It’s now well known that you need to protect yourself while on the computer. Criminals have found ways to steal your information especially when you thought that you were safe. One way to thwart them is to employ anti-spyware tools on your computer to protect yourself.

Today, we do everything from order pizza to shop for household appliances online. With that level of traffic and financial information floating around, it’s no wonder criminals have turned their attentions to the Internet. But, luckily for you, so have software manufacturers in order to protect you.

No one wants to be the victim of identity theft or fraud. Even though it is not your fault, the burden of proof is on you and the red tape is monstrous. So, do all that you can to protect yourself and your loved ones while online.

One way to do that is to arm your computer with anti-spyware tools. Spyware constitutes programs that hide within other programs, hence the name “spy.” Here’s how it works: You go to a site and download a program. The program may be hiding a second program within itself that will track how you use it. This is a non-lethal spyware program. It was probably employed by the site for statistical purposes.

Then, there are other spyware that, when downloaded, will go in and rewrite certain things on your computer without your consent. If you’ve ever downloaded something and then your home page changed, it was probably courtesy of a spyware program.

Both of these are mild examples compared to what usually happens. More lethal spyware will search your files and retrieve financial information. There can be disastrous results, but you don’t want even the the mild spyware on your machine. If someone has to do something behind your back to get you to try it, steer clear.

Anti-spyware tools and programs seek out these dastardly additions and eliminate them. A well-protected computer will have both antivirus and anti-spyware installed for a wider net of protection. Spyware tools, like antivirus can be obtained for free or purchased.

Shop Around

Know what you are buying. Be sure that free programs offer you adequate spyware protection. Sites like STOPzilla and pctools offer free spyware tools for you to use. These tools work behind the scenes in real-time and on schedules to detect spyware. They also clear your browsing history and prevent pop-ups all over your screen. Spyware also lets you know if a site in your search results is dangerous for you to visit.

Paid spyware offers a few more perks, but make sure that you actually need those perks for your system. If you choose to pay, find software with multiple user capabilities so you can arm all of the computers in your home.

Here a few free and paid anti-spyware tools that I recommend:

Free anti-spyware tools

Ad-Aware Free
Spybot Search and Destroy

Paid anti-spyware tools

Ad-Aware Pro
Spy Sweeper

Protect yourself from the beginning. Use anti-spyware tools to prevent and remove spyware that threatens your computer.

If you’re like the hundreds of thousands of online business owners, you are using the social networking tool, Twitter, to connect with your prospects in a new and beneficial way. However, like many business owners you’re busy and social networking can consume a large amount of your precious time. This is where TweetLater can come in handy.

What Is SocialOomph?

SocialOomph is a social networking tool that helps you manage your social networking time. It enables you to:

* Schedule your tweets in advance
* Send welcome messages to new users who follow you
* Draft tweets offline
* Automate the following process
* Create a status feed
* Manage unlimited Twitter accounts from one location
* Track keywords on Twitter
* Add your blog RSS feed for automatic updates
* Shorten URLs
* Track clicks

And unlike many other Twitter applications, there is a free option and a paid “professional” option that costs $29.97 a month. There’s a free trial period if you’re interested in checking out the professional option.

So How Does SocialOomph Benefit You?

Because you’re able to create offline drafts, reuse them and schedule your Tweets in advance, you’re really able to create a Twitter campaign. You can plan your tweets in advance and lead followers to the best posts, content, and promotions you have to offer.

SocialOomph also helps you plan your conversations with other Twitter followers so you can craft well thought out and productive conversations, rather than spur of the moment tweets you may later regret.

And SocialOomph enables you to track not only popular keywords, but also your click-through rate so you can fine-tune your Twitter campaign for the best results.

Finally, because time management is an issue for just about everyone, TweetLater enables you to spend a focused amount of time on your Twitter marketing strategy, say 30 minutes a day or 60 minutes once a week, and then set it aside without worrying that you’re missing something or not participating enough. It helps you make sure you focus on the right things at the right time because you’re able to manage your Twitter profiles at any time of the day or night.

Twitter is a growing social networking tool, and business owners can take advantage of its popularity to connect with their prospects and build a larger awareness and a larger audience. Yet, people can spend hours of their valuable time on Twitter thus losing time they could be spending on more profitable tasks. SocialOomph solves this problem. If you’re a Twitterer, consider checking out this valuable time management tool today.

Smart business owners know that high conversion rates are essential. In order to sell products and services, website traffic needs to convert to customers. So what are the key tactics to improve conversion rates? Here are three smart ways to convert online visitors to customers.

If you’re using a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign then make sure you’re sending each advertisement through to a unique sales page designed with those keywords in mind. That way each sales page can be fine tuned to convert that particular prospect.

Test and track everything. Testing and tracking results is a business owner’s single biggest conversion tool. You may have a perfect textbook sales page, but if it isn’t converting then it doesn’t matter how pretty it is. Test your headline, test your call to action, test your testimonials, your price, the colors you use, your font and size. Test everything and fine tune your page until it’s receiving the conversion rate you want.

Build a relationship with your prospects. The best way to convert visitors to customers is to make them an offer they can’t refuse. Give them something, or many things, for free. Give them books, audios, videos, monthly access to new content limited to members; give them an online workshop, seminar or course. Giveaways are an exceptional way to get your customers to do one thing – sign up for your opt-in list.

Why is your opt-in list so important? Because it gives you the opportunity to build a relationship with your prospects and turn them into customers. It gives you the permission and the opportunity to connect with them weekly (or more frequently) and provide them with valuable content, promotions and maybe even more giveaways.

Your opt-in list is a list of pre-qualified prospects. By signing up they’ve already told you they’re interested in what you have to offer. This makes your opt-in list process critical to your conversions and increasing your conversions. Take the time to craft advertisements that send people to a custom landing/opt-in page, just like we suggested in #1. And as mentioned in #2, take the time to test and track your results. Sometimes changing a few words in your opt-in offer can make all the difference between a list of 1000 and a list of 10,000.

Increasing your conversion rate can make all the difference in your business. It’s a strategy worth paying attention to, right? With the average customer making two to three purchases annually, a conversion increase of only a few percentage points can equal a better business for you.

Did you know that getting organized always lands in the Top 10 list of New Year Resolutions? That must be why now is the perfect time for this GiveAway. There are many outstanding resources available to help you organize, but you know how hard it can be to to find the right ones for you. The Great Organizing GiveAway has solved that problem by collecting about 100 FREE resources in one spot!

The Great Organizing Giveaway starts today!

Go to the site and simply register to get access to the resources such as e-books, tip sheets, audio programs, complementary consulting and more! You can also enter into drawings for amazing prizes. My colleagues have really stepped up to the plate to deliver quality content just for you and it will cost you nothing!
Information at the site is divided into three main categories: your office, your time and your home. Business professionals, parents and students will all find expert material that fits their personal productivity and organization needs.

Here’s just a sample of the material you’ll find there:

And there’s lots more.  While you are there, look for my free report – Efficient Computer Use.

Here’s the link again so you can find the right organizing tool for you.

One of the hardest things in business is actually drumming up the business. Whether online or off, you need people to DO SOMETHING if you want your business to be a success. For online business, one way to reach the people that will be most interested in your product or service is through list building.

What is List Building?

In the fewest words possible, list building is the process used to create an inventory of people who fit the niche market you are promoting. The
assumption usually is that if you cast a wide enough net to find people, you will eventually find the right people. This method is not only backwards, but also costly in time and energy. Instead, cast your net to catch only your niche market – go smaller when building your list.

There is more than one way to develop a list for your business. Here are just a few of the more popular (and successful might I add) ways:

• Opt-ins

• Free Giveaways

• Contests

• Email Marketing

• Article Marketing

• Blogging

Whatever methods you use, it is important to know where you are coming from and where you are going before others will follow you.

Getting Your Name Out There

In order for others to follow you they need to know who you are and what you stand for. To that end, you will want to network with others. Your time is better spent building your brand before you build your list.

Do you routinely buy from someone you’ve just heard of? Not normally right?

Neither does anyone else. That is expected in business. Trust is earned over time and you must begin with curiosity in order to build up to trust.

Viral marketing is one of your best assets when it comes to getting noticed and building your list. Ask JV partners, complementary businesses in your field, other business owners, etc. to help you out. If they have websites, blogs or are a part of forums, let them pass the word around about you and what you do.

On your end, visit websites and blogs associated with the product or service that you sell. Get involved, ask questions, and show your face. These are the people you will ask to endorse you to lend credibility to your products.

During your promotion, your traffic will increase. People will know what you have to offer. Now you can use one, two or all of the above bulleted methods to begin building your list. Visitors will lend you their personal information (name and email) if they like what they see. From that point, it is up to you to keep them interested enough to become a loyal customer.

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone these days that isn’t a part of at least one social network. Use that to your advantage. Join in and find ways to engage users, promote your website and increase your traffic for at no cost.

Social Networking Craze

Social networking is one of the easiest ways to stay connected to friends and family near and far. You can share pictures, stories and send instant messages when you are both logged in. This way of keeping in touch has extended into the business world and become useful as a marketing tool. Joining a social network is free so there’s no reason not to give it a try. These sites bridge the gap across the miles better than simple email.

Which sites can you use? Actually, business owners have found most of the more popular sites useful: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace. The results from each site are different for every business so don’t be afraid to test and track which ones yield the best outcome for your business. Once you sign up with a valid email address and password, you are ready to get started.

Using sites like these, you can create a page that tells all about you and your business. Look for friends, family and business associates who are also connected so you can keep up with what is going on in their lives and businesses as well.

How to Use Them Effectively

Let’s look at a site like Facebook. It is highly popular and can be beneficial for both business and personal use. On the business side, you can post links to your website when new products are launched, new newsletters are published or sales are going on. If you blog, post links to your newest blog posts (or to guest blog posts you’re doing elsewhere around the blogosphere). Highlight contests, guest bloggers and other events that you are a part of. Have an online radio show? You can invite friends to listen to live podcasts to learn more about your business.

On a site like YouTube, you can post videos and add the links to your Facebook profile, Twitter stream, etc. Invite friends to view and leave comments.

The best part about social sites such as these is that friends and business contacts can pass your links on to others who might be interested in the topics as well. Quite possibly viral marketing at its best!

Relationships Matter

The one thing to remember about promoting your website or blog on social networking sites is not to do so just for that purpose. Relax and get to know the people you are trying to reach out to. They say that social networking can be addictive. While it can be a double edged sword if you’re not careful, setting boundaries will make it addictive in a good way by growing your business.

Just like so many other marketing tools, the name of the game is relationships. You can build meaningful ones not only with friends and family, but with your target audience and business associates on all the social networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook of course, and others.

Comment on your friends posts and visit their links as well. As an Internet marketing tool, social networking works both ways. Don’t think of it as a means to an end but one of the more fun marketing tools you get to use to grow your business.

If you aren’t currently using any social networking platform, now is a great time to start. It can serve dual purposes in your life; both to your benefit. Each business contact you meet, invite them to be your friend or follower. Who knows? You could be connecting with a future joint venture partner or find that diamond in the rough service provider to help you take your business to the next level.

If it feels like I am speaking another language or you want to learn more about social networking and its advantages for your business, join me for Social Media Made Easy.

To overcome these planning and time management obstacles, consider these four steps:

1. What’s stopping you?

Look at what’s holding you up. Is it procrastination? Perfection? A lack of planning? What’s getting in your way?

2. Prioritize and set goals

Prioritizing and goal setting are two very important components of time management. Goal setting is easiest to accomplish when you set a goal that is attainable and measurable and when you break it down into smaller manageable goals.

Creating a task list is another item that, as strange as it may sound, needs to become a scheduled part of your day and your week. You’ll want to spend a bit of time prior to Monday morning creating a list of tasks and goals for the upcoming week. Keep in mind that some days may be set aside as planning days, days off or meeting days.

3. Plan and schedule your day, week and month

Make sure you have time to accomplish the goals, tasks and priorities you’ve established. Set aside the time you need by planning your days, weeks, and even your month out.

To make this process easier, and to lighten your load, there are time management tools like a PDA, desktop scheduling software and the good old fashioned paper calendar, which can help you establish and maintain time management success.

4. Get help

Finally, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, it may be time to seek outside help. Consider hiring someone to manage the tasks that seem to get in the way. Often these are the administrative tasks. You can partner with a virtual assistant to lighten the load and streamline your technology and automation. You can also hire a housekeeper if daily chores are a distraction from your business. Last but not least, hire a business coach who can help you take your business to the next level.

Overcoming your time management obstacles is easy when you are able to acknowledge what they are and why they exist. From there it’s merely a process of planning how to overcome them and using the right tools to get the job done.

Planning and time management can be the biggest challenges to starting a business and being a successful entrepreneur. Learning to overcome these obstacles can be the key to managing and leading a successful business.

What are time management obstacles and what causes them? Many things cause time management obstacles including:

1. Perfectionism – Many people use perfectionism as a crutch, a way to stay busy doing what they know how to do and to let the rest slide. For example, you’re a skilled writer but detest accounting, which means you spend days on a sales letter and your books are in such shambles that you are unsure who owes you what or how much money you’re making or losing.

2. Procrastination – This happens for a number of reasons. If you’re facing burnout, then you’ll likely feel like avoiding anything related to your business. However, if you’re facing a task you don’t want to do it’s much easier to procrastinate.

3. An inability to say no – Guess what…not only should you not be doing everything – you can’t! And if you try to, something’s going to give. You’re not going to be able to devote your full attention to your business-related tasks, they’ll suffer and your bottom line will suffer.

4. Lack of planning – It’s easy to become caught up in tasks like

• Social networking

• Email

• Phone calls

• Checking stats and website analytics (This is important but you don’t need to obsessively watch the numbers)

• Surfing the net, reading blogs and industry information

One quick email check can turn into a full hour of back and forth email correspondence and before you know it, your entire schedule is off for the day. Planning, and sticking to your plan, helps you stay on track. In part two of this article series, we’ll talk about how to overcome these obstacles.

In the world of online marketing, building a list is absolutely imperative. Most solopreneurs don’t have the expertise or the time to set up a list management system on their own server, plus with the CAN-SPAM laws, it’s just not feasible anymore. Instead, most use a list provider. A list provider will allow you to collect e-mail addresses from buyers and visitors to your websites.

List management is an essential part of any online business. Capturing a person’s name and e-mail address when they visit your site allows you to send them helpful information, build your relationship with them and offer new products. It’s absolutely essential that your list provider be easy to use and have the capabilities to deliver professional messages.

Look for the following features to find the B.E.S.T. L.I.S.T.

Bad address protection.

Your list system should remove bad e-mail addresses automatically so you don’t have to deal with them manually. Clearing out bad addresses from your list can save you a lot of time.

Easy opt in creation.

Your list can’t exist unless you have an opt in form on your website. The opt in forms should be easy to create within the list provider’s system. You should be able to feel secure in putting the opt in form on your website and trusting that it will work.

Subscribe/unsubscribe system.

Subscriptions and unsubscriptions from your list shouldn’t require any input on your part. Your list members should be added automatically and removed just as easily.

Tracking capabilities.

E-mail marketing isn’t effective unless you can tell how your messages are being received. A robust list provider program will allow you test and track your messages. You can see how many are being opened by your list members and how many are clicking through on your links. This can be a great way to learn how to market more effectively so you can reach your audience.

List management.

Your list provider should give you the ability to manage several different lists at once. You should be able to send a message to a few lists at once, filtering out people who are on a third list. You should also have the ability to send messages to people who subscribed after a certain date. All of these capabilities will help you market to your list more effectively.

Internet connection.

You shouldn’t have to wait for your messages to go out due to a server outage on your list provider’s side. Your list provider should be professional enough to keep an active Internet connection to your list management tools at all times. The better the connection, the faster you can work with your list.

Security features.

Your list provider should make it clear in their terms of service that your personal information and the information of your clients will be secure and protected from hackers. Since people are giving you their personal information, you deserve to know that the list provider will keep their information secure.

Technical support.

If your list provider isn’t there to help you work through the technical issues to use their system, they aren’t worth your time. You’re using a list provider in order to make your life easier. You shouldn’t have to be hassled with technical details. Look for a provider that offers phone and IM support.

By looking for these features in your list provider, you can be sure that you’re finding a true ally in your business and not just creating another hassle.

What do a classified site, job board, content management system, article directory, and sales promotion all have in common? They are all possibilities when using WordPress as your website platform.

WordPress is most commonly known as a blogging platform, and does the job tremendously. Blog owners can utilize the free themes and with very little effort, have their blog up and running in no time at all. For the more blog savvy owner, they can create static pages for contact information, directions, forms, news releases, anything imaginable to make the site more personable. The boundaries of WordPress are proving to be limitless as new users are finding ways to incorporate even more dynamic functions; taking this one-time blogging platform to new levels of sophistication.

Classifieds – Gone are the days of reading the newspaper every morning and browsing through the classified ads. The internet provides many free platforms for posting advertisements, and WordPress is included in this group. Using the classified plugin, WordPress administrators can advertise items on their site, and even allow visitors to post items.

Job Boards – In the search for employment one can easily stumble across hundreds of job boards in their region. The Jobpress theme allows for listings based on job categories. Other customizations include free or paid listings, RSS feeds pulling from other boards, additional categorization according to the type of position (part-time, temporary, etc.).

Content Management – WordPress permits the use of static pages within the creation of a site. These pages can be used for many things including contact forms, contributing author information pages, links to other sites, and storefronts. Because the pages are static, they can be placed as determined in the site, and do not require constant updates.

Article Directories – WordPress has plugins that will allow you to create an article directory for your blog postings, but even without the plugin WordPress automatically allows for pings, comments, and SEO as determined by your blog settings. Utilizing WordPress as your blog platform also allows you to create an online portfolio of your wok.

Sales Promotions – Static pages and home pages flexibility in the WordPress platform allow for the easy creation of sales promotions for your clients. Simply create a sales letter or promotion and load it as your home page in WordPress; then when people visit your site, they will see the sales promotion first and then navigate to other areas. The promotion page could also link to an affiliate site used for sales or collection of funds.

So whether you are blogging or have a product/service to sell, WordPress can be a perfect choice to create a site that is both flexible and adaptable to your needs as a website and business owner.