Make Money Online

Sell to International Customers

2009-01-17T05:33:00.000-08:00

One powerful thing about internet is people from all over the world can see your web site. Make sure to sell to those international customers.

Format
Your online form should be designed for international users. For example, many order forms have a nice drop down menu of the 51 US state codes, but reject non-US addresses. Also, the forms reject phone numbers that are different than the 10-digit, North American format, 555-555-5555. Each country has its own format; if your form only takes your home county's format, international users cannot order your products. Give your forms flexibility for different local address and contact information.

Encoding
Having a multilingual website attracts more customers from all over the world. If you want to do this, using UTF-8 encoding is the best bet. It is the only encoding type that allows you to display multiple languages on the same page. (Most likely, that's why all major international search engines -- Google, Yahoo, and MSN -- use UTF-8.) And, you don't have to worry about compatibility. UTF-8 is supported by both the Mac and Windows operating systems, and most Internet software like FireFox, IE, Outlook, Thunderbird, do too. Keep in mind, some cell phones do not support UTF-8. If you are making content specially for cellphones, you need to check on this.

Measurement
When you give size of your products, show them in different measurements, i.e. for shoe size, US 8, UK 7-1/2, Japan 26, or for length, 5 inch and 13 cm. You should not expect all of your customers to be able to convert measurements correctly on their own. You may think these are "just measurements," but giving these conversions will greatly reduce the return/exchange rates for your products and increase your customers' satisfaction.

© December, 2006

Article by Akinori Furukoshi of http://www.thatswise.com
For complete list of FREE articles, please visit at
http://www.thatswise.com/free_articles.html

Say No to New Technologies

2009-01-07T05:03:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago, I said not to use nifty effects on web pages [Open in New Window] . There has been a giant leap in web technologies, but now I want to emphasize even more: don't use nifty effects.

Server
According to research by WebsiteOptimization.com, an average web page contains 50 objects and weighs more than 300KB. That's insane. It would take too long to download. Most servers, even Microsoft, cannot send data faster than 500kbps, per visitor (Apple and Google are a couple of exceptions). That's because dozens of people visit your site simultaneously (otherwise, you aren't making any money), and even if you have a dedicated server, you are sharing the internet connection with somebody else's servers. So, no matter how fast users' internet connections are, it will take 5 seconds to send a 300KB-page (300 kilo "binary bytes" / 500 kilo "bits" per second = 4.9 sec.). That is too slow.

Browser
After downloading all the objects attached to the page, you'll be lucky if the browser displays the page with that irritating, choppy scrolling effect. The browser will often crash or freeze. When that happens, that will be the last time people visit your website.

Search Engine
Moreover, web objects won't work well on search engines' cached pages. There are people who prefer cached pages over originals because the searched keywords are highlighted, but even though your page is ranked highly on search result pages, the web objects turn people away.

I Say Again
As I said two years ago, don't add anything to your web pages that doesn't help to sell your products.

© September, 2008

Article by Akinori Furukoshi of http://www.thatswise.com
For complete list of FREE articles, please visit at
http://www.thatswise.com/free_articles.html

Why I think PayDotCom is the Best Affiliate Marketplace on the Net!

2008-12-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

Hi

Arnold Manlises here...

If you are familiar with Clickbank.com (R), or even if you are not but you want to make profits online, then you will want to check this out ASAP ...

While I like Clickbank, and they are a great marketplace... they are limited to many restrictions to sell products or earn affiliate commissions...

Well, there is a GREAT NEW SERVICE now...

It is a new FREE marketplace where you can sell any product you want.

Yours OWN product...

- OR - (the best part)
You can become an INSTANT Affiliate for ANY item in their HUGE marketplace.

It is called PayDotCom.com!

Did I mention it is 100% FREE to Join!

This site is going to KILL all other marketplaces and I by now, almost EVERY SINGLE SERIOUS online marketer has an account with PayDotCom.com

So get yours now and see how much they offer...

OH! - Also, they have their won affiliate program now that pays you COLD HARD cash just for sharing the site with people like I am doing with you...

They give you cool tools like BLOG WIDGETS, and they even have an advertising program to help you get traffic to your site.

If you want an ARMY of affiliates to sell your products for you, they also allow you to have Free placement in their marketplace!

Even better... If your product becomes one of the Top 25 products in its category in the marketplace (not that hard to do)...

...then you will get Free advertising on the Blog Widget which is syndicated on THOUSANDS of sites World Wide and get Millions of impressions per month.

So, what are you waiting for...

PayDotCom.com ROCKS!

Get your FREE account now...

JOIN NOW

Thanks,

Arnold Manlises

P.S. - Make sure to get your Account NOW while it is Free to join.

Cached Right by Search Engines

2008-12-18T06:14:00.000-08:00

Major search engines cache your web pages. You must make your web pages look flawless on search engines' caches or you will miss a big proportion of search engine traffic.

Broken Links
The most common problem with cached pages is broken links. All cached pages are stored on search engines' servers. Any link with a related URL points to somewhere on search engines' servers. To redirect the links to your site, search engines use BASE element. But, some links, especially within JavaScript, don't work with BASE element. Those tricky links will be broken when cached, even though they work fine on your site. You can solve this problem simply by using absolute URLs instead of relative URLs.

Hotlink Protection
Hotlink protection is commonly used to prevent copyrighted images from being used by somebody else. This feature also prevents images from being downloaded by cached pages. As long as your pages have good content, searchers will be interested in your site. However, texts which look good against background images may not be visible when hotlink protection prevents the background images being downloaded. When this happens, searchers cannot see anything on the cached pages, so they will go to other sites suggested by the search result.

Script
Scripts, such as PHP and CGI, can be disabled by any websites other than their own. This is a good idea from the point of view of security. But, if you disable scripts from other websites, they will not be executed from cached pages either. Make sure this won't cause serious problems when viewing cached pages.

Reloader
If you use reloading JavaScript, you can automatically send people to your site from cached pages. This sounds like a easy solution for all the glitches. But, keywords used for searching won't be highlighted on your site. Many people view cached pages because keywords are highlighted and it is easy to find what they are looking for. Searchers might dislike you if you force them to visit your site.

© January, 2005

Article by Akinori Furukoshi of http://www.thatswise.com
For complete list of FREE articles, please visit at
http://www.thatswise.com/free_articles.html

A Money Making Web Site

2008-12-11T12:04:00.000-08:00

Once you start your online business, you're going to spend lots of time to get traffic to your site. But, if you don't build your web site right, your visitors will leave as quickly as they came. Most likely, they will never come back. Your URL will be forgotten forever. You won't make any money. You'll just waste your effort.

Quick download
People surfing on the Internet are in a rush. This is the information highway. No one stops in the middle of a highway. First, your web site has to be downloaded very quickly. People will not wait 10 seconds for downloading a page. Have you ever left a web site because it took too long to download? Probably. You don't want the same thing to happen to you, so make your site less than 30K in size. It should download in 8 seconds with a 56K modem. In the near future, all of us will have high speed internet connections, but today, some people are still using 28K modems. You can make your web site very fancy, if you ignore the download time. Those fancy pages are good only if they can be viewed and QUICKLY.

Slow the web surfers down
Now, your home page is front of the web surfers, but they are still in a rush. If the first few sentences they read don't talk about their interests, they are gone. So, you ask, just what is their interest? It is "their benefit." Web surfers don't care what your web site can do. They only care about what your web site can do for them. First, they look at the headline or the most visible words in your home page. You cannot say many things in one headline, but you must talk about your customers' benefit. Then, they will skim your home page. They will read subheadings. You cannot tell a whole lot with a few subheadings, but continue to talk about their benefit. Finally, a surfer can become a regular visitor and will read your home page more closely. But don't forget to talk about their benefit. ALWAYS!

Free information
Now, your visitors have looked around your site, but it doesn't mean they are ready to buy your products. Most of the time, people go online to find some free information. It's important to put lots of free expert advice on your site. If you give your visitors valuable information, they will remember you. Hopefully, they will come back later.

Get e-mail
Unfortunately, only a small percent of visitors buy your products on the very first visit. You may even have to get in touch with your visitors several times before they make a purchase. Thanks to the technology, there is a great free way to keep in touch with your visitors. You guessed it. That's e-mail! So, ask for an e-mail address on your web site. Now you have lots of time to convince your visitors to buy your products. I will cover e-mail campaign strategy in a later issue.

Remember, people are in a hurry. Make sure your site can slow the surfers down, so they will browse your site. Don't let them pass you or your product by. The only way to slow the surfers down is talking about THEIR benefit.

© September, 2001

Article by Akinori Furukoshi of http://www.thatswise.com
For complete list of FREE articles, please visit at
http://www.thatswise.com/free_articles.html

Visitors

2008-12-05T06:14:00.001-08:00

Choosing the Right Products

2008-12-05T06:01:00.000-08:00

"What should I sell?" This is the most asked question. Well, you can sell anything you want, but if you want to rock your wallet, you should pick a hot product.

Find a market first
First, find a market. Then pick a product. In this way, you can find profitable products. If you pick a product first, there might not be a market for it. It is important to find a market, and it is easy. Just go to some expert sites, bulletin boards or news groups, and look for hot topics. You can also check magazines. Look at some back issues. Find the ads appear every month. They must be for a hot product; otherwise, advertiser would not buy another ad.

"Problem" is the key
I am not saying to get into trouble. Just look for problems you can fix. People are lazy. (That's why I started my own business.) They want an easy quick solution right now. People are looking for solutions everywhere. Look at the lottery. It seems like a quick and easy financial solution. Lots of people spend money on what would be a solution. Online groups aren't exceptions. People put up questions or problems and wait for answers or solutions. As you are looking for markets, look for problems.

Improve it
You're got a product. Now, make it little better. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. You can't sell new inventions many times because people resist paying for unfamiliar things. It takes time and money for newly invented products to gain public awareness. Just give your product a little twist. Providing better guarantees or more bonuses can do the job.

Consumable
Wouldn't it be nice if you could sell your products to the same customer month after month rather than once in a life time? Once your customer buys from you, she will most likely buy from you again. It costs you to get new customers, but repeat customers won't cost you a penny. You only really need a good repeat or consumable product. If yours isn't, split your product, and sell each as a different product.

Price for profit
Don't underprice your products. If you want to make money, the margin (the ratio between the cost of your product and the selling price) has to be 1:4 at least. If a product costs you $5, you have to sell it $20 or more. A low-margin-high-volume business plan doesn't work either. It's not only hard to get a large number of visitors, but increased sales doesn't guarantee an increase in profit. As business volume increases, running costs also increase, so your net profit won't increase. Only your work load will increase. To avoid this ugly scenario, set your price for profit.

Love your products
Whatever you sell, you have to love your products. How do you suppose your customer will be happy with products you don't like. How do you even sell products you don't like?

This is not rocket science. Just do a little research and brainstorm. You will come up with a nice bunch of ideal products.

© October, 2001

Article by Akinori Furukoshi of http://www.thatswise.com
For complete list of FREE articles, please visit at
http://www.thatswise.com/free_articles.html

Curiosity Closes Sales

2008-11-08T23:15:00.000-08:00

Jim's website had been up for three months, and his traffic to the site was decent, but his sales rate was dismal. The product for which he was an affiliate was a popular one in the acne skin care niche. Jim had used the product himself and liked it, getting results that surpassed even the claims of the product. He just couldn't figure out why he couldn't convert his traffic to sales.

That night Jim and a few friends watched a marathon of the Indiana Jones movies and Jim began to see a pattern. First, a problem was presented, something that was mysterious, or hidden, or a secret that had to be discovered. There were many tricks and surprises as the plot unfolded and Jim realized that all the secrecy and the mystery stimulated curiosity such that no one wanted to tear themselves away until all secrets were uncovered and mysteries solved.

Jim wondered if he could apply the same methods to marketing his product. Acne products are not exactly mysterious, but he thought he would give some effort to stimulating curiosity about the benefits of this particular acne product. Using the information available, this is the sales text he developed.

You've been lied to! The truth has been kept from you for too long! There is an acne product that is made holistically from a secret plant hidden in the forests of Polynesia. The natives rarely suffer from acne, but when they do, they apply the sticky juice of this plant to blemishes and blemishes vanish nearly overnight!

Dr. Bruce Morgan uncovered this secret accidentally upon a vacation trip to the islands. Upon his return, he combined this plant juice with a moisturizing base to make the perfect combination of treatment and conditioning. That combination is the trick that makes this product so effective! Uncover the hidden formula yourself by trying this unique acne treatment today!

Jim put up his new ad and tracked his conversion rate. He was thrilled when it tripled in four weeks. He felt like he was on to something effective, and he certainly was. His use of "secret," "hidden," "trick," and "truth kept from you" were all curiosity triggers that Jim used effectively to draw in his visitors and convert them to customers.

It's a strategy Jim plans to employ again, and he recommends you add a little mystery to your marketing, too.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ben_Curtis

Content Does Matter

2008-10-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

Making a content-rich website is the key to succeeding online, but "content-rich" doesn't mean having War-And-Peace-length content. You need a collection of short but informative pieces.

Collection
The more articles you have on your site, the more internet surfers you can capture. Because search engines provide page-by-page results, articles on different topics show up in search results for different keywords. So if you have a lot of articles on different topics, searchers can find your articles in the search results for a wide variety of keywords - hence, more traffic to your site. In reality, however, not every article generates the traffic directly from search engines. But having a large collection of articles generates consistent traffic far better (because there is less of an effect on algorithm changes) than the average SEO.

Length
Many people think longer articles are better, but that is not so. Ideally, your article can be read within 60 to 90 seconds. This is how long the average person will pay attention. For my newsletter content, I try limiting the length of articles to less than 300 words. Considering the fast-paced behavior of internet users, I'd say 300 words is still rather long.

Special Concerns
If your target audiences are members of low-literacy groups, such as children or people with developmental disabilities, writing short content will become more critical. Low-literacy users need more time to read any given article than average-literacy users do. Also, average-literacy users often scan and find the part of an article they want to read, but low-literacy users generally cannot do this; they read your content from top to bottom. Pay extra attention to every word you put in the articles to determine if each one is absolutely necessary.

Article by Akinori Furukoshi of http://www.thatswise.com
For complete list of FREE articles, please visit at
http://www.thatswise.com/free_articles.html

Freshman

2008-08-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

Yup, you read it right. This is my first time as a blogger.

Incidentally, I'm 40 years old, and they say LIFE BEGINS AT 40. So now, like a freshman, this will be a new beginning. being a blogger. Blogging my life as a salesman.