Thursday, March 13, 2014

Most Profitable Online Business

Thеrе аrе numerous great business ideas thаt саn bе uѕеd bу people fоr generating continuous stream оf income. Yоu nееd а good amount оf money tо start аnу business, but thеrе аrе nоw plenty оf profitable online business ideas thаt саn gеt уоu good income wіthоut staking уоur entire life savings іn а business tо gеt started. Wе аrе discussing bеlоw fоur profitable online business ideas thаt уоu саn start bу uѕіng nоthіng but уоur PC аnd аn Internet connection rіght frоm уоu home.
1. Promotion оf products оr services- Thіѕ іѕ thе mоѕt practical аnd legitimate business idea. Yоu саn research оn thе Internet tо find а mоѕt promising niche аnd thеn choose а product wіth high demand. Onсе thіѕ hаѕ bееn done, уоu саn start marketing уоur product. Wіth thе hеlр оf SEO (search engine optimization), уоu саn nоt оnlу improve уоur search engine rankings, but саn аlѕо increase site visibility аnd number оf visitors. Thіѕ automatically increases уоur sales. Yоu саn аlѕо offer products оf оthеr manufacturers оr sellers аѕ affiliate аnd earn commissions. Mаnу places ѕuсh аѕ ClickBank offer hefty commissions оn thе sales оf thеіr products. Mаnу reputable online businesses offer exciting affiliate programs whеrе уоu саn earn consistent monthly income.
2. Create а membership website- Thіѕ іѕ оnе оf thе mоѕt profitable online business ideas thаt саn give уоu excellent returns wіthіn а short time period. Membership sites аrоund thе world generate billions оf dollars еvеrу year, аnd уоu ѕhоuld nоt lag bеhіnd іn this. Thе bеѕt part оf running а membership website іѕ thаt уоu gеt recurrent fee оr commissions еvеrу month. Eасh nеw аnd existing member pays уоu а set membership fee аnd уоu gеt 100 percent оf thе money! Bу charging јuѕt $10, уоu саn generate $10,000 frоm јuѕt 1,000 members, nоt а bad idea! In order tо create а successful site, уоu ѕhоuld offer ѕоmеthіng оf vаluе tо уоur customers thаt thеу nееd tо uѕе constantly. Offer ebooks, software, freebies аnd newsletters wіth tips аѕ bonus tо kеер thеm interested іn уоur service. Suсh websites саn work іn аnу niche аnd іf dоnе correctly, thеу саn gеt уоu thousands оf dollars а month.
3. Blogging- Thіѕ іѕ аlѕо а profitable home based business idea. Yоu саn generate regular income stream frоm уоur blogs іn mаnу ways. First, уоu nееd tо build а good blog оf уоur оwn аnd optimize іt fоr уоur chosen niche. Yоu еvеn hаvе а option fоr selling уоu blog оnсе уоu hаvе significant amounts оf traffic. Yоu саn add Google AdSense program аnd generate programs frоm clicks. Yоu саn аlѕо uѕе thе site popularity tо sell affiliate products оn уоur blog. However, іt wіll tаkе ѕоmе time tо build traffic оn уоur site аnd оnсе уоu pass thаt milestone, thіѕ wіll prove tо bе оnе оf thе mоѕt profitable online business ideas fоr you.
4. Offer liasioning service- Yоu саn offer liasioning service tо thе people thаt аrе іn dіffеrеnt states оr еvеn countries аrоund thе world. Thе entire world іѕ dоіng business wіth thе US, аnd уоu саn offer services tо аll thоѕе whо nееd tо gеt thеіr work dоnе іn thе US оr іn уоur state fоr а fee. All thеѕе profitable online business ideas wіll work оnсе уоu саn gеt high traffic tо уоur site аnd develop trust wіth уоur customers.
Onсе уоu learn hоw tо dо thаt іn а proper way, уоu wіll start operating multiple web businesses tо tаkе уоur monthly income tо thousands оf dollars.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

How to Stay Fit, Happy and Healthy

If you’ve been listening to the news you already know about our national obesity levels rising by the day. It has never been more important to watch what you are eating and to get an adequate amount of exercise and sleep to keep yourself fit and healthy. Though it may feel like really hard work at first, once you adopt an exercise routine and start to change your sleep patterns, you’ll forget you ever did things differently.
There are many effective and easy ways to stay fit and healthy without breaking the bank. Just think about it…maintaining your health now will save you a multitude of medical problems and bills in the long run. Here are just five of the top adjustments to make:
#1 Get more sleep!
Sleep is huge and almost a third of the US population doesn’t get near enough to staying physically and mentally healthy. If you are sleep deprived, try changing your habits so you get a full eight hours every night. Your body repairs itself when you sleep, and not getting enough can really effect that in a bad way, therefore affecting your mood, concentration, metabolism and generally bringing you down the next day. Best of all, a good night of restful sleep won’t cost you a thing.
#2 Strive for a better diet
Look at your diet and what you’re eating now and make changes where you see fit. If you are susceptible to snacking, keep a piece of fruit or a few nuts at hand. The key is eating small meals throughout the day which are balanced and nutritiously rich. Reduce portion sizes, take out white bread and replace with whole grains and make sure each meal contains at least one portion of fruit and – or vegetables. Healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive in the least bit, and you can get an abundance of low priced fruit and veggies, like apples, carrots, bananas, potatoes and peas. These items will last all week for less than $10. Stick to value produce  and buy frozen if you’re on a tight budget.
#3 Stop all those bad habits
Take a look at your current lifestyle and make a small list of everything you do that is not good for your health. This could be anything, from eating too much junk food or drinking too much caffeine, to smoking, drinking, drugs, or having unprotected sex. Start the process of breaking these habits one by one. Some will be easy, while others may take months or maybe years to get rid of and eradicate completely from your life, but the sooner you start fighting, the better.
Some addictions (like smoking, drugs or alcohol) are incredibly bad not only to your health, but also to your pocketbook. If you smoke and – or drink, start by cutting back on how many drinks you have, or cigarettes you smoke, in a day, and if necessary, seek medical advice and assistance to make further steps towards stopping completely. Deposit the money you’ve saved into a separate bank account to track your progress and use as motivation to keep going.
#4 Exercise, exercise, exercise
We all should be doing at least 30 minutes of exercise, 3 to 4 or more times a week, to maintain good health and keep fit. This can be pretty much anything that is physical, like walking, cycling, running, swimming to weightlifting, etc. This too does not have to be expensive, and you can get a great work out without joining any costly gyms. Most of these exercises are inexpensive, and just doing a cardiovascular exercise, like walking, jogging, or walking on a treadmill a few times a week will do your body (and heart) good.
By surrounding yourself with other people who are in the same shape as you are is great motivation and can make exercising fun. Sign up for a local exercise class like yoga or dancing. If you are thinking of taking up cycling, check online or auction sites like eBay, for cheap second-hand bikes. Consider cycling to work or the shops around your home a few times a week. This will definitely save on gas while keeping you at the same time.
#5 Drink lots and lots of water
With all this exercise we’ve been talking about definitely going to be thirsty and your body will crave water. Water is one of the best ways to improve your overall health and keep your body happy. It’s really important to keep hydrated if you live in a hot climate (like the South) or do a lot of physical work and exercise. Water will also help to curb your appetite throughout the day, which means you will be less likely to fork out on expensive, fattening and sugary snacks. If you buy bottled water, stick to supermarket or off brands. You can also invest in filters that connect right to your tab.
So there you have it. Five rock solid ways to improve your health without spending a whole lot to do it. Do you have other ideas that can help motivate those around you? What seems to work for your diet and your exercise patterns? Chime in and let us know.

Source -  http://primacare.com/how-to-stay-fit-happy-and-healthy/

Choosing Wordpress as Your Blogging Platform

I have told you before that WordPress is the industry standard for bloggers. Certainly you have options (e.g., Blogger and Typepad), but if you want to put a more professional edge on your blog, add more functionality, and simply take it to the next level, you need to be looking at WordPress.
There are two versions of WordPress: WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Both are free, but one is hosted and one is not.
WordPress.com is the free, hosted version of WordPress and is a great place to start your first blog. You won’t have to worry about finding and paying for a server, but you’ll still have the functionality of WordPress and can learn the ins and outs before you commit to WordPress.org. WordPress.com does not allow you to run your own ads, but does occasionally run their own text ads on your blog (that’s how they keep it free).
WordPress.org is the free version of WordPress that allows you to host your blog on a third-party server and gives you free reign over everything related to your blog. You can mess with the CSS and PHP, put up ads, etc. From their site: “WordPress is what you use when you want to work with your blogging software, not fight it.”
Lisa at Simply His big-red-puffy-heart-loves WordPress.org and explains why:
Easy to use: I think WordPress is very easy to use once you give it a try. I know many people who think that WordPress is difficult to use when in fact, they are having trouble with css or html in their theme. And really, if you had WordPress set up for you — theme and all, it would be a piece of cake to go in and just write.
Widgets, Plugins and Themes: Because WordPress.org is open source [which means that the code is freely available and can be modified by anyone with the skill and inclination], many programmers out there have shared widgets, plugins and themes with you for free. You can find a Plugin to do just about anything you would want to do on your blog. A widget is basically a block of code you can add to your sidebars to customize what’s shown there. Themes are plentiful and customization is easy if you know html/css. [And, sometimes, even if you don't.]
Jendi, at Jendi’s Journal, writes about why she loves WordPress. She started out with WordPress.com (the free, hosted WordPress) and eventually moved to WordPress.org (free, non-hosted WordPress) with her own domain name. Jendi says there was a bit of a learning curve at WordPress.com, but it was worth it. Her main reasons for loving WordPress are
  • thousands of free themes
  • easy-to-follow tutorials and forums
  • hundreds of plug-ins work with WordPress
  • control of your design and content
If you’re just starting out with a blog, WordPress.com may be a good option for you. You can learn how to use the WordPress interface and learn the basics via the tutorials and videos. Then, as you’re more comfortable and would like more control over your blog’s look and feel and it’s code, you can move to WordPress.org. Because they are essentially the same software, the migration should be fairly seamless.
I have only recently started using WordPress.org and wish I had known about WordPress.com and WordPress.org when I started. It would have been much easier to start with WP.com and move to WP.org when I was ready. Even so, I’ve found that any questions I have can be answered with a quick search. WordPress is so prolific there is no shortage of tutorials.
Also in this series:
Further Reading & Tutorials:
Source - http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2009/02/choosing-wordpress-as-your-blogging-platform/

Blog Design: Keep it Clutter Free and User Friendly

According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere report in 2007, there are 120,000 blogs being created every day. How can you possibly make your blog stand out in a sea of new and established blogs? Compelling content, certainly, but what about your blog design? Will new readers dismiss your blog out-right if your blog design isn’t appealing or usable? If they dismiss you, how will they know your content is compelling? Let’s face it: like it or lump it, looks matter. Even in the blogosphere.
So how do you make your blog design stand out? Make it clutter-free and user-friendly.
When a reader visits your blog, she’s looking for something. That “something” could be entertainment, education, or community. She may have found you via a search or via someone else’s bog. The point is, she’s here now, how will you entice her to stay?
For starters, make sure your blog has plenty of white space (the space that surrounds your graphics, text, and paragraphs). White space helps lead the eye and compartmentalize each part of your blog. For example, your side bar(s) should have some white space between them and the main column of text. You may even want to include white space around each section of your sidebar (e.g., Categories and Archives in a chunk, then white space, then contact information, then white space, then outbound links or buttons). By breaking up the flow of information, you are showing your reader that each section is separate. This “chunking” also helps your reader quickly find what she is looking for.
In addition to chunking your page elements, make sure each paragraph has white space between them. Using headers above sections will also help break up the page.
Clear your sidebars. There is certain information you really need to have in your sidebars simply for ease of navigation, but many times blogs clutter sidebars with badges and links that are less important to readers. Sidebars should include links to
  • Search. Believe it or not, people are reading what you’ve written. Sometimes they’d like to find a specific post they remember. Or they know you’ve written about a certain topic and they’d like to link to that post. How will they find it if not via search? You can also use links to your archives, but I think a search is more useful for your readers. They may not be able to remember the exact time when they read a certain post. If they can search for a few key words rather than digging through your archives randomly, they’ll thank you by coming back.
  • Contact information. Yes, they could leave you a comment, but sometimes a reader or friend would like to contact you personally (perhaps with an issue that is best left off the comment page). If you are hoping to work with marketers and PR reps at all, they will need a clear way to contact you.
  • Simple navigation. Look at your stats to determine what your readers are doing at your site. What are they searching for? Which posts are receiving the most traffic? Linking directly to a page with your most popular posts, advertising information, etc. makes it easy for your reader to use your site. Readers appreciate simple and apparent navigation.
  • Links to categories. I find this useful when reading an interesting blog or looking for specific information. Providing clear categories for your reader allows her to read several articles on the same topic without having to comb through archives to find related posts.
Finally, your blog is an expression of you, but, like all good media it should be user-friendly. Two simple things you can include in your design are ensuring the font is large enough for visitors to easily read and links are clearly recognizable. Links are generally automatically underlined, but some designers dislike the underline. If you don’t want underlined links as part of your look and feel, at least use a link color that will make the link stand out, but which also flows with your design.
More articles on designing an attractive and user-friendly blog:
Tracey Grady discusses the Fundamentals of good design: Colour schemes:
The importance of colour in design can never be overstated. Colour choices influence mood, emotion and tone; a carefully chosen colour scheme can clearly express a specific design style.
Karla at Looking Towards Heaven wrote a guest post Blogging Basics 101 about Basic Blog Design Principles. She discusses and provides examples of
  • the rule of threes
  • color balance
  • readable fonts
  • keeping your sidebar tidy
  • well-done blog banners
Lorelle VanFossen cautions bloggers against too much blog clutter in Blog Clutter: WTF Is That Doing There?
A visitor stumbling upon your blog is honestly looking for only two things: an answer to their search and any excuse to dismiss your site for not having the answer to their search. If the blog’s design, structure, layout, and content doesn’t give them the correct answer, you’ve given them just cause to bounce away fast.
This post was cross-posted at BlogHer.com.

Source - http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2008/12/blog-design-keep-it-clutter-free-and-user-friendly/

Advice for Blog Design and Blog Goals

I recently found some notes I took from an interview Darren Rowse (Problogger) did this summer with The Blog Squad and thought I’d share them with you. He has some basic, but unbelievably useful tips. The following are my notes and thoughts from his interview in August. His key points are the bold bullet points. My thoughts follow that bold type. When the notes say I this or that, they are referring to me, Melanie.

Blog Design

  • Think about what is showing above the fold. (Above the fold means the content you see when you first view the blog. It’s anything you don’t have to scroll to see.) You should be showing recent content above the fold. I see many mommy bloggers in particular who have large title banners that take up the entire space above the fold. I would suggest making these banners smaller and focusing on providing your audience with as much info as possible above the fold.
  • Make your blog sticky. Sticky means you are encouraging people to return to your blog. To make your blog sticky, create a path to more of your blog with backlinks to previous (relevant) articles. The more they read, the more likely they are to subscribe to your RSS feed. Another way to make your blog sticky is to invite readers to subscribe to your feed and make your RSS feed available with the click of a button.

Blog Goals and Advice

  • Find a niche. It’s true that there are blogs on every niche. However, if you look, you’ll see that there are holes to be filled. Find a need and fill that need. I started Blogging Basics 101 (at the urging of Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer) because there are many intermediate and advanced tech sites for bloggers, but there wasn’t a place for beginners.
  • Don’t be afraid to self-promote. I think many bloggers (mommy bloggers in particular?) find self-promotion difficult at first. The key is to find a balance between promotion and humility. If you’re in blogging for the long haul and want to make some money, you have to put yourself out there. You’ll need to use Twitter, Facebook, and other social media to bring attention to yourself. You will have to comment at other blog posts and become part of relevant blogging communities. You will have to toot your own horn sometimes. Be careful not to spam your friends and readers with too much, but don’t be afraid to draw attention to yourself when it’s warranted. Why do you think businesses have commercials?
  • Build on what works. Don’t be afraid to experiment with new weekly columns, placement of ads on your site, or guest posts. Use your statistics programs to gauge your readers reactions. If you can’t garner information from your stats program you should a) ditch the stats program and try something new and b) ask your readers for feedback on what they like and don’t like. Then implement any ideas you receive.
  • Look for ways to extend your blog. Problogger suggests considering forums, job boards, newsletters, podcasts, and videos as ways of extending your blog’s reach.
  • Content is King! Everyone says it and it’s true: without compelling and well-written content, your blog will go nowhere. Yes, blog design is important, but they’ll stay if you have great content they need (and that ‘need’ can encompass learning or entertainment).
Source - http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2008/12/blog-advice-for-design-and-goals/