Vivid Happiness

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The idea of whether the Internet is making us more intelligent or less intelligent, more vulnerable to distraction or more capable of skillful multi-tasking, seems to have obsessed the majority of print and online media journalists lately. No doubt these journalists are concerned with the fate of their jobs, as print media dwindles and people become increasingly less likely to pay for reporting that often costs thousands of dollars to accomplish. Out of this so-called “crisis of attention” has emerged a new genre of writing, a kind of meta-reporting in which journalists, distracted by the swarm of new media overtaking print, are focusing their attention on new neurological research and technological advancements to try and figure out where the future of their own profession, and indeed the entire globalized world, is headed.

One of the more notable recent articles to address this topic was Sam Anderson’s New York magazine piece called “In Defense of Distraction.”[1] Basically Anderson says that the amount of distracting media content available these days (through iPods, iPhones, 24/7 cable news, multiple email accounts, YouTube, etc) may, over time, enable human beings to be better at “paying attention.”

He begins the article by citing a number of scary statistics about the toll the Internet and streaming media has reeked on human beings: Young adults in South Korea have perished from exhaustion after marathon “gaming” sessions; distraction is a “full-blown epidemic” akin to smoking years ago, when people didn’t understand how unhealthy smoking really was; Einstein, were he alive today, would have been too distracted to come up with the theory of relativity. But Anderson soon comes around to say that attention is actually a kind of concentrated form of distraction. Focusing on a pen on your desk, for instance, is a way of harnessing your distractions around a single point. You start to think interesting thoughts about the desk, the pen, ink, the act of writing, etc. You become distracted, in other words, by concentrating on the pen.
We’re always distracted. It’s our natural condition. But too much concentration, Anderson says, can actually be a bad thing. Adderall, for example, often causes people to think mechanically, as if with blinders on, limiting one’s ability to be distracted and thus think creatively. In a recent article in Slate,[2] Joshua Foer spent an experimental week taking Adderall, and found that he was much less likely to be distracted by email, but also less likely to think outside the box. To experience the random associations or sensations that can often trigger a cool new angle on an idea, he needed to be a bit more distractable. Anderson uses the example of Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, Proust’s giant seven-volume masterpiece of reminiscence that was initially triggered by a random sense memory—the taste of a cookie dipped in tea that transported him back to his youth. Had Proust been taking Adderall, Anderson writes, he might’ve been so caught up in whatever conversation he was having or book he was reading that the memory of eating his “madeleine,” as the cookie was called, may not have registered at all.

Nicholas Carr, a former IT consultant who writes periodically for The Atlantic, made some darker prophecies on the subject of attention and distraction last year in an article titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” [3] Taking the opposite track from Anderson, Carr starts by addressing the benefits of the Internet. People may be reading more than they used to in the seventies and eighties, thanks to the web and other text providers. And deep research is gloriously simpler thanks to Google. Whereas before you might have to spend a day in the library stacks to find a relevant quote, you can now search for it in Google and shazaam, there it is. Three seconds versus 5 hours. But Carr is infinitely skeptical of the toll this ease-of-access may be taking on the biological network of our brains. Technology may not only be influencing what we think, but how we think:

[W]hat the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.

Carr foresees a time not unlike that portrayed in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey, in which the most ostensibly “human” character turns out to be a machine. The essence of Kubrick’s prophecy, Carr writes, is that “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.”

In my own life, I’ve noticed a decreased ability to pay attention to books and magazines the way that I used to, before the Internet became such a big part of everyone’s life. There’s always something else to do, to look up, to watch. Spending an hour reading a novel or a long article in the New Yorker is becoming less and less feasible. I find myself getting antsy, losing my place, drifting off, especially if I happen to be reading in the same room as my computer—that portal to the land of universal knowledge and, of course, distraction. Granted, there are a lot of great things on the Internet, things that have certainly changed the way I think about the world in a positive and beneficial way. Never have human beings been able to connect with one another so easily, and connect to ideas so easily, which hopefully increases our wisdom and ability to empathize with the rest of the species.

And yet, it’s hard not to feel like a kind of lab rat, punching the feeder bar for more and more input, more content, more blips of temporary pleasure from videos of cats in funny costumes. And the sad truth, as Carr makes clear, is that companies like Google have an economic interest in making us more and more distracted, so that they can learn more about our interests and personal habits and then advertise accordingly. They don’t want concentrated thinking; they want you to continue hyperlinking and surfing wildly and constantly, instead of spending thirty minutes contemplating an author’s intentions. That gets them nowhere. They, too, are thirsty for input.

For the moment, the solution for many ambitious Americans seems to be neuro-enhancers, drugs that increase our ability to pay attention and perform complex tasks more efficiently. But again, what part of ourselves are we losing by taking these drugs? The long-term consequences of Adderall addiction can be just as devastating as an addiction to speed—the gradual burning-out of important neural circuitry. Perhaps the best solution is to take up meditating, or make sure you get some weekly exercise, or just continue to think about stuff and have face-to-face conversations about non-technological subjects. Unless some apocalyptic event wipes out the whole mainframe Internet circuit board, we’re going to be living with frighteningly advanced technology for millennia to come. We better start learning how to ignore it from time to time.

[1] http://nymag.com/news/features/56793
[2] http://www.slate.com/id/2118315
[3] http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google
P.S. – Back to the computer….

Gila Beckermann, Member of CarbonCopyPro Team
www.VividWCM.com

Was macht ein Anfaenger, der oder die sich wohl mit der Technik des Computers
auskennt aber keine Ahnung hat, wie man sich ein Geschaeft auf der Internet
aufbauen kann?

Oder was macht jemand, der weder Ahnung von Technik hat, noch
wie man auf der Internet wirbt ohne viel Geld auszugeben? Ist es moeglich,
sich ein Einkommen auf der Internet zu verschaffen, nicht ueber E-Bay zum Beispiel,
sondern mit einem eigenen “Nischen Produkt” oder auch als “Affiliate Marketer“,
wo man Produkte, Information oder sonstige Artikel vermarktet, die einem selber
nicht gehoeren. E-Bay ist fuer viele ein Hauptgeschaeft geworden, aber es ist auch
sehr zeitaufwendig.

Amazon hat mit “Affiliate Marketing” angefangen und ist wohl der groesste in der Art,
aber wie lange hat es gedauert bis sie tatsaechlich Geld verdient haben? Jahre.
Das kann sich eine Einzelperson wohl kaum leisten.

Und immer wieder hoeren wir von den Superstars, die alles moegliche auf der Internet
verkaufen, von Autoreifen bis hin zu selbstgebackenen Plaetzchen, selbst belanglosen
Artikeln die sie auf Flohmaerkten oder sonstwo finden und dann auf der Internet weiterverkaufen
und sich so ein nettes “Neben” Einkommen verschaffen.

E-Bay oder sonstige Auktionshaeuser haben natuerlich nach wie vor viele Besucher aber auch
das hat sich in den letzten Jahren schon geaendert. Eins steht fest, auf der Internet gibt
es keine Rezession. Jedes Jahr geht es weiter nach oben. Zweistellige Wachstums-
raten sind normal und wer jetzt noch glaubt, dass die Internet unnuetzig ist oder eigentlich
nur gut fuer Email ist, sollte sich vielleicht besser informieren.

Waere es da nicht schoen, wenn man sich als Einzelgaenger von dem Geschaeft  auf der Web
auch ein wenig abhaben koennte? Ja natuerlich, aber wie macht man es, wenn man eigentlich
nicht so viel Ahnung von Marketing oder Verkauf hat, schon gar nicht auf der Internet?

1. Wo faengt man an und was kostet es?
2. Wieviel Zeit muss man haben?
3. Was soll man verkaufen?

Einfache Fragen, trotzdem oft schwer zu beantworten.
Es gibt massenweise Information auf der Internet, die man umsonst
bekommen kann. Man muss sich nur die Zeit nehmen, sie zu suchen und
dann zu lesen und es in die Tat umsetzen. Aber das ist schon die erste
grosse Huerde. “In die Tat umsetzen”.

Wenn mir jemand sagt, es ginge alles so einfach, jeder kann es, kein Problem etc. etc.
werde ich immer misstrauisch. Wenn es so einfach waere, warum gibt es dann nicht nur
erfolgreiche Menschen? Wie in allem im Leben gehoert zumindest der Wille dazu, etwas
zu erreichen und bestimmte Wege zu gehen, die einen zum Erfolg fuehren koennen.

Man braucht nicht selber den Weg muehsam finden, das haben schon viele vor uns
erfolgreich getan, folge denen, die es bereits geschafft haben, kopiere sie, mache es
besser. Wie man so schoen im englischen sagt “Work smart, not hard”.

Die Internet ist daher perfekt fuer die Person, die “Entrepreneur” Eigenschaften hat.
Man kann fuer sehr wenig Geld anfangen, man kann weltweit operieren. Man braucht
keine Angestellten, kein Inventar, noch nicht mal Visitenkarten oder Briefpapier.

Man braucht einen Computer (ich habe auch schon von Leuten gehoert, die ein erfolgreiches
Business aus der Bibliothek oder aus Internet Cafes heraus betreiben, weil sie selber keinen
Computer hatten). Davon rate ich persoenlich ab. Einen Computer sollte man schon haben,
es macht es so viel einfacher. Und man sollte die Moeglichkeit haben, einigermassen schnell
auf die Internet zu kommen.

Dazu moechte ich kurz anmerken, dass ich seit fast 30 Jahren in Kalifornien wohne und mir schon
manchmal die “richtigen” deutschen Worte fehlen. In der “Internet Sprache” ist es allerdings wohl
so, dass viele der englischen Woerter direkt uebernommen werden. Ich hoffe, Ihr versteht, dass
ich viele dieser Woerter nicht in deutsch weiss.

Wenn Ihr also Interesse habt, einiges von dem zu uebernehmen, was ich in den letzten Jahren so
gelernt habe, dann wuerde ich mich freuen, wenn Ihr ab und zu mal in meinen Blog schaut. Vielleicht
ist ja was dabei, was Ihr gebrauchen koennt auf Eurem Weg zum Internet Erfolg.

Gila Beckermann
Skype: Gilaworld

In Stephen Covey’s book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” he talks about the difference between Important and Urgent matters, and how dividing our time in a balanced way between those two types of activities can make us more or less effective.

It’s amazing how something that urgently demands our attention almost always seems to appear important. But is it? Understanding how to recognize the two as separate has really been an eye-opener for me and has helped me prioritize how I spend my time.

Urgent matters require our immediate attention; we react to urgent needs. It could be something as simple as putting down a book we are studying to answer a question shouted from the next room.

Every one of us probably knows someone who’s permanently in crisis mode, constantly putting out fires, busy, busy, busy. But, have you noticed, that type of person is frequently stuck somewhere shy of their goals because they never seem to have the time to get to the things they say are important to them?

I am not saying that urgent matters are always not important. A true crisis must be tended to. But a problem—something like figuring out how to clear the cache on your computer so it runs smoother—must take a number and wait behind matters that actually are important.

Important activities are those that help you get closer to the goals you have set for yourself. Important tasks frequently are things we must do on our own initiative, without some outside circumstance creating a sense of urgency. Important things come in all sizes, but usually require planning and effort, sometimes simply to prevent situations from becoming urgent.

We ignore important tasks early in the day or early in life, they have a way of escalating into urgent situations.

It’s probably becoming apparent that one thing that’s extremely important is to separate important tasks from urgent ones and assign them time appropriately. Once you’ve clarified that something is important, it’s your responsibility to assign a sense of urgency and get it done. If you’re an entrepreneur, think about the aspects of your business that are urgent as opposed to important. Consider delegating urgent tasks by getting an assistant. Your effectiveness will dramatically increase if you start spending by far the greatest percentage of your time attending to the important things. If you take care of the important tasks you’ll keep them from becoming urgent and reduce the amount of time devoted to crisis management in your life.

As I said, time for mortals is finite. In fact, we never really know when we’ll run out of it. To make matters more complicated, there turns out to be truth in the old saying that you never have enough time to do everything you’d like to do. So you really do need to decide what is important, and take care of business!

To Your Massive Success!
Gila Beckermann

www.vividwcm.com

Traffic Python is a new site that says it guarantees more web visitors and online advertising with very little effort or cost. More importantly, it promises higher CONVERSIONS–signups and sales. So I decided to put it to the test…

My first impression was the site looks professional and clean, with an attractive look and feel. It is easy to read and understand. Joining the site was easy and painless–they do offer 2 upgrade options but they are not required to gain the benefits.

The Members Area is very well laid out and intuitive–I could figure out what to do after only a few minutes and was able to get up and running in less than 5 minutes. Inside the site, you create links and ads–the links you simply enter any URL links you use into the generator and it transforms them into “Traffic Python” links. You create ads for anything you want to promote using the Traffic Python Ad Generator, which is very easy to use. You can create as many links and as many ads as you like. And they are organized in a logical way–links are displayed in the order you create them but also your 5 most recent links appear on the main page for quick reference. Also, since the link generator is the tool you’ll use most, it is also right at the top of the main page when you login. Very smart!

After you’ve created at least 1 link and 1 ad you can start to generate traffic. Just use and promote the new Traffic Python link instead of the original source link you had. Every time the Traffic Python link is clicked, the page loads followed by a small ad window in the lower right corner. It displays 3 ads PLUS an image with your affiliate link that goes back to Traffic Python. So if anyone clicks the Traffic Python image they see the site, and if they signup they become your referral. It’s a great viral feature because you can build referrals without even trying to just by using the site.

Now every time the ad window displays (your Traffic Python links get clicked) you earn credits that get YOUR ad displayed in the ad windows when other members’ links get clicked. So the more clicks, the more times your ads get displayed.

And this works virally–meaning as you make referrals into Traffic Python (either by promoting it or just using it and visitors click the Traffic Python image on the ad window to join) you also earn ad credits on THEIR link clicks. And this works up to 5 levels deep. So you can create a massive amount of free ad views and web traffic by referring others to Traffic Python also.

I didn’t get to test the full effect of a big downline yet (I just got the tool) but I can tell you the rest of the site works exactly as stated–my links got clicked, I earned credits, and my ads got displayed. Traffic Python even tracked my results so I know how many clicks and how many ad displays. That was an impressive unadvertised extra feature.

There is one more benefit and feature which might be the best of them all–downline emailing. You can email your downline with offers, promotions, or whatever you like, and here is where Traffic Python really shines. They took time to make the emailing often enough that it’s valuable as a user, but no so often that it’s a burden to your downline. But the best part about this feature (and actually the credit earning too) is that it tells you exactly how long until you can mail again. Now THAT’s cool.

Overall I have to say I am impressed with Traffic Python. It is simple yet powerful, and delivers on its promises. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to increase traffic and advertising.

See it and join here:

http://trafficpython.com/x/aff/44972

To your massive success!
Gila Beckermann
Skype: Gilaworld

Anyone can have a great idea, lots of them: million dollar ideas; ideas that will change their life; ideas that will change other people’s lives; ideas that will change the world. But any idea that stays on the chalkboard is worth only the chalk it’s written with.

What’s missing for most people is decisive action and disciplined follow-through to take their ideas from concept to reality.

Take some form of productive action daily.
It could be something as simple as googling a phone number or doing some basic research–something that takes you closer to your goal. Be careful though, being “busy” does not necessarily mean you are taking action; action takes you measurably closer to your goal. When a task, idea, or goal is so big or challenging that you can’t move on it, break it down into small steps that you can take action on daily. Ideas don’t count as building blocks, only actions do. Considering this, how is the construction on your house of dreams coming?

Be scrappy, resourceful and do it yourself.
No one is going to have the same passion that you have for your idea and no one will be willing to invest as much time, energy and passion in making it happen as you. If you have to, make your action steps smaller, but do not quit or allow yourself to stall when tough circumstances appear. Persistence and patience are key to solving your entrepreneurial puzzles. I have no formal education on business or marketing yet almost very major accomplishment I have had came by figuring it out and doing it myself. All you do-it-yourselfers know there is no substitute for the school of hard knocks.

Don’t wait to take action until you have the perfect conditions.
Circumstances, conditions and timing are seldom perfect. That’s why all of the successful entrepreneurs that I know create their own circumstances as they need them. Just like with travel, the quickest way to get to your destination is the most direct route. If that means figuring it out and doing it yourself sometimes, so be it.

Seek guidance from people who already have the results you want.
I personally have about a dozen people I look up to in all different areas of life and business. People that have the results that I want to achieve whom I look to emulate as closely as possible. These people don’t even know that are on my imaginary board of directors. Leveraging other people’s knowledge and experience will help you cut down on mistakes and accelerate the process.

Put productivity over procedure.
People can take months batting ideas around, preparing a business plan, consulting accountants and attorneys, getting a business entity set up, etc. I see people stuck in the “getting-ready-to-get-ready” mode all the time.

CarbonCopyPro is a perfect marketing system that will help you jumstart your Internet Business.
For more info:
www.VividWCM.com

I am testing ScribeFire to make sure it works.

There are many different ways to make money as an affiliate marketer.  This is why affiliate marketing has become so popular in recent years.  Below are five ways to earn commission and make residual income an affiliate marketer.

1.  The most common way to make money in affiliate marketing is by selling products.  These can be physical products, digital products or services.  There are millions of affiliate merchants you can choose from, and by carefully choosing products or services that are relevant to your particular niche, you can gradually make a very good income making commissions on each sale

2.  Some affiliate merchants offer two-tier marketing.  This means that if you recruit other affiliates, you also earn money on the sales that they make.  If you enjoy working and communicating with other people this is a very good way of making money on the internet, and is extremely popular.

Two-tier marketing can work well if you use social networking sites.  If you can teach your downline affiliates to do what you do and help them to achieve sales, your profits will increase considerably.

3.  You can get paid to sell pay per click advertising on your website or blog.  One of the best ways of doing this is to join the Google Adsense program and get a piece of code which you then put onto your site.  This will place adverts on your page which are relevant to your website.  Every time someone clicks on an advert, you get a small amount of commission.

This is a very easy way to make money as an affiliate marketer and as traffic to your website increases, so your Adsense sales will increase.

4.  One way of making some extra money is by selling leads.  With some merchants you can place banners or links on your site that will take the visitor to a lead capture form.  When they fill in their details you will earn commission

5.  Look out for affiliate merchants that offer ongoing residual commissions.   Merchants who are selling services whereby someone has to join as a member will often give you commission for every month that the customer stays in the program.  This is a great way of earning money as an affiliate because just one sale can lead to a regular income, and each sale on top of that increases your income as long as they stay in the program.

Membership sites are good examples of this kind of program.  People will join them to receive training or some regular information on a particular subject.  If it’s a good program the members can stay for years, earning you ongoing commission.

Some website hosting sites also offer this kind of affiliate commission, and these can be a very good source of regular income, as people often stay with their hosting site for a long time as long as they receive a good service.

These are five great ways to make residual commission as an affiliate marketer.  If you are new to affiliate marketing, it would be a good idea to master each one of these five methods one by one until you are expert in all of them.  Each time you earn commission you will gain more confidence and eventually you will find yourself making a full time income.

When put to the test, people are endlessly adaptive, inventive, cunning and resilient. These are some of the qualities that have helped us survive eons of changing, challenging conditions to emerge as the dominant species on the planet.

We share many of these qualities with other creatures. I recently read about a chimp in an outdoor zoo that doesn’t like being gawked at, so overnight he gathers piles of rocks and places them, strategically, around his pen to hurl at visitors when they arrive. Luckily, chimps only know how to throw underhand.

There’s an extra quality that humans have. Call it savvy. If the chimp had it, he might build a pile of rocks big enough to climb out of his predicament. Which brings me to the predicament we all find ourselves in, one way or another: the recession.

According to a New York Times article, economists who have tracked trends in previous recessions found that when the economy turns down and jobs disappear, more entrepreneurial businesses spring up. In other words, when people are forced to stop working for someone else, they figure out how to make money for themselves.

The ability to reinvent ourselves is in each of us. It’s part of human nature. But why wait until you are forced to dig deep before you find the motivation to become an entrepreneur? Why not be proactive? Why not gather some rocks ahead of time and work toward building a castle where you can live happily ever after?

You are probably familiar with the expression “The best time to look for a job is when you already have one.” Well, that’s also a good time to launch your own business. When there’s no pressure. But if you are out of a job, don’t despair. It’s always a good time to become an entrepreneur.

The Internet has created countless opportunities for “virtual” businesses, particularly over the last five years with so many people shopping, meeting and communicating online – the mass embrace of Web 2.0 social media. There are literally millions of business opportunities online if you know where to look and how to develop them…or if you simply connect with someone who can show you the ropes.

The Internet has become a multi-purpose business tool that brings individual entrepreneurs together with entire common-interest communities to provide vast resources for business leads and clients, connections to partners, suppliers, product delivery systems, support networks and on-demand, quality training from successful professionals. Why go through the pains of starting a brick-and-mortar business, complete with overhead costs, employee headaches, etc.? You can find a way to turn your passion into a business – without searching for a job that ultimately may or may not do it for you – by using the power of the Internet and social media.

Don’t worry if you can’t identify a passion as the basis for your business. There are so many options out there. And you can let your entrepreneurial drive be your passion.

I’ve talked with so many people who have lost a job (unfortunately), and one of the most frequent comments I hear from them is that when you lose a job you also lose a ready-made social network. To prevent isolation from setting in, one of the ways people stay connected with the world and with each other is through the Internet. What I have discovered (and helped to create) is a network of committed entrepreneurs. Each of them knows that by helping him or herself they help each other.

Before the recession affects us any more than it already has, let savvy, rather than necessity, be the mother of invention. Let’s see how many small businesses that we, as entrepreneurs, can build, and how quickly we can climb out of this predicament.

This letter was sent to me by my friend Jay Kubassek, the President of CCPro. To learn more about his company, please visit:

www.VividWCM.com

In the world of network marketing, most people either feel more comfortable with offline marketing or online marketing. It is true that online businesses probably have more advantages due to fewer overheads. You do not need to cold-call, store products, spend large amounts on advertising or shipping and so on. However, for truly effective online marketing there are four tools that every online business must have in order to compete in the online marketplace.

1. A website. This is absolutely essential if you want to market your products, or anyone else’s.

In affiliate or multi-level marketing you will often be provided with a website. However, most successful affiliate marketers have learned that creating their own website gives them a powerful advantage over the competition. With your own website you have more control over what you sell and how you sell it, and you are far more likely to be found in the search engines because your own website will be unique.

2. An autoresponder. An autoresponder is an online marketing tool that will send out automated emails that you have pre-written to a mailing list. It is essential that you build a list by capturing email addresses via opt-in boxes and lead capture pages. Most traffic to your website will leave without buying anything, but if they subscribe to your email campaign you have the chance to build up a relationship with these prospects and create a better chance for them to buy from you later on.

Do not under-estimate the power of having a mailing list like this. It is a powerful tool that can pay you back many times in the future. In order to capture your subscribers you need to give them a reason to opt-in, so you can also offer free ebooks that will attract them to signing up.

3. A blog. A regular blog post will put you in favor with the search engines, so it really is a must to add this to your website.

Running a blog can be fun. It is less formal than writing articles and you can also interact with your visitors by allowing them to leave comments on your posts. An interesting blog can really put life into your internet business.

4. An online payment tool. If you sell products directly you will need to make it easy for your customers to pay you. Many affiliate marketing merchants also prefer to pay their affiliates online, so it will be essential if you are in this business.

The most popular online payment system these days is Paypal, and you will find that this is the one favored by most merchants. It is very easy to open an account and make and accept payments online, and you can also easily set up payment buttons on your web pages by adding a piece of code that Paypal will supply. Customers can pay via Paypal even if they do not have a Paypal account by using their credit cards.

In order to have an effective online marketing business, these four tools are absolutely essential for every internet business. All of them are easy to set up and if you use them correctly they will contribute greatly to your online success.

Article marketing is a means of using articles to generate traffic to your website. You achieve this initially by writing articles containing useful content, relevant to the topic of your site, and then submitting them to article directories. If your writing is sufficiently compelling, readers will want to know more about what you have written, and will click on the link you provide to your website.

Article submission does two things. Firstly it provides you with the opportunity to persuade the reader to find out more from your website, as inferred above, and it also provides you with a one way link back from the article directory. The higher the page ranking of the directory, then the more credit the search engines will give you for the link. Engines such as Google take your link popularity as a significant factor when calculating where your webpage should be listed in the index for the specific keyword your page relates to.

Your Article Must have Merit

However, it does not stop there. Should the visitor consider that your article is of sufficient merit to warrant them using it as content on their own website, they are entitled to copy it so long as they include your name as author, and your author’s resource box, complete with webpage URL. You then get a one way link back from all the sites that use your article, and also visitors that click on your link from these sites.

That’s the theory, but how about the practice? In fact it is slightly more difficult that that. The article has to be well enough written to be accepted by the directories first, though from what I have seen that is not too difficult. Some directories are quite liberal as to what they call ‘writing’. It is not the directories that are the problem, it is the readers. People have a certain standard that they expect of internet writing, and if they feel that it is not met then they will click away from the article.

Don’t Try to Fool the Reader

The article must also be of interest and relevant to the theme. You don’t get people clicking to visit your website unless they find your content of interest and feel that your website could be of potential use to them. So write about what you know, and don’t try to fool anybody. Many people who access your article will know more that you about the topic, and will spot any inaccuracies immediately. Be accurate and try to provide information that will help them. Visitors to your website want to be helped, have a question answered or a problem solved.

Your resource box is also important. Don’t say too much about yourself: readers are not interested in your life history. Just tell them that they can find out more on your website. Provide them with a link a page in your site that deals exactly with what you wrote about and preferably with the same title, so that when they get there they will start reading.

Use Anchor Text where Possible

If you provide a link to a page within your site, rather than just the home page, it is regarded as of being more important to a search engine, especially if that link is provided by means of anchor text. That is text that indicates the topic of your web page, rather than being just a URL. You can do this if html is allowed. If you don’t know how to use html, just write something to the effect “more information on this topic can be found on my web page This Topic