Digg it UP - Internet and Businesses Online

Intranet Portals - Personalisation and Customisation
The key difference between an (old-fashioned) Intranet and a PortalWhat typifies a modern intranet portal is that there is a standardised user interface (“UI”) with a built in system for user authentication. In other words, the user signs in to the portal rather than simply accessing it. This brings us to the key difference; an intranet portal knows who you are, whilst with an old-fashioned intranet, the user is anonymous.If the user authentication is properly linked to your employee data, then the portal will know things like (a) what grade the person is, (b) which department they work in, (c) what location they work at and (d) what job they do.If the portal authentication is also liked to a metadirectory (along with the authentication for all the other systems the user needs to use in their job) then the portal will additionally know (e) which applications the user needs to do their job and (f) the rights the user has (from their security profile) to access different application functionality.Finally, if an infocube-based web statistics package has been installed, the portal will know (a) which areas of the portal are accessed by the user and (b) the frequency and depth of that access.The opportunity to personalise the portal experienceClearly, given the knowledge above, it is possible to personalise the UI for each individual user. For example, if the user works in the sales function, then the homepage that greets them upon logon could be the Sales team homepage. If they work in Leeds, the facilities link on their homepage could be to maps, traffic, fire orders, etc. about the Leeds office (rather than anywhere else). If their specific job is as a field sales manager, then field sales performance graphs and management dashboard could be displayed on the homepage.If the user is of a grade that places them on the company insider dealing list, th

reat way to build ongoing, online relationships with your potential customers and establish your credibility. Top web sites work on developing an email list of prospects that can be contacted in the future. Make sure your email list subscription area has a prominent position on your web site, preferably at the top of every page.

For more detailed information about how to design your web site with both high search engine listings and customer usage in mind, take a look at our ebook “Start at the Beginning”. For an excerpt visit: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_2.html

5 Skip Intro/Click Here to Enter

Go on, admit it - you once thought the best thing on the Internet planet was a web site that started up by having a revolving animation of the company logo that bounced around, spun a few times then settled in the middle of the screen with those the immortal words: "Click here to enter site" Isn’t that what you were trying to do when you typed in the web address or clicked on the link that bought you here?

“Enter site” is also what all your visitors are trying to do when they type in your web address or click on your link so make sure they are not presented with some nauseating bouncing, spinning distortions of your logo, or worse, duff, irrelevant music. They are not interested in how clever your web designer is with Flash or their taste in music, they want to get to the information they’re looking for as quickly as possible.

Always make sure you home page or advert-landing page is quick to load and don’t forg

Tips To Boost Your Employability
In the tough economy that we're currently facing, it can be quite difficult to find a job that suits your skills and pays well. It's important to take advantage of every opportunity that you can to boost your employability, and in this article, we'll mention some tips at how to get yourself the job that you deserve.- One thing that people can do to boost their employability is to participate in some volunteer work. A rewarding experience in and of itself, volunteering can help you to learn skills that you would not otherwise be able to obtain. In addition to showing that you have a strong work ethic and a certain level of empathy when it comes to helping others, volunteering in places that relate to the job skills you wish to acquire can really put your career hunt into high-gear.- When you're looking to get a career that is outside of your normal experiences, it can be helpful to get a little insight into the industry from a friend. Search out people that you know that are in the field that you wish to be employed in and ask if you can pick their brains over a cup of coffee. The more you know about the job that you are looking for, the better chance you have of impressing the interviewer with your knowledge of the subject.- If you're looking for a career that requires a certain degree of specialization, you may wish to consider taking an internship. When your work experience is over at the internship, the company may wish to hire you on. If not, they may know of another company that does the same types of business that may require your services. Discipline and determination are very important when it comes to landing a solid career.- When you've set up an interview with a company, do your homework. Learn all that you can about the company and the services that it performs, and you'll be able to impress the interviewer with your fortitude and your studying ethic when it com

As the Internet grows in popularity and importance, the quality of web sites needs to keep pace and creating and maintaining high-quality, professional web sites is more important today than ever. In this month’s issue, we cover the basics of “What Not To Do” if you want to convert your visitors into customers and keep them coming back for more.

There is a lot written about how to design a great web site and ways to attract and keep visitors, but a lot less information is available to outline how, every day, thousands of web sites are finding common ways to confuse or alienate hoards of potential customers. Although many professional web site designers know about the obvious "no-no’s”, there are still many finer points that frustrate or irritate visitors and make them leave.

We have identified 11 design and construction mistakes that can make or break a web site. To avoid having your visitors "click-away" from your site in droves, make sure you are not falling into any of the following traps:

1. Clogging Up Their Internet Connection

Imagine, your new potential customer is happily surfing using their favourite search engine looking for your product or service and everything's going smoothly. Your web site appears in the first page of listings (congratulations, you must have put into practice all the information you read our DIY Internet Marketing Guides or taken out one of our highly-esteemed web site marketing packages J) and they click through to your homepage.

Then their Internet connection starts to clog up. It begins to creak and groan under the strain of downloading your homepage’s numerous images, animated bits and bobs an all its bells and whistles and it takes an age to appear. They look at the progress bar at the bottom of their screen and it’s more grey than blue. They look at their watch, start picking at their finger nails, tapping their toes, rolling their eyes… and then in frustration they click on the back button at the top of their screen and click on the next web site in the search engines results list. Well done - you've just sent another visitor to your competition.

For tips on how to design a web site that is both appealing to your customers and to the “organic” search engines, read our DIY Internet Marketing Guide “Start at the Beginning”. For an excerpt visit: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_2.html

2. Counting Customers

One of the classic mistakes that really makes me cringe every time I see it is visitor counters. It makes 3 distinct impressions:

1. “Do you like my new toy web site, my cousins-stepsisters-uncle built it for me. Did you see the picture of my dog on the front page? Isn’t it great?” Endearing? Maybe. Professional? No.

2. “You are not important, you are just visitor number 62. 61 was just here and 63 will be along in a minute. You’re not an individual customer with specific needs to fulfil, just a number.”

3. Then a visitor looks at the actual number and thinks…”62? Has this site has only had 62 visitors? They must be rubbish.” or conversely, “162,853,426 visitors, they must rig that counter thing.” Get rid of your counters – now!

Measuring your sites visitors can be done by analysing your web statistics, and much more detailed information is normally available. For example; which web site or search engine referred the visitor to you, which pages they visit, which pages they exit from (very important – why are they leaving?) and also which key-phrases were used to find your web site. For more information about how to understand and make use of your web site statistics, read our guide “Measuring Success”, for an excerpt visit: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_6.html

3. Inconsistent Navigation

Imagine sitting down at a restaurant and the waiter comes over to you and hands you five different menus, one for the starters, one for the entrees, one for the vegetarian dishes, one for the desserts, and one for the drinks. Annoying? Then imagine if each menu had a different design, typeface, format and layout for listing the items. Confusing? Irritating?

Nobody wants to work that hard at choosing their dinner, you’re hungry and you just want a meal. Don't make your visitors work hard either by expecting them to re-learn your navigation system each time they enter another section of your site. They are also hungry, for useful information, and they're even more impatient.

The pages on your website should be easily connected. To do this, every section should connect to the main (home) page, with a clear and concise menu. Don't make your visitors spend a lot of time looking for different sections. Help them by ensuring that the navigation of your site remains constant throughout all pages.

Button and link names also need to tell the visitor where the link leads them. It sounds obvious but make it as easy as possible for a visitor to know where they're going before they click. Make your links and buttons as descriptive as possible.

4. Not Enough Information

It is a common mistake to give a limited amount of information on a web site with a vain hope that the customer will contact you for more information. They wont. You can guarantee that a competitor will provide the technical spec, the price list or what ever else is required on their web site and that customer will find it and eventually buy the product from them.

To keep your visitors progressing through information gathering stage and on to the buying process on your web site, supply all the information they need. Even if they don’t buy today, it will be your page that gets printed off or stored in their favourites folder, and you they come back to when they’re ready to buy. It is helpful to have a section that is devoted to answering common questions and by creating a FAQ page your potential customers can easily find the answers to their questions and will be more likely to order from your web site.

In addition, many visitors interested in gathering information on a particular subject will sign up for emailed newsletters (like this one!) and stay subscribed as long as the correspondence they receive is relevant and useful. This is a great way to build ongoing, online relationships with your potential customers and establish your credibility. Top web sites work on developing an email list of prospects that can be contacted in the future. Make sure your email list subscription area has a prominent position on your web site, preferably at the top of every page.

5 Skip Intro/Click Here to Enter

Always make sure you home page or advert-landing page is quick to load and don’t forge

Networking vs. Cold-Calling
Many people think that there is some diabolical contest between the importance of networking and cold-calling in the pursuit of higher sales numbers and advancing marketshare.WRONG.To be successful in your business it is not choosing between "networking" or "cold-calling".....it is a combination of cultivating all skills....and actively using both to increase your level of success.If you only cold call you are placing your future success in the hands of strangers, and by only networking you are relying 100% on those you already know. To own your future yourself you must do both.Neither of these business disciplines is difficult, but professionals often shreek in fear at the thought of both of these very importance business practices. There are countless examples of professionals who have been wildly successful using just one of these skills, but most who reach the top are experts at both. (*I do not know of any who have increased their sales by avoiding both skills). Ask any sales person and she will tell you that she uses a variety of techniques to achieve her goals.I believe that the networking and cold-calling should work together. If you develop a good network of contacts and have a reputation of high integrity, then you will get more referrals. While you will still need cold-call on potential customers, if you and your company are well known in your business community, then your calls wont be "chilly". Quickly establishing that you have mutual contacts in business will lead to a better chance the other person will take an interest in your product or service.Remember, your networking and cold calling efforts are both tools that can lead to more sales. You need to appreciate both and learn to improve your skills. Do not make up excuses about why networking or cold-calling do not work. They do work for millions of other business professionals. If they are not working fo

. It begins to creak and groan under the strain of downloading your homepage’s numerous images, animated bits and bobs an all its bells and whistles and it takes an age to appear. They look at the progress bar at the bottom of their screen and it’s more grey than blue. They look at their watch, start picking at their finger nails, tapping their toes, rolling their eyes… and then in frustration they click on the back button at the top of their screen and click on the next web site in the search engines results list. Well done - you've just sent another visitor to your competition.

2. Counting Customers

One of the classic mistakes that really makes me cringe every time I see it is visitor counters. It makes 3 distinct impressions:

1. “Do you like my new toy web site, my cousins-stepsisters-uncle built it for me. Did you see the picture of my dog on the front page? Isn’t it great?” Endearing? Maybe. Professional? No.

2. “You are not important, you are just visitor number 62. 61 was just here and 63 will be along in a minute. You’re not an individual customer with specific needs to fulfil, just a number.”

3. Inconsistent Navigation

4. Not Enough Information

5 Skip Intro/Click Here to Enter

Always make sure you home page or advert-landing page is quick to load and don’t forg

Get Your Visitors To Voluntarily Give You Their Contact Information
If you listen to a group of website designers and developers you will notice a sound coming from them that sounds suspiciously like a Mantra. "Content is king. Content is king."If you believe what they pitch, all you need to do to succeed is to find a way to make your website "sticky". The idea is that your visitors will not be able to resist coming back, over and over, until they buy.It's a great theory. But a little observation combined with a little knowledge of human behaviour puts the lie to their nice little theory. Look at your own behaviour. How many websites have you bookmarked in your browser? I have over 500.Of these, how many do you remember why you bookmarked them? I know with my own, I'm lucky if I can remember 50% of them. And of the sites I do remember, I only regularly visit 5 or 10 sites. That's 5 or 10 sites out of 500. Those other sites were all "sticky" too. What happened to them?Real life is what happened. Your target market doesn't have the time to revisit all of the sites that interest them. So what happens to the "sticky" site you've invested so much time making so? It gets forgotten by all those people who should be your clients.There's a simple way to remedy the situation. Capture your visitors' e-mail address so that you can keep up a regular dialogue with them.Now you have two questions: How do I capture my visitors' addresses, and what do I send them?The answer to the first is found via the answer to the second. Offer them something they'll value, on a continual basis. This newsletter you are reading is an example of one of the most common items you can offer. People are on the Web searching for valuable information. If you offer to deliver it to them on a regular basis, many of your visitors will volunteer their contact information.Newsletters work well for products and services that have dep

must rig that counter thing.” Get rid of your counters – now!

3. Inconsistent Navigation

4. Not Enough Information

5 Skip Intro/Click Here to Enter

Always make sure you home page or advert-landing page is quick to load and don’t forg

10 Independent Affiliate Programs You Should Look at
Not all of the good affiliate programs go through the big boys. As you can imagine, there are advantages and disadvantages to using someone like Linkshare or Commission Junction to run your program. The major disadvantages seem to be cost (expect to drop ten grand for setup and network access fees, and a 30% commission on what you make from the program) and the fact that your program will be lost among thousands of others.So many companies have decided to manage their own affiliate programs, using specialized software and with their own promotional plans (30% buys a lot of Adsense). I surfed the ten most popular independent affiliate program directories, and I’ve listed ten of the more promising programs.Disclaimer: I do not necessarily recommend or endorse any program here. All I know is that I reviewed the listing, visited the website and decided that it was genuine (rather than a bunch of ads or links and/or a Clickbank or other program’s front site).Affiliate Classroom www.affiliateclassroom.com A step by step training program to help you easily launch and grow your own affiliate internet business (I signed up for this one).Balance Ayurvedic www.balanceayurvedic.com An Ayurvedic (natural and herbal) remedies website with a 20% lifetime commission on all sales.Internet Marketing Center www.marketingtips.com Resource center for Internet Marketing. The free stuff is good too.$1 Newspaper Ads www.clickslink.com/shop/newspaper_ads.html Advertise in the classified section of newspapers for as little as $1 each. (Through Clickbank) I thought this one was kind of cool.Funny T-Shirts www.funny-tshirts.biz There’s some funny stuff here, and $4 per sale for you.Information Packaging www.info-pack.com Some really cool and unique software for webmasters.BettingBots www.bettingbots.com Here’s

rent sections. Help them by ensuring that the navigation of your site remains constant throughout all pages.

4. Not Enough Information

5 Skip Intro/Click Here to Enter

Always make sure you home page or advert-landing page is quick to load and don’t forg

Office Space and How its Location Affects Productivity
Whether you are looking for office space rentals, or managing some, or are already working in one, you have your own reasons for liking the space - or not. What if you could do one enhancement, and like your space even better, like the job even better, and feel more well-being in general?Rachel Kaplan, PhD, and husband Stephen Kaplan, a professor in both psychology and computer science, are leaders in research on what they refer to as "restorative environments". The results of their studies show that individuals who can see a portion of green nature, from their place of work, do better. So it appears that what one can see from one's desk, or one's window, really matters.Terry A. Hartig, PhD, MPH, is another researcher who also concludes that nature helps people recover from what he expresses as "normal psychological wear and tear".In a research paper "The Surprising Connection to Green Play Settings" by Andrea Faber Taylor, and Frances E. Kuo, their introduction begins with the following statement:"Attention Restoration Theory suggests that contact with nature supports attentional functioning, and a number of studies have found contact with everyday nature to be related to attention in adults."So, back to office space, office rentals - and last but not least - your home office space - it seems that there could be a very simple way to enhance our environment to support our drive to produce and succeed, optimizing our energy and moods at the same time!For example, if you have an office space at home or in a business building of offices, and you do not have a window (never mind the coveted "corner office") studies show that you would do well to add at least one attractive plant. It doesn't even have to be a real plant, but it should be where you can see it, and it should be worth looking at.If you have a view of real greenery, appreciate it, notice it, drink in th

5 Skip Intro/Click Here to Enter

Always make sure you home page or advert-landing page is quick to load and don’t forget to check it at different connection speeds. Keep the file sizes small, and above all, avoid anything on you page that would require the dreaded “Loading…” message. If you really can’t bear to drop the Flash entry page, at the very least give the choice to “Skip the intro” and let them get to what they’re looking for.

6. Animation

Children under 10 like to watch animated cartoons. Business professionals and most other adults don’t have the time. Your website is here to do business not entertain children (unless it’s an entertainment web site for children!). It is supposed to be a serious tool in your marketing armoury and should be used to convey useful information to your visitors and convince them that you are worth doing business with. Filling it full of swirling graphics, flashing logos and spinning pictures and the rest of Pandora’s box of visual delights will just make your visitors distracted and nauseous.

Sites that include “clever” Flash animations; multiple animated gifs or flying words are really annoying. They take away from the content and distract the visitor from achieving their goals. Unless your site is an entertainment site, try to avoid maddening motion. However, if your product or service can be better demonstrated using Flash, Quick Time, or other multimedia, and many can, offer your visitors the chance to click a link to view it. But don't force-feed them.

7. Unreadable Text

Computer monitors really aren't the best medium for reading. By the time you’ve scrolled down a full screen's worth, your eyes start to blur, you feel slightly lost, your head hurts and your interest begins to wane. If a page requires two full screens of scrolling or more, simply split it up into multiple pages. Don’t make your visitors wade through big chunks of unbroken text, use titles, sub-titles, small paragraphs, bullet points and numbering. Don’t torture your visitors; make your pages easy to read and therefore less daunting.

8. Who are You/Where are You? No Obvious Ways to Contact The Company So now you’ve built a logical web site, you’ve instilled confidence and credibility and your new potential customer just has one question… They click on three, four, five pages but can't find your contact details anywhere. They already have another window open with your competitor's website - complete with email address, telephone number, fax number, street address and map.

Guess who makes the sale?

If all you supply is an order form on your website, your legitimacy may be questioned. Why can't you answer the telephone? Why hide behind an anonymous and cold email address? Make it easy for your existing and potential customers to talk with you.

It is vital that you list all possible ways that they can reach you. By creating a contact page, you will be able to answer enquiries and reinforce the fact that there is an actual person or persons behind the website.

9. Unchanging or Out-Dated Content

If you work in a constantly changing industry, it’s important that your content remains fresh and up to date. Nothing will turn away visitors more quickly than out of date information. In addition, if you keep your content fresh your site will attract repeat visitors and repeat visitors are more likely to turn into customers.

Have a “What's New” or “Latest News” section. Even if your industry is not that fast moving, there will be times when you want to update your visitors with current news or promotions and using this section of your web site enables you to inform repeat visitors that there is information they have not seen previously on your web site.

10. "Me, me, me!" instead of "You, you, you" Generally speaking, your visitors do not care about you, your company or your thoughts. What they do care about is whether or not you can solve their particular problem or fulfil their individual need. Web sites that promote their Mission Statement or display pictures of the company building really don't bode well for keeping the interest of site visitors.

On the other hand, sites that speak directly to potential customers about how they can solve their problems, make their lives easier, safer, richer or more comfortable have a much better chance of keeping their visitors attention.

Concentrate on what your customers want to know, rather than what you want to tell them. In order to find out what your customers need, it is useful to solicit feedback from them. A common way to do this is by monitoring your enquiry emails for common themes, creating a feedback-form on the site, or to add an interactive forum.

As well as addressing all the possible questions about your product or service, it is important to address other, less obvious anxieties. If you are asking for contact details from your prospects, for example if you are asking them to subscribe to an email list, you must include a Privacy Policy. With the growing problem of email spam, many people are afraid to give out personal information. A basic Privacy Policy section will let your visitors know how the information they are providing will be used and if they will be contacted in the future.

Customers are also afraid of what will happen if they are not happy you’re your product or service once purchased. To help alleviate any fears that they might have about purchasing online, there needs to be a section where potential customers can read your policy on accepting returns and refunds. For more information about how to write persuasive and customer focussed sales copy for your web site, have a look at our DIY Internet Marketing Guide “Writing Text That Sells”. For an excerpt visit: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_3.html

11. Inconsistent Look and Feel Many web sites confuse their visitors by having different designs or layouts in different sections. This often happens when a new section is added on to the original web site such as a shopping cart service. Visitors are left wondering if they are visiting another web site, another company, a partner or subsidiary. It can be very confusing.

It also screams of poor planning and can lead to design-drift and branding issues. It may be tempting to str

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As outsourcing being concern the economist has their own way of thinking. Here's The New Economist, with a London perspective that shows the outsourcing results. Outsourcing business is the business is to lower down the cost in low cost destinations.

How can franchisees maintain proper relations with their franchisor? A lot has been written about how franchisors can promote positive relations with their franchisees. Franchisors should maintain proper dialogue, reward the best performing franchisees and hold regular meetings. I believe that the duty also lies with the franchisee to help the franchisor achieve his goals of maintaining proper and profitable relationships both parties.

Legitimate Online Opportunity. Are you looking for more financial control in your life. Read this.

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