Five Reasons Why Blogging is the New Internet Marketing Tool

Blogging is a concept that started in late 90s. It used to be a way to comment an existing web page, an opportunity for visitors and readers to react or voice out one’s opinion on the said page. What started as a single-sentence commentary has evolved into pages of personal take on just about anything and everything under the sun. As it continues to move forward, online advertising has tapped into the blog’s potential. Here are 5 reasons why you should use blogging as an Internet marketing tool.

Blogging is simple. The simplest way to get your piece on the net is through blogging. No skills are necessary… an average adult can read and type, or at least click a mouse. It’s like having a virtual piece of paper and you just write your ideas, experiences, new products, and hope that the truth behind your articles comes out and entice your reader to also try your product. If you have a PC and an Internet connection (who doesn’t?) then you can blog and advertise.

Blogging is authentic. In this day and age where advertising saturate our lives, we question the credibility of promoters’ claims. However, in blogs, real people share their real-life experiences, unscathed by paid advertising. Reading blogs about first-hand product use is like talking to people about their first-hand experience. You definitely want to buy a tried and tested product.

Blogging is free. Because blogging is yet to be proven as a mainstream online advertising media, most sites see it as something to augment current marketing tools and thus offer it for free. Any opportunity for free webtime is definitely a bonus especially to businesses that are starting up. Needless to say, paid blog pages can generate more income for your seriously growing business.

Blogging builds credibility. As you get more and more into writing your experiences on a particular product or industry, your readers come to realize that they can depend on your posts for their own information needs. As such, you become an expert on it; as a consequence, more readers visit your site and more bloggers link to your blogs. As companies and professional organizations notice the growth of your readership base, they may soon get in touch with you for advertising on your blog page, or make you an affiliate, which pays for every referral generated from your blog site.

Blogging builds your market. Unless you are a Hollywood star, chances are, only your Mom reads your posts. Mom has a lot of friends, so she lets her friends know how interesting your blog site is. But you need not depend on Mom to increase your readership base. Look into the following ways to build your market through blogging:

- By using your e-mail. Today, blogging is overcoming the e-mail’s popularity in quickly and effectively reaching and expanding a market. In this age of speed and quick access, logging in and downloading e-mail is simply taking longer than clicking into a blog site. Let them explore your site by using a short e-mail message as teaser to your blog site. If your e-mail is on an entirely different subject, use your e-mail signature to give a link to the site.

-By using subscription. An easy way to get your readers e-mail is to give them an opportunity to subscribe to your blogsite. Keep some exclusive information for your subscribers to entice readers to subscribe and give their e-mail address. Just be responsible in using their e-mail address, as the last thing you want is a comment on your blog that you are a spammer.

-By understanding your readers. Conduct a simple survey for your readers to understand their profile and advertising preferences. Ask consumers to give you feedback on a post, an ad link, or a trial that you shared. In this way, it is like interviewing your readers without the commitment and intrusion of a face-to-face interview.

-By joining a blog network –A network of blogs maybe a collection of blog sites that share the same industry, interest, readership base, payment mode, etc. Consumers find credibility and convenience in clicking one link to several real bloggers about a single subject. Clearly, more bloggers are better than one.

-By using RSS. RSS is the fastest growing technology on the Internet today. As such, having RSS feeds to your blog is definitely another means of generating awareness for your readership base. Having a variety of feeds can add interest to your blog site.

Give your business a boost by effectively using blogging as an Internet marketing tool.

On Demand Profits

On Demand Profits is a report that will teach you a very simple, quick and effective way to make money on the Internet. Once you learn this trick, you will be able to make money on demand.


On Demand Profits - Your Personal ATM Machine for $7Click Here!




The Steps Involved In the “On Demand Profits” technique:

• Find good, inexpensive products with an affiliate program
• Join forums on topics related to the product
• Create smart forum signatures
• Participate in forum discussions
• Earn commissions
• Analyze, Rinse, Repeat

On Demand Profits
Click The Link Above to Learn How to Get Your Personal ATM Machine for $7


On Demand Profits

Ten Ways to Piss Off Your Readers, Kill Your Blog, and Get Banned From the Internet!
by: Barrett Niehus

Everywhere I look there is blogging advice on how to increase your traffic, pagerank, and readership on the net. There’s syndication, RSS feeds, and any type of social topic you would ever need. However, nobody tells you how to stop the traffic, alienate your fan base; so I thought I should try.

1. Active in blogging? Why not put as many popups on your page as humanly possible? Make it as difficult as possible for a reader to navigate away from your page and ensure that he will never come back! If you are not comfortable with popups, AdSense ads after every post and every type of widget that you can find will do the trick.

2. Too many comments? Turn them off, don’t respond when they are posted, and return fire with fire. People like to feel engaged when they read your content. Don’t let ‘em!

3. Got an RSS feed? Get rid of it, or better yet, find a blog that you absolutely hate and offer it as the feed through your site. It all looks like XML code until you plug it into a reader anyway. Your readers won’t know what hit them.

4. You have a bookmarking widget; Digg, del.icio.us, News Vine, Reddit? Aren’t there equivalent bookmarking tools for adult sites? Couldn’t you use the same graphic and just replace the hyperlink? Hmmm, if you want to get some hate mail, this may be the way to do it. When responding to the hate mail, please refer to item 2 above.

5. Member of MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Xanga, LinkedIn, MyBloglog and other networks that syndicate your content? This one’s easy, don’t complete your profile, syndicate content that is not yours, be un-genuine, and do not respond to comments. We keep going back to step 2 for some reason.

6. Overload your readers with useless bookmarks. Stop writing content and go hog wild with your Sumble Upon and del.icio.us bookmarking Wordpress widgets. Nobody likes going to a blog that has nothing other than a collection of non-related bookmarks. No content, just bookmarks; nothing slows down traffic like a great link farm.

7. DUMP THE TAGS!!!! Nobody will read your blog if nobody can find it. If you have a search term that inadvertently shows up under a Google search, repeat it in the text as many times as possible. A black-hat trick or two will also work to get you banned from Google.

8. All text and no pictures makes for a very boring and unpleasant blog. Pictures are worth a thousand words, and people love to look at and share video. Why do you think YouTube sold for a billion dollars? If you don’t want traffic, do not use flickr, youtube, or other multi-media sharing service.

9. Whatever you do, do not reference blog posts that you had writer earlier. This would entice readers to go further into your blog and spend more time there. Why would you want that?

10. This one I had to think long and hard about. How do you get blacklisted from as many sites as possible, kicked off search engines and banned from the internet? One word….SPAM!!!

TAGS: spam, banned, rss, ugly, kicked off, no readers, bad blog, bookmark widgets, digg, anti-comments, popups, tricks, reference, readers, ugly blog, mybloglog, wordpress, blogger, stumble upon



About The Author

Barrett Niehus and 4MySales.com explore helping real estate agents and small business professionals market their business and grow their income. Join the real estate and marketing discussion at http://realtorleads.blogspot.com/ or explore investing in real estate at http://www.4mysales.com

Earn cash and prizes for signing up for offers, product trials, and for referring friends!

If you like “Get Paid To” (GPT) websites, you’re going to love Incentivized Freebies Websites (IFW). IFWs are very similar to GPTs in that you earn cash for signing up for sponsors offers, product trials. With IFWs though you sign up for sponsors offers, and product trials but you also refer your family and friends to help you earn even more cash and prizes.

How It Works
You log onto the site from my link. You are asked to choose a gift or cash. From there you begin the sign-up process. You are then asked to complete the specified number of offers for the cash or gift that you choose, and refer some friends to do the same! The number of friends you need to refer depends on the value in points or credits of the gift or cash you chose.

For example, lets say that you chose an Xbox 360 and in order to get that Xbox 360 you need to do 1 or more offers equaling 1 point or credit and refer 10 friends. You then go on to do your offer(s) then refer you 10 friends. Each friend must then complete offer(s) so that you can get your Xbox 360. That simple. Remember: your friends don’t have to get all their referrals in order for you to get your XBox360, they only have to complete the offers for YOU to get YOUR Xbox 360.

There are many free offers to choose from. Carefully read the program's "Terms and Conditions" and "How Does This Work" before joining.

Please DO NOT join if you do not intend to complete the requirements of the program. The neat thing about this program is that it allows you to earn as many free gifts as you want. Members can also swap referrals, which means that you don't have to keep getting new referrals. Begin Earning Now!


Click Here to Learn More About These Programs

Join Me At Yuwie!

In all Fairness

Since I wrote a post against them I may as well write one to say that they came through.

In my post dated June 27, 2007 I wrote to say that I purchased a database of survey companies from a website called Express Paid Surveys and that it wasn't what I expected.

Well it still isn't what I expected but I'm here to say that they did refund my money. I had to ask twice, but the point is they did come through.

'til next time.

Lorna/
Realistic Extra Income

Quote: It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself.
...former New York City Mayor Edward Koch

FREE Is Always Welcome

I very rarely pass up on something that is free, especially if its a free meal or a free vacation.

But in business everything that is advertised as "free" is not necessarily free. It may be free for a basic membership or free for a time. I want to tell you about a website that is both. If you are just starting out and short on cash but need to promote your business then AdlandPro - Free Classifieds may just be what you're lookiing for.




AdlandPro - Free Classifieds offers free promotion, free advertising, marketing and networking. They have been offering free and paid advertising services to small businesses since 1996. They have the most complete and most affordable advertising solutions for small businesses and home entrepreneurs.

The other thing I like about AdlandPro is the free networking. If you are not shy about telling others about your business, this is the place to be. Almost immediately upon joining you will begin to get "friend" requests from other members. Again this is not for the faint of heart.

Go check out AdlandPro and see for yourself.

Happy Earning!

'til next time.

Lorna/
Realistic Extra Income

Quote: It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself.
...former New York City Mayor Edward Koch

There's Not Just One Way to Earn Extra Money Online


A number of members from Mylot, a paid to post forum, have decided to link their blogs together. I have decided to go one better and make a post here with links to all the blogs as well.

So take a gander and go check them out.

My Mylot Friends Money Making Blogs
1. Free $$$ Blog
2. Earning an Income Online
3. My Powerful 1000 A Day System Unleashed !!!
4. Success in Paid Content Writing
5. Make Money
6. A Mewbie's Guide to Online Money Making
7. Ano's Blog on How to Make Money Online
8. One Step Forward
9. Home Money Makers
10. Making Money Online
11. Bluemars
12. Gedet Basumatary
13. Easy Money Online
14. Thinking Outloud
15. Make Money Online
16. Money Spinners
17. Mylottian Dot Com
18. Become A Master Marketeer
19. The Domestic Diva Does It All!

'til next time.

Lorna/
Realistic Extra Income

Quote: It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself.
...former New York City Mayor Edward Koch

Yes Virginia, You Can Make Money on the Internet

In a continuing effort to earn some extra money on the internet, I’ve come across many business opportunities. Many of them make outrageous claims the you can make unbelievable riches overnight. You and I both know though, that any business worth its salt takes time to implement.

The other day while I was reading discussions on a paid to post website called Mylot, I clicked on one of those ads that are all over everywhere. The ad was for a business opportunity called Project Payday. They were very upfront in telling you that you are NOT going to get rich with this business opportunity. What you will get however, is the opportunity to make some Realistic Extra Money to help you to pay your car insurance payment that is now 5 days late.

The concept is similar to those “get paid to“ websites. What sparked this was someone noticing all the ads you‘ve no doubt seen offering various types of free products and services.

Through this was born and is now the newest internet craze called Incentivized Freebie Websites (IFW). The Project Payday system was developed so that any regular Jane or Joe could make some extra money from the growth of IFWs.

Go check them out for yourself. I‘m not going to spill all the beans here.

'til next time...

Lorna/
Realistic Extra Income

Quote: It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself.
...former New York City Mayor Edward Koch

I'm Such A Dope

When I was young and green I paid for many so called "business opportunities" that were toted as being the be all of business opportunities. And after many years you would think that I have learned my lesson.

But no, two weeks ago I once again forked over some more of my hard earned money to a person who claimed that I just had to pay them for their program because it does work. That I would be getting more business than I could shake my fist at.

I guess I should tell you what this business opportunity was, shouldn't I? We've all seen those advertisements promising that you can make thousands of dollars answering surveys. I'm here to tell you it just ain't so. But I was at a weak point so I fell for it. Again.

So dutifully paid my money and got instant access to their database. The first 2 or 3 pages had many websites we commonly refer to as GPTs or get paid to websites.

Don't start cursing yet. I go through and signed up with many of the companies up to page seven of the database. After each one I was directed to a "Thank you" page where I was told that if anything came up that I qualified for they would be in touch, or that if I agreed to participate in any of their surveys they would put my name in a drawing for a chance to win such and such amount of money. Basically saying, "you fool, you wasted your time mindlessly answering even more mindless questions, and we're not even going to compensate you for doing so."

In my defense, I signed up with this particular program because I read a review that rated this program number 2 on the writer's list. (Sorry, I can't locate the article right now, but if I do I'll do an update)

I did find an opposing view point that warns that you do not have to pay anyone to find companies that will pay you to take surveys. The link is: Taking Free Paid Surveys Online. This author even gives you a link to his free resources for Paid Surveys Online.

Moral of this story: There are times when you do have to pay to get into a business, however before you do, I very strongly recommend that you do your due diligence. Don't be like me.

Oh, I almost forgot. The name of the website whose database I paid for is, ExpressPaidSurveys.com.

I'll be looking out for you.

'til next time.

Lorna/
Realistic Extra Income

Quote: It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself.
...former New York City Mayor Edward Koch

Click Here for your Free Traffic!

My Pet Peeve About Website Design

I am getting up there in age and consequently so are my eyes so when I come across a website with a black background with white letters or multicolored lettering I just back out of it and move on.

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who does this. These color combinations are very hard on the aging eyes. So no matter how information packed your site is or what life changing deals you have to offer, if I or others can't read your content you are loosing out on possibly thousands of dollars in revenue.

So take my advise and apply these tips that I found here: Ten Tips to Building a Professional Website. Or I've made it easy for you and copied it below. It is sure to make your business much more successful.

10 tips to building a professional website

1. Limit the use of animation - Animated images can be quite effective when used in a subtle manner, however overuse is considered a web design no’ no. Why? you may ask, well because animated images contain many different frames just like in a cartoon, these frames are effectively a separate image and therefore the more animations on your website the higher the load time will be. Bear in mind that the average file size of an animated image is between 15-20 K and then compare this to the recommended minimum size of 40-60 K for a web page and it is easy to see that maybe 2 or more animated images will increase your load time significantly. Try and use small animated images that are between 8-12 K in file size. See tip number 9

2. Try not to use frames - Frames are considered to be an evil of the web, although I wouldn’t go that far to describe them they can be more trouble than they are worth. Unless it is absolutely necessary that your site needs to use frames, then don’t! Frames can be very unpredictable, search engines, browsers and web surfers in general just don’t like them. If your site uses frames the likely chance that you are loosing visitors will be high. If a visitor comes across your site via a search engine that search engine will probably display each frame as a separate page and the visitor could be visiting the top, left, right, bottom or whatever frame that makes up your page. You can fix this problem with a bit of JavaScript, but then you have other problems such as browsers that don’t like your code or those people that have Java disabled. Frames seem the most practical way to allow users to navigate your site but in reality there is no practicality to using frames, the only practical thing is not to use them.

3. Black backgrounds and white text - There is plenty of fine websites that use a black background and white text combination such as game sites, however this color combination can leave you squinting and after a while of reading your eyes can become very sore. Gamers may be used to staring closely at screens for long periods but the majority of web surfers aren’t and for those that don’t have a perfect eyesight this will be a huge turn off. Unless you are building a games website or your users have the eyes of an eagle then consider this a no’ no too.

4. Lots of banners - We have all done or been tempted to overdo the banner thing. Sure if you have paying advertisers displaying their banners on your site then lots of banners will mean earning more for displays, this is true in the short term, but long term is another matter. Users are very wary of banner advertising, and along with the added load time too many banners can put people off. Less visitors means less impressions and therefore less earnings from banner advertising. The key is not to place lots of banners all over your site but to place relevant and targeted banners, banners that your users are more likely/willing to click on, less is more is a good way of determining the number of banners a site should display and if its relevant that is even better.

5. Comic sans serif font - This font is probably the worst font that is available to use, comic sans serif is a very poor web font and depending on the size of font used it can also display terribly in certain browsers. Not only is this font unprofessional looking it is also a little dated and will only appeal to those under the age of 4 or comic enthusiasts, hence the name. Unless you are building a comic book website or a kids website then this font should well and truly be left alone.

6. Hundreds of affiliate links - One of the hardest things to do in the world is to sell something, even harder is trying to sell someone else’s products. It is easy to think that lots of affiliate links on your site can only lead to more sales but this couldn’t be further from the truth. For example a site related to fishing that has fishing related affiliates has more chance of referring a sale than a fishing website containing software affiliates. Like banner advertising, affiliate links are more effective when those affiliates are targeted and relevant. If I was a keen fisherman I would be more likely to buy products that will benefit my fishing experience. What use would say Microsoft software be to my needs. With affiliates this is how you need to think! You need to think like both a sales person and like a consumer, doing so will improve your chances of success with affiliates.

7. Page titles - This may seem insignificant and un-important but page titles play a very important part in how people search for websites. If your website is about motor vehicles then you need to show this in your page titles, not only will this make your site more professional it will also show up as keywords in peoples search queries. This is also a secondary form of navigation, if your pages are titled correctly and in accordance to what that page is about new users will know what page they are on. Always remember to title your pages.

8. Meta tags - Always include meta tags and keywords in your pages. This is very important and depending on the relevancy and quality of your meta tags/keywords this could be your main source of traffic, infect it could be your only source of traffic. If you don’t have meta tags/keywords then people will simply not find your website. For more information regarding meta tags and search engines read our articles and tips to help you improve your meta tags.

9. Load time - Like I stated in tip number one, the recommended size that a web page should be is between 40-60 K the reason for this is because we web surfers are an impatient lot and if a site takes more than a minute we loose interest and move on to the next website, some people will not even give you a minute - 20 seconds and they are off! Even in today’s broadband world we still remain as impatient as ever and the reason for this is because we know that another similar site is around the corner, only one that loads quicker. So you can understand the importance of quick load times. To keep load times as low as possible try to use the least number of graphics as possible, only use graphics that enhance your site. Remember that Jpg's are generally large files so try and keep the size low without effecting to much quality. Also some people save normal images as jpg's, don’t do this as mostly photographs need to be jpgs. Try to keep your site as quick to load as can be.

10. Professionalism - This isn’t really a tip its more a collective of the above. Following the above tips will help you to build and keep your site professional. There is a plethora of websites on the web that are both good and bad, for yours to stand a chance it needs to be professionally presented this alone will not make your site better than others but it will give it a good start and should ensure that you start ahead of other websites that aren’t up to scratch. Ask your self one question; What do the sites I visit most contain? and the probable answer is professionalism and along with other ingredients such as good rich content, ease of use and concise navigation your website will have more than a fighting chance of succeeding. It isn’t going to be easy but it isn’t going to be fruitless either. Enjoy.

In reading through the tips, though they were all very good, I'm adding an 11th tip. ALWAYS, always, always, did I mention always...proof read your text to make sure there are no grammatical, spelling or typing errors? Unfortunately this writer wasn't aware of this last tip.

I had to get this off my chest.

Now that you have all the tips for building a professional website, go Here to get the tools you need to finish the job.

'til next time.

Lorna/
Realistic Extra Income

Quote: It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself.
...former New York City Mayor Edward Koch

My Thoughts About Those "Get Paid To" Websites

As promised, I’m now going to give you my opinion on the "Get Paid To" site called Cash On Tap. I’m writing about the site now because it is the only other site that I’ve gotten paid so far. Cash On Tap pays twice per month.

The following excerpt was taken from their Recent News section dated May 12, 2007.
…within the next 2-3 weeks, CashOnTap will have a change in payment policy where we will begin paying weekly, and soon after, paying 2-3 times a week. We will also be terminating our identification requirement at that time as well.

Lastly, we changed our referrals reward since referring 10 users was a bit difficult for some users. Therefore, we changed it to 5 active users, where the user needs to complete and get credit for ANY one offer.

I actually like this site a lot. Their layout is very user friendly, unlike some of the others I’ll tell you about later. I did receive my first payment of $26.00 on May 10th as requested and promised.

So the frustration quotient I’d apply to Cash On Tap is: 1 out of a possible 10. With 10 being I’m so mad I could eat nails and 1 being I don‘t think it could be any easier.

I am going to list a number of others that I’ve sign up for and will give you my opinion on if or when I get paid by them, which based on the payment schedules will be mid to late June.

Sites I’ve signed up with but have not yet been paid
Fairy Tale Treasure
Prizebook
Rapid Loot
My Hot Cash
Swat Cash
Cash Crate
Treasure Trooper

There are several others that I’ve signed up for, however I haven’t had a chance to “work” them yet. The above listed sites also pay once per month. I’ll keep you posted.

'til next time.

Lorna/
Your Personal ATM - for $7.00
Realistic Extra Income

Quote: It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself.
...former New York City Mayor Edward Koch

I Had to Call My Bank

In April I had to call my bank to tell them that my payment would be late. I’ve purchased 2 new vehicles in the past 11 years and I’ve never had to call a bank to inform them that my payment would be late…that is until now.

The representative on the phone when I told him that I only worked part-time asked me if I couldn’t get on full-time. Duh, ya think that if I could, I wouldn't? Anyway you see, I HAD tried to get on full-time at my job and I’ve applied for numerous positions outside of my current employment and it finally dawned on me that since I’m now getting closer to 50 than I have been to 40 its getting harder and harder for me to even get an invitation for an interview. Sad but true.

After I got over my anger and frustration I spent 12 hours the next day searching for money making opportunities on the internet.

I came across a site called MyLot. This is a social site as well as a money making site. Members make money by posting and responding to discussions, posting images and from referrals. You are by no means going to get rich over night by being a part of this group. Right now I’m really only sticking around mostly for the discussions as there have been some really good ones in month or so that I’ve been a member.

Why did I mention this site first? Well I’m getting to that. It was there that I came across a discussion post about another money making site called Cash Lagoon. This is a "Get Paid To" site. And that’s exactly what you do. You sign up for memberships, free and paid trial offers, surveys and the like. Many of the sign ups and trial offers require you to pay a small shipping/handling charge or for a service or product. Many are free of charge.

Here is an excerpt taken directly from their welcome page.
Cash Lagoon was designed by a couple of partners who thought it was time for a change in the pay to sign-up sites. While there are dozens of sites similar to ours, we are the ONLY site that pays out in less than 24 hours AND has a very low minimum cash out of only $2.00

Cash Lagoon is one of only a handful of incentive based sites that actually provides what is promised. Unlike other free cash sites that promise hundreds of dollars, we are not promising anything other than what you earn. Many require minimums of as few as $25 or $50 while others require you to earn $100 before they pay you. We only require you to earn $2 and we will send the money directly to your PayPal account, Bank Account, or e-Gold Account (e-Gold coming soon with instant payouts).

We have many offers that do not require you to buy anything, have a credit card, or anything of that nature. Many offers are 100% free and do not require a credit card. You can earn money quickly and easily. We estimate you can earn about $30 in under an hour from our 100% free offers!

I have mixed feelings about this site. They DO pay within 24 hours as they claim. And I have no problem with that. Where my frustration lies is in the number of times my offers have been rejected in the past week. They even rejected one that I paid for AND wanted! I have tried to be careful and not sign up with the same companies twice, but after 3 weeks they’re all starting to run together and I can’t remember which offers I’ve signed up for and which ones I’ve not.

So the frustration quotient I’d apply to Cash Lagoon is: 4 out of a possible 10. With 10 being I’m so mad I could eat nails and 1 being I don‘t think it could be any easier.

Next up is Cash On Tap

Until next time.
Your Personal ATM - for $7.00

How To Make Your Web Site And Affiliate Marketing Compatible
by: Ove Nordkvist

People who look for income opportunities, do often come across the idea of affiliate marketing. At first sight, it looks like it's just to have a banner posted on their web site to generate income.

The truth is that you need to do a little more than that. You have to test and evaluate every necessary ingredient in your particular affiliate marketing niche. By testing and optimizing you will learn how to get the most out of your efforts.

To be able to make money from your web site as an affiliate marketer, you need to get your site and your affiliate program to work together. It's a team sport with two players, and to win the matches, both players have to perform well.

Let's have a look why this compatibility is so important. Your visitors come to your site because they want information on a specific topic. To be able to recommend a service or a product your visitors may be interested in, you must promote something that is related to your site’s theme.

If you try to recommend a product unrelated to your theme, it will only result in a click at the back button. Once your visitor spots a banner or a text link that is not related to your page content he will think you're unprofessional. Or worse, he might think you are trying to scam him.

To make the affiliate marketing process work, you must keep your content and recommended products or services related. Your customer visits your site to find information and a solution of his problem. First you provide the information, then you recommend a solution for his problem.

Banner or text link placement is also an important ingredient. It will work best if you can weave it into your content. Try to make it as a well flowing unit however, don't hide the fact that your visitor will land on another web site when he clicks on your link. Build trust and confidence by being honest. To find the most efficient placement, you have to test and evaluate over time.

Once you've learned to master the art of affiliate marketing, it will give you repeatable income. When your first program is up and running smoothly, it's time to implement the next one.

All products or services have their ups and downs. Therefore it is wise to divide your sources of income. Your site must have one main theme, but there is no reason why you can't have several sub themes. With that, comes the possibility to promote other products or services, that are related to these sub themes.

When you add more than one source of income, it will balance your income. It will help you to gain a stable financial situation.

About The Author
Ove Nordkvist is the founder of the web site http://www.small-biz-ideas.net At his site you'll find small business ideas, free tools, e-books and lots of informative articles.
Visit http://www.small-biz-ideas.net/affiliate-marketing-ideas.html
To learn more about affiliate marketing ideas. Use the tutorial, download your free copy of an affiliate masters course.

Process on Optimizing your Site through Keywords
by: Kristine Joy Francisco

There are a lot of things to analyze on your site before you start optimizing your site. Such things are your site overview, nature of business, home page, site dimension and number of pages, product/services categories, page rank and indexed pages for major search engines, link popularity, and a lot more. After that you will go to your onpage and offpage optimization.

Analyze your site and think of a generic word that best fits for your web site. Choosing the right keywords is a strategy for better search engine positioning http://www.searchengines.com/placement.html. Analyze your business carefully and think of all the words that relate to your company or product. Most techniques to improve your search engine rankings have one thing in common -- Keywords. Choosing appropriate keywords is very important. Keywords are what lead search engine users to your site.

That word will act as your major keyword for your site. Then find a keyword tool that will help you generate keywords for your site. There are lots of keyword tools like http://inventory.overture.com. Type in the major keyword that you had thought of and it’ll list all related keywords that you can use. On the tool you’ll see the number of counts your keyword has been searched. Person new on search engine optimization might use the keyword with a lot of counts (I, sure did that before) immediately but SEO experts says that Do NOT use it for a start as keyword searched as many times will just give you a lot of competition and give your site less probability in regards to your visitors. So it is best to start with keywords with a little rivalry. Get some traffic with those keywords and eventually focus on the major keywords.

Examine those sites ranked from 1-10 on the keywords you chose to use in optimizing your site. Check everything about the site that is ranked highly on the search engine. Its URL, see if it is the top level webpage or it is the index page of the site as if it is not you can have a great chance to improve your index page for the target keyword and have a better placement in the SERP’s. Sites page rank.

Page rank is Google’s way of giving specific value to how popular your website is. It is based on the number of links you have pointing to your website. Then check their page source, see if their actually optimizing their site for some onpage optimization factors. Factors such as title tag, check if they use the keyword on their title tag which is one of the main reasons why a site is rank well on search engine. Header tags are used to separate topics and range from h1 being very large and bold and h6 which is very small and bold, it should contain your most important keyword or keyword phrases to assist you in ranking higher on Search Engines. Image alt tags are words that will be displayed in place of your image through an older browser or when your visitors have their image turned off, insert a readable keyword phrase within the alt tags of your image and it’ll help you on your rankings. And on the main content if they use the keyword on the beginning and at the end of the page, also whether or not they’ve bolded, underlined, or italicized the keywords on that page. By continuing this process on other keywords that you’ve chose you will have an improved ranking on SERPs.

About The Author
Kristine Joy Francisco, SEO for ProAdultOutsourcing, the best choice for your professional web design and other web development needs, for more information visit http://www.produltoutsourcing.com
Blog:http://www.offshore-web-design.blogspot.com/
http://www.webdesignandseo.wordpress.com/

Affiliate Programs – The Advantages of Being an Affiliate
by: Francois du Toit


Affiliate programs are becoming more and more popular as a fast-track way to start an internet business. These programs can offer huge advantages for affiliates, especially when they offer online training, support and marketing tools. There is a lot of money to be made if you join the right program.

I am a strong believer in the value of affiliate programs and believe that the best way to start an internet business is to become an affiliate of another program or to join a network marketing company. Why? To learn as much as possible from your sponsor(s) and make use of all the free advice and tips you will receive from them.

When you are eventually ready to start your own business you will already have a lot of experience and knowledge (that you obtained for free!) that will give you a huge advantage and save you a lot of money and time.

By the way, there are many very successful internet marketers that earn all of their money through affiliate programs and network marketing programs.

If you find a great affiliate program where you can make a lot of money and you decide to stay with the company instead of starting your own new business then good for you! If on the other hand you want to start a new business of your own then you would have at least learned a lot from the affiliate program, and hopefully made some money as well in the process.

The biggest mistake people make is to jump all the time from the one affiliate program to the other without taking the time to learn and understand the program and system. There are many programs on the internet. If you are going to leave what you are busy with every time you think you have discovered a better program then you will never learn anything.

Take your time to learn and be patient. I can assure you that you will not become an overnight millionaire following any affiliate program. Like any other business it takes time to build a successful affiliate business, even with the support and training you may receive.

I tend to look at things very logically. If something does not make sense to me I rather avoid it.

Consider the following:

You develop a great product that you want to sell for $10 on your website. It might have cost you thousands of dollars to develop and many many months of hard work with no income while you were developing your product. You are finally ready to launch your product. Since you are only one person with one website you realize the need to establish an affiliate program where you can have hundreds of affiliates promote your company and get thousands of people to buy from you. In order to get affiliates interested you must pay them between 20% and 50% of your sales price or gross profit.

I don't know about you but the above scenario looks like a lot of very hard work without any guarantee of success. The thought of it certainly does not get me excited.

Now consider the following - You join the above company as an affiliate and earn say 50% commission on all sales. You do not need to buy the product and have no investment in the company. You can start to sell the product from the 1st day you become an affiliate and make a lot of money. In fact, the company will make 50% and you will make 50%. You have no risk and can walk away from the program anytime you wish. What a pleasure! This is what I like the most from affiliate programs.

Remember that not all affiliate programs are good. Many of them only offer products that you would not want to give away for free to your mother-in-law. Furthermore, the support program and training offered is not always top quality.

I do not know about you but I cannot promote any product or service that I do not understand or do not believe in. You should always be able to sell the product to yourself. If you would not buy the product because you do not believe in it then please do not promote it to other people as the best product out there. You will sleep a lot better at night!

Remember that ultimately it is up to you to make a success of the program.

To your success !

About The Author
Francois du Toit is the owner of http://www.money-maker-advice.com a website designed to help new entrepreneurs succeed by evaluating various online and offline business opportunities, affiliate programs and network marketing options. The website also offers free articles and tools that will assist webmasters in building profitable websites.

Get Your Website to Profit With the Best Affiliate Programs Available
by Steven Gerber

The Internet is one of the most frequently used tools for communication today. There are over millions of people who log on to the Internet every single day. Besides, with the benefits that the Internet gives, who would not want to be a part of this information superhighway.

With the Internet, you can communicate with your family and friends through emails and instant messengers, you can purchase goods and services without leaving your own home, and the Internet is one of the most promising income generating tools that everyone can use today.

In the past, you needed products or services in order to make money through the Internet. Today however, you can make money through the Internet by using affiliate programs. This program will allow you to make a substantial amount of money out of your website and is a very good home business that you would want to get in to.

First of all, you need to know what an affiliate program is and how it works in order to fully understand how you can make some money out of it. Affiliate programs is like a joint venture where you or your website becomes a partner with another website that have already developed a product or service that they are already selling in the Internet. As a partner, your job is to direct the visitors of your website to your partner website and hope that they will purchase the products or services being offered. Your website will be like the company's marketing arm, among several.

The company you plan on being affiliated to will be providing all the necessary tools that you need in order to start the affiliate program. They will be providing the links, and some companies will provide free e-books on how you can effectively earn from affiliate programs.

The best way to profit from your website through affiliate programs is by promoting your website in the Internet. The key to success in affiliate programs is targeted traffic. This is why you should think of a product or service that you would want to promote and also a product or service that you are knowledgeable about. Think about your hobby. For example, if you like fixing cars, you want an affiliate program that promotes cars, or car parts.

In your website, you will then discuss about your hobby. Make some articles and post it in article publishing websites and also in your own site. Since your affiliate program is selling cars or car parts or even car accessories, the traffic you generate in your website will have a greater chance of clicking the link or banner of your affiliate website and buy from that website. You will then earn a commission out of the sold product.

As you can see, it is very simple to earn money from affiliate programs. However, when you are just starting out in the business of affiliate programs, you have to work hard to establish your reputation as an expert in the product or service you are promoting. The best way to do this is publish your articles about a particular product frequently. This will build your reputation in the Internet and soon, you will get that targeted traffic you have been always wanting. It is also a good idea to update your website once in a while (once a week) with tips and tricks on a particular product.

The best thing about affiliate programs is that you do not have to be in front of your computer 24 hours a day 7 days a week. All you need is a few minutes of checking up in your website and also check out your earnings in your affiliate programs. Always remember to update your website frequently in order to keep your readers and keep them buying from your affiliate website.


About The Author
Steven Gerber is a professional copywriter & marketing consultant. He is a protégé of Dan Lok, the World’s #1 Website Conversion Expert, & in Steven’s totally biased opinion simply THE BEST. You will find the latest internet marketing techniques & tricks at:
http://www.websiteconversionexpert.com

I learned my lesson a few years ago!!

I learned my lesson a few years ago about passing on email petitions and the like. So now whenever I receive one like the one I’m copying below I check this website called Truth of Fiction before I do anything else. If I can’t find the “erumor” on their website, I don’t pass it on.

This one though was different, it was able to locate it on the Truth of Fiction website. Also I had a friend who died from breast cancer in 2005 and with the news about John Edwards' wife, I thought that this deserved more than just a curisory glance.

The email asks that you Sign a Petition to get a bill passed in Congress…a Mastectomy Hospital Bill. It goes on to explain what a mastectomy is…as if you didn’t already know. But go on and read it for yourself. I hope that you decide to sign the petition.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

Mastectomy Bill in Congress
It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important...please take the time and do it really quick!

Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill – Important legislation for all women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minim um 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the "drive-through mastectomy" where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.

PLEASE!! Sign the Petition. You need not give more than your name and zip code.

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family and, on behalf of all women, THANKS.

RSS and Some things Internet

What’s all the fuss about RSS? If like me you have no idea what it is or how to use it, here’s your chance to get up to speed. RSS is going to be an important way for you to BOTH increase first-time traffic AND to build repeat traffic.

Before reading the rest of this article, please visit

There's a lots of information on the internet about RSS. Again if you’re like me its all Greek to me. This site is all you.

And even more importantly it outlines the best approach for MOST small businesses. You can understand this site even if you have never understood anything else you may have read about RSS.

So start here

RSS It! is the only product in the world that converts a Web site into an RSS feed. Only Site Build It! "site-blogs." More than merely unique, Site Build It! uses RSS as a powerful new way to distribute your Web site to the world, and requires NO heavy additional "dedicated blog commitment."

And, since Site Build It! sites are already thriving and successful, this is like getting a "free double" in high horsepower.

RSS It! creates your .xml RSS file and then modifies it every time you add or change a Web page or insert a non-Web page item into your feed.

It also automatically pings every significant RSS directory/engine. Together with the ability to add conventional dedicated blogging, here's the bottom line...

RSS It! leverages the reach of every SBI! site by adding an entirely new method of distribution, RSS, without costing you additional time and energy or tech know-how.

And now, good news!

Last week, when SiteSell announced its launch, the question on everyone's mind, of course, was...

How much was this powerful package going to cost?

Find another small business Web host that provides even half of what SBI! provides, just half, and I'll eat my hat on a Web cam for your viewing pleasure.

Start your "value due diligence" by comparing here...

Compare

By the way, SiteSell hates to even use "hosting" to describe what they do because it's all the software that is woven into the hosting that helps SBI! owners succeed. They only "do" the hosting part, which is top-notch, so that they can depend on their software hooking into a certain constant hosting setup.

That's why you can't buy the SBI! software separately at any other Web host. They do not "private label." Only SiteSell offers SBI! because only THEY created and developed it. I tend to look at it this way...

You get free hosting, thousands of dollars of software for a super-small
fraction of its true value.

Try to find that list of features at any price. You WILL find lots of noisy promises and great copy.

SiteSell points that out...

Don't be swayed. Insist upon what SBI! offers. You simply won't find it anywhere else.

Naturally, the most important factor to keep in mind is PROOF of a track record of SUCCESS. Even the overwhelming edge in features does not mean much without proof of success. So skip everyone's sales pitches.

Insist upon seeing proof of success like this...

Only Site Build It! delivers proof like this.

Because only they can.

My Favorite Store...the Home Depot

I've developed a love of gardening. Its only natural since my grandmother was a keen gardener and my Mom won a prize for the best yard on her block when she lived in New York. Now she is trying to duplicate that in Florida. And now its my turn. I got the bug about 4 years ago. I'm a late bloomer...no pun intended.

Follow the progression, Jamaica, West Indies, Queens, New York, Lakeland Florida and to me, Fort Worth, Texas.

Saturday I went to the Home Depot...which could hands down be my FAVORITE store. The location I went to was PACKED. It seemed as though everyone here in North Texas had the same thought...I must go to the Home Depot!!! They had SO much gardening products and supplies in stock that they had to leave some of the pallets of soil and such in the parking lot. And of course they had flowers and trees out.

Any, I got 10 bags of "sure stay" mulch. I wanted to get some top soil too, but that was all that would fit in my Vibe without putting stuff onto the seats.

I spent nearly 4 hours pulling weeds and topping off the mulch on my existing flower beds. Talk about being in PAIN! I was introduced to muscles I didn't KNOW I had!

But with all that...I still LOVE spring!!

Spring is in the air!

And I can't wait!!! Actually spring has already made it to North Texas, unofficially anyway. I wanted to get this in real early as last year we went from winter directly into summer and we didn't get a break until mid to late September. This being North Texas I can start talking about gardening. Yes, I've spent some time in my yard pulling weeds and planting late winter into spring flowers. Someone gave me a daylily plant last year so I’ve decided to add some more to my landscape, some yellow ones as I'm in a yellow mood this year. And I've already planted some yellow pansies. As luck would have it I had some yellow bluming plants already coming up, however I can't remember what they are. Looks like I'm going to be doing some research here shortly.

Being from Jamaica in the West Indies, I love tropical plants. My favorite is Coleus. Last year I got one or two of every kind I could find in the stores. Home Depot, Lowes, Mike’s Garden center and my local nursery loved to see me coming! Last year too my local nursery had several coleus that was specifically for planting in full sun. However with the heat we had here in North Texas last year I had to relocate them mid season. They just barely made it through the summer. I don’t know if I’m going to plant any coleus this year as I have to constantly monitor them for aphids. I’m into low maintenance so bugs bug me.

Speaking of new beginnings. I'm always looking for ways to make my website better so that I can make some more money so I can quit my J.O.B. and last week I came across this website called Site Build It!.

I'm getting REALLY excited about their them. Their website has a wealth of information that I'm still trying to digest. Check it out for yourself. SiteSell

Until next time...


Lorna/
SiteSell Blog

Things Are Starting to Get Ugly

My mantra when I was younger was I don't discuss politics or religion, mainly because I didn't pay much attention to either. My opinion is that since there are no two people who will EVER agree on the same points of any issue, it is just a waste of time and effort on my part. Though I still have the same mantra, I now pay more attention to both subjects.

Take the issue we have here in Texas, the Governor Rick Perry's mandate regarding girls entering the 6th grade. Governor Perry has mandated that all girls entering the 6th must be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine.

I feel that it's the parents’ decision as to whether or not their daughters get vaccinated. Read it for yourself.

Also, we are giving the kids the wrong message here. There is ONE sure way of NOT contacting the virus.

One question keeps running through my mind, what about the BOYS? If the virus can only be contacted through intimate contact, and since this contact will presumably be with a BOY, how come they don’t have a vaccination for the BOYS?

Then there is this thing between Clinton and Obama. You can read the whole store if you'd like.

Just my 2 cents worth.

The Apprentice

I enjoy watching "The Apprentice," but I was a little disappointed with last night's episode. Did we need to see those 2 making out? Did it add anything to the show?

In my humble opinion, I didn't think so.

EVIL EDITOR

EVIL EDITOR

What Would Happen If We All Thought This Way?

There was an article in the Bottom Line Personal on Ed Koch, three time mayor of New York City entitled “Why I’ll Never Retire.” Something he said really struck me.

When asked about the serious health problems he’s faced and how he managed to remain vital and positive, he answered,

"Sometimes it is people's reactions to physical problems that really handicap them. My personal bests may be behind me, but there are more 'very goods' to come. The most important thing is to never give up on staying in shape. As mayor, I weighed close to 245 pounds. I'm down to 220 now, and I'm always on a diet. Also, my rule is that if I don't feel bad enough to go to the ER, I must go to the gym three times a week." And here's the part that got me thinking, "It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself."

Isn’t that an awesome way of looking at life? I think I’m going to make that my new mantra.

It’s difficult to keep mattering in life when you don’t matter to yourself...former New York Mayor Edward Koch

I Read Somewhere That the Belief That.......

............you will gain weight if you consistently eat after a certain hour is a myth. You will gain weight however, if you consistently eat more calories than your body needs after a certain hour.

That’s good news for me as I work the evening shift at the hospital and I’ve been having my dinner between 9:30pm and 10:00pm and so far I have not gained any weight. Thank God!!

I suppose that is because I skip breakfast most days and only have lunch. No I’m not saying that you should do this, it’s just what I do and I KNOW that I SHOULD NOT do this but I do it anyway, shame on me.

One of my goals for this year is to eat healthier. I don’t do diets that well so I’m not even going to attempt another diet. I have cut out a lot of the “bad” stuff, though I haven’t added enough of the good stuff yet.

Monday and Tuesday I listened to a program on the radio program,
PointofView.net where the topic was healthy lifestyle. The guest was a Dr. Ted Broer. He made everything sound so simple.

I haven’t committed to anything yet as I’m still searching for that diet where I can eat all the chocolate I want and and less vegetables and still look like Jennifer Aniston!

I Won't Be Watching the Super Bowl

...this Sunday.

Not because I don't like sports. Nothing of the sort. In fact, I enjoy sports. I'll even go so far as to say that I love sports.

I developed a love for sports when I was young lass in my native Jamaica. That's in the West Indies, in case you were wondering. I used to play jump rope, hop scotch, baseball, what you Americans call punch ball, I believe.

So what's up with your football? I'm sure you're fed up with non Americans making snide comments about the fact that you Americans call a game where you don't hardly kick the ball, football and a game that you DO kick the ball A LOT, soccer. What's up with that?? Anyway that's all I'm going to say about that right now. I love both sports, whatever you choose to call them so you'll get no argument from me.

But that's not why I'm not watching the Super Bowl on Sunday. I'm not going to be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday because none of the teams that I would normally root for is playing. The way it stands now, I wouldn't know who to root for.

I have to have some stake in the game in order for it to hold my interest. So the next time the New York Giants or the New York Jets...what's up with them still being called the New York Giants and the New York Jets when neither team has played in New York in about 2 decades? Don't get me started on that!!!

As I was saying, the next time one of my teams, and please add the Dallas Cowboys from my adopted state to that list, you won't be able to pry me away from in front of the TV.

Well let me qualify that. If some kind sir gallantly offers me 2 tickets on the 50 yard line and an all expenses paid trip to wherever the game is being played I'll gladly give up my spot in front of the TV! I'll even hand you the remote.

What Part of “You’ve Got the Wrong Number” do you NOT understand?

This woman keeps calling me on my cell phone asking for someone that’s NOT me. And I keep telling her that she’s got the wrong number but yet she keeps calling.

Now she done made me mad as this has been going on for several weeks now. I’m thinking to say, “Woman, what part of ‘You’ve Got the Wrong Number’ do you NOT understand? No matter HOW many times you call this number, I’m still going to tell you the same thing. You’ve got the WRONG number. No matter how many times you call this number, you’re always going to get ME. It ain’t gonna change. I’m the ONLY ONE who uses THIS PHONE NUMBER. So QUIT calling it. Much more of this and I’m going to have to REPORT YOU. See, I’ve got YOUR number.”

I'm Having Trouble Getting Over This

The outcome of my court case is still stuck in my craw. I keep replaying it in my mind. How could it have gone differently?

Bottom line is the judge is/was not current in his knowledge of the labor laws. I wouldn't be surprised if he had never heard of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Or the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. Or the Department of Labor's FairPay Overtime Initiative.

Yup. I probably wouldn't be surprised.

One thing he asked me during this horrible fiasco was if my former "employer" ever told me that he would pay me for overtime when we agreed on the pay. I said "No."

But then later I thought, none of the employers I've worked for had ever told me that they would pay me overtime.

For instance, when I originally got hired at the hospital it was on an as needed basis, however when I happen to work over 40 hours in a single week they automatically paid me overtime.

So I'm thinking, based on this judge's reasoning, a person who agreed to accept a job to work 40 hours per week would not be entitled to be paid for overtime if he happened to work 41 hours one week. Better still I could give him an hypothetical with his bailiff as the example. I could say something to the effect of, "Did you tell your bailiff when you hired him that you would pay him overtime? Well, do you pay him for overtime when he works over 40 hours in any given week?"

I have 10 days in order to file for an appeal of this judge's decision. I'll be filing my appeal on Monday, which is the 6th day.

I dutifully got back onto the Department of Labor's website and found a piece of information that will no doubt be of interest to this judge.

I'll show him!

I Like My Job At the Hospital

...only drawback, I don't get enough hours to make a decent living. Working on that.

Anyway, but some of the people who call in are down right idiots.

I'm the receptionist so I know this first hand.

This person with call and ask, "Is Willie there?" Willie who? And I want to add. There are 253 employees working here. Do you expect me to know each and everyone of them personally and by name when I only work here part time AT nights????

But I calmly say....is that an employee or a patient? What department do they work in? Yes, it would make life easier if you knew what department they worked in. Thank you. I don't have a listing for that person. Goodbye.

Someone else will call and ask for Tracy. I'm like, which Tracy. I happen to know of at least 3 Tracys. Do you have a last name? No. Then do you know what department they work in. No. I could go on and on.

Then there's the woman who called wanting to talk to a director. Which one? I ask sweetly. Don't you have a director there? Yes, I say. We have several. She then explained that she wanted to talk to the director who would handle matters if something was stolen from her relative's room while they were at our hospital.

I find someone to speak to her. Not easy with it being AFTER HOURS and all. While the person is talking with her one of her family members yells out to her that THEY had the equipment.

I forgot to ask if she apologized. I somehow doubt it.

Can you tell that I'm in a grippy mood?

But overall. I don't have many complaints about my job. Like I said, I wish I had more hours.

The patients and family members are 99 percent loveable. It breaks my heart though when you find out that their loved one is nearing the end. That really hurts, especially when the patient has been in the hospital a long time and you have gotten to know their family.

Now that's the hardest.

Dismissed without Prejudice...

.....and that all costs herein incurred be taxed against the plaintiff.

Huh??? What the he double hockey sticks does that mean?

Well is it with prejudice or without prejudice?

So if it is without prejudice, why the cost to the plaintiff?

This from a judge who obviously is not up to snuff on the current labor laws.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I Think I May Be Going Crazy

What part of “What are you doing on Wednesday” don’t you understand?

I was scheduled for a court proceeding on Wednesday the 24th. (see my post number 1) I wanted some moral support so I thought I’d call a friend to see if she would go with me. With me so far? Well on Monday night I called her and I opened the conversation with “What are you doing on Wednesday?” She said, “working.” She works as an LVN at the hospital where I work and also does home health care on her days off. So I asked, “at the hospital" She said, “no,” she would be doing her home health care. And she could probably squeeze me in after her morning clients. The court time was for 11:00am.

So I told her why I had asked her that question. At the end of the conversation she told me to remind her. I told her that I would call her the day of the event. So that morning I called her to remind her. She said she was at work at the hospital and that she thought that the court date was on Thursday. I’m like “duh” and I went through the conversation we had.

Now I’m thinking, “am I speaking a different language from every one else?" When I talk to people do they only hear, “bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.” I wonder if I’m I’m just an alien from another planet and I haven’t learned the language yet?

This has happened before with this same friend. I wanted her to perm my hair. So I called her and asked her when was her next day off and does she feel like doing my hair for me? She said Thursday and yes. I said that’s good but I have a doctor’s appointment in the morning, could she do it in the afternoon. Fine. We discussed the fact that I would call her if I was running late. So I call her before I left for my appointment and she said, I’m at the hospital. Picture me slapping my face in disbelief.

Now I’m thinking that I should just stop speaking to people altogether. And I’m not just saying that because of just those 2 incidents. It has happened before.

I’m also thinking of having myself checked. What kind of doctor would I have to go to do you think?

Am I the only one this is happening to? And I’m not that old either. It’s too early for me to be going through a mid-life crisis.

No. I'm NOT OK

The other day it seemed as if EVERYONE at the job was concerned with how I was doing. Does it seem that you become more sensitive to these “how are yous” when you’re in a lousy mood?

One co-worker commented that I was normally upbeat and happy when in response to her query I stated that “I was here”.

What the devil does that mean anyway? Why do people say that?

Back to the co-worker. My reply to her was that I am usually really good at hiding my true feelings.

So hello all. I’m not alright, darn it! I want to be home in my bed curled up under the covers only to get out until I’m darn good and ready! If ever.

I’m tired of agreeing with people when something “good” happens and they suggest that it was “such a blessing.” Inwardly I’m thinking, “no I don’t think so actually.” But outwardly I put on a big ‘ole smile and nod my head in agreement. Oh. Yes it really was. Huge grin. OK can I stop smiling now. My face is starting to crack.

I’m human. Life stinks for me right now so I just want want to have a pity party. Come or not. It's your choice. I may never end this one. We'll just have to see.

10 Most Stolen Vehicles In Texas

Did you know that leaving your car keys in the ignition is against the law? I didn’t either. But leaving your car keys in the ignition is not only against the law it is also very foolish.

Case in point. I am the evening receptionist at a hospital. I will refrain from mentioning the name of the hospital. I don’t want to be like that guy who got fired from Microsoft. Although a little publicity couldn’t hurt.

Anyway as I was saying, this evening at work the security guard told me that some young opportunist had stolen a 2005 GMC Sierra pickup and drove it into the hospital parking lot. He parked, got out and was ready to be on his way when the guard stopped him when he noticed that he was heading for the street and not going inside the hospital. He took off like a bat out of hell taking the car keys with him. Apparently his plan was to lay low until the coast was clear.

It turned out that the unsuspecting vehicle owner had gotten out of the vehicle at the service station just up the block from the hospital leaving his key in the ignition. Had he listened to the news the night before he would have known that his GMC Pickup was the number 7 most stolen vehicle in Texas.

I bet he won’t be making THAT mistake again!!

Any Job Will Do...As Long As It Pays the Rent

I have not had a full time job since February 13, 1998. How do you remember that exact date you may ask? Well I’m glad you did. I remember because it was the day I was supposed to fly to Florida for my cousin’s Valentine’s Day wedding the next day. I was laid off a couple of hours before I was to leave for the airport.

Since that faithful Friday the 13th, I have not worked another permanent full time job. That was not entirely by choice however. You must understand that it was not the first time or even the second time that I’d been laid off and to be honest, it was starting to hurt my feelings. I was beginning to think that I was a jinx or something.

Any who, I was lucky enough to get a few long term temporary assignments through temporary agencies. Word to the wise, don’t EVER bash your agency on the survey they send you after an assignment ends, they're liable to drop you like a hot potato if you do. That’s what happened to me. I was angry with them for not calling me for assignments after one of my long term assignments had ended. I didn’t work for a while until the last assignment called me back. I even worked for Subways for a little. Think they'll send me something for mentioning them?? I'm not proud. I'd accept it.

So fast forward to 2004, I didn’t work for several months after that last assignment ended again. Then a friend who worked at a hospital told me of a position that she thought I may be interested in. What she didn’t know was that the position was PRN or as needed. Luckily they needed me a lot and I earned enough to keep some of the bill collectors at bay.

Then in 2005 I was asked to be the Nanny for a family with a bunch o'chilrens. I worked with the family for 14 months and I’m thinking of writing a book about that experience. I’m thinking of calling it “My 14 Months in Nanny Hell.”

Here we are in the year 2007 and I am thinking that I need to find that elusive job that will fulfill all my needs, money, enjoyment, bliss. The only problem is that I don’t know what that is...bliss, I mean if you were wondering.

I heard somewhere that the economy has gotten better and that there are more jobs available. Hmmmm...are they just not available to ME????

I wonder...........

You Live and Learn

The phrase "no good deed ever goes unpunished," keeps running through my mind.

For 14 looooooooong months I worked as a nanny. The pay was, lets just say that the pay wasn't all that good. In fact, I had to get a second job on the weekends.

The hours were long, and the kids were just sweet little darlings. Sarcasm intended. Don't get me wrong. I love children but, well you know.

And the working conditions, well we just won't go there. And the boss, well we probably shouldn't go there because my future or present boss may be reading this mild tirade.

As I said, I worked as a nanny to a family with, well maybe I should just say that they had a bunch of chilrens....You know, just in case someone reading knows me and so probably knows them. The mother had passed away. I won't say from what, which left a father with no clue as to how to deal with all 'em chilrens.

I submitted my resignation but before my notice period ended he fired me because of the one day in the 14 months I worked for him I called in to say that I couldn't make it to work.

So I did some research and found out that by law I was entitled to be paid at least the minimum wage per hour for hours worked up to and including 40 hours per week plus overtime pay at 1.5 times the rate for hours worked over 40.

But the law or one particular judge turned on me. He said that what I agreed to was only what I was entitled to.

He asked me if the employer had ever told me that he would pay me for overtime hours worked. I said, "No." It was much later that it dawned on me that NO employer told you that they would pay you for overtime hours worked. It was just understood. If you did. They did.
I wish I had thought of it sooner.

You live. You learn.