The key to domain taste testing is to take advantage of a
five-day grace period offered by select domain name
registry services. After doing careful research to identify
and determine the commercial resale value of a domain name,
the investor purchases the domain through the registrar and
begins to immediately test its worth.

Different domain name investors may use a variety of
different strategies to put a new domain through its paces
including setting up Google AdSense ads to generate
click-through commissions through text ads to setting up
more extensive web sites with hundreds of pages of related
content and products related to the domain name.

Using links to existing affiliate products and programs,
reseller products, or links to online stores such as
Amazon.com or Target.com, even a one-man shop can create a
domain rich with products and custom offerings without ever
having to stock a single physical product on a shelf.

Within a five-day grace period, the domain name investor
can usually determine the ability of the domain to turn a
hefty profit. If the name fails to attract traffic or
generate satisfactory click-through commissions or product
sales, the domain name can be returned to the domain
registrar and the registration fee refunded towards the
purchase of a new domain name.

In this way, a savvy domain name investor can continuously
test a variety of domain names to determine the best ones
to hold onto for future expansion or resale.

Just as fine wine increases as it ages, domain names can
also improve with age and resell for substantially more
dollars the longer they are held. And just as entire wine
collections are frequently passed from one owner to the
next, entire collections of related domain names are also
frequently resold through multiple owners for
ever-increasing profits.

In what other industry can a speculator have this level of
flexibility in his investment? Imagine if you could
purchase stocks and bonds through your stock broker this
way how much money you could generate? It’s no small wonder
why the domain name industry is quickly growing into one of
the largest and most aggressive investment markets in
existence. By 2010 it is estimated it will grow into a $4
billion market.

I’ve personally been “dabbling” into the world of “Domainers”
and so far, I really like what I see!

There’s a few different information products out there that
teach the ins and outs of domain name investing that I’ve
bought but one that I just recently purchased gives some
really heads up information and teaches you EXACTLY how
to get started.

I can’t believe he doesn’t charge more for this. Included
with the product are numerous videos and PDFs that are
very easy to follow and understand in “layman’s” terms.

For $37 (with built-in coupon) you really can’t go wrong.

Here’s the link:

http://www.domainsintodollars.com/jamaffiliates/jrox.php?id=500_1

Google has just released new API’s for their office applications allowing users to plug their own applications into the Google online interface.
Why would anyone want to do that?  It’s the future.

As more and more businesses are run from several places on the globe–or as more employees are working at least partly from home–businesses need a place to store data to be used collaboratively.

Think about it this way:  You and Joe are working on a project together.  You are working with the data on your computer at home while Joe is using a copy of the data on his computer.

The data set becomes inconsistent as you both work on it.  Suddenly he has one set of data and you have another.

The solution is what Google has envisioned: Putting the data in online storage where you can both access and work with exactly the same data.  No fuss, no muss.

Not only is it the future for business, it’s the future for education, programming and web development.

Students will be able to work with one another—or their professor—without leaving their home or dorm.  Web programmers can work together on projects without every having to “upgrade” their programming in stages.  Web developers can easily share applications, images, templates—anything—through a central hub.

It’s the future, and you have an opportunity to cash in on it.

For more ways to cash in on the ever changing world of the internet, check out my Success Secrets Course.

I get this question, or variations on the same theme, every week. Today I wanted to give you just a quick run-down of what it costs to start a SUCCESSFUL online business, while giving you a HEADS UP about the BIGGEST but often HIDDEN cost.

Now, before we go any further, I need to define what I mean when I say a “successful online business”. A successful online business is one that makes a profit for the LONG HAUL, not just a few bucks this week. There is a huge difference between the two. You will not make any real long-term income by putting up the latest self-replicating site, or hawking the newest “business opportunity”. The kind of business I am talking about is one which will support your lifestyle for years to come.

 In order to start an online business, you first need access to a computer and the Internet. That doesn’t mean that you need to own a computer, just that you have access to one. That may cost you nothing–especially if you already have a computer and are already paying for access.

A word to the wise: You DO NOT need to have the latest, Pentium 8, running at 6 gigs, in order to start a business. In fact, many people who go this route spend so much on their computer equipment that their businesses grow slowly for lack of capitol.

Next, you need to have a web page. That means a couple of different costs:

You need to have a way to create web pages. By using web templates and Notepad for an editor, this may cost you nothing. But if that is beyond your ability, then you can download a free WYSIWYG editor or you can purchase one to use.

If you choose to hire someone to build your site for you, the rates vary considerably. Shop around for the best price and always check their references to make sure they can deliver you a quality, functional site in a timely fashion.

You need to have a web host. I know that there are still a number of free hosts out there, but sites that are going to be profitable are rarely able to be sustained on a free server. Plan to spend between $10 and $75 for your hosting, depending on the type of site, features and traffic.

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/hosting

You need to have autoresponders. This is the one thing most beginning sites overlook. This is your first line of customer follow-up and one of the best ways to close sales for those who don’t buy on the first visit.

Autoresponders are available either through your host or separately. I choose to use a service that provides me with more features than I would get through a hosting company alone. If you do not get autoresponders through your hosting company, plan to pay from $10 to $30 per month for this service.

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/list

You need to have advertising.

Before I go any further, I want to dispel a myth. Ready? Here it is: A slick looking site with all the bells and whistles does NOT sell products.

Did you catch that?

People tell me all the time that they have a great site. Usually, they are right. The only problem with putting all that effort (and often money) into a site is that they often have NO MONEY LEFT to get traffic to their site. A MEDIOCRE SITE WITH LOTS OF TRAFFIC WILL ALWAYS OUTSELL THE PERFECT ONE WITH NO TRAFFIC.

So, how much do you have to pay for advertising your product or service? Here is a rule of thumb: For every product you sell, plan on putting 45-50% of the gross profit into advertising.

So, if you want to sell 100 units this month, and your gross profit per unit is $30, plan to put around $1500 into ads THIS MONTH.

Can you do free advertising? Yes, and you might want to start that way if you are strapped for cash. Just know that your business will grow more slowly. In the long run make sure to set aside 50% of your gross profits for NEXT MONTH’S advertising. You will be glad you made the choice.

Now, that about covers it. There are certainly more things you can spend money on, but most of them won’t make you very much and can cost you plenty.

But, there is one cost that I haven’t yet covered. Here it is:

To start your own business will cost you more emotional strength than almost anything else you will ever attempt. Most people will never have the emotional strength to make it through those first hard weeks and months. Most people will give up just on the verge of success.
Only the strongest of us will make it, and that’s the real cost to weigh.

I ought to know: The 800 or so articles I have written and syndicated over the last 5 years have not only generated millions of visitors to my web sites, they have also gotten me over 100,000 mentions on Google.

Not too bad for a farm boy from Kentucky.

So, how do you go about getting that kind of traffic for your site? Here are the steps:

1. Generate a list of keywords you want to target.

Your keyword list will give you a great start in knowing what articles you want to write.

2. Generate a list of interests in your target market.

If your target market is people interested in digital photography, you would want to make a list of information they would find appealing: How to choose a digital camera, Fixing Bad Shots, etc. Info they would be interested in.

3. Using your list of keywords and market interests, create a book outline.

For many of you this might seem premature to some out there. Here’s why you want to make this outline: You are going to write 50-100 articles over the next year. Why not look ahead and make them into a completed book rather than just a list of barely related articles?

4. Begin writing an article or two each week to fill in the outline.

Choose one of your points or subpoints each week and write your article on that theme.

5. Syndicate the articles with article banks and article distribution services.

For a list of places to submit your articles, grab a free trial membership here:

http://www.TrafficWriting.com?z=2

This is a brief overview of the article marketing process. For a free in-depth view of article marketing along with the complete “10 Minute a Day Marketing Plan” visit:

http://www.TrafficWriting.com?z=2

Does he like brunettes?  Make sure you are a brunette.  Blonds? Ditto.

Voluptuous or athletic?  Earthy or high maintenance? Brainy or bubbly? Long hair or short?

The bottom line is this:  Ask almost every man what “type” of woman he likes and he can tell you.

What does this have to do with a successful start of a business at home?

Simple: Google’s a lot like a single guy on the prowl.

If you could ask Google what “he” likes in a website, you would find out:

Google prefers larger websites over smaller.  (“I like big sites and I cannot lie…”)

Google prefers websites where the content is based on a central theme.

Google likes website that are linked to by other websites in the same general market.

Google likes websites with relevant content for its users.

But how can you build a website with 5,000 relevant, genuine content pages?
For the last couple years people have been “hyping” directory generator sites.  (You’ve probably heard of programs like Traffic Equalizer or Search Engine Cloaker used to generate these types of sites.)

To create these sites, you would generate a list of keyword phrases you wanted to score highly for (sometimes numbering in the thousands) then plug that keyword list into the program.

The program then turns out a site full of “fluff” content and/or “scraped” directory info designed to please the search engines and get you to a top spot for those keywords.

The only problem is this:  Once Google began seeing these sites, Google began creating algorithms to keep them out of the results.

Want to know how YOU can build that 5,000 page site Google will love?

Well, starting now, you can create 3 pages per day for the next 5 years.

Or you can admit you CAN’T build a 5,000 page site—but you can have other people build it for you—and they’ll do it for free.

By using a content management system you can have other people create solid, keyword rich, Google appealing content to your site.  In some cases you can have those 5,000 pages in a matter of weeks—without fear of Google blacklisting you.

What is a Content Management System?

The shortest definition of a content management system (CMS) is this:

“A content management system is a website interface allowing the user to easily upload and edit website content.”

With a CMS you don’t need a webmaster nor a computer science degree to add or modify your website’s content—it allows you to make changes to your site as easily as using a word processor.  Or pretty close.

There are a bunch of types of content management systems available today.  You can get your own CMS here:

http://www.TrafficWriting.com

Blogs are one of the most common types of CMS and are available for free from sites like http://www.Blogger.com.   Blogger hosts the sites for its users and is a “one stop shop,” though it is a little limiting.

Forums are another type of content management system—once installed users can easily add content to a website in the form of “posts.”  There are a ton of forums online for almost every topic.

There are also tools like http://www.WordPress.com that allow users to easily add content to a website.  Once installed on your own website, WordPress allows you and others to create messages, automatically adding them to your website.

You Need a Content Management System

While all have their pluses and minuses, you need to be utilizing a CMS as part of your search engine strategy.  None of us has the time, knowledge and/or motivation to go out and “write” a mega-site.  A CMS will allow hundreds or even thousands of visitors to create the site for you—all the while putting up highly relevant content Google and the other search engines will love.

It’s a win-win situation.