Affiliate Programs Explained

Affiliate programs are a type of partnership between a seller and an advertiser. The advertiser directs visitors to a seller’s website and for this the advertiser receives a percentage of the revenue generated from the visitors coming from the advertise

Affiliate programs are a type of partnership between a seller and an advertiser.
The advertiser directs visitors to a seller's website and for this the advertiser receives a percentage of the revenue generated from the visitors coming from the advertiser. The advertiser is said to be an affiliate of the seller.

The percentage paid by the seller to the affiliate is set by the seller and varies depending on the type of products, the profit margin on the products sold and how keen the seller is to promote his or her products through affiliates. Percentages anywhere between 10% and 75% are common.

The advantage for the seller includes additional sales and that the seller knows exactly what margin he or she will have on products sold to visitors coming from affiliates. If the seller markets his or her products through advertising using sponsored links, banners, text ads or similar, the seller does not know before starting a campaign what number of sales will be generated per dollar spent on advertising. The seller thus does not know if the campaign pays off or not. With sales generated from affiliates the seller knows exactly what percentage of revenue from a sale goes to the affiliate and therefore knows exactly how much is left for the seller. A seller who offers an affiliate program can have hundreds or even thousands of affiliates.

For the affiliate participation in an affiliate program allows the affiliate to make money without having a product to sell. For the affiliate, revenue can be generated simply from attracting visitors. The affiliate does not need to worry about procuring or shipping products or about providing any kind of support to the buyer. The affiliate has a wide range of choices for how to attract visitors. In a common setup, the affiliate has a website from which visitors can be sent to the seller's website. The affiliate may also have a blog which generates so much traffic that it pays of to direct visitors to a seller's website. A blog can be created for free and so is the choice of many affiliates. Finally, an affiliate may direct traffic to a seller's website by advertising using banners, text ads or sponsored links as available through Google's AdWords, Overture or similar services. If the affiliate attracts visitors from such advertising only, the affiliate does not need to create a website or blog and so does not need to create any content for such.

Affiliate programs and paying of commissions to the affiliate can be supported by third parties or be handled directly between the seller and the affiliate. If paying of commission is handled directly between seller and affiliate, the affiliate normally needs to sign up for the affiliate program on the seller's website. In case of third parties handling payment of commission it is common that no agreement needs to be set up between the affiliate and the seller. The third party however will then have separate agreements with the seller and with the affiliate. Commissions are normally paid by cheque but in some cases it is paid by PayPal or wire transfer.

Technically affiliate programs are normally supported so a visitor's IP address is recorded when the visitor follows a link provided by the affiliate to the seller's website. If a purchase is made and payment is collected, the visitor's IP address is determined again, and if it matches that recorded when a link was followed, the commission can be paid instantly. In some cases a "cookie" is stored on a visitor's computer when a link is followed and this is used to identify the source of the visitor.

In short, affiliate programs allow sellers and affiliates to share the revenue generated for sales from sellers' websites and can generate considerable income for both parties.

By Andrew Nielsen

Affiliate Programs - Start The Right Way With 10 Simple Steps To Success

Affiliate programs offer a fast and low cost way for people to start their own online business even if they have no previous Internet experience.

Affiliate programs offer a low cost way for people to start their own online business even if they have no previous relevant experience.  However, many people fail with affiliate programs and most of them fail for the same reason.  This is nothing to do with lack of affiliate program information, it is because they do not start out the right way to succeed with the affiliate program they choose to promote.

With an affiliate program, there are several simple but important steps you will need to take in order to make a  success of your business and earn the money you want.  Following the simple steps listed below will enable you to make dramatic progress so you can start to earn money from your affiliate program at an early stage.

1. Look for an affiliate program in a niche that interests you. Your business is a long term commitment, if you get involved with an affiliate program in a niche that holds no interest for you, running your business will be less interesting and enjoyable. The internet offers plenty of affiliate program information so you can easily find the best niche to suit your interests, there is no need to rush into the first affiliate program you see.  Make a short list of possible niches and then go on to looking at the affiliate programs from the financial perspective.

2. Select a lucrative niche from the affiliate program information you have gathered.   Don't be tempted to rush the affiliate program research. Your goal is to earn money, and you need to ensure an affiliate program is likely to be profitable before you make a commitment. The internet is full of information about profitable niches, and you will need to research these before you decide on the best business opportunity for you.

3. Another important piece of affiliate program information you will need to research is the reputation of the affiliate program owner. You need to find affiliate programs with good reputations and high quality products or services that will appeal to your customers.

4. Set yourself a goal: decide how much you want to earn from the affiliate program within a set amount of time and write this down. You will need a goal to work towards and writing down your goals is important. As you achieve each goal, you can cross it through and replace it with a more ambitious goal.

5. Create your own website to market your choice of affiliate program.  The affiliate program will undoubtedly provide you with your own affiliate web page but creating your own unique website will attract the search engines and having your site listed in the search engines is an important step.  Make your website interesting to human visitors by offering some free tools, e-books etc on your site as well as having articles related to your affiliate program.

6. Place advertisements on your website.  You can earn money by displaying advertisements on behalf of companies such as Google, Yahoo, Revenue Pilot, Adbrite and numerous others.

7. Start a linking campaign. Links are very important to all online businesses, not just affiliate programs. Information you need to remember is that links from other sites will help improve the ranking of your website. One way links are more important than reciprocal links but reciprocal links are still of value.

8. List your website in major and niche directories, this is time-consuming but free and can be done in stages to reduce the boredom.  If you have a reasonable budget for promotion of your affiliate program, you might want to consider buying software to perform this task.

9. Write and distribute articles to article directories. This is a free and highly effective way to market your affiliate program and obtain one way links from other websites.

10. Become an active participant in Internet forums related to affiliate program marketing and to your particular niche subject.  Most Internet forums are free to join and allow you to include a link to your affiliate program or personal website as part of your signature.

By Mike

Shut up, Lloyd Blankfein!

The Goldman Sachs CEO is trying to portray the Wall Street titan as a paragon of virtue. But Blankfein should stop pretending that the bank is a charity.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The public relations gurus who are advising Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein might want to give him some new advice. Shut up!

Blankfein made a startling confession Tuesday. He apologized for Goldman's role in the financial crisis, saying that the bank "participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret."

But it's tough to take Blankfein at his word. This mea culpa came a little more than a week after he made an embarrassing comment in an interview with the Financial Times, saying that he was just "doing God's work." Interesting. I don't believe there are any references to credit default swaps in the Bible, Torah, Koran or any other religious text.

While Blankfein might have made the "God's work" comment in jest, it still goes to show that he needs to tread carefully if he really wants to prove to taxpayers that Goldman is not really the blood-sucking parasite that many are now making it out to be.

Goldman is facing a populist backlash because it was one of the original nine firms to receive bailout funds last fall. But it is now all of a sudden generating gigantic profits again and putting away large wads of cash for employees in its bonus pool.

Goldman has earned $8.4 billion in the first nine months of 2009. The company has already set aside $16.7 billion for compensation expenses, putting it on track to have a bonus pool of about $21 billion at year's end.

So it's no wonder that Blankfein has turned the spin cycle on over the past few months to try and send the message that Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) is the Wall Street equivalent of Google, i.e. it won't do evil.

On Tuesday, Goldman announced that it, along with investing legend Warren Buffett, is launching a $500 million program geared toward helping small businesses.

That's certainly admirable even though it's fair to cynically point out that Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) investment firm is Goldman's largest shareholder. So I don't think I am going out on a limb to guess that the idea for this largesse probably had its roots in Omaha as opposed to the corner offices on Broad Street.

And if Blankfein is really sorry about the mistakes Goldman made, here's a thought: Instead of contributing a meager $500 million to help get small businesses back on track, maybe he could kick in $14 billion instead.

That's the amount of money Goldman received from AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) (courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer-funded bailout of the insurer) because of the so-called counterparty risk.

The small business program is Blankfein's latest attempt to try and prove that what's good for Goldman is good for America.

Last month, Blankfein told Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer that the company contributes to the nation's growth. "Once the economy starts to turn, we get very involved," he said.

Back in July, Goldman went out of its way to pat itself on the back for paying $1.1 billion to the government to redeem warrants that Uncle Sam got as part of last fall's $10 billion bailout of the firm.

Goldman deemed the payment "full and fair," and in a statement Blankfein gushed that Goldman was "pleased that this additional money can be used by the government to revitalize the economy, a priority in which we all have a common stake."

None of this is technically wrong. It's, of course, better for Goldman to be back in the black as opposed to bleeding red ink.

But has Blankfein blanked out and mistaken himself for former Goldman chief (and soon to be former governor of the Garden State) Jon Corzine? It almost sounds as if Lloyd is running for public office. What's next? Kissing babies and train rides all across America?

Blankfein shouldn't feel the need to constantly remind us of how Goldman is an important cog in the GDP growth machine and engage in excessive self-flagellation just because business is booming again.

It's actually an encouraging sign that banks like Goldman, JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and U.S. Bancorp (USB, Fortune 500) -- to name a few -- are this strong only a few months after many thought the financial system was doomed.

The notion that Goldman's good fortune is a problem is silly. Even though many average Americans are still struggling financially, it's misguided to suggest that everybody should be suffering and that the nation would have been better off if Wall Street went under. We shouldn't be demonizing success.

And let's not forget that Goldman has paid back taxpayers not just for the warrants but the full $10 billion in TARP money. There's a big difference between Goldman and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), which still don't seem to be healthy enough to return bailout funds.

But Goldman Sachs is a bank. It's supposed to make money. It's supposed to take risks. Lloyd isn't exactly running the March of Dimes.

Blankfein is fighting a battle he can't win. He can't come out and bluntly state that his company's return to prosperity should be applauded because it proves that his firm's employees are more competent than Goldman's rivals. That's why he should just keep quiet.

The problem is that Blankfein is trying to dupe people into thinking that he's had his Ebenezer Scrooge moment and that Goldman is now more interested in serving the public than making a buck.

Apologizing for the credit bubble and claiming that Goldman has the best interests of the people at heart just makes Blankfein look foolish, not sympathetic.

Come on. We all know how Wall Street works. The fact that Goldman hotshots are set to make big bonuses this year isn't nearly as insulting as the fact that Blankfein wants us to believe that investment bankers and traders are really nothing more than highly compensated social workers.

By Paul R. La Monica

Stock market falls as home construction slows

NEW YORK – Investors turned cautious Wednesday as an unexpected drop in home construction and disappointing forecasts from technology companies raised concerns about the pace of the economy's recovery.

The modest drop came a day after major stock indicators closed at 13-month highs, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which has risen 9 of the past 10 days. Analysts said the quick ascent means the market is due for a rest.

John Brady, senior vice president of global interest rate products at MF Global in Chicago, said as the end of the year approaches traders are looking foremost at preserving the gains amassed in an eight-month rally that has given the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index a gain of 22.9 percent for the year.

"It's a bit of a consolidation trade," he said. "Traders are scared to go out too far out on a limb here and do anything too risky late in the year."

The day's economic news added to investors' caution. The Commerce Department said construction of homes and apartments fell 10.6 percent in October to an annual rate of 529,000, well below the pace of 600,000 that economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected.

Joe Heider, president of Dawson Wealth Management in Cleveland, said the disappointing results "will push against what was a very bullish attitude on Wall Street."

Heider said investors were trying to determine whether the slowdown signaled weakness in the economy or a reluctance among builders to break ground when the future of a homebuyers' tax credit was uncertain. Lawmakers extended a tax credit for first-time homebuyers that was set to end this month through June.

Building permits, a key indication for future activity, slid 4 percent to an annual rate of 552,000, also below the rate of 580,000 that analysts had forecast.

Technology shares fell after BMO Capital Markets said Blackberry maker Research in Motion Ltd. faces increased competition as consumers opt for less expensive phones. Meanwhile, forecasts from software makers Autodesk Inc. and Salesforce.com fell short of analysts expectations.

In midafternoon trading, the Dow fell 42.40, or 0.4 percent, to 10,395.02. The broader S&P 500 index fell 3.19, or 0.3 percent, to 1,107.13, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 16.69, or 0.8 percent, to 2,187.09.

There was little reaction to a report that found inflation at the retail level remained tame as rising unemployment, nervous consumers and tight credit keep prices stable.

The Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in October, slightly above the 0.2 percent economists expected. Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose 0.2 percent, compared to expectations of a 0.1 percent rise.

A report released Tuesday on prices at the wholesale level showed rapid inflation was not imminent, supporting comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's earlier in the week.

Investors are looking for any signals of further improvement in the economy to justify the gains that pulled major stock indexes off 12-year lows in March. Rising unemployment and tepid retail sales have some analysts worried that investors might have been too quick to place bets on a recovery.

President Barack Obama told Fox News on Wednesday that he is worried that spending too much to help boost the economy could invite a second recession because rising deficits could sap confidence.

The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, while gold rose.

The drop in the dollar offered modest support to stocks. The market often moves opposite the dollar as weakness in the currency boosts demand for commodities. That, in turn, strengthens shares of energy and materials companies as well as exporters whose goods become cheaper to foreign buyers.

Bond prices fell, pushing yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.37 percent from 3.33 percent late Tuesday.

Crude oil rose 25 cents to $79.39 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Among tech stocks, Research in Motion fell $1.91, or 3.1 percent, to $59.49, while Autodesk slid $2.94, or 10.9 percent, to $24.06. Salesforce.com fell $2.07, or 3.2 percent, to $63.54.

Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 630.3 million shares compared with 564.4 million shares traded at the same point Tuesday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 4.89, or 0.8 percent, to 597.45.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX index gained 0.2 percent, and France's CAC-40 slipped less than 0.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.6 percent.

By STEPHEN BERNARD and TIM PARADIS

Body Language Guide

“I speak two languages: Body and English” Mae West

Body language contributes to more than 50% of what we are communicating at each point. Knowing how to communicate beyond words therefore becomes significantly important in both our personal and professional lives. The ability to read and interpret other’s body gestures and movements will enable you to understand them better. This understanding also enhances your daily communications and negotiations with other people.

This article focuses on some of the more critical body gestures which are often ignored by people but can make a huge difference in our everyday interactions with those around us. Recognising any of the gestures described below and understanding their hidden meanings can allow you to react and respond promptly and achieve better results in either personal or professional life.

   1. Body language of power:

Sit higher than other people. This may seem obvious but it is well known that taller people tend to be more confident and therefore more likely to become successful and more powerful than others. Ladies can take advantage of high heels and long trousers to appear taller and men can modify their body image by having a good posture and standing with straight backs.

   1. Body language of boredom:

Understanding gestures associated with boredom can play a big role in helping you succeed in whatever you are trying to achieve. You may be giving an important business pitch or simple trying to impress a romantic partner. Recognising signs of boredom allows you to change or stop whatever you are doing and turn the situation to your own benefit. Apart from yawn which is one of the more obvious signs of boredom, watch for lack of eye contact and saggy posture of the person you are talking to.

   1. Body language of aggression:

Some degree of aggression can sometimes be helpful especially if you are trying to defend yourself or your position. Recognising aggressive body gestures expressed by others will also help you to understand their true feelings and intentions better and make better choices in dealing with such people. While clenched fists and frowning are the better known signs of aggression, more subtle signs include invading other person’s personal space and chin tilts.

   1. Body language of defence:

Recognising defensive moves and gestures by others will help you to change your tone, tactics or even body language to change the mood and establish cooperative and productive environments. In defensive mode people tend to use barriers. These could be anything from a table to a handbag in women’s case. The eyes also give away the defensive person’s true feelings as they start looking for an exit route.

   1. Body language of domination:

Some body gestures common to those who want to present themselves as dominant includes standing with their leg apart and shaking hands with their palm facing down. A dominant person may also ignore you in order to show his superiority. The gestures associated with superiority include avoiding eye contacts during conversation and interruption while you are talking.

By Chelsea Elm

Bring Your Team Back On Track

All team leaders expect heroic results from their teams. Teams are anticipated to perform at a peak level in a variety of situations and conditions. Teams are created with the objective to speed up goal achievement. We hope our teams will deliver desired results in an efficient manner. Whether you are a CEO or a leader of your business unit, you too want your team to succeed at the challenges in hand.

But the fact is that teams are not simple. Teamwork is not a one-time thing. Today’s brilliant performance doesn’t promise a glittering victory for team in the future. Would like to know the reason? Teams are fluid; teams don’t remain the same; team work is not automatic; team spirit is not constant; team bond is not immortal. That is the reason why high-performing teams slide down from the victory stand whether in sports or business. 

Bringing a high performing team back on track is critical for leaders. As a team-building trainer, I use a range of tools to help leaders achieve this objective.  The most effective approach has been to sensitize leaders about certain behaviors that cause teams to slip.  The process encourages teams (including leaders) to make a strong commitment to ‘SAY NO’ to different behaviors, attitudes and actions damaging the overall productivity and performance of the team.

Team leaders are asked for taking personal responsibility to cultivate a climate of trust, confidence, and openness that once again leads teams to the achievement of supercilious goals.  If your goal is the same, following steps can guide you through the journey.

1.      No tolerance for disrespect

Nothing can damage teams more than an environment surrounded by disrespect for individuals working in a team. People can compromise on less money and benefits but not on less respect. Team disruption can easily take place when individual members have complaints about other not showing deference toward them. Therefore it is awfully crucial for the leader to ensure a team atmosphere that guarantees mutual respect and regard. In outclass teams, members can disagree, fight and even exchange feelings that hurt but they never let somebody show disrespect to their team members.

2.      No back biting

I call it a team-killer. The surest way to damage team spirit is convince members about backbiting. It is a proven method to wipe out a sense of belongingness in a team. Negative discussions and information exchange about those who are absent with irrelevant people result in further misunderstanding and conflicts. Meetings in the parking lot, cafeterias and health clubs provide an easy platform for backbiters to poison team spirit. These backbiters later on become backstabbers for their own team members.

If leaders sincerely wish their teams to be high-performing; they need to facilitate a culture of honest and open communication between members.

No blame game

Blame-game is the favorite sports of ineffective teams. Instead of taking responsibility of their actions and behaviors, members enjoy putting the blame on someone else’s shoulders.

This surly gives teams a temporary relief but injures performance in the longer run.

The antidote to blaming is accountability.  But why members chose blaming over accountability? Because when we take us to accountability; we have to embrace some pain. As human beings; we want to avoid pain at every cost. Therefore, blaming others emerges as an easy way out.  If teams continue to blame each other for their lack of performance, a big disaster is waiting for them.

Stop blaming, take responsibility.

3.      No mocking or shouting

Leaders can’t afford to let anyone shout at other team members. Shouting is a sign of ignorance. When teams have answers they feel no need to shout. Teams should understand that the loudest voice may not be the wisest voice. Sarcastic remarks will only produce enmity between members. Enmity should be replaced with enormity; of ideas, reverence, performance and purpose.

4.      No personal attacks

Teams are supposed to separate their egos from the professional job in hand. However, with no trouble, members slip in to personal stuff during meetings organized to discuss professional matters. Personal attack in a team setting is synonymous to slaughtering an individual’s team bond.  Whether privately or in public, attacking others directly doesn’t help teams achieve common goals.

I have noticed that even leaders sometimes start attacking your people without any prudent reason. I suggest leaders to hold on to their anger, stay calm and instead of attacking choose to coach and counsel people.

5.      No burdens of the past

Successful teams and leaders don’t get stuck in the past. Commit yourself for no looking back to search each other’s weaknesses and putting others in a discomfited situation.  Past is history; we can’t edit it; change it; modify it; hide it; but at least we can learn from it.

One reason for team failure is the members’ unwillingness to forget the negativity, anger, and pain associated with the past. How can you allow your history devastate your future?

Building and sustaining teams is a tough job. Teams don’t come together effortlessly. Leaders have to invest time, effort and energy to bring the best in teams. One way of achieving this hard task is to develop the sensitivity to consistently say NO to the above behaviors.  Saying NO to these undesirable acts will prepare you to demonstrate strong willingness to say YES to a long lasting team success.

QAISER ABBAS

Qaiser is the Founder & Chief Inspiring Officer, Possibilities®, a leading management training & consulting company, operating globally with head office in Pakistan. He is the author of ‘Outclass Teams’, the first book on team-building written by a Pakistani author.

‘Outclass Teams’ is based on a team building model that Qaiser has been practically utilizing in building teams for various organizations such as P&G,  Nestle, Coca Cola, Ufone, Nokia-Siemens, Telenor, ORIX leasing, Total and Hino Pak Motors etc.

By Qaiser

Business Essentials for Maintaining a Sustained Competitive Advantage

The foremost goal of being in business is to achieve profit and long-term success. In order to achieve this, a business must be able to stand out against competitors in order to attract and retain customers. There are some essential strategies that can help a business to achieve and maintain a sustained competitive advantage.

Ideally, for ultimate success a business must achieve and maintain a level of competitive advantage in a few ways. These include cost leadership, operational excellence, product or service differentiation, focus and customer relationship excellence. It is not necessary for a business to excel in every one of these areas, but it must stand out against competitors.

Cost Leadership is a strategy that must be handled and managed carefully. If a business chooses to produce or sell within a low cost market it must carefully analyze the long term sustainability in order to achieve profits. Larger competitors generally have an advantage in these markets.

Operational Excellence can be measured on many levels. Generally businesses that stand out for operational excellence have tightly streamlined production and fulfillment processes and they often rely on structured, high-volume turnover in order to gain long-term success and a competitive advantage.

Those businesses that rely on product or service differentiation are often not as limited by price as those who rely on other methods. Standing out as unique or elite is not a guarantee of competitive advantage and costs must also be carefully monitored. Areas for differentiation include: products, distribution channels, marketing, services, or almost anything else that makes a product stand out noticeably against competition.

Customer Relationship Experience is a business model that sets to make a company stand out based on its customer interactions. These companies excel in customer service and paying attention to and delivering exactly what the customer wants and more. These businesses focus on customer relationship management and need to balance between the costs and profits of providing high satisfaction to their customers for the benefit of both the customer and their business.

By Articles Directory

Gazebo makes a hot tub look cool

While buying a hot tub, it is necessary to have a detailed rundown of all those supplies and accessories which you will like to have in your hot tub. If you are one of those who like your spa to be an ultimate relaxation and entertainment hub, then go for a hot tub gazebo which already comes installed with a LCD monitor and a DVD player.

Splurge on your hot Tub

If money is not an issue, you can splurge on installing a marine radio and CD player with waterproof speakers, a remote controller on the top side of the tub. Once done, just enjoy the music or hear the TV through these speakers. Another feature one must have is fibre optic lighting. Bunch of small lights around the top of the tub which change colour make the hot tub look very fancy. At night they will provide a great deal of light and enable you to look around for CDs, drinks, towels and chemicals.

Construct a Gazebo

One doesn’t need to freeze while climbing in and out of the spa; instead of that, surround the hot tub with a Gazebo to keep yourself warm in the winter. Over here going in for a larger gazebo will allow you the luxury of having racks and a storage space for chemicals and towels. Another important thing to note out here is one should install a gazebo which has a sliding door and not a window. In a scenario, if something freezes then it will only be the windows and the sliding door. Lastly put in a few stools and furniture in the gazebo to make it a place where you and your family can have a good time.

Arctic Hot Tubs is one of the leading manufacturers and dealers of hot tubs and spas in Toronto, Canada. It combines the most advanced technology with world-class construction to offer you a high quality hot tub gazebo.

By Articles Directory

Manufacturing Journalist TR Cutler Looks at Ei Dynamics for AutomationMedia.com

Ranked as the nation’s leading manufacturing journalist and a contributing editor for more than 300 publications annually, TR Cutler, Inc. President & CEO Thomas R. Cutler, (www.trcutlerinc.com) has been writing extensively about manufacturing for more than ten years.  According to Cutler, “The dynamic stories of manufacturers create a bounty of interesting and important business strategies.” Cutler is a proud member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Online News Association, and American Society of Business Publication editors.  Beyond Reports: Two Firms Find Ei Dynamics’ Lean Solution is a feature article authored by Cutler for AutomationMedia.com.

   1. Ei Dynamics' CTO (Chief Technology Officer) Robert Virga noted that, “Companies use our Dynamic Alerts as a business monitoring and alerting system because it’s designed to intelligently monitor data across an entire enterprise regardless of database or system.” Dynamic Alerts constantly monitors data based on straightforward user defined business rules and sends out notifications via email or text message whenever a rule is triggered. “With Dynamic Alerts deadlines are never missed and unexpected surprises are reduced or eliminated,” suggested Virga.   Dynamic Reports is a report automation solution that incorporates Dynamic Alerts to allow companies to intelligently schedule, generate, and distribute common enterprise reports. Dynamic Reports powerful reporting engine dynamically generates standard industry reports such as Crystal reports and SQL Reporting Services reports, RTF documents and any webpage or web based report. Dynamic Reports also provides companies a powerful query engine; this functionality provides the flexibility to analyze almost any data and take action based on user defined criteria. The fact that Dynamic Reports uses ODBC and OLEDB to communicate with data makes it useful to almost every company and virtually every data driven system.

About TR Cutler, Inc.:

TR Cutler, Inc. was founded by Thomas R. Cutler a decade ago. Cutler maintains extraordinary relationships with clients, journalists, editors, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide and has become a key resource for those writing about the manufacturing sector. Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the 1999. This extraordinary group of more than 3500 journalists worldwide is writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler has worked with thousands of media outlets to expand manufacturing media coverage.

Cutler has authored more than 2,000 articles for a wide range of manufacturing periodicals, industrial publications, and business journals including most of the leading monthly trade publications.

By Articles Directory

Acekard 2i for DSi, DSL, IDSL, DS and IDS

The Acekard 2i is the same size as an original cart and you don?t have to flash your machine or use a passme in order to use it.

Never lost save data

Acekard 2i writes directly to the save file on your MicroSD card. No need to manually select save types nor battery. Save files are compatible with other flash carts. All you need to do is make sure the save file has the same prefix name and put it at the same directory of file. Then you can just run the software to use new save file.
Perfect compatibility

Acekard 2i inherit the best quality of acekard's products. You can just drag and drop software on MicroSD card to run.
*On first boot it takes some time to create save file. The loader time after save file is created is very fast.
Support Homebrew programs/games

The Acekard 2i is compatible with all homebrew because of the DLDI auto-patcher. You can just copy the homebrews to the MicroSD card and run it. You can use Moonshell, one of the most well known homebrew software on DS, for multi media. Watching movie, listening MP3, reading TXT novel on DS is so easy! Please
*Some homebrews need to be put at the root of MicroSD card for best compatibility.
Support SDHC MicroSD card

Acekard 2i support SDHC and offer unlimited space for you. You can copy all you favorite software, songs and movie to one MicroSD card.
Support any brand of MicroSD card

Acekard 2i can be meet with any brand of MicroSD card. Do not need to worry about the speed of MicroSD card.

Support Action Reply cheats. Build-in editor

Acekard 2i support Action Replay cheats in .dat, .xml and .cc format. You can select how to use AR cheats by using the build-in editor.

   1. Copy AR cheats in .dat or .xml format to /__ak2/cheats.  Copy .cc format file to the same directory of file.
   2. Press "Y" to popup the editor.
   3. Select "Cheat DB file".
   4. Select the cheat file.
   5. Select "Rebuild".
   6. If you have the cheat code of the software then a list window will be shown. You can use "X" and "Y" to enable or disnable them.
   7. Press "A" to save your changes and enter software for fun.

Built in "Trimming" Function

The Acekard 2i has a ?Trimming? Function built in. When you copy a file in the Micro SD , the Acekard 2i. will automatically trim any un-necessary data in a file.
Fully touch screen operation

The Acekard R.P.G. utilizes the idea of the iPhone which gives the customer a totally new control experience.
* You are able to use ?Button Control? as well.
Build-in file operation

You can use copy, paste and delete at the files in MicroSD card.

Can be used as a Passme to boot from slot-2 flash carts. Run GBA games by using expand cart

The Acekard 2 can be used as a passkey, so you can boot your slot2 flash carts with it.
AK2 also support 3in1 expansion cart. You can run gba games from MicroSD card directly.
*You need insert MicroSD card with OSMenu to use Passme function.
*Expansion cart sold separately.
*There is no Slot2 in DSi.
Support Multi-language

You can easily change the language within Acekard 2i. There are 8 languages in the firmware, Which are Simple Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, French, Italy, Spanish , Japanese and German. You can modify and replace these languages' text as you wish. They are all in /__ak2/language/.
Support Skin and Dynamic skin change

Acekard 2i use the same skin system of AK RPG. You can easily DIY Acekard 2i skin, and change it at anytime. All the pictures, buttons, text, even their coordinate can be customized. You also can add your own customer text and customer pictures. Same skin different style! You can find .And you can find skin editor at . You can just copy the folder of skins to "/__ak2/ui/" and enable it from "System Options" at start menu.

Perfect UI

AK 2 will start in the folder you last ran software from.
Every file and folder has an icon in front of the name. Softwares will display their icon directly.
Using the simple list view more files will be shown on screen.
You can config the scrolling speed and whether to show the hidden files.

Support soft-reset, Download play and WIFI playing

AK 2 support soft-reset whenever you running a software. You can return to AK 2 menu when you?re running software by just pressing L+R+A+B+Down. You do not need turn off DS to change softwares. You can disable this function in menu.

By Articles Directory

A Top Trade Show Display Seller Online Offers Incredible Value

According to Maureen, Owner and CEO of Smash Hit Displays, the stellar reputation the company maintains is largely due not only to superior products and prices, but exceptional customer service as well.  It is the number one priority of the company.

Smash Hit Displays offers simple and economical solutions to clients who want to make an impressive and memorable statement about their business at every trade show they attend.  Whether you are in the market for large, elaborate displays, booths that are customized especially for your business, panel displays or pop-ups, we offer the best selection and prices you will find anywhere.

Creating a memorable and unique brand for your business is essential.  At Smash Hit Displays, the offerings include accessories, lighting, graphics, display racks, banner stands and everything else you could possibly need to make your next trade show a huge success.  No need is too large or too small for Smash Hit Displays.  Additionally, we offer many eco-friendly solutions and are continuously adding more "green" items to our selection.

Why do our customers recommend us to everyone they know?  Because they know the quality and high standards we adhere to, as well as the service we provide is second to none.  When it comes to trade shows, your company wants a flood of targeted visitors interested in your services and products.  That is the results you will get with Smash Hit Displays, guaranteed.

We offer the highest quality products available, along with the largest selection you will find.  Our prices cannot be matched, and we beat any written estimate provided.  We also boast unparalleled customer service and support.

At Smash Hit Displays, we serve many areas around the world including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Richmond, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, and many other Convention Centers around the US.

Let Smash Hit Displays create your next trade show exhibit and experience a difference in the quality and number of potential clients visiting your display! 

Visit www.smashhitdisplays.com to view our impressive and economical line, or call 1-800-762-9854 to speak with one of our knowledgeable and friendly customer service staff members.

By Joel McLaughlin

An Easy Way Not to Get Banned by Google

To avoid being banned by Google, it's important to understand how to manage multiple domains. If handled incorrectly, Google may ban a web site for the appearance of duplicate content. A 301 redirect is the key.

Strategic search engine optimization involves far more than keyword research, META tags and content.

If you want to mange an SEO program, you need to be aware of any issue that can affect your success.

Domain name management is one of the big factors. Effective domain name management is critical because you could end up getting banned from Google and other search engines if you take the wrong approach.

Why would Google ban you?

In the spirit of fair play and providing depth in its results, Google frowns on duplicate content. Some web site owners purchase multiple domains and copy their content for both domains. They figure they may land the #1 and #2 positions that way. That may be the company’s goal, but it’s not very valuable for the Internet searcher.

Even if you don’t maintain your identical content with two or more domains, you can still run into problems. It’s possible to update just one set of web pages, but have them look like duplicates because of how the domain names are administered. You may be risking everything if someone enters www.yoursite2005.com/about.html and www.oursite2005.com/about.html and they see the same content - even if they pages reside in only one location.

Many web site owners redirect one domain to the next rather than configure the server to associate the core content with a second domain name. In many cases, a 301 redirect is your best bet. It’s a server-side redirect most administrators can handle in a few minutes. In effect, it’s a proper way of telling search engines to ignore one domain and favor another.

By Michael Murray

Barcode Software

Barcode generator software allows you easily create and print unlimited number of professional quality barcode images. Barcode label design utility easily copy barcodes and paste them into other programs for label creation. Software allows you to customize barcode color, background color, orientations, text and font choices.

Free barcode utility supports useful collection of barcode fonts that includes UCC/EAN 128 as well as a variety of Code 39, UPCE, MSI Plessey, Postnet, Code 11, Code 128, EAN/JANs and more. Barcode generation software facilitates you to print labels with texts, barcodes, images, lines, rectangles and save that created output into commonly used formats such as BMP, JPEG and GIF image format on your computer system. Barcode labeling software can generate its output either by using Barcode printers or normal printers.

Software is commonly used to place barcodes on retail product packaging, including books and music CDs etc.

Generate-barcode.com provides easy, simple and convenient solution to print bar code labels. 2D barcode creator software is the most convenient barcode editor or printer software which can offers its users to fully customize barcode images according to their requirements. Free barcode creator software allows you to generate a fully customized barcode graphic by providing barcode data, encoding type, and output file format. User just click on the Generate Barcode button, and the barcode generator will produce a graphic containing your barcode. Our software features a very easy user interface where the user simply types in the data to encode and click the Save button to generate the barcode image file.

By Articles Directory

Deciding What to Sell on eBay and How to Find It

Learn how to mimic eBay as a super efficient market by following foundational, strategic advice that will enhance your online business.

The pressing question that almost every eBay seller faces at one point during their selling experience is that dread question:

 “What is it, exactly, that I should sell and where do I get it?”

You’ve sold every last thing in your house that you don’t want or need and you’re tired of selling other people’s stuff and you are wondering where to turn.

Finding a solid source for a product is essential in building your eBay business. It may take some work, it may take some time, but once it is established and exclusive, you will have a close to indestructible online business.

There are two types of products you need to look for:

Introduction Products (Products that are new and in-demand)
Liquidation Products (Products that are at the end of the product cycle and being sold at a huge discount)

If you’re interested in finding introduction products, you are in for a lot of work. You will have to obtain a lot of knowledge about the consumer and almost be able to predict what will sell well. You could possibly find a supplier that supplies a massive amount of one particular new product. However, you may discover they sell horribly on eBay. You are then stuck with all these newly packaged products and probably in debt.

When it comes to liquidation products you have a lot more options. There is a lot more room for research to see how popular the product was when it first hit the market. You will also be able to obtain liquidation products at a substantially lower price.

After deciding what type of product you would like to sell, it’s a matter of finding a supplier. It’s not as simple as searching on google or finding a wholesale list on eBay. The internet is saturated with wholesale scams. It may not be impossible to find a good supplier on line, but it could be considered unlikely.

A good way to get started in finding a good consistent supplier is to buy products at a discount retailer, like Big Lots or even Wal-mart, and test different products. When you find one you think may be profitable, find out the manufacturer’s number (located on the package) and ask to speak to someone about purchasing products for resale.

It’s a tedious process, but when you find a good supplier you will not regret it. It takes good research and patience. Just remember, the best supplier won’t be easily found on the internet or in a book. A good, consistent supplier will be found through the tedious process of finding an exclusive source that you worked hard to discover.

Basic Strategies for Increasing Website Traffic

There are many different strategies for how you can increase the traffic that your website gets. Increasing website traffic though isn't rocket science, and there are no magic tricks that are going to instantly turn your site into a powerhouse. Instead, you have to use a combination of many different tried and true strategies that combined can offer significant, incremental and long term increases in your website traffic.

Onsite SEO

Onsite search engine optimization refers to everything you do to help get your website listed prominently in the search engines directly on your own pages. This starts from the beginning of your online business when you hopefully pick a domain name with appropriate keywords and phrases in it. It continues as you develop page names with keywords, use keywords in your content, your internal links, your META tags and so on.

The most important thing is researching the correct keywords that you should be targeting. Some may be popular but may be dominated by strong competition. Others you may be able to easily get the number 1 spot for but they are rarely used by actual searchers. Therefore you need to research which keywords offer the best combination of popularity and weaker competition, allowing your site to quickly jump to the top of the list.

Offsite SEO

Offsite search engine optimization refers to everything you do to help increase your website's SEO elsewhere on the Internet. This includes:

* Social networking: With social networking you can distribute your content to members of various communities, hopefully building your presence, increasing your direct traffic and building up incoming links in the process.

* Article marketing: The main benefit of article marketing is that for every article you create you can include links in the resource box to your own website. This helps your search engine standing greatly. If you take the time write high quality articles and to do so frequently, you'll also build up a reputation as a knowledgeable member of your community and a trusted source of information.

* Video marketing: Video marketing is the new wave of article marketing, basically capitalizing on the same benefits but through the means of the creation of videos. An added benefit is how much more engaging and interactive your content can be when presented in video form.

* Forums and blogs: Posting on forums and leaving comments on blogs is one way to help get your website noticed by other people and other websites within the community. If you make intelligent and thoughtful comments people will respect what you have to say and will visit your website or reach out to you when in need.

* PPC Campaigns: PPC advertising isn't technically SEO, it's actually SEM or search engine marketing since it's a paid form of promotion. Still, it can be an extremely powerful tool to have to help increase your site's presence and traffic.

The right combination of all of the above strategies will lead to great boost in the amount of website traffic that you see and enjoy. Not everything works for all businesses or markets, so always be sure to evaluate your strategies and campaigns for effectiveness.

By Articles Directory

‘Bye Bye’ consultants or ‘Welcome Welcome’ consultants

Today I came across an article about ‘By Bye Consultants’, explaining that consultants are not needed and the internal employees can do the job.
At one point, the author is right, many consultants are too expensive and for the total amount a company spent on consultants, you probably can sent the internal employees to the best courses and train them.

Is this opinion 100% correct? Shall we cancel all contracts we have with consultants?
What is/was the main reason to hire consultants in the first place? (We are not going to talk about the fact of variable cost).
The main reason of hiring Consultants should be: your company is in need for specific tasks, which require a certain level of experience, which your company doesn’t have internally for the moment.

What is happening in the real world:
Companies don’t hire consultants, they sign a contract with outsourcing companies. The consultants sent by these outsource companies are internal employees (for the outsourcing companies).
Why companies do works with Outsourcing companies? The reason I heard several times when discussing with customers, is that the companies don’t know exactly what they are looking for and when the consultant is leaving the company, the outsource company is replacing him/her with another consultant. This way the continuity is guaranteed.

Have a look in your company. Probably you can agree with I wrote before what is really happening.
The company is asking an Outsourcing Company to send some expert consultants. The company get some CV’s, read them, meet with the people they are interested in and then they sign a contract. When the consultant leaves, the whole story begins again, accept the Outsourcing Company is already in. (Cash machine) At the end your company did all the work.

All the work a normal HR department should do together with the manager.

Solution – Proposal:
Consultants are needed if your company needs to accomplish specific tasks where specific skills are needed and which are not available directly with in the company.
Let HR do the search and contact directly the consultants. Contact directly the consultant. Several websites specialized in consultants are available on the net.

Hire the consultant directly, with a limited of time. Also the price can be easily 20% less then you pay now as the middle man has been cut.

Last word
This is not an article against Outsource Companies, as some of them are really given extra value to the companies. They train their employees very well, coach them. But many of them are just body shoppers. There sales people don’t even have a clue what the consultant can offer.

At the end consultants, internal employees and companies should work together with one goal to deliver a project on time that brings values to the company.

 

 By Frederik Van Lierde

A Beginners Guide To Online Business

Before deciding you’re going to build a fancy web site, toss it up on the internet and make a million dollars by Friday, there are some things you need to know.

The nuts and bolts approach to creating a successful online business. Tips: How to build your own 24/7 Internet Cash Machine!

Before deciding you’re going to build a fancy web site, toss it up on the internet and make a million dollars by Friday, there are some things you need to know. Be realistic. You will not make a million dollars in one week, you will not just throw any old website up on the internet and have it rank number one for your search terms. That just isn’t a way it’s done.

There are a lot of multilevel marketing plans, schemes, matrix systems, dynamic compression systems, 2 tier and 5 tier affiliate marketing plans on the internet these days. It’s easy to get confused over all the mystery and slight of hand. Everyone is showing you their checks from affiliate networks claiming all the money they’ve made for doing nothing. 99% is just plain hype. You will have to work at it.

It is a very rare person that can actually make a killing on the internet in a short period of time with little or no effort. For the most part it’s merely a fluke, a flash in the pan or an outright lie. The best way to build a solid web presence is slowly over time. Perhaps a few weeks, months and in some cases, even a year "depending on our subject matter" before we actually see any real long term profits from our endeavors.

That being said, many of us don’t have the stomach, the tolerance or the patience for such a wild ride, and it is a wild ride. Speaking of a flash in the pan. Many webmasters begin their online careers with a flash in the pan affiliate network site. Although this is not a way to build a long lasting internet relationship with your customer base, it is however a great way to jumpstart your online career.

You can indeed make a sizable income in a short period of time with affiliate marketing while you concentrate On your permanent web presence. Most people these days are relying solely on this "affiliate" type of marketing which is not necessarily a bad thing, but there are snake oil salesman in every market who will say anything just to get into your wallet. That’s not to say the market is bad, just some of the people in the market are bad.

There really is good money to be made with affiliate programs. The hard part is finding the affiliate program that fits you ethically and will perform as advertised. As I said before you can make a good living with an affiliate website.

Joining an affiliate network is the easy part what most of them fail to tell you is that you will get little or no help in the marketing strategy for your affiliate site. It seems they’ve purposely left this a gray area, perhaps thinking that if they tell you exactly how it’s done you will somehow cut into their market share.

First: Decide what affiliate network you’d like to join, do some research and gather a little information about that particular affiliate program.

Second: You will need a website. There are a lot of hosting options on the internet, the hosting choice is ultimately up to you. You don’t need to spend $50.00 a month for a full featured web host $5.00 or $10.00 a month is fine. I wouldn’t recommend a free web host.

The problem here, is there’s so many ads on your page already that the chances of a prospect clicking on one of “your” affiliate links is greatly reduced, not to mention making it much more difficult for the web spiders to properly index your site.

In other words you cut your chances of making the sale up to 90% by using a free web host. So just spend a few dollars and do it right. It will save you a lot of headaches in the long run. If you start making money “great” you can always write this cost off on your taxes.

Third: You need to actually build your website. Now whether your good at HTML coding or not is really irrelevant. But you still need to build a site, there are plenty of good HTML editors on the market. Some are visual editors while others are code based, some are free and some are quite expensive. It’s really a matter of personal taste and budget at this point.

Fourth: Knowing how to build your site is the most crucial part. You can find the details for how to do this on my website under search engine optimization, along with the nuts and bolts and other goodies and tidbits that will take you through most aspects of online marketing and web presence, onward.

Fifth: Advertising: Most affiliate sites advocate using pay per click advertising, using Google Adwords or Yahoo sponsored search. If you don’t know much about this type of advertising I’m here to tell you, it can add up to an awful lot of money that you will spend on advertising in a very short period of time with possibly no return on investment. This was a big mistake I made my first time out.

The better option is to build a good page with good relevant content good key words and a good page title. As you build your pages you may be tempted to use a lot of bright colors, flashy logos and deep backgrounds. Unless your market niche is bright sparkly graphics try to keep it to a minimum.

You are the public relations director for you website and no one will take you seriously if you pull up to the meeting in a brand new Chrysler 300 with poster paints, jingly chains and stickers all over the car.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. You want your reader to read what you have to say without too many distractions.

Always, always make sure you speak from the heart and over deliver on your content. The main purpose of the internet is “and always will be” information exchange. Give the reader the information they came for plus a little extra, and it will pay you dividends in the future.

Eventually, as these people get to know you through your website, they will come to trust you and rely on what you say to be the truth as best you can deliver it. You may even find that these website viewers will give you valuable information to help you further your own business or better your life in some way, and that is the true magic of this business.

Everyone is looking for that personal touch, something hand made and unique, it seems to be something we’ve lost in our rubber stamp world. Make whatever you do unique. And there is a hidden treasure here in what I say.

Being unique and original gives you a great search engine advantage over cookie cutter websites. The search engines use spiders or web-bots to crawl the internet and catalog websites, if they find a pile of websites offering the exact same layout, colors, content and theme, the spiders will knock the rankings down for that particular layout, especially if they are all located on the same server. It’s a form of spamming and the spiders hate spam.

There is a lot more to this than what i've said so far. If you want more information. Just visit my website. I'm updating and adding new material almost every day. there are some good offers contained on the site.

By Mike

Builders and Interiors Kerala|Builders and Interiors Cochin|Architectural Designers Kerala|Architectural Designers Cochin

A & B Group , established in the year 1979 is one of the few  firms in Kerala , specializing in Interior decoration and designing . Located in the heritage town of Thripunithura , the firm is promoted by Mr Antony Joseph who has more than  25 years of experience  in the field of Interior & Building Design. He is not just an excellent painter but is equally famous for his expertise in sculpturing and Art Direction . Mr. Antony Joseph is also incomparable for his impeccable knowledge in vaasthu shastra .The unique blend of tradition and technology he imparts in his work be it interior designing, sculpturing, painting or landscaping is one the major reason why the group has now become a big success in a relatively short time span. He is also one of the few in the state who uses vaasthu vidya from various north Indian states and Mumbai in his works.

AB is one of the leading professional interior design organization from Cochin, undertaking contract works for building. With nearly a decade of experience in the field of building contracts, AB aims in constructing building in old fashion way. The company aspires and endeavors to meet client's requirement to the maximum. Our services include building construction, interior designs.

Our task include both the designing and constructors. Any built structure is an outcome of close coordination and participation of a number of people, technical and non-technical, including architects, contractors, surveyors, engineers, designers along with bricklayers, masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers etc. Everyone is specialized in his own area hence beyond comparison.

By Articles Directory

3 Things you can do to build your home-based business faster

There are a few simple things that you can do to build your home-based business faster,I would like to concentrate on the 3 most important things.

1. Find a system that is already in place ,dont waste your time to try and think of something new.

2. Do your due diligence properly.This will save you money and time.

3. Study successful people in your industry.Learn from them.Copy what they are doing and improvise.

The biggest mistake that new home-based buiness owners make is that they try to think of new business ideas. The thing is,chances are very good that someone has already thougt of your idea.The best thing to do is to explore business opportunities that are already out there and are making millions for people already.The first thing you need to do is to plug into such a system.Dont reinvent the wheel.You will most probably only waste your time and money.

The second biggest mistake that new home-based business owners make is that they jump into a business opportunity with eyes closed.It is important to do your due diligence. Rather spend more time to do your home work.This will save you time and money.It will give you the confidence in the knowing that you are busy with the perfect business that is deserving of your time.

The fastest and easiest way to get your home-based business going and growing is by finding others who have already done what you want to do and learn from them.As fast and as much as you can ,then improvise.By just doing these 3 things,you can build your business much faster.

By Rohan Rossouw

Accounting Bookkeeping Services

Yantram Online Accounting Bookkeeping Services  & online accounting company  focus Small Business to Large Scale Business in all over the globe. Our High Skilled Virtual Bookkeepers are  Professional Accountants who are able to handle high level Accounts with 100% accuracy.

Our High Skilled Accountant specially trained for Outsourcing Bookkeeping Services with high accuracy and maximum client satisfaction.

Yantram Outsourcing Bookkeeping Services Accounting Bookkeeper are concerned with the recording of financial data relating to business operation in a significant and orderly manner which covers procedural aspects of works and embrace record keeping function.

Virtual Bookkeepers in London & Bookkeepers in USA; utilize a number of technology tools to ensure data safety and protection such as



Yantram online accounting Firm provides Accounting Bookkeeper along with outsourcing bookkeeping - outsourced accounting services at 100% security and safety. Yantram Accounting Outsourcing Company India is using secure process of Online Accounting Work as given below,

- Remote Access
- Secure Application Service providers
- Amazing security tools to protect client's data.
- Strict and rigid legalities to safeguard from misuse.



Yantram provides all major software like QuickBooks, Peach Tree, IRIS, Sage 50 and many more for their Accounting Bookkeeping Services.

Every Individual and Business must be concerned on their future. We have all seen how in most all cases the cost of goods and costs of being a Business is a concern much more than in the past. With Contemporary Thinking - BD Accounting / Bookkeeping has found an important niche, that is not new, but is now could be a necessary service that can solve many situations.


Specialize in offering customized services that allow our clients to outsource their accounting and payroll problems saving them time, money, effort and Profit space. Throughout, our approach is flexible. We employ a 'can do' attitude that focuses on the needs of our clients, adding real value to their operations.


We believe in rendering professional quality services which are at the leading edge of price and performance. Our strong belief in ensuring the highest standards of quality is shared by every one of our team members. This collectively ensures that we always meet or even exceed the expectations of even the most discerning of our clientele.

By Yantram Services

A Guide to Business Investments

Although no business investment comes with a guarantee of success there are things you can do to reduce the risk involved.  Professional investors generally consider the same factors to be important in all investment decisions.  Before making any investment you should ask the following questions.

How long has the company been in business?

If a company has been in existence for a long period of time then there is a good chance that at the very least your investment will be secure.  However companies with long standing histories do not necessarily make the best investment.  Often newer companies can provide greater returns on investment although at the same time carrying a higher amount of risk.

How much experience in the industry does the management team have and how successful were the managers in previous business ventures?

A key factor in the success or failure of any business is the quality of its management.  When deciding if a business is worth investing in you need to try to evaluate just how well managed the business is.   One factor you may want to look at is the previous track record of the management team.  If they have a record of managing successful businesses in the past then it can be a good indicator for future success.Additionally a management team that has a lot of experience in the same industry can be a good thing to look for.

Do you know enough about the industry to be able to evaluate the company and make a wise investment?

Does the company have a realistic marketing plan?

For a company to be successful in most cases it will need to have a solid marketing and advertising strategy in place.  When evaluating if a business will make a sound investment you need to be sure that it has a good marketing plan.

By wok2go

Business by the Astrological Signs

As both a graphic design consultant and an astrology hobbyist, in this month's column I thought it would be interesting to discuss what it's like to work with people of each of the 12 sun signs in the zodiac.

Your clients' sun signs can help you figure out the best way to work with them, as well as their likes and dislikes.

Disclaimer: Please note that astrology is much more complicated than just the 12 sun signs, so use this information as a general guide only.

Aries – WHAT’S NEXT? Aries are enthusiastic and have fiery reactions. They enjoy starting things and don’t always like to finish them, so do the project quickly and suggest new ideas before the current one is completed.

Taurus – Taurus’s don’t like change and love beauty, harmony, and money, so the bottom line is very important to them…how PROFITABLE will this website or ad be?

Gemini - RESTLESS and INTELECTUAL…I THINK I like the curly the font, the purple background, the wavy picture…the ocean photo…well, you get the picture…

Cancer – How does this make me FEEL? What is the emotional overtone of that design, what do people FEEL when they look at my project? (I can attest to this one, being a cancer chickee…)

Leo – Leo’s like being the center of attention and they adore being appreciated, so APPRECIATE their opinion and make sure you have the most flattering picture of them in their marketing materials.

Virgo – Virgo enjoys fixing things and being of service, so be prepared to make LOTS of changes to a project. But, when they are happy, you know your work must have gotten to the point of being FLAWLESS!

Libra – Libra’s like CHOICES…so make a couple different versions for them to choose from and they will ponder it over for a few days and get back to you. Give them the time and choices to choose.

Scorpio – INTENSITY…Scorpios will get a gut reaction to the project and will either love it or hate it and then go from there...

Sagittarius – HAPPY go LUCKY…freedom loving…just don’t tie them down to one choice or one way of doing things. Expect to go with the flow and make changes as you go along.

Capricorn – STATUS seeking – how will this benefit my image and help me climb the success ladder?

Aquarius – Wacky, UNUSUAL, shocking…they love the most off the wall ideas and will go with them just to get a reaction from other people. Use your strangest designs on them and they will love it!

Pisces – Mystery, INTUITION, and Creativity – when working with Pisces…they just KNOW. Encourage them to listen to their inner guidance when asking for feedback.

By Articles Directory

Brand Awareness and the Fundamentals of Brandcasting

For a company to become well known in the online world, you might think that they would have to spend a large amount of money. While marketing budgets of leading companies are extensive, many effective online branding strategies can easily be achieved with nothing more than creativity and determination.

You have a good brand if people can recall your product or service from memory. You want them to trust you and think of you and your website before they think about any competitors. Branding isn't just for big businesses; small businesses, especially those with an online presence, can't afford not to start some kind of brand awareness campaign.

There is no shortcut to branding success. If you take a look at some of the sales promises made today, you would think that all you need to do to make millions is to launch a website and use free search engine submission services. These kinds of tactics don't give you the whole truth.

Brand awareness, or brandcasting, is a strategy that will define a company, show how it is unique, while creating a comfort level in the potential customer. A large part of branding is being consistent in everything about your company. This includes the company's message and vision, the website, the employees, and even the packaging. Who are you and what are your values? All this takes time and vision.

Before even starting to get your brand out there, you should develop a winning slogan and logo. These will be the first things remembered by the public. If you hear the word McDonald's, you will see the Golden Arches in your mind; if you hear KFC, the Colonel will present himself, if MSN is mentioned, it is reasonable to see the fluttering of a butterfly. Defining a simple, two or three tone image that can be inexorably linked with your company can be extremely powerful.

While this is fundamental to both successful offline and online branding strategies, it is important not to forget the actual development of your brand. You might have an excellent logo, but consistent failure in delivery of customer service can take its toll. Your brand and your message should focus on your clients and not on you. Customer benefits that are consistent with your marketing message will get you increased sales.

Your website should be an integral part of your brand as well. It should incorporate the promise you are making to your customers. Remember that customers make their decisions to purchase based on friend and family recommendations,advertising and experience. Building a brand is like building a reputation. Companies interested in long-term success must invest in creating a targeted brand experience for their customers.

While providing great customer service will help your reputation, customer service does not always have to be in the form of responding well to queries. Be proactive; FAQs and well-targeted, well-researched help guides on your website are immensely powerful in garnering a strong reputation. Use article marketing to its fullest advantage to leverage your position as an expert in your field.

Beware of online gimmicks, though. Many companies have seen a surge in business through competitions and contests. But these numbers are impossible to maintain once the offer is over. Use them sparingly, and tie them in with press releases and long lasting deals.

Whether large or small, local or global, social networking can be your key to the successful implementation of online branding strategies. If you have something to say, be it a product launch or exciting development, put a teaser on your social page. People will take the bait.

In much the same way, you can create a blog for your company. Twitter can also be a great way to use a short, snappy sentence to announce a new online initiative.

Many companies have made the mistake of trying to differentiate between their online marketing campaigns, and their offline equivalents. This couldn't be more wrong. Your customers exist in the Real World. Use the reliable marketing double-hitter (where online and offline branding strategies are in complete unison). Indeed, offline advertising can drive your online commerce significantly, if tailored well.

Long before the economic crash of late 2008 hit us; competition in the world of e-commerce was becoming ever more ruthless. However, as a result of the global recession, many companies are looking to the net to not only push forward, but also to survive the storm. Online shopping is actually on the increase, as people rein themselves in and limit their impulse purchases. They do this by not visiting the malls, and keeping away from temptation. Take advantage of this by creating an online brandcasting strategy so you can see more traffic on your website.

By Enzo F. Cesario

7 Ways To Optimize Adsense Legally

Unleashing the secrets that make Adsense Pay

Thanks to adsense, blogs, rss feeds and their listings -- not to mention an arsenal of free types of advertising -- it's possible to make a very good income without spending a penny and with minimal effort.  The trick is to optimize for it.

PLEASE NOTE: Though adsense may have originated with Google's system, there are many other adsense-type programs available, all of which are as viable -- some even more so -- as theirs.  The information included here applies to most of them.

While everyone else is busy optimizing for search engines, by optimizing for adsense, a site can feasibly pull enough traffic that simply clicks on the ads to forget about other forms of sales.

However, bear in mind that most adsense TOS agreements prevent any unfair or "fraudulent" clicking, even so much as a note saying, "click here to support this site," which risks banishment by most adsense companies.  This, of course, is to protect those adwords customers who pay to have their ads displayed.  It is they who are robbed (not the companies) when an ad is clicked irresponsibly.  Furthermore Google, for one, can track clicks effectively enough to detect any artificial or irresponsible clicking will garner any income received this way.

With that in mind, by understanding how adsense-type programs work, one can optimize a page, legally, to create a substantial income.  And while guidelines are designed primarily focused on adsense, many of these strategies will increase a sites' general revenue as well.

1.  TOP SEARCHES
The first step is to design a site around the top searches.  There are various tools (keyword selectors and zeitgeist, for example) that help gather this information.  Of course, there is also the "niche marketing" school of thought, i.e., to find a smaller group that has less page-per-click competition.  In this case, the ideal is to find a large audience-small page ratio.  But after more than a year of marketers scouring the web for them, finding one is rare and searching for one can take a LOT of time.  Not hours or days, but weeks or months.

2.  HIGHEST PAYING KEYWORDS
Lists of these can be found simply by searching the internet.  Of course combining the highest paying adsense keywords with Top Searches may make a very strange mix.  Afterall, the top search (at the time of this writing) is Britney Spears while the top-paying words relate to mesothelioma and asbestos cancer.  So, unless Britney Spears speaks out on mesothelioma, there's little chance these could be combined legally*.  But, by looking down the lists there are more feasible combinations.  The main thing to understand is it's only a combination of the two (high-paying keywords & top searches) that will bring enough traffic to garner any measurable LEGAL income from adsense.

3.  PLACES, PLEASE
Placing the ads prominently on the site is a no-brainer, though some marketers still tend to hide them toward the bottom of the site.  Another TOS factor, too, is a content-to-ad ratio that adsense programs used to insist on, but seem to be slipping.  Generally the policy was no more than two banner ads per page though many sites that end up at the top of searches seem to flaunt this rule.  But who knows how long they last, too.  Traditionally, putting one banner across the top, just below the title, and one "skyscraper" down one side, with content in the middle is the best.

4.  MULTI-PAGE IT
One page allows for 2 ads, but more ads can be placed on each additional page on the site.  For those lacking ideas for additional pages, the simplest page would be a separate contact page, as well as an "about us" or testimonial page, all of which are viable additions.

Incidently, it's ironic that so many marketers create mile-long splash pages rather than a group of pages and never add one adsense ad to them.  As if, by doing this, it will garner more sales, when the truth is, they sacrifice as much as gain because these pages are rarely indexed and annoy visitors as many as they attract, simply because of their set up.  Understand this: adsense is a way to profit from EXIT traffic, something that WILL occur at one point or another, no matter how wonderful the page.  

5. HIGHLIGHT OR BLEND
Some prefer the adsense to blend into their site, almost hiding it from visitors.  But this diminishes its effectiveness.  Rather, by highlighting it, visitors will be more aware of it, allowing it to stand out.  Of course, we'd all prefer our visitors to stay at OUR site, buy OUR product, etc.  But the fact is, many won't.  Isn't it better to gain something from their departure?

6.  ADSEARCH
This feature is only available from some of the larger adsense programs.  If it is available, placing it at the bottom of a page offers the visitor the convenience of doing a search without having to first go to the SE.  Of course, many SEs and browsers offer toolbars that diminish the effectiveness of this.  But adding it will create another exit point that is to your advantage-- and seems like a service, too.

7.  AFRAID OF COMPETITION?
Some adsense programs offer a "block competition" option, one in which specific sites may be barred.  However, to believe it's possible to effectively block ALL your competition is naive.  Though it may at first seem outrageious to help advertise for the competition, again, at least one will gain from their advertisement (and, for those who need payback remember: the competition is paying you).

Each of these strategies increase a site's adsense revenue.  By using all of them, the adsense ads will create a steady revenue stream which will increase with the site's traffic stream.--mo

*Also, this combination uses Google's rates, which may vary in other adsense programs.

By Marige O'Brien

Affiliate Marketing - Which Products Do I Sell?

There are a lot of different affiliate products on today's market. How can I know whiich ones to sell? This article reveals the 1 principle to use in choosing your products.

There are literally millions of affiliate products available for you to represent. No matter how defined or targeted your niche is, you will have many products to choose from. How will you know which ones will make you money or which ones will be a total flop?

Today, I want to share with you one simple principle that you can use when choosing your affiliate products. If you adhere to this principle, your advertising and marketing will direct and encourage your customers to buy from you. If you neglect this principle, your marketing and advertising will not be as effective and your bottom line will be less than it could be.

What’s the principle? Let me describe it for you with a story…

Once upon a time (don’t all stories begin with “Once upon a time”?), long, long ago, in a not so far away place, lived a man named... Rob, and he loved to surf. This was long before the internet, and the surfing was done in the ocean, not on a computer! This was also before Rob was married and long before having children, back in the day when he actually had time for such activities... I’m sorry…I digress...

To support his surfing habit, Rob worked at night as a food server at a sit down (as opposed to drive through) Mexican restaurant. Rob made lots of money working as a food server, a.k.a. waiter, because of one thing...

Drum roll please...because here is the principle for you to remember...

Rob made lots of money as a waiter because he LOVED the food that he was selling. Yes, that’s right, he LOVED the food. He loved the food at this particular restaurant, for we all know that not all restaurants are created equal, so much, that the people he served would always buy more. They would buy more appetizers, more guacamole, more drinks, more desserts and even more food to take home – because Rob told them honestly how much they would like it. Bigger checks equaled bigger tips, which equaled more money for Rob to use to buy another surf board.

And so it is for us today. If you are really trying to market and advertise a particular product, you’ve got to like it yourself. And if you LOVE it, so much the better! It's easier to convince people to buy something when you truly believe they will benefit.

Of course, there are other reasons in picking which affiliate products to sell. Questions like... Is it selling for others? What percentage of sales are done with referrals? What is the commission? Do I like the sales page?

But we’ll save these for another training article!

Today’s main point is simply this...”Do I like the product myself?” Can I share this product with another person, looking them in the eye or not, and honestly tell them it is a good thing? If you can answer YES, you’ll be one step closer to closing your next sale.

Now get out there and market!

By Rob Richards

Guiding Principles of World Entrepreneurship Forum

On my way to the World Entrepreneurship Forum in Lyon, France (November 18-21) and our 2009 main topic is:

How can governments, at all levels, support the development of entrepreneurship?

We will also review the nine (9) recommendations we proposed during our 2008 Forum, aimed at enabling and fostering the development of the various forms of entrepreneurship. They are as follows:

World Entrepreneurship Forum Guiding Principles

1. Reform Regulations

To promote a truly entrepreneurship-centered business climate, reform tax and regulatory environments so as to make it easier, faster, and less costly for entrepreneurs to set up enterprises, grow them if they are successful, or close them if not; minimize the time they spend on licenses, tax procedures, litigation and other similar activities.

2. Create New “Entrepreneur-Friendly” Institutions

Introduce new-style entrepreneurship-friendly support institutions that provide technological knowledge, market information, business know-how, certification services, access to capital, and other essential business support.

3. Promote Proper Governance

Set forth a governance framework which unambiguously encourages risk-taking, while also ensuring that ethics lapses, corruption, and neglect of environmental sustainability carry a high cost to reputation.

4. Foster Positive Entrepreneurial Attitudes

Foster a cultural context where entrepreneurship has a positive image and where entrepreneurial success is publicly celebrated.

5. Create an Early Education Entrepreneurial Curricula

Include within schools a curricula that promotes the development of the skills and attitudes that are the hallmark of entrepreneurship, such as: Creating a vision, perseverance, creativity, spotting needs, empathy, leadership, dealing with ambiguity, risk-taking, and follow-through.

6. Develop Young Adult Entrepreneurial Curricula

Include within an education curricula practical elements of entrepreneurship and business development so as to increase the entrepreneurial IQ within the community.

7. Promote Lifelong Entrepreneurial Education

Provide entrepreneurs lifelong learning and development platforms for sharing of experience and best practices, coaching and mentoring, mutual support, and international networking, with the strong support of key stakeholders from business and civil society.

8. Empower Entrepreneurial Women, Minorities and the Disadvantaged

Support programs must also specifically target women, minorities, and the disadvantaged. Further, governments should implement laws and policies that ensure that entrepreneurs are sensitive to gender empowerment as well as diversity promotion.

9. Understand Entrepreneurship

Make it known that entrepreneurs are positive agents of social change, wealth creation, transparency, sustainability, and innovation.

Formal Guiding Principles can be found here.

I hope to have a chance to report out to you while in France but if I get too busy, which is very likely, I will wait until after I return to provide you with key takeaways. However, in the meantime, catch a LIVE broadcast of key moments here (http://www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com).

By the way ... here's why I am a member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Photo: World Entrepreneurship Forum -- members in 2008.