If you are a photographer a web site is an essential part of your business. Is like standard equipment, if you don’t have it you can’t perform at 100%. A winning combination is having a website (standard equipment) and DataViking.com (extra that will take you to the next level).

What is you have a web site?

If you do, improve it with a blog. A blog can be a huge supplement to your website and can offer more for the viewer than just viewing your portfolio online. You can post new work to it and describe a little bit about your recent photo shoots, and add keywords to your web page which in turn will bring the search engines coming back to your site looking for new content.

You can post the work you want prospective clients to see. The stronger images are posted here so that clients see a range of work. Show the photos you want people to see and those that represent your business’ look and feel.

Here is where the blog comes into play. You can use it as a journal for quick updates so the viewer can see what you have been working on, where you’ve been shooting across the country, as well as anything else you feel like sharing. By doing so, the blog becomes a little bit more personal, and it allows the viewer to see your studio space or the type of lighting setup you are using. The most important thing about having the blog is that it allows you to post photos that might not make it to my main website. Basically, it’s an online portfolio of constantly changing work, and a great way to refresh the content on your website.

DataViking.com talented team can design an affordable but yet cutting-edge web site for you and so you don’t be left behind we will include:

• 1 custom-built web site
• 1 year hosting for free
• 1 domain name if you don’t have one
• Training via videos, text, and checklist to get you familiar with the ins and outs of managing your web site and making it grow.
• 30 day unconditional money back guarantee

For only $749

The second method is to publish testimonials and comments from your customers. A good idea would be to publish both good and bad comments; that way prospects will be really convinced that these testimonials are real. When prospects see testimonials on your website, they will have the confidence to buy from you because human beings follow the herd mentality; when others have bought and proven it authentic, they will jump on the bandwagon and buy too.

Use visual representations for the problems and solutions that your product offers. Not everyone will read your text copy from the head to the tail, but most people will pay attention to images on your website.

Offer quality bonuses to accompany the product. When you offer bonuses that complement your product, your prospects will feel it’s a very good deal and it would be stupid to miss it. Be sure to state the monetary value of your bonuses so that people will be even more compelled to grab your good bargain.

Lastly, ask for the sale! Many people entice their prospects with the benefits of their product, sell to them with stories of how it has solved many problems, even offered killer bonuses but forget to ask for the sale. Give a clear instruction on how to buy your product (e.g. “click the button to buy now!”).

http://tonyrobbinstraining.com/320/interview-with-frank-kern-and-john-reese/

I personally have use Tony’s products and he is great.

Angel

Is your web hosting company security good?

The cost of a web hosting account has nothing to do with the security or competence of their staff. If you have a web hosting account or are looking for one, try to search if the hosting company that you use or planning to use sucks or has been hacked. For example Google “company name sucks” and or “company name hacked”. You can also read forum and blog post to see if other people had problems with the hosting company.

Questions you should ask:

• How often backups are perform? And are they in a different server or datacenter?
• Do they offer secure FTP (SFTP)?
  • FTP transmit files in a clear text format
  • If you’re current web hosting company doesn’t support SFTP find one that does.
  • How they scan files in the server and incoming emails against treats
  • In share hosting accounts, how can you protect my files from being hack or infected by other hosting accounts in the same server?
  • Are MySQL databases in the same server and or can they are in a different server?
  • Do they provide SSL certificates?
  • Are they PCI compliant?

What to do if your web site has been hacked

• Update all your usernames and passwords to stronger versions, this includes web hosting control panel, FTP, MySQL, and admin sections
• If you use any pluggins make sure is the latest and greatest
• Scan, Scan, Scan your web site files and your computer, you are your own enemy

If you feel you can’t fix it on your own or you don’t really have the time, contact DataViking.com and we will put your web site back in working order again for you.

Web hosting and Design Company DataViking launches in Las Vegas, Nevada latest web promotion

Las Vegas, Nevada – August 24^th 2009: DataViking specialize in helping all kinds of people get online, whatever they want to achieve. At DataViking It’s personal and they want you to succeed.

Small businesses in Las Vegas are being deterred from entering the online markets due to the high cost of operating a small business these days. That’s why this week, the Las Vegas web hosting marketing staff at DataViking release a FREE 1 Year Web Hosting when your transfer your domain name to DataViking promotion.

Whether you are starting out or you are more experience, DataViking will provide you with a Web Hosting solution that matches your needs (however unusual!), at a price you can afford. And they will make sure there is always some in our technical support staff to help you when you need it. If it’s important to you, it’s important to DataViking.

DataViking web hosting package will include unlimited space, bandwidth, emails, hosted domains, ftp accounts, professional site builder, and control panel by cPanel, daily backups and much more. By offering promotions like this one, DataViking hopes to help more small and medium size business to reach a larger audience by taking advantage of a good and solid online presence.

“The business industry in Las Vegas could use an incentive” says DataViking CEO Angel Anderson. “So we thought we’d be the pioneers, by offering 1 Year FREE Web Hosting when you transfer your domain name to DataViking.”

DataViking are a Las Vegas based web hosting and designing company primarily offering services to small and mediums size business around worldwide. They’ve worked with all clients; from small, independent and local businesses, to international tech companies, maintaining their philosophy that design should be simple and thoughtful to improve customer and business interaction.

It’s this kind of initiative that is expected to make the Las Vegas business industry’s recovery from the economic crisis over the coming months a comparatively smooth one. At DataViking it’s personal.

There are several factors to consider when determining your annual marketing budget:

First, the amount of money you spend on marketing should be directly related to the growth stage of your business. Is your business still in its infancy, or is your business mature and well-known? The stage of your business certainly impacts how much money you need to spend to promote it. What industry does your business operate in? Different industries require varying marketing investments to remain competitive. On that note, what are your competitors doing? It’s important to maintain a level playing field at the very least.

Second, you need to plan what new products, services or enhancements you’ll introduce to your small business in the upcoming year. Naturally, if you’re launching a new product, you’ll need to invest enough in the marketing of that product to raise awareness and recognition of it.

Third, you need to determine what business goals you have set. If you want to grow your business by a certain amount within the next year, you need to invest enough money in promotional efforts to help you get there.

Bottom-line, you should invest 5%-10% of your gross sales into your marketing budget. Make a plan before the new year starts and stick to it. Set aside a bit of your budget for opportunities that might arise throughout the year. Most importantly, use your marketing budget. It might sound like a great idea to hold onto that money if your business is doing well, but to grow, you need to reinvest in marketing your business.

RVSiteBuilder Pro is a hosted web site building software application that features an intuitive WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) user interface and a large library of ready-made templates that allow users to create a professional looking web site in literally minutes. A wide selection of themes allow users to create a web site for almost any purpose, whether it be a blog, photo gallery or a web presence for a small business.

RVSiteBuilder Pro enables users to build much more than plain vanilla web sites. Several new features can be conveniently integrated into a web site through a point and click interface, including photos albums, hit counters, guest books, blogs and FAQ guides. There is also a supply of free media such as commonly used banners, buttons and icons, along with a library of images.

“DataViking is always looking for a way to add value to our hosting offerings,” stated Angel Anderson, CEO of DataViking. “RVSiteBuilder Pro is an easy-to-use software application that anybody without technical experience can use to build an attractive, professional looking web site. This is the essence of value and we are providing it free to our shared and reseller hosting customers. It is further proof that DataViking is committed to enabling customers to realize their full potential on the Internet.”

RVSiteBuilder Pro recently released an updated version of its software (version 3.0), adding an updated navigation system, a new blogging application, database capabilities and improvements to the Ajax-enabled user interface. A total of 16 new templates have been added to the library in this newest release. RVSiteBuilder Pro has a library of 646 templates.

For more advanced users, there is an online Flash editor and users can also download templates, customize them and then re-upload them for future use.

RVSiteBuilder Pro supports all major web browsers and operating systems.
It is available in multiple languages, allowing customers around the world to build a web site in the language they are most comfortable with. Languages supported include English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian-Portuguese, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian and Slovak

Need some inspiration to get you started? Here are 43 do-it-yourself marketing ideas that you can start doing today:

1. Start an e-mail marketing campaign
2. Get listed in online industry directories
3. Ask for and use client testimonials
4. Sponsor a charity event or local sports team
5. Design and schedule a free teleconference or webinar for your target market
6. Create a unique selling proposition
7. Comment on blog posts
8. Do a wearable marketing (shirts, hats, bags) giveaway
9. Get out in your community to promote yourself
10. Toot your own horn
11. Consider a direct mail campaign
12. Do some pro bono work
13. Package your products and services
14. Monitor your online reputation
15. Join a professional organization
16. Promote someone else
17. Start reviewing your website analytics
18. Revamp your business card
19. Develop productive relationships through social media
20. Create a niche specialty
21. Give back
22. Make a point to show your clients you appreciate them
23. Start writing and submitting articles online
24. Get a vanity (and memorable) business phone number
25. Offer incentives for referrals
26. Develop personal relationships with your clients
27. Plan a website redesign
28. Spend some time sharpening up your site in terms of SEO
29. Create an elevator pitch
30. Clean up your e-mail signature
31. Start thinking about holiday gifts for your clients
32. Go viral
33. Start a blog for your business
34. Develop a pay-per-click campaign
35. Update your portfolio
36. Upsell when appropriate
37. Look into conferences and networking events you can attend
38. Sign up for the Help a Reporter Out (HARO) e-mail list
39. Run a contest and give away a free “sample” service
40. Get a strategic partnership going with a client or colleague
41. Write and submit a press release
42. Explore affiliate marketing
43. Focus on word of mouth marketing

In compiling this list, I actually ended up making my own mini-marketing plan for the next few months and will be putting some of these into action. What marketing ideas would you add to this list? Do you plan to do to ramp up your marketing activities?

Unfortunately, many business, particularly, have seized upon the concept of “social media networking for business” without taking the time to find the appropriate boundaries between “social” and “business.” This is in part because people who do, say, copywriting or website design tend to be “early adopters” of new tools and technology.

Sad to say, however, “early adopter” often means “someone who adopts or applies a new method without thinking about it very much.” Explore what some business people are leaving on their social networking sites, and you will quickly come to the conclusion that some of them are doing themselves more harm than good.

A Recent Hiring Decision

A short while ago, I was looking for a virtual assistant (VA). A VA provides clerical, secretarial, or administrative support to a small business without being physically located in, or even near, the business he or she serves.

I looked at some directories of virtual assistants and compiled a list of candidates for the work. Then I looked at their individual websites for more information. And finally, I did some Internet searches on their names, and their business names. (Hint: to check out a name you know, try plugging the following into the Google search box: “firstname lastname” site:twitter.com)

When it came down to choosing a few finalists, I found myself strongly influenced by what some of the candidates had posted on their Twitter accounts. It was striking to see the difference between the crisp professionalism of the VA’s official website and the sloppy mix of personal views, business activity, and the messy workings of daily life to be found in their “tweets.”

Certainly, lots of people are using Twitter, Facebook, or similar services as a sort of public diary sharing all aspects of their lives, business and personal. If you are doing that, you have plenty of company…

… but not necessarily good company, from a business perspective!

Ben Franklin Was Right Again

Ben Franklin was certainly one of the most remarkable individuals of his, or any time. An exceptional businessman, scientist, inventor, politician, and writer, he began penning his famous autobiography for the pleasure of his own immediate family. And in his introduction, he accused himself of rambling, in his old age, and suggested to his relatives, whom he expected to be reading his memoir, that:

“One does not dress for private company as for a public ball.”

Do you show up for the public ball, expecting to dance with people who might hire your services, dressed like you’re lying on the couch in front of the television, or out back doing your yard work?

Many business seem to be doing just that. I recently did a quick search for web designers on Twitter, and on many sites I found “tweets” about projects they were working on, coding or design issues, and the like.

All well and good. The bad news is that on those very same sites I found remarks like these:

·    “Just ran 5 miles at the regional park. Beutiful [sic] evening”
·    “Sipping on some coffee”
·    “its nice and warm here today”
·    “Waiting in a very long line to get on the train”
·    “Lunching with Joe”
·    “Time to change oil on car…”
·    “I feel like chicken tonight!”
·    “OMG are teenage daughters meant to be this much stress?”
·    “Making a pot roast”
·    “Mel Gibson’s wife files for divorce”
·    “only another 4 hours of work”

When I am trying to decide whether you will put everything you have into making me look good on my website, am I encouraged to hear that you are counting the hours until you can stop working?

If I’m looking for someone who is passionate about web design, or any other service, I’m pretty sure I want someone whose postings reflect that passion about what they do, rather than an obsession with everything but their “paperwork.”

Twitter, in particular, asks the question “What are you doing right now?” As a friend, I might want to know the answer to that question (although frankly, I’m somewhat doubtful about that). As someone who might hire you, that question does not interest me in the least.

The question I want to ask, as a prospective customer of yours, is “What can you do for me right now?”

Separate Lives, Safe Marketing

If you enjoy your Twitter or Facebook or other account, I’m certainly not suggesting that you shut it down. I am recommending that you seriously consider what kind of information you are displaying to anyone who searches for you, including your prospective customers.

We have all seen stories of high school and college kids who posted drunken photos of themselves, only to face disciplinary action. But, as we’ve seen from the list of “tweets” above, you don’t have to go anywhere near that far to show prospective clients why you are not the best person for the job.

Here are some tips to make sure you don’t shoot yourself in the foot with your brilliant new social media marketing strategy:

• Establish separate accounts for your business and personal posts. On your personal page, make sure you point business visitors to your other account.
• Be scrupulously focused on business matters on your business account. It is all too easy to let the personal stuff mix in here and there, if you aren’t vigilant.
• Even on your personal account, think about whether you are publicly displaying information that the prospect could find, view, and use to decide that someone else could do a better job. Don’t mention how drunk you were last night, and make careful decisions about whether you want to express, for example, political views on controversial subjects.

Social networking services like Twitter or Facebook can be used, with care and deliberation, to build your business. But treat that word “social” as a caution signal.

If you are looking for new friends, log on to your account and tell us everything.

If you’re looking for new business, think carefully about what you are doing.

Fewer than 8% of people knew. Most confused it with a search engine, and the majority did not appear to know which browser they used. More worrying for Google was that no one had heard of Chrome…

That’s a little scary. Perhaps Google’s survey was performed on a bad day? Unfortunately, I’ve a horrible feeling that the figures would be similar no matter where you asked the question (except for Finland, which appears to have a disproportionately high percentage of technically-literate people!).

This leaves web developers with a problem. Whilst we may be passionate about our browser of choice, the vast majority of non-geeks in the real world use whatever browser is on their PC. Most people will only switch if a techie-friend does it for them — and I bet they don’t notice any significant differences.

How can we encourage the adoption of newer and better technology if no one knows what we’re talking about? I suspect many of the ‘kill IE6′ campaigns have a negligible effect, and ignorance must be partially responsible for the slow and lingering death of the browser.

How do you explain what a ‘web browser’ is to the 92% of people who do not know or care?