Category: Article Directory

Blogging For Business Profits Issue# 16: The Practical Reasons For Selecting A Reliable Host and Using The WordPress Blog Platform For Your Blogs

The following will give you an idea of what is involved in backing up and moving websites and blogs. Once you get that picture you will have a greater appreciation for my recommendation as to what hosting company you select.

Moving a web site from one server to another for most sites is generally not a major problem. Here are the steps:

1. Update the backup of your site on your hard drive. This is done by logging into the server that hosts your site with an ftp client. There are plenty of free ftp clients. I use Core FTP Lite and it works very well. Once you log in, the files that make up your site normally stored under public_html can be copied from the server to your hard drive. Then you are done.

2. Once updated the next step is to update the dns information of the domain name you are transferring. This is done through the company you used to register your domain. You will need the DNS information of the new server that will host your site. This is obtained from the new company that is hosting your site.

(If your are getting blurry eyed at this point and have no idea what I am talking about, I can assure you it is worth your time to learn these steps to protect your sites. I can also assure you there is likly to be a time when you will want to move your sites. Finally, this was all greek to me not that long ago and if I can learn it, so can you.)

3. Once the DNS is updated with your domain registering agent, it is now time for the scary part which is to delete the domain account with your previous hosting company and then immediately set up the domain on the server of your new hosting company. As part of the set up process you will need to have the user log in name and password in order to upload your saved site with your FTP client.

4. With your domain now set up on your new hosting company’s server, you are now ready to upload your saved site from your hard drive and test your site to make sure all is working well.

This work can be outsourced but I highly recommend you learn and do this yourself a few times before outsourcing it. Also if you do outsource this task, make sure you have the DNS record information and administrative user ID and password information. Once the third party is finished transferring your site you should change the log in information.

We just covered transferring a domain which is relatively easy in comparison to transferring a blog. Blogs on a WordPress platform log entries into a database. In order to move a blog you have to copy the data base and reload the data base onto the new hosting company. But before you do that the domain has to be prepped to receive the WordPress database and files. There are detailed instructions on how to do this in the Moving section of http://www.tamba2.org.uk/wordpress The guidelines are easy to follow but like anything else you have to do it a few times before the fear factor goes away. At this point I have succeeded in backing up my data bases. In fact I use a WordPress Backup plug-in but have never tested restoring a blog. I will be doing that shortly.

PLEASE NOTE: BACK-UP AND RECOVERY OF BLOGS HOSTED BY BLOGGER MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE. IF YOU USE BLOGGER, PLEASE WRITE ALL YOUR POSTS USING A TEXT EDITOR OR WORD AND SAVE THEM ON YOUR HARD DRIVE.

Big Bonus Tip

You generally do not have to worry much about any of this if you select the right hosting company to begin with and the right account with that hosting company. I continue to recommend the Host Gator Reseller Account for $24.95 per month. You will have a separate CPanel interface with that type of account and if you do not know what CPanel is when you do you will appreciate those features for each domain you have. By the way you can host a lot of domains for that one price.

Be Well and Prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Register for The Blogging for Business Profits Series At Steve Reports and while you are there you are invited to register to have all posts to Steve’s blog delivered right to your email.

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of How To Increase Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting StevePohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Ken McCarthy Writes About Blogs For Business

What about blogs?

Are they worth the effort? Or are they
just a fad for folks with too much time
on their hands?

I was a blog-skeptic until Internet pioneer
Dave Taylor sold me on them.

If sharing information is part of your
sales process (and it’s part of EVERY
sales process no matter what you’re
selling), then publishing a blog deserves
a serious look no matter what business
you’re in.

Here’s why:

A well done blog can be a traffic magnet.

Unlike e-mails, blog posts persist
and are findable on search engines.

Dave found this out with his blog
“Ask Dave Taylor” when valuable traffic
about PSP (the Sony Playstation)
started flooding his highly regarded
technology blog because of some
posts he made.

There are even ways to profit from
blogging without starting a blog of
your own…

First, the right blog can be a peerless
source of great information in your field.

Finding the good ones in your niche and
reading them regularly is a great way to
make sure you’re on the edge of the curve,
not flattened by it.

Second, OPB (other people’s blogs) can
be a source of traffic for you.

I’m not talking about the weasels who
sp@m people’s blogs with junk posts (known
as “splogging.”)

Here’s the secret:

Don’t just read the best blogs in your
niche. Figure out how you can do business
with the people who run them. The good
ones have traffic and influence you can
tap into.

Many bloggers sell advertising and blog
ads can be a low cost, highly targeted buy.
As always, know your numbers and track.

You can also volunteer to write for specific
blogs – with a link to your site as
“pay.” For example, I just enjoyed a week
as the guest host on the blog for the
International Association of Online Communicators.

There are probably opportunities like this
in your market.

As Dave Taylor points out, search engines –
especially Google – love good blogs and having
your name and web address spread all over
the blogosphere in an authentic way is a
very good thing for long term search ranking.

Find the great blogs in your market
and start making new friends today.

How do you find the best blogs on the
Internet? That’s the easy part.

I’ve just found a super resource here:

http://kenmccarthy.com/blog/?p=71

Ken

Ken’s Blog Post Courtesy of Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Register for The Blogging for Business Profits Series At Steve Reports and while you are there you are invited to register to have all posts to Steve’s blog delivered right to your email.

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of How To Increase Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting StevePohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

John Reese Exposes The Truth of Multiple Sources of Income and Steve Pohlit Reveals How John’s Advice Works Off Line

John Reese Exposes The Truth of Multiple Sources of Income and Steve Pohlit Reveals How John’s Advice Works Off Line

I have been a subscriber of The Reese Report since it’s first issue. John offers sound advice on building on line based businesses including web sites that attract traffic that buys what you have to sell. John is one in a small group of people I have paid close attention too and who have helped me learn and bring value to my business development clients. I always recommend The Reese Report.

John has just released a video commentary that encourages you to focus on one targeted market as your primary source of income. If you are in business or want to be you should listen to his message. Click Here to watch this video. It is about 10 minutes and worth it.

Most of my work is with traditional offline businesses. This year I have worked with several contractors and retailers. In the past I have worked with manufacturing companies, trucking companies, companies operating multiple restaurants, drug stores, convenient stores and more. In each case a primary focus of my work with those companies has been A, B, C management. A, B, C management is simply defining those customers that represent 80% or more of your current and future income and the critical path tasks required to build and serve those customers profitably.

Not every project achieves the goals set out at the start. The single biggest reason a company optimizes performance and profits over time is that they consistently stay focused and execute on the A priority tasks that result in meeting and exceeding the expectations of their customers. The kind of focus John Reese is advocating in his video.

If A,B,C Management is the formula for success then why do companies hire a business development consultant? Good question and here is one example that illustrates the answer. Currently I am working with a very qualified and bright group of people in charge of developing and running their business. They know they are working hard and should be making more money. They also know what they should be doing and are not. They hired me to help them change the way they work. This company like every business I have worked with already has a full agenda when I walk in the door. The are finding the direction provided by the consulting process helps them modify their work to focus on what will make the biggest positive differences in their business long term. In the first week they agreed to several major actions that they have been procrastinating on for quite some time.

I am preparing a special report that addresses the key questions every business should ask when considering if they need a consultant and how to proceed in hiring one. In the meantime if you have questions you are encouraged to contact me by email or phone. All my contact information can be found at http://www.stevepohlit.com or in my resource box below.

Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Worth More Than Any Amount of Money

I was very fortunate indeed when I was referred to Steve by an associate of mine who had dramatically increased his revenue through the Business Plan that Steve had developed.

Before meeting Steve I knew that the key to advertising my Laser Hair Removal Clinic
would be via a website – but I had no concept of how to promote this – In addition, my computer skills, understanding of computer terminology and function were virtually nil. What is the benefit of a website if no one can find it?

Within a month of being introduced to Steve my Website was appearing #1 when doing a search for Laser Hair Removal. Being one of the most commonly offered services in the medical field, there is an enormous amount of competition and therefore to achieve a #1 ranking was not something I considered even remotely feasible. My Website had not been appearing on any search engines prior to Steve’s management.

Steve has been incredibly understanding and patient of my computer illiteracy. Every question I have asked has been answered with precise logic and detail. Every email I have sent has been responded to quickly and efficiently. I am astounded by his knowledge of advertising and promotional skills – my Laser Hair Removal Clinic would not be operating today if it were not for Steve Pohlit.

I would like to conclude by saying that in addition to Steves unequaled advertising skills he possesses personal qualities which are very rarely observed in today’s world. He is a person of the greatest integrity – his first and only concern is to improve your business –
your success is his success.

Jessie Tehranchi CDT

Thank you Jess! You are a joy to work with.

Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Pohlit Partners With Schoeffel To Offer 5 Smart, Fast Acting People – FOUR – 100% Turnkey Money Making Websites With Their Own Domain and CPanel Hosting Account

Jean-Phillippe Schoeffel has launced Adsense Firesale 3 and it is hot. There is simply too many valuable products and bonuses to list here. For a description of the complete package visit www.theprofitexpert.com/Adsense_Firesale_3.html but before you do read the rest of this message:

Part of Jean’s offer is four very extensive money making sites with blogs each in a different hot niche market. I have gone through much of the leaning curve of installing Jean’s sites as a member of Niche In A Box. Part of that process is knowing how to configure the files and load them on a server. I also know for maximum results long term you need to host each site using a unique domain name. The blog can be set up in a subdomain.

The additional value 5 people will receive when they order Adsense Firesale 3 at www.theprofitexpert.com/Adsense_Firesale_3.html include:

• A domain name that you choose for up to four sites
• Hosting for one year
• Configuration of one site including set up on the server
• Coaching on set up and configuration of the next three sites

What is the additional value of this offer? Well domain names for one year are about $10 each. Hosting that I use is $29.95 a month but there is an account you can get for $14.95 a month so let’s use that number. $14.95 times 12 is almost $180. So those additional products are worth about $220.00. Now there is the value of my time for setting this up and helping you. Rather than give you a lot of numbers as to what people pay me for consulting services, let’s just leave that out it and you determine what it is worth after you are up and running. If you like the help and advise then all I will be asking for are ideas on how to do this better/faster and your recommendation to others.

This is a test. I have felt for a long time that people want more features in the do-it-for-you model. So we will see. I am only doing this for 5 people because my time is very limited and there is a bit of work to do in setting these up.

If you have the experience and skill to set this up yourself, great!! You will still need a domain name for each site and hosting. If you think my offer may be on the table for awhile – you might be right. I have no idea. But Jean’s offer will run out when the packages are sold. How fast you act is up to you. Here is the link again: www.theprofitexpert.com/Adsense_Firesale_3.html Once your register, email me to let me know and when I have confirmation from Jean we will begin. Please note for 5 people it is likely to take me 2 weeks or so to get everyone set up so first come first served. If you are chomping at the bit – go do this now.

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant
www.stevepohlit.com
www.stevereports.com
www.theprofitexpert.com

If you want to see an example of one of Jean’s sites that is working visit www.alliancefiancialreasources.com

Did The Guru Recommend A Great Web Site and Blog Hosting Solution or Was It A Cleverly Disguised Affiliate Program Promotion?

Did The Guru Recommend A Great Web Site and Blog Hosting Solution or Was It A Cleverly Disguised Affiliate Program Promotion?

Recently a very popular internet marketer whose reputation developed teaching list building published an article on selecting a web hosting service for your web site and blog. Upon closer inspection it appears the primary purpose of the recommendation was to develop affiliate revenue. Here is how I have come to that conclusion:

I started an Internet Service Provider company in 1996 and have since moved to outsourcing all my hosting requirements. Not following sound selection and backup advise can be disastrous. This is a very important topic and the selection criteria detailed in the guru’s article was valuable.

Upon reviewing the recommended service and pricing for hosting I concluded this solution was designed to make money for the person recommending it. The cost for the service recommended by the guru is $24.95 a month plus a one time $10 fee for each new domain name added to the server. The referring person or affiliate receives $10 per month for as long as the person remains a customer. The hosting company nets $14.95. which is a fair price.

Let’s look at the economics from a customer point of view. First adding new domain names requires little or no additional resources by the hosting company. Why the incremental fee of $10 per domain? The company I use has similar bandwidth and storage capacity as the one recommended by the guru, no additional fee for adding domains.

I have added more than 30 domains with everything working fine. I estimate I will have nearly 100 domains hosted before needing to upgrade. Support is excellent. I have used support five or six times this year and each time except once, there was something I was doing incorrectly. Technical support was always respectful and helpful. The price for this service is $14.95 per month.

My hosting company also pays a referral fee and I am an affiliate. They pay me for sign-ups and it is a one time payment. There program recognizes the value of receiving referrals and allows their pricing to remain very competitive for the every user.

After having my own servers with dedicated T-1’s, leased dedicated servers and shared hosting accounts, I can tell you that I absolutely endorse Host Gator. Is that the best hosting company for you? I have no idea. I am happy to say it works very well for me.

The guru’s $24.95 solution is mostly about the guru receiving $10 a month per new sign-up. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t mind paying $24.95 for a $14.95 service.

Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Research Worth $ Millions for $.35 – Yes Thirty Five Cents

I purchased the Thanksgiving local newspaper for $.35 for the ads. There is wisdom in those ads that is worth tons of money.

Did you know Target has one of the hottest niche products featured on its key pages promoting Friday and Saturday specials? Do you know what that product is or even how I know it is that hot? Do you wonder why the other retailers missed it? I don’t wonder I know precisely why. Do you want to know what that product is? Look up my email contact information at www.stevepohlit.com and drop me a line.

Do you know that Best Buy has black Friday specials that are so hot they are giving tickets out starting at 4AM for people who want in at 5AM? Are any other retaileres doing this? None that I found. Do you think someone will start Black Friday at 12:01 AM sometime soon? I’ll bet on it. Do I agree with any of that? Doesn’t matter. The only thing that counts if you are retailer is the gross margin in the cash register. There will be some winners? Want to know who they are? I will tell you who will be the big winners this selling season in one week. Subscribe to Steve Reports and don’t miss it.

Did you notice the extensive joint ventures done by Circuit City, Best Buy, and other major chains? Did you know that these deals started nearly a year ago? Do you think you can learn a few things from what is working and what is not working this season and apply them to your business?

Do you know that most small businesses and entrepreneurs will ignore the reasons for others succeeding that are right in front of them? Now you know that some of these lessons can be found by spending 35 cents on Thanksgiving.

Do you think there is insight on what item are hot in the 6AM – 11AM specials offered on Black Friday? (Excluding Best Buy and several others who are now stating at 5 AM)

Do you want to be a store manager of a store opening at 5 AM on the day after Thanksgiving? Can you imagine what you are thinking about all day Thanksgiving? Do you know how companies are able to find and motivate people to do this the day after Thanksgiving?

The above is just a short list of what came to mind as I studied the Black Friday ads. Some would say I was working. I happened to see Warren Buffet being interviewed recently and he was laughing talking about loving what he does. His quote was along the lines of ” I tap dance to work every day. I have more money than nearly everyone else and it doen’t matter, I just love what I do”

I love what I do and you will see more evidence of how I am helping others gain tremedous value in their business by paying attention to what works.

Now if you used the Thanksgiving ads to wrap the scraps from dinner, you will want to find the copies not sold in the morning at your local convenience store waiting to be picked up and grab yourself another copy.

The Christmas Shopping Marketing Games Are Out In Full – Enjoy The Full Show

Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Pay Per Lead Free Report – Read It

Several days ago , I got an email from a marketing acquaintance with an
exciting new FREE report about one of the hottest topics of the
last six months… CPA (Cost Per Action), which is the term that’s become the
industry watchword for PPL (Pay Per Lead)

You were one of the first to read about this. A number of so called “heavy marketing hitters” are just beginning to offer this report. My readers had this in their hands within about an hour of it’s release.

It’s a pretty impressive report, and I am very interested in it as as a viable alternative to Adsense! If you are working Adsense then I know you will be to.

I am personally working on putting it to use along WITH my Adsense!

Take a look and see what the buzz is all about is about! The report is FREE!!

Pay per Lead Report

Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Derek Gehl Writes: One of the best internet marketing tools out there just got even easier to use!

(Click Here to Visit Derek Gehl’s Blog)

One of the best internet marketing tools out there just got even easier to use!

Blogs are flat out one of the BEST internet marketing tools you can use to continually publish fresh content and thereby boost your search engine rankings.

But if you’ve been thinking that setting up and launching your own blog is either:

a. Too much work

… or

b. Too complicated

… good news just in!

Blogger.com — Google’s do-it-yourself blog service — has just rolled out Blogger Beta, a new version that’s intended to make blogging even easier.

Like regular Blogger blogs, Beta blogs are free. Plus, they’ve also got a bunch of cool new features, like:

* Drag-and-drop layout design so you can customize the look of your blog and change colors and fonts more easily

* Tag-specific keywords in your posts that will alert the search engines to your content and increase the chances your blog will show up in search engine results

* Seamless integration with Google AdWords that allows you to publish AdWords on your site with one touch of a button

Unlike with the original Blogger blogs, you’ll need a Google account to open a Beta blog.

And if you’ve already got a Blogger blog, you can transfer your posts over to it in just minutes. But be warned: once you switch to the new version, you can’t go back!

Also, I’ve heard rumours that it’s currently difficult/impossible to transfer a blog on Blogger Beta to a non-blogspot.com domain. So if you’re thinking about getting your Blogger blog hosted elsewhere in the near future, you’ll probably want to wait until the new version is out of Beta before you decide to upgrade to it.

Blogs are still one of the coolest internet marketing tools around when it comes to spreading the word about your business! If you don’t already have a blog, consider checking out Blogger Beta at: https://beta.blogger.com/start

Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

What Is Pay Per Lead (PPL)?

What Is Pay Per Lead (PPL)?

It’s One Of The Easiest Ways To Make Money Online!

The two monetization models that you are most probably already familiar with are (1) Pay Per Click and (2) Pay Per Sale (affiliate sale).

Question: What Is Pay Per Click (PPC)?

Answer: You display PPC ads on your web pages. A visitor clicks on an ad. You make money per click. This is usually a small amount; mostly in cents.

The visitor’s action is clicking.

Question: What is Pay Per Sale (PPS or Affiliate Sale)?

Answer: You display an affiliate ad/link for Product AAA on your website. A visitor clicks on the ad/link and is taken to Product AAA website. If the visitor buys Product AAA, you make an affiliate commission.

The visitor’s action is buying. It’s a cash-conversion action. The visitor has to buy in order for you to make money.

Question: What about Pay Per Lead?

Answer: It is somewhere between these two monetization models:

PPC – PPL – PPS

Here’s how it works… very simple:

You display Pay Per Lead ads on your website.

Visitors click on the ads and are taken to the merchants/advertisers’ websites.

The merchant usually offers the visitor something valuable for free, in return for taking some form of action, which does not include buying anything.
Pay-per-lead programs are generally designed to promote some type of free product or service.

You make commissions for every person who performs the non-cash conversion action.

Again, people do not have to buy anything in order for you to make money!

What Types Of Action Are Visitors Required To Take?

Here are some:

– Signing up for a newsletter or opt-in list. Visitor signs up, you make money/Pay Per Lead commissions!

– Taking a poll or filling out a survey. Visitor participates in a survey, you make money/Pay Per Lead commissions!

– Supplying contact information like a name/email address. Visitor fills in his/her contact info, you make money/Pay Per Lead commissions!

– Filling a form. Visitor fills in a form, you make money/Pay Per Lead commissions

– Joining a free program. Visitor joins a free program, you make money/Pay Per Lead commissions.

Pay Per Lead Power Ads Systemâ„¢ is the Quickest and Easiest Solution for (1) Creating, (2) Managing and (3) Maximizing Your Revenues From Pay Per Lead Ads!

Pay Per Lead Power Ads Systemâ„¢ is made up of three heavyweight software solutions:

(1) Pay Per Lead Networks/Programs Research Center

(2) Pay Per Lead Ad-Units Creator

(3) Pay Per Lead Keyword Ads Generator

No software to download, upload, install, update.

Manage everything from an easy browser interface. Complete, 24/7 control over your own account, via an online control panel.

Click Here For Detailed Information On Pay Per Leads

Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Blogging For Profits No.15: Know How Much You Are Getting and From Whom

Traffic is the first key success factor to successful on line marketing. You cannot move a person from visitor to customer unless the person visit you in the first place. Blogging for Profits is all about using one of the tools in your toolkit for developing traffic to your site. There are a number of other tools that should also be used including, pay per click, direct mail, and other proven marketing resources that work. This issue of Blogging for Profits will show you the exact steps to reading your your traffic statistics.

One of my friends with a cosmetic products and services business is paranoid thinking her website and blog traffic is being diverted to a competitor’s site. Jessie these instructions are written for you dearheart so you and all my readers know how look at server logs and read the traffic trends and sources for that traffic.

The Exact Steps To Reading Website and Blog Server Logs For Visiter Trends and The Source of That Traffic

(These steps are for those who have a website or blog hosted on their own domain and the host provider’s systems offer Cpanel and Fantastico. My host provider is Host Gator which I highly recommend. I am announcing very soon a test program for 20 or so people interested in having their domain, website and blog completely set up for them with hands on instructions on how to update and maintain the website and blog. This test will be at a rediculously low price. Register for email updates at Steve Reports and don’t miss this announcement.)

Step 1. Log into your Cpanel screen by typing in your domain name along with /cpanel. Example www.mydomain.com/cpanel

Step 2 Enter your user name and password for your hosting account. When I set up a site and blog for any client I give them this information. If you registered your domain with a hosting service, they either emailed this information to you or you will need to contact them for this information.

Step 3 Once you have Cpanel access, look for the icon that says Web and FTP Stats. Click on it.

Step 4 Now you will see a list of programs to use to view your stats. Pick anyone you like. I use Awstats because of the graphics but there are many programs there – see what ones you like.

Step 5 Explore and see where your traffic is coming from. You will see a section called Who in Awstats and there a link to Hosts. Under that you will find IP addresses for sources of traffic. http://www.webyield.net/domainquery.html is a great site for resolving IP addresses meaning it will tell you the name of the site for the number listed. This service is free. From you stats you will be able to see that the search bots like Google are indexing your site. I was looking at my stats for Fast Airport Travel this morning noticing a lot of traffic comes from Feedburner. That is a service I use to promote all my blogs. In a separate post I will write more about Feedburner.

Start exploring your stats and you will learn allot about what is propular or not about your site. I have learned the search engine bots really love blogs which is why you should be reading all the information published in the Blogging for Profits series.

Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Blogging For Profits Issue No. 14: The Absolutely Single Most Important Step To Blogging For Profits

Blogging For Profits Issue No. 14: The Absolutely Single Most Important Step To Blogging For Profits

In the past couple of weeks I have activated blogs for three business development clients each serving different niche markets. Like others who have been through the process of activating blogs numerous time, I continue to be amazed at how easy it is to do. Consequently I naturally think everyone must know what a blog is and how to post to a blog.

The facts are that outside the marketing circles, few business people understand what a blog is yet alone it’s potential. That is the reason I started the Blogging for Profits series. Note most of the material in the Blogging For Profits series is for a blog using the WordPress platform and hosted under your own domain.

Today I am going one step further and realize what I am about to disclose has been disclosed before. It has even been presented on video. But here it is again because my clients want it and if I am going to write it for them, I am going to write it for my Blogging for Profits audience.

Are you ready for this? Here goes…you cannot possibly have a successful blog unless you know how to post new content to your blog. I advise posting to your blog three times a week minimum to start. Here are the steps for posting to your blog and I am going to use a live example for illustration purposes:

1. Go to your blog. For this example I am using www.harleydavidsonharrisburg.com
2. Scroll down the right sidebar until you see the words Login. Click on that.
3. Enter your user name and password.
4. Click on Write. You should be at the Write Post tab.
5. Enter the Title in the Title box
6. Enter the content in the post section
7. This last step is very important: scroll down and click Publish. Once you click on Publish your post is now visible for all the world.

Congratulations – you are done. Well almost.

Big Bonus Blog Posting Tips:

Editing Your Blog Post:

1. Login
2. Click on the Manage Tab
3. Select the post you want to edit. Click edit and edit your post.
4. This last step is very important. Scroll down and click Save.

Linking Your Blog Post To Your Web Site:

You will see an example of this in every most posts at www.harleydavidsonharrisburg.com A link is a colored word or phrase that when clicked takes the reader to another destination. So how do you activate a link in a blog?

Background: All the blogs have the Rich Text Editor feature deactivated. This simply means any link in a post needs to be activated. Here is how you do it.

1. Follow the steps above for posting to your blog. Let’s assume you want to activate the words Susquehanna Valley Harley Davidson to your main website
2. Left click you mouse and highlight the phrase you want to activate as a link.
3. Move up to the index bar of your blog post right under the word Post. The bar stars with a b then moves on. Look for the word link which probably is in blue. Click on that an a box will pop up asking you for the URL you want to link to.
4. Enter the URL and click OK
5. This last step is very important. Scroll down and click Save.
6. View your site and test the link. If there is a problem, repeat steps 1-5.

Adding A Picture To Your Blog

You can see an example of a picture we just added to Harley Davidson Harrisburg Here is how you do it:

1. Log in
2. If this is new post follow the steps above for posting or follow the steps for editing. When you have the post screen open (Write Post) scroll down until you see three tabs starting with Upload. Click on the browse button and locate the file of the picture you want to upload. (It is important the picture is stored on a file on your PC’s harddrive.) Click ok and you should now see the picture you have uploaded.
3. You are not done – pay close attention:
a. right click on the picture and then click on “Copy Image Location”
b. scroll up to the posting section and activate your curser at the point in your blog post you want to appear. Now scroll up and look for the letters “img” in your post navigation bar. Click on img and a box will pop up asking you for the URL of the picture. Right click and click paste. Click OK
4. You should now see the code for the location of your picture in the section of your blog post where your want the picture.
5. Now here is the very important step, scroll down an click Publish or Save depending on whether this is a new post or an edit.
6. View your blog make sure everything in your post is working properly.

I hope you enjoyed these tips. Let me know by posting your comments at Steve Reports

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant
“Helping Companies Achieve a 30% Increase in Profits in 90 Days or Less.”

PS: Register for the complete Blogging for Profits series at Steve Reports The information in the series will help you tremendously in understanding the power of blogs and it will save you huge amounts of time. Bonus The Blogging for Profit series is still free.

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Converting Ideas Into Business Revenue and Profits

The following article by my friend Allyn Cutts offers excellent advise and is a courtesy of Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant who helps companies develop and implement business building marketing programs and organizational processes to optimize profit growth.

Are You Top Of Consciousness

How many great ideas have you had that fizzled and evaporated into thin air? Heck, they were darned good ideas too! The problem wasn’t the ideas, it was implementing them… making them work.

We’ve been talking about Top of Consciousness Marketing, one of the greatest marketing tools I’ve come across. Now it’s time to do a little strategizing about ways to make it work for you. There’s no sense in letting another brilliant idea vanish!

How often and how many ways could you contact a potential customer outside of normal visits to you place of business? Quick! Make a list…

Here are a few to get you going:

* Seasonal greetings
* Post cards
* Birthday cards
* Newsletters
* Catalogs
* Flyers
* Special sale notices
* Telephones calls
* Emails
* Thank you’s

Listen up, here’s the secret to effectively obtaining Top of Conscious positioning in the mind of your customers… finding 10 to twelve ways to contact them every year.

Newsletters are probably one of the easiest ways to implement a regular contact system with your customers and potential customers. A monthly newsletter written in an informative and entertaining style is something your customers and potential customers will look forward to. It’ll also go a long way in establishing your credibility as an expert in your field of business.

Who doesn’t appreciate a personalized “Thank You?” It doesn’t really matter if it’s a phone call, and email, a card or a bouquet. It’s the thought that counts.

Remember the pleasant surprise of an unexpected birthday card? Hey, it always feels good to have someone remember your special day.

The key to staying on at the top of peoples minds is simply getting their attention on a regular basis. Pick one or 10 of these methods and start using them to get the attention of your potential customers and to keep loyal customers feeling appreciated.

Stick around for some more great ideas on implementing Top of Consciousness strategies.

Dedicated To Your Further Success.

All the best,

Allyn Cutts

About the Author

Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers.

Allyn consults personally with clients to design and deliver offline and online direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://AmazingMarketingStrategy.com or you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays
___________________________________________

Steve Pohlit develops and implements processes and procedures that grow revenue, maximize gross margin and optimize net profit. This approach is detailed in the free course “How To Increase Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less” which can be found at by click here and “Blogging for Profits” which is another free series that can be found here at Steve Reports.

May Your Profits Grow and You Have Fun With The Journey

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant

Derek Gehl Comments On Microsoft Live

Microsoft Office Live: A FREE small business web site solution for people looking to get online

I just read an interesting New York Times article about Microsoft’s new and improved Office Live Basics service, which is launching on Nov 15.

Looks like Microsoft is trying to persuade people to become part of the “Microsoft family” by offering free a small business web site solution to people who want to start an online business but don’t have their own web site yet.

On the surface, it seems like a pretty sweet deal… You get your own unique domain name, a hosted web site, five personalized email accounts, site tracking and analysis tools– and, of course, seamless integration of all of Microsoft’s paid advertising offerings, such as AdCenter.

And if you like what you get in the Live Basic small business web site solution, you can always upgrade to Live Essential, which offers advanced features such as increased bandwidth, advanced traffic reporting, and more than 20 applications for managing all aspects of your business.

Of course, that’s what Microsoft wants you to do–to become so reliant on their free small business web site solution that in order to grow, you need to start using their paid services, too. Not a bad business model on their part!

If you don’t have a web site yet and are thinking about taking Microsoft up on their offer, I’d advise you to proceed with caution.

First of all, the Basic version only provides you with a prefab template design for your site. It allows for some flexibility, but certainly isn’t something you can totally customize from the ground up. And once you get hooked in by Microsoft, who knows how easy it will be to switch your site to another host, if you choose to do so?

Still, it should be interesting to see how well Office Live is received. I look forward to hearing from people who actually use this small business web site solution — I’m eager to find out how it works for them!

Thoughts, anyone?

Click Here to Comment on Derek’s article

Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consultant