I.The Online Legitimate Home Business Success Tips That Are Most Often Overlooked
Many times it is the little things we do that determines the success and failure of an online legitimate home business or any business for that matter. These are the basic business strategies that existed since the beginning of business itself. Networking with people and injecting that human touch goes a long way for the future of your home business.
I have chalked out a few examples here of what I mean and they go a long way in terms of sustaining longevity of your online business. These ideas can be used to achieve the results you're after.
A blog is so common now that almost everybody has one. The problem is it's not being used to its fullest capabilities. One way that you can network more with your readers is to invite them to post comments. This is very common and you have probably seen people doing that in blogs.
One other thing I most blog owners don't do is sending personal emails to people who post comments in their blogs. I'm not talking about replying on their comments here. I mean actually sending a personal email thanking someone for taking the time to make a post on your blog.
In the networking view point the result from this little gesture can be overwhelming. Most of the time those who buy from you or join your online legitimate home business, are those that you know on a personal level. Internet marketers tend to forget this because we are in front of the computer most of the time and don't interact with people much physically.
Networking is how you get to know people on a personal level and foster win-win dealings with each other. A small deed like sending an email to a blog post could foster a long-term business relationship.
One other thing people often fail to do is they do not take the time to reply to emails that they receive. We often tell ourselves "we'll reply later", that they are often ignored or forgotten about. Often we are too busy with our daily chores of building our online home business that we forget to network. If someone takes the time to send you an email, and ask you a question then you should definitely take the time to reply the email. Reply sincerely and with honesty.
Above are some of the often neglected tactics you can use to improve your online legitimate home business. You may not see immediate results, but your networking efforts will pay in months and years to come.
II.How To Use Social Networking Sites To Generate Leads For Your Network Marketing Business
Social networking sites are great places to connect with people that have similar interests. They are also excellent places to find potential partners for your network marketing opportunity.
Every network marketer knows they need as many quality leads for their downline as they can find. Let's take a look at how you can use this new social tool to generate fresh leads for your business on the Internet.
The key point in a social networking site is that people enjoy building relationships within a community of other people with similar interests and opinions. The networking aspect comes into play because you can recommend products or opportunities that you are involved in a natural way. You will be more trusted because you are a friend as opposed to someone trying to sell them something.
This does take some work on your part by getting to know people and developing relationships with them. There is no sense trying to join a social networking site strictly for the purpose of building your business, because you will come across as a phony.
There really is no limit to the potential that your business can derive from these sites just based on the sheer number of registered users. For example Facebook has over 100 million registered users which is an astounding number. My Space has twice as many as that.
You can also network inside of social directories like Digg and StumbleUpon. These directories serve as an excellent way to meet people and a place for you to bookmark a blog post for both the reader and the search engines to find. This bookmarking can lead to potential visitors and future leads for your network marketing business as well.
One key aspect that makes social networking sites so popular is that you can do it without spending a lot of money. Since this marketing method is Free your only real investment is the time you spend hanging out and socializing with other social network marketers. Over time this can pay off by attracting new leads and network marketing business partners.
The Internet continues to move at almost lightning speed. Tomorrow there will be new innovations that will even help take your MLM business to heights you never imagined possible.
However, today the one thing that is certain is that socializing is a perfect complement to a network marketing business. The most successful Internet marketers are starting to learn how to utilize this to their full advantage.
Custom Search
Thursday, January 1, 2009
BUSINESS-NETWORKING -5
I.7 Social Networking Tips for Parents
The latest craze among teenagers and younger children alike are social networking sites. According to a report almost 60% of children in the United States own an account in one of the numerous social networking sites out there, the most popular ones being Myspace, Facebook and Bebo.
Social networking can be fun but at the same time it can also give rise to many issues. The stories of online predators looking to target children are true and there have been many instances in the past that make us dread of the consequences. You cannot stop your child from accessing these networks as all his/her friends are doing it. But there are some common sense precautionary measures you can take to ensure that your child is safe. Here are some tips to consider
1.) Get Educated: First and foremost as a parent you should know what a social networking website is. If you thought so far that Myspace is just another website that teens visit or that Facebook is a place where children read books online then it's time you get your facts right. Check with other parents or internet users and find out what a social networking site is and how it works. Learn what people do there, how people interact and the problems that children could possibly face by participation in such a network.
2.) Keep Track Of Your Child's Online Activities: Keep track of your child's online activities by installing a spy software in their machine. Monitor this spy software regularly and investigate if you find suspicious activity. A suspicious activity could be a stranger asking personal information from your child or trying to meet your child. Most software tracking programs also track logins and passwords so you can always login to your child's account in a social network and monitor the activities closely. You can also consider opening your own myspace, bebo or facebook account depending on which social network your child frequents
3.) Talk to your children About Networking Online: Most parents do not bother about their children's online activities but if you are one of them then it's high time you start taking some interest. Fix up a day and talk to your child about his favorite sites, why he likes to visit them and what he does there. Educate your child about what to and what not to do on a social network. Tell them why they should not reveal their personal information or post personal pics on a network.
4.) Teach Your Child Basics of Social Networking Etiquettes: Children should be instructed to be polite online and not be rude to others. In addition they also need to be told what consists of a good profile page and what isn't. There are many websites that offer free myspace comments for instance and children can find a host of comments there including rude comments. Tell them why they should not be using rude comments on friend's profiles and how they can maintain good friendship with people online. Lack of proper guidance in this area can lead to children getting into conflicts with others online which could lead even to serious consequences.
5.) Keep The PC in a Monitorable Position: Keep the PC in a place that is easily monitorable to you like the kitchen or the dining room. This way you can keep better track of your child's activities.
6.) Become Your Child's Online Friend: The best way to keep track of your child's activities on social networks is to open an account yourself and ask your child to share his/her profile with you. This way you know exactly who your child's friends are and what kind of communication is going on between them.
7.) Look for Identifiable Information Online: Even after telling your kids to not reveal personal information online there could be chances that your child might have done this in the past sometime. Make use of the search feature on social networks to search for identifiable information like your child's name, address and phone number. If you find such information, ask you child to delete them immediately.
By following these simple common sense tips you as a parent can ensure that your child is safe online.
II.Computer Repair, Laptop Repair & Mac Repair in Orange Country
HbtechUSA configure your server for networking and protection; supported services are:
• File Server (using SMB, CIFS protocols)
• FTP Server (using port 21, 22)
• Print Server
• Fax Server
• Backup Server (ws2008, EMC Retrospect Server)
• Antiviral Server
• P2P Networking Server
• Web Server using IIS (XP Pro, and WS2003, WS2008)
• Application Servers.
File Server (using SMB, CIFS protocols)
The Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol is a network file sharing protocol, and as implemented in Microsoft Windows is known as Microsoft SMB Protocol. The set of message packets that defines a particular version of the protocol is called a dialect. The Common Internet File System (CIFS) Protocol is a dialect of SMB. Both SMB and CIFS are also available on VMS, several versions of Unix, and other operating systems.
If you think SMB/CIFS can give you complete Mac OS compatibility, think again. Microsoft designed the SMB protocol to support Windows file sharing. The SMB client makes the Mac look like a Windows client, but to act like Windows the Mac has to make compromises, so that some of the core features of Mac OS X don't map well to this protocol.
FTP Server
HbtechUSA FTP Server is advanced FTP server software for Windows developed specifically for security and high performance requirements. HbtechUSA FTP Server is a professional Windows FTP Server featuring speed, reliability and customization. Its main assets are remote administration. Its fast performances allow it to run heavily loaded files servers worldwide but this does not make it out of range of smaller companies who will find in it a customizable, trustable and easy to administer FTP server at an affordable price.
Print Server
HbtechUSA Save some system resources and share multiple printers between more than one machine by recycling that old "junk" system sitting in your garage into a dedicated print server. How has a step by step tutorial that takes you through exactly what you need to do to accomplish this; the process is a bit lengthy, but well worth it if you share printer resources. FYI, this also frees up counter space since your printer can be wherever you want it with this setup—and it will work even more efficiently if you network your printers.
The latest craze among teenagers and younger children alike are social networking sites. According to a report almost 60% of children in the United States own an account in one of the numerous social networking sites out there, the most popular ones being Myspace, Facebook and Bebo.
Social networking can be fun but at the same time it can also give rise to many issues. The stories of online predators looking to target children are true and there have been many instances in the past that make us dread of the consequences. You cannot stop your child from accessing these networks as all his/her friends are doing it. But there are some common sense precautionary measures you can take to ensure that your child is safe. Here are some tips to consider
1.) Get Educated: First and foremost as a parent you should know what a social networking website is. If you thought so far that Myspace is just another website that teens visit or that Facebook is a place where children read books online then it's time you get your facts right. Check with other parents or internet users and find out what a social networking site is and how it works. Learn what people do there, how people interact and the problems that children could possibly face by participation in such a network.
2.) Keep Track Of Your Child's Online Activities: Keep track of your child's online activities by installing a spy software in their machine. Monitor this spy software regularly and investigate if you find suspicious activity. A suspicious activity could be a stranger asking personal information from your child or trying to meet your child. Most software tracking programs also track logins and passwords so you can always login to your child's account in a social network and monitor the activities closely. You can also consider opening your own myspace, bebo or facebook account depending on which social network your child frequents
3.) Talk to your children About Networking Online: Most parents do not bother about their children's online activities but if you are one of them then it's high time you start taking some interest. Fix up a day and talk to your child about his favorite sites, why he likes to visit them and what he does there. Educate your child about what to and what not to do on a social network. Tell them why they should not reveal their personal information or post personal pics on a network.
4.) Teach Your Child Basics of Social Networking Etiquettes: Children should be instructed to be polite online and not be rude to others. In addition they also need to be told what consists of a good profile page and what isn't. There are many websites that offer free myspace comments for instance and children can find a host of comments there including rude comments. Tell them why they should not be using rude comments on friend's profiles and how they can maintain good friendship with people online. Lack of proper guidance in this area can lead to children getting into conflicts with others online which could lead even to serious consequences.
5.) Keep The PC in a Monitorable Position: Keep the PC in a place that is easily monitorable to you like the kitchen or the dining room. This way you can keep better track of your child's activities.
6.) Become Your Child's Online Friend: The best way to keep track of your child's activities on social networks is to open an account yourself and ask your child to share his/her profile with you. This way you know exactly who your child's friends are and what kind of communication is going on between them.
7.) Look for Identifiable Information Online: Even after telling your kids to not reveal personal information online there could be chances that your child might have done this in the past sometime. Make use of the search feature on social networks to search for identifiable information like your child's name, address and phone number. If you find such information, ask you child to delete them immediately.
By following these simple common sense tips you as a parent can ensure that your child is safe online.
II.Computer Repair, Laptop Repair & Mac Repair in Orange Country
HbtechUSA configure your server for networking and protection; supported services are:
• File Server (using SMB, CIFS protocols)
• FTP Server (using port 21, 22)
• Print Server
• Fax Server
• Backup Server (ws2008, EMC Retrospect Server)
• Antiviral Server
• P2P Networking Server
• Web Server using IIS (XP Pro, and WS2003, WS2008)
• Application Servers.
File Server (using SMB, CIFS protocols)
The Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol is a network file sharing protocol, and as implemented in Microsoft Windows is known as Microsoft SMB Protocol. The set of message packets that defines a particular version of the protocol is called a dialect. The Common Internet File System (CIFS) Protocol is a dialect of SMB. Both SMB and CIFS are also available on VMS, several versions of Unix, and other operating systems.
If you think SMB/CIFS can give you complete Mac OS compatibility, think again. Microsoft designed the SMB protocol to support Windows file sharing. The SMB client makes the Mac look like a Windows client, but to act like Windows the Mac has to make compromises, so that some of the core features of Mac OS X don't map well to this protocol.
FTP Server
HbtechUSA FTP Server is advanced FTP server software for Windows developed specifically for security and high performance requirements. HbtechUSA FTP Server is a professional Windows FTP Server featuring speed, reliability and customization. Its main assets are remote administration. Its fast performances allow it to run heavily loaded files servers worldwide but this does not make it out of range of smaller companies who will find in it a customizable, trustable and easy to administer FTP server at an affordable price.
Print Server
HbtechUSA Save some system resources and share multiple printers between more than one machine by recycling that old "junk" system sitting in your garage into a dedicated print server. How has a step by step tutorial that takes you through exactly what you need to do to accomplish this; the process is a bit lengthy, but well worth it if you share printer resources. FYI, this also frees up counter space since your printer can be wherever you want it with this setup—and it will work even more efficiently if you network your printers.
BUSINESS-EMAILMARKETING -4
1.Advanced Email Marketing Strategies…
Instead of discussing just one aspect - such as teaching you how to set up an email marketing campaign or give you an email marketing template - I’ll be sharing some tips and tactics that I’ve learnt over the years while managing my newsletters. Not all strategies are created equal. For example, implementing Tip #1 might not increase your bottom line by much if your newsletter doesn’t integrate the tips very well. On the other hand, if your current crop of subscribers were acquired from those cheap holiday mega-giveaways, you might be surprised to learn how much an effect Tip #4 can have on the profits generated through your newsletter. You might already know a few tips from this list - that’s good, because now you know you’re on the right track.
In essence, these are the specific aspects of your newsletter strategy that you should “check” regularly to see if you’re doing them (and doing them right). And make sure you monitor your own results to find out what works and doesn’t work - you are bound to learn something every time you send out an issue (assuming that you’re continuously plugging away and testing things). Below are my Top 10 practices and tactics that I’ve picked up over the years:
1 - Readers Come First
People care less about you and more about themselves. In each issue, review each section with the specific criteria of usefulness to the reader. If it’s not at least a 3 out of 5, either ditch it or push it to the end of the issue. In fact, you might try to structure your newsletter by sticking in what you think is most useful to the reader at the top, and working downwards from that.
2 - What Have I Done for You Lately?
Depending on how frequent your newsletter issues are, you will need one new “big thing” to keep the publication fresh. Whether its in the form of a new service, a tool or a free ebook / report, make sure to provide something valuable (on a large scale) to your subscribers periodically (say every year, or every 6 months).
You could even put the offering on a new website, and thus generate rapid publicity (and free links) to your site as a result of such a promotion.
On a side note, be on the lookout for several new tools and services that I’ll be announcing - a keyword tool (Keyword Elite) and an article writing service are just two of them. Stay tuned. I’m very excited to show you guys!
3 - Quality Source of Subscribers
It’s absolutely critical to the success of your email newsletter to figure out where your new subscribers will come from. Many subscribers to SEO Elite come from the thousands of inbound links to its home page, many more still arrive from the search engines and others are acquired through syndicated articles across a network of reputed sites.
4 - Keep It Simple, Very Simple
That goes for layout, sentence structure, copy style and editorial guidelines. Readers in this medium need to “get it” fast. If you try to get them overly involved with complex schemes or hard-to-understand copy, you’ll lose them. It’s like radio, in a way. It’s very easy to lose someone’s attention in radio because there are no visuals. Online is a lean-in, rush-to-read-it medium. People lean forward into their computer monitors, usually with a very specific intention. Serve that intention or something very close to that intention - with speed. If you’re building your online presence through podcasts (audio blogging) and/or vidcasts (video blogging), this advice applies in spades. Make everything easily accessible, and allow for a link to a page that helps out first-timers or people who are having any trouble.
5 - Pick Your Email Service Provider Carefully
Read their white papers on email marketing and take it for a trial spin before committing resources. See which businesses similar to yours use a similar service - call them up and see what they have to say about that service. In short, do your homework before you leap. You don’t want to be caught in a situation where you build up your list through one service provider before realizing that there’s another email service that offers better terms, is more scalable and generally more suited to your needs.
6 - Show Your Face
I’m guilty of not following this advice on the SEO Elite newsletter. However, understand that the Internet is (still) a pretty spooky place. Showing your face, rather than some slick graphic, is a good bet. People like to know there’s a human at the other end of the line.
7 - Put the Subscriber First
Even if your email newsletter is complimentary, first serve the subscriber as though he/she was paying for your product. If you don’t, your readership will sense you have other agendas and lose their loyalty. Give your readers everything you have, and don’t hold anything back. It’s important you give MUCH more than you receive… so give them every ounce that you have in you.
8 - Make Your Newsletter Indispensable
If your newsletter becomes a must-read, other sites will point to you, which will increase your standing in search engine results and bring you even more traffic and subscribers… but you must first be such a solid resource that other sites can justify pointing to you as that industry’s “go-to” resource.
9 - Subject Headers Rule
No matter who is in the “From” field, you know you need a compelling subject header. Keep it short, sweet and direct. No hyperbole or overly “sales-like” material. I’ve seen the very same solo email campaign draw 20% better response rates (and more) using a different subject header. BTW, I notice my subscribers love “How To” subject headers. It makes sense. After all, people who read an SEO newsletter are always interested in knowing how to do things or how to do things better. Never, and I repeat, never use the subject line: “Article 107 of 182? or something along those lines. Use something intriuging. Nobody cares if this is Article 107, or whatever the case may be. The purpose of the subject line is to get people to open the email.
10 - Never allow others to pay you to advertise in your newsletter
Every once in a great while, it’s ok to do a little advertising in your newsletter, but if you decide to do this, it had better be either for your own product OR for a product that you are a direct affiliate of. Wasting your 1 mailing containing an advertisement for something, on someone else’s ad is a big no-no. You could earn far more money AND chances are you could be telling your subscribers about a much more helpful product if it’s one you picked out yourself.
Make sure that you review your publishing strategy and find out if you’re not implementing any one or more of these tips - they could make a significant difference to your bottom line.
II.3 of the Most Common Questions About Email Marketing
One form of Internet marketing that has kind of gotten a black eye in the past is e-mail marketing. Many Internet marketers do not even bother trying to run an email marketing campaign today and that is a mistake.
Here are three of the most common questions about email marketing and we will explain the answers in a way that will help you want to get started using this profitable form of marketing your business online.
1. What is email marketing and why should I do it? Very simply put email marketing is a way to promote your business on the Internet through someone's email address. There are many ways to market on the Internet and email marketing has been around since the very beginning.The primary reason that you should do it is because it works when done correctly. Like anything on the Internet you will need to learn the proper methods of doing email marketing.
2. What is the best way to do email marketing? Building your own opt in list is the best way to do email marketing. An opt in list means that your subscriber has given you permission to send email to them. This takes away all spam complaints and helps you build a quality list.You can build your own list by adding a sign up form to your web pages or by creating a landing page with a sign up form on it. You will also need an autoresponder to store the names and email addresses of your subscribers.
3. How expensive is it to build an email list? Building an email list is not expensive to do at all. If you want to speed the process up you can purchase co-registration leads from lead companies and let them build your list for you. Otherwise you can promote landing pages and drive traffic to your list that way. You can also add a sign-up form to all of your webpages and blog posts to build a list as well.We also want to mention that a list is an asset that no one can take away from you. As your list grows so will your income. It is not uncommon for people to earn a dollar per subscriber every month from their email marketing list. Therefore you can see that a large list can be worth several thousand dollars to you a monthly basis. This right here is a very good reason to do email marketing as part of any Internet marketing program.
Instead of discussing just one aspect - such as teaching you how to set up an email marketing campaign or give you an email marketing template - I’ll be sharing some tips and tactics that I’ve learnt over the years while managing my newsletters. Not all strategies are created equal. For example, implementing Tip #1 might not increase your bottom line by much if your newsletter doesn’t integrate the tips very well. On the other hand, if your current crop of subscribers were acquired from those cheap holiday mega-giveaways, you might be surprised to learn how much an effect Tip #4 can have on the profits generated through your newsletter. You might already know a few tips from this list - that’s good, because now you know you’re on the right track.
In essence, these are the specific aspects of your newsletter strategy that you should “check” regularly to see if you’re doing them (and doing them right). And make sure you monitor your own results to find out what works and doesn’t work - you are bound to learn something every time you send out an issue (assuming that you’re continuously plugging away and testing things). Below are my Top 10 practices and tactics that I’ve picked up over the years:
1 - Readers Come First
People care less about you and more about themselves. In each issue, review each section with the specific criteria of usefulness to the reader. If it’s not at least a 3 out of 5, either ditch it or push it to the end of the issue. In fact, you might try to structure your newsletter by sticking in what you think is most useful to the reader at the top, and working downwards from that.
2 - What Have I Done for You Lately?
Depending on how frequent your newsletter issues are, you will need one new “big thing” to keep the publication fresh. Whether its in the form of a new service, a tool or a free ebook / report, make sure to provide something valuable (on a large scale) to your subscribers periodically (say every year, or every 6 months).
You could even put the offering on a new website, and thus generate rapid publicity (and free links) to your site as a result of such a promotion.
On a side note, be on the lookout for several new tools and services that I’ll be announcing - a keyword tool (Keyword Elite) and an article writing service are just two of them. Stay tuned. I’m very excited to show you guys!
3 - Quality Source of Subscribers
It’s absolutely critical to the success of your email newsletter to figure out where your new subscribers will come from. Many subscribers to SEO Elite come from the thousands of inbound links to its home page, many more still arrive from the search engines and others are acquired through syndicated articles across a network of reputed sites.
4 - Keep It Simple, Very Simple
That goes for layout, sentence structure, copy style and editorial guidelines. Readers in this medium need to “get it” fast. If you try to get them overly involved with complex schemes or hard-to-understand copy, you’ll lose them. It’s like radio, in a way. It’s very easy to lose someone’s attention in radio because there are no visuals. Online is a lean-in, rush-to-read-it medium. People lean forward into their computer monitors, usually with a very specific intention. Serve that intention or something very close to that intention - with speed. If you’re building your online presence through podcasts (audio blogging) and/or vidcasts (video blogging), this advice applies in spades. Make everything easily accessible, and allow for a link to a page that helps out first-timers or people who are having any trouble.
5 - Pick Your Email Service Provider Carefully
Read their white papers on email marketing and take it for a trial spin before committing resources. See which businesses similar to yours use a similar service - call them up and see what they have to say about that service. In short, do your homework before you leap. You don’t want to be caught in a situation where you build up your list through one service provider before realizing that there’s another email service that offers better terms, is more scalable and generally more suited to your needs.
6 - Show Your Face
I’m guilty of not following this advice on the SEO Elite newsletter. However, understand that the Internet is (still) a pretty spooky place. Showing your face, rather than some slick graphic, is a good bet. People like to know there’s a human at the other end of the line.
7 - Put the Subscriber First
Even if your email newsletter is complimentary, first serve the subscriber as though he/she was paying for your product. If you don’t, your readership will sense you have other agendas and lose their loyalty. Give your readers everything you have, and don’t hold anything back. It’s important you give MUCH more than you receive… so give them every ounce that you have in you.
8 - Make Your Newsletter Indispensable
If your newsletter becomes a must-read, other sites will point to you, which will increase your standing in search engine results and bring you even more traffic and subscribers… but you must first be such a solid resource that other sites can justify pointing to you as that industry’s “go-to” resource.
9 - Subject Headers Rule
No matter who is in the “From” field, you know you need a compelling subject header. Keep it short, sweet and direct. No hyperbole or overly “sales-like” material. I’ve seen the very same solo email campaign draw 20% better response rates (and more) using a different subject header. BTW, I notice my subscribers love “How To” subject headers. It makes sense. After all, people who read an SEO newsletter are always interested in knowing how to do things or how to do things better. Never, and I repeat, never use the subject line: “Article 107 of 182? or something along those lines. Use something intriuging. Nobody cares if this is Article 107, or whatever the case may be. The purpose of the subject line is to get people to open the email.
10 - Never allow others to pay you to advertise in your newsletter
Every once in a great while, it’s ok to do a little advertising in your newsletter, but if you decide to do this, it had better be either for your own product OR for a product that you are a direct affiliate of. Wasting your 1 mailing containing an advertisement for something, on someone else’s ad is a big no-no. You could earn far more money AND chances are you could be telling your subscribers about a much more helpful product if it’s one you picked out yourself.
Make sure that you review your publishing strategy and find out if you’re not implementing any one or more of these tips - they could make a significant difference to your bottom line.
II.3 of the Most Common Questions About Email Marketing
One form of Internet marketing that has kind of gotten a black eye in the past is e-mail marketing. Many Internet marketers do not even bother trying to run an email marketing campaign today and that is a mistake.
Here are three of the most common questions about email marketing and we will explain the answers in a way that will help you want to get started using this profitable form of marketing your business online.
1. What is email marketing and why should I do it? Very simply put email marketing is a way to promote your business on the Internet through someone's email address. There are many ways to market on the Internet and email marketing has been around since the very beginning.The primary reason that you should do it is because it works when done correctly. Like anything on the Internet you will need to learn the proper methods of doing email marketing.
2. What is the best way to do email marketing? Building your own opt in list is the best way to do email marketing. An opt in list means that your subscriber has given you permission to send email to them. This takes away all spam complaints and helps you build a quality list.You can build your own list by adding a sign up form to your web pages or by creating a landing page with a sign up form on it. You will also need an autoresponder to store the names and email addresses of your subscribers.
3. How expensive is it to build an email list? Building an email list is not expensive to do at all. If you want to speed the process up you can purchase co-registration leads from lead companies and let them build your list for you. Otherwise you can promote landing pages and drive traffic to your list that way. You can also add a sign-up form to all of your webpages and blog posts to build a list as well.We also want to mention that a list is an asset that no one can take away from you. As your list grows so will your income. It is not uncommon for people to earn a dollar per subscriber every month from their email marketing list. Therefore you can see that a large list can be worth several thousand dollars to you a monthly basis. This right here is a very good reason to do email marketing as part of any Internet marketing program.
BUSINESS-EMAIL MARKETING -3
I.How To Successfully Sell On Line Using Bulk Commercial Emails
I have a different view of spam because I make a living by sending email that some might consider to be spam. Commercial e-mail is a great way to sell and you can successfully use it for internet marketing. Spam is anything you receive that you are not interested in. It's the electronic version of paper "junk mail". If you are interested in the product or service being offered, you probably don't consider it spam. This article discusses how to send bulk commercial emails that are welcomed by the recipient and that sell.
Complaints & How They Affect You
When you advertise by bulk email, some people may complain. It could be people with nothing better to do, it could be people you offended with your message etc. If enough people complain, you can lose your ISP (the company that allows you to connect with the internet), your telephone number and your web site. There are ways to make the chance of harm form complaints less probable.
Comply With The Law
If you are in the US, you must comply with the laws about unsolicited commercial emails. Luckily, these laws are not hard to obey. Be sure find out more about the laws that are in effect and comply with them. Most laws ask for reasonable things like not stripping headers, not using misleading Subject Lines, having a working unsubscribe system and disclosing your name address and phone number. These are reasonable and easy to comply with.
Harvest Names That Fit - Use Specific Pages If Possible
First, you need email addresses. I have never successfully bought a list. That's because people that have worked hard to accumulate a list of customers and prospects would probably not allow anyone else to mail to them. The list is more valuable than the revenue they can make by renting or selling the list.
The best way to get email addresses is to use a harvester program. These are reasonably priced at about $30.00 to $99.00. You key in key words you want to find and the harvester travels the web and harvests email addresses on any page with those key words. For example, if you are looking for attorneys in Texas, you key "attorneys Texas" into the harvester and it scours the internet and harvest emails. You need to be cautious with the results as any page with those words will be harvested. For example, if I had a page that said, "My wife is using an attorney in TX" the harvester would add my name to the list even though I am not an attorney and not in TX.
You will get far better results if you a harvest from specific web sites that you know contain your targeted prospects. For example, you may find a web site that lists every attorney in Texas. It could be the Texas Law Association, a state page, a referral service etc. This method is much more accurate but it takes time and effort. To find such sites, key in things like "directories of TX attorneys" and you will find directories of there are any.
Verify & Purge List Before Sending
Another factor leading to complains is contacting people who have nothing to do with your product or service. For example, any email address ending in ".mil" is a military site. Any address ending in ".gov" or ".us" is a government site. I also avoid any ending in ".edu" and ".org" as I have found that people in schools and organizations complain more than others.
To purge you list, open you list in a program line "notebook" and use the search and replace feature to find all addresses of a certain type and eliminate them. Most bulk email sender programs have a way to purge duplicates and this is important. Nothing makes people madder than getting multiple copies of an email.
Before you send emails, we suggest you verify the list. To do this, you need a bulk email verifier. You can find these by keying phrases like "bulk email verifier" into your browser bar. These programs are inexpensive. They send out a "ping" to every address in your list to find out if it is working. By only mailing to working addresses, you will not have thousands of returned emails flood your box and huge numbers of returns tell you mail account owner that you are sending large volumes of commercial emails.
Space Out Your Sends
We suggest you only send about 250 emails at a time, wait a few minutes and send another 250 email packet. Many bulk email senders have this feature built in. This is important to stay under the radar of mail services. Some services automatically delete and emails sent in large batches.
This article covers just a few of the things you need to do in order to be successful with bulk emails. You can succeed. It works for big companies and it will work for you.
II.Understanding How E-mail Marketing Could Work to Your Business' Advantage - Part 2
There are several automated mailing service providers out there but most webmasters use is Aweber. The software this company offer can help you personalise your mails and even offers HTML templates, sign up forms. This is a very helpful software in running your permission-based e-mail marketing campaign.
And in sending mails to your subscribers, it would also help that you send them sparingly. Perhaps send newsletters or updates to them once or twice a month. You know how annoying it is when every time you open your mail and you see a bunch of newsletters coming from the same company, right? Sending multiple mails can only lead to spamming. What's worst is that doing so will only prompt clients to unsubscribe to your newsletter.
One other way to keep your mails from being flagged as spam is by using a good subject heading, preferably personalized. Doing so can also help you build a pleasant relationship with your clients.
And in order to retain your subscribers, you can opt to offer freebies. Nothing too grand but something you know your subscribers will appreciate and keep them interested with your newsletters or products. Perhaps like free helpful links, e-book, or tips which you can send to them either on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Again, you have to give them options.
Quick response is also essential in this type of marketing. When a client has a question, make it a habit to give them answers right away. However, keep in mind that you have to send quality response as well. Clients see you as an expert that is why they come to you for help or inquiries. It is only fitting that you respond accordingly. Moreover, this is the best way to strengthen your clients trust in you and your business.
And of course, no matter how you try to retain subscribers, there are just some who will eventually choose to unsubscribe. But need not worry, there are various reasons why people unsubscribe, so just let them go. There will definitely be a lot more other subscribers that will come your way.
Now, if a subscriber requests for a removal, do so immediately. Don't risk your reputation by delaying the removal. Just think, it would only annoy them if you keep sending them e-mails despite their request. Also, keeping your list clean would do you greater good. Remove failed e-mails from your list to keep you from getting black listed in various domains.
I have a different view of spam because I make a living by sending email that some might consider to be spam. Commercial e-mail is a great way to sell and you can successfully use it for internet marketing. Spam is anything you receive that you are not interested in. It's the electronic version of paper "junk mail". If you are interested in the product or service being offered, you probably don't consider it spam. This article discusses how to send bulk commercial emails that are welcomed by the recipient and that sell.
Complaints & How They Affect You
When you advertise by bulk email, some people may complain. It could be people with nothing better to do, it could be people you offended with your message etc. If enough people complain, you can lose your ISP (the company that allows you to connect with the internet), your telephone number and your web site. There are ways to make the chance of harm form complaints less probable.
Comply With The Law
If you are in the US, you must comply with the laws about unsolicited commercial emails. Luckily, these laws are not hard to obey. Be sure find out more about the laws that are in effect and comply with them. Most laws ask for reasonable things like not stripping headers, not using misleading Subject Lines, having a working unsubscribe system and disclosing your name address and phone number. These are reasonable and easy to comply with.
Harvest Names That Fit - Use Specific Pages If Possible
First, you need email addresses. I have never successfully bought a list. That's because people that have worked hard to accumulate a list of customers and prospects would probably not allow anyone else to mail to them. The list is more valuable than the revenue they can make by renting or selling the list.
The best way to get email addresses is to use a harvester program. These are reasonably priced at about $30.00 to $99.00. You key in key words you want to find and the harvester travels the web and harvests email addresses on any page with those key words. For example, if you are looking for attorneys in Texas, you key "attorneys Texas" into the harvester and it scours the internet and harvest emails. You need to be cautious with the results as any page with those words will be harvested. For example, if I had a page that said, "My wife is using an attorney in TX" the harvester would add my name to the list even though I am not an attorney and not in TX.
You will get far better results if you a harvest from specific web sites that you know contain your targeted prospects. For example, you may find a web site that lists every attorney in Texas. It could be the Texas Law Association, a state page, a referral service etc. This method is much more accurate but it takes time and effort. To find such sites, key in things like "directories of TX attorneys" and you will find directories of there are any.
Verify & Purge List Before Sending
Another factor leading to complains is contacting people who have nothing to do with your product or service. For example, any email address ending in ".mil" is a military site. Any address ending in ".gov" or ".us" is a government site. I also avoid any ending in ".edu" and ".org" as I have found that people in schools and organizations complain more than others.
To purge you list, open you list in a program line "notebook" and use the search and replace feature to find all addresses of a certain type and eliminate them. Most bulk email sender programs have a way to purge duplicates and this is important. Nothing makes people madder than getting multiple copies of an email.
Before you send emails, we suggest you verify the list. To do this, you need a bulk email verifier. You can find these by keying phrases like "bulk email verifier" into your browser bar. These programs are inexpensive. They send out a "ping" to every address in your list to find out if it is working. By only mailing to working addresses, you will not have thousands of returned emails flood your box and huge numbers of returns tell you mail account owner that you are sending large volumes of commercial emails.
Space Out Your Sends
We suggest you only send about 250 emails at a time, wait a few minutes and send another 250 email packet. Many bulk email senders have this feature built in. This is important to stay under the radar of mail services. Some services automatically delete and emails sent in large batches.
This article covers just a few of the things you need to do in order to be successful with bulk emails. You can succeed. It works for big companies and it will work for you.
II.Understanding How E-mail Marketing Could Work to Your Business' Advantage - Part 2
There are several automated mailing service providers out there but most webmasters use is Aweber. The software this company offer can help you personalise your mails and even offers HTML templates, sign up forms. This is a very helpful software in running your permission-based e-mail marketing campaign.
And in sending mails to your subscribers, it would also help that you send them sparingly. Perhaps send newsletters or updates to them once or twice a month. You know how annoying it is when every time you open your mail and you see a bunch of newsletters coming from the same company, right? Sending multiple mails can only lead to spamming. What's worst is that doing so will only prompt clients to unsubscribe to your newsletter.
One other way to keep your mails from being flagged as spam is by using a good subject heading, preferably personalized. Doing so can also help you build a pleasant relationship with your clients.
And in order to retain your subscribers, you can opt to offer freebies. Nothing too grand but something you know your subscribers will appreciate and keep them interested with your newsletters or products. Perhaps like free helpful links, e-book, or tips which you can send to them either on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Again, you have to give them options.
Quick response is also essential in this type of marketing. When a client has a question, make it a habit to give them answers right away. However, keep in mind that you have to send quality response as well. Clients see you as an expert that is why they come to you for help or inquiries. It is only fitting that you respond accordingly. Moreover, this is the best way to strengthen your clients trust in you and your business.
And of course, no matter how you try to retain subscribers, there are just some who will eventually choose to unsubscribe. But need not worry, there are various reasons why people unsubscribe, so just let them go. There will definitely be a lot more other subscribers that will come your way.
Now, if a subscriber requests for a removal, do so immediately. Don't risk your reputation by delaying the removal. Just think, it would only annoy them if you keep sending them e-mails despite their request. Also, keeping your list clean would do you greater good. Remove failed e-mails from your list to keep you from getting black listed in various domains.
HOME IMPROVEMENT -2
I.Get A Dream Bathroom In Five Steps
Bathroom remodeling ranks with kitchen remodeling as one of America's most popular major home improvements, perhaps because the return on investment when you sell your home is so high.
Bathroom remodeling can cost you as much or as little as you choose to put into it. While a simple spruce-up involving a new vanity top, light fixture and accessories can be done for well under $1000, many people are choosing to yank everything out and start from scratch again. A completely new upgraded bathroom can cost $10,000 or more. Start your project right with the following bathroom remodeling tips:
1. Determine your exact bathroom needs. Do you want to enlarge your bathroom? Do you need another sink? Would you like to add windows? Does the bathroom tile need to be replaced? Think about what your ideal bathroom will look like and then prioritize your needs before your wants.
2. Gather bathroom design ideas. A set of architectural plans will really help you and your remodeling professionals visualize the finished project, but any design preparations can be helpful. Consult with a designer for ideas or check out magazines and cut out ideas, designs or photos that approximate what you want. It can also be helpful to a designer if you can make a sketch on graph paper of what your plans are. Any of these things will be help you to express to your bathroom remodeling professionals
3. Establish a realistic bathroom remodeling budget. At this time you will also need to determine how you will finance your bathroom remodel. Do you have a savings that you can dip into or will you need get a loan? The answer to this will be a factor in determining your budget. Will this be a larger remodel or are you making minor changes?
When establishing your budget keep in mind the design ideas you would like and whether they fall on the pricier side. Also, it will always be less expensive if you don't need to relocate plumbing fixtures, such as toilets or sinks, so if you are on a smaller budget it is more economical to incorporate your current bathroom layout into the new design.
4. Don't forget building permits. Before beginning the remodeling process be sure to secure a building permit from your local city or county government. Failure to do so could ultimately make your bathroom remodel much more costly.
5. Consider popular bathroom design trends. Second sinks have become very popular in bathroom remodels as they allow two people to use the bathroom at the same time. Another popular trend in bathroom design is separating the toilet from the rest of the bathroom.
If you only have a shower, consider replacing this with a bathtub which can serve double duty as both a bath and a shower. Whirlpool bathtubs have also become very popular in today's bathrooms. Nearly everyone elects to include a bathroom exhaust fan, often incorporating a heater on a timer, as well.
II.Exactly What Is Home Automation
Home automation, which is also called smart homes or domotics, is a field within building automation that specializes in the specific automation requirements of private homes and in the application of automation techniques for the comfort and security of its residents.
Although many techniques are used in building automation such as light control, climate control, control of doors and window shutters, security systems, and surveillance systems are also used in home automation. Additional functions in home automation can include the control of multi-media home entertainment systems, automatic plant watering and pet feeding, automatic scenes for dinners and parties, and a more user friendly control interface.
When home automation is installed during construction of a new home, usually control wires are added before the interior walls are installed. These control wires run to a controller, which will then control the environment. Some standards use communication and control wiring, some embed signals in the power line, some use radio frequency signals, and some use a combination of several methods. Control wiring is hardest to retrofit into an existing house. Some appliances include USB that is used to control it and connect it to a domotics network.
In extreme installations, rooms can sense not only the presence of a person but know who that person is and perhaps set the appropriate lighting, temperature, and music and television taking into account the day of week, time of day, and other factors. Other automated tasks may include setting the air conditioning to an energy saving setting when the house is unoccupied, and restoring the normal setting when an occupant is about to return.
More sophisticated systems can maintain an inventory of products, recording their usage through an RFID tag, and prepare a shopping list or even automatically order replacements. Some practical implementations of home automation are for example when an alarm detects a fire or smoke condition, then all lights in the house will blink to alert occupants. If the house is equipped with a home theater, then a home automation system can shut down all audio and video components to alert the user to a possible fire or a burglar.
The elements of a domotics system are the controllers, sensors, and actuators. From the point of view of where the intelligence of the domotic system resides, there are three different architectures. The first is centralized architecture, which is a centralized controller receives information of multiple sensors and, once processed, generates the opportune orders for the actuators. The second is distributed architecture, which is all the intelligence of the system is distributed by all the modules that are sensors or actuators. Usually it is typical of the systems of wiring in bus. Finally, there is mixed architecture, which is systems that have a decentralized architecture as far as which they have several small devices able to acquire and to process the information of multiple sensors and to transmit them to the rest of devices distributed by the house.
Lighting control systems involves aspects related to controlling electric lights. Extinguished general of all the lights of the house, automation of switched off / ignition in every point of light, and the regulation of the illumination according to the level of ambient luminosity. Natural lighting control involves controlling window shades, LCD shades, draperies, and awnings.
Bathroom remodeling ranks with kitchen remodeling as one of America's most popular major home improvements, perhaps because the return on investment when you sell your home is so high.
Bathroom remodeling can cost you as much or as little as you choose to put into it. While a simple spruce-up involving a new vanity top, light fixture and accessories can be done for well under $1000, many people are choosing to yank everything out and start from scratch again. A completely new upgraded bathroom can cost $10,000 or more. Start your project right with the following bathroom remodeling tips:
1. Determine your exact bathroom needs. Do you want to enlarge your bathroom? Do you need another sink? Would you like to add windows? Does the bathroom tile need to be replaced? Think about what your ideal bathroom will look like and then prioritize your needs before your wants.
2. Gather bathroom design ideas. A set of architectural plans will really help you and your remodeling professionals visualize the finished project, but any design preparations can be helpful. Consult with a designer for ideas or check out magazines and cut out ideas, designs or photos that approximate what you want. It can also be helpful to a designer if you can make a sketch on graph paper of what your plans are. Any of these things will be help you to express to your bathroom remodeling professionals
3. Establish a realistic bathroom remodeling budget. At this time you will also need to determine how you will finance your bathroom remodel. Do you have a savings that you can dip into or will you need get a loan? The answer to this will be a factor in determining your budget. Will this be a larger remodel or are you making minor changes?
When establishing your budget keep in mind the design ideas you would like and whether they fall on the pricier side. Also, it will always be less expensive if you don't need to relocate plumbing fixtures, such as toilets or sinks, so if you are on a smaller budget it is more economical to incorporate your current bathroom layout into the new design.
4. Don't forget building permits. Before beginning the remodeling process be sure to secure a building permit from your local city or county government. Failure to do so could ultimately make your bathroom remodel much more costly.
5. Consider popular bathroom design trends. Second sinks have become very popular in bathroom remodels as they allow two people to use the bathroom at the same time. Another popular trend in bathroom design is separating the toilet from the rest of the bathroom.
If you only have a shower, consider replacing this with a bathtub which can serve double duty as both a bath and a shower. Whirlpool bathtubs have also become very popular in today's bathrooms. Nearly everyone elects to include a bathroom exhaust fan, often incorporating a heater on a timer, as well.
II.Exactly What Is Home Automation
Home automation, which is also called smart homes or domotics, is a field within building automation that specializes in the specific automation requirements of private homes and in the application of automation techniques for the comfort and security of its residents.
Although many techniques are used in building automation such as light control, climate control, control of doors and window shutters, security systems, and surveillance systems are also used in home automation. Additional functions in home automation can include the control of multi-media home entertainment systems, automatic plant watering and pet feeding, automatic scenes for dinners and parties, and a more user friendly control interface.
When home automation is installed during construction of a new home, usually control wires are added before the interior walls are installed. These control wires run to a controller, which will then control the environment. Some standards use communication and control wiring, some embed signals in the power line, some use radio frequency signals, and some use a combination of several methods. Control wiring is hardest to retrofit into an existing house. Some appliances include USB that is used to control it and connect it to a domotics network.
In extreme installations, rooms can sense not only the presence of a person but know who that person is and perhaps set the appropriate lighting, temperature, and music and television taking into account the day of week, time of day, and other factors. Other automated tasks may include setting the air conditioning to an energy saving setting when the house is unoccupied, and restoring the normal setting when an occupant is about to return.
More sophisticated systems can maintain an inventory of products, recording their usage through an RFID tag, and prepare a shopping list or even automatically order replacements. Some practical implementations of home automation are for example when an alarm detects a fire or smoke condition, then all lights in the house will blink to alert occupants. If the house is equipped with a home theater, then a home automation system can shut down all audio and video components to alert the user to a possible fire or a burglar.
The elements of a domotics system are the controllers, sensors, and actuators. From the point of view of where the intelligence of the domotic system resides, there are three different architectures. The first is centralized architecture, which is a centralized controller receives information of multiple sensors and, once processed, generates the opportune orders for the actuators. The second is distributed architecture, which is all the intelligence of the system is distributed by all the modules that are sensors or actuators. Usually it is typical of the systems of wiring in bus. Finally, there is mixed architecture, which is systems that have a decentralized architecture as far as which they have several small devices able to acquire and to process the information of multiple sensors and to transmit them to the rest of devices distributed by the house.
Lighting control systems involves aspects related to controlling electric lights. Extinguished general of all the lights of the house, automation of switched off / ignition in every point of light, and the regulation of the illumination according to the level of ambient luminosity. Natural lighting control involves controlling window shades, LCD shades, draperies, and awnings.
HOME IMPROVEMENT -1
I.Kitchens Have Become the Focal Point of Many Modern Households
Kitchens have been the focal point of many households for centuries. Kitchens are no longer just a place where food is prepared. They have become a place for friends and families to hang out and discuss the day, or to get-together for a cook-off or wine-tasting.
If you are a family that enjoys spending time in the kitchen, you probably want it to have a visual appeal that represents your family. Whether you are going for a cozy ambiance or a strictly functional kitchen, one thing to keep in mind is cabinet space.
Kitchen cabinets serve many purposes. They will free-up counter and working space, they add visual appeal and the look of your kitchen cabinets will set the mood for great entertaining. This is especially true in open floor plans where the kitchen essentially leads right into the living room & dining room.
If you are in the market for a relatively easy way to enhance your kitchen, the following are a few tips and pointers for those of you who want or need to make your kitchen more accessible, user-friendly, and functional.
Make a list of the current problems in your kitchen-inadequate counter or work space, appliances installed too far apart, inadequate cabinet and storage space, insufficient or awkwardly placed lighting, a sink that is too small, or improper ventilation.
Shop around at annual Home Shows for the latest kitchen layouts and designs. There are generally a plethora of magazines and books at any home improvement center that will help you decide exactly what you want.
Consider convenience. If you are going to perform a major overhaul you will need to consider adding storage, more cabinets, and placing appliances close to each other.
Make your visual choices carefully. You have a variety of cabinets to choose from- Maple, birch, oak, cherry, or synthetic cabinets. You may want to enhance your kitchen with window cabinets to display beautiful dishes or attractively contained food, oils, or spices.
After choosing the material of your new cabinets, you will need to consider color or finish choices. You want something that will visually blend with what you have or something that will match new appliances.
Lastly, remember that this is really a family project. You should consult everyone when making your choices. Remember that your kitchen will not be functional as long as you will be renovating. If you do not think that you have the time or know-how, you might want to consider hiring a professional.
The days of woman toiling alone in the kitchen are long gone. Now couples share cooking responsibilities or the male might be the primary cook of the household. Groups of guys have even been known to get together to share their cooking expertise.
A kitchen is a great place, no matter what the occasion, to gather for family meals, quiet mornings, entertaining, or for the holidays. It is the place where family traditions and childhood memories are formed so take your time and consider your choices wisely.
II.Small Space Bathtubs With Personality
Is your standard tub not giving you enough depth to soak in? While technically a tub, these common denizens of small bathrooms really don't deserve the word, at least to a normal adult human. If you are looking for a way to jazz up your bathroom and have a tub that will actually allow you to soak in it, read on.
Many people see a soaking tub as a giant monstrosity that only a palatial luxury bathroom can accommodate. This is not so; there are many options out on the market! Look for a tub that is shorter but deeper, allowing you to soak comfortably while still fitting into your smaller space. Most smaller tubs will accommodate the same shower head as traditional tubs. If they are freestanding, they may require more in the way of curtains or panels to shield the walls and floor from water.
Japanese bathtubs have become more popular in recent years. These tubs are based around a tradition of soaking in very hot water. Japanese etiquette has it that the tub is used for soaking rather than cleansing, so the idea was that one would wash oneself before stepping into the water. Some North American companies have taken the idea of the sit-down tub and modified it to suit Western customs of cleansing in the tub. No matter what you choose, this can be a great choice for the person who enjoys completely surrounding themselves with hot water.
Walk-in bathtubs are becoming popular with the elderly and the handicapped, two demographics that can have difficulty negotiating traditional tubs. These are manufactured with doors that seal shut upon entry. Many have raised seats, rather like the Japanese-style tub, allowing for a comfortable shower or soak. The walk-in design, plus handrails and seating, make these bathtubs much less risky for older or infirm individuals.
Some freestanding "claw foot" bathtubs come in a variety of sizes and, being freestanding, have a little more flexibility in their placement than built-in tubs. The traditional claw foot tub is comparatively large, but there are smaller versions out there. Claw foots tend to be very deep for their size, allowing for a comfortable fit.
In an awkward space, consider some of the corner tubs that have been built to fit into spaces that won't accommodate traditional tubs. There are many tubs built to fit into corners or that can be custom-designed to fit into nearly any spare corner with little space wastage. If you have an unusual bathroom layout, you might find that an unusually shaped tub can be the answer, while still allowing you to remain submerged.
A soaking tub is great for reducing stress, helping injuries heal and aiding relaxation and sleep. The same tub will also lend a bit of uniqueness to your bathroom, something that can make it more attractive to future home buyers, should you sell. With some careful shopping, you can find a tub with a "personality" that suits your requirements a lot more than the standard shower tub.
Kitchens have been the focal point of many households for centuries. Kitchens are no longer just a place where food is prepared. They have become a place for friends and families to hang out and discuss the day, or to get-together for a cook-off or wine-tasting.
If you are a family that enjoys spending time in the kitchen, you probably want it to have a visual appeal that represents your family. Whether you are going for a cozy ambiance or a strictly functional kitchen, one thing to keep in mind is cabinet space.
Kitchen cabinets serve many purposes. They will free-up counter and working space, they add visual appeal and the look of your kitchen cabinets will set the mood for great entertaining. This is especially true in open floor plans where the kitchen essentially leads right into the living room & dining room.
If you are in the market for a relatively easy way to enhance your kitchen, the following are a few tips and pointers for those of you who want or need to make your kitchen more accessible, user-friendly, and functional.
Make a list of the current problems in your kitchen-inadequate counter or work space, appliances installed too far apart, inadequate cabinet and storage space, insufficient or awkwardly placed lighting, a sink that is too small, or improper ventilation.
Shop around at annual Home Shows for the latest kitchen layouts and designs. There are generally a plethora of magazines and books at any home improvement center that will help you decide exactly what you want.
Consider convenience. If you are going to perform a major overhaul you will need to consider adding storage, more cabinets, and placing appliances close to each other.
Make your visual choices carefully. You have a variety of cabinets to choose from- Maple, birch, oak, cherry, or synthetic cabinets. You may want to enhance your kitchen with window cabinets to display beautiful dishes or attractively contained food, oils, or spices.
After choosing the material of your new cabinets, you will need to consider color or finish choices. You want something that will visually blend with what you have or something that will match new appliances.
Lastly, remember that this is really a family project. You should consult everyone when making your choices. Remember that your kitchen will not be functional as long as you will be renovating. If you do not think that you have the time or know-how, you might want to consider hiring a professional.
The days of woman toiling alone in the kitchen are long gone. Now couples share cooking responsibilities or the male might be the primary cook of the household. Groups of guys have even been known to get together to share their cooking expertise.
A kitchen is a great place, no matter what the occasion, to gather for family meals, quiet mornings, entertaining, or for the holidays. It is the place where family traditions and childhood memories are formed so take your time and consider your choices wisely.
II.Small Space Bathtubs With Personality
Is your standard tub not giving you enough depth to soak in? While technically a tub, these common denizens of small bathrooms really don't deserve the word, at least to a normal adult human. If you are looking for a way to jazz up your bathroom and have a tub that will actually allow you to soak in it, read on.
Many people see a soaking tub as a giant monstrosity that only a palatial luxury bathroom can accommodate. This is not so; there are many options out on the market! Look for a tub that is shorter but deeper, allowing you to soak comfortably while still fitting into your smaller space. Most smaller tubs will accommodate the same shower head as traditional tubs. If they are freestanding, they may require more in the way of curtains or panels to shield the walls and floor from water.
Japanese bathtubs have become more popular in recent years. These tubs are based around a tradition of soaking in very hot water. Japanese etiquette has it that the tub is used for soaking rather than cleansing, so the idea was that one would wash oneself before stepping into the water. Some North American companies have taken the idea of the sit-down tub and modified it to suit Western customs of cleansing in the tub. No matter what you choose, this can be a great choice for the person who enjoys completely surrounding themselves with hot water.
Walk-in bathtubs are becoming popular with the elderly and the handicapped, two demographics that can have difficulty negotiating traditional tubs. These are manufactured with doors that seal shut upon entry. Many have raised seats, rather like the Japanese-style tub, allowing for a comfortable shower or soak. The walk-in design, plus handrails and seating, make these bathtubs much less risky for older or infirm individuals.
Some freestanding "claw foot" bathtubs come in a variety of sizes and, being freestanding, have a little more flexibility in their placement than built-in tubs. The traditional claw foot tub is comparatively large, but there are smaller versions out there. Claw foots tend to be very deep for their size, allowing for a comfortable fit.
In an awkward space, consider some of the corner tubs that have been built to fit into spaces that won't accommodate traditional tubs. There are many tubs built to fit into corners or that can be custom-designed to fit into nearly any spare corner with little space wastage. If you have an unusual bathroom layout, you might find that an unusually shaped tub can be the answer, while still allowing you to remain submerged.
A soaking tub is great for reducing stress, helping injuries heal and aiding relaxation and sleep. The same tub will also lend a bit of uniqueness to your bathroom, something that can make it more attractive to future home buyers, should you sell. With some careful shopping, you can find a tub with a "personality" that suits your requirements a lot more than the standard shower tub.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
