Archive for October, 2008

Do you desire to purchase a new motorhome and need 15000 dollar

Monday, October 20th, 2008

It makes no difference if you live in North Richland Hills Texas or in Palm Springs California a solid online analysis will preserve you often a lot of inconvenience.

The translation says: Woon je in Zeewolde of Lochem en hebt u BKR registratie. Lenen met zonder BKR is nergens zo eenvoudig. Koop een andere auto met geld zonder bkr, 492072 euro is geen enkel probleem om te lenen. Van Jacobswoude tot De Wolden, financieren met zonder BKR registratie gaat hier altijd.

You should be vivid today to inspect if you have a special offer or if you don’t with the merchant bank that offers you a money loan. now you need to check over and come across if you can have a credit loan at a effective percent loan rate. Examine to see if the bank who is willing to give you a loan is trustworthy. 18.4 percent rate may seem so fairish but will that be unremitting after you’re going to requite your deferred payment. A lot of the banks wil show you a interest rate that is looking just but doesn’t feel good or so after some time. A moneylender in Greenwood Indiana or so may have a total totally different actual rate of interest for a 10000 dollar bank loan then a merchant bank in Jackson Mississippi and that makes a huge clear gap in your yearly pay backs. At present you can check into interest rates quickly on the internet and project if there are other possible traps you should know about.

Comic Book Collectors; Nerdy Geeks or Shrewd Investors?

Monday, October 20th, 2008

When one says, yeah, I collect comic books, what is the general public response? Oh no, a slightly off the wall geek. Here is someone who has lost touch with reality. Or someone that is in his or her own little world. I think not. Yes, comic book collectors may sometimes march to the beat of a different drummer, but who says we all have to be cut from the same mold. Comic books are big business.

Back in the days of my youth (what, several millennia ago?), I loved reading comic books. And so did a lot of my friends. Whenever we had an extra dime or sometimes a quarter, we could run up to the local small town grocery and spend some very happy times at the comic book rack.

We would even go out and find small odds jobs for pocket change, which was enough then to purchase 2 or 3 good flights of adventure and fantasy. I can even remember crawling under our house to retrieve a cat that had the misfortune of dying there. My Dad couldn’t stomach the smell and enticed my friend and I to accomplish the chore for ample pocket change. We braved the spiders and other crawly creatures to retrieve and bury the unfortunate cat. Not long after that, we were the proud owners of yet, several more intriguing comic books. Even the local bully (who was really a pretty good guy) would purchase our worn out or unwanted magazines for far more than they were worth, so we could purchase new ones.

I didn’t know much about collecting then. I just liked saving what I enjoyed. I had a large cardboard box that I kept under my bed, filled with all my little treasures. I didn’t realize that I had the beginnings of what could have been something very lucrative. In later years when I headed off to college, I dragged my large cardboard box with me. At one point in time, I left most of my belongings in the charge of what I thought were trusted friends. When I returned from my forest firefighting adventures, my box full of magazines were no where to be found. And needless to say, were my trusted friends either. Others had seen the value in what I had and wanted it for themselves. Oh well, live and learn. That limited collection of comic books and other magazines would have been worth a small fortune today.

Are there big bucks in the comic book genre? Just look at what Hollywood has been up to for the last few decades. As far as I can tell, the really big blockbusters started back in 1978 with the release of Superman, The Movie. And since then there has been comic book hero after comic book hero to hit the silver screen. And they all make tons of money. The Hollywood moguls may or may not be “into” the genre, but the can smell large profits. And these kinds of profits aren’t harvested from a small out of touch with reality niche. It take large numbers of individuals forking out 5 to 10 dollars a pop, to accumulate the astronomical profits that Hollywood is seeing these days. Individuals who may or may not want to admit their avid interest in comic book characters. I will stand up and say, I enjoy watching these movies and have even started my own collection of comic book character DVDs. Who knows, maybe some day my DVDs will become as valuable as comic books. Probably not.

Although, not every individual’s collection has magazines worth thousands of dollars, there are a sizable amount of collections that can be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. These are not people that have lost touch with reality. A while back, the actor, Nicholas Cage, put his comic book collection of about 400 magazines up for auction. Word was that he might have realized a value into seven figures. That ain’t chicken feed.

It is not uncommon for single additions to be worth several hundred to several thousand dollars. Some comic books can enter the realm of several hundred thousand dollars for one magazine. Now the owners have to be some pretty rich economically savvy geeks. Are these the types of small niche individuals who have lost touch with reality or don’t want to confess they like comic books? So the next time you hear someone profess, yeah I collect comic books, you may want to look inside yourself and say, how do I release my hidden passion and start collecting myself?

About The Author

Dave Gieber, a former rocket engineer, has decided to take up residency on the Internet. He is the owner and editor of several websites, one of which was built around one of his childhood passions; www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com. You can visit here to keep up to date on the world of comic books and comic book collecting. Feel free to sign up for my comic book ezine.

Buying a new kayak

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Comfort is the most important thing you should consider if you are buying a new kayak.

If you’re thinking about buying a new kayak, there are a few things that you should definitely consider before you go out and actually spend the money. The first thing you should figure out is whether or not you know what you’re getting into. If you’ve only ever used rental kayaks, then you might want to buy a kayak that is similar to the kinds that you’ve used in the past.

The first thing you should consider is whether or not it will be easy for you to get into the cockpit wearing the clothes that you’re thinking about wearing kayaking. Large people should make sure that the kayak they are buying has a lot of room for them to get in – you don’t want to find out that you can’t easily get in and out of your kayak when you’re already at the beach. If at all possible, you should see if you can at least try getting into the kayak before you buy it.

How well the kayak will handle in different water conditions is another major thing that you should consider. If you’re not going to be able to control your kayak when you’re on the water, then there’s no point in buying that particular model of kayak. This is another reason why you should see if you can try out the kayak that you’re thinking about buying before you actually pay for it.

If you’re not sure whether or not you’ll be allowed to try out a kayak before you buy it, then you’ll probably want to talk to a friend who may have that type of kayak. The best thing to look for in a kayak is whether or not it is similar to (or the same as) kayak that you have already been able to use.

If you’re thinking about buying a new kayak that has a rudder or skegs, then you should also look into trying out the rudder first. That way, you’ll be able to see whether or not the rudder moves well. If the kayak has a faulty rudder, or if you think that you won’t be able to work the rudder as easily as you’d like, then you should probably look at another kayak.

One thing you should always realize, however, is that until you’ve actually brought the kayak with you on a major trip, you will probably not know exactly how well it will handle over a long period of time. This means that even though you are trying to make sure that you get the exact kayak that you want, it’s always possible that you could be surprised. The best way to avoid it when you’re buying a new kayak, however, is to try and find a seller who will let you try out the kayak before you commit to buying it.

About the Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.kayakhelp.com. Please visit his complete kayaking guide for all skills and ages.

Online Sports Competition Laying – the Fundamentals

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Relate two of men’s chief interests and you’ve got is a vogue that’s named a sportsbook betting web location. Really, what could believably be more inventive? Envision a troop of people cheering a favored local lineup, and ceaselessly bets are guaranteed to be announced to complement the bluster. Aiming to get a share of the delights, bystanders habitually strive to foreknow who is the likeliest to prevail the approaching match. Put together, all of this turns to become a warmhearted, amicable match called sportsbook betting web location. Kansas stars Rush, Arthur headed to NBA

Conceded that it can sound addictive, but, rather, sports gambling is actually merely an amusing entertainment and to relate with one’s fellow sports maniacs. You can bet a a slight sum of dinero and all the same enjoy a ultra cool time. Further to this, here are a few basics to get started sports gambling.

If you want to place your bet, you will probably want to check out a sportsbook betting web location, i.e. a place that proffers sportsbook betting web location. In the United States, you’ll find no less than four states to do sports gambling officially, but inofficially you can attempt it wherever so long as you can pinpoint a bookie and you happen to be a legal adult. Among the track-and-field events you’ll be able to bet on are pro plus, likewise, college basketball as well as football, pro baseball, pro hockey, plus, likewise, horse and dog racing. Patrons can choose to risk money on the entire result of a competition or game, at which point the contestant will be defeated, and even whether a given tossed coin in a competition or game comes down heads or tails.

The odds makers will confide in number crunching to help you come to a decision which lineup you are confident is the likeliest to prevail. First, you’ll see spread, that’s leverage allocated to the trailing party that is presumed to be defeated by a specific number points. Of Course, this constitutes the bookie’s routine of offering objective lays for a Sportsbook. For a practical example, you may bet money on a lineup that is presumed to be defeated and and all the same win that bet so long as the party goes down by a specific number of points.

We can find miscellaneous breeds of antes- straight bets, parlay antes, teasers, and, too, over-unders, the straight being the dominating one in sports gambling. So why don’t you simply have a bash at it, and have lots of fun while you’re at it? Simply take care that you won’t get too enthused and drain your complete social security checks on a crotchet! Otherwise chances are you’ll be caught full of regrets all your life!

Bilateral Breathing: Should you Breathe to Both Sides in Fre

Friday, October 17th, 2008

One of the most common wonders of the swimming world is, should you use alternate-side, or bilateral breathing?

Throughout my swimming career, I had always breathed to my right side only until a year ago. Why? Because breathing on my left side felt awkward and uncomfortable! This is the reason why most swimmers will breathe only on one side. Last year I had an experience that made me change my ways. I was getting a massage and my therapist noted that my left lat muscles (back) were much more developed than my right. Putting two and two together, I realized that years of right side only breathing in the pool had caused me to use these muscles on my left side far more than my right as I was balancing with my left arm while sucking air into my lungs!

The answer to the question is yes, you should use bilateral breathing, if you’re not already. The main reason is that it will balance out your stroke (as well as create symmetry in your back musculature!). The problem with breathing to one side only is that it can make your stroke lopsided. In a one-hour workout, you may roll to your breathing side 1,000 times. A lopsided stroke can become permanent in a hurry after practicing this for a while!

The benefits to breathing nearly as often to one side as the other are that using your “weak” side more frequently will help your stroke overall, and you’ll lose your “blind” side. If you are an open water swimmer, the later benefit will help you check for landmarks, avoid chop, or keep another rough swimmer from splashing water in your face (or punching you in the nose!) as you breathe.

The way to obtain these benefits is to practice bilateral breathing as much as possible. Often in my evening group I will have swimmers breathe every 3 or 5 strokes as part of a drill or warmdown. But by no means should this practice be limited to drill sets or long warmdowns! It will feel awkward at first, sure. But the awkwardness is easier to deal with than you may think. Regular practice of rolling to both sides to breathe will remedy this before you know it.

Some tips on how to practice bilateral breathing while keeping it interesting:

1.Breathe to your right side on one length and to your left on the next. That way you get the oxygen you need but still develop a symmetrical stroke.
2.Breathe to your weaker side on warm-ups, warmdowns, and slow swimming sets.
3.Experiment with 3 left, 3 right or 4 left, 4 right until you find a comfortable pattern

Keep the goal in mind each week of breathing about the same amount to one side as the other over the course of any week of swimming. Most of all, enjoy your swim and don’t get too hung up on being exact!

About the Author

Kevin coaches masters and triathlete swimmers in San Diego, CA. He operates the website www.TriSwimCoach.com, a resource for future or current triathletes needing help with the swim. The site features a free email newsletter offering tips and articles on triathlon swimming. Kevin has also written an electronic book titled “The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming” which is sold on his website www.triswimcoach.com in downloadable form.

Betting Guide/Strategy: Golf betting

Friday, October 17th, 2008

Betting Guide/Strategy: Golf betting

Owlmans Golf betting guide

“I can’t play golf, “Pitch and put is my limit”, these familiar cries are often used as justification for not getting involved in golf betting. On a personal level, I’ve never sat on a horse, but this has not stopped me betting on these four legged money carriers.

I commenced serious golf betting two years ago, and my involvement can largely be attributed to 3 factors:

1. My increased use of the betting exchanges
2. Invariably my Sunday nights were spent watching the golf on SKY therefore having an interest on the outcome added to the viewing pleasure

3. Around this time I started a more disciplined approach to my betting activities to include record keeping of bets placed. To my amazement, my golf bets were showing greater returns than from what I perceived were my strong
suits of horses and football.

If I was obtaining a positive return without really trying – by that I mean little research or form study, I reasoned that theoretically
“putting in the hours” could only build on an already sound foundation.

I would love to read of of other peoples thoughts and strategies on their betting activities however, here is the Owlmans receipe for golf punting success . . .

Preparation
Initial background research – all good cooks have a library of cookbooks, golf punters should familiarise themselves with the vast mountains of knowledge readily available be it in paper form or at a click of a mouse. Too many cooks can spoil the broth, therefore try to avoid not seeing the Woods for the tees ! . In this context there is perhaps too much info out there to take in, find your favoured sources the two PGA tour sites, Racing Post, Keith Elliots annual golf guide, should be enough to satisy everyones thirst for knowledge. (plus this site of course!)

Minimise workload
Each event has 156 players, limit any research to players under 100/1. Seldom do big price players win (or if they do the liklihood of finding them is remote). Any big priced players with a chance may in any event be highlighted by the pro-tipsters, and failing that you can still back them later in the tournament.

Local produce
Look at players who have a good record in previous years, equally players tend to raise their game in their own country buoyed by nationalistic pride and gallery support. Also take account of climatic conditions for example Asian players will often fare better on the co-sanctioned Euro-Asian tours than their odds would suggest, however will they like a damp windswepped links course?

Fresh Produce
Be wary of jaded players- be it playing week in week out, and take account of potential jet lag effects if transferring from the US to Euro tours especially if events over-run to the following day. At best this can hinder scope for practise rounds.

Ingredients
Ability – cream generally rises to the top
Form – there is plenty of data available to support any aspect of play
Suitability- You would think twice about serving white wine with a steak dish, therefore be wary of backing players with errant driving stats on narrow fairways, look for good putting stats when the course lay-out suits etc.

Purchasing the goods
If using the bookies, shop around for the best prices, sites like PUNTERSODDS continually update and highlight the latest odds. Odds do vary significantly, and over the year this can only add to the winnings or minimise losses.

Cooking time
If the weather forecast was for howling gales and heavy rain in the morning, followed by calm sunny conditions in the afternoon, what would be your favoured tee-off time? This obvious factor can work to your advantage especially if trading – always look for angles and edges that could result in gaining an advantage.

Enjoy
Hard work done, sit back and enjoy. Never be afraid to cash in on a winning position, or back additional players later in the tournament to ensure a positive return.

About the Author

www.PuntersRealm.com is a large new E-zine with Expert Sports Betting-Gambling Previews, advice & tips.

Antler Shed 101

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Antler Shed 101
by: Elly Kendall

This article on antler shed is provided so individuals know that antler products can be made without animals being injured in any way. I also hope to promote ethical antler shed collection. So here are the basics:
Antler Shed 101
by: Elly Kendall

Antlers do not just keep growing. They drop off and the animals grow new ones. These sloughed-off antlers are called shed. Shed hunting or collecting has been a great source for week end entertainment, especially during the off hunting season from late winter to early spring. Shed antlers are prized for making everything from jewelry to chandeliers. The big bonus is that the animals drop them every year and do not have to be killed for their antlers. However, collecting shed must be done with the animals best interest at heart. Never approach wild animals of any kind. There is no need to push them off their feeding and watering areas or disturb their routines just to get an antler. Winter is a very hard time for these animals besides they will drop more next year.

Bucks and bulls, the males of the deer, elk and moose species, shed their antlers every year usually between January and April. The father north in the United states the earlier they drop. Here in Arizona it seems like late February to late March is especially a good time. If you go as far south as Old Mexico the bucks don’t shed until March. Younger animals seem to drop theirs last. The antlers drop off to make room for the new ones which grow through the summer.

New antlers are covered in a fuzzy skin called velvet. Velvet is the only know regenerating skin found in mammals. This skin is sensitive and susceptible to damage which causes antler abnormalities. It’s full of blood vessels to nourish the new antlers, which are true bone, until it is no longer needed. The velvet then dries up and falls off sometimes assisted by the animal rubbing on trees and brush.

The new formation of antler bone grows at an amazing rate. Elk and moose antlers can grow at rate of one inch a day, which explains their awesome racks that appear to just keep growing.

If you decide to go shed hunting here’s a few simple tips:
1.)Practice ethical shed collecting. Don’t disturb the animals they need their feeding grounds to make it through the winter. Trespassing has become an issue with shed collecting. Respect for the animals and respect for landowners.

2.) Look for young trees with “rubs” on them. These are places where the bark has been rubbed off.

3.) Fence lines are a good place to look since jumping can jar the antlers off. I have seen running elk with one antler off and the other just dangling.

4.) Usually both antlers can be found within a 300 yards depending on their feeding and watering patterns so when you find one keep looking as you circle out.

5.) Scout before hand so you have an idea where the deer, elk or moose are. Establishing their watering and bedding locations and their daily feeding patterns… just like hunting. The route they travel will be an excellent trail to follow… at a distance.

Happy & Ethical Hunting!

About the Author

Elly Kendall resides in Arizona and is owner of Log Cabin Fever Gifts & Decor (http://cabinfevergifts.com). Any inquiries or questions about this article should be e-mailed to info@cabinfevergifts.com.
Copyright © 2005 Log Cabin Fever Gifts
All Rights Reserved.

Trust & Credibility: Vital Components to the Success of a Website

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

When was the last time you ever did business with someone you didn’t trust? When did you last do business with someone that you suspected of being dishonest? Never.

This is because trust and credibility are crucial in any business transaction. In fact, engendering these qualities in your visitor is perhaps the most important aspect of running a commercial website. Without building trust or credibility, you’ ll never be able to sell your product or service(s). This is because your potential customer has no idea who they’re dealing with, what your reputation is, and if they’re going to get what they expect. If they can’t trust you, why would they pick you instead of someone who they can trust?

So, to help you create a trusting environment on your website, I’ ve compiled a list of ten things you can do:

1 – Don’t Make Outrageous Claims.

This one is common sense, but you would be surprised at how many people break this rule. Have you ever visited a site that’s *obviously* been built for a little “mom & pop” shop that claims they’re “The #1 Blah Blah Blah in America,” the “The Best on the Planet,” or something similar? And what impression does that leave with you? Probably that these people don’t know what they’re doing or are not to be trusted. So please people, be reasonable with what you say, because people won’t believe you otherwise.

2 – Check for and correct any grammar or spelling errors.

I’ve said this so many times before, but it’s SO important that the content of your site is essentially flawless. Nothing says, “We’re not to be trusted!” better than some spelling and grammar errors. To correct this problem, it’s best to get several people to read through your site and point out any errors they see. Also, ALWAYS run any content you’ve made through a spell checker immediately before posting it.

3 – Give a risk-free guarantee on your product or services (and make it “no questions asked”).

Think about the beauty of this tactic. It does two things for you right away. First of all, it removes any risk for the customer, so they are usually far more likely to buy. Secondly, it builds trust because the customer assumes that if you’re offering a “no questions asked” guarantee, you’re willing to trust them. And if you’re willing to trust them, they’re usually willing to trust you!

4 – Publish a free newsletter.

It’s been proven that it usually takes more than one exposure to a product or service before someone will buy it. By running a free newsletter, you can gain those needed exposures. In the process of exposing those potential clients to your product or service repeatedly, you can also build trust with your newsletter if your content is good. If you’ve got something valuable and helpful to say, people will see you as an expert in your field and therefore trust you. And then you get their business.

5 – Use testimonials!

I can’t stress how important putting testimonials on your website is. If people can see proof that you’ve made previous customers happy, they almost always trust you. However, in order for this to be effective, you’ve got to do several things: first, NEVER make up testimonials. Second, make sure the testimonials are specific about how you helped the customer or client instead of something general like, “You guys are great!” Something like that is not specific enough, and you might as well leave it out. Third, make sure the people providing the testimonials are easy to contact either via an e-mail address or with a website address.

6 – Provide visitors with plenty of contact information.

Many online businesses are fly-by-night companies who are here today and gone tomorrow. People are especially scared of getting cheated by one of these companies or people. So, in order to assuage their fears, make your contact information readily available for viewing at all times. You should ALWAYS include your phone number, address, and e-mail addresses in an easily accessible section of your website.

7 – Let people get to know who you are.

A perfect way to go about doing this is to have an “About Us” page that gives a bit of background on all the members of your company or business. This is effective because the Internet is a very impersonal medium. Adding information about who you are often warms people up to your offer because they feel like they’re dealing with a real person instead of a computer screen. When people feel like they “know you,” they trust you as well.

8 – Take the “honest” approach from time to time.

It’s somewhat difficult to convey to you exactly what you should do to accomplish this. But the concept is pretty simple.you don’ t always have to try to “sell” your visitor on your product or service. Try being honest and up-front with your visitors and potential customers. For a good example what I’m talking about, just visit my site. (http://sybren.net) You’ll see that in places, I’m very blunt about what we’re trying to accomplish and how we can help you. By trying to avoid “hyping” the visitor, I often gain their trust.

9 – Write articles for other websites and newsletters related to your field of expertise.

When someone reads your informative and enlightening article on a topic they need help with, they immediately regard you as an expert, and they feel as though they can trust you. When you’ve engendered their trust, and they are already interested in the type of product or service you offer, it’s VERY easy to make a sale. All you have to do is get them to your website!

10 – Make your site look like it was made by a pro!

If you visited a run-down, nasty store with dusty shelves and cluttered items, you’d never buy one thing from them, even if their prices were incredible and their product quite good. If your website is “virtually” run-down, the same thing’s going to happen – no one will buy from you. You’ve got to look good to sell well, because people *do* judge a book by its cover, and they’ll your website by its “cover.” So get your site designed by a pro or invest some time learning how to make it look good by yourself. If you don’t, you’ll never reap the full potential of the Internet.

Hopefully, these suggestions will help you on your way to becoming an online success (or more of one if you already are). Good luck!

The importance of feedback in improving your sales, site and software.

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Customer feedback A while back I received an email from a potential customer suggesting that he liked a piece of membership software that I sell. Over the course of the next few days he sent me numerous emails with suggestions for features that I might want to include in a new update. I was only to happy to get to work on his suggestions after all they could only make for a better product, more customers and a bigger profit. He was also a very experienced web developer with over 10 years experience so to ignore his advice would be foolish.

A couple of months down the line and sales soared. His extensive feedback had proved a godsend and showed exactly why feedback is so important. It helped me provide better software and dramatically increased my online sales. Tapping into the knowledge of an experienced web developer will always provide dividends. Even less experienced developers and general visitors can give you valuable advice and a new perspective.

Website blind When you build a website you can sometimes get so focused on the site that even after your testing and quality assurance you can overlook errors and typos. Getting an outsider to proof read your copy is always a good idea.

Negative feedback Negative feedback should spur you on provided it is constructive rather than abusive. You will always get the guy who cruises round sites just ditching everything in sight. Ignore the abuse and don’t be rattled though always take on board feedback provided it is constructive.

Use a Poll Although not every visitor will provide you with such as a wealth of feedback as was the case above there are plenty of ways to actively encourage your visitors and they aren’t that complicated or costly to implement. A poll is a good way to garnish feedback. I realised after a while that I could use my poll as a way to assist me in planning new site adjustments and to find out what areas of the site my visitors felt needed to be changed or updated. Polls that I have asked on my site include “Should I use Worldpay as well as PayPal for a payment option?” and “Should I include a member’s forum”. I acted on my forum results as the majority of site visitors wanted a forum and decided not to use Worldpay for the time being as my visitors seemed happy enough to use PayPal to buy my software. If you would like to have more information and not just a straight poll you could use a poll that allows your visitors to add comments as well. I created a Poll system (Poll Pro) that not only allows the site administrator to post polls but also to allow visitors to vote and offer comments as well. It’s a nice feature and highly beneficial. Think about your poll carefully and what exactly you want to know, questions that help or improve your site or help you learn some demographics of your visitors are preferable. Acting on the poll outcome will show regular visitors that you are listening to their opinions.

Provide a feedback form Make sure you provide a feedback form and not just an email link. Feedback forms will encourage your visitors to provide feedback more than just a simple email link. With a feedback form you are letting your visitors know that you want them to provide you with feedback and that you will listen to their comments and perhaps even act on them. Make the form as attractive as possible, use drop down boxes, radio buttons and try not to make the form too long and difficult to fill in. Don’t ask too many personal details, an email address and a contact name may suffice in most cases. You may want to validate the form so that you get a proper email address and name. If you sell products provide an easy drop down menu of those products or a department within your company that the email will be sent to. Also make sure there’s a thank you after submission to let the visitor know that the submission was successful and provide a time scale message such as “a member of our support team will be in contact with you within the next 24 hours”. You may also want to remind the visitor of your business hours.

Other feedback suggestions A forum can be another way to gain feedback and suggestions. Perhaps having a forum category called ’site suggestions’ or ‘product suggestions’ would be a good addition to your site. Another good way to gain feedback is in your payment processing. If you sell products you’ll know that sometimes visitors cancel their purchase just at the last minute This can be puzzling. PayPal allows you to redirect the user back to a personalised page so why not allow the user to provide you with feedback as to why they aborted the purchase. This could be valuable information, perhaps they felt the payment process was too cumbersome and long and if so you may decide to change to a different payment company. Providing ready written options such as “the payment process was too long and complicated” that have an accompanying checkbox might make it easier for the visitors rather than them simply having to fill in a feedback box. Other ideas might be to use review or rating software that will let you visitors perhaps rate a page or application and write reviews.

Employing some or all of these methods can certainly help you get feedback. In turn this feedback will help you provide a better site or software and the best thing of all is that this feedback doesn’t cost!

I’d love you to email me (michael@codefixer.com) and tell me what you think of this article!

The Third Wave of Web Hosting

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

The First Wave – ISP Wave

The first wave of Web hosting started in the middle of 1990s. At the time, there weren’t really many web hosting companies. Web hosting was a part of ISP (Internet Service Provider) operation. Within two years, the number of ISPs had grown from a few dozens to a few thousands in United States alone. Many analysts predicated that the consolidation of ISP industry was unavoidable. But the analysts didn’t pay much attention to the future of the web hosting. The web hosting clients for ISPs were most small to medium-sized organizations which couldn’t offer to have dedicated Internet connection.

The Second Wave – One Plan Hosting Wave

As large telecommunication companies entering into the ISP industry and the prevailing of broadband connection into both commercial and residential buildings, a few leading ISP, such as AOL had grabbed residential users from small ISP companies, and telecommunication companies had stolen or acquired commercial clients from small or regional ISP companies. Because of the economy of scale, ISPs couldn’t compete with either AOL, Comcast or Qwest for Internet connection service. Most ISP companies were disappeared as fast as they were emerged.

On the other hand, the growth of the Web has pushed the second wave of web hosting. The web hosting companies offer hosting service at a fraction of cost of what ISPs used to charge. In contrast to the Web hosting service from ISP, which is often customized for each client one way or another, the idea of one hosting plan has helped grow the client base from a few hundreds to hundreds of thousands at few leading hosting companies in a few short years. Todays’ web hosting companies don’t offer Internet connection service at all. It’s unbelievable that early ISP companies had never attempted to transform themselves into web hosting companies to survive the inevitable consolidation of ISP industry.

The Third Wave – Hosting Plan for Users

Seasoned webmasters can easily setup a new website in minutes with one of their preferred hosting companies. Novice webmasters are often confused by the various web hosting plans – ASP Web Hosting, Budget Hosting, Dedicated Servers, eCommerce Hosting, FrontPage Web Hosting, Hosting With Templates, Managed Web Hosting, PHP Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Sh ared Hosting, Unix / Linux Hosting, Virtual Private Servers, Windows Hosting or Co-location Hosting. The size of the Web will continue to grow exponentially as more and more people join the crow to create their own websites. If web hosting companies do not expect average Joe to understand operating systems, programming languages or variations of web servers, they’ll develop the service and sell the hosting plan that’ll make sense to average Mary. New web hosting plan will be labeled in terms of what is can do for hosting customers, instead of technical buzzwords.

The Web hosting industry has been enjoying healthy growth as the global economy and IT industry revives. It’s too early to see the tide of the third wave in Web hosting right now. If the first and the second wave of Web hosing were pushed by the start of a new economic cycle, the coming of the third wave may not be an exception either.

Copyright @2005, Bruce Zhang

You have permission to publish this article electronically free of charge, as long as the bylines and links in the body of the article and the bylines are included.