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THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO THE INTERNET

THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO THE INTERNET

Now that there are cost-effective solutions to help small organizations take advantage of the wide range of business services and global marketing opportunities on the Internet and the Web, business owners and managers are asking, "Exactly how would I use the Internet?" and "How do I get started?"
Access to the Internet requires a computer; a modem, a phone line and an "Internet account" with an Internet Provider costing $20 to $50 per month. You'll also need additional software to speed the connection, but most Internet providers include this in the cost of your service. If not, you can buy it at your local computer store.
Once you've accessed the INet, you can run one of the many easy-to-use Browser programs directly on your computer. These browsers let you make use of GUI/WIMP (Graphical User Interface/Windowing Icon Mouse Pull-down-menu) features, view multimedia information, and interact fully with menus and hypermedia applications like the World Wide Web (WWW).

World of Capabilities
On the Internet, you'll find a whole new world of opportunities. You can:

* Send and receive e-mail. Suddenly, you can communicate directly with
people you've had difficulty contacting. You can use it to instantly and
inexpensively send product information, purchase orders, product problem/complaint messages, news releases, articles, spreadsheets, engineering drawings, digitized photos, illustrations and graphs. In short, you can send almost anything you would send via overnight delivery or "snailmail." Best of all, you can get a response or feedback just as quickly.

* Participate in group discussions. This includes e-mail mailing lists, Usenet news groups, product user forums, business and professional chat roundtables. These are excellent places to seek help in working through a business, technical or product manufacturing/application problem. If you have a question or problem, you can be certain that someone, somewhere has been in the same situation and developed a way around the problem or has already solved it for you. On the Internet, there is a group discussion on almost any subject you can imagine.

* Get the news. Logically, here's where you're going to see the announcements and related news about Internet products and services first. You can also (at little or no cost) "subscribe" to Usenet Groups, news wire services, business and trade publication on-line news, financial and weather data services, local and national newspapers, as well as special interest groups.

* Search the news. You can do searches on Dialog, Dow Jones, Ziff-Davis, CMP, McGraw-Hill and thousands of other news, business and technical databases around the globe. The searches may or may not be free, and you will pay to access specific articles or to download specific files.

* Surf and browse the Web. You can search census data, flaming desserts, Internet security, global warming, vertical market demographics, semiconductor manufacturing processes, pharmacological indications/contraindications, international monetary
fluctuation, state and local RFQs (requests for quotes), state and local construction and employment statistics. It's all there waiting for you.

* See what your competition is doing. If your competition is using the Internet, you can browse through their Web site to learn about new policies, products, programs, technology and growth/direction plans. In many instances, you can also access the home pages of market research firms for an overview of your market's growth projections and trends.

* Be knowledgeable, well-informed. You can find the latest information on a wide range of topics, including the best dive sites in Belize, the best night spots in Tokyo, the best condominium rentals in Hawaii and the political/business climate in China. You can even download and play the latest version of DOOM.


Simple Learning Process
Learning how to use the Internet isn't any more difficult than learning how to use voice or electronic mail. In addition to being able to double-click a mouse, all you have to be able to do is find the UP/DOWN/RIGHT/LEFT ARROW keys and a few others.
Books like Internet for Dummies and Guerrilla Marketing on the Internet are excellent starting points. There are also courses available. In no time at all, you'll be taking advantage of the rich store of information that service Internet veterans (Neterans) have enjoyed for years.


A Few Rules
As a newcomer (or newbie) to the INet, it is best to start slow and to follow a few common sense rules:

* Remember that anything you say on the Internet's public areas may be read by your family, friends, and your boss, so don't say anything you don't want to read on the front page of tomorrow's paper.

* Don't post your company's message to lots of mailing lists and/or Usenet Newsgroups. Called "spamming," it's unwelcome and can result in some very unkind flame mail (very nasty comments).

* Don't post a message to a mailing list or Usenet News group until you've found, retrieved and read the appropriate FAQ (frequently asked questions) or other introductory document. Read the postings to the discussions for at least two weeks to familiarize yourself with the group before posting anything. This will help you avoid common beginner errors.

Properly used, the Internet can be a tool that enhances your productivity and your profits. In a very short period of time, you'll wonder how you were able to carry out your company's business and your job without it.

# # #





THE BEGINNERS GUIDE TO THE INTERNET - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.

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Jeff Foster
WebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas.  We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing
- Visit Jeff Foster's Website

Staging Diva
Debra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website

Cheryl Matthynssens

Cheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur.  Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well.  A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles.  She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide-  to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being.  Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com

- Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website

Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Read Steph's Blog
Meet Steph and Dave
Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich
- Visit Stephanie Robey's Website

Jay Kubassek
(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek)  In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.

 

As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)

 

Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. 

 

Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper.  Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website


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About The Author


Andy Marken
(Visit Andy's Website) G. A. "Andy" Marken President Marken Communications, Inc. Santa Clara, CA Andy has worked in front of and behind the TV camera and radio mike. Unlike most PR people he listens to and understands the consumer’s perspective on the actual use of products. He has written more than 100 articles in the business and trade press. During this time he has also addressed industry issues and technologies not as corporate wishlists but how they can be used by normal people. He has been a marketing and communications consultant for more than 30 years involved in the wild early days of the Internet/Web, heyday of the videogame industry and the maturing professional and consumer video industries. His experience includes years with Internet pioneer CERFnet, TCG and AT&T. Andy has worked in the software, Web 2.0, video and storage industry with Panasonic, Philips, Dazzle, Atari, NTI, ADS Tech, Pinnacle Systems, CyberLink, InterVideo, Ulead and Verbatim.

Andy Marken is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
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