Avoid Holiday Stress, Enjoy Christmas!!!

Christmas is fast approaching and that means eating too much, fighting traffic, looking for parking places within a mile of the store, trying to get through the aisles of the stores along with the hundreds of other people in the mall, maxing out your credit cards, entertaining relatives, parties, family gatherings and a lot of other expected activities that add to your already busy schedule. In short that means stress and anxiety.

To relieve your stress try not to worry about Christmas being perfect. Think of it this way; it is the funny obscure things that happen that we remember, laugh and reminisce about, but we forget about the times where everything was perfect. Memories are made when something happens out of the ordinary--otherwise it's just another holiday that we forget about.

Give yourself a break, cut yourself some slack and learn to say "NO". You don't have to attend every party that you are invited to; you don't have to buy the perfect gift (gift cards are an easy way to finish your shopping quickly); you don't have to do all the cooking--a honey baked ham, some frozen vegetables, and store bought rolls and pies from the grocery store could be a great meal or invite people to bring their favorite dish so you are not responsible for everything. It always amazes me how long it takes to put a meal together, but in only fifteen minutes the food has been eaten and you are ready to put the dishes in the dish washer. Far too much prep time for the amount of time that is spent eating.

It is inevitable that you will get stressed out and frustrated during the holiday season and it is okay, but just remember an important tip and that is to breath. Breathing is an ideal way to relieve stress and it is simple and free and can be performed any where and at any time. Another way to relieve stress is to ask yourself at the end of the day, "What did I do well, and what could I do better next time?" That way instead of criticizing yourself, you are praising yourself, realizing that you are doing the best you can and in a loving way looking for a better way to do something next time.

Ask yourself "What is really important?" If you don't have the funds to buy your child the toy they said they just can't live without, if you go ahead and buy it, is it worth getting in debt over and worrying about how you are going to pay the upcoming bills? Sit your children down and explain to them that times are tough right now and hopefully next year you will be able to make it up to them. If you are late for the bosses party, if the sales person is rude, if someone takes the parking space you have been waiting for, is it really important enough to stress about? Life is too short and those things could be forgotten about, but if you hold onto them you will create stress, lose sleep and won't be in a good state of mind. You need to try and maintain your own sense of well-being and let go of the things you have no control over. And most of the things we fret about are really quite small in the grand scheme of things.

Most importantly remember the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it. Perhaps if you keep that in mind your stress of wanting to have a perfect Christmas will become secondary to your ability to appreciate the birth of Christ, the love of your family and you'll have a stress free holiday season.

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Social Media Tactics for Explosive Results in Your Business

A standard social media campaign helps spread the word about you and encourages other people to as well.

An explosive social media campaign has inherent viral exposure, inspires community driven communication, helps make the web a better place, and even brings joy to people, however fleeting.

When you share in social media, if your goal is just to get more people to see your links, you're on the right track, but at the same time, you're limiting your potential. You may think that getting explosive results from social media will take more time, energy and money, but this doesn't have to be the case.

If you're a business owner, you know that working harder doesn't necessarily mean better results - what if you're working hard on the wrong thing?

Sometimes the remedy is working smarter. Here are a few small changes you can make to your social media approach that can propel your social media results from lukewarm to smoking hot.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #1 - Hot Content

The cornerstone to any social media campaign is the content. If you get this component wrong, it doesn't matter if all other elements are perfect. Study what's going hot in your targeted topic and find a unique angle to tailor your content into what people already like, without stealing their ideas.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #2 - Niched Network Nuances

The more tightly focused your submissions to social media sites are, the more likely they are to go viral, whether they are links you share by other people or yours. Here's the logic.

People follow other people with similar interests. They're on sites like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Delicious and Digg actively looking for new content. Put those two things together and you have a whirlwind of clicks happening. The only question is, will it be your link that gets clicked or passed over?

Having 5000 connections on Twitter or Facebook is useless if you are connected to people who don't want your broadcasts, and you're just as useless to them if you don't want theirs. If my interest is in improving my existing business and you're trying to get me to sell your network marketing products, it doesn't matter how many times you ask me. If I'm not interested, your continued broadcasts will be ignored, or worse yet, blocked completely.

It's about the perfect balance of quality AND quantity.

And if I'm not paying attention to you, I can't and won't spread your message. If you are in network marketing, why not go after people who love the network marketing concept but can't seem to find the right company? That's a perfect match, and can dramatically cut down your search for the right partners and prospects.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #3 - Simplify Sharing

It amazes me how many people miss this one.
You've got great content. You've got a massive, niched network.

Why feed them content that's hard to share? Does that report have to be in PDF format? If so, does it have to be behind an opt-ín wall if you're spreading it among people who have Already opted in? Anyone connected to your business through its Facebook page, or your Twitter stream is also part of your opt-ín list. Yes, it would be best if they were on your email newsletter list, but what faster way to get them there than to show them you don't need to hold them prisoner there?

If your whitepaper is of such high value that you don't want it to spread, well, that's something different. But if you're sharing it so other people will spread it, make it easy for others to share.

Put a few sharing links on your page.
Make it easy for them to Retweet.
The easier it is for them to share, the more likely they are to do it.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #4 - Consistency

And now we come to the area I fail at the most. It's one of the things I know I need to do, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of how to brainstorm, create and distribute quality content consistently, and still give the best possible service and support to my customers and clients. I always err on serving people who have bought from me, figuring that next blog post can wait until tomorrow.

Then at some point, I noticed a decline in return traffic - people weren't coming back because they'd already heard everything I had to say. The solution? I got help for my content creation process. The ideas are still mine, but I was able to barter help for research, transcribing, and editing. I am also able to get audio and video polished much less expensively than I thought, though I don't always use this option due to time constraints.

The other thing that helped a lot was getting over my perfectionism complex. Release your content as soon as you can. I can't tell you how much money I've left on the table from my old fear of the typo and grammar police. Not to mention the fact that I felt like I was leaving my audience hanging.

You subscribe to something because you want to get regular updates. If your favorite daily news show started coming on once a week, you'd probably switch channels. If you're inconsistent without explanation, your audience numbers will drop and your network will fade.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #5 - Think Engagement

Measuring your results by page view alone is a thing of the past. When the web was mostly text and images, it made some sense that how many pages a visitor viewed at your site was a true measure of engagement.

Nowadays this isn't the case. You want to look instead at how long people are at your site. The exception, of course, is when customers are coming to your site to buy, and the order processing system takes them off your page. But if people aren't leaving your site because they're ready to buy or subscribe, you truly must look at why they aren't paying more attention to your content, and what changes you can make to get them to stay.

This is critically important in understanding which content will go viral naturally. What posts are people staying on your site to comment on? When do they take a few extra seconds to retweet? Are they watching your videos all the way through?

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The Unlimited $50 Contest - 20Dollars2Surf : Make Money Online while You Surf

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- Make cash while you surf on the net.
- Earn 10% on 10 referrals levels.
- Make cash and you receive the best internet offers.

Register for FREE and start earning money!

With the 20Dollars2Surf referral's system, you earn 10% of all your referral's points on 10 level. Each new member who join by clicking your referral link, become your referral. Each exposure of your referral's banner give you 1 point and each click on your referral link give you 10 points (per day and per IP, 1000 points when you have a new direct referral).

Proof of Payment :

A Special OFFER for my Referrals

I am giving a special offer for all those who joined the above site as my referral by clicking the above banner or link. This stands for my existing referrals as well. My referrals who are actively promoting the site by getting referrals under them will be rewarded. For getting the reward, all you have to do is to get 10 ACTIVE Level 1 referrals under them. Active referrals are those who have made at least 1000 points (If they get one referral, they make 1000 instantly. It is as easy as that). Only active referrals count. Once you have 10 ACTIVE referrals in your Level 1, just leave a comment under this blog post with your username and username of your 10 ACTIVE referrals. You will get a GIFT worth $50.

Everyone who gets 10 ACTIVE referrals will be rewarded. There is no limit to the number of winners. Join under me, Spread the Word and Win GIFT worth $50

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Convert Website Visitors to Customers

Your website can have a million hits daily, but if the visitors don’t become customers, then those hits are worth very little.

The fact is you must pay attention to conversions for your businesses to survive. In general, the basic e-commerce formula works like this:

1. Driving traffic to the website.

2. Converting the traffic to leads.

3. Converting leads to customers.

4. Generating repeat purchases from your customers.

Bonus products can be an essential variable in converting your visitors to customers. However, offering bonuses are more than just putting the words “But wait – there’s more,” in your offer. The key is to know what types of bonuses will have the strongest effect on your prospects.

1. The Web Traffic to Conversions Process.

As a business owner, you have several tasks to make your business successful. First, you must drive traffic to your website. In addition, once you have website visitors, you must convert those visitors into clients or customers. While a lead does not necessarily equal a sale, it does equal a future potential sale. Once you have a prospect’s name and email address, you’re able to move into step two – converting them to customers and making sales.

Bonus products work very well as a tool to build your opt-in list and offering a free giveaway in exchange for an email address is a common lead generating mechanism. What you offer and how you offer it largely depends on your target audience.

In cases where you’re selling an expensive product, a substantial bonus product or a series of bonus products can help convince your prospects them they’re making the right decision.

You can use bonuses to build your sales in a number of alternative methods. Here are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

• One way to do this is to tier rewards so that the more the customer buys, the more bonuses the customer receives – for example, increasing membership status from silver to gold and gold to platinum.

• Consider giving away bonuses to customers who help you build your opt-in list. For example, you could reward every email a friend gives leads toward a bonus.

• Consider giving away bonuses to prospects and customers who are active and participate in your online community.

2. Why Do Bonuses Work?

In general, bonuses are defined as products or services you give away to incite a purchase, a subscription, a referral, or even an opt-in. You’re probably very familiar with bonus items, so let’s take a look at why they’re so effective.

Bonuses tap into several psychological triggers, including:

• Reciprocity. Reciprocity is the tendency we have as people to respond to something in kind. Bonuses are the epitome of positive reciprocity. Customers receive a free guide, a free video, a free e-book as an opt-in bonus – now they’re feeling grateful.

• Commitment and Consistency. Psychologists tell us that we’re more likely to say yes to something big if we’ve already said yes to something smaller. In short, it gets your prospects in the habit of saying ‘yes’.

• Liking. Who doesn’t like someone who gives them something for free? People buy from companies they like, and from personalities they relate to.

• Scarcity and Urgency. Use a limited bonus or give an extra bonus to customers who act quickly. It motivates people to purchase now rather than wait and possibly change their mind.

3. How to Create Bonuses for Your Target Market.

Even though your business may involve a niche topic, your customers are probably diverse and have diverse personalities, interests, and technological capabilities. We all have our own motivations and behaviors influenced by our personality. Learning to meet the needs and wants of the characteristics can help you create bonuses that cover a range of personalities.

Keep in mind that your customers will likely include many or all of the following ‘types’:

• Emotional Personalities - Many of these people make decisions based upon their feelings.

• Thinking Personalities - These are the people who like to plan, schedule and solve situations.

• Extroverted Personalities - These are the folks who tend to be open and comfortable in new environments.

• Introverted Personalities - These want to take it slower and make personal connections.

• Intuitive personalities - They have a natural ability to think outside the box.

Remember that each prospect has their own personality. Give them options and consider creating one great bonus to be packaged in a number of different formats to appeal to more people.

4. Creating Your Bonuses.

This is where many people drop the ball - they throw together sloppy bonuses or simply by resell rights to something that’s been distributed by a million other websites – in short, they stop taking their prospects into consideration.

Let’s take a look at three primary ways you can create eye catching and valuable bonuses.

• Resell Rights/PLR. The internet is full of companies and websites that mass-produce bonuses for you to give away on your own website.

• Creating Your Own Product. While creating your own eBook, video tutorial or software program can be a bit of work, it can also be tremendously rewarding and you’ll be sure you’re creating the quality products your prospects and customers deserve. If you already have a stockpile of great content, you can repurpose it to create new and valuable bonus products. Creating multiple bonuses from one packet of information is a great way to accomplish that task.

• Outsource The Job - Hire A Company Or Individual To Develop Your Bonuses. When outsourcing there are a few success tips: Determine in advance exactly what you want the freelancer to accomplish. Outline your project in advance - it will ensure communication is clear and the project is done the way you want.

Armed with this information, you can start planning and preparing the bonuses that will give you more paying customers.

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Ensuring Web Browser Compatibility for your website

Recently I was asked by one of my friends whether web browser compatibility is something that one should take care of when designing a website. It was an easy reply  - "Yes".  As usual the next question was  "Why?". I gave him my answer and I would like to share it with my readers too.

Nowadays, there are several web browsers available and as a result, it has become crucial for website owners and developers to ensure that their websites are compatible with all the browsers on all the platforms. Let's face it; in this day and age one would think that you could open a website with any browser but unfortunately different browsers interpret HTML and CSS in different ways, which of course has an impact on how things are viewed on your monitor. Because of this, it's crucial that the CSS and HTML of a website are optimised and programmed to be compatible with all the available web browsers.

While this certainly does require considerably more work, it can essentially result in your website getting a number of new users. Furthermore, one should also bear in mind that certain browsers are more popular than others. Firefox for example now has approximately 30% of the browser market while Internet Explorer still continues to be the leader with approximately 60% (although statistics suggest this varies in different countries). Safari accounts for approx 5% of the market while Google Chrome and Opera currently have more or less two to three percent of the market but this is only to be expected considering they're still relatively new in the game. One of the main reasons why Internet Explorer has managed to dominate the market for so long, is because it comes preinstalled with the Windows operating system. However, its ease of use has also helped to ensure it retains the top spot.

Of course, computers which run on the Windows operating system will in most cases already have all the necessary plug-ins installed so that the browser is ready to use immediately. Computer owners who decide to switch over to Firefox can sometimes wonder if the browser is working properly. For example, if you have just switched over to Firefox and you visit certain sites, you may be prompted to download an ActiveX application. However, even though some people may find this to be an inconvenience, Firefox has just recently celebrated their 1 billionth download and there are no signs to suggest this trend is changing.

In fact, the number of people using Firefox continues to increase by the day with many believing it to be better than Internet Explorer, largely because of its noticeable stability. Even though this may be true to a certain extent, it's also worth noting that Firefox has gone to great lengths in order to retain the old Netscape Communicator appearance and this of course is something which appeals to those looking for a little nostalgia.

The Opera web browser is also enjoying increasing popularity although it has been experiencing certain issues lately regarding various web pages. As a result, website owners and developers need to make an effort in order to make their code compatible, so that this browser can function as it should. In order to determine whether or not this browser is compatible with your website, you can simply use the browser to access your site so that you can see for yourself how things appear on your monitor.

Not only should you do this in order to ensure your site is compatible with all browsers, but you'll also be doing the wider community a favour, in that nobody enjoys wasting their time by visiting a web site which, because of their browser, fails to open properly.

The bottom line is, if you're able to ensure your website is compatible with all browsers then you really need to do so.Make it a point that your website is compatible with all web browsers especially those on the top which can bring you more people than the others.

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