Archive for July, 2008
Three percent may seem an inauspicious number, but it certainly
Three percent may seem an inauspicious number, but it certainly
caused some headaches last week. Firstly, UK inflation is running at 3%, over
the Bank Of England target of 2% and obliging the Governor of the Bank of
England to write a letter of explanation to the Government.
Secondly, on Friday, US markets in unison fell by over 3% as panic once more
swept through financial markets. The week ended how it had began with some
faltering rallies in between. The main catalyst for the capitulation was the
U.S. payrolls decline. The jobless rate of 5.5% was the biggest increase
since 1986 and the fifth consecutive month that the US had lost jobs. The no
recession consensus that had been building is now under considerable pressure
on both sides of the Atlantic.
The final nail in the coffin was the price of oil awaking from its temporary
slumber. Crude prices surged over $15 Dollars in the final two days of the
week, adding $11.31 on Friday alone to close at a new record high of $139.12.
Fears of war in the Middle East and a US recession created the perfect Storm.
Even before equity markets opened for the week June had already started badly
for domestic markets. In early trading, the Pound fell sharply against the
Dollar on weak manufacturing data. Then equity markets opened to an all out
blood bath on shares in Bradford and Bingley. News had already leaked over
the weekend that the Bank was in trouble, and so it proved with shares pushed
down to 60 pence at one stage. The bank has now fallen an incredible 87%
since its peak in 2006. Barclays Bank has fallen less in percentage terms
since its peak, but the size of the bank has made its collapse all the more
damaging. Last week Barclays closed the week at its lowest level since March
2003 on capital adequacy concerns.
Recently there were signs of a slowing but not capitulating UK economy, now
things are looking graver. As house prices inch lower, consumers feel poorer
than six months ago. This in itself is not too dramatic, but combined with
oil prices not far off record highs and food inflation on the up, consumers
not only feel poorer, they actually are.
There was no surprise from the MPC with its rates decision last week, but the
ECB ruffled some feathers by indicating that they may have to raise rates as
soon as July. The DAX and CAC have lagged behind other markets, as the
prospect of higher rates proves unpopular with equity investors. Bernanke
dropped some large hints that the Feds bias was moving towards tightening
rates after an easing cycle, but the recent payrolls data shows that the Fed
like many other central banks, is stuck between a recessionary rock and a
inflationary hard place.
Next week has the potential to pour more misery on an already depressed
market. The week starts with UK PPI data, and the latest House price balance
from RICS. Tuesday sees the release of UK industrial production figures and
the US trade balance. The weeks hottest ticket is potentially the US retail
sales data on Thursday. If the US consumer starts to seriously tighten their
wallet, there could be wide reaching international consequences.
Bespoke Investments have some interesting data on the performance of the Dow
Jones following capitulations such as Friday. The average change following a
3% drop has been 0.11% the following day and 0.28% the following week. Over
the last decade, the average performance the next day has been 0.63%. In
addition when the market rises 1.5% one day then drops 1.5% the next day (as
the Dow did on Thursday and Friday), then the following day is up on average
0.14% and 0.56% over the following week. There are certainly wide variations
in the making of this average and one must be mindful of Nassim Talebs advice
to never cross a river because it is on average 4 feet deep. However, there
is at least the potential for upside that may not be currently priced in. The
Dow Jones closed on Friday at 12209.81. A 0.5% rise over a week would bring
it to 12271.05. Setting a bull bet predicting that The Dow Jones (Wall
Street) will be higher than 12271 in 10 days time could return 126% with
BetOnMarkets.com.
You finally realize that you need a good opt-in list
You finally realize that you need a good opt-in list. After reading countless articles and sought expert advices and have read many success stories of people creating a small fortune with opt-in lists you finally decide to have one of your own. Then it happens, you think you have known everything there is to know about opt-in lists and have followed their advices to the T and you still weren’t able to make a profit.
In fact, you may be losing money. You maybe hiring writers to help you out, or there are some expenses incurred, even if you have a big list, but only a very small percentage actually buys from you, your still losing profit. You’ll realize that after a few months when you see your statistics and sales figures.
So what could have gone wrong? Why have others succeeded where you have failed? The most common mistake is that you dived straight right in. You chose a topic where you think could be quite popular and would earn you money. This just not the case. Just because you wrote people from the list doesn’t mean they are going to buy instantly.
Here I will offer more advice, for those who have started an opt-in list and have failed, you can rejuvenate your failed venture. For those who are starting, here are three quick and easy ways to build a profitable opt-in list.
1) Get your customers to trust you and your products first. Just launching your opt-in list would not make you an expert and a believable seller. Put many articles first before you start an opt-in list. Write about the topic you know and have started and used for your site. Try to put forums first to gain knowledge about your customers about their wants and needs and target those wants and needs.
Join forums from other sites as well. Provide expert advices and recommendations. When you feel that people trust you already, you will be able to start your own opt-in list. You can build a base as well with other forum users. You can ask them to join your list. Friends are always good customers. Put up a link to your site so that they may be able to see what you’re business is all about.
The certain truth is, the money will only come in when the consumers and subscribers believe and trust in you. They want a product or service that could be a good exchange for their money. People are not going to buy something out of your recommendation if they don’t know you.
2) Find a product or service that people want and need. Although it may not be your forte, if you provide a service and product that you have researched and learned about well, you can carry it on forward. Invest your time, effort and money that you could sell as well as the buyers or subscribers of your opt-in list can use.
While it is true that it is best to sell something that you have interest in, there are not many people who have the same interest as you if you decide to sell something that is not entirely popular or profitable. Do your research well and you would see the profits come in. Also provide your subscribers with promotional material that they could actually use and spread around.
3) Make friends with other opt-in list users. This is basically beneficial especially if it is someone who has already launched a successful opt-in list. These are people that have the experience in this venture and experience is still the best teacher. While there are many articles available for you in the internet to use, there is nothing like getting a first hand account from someone you trust.
Experienced opt-in list users will be able to tell you what to do and what not to do because they have gone through it. While different situations occur for different people, the general concept can still be very helpful. There are many things to avoid and these people will be able to tell you which ones.
Building a profitable opt-in list don’t just happen overnight. There are many preparations and effort to do. Opt-in lists are built from scratch, as your list grows, you should also maintain the quality of your list. Keep it organized and manageable. Get or hire help if need be, just make sure that your subscribers are happy and satisfied and they will be willing to buy from you.
Many people who want to start their dream online business have been scared away by the huge amount of money online business owners spend to drive traffic to their sites
Many people who want to start their dream online business have been scared away by the huge amount of money online business owners spend to drive traffic to their sites.Now, the good news is that you can get quality and targeted traffic to your site free.You can relax your nerves, site back and watch converting traffic to your site.
Putting up a company would of course require a lot of things, to get straight to the point, you need a capital. To make money requires money as well. But of course, with the versatility the internet offers, there are many ways you could find that could help optimize the potential of your site or business in generating traffic.
While there are ways to jumpstart your traffic flows, many sites don’t have the resources that others have to generate more traffic for your site. Well, you don’t have to spend a cent; all you need is the proper mindset and a lot of eagerness. You also must have the drive and perseverance to do hard work and research to generate more traffic for your site.
How sweet it is to have more traffic for your site without spending a single cent. Now it’s a sure thing that many sites have articles that offer tips and guidelines in how to generate traffic using only free methods. Because it is possible, you don’t need to speed a single cent, it may take time, to say honestly, I’m not going to beat around the bush with you. You get better chances by paying for your advertisements, but at least you get a fighting chance with some of these free methods I’m about to tell you.
Take advantage of online forums and online communities. The great thing about forums and online communities is that you can target a certain group that fits the certain demographic that you are looking for. You can discuss about lots of things about the niche that you represent or offer. Another great advantage is that you know what you are getting into and you will be prepared.
With online communities and forums you can build a reputation for your company. Show them what you are made of and wow them with your range of expertise about the subject, with that you can build a reputation and build trust with the people in your expertise and knowledge.
You can also make use of newsletters. Provide people with a catalog of your products and interesting and entertaining articles. If you make it really interesting and entertaining, more people will sign up for your newsletter and recommend it to other people. The more people who signs up for your newsletter, the more people there will be that will go to your site increasing your traffic.
Another great idea is trading links with other sites. You don’t have to spend a cent. All you have to do is reach an agreement with another webmaster. With exchanging links, the efforts both sites do will benefit both sites. Every traffic that goes to the site could potentially click on the link of your site and visit your site as well. This works well especially when both sites feature the same niche.
Write articles that could pique the attention of people that have interest in your product. Try writing articles that will provide tips and guides to other aficionados. Writing articles that provide good service and knowledge to other people would provide the necessary mileage your traffic flow needs.
Many sites offer free submission and posting of your articles. When people find interest in your articles they have a good chance of following the track by finding out where the article originated. Include a link or a brief description of your company with the article and there’s a great probability that they will go to your site.
Write good content for your site. Many search engines track down the keywords and keyword phrases your site uses and how they are used. It is not a requirement that a content should be done by a professional content writer. You could do your on but you have to make content for your site that is entertaining as well as informational. It should provide certain requirements as well as great quality.
Generally, internet users use search engines to find what they are looking for. Search engines in return use keyword searching in aiding their search results. With the right keywords, you could get high rankings in search engine results without the costs.
All of these methods and more will drive more traffic to your site for free. All it takes is a bit of effort and extended man hours. Learn all you can about the methods depicted here and you will soon have a site with a great traffic flow without the usual costs that come with it.
One of the hardest things for anyone that is just starting out or even has been on the ‘net for a while is learning how to promote your site so that it builds a steady stream of traffic
One of the hardest things for anyone that is just starting out or even has been on the ‘net for a while is learning how to promote your site so that it builds a steady stream of traffic. You have to know how to drive people to your website each and every single day if you really want to look at your site as a possible form of income. If you want it to become a legitimate business that gives you a full-time income of at least $ 2500 a month, then you really have to make sure that you are working towards promoting that site so that you can get 5,000 or more visitors each and every month.
Most people will wind up quitting on their business and their dreams before they ever reach this level. This is what really seperates the person that is looking to strike it rich and the one that is trying to build a solid and long lasting business. You can develop a great product, but if you are not driving a hungry crowd to your site, then you are not going to be able to get rich or even make an average $ 30,000 or $ 40,000 a year income. You have to work at driving people each and every day.
Some people will spend most of their efforts on buying paid traffic, but I would warn against this in the beginning as you can easily wind up spending $ 100 for every $ 50 that you bring in until you get your sales page in order and your process to grab people’s attention and get them to join your e-mail list. You want to really wait until you have the expertise on how to convert your visitors into buyers, unless you don’t mind losing lots of money on your campaign.
However, you can immediately start to write articles and then submit them to many different high traffic sites and article directories. Web surfers will then find these articles and they will read what you have written as long as it is a niche or a field that they are interested in. If you do a good job with your presentation and wetting their appetite to learn more, they will then use the link in your resource box to click through and land on your website.
At this point, you can try to make the sale right away, or you can get them to sign up to receive e-mails from you where you can give them quality information as well as inform them of your products or your services. Whatever you do, you want to make sure that you are at least going for the e-mail address as this is what will help you to build a long term business on the web.
Sometimes it can be a bit confusing as to what you should do to market and promote your website. However, writing articles can be both an efficient and effective way to do this. You can learn how to drive hundreds of people each and eevery day to your site and this will lead to an increase in sales and money in your pockets.
Would you like to learn more about how to use article marketing to drive targeted traffic to your website and increase your profits for your business?
Claim Your FREE Report by going to: Article Marketing You may publish this article ONLY if you keep the article and the resource box fully intact with all links remaining active.