't change your site too drastically! Remember, you want to be able to keep track of your successes and failures, and know how you're progressing. We'll discuss that more in a future entry.

To learn more about how a quality coaching company can help your business succeed, simply visit www.thriveli.com.

A Rule for Writing Content for Your Website:

2008-09-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Be Brief:

You should always remember to be concise in your writing. It should be clear and easy to understand, and easy to skim. It should not be so long that people dread reading it. If they do, they will just move on to the next website.

Short sentences help.
Bulleted lists help.
Italicized or bold text help.

By being brief, you are making what you do say more memorable for visitors, and often more clear for the search engines.

For more on how quality coaching companies can help you build your website, visit www.thriveli.com.

AdWords: Google is Your Friend!

2008-09-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

Google is the creator of dozens of useful tools, especially when it comes to the realms of internet marketing. Of these tools, one in particular stands out -- Google AdWords.

In short summary, Google AdWords allows you to get your website "sponsored," and placed in the first few entries on Google. You only pay Google when someone clicks on your Ad (thus, visiting your website), so it's relatively easy to make sure that this form of marketing is profitable.

While this is highly beneficial, you should only consider this service strongly if you are selling a product or service that has a real profit margin. Since you will be paying anywhere from 5 to 50 cents per click, you want to be sure that each "conversion" covers the cost of your marketing, and leaves you with a decent profit for your effort.

For example, if your online business is an affiliate website, and you gain profit only off of the Ads on your site, and you get an average of a dollar per Ad Click on your site, you probably don't want to spend a lot of money to get the clicking traffic to your website.

However, in e-commerce sites, Google AdWords provides an amazing marketing tool for your company. With appropriate keyword research and Ad writing, you may end up paying as little as a few cents per click. Since "target conversion rate" for an online business should be around 3%, that means that for every 33 clicks, you should have a sale. Imagine, for example, that you're paying 10 cents per click for traffic that is already searching for your product. With a 3% conversion rate, that means you're only paying $3.30 per sale. Depending on your profit margin, this may be an incredible boost in overall sales and profit.

AdWords requires a lot of research and a fair amount of maitenance to run effectively. To find out how a coaching company can help you in setting up an effective Google AdWords Campaign, help you market your website, and help you increase profit in your small online business, visit www.thriveli.com.