Building a web site isn’t something that is really cut and dry. There’s a huge variety of products and services that can either help you get your web site where you want it or simply confuse you. It’s also important that you make the right choices upfront so that you don’t end up having to restructure your whole web site because of some problem in your design layout. The level of time investment neccessary for mastery in a lot of these software packages can range from little to a VERY significant amount. Because of this I feel it’s important to be lead in the “right” direction to make sure you don’t spend time in the wrong areas, or learning some software that might not be all that useful for you later on (*coughs* Frontpage *coughs*).

Where you should start greatly depends on what you plan on attempting to do, and how deep you’re going to dive in. For a moderately professional, clean looking web site without a lot of automation or intensive animated graphics you can probably get by with some basic knowledge of html, ability with a good WYSIWYG editor, and an image editting program. On the other hand, if you’re someone that’s looking to build something that will really wow your audience then you might consider spending some major time and developing some animation skills with a program like Macromedia Flash. I personally always spring for what I believe will bring me the greatest amount of profit with a minimal amount of effort, and because of this I usually end up spending all of my time diving in deeper with ONLY my WYSIWYG HTML editor, and my image editor.

## What is a “WYSIWYG” editor? ##
A WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor is what allows you to get by with minimal knowledge of HTML. Yes, that means you don’t have to know EVERYTHING about HTML to have a decent looking website. When you use a WYSIWYG editor it interprets what you’re doing (inserting an image for example) as being a certain series of HTML tags with attributes, and does it for you… Thus, what you see on your screen is what you get. Instead of seeing a bunch of HTML code in text format, you’ll mostly see what will actually show up in your browser once your web site is up WHILE you’re making it. I highly recommend using the latest version of dreamweaver — it is well-known as one of the best HTML editors by general consensus. Dreamweaver’s interface is very friendly, has a built in FTP client, and is specifically built to be flexible enough to suit both the coder and the everyday amatuer webmaster.

## Image editing? What do I need that for? ##
Okay, let’s be realistic here: If you’re going to make a professional *appearing* web site it’s important that you can make some basic, decent looking graphics. There’s a lot of graphics problems that can truly get the job done, but as far as power and flexibility goes I recommend Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop definitely takes some time getting used to, but in the end it’s VERY rewarding. I’ve ended up using my knowledge of Photoshop to make not only graphics for multiple web sites, but also touched up portraits, made business cards, flyers, and other online advertisments such as banners. Infact, I’ve used it for everything except animation… But it also comes with Adobe Imageready which is very good with animation. This software is amazing, and if you’re going to learn ANY image editing software I recommend you start with Photoshop because of it’s widerange of overall… usefulness!

## Let’s get me some sales! ##
Kick off your new web site you’ve gotten up from your knowledge of webmastering and image editing with a few new sales… Sounds like a plan? Well a great way to do that quickly is with pay-per-click advertising. BUT WAIT! Doesn’t that cost money? Well… Yes. But with the tools brought to us by some of the biggest pay-per-click advertisers out there we should be able to make a good evaluation of how much profit we’re going to make without much investment upfront.

The big question behind pay-per-click advertising is whether or not it’s worth the cash when you can simply get traffic from regular search engine ranking (otherwise known as organic traffic). Afterall, there are plenty of companies out there that promise to help get you all the traffic you need through optimizing your web site for organic ranking. The answer to this question is quite simple: profit is profit. Through conversion tracking tools such as those offered by Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google Adwords anyone can calculate exactly what their profit is after cost of PPC advertising is taken out. In my opinion, Google Adwords has the most user-friendly interface among the PPC advertisers. Google Adword’s interface makes it very easy to see which keywords are pulling you in the most sales, and which ones aren’t even worth your advertising money.

Let us not forget, however, that in order to make those conversions we’re going to be needing a shopping cart! There’s a lot of diverse software packages out there you can use, but I’ve been using Mal’s E-Commerce Free shopping cart for a number of years with great success. The cart’s server is hosted on their machines so that means you not only get away with not having to pay for the software itself, but you get out of having to buy an SSL security ticket too! Nothing’s a better bargain than free, eh?

## Getting those sales leads you’ve been building up to BUY! ##
Once you’ve scored a few sales it would probably be a good idea to start using some kind of lead management services. I highly recommend the use of autoresponders for this purpose. Autoresponders are, essentially, a newsletter sign-up that allows you to strategically determine what you want to send each lead after a certain alotted amount of time. For example, let’s say someone visits your web site and you offer them a free newsletter. If you were selling an ebook on some very complicated topic, you might consider sending them only information on the most basic concepts at first to get them interested. Slowly but surely, you can turn those visitors that might have left your web site and never have returned into some serious revenue!

As far as autoresponders go, I highly recommend the use of Aweber. Their customer service is superb (seriously, these guys really know their stuff!) and can be contacted at any point during the business day via online chat or phone. They also offer tons of free information, and guides on making the most of their services. Check out their month long free trial at http://www.getaweber.com/ .

Jacob Richards currently runs a website on the topic of building an ecommerce web site.

The Exploratory Meeting is a key element in the sales process. Typically the meeting will have been arranged after qualification via the telephone and a decision made by both parties that it would be mutually beneficial to meet. It is the exploratory meeting that will allow the professional salesperson to set the ground rules and get a ‘feel’ for the client and their needs. As this is normally the first meeting it is also where the potential client will get his first impression of you, therefore the way you look, act and conduct the meeting will have a direct bearing on whether or not you are able to proceed to the next stage. Finally, the objective of the meeting is to gain commitment to the next stage and NOT to try and get the order.

Key Elements to a Successful Exploratory Meeting

Pre-planning & Preparation:

• You will have confirmed your appointment in writing (not faxed).

• You will have already carried out some initial investigation into the company, it’s ethics etc and if time has allowed, you will have probably obtained some company literature and/or a copy of their annual report.

• You will be armed with names of clients you/your company have already successfully helped within their market.

• You will be dressed smartly.

• You will arrive in plenty of time.

• You will act professionally and friendly to the receptionist – (she/he may be a relative of the Chairman).

• Remember: Never sit down in reception Areas – Be psychologically prepared.

Rapport/Empathy:

It is important that you don’t ‘launch’ into your sales pitch as soon as you meet, but that you try and put your client (and therefore yourself) at ease by finding some common mutual ground to ‘break the ice’ with e.g. the weather, their premises, pictures on the wall, sports trophies etc. Good rapport will result in the potential client being less defensive.

Remember: 86% of buying decisions are based first on emotion – i.e. do they trust you?

Courtesy:

This should be obvious but is often forgotten through nerves etc. Remember you are a ‘guest’ in their environment so always be courteous, Time – ask the client how long he/she is able to put aside for the meeting and adjust your itinerary accordingly-if the time allocated is insufficient then you need to make a judgement as to whether you wish to carry on or re-schedule when they can give you more time.

If a time is given and agreed upon – DON’T ignore it (he/she may have a meeting with the Chairman!!) five minutes before the time allocation is up – reconfirm that they need to finish – more often than not if they are interested they will find more time – if they can’t then use the last five minutes to summarise and agree the next stage.

Notes – You will need to make notes, these are invaluable as they are a record of your meeting and you will find yourself referring back to them throughout the sales cycle. Ask the client if you can make notes – it’s polite!

Confirm Company Business:

You need to confirm the market they are in, ask him/her who they supply to, who they buy from, who are their competitors – they may be clients of yours – if so tell him – it’s reassuring to a potential client that you have knowledge of his industry. If they aren’t clients and you get this order – they should definitely become prospects – so make a note of them. By asking what the company actually does will differentiate you from the sales rep- who is only interested in the sale, you will get an insight into the company’s culture, it’s strategies etc. People like people who are interested in what they are doing and trying to achieve or have achieved – that’s a fact!

Remember – Every organisation has ‘Commercial Concerns’ – What are theirs?

Confirm Position, Role within the Company:

Check that he/she is who you believe then to be, find out if his/her title is indeed just a title or whether he/she has the authority that goes with it. Never assume because they have the title that they have the authority – life is not always that straight forward. Remember also that people like talking about themselves, their responsibilities, their achievements – ask the questions and then ’shut up’ it’s at this stage you can often pick up the political elements of the company, it will also enhance/strengthen the rapport between you – especially if nobody has ever bothered to ask him in the past about himself and his background.

DMU (Decision Making Unit):

Ask who else is involved in this project, identify the ‘buying influences’ BUT also ask what the process is going to be – what are they expecting – benchmarks, reference visits? If you have already enquired as to their position and role then asking about the DMU will be a natural progression and should not attract any resistance. Remember though don’t use the term DMU in any shape or form!!

Budget:

You need to know whether there is a budget, has it been approved and if so how much. There is no way of ‘hiding’ this request for information. However if you have followed the previous elements your client should by now see you as a ‘partner’ – someone who can help and therefore should not feel threatened by you asking such a straightforward question. If they ask why you need to know the budget – tell them – you need to ensure that neither of you are wasting your time nor that you can supply a solution that he can afford.

Time Scales:

Part of your telephone qualification should have been to establish timescales, however these can often change so you need to confirm them not only in this meeting but also periodically throughout the sales cycle.

Resistance/Constraints:

You need to be aware of any resistance that the client feels may occur to this purchase and where possible offer advice on how to neutralise such resistance, e.g. if he feels that the IT department are going to resist then would it not be wise to get them involved or at least keep them informed so they don’t feel threatened – maybe that’s something you could do? If the resistance could come from the users – you can get them or a representative of theirs involved, so that they feel they have some ‘ownership’ – they are then less likely to resist when the goods are delivered. Is there anything that may restrain them from progressing further? E.g. is the purchase directly linked to them receiving a large order?

Buying Criteria:

You need to find out how they will decide upon the final supplier/solution, what will differentiate them/it from the rest? – You then need to match your solution and/or credentials with their buying criteria. If you are dealing with a larger company they may have a preferred suppliers list – ask how you get on it – who can you talk to in the buying department so that you may introduce yourself as a potential supplier and find out what they require (it’ll save a lot of headaches if you establish it now rather than at decision time). It is also advisable to find out what their standard terms of payment are – you will need to bear this in mind when you quote.

Competition:

It is imperative to find out who else they are talking to and why – e.g. are they the existing supplier. If so how have they been performing (it would suggest not that well if the client is talking to you – but remember never assume – it may be company policy to go out to three suppliers – in that case are you just making up the numbers?)? Never ‘Knock’ the competition but rather emphasise your strengths that will illuminate their weaknesses.

Expectation:

Ask them “What are you hoping to achieve?” – the answer to this question is always interesting, hopefully it will confirm what you have already surmised but sometimes it can throw up some unusual reasons for wishing to purchase – if the latter is the case you need to ensure that this is a good enough reason to progress with the sales cycle and for both you and the company to spend further time and money on your solution. Whatever they are hoping to achieve you must ensure that your proposal proves that it can match that achievement.

Other Information:

Always ask if there is any other information that they feel would be useful for you to have at this point. This will give them the opportunity to volunteer any other data which you may not have asked for – it is also a great ‘get out clause’ if during the sales cycle something crops up that you aren’t aware of – after all you did ask them if there was anything else they felt you should know.

Summarise:

A good exploratory meeting will contain a number of summaries to confirm that you have interpreted the answers to your questions correctly. If you are unable to summarise during the meeting you must ensure that you at least do so at the end of the meeting, it is a neat way of bringing the meeting to a close and it proves to the client that you were listening and understand his requirements it is also good way of achieving commitment.

Commitment:

By this time we must obtain commitment from the client to progress to the next stage whether it is another meeting, a demonstration or presentation. By using the summary you will be able to introduce the next stage, and therefore get commitment to it easily.

You must always leave an exploratory meeting with commitment from the client to move to the next stage.

The moral right of the author, Jonathan Farrington, has been asserted. All rights reserved. This publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system or otherwise, unless this notification of copyright is retained.

On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 08:42:36 -0400, National Director of the
Aryan Nations/Tabernacle of Phinehas Priesthood, August
Kreis wrote:

I just want to ask, why our forum?

Greetings August Kreis,

Why not? My agenda is to serve the Great God of Israel, sharing
the plain truth of His Bible and announce His soon coming Kin
gdom of God-Beings to rule on Earth and save all mankind
from extinction. This clarity of mind, vision and purpose also
includes serving as an emissary of J
oseph (revealing the Israelite
origins of the West). This God-given message must reach
those high and low, rich and poor, regardless of race or
religion.

Our views are not the same from what I can see.

They are not the same in that I am against throwing out the baby
with the bathwater, dismissing all Jews as liberals or all
blacks or minorities as militant and subversives. For biblical
reasons I believe the Jews ought to return to the Jew
ish homeland (as both the Bible and Jud
aism teach) and blacks to Africa, as a general rule.
This is out of love for God, His Word and all peoples, and in
the best interest of every nation.

You are pro-israel anti-Muslim.

I am pro-Israel as far as acknowledging it as the Promised Land
of ISRAEL not Ishmael, calling for an end to the Nazi-Muslim
occupation of the Temple Mount, calling for the Temple Mount to
be liberated of its foreign objects, its militant mosques
removed, the world’s holiest site restored as the Temple Mount,
hosting the Hou
se of Prayer for All Peoples and Nations interested in
worshiping Jacob-Israel’s God, as any objective Bible-believer
should believe and support wholeheartedly.

Even the Koran confesses it’s the Holy Land of Israel, as Sheik
Abdul Hadi Palazzi courageously states, and we are
anti-Nazi-Muslims, those Muslims who have permitted their
religion to be hijacked by the Wahabi Islamo-fascists who
continue to suicidally preach the genocidal policies of the
Third Reich. They are “useful idiots” for the Aryans who would
ultimately eliminate them, as well.

We see the jews as the enemy of ALL races and a evil
parasitic menace on this earth.

Then you’re not seeing too clearly and are in denial of the
great blessings Jews have contributed to world civilization.
Don’t let hate blind you and rob you of all reason. The Jews are
like everybody else in that they have conservative and liberal,
atheist, agnostic and religious, good, bad and ugly. I actually
am very aware of the evils some apostate Jews, renegade Jews,
have cursed mankind with and have mentioned this within Beyond Babylon: Europe’s Rise and
Fall:

But renegade Jews, who became avowed atheists or professing
Christians, projected their PERVERSION on others and captivated
whole countries with wrong ideas. Those false Messiahs have held
men hostage to their thoughts, and imprisoned others with
poisonous ideologies!

Thanks to Torah-Jews, those who follow and believe the Bible (as
they understand it), God has preserved for us the knowledge and
identity of the seventh day Sabbath and holy days (Romans 3:2).
It’s been said, and it’s true, “More than the Jew have kept the
Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jew.” It’s an identifying
national sign that the “lost 10 tribes” didn’t keep (Exodus
31:17). Sabbath observance brings recognition.

God knew most of our Israelite ancestors, because of
debilitating sins, would lose their minds and forget His ways,
considering themselves Gentile (Deuteronomy 28:64). We would be
sifted through many nations, but finally come into our own (Amos
9:9). God promised to restore our identity, and offer us
repentance, before and during our final captivity! He makes
possible renewal amid decay!

- excerpt from Beyond Babylon, chapter 6,
“Jesus and the Jews”

Those Aryan Nations followers that follow the Identity
doctrine, follow the Two-Seedline doctrine that has gone far
forward from the British-Israelism message of the past. We not
only have our own identity but identify todays “racial” jews as
the seedline of Cain who’s father was Satan or Sargon in the
heavens. It is these, “Children of Darkness” and their minions
that we are at war with.

Those Aryan Nations members, who recognize our Hebrew roots yet reject
our Jew
ish brethren as illegitimate, haven’t gone forward by
believing such doctrines of demons that teach contrary to the
Scriptures (spreading disinformation that God would permit the
frustrated Satan or his spiritual misfits to have sex with
humans, falling into the pit, stumbling into the abyss of
ignorance disguised as intelligence, being fooled that they’re
enlightened when they’ve descended into the darkness of
deception), failing to recognize that the biblical Sons of Light
and Children of God are those who worship our Great Creator God
as Abel did, in spirit and in truth, and not as Cain who had his
own idolatrous ideas, his tinsel traditions, his man-made
religion that God rejected. Paul refers to true Christians as
Children of Light, and Children of the Day (1 Thessalonians
5:5), making reference to light and righteousness versus
darkness and sin. The Children of Light include the righteous of
all races (Acts 10:34-35). Both John the Baptist and Jesus spoke
against the foolish notion that race alone can save (Matthew
3:9). It is by grace we are saved. God has used our white
Israelite nations as His chief instrument to serve all mankind,
but being white doesn’t make you right! We have the God-given
advantage of being white Israelites, but we must be circumcised
in our hearts and minds and not just our flesh.

I’m quite sure you’re well aware of our beliefs and they are
far different than your own.

Yes, that’s true as far as the differences mentioned above.
However, we’re in agreement against race-mixing since God
created each race and nation for His own purpose and we
shouldn’t blur the lines, erase the differences or remove the
boundaries, but what’s worse is religion-mixing:

Illegitimate Children

But instead of developing our relationship with God and staying
sober and celibate, we’ve whored around and given birth to
pagans (Hosea 5:7). That’s why God can’t accept us as His
National Priest since our lifestyle choice misrepresents Him!
God doesn’t want any part in our perversion. Since we’ve denied
His natural order of things, He won’t recognize our illegitimate
children! He hasn’t fathered them (Hosea 4:6)!

God says we haven’t been humble and obedient like Abraham – the
father of the faithful – but are “…a rebellious people, lying
children, children who will not hear the law of the LORD…” and
don’t want anything to do with the truth! We don’t want to be
shown where we’re wrong, and we don’t want to hear about it
(Isaiah 30:9-11)! “So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation
that does not obey the voice of the LORD their God nor receive
correction” (Jeremiah 7:28). We’ve orphaned ourselves and act
like bastards!

– Excerpt from Beyond Babylon, chapter 4,
“Victims of Tradition”

Paul goes further and speaks against mixing and matching pagan
ways with biblical truths and speaks against such spiritual
adultery and religious fornication and commands Christians not
to even marry others with such polluted and diluted beliefs!
Where’s your condemnation of baptized paganism? (1 Corithians
10:16-21, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Why do you remain in spiritual
Babylon as captive Israelites? Those who are truly God’s People,
hear and heed His command to forsake Babylon – the rest will
suffer the consequences! (Revelation 18:4).

We are also in agreement against reverse discrimination and
racial double-standards, as again brought out in Beyond
Babylon:

Everything’s Upside Down

Part of the punishment to come upon our people was that: “The
alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you,
and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you,
but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you
shall be the tail” (Deuteronomy 28:43-44).

Today that’s happening! It’s going on right before our eyes!
Mass voter registration, “social mobility,” and “economic
empowerment” are running us right out of our own neighborhoods,
public office and the work place! The minorities in our midst
have turned the tables and reversed the roles – with our help!
How sick! Reverse discrimination is the law of the land. Quotas
condemn and exclude our own people. The WASPs are being chased
by the “Canaanites!”

Minorities Out of Control

The Gentile animals stalk our land, rob us of our children, and
steal us blind (Leviticus 26:22)! We’re afraid to leave our
homes, our streets are unsafe to stroll, and our inner cities
are a wasteland! Our prisons are overflowing, welfare is
overtaxed, and the white man’s overburdened. Everywhere we look,
the terror and devastation testify we’re being CURSED FOR
DISOBEDIENCE (Deuteronomy 28:15)!

Our national energy’s sapped, our strength’s drained, and our
resources spent! Foreigners have exploited JOSEPH’S
BIRTHRIGHT! Our inheritance is almost gone! We’ve
forgotten “charity begins at home.” America’s too young to die,
Britain’s growing old and bald before his time, but we still
refuse to go to our Doctor: “Ephraim (the British Commonwealth)
has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is (half-baked).
Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; Yes,
gray hairs are here and there on him, yet (we still don’t get
it!). And the pride of Israel (America/Britain) testifies to his
face (we’re confronted with the facts and figures – they’re
right before us!), but they do not return to the LORD their God,
nor seek Him for all this” (Hosea 7:8-10)… MILITANT MINORITIES
have a dream: supremacy. They only clamor for “equality” as a
stepping-stone for their real goal: replacing those in the
positions of power with their own kind. (Please notice I stress
militant minorities. There are many minority members who aren’t
out to harm or undermine Israelite culture). Multiculturalism is
mad and destroys national unity!

We do not promote anything on our website or forum which is
contrary to our beliefs. You have been placed on permanent
moderation and Jay Faber will allow only that which he decides
to give commentary to. Otherwise your posts will not be allowed
to be viewed by our members or guests.

May you glean what you may and let the plain truth set you free.

Long Live the Jihad!

You slit your own throat when you support jihad and think you
can contain it against our Jewish brethren.

DEATH to the jews!

May God’s Light destroy the darkness that would divide us and
may His Holy Spirit of Truth lead us into greater repentance,
reconciliation and restoration (Ezekiel 37). Joseph and Judah
are prophesied to get over our differences (Isaiah 11:13),
repent of our personal and national sins, and enter into a
renewed covenant with the biblical God of Israel and Judah, the
God of the Hebrews. Only then will we become One Nation Under
God, a truly United Kingdom.

For Joseph and Judah’s sake,

David
Ben-Ariel

When you are in the market for the best ab machines for your workouts, it can be tough to figure out exactly which abdominal exercise equipment will do the job. Each manufacturer claims theirs is the best, so how are you to know the real truth?

Target all of Your Abdominal Muscles

The most important thing to consider when selecting exercise equipment for strengthening your abdomen, is that the best machines target all of your abdominal and oblique muscles. It is not enough for a machine to work just one or two sections, it must help you reach all areas if it is to be effective. Many of the inexpensive machines and devices that you see on TV infomercials only work part of the abdominal region, so do some more research before you call that toll free number.

How it Feels

Whatever ab machine you purchase must feel comfortable, or it will end up gathering dust in a corner somewhere. The best option is to visit a fitness equipment retailer and try several different machines to determine which is best suited to your needs. Remember that the best abdominal exercise machines are adjustable to fit different body shapes and sizes, which is especially important if more than one person in your family will be using the equipment.

Give Your Back a Break

Most personal trainers will tell you that the biggest challenge when working your abs is to do so in a way that protects your back. It does you no good to buy an abdominal exercise machine that causes you back pain, so this is another reason why you should try out several of the better ab machines before selecting equipment to buy.

More Expensive is not Always More Effective

Abdominal equipment is available in a wide range of prices, and while price is generally an indicator of quality it is not always the best indicator of which exercise machine is most effective. There are several machines available for less than $100 that provide an effective abdominal workout when used correctly, and even a few that are less than $50.

Expert Advice and Guidance

One of the best ways to select an ab workout machine is to get some expert advice and guidance. There are a number of ways to do this, such as:

•Internet research – There are literally thousands of web sites that promote and sell abdominal exercise machines, so be selective about the research you do. Look for sites that are run by reputable fitness magazines or equipment centers, and check out their ab reviews and recommendations.

•Fitness retailer – A retailer that focuses solely on fitness equipment and exercise machines can offer you good advice on the best ab training equipment for you to consider, and will let you try out the machines as well.

•Certified personal trainer – If you are new to abdominal workouts, have back troubles, or just want some expert advice, it is worth your while to consult a certified personal trainer. Check with a reputable health club to find certified trainers in your area.

About the Author:

Julie-Ann Amos is a freelance writer for Best-Home-Gyms.com, providing
consumer information and reviews on the
best home gyms and
cardio equipment. She has researched several consumer reports to find the
best ab machines and
best dumbbell
weights for your workouts.

Copyright 2006 Best-Home-Gyms.com

Permission is granted to publish this article on your site only if the
author’s byline is included and all links are hyperlinked.