Social Networking and Web 2.0-Confused your not the only one!

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : Social Networking and Web 2.0-Confused your not the only one! by Christopher Raine

Basically web 2.0 is all the new breed of methods for communicating with each other on-line They include videos, audio, blogs and social networking sites.

Social networking is the grouping of individuals into their own specific groups of interest, not unlike forming a community or neighbourhood.

Social networking is possible in person through schools and the workplace. However it's popularity has grown on-line due to the ability to meet millions and develop friendships across the world.

To get the most from your Social networking site, you must take the time to familiarise yourself with the individual site and ensure it meets with your interests. Social networking sites are often developed around specific groupings like hobbies, religion or politics for example.

Other sites cater for all interests and allow individuals to develop their own communities within a community. Ensure that with all sites you read the site terms of use. These may provide restrictions upon content and video for instance.

Failure to comply could see your membership terminated. With all things on the internet, dangers can exist with regards to on-line predators, hence caution and common sense should be applied at all times.

Finding these social networking sites can be accomplished by conducting a standard internet search, with some of the common results been, but not limited to, MySpace,Orkut, Yahoo!360 and many more...

So now that we have looked at a basic outline on what the term social networking means, lets now look at it's effectiveness when viewed from a point of view of marketing an On-line Business.

For any On-line Business it is paramount that the public are aware of your products or services, this is done through various forms of advertising.

For many On-line Business owners the term Advertising means spending their hard earned dollars, but remarkably effective no cost methods of Advertising exist. The thing that we are interested here in is the use of a On-line social networking websites.

Although the initial intent was to form friendships on-line, there are sites which specific allow for business information to be shared. So not only may you learn some new skills and knowledge, but you could find like minded individuals who share the same business interests and visions, who possibly could become business partners.

With regards to Social networking site like MySpace and Yahoo!360 these should not be discarded, they be breeding grounds for potential customers.

Start looking at a number of Social Networking sites, set up your profile, you should be able in most cases to include both personal and Business information. Just ensure that you are aware of the terms of use and that you don't spam the site.

I hope that this provides a useful insight into Social Networking.

About the Author
Chris Raine is the owner of Internet-marketing-4u.com it provides you with a Free education on how to make money on-line, including how to Market On-line, including a substantial guide on using Social Networking, and all others aspects of building an on-line business. If you want to know more you can get free access to the resources at: http://www.internet-marketing-4u.com

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=401639

How To Boost Website Traffic Instantly With Web 2.0 Marketing

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : How To Boost Website Traffic Instantly With Web 2.0 Marketing by Shrinivas Vaidya

Before we go into the details of how to boost website traffic, first lets try to understand what Web 2.0 is. There is not a clear definition to what exactly Web 2.0. But it has got many faces and some of them can be used to drive traffic to any website old or new.

I this phenomenon a community of users share the content at a website and other users comment on the content developed by others. It's a win/win situation. if your content has a unique angle or creativity you end up receiving traffic in thousands in a very short time.

The content creation is normally in 4 media types.

1) Text 2) Photos 3) Audio 4) Video

If you visit Alexa.com and go to "Traffic Rankings" section you will see a list of "Global Top 500" most visited websites, you'll notice that many are community websites where people gather in thousands everyday. All you have to do is use your brain, develop unique content in the form of text/photos/audio/video and you get tons of traffic in a very short period.

* If you are good at writing articles, you can submit them to technorati.com or digg.com or del.icio.us where people are looking for new information. You will receive votes (good/bad) from other members. Depending upon the number of votes you receive, your text will be read by all other member (usually in thousands) making your article a "hot" topic

* Are you good at taking photographs/sketches/digital art/3d art, you can submit this to flickr.com and will be seen and appreciated by tons of other artists and art enthusiasts. If done well can generate great business 100% free without a dime on advertising.

* Do you have a video series that's funny or educational, you can submit this to youtube.com or Goggle video website and will be seen by thousands with their own comments to make you a hero in a few hours.

So the bottom line is getting your message in front of a big crowd with little creativity and you can boost your website traffic instantly.

copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

About the Author
Learn How I drove 1,000 Unique visitors to my website in less than 24 hours using a secret technique, that anyone without any experience can follow. Visit http://www.1000VisitorsToday.com/ to find out.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=395163

E-tourism changes perspective with new Web 2.0 technology

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : E-tourism changes perspective with new Web 2.0 technology by George Enea

According to recent studies, 30% of leisure European travelers think that the Internet is easier and faster to use for travel planning. For tourism businesses, the Internet offers the potential to make booking facilities available to large numbers of tourists at relatively low costs with a click of a mouse. It also offers a tool for communication between tourism suppliers, intermediaries as well as end-consumers.

There is no question that, in record time, online booking came to define one of the largest business on the web. In this new world of travel industry, everyone can become a destination trader. But, before booking online the customer has to remember that each online travel agency has its own hotel deals. Remember to sign up for email warnings of special offers from any of these sites, so that you won't miss out on last minute discount travel deals.

The travel industry has been experiencing essential changes since the end of the 90's. The impact has been felt around the globe and the fastest growing regions today are Asia and Europe, while online travel agencies become players on a global stage. Some of the most significant facts include an important growth in tourism sale online in Europe, over the past two years, with an encouraging preview for 2009.

Online travel sales increased by as much as 34% from 2004 to 2005 and reached EUR 25.2 billion in the European market in 2006 - or 10.3% of the market. A further increase of about 25% during 2007 to about EUR 31.5 billion may be estimated.

Web 2.0 - new means of communication for the companies

Other sites are including in their offers, access to Google Maps or other interactive Internet places allowing travelers to get a detailed look of a property or attraction location.

'Customer-to-customer' reinvents tourism marketplace
A new tendency is changing again the face of e-commerce, and it has been named 'customer-to-customer' (C2C) marketplace. Enabled by blogs, podcasts and social networking sites as well as other web 2.0 technologies, the consumer today can be informed about anything, within a short time span and with rather limited resources. Now we have the easy resources to communicate opinions and know-how on any subject to anyone else in the world.

The first signs of this new world of Web 2.0, which lets the audience to participate in the production and distribution of content in the travel space are displayed by sites which have been around for a number of years with active communities of feedback contributors.

About the Author
Online travel agencies such as www.planigo.com that have been around since the e-tourism outburst on the web have full-heartedly embraced this new trend. You will find amazing discount travel deals out there.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=394418

Web 2.0 Marketing: Social Network Marketing on Squidoo

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : Web 2.0 Marketing: Social Network Marketing on Squidoo by Elliot Hanson

If you're not using Squidoo as part of your marketing plan, you're missing out on a very easy way to make money. A Squidoo page is a somewhat blended idea. Not exactly a blog, but not quite a website either. Each page you create is called a lens, and you can make unlimited numbers of lenses, on any topic you desire. It's extremely user-friendly and you can realistically set up a lens in a matter of minutes.

While a Squidoo lens could benefit nearly any online business, it's becoming increasingly popular among online marketers. They're flocking to Squidoo for several reasons. Besides the simplistic use and rapid set-up, they love the fact Squidoo offers the opportunity for unlimited lens making at no cost. They also realize the value of being able to place an opt-in box and contact information on their lens, making it easy to build a list of subscribers.

A Squidoo lens is an excellent place to display your products and affiliate products. Each product can have its own individual lens. Pictures can be uploaded with a click of the mouse, a perfect way to display the cover graphics alongside a synopsis of the eBook. Add your Squidoo lens address to your email or forum signature. Anyone who sees it can click on the link and be transported directly to your domain.

Using the easy to insert modules, each lens can be monetized in several different ways in addition to advertising your own product or service. Related products can be offered, affiliate links added, even popular items from eBay and Amazon can contribute to your income. With so many module choices and the broad freedom of arrangement allowed, the possibilities seem virtually endless.

Once your Squidoo lens is published, you're able to join any number of Squidoo groups. They even have some just for marketers! We all know the best advertising is word of mouth, and the power of social networking can't be stressed enough. Being a part of the Squidoo Groups offers both benefits to help springboard your online career.

With so many ways Squidoo can help establish yourself or your product as a brand in the marketplace, it's a no-brainer that you should be taking advantage of all the benefits that being a lensmaster offers. Then the next time anyone asks, "Do you Squidoo?", your enthusiastic response will be "Do I Squidoo? You bet I do! And you should too."

Discover a new virtually unknown niche traffic opportunity with better targeted leads than MySpace.

About the Author
Elliot Hanson is a writer and marketer. You can find tips and advice about advertising, SEO, adsense and more at his blog, Net Worth.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=393647

Web 2.0 - Bowing to a False Messiah

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : Web 2.0 - Bowing to a False Messiah by Barry A. Densa

Are you absolutely beside yourself - giddy with delight because Web 2.0 has finally arrived to help you sell more, sell faster, make you richer, smarter, sexier, and lower your triglyceride levels?

Whoops, I'm sorry... do you even know what Web 2.0 is?

Web 2.0, in a nut shell, is the latest evolution in the online experience. The World Wide Web is now... ready... here it is: a tad more interactive, technologically speaking.

I know, that's a big whoop for some of you, but for others it's equivalent to the coming of the messiah (for either the first or second time, depending on which operating system you're laboring under).

Is Web 2.0 a Boon or a Bane for Consumers and Countries?

For most marketers, their company's website has been a rather static billboard of sorts. But now, thanks to the technological capabilities afforded us under the sobriquet of Web 2.0, a website can provide visitors, prospects, customers and selected victims, with a certain degree of "give and take".

You can talk to them, they can talk to you; you can learn more about them, they can learn more about you; they can "experience" you, you can "experience them" - in short, the level of communication through a computer screen has been enhanced.

Some though fear that Web 2.0 will enable online marketers to become even more intrusive and annoying... or liberating. China, Saudi Arabia and other fundamentalist and ideologically illogical regimes could be in for a big-time headache.

Nevertheless, Web 2.0 will eventually give way to Web 2.5, then Web 3.0 and 4.0 and so on, until ultimately, long after we're all dust, a computer screen will become a real - not virtual - portal into whatever exists on either side of the screen.

Actually, there probably won't be a screen anymore; it'll be more like a turnstile. Yes, the veil will have been lifted. And the tag line, "Reach out and touch someone", will then have reached its fullest potential.

Here's the Problem... Nothing has Really Changed

Web 2.0 will not sell your product or service for you. Web 2.0 will not negate the importance of salesmanship in print, in video, in audio, or any permutation or combination not yet assembled.

All the "old" requirements and admonitions about how to sell, and sell well, are still in full force.

The Top 10 Steps to Sell Your product - Even When Using Web 2.0

1. You need to identify a qualified market - those who are ravenously hungry for your product or service. Throwing mud on the wall and praying it will stick, won't work - never has, never will.

2. You need a hi-quality product or service that will satisfy your market's hunger, or fix their pain. No snake-oil scams permitted.

3. You need to know how to grab your market's attention in a stimulating and compelling way, so they know your product or service exists. Waiting for the phone to ring is not a marketing strategy.

4. You need to prove your product or service's value, unequivocally detailing at length - why and how your product is worth the price asked. Nothing is obvious when it comes to selling.

5. You need to make an irresistible offer. Why must your target market buy your product or service - and buy it now. Not to buy and not to believe is everyone's natural first choice.

6. You need to remove all risk - by offering a solid, confidence-building guarantee. "Trust me" is not a guarantee.

7. You need to anticipate all possible objections, and overcome them. And don't think for a moment there won't be any. There will always be objections and concerns - especially for a first-to-market product or service.

8. You need to ask for the order! Bashfulness and timidity has no place in sales. Ask, and only then shall you receive. Forget this, and you can forget the sale.

9. You need to clearly explain what your prospect must do, step by step, in order to buy, subscribe or inquire. Lead them to your order page.

10. Take nothing for granted.

Web 2.0 is a tool - another road to get you to market. It will not replace salesmanship. It can though make online marketing and sales more effective... if you know what it takes to wrap up a sale in the first place.

About the Author
Barry A. Densa is a freelance direct response copywriter. Visit www.WritingWithPersonality.com and see how Barry can compel and persuade your prospective customers to either buy, inquire or subscribe through "salesmanship in print".

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=393604

The Web 2.0 Phenomenon: Another Internet Trend?

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : The Web 2.0 Phenomenon: Another Internet Trend? by M.Markell

I bet you've heard the term web2.0 but do you actually know what web2.0 means? Let me get you in on the action. In my opinion, web2.0 is a revolutionary concept, it's the next generation of internet allowing web users to take active part to the development of a webpage's content and history. Using sophisticated dynamic applications a website can do some really cool things!

Web2.0 gives web users the ability and the freedom to do what they want, enhance and control their experience. Web2.0 websites are not just static or dynamic web pages. They are web based applications that you can use anywhere.

There are thousands of developers working on web2.0 websites as we speak. Many will say that web2.0 is another Internet trend that will go away in a few months. But web2.0 is here to stay and there are so many reasons for that. The most important reason is that web2.0 technologies allows a website to connect with millions of users and makes the Internet a really cool place to be.

It's not a coincidence that very well known websites like YouTube.com or Myspace.com are implementing this exact web2.0 concept to reach users and succeed with their goals. Should I remind you that YouTube owners recently sold their company for over 2 billion dollars to Google? Should I mention that MySpace.com has become one of the top-5 most popular websites in the entire web?

How about Social Bookmarking websites like Digg.com or Furl.com? Why have they've become so amazingly popular?

These websites are a cool place to be that's why they are so popular. They allow web users to take part and customize their online experience in an easy, fun and free way! Users decide whether they want to upload their own videos or talk about their favorite interests or hobbies and even share their favorite websites. Users can create their own friends lists, share them and thus leave their mark in the website's history.

All these remarkably popular websites are active web based applications utilizing the ideas of web2.0 concept. And they make tons of money every single day relying solely on advertising. They will never charge you for using their website.

Another great example of a web2.0 website is the infamous wikipedia. The first free online encyclopedia where users can edit it's contents. Wonder why wikipedia has become so popular? It's not only because it's free and provides tons of great info. What makes wikipedia stand from the crowd is the ability/option to edit it's contents. Isn't it so simply amazing?

So what this have to do with you? If you are a webmaster or an internet marketer or a coder then you better take advantage of the web2.0 idea while you can. It's so easy to get into that and conquer it effectively. How many niches do you know of that has a real web2.0 project established in it? I bet there are thousands of niches waiting for web developers to take the next step and conquer them.

In a few months from now you will not be able to avoid the web2.0 concept. It happens all the time. Good ideas just appear, it takes some time before they become accepted and gain some popularity and then everyone wants a piece of the action. Web2.0 is already gaining popularity in an unimaginable way.

About the Author
Here's your chance to build the next dot.com empire before someone else does. A web2.0 business guide that will teach you everything you need to know about the web2.0 concept and how you can take advantage of the new Internet world and create the next popular web2.0 website. This is one of the first step-by-step guides about the web2.0 phenomenon. I strongly recomme

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=393117

Are You Taking Advantage Of Web 2.0 Marketing?

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : Are You Taking Advantage Of Web 2.0 Marketing? by Jack Humphrey

This is such an exciting time on the web for people creating magnetic sites filled with content their niche is after.

I just don't understand why so many people are fighting it tooth and nail.

From arguments that never end about the "birth of this" and the "death of that" to arguments over the monikers of change like "social networking" and "web 2.0."

My thing, since the beginning, has been "Who cares what people are calling everything on the new web, let's just acknowledge the obvious: this is a new web we are dealing with!"

Smart people are staying out of the fights over semantics and taking in all the new possibilities offered to them for marketing their sites.

For instance, the fact that SEO is easier than it ever has been in the past should be the Number 1 topic of discussion and jubilation on the web.

Finally people with more ideas for great sites, products, and services than technical experience can simply publish great content and do extremely basic SEO and rank high in the engines.

Even over the geeks who invented the complex, technical SEO of yesterday.

No longer do we have to trick engines. We simply give them what they want and they actually reward us for it.

The critics (always people who make money from SEO services) say that it takes months to take a content site to the top of a niche.

That is complete spin to keep us sucking on the teat of SEO firms who have everything to loose in Web 2.0.

The way I build sites gets me into the top ten just as fast or faster than the SEO of yesterday. And I stay there as long as I want. And the geeks cannot push me out (Give it a shot pocket protector man!) because I am not even playing their game, and they don't understand mine!

The only people on the net who badmouth social marketing, content development for the sake of visitors instead of search engines, and "post and rank" technology are SEO firms and individuals who make money by keeping search engine optimization confusing.

Enough is enough!

If you want out of the SEO game, embrace and enjoy the new web and all it has to offer.

Go long tail for keywords and leave the one and two word phrases to people who want to be #1 for the most generic term in their niche.

You can enjoy hyper-targeted traffic while they get their bandwidth chewed up by tire kickers and lost surfers.

Get into social bookmarking, link sharing, sticky content development, and link bait (another word everyone argues about which simply means "attractive content" that gets linked to).

Get into custom RSS feeds and autodiscovery. Get a blog and be part of the discussion in your niche that will go on with or without you.

The people taking advantage of interactive media are raking in traffic, rankings, and profits for their sites.

The people arguing the semantics and whether there really is anything all that special going on are woefully out of touch.

The fact that they cannot accept the writing on the wall and don't know there is indeed a monstrously sweeping change taking place on the web is proof they are lost at sea.

Don't listen to the naysayers. Take advantage of the interactive web marketing that is available in your niche and create something powerful, special, unique, and profitable!

About the Author
Are you lost? Learn about all the techniques and issues above by subscribing to The Friday Traffic Report at http://www.jackhumphrey.com . I'll help you understand all of this stuff!

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=368819

The Rise of Web 2.0 Ezine Publishing

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : The Rise of Web 2.0 Ezine Publishing by Jerry Sakala

There's a new breed of Ezines; a new generation of user reviews and ratings driven content ezines. No longer driven by publishers reviews of what products or services are hot based on what is most profitable for publishers. I call them "web 2.0 Ezines" following the web 2.0 sites phenomena.

These are ezines that is respected and trusted to help it's subscribers decide what they want to buy based on very intricate systems of rating, social media and voting systems without the undue doubtful self-serving editorial reviews of publishers.

Subscribers to a web 2.0 ezine get trusted and relevant opinion of real users product and service reviews and ratings rather than what the editor's reviews or hyped testimonials says.

These are a new breed of ezines that allow it's ezine subscriber to post a review about a product or service they have purchased and used to be included as content for the ezine.

Whether you subscribe to the ezine, just to get inside product ratings and reviews by real users or contribute by way of your own real life reviews. You will find that real Users in web 2.0 ezines give you the most relevant and updated ratings and advice on a particular product or service in that market BEFORE you spend your hard earned money..

This is having tremendous significance for Ezine publishers in every niche. You see these ezines are managed by not just the publishers. The publishers empower subscribers of the ezine to post reviews to be used as editorial content in the ezine. Ratingshub Internet Marketing Review ezine is one of the latest web 2.0 ezines introduced by internet marketing product and service users for ezine subscribers from the internet marketing community.

The result of allowing ezine subscribers to post relevant respected and trusted user ratings and reviews as ezine content is proving to be very effective for subscribers to have the ability to access an ezine of trustworthy credible product or services facts, ideas and advice to use in their decision making.

Why?

Well, such ezines create a platform where the subscribers refer to real user product or service ratings, reviews and advice. And then based on how helpful the subscribers find it, the ezine content would determine how effective the sales promotional links would be clicked by subscribers interested in that service or product.


Product and service users are taking ezine editorial power into their own hands; They are practically co- editors of the "web 2.0" ezine by adding their own ratings, reviews and advice about products and services they have bought as relevant ezine content. These are that are trust and respect these ezines with their ratings, reviews and responses to products and services being offered in the market. They encourage or promote only products or services that are highly rated by real users to help prospective buyers.

These web 2.0 ezines are a platform for shared values, ratings, reviews, ideas and advice which are trusted more than a sales pitch or publishers own review of a product or service.

When ezine subscribers (through reviews) make the effort to tell other subscribers that they like or don't like something about a product they bought, it means that it is important to every subscriber. After all, it's true and helpful to those considering buying that product.

Users leave both positive and negative comments about products and then others read them, comment on them in turn...but most importantly provide honest advice subscribers to make buying decisions as they consult the ezine content.

Today's information communication technology has changed the way subscribers are advising each other, influencing publishers and the editorial opinion in a BIG way. It is no longer enough for subscribers to take a "passive" approach to dealing with publishers or editors. Instead today's users are more willing to advise and trust each others collective product and service ratings and reviews when faced with a buying decision. The web 2.0 ezine ...

* Gives product or services user control over editorial content; ratings, reviews, ideas and advice generation that is viewable by ezine subscribers to use.

* Subscribers trust real life product or service users as co-editors of the ezine.

* Responds to subscribers basic need for trust and credibility in order to make buying decisions.


The web 2.0 ezine is driven by a set of shared social values of respect and trustworthiness.

The bottom line is... Product and services users are now in charge of ezine editorial content that subscriber's find relevant in ezines.

About the Author
Jerry Sakala is associate editor of RatingsHub Internet Marketing Review ezine. Get the trusted and respected ezine featuring real people's reviews and ratings of internet marketing products and services based on their own personal user experience.Sign up now free using referal code: rene2705 log on to www.ratingshub.com

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=364115

Social Bookmarking - A Web 2.0 Trend

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : Social Bookmarking - A Web 2.0 Trend by Jackie R.

One of the best examples of web 2.0 age is the deluge of the 'social bookmarking' sites. It is such a brilliant idea, simple yet innovative! In the past and still now, when you come across a favourite site, you just use your browser's 'Bookmark' or 'Favorites' feature to record the URL's for your subsequent and future viewings. Each person has their own list of bookmarks for their own surfing preference.

Now enter social bookmarking. Instead of bookmarking at your local browser, you simply stores your bookmarks in a social bookmarking site. To store your bookmark, you use the concept of 'tagging'. A bookmark can be described using a few descriptive tags which are some sort of keywords that define your bookmark. This is very powerful because, other social bookmarkers may also use the same tags to record their bookmarks.

Through this process, there will be a huge database of tags created as a result and therefore it has also created right ingredients for an effective search engine. In the past, search engines will crawl millions of sites for fresh content but now with social bookmarkings, there is a more personal touch to the search process via social bookmarking sites because these tags are what people are actually looking or surfing for.

As a search engine optimizer, social bookmarking is new tool I use to promote my web sites. Let say I want to promote my blog, I will go to various social bookmarking sites and save my blog URL there with relevant tags. For example, let say I have a blog that is about gardening, my tags could be 'gardening flowers plants trees hobby', and thus if someone happens to seach for 'gardening+hobby', my blog will show up in the search results. Isn't this wonderful way of attracting more traffic to your site?

Through social bookmarking, the index rate of the sites could be much faster compared to waiting for the crawl of the normal search engines. This is because the bookmarking sites are indexed heavily by Google, MSN and Yahoo as there is a lot of new contents all the time here.

But you should not spam these bookmarking sites too as to be a successful bookmarker, you need to supply good quality original content. Content that is going to be searched for and will solve a problem the searcher has. There is no point bookmarking content that no one wants. Spamming has become a major problem, but social bookmarking is controlled by it's users. If the content you plan to bookmark is plain spam, the users of the bookmarking web site will just ignore it and move on. Your content will wither away and eventually be dropped out of the social bookmarking web site index.

If you social bookmark properly and supply good quality content, you can expect to gain dozens of quality back links as other bookmarkers, bookmark your content. This technique is a popular tool for successful search engine optimization and the best feature of social bookmarking is that it is free to use. I have not come across any social bookmarking web site that charges the user to use their facility.

Some of the popular social bookmarking sites I use are del.icio.us, stumbleupon, furl and digg. There are many more out there and I know more will be coming out in 2007. Remember please tag with good content.

About the Author
Jackie R. is a full time internet marketer. He has been earning online from a diverse range of methods. Some of these are, autosurfs, traffic exchanges, high yield investment programs, online investment programs, affiliates marketing and email marketing. His blog can be found at Make Money Online Security SEO

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=362947

Make Web 2.0 Work for Your Business

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : Make Web 2.0 Work for Your Business by Ben Kittrell

Without a doubt you've been hearing about how Web 2.0 is changing how people use the Internet. You may be wondering, "What does that mean for my business?". What is a Blog? What's an RSS Feed? Why should I care about a Photo Gallery? These are all questions many business have been asking themselves.

Fortunately, now is the perfect time to be asking these questions. By learning about these new technologies, and harnessing them for you're own business, you can still be on the leading edge of online business technology.

Blogs

When you think of a Blog, you're probably thinking of you're daughter's online diary where she talks about how much she hates homework. Blog is short for Web Log, and started as a way to keep an online journal that everyone else can see. However, many businesses are discovering that this can be a useful tool to keep in touch with their customers. Instead of posting about the funny thing that happened in science class today, you can post News about your business, or product updates.

A common problem with providing this type of information to your customers, is making sure they get it when they need it. It's likely that your customers don't check your website everyday, just incase there is some news. This brings us to the next topic, RSS Feeds.

RSS Feeds

RSS is very simple, in fact it stands for Really Simple Syndication. An RSS feed is a way of providing your content in a format that is readable by other applications. For example, you can have an RSS feed for you Blog that can be read by a news reader. Many people use these news readers to automatically gather information from various sources. This is much easier than manually checking each site. It's more likely that a customer will subscribe to your feed, than bookmark your site and check it every day.

If you're not using RSS for your own business, you should at least be using it to keep up yourself. Try out Google Reader, and then check to see if your favorite sites have feeds.

Forums

You've probably come across an online forum when searching for information. They are great for building communities around a particular topic, and letting strangers with similar interests find each other. Forums can also be a great way to keep in touch with your customers. Creating a forum for your business gives your customers a place they can ask questions, and help each other. Many times you'll have a particular customer that is very enthusiastic about your product, and will volunteer their time to participate in the forum discussions. The hidden benefit is that all of the discussions are kept for as long as you like, and you get FAQ's for free.

Forums can also have RSS feeds so you and your customers can see new activity.

Photo Galleries

Photo Galleries are not just for uploading pictures of your last vacation. People want to see your product, so why not show it to them? Real Estate Agents can upload house pictures, store owners can show off their goods, artists can upload their works, and restaurants can display their dishes. There are so many possibilities, but the bottom line is people just like to look at pictures.

Products like doodlekit - online website builder can bring all these features together and create a living breathing website, which is one of the primary attributes of the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

These tools keep you closer to your customer, and welcome their feedback. Not only will you improve your online presence, but you'll have a lot of fun in the process.

About the Author
Ben is a seasoned web development professional and co-founder of doodlebit LLC, a web solutions company. doodlekit online website builder - http://doodlekit.com doodlebit web solutions - http://doodlebit.com Garbage Burrito Web Development Blog - http://garbageburrito.com

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=346096

Web 2.0 What Is It And Why Should I Be Worried?

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : Web 2.0 What Is It And Why Should I Be Worried? by horatio farquaar

A lot of coverage has been given to the new breed of websites or 'Web 2.0' as it has been imaginatively dubbed, entering the public conscience. With Google paying handsomely for youtube and Rupert Murdoch buying Myspace in order to twist and convert the minds of the next generation, what will this new horizon mean for us slow witted luddites just catching up with the news?

User Generated Content Is King To cut a long story short, Web 2.0 is all about exploiting the need for lonely people worldwide, desperate to express themselves by way of blogs, forums, and personal web spaces. Rather than spend days, weeks and months wasting your time providing useful content yourself on your website - open things up and let the users write there own ill advised, rambling, poorly written content. Hey presto you've created a 'community'

Follow the Herd Web 2.0 will mean novel ideas, interesting websites and unfortunate individuals caught shagging dogs by a work colleague will soon be viewed globally by millions of people thanks to bookmarking sites such as digg and del.icio.us that act as a popular benchmark of things other people find hilarious and by default you will find the need to have a look at as well.

Close with a Sale Another big difference between Web 1.0 as it shall now have to be known and Web 2.0 is the abscense of any tangible product to sell. Back in the salad days of 2000-20001 any fool knew that they could set up a website attract backing from some high flying city investor and sit back for six months despite having only sold one pair of matching moleskin slippers. With Web 2.0 your objective is not to actually sell anything but moreover to attract people or 'users' hungryfor a fix of 'new media' to your website. The trick is finding enough people and making sure they come back regularly. I think some degree of Web 1.0 style pornography or gambling must therefore be a mainstay ingredient for anyone seriously adopting the Web 2.0 model. Once your website is attracting regular ammounts of people it's time to sell on to one of the big boys who will then have the unenviable task of trying to find a way of making money out of your idea. Good Luck to them.

Web 3.0 The next Generation So should you play your hand now or wait until next spring when the 3rd generation or Web 3.0 applications are due to be rolled out? It's a tough call, while many of us are beavering away tapping endless garbage into web pages in a vain hope of the search engines picking some of it up, there are already plans afoot to remove large swathes of all this guff from the internet and replace it with something more deep and meaningful. What that is we shall all have to wait and see. Personally I'd like to see some 3d virtual reality documentaries on Funkadelic or Sly and the Family Stone if thats not too much to ask?

So then in a nutshell, Web 2.0, should you be worried? Yes, big time! If you're not feeling the slightest bit paniced and paranoid then sorry my friend it's already over - you're outta here, you're down the pooper. If you've got a succesful website selling merchandise then you're yesterdays news, I don't want to hear about it - boooooooring. Ditch the stock, upload some videos of office workers 'goofing' around and get on the Web 2.0 bandwagon before it's too late.

About the Author
Mindtap Graphic Design Resources is your single point entry into a UK graphic design company. A unique site where you can access information on UK graphic design, logo design, brochure design, catalog design, flyer design and web design

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=341222

Web 2.0 Provides A Wonderful Trip Down Memory Lane

Service Oriented Architecture Web 2.0 Articles : Web 2.0 Provides A Wonderful Trip Down Memory Lane by F. Aldo

In the last couple of years, web professionals have been gushing about Web 2.0. A look at Wikipedia tells us that the term Web 2.0 was developed by O'Reilly Media that refers to a second generation of web services that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. Go beyond Wikipedia and look at other sources and you will very likely get about a thousand and one descriptions of Web 2.0. So it appears that Web 2.0 is a different thing for different people although social networking seems to be a common denominator among all the different descriptions. Take note though of the terms "online collaboration" and "sharing among users" because they will figure prominently in what we are about relate.

Now before anything else, this article is neither an endorsement nor criticism of Web 2.0. But to an old-timer such as myself, Web 2.0 is a rehash of some of the online things we used to do back in the late 80's and early 90's. For those of us who have been doing the rounds of the internet even before Netscape was born, we had our own social networking scene then. They were known as Bulletin Board Systems or BBS's. In today's web world, bbs is synonymous with online forum--the sites which commonly have people contributing answers to questions posted by fellow users.

Back in the early days, bbs's were literally a system in themselves. To be able to access a bbs in your area, you need a modem hooked up to your computer. These modems would use the regular telephone line to achieve connection. As the person trying to access, also known as the client, you would also need a "terminal" application to issue the dialing instruction. Two of the most common terminal programs were Telix and Hyperterminal, and oh, we were mostly using either DOS or Windows 3.1 then, and a few using either Linux or OS/2. Oh my God, OS/2!

If you are now trying to catch your breath from the description of the processes involved just to access a bbs back then, it was indeed cumbersome to a certain extent. Too many application requirements to make a simple connection. But to fast-forward a bit, once you get connected to a bbs, there were also a thousand and one things you could do while online, most if not all of which were equally as exciting as what some of today's wonderful web applications have to offer.
Online collaboration and sharing were two of the biggest attractions of the bbs community especially if you were a member of a bbs network. The biggest bbs network at the time was known as Fidonet and amazingly, their website still exists today--www.fidonet.org. The online collaboration and social networking aspect came in the form of the "message bases". Once logged on to a bbs, you could read and write messages in the hundreds of message bases which were then circulated among the thousands of bbs's around the world that were members of Fidonet. The message bases each had a specific topic ranging from social to entertainment to educational to technical to religious and on and on.

The sharing part came in the form of the "file bases". In fact, I dare say that the golden era of shareware programs came at the same point when bbs's were at their height in popularity. The file bases were the areas where a bbs user could download many different softwares on a try before you buy basis, hence the term "shareware". A interesting sidelight to file downloading then was that computer viruses were just starting to proliferate and there were not that many antivirus solutions available. I suppose we all just had to grin and bear, and kept our fingers tightly crossed.

Another attraction of the bbs's were the availability of online games. The games were nothing like today's which are almost realistic in their graphics and surround sound. The bbs games then were mostly text-based, but equally colorful and adventuresome. Like the message and file bases, the games that had tournaments in them were circulated around the world so you could be sitting in front of your computer in a remote island in the Pacific playing against someone living in the heart of London.

The drawback to accessing bbs's was the busy line. Most bbs's ran on only one phone line and if a user was hogging his/her online time, other users were denied access. We also mentioned above that connecting to a bbs could be cumbersome chore given a lot of requirements involved so the whole process was not too appealing to those who were not predisposed to going through the steps.

Remember too that internet access was not in the mainstream at the time so the exchange of messages, files and games were not done in real-time. Transporting the messages, files and games around the world was expensive. The highest modem speed that could have been achieved then was 28.8 Kbps so the more the messages and files and games, the longer time you had to spend connected to the internet provider. In short, it was quite expensive for the operator of bbs to maintain their systems and for the user, the experience could been frustrating especially when having to deal with busy phone lines. And yes, bbs's were mostly free for anyone to access. When the internet started to become mainstream, bbs's started to fade away.

So the next time you read something hyping the virtues of Web 2.0, there is no need to get too carried away. The trail had been blazed, albeit in a manner not as sophisticated as today's web is capable of. Indeed the ability to collaborate in almost real-time and the eye-catching presentations Web 2.0 can deliver could not have been achieved back then, but the elements are essentially the same. If not for anything else, Web 2.0 has provided a nice little stroll down memory lane.

About the Author
--Webmaster of Computer Protection From Viruses and Worms, computer and music enthusiast, and full-time father of two wonderful boys. Wannabe geek too.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=331467

Web 2.0 --- You can bet on its success

Service Oriented Architecture Web 2.0 Articles : Web 2.0 --- You can bet on its success. by Darren Dunner

Copyright (c) 2006 Darren Dunner

Internet and Internet technologies have definitely entered their web 2.0 era. Unlike its previous era, web 2.0 has got lot of advancements in its technology part. There are more robust and proven business models and marketing strategies available in the web 2.0 era as compared to its previous one. Even though there is not as much buzz as it was there in the late 90's and early 2000, web 2.0 is still attracting a lot of people (both business people and users) towards it. Now, the web user base is increasing at over 70% all over the world. Even the East Asian countries are also joining the party.

The most important thing that has triggered this web 2.0 era is the technology. Now there are many cutting edge technologies available to make the life of web programmers very easy and at the same time increasing the experience of web users in a big way. Web programming technologies like Java, Dot Net framework, PHP and many more have made the development of websites very easy and robust. The GUI can be made very rich by making use of these technologies and embedding them with some designing technologies like Flash and so on.

Security was one of the major concerns for the users to make any type of online transactions, especially transactions that involve money in the web 1.0 era. This security limitation has greatly been reduced by internet security technologies like SSL. SSL is the short form of Secure Socket Layer. This protocol is been designed by Netscape with the aim of making the online transactions very secure and robust. Now, if any website has got a SSL certificate, then the customers can feel very secure about the transactions which they do on that website. In the same way, internet security has gone a long way in the web 2.0 era. Now, people can feel very confident of all the transactions even with the transactions that involve huge amounts of money.

Another major thing that is in the advantage of the web 2.0 is the rapid increase in the penetration of the internet through out the world. In web 1.0 era, more than ninety percent of the internet user base is from the United States of America and a few other developed countries only. However, this has changed now. Even in countries like INDIA, internet is penetrating quite fast now. More than 3 %( 110 million) of the Indians have access to internet now. This trend is much the same way in the rest of the world.

With all the above advantages, web 2.0 is definitely a lot better than web 1.0 and people can surely bet on its success in a big way.

About the Author
Darren Dunner is the author of this article. Find more information about the same at http://www.site-make-over.com/ . Also check out their new website http://www.ads-by-pixels.com

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=329994

Islam meets Web 2.0 Free RSS feeds with Muslim Prayer Time are now available

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : Islam meets Web 2.0 Free RSS feeds with Muslim Prayer Time are now available. by Organization Pray In Time Islamic Information center

The modern muslims are getting used to using a religious software and information services (e.g. sms) to get a right time for prayer (salat), that is regarded as an important part of muslim's life. Now at the very start of RSS boom Muslim community got the access to Muslim Prayer Time (Azan) RSS feeds for PCs, mobiles and other devices from Pray In Time Information center (www.pray-in-time.org). Accurate calculations of muslim prayer times for every location is a non-trivial task, because the time of prayer depends on the sunrise and sunset times and geographical location. The sunset and sunrise is different in different locations and change throughout a year. Historically, prayer timing was determined by Islamic religious scholars and the prayers were informed about start of a prayer by the muezzin from a minaret. Now in the most of modern cities there it is difficult for muslims to hear an adhan (call to prayer) that makes alternative way of informing prayers about prayer timetable more and more important. One possibility is to use Azan Islamic software for mobile and PCs, sms azan services that created a market for religious software developers. With the start RSS era this service became available globally for free. It only requires an RSS reader (such as IE 7.0) and hence can run on virtually any PC, PDA, cell phone and any other computer device. The prayer should just visit the Pray In Time information center's web site: www.pray-in-time.org, select the necessary location and subscribe to this free namaz time service RSS. At the moment more than 6 millions inhabited locations are covered and the number is growing. Glossary. Adhan (Azaan, azan and other spellings) (أَذَان) is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin. The root of the word is ʼḏn "to permither derivative of this word is uḏun, meaning "ear". Adhan is called out by the muezzin from a minaret of a mosque five times a day (Sunni Islam) or three times a day (Shi'a Islam) summoning Muslims for fard (mandatory) salah (prayers). Salat (also salah, solat, solaat, namaz, solah, salaat, namaaz and other spellings) (Arabic: صلاة, Qur'anic Arabic: صلوة, Persian: نماØning to pray, or to bless, generally refers to prayers that Muslims offer to God (Arabic:Allah) and most commonly refers to the five dailyritual prayers in Islam. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam in Sunni Islam, and one of the ten Branches of Religion in Shi'a Islam. As such, it is compulsory (fard) upon every Muslim. About Pray In Time information center. Pray In Time was created to provide a reliable information to muslim community via web. Started as a Prayer Time information service it added a global muslim directory covering almost all aspects of Muslim's life. http://www.pray-in-time.org/

About the Author
About Pray In Time information center. Pray In Time was created to provide a reliable information to muslim community via web. Started as a Prayer Time information service it added a global muslim directory covering almost all aspects of Muslim's life. http://www.pray-in-time.org/

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=329676

The Web 2.0 Press Release: An Oxymoron?

Service Oriented Architecture SOA Web 2.0 Articles : The Web 2.0 Press Release: An Oxymoron? by Bob Geller

From: Fusion PR Forum.

2006 marks the 100th anniversary of the press release, according to Businesswire. Some say it is time for a change. Is a "Web 2.0 press release" the wave of the future in PR?

A number of agencies have recently announced updated versions of the venerable press release, embellishing the traditional format with Web 2.0 elements like social bookmarks and RSS, with the stated goal of bringing PR and the press release into the new, Web 2.0 era.

We have a different philosophy and a different approach.

Our answer is not some newfangled press release nor any press release for that matter. As news cycles compress and the shelf lives of press releases dwindle to zero, the press release as a means of communicating information is looking increasingly tired and old.

The press release was borne of an era that favored top down, asymmetrical communications, in an age when a few major networks and the print media controlled the media megaphone. In the years since the press release came into being, new technologies have emerged that have upended the media. The Internet enabled any-to-any communications and blogs emerged to give anyone a soapbox and a way to reach a mass audience. These technologies not only affect how we communicate, dramatically expanding the number of "channels," but also affect the style (format, tone and other important accouterments) of communications.

The new way favors transparency and informality in communications. The top down "party line" is out. It is no longer just the headline or the scoop that are important, but it is the blog post, resulting conversations and links back to the original sources. PR success is no longer measured just by the heft of the clip book. Now, online indicators such as Google PageRank, Technorati authority, links, search engine placement, and recognition from the new opinion leaders, the A listers, i.e. the blogging elite are important coins of the PR realm.

Ironically, as the message needs to be made simpler, the language more direct, compelling and informal, and issues and online conversations need to be tracked and engaged, we as communications professionals are needed more than ever. But we need to adapt, and to change our tactics and tools.

Sure, just like the US Postal Service continues to exist in an age of universal email, press releases will be around for some time. If anything, they need to be made simpler, not further embellished, and they need to be optimized to boost search engine ranking. And their central role in communications strategies needs to be reevaluated.

In short, we do not think the answer is to simply update old metaphors by slapping on Web 2.0 bells and whistles. But Web 2.0 does offer rich possibilities for building effective online communications programs. Instead of a Web 2.0 press release, why not work within the constructs of established standards and formats?

Take advantage of existing and accepted constructs like blogs and Wikis.
As you build an online presence with blogs and Wikis, make sure the Web 2.0 components are considered, and employed where it makes sense, e.g..:
Use RSS feeds to give people an easy way to subscribe and "tune in" to your content
Remember that tags can make it easier for others to discover your content; research the tags that are commonly used on Technorati and Delicious before you decide how to tag your content, starting from the keywords that you would normally use to describe your business, product or services.
Make it easy for others to vote on and tag your content by including Digg and Delicious buttons in your posts.

Explore mashup opportunities by tapping into the APIs of social networking sites
Looking a little more broadly, although we can't reduce it to a simple formula, we can talk about the types of tools and programs that have proven to be very effective in the world of new media PR.

The Blog Release - Why not break your news via an informal blog post from the CEO?
Content Optimization - When you do have a press release make sure to optimize it for online visibility
Leveraging RSS - Get the A listers and MSM to tune into and subscribe to your white papers, commentary and news via RSS feeds
New Media monitoring -Tap into online buzz about your brand in real time
Blog relations - Proven ways to identify and court the blogs that count for your space
So remember, when it comes to the press release, focus on the message (not the container), simplify, simplify, simplify, and perhaps reconsider the whole idea.

About the Author
Bob Geller is the Senior Vice President at Fusion Public Relations in their NY office. Bob's blog posts on Tech PR can be found at Fusion PR Forum.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=325304

Web 2.0, A Guide For Newbies

Service Oriented Architecture Web 2.0 Articles : Web 2.0, A Guide For Newbies by Danny Wirken

A couple of years back Bill Gates introduce the idea of Convergence to the public. It was a fresh idea that later became a catchphrase for the Internet Industry. However, that promised marriage between the TV and the PC/Internet did not fully come into being.

As a result Microsoft lost millions in their MSN TV initiative. But that is all in the past. Today, the tide had finally turned. Although most people are still not quite use to the idea of surfing the Internet on their TV screens, they seem to be ready for their PC screens to be turned into televisions.

Sure, technically you could watch TV shows on any computer with a built in TV/Tuner card. But what is now driving the rapid acceptance of the TV and computer coming together is what they call Web 2.0 or the second version of the World Wide Web.

The term Web 2.0 is somewhat of a misnomer. Since The web and the Internet as a whole, is not released in such stages like in softwares. Rather, it evolves erratically as time pass on. The Internet is full of trends in technology. What is popular today may die out the next day. Or in some cases, it might evolve into something better.

So in reality Web 2.0 is not really an upgrade. Instead it refers to the current state of trends in the web. So if someone wants a Web 2.0 website, they may be referring to a website that has a popular style of design, a social component, or uses a specific technology or some combination of those three.

Take a look at how to design a site that uses Web 2.0 design conventions. First stop the page background. The background of a page is generally either very light (more common) or very dark (less common). This simply follows a good trend of making text on a page contrast highly with the background for easier reading.

A background may have stripes or something similar, but the most common aspect is a slope at the top, fading down to some other color that continues throughout the background of the rest of the page.

When it comes to logos, they tend to be very simple. Usually they contain nothing more than the name of the site. Words may be spaced closely together, along with alternating colors different words. There are only two or maybe three bright colors in the logo. The most commonly used combination is orange and blue, although green and red are not too far behind. There's usually a small reflection of the logo right below it.

Next stop is the page elements. Web 2.0 design normally displays rounded corners. If the background does not have a gradient at the top, some round-cornered area of the site will. This are set in bright colors. If there are only two or three colors in the logo, those colors are all that is used in the other elements of the page. Simple and clean, that Web 2.0's trademark!

As for the social aspect of the websites, this might come as a surprise but there's nothing has truly changed here. Once again its guest books, discussion forums and so on. The only difference is that instead of giving general feedback on the site as a whole, your site visitors can now comment on specific articles and updates. Another cool change is that your visitors can now rank individual pictures instead of just telling how much they like them.

The advances in technology make it possible for such feedback to often result in instant changes in the site. But that does not mean this was not possible before. It only meant that the current technology makes it easier to isolate and extract those people who are spamming with comments or artificially trying to raise the rank of some item. Simply put, Web 2.0 provides option for social interaction and that can go a long way towards giving visitors a sense of involvement in the site.

As for the technology associated with Web 2.0 sites it is Ajax, which stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Here is another way to look at it. Before, you would load a web page up in your browser, possibly even fill out a form, then click on a submit button. At that point, that page would disappear, and a new page would load with information based on what you had filled out and/or clicked on the previous page.

With Ajax, Javascript is used to update the page you are on without the need to load up a new page. Let's say you are on a forum board and found at the bottom of a series of messages is the reply field. You put in your reply and hit the submit button. Instead of loading up a new page with your reply on it, your reply is immediately added to the bottom of the list.

Ajax can make a website run much more spontaneously, if used properly that is. However, like everything else on the web it can be abused. So think twice before doing anything else. Also, make sure that everyone can access your website equally. You will need to include non-Ajax options for using your site as well; otherwise the traditional pages will reload.

Although most web-surfers will have no problem using Ajax, still consider that your target audience may not be a typical cross-section of web surfers. Your audience may be primarily older people that don't update their computers as often. Or maybe your audience is full of people that are likely to turn Javascript off. Just make sure you carefully evaluate whether using Ajax is worth it for your site.

So what else could we expect for the web in the distant future? A possible Web 3.0? Well, only time can tell. What's important is that you keep a close eye on the current online trends, remember these changes daily. Since a lot of users will judge your business based at least partially on how current your website appears. So give it some thought...

About the Author
http://www.theinternetone.net

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=318204