Learning the Basics of RSS

What is RSS?
You probably have seen this three-letter acronym in the course of your internet surfing. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary; syndicating means republishing an article that comes from another source such as a website.

An RSS is a means of publicizing updates about websites. It may or may not include a summary and photos of the latest posting. But those that provide summaries (thus Rich Site Summary) allow users to skim through the article so that they could decide later on if they want to access the website source. The RSS feed usually contains the title of the update originating from the website. It is also usually the link to the website source.

What are the benefits of RSS?
RSS gives benefits to both readers (users) and web publishers.
1. It gives you the latest updates.
Whether it is about the weather, new music, software upgrade, local news, or a new posting from a rarely-updates site learn about the latest as soon as it comes out.

2. It saves on surfing time.
Since an RSS feed provides a summary of the related article, it saves the user’s time by helping s/he decide on which items to prioritize when reading or browsing the net.

3. It gives the power of subscription to the user.
Users are given a free-hand on which websites to subscribe in their RSS aggregators which they can change at any time they decide differently.

4. It lessens the clutter in your inbox.
Although your email address will be required to enjoy the services of online RSS aggregators, RSS does not use your email address to send the updates.

5. It is spam free.
Unlike email subscriptions, RSS does not make use of your email address to send updates thus your privacy is kept safe from spam mails.

6. Unsubscribing is hassle-free.
Unlike email subscriptions where the user is asked questions on why s/he is unsubscribing and then the user would be asked to confirm unsubscribing, all you have to do is to delete the RSS feed from your aggregator.

7. It can be used as an advertising or marketing tool.
Users who subscribe or syndicate product websites receive the latest news on products and services without the website sending spam mail. This is advantageous to both the web user and the website owner since advertising becomes targeted; those who are actually interested in their products are kept posted.

What are the drawbacks of RSS?
The disadvantages of RSS use are brought about by its being a new technology and some user-preference concerns.
1. Some users prefer receiving email updates over an RSS feed.

2. Graphics and photos do not appear in all RSS feeds.
For conciseness and ease of publication, RSS feeds do not display the photos from the original site in announcing the update except for some web-based aggregators

3. The identity of the source website can be confusing.
Since RSS feeds do not display the actual URL or name of the website, it can sometimes get confusing on what feed a user is actually reading.

4. Publishers cannot determine how many users are subscribed to their feed and the frequency of their visits. Moreover, they would not know the reasons why users unsubscribe which could be important in improving their advertising.

5. RSS feeds create higher traffic and demands on the server.
Most readers still prefer the whole update over a brief summary of the entry, thus they still access the site.

6. Since it is a new technology, many sites still do not support RSS.

How do I start using RSS?
There are two things needed: an RSS feed and an RSS aggregator or reader. The RSS feed comes from an RSS-supported website. There are also websites that provide a list of RSS feeds of different websites. An RSS aggregator is used to read the RSS feed from the source website. It scans and collects data on latest RSS feeds from the worldwide web.

An aggregator comes in two forms: a downloadable program also known as desktop aggregator and an online or web-based aggregator. Downloadable aggregators may require payment before they can be acquired, while internet-based aggregators are usually free of charge. All you need to do is to register an account then you are ready to use their services. Both versions allow you to customize or choose which RSS feeds to enter. Paid aggregators are usually chosen by more experienced users and they usually allow more freedom in customizing feeds.

1. Choose an RSS aggregator to use. For beginners, web-based aggregators are recommended since they are usually user-friendly

2. Scan the homepage of your target website for the RSS or XML button. It contains the RSS code you need to enter in the aggregator. Copy this code. Syndic8 provides a directory of websites that support RSS.


3. Paste the code (which contains the URL of the website) in your aggregator. There is a space provided for pasting the code.

After you have done these three easy steps, you can start reading the RSS feeds coming from the website. New postings appear as they are published real time at the source website.

RSS and Internet Marketing

The original idea of RSS came from Netscape, where their intention is to provide a means for users to customize their personal homepage to contain links to websites that interest them, similar to bookmarking websites.

The application of RSS to internet marketing was an unforeseen development to RSS technology developers. Since users are given the freedom to add RSS feeds to their aggregators, those who are interested in particular products and services available in the internet can now be notified real time. Marketing becomes more specific to interested people and not a hit-and-miss operation.

Those who intend to use RSS for marketing their products and services should consider linking up with email account providers, (e.g. Yahoo, MSN, Google mail); networking websites (e.g. Friendster, Multiply, My Space, Hi5); websites of newspapers and television network websites (e.g. New York Times, CNN) for medium to big-scale companies. Small-time industries can also look into networking websites as well as personal blog websites (e.g. Blogspot) and websites of clubs and organizations that would probably make use of their products or services e.g. a fishing supplies store can look for the website of their local fishing club for possible RSS marketing.


Clearly, RSS is an innovation in information management in the worldwide web as well as online marketing. We can expect better RSS technology in the not-so-distant future as its popularity increases among users and website owners alike.

Why So Many People Fail In Affiliate Marketing

More and More people are lured into affiliate marketing and you might be one of them. Indeed, affiliate marketing is one of the most effective means of generating a full-time income through the Internet. It’s a fair deal between the merchandiser and his affiliates as both benefit from each sale materialized. Like in other kinds of business, a great deal of the profits in affiliate marketing depends on the affiliate’s advertising, promoting and selling strategies. Everyday, as affiliate marketing industry expands, competition heightens as well so an affiliate marketer must be creative enough to employ unique and effective ways to convince potential buyers to purchase or avail of the products and services offered.  

Compared to traditional advertising practices, affiliate programs are more effective, risk-free and cost-efficient. But why do many people still fail in affiliate marketing? There are a lot of reasons and a lot of areas in the program to look into. The most critical aspect in the affiliate program is advertising. Many affiliate marketers fail in this aspect because they lack hard work, which is the most important thing in affiliate marketing and in all other kinds of business as well. Although it pays to be lucky, you cannot merely rely on it. Affiliate marketing isn’t as simple as directing customers to the business site. If you want to earn big, of course, you have to invest time and great amount of hard work in promoting the products. As earlier mentioned, the competition is very high and customers nowadays are very wise, too. After all, who doesn’t want to get the best purchase—that is, to pay less and get more in terms of quantity and quality.

Lack of preparation is also a reason why one fails in affiliate marketing, whether he is a merchandiser or an affiliate. Part of the preparation is researching. On the part of the merchant, he has to be highly selective in choosing the right affiliate websites for his affiliate program. In order to be sure he has the best choices, he must have exhausted his means in looking for highly interested affiliates whose sites are sure fit to his products and services. The affiliate site’s visitors must match his targeted customers. On the other hand, the affiliate marketer must likewise research on the good-paying merchandisers before he signs up for an affiliate program. He must ensure that the merchants’ products and services match his interests so he can give his full attention and dedication to the program. He can get valuable information by joining affiliate forums, comparing different affiliate programs and reading articles on affiliate marketing where he can get tips from experienced affiliate marketers on how to choose the best merchants and products with high conversion rate.

The website is a very important tool in the whole affiliate program. As an affiliate marketer, you should plan how your site is going to be, from domain name to the design, the lay-out, the content, and ads. Some users are particular about what they see at first glance and thus when they find your site ugly, they won’t read through the content even if your site has many things to say and offer. On the other hand, there those who want information more than anything else. Affiliate marketers with “rich-content” web sites are usually the ones who prosper in this business because the content improves traffic to the site. Websites with high quality contents—with relevant keywords and more importantly, right information about the product and not empty hyped-up advertisements—allow you to earn big in affiliate marketing even when you’re asleep. If you won’t be able to sustain the interest of your site visitor, you won’t be able to lead him to the merchants’ site. No click-through means no sale and thus, no income on your part.

Selecting a top level domain name is also crucial to the success of the affiliate program. Lots of affiliate sites don’t appear in the search engine results because they are deemed by affiliate managers as personal sites. Major search engines and directories would think of your site as transient ones and thus, they won’t list it in the directory. Before you decide on the domain name, know first what you are going to promote. Many fail because their sites are not appropriately named, so even when they feature the exact products the customer is looking for, the customer might think the site is not relevant and thus, won’t enter the site.

Above all, an affiliate marketer must be willing to learn more. Certainly, there are still a lot of things to learn and so an affiliate marketer must continue to educate himself so he can improve his marketing strategies. Many fail because they don’t grow in the business and they are merely concerned about earning big quickly. If you want long-term and highly satisfactory results, take time to learn the ins and outs of the business. Continue to improve your knowledge especially with the basics in affiliate marketing ranging from advertising to programming, web page development, and search engine optimization techniques. Likewise, study the needs and wants of your site users and how different merchandisers compete with each other.

Keep on trying; don’t get disappointed if your first attempts did not pay off. Thousands are attracted by the possibility of generating skyrocketing incomes through affiliate marketing and so they sign up in any affiliate program without carefully understanding every aspect of the business. When they don’t get instant results, they quit and sign up for another program and repeat the process of just copying links and referring them to others. When you sign up for an affiliate program, don’t expect to get rich in an instant. Work on your advertising strategies and be patient. You’ll never know how much you can get if you don’t persevere.

Why Write an eBook?

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Why Write an eBook?
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It's not true that everything that has been said has
already been written. Since that unfortunate axiom
came into use, the whole universe has changed.
Technology has changed, ideas have changed, and the
mindsets of entire nations have changed.

The fact is that this is the perfect time to write an
ebook. What the publishing industry needs are people
who can tap into the world as it is today - innovative
thinkers who can make the leap into the new millennium
and figure out how to solve old problems in a new way.
Ebooks are a new and powerful tool for original
thinkers with fresh ideas to disseminate information
to the millions of people who are struggling to figure
out how to do a plethora of different things.

Let's say you already have a brilliant idea, and the
knowledge to back it up that will enable you to write
an exceptional ebook. You may be sitting at your
computer staring at a blank screen wondering, "Why?
Why should I go through all the trouble of writing my
ebook when it's so impossible to get anything
published these days?

Well, let me assure you that publishing an ebook is
entirely different than publishing a book in print.
Let's look at the specifics of how the print and cyber
publishing industry differ, and the many reasons why
you should take the plunge and get your fingers
tapping across those keyboards!

Submitting a print book to conventional publishing
houses or to agents is similar to wearing a hair shirt
24/7. No matter how good your book actually is, or how
many critique services and mentor writers have told
you that "you've got what it takes," your submitted
manuscript keeps coming back to you as if it is a
boomerang instead of a valuable mine of information.

Perhaps, in desperation, you've checked out
self-publishing and found out just how expensive a
venture it can be. Most "vanity presses" require
minimal print runs of at least 500 copies, and even
that amount will cost you thousands of dollars. Some
presses' minimal run starts at 1,000 to 2,000 copies.
And that's just for the printing and binding. Add in
distribution, shipping, and promotional costs and -
well, you do the math. Even if you wanted to go this
route, you may not have that kind of money to risk.

Let's say you already have an Internet business with a
quality website and a quality product. An ebook is one
of the most powerful ways to promote your business
while educating people with the knowledge you already
possess as a business owner of a specific product or
service.

For example, let's say that you've spent the last
twenty-five years growing and training bonsai trees,
and now you're ready to share your knowledge and
experience. An ebook is the perfect way to reach the
largest audience of bonsai enthusiasts.

Ebooks will not only promote your business - they will
help you make a name for yourself and your company,
and establish you as an expert in your field. You may
even find that you have enough to say to warrant a
series of ebooks. Specific businesses are complicated
and often require the different aspects to be divided
in order for the reader to get the full story.

Perhaps your goals are more finely tuned in terms of
the ebook scene. You may want to build a whole
business around writing and publishing ebooks.
Essentially, you want to start an e-business. You are
thinking of setting up a website to promote and market
your ebooks. Maybe you're even thinking of producing
an ezine.

One of the most prevalent reasons people read ebooks
is to find information about how to turn their
Internet businesses into a profit-making machine. And
these people are looking to the writers of ebooks to
provide them with new ideas and strategies because
writers of ebooks are usually people who understand
the new cyberspace world we now live in. Ebook writers
are experts in Internet marketing campaigns and the
strategies of promoting and distributing ebooks. The
cyberspace community needs its ebooks to be successful
so that more and more ebooks will be written.

You may want to create affiliate programs that will
also market your ebook. Affiliates can be people or
businesses worldwide that will all be working to sell
your ebooks. Think about this? Do you see a formula
for success here?

Figure out what your subject matter is, and then
narrow it down. Your goal is to aim for specificity.
Research what's out there already, and try to find a
void that your ebook might fill.

What about an ebook about a wedding cake business? Or
an ebook about caring for elderly pets? How about the
fine points of collecting ancient pottery?

You don't have to have three masters degrees to write
about your subject. People need advice that is easy to
read and easily understood. Parents need advice for
dealing with their teenagers. College students need to
learn good study skills - quickly. The possibilities
are endless.

After you've writtten your ebook

Getting your ebook out is going to be your focus once
you've finished writing it, just as it is with print
books. People will hesitate to buy any book from an
author they've never heard of. Wouldn't you?

The answer is simple: give it away! You will see
profits in the form of promoting your own business and
getting your name out. You will find affiliates who
will ask you to place their links within your ebook,
and these affiliates will in turn go out and make your
name known. Almost every single famous ebook author
has started out this way.

Another powerful tool to attract people to your ebook
is to make it interactive. Invent something for them
to do within the book rather than just producing pages
that contain static text. Let your readers fill out
questionnaires, forms, even crossword puzzles geared
to testing their knowledge on a particular subject.
Have your readers hit a link that will allow them to
recommend your book to their friends and associates.
Or include an actual order form so at the end of their
reading journey, they can eagerly buy your product.

When people interact with books, they become a part of
the world of that book. The fact is just as true for
books in print as it is for ebooks.

That's why ebooks are so essential. Not only do they
provide a forum for people to learn and make sense of
their own thoughts, but they can also serve to promote
your business at the same time.

Protecting Your Search Engine Rankings

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Protecting Your Search Engine Rankings
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Your website's ranking on search engines is a vital element
of your overall marketing campaign, and there are ways to
improve your link popularity through legitimate methods.
Unfortunately, the Internet is populated by bands of
dishonest webmasters seeking to improve their link
popularity by faking out search engines.

The good news is that search engines have figured this out,
and are now on guard for "spam" pages and sites that have
increased their rankings by artificial methods. When a
search engines tracks down such a site, that site is
demoted in ranking or completely removed from the search
engine's index.

The bad news is that some high quality, completely
above-board sites are being mistaken for these web page
criminals. Your page may be in danger of being caught up in
the "spam" net and tossed from a search engine's index,
even though you have done nothing to deserve such harsh
treatment. But there are things you can do - and things you
should be sure NOT to do - which will prevent this kind of
misperception.

Link popularity is mostly based on the quality of sites you
are linked to. Google pioneered this criteria for assigning
website ranking, and virtually all search engines on the
Internet now use it. There are legitimate ways to go about
increasing your link popularity, but at the same time, you
must be scrupulously careful about which sites you choose
to link to. Google frequently imposes penalties on sites
that have linked to other sites solely for the purpose of
artificially boosting their link popularity. They have
actually labeled these links "bad neighborhoods."

You can raise a toast to the fact that you cannot be
penalized when a bad neighborhood links to your site;
penalty happens only when you are the one sending out the
link to a bad neighborhood. But you must check, and
double-check, all the links that are active on your links
page to make sure you haven't linked to a bad neighborhood.

The first thing to check out is whether or not the pages
you have linked to have been penalized. The most direct way
to do this is to download the Google toolbar at
http://toolbar.google.com. You will then see that most
pages are given a "Pagerank" which is represented by a
sliding green scale on the Google toolbar.

Do not link to any site that shows no green at all on the
scale. This is especially important when the scale is
completely gray. It is more than likely that these pages
have been penalized. If you are linked to these pages, you
may catch their penalty, and like the flu, it may be
difficult to recover from the infection.

There is no need to be afraid of linking to sites whose
scale shows only a tiny sliver of green on their scale.
These sites have not been penalized, and their links may
grow in value and popularity. However, do make sure that
you closely monitor these kind of links to ascertain that
at some point they do not sustain a penalty once you have
linked up to them from your links page.

Another evil trick that illicit webmasters use to
artificially boost their link popularity is the use of
hidden text. Search engines usually use the words on web
pages as a factor in forming their rankings, which means
that if the text on your page contains your keywords, you
have more of an opportunity to increase your search engine
ranking than a page that does not contain text inclusive of
keywords.

Some webmasters have gotten around this formula by hiding
their keywords in such a way so that they are invisible to
any visitors to their site. For example, they have used the
keywords but made them the same color as the background
color of the page, such as a plethora of white keywords on
a white background. You cannot see these words with the
human eye - but the eye of search engine spider can spot
them easily! A spider is the program search engines use to
index web pages, and when it sees these invisible words, it
goes back and boosts that page's link ranking.

Webmasters may be brilliant and sometimes devious, but
search engines have figured these tricks out. As soon as a
search engine perceive the use of hidden text - splat! the
page is penalized.

The downside of this is that sometimes the spider is a bit
overzealous and will penalize a page by mistake. For
example, if the background color of your page is gray, and
you have placed gray text inside a black box, the spider
will only take note of the gray text and assume you are
employing hidden text. To avoid any risk of false penalty,
simply direct your webmaster not to assign the same color
to text as the background color of the page - ever!

Another potential problem that can result in a penalty is
called "keyword stuffing." It is important to have your
keywords appear in the text on your page, but sometimes you
can go a little overboard in your enthusiasm to please
those spiders. A search engine uses what is called
"Keyphrase Density" to determine if a site is trying to
artificially boost their ranking. This is the ratio of
keywords to the rest of the words on the page. Search
engines assign a limit to the number of times you can use a
keyword before it decides you have overdone it and
penalizes your site.

This ratio is quite high, so it is difficult to surpass
without sounding as if you are stuttering - unless your
keyword is part of your company name. If this is the case,
it is easy for keyword density to soar. So, if your keyword
is "renters insurance," be sure you don't use this phrase
in every sentence. Carefully edit the text on your site so
that the copy flows naturally and the keyword is not
repeated incessantly. A good rule of thumb is your keyword
should never appear in more than half the sentences on the
page.

The final potential risk factor is known as "cloaking." To
those of you who are diligent Trekkies, this concept should
be easy to understand. For the rest of you?cloaking is when
the server directs a visitor to one page and a search
engine spider to a different page. The page the spider sees
is "cloaked" because it is invisible to regular traffic,
and deliberately set-up to raise the site's search engine
ranking. A cloaked page tries to feed the spider everything
it needs to rocket that page's ranking to the top of the
list.

It is natural that search engines have responded to this
act of deception with extreme enmity, imposing steep
penalties on these sites. The problem on your end is that
sometimes pages are cloaked for legitimate reasons, such as
prevention against the theft of code, often referred to as
"pagejacking." This kind of shielding is unnecessary these
days due to the use of "off page" elements, such as link
popularity, that cannot be stolen.

To be on the safe side, be sure that your webmaster is
aware that absolutely no cloaking is acceptable. Make sure
the webmaster understands that cloaking of any kind will
put your website at great risk.

Just as you must be diligent in increasing your link
popularity and your ranking, you must be equally diligent
to avoid being unfairly penalized. So be sure to monitor
your site closely and avoid any appearance of artificially
boosting your rankings.

Steps to Publishing Success

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Steps to Publishing Success
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Even if your best friend owns a top publishing
company, giving you an immediate "in," this does not
guarantee publishing success.

First, you have to write a quality book that has a
clear target audience. And your book must answer a
common problem or need that audience shares. Then you
have to develop a marketing plan, and stick to it for
at least two years.

Let's begin with the process that should commence
before you write your first word. Begin by reading A
LOT. Read both books you passionately love and books
you can't seem to make it past page five. Then figure
out what the author did in the book you loved, and
what was wrong with in the book you couldn't finish.
Write down these points so they are crystal clear to
you. Read other people's books for inspiration and to
discover what you should avoid as a writer.

The next step is to plan out your book. Narrow down
your subject, and then divide it into chapters. Each
chapter should address a specific aspect of the
problem your book is going to solve. In each chapter,
break the specific aspect down into several parts.
This will help your readers take in your information a
bit at a time instead of overwhelming them with every
bit of information clogging up the pages until they
feel like they're about to go blind. It's not quite
spoon-feeding the information to your readers, but
it's close.

The next two steps are obvious. Write your book and
then revise it. And then revise it again. And perhaps
again. Of course, writing is extremely hard, and
writing a book can seem like an impossible task. There
are many books out there that give you guidelines to
help you become familiar - and even love - the process
of writing and revision. Find a number of books about
writing. Better yet, find a number of books about
writing the specific type of book you aspire to write.
These can serve as roadmaps on your writing journey.

Once you've written your ebook and revised it at least
twice, show it to someone else whose opinion you
respect. If you're lucky enough to know a good editor,
see if you have something to barter for him or her to
go through your manuscript. Or join a writing group
and let the other members critique your work.

Then take all these ideas from other people, and
revise your manuscript one last time. And then stop!
Put down that pen! Get your hands off the keyboard!

One of the most important steps to actually producing
a book is to know when to stop writing and tinkering
with it.

You've finally written your ebook! Pop open the
bubbly! Give yourself a night out on the town!

Okay, now that this necessary celebration is out of
your system, what do you do next?

How to turn your ebook into Profits

Ebooks are a revolutionary way to publish your book
without incurring the costs of print production. All
you need is a relevant and targeted subject and some
inexpensive software, and you can transform your
manuscript into a book.

The problem, in terms of actually seeing any profits
from your ebook, is that the market is overwhelmed
with ebooks, and many of them are not worth the time
it takes to download them. Just because the ability
exists to easily produce an ebook, doesn't make it
good writing.

Make sure your book does not simply rehash old
material. You will injure your credibility as an
author by claiming to offer valuable new insights and
disappointing your audience with material they've read
a zillion times before. So spend enough time writing
and revising your book to make sure it's of the
highest quality and presents the most current
information. A good book will eventually sell itself;
false claims about your book will make it extremely
difficult to sell any future books you may write.

Assuming you have determined that you do indeed have a
quality product that answers some question or need of
your target audience with NEW information, how do you
know how much to charge for it? Rule number 1: Set a
price for your book equal to its value. An
under-priced book will only give the impression that
your book isn't worth very much.

To figure out a fair price, estimate how much time you
put into creating it and how difficult it was to
transform the necessary information into
understandable and engaging writing. Figure out how
much your time and effort is worth, and then price it
accordingly. The goal is for you to be adequately
compensated for your talent, your time, and your
effort.

Once you've figured out a price that is high enough to
convey the value of the book, but not so high as to be
out of the reach of your target audience's mean
budget, then it's time to offer it for sale on your
website. To attract sales, you will need to develop a
promotional campaign, particularly if you are an
unknown author.

There are multitudes of books about self-promotion
that will guide you in your efforts. Choose a plan
that is both creative and professional. Learn how to
write a catchy yet informative press release, and send
copies of your ebook to sites that specialize in ebook
reviews.

Learn how to write powerful sales copy, or hire
someone to write it for you. This is an essential. You
absolutely need excellent sales copy to sell your
book. Make sure the copy includes all the reasons your
target audience needs your book, and the benefits they
will derive from buying it.

Use graphics in your promotional materials. Beautiful
graphics have the power to instantly convey the
quality and value of your ebook. Graphics can also
convey the amount of valuable information the book
contains, and your careful attention to detail.
Professional graphics sell professional books. They
reassure the customer that the product is what it
claims to be.

Consider excerpting chapters for articles. You can
offer these tidbits for free on your website as a sort
of demo of your book. Include an order form for your
ebook at the end of the excerpted articles.

Finally, when you set-up your download link, make sure
to simplify the process. It's a good idea to offer a
few bonuses that make your book even more enticing to
purchase, but make sure the bonuses are valuable and
high quality. Too many bonuses that are basically a
load of useless stuff will compromise the impression
your audience has of your ebook. The goal is to convey
to your audience that they are getting a quality
product for a good deal. That means applying
restraint, especially when it comes to adding bonus
items. Too much free stuff offered diminishes your
credibility.

Make sure your book is a quality product. Make sure it
is relevant and current. Develop an effective
marketing plan that includes excellent sales copy and
excerpted articles. Then offer your book for sale, and
wait for your audience to discover you!

Ebooks are Promotional Powerhouses

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Ebooks are Promotional Powerhouses
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Ebooks are part of the new frontier of cyberspace.
They are an entirely new medium for sharing marketing
information, ideas, techniques, and expert knowledge.
Each day the number of people accessing the Internet
grows, causing the exposure of your ebook to increase
incrementally. It's obvious why electronic
self-publishing has become so popular so quickly.

The publishing industry, I hope, does not intend to
forever banish the printed word to the dustbin of
history. Books in print have their own special
qualities and merits, and the world would be
diminished by their disappearance.

Having said that, let's look at what makes ebooks so
important and so unique. Ebooks have certain abilities
and qualities that other mediums do not possess.

For example, ebooks are fairly easy to produce, and
their production cost is inexpensive. Just think about
it: you don't need a publisher, an agent, a printing
press, offset film, ink, paper, or even a distributor.
You just need a great concept, the ability to write it
or to hire a writer, and the right software.

Additionally, ebooks are easily and rapidly
distributed online. They are also easily updated; they
do not require a second print run. All you need is to
go into your original creation and modify the text or
graphics. Because of this flexibility, ebooks can
change and grow as fast as you can type.

Ebooks are also immediately obtainable. You don't have
to go to a bookstore or search through endless titles
at an online bookstore. All you have to do is download
it from a website, and presto! It's on your computer,
ready to be read.

Ebooks are interactive. This is one of the most unique
and specific qualities that ebooks offer. You can add
surveys that need to be filled out, order forms for
customers to purchase your products or goods, sound
and video that draw your reader into the virtual world
of your ebook, even direct links to relevant sites
that will expand your ebook outward. The potential is
virtually limitless.

Ebooks have a particular kind of permanence that other
mediums do not possess. Television shows and radio
shows air once, and then may rerun a few times. Ebooks
remain on your computer for as long as your choose,
and they can be read and reread whenever you choose
to. They can even be printed out and stored on the
shelves of your traditional home library.

Another wonderful quality is that ebooks have no
barriers in terms of publishing. You don't need to go
through the endless process of submitting your
manuscript over and over again, and then once you land
an agent, having the agent submit your manuscript over
and over again. Nor do you have to shell out thousands
of dollars for printing a self-published book. All
ebooks require is a writer and appropriate software.
Figure out your market, write your book, post it on
your website, and with the right business savvy, your
audience will come to you.

Finally, you have creative control over your ebook.
You don?t have to compromise with an editor or the
publishing trends of the time. You don't have to
haggle with a designer or wait for copyedited galleys
to arrive by snail mail. You are in complete control
of the design and the text.

How to Use ebooks for Marketing and Promotion

There are innumerable ways to use ebooks to promote
your business and drive quality traffic to your
website. Once posted on your site, you can turn them
into a daily course, which brings your customer back
to read the next chapter. You can use them as a free
gift for making a purchase or for filling out a
survey. Put your ebook on a disc, and you will have an
innovative brochure. Blow your competition away by
inserting the disc into your sales packages.

The most effective marketing products are those that
are unique. Copyright your ebook, and immediately, you
have a powerful tool that you, and you alone, can
offer to the public. People will have to visit your
site to acquire your ebook, which increases the flow
of quality traffic and the potential of sales and
affiliate contacts.

Make sure that you keep your ebook current. Update it
frequently as the market and trends change. Add new
advice and techniques to show your prospects how your
goods or services can enrich their lives. By
constantly keeping abreast of new trends and
techniques, you can continue to see profits from your
ebook for years after your original creation.

Another phenomenal advantage of ebooks is that you can
test their marketing potential without putting out
hardly any cash at all. You can even produce an ebook
one copy at a time, each time you receive an order,
eliminating the need for storage and inventory. By
this method, you can gauge the saleablity of your
ebook, and make adjustments as necessary until the
orders start pouring in. Ebooks allow you to learn
about your market and customer habits and motivation
over a period of time, without risking your precious
financial resources. They also provide you with an
invaluable way to gather marketing information, which
you can use in many different facets of your business.

Use your ebook to discover what the specific goals and
problems are in your specific industry. Then figure
out how to solve these problems, and publish an ebook
with this invaluable information. This will increase
the value of your business, upgrade your reputation,
and get you known as an expert in your field.

You can extend the value of single ebook by breaking
the book down into chapters for a serial course, into
special reports available on your website, or into
audio or visual tapes. Ebooks can be broken down into
several different promotional materials by excepting
some of the articles and using them to promote your
product. You can include a catalog in your ebook to
promote all the products or services you sell. You can
include a thank-you note for reading your book and an
invitation to download a trial version of your
product. Or you can include a form for your audience
to contact you for further information or with
questions, thereby building your business
relationships and your mailing list.

Using ebooks in this manner helps to cut the cost of
individually producing separate promotional materials.
You can use a single ebook to entice new prospects and
to sell new products to your current customers.

No other medium has this kind of flexibility and
ability for expansion. Think of your ebook like a
spider spinning a beautiful and intricate web. Now go
and create that web, and see how many customers and
prospects you can catch!

How to Write an Ebook

===================================================
How to Write an Ebook
===================================================

The hardest part of writing is the first sentence.
When you look at the whole project, it seems like an
impossible task. That's why you have to break it down
into manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain.
You are standing at the foot of it and looking up at
its summit vanishing into the clouds. How can you
possibly scale such an immense and dangerous mountain?

There is only one way to climb a mountain ? step by
step.

Now think of writing your ebook in the same light. You
must create it step by step, and one day, you will
take that last step and find yourself standing on the
summit with your head in the clouds.

The first thing you have to do, as if you actually
were a mountain climber, is to get organized. Instead
of climbing gear, however, you must organize your
thoughts. There are some steps you should take before
you begin. Once you've gone through the following
list, you will be ready to actually begin writing your
ebook.

Beginning Steps to Writing an ebook

First, figure out your ebook's working title. Jot down
a few different titles, and eventually, you'll find
that one that will grow on you. Titles help you to
focus your writing on your topic; they guide you in
anticipating and answering your reader's queries. Many
non-fiction books also have subtitles. Aim for clarity
in your titles, but cleverness always helps to sell
books ? as long as it's not too cute. For example,
Remedies for Insomnia: twenty different ways to count
sheep. Or: Get off that couch: fifteen exercise plans
to whip you into shape.

Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is a
sentence or two stating exactly what problem you are
addressing and how your book will solve that problem.
All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement.
Once you've got your thesis statement fine-tuned,
you've built your foundation. From that foundation,
your book will grow, chapter by chapter.

Your thesis will keep you focused while you write your
ebook. Remember: all chapters must support your thesis
statement. If they don't, they don't belong in your
book. For example, your thesis statement could read:
We've all experienced insomnia at times in our lives,
but there are twenty proven techniques and methods to
give you back a good night's sleep.

Once you have your thesis, before you start to write,
make sure there is a good reason to write your book.
Ask yourself some questions:

* Does your book present useful information and is
that information currently relevant?

* Will you book positively affect the lives of your
readers?

* Is your book dynamic and will it keep the reader's
attention?

* Does you book answer questions that are meaningful
and significant?

If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feel
confident about the potential of your ebook.

Another important step is to figure out who your
target audience is. It is this group of people you
will be writing to, and this group will dictate many
elements of your book, such as style, tone, diction,
and even length. Figure out the age range of your
readers, their general gender, what they are most
interested in, and even the socio-economic group they
primarily come from. Are they people who read fashion
magazines or book reviews? Do they write letters in
longhand or spend hours every day online. The more you
can pin down your target audience, the easier it will
be to write your book for them.

Next, make a list of the reasons you are writing your
ebook. Do you want to promote your business? Do you
want to bring quality traffic to your website? Do you
want to enhance your reputation?

Then write down your goals in terms of publishing. Do
you want to sell it as a product on your website, or
do you want to offer it as a free gift for filling out
a survey or for ordering a product? Do you want to use
the chapters to create an e-course, or use your ebook
to attract affiliates around the world? The more you
know upfront, the easier the actual writing will be.

Decide on the format of your chapters. In non-fiction,
keep the format from chapter to chapter fairly
consistent. Perhaps you plan to use an introduction to
your chapter topic, and then divide it into four
subhead topics. Or you may plan to divide it into five
parts, each one beginning with a relevant anecdote.

How to make your ebook "user friendly"

You must figure out how to keep your writing engaging.
Often anecdotes, testimonials, little stories, photos,
graphs, advice, and tips will keep the reader turning
the pages. Sidebars are useful for quick, accessible
information, and they break up the density of the
page.

Write with a casual, conversational tone rather than a
formal tone such as textbook diction. Reader's respond
to the feeling that you are having a conversation with
them. Break up the length and structure of your
sentences so you don?t hypnotize your readers into
sleep. Sentences that are all the same length and
structure tend to be a good aid for insomnia!

Good writing takes practice. It takes lots and lots of
practice. Make a schedule to write at least a page a
day. Read books and magazines about the process of
writing, and jot down tips that jump out at you. The
art of writing is a lifetime process; the more you
write (and read), the better your writing will become.
The better your writing becomes, the bigger your sales
figures.

In an ebook that is read on the screen, be aware that
you must give your reader's eye a break. You can do
this by utilizing white space. In art classes, white
space is usually referred to as "negative space."
Reader's eyes need to rest in the cool white oasises
you create on your page. If your page is too dense,
your reader will quit out of it as soon as their eyes
begin to tear.

Make use of lists, both bulleted and numbered. This
makes your information easy to absorb, and gives the
reader a mental break from dissecting your paragraphs
one after the other.

Finally, decide on an easy-to-read design. Find a font
that's easy on the eyes, and stick to that font
family. Using dozens of fonts will only tire your
readers out before they've gotten past your
introduction. Use at least one and a half line
spacing, and text large enough to be read easily on
the screen, but small enough so that the whole page
can be seen on a computer screen. You will have to
experiment with this to find the right combination.

Of course, don't forget to run a spell and grammar
check. You are judged by something as minor as correct
punctuation, so don?t mess up a great book by tossing
out semicolons randomly, or stringing sentences
together with commas. (By the way, that's called a
"comma splice.")

Last of all, create an index and a bibliography.
That's it! You've written a book! Now all you have to
do is publish your ebook online, and wait for download
request from your website visitors.

Protecting Your Search Engine Rankings

===================================================
Protecting Your Search Engine Rankings
===================================================

Your website's ranking on search engines is a vital element
of your overall marketing campaign, and there are ways to
improve your link popularity through legitimate methods.
Unfortunately, the Internet is populated by bands of
dishonest webmasters seeking to improve their link
popularity by faking out search engines.

The good news is that search engines have figured this out,
and are now on guard for "spam" pages and sites that have
increased their rankings by artificial methods. When a
search engines tracks down such a site, that site is
demoted in ranking or completely removed from the search
engine's index.

The bad news is that some high quality, completely
above-board sites are being mistaken for these web page
criminals. Your page may be in danger of being caught up in
the "spam" net and tossed from a search engine's index,
even though you have done nothing to deserve such harsh
treatment. But there are things you can do - and things you
should be sure NOT to do - which will prevent this kind of
misperception.

Link popularity is mostly based on the quality of sites you
are linked to. Google pioneered this criteria for assigning
website ranking, and virtually all search engines on the
Internet now use it. There are legitimate ways to go about
increasing your link popularity, but at the same time, you
must be scrupulously careful about which sites you choose
to link to. Google frequently imposes penalties on sites
that have linked to other sites solely for the purpose of
artificially boosting their link popularity. They have
actually labeled these links "bad neighborhoods."

You can raise a toast to the fact that you cannot be
penalized when a bad neighborhood links to your site;
penalty happens only when you are the one sending out the
link to a bad neighborhood. But you must check, and
double-check, all the links that are active on your links
page to make sure you haven't linked to a bad neighborhood.

The first thing to check out is whether or not the pages
you have linked to have been penalized. The most direct way
to do this is to download the Google toolbar at
http://toolbar.google.com. You will then see that most
pages are given a "Pagerank" which is represented by a
sliding green scale on the Google toolbar.

Do not link to any site that shows no green at all on the
scale. This is especially important when the scale is
completely gray. It is more than likely that these pages
have been penalized. If you are linked to these pages, you
may catch their penalty, and like the flu, it may be
difficult to recover from the infection.

There is no need to be afraid of linking to sites whose
scale shows only a tiny sliver of green on their scale.
These sites have not been penalized, and their links may
grow in value and popularity. However, do make sure that
you closely monitor these kind of links to ascertain that
at some point they do not sustain a penalty once you have
linked up to them from your links page.

Another evil trick that illicit webmasters use to
artificially boost their link popularity is the use of
hidden text. Search engines usually use the words on web
pages as a factor in forming their rankings, which means
that if the text on your page contains your keywords, you
have more of an opportunity to increase your search engine
ranking than a page that does not contain text inclusive of
keywords.

Some webmasters have gotten around this formula by hiding
their keywords in such a way so that they are invisible to
any visitors to their site. For example, they have used the
keywords but made them the same color as the background
color of the page, such as a plethora of white keywords on
a white background. You cannot see these words with the
human eye - but the eye of search engine spider can spot
them easily! A spider is the program search engines use to
index web pages, and when it sees these invisible words, it
goes back and boosts that page's link ranking.

Webmasters may be brilliant and sometimes devious, but
search engines have figured these tricks out. As soon as a
search engine perceive the use of hidden text - splat! the
page is penalized.

The downside of this is that sometimes the spider is a bit
overzealous and will penalize a page by mistake. For
example, if the background color of your page is gray, and
you have placed gray text inside a black box, the spider
will only take note of the gray text and assume you are
employing hidden text. To avoid any risk of false penalty,
simply direct your webmaster not to assign the same color
to text as the background color of the page - ever!

Another potential problem that can result in a penalty is
called "keyword stuffing." It is important to have your
keywords appear in the text on your page, but sometimes you
can go a little overboard in your enthusiasm to please
those spiders. A search engine uses what is called
"Keyphrase Density" to determine if a site is trying to
artificially boost their ranking. This is the ratio of
keywords to the rest of the words on the page. Search
engines assign a limit to the number of times you can use a
keyword before it decides you have overdone it and
penalizes your site.

This ratio is quite high, so it is difficult to surpass
without sounding as if you are stuttering - unless your
keyword is part of your company name. If this is the case,
it is easy for keyword density to soar. So, if your keyword
is "renters insurance," be sure you don't use this phrase
in every sentence. Carefully edit the text on your site so
that the copy flows naturally and the keyword is not
repeated incessantly. A good rule of thumb is your keyword
should never appear in more than half the sentences on the
page.

The final potential risk factor is known as "cloaking." To
those of you who are diligent Trekkies, this concept should
be easy to understand. For the rest of you?cloaking is when
the server directs a visitor to one page and a search
engine spider to a different page. The page the spider sees
is "cloaked" because it is invisible to regular traffic,
and deliberately set-up to raise the site's search engine
ranking. A cloaked page tries to feed the spider everything
it needs to rocket that page's ranking to the top of the
list.

It is natural that search engines have responded to this
act of deception with extreme enmity, imposing steep
penalties on these sites. The problem on your end is that
sometimes pages are cloaked for legitimate reasons, such as
prevention against the theft of code, often referred to as
"pagejacking." This kind of shielding is unnecessary these
days due to the use of "off page" elements, such as link
popularity, that cannot be stolen.

To be on the safe side, be sure that your webmaster is
aware that absolutely no cloaking is acceptable. Make sure
the webmaster understands that cloaking of any kind will
put your website at great risk.

Just as you must be diligent in increasing your link
popularity and your ranking, you must be equally diligent
to avoid being unfairly penalized. So be sure to monitor
your site closely and avoid any appearance of artificially
boosting your rankings.

Ovecoming Writer's Block

===================================================
Ovecoming Writer's Block
===================================================

What is writer's block?

Well, I just can't think of a single darn thing to
say. Oh well, I'm outta here!

Sound familiar? No! Oh, get real! We've all
experienced this phenomenon when we absolutely have to
write something, particularly on deadline. I'm talking
about. . . . .uh, I can't think of what the word is .
. . oh, yes, it's on the tip of my tongue . . . it's:

WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!

Whew! I feel better just getting that out of my head
and onto the page!

Writer's block is the patron demon of the blank page.
You may think you know EXACTLY what you're going to
write, but as soon as that evil white screen appears
before you, your mind suddenly goes completely blank.
I'm not talking about Zen meditation
stare-at-the-wall-until-enlightenment-hits kind of
blank.

I'm talking about sweat trickling down the back of
your neck, anguish and panic and suffering kind of
blank. The tighter the deadline, the worse the anguish
of writer's block gets.

Having said that, let me say it again. "The tighter
the deadline, the worse the anguish of writer's block
gets." Now, can you figure out what might possibly be
causing this horrible plunge into speechlessness?

The answer is obvious: FEAR! You are terrified of that
blank page. You are terrified you have absolutely
nothing of value to say. You are afraid of the fear of
writer's block itself!

It doesn?t necessarily matter if you've done a decade
of research and all you have to do is string sentences
you can repeat in your sleep together into coherent
paragraphs. Writer's block can strike anyone at any
time. Based in fear, it raises our doubts about our
own self-worth, but it's sneaky. It's writer's block,
after all, so it doesn't just come and let you know
that. No, it makes you feel like an idiot who just had
your frontal lobes removed through your sinuses. If
you dared to put forth words into the greater world,
they would surely come out as gibberish!

Let's try and be rational with this irrational demon.
Let's make a list of what might possibly be beneath
this terrible and terrifying condition.

1. Perfectionism. You must absolutely produce a
masterpiece of literature straight off in the first
draft. Otherwise, you qualify as a complete failure.

2. Editing instead of composing. There's your
monkey-mind sitting on your shoulder, yelling as soon
as you type "I was born?," no, not that, that's wrong!
That's stupid! Correct correct correct correct?

3. Self-consciousness. How can you think, let alone
write, when all you can manage to do is pry the
fingers of writer's block away from your throat enough
so you can gasp in a few shallow breaths? You're not
focusing on what you're trying to write, your focusing
on those gnarly fingers around your windpipe.

4. Can't get started. It's always the first sentence
that's the hardest. As writers, we all know how
EXTREMELY important the first sentence is. It must be
brilliant! It must be unique! It must hook your
reader's from the start! There's no way we can get
into writing the piece until we get past this
impossible first sentence.

5. Shattered concentration. You're cat is sick. You
suspect your mate is cheating on you. Your electricity
might be turned off any second. You have a crush on
the local UPS deliveryman. You have a dinner party
planned for your in-laws. You . . . Need I say more.
How can you possibly concentrate with all this mental
clutter?

6. Procrastination. It's your favorite hobby. It's
your soul mate. It?s the reason you've knitted 60
argyle sweaters or made 300 bookcases in your garage
workshop. It's the reason you never run out of Brie.

FACE IT ? IT?S ONE OF THE REASONS YOU HAVE WRITER'S
BLOCK!

How to Overcome Writer's Block

Okay. I can hear that herd of you running away from
this article as fast as you can. Absurd! you huff.
Never in a million years, you fume. Writer's block is
absolutely, undeniably, scientifically proven to be
impossible to overcome.

Oh, just get over it! Well, I guess it's not that
easy. So try to sit down for just a few minutes and
listen. All you have to do is listen ? you don't have
to actually write a single word.

Ah, there you all are again. I am beginning to make
you out now that the cloud of dust is settling.

I am here to tell you that WRITER'S BLOCK CAN BE
OVERCOME.

Please, remain seated.

There are ways to trick this nasty demon. Pick one,
pick several, and give them a try. Soon, before you
even have a chance for your heartbeat to accelerate,
guess what? You're writing.

Here are some tried and true methods of overcoming
writer's block:

1. Be prepared. The only thing to fear is fear itself.
(I know, that's a clich?but as soon as you start
writing, feel free to improve on it.) If you spend
some time mulling over your project before you
actually sit down to write, you may be able to
circumvent the worst of the crippling panic.

2. Forget perfectionism. No one ever writes a
masterpiece in the first draft. Don't put any
expectations on your writing at all! In fact, tell
yourself you're going to write absolute garbage, and
then give yourself permission to happily stink up your
writing room.

3. Compose instead of editing. Never, never write your
first draft with your monkey-mind sitting on your
shoulder making snide editorial comments. Composing is
a magical process. It surpasses the conscious mind by
galaxies. It's even incomprehensible to the conscious,
editorial, monkey-mind. So prepare an ambush. Sit down
at your computer or your desk. Take a deep breath and
blow out all your thoughts. Let your finger hover over
your keyboard or pick up your pen. And then pull a
fake: appear to be about to begin to write, but
instead, using your thumb and index finger of your
dominant hand, flick that little annoying ugly monkey
back into the barrel of laughs it came from. Then jump
in ? quickly! Write, scribble, scream, howl, let
everything loose, as long as you do it with a pen or
your computer keyboard.

4. Forget the first sentence. You can sweat over that
all-important one-liner when you've finished your
piece. Skip it! Go for the middle or even the end.
Start wherever you can. Chances are, when you read it
over, the first line will be blinking its little neon
lights right at you from the depths of your
composition.

5. Concentration. This is a hard one. Life throws us
so many curve balls. How about thinking about your
writing time as a little vacation from all those
annoying worries. Banish them! Create a space, perhaps
even a physical one, where nothing exists except the
single present moment. If one of those irritating
worries gets by you, stomp on it like you would an
ugly bug!

6. Stop procrastinating. Write an outline. Keep your
research notes within sight. Use someone else's
writing to get going. Babble incoherently on paper or
on the computer if you have to.

Just do it! (I know, I stole that line from
somewhere?). Tack up anything that could possibly help
you to get going: notes, outlines, pictures of your
grandmother. Put the cookie you will be allowed to eat
when you finish your first draft within sight ? but
out of reach. Then pick up the same type of writing
that you need to write, and read it. Then read it
again. Soon, trust me, the fear will slowly fade away.
As soon as it does, grab your keyboard ? and get
writing!

Rating eBook Compilers

===================================================
Rating eBook Compilers
===================================================

Now that you've finished writing your eBook and have a
basic understanding of what an eBook compiler does,
you may be feeling overwhelmed by the number of
compilers on the market. To help you make your
decision, I have tested and reviewed the best-rated
eBook compilers currently available.

* E-ditor

This software has a demo version that you can download
to try out before purchasing. You can't actually use
the demo to create an eBook, but you can run the
software and test it out thoroughly to see if it does
what you need it to do for your particular eBook.

This eBook compiler is one of the easiest to use. The
software has a very user-friendly help menu that
provides instructions for and explanations of every
field on every screen. The program also includes video
tutorials demonstrating every step of this compiler
with clear explanations of all fields that need to be
filled out. There are 7 screens that you use to choose
your eBook options.

This compiler requires your files to be in HTML
format. You follow simple directions, and the compiler
loads your files. If you decide to edit your eBook
after it has been compiled, make any changes in your
original files and click on "Compile you eBook" and
your changes will appear in your compiled eBook.

E-editor allows for some customization of your eBook.
You can create a special page that appears when the
eBook is opened; create customized icons that appear
on the desktop after downloading; use your own logo on
the task bar of your eBook; customize the task bar's
buttons, where the task bar appears in your eBook, and
choose the task bar's colors. Additionally, you can
choose to have the eBook open to the last page read,
which many of your buyers will appreciate.

An excellent and unique feature of E-ditor is the
capability to choose a standard Microsoft window or to
create your own design for a window to personalize
your eBook. The program provides some sample window
designs, but you can use any .bmp (bit map skin)
graphic you have stored on your hard drive.

E-ditor is a good choice if you are new at producing
eBooks because it is easy to use and allows you to
customize the appearance of your eBook.

* Desktop Author

This compiler does not require a browser, nor do you
have to download software or plug-ins. The program
converts exe. files into pages that look like a
standard book. You can create and produce eBook pages
scaled to fit on your computer screen without any
scrolling. Additional features include WYSIWGY (what
you see is what you get) page editing and creation,
the ability to manipulate internal images, cut and
paste functions, hotlinks to pages, email, website, or
other files. It is an excellent compiler to use for a
marketing tools, such as creating brochures and
manuals in addition to eBooks.

* EBook Edit Pro

This compiler provides a demo version, which allows
you to test out its features. The software uses a
Wizard that leads you step-by-step through the set-up
and creation of your eBook. Customization includes
text editing that appears on the pop-up starting
message window; the ability to allow or prevent
resizing of your book and the mouse-click pop-up menu;
enabling or disabling the navigation bar and choosing
the buttons you want to appear; and customizing the
eBook's desktop icon and the logo that appears on the
navigation bar.

Ebook Edit Pro is loaded with excellent features that
allow you to create multi-media Ebooks, and includes a
Wizard that is customized for beginners and for
advanced users. The software uses HTML files,
downloading them from the directory where they are
saved. Edit and resave your files in the original
software used to create those files, and then with a
single click you can re-compile your Ebook.

Features include customization of icons, toolbars, and
the "about box." This compiler has a particularly
useful feature called the Rebrander feature. This
permits you to enter customized code into your Ebook
pages and distribute the Rebrander software to your
affiliates or distributors. They can then customize
the links included in the Ebook, but they can not
alter any link or information that you have not
entered a customized code for.

The software includes "eBrand-It" software that allows
custom fields for your customer's name, affiliate ID
or URL. This feature is a powerful marketing tool
because affiliates are much happier giving away your
Ebook from their own site when they can customize it.

* Ebook Compiler

This compiler offers a demo version that allows you to
compile 10 files. If you don't include graphics, you
can create a 10 page Ebook that allows printing and
copying of the Ebook. The catch is that you can't sell
any Ebook you create in the demo version.

The purchased software is user-friendly with
easy-to-follow help files that not only guide you
through the steps of compiling your Ebook, but also
explains what an Ebook compiler does. The software
provides detailed instructions on how to create source
files from Microsoft Word 2000 and 1997, PowerPoint
2000 and 1997, and HTML documents. It contains less
detailed instructions for creating source files from
other programs.

This compiler allows for password protection of your
entire Ebook or for selected pages. Additionally, you
can set a time limit on your Ebook. When the runs out,
the customer no longer has access unless they pay for
it. In other words, it allows you to create a demo
version of your Ebook for marketing purposes.

You can set a single password or multiple passwords.
Using multiple passwords assigns each user their own
specific password. Online help files guide you through
setting up your passwords. You can also create a Sales
and Thank-you page for selling a password protected
Ebook. This is a good choice for the novice,
particularly since it includes basic features for
password protection and distribution.

* Activ Ebook Compiler

This is an easy to use compiler that provides
excellent features. This software can support HTML,
JPEG, GIF, and all active plug-ins. Features includes
password protection, branding, internet linking, icon
customization, assigning unique serial numbers, splash
screen, file compression, and start-up messages. It
also provides free lifetime upgrades. Additionally, it
includes a preprocessor, re-brander, active script,
and detailed instructions for using HTML, Power Point,
and Microsoft Word files.

There are several other excellent Ebook compilers on
the market that are worth looking into.

Ebook Generator features splash screens, password
protection, branding, icon customization, and
compression control. Additionally, it includes virus
prevention that alerts the user to any modifications
made to your Ebook and offers usage statistics so you
can track your Ebook's use. With all these advanced
features, this is an excellent compiler for the
beginner because it is exceptionally easy to run.

Ebook Creator is another excellent compiler,
supporting HTML, JPEG, GIF, and PNG graphics, and
Javascript, VB script, and Java applets. It also
supports all Internet Explorer plug-ins. Standard
features include unique serial numbers, direct linking
to a form or a page on your website, disabled right
clicking, and search functions. The software allows
for expiration after a set number of days or usages,
which allows you to create demo versions. You can
create up to 1000 different passwords; every time the
Ebook is downloaded, a unique password is required to
access protected pages. The software provides
user-friendly menus and buttons that allow the
beginner to the advanced user to easily create their
Ebook.

Obviously, there are some excellent compilers out
there. So figure out EVERYTHING you need in terms of
features, and then compare prices and options. Do take
advantage of demo versions if they are offered before
purchasing. And then, have fun creating your Ebook!

Choosing an eBook Compiler

===================================================
Choosing an eBook Compiler
===================================================

What is an eBook compiler?

You've written and revised your ebook, hired an artist
who has produced outstanding graphics, and now you're
ready to actually put together your ebook. What you
need to make an ebook is software called an ebook
Compiler.

There are many different compilers to chose from, but
first, you need to know exactly what an ebook Compiler
does. Here is the simple explanation:

An ebook compiler is a software program that converts
either text pages or HTML text into a single
executable file or an ebook.

If you or someone you hired has created a file with
graphics in HTML, you will need an HTML ebook
Compiler. This type of compiler requires a working
knowledge of the HTML tag language. You can also use
software to do this for you, such as Microsoft
FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver.

How do you choose an eBook Compiler?

There are a large number of ebook Compilers available
on the market, all with glowing sales copy and tekkie
language. It can get very confusing and overwhelming
very fast without some simple guidelines to help you
figure out which compiler is right for you.

Choosing an ebook Compiler depends on a number of
factors:

1. How did you create your pages? Did you use HTML or
PDF format? There are many more compilers available
for HTML, but you can find some very good compilers
that will covert your PDF files into an ebook.

2. Consider how easy the program is to use and the
thoroughness of the software's instruction manual. It
is absolutely necessary that the compiler you buy have
an instructional manual, documentation, or online
"wizards." If it doesn't, your chances of figuring out
how to correctly use the program are compromised, and
the time required doing so is going to be significant.
Many manufacturers of compilers offer a free trial
version so you can play around with it and see if it
suits your needs. Download the trial version and
ascertain that it actually does what it claims to do.

3. Security features. If you plan to sell your ebook,
check out the security features of the compiler
software carefully. Security features should include:
prevention of the reader from modifying text, access
only to the pages you assign or by entering a
password, different ways of generating passwords such
as secure passwords, user-friendly, and open
passwords.

4. Supported scripting. Find out what scripts the
software supports. Scripting allows you to create
special effects, customize menus, and create and
modify other user interactivity. Choose a compiler
that permits you to include graphics, search windows,
hyperlinks, forms, surveys, etc.

5. Pricing. This is a factor that is not always easy
to gauge. The highest priced compilers are not
automatically your best choice. Choose your compiler
based on the necessary requirements for your Ebook.
That means you need to know exactly how you plan to
use your Ebook and what functions you require.

Let's look at some of these factors in more detail.
First of all, make sure you have the correct browser
to run the compiler. The majority of HTML compilers
use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape. Check out
the version that the compiler supports. Compilers that
require a browser will not run on a computer that does
not have the required browser installed. However,
there are ebook HTML compilers that don't require you
to have any browser installed on your computer. These
compilers run on any Windows system.

If you choose a compiler that requires a browser,
check to ascertain that the browser is installed
correctly and that it is properly configured to the
specifications of the compiler. Check to see if
certain functions are turned off or on, and make any
adjustments according to the compiler instructions.

Security is an essential element of any compiler,
regardless of whether you plan to sell or give away
your ebook. One of the main reasons for using a
compiler is to prevent the reader from modifying the
contents. A secure compiler allows access only to the
pages you want the user to access unless they enter a
correct password.

To find out how secure an ebook HTML compiler is, open
an ebook on it. While it is open, check the temporary
directory of your computer. This can usually be
accessed by typing in C:\Windows\temp. If you see a
bunch of files when your ebook is open or running, it
means that your computer is decompressing the secure
data from your ebook before showing the ebook to the
viewer. This method is not secure! It means that
anyone with the knowledge of how to access these
temporary files can steal the secure data and then
they can fiddle with your ebook to their evil heart's
desire. Remember, one of the main purposes of buying
and using an HTML compiler is to protect your
property.

Next, let's discuss passwords. When trying to choose
an ebook Compiler, check out the type of passwords
that the compiler supports. Almost all compilers offer
some kind of password protection that insures that the
user can only access the contents they have purchased
from you. However, the best compilers offer varied
ways to generate different types of passwords. Choose
a compiler that gives you the options of secure,
user-friendly, and open password generation.

Another important factor when it comes to passwords is
how the compiler generates them. A compiler that has
internal password protection generation built into the
software is more secure than compilers that link to
live Internet password control systems.

Find out if the compiler generates passwords online.
If it has this option, it allows you to choose any
payment processing system you want or to do the
payment processing yourself.

Next, look into the size of ebook the compiler
supports. The best compilers can create ebooks up to 2
GB in size without decompressing the HTML pages or
images to your hard disk. Usually, ebooks that are 2
GB in size can easily support 6 GB of compressed data.
The catch here is that only text files will generally
be compressible.

You do not want a compiler that decompresses this
amount of data when the user attempts to open your
ebook. This would mean that anyone who purchases your
ebook will have to wait for all the data to decompress
before they can access your ebook right after
downloading it. So look for compilers that only
decompress temporarily files that are NOT HTML to the
local hardisk. Non-HTML files include Flash, Word, and
Acrobat files. This type of compiler is more secure
and certainly faster.

Make sure the compiler you choose is compatible with
your system software. Check out what version of
Windows it requires, and make sure you have that
version before buying your compiler.

Support issues are extremely important. Choose a
compiler that includes an installation program. This
program allows your user to choose a number of
different places on their computer to install the
ebook, to place a shortcut on their desktop, and to
add the ebook, if they choose, to the Start Programs
menu.

You also want excellent and accessible vendor support.
Make sure you can access quick technical support! At
three o'clock in the morning, this factor will be VERY
important. Also, check to see the terms of free
technical support offered. Unlimited technical support
is obviously the best option.

Check to see if the company that puts out the compiler
software offers a service level agreement. This
agreement is to assure you of their quality response
to your questions or problems.

A good thing to consider is how long the compiler has
been on the market. Usually, the version number will
give you an idea. The longer the program is on the
market, the higher the version number, the more bugs
have been worked out.

When choosing an ebook compiler, do not be swayed by
incredible promises and dazzling sales copy. Do your
homework first, and then consider all the above issues
and factors before choosing an ebook compiler.

Ski Vacations – Learning How To Ski

If your family wants to go skiing on your next
vacation, but you don’t know how to ski, go ahead
and plan that ski vacation anyway! You can learn
how to ski, and you will have a great time doing it.
You don’t even need to know the first thing about
skiing before you arrive at the resort – all of the
knowledge you will need is there waiting for you,
and you can literally be skiing down a mountain
after an hour of instruction.

Learning to ski is really quite easy. Most resorts
have a ski school on the premises, and lessons are
reasonably priced. Group and private lessons are
usually available. It is a good idea, however, to
schedule an appointment before you arrive at the
resort. This will ensure that you can start learning
to ski the very first hour of your vacation.

Most ski instructors start by showing you how to
maneuver around with your equipment. When you
are wearing ski boots, you will be inclined slightly
forward – there is a reason for this…when you are
skiing down a mountain, you will be inclined
forward! Walking in ski boots the first time is a bit
difficult – but it works just fine if you learn to walk
with your knees slightly bent.

The first maneuver you will learn is called the plow,
or snow plow. This is a technique that is done by
literally using your skis as a snow plow. You make
the back of the skis slowing move outwards, away
from your body by applying pressure – and this stops
you. You guide yourself on skies by bending your
knees and leaning in one direction or another,
depending on which way you want to go. All of these
techniques can be learned in one hour, even if you
have never been on a pair of skis in your life.

The beauty of skiing is that after you have learned
how to snow plow, and how to guide yourself on the
skis, you are ready to ski! Get on the lift, head up the
mountain, and give it a try. Control your speed by
snow plowing – go slow at first. When you want to
pick up some speed, draw your skis back in to pick
up a little speed, then push them back out into the
plow position to control that speed.

As a beginner, you should stick to the trails that are
designed for beginners. At most resorts, these trails
are marked with a green emblem. Blue trails are for
intermediate skiers, and after one day of skiing the
beginner trails, you may be ready for those trails.
The black trails are for experts. These trails can be
dangerous for people who don’t have the skill level
to handle them! Avoid black trails until you have
had a great deal of ski instruction and experience.
You will know when you are ready!

Ski Vacations at Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah

If you are looking for the ultimate Utah ski vacation,
Solitude Mountain Resort has everything that you
could want or need. During the early 1900’s, the
area was full of silver miners, who gave the area its
famous name. Today, the area is covered with
skiers – but the crowds are rather light.

The area became a skier’s paradise in 1957. It was
developed by Robert Barrett, who made his fortune
as a uranium miner. He basically started developing
the resort because he was denied restroom privileges
at the ski area in Alta – because he was not a guest.

Now owned by a different family, the resort features
1200 acres of 63 runs for beginners, intermediate
skiers, and experts. There are eight lifts, including
seven chair lifts and one surface lift. The top
elevation at Solitude Mountain is 10036 feet, with
a vertical drop of 2048 feet.

There are five lodging options for guests, and
activities and events take place all throughout the
year. The resort looks like a Tom Kincaide painting,
and one can’t help but wonder if this is where some
of his inspiration came from!

Skid Loader

The skid loader is a rigid frame, engine powered
machine with lift arms that are used to attach a
wide variety of labor saving tools or attachments.
Skid loaders are normally four wheel drive with
left side drive wheels that are independent of
right side drive wheels.  With each side being
independent to the other, the wheel speed and
direction of rotation of the wheels will determine
which direction the loader turns.

Skid loaders are capable of turning in their own
tracks, which makes them very maneuverable and
valuable for jobs that require the use of compact,
agile loader.

Unlike conventional front loaders, the lift arms
lay beside the driver with the major pivot points
located behind the shoulders of the operator.  Due
to the operator being in close proximity to moving
booms and buckets, earlier models of skid loaders
weren't as safe as conventional front loaders,
particularly during entering and exiting.

Skid loaders today have fully enclosed cabs and
other safety features that will protect the operator
from injury.  Just like other front loaders,
the skid steer can scrape material from one
location to another, carry material in a bucket,
or load material on a truck or a trailer.

Operation
A skid loader can sometimes take the place of a
large excavator by digging a hole out from the
inside.  The skid loader will first dig a ramp
that leads to the edge of the hole.  Then, the
loader will use the ramp to carry material out
of the hole.

The skid loader will then reshape the ramp by
making it steeper and longer as the excavation
gets deeper.  This method is very useful for
digging under an overhead structure where the
overhead clearance doesn't allow for the boom of
a large excavator, such as those situations where
you are digging a basement under a house.

The bucket of most types of skid loaders can be
replaced with several specialized buckets or
attachments, many of which are powered by the
hydraulic system of the loader.

History
The first 3 wheeled front end loader was invented
by two brothers, Cyril and Louis Keller in their
machinist shop in Minnesota back in 1957.  The
Kellers built the loader to help a nearby farmer
clean turkey manure from his two story barn.  The
light and compact loader, with the rear caster
wheel, was able to turn around within the length
of itself, while performing the very same tasks as
conventional front end loaders.

Down the road, the Melroe manufacturing company
in Gwinner ND, purchased the rights to the Keller
loader in 1958 and hired the brothers to continue
their loader invention.  Resulting from the
partnership, the M-200 self propelled loader was
introduced at the end of 1958.

The loader featured two independent front drive
wheels and a rear caster wheel, a 12.9 engine and
a 750 lb lift capacity.  Two years later, they
ended up replacing the caster wheel with a rear
axle and introduced the M-400 loader, which was
the first four wheel skid steer loader in the
world.

In 1962, the Bobcat name was added to describe
the key features of the machine - touch, agile, and
quick.  The M-440 was powered by a 15.5 HP engine
and offered a 1100 lb rated operating capacity.
In the mid 1960s, the skid steer loader progressed
with the introduction of the M600 loader.

Years later, the Bobcat skid steer loader experienced
quite a few changes, including the development of
a hydrostatic drive system, enforced cab structures,
radius and vertical lift arm configurations,
deluxe instrumentation, and even heating and air
conditioning.

In addition to the rubber tire skid loaders of today,
there are now all-wheel steer loaders and even
compact track loaders. Compact track loads offer
less ground disturbance and feature better traction
and control in soft, muddy, wet, and even sandy
ground conditions.

Search Engine Optimization for Affiliate Marketers

There are no secrets on how to rank high with the major search engines because effective search engine optimizations are now immense. What is search engine optimization? Before we discuss that thing, you have to understand first how search engines work and a bit of know-how.

Search engines are into providing their users with the most relevant and up-to-date information to match the search term that was used.  They are sophisticated pieces of technology which allow users to quickly find relevant websites by searching for a word or a phrase. Search engine results are useless to users if the information doesn’t relate to the search term, or if the results are old. People expect the most up-to-date and fresh information that is useful to them.

Updating your website everyday and adding some materials will help you get noticed by the search engines. So, if you are going to sell any type of product or service online, you have to optimize your website for the search engines, in order to boost traffic and sales. It is because over 90% of your business will likely come directly from search engine results. And for that reason, it is absolutely important to optimize your site for search engines for you to have the greatest deals in the entire world.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process by which webmasters or online business owners utilize strategic copy to augment their website’s status. It is certain that the internet has grown so fast over the years and the competition for the best search engine position has created an enormous market. Therefore, better understanding the fundamental elements of Search Engine Optimization is vital for an online business’ success.

Making use of effective search engine optimization techniques will improve the page rank of your website. There are many tricks that can be used to increase page rank; the most effective method is to provide high quality content consistently. This seems like a simple concept but there are many websites that fails to provide content that visitors find interesting. Sites which provide content that are interesting, well-written and regularly updated create highly engaged visitors who are more likely to return to the website in the coming days. So, if you can set your website apart from those boring, lifeless sites then do it. You’ll surely have a step closer to achieving high page rank through search engine optimization.

The next significant factor for an effective search engine optimization is to include keywords and phrases within your content. To make sure that you are properly targeting your market, you have to make sure that the keywords and phrases you have on your site are the keywords and phrase that your site is actually optimized for. The more keywords you use in your content, the more likely it is that online visitors will find your site when they do some research with those words. If you are unfailing with these techniques, then your overall search engine optimization will increase, boosting your page rank.

You should also have to develop a linking strategy as a part of your search engine optimization. Not only does this provide free advertising for your site, but it makes the impression that your site is imperative because of its affiliated links. For each link that you have pointing back to you, that is another chance for your potential customer to find you. The more inbound links that you have pointing to your site, the higher you will be ranked in the search engines.

Another is to develop a content stratagem. People who get to search from the internet are looking for information. The more information you provide for them and the more helpful it is, the more likely you will make the sale. Writing articles is the most effective way to build up content for your site. When writing articles to post on your site, make sure that you develop a clear means of arranging their content. You can do this by simply adding a new page to your site. This will allow room for extra articles to be added as you write them, and will allow you to build up an archive of articles which will maintain to draw online visitors. Make sure also that you have included your archived articles in a directory that is next to the root web of your site so that the search engines will catalog your online articles.

Always keep in mind that search engine optimization methods are important in developing your site’s status. With that thing in mind, make sure that you write high-quality, keyword rich content and link your site to and from a deliberate family of other sites. These things will help improve your site’s popularity and coerce increased business through your online business.