The TecBlast Blog

The Internet, as most people know it, is history.

It just seems like yesterday the Internet was just one
big mass of wires and cables; a glorified file sharing
warehouse with more than a few too many lines sticking out.
One enormous LAN party that just got out of hand, causing a ruckus
and spilling out down the block and around the world; creating too
many millionaires for no good reason and causing too many sleepless
nights surfing the neon pink.

The Internet quietly crept into every facet of our lives…
no subject or topic was left unexplored in this binary medium.
Suddenly, there it was, the authority on everything. Our lives
encyclopedia-ed to death by bits and bites.

But the Internet has always been perceived as a connected medium;
tied together by cables, servers and networks. Until now that is,
because now everything has changed. And it’s about time, the Internet
has been tied to the ground for far too long, it’s time for
liberation. Independence Day. Bring it on!

The Internet is going Wireless — for real this time.

There were a few false starts; you can Bluetooth yourself silly,
but you won’t get much further than 30 feet or so. The BlackBerry
is great but a little limiting. And Wi-Fi services have been around
for a long while but those were not really convenient, if you have to
find something; it’s not convenient. Finding a ‘hot spot’ is the
space age equivalent of finding a ‘needle in a haystack’; takes
way too much time.

What changes things, what has finally given the Internet its
liberation?

Verizon Wireless 3G EV-DO (evolution-data optimized) and other
companies offering similar services around the world. This new
technology will change how we view and use the world wide web.
Verizon Wireless began commercial operations in Oct. of 2003 and
is now expanding to over 125 million US consumers by the end
of 2005.

With download speeds of 400 to 700 kbps and bursts up to 2 Mbps,
3G has really given us wireless Internet this time. It has or will
turn the Internet into a truly wireless system that’s devoid of any
cables or lines and really make it omnipotent. It will be everywhere.
No space within our biosphere will be without the Internet very soon.

For now Verizon Wireless or 3G is mainly located in the USA but
this will quickly change as other 3G companies and systems start up
to fulfill the demand. Wi-Fi may play a role too but will it go the
way of the ‘Beta’?

However, this wireless universe could not be possible without one other key
element. The one element that also helped give the Internet its wings.
The answer might or might not surprise you. What really gave the Internet
its groove? Can you guess? Give up?

Finally, we come to the last element of this brand new liberated
Internet — the little notebook computer. Don’t underestimate the
power of this great little revolutionary device, it is doing for
the Internet what the cell phone did for the phone industry — making
it wireless, portable, and accessible anywhere.

It could even be argued that it was the little notebook computer
that gave the Internet its freedom. Finally cutting the cable and
freeing the web, once and for all.

Once we had a portable computer that we could tuck under our
arm and take anywhere; we naturally wanted to take the Internet
along with it. After all, a computer without the Internet is like
having Mickey Mouse without Disneyland — a real downer — any kid
can tell you that!

Once the notebook or laptop computer gained in popularity, the demand
for a wireless Internet grew right along with it. The portability
factor being a strong selling point for both the notebook and the
Internet.

Likewise, in order to take full advantage of each of them; for
business operations, for personal communications, for emailing, for
web surfing… a wireless portable Internet was the obvious
next step. They compliment each other perfectly and one is not
completely whole without the other.

Technology has created this unholy trinity (the Internet, wireless
connections and the notebook computer) to fulfill our need for a portable
communication system that we can take and access anywhere. Until now,
the Internet was limited, tied to cables and wires…it never really
got off the ground!

But watch out; the cables are cut, the training wheels are off, the
bells are starting to ring real fast and this child has found its groove.

Every time a notebook opens, the Internet gets its wings!

————–
Copyright © 2005 Titus Hoskins of BWMagic’s Marketing Tools & Resources
This author’s articles have appeared on such sites as ‘Thetechzone.com’,
‘Promotionworld.com’ and ‘Addme.com’. Visit Notebook Reviews and Guide
to find out more about notebook computers. This article may be
freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
————–

There used to be a time when printing consisted mainly of
single colors. That was the time when people were not yet
particular about the type of printed materials they want. As
long as what they want written is there, then it is good enough.
People then were not particular about the outcome of the
material they wanted.

When artists started putting their minds into printing, colors
and graphics were added to convey messages more easily and
convincingly. By adding colors to their prints, they attract the
attention of the readers at the same time giving enough emphasis
on what their message is.

With the newer technologies of today, companies are now given
more choices to choose from to get their printing jobs done.
Using modern techniques, printing jobs are given life. What used
to be simple materials are turned to breathtaking creations.
Printings jobs are now turned to work of arts, even
masterpieces. Printing services gather the brilliant minds and
artists in creating works that go way beyond the expectations of
their clients.

Time is one of the variables needed in the production of
excellent printing jobs. Not anymore. With the use of modern
machines, these companies can now make printing jobs as fast and
as easy. Utilizing less time is one of the factors that
companies are taking into account in the printing jobs. They are
aware of the fast-paced world that we are into today. Deadlines
have to be made daily and time is of the essence. Printing
companies merged time and quality products to best suit the
needs of the clients. It does not follow that works done on a
longer time frame means good results. These days, less time and
best results are coupled together to maintain customer
satisfaction. People are not left to settle for anything less,
that is the services that are given to them are maximized to the
fullest.

Getting the best quality result does not mean it is
unaffordable. People can now pay less for good quality color
printing jobs. Since expenses have since been a liability in
some people’s lives, they are now given opportunity to get good
products that comes in affordable prices. Now, even small
businesses can venture into more creative and innovative color
printing jobs. They are assured of top-quality prints done in
the best service and made affordable.

With the internet now accessible in homes and in offices,
clients are given the free-hassle service of transacting their
business online. They would not need the old fashioned searching
through advertisements on paper, or asking from friends. All
people have to do now is click on the mouse and the answers to
their printing needs are unraveled before them in the internet.

What more could people ask for?

For comments and inquiries about the article visit
http://www.colorprintingwholesale.com.com

This is not written by a professional lawyer or anyone close to one. It is written by a typically business owner of a successful web development company who has no law degree or the budget to hire a lawyer to write a web development contract. However, they are in need of a contract agreement that will assure a project will be well outlined for both the client and the developer as to what the expectations are of the entire project.

I must write a disclaimer that this proven web development agreement is purely based on experience and knowledge of the web design and development industry. Others may write these contracts and agreements differently. This article is written to help others who wish to know how to begin to write a 10 step web design and development agreement. So enough said, let’s get down to the 10 steps:

1. Scope of Services:
Start off with the most important aspect of the entire project. What exactly are you as the developer going to do for the client? Present a general 3-5 sentence summary of the scope of service. Will you be responsible for the design and programming? How will the website be updated? Who will be responsible for the marketing at the end of the proejct? Who will host the website when the project is done?

2. Price and Payments
This is the area where you are upfront and state the exact price payment and terms of the payment is split up into installments. Is the project quoted at a fixed rate? Is it an hourly rate and how is this documented and tracked? Will the payments be made with a certain percentage up front as a down payment and then a monthly billing cycle, or is it a milestone related payment system?

3. Term and Termination
How long will this agreement contract be enforceable? If the client does not want to persue the project of the way through the project how can he get out? What are the penalties and timeframe they can exit the contract? This is crucial especially to web development agreements with entreprenuers and startups who many times have a great idea, some type of outline or business plan for what they wish to do, but for some reason never finish through with the project. Then as the developer you must have certain rights. Do you keep all of the code that has been developed? Can you finish it and retain intellectual property to it? Many factors can go in this area, but it protects both the client and the developer in the case a developer never is able to complete a project or continues to be late on deliverables and the client wishes to terminate the relationship.

4. Ownership of Intellectual Property
One aspect that needs to be addressed is who will retain the intellectual property to the project? Typically the client retains all intellectual property. This area highlights all of the intellectual property covered such as the source code, all digital files, documentation, etc. Intellectual property is very important to any and all web design and development projects.
5. Confidential Information
Many clients wish to keep all information that is exchanged within a project to the developer as highly confidential and cannot be disclosed whatsoever. This must be addressed in any agreement as to the extent that information can be disclosed. Can the developer mention that they are working for the client during the course of the project to other prospects or potential clients? Many developers use their portfolio of clients as sales tools for other clients. This area must represent exactly what is disclosed and for how long. What period of time is the information kept confidential and so on.

6. Warranty and Disclaimer
Having a warranty on the work that is developed is standard in most web projects. Typically a 30-90 day warranty is given on all work to be functional and bug free. Now this is the area that small details such as the client having access to the server and by mistake entering the files and making changes on mistake that affect the functionality within the terms. Think of the label on products that you purchase such as furniture and mattresses. It says that the warranty is void if you tear the label off. This is what you can address in this area. You will provide warranty on certain terms and conditions with specific disclaimers as well.

7. Limitation of Liability
This is the area in which the developer discloses that they are not liable for any losses of money for the developer or other economic losses directly or indirectly associated with the development of the website. Some less experiences clients will turn around to the developer as the source of their website not succeeding online. Avoid issues in the future if something does not succeed that the client thought would, especially things that the developer cannot control once the website is launched. Also, during the project itself, if for whatever reason there is a financial loss, it protects you as a developer.

8. Relation of Parties
Make sure that the client and developer understand what their relationship is. Is the relationship a development partnership? Is it strictly a work-for-hire type relationship? Is it a client and vendor relationship. This is the area where this needs to be highlighted to make sure the business relationship is understood.

9. Employee Solicitation / Hiring
Many developers never think twice about this, but there have been cases where clients have lured employees or freelancers of the developer during or after the project was completed. Of course this has huge negative aspects associated to it if this happens. That is why this area is also extremely crucial to lay out the fact that the client can not solicite the developers employees in any way when it comes to potential hiring or additional perks. Specify a certain amount of time for this as well. Typically this time from is between 2-5 years.

10. Entire Agreement
This is the ending of the document that basically should say that the entire document and its attributes fall under the entire contract and that nothing will supersede it. Also, this is the area the will have the client and developers key representative who will sign it, date it, and post their roles within the company. Make sure that any and all modifications after signature are signed with initials of both parties next to the change.

These 10 steps to writing a successful web design and development contract and agreement will give a peace of mind to both the client and developer and will pave the way to a trusting business relationship.

Some clients may be surprised when presented with what could be a 2-4 page document to read and sign. Don’t be afraid to walk them through each point and reaffirm the fact that such a document is needed to protect them as a client and you as a developer in any unwanted circumstances, at the same time highlights exactly what everyone’s obligations are. With that said, there should be no issues and the client should be willing to sign the document. Of course if they are not willing to sign the document perhaps it is a financial loss to you as the developer but in the long run it will avoid headaches and even more substancial financial losses.

Good luck on writing your first web design and development agreement. As all things the more you practice writing these the easier they become.

Cosmin Ghiurau is the founder and president of Jumpeye Creative Media, Inc. a highly talented web development firm that specializes in L.A.M.P. Architecture development and Rich Media Flash Actionscript Programming. Visit his website for more articles, news, and insight: www.jumpeye.com

So you want to publish a web site do you? Welcome to the club. These days it seems that almost everyone has a web site of some kind, and thousands more continue to be launched every day. It’s challenging enough to design a site and fill it with interesting content, but when all is said and done another challenge still remains - where to host it?

A popular choice for newbie webmasters, and even experienced ones, is to secure a free hosting plan with a company such as Yahoo! Geocities, Tripod or Angelfire. While these are easy to setup and free of charge, they do have limitations. Most free hosts don’t offer all the nice features that paid hosts do such as FTP access, CGI-BIN, or your own personal domain name. Instead you’re stuck with minimal features and a generic URL such as www.freewebhost.com/marcswebsite. This somewhat limits your web site’s potential. Most free hosts also require you to run banners or pop-up ads on your web site to make it worth their while - these banners and pop-ups can obstruct the view of your web page and ultimately annoy visitors and drive them away. Lastly, most free hosts have a daily bandwidth limit that is very small, so if you do get a lot of traffic you’ll most likely exceed the allotted bandwidth and your site will be temporarily disabled. Overall I would recommend free web hosts for people that are new to web hosting and want to get a feel for how it works. I’d also recommend them for web sites that are personal in nature (such as an online journal) as well as web sites that don’t plan to generate any revenue. Free web hosts are a great stepping stone to paid web hosts - I myself starting building web sites 4 years ago using free hosts, and today I run several high traffic web sites that are hosted on paid web hosting plans.

Now it’s time to get into the good stuff - paid web hosting. Web hosting companies that charge money for their services are plentiful on the Internet, and feature a wide array of hosting packages at various price points. First we begin with so called “budget” web hosts, who claim to offer you the world for only $1 per month. Having used numerous such companies I feel I must tell you to proceed with caution here, as these companies aren’t all that they are cracked up to be. Many claim to offer 24/7 e-mail support, which in my experience turned out to be 0/0 e-mail support. My e-mails were either never answered or answered a week after I sent them. Even when I got a response it was generic in nature and completely unhelpful. Also, expect frequent outages with these budget web hosts as they rarely even have their own web servers - often they are reselling space on someone else’s web servers over which they have no control. One budget web host I used went down unexpectedly for 6 days, and they didn’t even bother to notify their customers. As a result, my web site was down for 6 days and I lost most of my visitors as well as my hard-earned search engine rankings. Lesson learned: if the reliability and success of your web site is important to you, budget web hosting might not be the answer. However, this is not to say that all budget web hosts are bad - 1dollarhosting.com is one of the leaders in the budget web hosting arena and has quite a good reputation.

The next type of paid web host is what I refer to as a “mid-range” web host, meaning that they offer prices and service that will satisfy the majority of web sites out there. Mid-range web hosts like PowWeb, Your-Site.com and iPowerWeb offer packages ranging from $5 to $8 per month and provide the tools that most webmasters will need to run a web site, such as: CGI-BIN, tons of e-mail addresses, FTP support, visitor statistics and more. These hosts do have monthly bandwidth limits, but the limits are quite high, and most web sites will never reach them. However, if your web site features hundreds of file downloads and gets decent traffic you may be shocked at how soon you’ll reach those bandwidth limits. When you do, your site may be temporarily shut down or you’ll have to pay bandwidth overage charges, which can get pricey. Overall though, mid-range web hosts will be satisfactory for 90% of the web sites out there, and generally offer excellent uptime/reliability. In fact, many web-based businesses are successfully run using a mid-range web host. However, as mentioned previously, web sites that offer large files for download or sites that get a huge amount of traffic may find that a mid-range host doesn’t quite suit their needs. These types of web sites may require “high-end” web hosting solutions, the next topic in our discussion.

High-end web hosts typically service web sites that are extremely popular, have a high amount of traffic, and/or require pretty much 100% uptime. Most businesses rely on high-end web hosts to host their web sites. Rackspace.com is an example of a well known high-end web hosting company. Pricing for high-end hosts varies, but typically runs from about $50 per month to several hundred dollars per month. Many high-end hosts give you your own dedicated server (which they support) that is reserved just for you and your web site. The mid-range hosts I discussed earlier typically host many different web sites on the same server - this is known as “shared” hosting. High-end web hosts offer stellar reliability, bandwidth, and just about every tool you’ll ever need to run a successful web site. Another feature that some high-end web hosts provide is “co-location” hosting. In this scenario, YOU configure and provide the web server, but you get to plug it into their data center/network. This can be very nice because their data center usually has a fiber-optic connection directly to the Internet, offering blazing bandwidth and stellar reliability. People who run web-based businesses or extremely popular, high traffic web sites are good candidates for high-end web hosting.

Hopefully this brief overview gives you a good picture of the various types of web hosts that exist, and which one might be right for you. When you begin your search for a web host, always keep in mind the old adage “You get what you pay for” because it really does hold true in this case. Before you make the commitment to host a web site be sure to take some time and analyze what you want out of the web site, and decide which factors are most important to its success. Answering these questions will get you many steps closer to choosing the web host that’s right for you.

Marc Eberhart is an IT Project Manager, webmaster, and all-around Internet junkie. His web site http://www.webhostingdiscounts.net/ offers visitors 40% off web hosting plans with top-rated hosting companies.

Free newsgroup servers sound irresistible, don’t they? After
all, your internet service provider probably doesn’t give you
access to all the newsgroups you want, right? Or else you want
access to particular types of newsgroups that just don’t make it
onto any of major internet service provider lists.

Free newsgroup servers have often stepped up to the plate to
foster free speech and the free exchange of ideas that are often
all but ignored in the typical newsgroup. Let’s face it, the
overwhelmingly majority of newsgroup users head straight for the
binary groups where they can download free music, movies and
lots and lots of pictures of naked women. If getting access to
more of these types of newsgroups is what has you looking into
free newsgroup servers, chances are you’ll be disappointed. If
your ISP simply doesn’t provide enough newsgroups dedicated to
girls posing naked for their boyfriends, you’d be much better
off investing in pay sites featuring uncensored newsgroup access.

Many free newsgroup servers are hosted by universities.
Remember, the internet was created originally as a method of
universities communicating ideas to each other. Colleges and
other educational institutions lead the way in offering up
access to those with specialized interests. But these newsgroups
are text-based, they exist for messages to be posted and
responded to. If information is what really turns you on and you
want to get away from the porno that infests even the driest of
newsgroups your ISP offers access to, look into this kind of
free newsgroup server.

In addition to the educational system, many large organizations,
especially those in computer-related industries, have free
newsgroup servers. These are for the most part dedicated wholly
to their own products and business interests. For instance, if
you work with products made by Microsoft or Adobe and want to
share information and get information, you might look into this
possibility. Wait a minute, you’re saying, I’ve already got
access to newsgroups about every Microsoft product ever made
courtesy of my ISP. Why would I need to search out an entirely
different server dedicated to just their products?

For one thing, because Microsoft would be running the server,
they can decide when to delete postings and how long to archive
them. One of the main complaints about regular newsgroup servers
is that the length of time a posting remains accessible varies
greatly. Some messages hang around for a month or two while it
always seems like the one you really wanted only lasted a day or
two. In addition, dedicated newsgroup servers also prove very
valuable as a product support mechanism. After all, many product
support sites don’t offer very much support, but when you’re
dealing with people who’ve had the same problem with a product
as you and shares your agony, the help is often much more
valuable.

The thing to remember is that there are some real free newsgroup
servers out there, but most don’t post images or other media
files so if that’s what is attracting you to the idea, look
elsewhere.

Getting a customer is not easy.

Getting a visitor to decide that he or she wants to buy the product or service you’re offering, getting out their credit card and giving you their hard-earned money is not a piece of cake.

Most visitor’s to your Internet site, 97 - 99% of them if you’re lucky, will not buy your product. They turn away from your site, your offer…and they will probably never return. In other words - if you work hard, if you use the right techniques and if you’re talented maybe you’ll get 1 - 3 % of the people who visit your site to buy. But it’s not easy.

First you need to make sure you actually get enough visitors to your site. And if you use paid advertising, like pay-per-click search engines - this will cost you money. If you plan on getting visitors for free, this will take you time.

You need to make sure that your visitor is persuaded to buy. And if he or she won’t buy the very first time they visit your site, you need to get them to come back again later.

Getting a customer - a “first-time” customer - takes a bit of effort.

But the efforts are worth it. Because once you have that customer, he will be a valuable asset.. Your customer will become your main income source. Why? Because your already existing customers are much more likely to buy from you again and again.

By calling this “customer life-time value”, you’re putting a name to it. And a value. How much will your average customer buy from you over the next 10-15 years? Customer lifetime value. The online businesses that make the most money are the ones that know how to use their existing customer base to maximize profits.

I guess the old saying that you need to take care of your customer, is particularly true on the Internet.

I’ll give you an example.

A guy called John runs a site where he sells a product for $ 100. He gets a small amount of visitors - 100 visitors a day; that’s 3000 visitors a month. He manages to sell to 1% of his visitors, which means he sells for $ 3,000 a month. He gets 30 new customers a month.

After a year he’s earned $ 36,000 from his 360 customers.

His friend Neal runs a site, too. He gets 100 visitors a day and sells a product that costs $ 100 and manages to sell to 1% of his customers. 30 new customers a month; 360 customers a year. What a coincidence, right? Anyway, Neal has got a really nice product. A product people love. He also offers great customer service. Neal’s customers like him very much.

They wouldn’t mind buying from him again.

After his first 12 months online, Neal sends all his 360 customers an email offering a second product. A so-called back-end product.

This doesn’t take him long. After all, it’s just ONE email.

The second product is a little more expensive, it costs $ 300, but it is a product that his customers really need. A product they want. (He knows this because he asked them in a survey what product they would be interested in; what products they really needed.)

Since Neal is a great guy offering great products and excellent customer service, as many 30 % of his customers buy the second product. That’s 108 people.

Now here’s the interesting bit. The second product costs $ 300, which means that Neal has an additional yearly income of $ 32,400!

Look at the figures! Neal has doubled his yearly income just by selling a second product to 30 % of his customers. He hasn’t had to go to great lengths to get new customers, but he’s using his existing customers to double his profits!

John makes $ 30,000 a year, Neal makes $ 62,400.

And the one and only difference is that Neal sends out one extra email!

Neal still only gets 100 visitors a day. He still only gets 1% of them to buy his first product, but he offers them all a second, back-end product. He maximizes the profit potential of his customer base.

Strategies like “back-end offers” and concepts like “lifetime value” shifts the focus from the short sighted “take the money and run” strategy that is so much in use on the internet today. You’ve seen these sites all over. They only focus on getting a massive amount of traffic and then selling visitors an overpriced product that doesn’t deliver what is promised.

Customers feel fooled. Why would they ever want to buy from this salesman again?

The more successful sites focus on building a strong relationship with their customers. And your main goal shouldn’t be to make sure your customers are satisfied…you want them to be extremely satisfied. If you deliver the goods, your customers will trust you more. And if you have their trust, you can sell them anything.

Here are a just few pointers of how you can establish a great relationship with your customers:

1. Delivering a great product

Give your customers exactly what they want. And then some more. One of the best ways to get people to buy from you again and again is to only sell high quality products. If you ever consider selling a crap, overpriced product, ask yourself why you’d want to loose all that future income from your customers.

2. Responding quickly

When you run an online business, you’ll get a lot of email. People will ask you about all kinds of things, and they will expect answers immediately. Set up autoresponders to make sure they get a pre-written email the minute they send you one. Tell them that you’ve gotten their email and that you will read it within the next 24 hours. And make sure you do. When you’ve read it, always reply to them, even if you can’t answer their questions.

3. Taking care of customers after purchase

Too many online businesses forget about their customers once they’ve bought the product. And if they take the time to write to them again, it’s only because they’re trying to push another product. Don’t get me wrong, you want to push that second product, but consider at least pretending that you care about how your customer is doing. Sending an email doesn’t cost a penny. Why not send more emails where you’re not trying to sell them anything. In the long run, this strategy will make you sell more! Ask how they’re getting on with their product, give them tips, give them a free gift, congratulate them on their birthday etc. Care more, and you’ll sell more.

The bottom line? Think long-term. Realize that your existing customers will buy from you again and again if you just let them. Let them.

About The Author

Steve Atlas writes regularly for the Internet Marketing Dictionary - http://www.internet-marketing-dictionary.com