Aim High! There is little virtue in easy victory.”

—Sir Edmund Hillary, who with Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay, was the first man to successfully summit Mount Everest.

Think of the effort that Sir Edmund Hillary must have put in to mount the 29,035 feet of the Himalayan giant Mount Everest. And we think that internet marketing is hard! Yet in spite of the difficulty that is inherent in mountain climbing expeditions, there are challenges in climbing the oft reputed internet peaks that dot the cyperspace landscape. These are obstacles that any person new to this arena faces. Web site optimization, traffic regulation, search engine submission—where does it end? Each of these mountain peaks has sub-peaks, and every time we think we have reached the top, we see that—as the famous poet Alexander Pope said—“Alps on Alps arise.”

So what does the prospective infopreneur do? Personally, I have struggled to drive to my site the traffic that will produce sales of the electronic books that I have authored and that are available there. I have tried buying traffic from the so called “traffic drivers,” but these are all a waste of money. And don’t be fooled into buying any of the scam products which go under many different names but all produce the same worthless results. Again, if it were that easy to produce big results, everyone would be rich and nobody would be working. That kind of makes sense, does it not? So what does one do then?

Recently, I had the fortunate experience of meeting someone who happens to be an expert at all this. It was one of those serendipitous occurrences where fate just had me at the right time at the right place. You see, in working one of my three current jobs, I was given a business card of one of the sons of a family-owned furniture store. I decided to call on him to see if I could sell him an ad for the new advertising book I’m working on putting together. When I called the store, the brother of the person I eventually met answered and expressed interest in meeting with me to discuss the advertising. When I went to the store, only the older brother, who happened to be a self-taught web optimization expert, was there. We started speaking, one thing led to the next, and suddenly he was telling me how 95% of his business came from online sales.

This mechanical-engineer-turned-computer expert said he studied for one year and read about three hours per day. He single-handedly made his web site a powerhouse marketing tool by implementing his optimization methods. He said that I could do the same if I put in the time. The only problem is that time is limited to me. Thus he offered to help me and mentioned how much it would cost. He offered to give me a written guarantee that would state how many increased visitors I would have by a certain time. The only problem with this is that because he is busy with some current clients, he cannot start with my site for about two months.

Now the difference between what this person is offering and what you get offered by some of these internet programs is quite substantial. First of all, he did not pressure me into buying anything nor did he make grandiose promises. He also stated that he could not start the work for a while, which made me feel comfortable in that he was not trying to get me to do something right away. He also did tell me that this would take time—about four to six months before we would reach the desired targeted traffic. Again, no overnight “get a million visitors to your site” type of thing.

After I implement some of the strategies that this consultant is suggesting, I will write a follow up article on the results. If they are substantial, I will let my readers know, and I will try to share with them any potentially useful information. Until then, we have to continue to aim high; however, we have to be willing to work for such high ambitions—and also be patient until they are realized.

Online purchases in Canada totaled about $8.5 million Canadian dollars in 2004. Most of these items included books and reservations for travel and lodging. Only thirty-six percent of Canadian businesses have a website presence. The adoption for small, medium, and large businesses is slowly increasing at a rate of two to three percentage points. The rapid advances in technology have resulted in consumer confidence in private data protection, increasing the online sales.

E-commerce is a way of doing consumer-oriented business transactions over the Internet. This is actually retailing in the Internet format. Just as in a supermarket, online consumers choose products by navigating the site along the categories of products and make payments online using credit cards. The products are then delivered within a certain period.

Web hosting is one of the links in the e-commerce process. The chain is formed by different links such as websites, shopping processes, credit card processing, and merchant accounts. Websites are hosted by an external provider or perhaps the business itself. The shopping process is actually a shopping cart that allows the selection of products just like placing the products in a supermarket cart. When the customer finalizes the buying process by filling in the credit card form, the credit card is processed to check the validity of the card. The processed information is sent to a merchant, who credits to the account of the business.

The value of web hosting lies in providing the seamless transfer of the process between various links. The web host could also add value by designing the site for the shopping cart and processing the credit card. It could also provide value-added information about the e-commerce process to the clients in order to make the process clear.

The value addition in the chain puts web hosting services at $200 and more. Many web hosting providers have combined with credit card processors to add value. Some of the main issues in deciding on an e-commerce host are bandwidth, security, back-end integration, reliability, and server set up.

Are you looking into ways of promoting and marketing your website? Are you trying to attract more visitors to your website? Are you looking to increase your online sales? Are you trying to increase your adsense earnings? If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions, article marketing could be the answer for you.

Writing articles has for many years been a popular way of going about increasing the number of backward links to ones site, but it can be a very boring and time consuming one. This is where a ghostwriter can become invaluable as they can do all of the donkey work for you. Most of these people are experienced, expert writers and are likely to produce a much better quality of article as well. The better the article is, the more likely it will be picked up and used on other websites by other webmasters.

Ghostwriters can be found on many of the webmaster forums or even by doing a search on the internet. Prices of course vary but you should be able to find a price that suits your budget.

There are even people or establishments that offer to write an article for you and will also submit the article to a number of the main article directories. Articles-submission.com offer this service for only ten pounds. They also offer to submit an article that you have written to around twenty of the article directories for just £7. As many people know, writing each article is one thing, but then submitting it can also take a great deal of time.

People who do have enough spare time on their hands are able to write and submit their own articles. It is important in my opinion not to write too many articles at once to promote just one site, as to build up the number of backward links too quickly can be seen in some search engines eyes as a bad thing. Writing articles for yourself will without doubt save some money but you need to ensure that the content is interesting and is of benefit to the reader.

The best part of this form of web promotion is that the links you obtain are all what is known as one-way links. These type of links, without doubt, have the highest value.

You will of course not only obtain additional traffic from obtaining these links but the readers of your article are also potential visitors to your site.

Writing articles is a win win situation and should be seen as an important part of any web marketing campaign.

The recent heavy taxes imposed on tobacco products have caused the prices of premium cigarette brands to skyrocket. Brands such as Kent, Marlboro, Capri, Dunhill, Chesterfield and Camel are now too costly for the middleclass smoker to afford. That is why websites sporting ‘buy discount cigarettes’ advertisements prove too attractive for the middleclass man to avoid. Compared to prices as high as $40 per carton in states such as New York and California, these websites offer cigarettes at heavily discounted prices. Go to any websites featuring the ‘buy discount cigarettes’ ad line, and you can find premium cigarette brands as low as $15 for a carton.

The suppliers are able to sell cigarettes online because online sales usually do not attract taxes. Many states such as California do not permit online purchase of cigarettes, and people living in these states may find it difficult to buy them. Retailers offering discounted cigarettes mostly operate from states that have a low tax structure. Many online retailers are based at reserved Indian lands. The strict federal tax laws do not apply here. Some reports tell that sales from these Indian lands amount to millions of dollars each year.

Many people hesitate to buy cigarettes online for fear of leakage of personal information. Customers usually fear that by tracking their personal information, the federal or state agencies may apply taxes on them. Websites therefore contain a note assuring the customer of the complete security of personal information. Most shopping websites warns you that the online purchase is meant for personal use only, not for retail.

Online sales are becoming an ever more significant segment of the country's retail sector, says Jeffrey Grau in his June 2006 report, US Retail E-Commerce. eMarketerCom magazine concurs, estimating an annual average increase in retail e-commerce sales of 18.6% between 2005 and 2009.

E-shoppers are not only spending more, but Grau says they're also buying different types of goods: big-ticket items like refrigerators; and luxury products including designer apparel and jewelry. As the e-commerce marketplace matures (its yearly growth admittedly slowing somewhat from the 26% seen a decade ago), experienced e-retailers are exploring methods of promoting repeat sales and ensuring customer loyalty.

One such method is creative gifting—putting a promotional product in with the purchase prior to shipping. The unexpected item is a pleasant surprise for the customer, who is already primed to be satisfied with the transaction.

Helen Bergstein, founder of the home exchange e-business Digsville.com, is a well-known web-based service provider, who recognizes the value of using promotional products. Although shipping products is not required in her line of sales, she does confirm that "the unexpected element of a thank-you gift adds to the total experience of my customers. In fact, in my own experience, people have called just to tell me they really appreciated the extra gesture. It's a personal touch in an increasingly de-personalized world."

As long as the promo item is branded with the vendor contact information, the actual gift itself is limited only by the budget and imagination of the e-retailer. Items that are used or seen often by the recipient best meet the strategy of gifting in the first place - keeping your name, your company, your product or service in the forefront of a buyer's memory. Refrigerator magnets with an original design or look always fit the bill but promo gifts can certainly be either more specific to or parallel with your own product. For instance, in the case of the Digsville Home Exchange Club, promotional key-chains with the digsville.com logo on them have proved a big hit with members. Bergstein says her customers like the key-chains because “the items relate directly to an upcoming vacation home exchange, especially exciting when it's time to hand over the house or car keys.”

When the spin-off benefit of positive word-of-mouth advertising is taken into consideration—and who doesn’t like talking about freebies?—the reasons not to add a little token of appreciation in your next shipment just don't add up. Remember to think inside the box - your ROI will thank you.

An Exploding Marketplace

The world has become a busy place, with trillions of dollars changing hands each year in business transactions and consumer spending. While the customary method of doing business in person or via telephone is still in use, the growing trend is to conduct ecommerce transactions on-line, with the use of computers.

On-line revenues from ecommerce in the U.S. alone have grown from 24.1 billion in 2000, to over 100 billion in 2005. And, the number of on-line users in the U.S. has exploded from 124.7 million in 2000 to over 200 million.

Canada’s combined private and public online sales have also experienced a boom. Up almost 40% in 2003 from a 27% jump in 2002; public sector enterprises realized nearly $511.4 million in sales.

Along with the skyrocketing use of the virtual marketplace comes the need for special tools, such as ecommerce web hosting, ecommerce software, and the ecommerce shopping cart.

How Does it All Work?

Ecommerce web hosting provides a business web site with special tools for doing business over the internet. Features such as extended data storage and monthly data transfer capacities, security certificates, and complex data bases are required to make a business web site run smoothly.

Higher data capacities allow for the sheer size of a business site, and the enormous exchange of information involved. Security certificates make the site safe for monetary transactions, and databases such as SQL keep track of individual accounts, purchases, inventory, or any transaction.

The ecommerce shopping cart allows the customer to select items and then purchase them at a virtual check out stand, usually with several payment method options, such as credit cards and PayPal.

Businesses require skilled personnel to implement and monitor these special tools for marketing goods or services on-line. There are many ecommerce web hosting firms that meet these and other special needs for a successful ecommerce solution.

An Exploding Marketplace

The world has become a busy place, with trillions of dollars changing hands each year in business transactions and consumer spending. While the customary method of doing business in person or via telephone is still in use, the growing trend is to conduct ecommerce transactions on-line, with the use of computers.

On-line revenues from ecommerce in the U.S. alone have grown from 24.1 billion in 2000, to over 100 billion in 2005. And, the number of on-line users in the U.S. has exploded from 124.7 million in 2000 to over 200 million.

Canada’s combined private and public online sales have also experienced a boom. Up almost 40% in 2003 from a 27% jump in 2002; public sector enterprises realized nearly $511.4 million in sales.

Along with the skyrocketing use of the virtual marketplace comes the need for special tools, such as ecommerce web hosting, ecommerce software, and the ecommerce shopping cart.

How Does it All Work?

Ecommerce web hosting provides a business web site with special tools for doing business over the internet. Features such as extended data storage and monthly data transfer capacities, security certificates, and complex data bases are required to make a business web site run smoothly.

Higher data capacities allow for the sheer size of a business site, and the enormous exchange of information involved. Security certificates make the site safe for monetary transactions, and databases such as SQL keep track of individual accounts, purchases, inventory, or any transaction.

The ecommerce shopping cart allows the customer to select items and then purchase them at a virtual check out stand, usually with several payment method options, such as credit cards and PayPal.

Businesses require skilled personnel to implement and monitor these special tools for marketing goods or services on-line. There are many ecommerce web hosting firms that meet these and other special needs for a successful ecommerce solution.

A survey has revealed that the internet has brought a dramatic change in in the way people shopped. More and more people are using the internet to do their shopping online and this is because of the convenience of doing the online shopping. While five years ago, people are rather sceptics and felt insecure of using their credit cards to do online shopping, nowadays their perceptions are different. With the security of doing online shopping is getting better and the technology is advancing, people are feeling that online shopping today is much secure than say, five or six years ago. The survey also agree that consumer confidence in online shopping has greatly improved.

Broadband will also be an important factor in this. With more people subscribing to broadband and availability is much easier, more people are expecting to use the internet to shop online.

However, with regards to security of online shopping we cannot be complacent. Whilst the security of online shopping may be better, the unscrupulous people will always find some loopholes to penetrate the security and putting people's information such as credit cards,addresses and other private information at risk.Therefore those companies that provide websites certifications really must keep updating their technology for at least one step ahead.

Popular Products

The survey also indicated that there are seven products that are going to record phenomenal growth sales. The products include flowers, jewelry, luxury goods, sporting goods, food and beverage, home goods, health and beauty products and apparels.The sales of the last three are mainly driven by women who now doing more online shopping than men.

Apart from that, other products that registered double digit growth including computer hardwares and softwares, ticket sales and books. The entry of large grocers into home delivery of online shopping has also driven food and beverage sales.

Advantages of Online Shopping

Whilst online shopping gives us convenience of shopping at home, the advantages to retailers may not be so obvious. Marketing costs for online sales are generally higher than for store or catalog sales. This is because the retailers need to spend higher on promoting their products to attract more customers to do online shopping. There will be a lot of discounts and bargain prices to be offered to customers so that they are willing to shop online.

Nevertheless, with the rapid development of technology and much easier availability of broadbands throughout the world, online shopping will be the way of the future.

SURVEY FINDINGS

“ 94% have bought online compared to 37% five years ago
67% surprised by how much they use the internet now
Nearly half think that 40% of purchases will be online in five years time
74% say internet usage has soared
85% buy more often now than five years ago
96% believe the internet has made it easier to buy goods and services “

Over 11 million people in the United States use Dish Network’s satellite TV. If you are one of the unlucky one’s who has been left behind, then get the best deal through Dish network online sales. You will come across hordes of websites that offer the Dish network satellite TV, along with hundreds of freebies ranging from DVR systems, satellite receivers, home theater systems and DVD players. So which is the best deal on dish network? Well, this article would guide you just to do that.

Best Deal on Dish Network

Rather than ordering the product from Dish Network, take some time and browse through their dealers. These dealers will offer you much better deals and much more freebies. The reason behind this is pretty simple. They are online, so the investment is much less when compared to a brick and mortar store. They pass on this cost savings to the consumers as discounts and freebies. The other reason is plain old competition. There is cut throat competition nowadays. One wants to beat the other. Hence the consumer benefits again. So, start browsing and looking for the best deal on Dish Network.

What Will You Get?

Dish Network offers up to 3 different packages according to your preferences. The three packages are All American Top 60s, 120s, and 180s. The packages differ in rates and content. DirecTV is another service provider, which offers more of sports channels, while Dish Network offers more of international and movie channels. You may get freebies depending on what the dealer is offering. You may get up to 4 satellite TV receivers, Dish Network access card, DVD players, Home theater systems etc. You may also get free subscriptions to movie channels.

How Can I Get And Install?

You can get dish network special offers online and make secure online payments with your credit cards using Dish network’s secure payment system. Dish network also has an automated phone system at 1-800-333-3474. You can call and follow the IVR. Dish network offers free installation and shipping. The apparatus is also pretty easy to setup and you can also do it on your own.

Beware Of Frauds!

With the good comes the bad as well. There are a million websites out there offering Dish Network satellite TV with freebies that are unbelievable. However, many of these are scams and once you order you will find hidden costs for everything including the freebies and shipping. Make sure that you are ordering from a dealer who is certified by the Dish Network. Check to see if there are any hidden costs involved. Some operators even charge outrageous cancellation fees. So, be careful and choose best deal on dish network!