Hub You - Internet and Businesses Online

Is Your Business Making Money?
Is your business making money? Would you know?Figuring out whether your business is actually making money is no easy task. Most small business owners have a pretty good idea of what their top line is (their revenues), but unless they’re closely tracking and inputting all of their expenses, the bottom line can often come as a complete surprise. That’s why it’s critical to closely monitor these numbers on a monthly basis. They are the tools you need to make ongoing business decisions.For example, a client of ours recently started a landscaping service. Although his sales were rapidly increasing, he was frustrated by the fact that it didn’t seem to have much of a positive impact on his bottom line. By inputting all of his costs into the proper format, it became immediately apparent he wasn’t charging enough for his services.He thought that by charging his clients $20/hr and paying his workers $10/hr, the extra $10 would be his to keep. However, he forgot about all of the costs involved in actually carrying out the job starting with payroll taxes on the $10/hr, transportation costs, office overhead, and advertising. At his current rates, no matter how much business increased, he would never make any money.The answer was to raise prices or get out of the business! Fortunately, he was able to raise prices without upsetting clients. Now, he can comfortably carry on his business and keep adding to his bottom line.

Five Ways To Get Listed In Google
Submit to Google directlyIf we follow the normal procedures, most likely we’ll use this link to submit our site to Google. After you’ve submitted your blog, you’ve got to wait. But how long? It may take several weeks or even months. The worse case, for whatever reasons, you blog don’t get listed at all! According to Google,We add and update new sites to our index each time we crawl the web, and we invite you to submit your URL here. We do not add all submitted URLs to our index, and we cannot make any predictions or guarantees about when or if they will appear.From the above, we know actually there are chances that your blog will be indexed when they crawl the web. So, no doubt you can get your blog listed even without submitting it to Google. Below are some other measures that could help your blog to get listed to Google even without submitting to it.Make use of the signature’s placeJoin some famous and popular forums like Digital Point and put the URL of your blog inside the signature. Of course, just putting your URL in the signature is not enough; you’ll also need to participate in the discussion with some posts to show your URL. Remember, don’t just put your blog’s title in the signature, add a simple description to it also.Bad: ABC’s Blog Good: ABC’s Movie Blog - Movie Review and NewsBy doing this, you’ll enjoy the benefit that next time when Google crawl such popular places, it will see your blog. On the other hand, other members maybe interested in your blog and offer to exchange links. What is better than killing two birds with one stone?Link exchange with similar b

Introduction
A recent Google search for the term “website hosting” returned back 36,100,000 websites. Although we’re living in the information age, there is such a thing as information overload! Once you have collected your hosting referrals or selected a handful to pick from, how can you compare all the different plans, their features and pricing to decide who the best match for your business is? The task may sound daunting, but I will provide you with the information you’ll need to make an informed decision and select the best hosting plan for your budgeted dollar.

Assess Your Needs
Shopping for a web hosting provider without understanding what you need is like shopping for a new car with no idea of the features it needs to have: Do you need to haul with it? Does it need to seat more than two people? Does it need to have power windows, doors, locks? Etc.

The first thing you need to do is asses your needs. Here is a small set of questions to ask which will help you brainstorm:

1. How much disk space do I need? A 5 page website may only require 50mb, but a 200 page site may require 500mb to store all the pages.

2. How much bandwidth will I need?

3. Will I need access to utilities such as databases, chat rooms, forums, blogs or other medium where information can be stored and clients can connect with me?

4. Will I need to install and run special scripts? For example, opt-in mailing lists, calendars or help desk software? If so, are they operating system specific (Windows or Linux)?

5. What am I comfortable paying each month for service?

Once you have answered these questions you are ready to begin your assessment of different web hosting providers. If you are unable to answer some of the questions above, or would like additional assistance determining your needs, please contact Krista Garren for a complimentary consultation.

Assessing the Web Host
The next step is to begin to examine the different key areas of website hosting which will affect your decision:

• Disk space
• Bandwidth
• Scripts and utilities
• Dedicated/Shared servers
• Customers service/Support
• Uptime/Reliability
• Price
• Free Hosting Providers

1. Disk Space
This is the amount of storage space the provider is allotting you to store your website. Hosting plans will range anywhere from 25MB to Gigabytes in order to accommodate all range of needs. If your site is already constructed you can generally determine how much storage space is needed by totaling the file sizes of your pages and images. This is the minimum amount of space you will need for your website. A general rule of thumb is to purchase a plan which may have more resources than you currently need, but that provides you the ability to grow; after all, the overall goal is growth right?

2. Bandwidth
What is that anyway? Bandwidth is a measurement of how much information (data) can be transferred from your website and is calculated over a set period of time, usually a month. Each time someone requests content on your website (pages or images) from their web browser, this counts as bandwidth usage. Highly trafficked websites that have large pages or large images that have not been properly optimized will exhaust bandwidth resources much quicker than websites who optimize and control page and image file sizes. Prior to uploading your website, optimize your content and images to get the most bandwidth value for your dollar. Research the amount of traffic you anticipate having initially. For example, will you launch your marketing campaigns immediately after your site launches or will you wait a few months? If you have created a following for a new product whose launch is eagerly awaited, then it may be wise to select a larger plan up front to prepare for the upcoming traffic demands.

Be sure to inquire with the host about bandwidth limitations. Some providers will simply bill you for an overage, whereas others will automatically suspend your account (meaning no one can see your content) until the next billing cycle when your bandwidth is renewed. It would be devastating to try and pull up your website only to find that it has virtually vanished due to a bandwidth overage.

3. Scripts & Utilities
Will you need to store dynamic information online about your products, services or clients? If so you’ll want to be sure your plan provides a database tool. Databases are extremely versatile and will vary in flavor depending on the operating system you select for your hosting server. For example, the main freeware database tool in a Linux hosting environment is MySql. Most hosts will offer this tool to you at no additional charge. However, your hosting plan may limit the number of databases you can create, so carefully review each offered hosting plan and take notes for decision making later on.

Other popular scripts which are generally included with your plan (or are available free of charge) include chat rooms, forums (phpBB/Invision Board etc), blogs, calendar programs and help desk software. These scripts included in your hosting plan are pre-configured by the provider to work on their server.Many hosts may even offer the Fantastico script package which is a collection of 36 different free scripts which can be installed on your website with the click of your mouse.

Some of these scripts and programs will require a database to function. For example, if your selected plan allowed only two MySql databases, and you needed to install a Chat Room, a Forum and a Calendar, all requiring one database each, you would be unable to do so; you wouldn’t have enough database resources to accomplish this task. Carefully consider which utilities you will need, and take notes as to whether they will require a database to function. This will help you determine how many databases your plan needs to allow you to create.

One additional note is to carefully consider which 3rd party scripts you will want to install and what environment they require to run properly. 3rd party scripts are those which can be found on the Internet available for purchase or as freeware which can be installed on your website. Be aware however, that some scripts can run in both a Windows and Linux environment while others may be specific to only one operating system.

4. Dedicated/Shared Servers
The basic difference between a dedicated and shared server is that shared servers host many sites, whereas a dedicated server general

How to Prevent and Remove Spyware Virus From Your Computer
Spyware is one of the fastest growing threats on the Internet and 9 out of 10 computers are infected with it.Spyware and Adware is software created by publishers to allow them to spy on your Internet browsing habits and invade you with pop ups.The purpose of spyware and adware being installed on your computer is to monitor keystrokes, form submissions, passwords, bank account information & e-mail addresses. All of this information is gathered by third party sources without you knowing for malicious intents such as ID fraud and stealing money.Once spyware has been downloaded and installed on your computer it will install unwanted toolbars, change security settings, alter your browser homepage, erase important system files and show a lot of pop ups.Spyware is more popular then ever today because the average computer user is not savvy enough to know how to recognize the problem and effectively solve it. The average computer user does not take spyware seriously until they experience major issues with their system such as a screen full of popups.Once you recognize that your computer is infected with spyware you can perform some of the following actions in order to remove and delete it.1.)Install the latest spyware, malware, adware and spamming programs on your PC. 2.)Once you have installed the lasted spyware removal software you should perform a scan prior to using Internet for any desired task such as checking e-mail. 3.)You should also do a registry back up before you allow your spyware removal software to delete any files. This is because your antivirus program can pos

n can be stored and clients can connect with me?

4. Will I need to install and run special scripts? For example, opt-in mailing lists, calendars or help desk software? If so, are they operating system specific (Windows or Linux)?

5. What am I comfortable paying each month for service?

7 Days in Heaven with AJAX
AJAX has become the talk of the town in recent months. A whole array of sites are using the new technology to craft websites that are just a little more fancy than in the days of Lynx. Although the question does arise, are we utilising the immense power that AJAX has placed into our receiving hands wisely? Naturally sites love to offer the resemblance of a standalone application to their doting users, but after all, this is the Internet. It is the stage and we are the audience!Evidently, it’s all fine and dandy in many respects, a website telling me in real-time that I’ve made a momentous error in filling in a basic form. I wriggle under my desk as AJAX awakes to point me in the right direction. That’s great! However, with scientists currently working on artificial intelligent robots, should we not be aspiring to weave our websites in such a way? After all, there is an abundance of psychology that is fed into the computer every second of everyday. Every instance when we fulfil our own autocratic tendencies by pushing our mouse left and right.Anyone on the Internet these days can become anyone they choose to be. Social networking sites such as MySpace, Virb and a plethora of others, merely settle for the same old routines. It’s hard to ignore the fact that many of these sites simply glide on past the more complex theories out there which would make their system that more engaging. After all, I already know what I want, but I do not know what you offer. Instead of me telling you what I want to see, you tell me what you have for me. Now that would be different!It’s clear to see that when a user navigates througho

is is the minimum amount of space you will need for your website. A general rule of thumb is to purchase a plan which may have more resources than you currently need, but that provides you the ability to grow; after all, the overall goal is growth right?

2. Bandwidth
What is that anyway? Bandwidth is a measurement of how much information (data) can be transferred from your website and is calculated over a set period of time, usually a month. Each time someone requests content on your website (pages or images) from their web browser, this counts as bandwidth usage. Highly trafficked websites that have large pages or large images that have not been properly optimized will exhaust bandwidth resources much quicker than websites who optimize and control page and image file sizes. Prior to uploading your website, optimize your content and images to get the most bandwidth value for your dollar. Research the amount of traffic you anticipate having initially. For example, will you launch your marketing campaigns immediately after your site launches or will you wait a few months? If you have created a following for a new product whose launch is eagerly awaited, then it may be wise to select a larger plan up front to prepare for the upcoming traffic demands.

Be sure to inquire with the host about bandwidth limitations. Some providers will simply bill you for an overage, whereas others will automatically suspend your account (meaning no one can see your content) until the next billing cycle when your bandwidth is renewed. It would be devastating to try and pull up your website only to find that it has virtually vanished due to a bandwidth overage.

3. Scripts & Utilities
Will you need to store dynamic information online about your products, services or clients? If so you’ll want to be sure your plan provides a database tool. Databases are extremely versatile and will vary in flavor depending on the operating system you select for your hosting server. For example, the main freeware database tool in a Linux hosting environment is MySql. Most hosts will offer this tool to you at no additional charge. However, your hosting plan may limit the number of databases you can create, so carefully review each offered hosting plan and take notes for decision making later on.

Other popular scripts which are generally included with your plan (or are available free of charge) include chat rooms, forums (phpBB/Invision Board etc), blogs, calendar programs and help desk software. These scripts included in your hosting plan are pre-configured by the provider to work on their server.Many hosts may even offer the Fantastico script package which is a collection of 36 different free scripts which can be installed on your website with the click of your mouse.

Some of these scripts and programs will require a database to function. For example, if your selected plan allowed only two MySql databases, and you needed to install a Chat Room, a Forum and a Calendar, all requiring one database each, you would be unable to do so; you wouldn’t have enough database resources to accomplish this task. Carefully consider which utilities you will need, and take notes as to whether they will require a database to function. This will help you determine how many databases your plan needs to allow you to create.

One additional note is to carefully consider which 3rd party scripts you will want to install and what environment they require to run properly. 3rd party scripts are those which can be found on the Internet available for purchase or as freeware which can be installed on your website. Be aware however, that some scripts can run in both a Windows and Linux environment while others may be specific to only one operating system.

4. Dedicated/Shared Servers
The basic difference between a dedicated and shared server is that shared servers host many sites, whereas a dedicated server genera

What To Know Before You Submit Your Website URL
Submitting your website to the major search engines should be done very carefully. Never allow a URL submission service to submit your site to thousands of search engines, simply because thousands of search engines do not exist. There are only about 500 search engines, and only around 200 are credible and actually receive traffic. URL submission services that offer this type of submission are to be avoided. The most efficient method to use when submitting your website for inclusion is to do it yourself or to hire an expert to do it manually.Before you begin to submit your website ensure that your web pages are thoroughly and properly designed using quality keywords, and most importantly your site must contain original, relevant content. Do not submit websites that are incomplete. Be sure to provide updated information about your website, keywords, etc. A simple submission to each search engine does not guarantee that your site would be immediately listed or that the ranking will be high. One important factor to remember is to include a site map which makes the crawling simple for the web robots.An established website, already indexed by the major search engines, should not need to be submitted again. This can sometimes be conceived by the search engines as spamming. New websites with no established backlinks should be submitted only to the major search engines, and given some time to allow for indexing, should not be re-submitted unless your site is not indexed. If for some reason your site is not listed within a reasonable amount of time, a focus as to why your site is not indexed should be implemented.If you

bandwidth limitations. Some providers will simply bill you for an overage, whereas others will automatically suspend your account (meaning no one can see your content) until the next billing cycle when your bandwidth is renewed. It would be devastating to try and pull up your website only to find that it has virtually vanished due to a bandwidth overage.

3. Scripts & Utilities
Will you need to store dynamic information online about your products, services or clients? If so you’ll want to be sure your plan provides a database tool. Databases are extremely versatile and will vary in flavor depending on the operating system you select for your hosting server. For example, the main freeware database tool in a Linux hosting environment is MySql. Most hosts will offer this tool to you at no additional charge. However, your hosting plan may limit the number of databases you can create, so carefully review each offered hosting plan and take notes for decision making later on.

Other popular scripts which are generally included with your plan (or are available free of charge) include chat rooms, forums (phpBB/Invision Board etc), blogs, calendar programs and help desk software. These scripts included in your hosting plan are pre-configured by the provider to work on their server.Many hosts may even offer the Fantastico script package which is a collection of 36 different free scripts which can be installed on your website with the click of your mouse.

Some of these scripts and programs will require a database to function. For example, if your selected plan allowed only two MySql databases, and you needed to install a Chat Room, a Forum and a Calendar, all requiring one database each, you would be unable to do so; you wouldn’t have enough database resources to accomplish this task. Carefully consider which utilities you will need, and take notes as to whether they will require a database to function. This will help you determine how many databases your plan needs to allow you to create.

One additional note is to carefully consider which 3rd party scripts you will want to install and what environment they require to run properly. 3rd party scripts are those which can be found on the Internet available for purchase or as freeware which can be installed on your website. Be aware however, that some scripts can run in both a Windows and Linux environment while others may be specific to only one operating system.

4. Dedicated/Shared Servers
The basic difference between a dedicated and shared server is that shared servers host many sites, whereas a dedicated server genera

Media Training Tips: Maximising Your Media Moment
Media training is a 'must do' professional development program for any serious leader or manager.Media interview training provides you with the skills to effectively deal with the media.Media relations training, with a specific focus on media presentation training for television can be seriously nerve wracking for first timers.Here's why you should consider doing a media training course and some essential tips from our media skill training courses.If you go to the archives of any commercial television station and pull out footage from a news bulletin from the 1960s and view that footage with a stopwatch, you will find the average length of the quote (known as a sound bite or news grab) from the person being interviewed for the story is around 60 seconds.If you watch commercial television tonight with your stopwatch at the ready, and measure each sound bite or news grab, the average length will be seven seconds.This is why its being called McNuggett News! Its quick, slick, fast and tasty, but not very satisfying.There are three reasons for this shortening of length.1. Increased competition for our ever diminishing attention spans,2. Increased choice, noise and clutter in our lives, and3. The merging of information and entertainment dressed up as news.So how do you get your message across about a complex, detailed issue through the media in seven seconds?Well, you need to work out your key message and deliver it flawlessly as a media friendly quotable quote.Remember, you have only one chance to get it right. The professional TV news crews I wo

ven offer the Fantastico script package which is a collection of 36 different free scripts which can be installed on your website with the click of your mouse.

Some of these scripts and programs will require a database to function. For example, if your selected plan allowed only two MySql databases, and you needed to install a Chat Room, a Forum and a Calendar, all requiring one database each, you would be unable to do so; you wouldn’t have enough database resources to accomplish this task. Carefully consider which utilities you will need, and take notes as to whether they will require a database to function. This will help you determine how many databases your plan needs to allow you to create.

One additional note is to carefully consider which 3rd party scripts you will want to install and what environment they require to run properly. 3rd party scripts are those which can be found on the Internet available for purchase or as freeware which can be installed on your website. Be aware however, that some scripts can run in both a Windows and Linux environment while others may be specific to only one operating system.

4. Dedicated/Shared Servers
The basic difference between a dedicated and shared server is that shared servers host many sites, whereas a dedicated server generally hosts one website.

One of the big advantages of a shared server is the cost savings. Shared hosting simply costs less. Spamming and how to avoid having your website blacklisted from different search engines has been a recent concern with shared hosting environments however. How does this impact me you might ask? If you are sharing a server with an adult website that sends out spam and is eventually dropped from the search engines because of it, your site (once listed) could inadvertently be dropped if you share the same IP address. This is because shared hosting environments usually assign many sites to one IP address. Ask the provider whether a unique IP address can be assigned to your website (generally for an additional small monthly fee) to guard against this should you elect a shared hosting server.

Dedicated servers are best for big, highly trafficked websites which will require large amounts of server resources to run. One of the downsides to shared hosting is that the server’s resources are divided across all the sites it’s hosting and answering page requests for. If you are in a dedicated environment you can better monitor your server resources. The downside is that dedicated servers will run you generally $50 per month or more. Shared hosting can be purchased for as little as 5$ a month. Most small or medium sized businesses will have neither the website size or bandwidth requirements to make dedicated servers cost effective.

5. Customer Service/Support
Pre-Sales
What is your preference on customer service? Do you prefer to call in and speak to someone live, or are you satisfied with using email to have your questions answered? Many providers will have a toll-free number you can call to address pre-sales questions while others may provide a pre-sales FAQ document, live chat option or a member’s forum where you can scan posts and find answers to commonly asked questions. As a consumer, you want to make sure that you have some options to choose from.

Support
Many providers will offer support through online Help Desk software. Rather than tying up phone lines with live help, they use their Help Desk to facilitate support request from users. Some providers may have Forums where you can post questions and receive assistance from other hosting customers. If you feel you are not Internet savvy, inquire whether you can receive live phone support. Be aware though that you may be required to pay an additional fee for this privilege.

You should be able to contact your hosting provider by more than one method. Be careful of any provider who does not provide adequate methods of communication and limits you solely to email contact for both pre-sales questions and support. Customer friendly hosts generally provide you a contact telephone for questions and most likely it will be toll-free. Should you elect a hosting provider that does not provide any telephone contact, do your research! Do they have testimonials? Do they have a forum where you can openly connect with other hosting customers and ask questions or request help? Has feedback about their service been positive? In this instance you’ll have to rely on any posted question/answer responses and your intuition.

6. Uptime/Reliability
Uptime is an important factor to selecting your provider. Does the provider offer a performance guarantee? Specifically, will they rebate you some (or all) of your monthly fees if you experience prolonged periods of downtime? Do they offer a money back guarantee? Most hosts will refund all or part of your monthly fees (provided you weren’t spamming or doing anything illegal) if you are not satisfied with their services after a period of time and choose to cancel your service.

You can also search for a testimonials page to see what their own customers are saying about them. Ask friends and colleagues whom they host their site with, and research the provider to determine if they would be a good fit for your website.

7. Price
Hosting normally will cost you somewhere between $5.00 - $10.00 dollars per month depending on the plan’s features. Anything below $5.00 per month, although it may sound like a great deal up front, may have to cut corners to offer such rates. Ever heard the saying “you get what you pay for?”. Do some research on lower cost providers to determine how they are using your dollar and what you are receiving for it. Likewise anything above $12.00 per month should be packed with features, or possibly include a complimentary domain name* and something other providers do not offer.

* Free domain names can be tricky! ALWAYS check with the provider and ask if the name will be registered in your name with you as the legal owner, or if it’s to be registered with the hosting company and leased to you. Often times if registered to the host, you will be unable to take this name with you if you change service providers. Efforts in marketing and search engine optimization and branding can be lost in these situations and result in major headaches and increased spending.

8. Free Hosting Providers
Website hosting has become so affordable in today’s market that it’s not worth the aggravation a *free* service will put you throug

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Every business has key factors for success. Know what they are, measure them, monitor them, so you can act proactively when they deviate from normalcy.

Here are the basic beginning steps to starting a business online. Begin at the beginning with research to identify your profitable market place. Very important.

What you must have before you setup your Internet Business. If you do not read this you are actually missing out on something only a handful of internet marketers know!

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