Yellow Pages Antarctica

Are you trying to sell your product online with little or no success? Are you spending lots of money advertising all over the web and getting very few sales? Well, maybe it’s time you try something a little different. Try not selling your product! You read that right. People do not want to be sold to. They do like to buy things, however.

So what are you supposed to do? Well, I will try to keep this article short and to the point, without a lot of confusing jargon to make it longer. I have been reading everything I can get my eyes and hands on about online business. The one thing that sticks in my head is this - If you build it, will they come? Build what, you say? Build an online place where people will want to visit; an online community. And, if you do it right, they will come!

How do you do that? There have been many books written on this subject. You may want to check out some at your local library. Here’s a really good article that sums up this idea remarkably well.

First, you must identify your target audience. Who are the people that will be interested in your product? What would bring these people together? What do you think their interests are? If you have to, do some research or take a survey.

A Message Board and a Chat Room are basically a must for any online community. Also, lots of free information about their interests. A Links page where you can list links to other sites that may be of interest to them. You should include a form for them to submit their input. See what they like or dislike about your community. Ask them what else they would like to see at your community. Members like to be involved in their community, either online or offline.

Also, you should have a “Tell a Friend” link. This way they can tell others that they know who would be interested in joining your community. A “Tell a Friend” link could be a prewritten letter about your online community that sounds like one friend telling another friend how great it is! All your current members have to do is copy and paste this letter into the body of an email. Or, they could write their own letter of recommendation. There’s nothing better than free advertising!

After you have your online community established, you need to let people know it’s there. There are many ways to do this. One good way is to find an e-zine that accepts articles from subscribers. Make sure it fits in with the topic of your community and/or products. Then you write an article to submit to the e-zine. Make sure it is professionally written. Mistakes reflect poorly on your professional image.

At the end of the article, you can include a link to your community. Remember, do not try to sell them anything in the article. You just want them to visit your community. First, get visitors, then turn visitors into customers through valuable relationships.

Another way would be to form a partnership with another website owner. One that, again, fits in with the subject matter of your community and/or product. Here, you would exchange links or advertising space with your new partner. Just send a letter to the webmaster of the site you’re interested in exchanging links with and ask them if they would be interested too. Some will, some won’t. Some might not even write back. DO NOT get discourage, forget about them and move on to the next one.

There are websites that focus mainly on this kind of partnership. Some people call it a Joint Venture (JV). These websites have members who are interested in finding a JV partner. All you need to do is find one or more that interests you. Most of these websites will take care of all the detail work of setting up the partnership, keeping track of who is partnered with who, if anyone is trying to cheat, etc.

There are many other ways of gaining attention for your website. Some are free, some are low cost and some are high cost. There’s more information about this topic than can be written in one article. There’s entire books dedicated to each of them.

John Layton has been publishing websites since 1998. His latest website, The Rebel Computer Guy (http://www.geocities.com/jlaytonjr1), has many resources and learning tools for the online business newbie.
You may use this article for your own e-zine, newsletter, website, or whatever purpose you need. All I require is that you use the entire article, including the resource box giving me the credit. I would appreciate, but do not require, an email letting me know that you are using it and where I can find it.
The Rebel Computer Guy website has lots of information about working on the Internet. Topics include; Guide To Working On The Web, Learn How To Write HTML, Ebooks and Reports, Classified Ads, Articles, and lots of Tips. There’s also a Links section and a What’s New section. Perfect for beginners.
For more articles visit my articles page at http://www.geocities.com/jlaytonjr1/Articles/Articles.htm

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Formatting or re-installing windows on a Dell system is much simpler then doing so on other machines. If for any reason you need to format your Dell system or re-install windows on it, read on.

Dell packages a CD with each of their systems. This CD will read “Dell windows XP home,” “Dell windows XP pro,” or something along those lines. This is a Dell version of Windows XP that when inserted into your CD-ROM drive at startup, will simply ask you if you need to format or re-install windows. It is a step-by-step dialog which is very simple, and is actually easier then the blue “Windows setup” screen. This blue screen is infamous; and is disliked by many PC users. It can be difficult to understand unless you are an advanced user.

The great thing about this disk is you won’t need to access the Dell BIOS/CMOS and change your boot sequence for your PC to read it before your hard drive (in most cases). If you put the CD into your drive, re-boot, and your box still loads windows instead of booting from the CD, you will need to change your boot sequence in your BIOS. This is not too difficult - just look for what key is “setup” at startup. Usually, this is delete, or one of the F keys like F1, F2, F10, F11, or F12.

Once in setup, look around the different menus for the boot sequence. Make sure it is set to boot to CD-ROM for first boot device, then hard drive as second (or third). As long as it is set to CD-ROM first, and hard drive is somewhere after that, it doesn’t matter what’s in there.

And that’s basically it for formatting or re-installing Windows on a Dell box. Dell kept it easy for their clients, in an effort to maintain user-friendliness in the most difficult of situations. Their stock goes up in my book.

I am a young, aspiring computer engineer into Internet Marketing, hardware, software, web design, SEO and just about anything related to computers. Please come check out my growing PC forum at http://www.markspcforum.com

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While a new video game console can bring your family entertainment for many hours, picking the wrong one due to bad information can lead to serious disappointment. When you are shopping for a new game console, you may find it difficult as there are so many different options to choose from. The information you are looking for can be very difficult to find, but you will find there’s a lot of misinformation out there.

What type of games do you find interesting?
Do you plan on buying an HDTV anytime soon or do you already have one?

What type of budget do you have to work with?

Which piques your interest the most, playing games with a group or the solo playing experience?
Have you got any of the old school gaming systems?

The PlayStation 3 was the most pricey for quite a while. It’s a good thing that you will now find lower prices on them. Now priced at four hundred US dollars (contingent upon which style you purchase)it has pricing that is more attractive compared their competitors. Prices change constantly so chech the latest video games console prices online.

The PS3 is an experience, it is more than just a game console. It has the capability to be a Blu-Ray, CD, or DVD player; as well as; it can upgrade DVDs to HD. The PS3 would be perfect for those with an HDTV and no HD movie player as you can get both of your movie and gaming experiences in the same box. This is with the latest technology of Blu-Ray, the leading high-definition movie format. Without an HDTV display, movies in Blu-ray format don’t provide any better quality. That feature will not be of any use to you if you have only an old-fashioned standard-def TV.

While virtually the same as the PS2 controller, the controller features motion sensing technology known as Sixaxis. The controller, which can be tilted in six different directions, is able to sense which of the directions to which it has been tilted. The results vary from game to game based on well this has been incorporated. If it is not done properly it can be very annoying, but it can add to your experience if it’s done correctly. You need to keep in mind that the Sixasis controller is missing the vibration feature. The DualShock 3 controller with vibration will not be included with the new PS3’s, even though it has been released, until June 12, 2008.

You will find a lot of the same games for Xbox 360 and PS3.

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Most advertisers and marketers, because they don’t test and track the response of various marketing activities, are flying blindly, with little or no idea of what’s working - and what isn’t.

Proper testing and tracking can give you the most accurate and reliable answers to virtually any marketing question that arises. You can then make important marketing decisions based on facts, instead of theory or guesswork.

Online Testing Strategies

In a nutshell, online testing involves keying each different test variable with a unique identifying code (so each desired response can be tracked to its source), running the test campaign, keeping records, and tabulating and comparing the results. The winning variable then becomes the control, or bench mark, which future ones are measured against. Let’s look at testing in more detail…

Scientific testing involves the following steps:

1) Determining which element(s) of an ad or marketing communication that you want to test. (Tip: It’s usually best to test only one variable at a time.)

2) Creating the test ad(s).

3) Keying each ad with a unique tracking code.

4) Keeping good, accurate test records.

5) Running the test campaign.

6) Tracking and comparing results to determine which test variable is the winner.

7) Repeating the cycle, constantly attempting to beat your existing control.

Keying ads and tracking responses online can be done in a variety of ways. For accuracy, be sure to use a unique tracking code for each different test variable and keep accurate records. The tracking method used will vary based on your circumstances and the type of response you want.

Tracking Web Page Hits

If you have access to your log files or another way to track the number of hits to your site, you can track hits to your web pages by placing a ? after the URL used in each ad, followed by a unique tracking code. For instance:

Ad #1 could be keyed with this tracking code: http://ProfitInfo.com/catalog/v3.htm?1A

Ad #2 could be keyed with this tracking code: http://ProfitInfo.com/catalog/v3.htm?1B

Links with the 1A and 1B tracking codes in the URL don’t adversely affect the ability of visitors to access web pages in any way, but will show up in the server log files.

To determine the exact number of hits that a particular ad generated, look at your log files within several days after running it. (Check with your ISP or web host for access to your log files.)

Tracking Email Responses

If you have unlimited email aliases available through your web host and want your test ads to generate responses via email, you can use a unique email address as the tracking code for each one.

Note: A potential drawback to this method is that the more email addresses you make publicly available, the more spam you’re likely to receive.

Another option for tracking email responses is to ask respondents to place something unique in the subject line, which serves as the tracking code.

In a pinch you can use the following trick to help automatically place what you want in the subject line of a new email message when it’s clicked on in an email program: mailto:user@domain.com?subject=Send-Info (Replace user@domain.com in the above example with the email address you want to use.)

When the above link is clicked on in an email message, the text immediately following ?subject= will automatically appear in the subject line of a new email message in most email programs. (In the example above, Send-Info would appear.)

Attempting to Beat Your Control

Your main objective in testing is always to try to come up with a better pulling variable (headline, offer, guarantee, price, etc.) than your existing control. Whenever tests prove that another variable pulls better than your existing control, it replaces it until a future test reveals an even better one.

Make Testing a Habit

Remember that the most successful direct response marketers (Internet marketing being just another form of direct response marketing) tend to do lots of testing.

Instead of viewing the testing process as too much bother, you should view it as a wise investment in crucial information that reveals how to progressively improve the profitability of your marketing. Considering all the advantages that testing offers, the reasons for making it a habit are obvious.

You don’t have to be content with the same mediocre level of response to your marketing campaigns, unaware of what’s really working and what isn’t.

If you aren’t already, start taking advantage of scientific testing to constantly improve your marketing results, avoid making the same wasteful mistakes, and earn more profits. And if you’re already profiting from it, consider taking advantage of it more fully.

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