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Table of Contents for this issue.....

1.    Authors Comments

2.    Q & A, Suggestions and Comments

3.    Web 2.0

4.    Becoming the Spider: Next Generation SEO Tactics

Author's Comments

Issue Theme

The theme of this issue is Web 2.0.  What is it and how do we use it to our advantage?  Read on for the answers.

Problems with the Survey from Last Week

We use Askdatabase.com for the surveys that we conduct and it let us down last weekend.  We set up the survey and tested it Friday night.  Sometime after we went to bed, the Askdatabase server shut down.  It was down all weekend and was finally restored after 9:00AM on Monday.

As I said in the mid week reminder email, this was beyond our control.

Some readers did go back and complete the survey and that is sincerely appreciated.  If you did not, please complete it now.  It is quick and clean and will take less than a minute of your time (on broadband).

Thanks in advance for your input.  We really value it so we can shape Boomer eZine in the future.

Please complete the following short survey at

http://tinyurl.com/2eez4k

Q & A, Suggestions and Comments  

Change of Style  

I have been chastised by our most faithful reader that I did not need to change my writing style.  She said that she felt that I was “shouting at her”.  You know what?  Linda agreed with her.  What can I say when two intelligent ladies tell me to change my ways?  

I wrote a review page for the Only the Best section on the Boomer eZine website, and I asked my son, Justin, to critique it for me.  He told me that I used BOLD so much that he became desensitized to it.  

OK.  I promise to tone down the use of BOLD in the eZine.  Thanks to all for their feedback.  I am always mindful that you, our readers, are whom I am trying to please.  And I will write to do so.  

Here is an email from Calum Nairn, one of our new subscribers

HI

I am sure this is not a new one to you guys but, I have just started (4 wks of 4 hrs per night) to look into working at home opportunities.

As you will know there are millions a promising huge numbers and wealth. I am looking to replace a modest income (but would accept more).  am more than happy to spend 6/8 hrs per day working at it. So it would seem that I am one of millions looking for "the way" everyone it would seem wants money up front to show you "the way", where is one to start? Also all this talk about big money and millionaires, is it possible? I know from a retail point of view that the internet has the "potential" to allow more Traffic to browse your store, which intern has the potential of turning into sales. So I guess that would lead to the question to where is the proof, can it be delivered via the internet in a believable way, I guess the one that can do that is the millionaire.
 
Yours Sincerely
 
Calum (lost in hyperspace)Nairn 

John’s reply …..  

Calum, 

It seems that the entire world is searching the Internet for the pot of gold.  I can see from your email that you have discovered that it does not exist. 

I do not have the magic pill or I would be taking it myself. 

My advice is to continue to do your research and spend the time studying the various legitimate business models on the Net to see which one fits you and your lifestyle the best.  Don ’t be charmed by the get rich schemes that are a dime a dozen.  The only person getting rich is the crook that is selling them. 

Our site at www.retirement-jobs-online.com gives a good overall education of the various choices for online work.  From it you can probably narrow down your choices and experiment with some of the options. 

You may have read the article that I published in the Boomer eZine http://www.boomer-ezine.com/V1I41_011907.htm called Plan for Starting a Business on the Internet.  It was in answer to a subscriber who wanted to jump start a business, but you can get some ideas from it. 

The two quickest ways to get started on the Net are on eBay and as an affiliate using the Google Adwords program.  eBay is fairly low risk.  Adwords has risk associated with it, but you can limit the risk by setting daily budgets so you do not loose a lot of money if your campaigns do not take off right away. 

I just finished reading Chris Carpenter's “Google Cash” ebook and it might help you with your research on starting with Google Adwords.  I wrote a review about it in the current eZine.  I have used the book for about two years for the campaigns that I run. 

Good luck.  Good luck comes to those who work hard and smart.  It sounds like that fits you. 

End of reply  

If you have anything for this section or you have a suggestion for a topic for an article, please go to http://www.boomer-ezine.com/Suggestion_Form1.htm and give us your input.  With your input, we can improve the Boomer Video eZine.  

Web 2.0  

You have probably seen the term “Web 2.0” in newsletters and in information that you have read on the Net recently.  Let’s explore this revolution that is sweeping the Internet.  

There is great debate over the actual definition of Web 2.0, but the term implies a new generation of activity on the Internet.  

The term was coined by O’Rielly Media in 2004 to refer to a perceived or proposed second generation of Web-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. (Information derived from Wikipedia).  

I perceive the start of Web 2.0 as the point where applications began to allow the user to easily publish information on the Internet.  To many, this would be the advent of blogs which revolutionized Internet publishing.  No longer did you have to have a domain or a website to publish on the Net.  Just establish an account on Blogger.com and you were publishing on the Net in 15 minutes.  

Some people point to Amazon as a starting point for self-publishing.  Amazon allowed readers to publish reviews on its site as early as 1995.  

The applications under Web 2.0 have multiplied at an amazing rate.  

We now have the following (to name a few) that loosely fall into Web 2.0:  

We discussed many of these Web 2.0 applications in the Boomer eZine without actually mentioning that fact that they were a part of the Web 2.0 phenomenon.  

Just for a quick review, here are the topics and the locations of the information.  

Blogs and blogging http://www.boomer-ezine.com/V1I12_063006.htm  

RSS http://www.boomer-ezine.com/V1I13_070706.htm  

Del.icio.us and social bookmarking sites  

http://www.boomer-ezine.com/V1I38_122906.htm

http://www.boomer-ezine.com/V1I39_010507.htm  

Onlywire.com http://www.boomer-ezine.com/V1I39_010507.htm    

 The key to success on the Net is to recognize an opportunity and capitalize on the opportunity.  

The applications included in Web 2.0 all present tremendous opportunities for online entrepreneurs.  

Guest Author - Titus Hoskins  

I read this article about Web 2.0 on the Site Pro News.  It fits well with our issue theme of Web 2.0  

Becoming the Spider:

Next Generation SEO Tactics

By Titus Hoskins © 2007

Just when you believed you had all your SEO tactics figured out, the web goes and changes on you. Not just the rules of the game but it takes the whole web platform right out from under your feet and changes it. What's a poor webmaster to do?

Web 2.0 changes the whole ballgame. It not only places the Internet user squarely in the middle of things, but it gives that user the means and power to create and manipulate data. Web 2.0 dramatically changes how we view and use the web. Actually, in many respects, it creates a whole new Internet.

What Is Web 2.0?

Just what exactly is Web 2.0? What does it mean? Is there a precise definition that all webmasters can get their heads around and understand? Not really, many believe Web 2.0 is just another one of those contrived buzzwords, signifying mostly marketing hype!

However, perhaps the simple definition can be found in the word "you"! Time magazine probably summed it up best by making reference to the "you" in user generated content. Web 2.0 is basically all the platforms that give us this brave new user-powered interactive Internet, generally referred to as 'social media'.

Web 2.0 can be seen or manifested in such sites as YouTube, MySpace, Del.icio.us, Digg, Squidoo... Web 2.0 uses scripting languages such as Python, Perl PHP, RSS... to construct interactive platforms that websites can use to create all this user-generated content.

Many refer to these evolving formats and scripting platforms under the name AJAX and no this does not refer to the popular cleaning agent under your kitchen sink! This AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScrípt and XML) comes from Google and takes web based interactive programs such as Google Maps, something that's usually associated with desktop applications, but is now being applied on the web. If you have used Google Earth, you will realize how powerful and revolutionary these new applications can be, not to mention, they are a whole lot of fun.

Where Did The Name Web 2.0 Come From?

Many point to Tim O'Reilly, the constant innovator of many technological changes on the web. O'Reilly has been at the forefront in discussions and conferences on the nature and substance of the 'meme' open source platforms dominating the new social media.

How all this new media plays out is anyone's guess, but all webmasters should optimize their sites for this new Web 2.0 and take full advantage of all the SEO possibilities presented by this brave new Internet.

Here are a few SEO suggestions you can try:

1. RSS/Blogging: You must place a blog and RSS feed on all your sites. This is a fairly simple procedure to do with frëe server-based programs such as Wordpress. Having a blog and RSS feed will place your site into the whole tagging process. Each category you create in your blog will be seen as a tag by such sites as Technorati. RSS stands for 'Really Simple Syndication' and your RSS feeds will get your content distributed across the web. A simple and easy way to tap into the new Web 2.0 universe.

2. Create some Google Juice!: Join as many of these highly interactive sites as you can: MySpace, YouTube, Del.icio.us, Digg, Wikipedia ... my favorite is Squidoo, where you can create Lenses on different topics that interest you. User driven content that's utilized by all the major social media sites. Of course, link back to your sites in your posts and creations in these user-created content havens and watch your PR ratings go way up.

3. Use Interactive Scrípts: Place interactive JavaScrípts and platforms on your own sites. Have membership forums, polls, blogs, feedback forms, user-contributions... to build unique content driven sites. Become the spider!

4. Tagging (Folksonomy): Be constantly aware of the tags (keywords) you're creating with your blogs and sites. This can have a very beneficial effect on your traffíc and rankings. Closely relate these tags to the content on your sites and build higher rankings in all the major search engines.

5. The Long Tail: Especially important for affiliate marketers, you need to cover special niches where there is less competition and content. These narrow niches make up a large portion of the whole vast web, creating content in these unique areas will get your site included in the search engines a lot quicker and keep them there a lot longer.

6. Holistic Web 2.0: Be constantly vigilant in placing your sites in the whole 'Interactive Game', building links and partnerships with the important YouHubs: MySpace, Del.icio.us, YouTube, Digg, Squidoo... the more connections you have, the more your own sites will prosper.

Be The Spider!

No doubt, Web 2.0 will play an ever increasing role in the development and evolution of the web. Make sure your sites are optimized and in the 'You' game. Create blogs, RSS feeds, interactive forums, membership areas, user-generated content and truly make your sites interactive havens in their own right. Just remember to tag everything and your sites will reap the benefits of this new Web 2.0 generated SEO gold rush.

About The Author

The author is a full time Internet Mark eter with numerous sites on the web, including two niche sites on Internet Mark eting. His main site is Internet Marketing Tools. For the latest and most effective marketing tools try: Marketing Tool Guide Copyright © 2007 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed with box intact.  

That wraps up our issue for this week.  Until next week, stay tuned.  

John and Linda Howe

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