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Bill Platt - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Bill Platt resides with his family in Stillwater, Oklahoma and has been operating online businesses profitably since 2001 on his own.
He has been helping others promote their online and offline businesses since 2000, and he has taught hundreds of thousands how to get better marketing results for their businesses, through the hundreds of articles and blog posts he has published.
Bill's websites serve more than one quarter million unique visitors each calendar year.
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[View Bill Platt's Extended Author Bio]
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- We Are Off to See the SEM Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Search-Engine-Marketing] In the process of Search Engine Marketing, far too many people get lost while they are searching for the Wizard of Oz. TWISTED LOGIC When creating web content for others, I am often blind-sided by the twisted logic of client webmasters. The point of writing original content for these people was to help them establish a legitimate presence in the search engines for their targeted niche.
- Google Algorithm Changes and the Internet Scarecrows
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] It seems lots of people are upset about the recent algorithm changes at Google. Lots of tongues are wagging and many of them refer to Scroogle.org as their point of reference.
- Sell Yourself, Not Your Products Or Services
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] The point we need to make is that your products and services will change over time as your business adapts to the realities of the marketplace. If you spend your time promoting Product A and then you discontinue the sale of Product A, you will suddenly find yourself starting over from scratch with nothing to show for all of your previous work!
- Where Do Your Visitors Come From?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Traffic-Building] Some people might think it is silly for me to ask you where your visitors are coming from. Folks suppose it is silly because they do not think too much about where there current visitors are coming from. Instead they are more concerned with where the next visitor is coming from.
- Define Yourself to Find Market Share
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] Sometimes, finding the right product or service to make your own is to find someone else's version of the same product or service and discovering ways to deliver it in a different way. Someone once told me that I could not make it in a business because there were already people in that particular business!
- 'Loosing' Customers and Losing Sales
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] As I review each article for distribution to the groups, I see one misspelling time after time that really leaps from the page. Hey, it is not my reputation on the line, so why should it matter?
- Why Didn't You Publish My Article? Other Major Article Sites Did!
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] A question that many article directory managers receive is, "Do you feel like giving me a reason for rejecting my article, considering all the other major article sites have published my article?" Read this article to learn the answer.
- Maintaining and Troubleshooting Your Laptop Battery
[Computers-and-Technology:Hardware] The actual life of a laptop battery will vary with computer usage habits. For most users, it is not uncommon to experience differences in battery life, of anywhere from just under one hour to over two hours in each sitting. If you are experiencing shorter battery life cycles, say 10 to 15 minutes, it may not yet be time to order that new battery.
- The Five Most Powerful Forms of Internet Advertising
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] Webmasters and Entrepreneurs around the world are beginning to learn first-hand the long-term value of using Promotional ezine articles to promote their businesses in the online environment. When you are promoting your website, there are five methods that clearly occupy the top five positions in the ratings for effectiveness.
- 14 Tips For Getting Your Articles Published More Often
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] The writers who have learned the value of using free reprint articles as a promotional tool, go back to the well time and time again because it generates real results. Some writers have ended using all other methods of promotion because reprint articles work so very well. It is a beautiful thing when one of my clients tell me that they need to stop article distributions for a spell because they are swamped with new business and need to have time to catch up. Of course, that is less money for now, but they will be back.
- Using Free-Reprint Articles As a One-Way Link Back Strategy
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] With the advent of Google's Link Popularity algorythms, people began to aggressively hunt for the almighty inbound links. It is hard to get links back to one's site using freebie strategies unless you want to spend your days posting comments on guestbooks and setting up your own doorway pages on alternate sites.
- Article Directory Managers Take Stand Against Private Label Content
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Site-Promotion] Article directory managers are almost universally banning the submission of rebrandable articles or private label content. People who submit this content are getting permanently banned from directories on account of it.
- Life is Not Always So Simple
[Business:Ethics] Perfection eludes each of us. I know. I deal with the challenge to live a perfect life on a daily basis. In all that I do, I try my very best to perform with honesty and integrity.
- Add Value to Your User's Experiences - Add Profits to Your Bottom Line
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Web-Development] As a webmaster, you are likely searching for ways to make more money from your website. The truth is that if you have been online for any amount of time, you have learned that you always need to be on the prowl for new information to help you to be more successful, and you always need to keep one eye open looking for new ways to add more dollars to your bottom line. That is likely why you are reading this article today. You are hoping that I might be able to share some small tidbit or jewel of information that might help take you and your business to the next level. I hope that I will be able to meet your expectations.
- Distributing Reprint Articles For the Best Results
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] There are many writers who are utilizing article distribution services to get articles published in ezines and newsletters and on websites. These articles always have a link back to the website of the writer in the article's Resource Box --- the About the Author information which typically follows an article. This has always been one of the best methods a webmaster could use to generate web traffic to his or her site.
- When to Use Free Stuff to Market Your Products and Services
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] SIT AND CONTEMPLATE THIS STORY In 1999, I was contacted by a furniture company asking for advice about how to turn around their internet business. It seems that they were very successful in the non-digital, real-world, business environment. They were a small enterprise generating a few million dollars a year in sales for their furniture products.
- A Short-Sighted View of Internet Promotion
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] I was visiting a bulletin board earlier this evening when I came across a posting from a very short-sighted webmaster: "With 360+ members, I don't think I'll 'get more views' to my site 'than ever before'. All I'm going to get is more time wasted..."
- Discover How Hollywood Met the American Old West in Real Life
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Movies-TV] HOW THE OLD WEST HAS BEEN DEFINED People refer to the 'Old West' as the 'Wild West' or simply the 'West'. No matter how what they might call it, many look upon the American Old West as a wild and dangerous place that existed in the last half of the 1800's in the American Frontier, west of the Mississippi River in the United States.
- Become a Recognized Name - You're in Control of Your Own Destiny
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] If you are reading this article today, you are likely among those who are working an online business. Unfortunately, you have already learned that finding customers is not as easy as you once thought it would be. Many people have broken the bank and their dreams searching for that first customer or second customer.
- Where Are Your Articles Being Published?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Site-Promotion] In today's article hungry marketplace, there are literally hundreds of websites where you can submit your articles.
- Recipes For Online Failure And Success - Defining The Niche
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] Every week, there are another several webmasters jumping on the
bandwagon and opening their own article directory. These article
directories are each developed on different software platforms.
There are several article directory platforms available now, and
others are in the pipeline.
THE ECONOMIC ENGINE OF ARTICLE DIRECTORIES...
- Shopping In The 21st Century... Introducing the Educated Consumer
[Home-and-Family:Holidays] Before I came online, I had a dream of a great wide world were I
could learn about all of the things that ever struck my fancy.
When I came online, I found just such a world, and then so much
more.
- Starting an Ebay Business --- An Online Business Model that Works
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Auctions] THE REALITIES OF AN INTERNET BUSINESS
Millions of people are still coming online each year, and many of
those people come to the Internet with dreams of making their
financial dreams come true.
The truth is that building a website to sell products and
services is not the easiest way to make a living online. A lot of
specific knowledge or money will be required to be successful
with a standard website.
- The Blog and the Nature of Natural Linking
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Blogging] A lot of people are talking, and few of them know, the soul of
a search engine was created in the blog. ;-)
There has been a lot of talk about Natural Linking. From Oakland
(Ask Jeeves), Sunnyvale (Yahoo!) and Mountain View (Google),
California, all of the search engine companies are talking more
publicly about "Natural Linking":
http://www.free-seo-news.com/newsletter174.htm#facts
- The Day the Internet Search Engines Stopped Growing!
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] A fascinating thing happened today on the way to this article.
The story here was not planned, rather it was discovered.
An amazing and bizarre event seems to have happened in January
and February of 2003. In those early months of 2003, the major
search engines stopped growing, and few people seem to even care.
- Learn How to Build an Internet Niche by Studying the Methodology of Land Developers
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX
My mind is a strange little land where thoughts go off on
tangents and venture into realms unknown even to me. If I could
predict the wanderings of my own mind, I seriously doubt that
it would deliver to me such jewels as this one today.
- Deciding Whether to Offer Your New Gadget as a Product or Service
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Affiliate-Revenue] If you have ever made and designed your own software, you will
have likely already learned the lessons in this article. The
same lessons can be applied to the businesses of most Internet
marketers.
The main lesson I learned was that it does not matter how good
your software product is, the quality of the product does not
ensure its financial success.
- Writing Tips for Email Distribution of Your Article or Message
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Email-Marketing] It has long been understood that writing for the web is
different than writing for a print publisher. There have
been volumes written on this subject.
I am here to share with you some important lessons that I have
discovered about Writing for Email.
- Six Keys to Creating a Successful and Profitable Ezine
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Ezine-Publishing] Fortunes are made on the Internet by people who have built
solid mailing lists for the promotion of their online
businesses. But the question many publishers face is how to
turn their ezine subscribers into buyers?
Let me be honest with you. Your mailing list is only as valuable
as your subscriber's willingness to purchase your products and
services, or the products and services of your advertisers.
- Peak Cycles are Driven by Timely Content
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] The very first time I had ever experienced this phenomena online
was in December of 1996. In those way-back days, I ran a site
focused on selling Christian t-shirts. Back then, I had posted
Christian based poetry on my website to draw traffic to the
domain. Over the two days leading up to Christmas and the two
days following Christmas, I had served as much traffic as I
had in the previous nine months of existence!
- The Basics of a Mailing List Structure
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Email-Marketing] The short and sweet of it is that a mailing list is nothing
more than a plain text file that contains email addresses.
Sometimes these *flat files* also contain first and last
names, as well as other additional and optional information.
- Autoresponders Are a Publishers Best Friend
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Autoresponders] How many times have you subscribed to a new ezine, and then
when the first issue of the ezine arrived, you were scratching
your head as to how your email address ended up on the list?
Our lives are often so tedious that little details often slip
right from our memory.
The point is this. If it happens to you, you can rest assured
that others have the same experience as well.
- Ten Tips to Help Select Affiliate Programs & Make Money from Them
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Affiliate-Revenue] SUPPLEMENTAL INTERNET INCOME
Many publishers and webmasters undertake the process of picking
and adding affiliate programs to add a few extra bucks to their
bottom lines.
When you have managed to pick a winner, the selected affiliate
program can develop enough additional income to make it worth
while to continue to offer the program to your visitors.
- Essential Elements of Developing Copy that Generates Real Traffic
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] When you finally decided to start your own business, and you
built your website for the purpose of developing your business,
your goal was clear. You wanted to make lots of money and to be
in business for a very long time.
Who can blame you? The thought of going to a job everyday for
the rest of my life kills me too.
- Understanding the Value of Inbound Links on Your Website
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Traffic-Building] Besides search engines, the next most common way people move
from one website to another is through links on other sites.
The reason that the Internet is often refered to a the "Web"
is because it exists so much as a web of links running from
one site to another in a maze more complex than the spider
web from which it is named.
- Keyword Rich Content + Well Written Press Release = Wow Results
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Site-Promotion] IT IS NOT EVERYDAY...
It is not everyday that you launch a new website. It is even
less everyday that you launch a new domain and experience
significant site traffic within just a few weeks.
My newest site was launched in the middle of December, 2003.
As such it has only been in operation for less than six weeks.
Did I expect that within the first six weeks after the
unofficial launch of my site that I would have served over
1800 unique visitors to my new domain? Definitely not.
- Astounding! Why Not Astonished?
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing] The use of certain words in the English language annoy me.
Perhaps it is just a personal pet peeve and perhaps I am
just overreacting.
*Astounded* and *astounding* are two versions of a word that
peeves me to no end. In my little mind, these two words are
used far too often.
- Mix Up Your Content to Drive More Traffic
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Web-Design] Utilizing the kind of content that can be obtained on
free-reprint article directories is a good method of adding a
wider range of search keywords to your website. By increasing
the range of keywords on your website, you will find more of
your own links in the search results of the major spider
search engines.
- Building a Franchise Powerhouse
[Business:Small-Business] Take a note from the movie industry on the value of building a
franchise. Franchises usually do a good job about building
cross-selling opportunities into everything they do. Two recent
franchise movies have taught me that some in Hollywood are very
talented in this regard.
- Do You Publish? Do You Fear Spam Accusations?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Ezine-Publishing] Let's face it. If you are publishing an ezine online, your
business is always at risk. The anti-spam community does not
concern themselves with how much care and work you put into
building your list and how much effort you put into assuring
that your subscribers really want to be on your list.
- Pull Technology Takes Your Ezine Off of the Spam Wars Battlefield
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Ezine-Publishing] FIRST IMPRESSIONS CAN LAST A LIFETIME
The very first step in the promotion process is making contact
with your potential customer. Once contact is made, it is
suggested that you have 30 seconds to get their attention.
- Snowballs Rolling Down a Mountain! (Updated)
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] FIRST IMPRESSIONS CAN LAST A LIFETIME
The very first step in the promotion process is making contact
with your potential customer. Once contact is made, it is
suggested that you have 30 seconds to get their attention.
- The Power of Free Reprint Articles and the Terms of Reprint
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] WRITERS ARE THE PUBLISHER'S AND WEBMASTER'S BEST FRIEND
As a writer of free-reprint articles, I know full well the
intentions of the writer's who make their articles available
to publishers and webmasters as *free* content.
- The 2 Minute Paradigm, Convert 400% More of Your Traffic to Sales
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Web-Development] WHAT DOES PUMPKIN CENTER HAVE TO DO WITH ONLINE MARKETING?
Good question indeed. It is the euphamisms of driving through
small-town America that has driven my thoughts in the
development of this article.
"Don't blink, or you will miss it."
- Ten Things Harry Potter Has Over Hillary Rodham-Clinton
[News-and-Society] Fox News asked the more important question of the day. They
asked what Harry Potter has over Hillary Rodham-Clinton in
the draw at bookstores in America.
My wife and I contemplated this question, and this is what we
came up with:
- What Is the Real Future of Email?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Spam-Blocker] Weekly, I keep an eye to the horizon to assess new developments
in the Internet environment. In noting the changes, I sometimes
begin to feel overwhelmed by feelings of doom.
The S~P~A~M problem is one such item that leaves me at times
in much distress. I fear the trends of the ISP's in their
efforts to get control of the S~P~A~M situation.
- A Checklist Leading to a Successful E-Commerce Website
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Web-Development] To succeed in e-commerce, the following eleven steps are those
that every business owner should tackle when developing their
new online business:
- What Is the Cost of War? And Is That Cost Really Too High?
[News-and-Society] WISDOM SAYS
Wisdom says that you do not discuss politics or religion in
public places. Wisdom says those conversations should only
take place behind closed doors. Why does wisdom speak this
way?
- How Safe Is Your Money Online?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Security] Buying products and services on the Internet has never been as easy and safe as it is today.
In the early days of the Internet, the fear of electronic crime nearly strangled the growth of e-commerce.
- Offer More Payment Options than Your Competition
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] In order to be successful online, you must provide your
customers many quick and easy ways to pay for your goods
and services. It is not enough to ask folks to send a money
order or check to your house or place of business. You must
go further.
- E-Commerce Patent Blackmail --- You May Be Next!
[Legal:Cyber-Law] Over the last eight years, the promise of the Internet has been to level the playing field between small businesses and major corporations.
- LURKERS and BABBLERS and the Make-Up of Your Subscriber Base
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:List-Building] I see comments from frustrated list owners all of the time. They
get frustrated because they have started discussion lists where
no discussions take place... sure, they have subscribers, but
discussions are scarce. Out of frustration, these list owners
invariably throw their hands up and walk away from their lists.
If you are one of these discussion list owners, then this article
is for you.
- How the War Against Spam is Killing the Internet
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Spam-Blocker] Hands down, email is the most widely used and loved computer
application brought to life by the Internet.
According to the publication 'Messaging Today' (2000 Electronic
Mailbox Report - Feb. 21, 2001), "Email is the most successful
communications technology since the television, and in a few
years will even surpass that. There are currently more than 891
million email accounts in use Worldwide and 440 million in the
U.S. alone - with an average of more than 4 email accounts per
person."
- Passively Acquiring New Subscribers by the Boatload
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:List-Building] First off, don't be lulled in by the title of this article
into believing that anything can be acquired by doing nothing.
People are always sending us emails telling us that we can make
millions online without any work.
- Close Your Eyes, Point, And Click
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] You don't have to think hard to know where you want to go. Just
let your mouse do the "clicking."
Sometimes we find ourselves so overwhelmed by the amount of
great things to do on the Web that we reach a point where we
do not know what we want to do next. Like tonight, I didn't
know how to start working on a writing assignment I had to do.
- Overcoming the Five Obstacles to Affiliate Success
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Affiliate-Revenue] Nearly every mass marketable product or service available online
sports an Affiliate Program or MLM matrix to encourage small
business people to sell those products or services to others.
- The Free-Reprint Articles Powerhouse and Copyright Law
[Writing-and-Speaking:Article-Marketing] Writing articles is definitely a very solid method of building
a client base for your online business. There is no doubt about
that. The writers I speak with who use free-reprint articles
for the promotion of their businesses all proudly talk about
the success articles have brought to them.
- The Value of Software in Our Daily Lives
[Computers-and-Technology:Software] Long, long ago when I was in high school during the early
1980's, personal computers were just coming into existence.
Back then, I had taken on Basic programming as a high school
student. In those days, the PC of choice was the Radio Shack
TRS-80 --- this was just a couple of years before the
introduction of the first Apple computer.
- New and Improved... Or Is It?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] Twice in the last two weeks, I have come across articles where
he author is celebrating "A New, More Effective Way to Promote
Your Business on the Web."
- Back Up Your Email Box Before It is Too Late
[Computers-and-Technology:Data-Recovery] When so many of us rely so much on our email to operate our businesses or our personal lives, it is important to take preventative measures to avoid the ultimate disaster of unrecoverable email...
- Add 500 Targeted Keywords to Your Site in Three Minutes
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] How often do you visit the search engines looking for the information that you seek? Twice a week? Every day?
- Temptations, White Lies, Sales, and Seeing Eye Dogs
[Business:Ethics] A man went into the local Big and Tall Man's store several
times looking for a job. Finally, on his seventh visit, the
store's owner told him, "I will tell you what. I have this
suit here on the shelf that has been here for years. I cannot
find anyone to buy it. I have some errands to run, so if you
will watch the store while I am out, you will get your chance.
If you can sell this suit while I am gone, you will have
yourself a job."
- Providing Excellent Customer Support on a Small Budget
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] An integral part of any successful e-commerce website is an
effective customer support solution. Your online business must
be able to quickly respond to inquiries from potential clients
and from existing clients, and then be able to address those
inquiries accurately and efficiently.
- Increase Your Sales By 25% By Implementing One Small Change
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] How much would you be willing to pay to learn how to implement
a guaranteed 25% increase in your online sales? Given the
current sales situation on your website, how much would that
25% increase in sales add to your bottom line? $250 per month?
$500? $25,000?
- How to Build Spam-Free Email Campaigns
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Email-Marketing] In the current Internet market, many people are confused as to
how they can use email to build their online businesses, while
consumers are fighting off the evils of spam email. As a result,
we are tackling this most important issue today.
- Learning the Lessons of the Dot-Bomb Era
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online] During the late 1990's, banks and investors were falling all
over themselves to invest in the new dot com companies wanting
to go public.
- Are Announcement Lists Effective?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Ezine-Publishing] When you start an ezine, you realize after a few short weeks
that you will actually have to promote it in order for it to be
successful. But how do we do that? We have all asked ourselves
that question. When you begin to seek out solutions, most of us
quickly discover Announcement Lists. But, how effective are they?
- Caught In the Cross-Fire of the Spam War
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Spam-Blocker] LET THERE BE LIGHT: To understand this story, we must return
to the beginning --- September 5th, 2001. One of my associates
had placed a free ad in a newsletter that she had just
subscribed to. For that effort, she was accused of spam! Mind
you the person filing the complaint was not the editor of the
newsletter, but rather a subscriber of the newsletter.
- Understanding the Technology of Email
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online] In the course of my work with people online, I often run into a
wall of confusion when I speak of the different types of email
available. People will ask help with their email accounts. I
always ask, "do you have a web mail account or a POP3 email
account?"
- You've Got Mail
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online] For the last 30 years, the most popular computer application
on the Internet has been email. 30 Years? Yes. The first email
application was built in 1971 and upgraded in 1972. With the
upgrade, email became a widely used and really popular computer
application. But, 30 years? Yes indeed. Don't take my word for
it, check out "Hobbes' Internet Timeline - the Definitive
ARPAnet and Internet History" at:
- Adult Continuing Education and Life After 40
[Reference-and-Education] There are two kinds of people in life: those who continue learning well past the last ringing of the school bell, and those who are trudging through life praying for retirement. Which one are you? If I were to contribute only one thing to my youthful feelings that would be the fact that even at 40, I find time in my day to learn new things.
- Should You Hire a Famous Writer or Write Your Own Articles?
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] Proven and Exceptional Click-Through Results Testing has proven again and again that promotional articles generate more click-through traffic than standard ezine advertising. And it is much cheaper ...
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