The Best Web Development Resource of the Month

Want to take the guesswork out of building your own membership site? Check out this month's best web development resource of this month:

Build Me This

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Importance of a Site Map

A site map is often considered redundant in the process of building a website, and that is indeed the fact if you made a site map for the sake of having one. By highlighting the importance of having a well constructed site map, you will be able to tailor your own site map to suit your own needs.

1) Navigation purposes

A site map literally acts as a map of your site. If your visitors browses your site and gets lost between the thousands of pages on your site, they can always refer to your sitemap to see where they are, and navigate through your pages with the utmost ease.

2) Conveying your site's theme

When your visitors load up your site map, they will get the gist of your site within a very short amount of time. There is no need to get the "big picture" of your site by reading through each page, and by doing that you will be saving your visitors' time.

3) Site optimization purposes

When you create a site map, you are actually creating a single page which contains links to every single page on your site. Imagine what happens when search engine robots hit this page -- they will follow the links on the site map and naturally every single page of your site gets indexed by search engines! It is also for this purpose that a link to the site map has to be placed prominently on the front page of your website.

4) Organization and relevance

A site map enables you to have a complete bird's eye view of your site structure, and whenever you need to add new content or new sections, you will be able to take the existing hierarchy into consideration just by glancing at the sitemap. As a result, you will have a perfectly organized site with everything sorted according to their relevance.

From the above reasons, it is most important to implement a sitemap for website projects with a considerable size. Through this way, you will be able to keep your website easily accesible and neatly organized for everyone.

Source: Profits-Marketing

Monday, June 9, 2008

5 Important Rules in Website Design

When it comes to your website, extra attention should be paid to every minute detail to make sure it performs optimally to serve its purpose. Here are seven important rules of thumb to observe to make sure your website performs well.

1) Do not use splash pages

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back" button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.

2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements

Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead, provide more valueable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being pushed to buy.

3) Have a simple and clear navigation

You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered drop down menus. If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.

4) Have a clear indication of where the user is

When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion means "abandon ship"!

5) Avoid using audio on your site

If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio looping over and over on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.

Source: Profits-Marketing

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Make Passive Money Online with Membership Sites!

The perfect home business opportunity is going to look different for each and every person alive. If one person succeeds in one business, it doesn’t mean that the next person will succeed in that same business. We all have our likes and dislikes; strengths and weaknesses, which makes this article a little difficult to write. Why? Because not everyone is going to see the same possibilities for themselves with the same opportunities.

So how can you start a home business that will help you get rich and quit your day job, at the same time, building a passive income? I have put together some innovative ways to help you to do just that with a home business. To get a home business started online, I have outlined the 5 simples steps you need to get started on your home based business. Watch for other articles by me on how to drive traffic to your business…

5 Steps to an Online Business

  1. Go to Build Me This and sign up for a fully loaded membership site. (Pre-built or Custom)
  2. Read the Owner’s Manual and follow the directions to get your site set up properly.
  3. Write your content, or hire someone to write your content, and upload to your site using the very simple control panel.
  4. Follow the steps outlined in the Bum Marketing Method to begin driving traffic to your site.
  5. Set up profiles on social networking sites and gently push traffic to your site.

The uniqueness of membership sites comes from the “Golden Cord” philosophy. For someone to be a member of one of these sites, they are able to obtain information and products that they may not be able to obtain elsewhere. It makes them one of the 'elite' and part of a 'family' of like-minded people, and are part of the “Golden Cord” club.

Owning a membership site can be really rewarding, if you set it up properly and drive tons of traffic to your site. You get to talk about what is important to you; you can almost set this up on autopilot; and you could potentially live off of work you did three years ago today! So what are you waiting for? Get going!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Starting a Home Business with Your Expert Knowledge

You can start your very own home business by writing about what you know. Sounds simple enough, right? You can even build residual, passive income by setting up a membership site with your expert knowledge. Don’t know what to write about or set up a membership site about? Believe me, you know a lot more than you think you do.

Everyone knows a little about something that someone else knows nothing about. Each and every one of us has experienced the good and bad in life, and can help others with this kind of information. And once that experience is packaged as an "information product", it's knowing who to send it to, that is interested enough to buy it. Or you can set up a membership site about it, and give a little bit at a time.

Perhaps you have a deep passion about something...well chances are there are many people who share the same passion. So why not share it in a membership site?

It truly boils down to our life's experiences. If you've experienced something very difficult in life, and have lived through it, overcome it, and was victorious over it, you have information to share that people will pay for...because more than likely, someone else is experiencing that same pain and wants desperately to know how you made it through.

Maybe you've worked at the same job for twenty years and know everything about the industry. Maybe you beat cancer, smoking or obesity, and have an amazing story to tell that can help others going through the same adversities. What you have to share is knowledge, and knowledge is power. Power to fight, power to overcome, power to win. And this is what people will pay for. This is what people want to buy.

They need your information. And your information will lead you to money...Lots of money. People will line your pockets with cash every month if you have the information they are desperately searching for. And that's why membership sites are the best online home businesses to create.

And you don't even have to create your own membership site...you can promote someone else's membership site. Or, you can buy one at BuildMeThis.com. Bottom line...people are hungry for information. They have a need to know...they want your knowledge. There is no limit to the topic or category of information that people are seeking.

That is how the search engines came to being. People are searching for every topic under the sun. The Internet has been deemed the "information super highway", because that is where people start for information. Catch the concept, and you're on your way to BIG profits with membership sites.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Google Adsense Do’s and Don’ts

Google Adsense is a fun and easy way to make extra money. It’s important to follow the rules though as Google is serious about the integrity of this program. Not following the rules could result in your Google Adsense account being terminated. Here are a few Dos for using the program:

DO

Read the Terms and Conditions and Program Policies thoroughly.

Read everything you can about Google Adsense. Learn from others’ experiences and mistakes.

Learn how to optimize your site for the most enjoyable and profitable Google Adsense experience. Realize it does take some time and hard work. That’s why it’s so important that you write about something you care about. Hard work is even harder if you don’t like what you’re doing.

Visit other sites that are benefiting from Google Adsense. Click on the ads only if you are truly interested in the product or service being advertised. Read other people’s blogs and comment on them. Only offer a comment though if it is truly sincere.

Hopefully, these helpful tips will ease you into using the program and help you avoid mistakes that could possibly cost you a lot of time or money.

However, not following the rules could result in your Google Adsense account being terminated. Here are a few Don’ts for using the program:

DON’T

Never, ever, ever click on your own ads. Google Adsense makes it very clear this won’t be tolerated.

Don’t ask your friends and family to click on your ads. Rather, earn money by referring them to the Google Adsense program.

Don’t participate in the Google Adsense program strictly for the money. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It will take time and hard work to make a profit.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything the first day. Although the Google Adsense program is extremely user-friendly, it may take a little time to integrate all the facets of the program. Be patient and above all, have fun!

Hopefully, these helpful tips will ease you into using the program and help you avoid mistakes that could possibly cost you a lot of time or money.

Adsense Resources

Hyper VRE

Set your virtual real estate on fire with Google Adsense—legally.

Wordpress Adsense System

Learn how to create your wordpress blog to be optimized to make a decent income from Google Adsense.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Work From Home Business Opportunities Exposed!

With our depressing economy today, more and more people are turning to the Internet to start their own home business opportunities. Everyday thousands of people are going to start a home business, and many times that are going to search online for the 'right' business opportunity for them to get involved with.

Most business opportunities are scams, regardless of what the “guru’s” tell you. All they do is tell you half of what you need to succeed, and then tell you that if you buy one of their more expensive programs or products, they will show you how to make as much money as they are. But when you buy the program, it ends up still being only part of the puzzle and you will never succeed.

So What Can You DO?

What is the difference between the people who succeed at business, and the people who wish they could succeed? Some people say it is because of a lack of money, but I say it is because they are just plain lazy. They want results NOW, without the work it takes to create the results. And even if they try a little bit, once things don’t happen as fast as they want them to, they give up and say that no one can make money on the internet. Is it any wonder people stay working at their J.O.B.? (That is Just Over Broke)

So what can you do to create your own work from home business opportunity? Membership sites. What? Yup…membership sites. This is the next big thing in online businesses. With each sale, you can potentially get paid again and again each month forever. So, if you make 5,000 sales in a year or so, you can stop working on driving traffic and still get paid each month. Sound exciting? I should hope so….I mean, this business is perfect for all who want to be lazy with results. Work hard for as long as it takes, and then back off for a while. Makes sense to me!

This home-based business goes completely against the concept of what people are taught in school and in the corporate world. The conventional wisdom is that if you work hard, you will get a good job with a nice salary. The more qualifications you have, the better your salary will be.

Membership sites are just the opposite. In the world of membership sites, you can become wealthy with little or no qualifications. This goes against the grain of how normal people think, beleagured as they are with the modern-day-slavery that is Corporate America, so that they immediately throw up walls of excuses, doubts, and disbelief to separate them from this strange concept of financial freedom.

What is going to hold you back from financial freedom??

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Work at Home Job vs. Home Business—What’s the Difference?

What is a work at home job? What is a home based business opportunity? You work at home with both, but they are two totally different ideas.

A work at home job is most like an job outside the home. You work for a company—a company that assigns work with a deadline. You do not have the benefits of working outside your home, however, because you work as a contractor, and are responsible for your own taxes, insurance, and office equipment. But the benefits outweigh the costs, don’t they? No commuting, no dressing up, no gas headaches.

A home business is like any other business. The person is generally responsible for every aspect of the business from customers to products to administration. However, if you choose to do affiliate marketing as your business model, all you have to be responsible is driving traffic to the affiliate site. The company does the rest! However, the main point to a home business is the person is not given work to do. They are responsible for managing their business. Sometimes a company may send them a commission check, but often the business owner handles their own pay.

Understanding the above concepts should help you figure out what you would rather do. Income is a big motivating factor in which you choose, I would like to think. On the one hand, the work at home job will put a cap on how much money you can make by how much work you can take on. On the other hand, if you have a home based business, you can make as money as you want, especially if you use the leverage of other people—namely affiliate programs. Meaning—you use their product, sales letter, and proven success to your advantage. So…what do you choose?

Resources

Build Me This

Get your fully custom membership site now!

Profits-Marketing

Learn marketing, get a free website, and more!

Pay per Post

Get paid to blog, and review products on your blog. Work your own schedule from home!