Author Archives: Tom Antion

For Internet Marketers, a First-Rate Electronic Shopping Cart Is a Must

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What comes to mind when you think of becoming an Internet marketer? Making lots of money? Selling your own products? Distributing your e-zine to thousands of subscribers? For each of these activities, a first-rate electronic shopping cart is a must and choosing one that makes it easy for your customer to do business with you is imperative.

What should you look for when choosing a shopping cart?
Think about what you want it to do. Here are some questions to get you started.

  • Will it calculate tax and shipping costs?
  • Can it handle both physical products and downloadable products?
  • Will it alert you when your product inventory is getting low?
  • Will it suggest related products to the shopper based on what they have already bought?

There is much more to evaluate when deciding which shopping cart to use. The subject of shopping carts  is covered in detail in IMTC's Internet Marketing 101 & 101-OL courses. To learn more, see http://imtcva.org/program/curriculum/

CD and Product Creation Myths De-Bunked

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Myth 1: You have to go to a studio and pay big hourly fees to create a decent CD

Tom's Response: I have only done one CD project in a studio. It worked out just fine and wasn't really that expensive in the long run. I think it cost about $40.00 per hour for a digital studio in someone's basement. If you practice before you get there you can save lots of time and money.

The rest of my CDs have been recorded in my office using my own equipment, or by the company providing the phone service when I was doing a telephone seminar. When necessary, I edited the recordings right on my personal computer with inexpensive software.

Myth 2: You must have music on the tape and make it sound like Nightingale Conant to be successful with CDs.

Tom's Response: For years my audio tapes and CDs did not have music on them. They were completely informational and sold around the world with virtually zero returns. Now, it's so easy to put music on I go ahead and do it just to increase the production value.

Myth 3: You need four-color packaging and lots of expensive graphics so the product looks professional.

Tom's Response: I make my packaging look as good as I can, but I never spend big money on graphics. About the most I've ever spent is $85.00 for an artist to draw a color picture for me which I scanned and used both on the web as an advertisement for the product and on the cover of the product.

Get more information on how to make your own CD products!

Twas the night before Christmas in Cyberspace

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I found this updated version of the Christmas classic floating around the Internet.  Hope it adds a little merriment to your day.

Twas the night before Christmas, and in a cyberspace “House”
Many souls stirred, now clicking their mouse.

Warm messages were sent, through the lines with care,
as merry yuletide greetings sang in the air.

The people now met, from all through the land
In “Mucks” and “IRC's” and chat rooms to hand

These festive wishes which left no doubt
Of the peace and happiness the season was about.

And me in my nightclothes now seeing it quite late
Prepared to log off, to rest for the date

That now was only some hours away,
For all too soon, it would be Christmas day.

My finger hovered over the exiting key
When what to my wondering eyes did I see!

A small moving icon did appear on the screen
And for a moment I thought, “this *must* be a dream”.

Nine reindeer now flew, one with a red nose,
Pulling a sleigh and up they all rose,

As a jolly old driver now called them by name
And I stared in wonderment as I knew of their fame.

Prancing in the air, to the top of my page,
They landed quite deftly, setting the stage,

For the one called Saint Nick as he smiled at me
Letting me know I had no reason to flee.

Seeing this I relaxed, and sighed with relief,
For I knew that this vision would cause me no grief.

No figment was he, no vision brought on,
By an addled brain that was too far gone

Or a “virus” of some sort, to lead me to think
That my entire system was now on the blink.

He spoke not a word but went straight to work,
And leaping from the sleigh, turned with a jerk.

To the icon of my mailbox I watched him now stride
And opening the cover, he slipped quickly inside,

A wrapped gift taken from the sack on his sleigh,
And raising the “flag” was then on his way.

Leaping to his sleigh to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down on a thistle

But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all! And to all a good night!”

Social Networking – Buttons To Make Marketing Easier

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What kind of buttons? These are the buttons you see all the time on people's websites saying “Digg This”, “Follow me on Twitter” and “Join Me On Facebook.”

Where do people get these buttons? How can they help your online business?

On most social networks, social bookmarking sites and microblogging sites like Twitter, you can find a link that will say “Tools and widgets.” On these pages the website provides the codes that you simply copy and paste into your website or blog. They will give you a number of options on what kind of graphics or button styles to choose from. These are direct links to your particular accounts that your friends and followers can visit in one click.

A widget is even better. It will show your tweets, facebook friends and updates and even your published articles on Ezinearticles.com in real time. As your social sites are updated, they refresh automatically. And they are not complicated to install. It is simply a code to copy and paste that the site provides for you.

If you want to get really fancy, you can create a graphic in Photoshop with your company logo, and just embed a link to your profile in the image. This is a lot easier than it sounds and helps with branding, especially with Facebook Fan Pages.

How can this help your business? Easy.

These widgets and buttons help drive traffic to your accounts. Your visitors can stay updated on all of your tweets, articles and videos in one glance. The Digg.com button helps you get valuable “diggs” on submitted websites. Your friends may not even be aware that you have an account at a particular service and now they can network with you further by clicking straight out to your profile and becoming friends. You can build up Twitter followers with your “follow me” button without having to search and follow other people first. These buttons are meant to make your social networking easier. Time is valuable. Use these fun applications to network with others without being online all the time.

Click on these to see how they work!

Distance Learning: Who Knew? Distance Education Is the New Green!

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Have you ever noticed how traffic seems to triple when students return to school in the fall? More cars on the road, more congestion on the highways, more road rage and fender benders, more fuel consumed, more air pollution. Avoiding these is a just one more good reason to take classes online.

As more people have become aware of the impact cars and other gas-burning vehicles have on our environment, our nation’s population is looking for ways to conserve our national resources. Has it occurred to you that distance education is a step in the right direction?

Consider these “Green” benefits of online training:

A student participating in online courses doesn’t need a dorm room, a library, a cafeteria or seven different classrooms in order to learn. There is no huge sprawling campus burning hundreds of lights, using mega watts of electricity and dumping gallons of water down the drain. In addition, no wildlife is displaced to make way for new buildings and campuses.

An distance learner doesn’t have to depend on vehicles to participate in classes. No car, no bus, no commuting, thereby eliminating exhaust and fuel consumption.

Instructors and students generally communicate through email, so no trees are sacrificed to make paper for lessons and handouts. In addition, the learners don’t have to print their assignments so they are not adding ink cartridges to the landfill.

Distance education pays off for the individual in many ways. Helping the planet while educating yourself is a bonus. That is just one more reason to take online courses. It’s convenient, it’s accessible 24-7, and it’s the new green.

Social Media Revolution – Youtube Channels

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Youtube is the fastest growing video hosting site in the world. The channels that Youtube provides its users can be a powerful marketing tool to show off your brand and help sell your products and services. Channels can easily be customized with special background images of yourself or your logos. You can use the channel to store all of your videos in one place where everyone can see them, make friends, build subscribers and collect comments.

Youtube channels provide clickable links to websites to help drive traffic to your websites from the millions of Youtube visitors each and every day. Businesses large and small are taking advantage of the power of Youtube and of online video. Some brands, such as the floundering Old Spice brand, found new life in comedy skits produced just for Youtube. The videos were so unique and funny that they went “viral,” meaning that people spread them and shared them around like wildfire, resulting in re-vitalized sales and market share for the brand.

Now as a result, many businesses are re-thinking their social networking strategies. And they are looking for people like you. People who know how to make huge strides in online marketing without costing too much. Where do you learn to be a Youtube marketing expert? Right here at the Internet Marketing Training Center. We can teach you to master your dreams….

Distance Learning: What Does It Take to Succeed in Distance Education?

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You gave it a lot of thought and did a lot of research, but you finally took the plunge and signed up for a distance education course. This is a very exciting time for you because you have high expectations that your studies will lead to a lucrative new career. Now it is time to focus on what it will take for you to succeed and how to approach distance education.

Below are some pointers to help you adapt to online learning and reach your goals:

  • Commit to learning the lessons.
    Make every effort to understand the material covered in each lesson as it is presented. Definitely avoid waiting until the last minute to look at the lesson because you will have to rush through the material, which will make it difficult to absorb and learn.
  • Manage your time.
    We all have family and other obligations to balance with our day-to day activities. Make sure you set specific times to devote to your studies with as few interruptions as possible. When you are a new student, you may find that, at first, family members don’t take your desire to learn as seriously as you do. Be persistent and protect your study time. You may be pleasantly surprised when your family eventually takes on more responsibilities to free you of your tasks so you can concentrate on the courses.
  • Start with a clean slate and a clear mind.
    A cluttered space makes for a cluttered mind.  Set up a learning environment for yourself wherever you can find the peace and quiet to concentrate. It may be at a kitchen table, it may be at your office, it may even be in the neighborhood coffee shop or local library.
  • Arrange the supplies and equipment you need before you begin.
    Work in a well-lit space and place everything you will need nearby. This may be your laptop, a recorder, pencil and paper or a printer, as well as a comfortable chair and surface to work on. Some students like to play music as they study so you may want to load your favorite tunes on a CD or MP3 player before you begin to study. The objective is to set the stage for learning.

You have already invested your hopes and money in preparing for a new career. Invest your time and efforts, as well, to ensure you reach your objectives for a better future.

To learn more about distance learning, visit http://imtcva.org/program/distance-learning/

Website: Costs

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From the Domain, to Hosting Company, to the Web Design, Now you have think of the cost of maintaining your website. All of this gets to be very costly if you had to pay out. If you had products and want to sell those you would have to pay monthly for your shopping cart. Your Domain, Hosting, and shopping Cart are a must.

You can avoid paying out loads of money on labor with creating designs and maintenance, even if it’s not something you like then you would have to pay more just for them fixing it.  Avoid all the hassle by joining the Internet Marketing Training Center. Where you can manage your own site, having it look the way you want it, and taking credit for a job well done.

Working from home with Computer Vision Syndrome

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No more excuses for why you can't get on the computer because of the following:

Headaches during or after working on the computer, Burning Eyes, Distance Vision is blurry when looking up from the computer, Dry, Tired, or Sore Eyes, Squinting helps when looking at the computer, Neck, Shoulder, or Back Pain, Double Vision, Letters on the screen run together, Driving/night vision is worse after computer use, “Halos” appear around objects on the screen, Need to interrupt work frequently to rest eyes.

I have researched some great tips that you can use to reduce or get rid of any of these symptoms.  Really awesome advice that I have started using daily.  At first, I thought my headaches were from my kids (LOL, they can do that too) but then I realized the headaches were starting shortly after turning on the computer EVERYDAY.  When I started my research I then realized other symptoms I had that are related to CVS (Computer Vision Syndrome).

Here are the suggestions and advice I have found:

Suggestions That Can Help Reduce Some of the Effects of CVSS

      Glare screen filters may be helpful for some people, but they will not solve your computer vision problems because they only affect glare from the computer screen, not the problems caused by the constant refocusing the eyes must do when working on a computer. An anti-reflective coating (AR Coat) on the lenses of glasses will reduce the glare coming at you and from behind you that causes eyestrain.

      Proper lighting can reduce eyestrain and glare. Glare is created by glare on walls and other surfaces, reflections from the computer screen, bright light coming in from outside, and bright light inside. To decrease light and reflections from external light, close drapes or blinds. When using computers, lighting should be about half of that used in most offices. Using fewer light bulbs or florescent bulbs or use lower intensity bulbs can reduce glare caused by overhead lighting.

      Take a 10-15 minute break every hour to reduce eyestrain. Look away from the computer screen every 10-15 minutes and focus for 5-10 seconds on a distant object outside or down the hallway or get up and take a short walk. Everyone tends to stare at the computer and blink less, about 5 times less than normal, according to studies. Staring and decreased blinking dry the eyes out. Taking frequent breaks allows normal blinking and better wetting of the eyes. Office buildings tend to be dry environments that also reduce tearing. If you are experiencing significant dryness, ask your eye doctor about artificial tears or eye drops that you can use during the day. By modifying your work area, you can reduce eyestrain and other effects of CVS. If you need to look back and forth between the printed or written page and the computer, eyestrain can occur. Place written pages on a copy stand next to the monitor. Properly light the copy stand. Adjust your workstation and chair to the correct height. Purchase ergonomic furniture to assure proper screen locations and posture. Poor ergonomic setup is a cause of head, neck, shoulder, and back pain.

      Place your monitor directly in front of you, not off to one side. It should be about 20 to 26 inches away from you. Make sure your monitor is just right for you, not too high and not too low. You may need to raise or lower your chair. If you reposition your chair, keep in mind that your arms should be parallel to the floor when you type, and your feet should be flat on the floor or on a footstool. Finally, maintain good posture at your desk: keep your back straight and your shoulders back. Adjust the contrast between the background and the characters on the screen by adjusting the brightness on your computer screen.

Please note that I am not a Doctor and I am only giving you researched information based on symptoms I experience working on the computer for hours daily.

Video Marketing – Leveling The Playing Field For Small Businesses

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Video has become so easy and so inexpensive to produce for the web, small companies now have the advantage that used to only belong to large corporations in terms of exposure to the public. Not long ago, before the web, you only saw video media on television. Television advertising is so expensive that only the big companies had the money to make commercials. That left out millions of small businesses that could have made an impact of the public if only they had the budget. A great commercial or promotional campaign could have been the turning point for many of these small businesses in growth and profitability. It was a game they could not afford to play….

But no longer.The Internet has opened up the possibilities and access to the public like never before. Online video is the key to small business success on the Internet. In fact, online video is reaching more people than even television due to mobile devices… people can watch their favorite shows, commercials and all, while they are doing other things. A small pizza shop now has just as much access to the general public as a major company. In this regard, small businesses are looking for staff that can manage their online video needs.

At the Internet Marketing Training Center, you can learn everything you need to know about online video, hosting, sharing, web page design and social networking skills to take any company to the next level of business, whether it's your company or someone else's. Find out how easy it can be to get started!