~Life my Live~

~Loving Your Home Business.

2007-11-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

Do what you love. If you love what you do, that is enough reason to get up in the morning. It is appropriate reason enough to work.

Where work does not feel a lot like work.

If you are in your business now, enjoy it. If you do not enjoy what you are doing, make an assessment of what your hobbies are. What do you really dream for?

Doing what you love brings in the cash flow a lot more easier. It is good vibes that flows endlessly and effortlessly...........

But if you find it difficult to enjoy yourself in the business you are now engaged in, You just have to stop and ask yourself:

What do you really dream for?

It could help you know more, enjoy your work more, and be a lot more richer, financially and otherwise.

My elvin. My motivational blog.

~About this Blog

2007-08-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Collection of some brilliance idea about our daily living. knowledge's that might be usefull in our daily life.

Do something that never regret.

2007-08-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

”To abandon a comfortable lifestyle that isn’t deeply fulfilling is to abandon nothing. There’s nothing of real substance there to protect. An income, a car, a house, or a lifestyle are not worth protecting if the cost of such protection is your own fulfillment and happiness. People who achieve some of the external trappings of success without internal fulfillment are only living an illusion when they tell themselves they have something of value to protect. In most cases the feeling that there’s something to protect is just an excuse used to avoid facing the real fear — that maybe all this stuff isn’t really worth anything compared to what’s being lost… that maybe I should be living more boldly and not be so concerned about what happens to all my stuff.“

that’s all just stuff. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have any real value. I’d gladly give it all up and live in a shack if that was the price I’d have to pay to live my mission. I “1” my life to have had more value than just acquiring stuff and living comfortably. I may die rich, or I may die broke. But I won’t die with my music still in me.

After all, why are we here? Is it to acquire stuff, live a comfortable lifestyle, make our families as comfortable as possible, and then die? Whether there’s an afterlife or not, one thing is clear — we can’t take any of that stuff with us. Our comfortable lifestyle has no power to endure.

And here’s the worst part. While you’re working so hard to acquire and protect all that stuff, you could die unexpectedly. You might die today. You might die tomorrow. Maybe you won’t die for another 70 years. Maybe your consciousness will be transferred into an android body a few decades from now, but you could still be destroyed in an accident, even if you make a backup of yourself. At least in the present, you’re still vulnerable. Death happens to people every day. 150,000+ people died from the quake and tsunami in Southeast Asia. How many of them knew at the beginning of December 2004 that they only had a few weeks left to live? And look what happened to all the stuff those people acquired — destroyed. Fisherman or tourist — it doesn’t matter. We all end up the same way.

So what is the point of a life dedicated to the acquisition and protection of stuff? All of your money and possessions can be taken away from you by forces outside your control. No matter how many asset protection techniques you apply, you can never guarantee full security of your stuff. It’s perpetually vulnerable. There can be no true security then in a life based on the acquisition and protection of stuff.

So what have you got to lose? What are you truly risking if you go after your dreams? If your current lifestyle is unfulfilling, then you’re starting broke, no matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter if you start with $0 or $1 million. You have nothing to lose either way. Money and material assets are just resources to use while you’re here — you can’t take them with you. You’re only a temporary steward of the money and possessions that pass through your life. So when you risk money, you don’t risk anything of any enduring value. Earn money, lose money, invest money. But don’t make material objects more important than your own fulfillment and happiness.

If you’re sitting behind a desk working at a job you hate in order to protect your current lifestyle, you are protecting nothing. Isn’t there a part of you, deep inside, that “1”s to just walk away from all of that junk and start really living? Can you feel how empty and hollow your days are, how devoid of meaning? Have you forgotten what it’s like to really live a day that fulfills you deeply as a human being? Look around your home at all your stuff. Recognize that in the long run, it will all eventually end up as dust. None of it will endure. It’s all temporary. Your house will eventually crumble. Your car will wind up in a junkyard. You cannot permanently keep any of this stuff. Eventually you’re going to lose it all. Or it will lose you.

So what kind of life is that — one that’s dedicated to the guarding of dust? Is that what you “1” your life to be about? If you feel there’s any purpose to your existence as a human being, then is this it?

Life is just too precious to waste. If you are spending your days working at a job that isn’t deeply fulfilling to you, then you’re spending your days guarding dust. There’s no real value there. Stuff cannot fulfill you. Ultimately it will only distract you from living on purpose.

What does it mean to really live? Deep down, you already have a sense of the direction where this answer lies for you. Ultimately, it’s a choice. You’re totally free to live the kind of life you “1”. But you’ll know you’re really living when you would live pretty much the same way even if you knew you only had 18 months left. If you would make some big changes in your life upon learning that you only had 18 months to live, then why not make those changes now? Someone reading this blog entry probably has less than 18 months to live. Maybe it’s you.

Live for what is real to you. Live for what truly matters to you.

Taking what you love to do and turning it into a source of income, either as an employee or an entrepreneur, seems hard to resist. If you’re going to spend so much time working to make money, why not make that money in the pursuit of your dreams instead of in the protection of dust?

What does your current to do list look like? Is it filled with tasks that aren’t even real to you? Are you typing stuff that doesn’t matter, going to soulless meetings, shuffling papers and filling out forms to appease computers, while sitting in a Dilbert-style cage all day? Why do you continue to choose that life each day? You’re always free to stop at any time. You make the rules.

What percentage of the tasks on your to do list will fulfill you deeply to do them? What kind of to do list would be real to you? What items might it contain? Compose a new piece of music. Write something inspiring and share it with others. Give your spouse a massage. Exercise. Play with your kids. Make a snowman in Las Vegas (my wife did this one yesterday). Clear out some clutter. Read a really great book. Audition for a local play. Start your own business. Tell your boss, “Talk to the hand. I don’t do soulless work anymore.” Do something that leaves you feeling at the end of the day that you really contributed the best of yourself. Don’t die with your music still in you.

Do something that never regret.

part of the contentof this post taken from Steve Pavlina.com. Copyright © 2007 by Pavlina LLC.

~Business Online - Blind Hunt.

2007-04-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

Do you sell something online? Do you have a business in the Internet? Have you read the "How to generate more traffic and convert it to sales" articles? Have you played the "Be #1 in SEO" game?

Now, you are ready to believe - nobody knows how to do it absolutely right.

Nobody can know everything. Everything changes. Everything changes every day.

How can we win the world if we can't see it as a whole? The world is too big.

You can't make a plan, test it, and repeat. The world can change while you are doing it.

Trying to find the way to success seems like blind hunt. You can't see the result of your actions immediately - you can see only long-term effects. You add a forum to you site - and in a month your traffic has grown up. Why? Maybe they come from one topic in a news group of an unknown observer? You do the site optimization for Google - but your page rank has fallen down. Why? Maybe your optimization was adapted to an old page rank algorithm, and now it should be done differently? Somebody creates a new outstanding XML-ADO-XDML-XYZ technology. Should we use it? Questions are everywhere!

In this situation, you can only rely on a few things:
Listen to the leader. If they win, they must know the secret. But leaders become obsolete too.
Use the human psychology. People are still people.
You never can exhaust all trying options. Keep trying! Everything is possible!

Good luck!

~Think Like an Entrepreneur.

2007-03-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

My biggest problem in becoming self-employed was me.

In order to BE a self-employed person I had to start thinking like one. I found myself reverting to that nine-to-five mentality. If I wasnt accomplishing a task every hour, then I must not really be working.

Sometimes a self-employed person has to make decisions about his business. Sometimes he is just thinking about a solution to a problem. Sometimes he just has to quiet his mind so new ideas can come. Just because you're not pounding away at the typewriter every minute doesnt mean you're not working.

Ive also learned that its okay NOT to answer the phone every time it rings. Thats what voicemail is for, and the same goes for email. At my nine-to-five job I would leave the email program open all day and answer each one as it arrived. It took me a while to realize its okay to only check email several times a day instead of constantly being interrupted. Its actually more productive than having to stop your thought process every time you have mail. At my other job, I was able to let a phone call roll over into voice mail, but it took me a while to be able to shut down the email too.

Youre going to have days where you feel you didnt accomplish much. Then again, youll have days where youll feel you can conquer the world and youll be amazed at how much you got done. Some days you may not finish many tasks, but youll make a decision on a problem that needed to be addressed. Or, you will have learned a valuable lesson about yourself.

And, I had to learn to stop breaking down all my tasks into dollars and cents. I tended to worry about how much I was or was not earning every day. The truth is, some days youre going to make more than other days. If I spent my day on marketing issues, even though I didnt earn any money from it that day, I would benefit from it some time in the future.

~temptation

2007-02-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

"Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As we grow older, it will avoid us." AARP ad.

~ Healthy Weight Loss

2007-01-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

The most important thing to remember as you begin any weight loss plan is that there is no quick fix or magic pill that will help you lose your extra pounds and keep them off.
The most successful weight loss plans combine

healthy eating,
balanced nutrition and
regular exercise to help you lose weight.

Often, people find themselves in a perpetual diet cycle, always thinking they have a few pounds to lose, or yo-yo dieting – losing weight and then gaining it right back, only to start dieting again. By putting more emphasis on improving your health, experts agree that you can raise your overall self–esteem, resulting in healthier eating habits, long-term weight loss and improved health.

Successful weight loss over the long term will likely include:

adhering to a healthy lifestyle (including nutritious foods and physical activity),
making changes in the way you think about food, and
paying attention to reasons why you eat (emotions, boredom, or reward vs. actually being hungry).

To lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than your body uses. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to eat less food. There are many ways you can continue to enjoy foods you like while working towards your weight loss goals, creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle:

~What level of stress causes problems?

2006-12-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

There is a relationship called the Yerkes-Dodson law, and that is the relationship with stress and performance and efficiency. As stress increases, there is no doubt that performance and efficiency and good health increase. In other words, when we have a deadline, we are more proficient, we perform better. But only to a point. Then performance and efficiency start to decrease. It's like an inverted U. So the more stress, the worse the performance, the worse your efficiency. Because most of us are on the down side of that curve, that's why we are burning out.

So what are stress symptoms? What are the symptoms that one can recognize when the stress begins to exceed our capacity to handle it? I'll talk about four symptom categories: physical, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive.

Physical symptoms:

Headaches
Indigestion
Stomach aches
Sweaty palms
Sleep difficulties
Dizziness
Back pain
Tight neck and shoulders
Racing heart
Restlessness
Tiredness

Behavioral symptoms:

Excessive smoking
Bossiness
Compulsive gum chewing
Attitude critical of others
Grinding one's teeth at night
Overuse of alcohol
Compulsive eating
Inability to get things done

Emotional symptoms:

Crying

Nervousness
Anxiety
Boredom (there's no meaning to anything)
Edginess (a readiness to explode)
Feeling powerless to change things
An overwhelming sense of pressure
Loneliness
Easily upset

Cognitive symptoms:

Trouble thinking clearly
Forgetfulness
Lack of creativity
Memory loss
Inability to make decisions
Constant worry
Loss of sense of humor

It's clear that stress can either cause or make these symptoms worse. Obviously a person might be anxious or depressed, and medications obviously are in order. But stress can certainly make the condition worse, and in some cases actually cause it. So either way, the harmful effects of stress are present.

by:Herbert Benson, MD, founding president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute.

~Borrow The Heaven on Earth

2006-12-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

What goes around comes around.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

~. Don’t feel self-pity

2006-11-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

… Feeling sorry for yourself is not good. It is a negative reaction, it is a big drain on your time and energy. Anything that drains your energy encourages a low self-esteem. We cannot deny allowing a few moments of wallowing in self-pity, but keep them very short. This very practice of keeping them short will help remove the bad habit of expecting them to happen in the first place.

~Things that we can all learn from a dog

2006-11-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them
Run, romp and play daily
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm
Be loyal
Never pretend to be something you are not
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride
Allow the experience of the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy
When it's in your best interest, practice obedience
Let others know when they've invaded your territory
Take naps and stretch before rising
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently
Thrive on attention and let people touch you
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do
On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body
No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...run right back and make friends
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk

~ "Secret of Finding Happiness Explained"

2006-11-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Secret of Finding Happiness is no secret. The ancient sages have already told us how to find happiness. The problem is few people actually understand the message. Since very few people understand the message, it seems like a secret. ...

~Important Memo from upstair.

2006-11-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

To:YOUR BRAIN
Date: TODAY
From:THE HEAVEN
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE

I am God.

Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help.

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box.

It will be addressed in My time, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold on to it

If you find yourself stuck in traffic; Don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; Think of the man who has been out of work for years.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; Think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; Think of the man in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed his children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; Think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose?

Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; Remember, things could be worse. You could be them!!!!

This letter was general by GOD

no signature require .

~Using Credit Cards Securely Online.

2006-11-14T12:12:00.000-08:00

Nowadays, shopping online is a very common thing. Making your purchases without leaving your house is an attractive option for many of us. Purchasing items over the internet using your credit card can be quite an unpleasant experience if you don't make sure your payments are safe. Although many people consider that using a credit card for online transactions is not safe, they continue using this method but with increased caution measures. The greatest risk we expose ourselves to when shopping online is identity theft. But this is not the only risk, and various studies reveal that people have also other concerns like: personal information will be sold to third parties, unauthorized recurring transactions, not receiving the ordered products or even higher prices than advertised prices.

Many people think that shopping online is risky, but the risk is not greater than others. Taking few precaution measures is the best thing to do unless you want to quite shopping online. First of all, we should not shop from unknown websites. Always look for the companies you know or ask someone to recommend you a site or a company that he/she uses. Still, if you're not sure of the vendor's identity try to find his address and phone number and check them. Also check the refund and return policies of the company in case they don't ship you the right products or you're not satisfied with their quality. Another thing to be careful about is the browser that you're using, it has to be a secured browser. A secured browser should include Secure Sockets Layer that scramble the information you are sending over the internet, making the transaction more secure. You can easily recognize a secured web site, because when you're filling in online orders or applications a closed padlock sign should appear at the bottom of the screen. Another way to make sure that the web site is secure is to check the URL; if it begins with "https" it means the transaction is secure because the "s" stands for secure.

Another important thing to be careful about is your privacy. The information you're submitting when you use your credit card online should be kept private by the company that receives it, meaning it should not be passed on or sold to third parties unless you agree. Most web sites ask for your permission to use personal details for direct marketing, and if you feel uncomfortable giving them permission you must know you have the right to object. Anyway, before submitting any personal details you should check the privacy policy of an website; if there are things not clear to you give them a call and see if your understanding is correct or not. Do not submit any information, unless you're absolutely sure that your credit card details are safe.

Being able to safely use credit cards for online purchases is not only the buyer's responsibility. The vendor has also his part of responsibility in ensuring safe purchases for his clients. Vendors also suffer from credit card frauds. They have to take some security measures in order for them and their customers to be protected against online credit card frauds. Security and privacy are two important aspects a vendor should take into consideration. He must ensure the client that the personal information submitted are kept private and at the same time he must check the details received to make sure that he's dealing with the real cardholder.

It is a well known fact that online credit card transactions are risky, because your personal information are exposed and can be stolen by others with the intention of using them to commit frauds. Yet, if the buyers are careful to whom they relies these information and the vendors are cautious from whom they receive credit card information, the risks of online credit card frauds decreases significantly. When disclosing personal information, common sense should exist.

This article has been provided courtesy of Creditor Web. Creditor Web offers great credit card articles available for reprint and other tools to help you search and compare credit card offers

~Shopping Online: What You Should Know.

2006-11-14T11:26:00.000-08:00

For some people, shopping online is as normal as driving a car. It's become part of the norm. For others, the prospect of making internet purchases is a scary one. Here are a few tips to make your online shopping experience more rewarding.

Research the company or business that is selling to you:

- Look for a phone number and address; all legitimate businesses will have one.

- Understand the return policies, in case you're not happy with the product you receive.

- Ask questions. If the company has quality service, they'll have the answers for you.

Research the product or service you are buying:

- When shopping online, you don't get the benefit of picking it up the product and taking a good look at it. You may want to just use the internet for your research and later see if you can find it in a local store . But the internet also allows you to search for the best deals. So, in this sense, you may choose to use the local store to put you at ease about the product, and purchase it online to get the best price.

- Look for reviews of the product. Get unbiased opinions from consumers or consumer advocates who have experience with the product.

- Beware added taxes, fees, shipping, and handling costs. Sure, you may have found a great price, but make sure you're still getting one when all is said and done. Buying out of state or province could save you in taxes, but it might cost you in shipping. Check it out first.

- Allow for adequate delivery time, especially if you're buying a gift or purchasing around the holidays.

Look for a secure website when purchasing:

- Secure sites will have a URL that starts with "https" instead of "http". This means your confidential information (like your credit card number) will be protected with a security certificate.

- Look for a little yellow lock on the status bar at the bottom of your web browser. Double-click it to get information about the certificate that is protecting the site.

Be prepared:

- Keep a record of your purchase. Get an order number, confirmation number, or receipt and keep it handy, even after you receive the item. Treat it the same as an in-store purchase.

- If you run into a problem, don't give up. Contact the online merchant. Most reputable companies will want to make sure you are a happy customer.

~Analyzing All Those Web Traffic Ideas - Part 4

2006-11-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

As I stated previously, Parts 3 and 4, were not planned. They just happened as a result of all the mistakes I have made trying to get traffic to my website. Incidentally, these mistakes have had a rather deleterious effect on the balance of my credit card. Hence, my outspoken words on this subject.

If you have been following this series you will know that I am exposing some common "web traffic" frauds. Yes, I am up to calling most of them downright fraud and scam ideas now because I am just plain sick of their lack of information and virtual rubbish content.

In Part 3, I said I would reveal my experiences with the "schemes" which promise (hah!) to deliver a deluge-barrage-feast-battery of traffic to your site by way of banner advertising on "start up pages." I am referring, of course, to the opening page of your browser when you click on to the internet. In essence it is the default page. You can set it to whatever you want. Just be careful if you set it to a series of banner ads promising you more traffic. Here's why:

To explain this web-traffic "idea" properly I will create a fictitious name (not too far removed from what they actually call themselves, by the way). Let's call it "Hit Magnet Extraordinaire" or HME for short.

HME offers to place your banner on a start up page supposedly viewed by "millions" of viewers. They will even do it FREE. Fantastic, you think. Here is how it works. First, "to be fair", you have to set your own computer browser start up page to HME. When you do this you will be presented with six or eight or ten nice little banner ads.

HME always takes the prime "real estate" on your page right at the top. The HME banner is also very colorful in relation to everybody else's dull banners appearing below. It is usually three or four times bigger too, so it is very dominant. At this point you get that sneaking feeling that you might have been hijacked.

Other viewers get to see your banner (you do this by filling out description and detail forms). In return, you get to see their banners. Seems fair, doesn't it?

HME will even start you off with a quantity of FREE credits. Let me explain my understanding of how this works.

Every time you click on another website's banner and view their webpage for a minimum of thirty or sixty seconds, you earn credits. These credits add to your "credit aggregate." Every time somebody clicks on your banner you lose credits. Simple enough. It's a bit like debits and credits on your bank statement, if you want to think of an example.

I have tried some of these exchange programs. Here is what I found:

1 - from day one of your participation, you are always in credit points decline so you must devote precious time every day towards building these points up,

2 - to build credits you continually have to click on other people's banners even if you have absolutely zero interest in them, just to increase your credits,

3 - because other "traffic" participants are doing the same it just becomes a time consuming exercise in futility for everyone,

4 - often the banners you are basically forced to click on take more than a minute to load and some links do not work at all,

5 - the banners you see on your start-up screen are almost always the same with little or no variation day to day and week to week,

6 - the banner exchange site will not allow you to collect credits for any websites you have viewed in the last 24 hours (you can see the difficulty point 5 represents),7 - often your computer will jam trying to access links, giving you that dreaded "fatal exception" message,

8 - any traffic you do receive (and believe me - it will be minimal) will be completely unqualified and therefore worthless (reason - see 2 & 3 above).

You may have better luck but I have tried several of these "traffic generators" and despite their magnificent promises, no appreciable increase in traffic eventuated. I have the statistics to prove it. This leads me to my next point.

Statistics are something you simply must keep. I have a journal. Into it I write all the things I try to increase my hits. If you have a spike or a dip in your normal traffic trend you can trace it back to a certain event or events. If you get dips, stop doing the thing that caused it. If you have spikes, do more of the thing that caused it. It's that easy.

Now, some marketers may deem this little idea of mine so important they will base a whole $19.95 "special report" on it. Hey! - don't laugh. I have other reports that are equally banal. You can have that tip from me FREE.

I am very disillusioned with the schemes, scams and plans - call them what you like. I prefer to call most of them complete time and energy wasters - not to mention the money waste. If anybody has had any success at all with any of the so-called "traffic magnets," or "special reports" or "secret reports" or "information guarantees," I would like to know about it.

Similarly, if you are one of the people behind these techniques and you think I am being blatantly unfair - email me. But don't just say: "Mr Simpson, you are wrong!" Build your case. Give me clear proof, not rhetoric, that what you are promoting really works like you say it does.

And please, if you take up my offer, use your real email address and your real name. If you come at me with "Abraham Lincoln Continental" using an email like "alias753@hotmail.com, don't expect me to take you seriously. In fact, youwill probably go straight into that "Deleted Items" folder heading for... you guessed it!

Perhaps I should not be so cynical. However, I am tired of spending good money on bad junk. It annoys me that there is so much high-priced junk for sale.

I hope I have been able to offer some useful comments to other website owners. For my part, I might try other schemes. However, they will all have to pass the credibility tests that I have written about in this four part series.

Happy website building and don't forget - if you approach these things with the wariness they deserve, your credit card will be a lot healthier when you receive your statement.

All four parts of this topic are covered by copyright. However, all may be freely used providing there are no changes whatsoever to the content and the following resource box remains intact.

PS: If you think this information might help a friend from falling prey to these dubious practices you can send them a copy of this article (or any related parts) or direct them to the website URL given. Let's get the word out and put a stop to this.

~Analyzing All Those Web Traffic Ideas - Part 3

2006-11-14T08:54:00.000-08:00

It would seem from all the comments and attention I have received so far, that I have struck on a common complaint from website owners. So much so, that I have decided to write Part 3, which wasn't originally intended.

Yes, all website owners are looking for that magic formula which will give them added traffic to their sites.

You have created a brilliant site, full of wonderful information. You know people will just love it. However, there is one major problem. Nobody knows that it exists. Sound familiar? You are Michelangelo and you are confined to the Sistine Chapel where there is not a web-cam in sight for you to show your work to the world.

Enough joking around! This is meant to be serious.

You have already submitted to all the free search engines and directories. You wait. Weeks pass and your site is still not listed. You need traffic. You're desperate for traffic! So you do what thousands of others do, you submit to the temptation of all the clever marketeers who are out there waiting for people just like you (and me).

"Welcome to my parlor said the spider to the fly..." (er, sorry to inform you but you are the six-legged one here)

Have you noticed a few things about the "professors" of website traffic techniques? They all huddle together. They all refer to one another. They are all "cyber-friends." And, why shouldn't they be?

They are using one of the best marketing techniques since the day dot! Word of mouth, or in this case, word of click. They are in the business of referral. What better way to generateleads? It's a nice cosy little arrangement.

Marketer A promotes marketer B who promotes C who promotes D who promotes A. Hey presto! What do we have? We have a marketing web-ring of referring "experts" and "gurus." If you stumble into this web-ring you might just find yourself wanting to buy all those seemingly fabulous and heavily cross-referred products they offer. A, B, C and D all win. But what about you? I'm reckoning that four "information" products at an average price of US$39.95 each will set you back a cool US$159.80. Then of course, you will be bombarded with all manner of emails encouraging you to buy the latest "cutting edge" techniques as word goes out (via email) that you are hungry for information. Get yourself ready for a SPAM attack!

Here's a hint - when you get those ezines full of junk and forty lines of boring advertising links, simply go to your email settings and do the following. Highlight the line containing the offending email, go to the toolbar at the top of your screen, open up "Message" then come down and highlight "Block Sender."

This will divert the unwanted junk email to your "Deleted Items" list. When the list fills up you can then simply highlight the very top and bottom emails and everything in between by holding down the "Shift" key. Once they are all selected you can send them all to the rubbish tip by clicking "Delete".

Of course, you can always ask for the SPAM not to be sent but all that tends to do is alert the sender to the fact that you are a real live person on the other end. This can then become a signal for them to up the ante on you even more. Sometimes it is best just not to acknowledge certain emails. This is particularly true for all those annoying pornography sites that seem to specialize in this type of acknowledgement game. It's your choice.

So, you now have four or more "special reports" which you hope will reveal all the secrets of increasing web-traffic. Here's a sample:"How I Generated 1000's of Hits Per Day Using This Little Known Trick."

B - "The Amazing Web Traffic Secrets I Literally Stumbled Across While Playing Golf."

C - "The Guaranteed no-BS Way to Getting 100,000 Hits in Just Three Months."

D - "How I, Homer Zantuck, a Dumb High School Drop-out Fooled the Search Engines."

(Side note: Those titles are fictitious but if any budding new "gurus" would like to use them - please, be my guest!)

Sure, they might all contain a little snippet of information that you might find useful. But is the $29.95 or $39.97 or $47.77 price tag worth it? My experience says no. What you usually get are a few sheets of paper, often only one or two surrounded by hype and testimonials about what a marvel the author is. That is the "report."

You should be wary of testimonials. All websites use them, mine included. However, if you are basing all your hopes on what "Fred Jones from Albuquerque" or "Doreen P of East Norway" allegedly said then you should think again. Many testimonials are fictitious. The only truly credible testimonials are those which carry a "live" email or website address and even then such a person may be an "affiliate" (see Part 2). So, perform your own due diligence before you buy. If you do you will certainly save money.

I have a bit more to say yet on other web traffic promises and scams. However, if I include them here it will make this article unreasonably long. Therefore, stay tuned for Part 4 where I will reveal my experiences with those schemes which promise a deluge of traffic from banner advertising on "start up pages." They are a real doozy, so make sure you have a read.

cont' Part4......

~Analyzing All Those Web Traffic Ideas - Part 2.

2006-11-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

Here are a few little hints that might let you know, in advance, that the "special report" or "secret information" you are being offered to "build" your website and "flood it with traffic" might not be so special or secret after all:
- Ask yourself this: If the information is so special or secret why is it being sold to anyone and everyone who has $19.95 or $29.95 or $39.95 or whatever price is being asked? With the speed that information moves on the www, pretty soon it will be no secret at all - even if it truly was in the first place!

- A fancy name: The fancier the name the greater the probability that what you are being offered is just a cobbling together of widely known, FREE or old information. The thing to watch out for is the tying together of a well-known name or technique with an obscure one. (I could name examples, but that would really make certain people most unhappy.)

- Repetition of negative terms such as "no BS": I assume everybody understands what "BS" is. If, in fact, it were not BS, why would anybody go to such great lengths to say it is not? My advice is to stay away from anything using this type of description. If it walks like a duck and it looks like a duck and it quacks, well... chances are it really is a duck! Trust your instinct. Other things to be wary of are poor spelling and grammar. That should basically suggest to you that the quality of information will be just as poor.

- Have a time limit attached: Usually the time limit is, wait for it... midnight on exactly the same day that you are viewing the information. Funny that! Now why do you think that might be? You guessed it - to push you into purchasing now rather than later. This is impulse buying. Strike while the iron is hot (note: in this case, you are the iron!). Try this: If you are so impressed by the offer come back the next day and see if the offer is exactly the same. Midnight again, huh? Hmm...

- Have a bevy of "bonus" incentives attached: Now why would this be? It's to make the offer look BIGGER than it really is. Often the bonuses are nothing more than flimsy bits of information. Sometimes they are just sales pitches from other marketers. If the offer you are looking at does not stand by itself without bonus number one through to five, six or seven (I have seen up to 12), why purchase it? This is almost an admission by the copyright owner (or the cobble-together owner) that their product cannot stand alone for the price that they are asking. It's a trick!

- Any outrageous claims: These are designed to appeal to basic human greed. Greed can often blind you from reality. Anything that makes promises like "guaranteed to make you $10,000 in the first three months!" or "your hit counter will almost explode with the extra traffic!" are appealing to your greed and not your common-sense.In reality there is no magic formula to building a website and directing traffic through it. Like any business venture it takes time and effort. After you have expended that time and effort then yes, the time you spent and the effort you put in may well decrease or even become exponential. But don't hold your breath in the meantime.

Even testimonials and recommendations from other "independent" people and internet marketers should be viewed with a certain amount of caution. Many testimony and recommendation givers are "affiliates" (remember the "friend" from Part 1?) which means they earn commissions from the sale of the product. Why wouldn't they endorse something they stood to make money from?

The best testimonial or recommendation check you can do is to seek out the person giving it and ask them if they have any association with the person who is using the testimony or recommendation. Ask if they are an affiliate or if they have a vested interest in the product. You can do this quite innocently and nicely. If they are genuinely impressed by the product and what it did for them, they will probably be pleased to answer your enquiry.

Just a little word of caution here - if you are asking somebody for help don't put them through a trial. A simple email will suffice. Keep it short and to the point. Don't be too concerned if there is no reply. People get dozens, even hundreds of emails every day now. I know I do.

It would seem that there are just as many self proclaimed "experts" out there on the internet telling others "how to do it" as there are those actually "trying to do it." Sure, there are some credible people offering good advice (most often at quite a price too) but there are so many others offering absolute rubbish. How can you differentiate? The simple answer is that often you can't - until you actually get what is being offered. Then you realize. Oh-oh! Too late! It's junk!

If you don't get what you believed you were paying for you have every right to ask for a refund. However, this is not a method of receiving good information for FREE. Falsely asking for a refund on something that really did help you will bring your own integrity into question. Being fair is what it is all about - fair information for a fair price - an even two way exchange.

In summing up, website "newbies" are soft targets for the latest brand of snake-oil cyber salespeople. They are certainly out there. Think of it this way: you are searching for the Kings and Queens and Aces in the deck. Along the way you will find fives and threes and twos and sevens. You will even come across the Jokers. It's up to you to try and sort them out.

My advice is this: examine the information being offered then wait a day or two and come back to it. If it still looks as good to you the second time round and doesn't reek of some of the descriptions above, consider buying it. (I would even give the same advice for people visiting my own site.) Like me, you will soon "wise up." Along the way you will probably have to give your credit card a nice little "top up" to pay for your mistakes.

Purchasing e-books, special reports, secret documents and the like to learn how to increase traffic to your website is very subjective. The only way to measure the value of what you receive is to assess it against the "blurb" (see Part 1 ) used to promote it and the price you paid for it. As I mentioned above, both parties must be fair.

Just be wary.

If you know a website owner struggling to develop their site, this information could help them save a lot of money, not to mention that awful, sinking feeling that you have been duped. The money saved can then go towards some positive steps to develop their site. Heaven knows there is enough junk out there that will do the reverse. Some of it is sitting in my in-tray.

Cont' Part 3

~Analyzing All Those Web Traffic Ideas - Part 1.

2006-11-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

About the author: Gary Simpson is the author covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Gary's email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his Motivation & Self Esteem for Success website where you can receive his "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing pdf "The Power of Choice."

There will be a lot of people unhappy about what I am going to reveal in this article. However, I think it is time somebody spoke out about what is happening on this wonderful medium we have come to know as the internet. What I am talking about are the "sharp" practices engaged in by people offering all sorts of dubious marketing plans.

Confusion, deception, hype and downright dishonesty abound on the world wide web (www). I should know. Like tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of people before me - I've been caught. And it is highly probable that so many more will continue to be caught in the future unless something is done to stop it.

The www is the new frontier for those who seek to make money from inexperienced people. It's quick, it's easy and it is so impersonal. Specifically, I am talking about the selling of high priced junk information (often referred to as "reports") to unsuspecting customers.

Newbie website owners beware! There are hundreds of con-artists and specious operators lurking out there in cyber space. They are just waiting to pull you into their clutches.

How do they do it?

OK. What is the one thing that every new website owner has to have? Answer - traffic. Pure and simple. If you don't have traffic, you might as well not even have a website - unless, of course, you just enjoy looking at it yourself.

Your quest for traffic demands that you seek knowledge from those who profess to have it. And that is the root of the problem. It seems that every second website seems to be selling information on how to improve your website. With so many experts, who do you trust?

Oh you can read the sales "blurb" (yeah, I know, my site has "blurb" too. All websites use it) and be wooed by all the so-called "facts" but who is offering the information and does it really work? How do you separate credible information from useless junk? There certainly is plenty of junk out there.

There appears to be an increasing number of self-styled gurus professing to know exactly how to drive that precious traffic right through your site. In fact, if you believe everything they promise, you will need to install a set of traffic lights on your site just to control the massive flow. (Or so they would have you believe!)

Your quest for knowledge can very quickly send your credit card into debt hyper-drive, or, I should say, hyper-dive! Just enter your details and zap - here it comes. It's the answer to all your www dreams. (You wish!)

Let's examine some of the things you need to be vigilant about:

The information you pay for might be:

- widely known among experienced net users - but not by you. If you want to pay for this information it might just be worth it to "fast-track" your education. In other words, you will be paying for fairly basic information but you will learn something from it. In that respect, the information can be good because you can learn from the experience of others. Many "special reports" and "secrets revealed" fall into this category. However, some clearly do not. (PS: What type of credit card do you have?)

- available FREE all over the www. All you have to do is look. "Seek and ye shall find". If you are lazy and you need to be spoon fed then there are any number of hunters out there who will line you up in their sights. The information is probably current and will work but why pay for it when it is so abundantly available at zero cost? (PS: What is your credit card number?)

- "old hat" information. The internet moves at such speed that what worked several years ago or even several months ago now doesn't work at all. This type of information is totally useless and should be avoided. Often this ancient information will even contain broken hyperlinks. Now that's a real turn off. It says so much about the quality of the information being provided. In reality, this type of information is just a collection of worthless old junk, like a shoe with a hole in its sole. (PS: When does your credit card expire?)

- a precursor to spending even more money. This little technique will whet your appetite just enough to entice you to spend lots more money. Some "wealth creation" seminar presenters use this technique. It's just bait for the "real" information which, of course, is far more expensive. "Caveat emptor" - let the buyer beware! (PS: What are the three ID numbers on the back of that credit card of yours?)

- Steering you to other sites offering "fixits." This is something like point 4 above, except the information provider suggests you go to a third party (a "friend" - more on this in Part 2) to purchase more programs or more specific information. Often these recommended sites can offer expensive or time consuming programs. (PS: Now, just press submit.)

- credible and/or valuable. This is information of the best kind. Usually it will contain "cutting edge" ideas that are currently working on the www. However, your ability to source this information from the many traps above will range from difficult to almost impossible.The biggest trick used by con-artist "gurus" is their ability to "dress up" the information they are offering to make it look like something new or different. It's a bit like the old pyramid selling schemes that do the rounds with monotonous regularity (or the letter offering you millions of dollars from Nigeria just for giving them your bank details! Can you imagine anybody doing that? Well, plenty do!) Plenty buy the "dress-ups" too. Same old information, different name.

Another thing you need to be aware of is the amount of "fluff" or packing that surrounds the real subject matter. Often there can be several pages on the main idea and several dozen pages of near useless information to make it appear bigger.

I recently purchased a report of just 19 pages. It contained just one dubious idea that could have been presented adequately on about half an A4 sized page. The rest of it was pure packing and completely useless twaddle. The cost? I hate to admit it - $39.95 US. Ouch!

I have even heard of some training manuals on offer claiming that they contain five hundred pages (plus) of "cutting edge" information. You would think that represents a lot of information. It was certainly advertised as a "definitive" web-building and traffic steering "master" tutorial. I later learned (from another source) that the pages are only printed on about one-third of the available space and that the font size would be very beneficial for extremely sight impaired readers. That makes it a very expensive tutorial. I'm pleased to say that I didn't buy that one.

You need to be wary of these things.

Part 2 of this article contains further hints which will enable you to detect whether an offer of increased website traffic will be worthy of purchase or not.

.....Part 2

~Set Goals for Self-improvement.

2006-11-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

It has been said that working at something you love to do basically means one thing: you never have to work a day in your life.

One of the reasons one engages in a home business venture is the freedom it provides. However, with great freedom also comes great responsibility. It is a lot easier to do nothing than to actually do something. But doing something you enjoy doing is a lot better than doing something just because you have to.
If you are in a home business and are doing it just for the money, think again. Money is a means to which you could enjoy yourself and the fruits of your labor. It is not the be-all and end-all of your business life.

Steve Jobs, Oprah and Donald Trump has said it. Do what you love. If you love what you do, that is enough reason to get up in the morning. It is appropriate reason enough to work.

Where work does not feel a lot like work.

If you are in your business now, enjoy it. If you do not enjoy what you are doing, make an assessment of what your hobbies are. What do you really want to do?

Doing what you love brings in the cash flow a lot easier. It is good vibes that flows endlessly and effortlessly.

But if you find it difficult to enjoy yourself in the business you are now engaged in, try to read and answer these few questions and statements found at Web Pro News

It could help you know more, enjoy your work more, and be a lot more richer, financially and otherwise.