Affiliate Marketing [Part 7]
What Is Search Engine?
Copyright © Captain Adiari, M.D.
http://www.OnlineGain.net

"Content is the king of the web and Search Engines love to eat the web."

As food is to the body so is content (referring to the hypertext of a webpage) to the web. If you click Google Home Page and search for "Home Business," the following appears at the extreme right hand corner: Results 1 - 10 of about 465,000,000 for home business.

This means there are at least 465 million websites with keywords "home business" that are all struggling to appear on Google first page. However, only ten of these websites win the competition to appear in this first page of Google.

For appearing on first page, anybody browsing the web using Google for the keywords "home business" will more likely browse these first page websites. Most of us don't bother to check "next page."

What this means is that these ten websites get more traffic (visitors) than the others. In fact the farther down a website, the less likely it will be found by internet surfers. And more surfers (traffic), more chances of sales, hence, more money in your pocket.

Mathematically, if your keyword is "home business," the probability that your website will appear on Google front page is approximately 2.2 billionth. That is, indeed, a tight competition! Isn't it?

Why this? What controls this appearance of websites? How can a website manage to appear on first pages of Google, Yahoo? etc. The "why," "what," and "how" are answered by your knowledge of Search Engines.

You cannot run a successful internet business without at least a basic knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and Keyword Research. Here in this article, you will be introduced to basic knowledge of what search engines means. Remember, we've been dealing with basic knowledge of the internet in this series titled: Affiliate Marketing. Relax and enjoy this Part 7 on "What is Search Engine?"

Search Engines - what are they?
If there is any knowledge so vital for a successful internet marketing it is search engine and how to utilize them for your benefit, usually refer to as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Remember that the internet is a system of computers that communicate with each other using special language called Protocol. Also recall that the World Wide Web (the Web, for short) on the other hand refers to a system of hypertext documents (called the web pages) written in web language called Format (e.g. the HTML or XHTML) and linked together. These web pages forming the web are linked to the internet by the web servers. Thus, the Web is an important component of the Internet (note that there other components of the Internet such as the Email, which utilizes somewhat different system).

Today there are millions of web pages stored in thousand of web servers around the world as more and more websites are built. These web pages contain myriad of information of various topics and titles stored. The question is how can you search out the information you need from amongst these millions of information stored in these million of web pages?

There are two ways to do this:

Firstly, to access each of the web pages you will need to know each of their IP address or URL. But how can an individual memorize all the IP addresses or URLs of all the documents he wants? It means you will need to have a book where you will store all the IP addresses or URLs of all the important web pages you need. What if you need hundred of thousands of such web pages as some corporations do?

For instance, if you want to read about the history of colonial system in Africa, you will need to know the URLs or IP addresses of the various websites that deal on this topic. How practicable can this be? Thus, this first option is not helpful.

Secondly, what if there is software that enables you to type in the keyword(s) of the information you need and by these key words the information you need is downloaded for you. For instance, to search for the history of colonial system in Africa, you can just type in colonial Africa in Google or Yahoo! and click "search," and the various websites dealing on the topic will download immediately for you.

This second option is quite practicable and it makes the internet browsing enjoyable and quite informative.

Definition of a Search Engine
Software has been developed as the internet continues to advance that can capture all the important words or keywords in the million of web pages on the internet and arranges them like the index found at the back of a textbook. If you want to get a particular word from a textbook, you look it up in the index at the back of the text book, and the index will be able to direct you to the specific page in the book and sometimes gives the meaning of the word or group of words you are searching for.

In the same vein, this software can search the millions of web pages, store the key words as index so that once anyone types in the words the search engines quickly look them up for you. This software is called search engine.

By definition, a search engine is a computer program or software that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of documents where the keywords were found.

Search engines are the key to finding specific information on the vast expanse of the World Wide Web. Without sophisticated search engines, it would be virtually impracticable to locate anything on the Web without knowing a specific URL or the IP address.

In summary, there are various forms of search engines, but they all perform three basic tasks:
>they search the Internet - or select pieces of the Internet - based on important keywords
>they keep an index of the words they find, and where they find them
>they allow users to look for words or combinations of words found in that index.

Enzamples of Search Engines:
AltaVista
Ask Jeeves
Google
Teoma
Vivísimo
Yahoo!

The first tool for searching the Internet, created in 1990, was called "Archie". It downloaded directory listings of all files located on public anonymous FTP servers; creating a searchable database of filenames. A year later "Gopher" was created. It indexed plain text documents. "Veronica" and "Jughead" came along to search Gopher's index systems. The first actual Web search engine was developed by Matthew Gray in 1993 and was called "Wandex". [SourceYahoo!® and Google™ are just two examples of search engines that have been created to meet the demand for quickly finding information.

Types of Search Engines
Basically there are three types of search engines:
>those that are powered by robots (called crawlers, ants or spiders)
>those that are powered by human submissions
>those that are a hybrid of the above two.

How Search Engines Function
Automated search engines are those that use automated software agents (called crawlers or spiders). The crawler visits a website, read the information on the website and follow the links that the site is connected to. The crawler returns all that information back to a central depository, where the data is arranged and stored as an index.

The crawler will periodically return to the sites to check for any information that has changed. The frequency with which it does this is determined by the administrators of the search engine. The process by which the crawler, also called spider, is building its lists is called Web crawling.

Google.com is about the largest search engine. It began as an academic search engine but now diversified into all fields. Google makers built their initial system to use multiple spiders, usually three at one time. Each spider could keep about 300 connections to Web pages open at a time. At its peak performance, using four spiders, their system could crawl over 100 pages per second, generating around 600 kilobytes of data each second.

Human-powered search engines are the search engines that rely on humans to submit information, which is subsequently indexed and catalogued. Only information that is submitted is put into the index. Comparing with the automated search engines, human-powered search engines take time and considerable efforts and hence are limited on how much database that can be catalogued and stored and how quickly this can be achieved.

Why Different Results of Same Keywords for Different Search Engines
It's important to know that not all search engines deliver the same results.
First of all, different engines search different databases for the information you specify in your search query. Some databases are more sophisticated and more detailed than others.

Secondly, the structure and organization of search results varies, depending on the search engine you are using. Generally, the results at the top of the page are what the search engine interprets as the most relevant to your search. However, not all search engines measure relevancy in the same way. For example, with many search engines, a Web page will have a higher ranking in the list of results if your keywords appear many times throughout the Web page—in the title, near the beginning, or close together on the page.

Thus, when you say you are searching, surfing, or browsing the Internet or the Web, what you are simply doing is you are going through the database of the search engine you are using. This explains why you obtain different search results for the same keywords you search for in different search engines.

For instance, type in "internet business" in Yahoo! or Google and you won't get exactly same results. The reason is that Yahoo! database is not the same as Google database because of the differences in the way their spiders are configured by their makers to determine and store keywords.

Determination of importance of which result to return for the keywords being searched is made by what is referred to as the algorithm of the search engine. The algorithm is what the search engines use to determine the relevance of the information in the index to what the user is searching for. Not every search engine uses the same algorithm to search through the indices.

Food for Search Engines
"Content is the king of the web and Search Engines loves to eat the web."

"content is king"

You might have heard of such quotations. The richer the contents of the web pages of your website, the more easily for the website to be found on the web. Search engines love rich contents. They give preference to websites with unique contents. The higher your search engine rating, the higher the website appearance in the pages of search engines.

Two things are very important to search engine algorithm in determining which keyword to index:
>the frequency and location of keywords on a Web page
One of the characteristics that a search engine algorithm scans for is the frequency and location of keywords on a Web page. Those with higher frequency are usually considered more significant. With the advance in search engine technology, what is known as keyword stuffing, or spamdexing, which some use to cheat the search engines, can easily be traced and discouraged.

>the number of back-links
Another common element that algorithms analyze is the way that pages link to other pages in the Web. By analyzing the number of links pointing back to the web page and how pages link to each other, a search engine can both determine what a page is about (if the keywords of the linked pages are similar to the keywords on the original page) and whether that page is considered "important" and deserving of a boost in ranking. Just as the technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated to ignore keyword stuffing, it is also becoming savvier to Web masters who build artificial links into their sites in order to build an artificial ranking.

Types of Backlinks
Basically, there are 2 types:
>One-way link
>Reciprocal link

Not all backlinks carry similar ranking on search engines. Search engines place more weight on one way links. A good one-way link is worth 10 reciprocal links. Don't forget this.

What are the one-way links and how do you build them? Can you still utilise reciprocal links to boost your sales? Stay in touch with this blog to get all the basic knowledge you need on SEO and Keyword Research.

(to be continued...)

About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Adiari Captain is an expert on Proven Home Business. To find the best home based proven business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.OnlineGain.net
----------------------------------------------------------------

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

Affiliate Marketing [Part 6]
Web Addresses
(What are IP address, Domain Name and URL?)
Copyright © Captain Adiari, M.D.
http://www.OnlineGain.net

If you have ever utilized internet services, you would have come across these three terms: IP address, Domain Name and URL. And as an internet marketer, you need to know them and how they function for your business success. The importance of this knowledge is even more glaring for anyone that is about to set up a website for the first time.

IP address, Domain Name and URL: what are they? Here is the answer. Happy reading...

Web Address
Web address is the address by which the website can be accessed. Just like the computer that is connected to the internet, every website also has an IP Addresses. However, unlike the computer IP address which can change as you browse the internet, website IP address stays constant.

Because it is a combination of long numerical figures, IP address is difficult to remember. In the 1980s, a system of addresses referred to as the Internet Addresses were introduced. They are of two types: Domain Names and Uniform Resource Locator (URLs). Domain names are technically not the same as the URLs.

What is a Domain Name?
Domain Name is a system or collection of at least three descriptive words called Descriptors or Domains joined together by "dots," e.g. www.OnlineGain.net. The descriptors are referred to as domains, which mean "regions" because they actually describe the position or location of a website.

The Specific descriptors:
These are similar to the surname and are located at the far left. It is made of the initialization of the World Wide Web in small fonts (www).

The Middle descriptors:
These are the name you assign to your website, e.g. OnlineGain.net. It is equivalent to your middle-name.

The General descriptors:
These are at the far right, much like the firstname. They are either three or two letters or a combination of two letters separated by a dot, e.g. com, net, ac.za. Note if it is a combination of two letters, the last two letters are usually the domain code of the country you have registered your domain name (e.g. co.za; the za here referring to South African official code).

How to Choose a Domain Name
The domain name you choose is what any browser of the internet will use to locate you. Therefore, it is important to choose a domain name that is easier to remember and the one that will advertise your website and your products.

For emphasis:
It is important to choose a domain name that is easier to remember and the one that will advertise your website and your products.

Advise on How to Choose the Middle Descriptor:
If you are a popular name, using your name as the Middle Descriptors will be a good idea. This is very important for popular movie stars, popular athletes, football stars, popular politicians, statesman, reknown scientists and artists, etc. For instance, the popular USA politician, Barak Obama, has a website, using his name as the middle descriptor domain name: www.barackobama.com

If you have a product or service that is well known, it is advisable to use the name of the products, e.g. www.christembassy.org, which is a site of a very popular church, Christ Embassy.

If you neither have a popular name nor a well-known brand product, it is advisable to choose the name of the product you are marketing as the Middle descriptors.

Some important points to remember about the General descriptors are:
.org is usually used by non-profit oriented organization, e.g. the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), churches, etc.
.net is often used by profit oriented establishments, e.g. www.OnlineGain.net
.com is generally used by multilateral organizations like www.google.com
.edu is employed by academic institutions
.mil is usually for military and paramilitary institutions and learning
.biz can also be employed for business websites
.gov denotes government agency website

A combined two letters, such as .co.za are usually used to show the country you have registered your business or you are operating business from. For example, if you have .co.za it means you register in South Africa and not United Kingdom, which would have .co.za. Government establishments and parastatals and academic institutions usually use this format to designate the country they operate from, e.g. www.sun.ac.za is the domain name of a tertiary institution in South Africa.

There are no laws restricting you from using any of these general descriptors in your domain name. You may choose anyone to register your business with. However, wisdom suggests that as a newbie, who is still trying to carve out a name for his business, it is advisable to follow the general trend. For instance, if you use .org in your domain name, anyone sighting your website may mistake it to be an NGO and skip it; don't forget an average browser spends less than one minutes in an unfamiliar website.

URL
A Domain Name is not the same as URL. It is technically different from a URL. A domain is commonly a part of URL. URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL contains much more detail than a domain name.

Generally, URL consists of:
(1). Protocol:
Remember Protocol is the language of the computer internet system. URL contains a protocol that enables the web browser to communicate with the server. That is, when you type in the URL into a browser and click search, the web browser can only communicate with the web server via the protocol in the URL and from the server the requested web page or file is then transferred back to the browser still via the enablement of the protocol.

The transfer protocol utilized for this purpose is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The initialized Protocol HTTP in the URL is normally written in small font at the extreme left side, follow by a colon and double slashes as shown thus: "http://"

(2). Domain name:
Next to the protocol is the domain name, which is mentioned above, e.g. http://www.OnlineGain.net
(3). Path location
The third part of the URL tells you exactly the path at which the particular web page you are searching for is located on the web server. It is written immediately after the domain name separated from the domain name by a slash. For instance the location of the free ebooks on home business in my website is: home-based-business-ebooks.html Thus, if you want to download the free ebooks in my website, the URL is:http://www.OnlineGain.net/home-based-business-ebooks.html

A URL is the fundamental network identification for any resource connected to the web (e.g., hypertext pages, images, and sound files). The advantage of a URL address is that they are considerably easier to remember than the IP address.

P.S. You can find additional information about URLs at the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C)

(to be continued...)

About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Adiari Captain is an expert on Proven Home Business. To find the best home based proven business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.OnlineGain.net
----------------------------------------------------------------

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

Affiliate Marketing [Part 5]
Web Server---What Is It?
Which Web Browser Is the Best for Your Internet Business
Copyright © Captain Adiari, M.D.
http://www.OnlineGain.net

In Affiliate Marketing [Part 4], we tried to give basic information which you'll need to be familiar with if you desire successful internet marketing. Note that we try to simplify the information as much as possible for easy comprehension for our wide audience, who are mostly newbies. Here is the continuity of this exciting information.

Web Server
The term web server can mean one of two things:
1.A computer that connects your website to the internet.
2.A computer software program that is being run by the server computer

Server as a Computer that Connects your Website to the Internet:
When you have built a website, you store your website information in a computer. For your website to appear in the internet, the computer you store the information should be able to link your website to the internet. Such a computer that can connect you to the internet is referred to as a server.

These server computers are assigned IP addresses in order that they may be found by other computers hooked up to the internet. It is on these servers that all your web files are stored, be they HTML files (web pages), graphic files, CSS files, Javascripts or whatever. Servers are hooked up to the internet 24 hours per day throughout a year. If they go off, it means the websites they host are disconnected from the internet.

Not only your website account but several others will such a server computer be capable of handling. Also, there are many services (applications) such a computer (server) can render. Examples of such server applications include mail servers, file servers, proxy servers and web servers.

Server as Computer Software:
Note that besides referring to the server computer itself, web server can also refer to the software being run on the server computer itself.

When you log on to internet, and you want to search for information, e.g. Internet Marketing, you type the information (internet marketing) or the web address if you know the web page you are specifically requesting into the address bar of your browser and click "search." As you click, your browser sends out a request to 'get' the web page(s) containing "Internet Marketing" or the specific web page.

The request travels across the internet to the appropriate web server, which is a software program in-built in the server computer, and attempts to locate the web page(s) on that server. If the request is successful (web page exists) then that web page will load (refer to as download) into your web browser.

The request being sent out must be written in web language (format). When the request is sent out from a customer computer to the web server, the customer computer browser must send the request to the server computer in the language of the computer that both will understand. This computer internet language (Protocol) employed by the browser to communicate with the web server is usually Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

Thus, in order to fetch a web page for you, your web browser must "chat" to a web server somewhere else. When web browsers chat to web servers, they speak a language known as HTTP

HTTP is a protocol used to transfer files from a Web server onto a browser in order to view a Web page that is on the Internet.

In summary, the term web server can mean one of two things:
1. A computer that connects your website to the internet.
2. A computer software program that is responsible for accepting HTTP requests from web browsers, and then relaying back to the browser the HTTP responses along with optional data contents, which usually are web pages such as HTML documents and linked objects (images, etc.).

The most common web server software is Apache, followed by Microsoft Internet Information Server. Many other web server programs also exist.

Web hosting
A web host is simply a company that owns server computers. The service that is being provided by the web host company is referred to as web hosting.

Thus, you may get a website builder to build a website for you. But for that website to be connected to the internet, you'll need to pay a web host company to do this for you. The web host company stores all the information of your website in their web server. This is referred to as web hosting. Therefore, once anyone types in your website address into a browser and click "send," "search" or "go," your browser talks in the http language to the web server for the web pages of your website to be downloaded to you.

These web hosting servers that store and serve up web pages to the internet cost money to set up, configure and maintain and thus web host companies that own these servers typically charge you a monthly or yearly fee.

With your website hosted to the internet, the web host company assigns you an account details with a password to access your account. As the website owner, you can:
>add or save files to your account; this process is referred to as Uploading
>modify your website to your taste. But remember web host companies usually have their regulations. For example, some web host does host websites with offensive language or pornography.

As long you pay your web hosting fees, your website will continue to be connected to the internet. Web hosting has become a very competitive business and, in order to attract more website owners to sign up with them, web hosts now offer many other attractive incentives such as a limited article marketing and website promotion. Therefore, if you have a website, regularly check your web host server for products that can help your online business.

And How Much Does Web hosting Cost?
There are some free web hosting companies. But if you are serious with your internet business, it is advisable not to use them. Free hosting gives you limited hosting exposure, which will not be of much service to a profit-oriented website. However, if you're just doing a little experimenting with hosting a website, you may want to consider trying some free web hosting. Just do a Yahoo or Google search for "free web hosting" and you'll see a list of some of them.

For a serious minded online marketer, you can search for "Affordable website hosting" to see a list of some of them. Charges may be as low as $10 or less or even more. We in Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) use Host4Profit (http://www.host4profits.com) as our web host and they are quite reliable.

Web Browser
When you click on your computer to log on to the internet, you first open a search engine site such as Yahoo or Google. Next you type in what you want to search in the search engine and click "search." This process of searching is what is being referred to as "browsing" or "surfing."

As you click "search," a software in your computer translates the words into an internet language (the protocol), usually the HTTP, and communicate the language to the web server to retrieve the requested information to you by a process called downloading. The computer software that communicates with the web server to retrieve or download the requested information is called the web browser.

Web browsers communicate with Web servers primarily using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to fetch web pages. HTTP is the set of rules for transferring files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.

In other words, HTTP allows Web browsers to submit information to Web servers as well as fetch Web pages from them. But remember the web pages are written in the language of the Web (called Format) such as the Hyper-text Markup Language (HTML). Thus, on communicating to the server via the HTTP language, the web page is interpreted and relayed back to the web browser via the HTML.

Using technical terms, this can be summarized as follows: the file format for a Web page is usually HTML and is identified in the HTTP protocol using a MIME content type.

If you don't understand these terms, don’t bother so much. It actually means the web browsers relate to the web server speaking the HTTP language, which in turn interact with the HTML language of the web pages on the web server. Various web browsers interact differently with the web page, hence the appearance of a web page may vary slightly for different browsers when you surf the internet.

Briefly put, Web browsers format HTML information for display, so the appearance of a Web page may differ between browsers.

Technically speaking, most browsers support a variety of formats in addition to HTML, such as the JPEG, PNG and GIF image formats, and can be extended to support more through the use of plugins. The combination of HTTP content type and URL protocol specification allows Web page designers to embed images, animations, video, sound, and streaming media into a Web page, or to make them accessible through the Web page.

Web browsers are basically software programs that enable you to search for and view various kinds of information on the Web, such as web sites, video, audio, etc. Some of the examples of web browsers that are available for personal computers include Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Netscape, Opera, Avant Browser, Konqueror, Google Chrome, Flock, Arachne, Epiphany, K-Meleon and AOL Explorer.

Text and images on a Web page can contain hyperlinks to other Web pages at the same or different website. Web browsers allow a user to quickly and easily access information provided on many Web pages at many websites by traversing these links.
Web browsers are the most commonly used type of HTTP user agent. Other protocols compatible with most web browsers include FTP, telnet, newsgroups, and Gopher.

Although browsers are typically used to access the World Wide Web, they can also be used to access information provided by Web servers in private networks or content in file systems.

The Most Popular Web Browsers
Here are just a few of Web browsers available to you for a free download:
>Microsoft's Internet Explorer: Most Internet users are using Internet Explorer because it's easy to use and most Web sites are written with Internet Explorer in mind, meaning that they are compatible.
>Opera: Opera is another popular browser that's easy to use; however, it can have some compatibility issues with various websites.
>Mozilla's Firefox: Firefox is rapidly gaining ground right behind Internet Explorer because of its tabbed browsing, superior security features, and fast load.
>Mac Safari: Specifically for Mac users, Safari is an excellent choice for a Web browser, with fast load and good compatibility with most websites out there.

The Components of a Web Browser
The basic components of a Web Browser include:
-Status bar: This is the box at the bottom of your browser window. The status bar displays all sorts of information, depending on what you're doing at the time, but mostly it's for showing load speed and the URL of whatever address your mouse is hovering over.

-Address bar: This is the box at the top of your browser window that displays the entire URL, or Web site address.

-Title bar: The title bar is at the very top of your browser window; in both Firefox and Internet Explorer it is the blue bar there at the top. You'll see the title of the Web page there.

-Toolbar Icons: The toolbar and its icons are at the top of your browser window right underneath the Title Bar. This is where you'll see the Back button, the Home button, the Refresh button, etc.

-Display Window: The Display Window is just a fancy term for your browser work space; it's the frame through which you see this website right now.

-Scroll Bars: If you've ever been to a website that you had to "scroll down" to read something, then you've used the scroll bars. They're just navigational/directional aids.

Note that not all browsers are created the same, hence, some of the above definitions might not be appropriate for some browsers.

Which Web Browser is the Best?
This depends on personal preference. Some prefer Internet Explorer because it is simple and popular. But Firefox, which is more recent, is increasingly commanding much attention by its superior tabbed browsing capability, superior security options, and fast loading.

How do you know which browser will work best for you? Well, they are all free to download, and so it can be a good idea to test them all if you are in doubt and especially if you desire superior and more convenient internet marketing. The browser you choose to use can make all the difference in your search experience.

(to be continued...)

About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Adiari Captain is an expert on Proven Home Business. To find the best home based proven business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.OnlineGain.net
----------------------------------------------------------------

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

Despise Not the Days of Little Beginning
Copyright é Captain Adiari, M.D.
http://www.OnlineGain.net

What do you have in your hand?
What success story do you have for our world?
If you don't tell it, who will?
Because a unique specie you are, none ever like you

Your past success -
A stepping stone to a great future!
Yes, that is it
If only you bury it not.

"But which success? For I see none," you may enquire.
That is not true
Look deep: sure you'll see a worthwhile past deed.
Size, here matters not.

For the greatness of a tree is not in its seed size
Let your effort of the past be seed in your eyes
Let the past achievements spur you up
For life is all about seed sowing

The great and the powerful have this secret
Never do they undervalue their past achievements
They build on them
On them they climb to the next higher level.

But how? you may enquire
Yes, those great never look down on themselves and their success
No matter how infinitesimal they appear
They have good view of themselves

They talk big and loud
They know the power of words
Never will they say, "I'm small"
They know that is never any sign of humility

In my work place recently
Some guy while introducing himself
Said, "I'm one that knows nothing"
Yet our institution employed him simply for his expertise

Why introduced himself that way
To create humor?
Or to show visages of humility?
Sure, it generated giggles

But words are powerful
The great don't talk that way.
Abraham Lincoln, reporting of his sincere efforts, bellowed:
"Every man is proud of what he does well...his heart is in his work"

Despise not your achievement no matter the "smallness"
Oh, despise not yourself
Shout loud about it
Publish it about

If you don't, who else will?
Have you written a pamphlet, then let it be known
Do you give good advice?
Why not publicize it over the web?

Your experience may help someone, somewhere
It may put a little smile on someone's face
And cold the turbulent heart
And drop cash in your pocket

Learn from those who went before us
"If I have seen further...it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants," cried Isaac Newton
No you not your past work is a good shoulder to stand to see far
That is the power of multiplied success!

What do you have in your hand?
Today, hide it not
Enquire: "How can I make it relevant in my online business?"
Think, think, think...

Apostle Paul in the Scriptures: "I magnify my office"
No wonder his success was explicit for all to see
O, Fellow Marketer, despise not the days of little beginning
For therein lies the seed of your rising!

About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Adiari Captain is an expert on Proven Home Business. To find the best home based proven business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.OnlineGain.net
----------------------------------------------------------------

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

Affiliate Marketing [Part 4]
The Internet---What Is It?
Copyright © Captain Adiari, M.D.
http://www.OnlineGain.net

Are You Maximizing the INTERNET for Your Online Business?
One major challenge newcomers to the internet business usually face is overwhelming information. There is so much to know that a newbie feels drowned in the online sea and discouragement usually sets in. The aspect that normally poses the biggest challenge is understanding the terminologies of the internet and the web network and how they can be utilized for effective and efficient online marketing.

To start straight ahead, you will have observed I use the terms "the internet and the web network" in the last sentence above. To a layman this may appear as repetitiveness (tautology). But that is not. Technically, the Internet is not the same as the Web network.

In this series of "Affiliate Marketing," you'll be provided with the basic information on how the internet and the World Wide Web work to promote online business. This is an essential information you need to be able to market effectively and efficiently online. Therefore, relax and enjoy it.

What Is An Internet?
The Internet is an enormous network of computers linked together globally, so that any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected in the network. It can rightly be described as a "network of networks" that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies.

Internet Language:
Information that travels over the Internet does so via a variety of languages known as Protocols. An example of such internet language is the Internet Protocol Suite (IPS). Two of the most important IPS are the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), commonly represented as TCP/IP.

Thus, internet can be simply defined as an interconnected system of networks that links computers around the world via the TCP/IP protocol.

IP Addresses
Before a computer can be linked to the internet, it must have an Internet Protocol Address (IP address) giving by the Internet Service Provider (ISP). Just like you have a residential address, the IP address gives the computer connected to the internet a unique identification for easy location.

In simple terms IP address is the same as your home address in your town. Once you are connected to the internet, the IP address is like your home address while the internet is like your town. As you cannot receive a mail or courier parcel without a home address, the same way without an IP address your computer cannot receive information.

An IP address is a collection of numerical figures with dots separating the numbers into decimal bits. An example of an IP address is 41.4.146.199.

Types of IP address
Basically, there are two types of IP address:
Dynamic IP Address: This is the IP address that could change at any time. Every time you log on to the internet, you receive a new IP address. This IP address is issued to you from a pool of IP addresses allocated by your ISP. Your computer will automatically get this number as it logs on to the network and saves you the trouble of having to know details regarding the specific network configurations. A large number of customers, especially those using dial-up connection, Wireless and High Speed Internet connections, who don't want to bother about memorizing the long numerical figures of an IP address are assigned this form of IP address.

Static IP Address: This is an IP address that never changes but remains constant. It is usually requested by customers who need to run their own email server or web server. Static IP address may cost a little more than a dynamic IP address and it may not be available in all areas. Be sure to ask your ISP.

To know your IP address right now, click here:
http://whatismyip.com/default.asp

Alternatively, in Windows XP, if you right click on the Internet Connection Icon on the Task Bar and then Left click on "Status", a pop up display will show you your connection speed and your computer's IP address.

Although you can't access the web without an IP address, you can obscure it if you don't want any other person to see it.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Since internet simply refers to a system of computers connected together speaking a special language called protocol, not everyone knows this language. Hence, some companies that have the technological knowledge of this language and the means offer to sell out this knowledge by linking your computer to the internet. That is, every other person who doesn't have the technology and the means but wants to have access to the internet has to pay the companies to link their computer to the internet.

These companies that provide the technology to connect your computer to the internet are called Internet Service Providers (ISP). An ISP is, therefore, a company that collects a monthly or yearly fee in exchange for providing the subscriber with Internet access. Examples of ISP are Vodafone and Telkom.

ISPs employ a range of technologies to enable consumers to connect to their network. For home users and small businesses, the most popular options include dial-up, DSL (typically Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, ADSL), broadband wireless, cable modem, fiber to the premises (FTTH), and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) (typically basic rate interface).

For customers with more demanding requirements, such as medium-to-large businesses, the technology ISP utilizes include DSL (often SHDSL or ADSL), Ethernet, Metro Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Frame Relay, ISDN (BRI or PRI), ATM, satellite Internet access and synchronous optical networking (SONET).

In conclusion, an ISP is a company that connects its customers to the internet using a data transmission technology appropriate for delivering Internet Protocol datagrams.

Hypertext and Hyperlink
We call a book "text" book because of the printed information in it. A textbook consists of several pages of papers containing stored information. It is in the same way we store typed information of several pages in our computers. This stored, typed information is referred to as text. What you are reading now is a page among several pages of this article. The information you are reading in this page is referred to as the "text." By clicking the links provided in this page, you will be taking to another page containing another text. In other words, the texts of the various pages are linked together. These linked texts are referred to as Hypertext.

The prefix hyper- is from the Greek prefix "vnep-" and means "over" or "beyond." Thus, hypertext in the internet refers to the overcoming of the old linear constraints of written text. In other words, you don't need to be flipping pages as in a textbook, only a click takes you to another page containing another text.

While using the internet, you may hear terms like "hypermedia," or "interactive multimedia," both which essentially refer to hypertexts that have other additional information like graphics, movies and sound and complexes of branching.

Unlike the traditional textbooks, which are static, the internet texts are dynamic. That is, while on the internet you can easily move from one text to another. This dynamic organization of information through links and connections is referred to as Hyperlinks.

World Wide Web (www)
Today, once you are connected to the internet, you have access to any information (hypertexts) stored in any computers that are linked to the internet. The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) simply refers to a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. That is, it is the various hypertexts being connected together on the internet.

Just as the internet has its own language called the Protocol, the web also has its own language named Format. The web refers to the hypertexts linked around the world via the special language Format. In other words, the World Wide Web is not the same as the Internet, as many people tend to use them interchangeably.

Whereas internet refers to an interconnected system of computers around the world using the computer/internet language (the TCP/IP protocol), the Web on the other hand refers to a system of documents (hypertexts) linked together using the www language.

The Web Page
Just as computer systems have their language (called protocol) to be able to communicate, various documents (hypertexts) of the web also have their language refer to as format. The two common formats are Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and the Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) . Technically, HTML and XHTML are therefore formatted hypertext system in which web languages are prepared or stored for reading. HTML is the predominantly used format.

A web page or webpage is simply a hypertext document written in the web language (format).

A web page can contain any type of information, including text color, graphics, animation and sound. That is, any document written with HTML or XHTML format is a web page. For you to be successful in your internet business, you need to know basic HTML format. This will enable you to edit your website, write and send information to your customers using autoresponse system, etc.

Note that every web page has a web address, which is either an IP address or a URL.

Website
A website is simply a collection of web pages. That is, it is a collection of hypertext documents that are accessed through the internet such as the one you're looking at now. A website can consist of one page, or of tens of thousands of pages, depending on what the site owner is trying to achieve.
(to be continued...)

About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Adiari Captain is an expert on Proven Home Business. To find the best home based proven business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.OnlineGain.net
----------------------------------------------------------------

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

Affiliate Marketing [Part 3]
(Principles of Successful Internet Marketing)
Copyright © Captain Adiari, M.D.
http://www.OnlineGain.net

Brian Tracy summarizes fundamental truth in life and business: "You are successful in business and in life to the degree to which you find out what works and then apply that principle wherever and whenever it is appropriate to get a particular result." In other words, life is governed by principles. The simplest way to become successful is to do what successful people do, utilizing their principles.

In the same vein, you can duplicate the success of successful internet marketers. In Affiliate Marketing [Part 2], we identify some reasons why some internet marketers fail to make money online. Here is a follow-up, which outlines the principles that make for successful business online.

1. Seek for knowledge of internet business
Where do you acquire knowledge of internet marketing? What type of information do you gather?

Basic free softwares to educate and help you kick start your business are abundantly available. Do a Google, Yahoo or MSN search of "internet marketing," "affiliate marketing," "internet business," etc. and a whole lot of information on various topics on internet marketing will open up. Read as much as you can especially the aspects that are very relevant for your business.

Subscribe to free newsletters like the one in my site: http://www.OnlineGain.net

Also, most affiliate companies normally have promotional guides, educational instructions, interaction forum, etc. which are rich sources of information for your knowledge growth. Avail yourself of them.

As your knowledge base widens, you'll be able to choose which software or product will improve your business. Note, it's quite risky as a newbie to start with buying of products being promoted on the internet by the so-called internet gurus. Some of these softwares are only targeting your money and not your business growth.

2. Become networked
One thing you will realize as your knowledge of internet marketing increases is the uniqueness and interconnectivity of internet advertisement. You'll hear words like traffic flow, viral marketing, pay per click (PPC), etc.

Your target is to place your products before as many potential buyers as possible. The more successful you do this, the higher your chances of increase sales. The number of visitors to your website is what is referred as the "internet traffic." Your goal therefore is to increase the traffic flow to your site DAILY.

3. Master an aspect of internet advertisement
To be very successful in generating increased traffic flow to your site, you'll need to specialize in one or two aspects of internet advertisement per time and not be a general merchant with no focus. There are various forms of internet advertisement and they include Article Marketing, Newsletter Promotion, Blogging, Ezine Publication, Banners and logos, etc.

4. Develop the attitude of a businessman
Have an attitude of a businessman. Be goal oriented. For instance, how much traffic do you want to drive to your site in one day, in two weeks...how much sales do you want to make next month?

Know that you are in business and must approach it businesslike. If you treat it as "just a hobby," don't be disappointed if your return-on-investment is nothing more than a paycheck for a leisure trip.

5. Give time for growth
Like every new business, you'll need to give time for your online business to grow. Not many people know about you before now, hence, they will need time to develop trust in you and your products. Remember how long it takes for you to decide to join internet marketing. Have a winning attitude, which is optimism. Avoid pessimistic attitude.

Remember, when an online marketer hastily folds up, terminating his trading, he has put a hot knife across his growing list.

6. Don't fail to automate
Automation of your system will yield far more results than manual operation. Most of your promotional ads can be uploaded in an autoresponse system. Your article submission, newsletters or email campaigns can be written beforehand and automated so that you only need to labour marginally and allows the system to do the rest for you.

This is the idea behind Direct Response Marketing, which is the ability of your system to deliver automatically to your customers. Welcome letters, thank-you-letters, news briefs, etc. can be automated so that once a subscription or sale is made, it is followed up immediately.

7. Remember Direct Response Marketing
Most internet browsers only spend less than one minute in an unfamiliar site. Hence, you have few seconds to catch their attention and make first impression. A negative or poor first impression will make you lose that potential buyer. Good quality web content captivates attention.

The language of the internet marketing promotion should be direct and specific. Avoid unnecessary details. And once a subscription or sale is generated, your system should send a follow up letter immediately, usually while the customer is still browsing. This should take seconds to minutes, and it is what automation does to your system. It is the hallmark of Direct Response Marketing.

8. Never forget Forum Marketing
Since internet business thrives a lot on networking, you'll need to join a forum(s), where you can post your challenges and learn from others. There are many such forums and many offer free membership. Each forum has its own regulations. A good example of forum is the Warrior Forum that has most internet successful marketers as members. Just browse "warrior forum," open its site and you'll see a provision for new membership registration. You can register straight ahead and belong to the cream of successful internet marketers.

Belonging to a forum actually rewards far beyond sharing opinions. As you post regularly in the forum with your signature included, you are inevitably building backlinks to your website. The more the backlinks to your website, the higher your rating by the search engines. This means free listing on front web pages. Imagine your website appearing on Google and Yahoo front pages! That is more exposure and increased free traffic, which means increased sales and subsequently more money for your pocket. That is Forum Marketing.

In summary:
I have just started sharing principles on which successful internet marketers amass fortunes online. They may sound quite common, for so is any universal law or principle. Practise them, and you'll see your sales jump up. I'll be going into more specific details in the subsequent articles. Stay tuned as we ply together into more effective internet marketing.

"Universal laws and principles are similar to telephone numbers in that if you dial the right number, you get through to the desired party. But even if you are brilliant, well educated, sincere, determined, and intelligent, if you dial the wrong number, you won't get through." - Brian Tracy.

P.S. Watch out for the continuity of this article in Part 4 Affiliate Marketing.

About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Adiari Captain is an expert on Proven Home Business. To find the best home based proven business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.OnlineGain.net
----------------------------------------------------------------

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

Affiliate Marketing [Part 2]
(Why Many People Fail to Make Money from Internet Marketing)
Copyright © Captain Adiari, M.D.
http://www.OnlineGain.net

Internet is a huge market. If you search the internet, there are literally myriad programs with multitude of softwares being chunked out frequently, each trying to convince you of its superiority over the others. This is where the internet neophytes, the newbies, get confused and usually become overwhelmed.

If you are a newbie and feels confused and even overwhelmed, don't be disheartened. Do not give up like so many do. Statistics have shown that 95 percent of people, who hear of the big internet market with its numerous opportunities of financial gains and attempt to do business through it, actually get frustrated and give up. Such people are the ones that generally conclude that all forms of internet business are nothing but gimmicks and scams. But that is not true. You can make a decent living from internet marketing as being attested by so many people in our program. You don’t need to belong to the 95 percent failure class.

But why this high casualty rate? Why so much failure?
A number of reasons explain this:
1). Lack of knowledge of internet marketing.
Many people think that to make money online, they will just set up a website, host it on an engine, submit it to search engines, then sit down and fold their hands waiting for the dollars to start pouring in.

2). Not updating your knowledge
Some people don't take advantage of the newer internet marketing techniques. For instance, some don't have knowledge of automation. They are still struggling with the manual system to build their subscribers' list. How can they catch up with some other person who uses auto-submission to reach a wider subscription coverage?

3). Non-specialisation
There are various aspects of internet marketing. An internet marketer who tries to do all things at the same time cannot expect to maximize the systems. Lack of specialization results in loss of focus. Focusing in one or two aspects of marketing per time and as much as possible to know all you can in that area increase sales dramatically.

4). Lack of Perseverance
You might have heard of this internet marketing aphorism: "money is in the list." List here refers to the number of subscribers you have whom you can easily contact for business. They are your online customers. The more the number, the higher the probability of increased sales.

But to build a list takes time and patience. When an online marketer hastily folds up, terminating his trading, he has put a hot knife across his growing list. His subscribers will lose faith in him. To build your list requires patience. Patience and perseverance are the traits of any successful online marketer.

To have patience, you must have faith in your system and in your ability. Faith is what keeps driving you onwards and forwards even when there seems to be no apparent result. All great business achievers are known to have passed through a phase in life where they keep working and praising forwards despite no physical evidence to do so. They have strong faith in themselves and their work, hence, they are patient. Faith fuels your patience. Indeed, F-A-I-T-H and P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E, you need them if you must conquer.

5). Not Networking
Internet is a network connectivity of people and events. This is especially true with online marketing. Load of information is churned out regularly. New softwares that keep refining and improving online business are invented continuously. For instance, use of banners and posters were the norms in internet marketing in the 1990's. Today they have been overtaking by more efficient systems. If you are still depending on them for great sales, you are of the old school.

One way you can keep abreast of the latest in online marketing is by being in constant contact with your colleagues in the online business. Lack of Networking is one of the main causes of 95 percent failure among internet marketers. You cannot just set up a website, do your own things, not minding what goes around you and expect sales to keep pouring in. No, it doesn't work that way. A doctor who enters private practice and has not been updating his knowledge soon discovers he is outdated and his practice will diminish with time.

6). Not having your own website
One danger in affiliate marketing is the notion that you don't need your own website. Some affiliates claim that as long as you have access to the products of the parent company that you have affiliated to, you really don't need your own website.

Really, you can make sales with your affiliate link without a personal website. But the truth is you'll be grossly limited. For instance, you cannot take advantage of what I refer to as Integrated Affiliate Marketing, which is the linking of products of different affiliate companies and marketing them as one entity. Integrated Affiliate Marketing is made possible only by having your own website. In your website you can integrate two or more products of different companies and market them at the same time. This ensures multiple streams of income. It is what all successful internet affiliate marketers do. Indeed, one great disserve you'll mete out on yourself is not having your own website!

P.S. Watch out for the continuity of this article in Part 3 Affiliate Marketing.

About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Adiari Captain is an expert on Proven Home Business. To find the best home based proven business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.OnlineGain.net
----------------------------------------------------------------

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!