Setting Realistic Goals!

Setting Realistic Goals!

Goal setting is an personal issue. When setting a goal it should be a very specific, measurable objective. One must have a time-targeted thought in mind when setting such a goal. Setting Realistic Goals is important for a positive outcome of any goal.

Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia says:

"Effective goals should be tangible, specific, realistic and have a time targeted for completion. There must be realistic plans to achieve the intended goal. For example, setting a goal to go to Mars on a shoe string budget is not a realistic goal, while setting a goal to go to Hawaii as a backpacker is a possible goal with possible, realistic plans."

Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it's an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants in a group with a common goal are clearly aware of what is expected from them if an objective is to be achieved. On a personal level, setting goals is a process that allows people to specify then work towards their own objectives - most commonly with financial or career-based goals."

There are a number of well know speakers who have made their living suggesting various types of goal setting. When we think of goal setting, the first thing we normally do is write it down and hang on the frig or mirror so it can be observed several times a day. The purpose of this of course is to keep a constant reminder in front of us as a remindere. There's nothing wrong with this idea, however, most of us soon forget why we made such a goal in the first place.

To achieve our goal we must do something more than just the norm in our lives. Each of us will follow a different path when pursuing our goals and as a result will have a different outcome.

In a recent article I had the priviledge of reading and I quote; "Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose" (Goldstein, 1993, p. 96).[vague] Locke et al. (1981)[vague] examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy or no goals".

In a business environment, there is somewhat of a competitive spirit when the management encourages the employees to put forth additional efforts. Here the goals are being set by the employer in an effort to challenge all the members of a specific group and knowing full well that there are going to be some in that group who will lead the way because of their competitive spirit. This will make the over achiever look superior, however, it will make the person at the bottom of the list look bad.

"Some managers would believe it is sufficient to urge employees to 'do their best', Locke and Latham have a clear contradicting view on this. The authors state that people who are told to 'do their best' will not do so. 'Doing your best' has no external referent which implies that it is useless in eliciting specific behavior."

When goals are set by someone else, it is human nature for or natural goals and ideas to be suppressed. In order for an employee to effectively be motivated then....would be for the goal(s) to be challenging above and beyond the normal scope of their duties.

Let's talk for a moment about our personal goals. We must believe in ourselves that we can attain our goals. Unrealistic goals will quench the desire to fulfill our goals. If our goals are realistic, then it will act as an energizer; higher goals will induce greater efforts, however, setting lower goals will encourage lessor efforts.

In summary: Believe in yourself that you are able to achieve your goals. Set goals that you are confident you can attain. Put forth the extra efforts to attain your goals. Keep track of your performance....without some form of feedback it is impossible to adjust for over performing or under performing. These aspects of setting goals and fulfilling those goals then becomes a unified effort with positive results.

If you need assistance in this part of your business life, the eBiz Solutions Team is standing by to assist you in your marketing goals. You can contact a member of our team at the contact information listed below.

"Let's Build Your Business Together"

Larry L Miller SEM/SEO Consulting

Private Line: 321-594-4405
Skype: larrylmiller121

The Most Powerful Link on the Internet!

Best Keywords!

Best Keywords!

Keywords are an important part of every aspect of marketing on line. From the time you set down and design a web site....build the site and publish to the internet.....then signing up a new client, keywords have played the critical role in that process.

When you decide to promote your web site....again keywords and keyword phrases are the first thing we look for. Without good keywords there is no direction for the search engines to find your product or service and to show your site to potential clients.

When doing an email campaign, keywords play that all important role once again. If you write an email advertisement for your next project and you don't specify what your offering is all about no one is going to pay attention to what your trying to promote....therefore the email campaign is not effective.

Keywords refers to a search term that an individual would type into the Google search bar trying to find a product or service. Put yourself in the role of that person looking for your product. What would you type in the search bar? Search the keyword you just submitted and see what comes up in the search results. Do this with several keywords or phrases and then do research on those words by using some keyword checking tools or services and see how popular that phrase may be. Do this several times until you have accumulated a dozen or so specific keywords and then build your keyword list using the most popular keywords and phrases. Having 300-500 characters in the source code of your site is acceptable. Less keywords than that of course.....for an article or email.

This process is tedious and time consuming for most of us, however, without this important process you will never gain the knowledge of how to build an effective web site or build an profitable marketing campaign. Keywords can refer to a single word or you can use a keyword phrase. Sometime long tail keywords are more powerful than just one word, however, with a single keyword you can laser focus your information to a narrow segment of individuals on line. If someone responds to a single keyword search, that person becomes about as good a sales lead as you can generate.

Your keywords must be specific - but they must be 1) relevant to your business opportunity 2) be relative to your product and/or service your promoting 3) be relevant to your target audience 4) relevant to the industry. If you keep these four items in mind you will end up choosing some powerful keywords for your next marketing campaign.

Identifying keywords that will convert to sales is the whole purpose of this exercise. Therefore, keywords are the most important part of any successful online venture. Laser focus your attention to finding those all important keywords and don't be afraid to add new keywords as they come to mind and do the research of their relevancy to your web site or marketing campaign. If the new keyword applies, then add it to your source code of your site and use that word in further campaigns.

There are a number of helpful sites specifically designed for generating keywords. One of the most helpful ones that I personally use is the free Google Keyword Tool. There you will find keywords and phrases that are the most popular keywords on just about any subject you could think of. There may be a couple of hundred words that Google will offer that may trigger your thought process for exactly the right one for your particular campaign. Google will not offer content for your site but they can help you narrow your keywords search rather quickly. You can visit some other high ranking site regarding your product or service and see what buzz words they may be using to promote their opportunity. This will give you some additional ideas that may work for you....Use your imagination here and see which combination of keywords and phrases works to your advantage.

There are two types of keywords we must consider. There are Research keywords which are rather general. Research keywords is what an individual may use when looking for information about a product or service. One example....would be "puppies" as a general keyword, however, if your interest was for a particular breed, then your keywords become more focused on the Buying side of this process. The general keywords here will generate a broader type of client where the specific breed query will focus on a narrower segment of the puppy market.

Keywords and Keyword Phrases are in my opinion the most important part of effective search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Without good relative keywords your marketing campaign will be less than successful. Choose your keywords and phrases wisely and then use them effectively in everything you are promoting. Good luck in research and marketing endeavor.

If you have additional questions or need some personal mentoring, the eBiz Solutions Team is standing by to help you find what works for building your online future. Call today for your free 30 minute consultation.

"Let's Build Your Business Together"

Larry L Miller SEM/SEO Consulting

Private Line: 321-594-4405
Skype: larrylmiller121

The Most Powerful Link on the Internet!

Search Engine Functions!

Search Engine Functions!

Learning about search engines and some of their functions will play an important role to our overall online marketing success. First of all....why do we even use search engines? We will discuss this further in the article. By understanding how the search engines work and following the different engines algorithms.....we can use this information to promote our web site to top page ranks with Google, Yahoo, MSN and other fine search engines. Each site should be constructed in a way that conforms to these engine guidelines. The purpose here is....that our web site can get in front of the buying public more often.

There is a definite reason why Google has evolved into the #1 search engine in the world. Google has earned their top position in this field by providing "quality relevant search results with a simple search interface for their users". Between Google, Yahoo and MSN (Bing), they control over 90% of search engine queries. Google commands a high share of this segment in the world of search engines. Yahoo and MSN are making a strong charge to gain more of the market share of this fast growing business. I think they are doing an excellent job with the quality of their new search information.

If we understand that the principle function of the search engines are to provide this valuable information to the general public, then it becomes imperative that we create our web site with the same principle foundation....quality relevant content for our potential clients.

Since relevancy if one of the first things all search engines look for, then we need to pay close attention and follow there guidelines. We can post our site online for free because the engines make their money by showing ads. With most search engines this is their only profitable revenue. Their job is to show our ads to as many people as possible. The only way to get the largest number of people to use their particular engine is by giving them the most up to date relevant search results.

Search engines databases have an untold amount of information on any subject of interest. We could compare these engines to a huge library of information books in a large building manned by several employees and volunteers. With the internet we have that library at our finger tips all within a small area of our office or home. With a click of a mouse we can narrow our search down very quickly by using the search bar and typing in relevant keywords about our subject of interest. Immediately we have a massive amount of information available.

When we construct our web site, we have in essence written a book about our product or services for this online library. If the search engines are using relevant keywords and keyword phrases to find good content for their queries from customers, it makes a lot of sense that if we write good content in our sites the engines will bring up our web site for the potential client and point that inquiry to our site.

To get the search engine to look at your web site and position it in a favorable placement....it becomes important that we provide new relative keyword rich content to the engines in the form of blogs, forums, message boards, ezines, press releases etc. on a regular basis. This is an ongoing chore if we want to earn those "Top Positions on Google" that everyone craves but are not willing to make the commitment and sacrifices to make it all happen.

If we truly understand the concept the search engines have set up for their system to function effectively using relative keyword content then why shouldn't we follow that same concept and feed the engines the information they are starving for. If we understand this concept and put it into our daily practice, the search engines will index our web site in the same way. Higher PageRanks will then follow in a reasonably short time.

For the search engines to return accurate search results that match to the keywords that the potential client is looking for, your web site must be structured with an informative title, a short two sentence description about your site and good keyword rich relevant content throughout the web site that is interesting enough for the potential client to make that all important decision to participate in your business opportunity.

In Summary: In order to get your web site recognized, indexed and earn a higher page rank with the engines, you need to create a quality web site with relevant keyword rich content. Just getting your site listed on the search engines isn't enough. Your goal here is to get people to find your site on the web. Follow the process described above regarding writing and posting to all the places we suggested and your page rank will gain higher positions. Then when individuals "Google It" to get information about a particular interest relative to your keywords, your site will be in the engine database and hopefully the person will find your quality content and make a positive choice for your product or service. That's what online marketing is all about.

If you have additional questions or need some personal mentoring, you can contact our eBiz Solutions Team at the contact information listed below. Our Team is standing by to assist you in fulfilling your individual or business future.

Let's Build Your Business Together"

Larry L Miller SEM/SEO Consulting

Private Line: 321-594-4405
Skype: larrylmiller121

The Most Powerful Link on the Internet!

Advantages of Electronic Marketing!

Advantages of Electronic Marketing!

E-Mail marketing has been around since the inception of the internet. It has become the most cost effective and popular media of advertising. The popularity has helped both small and big businesses to get the product and services message to limitless potential clients. Keeping in contact with your customers no longer require an extended lead time. By writing an advertisement in your own words and publishing your ad to the internet you can keep your customers informed in a matter of seconds. The use of this method of communication is time saving, eliminates the high cost of snail mail postage and offers the customer with an immediate choice of whether to participate in your information offering....or not.

There are certain step one must take to put together an effective e-mail campaign. By using e-mail as your marketing media, you can target your online marketing efforts to a specific audience of individuals for a particular product or service.

Both small and big business know the power of e-mail marketing because of the cost per contact is low and it has been proven to be very effective in the overall marketing success figures for the return on investment (ROI) of many businesses.

Recent studies have shared their findings on this subject. The Direct Marketing Association stated that the Return On Investment (ROI) was $57.25 for every dollar spent on e-mail marketing. This report was in 2005 and with todays economy I'm sure these figures have risen considerably. It's been concluded that e-mail marketing has outperformed all other direct marketing trials.

Hotel marketers has stated that e-mail advertising has generated the highest (ROI) and has given the best overall results than other types of advertising media. Nearly 60% of hotel marketers confirmed the e-mail venue for inexpensive marketing. Plain and simple....e-mail marketing actually works.

Let's be a bit more specific of what e-mail marketing is all about. E-mail marketing can be defined as the most cost effective form of getting a message to an audience. This is done in the form of electronic mail that we refer to as e-mail.

There are a number of different uses for the electronic mail concept. This allows you to keep in contact with current clients which encourages customer loyalty for your business plus generates leads giving you the opportunity of acquiring new clients.

If you just look at the value of financial savings, the e-mail is the most practical way to generate sales leads at an affordable cost. We must consider the non-financial benefits as well. Normally we don't take into consideration the time saved by using this type of advertising. If time is money to you, which it is, then the time saved alone could be substantial to your bottom line.

In simple arithmetic if e-mailing saves you 70% per lead compared to regular direct mail then it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which method you should use. With a few clicks of the mouse on a non-expensive computer you can generate e-mail, newsletters, blogs, forums and the list goes on. In each of these examples the use of electronic e-mails surpasses any other form of advertising for affordability.

One suggestion here would be to search the web for and implement into your marketing system some form of tracking. Know where your efforts are being focused to and if those efforts are paying off. If the results are not meeting your expectations, then make changes as necessary. Tracking tools can give you some valuable information that will tell you if the recipient opens your e-mail or if they actually read it or made a purchase.

By using electronic mail marketing, it gives you the opportunity to send millions of e-mail within a matter of seconds with the click of your mouse. Advantages are....it convenient, it's cost effective, time saving and extremely effective. All of these positive factors just make good business sense.

In summary: For effective, profitable advertising, use electronic mail (e-mail) for your next marketing campaign. Establish a good mailing list, write keyword specific e-mail content, publish your e-mail from your list, process your return responses quickly and track your e-mail campaign. Make sure you monitor your (ROI) rate of return on your investment.

If you have additions questions or need some personal mentoring, the eBiz Solutions Team is standing by to assist you in your e-mail marketing efforts.

"Let's Build Your Business Together"

Larry L Miller SEM/SEO Consulting

Private Line:321-594-4405
Skype: larrylmiller121

The Most Powerful Link on the Internet!

SEM/SEO Tips and Bits

SEM/SEO Tips and Bits

A lot of people ask me the question...what does SEM and SEO mean? The average layman who may be a bit computer challenged may not have a clue what these acronyms mean.

SEM....stand for Search Engine Marketing. SEM is an online marketing strategy that will promote your business opportunity through the search engines.

SEO....stands for Search Engine Optimization. This part of the process is to optimize your website source HTML code with the correct code outlined by the search engines as well as having keyword rich content in your website. The purpose here is for the search engine to like what they see and index your site with higher page ranks....hopefully to page one.

This is an important segment of your online promotion efforts simply because without the search engines you would never be seen on the internet by potential buyers. We discussed yesterday in our writings the process which you should consider when modifying your current site or building a new site from the ground up. Review that article for some helpful hits that will get your site recognized by the search engines.

Search Engine Marketing is actually a two part process .... SEO is the fundamental part of SEM.

First of all we want to consider the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) part of this marketing strategy. This process requires a constant review of critical areas of your site such as good keyword relevant content and making sure your site is updated by using the latest search engine guidelines for optimization outlined by search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Website development is an ongoing process so you can attract visitors which may become your potential clients. By keeping your site updated and promoting your site correctly you will gain higher page rank with the major search engines. This is accomplished by keeping on top of this process and utilizing keywords and keyword phrases that appeal to the search engines.

There are two areas of SEO that you must focus on. It is important to optimize each page of your website. This is referred to as page optimization...you may want to Google that term for more informatin. In my opinion the next step is equally important for gaining search engine recognition. Linking popularity is also referred to as....off page optimization. You may want to learn more about linking....Google linking for more information about how important the linking function really is.

You may choose to use the PPC method (Pay-Per-Click) for promoting. PPC is a performance-based online marketing model used by businesses to bid on higher placements in search results. This sets the price that a company is willing to pay for each potential lead when people click through to their site. Many professionals consider this as one of the leading ways to get a high return on your advertising dollars. ROI (return on investment) is important here. Understand this process before spending a lot of money.

Extensive research by some major companies has indicated that they receive the highest ROI by using this form of advertisement. They compare this form of getting leads to other methods such as e-mail, banners and many other types of online advertising. One advantage of the PPC....it will normally drive traffic to your site immediately. Another advantage would be....the ease of tracking your progress with each advertising campaign.

The most popular search engines using PPC are....Google Adwords and Yahoo. There are some additional points I think we need to address here.

1) I feel that an extensive research for relative keywords and keyword phrases is imperative. Focus on keywords and phrases that are directly pointing to the subject matter you're trying to promote.

2) Create an informative, compelling keyword rich ad explaining your opportunity with factual information. Forget trying to puff your ad....individuals will pick up on insincerity very quickly.

3) It is important to manage your marketing campaigns with an eagle eye for keywords and good content that comply with the search engine guidelines.

4) Being able to track your PPC campaign will give you the information you need to make small changes about the structure of your campaign and allow you to compare the ROI that each campaign has given you.

Research shows that more than 90% of all search engine users confine their search to no more than the first three pages of the search engines and about 60% of those will make a buy from only the first 2 pages of that search. Since about 80% of internet users use search engines to find information, products and services on line, it's important to get your site to the highest page rank possible. Otherwise your competitor will get the business. Most people are going to assume that the higher ranked sites are the market leaders for that particular product or service and make their purchases accordingly.

No one can guarantee top page rank positioning with the search engines except by utilizing the PPC method because you paid to get that position. PPC is how the search engines make their money. However, with the proper keywords and a well constructed website which conforms to the search engine guidelines you too can earn an organic position that in my judgment is priceless. The choice is yours. It's imperative to learn how to earn "Top Positions on Google".

If you have further questions or need some personal mentoring, you can contact the eBiz Solutions Team at the contact information listed below. Our Team is standing by to assist you in your online marketing needs.

"Let's Build Your Business Together"

Larry L Miller SEM/SEO Consulting

Private Line: 321-594-4405
Skype: larrylmiller121

The Most Powerful Link on the Internet!

Search Engine Recognition Tips

Search Engine Recognition Tips

When you're designing your website there are some basic rules you will want to follow in order to make your site appealing to the general public as well as the search engines. We call this in the business user and search engine friendly. This has to be a calculated balance of information so your site will be recognized by both the consumer and the search engines.

Users may be impressed with the pictures and flash of your site and enjoy some humorous quotes you've included, however, the search engine don't recognize flash and pictures or sayings that is not relative to your site content. The search engines are interested in good well written keyword specific relative content only. You must keep in mind here that first of all you must be recognized by the search engines to get listed on the internet. Without the search engines help, no one will ever see your site. The information we want to share with you today is how can we achieve this critical balance.

One of the most common reasons why a web site is not indexed by the search engines is rather simple. If your site URL is embedded in JavaScript, most search engines will not recognize or index your web pages. By making some basic changes in your source code of your site, you can make a major difference in the acceptance or rejection of the search engines. There are a couple of other small additions to this process that we will be discussing in some upcoming articles....so stay tuned.

Other reasons for search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing rejecting your site could be insufficient or non relevant content on your webpages. Since only content is read by the search engines, it's imperative to have enough keyword rich content for the engines to give the proper weight to the good content for indexing purposes. A good example would be...picture your site as a book in the public library. The library likes to stock good quality books in their collection of reading materials. Your website content is as important to the search engines as the good books importance is to the library. Content is what the engines uses to list your site and rank your site of where it should be in their library of information know as the internet.

Rest assured that if your website contains only images, Flash and Java Script your site will probably be ignored by the search engines because they are structured not to read this type of graphics. Your site will be more relevant if you use HTML text in your website. This is known as source code. If you don't know how to write some basic HTML or have a good text editor then you need to attend some classes covering this important aspect of building acceptable information for the search engines.

When search engine robots spider your site they will normally only look at the front page which should be your index page (index.html). Having links on this page linking to the others pages of your site will be picked up by the spiders when they visit your index.html page. Another way of getting the spiders to pick up your other pages can be accomplished by placing the links to your other pages at the bottom of the index page.

Frame styles in your site may be another rejection indicator for the search engines. By making your site a non-frame site and including normal hyperlinks will make the search engines robots extremely receptive to indexing your site as well as accepting your website for recognition on the web.

There are some search engine like Google and AltaVist who will completely ignore your site if you have invalid html tag sequences. Double check your code and make sure your opening and closing tags, table opening and closing table tags are displayed correctly. Make sure all of your content is between the opening body tag and the closing body tags in your source code.

These few helpful tips should get you recognized by the search engines and earn a page rank that will get you recognized online. You too can earn the coveted distinction of the elite few who show up in some of the "Top Positions on Google". It takes your dedication to learn the process and then applying what you learn to further your online presence.

If you have additional questions or need some personal mentoring, you can contact the eBiz Solutions Team at the contact information listed below. The Team members are standing by to assist you in your marketing challenges.

"Let's Build Your Business Together"

Larry L Miller SEM/SEO Consultant

Private Line: 321-594-4405
Skype: larrylmiller121

The Most Powerful Link on the Internet!

SEO Secrets:

SEO Secrets:

How many website pages do you need to promote your site effectively on line? The answer is simple...as many as you need. You can promote one page or a thousand pages...it don't make any difference. Let's say you have a website with 14 pages which one do you promote? If your pages are constructed correctly and linked together, you only need to submit the home page of your site. The search engine robots will follow your linking and all pages will be reviewed by the spiders. The search engines will use this information to position you business opportunity on the web. Not all site are accepted for various reasons, so make sure you have put your site together correctly before submitting.

There is another thought we might consider here. You may want to focus on your home page only and make sure that page is search engine friendly and promote that page for awhile and once that page has gained the popularity your comfortable with, then go to another page of your site and promote it. I personally feel it's important to have all the pages of your site optimized correctly and then hand index your URL to the search engines and let the spiders do their job.

There are a number of different way you can promote your website and most of those ways will have some effect on your promotion progress. However, just following one type of promotion may not be enough. You must take advantage of several different strategies to truly be effective in your promotion efforts. In this process you may or may not find the right way for you to get the job done you expected. Calling on the expertise of the professionals may be the only way to promote your site. This will help you get your site popular sooner than just hitting and missing by your own efforts.

I do a considerable amount of writing....in fact I write everyday. I write articles and post in article directories, I write blogs and post in multiple different blogs in different categories, I post to forums, I post in social networking sites and submit to search engines on a regular basis. All of these activities help me to generate links and back links. You can follow this same example or try different ways that may effective for you. Experiment with the process of promoting and you might just stumble onto something that will simplify the whole process for you if you have that much time to waste. I not trying to be nasty here...just pointing out that time is money. If you don't have the time....then spend the money and get it done quicker. The pro's can handle this process quicker and more effectively than posssibly going it alone and trying to learn the hard way. Some companies even offers free training...take advantage of this service....you'll be glad you did.

If you have your site constructed correctly with some good keywords in your title that will help considerably. A couple of short sentences with keyword specifics in your meta tag description will also add to your success. Don't overdue it here though....keep the meta tag to about 160 characters. Use some of the higher ranked keywords and keyword phrases in the content of your site. The search engines love keyword rich content with a keyword density of 5-7%. Keep those keyword spread out throughout your content so you won't be considered as a keyword stuffer. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, you need to do some research before you jump into this process with both feet. The search engines will penalize you for keyword stuffing.

You can use other similar sites to your advantage. Linking to another site that is marketing a similar product or service is good. Google is constantly updating their algorithm and they are giving weight to this type of linking. One word of advise would be, don't purchase links from a higher page rank site just to see your site move higher in page rank. If you learn how to link and back link correctly you will save yourself a lot of headaches in the near and distant future.

In Conclusion: This process is not all that difficult if you apply yourself and understand the concept. Use a variety of different approaches in your marketing, however, don't take risk or experiment to far away from the normal outlines of acceptable promoting practices. If you have additional questions, or possibly need some mentoring, the eBiz Solutions Team is standing by to assist you in your marketing solutions.

"Let's Build Your Business Together"

Larry L Miller SEM/SEO Consulting

Private Line: 321-594-4405
Skype: larrylmiller121

The Most Powerful Link on the Internet!