http://silentavatar.com/blog Speaking Up About All Things Internet Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:24:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2009/01/19/wankers-in-wonderland-a-guide-to-checking-out-the-scammers/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2009/01/19/wankers-in-wonderland-a-guide-to-checking-out-the-scammers/#comments Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:01:06 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/?p=373 Following on from my previous post about how to create a site with credibility, here are some avenues you can explore to check out whether a site is legitimate. 1. Find out when the domain was created Go to Whois. Here you can enter a dot com domain name and find out when the domain was first registered. ]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2009/01/19/wankers-in-wonderland-a-guide-to-checking-out-the-scammers/feed/ 0 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/12/21/get-motivated-stay-motivated-part-2/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/12/21/get-motivated-stay-motivated-part-2/#comments Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:13:16 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/?p=284 Now if there is one thing I have found about working from home, it is that you have to be disciplined. Even more so if you are "it" (that is, no one else to delegate tasks to).When you work from home distractions come thick and fast, and before long you can find that your day is whittled down to a couple of productive hours interspersed with paying your bills, sending emails to friends, eating, making coffee, shopping, general surfing the Net, and oftentimes playing Solitaire or Spider! Does this sound familiar to you? Even if you are working a full time or part time job to supplement your income, the time you DO have generally reads like the above paragraph (you just don't waste quite as many hours doing it). ]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/12/21/get-motivated-stay-motivated-part-2/feed/ 0 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/12/18/get-motivated-stay-motivated/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/12/18/get-motivated-stay-motivated/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:21:45 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/?p=278 There is no such thing as luck. Just desire, a clear goal, and then doing what needs to be done until you get your goal, mixed in with a big dollop of self motivation. Of course we all have tasks we dislike, and this brings me to an revelation which prohibits us from getting where we want to go - self motivation. Some revelation eh? Doh.]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/12/18/get-motivated-stay-motivated/feed/ 1 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/11/11/the-problem-with-internet-marketing-newbies/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/11/11/the-problem-with-internet-marketing-newbies/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:54:52 +0000 the silent avatar http://www.silentavatar.com/blog//?p=199 The combined effect of these characteristics is information overload and analysis paralysis. In other words, you hardly take any action based on what you already know or have in hand. Your'e a bit like a dog chasing it's tail. You donlt feel as though you have enough information to be successful, so you keep taking in more information, and this very process keeps you away from realising your goals. You may think this article isn't relevant to you because you do take action. If that is so then why are you not succeeding beyond your wildest dreams? And why is there such a high failure rate (some say as high as 95%) among internet marketers?]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/11/11/the-problem-with-internet-marketing-newbies/feed/ 0 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/02/27/relate/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/02/27/relate/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:23:38 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/02/27/relate/ It struck me this week how operating an online business is just like a relationship. We start out full of enthusiasm and potential for what can be and very quickly we find that what we thought would move us towards out goals just doesn't seem to be working. Often times we head off along one path only to find that we reach a "dead end", and things stall or worse end up moving us away from where we want to be.]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/02/27/relate/feed/ 0 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/02/20/signature/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/02/20/signature/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:42:11 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/02/20/signature/ One of the quickest ways to get your website details out is to add an email signature to your outgoing mail. And it never ceases to amaze me how often it doesn't happen. Everytime you send an email you are effectively letting your recipient know about your site. So what makes a good email signature? Let me show you a good signature...]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/02/20/signature/feed/ 1 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/01/16/addiction/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/01/16/addiction/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:48:39 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/01/16/addiction/ “Crackberry” was the official winner of the 2006 Word-of-the-Year as selected by the editorial staff of Webster's New World College Dictionary. Blackberry addiction has been labeled “similar to drugs” in a study performed by Rutgers University; millions of users are now able unable to go more than five minutes without checking e-mail]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2008/01/16/addiction/feed/ 0 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/20/loyalty/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/20/loyalty/#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:00:55 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/20/loyalty/ In a brick and mortar business, many, many business fail to advise a means of customer grievance. A simple sign outlining the grievance policy, located where customers could clearly read it, would encourage those who have a complaint to feel comfortable enough to come forward. And that's precisely what you want. Rather than recount their grievance to every second person they speak with, you have an opportunity to resolve the issue before it impacts your business.]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/20/loyalty/feed/ 0 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/19/gift/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/19/gift/#comments Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:35:29 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/19/gift/ Was my bum on the seat paying for a service, keeping people employed and proping up the economy? Keeping the shareholders happy? Damm right it was. The cost of a coffee or tea? Negligible. The damage done to the business. Priceless.]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/19/gift/feed/ 0 http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/19/service/ http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/19/service/#comments Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:57:57 +0000 the silent avatar http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/19/service/ What are the fallouts of not being able to address a customer complaint? While a customer may not tell the organisation about his or her dissatisfaction, he or she definitely speaks; and speaks with vehemence. It has been estimated that while a satisfied customer may speak about their experience to about 10 to 15 people, dissatisfied customers speaks to at least double that number. So the 'word-of-mouth' channel starts working against the business, and thanks to the widespread nature of the net, the voice of dissent now spreads much faster and travels farther. Remember the saying the best form of advertising for your business is "word of mouth advertising"? You better believe it. You and everyone who works within your business is accountable for giving good customer service. ]]> http://silentavatar.com/blog/2007/12/19/service/feed/ 0