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April 2008

April 30, 2008

Domain Punch Professional: Quickly Access Registrar Management Interface

Many users of Domain Punch Professional are not aware that they can access the registrar's management interface with a single click from the software. Even I had forgotten about this and remembered it only because recently a customer asked a question about it!

This option is available under the "Edit > Domain Management Settings" menu. Remember to first highlight a domain in the list by clicking on it before choosing the menu option.

Some settings are required for this. But you need to do this only once (for each registrar).

  • Registrar's account login URL
  • Your login/user name
  • The account password (stored in the local registry in an encrypted format)
  • If the account page uses POST method
  • The various POST variables used in the registrar's HTML account login form. You can find this by looking at the HTML source of the login page.

You can also specify your own data using the following variables. The software will automatically fill in the required information.

  • {login}
  • {password}
  • {domain}

Here is an example settings for Tucows (opensrs)

URL

https://manage.opensrs.net/index

POST

Yes

Post Data

reg_domain={domain}
reg_username={login}
reg_password={password}
action=login

April 29, 2008

Why Unsubscribing From Mailing Lists Is Very Good Idea

If you have any type of an Internet based business you know about auto-responders and mailing lists. Every body keeps repeating the "money is in the list" mantra!

Let us take a look at this concept from the other side!

Why do you subscribe to mailing lists?

Here are five valid, good reasons to subscribe.

  1. To get notified when a favorite resource or product is updated or modified.
  2. Because it is a competing product or service and you wish to monitor the competition.
  3. Because you really like the ezine / list posts and wish to learn some thing from it.
  4. Because you find the marketing methods interesting even though you don't have much interest in the actual product or service.
  5. Because you like to buy products and services that help you or your business and the list has often recommended good products and services in the past.

Check your mailing list subscriptions at regular intervals and get rid of the ones that have not been helpful to you. The lists you don't want are the ones that distract you from your original strategic plans and make you chase other short-term schemes and tactics.

Distractions are the biggest reasons why many Internet based businesses start to fumble and ultimately fail. Unfortunately the Internet is full of distractions in the form of opinions and ideas from every one. It is very important that you learn to identify the practically useful ideas and ignore the distracting ones. This is not always easy to do because what is a bad idea for your business may not be bad for some one else.

The best way to remain focused on your task is to create a solid strategic path for your business. You should then learn to look at ideas through the lens of your long term strategic plan.

April 28, 2008

IM Toolpad Updated

We have updated IM Toolpad. This fixes a problem with results from Live. The PDF reports have been made more printer friendly by removing the darker colors.

April 27, 2008

Five Types Of Products That People Will Always Want To Buy

We  often get emails from people asking about the keyword research they should do for finding a good niche.

Is keyword research based on faulty and random search volume counts the right method for deciding the type of product or service you want to offer?

Good products that fill a need will always do well. Here are five types of products that will always find buyers! Combine these product types with a unique twist or idea and decide the kind of Internet business you wish to create.

1. Products that make or save money

People always want to make more money. If your product or service will help them earn more or save money highlight it. Even if your product is not directly connected to making money, it is always a good idea to explain how it can save money for them.

2. Products that help people learn

People are always looking to learn something new. "How to" guides are always popular for this reason. This is also the reason why there are so many ebooks on all types of topics. Be careful about this because it is one of the most competitive niches on the Internet. However, this is one of the easiest niches to enter.

3. Products that entertain

It is no surprise that the top searches on Yahoo Buzz are almost always about TV shows, actors and sports. This niche does require some unique expertise. Go for it if you have a good talent for creating entertaining videos, cartoons, etc.

4. Products that make life healthy and comfortable

People want to live as comfortably as they can, without any aches and pains. Do you have an idea for a product that will help them do that? This niche is often abused and may have a bad reputation because of all the spam associated with magic herbs and pills.

5. Products that save time and effort

People love pressing buttons and getting things done! Do good research on popular topics and make your work available to your customers for a price. Create a software that will save your customer hours of work.

April 26, 2008

How To Delete Unwanted Projects in Keyword Strategy Studio

Here is a quick Keyword Strategy Studio tip...

All the projects created in Keyword Strategy Studio are stored in folders within the "data store" directory. Each project has it's own folder with the same name as the project.

To identify the "data store" directory simply click on the ribbon bar button called "set data store path".  Observe where the data is being stored and click "Cancel".

Data Store Path in Keyword Strategy Studio

Just browse over to the data folder and then delete the unwanted folders. These will not appear within the "Open projects" option any longer.

You can also backup your data by just saving the contents of the "data store path".

April 25, 2008

Domain Name Strategy - Finding the right names

It may appear as if all good domain names are taken. However, it is still possible to find and register reasonably good domain names.  Here are some good techniques for finding good domain names...

Domain Names By Combining Multiple Words

Create a collection of good "wordlets" that can be used to create domains. Examples include words like zone, pad, bay, and so on. Pad these to existing regular words to create new names. You can use a number of free or paid software products to create such domain names and automatically check if they are available. Please see converting keywords in a text file to domain names. You can use a software like Domain Name Analyzer to manage such wordlets and create domain names.

Domain Names From Current Trends, Magazine Headlines

You can get a lot of domain name ideas from reading newspapers and magazines. See some of the creative headlines and check if you can create domain names out of them. Make sure that these are not trademarked terms.

Domain Names From Coined terms

You can create good domain names by inventing new words. This is probably a good idea if you are planning to use it for a new product or as a business name. Again, make sure that the term is not a trademark.

What To Avoid While Registering Domain Names

Avoid domain names that are too long and have repeated alphabets, hyphens or numbers. Some people recommend domain names with multiple keywords in them because of search engine optimization reasons. However, a better long term strategy is to use good, pronounceable and brand-able domain names.

April 24, 2008

Internet Business Strategy - The brand and domain names

As you create and grow your Internet business you will often need to register new domain names.

You should ensure that you own the ".com" version of your brand name. Try and get the same name in other relevant TLDs like net, org, biz, info, etc and also in your local country code (.uk, .us, etc).

Brand and Domain Names

You should also keep a watch on emerging technologies and new domain extensions made available by ICANN (example? the Mobi TLD). ICANN does approve new domain extensions now and then. Keep a watch for this and do a defensive registration to ensure that you own the brand under the new domain extensions. Of course, you may not need to register your domain names in every ccTLD and TLD, just do what you think is best!

If you have different products, try and register the ".com" versions for the product names. You should also register domain names for products you plan to develop. It is always a good idea to registrar the domain name even if your plans are far into the future.

A Warning About Domain Name Availability Checks

Avoid searching for domain name availability at the registrar websites. There have been reports of certain registrars and websites monitoring searches and then blocking the domain name. It is safer to use a software like Domain Name Analyzer because it has an option to check for availability with minimum number of lookups and also use the registry whois servers. Since the software is run directly from your own computer, nothing is monitored or logged.

Go to the registrar website after you have decided the name to register and do the registration immediately. It is better to keep a credit balance in your domain name registrar account. This will ensure that your domain name registration is successful on the first try.

Domain Name Portfolio Management

Registering domain names is only the first part, you should make sure that you renew these domains on time. As already mentioned in the previous post, you could end up losing a good part your business if you forget to pay the $10 domain renewal fee!

Domain name portfolio management is a very important part of your Internet business. There have been posts on this subject before. So I will just link to them!

April 23, 2008

How Vulnerable Is Your Internet Business?

While browsing a popular forum you often see the same question being asked by a lot of different people. It is about doing something using a very popular third party product.  You have some knowledge on the subject and decide to create a solution.

So you spend a few weeks creating an add-on software for processing the output from the product in question. The original third-party product is extremely popular and doesn't offer that particular feature.

Your product is a big hit!

You start getting many orders. After a while you get so comfortable that you quit your day time job.

A few months later disaster strikes!

The original product developer has updated their product and has now implemented the same feature into their offering, at no extra cost!

Is your on-line business vulnerable?

Most probably the answer is "Yes"...

  • What happens if you are suddenly not able to process credit card payments? Do you have a backup plan?
  • What happens if your web hosting company suddenly shuts you down? How long will it take you to be back up and running?
  • What if 40% of your website traffic comes from a single source and you suddenly lose that source?
  • What if a lot of your income comes from a single source (example?. Google Adsense) and suddenly you are shut off from it?

Many of these vulnerabilities exist because of using short term tactics instead of creating an overall strategic plan for your on-line business. Your ideal strategy should include multiple tactics to minimize possible future problems.

Short Term Tactics and Long Term Strategy

A lot of Internet based businesses are based on short term tactics without any thought to a long term business strategy.

In fact, most on-line businesses do not have a strategic plan.

Creating a practical and profit generating business strategy for your Internet business is probably the best way to ensure that your Internet business is successful over the long term.

It is a good short term tactic to create a service that expands a popular existing product.  But it is not good strategy to build a business that is completely dependent on a third party resource. Doing so creates a situation where a third party has control over your product. A simple tweak in their product can and will kill your business.

[to be continued...]

April 18, 2008

Some Simple Tweaks Using Web Page Explorer

Are there moments when you just want to take a break from whatever you have been doing?

Here is a simple web page tweaking exercise you should try when you want to take a break but still want to use the time productively!

Start Web Page Explorer (part of IM Toolpad). Run any of your web sites through it to analyze the pages.

Do you find multiple but identical anchor texts? Replace these with more relevant keyword rich text (but not spammy looking)

Here is a sample screen shot that shows multiple anchor texts that simply say "download now!" In some cases this may be relevant (for example, as a call to action). But you may want to find such identical texts and replace them with good keywords.

You can find identical texts by sorting the anchor text column (click on the header).

You can also use the software to check the heading structure of your web pages.  Always make sure that you have a good h1, h2, h3.. structure and that your headings are meaningful. The software can also help with your web page titles and decsriptions.

April 17, 2008

Do You have A Strategy For Safeguarding Your "Invisible" Business Assets?

One of the most important part of your Internet business strategy is safeguarding your business assets and resources. Unlike a regular brick-and-mortar business, an on-line venture involves a number of invisible assets that are difficult to quantify.

Here are some...

  • Your domain names
  • Your Websites
  • Your search engine rankings
  • Incoming links from other websites
  • Your mailing lists
  • Your products and services
  • Your email communication archives
  • Sales and customer records
  • Your on-line accounts at your web-hosting provider, email provider, etc.
  • Your reputation at forums and other community sites
  • You on-line account passwords and access data.
  • and so on...

One important fact about an on-line business is that it is very easy to lose everything in the blink of an eye. A computer crash can instantly kill your business or set you back by months or years. Some thing as silly as not paying a $10 domain renewal fee can make your profit making website disappear!

So, if you haven't done so already, sit down and plan your business restoration strategy in case of an emergency.

Consider creating a document containing important information on your business assets. Leave detailed instructions about how to manage your websites even when you are not around. Keep it in a safe location so that your successor can find it. Include important passwords and other login data.

Make a list of all essential monthly and yearly payments. Make sure that these are paid even if you have an emergency.

Use a remote backup service like Mozy (or any other service) to do daily backups of all your important work. It is important to backup to a remote location so that the data is safe even if there is a natural disaster in your area.