An essential element of the success of any Internet Marketing campaign is the ability to analyze the traffic to coming to your Website. A key business mantra is that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

The are a number of techniques that the best Internet Marketing Strategies employ to jump-start Website traffic building. These strategies include article marketing, blogging, search engine optimization and email marketing.

Luckily for the Internet offers a wealth of excellent and accessible tools for analyzing the success of each of these strategies.

Understanding what your visitors do on your site is crucial information, not to mention interesting. If your visitors proceed to purchase a product but then a large majority leave the site when they get to a specific page in the order process then you need to know about it. It could be that this page is confusing or hard to use. Fixing it could increase your sales by 200%. This is just an example; there are many reasons why you want a detailed analysis of your site visitors.

Most website hosting services offer a stats package that you can study. If you’re not sure where this is, call up your hosting service and ask them. Statistics are a vital part of tracking your marketing progress. If you don’t have access to website statistics get a package that can help you in this area. Do not get a counter that just shows how many visitors you’ve had. You’ll be missing out on vital information that can help strengthen weaknesses in your site.

A good website hosting service would offer traffic logs that provide an invaluable insight into the traffic being referred to a web site from various sources such as search engines, directories and other links.

Unfortunately traffic tracking provided by web hosting services is often in the form of raw traffic log files or other difficult to understand cryptic formats. These log files are basically text files that describe actions on the site. It is literally impossible to use the raw log files to understand what your visitors are doing. If you do not have the patience to go through these huge traffic logs, opting for a traffic-logging package would be a good idea.

Basically two options are available to you and these are: using a log analysis package or subscribing to a remotely hosted traffic logging service. A remotely hosted traffic logging service may be easy to use and is generally the cheaper option of the two. WebTrends Live and HitsLink are two good, remotely hosted, traffic-monitoring services worth considering. However, WebTrends Live is a more complicated system and is suitable for larger ecommerce websites. ?SuperStats? is another recommended traffic logging service.

These services do not use your log files. Typically a small section of code is placed on any page you want to track. When the page is viewed, information is stored on the remote server and available in real time to view in charts and tables form.

Log analysis packages are typically expensive to buy and complex to set up. Apart from commercial packages there are also some free log analysis packages available, such as Analog.

************************************************************

A good traffic logging service would provide statistics pertaining to the following:

************************************************************

* How many people visit your site?

* Where are they from?

* How are visitors finding your site?

* What traffic is coming from search engines, links from other sites, and other sources?

* What keyword search phrases are they using to find your site?

* What pages are frequented the most – what information are visitors most interested in?

* How do visitors navigate within your web site?

Knowing the answers to these and other fundamental questions is essential for making informed decisions that maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your web site investment.

************************************

Did you know?

As with any marketing campaign you may run to assist your business, it is important to track the results of your Internet marketing campaign. This should be done on a continual basis so you can ensure the strategies you are utilizing are working. It can also help you to determine when a strategy is not working so you do not continue to invest time and money on a strategy which is not beneficial to your business.

************************************

The most important aspect of tracking visitors to your Website is analyzing all the statistics you get from your tracking software. The three main statistics that will show your overall progress are hits, visitors and page views. Hits are tracked when any picture or page loads from your server on to a visitor?s browser. Hits, however, can be very misleading. It is quite an irrelevant statistic for your Website.

The statistic that is probably the most important for a Website is Page Views/Visitors. This gives you a good indication of two things. First, how many people are coming to your site, and secondly how long are they staying on your site. If you have 250 visitors and 300 page views you can figure that most visitors view one page on your site and then leave. Generally, if you’re not getting 2 page views per visitor then you should consider upgrading your site’s content so your visitors will stay around longer. If you see the number of visitors you have increasing as well as the number of page views per visitor increasing then keep up the good work! Always look for this stat as an overall barometer of how your site design is doing and if your marketing campaigns are taking hold. Also, a good stat to look for is unique visitors. Once a person visits your site they will not be added to the unique visitors? category if they visit again. This is a good way to track new visitors to your website. Page views are a good indication of how “sticky” your Website is. A good statistic to keep is Page Views divided by the number of Visitors you have. This statistic will give you a good idea if your content is interesting and if your visitors are staying on your site for a long time and surfing.

Some people are intimidated by web traffic statistics (mostly because of the sheer volume of data available), but they shouldn’t be. While there are many highly specialized statistics that can be used for more in-depth web traffic analysis, the above areas alone can provide invaluable information on your visitors and your Website performance. Remember- this data is available for a reason. It’s up to you to use it.

FLASH! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The aliens look just like real people but they don’t act like real people. They don’t return phone calls – even if they’re in business to make money. Their leisure “activity” is watching TV and they play video games when they’re not watching TV. They can’t spell. They have major sexual problems. The best way to identify one of these aliens is by their complete failure to communicate properly.

In 1976, the movie “Network” foreshadowed the hollowness of television, the addictive nature of its effect on the human mind, and it predicted the development of a culture without culture that would pervade the United States in the 21st century. I believe there has been a massive deterioration of ethical humanness in our society and that the phenomenon of dehumanization can be attributed to the following social changes:

· The baby boomer generation became yuppies* who abandoned their parents’ meaningful core values.
· The yuppies are responsible for their children being egocentric and needing instant gratification.
· The yuppie parents and their children have become addicted to television and other mindless entertainment.
· While all this was happening, the school system was being decimated by politically conservative administrations in the name of “cost savings”.

The result of the four social processes interacting simultaneously over the last 40 years has been a transformation of our society from a vibrant and goal oriented energy dynamo to a self-centered and pleasure driven static state. During the first half of the 20th century, most people occupied their spare time with constructive and creative activities such as reading books, writing letters, socializing with other people in discussion groups, actively supporting political issues, and spending large amounts of quality time with their children – to name just a few examples. For a brief moment in time during the 1960’s, the hippies opened up human consciousness in a way that had never happened before and of course they were met with emotional resistance from the status quo. As the cost of living began to increase dramatically in the late 1970’s, people had to devote more time to their jobs and consequently reduce the amount of time they could spend with their children. In the 1980’s and 1990’s it became common for both parents to have to work in order to keep up with rising housing costs, and the yuppie disease became contagious. Economic forces eventually became stronger than other social forces and even the old hippies were compelled to focus their energy on making a living so that they could afford to live decently. As people spent more and more time working at their jobs, they experienced more and more work related stress and the easiest way to relax after a long hard day at work was to watch television.

The 20th century has included a larger number of scientific advances and significant inventions than any other century in all of human history. Television was an invention that had broad based appeal which gave it vast commercial potential. The first popular television programs were pure entertainment. Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theater (1948), The Cisco Kid (1949), Amos and Andy (1951), and I Love Lucy (1951) kept America glued to their TV sets. Television is also capable of delivering news, intelligent commentary, and educational shows. The Public Broadcasting System has done an outstanding job of elevating the medium, bringing shows like Masterpiece Theater, Bradshaw On The Family, Great Chefs of Europe, and Sesame Street to the airwaves. Commercial television has also produced high quality entertainment such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, MASH, and Seinfeld. But unfortunately, commercial television has found its greatest popularity in short, silly sitcoms and if I were to list them all, this article would explode any conceivable definition of the word concise.

The Internet was the last great invention of the 20th century. The Internet had its roots in a partnership between the government and the universities and it was conceived as “the information super-highway” in order to store and archive data. People use the Internet as an immediately accessible library. Of course, they also use the Internet for mindless game entertainment and pornography. However, the big difference between television and the Internet is that television does not require or allow input from the viewer, while the Internet allows users to participate in many ways. An enormous number of web sites have been created by individuals, chat rooms offer places for people to interact with each other, blogging allows almost anybody to become a published writer, and email provides virtually instantaneous, low cost, world wide communication. The Internet is not only the world’s biggest library that cannot possibly be destroyed by a fire, but it also offers the promise of connecting all human minds together in a way that has not been imagined yet. However, a sinister potential exists in the combination of high speed Internet and cable TV service that is provided by the biggest corporations (who are not necessarily altruistic). Incorporating the trend towards increased government control and censorship within an understanding of how big corporations operate in America leads a thinking person to a frightening thought.

Another frightening thought concerns one of the most significant social trends that has been increasing dramatically during the second half of the 20th century – divorce. In the 19th century and in all preceding centuries, divorce was relatively rare (except for Henry VIII, of course). Recent research indicates that divorce rates in the United States have been rising since the beginning of the 20th century, with a short-term decline during the Great Depression and a spike just after World War II. In 2005, the New York Times reported that the percentage of all marriages which end in divorce peaked in the United States at about 41 percent around 1980 and was approximately 31 percent in 2002. One definition of the word “plague” is a widespread affliction or calamity. I believe that divorce is a plague on our society because if even 1/3 of all marriages end in divorce, that is a widespread affliction and a calamity. In all previous centuries, people did not conceive of divorce as a satisfactory answer to a marriage that has problems, but that kind of thinking has changed. I believe that the change in thinking can be related to a subliminal impact of television because television has conditioned people to accept and desire instant gratification. Television provides too many choices and it makes those choices too easy for everybody. Having a wide variety of choices can be good. But when it comes to the subject of marriage, having a wide variety of choices is not good. It seems like people are thinking, “If I’m not getting what I want, I’ll just change the channels. If I don’t like the food here, I’ll go next door and eat in a different restaurant.” So they are leaping out of marriages and into divorce court.

Finally, consider the concept of capitalism as an economic system that has pervasive effects on societal forces. Capitalism is based on the production of commodities for sale and profit, and it allows private ownership of the means of production. In the United States, capitalism exists in combination with democracy but capitalism does not necessarily imply democracy. It flourished quite well in England under the monarchist system during the 19th century and not quite so well under various dictatorships in the 20th century. Capitalism encourages the strongest, the most intelligent, the most aggressive, and the most competitive people to rise to the top and succeed. I believe that the combination of capitalism and democracy has been America’s great strength, and the power inherent in this combination was the key to becoming the greatest country the world has ever seen. Our success has allowed us to dominate the world economically as well as militarily.

But if I am correct about our society having been transformed from a vibrant and goal oriented energy dynamo to a self-centered and pleasure driven static state, then we may have already reached our peak of power. The United States has purposefully tried to spread capitalism and democracy all over the world, not only in an attempt to combat communism, but also because we sincerely believe that we have the best economic and political system and we have a desire to give to others who are less fortunate than we are. It is possible that our largess may backfire on us because many countries who are trying to follow our lead are not oriented around their television sets. If their cultures are strong enough to resist the addictive drug that television really is, and if they pursue capitalism and democracy to the same end that we did in the United States, then the strongest, most intelligent, and most aggressive countries will rise to the top and succeed. The United States can be out-competed and the Japanese have already risen to the top position in more than one field. Our infrastructure is so rich and so enormous that it would take a long time to tumble from the apex of power. But it is possible for that to happen.

This article should not be misinterpreted as doom and gloom philosophy. It is intended to be a wake-up call.

*Yuppy: A bastardized version of the word hippy. The word hippy refers to a person who rejected established institutions and values and sought spontaneity, direct personal relations expressing love, and expanded consciousness. The word yuppy refers to a young urban professional who has an affluent lifestyle.

Do you know what “phishing” is? No, it doesn’t mean you grab a phishin’ pole and head to the nearest phishin’ hole to catch some phish.

Phishing has a much more sinister connotation. The official Webopedia definition of “phishing” is as follows: The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user’s information.

Phishers are also on the prowl for your business information. Your business credit card number, for instance, is like gold to a phisher. Same for your bank account number, lines of credit information, financial data, purchase order numbers, etc.

Phishers prey on ignorance, fear, and emotion. They also play the numbers game. The more bait they email out, the more phish they’ll catch. By spamming large numbers of people, the “phisher” counts on his email being read and believed by a percentage of people who will volunteer their personal and credit card information.

One group that is constantly baited by phishers is the eBay community, i.e. the tens of millions of people worldwide with eBay accounts. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t receive an email supposedly from eBay asking me to update my account information. I know better than to fall for this scam, but I have to admit, the latest scam email is pretty convincing. Even this old Powerseller did a double-take before realizing that the phishers were at it again.

The sender of this email is listed as: eBay Member and the email subject line reads: Question from eBay Member. The email begins: “Question from eBay Member — Respond Now. eBay sent this message on behalf of an eBay member via My Messages. Responses sent using email will not reach the eBay member. Use the Respond Now button below to respond to this message.”

The email then takes on a threatening tone. It reads: “Question from rivernick: I’m still waiting payment for my item for about 7 days. What happened? Please mail me ASAP or I will report you to eBay.”

The recipient is then prompted to respond to this rather disturbing email by clicking a “Respond Now.” button.

Listen to me: DON’T TOUCH THAT BUTTON! Of course the email was NOT sent by an eBay member or sent via eBay’s messaging system, as it appears. Doing so will take you to a website designed to look like eBay where you will be prompted to login using your eBay user name and password.

Once you pass this point you will be asked to update your account information before proceeding. Unknowing souls will offer not only their eBay password, but personal and credit card information, as well, without even knowing that they are about to have their identity stolen.

The one thing that makes this scam so effective is the threat by the supposed eBay member to “report you to eBay.”

The email preys on the fear of most eBay members that they are in danger of receiving negative feedback. Many eBayers would rather have you cut off a pinky than leave them negative feedback. It is this emotion that the new phishers are hoping to hook and I expect it is working well.

The phisher is betting that most people will either be horrified by the threat of being wrongly reported to eBay or they will be ticked off that some jerk is threatening them by mistake. Either way the phisher is counting on a percentage of people to have a knee-jerk reaction and login to the phisher’s fake eBay website to clear matters up.

I’ve never seen statistics on the percentage of people who take the bait after receiving phishing emails, but if a phisher gets a mere 1% of recipients to turn over their personal information, he will consider his phishing expedition a success.

I’ve warned you about these phishing scams before, but let’s review it one more time.

NEVER reply directly to an email that appears to have come from eBay, Paypal, Amazon, or anyone else asking you to click a link in the email to update your account information. If there is any doubt in your mind whether or not the email is really from eBay, for example, open a browser and type in the URL http://www.ebay.com. NEVER click a link within the email to respond.

NEVER believe that an email supposedly from another eBay member is for real. Again, do not click an email link to reply. Open a browser and go to eBay directly and log in. If the email was from a real member, there will be a record of the inquiry in your My eBay account.

You must be aware that there are bad guys out there who do nothing but spend time trying to come up with new and innovative ways to steal your personal and business information.

Be paranoid. Be aware. But don’t be fooled.

The phishers will cast their line, but you do not have to take the bait.

Here’s to your success,

Tim Knox

Make Money Online

Many people are making lots and lots of money online just by selling a niche product. Not only that, some don’t even have a slight clue or idea about the niche but still make money online easily. You see, when you are planning to concentrate selling a niche product, it is not necessarily you need to know your product although it will be an advantage if you do.

But still they are who still have not making any money online at all because they have done it the wrong way from the beginning. They simply jump into the bandwagon because they thought making money online is easy. The truth is, it is easy if you start with a proper way.

So how to make money online with a niche product? Here are 3 excellent and easy ways to do it:

1. First, develop a great product – position it for Web sales. Here are highlights from this step. More ways to create your own product, whatever your type of business. Affiliate programs — how to judge them, how to work with them, and how to make them work for you! E-books — enlarged and updated, how to profit by putting your brains online! Net auctions, they’re not just for collectors anymore! … and more!

2. Build a site that SELLS, really SELLS! OK, you’ve developed a great product. And let’s assume for a moment that you can attract targeted traffic to your site. What’s the difference between success and failure? Here are just a few of the most important topics to build a site successfully that generates high sales as follow How to set your Most Wanted Response. Developing trust and likeability. How to write powerful, compelling sales copy, starting with your biggest gun. Digital fulfillment — selling downloads such as e-books, reports, data, music, with ease and security! … and more!

3. Attract targeted traffic to the site. Simple formula about the traffic, no traffic = no sales. Once you’ve got a great product, and a killer sales site, it’s time to attract targeted, motivated traffic. Best traffic strategies are viral marketing, revised/updated keyword brainstorming, expanded pay per click section, speciality search engines, expanded link popularity section and more strategies of traffic. That’s when traffic really started to soar. With this strategies, You can attract huge traffic to your site that generate high sales for you. So, you can make money online yourself!

And there you have it, 3 easy ways to make money online selling a niche product. I can guarantee that you will make money online yourself more $100,000 per year… even $200,000 per year just by using the three steps.

To find out and learn strategies and tips of internet marketing business for newbies. Click here:
Internet Marketing Business

According to preliminary sales figures released earlier this week, General Motors sold a record of 2.26 million cars and trucks, along with their GM truck accessories, around the world this year from January to April. GM global first quarter sales were up 67,000 vehicles, or 3 percent, compared with sales of 2.19 million in the first quarter of 2006.

GM Vice President John Middlebrook said GM’s posted record sales in the first quarter was driven by exceptionally strong demand in emerging markets such as the global sales, service and marketing operations. He further said the company saw more than 20 percent growth in the Asia/Pacific region and had 17 percent growth in the Latin America, Africa and Middle East region. He added that the 6 percent growth in Europe where they sold more than a half-million vehicles and established a new sales record was very significant to them.

Three cars from GM are showing a global success, each showing their most marketable GM truck part: Chevrolet, HUMMER and Cadillac.

A 4 percent increase from last year was seen in the Chevrolet global sales of 1.04 million vehicles. The global increase was attributed to a 33 percent growth in Europe, 12 percent in Asia- Pacific and 19 percent in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

GM also retains its strong luxury truck portfolio growth, due to the incomparable GM truck parts, which comprise the vehicle. Evidence is the HUMMER sales that grew 37 percent in the Latin America, Africa and the Middle East region. Around the world, HUMMER recorded 15,000 vehicle sales. With the Hummer H2 mid-cycle enhancement, addition of the V8-powered HUMMER H3 Alpha in North America and start of production of the right hand-drive HUMMER H3 in South Africa, HUMMER products are well-positioned to respond to demanding customers’ needs.

Outside North America, Cadillac had a sales increase due to the 89 percent sales growth in Europe, a 55 percent increase in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East and 47 percent growth in Asia/Pacific.

Several GM regional brands also experienced notable growth in the first quarter of 2007.

Opel and Vauxhall, for instance sold 443,000 vehicles for the months January to April this year. Vauxhall was up 6.3 percent and Opel was up about a half percent with 1,200 more vehicles sold this year compared with those sold in the first quarter of 2006. The brands achieved segment leadership with Opel Meriva and Opel Zafira — in the monocab segment — and second position with Opel Astra in the popular compact segment.

Largely based on the popularity of the new 2007 Saturn Aura, 2007 Saturn Sky, 2007 Saturn Vue, 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid, and 2007 Saturn Outlook crossover utility vehicles, Saturn sales in the United States and Canada were up by 19 percent. Saturn anticipates stronger sales this year as it continues the launch of the Saturn Outlook crossover and welcomes Saturn Astra, the Ion small-car replacement,. Reports say Saturn is undergoing the most extensive product rebirth in its history.

Not minding South Korea’s strong market growth on the back of its Winstorm SUV and Tosca medium car, Daewoo sales of 35,000 vehicles were up 31 percent.

GM expects more increased sales these coming years as it continues to innovate what was then already way far from others.

Honest Riches 2 is written by Holly Mann, a friendly and HARDWORKING lady from the U.S., but living in Thailand. Her book focuses primarily on affiliate marketing. She stated the following on her Honest Riches website.

“The strategies I reveal in the e-book are the exact same ones I used when I first started out and they are the same exact techniques I use today.”

This tells me that Honest Riches 2 is certainly for beginners, and I was right. I brought Honest Riches 2 and found the information inside to be of EXCELLENT quality.

You may notice in Honest Riches 2 that Holly Mann writes in slightly long paragraphs throughout the entire eBook, and the content is quite dense. Sometimes it may get too long…but that shows Honest Riches 2 is PACKED with information and not white spaces.

Honest Riches 2 comprises of 12 chapters across 95 pages. Here’s some of the highlights.

Chapter 5 (Website Design & Development)

* BIG chapter on Website creation. 18 pages explaining the 7 ways you can build a website. She did not explain everything as the technical details will bore you. There are books out there covering each method specifically.

* Holly Mann offers you an excellent arrangement where if you buy web hosting through her affiliate link, she will set up a WordPress blog or Joomla CMS website for you FREE.

Chapter 8 (Search Engine Optimization)

* Contains a DETAILED, 15 page, step by step instructions on how to correctly and fully create an optimized webpage and find out what keywords your competition is using.

“I provide a DETAILED guide to Search Engine Optimization – What to Do and How to do It”

She stated this on her sales page, and after reading this 15 page guide, Holly Mann sure does lives up to what she says.

* Gives you a MASSIVE list of close to 400 website directories and article directories for you to submit to establish backlinks. She even includes the page rank of every one of them!

Chapter 11 (Creating Your Own E-Book)

* An excellent 7 page step-by-step guide on how to create your own Ebook for you to sell. Holly Mann also includes tools she uses to create her eBooks. She however missed out the final step on how to put the finished eBook up for sale…

Any internet marketing newbie will understand Holly Mann’s excellent explanation on marketing and SEO techniques. There are numerous step by step instructions, with the 15 page step by step instruction on SEO in Chapter 8 and eBook creation in Chapter 11 among the most comprehensive I have seen.

If you are an experienced online marketer, Holly Mann’s Honest Riches 2 will benefit you too. Honest Riches 2 will have some new techniques you may have never thought off.

Honest Riches 2 is not perfect though, for example the step by step guide in creating your own eBook in chapter 11 seems to have left out the final step on how to sell it. But Holly Mann may have a reason to leave it out, to avoid diverting the book’s focus on affiliate marketing. I do not know, and it’s just my personal opinion.

Holly Mann provides support and assistance through her forums, posting there regularly. Unlike hectic and fast moving forums like WarriorForum.com, her forum moves at a manageable pace.

It is also well populated with individuals who are successful in Internet Marketing, before or after they brought Honest Riches. They participate regularly in discussions and responds to anyone seeking for advice.

An ideal place for anyone to seek help from, and discuss SEO techniques.

Lastly, I especially applaud Holly Mann’s decision to allow previous customers download updates of her ebook for free.

I purchased Honest Riches back in December ‘06. When Honest Riches 2 was released in Feb ‘07, I received an email from Holly Mann requesting for the Paypal receipt of my previous purchase, so I can download the new edition of Honest Riches for FREE, even though the price was increased from $27 to $37 and the content increased from 50 to 95 pages.

Holly Mann’s Honest Riches 2 is an EXECELLENT ebook on affiliate marketing for both beginners and experienced marketers, especially the former. The information in the ebook will definitely help anyone in Internet Marketing.

At $37, it’s much cheaper than most eBooks and those thousand dollar Internet Marketing courses/seminars. Along the support she provides at her forums, and most importantly allowing previous customers to upgrade for free, Honest Riches 2 is definitely one of the best and value for money affiliate marketing ebook out there.

Finding the best digital satellite television service programming is easy now with hundreds of online sites to give you the most updated information on technological advances in satellite programming. We realize that your time is valuable, and we are happy that all the information you seek is available on your desktop at the click of your mouse. With this information, you can then save money, your time, and your energy by reviewing satellite deal offers in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
A primary motivator for improvement of your home entertainment system is the wonderful offers of free service and equipment, free installation, and gifts being made by providers as online promotional deals. Dish Network even offers a discount for subscribing to their services. Even a cursory look at the benefits of diverse and additional services, the advanced technology, and the prices make you wonder why you have not become a subscriber to digital satellite television services sooner.

There are many providers offering digital satellite television services, but our search will limit itself to the two giants: Dish Network and DirecTV. These companies offer many ‘freebies’ making their deals seemingly too good to be true. This is because competition and free enterprise are enjoyed by all providers with the benefits of their offers and services being equally enjoyed by subscribers. All forms of advertising and promotions incur expenses, and these company expenses are balanced by requiring a one-year subscription contract. By doing this, both the company and the subscriber achieve their goals.

Expanding and upgrading the services you are presently receiving is another major motivator for change in your entertainment program. Comparison of selections, number of channels, quality of sound and picture, equipment availability and installation, customer service, and monthly prices will illustrate the fact that personal preference in programming is vital to your selection of either Dish Network or DirecTV satellite television services. Both services offer over 225 channels of programming, interactive gaming channels, children’s programs, movies, music, internet service, 50 Sirius music channels, DVR, and pay-per-view selections. Dish Network provides an additional 500 commercial-free movie package along with international programming with many foreign language channels and programs. DirecTV provides additional sports programming with NFL Sunday Ticket and NBA League Pass, allowing you the opportunity to view any game played during the course of football season and basketball season. DirecTV also holds exclusive rights to other sports channels like MLB Extra Innings, NY Yankee Games, and NHL Center Ice. If you are a die-hard sports fan, DirecTV will be your choice, and if you enjoy movies, different cultures, and the arts, Dish Network will be for you.

Whatever your choice, consideration must be give to choosing equipment. Dish Network makes this easy because they insist on their own equipment and provide promotional specials of free equipment to make this cheaper for subscribers. DirecTV allows subscribers choice in choosing necessary equipment.

To summarize, competition makes high definition digital satellite television services affordable for all. We will continue to see smart new marketing techniques from Dish Network and DirecTV; but, overall, the qualitative improvement in services will continue forward with the customer coming out on top.

Q: How important is the name of a business? Should the name of a business reflect what the business does or is it better to come up with something catchy and easy to remember?
– Randy P.

A: What’s in a name? When it comes to your business, Randy, a lot more than you might think. In fact, deciding on a business name is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. The right business name can help you rise above the crowd while the wrong business name can leave you trampled in the rush.

With the economy in a slump and competition on the rise, now more than ever it is important that you put considerable thought into coming up with the perfect name for your business.

Unfortunately, this is a task that is easier said than done. It seems like all the good business names are either married or… no wait, that’s a different subject, but the analogy holds true.

We live in an age when a business called “The Body Shop” might repair wrecked cars or sell skintight jeans to teenagers, so before you send your letterhead to the printer, consider the following points to help you select the business name that’s right for you.

The first thing you should do is conduct a little research to determine if the name is already in use by someone else. You would be surprised at how many entrepreneurs forget to research this point and open a business with a name that is already in use. Check with the county clerk and the secretary of state to make sure the name isn’t already licensed for use or incorporated with the state. Also check with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to see if the name is already trademarked, i.e., owned, by someone else. Using another company’s trademarked name exposes you to legal action by the trademark owner. Even if your name is just similar to the trademarked name, you may find yourself in court defending your right to use the name. And odds are it’s a battle you will lose.

If the name you choose is not in use, you should immediately reserve the name with the secretary of state (if you plan on incorporating) and apply for a trademark to ensure your legal ownership. If you do not trademark the name someone can come along later and attempt to steal the name out from under you. Imagine spending years building up your business only to have some upstart trademark the name and engage you in a legal battle over rightful ownership. This is one fight you don’t need, especially when the hassle could have been easily avoided with a few bucks and a few forms.

Another important thing to consider is the domain name for your business. The domain name is the website address a customer will use to find you on the Web. Is the domain name for your business name available? If not, is there a domain similar to the business name you’re considering?

You will undoubtedly discover that securing a suitable domain name is actually harder than choosing a business name. Most logical domain names are already reserved, but you might get lucky. Keep in mind that domain names should be short and descriptive, and preferably have the .com or .net extension. You can use other extensions (I’ve even used the “.to” extension on occasion) if necessary, just keep in mind that you will need to put forth a little extra marketing effort to promote the website address as people typically assume a .com extension as the norm. Whatever you do, don’t use a domain name that is a confusing amalgam of letters and numbers that is hard to remember and even harder for your customer to type in.

One good way to approach the task of naming a business is to do so from your customer’s point of view. Your business name should clearly define your offering and communicate your message to customers. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a moment. If you were looking for a business that provides your product or service, what would you expect that business to be called? If you were in the market for computer parts, for example, wouldn’t you look for a business that has “computer parts” reflected in the business name? Jim’s Computer Parts may not sound as snazzy as Jim’s Electronics Emporium, but snazzy doesn’t pay the bills. Happy customers who quickly identify you as the source of their purchase do.

The name of your business can also spark subconscious reactions in a customer that may drive them to you or drive them away. Words like quality, complete, executive, best, low-cost, and on time often spark positive reactions in the mind of the consumer. Words like cheap, discount, and used tend to create negative emotions. You’ll notice that no one claims to sell used cars anymore, but the dealer lots are loaded with vehicles that are “previously owned.”

Finally, let’s talk about things to avoid. Experts agree that you should avoid using generic terms like enterprise, corporation, partners, and unlimited as part of your everyday business name. These terms are fine for the legal business entity name, but are often too unclear for everyday use. Can you tell me what any of these companies do: ABC Corporation, Big Dog Enterprises, M&B Partners, and Discounts Unlimited sell? I didn’t think so.

Also avoid abstract names like Yahoo, Google, Monster and Flip Dog (I am not going to list the names of the numerous local high tech firms that have bucked this rule ). Abstract names will require a subtitle to explain what the business does or an expensive marketing campaign that brands the name into the minds of consumers. Unless you have deep pockets, I suggest you go with a name that describes your business at first glance and leave abstraction to the likes of Cher.

Finally, you should avoid hokey names, unless of course, you are starting a hokey business. Crazy Dave’s Stereo Shop is a great name if the business is really run by Crazy Dave and his personality is exploited in the marketing of the business.

However, if you want to be taken serious, then give your business a serious name.

Would you go to Crazy Dave’s House of Dentistry?

Neither would I.

Here’s to your success.

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net

You have probably been hearing about satellite radio for a while and of course, lately there has been plenty of news about Howard Stern, he is bringing in many listeners to Sirius and the fan base is growing quickly.

One of the big differences between regular radio and satellite radio is that with satellite you get hundreds of channels that are of digital quality, plus on the screen you know who is performing because it gives you that information. There are very few channels on satellite radio that have commercials. With over 100 channels to choose from there is always something good to listen to. No commercials just the music you want to listen to , you don’t have to listen to salesmen, fuel companies, food advertisements, you will have no static, you will be able to listen to your music or talk show with no interruptions 24 hours a day. There are so many channels; a few of them are comedy, local weather and traffic, women’s issues, sports, old time talk shows from the 20s to the 40s.

Through digital magic, you will not get static or any other types of disturbances you would normally get from an analog radio. The possibilities do not end there though, as it may even be possible for digital stations to broadcast pictures and videos directly to your car or home stereo through the magic of digital broadcasting. When receiving a signal from satellite the signal is completely digital and everyone knows a digital signal sounds cleaner and there is no static, you either get the signal or there is not signal. The signal is encoded and sent to the satellite and then it is sent back down to a receiver which it will be decoded and then the receiver plays the sound. If you find you loose the signal it is because when you travel you move along the earth and since the earth is round you will sometimes loose the signal because the satellites are traditional on the horizons.

Now, people you don’t need to switch stations when driving because you cannot get a clear station in, you can listen to the same station or hundreds of other stations ranging from news, music and news in better quality than AM or FM bands. To receive the digital audio streams you will need a antenna to receive the signal.

Its small, portable and it fits in your purse or pocket, don’t be fooled because they are small, they give the best sounding quality a radio can offer. The auto manufacturers are installing satellite radios to enhance the new automobiles, and many stores are now carrying the portable models to be used in the homes.

Satellite radio is subscription based, meaning that you pay a monthly fee for the service. The purchase of a satellite radio and a small monthly fee will open a whole world of ad-free radio listening to you. You will need to pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to enjoy satellite radio. Many of the automobile dealerships and manufacturers offering many different types of incentives, so are giving 3 months free or even up to 6 months of free service to get you hooked, they are also throwing in no activation fee.

Do you remember the stupid beer commercial a few years back with the tagline “Why Ask Why?”

Well, completely unknown to the ad agency, they had almost stumbled onto a breakthrough marketing concept. Telling people the reason why you are doing something is one of the most powerful influencers of human behavior.

Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. in his book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” talks about an experiment by Harvard social psychologist, Ellen Langer, that concluded people like to have a reason for what they do. Her experiment consisted of people
waiting in line to use a library copy machine and then having experimenters ask to get ahead in line.

The first excuse used was “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?” This request coupled with a reason was successful 94% of the time. However when the experimenter made a request only: “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” this request was only granted 60% of the time. A significant drop!
Okay now for the shocker.

It may seem like the difference between those two requests was the additional information of “because I’m in a rush.”
That’s not the case.

Because in a third experimenter, the experimenter asks “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?” There’s no reason mentioned or new information presented, just the words “because.”

This time a full 93% of the people said yes simply due to the word ‘BECAUSE’! And it didn’t even matter that there was no reason given. Just the word because triggered a magic response.

More psychological ‘triggers’ that can massively increase your sales letter success, whether you’re writing online sales copy
or direct mail copy.

Max Sackheim, famous for the long-running ad “Do You Make These Mistakes In English” and originator of the book-of-the-month concept, says “Whenever you make a claim or special offer in your advertising, come up with an honest reason why, and then state it sincerely. You’ll sell many more products this way.”

Here are two examples:

• Instead of yelling ‘SALE’ like so many other stores would, John E. Powers, one of the top copywriters wrote this ad giving prospects a legitimate reason why they should spend their money at a Pittsburgh department store in severe financial trouble: “We are bankrupt. We owe $125,000 more than we can pay, and this announcement will bring our creditors down on our necks. But if you come and *buy* tomorrow, we shall have the money to meet them. If not, we shall go to the wall.” This ad was responsible for saving the store.
• Another ad written for a different merchant by Powers proclaimed, “We have a lot of rotten raincoats we want to get rid of.” This sold out the merchant’s entire inventory of raincoats by the next morning.

And this powerful sales letter and ad copy strategy works just as well today.

Using this secret weapon, I helped a medical equipment company produce a massive 1,073% return on investment simply using
“reason-why” copy.

The premise was how we can sell a product for the incredibly low price of only $477. Regularly this product sells for about $695 – $895. Then the ad explained that the price was so low was because the manufacturer wanted to gain market share and get more nurses and doctors accustomed to using their product. It was a huge winner and a big moneymaker for the client.

Here’s how can you apply emotional, psychological triggers to your sales letter copy:

Let’s say you have a slow time of year and you want to increase your business during this period. Write a simple sales letter to your customers making a special offer, only good during your slow period.

Maybe you’ll throw in extra free bonuses, extra services, or special discounts simply because it is your “slow time” and you need to pay your staff anyway.
Let people in “behind the scenes” at your company…

• Are you overstocked on merchandise because for some reason customers only want the deluxe widget – but you
  ordered tons of the basic one?
• Did you have a flood and you need to liquidate your inventory?
• Do you need to raise cash so you can pay for your nosejob?

Whatever the reason is, tell your prospects the truth.

For some reason everyone wants to be mysterious about their business. If you’re lowering the price nobody thinks you’re doing it just because you’re “such a nice guy”. So let people know the reason why.

I know this probably goes against every grain of business sense, but I promise if you give people a good, believable reason why they’ll respond with an open minds and more importantly, an open wallet.

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.