Misrelate

A well-designed website is the best method I can think of to generate a steady flow of new ezine subscribers. And new subscribers who join your ezine’s list through your website tend to be of higher quality than those who find you through other means (ezine directories, announcement lists, etc.). One primary reason for this is that new subscribers that come through your website were quite possibly seeking out the type of information you offer, especially if they found you through a search engine.

Search engines and web directories (such as Yahoo! and LookSmart.com) are one of the best sources of targeted web site traffic. Recent changes in the functionality and submission process of several search engines and directories are detailed below.

The biggest change in the search engine landscape has been a move towards paid submissions by several services. While some may consider it a bad thing that services that were once free now charge for submission, it’s actually an improvement in many ways. Most notably, the time it takes to get listed is usually drastically reduced with a paid service, meaning your site can start receiving traffic within days of submitting. And the potential traffic you can receive from the various search engines that use paid submissions usually far outweighs the cost. That’s more than can be said for most other marketing efforts, which carry a much higher risk.

One of the biggest recent announcements of this kind is that search provider Inktomi has recently added a paid submission. For prices starting at $20, Inktomi guarantees they’ll spider your Web site every 48 hours for a year. Inktomi search results are used by 125 partners, including HotBot, AOL, NBCi, MSN, and others.

Information on paid submissions to Inktomi is available at: http://www.positiontech.com. This service has just been released; as I find out more and test its effectiveness, I’ll mention my findings here.

Yahoo! has for quite some time featured its “Business Express” option of paid submission. LookSmart.com recently moved to accepting only paid submissions, doing away with its free submission process altogether. However, if I were going to spend only $199 to market a Web site, I would spend it on a LookSmart submission. LookSmart’s data is used by MSN, Excite, AltaVista, CNN.com, and others, and the results have been very good in my experience.

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Pay Per Click Search Engines (PPC) are not the panacea they are made out to be. While they do work under the right circumstances they are not always the best solution.

Overture the biggest and most well known PPC charges a minimum of 10 cents per click, Google Adwords charges a minimum of 5 cents per click. Popular keywords and keyword phrases can cost significantly more. You can pay $5, $10 or even $20 for certain keywords. When you use a PPC like overture your listing appears under a heading like Sponsored Results. Most Buyers don’t buy from the first web site they go to. They will visit several web sites before they make a Buy decision. They may click on your link more then 1 time via the PPC before they make they decide to buy, Hopefully from you (You pay for each click from that very same visitor).

People who are searching for a product or service via a Search engine are ready willing and able buyers. Typical conversion rates for search engine visitors are 3% and more. So for every 100 Search engine visitors 3 Sales will result. So if the average sale for a web page is $50 then on average 100 Search engine visits would equate to $150 in Sales. 10,000 Search Engine visitors would equal 15,000 in sales. Of course some web sites convert better and other web sites convert worse.

The Better Alternative to PPC is to archive a High Page Rank in Google, Yahoo or MSN and have people find your web page via a Natural Search Request (Not a Sponsored Listing). Of course if you had the knowledge to get visitors via Natural Search Requests you wouldn’t be considering the PPC Option. What if you could hirer an Expert and Pay just 7.5 Cents per Visitor, Not Click and be guaranteed 10,000 visitors would that be better alternative.

It really goes back to cost per sale. If you have a conversion rate of 3% and you are paying $7,50 for 100 Visitors then your cost per sale is $2.50. If you average Profit per sale is greater then $2.50 then this is probably a great deal for you. If you do not have a Good Feel for your conversion rate then be a little more consecrative when calculating your own cost per sale.

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About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built
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Most of us have seen at least a dozen different toothpaste
commercials that claim, “Three out of four dentists
recommend….” You may have wondered, as I did, how each of
these claims could be possibly be true. They are based on
statistical evidence, so why are there such varied results? If
you listen to advertising, there seems to be no clear consensus
on which health-related products–aspirin, cough syrup,
antihistamines–are the best. They are all recommended by 3 out
of 4 professionals. Is it possible they are making false claims?
The truth is that they are all telling the truth. When it comes
to marketing a health product, the FTC (Federal Trade
Commission) is always watching to make sure advertisers never
tell a lie. Statements such as _____ reduces the risk of cancer,
______ removes harmful toxins from your water, or _____ fights
plaque and reduces gingivitis, must all be substantiated. In
other words, the products must do what they claim. To avoid the
wrath of the FTC, it is always best to tell the truth about your
product or service, especially in the health industry. But what
is truth? In subjective terms it is difficult to discern.
However, the FTC has many guidelines to help you find truth in
your advertising: *Before you run an ad, you have to have a
“reasonable basis” for your claims. A “reasonable basis” is
objective evidence that supports the claim. At a minimum, an
advertiser must have the level of evidence that it claims to
have. The statement “two out of three doctors recommend…” must
be supported by a reliable survey. *If the ad isn’t specific,
the FTC looks at several factors to determine what level of
proof is necessary, including what experts in the field think is
needed to support the claim. *Ads that make health or safety
claims must be supported by “competent and reliable scientific
evidence” - tests, studies, or other scientific evidence that
has been evaluated by people qualified to interpret it. Any
tests or studies must be conducted using methods that experts in
the field deem acceptable. These are just a few of the
guidelines to consider when making an advertising claim. But
don’t be too worried. As long as you tell the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth, there is no reason to keep
looking over your shoulder.

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CoCaLo is a relative newcomer to the crib bedding industry, founded in 1998. CoCaLo manufacturers crib bedding under the Kimberly Grant, CoCaLo, Baby Martex, and OshKosh Baby labels. Released in mid-2005 under the CoCaLo label, the Two of a Kind collection is one of the many crib bedding sets available in the growing Noah’s Ark theme. Generally retailing for between $180 and $210, the four-piece crib set seems reasonably priced given the quality of fabrics and workmanship.

Two of a Kind comes as a four-piece crib set with a quilt, bumper, crib skirt, and fitted sheet. The collection is made from a 65/35 poly/cotton blend, with the exception of the fitted sheet, which is 100% cotton. The fitted sheet is available for purchase separately. As with most crib bedding collections, a number of accessories are available, that match the Two of a Kind crib set. Notably missing, however, is a hamper, which most crib bedding manufacturers have available.

As with most crib bedding collections, the quilt is the centerpiece of the crib set. The Two of a Kind quilt is made with a genuine patchwork design, in which the patches of the quilt are individually sewn together to create the pattern. The fabrics used are an interesting mixture of high quality woven fabrics (blue and sage striped, orange plaid, and a particularly interesting seersucker plaid), fabrics with printed (where the design is printed onto a solid colored fabric) patterns (sage gingham, sage striped, powder blue plaid, star patterned fabric), and soft powder blue corduroy. The patchwork stitching lines are straight and appropriately hidden on the underside of the front of the quilt. The back of the quilt is soft white sherpa. The quilt features several embroidered animals and accessories all in the Noah’s Ark theme. The embroidered details are very nicely rendered. One of the nice added touches of Two of a Kind is the tails of the elephants and giraffes, sewn with the ends loose to imitate a real tail.

The bumper is 9″ tall with ties on both the top and bottom. The inside of the bumper features the same patchwork design used in the quilt. The outside of the bumper is comprised entirely of the printed powder blue plaid fabric, giving a substantially different appearance to the inside and outside of the bumper. The two longer sides feature more embroidery as well. A slight drawback of the bumper is the fact that it comes as one continuous piece, as opposed to being broken up into two, three, or even four pieces. The crib skirt has a 10″ drop to complete the look of the set. The fitted sheet has a striped pattern which, because the pattern is printed on, not woven into, the fabric could possibly fade due to normal wear and tear. I would recommend buying several solid colored fitted sheets {white, off-white, or cream}, which are readily available at most bedding retailers, to save the matching sheet for showing off. Fortunately, all of the crib bedding pieces are machine washable.

Unfortunately for Canadian consumers purchasing from a United States online retailer, the Two of a Kind bedding collection is manufactured in China. Customers in Canada would be required to pay import duties of as much as 18% of the stated prices.

If you’re interested in the Noah’s Ark theme, you might also want to look at Two by Two by Kidsline or Noah’s Ark by Brandee Danielle.

Katherine L is a Copywriter/Customer Service Representative for BabySuperMall.com, an online retailer of crib bedding, including Two of a Kind by CoCaLo.

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Bucks County Housing Prices Jumped 10.6 Percent in the Fourth
Quarter of 2005

The county also saw a 8.7 percent decrease in the number of
residential homes sold

DEVON, PA - Bucks County median home prices jumped 10.6 percent
to $287,658 in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to
Prudential Fox & Roach REALTORS® HomExpert Market Report ©. The
median sale price of homes in the fourth quarter of 2004 was
$260,000.

In the fourth quarter of 2005, the county saw 1,785 homes sold,
a 8.7 percent decrease, compared to 1,956 homes sold in 2004.
The average number of days a home remained on the market
increased from 30 days in the fourth quarter of 2004 to 31 days
in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The median price of new listings of homes in Bucks County also
increased in the fourth quarter by 7.6 percent to $319,900 in
2005 from $297,200 in 2004, according to the HomExpert Market
Report.

Bucks County averaged 3,347 homes per month available for sale
in the fourth quarter of 2005, an increase of 16.4 percent from
2,875 homes per month during the same time in 2004.

Other fourth quarter HomExpert Market Report © findings:

- Chester County led with the highest median sale price in the
five-county region at $295,500, followed by Bucks County
($287,658), Montgomery County ($265,000), Delaware County
($198,500) and Philadelphia County ($131,000).

- Philadelphia County led the five-county region in median price
increase with a jump of 19.1 percent. Bucks County posted an
increase of 10.6 percent followed by Delaware County at 9.5
percent, Montgomery County at 8.2 percent and Chester County at
7.5 percent.

- Philadelphia County sold 4,564 homes in the fourth quarter of
2005, a decrease of 6.5 percent. Montgomery County sold 2,767
homes, a decrease of 2.2 percent, Delaware County sold 1,936
homes a decrease of 5.8 percent, Bucks County sold 1,785 a
decrease of 8.7 percent, and Chester County sold 1,595, a
decrease of 10.9 percent.

About Prudential Fox and Roach REALTORS Prudential Fox and
Roach, REALTORS®, the nation’s fourth largest provider of home
services, is an independently owned and operated member of the
Prudential Real Estate Affiliate, Inc. and the largest
Prudential affiliate in the country. As the Tri-State area’s
real estate leader, the company has more than 64 sales locations
and 3,700 associates. Through its affiliate, the Trident Group,
the company provides one-stop shopping and facilitated services
to its clients including mortgage financing and title, property
and casualty insurance. Visit our Website at www.prufoxroach.com

About HomExpert The 2006 HomExpert Market Report is a product of
the Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors’ Research Division. Findings
were compiled using the company’s exclusive HomExpert service,
which analyzes TreND Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data and
provides up-to-the-minute statistics. HomExpert offers exclusive
analysis of real estate activity regionally, by county, MLS area
or zip code across the Prudential Fox & Roach service area.

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