Using a Little Common Sense When Comes The Time To Choose A Right

While no one can deny that internet is the right place
where one can succeed through relatively  many good home
internet business opportunities, it is not irrefutable to
say the contrary. In fact, a growing number of them are
intended to deceive. Among these home internet businesses
is  medical billing business.Proclamed themself to be part
of the best work at home Internet business ideas, these
schemers are just out for your money. The idea is to charge
an upfront fee to get you started, and then leave you to
fend for yourself in an industry where you have little
chance of succeeding. Other fraudulent business opportunity
schemes such as envelope stuffing and product assembly take
your money and then reject your work – and thus its payment
– as substandard.
[Editors Note] Home businesses are often advertised on the internet
and some are advertised through spam e-mail protecting your data is
vital]
Advertisements touting these prepackaged medical billing
centers show up on TV, on the Web and in newspapers. Major
metro newspapers, probably the most savvy about these
schemes, generally do not accept the ads. Responding to the
ad for the medical billing work at home Internet business
opportunity will result in your receiving a phone call,
with a pitch about the burgeoning health care system
crisis. Typically the hawker will tell you that claims are
piling up and waiting to be processed. The result,
according to the person on the phone, is to process these
claims electronically, which is not being done often or
expansively. This, the pitch goes, is what makes it a
lucrative work at home Internet business for you.

The promise is that you'll make a lot of money as doctors
outsource their billing to you. You can, they say, work in
accounts receivable, insurance claims and physician or
dentist practice management. Including in the presentation
is the assurance that not only do you not need experience
but that their sales staff will kick start your work at
home Internet business by putting you together with health
care clients. The reality is that if you have any chance at
all to make any money – or even get your initial investment
back – you're going to have to find your own clients.

The investment for this alleged lucrative work at home
Internet business is not small – typically $2500-$9000.
Prior to your commitment you will be mailed a business
brochure, the application and license agreement (contract),
document of disclosure, diskette samples, references and
testimonials and videocassettes. Your investment is
supposed to result in training, software and technical
support. The references are commonly shills – the name for
people that a company hires to provide favorable but
dishonest testimonials.

The reality is that medical billing is seldom a lucrative
work at home Internet business. Few people who purchase
these programs are able to find enough clients to even
recoup their investment much less make a living at it. It's
not that medical billing isn't a legitimate business. It's
that the competition is fierce and the market is saturated.

Source:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/invest/homewrk.htm
Copyright (c) 2006 Thierry Goho


----------------------------------------------------
Thierry Goho is an Internet Marketer Expert. He is also a
member of IAHBE(International Association of Home Business
Entrepreneurs). He has published many articles throughout
the net about Work From Home Business Opportunities And
Tips. For more informations about this author and for Best
Home Business Opportunities And Tips,
visit:http://www.gohomoney.com

The Editor and founder of this blog is Barrie
Segal is the founder of  the AppealNow.com™
website at http://www.appealnow.com.  
He is also the founder of
http://www.nowdatarescue.com , http://www.nowdatarescue.com
and http://www.weddinginfoforyou.com and http://www.xfactorinfo.com

Get Visitors Returning To Your Website

One of the driving forces of entrepreneurs is the
insatiable need for traffic. Do you stay awake at night
wondering how you can get more traffic to your website?
Most online business owners do!

Who can blame you? After all, the "great and mighty"
Google.com can make a simple statement and suddenly
millions of web sites are redesigned in a flurry of
activity to comply! Consider, for example, how many times
you've run your web content through a keyword analyzer! Or
how often you've wondered exactly what an "authoritative"
site is.

One SEO strategy that many people know to be a valuable is
the call for fresh content. And although we can be critical
of Google's all-powerful hand making sweeping decisions
about web sites, we can understand why they would rate
fresh sites higher than stale sites.

So how do you get a fresh site? What ideas can you use to
revive, recycle, reuse, and reinvigorate the material you
have to have it appear as "fresh"? After all, if you're
like some small business owners, there are only so many
times you can write the same thing over and over! And every
entrepreneur will tell you that there simply aren't enough
hours in the day to create fresh content.

Enter RSS feeds. Now, I'm not going to get technical here.
I'm here to help you grow your business, not to educate you
on the in's-and-out's of computer jargon. So here's the
"thumbnail" version of RSS feeds:

RSS feeds are something you offer to people as a
subscription. It's just a file that people can subscribe
to. Now, no one actually cares about the RSS file itself,
but they're interested in what's attached to it: your
audio, digital, or text file. Every time you create a new
one, it gets sent to them automatically, like a free,
online magazine subscription. Although it's changing, RSS
feeds require an aggregator (which is a piece of software
that checks the RSS feed every time you're online and
fetches the updated file if there is one).

(Note to all the techies out there: yes, there is more to
it than that, but that's good enough to get my point
across!)

So how can RSS help you? I think RSS feeds can help you in
2 ways.

First, by offering an RSS feed, you can get subscribers to
get updated information from you on a regular basis...
every time you create it.

"But Diane," you say to me, "this doesn't solve my problem
of trying to create fresh content on a regular basis."

Here's my response: That's true, but consider this: are you
doing other things to help your business... such as blog
content, newsletters, or article submissions to third party
article hosts? If you are, you can attach these to an RSS
feed and post it on your site!

That accomplishes several things: it keeps your name in
front of your subscribers all the time. It's better than
just having a newsletter because it allows you to provide
multiple media opportunities to demonstrate your expertise
and show them how your product solves their needs. And, it
allows you to "multitask" with the fresh content you're
already creating for your other media. Also, new links help
create fresh content that you were using anyway!

But that's not the only way you can use RSS feeds for
success. There's a second way that I think can be an even
more powerful way to use feeds.

If you go to a site like http://www.originotions.com they
offer free code that you can put on your site. This code
acts as an aggregator. So YOU can sign up for a feed that
is related to the content on your site. (For example, if
you sell dog food online, you should sign up for a feed
that gives people all the latest in "doggie news.")

So what happens? This valuable news is posted on your site
in a little window and is updated each time something new
happens. You can also set the number of news items posted.
The result is that you'll get continuous, fresh content
that is keyword rich and helpful to your niche so it can
draw people to your site more frequently!

This will help set you up as an authoritative site, boost
your rankings, and bring people to your site who are
looking for that information!

For my money, it's one of the smartest tools out there to
help you.

Copyright (c) 2006 Diane Hughes

----------------------------------------------------
Diane Hughes
http://ProBizTips.com
ATTENTION! I am giving away $2,446.13 worth of marketing
tools and products and over $5,010.64 worth of resale
rights. Demand is great and memberships are going fast!
http://www.madmarketer.com/diane

7 Steps to Creating Your Own Podcast

Listening to podcasts isn't something I enjoy or take time
for, quite frankly. I'm a visual learner and prefer to
read something rather than listen to it, as I find reading
a much quicker way to gather the info that I need.
However, with the proliferation of audio listening devices,
like the whole iPod family and other mp3 players, I have to
acknowledge that I'm in the minority, I believe. The world
is listening to a wide variety of audio files, much more so
than ever before in history, and I need to get on the
bandwagon or be lost in the dust.

What is a podcast, anyway? A podcast is an audio file that
you create in .mp3 format that is uploaded with an RSS
(Really Simple Syndication) file to your server for your
target market to download on any number of programs created
to receive or subscribe to your audio file so that they can
listen to it at their leisure on their computer or a
personal mp3 device.

Why should you create a podcast? I think it serves as a
marketing tool for the solo service professional, who might
want to do one of the following:

--create an Internet radio show or talk show in which you
create content-rich broadcasts for your target market

--conduct a teleclass series in which you interview experts
who have solutions to problems faced by your target market

--promote a printed book, ebook, or CD/DVD series by
releasing promotional snippets to a wider audience

--provide short and valuable expert tips to your target
market (my Get More Clients Online podcast consists of the
weekly article I write for my newsletter)

Many podcasts are about an hour in length, especially when
they consist of recordings of radio shows or teleclasses.
However, I think that the listening threshold for most
people is about 10 minutes. So, that means that your
podcast needs to be 10 minutes or less in length. If it's
longer, you really have to grab their attention in the
first 10 minutes to keep them listening for the full amount
of time.

Good content and a good speaking voice are key to
maintaining interest. Don't make your podcast one long
advertisement for your services or products -- share some
useful information with your target market to help them
solve their problems. And, you need to have a good speaking
voice. Nothing is worse than listening to someone read a
speech with a monotone delivery. So, for maximum impact
when you record your podcast (especially if you're just
recording yourself), get up and walk around, smile,
gesture, or do whatever you normally do when you deliver a
speech. Modulate your voice, much in the same way that you
would when you have a 1:1 conversation with someone -- put
feeling and emotion into your words. I pretend like I'm
talking to my best friend, and that helps me with a lively
delivery.

What are the steps to creating a podcast?

1. Listen to a few podcasts to get a feel for what others
are doing. To listen, you'll need a podcatcher (podcast
reader), which permits you to subscribe to podcasts in the
same way you subscribe to blogs. I favor iTunes as my
podcatcher of choice, which is a free online download.
You'll also need to find podcasts, and the quickest way to
do that is via podcast directories, which include the
iTunes store. Podcast Alley, one of the most popular
podcasting sites, has a large podcast directory, and Yahoo
Podcasts has a podcast search. To find others, simply
search online for "podcast directory."

2. Plan your podcast. Who is your target market? What do
they want to listen to? How will your podcast be unique
from others in your industry? What's your format
(interview others, host a teleclass, or record yourself)?
How long will your podcast be? How frequently will you
deliver your podcasts?

3. Record your podcast. Many people choose to record
their podcast with a free piece of software called
Audacity. It has an easy learning curve and advanced
features for more experienced podcasters. Mac users might
want to check out Garage Band. For best recording sound,
don't use the microphone that came with your computer or
that is built into your laptop. You'll want to get a more
professional one, such as the ones offered at Plantronics
or Radio Shack.

4. Save and upload your podcast to your server. Once
you've created your podcast in an mp3 file, now you have to
save it and upload it to a server via an FTP program (like
CuteFTP) so that it's readily available. You can upload it
to your website, or use one of the many podcasting hosting
services available. The problem with uploading it to your
website is that audio files are space hogs, and you can
quickly exhaust all the storage capacity of your hosting
account, not to mention your monthly bandwidth capacity if
your podcast is popular and is downloaded frequently.
That's why I use a fee-based audio service hosting company,
Audio Acrobat, which offers me generous storage and
bandwidth capacity for a semi-annual fee. Another popular
podcast hosting company is Hipcast.com.

5. Create your podcast feed. You can create your podcast
feed from scratch, but I recommend you use a feed service
to do so. If you use a podcasting hosting service, this
feature is included in your service package. For everyone
else, the quickest way to create your podcast feed is
through Feedburner.com. This is the same service that
creates RSS feeds for blogs. The advantage of creating
your podcast feed from this site is that you can create a
browser-friendly feed, track your circulation, and enhance
your feed with its SmartCast technology.

6. Publish and promote your podcast. If you use a
podcasting hosting service, the service will publish your
podcast and notify various podcast directories about the
availability of your new podcast. Or, you can enter the
info directly into the major podcast directories. You'll
also want to promote the podcast on your website, blog, and
in your email newsletter. One of the easiest ways to do
this is to add feed subscription buttons (called chiclets)
to your sites. You'll have to cut and paste the HTML code
into your templates to create the chiclets. You can get
directions on how to publish subscription buttons from the
various podcasters you want to feature. Lastly, you'll
want to create "album art" for your podcast, or a graphic
representation that many podcatchers upload with the mp3
file. Album art may be from 170x170 to 300x300 pixels
square at 72 dpi. Any graphic designer can help you create
this graphics file.

7. Make money from your podcast. Advertising on podcasts
is still fairly new, but some companies like Fruitcast.com
or PodcasterAds.com are places to start. Another option is
to place Google Adsense listings on all of your sites
listing your podcast, or seek sponsors for your podcasts,
just like you would for a radio show.

Don't let the audio world pass you by! Podcasting is a
very inexpensive way of helping you get the word out about
what you do and what you offer to the world.

Copyright (c) 2006 Donna Gunter

----------------------------------------------------
Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Business Coach
Donna Gunter helps self-employed service professionals
learn how to get more clients online. To sign up for more
FREE tips like these and claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge
Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at
http://www.GetMoreClientsOnline.com . Read about running an
online biz at her blog,
http://www.getmoreclientsonlineblog.com or subscribe to her
Get More Clients Online Podcast at
http://dgunter.audioacrobat.com/rss/get_more_clients_online_
podcast.xml

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery - Business Impact

Business impact analysis is a critical part of the business continuity planning process. This step quantifies data and gets into the real world issue of potential losses that can negatively impact your business. It is used to understand the most important impacts and how to best protect your people, processes, data, communications, assets and the organization's goodwill and reputation.

Organizations often think in terms of disaster recovery. Business continuity and the business impact analysis is more focused on keeping the business up and running and less focused on recovery after a disaster. The business impact analysis also is not focused only on the potential disasters, but on all potentially critical discontinuities. Key elements of the Business Impact Analysis are to identify critical business functions, establish the maximum acceptable outage time for each of these functions and then to determine the impact of not performing those functions. This can be measured against regulatory, legal, financial, operations or customer service requirements.

Once the adequacy of security and controls is evaluated and critical business functions and outage times are defined, the business continuity planner needs to develop an understanding of the probability of threats factored by the severity or impact and to start to develop a cost benefit analysis of the largest impact and highest probability threats.

It's virtually impossible to create an absolute value and prioritization of threats and impacts. Generally, a relational system is used to drive out the key priorities. Often, each threat is evaluated according to its probability and assigned a 1, 5 or 10 rating. Then, each threat is evaluated according to its impact on critical business functions and on the business overall. For example, a discontinuity in a critical business function of less than one hour might receive a value of 0. A discontinuity of one to eight hours might be ranked a 1, eight to twenty four hours might be ranked a 2 and over 24 hours might be ranked a 3. Obviously, these rankings need to be developed on a company specific basis. Probability factored by impact creates the relational prioritization list.

This approach to risk evaluation and control allows management to start to quantify the risks and potential impacts on the organization in a thoughtful and analytical way. This results not only in higher quality decisions, but also provides an audit trail that demonstrates that management is paying attention to its risk management responsibilities. These responsibilities might be established by regulatory or legal bodies, demanded as a contractual commitment by customers or simply expected by shareholders as sound and prudent management. The key corporate goals are to protect people, protect assets, protect data and to protect the brand and reputation of the organization.

Bob Mahood

Midwest Data Recovery Inc.

The editor is Barrie Segal - Founder of website http://www.appealnow.com
http://www.midwestdatarecovery.com