There’s no doubt that most of us use the Internet for research purposes.  But how do we know that the resources we’re using on the Internet are telling the truth?  There are lots of Internet marketing companies out there that advertise various products and services, but how do we know that those services are reliable?  If you think about it, anyone can design a web site or page to make it look professional, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the information they are presenting is truthful.

Problems with Information

The Internet is a big place occupied by many people.  There is no shortage of information on any topic that you so desire.  However, much of the information on the Internet ranges in its accuracy and reliability.  For example, unlike published books that you can buy at the bookstore, the Internet doesn’t require all of those copyrights, etc.  Just about anyone can upload just about anything they want and claim it as their own…..at least, until they get caught. 

C.A.S.T. Your Worries Away!

The next time you use the Internet for something, think about what your goal is.  What are you looking for?  Does it require statistical evidence? Once you’ve figured that out, then you can begin to “C.A.S.T” your worries away:

• Credibility- Is the source you’re using credible?  Does it have have an author?  Does the author’s credentials trace back to other reliable sources.  Never trust a site that has no author or does not give the last name of the author.  Also look to see how the page is set up.   Does it look like and amateur designed it?  Are words misspelled? Did you see the same information word-for-word on someone else’s page?  If so, the document might be plagiarized.
• Accuracy- How does the information presented on the one web site compare to other reliable sources that you know of?  Look for references throughout the page and then attempt to trace a few of the references back to their source.  Can you find a source for the information presented?
• Source Reliability-  When examining the sources, look for dates of when things were published.  casino online in italianogiochi keno in lineacasino gratis slot machineall slots casinogioco di roulettecasino 10 euro gratisgioco pc casinoscaricare casino gratiscasino online comslots machine downloads gratuito,slots machine,giochi gratis slots machineroulette online,per vincere alla roulette online,la roulette onlinevip casinoplay kenoroulette gamesbaccarat onlinewww casino on lineaprire un casino onlinevideo poker da scaricare gratisgiocare alla roulettevideo poker online,giochi online video poker,video poker online gratisdownload slotscasino on line italiano,casino on line,giochi casino gratis on linegioco kenoplay free kenocasino online in italiacasino on line conblack jackmetodo roulettecasino tropez bonus codeslots gratis3d roulettegiochi blackjack in lineagiochi keno inlineacasino on line senza depositogold casinocasino da scaricare gratiscasino venezia on linegiochi keno gratis in lineavideo poker pcgiochi on line roulettejack black in lineaautomatic video pokermobile casino games,online casino games,casino gamesvideo poker per pcgiochi black jackonline casino gamesla rouletteroulette europeaslots casinocasino on net com,casino on net,questionario casino on net Make sure the authors’ names match up with other credible sources.  Some well-known sources such as CNN.com or Wikipedia will sometimes suggest sources of information.  Try to start with a credible source that is well known and then branch out from there.
• Traceability-Test out the links on the web page.  Do the links lead you to a dead end?  Do the links lead you back to information that is extremely outdated?

These are all important points to think about and consider the next time you are out “surfing” for information.  If you know how do distinguish bogus information from credible information, you’ll have no problem getting what you want out of your Internet experience.  For more information on Internet marketing, contact Create Business Growth.

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking by Janelle - 2 Comments »

So, what are the benefits of keeping a diary online as opposed to in the privacy of your apartment or home?  One might suggest that part of the appeal stems from the fact that so many people spend a good portion of time on the Internet anyway.  After all, who wants to leave their computer, walk across the room to get a piece of paper and write?  Writing stuff down is so overrated!

 Before you know it, people are going to forget how to write anything by hand.  All they’ll be able to recite to you is how your hands are set up on the keyboard:  ”a, s, d, f, j, k, l, ;, spacebar”.  Just kidding, I hope.  With all these online journals and blogs, perhaps we should ask ourselves, “Is the Internet negatively affecting how I communicate?”  For example, every Christmas, I used to write out (by hand) thank-you cards to all of my relatives.  When I first went away to college, this was also how I communicated: by writing letters, going to the post office and mailing them.  However, in recent years, I’ll send a “thank-you email” (even though I still follow that up with a hand-written thank you).  The same thing goes for letters to friends.  It’s simply more convenient to take five minutes to write an email because you know it’s going to get to that other person in like 5 seconds as opposed to five days.  So, maybe this is the same thinking with online journals and diaries.  It’s a matter of convenience.  You don’t have to worry about toting a book around containing personal information.  Instead, you can type your thoughts and come back to them later.  After all, you’ll probably be back at a computer in no time anyway!

For more information about Internet marketing, contact Create Business Growth today!

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking by Janelle - 2 Comments »

Keeping a diary or a journal used to be something that you did in private.  You’d get a little notebook and a pen and wait until no one was around so that you could write down your innermost thoughts.  Then you’d take your diary and shove it back under the matress where no one else would find it.  Well, now people are ditching the pen and paper and are choosing to keep their diaries online.  That’s right.  People actually keep online diaries that everyone (including your mom and dad) can read. 

There are several online diary web sites floating around out there.  But, perhaps one of the most popular ones I’ve seen is something called LiveJournal.com.  This is a site devoted to those who wish to keep a record of their thoughts for others to see.  For example, I just read a journal post from someone who was talking about all of the things they needed to do today to include getting their graduate school paperwork together and visiting family in Green Bay.  The cool feature about LiveJournal (and other sites like it) is that you don’t have to make your diary “public” if you don’t want to.  You can choose to keep it private so that only you can read it…at least, that’s what they tell you.  Who knows, perhaps somewhere, there’s a bunch of computer geeks huddled around one computer in a basement pointing to your journal entry and laughing while they exchange high fives.  I guess we’ll never know.

For more information about Internet marketing, contact Create Business Growth today.

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking by Janelle - 2 Comments »

All across the United States, more people and businesses are turning towards their computers to save money as well as get ahead. There is now a wave of people out there who are using the Internet to create social networks as well as facilitate the exchange of information. Internet marketing has been around for a little while, but it still seems like brand new to a lot of people. Companies see the value in marketing on the Internet as opposed to other, more traditional means of advertising such as news media and print (you’ll recall my blog on the Yellow Pages).

So, why the Internet? Why is there this huge push for Internet marketing, and why (like that Kevin Bacon game) does everything seem to lead back to it lately? Well, for starters, Internet marketing is beginning to change the way that most companies do business. Even smaller businesses can jump in because Internet marketing is still fairly affordable. It’s a cost effective means that save businesses tons of money in advertising costs. It also helps to facilitate communication around the world. For example, any business owner can simply type a question into Google or any other search engine and more than likely find the answer he/she was looking for. Within a matter of minutes, you can send a detailed email message with pictures and links to other articles or videos to you business partners in Asia or your best friend around the block.

Additionally, marketing/advertising campaigns for most companies can be expensive. For example, it may cost a company anywhere from $10k-30k for a one page advertisement in a newspaper or some other form of traditional media. However, if that company decided to advertise on the Internet, it would cost them only a tiny portion of what they paid. The smarter choice, it would seem, would be Internet marketing. With all the craze of the World Wide Web and everyone using it for every and anything, it doesn’t automatically mean that traditional advertising in newspapers and magazines will end….at least- not yet…

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking, Business Networking by Janelle - 6 Comments »

Ok, so my brother didn’t actually join myspace on his own.  I had mentioned the web site in so many conversations, that I finally told him I would create an account for him so that he could try it out for himself.  He was extremely reluctant, but I also knew how reluctant I had been and how quickly I had succumbed after trying it for a few minutes.  I showed him the profile I had started for him, and just like that- Kenny was in.

I had a few friends in the academic world who I talked to about myspace and they would point out how silly it all seemed.  “Don’t you think it’s a little childish?” they would ask.  I would always vehemently respond that I only used the web site as a means of keeping in touch with my friends (which was pretty true).  But upon closer examination, after a while, I realized that I wasn’t keeping in touch with my friends through comments or messages anymore.  In fact, all I had been reduced to was looking at people’s profiles to find out what was going on in their lives.  During conversations with my mom, I would report any new news I had found out stating things like, “I found out that Danni had breast augmentation done.  Can you believe that?”  “Who told you that?” my mom would respond back to me.  I guess I could’ve said that Danni told me herself, since she had put all of that information on her page along with pictures to boot.  But it was myspace.

A few times I tried to quit myspace.  I began by downsizing my friends, you know, deleting the people I didn’t really talk to.  I changed and rearranged my “top friends” list narrowing it down from having eight top friends to having four.  I even deleted some of the fancy web design stuff on my page and made it more simplistic.  I tried to ween myself off of myspace slowly by only allowing myself to check my account if I received an email stating that someone had left a message.  Eventually, my boyfriend told me that the whole thing was stupid.  I realized that the only way to rid myself of the whole thing was to cancel my account. So, that’s what I did.  Without any warning, I woke up one morning and, without dwelling on it, deleted my entire myspace account.  I’ve been myspace-free now for almost eight months now.  I still check my email accounts like a hundred times a day and surf the web even more than that…but that’s another story

For more information on Internet marketing, contact Create Business Growth.

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking by Janelle - 3 Comments »

Overnight, I had become a myspace addict.  It was that easy and that difficult.  Checking my myspace account actually took precedence over checking my email accounts, which I already checked like a hundred times a day.  I found myself adding people to my “friends list” who I didn’t even really talk to throughout high school/college that much.  I even added bands that I listened to.  I would sit down at the computer promising myself that I would only check my account to see if there were any new comments or messages.  It should only take a few seconds, I believed.  But somehow, the time slipped by and four hours later, I was commenting back and forth with my friend Maria about how I needed to change my web page design layout.

I would upload pictures of myself with friends but I was always careful.  My profile was set to “private,” which meant that you had to be on my “friends list” to view it.  Unlike a lot of my friends who would pepper their pages with personal information about themselves such as where they were born, cell phone numbers, addresses and the names of their family members and animals, I included none of this.  I didn’t even give details as to where I worked.  The only thing my friends knew about me was my name, age, hometown and fire sign.  It felt good to receive comments and messages from all of my friends.  As I became more and more addicted, I found myself beginning to recruit other people to join the social network of computer addicts. I even got my brother (who is pretty much anti-computers) to join…which is another story in itself….

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth.

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking by Janelle - 1 Comment »

Why are sites like myspace and facebook so popular?  What is it about them that draws the crowds in?  I used to have a myspace account.  It was great.  I heard about myspace from one of my very good friends.  She told me about this free Internet site that everyone was joining.  It was “cool” because it allowed you the creative space to make your own webpage and put information on there about yourself so that your friends and who ever else you chose could read it.  At first I thought it was dumb.  Why on earth would anyone want to broadcast personal information about themselves for all the world to see?  But my friend was persistent.  She claimed that it was a great way to keep in touch with friends, that it was harmless, and that I could quit at any time if I really thought it was stupid.  Ok.  I figured, what the heck and gave it a try.

I typed in the web address for the site and followed the directions for how to set up my page.  I was surprised to find that it was really user friendly.  Within seconds, I was a member of this social network of millions of people.  No sooner had I just joined the ranks of adoring myspacers, then I received my first “friend request”.  It was one of my friends from high school who I hadn’t talked to in years!  How on earth did she find me?  Three hours later, I was still on the website looking up hundreds of profiles of people who I hadn’t spoken to in what felt like ages.   After my first day of “myspacing” it up, I knew more details about my friends’ lives than I did my own.  It was instantly addicting and I wasn’t sure if and/or when I’d ever be able to ween myself away from it…

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking by Janelle - 3 Comments »

LinkedIn.com is a business networking resource on the internet. It complements your fundamental networking skills in building relationships of value which you would use with people you interact with in person. It offers you a world wide connection, a way to “personally brand” yourself, make contacts for jobs, and have a chance to acknowledge good people throughout your past. 

First of all sign up if you have not, today! The basic service is free!  And fill out the entire profile. Include as much information in your profile as you can. This includes simple hobbies, interest, and associations that are important to you. Those profiles show up in Google searches, so others will be able to view the information. If you understand “personal branding” of YOU, then you know the benefit of this. The more positive points of reference to you on the web the better (as long as they are real).

Take a few minutes and think about people of value from your past who you might link with. Search for their names and invite them to reconnect. Then take the time to write them an endorsement (even a sentence is good). Your name is tied to this so make sure it is authentic and also reflects well on you. If you keep doing this and helping people your own endorsements will grow over time and be well earned. Endorsements of you initiated by others are obviously best. You really don’t want to ask for an endorsement unless you are clear they would love to give you one and are simply looking for an opportunity. 

Look for professional associations or groups such as your college on LinkedIn and if they are not listed encourage them to”register.” My own college St. Andrews is not listed and I am working on getting them to sign up. This “group” feature of LinkedIn is very important. It lets you gain contact with all the members of that group to build relationships if appropriate. As you set up for your own “LinkedIn” web link be sure it reflects your real name. When you sign up for an account, you are assigned a random number that designates your profile page on LinkedIn. You can then go into your profile settings and change that number so that instead of  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/712/a78, you would have a personal link like mine: http://www.linkedin.com/in/martinbrossman.  You can and should add this to your website and email address.

Understand and use the questions area. People are wonderfully generous about helping other LinkedIn.com members.  Ask questions of things you think the members may be able to help you with and answer some of the questions if you can. You may be known as an “expert” over time in that area.

Also, have some fun. I found a distant cousin in Australia of whom I was completely unaware of.  I have looked up people who took training programs that turned out to be of great value to me and made some good friends that way. Remember to build your network and invest in it before you need it!

Let me know how YOU are using linkedin.com You may enjoy the current article in the News & Observer about Linkedin.com. It is titled “Are You Linked?”
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/technology/story/630408.html

Martin Brossman - Podcast: www.Inquireonline.info (see podcast on linkedin)
www.CoachingSupport.com - martin@coachingsupport.com

Tags: Social Networking, Business Networking by Martin - No Comments »

According to the United States Census Bureau, in 1984, the proportion of households with a computer was 8 percent. In 2001, that number went up to 56 percent. Then in 2003, it was reported that approximately 70 million American households (or 62%) had one OR MORE computers. Data collected also shows that during that time, Internet usage didn’t really come into play until 1997 with about 18% of American households using it. by 2003, the number of households using the Internet had almost tripled since 1997.

Not everyone uses computers, however. Despite the increased popularity of owning a computer and/or using the Internet, it was discovered that 35% of households with people ages 65 and older did not have computers/Internet access. Also, 45% of Black or Hispanic households did not have it either, while another 28% of households with people who had less than a high school education didn’t have computers/Internet access.

In 2003, 45% of households did not have Internet access at home. The three most common reasons as to why this was so included:

• “We don’t need it and/or not interested.” (appx. 39%)
• “It costs too much and/or I don’t have a computer.” (appx. 23%)
• “We have access to the Internet elsewhere.” (appx. 2%)

There is also the thought among many parents that they do not want access to the Internet for fear that their children will use it inappropriately. Interestingly enough, there is a correlation of disinterest in the internet with age. Of the 20 million household members that the U.S. Census Bureau interviewed, who stated that they weren’t interested in the Internet, over 60% were 55 years of age or older.

Overall, the results show that the Internet has become a valuable source of news and communication. For example, there are statistics which show that more people send emails versus talk on the phone or text message. Additonally, the Internet has become a valuable economic tool with more Americans looking for jobs, shopping and selling things online, and it’s continuing to grow! For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth.

Tags: Using Technology, Time Management, Social Networking by Janelle - 2 Comments »

Commonly shortened simply to “the Web,” the World Wide Web is defined as a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet.  Using a web browser, a person can view web pages that may contain text, images and other multimedia as well as links to other pages.  Created in 1989 by a guy named Sir Tim Berners-Lee in Switzerland, Berners-Lee has had an active role in guiding the development and implication of Web standards (Wikipedia).

The Web Today 

Today, the Internet is one of the most widely used means of communication.  If you can dream it, chance are that the Internet already has it.  From marketing on the Internet to selling your car, the Internet truly has it all.  It’s a social outlet for people needing support; it’s also a place of business.  If you wanted to sell a piece of notebook paper with the letter “W” on it, you could probably do it.  All you have to do is look at websites such as Ebay to see the impact that the Internet has had on people around the world. 

The 5 W’s of the World Wide Web

For many Internet marketing companies as well as business owners, it is always good to keep the “5W’s” of Internet marketing in mind when designing a web page for the general public:

1. Who- is the target audience for the web site?
2. What- kind of product or service are you providing consumers with?
3. Why- would people care about what you have to say? Why are you selling your product?
4. When-would someone typically look at your website?
5. Where- can they go to find out more information, should they need or want it?

Keeping these things in mind may help you stay “connected” with the public when they go surfing.

Tags: Social Networking by Janelle - No Comments »