Bidding Directories

What is MTAweb Directory?

So you have heard about this site or you have been to it, but you cannot figure out what it is or what it can do. MTA web directory is the simplest way in which one can bid on a link, or a few links if they wish to do so. The link directory on MTA displays all of the links it currently has, and does so in alphabetical order, which makes it much easier for someone to find what they are looking for if it is something specific and they do not want to go through all the other sites and links as well. It allows you to start your bid at the bottom and slowly work your way to the top of the list. With a very low costing starting bid of just $1, you are guaranteed to have a spot in MTA's successful directory list.

When you would like to increase your bid to one of the top positions, you have to know that this would be a wise decision to make as it will not only get your link to be at a higher point in the directory but it will also give you a chance to have your site advertised with the rest of the top ten on the home page of the website. This means that when visitors come to MTAweb.com, your site will be one of the first things they see. In other words, you stand a great chance at getting a comeback to your site sooner than you thought.

It is important that you buy links because the links are what get you the results that you want. The popularity of the links that are listed in the MTA directory is in fact one of the most important factors in the performance of the search engine. Links are important and this is why you have to purchase a link in order to bid on something and the best part is that a link will only cost you $1, which is nothing compared to what you would pay if you decided to do it through any other company or website.

By escalating the quantity of links to your web site, you will be able to have your site listed much higher in all the search engine results. So when your site is looked for on the search engine it will be very easy to come across as it will come up as one of the first. This will bring many more people to your web site as well as increase your Google PageRank. It will also improve on the whole strength of your web site. Making it better, faster and more interesting each time.

What Makes A Successful E-Commerce Website

There are many ways to create a successful e-commerce but there are four crucial points that you should keep in mind while launching your website.

1. Website

Your website is like your showroom, airy and attractive. When online, the equivalent of a showroom is an uncluttered website where the eyes can move freely up and down finding the details they need without much effort. It is extremely important that the website be easy to navigate since the surfer should not have to search for the product or details he or she is looking for. The website should project its products in a provocative way so the surfer wants to see more.

Place testimonials or photos of your product so people can create a positive image of its usage. If your products are guaranteed, post this information conspicuously.

2. Your merchant account

This feature is a must for any commercial website because without it you will not be able to receive payment by credit cards. Reports show that as high as 99 percent of the trade online is done through credit cards. Hence, if you do not have a merchant account you lose business. You will need to be able to accept all major credit cards and without this feature that is not possible.

3. Shopping cart and secure server

This is interconnected with the above. When you have a merchant account to accept credit cards, you will need an online shopping cart. This feature allows your customers to choose and place their chosen products in the cart just as one would do in shopping mall. This cart will, at the end of the shopping, total the products and give the total cost of the products chosen.

In order to have your shopping cart work well you need to have its software installed on your website or on the server that hosts your website. If you choose to have your own server you will need to have a certificate from Verisign and Thawrte, which encrypts the financial information given by your customers so they can feel safe while giving you this sensitive information.

4. Payment gateway

This is another crucial aspect in setting up a successful e-commerce website. The payment gateway is the link from your website to the credit card processor. This gateway helps information to pass from your site to the authorization centre where the credit card is verified and then charged; after that the reply will come back to your website that the processing has been successful. A payment gateway will always check for details in credit card information and reject any discrepancy in the information. In this way it reduces the use of fraudulent cards by almost 80 percent.

Ten Tips To Negotiate Successfully

Negotiations happen in our daily lives. We might not be aware of it, but many situations require good negotiation skills, including the simple act of buying an item from a store, talking things over to save a relationship, and trade agreement between nations, among others.

It would be worthwhile to consider the factors that may spell success or failure in the negotiating table:

1. Everyone aspires for negotiations to turn out successful; otherwise, it is senseless to sit, talk, and explore (sometimes for hours) each other's position to no avail. For this to be so, exert every effort to favor the other party's whims while still coming out satisfied or contented with the outcome of the negotiation. This should be your objective. Come to terms as easily as possible. Stipulate details in black and white with a tint of trust to seal the negotiation in favor of both parties.

2. Mutual respect for each other's priorities must prevail. Never focus on your own objective alone. Think of how the other party would be satisfied with the outcome.

3. Get to the core of the discussion and work from that core outward, concentrating on the details.

4. It is not difficult to trace the presence of sincerity in a negotiation. As long as you have this in mind and you see the other party's sincerity as well, the progress of the negotiation will sail smoothly.

5. You may have a set of rules that are guiding you to get what you want. Modify if need be as long as it is practical and does not deviate to become a disadvantage on your part.

6. Negotiating is not a contest on who is better between the parties involved. There is no battle to win. Neither is it a stage to display one's wits. It should be a two-way process.

7. Be true to your word. What you say must be congruent to your action. Any deviation should be tackled beforehand to avoid the element of surprise, which usually leads to anxiety.

8. Keep your options as open and as diverse as possible. They may come in handy, especially when slight differences pop out.

9. Watch for reactions to proposals through body movements. They may help to make you and the other party come to terms more easily.

10. Be a good listener. Pre-empt what the other party may say, but only in your mind. You could be right, but you could also be wrong. It is better to sound affable than be sorry afterwards.

4 Methods To Master The #1 Success Secret Of Infopreneuring (2 of 3)

If you don't have good fresh content to use for new products, your momentum comes to a crashing halt and so does your business.
So the question begs itself, how do you consistently create new content?
Here are your four basic options:

1) You can continually write your own materials...and you should.

2) You can record your thoughts and get them transcribed... and you should.

3) You can hire a ghostwriter to write materials for you... and you should.

or

4) You can purchase the rights to content that you can resell... and you should do this as well.

Each option has its own positives and negatives but in my opinion you should be doing a little bit of each.

Let me explain...

3) You can hire a ghostwriter to write materials for you

Hiring a ghost writer has some major advantages and disadvantages. First and foremost it takes a HUGE burden off your shoulders to create original content. Secondly it frees up a lot of your time. Third, it feels great when you get an email from your ghostwriter and the ebook/book/manual/article(s) are all complete and ready to go - it truly is the magic pill.

There are some downsides however. The first one is the cost.

Depending on your project, it can cost anywhere between $400-$3,000 to get an ebook, book or manual created.

This is relatively cheap when you think about the fact that you can now sell that content and profit from it as long as you sell it, but it still costs quite a bit.

The second major downside is the time it takes to communicate with the ghostwriter. If you are anything like me, you don't want to be sending out crappy information. So that means YOU DO have to involve yourself in the process.

Forget what all the "gurus" try to tell you about how easy it is to just hire a ghostwriter and wake up with a finished product.

You tell me if this process is as easy as slapping down a check and receiving a perfect book a few days later:

First you send your initial thoughts and plans for what you want. Then they send back their outline, you make adjustments to the outline, and a few days later they send back the proof for the outline.

Once the outline is completed you give the go-ahead and they write the rough draft. Obviously this takes some time (usually between 1 week and 2 months depending on your project) but once they have completed the rough draft its up to you to read the rough draft and suggest any changes.


You'll want to go over the rough draft with a fine tooth comb to prevent the writer from going in a direction you didn't want. This isn't any small task but its well worth the effort because you are ensuring that the product you are creating is of a high standard.

When you finish the edit of the rough draft the ghostwriter makes the adjustments and then sends you a final draft. You read the final draft and give the final ok.
Phew!! That's a lot more than just placing a bid on eLance and having a book show up on your doorstep ready to sell.

Now, if you care about the quality of the products you create please pay close attention to this next sentence.

You need to actually READ what the ghostwriter has created for you.

It will almost always require you to make some final changes. Make sure you get EXACTLY what you are looking for otherwise it's a product that you yourself haven't even completely read.

Would that make you comfortable selling something with your name on it and you don't know everything contained inside?

I can't tell you how many products I have purchased only to find it was the same old stuff just rehashed. Read what they write for you. Create quality content!!

So although a ghostwriter does save you a TREMENDOUS amount of time, please don't be fooled into thinking that once you hand over the assignment your work is done. It's not... unless you want to create a crappy product.

It still takes work but it's A LOT easier and takes WAY less time once you have the raw materials to work with. Your job is to polish that collection of raw ideas into the high quality product that would make even your Mom proud :)

If you enjoyed this article make sure to look up the other two articles in the series dealing with the other 3 methods of creating content: Part 1 - Writing your own materials and Recording Your Thoughts and coming soon, Part 3 - Purchasing The Rights Of Content You Can Resell!

Significance of E-commerce for Web Development

Mainly with the competitive situation that the present industry is experiencing, businesses were able to come up with a notion of expanding their services online. Through this service they were able to easily meet with the increasing demands in the market. And because of the intensive services brought up online clients and customers were able to easily reach out to attain their needs.

The internet indeed is among one of the most helpful tool in reaching out for them. For, through an online search customers easily and quickly get what they are in need of and as well as having lots of choices and abundant opportunities to cling on.

However setting up online businesses is same as selling your products and services in the local market. The only difference is in the market you may be tired and exhausted of selling and explaining about the details of your products. While with the online service you manageably operate your service even at the convenience of your offices or even homes.

Moreover the development of web sites had been commercial companies' expansion of their service. Mainly the innovations made in technology had remarkably changed the way businesses work on with their projects. However putting up an online service is not as easy as setting them online and let them operate. In planting an online service you have to be specific and communicative.

Sequentially in order to have an effective means of presenting your business e-commerce web development can significantly work out to create a remarkable marketing site for your business. E-commerce had been an effective means for web development for it had been an efficient mainstream in selling your companies products and services.

Basically with the application implemented through e-commerce web development your business is able to gain traffic and turning your site visitor into potential customers. And attain to achieve top quality e-commerce solutions for a more profitable online store.

Primarily with the numerous services that are sprouting at present you can surely attain your need for e-commerce web development project. Simply by means of choosing for the right company for your job for sure you can achieve to have a successful web site. With the companies' knowledge and experience they can help you perform tasks that will integrate your designs and as well as build and manage profitable internet stores.

10 Tips to Increase Your Referral Ratio

Tip # 1
Discipline Yourself to a Routine of 'Asking'

Here's something profound. The reason most of us do not get referrals on a routine basis is because we do not ask for them on a routine basis. Well, it's almost that simple. What would be the upside on your year-end W-2 if you asked for 2 referrals from each of your new customers? Let's say you average 6 sales per month. That would be 12 referrals per month or 144 per year. Conservatively, you close half of those warm leads. Multiply 72 by your average revenue per sale. Then calculate your commission percentage off the total revenue sold. Now ask yourself if you can afford not to ask for referrals on a routine basis.

Tip # 2
Develop a process to 'Set the Stage'

Asking for a referral is one thing, but how many times do you actually get one? Execute a Powerful Routine after you sign up a new customer, and request permission for 3 additional minutes to get their professional feedback. Ask a series of questions soliciting their opinion on ways you can be more effective with your sales process, from initial contact to point of sale, with individuals in the same industry and parallel titles. You are now setting the stage for your future success. Over time, your contacts will give you a free 'Masters Degree.' Remember to 'Pack your bags, but set the stage.'

Tip # 3
Communicate to a "Win-Win" Agreement

Be honest and sincere in reference to the importance of referrals for running your business effectively. Tell your story. If you have a high referral ratio let them know that and why it is high. Customers respect a good businessperson more than a good salesperson. Try to pick a time when the contact would feel comfortable giving a referral to help your business. That may not be at the point of sale, but upon service implementation or some time in the future when you have proved you delivered what you promised. The important point is you must define with the contact when it can happen or what criteria need to be met for it to happen.

Tip # 4
Follow through in order to receive a consistently high ratio of referrals.

You may not ask for a referral until (a) the service has been implemented and (b) the customer is satisfied. But as described in Tip #3, you want to minimally set a referral foundation at the point of sale and receive a commitment to when you'll receive one. Now, this is very important. Always write in your day timer in front of the contact when the expectation is set, and let them know you are making note of it. Treat it like an appointment for your future success. It's found business and will afford you a higher closing ratio, shorter sales cycle and most importantly, more referrals! So, follow-up and get it!

Tip # 5
Develop a Referral Program

Be creative. Give up some money. Maybe it's a gift certificate to a local restaurant (hopefully a customer) or a graduated percent off of their next invoice. An entrepreneurial mind will come up with a few flexible programs that fit your level of buyer. After all, you're not putting anything out until the referral is sold. The old saying, "money makes money" is still true. Beside the tax right off (check with your accountant), contacts absolutely enjoy getting a little something. Measure the ROI and the benefit will be evident.




Tip # 6
Become the Messenger

Be sure to give the referral gifts out promptly on sold referrals. Deliver it in person, since it also serves as an excellent time to prime the pump for additional referrals. Don't underestimate the power of this simple discipline. I have experienced 'millionaires' who reopened their black books after receiving $20 dollar gift certificates. After all, it's not the amount but the gesture. And because you are spending your valuable time being the messenger, you will without a doubt focus on receiving one or two more warm leads.

Tip # 7
Promote a Grass Roots Chamber Program

Offer local Chambers a deal they can not refuse. Chambers want to offer their membership a better deal, one that their members can not receive from regular street pricing. They are open to donations to help their chamber and are also motivated to grow their membership. Instead of offering a residual based off of sales, offer to bring them in a certain number of new members each month. After all, a certain percentage of businesses you call on will not be members, and if you can show them a return on their investment, they will certainly join the Chamber to receive it. By helping others you will see your referral ratio reach the sky!

Tip # 8
Identify Potential 'Bird Dogs'

'Bird dogs' are used by hunters to point and fetch game birds for their owners. In sales, a 'bird dog' is someone who has multiple relationships with your potential customers and they are motivated to routinely feed you contacts for your marketing efforts. Research potential business people that may fit into this profile, and take them out to lunch. Explain your referral program and how it could supplement their core business revenue stream. For potential 'Big Hitters' be prepared to customize your referral program to align with their motivations. Treat them like gold and they will open up their Rolodex.

Tip # 9
'Get Married' to a Collaboration Partner

There are companies that provide products or services in your 'value chain' but do not compete directly with your product or service. Those companies and the professional individuals that sell for them should be a point of concentration for you to identify and contact for strategies of collaboration. I refer to this relationship as "Natural Marriages." Contact 3 sales professionals that seem to indicate a 'natural marriage' for you and them. Outline what's in it for them. Then ask them what you could reasonably expect over time.

Tip # 10
Join or Start a Lead Group

You have to eat lunch, right? So why not join or consider developing a Lead Group of entrepreneurial individuals who are motivated to get together twice a month to share leads. Find individuals who are accountable to bringing in the minimum amount of leads each meeting as outlined in your group's business rules. Make sure every member is covered by the 80-20 rule, getting 80% of their leads from 20% of the members. And don't be shy about charging a quarterly membership fee. That way, members have some 'skin' in the game.

Tips for Mom Entrepreneurs: How to Stay Connected to Your Network

As a working mom, you may already feel overwhelmed, juggling dual responsibilities of work and family. When it comes to networking – yet another task – you may feel that "the time I've spent at networking has never really paid off."

Creating a personal and professional network is essential for your work + life success. That's why working moms need to approach networking with a different paradigm, explained below as a three-part process.

Relationship Building
Networking isn't just about collecting business cards from people you think may help you. It's about planting seeds and nurturing long-term relationships that mature over time.

As a mom, you may understand this process well because it calls upon the same nurturing skills you already use with your family.

Empowering Actions
How many times have you attended networking events and seen others jabber on about themselves and frantically hand out dozens, if not hundreds, of their cards? This frenetic approach only makes them look weak. As a working mom, draw on that "Mommy" authority to engage in empowering, networking actions.

They include:
* Give – Adopt a giving attitude. When you meet someone ask, "How can I help you?" Always think, "Who could I connect them with to help them meet their goals?" It's a natural principle: The more you help others, the more others will help you.

* Ask – Be bold. Always think, "you never know what will happen" and "it's worth a try." If you meet a new contact and find you have an instant connection, don't be afraid to ask for help.

* Follow up - Getting introduced to the "right" people is important, but it's what you do after the introduction that really counts. If you've felt a connection with a new contact, phone, email or send a thank-you note within one or two days. Then, keep in touch periodically, even if just to say, "Hi, it's been awhile…"

Efficient Use of Time
You may be thinking, "I'd like to stay connected with people, but I just don't have the time." Here are three ways to efficiently find time to network:

* Lunch Hours – I've historically used my lunch hour, a coveted ME time, to run errands, walk a mile or two or get my hair or nails done. Yet, many associations and groups schedule networking meetings during this time. So, I began to add networking lunches. It's a great way to preserve early-morning and evening family hours by substituting networking lunches for breakfast meetings or evening mixers!

* "Coffee/lunch over the phone" – My business partner, Jo Della Penna, introduced me to the idea of networking by scheduling "coffee over the phone". What a great idea! This is a more efficient way to meet. Plus, neither party has to invest in driving time. When you want to spend time with a colleague, try a relaxing "lunch over the phone" by scheduling a lunch appointment, packing a lunch that day and calling at the appointed time.

* Schedule in advance - Earmark your calendar to remind yourself to re-connect with a contact periodically. If you meet a new contact today, schedule the follow up call for two days later and plan a "check-in" email within 60 days.

Remember, the key to networking is building a relationship over time. By using the steps above you should succeed at establishing good relationships that empower you and your business, and yet, don't use hours and hours of your time

Recruiting Software VS CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

What is CRM? If I buy CRM software will I be a better recruiter?
Should recruiting software have CRM features? Do recruiting software vendors include CRM in their product?

I think CRM is a lot of smoke created by some very good marketing people who could sell ice to Eskimos.

A common definition for CRM is "The process of using information to find, secure and keep customers. The people, events, and questions associated with marketing, sales, and service". Yikes! I thought that is what recruiting is?

Why am I on such a soap box? Because I talk to about 50 different recruiters and recruitment firm owners a week and every once in a while I get asked does this software contain CRM. A few years back when the question was asked I was at a loss for words. I had no idea what they were talking about. I was terribly concerned that after 25 years in the recruiting industry putting in 10 hours a day seven days a week I had completely missed something and an entire process went right over my head.

So I went to work reading and studying everything I could find on CRM and came to the conclusion that CRM and recruiting software are one and the same. If your recruiting software does not have the characteristics defined by CRM then you do not have recruiting software.

First of all, who are the customers of an executive recruiter? Candidates and clients are! As any recruiter knows the product of a recruiter is also the customer, the candidate, one unique characteristic of the recruiting industry.

Let's go back to that CRM definition above. "The process of using information to find, secure and keep customers". Your recruiting software must be used to find and track candidates and clients. Once found the software has to keep them available to you through periodic contact.

Next, "The people, events and questions associated with marketing, sales and service". Ok, if your recruiting software cannot help you market to different demographics of clients and candidates then why are you using it? What are you using to market to clients and candidates? Do you have a separate system for this? Do you have a separate database for marketing to clients, a separate database for marketing to candidates? Do candidates sometimes become clients? Do clients sometimes become candidates? Is candidate John Smith repeated in the client Database and then again in a separate marketing system? How silly these questions are! If you answer yes to any of the above I suggest you reconsider your whole approach to recruiting.

And if you have this separation how in the world are you ever going to keep track of the events and questions? Perhaps if they are all separate I can sell you business idiot consolidation software that will pull all these desperate systems together for you.

So I will answer the leading questions. If I buy CRM software will I be a better recruiter? No, because you're an idiot for having recruiting software that is not also CRM. Should recruiting software have CRM features? Of course, CRM and recruiting software are one and the same thing. Do recruiting software vendors include CRM in their product? Yes, if they don't they are not a recruiting software vendor.

How do you plan on making your money?

How do you make money? How do you not let money use you? Well let's take the first question? How do you make money? Here are some easy ways:
• Job
• Start a business
• Inherit money
• Lottery / Gamble
• Crime

As odd as it sounds, all above are viable ways to make money. Most of the population makes money via a job. We work for others. This is a familiar, respectable and time honored approach to supporting yourself. The only problem is sometimes you end up jobless, defeated, and angry. Welcome to the rat race!

Starting a business sounds nice. Become the boss with all the neat stuff like suits, executive offices, and lavish lifestyle. This sounds great as long as you are successful, and you assume ALL the risk. We touched on this before. Mentally you need to prepare to go through the fire of being an entrepreneur if you have never done this before.

Inheritance is great. You just need someone rich to die and leave it to us. This is not likely and nonrenewable. The money is always running out if you don't make more.

The lottery is simply NOT going to happen. Gambling is just plain stupid. Casinos don't build 75 million dollar fountains with the money they lost to patrons.

The constants in making money are preparation, preservation and perspiration. The preparation is what we'll call the money trap. Preparation centers around the business make up, the marketing action and the follow-through. Efficiency is of the utmost importance. Preservation means that your business must preserve its value. Value embedded as hard assets, or financial instruments have long been used for value preservation. Preservation of value is re-investment.
Re-investment is business building.

Perspiration is the undeniable cost of owning and running a business. Most of the fantasies about running and owning your own business fade when the self-employed realize that when they don't work, they don't eat. This is the hard work that nobody likes to talk about. Successful owners are diligent, disciplined and focused people. They work weekends, holidays, and virtually everyday.

Most businesses have barriers to entry, the minimum cost of investment. With the age of computers new businesses like internet marketing, desktop businesses and other digital businesses have evolved. It is critical that entrepreneurs take advantage of automation. Few business forms don't involve interaction, high entry barriers (big investments to start) and other difficulties. MOST traditional brick-and-mortar businesses involve the investment of thousands of dollars, often with no business training or mentoring in the field of business.

An excellent business is one that fits the following description:
• Low or no investment
• Requires little/low time investment
• Requires few/no employees
• Provides a RENEWABLE source of income
• Services are FAVORED over goods, as services are infinitely renewable, products reach a sales maturity level and decline

Below are some examples of desktop businesses you can use at home to make money:
• Resume writing
• E-bay
• Internet Information Marketing
• Permanent Tourists….

There are a lot of benefits to living and working outside your daily environment. It is very difficult to increase your risk tolerance while you are "trapped" by your current lifestyle. Often businesspeople "find" themselves when laid off. You may need to step outside your life to go the next level.

Most people can't envision themselves stepping outside their lifestyles because we are so well conditioned to go to a job. Think about it, you are trained to get up and go "somewhere" on a schedule your entire life. In kindergarten, kids are conditioned to get up and live on a schedule from that point on. True businesspeople don't have a rigid schedule. They earn their way by balancing risk with reward, one of which is personal freedom. What is your freedom worth? Often times we ask what the successful know that we don't. The answer is nothing. The difference between the successful businessman and us is that he will accept the risk or tough way to eke out a living and we will not. I urge you to summon your courage.