Hi,

For those of you that follow James Brausch, he does put out quality stuff.  His latest item is a newsletter called Testing.  It looks interesting, I wish I had subscribed during one of his specials.  In any event, he is giving away the introductory copy of the newsletter to individuals that link to the specific post, provide a current e-mail address OR ensures that their WhoIs information is correct AND provide a review of the first issue.

James – I’d love to receive the first issue.  My WhoIs information is 100% correct AND I’ll provide you with an honest review upon receipt, of the first issue and once I read it end-to-end.

If you’ve not requested your free issue, what are you waiting for?  The link is here

http://www.jamesbrausch.org/anyone-want-a-free-copy-of-testing/

Regards,

Mohamed

Technorati Tags: Internet Business, internet marketing, james brausch testing newsletter, testing

Hi,

Just yesterday I posted an entry entitled “Using Images On Your Blog Post” and in the entry I mentioned the Creative Commons License.  Today, I’ll expand upon this licensing scheme and explain what it is.

In the “old days” when copyright infringement was rampant on the web (it probably still is) people took images from anywhere and would use them.  However today, there are many ways to protect text, images, audio and video and it is no longer acceptable to just take an image.  As well as the search engines have improved their algorithm they have placed heavy weighting on in-bound links.  The more inbound links a site has with specific keywords, the site in question sees an increase in their search engine ranking.  Of course, inbound links are only one item that your site should be optimized for…

But we’re not discussing SEO techniques, but learning more about the Creative Commons License and how it works.

So back to my thought… individuals that were taking endless snapshots quickly found that they could make serious money from their work — they could sell it outright via specialized sites or post good quality images onto free sites such as Flickr and drive many more people to them where they could then try and sell other images or higher quality images that would be suitable for use in print or other mediums.

This has created a flood of websites that are able to monetize the traffic using AdSense or other advertising methods.  The better quality sites out there, receive millions of visitors every month and top-ranked authors/contributors are also taking in some of this cash by way of increased exposure and sales of their images.

The one thing I like about Flickr is that you can search for photos by the type of Creative Commons license that the photo is under.  They also provide a brief of the Creative Commons licenses that they support.

Attribution License – approx 6.9 million photos
Attribution-NoDerivs License – approx 2.3 million photos
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License – approx 20.8 million photos
Attribution-NonCommercial License – approx 8.6 million photos
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License – appro 17.3 million photos
Attribution-ShareAlike License – approx 4.8 million photos

So yes – there are A LOT of images available on Flickr with various CC licences.

CC allows individuals to share their work, while still ensuring that they retain some of the copyright to their work.

CC allows users to base their works on a wide spectrum of choices – read their ABOUT page: http://creativecommons.org/about/

If you are looking to use potentially copyrighted images for your blog posts, or for other purposes you should consider using those images that are licensed under the CC banner.

It makes it easier to use these images — but you are not tied to using those specific images.  They are still plenty of sites where you can purchase royalty free images.  Generally these images are made for specific purposes – such as web use, for magazines or other print publications and even for TV.  With the amount of competition out there for images, you can always find something that is reasonably priced. 

In my post “Using Images On Your Blog Post“, I mentioned several sites that you can visit to find images.  But just perform a search in Google or any other search engine for “royalty free images” and you’ll see that there are many quality sites out there.

Personally I like iStockPhoto.  Their prices are reasonable – ranging from $1.00 to $20.00 and they also offer video clips.  You should understand their licensing system though, before using any of the images on the site.  Sites like iStockPhoto are meant for serious advertisers and others that are using the images in publications or for advertising material.

Another great source of images is your hosting company or domain name registrar.  I use 1And1 for some of my domain registration needs, and they allow me access to their stock of images.  There are some good images in there, and some great icons and other graphics that could be used.

There are quite a few sites out there that also provide links to Public Domain Images.  One site that I found was http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/cfimages.html.

Whether you are looking for royalty free images, public domain images or images licensed under the Creative Commons license there are hundreds of sites out there that offer something for everyone.

Do you have a site that you use?  Care to share it with other readers?  Simply comment on this post, most comments will be approved provided that they are not spam.

Regards,

Technorati Tags: free images, Images on Your Blog Posts, Internet Business, internet marketing

Hi,

If you read my About page then you will know that I spent atleast $10,000 over the last few years chasing dreams.  Much like the people that spend that much gambling at the casinos or that purchase lottery tickets.  I’ve read that you are more likely to get hit by lightning that winning a lottery.

So why do individuals look for the one thing to make them rich?  For me the main reason was I really didn’t want to do a lot of work.  The thought of writing an article every day was discouraging.  I wanted to get there right now.  I didn’t want to wait for one minute.

I have since learned that THERE AIN’T NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH (or TANSTAFL for short).

But of course, I didn’t get there.  My bank account is lighter by atleast $10,000 and what have I got to show for it?  Nothing.  Well – maybe some “pretty” ebook covers where I (along with a zillion other individuals) purchased or got free resale rights, or master resale rights or something like that for our $97.00.

So how do “they” sucker you into it?

• They use slick sales letters, that have cost them several thousands dollars to have written.
• They “prey” on your sense of helplessness (you COULD be earning $50,000 per MONTH!  You COULD be living the lifestyle).
• They offer scarcity (only 100 copies left, bonuses worth $10,000 if you buy right now…).

I also be admit – from time to time, when I visit the “forums” I get suckered into the sales pitch.  So I try and avoid the forums – and if I do visit them, I try to skip over the sales pitches.  They are pure EVILE!

Now I will give credit where it is due, they DO tell you that the results and examples provided are not typical and that your success will depend on the amount of work you do.  Unfortunately the sales pitch doesn’t include this information, you only see this in the fine print that is usually a lite-gray color at the bottom of the sales page WELL below the numerous ORDER NOW buttons.

Tim Gary has an excellent post over at his website entitled Weasels and False Promises.  Have a read – if you’ve been in my shoes in the past, you will agree with him 100%

Regards,

Mohamed

Technorati Tags: Internet Business, internet marketing

Hi All,

I am about to release my first software product and am looking for a few that would be willing to help me test it out.

If all goes well with the beta test, then it will be released within 1-2 weeks thereafter. 

Do you want to be a beta tester?  Beta testers receive a copy of the software before it is released to the general public.  They also receive a free copy of the software when it is released.

All you have to do to be a beta tester is…

1. Sign up to receive announcements from this blog.  You can do that by entering your email address in the box provided right beside my picture over there in the upper right hand corner of this blog.
2. Watch your email box.  All you have to do is to be in the first 5 to respond when I send out the email.

Requirements:

• Able to install scripts onto your server
• Not scared to modify configuration options
• Will respond back to me with feedback

Thanks!

Mohamed

P.S.  The software is called TestimonialManager.  It’s something I have been working on for sometime now — well before starting this blog; I just got around to actually completing the software recently.  Yah, talk about procrastination.

Technorati Tags: beta testers, Internet Business, internet marketing, Software, testimonial manager, testimonials

Hi,

I’ve seen arguments both ways on this topic – do you use images on your blog posts, or not?  There are those that absolutely will not use them as it could deter the visitor from the post itself and lessen the impact of the site and information.  But there are others that add images to emphasize the posts (check out Jack Keifer – he always uses an image with his posts).  Personally, I like to see a little color to liven up a post.

So what’s the answer?  Really, it is entirely up to you.

I use images where they seem appropriate or when I need to show you something that would be difficult to explain. 

Why Use Images on an Internet Business Blog?

Images create visual interest.  You want to capture your visitors interest immediately, adding a well placed image that is relavent to the post creates that visual interest.  A post that looks mono-syllabic, pure black & white with no use of hilights (such as bolding or italics) can look very boring.  It is not dangerous to add a little spice to your posts.

Where Do You Find Copyright Free Images?

You can’t.  Most images have some type of copyright attached to them, however many individuals that make their images available on the Internet may offer their images through the Creative Commons license.

To learn more about Creative Commons Licensing, click on the link.  Wikipedia also has an entry on Creative Commons Licensing.

May community based sites offer their images through the CC scheme, but you should always read any disclaimers that they provide so that you are not infringing on any copyright laws or on the rights of the copyright holders.  This is essential if you are running an Internet Business.

Some sites that I can suggest are:

• Stock.xchng – free stock photography site.  Read their Image License Agreement, and some individuals may have specific requirements before you use their images.  The information is usually located on their image page.
• Stockxpert – NOT a free site, but reasonably priced images ranging in price from $1.00 for 800×600 image to $10.00 for 4900×3300 sized image.  They are royalty free – once you pay to use them, you don’t pay for each additional use.  Again read their Image License Agreement.
• Yotophoto – The first line on their website reads “Yotophoto is now indexing well over a quarter million Creative Commons, Public Domain, GNU FDL, and various other ‘copyleft’ images.”  Read their Licenses FAQ to ensure you don’t run into problems later on.
• Free Photos Bank – free images, so long as you follow the guidelines listed in their FAQ
• Free Fotos - images are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – No Commercial – No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported usage
• Flickr Images  – great source of images – there are millions of images on Flickr.  Read their Creative Commons Licensing agreement.

I have not listed Google images here, since they are a search engine and the images presented might be copyrighted.  You would need to do some research before using images found through Google image search.

If all else fails, just key in “free images“, “free photos“, “free pictures“, “free art“, “royalty free images“, etc., into your favourite search engine.

Great – I’ve Got A Photo, Now How Do I Use It?

A picture — or movie tells a thousand words.  Here is a FREE mini-video guide on how to use these images on your website PLUS a quick tutorial on using one of my favourite programs > SNAGIT.  This guide will also show you how to add the image to your blog post.  You’ll have to excuse my voice – I’ve got a terrible flu/cold that’s gotten the best of me the last few days:

Free Videos at Online Internet Business Opportunity

The video is being presented on my site at http://freevideos.oibo.org – enjoy!

Regards,

Technorati Tags: Free Videos, Images on Your Blog Posts, Internet Business, internet marketing, Videos

Hi,

Wow – I e-mailed DNSMadeEasy and rec’d a reply within minutes!  Good customer service.

So they confirmed my assumption.  This is how the system would work:

1. Site 1 at Host A.
2. Site 1 – Backup at Host B.
3. Set your DNS settings at your domain name registrar to the DNS address provided by DNS Made Easy.
4. Manage your DNS for each host through your DNS Made Easy account.

Done.

Their system will check your Host A every 2-4 minutes to see if the site is alive.  If not, it will automatically change the DNS to the next in queue — in fact according to their website you can have up to 3 IP addresses identified for DNS Failover with their Business Membership  So you can have up to 3 back-up sites running.  If all 3 go down — then there are bigger problems, and no amount of redundancy or failover would help — but what are the chances that all 3 (if you were to use that many) would go down at the same time?  The chances are probably very slim.

Of course, it is up to you to ensure that each back-up site contains the latest information.

Their service is very inexpensive, at $59.95 per year which provides you with a Business Membership.

Check out DNS Made Easy at http://www.dnsmadeeasy.com.

Regards,

Technorati Tags: dns failover, Internet Business, internet marketing, website redundancy