Internet Marketer

Dollar Cost Averaging Explained

2009-02-08T02:48:00.000-08:00

Simply put, dollar cost averaging (DCA) is a stock purchasing plan that helps investors minimize the timing risk associated with lump sum investing. It is a strategy that is best used by investors with little time to watch the day to day fluctuation but still want to invest money in equities because it lets you set-and-forget your investment strategy, minimizing the time you need to spend study stocks and watching your portfolio. It certainly isn't a strategy loved by all, but it does have its benefits.

The way that this investing strategy works is to purchase stocks or mutual funds at a certain times during the year with a certain amount of cash. The traditional way to do it was to invest on the first day of each quarter of the year for an entire year. However, individual investor should not feel bogged down by this understanding of dollar cost averaging and should simply consider it an investment strategy that invests a certain amount of money at a fixed point in time.
You could dollar cost average $1000 by investing $20 on Tuesdays for 50 weeks. Or you could invest the same $1000 by investing $100 of the second Monday of every month. Whatever you decide to do it is still dollar cost averaging because you are investing your money at a predetermined interval and in predetermined amounts.

Another key characteristic of this type of investing is a fairly long investing horizon. Most experts recommend that you stick with this type of investment strategy for 7-10 years so that you can benefit from any cyclical down period in the economy as a whole. You will also benefit from the assumed upward trend of the market.

The main benefit of DCA is that is helps you avoid the dreaded "worst timing" scenario. This is the investment decision that we all fear when we start investing. It is that sudden dip in the market that turns our $5000 investment into $2500 in the course of single week. It could take years to recover from loses of this magnitude - and dollar cost averaging will help you minimize the impact that such a precipitous fall can have on your investment portfolio.

But DCA does have some negatives to it as well. The additional 'safety' that this strategy provides comes at a price - the ability to 'perfectly' time the market. This is that rare moment when you buy a stock at its lowest point and sell it at its highest. Though rare, a dollar cost averaging investment strategy completely obliterates your chances of perfectly timing the market.

It is also important to note that not every financial guru or academic thinks that dollar cost averaging is really that great of an investment strategy. They can question just how effective dollar cost averaging is at mitigating risks, so this strategy should definitely be carefully considered before implementing.

In the end, each individual investor is responsible for how they handle their own money. Dollar cost averaging is simply one tool in a very large tool shed. Getting educated about which investing tool is right for you is very important and will take some time and serious effort. Rest assured, this type of self education is worth every minute and every penny

Deciphering Web Hosting for Video Sites

2009-02-07T22:13:00.000-08:00

Video sites have free web hosting, and this may not really pose as much of a problem as most people might think. There could be various reasons why one would want to host a video online. It could be for commercial marketing, or it could be for networking or just for pure entertainment. Whatever the reason may be, every good site is bound to be looking out for stable web hosting.

There is one important factor that one must remember while looking at web hosting for video sites. Remember that these sites will need special software to stream the videos. If this special streaming software is absent, the video files would be looked at, just as at any other web file by the web host. Having the right software in place will allow you to appreciate the quality of the video and view it in the best way.

If a video site is hosted without software, it will become necessary for the user to download the complete video file in order to view it. Otherwise, if there is any site, which is hosted with the right software, the video can be viewed directly online. This special streaming software will have to be installed on the web server.

There are many cheap options that are available when it comes to getting web hosting services for one's video sites. Shop around extensively before you narrow down your options. While you are shopping, make sure that you will be able to watch your videos online. Also, make it a point to look at players like real player. Real player is one of the most popular ones used when it comes to online viewing for videos. Many companies provide services with which you can view videos on the sites where they are being hosted.

All you need to do is look for compatibility between the player and the video that you want to watch. There are plenty of things that need to be thought about when it comes to choosing web hosting services for video sites. The web server that you are using will need to hold large sized files, as video files generally require a lot more space than other kinds of files.

While choosing web-hosting services for your video sites, you will first need to check to see that the service that you are looking at provides a lot of storage. Then you will have to check to ensure that the given bandwidth allows for a lot of transference. Without these two elements, a web server may be of no use. You can avail of good services for as little as five dollars. Many of these cheaper services provide plenty of storage space.

If your video uses flash, you will be requiring some extra software. This can be installed exclusively. In such a case, in order to view the videos, flash player will also be required. Sometimes free web hosting may also be available. But this is not a good idea as your site might keep getting bombarded by a large number of pop-up ads.

Mortgage Points Tax Deduction

2009-02-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

If you are purchasing a home or planning to refinance your current mortgage your lender may offer you the option to pay "points" at the time of closing. The lender will send you a good faith estimate and you may notice that your down payment will be higher when you pay points. Before simply tossing the idea of paying points aside because of the higher down payment, you need to be sure that you understand what exactly points are before you make that decision. It's a decision that could save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
One thing to consider when getting a home mortgage loan are points. Points are also known as "mortgage points", "loan origination fees", or "discount points". Points are up-front mortgage interest fees paid on a loan to reduce the initial interest rate. At the simplest form, paying points is a trade off between paying money now versus paying money later.

One point is equal to 1 percent of the loan amount. So, say you purchase a home and your mortgage amount would be $250,000. If you paid one point, you would pay $2,500 up front.

Lenders are often willing to reduce the interest rate on your mortgage in exchange for you paying points. When you apply for a loan, ask the lenders how much they are willing to reduce your rate in exchange for paying 1 point.

Is it smart to take points? Well, the answer depends. The number of years you stay in your house can help determine if paying points at closing in exchange for paying a lower rate is a better deal than paying zero points at a higher interest rate level. So what is a good time horizon you ask? That depends on the situation but as a general rule if you plan on staying in your house over a short time frame, less than 5 years for example; paying points wouldn't make sense because you will be paying more in points than you will save in interest. You need to be sure you will keep the loan long enough to recoup these costs through your lower monthly mortgage payment. If, however, you plan on staying in your house for 10 years or longer, points will pay off over time.

The IRS considers points to be a form of prepaid interest. This means they are tax deductible (as long as you itemize your deductions). If you are purchasing a home the points are generally deductible in the year you purchase your property. This is true even if the seller pays for your points. If you are refinancing your mortgage, points must be amortized over the life of the loan.

Build Wealth By Green Investing

2009-02-06T08:34:00.000-08:00

In today's depressive stock market it is hard to find a silver lining. Green investing is a way to feel good about your stocks and mutual funds while having the potential to make a healthy return on investment. Socially responsible investing makes sense during the corruption on Wall Street and the search for alternative energy sources.
Green investing is finally coming into the mainstream. People can do what's right for the environment and build wealth too! Socially responsible investing has been around for decades and is now becoming popular. SRI already has $2.3 trillion in investments. SRI started by appealing to investors who wanted to avoid sin stocks, the stocks of companies that are involved in alcohol, tobacco, and gambling.
Today, Social Responsible Investing is an all encompassing term that generally means screening companies out that are abusive to the environment, practice poor labor relations, are not responsible to their communities and lack corporate integrity. SRI has evolved to serve in an advocacy manner. The new focus by consumers, business and government on sustainability and the environment has created its own category of SRI. Goldman Sachs, the darling of Wall Street, has already set aside $1.5 billion to privately invest in green companies. CalPERS; one of the country's largest institutional investors, has set aside more than a billion dollars for green investments.

How do you catch the green investing wave? The most practical and probably most efficient way to put money to work in a SRI is via an SRI mutual fund. Other ways to invest are via an Exchange Traded Fund and by owning stocks individually. The latter way takes more time, expertise and is riskier as you are not diversified as well as a mutual fund.

Not all SRI funds are alike. For decades SRI has screened out companies that were considered socially or ethically unacceptable. Now green funds screen in companies that are making a positive impact. Today's green funds include some surprising choices as more and more blue-chip companies are becoming green-chip companies.

How do they work? Imagine if you or I try and ask a CEO about changing her packaging for products or about ending abusive consumer practices. We would not get too far. But imagine a pot of $2 trillion dollars invested by SRI managers speaking about these things to CEO's? For better or worse, having that much money under management gives them an open ear to management. This shareholder advocacy becomes a powerful force for improvement.

SRI aligns your money with your interests. In my opinion, companies that focus on doing right by the consumer, the environment, the marketplace and all other constituents tend to do better over the long term. It is those who focus on the short term and take shortcuts that tend to be disappointing investments. Sustainability is not just about us as humans on this earth but is also relevant to companies and investments.

In the past, being altruistic and investing was not as correlated as they can be today. You can put money to work, funding newer renewable energy technologies and have your money working in an area that is the next challenge for our country while offering a potential favorable return on your money. A major Wall Street firm recently put out a research report titled "Clean Energy: Sustainable Opportunities." They predicted that annual clean-energy revenue opportunities could reach $500 billion by 2020 and a trillion annually by 2030. This is an exciting time indeed!

Internet Marketing

2009-01-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

There are lots of website operators in different industries who think that if they spend a lot of money on the aesthetics of the website and make it look like Taj-Mahal; then the customers will magically appear on their website. It is true that web design is an important part of the marketing strategy but it needs to be inline with other techniques to generate traffic.
Every one should have a marketing plan, in order to create awareness and sustain competitive advantage. It is very easy to create a marketing plan. You can follow the 5M approach. It basically divides the plan into 5 major section, which are, message, market, money, medium, and measurement. Let’s take a look at each of the sections one by one.

Message: The first step in a marketing plan is to develop a message, which will be conveyed to the customers. The message needs to be clearly defined in order to attract the target market. The operators can communicate the message that they are quality oriented or price oriented. For example, lets take a look at two brick and mortar retail stores Neiman Marcus (quality oriented) and Ross (price oriented).

The concept is not that different from web business. Both the stores have a very clear message. When we enter Neiman Marcus we expect good quality merchandise organized in different departments. On the other hand when we walk into Ross we are willing to sort through unorganized shelves so we can find the best bargain. Website operators should also have a clear message whether they want to be quality oriented or they want to sell everyday low price products.

Market: Operators have a choice to enter three kinds of market. They can employ mature market, niche market, or growing markets. "My target market is people who are between the ages of 25 to 34, married couples, $70,000 average household income, and drive minivans or 4 door sedans. This is a well define target market. The marketing plan will be geared towards the customers who fit the profile. However this doesn’t mean that the customers who don’t fit the criteria are not welcomed. All the customers should be treated equally; it’s just that the marketing efforts will be focused on the target market.

Money: Let’s suppose that you have a well-defined target market, a clear message, however, you don’t have the money to advertise. There are many operators who have spend so much money making the website look nice that they are left with not enough money to implement an effective marketing plan. It is always a smart decision to put at least 5% of your gross revenues into major marketing efforts.

Five percent seems like a lot of money but remember that five percent can increase your business by twenty to thirty percent. Don’t go overboard designing your website with fancy bells and whistles. Customers do appreciate a nicely design site, but for them to appreciate your artwork you need to get them inside the store first.

Medium: Choosing a medium can be a very difficult task. There are so many web based advertising companies, and choosing the right one from the beginning is not an easy job. If you are a new business than advertise with at least three different companies. Each company will charge you somewhere in between $400 to $500. Call the people who are already advertising with that company and see how well the response rate is for others.

There are other medium you can choose for marketing your service such as direct mail marketing, flyers with your logo, promotional items to corporations (if you are selling to corporations), uniform shirts with company logo, letters to associations, unions, etc. Each and every medium can be effective as long as the message is consistent.

Measurement: That’s the final step in the 5M marketing plan. "How well are we doing"? In order to measure the success of the marketing plan we need to keep track of all our activities. If you are advertising using PPC then keep track of the campaign. Find out the unique visitors to your website. Measure the response rate from each company and rank them between 1 to3. If one of the companies is under performing then talk to them and try to fix the problem. If the response is still low then drop the company right away and use the money to focus on other promotions.

Marketing plan does not guarantee success, however, it will increase your odds to succeed in the business and gain a competitive advantage.

Proven Advice on Mortgage Pre-Approvals

2009-01-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

If you are thinking about purchasing a new home be aware of the difference between a pre-approval for a mortgage and an actual approval. Most people are unaware of what the difference is between the two and not knowing can end up ruining your life financially.

A pre-approval letter is something you secure from a lender in order to go house hunting. There are generally two ways you can get a pre-approval. You can go to a bank directly and deal with a mortgage specialist. This person will generally get enough of your personal information to pre-approve you for a house. The second way to get a pre-approval is to go through a mortgage broker. They will also take your personal information to pre-approve you; but when you're dealing with a mortgage broker they deal with many mortgage lenders so in most cases they will go into more detail in order to secure the best rate for your situation.

Whether you are dealing with the bank directly or a mortgage broker you must be sure that you have an actual pre-approval and not just a pre-qualifier. The difference is that with a pre-qualifier a mortgage specialist has just asked a bit of personal information and based on what you said they give you an opinion that you should qualify. With a pre-approval they will find out about your job, length of employment, income, type of employment and credit history. They will make sure that you can provide proof of the information you have given them and based on this they will issue a pre-approval. You should make sure that this pre-approval is based on a credit report and verification of all other financial information.

A pre-approval is not a firm letter of commitment from a lender. It holds the rate of mortgage for 120 days so that if the interest rate increases while you are finding a house it won't affect you. Most pre-approvals are contingent on appraisal of the home you want to buy and re-verification of your credit and income. Pre-approvals make a buyer look credible to agents and sellers and they smooth the whole mortgage process.

The most important thing to remember is when you find a house that you like and decide to put in an offer, always put a condition in the offer that gives you a week to obtain financing even with a pre-approval. Do not waive this condition because you have a pre approval; if for some reason the bank declines the mortgage you are still legally bound to purchase the house. In this situation you become vulnerable to a law suit or forced to accept a private mortgage at extremely high interest rates costing you thousands of dollars. The bottom line is if you want to protect yourself never waive that financing condition until you have something in writing from the bank stating that you can do so.

Now that you have found a house and your offer to purchase has been accepted you go back to your mortgage specialist with this document and they will now submit your application of a mortgage for a full approval from the mortgage lender. The lender will approve the property you want to purchase and re-verify your financial information. As long as nothing has changed they will generally issue an approval for your mortgage. Be aware that in Ontario a mortgage approval is only firm as long as all of the conditions of the loan are met right up to the day of closing. This means that after you get your approval you need to provide the proof to verify your personal information. This also means that you should not change your financial situation until after the deal has closed. Don't take out loans to purchase things for your home because this changes your financial situation and there is the possibility that the mortgage lender might back out of the deal.

Purchasing a home is probably the largest financial commitment you will make and if you understand the process and follow the procedure it will be your most enjoyable and exciting purchase.

SEO is About to Grow Up

2009-01-18T23:07:00.000-08:00

Those who have been in the industry since the late 90's have seen huge changes in SEO. The industry has really matured. But in the grand scheme of things, if you were to plot SEO on a product life cycle chart you would see that the industry is still in its' infancy.
Companies who were around in the introduction stage often had to build product awareness and develop a market for SEO. In the early '2000's, many of our clients had just build their first websites. This was a significant investment for them and they thought that now that they have a website, the online sales would just flow in. Many didn't realize that they had just invested serious coin into an over-priced business card. Because nobody could find them.

At this point, there was little consistency in the product. And as the algorithm got more complex, the SEO offering varied more. Some companies were offering to "submit to hundreds of search engines" (some still are) whilst others were offering usability, analytics and site architectural input in addition to on-page and off-page SEO.

SEO - Early Growth Stage - we're still just at the beginning of it.

In the early growth stage, smart SEO companies are beginning to think about building their brand and to increase market share. Demand is increasing as more customers understand the benefits of "getting found". There is some competition at this stage but because the market is broadening so much, competition is limited and there is still a huge amount of camaraderie within the industry. 10 years into it, it's easy to assume that our industry is more mature than it actually is. We've only just begun.

Customer Implication

Demand has already started to increase but it is going to skyrocket. And it's going to come from all types of business from very small customers to Enterprise type of businesses.

Up until recently, the neighborhood dry cleaner didn't care if someone across the country found their website because they deal within a 5 km radius got very little benefit from optimizing their website. Now as local search gets much better, those local business will become much more serious about the opportunities online

It is also likely that we'll see a lot of growth from Enterprise clients. These clients previously resisted SEO due to the complexity of working within legacy back-end systems. As technology increases and back-end systems become less expensive for more capability, we're going to see companies replace their antiquated CMS's with SEO friendly options.

Another change that this stage of the product life cycle will bring is in our relationship with the client. As SEO becomes a bigger part of the mainstream marketing mix, our customers will become more and more knowledgeable about SEO (we?re already starting to see this).

We'll move from having a sales / consultative role to being a thought partner. Our clients will have a good understanding of what needs to be done but they'll outsource it to us because we're more efficient at implementing.

Competition Implication

With high growth in revenues, low barriers to entry, and no certification required, the SEO industry is prime for attracting any and all new entrants. There have always been new competitors. But the face of our competition is going to change greatly. Up until now competition has focused primarily on small start ups and web design firms who decide to add a search component. Some stick around but many are wiped out with the next major shift in the algorithm. This phase of the SEO life cycle is going to attract better capitalized, stronger competition from many sectors. These new entrants are attracted to SEO by the potential for profits not by the fit with their offering.

We are already starting to see traditional media firms seek to protect their eroding revenues by grabbing a slice of the online pie. But WalMart has shown us that future competition could be anyone. And it will be.

No all new entrants are attracted by dollar signs. There are also companies that are feeling increased pressure to offer a more well rounded package. As the integration of offline and online marketing services increases, customers are putting more pressure on agencies to handle the full scope of their marketing spend including the online component.

Although we're already starting to see increased competition, many existing Search Engine Optimization companies aren't feeling the pinch yet because demand is also increasing. One implication of increased demand coupled with new entrants to the market is the impact on supply. We're starting to experience a shortage of experienced SEO talent SEO talent is a scarce resources. And this scared resource is not yet being renewed at a fast enough pace. Whilst some colleges are starting to offer digital media / internet marketing diploma, these grads know very little about what it takes to optimize a website.

Moreover, what they do know is limited to theory. It?s one thing to know that links are important to ranking. Its an entirely different thing to know how to effectively build links. So what?

Who cares where we are in the product life cycle?

Although we've already experienced a lot of growth, this growth is nothing compared to what we?re about to experience. In this next stage of the SEO life cycle, we?re going to see shifts in our clients, competition and product offering. Knowing that this is coming, will allow you to prepare. If we know that face of our competition is going to change from other small to mid sized SEO's to large Agencies and Enterprise size companies in totally unrelated industries then we can prepare for this by determining how we're going to differentiate ourselves from the new entrants.

And if we know that there is going to be increased pressure on skilled resources then we should be developing in house training programs now. The future is now. And it's only just begun

How Is A New Person To Have Any Chance At Success?

2009-01-18T22:55:00.000-08:00

Where ever you go online, you hear the same thing - You must find a niche for your business. If you are new to Internet Marketing, this is advice you will do well to pay attention to. Every day thousands more people build online businesses in search of wealth. Many jump right into the markets that are already completely saturated and then wonder why they are not making any money.
If they had unlimited time, money and patience, they might succeed. For those that do not have unlimited supplies of these resources, aiming for a smaller niche market is a much smarter way to start your online business.

Rata Penuh
So just what is a niche?

If you want the long answer, you can buy any one of the thousands of e-books being sold online about niche markets. You can go to a dictionary and see what the definition of niche is. But the short answer of niche simply means distinct or individual.

Everyone wants to start a business based on Internet Marketing. This is how the big guys are making all of their money, so it must be the way to go. There is a problem with that statement. The market is so saturated with people who have years of experience in this area. A new person trying to compete in such a broad market will watch their business die a quick death.

Susan Ward defines Internet Marketing as "the strategies that are used to market a product or service online, marketing strategies that include search engine optimization and search engine submission, copywriting that encourages site visitors to take action, web site design strategies, online promotions, reciprocal linking, and email marketing". A new person coming online to start a business has little chance of knowing enough about all the these areas to be able to compete.

Thing Smaller - Think Niche!

Just from the above definition you can come up with the following niches:

Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Copywriting
Web Site Design
Promotion
Linking
Email Marketing

Even if you are extremely experienced already in one of the above niches, you will still have a lot of competition in such broad niches. This may be what you decide to do in the end, but at least be willing to explore niches within the broader areas. You may find a niche you are much better suited to.

When it comes to finding a niche market, the best resource available online is Wordtracker. You can find pieces of this program on different sites and software programs but Wordtracker brings everything together in one place for those trying to find a good niche to go into.

Using Wordtracker is a breeze. If you want to break Internet Marketing down to many more niche markets, just type in Internet Marketing and look at all the ideas that pop up. Each of these can become keywords that you decide you want to focus your niche on. Or you can pop in those keywords and keep defining your niche.

Using Wordtracker, what you will end with is a list of niche keywords that you can focus your Internet business on. Having a smaller niche will give you a much better shot at being successful then trying to build a site around a broad topic like Internet Marketing.

Remember, success in any business always comes back to supplying a product that the public has a demand for and that the market has room for. Find the right niche and you are on the right path.

10 Marketing Commandments You Need to Follow

2009-01-18T21:49:00.000-08:00

Small business owners continue to grapple with marketing.. either not know what to do or not having enough time/resources to get the activities done. The problem is that marketing is generally considered the most important function of a business. Without a steady inflow of new customers and prospects, the business will quickly come to a halt.

And therein lies the problem. Marketing is unique in that it's an engine that must always be turned on. Putting an effort here or there will not lead to increased revenues. Small business owners who recognize the importance, excel over their competitors.

In an effort to shed some light on the marketing guidelines, I've put together 10 "commandments" that dispel many marketing myths and help the owner to stay on track. To the degree that companies adopt and live by these commandments, their businesses will flourish-

I. Marketing is defined as getting someone who has a need to know, like and trust you...in that order. You can't circumvent that process.

II. There is no mystery in marketing. The more people you communicate with and appeal to in a compelling way, the more business you'll generate.

III. Unless you operate a monopoly, it generally takes 6 to 9 contacts with a prospect before they're ready to buy from you.

IV. Building an effective marketing program is like building a house. Planning is the foundation and marketing activities are the bricks. Marketing contacts are never wasted...they're small investments in a foundation that will eventually lead to business.

V. The most important aspect of effective marketing by far is follow-through. If you're doing something, then half of the battle is won.

VI. You should be investing at least 5% of your ongoing revenues back into the business through marketing. It takes money to make money.

VII. If the business you're generating is only as good as your last advertising dollar, then you're not branding (differentiating) yourself. Effective branding is essential to taking your business to the next level.

VIII. Marketing today is an integral part of a small business. If you're not devoting time and/or resources to it continually, then you're at the mercy of the cycles and pitfalls of the marketplace.

IX. Due to its creative and reflective nature, marketing can and should be fun.

X. Marketing is not sales. Sales can have more immediate results. Marketing generally has a longer return on investment but because you're communicating with the masses, has a much broader impact.