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How Much Do Your Online Businesses Benefit from Social Media Contacts?

By Michelle Jayes in Featured

In the last few years social media has become a huge part of the internet marketing industry. There are, however many people who are beginning to wonder just how much benefit their social media contacts are worth when it comes to their legitimate online businesses. Nobody gets excited when they realize that they may have more than 1,000 Twitter followers, especially as most of them do not convert into solid leads.

The biggest problem as far as social media is concerned at this point is that the majority of internet marketers have been so concerned with building up a massive following that they failed to spend the necessary time in getting the proper systems set up so that they could make a fair assessment of just how valuable these Twitter followers actually were.

In fact it is more than probable that the majority of your Twitter followers have no idea at all about who you really are. The have in all likelihood followed you in the off chance that you will return the favor and follow them back.

Some reports have suggested that a social media contact is worth in the region of $3.50 but if you want to build a relationship using social media you must employ more than one method if you really want it to be effective.

To make a comparison of just how effective social media contacts are we need to take a look at some of the other internet marketing methods that are also popular.

One marketing method that has been around for a long time and started even before the internet is list building. The difference now is that this method is done via email rather than collecting business cards and it is definitely more effective and valuable.

The reason that it works better is simply because when a person subscribes to your email list they are literally trading their contact details for information or for some other free resource such as some software or an e-book. What this achieves is a more personal relationship and this is the main reason why those subscribers to your list are worth so much more than someone who follows you either on Facebook or Twitter.

Somewhere between your email list and your social media contacts there is blogging! For somebody to subscribe to your blog all they need to do is make two little ticks to an RSS feed and this is so much simpler than signing up to your email list but is takes a bit longer than maybe following you on Twitter. So it should not be surprising that an RSS subscriber would be more beneficial than any Twitter followers, but not quite as beneficial as a subscriber to your email list.

There is another reason why someone who follows your blog is more valuable than a social media contact and that is because every time they visit your blog you have an opportunity to make money. With any of the social media sites, unless they click on a link and buy a product you will not make any money.

This does not mean that you should drop social media completely but it does mean that to really monetize your social media contacts it is essential that you can convince them to take that extra step and sign up either for your RSS feed or preferably subscribe to your email list as this will give you a far better chance of building a lasting relationship with them.

So while social media contacts can still benefit your legitimate online businesses it is probably not wise to make them the main part of your marketing efforts. Having a strong media presence will help you to gain credibility within the internet marketing community which can be utilized in number of ways and can be leveraged and monetized without being directly tied to your Facebook and Twitter contacts.

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For more help with your legitimate online businesses Michelle Jayes invites you to visit her online income opportunities website www.online-income-business.com and get some great internet marketing e-books for FREE at www.online-income-business.com/FreeEBooks.html.

5 Ways to Improve Your Local Business Website

By Colette Mason in Featured

When customers don’t stay on your website for long, it’s hardly surprising you fail to connect with them and build the trust needed for them to get out their credit cards and buy from you.

The great news for you is there are tons of quick and easy – usually free ways – to make your website more appealing to your customers.

Here’s 5 you can apply today.

1. Site Search

When you have more than 20 pages, it’s a good idea to add a search facility. If you have a site search, make sure it’s prominent. Usability guidelines tend to prefer the upper-right corner of the page. Keep the button label simple and clear – “Search” still works best for most
sites. Don’t unleash your powers of lateral thinking and swap in a word like “Retrieve”. Keep it simple.

To Do: Just using your search, try to find 3 pages of content. Is that process “quick, easy and straight-forward?” Or is it “hit and miss?”

2. Ensure Your Webpages Can Be Skim-read Easily

Few people read word for word online; the vast majority skim-read to get a sense of the page before they read any of it in detail. Make it easy for visitors to skim-read your content. Always use headings and bullets to break up text.

#twitterjoketrial: Stephen Fry defends Twitter joke in the innocence of the lost

By John Sylvester in Featured

#twitterjoketrial is one of many currently trending topics on Twitter, on how the UK justice system is convicted people for tweeting. The Guardian wrote last week that arrests, convictions and libel claims look like tweeting has lost its innocence.

First up is a conviction passed to Paul Chambers, for “menace” after he made a joke on Twitter about blowing up an airport. This is what he said: “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!” This was sent to a mother in Northern Ireland he met online. It was said to be a “menacing threat to security”.

For those that don’t know, Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore, known for “robbing from the rich and giving to the poor”. And no, there is no airport named after him. To my knowledge Sherwood Forest, where he is supposed to have lived in Nottinghamshire, is far too remote to warrant an airport. He may have been a menace to the Sheriff years ago, but a threat to national security?

Then earlier last week, the high court in the UK was uncomfortably discombobulated with the question of whether a tweet about match-fixing in cricket was defamatory. Libel judge Mr Justice Tugendhat was said to have “needed the help of two experts” to understand what a tweet actually is, how it is “distributed” and exactly what to call “individuals who have received in the jurisdiction a direct and automatic communication of the tweet from the defendant”, which is long-winded legalese for “followers”.

In this case, an influential man in Indian cricket accused a New Zealand cricketer of match fixing. He was sued and the Indian cricketer argued in court that “the case could not proceed because no one in England had actually read his tweet”.

In the former case, Stephen Fry was first on the scene to decry the verdict of Paul Chambers and tweeted the offer to pay his fine, which stands at £3,600 when combined with prosecution costs. “My offer still stands,” he said. “Whatever they fine you, I’ll pay.”

Again, early last week, a Conservative councillor tweeted what he only admits to as “a glib comment”: “Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death?” This was in response to the writer’s criticism of Prime Minister David Cameron’s performance in China.

A party spokesman then said the rogue councillor had been “suspended indefinitely” over the alleged tweet and that “language of this sort is not acceptable and as a result Gareth Compton’s membership of the Conservative party has been indefinitely suspended pending further investigation.”

For the rather timid joke about Robin Hood airport, a comedian was said to be “rendered gag-less” at the news and commented: “An astonishing, ludicrous result in #twitterjoketrial. A victory for crushing literalism and scaremongering by the judiciary…So that’s the banning of sarcasm, irony, sub-text and any of the other subtleties of language that we use…” Another comedian said of the trial, with which I agree: “Flippancy is important”.

Now this is where it all gets very messy. While freedom of expression groups, like Index on Censorship, say the law is being used to “stifle [online communication] through unsuited legislation”, the legal profession is sending its senior lawyers to a “Tweet School” where they can learn how to use it. Alibhai-Brown said she regarded the “stoning” comments as incitement to murder.

Meanwhile, back in the “real world”, The Sun newspaper published a story about “fanatical Muslims” burning a giant poppy in an Armistice Day “outrage” when a 40-strong radical group Islam4UK screamed insults about Britain’s war dead during the nation’s two-minute silence last Thursday, demanding Sharia law be imposed in the UK.

And that’s the point where flippancy, libel and lawyers attending “Tweet School” all get lost in the legal haze of Twitter trials — the alleged innocence of the lost.

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V9 Design and Build (http://www.v9designbuild.com) produce tasteful web design in Bangkok, Thailand, including ecommerce shopping cart solutions, with functionality that allows owners to set up and maintain their online stores.

SMX Melbourne : All About Mobile Search

By Kalena Jordan in Featured

Live blogging of SMX Melbourne presentation by Gillian Muessig, President of SEOmoz.

Mobile is here to stay. If you haven’t already investigated how to use mobile marketing, you are already way behind.

Why do you want a community platform? Social commerce is a subset of electronic commerce. Gillian mentioned LivingSocial.com – already in Sydney, very big in the US. It’s a way to get deals / coupons for things in your community. Also Groupon.com is a similar thing. These ideas are similar to @square, which is a way to pay for things using your cell phone, popular in the US and hopefully coming to Australia and New Zealand soon.

You can make your own QR code at www.qrcode.kaywa.com – download the QR code to your mobile for coupon / discount / offer / invitations / news. Mobile coupons are about levels of offers therefore all about social status.

You can also play games with QR codes. Send hints / clues / instructions etc. Data has come full circle and now gone offline. You can get your codes offline now, from billboards, physical stores etc.

Should you or shouldn’t you jump on the .mobi bandwagon? Gillian says no. It was always a stop gap measure. But DO create mobile-friendly pages. Search engines will use transcoding to auto show your page on mobile devices. Make sure your pages provide value and are designed for mobile and put them in folders on your site.

Cindy Krum is a mobile marketing evangelist and the world’s foremost authority on the subject. Gillian suggests looking at Cindy’s mobile directory list.

If you can blog, you can build an app. You don’t need a huge audience, you can make a mobile app just for your biz or your few customers.

For application building, try AppBreeder. Also, Hunch.com launches tonight – it’s a mobile community builder that allows you to build your own mobile local app on the fly. It’s a brand new service that Gillian thinks will take off after launch.

Mobile is easy, it’s out there and now is your chance to grab the opportunities in mobile marketing before your competitors do.

Mobile Touch Screen Presenter

By William Krause in Featured

Touch screen technology has almost become mandatory in today’s society. Most people interact with touch screen display technologies everyday and this is backed up by sales of products like the iphone, ipad, ipod and so many other interactive devices we use every day.

Social media is about interaction and involving yourself in others lives and allowing others into your life. It is important to realize that this is only the beginning of the use of this technology and it will only increase as the years go by. Prospective prospects are looking for more than the standard PowerPoint or flip chart.

Now it is time for you to allow your customers and potential customers to engage and interact on a very personal level with your presentation. By doing this you are going to see almost instantly the benefits, results and impact of allowing people the opportunity to engage them in the presentation itself and no longer sit on the sidelines with their hands tied and mouth gagged.

Much like the story books we read when we were kids that allowed us to choose an alternative ending; who among us didn’t go and read the two or three different endings to see what happens when we made a different choice. With all the different endings in those books have you ever met someone that has not read them all – WHY, because curiosity is attractive and powerful and we do not like to not know when we know we could know. People in general like to decide how, when, where and why things happen to them and further more who is going to be involved when they do actually happen.

Most events in life are not predictable and cannot be planned but preparation can put you ahead of the game. There is no reason that a presentation of any kind cannot be delivered effectively when you allow for audience or viewer participation and interaction. Everyone learns differently and when you allow and give people the freedom to learn at their speed, direction and interest that is when the magic happens.

This creates truer, richer and more meaningful presentations that will have far reaching impact on you and your bottom line. Society is now accustomed to interacting and being an active part of what they are doing even the ATM, GPS, and you’re in-car stereo and comfort systems are now completely interactive. This allows you the ability to control many functions from a touch screen display in the console. Websites and Cell Phones have complete interactivity that allows you to control your experience practically without limits. “Customize, tweak and make it yours!” is the motto.

Why go Mobile with your Interactive Display? Take your interactive presentation on the road to your next sales meeting, presentation, conference, board meeting, client demo, exhibit, trade show, corporate event, chamber mixer and more. Allow your audience the opportunity to choose their own path. No longer will your prospective clients stare blankly at you like a deer caught in the headlights. Counting every minute until they’re out the door as the presenter continues on with the same laborious pitch he or she has presented a million times and insists on going through everything they have to cover.

With an Interactive Touch Screen Mobile Presenter you can truly get your clients involved. Express an interest in their needs, wants and desires and show that you care about them and what they have an interest in – reach out and engage with them it makes all the difference in their buying experience. Your presentation will now electrify any audience as you put them in control and give them the same freedom the rest of their life gives them. Go mobile with your presentation because that is where the clients are. Bring an interactive element into any presentation.

Mobile interactive touch screen displays give you freedom and the ability to increase conversions by engaging your clients. In this “wow age” that we live in show your clients that you care by giving them a presentation worthy of their time investment and backs up your desire to communicate effectively in your business relationship. Actions speak louder than words so show your clients you care by your investment in effectiveness.

Everyone has a learning style that works best for them. You cannot anticipate everyone’s style but having choices for them is taking a step in the right direction. Most people learn more by doing and being involved in the learning than simply by watching someone talk about a given subject. The ability to interact with a presentation will maintain interest in your talk.

Instead of going through the motions from slide to slide and working down the traditional process. You will build a momentum and eventually solidify an order because you allowed your client to guide you on how to communicate to them effectively in a presentation that was powered by interactivity. You will be surprised at just how quick your audience will get involved and probe you for more information; ask questions and engage in a two way conversation with you.

You can lead clients onto your freeway and then they can choose their own destination, detours, on ramps and off ramps. Showing the customer what it is they are actually interested in; you have just traded in your very wide sales tools in for an extremely focused. When the customer reaches out and puts a finger on your display and begins to interact you will instantly begin to develop a relationship, a trust and a connection that would sometimes take months and even years to develop.

As soon as they touch the screen and you engage additional physical senses you have just created a bond that will reach past a competitor’s lower price or smooth talking.

Remember marketing is why people buy and not price. The only reason people do not buy from you is because you failed to satisfy their need for information. They are still searching for fulfillment of their outstanding needs and will buy from the person or place that provides that.

So what can you show on this interactive touch screen display and how can you apply this information? The shortest answer is this – anything you can control on your computer with a mouse you can control or operate with your finger. From Websites to Power Point, Flash Programming, Desktop Software and anything you can do on your computer.

Your finger becomes the mouse and can scroll through pictures in a gallery, advance slide shows, start and stop videos, click hyperlinks and go to web pages (if connected to the web), pull up data sheets, look at case studies and then cost factors, lead times, and so much more. Then bring the presentation right back to the PowerPoint where it all started if need be.

The uses and applications are limitless and this technology will catapult your meetings into hyper drive and thrust them to the next level almost as quickly as you began. Typically we give so much information and leave the client in a state of shock or push them to hard and scare them off. Now you can skip the awkward middle point and transition all the way through the sales process to the order. Your meetings may go a little longer but your clients will be intensely satisfied, interested and riveted. You and your presentation are going to stick out amongst the others. You may get applause afterward because you decided to get out of the box and spice up your meeting a bit.

Client development is based on connection and trust. This system helps you cut through all the noise in the sales world and stick out amongst all the other presentations. A company may have had an average of 3-5 presentations on any given product or service which means the mobile presenter can easily place you at the top.

Marketing and Products are the two core functions of any business. By marketing your products effectively you instantly will begin to increase your revenues by communicating effectively with your clients. Soon people will begin to spread the word of your unusual presentation style and you will have more referrals pouring in than ever before because you dared to be original and leap out of the box. People learn better visually and when they are a part of the visual learning experience it will increase their receptivity rapidly.

Tutorials, trainings, videos, data sheets, sales presentations, product orientation, marketing, security briefings are now more informative and descriptive with the use of Interactive Mobile Presentation Kits. Impact your audience with large touch screen monitor interactive digital displays that you can pack up and carry over your shoulder for an interactive display anywhere.

Allow your clients the opportunity to engage themselves – Integrate Media, Documents, Articles, Hyperlinks, Case Studies, White Papers and so much more into your presentation.

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Screen Solutions Int. specializes in catering the unique demands of our society and teaching sales professionals in hundreds of markets to effectively communicate their message. To learn more visit www.ssidisplays.com.

External Hard Drives – Making Sense of the Different Types

By Ed Molino in Featured

Buying an external hard drive is an excellent idea. These innovative devices take information storage to the next level in many cases. For years, the de facto means of storing data was an internal hard drive within your PC or laptop. Sometimes, you might have used a sort of removable media for information backup, such as floppy disks, tapes or Zip drives.

While these removable media drives certainly offered benefits in their day, that day is long past. Today’s computer user demands far more in the way of information storage. Where it was once possible to use something like a tape drive to create viable backups for vital information, this is no longer the case. External hard drives have become the best option here. These devices allow the storage of enormous quantities of information, from several hundred MB to several terabytes of data.

External hard drives connect directly to a PC or laptop, and can be removed for travel or for use with another computer. This means that all that information is far more portable than ever before. Everyone has something to gain from these devices, from casual computer users seeking to backup their photos and tax information to students who need to take their information from the dorm to class and businesses in need of essential data protection. However, not all external hard drives are created equal. There are numerous types of technology here, including different connection methods.

In fact, understanding the different connection technologies is an essential ingredient to purchasing the right external hard drive. Before you make any purchase in this area, you need to have a firm grasp of these technologies. Not only will they affect things such as data transfer speed, but they will also limit what types of external drives you can connect to your computer. Below, you will find a discussion on connectivity issues.

USB Connectivity

USB is one of the oldest types of connectivity technology currently in widespread use with external hard drives. Of course, there are older forms here, but they are antiquated and not seen on what most consumers would recognize as a modern computer. However, most people are familiar with USB technology.

Today, it seems like almost everything has “gone USB.”

You’ll find wireless mice and keyboards that connect via a USB port, external DVD/Blu-Ray drives that connect via USB and more. Even some monitors can connect to your computer via a USB cable. However, if you are looking at external hard drives, you need to know a bit more about this technology. There are two primary types of USB technology in current use around the world. These are USB 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0.

USB 1.0 is largely outdated. In fact, if you have a computer that uses this technology, it might be an excellent time to upgrade your entire computer. 1.0 was released way back in 1996, with 1.1 coming in 1998.

Obviously, any machine that uses this technology is at least a decade old, and will most likely not offer you the performance benefits that you need in the modern world of computer use.

USB 2.0 is far more common here. 2.0 was released in 2000 and lasted for an entire decade unchallenged (by other USB technologies, that is). USB 2.0 offers decent data transfer speeds of 480 MB/s, which was a considerable improvement over the older 1.0 speed. You may also hear this type of connection referred to as “High-Speed USB.”

USB 3.0 is relatively new, debuting on the market in 2010. The chief advantage with this technology is another boost in data transfer speeds – up to 4 GB/s. Most older computers do not have this type of connection, though newer models will be manufactured with it. However, many external drives do not yet support 3.0 technology. Of course, over time, this will change.

FireWire

FireWire is actually an older technology than USB, though it is not as widely used with PCs. To understand the differences here, you need to understand what these two technologies were originally designed to achieve. First, USB was designed to be cost-effective and simple. FireWire, on the other hand, was designed for performance and power. Therefore, FireWire connections provide greater electrical power (12 V, as opposed to 5 V with USB).

FireWire is also capable of higher data transfer speeds. This makes it an ideal solution for those working with video and audio, where immediate transfer of large quantities of data is vital. You will find FireWire technology used more frequently with Apple/Mac products, as a result of this. However, FireWire technology is beginning to lose popularity and, as a result, many new computers do not come with this type of connection. Even high-end machines will come with either a USB 3.0 or an eSATA connection.

eSATA

One of the fastest means of transferring data from a computer to an external hard drive is through an eSATA connection. This is actually faster than FireWire, and comparable with USB 3.0 technology in most instances. However, not all computers have an eSATA interface. If your computer does not, then you will need to install an adapter card.

However, many external hard drives with eSATA connections also come with USB connections. Therefore, even if your computer cannot connect via eSATA, it can connect with a USB connection. This is highly beneficial. As a note, you should look for eSATA to become more prevalent as time goes by, particularly with high-end PCs and laptops.

Network-Connected Hard Drives

Network-connected drives, or NAS (network-attached storage), are popular options. These connect directly to a network, usually a server. However, home network solutions have been developed that connect to the home’s router, allowing wireless transfer of data from computers in the home directly to the hard drive.

These are also valuable for homes where multimedia files need to be served to Blu-Ray players or HDTVs with the capability of wireless access to the network. As such, this is an excellent solution for many consumers who want to be able to enjoy their files from anywhere in the home, at any time, without being tied to an external hard drive connected directly to a specific computer.

RAID Drives

A mention should be made about RAID hard drives. RAID stands for redundant array of independent discs, and, as such, has been traditionally used for data backup. External RAID drives are available on the market, though they use different types of technology to connect to computers.

Generally, you will find RAID drives that use USB 2.0 and FireWire connections. However, as newer technology becomes more widespread, look for external RAID hard drives to become available with eSATA and USB 3.0 connectivity.

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Ed Molino is a staff member of Smalldrives.com specializing in the support of their network hard drives. Fancy an external hard drive? Find quality drives at www.smalldrives.com

Social Bookmarking Services and SEO

By Chris Kaminski in Featured

In building and working with client website design and search engine optimization in Asheville, NC we find fantastic opportunities for SEO through social bookmarking services. Bookmarking was formerly just the process of creating “favorites” or “bookmarks” on the menu bar of one’s browser so a URL can be easily available for future use. But, the favorites function isn’t very effective for finding and organizing a large number of URLs, nor can it be accessed from another computer or easily shared with others. New social bookmarking services filled the void where the browsers left off. Countless new services have appeared to to cover the limitations in favorites and bookmarking, creating low cost SEO opportunities for clients’ websites.

Depending upon the website and the use of such services, social bookmarking can be an excellent way to increase both traffic and conversion rates. Many have found it more effective in the long-run than pay per click advertising, which is ongoing and expensive. One thing is certain, and that is that search engines like the response of real people, so it’s a good opportunity for site owners. The user-created responses of social bookmarking site services are more visible on the web every day.

Instead of using a search engine, you can search popular site like Delicious, Clipmarks, StumbleUpon, Newvine,Digg.com, Reddit,Mixx, Diigo, Propeller and Furl to find results, tag them and store them for later use or sharing. Your search results are determined by what others have found and tagged, and others find what you tag. Many people like the ease of searching and having online storage and sharing of URLs, so popularity grows. The search engine friendliness of these services is a good combination that can enhance your business’ presence on the web.

How to tag your own site: It’s best to make tags broad, and not overly specific. Tag strategically, according to your keywords you’ve recently had evaluated. To be safe, some site owners submit other sites too when they bookmark and tag their own.

Whether you bookmark and tag your site or someone else does, your site needs excellent content, design and function. Many businesses proactively have their sites tagged with a number of carefully chosen bookmarking services. Remember that if people are disappointed in what they find in a site, this may result in no tags or in negative tags. Having a site that brings a positive response is a good thing to aspire to and to organize around. If you bookmark your own site, be aware! The various social bookmarking services have user rules you need to read and follow to avoid being dropped as a member.

Remember, the web is changing in this direction, and your site may be found before it’s ready to be permanently tagged by others. How current is the site, how interesting and current is the content? Do you offer visitors something they like that sets your site apart from others? If you’re ready for both the increased visibility and scrutiny that goes with social bookmarking services, you will be pleased with how well the search engines respond once you or others start bookmarking your site. Many sites lack what an effective website needs in 2010 and beyond. Your site may lack updated code that search engines like, keywords may be too broad or otherwise ineffective, and on-page mark-up may be absent or poor and your site may be dry and uninteresting! If so, get help. Sites like these do not tend to be found easily or attract social media interest.

We recommend that site owners have a site review done by a firm specializing in web design, marketing and search engine optimization if your site and search engine placement is not what you need it to be. Are website goals clear? Are the goals what they should be, given what a fabulous website can do for today’s businesses. Does the site code, key word effectiveness, content and on-page mark-up support the site to meet its goals? Social bookmarking, social media opportunities and other efforts will be most successful if the answer to these questions is “yes”

So, give your site a good review and receive the help of an excellent web design and search engine optimization team and learn what will help your site be more successful on the web.

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Chris has been the owner and head designer since 1979. His experience in marketing crosses all media but he seems to have settled firmly into web design and marketing. With his first website completed in 1997 Chris has established himself as one of the leading Web Design Studios in Western North Carolina. Based in Asheville, Lone Bird Studio has a proven record of results and satisfied clients. Check him out at www.lonebird.com

Interactive Analysis Advantages

By John Parsons in Featured

The information overload is the fact that we have today – computers get more powerful and storage capacity just soars up every year, so data is produced at an awful rate.

However, it is growing much faster that our ability to analyze it. And still the analysis of the data (often inconsistent and messy) is a crucial in every field. Today there are many tools available to help analysts organize their data, and in many cases it greatly helps, however it cannot meet the demands of our age – the analysts just cannot react properly to the constantly changed situation.

It is here where interactive analysis stands out as the mean to better and faster derive insight to the data and thus make better and timely decisions.

The basic idea of data analysis is to represent information in a human-friendly way, highlighting useful information, suggesting conclusions and ultimately supporting decision making. Data analysis assumes many techniques that can be used to analyze business information: OLAP, data mining, business intelligence, visual analysis, etc. The final part of any data analysis technique is producing reports answering questions of interest. There are many report generating systems that help people get their data in most easy way, but many of them only represent information in a one-time slice form, and so the analysts may only see what they are given, possibly missing all-important recent info.
And here comes the idea of interactive reporting.

The key to the success in decision making is in having right and complete information when you need it. And here is the list of “must have” requirements for a report generator to make this possible. First, it must be able to take data from different data sources and combine them in a single report. So even if the data is located in different places the user must get them all in one place, combined and prepared as the author defined.

Then it should always provide “fresh” data. It means the report must be always actual and contain up-to-date information. Practically it means that the author should be able to define the way how and the time when the data in the report is refreshed. The end user simply does not have to know about it. What he needs is always having fresh data at hand.

Next, the report should be able to contain different elements or controls (widgets) combined in any order and possibly connected to different data sources. These widgets can display different or even the same data in different ways. Say, we want the report to display the same sales data as a sorted table and below have the diagram showing how these sales has changed over the given period of time.

Also there must be “active” or “live” widgets in the report. OLAP Grid can be a perfect example of the like, because it allows the user working within the control: choose the active data slice, “drill down” to more details, “drill through” the selected cell, and more. So it provides interactivity to the whole report and ability to select the data in view without generating another report.

And finally the report should allow different extents of freedom to different users. Depending on the viewer the report should give different levels of access to the data, different data sources, different widgets available, and different interactivity levels.

As a result the users get the full range of info they are really interested in, and they can actively use it to analyze in many possible aspects. If allowed, analysts can access more information as they go. The same report can be used by many users with different access levels. The levels can be controlled by the author of the report to address different audience. All this takes the analysis process to the next level of productivity and ultimately helps decision making.

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John Parsons is on the staff of Radar-Soft LLC. Founded in 2004, Radar-Soft is developing OLAP and Business Intelligence solutions for developers in different platforms (ASP.NET, NET Windows Forms, WPF, Silverlight) and analysts. Now Radar-Soft also offers a full-featured BI-reporting solution for end users called RadarBI. You can know more about the Radar-Soft at www.radar-soft.com.

5 Top Traffic Sources For Your Site

By Titus Hoskins in Featured

I believe if you asked any webmaster or online marketer what their most important aspect of running a site would be, you would get an answer that’s some way related to traffic. Mainly because traffic is your site’s lifeblood, actually without traffic you really don’t have a site at all.

Traffic is King

Traffic brings in the leads and the sales. Quality traffic is what produces your online revenue, whether from advertising or from sales on your site. Now, I have sites which get less than 50 visitors a day, I have a few sites which get around 200 visitors and I have one site which gets around 2,000 visitors a day.

Don’t jump to any conclusions, some days the site getting 50 visitors can make just as much as the site getting 2,000 visitors. It all has to do with the quality of the traffic and how well it converts into a sale. And of course, it all depends on what you’re selling… an LCD cleaning kit for $20 bucks or a gaming laptop which sell for $2000+.

Regardless, you have to get that traffic in the first place if you want to earn an online income. The more traffic you have, usually, the more you will make; at least this has been my experience. Since traffic is very important to me, I keep a lot of records and stats on where my traffic is coming from on the web. I have to know what produces the quality traffic and how to get it.

Why Do-It-Yourself Websites Will Not Work For You

By John Carroll in Featured

Website Design is an issue every business confronts. Most businesses address the need either by hiring a freelancer, a college student, friend, or a design company. The process of web design can be expensive and extremely frustrating and lead to a never-ending mound of service fees.

These obstacles have led many companies, such as Intuit, to offer a low-cost, do-it-yourself solution. It seems to get a grasp on all the problems a business is confronted with. “Do-it-yourself” packages claim all a business has to do is “pick a template”, “customize it”, “add content”, and “get found.”

So is the problem finally resolved for a few bucks a month? Let’s take a deeper look into their general marketing claims.

Designing the Website Yourself

In my almost 20 years in marketing and design, I have learned the importance of using the right color scheme, the proper use of imagery, layouts, and creating an overall image that “speaks” to a particular market. In that same time frame, I have worked with some passionate, intelligent, visionary businesses who knew their product and understood their customers. Their staff understood the daily problems and strategic advantages they possess over their competitors, but few knew how to translate their experience to a powerful website. My job was to understand their business, their objectives to having a website, and then create a solution to address those concerns. To say a business owner can adjust a template to “speak” to their typical client-base, grossly underestimates what is truly needed.

© Copyright 2012 All rights reserved. Jayde Online, Inc.

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