Freelance work websites are interesting

I've been hanging out for very short bursts of time at GetAFreelancer.com . I won't go into exactly why, but I would like to tell you about what I find there. Don't jump to conclusions!

When I obtained an account there, I must have checked a box that said (in effect) "it's ok to send me updates" because I get them now. Think about how good updates can help your business. Do you want to get rid of excess inventory? Do you want to tell someone about your new Corvette? Maybe people would rather hear about your personal adventures than business stuff. Business does get boring, IMHO.

Here is a today's update from GetAFreelancer:

<>

New Projects Posted!

The following 5 projects were recently added and fit under your expertise:

I need 20 articles on How to use Live Auctions for Ebay - (Budget: $30-250, Posted by Disney2000 at 12/30/2009 at 21:56 EST, Jobs: Articles, Copywriting)
http://www.getafreelancer.com/projects/580503.html

i need a good writer - (Budget: $250-750, Posted by tzvika770 at 12/30/2009 at 22:01 EST, Jobs: Article Rewriting, Articles, Blog, Fiction, Travel Writing)
http://www.getafreelancer.com/projects/580509.html

Convert PDF to Word Doc - (Budget: $30-250, Posted by pispayton at 12/30/2009 at 22:26 EST, Jobs: Article Rewriting, Copywriting, eBooks, Editing, PDF)
http://www.getafreelancer.com/projects/580519.html

$50 for 50 articles 350-400 words each NATIVE ENGLISH ONLY! - (Budget: $30-250, Posted by djdj1000 at 12/30/2009 at 22:45 EST, Jobs: Article Rewriting, Articles, Blog, Copywriting, SEO)
http://www.getafreelancer.com/projects/580527.html

Article Writing - (Budget: $30-250, Posted by rosmith at 12/30/2009 at 22:57 EST, Jobs: Articles, Copywriting, Publishing, Report Writing, Technical Writing)
http://www.getafreelancer.com/projects/580532.html


< /snip >

I am fascinated by what people are willing to pay for. Be aware that GetAFreelancer.com and elance.com are about much more than article writing.

Main categories are:

Websites, IT & Software
Writing & Content
Design, Media & Architecture
Data Entry & Admin
Engineering & Science
Product Sourcing & Manufacturing
Sales & Marketing
Business, Accounting, Human Resources & Legal

If you take a peek, you will find scores of offerings in each category.

There you have today's report from InternetLand. (sorry, that domain name is spoken for by someone else, darn it)

Greg Cryns

Great PLR articles found here
Cheap adversing here
.

Ad Copy - once size does not fit all

3 Reasons Why the Copy You Hate Will Bring Profits You Love

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D.

Every copywriter's nightmare. We write beautiful copy for a client, who takes one look and says, "You can't be serious! This is too sales-y...or too simple...or too different..."

And I'm reminded of the days, many years ago, when I volunteered as a Pet Adoption Counselor with the San Francisco SPCA. Looking back, I must have been training for what I do now. I had lots of enthusiasm. People often teased, "You're selling cats!" Sure enough, many visitors went up with a crate holding a furry bundle of joy.

Our Volunteer Coordinator kept reminding us, "Don't judge the visitors. You're not going home with this person. The adopter who drives you crazy may be the best thing that ever happened to a dog."

True.

And copy works the same way. We don't judge our friends the way their dogs and cats do. And we don't read our copy like our own customers.

I tell my own clients, "You may not like this copy. But you're not the target market, even if you think you resemble your clients."

Here are 3 reasons why.

1. Customers live on a different planet.

If you hang around the Internet, you develop a unique lifestyle. For instance, some of my best friends are people I've never met. We exchange emails and phone calls for years. My favorite web designer is an American living in Brazil.

And you hear the same promises over and over. "Bring traffic to your website." "Attract all the clients you can handle."

But if you're targeting ordinary people (i.e., those who have actually met their best friends in person), many of our ho-hum phrases will seem fresh and exciting.

"Hype-free marketing? I like that," purred an earth-dwelling prospect recently. "That's a whole new way of looking at marketing."

Your world may not be the Internet. Maybe you live fitness, coaching, cooking, or finance. But chances are your familiar phrases will seem fresh and exciting to your target market.

2. Customers want to be sold.

They know you're not putting up websites and creating brochures so you'll feel good and collect gold stars for your Permanent Records.

And if they want your service, they're looking for reasons to say "yes." Think of all those Madison Avenue ads with the theme, "You deserve it." Or, "You're worth it." They're giving us permission to spend our money.

As long as you're tasteful and ? drum roll ? meeting their real needs, your customers will actually appreciate learning about what you offer.

Recently I was pitching my services to "Frank," a prospective client who sells fitness services. Hesitantly, I referred him to a website I'd written for "Tom" ? a financial professional who was terrified we were selling way too hard.

Frank was impressed. "This isn't the least bit pushy. It's so warm and friendly! Tom sounds like such a nice guy."

We're still talking. But when Frank sees his own fitness site, I bet he says, "Um ? do you think we're selling too hard?"

3. Customers don't want to stop and think.

Some words and phrases slow us down. For some good examples, pick up your college textbooks and maybe a couple of academic journals. You'll see words like "moreover," "counterintuitive," "although," and more. (I know. I wrote many.)

How did you read your college textbooks? I bet you read slowly, made marginal notes and hung on tight to your yellow highlighter pen.

Alas, website visitors don't study our copy the same way. We have to help them create highlights and move along fast.

Which gets read more:

(a) "Although you can work very hard, you may not see results for a long time."

(b) "But you can work really hard and wait forever for results."

Bottom Line: Expect surprises when you unveil your copy to your clients, especially if you're new to marketing yourself and your own products. When I first wrote the title Your 21-Day Extreme Career Makeover, I cringed: Was my site becoming the virtual equivalent of a used car lot?

But my target market ? professionals and senior executives ? started buying. And the rest, as they say, is history

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., helps service professionals and solo-preneurs use the Internet to increase sales and build a community of raving fans -- without turning themselves into techies or pushy sales people.

Download: 7 best-kept secrets of client-attracting websites. http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com/subscribe.html mailto:goodwincathy@yahoo.com

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

Greg Cryns

Great PLR Articles for Your Website or Blog

.

How many inbound links do you need?

How Many Links Does It Take To Get To The Middle Of Google Page One?
Copyright (c) 2009 Bill Platt
911 Reputation Management
http://911reputation.com


Everyday it seems, people are asking me the optimum numbers of
inbound links they need to acquire for their website in order to
rank well in Google.

My answer is going to seem a little flip, but it is the honest,
best answer.

Answer: You need more inbound links - of equal or higher quality
- than what your competitors have.

Albert Einstein argued that any mathematical formula that
required pages of calculations did not contain within it "the
mind of God".

So when Albert Einstein developed E=mc2, then Einstein had
fulfilled the promise of a simple formula that could encompass
the brilliance of God.

When people wonder as to how many inbound links they might need
to acquire in order to rank in the Top 4 of Google's search
results or even the Top 10 of Google's SERPs, they are generally
hoping that someone will be able to give them a numeric answer,
so that they know whether they can afford to undertake the
process or not.

I understand the WHY of the question, but there is no canned
answer that will work for everyone.

Remember, your competitor may be asking the same question and
undertaking the same processes as you are, trying to accomplish
the same goal.

No one can truly begin to understand the answer to this question,
until one has take the time to do an Inbound Link Comparison
Analysis of all of your competitors in the Top 10 spots of
Google's SERPs.

* You need to look at the Top 10 listings in Google for a
particular keyword.

* You need to do backlink checks for all ten URLs in Google's
search listings, and you need to check those numbers across a
variety of sources, including Google, Yahoo and any other tool
you can find to do a check. (Google and Yahoo both tend to
understate the actual link counts. While Yahoo will show you more
than what Google does, they also show a number of "no
consequence" links in their results.)

* You need to look at the quality of a few of the pages that
offer links to the URLs in the search results.

This is not an easy process to undertake. I have done it before,
but the best you can hope for is a "snapshot" of what is out
there, and therefore, what you need to accomplish.

Note: If Wikipedia turns up in your search query, few people with
small budgets will ever be able to dislodge Wikipedia in the
search results. What they make up for in a small number of
inbound links, they more than make up for with links from dozens
or hundreds of PR4, PR5 and PR6 pages. Wikipedia is the king of
Internal Linking, and they use that to a great degree to rank
extraordinarily high in Google's search listings.

Your analysis should seek to uncover how many links a page has to
it.

As a general rule of thumb, Google will show you less than 1% of
the existing number of links for a web page. Yahoo will sometimes
show closer to 5% of the existing number of links for a web page,
but they will not show you the highest quality of those links.

So, as you strive to gain a "snapshot" picture of the playing
field, you want to take Google's Inbound Links number and
multiply that by at least 100. Then you want to take Yahoo's
Inbound Links number and multiply that by at least 20, then cut
the number in half to acknowledge the number of worthless crap
links they have in their database. Once you have achieved these
two numbers, then I tend to call the truth "somewhere in the
middle".

With your "somewhere in the middle" number in hand, then you
need to look at the quality of links to a few of those search
listings, to get an idea of whether those links exist on higher
quality pages or simply junk pages.

If those links are on junk pages, then the goal could be achieved
by just working the numbers. But if there are a lot of high
PageRank pages in the mix, then whatever number is in your hand,
should be multiplied, perhaps 100-fold, to overcome the quality
of pages that link to your competitors.

If you get the idea that my simple formula leads to a complicated
answer, then you are right.

All of the numbers that I have included in my sample formula are
based on rough speculation, as the "snapshot" offers you your
best hope of understanding the challenge in front of you.

While the number of inbound links may be relatively easy to
determine, the link quality is a factor that is really hard to
pin down.

* If you determine that you only need 300 inbound links to rank
with the big boys, you may be right.

* Your 300 inbound links number should also be quantified
against the number of links that Google will count worthy, so you
may need 1200 links to get 300 links that Google will deem
worthy. This calculation depends more on the "quality of your
content", rather than the "quantity of your content".

* When all is said and done and your 300 Google-worthy links
have not yet put you on page one, then you know that the quality
of the links pointing at your competitors is greater than the
quality of the links pointing to you.

If you were hoping for an easy answer, I am sorry that I could
not help you with that.

But with this explanation of the challenge, you may be better
prepared to answer the big question, the question that is really
on your mind:

=== Are my hopes of achieving good rankings in Google within my
reach?

I tend to throw "worry" to the wind and just start working. I
don't worry if I can afford to do it or not. I simply start
doing, and I know that in one month, one year or five, I will
have built enough value in my website that my competitors are
going to be the ones who are trying to figure out if they can
unseat me!

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Platt has provided SEO services since 2004. In 2009, he
transformed his SEO service, into one that helps people defeat
negative search results in Google. By improving the rank of
positive website reviews in the search results, negative search
listings begin to disappear from the public eye. If you would
like to learn more about how Bill's Reputation Management SEO
service can help your business, visit: http://911reputation.com/
Bill has also owned http://thePhantomWriters.com/ since 2001.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Greg Cryns
Top Notch PLR Articles for your Website or Blog
.

Your Web Reputation

How Is Your Reputation Holding Up In Google's Search Results?
Copyright (c) 2009 Bill Platt
911 Reputation Management
http://911reputation.com/



You know, if there are listings in Google's search results that
are hurting your business, you might think that there is nothing
you can do about that. But let me assure you that given the will
and the desire, there is plenty you can do about those search
engine results that may be hurting your business.

So many people look at Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as a game
of influencing the keywords that are important to their business,
but they don't realize that SEO can also be used to diminish the
negatives in the search results.

Are You Losing Business As Result Of A Bad Review In Google?

Remember that guy who bought your product 3 years ago, and he did
not follow the instructions for use, and then complained about
how your product let him down? He could be hurting your business
right now.

How do you measure the sales that your business is losing,
because some guy complained on some website about how your
product or service is "crap".

A Real World Example

Ah... I remember when I was selling TV's for a living.

There was this fellow who came into the store and bought a
52-inch projection screen TV. We had a bonded delivery crew on
hand to help people get their purchases home, but although this
guy had just spent $2400 on a television set, he decided that he
did not want to pay $40 for delivery of his new TV set. I bet you
can see where this story is going...

So, we loaded his new TV in the back of his pickup, and he
proceeded to tie down his TV in the back of his pickup truck.

He thanked us for his TV and started the drive home.

45 minutes later, our most recent happy customer pulled into the
parking lot, toting a big-screen TV box.

As we went to meet him at the door, we could hear the glass
falling as the box moved across the floor.

He was pissed! And to our surprise, we were at fault!

You might be asking yourself why we were at fault. That is a good
question, one I even posed at the time.

We were at fault, because we did not offer free delivery!

A gust of wind had caught his box, snapping the twine that he had
used to tie it down, blowing his $2400 Phillips Big-Screen TV
onto the highway.

He said it was our fault, because we should have given him free
delivery. Never mind that we had already given him a $300
discount on the purchase of his TV.

We had offered him bonded delivery, but he refused, and now it
was our fault that his TV was broken.

The store where we worked was one of those chains that keep all
of the power to make things right at the home office. We could
not simply exchange his TV, without permission from our
superiors. If we had authorized the exchange with the guy,
without the District Manager's permission, the company would
have taken the cost of the Television out of the salesperson's
and the manager's paycheck.

I was the assistant manager, and I was NOT going to pay for this
guy's broken television. The company did not pay me enough to
fix this problem for them, out of my own pocket.

We called the DM. Of course, even though we worked until 10 at
night, the DM went home at 6pm. So, we kept dialing his cell
phone number, until he answered the phone. ;-)

He was pissed, but that was okay. We were already dealing with
"pissed", so we did not mind two people pissed at the same
time.

Thank God I was not the manager in charge that night. Thank God
for small favors...

Our District Manager said the guy was tough out of luck. I am
glad I don't work for those clowns anymore.

I agree that it should not have been our responsibility, but
surely we could find a solution for this guy. After all, he just
spent $2400 with us.

Nope. The District Manager said No, then he said No, and he said
No again.

So, the DM hung up telling us not to call him again that evening.
And we were left with the poor guy who had just signed a two-year
finance contract on a TV that was busted to hell.

Yes, I bet the guy pays for delivery next time. But the story
does not end here...

It Wasn't Your Fault, But It Is Your Problem...

The story now moves online. It moves into the newspaper. It moves
onto our sales floor for more than a week. It goes ballistic...

The customer went home that night, and turned to the power of the
Internet with his complaint. A few days later, he followed his
Internet complaints with a paid advert in the local newspaper.
Our store was getting skewered.

The guy was in the store every day, throwing a tantrum. And he
was spending his money and his time to skewer us for letting him
make a foolish decision.

It just worked out well for him. On about his tenth trip to the
store, throwing his daily tantrum in front of people who were
looking to buy a TV, he just happened to arrive on a day that the
DM was in the building. Ah... A new face behind the counter. The
customer picked out the new face in the building as being someone
over us. And wham, he let the District Manager have it, with both
barrels...

Persistence paid off in this case.

He overwhelmed the District Manager with his complaints.

The District Manager broke down and did only what the District
Manager could do for our customer. He used his privileged status
to type in the appropriate commands into the computer and make
things right for this guy.

In the end, we got him a new television for the price of delivery
to his house.

The store ate the cost of the new television. (I ended up paying
a portion of the TV anyway, because the bookkeeping department
deducted the price of the television from the sales sheets for
the month, so some of my monthly bonus was lost when that man's
television was cut from the store's profits.)

The victory that we received was that the guy was not in the
store every day scaring away our customers.

But that victory came only after we took a serious hit in our
Reputation Management. Every person that guy talked to for the
ten days after his purchase, up until he got his replacement,
knew that he had a bad experience with us. What is more, everyone
who read his paid advert in the newspaper knew that he had a
problem with our store. Even more, who knows how long his
complaint survived online...

* You know what they say, "What is posted online, stays
online."

I left my job at that store in 2005. That store closed in 2008.

I am not going to say that the store closed on account of that
guy's complaints. But I am willing to say that the store was
hurt by the guy's complaints. He did manage to drive a lot of
prospective customers out of our store, during his daily rants.
(I just checked and could not find his complaints online
anymore.)

I am willing to bet that the store closed due to the recession.
It closed about the same time that Circuit City bit the dust.

I think this story clearly illustrates that a problem does not
have to be your fault, in order for your business to pay a high
price, as a result of the problem.

Does Applebee's Really Suck?

To help illustrate the extent of this problem, I just typed into
Google the name of my favorite restaurant, Applebee's, the name
of my town, and the word "sucks".

I saw dozens of Google search results that were in effect saying
that my favorite restaurant "sucks". Many of them went to
describe this restaurant as having the "worst food ever."

Wow!

Now to be sure, restaurants everywhere suffer from this
treatment. And the big name brand restaurants can survive,
because their large customer base has a different opinion.

But what if you are a local restaurant or an obscure Internet
company?

As an permanent online fixture, I tend to be jaded about the
complaints I read about others. But I have to admit, while one or
two complaints will not sway me, several complaints in the search
results will even cause "me" to hesitate.

Can you afford for jaded internet marketers like myself to
hesitate?

You can bet that if we "jaded internet marketers" are
hesitating to purchase what you sell, those "who are not
internet marketers by profession" are running away from you!

Fixing The Problem...

You are already aware that by utilizing SEO techniques that you
can help your website rank better for some keywords in Google and
the other search engines.

But did you know that you can also create a wealth of positive
reviews for your business on a variety of web pages, and to get
those positive reviews to rank higher in the search engines than
the negative reviews?

This is how we help our customers.

We use our SEO expertise to get the positive reviews of our
client's website to outrank the negative reviews of our
client's website.

If we get enough positive reviews to occupy the top of the search
results for the target keywords, then those negative reviews of
our client's website will be buried on page two, three, four,
five or six of Google's search results.

* If people will NEVER SEE the negative reviews of your website,
product or service, then as far as most people are aware, there
ARE NOT ANY negative reviews. If there are no negatives about
your business, then everything must be positive.

You are in control of your business' reputation online, if only
you are willing take the reins and force the negatives down in
Google's search results.

We know that not everything in the search results is true or
honest. After all, the guy with the broken TV was blaming us for
his bad judgment. We know that you may not deserve what is in
Google's search results that is affecting your online reputation
in a negative way.

If you don't let us help you get the negatives out of the sight
of your prospective customers, then do it yourself or hire
another company to do it for you. Because as long as those
negative reviews exist in Google's search results, there is a
good chance that someone is going to let those negative comments
prevent them from buying from you!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Platt has provided Search Engine Optimization services since
2004. He has launched his newest service, which is designed to help
people diminish negative search listings in Google's search results.
By pushing positive reviews up in the search results, negative search
listings will begin to disappear from the public eye. If you would
like to learn more about how Bill's Reputation Management SEO
service can help your business, visit: http://911reputation.com/
Bill has also owned http://thePhantomWriters.com/ since 2001.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Greg Cryns
Top Notch PLR Articles
.
.

SEO goals - what do you want?

Do You Really Want Your Site on Page One of Google?
Copyright (c) 2009 Paul Marshall
Strategic Web Marketing Net
http://strategicwebmarketing.net/



Do you really want your website on page one of Google for your
chosen keyword phrase(s)? What do you want your online marketing
campaign to accomplish for you?

I asked a potential new SEO Coaching client that first question
last week. From my end of the phone call, it sounded as if he
almost fell out of his chair!

I followed up by asking him if he could ever think of ANY reason
for his website pages NOT to be found on page 1 in the Google
SERPs (search engine results pages).

How 'bout you? Can you think of any reasons you'd NOT want your
pages to be found for your targeted keyword phrases on page 1?

Keep in mind, I'm talking about your chosen keyword search
phrases.

I can think of at least 3 reasons. Maybe you can come up with
some of your own.

Is There Commercial Intent?

Let's say you have not just a page 1 Google result, but you're
actually the first result. Here is an important question for you
to ask yourself.

What is the commercial intent of this keyword phrase? Do the
words contained in the keyword phrase give any indication of
someone getting ready to spend money on a product or service like
you offer?

For instance, compare these keyword phrases: Keyword Research,
Keyword Research Specialist and Keyword Research Consultant. The
latter 2 phrases give an indication of someone who is getting
ready to spend money.

You can also Google the Microsoft Commercial Intent Tool and
consider its' results when evaluating your keyword search phrase
choices.

If you are targeting a keyword phrase that has questionable
commercial intention at best, is there any reason to really be
found on page 1? Wouldn't it be better to target more
appropriate phrases instead?

If there's no commercial intent, how does that help your online
marketing?

Can you see where I'm going?

How Much Traffic Really Matters

Now, I'm giving you a choice: you can have a first page result
(with commercial intent) and your position number is 4.

Your other choice is a different keyword search phrase with a
second page result, position number 12, also with commercial
intent.

So, the choice is obvious?

Well, I forgot to give you the rest of the details.

The first page choice has monthly search queries for its' phrase
of 3,240.

The second page result choice has monthly search queries for
its' phrase of 22,167.

Do you still believe that the best choice in this example is the
first page result?

According to numbers from Aaron Wall's site, approximately 6% of
search users will click on that number 4 result in Google.
That's 194 visitors in a month.

This is figuring average title and description tags of typical
online marketing ability to convert to a click. "Your mileage
may vary."

And for that second choice, the second page result? Over 1%
should click on the search result, but let's use just 1%.
That's 222 visitors per month.

Last time I checked, 222 is more than 194, so the second page
result trumps the first page result, because the second page
result has much more traffic than can convert to a transaction.

How Many Google AdWords Ads Show For Your Chosen Keyword?

If you don't see many AdWords ads, this should be a warning!

One of 2 problems exist (or both):

1. There isn't enough traffic for AdWords advertisers to target
the phrase.

2. There isn't commercial viability for the phrase.

Either way, is a first page result going to help you? Probably
not.

The Value Of A Committed Searcher

Want a recipe to waste your time (or your employees')?

Get a first page result in Google for your keyword search phrase
and place your toll-free phone number in big numbers on the top
right of each of your Web pages.

People clicking the first result in the SERPs are often less
serious than those who go through the first few results or who
continue searching onto the second page.

There may be something to be said for avoiding people who almost
randomly click the first result and who may have impulse control
"issues".

Now, if you have a large staff to answer your incoming phone
calls AND if your conversion rate from those calls is strong,
then the potential problem I described probably isn't a problem
for your business.

On the other hand, if you are a solo professional, this strategy
can be hazardous!

How are you going to perform your paid work when you get
"Internet lookiloos" asking you questions they could get
answered, if they would simply read a few words on your website?

Are these the best potential clients for your services or
products and the best use of your time?

A second page result could bring you more serious potential
customers, people who might be more likely to actually READ your
website content, understand your products or services better and
who might be more likely to convert to a transaction.

It's sure something to think about. :-)

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against first page rankings for
your online marketing. I'm just for thinking a little further
down the road than JUST first page rankings.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Marketing online since 2004, Paul Marshall can help you market
on a budget. You can learn about his affordable Internet
Marketing Consulting Services (and d-i-y Coaching) on his home
page: http://strategicwebmarketing.net/ You can learn more
about Paul on his LinkedIn profile page:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmarshallwebmarketing and at
Strategic Web Marketing.net.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Greg Cryns
Best PLR Articles for your Website or Blog
.

Branding - you need it!

Guest Post

Branding - For Better or Worse
Copyright (c) 2009 Enzo F. Cesario
BrandSplat
http://www.Brandsplat.com/


The point of a brand is to create an instantaneous association in
people's minds. The Nike 'swoosh' brings to mind footwear,
athleticism, and Michael Jordan. The Toyota 'bull' logo evokes
images of compact cars, foreign business competition, and new
ways of doing things. The name Budweiser reminds us of everything
from the actual beer to those clever talking frogs, and the
'wassup!' advertisements.

These are cases of successful, memorable branding. Michael Jordan
is retired from professional sports, the frogs haven't been on
television in years, and wassup has almost faded from day to day
use in the American pop culture vocabulary. However, every one of
these elements remains identifiable, and mentioning them to most
people will get the typical, 'oh yeah!' response to memories of
clever marketing, cementing the image of the brand in the
viewers' minds.

Branding is the creation of these memories. However,
recollections of a product being indisputably linked with a
particular name, image, or slogan can be a double-edged sword.

MCI Communications was one of the most successful challengers to
the AT&T 'Bell Monopoly' consortium between the late 1960s and
early 1980s. MCI managed to push through the breakup of the Bell
coalition and allow new players to enter into the field of
telecommunications. MCI pioneered many telecommunications
innovations, such as Single Mode Fiber Optic Cable, when other
companies were content to rely on existing standards. They were
one of the first companies to offer the now standard idea of
'in-network' calling, where MCI customers received discounts
when calling other MCI customers. MCI was one of the big,
significant players in the telecom world, so why isn't their
name still synonymous with innovation?

Because it is now synonymous with the words Worldcom, Enron, and
scandal.

In 1998, MCI merged with another company to become MCI Worldcom,
launching a widespread televised and online advertising campaign
featuring notable actors such as Sam Neil of Jurassic Park fame.
The MCI brand became inextricably linked with the Worldcom brand.
Then, on June 26 2002, the Securities Exchange Commission
launched a full inquiry into reported auditing and financial
irregularities, resulting in allegations of fraud. By July 21st,
less than one month later, it was revealed that Worldcom stock
was inflated by $11 billion dollars, and the company entered into
chapter 11 bankruptcy. MCI was ultimately bought out by Verizon,
and the legacy of a once innovative telecom company was left in
the same repository as Arthur Anderson, Enron, and the other big
financial fraud stories of the early 21st century.

While this is an extreme example, it is a caution worth
considering for anyone interested in making a brand name for his
or her product in today's market. The world is more connected,
more informed, and more critical than ever, and while a legacy of
good choices can create a strong brand, a reputation for poor or
improper decisions can and will conspire to bury a once
successful company forever.

Many times, no one can predict what will make a brand into a
particular success or failure overnight. However, every company
can take three common sense steps to protect their brand and the
products it represents.

1. Promote a Quality Product

Quality talks - if a product works, then it has a certain degree
of merit that puts it ahead of competition. If a company puts the
time and effort to get a quality product onto the market and
markets the brand in such a way that the actual qualities are
stressed, people will remember.

As an example, Tylenol is an effective painkiller for
post-surgical use. It is not a homeopathic remedy relying on word
of mouth and supposed benefits, but has demonstrable, measurable
effects on human pain and healing.

2. Be Informed About the Brand's Use

Knowing not just what one is putting out, but what is being done
with it in the market, is crucial to proper branding. To continue
with the example of Tylenol, many advertisements stress that
doctors frequently prescribe it, more than any other over the
counter analgesic. Knowing what doctors were using their product
allowed Tylenol to make a powerful claim and keep the information
in people's minds.

3. Be Prepared to Take Responsibility for the Brand

As seen in the MCI case, scandal led to the irrevocable decline
of a once-powerful brand. Conversely, Tylenol managed to take
what could have been a public relations nightmare and came out
stronger than ever as a result. When Tylenol executives found out
that tampering had led to poison getting into the product supply,
poisons that killed Tylenol consumers, they pulled every current
Tylenol product from the shelves of stores. They investigated
each of their production facilities, solved the problem, and then
launched an informative campaign letting people know when and why
it was safe to come back to their product. This disaster could
have led to the death of the company, but the executives'
willingness to take responsibility and act, rather than covering
up and denying fault, saved-a brand that is still powerful to
this day.

Again, these are examples of extreme events. Only a tiny fraction
of companies ever take their investments down the path of fraud,
and almost no one will have to deal with their product becoming a
poisonous vector. However, they illustrate the case that a brand
is a powerful association for people to make, and that like any
part of a business, it requires information and action in the
proper degrees.

What Does This Mean to Me and My Website

Normal advertising just informs the consumer about a product and
a company's brand identity. With digital advertising, the
consumer can be more involved in the brand image. In this
interactive domain, a company can listen to consumers who make
comments on their website or blog and act on negative feedback
before it becomes uncontrollable. They can try out different
advertising strategies to learn which products they should
continue to develop and which new features a product should have.

Effective digital branding allows you to identify a singular
position and establish your own distinctive voice in the
marketplace and incorporates all three of the above-mentioned
branding points. You'll be promoting a quality product. You'll
use social media strategies to keep informed about your brand's
image and you'll take responsibility for your brand, to guide
and shape it to its best advantage.

Branding takes time and thought. Digital branding takes time,
thought and an interchange with your consumers. Engaging your
customers in your brand in a relevant way is the key to
successful online branding.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat.
Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art
internet distribution and optimization to build links and
drive the right kind of traffic to your website. Go to
http://www.Brandsplat.com/ or visit our blog at:
http://www.brandsplatblog.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Greg Cryns
Best PLR for your Website or Blog

Marketing links

Here are a few good links I turned up today. Who says we have to post something creative each time? I am not in this business to make money blogging.

Blog To Book: How 6 Authors Did It - http://bit.ly/5tms4J

I'm not an enterpreneur, I'm a dirty hack - http://ff.im/-dqdYw

Essential Habits Of An Effective Professional Freelancer - http://bit.ly/91O7EZ

Beyond The Usual Link Building (SMX) - http://bit.ly/4NTCcV
This is a Video - some nice ideas here.

Greg Cryns
Excellent PLR content for your website or blog
Kick butt WordPress design
.

You can make a living on the Internet

A friend of mine called me yesterday. I had not heard from her by phone in a few months. I did send her a special eCard for Christmas two days before.

She is a web marketing pro. That means she worked like a dog for seven years building her own websites and taking chances on other web properties. Two years ago she told me one of her ventures was providing a living for her and her husband. She was not getting rich off that business, but rather she was more comfortable.

She also sells candles. For the past two years she worked diligently to build a large team (downline) in her candle business.

Her check this month is $37,000 for her candle business. That's pure profit, friends.

People say you can't make money on the web. Yes they can.

Greg Cryns
PLR Articles for your website
Expert website creation and development
.

How to use Yahoo answers for research

There are many ways to use Yahoo Answers (and other similar sites like eHow). The possibilities are many. We will do a search for you. Contact me.

Are you researching an article? Looking for web content? Looking for a quick answer to a nagging question?

I like to know what questions people are asking. What do they want to know. Here is a search performed yesterday on Yahoo Answers for the search term "HOW MUCH DOES". That was typed in surrounded by quotes. Here are the results from the first 15 pages completed on 12.15.09

1. How much does a footlong sub cost in a Subway™ restaurant in Toronto?
2. How much does it coast to get your hair chemically straightened?
3. How much does breast augmentation and double eyelid surgery cost in Korea?
4. How much does a letter cost to send out of the country?
5. How much does it cost to install new roof?
6. How much does it cost to ship a car from Akl to Invercargill?
7. How much does it cost to adopt a cat/kitten from a shelter?
8. How much does it cost to ship an Xbox 360 to Microsoft w/o the warrenty?
9. How much does it cost to have sperm frozen prior to a vasectomy?
10. How much does it cost to buy a star for someone?


How much does it coast to get your hair chemically straightened?
· How much does it cost to install new roof?
· How much does it cost to ship a car from Akl to Invercargill?
· How much does it cost to tighten my retainer?
· How much does it cost to replace a heat sensor in a furnace?

· How much does it cost to buy a star for someone?
· How much does it cost to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7?
· how much does a small tattoo on the neck hurt?
· How much does the cheapest xbox 360 cost in europe?
· How does cowlick electrolysis work and how much does it cost?

How does cowlick electrolysis work and how much does it cost?
· How much does it cost to fix rust on cars?
· How much does Russia profits annually from gas and oil exports?
· How much does it cost to put an engine in my 02 Impala?
· How much does it cost to make a Sony PSP?

· How much does a veritcal tragus piercing hurt?
· How much does it cost to fix macbook?
· How much does it cost to remove my teeth?
· How much does a droid phone bill cost?
· How much does a monroe piercing hurt?

· How much does a semen analysis cost?
· How much does a two train ticket from Lvov to Bratislava cost?
· How much does Lazer Stretch Mark Removal cost?
· how much does it cost to use facebook on my ipod touch?
· How much does a 1/4 pound of Marijuana cost in California?

· How much does a pro/ sponsored skater make a year?
· estimatedly how much does it cost for a package spa?
· How much does giving bone marrow hurt?
· How much does a used DS cost in Gamestop?
· How much does a make up artist for dead people make?

· How much does a Pro Se Divorce cost in South Carolina?
· how much does an eye appointment cost at eyemasters?
· How much does a ticket to watch a Dodgers baseball game cost?
· How much does it cost to write a book to get it published and in stores ?
· How much does a sugar glider and a cage for the sugar glider cost all together?

· How much does the average art canvas cost?
· In your opinion, how much does a single person need to make in a year to be lower middle class?
· How much does it cost to ship large boxes/ items across canada?
· How much does it cost to produce crackers?
· How much does a forensic scientist get paid a year?

· How much does it cost to ship large boxes/ items across canada?
· How much does it cost to produce crackers?
· How much does a forensic scientist get paid a year?
· How much does a pack of cigarettes cost in New York?
· How much does the average victorias secret model weigh and how tall are they?

· How much does the average 35 year old have saved in retirement and savings accounts?
· How much does it cost to replace a blown head gasket on an 2004 Volkswagon Passat?
· How much does the people to people student ambassaor trip cost?
· How much does it cost to get a paint job on a 2005 scion tc?
· How much does a John Henry Bonham drum kit cost?

· How much does it cost to send pictures off my cell phone?
· How much does 1 inch of height add to weight?
· How much does it cost to fix a gap between your two front teeth?
· how much does a trip to ireland cost?
· how much does it cost to upgrade from windows 7 starter edition to windows 7 home premium?

· How much does a water base nullify alcohol?
· How much does a tongue piercing hurt?
· how much does it cost to repair AC unit for mini cooper?
· how much does a pharmacy tech make to start at walgreen's in Louisville ky?
· How much does youtube pay you for top videos and how many views does it need to earn you money?

· How much does youtube pay you for top videos and how many views does it need to earn you money?
· How much does a Xbox 360 memory card hold?
· How much does a good daycare cost?
· How much does it take to fill up a 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac?
How much money will it cost (at gas prices now) if you fill it up with unleaded gas to get a full tank

· How much does it cost to get your belly button pierced?
· How much does it cost to raise the roof of a house?
· About how much does it usually cost to get a spring retainer?
· How much does real jonas brothers autograph cost?
· How much does meteorologist get paid per hour?

· How much does my boyfriend like me?
· How much does meteorologist get paid per hour?
· How much does my boyfriend like me?
· How much does keeping a horse cost?
· How much does it cost to make an album?

· How much does a kitten cost?
· How long does it take to get a passport, and how much does it cost?
· How much does another person's opinion of you change the way you see them?
· How much does Chase let you overspend?
· How much does it cost to send a regular letter?

· How much does it cost to move to Hawaii?
· How much does Oregon Ducks skybox tickets?
· How much does a nice apartment cost in Bronx, NY?
· How much does it cost to reupholster a car door from a burn mark? or what other ways can be done to fix

it?
· How much does a timeshare generally cost? Prince ranges please, and how do we get a timeshare?

· How much does pointe work hurt?
· How much does a flat in NY cost?
· how much does it cost to take pictures at the mall?
· how much does a KE5FR Kelly™ with Floyd Rose cost?
· How much does it cost to give out the death penalty in the united states.?

· how much does it cost to keep a moped per month in the uk?
· How much does national "pressures" and culture affect behavior?
· How much does it cost to go from Montreal to Vancouver?
· How much does an average meal cost at the Hard Rock Cafe?
· About how much does single event liability insurance cost?

· how much does it cost to live in manila, philippines?
· How much does it cost to fix my power steering pump and hose for a Mazda 6?
· How Much does the train from New York City to Wassaic NY cost?
· how much does it usualy cost for an unexperienced teen to become a model?
· How much does it cost to get a full ACU package?

· How much does it cost to go to San francisco state out of state? is it hard to get into San francisco state?
· How much does Russia profits annually from gas and oil exports?
· How much does it take to fill up a 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac?
How much money will it cost (at gas prices now) if you fill it up with unleaded gas to get a full tank
· If smoking a cig a day how much does it take your life span away?

· How much does unlimited web cost?
· How much does pointe work hurt?
· how much does it cost to take pictures at the mall?
· How much does it cost to give out the death penalty in the united states.?
· how much does it cost to keep a moped per month in the uk?

· how much does it cost to send a letter from england to south africa and how long does it take/virca

versa?
· How much does it cost to change your identity?
· About how much does single event liability insurance cost?
· How much does marijuana cost?
Hello, I was wondering how much I should pay for a quad, or how much should I pay for... Well, depends on

the quality and the type of weed. Usually, it around $10-30 a gram. Ask this guy what the price...

· how much does a translator usually charge for 1 page?
how much does it usually cost to translate 2000 characters (about 1 page...
· How much does a car paint job cost?
· How much does it cost to ship a kindle 2 and a cover to Australia?
· How much does the average 35 year old have saved in retirement and savings accounts?

· How much does it cost to get a full ACU package?
· How much does it cost to go to San francisco state out of state? is it hard to get into San francisco state?
· How much does maturity matter to college girls? How do I act more mature?
· How much does it cost to repaint and refinish a gym floor?
· How much does a tongue piercing hurt?

· How much does waxing hurt?
· How much does it cost the Military to replace a dismissed Gay soldier?
· How much does a neurosurgeon earn per year,after taxes?
· How much does apple charge to fix a broken screen on an ipod?
· How much does Discovery pay to have a show filmed at your house?

· How much does a kittens first shot cost?
· How much does prescriptions for glasses cost usually?
· How much does University of Oregon look at 9th grade results?
· How much does an online pottery class cost?
· How much does it cost to send a Christmas Card to Sydney Austurialla from USA?

· How much does it cost to build a hydroelectric energy plant? And how much does it cost to maintain?
· How much does an A-100 Hammond organ sell for?
· How Much Does A 10x6 Sheet Of Plexi Glass Cost?
· How much does a cockateil cost each month?
· how much does it cost to get a 6lb puppy spayed in the Seattle area? what about a 11lb dog?
· How much does your local bowling center charge per person?

· How much does a full body paint job cost for a 2005 malibu, I want it to be black from maroon.?
· How much does an online pottery class cost?
· How much does it cost to send a Christmas Card to Sydney Austurialla from USA?

We will do a search for you. Contact me.

Greg Cryns
Need some great PRL articles?

.

Namecheap.com Christmas marketing campaign

I am impressed by Namecheap's Christmas campaign. Smart dudes.

1. They are using Twitter to spread the word. (viral marketing)

2. They are offering a lot of great prizes. (value)

3. Like most retailers these days, times are slow. They are using Guerrilla Marketing tactics. I love those when they are creative.

4. I am a targeted customer since I've used Namecheap's service. Since they do give good service I am likely to spread the word.

Overall, I like what they are doing even though I hate Christmas Hype. Did you know you can send Christmas gifts through a Christmas Gift Registry now? Ludicrous comes to mind. I have NO financial affiliation with NameCheap but I'm not shy to toot someone's horn when they perform well.

Please Comment on this. I would love to hear what you think.

Here is the email I received from NameCheap.

<>

Hello gregory:

We at Namecheap are in a festive mood this month and we're hoping to spread the holiday cheer to bring in 2010 with a bang. We're giving away 8 free .com domains ($9.69 value) every single hour on the hour for 10 straight days beginning December 14th and $20,000 worth of prizes including laptops and the new Barnes & Noble nook eBook reader.

It's super easy to participate in this winter giveaway extravaganza. Simply join Twitter, follow Namecheap
and wait until the questions are asked. If you're the first person to answer correctly, you are guaranteed $9.69 credit in your Namecheap account. Seven winners that also answer correctly will be picked randomly and also get the credit in their accounts. Over the course of our competition, the three highest scorign winners will receive a Dell Studio 15 laptop ($699 value) and two runners up will receive nooks ($259 value).
Full competition details can be found at www.namecheap.com/contest.


Special .info pricing
For a short time only, new registrations of .info domains cost just $1.99 per year. Full domain TLD pricing can be found at http://www.namecheap.com/domain-pricing.asp?pricefor=register.

We look forward to playing trivia with you and wish you a very happy holiday season. Thank you for choosing Namecheap!

Please Comment on this. I would love to hear what you think.

< /snip >

Greg Cryns

Need great PLR articles?

"Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven." ~W.C. Fields

Experts can hurt you

Hey, I'm not dissing experts. They do have their place. It's a little like modern medicine. It gets so complicated that you need to be careful with it. But when you need what it can do, well, grab it!

However, experts carry a lot of old baggage with them. They tend to depend on past successes and overlook new ways to create good opportunities. For example, expert opinion on the Trader Joe's grocery store said it couldn't be done. Now it is a fantastic money maker.

Call the experts in when you have a thorny problem. Just be careful to think outside the box and take what they offer with a grain or two of doubt. Be pliant. Take risks. Don't rely on past successes to carry you further. Sometimes consulting a newbie can be more profitable. Really.

Here is an old story that might make sense for you:


The man who knew too much

There once was a student who was very knowledgeable. One day he went to his master's house. When they were seated opposite each other, the master began to pour the tea while the student began to tell him what he know. The more the student talked, the more the master poured.

Soon the student's cup was running over, the saucer overflowing and the tea spilling on his clothes.

The student asked the master why he had kept pouring the tea.

The master replied, "When the mind is filled to overflowing, like the teacup, there is no room for anything new in it."

Eventually the student realized what the master knew immediately - that he was all wet!

(note: "all wet" means "full of it")

Greg Cryns
Website design and small business promotion
.

If you don't make waves, you'll drown

Risk takers live or die by three cardinal rules:

Rule 1: Prepare
Rule 2: Prepare
Rule 3: Prepare

Is there such a thing as a cautious risk taker?

When you see someone who is successful in any endeavor or business, you do not see the months and years of preparation through hard work that went into getting to that position. We see the final destination, but not the journey.

Some people think the Beatles rock group were an overnight success. Not so. They went through years of practice Not long before their first big hit song was published, they played 48 shows in Hamburg. Germany. These were not rock and role clubs. They were strip clubs. Those were tough performances.

The Beatles were risk takers. George Harrison had to lie about his age of 17 so the band could play in Hamberg. Later Harrison was reported and deported. McCartney and drummer Pete Best were also deported when they set a condom on fire that was hanging from a nail in their room.

The Beatles returned to Hamburg in 1960 for more gigs. Returning to Liverpool, the Beatles became locally famous at a small club in Liverpool known as The Cavern Club. However, the band kept going back to Hamburg where a single called "My Bonnie" made the charts.

The Beatles took chances and had their eyes set on the prize. They never stopped preparing.

I think you will find a similar story behind nearly every successful business.

Greg Cryns
Work At Home Profiles
The Mighty Mo Website Design

Top Yahoo searches 2009 for Finance and Market

Note: Student loans, Bernard Madoff

Top Finance Searches

1. Coupons
2. Unemployment
3. Stimulus Plan
4. Cash For Clunkers
5. Student Loans
6. IRS Refund
7. Foreclosures
8. Government Jobs
9. Bernard Madoff
10. Health Care Bill

“Market Darlings” Related Searches

Note: LinkedIn, Kindle

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Hulu
4. Bing
5. iPhone
6. LinkedIn
7. Dollar Stores
8. Palm Pre
9. Rosetta Stone
10. Kindle

source: Search Engine Land

Greg Cryns
The Mighty Mo Website design and SEO Promotion
.

Link Building 2010

The times are a-changing as the song goes.

Many webmasters, myself included, did not worry too much about getting inbound links to my websites. Why? Many of my sites were created many years ago. The earliest was in 1998.

But now I've lost ground because I did not pay attention to or even believe in the power of link building. In the old days we pushed "reciprocal linking". Then Big Brother Google told us that it preferred one-way incoming links, at least that is what I heard. (time to recheck with Matt Cutts)

Here is a fantastic article on the subject of link building, then and now.

How To Take Control Of Your Link Building In 2010

Greg Cryns
Website design and SEO promotion
.
.

GMail power tips from Matt Cutts

You can watch the video below, but here are some of the Settings Matt Cutts uses for his Gmail account. The video explains WHY he chooses those settings.

1. Conversations per page - 25
2. Keyboard Shortcuts - turn it ON - Matt loves this one
3. Vacation message can be set so only your contacts will get the message (not a spammer)
4. Browser connection - he has it set to "always use https://"

LABELS - It's good to learn about this function. Very powerful. Now you can drag and drop.

FILTERS - you can have all mail from certain sources immediately placed into labeled folders

WEB CLIPS - Matt disables them (too distracting and not needed for him)

LABS - there is a ton of stuff in here, take a look, it is all disabled by default

Greg Cryns
Website design and SEO promotion