Archive for the ‘Internet Basics’ Category

Computer Backup Devices

March 29th, 2009 Gail

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i_061Once you’re computer is up and running, you will begin to collect files at an alarming rate.  Everywhere you surf on the ‘net, you can find free downloads.  It sure is tempting to gather up as much of this free stuff as possible.

What you don’t know is each time you download another file, you’re using more of your valuable hard-disc space.  Music and videos take up more space than eBooks and reports.   And if you’re working on the Internet building a business or offering your services, you’re saving even more information.

What would happen if your computer crashed and you did not have a backup of all your files?

I learned the hard way how long a new computer can last.  My first was a Dell just over 2 years old.  It died on a Christmas Day after going through a series of deadly “blue screen” errors on system start-up.  I had never performed a system backup!  I had pay-per-click ads running, no backup computer and I was down over a week.

Fortunately, I was able to find a really good local computer tech to get everything off the hard drive to build a new box.  But it came at a very high cost – over $1,000 to the computer tech and and another huge chunk of cash to PPC ads that I had just started running for the post holiday stampede.  You see – when placing new PPC ads, you need to bid high just to get your ads showing.  Once they’re showing, you can improve your quality score to bring the cost down.  Well – I wasn’t at that point yet as I had just placed the ads.  What a mess!

Computer Backups

Your computer operating system comes with the option to setup scheduled system backups.  These are scheduled by you on a regular basis to run at a convenient time when your computer is on, but not in use.

This is a convenient service, but it will only backup existing files to another location on your hard-drive, chewing up even more space.  The most ideal option is to backup your files to an offline device or use a service like Amazon AWS Solutions to backup and save your files.

Computer Backup Strategies

When selecting an offline device to store your backup files, you need to select one that is at least 5 times the size of your hard-drive.  Once you have your drive and your backup software installed, you’ll need to perform a full system backup to create a “mirror image” of your system on the offline device.

You’ll need backup software that will allow you to set a schedule for regular backups and that will also let you do a backup on-demand.  I always do an on-demand backup after I complete extensive work that I want to make sure I don’t lose.  I prefer Norton Ghost which is included in
NORTON 360 PREMIER ED 3.0-CD 1U 3PC MM.

Once your full system backup is completed, you’ll need to setup your backup software to run every day or week at the same time.  If you’re using your computer for business, I suggest running daily backups otherwise, a weekly backup will suffice.

Your ongoing backups should create a new recovery point every month with incremental recovery points within the month.  An incremental recovery point saves space as only actual changes to your data is written to the backup drive.  You can restore individual files by day or week and you can do a full system restore.

Computer Backup Devices

If you plan on cleaning off your hard-drive and storing files on your backup for later recovery, you’ll want at least 3 backup drives.  All you have to do is identify which drive will save your files to be recovered on-demand.  Then send all your system backups to one of the other drives.

Once one backup drive is full of system backups, install the third drive and direct all your system backups to the third drive.  Once the third drive is full, go back to the second drive and start using it for system backups after you have deleted all the files.

Using 2 or 3 drives gives you maximum backup capability for the maximum period of time.  There’s nothing worse than getting an offline drive that is too small and finding out you don’t have enough space to store even 6 months of data!

I prefer researching devices using online websites.  You can see which are the top sellers and then read the reviews.  For instance, I found one device that had very good user ratings, but then I read the reviews and found one fault with the device that was a deal breaker for me.

I recently purchased an external hard drive with 1TB of capacity.  A terrabyte is a thousand gigabytes of storage.  This was unheard of just a few years ago for in-home computing.  I highly recommend the
Western Digital 1TB My Book Essential USB 2.0 External Hard Drive.  This drive will hold:

  • 440 hours DVD
  • 250,000 MP3s
  • 285,000 JPGs

It’s 30% more energy efficient, 6 1/2″ high by 5″ wide and 2″ deep which makes it the ideal size to fit almost anywhere.  One of the best features is the automatic setup – the software installs itself once it’s plugged in.  This means no disc to insert and no instructions to wade through.  You’ll also appreciate how quiet the drive is – I never hear it, unlike many others I’ve had.

Don’t wait until your hard-drive dies without warning.  Get a system backup plan installed and make sure it’s working.  This means going in at least every week to access the recovery files to make sure they’re valid.

Once you have an automatic solution, all you’ll have to do is monitor disc space!


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What is Internet Marketing?

February 18th, 2009 Gail

i_006 People come to the Internet looking for information.  Many are under
the assumption that everything on the Internet is free.  These are the people who get upset when you dare to charge them for information.  Why isn’t it free?

Let’s first review a few definitions:

Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Advertising is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service.

Internet marketing, also referred to as web marketing, online marketing, or eMarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet.

~ Wikipedia

Free Information

Yes – there certainly is free information on the Internet….and lots of it.  Some of it, like the information in Wikipedia is intentionally provided as a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.  There are also sites that provide free software, often referred to as shareware.  Most of this software provides people with a free trial period to use the software.  Once the software expires, you are given the option to purchase the basic package or to purchase an upgrade with added features.

In addition to these sites are vast arrays of article directories, blogs, Squidoo lenses, Hub pages and other sites that are built to provide information on subjects of interest.  Most of these sites are built around niches that are highly searched by people looking for specific information.  If people are searching on something, sites will be built to provide the information in the form of facts, articles or a personal point of view.

There are also plenty of websites giving away free software that is filled with viruses.  As soon as they are installed on your computer, a virus is initiated that continues to spread, slowing down your computer and collecting your information through keystrokes and files on your computer.  Most websites will check the software they give away to make sure it does not contain any viruses.

Website Expenses

Once a website is built, the owner of the site has ongoing expenses to pay, such as an annual fee for the domain name and monthly hosting fees.  For this reason, the owner must find a way to monetize the site to earn enough income to pay the expenses.  This is usually done with text ads the reader can click on for more information and with banners and graphics that advertise related products the reader can purchase.  Since the site owner needs to earn enough income to break even, the incentive is there to try and earn a profit.

Once a website is monetized, the site owner is then using Internet Marketing strategies to earn as much income from the site as possible.  As with any business venture, a website that does not earn enough to pay expenses will soon be out of business.

Internet Marketing as a Business

Website owners who have had success making money on the Internet strive to build a legitimate internet marketing business for long-term success.  They use a business model similar to direct marketing businesses to bring in new customers through a sales funnel.  The sales funnel is designed to bring the customer in with a free giveaway or a low-cost product to take the customer through a series of up sells to higher priced items.

As the customer progresses through the sales funnel, they move from the lower cost products to the higher priced products.  By keeping the customers on specific lists, the business owner knows what price point the customer is willing to pay.  If a customer accepts an offer to pay $75 for a product, they are moved from the lower priced list to the $75 list, etc.  They will now continue to receive higher priced offers as long as they remain subscribed to the list.

Free Versus Paid Information

If you’re searching for information on the Internet, why pay when you can get it free?  Well – that really depends on how much time you have!  If you’re not in a hurry, you can spend all the time you want collecting all the free information you can find.  Just keep in mind the first rule of marketing free information online:  useful, but incomplete.  Huh – what is that?

This is a common practice used by most marketers.  It allows the marketer to provide information the reader is searching for that is accurate and useful.  This internet marketing strategy allows the marketer to retain the “meat” of the information and sell it to the reader after the perceived value is attained.  This is exactly the same scenario used in magazines when portions of a book are printed to generate sales for the author.

When you purchase an information product, you are guaranteed to receive insider knowledge the marketer has to sell.  This knowledge was obtained in most cases through hands on experience and is therefore a valuable commodity.

Before you complete that purchase, make sure:
•    It contains the information you are looking for
•    You find a refund policy in case the product falls short
•    There is a Customer Service or Help Desk function to process customer issues

Next time you expect free information and find a price tag instead, you’ll be in a position to decide of the product is worth the expense.


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How Online Selling is Done

February 6th, 2009 Gail

saleimageNobody wants to be sold – that’s why we all fast forward through TV commercials. On the other hand, that’s why so many people watch Infomercials – they’re listening in on conversations people are having about a product. They get hooked on the chatter and start to believe they can get the same results which leads to them placing an order.

To sell anything on the Internet, you have to build a relationship through your words. People want to know the real you – not just who you want them to know. When they signup to your list or signup to your blog, they get to know you through your writings. As long as you provide quality information, your readers will start to trust you and will then trust your recommendations.

For example: Write an article or blog post about your experiences with network marketing. Tell them everything you tried to become successful and how hard it was. Reveal any success you had; tell them how much you spent; tell them how you feel about the experience. Then tell them what you learned. That last sentence is your key to hooking them into following you.

Within your sentences telling them what you learned, you could include a hyperlink to an offer. By using a hyperlink instead of telling them where to go with the URL, you are letting them make the decision to get more information. This lets them remain in control and they don’t feel you are just trying to sell them something.

Here’s an example: “I was completely frustrated with the lack of training from my upline. Why do they always tell you what you want to hear to get you signed up and then forget about you after you signup?”

You have now provided them with a link to an offer and asked a rhetorical question – probably the same question they ask! They can now start to connect with you emotionally and that’s the beginning of building trust and successful marketing on the Internet.

By accurately targeting your customer, building relationships and using the right marketing strategies, you will reach the success you want online. It’s not an overnight process, but each proven strategy you learn to use  successfully will continue to generate traffic for you, even when you’re away on vacation!


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