Selling products or services online is a simple process and there are many options. However when thinking of adding a shopping cart to your site it is important that you get the basics right.

There are a number of free shopping carts available that can easily be installed via fantastico or softalicious which can be found in your cpanel. OS commerce, cubecart, roman cart and magento cart are the most common.

With os commerce the basic install is free and there are a load of add-ons free and paid as well as templates to change the shape and look of the site available to really make your e-commerce website stand out.

Most of them can be setup relatviely easily and look pretty good out of the box.

The thing to remember though, is if you want to sell online then your site has to look professional. You are trying to get people to part with their money and if your site is poorly designed, with spelling mistakes and poor content then you will not look credible and you will not make sales.

When I first started out I tried all of the free options to see which suited me best and I ended up using oscommerce. The website, www.glasstablesandchairs.com has, of course evolved over the years and still sits high on the first page of the search engines for a lot of highly competitive keywords. The back end of this site still uses oscommerce although the front page has been totally re-designed.

After setting up a number of e-commerce sites I now use interspire shopping cart. You can either pay for a hosted version or download and install onto your own servers.

I use the self hosted version personally but the hosted version is so easy and very fast to setup and get going.

The one thing about the interspire shopping cart is that it looks great right out of the box. It is easy to edit just drag and drop. Here is one of the latest ones that I helped to setup. www.loveyourwater.co.uk. This website was set up and running in a week-end.

The basic version is $395 and the ultimate is $1795. Not cheap but well worth every penny if you are serious about running an online business selling products or a variety of services.

The cost of interspire works out to be a lot less than it has cost to update and customise the glass tables website.

They have a free trial so you can test it out for yourself and I really recommend that you do. Check out the link below.

This is an affiliate link, so if you buy via this link I will receive a commission. You can go right to the site directly if your choose. You will pay the same amount but they will keep it all

If you DO buy through my link, I will be happy to help you set it up and answer any questions or queries you have via skype, phone or email. See, I am happy to work for my money ))))

Let me explain myself.

When I ran a large sales organisation it was common for the sales people to blame the client for not buying. They would be full of excuses with all the reasons why it was the not their fault.

The sales person would go home safe in the knowledge that it was not their fault. They would come in the following day and strangely enough have another bad day due to the crap leads they have been given!

As soon as you pass the blame you lose.

The best sales people always believed that they had done something wrong and this attitude meant that they did something about it, they looked for ways to improve next time, not wanting to make the same mistake again.Even if it was not their fault they still took responsibility.

These were the ones that were in the top 10 and made the most money consistently.

Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

As soon as you

No one likes to be criticized and it can be hard to be self critical but believe me if you take the blame for everything that happens then you will see improvements in every area of your life.

so take a tip from me when things are not going right, look in the mirror and ask “what could I have done different” and “what am I going to do next time?”

Take responsibility for everything your successes and your failures

How To Be Successful Online

I am often asked how can I make a successful business online. The internet is an amazing place and there are so many opportunites to make money online.

The problem is that you need to treat it like a real business. So many people who try to make money online do not take it seriously. They see an advert online on how to make a million in 30 days, they send off their payment read the course and do litle or nothing with it.

Now there is a lot of crap out there but there are some good instructional courses but none of them will work if action is not taken and the steps followed. Action is the ke y of how to be successful online.

So with this in mind the first thing  is to have the right attitude.Make the decision that you will set aside a certain amount of time and then DO IT..

This is true in any buiness online or otherwise in fact to be successful at anything you have to have a postive mental attitude but is that enough?

Actually no, if you have seen the secret it explains that everything is brought about by thought however it does not matter how much you think about something it aint gonna happen unless you take action and massive action at that.

Whilst a postive mental attitude is essential you need to follow this up with action. If you do something every single day towards your goal whether that is training to run the marathon or setting up your online empire, you have a great chance of success.

Hopefully the above will give you a guideline on how to be successful online.

auto social poster

Auto social poster is a great way of Building backlinks to your blog which is something that you need to do if you want to get ranked for your keywords.

The problem is if you use something like onlywire you risk the chance of getting banned from the bookmarking accounts and google may well think you are trying to trick them

The reason is that if you keep bookmarking the same website to the same bookmarking accounts then it is obvious that you are using the service to promote your website. The idea is that you should be bookmarking all and any websites that you like and you believe others will like.

The way to do this is to make sure that you bookmark a range of different sites on the accounts. Not just your own websites and posts but enough of the other unrelated websites that yours will not stick out like a sore thumb.

This can be done with onlywire but is labour intensive. Another way to do this is to use software like auto social poster.

To use auto social poster properly you need to setup a number of different accounts for each of the bookmarking services. Then when you make a post it uses a random selection of the accounts and bookmarking services so that you do not leave a footprint.

I use it on a number of blogs with the same accounts and this makes it even more difficult to trace.

The results are nothing short of brilliant.

Auto Social Poster Link Below

Also check out Market Samurai for great keyword research and so much more

Auto Social Poster

If you buy ASP through my link I will provide you with a list of accounts that you can import and upload to auto social poster and save you hours in time and effort. This bonus alone is worth the cost of the software.

So Get Auto Social Poster and try it for yourself.

Click Here For More beyblade

Beyblade Toys

Beyblade toys are very popular in Japan, the UK and USA. Beyblade-toys.com is Daniels second website which he launched today.

Beyblades is a battle game where spinning tops fight it out in an arena. Known as the bowl arena. I was amazed at how popluar this game is.

Beyblades started in the 1990′s and although it sort of fizzled out in 2006 it has come back with a vengance with the latest series called metal fusion. The beyblade toys are a more recent addition and came as a result of the success of the Magazine and tv series.

Daniel’s first website was www.bakugan-game.net which he made a few months ago. It does not earn him a fortune but is slowly growing in poularity and helps with his pocket money.

If it continues growing as it is then he will be earning more than the UK average wage in less than a year. Not bad for a 12 year old who is writing about the games that he loves and plays on a daily basis.

He has designed both of the sites himself (he is yet to upload the new beyblade  theme) but I think he has done a great job and I am very proud of what he has done and achieved. Beyblade toys can be found in most toy stores as well as on amazon and it is big business.

It goes to show that if anyone wants to make money online then it is possible. Daniel has also created a squidoo page on Percy Jackson whise bookes he has read a number of times. Once agian a very popular subject with loads of searches and something that he is really interested about.

So, if you are wanting to make money online then make a list of your interests search google to find out what the competition is and how many searches are being done for the main keywords, buy a domain name and setup a blog. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Check out his beyblade toys website and let me know what you think.

If you are looking to buy beyblade toys click on the link below to go to Amazon. Also check out bakugan toys

Click Here

Beyblade toys are great fun.

So many people try to make it online and fail at the first hurdle. There are so many opportunities out there and it is easy to get carried away, I know I was that man.

It reminds me of the phrase from bugs life. One of the moth’s says “Dont look at the light…” The other one answers I can’t help it… It is so beautiful…”

The sales letters have that effect on me, well they used to. I realised that what works for one is not necessarily going to work for another!

so many of them are so hyped up and over the top but these sales letters work, which is why they do them.

I have had a program in mind called the start smart system and I am going to do my best to get it up and finished within the next few weeks.

From there I will be doing a training course on researching a market, choosing a product or niche, keyword research, setting up a website installing relevant software, configuring that software, promoting your website using articles, web 2.0, blog posting, pay per click and banner advertising.

The thing to remember is to start with the end in mind. Think of what you want out of it and where you want to be with your online business in a year from now. How much time do you want to spend on it, do you want a big multi million pound or dollar business or just a little extra to help pay for those extras.

Working from home and making money online can earn you a small fortune if you get it right.

It is not brain science but you do need to follow a formula and you are always better off with a mentor to guide and motivate you to when things get tough as they inevitably do.

Internet marketing is not for everyone but if you think it is for you then keep an eye on the Education Station which will be filling up very soon.

The reason is that you hear of so many gurus making millions while your site pulls in little or nothing and you end up working so much on your own and not only that, you do nearly all of the work yourself. All of this makes is hard to stay motivated, enthusiastic and positive.

Whilst it is easier said than done I do know that persistence overcomes resistance and if you persist you will win.

When times are tough the best thing to do is to stop, take a break have a day off or just sit down with a glass of wine and relax. Come at the problem again the next day with fresh eyes and usually a different solution.

The one thing to remember is never ever give up

It had the whole household up very quickly, shame it was not a school day as Katie has not been up this early since… well actually never this early I don’t think!

It only went on for about 30 to 40 seconds but it is a very scary thing to happen I can tell you. Now I think I may be jinxed.

I lived in the Canary Islands for 17 years and there were one or two small tremors in that time, then we moved to England for a couple of years and we were there when the biggest earthquake for years again rocked our house and cracked the garden wall.

Now we live in Bali and I find out that we are living on the ring of fire, as it is known. I thought that was something you got after a hot curry. This is the second quake to hit Bali since we have been here and I am hoping that it was the last.

I am all for a bit of excitement but this is a bit over the top if you ask me.

Anyway back to business..

One thing about the Internet business is that you can run it from anywhere in the world. Another thing, is that if you outsource the majority of your work then you have to spend very little time on it. Having others make money for you is the way to go.

And after this ground shaking event, and no I don’t mean when I fell up the stairs, it may be time to move on.

As long as we have an internet connection we can work from anywhere. Communicating with staff who live in Brasil, India and the Philippines via skype and email allows us to run our little empire.

We have just setup a couple of new websites that we think will generate a little extra income almost on autopilot. Check them out and let me know what you think? www.PortratiPaintingGallery.com is live but needs a bit of work. It is a website to promote oil painting portraits from photos. We have an amazing team of artists that really know there stuff and produce some great works of art.

www.izabellamorgan.com is another one ready to go. Sharon and Astrid designed a range of beachwear that we will promote through the luxury hotels here in Bali and once established, across the World through a network of agents. So all good stuff.

I got portrait painting gallery ranked on Page one of google, msn and yahoo. Yahoo has dropped down to 35 now but still on first page of google. Not bad in a week eh? That is pretty impressive by anyone’s standards you must admit (He says in a smug voice )

I will keep you updated with how we get on with the ranking of this site over time and let you know how much traffic we generate and, how much we make from it.

Until then from ..

Our new website the portrait painting gallery is up at last.

The quality of the work is incredible, they hand paint in oils from a photograph. They can take several diffrent photos and convert them into one oil painting  even.

One request we had was for a picture of Michael Jackson next to the client so that it looks like they were together.

It was not until we started looking into it that we realised just how many styles of painting there are. Some people want a photo realistic painting. Although this seems to defeat the object of having a painting done. You might as well just have a photograph made into a poster size. My favourite is the impressionist where the painter puts his or her own style into the painting. Then there are the characutures where the painter takes prts that really stand out and accentuate them.

Anyway, the site should be ready to take orders later this week so if you are looking for an unusual gift, if you cannot think of what to get him or her for Christmas then take a look at having a portrait painting done.

take a look and let me know what you think. All comments and criticism of the site will be greatfully received.

I have just setup a new website to sell portrait paintings which are done from photographs of the subject.

They make ideal gifts and can be posted anywhere worldwide.

People who want their portrait painted simply upload their photos and then they are passed onto the relevant artist who begins work on the painting.

Once complete a photo is sent to the client of the work who then approves the painting and pays for it.

The portrait is then posted out to by recorded delivery.

All this is done on auto-pilot. All we have to do is match up the custmer with the artist and take our cut.

The hardest bit is to promote the site and this is the skill that few people have.

Fortunately for me and not wanting to be big headed, but I am pretty good at it

Check out the site www.PortraitPaintingGallery.com and look for Isabellas Portrait. It is Stunning and very reasonably priced too.

In fact here it is as well as a couple of other recent paintings that they have done.