Web Design Discussion

Recently I found Antivirus 2009 (a fake anti-malware application) on my laptop computer. Thinking it was a program one of my kids downloaded I went to control panel - add/remove programs but it was not there. This made me suspicious so I Googled “Antivirus 2009″ and discovered it was a new rogue anti-spyware program.

Once this malware enters your system, it floods your computer with popups and fake system notifications, supposedly to inform you of an infection. While your system may indeed be infected, Antivirus 2009 will inform the user of this regardless of whether it’s true or not. The point of this disinformation is to convince you that your computer is infected and need to purchase an antispyware program to dispose of the threat.

How to remove Antivirus 2009

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware can detect and remove this rogue application for free.

Download the Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to your desktop.

* Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
* At the end, be sure to check the following:

o Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware
o Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

* Then click Finish.
* If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
* Once the program has loaded, select Perform quick scan, then click Scan.
* When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
* Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
* When completed, a log will open in Notepad. The rogue application should now be gone.

Tips

Don’t install an antivirus program before removing this fake anti-malware application.

I initially installed the McAfee antivirus program because it comes free with my Comcast High Speed Internet service. I then scanned my computer but it did not detect or remove Antivirus 2009. You need to first remove it before installing your new Antivirus software.

If you are not sure about downloading an application Google it first. You’ll quickly read if it’s fake or not.

Last year I created an ebook titled “Article Marketing Strategies” and only used article marketing to promote my one page web site. The result: Listed on the first page of Google, MSN, AOL, HotBot, Netscape and second page of Yahoo. Sales from this ebook generate passive income each month automatically.

With many people losing their jobs and/or stuggling to pay their bills they will be starting an online business. Article marketing will become more prominent in 2009 as a way to generate free traffic to web sites.

Here’s an article from the No 1 article directory on the Net..EzineArticles.com

2009 Article Marketing Predictions

Want to stay on the cutting edge of what’s happening in the Article Writing & Marketing field?

Here are (10) trends that will have an impact in 2009 from our perspective:

1. Article Marketing Niche Expansion: Recessionary economy combined with the growing fear of starting a PPC (Pay Per Click) ad campaign due to perception of complexities to get started will lead more experts in every niche to produce more articles than ever before in an effort to drive more qualified traffic and leads back to their website. Yes, of course I’m biased here.

2. Attention Given To Time Efficiencies: Expert authors feeling both the pressure to produce a high volume of articles to achieve traffic & media exposure success combined with a lack of time or a lack of desire to give it the time will turn to two primary time-saving strategies:

* Audio to Articles - Either producing new audio clips and having them transcribed or taking existing audio training products, having them transcribed and edited into dozens of articles per hour of audio recording.
* Hiring of virtual assistants and/or part & full-time employees who will help edit new articles & repackage existing content into new articles freeing the expert to spend more of his or her time on producing more unique & original content.

3. Article Rejection Rates Go Up: Article rejection rates will go up another 3-5% (approaching 32-37% rejection of everything submitted) due to many issues largely having to do with a lack of original thought put into the article writing process, lack of interest in following the Editorial Guidelines and combined with our improved ability to deflect derivative article submissions (those that are rewritten to death).

4. Article Review Speed Improves: Article review speeds will increase by 3-6 hours faster for every membership level. We’re selfishly motivated on this one as we know there is a correlation between article submission quantity and speed of article review. Expect us to test this further in 2009.

5. Dead Links In Old Articles Become Unlinked: People come and they go; websites come and they go… yet often we’re left with tens of thousands of articles that are very good in content yet the link is dead because the website owner walked away or shut down their site. We’re going to solve this problem this year as we’ve already spent a large part of 2008 in setting up an elaborate dead link discovery process… that will ultimately end up first encouraging members to fix their dead links, giving fair notice and time to complete such, ending in their articles with dead links getting the active link removed along with a text notice of the link. Articles with dead links are a liability (because they provide a poor user experience) we will not allow to continue in 2009.

6. Freelance Writers Who Niche-Specialize Will Be Richly Rewarded: Members who hired and were burned by cheap generalist ghostwriters will seek freelance writers who are specialized in knowledge around their niche instead of hiring a ‘jack or jill of all trades’ article writer. Articles will cost more, but the quality of reputation & trust factor will make up for it.

7. Members (Who Hire Freelancers) Take On Trainer Roles: Members who hire ghostwriters will seek writers who will dedicate a large chunk of their time to them (instead of serving hundreds of clients) and thus will create more of a partnership where our members will want to train the freelancer just the same as they would a full or part-time employee. This leads to higher quality articles & consistency.

8. In-House Writing Teams Become Common. The top .05% to 1% of members will hire part-time and/or full-time article writers to work in-house as employees to help them to repackage their existing content and produce an enormous amount of fresh new original & unique content that is quality-controlled in-house. Many will invest tens of thousands of labor dollars this year in this strategy and will find that the qualified traffic that results from it gives them a significant profit (and competitive market advantage) over other means of traffic acquisition.

9. Article Submission Service Provider Eco-System Expands: More than any other year, an industry will emerge stronger to support experts in all walks of life who want to leverage the power of Article Marketing, but don’t have the expertise in packaging or repackaging their content, doing the manual submissions on a frequent basis & performance reporting.

10. No End In Sight To The End of the Long Tail of Content Demand: Most of your competitors still have no idea what the LONG-TAIL is. Expect to see more experts exploit the long-tail specifically centered around their niche topic of expertise. It seems the closer one gets to answering the long-tail of demand for their niche, the more they discover there is no end to the tail of market demand for their unique expertise.

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Attract 1000s of NEW visitors to your website with

“Highly Effective Article Marketing Strategies”

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Affordable Web Site Design

Before starting an online business you need to get your mind in order. Here are some things to think about before you dive in:

1. Make a commitment to go all the way

If you’re serious about doing business online you can’t just dabble in it. Commit yourself to finding one niche and stick with it to the end or make a time commitment.

2. Focus on one niche

Don’t jump from one opportunity to another. Decide on one idea and don’t get distracted by other offers even though they may look very appealing (there’s always something that looks better than what you have:-)

3. Follow your passion

Find a niche you’re passionate about. It will be easier to create content and market it. Your passion will also carry you through difficult times. If you select a niche you have no interest in you’ll soon lose interest and want to give up.

4. Surround yourself with positive people

You may be confronted by friends and relatives that say you are wasting your time and “get a real job.” Don’t listen to them. Instead relate to people who are in the same business by joining forums, master mind groups, attending teleseminars and reading blogs related to your field. You will receive a lot of positive support by interacting with people who have similar aspirations.

5. Create a business plan

Most businesses that are successful write a business plan which outlines their goals and objectives. It provides the road map to fulfilling your goals.

6. Create a marketing plan

Marketing is the life blood of your online business. If you don’t attract visitors to your web site you won’t make many sales. Choose several marketing strategies that work then stick with them. For example search engine optimzation, pay per click advertising, article marketing, blog.

7. Reward yourself

It’s easy to get consumed running your online business to the point where you get tired or burnt out. It’s important to keep up your energy level by eating and exercising regularly and rewarding yourself every time you accomplish your goals (especially if you the only sole proprietor of your business). Take breaks every 1 or 2 hours in the day to keep up your energy levels and you’ll continue to be productive.

Conclusion

Creating and running a successful online business takes discipline, hard work and a strong commitment. You’re not going to build it overnight so give yourself at least a year or 2 to make it work. Most businesses fail within the first 2 years so determine yourself to join the people who build an online business that is profitable.

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If you wish to start an online business today download


20 Ways to Make $100/day Online

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Website Design Maryland
He started his online business in 2000. It has been thriving ever since.

You’ve probably been inundated with emails from online marketers promising you’ll make 1000s of dollars if you buy their program or software. It’s easy to be tempted by these offers because the sales letter is well written and the promise of making a lot of money sounds good.

7 questions to ask yourself before starting an online business

1. What are your goals?

If your goal is to make 60K a year you need to first create a business plan how you will get there especially if you are just starting out. If you just want to make some extra income on the side you still need a step by step plan how to achieve it. (If you want to make an extra $100/day that shows you step by step how to do it, please visit: Starting an Online Business

2. What time commitment can you make?

If you can’t commit to at least 10 hours per week, you won’t make much progress and will be disappointed with yourself for investing your time and money in an unsuccessful business. A full time income from an online business means you need to invest at least as many hours as an offline business. It also takes great discipline and ability to focus on completing daily tasks that move you towards your goal.

3. Is the offer too good to be true?

If a business promises 10K/week, it sounds too good to be true and it probably is. Many marketers make money selling their products to others but know the product can’t deliver what it promises.

4. Who is behind the offer?

Trust is one of the most crucial elements for doing business with someone online. Check their web site to see if they included their contact information. Google their name to read their articles, myspace page or have a twitter account. If they are active online you will soon get an idea if they can be trusted by the content they’ve written or comments form others.

5. Are they easy to contact?

Email, call or fill out the contact form on their web site. If you don’t get a response within 24 hours go elsewhere. The faster the response the better. Ask to speak to the owner of the business rather than an assistant. Then owner has a big stake in making sure his business is successful.

6. Are there testimonials from satisfied customers?

A series of testimonials from customers that have done business over a period of time adds great credibility to a business. Testimonials should include email address or web site so they can be easily contacted.

7.Are you jumping from one business opportunity to another?

You’re probably familiar with the saying “the grass always appears greener on the other side.” If you don’t stick with one business offer it’s easy to jump to another. If you already have an online business look for ways to improve it instead of creating a new one. For instance you could improve conversion rates by rewriting your web copy or create a series of autoresponder messages to follow up on new clients and generate repeat sales. You could also offer new products (ie ebooks, short reports) that relate to your current business.

By asking the 7 questions above, you’ll make a more informed decision about starting an online business and increase your chances of it becoming a successful investment of time and money.

It’s a fact that people and companies that set goals are more successful than those that don’t set them. You probably know the phrase: “you’ll fail if you fail to plan.” You achieve happiness and fulfillment when you make and accomplish your goals.

Michal Phelps (Olympic Gold Medalist for Swimming) often says the only way he attained his success was by believing in what he could achieve then working towards it by setting specific goals.

What are S.M.A.R.T. Goals?

These are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results Oriented, and Time Specified.

Specific – your goals should be focused not broad and ambiguous. Eg I want to double my income this year.

Measurable – you should be able to see the steps needed to achieve your goal. e.g. I want to earn 120,000 by the end of the year.

Achievable – only set goals that you know and believe you can achieve. It should be challenging enough to motivate you but not so difficult that you’ll lose motivation.

Results Oriented – your goal should focus on the results not on the activity to get there. For example you can do a flurry of activities but not achieve the desired result.

Time Specified - create a deadline to achieve your goal. You can break them down into yearly, monthly, weekly and daily goals.

Here are some ideas for working towards the fulfillment of your goals:

• Visualize or meditate on your main goal by creating a clear picture of it in your mind. For example if your goal is to purchase your dream house, take a photo of it, place it on the wall above your computer, and visualize it in your mind each day before you start work. This will keep you focused on the big picture as you work on the small steps to get there.
• Have a clear purpose for achieving your goal. e.g. my dream house will be the place where my children or grandchildren will love to live or visit.
• Balance your goals. Create spiritual, family, business, health, financial, educational and social goals that harmonize with each other.
• Write down your goals. Keep them close to your computer so you can refer to them each day.
• Share your goals with your friends. This will help make you accountable to them.
• Focus on your goals several times a day. Ask yourself, “Is what I am doing right now helping me achieve one of my goals?” If the answer is no, stop what you are doing and do something that helps reach your goal.
• Reward yourself when you’ve completed one of your goals.
• Break down your large goals into smaller ones then write down the tasks you’ll accomplish each day that will move you towards attaining your small goals.
• Be disciplined. Sometimes you may not be inspired or motivated on the tasks for the day. In these times you need to discipline yourself to “just do it.” For example in martial arts you keep repeating the basic moves to perfect the advanced ones. Even if it gets boring you “just do it” knowing that you are moving towards mastering the advanced styles.
Creating goals and achieving them will guarantee to bring you continuous happiness and prosperity.

Make 2009 your best year ever!

Before setting goals for 2009 reflect on what you accomplished in 2008. This will help you move forward into next year with more confidence and clarity and prevent you from making the same mistakes.

Here are 10 questions to get started with your reflections:

1. Did you keep a deep sense of purpose for why you are making money with your online business? It’s not enough to just run a business for the purpose of making money…make it more specific. Such as buying a new house, creating a college fund, funding a trip overseas for the whole family, etc.
2. Did you keep focused on your purpose or did you sometimes lose sight of it?
3. Did you have specific goals for what you wanted to accomplish by the end of the year?
4. Did you write down daily, weekly, monthly goals that helped you move towards your end of the year goal?
5. Did you prioritize your daily tasks by working on the most important ones first or just worked on the easy ones first then procrastinated on the difficult ones?
6. Did you set deadlines for achieving your goals?
7. Did you reward yourself when you achieved your goals?
8. Did you balance your business goals with your spiritual, family, educational and social goals?
9. What things prevented you from achieving your goals ie procrastination, lack of focus, etc?
10. How many of goals did you accomplish and what action are you going to take to make next year more profitable?

How to create your mySQL database

Make sure you have already created a mySQL database within cpanel on your web host (preferably Linux) and make a note of your database details. They will be needed later on.

1. After uploading all your files to the server generated from phpformgenerator insert the address of the installation file ie http://www.domainname.com/form/install.php (this is assuming you have named the folder “forms”

2. A box will pop-up asking you to enter your database details ie
hostname: usually you enter localhost
user: enter user name for database
password: enter password used to create the database
database: enter database name

3.Click continue.

Your database should now be created. Test it by entering information in the form then submitting it. You data will be sent to you by email (if you checked email when creating the form) and also appear in a table (if you checked/named a table when creating the form).

How to view the data in your database

1. Login to your cpanel with user name and password
2. Click on the mySQL databases icon
3. Click on phpmyadmin (bottom of page)
4. Click the database shown on the left side of the page
5. Click “export” You will have the option to save your data as a PDF, Excel etc
6. Check excel as it displays your data in easy to read columns.

Note: You can also sort your data by clicking “Query” It can be listed in ascending or descending order.

Conclusion

Now you have no excuse to quickly and easily create forms and store the data in a database without learning html or php/mysql programming.

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Maryland WebSite Design

Are you looking for an easy way to create forms and either submit the data to an email address, store it in a mySQL database or do both at the same time?

To do this go to phpformgenerator to create the form then select the delivery method ….database, email or file. Check database if you want to store your form records in a mySQL database.

Benefits of storing form data in a database

1. Quickly access and view your stored data
2. Ability to sort, search, filter, modify, add and delete information.
3. No need to know html or have php/mysql programming
4. Easily convert form data to database

Requirements:

*Free form generator
*Web Hosting for your web site and form files
*mySQL database (you will need to install mySQL database from your cpanel)

How to easily create your html form

1. Visit http://phpformgen.sourceforge.net/new_demo/phpformgen/ to create a new form
2. Make sure you check the database option for the delivery method
3. Save the zipped file to your computer.
4. Unzip the file. The file will be named “tmp”. Within this folder will be another folder named “persistent” then another within this one named “form67838” Within this folder will be the files:

style
processor
monofont
install
confirm
CaptchaSecurityImages
imgs
files
calendar

5. Change the name of the form67838 folder to something else ie “form”
6. Upload this folder to the server that contains your web site files.

My next post will discuss how to create your database

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Maryland WebSite Design

Recently a friend asked how to add your videos to his Joomla web site:

Here are a few ways to add videos:

1. Embed your video

Go to YouTube.com, select your video then copy and paste the embed code (top right) into your page content. The video will play on your Joomla web site using the bandwidth from YouTube.

2. Host video on your own web site

This benefits of doing this is that you don’t have to rely on YouTube (or any other video sharing site to host your videos) and you keep all the visitors on your page without getting distracted by all the other videos and ads that YouTube dishes up. You also don’t need to fear your video will disappear if YouTube closes down or withdraws its videos.

How to host videos on your own Joomla web site:

*Download the mgmedia2 component and bot for Joomla from http://www.needful.de/mgmediabot-demo/
(mgMediaBot displays various multimediafiles in your content)

*Make sure you publish mgmediabot

*Download video from youtube to computer (visit http://www.savevideodownload.com/download.php to learn how to do this)

*Upload video to your media manager and place it inside this folder: images/stories/video using Joomla Explorer component

*Add this line to your page content…

{mgmediabot2}path=images/stories/videos/videodatei.wmv|width=300|height=300{/mgmediabot2}

Replace videodatei.wmv with your own video file.
(PLEASE ensure that no html tags are in this line, this could have some funny side effects)

*Save page

*Preview page to test if video is playing correctly(check with Internet Explorer and Firefox..you may have to download a plugin to view some video files)

**Media files supported (video) rm, rv, wmv, mpg, avi, mov, mp4, flv, swf, (audio) ra, ram, wma, mp3

Notes:

For a popup link:
{mgmediabot2}images/stories/videos/videodatei.wmv|true(Click here to play)|300|300{/mgmediabot2}

Parameters:
{mgmediabot2}[1]|[2]|[3]|[4]{/mgmediabot2}
1. your media file, supported for now (video) rm, rv, wmv, mpg, avi, mov, mp4, flv, swf, (audio) ra, ram, wma, mp3, you can use absolute, relative and full URLs, if you use a subfolder for your joomla Installation and like to display the media inline you have to use only relative or full URLs
2. false for displaying inline, true(Link title) for displaying a link with “Link title” as linktext to popup
3. width of displayarea/popup
4. height of displayarea/popup

MP3: for using multiple mp3s you can enter them like this: file1.mp3;file2.mp3;….

I took a 2 week break from blogging to visit my relatives in New Zealand while enjoying the warm weather and sea breezes…it’s summer there. I also took time to go swimming in the warm sea every day and hiked lots of trails through the sub tropical forests.

Even though I took my laptop I didn’t open it once the whole time because I could check email from my brothers and sisters dial up connections or visit the local internet cafe. When I did finally need to use my laptop it didn’t work because NZ uses a 240 volt plug and the transformer I bought didn’t convert the current correctly.

Take a break from your business

I’ve run my web design business almost non-stop for the last 8 years (except for a week off in the summer). Taking a 2 week break to enjoy nature and not have the pressure of work, I slept more, ate more, relaxed more, exercised more, conversed more than any normal day of work.

My only regret

It was great to experience all the beauty individually or sometimes with a relative (when I could persuade them to come hiking with me) however it would be more rewarding to experience it with the whole family or even one of my kids.

Plan your break

Nothing gets done without making a plan. I planned when to go, what to bring, the most cost efficient way to get there, and how much to spend. My purpose was not only to visit relatives and attend a nieces wedding but to take a much needed vacation by charging my batteries for another year. Since New Zealand is a sportsman’s paradise I made sure I swam in the ocean each day and hiked the lush green forests.

Take a look at the vacation photos below to see one of God’s most beautiful countries.

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