Giving blood to help save lives should be a selfless act, but in today all too self-centered society there are way too few selfless acts. All too often, when faced with an opportunity to provide a service or assistance to another human being, the first thought that crosses a persons mind is, “How will this benefit me?” After careful consideration, if they can find no personal gain, they don’t give of themselves to positively affect another’s life.

It is not that way for all people, don’t get me wrong. I know quite a few that I call angels here on earth. There are way too many, though, that need self-gain to offer of themselves. To get those people into the blood banks to make regular deposits, I believe that money is the answer. To get some people to donate money, you must first offer them a reward of some kind. Tax breaks, token gifts, or recognition are some of the offers I have seen recently.

Thinking about where our economy is, here at the end of 2008, I think money would be the top motivator. Whether it is in the form of cash, gift certificates, or a tax break for the upcoming year, Money is the biggest motivator in the world. Unfortunately, it motivates all types and if not handled properly, will quickly become way to expensive as the need for more screening and testing arises.

Gift certificates could, in the long run, provide the least expensive alternate to actual cash. Getting national brands and local area businesses to donate gift certificates could very well give blood banks the power to bring in more new donors, as well as keeping regulars longer.

Tax breaks have to come from the government and while it is not impossible, it is getting more difficult to get governments to approve such things. They, too, have developed the “What’s in it for me?” attitude. These tax beaks may be better implemented at the state levels than the federal level.

Another possibility would be a partnership with local schools. Utilizing a ticket type “‘raffle”, offer school supplies, such as computers, art supplies, or playground equipment to the school that has the most people donate in their name. This could be done by children’s groups as well.

At the college level there could be book store gift certificates, dorm room furniture or supplies, or even gas cards to the student or group with the most qualifying donors. Competition motivates the majority of humanity. People want to win, even if the prize is relatively insubstantial.

Money is an issue in most things. If there are no available funds from which to draw for a monetary reward, with all the people using the internet these days, an awards page could be a viable solution. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and other social networking sites are good places to post donor contests such as most donations, most referrals, and more.

Church registry is also an option. Get churches to register, so when alerts go out, not only do the church member who are registered get a notification, but the church does, as well. That way they can remind their members and let those not registered know of the need and availability for their service.

Unfortunately, the number one incentive to motivate anyone to donate blood is having one of their own loved ones as the needy recipient. Not until someone close is in a life threatening situation and desperately needing blood does anyone truly understand the meaning of the gift of life. From cancer patients to accident survivors there are people all over the world everyday that need this wonderful gift of blood. Until more people “get it”, blood banks will have to rely on governments, businesses, and local merchants to provide gift incentives to repay what should be just random acts of kindness. Pay-it-forward.

2. Working in your underwear wont get you fired, although at the same time also wont get you promoted if you’re cute.

3. You get random checks in the mail that you weren’t expecting to get…it’s like an early Christmas without a fat guy in a red suit; unless Uncle Bob comes over.

4. You get to mess with all the telemarketers that you’d normally miss while at a regular job…”Oh, you want to sell me a long distance plan? Sounds intriguing, what are you wearing?”

5. You can go grocery shopping during the day when the place is empty…just watch out for that creepy stock person with the shifty eyes defending the bread isle.

6. There’s no stoplights on the information superhighway.

7. There’s only one assigned parking spot and you own it just inches from your garage until the CEO (wife) comes home.

8. Where else can you pair socks while selecting keywords for your new ad campaign?

9. You don’t have to keep rescheduling the plumber to fix that embarrassing toilet problem…How did that happen again?

10. Trips to Starbucks become tax write-offs, mmmmm coffee. Dear IRS, I’m kidding, really I am Smile

11. You can do business from anywhere, including the attic, but you might be a weirdo.

12. If you get lonely, the dog can easily replace a co-worker and they’re usually better behaved.

13. Once you meet your goals for the day you can concentrate on why the doorbell zaps people whenever they push it.

14. You can watch your once thriving stocks and 401k plummet in real time instead of waiting to get home from work each day.

15. Working from home on the Internet has allowed you to think of unique Halloween costumes like the Squidoo squid.

16. If you suddenly fall off your chair, no one will be around to laugh at you unless “they” are watching…

17. You’ll have “tough” decisions to make like which of the 3 Ferrari’s you should take to go to Staples for a ream of paper.

18. Eventually, you’ll start noticing you have conversations with those fax machine tones and it scares you that you understand them.

19. That mean boss from your old job will ask you to be their reference for a new job they applied to when they were laid-off.

20. You begin speaking to your baby using phrases like, “Google, Google, Google, eBay, eBay, aren’t oooh a cute widdle Twitter?”

21. When you close your eyes at night you have nightmares of ebay fees but remember that you’re a platinum level powerseller and fall right to sleep.

22. You wont ever have to listen to anyone say, “Looks like ya got a case of the Monday’s” first thing in the morning.

23. You can finally throw away the Chia money tree…it’s ok, it didn’t grow real cash and it’s embarrassing to have around.

24. Lunch doesn’t have to come in a truck anymore.

25. Allowing yourself to give you the freedom to live your life on your own terms.

We all have online friends, people we chat with. People that pop up out of the blue on our Myspace page or Twitter. Maybe they turned up on an email loop and now they fwd those annoying chain letters. After a while we forget they are there or where they came from. Sort of like a new couch in your living room. At first you might bump your shin a few times but after a while you forget its even there.

What if that new Myspace friend is an ex boyfriend or girlfriend spying on you under a new identity. What if it’s a former coworker or tenant that has a grudge against you and they are quietly sitting back gathering information to use against you in the future.

What about the person you are chatting with on that dating site? Are they really a cute blond living nearby just dying to meet you or are they some guy in an Internet cafe in Nigeria trying to dupe you out of cash?

Right now some creepy stalker could be spying on your every move and you would not know. In fact you could be confiding your deepest secrets to an ex wife or ex husband that is impersonating someone else via a social network or dating site.

If you find yourself asking these questions then a reverse email lookup and Internet investigation is what you need. You can easily find out the real name and address for just about anyone on the Internet. It does not matter if they have created a fake Myspace account or use a free anonymous email account. A professional can find out who they are.

You can find their identity, their location, the dating sites they joined and even if they visit escort services.

Everyone would agree that information is power and it’s foolish to let your guard down especially in a situation like a chat room where people routinely use anonymous screen names. If you have a funny feeling about someone or think someone is spying on you it’s probably true.

You can ease your suspicions and get the answers you need by using a reverse email lookup or dating service search. There are many Internet investigators that can help you but be sure to check out their reputation by doing an online Google search to see if they are an expert in email tracing.

Try to hire a PI that can also do forensic examinations of your computers and cellular phones. Also one that can handle asset searches and background reports. If the case escalates to divorce or custody litigation you can save time and money if you can stay with one PI.

The problem is you’ve spent years, making sure your small business survives and runs smoothly in the real world, without focusing on the internet. You buy your weekly magazine ads, you buy your radio spots, you purchase a couple of sponsorships to get your name out, and so forth. On average, these bring in the same amount of customers every week, some less, some more, but you never see any growth.

However, your competitors have already jumped in front of you. They are haphazardly cruising around online and using a megaphone of spam to hopefully target your audience, even it means spending a $1000 a month on Google Adsense (waste of money).

It’s time to take action and become the customer magnet you’ve always wanted to be on the internet; here are 5 ways to change your small business’ old-world marketing tactics:

1. Communicate online like you do in person: Search for your brand (or store or product) in forums, social networks (Facebook, Myspace), and be part of a professional and constructive conversation with your customers (and potential customers).

2. Outsourcing: You don’t have to do all the work! Simply hire someone on elance.com or scriptlance.com to build you a simple website or to start that blog you’ve always wanted. The prices will be reasonable, you can read their reviews before selecting a contractor, and they work fast to please you!

3. Have an Authentic Story: Do not be ashamed of your small business’ past or current history, let the world know you started in a clunky garage or your parent’s basement. People relate and vigorously respond to an authentic human story; let the world know you small business story and you’ll have customers feel for you and your product. This story will most likely then spread to friends and family, and continue the chain of marketing for you.

4. Spread your Expertise: Most likely, your small business is your passion and your expertise. You should not be afraid to share that expertise online in a free blog on Blogspot, comments on other related blogs/websites, give a short tip every once and a while on Twitter, or create a business profile page on LittleEngine Social Network. All four of these give you the ability to give credit to yourself, so when a potential customer is looking for more help, they can come knocking on your door.

5. Create a Million Touchpoints: The web is spread out and vast, but there a ton of ways to create mini-touchpoints for potential customers to find your brand online. Websites such as Digg, Reddit, and others allow you to spread your ideas, tools, content, opinion and more. Once a large site picks up one of your ideas, the virus gets out and people will know you for your expertise and keep going with you when they need a similar product, service or information!

According to the Wikipedia, “Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use preexisting social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, images, or even text messages.”

If you’ve ever had a hotmail, yahoo or G-mail account, you’ve participated in a viral marketing campaign every time you sent an email to someone – because the company inserted a small (and usually discreet advertisement) at the bottom of all of your outgoing emails – inviting the people you were communicating with to receive their own free email account.

So how can you put a viral marketing campaign together for your own business – and more importantly, do you even want to?

Let me answer that second question first, okay? YES! You definitely want to take the time to brainstorm your own viral marketing campaign – even if you don’t someday want to be as big as hotmail, yahoo or Gmail.

Why? Because according to a recent survey done by Forrester Research, people are almost 65% more likely to trust a review posted by a peer – or even a complete stranger – than they are to trust the marketing or sales information put out by the company.

Don’t believe me? Check out Amazon.com and I-tunes. Why is this the case? Because as consumers we tend to think that the average “Joe Blow” has less of a personal agenda when posting his review about the latest “Dixie Chicks” album and so we give it more weight.

And, by the way, this is a normal reaction – it’s one that’s kind of hard-wired into all of us. People have always shared the things they like – or hate – with their friends and family members. Back in the 50’s and 60’s, our grandparents used to talk to their neighbors over the “back fence,” call each other on the phone or tell their friends during lunch. The difference is, these days we use the Internet and cell phones.

What’s interesting though, is that with the popularity of the Internet, our trust – and believe in “social proof” – has become even stronger.

By creating your own viral marketing campaign, you’ll be doing more than getting the word out about your new affiliate product. You’ll be gathering social proof – and that will help your sales to go through the roof.

So how do you set up your own viral marketing campaign? The first thing to do is to get back to the basics.

Here’s the real “secret” to making a lot of money with affiliate products. Have the right product, with the right message to the right people in the right time.

So start with your affiliate product. Make sure that there’s a hungry audience for whatever you’re selling.

Then make sure that you’re sending out the right message – and in the right way. If you’re marketing a product to teens, you’ll want to make sure that it’s something they want – and you’ll have to reach them where they’re hanging out. That might be on MySpace, twitter or even Friendster.

What’s the right message? Maybe it’s a special report. But it could just as easily be a video. Or an audio mp3 file. Match your message to your audience. And finally, make sure that you’re getting your message out at the right time – when your audience is ready to buy it.

Make your viral marketing campaign stand out from the crowd – because that’s how it’s going to get passed around and become viral. By understanding the basics – who your audience is, what they want, how they want to get it and when they want it – all you have to do next is to create something that your audience loves – or hates – or finds interesting enough – to pass around to their friends. And because your product comes with an implied endorsement – social proof – those people will pass it around to other people – and the buzz goes on and on and on and you’ll start hearing the “ka-ching!” of your cash register going off a lot more often.

When it comes time to make a domain purchase for your business the name you choose can make or break the early success of your online venture. Choose wisely and it can give an early boon to your Internet business. Choose the wrong one and it could confuse your visitors, loose you sales or even have you ignored by the search engines.
What’s In a Name?
The ideal domain name should give instant insight into the products or services your business offers. A business that sells educational toys would be better off buying a domain name such as ‘educationaltoys.com’ or ’smarttoys.com’ instead of a less specific ‘toypalace.com’. When your domain name specifies your products it makes it easier for you to grab the attention of your target market.
The Long and Short of Domain Names
In the world of domain names there are two general categories which most domain names fall into. Some choose the route of a longer, more descriptive domain name, as shown above, while other business owners try and cash in on a short and catchy domain name. There are merits to both types of domain purchase if you use them correctly.
A long tail keyword, simply put, is a string of words used together to form a specific search phrase. The term “small business loans” is a good example of a long tail phrase. By using a long tail keyword that describes your business when making a domain purchase you greatly increase the chances of your website ranking well in the search engines for that exact phrase.
The ability to rank faster and higher for a search term that specifically describes what your business offers can mean the difference between soaring sales or an online failure for your business. So, as a business owner trying to establish his presence on the internet, buying domain names that describes your business and helps you rank well in Google is a boon to be grabbed.
On the other hand many successful businesses have made a name for themselves, literally, by choosing odd yet memorable one word domain names. Companies such as eBay or Twitter have branded themselves and made their unusual names synonymous with their services.
This domination of their respective niches isn’t achieved by a smart domain purchase alone. A lot of effort must go into marketing for it to become a household name. While choosing a long tail keyword gives you an edge in the search engines initially many argue that a shorter and easier to remember name may pay off in the long run if you have the marketing talents to back it up.
What to Avoid During Your Domain Purchase
Finding a really good and available domain name is becoming more and more difficult each time another one is created and registered. In desperation for a suitable domain name some business owners make poor choices in their domain purchase that can adversely affect their business. The use of hyphens between words is one of the quickest ways to make your domain name look unprofessional, not to mention how much harder they are to remember or say aloud to potential customers.
While buying a domain name with a .com extension is highly recommended for businesses the benefits of a professional looking .com domain name is usually undermined when hyphens are thrown in. Instead you would be better off making a domain purchase with the acceptable .net or even .org extension instead.
It Gets Better with Age
Want to give your new business in instant boost? Then out with the new and in with the old domain names. It’s not widely known but purchasing an older, expired domain name can often give your business a head start. Search engines such as Google prefer older domain names to new ones when judging the respectability and importance of a website attached to that domain. As an added bonus these older domain names often come with built-in backlinks earned from their previous life.
Backlinks, along with a rating system Google uses called PageRank, are likes votes of confidence for that particular domain. When you purchased expired domains all these “extra goodies” automatically come with the package. Purchasing an expired domain may cost you a little more than a new one but it is considered a wise investment in your business’ future. Yes, you will still need to market your new business but you’ll have a leg up you didn’t by buying a new domain.
In the end it takes careful thought and research to come up with a domain name that will best suit your online business. Your domain name should make a statement, be it keyword orientated or short and catchy. Your domain purchase will be your business’ face to the online world so choose carefully before hitting that “add to cart” button.