The Force Field Podcast

AWeber Announces FeedBurner RSS-To-Email Integration

February 6, 2008 by Rick

By reporting email subscriber numbers to FeedBurner, bloggers and podcasters can boast more accurate, higher readerships to visitors and advertisers.

Newtown, PA (PRWEB) February 5, 2008 — AWeber Communications, a leading provider of email marketing software for small businesses and bloggers, announced today that their Blog Broadcast RSS-to-email tool now integrates with FeedBurner's RSS tracking and publishing service.

Bloggers and podcasters using the two tools to communicate with their audiences will see a jump in the number of subscribers that display on Google-owned FeedBurner's popular subscriber 'chicklets.' These chicklets, which show how many people regularly follow a blog or podcast, provide visitors and potential advertisers with an indication of the blog's popularity.

"By reporting these figures to FeedBurner, we're helping bloggers give a more accurate and favorable picture of how popular their blogs are," said Justin Premick, Education Marketing Manager at AWeber. "The more subscribers you can boast, the more likely new visitors are to subscribe to your blog, and the more likely companies are to want to advertise on your blog."

AWeber will report email subscribers to FeedBurner for bloggers using AWeber's Blog Broadcast tool to convert their blog's RSS feed to an email newsletter. Bloggers and podcasters collect email subscribers for their blog newsletter through a simple signup form that they create using AWeber and place on their blogs.

FeedBurner will include AWeber email subscribers in their reporting, making it easy for bloggers to see what percentage of their readers follows their blog by email. AWeber expects that seeing those subscribers side-by-side in their FeedBurner accounts will be an eye-opening experience for many bloggers.

"As great a technology as RSS is, it's simply not as widely understood and used as email is," Premick added. "The most popular blogs know this, and offer readers the choice to subscribe by email or RSS."

"We hope this feature shows bloggers and podcasters the value of email subscribers, and gets them to embrace both email and RSS as effective ways to build relationships with their audiences."

About AWeber Communications

Founded in 1998, AWeber Communications helps small businesses and bloggers increase sales and profits through its web-based email marketing software.

IObit Teams up with Grisoft Inc. to Offer Internet Users the Free Anti-virus Product

February 6, 2008 by Rick

Not AVG Free Edition, Internet Users can download licensed AVG Professional Editions product from IObit, without any cost

Boston, Mass. (PRWEB) February 5, 2008 — IObit works with Grisoft Inc. to make AVG Professional Editions free, and Internet users can acquire from IObit – free licensed AVG Anti-Virus Professional Edition, AVG Anti-Spyware or AVG Internet Security. Besides free and advanced system diagnosing and maintenance from Advanced WindowsCare, Internet users can enjoy complete protection from AVG professional security products.

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"We find that lots of Internet PCs, which are using function-limited free antivirus product, are infected with virus or spyware, as these Internet users cannot afford expensive Professional security products," says Hugo, President of IObit, "We are excited to be working with Grisoft Inc. in offering all Internet users high-quality and free security products and solutions for the best protection of their computers."

The cooperation comes with the following key features:

Everyone who download and install freeware Advanced WindowsCare can get free licensed AVG security products — The special license can be used for 90 days.
IObit offers all customers the cheapest price in the Internet for purchasing AVG security products, with up to 25% discount.

"Our cooperation with Grisoft Inc. ensures best service that protects customers anytime and anywhere in the world," says Hugo.

For more information and to get a free licensed AVG security professional product, please visit: http://www.iobit.com/avg-com.html

About Grisoft
Founded in 1991, with corporate offices in Europe and the USA, Grisoft is focused on developing software solutions that provide protection from computer viruses. Distributed globally through resellers and through the internet, the AVG Anti-Virus product line supports all major operating systems and platforms. More than 50 million users around the world use Grisoft AVG products to protect their computers and networks.

About IObit
IObit is an innovative and young company founded in 2004 by two young programmers. With the release and popularity of Advanced WindowsCare v1 in 2005, IObit has become one of the most successful new companies in the Internet. IObit is also a provider of award-winning software products designed to deliver superior performance, protection and security to PC users.

Why Is My Site Not Showing Up In Google?

February 6, 2008 by Rick

More and more websites are failing to show up in the world's biggest search engine and increasingly businesses are feeling frustrated with their websites.To solve this problem, leading internet marketing company WebEfforts, suggests five easy steps to improve your ranking.

Birmingham, United Kingdom (PRWEB) February 5, 2008 — More and more websites are failing to show up in the world's biggest search engine and increasingly businesses are feeling frustrated with their websites.To solve this problem, leading internet marketing company WebEfforts, suggests five easy steps to improve your ranking.
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Step one: choose your keywords carefully.

Many people fall into the trap of competing for the same keywords. For example, there are over 10 millions searches performed each year on Google for the keyword 'internet marketing'.

However, our research shows that the search term 'internet marketing company' attracts 300,000 searches a year on Google. Often, this longer search term has less competition and reaches your target market more effectively. Hence your chances of ranking on it are higher in Google, and more importantly, achieving online sales.

Step two: embed keywords into your website.

Once you have decided on your keywords, you need to make sure they appear throughout your website's text. This communicates to Google that your site is a highly relevant match to the term searched for.

For example, to rank on Google for the term 'internet marketing company' this keyword phrase needs to appear at least three times within one page on your website. You also have technical tags on your website, known as 'Meta Tags', which need to contain this keyword too. We suggest contacting a professional company if you are unfamiliar with changing these.

Step three: uncover competitors' online strategies.

So, you may think you have found the best search term and all the text is embedded within your website. But, will it actually work?

Well, look at your top competitor's website and scan across their pages to see what search terms that are continually repeating in their text. Look at the top of the browser on their home page, what keywords appear there? The text there is the 'Title Meta Tag' text, which is very important to Google for ranking purposes.

There are automated ways to research your competitors using internet tools, but these can be expensive to buy for a one-off job. We suggest buying an internet marketing report, which is an affordable way to share the cost of using the tools.

Step four: get your keywords noticed.

If any step should be given more emphasis, this is the one. To rank on Google for a search term, Google's search engine won't just take your word for it because it is written on your site. Google wants additional confirmation that you are telling the truth. As a result, Google needs to see other sites pointing to your site for that keyword.

To do this you need to write content for your site and include links to your site on the keyword you want to rank in Google for. For example, to promote Web Effort's on the keyword 'internet marketing company' the content should include a link like:-

"……leading internet marketing company WebEfforts produce the best selling internet marketing report that includes professional keyword research, a web site assessment and powerful competitor research…"

However, you may need hundreds of links pointing to your site to compete against your competitors for that keyword.

In an extract from our report, we noticed that a top competitor had over 1,000 links. If this is the case for your search term, it is best to outsource the work to a professional company with experience in this area. Avoid using cheap services, as the techniques they use can be automated and leave you completely blacklisted from the search engine.

Step five: create viral content through online publicity.

To add the icing on the cake, you could get your website noticed on some of the largest News wires such as paid inclusion sites like Yahoo News and Google News. This method normally gives you exposure for 30 days and can provide an excellent source of traffic within days. We suggest using an online distribution service for this.

However, the key is to create viral content, which is content that is likely to be passed on because it is useful. Once this is achieved people will start posting links, from say forums or blogs, allowing the link building work to be done all by itself.

Following these five easy steps will not only improve your ranking on Google, but also drive traffic to your website and potentially increase sales.

For more information, please contact Max Worton at WebEfforts on 01562 884 388 or max.worton@webefforts.co.uk

About WebEfforts
WebEfforts helps website owners on small budgets drive targeted traffic to their website, see our results. The company is known for its best-selling internet marketing report, which can be viewed online at http://www.webefforts.co.uk.

Services include: Web Site Management and Administration, Professional Keyword Research, Web Site Assessments, Competitor intelligence, Link Building and Online Publicity.

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Acorn Computers to Address the Needs of the Mobile Professional and Consumer

February 6, 2008 by Rick

Acorn Computers, an online computer store, has streamlined its product line to address the needs of the mobile professional and consumer. This change in focus is designed to enhance productivity and reduce the costs of doing business in the mobile marketplace by offering products designed for those specific needs.

Aurora, Illinois (PRWEB) February 6, 2008 — Acorn Computers, known as a customer-oriented online computer store, announced today its intentions to streamline their product offerings to address the needs of the mobile professional and consumer. With the narrowing of their focus, it is apparent Acorn Computers has listened to its customers and now offers a broad range of products tailored to meet the mobile business professional and consumer.

Acorn Computers will now offer a wide selection of reliable and cost-effective laptop computers including Panasonic Toughbook, Lenovo ThinkPad, Sony VAIO, Acer laptops, and Toshiba laptops. More brands of laptop computers may be added but Acorn Computers has made it clear that any additional manufacturers must have a stellar customer service and reliability reputation before they will be considered.

Acorn Computers will also offer a complete line of laptop accessories and peripherals the mobile business professional will need to take their office on the road. Laptop carrying cases in a variety of styles and materials, laptop stands, security cables and extended warranties make up a few of the laptop accessories Acorn Computers will now offer. Realizing the need for secure external storage of personal data, Acorn Computers will feature external hard drives and flash drives equipped with encrypting technology. And since being mobile inherently means being wireless, Acorn Computers will offer peripherals designed for ultimate mobility include wireless networking PC cards, wireless USB adapters and wireless mice.

With the shift to the mobile market, Acorn Computers is also announcing that it will discontinue several products including motherboards, processors, computer cases, power supplies, MP3 players, computer speakers and video cards. In essence, products that do not address the needs of the mobile professional and consumer will no longer be sold in store.

Realizing laptops usually are loaded with no more than an operating system and trial software, Acorn Computers, an authorized Adobe reseller, will continue to sell retail boxes as well as government, commercial, and not-for-profit licenses of Adobe software. Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows and Symantec security and antivirus software will also be available to customers.

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release, contact the Media Department or visit www.acorncomputers.com.

About Acorn Computers:
Acorn Computers is an online computer store specializing in products for the mobile business professional and consumer. They carry only brands we know to be reliable and trustworthy. If they wouldn't buy it themselves, they won't carry it in their store.

SOMARK’s Chipless RFID Ink Tattoo Field Demo Brings the Company Closer to Launch

February 6, 2008 by Rick

SOMARK Innovations, Inc. recently completed a field demo of its patented Chipless RFID Ink Tattoo animal ID system.

St. Louis, Mo. (PRWEB) February 6, 2008 — SOMARK Innovations, Inc. recently completed a field demo of its patented Chipless RFID Ink Tattoo animal ID system. The demo proved the SOMARK system's ability to apply a tattoo in less than three seconds and read the tattoo (translate the tattoo into a unique ID, with a handheld reader in real time). The demo was conducted at a private facility in the U.S.

"This is a giant leap for the company," said Mark C. Pydynowski, SOMARK President. "This demo proves our system's ability to function quickly and automatically. Previous tests, which confirmed the technology's feasibility, were slower and required some tasks to be performed manually."

SOMARK's system includes a disposable ink cartridge, a multi-needle applicator and a handheld reader. This technology combines features of several common technologies, including human tattoos (ink-based and inexpensive), chipless RFID (machine-readable and no-line-of-sight), biometrics (unique to the individual) and hot-iron brands (permanent and tamper-proof).

"Although potential applications include cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, dogs, cats, mice, rats and prime cuts of meat, our primary focus is cattle," said Ramos M. Mays, SOMARK inventor and CSO.

"SOMARK's technology is distinct because, unlike conventional RFID, it is not constrained by metal, liquid or organic matter," said Chris D. Justice, SOMARK VP of R&D who joined the company in 2007 after 10 years managing product development, including medical devices. "For example, we can deposit our ink directly on a metal substrate or liquid-filled container and read a unique ID without line-of-sight. Metal compatibility is critical for livestock environments because of the metal laden infrastructure of such facilities."

About SOMARK Innovations:
SOMARK's purpose is food safety. The technology company is developing a patented ID system based on a biocompatible ink tattoo with chipless RFID functionality. SOMARK is targeting the livestock industry to help identify and track cattle and thus mitigate export trade loss from BSE scares, also known as Mad Cow Disease. SOMARK is located at the Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis, Mo.

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Former AOL Executives Launch New Online Marketplace at Rogmo.com

February 6, 2008 by Rick

Aiming to simplify the purchase and sale of live expert advice over the Internet, three former AOL executives have rolled out a public "beta" of Rogomo.com, a web site that provides an online marketplace and tools enabling anyone with a computer to easily purchase or sell live services online.

Arlington, VA (PRWEB) February 6, 2008 — Aiming to simplify the purchase and sale of live expert advice over the Internet, three former AOL executives have rolled out a public "beta" of Rogomo.com, a web site that provides an online marketplace and tools enabling anyone with a computer to easily purchase or sell live services online.

The former AOL executives, Frank Marvin, Neil Moses and John Underwood, along with Steve Rogovin, created Rogomo for the purpose of allowing individuals and businesses to take advantage of new Internet-based communication tools, including high quality video calling, instant messaging and social networking, to exchange expertise and services over the Internet.

"While more and more people are using the Internet to find answers to their everyday questions on sites like Wikipedia and Yahoo! Answers," explains Mr. Moses, Rogomo's president, "it's still very difficult to find the right answer or advice quickly, especially if you need personalized or real-time information. We founded Rogomo in order to make it easy for people to find and talk to real experts and get the personalized, live help that they need."

One of Rogomo's competitive advantages is its patent-pending timer and billing platform. "Unlike existing solutions," Mr. Underwood, Rogomo's head of products, explains, "Rogomo works with any form of communication. As a result, our users are free to choose to communicate via the phone, Internet video call, instant messaging, online collaboration tools or any other method they wish. People want technology that complements what they do, not technology that tells them what to do."

In addition to helping users find information, Rogomo also makes it simple for individuals or businesses to earn money by selling their expertise or services. Anyone with specialized knowledge or expertise can sign up as a Rogomo expert and start selling in minutes. Rogomo helps its experts market themselves by allowing them to personalize their Rogomo profile pages, including adding third-party tools such as those offered by YouTube or Meebo. Rogomo also provides experts with promotional widgets and customized signature lines that can be displayed on Facebook, MySpace and many other sites, allowing experts to market themselves as they travel the web.

"As we continue to roll out new features over the coming months and expand our beta, we believe that Rogomo will help open the door for the next wave of online commerce. Just as eBay and Craigslist made it easy to buy and sell goods over the Internet, people are ready to start buying and selling services online as well," Mr. Moses says.

About Rogomo
Rogomo was founded in 2007 for the purpose of creating an online marketplace where individuals and businesses can easily buy or sell live expert advice over the Internet. Rogomo's patent-pending platform allows users to find just the right expert for their needs and to seamlessly negotiate and agree to a fee, track the length of services provided, and safely and securely exchange payment for their services.

For further information, contact Steve Rogovin at 917-204-3954 or press @ rogomo.com.

Yahoo! Gives Small Businesses Unlimited Room to Grow Online

February 6, 2008 by Rick

In a first for the web hosting industry, Yahoo! Small Business today announced a new service that gives small businesses unlimited room to grow online. The new Yahoo! Web Hosting service includes unlimited disk space, data transfer, and email storage space, for one low price of $11.95 per month. The new plan offers small businesses a simple, inexpensive solution for launching a new business or growing an existing one online, while eliminating worries about bandwidth and storage limits. With more than 1.5 million customers, Yahoo! Small Business is one of the world's leading providers of reliable, secure hosting services for small businesses.

Sunnyvale, CA (PRWEB) February 6, 2008 — In a first for the web hosting industry, Yahoo! Small Business today announced a new service that gives small businesses unlimited room to grow online. The new Yahoo! Web Hosting service includes unlimited disk space, data transfer, and email storage space, for one low price of $11.95 per month. The new plan offers small businesses a simple, inexpensive solution for launching a new business or growing an existing one online, while eliminating worries about bandwidth and storage limits. With more than 1.5 million customers, Yahoo! Small Business is one of the world's leading providers of reliable, secure hosting services for small businesses.

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"Yahoo! understands that small business owners face a number of obstacles to success, and we don't think that the growth of their online presence should be one of them. By going unlimited, Yahoo! is freeing its customers to focus on growing their businesses and driving traffic to their sites, rather than calculating the costs of megabytes," said Guy Yalif, director of web hosting products, Yahoo!. "Yahoo! has long been the trusted partner of choice for small businesses looking to launch or expand online. The new unlimited offer shows our ongoing commitment to driving value for small business owners, who are an important part of the ecosystem of partners that we're focused on serving."

Yahoo!'s unlimited hosting service includes award-winning, easy-to-use web site design tools that allow business owners with little or no technical knowledge to quickly create professional-looking web sites. Yahoo!'s service also includes a free domain name, 1,000 personalized email accounts, live 24-7 toll-free customer support, and a new 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

To help small businesses generate leads and get noticed online, Yahoo! automatically submits its customers' web sites to top search engines. In addition, web site building tools automatically optimize customers' sites to be found by search engines. Other features help convert site visitors into customers including automatically generated maps and driving directions, business contact information on every page, compelling content guides, and lead submission forms. Yahoo! Web Hosting also makes it easy to quickly attract web site traffic by providing discounts on marketing services such as sponsored search advertising and email marketing.

"Yahoo! has taken a major step forward in delivering more value to small business owners looking to grow through the Web. Whenever you reduce costs and complexity for small business owners, you add tremendous value to their companies by freeing them to focus on their core businesses, and not worry about technical issues like bandwidth and storage — which they don't understand," said Sanjeev Aggarwal, vice president for SMB infrastructure solutions at AMI-Partners. "This is an aggressive move to lower the barrier to entry for small business owners, and significantly boosts the value Yahoo! offers small businesses looking for complete solutions for getting online."

The unlimited-service offer follows a series of significant enhancements to Yahoo!'s hosting solution that focus on making it increasingly easy for entrepreneurs to quickly create attractive, high-quality web sites, including:

Award-winning tools that guide small business owners through a simple, step-by-step process to open their businesses online;
Web sites that are optimized right out of the box for lead generation;
High-impact, professional site designs created with specific types of small businesses in mind, from attorney's offices and home-repair services to accountants and spas;
One-step email setup and an award-winning online email interface;
A lead-capturing tool that automatically sends the business owner an email whenever potential customers submit contact information or request service from the business;
Detailed guidance on how to develop compelling content for each page of the small business owner's web site.

"I never thought building a web site would be so easy, and now I'm thrilled that I don't have to worry about bandwidth and storage limits," said Kaitlyn Sharp, owner, Custom Plumbing and Hardware (http://www.customplumbingandhardware.com). "The Yahoo! designs were great, and the simple instructions allowed me to quickly add pictures and information, and then to launch the site with a series of clicks. Our site went live after only a few hours, leading to an appointment and then a fabulous sale — all in the first week."

About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit http://pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal.

BitsDuJour.com Announces Daily Deal Software Affiliate Web Stores

February 4, 2008 by Rick

BitsDuJour.com offers a new program where websites an easily host their exclusive daily discount software deals on any website and earn great commission, and get free fresh daily content.

(PRWEB) February 3, 2008 — BitsDuJour.com is a 24 hour discount deal site for software. It reviews and features software for 24 hours at deep discounts direct from the vendors.

BitsDuJour's new program allows webmasters to place all of their daily deals on any website. This means that visitors browsing a site will be able to see the software deals and purchase right then and there. The problem with traditional web-ads is that they take visitors off of a website and away from the site hosting the ads. With BitsDuJour's system users stay on the site and BitsDuJour effectively provides a whole new branch to any website in a few short clicks, complete with a full review on the software, newsletters, notifications, comment borads and RSS feeds. This provides visitors with content and deals that they actually want to see, not just more invasive advertisements.

This isn't a standard referral or linking system, visitors will be able to see the deals and make the purchases right then and there. Store owners will receive all payments directly from BitsDuJour, meaning that they won't have to deal with the hundreds of software vendors. In other words, BitsDuJour handles all the day-to-day running of the store. All store owners need do is set up and get the fresh daily content and deals.

On each sale the store owner will receive 50% of the commission that BitsDuJour gets from the sale, so it's really easy to monetize an existing website. It's a powerful system and several stores have already gone live in the inital Beta period.

Here are a few highlights of the system:

Fresh daily reviews on great software, visitors should enjoy the upbeat style even if they don't purchase
Totally customizable user interface
Integrates seamlessly with any website and keeps the domain name in the URL
Email notifications and daily and weekly reminder emails, all branded with the store name and links to increase sales and repeat visits
Message board for comments on software
Minimal time investment on store owner's part
No setup fees
Full admin system where store owners can track traffic and sales on the store

Full details are online here:
http://www.bitsdujour.com/index.aspx?page=partnerStoreInfo.aspx

How to Prepare Taxes for Your Small Business

February 4, 2008 by Rick

As tax day approaches, Paul Stappas had devised tips for small businesses to file with ease this year.

Paramus, NJ (PRWEB) February 2, 2008 — As tax day approaches, businesses around the country will be turning their books over for tax preparation. Some will be well prepared but most small business owners may get “that sinking feeling,” hoping that their accountants can help piece things together. With a little foresight and some planning, however, small business owners can easily adopt smart bookkeeping practices that will make tax time much less stressful and their bottom lines more robust.

“The key is in the set-up,” says Paul Stappas, owner of Bookkeeping Administration Management, a service that implements bookkeeping systems for small-sized companies around the country. “Most businesses use Quick Books. But if the entries are faulty, Quick Books won’t produce accurate profit and loss statements and balance sheets. The adage, ‘garbage in, garbage out’ definitely applies.” Amazingly, of the thousands of businesses Stappas has counseled, less than two percent were using Quick Books to its potential. Stappas says he has also found inconsistencies and incorrect data from every company that has requested his help.

Here are tips Stappas says business owners should follow to maximize their accounting efforts and make tax time as painless as possible whether they use Quick Books or not:

A bookkeeper should never make adjustments to your books entry system without specific authority from you or your accountant. Stappas says that most company bookkeepers will frequently make adjustments to their books and never inform the owner or the owners’ accounting firm. The way information is entered into Quick Books or another program will definitely affect the outcome. If the entry system is changed, you may not get accurate profit-and-loss statements or balance sheet at year’s end.

Make certain your entries are recorded accurately. Even simple entries can be incorrect if they are not logged properly. The interest and principal on a car loan payment, for example, must be separated for proper accounting purposes. For manufacturing firms, the cost of goods must be properly logged. Service companies must properly record hours worked by each employee. Liabilities are frequently not recorded correctly, resulting in improper payments to the IRS.

Spend time planning for the year ahead. Even if your books are not up-to-par this year, don’t hide from the problem. Spend some real time now to correct your books, implementing new entry systems if necessary and resolve to stop the bad habits that can put unnecessary stress on even successful businesses and their owners.

Hire an expert to fix the problem. Bookkeepers might not have the training necessary to correct inconsistent and inaccurate entries. And, accountants might not have the time budgeted to overhaul your books. Find a true Quick Books expert who knows business to repair the damage.

It’s never too late to start over where bookkeeping is concerned. “If your systems seem substandard, don’t despair,” says Stappas. “With a few simple changes, any company can adopt end-of-year bookkeeping and accounting practices that are easy to follow and accurate to a fault.”

Bookkeeping Administration Management is a turn-key bookkeeping service that handles monthly or semi-monthly accounts receivables, accounts payable and payroll needs for businesses of any size. The company is based in Neshanic Station, New Jersey. For more information visit: http://www.bookkeepingadmin.com/