Hightide Web Resources Articles, News, and Reviews

We’re implementing a few changes and improvements at Hightide. One will involve bloggers….(there are lots of us afoot!)…..and will, hopefully help many people improve their whold blogging experience.

We are offering hosting for bloggers for just $6.75 a month, or for $20.00 for three months. For further savings, we charge only $75.00 for a year of blog hosting.

For an extra, one time only fee of $25.00, we’ll even buy your domain name, and set your blog up for you. Customized graphics would be only $10.00 extra….UNLESS you pay for the full year of hosting - then the graphics are free!

Another change we’re making at Hightide: We’re in the process of setting up Pay Pal buttons, allowing our clients to pay with a credit card if they choose to. Don’t know why we had never gotten around to that, to be perfectly honest with you!

Finally, we’re currently adding tons (did I say tons, I meant TONS) of free wallpapers, graphic art, and forum signature pictures to the website. Our files are literally full of images we’ve created - but we’ve been flirtting with the idea of changing the layout of the website a bit, and were waiting until then to add all of them. Forgetaboutit! No more waiting - watch for them, there are lots coming….including images of the new Idols and Survivors. (Lost is also featured heavily.)

Do I love that show? I love that show.

Email us if you have any questions! joi@hightide-web.com

Joi

by Jim Edwards

Copyright 2006 Jim Edwards

I frequently get similar questions from viewers and subscribers all over the world.

They often ask me “Jim, what do you think of So-and-So’s product?” or “How does So-and-So’s product compare to your product?” or “Should I buy So-and-So’s product?”

Typically these questions are about physical products, software or information products.

People ask for my opinion not only because I write a newspaper column, but also because I’ve produced and sold tens-of-thousands of products to people all around the world for the past nine years.

Bottom line: people want a clear, concise “yardstick” against which to measure any online purchase so they never feel ripped off.

Let me say right up front that I believe 100% in free-market competition and that having multiple products and perspectives on the same topic ultimately improves any marketplace for everyone.

I thank the Firefox browser and Linux operating system for getting Microsoft off its gigantic backside and addressing some serious issues.

But, with so many new products coming to market online, everyone must operate with a simple, effective criteria for evaluating any offer, especially in the business arena.

Let me offer you the exact same 2-part benchmark I use to evaluate any business offering that crosses my desktop.

This will help you avoid getting caught up in the “hysteria” of the moment and buying on impulse, rather than on careful thought.

Part #1 - I ask myself this question: Do I really need this in my business or is this just something “new” for the sake of something new?

If I realize that I’m just getting sucked into the “try something new” mentality, I put the purchase on hold for 48 hours to “cool off.”

If I honestly decide I need the product, then I move on to part 2.

Par #2 - I ask myself this question: Has the person selling me this software, product or course actually DONE (more than once) what they are selling me “how to” do - and can they prove it?

If someone sells a piece of software, I want to know how much time it saved, how much money it saved, how much effort it helped avoid, and how much money was made as a result of using it - and I want proof!

Let me simply repeat the mantra of the classic Wendy’s commercial from the 1980’s: “Where’s the beef?”

If someone tries to sell you a piece of software that claims to get 10,000 visitors to your site, ask to see screen shots of their server logs and sales in their merchant account.

If someone tries to sell you a course on creating website video, ask how many money-making videos they’ve put online over the years (ask for specific URLs) and run like heck if their personal website doesn’t have the first video on it (or if they just put one up this week)!

You’ll never go wrong if, before you buy anything online, you demand concrete, demonstrable proof that lives up to the claims made by the person or company selling it.

In the immortal words of Ronald Reagan, “Trust but verify!”

About the Author:
“Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to Painlessly Set Up Your OWN Moneymaking ‘Mini’ Websites… Without Being a Computer Geek, Buying Expensive Software, or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!” Click Here => http://www.MiniSiteCreator.com

By the way, I have the Mini Site Creator course you see linked above. I would highly, highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. You get far more than you pay for. It’s an education combined with “job skills” training.

by Jim Edwards

Copyright 2006 Jim Edwards

One of the most frequent questions I get goes something like this:

“I don’t have a lot of money. How can I start an online business or expose my existing online business to the world without spending a fortune to do it?”

Basically, people want to know how they can exploit the power of the Internet to grow their businesses with the least amount of time, energy, effort and money.

My answer: Ride the coattails of the huge websites who’ve done all the trailblazing you’ll ever need to kick-start your online business.

According to Alexa.com, the following websites rank among the Top 10 sites on the Internet out of the billions and billions of websites available today.

As I list them, pay attention to how they can help any “bootstrapping” business, no matter what size.

1. Yahoo.com - This perennial search giant not only helps you research online, but can help get traffic to your site. Most notably their advertising subsidiary, Overture.com, can attract visitors to your site starting as low as a dime per click.

2. MSN.com - Microsoft’s portal site can lead you to free email accounts (Hotmail.com) and free instant messaging (Messenger.MSN.com) to make online communication free and easy.

3. Google.com - Currently the Web’s most popular search engine and all-around media powerhouse, Google can help you, among other things, buy clicks starting at about a dime (AdWords.Google.com) and expose your full-length, full- motion videos to the world free of charge (Video.Google.com).

4. eBay.com - The Web’s #1 online auction site, eBay.com gets millions of visitors daily, all of whom want to spend money on something. You can spend less than a dollar to put up some used, damaged, or older merchandise from your business to gain exposure to new customers and create a new revenue stream.

5. Passport.net - Passport.net is related to MSN.com and should get grouped with #2.

6. Amazon.com - The Web’s largest bookseller is also one of the largest online retailers of consumer goods. You can grow your business by targeting Amazon’s millions of visitors with your own books, CDs, DVDs and more for surprisingly little cost. Also, the Amazon Marketplace makes it easy for you to sell new and used merchandise directly through Amazon.

7. MySpace.com - Allows you to create a website that’s part blog, part chat room and part networking space. MySpace.com provides a fast way to post and share information with associates online.

8. Microsoft.com - Besides providing the vast majority of PC operating systems in the world, Microsoft.com also boasts one of the largest available clipart and photo collections on the Web. You can quickly find and use these professional images in Web sites, brochures and more.

9. Google.co.uk - The popularity of Google’s United Kingdom site demonstrates that if you sell anything online, figure out a way to sell it to people in England too! You can automatically advertise on this site through Google’s AdWords program (see #3).

10. AOL.com - America Online’s portal site enables you to get an email box with 2 GB of storage along with their classic AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) to facilitate all your online communications.

About the Author:
“Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to Painlessly Set Up Your OWN Moneymaking ‘Mini’ Websites… Without Being a Computer Geek, Buying Expensive Software, or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!” Click Here => http://www.MiniSiteCreator.com

by Bill McRea

The number one issue I have with most affiliate programs is that you lose control of the commission and the customer as soon as they link over to the vendor’s website site.

When you promote an affiliate program, who profits? The logical answer is both you and the affiliate program owner both earn a profit. Not a bad arrangement when done properly.

In many cases you lose the customer that was sent to the affiliate owners site. For example, you join an affiliate and begin marketing the reseller link that you were issued. Let’s say you generate 100 visitors to the affiliate owners website and 7% of them make a purchase, that’s a total of 7 sales. But what about the other 93 people that visited the site due to your marketing efforts.

In many cases a large portion of these visitors will sign up for a free email course and will continue to receive emails from the vendor’s site. Statistics show that most people purchase after they have received about 7 follow up emails. If they are not interested, they usually opt-out of the list before that. Who gets the credit for these sales… NOT YOU.

So you are spending money promoting the affiliate program and someone else is getting the profits on the VAST MAJORITY of sales. Scary huh!

But there is a solution to this problem, and that’s the program offered by TheMall at 24hour-info site. If you elected to become a member of this program your affiliate code will remain with your client, even if they join our email newsletter or come back to purchase in the future.

The nice thing about TheMall is it provides you with a program that will give you the ability to offer over 10,000 information products with a completely search enabled tool. You don’t have to go sequentially through all the products to find one you want to promote. Or better yet they have a search tool you can offer your client that will allow them to look for products themselves. So let’s say they are interested in information about music, but they end up buying something they find by doing a search for dieting…you still get the commission!

These items are available in conjunction with Clickbank, but if you want to sell them directly through Clickband you’d have to set up each and every item with your affiliate code, and who has time to spend setting up 10,000 affiliate links. TheMall does all the work for you, and you don’t lose credit if you send your traffic to their site.

If you are interested in Affiliate marketing and you don’t want lose out on your efforts, you need TheMall.

About the Author:
Bill McRea us the publisher of http://themall.24hour-info.com/ and http://www.free-marketing-info.com/

by Fred Farah

Table Of Contents

Marketing Strategies

Relations with your Prospects and Customers

Web Site Tips

Advertising and Newsletters

——————————————————

Marketing Strategies

1. Tell people the point or focus of your web site. Explain to them what things they can do or which goals they can accomplish while visiting your site. For example, you could say, “Read 250 Free Net Marketing Tips So You Can Increase Your Sales! Plus Check Our Wide Selection Of Online Marketing E-books!”

2. Educate yourself with new strategies to increase your sales. You could take classes, subscribe to e-zines and magazines, read books or e-books, etc. Internet business and technology move at lightning speed. You need to keep up so you don’t get left behind.

3. End your slow sales periods by planning ahead. Plan to add extra bonuses, hold a sale or package your product with other products. For example, you could say, “Buy one, get one free!” Another example would be, “Buy over $20 worth of products and get 5 free bonuses!”

4. Make more commissions from the affiliate programs you join by giving your own endorsements for the products. They usually pull more sales than ads. For example, you could say, “This e-book sent chills up my spine! I highly recommend buying it!” Another example, “All I have to say is, ‘Wow! It’s that good!’”

5. Take advantage of popular fads. If something is popular at the current time, put up a web site about it. Just promote your main site on the fad web site. You could also send off a quick article or press release about it to get free publicity. You could also do this with popular search engine keywords and phrases.

6. Increase the perceived value of your free things or bonuses by including the retail dollar amount the freebies would normally sell for. For example, you could say, “Bonus 1# Marketing Tips Newsletter (a value of $120).” Another example, “Get 7 Bonuses With A Retail Value Of $345! That more than pays for your purchase!”

7. Create your own web ring. You will gain highly targeted traffic to your web site and others will link to your site because they’ll want to join the ring. For example, if you were selling products to net marketers, you would want to start an online marketing web ring. You would then draw your target audience.

8. Record all your new promotional ideas, good or bad, into an ‘ideas’ journal. Sometimes you can combine ideas to create new ones to increase your sales. You never know when you, or someone you know, needs a new, profitable idea. Plus you could also sell your ideas to other business owners.

9. Buy advertising space on discussion board web sites. They are usually arranged by subject; that makes them highly targeted. For example, if you are selling gardening tools, you would want to advertise on gardening, farm, tool and lawn-related discussion boards.

10. If your online business has enough global potential, thenconvert your web site and free e-mail newsletter into different languages. This will increase your overall target market. You just won’t be targeting just one language, you’ll be targeting most of the major ones. Plus it wouldn’t hurt to learn a few different languages for this new global economy.

Relations with your Prospects and Customers

11. Make your visitors feel comfortable at your web site. Give them your main business address. Your visitors may not trust you if you’re using a P.O. Box. If you want to make them feel really comfortable, give them your business, home and cell phone number. Then they will know they can get hold of you if they need help.

12. Include a FAQ on your web site or via e-mail on an autoresponder. This will give your customers extra convenience without having to contact you. Of course there are some questions you can’t answer by using Frequently Asked Questions. You will get questions that you never thought of, but you can just keep adding them to your list.

13. Allow people who do not have time to explore your site to download portions of your web site in e-book format. This will allow them time to view it offline. Just compile it like you would a normal e-book. You could also turn it into a viral marketing tool by allowing people to give it away to others for free.

14. Upsell to all your customers. You could sell add-on products, deluxe products, extra parts, related products, add-on services, etc. You could offer them add-on products before or after they reach your order page. Just make sure the upsell products are compatible with the main product you’re selling.

15. Offer your customers back-end products. It is easier to sell to existing customers. If you do not have a back-end product, join an affiliate program. You could offer that product as a back-end offer. Just make sure it’s the right product for your target audience.

16. Increase the perceived value of your product. You could offer an affiliate program, give away free bonuses or use famous endorsements on your ad. Another way is to offer a sample or trial of your product or service. If people like it or it works, that will increase the perceived value because it gives them 100% personal proof.

17. Create a bond with your visitors by bringing up likes or dislikes you have in common with them in your ad copy. Just make sure you do your research. For example, you could say, “I hate it when you have to wait in line for a long time at the drive-through.” Another example, “I really like it when I have extra money to spend.”

18. Remember your customers are always right, even if they are not. They are the lifeblood of your business. Resolve all conflicts quickly and painlessly. There are many businesses which are solely profitable from repeat business. You don’t want to always have to rely on converting prospects into customers.

19. Remind your visitors to promote your web site. Use phrases like: “Refer Our Web Site To A Friend” or “Link To Our Web Site”. Offer them incentives for referrals. You could give them free e-books, reports, software and other informational products. You could also offer them discounts on other products you sell.

Website Tips

20. Make your testimonials more powerful. You can have people include pictures, handwritten signatures and normal net contact information with each testimonial. Other ideas would be to have people produce an online audio sound bite or video clip of themselves, home or cell phone numbers, proof of their credibility or authority, etc.

21. Speed up your Internet access. You can get your online business tasks done faster, which will help you stay ahead of your competition. It can speed up your research, online marketing tools, Internet utilities, software downloads, etc.

22. Tell people the point or focus of your web site. Explain to them what things they can do or which goals they can accomplish while visiting your site. For example, you could say, “Read 250 Free Net Marketing Tips So You Can Increase Your Sales! Plus Check Our Wide Selection Of Online Marketing E-books!”

23. Team up with your weaker competitors to beat your stronger ones. You can create win/win joint venture and cross-promotion deals with them. You could share marketing and advertising costs, create new products and services, share skills and strategies, trade leads, etc.

24. Design your site so it will be worth bookmarking. Your visitors will bookmark your web site if it’s full of free, original content like articles, e-books, etc. You could survey your target audience to see which web sites or what type of sites they visit a lot. Then you could place those links all in one section of your web site. You could advertise it as a start page.

Advertising and Newsletters

25. Start a free e-mail newsletter to create your own opt-in list. Create a title that grabs the reader’s attention. Submit it to free e-zine directories on the Internet. Advertise it on your web site. Offer a freebie or other incentive for people to subscribe. Give your readers mostly original and quality content.

26. Use permission marketing to increase your sales. You simply ask people to sign up to your e-mailing list. They’ll already be interested in your messages or ads because they’ve visited your related web site. You could also offer them incentives for signing up like freebies, discounts, expertise, content, etc.

27. Place your ad in targeted e-zines. Ask the owner if you could place your ad in a higher position in exchange for a percentage of the ad’s profits. You could also negotiate a lower ad price in exchange for you giving them affiliate commissions or an ad in your e-zine.

28. Make your classified ads stand out in a crowd. Use all capital letters in the headline, divide letters with extra spaces, add in text symbols, etc. For example, you could write, “WIN a VACATION to Las Vegas!” Another example would be, “Win A ($) Trip To Las Vegas!”

29. Use a lot of headlines and sub-headlines on your web site. This will hold people’s attention and keep them at your web site longer. Sometimes people don’t have time to read a whole sales letter. This’ll allow you to sell to people who are skimmers. Plus it will get the reader’s full attention at the same time.

Fred Farah
copyright 2005

About the Author:
Fred Farah - Best Affiliate Products for Maximum Profits
All you need to know about affiliate marketing starts right here at the: Affiliate Marketing Information Center.

by James Croydon

The Principle of fiber optics is based on transmission of data by means of light. Concept of fiber optics was first conceived by Claude Chappe in 1790’s. His idea for fiber optics was based on an optical telegraph concept invented by Graham Bell also tried the means to send information by the atmosphere but did not succeed. Finally, fiber optics emerged with the onset of new era based on the principle of total internal reflection which is a distinct quality of light rays.

Fiber optics emerged and grew into more advanced phase due to requirement from radio and telephone engineers. These engineers required more bandwidth for data transmission. Thus these engineers had been looking out for a medium to transmit data in more reliable and faster form rather than copper cables. They also wanted to avoid the hazards of electric shocks and interference which were a constant problem of copper cables.

Fiber optics had attracted some attention because they were analogous in theory to plastic dielectric waveguides used in certain microwave applications. Finally a technology evolved that used glass or plastic threads to transmit data. Cables involved in fiber optics contain several bundles of glass threads which are capable of transmitting data in modulated form.

With the onset of fiber optics and fiber optic cables data started to transfer faster as fiber optic cables have greater bandwidth than metal cables and are more resistant to external interference. Lighter and thinner fiber optic cables readily transfer data in digital form rather than analogue form. This technology is most useful in computer industry which now forms an integral part of telephone, radio and television industry.

Telecommunications applications of fiber optics use flexible low-loss fibers, using a single fiber per optical path. Along with the communication industry fiber optics plays an important role in medical and industrial applications also. Many medical appliances like endoscope use the principle of fiber optics. Industrial applications viz. in television industry use the principle of fiber optics to obtain flattened images in cathode ray tubes.

Fiber optics yield distortion free data transmission in digital form. The audio waves transmitted via principle of fiber optics deliver accurate signal transfer. Fiber optics is also useful in automotive and transportation industry. Traffic lights, organized and scrutinized highway traffic control, automated toll booths, etc. are some of the benefits of application of fiber options in the transportation mechanism.

Cable TV companies and Internet Service Providers equivocally find fiber optics indispensable in their industry. Fiber optics provides tamper free, high bandwidth and larger data carrying capacity to the service providers. This eventually leads to better consumer satisfaction.

Unlike copper wire system fiber optics do not use and electrical form to carry data. The use of light gives a competitive edge to fiber optics over regular data transmission options. But eventually use of fiber optics is very expensive as compared to copper cabling system.

About the Author:
James Croydon, Fiber Network Engineer and Fiber Optic Tester expert - focusing on Fiber Optic Patch Cables and Fiber Optic Cable.

Copyright 2006 Jim Edwards

The trend for selling video on the Internet “vending- machine-style” got a huge boost with the announcement by search giant, Google, that their online video store opened for business.

On the surface, it appears they’ll just sell old episodes of the “Brady Bunch,” “Twilight Zone” and NBA games you missed.

However, on closer inspection, Google’s online Video Store represents a whole-scale shift in communications power.

For those of you who might have missed it, let me quickly catch you up.

Last year, Google started publishing TV news content on their http://video.google.com site.

A short time later, they started accepting content from anyone with a video camera and something to show.

In very little time, Google started developing a huge grab bag of everything from community access TV clips to video game instructions to yoga tips - all on video streaming over the Internet.

In my opinion, this first stage served the purpose of gauging market interest and whether enough people would submit /watch video to make it worth taking the next step (selling video online).

Obviously, Google thought enough people had enough interest in consuming video online, because Friday, January 6, 2006 they announced the opening of their Video Store at http://video.google.com

The store functions like a virtual vending machine, allowing visitors to stream video right on their computer screens.

If the copy protection is turned off, Google also enables users to download some paid video to their iPods and Sony PSPs to view on the go.

The individual publishers of the video content determine whether the copy protection gets turned on or off.

Also, content publishers determine the prices for their videos but, at the moment, most video still comes free of charge.

I will say, however, that Google’s video service isn’t perfect, but it works and, like everything else they do, it will get better because they operate with enough cash to make it work (if consumers want it).

With that said, what does all this mean to the individual content provider?

What does this mean for distribution and consumption of video content?

First, it opens up a distribution channel for small content publishers (1-man shows) who could create excellent content, but, until now, lacked the technical expertise or server resources to deliver the video over the Web.

Second, it allows content providers to target micro-niche audiences who cannot be reached profitably through traditional advertising or distribution channels (Wal-Mart doesn’t carry “Chihuahua Training Tips” videos).

Third, it creates a unique outlet for individual creativity like never before and will expose consumers to a whole new world of thought and content.

Though the service has its detractors, the video isn’t high-definition, and the system has some kinks to work out, Google Video’s approach will win out in the end.

Google’s model has always been to “keep it simple!”

By making it simple for consumers to find and view video, as well as making it simple for content providers to upload and distribute video, Google will find itself at the center of an online video revolution comparable to the “golden age” of television in the early 1950s.

About the Author:
“Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to Painlessly Set Up Your OWN Moneymaking ‘Mini’ Websites… Without Being a Computer Geek, Buying Expensive Software, or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!” Click Here => http://www.MiniSiteCreator.com

There is so much hype with the current boom in affiliate marketing. As an internet marketer you are known as a referrer. The current method of payment that you can make is via exit traffic - even if nobody buys anything from example a program like GOOGLE ad sense. If you have your own product you can sell it for a profit or find others and pay them in a form of a commission. Thirdly some companies pay for leads like insurance quotes where they build an email list of clients. There are some ways you can launch yourself to stardom.

Firstly participate in companies that have high conversion ratios. To avoid the disappointment contact the affiliate manager or owner of the website and ask them what actual products convert. Why would you promote anything that does not convert into sales- save yourself the time and money there. Secondly ask them for a keyword report or list of items that are working for there company. Without it how can you help each other improve each others bottom line. Thirdly relationship build with that company. Think about it, if they know who you are, they might be able to assist you better.

To be a super affiliate you need to list build. Find prospects who are looking for the product or service that you want. An email list of 1000 consumers can turn to quiet a few sales or leads. Often you can create an e-book or give something away for free. Thus you are building your database of potential customers. Also provide them with value. For example you might have a piece of material or software that helps them with a learning curve. The results can come with the proper knowledge.

About the Author:
Providing affiliate marketers with a web builder, where you can learn how to build top ranking sites passive income sites to give you more time freedom.

I’ve been battling spam - and losing, so I started researching options for getting on the winning side!

Below are two of the better articles I’ve found:

Protect Yourself from Spam: 6 Ways

Delete these Scams - Now