For An Alternative Rush

Digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras are excellent cameras that produce clearer, sharper and more colourful images than most point and shoot digital cameras available. With prices falling rapidly, they are now more affordable then ever. With the price gap between an entry model digital SLR camera and the most expensive compact digital camera narrowing; the question is… do I spend the extra money and get a Digital SLR camera? or save a few hundred dollars and purchase the best digital compact camera.

Well, it really depends on your budget; however if you do spend the extra money, here’s what you get:

In addition to the price falls in the Digital SLR models, the performance on these cameras has increased year on year with the latest Digital SLR cameras being quicker and faster than ever before. They have improved to such an extent that power up or start-up time is near instantaneous with virtually no lag time. “Lag time is the time between you pressing the shutter release button and the camera actually taking the shot”. This delay can vary quite a bit between different camera models and it is one of the biggest drawbacks compared to a compact digital camera. The latest digital SLR cameras have virtually no lag times and react in the same way as conventional film cameras, even in burst mode. Compact digital cameras are catching up; however the difference is still significant. A lag time of ~0.5 seconds can result in you missing the heartbeat of the moment and hence that potential great picture.

Digital SLR camera also has a larger sensor versus a smaller sensor in a compact digital camera. This equates to higher sensitivity and less noise and results in the camera taking clearer pictures in low light. (They also have better autofocus speed in low light as well). A measure of sensitivity in a digital camera is ISO and a typical ISO range for a Digital SLR camera varies from ISO 100 - 1600 with the latter being more sensitive. The ISO range for a compact digital camera varies from ISO 50 - 400. In summary, the higher the ISO rating, the greater the sensitivity and the better the photo can be taken in low light.

The Digital SLR cameras have a much longer battery life due to the limited use of the LCD screen. Please note, that as the LCD screen is only used for viewing the image, the battery life of a digital SLR can allow up to 2000 shots per charge in some cameras compared to 500 for a good point and shoot digital camera.

Digital SLR cameras also allow you to interchange lens such as adding a zoom or macro lens when required.

On the negative side of a Digital SLR camera; They are usually larger and heavier than compact digital cameras, the image cannot be previewed on the LCD screen prior taking the picture. If you really require the image to be viewed on the LCD prior to taking the picture, there are third party manufacturers that produce LCD screens that attaches to the viewfinder and allow the scene to be view just like a compact digital camera. The other drawback is the inability to take videos and finally, lenses are expensive with the majority costing more than the camera itself.

Although compact digital cameras cannot compete on features with a Digital SLR camera, they are great value, have the ability to take videos and are portable. If you have decided to purchase a Digital SLR camera I recommend you visit infodigitalcamera.com to find additional information on Digital SLR camera. If you are still undecided, purchase both.

About the Author

Virginia Wong is an IT consultant and has a passion for digital photography. Her research into digital camera resulted in the development of her own digital camera website. http://www.infodigitalcamera.com

I live in UK, and Mothers Day has been and gone. But soon it will
be Easter, then… These seasonal events provide an opportunity
to get new visitors to your site, and maybe make extra sales. But
you need to take advantage of these opportunities. Here’s how.

===== Sidebar =====
When I say take advantage - what you’re really doing is providing
content that your visitors are likely to want: you’re keeping
your site up-to-date with new content; you’re providing your
visitors with more reasons to visit; AND you’re providing your
site with another opportunity to make money! (Just thought I’d
clear that up - advantages should work for both you *and* your
site visitors!)

And if you don’t live in UK, chances are you’re only a few weeks
away from your next seasonal event (thank goodness for card
companies, eh?). Just visit your favourite travel site, or search
the web to find a holiday or calendar site - there are loads of
sites to choose from. Or you could just use this excellent site
- http://www.holidayfestival.com
=== End Sidebar ===

1: ADD SEASONAL CONTENT

Add seasonal content that fits in with the rest of your site.
This could mean creating an amusing site survey, that relates to
the seasonal event. Or it could mean writing relevant editorial
about the seasonal event. Or you could just add some seasonal
resources to your website, like images or clip art or electronic
cards.

I run a shopping directory, so for Mother’s Day I simply decided
to create a Mothers Day shopping page. (I’m a member of several
affiliate programs and simply researched each and every program
until I found what I considered to be the best and most suitable
sites.)

But you don’t have to have a shopping-related site to offer
seasonal gifts for sale. You can find suitable gift items
whatever your site is about, and a suitable affiliate program
allowing you to offer the goods for sale.

For example, you might run a Tom Jones fan site (!). It wouldn’t
be too difficult to create a page of links that offered posters,
books, and music of the ageless Welsh pop star, appropriate to
the seasonal event. And if you didn’t want to ’sell’ on your
site, you could simply reprint the lyrics of his most suitable
song. The content-possibilities are endless, and only limited by
your imagination.

Just offer content that you know your site visitors will enjoy.

===== Sidebar =====
You could also add a seasonal quiz or image or newsfeed or… you
get the idea! You can find suitable free resources at these
sites
- http://www.thefreesite.com
- http://www.findsticky.com
- http://www.bravenet.com
=== End Sidebar ===

Here are a few of the better affiliate programs you can join
- http://www.tradedoubler.com
- http://www.dgm2.com
- http://www.cj.com

(You can find a lot more affiliate sites/directories at my
affiliate resource: http://ShopTour.co.uk/webmaster-profit/ .)

2: PROMOTE SEASONAL CONTENT ON SEARCH ENGINES

You need to announce your seasonal content to the search engines.
This could be as simple as submitting new pages to the major
search engines via search submission tools like
- http://www.jimtools.com
- http://www.addme.com

Even better, however, would be to add the content to search
engines or directories that have human-edited content. For
example, Lycos UK - a UK search engine - supplements its search
results with a human-edited directory. This directory includes
content for specific seasonal events, and always welcomes new
additions.
- http://www.uk.lycos.de/dir/Lifestyle/Valentines_Day/
- http://www.uk.lycos.de/dir/Lifestyle/Mothers_Day/

There are many other Lycos categories, all of which allow you to
add your content: just click ‘Recommend a website for this
category’
- http://www.uk.lycos.de/dir/Lifestyle

Another human-edited directory is the Open Directory Project
- http://www.dmoz.org

Or you could just check your favourite search engine/directory to
see whether it includes human-edited content.

3: PROMOTE SEASONAL CONTENT ON PAY-PER-CLICK SEARCH ENGINES

The beauty of pay-per-click search engines, apart from a
guaranteed position for your keywords, is that new content can be
announced in only a matter of days. So add more keywords to your
various pay-per-click accounts. The cost of your keywords will
increase as the seasonal event approaches, so act quickly to take
advantage of low initial keyword cost, and constantly monitor.

===== Sidebar =====
Pay-per-click search engines are proving to be a very viable
means of income generation for search engines and advertisers
alike. This means that you really need to stay informed, as rapid
developments inevitably take place. To stay informed, I suggest
you visit (and revisit)
- http://www.PayPerClickSearchEngines.com
=== End Sidebar ===

4: TELL EVERYONE ABOUT IT

Everyone is busy, busy, busy! This includes your family, friends,
colleagues, and newsletter subscribers. So whilst you have been
toiling away creating great seasonal content, everyone else has
been busy too. So you need to remind them about your site and
about your site’s new content.

Remind everyone of the upcoming seasonal event - they might have
forgotten! - and then tell them how your new content can really
benefit them. (Maybe it can save them time and money; maybe it
can give them gift ideas; maybe it can simply provide
entertainment!)

Just remember to:

* tell your family, friends, and colleagues;
* tell your newsletter subscribers;
* tell anyone else you e-mail (in a suitable signature file!)

Remember to tell them what’s in it for them; focus on benefits!

~ ~ ~

That’s it! 4 easy steps that show you how to take advantage of
seasonal events on your website.

Just remember, there’s more to seasonal events than Christmas.
AND, seasonal events are repeated every year!! So think hard to
see how your website can take advantage of a seasonal event: it
keeps your website looking fresh, and it may increase sales!

Happy Holidays!

PS Seasonal events can also include award-ceremonies like…
well, like The Oscars. Just add your imagination!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Nash shows how anyone can sell
online at his brand new website. Visit his FREE
beginners guide now! http://www.AnyoneCanSellOnline.com
To get more website promotion ideas, take his free 7-day
e-mail course, called Website Promotion That Works!
Sign-up here! mailto:promotion_that_works@getresponse.com

If you are involved in network marketing, you have most likely bought leads.

Ask yourself a question:

Does buying leads work? I have lost money every time. If it works for you, you are one of the lucky ones. Let’s be honest. Buying generic leads is too risky. If you can’t pre-qualify your leads with your own ad, you shouldn’t be buying.

I will lay out several problems with buying leads in the rest of this article and some suggestions on how to turn that around and do something about it. In other words, this is not really a negative article. I want to give solutions here, not just gripe.

First, we can all agree that leads are necessary to run a business, whether a Fortune 500 company or a home-based operation. A good Lead Generation system is the key to success for any business. Even doctors and lawyers advertise these days, but there is a huge upswing in both profits and word of mouth with these types of businesses. It’s not the same with a small business, especially network marketing.

Friends and family members often spread the word passively about products and services they like, but the simple truth is that most businesses either don’t have mass appeal, quality products, or reasonable prices.

If what you are promoting doesn’t have all three or doesn’t dominate one of those areas, you are treading on dangerous ground when you pay for advertising or buy leads.

So, if you want to stop this risky, shortcut mentality, then all you have to do is create a system where you get your leads for free. This is the golden road to net profits.

If you set up a free lead generation system, it is possible to not only pre-qualify your leads, but also get their phone numbers at the same time. If you can do this, then your only expense would be the long distance, which is pretty cheap these days. Again, though, you have to know yourself. If you don’t have the confidence or you get frustrated when you can

How do you persuade someone to do what you want them to do?

A whole world of marketing exists around us trying to do that every minute of the day. Do you even notice it anymore or, like your prospects, have you subconsciously set up a system of “radar defenses” against the daily bombardment of marketing messages? Take a minute and count up the advertising methods which fight, for your attention (and money) every day. Just the basic list includes:

• Yellow page ads

• Newspaper and magazine ads

• Postcards, catalogs, and direct mail circulars in your “snail mail” box

• Radio pitches interrupting the flow of your favorite songs

• TV ads - about 20 minutes worth per hour now

• Hundreds of storefronts, “mega” malls, and strip malls

• Highway billboards by the thousands

• Circulars hung on your doorknob

• Illegal signs on stop signs and telephone poles

• Legitimate email messages

• Spam email or UCE (unsolicited commercial email)

Just these 11 sources can overwhelm your brain with marketing messages. Like trapped rats, people develop defenses against this never-ending onslaught. They throw up a wall or a “radar defense” that goes into action the minute they smell a “pitch” or a sales job. Don’t blame them. We all do it! So how can you get around this psychological wall against the constant sales and marketing messages? Well, the answer does NOT lie in hitting people with more frequent and obnoxious advertising or sly, sneaky tactics. You might get them to trust you for a minute, but it will backfire in the long run.

You must do two things instead:

1. First, you must establish credibility for yourself and your business as an expert.

2. Second, you must reduce their fears about doing business with you.

Doing these two things will get you past their defenses and allow you the opportunity to persuade them to buy your product.

So how do you accomplish these two “simple” things? What will win someone’s attention, raise your credibility, and lower their fear factor all at the same time? The one-word nswer really applies to most everyone.

Trust!

If a seller can get behind your defenses with information which makes you trust them, then that credibility will carry over into a sale much of the time. How can you get this credibility? Well, take this next fact as online marketing “gospel,” for many people have proven it’s effectiveness.

Fact: Publishing and promoting with free articles gives you one of the most powerful opportunities available to tip the buyer’s credibility scale in your favor. How can we prove this works? Quite easily actually. Take a break from reading this and go check out a newspaper or magazine for a minute. Which do you trust more, the ads or the articles? Most people will choose the articles hands down. Why? Because the articles don’t try to “sell” you anything. Instead, they hand out useful information for educational or other practical purposes.

Most of us grew up in a culture which says we can believe and “trust” what appears in the standard “news” or “information” format. In other words, if it appears in print, then we can believe and trust the author.

So go ahead! Use this lifetime of conditioning to your advantage in selling your products and services! Very few things will create an atmosphere of trust and confidence in people as reading one of your articles on a subject that greatly interests them. It shows you know your business. It also demonstrates you will do more than just try to sell them something.

Publishing articles literally lets you fly under their advertising “radar defenses.”

So remember these points when deciding whether or not to use articles to promote your business:

1. Few things create as much trust and confidence in the minds of potential customers as reading an article you wrote on a subject which specifically and intensely interests them.

2. Articles establish credibility quickly because, right or wrong, we’ve all been trained to trust the “news.”

3. An article, or series of articles, will differentiate you from the competition, who bombard people with nothing but sales messages.

4. Providing content-rich, non-sales-oriented articles will also help build and solidify your relationship with existing customers so they give you repeat business.

About The Author

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook, “Turn Words Into Traffic,” that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate link! Click Here ==> http://the-easy-way.com/traffic.html