How to Protect Your Email Address

The biggest issue for webmasters and the greatest food source for spammers is your email address. Spammers release bots (or Harvesters) that jump from one internet location to another looking for email addresses. Once 1 spammer has your email address... it is then sold to another spammer and to another spammer and to another spammer.

Spammers also have developed a software which randomly creates usernames and attaches the @ symbol and famous email providers. Once someone reports a message as "spam" the spammers then lock in to your email address. Then they sell it.

There are a few ways to prevent your email address. Here are some ways.

1- Using a graphic
Using a unlinked graphic that shows your email address can help the user contact you while protecting your email address. Being unlinked also hides your email address from "source code". You do have to make sure the graphic also is not named "email" or other popular email keywords.

If you do not have a graphic maker, then try this site. They create FREE buttons.
http://services.nexodyne.com/email/index.php

2- Encoding
The new thing is protecting your email address by using a type of encoding. Your e-mail address becomes ASCII Character Entities instead of readable text. While this trick will help lower your chances... the chance is still there and you only need one smart bot to recognize this trick and pick up on it. The plus side is... it's clickable and easier for your users to contact you.

http://www.invision-graphics.com/email_encoder.html

3- Email Forms
This way you can preset what information you require from your user so you can easily respond. This also helps hide your email address because many forms come encrypted already. The bad side is bots fill the forms in and submit to see what happens. You could use the new way of requiring Word Verification before the user submits the form.

You must contact your hosting service to see if they offer "word" or "character" verification. Hosts vary so there is no easy answer.

Point Your Domain Name To Blogger

Do you have a Godaddy domain name and you want to point it to your Blogger blog? Then you followed Blogger's excellent instructions and then you find out that your domain name doesn't work. Well I have excellent news.

Please Note:
The instructions Blogger provides is correct... or was correct. Recently GoDaddy updated their interface so there is 1 more step. The instructions below is from Blogger with my EDITS.

GoDaddy Instructions:
>> 1. (an option only) Open a GOOGLE APPS Free Account and follow those instructions FIRST. DO NOT create a webpage. This will hurt your domain pointing.
2. Log in to your account at GoDaddy.com.
>> 3. Click DOMAINS link (under the girl). You'll be directed to the Manage Domains page.
4. Click the domain name link that you'd like to use with your blog.
5. Click the Total DNS Control And MX Records under the tab titled Total DNS Control.
>> 6. Delete the A(HOST) IP address. (screen shot)
>> 7. Click Add New CNAME Record. Enter www under ALIAS NAME and ghs.google.com as the HOST NAME. (screen shot)

Blogger:
1. Wait up to 3 business days so your blog isn't down.
2. Log into your Blogger account and choose the Blog that will be pointed to the domain name.
3. Click SETTINGS then click CUSTOM DOMAIN
>> 4. Blogger tells you to place YourDomain.com but you need to add www to it. It should look like this now - www.YourDomain.com (screen shot)

Important links:
Google Apps
GoDaddy.com

Why Google Apps?
You'll see all the free stuff that you can use and add to your blog... but I will tell you up front that you get your own personalized email address. YES. You get free NAME@DOMAIN-NAME.com

Why choose to use CSS over javascripts... there are a few main reasons why.

Search Engines:
1- There are a few rumors that are getting louder and spreading like wild-fire. The rumor consists of spam-sites and spam-blogs and being penalized. Got your attention? There are many sites out there that have so many javascript advertisements and javascripts that work with spiders to get "stronger" and "hotter" keywords so normal websites are being hurt. Search Engine competition has been strong and everyone is trying to get the upper-hand on Google. One of these is... penalizing sites that are heavy on javascripts... so each search is cleaner and closer to the users query.

Yes... Google is rumored to be jumping on this rule too.

2- Because of this rumor sites that contain javascript navigation will be penalized. Plus Search Engines do not read javascripts correctly so your site won't be indexed properly.

3- Networks and Browsers:
Many people and networks alike turn-off javascripts or ignore them all together. Why? Javascripts create a hole in your security blanket and allow ad-aware, viruses, bots and tracers.

CSS is the basic and long-to-update script that contains HTML tags. Search Engines and browsers understand HTML and can read it. So if there were any spam, ad-aware and bots linked to it... your browser and search engine can see it fast.

Blogging a Beautiful Blog - Why Clean?

Like the website community... the blogging community needs to be deodorized with some serious solvents. One of the smelliest community is Blogger. These authors really need to look at their blogs and clean them up. Granted... not ALL Blogger blogs are nasty... but a large portion is. Where do they go wrong?

Fact 1: Blogs are now becoming a bathroom stall inside the dirtiest trucker stop. Advertisements are everywhere (I mean EVERYWHERE) and many DO NOT go with the content the author provides.

I know when you run a text-link content advertisements like Adster or Adsense that you may not be able to control what pops up... but it's the banner ads and ad buttons that you can control and don't.

Now if you go to a blog (or website) that discusses "Household Interior Design" will you click a banner ad that is about dating? Probably not. You would click an advertisement that sells lamps.

Fact 2: Blogs are becoming longer and heavier. I'm running a 2gig processor and cable connection, I'm around 75-80% free (so it's not bogged down) and I'm having issues on some blogs. They're way too heavy.

Why do you have to have 20 long posts on one page? You don't. The "posting tags" and "archives" link to all your content... and YES... Search Engines can find ALL your posts.

Large pictures and large movie reels hurt your performance. Put your pictures and reels on a diet so they are lighter.

Fact 3: Search Engines are now starting to turn their noses up at blogs because of all the spamming going on... and blogs packed with ads to make them border line spam blogs.

I don't need to explain this do I??

Fact 4: Advertisements don't make 100% of your money... content will make you 90% of your money and advertisements make 10%.

Yes... content "brings home the bacon". Content is what is picked up by all Search Engines and content is searched out by your visitors. Think of content as a cup of hot chocolate and the advertisements are the marshmallows. People go to their favorite drink shop to buy the cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows... not the marshmallows and hot chocolate. Get it? Build the content and place some ads and you'll go further than less content and more ads.

Now I could go on and on delivering more "facts" but I won't.

The Difference between Professional and Personal

A question that pops up all the time. What is the difference? Is there a difference? How about:

"This site is built for fun, nothing more and nothing less."

A standard reply usually from the same person (people) that don't understand the question above. Which question? The question that defines this page and the reason you are reading this. I ask you:

"What's the difference between a Comic Book and a Newspaper?"

You should reply: "A newspaper reports the news. A Comic Book tells a story, usually any type of fiction." (I could go on couldn't I?? Well I'm not going to bore you.) I then ask...

"What makes them similar?"

If you answered... the design. You are correct. The design carries through out each media perfectly. ( If you don't believe me....LOOK! ) A Newspaper has the same look on every page (except full page ads....) and a Comic Book does the same thing. Same ideas. Basics in design. - Keep your reader familiar with his/her surroundings. If you stray off the path, you lose a reader.

So what is the answer to the above question? NOTHING. They both carry the same design through out. NO IF's, AND's, OR's, BUT's. Your front page design will be carried till the last page. The content will change, but the design shouldn't.

DESIGN =
1. same background color
2. same borders
3. same colors
4. same placement of the navigation
5. same text type (except for quotes, ads, decorative ideas)

Joint Advertising with Cross-Promotions

Believe it or not, you can get your companies name and products to thousands of people cheaper than you think. It's so simple that many people overlook technique. The technique is "Joint Advertising".

Joint Advertising is 2 to 4 businesses getting together to show off their products in a single photo-shoot or large media campaign. The typical Joint Advertising campaign consists of a model, a car (or outdoor setting), clothing, jewelry and technical-gadgets (cellphones, computers, etc). You see these everyday when you scan magazines or thumb-through newspapers and you never gave it a second thought. Joint Advertising also is found in movies and television programs.

So how do you set up a joint advertising campaign? It's simple. There are many businesses out there that want to advertise their products and name cheaper and more efficiently... namely small businesses like "mom and pop" shops and car dealerships. The model can be an employee, family member or a friend. The campaign could be in email format where you share for email list and they share theirs (with or without pictures). Now you email list grew two-fold. The campaign could be a simple layout to be placed in magazines or newspapers.

The one thing you need to understand, the businesses you choose should not be in competition with each other and they in some form or another should relate to each other.

These work together:
Model wearing - new clothing fashion - accessories, watch and or jewelry - car or furniture to be displayed in or on.
Room filled with - furniture - electronics - decoration and wall accessories.
Model wearing - new fashion clothing - accessories, watch and or jewelry - using electronics like cellphone or computer.

These are examples of what you can do. None of these really have nothing to do with each other, but are generally used together in everyday life.

the last thing you need to know is your advertising budget and an idea how the ad should be displayed so your future partners will be sold quicker and easier. Be smart.

Take Proper Steps Before Advertising

Work at Home Business Owners need to take proper steps before advertising. If not it can be a costly mistake.

Advertising your work at home business can be a very costly experience for work at home newbies. Taking these small steps will increase your sales and cut down on your expenses. The most important thing that these steps have in common is DO YOUR RESEARCH because anyone on the internet will take your money to place an ad on their website, search engine etc. The unfortunate thing is unless you know what you are doing... they will do just that, take your money.

Anyone who plans to advertise should take these necessary steps:
1. Fully understand their market so they know exactly to whom they will be promoting to. Submit only to those places where your target market will be looking. This will save you time, and money, and increase the chances of keeping your advertising costs low.

2. Analyze your website design and overall feel. Does it appeal to your market? If it does, tailor your ads to relate directly to your website. Does it have effective keywords and navigations?

3. Design "in-your-face" headings to get more attention. Headings with all capital letters but Use them sparingly for emphasis, and don't pile on words just for length. Sometimes the quicker heading is the better.

4. Write several ads and put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Which one appeals to you? Then share them with your family and friends. Which advertisements appeal to them? Now the strongest ads should be sticking out at you.

5. Test your ad(s) for efficiency and don't worry... you can't over test. First place your ad in your local newspaper classifieds. Then move the ad to the major newspaper in your state.

Example - in MA there is the Boston Globe. This is the biggest newspaper in MA... then there are local newspapers per county.

Track which newspaper(s) pulls the most for you and stick with them. Then move to the internet using companies like Yahoo!, Search123, Miva, Mamma, Enhance, Constant Contact and Excite. These companies give you free tools to easily track your campaigns so you know which one is stronger than the other.

6. Appeal to the impulse in the viewers of your ad. Cause your readers to click a link to your sales letter. Emphasize the benefits of reading that letter. Offer something free in the ad itself, "just for looking". Perhaps a free copy of your newsletter or a free e-book you've added to your site would do the trick.

7. Don't over sell your product or service by using unbelievable exaggerations. This can discourage your prospects even before they get to your site.

8. Hire a professional Proofreader. It's crucial to your success in ad writing and online generally. A proofreader can check your spelling, edit your grammar, and fix punctuation in places you couldn't imagine.

9. Keep a stronger and rewarding ad working for you. Keep submitting it to new places and continue running them in the usual places. A few sales will never wear out a good ad.

10. Create a "Word of mouth" advertising campaign through your friends, acquaintances, family and neighbors. Word of mouth marketing is often the best and most effective advertising method and it costs you nothing... maybe a discount at first... but then it will take off. Apple, Nike, Toyota etc. etc. (all major stores and companies use this as their backbone campaign)

11. Network both online and off in forums and other groups where your target market 'hang out'. Give out Freebies while you are networking because everyone loves to get something free and this will also help stimulate the 'word-of-mouth' campaign. (Freebies could also be pens and business cards)

Your advertisement should include some of the following:
DESCRIPTION - What is the product/service/opportunity in 50 words or less?
PURPOSE - What does it do? How does it work?
PRICE - How much does it cost?
FEATURES - What are the vital facts about this product/service/opportunity?
BENEFITS - What will it do for people? What specific problems does it solve? Saves money or time? Makes life better? What is the prime benefit?
COMPETITION - Why is my product/service/opportunity better? How is it different? What attributes can I stress that they don't?
GUARANTEE. 30 days free trial? Money back?
PROSPECT - Who is my ideal prospect? Male or female? Income? Lifestyle? Biggest concerns?
OBJECTIVE - What do I want? Inquiries, leads, sales, image building, traffic, etc.?
OFFER. What's the deal? Two for one sale? Limited-time offer? Free information?
DEADLINE - When does my offer expire?
METHOD OF PAYMENT - Cash, bill me, VISA, MasterCard, etc.?
METHOD OF ORDERING - Mail, phone, fax, computer, etc.? 800 number?
SAMPLES. Do I have a sample of this product? Do I have a tape or video to explain the opportunity?
TESTIMONIALS AND ENDORSEMENTS - Letters from happy users? Media coverage? Celebrity endorsements?

Selling online without a pricey Merchant Account

Sell via Paypal.com – they offer free buttons that are easily programmable and can be placed anywhere on your Homestead pages. With Paypal.com free options, you can have the monies deposited directly to your personal bank account. See Paypal.com for your options packages.

Sell via Stormpay.com – just like Paypal.com, Stormpay.com offers you options and shopping carts that are easily programmable. But the thing that makes them look better than Paypal.com, their fees are lower. Lower fees mean more money in your pocket.

If you can’t decide… then use both. They cost you nothing but allow the consumer more options to purchase through.

Use Emartcart.com – Now you can link your Paypal.com account to a professional looking shopping cart that allows for product color, size or almost option. With Emartcart.com you can condense all those BUY IT buttons NOW for the same product, different colors, into 1 button leaving your site organized.