Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better

Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better f someone granted you one wish, what do you imagine you would want out of life that you haven't gotten yet? For many people, it would be self-improvement and knowledge. New knowledge is the backbone of society's progress. Great thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin,Albert Einstein, and others' quests for knowledge have led society to many of the marvels we enjoy today. Your quest for knowledge doesn't have to be as Earth-changing as Einstein's, but it can be an important part of your life, leading to a new job, better pay, a new hobby, or simply knowledge for knowledge's sake — whatever is important to you as an end goal.

Life-changing knowledge does typically require advanced learning techniques. In fact, it's been said that the average adult only uses 10% of his/her brain. Imagine what we may be capable of with more advanced learning techniques. Here are 77 tips related to knowledge and learning to help you on your quest. A few are specifically for students in traditional learning institutions; the rest for self-starters, or those learning on their own. Happy learning.

Health

1. Shake a leg. Lack of blood flow is a common reason for lack of concentration. If you've been sitting in one place for awhile, bounce one of your legs for a minute or two. It gets your blood flowing and sharpens both concentration and recall.
2. Food for thought: Eat breakfast. A lot of people skip breakfast, but creativity is often optimal in the early morning and it helps to have some protein in you to feed your brain. A lack of protein can actually cause headaches.
3. Food for thought, part 2: Eat a light lunch. Heavy lunches have a tendency to make people drowsy. While you could turn this to your advantage by taking a "thinking nap" (see #23), most people haven't learned how.
4. Cognitive enhancers: Ginkgo biloba. Ginkgo biloba is a natural supplement that has been used in China and other countries for centuries and has been reputed to reverse memory loss in rats. It's also suggested by some health practitioners as a nootrope and thus a memory enhancer.
5. Reduce stress + depresssion. Stress and depression may reduce the ability to recall information and thus inhibit learning. Sometimes, all you need to reduce depression is more white light and fewer refined foods.

Balance

1. Sleep on it. Dr. Maxwell Maltz wrote about in his book Psycho-Cyberneticsabout a man who was was paid good money to come up with ideas. He would lock his office door, close the blinds, turn off the lights. He'd focus on the problem at hand, then take a short nap on a couch. When he awoke, he usually had the problem solved.
2. Take a break. Change phyical or mental perspective to lighten the invisible stress that can sometimes occur when you sit in one place too long, focused on learning. Taking a 5-15 minute break every hour during study sessions is more beneficial than non-stop study. It gives your mind time to relax and absorb information. If you want to get really serious with breaks, try a 20 minute ultradian break as part of every 90 minute cycle. This includes a nap break, which is for a different purpose than #23.
3. Take a hike. Changing your perspective often relieves tension, thus freeing your creative mind. Taking a short walk around the neighborhood may help.
4. Change your focus. Sometimes there simply isn't enough time to take a long break. If so, change subject focus. Alternate between technical and non-technical subjects.

Perspective and Focus

1. Change your focus, part 2. There are three primary ways to learn: visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. If one isn't working for you, try another.
2. Do walking meditation. If you're taking a hike (#25), go one step further and learn walking meditation as a way to tap into your inner resources and your strengthen your ability to focus. Just make sure you're not walking inadvertently into traffic.
3. Focus and immerse yourself. Focus on whatever you're studying. Don't try to watch TV at the same time or worry yourself about other things. Anxiety does not make for absorption of information and ideas.
4. Turn out the lights. This is a way to focus, if you are not into meditating. Sit in the dark, block out extraneous influences. This is ideal for learning kinesthetically, such as guitar chord changes.
5. Take a bath or shower. Both activities loosen you up, making your mind more receptive to recognizing brilliant ideas.

Recall Techniques

1. Listen to music. Researchers have long shown that certain types of musicare a great "key" for recalling memories. Information learned while listening to a particular song or collection can often be recalled simply by "playing" the songs mentally.
2. Speedread. Some people believe that speedreading causes you to miss vital information. The fact remains that efficient speedreading results in filtering out irrelevant information. If necessary, you can always read and re-read at slower speeds. Slow reading actually hinders the ability to absorb general ideas. (Although technical subjects often requirer slower reading.) If you're reading online, you can try the free Spreeder Web-based application.
3. Use acronyms and other mnemonic devices. Mnemonics are essentially tricks for remembering information. Some tricks are so effective that proper application will let you recall loads of mundane information years later.

Visual Aids

1. Every picture tells a story. Draw or sketch whatever it is you are trying to achieve. Having a concrete goal in mind helps you progress towards that goal.
2. Brainmap it. Need to plan something? Brain maps, or mind maps, offer a compact way to get both an overview of a project as well as easily add details. With mind maps, you can see the relationships between disparate ideas and they can also act as a receptacle for a brainstorming session.
3. Learn symbolism and semiotics. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. Having an understanding of the symbols of a particular discipline aids in learning, and also allows you to record information more efficiently.
4. Use information design. When you record information that has an inherent structure, applying information design helps convey that information more clearly. A great resource is Information Aesthetics, which gives examples of information design and links to their sources.
5. Use visual learning techniques. Try gliffy for structured diagrams. Also seeInspiration.com for an explanation of webs, idea maps, concept maps, and plots.
6. Map your task flow. Learning often requires gaining knowledge in a specific sequence. Organizing your thoughts on what needs to be done is a powerful way to prepare yourself to complete tasks or learn new topics.

Verbal and Auditory Techniques

1. Stimulate ideas. Play rhyming games, utter nonsense words. These loosen you up, making you more receptive to learning.
2. Brainstorm. This is a time-honored technique that combines verbal activity, writing, and collaboration. (One person can brainstorm, but it's more effective in a group.) It's fruitful if you remember some simple rules: Firstly, don't shut anyone's idea out. Secondly, don't "edit" in progress; just record all ideas first, then dissect them later. Participating in brainstorming helps assess what you already know about something, and what you didn't know.
3. Learn by osmosis. Got an iPod? Record a few of your own podcasts, upload them to your iPod and sleep on it. Literally. Put it under your pillow and playback language lessons or whatever.
4. Cognitive enhancers: binaural beats. Binaural beats involve playing two close frequencies simultaneously to produce alpha, beta, delta, and theta waves, all of which produce either sleeping, restfulness, relaxation, meditativeness, alertness, or concentration. Binaural beats are used in conjunction with other excercises for a type of super-learning.
5. Laugh. Laughing relaxes the body. A relaxed body is more receptive to new ideas.

Kinesthetic Techniques

1. Write, don't type. While typing your notes into the computer is great for posterity, writing by hand stimulates ideas. The simple act of holding and using a pen or pencil massages acupuncture points in the hand, which in turn stimulates ideas.
2. Carry a quality notebook at all times. Samuel Taylor Coleridge dreamed the words of the poem "In Xanadu (did Kubla Khan)...". Upon awakening, he wrote down what he could recall, but was distracted by a visitor and promptly forgot the rest of the poem. Forever. If you've been doing "walking meditation" or any kind of meditation or productive napping, ideas may suddenly come to you. Record them immediately.
3. Keep a journal. This isn't exactly the same as a notebook. Journaling has to do with tracking experiences over time. If you add in visual details, charts, brainmaps, etc., you have a much more creative way to keep tabs on what you are learning.
4. Organize. Use sticky colored tabs to divide up a notebook or journal. They are a great way to partition ideas for easy referral.
5. Use post-it notes. Post-it notes provide a helpful way to record your thoughts about passages in books without defacing them with ink or pencil marks.

Self-Motivation Techniques

1. Give yourself credit. Ideas are actually a dime a dozen. If you learn to focus your mind on what results you want to achieve, you'll recognize the good ideas. Your mind will become a filter for them, which will motivate you to learn more.
2. Motivate yourself. Why do you want to learn something? What do want to achieve through learning? If you don't know why you want to learn, then distractions will be far more enticing.
3. Set a goal. W. Clement Stone once said "Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve." It's an amazing phenomenon in goal achievement. Prepare yourself by whatever means necessary, and hurdles will seem surmountable. Anyone who has experienced this phenomenon understands its validity.
4. Think positive. There's no point in setting learning goals for yourself if you don't have any faith in your ability to learn.
5. Organize, part 2. Learning is only one facet of the average adult's daily life. You need to organize your time and tasks else you might find it difficult to fit time in for learning. Try Neptune for a browser-based application for "getting things done."
6. Every skill is learned. With the exception of bodily functions, every skill in life is learned. Generally speaking, if one person can learn something, so can you. It may take you more effort, but if you've set a believable goal, it's likely an achievable goal.
7. Prepare yourself for learning. Thinking positive isn't sufficient for successfully achieving goals. This is especially important if you are an adult, as you'll probably have many distractions surrounding your daily life. Implement ways to reduce distractions, at least for a few hours at a time, else learning will become a frustrating experience.
8. Prepare yourself, part 2. Human nature is such that not everyone in your life will be a well-wisher in your self-improvement and learning plans. They may intentionally or subconsciously distract you from your goal. If you have classes to attend after work, make sure that work colleagues know this, that you are unable to work late. Diplomacy works best if you think your boss is intentionally giving you work on the days he/she knows you have to leave. Reschedule lectures to a later time slot if possible/ necessary.
9. Constrain yourself. Most people need structure in their lives. Freedom is sometimes a scary thing. It's like chaos. But even chaos has order within. Byconstraining yourself — say giving yourself deadlines, limiting your time on an idea in some manner, or limiting the tools you are working with — you can often accomplish more in less time.

Supplemental Techniques

1. Read as much as you can. How much more obvious can it get? Use Spreeder (#33) if you have to. Get a breadth of topics as well as depth.
2. Cross-pollinate your interests. Neurons that connect to existing neurons give you new perspectives and abilities to use additional knowledge in new ways.
3. Learn another language. New perspectives give you the ability to cross-pollinate cultural concepts and come up with new ideas. As well, sometimes reading a book in its original language will provide you with insights lost in translation.
4. Learn how to learn. Management Help has a resource page, as does SIAST(Virtual Campus), which links to articles about learning methods. They are geared towards online learning, but no doubt you gain something from them for any type of learning. If you are serious about optimum learning, read Headrush's Crash course in learning theory.
5. Learn what you know and what you don't. Many people might say, "I'm dumb," or "I don't know anything about that." The fact is, many people are wholly unaware of what they already know about a topic. If you want to learn about a topic, you need to determine what you already know, figure out what you don't know, and then learn the latter.
6. Multi-task through background processes. Effective multi-tasking allows you to bootstrap limited time to accomplish several tasks. Learning can be bootstrapped through multi-tasking, too. By effective multitasking, I don't mean doing two or more things at exactly the same time. It's not possible. However, you can achieve the semblance of effective multitasking with the right approach, and by prepping your mind for it. For example, a successful freelance writer learns to manage several articles at the same time. Research the first essay, and then let the background processes of your mind takeover. Move on consciously to the second essay. While researching the second essay, the first one will often "write itself." Be prepared to record it when it "appears" to you.
7. Think holistically. Holistic thinking might be the single most "advanced" learning technique that would help students. But it's a mindset rather than a single technique.
8. Use the right type of repetition. Complex concepts often require revisting in order to be fully absorbed. Sometimes, for some people, it may actually take months or years. Repetition of concepts and theory with various concrete examples improves absorption and speeds up learning.
9. Apply the Quantum Learning (QL) model. The Quantum Learning model is being applied in some US schools and goes beyond typical education methods to engage students.
10. Get necessary tools. There are obviously all kinds of tools for learning. If you are learning online like a growing number of people these days, then consider your online tools. One of the best tools for online research is theFirefox web browser, which has loads of extensions (add-ons) with all manner of useful features. One is Googlepedia, which simultaneously displays Google search engine listings, when you search for a term, with related entries from Wikipedia.
11. Get necessary tools, part 2. This is a very niche tip, but if you want to learn fast-track methods for building software, read Getting Real from 37 Signals. The Web page version is free. The techniques in the book have been used to create Basecamp, Campfire, and Backpack web applications in a short time frame. Each of these applications support collaboration and organization.
12. Learn critical thinking. As Keegan-Michael Key's character on MadTV might say, critical thinking takes analysis to "a whole notha level". Read Wikipedia's discourse on critical thinking as a starting point. It involves good analytical skills to aid the ability to learn selectively.
13. Learn complex problem solving. For most people, life is a series of problems to be solved. Learning is part of the process. If you have a complex problem, you need to learn the art of complex problem solving. [The latter page has some incredible visual information.]

For Teachers, Tutors, and Parents

1. Be engaging. Lectures are one-sided and often counter-productive. Information merely heard or witnessed (from a chalkboard for instance) is often forgotten. Teaching is not simply talking. Talking isn't enough. Ask students questions, present scenarios, engage them.
2. Use information pyramids. Learning happens in layers. Build base knowledge upon which you can add advanced concepts.
3. Use video games. Video games get a bad rap because of certain violent games. But video games in general can often be an effective aid to learning.
4. Role play. Younger people often learn better by being part of a learning experience. For example, history is easier to absorb through reenactments.
5. Apply the 80/20 rule. This rule is often interpreted in dfferent ways. In this case, the 80/20 rule means that some concepts, say about 20% of a curriculum, require more effort and time, say about 80%, than others. So be prepared to expand on complex topics.
6. Tell stories. Venus Flytrap, a character from the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, once taught a student gang member about atoms, electrons, and protons by saying that an atom was one big neighborhood, and the protons and neutrons had their own smaller neighborhoods and never mixed. Just like rival gangs. The story worked, and understanding sparked in the students eyes.
7. Go beyond the public school curriculum. The public school system is woefully lacking in teaching advanced learning and brainstorming methods. It's not that the methods cannot be taught; they just aren't. To learn more, you have to pay a premium in additional time and effort, and sometimes money for commercially available learning tools. There's nothing wrong with that in itself, but what is taught in schools needs to be expanded. This article's author has proven that a nine-year old can learn (some) university level math, if the learning is approached correctly.
8. Use applied learning. If a high school student were having trouble in math, say with fractions, one example of applied learning might be photography, lenses, f-stops, etc. Another example is cooking and measurement of ingredients. Tailor the applied learning to the interest of the student.

For Students and Self-Studiers

1. Be engaged. Surprise. Sometimes students are bored because they know more than is being taught, maybe even more than a teacher. (Hopefully teachers will assess what each student already knows.) Students should discuss with a teacher if they feel that the material being covered is not challenging. Also consider asking for additional materials.
2. Teach yourself. Teachers cannot always change their curricula. If you're not being challenged, challenge yourself. Some countries still apply country-wide exams for all students. If your lecturer didn't cover a topic, you should learn it on your own. Don't wait for someone to teach you. Lectures are most effective when you've pre-introduced yourself to concepts.
3. Collaborate. If studying by yourself isn't working, maybe a study group will help.
4. Do unto others: teach something. The best way to learn something better is to teach it to someone else. It forces you to learn, if you are motivated enough to share your knowledge.
5. Write about it. An effective way to "teach" something is to create an FAQ or awiki containing everything you know about a topic. Or blog about the topic. Doing so helps you to realize what you know and more importantly what you don't. You don't even have to spend money if you grab a freebie account withTypepad, Wordpress, or Blogger.
6. Learn by experience. Pretty obvious, right? It means put in the necessary time. An expert is often defined as someone who has put in 10,000 hours into some experience or endeavor. That's approximately 5 years of 40 hours per week, every week. Are you an expert without realizing it? If you're not, do you have the dedication to be an expert?
7. Quiz yourself. Testing what you've learned will reinforce the information. Flash cards are one of the best ways, and are not just for kids.
8. Learn the right things first. Learn the basics. Case in point: a frustrating way to learn a new language is to learn grammar and spelling and sentence constructs first. This is not the way a baby learns a language, and there's no reason why an adult or young adult has to start differently, despite "expert" opinion. Try for yourself and see the difference.
9. Plan your learning. If you have a long-term plan to learn something, then to quote Led Zeppelin, "There are two paths you can go by." You can take a haphazard approach to learning, or you can put in a bit of planning and find an optimum path. Plan your time and balance your learning and living.

Parting Advice

1. Persist. Don't give up learning in the face of intimdating tasks. Anything one human being can learn, most others can as well. Wasn't it Einstein that said, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration"? Thomas Edison said it, too.
2. Defy the experts. Dyslexia, in a nutshell, is the affliction of mentally jumbling letters and digits, causing difficulties in reading, writing and thus learning. Sometimes spoken words or numbers get mixed up as well. In the past, "experts" declared dyslexic children stupid. Later, they said they were incapable of learning. This author has interacted with and taught dyslexic teens. It's possible. Helen Keller had no experience of sight, sound, or speech, and yet she learned. Conclusion: There is more than one way to learn; never believe you cannot.
3. Challenge yourself. People are often more intelligent than they realize. In a world that compartmentalizes and categorizes everything, not everyone is sure where they fit in. And genius can be found in many walks of life. If you honestly suspect that there's more to you than has been "allowed" to be let out, try an IQ test such as the one offered by MENSA. It's unlike the standardized IQ tests given in many schools. You know the kind — the ones which traumatize many young students into thinking they are stupid, simply because the tests don't really assess all student's knowledge and learning ability. And the ability to learn is far, far more important than what you already know.
4. Party before an exam. Well, don't go that far. The key is to relax. The worse thing to do is cram the night before an exam. If you don't already know a subject by then, cramming isn't going to help. If you have studied, simply review the topic, then go do something pleasant (no more studying). Doing so tells your brain that you are prepared and that you will be able to recall anything that you have already learned. On the other hand, if you didn't spend the semester learning the ideas you need, you might as well go party anyways because cramming at the last minute isn't going to help much at that point.
5. Don't worry; learn happy. Have a real passion for learning and want to share that? Join a group such as the Joyful Jubilant Learning community [viaLifeHack].

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Apple iPad 3 release date and iPad 3 new features

The iPad 2 is old in the market? Most of people taking about iPad 3 and it’s new features.

Apple’s iPad is holding over 80% of the market share of the US tablet market. Not only in the US but across the world, people have gone crazy to have the new iPad 2. Although being the best tablet ever, Apple’s followers are still looking for an even greater iPad 3 and eagerly exploring the Internet for “iPad 3 release date.” Nowadays, numerous rumors about iPad 3 are being spread in the market.

“DigiTimes“said that; iPad 3 release date have been scheduled somewhere around in 2012, But based on various other resources talking it will be release on September 2011. May be you still not buy iPad 2 because of high price rate,I will tell good news for you. According to various sources reviews, Apple going to dropped down the selling price of iPad 3.

 

iPad 3 New  Features

NFC Chips in iPad 3

NFC technology is already set to be included in the iPhone 5 which is a concept where by the iPhone itself can take control of near by Macs so that you do not need to be working on multiple devices to get your work done. Since the iPad is a bigger device that makes working more feasible. This feature will be very handy to iPad 3 users.

USB / Thunderbolt port

As much as the Apple disappoints the general public with iPads that are lacking with USB ports. It looks like the new version might come with it eventually. Tell tale signs come from the codes in the i-OS 5 for iPads actually features support for USB devices.

Cloud computing

Apple has already started its cloud service and thus incorporating this feature into the newer iPads is nothing strange or suprising. After all its MobileMe service is nothing alien to Apple users.

Improved camera

The previous camera that comes with the iPad 2 don’t seem to be as impressive as the one with iPhone 4. And yet it also lacks flash. Thus the iPad 3 may come with a camera and also flash LED.

Carbon Fibre chassis

Apple has always tried to make its devices with light weight But how do you make something even lighter when it is already so thin and light? Apple’s actions in hiring carbon fibre hired a carbon fibre expert, Kevin Kenney should shed some light that they have the intention to use carbon fibre as the solution.

3D feature and Retina Disply

News mentions that  Apple iPad 3 will display the 3D view .It is too early to argue about the 3D features of the iPad 3. On the other hand, the market LG Optimus claims can record videos in 3D and output through the HDMI port to 3D TV. Foxconn mention the upcoming  iPad will provide 3D feature.

Also according to various rumours, iPad 3 has Retina disply which was absent in previous iPad, but iPhones are using this display and  ipad 3 resolution 2048 x 1536 pixels.

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10 Easy Arithmetic Tricks

Math can be terrifying for many people. This list will hopefully improve your general knowledge of mathematical tricks and your speed when you need to do math in your head.

1. The 11 Times Trick
We all know the trick when multiplying by ten – add 0 to the end of the number, but did you know there is an equally easy trick for multiplying a two digit number by 11? This is it:
Take the original number and imagine a space between the two digits (in this example we will use 52:
5_2
Now add the two numbers together and put them in the middle:
5_(5+2)_2
That is it – you have the answer: 572.
If the numbers in the middle add up to a 2 digit number, just insert the second number and add 1 to the first:
9_(9+9)_9
(9+1)_8_9
10_8_9
1089 – It works every time.
2. Quick Square
If you need to square a 2 digit number ending in 5, you can do so very easily with this trick. Mulitply the first digit by itself + 1, and put 25 on the end. That is all!
25² = (2x(2+1)) & 25
2 x 3 = 6
625
3. Multiply by 5
Most people memorize the 5 times tables very easily, but when you get in to larger numbers it gets more complex – or does it? This trick is super easy.
Take any number, then divide it by 2 (in other words, halve the number). If the result is whole, add a 0 at the end. If it is not, ignore the remainder and add a 5 at the end. It works everytime:
2682 x 5 = (2682 / 2) & 5 or 0
2682 / 2 = 1341 (whole number so add 0)
13410
Let’s try another:
5887 x 5
2943.5 (fractional number (ignore remainder, add 5)
29435

4. Multiply by 9
This one is simple – to multiple any number between 1 and 9 by 9 hold both hands in front of your face – drop the finger that corresponds to the number you are multiplying (for example 9×3 – drop your third finger) – count the fingers before the dropped finger (in the case of 9×3 it is 2) then count the numbers after (in this case 7) – the answer is 27.
5. Multiply by 4
This is a very simple trick which may appear obvious to some, but to others it is not. The trick is to simply multiply by two, then multiply by two again:
58 x 4 = (58 x 2) + (58 x 2) = (116) + (116) = 232



6. Calculate a Tip
If you need to leave a 15% tip, here is the easy way to do it. Work out 10% (divide the number by 10) – then add that number to half its value and you have your answer:
15% of $25 = (10% of 25) + ((10% of 25) / 2)
$2.50 + $1.25 = $3.75
7. Tough Multiplication
If you have a large number to multiply and one of the numbers is even, you can easily subdivide to get to the answer:
32 x 125, is the same as:
16 x 250 is the same as:
8 x 500 is the same as:
4 x 1000 = 4,000

8. Dividing by 5
Dividing a large number by five is actually very simple. All you do is multiply by 2 and move the decimal point:
195 / 5
Step1: 195 * 2 = 390
Step2: Move the decimal: 39.0 or just 39
2978 / 5
step 1: 2978 * 2 = 5956
Step2: 595.6
9. Subtracting from 1,000
To subtract a large number from 1,000 you can use this basic rule: subtract all but the last number from 9, then subtract the last number from 10:
1000
-648
step1: subtract 6 from 9 = 3
step2: subtract 4 from 9 = 5
step3: subtract 8 from 10 = 2
answer: 352
10. Assorted Multiplication Rules
Multiply by 5: Multiply by 10 and divide by 2.
Multiply by 6: Sometimes multiplying by 3 and then 2 is easy.
Multiply by 9: Multiply by 10 and subtract the original number.
Multiply by 12: Multiply by 10 and add twice the original number.
Multiply by 13: Multiply by 3 and add 10 times original number.
Multiply by 14: Multiply by 7 and then multiply by 2
Multiply by 15: Multiply by 10 and add 5 times the original number, as above.
Multiply by 16: You can double four times, if you want to. Or you can multiply by 8 and then by 2.
Multiply by 17: Multiply by 7 and add 10 times original number.
Multiply by 18: Multiply by 20 and subtract twice the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 19: Multiply by 20 and subtract the original number.
Multiply by 24: Multiply by 8 and then multiply by 3.
Multiply by 27: Multiply by 30 and subtract 3 times the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 45: Multiply by 50 and subtract 5 times the original number (which is obvious from the first step).
Multiply by 90: Multiply by 9 (as above) and put a zero on the right.
Multiply by 98: Multiply by 100 and subtract twice the original number.
Multiply by 99: Multiply by 100 and subtract the original number.
Bonus: Percentages
Yanni in comment 23 gave an excellent tip for working out percentages, so I have taken the liberty of duplicating it here:
Find 7 % of 300. Sound Difficult?
Percents: First of all you need to understand the word “Percent.” The first part is PER , as in 10 tricks per listverse page. PER = FOR EACH. The second part of the word is CENT, as in 100. Like Century = 100 years. 100 CENTS in 1 dollar… etc. Ok… so PERCENT = For Each 100.
So, it follows that 7 PERCENT of 100, is 7. (7 for each hundred, of only 1 hundred).
8 % of 100 = 8. 35.73% of 100 = 35.73
But how is that useful??
Back to the 7% of 300 question. 7% of the first hundred is 7. 7% of 2nd hundred is also 7, and yep, 7% of the 3rd hundred is also 7. So 7+7+7 = 21.
If 8 % of 100 is 8, it follows that 8% of 50 is half of 8 , or 4.
Break down every number that’s asked into questions of 100, if the number is less then 100, then move the decimal point accordingly.
EXAMPLES:
8%200 = ? 8 + 8 = 16.
8%250 = ? 8 + 8 + 4 = 20.
8%25 = 2.0 (Moving the decimal back).
15%300 = 15+15+15 =45.
15%350 = 15+15+15+7.5 = 52.5
Also it’s usefull to know that you can always flip percents, like 3% of 100 is the same as 100% of 3.
35% of 8 is the same as 8% of 35.

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Top 7 Steps To Domain Name Success

1. Search for domain names that describe your product or service. Don't worry if the .com is unavailable. Go for a .co.uk or a .org or .net. The important part is to get your keywords in the domain name.

2. Register variants on your company name, i.e., for TAMBA Internet register tamba.co.uk and tambainternet.co.uk. You don't want to lose any customers simply because they assume your domain name wrongly.

3. Finish every phone conversation with "If there's anything else you want to know, please take a look at our Web site. It's at www..." People won't find your Web site unless you tell them about it.

4. Always use an email account on your own domain name, not a free email account such as Hotmail. This brands Hotmail and not your company.

5. If the domain name you want is unavailable, make a note when it's registered until. Lots of domain names are released after their initial registration period expires and you can pick it up from a registrar when it's expired.

6. Register as many domain names as possible. Use company name, slogan, description of product and/or service. The more routes into your Web site, the better.

7. Don't forget domain names expire. Always note down when yours expire and remember to re-register them. Someone could be waiting to get your domain name!

Today's Top7Business was submitted by Kay Hammond, Managing Director of TAMBA Internet.
Tel: +44(0)121 689 4651 Fax: +44(0)121 689 4653
TAMBA Internet
http://www.tamba.co.uk
kay.hammond@tamba.co.uk

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Copyright Law: Top 7 Online Copyright Myths

One of the most misunderstood issues online has to do with copyright. Both with e-mail and Web site copyright issues. For some reason, as with many things online, there is this incorrect perception that anything goes. However, many are finding out the hard way that when it comes to protecting creative collateral, copyright is law. And, copyright laws can and are being enforced online.

No, I am not an attorney. Nor do I play one on T.V. But I can help you avoid potential problems based on guiding clients for over a decade. Hopefully, this effort will help others from finding out the hard way that copyright is alive and well online.

1. “I can right click, save anything online and use it how I
wish.”

This is a perfect example of just because you can doesn't mean
you do! Those graphics or files were created by someone out
there. They legally attained the copyright upon that file’s
creation. Without their specific permission to use that file or
graphic, you have no right to just take it and use it as you
please. Always ask a site owner before you illegally swipe
anything off their site.

2. “As long as I note the author’s name, I can use their site’s content on my site.”

Although you are being nice and giving credit where credit is
due, you still need to ask the author’s permission to post their
work on your site. The author may not want their information
posted anywhere off their own site or they many not approve of
your site as a venue for their information ­ that is their choice
to make not yours. Always ask a site owner if you can use their
content before you put it on your site.

3. “I can link to graphics on other sites so that they display on my site.”

O.K., maybe you didn't actually download the graphic and put it
on your server, but if you are displaying someone else’s work on
your site without their permission the bottom line is still the
same. And, you are using their server’s resources to display
something on your site. Shame on you!

4. “I can display pages from other’s Web sites within frames on my site.”

Many site owners prohibit their site pages from being framed
within another site because it gives the impression that the
other site created the information. Many times folks innocently
do this so they don’t have to send site visitors off their site
for information they want to provide. Others do so to precisely
give the impression it is content they created. A better option
is to link to the information you like and create a new window to
open when doing so to ensure your site is still available to your
site visitors.

5. “If I only quote a portion of other site’s content and link
to them I do not need their permission.”

Again, it would behoove you to have permission to do so. Using
only portions allows you to possibly give the wrong impression
about the author’s overall content and this can be misleading at
best. If you want to quote any written work in whole or part you
need to ask permission to do so.

6. “If I pay someone to create graphics for my Web site, I own the copyright to those graphics.”

Not necessarily. Unless your agreement with the graphic artist
explicitly states that upon your payment all of their rights are
then transferred to you, you most likely only have exclusive
license to use those graphics. And to purchase the full
copyright will cost you a bunch more than simple exclusivity!

Understand that the moment anything is created whether it be
written or drawn, the creator owns the copyright ­ that’s the law.
Over the years I've had clients claim they own copyright just
because they paid me to create this or that. It simply, legally,
is not the case (and my contract(s) clearly state this - including
their option to purchase my copyright if they so choose).

Copyright can _only_ be transferred in a written legally binding
agreement signed by the creator of the work stating they are
transferring their rights to you. Saying you own it because you
paid for it doesn't make it legal fact. If you do not have a
written agreement specifically transferring the copyright to you,
you do not own the copyright to those graphics.

7. “E-mail is not copyright protected once it is sent.”

E-mail is a written work that once created is copyright protected
by the author. This means you cannot post publicly an e-mail
sent to you privately. You cannot post private e-mails to your
site, to message boards or to your blog without the author’s
specific permission to do so.

Just because an e-mail was sent to you as a private communication
does not mean you then own it and can do with it what you like.
In addition, e-mail that is posted to a group of people, on a
mailing list or Newsgroup does not make the e-mail available for
reposting, copying, or any other use - not without the express and
written consent of the writer.

What's the bottom line with online copyright?

Courtesy! Don't assume that you can use, repost or take
anything you find online simply because you can. Be a
courteous Netizen and always ask first!

You might be interested to find a DMCA (Digital Millennium
Copyright Act) page and policy statement on your ISP and hosting
provider’s Web sites to handle complaints and reports of the
above types of copyright abuse. Take some time to read that
information and make yourself aware of your rights and make sure
you do not infringe on others. The main resource for all the
legal mumbo jumbo on online copyright and the DMCA is on the
Government’s site @ http://www.copyright.gov.

Again, I am not an attorney nor am I providing legal advice. I
hope I've informed you of some of the issues that need to be
seriously considered by all who are online whether they are
creating their own or using others creative or written works.

Judith Kallos is an authoritative and good-humored Technology Muse.
Check out her new book: "Because Netiquette Matters! Your
Comprehensive Reference Guide to E-mail Etiquette and Proper
Technology Use" @: http://www.BecauseNetiquetteMatters.com

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Top 7 Reasons to Be a Business Owner

With all the uncertainty there is still hope and ways of creating security for the future. The key is finding your passion in life and investing in your self. Starting your own business is one of those ways that can create many benefits. Here are the top ten reasons to be a business owner.

1. Job Security. Business owners have job security. They never lay themselves off. As a matter of fact if business slows they have the option of doing what it takes to increase sales.

2. Maximum Pay. Business owners choose their wage. They can create more business when they need or want more money. Employees work to make the business owner rich.

3. Flexibility. Business owners can choose their work schedule. They can plan around family events such as weddings, ball games and school programs. Vacations can be incorporated into business trips.

4. Control. Business owners are free from being told what to do and when to do it. There is no supervisor to answer to, judge them or look over their shoulders.

5. Tax Benefits. Business owners have the advantage of more tax savings than employees. There are things that are deductible such as a home office which includes deducting a portion of utilities, insurance, taxes, interest and improvements. These expenses you would be paying for anyway, but if you have a business they can become tax deductible. This is just one example - there are many more.

6. Retirement. In today's world, retirement is unsure and risky. People who have worked for the same company plan on a good retirement and then one day it is gone. Creating a business that you love can last long beyond retirement age. Business owners can train others to run their business and when they choose to retire, it can be with a good passive income.

7. Product flexibility. An employee has to push whatever product the company says to. Business owners have the flexibility to change products and services according to the market. If a product or service becomes outdated or unpopular it is exciting to move on and keep up with the times.

Christopher Anderson wants to share his success as a business owner with others who desire to own their own business. He also believes that the economy is stronger with more business owners, and as a result, he is focused on helping business owners succeed. http://www.lonepeakbusiness.com

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Top 7 Reasons To Buy Used Network Hardware

Refurbished network hardware is the latest thing for hip IT managers who consider themselves "in the know". The used equipmentis often renovated by various resellers and integrators, reset and error free. They are then sold in the secondary market at up to 90% off of list price. Products are available even in the most sophisticated and obscure models, and often come with a warranty that supersedes even that of the original manufacturer. Here are 7 specific reasons why you should consider Used Cisco in your next project.

1. Networking products usually pass a grueling inspection, upgrade and update checklist. This includes testing under a variety of conditions to ensure that electronics, connectivity ports, memory configuration, firmware/software and electrical components perform to standards.

2. Most resellers offer a minimum warranty of three months. It varies with the policy of the supplier. Extended warranty up to two years can be availed from some retailers.

3. There is a growing concern in the industry surrounding fake equipment. Anyone who has taken a stroll down Manhattan's Canal Street lately has no doubt become aware of the thriving market for fake Rolexes, Luis Vuitton hand bags and the like. This phenomenon has recently infiltrated the network hardware market. These fakes, often referred to in the industry as, "Chisco" (fake Cisco products originating in China), are popping up more and more. Cisco Systems is the largest provider of Internet telephony equipment in the world, and account for some 80% of all used equipment sales worldwide. This enormous popularity has made them the obvious target for such fake product reproduction.
It helps to have a few tools to protect yourself from fraud. Rule 1 when shopping for used equipment is to be wary of suppliers from China. Historically, most of these fakes have originated somewhere in China. So be careful when dealing with a Chinese supplier. Try to deal with a reputable supplier and develop a relationship. It helps to look for quality business certifications such as "ISO 9001" and others when choosing a reseller.
When using online auctions, feedback is king! Make sure you deal exclusively with resellers who have significant positive feedback from multiple people. Take a quick peek at the actual responses and confirm that they in-fact come from unique sources and not all the same person. People have been known online, to buy large inexpensive quantities from one another to essentially stuff the ballot box and artificially flood the others feedback score.

4. Full service providers offer a full suite of services for the IT customer. In this model, relationships are formed between the salesperson and customer. The sales cycle can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 year. The customer will usually disclose all relevant information regarding their project or current network configuration. Educated sales people here will assist the customer to make decision about what product or products might best solve their particular business needs. These providers will often offer integration services as well, helping the customer to install the new equipment into their existing set-up. A prime example of this type of sale would be Digital warehouse. DW is a certified NY based full service supplier of refurbished network hardware. Their mission is "reducing the cost of network infrastructure", and that's exactly what they do. With a rigorous reconditioning and testing process coupled with a warranty program that rivals anyone else's in the industry, they allow you to feel safe and secure that you are getting quality second hand hardware at a great price.

5. Online outlet sales have recently emerged as a new trend in the used hardware industry. Direct selling online has become the latest luxury for IT professionals who know what they want or need. Usedcisco's. website is the ideal address for such transactions. They borrowed Michael Dell's direct approach to selling online and moved away from the traditional consultative sales approach. Basically, assuming that many of these products have become commoditized and listed products and pricing directly on their site. For the first time, an end user could go online quickly and source product at a reasonable price, place the order and be finished in record time. Never once having to deal with a salesperson along the way.

6. Refurbished hardware are renovated, reset and fully tested. The term "used hardware" is often used synonymously with refurbished hardware in this industry. However; on occasion, particularly in online auctions, the term "used", may also mean that it has not been tested or reconditioned in any way. Under such circumstances it is preferential to inquire about the specifics before purchasing under the title "used".

7. You can expect to save anywhere form 30 - 90% off list price when buying used. Traditionally people would shy away from used equipment because of the inherent risk that it presented. However, with current competition in the secondary market resellers have raised their quality standards. They now provide guarantee's that outlast the original warranty given when the unit was new.

Article by Joshua Levitt

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Top 7 Marketing Strategies to Fill Your Workshops and Teleseminars

When Cathy (one of Get Clients readers) emailed me asking how to fill her monthly workshops, I quickly sent her a list of top mistakes that cause low attendance in training and promotional programs and several tips to make her events more successful.

Afterwards, I thought you too might find this kind of information helpful in your business. So here we go.

The 4 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid

If you currently promoting some sort of workshops or training programs and registrations are coming in slower than you would have like it, chances are you’re making one – or all – of these mistakes.

Mistake #1 - Giving your promotions too little time to work
Mistake #2 - Putting your prospects to sleep with boring copy
Mistake #3 - Turning off even the most interested buyers with a complicated registration process and...
Mistake #4 - Giving up on your follow-up efforts too soon

How did you do? Any of these sound familiar? If so, let me share with you a few quick and easy tips that will give your event marketing strategy a fighting chance.

7 Tips to Make Your Promos Generate “WOW” Results!

1. Increase the lead time to promote your events

While each situation is a little different based on your specific market and program you offer, there are certain “hard and fast” rules for how much lead time you should give your potential clients.

For a short 60 or 90-minute teleseminar all you need is a few days to couple of weeks notice.

For a half-day or full-day program, your promotions will be most effective when deployed anywhere from a month to 90-days before the event.

If you are promoting longer and pricier events you might want to start promoting as long as nine to 12 months in advance.

2. Develop exciting promotional materials

The problem most people make is trying to convince people to give up their time and money and register for a program by just listing event’s name, date, location and price.

We all can be a bit optimistic about our offerings, but this is like hoping for a miracle.

Whether you are promoting online or offline, using fliers, brochures, or emails, make sure your materials are exciting to read and communicate the full story.

3. Clearly convey reasons why your potential client should register

Don’t assume people know what’s in it for them. Tell them.

What is the BIG, HOT, UNDENIABLE BENEFIT people get from participating in your program? Are you clear what it is?

Is it something your audience really wants? It better be! And make sure to COMMUNICATE this over and over again.

4. Use multiple media to get your message out

Don’t limit your promotions to just fliers and emails. Use direct mail (like postcards and complete sales letters) and add phone-blasts and faxes. Also, using simple, two- step direct response ads can be highly effective as well.

Finally, don’t forget other promotional opportunities like mentioning your events during speaking engagements and including bounce-back offers in materials already being sent to your current clients. And of course do not overlook social media like Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin!

5. Find promotional partners

This is one of the most effective yet most overlooked ways to get eager participants to sign up for your events – when you get others to endorse and promote your event.

Depending on your audience you may find it beneficial to team up with your local chamber of commerce, a professional association, or other businesses that already have an established relationships with your potential clients.

6. Make it easy to register

I know... this one seems so obvious! Yet, it amazes me how often I personally give up on ordering something I really want because the process is “too hard” or confusing. Give potential buyers clear instructions and offer multiple choices of payments. For example, I was shocked to discover a 20% jump in my sales when I included paypal as one of the payment options a few years back.

Also, for more expensive events, offer a payment plan.

7. Improve your follow-up

Sometimes this alone can make a dramatic difference.

Common wisdom often disguised as a scientific research says it takes five contacts to make the sale. Still, most people expect to sell out their programs with one boring email or flier.

With a bit of creativity you can come up with five, ten, or even more topics for stand-alone messages that could be distributed to interested prospects to give them more chances to evaluate your offer and take action.

The author, Adam Urbanski, teaches service professionals and business owners how to develop better marketing strategies to increase sales and profits. His website offers more how-to articles and free tips to create a winning marketing action plan at http://www.themarketingmentors.com Once a year, in November, Adam hosts Attract Clients Like Crazy Boot Camp designed specifically to teach entrepreneurs effective marketing strategies. http://www.attractlientslikecrazy.com

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Top 7 Strategies To Overcome Negative Attitudes In The Workplace

My years of consulting with major companies have led me down interesting pathways which have cumulated into many fascinating experiences. Part of that fascination comes from watching individuals make career or business choices. Those choices have always fallen into two simple categories: 1) positive or 2) negative. In most cases, people usually choose negative choices over positive ones. Why? Usually a combination of things that starts with a person's upbringing, their own personal foundation or work environment.

In personal and business coaching, we sometimes need to reach past those combinations and put in place specific methods of operation our clients to follow in order to turn their choices from negative to positive. I start off with educating my clients that their challenged attitudes usually start with Distorted Thinking Styles.

Distorted Thinking Styles (DTS's)

DTS's are customary ways of thinking that eventually cause a misperception of a situation or event. Constant frustration can prompt Distorted Thinking Styles and challenged attitudes. When frustrated, thinking can become increasingly inflexible and may ultimately become distorted. Distorted Thinking Styles could account for 90% of the times you experience frustration.

Five Types of Distorted Thinking Styles:

* Magnifying: Magnifying turns the consequences of an event into a catastrophe such as, "I'm going to be fired."

* Destructive Labeling: This is an extreme form of over-generalization, making someone or a particular situation totally negative.

* Imperative Thinking: Think of this as a list of inflexible rules about how you and others should act ­ usually based on negative past experiences.

* Mind Reading: This attributes to motives that explain other people's actions toward a person or event.

* Divide and Conquer This happens because of over-magnification and wanting others to support a particular position. People who have DTS's have a tendency to garner support, usually creating a division within ranks or groups.

Challenged Attitude Examples: The following are actual examples I have heard from people who suffer from challenged attitudes and DTS's:

* It's not my job.
* But I have a college degree.
* The other department should have taken care of it.
* I have new responsibilities now so I can't do it.
* It won't work.
* It can't be done.
* They won't like it.
* You didn't consult with us first.
* My pay scale is less than the national average.
* Those other employees make a huge amount of money.
* Because I don't make more, I'm going to punish my team by only giving 50%.
* I just want to draw a check until something better comes along.
* My responsibilities keep changing.
* My perception is different than the companies.
* They make more money than I do.
* I am considered a bottom feeder.
* I did the research ­ I should make more money.
* There is too much change.
* Nothing stays the same.
* I have no incentives.
* I have no growth possibilities.
* I want higher pay.
* I can't advance because of a political environment.
* I don't get any respect.
* I hope to get fired so I can collect unemployment.

As you can see, huge challenges are faced not only by the people that spoke these words, yet in the same spirit, corporations are challenged to find ways to help their employees or staffs have an environment that is positive and empowering.

So, ask yourself these questions? Are you one of those people with a challenged attitude? Do you lead a team or oversee a group of people that may feel and react like this? If so then I challenge you to implement the 7 Steps To Overcoming Challenged Attitudes.

1. WORK on your personal foundation, namely in the Five Pillars of Attraction. Remember what F.R.E.S.H. stands for:

F: Finances
R: Relationships
E: Environment
S: Spirituality
H: Health

Right now, write down one task for each of the Five Pillars (F.R.E.S.H.) that you can make an immediate improvement in.

2. STOP listening to that little negative voice. Counter-punch the negative self talk with a substantial dose of positiveness.

3. LOOK for alternative explanations. In many cases there could be hundreds of them, unfortunately when you are frustrated you are unable to see the forest for the trees - sometimes referred to as Frustration Tunnel Vision.

4. MOODS are contagious, both positive and negative. Do something that will place you in a positive mood, such as a daily delicious habit or speaking with anyone that is known for having a positive attitude or mood.

5. CONTROL your frustration. Speak slowly, breath deeply into your heart, choose to remain calm or excuse yourself from the discussion ­ take a time out. Stop drinking caffeine.

6. STOP looking out the rear view mirror when that big broad windshield is staring you in the face. Your vision of each event or situation is totally up to you. You can either choose to be negative or positive ­ your choice. Or, you can either focus on your negative past or look forward into a positive future. Remember this quote: "Past failures don't equal current successes."

7. WATCH with great care who you hang out with. My most favorite quote by Jim Rohn says "YOU become the average sum of the five people with whom you associate with." In regards to this powerful philosophy, ask yourselves these questions:

* Who am I around?

* What are they doing to me?

* What have they got me saying?

* Where do they have me going?

* What do they have me thinking?

* What do they have me becoming?

* Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay?



Whether you are a corporation or an individual, dealing with attitude challenges by implementing this 7 Step Program indicates you are making the first leap from making negative choices to making choices that will certainly have a positive impact on yourself, co-workers and family members.

Chuck Bauer is an accomplished speaker and writer. He has performed hundreds of seminars and workshops throughout North America and is affiliated with the National Speakers Association, Coach University, and Attraction University. He has served as a Vice President of Sales/Training for two major Dallas Texas corporations. His published work has been featured in numerous business and sales related magazines and websites. He is a committed body builder, private pilot and trophy bass fisherman. Find out more about Chuck and the Mastery Performance Group by visiting www.chuckbauer.com

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Top 7 Steps for Successful Conference Call

Conference calls save time and money. Here are some simple tips you can use to make conference calls work.

1. TIME PREPARATION - Clear a time slot in your schedule. Allow 10 minutes before start time to 20 minutes after conference completion.

2. BODY PREPARATION - Visit the washroom, fresh up, consider this as a call to a boardroom meeting.

3. OFFICE PREPARATION - Must have; a comfortable chair, area to make notes on, pad, pen or pencils and calculator.

4. TOOLS - Good speaker phone with mute button. If you are the moderator or speaker invest in a good head set.

5. LIQUID PREPARATION - Fresh ice water or your favorite non-alcoholic drink.

6. START TIME - Call into the conference a minute or two early to ensure a static free connection. There is usually a bit of networking or social talk until the moderator of speaker joins the call.

7. CONFERENCE CALL ETIQUETTE - Have your phone on mute unless you are participating in the conversation. Do not place your phone on hold, as the other participants will not want to listen to your company's Muscat sound.

Today's Top7Business Was Submitted By Keith Tomlinson, founder of Excalibur Communication, supplier of computer telephony marketing service and very affordable conference call services.

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Top 7 Reasons To Consider Printing Your Own Postage

If you have a computer, laser or ink jet printer, and an Internet connection, you can print your own stamps. Here are some advantages of printing them yourself.

1. Easy to use. PC Postage suppliers (currently there are only two: Stamps.com and e-stamp) make getting started very easy. Their online sign-up screens walk you through each step -- from applying for the official U.S.P.S. Postage License to printing your first stamps.

2. Access to postage refills 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without leaving your computer. What is more convenient than not having to run to the Post Office for stamps? Postage is bought by connecting to a secure server and is "deposited" into your account -- up to $500.

3. Your address is checked and standardized per USPS approval. What it boils down to is either by Internet connection or with a supplied CD, addresses are "fixed" by adding Zip+4, replacing incorrect abbreviations and removing punctuation.

4. Your mail is bar coded. Once your address is "fixed," a bar code is automatically added. The bar code helps your mail faster and insures deliverability. It also portrays a professional look.

5. Postage is automatically calculated. Based on your entries regarding weight, destination and mailing class, (First Class, Priority, or Express) postage is automatically calculated and deducted from your account balance when you print the stamp.

6. Postage Records are available to track mailing costs for a single user. Approved suppliers are working on versions that will track postage for multiple users or departments.

7. Security comparable to online banking. The Performance Criteria for PC Postage requires suppliers to include in its product a Postal Security Device (PSD) which insures the accurate calculation of postage in customer accounts. It also produces a unique digital signature, which is included in a two-dimensional bar code printed on each piece. When tampered with, the PSD will cease functioning.

Bonus Tips

* Cheaper than metering. Meters cost approximately $50 per month to rent and carry charges for resetting, maintenance agreements, and special ink. Both PC Postage suppliers have convenience fees of 10 percent with a cap.


* Your stamps online software will integrate into most word processors and address books. Just click the PC Postage icon while inside your document and print the stamp.


* No long-term commitments. You may quit anytime and receive a refund for any unused postage in your account. The current month's convenience fee will have to be paid.
By Cindy Wellard

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Top 7 Deadly Sins of Site Promotion with Online Articles

Writing articles is one of the most effective low-cost site promotion methods Out There. But to make the most of this popular tactic, you need to provide QUALITY content that stands out among thousands of competing articles.

Here are seven deadly sins that may keep your article from being published, or reduce its effectiveness as a promotion tool:

1. Submit a self-serving sales letter and call it an article. You CAN refer to your site/product/service in the article, but you MUST provide valuable information or commentary in ADDITION.

2. Submit every article you write to every ezine you can find. Different ezines have different "voices", as do different websites. Ignore that at your peril!

3. It's perfectly OK to write an article about a common problem that your product/service solves. But when you represent that YOUR product/service is the ONLY solution, you "turn off" anyone who KNOWS there are other solutions. (Autoresponder and hosting affiliates violate THIS one on
a regular basis. Usually in their OWN ezines because nobody else will publish this self-serving crap).

4. Submit to individual ezines without paying attention to their guidelines. I wrote this article with Top 7 Business in mind. That's why it makes 7 points instead of 6, 8, or 13.

5. Pack your article with misspelled words and poor grammar. After all, readers are eager pay for your insightful words of wisdom on Big Munny Seecruts.

6. Use big words and technical terms to show how smart you are. Footnotes and quotes are impressive too. Internet marketing ezines are NOT academic journals. Peer reviewed, maybe, but us internet peers are mostly ordinary folk.

7. Use a temporary email or url in the resource box, or use a HUGE or Clickbank affiliate link. Your article may be available for a long time. Temporary contact information is worthless. Long affilate URLs scream "amateur" and a lot of Clickbank affiliates will make a note of the product, then buy it with their OWN affiliate link to save a few bucks.

c. 2004 by Judy (Wogoman) Cox, chief freebie-gatherer and organizer at

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Top 7 Small But Costly Mistakes

1. When you put your URL in any printed material make sure you do not put a period after the address. Some of these articles I read have a sentence like: "Visit us at: http://www.mallbytes.com." The problem with this is that when clients copy and paste it to the browser, the site won't come up. It's the wrong address. Leave the period off so when it's copied and pasted the site will still come up. It should be http://www.mallbytes.com All your clients do not realize that it will make a difference and you lose a ton of hits because they don't know why the address won't work.

2. When using a signature block, always use your six lines if applicable. If your signature block doesn't take up six lines, it gives you an opportunity to advertise. Never pass up free advertising.

3. Make sure you have meta tags placed within your pages. The search engines have spiders that seek out products, etc., on your site. If you don't have your keywords blindly inserted, you don't get listed. So many people are submitting their site but it never shows up.

4. In the very top of your page, instead of just putting the name of your company in this area, it should be used as a place to advertise, so put your products in here. Remember, it's also what your clients see when they save it to their favorite places, and the search engines pick up its content.

5. When you first start to advertise, make sure you have everything set up to go and start out a little slow. There have been some who couldn't handle all the responses that they received and have actually had to stop advertising. Can you imagine the money they lost for not be prepared and the customers they lost because they didn't get taken care of?

6. When writing articles in any ezine or putting text up on your site, make sure you don't sound too short. Sometimes when writing newsletters, etc., you don't realize what it actually reads like. Be a little sweeter than normal when writing, you can come off as short and mean without realizing it. This will lose customers in a hurry. It gives them the idea that you don't care.

7. Make sure you focus on your target market. Advertising is costly and if your trying to sell monkeys to the hospital, it's a waste of money and time.

Today's Top7Business Article Was Submitted By Judy Davison

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Top 7 Tips - Do it Yourself Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization and web design have become activities that are very popular and accessible to regular people. There is a lot of information available on the web for those eager to get their teeth into it. Basically, if you've got plenty of time on your hands and have a fairly good knowledge of how the Internet works, you could learn to do it all yourself. However, the learning process is a time consuming one and it would mean deterring yourself from day to day aspects of your business which require your attention.

There are millions of websites on the internet for different topics and it’s difficult to find one. The best way to finding desire site to using search engines, but the search engine may result more than 100000’s of websites. Websites with high ranking are listed in first few pages. Well, how would you make your website listed as high as possible in the result results? In order to achieve this you need to work on Search engine optimization. Search engine marketing is as complex as traditional marketing. It's applied to a completely different medium, the online one. Even professional companies sometimes offer only some SEO services instead of the whole package. We have gathered some important tips to make it ease and help you to understand the process involved.

1. Site Page Naming


Page names are important! Relevant pages should be named after their primary keyword phrase.



Site File Names Analysis


Like the directory structure, file names play an equally important role. All file names should contain primary keywords or keyword phrases.



2. Web Page Title


The title tag of your page is the single most important factor to be considered when optimizing your web page for the search engines. It is because most engines & directories place a high level of importance on keywords that are found in your title tag.



3. Meta Tags


Meta elements provide information about a given webpage, most often to help search engines categorize them correctly, and are inserted into the HTML code in the format illustrated above, but are not visible to a user looking at the site.Meta tags are one of the most important elements of a web page when a search engine indexes it. This was originally created to help search engines find out important information about your page that they might have had difficulty determining otherwise. For Example, related keywords or a description of the page itself.


A search engine to display a short description of what your web page contains very often uses the description Meta tag. Some search engines look at the keywords entered into the keywords meta tag and will use this to display your page in the search results if it is one of the words used in the search criteria.



4. Web Page Copywriting


Like a Meta and Title tags, the content of your page is an important element in the search engine optimization process. The page copy being the actual, visible main content of the page should be presented and arranged in a logical and visually pleasing manner.


1. For the best results each page you submit should contain at least 200 words.

2. Include all keywords and arrange them in logical and readable manner.

3. More interlinking of keywords throughout the website.



5. Site Navigation


Is your site’s navigation search engine friendly? Search engines require simple text based navigation in order to correctly spider your website. Java Script based navigation only, results in an incomplete index of your website. Some important suggestions for site navigation:


1. Avoid using flash at main page.

2. Addition of keyword related text based navigation should be added to the bottom of all pages.

3. Using Sitemap

4. Avoid using image based navigation



6. Image ‘alt’ Attribute


Describe your images with the use of the alt tag. This will help search engines that index images to find your pages and will also help readers who use text only web browsers.


1. Do not use more than 2-3 keywords per page
2. Describe the image and don’t just list the keywords.



7. Link Popularity


Link popularity is how many other websites are pointing to your website. If you have 199 Web pages pointing to your domain, then your link popularity is 199. Link popularity varies because each engine indexes the web differently. Ideally you would want a minimum of several hundred links per search engine, back to your website; but actual figures depend on the number of links held by your competition.
By Junaid Ashraf

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