SPECIAL: Web Hosting Geeks

For any business (big or small) or entrepreneur to have an online presence, you need to create a website (or at least a blog). To host the website/blog, you need a web hosting service from a third party provider. Web hosting is liken the land of your house (and your house number/address is your domain name). There are countless FREE and PAID web hosting providers in the market. Thus, it might be a huge challenge to find a suitable one that fit your needs.

I've chanced upon a web hosting review site Web Hosting Geeks which will make your hunt simpler. It provides web hosting review, rating and awards since 2004. It is a trusted source for web hosting related information and/or comparison. I especially like their Web Hosting Awards page which is basing on the real user reviews to award the best web hosting providers in different categories like "Best Budget Hosting", "Best eCommerce Hosting" etc.

So, before signing-up any web hosting services, do check out this informative review site so that you can make an informed decision which will save you time and headache in the future. 

Cheers!

SPECIAL: Bidsketch - The Ultimate Proposal Software

Every year, the number of new websites being created has been in a steady upwards trend and basing on the current trend, it doesn't seems to be slowing down anytime soon. This is especially so with the recent high adoption of tablets/smartphones around the world which pushes the demand of an integrated web-cum-app development.

So, if you are involved in the web design or web development venture/business, Congratulations! Your "rice bowl" is intact, at least for a number of years to come. The questions is how to deliver more with what you've got? What kind of productivity tool can help you to speed up the fulfillment process so that you can spend more time on the actual development work?    

Many a time, the real hurdle/bottleneck is not on the actual development work but rather on the peripheral processes like creating the proposal, invoicing the clients, collecting the payment etc... Thus, it is important to review any potential productivity tool/software that can help you or automate such mundane activities, professionally. 

What I am going to recommend next is a web design proposal template tool (Bidsketch). It provides a wholesome solution to all your proposal generation needs. The prominent features include:

• Professional looking proposal templates that are readily reusable (with or without customization).
• Dashboard for ease of tracking (a bird's eye view)
• Detailed analytical and client tracking capabilities.
• Integration with other tools like FreshBooks Painless Billing tool etc..
• And many more...

Do check out the official website of Bidsketch and feel free to download their FREE proposal template (valued at $130) by simply providing your email address. If you are interested to have a try of this amazing tool, do take advantage of their 14-days trail and write your own verdict from there.

Cheers! 

 

SPECIAL: Hostzilla - The ultimate FREE Cloud Hosting Service

Do you believe in such a thing as FREE lunch? 

I must say that in the physical world, it's rare and hard to come by. However, in the online world, there are tons of FREE stuff sitting there waiting for the liked minded to grab. Stuff like free ebooks, free services, free product testings are everywhere!

Of course, many people are still skeptical when comes to FREE stuff as the stereotype told them that "free stuff" is usually of low or no value and there ought to be ulterior motifs from those who offer it. Most of the time, the first question that comes to their mind is "What is the catch?", Right? Actually, my take is that there are still VALUABLE free stuffs around. The key is whether you are resourceful enough to find them, there are plenty of gem waiting for you to uncover them FREEly!

Take for example the FREE Cloud Hosting services from HostZilla that I am going to share with you next. Hostzilla is a true gem in the cloud hosting niche whereby it provides comprehensive and full fledged web hosting services with absolutely ZERO fee. Just as an highlight, the FREE services cover the following features:

• Disk Space/storage of up to 100 MB
• Unlimited data transfer
• Unlimited Email Accounts
• Unlimited SQL Databases
• Multi-lingual Control Panel (24 languages)
• FREE website templates
• Advanced Site Builder
• Search Engine Submission
• Full fledged of email features (including webmail)
• Shared SSL
• And many others.....

So, you may ask "what is the catch" in this FREE offer? To be frank, there is only one (and only) catch, which is the disk space of up to 100 MB. As long as you are intending to host a small to medium size of site or blog, 100 MB should be sufficient. 

You may also ask, "how would the company sustain their business if all these services are offered freely?". Good question! The simple answer is that HostZilla is also providing premium hosting packages for those heavy duty users/companies whom require unlimited disk space and some other premium added services. Thus, effectively you can look at it as the FREE version is being cross subsidised by the paid versions.

So far, HostZilla is one of the most comprehensive FREE cloud hosting service provider that I've chanced upon. If you are sourcing for web hosting services and would like to try out the cloud hosting technology (which is documented to be more stable in terms of the up-time), do check out this AMAZING gem in the hosting niche.  

Cheers!

Why Is Participating In Web Directory Important?

Effectively, online marketing (or internet marketing) is quite similar to the normal bricks and mortar marketing that the businesses are using prior to the internet arena. The key differences are on the channel(s) that made available to us through the internet space, as well as the global reach of our marketing effort. Thus, if you are involved in some kind of business venture (be it online business, eCommerce or bricks and mortar model), do ensure to make internet marketing as part of your marketing plan.  

Today, I am going to single out one marketing approach that many businesses still participated in i.e. submitting/subscribing their business to the Yellow Pages (Telephone Directory) or Web Directory. I am of the view that this approach is still relevant in the current market place as there is no such thing as too much exposure of your business (as long as it's a valid and good exposure). Effectively, higher exposure = higher potential traffics = higher potential sales/conversion!

There are many web directory platforms available on the internet, both paid and free version. Of course, there are benefits to be on the paid version. Most paid web directory services will assist the advertisers to make their list more SEO (search engine optimization) friendly and will be featured regularly on their home page for even greater exposure. Thus, if budget is not an issue, I would recommend all business venture to go for paid web directory placement.

One of such promising paid web directory that I've chanced upon recently is Goldenter Directory. Do check it out and get your business much needed supplementary exposure and traffics through this SEO friendly and manually reviewed (by human editors) web directory.

Cheers!

Best Way To Work From Home?

Most people involved in Internet Marketing are looking for ways to earn money online and work from home. The ultimate objective is to be able to say goodbye to their normal day (or night) job and create a sustainable income streams (from home).

I am of the view that to be successful in Internet Marketing arena, we need to create multiple streams of online income sources (as many as feasibly possible), be it blogging, affiliate marketing or even eCommerce. However, in whatever channels that you are approaching in your internet marketing venture, your lifeblood is in the form of TRAFFICS! No traffics = No Money!

There are many ways (free or paid) to gain traffics. Thus, it is important to keep a look out for ways that can supplement your current channel(s) of traffics sources. Recently, I've chanced upon a platform that has potential to enable you to work from home and make money by attracting massive traffics (from the convenient of your home). 

If you are interested in traffics (who doesn't?), check out this 23 minutes video and I hope it can be another main source of your site/blog's incoming traffics (I mean, money).

Cheers!

Why Is Pinterest So Hot?

If you are a frequent reader of any authority social media blog like Mashable, TechCrunch etc..., I am sure you will notice the increasing number of posts on the latest Social Media chic site - Pinterest. This raising star has an estimation of 5 million users, yeah, I know, it's just a fraction of numbers as compared to the Social Media giants like Facebook or Twitter. However, recent report shows that it attracts more traffics than Google+, LinkedIn and Youtube combined in Jan 2012. For details of the study, click on: Pinterest Drives More Traffic Than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn Combined [STUDY]. 

So, what is Pinterest and why is it so hot? 

Effectively, Pinterest is a visual content curator (images and videos) that allow you to "pin" (share) images of your interest (directly from internet or upload from your computer). It empowered the users to create stunning visual pins and nicely categorise them into your designated pinboards. Of course, you can follow other pinners (users) so that their pins will appear on your login page. Also, you can repin, like and comment on other pinners' pins (this is the social networking part of the platform).

But why Pinterest becomes a traffics magnet now? Here are the reasons why:

1. The right users: Basing on the survey, 70% of pinners are female and has a highly engaged audience. This is the key element for it to be a traffics magnet. Thus, a perfect platform for the niches like home decorations, clothing, wedding inspiration or food.

2. The sleek interface and visual: You can install the "Pin It Button" to your computer and start to pin any of the images/videos you chanced upon online immediately and simply. Also, you will enjoy the visual feast of the curated content (see sample below). 

My Pinterest Page

3. The on-boarding of major brands/users: With more and more major players from arts, graphics design, wedding and travel segments aboard Pinterest, it creates a multiplier effect of attracting more pinners into the platform and pin more!  

If traffics is what you are looking for, do consider Pinterest as a supplementary channel for attracting traffics to your site/blog.

Chees!

P/S: If you like to see how my pinboards looks like, check out my Pinterest Profile.