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!

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.

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!

There are “secrets” to marketing on the Internet that once known, help you achieve the success you are looking for.  It’s up to you to pull these “secrets” out of an online guru (if s/he will tell you!), purchase all the information you can find or sign up for a program that will give you the information you seek.  This is no easy task – consider this as difficult as getting your MBA.

You see – there are no shortcuts to online success.  It takes time, knowledge, some technical ability and marketing experience.  Marketing is actually the #1 tool you need.  If you have no experience with marketing, you can start your reading with Zig Ziglar or Dan Kennedy.

On the Internet, you have to build rapport with people just as you do in the offline world before you can expect to make a sale.  We do this through socializing in forums, getting to know each other through Twitter, leaving comments on a regular basis on your favorite blog, using linkbait to cause a buzz and so much more.  The most efficient way to build rapport is by building a list of subscribers.  But you can’t do everything at once.

One secret most people won’t tell you is you have to master one marketing strategy before moving on to the next strategy.  After all, if you can’t master one, you certainly can’t expect to succeed with the next one.  The progression is to take what you learned from becoming successful with the first strategy and applying it to the next strategy you want to use.  Eventually you have a full arsenal of marketing techniques to use every day that are giving you the results you need.

Why Isn’t Anyone Finding Your Blog or Website?

It’s very simple – you’re not using keywords correctly.  You are using them, right?

Not only do you need marketing strategies, but you need to understand how the Internet works.  The Internet is based on people searching for information.  As a marketer, it’s your job to give them what they are looking for.

First – you need to use a keyword research tool to find what people are searching for.  Let’s use building a business as an example.  You can find prospects by knowing exactly what they are searching for to solve their problem.  They may be searching for:

•    Ways to get out of debt
•    How to start a home business
•    How to supplement their income
•    Boost retirement savings
•    A network marketing opportunity
•    A MLM company
•    Etc.

You can use the free WordTracker tool to do your keyword research or you can download my free keyword tool.

To find out what people are searching for to supplement their income, use supplement income and start the search.  All the related searches containing “supplement income” and the number of searches per day will be displayed (here’s what it looks like in WordTracker):

From the keywords returned, I see two that could be used in an article or blog post:

•    How to supplement one’s retirement income
•    Ways to supplement income

If you have a blog, you choose one or two keyword phrases to use in a blog post.  Use one keyword phrase in the title of the blog post as your primary keyword phrase.  Then repeat the keyword phrase 2 – 3 times in your blog post.  Once you have your article completed, list your keyword phrases as tags and keywords on your post.  This is how you attract people to your site through the search engines.

How Does this Work?

If you are not posting information on the Internet using keywords that people are searching on, people won’t find you.  Along with your keyweords, the search engines rank websites, blogs, and other information by site popularity.  They consider the number of other sites that are linking to yours and give you a popularity rating.  The more popular a site is, the higher it is placed in the search engines.

So – if people are searching on “ways to supplement income” and your site is using this keyword phrase, the search engines will then count the number of other sites linking to your site and present them in their search engine results pages (SERPs) in the order they think are most important to the people searching for that information.

This is a simplistic approach to understanding keywords and the search engines, but it provides you with an understanding of how things work and what you need to do to “work within the system.”

To get results on the Internet, you need more than just a website.  You need knowledge, tools and a marketing plan for success.

If you still want to locate FREE articles after seeing this offer, then go to one of the many article directories on the Internet, find an article and republish it.  The rest of us have spent hours doing our own writing and that includes completely rewriting PLR articles.

We’ve even spent a small fortune BUYING articles, only to rewrite them again.  We’ve even outsourced the work and had to rewrite them.

You can get your hands on over 111,000 articles right now.  Trust me – you won’t find a better deal ANYWHERE.

What kind of free online articles are included in this deal?  A lot, including Internet and business articles!  Just go to the site – all the categories of what you get are listed there.

What can you do with these articles?  Well, you can do what ever you want EXCEPT sell them; they are for your own use.

Here’s a few ideas:

• Blog, Lens, Hub Page post/article
• Create a special report
• Create an eBook
• Inspiration for a Press Release
• AutoResponder Messages
• etc.

‘nuf said!

Before Microsoft came along artists and corporate office staff were using a light board to cut and paste.

What Exactly is Cut/Paste?

Before business offices had personal computers, all their documents were typed by secretaries.  To prepare a presentation that included pictures, the page first had to be typed using a typewriter.  The page was then taken to a light board to be completed.

A light board made it very easy and fast to insert photos and to make corrections.  The process of inserting a page back into the typewriter and lining up the letters or using white-out was time-consuming and did not always produce the best results.

Instead, replacement words and phrases could be retyped on a separate page.  The original page was placed on the light board and the replacement page with the new text was placed over the original, carefully aligning both pages.  The words were then cut out using an x-acto knife.  The new words were then inserted into the original document and taped into place.

Now when the page was Xeroxed, the original page looked perfect – you couldn’t even tell where the changes were made. When a picture was to be added to a page, the same cut and paste process was used.

Now you know where Microsoft got the idea to create their cut and paste function.

How to Cut and Paste

Cut is used to remove words and images; paste is used to insert words and images.  For instance, you can remove from one location in a document using cut and add to another location with paste.  You can copy from one location in a document using copy and paste into another, without deleting the original.  That’s the difference between cut/paste and copy/paste.

Why am I writing about this?  Surely everyone is familiar with it – right?  Well, evidently not because I get complaints from new subscribers and customers about the number of eMails they received requiring confirmation.

The CAN-SPAM Act requires that we use a double opt-in whenever someone gives out their eMail address.  Even though a person has requested or subscribed through an eMail capture page, we are required to make sure the owner of the eMail address is the person that requested the information.  Anyone could have used their eMail address – therefore, we send them a link to confirm their request.  If we do not receive confirmation, we cannot send anything to them.

How can you tell the spammers from valid businesses?

That’s easy:

• Spammers send you eMails that you did not request
• Spammers do not ask you to confirm your request for information
• Spammers mislead you into opening their eMail
• Spammers don’t give you a way to stop receiving eMails from them
• Spammers don’t use a valid physical postal address in their eMails

Any time you sign up for an offer on the Internet, expect to receive a confirmation eMail.  Once you confirm that it is from a website or person you know, it is OK to click on the confirmation link.  After clicking on the link, you will receive the information you requested.

Over the last year, I started seeing an increase in the number of people who sign up for information, but never confirm their request.  Recently, I have added a “Print this Page” button so they can print the instructions I display after a visitor has signed up for something.  I provide them with the eMail address the confirmation will be sent from so they don’t miss it.

In addition, I tell them to look in their junk/spam folder if they don’t find the confirmation in their eMail inbox.  Recently I became aware that some eMail providers automatically delete eMails they consider spam and therefore don’t provide you with a junk/spam folder.

Before you open an eMail from someone you don’t know, stop and think if you recently requested information.  If not, it’s best to just delete it!

If you have Microsoft Office Picture Manager on your computer, here’s a fast way to get the job done:

• Open the software
• Click on “Shortcuts” on the left side of the toolbar
• Shortcuts has opened a new column on the left side of the page.  Search through the files and find the image you want to use.  Click on the folder where your image is stored and then double left click on the image.
• On the toolbar, click on Edit Pictures

Cropping the Image

• On the right column, click on Crop to remove excess size – you should only keep the important visuals in the image and get rid of excess border.  This will reduce the size of your image and the space needed to store it on your site.
• Notice the “handles” that appear around your image.  Click on one to move the handle in – this will be your crop line.
• Once you’re happy with the crop definition, click OK.

Reducing the Image Size

• Click on Edit Pictures; Resize
• Click on Percentage of Original Width x Height
• Use the arrows to make the image larger or smaller
• The normal width for an image in a blog post is 150 – 200 pixels wide.  As you use the arrows, keep your eye on the New Size under Size Setting Summary.
• Once you are at the desired size click on OK.

Saving Your Image

Never save OVER the original file.  You never know when you will want to use the image again:

• Click on File; Save As and give it a new file name.  Hint – I usually use the original file name and add “_r” to the end which tells me it’s a reduced image.  So…picture.jpg becomes picture_r.jpg.
• Once the file is saved – you’re done!

Using Other Software

You can find just about anything on the Internet, but you need to be careful.  Many free software programs are filled with viruses to infect your computer or leave tracking devices to spy on your activity.  Make sure you are downloading and using reputable sites.

Many people are using Picnik because it offers a valued service with a good reputation.  They offer a lot of options such as the ability to crop, resize, rotate and they have special effects.  No download to install and works on Mac and Windows computers.  Check it out – all FREE.

Be sure to check out the extension Tools you can install for FireFox and Internet Explorer.  If you need additional assistance, use their forum to get tips and tricks from other users.

FREE Images

There are many royalty-free image sites online.  In fact, one of my favorites is BigStockPhoto.  Since originally finding and using BigStockPhoto, they have added more licensing terms…and I just got tired of spending money on images.

Then I found sites where you can download images FREE.  Morguefile contains all FREE images; the others have free sections, so be sure to locate them on the site:

• Morguefile
• 123RF
• WebShots

New people coming to the Internet are quickly overwhelmed with information.  So many websites, videos, links – you hardly know where to go – what’s safe and what’s not?

The first thing you need to do is make sure your secure your computer.  Although the Internet is filled with sites that are actual businesses and resources for information that is safe to access, there are scams and unsafe websites.  Click on a link just because you are curious and you could end up on a site you never would have visited if you had known where the link was sending you.

Because you don’t know where the dangers are, it’s important to disable popups and install computer protection for Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam, Firewall and new web protection. You need this software to be able to identify and stop threats before they become a problem.

Popups are a nuisance used by some sites to give you no other option than to click on a popup that will trigger an action – an action that has been intentionally designed to install unwanted software on your computer or send you to another site.  To disable popups on your computer:

Internet Explorer

• Open a browser window to the Internet
• Click on Tools
• Click on Pop-Up Blocker; Turn on Popup Blocker

Mozilla FireFox

• Open a browser window to the Internet
• Click on Tools; Options
• Click on Content; make sure Clock Popup Windows is checked
• Click on OK to save the information

You can get security software with a 30-day free trial version From AVG Antivirus and Security Software: www.avg.com

• Click on Trial Versions
• Click on AVG Internet Security; Free Download
• Save the file to your desktop using Save File
• Double left click on the exe file you just downloaded and follow the
  directions to install the software on your computer

Most of the sites offering Internet security suites will have a free Internet security software that is available for a limited time or is free to use with limited abilities.  These are OK, but you should plan to invest in upgraded security that is updated frequently.  These can run anywhere from $35 – $75 as a one-time investment.

This software will block spam and viruses that attempt to invade your computer.  This is important because spam is an email nuisance and very often contains viruses.  Not only can a virus be inside
an email, but it can be downloaded to your computer without you even knowing it.  Never open an email or an attachment that comes into your email inbox unless you know who it is from.  If you
requested something from a business, a reputable business will also send you a confirmation email to get authorization to send whatever it was you requested.  As long a you did indeed submit the request, these confirmations are safe to authorize.

Sometimes they try to pass a virus to you by asking your permission to download the current version of Microsoft programs, such as .net software.  If you haven’t asked for the download, never click on OK to authorize the download.  Once a virus is on your computer, it grows and spreads like a virus, collecting your personal information and installing more software you are not aware of.

If your computer starts slowing down or you see an unfamiliar page when you log onto the Internet (start-up page), there’s a good chance you’re infected.  It’s important to immediately run a full
computer scan using your security software.  Depending on the size of the data on your computer, this scan could take up to 3 hours. Don’t interrupt the scan until it has finished and notifies you
of what it finds.  Follow the directions provided by the software to eliminate what it found.

Although you now have security software running on your computer, you will still need to run a full system scan periodically.  If you’re on the computer a lot – surfing sites and downloading files, plan on doing your scan every week.  If you’re not that busy, then run your scan monthly.

The Internet is an amazing tool for networking, meeting new people from all over the world and even discovering new opportunities.  Just make sure you protect yourself and your computer before you dive in!