Working at Home on the Internet

Conform or Change?

When you view a Webpage or Blog, you expect to be able to find what you want right away. You don’t want to have to look all over the place to find the next page in an article or something else that is important to you.

When you look at a page, do you think of how you would like it set up for your own personal navigational needs?

Even though there is no real standard, there is a reason that there are such things as templates and other pre-set ways of doing things. 79% of visitors stay less than 5 seconds. That being the case you have to get their attention right away. If not, they will be gone before you know it.

How do you get people to stay longer? You will have to conform to some of the standards that have been found to work by others. Place things you think are important to the reader where they will see them. As I mentioned in the post on Ad Placement* you will probably want to place links and navigation in the same areas as well.

How you get around the fact that there is only so much room in the prime “real estate” of a page is something that only comes through experience and/or advice from more experienced people. Place things you want the visitor to see first in the primary spaces.

As Jesse said in his advice to me in Critique of My Website** you want to make navigation around your site as painless as possible. You may have to use up some of the space you wanted for something else, but it could be worth it in the long run. If people can find what they are looking for they will stay longer.

One of the reasons that some people are more successful than others is they conform to some of the proven ways of page setup. Surf the net to view other sites you know are successful, they don’t have to be the same type business. If you use some of their set up practices, they may work for you as well.

Another is they experiment. Most of the more successful pages you see are always experimenting with new things, layouts, ads. So don’t be afraid to experiment yourself, and if you find something that works for you, don’t be afraid to change.

Referenced Posts:
*Ad Placement
**Critique of My Website

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March 28th, 2006 at 09:38am | Posted by Joe | Basics, General, Organization | reader remarks | Print This Post

How Do You Judge Success?

Everyone judges success differently. This is a small list of questions you may want to ask yourself to determine how successful you feel you are. After all, you are the one who has the final say in how successful your business really is.

Success is determined by…

Making money from your site?

Sure it is a good thing to make a living, but once you attain a certain level of income, money seems to be less of a motivator and more of a burden. If the only reason you do something is for the money, are you ever really satisfied?

Being recognized by your peers?

If you need approval from others to be satisfied with your work, do you consider yourself a success if there is none forthcoming? It is nice to get recognition, but it shouldn’t be the only reason to continue what you started.

Conversation through comments?

Are you the type that likes to evoke a response from your readers? This is akin to being recognized by your peers. The difference being, it is an opportunity to learn something from your readers. It also gives you a way to expand on your original idea.

Number of people visiting your site?

You need people to come to your site in order to achieve any of the above objectives. Does the number really matter to you? Should it be a way to judge success?

There are many more ways that success can be determined. How do you judge your success? What is the most satisfying part of working at home for you?

Related Posts:
The Dreams and Realities of Working at Home
I’m an Official SOB

March 27th, 2006 at 08:34am | Posted by Joe | Attitude, Blogging | reader remarks | Print This Post

Unwanted Solicitation Calls

Beware: Big Rant Ahead!

Yesterday I got a phone call from Corporate Solutions on my cell phone that lasted 11 minutes. In my State it is against the law to cause undo cost to the consumer for a solicitation call. I answered some of their questions, 3-4 times I said they were calling on my cell phone and costing me money. They kept on pitching, saying it was a Free offer.

The pitch was a Free $1000 Online Shopping Spree. Along with that was an offer of 5 Free Magazines of my choice (they only had one in which I was remotely interested). All I had to do was pay for Shipping and Handling at $9.95 per month.

I asked to speak to a supervisor, and they complied. Then, HE Started Pitching me on the same offer saying I could put it on my credit card. Of course I said no, and reminded him they were calling on my cell phone.

At that point he said I could pay be check, or a bank transfer. Again I said no. I wouldn’t give a credit card number or bank info, but they kept pressing asking me to confirm my address (which he mysteriously had).

I asked how they got my personal information, he said I provided it. I hadn’t given anyone any information other than confirming my name being Joseph. I persisted in my refusal to provide the information they wanted, and pushed to find out how they got my name, phone number and address.

That’s when he asked “Why did I waste their time?” and hung up.

I called 800-556-1537 which was on my caller ID and Corporate Solutions voice mail was full. I still have no idea where they got my info.

Around 6 months ago, I may have given some of the same information to a few survey sites I had applied to, but I wouldn’t have used “Joseph” since that is one way for me to identify business from personal accounts. Another identifier is the fact they called on my cell phone, also used specifically for business.

I have kept personal and business accounts totally separate for this exact reason.

This leads me to the possibility that some of the affiliate advertisers I am, or have been associated with may not handle personal information quite the way they should. I have an idea at this point which company may have released this personal information (since they are now out of business and could profit by selling a list). Rest assured, if I find out for sure , you will know.

This is the main reason for keeping your personal and business information totally separate on the Internet. (It’s a good idea offline too). Make sure you have at least 3 ways to identify the difference between accounts.

Have any of you run into similar situations?

March 26th, 2006 at 09:36am | Posted by Joe | Advertising, Attitude, Basics, Rants | 2 reader remarks | Print This Post