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What is IPv6 All About?

By Jacob Colton in Featured

Are IP addresses actually running about? What does it mean when / if they do? Do I need to do anything? We are going to answer all these questions (and hopefully a few more as well).

What is an IP address?

An IP address is a unique ID given to every device that is connected to the Internet. This means computers, routers, phones, etc. An example of a current (referred to as IPv4) address is 84.18.207.4.

What happens when we run out?

There will not be an instant impact, the internet will not stop working! IP addresses are finite, currently IP addresses are assigned from a central source, to local registries around the world, who in turn allocate these to end users. The final large blocks of IPv4 space have now been allocated to these registries, so there will be free IPv4 addresses, but once these are allocated to end users there will be no more. Many ISPs also have space left in their existing ranges (e.g. catalyst2 still have plenty left for any new servers we add to our network etc).

The problem really comes when these addresses are used in the near future, and as large countries such as China have more widespread use of the internet, the demand for these IP addresses will grow. Therefore we need a new range of IP’s to support the Internet’s future growth.

So where do all the new IP address appear from?

They come from a new way of addressing, called IPv6. Rather than being 32bit addresses, as with IPv4 (with 4,294,967,296 unique addresses), IPv6 addresses are 128bit creating many more addresses. The new system will generate trillions of trillions of addresses,
340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 to be exact! In essence this means that every person in the world could have a 50 thousand trillion trillion addresses without any problem.

Do I need to do anything?

Nope, it will just happen. Your Internet provider will eventually sort everything out at their end our network has been capable of this new addressing system for the last 6 years. We can already allocated IPv6 addresses to our dedicated servers and if required some shared hosting accounts.

When are you actually likely to see this happening?

The first time you are likely to see people testing IPv6 on a major scale is June 8th 2011. The likes of Facebook, Google, Yahoo and catalyst2 will be switching to v6 for the day to test everything. It is currently estimated that 95.95% of people will see no difference but a tiny percentage of people may experience due to old / incorrectly configured equipment.

Any questions, just let us know.

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catalyst2 is a company that provides managed web hosting and managed dedicated servers to businesses across the UK. We provide a 100% network uptime guarantee for all dedicated server customers. We include backups, smart protection and 247 support as part of our managed dedicated server offering. Contact us today for more information. www.catalyst2.com/managed-dedicated-servers

New Sandy Bridge Laptops – Does It Mean I Have To Upgrade Again?

By Titus Hoskins in Featured

Laptop and computer technology changes at such a blistering pace, there is something new almost daily. Just when computer users were getting their heads around the confusing i3, i5 and i7 processors – Intel comes out with its new 2nd generation Core processors which have been codenamed Sandy Bridge. These processors offer much greater performance with hyper threading, multi cores, overclocking and much more robust integrated graphics. Computers and laptops with these new Sandy Bridge processors are currently hitting the marketplace.

There are, as of January 2011, around 29 variants or versions of these processors. So you have 14 desktop and 15 mobile models to choose from when buying that new PC or laptop. For the mobile market at the low end you have the i5-2537M which can have 2/4 cores at 1.4GHz and with turbo boost to 2.3GHz. At the high end we have i7-2920XM with 4 to 8 cores at 2.5GHz and turbo boost to 3.5GHz. For the desktop market we have a little more higher specs, for example the Intel Core i7 2600K at 3.4GHz with turbo boost to 3.8GHz.

What’s so special about Sandy Bridge?

As with the 1st Generation Core Processors, the emphasis is again on Hyper Threading for all your multi-tasking and on Turbo Boost to give you peak performance when you need it.

You can have 4-way or even 8-way processing with Hyper Threading to do several tasks at the same time. You also have a larger cache size which will give you better responsiveness when multi-tasking on your computer or laptop.

Graphics seems to have taken a big improvement (well within reason) with these new chipsets, Intel has introduced its own built-in HD Graphics 3000 which should be good enough for causal gaming, but for high-demanding games you will probably still need discrete graphics especially for gaming at the highest resolutions or settings. However, this is still a step forward for Intel regarding graphics, especially when it comes to HD and 3D images. Plus, Quick Synch Video is a feature which will make video editing and sharing a breeze.

Keep in mind, what makes these new Sandy Bridge processors very popular is overclocking, especially with the high end ones. Gamers who demand the highest specs will no doubt be very pleased since the higher end processors will come unlocked. For those who want the best performance possible, an upgrade to Sandy Bridge will be a no-brainer. However, for the causal PC or laptop user, their current CPUs will probably do. Besides how much processing power do you need to send an email, check your Facebook page or watch the latest viral YouTube video?

In other words, if you’re not into computer gaming or need a high performance computer for video editing or processing, you really don’t need to upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. If your current PC or laptop can do all the chores you want it to do without freezing up or slowing down, then you obviously don’t need a new one. Save your money and spend it on something else.

Again, it all comes back to performance and how much you have to pay for that performance. Many reviewers are seeing this better performance, including one very well known tech expert, who tested these Sandy Bridge processors and stated that for the same money one would have spent last year you can get 10-50% more performance from your applications and games.

For this reason alone, many computer users will be taking a second look at Sandy Bridge to see if they do indeed need this increase in performance. Many consumers wait until new platforms and/or operating systems are introduced before they upgrade… if you’re still using Windows 98 on a Pentium 2 computer, it’s probably time for an upgrade.

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The author has a keen interest in all things laptop and runs an online Laptop Guide featuring the latest top gaming notebooks:
www.bizwaremagic.com/best_gaming_notebooks.htm For more information on 3D Gaming Laptops Click Here: www.3d-gaminglaptops.com. Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Offering and Creating Content for Your Website or Blog Using PLR

By Sue White in Featured

Every website or blog needs to be collecting names and email addresses from visitors to the site. Sometimes it’s called an opt-in page or box, a landing page or a squeeze page. Whatever the name, the purpose is to not waste the clicks to your website by not getting valuable information from your readers.

Why am I collecting this information? Any seasoned business person knows that without marketing, we have no game to play. You need to be continually marketing yourself to your niche. The best way to show that you are the best solution to their problem is to send them information that addresses those problems. Then, every once in awhile, you will have the opportunity to present yourself as the solution to those problems. The most efficient way to continue to market to your readers is with email campaigns.

What information should I be collecting? A rule to go by is that by asking for as little information as possible, your reader will be more likely to provide it. At the very least, you need to collect a first name and a valid email address. You can ask for more information such as a phone number or address, however, you are reducing the likelihood of completion of the form. And remember, as you build a relationship with your reader, you can always ask for more information later.

Where do I get the code for my page? An autoresponder is an important tool for collecting this information. Most autoresponders have a free trial period so you can check them out and see which one works the best for you. The top programs on the market are Aweber, IContact Mail Chimp, and Constant Contact. If you are a member of a Chamber of Commerce, you will want to contact them and see if they are participating in a program from Constant Contact, this can save you a few dollars each month.

Please remember that your opt-in gift is not there to sell anything – only to gather information. Make sure that you are providing valuable information to your audience. You can accomplish this by compiling a short report, a video or a collection of articles. It’s best to make your opt-in short and to the point. You should also include a statement on your form that you will not distribute their emails to anyone else.

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As you can see, creating a place to gather information from your reader is imperative to good online marketing of your product or service. If you would like to know more about how to create a report for your viewers, visit EasyWebContentSecrets.com

Five Tips for Creating a Great Business Card for Your Company – A SPN Exclusive Article

By Gayle Hawks in Featured

Handing someone a quality business card is like a good handshake – it makes an important first impression. Many cards give the impression of a well-established business while others exude a different feeling altogether. What is it that makes some cards give off a different impression? There are several things that can affect the overall impression of your business card when you present it to a prospective customer, client, or in some cases, employer. By focusing on 5 major areas, you can create a card that is more effective and professional in its impression.

Visual Appearance

The first thing to keep in mind when designing a business card is its visual impact. Most modern companies have fortunately started exercising more creativity with their cards and have moved away from traditional, plain looking cards. Many business owners now see and understand that those little 2″ x 3.5″ cards are important marketing tools. Be creative with the use of color, fonts, and imagery.

Paper Quality

Paper quality is judged and notated in many confusing different ways. For example “80# Text” and “80# Cover”, the first is thin like writing paper and the second is thicker, like a thin business card.There are three things that matter in determining what paper stock is going to produce a quality card.

1. How thick the card stock is.
2. How dense/compressed the card stock is.
3. The quality of the finish on the card stock that will be printed on.

One point is equal to 1/1,000 of an inch for card stock. Therefore, 15 point card stock is.015 inches thick. Paper with more points is thicker but not necessarily sturdier and paper with fewer points is thinner. Fifteen point paper is good for business cards if the paper is also quality made. It is common to have thick, cheaply made paper.

Let me discuss items #2 and #3; these two issues are more important to consider than the first. Most people, however, focus solely on the first question, “How thick is it?” Paper density and the finish quality of the paper that will be printed on is determined by how the paper is “calendered”.

“The calender is a series of hard pressure rollers used to form or smooth a sheet of material. The purpose of a calender is to make the paper smooth and glossy for printing and writing.” – Wikipedia

Think of it this way – in terms of bread. A slice of Wonder bread is much thicker than pita bread. It is how the bread is made that is more important than its thickness. Pita bread is denser than Wonder bread. When it comes to business cards, not all thick papers are created equal either. You can have a 15pt thick card that feels cheap and spongy, yet it is still 15pt thick. On the other hand you can have a 15pt thick card that feels stiff like a metal blade. More expensive and higher quality papers are highly calendered and have that feeling of quality, thickness, and snap everyone desires for their card.

When choosing card paper or a company to print your cards, be careful not to only look for “how thick the paper is (Points)” but also look at the paper quality. It is easy to find thick cheap paper with no substance and a poor printing surface. This paper leads to a cheap feeling business card with poor quality and poor printing on a sub-par calendered finish.

Alignment for Text, Logos, and Pictures

In most cases, people’s eyes find aligned text and objects appealing. Make sure that the text on your business cards is aligned left or right or centered. As long as it is consistent over your card it will project a neat, professional look. Experiment with multiple text layouts that allow you to easily upload a picture of yourself, your company, your logo, or whatever you may wish to have displayed on your card.

The Back of Your Business Card

Many people overlook the importance of the space on the back of their business card. While leaving some open space can be valuable at times for short notes or other information that needs to be written down, the back of your card is valuable advertising space. Use it to give more details about your qualifications, your products or services, or print a coupon, discount, or other incentive on there for your prospective customers.

Glossy Stock Business Card Paper

Glossy card stock allows colors to pop and offers a nice, smooth finish. But, if you opt for this, remember that it can be hard to write on glossy paper. If you or your clients ever need to jot notes on your business cards, take into consideration the use of uncoated, glossy, or super glossy finishes.

Considering these 5 points will be extremely helpful to you as you design online business cards for your company. If you have additional questions about card design, please feel free to contact the author.

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Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative business card websites, we’re eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding cheap business cards design or business card management.

Tips for Developing a Link Building Strategy – A SPN Exclusive Article

By Nick Stamoulis in Featured

Link building should be considered phase two of any SEO campaign (on-site optimization being phase one) and is a critical component of maintaining site ranking and establishing a trust factor with the search engines.

Link building is an ongoing campaign necessary for improving a website’s inbound link stream which can help promote your brand and overall visibility in the search engines. Link building can also help boost unique visitors to your site which in turn can lead to an increase in conversions. Link building efforts come in many forms including: local profiles, blogging and blog commenting, social networking, directory submission and online publicity, among others.

The overall goal of a link building strategy is to grow links from many different, but relevant, sources over time. Most link building strategies range from 3 months to a year and should incorporate 10-20 different scheduled tasks a month. It is important to create a very specific link building schedule and stick to it as much as possible. Growing links too fast raises a red flag with the search engines and can result in negative consequences. Growing links slowly helps establish a trust with the search engines, leading to better positioning in their results.

10 Expert Link Building Tips and Trends for 2011

By Wendy Suto in Featured

Link building is an extremely important part of SEO. The more websites you have linking into your site, the more credible your site appears to the search engines. Credible websites get awarded with higher search engine page result rankings which will allow more potential customers to see your Website, therefore increasing sales.

There are many ways to increase your link popularity. Here are some tips and trends from Search Engine Land to help you with link building this year.

• In 2011, Bing and Blekko will become great places to build links. Last year, many link builders relied heavily on Google and Google’s search listings. However, although Google is never going away, other search engines will step out of the shadows and bring great link building opportunities to marketers.

• Start to concentrate on creating well-rounded link popularity. Make sure your links are coming from a variety of places such as social media networks, link directories, blogs, older sites, newer sites, articles, social bookmarking sites and more. Generating links from many different platforms will allow you to create a larger list. It also makes your site look more credible to search engines than if all your links were coming from just link directories or just social media networks alone.

• Link builders should begin to focus more on how to secure links rather than just ways to generate lists of link building sites and opportunities. Without the right link building technique, a list isn’t worth much in the long run anyway.

How To Establish An Advertising Marketing Plan

By Anthony Harris in Featured

Many business owners are searching the internet to find information that deals with an advertising marketing plan. In reality, advertising and marketing are two different animals, although closely related. Marketing refers to the whole product service mix which includes those famous four “P”s: Price, Place, Product and Promotion. Advertising is just a part of the mix and of course, it fits within the Promotion aspect of marketing. Within the marketing scheme, you need to establish a price-point for your product or service.

You also need to set up a channel through which you will offer your product/service (this is the Place part of the mix). The product or service itself is a vital part of the mix. . .and then we get to Promotion which includes advertising. In today’s internet economy, you can actually do certain forms of advertising which are free. Some of these advertising options include online classified advertising like CraigsList or US FreeAds. Perhaps one of the most effective free “soft advertising” methods makes use of the many social media sites that are now available. The key word in this type of promotion is “social.” In order to be effective, you need to stick to the social etiquette that is required. No spamming or hypey activity is allowed.

Coming up with a solid advertising marketing plan will most likely take some trial and error. But there are some tips that can help you get going. The most important is to understand who you are advertising to–in other words, know your target market. And know it very well. A thorough understanding of this will make your plan much more successful. Getting it wrong will set you up for failure. This will require quite a bit of research which cannot be skimped on.

Next, set your goals. Identify what you want to get in return for your advertising (recognition, sales, brand identity, etc) and set specific short -, mid- and long-term objectives.

Then you will want to do some brainstorming to come up with the actual advertisements. Create a rough draft. This is just the start. It will most likely be revised over and over again as you figure out what is doing well and what isn’t. Which brings us to tracking, testing and tweaking.

You need to have tangible results with every ad that you place. This is harder to do with magazine, television, newspaper or radio advertising. But online advertising very much lends to tracking. Analyze your results and make necessary changes. Sometimes just one word can make all the difference in advertisement conversions.

Research advertising agencies to find who you will work with best. If possible, go for those who are specifically expert in advertising your business niche. Using the correct advertising marketing plan is a process. Taking action and getting help from professionals can help you get started.

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Anthony Harris is an expert online marketer, trainer, and teacher. Head here to www.maverickmoneyclub.com to discover how to get up to 19 checks per month, earn upwards of $519.17 per day, make more than a full time income in your online home business in 60 days or less.

7 Important Ways To Stay Relevant To Your Subscribers

By Linda Hampton in Featured

Sometimes marketers are afraid to send information to their list, which is ridiculous because remember this: Your subscribers signed up, they want the information you’re offering and they EXPECT to hear from you. They either signed up for your list to learn more about your offerings, or they bought something from you. You have their attention, they want what you have to offer!

Once you have their initial attention it is important to stay relevant to your potential clients. Getting more clients for your coaching business will depend on you keeping your current clients, who will be motivated to give referrals, or by turning your subscribers into coaching clients. You can encourage the behavior you want by:

Segmentation — This means that you separate your subscribers by people who have bought your services, or product, from those who have not. By separating them in your newsletter you can target your messages appropriately. You can further segment your market into even smaller micro segments based on what they have bought! The ways you can do this are almost endless but segmentation is one of the most important aspects of list management.

Personalization — Your newsletter provider offers you the capability to personalize your newsletters and emails so that when the person receives your message they will see their name. This will increase open rates exponentially as well as be a great client attraction tool because your clients will feel special. Even though many know these tools are automated, it does not matter, the feeling that they are special remains.

Education — When you get someone to sign up for your newsletter do not assume that they understand what newsletters are, or even how the net works, they might not. So explain to them in minute detail in your sign up process what type of list they have joined and tell them how to never miss a thing by explaining the white-list process.

Expectations — If you want more customers and clients begging for your attention show them that you care about them by establishing their expectations for the list at the get go. This means, one of your first messages to those who have purchased, or those who have just joined your list to get more information, you tell them exactly what to expect. Be very specific.

Spam — I’m sure I don’t need to explain spam to you, but ensure that you don’t recommend things to your clients or prospects that you, yourself have never tried. If you do that, and it turns out to be a scam they’re going to blame you and your trust will be broken. Instead recommend processes and products that you use to establish trust with your potential new clients.

Headlines — The headlines that you use in your emails and newsletters is as important as the content, maybe more so, because if you do not give a good headline which will likely be the subject line, they might not ever open it.

Give thought to creating headlines that make people curious then of course, back it up by providing good content.

Consistency — This is the key to staying relevant to your subscribers. If you suddenly disappear, or worse, you never send anything beyond the welcome letter, they’ll forget you exist. Then, when you finally do send something, they’ll unsubscribe because they will think you are spamming them.

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For a free report that shows you how to get new clients and persuade them to opt-in, grab a copy of Linda Hampton report, The True Power of Attracting Clients With Email. It’s yours free and learn how to get more clients to subscribe to your list easily, effortlessly and authentically: Copy this link and place in the address bar www.attractclientsoutofthinair.com/report/emailresponse/index.html

Top 5 Google Applications for Business

By Pat Lindle in Featured

The Google Apps Marketplace gives businesses a license to create software that can operate in the cloud and be an addition to the apps already in place. These new apps are exciting in that they can take information you already have in other apps and recreate the function of that app for new purposes. Here are descriptions of five of the most-used free apps offered by Google.

1. Accounting: If you need an accounting app, the Rhino Accounting from Google could be the one program to fit your needs. Completely free to users, this app is similar to QuickBooks in that it utilizes the double entry accounting principles. It is not however, an app that has a lot of helpful programs like “Setup Wizard” or even “Help files.”

If you don’t already have some accounting knowledge you will get lost. But it is perfect for people who have used other accounting software in the past.

2. Project Management: The Google app Rapid Task is management made simple. It starts with a basic “to do list’ and allows you to build the project from there. The app will even let members on the same domain interact with the Task. Rapid Task works in tandem with Google Calendar and for the email feature to work that allows you to send tasks to any person you will have to do a bit of configuration.

All members of the team should install the app as this is the only way for each to have access.

3. Travel: Google has made it easy to organize your trips and to track the travel plans of the others involved with the project. Google and TripIt worked together on this one and you have all the functions of the TripIt website. It will periodically go through your email inbox to update itself.

4. Information sharing: Google realized that in order for a business to experience success, being able to share useful information with all of the company members is imperative. The Appogee Bookmarks app is designed to allow you to share links with others in your team. It will add a panel on your home page and in the inbox that is specifically for link addresses.

5. Appointments: If you have to make time to visit with clients, using the “YouCanBook.Me” app is like having a social secretary that is available 24/7. It is another collaboration, with the website of the same name, and it gives you a page where you or anyone looking to meet with you, can go to your calendar and enter an appointment day and time. The appointments are sent directly to your personal calendar along with an email confirmation.

These are the best of the best of applications and they are all free for the using. Go online and start enhancing your business today. You will find that soon you will be wondering how you ever got along without them.

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You can read more of Pat Lindle’s valuable tips at www.smallbusinessconsultingco.com. For web hosting and internet tips, make sure to check out www.buywebhosting.co.

Google Analytics Decrypted

By Derek Jansen in Featured

While Google Analytics is probably the most important tool you will ever have at your disposal as an internet marketer, it is, no doubt, rather daunting at first. Not to worry though, here’s what you ABSOLUTELY need to know…

Upon logging into Google Analytics, you will be greeted by a colorful looking dashboard (if you have more than one website, just select the one you want to look at). The dashboard is broken up into the following sections:

o Site Usage
o Visitors Overview
o Map Overlay
o Traffic Sources Overview
o Content Overview

Site Usage

This section essentially covers the traffic/usage element of your website’s metrics. Most importantly are visits, bounce rate and average time on site. “Visits” is the total number of visits to your site (by humans, not spiders) over the time period specified (top right hand corner). “Bounce rate” is the percentage of visitors who visit your website, and leave almost immediately (ie, non targeted visitors). An acceptable bounce rate varies from industry to industry, but try to keep it between 30% – 45%. “Average Time on Site” is as it says – is the average time each visitor spends on your site. You want to try increase this figure over time and get visitors to “hang around” – using video is a great way to achieve this.

Visitors Overview

On the surface, this is a simple line graph, providing a display of how many visitors you’ve had over the time specified time period. Click on the “view report” link for more in-depth details on these visitors.

Traffic Sources Overview

The goldmine of Analytics data – where is my traffic coming from. This displays the relative percentage of traffic originating from either search engines, referring site or direct visits. Ideally, you’ll want to increase your search traffic (either organically or using PPC) over time. Once again, clicking the “view report” link will provide in-depth data on the sources. Check who’s referring the most traffic and see if you can capitalize on it. Also, have a look at the keywords that you’re featuring for in search engines and consider optimizing for them (if you haven’t already done so).

Content Overview

This area simply shows you what your visitors are looking at (the “/” means your home page). You may be surprised to see that your visitors are spending a lot of time on your internal pages, which means you’d better ensure that the content is top notch!

And that is the Google Analytics dashboard in a nutshell. As long as you understand what these main metric represent, you will be able to fiddle and figure the more complex metrics out along the way. It’s amazing how much rich data Analytics provides, and best of all, its free!

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Derek Jansen is the founder of Nitch – an SEO implementation and SEO training company. www.Nitch.co.za

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

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