FREE Introduction to Internet Marketing with Pat O'Bryan

Why Should You as An Employer be Concerned About Blogs ?

 

Why Should You as An Employer be Concerned About Blogs ?

Word Count:
891

Summary:
Blogs are an emerging reality in the workplace.  Progressive businesses would be well advised to take note and take steps to protect their vital business, employees and customers as well as their vital image and reputation.

    Blogs are a powerful tool in today's business climate which can be used for good or bad.  Remember it can only take one blog entry to destroy your business image or customer base that took 20 years to develop and nature.

Keywords:
blogs , bloggers , business , hr , human resouces . management , corporate image , security , policy , employment ,image

Article Body:
Blogging. It sounds like something that only geeks could love.  Yet, blogging is now being done by geeks and non-techies alike.  This could and should concern you as an employer because blogs have the grave potential to threaten your business as well as your business image and reputation.

     Blogs, which is a common term for Internet Web Logs, are being used commonly and frequently by individuals to post information ranging from news and opinions, gossip and photos about businesses.  Often, blogs have the air and appearance of professional online journals.
 
     Blogs have become more and more popular because of their simple ease of creation and use.  Internet Web Logs have been around for some time.  But as is often the case in the world of computers "ease of use "is everything.  Anyone at no or little cost can set up and post on Blogs of their choice.

      Blogs provide their bloggers audiences as large and diverse as the Internet itself.   That is why we are witnessing journalists,
political parties, individuals, organizations and   even businesses increasingly embrace blogs to communicate their messages to online audiences.

     The number of blogs on the Internet ranges widely.

      Blogpulse, a blog authority ", indexed the startling count of 30 Million blogs, as of the end of June 2006 while StrokonBlog  Research  , another blog authority claimed 60 Million blogs counted May 2005.

       Interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, blogs are appealing to a younger audience.  It has been estimated that 60 % of most bloggers are under 19 years of age.  It is very safe to say that blogs will become more relevant to businesses as all these younger bloggers come of age and join the work force in the coming years.

       Most blogs can be considered quite harmless.  In fact the sign of a progressive business is one that embraces blogs and blogging as an effective means to communicate in an interactive innovative manner.  As well blogs can be a most useful tool to conduct market research on trends as well as conduct customer research.  Remember the rule that 85 % of your business comes from  15 % of your customers.  Blogs can be an inexpensive way to target and interrract for that vital 15 % of your customer base.

    This makes good sense considering people are reading blogs more and more.  Last year the consumer research firm Ipsos-Reid reported that 42 % of the general population gas read a blog at least once.  And remember this is a count of the overall general population not those that have computers and general computer skills.

    You as an employer however should be concerned about the negative impacts that individuals can mete out on targeted individuals and businesses.  That is because some bloggers have used the online platform as effective powerful tools for attacks on businesses and their current or former employers.
 
     Employers should be highly concerned about the blogging activities of their employees. That is because employees, who use blogs can, among other things engage in copyright violations, defamation as well as divulge corporate strategy and trade secrets.

    The unbelievable thing about a blog is that once published it remains on the internet until the blog is edited, the whole blog is deleted or the server computer on the other side of the world which is hosting the blog is turned off so to speak.

      Being on the internet the blog is both public to anyone anywhere in the world with internet access.  Specific information can be easily searched across the internet through the standard search engine tools.

   Seemingly innocuous information can be the final link in a competitor's puzzle or can be used for "social engineering "to trick staff into divulging vital corporate information to outsiders pretending to be staff members.  One need not have the keys anymore to the plant just information.

     Seemingly harmless information on the blog can even be used to guess passwords.  It is amazing the percentage of people who use their address, birthday as well as wife's, kids or dog's name for email and security passwords.

   Employees who write blogs in the course of their employment activities are easier to manage with company policies and procedures.  Employees that write their own personal blogs, outside of their work hours, can raise more challenges for employers.

     Here are several steps you as an employer can utilize to protect your business from damaging employee blogs and bloggers.
 
         1)  Create a work environment where ideas can be freely exchanged

         2)  Reference blogging in employee policy and handbooks

         3)  Insist that employees place disclaimers on their personal blogs

         4)  Require employees to sign a non-disclosure contract as a standard in employment.  And ensure that older employees as well as new hires are required to sign this form.
          As part of this policy make it clear that release of confidential corporate information is legal grounds for immediate dismissal from the firm.

         5) As part of the firm's policy manuals and guidelines prohibit employees from publishing defamatory blogs about your business, co-workers or clients.

       Blogs are an emerging reality in the workplace.  Progressive businesses would be well advised to take note and take steps to protect their vital business, employees and customers as well as their vital image and reputation.

       Blogs are a powerful tool in today's business climate which can be used for good or bad.  Remember it can only take one blog entry to destroy your business image or customer base that took 20 years to develop and nature.

 

Microsoft Excel

 

Microsoft Excel

Word Count:
507

Summary:
Microsoft Excel is a popular spreadsheet program that was developed by Microsoft. It is designed for computers that use the Windows operating system, and it can also be used on computers that use Mac OS as well.

Keywords:
excel, microsoft, microsoft excel

Article Body:
Microsoft Excel is a popular spreadsheet program that was developed by Microsoft. It is designed for computers that use the Windows operating system, and it can also be used on computers that use Mac OS as well. It has an easy to use interface with a number of tools that can make creating a spreadsheet fast and simple. This combined with a powerful marketing campaign has made Excel one of the most popular software programs in the world. Excel is typically bundled in the Microsoft Office package of programs.

Excel is not the first spreadsheet program to be produced by Microsoft. A spreadsheet program called Multiplan was first released by the company in 1982, but it eventually lost market share due to the release of Lotus 1-2-3. Because of this, Microsoft decided to create a spreadsheet program that could effectively compete against the dominance of Lotus. The very first version of Excel was introduced in 1985, and was available on the Mac. The first version for Windows would be released  two years later. Because Lotus didn't bring their spreadsheet program to Windows quickly enough, Excel begin to gain a larger share of the market. By 1988 Excel had surpassed 1-2-3, and it is one of the factors behind the success of Microsoft as a software company.

The latest version of the software is Excel 11, and it is part of the Microsoft Office 2003 bundle. An Excel file will come in the form of .xls. A number of changes can be made to the interface of the program, but the GUI will always be composed of rows and cells. Information can be placed in cells which will have an effect on the data that may be present in other cells. In addition to this, Excel gives the user a large amount of control over the look of cells and the information that is placed in them. Both Microsoft Word and PowerPoint were designed to conform to Excel.

The introduction of Visual Basic with Excel allowed a number of tasks to be automated. Since 1993, Visual Basic has become an integral part of Excel, along with the introduction of the integrated development environment. However, the automated properties of Excel with Visual Basic has caused a number of macro viruses to be created, though many of them are now blocked by standard antivirus programs. Microsoft also allows users to disable the use of macros if they choose to, and this has largely eliminated the problem.

While Microsoft Excel was not well known during the late 1980s, it has now become the most widely spreadsheet software, though it is facing competition from a number of companies, most notably Google. Despite this, Microsoft has made a name for itself with the release of Excel, and next to Windows, it is one of the most well known software packages in the world. It has excellent calculation tools, and it can effectively be used for graphing as well. However, the software wouldn't have the dominance that it has today if it hadn't been for Multiplan, the predecessor that started it all.

 

Nifty Add-ons for Myspace

 

Nifty Add-ons for Myspace

Word Count:
531

Summary:
For some people, having a myspace.com account with your friends, contacts and some information about your favorite group is enough. But for most of the users, it's not just about keeping score who is there are who is not there, rather it's an expression of you are and how smart and cool can you get with the things that you can add to your myspace account. There are so many things that you can add to your myspace and some of them are just quite cheesy. Instead of getting those things, here are some of the recommended tools or add-ons that you can place in your website. If these things will not look good on your site, nothing will.

Keywords:
MySpace resource,MySpace resources,MySpace,Graphics,Social Media,Social networking

Article Body:
Nifty Add-ons for Myspace
 
For some people, having a myspace.com account with your friends, contacts and some information about your favorite group is enough. But for most of the users, it's not just about keeping score who is there are who is not there, rather it's an expression of you are and how smart and cool can you get with the things that you can add to your myspace account. There are so many things that you can add to your myspace and some of them are just quite cheesy. Instead of getting those things, here are some of the recommended tools or add-ons that you can place in your website. If these things will not look good on your site, nothing will.

Instead of using the instant messenger of myspace so that you can talk to the people you know, why not talk to them online using a software that doesn't even require a download? That's right you can do that. Minimobs Instant Messenger is a very simple code that you can add in your myspace page. When activated, there will a mobile phone displaying all the names of the people who will also share information with you. There you can see if who's online and looking at your webpage. If available, you can just click on their names and there you have it: a free messenger. You can also choose from different colors, cell phones that will be used. A must for every webpage.

Just a spur of the moment but why not add something really fancy in your website such as a clock which is available through such sites as getonmyspace.com. You may be placing something not important or useful but think about it as really artistic and fancy. Search for clock generators and you'll have hundreds of responses and websites to choose from. Get a code that doesn't require Java so that you're friends can easily see the clock and won't have to wait ages just to see what time is it.

Maybe a clock in not really that good of a post to your friends comment page. But here's something really nice to post especially when you are anticipating an event such as the birthday of someone that you really like. Instead of wishing them a happy birthday, which he or she might have heard a thousand times, why not post a countdown clock for the birthday of your friend! There will be a countdown timer telling you how many days, hours minutes and even seconds towards a specific event. You can even benefit from these as you won't forget about the event.

Before you go ahead and post these cool add-ons, make sure that they are made not only for popular web browser (Internet Explorer) but for other browsers as well (Mozilla, Opera and Others) that way, all of your friends will appreciate all the things that you have posted. Besides, it takes a little more time to look for these add-ons rather that sending a short messages. The effort is all you need to have these cool add-ons for your website.

 

1stepsystem- A One Step Internet Marketing Revolution

1stepsystem- A One Step Internet Marketing Revolution

Word Count:
939

Summary:
1StepSystem is basically a Complete Automated Home Business, and is promoted as "Hands Free Income". Co-Founders Rod Stinson and Chris Koehl are known for being tops at what they do, with incredible track records. Rod was rated as "One of the Top 20 Network Marketers in the World", and is a top producer in several MLM companies, hundreds of thousands of people in his downlines. Chris is an expert internet marketer and had created the online marketing system for many companies...

Keywords:
1stepsystem,Internet Marketing,Home based business,Online wealth,online business opportunity,Direct

Article Body:
1StepSystem is basically a Complete Automated Home Business, and is promoted as "Hands Free Income". Co-Founders Rod Stinson and Chris Koehl are known for being tops at what they do, with incredible track records. Rod was rated as "One of the Top 20 Network Marketers in the World", and is a top producer in several MLM companies, hundreds of thousands of people in his downlines. Chris is an expert internet marketer and had created the online marketing system for many companies. Amongst them are Xango, Oasis Wellness Network, Pro-Step, SeaSilver, LifeForce International, Mannatech, My Golden Leads.com, Best Leads.com, Precision MLM.com and Credit Secrets. Both Rod and Chris wanted to build an organization where people who have ventured into network marketing unsuccessfully over the years could finally have the chance to become successful.

As contrast to traditional concepts of Direct Marketing , there were many difficulties in introducing the system to anyone and more specifically if we ask our freinds and relatives to understand the system.Being on the inside track developing online systems, Chris knows the downsides of MLMs, and why people failed. He quoted in his biography, "Sometimes the problem was the product being marketed, sometimes it was the pay plan, sometimes it was the owner or administrators of my system, and sometimes it was all three. Needless to say it was frustrating. I spent years perfecting my online system but could never find the right business model to plug it into then…Rod Called. You know, sometimes you know, when you know…5 minutes into our conversation I began to get goose bumps, the idea Rod had was exactly what my system needed to be married to – and by doing so, all the previous challenges would be eliminated."

The idea Rod and Chris had with the 1StepSystem was to build a company where those that had been unsuccessful with network marketing in the past, could finally be given a way to become extremely successful. The 'system' has been very good to them and they wanted to find a way to give a little 'pay-back'. You know what? That's exactly what they're doing. Chris and Rod are offering an unheard of 83.7% payout, that's next to impossible to beat. As a matter of fact, I'm told, that it's the highest percentage ever offered in the history of the network marketing industry. Now get this, there's no selling involved at all and the price is affordable and not even close to what most of those companies are charging out there. The prospective customer starts by being directed to a website, once there he signs up for a FREE 37 Minute Tele-seminar.

The product "Ultimate Marketers Tool Box" is like a personal digital library of the most effective marketing strategies known to man. It's the digital product in the virtual back office of 1StepSystem. The marketing strategies and tools provided along with proprietary marketing software in the box are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales in any business, online or off.

"I don't even need to communicate with my prospects, and they send me $500 directly into my account," says Dawn Henderson. "On my first sale, I practically made back all the money I initially laid out, and I did that in less than an hour after I joined." Laura Goodman said, "I have tried so many other MLM & Network Marketing opportunities and had always failed. This is the first time I have ever had success at it, and it's the least I've ever had to work." According to David Track, Leading QA for the 1StepSystem, "I would easily pay $500 for the "ultimate marketer tool box" which consists of proprietary software and other marketing tools designed to help increase sales in any business, whether online or off. Being the owner of an invention marketing company, it has already helped us immensely in our marketing efforts, and has also assisted me in rapidly growing the 1StepSystem business. In fact, I am already earning more with the 1StepSystem then I do at my own company, and I started 1/28/06!"

When I looked into the 1StepSystem for the first time it was back on February 8th. I did a Google search after receiving an email from a fellow marketer. When I did the Google search it, if you can believe this, only brought back (1) link! That's right (1) link that happen to be to a thread in a pretty well know Forum. It was the standard beginning thread, "Does anyone out there know anything about the 1StepSystem"? To which there were about 4 responses and 2 more questions. The responses seemed favorable and one of them even included a phone number so I gave the fella a call. He fed me with a head full of knowledge about the program and I really considered joining – but it was a little more investment than I could make without the approval of the banker (my wife) so I had to wait. While waiting I talked myself out of doing it – figures huh. Well I went back to the Net a week or so later and Googled the 1StepSystem again and you know what, I came back with 400+ links!! I started checking them out and you wouldn't believe the forum entries now, this guy made $4350 in 5 days, this other lady made $3,000 in her first 24hrs and this fella over here's made over $11,000 in the last 2 weeks. Well, that put me over and now I've invested in the 1StepSystem too, and now I'm building up one of those "I made $XX,XXX in this many days" stories myself!

 

"One Niche You're Rich"

"One Niche You're Rich"

Word Count:
767

Summary:
This article deals with the power of becoming an expert in your prospective Internet marketing niche.

Keywords:

 

Article Body:
Have you found yourself wondering why you are overwhelmed? There is so much material on the Internet regarding Internet marketing. If a person tries to digest all of it at one time, they will will experience a bad case of online marketing indigestion. This is not a good feeling to have. I have had these feelings before as well.

The solution to this issue is to narrow your focus on one niche. You see it is much easier to become an expert in one area rather than two or more areas. I have made a decision to devote my time to making money on the Internet. There are countless ways to make money in this world today. You can make money in real estate, the stock market, by owning your own offline business and in numerous other ways. But the people who really do well in this world financially are known primarily for one thing. Bill Gates in known for Microsoft. Warren Buffett is known as a stock expert. Donald Trump is known for real estate. I am sure that they have other things that they focus on now but they are known as being experts in a certain field. What do you focus on? Many things or one thing? I am willing to bet that if your answer is many you are in a state of Internet marketing disconbobulation. Find something you like doing and become an expert at it. The trick is to find something you like doing that is profitable financiallly. This is the secret to making money on the net.

If there is a market for your product, you can sell it. Do a search on google and see how many results your area of focus will bring up. If you use keywords, you will get better results. The more targeted the results the better. It is easy to develop a product when you are an expert in that area because you know something that your buyers don't. You are the expert and they are not. They will pay large sums of money to acquire your expertise.

As marketers we must understand that our time is extremely valuable and the more we focus on too many things, the more time that is wasted. This time could be better spent focusing on one niche. It takes time to learn what your niche market wants. After you learn what they want, give the people what they desire. If your child wants a piece of pizza and you give them fish that would cause sadness in their hearts. They may cry and be upset with you. In the same way, if you give your target market something different then what they are asking for they will remove themselves from your list or no longer associate with you.

So use your time wisely and learn what your target market wants. Once you have determined what they want, if you do not already have a product created to meet their needs create one. Remember what they have told you and use the desires of their hearts as your blueprint to create an excellent information product.

Your job as the expert is to provide the answers to the questions that your target market is asking. You answer their questions with your products and you will be seen as an expert by them. You can also become qualified as an expert by creating a blog about your niche market. You can have your readers post their questions on your blog. Answer their questions on your blog and they will also begin to view you in a different light. This will prove to them that you care about what they have to say. People buy more easily when they trust the person they are buying from. A blog is a great way to create an atmoshpere of trust. You can also build a great deal of rapport with your market in this way as well. You can get to know your market on your blog and they can get to know you. An excellent method to implement to accomplish this is simply to be open with your life. Talk about your family and life on the blog and you will find that your market is more likely to talk about their family.

You now have a number of concepts to implement in your Internet business right now. The key is to go out and do them. You will be greatly rewarded if you do. One niche can indeed make you rich.

Much Continued Success,

The creator of "The Online Treasure Box"