How to increase targeted online traffic to your web site leveraging free internet video streaming services

One of the most significant milestones on the web this year has been the popularity of the use of videos on the Internet. There are a number of free services that enable Internet users to easily upload and store videos on the Internet for free. These videos can then be broadcast (streamed) free over the Internet, to be viewed and shared by other users.

We will look at a simple but often overlooked way to help you get potentially loads of traffic to your web site using Internet videos.

But first let’s establish the background to the phenomenon and why it is important for you.

The popularity of Internet videos have really sky rocketed in the recent few months.

Consider these figures. In 2005, there were very few free video hosting web sites. Yet, in the month of August 2006 alone, according to a comScore Media Metrix report, there were approximately 6.98 Billion online videos that were streamed by Internet users in the United States alone.

More interestingly, the average US Internet video user consumed 63.3 streams during August 2006 or approximately 2 streams every day.

For marketers, businesses or even the Government or non-profit organizations, this opens up a whole new possibility of getting in touch with their desired audience, in a content rich, interactive way that has never been possible before.

The huge number of online videos streamed every month should not come as a surprise, given the popularity of Google, MSN, Yahoo, You Tube and My Space web sites. These are some of the most popular sites in the world and each of them have incorporated a video service in their offerings in the recent months.

Traffic or Internet users are the fuel that helps generate revenue for most of these businesses. The revenue is earned by monetizing the traffic with targeted advertising.

You Tube the video hosting service was founded in February 2005, but famously bought by Google for $1.65 Billion dollars in October 2006. Although it seems like a large amount to pay, it was in fact a very strategic move by Google.

Based on the comScore report, for the month of August 2006, Fox Interactive (owned by News Corporation, which bought My Space) had 20.1% share of the total US video streams, followed by Yahoo with 11.8% share and then You Tube with 9.9% share of the streams. Google video was in fact in a distant 7th position with only 1.5% share.

Purchasing You Tube has enabled them to be a real challenger to Yahoo & Fox Interactive in the US market for Internet Video.

If we look at the numbers beyond the US, that is on a global basis, over 100 million videos were streamed on a daily basis by You Tube. This is a mind boggling number.

We are going to see more innovations in this area in the very near future from all the major players. All indications are that the popularity of Internet videos are likely to rise further.

So what might this mean for you, if you are a business, person or organization that would like to tap into and take advantage of this huge trend? Because this is so new, not many large corporations have figured out how to take advantage of the medium.

Most of the free video hosting and streaming services require you to register online and open an account (for free). You can then upload your video to the web site. You will be asked to provide a name for the video and then key words that describe the video. This is so that the videos can be categorized and also found by other users (your target audience). If you have your own web site, make sure this is mentioned in the video.

You can upload the video to a number of different free services. Why would you do this? To reach the widest possible audience for your marketing message, of course.

An interesting outcome of this is that in some cases this may drive huge amounts of traffic to your web. This is because, if your video becomes popular and there are other sites linking to it or it is being virally forwarded by the users, the search engines begin to take notice of your web site.

A case study in which a top 10 position in the search engines was achieved in under 24 hours using Internet videos to boost rankings is provided in a video at trafficgeysermethod. com. There is also a service here that takes one through the process of creating Internet videos, even if all you have is audio. You can create a simple slide show with a voice-over to create very effective, compelling videos.

If you wish to create full motion Internet videos, the process can quite straight forward and inexpensive.

Remember that the Internet videos do not need to be flashy, nor long or elaborate. The objective is to keep them clear, simple and easy to understand. Communication of the features and benefits that your product or service provides, differentiation or how it is different from other products or services that your competitors provide is important.

Finally, remember to include the unique value proposition that you have for your customers (ie. The reasons why your prospects should buy from you, rather than anyone else).

If you already have a digital video camera then you can start creating your video straight away. Your video camera will need some kind of direct connection to your computer. This can be by connecting either to the USB or FireWire ports. Some of the new Video Camera have the ability to record on a DVD straight away. In this case you can simply copy the contents of your DVD to your computer.

If you have an analog video camera, you can still create the required digital videos by using a converter.

Once you have video in digital form in your computer, simply log in to the account of the free video streaming service and upload your video. Ideally you can get wider distribution by uploading them to a number of different services in relevant category.

However uploading each video one by one to each service can be quite time consuming. The service trafficgeysermethod. com mentioned earlier in the article can help you with this, with a single upload and multiple distributions.

Your video is now ready for viewing and sharing. Sit back and enjoy the traffic.

Are you monitoring your credit

Your credit report is the document used to determine how much interest you will pay for credit cards, home mortgage, or personal loans. You need to make sure that it is accurate and correct.

Q. What is a credit monitoring service?

A. With the growing concern about identity theft, many companies now offer credit monitoring services for a fee. Some consumers prefer to monitor their credit reports and personal information by themselves for free; others choose to purchase a service to handle some of the tasks.

A credit monitoring service will keep an eye on your credit report, keep track of certain kinds of changes, and send activity reports to you. For example, a service could alert you if someone tried to get credit in your name. Some services also provide you with additional copies of your credit report or help with resolving problems you discover on your report.

When you consider whether a credit monitoring service is right for you, ask:

Does this service track my credit with all three major consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion)? These companies can have different information about you and it is important to look at all three reports.

Will the service notify me immediately about new activity on my credit files? How will I be notified?

Exactly what services will I get for my money? Does the fee cover daily credit monitoring, all three credit reports, credit scores, help with resolving problems, or insurance coverage for expenses related to recovering my identity?

Q. How can I monitor my credit?

A: Check your credit report regularly to catch mistakes or fraud quickly. Watch for any entries that do not belong to you. Your new right to free credit reports can help with this.

Instead of ordering reports from all three CRCs at the same time, you can order one report from a different CRC every four months. That way, you will get three reports in a 12-month period and be better able to check your credit report for changes or problems. You may also choose to buy your credit reports for about $9 each at any time.

Keeping Your Personal Information Safe

Q. What are signs of fraud or identity theft on my credit report?

A. Your credit report may show that someone is using your personal information: your name; Social Security number; credit card number; or other identifying information. Look for these signs:

- new credit card accounts, loans, or other financial commitments you didn't make;

- inquiries you didn't make;

- bad debts on your own accounts, or debts on accounts that you didn't open;

- legal actions that you don't know about.

Q. What should I do if my identity has been stolen?

A. Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three major CRCs and put a fraud alert on your credit files.

The alert means that creditors will contact you before they open any new accounts or make changes to existing accounts. The company you contact must notify the other two.

Close accounts that you think have been taken over or opened fraudulently.

Use the "ID Theft Affidavit" when you dispute new unauthorized accounts.

File a police report.

Send a copy of the report to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime.

File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC keeps a database of identity theft cases to help law enforcement learn more about the crime and victims' experiences.

Do not post to ffa s free for all sites link farms

With learning about online promotion, there is so much information out there about "what you should be doing" to promote you business. This tutorial will be to inform you about what you SHOULDN'T DO!

What are (FFA's) Free For All Sites & Link Farms?

These types of sites can be recognized by their one purpose. To list 100's, maybe 1000's of "One Line Ads" on all on one page.

What was the initial purpose?

A few years back when this form of promotion was very popular, everyone was posting their one line ads on these types of sites for more traffic to their site and a better "link popularity". It was soon realized that "FFA" sites don't do either.

How can adding a small, one line ad accompanied by 100's of others that isn't related to each other benefit you???

THEY CAN'T!

The only people they benefit are spammers...

Here's why!

Once you submit your one line classified ad, you automatically give the owners of the FFA sites to send you messages. At the same time, there are 1000's of marketers who are gathering your e-mail to do the very same thing.

FFA's are like being in heaven to spammers...

Honestly though, have you ever spent the time to visit a site from these lists?

Do you honestly want to ruin your e-mail just from posting one time??? I guarantee you that your inbox will be full within a matter of weeks.

On another note, Google is actively searching these FFA sites and penalizing them. They offer no use to visitors. Please do your business a favor, never list and FFA sites on your site, you might be subject to being penalized as well from Google.

Once that happens, you'll be spending most of your time trying to recover from the loss.

Best of luck to you!

Read more of Martins articles online here:

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Submitting your site to article directories

There are a lot of different article directories on the web and there is good reason why. These directories not only serve as locations for a vast amount of articles on many different topics, but they also allow articles to be submitted, usually for free. When articles are submitted to article directories, they accomplish at least two things. The first is that they provide information about a specific topic. If people are searching for that particular topic in the search engines then it is very likely they will come across your article on that subject. Once they read the article they will find the answers they are looking for and most likely, a link back to your website, which is the second aspect of submitted articles.

The Purpose of Backlinks

Backlinks are the number one reason many individuals choose to submit articles to web directories. By submitting the articles, the individual or website owner may also choose to include one to two backlinks. The backlinks are important because they help websites receive a higher ranking on search engines. Therefore, if you submit one article that is original to different article directories you will receive quite a few backlinks. The more directories you submit to the more backlinks your site will receive when the articles are published.

Now, consider submitting 10 articles to the directories. That is even more backlinks. Now, what if you really went for the top position in the search engines and submitted upwards of 100 articles over time to multiple directories? You could be looking at more than 1000 backlinks. That is a lot of backlinks, which makes your website more popular with the search engines. The more popular your site is with the search engines the higher it gets ranked. As you can see the more articles you are able to submit to article directories the better off your site will be with the search engines.

Keywords

Another positive aspect of article submission is the use of keywords. The article may be written with specific keywords in mind. This attracts more attention to the article when people are searching the web. The more people that see the article results in more people clicking the link and visiting the site. Therefore, not only will your website’s traffic increase thanks to the higher ranking from all the backlinks but traffic will also increase as a direct result of keywords attracting more people to the article.

These are the basic benefits of article submission. Many websites are using this technique to position themselves and move up in Google, as well as other search engine, rankings. Of course, it takes time but if you are committed to being number one on Google, you can achieve this much faster by submitting articles to directories.

Business web site hosting provides your business with the tools to succeed online

Business web site package must be ideal for your business. The package may differ with your size of business. There are plans for large, small and medium sized businesses.

Business Web Site Hosting For Large Businesses

Many business packages are available for large businesses which include

Dedicated Servers:

The decisive option available for large businesses is the use of dedicated servers for Business web site hosting. Dedicated servers offer unlimited bandwidth and can provide fast data access. Dedicated servers are the preferred solution for businesses which provide e-commerce facilities. Dedicated servers provide space requirements as per your customized requirement. Dedicated servers are a costly affair which could be used by medium to large sized businesses.

Shared Business Web Site Hosting:

Another option available for large businesses is shared web hosting. The hosting company provides shared hosting options for few companies on the same server and are faster than fully shared servers. These servers also have a good bandwidth and data transfer capability.

Business Web Site Hosting for Small and Medium Enterprises

Small and Medium size enterprises cannot afford the quality and costly hosting options preferred by large businesses. They prefer quality shared access for their web sites. The website may be with or without e-commerce but Small and Medium enterprises also require reliable servers. Many hosting companies typically concentrate on small and medium businesses. They are large in number and the scope of business is also huge.

There are many business packages available for small and medium enterprises. They are:

Shared Hosting:

Shared Business Web Site Hosting is a quality and reliable package for small and medium size businesses. They are faster than other options available for these enterprises. This Web Hosting Package can be customized according to your requirement.

Web Space Hosting:

There are many web space providers who provide economical and good hosting facilities. They also provide good hosting plans to suit your requirement. These servers provide multiple DNS support.

Low cost / Cheap Web Hosting:

Many hosting companies provide low cost web hosting. Low cost Business Web Site Hosting is preferred by enterprises which have low internet traffic on their sites. This package is only suitable for enterprises which place more importance on cost.

Bad credit loans keep records of money earned and spent

A loan works as a financial facilitator. Not everyone gets it easy since it too keeps some check and balances before it rightly forwarded to you. Quite often applications of the people with bad credit are turned down without asking any sort of question. To do away with the help of bad credit loans, borrowing among borrowers with poor credit has been made viable. This particular loan is especially useful when one is in need of money to take care of unanticipated expenses like a sudden car accident repair expense or unforeseen medical bills.

Rates of such loan for bad credit depend on the borrowers’ circumstances. There are several factors which play a leading role to make a loan decision. Naturally, it is of no denying fact that no creditor wishes to deal with a borrower who has a bad impression in his credit report. Though finding a good source of money making business by providing loan to the people with bad credit, thousands of lenders have joined the money market. To this effect, an intense competition amongst lenders has risen up. Consequently, the competition has lead to decrease the rates of Bad Credit Loans. People with poor credit find the time advantageous at making such a loan deal.

Of course, there is always feasibility of all right away. You have options in between securing a secured and an unsecured loan. Secured loans depend on the value of the guarantee you place as of security for the loan repayment. You will have to place collateral that can be a home or anything worth asset. With that, you have several benefits attached to it. You get a good sum on cheaper rates for a longer period. On the other hand the unsecured loans which are obtained without any sort of pledging placing. Though such mode of loan obtaining is quite difficult to find since there is no security of yours inhibited into, yet possible through your good search.

Appreciating christmas

What a wonderful Christmas it was this year. My oldest son asked me what about this Christmas did I enjoy and I answered, “Just having you here”. It is true, seeing my family around me was the biggest joy of my life. I missed one son who could not make it, but to have the majority of my family with me brought me supreme joy. After they all left my wife and I cuddled for a few moments with a cup of hot chocolate and our thoughts to just appreciate the moment of happiness we both felt. It is about appreciation I must write about, seeing it is directly after Christmas. William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher once said, “The deepest craving in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." I knew it was true of me of course for I know my soul so very well, but to imagines it is also true for others is a bit of an eye-opener for me. To think that all of us, each and every human being on earth craves being appreciated more than anything else, even heavenly beings! Wow!

It makes so much sense though as I consider this point, that appreciation is so important to everyone. It makes the wonder and magic of Christmas come alive with explanation. It is the essence of all great writings having to do with Christmas such as “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Also “The Greatest Gift” written by Philip Van Doren Stern which became one of the most endearing and enduring Christmas stories ever put to film by Hollywood, in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. These stories are all about appreciation. I will leave out the greatest Christmas story of all and the real meaning of Christmas for just a few minutes longer as I continue to tell you of my appreciation.

I am struck with a spirit of love and appreciation that is so strong during Christmas. If I had the money I would shower everyone with gifts. In our family we have a great gift-giving-arrangement which takes all the waste out of Christmas, we tell each other what we want and we get what we want at Christmas. No one is too extreme in their requests as we follow the unwritten rule that we would not ask of others what we ourselves could not give. Everyone is happy. We all get the “presents-thing” out of the way and we go on to enjoy our relationships and have fun. This year my youngest son dazzled us with a mind teaser game that made everyone think and laugh.

Of course Christmas is not always fun. There are the moments of emotionalism that are tied to past hurts, anger and guilt, and marred relationships that we must deal with; however these often turn into opportunities for healing. Some of us have no families and we spend Christmas alone or with other families and that makes for lonesome times and unhappiness. I feel sorry for those who are alone, and my wife and I try to make room for such ones to enjoy with us the holidays if possible.

Overall I am glad for Christmas though I have been known to be somewhat of a scrooge myself in dragging my feet in putting decorations up and getting in the spirit; but in the end I am always happy that Christmas has come with all of it’s emotions bad and good. I didn’t get to spend Christmas with everyone I would like to this year, but I did spend it well with those I was with. Though my wife had to put up the tree herself this year, I eventually showed up for the celebration. It is because during Christmas I eventually find the power of appreciation. I am reminded of the things I am grateful for; small and large – and that is what Christmas should be about.

The real Christmas celebration is about appreciating the birth of one that came to be our savior. And in truth it is not the birth alone we celebrate. The birth was important for if it had not happen we as a race of people would be doomed to death. That is why we celebrate along with the angels and praise his name and sing our glory Alleluias as the angels did that very first Christmas night; however, he was born, lived, and more importantly died so that we would not have to stay in our graves but would be raised up as he was to live life eternally if we choose to. This is what we should really be appreciating and celebrating with our families. Life! Not life as we know it in this corrupt dying world, but life eternal in an incorrupt world. This is the greatest gift of all! The gift of eternal life is what we should appreciate. The birth of that Hebrew baby in Bethlehem was the birth of our hope and the beginning of our salvation.

Santa Clause, Rudolf the Red-nose-Reindeer, the ghost of Jacob Marley and Scrooge are all just make believe characters that help entertain us and also help the grand marketers to exploit the advantages of our giving spirits during the holidays. If we are not careful, they can consume the entire holiday and block out the true meaning of Christmas like a magic trick right before our very eyes. Don’t let that happen. Keep the holidays, but keep them as they aught to be kept by remembering the Christ child’s birth and what it means to mankind. Our appreciation of this fact should illuminate us and make us want to give to the poor and needy, just as Scrooge eventually did with his recourses.

As I ponder over what William James said, that the deepest craving in human nature is to be appreciated; I can only wonder if this applies to the Christ who was born human himself. Surely if we were made in God's image I would say it is highly likely that He too longs to be appreciated. As they look down upon us during this Christmas season from their high station above, I hope my appreciation is seen. May I prove it through my own giving this holiday season. May this holiday find you showing your appreciation too.