Digg it UP - Internet and Businesses Online

Boss - Secretary Relationships: The New Norms
THE CHANGING BOSS-SECRETARY RELATIONSHIP: Imagine a partnership at work. One member is outlining the agenda for the annual stockholders’ meeting, the other is managing the logistics. The last decade has brought many changes to the traditional boss/secretary relationship. We now see powers and responsibilities delegated to “executive assistants” that only ten years ago would have been the sole province of the boss. And there has been a corresponding rise in the prestige and influence of those secretaries chosen to fill such positions. The fact is that fewer women are willing to be career secretaries.QUALIFIED SECRETARIES: Qualified secretaries are hard to find and even harder to keep satisfied for any appreciable period of time. The most talented and enterprising are voicing the same concerns as a burgeoning number of their fellow employees: “What are the opportunities for growth and advancement?” That has become a popular question. Women who were secretaries in the 1960’s are now managers and vice presidents who function as role models for the current gro

signed. It is very possible to have a beautiful site designed for you and no one ever sees it.

A good designer will not only help you create a professional looking site, they will also ensure that your site gets a good ranking with the search engines so that your site can be easily found online. Make sure that your designer will optimize your site for the search engines and submit it to the major search engines.

Specialized services
Will you be selling your products or services online? Will you need a database driven site? How about Flash or embedded video or audio? Not everyone offers these services; be sure to ask specifically about what you will need for your site.

A couple of other things to consider is web hosting and domain name registration. Make sure if you need these services that your designer can help provide them too.

Compatibility
Lastly, when you are talking to potential designers, it should be someone you seem compatible with. Does the designer seem friendly and are they willing to answer all of your questions? Do they respond promptly to your emails and/or phone calls? Basically, is this someone you "click" with?

Communication with your designer is crucial. You need someone who is willing to answer any questions and keep you up-to-date on the status of your web design. A good designer will keep in touch with you every few days, at least. You don't want to get down to the final days of creating the site only to find out you don't like it!

Testimonials Yahoo Ranking Tips
Title The most important thing you can do to your ranking is to include the keyword in the title you submit to Yahoo. If your title does not contain any keywords, you'll never rise high enough to collect a large amount of clicks. Is including the keyword once in your title enough, or should you risk it and try to repeat the word? I didn't see a single site that had two or more instances of the same keyword in its title. That doesn't mean there aren't any, but I don't believe that having two keywords will give you a big advantage over having one. Also, trying to repeat the keyword might get your title edited or your submission rejected, so I wouldn't try it.Description This really surprised me. I started the experiment with the belief that having the keyword in the description is absolutely vital in order to gain a high ranking. However, the data seemed to prove otherwise. The top ten sites actually had less keywords in their descriptions than those listed after them. Still, I don't believe that including keywords in your description will act

Regardless of the type of site you want, to be successful, your site will need to do, at least, these 3 things:

The bad news is that there are all kinds of designers out there, offering all kinds of services, and prices are pretty much across the board. The good news is that there are some simple points you can follow to help make this process easier.

So, how do you go about finding a designer?
Since there are so many different companies offering web design, you might start by making a list of what your specific needs are. Every site is unique so it's a good idea to know what you need before you start calling around or sending in estimate forms. Some things you might need to know are:

Also, write down a couple of URLs of sites that you like. Or maybe you've seen a specific feature on another site that you would like to incorporate into your own site. Having a rough idea of the kind of site you're looking for will help you find the right designer for your project.

Referrals
One of the best ways I've found to find the right designer is to get a referral from someone you know personally who has already had their site designed and they are happy with the site, and their experience with the designer. So let your friends and family know that you are shopping around for someone to help you create your online business image. People who have had a good experience with their web design company will be more than happy to pass the information along.

If you do get a referral from someone, go and look at the designer's site and see what else they've done. If you're interested, you can fill out a free quote form on their site, or email the designer with the specs of your project.

Job sites
There are a number of online sites that will help you match your project with a number of designers who will then bid on your project. The one thing to be aware of is that these sites have all types of designers listed with their service from those with years of experience, to those who just bought themselves the latest version of Front Page and have now labeled themselves "web designer".

Although these job sites do make it harder for less experienced people to be listed as a serious prospect, when they ask for your project description, you can include on there that "only serious professionals need apply". You can sometimes eliminate the amount of riff-raff that will send in proposals for your project.

The biggest problem people have with using these job sites is that potential clients are usually overwhelmed with the number of quotes they receive for their project. Be aware that you may have to rifle through a lot of proposals that are not what you are looking for.

These sites usually offer a Designer's Profile and some kind of a rating system, which can help you learn a bit about a potential designer. Reading the reviews listed from previous clients can also help shed some light on your choice of designers.

Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages ads are expensive so chances are that you will find professional design firms to successful web design individuals listed there. They will usually list their URL in their ad and it's always a good idea to go to their site and see what they have to offer before contacting them.

What you should be looking for in a designer?
Possibly you have a couple of designers you are interested in. But how do you know for sure? There are a few specific things that you should be aware of when picking your designer.

Portfolio
First and foremost, you want to check out their portfolio! This is the body of work that this designer has recently created and it tells a lot about what they offer. All web designers should have an online portfolio that you can easily access.

Take a good look at their own site and other sites they've created. Do the sites look professional? Is the style of the designer something you would like to have on your own site? In addition, you can contact companies that have had their site designed and ask them about their experience with this designer.

Price
Another thing to consider, although this is not the top priority, is price. Although there is no clear-cut rule as to what an "average" price for web design is, this is one situation where, in most cases, you get what you pay for. This is simply not the time to cut corners. So in considering price, also consider that you are paying for this individual's expertise, as well as their time and experience.

It is more important to create a successful site that has a good position in the search engine and one that you are very happy with the look and function of than to save a couple of bucks. If you get a good site, your site will be able to grow with your company and, hopefully, that's for a very long time!

Search engine optimization
The number one mistake that most first time web site owners make is that they don't know what to do with their site after it's designed. It is very possible to have a beautiful site designed for you and no one ever sees it.

A couple of other things to consider is web hosting and domain name registration. Make sure if you need these services that your designer can help provide them too.

Small Changes To Your Resume Can Make A Big Difference
Sometimes during a job search you reach a point where you must ask, why am I not getting calls from decent companies for interviews. After sending out tons of resumes with little or no response, you need to reevaluate your position and try to make some changes.Some times minimal changes to your resume and cover letter will have a drastic effect on the number of calls you are receiving. A good first step is to search the internet for free sample resumes for the type of position you are looking for and see what people are putting on their resume.What to changeOne you decide to make changes, you need to look at your resume objectively and ask yourself if you think it is a decent resume. What do you like or dislike about it? Does it represent you as a smart, go-getter that can get the job done? Or does it look dry and boring? Ask yourself why anyone else would want to look at it twice if you think it is boring.Once you start to see areas for improvement, start making changes. The biggest area where most people can use changes in is the fo

A couple of other things to consider is web hosting and domain name registration. Make sure if you need these services that your designer can help provide them too.

Testimonials Strategic Planning and Total Quality Management
No matter what product or service you provide you will have to face this issue of quality and systems. Whether it is distribution of services or streamlining of processes in manufacturing your product; you will need to address the issues of total quality management. Yes, you can call it whatever you like; change the name, but no matter what you must consider these issues or you are doomed to failure. I therefore recommend the book;”Total Quality Management-Strategic Planning” by Stephen George.It is a great book and great to see that Deming and Fredrick Winslow Taylor attitude of modern business of the World have been studied and re-invented processes to manage and improve the manufacturing techniques, which keeps the corporations of this country rolling. It is a good book to read this now in America as everyone has fallen on an easy life and unwilling to do what it takes to increase productivity at work. Now recently in an economic downturn of the few prior years we saw that many people were waiting around doing nothing and expecting something td with their service from those with years of experience, to those who just bought themselves the latest version of Front Page and have now labeled themselves "web designer".

A couple of other things to consider is web hosting and domain name registration. Make sure if you need these services that your designer can help provide them too.

Testimonials Are You Using the Internet Effectively to Increase Turnover at your Restaurant?
As a restaurant owner or manager ask yourself these four simple questions.Firstly if you type your restaurant’s name and location into Google.co.uk do you see your web site prominently listed and above your competitors in your local area?Secondly are your customers able to book reservations at your restaurant online?Thirdly do you collect the first name, surname, email address and phone number of each and every one of your customers and contact them regularly with special offers and promotions?Lastly can you calculate exactly how much your web site contributes to your business’s bottom line each month?Food for thought?Now think of yourself as a hotel owner.Would you run a hotel in today’s business environment without promoting yourself aggressively online?Would you be able to compete if you did not allow guests the opportunity to book rooms online?Would you be missing any number of opportunities to promote and market your business online as a result of failing to collect personal details for future maware of when picking your designer.

A couple of other things to consider is web hosting and domain name registration. Make sure if you need these services that your designer can help provide them too.

Testimonials Wholesale Buyers: Attract Wholesale Buyers
Wholesale buyers are the lifeblood of every wholesale business. You need wholesale buyers to build a solid wholesale business.While every wholesale business needs different types of wholesale buyers, what they all need is solid long term business from these wholesale buyers.So how do you find these wholesale buyers? And once you do find them, how do you attract them to your wholesale business?In order to attract wholesale buyers you need to put yourself in their shoes.Where would you search for wholesale deals? If you would search using the yellow pages, then you should take an ad in the yellow pages letting prospective customers know about your wholesale business.If you would instead search at particular wholesale sites, you would want to be listed in those wholesale sites.Avoid wasting money on advertising by buying ads in publications and sites which are not frequented by the particular type of wholesale buyer which you are after.Just because a wholesale publication or site attracts wholesale buyers does not mesigned. It is very possible to have a beautiful site designed for you and no one ever sees it.

A couple of other things to consider is web hosting and domain name registration. Make sure if you need these services that your designer can help provide them too.

Testimonials
Most designers will have testimonials from previous clients on their web site. It's a good idea to see what their customers are saying about their services, and again, calling one or two clients regarding this web designer's services is a really good idea.

Summary
There are many factors involved in finding and picking the right designer to build your company's web site, but the key is to remember that this is your business image, one that you hope to have for many years to come, so you want to pick your designer as you would pick a real estate agent to find your "dream house". If you pick the right designer the first time, you won't be looking for someone to redesign your site in 6-9 months.

Be thorough, ask questions, look at samples, and you'll find the perfect web designer for you!

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Your writing ability makes a huge impact on both the boss and the clients. Follow these tips to write paragraphs that make you sound educated and knowledgeable.

How do my employees, my suppliers, my existing and potential customers, and my community use the internet and how can I use the internet to make life easier and rewarding for them and as a result grow my business?

Spam is a nickname applied to unsolicited mail, usually of a corporate nature. It gets it's name from a famous Monty Python sketch in which the word spam is used more than all others words combined. Monty Python was funny, spam is not.

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