Students Of Success

“Nothing is accidental … use everything.” — Keith Johnstone

Even the best-laid plans, the proverb goes, go oft astray. And by learning how to improvise like actors or jazz musicians, corporate types can better adapt to the always changing situations that you face.

What is improvisation? Trying to explain improvisation is like to trying to describe to someone how to ride a bike. The actual experience of riding a bike is much different than the description. Improvisation comprises the crucial mental skills needed for individuals, teams and organizations to thrive in change, innovate and think effectively under pressure.

Although many people are familiar with improv through the television show “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?”, few know this interactive art form has been highly valued for its ability to empower performers to respond immediately and inventively to each other and their environment. It originated in Europe in the mid-1500s.

Improvisational structures are governed by rules that require participants to accept and cooperate with each other, listen interactively, and jointly advance the action of a given task while continually supporting each other to be successful.

Improvisation fosters successful collaboration. To succeed, participants must attend to their partners’ communication and accept and build upon each other’s actions while remaining as flexible as possible. As a result, everyone is empowered to interactively discover his or her inherent creative potential.

When I first was exposed to an improvisational workshop many years ago, I saw the tools that we learned to use — such as taking risks, accepting each others ideas, exploring them and moving them forward — were exactly the tools that people in the business world would have to develop to foster ideas under pressure. If people in organizations are unable to think under pressure, build ideas, challenge assumptions and think creatively, their survival will be hampered.

Most people aren’t thinking about how they can improvise at work, however. But what they do want to know is: “How do I get my people to share ideas with each other?” Most of the trouble with sharing our ideas derives from our fear that we’ll be judged for our ideas and our fear of looking foolish.

To break down barriers and generate ideas, try this fun improvisational exercise, called Ad Room.

Everyone who participates in Ad Room is part of an ad agency. Your goal is to come up with an ad campaign for a fictional product — gasoline that you can drink, for example — that would include the customer benefits, slogans, spokesman and jingles.

Have everyone agree not to block new ideas and instead accept and explore ideas together, no matter how bizarre or strange the initial idea sounds. Pay attention to the reticent ones in the group and encourage them to share. If this is next to impossible in the group session, encourage quick one-on-one sharing.

Always debrief by asking what happened. Inquire how they felt about having their ideas agreed with and expanded? Where they stopped themselves? This post-discussion can help everyone learn about how they collaborate with each other.

Improvisation also requires taking risks, which in turn requires tolerance for making mistakes. When you can embrace failure, you can open the door for better innovation. For example, you wouldn’t want your airline pilot improvising on takeoff, but you might want the airline to innovate and improvise in other areas, such as ticketing or baggage handling. Even zero-tolerance environments require the skills of improvisation in crisis, as demonstrated by the Apollo 13 mission when the team of astronauts and ground crew had to come up with an innovative solution to filter carbon dioxide out of their space module.

The lesson here is, you’ll never have all the information you need to feel totally confident. You just need to leap ahead with the information you do have and trust you’ll handle things as you encounter them.

A number of years ago after I had started learning how to improvise better, I was selling radio advertising. I was making a big sales pitch to a retailer on how we could help his business attract new customers. He didn’t like my sales pitch and asked me: “What else have you got?”

At that point, I stepped into the unknown and started to improvise other solutions with him. After about 30 minutes, we had created a new, more exciting ad campaign for his establishment. As a result, I got even a bigger sale.

Had I argued with him, I’m sure I would have left with nothing, but by improvising in that situation, I realized there were more ideas to explore. Eventually I found one he liked and bought.

Another improvisational exercise, called “Freeze Tag,” demonstrates the challenges associated with changing situations.

Two people begin to play out a scene. When one observer sees an opportunity to step in, he or she calls “freeze” and replaces a player by assuming his or her physical position. The new player restarts the action, taking the scene in an entirely new direction. Individuals must be open to the opportunities in the situation and what they can offer to advance the scene forward. When a new person enters, the person remaining must be ready to support the new direction.

Finally, remember that life is like improv. It’s a performance; make it a performance that you’re proud to participate in. Be willing to take more risks, accept and advance others’ ideas, and trust you’ll know what to do. The magic of improv is it nurtures us as creative, connected human beings — not because it increases your profits.

Copyright In the Moment Productions, Inc. 2002

www.inthemoment.biz

About The Author

Terrill Fischer, the Chief Entertainment Officer of In the Moment Productions, has given over 1000 paid presentations to audiences of all ages as a professional comedian, Improvisational performer and trainer. He is also the Co-founder of Humor University, and the co-author of the book Making Work Fun: 139 Ways to Lighten Up the Workplace.

terrill@inthemoment.biz

Ring tones are simply a computer program stored in your cell phone’s memory and with most phones, you can change it. You can have a unique sound that only you want. Here’s the deal on ring tones - you get the cooler sounding rings on the newer, more expensive phones. For example, if you have an old Nokia phone, it can play a monophonic ring tone, which means simple tunes with one sound. But the newer phones can handle polyphonic ring tones. They can play several sounds at the same time, giving the ringing quality a more pleasing sound.

Ring tones can be customized the way your phone rings, from a popular song to a classical hit. Find a ring tones that you like. Don’t be stuck with the standard ring sounds that come with your phone. Everybody has those! Stand out with your favorite song or band you love. Once you find a ring tone you like, you have to get it on your phone. Most people just upload the ring tone to their phone with a data cable or they can send it to themselves with a simple phone call.

Ring tones of your new favorite song do serve some purpose, of course — it lets you distinguish your own phone’s ring from other phones ringing around you. It’s incredibly easy to find and add a song you like and load it up.

About The Author

Mike Yeager

Publisher

http://www.a1-cell-phones-4u.com/

mjy610@hotmail.com

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an increasingly popular marketing method to syndicate real estate website content for clients and prospective clients. RSS enables distribution of website content to third-party websites and RSS news readers.

Newsreader (or feedreader) use is growing rapidly. Newsreader software allows users to grab RSS feeds from various sites and display them to read and use. If you have a My Yahoo! or My MSN page, then chances are, you are already using RSS! The customized items you choose for those pages are syndicated RSS feeds from various news and information sources.

For real estate agents and professionals, RSS has many uses. For example, someone looking for a house or a place to rent can simply use an agent’s RSS feed to keep up with the latest listings. If they see an interesting item, they can click directly to the website for more information. Mortgage brokers can quickly and easily alert RSS subscribers of rate changes or other news.

Some other uses for real estate RSS feeds include: featured homes and commercial properties, rental properties, announcing open houses, virtual tours, mortgage rates, news & announcements, and e-newsletters.

RSS is extremely targeted because it is user-controlled and, unlike e-mail, it has a 100% delivery rate. Unfortunately, e-mail is quickly losing its marketing power due to e-mail filters and recent anti-spam legislation. Also, an RSS feed is simpler to maintian than an e-mail list. There is no address lists to maintain and no software needed to send messages, and no risk of spam problems.

RSS can also help with the marketing of your website though traditional search engines.

Because your website (through RSS feeds) has more “fresh” content, your website will be indexed more frequently by search engine spiders. Therefore, anything that you add to your website will be picked up by search engines that much faster.

RSS is a growing technology that should be taken seriously. Start early and reap the benefits of RSS marketing today!

S.R. Daley is the web developer for http://www.myrealtyfeed.com, a service that allows real estate professionals to create, maintain and promote multiple RSS feeds with a simple web interface.

This article may be republished without changing the content and the bio box.

"Whether you boat on fresh water or on the ocean, there is a lot of marine life to observe and appreciate. We boat in the Pacific Northwest off the west coast around the islands and straits of the Pacific Ocean. The sea life here is exceptional. Following are some of our wonderful experiences."

One of the most powerful sights is that of large pods of Orca whales, or Killer whales as they are often referred to, as they migrate off the coast. Sometimes there can be several in these pods including mother whales and their babies. Orca whales are quite beautiful to see. Their black and white bodies glisten in the sunlight each time they appear near the water surface or do a breach jump. Usually the babies follow their mothers. It is quite possible to watch them for hours without getting tired.

Boaters must be careful and remain a respectable distance from the whales, as most whales are endangered. You do not want to interfere with their normal migration routes and movements. It is possible to see Orca whales up close in captivity, and they are splendid animals. But when you can actually see them in their normal environment in the ocean, it is magnificent. How fortunate we are to be able to go boating for a few days and have them entertain us along the way.

Another sea mammal that I always enjoy watching is the dolphin or the porpoise. They too can be found off the west coast. These mammals are so sleek and they can swim at very fast speeds. As they jump and slice through the surface of the water they are quite entertaining. Most people have seen dolphins in action at the various aquariums around the world. Well they do the same in the wild. They make me laugh. I think that they actually enjoy an audience!

Living in the Pacific North West, we are very aware of the salmon industry. When boating, there are many small fishing boats out with their nets during the fisheries openings for the various kinds of salmon. It is fun to watch them jump. Seals are also very good fishermen. You can be sure that when the salmon are plentiful around the mouths of the large rivers, you will see a lot of seals. They love to fish for salmon, much to the chagrin of the commercial fishermen. They can be seen swimming through the waters, or sunning themselves on large logs or rocky outcroppings along the shoreline. The bark of a seal is loud and comical to hear and they are another creature that can entertain west coast boaters.

When the salmon are running, you will find another fisherman, one with wings. There are many Bald Eagles on the west coast and they also enjoy a good salmon dinner. These are very majestic birds. Their soaring overhead is something to be marveled at. The black and white features really stand out against the sky as they glide and then swoop down for a fish.

Sea otters can sometimes be seen around large beds of kelp. In particular I have seen many when boating in our Bayliner, off the coastline from British Columbia to California. These sea creatures are very timid, so you must give them space. They love to float on their backs and eat sea urchins or play in the water, rolling over and over. Often you can see them playing in pairs. Sea otters are my husband’s favorite sea mammals. He loves to watch them play. They really are very cute. If you have watched them, I’m sure you will agree.

As well as these mammals, the coast offers wonderful creatures that attached themselves to the rocks and driftwood or coral. Sea anemones are absolutely beautiful, as are the many colored starfish. Anenomes are found in white, pale green and soft pinks with large fluffy plumes. Starfish are found in ranges of bright orange to deep purple. They can be very tiny and fragile or very large. Some measure several inches across. Sea cucumbers, barnacles, sand dollars, oysters, mussels and crabs are all found along the coastline. I love to walk on docks at marinas when the tide is out and see some of these shell fish in tiny pools of water. You can often get up quite close to see them better.

All in all we are very fortunate in this area to be able to see so many creatures. Many of which are not seen by most people around the world. They enhance our environment and our boating experiences. It is important that we remember to respect all of these creatures in their natural environments, so as not to interfere with nature’s course.

About the Author

Valerie Giles owns and operates Boats, Anchors and More http://www.boats-anchors-and-more.com a boating resource site featuring boat accessories, fishing lure manufacturers and inflatable boats. Everything you need for the boating season. The accompanying article is copyrighted. It may be reproduced only if the hyperlinks here are left intact.

Armed with an business idea, the basic questions must be asked. “Is there a market for my product or (service), and can it support me?

Finding the answers means that you will have to do some Market Research to define the size of this market, it’s area and develop whether a need or wants exists. You can then assess if you are able to generate enough profit to make a living. You will also have to find the answers to these 2 questions:

ØWho the competition is

ØWhat is different about your product

Wanabee entrepreneurs often say “I’m not trying to make a lot of money, just to cover my costs of living”

What they don’t realise is that they will discover that it’s very hard to make the sales – far tougher than they probably anticipated. And that’s just the offline world.

What about the online world then? That’s just as tough. Cheaper, but tougher because of the millions of websites all competing for that piece of the pie.

But to succeed, you need a great product. This means that market research needs to be done.

Your Market Research needs to find out:

ØIs the market actually interested in this product
ØIs the price about right
ØAnd thirdly, how many will you sell

Before officially launching a new product or making improvements to an existing one, you need to know it’s potential sales volume before any resources devoted to it, are not wasted in a unplanned attempt to find a substantial enough market for it.

The activity used to establish whether customers might buy, is called market research.

There are 2 types:

(A)Desk Research

This is about researching any past records on matters relating to the proposed venture. This kind of information can be gathered from publications, the internet and the trade publications of competitors, to give you indication of popular trends.

(B)Field Research

This involves active fieldwork – interviewing potential customers, preparing questionnaires and getting them filled out by the public at arranged events, and always by selected target groups known as ‘segments’.

These segments of the population may carry out tests oranswer questions on a certain topic.

A good questionnaire will:

ØAsk questions which relate direct to information needs
ØBe brief
ØNot ask personal questions
ØQuestions are asked in a logical order

To help interviewers operate a questionnaire, sometimes a prompt card is used. This means that if several or all the questions have the same range of set answers, they can be numbered and the respondents answers can be recorded as numbers.

Marketing

Okay, I wish to discuss the subject of Marketing first, as it’s tricky to get right, and most people DO get it wrong.

In my opinion, there are way too many internet ‘experts’.

ØMost are self appointed, as the ease of the web allows anyone to set themselves up as one.

You never truly know who you’re dealing with, so please be careful.

Let’s get through what marketing actually is. “Marketing is the anticipation and fulfilment of a consumer need – profit.”

Fulfilment could mean anything, and as far as the web is concerned – it does. It could be to write and post an article, but whether that satisfies a need, only the customer can decide that one.

The implication of Marketing is that for any company to pursue it’s objectives and generate a profit, it needs to find out what it’s customers want to buy and then simply meet those needs.

In order for you to be successful - You MUST build up a profile of customers:

ØWhat they want to buy

ØWhen they want to buy it

ØWhat they do

ØWhen and why they do it

In a nutshell, what will encourage them to buy or use your product. You have to study their habits and motivations. That will give you the Gold, so to speak!

This is what all that Market Research is for – to give you that information.

Understanding Customer Behaviour

This is so important! The customer IS king, so we need to understand the thinking behind a purchase decision, then and ONLY then can we sell effectively thus (hopefully) satisfy that need and want.

Which is your main Goal.

Buying Decisions

Buying goods or a service is not as simple as you may think. Customers do not make purchases without thinking about their requirements, well some don’t think when buying off the net – that’s for sure.

An organisation that understands why customers make these decisions, who buys, what they buy and how they pay, can design products to attract the attention of consumers, (but not all necessarily do cater for customer needs) – but do become profitable from it.

Social factors as a trigger to buy

Developers, manufacturers, and distributors of products must be interested in what makes people buy. And that is Motivation.

Abraham Maslow, a psychologist educated at Brandeis University, created a hierarchical picture of human needs. Motivation, is related to purchasing intent, and has a major effect on why and what people are buying for.

Hunger – we need food

Warmth – buy clothing

Protection – could mean that person wants a pension

Social – anything from buying because of ‘acceptance’ to meet peer pressure etc

Self-realisation – full personal development, the want to own a business etc

Maslow’s system is easy to perceive as different products relate to the single needs easily.

The Marketing Environment

Responsibilities and Customers

Any product or service that is provided to the market must meet certain standards of quality. Some of these standards are set up by law, some are industry standards and others by businesses.

Before the 1960’s, customers had little protection under law, and this seems to have transferred to the internet, where there are few laws nor the manpower to police this vast matrix of computers.

Most buyers are forced to use their own common sense when deciding if something is a scam or not. The Latin expression caveat emptor – “let the buyer beware” – applies much these days.

The UK legal system exists and is supposed to provide a means of settling disputes – but I feel they have their work cut out for them regarding the internet.

What kind of disputes do we look out for?

Goods not matching descriptions. Goods not matching the descriptions in advertisements or on the packaging, and is illegal and comes under The Trades Descriptions Act

The product description forms part of the contract that a buyer has with the seller. So any description HAS to be accurate by UK law. Terms like shrinkproof, IF USED, must be Genuine, and MUST do what it claims to do…….

And that’s Law.

So if a info product makes the claim in writing on a web page (which is a publication), that if you follow the directions stated, you will get 1 million visitors to your website without paying a dime in advertisement – if you follow this advice, and it doesn’t give you your visitors, then you should be able to sue for a refund.

Which brings us on to another type of dispute – Misleading Offers

Consumers can easily be misled by offers, bargains and rights concerning sales products. This interestingly, also concerns Breach of Contract, if the supplier fails to deliver in some way.

This is common of the internet info products area, and is an issue that isn’t going to be resolved for a long time – I feel.

Onwards and Upwards……….

Market Segmentation

Instead of trying to serve everyone (too big a market to take on) most marketers focus their efforts on different needs or wants of consumers.

Within this market-place it is possible to split people into groups (market segments) so different marketing strategies, forms of advertising etc – can be used. If you try to market a single product to the entire population – you just aren’t going to satisfy everybody. The product will be wrong for most people being targeted. And can be a massive waste of ad costs as well.

Marketing to all, is known as ‘Marketing by blunderbuss’. Firing shots that will spread out towards the whole market place, will just hit everyone – and you don’t want that, when you need to be selective! Being selective with your advertising, will produce the best savings and get the attention of the correct customer.

A rifle with an accurate (targeted) sight will hit the target (consumer) more efficiently, without wasting ammunition (ad budget).

Now, we’ll take a look at the Marketing Mix.

*Marketing Mix *

You should be using this method – if you want to plan what you are doing, and if you want to be successful.

The ‘mix’ is just your marketing strategy – that’s all. It should be made up of these parts though:

oProduct

oPrice

oPlace

oPROMOTION

But let us deal with promotion, as that’s probably what you want to know about.

Today the exchange of information takes place through media, people search for this information, so advertisers place theirs on carefully selected websites etc. The web is such a network., and network of communication is essential for promotions. And that is what you should be focussing on.

Highly popular websites.

Advertisements

You have a product, you now need to advertise it – and get it in front of an audience. This is done through proper advertising methods.

Advertisements are simply messages designed to inform, and influence certain groups (remember segments?) and this will give you the best chance of selling it to them.

A space is paid for in a publication, for a limited period of time (3 months etc), and the message is made up of words, colour, use of images and sound – to attract potential buyers.

* please note that it’s the ‘ad space’ you are paying for – not the results! But it’s in the interests of the publisher to make their medium popular, so that you get some kind of result. And the type of Medium you choose will determine the QUALITY and quantity of your result.

But you need to have advertising or people will not necessarily find you…..

At the heart of advertising lies the clues of where the interests of consumers lie, and how they will respond to different messages. Good copywriting is important, and believe it or not, customers actually like being sold to.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christopher is a Sales Promotion Expert and owner of Busigen.com - an Office directory portal that holds company information to do with an Office environment

Save the Date Cards, what are they, do I need them, how do I
word them, and when do I send them? I’ll answer these questions
and more, to help you make an knowledgeable decision. Save the
Date Cards are announcements that inform your guests of your
future wedding in order to keep your special day free. They are
essential in the following situations: if many of your guests
are traveling to your wedding, your wedding takes place on or
around a holiday, you are planning a faraway destination
wedding, or your wedding will take place in a seasonally busy or
tourist locale, where the flights and hotels perhaps book up
early. They are generally sent at least 4-6 months prior to your
wedding but, if you are planning a destination wedding, for
example Hawaii it is strongly recommended that you send them 12
months in advance if not longer. For seasonally busy and tourist
locales or on or around a holiday it is best to send them 9-12
months in advance. Your guests will then have ample time to make
all the necessary arrangements needed to be a part of your
special celebration and may even extend it into a vacation of
their own. Use your imagination, Save the Date Cards are not
meant to be formal. There are many design options available. You
can have them match your wedding invitations, magnets, brochure
style, post card size, multiple layers, booklet style, you can
add a picture of you and your fiancé, or embellishments to add a
personal touch. Here are some guidelines on what your cards
should state, your names, date of wedding, city or town and
state of where wedding will take place. Also, because Save the
date Cards are a recent trend and many that have not attended a
wedding recently may mistaken them for the actual invitation be
sure to include something along the lines of, “Invitation to
follow”, “Invitation and details to follow”, “Invitation will
follow” this is usually placed at the bottom of the card. For
more wording suggestions visit www.verseit.com. If you have a
wedding website don’t forget to include the address for your
guests to view. If you need to keep your guest list to a
minimum, make a list of close family and friends whom you want
to make sure will be able to attend and mail them a Save the
Date Card, you do not need to send Save the Date Cards to
everyone you are inviting but, every guest that receives a Save
the Date Card must also receive an invitation. We recommend
providing your guests with additional information to help
facilitate their planning such as airline, car rental, hotel,
information on things to see and do in the area and surrounding
areas, special events, theatrical shows etc. Go the extra mile
and acquire group discounts by calling specific companies and
seeing if they offer group discounts.

Affiliate Marketing is by far, one of the easiest ways to make money online. It is a revenue sharing business relationship between the affiliate who agrees to promote the products or services, and the merchant who offers them.

The affiliate advertises the merchant’s products and services and gets a commission for every successful referral. Every time a customer is referred to the merchant’s site, through the affiliate’s efforts, and makes a purchase, the affiliate gets a share of the profit. No payment is due to the affiliate until successful results are realized. Compensation is based on either number of visits (Pay-per-click), registrant (Pay-per-lead), or commission for each sale (Pay-per-sale).

Affiliate Marketers can earn a few bucks to thousands of dollars with affiliate programs. The opportunity to earn in affiliate marketing can only be limited by the affiliate’s determination, creativity and strategy. It is a brilliant way to earn online, and you do not have to produce your own product or service to make a buck. By advertising your merchant’s products passionately, you get more in return. Profits in affiliate marketing usually start small but can get larger as the campaign starts to build up steam.

There are many ways that an affiliate marketer can do to maximize their profits. If you ask any affiliate marketer how many affiliate checks they would want to receive, they will most likely want to get as many as possible. Some affiliate checks are small, amounting to nothing more than $25.
While others are large and can easily reach the thousands and even more. Over time, these affiliate checks may build up to a really impressive amount. However, making a fortune in affiliate marketing is not instant. You should put in enough work and effort as well. You have to use your imagination to find more ways to attract more web traffic that can convert to sales for the merchant and profit for you as well.

How many affiliate checks do you want to receive? Most affiliate marketers will enthusiastically reply that they want to receive as many affiliate checks as possible. However, is it as easy as it sounds? Does joining many affiliate marketers guarantee more affiliate checks that really amount to something? The answer is No. Most affiliate marketers assume that joining multiple affiliate programs is a wise option. Because, it is very easy to join affiliate programs and there is really nothing to lose, affiliate marketers are tempted to join as many programs they can get their hands on. Thus, they fail to give their affiliate programs enough attention and work that they ought to receive. The maximum potential of the affiliate programs are not realized and the resulting income from these programs will almost certainly be disappointing.

The best way to achieve multiple streams of income is to concentrate on one affiliate program first. Choose a product or service that you can promote passionately. Pick a product in which you have complete trust. The best products and services to promote are those that you use personally. Your prospects will be able to sense your sincerity whenever you promote a product that you have experienced. This will greatly enhance your credibility as well as your product’s marketability and will really encourage your prospect to purchase or avail of the product or service.

As soon as your first affiliate program is making a reasonable profit then you can proceed to joining another affiliate program and repeat the process. “Too much, too soon” is a common pitfall in affiliate marketing. Joining too many affiliate programs simultaneously in the hopes of having multiple streams of income simply does not work.

Focus first on one affiliate program and work on it so that it makes a good profit. Then, go find another promising program and give it your best effort. The question should not be how many affiliate checks you want to receive, but how many “high-paying” affiliate checks can you receive. The answer lies in your determination to succeed and determination to maximize your earning potential. With the right tools, the right actions, and perseverance you can definitely make a good profit out of affiliate marketing.

Author is writter for sites such as Information
Today

Article Submission done by: www.articles-submit.com

Courtesy of:Article Search Online

Has anyone else noticed a disturbing pattern in your pay-per-click advertising campaign, of the same IP addresses clicking on your ad, spending one or two seconds on your website and then leaving?

That’s called click fraud and it’s a major problem among all of the pay-per-click search engines.

Click fraud is a scheme that takes advantage of online advertising programs like those offered by Google, Yahoo/Overture, Findwhat and others. A fraudulent website is set up and participates in programs like Google’s AdSense program. Unlike legitimate websites that attract human visitors to the site, fraudsters use software “hitbots” or employ boiler-rooms of low-wage employees from other countries to generate clicks on ads, and then collect commission from pay-per-click programs.

In June, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Michael Anthony Bradley 32, of Oak Park California who was charged with fraud and extortion for a scheme involving Google’s pay-per-click program. Believe it or not, Bradley actually tried to extort Google into paying $100,000 for click fraud software he created called “Google Clique.”

Click fraud hurts advertisers by driving up the cost of each click because many online advertising programs adjust the price of each click based on the popularity of a particular keyword and the number of competing advertisers. And depending on how popular your keyword is, it can take just a few minutes to register hundreds of clicks. Click fraud can quickly deplete your pay-per-click account and leave you with little or nothing to show for your expentiture.

In a recent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Google acknowledged, “We are exposed to the risk of fraudulent clicks on our ads. We have regularly paid refunds related to fraudulent clicks and expect to do so in the future. If we are unable to stop this fraudulent activity, these refunds may increase. If we find new evidence of past fraudulent clicks, we may have to issue refunds retroactively of amounts previously paid to our Google Network members.”

Now, in all fairness to the pay-per-click companies I’ve used in the past, I have to give credit where credit is due. Whenever I complained of click fraud, which was often, all of the pay-per-click companies, without exception, did the right thing and credited the stolen funds back into to my account. Ironically, I have not had a click fraud problem with Google.

You can reduce your risk of being victimized by click fraud, by regularly auditing your website’s log files and immediately reporting suspicious traffic to the pay-per-click companies. If you are unfamiliar with analyzing your site’s log files, there are some excellent software products available to assist you like ClickTracks, WebTrends, and AWStats. These products make it fairly easy to identify patterns in your website’s traffic.

Recently, I noticed the same IP number clicking on my ad over and over again–often many times within just a few minutes. I did some basic detective work and discovered it was actually a competitor of mine devouring my pay-per-click dollars. I approached him with my findings and threatened him with law enforcement intervention, if he didn’t cease and desist. He denied any involvement, of course. But I haven’t had any problems with that individual since.

So, how did I find out who the culprit was? Easy.

When checking your log files, if you notice a lot of clicks from one IP address, you can trace its origin by visiting the American Registry of Internet Numbers. By feeding the IP address into their “Whois” search, they will tell you who has been assigned that IP address, and whether it’s an actual IP or another business entity.

Should the IP address not be assigned to the Americas, you can verify RIPE Network Coordination Center for all Russian, European, and Middle Eastern registries, or the Asia Pacific Network Information Center. There are only three such sites, so you should be able to track the source.

However, if someone is using sophisticated software to generate clicks on your ad, it will probably be impossible for you to trace the IP address yourself. For example, according to alleged Google extortionist, Michael Bradley, “Holland Engine software was originaly written to allow spammers to conceal their orginating IP address from mailservers and to keep it from apearing in e-mail headers.

Holland Engine is the core of LincolnSX, the most powerful mass-emailing software, running at rates of 5 million e- mails per day per machine. Holland Engine will actually tunnel through the internet and connect to the desired IP address from, not your IP but rather from another, the one at the end of the tunnel.”

In conclusion, if you choose to use pay-per-click search engines to advertise, watch your log files closely and report improprieties immediately.

Also don’t put all of your eggs into one basket, by depending solely on pay-per-click advertising. Utilize a variety of ways to attract traffic to your website, such as ezines, newsletters, writing articles, offline advertising, etc.

About The Author

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: dean@lets-make-money.net

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You’ve started your home based business with an idea that you want to succeed at something you love to do. However, to be truly successful, it is important to learn about marketing your home based business to achieve the results you’ve always dreamed about. So, what are some easy things you can do for marketing your home based business to success?

First, bring your home based business with you wherever you go, and start marketing your home based business with every opportunity. It does not mean you sell everywhere you go, but it can mean bringing up what you do if it comes up in conversation or the time is right for marketing your home based business. Marketing your home based business should always be in the back of your mind in whatever you do.

Another effective part of marketing your home based business includes measurement techniques. It may sound complicated, but you need to have a way of knowing if the methods you use for marketing your home based business are working. Coupon codes, surveys, and other measurement techniques will show you if how you are marketing your home based business is working or not. Getting these numbers and measurements can tell you if you need to take another approach to marketing your home based business.

If you are paying money for marketing your home based business, make sure you are making up the money you are paying for the services. Keeping track of how well the current way you are marketing your home based business is working and how much you are making from the marketing will tell you if you are getting a good return on your investment.

Also, you need to keep up within your industry and with your customers for effectively marketing your home based business. Stay involved with your peers and keep up on new developments in your industry. Also, know what your customers want. Staying informed will help you with marketing your home based business by giving you focus and direction.

Effectively marketing your home based business can make the difference between doing something as a hobby and having a thriving home based business. Look into ways you can succeed in marketing your home based business through proven marketing methods and innovative strategies. Keep track on what is going on in your industry and with your consumers to stay on top of marketing your home based business well to those who will use your services often. Also, keep track on how well marketing your home based business is working and remain flexible to change your strategy if it is not giving you a good enough return on your investment. Remember, this is your dream, so marketing your home based business well will keep that dream firmly planted in reality.

Hopefully this articles has proven useful to you. Download my Free E-Book and receive valuable tips, strategies and techniques designed to grow a successful Home Based Business. Receive The Free Quick
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Copyright © Charles Fuchs is an established online marketer who specializes in helping people start their very own Home Based Business. He has also created dozens of articles such as MLM Leads and Make Money Online.

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way.