My Wizard Ads HowTo Marketing Tips and Resources for Online Entrepreneurs

Monday, July 31, 2006

TrackBack and PingBack by CNET News

This evening as I looked around the net for something truly interesting to present (lacking the energy after a full day of doing website and advertiser updates), I stumbled across the most amazing bit of information at CNET News.

You watch, in a bit if it hasn't happened already, some "guru" type will write a book about this ... when the information is FREE! In the meantime, get a jump on trackback and pingback - what they are and what they do. Here's a tiny excerpt from the page:

What are TrackBack and Pingback?
TrackBack and Pingback links are records of links made to CNET News.com pages. A publisher sends a ping (or notification) to CNET News.com that a link to the CNET News.com page has been made. CNET News.com records that notification and builds a page including all the notifications, with links back to the linking site.

The implications are clearly huge... not only allowing bloggers and rss'ers to keep readers up to date with great news and more, but in turn, sites can help each other... I'm big on that :)

Take a moment now to read all about it.

All the best,
Theresa

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Sunday, July 30, 2006

Two Great Scripts and One Really Bad Website Owner

Time to praise and rant...

Today I was on a high having purchased two outstanding scripts XML-Sitemap Generator and GoTryThis (which I'm still figuring the ins and outs of but I love it!) [new comment... I DO know all about it now, didn't take long and MAN what power this program has!].

For once, I was able to install both of these scripts without asking for any help from support or picking the brains of my good friend, Jeff Greer (bless his heart I'm sure he's thrilled, too).

The first is obvious, but as you'll see by the testimonials at the site I'm in a huge group of very satisfied customers.

The second is an excellent way to get solid stats on web links - be it on your site or in your emails or wherever. I'm anxious to start that up and running to its fullest.

Unfortunately, after two very successful script installations today I then received a very sour grapes email from the inventor to another program I had bought (three in one day is unheard of for me, but I was on a roll). This program appeared to be ideal. A program that I was looking forward to suggesting to the newbie and not so newbie marketers online needing web page creator help.

Again, unfortunately, I was disappointed. The program was glitchy and the support graphics, etc., that came with it required purchasing Photo Shop Deluxe (or another scammed off version) which frankly is out of my price range. I use CoffeeCup and like to code myself. Above and beyond that though, the features it listed as being able to perform where either nonexistent or so deeply hidden I could not find more than one (rounded corners which is cool, but not worth $67).

VERY politely I informed the owner that I was requesting a refund through Clickbank. Clickbank operates Monday through Friday so I very politely (nothing like above) told this person it just wasn't going to suit my needs. At the same time, I also informed him I was very interested in one of his other products (I've seen a demo and really thought it was nifty) and would be purchasing that... since I've also been able to "try it out" somewhere else, I knew that one would fit the bill nicely.

The reply I got back was insulting, rude, obnoxious and totally un-businesslike. Phew! If I ran my business that way, well there would be no business at all. I was amazed.

And still, in a last reply to him, my response was business-like as I explained my shock at his behavior. I also stated that purchasing something else, while I would have loved to have had it, was definitely not going to happen. There's $97 out the window for this guy.

So, as I wind out my praises and rants for the day, a word of warning. There are just too many programs and products out there. If we search long enough we can also find something very much like what we were after... putting up with sheer rudeness is not an option. Just keep moving! There are tons of wonderful people online just waiting to help make sure you get what YOU NEED.

You win some, you lose some. Too bad this guy didn't know the difference.

(P.S. For obvious reasons, I cannot tell you what website I was on... I just hope you're not unlucky enough to find it.)

All the best,
Theresa Cahill
My Wizard Ads, Online Advertising Co-Op

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Saturday, July 29, 2006

Google Buttons for Your Google Toolbar

Tonight, while digging around at digg.com I ran across a post about the latest and greatest buttons you can add (easily) to your Google toolbar.

Your choices are almost limitless. There are buttons for blogs, buttons for travel, buttons for gaming, shopping, technology and more.

At the moment I'm sitting on just the landing page and I'm looking at buttons for URLwire, digg, sports, a dictionary, video... oh heck, just too many to list.

If you're a serious marketer, you know the importance of getting yourself the google toolbar. As a marketer, you always want to know the pr ranking of the page you're scooping out - especially if it's for advertising and most definitely if you're considering joining any new (or existing program).

My toolbar tip-off is always followed up by a trip to a good domain lookup. Both important factors in determining your next step.

Granted Google plays games with its algorithm... so often that it's a wonder our heads aren't continuously spinning. But no one (to date) would tell you not to use this resource while you do your own due diligence checking things out on the net.

Until next time, enjoy your new buttons!


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Theresa Cahill is the owner of My Wizard Ads, Online Advertising Co-Op, a true one-stop spot for ezine ad advertising, solo ads, targeted traffic, and more!


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Thursday, July 27, 2006

Save the Baby Racoons - You Can Help

Hello again!

My good friend Matzo has asked for your help. She runs a "Coondo" for orphaned baby racoons and other unfortunate wildlife.

Here's an email I received, and I hope you'll find it in your heart to help:

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Hi Theresa-

It's me - Matzo. Long time out of touch!

I have been really busy with my Wildlife rehabbing and have set up a Live CoonCam of this year's orphans in the Coondo. This season is absolutely nutso with babies still being born during this time of the season when most are preparing for release!!

At any rate, I am on a mission to sell 1,000 VCD's (these are Video CD's that just start playing the video when you put it in a computer). I'm working on a DVD version of the CoonCam capture footage and live video clips to raise funds to feed these babies. Can you do any kind of promotional help on this? At least go check out the CoonCam and see what you think.

http://www.doryandtheorphans.com/cam.html

Here Fund Raiser Page I set up that will also take you to the CoonCam. I'd like to use this as an entrance page for the CoonCam for the project. Any ideas or helpful advice?

Hope all is well with you & yours!

Blessings,

Matzo
Licensed WI Rehabber

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And something I received this morning:

Your timing is great. We had some pretty nasty thunder storms for the past 3 days, and a funnel cloud (tornado) touched down just a few miles from here last night. The damage my Coondo sustained was minimal, but the tarps were all torn loose and just general havoc to clean up and now replace some items. So the CoonCam was offline today!

The storms also brought in a few orphans - one is a baby squirrel that was blown out of a tree. She is about as big as my thumb, has to be fed every 2.5 hours 24/7. Named her Arwyn.

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If you'll just take a moment and click through to the page, the picture is sure to stir you to action and lending a helping hand.

All the best,
Theresa

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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

How to Make Your Blog Stand Out in a Crowd

This morning right on schedule I received my latest copy of WebPro News. Their most recent writeup explains how "popular" and "influential" blogs differ (and how they are somewhat alike).

To build a popular blog is a challenge at best there are just so many out there. To create a blog of "influence" though should be the goal of all online marketers.

Within Jason Lee Miller's article entitled Finding Influence in Blog Marketing are key points too numerous to cite here. However, one link I'd like to share is his reference to a past article written by Lee Odden. Lee writes:

With so many blogs being created every day, it's a mystery to many bloggers how to make their blog stand out.

He then proceeds to tell you 25 steps/tips to make it happen for yourself. Please take the time to read his article. Just click the title of this post above.

While I've got a few of those 25 tips covered, I can clearly see I've got my work cut out for me! :)

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Advice on How to Submit Your Website to Free Directories

Thought I'd share an email I received this morning regarding free directory submissions and the proper way for you to submit your url to these websites.

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Hi Theresa,

I have elaborated a bit more on the process of manually submitting your website to search engine friendly directories.

I have included a list of over 300 free directories that you can submit your website to right now. I have also included the pagerank of each directory.

There are also links to some interesting news articles that you will want to read. Keep on top of your game!

Follow the link below to read the report:

The SEO Directory Submission Guide
http://www.seo2020.com/seo-articles/directory-submission.html

I am always here to help, if you have any questions feel free to respond to any of my emails. I actually do read them.

Kind regards,

Charles

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While you are there, my suggestion would be to also get yourself a copy of Charles' free report on back links.

All the best,
Theresa
My Wizard Ads Site Map

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Saturday, July 22, 2006

Have Secure Pages? Are You Sure...?

Theresa's Note: Strangely enough, this very topic came up yesterday while talking to a good friend of mine. We were wondering if it is truly possible to keep those "secret, members only" web pages from the prying eyes of search engine spiders. David Utter of Webpronews covered it today in a small article.

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How Google Can Find Your Secret Page


..."In looking at the source code, one section revealed that whatever is entered as a password would trigger a redirect to a page named {password}.html. The right password would reveal the press page."

To read the full article:
Just Click Here



The header title to this post is linked to my rss feed.
Click here to visit .
I'd love to see you :)

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Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Google, GoogleBots, MediaBots, AdBots & More

Hello again! I'm still up to my eyeballs working on a new niche product so finding the time to write my own article is tenuous at best. But today, once again, Kim Roach has written an excellent article explaining Google and Googles different bots that visit your site. Which bot does what and why. Enjoy!

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Today's Google Bots and What They Do
By Kim Roach (c) 2006

Google currently indexes over 8 billion web pages. However, before these pages were placed in the index, they were each crawled by a special spider known as the GoogleBot. Unfortunately, many web masters do not know about the internal workings of this virtual robot.

In fact, Google actually uses a number of spiders to crawl the Web. You can catch these spiders by examining your log files.

This article will attempt to reveal some of the most important Google spiders, their function, and how they affect you as a web master. We'll start with the well-known GoogleBot.

GoogleBot

Googlebot, as you probably know, is the search bot used by Google to scour the web for new pages. Googlebot has two versions, deepbot and freshbot. Deepbot is a deep crawler that tries to folow every link on the web and download as many pages as it can for the Google index. It also examines the internal structure of a site, giving a complete picture for the index.

Freshbot, on the other hand, is a newer bot that crawls the web looking for fresh content. The Google freshbot was implemented to take some of the pressure off of the GoogleBot. The freshbot recalls pages already in the index and then crawls them for new, modified, or updated pages. In this way, Google is better equipped to keep up with the ever-changing Web.

This means that the more you update your web site with new, quality content, the more the Googlebot will come by to chëck you out.

If you'd like to see the Googlebot crawling around your web property more often, you need to obtain quality inbound links. However, there is also one more step that you should take. If you haven't already done so, you should create a Google Sitemap for your site.

Creating a Google sitemap allows you to communicate with Google, telling them about your most important pages, new pages, and updated pages. In return, Google will provide you with some valuable information as well. Google Sitemaps will tell you about pages it was unable to crawl and links it was unable to follow. This allows you to pinpoint problems and fix them so that you can gain increased exposure in the search results.

The next Google bot in our lineup is known as the MediaBot.

MediaBot - used to analyze Adsense pages
useragent: Mediapartners-Google

MediaBot is the Google crawler for Adsense Publishers. Mediabot is used to determine wich ads Google should display on Adsense pages.

Google recommends that webmasters specifically add a command in their robots.txt file that grants Mediabot access to their entire site. To do this, simply enter the following code into your robots.txt file:

User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*
Disallow:

This will ensure that the MediaBot is able to place relevant Adsense ads on your site.

Keep in mind that ads can still be shown on a page if the MediaBot has not yet visited. If that is the case, the ads chosen will be based on the overall theme of the other pages on the site. If no ads can be chosen, the dreaded public service announcements are displayed instead.

There is a strong debate over whether or not the MediaBot is giving websites with Adsense an advantage in the search engines.

Even Matt Cutts has confirmed that the Adsense Mediabot has indexed webpages for Google's main index.

He states, "Pages with AdSense will not be indexed more frequently. It's literally just a crawl cache, so if e.g. our news crawl fetched a page and then Googlebot wanted the same page, we'd retrieve the page from the crawl cache. But there's no boost at all in rankings if you're in AdSense or Google News. You don't get any more pages crawled either."

Matt Cutts claims that your website does not get any advantage by using Adsense. However, in my mind, simply getting your site updated in and of itself is an advantage.

This is very similar to Google Analytics, which also promotes a slightly higher degree of spider activity.

Those who run Google Analytics on their site can expect additional spider activity.

However, you certainly shouldn't depend on any of these tools for getting your site indexed. The key to frequent spidering is having quality inbound links, quality content, and frequent updates.

Have images on your site? If so, you have likely been visited by our next Google spider, the ImageBot.

ImageBot - used to crawl for the Image Search
useragent: GoogleBot-Image

The Imagebot prowls the Web for images to place in Google's image search. Images are ranked based upon their filename, surrounding text, alt text, and page title.

If you have a website that is primarily image based, then you would definitely want to optimize your images to receive some extra Google traffïc.

On the other hand, some web sites may not benefit from Google image search. In most cases, the traffïc from the Image search engine is very low quality and rarely converts into buyers. Many people are often just looking for images that they can swipe. So, if you want to save some bandwidth, use your robots.txt file to block ImageBot from accessing your image directory.

One of the few exceptions I would make is if you have a site dedicated to downloadable images.

Our final bot is completely dedicated to the Google Adwords program.

AdsBot - Checks Adwords landing pages for quality
useragent: AdsBot-Google

AdsBot is one of Google's newest spiders. This new crawler is being used to analyze the content of advertising landing pages, which helps determine the Quality score that Google assigns to your ads.

Google uses this Quality score in combination with the amount you are willing to bid to determine the position of your ads. Therefore, ads with a high quality score can rank higher even if other advertisers are paying more than you.

This is one of Google's many efforts to ensure that they are delivering the best results to their users.

Can you still block being spidered? Of course, but it will lower your overall Adwords quality score, which could end up lowering the positioning of your ads. If possible, it is best to give AdsBot complete access to your site.

Today's Google bots are becoming more advanced all the time. However, nothing beats relevant, quality, updated content. Deliver that and the search engines will eat it up.

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About The Author
Kim Roach is a staff writer and editor for the SiteProNews and SEO-News newsletters. You can contact Kim at: kim @ seo-news.com

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Monday, July 17, 2006

Marketers Grab This Quick... Fantastic!

When it rains it pours :)

Today I'm just stumbling all over great products and services and websites to enhance every online marketers marketing capabilities.

SeachAutomator - what a great tool. I don't even know where to begin to explain what this will do to help you search out QUICKLY just about anything you can think of... imagine being able to fill your given niche market with precise resources. At the click of a button, tons of really pertient information just falls into your lap.

Here's what another well-known marketer has to say:

Derek Franklin has created the Search Automator, the
hottest software - the power this tool holds is truly
amazìng and will keep me busy for months.

In this information-crazy society, there are a number
of people and businesses whose success largely depends
on information - finding it, consuming it, packaging it,
and/or selling it.


-- S.Kumar

I'm busy on a project with a great friend of mine, and I'm thrilled to pieces! This is going to cut the potential workload in [more than] half!

Everything we could want to find pertinent to our niche, right there at the drop of a hat. Amazing!

... You know what my only complaint is...?

Why oh why didn't I develop something like this first LOL!

Don't Wait! Read All About It and Grab It Up Now!

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What Is An Ezine? E-Zine? Email Newsletter? E-Newsletter?

Theresa's Note: Today, one of the emails I receive (again on a regular basis, it's that great of a resource) was a shocker to me. I guess when a person is using certain terms day in and day out, we just tend to assume everyone knows what we are talking about... and, owning an co-op, I may have become complacent assuming everyone knows ezines and what they do, what they are, how they work, etc.

Then, out of the blue, I remembered how 8+ years ago I wrote to a friend of mine who was publishing and asked her, "What the heck is an ezine?" (And my business was off and running).

So the following article does make sense to publish. And I hope you enjoy it. It's a reprint :)

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What Is An Ezine? E-Zine? Email Newsletter? E-Newsletter?
by Christopher Knight

An ezine (a.k.a. e-zine, email newsletter, e-mail newsletter, or e-newsletter) is a newsletter that is delivered via email that you can subscribe or opt-in to it.

Email delivery frequencies range from multiple times per day (almost never recommended) to daily to multiple times per week to weekly to bi-weekly, monthly, quarter or any periodic delivery schedule. Some of the best ezines are delivered dailiy, weekly, bi-weekly or month. Any delivery frequency longer than monthly is not recommended.

An important component to an 'ezine' is the permission you give the ezine publisher. Double or confirm-opt-in is the best method of subscription and this means that you not only requested to receive the email newsletter, but you confirmed your request to receive it by clicking on a confirmation link or replying to an email verification. Any ezine that does not require confirmation or a subscription process is spam (unsolicited commercial email).

What an ezine is not: Web-based only. While it is true that you can put an ezine on the web and you should do that, if your ezine is only available on the web, then it is a webzine at best...and definitely is not an 'ezine'.

An ezine usually will come in a plain ASCII text format or via a rich HTML format or allow both formats via an auto email client detection strategy called MIME/Multipart. You should never send PDF's or any other large file to your email list members unless they are expecting it and can handle it receiving your files.

Why do people publish ezines? It's a critical business tool to develop relationships within your niche, to keep in contact with your clients or members, build your credibility or perceived expertise in the marketplace and drive leads, sales and/or revenue by selling products/services or advertising along-side quality original content.

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About the Author

This Ezine-Tip was submitted By Christopher Knight -- Email List Marketing Expert, author and entrepreneur. Get your weekly dose of Email newsletter publishing, marketing, promotion, management, email-etiquette, email usability and deliverability tips by joining the free Ezine-Tips newsletter:


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Sunday, July 16, 2006

Back Links... Do It Right the First Time and Profit

Today, at the advice of a good friend of mine Jeffrey Greer of EverEnterprise, I headed out to inspect a blog he'd uncovered.

Of course Jeff was right - it's great!

I also discovered a free report available to anyone wanting a copy on the right way to create backlinks that will last and last no matter how much scrutiny your website may come under (and with the right links you want the spiders crawling all over your site again and again!).

I thought I could just give you a copy of it here (it's a pdf), but the author, Charles Heflin of seo2020.com would appreciate a visit directly from you :)

The report, 17 pages of truly worthwhile information on creating effective linking to your website, is located at this seo webpage.

Don't worry, once you've got your copy, Charles does NOT hit you left and right to buy anything from him! Honest, he just gives you the information - no strings attached, nothing else to buy.

Thanks Jeff for sending me in the right direction. And thank you Charles for writing that report. It will help many :)

All the best,
Theresa
My Wizard Ads Ezine Ad Advertising Directory

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Technorati Profile

Friday, July 14, 2006

A Day in the Life...

Good Afternoon and thanks for visiting!

Do you ever have days when you feel you're just spinning your wheels getting no where fast? Today's been one of those...

I started by checking into several blogging sources and I did find a few interesting ones, including Link2Blog. Looks promising. Any time you can get your blog out there and exchange with other (hopefully) decent and family-rated ones, you're on the right track.

Then I checked the forum of one of my tag and ping resources. The sad news is that one fantastic spot for tagging appears to have gone belly up :(

So it's back to looking for more. Not that there's not a ton of them out there, of course. But, I believe I'm finding that while "popular" is good, some "lesser known" ones are even better. This defunct service was a medium-sized social bookmarking place with such a great interface for posting that I'm actually depressed about it not making it. I know it was widely-used, so I can only assume some idiot(s) ruined the whole thing or... you fill in the ...

Then it was off to check some of my current pings with a great service everyone already knows about which is FeedBurner. These guys really have their stuff together, the system is so easy to use. And, they've got a great sense of humor so going from section to section of your account is humorous as well. For pinging your feeds I highly recommend Feedburner.

I've also been messing around, and messed up, an installed script (par for the course for me!), which has been frustrating to say the least. It's an excellent script, but in my hands everything script-like turns to mush LOL!

In between, I'm checking out a new niche that has great potential. It's still very hush-hush, and I won't even mention my partner... yet! Don't need anyone stealing him away!

Well time to step outside again into our lovely 104+ degree weather, if for no other reason than a breath of fresh (and hot) air.

Thanks for reading, this post was just most a rambling to help me get back on track.

All the best,
Theresa Cahill
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Theresa Cahill is the owner of My Wizard Ads, Online Advertising Co-Op, a true one-stop spot for ezine ad advertising, solo ads, targeted traffic, and more!


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Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Why Aren't You Using LinkBait?

Theresa's Note: This morning like clockwork I received my next issue of SiteProNews. This outstanding resource has been a marketing mainstay of mine for quite some time. Today's article, written by Kim Roach, does (as usual) such a wonderful job of presenting that it would be like trying to build a better mousetrap to do it myself. I hope you enjoy this enlightening article about "Link Baiting."

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Why Aren't You Using LinkBait?
By Kim Roach


You've heard of the olden days when people would hunt for potential link partners. Well, those days are long gone and smart web masters are moving on to greater things, while decreasing their reciprocal link building effort.

If you are wondering what this new technique could be, it's actually quite simple... in theory. It is known as linkbaiting. This is a strategy that brings links to a website simply because of the unique and popular content on a website.

With the rise of the blogosphere and social bookmarking sites, all it takes is one person to notice an interesting page and link to a site. Once a link is passed around once, it becomes easier for it to spread further.

Bloggers around the net constanly use linkbait to encourage other bloggers to mention them or to get their content passed around the blogosphere. However, many traditional web masters have not quite latched on to this powerful technique.

The benefits of creating quality, unique, or even controversial content go way beyond what one might first imagine. When a web site offers true value to the visitor, they can create hundreds and even thousands of backlinks without even asking.

Unfortunately, simply having good, quality content on your site doesn't always work. To gain the full potential of linkbaiting, you need a good hook. Some of the most popular ones include:

News
Controversy
Resources and...
Humor

News Hook: Everyone loves to read about industry news. However, the key to attracting some real traffíc is to add a twist to the latest news. Find out exactly how it affects your web site visitors. If you just give a rehashing of what everyone else has already said, no one will care.

However, if you inject your own twist or personality into your news story, then you are prepared to catch someone's eye.

Look at CNN.com as an example. What do they offer? They provide the latest news every day of the week. In the world of information that we live in, news is a commodity. Because CNN offers such appealing content, thousands of sites are linking to them. Do you think CNN sent these sites a little email asking if they would be interested in a reciprocal link? Of course not.

Instead, they employ linkbaiting. Their fresh and interesting content automatically encourages other people to link to it. Luckily for us, we can use this same technique on our own web sites.

News is one of the best ways to attract incoming links, especially if the news is controversial.

Controversy Hook: Before we move on, I must warn you that this hook can be very powerful and also very dangerous. It involves contradicting what someone says, preferably someone very prominent in the industry.

When used correctly, controversy can be very effective in bringing traffíc to your site, but always be careful.

To begin, look for articles and stories in your industry. Some of the best places to find this type of content is on blogs, news sites, and social bookmarking sites. Once you have found a good story, take an opposing viewpoint or give it some sort of twist. This will make your content stand out from the hum drum of what everyone else is publishing.

The next hook is actually one of my favorites. It is known as the resource hook.

Resource Hook: Information is powerful online. If you have information that is not available anywhere else, you become an authoritative resource. Many of these resources come in the form of a list.

You would be surprised at the power of a list. You can organize:

a list of helpful tools that would be beneficial to your readers
a list of the best blogs in your niche
a list of popular news stories within your industry (When you are doing this kind of list, be sure to sprinkle in some of your own commentary)

One of my favorite lists is located at SEOCompany.ca, where they offer over 150 SEO tools. Simply by linking out to their favorite SEO tools they get tons of traffíc each and every day.

Robin Good of MasterNewMedia is a webmaster who uses lists especially well. One of his most popular resource pages is a list of RSS and blog directories that webmasters can submit to. You can see it at: http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/".

However, not only does he show you over a hundred places where you can submit your blog and RSS feed, he also gives you an overview of each service, some commentary on which of these directories are the most influential, and exactly how to submit to each one.

This one page alone has thousands of incoming links to it because it is an invaluable resource.

Another popular resource hook is to create a useful online tool that your visitors can download for frëe. Once they have downloaded your frëe tool, let them rebrand it and give it away on their own sites.

Humor Hook: Have you ever received a joke or some other sort of humor in your inbox? If you are like most people, then you probably have. Jokes, funny stories, and wierd pictures are some of the most viral hooks on the Internet.

Within your own web site, you can add your own touch of humor. However, you must make sure that it fits with your personality. People on the internet want to see your true self.

Many companies have made their web sites an impersonal void. This is not the way the web works. The Web is an engaging and interactive community of people. When you start giving your web site some personality, people will start taking notice. The ordinary is simply too easy to pass over.

Another key to remember when employing linkbaiting is that your article or news story should almost always link out to leading industry web sites or influential bloggers. There are so many web sites who are afraid to link out to other sites. However, by mentioning other web sites and bloggers, you would be surprised at the number of people who start linking to you.

Bloggers are a group of web masters who realize the power of linking to others. Within the blogoshpere, links are spread willingly to those who provide great content. As a result, they all receive more traffíc than they would alone.

Final Verdict

The term linkbaiting itself may sound a little fishy, but it's not. If you are a good web master, you should always strive for your content to be linkbait. This simply means that your content is of such quality that others simply can't help but link to it.

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About The Author

Kim Roach is a staff writer and editor for the SiteProNews & SEO-News newsletters. You can contact Kim at: kim @ seo-news.com

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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Article Apart from the "Norm" Worth Reading

Note from Theresa regarding the following article:

My blog's strong points center around marketing, but when I came across this today reading one of the numerous ezines of a publisher I work with at My Wizard Ads I felt compelled to post it here in this blog. If for no other reason than to spread some sort of "yes there is help" message. This is not my article. It is a reprint (with full permission to freely distribute) written by Angie Lewis (see bio below). What caught my eye was the "setting boundaries." Setting boundaries works in all aspects of one's life. I know because I do it. If you aren't, try! Especially in situations mentioned below, ask yourself... "What do you have to lose?" The answer of course is nothing... but everything to gain! I hope this reprint helps anyone needing this great advice. Again you can thank Angie Lewis.

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Q: Are You Married To An Alcoholic?


A: Are you married to an alcoholic? Is your husband/wife a different person when they drink? Are you tired of the Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde Behavior? Are you at your wits end, and just can’t take it anymore? What can you do?

1. Stop trying to get your husband/wife to stop drinking.

No matter how much you nag and complain at them to stop drinking, it is not going to do a bit of good. What will is taking care of you. I know, it sounds backwards, but when you’re emotionally stressed out, it will be more difficult to help your loved one. You have no verbal power over the alcoholic. What you do have control over is your actions. What you do and say to the alcoholic will have a direct affect on whether or not they will continue drinking or not.

2. Detach with love.

Be loving and supportive of the person you married, not the alcoholic. Don’t take any of the emotional garbage they dish out while drinking. Have you noticed how when your spouse drinks they start to berate you and want to start arguments? Don’t argue or fight back. Let them know you will not argue with them while they are drinking, period.

Above all, never allow the alcoholic to trespass against your spirit when they are playing one of their mind games. Walk away and close the door behind you. Go visit a friend, take a walk around the block, or put some ear plugs in your ears. Your mental health is what helps the alcoholic the most. This is what detaching with love is all about. Detaching yourself from the disease is what helps the alcoholic see that he needs help.

3. Set boundaries

Did you know that the person who takes the verbal abuse of an alcoholic is sometimes just as mentally and emotionally sick as the alcoholic? This is why it is absolutely necessary, especially for spouses of alcoholics, to set boundaries for themselves while the alcoholic is drinking.

Don’t allow their roller coaster emotions to affect you. At least do not let them see that they are affecting you. The alcoholic wants to get a reaction out of you, don’t give them that satisfaction. When they are drinking, treat them like a stranger. Remember, you love the person you married, but you do not love the disease. Don’t be nice to the disease but love the person. Do you understand?

4. Do not enable the alcoholic

Don’t help the alcoholic by enabling their addictive behavior. Don’t help them to bed. Don’t let them drive while drinking. Do not let them argue, fuss or fight with you while they are drinking. Do not talk to them, leave the house or room and shut and lock the door behind you. Do not buy them alcohol, even if they beg you to. Don’t let them drive! Don’t treat them any differently because they have a drinking problem. Don’t give them any special attention while they are drinking.

5. Be supportive when they are sober

When the alcoholic in your life is sober, give them extra special attention. Tell them how much you love them, but not the disease. Talk to them about your new boundaries when they are sober. Write them on the refrigerator so they can’t say they forgot. Basically let them know all the bad and awful things they do to you and the rest of the family while they are drinking. They need to know.

6. Go to Alanon

This is very important when you are living with an alcoholic. This is how you heal yourself from the abuses of the alcoholic. This is where you will meet friends who are going through the same things as you. You are not alone.

7. Pray everyday

Never relent in your silent appeals to God for your spouse’s sobriety. I cannot say enough how important it is to keep a well balanced mind, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually when living with an alcoholic. They can literally tear you apart. I encourage you to seek God for your comfort and encouragement during this difficult time in your life. God answers our incessant appeals for healing. He feels our suffering and pain. Please do not give up hope.

=========================

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Angie Lewis writes on subjects such as love, sex, and intimacy between couples. Her marriage books center on the biblical foundations that God outlines for couples to follow for an exceptional marriage.

Angie writes numerous articles and e-books covering such issues as adultery, addictions, temptation, and forgiveness in marriage. Check out Angie’s website for additional information about her books and online marriage ministry. http://www.heavenministries.com

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Featured Article

"My Emails Are Not Being Delivered.
Black Lists and White Lists Explained "


This article may be reprinted in your ezine or on your site in its entirety so long as the author's credits and all links remain intact.
Please send a copy of your publiction to support@blacklistmonitor.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Emails Are Not Being Delivered.
Black Lists and White Lists Explained
By Karen Fegarty

Over 40% of all emails within your marketing campaign are not being delivered. You may not even be aware of this, as many ISPs will not send back a bounce message. In fact if you are sending messages to AOL customers, AOL is now blocking over 80% of the messages that come into their servers.

One of the main reasons that this is occurring is that your IP or Domain may be Black Listed. All major ISP's and many corporate email systems now check against Black Lists and will refuse to deliver any emails that come from an IP that is Black Listed.

But what exactly is a Black List?

DNS black lists are lists of domains and IP's that are known to originate Spam. Many anti-spam software programs used by corporations and ISP's use these lists to control Spam by refusing any email that originates from one of these domains or IPs.

Unfortunately there are many instances of false positives as there are few checks and often little objectivity when listing a particular IP. In order for a black list to know that a domain is sending Spam, the offence must be reported . It may take only one report via a web form for you to be listed.

You may be listed maliciously through one complaint of a client, or that of a competitor. Many Black Lists, as well, will list not only the IP that is suspected as spamming, but will list any IPs in that range of addresses. If someone using the same Internet provider as you is accused of spamming and is placed on a Black List, you may be listed as well.

DNS blacklists are usually maintained by anti-spam organizations or by individuals.

What are some of the most popular Black Lists that ISPs are using?

Some of these include:

MAPS - http://www.mail-abuse.com/
Spam Cop - http://www.spamcop.net/
SpamHaus - http://www.spamhaus.org/
SPEWS.org - http://www.spews.org/
ORDB.org - Open Relay Database - http://www.ordb.org/

How do I know if I am on a Black List?

Unfortunately, you really can't be 100% sure if you have been black listed. You may be on someone's black list and not even know it. There are, however, ways to check most of the lists.

One way is to check your server log when sending your campaigns. You will often see an email bounce notice indicating that the message has bounced because you are on a particular black list.

Many of the major black lists also allow you to enter your IP into a form on their site. These checks will tell you whether you appear, or not, on their list.

A useful tool, is the Black List Monitor.
http://www.blacklistmonitor.com

It automatically checks your IP against most of the major Black Lists and tells you which ones you are listed on. It also gives you help in getting removed. All your IPs are constantly monitored for any changes, listings, or delistings.

But what is a White List and how can this help?

Many corporations and ISPs will create a white list. This is a list of trusted IP addresses that they feel confident will not send spam to their customers. If your IP is listed on a particular white list then your email messages will be delivered to the destination email address. It is important for reputable marketers to work with the major ISP's such as AOL to ensure that you are on their white list. For most, it can be a lengthy process, but well worth your efforts.

Other third-party email certification programs now exist. Bonded sender www.bondedsender.com is one such agency. By joining Bonded Sender, senders improve deliverability rates and differentiate their brand. Senders go through a formal application process, adhere to email standards and post a bond against potential complaints. Major ISPs such as MSN/Hotmail now check against Bond Sender's white list and allow these email to pass.

Knowing if you are on a black list, getting removed if you are and getting established on white lists is critical if you are email marketing. The more messages delivered equals more sales!

------------------------
About the Author:

Author Karen Fegarty is with MailWorkZ the creator of Black List Monitor-- advanced service that continuously checks all the major blacklists for you, and then some. Don't be treated unfairly! Keep a handle on who may have you blacklisted. Get a free trial and find out more at http://www.blacklistmonitor.com.


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Tuesday, July 04, 2006

YOUR FREE RSS READER WITH STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Date: July 4, 2006
From: Theresa Cahill at My Wizard Ads


You CAN do this... my step-by-step instructions are very easy to follow :)

http://www.tristana.org/download/Setup.exe
(or copy and paste that url into your brower's address bar)

A download window will appear.
Click SAVE

SAVE it to your desktop - or somewhere you can find it easily.

Once your download is done, double click on the icon.

Follow the onscreen instructions to install it onto your own hard drive.

[Note: If you run ZoneAlarm or any firewall, I have already checked
the download with Norton Anti-Virus Professional Version 2006.
It is 100% safe.]

As the installation installs:

CHECK MARK the box to give yourself a Quick Launch and/or Desktop icon.

UNCHECK the box to have it load at startup (saves memory and start up
time when you turn on your computer if you don't mark this box).

OPEN your new RSS reader using the T on your start bar
(bottom blue bar on your desktop)
or by clicking the icon ON your desktop.

Once opened, you'll see that the Tristana reader comes preloaded with some feeds.

If you do NOT want these preloaded feeds:

In the left hand column left-click the first one on the list, then
SHIFT & CLICK the last one on the list. They should now all be highlighted.

Use the "X" icon (delete) on the bar at the top of the reader. Delete them.

Create a folder for My Wizard Ads:
(and each website you visit, you'll stay much more organized that way):

Click on FILE and hold down (top left hand corner)
Choose CREATE FOLDER
Name that Folder - My Wizard Ads
DOUBLE CLICK on the My Wizard Ads folder icon in the left hand column

Click on the "+" (add) icon on the bar at the top of the reader.

Type in (or copy and paste) the following:

http://www.mywizardads.com/category/classifieds.xml
click ADD

http://www.mywizardads.com/category/feed.xml
click ADD

* * * *

Explanation of What You Just Added:

The first set of urls are my own personal rss feeds for the
free bonus classifieds and my articles.

When you click on any url in the TOP window, in the BOTTOM
window is the information posted on the reader. You can opt
to read it right from the bottom window, or choose the HTML
in Browser. The HTML/browser link will open that link in a
new window online.

If the xml files you just added to your My Wizard Ads folder
are not showing, check the url for typos (that would be the
only reason you would not see anything unless the website
is down which rarely happens).

* * * *

You might also choose to add:

http://mwa-classifieds-online.blogspot.com/rss.xml
and/or
http://mywizardads.blogspot.com/rss.xml

These two are really the same as the first two, but are hosted at Google's Blogger.com.

Both "styles" are easy to read.

You're now all set to enjoy your new rss reader.

As you surf around the net, and find other readers you'd like to stay in touch with easily, just open the program and

"+" (add) FOLDERS, OPEN the newly made folder, and
"+" (add) the rss feed displayed on that website.

It really is that easy!

All the best,
Theresa Cahill
www.mywizardads.com


Copyright © 2001-2006
Theresa Cahill
- All Rights Reserved

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A Brand New Internet World

by Theresa Cahill
Copyright - All Rights Reserved


A while back I heard the statistic that every 20
minutes 400 people begin using the internet for the
very first time.

400 people every 20 minutes... wow.

For the veteran marketer beginning to feel like there
are no new frontiers to conquer, this should provide
hope :)

Granted, it takes a while for those with the
inclination to explore the possibilities of making a
living online to find our little niche on the net.

And for those of us who've been around for a while, it
may seem like we've talked to every potential
customer, client, and interested party.

But... 400 new people every 20 minutes...!

So it's safe to assume... nothing.

For example, this morning my brother-in-law called
from Texas. Though not heavy internet users, he and
his wife have pre-existing experience on the net and
using email. My basic assumption was since they
already were using the net and their email, there
wasn't a lot I could tell them.

I was wrong.

Recently they decided (rightly) that to do business
online they needed to get rid of their old dial-up and
switch to high-speed access (in their case, DSL). This
much-needed switch now allows them to talk on the
phone and walk perspective clients through the signup
process - in the moment. Very basic, very necessary.

They received their new isp's information by mail, and
proceeded to follow what they thought would get them
up and rolling with their email. Unfortunately, this
wasn't the case. What one reads and what one does can
most certainly be two different animals.

Thinking everything was set up correctly, and still not
being able to get their email, they assumed it was a
problem on their "old" end - the dial-up service. Yet,
they are surfing with their DSL, so in essence that
cannot be the problem (though making sure one isn't
still being billed by the old company most definitely
requires follow up).

So we took a look via telephone conversation at their
outlook express account. Boy, what a mess - either the
directions they received were written totally wrong or
(much more likely) they did not understand or follow
said directions "to the T."

After a bit of screen-by-screen, line-by-line input,
voila! outlook express stopped sending "wrong!"
alerts and seemed ready to use. However, when I sent
them a test email, within seconds I received a
nondeliverable message. The message stated,
"Username unknown."

This, of course, indicates that their new isp hadn't a
clue that suchnsuch@suchnsuch.net even existed. When I
last left them - going as far as I could over the
phone - they were going to place a phone call to their
new isp to get the information to gain access to the
isp's member/client area. Inside there, one must first
create the email account in order to use the email
name to receive and send. Basic to most? Sure, but
again, not so basic to them.

The purpose to my not-so-short story? Never assume
anything!

I've two fre.e reports circulating that explain the
basics of both computer use (some not all) and ezine
a.dvertising. When I first put them together I
thought, "Geez, I hope people don't think that..."
(fill in anything you'd like at this point, but be
kind please, *smile!*). I worried that I might insult
someone by leading them step-by-step through what I
perceived as "simple as pie" usage.

But it's just not the case. These reports are
downloaded almost every day by those who need help.

From a marketing viewpoint?

Never assume when you make a contact or send
information or follow up on a lead that the person on
the receiving end has the computer and internet
knowledge sufficient TO follow up on your advice,
help, guidance. And, from their side of the fence,
not knowing means just that... they won't and don't
know enough to even be able to TELL YOU that they
don't know.

It is your responsibility to "feel them out." Ask
questions to assure yourself that they do in fact
have enough internet, marketing, and/or computer
savvy to take your program, product, or service and
run with it.

Ask them pointblank questions like, "Can you? Do you?
Will you?"

Honestly, it's the little things that fall through the
cracks. Stuff as basic (to some of us) as email and
not-so-basic like research and marketing can be a full
and as-yet-unexplored plate for your lead. Just copying
and pasting one of your ads may be too big a task for
your brand new affiliate. Never assume!

Put your service, product, or program in their hands
and not follow up, and you're sure to have one
frustrated, unhappy, and soon to quit individual.

And vice versa of course! Help them to be able to help
themselves and you've not only gained a friend for
life, but have ensured that - with work - they, too,
become marketing pros :)


====================================
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Theresa Cahill is the owner of My Wizard Ads, Online Advertising Co-Op, a true one-stop spot for ezine ad advertising, solo ads, targeted traffic, and more!


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