1. Set goals. Goals are absolutely necessary when you do internet marketing. That is because without goals, you are much more likely to waste money and time doing things that do not get you any closer to what you want, which is to have a better business. By setting goals, you illuminate pathways to those goals, which saves you both time and money.

2. Think about the content on your website. You have to make sure that it interests the reader, above all. If you are trying to optimize your site for the search engines, or SEO, you can use some keywords, but do not stuff your entire site full of unnatural keyword phrases. The entire reason to optimize your site for search engines is that you want people to visit your site, and if the content isn’t interesting and relevant they won’t stay. You also have to make sure that your content is frequently updated, so that visitors have fresh information to take a look at.

3. Monitor your site performance. Use Google Analytics or the analytics software provided by your webhost and use feedback from your visitors. Find out what is working and what should work better, and look for ways to further improve your visitor experience. Your website should never be fully “finished” and monitoring site performance is a great way to make sure that you never let down your guard and that you are always looking for ways to make your site all that it can be. You never when or from where your next big customer(s) will come and what they see and read on your website will make the email or call you. Your website is most faithful sales agent working for your 24×7. Keep investing and updating in this faithful internet sales agent of your company.

4. Write articles and spread them with business directories and article directories. If you write articles that can be shared with others and have a link to your site in the author section, you can get a lot of site visitors that can ultimately turn into buyers. Your articles can establish you as a resource or an expert on your chosen subject, and if your article is impressive people will visit your site. Your articles can also provide splendid SEO for you, as the links will attract the search engines to your site as well.

5. Use a blog to keep a good relationship with your customers, as well as to showcase your knowledge about your products and subject areas. Use WordPress to create your blog — its the best software for a blog and has many useful plugins available free. Respond to comments as professionally as possible, and please consider doing video blogs, as video can often be more exciting than text. You can host your video on Youtube and embed them on your blog. Youtube and WordPress have made it very easy to embed videos in your blog posts.

As a small business, you have to take active role in your online marketing, and  the time and effort on internet marketing can start showing positive results within 6-8 weeks in most cases, and it is not difficult to do if you use the Internet Marketing Strategies described above. If you need any specific help, you can contact us, and we can help you with our affordable internet marketing services.

It is estimated that Frank Quattrone now advises about 20 companies through his company Qatalyst Group, from giant Google to National Semiconductor, and smaller start ups. He was involved in the  deals, including EMC’s purchase of Data Domain. The Qatalyst Group is beleievd to be at no. 3, behind Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, on technology deals above $1 billion so far this year. That’s very going indeed by someone who was almost written off a few years ago.

UN operations in Libya began on night of 19 March 2011, and they are likely to end within a few days. France and UK Air Forces are leading the UN Coalition attack on Col Gaddafi’s military in Libya. US Naval forces have fired 100+ tomahawk missiles to support the Operation Odyssey’s goals. Residents of Tripoli heard explosions on the eastern side of the capital. They all say they had enough of Col Gaddafi and wants him to step down and that people of Libya will be happy to see Col Gaddafi go away as soon as possible. Col Gaddafi showed his colors when he declared ceasefire on Friday night and initiated his military attack on Benghazi’s 670,000 people shows that he is ready to kill his own people to retain power. Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera has said that Libyan authorities have detained a team of its journalists in western Libya, the AP news agency reports. The four correspondents are said to be British, Tunisian, Mauritanian and Norwegian.

We support the UN Coalition’s action in this case. Similar ops should have happened in Rwanda & Burundi, and Bosnia many years back to prevent genocides, but that’s the lesson here, not to let punk dictators kill do genocide within their country. We want to see immediate stop to all killing of civilians in Libya. We want to see democracy in Libya.

This theme is based on original work by Chris Pearson released under his theme called: Cutline (Cutline is probably the most adopted wordpress theme, and for a good reason — it has a very effective layout and sharp font colors for easy reading). Here is an example website:  Healthcare-Journal.com

Chris Pearson’s work on website themes is top quality, and this Coraline theme takes it forward.

You can replace the header with another image to suit your profession/audience.  So if you want to start a new website or blog, this is one of the best themes — good quality programming and user friendly.

Before looking for your dream job, learn how to market your skills, experience, and talent. This will help you assess the possibility of landing your dream job. First, skills and interests should be evaluated personally. Write a list of your capabilities; then list your limitations or skills not available at present. Jobs that are too demanding, like night shifts, might not work, or jobs that you may be overly qualified for (it happens); and third, planning the time as soon as there is an inner instinct that tells you that you are ready and qualified. Once this has been done, go to companies and prospective employers early in the morning for this will give them a good impression and for the applicant, a time to complete the process the application if lucky. Remember, the early bird catches the worm.

Next task is to prepare a good resume that will address the expected requirements of the employer. You should not lie on the resume because you can lose your job later on. However you can surely create a resume that describes more of the skills that are relevant to a particular job, and reduce the words for non-relevant experiences. Resume should not be more than 2 pages, and the exact resume structure will depend on the type of job you are applying for. Some employers also ask for a cover letter or letter of intent or statement of purpose (SOP). Every professional job you apply for expects to receive a well written resume. Make 100% sure that no spelling/ grammar mistakes are present in your resume and cover letter.

After preparing the documents needed for application, the next thing that should follow is finding vacancies for new hires. Searching using the Internet will be very helpful for this activity. Some websites provide this assistance like HotJobs and Monster.com — but don’t depend on the job search websites because everyone is using them, and the amount of replies are immense for each job posting.

Where else to look for job openings? The initial step is to look at local newspapers for this provides information just by looking at the Classified Ads section and the lists of wanted personnel and employment opportunities will be read. Applying at several companies initially in a local area can save an applicant more time and money. If it so happens a job was found late in the day, call immediately for inquiries. Never let a day pass when opportunities come.

How to look for jobs that are not announced? Sometimes companies and other employers do not really advertise any job openings in their organization. The best thing for an applicant is to weigh things if it will be possible to be hired by a certain company by just submitting an application form or resume.

Start by telling people in your personal and professional network about your desire/need/plan to take a new job. Relatives and previous offices or company co-workers will be able to give hints on job vacancies in their current companies. Professors or teachers will also be helpful in recommending schools and institutions that are now looking for new instructors. These people might not have any vacant position in their company in mind but they certainly know someone who knows or needs a new employee — that’s the power of networking.

Sometime, Yellow Pages can provide information on how and where to call to look for a job. This gives an accurate list of companies and prospective employers in a chosen area. Visiting the library is also a tool than can be useful when looking for a job. There are libraries that have a list of local employers, just asks the librarian for more information. Contact these employers personally, even if they did not advertise any vacant positions that needed to be filled.

Lastly, be observant of signs posted on doors and windows of shops and stalls being passed by. If lucky, just walk in and ask for information about the job and how to apply.

After submitting application forms and resumes to the respective companies, keep track of the progress by creating a chart where you can jot down the name of the company and when the application was submitted.

Following is a job search checklist to help you along your way:
1. List your capabilities and potential weaknesses/limitations that you want to overcome
2. List your prospective employers — no job is too small; if you do well, you will rise
3. Prepare resume and other documents — include 1-2 references that can be contacted
4. Plan a schedule for your job search — so that you can immediately accept a date for an interview
5. Contact companies and/or employers — and offer your services
6. Get ready for an interview — go for job interviews even if the job is less interesting — practice is important and helps
7. Evaluate how interview went along — after every interview, think how it could be done better; success will come if you prepare this way.

2011 is here and we have a whole new year to spend! A year is a lot of time and a lot can be achieved if you have a plan. There’s a saying: Failing to plan is like planning to fail. I wish you have a great plan for 2011, if not, now is a great time to do it.

One thing I have learned over time, and it gets reinforced every new year, is that action is more important than plan. I know this because I myself have not executed some of my plans, and the lack of full-throttle action on some plans is my own shortcoming that I want to overcome this year. Action is really important because every plan that goes into action brings back results or learning for future. For example, I advised 3 companies in 2010 on how to increase their sales, but only one company actually executed the plan and that company saw 50% increase in sales. My advise for their plan was less important than their action to execute the plan.

Another example, over the last couple of years, many investors took my inputs on what to invest, what price to buy etc, but very few actually took the action for whatever reasons. And we all know the global stock markets have recovered very well in the last two years. Those who took action have profited, and I know many investors who took the inputs but are still waiting; when stock prices fall 20%, they want to wait for 30-40% fall, and if that also happened, they want to wait a bit more to see, and if stock prices start rising after a fall, they don’t want to buy at higher prices than the recent low prices. This may sound extreme but its very common. Courage is the most scarce commodity among us humans. When we have more of this one attribute, it can put a lot of things in place.

I wish you a happy new year. May you achieve great success in your plans.

cheers,
Shankar

Today in 2010, due to the global recession since 2008, there is a much higher supply of commercial real estate than its demand, and hence the prices are attractive and can be negotiated hard by interested buyers.

We expect that commercial real estate prices may correct by 10-20% in 2011 depending on the country and city. In general one can’t go wrong with buying commercial real estate (office space, rather than shopping malls) in big cities if the time frame is 5-10 years.

The risk-reward is more in commercial property than in residential property. Commercial real estate returns can give attractive over 5-10 year period; much better than you would get from residential real estate of the same proportion.

Location is very important in commercial real estate. Our experience has been that “it is better in general” to have a small space at a busy city-center/downtown place, than to a big space at a suburb.

London and New York are two cities that will deliver good returns despite recession if you can invest for 5-10 years. Irrespective of where you are in the world, see if you can invest in commercial property in high growth cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Shanghai, etc. These cities can deliver 5x returns in 10 years.

Buying, selling and evaluating commercial real estate is a complex process. If you are an investor, or an aspiring investor, banker or real estate professional, acquire a better understanding of commercial real estate by learning key terminology and quantitative concepts.

Commercial real estate is made up of all property that is for sale or rent. It does not include residential buildings. The property will appreciate as long as people are selling things and offering services to the public – using a brick and mortar set-up.

Given the low interest rates of today for 10-20 year loans, one can purchase commercial property on attractive terms.

Commercial real estate is characterized by six principles:

1. location
2. financing
3. timing of market cycles
4. leasing
5. ownership structure and
6. external factors.

From the perspective of the developer, lender and investor, there are five basic types of commercial real estate: office, industrial, retail, multi-family, and hotel.

Leasing commercial real estate is a process – a lot of ideas and knowledge that combine into a successful lease agreement that meets the needs of all the parties involved. Lease documents will likely contain new provisions to modify the established rent on day one of the lease.

Just like passing the gas station, the price of construction changing from one day to the next will force landlords to increase rent between the execution of the lease and the move in day.

But supply eventually begins to outstrip demand, causing rents to fall and capital values to tumble. Finally, a period of relatively little construction – like that experienced by many Western countries for the past several years – leads to under-supply and a rise in prices.

You could take up commercial real estate for either reselling after appreciation or for renting out to, say, retailers.

Office building leases can also be simple month to month rentals. Office centers also have facilities such as FedEx, UPS and other delivery companies that you may need and therefore good to know where they are located as well.

Please Note: The increasing use of the Internet for work and e-business is a factor to keep in mind. It reduces the demand for commercial real estate and probably shifts the demand to higher quality residential real estate. So you have to select locations that will remain important in the coming years. Commercial real estate is a long-term investment so please do your homework and find a property that can make you money over the long haul.

About the Author:  Shankar AVSB runs MyOrbit Online, of which MyOrbit.tv is a part. He is a real estate investor and follows real estate industry developments across America, Europe and Asia.  He is also leads 7Avenues, a private equity with ventures in Retail, Farming, Financial Services and MarketStar Capital, an investment services company. He can be contacted from here.

And it has been made possible by (1) sheer determination of the trapped miners to survive and (2) absolute top class engineering and mining effort by the rescue teams. We hear the total team was made of experts from USA, Germany, and many other countries. NASA also helped with special high calorie liquid food and psychological coaching to the trapped miners to survive the long isolation. This is a world class example for Project Management.

Congratulations to all people involved in this extremely well executed project.

estamos muy contentos de los mineros! le deseamos una larga vida!

Fenix was the capsule designed to rescue one miner at a time.

UK HMRC at melting point

There are a million pieces of unanswered post. It will be taking 3 months to answer them, which itself might increase the problem further if a person has to pay back taxes with interest.

The UK HMRC contact centers are severely under-staffed, and that fact comes out from numerous press reports of people having to wait for a long time just to be able to speak to a tax officer to understand any discrepency in the tax numbers they have with them vs what HMRC is asking from them.

The average tax payment due is about £1400 and about 1.4 million people will receive letters from HMRC by Christmas.

So if you are in the UK and frustrated with not having any response from the HMRC, now you understand that many others are facing the same, and that the staff at HMRC are stretched to the limits already.

As long as you keep the communication from your side intact, it should be okay.

Since many companies and professionals have used MyOrbit services for their online business, I wanted to share this with you. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/sep/09/google-instant-effect-on-seo

What is clear is that Google wants to offer long-tail keywords to users as early as possible in the search process.

For example, along with the keyword: “Hair Transplant Surgery Cost”, people will also see options like: “how much does hair transplant surgery cost”, and the latter phrase will now receive many clicks too, even though its hardly a keyword in today’s internet marketing book.

Earlier such a longer sentence or question would have received very few direct clicks because people won’t type long text, but people can surely select longer text if its offered as a drop-down like it is being done now, thereby generating more exposure/visits to web content built on long tail keywords than today.

In addition, Google has been working hard to improve “personalization”, which means they want to show you things relevant to your search profile based on past searches, geography, etc.

What does it mean for website owners and SEO? I believe websites that cover their topic thoroughly using all possible keywords and their natural expressions will ultimately come out winners.

We will study this further to see how Google Instant can be used for our work, and will share the learning with you. Meanwhile all basic SEO work should continue because that is essential to get started in the search engine indexing game.

Best Wishes,
Shankar