-•- HomeOfficeDigest.com Newsletter - Issue 127 -•-
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THE HOME OFFICE DIGEST NEWSLETTER
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BE YOUR OWN BOSS
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Often times this section of our publication lists one of the many
reasons it's great to be your own boss. This week this section is
taking on a different flare all together and reminding you that
being your own boss isn't always the best spot to be in. If you
worked in a traditional setting in which you are the boss I doubt
that you'd be able to just take days off whenever the feeling
hit you. It's way too easy to get swept off your feet by the 
freedom this industry provides so you can't let it go to your
head. Working at home is difficult enough to do without losing
days due to laziness or to a simple lack of dedication .It's 
great to be the boss, but being the boss comes with a lot of 
responsibility. Even the best bosses in the world know there are
times that they have to put their foot down and get their
employees in gear. Even though you have the best boss in 
the world, yourself, keep in mind the boss can't always 
be a nice guy/girl. There's work to get done!


FEATURED ARTICLE
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Use Your Site Search to Create Free Ezine Content!
by: Dianne Reuby

Have you included a site search facility and a visitors
feedback form on your web site? They make the site easier
for visitors to use, and more professional in appearance -
but they can also provide you with free content for your
ezine.

How? When people complete the feedback form on your page,
take the time to see what topics they want your site to
cover. When you get your weekly and monthly site search
statistics, check what their most frequent search requests
have been.

Now, it's time to create the next issue of your ezine - and
you have a ready-made column or article. I call mine Reader
Feedback, and include two sections - *What you've searched
for this month* and *Topics you want included on the FSB
site*.

This makes visitors and readers feel that they are part of
the site community, that they can interact with the person
running the site, and that I'm not some vague, far-off
corporation who's ignoring their requests. Including the
word *you* in the title re-inforces that feeling of
community and involvement.

The trick, of course, is to make sure that you DO take
notice of their requests. Add relevant items that people are
searching for, even if it's just a short paragraph followed
by links to more information. If you plan to add the topic
in the future, or want to research it before adding it, say
so in your article.

Be sure your ezine article includes the web address (URL) of
the page where you've added the information - this will
encourage readers to visit or re-visit, and add to the
*stickyness* of your site.

If you haven't got a feedback form or a site search facility
on your site yet, they can be added quite easily. I didn't
want to create my own feedback form, so I've signed up for
Freedback's free service at http://Freedback.com/ . I also
use a free site search utility, from FreeFind at
http://www.freefind.com , which can *spider* your site on
request.

You'll find several free feedback and site search providers
if you search the web. Once you've added them to your site,
you'll not only be able to make it more attractive to
visitors, but you'll be able to add unique free content to
your ezine as well!


DOWNLOAD OF INTEREST
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I'm sure that most of you couldn't care less if some huge 
company knew you went to Yahoo.com a few days ago ... but what
if they knew you were going to more personal type website, like
maybe medical sites? Many free programs contain software called
spyware. Spyware allows the creators of these "Free" programs to
generate enormous amounts of information about you and your online 
activities and store it in a database which is then sold to
advertisers. Since most of these spyware supported programs work
in the background, and since you agreed to allow their running
by using the free programs there hasn't been a lot you could do
to stop it ... Until Now! If you're tired of having your online
activity tracked and want your privacy back then you need to
download Ad-Aware. Ad-Aware detects, and if you so desire, 
disables spyware so that your activity is no longer tracked. 
How much do these companies know about you right now? Make
sure they don't learn too much by going to get Ad-Aware at
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/


WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?
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As usual this section will document some of the questionable
actions of fellow marketers with the hopes that some of you
don't make the same mistakes. I'm sure that many of you have
heard about Mylistmaker by now. Mylistmaker is a program that
is designed to build an opt-in list as well as generating a
few extra bucks on the side. Mylistmaker looked promising at
first glance but they made a horrible mistake, they published
all their prices in Australian Dollars. What's the big deal
you ask? After all, they are based in Australia ... if you don't
understand the problem read on.

The majority of prices on the net are published in American
Dollars. Since most people, including those living in other
countries, are used to seeing prices on the net published in 
American Dollars the $150 Australian Dollar price tag scared 
many people away. Although still a bit expensive at $85 American
Dollars most people are unfamiliar with the conversion rates 
between the currencies. The majority of people I've spoken to 
simply saw the $150 price which is almost double the programs 
actual price when translated into American dollars.  See the
problem? By publishing their prices in a currency that is both 
unfamiliar to most netizens, and appears higher than it actually
is, Mylistmaker may be losing a ton of potential customers.


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