Monday, January 30, 2012

An All-Around Yoga Exercise: 12-Step Salute to the Sun

One of the all-around yoga exercises is the 12-step salute to the sun. Do it once or twice when you get up in the morning to help relieve stiffness and invigorate the body. Multiple repetitions at night will help you to relax; insomniacs often find that six to 12 rounds help them fall asleep. 1. Stand with your feet slightly apart, palms together, thumbs against your chest. 2. Inhale deeply while slowly raising your hands over your head, and bend back as far as possible, while tightening your buttocks. Hold for three seconds. 3. Slowly exhale and bend forward, keeping your knees straight, until your fingers touch the floor outside your feet. (If you can't touch the floor, go as close as you can.) Bring your head in toward your knees. 4. Slowly inhale, bend your knees, and if your fingertips aren't outside your feet on the floor, place them there. Slide your right foot back as far as you can go, with the right knee an inch or so off the floor, (a lunge position). Now look up as high as possible, arching your back. 5. Before exhaling again, slide your left foot back until it is beside the right one, and with your weight supported on your palms and toes, straighten both legs so that your body forms a flat plane. Make sure your stomach is pulled in. 6. Slowly exhale, bend both knees to the floor, bend with your hips in the air, lower your chest and forehead to the floor. 7. Now inhale slowly and look up, bending your head back, then raising it, followed by your upper chest, then lower chest. Your lower body - from the navel down - should be on the floor, and your elbows should be slightly bent. Hold for three to five seconds. 8. Exhale slowly and raise your hips until your feet and palms are flat on the floor and your arms and legs are straight in an inverted V position. 9. Inhale slowly and bring your right foot forward as in position 4. The foot should be flat on the floor between your fingertips. The left leg should be almost straight behind you, with its knee slightly off the floor. Raise your head, look up, and arch your back. 10. Slowly exhale and bring your left foot forward next to your right one. Straighten your legs and stand, trying to keep your fingertips on the floor, and try to touch your head to your knees as in position 3. 11. Slowly inhale, raise your arms up and stretch back as in position 2. Don't forget to tighten your buttocks. Hold for three seconds. 12. Slowly exhale, lowering your arms to your sides. Relax. Repeat the series.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Facebook: An Effective Tool to Increase Your Sales

Today, the internet is one of the most popular places for businesses to advertise in. Every website you visit, you will see that there will be advertising everywhere. This is called internet marketing. If you have a business of your own and you want to effectively market your products or services, you will see that the internet will be one huge bulletin board that you can advertise in. Here, you will be able to virtually advertise anything and it is open for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. With hundreds of millions of people visiting the internet on a daily basis from all over the world, you can be sure that advertising here will definitely increase your sales. One great website that you may want to concentrate your online advertising campaign on is Facebook. Today, this social networking website is now considered to be one of the largest social networking websites existing. Here, you will see that over 62 million people are now active members and are still continually increasing. With figures like this, you know that it will provide you with a very big opportunity to increase your sales and your profit. In fact, it is so huge that large companies or corporations are now marketing on Facebook. Basically, Facebook is a social networking website. Once you join, you will be able to find your friends who are also a member and add them to your list. This will create a small group of your friends and it will enable you to view their profiles and know more about them and vice versa. You can even send and receive messages as well as comments. Also, you will be able to post on bulletins that your friends will be able read. These are the things that you can do with Facebook. It is basically the fastest growing social networking websites today. Because of this, a lot of people have started marketing on Facebook. The great thing about Facebook marketing is that it provides a free and easy way to promote products and services. With the included tools in Facebook, you will be able to take advantage of it, such as the Stumble Upon and Digg buttons to promote your website or your products and services. This is a great way to generate targeted traffic to your website and it will enable you to increase the potential in selling your products and services as well as increase the volume of sales. Because Facebook is available for people from all over the world, your business will be able to reach out to more people if you advertise on Facebook. In today's ever competitive business world, you know that you need to use every tool available in order to get ahead of your competitors. So, the next time you are thinking about marketing your business online, you might want to try marketing in Facebook. Here, you will be able to reach out to more people and it is also easy to do so and the best thing about it is that it's free. With Facebook, you will definitely be able to efficiently market your business. Marketing in Facebook is free, easy, and fun. These are the things that you need to remember whenever you want to try marketing online. Try joining Facebook and you will see the potential on letting it help your business grow.

Facebook Marketing: Starting an Online Business

The newest trend in the internet today is joining one of the many social networking websites. Here, you will be able to keep in touch with your old friends as well as your relatives and you will also be able to make new friends as well as meet new people. With social networking websites, you will see that it will make the world a smaller place. One social networking website that is so popular among many people from all over the world is Facebook. In this website, you will be able to post your pictures, discuss your interests and hobbies as well as do other great things. In the past, Facebook was restricted to Harvard College students. In time, it expanded to other schools and universities until it became available for everyone above the age of 13 from different parts of the world. Presently, the Facebook website now has more than 62 million active users worldwide. Now, if you have an online business, you will see that Facebook can significantly help you promote your website and your business. Facebook marketing is now one of the hottest trends among online entrepreneurs today. Just think about it, with over 62 million active users worldwide, you will definitely have a lot of potential clients to do business with. Because of the amount of people joining Facebook, a lot of online business owners are now joining this social networking website in order to market their products or services. With Facebook, you will definitely be able to effectively market your website. The great thing about Facebook today is that anyone will now be able to join it. Whether you are a college student or you are an entrepreneur looking for a niche market, Facebook is the place that you should go to. In fact, Facebook is now very popular that it is now investing a lot of money for advertising in order to attract more people to join. With this kind of benefit, you will see the potential on what your business can have. Facebook as well as other social networking websites are now just beginning to see its full potential. Today, you will see that Facebook has now launched its Facebook Ads system that will allow you and other fellow business owners to formally advertise your products and services. You have to consider the fact that people are three to five times more likely buy a particular product if their friends recommend it. If you advertise in Facebook, you will be able to increase your sales. Facebook is now very popular that it now contains ads for big corporations, such as Microsoft, Coca-Cola and other companies. So, if you are thinking about marketing online for your business and you want to increase your company's sales, then you may want to try out Facebook. Here, you will be able to increase the advertising potential for your company. Also, you will be able to reach out to more people as well as get a niche market for your products and services. So, if you think that online advertising or marketing is not working for you, you might want to try out marketing on Facebook. Here, you will be able to see how effective marketing is by using this one of a kind social networking website and you will be able to increase your sales.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Where Can MySpace Take You?

MySpace is a powerful online community which can take members virtually anywhere they want to go. MySpace was designed to allow members the opportunity to meet friends, reconnect with old friends, network and even meet potential romantic partners. MySpace may have started as a small project but has ballooned into a huge community with members from around the world. These members represent a variety of different races, regions, sexual orientations and occupations and can lead to all of the members learning so much more about the world around them.

Friends from Around the World on MySpace

MySpace is an expansive community and there are members from all over the world. This gives members the ability to meet and connect with members from different countries. Although these friendships may remain online and never turn into face to face meetings they can give an individual a greater understanding of the world around them. Through MySpace friendships with members from other countries, individuals can learn about the struggles experienced in other countries as well as the benefits of living in other countries.

Learn about Different Cultures on MySpace

Many people were raised with limited knowledge of other cultures. They may have had parents who were different races or another relative who was a different race or religion but for the most part they might have only learned in depth about a handful of other religions and cultures while they were growing up. This does not necessarily foster hate but it can lead to problems which relate to ignorance.

Members of MySpace come in contact with those of other races, religions and cultures all the time. In fact MySpace members may spend a great deal of time getting to know another member before they even know the race, religion or ethnicity of the other individual. This ability to get to know each other first and then learn more about cultural backgrounds can lead to more tolerance of others.

Making Connections Offline

We have already discussed how MySpace can help members to make friends around the world and learn more about different cultures but MySpace doesn’t have to take you miles and miles away. The fact that there are MySpace members around the world may give you the opportunity to make friends in other countries but it also means you have the opportunity to make new friends in your geographic area. Even those people who live in the smallest towns may find there are other MySpace members who live in their town. Getting to know these members creates the opportunity for MySpace members to take their online friendships offline and meet in person.

Meeting online friends in person can be a wonderful experience which can give the members the opportunity to really get to know each other better. Some members of MySpace may have joined the community just to speak to others online and may have no desire to meet others offline but for some, the opportunity to meet others offline after fostering an online relationship may be very appealing.

However, those who plan to meet online friends in person should exercise a certain amount of caution. Initial meetings should take place in a busy, public location that is well lit as opposed to a secluded location. Additionally, those who are meeting an online friend for the first time might bring along another trusted friend for security.

Uploading Files to MySpace

MySpace websites can be created without only the use of solid background colors and text. However, this type of website is not likely to be very interesting. MySpace is an online community which is designed to be a place where members can make new friends, reconnect with long lost friends, network, share ideas or opinions or even meet potential romantic partners. This social aspect of the community makes it almost necessary for members to design websites which accurately represent their personalities. One of the easiest ways members can sow off their personality is through the inclusion of photos on their MySpace website. These photos may be pictures of the members or other photos which provide insight into the member’s personality.

Tips for Uploading Photos to MySpace

One of the most important things to remember when uploading files to MySpace is that these files may be seen by many people. This is especially important for those who are uploading pictures of themselves to place on their MySpace website. Members are not required to place a photo of themselves on their profile but many users do include a photo so those who visit their website have a visual image of the member. Users may place an embarrassing photo of themselves thinking only their friends will see this photo but in reality many other members and nonmembers may view this photo as well. This other members may include potential bosses, neighbors or others who might be shocked by these photos.

Parents of children who use MySpace should also exercise caution when allowing their children to post their photos on their MySpace profile. There are many harmful predators on the Internet and many of these predators are seeking young children to prey upon. Parents should carefully consider whether or not they want to allow their child to add a picture to their profile. Alternately, parents might recommend their children use a picture that represents a hobby of theirs or a favorite cartoon character instead of their own photo. When posting a picture of an object or character care should be taken to ensure posting the photo is not a violation of copyrights associated with the photo.

Uploading Photos and Videos to MySpace

Uploading photos to your MySpace account is fairly simple. First you must log into your account and then click on the links that says, “Add/edit photos.” You then receive a warning stating that photos which include nudity, violent or offensive materials or copyrighted images are not permitted. You are also given the option of making photos visible to only you or to everyone. You can then browse through your hard drive to find the desired photo. Photos uploaded to MySpace must be .gif or .jpg format and must be smaller than 600k. Once you find an appropriate photo, click upload and the photo will be added to your account. Once a photo is added you can create a caption for this photo.

MySpace members can search through existing video clips on MySpace to find video clips to add to their website. They can also upload their own videos for use on their website and for others to share. When uploading videos to MySpace, members should be sure to read the terms and conditions to ensure the video they are posting is permissible. Uploading pornography or other objectionable materials may result in the member having his MySpace account deleted.

Tips for Teens on MySpace

A lot of teens enjoy using the MySpace community to communicate with their friends, meet new friends or just to express themselves. Individuals who are over the age of 14 are eligible to use MySpace so there is a large congregation of young people who are creating and maintaining MySpace pages. However, teens that use the Internet to meet friends are possibly more at risk than adults who use the Internet for socializing and networking. This is due to a number of factors including teens being more trusting of others and unaware of the potential of harmful consequences and predators specifically looking for teenagers on the MySpace community.

Parents Need to Stay Involved

One of the best ways parents can help to protect their teens on MySpace is by staying involved in the child’s life. Parents should be aware of whether or not their teen has a MySpace profile and if the teen has created a profile the parent should let the child know they will be reviewing the profile frequently.

Then parents should follow up on their vow to check the profile periodically to ensure the teen is not engaging in questionable activities or interactions. Teens who know their parents will be viewing their MySpace website are less likely to make poor choices when designing their website. Also, parents who view their child’s MySpace website regularly will see the friends the teen is making and can put a stop to any potentially harmful relationships such as budding romance with an adult member.

Teens Should be Taught Internet Safety

Although the Internet is a great resource for teens and they can learn a great deal through socializing with others online, teens should understand the Internet can also be full of predators. The Internet allows users to disguise their identity if they wish to do so and as a result those who use the Internet might be putting themselves at risk when they befriend these predators.

Providing teens with basic Internet safety rules can help to protect them. Some of the rules parents should enforce for teens include the following:

* Do not give out personal information such as full name and address.
* Do not send photos of yourself without your parents’ approval.
* Do not agree to meet someone in person without your parents’ approval.
* Do not respond to threats or other forms of harassment. Instead report these occurrences to your parents or Internet service provider.
* Do not enter online areas which require additional fees without your parents’ approval and do not give out credit card information without your parents’ approval.

Offline Meetings Should be Chaperoned by a Trusted Adult

Teens who meet friends online may want to meet with their online friends in person. Meeting online friends in person can be a wonderful experience but it can also be dangerous especially in situations where the online friend has deliberately concealed his true identity.

The previous section mentioned offline meetings should not occur without the approval of the parents. Parents should not only approve all such meetings but should also accompany their teen on these meetings. Personal meetings should be arranged to take place in a busy, public location during daylight hours and parents should accompany their teen to these meetings to ensure their online friend was honest about his identity.

The Pitfalls of Advertising on MySpace

Many users of MySpace tout the potential for advertising to be one of the most useful features of this online community. However, there are quite a few pitfalls to advertising on MySpace. Most importantly those who advertise on MySpace run the risk of finding themselves in violation of MySpace’s terms of service and facing the consequences of these infractions. In addition advertising on MySpace can appear very unprofessional to potential customers. Finally, those who advertise on MySpace may become guilty of spamming. This article will take a look at these three advertising pitfalls and provide advice for avoiding these potential problems.

Violating the Terms of Service on MySpace

One of the most serious potential problems with advertising on MySpace is violating the terms of service outlined by the administrators of MySpace. This is significant because members who are found to be in violation of these terms of service can have their websites deleted and may be banned from the community. The terms of service should be reviewed carefully to determine which types of activities, in relation to advertising, are permitted and which activities are prohibited. Special attention should be paid to the section of the terms of services which specifies member websites are not to be commercial in nature. It might be necessary to contact MySpace directly for ask for clarification of this section and additional information on what constitutes a commercial website.

Appearing Unprofessional

Another potential pitfall to advertising on MySpace is appearing unprofessional. MySpace websites can be created very quickly and easily through available templates. This may result in some members becoming overly anxious to start advertising immediately. When this happens the members may be sloppy in their design and may create a website with many errors which does not present a professional appearance.

Additionally, MySpace is a rather relaxed community where members often use slang or abbreviations haphazard. This practice can also create an unprofessional appearance which may alienate some potential clients. Also, MySpace members must consider the comments left for them by other members of the community. The individual who maintains the website should understand the comments left for them are considered by others to be a reflection of them. Therefore those who do not think highly of the comments left on your website are not likely to think highly of you or your business either. For this reason care should be taken to maintain a lee of control over the comments left for you. This can be done either by not allowing comments at all or by only allowing comments that receive your approval to appear on your website.

Engaging in Spamming techniques

One of the most dangerous pitfalls those who advertise on MySpace might encounter is spamming. Before advertising care should be taken to review MySpace’s policy on spam to ensure the advertising techniques you are using are not considered to be spam by MySpace. This is important because those who are found guilty of spamming may have their account and website deleted. They may even be banned from creating a new account in the future.

Also, potential customers are not likely to think highly of a business that they view as engaging in spamming techniques. These customers are likely to purchase products and services from other providers who they believe run a more honest marketing campaign. Spamming can therefore be a very costly mistake for business owners.

Monday, January 2, 2012

The MySpace Phenomenon

The MySpace Phenomenon These days it seems like anyone who is anyone is on MySpace. In a short time MySpace has literally exploded from just a few members to millions of members around the world. This astounding phenomenon has made MySpace one of the most popular websites around and a virtual necessity for those who want to make friends through an online community or find old friends with whom they have lost contact. It has become one of the first places many Internet users turn when they want to learn more about someone in particular or make new friends. A few years ago the term, “Google it” became synonymous for the practice of using a search engine to find more information about a particular person or subject. Internet users were using the term “Google it” even when they were using different search engines because the name Google had been branded so well it became somewhat of a generic term for search engine. MySpace is well on its way to becoming the brand synonymous with online communities. Although there are other websites which offer similar services, MySpace is quickly becoming the most dominant one. Who is On MySpace? The answer to this question is just about everyone. While this answer is not nearly true it is also very appropriate. It is not nearly true because in terms of factual evidence, despite the large number of MySpace members, there are still many more people in the world who do not participate in the MySpace online community. However, an answer of everyone to this question is also fitting because individuals from different cultures around the world and different age groups are all using MySpace. Unlike online message boards and discussion forums where members are usually somewhat similar and share a particular interest, there are members who are vastly different in the MySpace community. MySpace members represent just about all nationalities, sexual orientations, financial levels, occupations, political beliefs, religions and other variables. While it is true that members who are vastly different may not be interacting to a tremendous extent on MySpace there is certainly representation from all walks of life on MySpace. MySpace Lurkers We have already discussed the extent of members on MySpace but the MySpace community is really much larger than the membership of the website. It is important to note that members’ websites are viewable to the public unless they are specifically designated as private websites. This means many members’ websites can be viewed by those who do not join MySpace. These individuals are known as lurkers and they effectively increase the size of the community by an immeasurable number. Lurkers may be completely harmless individuals who are just looking to read about others but who have no interest in sharing their own personal information or they can be predators. The latter is more serious because these lurkers can use the information they find on MySpace to stalk or otherwise harass members of their own community. Many members of MySpace include both pictures and their hometown on their MySpace profile. This information can be used, by unscrupulous predators, to gather more information about the individual. For this reason care should always be used when posting information on MySpace. Why Aren’t You on MySpace? If you aren’t on MySpace, many of your friends may wonder why especially if they use this community. In fact many members of MySpace join simply as a way to have fun and keep in touch with their friends and relatives. However, there are number of reasons some individuals may not join MySpace. For many time constraints is a significant factor which leads them to avoid joining MySpace. MySpace can become somewhat addicting with members spending increasing amounts of time updating their website or searching for new friends in the community. Others may not participate in MySpace because they find some websites in the community to be offensive. There are guidelines regarding the types of materials which can be posted on MySpace but there is always the potential for questionable materials to escape the attention of the MySpace administrators. There is also the possibility that members will be offended by content that is permissible.

Sell Yourself on MySpace

Sell Yourself on MySpace MySpace is a wonderful online community which is free of charge for members. Members of this service are able to create personal websites which can be used to tell other members of the community about their interests. Additionally, members can include pictures, video and music on their websites. Members can also include a blog on their website which they can use to express their opinions, share their thoughts or vent about their personal affairs. All of these different components of MySpace enable members to let others learn more about them. The purpose of creating a website on MySpace may be to find career opportunities, just make friends or network with those who share their business interests. In all of these cases it is important for the individual to really sell themselves through their MySpace website so others will be interested in joining their group of friends or learning more about them. Launch Your Career with MySpace MySpace was created as an online community for people to make new friends and connect with existing friends but it has turned into so much more. Some have found they could launch their careers through MySpace. While those with aspirations in the entertainment industry are most likely to be the ones who market themselves through MySpace there are others who have more traditional careers in mind who include resume type information on MySpace in an attempt to find a new job or career. In either case the MySpace website should be designed to catch the attention of those in the chosen industry. For example, an individual seeking a career in the profession of library science may have outrageous interests and hobbies but designing a website to reflect these hobbies may detract from those who might otherwise consider the education and past work experiences of the individual. Similarly someone who wants to break into the fashion industry should strive to create a MySpace website which is trendy and edgy as opposed to mundane. Increase Your Circle of Friends with MySpace Those who use MySpace just to make friends can also benefit from designing a website that really promotes themselves. This website design should not only promote the owner of the website but should also be tailored to suit the tastes of the type of friends the individual would like to make. For example a diehard Yankee fan might want to incorporate a Yankee themed background to the website and include a song such as I Love New York into the website. This will make the website, and the individual, more desirable to those who share their interests. Similarly those who want to make friends on MySpace who share a passion for a particular band might consider including the bands music on the website and posting new information about the band in a daily blog. This will attract fans of the band to your MySpace website and can help you to make friends with those who share your interests. Network with MySpace The MySpace community provides members with a wealth of networking opportunities. Although these opportunities exist, it takes a savvy user to not only find others with whom they would like to network but also convince these users to join in the networking opportunity. Individuals who sell Avon cosmetics can be considered as an example of the importance of networking online. These salespeople are prohibited by MySpace to selling their products through the MySpace website but they can certainly find other members interested in the sale or purchase of Avon products and network with these individuals. Entering the term, “Avon cosmetics” into the MySpace search feature may reveal a list of other websites which use this term. Members can review these websites and determine whether or not they believe networking with these individuals would be beneficial. If it seems as though it would be beneficial, the member can either place a comment on the website or send an email or instant message to the other member. This can help to get a conversation started and may lead to more meaningful interactions which may include sales techniques or other industry tips.