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SEO Scam: Webmasters Beware!

By Dele Ojewumi in Featured

It is a known fact that search engine optimization (SEO) is about the most effective, enduring and eventually cheapest means of getting targeted website traffic, hence the allure for most webmasters to have their webpages properly optimized for the search engines. Unfortunately however, this burning desire fuels the now rampant SEO scam.

What Is This SEO Scam?

It is fraudulent and/or mischievous approaches often in clear contravention of Google guidelines, employed by certain agents/seo services in a frantic bid to get top search engine rankings for their webmaster clients.

Ordinarily, if every webmaster was to be carrying out his own SEO, it is unlikely that most webmasters will be susceptible to SEO scams. But we know that for various reasons ranging from lack of time to inexperience in that respect, this is not always practicable. Along with this limitation comes the dreaded SEO scam.

Every webmaster is advised to be on red alert whenever he sees the tell tale signs of SEO scam as the implication of doing otherwise may be devastating. It may include “sand boxing” or even total elimination from Google Search Engine Result pages (SERPs) where Google detects any violation of its webmaster guidelines in the course of such SEO activities and in respect of which the webmaster becomes answerable for the actions of his agent.

What Really Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

In very simple terms search engine optimization (SEO) is all the steps taken by a webmaster either directly or through his agents to get his webpage(s) positioned at the top (as highly as possible) on the search engine results pages (SERPs). It is however expected that these steps would be in line with good practice and in compliance with Google Webmaster guidelines.

Indicators Of SEO Scam

Most webmasters who given their limitations choose to outsource their SEO activities ordinarily should not get caught in the SEO scam web as there usually are some warning signs. It is ignorance of these signs and sometimes awareness of these but not heeding the warning signs of SEO scam that ropes most webmasters into the SEO scam web.

* SEO Scam No. 1 – Mass Submission To Thousands Of Search Engines

Whenever any webmaster sights such pronunciations or writings, he should “take the opposite route”. Why? It should be known that you do not need submission to search engines to get your web pages indexed. All you need to do is get high authority sites to backlink to your content/web page and voila! your content will speedily get indexed.

In fact if your website has reasonable volume of high quality and quantity of backlinks already, you may not even need to do any further backlinking as a means of getting your content indexed once you update your content/blog posts regularly. The search engine spiders will automatically keep returning and indexing your web pages as a precursor to subsequently ranking it on the SERPs.

Even if nevertheless you choose to submit your site to any search engine, you can do this easily yourself. You can for example add your url to Google directly or submit a sitemap to Google.

Another reason why it is illogical to employ the services of any SEO company to submit your site to the search engines is the fact that Google accounts for about 65% of search volume while in between Yahoo and Bing, they again account for another 25%. It therefore implies that in between all the other search engines(thousands?), they do not account for more than 10% of the total search engines volume. Is there therefore any point worrying yourself about submitting and subsequently optimizing in these search engines? The answer should be obvious.

It should therefore be clear that any SEO service that promises mass submission to search engines as a precursor to gaining top search engine rankings should be immediately avoided.

* SEO Scam No. 2 – Assurance of No. 1 position in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

This can be looked at from two perspectives. First of all, it can amount to saying not much as one can easily get ranked no. 1 for many keywords or keywords phrases that do not get any reasonable search volume. There therefore must be a pre-specification of the keywords or keyword phrases to be optimized for and which the webmaster must research and confirm through keyword research tools, that they in fact command a reasonable search volume before going ahead to have any transaction with any SEO service.

The second perspective is that there must be a clear distinction between organic search engine listing and advertising e.g. Google Adwords, yahoo search marketing etc. A lot of deceitful seo services “front” with “top listing” but actually eventually present top search engine rankings via paid advertising which as is well known is not sustainable and requires constant direct investment which is often too huge and uneconomical to maintain.

* SEO Scam No. 3 – Unsolicited Email To Provide SEO Services.

This should place any webmaster on red alert. You may not believe it, but these unscrupulous elements spare no effort in doing this as they even inadvertently? Send such unsolicited emails to Google and I quote Google source,

“Dear google.com,

I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories…”

* SEO Scam No. 4 – SEO Service Has No Track Record Of SEO Success Itself

This should immediately set any webmaster on red alert as an SEO service’s consistent good rating for a wide range of keywords or keyword phrases in the search engine results pages (SERPs) should be taken for granted.

Remedy For SEO Scam Victims

In the unfortunate circumstance that any webmaster however still falls prey of SEO scam, the following remedies exist.
Such unscrupulous SEO service can be reported to these channels.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices. To file a complaint, visit: ftc.gov website and click on “File a Complaint Online,” call 1-877-FTC-HELP, or write to:

Federal Trade Commission
CRC-240
Washington, D.C. 20580

If your complaint is against a company in a country other than the United States, please file it at econsumer.gov website.

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Why not visit this => www.homebiz-supermarket.com/profitable-business-ideas/2009/12/plug-in-profit-site-2/ where many internet marketing newbies are attaining internet marketing success. Dele Ojewumi is an Internet Marketer, Chartered Accountant and Economist and the webmaster of => www.homebiz-supermarket.com/profitable-business-ideas/.

Rev Up Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

By Denise A. Campbell in Featured

In less than five years, social media has revolutionized not only our communication culture but how we conduct business. The dizzying effect of unlimited and sometimes unfettered-24-hour access to people and information has transformed the various tools into a game changer.

There is a broad and increasing list of sites, including BlinkList, YouTube, Delicious, Flickr, Tumblr, BlogMarks.net, and the triumvirate of major sites: Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. These social destinations have become to business professionals and entrepreneurs what golf is to C-suite powerbrokers – an opportunity to strategically network and close deals based on shared interests and personal engagement. But these sites do more by offering users valuable real estate to advertise products or services, create and expand brand recognition, solicit feedback, build relationships, and create community forums. Users also have unprecedented access to consumers, hiring managers, prospective clients, industry experts, and opportunities.

Moreover, social media levels the playing field by allowing anyone access without restrictions on time, location, or social status.

The most diligent and creative players are reaping huge benefits. According to a report from Forrester Research, 55.6 million U.S. adults – just shy of one-third of the population – visited social networks at least monthly in 2009, an increase from 18% in 2008. Recent Nielsen research says Americans spend nearly 25% of their time online on social networks and blogs, up from nearly 16% a year ago.

Online Fax – 10 Reasons To Get An Online Fax Service

By Titus Hoskins in Featured

Internet or online fax is simply using your email system and your web connection to send and receive all your faxes. Of course, you do also need an online fax provider who will act as an intermediary on your behalf for a small monthly charge. Your messages are sent as email attachments, usually in .tiff or .PDF format, but there are many other formats one can use.

Online faxing has become extremely popular, both with individuals and companies, mainly because it is a better way to fax. With this in mind, here are 10 reasons you should consider getting an online fax service.

1. Cost-effective. This new modern way of faxing is much more cheaper than the conventional method. Plus, you have no need to buy papers, inks and toners.

2. Easy to use. Sending a fax is as easy as sending an email, and we all know how to do that. You can send your fax via email or you can simply log into your online account to check and send your messages. Many providers also have a desktop application which you can use for faxing.

3. Complete Portability. You can send and receive your messages from any mobile device such as a smart phone or laptop, as long as they are connected to the web. This means your business is no longer confined to the office or office hours.

4. Less Clutter. Mainly because all your messages are in digital form, they can be easily stored online or on your computer. No more rumbling throw a mount of old faxes to find the one you want. All your important messages are just a click away and completely private.

5. No Dedicated Phone Line. Since everything is handled online and through your computers, there’s no need for an extra fax phone line. This means starting up a business or company can be done much cheaper. There is also no need to purchase a fax machine.

6. Fax Broadcasting. You can import your contact lists and send a single fax to many recipients at once with a few clicks of the mouse. Simple and efficient way to contact all your clients or customers.

7. No Junk Faxes. Since we are talking about using email, you can set-up rules to block any unwanted messages or faxes. This will save you a few headaches and a whole lot of time. Plus, since your messages can be encrypted, they are much more secure with online faxing.

8. Corporate Plans. There are corporate fax plans available from most providers and these plans can be custom designed to perfectly match your needs. You can also opt for a virtual PBX service which encompasses voice mail, forwarding and even a virtual receptionist. This again will save you money.

9. Completely Scalable. Online fax services are completely scalable for your business. If you should need to scale up or down, this can be quickly done without the need to install any extra hardware such as fax machines and dedicated phone lines.

10. Competitiveness. Using a faxing system which is directly tied into your computers and the Internet, can be extremely beneficial to say the least. It will also make your company more efficient and competitive simply from the fact your business is open and reachable 24/7, 365 days of the year. If you’re not using it, just keep in mind, your competitor is probably already using it. But again, like any business decision, it’s your call?

For all of the above reasons, online fax has grown in popularity with businesses and for personal use. While it is still a long way from replacing the conventional fax machine, the writing is on the wall.

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For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online fax Comparison Guide: www.onlinefaxguide.com Or if you want more detailed information on Internet Faxing try here: www.internetfaxguide.org Titus Hoskins Copyright. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

How To Use Facebook Places To Build Your Real Business

By Wolf Krammell in Featured

If you don’t know what Facebook is, you certainly need to. The social networking website is a mega-giant among online communities, and boasts more than 500 million active users. That’s more people than live in the continental United States, in case you thought you hadn’t read it right. Facebook allows people to stay in touch with their friends as well as meet new people through existing social connections, and it offers an astounding number of virtual “groups” that let people interact through common interests, professions, schools and the like.

Facebook Places is one of the newest evolutions of the Facebook world. It lets people use their smart-devices to publish their location in the real, physical world on a map available to their Facebook friends. According to Facebook, the new functionality lets users share where they are, connect with nearby friends, and find local deals. Find local deals? That’s right. That’s where you, as a business owner, come in.

The idea is fairly simple: reward your customers for coming to your physical location. Once you setup your Facebook Place, you can offer customers benefits for “checking-in” at your business location – which of course requires them to be there in the real world. For instance, you could offer 10% off a purchase with every tenth “check-in,” an entry to win a gift certificate by “checking-in,” or any amount of other benefits associated with one or cumulative “check-ins.”

First things first, though. How can you setup Facebook Places to help build your business? Assuming you already have a Facebook account set up, you first need to “check-in” from your place of business. If you have the Facebook App for your iPhone or smart-device, you can do this by clicking on the “places” tab underneath your inbox.

For those who don’t use the Facebook App (you may want to start), you can browse to touch.facebook.com on your phone’s web browser. If your location doesn’t show up in the list of places near your location, you may have to add it. Once you’ve checked in, click the “Is this your business?” link at the bottom of the page.

At this point, you need to verify that you’re actually the business owner. By verifying ownership you can setup your Place with its own Facebook account and begin tracking check-ins from your customers and others. This process entails providing a variety of information such as your FEID, Articles of Incorporation, and possibly more. Simply follow the prompts to get your business listed.

Once you’ve completed the verification process you’ll need to wait for the “Okay” from Facebook’s team. As soon as you have it, your new Facebook Place is ready to be used.

So how do you start “doing it?” Well, talk to your customers. Print out business card sized promotions that explain the benefits of using Facebook Places and hand them out. Maybe get a simple promotion sign printed up to hang up in your windows or post in front of your place of business.

When it comes to building your business, every effort counts. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to use Facebook Places to your benefit.

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Pump Up Your Website is a leader in the field of search, social media and email marketing. We’re also very good at web design, Internet development and ecommerce. We use tools like WordPress Blogs, Facebook and Twitter to make your business successful. Visit us at pumpupyourwebsite.com.

3 Google Experiments For Your Professional Networking

By Bradley Hess in Featured

I must admit, I’m a Google addict. Their products and beta products are some of the best I’ve seen. I rarely find something I don’t like or at least admire. One of my favorite things to do when I have some down time is to visit Google Labs. I love to visit Google Labs because I can find the latest and greatest Google projects and test them out there. Sometimes these Google experiments have nothing to do with my industry and I just check them out for personal enjoyment but other times I discover new finds.

Follow Finder

Such an event occurred the other day when I discovered one of their works in progress, Follow Finder. Follow Finder is a tool that allows you to enter a twitter username and the tool then analyzes the info to suggest other twitter users whom you should follow. I haven’t put this tool to practical use yet but I have used it to see what it does. I was surprised by the number of suggestions it came up with that I was actually interested in.

Not only is this a great tool for you to use personally, but you should also suggest it to your twitter followers. They may find a wealth of information they would have otherwise taken much longer to find.

Google Moderator

Google Moderator is another recent experiment that I found interesting. This is similar to a forum. You can ask questions, respond to questions and vote on others queries and responses. Your audience can vote on your submissions and, all in all, this platform is a great way for every person’s voice to be heard.

Apply this to your social media strategy by keeping tabs of who is talking about you, your industry or major concerns you can address. This is a great way to interact with others in your industry or customers who have questions and concerns about your products or other problems they may have.

Google Trends

Google Trends allows you to enter search terms and track how often they are being searched. This is a great addition to the Google Keyword Suggest tool, as mentioned in the How To Use Strong Keywords blog. Not only can you see which topics and searches are currently trending across the internet, but you can customize this for your own purposes. Track your keyword search trends!

I like to use this tool because I often wonder just how often our target keywords are being searched. I can certainly check this out using the Google Keyword Suggest tool but I can do that with much more efficiency and in real-time by using Google Trends.

Wondering whether these are really any good or not? Go try them out! I am already biased toward anything Google publishes so you should probably find out for yourself. And remember to check the Google Labs website frequently for more amazing tools to help with your professional networking and blog marketing.

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For this and other articles from MyMark, please go to www.mymark.com/blog. MyMark, LLC is a media rich professional social networking website that gives you the tools to use social media optimization to enhance your search engine optimization and generate revenue. Visit www.mymark.com today to learn more!

10 Things Joomla® Techies Don’t Tell You

By Skip Conover in Featured

I learned how to build a web site using Joomla® “open source” content management software like a newborn baby learns about its environment. This article is intended for you if you are at that level. While I mention some software I use here, please do not take this article as an endorsement of them. There are many other choices you can make to build a professional web site, and I have not evaluated them.

This article is to teach you what the techies don’t think to tell you in their “documentation,” such as it is. You obviously know that you have to establish an account with a web host, and you have done that. You have “hosted” a domain name (URL) on your host’s computers, and you have performed the One-Click Install that gets your free copy of Joomla® built behind your domain. You like Joomla because it is “open source,” and has been thoroughly tested. Its large user base means you can get help when you need it.

Here are 10 basic concepts that you might find useful in building your Joomla site:

1. Create a Spare Domain. Create at least two Domains on your host, and host Joomla on both of them. They can be yourdomainname.com and .org, for example. Just in case you make some big mistake, you can always learn from that mistake, blow Joomla away, and move to the other site quickly. You can then completely remove everything from the first domain, install Joomla again, and have that ready to go in case you make another mistake. If you use only one domain, you might have to start from the beginning, which can slow you down. Joomla is “open source,” great, easy, free, and all of that, but this is the voice of experience speaking.

2. Understand FTP. You must get to understand what FTP (file transfer protocol) software can do for you. I use FileZilla2, but there are many other choices. When you first install Joomla, you must do two things immediately.

You must “navigate to” (means go to) the directories on your hosted server and disable the “installation” directory of Joomla. You can either delete it or change its name using your FTP software. You must rename the file you will find on your “root” directory called “htaccess.txt” to “.htaccess”. It immediately disappears when you do this. I don’t know why, and you probably don’t need to know either. Your Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”) won’t work unless you do this.

3. SEF. In order to avoid those long and ugly URLs you sometimes see, you’ve got to install a plug-in that creates Search Engine Friendly (“SEF”) URLs. You need to do this early in your site development, because any pages created without it may have to be converted to SEF later on. This caused me one serious headache, and was one reason I blew away a Joomla web site I had started.

4. Install Joom!Fish. Joom!Fish is free “open source” software that allows you to offer translations of your site into other languages. Even if you have no plans to offer translations now, you may change your mind later to reach a bigger audience. Some of the plug-ins, modules, components, and templates I mention later will not install their Joom!Fish compatible components if they don’t find Joom!Fish on your site. If you install Joom!Fish later, you might not find the functionality you are expecting in those other pieces of software, and reinstallation could become a colossal compatibility headache, with impact on many other parts of your site. Just do it early. You won’t regret the decision.

5. Install a Control Panel. Joomla has a basic control panel, but there are other free control panels that operate within the Joomla environment with superior functionality. I selected K2 for this purpose, but there are many others. The basic K2 component is free, and it has very many plug-ins, templates and modules available for it. If you do this, though, make sure any other software you install on your Joomla site is K2 compatible. K2 is one of the installations that looks for Joom!Fish upon installation, and does not install its relevant files if it does not find Joom!Fish present.

6. Install a Directory. If you have a site that is going to serve a community of people, you will need a Directory of your participants. You should install this soon. I chose SOBI2, which I like because it allows me to charge for links and multiple category entries, and it sets this functionality up with your PayPal® account very easily.

7. Select a Template. You must very early, before you begin adding content, select a template to create the look and feel of your web site. You need to be careful that it is compatible with your Control Panel software. There are literally thousands of templates available, many of them free, so picking one is like shopping at the mall.

8. Browser. For reasons passing understanding, some web browsing software does not allow downloading binary files, which contain the pieces you need to install in Joomla, without corrupting them. Make sure you are using a browser that does allow binary transfer. I am using FoxPro® for this.

9. Password Control. In order to build a Joomla web site, you will need to create accounts on many other web sites. This means too many user IDs and passwords. A word to the wise is to keep a list of all of these somewhere handy, because you will otherwise find them strewn all over your desk, and hard to reproduce. This is the voice of experience!

10. Forums. Techies rarely provide true documentation (instructions) these days. Get over it! It’s partially because they’re so focused on building the next big thing, and partially because the environment is changing so fast that it’s impossible to create a static set of instructions. Most decent software providers do have a Forum, where you can go for help. You register on their site for free, and then you are permitted to ask questions, or find questions previously answered through word search. If the software you are planning to use has no Forum, be very worried.

Bonus Point: Use reCaptcha. I personally hate having to read and fill in those squiggly line words that you find when you are trying to comment on a blog or enter an item, but I have learned they are now essential, and they are fortunately free. This will prevent some nasty robots polluting your site with their spam. It is not the only thing needed for security, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

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Skip Conover is an International Executive, Author, and Artist. He and his wife are among the first five couples in the world to meet online (1985) and marry. He turned his long time interest in Jungian Archetype into the Archetype in Action Organization, and he developed its web site at archetypeinaction.org.

7 Steps to Building the Right Social Media Connections

By Angelique Rewers in Featured

Once upon a time, it seemed as though the number of “followers” or “connections” a person had on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn was akin to the number of votes they had for homecoming king or queen. It was the adult version of a high school popularity contest.

However, as these websites have now matured – and as entrepreneurs and business owners have figured out how and how not to use them – most everyone has come to realize that it’s not about the number of connections you have, but the number of right connections.

Just like in the real world, you want to make sure you’re making the most of your networking time by connecting with those people that have similar or complementary interests or expertise and, therefore, create a mutually beneficial relationship – particularly when sites like Facebook limit your number of friends to only 5,000. In fact, many people who have large followings of the wrong people are taking the drastic step of deleting their connections and starting over from scratch.

Whether you’re just getting started building your social media network or you’re a seasoned pro, who’s thinking about doing a major overhaul, here are seven steps you can take to help you build the right connections.

Storytelling For Business – Build Your Reputation and Help People Remember You

By Connie Ragen Green in Featured

Storytelling is an important part of relationship marketing. When you tell a story you engage the listener into what you are discussing. Much like a movie that they just cannot turn off your story has them hooked. I used to believe that my stories would not be of interest to anyone, and that they might even detract from my credibility as an online entrepreneur. It turns out that stories are something we can all relate to. Now people ask me to tell some of my stories again so they can learn from my experiences.

Write down some of the stories that are a part of your life experience. See how you can relate them to what you are doing in your business. You might be surprised how many lessons you can teach from the things you have been through in your own life. When we think of some of the greatest people in history, it is their stories that make us care about them. (i.e. when you think of George Washington…you think of the cherry tree) You can do the same thing to bring your online business to life.

Choose stories that make a point or that others can learn from. These can be funny things that you have gone through, or more serious experiences you have had. There are business blogs that have done this successfully, and we look forward to learning something we can put into use right away. Share an experience you had that shows people who you are and what is important to you. Relate this to your business and you may be surprised at the result.

Practice your storytelling on people you know well. Ask them which of your stories has the most impact, and which would be best not shared with the world. Have two versions of each story you tell; the long version that includes all of the details, and the shortened one that just covers a few interesting points. When you are interviewed you can always tell the shortened version of your story so that people will remember you. This is a great way to get your message out in a way that people will remember you and what you had to say. When your message is in the form of a story people are much more likely to remember it and put it into use in their life.

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Remember that the reason to start an Internet business is to give you the time and money to live the life you choose. Download a free teleseminar on building your online business by visiting OnlineWritingSuccess.com Getting Started Online to learn how to use storytelling, write articles, blog, become involved in social networking and learn the technology needed to build a profitable online business.

What Can Feedburner Do For You?

By Brad Hess in Featured

Why should you use Feedburner? Well because you can pimp your blog and podcast feeds. That’s why. Feedburner gives you all kinds of tools to make your feed pretty, push it out to your social networks and make it easier than taking candy from a baby to subscribe to your feed. Feedburner breaks down their tools into 5 categories, Analyze, Optimize, Publicize, Monetize and Troubleshootize. Let’s do a quick run through of what is in each of these categories.

Analyze:

Find out how many subscribers you have, where they came from and what feed reader they use. Why do you want to know? Well it will help you get to know your readers better and keep track of how many more you get every day.

Optimize:

The short of it is, you can push your feed to search engines, blog aggregators and your podcasts to iTunes as soon as you’ve published a new post. Activate features to automatically shorten URL’s and splice your blog feed with your photo feed.

Publicize:

Get the word out! Use the socialize features to publish updates to your social networks about your new posts. Let your subscribers get your feed by email, Creative Commons your feed, create a graphic for your feed and much more to really make your blog feed pop and dazzle anyone who may stumble across it.

Monetize:

Yup, you can use Google Adsense in your blog feed. Who knew?

Troubleshootize:

Having problems? Questions? Not enough info? Find all of your answers and more in this section and if you still don’t know how to fix your problem…Just Google It!

Okay so on a last, side note…If you decide one day that you don’t want to blog anymore and keeping your feed is just too much trouble. Or perhaps you burned your feed one too many times…just delete it. And if you just want to transfer your wonderful feed to another Feedburner owner simple enter their email address to transfer it and make sure they authorize this transfer.

That pretty much covers it. If you are a web developer or really interested in making your blog feed shine (which you should be) log in to your Feedburner account to discover all of the wonderful things you can do. Start activating some of these awesome features today to get the most out of your blogging.

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For this and other articles from MyMark, please go to www.mymark.com/blog. MyMark, LLC is a media rich professional social networking website that gives you the tools to use social media optimization to enhance your search engine optimization and generate revenue. Visit today to learn more!

How To Use An Hour A Day To Bring Success To Your Online Business

By Shirley Crichton in Featured

At one time or another, most of us have used the common excuse of not having enough time, to put off getting started with a new idea. And It’s a common fallacy that you need to have lots of time available in order to start a successful internet marketing business.

Well, if you’re still thinking of starting, or are actually just starting your online business, it’s important to understand that what matters most is not the amount of time that you have available to spend on the business, but how effectively and efficiently you use that time.

In practice, when you are working on your internet business, regularly spending just one hour a day on developing your business will achieve far more in a week than in your mind setting aside a whole weekend. This is because it’s so easy to say that you will spend all this time working on your online business, but when the time comes, it is far too easy to get distracted or caught up in your other activities. This results in another week passing with no action being taken on your business.

Alternatively, consistently spending one hour a day will result in you achieving a far greater amount than you would have imagined. You will be creating momentum which drives the business forward and makes it much easier to pick up from where you left off yesterday.

Now, what are you going to do with your time? Follow your plan. The simplest plan and the one I recommend is to work on the three core areas of your business every day. These are your list, your traffic and your offers/products.Focusing on these three areas regularly and consistently will make sure that the essential elements of your internet business are always in balance. They are the three supporting pillars and are fundamental for your online business success.

By developing a way of working where you consistently spend time on each of these three areas, you are laying a solid foundation for your online marketing business, just like building a house. And, just like building a house, when you’re starting your online business, you need solid foundations to create a sustainable structure. Otherwise, just like a house of cards, it will fall over in the first breeze.

So, to make your business quake proof, take the time now to create a regular work plan. Then, however much time you have available in the future, you’ve put in the basics and you have a system in place that will ensure balanced growth for your online business.

The first place to begin is to organize your week by scheduling the activities to be done into the time you have available for your online business. To do this, you can use the planner on your computer, if there is one, or you’ll find lots to choose from with a Google search for Weekly Planner. Of course, if you’re adept on your PC, you can even create your own. Just make sure that it shows mornings, afternoons and evenings for each day.

If, like me, you’re not naturally an organized and scheduled person, but appreciate its importance for your online business success, you’ll find the simple discipline of creating a schedule each week brings a big improvement in your working efficiency.

You need to be realistic in completing the schedule each week, because, above all, creating your business should be an exciting and enjoyable process, not a chore. So, make sure that you schedule in your non-working time as well: time for the family, exercise, entertainment, TV, whatever you need to maintain a healthy balance in your life. This is what will make your schedule sustainable.

If you have a full time job and a family and your schedule already seems pretty full, there are always ways you can find an extra hour, especially for this exciting new project and I urge you to look for them. For example, if you’re a ‘lark’ and function really well first thing in the morning, you might get up an hour earlier and work on your business before breakfast.

Alternatively, if, you’re more of a ‘night owl’, you may prefer to fit it in at the end of your day. In addition, you can use lunch times or travel time to be working on your internet business and reduce the time you spend watching TV.

Having established how much working time you have available, you need to fill in what you want to achieve on each area of your business each day, your list, your traffic, your product. Just like eating the proverbial elephant, you break tasks down into manageable, bite-size pieces. What you will find as you get into this routine, is that you will become much more productive with practice and although things may seem rather slow at first, they will soon pick up.

On the last working day of the week, along with your catching up, look at what needs doing next week and schedule in what you will do on each section of your online marketing business each day. That way you know exactly what to do when you start again.Then, all you have to do is follow the schedule!

It’s great to make a schedule and you can feel really good when you’ve got it all mapped out. But, a plan and a schedule are only ever any good if you action them and a lot of time can be saved when, as the Nike advert said , you “Just do it”.

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Shirley Crichton is a UK information marketer, passionate about sharing what she has learnt with people new to this often confusing world . Do you want to learn more about getting your internet marketing business started and profitable? Claim your free and comprehensive 95-page report ‘ Online Marketing Made Easy’ at www.ShirleysOnlineMarketing.com to give yourself a head start.

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