Note: Please don't use any hotmail, yahoo, zwallet addresses nor autoresponders. These will not subscribe you. Also, by subscribing to our Pathway To Success Ezine you expressly request to receive our regular newsletter and agree to in-house and third party advertising contained therein.

Publishing dates:
'Pathway To Success' is published every other Sunday.
Next Issue is supposed on 23rd Sept 2007.

Today's Feature Article

Suicide in Cyberspace - Your Outward Links Can Kill Your Rankings
Ben Kemp

Link building strategies have, for most people for a long time, revolved around reciprocal link exchanges. Whilst most people understand that links are important, they generally don't understand why this is so. In a nutshell, a link to your site has traditionally been accepted by Search Engines as a vote for your site. A link from a topic or theme-related site to yours is better than a link from a site having a completely different topic. An important site link to yours carries more weight - for example from The Open Directory, or Yahoo Directory. All pretty straightforward...

BUT... the rules have changed... significantly! All the thinking webmasters worked diligently to build links - willy-nilly - in order to subvert the search engine rankings and gain an advantage to themselves at the expense of everyone else. For a long time, there have been mutterings about this, and comments from Google staffers about possible penalties from linking to "bad neighbourhoods'" and - heaven forbid it - buying links! Google et al simply don't approve of willy-nilly link- building schemes, and have recently tightened the screws a bit more, in two notable ways...

Bad Links

Some links are bad... for example, if you are a car sales company and you've got dozens of completely irrelevant links to international hotel sites... yeah, YOU know the ones! in Prague, Munich, Shanghai etc! That's a BAD neighbourhood over there! That IS going to put a world of hurt on you! And as for the Free-For-All link sites, web rings, and 3 way link schemes... that's just suicide in cyberspace! Why? Coz its a blatant and completely indefensible attempt at cheating the system!

Reciprocal Links - Almost a Waste of Effort

Reciprocal links are still of some value, providing the link titles are explicit, and if the page they link to you from has a higher Page Rank than the page from which you link to them. The concept of a link to you being a vote for you, and being added to your site's Total Vote Count has a flip side. A link from you to someone else essentially deducts one vote from your total vote count... meaning its value is minimal when compared to a 1-way incoming back- link!

1-Way Outward Links Are Toxic

Ok, lets assume you are a service provider, maybe a health clinic, and you deal with hospitals, other doctors, specialists, nurses, laboratories. So, as a benefit to your visitors, you place direct links to their web resources on your links page. Is that clever?

Most certainly it is NOT! Transfusion time, because you'll be haemorrhaging Page Rank with nothing in return! Do it, but be smart about it, because there is NOTHING to be gained (by you) from linking to any site that does not link back. So make sure your links include the "nofollow" attribute that tells SE's that the link is NOT a vote by your site for that site!

Link Content Is Mission Critical

This is mission critical because Google and others have decided that they can't trust you to be honest about your site! Basically, it seems like there are two web tribes - those who know not so much about how things work, and those who know more than they should. There should also be a flourishing third tribe, who just build great sites with lots of terrific content that automatically ranks highly - but nobody's seen nuthin' from those guys for ages!

The tribe who know more than they should ruthlessly manipulate every available loophole to dominate search engine rankings, at the expense of those who have yet to read SEO For Dummies. Therefore, Google decided that its essential that there is some external correlation between what YOU say your site is about, and what OTHER people say your site is about... This is done by analysing the words in the Link Title on all links pointing to your site. Bottom line here is - if a keyword phrase does NOT appear on links to your site, you ain't gonna rank for that phrase!

For many established sites, this is the main reason they might have experienced a noticeable decline in rankings in the last few months. Most older sites will have a majority of incoming links based on their business name, and NOT on their activities / products / services / location etc. To use the common "widgets" analogy - if you are selling " widgets" and all your incoming link Titles have only your business name e.g. Smiths Manufacturing Co Ltd, it's now very difficult for you to rank for "widgets"!

Backlink analysis reveals this shortcoming rather quickly and, lucky for you, it is possible to remedy this by building 1-way incoming back-links using multiple Title / Description combinations that contain a good spread of relevant keywords. It does require some keyword research, and it is tedious - but if you don't do it, you are certainly not going forwards! But your competitors might be...

********************************
Ben Kemp is a free-lance search engine optimisation consultant and web designer. He offers free SEO articles & web design tips, see The SEO Guys Blog. http://www.comauth.co.nz

Today's Motivational Reading

Achieve Success the Easy Way!
Irena Whitfield

Not everyone achieves success: it is just a plain, sad truth of life. There are winners and losers in this world, and even though generally, everyone can become successful, it simply doesn't happen. Why?

Most people want to be in the group of winners but unfortunately many remain where they stand. As you know well, being successful means to stand above the others around you or to know more that the one next to you or simply excel in something.

You should learn how to achieve bigger success than your colleagues and how to work for success. Success doesn’t come free or cheap: you have to pay for it. Most times the price paid is not in money but in time, effort and sacrifice. Too many people don't realize that this is the highest price one can pay. Once you lose or waste your time, it's gone; you will never be given it back.

Most of the unsuccessful people say that to achieve success is difficult. Basically, to be successful means you have to work hard, be educated, and above all have a bit of luck, which also means be ready for luck. Plus, you often have to try many times until you achieve real success. In other words: all successful people are willing to do what is necessary to do when it is necessary to do and what others are not willing to do.

Failure, on the other hand is simple: you do what all the others do or not do, you procrastinate, look for excuses instead of action, make all the wrong choices, avoid responsibility and learning and so on. Although it is not obvious, to become a failure is also a choice, but an easy choice attainable at the first try.

Here are 10 practical rules for achieving success the easy way:

1. Find a purpose in life, create a plan and start living by it.

2. Focus on your strengths and success.

3. Develop positive attitudes. Think success.

4. Decide and act fast when faced with a true opportunity. If you come across something you really want, don’t let the chance pass by. This might be the last one you may ever get.

5. Give up bad habits and develop desirable habits: eat well and regularly, get enough sleep, go to a gym or just jogging. Give up watching television, or playing games.

6. Develop passion for what you do, constantly learn, keep an open and flexible mind.

7. Get disciplined and organized, work more effectively and efficiently.

8. Keep your sense of humor.

9. Cherish everything you have and get, start developing the lifestyle you dream of.

10. Persevere, have faith and work hard.

I firmly believe that if you consider the above, you will clearly see that you have already adopted most of it and success is the only and most natural choice for you. Am I right?

No? Look again!

********************************
You can unleash the Success Mindset and create the life you have always dreamed of, no matter what it is, NOW! Get a free 10-part guide to success series and change your mind, change your life. Click here: http://www.thecassiopeia.com/GuideToSuccess/

Today's Subscriber Article

Explode Your Business With Viral Marketing!
Justin Blake

Creativity.

This is one virtue a site must possess to lead the race in the ruthless competition in the Internet based business. With so much competition and rivalry going on, every method of marketing must be employed and utilized.

It doesn’t matter if you have a killer product or a fantastically designed website, if people don’t know that you exist, it doesn’t matter, and you are not going to make it big. Worst of all, you business could just get killed.

While there are so many methods and schemes used by so many e-commerce sites today, there are still some of those that can help you with an extra boost in the popularity ratings. One of these is the so called Viral Marketing.

While the term Viral easily depicts a virus, a word very much dreaded by all computer owners, it is not what it seems. You do not actually use a computer virus to spread your business; on the contrary it just might kill you. Everyone has had enough of all those pop up ads and spyware.

Viral Marketing Overview

Viral Marketing also known otherwise as Viral Advertising is a marketing technique used to build the public awareness of one’s product or company. They use many forms of media to reach out to the public without actually promoting the product by riding on in other forms of addictive means that could get a person hooked and be obliged or amused to actually pass it on, with the product or company advertisement along with it.

In a nutshell, companies ride on the idea that if people like the content of a media they will pass it on to their friends and family. They sponsor the certain media, such as a cool flash game, funny video, amusing story and such, which one may pass on to another with the company brand or logo or the products description or any other content to help promote the company or its product.

Viral marketing has become a popular means of advertising and marketing because they are relatively low cost. To avoid being tagged as spam mail, viral marketing counts on the eagerness of one person to pas on the product. If a person sees the name of the person they know as the sender, they won’t block it and open it as well.

Many companies offer incentives such as discounts and rebates when they help in spreading their viral marketing. They rely on the number of recipients a viral marketing gets from one person in determining the amount or number of incentive they can be attributed with.

Using Viral Marketing to your advantage

The main and foremost advantage of viral marketing is that you get a lot of publicity and public awareness about your site and your company. You get to generate a flow of traffic that are potential customers. With a little ingenuity and imagination, plus some incentives or prizes, you can reach out to a great number of people and announce your existence.

Most sites and companies are catching on to the effectiveness of Viral Marketing and Advertising. Not using it could kill your business. Along with other schemes and methods in promoting your site, like Search Engine Optimization and such, viral marketing could easily push you ahead in the rating games.

Viral Marketing could be a sneaky way to get people to know about you and your company. You get them to pass your advertisement along. They are also very low cost that not investing in it could be downright a business suicide. All it takes is a great idea, a good addicting game, a funny story many ideas are still out there. Create gossip or a buzz. Many movies are promoted by using scandals and gossips to make them more popular. Remember the movie The Blair Witch Project?

Many big companies have tried viral marketing and have had many success stories with it. A classic example is Microsoft’s Hotmail. They were the first known big company to utilize the scheme and it has worked wonders for them.

Now it’s your turn to use viral marketing to work wonders for you. Act now and reap the benefits Viral Marketing will provide for you and your sales figures.

****************************************
Justin Blake one of the web's foremost experts in Viral Marketing. He has recently created a brand new viral marketing resource to help online business owners radically increase their profits and subscriber base, and you can find out more about this incredible resource here: http://www.thecassiopeia.com/viraldesktop.html

To listen to a new Top Show, click the picture.

To Get FREE Tips, Books, Software,
Subscribe by clicking here!

Subscribe to 'Pathway To Success' Published every other Sunday, our FREE Ezine helps Subscribers to succeed in their online home business providing them with hot marketing tips, top webmaster resources, articles, motivational reading, FREE Ads, Subscriber Corner, Web Lions Library, Bonuses and more. Check current visitor Issue. Click here!   Click for Free Sign Up! Don't forget to collect YOUR FREE Bonuses! Get Your Special Motivational and Big 2007 Contest Calendar, Insider Tips PLUS More Bonuses! Note: Please do NOT use any aol, hotmail, yahoo, zwallet addresses nor autoresponders. These will NOT subscribe you. Also, by subscribing to Pathway To Success Ezine you expressly request to receive our regular newsletter and agree to in-house and third party advertising contained therein. Privacy Guarantee: Your privacy is 100% guaranteed. We never share any personal data incl email addresses with any third party, we do not even store email addresses on third party servers. Privacy Policy HOT! Now you can get the full RSS Reader bringing you all the news from Pathway To Success Ezine Portal. Click the image on the right to download.

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.
Woodrow Wilson

NEW! Install our new toolbar, get special business information fast and be informed the minute hot items are out, incl Articles in Subscriber Corner, new Pathway To Success Issues and much more. http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/theCassi1.html

Note: Download the above file, unzip and install. When you open a new browser window, the toolbar should be there. If not, please go to 'View', 'Toolbars' and you will see 'theCassiopeia's' - click on it and the toolbar will display.

Whenever there's a new item, an icon will blink. Click on it and it will take you straight to the information.

Important: you can have a toolbar of your own below. It's an amazing tool: easy to create, easy to use, easy to update, unobtrusive, bringing unbelievable results PLUS endless makreting and other possibilities limited only by your imagination. Definitely a tool of the future. I even created several for my own use containing the information I need and use regularly.
http://www.thecassiopeia.com/toolbar/

*******************************

Get one of the Feature Ads in our Ezine:
http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebmasterMall/EzineAdPrices.html

Our 2 x 2 Perpetual Reentry Matrix Cycles Fast!

Administration

***************************************************** The articles published here may be reprinted or used freely as long as it is in its entirety incl the resource box of the author *****************************************************

If you want quality sticky content for your site, put the below piece of code to your page where you want the current Pathway To Success Issue to appear - copy and paste:

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://www.thecassiopeia.com/content1.js"></script>

Note: check what it looks like Click here

Get my RSS feed to your site - copy and paste the code into your page where you want fresh content to appear:

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE=JavaScript SRC=http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/rss2js.php?src=http://www.thecassiopeia.com/xml/thecassiopeiaweb.xml&chan=yes&
num=0&desc=yes&date=yes>
</script>

Note: check what it looks like Click here

For All Information For Free Syndicated Content for Your Site Click here

<%@ page import="java.net.*"%> <%@ page import="java.io.*"%> <%@ page import="javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory"%> <%@ page import="javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException"%> <%@ page import="org.xml.sax.SAXException"%> <%@ page import="org.w3c.dom.*"%> <%@ page import="java.util.*"%> <%! // The following code was graciously provided by Armond Avanes (http://www.armondavanes.com) private String tla_ads( HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response ) throws IOException, ParserConfigurationException, SAXException { // Number of seconds before connection to XML times out // (This can be left the way it is) int CONNECTION_TIMEOUT = 10; // Local file to store XML // This file MUST be writable by web server // You should create a blank file and CHMOD it to 666 String LOCAL_XML_FILENAME = "local_95577.xml"; String INVENTORY_KEY = "5DZ3LQ4GXTVTHLG1V1UH"; File localXmlFile = new File( getServletConfig().getServletContext().getRealPath(LOCAL_XML_FILENAME ) ); if( !localXmlFile.exists() ) { return( "Text Link Ads script error: " + localXmlFile.getName() + " does not exist. Please create a blank file named " + localXmlFile.getName() + "." ); } if( !localXmlFile.canWrite() ) { return( "Text Link Ads script error: " + localXmlFile.getName() + " is not writable. Please set write permissions on " + localXmlFile.getName() + "." ); } if( localXmlFile.lastModified()<(new Date().getTime() - 3600*1000) || localXmlFile.length()<20 ) { String request_uri = (request.getRequestURI()!=null) ? request.getRequestURI() : ""; String user_agent = (request.getHeader("User-Agent")!=null) ? request.getHeader("User-Agent") : ""; URL url = new URL("http://www.text-link-ads.com/xml.php?inventory_key=" + INVENTORY_KEY + "&referer=" + response.encodeURL( request_uri ) + "&user_agent=" + response.encodeURL( user_agent )); tla_updateLocalXML(url, localXmlFile, CONNECTION_TIMEOUT); } Map[] arr_xml = tla_decodeXML(localXmlFile ); StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer(); if( arr_xml!=null && arr_xml.length>0 ) { sb.append( "\n

\n" ); for( int i=0; i" ); sb.append( map.get("BeforeText") ); sb.append( " " + map.get("Text") + " " ); sb.append( map.get("AfterText") + "\n" ); } sb.append("

"); } return sb.toString(); } private void tla_updateLocalXML(URL url, File file, int time_out) throws IOException { file.setLastModified( new Date().getTime() ); String xml = file_get_contents_tla(url, time_out); if( xml!=null && !xml.trim().equals("") ) { FileWriter fw = new FileWriter(file); fw.write( xml ); fw.close(); } } private String file_get_contents_tla(URL url, int time_out) throws IOException { URLConnection urlConnection = url.openConnection(); //urlConnection.setConnectTimeout( time_out * 1000 ); //urlConnection.setReadTimeout( time_out * 1000 ); InputStream is = urlConnection.getInputStream(); StringBuffer content = new StringBuffer(); int ch; while( (ch=is.read())!=-1 ) content.append( (char)ch ); is.close(); return content.toString(); } private Map[] tla_decodeXML(File file) throws ParserConfigurationException, IOException, SAXException { Document dom = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance().newDocumentBuilder().parse( file ); Node linksRoot = dom.getFirstChild(); NodeList links = linksRoot.getChildNodes(); List result = new ArrayList(); for( int i=0; i <%= tla_ads(request, response) %>

Read what others say about Pathway To Success by clicking here!