Thursday, December 29, 2005

The Diet Season

Hi.
Sorry its taken so long to update you with the latest news about what's going on at ItsTheRightWay.com but I've been working on updating all of my major stores and columns to our new look and feel. I have also been working on our Diet & Health Center.
Many of you will think that I'm just trying to make a buck by promoting the advertisers and services in the center. While I do want to make money I can assure you that I'm very passionate about the services that I'm promoting.

In the diet section I promote a number of weight loss programs. I started my journey of losing weight and leading a healthier lifestyle about five months ago and I'm trying to pass on my new found passion to my visitors.
That's why I've included the Weight Tracker Zone (my personal weight loss story) in the Diet & Health Center.

I'm also promoting smoking cessation programs as well. I saw my uncle dying from emphysema (caused from smoking) when I was only six years old. I vowed never to start smoking and I have kept my word.
If you're a smoker and can use the products that I'm promoting on my site then my job has been done well and I commend you on the journey that you're taking.

I really want to bring products and services that can help my visitors lead a healthy lifestyle and if I can make a living doing this, then that would be icing on the cake. My main goal is serving you, my customers and visitors.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

We would like to wish all our customers and visitors a happy and healthy Christmas, Chanukah, Kwansaa and New Year.
You have made it a banner year at ItsTheRightWay.com and we would like to thank you for that.

It's because of you that we tripled our growth in the past year. Most of that growth has come in the past 9 months. We measure our success by how satisfied our visitors are. We are pleased that we are receiving the highest number of repeat visitors to our site.

Many of you have been kind enough to send us your comments on how we can improve your experience with us. We rely on this feedback so that we can serve you better.

We look forward to serving you in 2006 and hope that your website experience on our site becomes even more enjoyable.

Anthony
Owner
ItsTheRightWay.com

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

UPDATE!

Our Rush, free and reduced shipping for the holidays page is now up and running. We are still working on updating the site with more merchants but you can still take advantage of the free shipping and offers available to you.

To visit the rush, free and reduced shipping page click here.

Enjoy your evening.
Last Minute Shipping For The Holidays

We are working on providing our visitors with a listing of vendors who will provide Rush, free and reduced shipping for the holidays. Look for the list of vendors providing this service to be available within 24 hours. You will be able visit the site by clicking here.

We are now two thirds through our re-design of our shopping pages. Our Products pages are complete and you can visit the products page listing by clicking here.

Now on to our featured article.

Designing Your Website For Your Visitors & Customers and Not The Search Engines

It seems that every two to three months Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts come up with a new twist of what they believe the three major search engines are looking for when ranking web pages and sites. The SEO experts encourage website designers and owners to implement what they think are required design changes.

While you may want to keep up with the latest trends in SEO developments and from time to time you may want to implement SEO techniques, you should base most of your website design decisions on your customers needs. Many sites go through minor and major re-designs of their website periodically. These re-designs should be made based on providing customer value and not solely based on trying to receive better search engine placement

I believe that viewer and customer feedback is the best way to know what your customers desire. This information can then be used to help you design the site to their specifications.

Many SEO experts believe that website developers should never link to sites with a PR (page rank) of less then 3. They feel that the three major search engines (Yahoo, Google and MSN) will penalize websites who link to low PR sites.

I think that this is ridiculous. If a website can provide value to your customers and visitors then you should link to that site, no matter what that site’s PR is.

I believe that this is acting in good faith. I believe that this ideology is providing value to the search engines, because you will be linking to sites that are providing value to your visitors.

I also believe that search engines are looking for quality and reliability in their search results. Content driven and popular sites should eventually be listed highly in the search engines.

As owner of ItsTheRightWay.com I believe that it’s my duty to inform our visitors about quality sites that may be of value to them.

If all web owners were to do business in this manner then eventually it will lead to valuable and quality sites being listed in Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Midweek Posting - Featured Products Page

We have decided to do a periodic mid-week update on one of our virtual shopping pages/stores.

This week we are featuring our Game and Toy page. If you are looking for that special game or toy to give as a gift for the holiday season then our game and toy page is just the place for you.

We have gmaes in the following categories:
Action Figures
Animal Alley
Arts & Crafts
Barbie

Building/Models
Care Bears
Dolls
Fisher-Price
G.I. Joe
Games
Puzzles
Stuffed Animals

Vehicles

We hope that you enjoy your shopping experience with us. As always, if you need to contact us you can email us at support@itstherightway.com.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

This is a short update today. There isn’t much to report. We are moving along with our updates to our products pages.
Initial feedback with the completed pages have been very positive. Our customers like the design and format of the new products pages and find it easy to navigate from page to page.
The new design also makes it easier to find the product that you are looking for.
You can find our products pages at http://www.itstherightway.com/productspages.html.
Our latest update has been completed for our Toy and Games product page.

Now on to our featured commentary.
Charity Without Judgement

I sat down with my wife last week to discuss the charities that we would be giving to this holiday season. We have some tough decisions to make and want to do what we can to make a difference in people’s lives. As we started to narrow down our choices I caught myself saying “I’ll give to this charity but not that because…..” I was starting to judge the very people that I was attempting to help.
My parents taught me to be a compassionate person who should give to charity and try to make a difference in people’s lives. They taught me to respect people who are less fortunate then myself and not to judge a person because they might need society’s help.
My synagogue and its Rabbis pass on the same message every week at services. I was embarrassed by my actions. My wife and I decided that we would give to our desired charities but would not judge the people who may receive our charitable contributions.
I really do believe that charity should be about making a difference in our society. We should respect people that are less fortunate then ourselves and we should do it in a way that still allows them to carry out their lives with dignity.
I know all too well the feeling of experiencing tough times. I know how hard it is to make ends meet during these tough times. I’m a hard working person and know that sometimes tough times are out of our control.
Our family was great and still allowed us to have dignity. They respected us and gave us the emotional support that allowed us to keep our head held high.
I vowed to always respect other people. I vowed to try and make a difference in other people’s lives. A little respect goes a long way in helping another person to gain the dignity that they need to go on with life.
This holiday season if I see a person with their hand held out, I plan to help them to the best of my ability without judging them or asking any questions.
I urge you to do the same thing. Being liberal or conservative has nothing to do with human compassion. Human compassion comes from within and both liberal and conservative ideology teaches us to be respectful of others.
Together we can make America an even stronger, greater and prosperous nation.
Anthony B. is the founder and owner of ItsTheRightWay.com - a news, political, and sports commentary website.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Today's post is realtively short. We have a couple of announcemnts about what's new at ItsTheRightWay.com. After the updates sit back and enjoy our featured article an article titled Business Relationhips Built On Trust, Reliability, Honesty and Integrity

Updates:
1) We are in the process of updating our products pages. We have updated about a 3rd of our products pages and then will turn our attention to our specialty stores. The new look makes it easier to search for the products that you are looking for.

2)We are pleased to announce that ItsTheRightWay.com is now acceping classified ad listings in over 15 category areas. Check us out by clicking here. Ads start as low as $14.95.

Now enjoy our fetaured article of the week.

Business Relationhips Built On Trust, Reliability, Honesty and Integrity
I recently spent time analyzing what guides me in my business relationships as owner. It didn’t take me long to narrow down four key elements that I incorporate into my business transactions and relationships. In fact, my business relationships are an extension of how I interact in my personal relationships. Why shouldn’t my customers and business partners receive the same standards that my friends and family receive in my personal relationships?
The four key elements of my business relationships are:
Trust - I need to be able to trust a business partner and vendor. If I find that a partner is not living up to their obligations in being trustworthy, then I need to sever that relationship. I believe that the same expectation must be extended by me to my customers and business partners. If I’m not honest with my customers and business partners then why would they continue to do business with me? They wouldn’t.
Business relationships are a two way street. Both parties should come out of the relationship having gained something. If only one party wins, then it’s an unfair relationship.
Reliability – I believe that it’s my duty as a business person to offer reliable services to my customers. In the case of my business, most of my products and services are provided by third party advertisers. I receive a commission when my site leads to a confirmed sale. While my legal obligations are minimized, I do my best to partner with reliable advertisers.
I always allow customer feedback and encourage my site visitors to contact me if they encounter problems. I do my best to resolve any issues that my visitors may have. In this way I’m providing my visitors/customers with a reliable outlet to conduct their shopping transactions.
Honesty – Since my site ItsTherightWay.com is a news and sports commentary website, my obligation to my visitors is to provide them with honest content. When providing a commentary to my visitors, I’m honest and to the point. I present the facts the way that I see them. While my visitors may disagree with my point of view, they hopefully will come to see me as an honest person.
I believe that people need to present the truth as they see it and be honest with their customers, visitors and business partners. If your partners and customers see you as an honest person then they will be more likely to do more business with you.
It’s definitely in your best interest as a businessperson to conduct yourself in an honest manner.
Integrity – Integrity is defined by dictionary.com as having a strong moral and ethical code. In my personal life I think about how my maker would want me to act in a certain situation. This guides me in me in all my relationships.
Each person has a different code of morals and ethics and I’m not saying that it has to come from religion.
I believe that every businessperson needs to form their own code of conduct. That code of conduct needs to have a set of morals and ethics. This set of morals and ethics is like a road map and must be consistently applied.
If you adhere to your set of morals and ethics you will conduct yourself with integrity. Your business partners and customers will see you as a principled person who has a set of standards that can be trusted.
I believe that incorporating trust, reliability, honesty and integrity into your business relationships are vital to being a success in business.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Friday, November 04, 2005

Affiliate Best Practices

This week we want to focus on affiliate marketing and the practices that an affiliate should focus on.
ItsTheRightWay.com receives its revenue from affiliate marketing. We place an advertiser's ad on our website and earn a commission from that advertiser.

So what are the best practices?
1)Research the advertiser prior to joining - An affiliate should always research an advertiser prior to joining that merchants program. The affiliate needs to make sure that their marketing tools are in line with the advertiser's.
Try to get as much info about the advertiser to make sure that your ethical or business standards are a match with the advertiser's.

2) Abide by the advertiser's terms - Each advertiser spells out codes of conduct or terms of use for an affiliate's involvement in their program. An affiliate should make sure that they are able to abide by those terms prior to joining an affiliate program.
Its' not fair to the advertiser if an affiliate joins a program but is unwilling or unable to follow the programs' rules.
Each advertiser sets out rules because they know what works for their company. Affiliates have the advantage of promoting a program that has been researched and marketed by the advertiser.

ItsTheRightway.com recently dropped out of an affiliate program because it was unable to abide by an updated affiliate policy. We didn't think it was fair to the advertiser or ethical to continue in a program that we couldn't abide by.

3) Follow best Practices - I believe it's necessary to follow ethical and moral standards when marketing a merchant.
We believe that it's unethical to click on an advertiser's ads (to inflate clickthroughs and revenue) unless you are testing to see if the link is still valid.
It's also a bad practice to have your friends, family or employees click on a merchant affiliate's ads to inflate revenue.

Another bad practice is using software that generates false or misleading clickthroughs. We believe that this is the same as stealing. We aren't talking about traffic programs that you may join. We are talking about software installed on your site that falsely clicks on advertisements.
All clicks must be valid and viewed by a real person. Traffic programs (where you join a traffic network) are real and proper forms of marketing.

4) Market the program in good faith - If you join a program you must make all attempts to adeqautely market that advertiser. You should also refrain from misleading your visitors about a particular merchant. Follow the marketing tools provided by the merchant and always be honest and ethical when marketing a particular program.

We know that we're all human and may inadvertently break a rule from time to time but we believe that if you follow ethical business standards then revenues will fall into place. Your customers and business partners will respect you and be willing to do business with you.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Customer Service

On Tuesday I walked into a store and was browsing around for a particular product. The store didn't have it. I approached a customer service representative and asked them where I could find the item. After receiving some blank stares, I was told that they didn't know where I could find the product.

I went home and spent a couple of hours trying to track down the product. I eventually did and placed my order. This incident led me to ask, what is real customer service? Is real customer service providing value and service to paying customers only? Do you have an obligation to help the customer even when you don't carry an item?

I would say that good customer service is always looking out for the interests of your customer, even when a sale will not occur. If your customer is looking for a particular item or service and you can help them get it, even from a different vendor, I believe you have a duty to the customer to inform them of that information.

This recently happened with one of my customers. I didn't carry the item but I knew where that person could find it and directed her to that vendor.

Why would I do that? The reason is goodwill. Putting your customer first will create goodwill for you and your business. Many customers will remember the dedication and quality customer service that you provided and may be inclined to visit you in the future. So future sales may be materialized.

The vendor that you referred the customer to may also be inclined to forward their customers to you. Many vendors will appreciate the business that you sent them and will send customers to you when their inventory of a certain product doesn't exist.

Finally, you should do it for your customer. Putting the customer first will foster an environment where you will be more likely to provide a special experience for your customers.

So now onto our weekly update. This past week-end we added our newest store called Quickpicks where you can download your movie rentals right onto your computer. We will be adding audiobooks for your purchase within the next week.

At ItsTherightWay.com we listen to our customer and visitor feedback. We listened to what you had to say and we re-designed our online shopping mall. In the next few days we will be updating new merchants to the mall. When completed we will have over 200 merchants. We are live so you can visit us today to take advantage of what the mall ha to offer.

We look forward to seeing you at ItsTheRightWay.com.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Welcome to What's happening. We will update you weekly on what's happening at ItsTherightway.com a news, politcal and sports commentary site. ItsTheRightWay.com is also a shopping site with products and savings in just about every category.

We have over 200 merchants listed on our site and some of them are America's biggest retailers such as Target, Walmart, Overstock.com and Travelocity.

You can visit our main page at www.itstherightway.com.

Our Savings page is located at www.itstherightway.com/savings.html and our products page is located at www.itstherightway.com/productspage.html.

So what's new?
In our commentary area we recenlty posted a commentary titled Character? The commentary looks into the lack of character displayed by the Minnesota Vikings. Visit the commentary at www.itstherightway.com/character.html.

We also recenlty added the Vikings Football Zone which comments on the Minnesota Vikings. Visit the zone at www.itstherightway.com/fantasy.html.

In our shopping area we added a new page called It's The Season, which features seasonal savings and promotions. Currently we are featuring Halloween savings. So visit us today at www.itstherightway.com/seasons.html to get nice savings on your costume, candy and other Halloween purchases.

We also recently posted new and exciting products in our gift (balloon, flower and candy bouquets) and toys (Batman, Spiderman, Caillou and SpongeBob Squarepants toys) pages.

We would love to see you at ItsTheRightWay.com.
FYI our owner Anthony is an expert author on ezinearticles.com.
email us at support@itstherightway.com.