When it comes to locating different kinds of security systems, whether it is for your home, or you are looking for alert systems that monitor your health, there are a lot of different options that are available on the market to those who are looking for different ways of keeping their health more secure. Our health is one of the most important things that we have, and we should not take it lightly at all. There are different ways that we can help to guard our health. One of the ways that we can do this is by using medical alert systems.

Technology is one of those institutions that has changed the course of how we deal with our health, and the health of our families. The different kinds of medical alert systems that are out there are part of what has facilitated these kinds of changes. When most of us think about these kinds of devices, we think about the plastic device that the user would wear around their neck that we have all seen in various television commercials and infomercials. This is not an unfamiliar technology to most of us, and it is something that can be infinitely useful in cases of an emergency situation.

One of the main ways that devices like this are used is in case the person that is using the device falls, and they are not able to get up. This can be a problem, especially for those patients who are living alone, and do not have any close family or friends nearby that they are able to call on in case they need help. If a patient does not have this kind of assistance available to them, it can cause them to be in pain, and in need of assistance for hours, which depending on their medical condition could be fatal, and lead to their unnecessary death. This is one of the reasons why there are so many people who are living on their own, and there are so many caregivers out there that are using these kinds of systems. With the economic situation that our country is in, there is more of a need than ever for people to be able to keep their jobs. Having this level of independence on the part of the caregiver is something that is important not only financially, but also emotionally.

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You have a brand new IP address, maybe even several brand new IPs. Maybe you changed your email service provider, or maybe you just added a new IP address into your delivery stream. Whatever the reason for your brand-spanking new IPs, you are chomping at the bit send off your newsletter or product info to your subscriber list of a million plus names (or whatever). But hold the phone (or the email in this case). An ISP that is making a decision on whether your email should go to the inbox, the junk folder or blocked all together does not care that you need to send to your entire list NOW. Their primary concern and responsibility is to their subscribers and keeping spam from reaching them and/or overloading their own servers. With millions of emails coming into their severs every hour, they make this decision based on a multitude of factors. If they see an IP address with no previous sending history, that is sending a large volume of email, they have to assume it is the work of a spammer. Hey, if you look like a spammer, you probably are a spammer. So what is a legitimate mailer to do? Answer: Walk before you run.

Just like a toddler taking their first steps, a brand new IP address needs to first crawl, and then learn to walk before it can run. You need to prove to the ISPs that you are not a spammer. You need to show that you have legitimate email that is wanted, relevant and consistent. With a new IP address you want to start slowly with minimal volume and send to subscribers that will put your best foot forward – that is subscribers that respond to your emails through opens and clicks and are the least likely to report you as spam. Little by little you will increase your volume and add in subscribers that have interacted with your messages in the less recent past, until finally you are mailing to your entire list again. Each ISP has its own parameters for what volume it will accept and how soon, but below are some guidelines to help assure you will establish a good sending reputation and reach your desired volume as quickly as possible:

1. Pave the road: Establish whitelists and feedback loops before you start e-mailing. Update authentication records such as spf/SenderID and DKIM/DomainKeys.

2. Create a segment of active e-mail addresses from your current mailing list. These should be your best customers or responders. These should not be brand new addresses and not very old addresses unless they have had recent and consistent interaction of at least 2-3 clicks on campaigns in the last 30-60 days. These should be your most active and engaged subscribers.

3. Send messages that are relationship building in nature. The idea is to be non-intrusive or offensive. Offer incentives to clients to confirm their address with you or if they fill out a survey so that you can serve them better in the future, etc. Marketing messages are OK, but if they are used, they should be very relevant to the subscribers receiving them.

4. Monitor your delivery metrics. Ideally you want 95% or more inbox delivery. You should monitor:

a. Complaint Rates
b. Spam Trap Hits at Microsoft domains via SNDS
c. Hard and soft bounce rates
d. Inbox Delivery Reports (like Green Arrow Monitor)
e. Your IP Reputation f. Blacklists that your IP or URLs may be on

5. Ramp up volume slowly:

Week One: No more than 5,000-10,000 subscribers to each major ISP per day for a week. The idea here is to show a consistent volume of good, clean, wanted email. If you are a new sender and don’t have the volume for this each day, it is better to mail a small amount every day or two vs. just once a week.

Week Two: Assuming there were no major deliverability issues during the first week of sending, additional recipients (using the selection criteria from week 1) can be mailed to daily – doubling the volume after every 2-3 successful sending days of mailing. If the increase in size results in poor delivery , a second segment should be sent 48 hours later with refined selection criteria (e.g., signup in the last 60 days, that have opened within the last 14 days, clicks) until delivery rates to target ISPs reach a minimum 80% inbox delivery.

Week 3+: (Proceed to this step when delivery rates are good to target ISPs with 50K/day segment size)

If additional recipients are available using the selection criteria from week 1, these can continue to be added on an ongoing basis as available.

Two messages should be created at this point; one to the existing “week 1 and week 2″ segments, and one to a 10k-15K segment with expanded selection criteria (i.e. opens and clicks in the last 30-60 days. The “week 1 and week 2″ segment should be launched approx. 10-15 minutes prior to the smaller segment to ‘prime’ the IP; a complaint rate comparison between the segments will be used to guide segmentation strategy moving forward. A deliverability Inbox monitor tool like Green Arrow Monitor should be used with the smaller segment.

If successful delivery is achieved, the 10k-15k segment can be rolled into the “week 1″ segment for future campaigns, and an additional 10k-15k recipients based on the expanded selection criteria can be added daily, as long as Green Arrow Monitor continues to indicate delivery rates are not adversely affected.

If inbox delivery rates slip below 75% for several consecutive messages, list segments should be reverted to their state 3-4 days prior (or beyond, if necessary) until delivery rate improves.

This strategy should be repeated until regular segments reach 100k with at least 90% inbox.

Week 4+: (Proceed to this step when delivery rates are good to target ISPs with 100K/day segment size)

Our goal at this point is to achieve sustainable delivery to a growing list, without having to limit campaigns to more “static” lists. Signup processes should be refined such that the first several messages to new recipients generate complaint rates less than 4x the ongoing account average.

Data gathered during the course of the first two weeks’ mailings should be used to identify high-performing messages/offers from a recipient response standpoint (opens, clicks, lack of complaints – still not primarily focused on revenue), and these should be evaluated for inclusion in a “welcome” stream – a series of messages (approximately 3-7, sent daily or every other day) designed to elicit maximum positive response from new recipients and identify active recipients.

Regular account cleaning processes should be established. Depending on recipient response, subscribers who don’t open or click within an acceptable period should be identified via a search within the system and suppressed from messages or re-permissioned. Messages/offers in the “welcome” stream should be reevaluated vs. other offers to ensure optimal ongoing relevance.

If you want to reintroduce older recipients from before the signup process was improved, this may be done a small segment at a time – say no more than 10% of normal daily volume – and added to the welcome stream. Reintroducing recipients who signed up over 6 months prior and have no activity during the last 60 – 90 days is not recommended.

6. Keep putting your best foot forward

Once the warm-up period is over, you still need to maintain your good reputation. You can expand the criteria for selecting subscribers but maintain an active list. Only mail to subscribers that have opened or clicked on at least one message in the last 3-6 months, preferably more recently than that. Quality over quantity results in higher inbox delivery and higher conversion rates. Emailing to a large list of older, non-active subscribers to “see what sticks” may seem like a good approach, but your IP reputation will suffer and more email will end up in the junk mail folder or blocked, which means even your best customers may not ever see your email, resulting in fewer conversions.

This transition can take some time. How long depends on the size of your list and the results of delivery along the way. Remember, keep a close eye on the results of each mailing, paying particular attention to the major ISPs like AOL, yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail. Some ISPs like Yahoo may throttle your email and temporarily block your messages, so some adjustments in sending rates may be needed as volumes increase. If done properly, you should be able to get good inbox delivery as you increase volume. If you start to see any negative results, adjust your volume and/or segmentation accordingly as described above.

The IP ramp-up process takes planning and patience, but, if done properly it will be well worth the effort when you see a high inbox delivery rate and higher conversions. An experienced deliverability consultant can help you fine tune this process and provide specific recommendations based on your needs.

Article by Stacey Hammel. GreenArrow by DRH Internet is enterprise level and high volume email sending software capable of sending up to 1 million messages per hour from a single server. GreenArrow is state-of-the-art email delivery software, monitoring and consulting designed to maximize the deliverability of transactional and marketing emails. Visit them today at http://www.drh.net

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Your New IPs Need to Learn to Walk Before They Run

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IT company

Thanks to Olga Quinn

I work for a small IT company, and I do not like it at all. It is a small company, with only a basic website and we use voip for business for phone and internet. I do not enjoy the people that I work with, and I do not enjoy sitting in an office all day. My day consists of working with customers over the phone and helping them solve problems. The atmosphere at our workplace is very negative, and it is difficult to remain positive around so many people who do not enjoy their work. Our company is also downsizing as of late, so things have been even more tense than usual at the office. I have seen several pepoel updating resumes and preparing for interviews. I can honestly say that if I got fired, I do not know how I would react. I would be disappointed that I had lost my job, and I am sure I would feel a sense of rejection. However, I would not be too disappointed because it would force me to move on with my life. I think the only thing that keeps me there is the reasonable paycheck I receive every two weeks.

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You are probably thinking… “What?!”

Wondering why I would say people who opt out of your list is a good thing? Read on…

People lose interest. When someone joined your list they were excited and motivated to find out more about you and what you had to offer. It’s very difficult to sustain that level of engagement over time. Even if you’re cranking out excellent content and value consistently – some people just lose interest and move on. Nothing you can do about it. The longer the time, the more likely they will lose interest and eventually decide to opt out.

Be OK with that…

People opt out after a period of time of consistent non-activity. We all do it. We scan our email inbox or folders and decide to ourselves if we want to stay on that list… or not. It’s like spring cleaning or going through your closet and tossing what you don’t need and keeping what you do. The longer the stuff lingers in the closet or attic – the more likely it will get tossed. People view your list in the same way. We all have to try and rise above the clutter and remain front and center. Over time, if we don’t meet our end of the bargain – they’re likely to opt out like last year’s jeans.

Be OK with that…

It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. People opt out for a reason. It’s our job to have the awareness as to why they do opt out and figure out what can be done differently to avoid more people leaving in the future. Been through an extensive launch with a lot of “sales” and “pitch” emails? – your opt out rate will for sure increase. Starting to slack and not churn out the solid content that your subscribers are traditionally used to? Get back on it and whip it into shape. People who opt out should be seen like a red flag that something is not right – and you need to address it the best you can.

Be OK with that…

Focus on gaining new people. The rate of people who unsubscribe is all relative to the number of new people who join your list. Focus on that and it will make the reality of people unsubscribing easy to deal with. Don’t look at your unsubscribe numbers – focus on the overall list size. People will leave your list at some point.

Be OK with that…

I’m happy when people opt out because then it cleans up my list and I can rely on more realistic and truthful statistics and analytics like open rates and click-through-rates. Dormant subscribers who never opt out (and never read your emails) are just skewing your numbers. I say “you know where the door is, leave whenever you want to.

Be OK with that…

As a result of this – try not to focus on the numbers of your list. Focus on the conversation with your list. Write to one person (not the full list) and you’re more likely to not only keep him around longer – but also to have him open and read your emails (which is the idea here, right?).

Listen – the moral of the lesson is this: If people on your list are not opening your emails – why would you want them on your list? Chances are, if these people are not opening or reading your emails, they’re not going to buy anyway.

And, with the new social media platforms out there like Facebook and Twitter (and many more), people can easily get your content and value in other places – not just email. My thought is if they move away from email – perhaps they’re moving onto an alternative platform to get my content like Twitter or Facebook.

Perhaps they’re no longer your ideal client – so be happy they moved on. Say to yourself… “I’m not their teacher. That’s totally cool.”

Until next time… Learn It, Love It, Live It!

Derek Fredrickson, Authentic Internet Marketing Specialist, is founder of the Authentic Internet Marketing System, the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to authentically market your business online, in record time… guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. videos and receive his authentic internet marketing articles on attracting more leads and converting more sales online, visit http://www.derekfredrickson.com.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Why Unsubscribers are Good for You

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LinkedIn is kind of a funny social media platform – don’t you think? It’s a little awkward to use, and much, much harder to build relationships on than, say Facebook. It does have lots of great features, but it’s not as intuitive or as easy to integrate as some of the other social networks.

However, LinkedIn holds a high place of honor, and if that’s where your target market is, you’d better be there, too. To make it worth your while, you need to make sure you have an engaging, informative, effective LinkedIn profile. Here are steps to make that happen:

1. Before you even look at your profile, take time to properly clarify WHO you’re writing to, and decide specifically WHAT you want people to take from it. Writing general “blah blah blah” is not going to help you stand out. You want to know exactly who you’re talking to, and what you have to offer them.

2. Research your keywords and keyword phrases, and use them in each section of your profile whenever you can. You don’t want your page to sound like one of those keyword-rich article marketing articles, but you do need keywords in each section so people can find you quickly.

3. With that in mind, create a clear headline and summary: who you are, who you help, and how you help them. Keep it clear and concise and use your best keywords.

4. Use a professional photo that represents what you do. Make sure you’re face is big enough that people can see it clearly, and keep the background distractions to a minimum.

5. When it comes to listing your websites, instead of choosing “Blog” or “Company Website,” choose “Other” and give your websites a title that uses your keywords.

6. If you have an active, useful Twitter account, connect it to LinkedIn here. The more ways you can connect with someone, the better.

7. Create a powerful summary. This is achieved by writing in the first person, to the specific person you’re talking to, in a conversational tone that creates an opportunity for conversation. You need to identify your prospect’s pain and show them how you can solve it. You also need to explain how you are unique and different, and perfectly suited for your prospect’s needs. Make sure you create a clear call-to-action, and put your contact information in the summary with a gentle teaser-type headline: “To increase your sales by 30% in 10 days, contact me at: 123-456-7890″ for example.

8. Create your LinkedIn URL. LinkedIn automatically assigns you a random URL. This is ugly and hard to remember. It also looks bad on a business card. Just click “edit” by the assigned link, and use your name or part of your name as the tag. Don’t use your business name because that might change. When you are finished, your profile link should look like this:
<http://ca.linkedin.com/in/darlenehull> (but with your name, instead of mine, obviously…)

9. Complete the ‘specialties’ section preferably as an easy to skim list.

10. Add widgets like your blog feed, Twitter feed, reading list (especially if you’re an author – use this to showcase your own books!)

11. Complete your education and experience, again using your best keywords, and being detailed about the kind of work you’ve done.

12. Spell check and proofread. Let me say that again: spell check and proofread! Get a few people to look it over for errors and mistakes.

13. Make your profile public (it won’t help you much if you keep it private!)

14. Get Recommended by people you actually know, who can talk about specific ways you’ve helped them. Don’t blast a request to all your contacts – whether they know you or not – to recommend you. Yes, I’ve actually had this happen where people ask me for a recommendation when I don’t know them at all.

15. When you’ve got it together and like it, you can then make it even more powerful by searching for those people who are considered the top people in your company or industry, and checking out how they’ve done their profiles. See if you can glean some great ideas from them that you hadn’t thought of.

And there you have it – a dynamic, engaging, attractive LinkedIn profile!

Darlene Hull is the founder of HotSpot Promotion, a small business marketing firm that uses creative marketing ideas to get small businesses from Who? to YOU! quickly, affordably, & cheerfully.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

15 Steps to a Dynamite LinkedIn Profile

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Do you want to be on Page One of Google? Of course you do. Who wouldn’t! All you have to do is believe everything you’re told by the so-called SEO experts.

Do you want to be on Page One of Google? Of course you do. Who wouldn’t! All you have to do is believe everything you’re told by the so-called SEO experts.

‘Page One’ is Nirvana, Utopia, and the Holy Grail all rolled into one Google Street Map location where the little yellow man hovers triumphantly next to your company offices. Better change that ‘yellow man’ to ‘solid gold man’ – 24-carat success that’s heading down your street sometime soon. And it’s all thanks to those SEO people who strode confidently into your world last week.

“We’ll have you on Page One within weeks,” they tell you. “We’ll do some keyword research and pretty soon you’ll be drowning in sales leads.”

This is a beguiling scenario – and one which is probably played out thousands of times in as many businesses every week across the world. The mere mention of the word ‘SEO’ makes corporate eyes glaze over with dreams of world domination.

What some of the more unscrupulous SEO people fail to mention is that Page One rankings don’t come easily – and certainly not where the more competitive (and therefore commercially worthwhile) keywords are concerned. They omit to mention that SEO isn’t a magical ‘quick fix’ that will propel web pages to top rankings in a matter of weeks. They also forget to remind you that there are so many aspects to web page rankings other than placing keywords in all the right places. (That may have worked five years ago. Today, things are very different.)

The other side of this coin is that clever SEO can result in high page rankings for companies who are not necessarily the best in their field. Unfair? Yes – but it was ever thus. Just think about the big companies of ten or twenty years ago with huge advertising budgets who created massive exposure for brands that weren’t necessarily ‘the best’. (More about this later!)

Is Page One Always Paved With Gold?

Even when all the SEO elements are in place to give you a fighting chance in today’s complex and competitive SEO environment, there is still a raft of awkward (and often unanswerable) questions that arise about the value of web page rankings.

Depending on whose research you read, the difference in click-through rates (CTRs) between a Number One ranked page on Google and the page in second place can be a massive two or three times! This difference narrows considerably between pages ranked second or third. It continues in rapidly diminishing slices to the bottom of Page One where a Number Ten ranked page is of dubious commercial value.

To give you an idea of how insignificant a number ten ranking can be: the CTR figures for a number eleven ranking – i.e. top of page two – are marginally higher simply because the eyes of the relatively few searchers who click onto page two are drawn to the top of the page!

Getting back to the top rankings of Page One – a page ranked at Number One on Google is rewarded with a ‘winner-takes-all’ jackpot. The value of a top-ranked page is likely to be out of all proportion to its relative ‘quality’, usefulness or relevance to a searcher’s keyword query. Arguably, this is the biggest single flaw in the whole ‘search’ concept. The fact is, however, it’s only human nature to click on the top-rated page because it’s perceived as being ‘the best’. If Google ranks it Number One (with all its sophisticated selection techniques), conventional wisdom says it MUST be the best!

What a layman wouldn’t realize is that a Number One ranking may be the result of superior SEO, and nothing to do with the merits of that particular business. The other ‘problem’ is that, by definition, there is only one ‘Number One’ spot. Google has no place for ‘joint second’ or ‘joint-anything’ in its rankings! That can only be in the eye of the beholder.

Statistically, lower-ranking web pages can still attract respectable numbers of viewers and clicks. The reverence given to top pages in the web rankings may be about misplaced confidence, but all pages ranked below the top two or three positions will inevitably attract a certain degree of skepticism whose quality appeal will be compared, rightly or wrongly, in a less favorable light.

The saddest part of all this is that Google’s algorithms rank pages with great accuracy – but only according to their own criteria. Can robots realistically assess product quality, for example, or amazing customer service?

Herein lies the paradox – or unfairness – of SEO. For companies whose offerings aren’t necessarily the best, good SEO is worth its weight in gold. For those companies without effective SEO support (for whatever reason), the otherwise brilliant aspects of their business will go begging, in the online world at least.

Some would argue that a top-ranked site would soon be rumbled if it didn’t deliver on its promises. The ultimate business truth for a top site begins to emerge with the landing page that a ‘click’ delivers. What first impression does the site create? More specifically, how impressive is the design, website copywriting, ease of navigation and every other aspect of usability?

This extends to the pure ‘physical’ contact that a prospect has with the business in terms of inter-personal chemistry and service efficiency at every stage in the sales process. Much of this lies outside the scope of SEO where the ultimate responsibility of converting leads to sales rests with the company itself.

The REAL Value of Keywords

An important question in SEO is how much intrinsic value resides in a specific keyword and, whether SEO has the potential to take everyone on a fool’s errand?

When it comes to bigger companies, for instance, can a massive SEO investment in trying to achieve top ranking for almost-generic, ultra-competitive keywords be worth all the disappointment and soul-searching? Surely, in so many cases, there has to be a better way?

At the other end of the scale are smaller companies with a limited marketing budget, particularly in the business-to-business sphere. There is often a fine balance to achieve when it comes to investing in SEO for what can only be low-traffic keywords in niche sectors, even where higher gross margins per sale indicate otherwise.

Realizing this, many companies will opt out of the online sales dance, or resign themselves to having a website that is little more than an ‘online brochure’ presence or a support mechanism for Pay-Per-Click or social media activities. Others, however, will persist in their delusion, often encouraged by SEO companies who – out of business naivety or pure self-interest – will over-promise when it comes to levels of return on investment (ROI).

Whatever the type or size of business which embarks on SEO, a Page One ranking would likely be the original aim. Raw keywords, by definition, are the online thread running through everything a company does. To achieve sales inquiries based on effective keyword selection will validate its SEO involvement. Whether it delivers on ROI or not depends on many factors outside of SEO on the one hand – but also within the scope of SEO on the other.

Despite the voices of so many SEO evangelists, the down-to-earth reality is that the online sales process is, in its essentials, no different from the bricks and mortar process – except of course in the false expectations whipped up by SEO hype.

Mike Beeson is a UK freelance copywriter, journalist and PR consultant specializing in website and SEO copywriting. Mike’s company, Buzzwords Limited, was established over 20 years ago and is located in Knutsford, Cheshire (south Manchester). For more information, visit:www.buzzwords.ltd.uk/website_copywriting.htm or e-mail open@buzzwords.ltd.uk

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

SEO and the Fool’s Gold Fantasy

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NIGHT AT THE FARM

Thanks for the post, Arthur Lawrence

We looked into clear 4g internet deals and decided that it wasn’t going to be that expensive to get the internet at our farm. We usually spend most of the holidays at the farm. There is not much to do if you don’t like spending time outside. Since my kids have graduated and are in college, my husband and I have started going out to and staying at the farm much more often. I have to say that I do enjoy our time there and there is a lot of work to do, but having the internet will be so much better. Usually at night, there is nothing to do but watch basic cable. If you have basic cable, I mean the really basic cable, you know that there are not a lot of good shows that come on. Now, that we are going to get the internet at the farm, I won’t have to worry about that. I am going to get a blu-ray wi-fi streamer so that I can watching movies on Netflix or order newer movies from Amazon Prime. I think that my husband is going to be able to convince me to come more often

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On Wednesday, February 23, 2011, a category 5 hurricane named “Panda” swept through the Gulf of Google devastating businesses large and small alike. The hurricane was reportedly named after one of Google’s engineers.

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Working From Home

Authored by Leandro Delgado

I absolutely love working from home because it gives me the freedom that I never had when I was stuck at a desk all day long. I’m just not the type to sit still for 8 to 10 hours a day and I really didn’t like having to be in an office environment knowing I had laundry piling up at home and that I was going to have to feed the kids something frozen because I didn’t have time to cook dinner. I went to WirelessInternet.net to give really good Internet for the house and I even set up the fourth bedroom as a home office before I approach my boss about this solution… I was really surprised at how receptive he was to the idea when I told him I wanted to work from home. I was totally prepared to tell him I would take a pay cut to do so but he actually told me that if I work from home I would be saving the company money so it was a win-win for everyone!

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Social media and social media marketing are two of the great realities in the online world today. Although it requires businesses and business owners to learn a new skill set, it is a great opportunity for business to bring a more personal touch to their online marketing. Facebook marketing is truly one of the greatest opportunities that has been available in years. It does not matter if you are a home based internet marketing company or a Fortune 100 multi-national organization, you can bring a human touch to your internet and social media marketing campaigns in a way that has not been heretofore possible.

Simply click on the link or graphic to learn more. The future is yours for the asking!

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