Friday

8 Tips for a Successful Email Newsletter Campaign

The fact is that there are many successful internet marketers online. The one thing that they all have in common is that they have their own large email list of subscribers who opted in to their own individual newsletter. The old saying is still true about having your own opt in list. "The fortune is in the follow up". If you get a list of subscribers who have personally requested your personal emails, this is like a gold mine for you. The problem with many people who have their own websites is that not everyone wants to offer a newsletter. They think that too much work will be involved for them. Setting up forms on their site, registering with an email follow up company, and adding their own content sounds like too much work for them. That is why you see so many people "try" to make decent money online but fail after a short while. They are not doing what the "gurus" are doing and that is getting their own list of email newsletter subscribers. If you are one of those people who have their own opt in list, then keep reading this article. It has some very valuable info. For those of you who are reading this and don't have a newsletter, get it going as soon as possible. You are totally missing out. I have included 8 tips below that will help you whether you have a list or just getting started. OK, here ya go: 1. You not only want to get subscribers as a general rule, but you want to get more and more and build a large and high quality opt in list. The more subscribers you get on a daily basis, the better. This basically means that you will want to have all of your website visitors subscribe to your personal opt in list. You will do this by offering a newsletter subscription form on your site and having those people opt in. 2. SPAM email. Almost everyone knows what this word means. The one thing that you will not want to do is to to buy subscribers for your newsletter. You will probably get emails from people who will try to sell you a large amount of people's names and their emails. This is not a good way to go because these people did NOT give you their personal permission to do this and to email them at all. If you buy those lists and email them, they will easily complain about you and your reputation will get a negative hit online. 3. Look, if you add a newsletter subscription form at the very bottom of your site and expect to get more people to subscribe then you are wrong. Studies have shown that if you want to get a good result of any type of program on your site, or in this case more email subscribers, then you need to give it more exposure at the very top of the site. The next thing that you will want to do is to add at least 3 different places on your site that allow the visitor to subscribe to your newsletter. Again, put a form near or at the top of the page. 4. Not everyone on your list will like or take action on what you send them. Some will reply back to your 3rd, 10th, or even your 100th email to them and ask you to remove them. You should do that too immediately. You also need to add, in every email that you send out, a place to unsubscribe. Most well known email followup companies add this automatically to your account so that every time you send out an email to your list, a link for un-subscribing will appear at the very bottom of the email. 5. If you add sub-sites to your website, you will also want to make sure to add a newsletter form there too. If you will be sending traffic there, then you want to give visitors the same opportunity to subscriber to your newsletter as you do on your home page. 6. Treat each subscriber as you would want others to treat you, with respect. Start developing a good relationship with those subscribers once you have an opt-in mailing list started. Your main goal is to become a trusted person that offers them valuable information in all of your emails to them. Anytime any of your subscribers email you with questions, do respond back to them as soon as possible. As you develop that trust and friendship, you will be able to sell to your list more easily and more frequently. 7. If you find work at home and home business programs that sell well but in fact are scams, don't send them to your subscribers. You might make a few sales here and there but it will not help you long term. You will only want to focus on legitimate and honest work at home opportunities. Your subscribers will love you for that. 8. And finally, don't send your list an email every single day. This is annoying. It will help and encourage more and more of your subscribers to opt out of your list. You do not want that.

Some tips for buying golf equipment

When you play a game, you want to have good equipment which can help you more in enjoying the favorite game. Getting the right equipment to play the game of golf is not that difficult. All it takes is for the person to look at the right place and getting value for one’s money. One can check the local directory or ask someone for directions on how to get there. Here are some tips buying golf gear: 1. Before one starts buying, it is best to first check if that person has the budget for it. There are many brands available and this is sometimes the determining factor which will make a person do well in the green or not.2. How often will the person use it is another factor. It doesn’t take that much to maintain golf equipment since all a person needs is a roller brush or a small towel. If the person is just starting out in golf, the brand does not matter but it will later on as the person decides to invest more in the sport.3. Most golf shops sell brand new and second hand equipment. If that person can't afford a new set, it is advisable to first start with a used one then save up for a brand new one later on.4. Some people can’t tell the difference how one brand is better than another. If that person has that problem, one should ask the sales person for help since that individual is more familiar with what is there available in the shop. 5. Buying golf equipment can be challenging. By looking in more than one store, a person can probably get a good deal or find an item that is cheaper in one store than the one down the street. 6. Golf specialty stores are just one place where one can get good merchandise. The other is via the internet. There area many websites that also specialize in selling brand new and second hand equipment. One can order it online and have it delivered to one's doorstep. Another way of doing, which may not carry a whole line of things for golf, are auction sites where a person can bid on a certain item and if one is the winning bidder, one will also be able to get it in a few days.7. Some experts who have played the game for quite some time prefer to sell the old equipment to someone which saves money in paying for a new one. If the person asks around, there is a chance that individual will be lucky to get it at a good price which is a far better deal then getting it from any golf shop.

History of the SXSW Music Festiva

The South by Southwest Music Festival has been running strong, and getting stronger, since it originated in 1987. Austin considers itself the live music capital of the world, and though cities would like to battle that claim, musicians and music industry types clamor to the capital of Texas every March from around the globe.Austin has had an entertainment district for several decades. As the home of the state government and the University of Texas, Austin has always had lively nightspots, some of which date back to the 1800s, when many of General Custer’s troops poured into clubs after the Civil War. The majority of these clubs were located along 6th street and 4th street, where the entertainment district is still located today, and the musical styles varied widely due to the mix of Mexican, colonial and German settlers. The area today hosts the highest concentration of original music nightclubs of any other city worldwide. In 1986, the New Music Seminar in New York invited many of Austin’s local bands to their popular music convention, and discussed having another one in Austin the next year, and it would be called the New Music Seminar Southwest. Though the New Music Seminar group pulled out shortly after their announcement, Louis Black and his cohorts ran with the idea, and started up their own festival and conference, calling it South by Southwest.In 1986, those working on the festival announced the idea at a BMI seminar at the Hyatt, and the buzz began. A few of those working on the event were also working at The Chronicle at the time, and they began getting the word out to other alternative newspapers around the country. Knowing they didn’t have the serious industry connections on the east or west coast, an ad and story was run in Billboard magazine, which really fueled the fire. Executives from major record and publishing companies from New York, Nashville and Los Angeles began to register for the conference. Though the South by Southwest crew originally shot for 150 registrants their first year, more than 700 turned up.Having the SXSW Music Festival in Austin was beneficial for the music industry as well as the local musicians: the music business was curious about Austin’s live music scene and had a reason to visit the city, and the musicians, who are normally isolated from the rest of the country in the middle of Texas, get a chance to do business with the industry from the comfort of their own backyard.In 1988, SXSW fever had hit the international stage, after the hometown bands found some success in Europe, and the interest from those attending the festival in seeing international acts perform. Now SXSW has offices in Europe, Australia, and Japan to help those international bands with their travel arrangements, get their visas in order, and find housing upon arrival. As Austin changed and grew, hi tech companies moved in and the film industry deemed Austin as “The Third Coast.” In 1994, SXSW added a film festival and an interactive festival that tied into their music festival, stretching SXSW over two weekends during spring break, when many students have left the town. Now the festival, which started with 700 in attendance, has grown to 10,000 participants this past year.

Music and the Web

So what’s up with music on the internet, anyway? Too much of nothing at all! Most find the ubiquitous soundtracks on Myspace pages to be a nuisance, and major labels are going out of their way to keep the good stuff off the web entirely. But this is a problem of design and deployment. Sound and music can be the perfect accompaniment for your message. To get a better handle on this, lets look at music and the internet separately. Music is generally used in a few familiar ways. Broadly, music is a form of entertainment that triggers an emotional response in most people. Beyond the purely entertainment-oriented original music of pop stars, we’re accustomed to hearing music on the radio, in TV shows and movies, as well as in the commercials and trailers that accompany them. These songs and melodies are selected from libraries of commercial or “needle-drop” tracks, or composed as custom original tracks, exclusive to a particular product or message. Most custom music is found in branded settings, while needle-drop is commonly used where a generic underscore or soundtrack is acceptable.While the internet and www easily handle sound or video, it’s primarily a text-based medium. Our reading there is non-linear: we don’t just skip from site to site via links, we fluidly move between windows and applications as well. We frequently bounce over to Word or a Calendar program, cutting/pasting/dropping links into paper documents and emails as we jump around. We lean back to watch TV in our living rooms, but lean-in to our web browsers. So surfing the web has more in common with reading a magazine or newspaper than watching TV.Sound is a powerful, effective way to deliver messages passively, but the internet is an active medium. The majority of broadband web-users have high speed connections at work, but not at home. As a result, unexpected sounds are more of an irritant than attraction. Conversely, subtle roll-over effects, soft background sounds and effects that relate to things the user sees or does on your site entice users to pump up the volume. Emotional connections are key to making a point or selling a product, and music is one of the best tools to make connections. We aim to keep them tuned in, with the sound turned on, so they can receive your transmissions. Here are some rules to get us there...Location, Location, Location!So what makes music work (or not!) on a website? Location, location, location! The user’s environment and the music’s location within the site define whether the music is heard at all. Stick a generic music loop on your opening page, and you virtually guarantee that no one browsing at work will hear your soundtrack at all. Those who haven’t already hit the mute button, will do so once your music begins to play unbidden and unexpectedly. On the other hand, music serving as accompaniment for a Flash display piece, will always be heard because it’s appropriately tied to a message that user clicked-to-get. A good rule of thumb is to tie music to actions, and avoid “push” sound like the plague.Branded Sound is More Effective... and More UsefulEveryone knows the NBC chimes by heart, and most of us can identify popular jingles in 3 notes or less. That’s what makes a jingle aesthetically good or bad! But from a functional perspective, flexibility and uniqueness matter. NPR’s familiar theme song for All Things Considered has been around for over 30 years, and yet it remains fresh because the sound designers vary instrumentation, beats and delivery. Same old song, delivered differently each day! Custom, branded sound is exclusive to the entity commissioning the composition, so it can function as a logo on the web.Get Out of the Loop!The only thing more annoying than a loud, unexpected blast of bad music is an endlessly repeating loop of loud, bad music. Heck, even GOOD music gets old after a few laps around the track! Any sound deployed on the web must be level-balanced against the sounds and music users actually want to hear; in other words, any un-bidden sound louder than songs in their MP3 library is bad sound. Loop that bad sound (with or without the hitch in the beat from selecting the wrong loop-point) and you’ve guaranteed your visitors will hit the mute.Where There’s Motion, There’s SoundIn the real world, things that move make noise. The same is true in cartoons and conventional animation. Everyone knows that music is a good emotional trigger, but it’s also a most sophisticated framework or grid to tie motion elements into. Animators and designers frequently select music that fits the mood and attitude of the message, then key events and motion to the beat. If things are moving, music is almost always appropriate.Don’t Mix Metaphors: The Web is NOT TVMusic is ubiquitous on TV and the radio, in programs as well as commercials. Music on the web is an application and as such it’s rare. Flash sites and animation live somewhere between these worlds however. With that in mind, a safe assumption would be that wherever there is motion, sound (and often music) can enhance it. Music fits when you have lots of visual action, or animated characters, because such pieces aim to be passively viewed, and emotionally engaging. Music is less useful when you’re asking the visitor to read or interact (roll-over sounds are ideal cues for navigation and enticing voice-overs can nudge a visitor back to a previously opened page however).

Feel the British legacy in 5 star hotels London

Hotel culture was developed approximately in 1830s in London. Perhaps, it was the beginning of the modern hotel culture and the credit goes to London railways. There are various categories of hotels like hotel, country house hotel, small hotel, town house hotel and metro hotel. Simply ‘hotel’ tells about a formal accommodation arrangement. ‘Country house hotel’ refers to an accommodation which provides good grounds or gardens facilities. In other words, one can say that country house hotels emphasis up on peace and calmness. ‘Small hotel’ category can offer maximum 20 bedrooms. ‘Town house hotels’ are known for exclusive style and it can offer maximum 50 bedrooms. Although it may not offer dinner facility but room service may be available here. ‘Metro hotels’ provide full hotel services but again dinner facility is not available here. Star ratings of hotels tell about the quality of hotels and guest accommodation. So, 5 star hotels London are equipped with the finest luxurious accommodation. Professionally trend staff members greet each and every guest at the entrance of the hotel. Multilingual services, high quality menu and premium wine list are always available here. These hotels easily understand the need of guest. They offer en suite bedrooms with excellent quality beds and furnishing. Even food quality is excellent here. 5 star hotels London are the most expensive hotels in the world. Sometimes, it seems that the tag expensive is depleting its reputation. But, 5 star hotels are also very much conscious and hence one can get special discount in these hotels. These discounts may be for senior citizens and honeymoon couple. Visitors also may get such discount on the auspicious occasions like Christmas and New Year. Mayfair, South Kensington, knightsbridge, St. James’s, etc are the name of the centre where one can get 5 star hotels. Mostly 5 star hotels are located in central London. It is obvious to understand because many headquarters are situated in central London and according to new trend 5 star hotels are favorite destination for business meeting and discussion. These hotels provide them excellent conferencing room, presentation materials, internet facilities and many more. 5 star hotels are witnesses of British royalty and supremacy. If, you stay in these hotels then you can experience the great legacy of London which gives you the feel of being a king. The best thing with these hotels is lying in their perpetual greatness which still exists without being influenced with modern science and technology. It would be definitely a tough challenge for all hotels to maintain such greatness. Year 2012 will be definitely a new challenge for these hotels as the government is determined to lower down the hotel price and to make London accessible for all income groups. Now, it would be interesting to check that how these hotels are maintaining the legacy even on cheap price. Let’s hope the success for these hotels even in low price mission and let the world see the true picture of great London.

Make Money From your Blog

Do you want to monetize your blog? If so, when you decide this is what you really want; (to make some money from your blog), keep in mind monetizing a blog can be like a balancing act. To really make money from blogging it’s important to be someone of a jack of all trades,someone that's been at it for awhile, experience definitly helps. And always remember the blogosphere changes rapidly, and change creates opportunity, and opportunity can create the kind of income your seeking. I don’t want to insult anyone, but most people are clueless when it comes to making money from their blogs. You should think of your blog as a potential outlet for multiple streams of income. If your ready to take on the challenge of generating income from blogging, the most important thing you need to monetize your blog is traffic, and to be more specific, targeted traffic. When I first started blogging, I knew that traffic building was going to be my biggest challenge. I don’t recommend using a hosted service like Blogger if you want to seriously make money from your blog. If you use a hosted blog, you’re at the mercy of the hosting service, and that puts the future of any income streams you create with them at risk. As a blogger who wants to generate income, you should always be experimenting with new income streams. Every blog is different, so you need to test things for yourself to see what works for you. Pick a niche for your blog where you have some significant expertise, but make sure it’s a big enough niche that you can build a good amount of traffic. And by all means make it clear to your visitors what your blog is all about.Take a moment to articulate a basic income-generating strategy for your site. If you aren’t good at strategy, then just come up with a general philosophy for how you’re going to generate income. You don’t need a full business plan, just a description of how you plan to get from $0 per month to whatever your income goal is. However you decide to generate income, put your basic strategy down in writing. Although you may have multiple streams of income, decide which type of income will be your primary source, and design your site around that. If you learn about a new potential income stream, test it for a month or two, and measure the results for yourself. As a blogger who wants to generate income, you should always be experimenting with new income streams. Think about what specific action you want your visitors to eventually take that will make money from your blog for you, and design your site accordingly. AS I've stated before, traffic is the primary fuel of online income generation. More visitors means more ad clicks, more product sales, more affiliate sales, more leads, and more of whatever else that generates income for you.If your blog provides genuine value, you fully deserve to earn income from it. If you are very web savvy, or if you can learn to become very web savvy, then you have an excellent shot of making enough money from your blog to cover all your living expenses… and then some. Perhaps the best part of generating income from blogging is the freedom it brings. For a free resource on using blogs for an income, click the "Blogging Cash Course" Link Below.

10 Tips to Enojoy Winter Sports Holiday in French alps

French Alps is one of the most alluring and exotic places in the world. Each year hordes of tourists go there to enjoy the enchanting beauty of the snow and the mountains. One of the major activities in the French Alps in which tourists can indulge is skiing. Skiing is a great adrenaline filled exciting sport that can drain all the fatigue and boredom out of life. One can also indulge in the various winter sports in Alps as well to make the holidays a truly memorable one. Here are some tips that would make the winter sports and Alps Skiing Holiday quite enjoyable - 1) There is no big killjoy than to learn that one has spent more money than actually required. One should always plan the holiday in advance. The early booking helps in saving a lot of money on travelling and accommodation. It enables one to negotiate and also gives one access to various promotional offers. 2) There is no fun in exploring the snow alone. One should always invite some friends to accompany. This would not only multiply the fun but also would help in saving money on accommodation etc. 3) Winter sports are quite demanding and it can leave one quite tired. One should try and explore different restaurants to get exotic food. 4) The sports gear should be kept carefully as there is every chance of them getting misplaced and stolen. One should always keep the gear at a secure place. 5) While indulging in any sport like skiing or snowmobiling, one should stay very careful and avoid any kind of injury. Injuries can ruin all the fun of the holiday. 6) While skiing, one should choose the terrain that suits their skills the best to avoid any mishaps and discomforts. 7) After skiing, one can roam around the vicinity and explore the beauty of the nature.8) In spite of the cold, one should avoid excessive drinking as it can prove to be dampener for the spirits of everyone around. One should not drink before skiing or any other sports as it may cause accidents. 9) There are excellent shops in the French Alps. One can enjoy shopping after a rigorous session of skiing. 10) If it is a family holiday, one can watch the toddlers learn the basics of skiing and other sports from the experts.

Why Shop Online?

Have you ever driven to the store looking for the perfect shoe? You go from store to store looking at what they have to offer until you find just the right one. But when you go to the sales person and ask for one in your size they tell you that they are sold out of your size. The more this happens, the more enticing online shopping becomes. Some of the bigger traditional stores have tried online stores and come to the conclusion that they don’t work. If you check out their stores you can buy anything they could not sell in the store but not every item the store sells.The traditional Brick and Mortar edge. For store owners who depend on foot traffic to make sales the growth of online retailers is a serious threat. The local store now has to focus on its strength and hope that remains enough to win the consumer.Privacy and Security. Preying on the fear that your private information will be out there for anyone to grab and abuse is a favorite of the traditional store. However as more americans get used to online banking, booking travel arrangements, buying movie tickets and using secure websites this perceived advantage is loosing its punch. These days you are more likely to loose your privacy to a person you actually hand your credit card to than online.Interaction. The internet is said to be an interactive medium. The local store will seem to again have the advantage here since the have sales people right in front of you to answer your questions. The problem is that anyone who has ever gone to the internet before they went shopping tends to know more about what they are looking for than the sales people.A well thought out website anticipates your questions and answers them with knowledge and experience. When you go in to a store you rarely get to talk with the owner. It just is not possible for the owner to be available for every customer walking through the door. But online, the owner can be involved. Experience has taught them the questions you are going to ask about every product and they know the answer. You can be half way around the world, shopping while the store owner sleeps and he can still be answering your question because he has anticipated it.Selection. In the past, a traditional store could boast selection as a key advantage over the online store. That is far from true now. You can generally find exactly what you want on line often direct from the manufacturer or a website specializing in that particular product.Shipping. The traditional store may boast no shipping. However that depends on your point of view. You still pay for shipping when you buy from the local store, it just comes in the form of a higher price. If the item is not in stock you pay for your gas to go to and from the store to find that out. Then when the item is at the store you pay for your gas back and forth again. In most cases I find it costs me less to buy something on line and pay the shipping than it does to drive all over and come home empty handed. After driving to and from work the last thing most people want to do is get back in the car and drive more.The internet can be a cost effective way to save money as a consumer. By cutting out the need for a store, the middle man between the manufacturer and the consumer one can get a higher quality product for the same price as a similar one from your local store.

Buying E-books On E-bay: E-bay The One-stop E-book Shop

On September 1995, one of the most prestigious online shopping sites was founded. eBay is unique because it allows online shoppers, either as individuals or as a group, a wide variety of merchandise that they can buy, sell or trade within their community, their nation or even other with other countries. EBay’s merchandise reaches to 44 million things on sale at any given time and is added with more than four million of other things to be sold everyday. Their categories include antiques, collectibles, photography, computers, art, toys, electronics, stamps, jewelry, magazines, comics, pottery, e-books and many more. Electronic books or more popularly known as e-Books are text materials designed to be portable. They are special books that uses a program that enable readers to read it through their hardware devices - like Personal Computers, laptops, palmtops and/or even mobile phones. They are so accessible and can be transferred from one computer to another using a network. Since e-Bay is one of the country's leading online shopping site, they also provide a selection on must have e-Books. Shopping for e-Books is fairly easy, but one must need some basic online shopping knowledge before they are able to do so. A great recommended book would be eBay Bargain Shopping for Dummies (can be found at eBay) by Marsha Collier. This book would help all online shoppers who to discover the treasure of eBay shopping. Her book spills the beans on how to outwit and outbid your competition - which is a good way to find discounts on all the items up for grabs. E-Books can be ordered online and delivered electronically to your computer (or mobile phone). This way, there is no shipping and tax expenses and you get your e-Book at a very low price. There are numerous sites that sell e-books in this manner On the other hand; Instant e-Books do not require additional software or other readers for customers to be able to immediately start reading their e-Books after installing it. And aside from that, there are many free e-Books and other articles written by "eBay gurus." With eBay, e-Books are just a click away. What could be greater news to all book lovers out there?would like to sell. Then sign up as a member with eBay. Once you have decided on a product(s), locate a Dropshipper for that product(s). Sign up with that Dropshipper and then place an auction on eBay for the item.. Once your auction is over and you have a buyer for the product emails your Dropshipper the required information. The Dropshipper will ship the product directly to your customer, and charge your account the wholesale price for that product. The difference between the wholesale price and your retail price is pure profit! To run a successful eBay Business you will need to sell what the public wants to buy. Always research any product before you decide to sell it. Make sure it is popular and you can get it at a great price.