By: Bill Kernodle
The perfect web page is not only nice to look at, but is easy to use. Most web visitors stay only seconds before they leave your site. That is one sad fact you must come to terms with. There is no second chance for a first impression, as they say. You must grab their attention and hold it.
Here are some of the most often overused designs you will come across and ones you may do well to avoid.

Background music

Music has become so overused and misused that it is downright annoying. If a visitor hears music without requesting to hear it, they may leave. If they again hear the same music on each page they visit, you can bet it will not be long before they will be gone forever. If you have a music site and have samples for visitors to listen to, that is another story, but at least give them the option to turn it off or on at will. Do not force them to listen. Personally, I leave my speakers off because I am sick of the whole thing. I especially hate it when a person on-screen starts talking to me when I did not hit the play button. In addition, music takes longer to load and the visitor may leave before the music ever comes up because they are tired of waiting.

Popup windows

Pop up windows used to be cute; used to be. Now I find them another of the oh- so- annoying attempts to get you to sign up or buy something. I realize we are all in this business to make money and we all must use the devices available to us, but use some common sense and don’t beat people over the head with all of theses techniques at once, a little goes a long way.

Here are some essential practices to follow:

Give your visitor an easy way to find what they are looking for by including a navigation menu, a site map and perhaps even a search bar if you have a lot of information on your site.
Pay attention to the font size so that your pages are easily read. Too large of a type makes for a strange looking page and too small makes people squint or worse yet, leave altogether.
Do not use strange color combinations unless your site is all about art or very esoteric. Black background with white type for example you will see but I can hardly stand to look at it!

Take care not to over-use images and be careful of their file size. Large file sizes make pages load slowly and you are then faced with the same situation, people leaving before the page loads. Most image editing programs have the capability to reduce file size.
Be sure every link in your site is working. It also goes without saying that you must test every link on your site before you place the site on the web. Broken links are a sure sign of sloppy work.
Make more paragraph breaks than you normally would in a written paper. This makes it easier to scroll and read and keeps your visitor on the page.
Check your site in different browsers as they do not all behave the same. . The most important is Internet Explorer, but many people prefer Mozilla Firefox as well as others.

Hire A Designer?

You can see that there is a lot to think of when it comes to web design. There are many ways to get a simple web site up quickly. Many hosts have web templates that you upload images to and type directly into the page. This is fine for an informal site and for the initial learning phase, but soon becomes old and looks the same as everyone else. You can buy software designed for this purpose which is what most people eventually do, or you can hire a designer if you have the funds and lack the desire or the time to learn yourself.

If you are a business owner, for example and are using the website to sell products you will have many things to do rather than spending countless hours learning the process of web design. There is a time to hire a designer and this makes sense not to waste all your time doing everything in your business. After all, you cannot be the bookkeeper, the human resource manager, the warehouse manger and the web designer! You need to concentrate on the big picture. If on the other hand you are a work at home business, you may find it helpful and perhaps necessary to do everything yourself.

No matter which way you choose to go, remember the design of your website is the most important first impression you may ever make and perhaps the last.
Article Source:

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Information about the Author:

Web Design with ad words,affiliate marketing and ebooks. Sales and business advice from the best in the field. http:///www.SimpleSalesAdvice.com

By: Rajeev Guglani

Forums are useful resource to promote and market your business enterprise. Forums are good means to increase back links and visitors for your website. The other benefit is that you can discuss your problem with a large segment of experts and specialists. For this it is necessary to make the use of best forums available online. Looking for the best forums and posting in these, there are certain key factors which need to be kept in mind.

Always look for those forums that are associated with your business enterprise. This will be beneficial for your website when you will associate yourself with the forum having the relevant connection with your website theme. The forums related with your business will increase knowledge about the terms and activities related to your business.

Find those forums that have solid reputation and good page rank. It is generally seen that some forums do not have good reputation. Quality forum sites always attract more visitors and create constructive and healthy participation. More ever you can find quality article links and constructive evidence of participants to prove their points.

Forums create an atmosphere of active participation. You can get opinions and solutions from experts and specialists for any problem or query. Find those forums that are very active and create large memberships. This depends on the status of forum websites.

Forum posting need certain factors to be kept in mind. Always read the necessary guidelines in the forums before posting. There are general notifications to be followed in posting. When you are posting for the first time it is good to introduce yourself and then start active postings in the forum of discussions with other members. The status of the participant goes on increasing with the increase in the number of forums posted.

Always do the relevant and topic related postings which suits best with the associated category otherwise there are chances of getting forum banned or blocked by the experts moderator. You can put your website link in the signature of forums but do care about the number of words allowed for signatures. Other factor is never start a new thread for a topic which already exists. Such threads are stopped as moderator does not want to create duplicacy in threads.

It is advised not to submit any harsh, irritating and taunting comments in forums. It disturbs the healthy discussion environment. Also never give humourous comments as it disturbs the seriousness of the topic. The mediator may ban such forums. Try to provide a topic with enough proof and evidence that attracts more and more participants. This will inspire more and more members to participate in your forum thread and thus increase the length of your thread.

Keeping all these guidelines in mind you will be able to utilize the best forums which assists you in overall marketing and promotion of your business enterprise.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

Rajeev Guglani writes articles for SEO. He has vast exposure in writing for Web Promotions and Internet Resources. He is working for NDDW. For Search Engine Marketing, Internet Marketing and www.nddw.com/seo-forums.htm–SEO Forums visit www.nddw.com/

By: Michal Conant

Each and every one of us has their own special interests or a hobby. We may love and have a large collection of books, music, and movies or we may be sports fanatic or enjoy traveling. We may also love gardening or having pets. Doing things we love to do, reduces stress and helps us to temporarily forget our every day problems and troubles, in some cases it may inspire us to find a solution to a problem. But not everyone has a hobby that makes money for him/her except if you love your job.

Earning money with a hobby you love to do could earn you an extra income, with practice and experience it could allow you to quit your day job. That is why many of us today go online to start a business; their reasons are either to supplement their income or to gradually replace their offline income from their job. A great way to start making money online is through affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is sharing revenue between an online merchant and one or more affiliates. The affiliate refers new customers to the online merchant and is paid a commission for either the new referral or sales generated. There are several advantages to affiliate marketing, mainly you don‘t need to generate or stock an inventory of products, no need to create an online e-store, and you never have to worry about keeping a customer happy, the merchant takes care of it all.

Now, for sure you want to be an affiliate marketer with all the benefits an affiliate could get. But, do you have what it takes to be an affiliate marketer? To properly begin in affiliate marketing, you have to decide what area or areas you‘re interested in. What products do you know the most and which products you could do the best job of selling? Once you discover your specialty; perseverance, patience, and determination comes next. These qualities should be possessed in order to be a good affiliate marketer.

A lot of online affiliate marketers become impatient and fail. You have to know your strengths and weaknesses, what things are you good at and what are your abilities and capabilities related to your chosen niche. The most important thing is you have to have a strong desire and will to succeed in affiliate marketing.

To be an affiliate marketer is not an easy task. You have to learn the techniques of marketing your product or service. There are many marketers out there promoting their ways of marketing, one should be cautious in attempting to jump on each technique. To be a successful affiliate marketer, you should learn how to listen and to be taught because in life we need to learn skills to get by.

An affiliate marketer should know how to effectively market their product; an effective marketing technique will get thousands of visitors to view their product which equates to more sales. Creating and publishing your own website will create a bigger chance of making money online faster. Avoiding the same mistakes of other affiliates is advised; many are just in it for a quick buck and fail to build a long term business. It‘s important to understand that you‘re building a long term business. It is essential to focus on what will makes you several sales each day and not the few dollars you‘ll make in one sale.

It is also better to have knowledge on how to upsell your visitors for expensive services. This will distinguish you as an expert to the field which will allow you to sell more products and make more money. There are some people thinks that just by having affiliate links on their website will bring them good profits. It is true that some affiliates do make good money this way, but many still believe that it is more effective to use a strong marketing campaign in order to be successful. Affiliate marketers who treat their online visitors or customers as friends are more successful than those who don‘t. Establish a relationship with customers and especially with the visitors to your website. Building a good business relationship with customers will bring that customer back again and again.

You should also be creative. The real key to being successful with affiliate marketing is to develop a good content based website and weave your affiliate links into all your content. Providing your visitors with good, quality, and updated content will keep them coming back to your site. Affiliate marketing can be a long term profitable and successful business. Do you have what it takes to succeed?

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

For more information on this amazing opportunity go to www.earnitforyou.com/recommends/FinanciallyFree

By: Kathleen Gage

Companies often seek cost-effective, high-return marketing strategies. They may be as close as your wallet or the business next door. Below are seven easy to apply strategies for virtually any business.

1. Business cards
Business cards are often one of the most underutilized tools in marketing. Use the front and back of your business card to gain full benefit. You can put valuable information on the back such as a sports schedule, emergency numbers, or special dates people want to remember.

Creatively distribute your card. When you eat out, leave one with the tip. If you borrow a library book, use one as a bookmark. Hand them to clerks in stores who may know other people who could use your product or service.

2. Send a picture
A great way to keep your name fresh in a customer’s mind is to send them a picture of when they purchased a product or service from you.

Put a picture of a buyer’s auto purchase in a beautiful calendar. Likely, the proud owner of the vehicle will display the calendar for the next 365 days.

For specialty gift shops, when a customer makes a substantial purchase, have a picture taken with the shop owner. Frame the picture and send it to the customer. Chances are very good the picture will be displayed proudly for friends and family to see.

A dentist who specializes in smile makeovers can easily arrange to have a professional makeup artist and photographer capture the patient’s beautiful new smile. No doubt the patient will be more than happy to show others their new look.

3. Associations
Associations relevant to your market are a great resource for marketing. There are associations specific to virtually any industry, job type or business. A quick web search will show you how many associations exist in your market.

Most organizations have the following opportunities that can help you to gain visibility and do some very effective marketing:

-Newsletters
-Internet listings
-Links to your website
-Discounted advertising rates
-Networking opportunities
-Business referral services
-Special recognition events
-Educational seminars
-Business and membership directories

4. Committee involvement
Committee involvement is a great way to give back to an association or community while building visibility for you and your business. In some cases, you may want to get involved in a committee where you have little experience or knowledge. This will give you an opportunity to stretch yourself and meet and network with individuals you may not have otherwise had the chance to meet.

5. Contests and drawings
Contests are a favorite for many businesses with high foot traffic, such as a restaurant. Contests are a great way to build your database quickly. You will generate very hot leads when you have a contest with people who have already frequented your place of business. The key to making this work is to do follow up with back-end marketing. Far too many businesses hold contests, get lots of names and do nothing with them.

You can advertise a contest to gain new foot traffic in your place of business. Be sure to check local ordinances for any restrictions on holding a contest.

6. Cross-promoting
Join with other companies who have products or services that compliment yours and promote each other. A landscaping company can cross-promote with an outdoor spa company. A real estate company could easily cross-promote with a mortgage lender. A hair salon with a tanning salon.

Cross-promoting can considerably cut down the cost of business promotion and allow each business to use promotion techniques that might be too costly to implement alone.

7. Bonuses
Secure special offers from various businesses who share a similar market. When a customer buys a minimum amount they would receive a bonus packet with various offers from the other vendors. This creates a win/win situation all the way around. The other vendors gain visibility, you have something extra to offer your customers and the customers get an incredible value for their purchase.

Marketing does not have to be expensive nor does it have to be mundane. The possibilities are merely limited by imagination and your willingness to implement them.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

Kathleen Gage is a business advisor and marketing trainer specializing teaching clients cost effective, high return strategies. She is the author of “Street Smarts Marketing and Promotions”, “Street Smarts Making Money with the Internet” and “The Law of Achievement..” Kathleen Gage is also an award winning inspirational keynote speaker for conferences and conventions. Visit her site at www.kathleengage.com

By: Jude C Wright

There’s a very good reason you’re in business for yourself. Many small business owners started on their “e-venture” because of an interest in ending the day-in and day-out drudgery of the working world. Others may have started e-businesses because of some technical experience or expertise that allowed them to create and sell a certain product or provide a certain service.
In many cases, the business owner’s abilities at creating a site and selling a product or service lean more toward the accurate production and delivery of that item rather than the process of selling that item. In layman’s terms that means that many entrepreneurs are probably better at building a better mousetrap than selling it. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about: Most entrepreneurs don’t become entrepreneurs because they have a passion for selling, it’s usually because they have a passion for sharing their ideas or products or skills with the world.

But because you’re in business, that automatically means you’re going to sell. Like it or not, if you have a product and you want money for it, you’re a salesperson. So for those of you who have a better mousetrap and simply don’t know how to share it with the world, here is a basic sales process to help you. Although this process seems generalized, each step is critical to making sales in your business… even if you don’t immediately recognize how YOUR business does that particular step.

1. Prospecting: Like a prospector who is looking for gold, prospecting means that you find people who want to buy your product. This might mean identifying a niche to market to or it may mean advertising to get people to come to your site.

2. Presenting: In traditional sales, this was the step where the salesperson would show up at his or her scheduled time and present the product to the potential customer. Nowadays, your website does the presenting for you. In most cases, the very first page of your site is where you’ll want to do most of your presenting because that’s what people will see first when they click to your site and they’ll immediately form an opinion that could sway their decision.

3. Dealing with Objections: In traditional sales, the salesperson would finish the presentation, ask for the sale, and wait for the objections (”your price is too high” or “I don’t like the color” or “we’re not buying that product right now”) and then he or she would deal with them as they came up. As an e-business owner, you have to anticipate your customer’s objections and deal with them on your site, for example in an FAQ section.

4. Close: The close is where you ask for the order and (hopefully) the prospect accepts and becomes your customer. On your website, this happens at the very end of your sales letter, where you might have a “buy now” button.

5. Follow up: This often-overlooked phase of the sale is critical to keeping past customers coming back to buy from you again.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

Jude Wright is the owner of 40 websites. She finds her i-Marketing Organizer invaluable in finding her Internet marketing information fast! i-MarketingOrganizer.com