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Articles: 1, 2, 3

Working with comparison shopping sites like shopzilla
2007-04-14 00:00:00
s a new online store owner I was initially very excited by the prospect of bringing my products to the comparison shopping sites. It seemed like a fantastic way to be found and bring motivated buyers to my site and jump-start my new business. However, after a few months of pumping quarters into the comparison shopping sites I'm starting to realize
More About: Shopping , Work , Comp , Site , With

Where is the balance and peace?
2007-04-03 00:00:00
I read an interesting blog today from someone in Asia. He had several posts, all related the topics of stress and finding inner peace. Even though his blog needed polish and spell-check (though I'm not one to throw stones), I thought his central message was great. In short, his thesis was that western society is really geared toward those activities that cause stress to go to unhealthy levels. At the same time, he acknowledged that a certain level of stress
More About: Peace , Balance , Here , Alan , Lance

The Housing Market Crash
2007-03-31 00:00:00
In my family the topic of the housing market crash gets daily attention. It all really started when I read Sell Now!: The End of the Housing Bubble by John R Talbott last September. We had lived in our house for 8 years and had become quite comfortable. We also lived in one of the big US
More About: Market , Sing , Crash , Mark

Turn visitors into buyers - simple how-to
2007-03-31 00:00:00
We implemented a simple idea at our web store that really helped turn visitors into buyers. Our traffic often lands on a product-specific page because they get to us via a search engine or comparison shopping site. We were showing just one product on the landing page, big mistake. If the user didn't like that product for whatever reason, they clicked away and we lost
More About: Simp , How-To , Buyer , Visitor , Simple

Meaningful discussion groups for generating valuable ideas
2007-03-31 00:00:00
Since my post on 3/15, I've gained a new respect for some of the discussion groups I've been hanging out in. Specifically, I've come to a new perspective that some discussion groups really are completely sp@mmy while others have a loyal and motivated following. For example, I've been posting regularly in and . I had tried many before these two, but didn't see an
More About: Ideas , Idea , Meaning , Genera , Sion

Work at home internet business
2007-03-31 00:00:00
The work at home internet business opportunities that have become popular over the last few years open income potential to the average guy that would have previously been out of reach. Before the Inter net , the idea of being an entrepreneur and opening your own business meant taking a serious financial risk.
More About: Business , Internet Business , Home

How to overcome the out-of-stock problem with dropshipping
2007-03-31 00:00:00
The number one problem with the dropshipping business model is the out-of-stock problem. You come across this all over the place. Dropshipping is a very attractive business model because it does not require you to hold any inventory. For those who do not know about this, it is a special arrangement where the distributor is set-up to send the product directly to your end customer. The customer usually doesn't know where the
More About: How To , With , Stock , Shipping , Problem

Web 2.0 feels like dot-com all over again
2007-03-31 00:00:00
The web 2.0 movement is certainly mainstream at this point. A quick look at the VC investment data shows that this is no longer a fringe movement. Having lived through the dot-com experience, running an Internet start-up at the time
More About: Web 2 , Again , Over , Like , Feel

Still extremely low traffic
2007-03-31 00:00:00
I've been posting for over a month now and still see extremely log traffic to the blog. A close examination of the logs shows a HUGE amount of spider and robot traffic, but relatively small amounts of human traffic. We've been making some adjustments to the key words on the pages, as they were the same throughout the site, with the hopes that this will help. However, from everything I've read, Google pretty much ignores keywords entirely. I believe MSN and Yahoo
More About: Traffic , Extreme , Stil , Still , Xtreme

Amazon Web Services API very easy to use
2007-03-31 00:00:00
f you've been wanting to integrate Amazon products onto your site or web store, I have great news for you. We've been exploring the Amazon developer tools and have found their Web Service s API extremely easy to use. I am assuming for this entry that you are familiar with the te
More About: Web Services , Easy

Is discussion group marketing a real strategy?
2007-03-31 00:00:00
I've read in many places that one way to gain visibility for an online venture is to get involved in one of the many discussion groups and forums that are out there. There are many blogs
More About: Marketing , Market , Strategy , Real , Trat

The Housing Market Crash
2007-03-30 00:00:00
In my family the topic of the housing market crash gets daily attention. It all really started when I read Sell Now!: The End of the Housing Bubble by John R Talbott last September. We had lived in our house for 8 years and had become quite comfortable. We also lived in one of the big US
More About: Market , Sing , Crash , Mark

How to overcome the out-of-stock problem with dropshipping
2007-03-29 00:00:00
The number one problem with the dropshipping business model is the out-of-stock problem. You come across this all over the place. Dropshipping is a very attractive business model because it does not require you to hold any inventory. For those who do not know about this, it is a special arrangement where the distributor is set-up to send the product directly to your end customer. The customer usually doesn't know where the
More About: How To , With , Stock , Shipping , Problem

Meaningful discussion groups for generating valuable ideas
2007-03-29 00:00:00
Since my post on 3/15, I've gained a new respect for some of the discussion groups I've been hanging out in. Specifically, I've come to a new perspective that some discussion groups really are completely sp@mmy while others have a loyal and motivated following. For example, I've been posting regularly in and . I had tried many before these two, but didn't see an
More About: Ideas , Idea , Meaning , Genera , Sion

Turn visitors into buyers - simple how-to
2007-03-29 00:00:00
We implemented a simple idea at our web store that really helped turn visitors into buyers. Our traffic often lands on a product-specific page because they get to us via a search engine or comparison shopping site. We were showing just one product on the landing page, big mistake. If the user didn't like that product for whatever reason, they clicked away and we lost
More About: Simp , How-To , Buyer , Visitor , Simple

Web 2.0 feels like dot-com all over again
2007-03-27 00:00:00
The web 2.0 movement is certainly mainstream at this point. A quick look at the VC investment data shows that this is no longer a fringe movement. Having lived through the dot-com experience, running an Internet start-up at the time
More About: Web 2 , Again , Over , Like , Feel

Still extremely low traffic
2007-03-27 00:00:00
I've been posting for over a month now and still see extremely log traffic to the blog. A close examination of the logs shows a HUGE amount of spider and robot traffic, but relatively small amounts of human traffic. We've been making some adjustments to the key words on the pages, as they were the same throughout the site, with the hopes that this will help. However, from everything I've read, Google pretty much ignores keywords entirely. I believe MSN and Yahoo
More About: Traffic , Extreme , Stil , Still , Xtreme

Is discussion group marketing a real strategy?
2007-03-20 00:00:00
I've read in many places that one way to gain visibility for an online venture is to get involved in one of the many discussion groups and forums that are out there. There are many blogs
More About: Marketing , Market , Strategy , Real , Trat

Amazon Web Services API very easy to use
2007-03-20 00:00:00
f you've been wanting to integrate Amazon products onto your site or web store, I have great news for you. We've been exploring the Amazon developer tools and have found their Web Service s API extremely easy to use. I am assuming for this entry that you are familiar with the te
More About: Web Services , Easy

Affiliate program is offering 5 percent on name-brand electronics
2007-03-17 00:00:00
Our affiliate program currently has an offer of 5 percent for electronics, including name brands such as Panasonic, Bose, Sony, etc. We have done some research and see that the top-paying programs are 2 to 3 percent for total sales
More About: Electronics , Electronic , Affiliate , Electro , Affiliate Program

What is success? Is it money? Is it recognition?
2007-03-15 00:00:00
What is success? Is it money? Is it recognition? I think that any serious entrepreneur will need to face the difficult question: "What is my definition of success?" This would apply equally to the on-line world as much as non-Internet businesses. While this may seem like a strange position for me to take when there is just so much hype about how to be successful around, I think it's an important point for reflection. And if you are reading this saying "that's easy, it's to make money" - think again. It really isn't that easy. Starting a business take such emotional energy and commitment it is likely to require significant sacrifices. If there are those out there who can start a business without much sacrifice, more power to them. I would suspect that for the majority of my readers, a significant personal
More About: Money , Success , What , Hat , Recognition

Building a comparison shopping cooperative. Any takers?
2007-03-08 15:54:04
I blogged on the topic of shopping comparison sites a while back and I wanted to return to the topic. Specifically, I was looking for comparison shopping sites that offered product listing for free. No surprise, I didn't find much (only Froogle, which is also Googlebase.com). I've since been wondering if there are shopping comparison site coops on the web. In the traditional sense, a coop was where people bartered one thing in return for another. These
More About: Shopping , Building , Opera , Comp , Take

How the Internet makes us anonymous
2007-03-05 03:51:02
Thanks for the comment on the last entry regarding Craigslist.org. Although, I have to admit I found it somewhat confusing and in contradiction to what I've read in the Craigslit policy. If this is true, just what types of commercial solicitation are permitted on the site? Additionally, I have no way to know if this comment really came from Craig Newmark (if so, please email me at tar@bigblogmonkey.com to confirm).
More About: Internet , Inter , Make , The Internet , Anonymous

Craigslist policy does not allow commercial listings
2007-03-03 15:49:01
I thought it might be a good idea to post a few products I'm trying to sell through my ecommerce site on Craigslist to try to gain some attention for my e-shop. I knew there was potential here for criticism as this is not exactly what Craigslist is intended for. However, I t
More About: Commercial , Listings , Policy , List , Sting

Helping people find your RSS feed
2007-03-02 03:47:01
I think I've identified the problem with our approach to RSS. While the RSS code is executing with every entry into the blog, there is no link to the RSS file in the HTML to help spiders or robots find it. From a quick study of the topic, this seems like a rookie mistake that is easily
More About: People , Your , Find , Feed , Ping

Link to Blogskinny.com
2007-03-02 03:47:01
I've been to many blog registration sites and put in my RSS feed with the hopes of increasing traffic. So far, I can't really tell if this activity is doing anything. was different because I could actually watch the robot spider hitting my site from their real-time page. I'm assuming this will boost traffic to your site and ratings.
More About: Skin , Blogs , Blog , Link , Skinny

RSS is frustrating me
2007-03-02 03:47:01
So I'm fairly frustrated by RSS tonight. I've been working with it for a week and go through extreme highs and lows with it daily. Yesterday, I was quite excited to see the power it has for pulling information in. I was amazed at how easy it was to get content to my site using the RSS standard and an XML consumer in Cold Fusion. However, I am
More About: Trat , Stra , Rust

Exchanging links for dummy's, a beginners guide to gaining better rankings
2007-03-02 03:47:01
So now I have a site, or maybe two, and I'm watching the googleanalytic reports daily and only see visits from robots and spiders. How do I increase the human traffic to my site? A thought crosses your mind: "Perhaps there could be some sort of communal link sharing site that would allow people just like me to share their sites with each other to increase visibility?"
More About: Links , Rank , Link , Beginner , Guide

RSS and RSS2 generator is ready
2007-03-02 03:47:01
BigBlogMonkey has added RSS and RSS2 code generation to code and tested
More About: Generator , Read , Genera , Gene , Ready

Technorati.com registration, HOW-TO for the beginner
2007-03-02 03:47:01
Our blog is in full swing and we wanted to try our hand at syndication and publication. Being entirely new to blogging, we thought a quick search on the web would make this easy. No such luck. The entire topic of blog syndication, aggregation and subscription is extremely confusing. This entry is geared toward the beginner in the hopes that our experience can help others who are just getting started. Consensus seems to be that Tech no rati is a major player in the blog registration space. To register at technorati.com, you need to follow the usual
More About: How-To , Technorati , Beginner