Latest Articles by amabaie

What More to Orlando than Disney

Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Orlando is one of the top tourism destinations in the world. It features Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World. People come from every continent to take in these famous theme parks, and especially to meet Big Mickey.

But there is another Orlando, a city full of unexpected smaller attractions, that you might want to take in when you want something a little different or just a break from the crowds at Disney World.

Kissimmee Rodeo.
No, that's not a misprint. The rodeos of the west have come to the south-east – and they are just as much fun. Try this for something different.

Inland manatees.
People often forget that Florida is more than just one big theme park and the host to spring brake excess. It is also home to many natural wonders. Blue Spring State Park is tucked in between Orlando and Daytona Beach. Although it is an inland park, they have 153 manatees this season, more than ever before.

Private Villa Rentals.
You don't have to crowd the family into a cheap motel room in the Orlando region. Nowhere in North America are there so many private villas for rent (vacation home rentals). Look also for rental villas in Orlando.

Mystery Dinner.
Half way between Orlando and Disney World, it's no mystery why this show packs a full house. This is your chance to participate in a real murder mystery

Farm animal adventure.
Every child loves to pet animals. No, it does not replace Walt Disney World, but it might make a nice little break in the middle of the Disney excitement, and it is just a short distance south of the Disney park.

Ahoy there, Captain.
Not just the manatees have found their way inland. There are pirates in Orlando, and they offer an interactive family dinner spectacle.

Riverboat Cruise.
It's not the Mississippi, but the "Rivership Romance" cruises along the St. Johns River, providing a first-hand connection with Florida's rich, natural heritage. Dining and dancing accompany the natural beauty.

A taste of Chicago.
Don't be surprised if you wind up eating with a gangster or two. Or if the police burst in on your dinner to make a bust. This is a living tribute to the legendary Gangland Chicago, and you are invited to participate in the action.

It's a pity that these gems hide in the shadow of Planet Earth's biggest theme park . You won't want to miss Walt Disney World, but take some time out to see what others have missed. Your friends back home will be impressed.

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David Leonhardt is a freelance writer near Montreal, Canada, who is building his own vacation villas listing site.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

The Incredibly Simple Secret to Happiness

Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Do I believe there is a secret to happiness? I'll bet you expect me to say "NO, there is just no simple secret." While it is true that there are many factors that affect our happiness, I believe there is one secret that determines whether those factors will work for you, and that is the secret to happiness.

But first, allow me to share a some history. In 2001, I published the first edition of Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness. I did all the things authors do, right up to getting myself some media interviews. Being an old hand at media relations (actually, Canada's send-most-quoted consumer advocate at the time), you would think I would have been superbly prepared for the question that almost every journalist would ask me:

"So, which of the 9 habits is most important?"

What?! Which one is most important? Why, they are all important, of course. That's why I wrote about them all. I was obviously too close to the forest to see the trees. Or, in this case, the tree.

After being asked this question a few times, I was forced to think, and think hard. And out of nowhere, I had an "Aha!" moment that stands the test of time five years later.

One of the 9 habits I wrote about is more important than the others. One of my 9 habits activates all the others. One of my habits is the secret to happiness. It starts on page 83 of the second edition.

"Count Your Blessings"

It sounds so simple, and so, well, almost corny. But let me give you a concrete example of how this works.

Arithmetic for Happiness

Have you ever bought a new car? Remember the pride you felt and the excitement when you made the choice? When you signed the papers? When you drove it off the lot? Do you remember that "new car smell"?

Then something happened. Where is that pride today? Where is that excitement now? What happened to that "new car smell"?

Simple. You stopped counting your blessings. When you bought the car, it was a step up. Perhaps it was a better car. Or a bigger car. Or simply a car that would spend less days on the hoist. You were grateful. You were appreciative. You were counting this blessing.

It does not take long for a new blessing to be taken for granted. And the new car becomes just another thing in your life that you take for granted. Consider this incredible set of statistics:

- 99% of people in the developed world take shelter for granted.

- 99% of people in the developed world take breakfast for granted.

- 99% of people in the developed world take lunch for granted.

- 99% of people in the developed world take dinner for granted.

- 99% of people in the developed world take clothing for granted.

At the risk of sounding trite or glib, most people in the developed world take cars, televisions, computers, vacations, toasters, freedom of speech, paper clips and thousands of other conveniences for granted. In fact, a TV remote control that requires a battery change or a web page that takes more than five seconds to load are considered serious irritations.

Who is happier, the person grateful to be able to change those batteries and wait for that web page? Or the person grumbling about the time it takes and the inconvenience and the bother and why can't things work better? (Why don't they make things like they used to? Why does the lineup have to be so long? Why is it so cold outside? Why do I have to go to work today?)

Of course you have every right to complain any time you choose. Nobody wants to take away your right to be unhappy. But I would love to take away your unhappiness, if you are willing to take action.

Arithmetic Is Not Always Easy

This is where "counting your blessings", simple and even corny, is not as easy as it sounds. Our knee-jerk reaction is to complain, to grumble, to be frustrated, to feel almost offended when things don't work out "perfectly", just the way we want them to. Imagine poor God, sifting through the millions of prayers he receives daily. Despite the cornucopia of blessings we receive, I am willing to bet that he receives ten times more "Gimmee" prayers than "Thank you" prayers.

Counting our blessings in this day and age of entitlement is not as simple as it sounds, and it sure is not easy to do. In fact, billions of dollars of advertising conspire to reinforce the belief that whatever we have is not good enough and that we deserve better. Who is there to tell us we have enough? Who can help us feel happy with what we have?

You. Only you. Are you ready to give up your own natural knee-jerk reaction and choose to be happy?

You can have all the confidence in the world, but if you do not actively feel grateful for the fruits of your confidence, it will not bring you happiness. You can have immaculate health, but if you do not think about how wonderful that is, it will not bring you happiness. You can smile, build friendships, achieve success, win the lottery, or do whatever you desire, but if you are not saying every day, "Wow! This is wonderful. This is grand. I am the luckiest man (or woman) alive because of this," don't expect it to bring you happiness.

Yes, Virginia, there is a secret to happiness. The secret is simply gratitude. The secret is appreciation. Or, as I call it in Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness, the secret is to count your blessings.

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This is an excerpt from 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life. David Leonhardt is the author of Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Ditch the hotel for a private villa or vacation home

Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Two trips to Budapest. Two different apartments, each one a short stroll from Vaci Utza downtown. I did not even set foot in the Hilton. My mother and I saw Budapest like only someone who stays away from the Americanized hotels can. We stayed with the locals. We came to feel the city, not just see it.

Several years later, I returned to Europe on my honeymoon (this time, without my mother). The first two nights in a little village near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, we stayed in the European version of a vacation villa rental: our own unit in a private home, our own balcony overlooking the scenic village, comfort, privacy and peace.

Three weeks of touring brought us to one or two hotels, several bed and breakfasts, and a couple "gasthauses" in Austria and Liechtenstein that felt more like private homes.

"There is no way to compare the comfort and privacy of a private villa with squeezing everybody into an impersonal hotel room," says Stewart Granville, CEO of Last Minute Villas, a booking site for Florida vacation homes and of Orlando Villa Owners. "You have your own space – and lots of it – and you don't have to worry about noise of peeping eyes. Usually you have a private pool, spa, sound system and other luxuries."

Mr. Granville books some vacation homes on Florida's Gulf Coast, but mostly in the Orlando area, where there is the greatest demand. Typically, theme park visitors stay in the motel strip in Kissimmee. Those with deeper pockets might stay at the Disney World Hotel. Few people realize that a vacation home near Disney World or in nearby Orlando is even an option.

"People come to the beach to relax," says John Hogan, owner of Florida Vacation Rentals, serving the northeast coast of the state. "The last thing they want is to listen to talking, music, banging or shouting in the next room over. A vacation rental home gives both privacy and peace."

Luxury comes cheap in a Florida Vacation Home

Fewer still realize how cheap it is. One Florida villa owner describes how he had just checked his guests in to his own Kissimmee/Orlando area villa. Drew was heading out of town, but he missed his flight. With ten people staying in his rental home, there really was no place for him. He checked into a very basic motel, typical of the Kissimmee strip, and realized he would be paying over $200 per night for ten people – or about $1500 per week – for uncomfortably basic motel rooms typical of Orlando and other vacation mecas.

"They stayed in my house for $900 - and they got their own private pool, ensuite bedrooms, laundry facilities, refrigerator and all the things you now take for granted in villas," Drew says. "It really opened my eyes to just what a sweet deal my visitors are getting – and how little motel visitors get for their money, too."

Glen Young of SunSeaker Properties real estate says that many of his clients buy vacation homes to enjoy for a while, then sell later. "It makes the vacation very inexpensive, when they get back their investment and much more at a later date," he explains.

Two years ago, my brother and I rented a private cottage in the Laurentians. We had four bedrooms, enough to accommodate both our young families. We could see two of the neighboring houses, which would be useful in case of an emergency.

We had the television, the stereo, the fire place, fresh raspberries right off the bushes around the house (some blueberries, too!), a screened patio with a private table/bench swing, and a nice big fridge to keep juice, milk and beer cool. We had plenty of space to spread out and a table just perfect for a relaxing evening of cards.

Last summer, we rented a private villa in the Laurentians again, this time overlooking a small lake, and a canoe was supplied.

Why would anybody want to crowd their family into a hotel room? Or even two? I've been spoiled. From Orlando, Florida to Budapest, Hungary, travel in style by staying in a private vacation rental home, no matter where you go.

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David Leonhardt is an SEO-writer in Chesterville, Canada, who is building his own vacation villas listing website.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Multilingual SEO for global markets Part 1

Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:00 -0500

So you've translated your website into German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, French, Arabic, Portuguese and Chinese. Now what?

Now you have to draw traffic to the newly translated sites. There are many ways to draw traffic, but the search engines are just as important in German or Spanish as they are in English.

Surprisingly, SEO in Spanish, French, English, German...or any Roman alphabet language is not that different. In this article, we will be dealing only with Roman alphabet languages.

The main thing is to be able to move around in the language...and if you are not fluent, make sure a translator cleans up any text edits without undoing the changes key to your multilingual SEO efforts.

Let's assume the original site is in English, the translation into French, for example, is already complete and you have a list of English search terms (keywords).

The first step is to identify equivalent French search terms. This might not give you the same number of search terms. For instance, if you start with the 10 search terms around the word "socks" (buy socks, buy socks online, glow-in-the-dark socks, etc.), you will most likely end up with twice as many search terms in French, as there are two common words for socks in French ("bas" and "chaussettes"). This might mean that you need to create additional landing pages for French search engine surfers.

Note: be wary of using official translations for keyword research. Your translator probably used the very best vocabulary and grammar possible, including words and conjugations that your target market might never even have heard of, let alone be searching for.

You can get ideas through free translation services - which absolutely butcher the language, so don't use them for translation, please! – that can give you some quick ideas to work with. Two such services I use for just such a purpose are FreeTranslation.com and FreeTranslation.Paralink.com.

The next step, of course, is to find out which of the search terms are worth pursuing. Of course, you could try all of them, since it will take almost no effort to get top rankings for little searched French or Spanish terms. But you might also miss out on some related terms that are well-searched. Two pay-per-click search engines that offer search suggestion tools in a variety of languages are Overture and Miva (formerly Espotting).

The third step is to group the search terms together into natural groupings and assign each group to a page on the website, just as one would do in English, so that the terms that complement each other are grouped onto the same web page.

You see, it's really not that different from English, but you do have to be able to move through the other language. Please note: fluency is not required, but being able to understand what you read and come up with related search terms is required.

In part 2, we will look at the on-page optimization.

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David Leonhardt is a multilingual web site SEO consultant who offers French SEO marketing services and English to French translator services.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Multilingual SEO for global markets Part 2

Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:00 -0500

In part 1, we looked at keyword research in foreign languages, such as German, French, Spanish and Italian. In part 2, we will look at the on-page optimization...or what to do with that keyword research.

Actually, the on-page optimization is easy. Just place your search terms in all the right places. Of course, it is not quite that simple.

For instance, German nouns like to merge into incredible conglomerates. An example of where I ran into this was at a Netzwerk überwachung website. Two major search terms were Netzwerküberwachung and Netzwerk überwachung. The first, conglomerate word is actually correct, but people search in funny ways, and the search engines don't generally recognize partial words. In English, a reference to "website monitoring service" would count as a reference for the search term "website monitoring". But the German equivalent, Überwachungsservice für Webseiten, would read literally in English as "monitoringservice for websites".

In other words, you might have to make the translator dance some fancy language steps to deliver a readable message that does not interfere with your search terms.

Multilingual SEO also brings the question of accents. Use them. One well-respected SEO questioned the use of accents when it turned out that more people searched for Montreal than Montréal. Don't you believe it for a second. There simply were more English people searching without the accent, so leave the accents off your English site but keep them on your French, German, Italian or other sites.

There is one exception to the accents rule: if your market is very, um, shall we say "downscale". I think you know what I mean. There is a certain market in English that refuses to capitalize words or use punctuation. The equivalent market in German is unlikely to use an umlaut – you might have to optimize both with and without the accent.

What about file names. Many companies keep the same filenames when they create a translated site. So http://www.paramount-roll.com/services/capabilities.asp becomes http://www.paramount-acero.com/services/capabilities.asp , a mouthful in any language, but of no SEO help in the Spanish version. On the other hand, keeping the same file name helps the webmaster keep track of what all these otherwise "unintelligible" filenames are all about, without resorting to a wall covered in file name translation tables. This is not a simple decision to make.

One question that often comes up is where to house the translated site on a separate site, in a sub-domain or in a directory on the English site.

The general consensus is that it is preferable to give it its own domain with the appropriate country extension...which is easy for German or Italian, but which country do you choose for Spanish? Spain? Mexico? Argentina? The USA? And have you ever tried to apply for a .fr domain?

Second best is a sub-domain, which at least carries a semblance of being a separate site and allows some directories to consider it a home page for listing purposes (and you want those directory links).

Which brings me to my final point. Don't forget to build the links that are so important in SEO. Good quality links. Relevant links, both in terms of topics and in terms of the search terms in the language of the site. There are fewer avenues to build links in French or Dutch than in English. Fortunately, you will need fewer links to get good French or Dutch search engine rankings.

Thinking about expanding your market into Europe, Latin America or the rest of Canada? Get your site translated and get it optimized for the multilingual search engine listings.

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David Leonhardt is a multilingual SEO consultant who offers Spanish language SEO services and English to Spanish translation services.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Demographic Data Makes Great Real Estate Choices

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Demographics influence almost every facet of life, from business to healthcare, from education to style. Age, income, ethnicity, gender, mobility, employment and other demographic factors determine the shape of our society.

Real estate is no less affected by the ebbs and flows of demographic trends, particularly income, aging, family situations and employment. Consider a real estate broker, whose livelihood depends on people changing homes. Economic mobility is a key determinant in the future of his business, as is the economic health of the region.

"I look to see how fast the economy is growing, and how many jobs are likely to be created as a result, to determine the resources my business will need over the next five years," says Bend, Oregon, real estate broker Terry Denoux.

Development planning relies even more on demographic data to determine priorities. The average age of the population is a major factor in the type of housing that will be required over the next couple decades.

"A young population in an area will require more single family homes with multiple bedrooms and plenty of space for children to run," explains Wendy Cobrda of Catosphere US demographic data reports. "On the other hand, an aging population will need more hospitals, more medical clinics, more housing that requires minimal maintenance."

For commercial real estate investors, the stakes are just as high. Investing in commercial real estate, for example requires the ability to forecast where there will be a growing population, and/or where the population's average income will be increasing.

In fact, commercial property investment requires a deeper understanding of demographic data; it is not just the population trends that need to be considered, but the demographics of the competition. And even those cannot follow a set formula.

For instance, an entrepreneur looking to set up a new car dealership needs to consider where established dealerships are located and set up shop nearby. Car buyers wanting to compare similar models need to visit several dealerships, so they need to be close to one another.

On the other hand, an entrepreneur looking to set up a new hardware store, should look for an area underserved by the competition or where new residential developments will be opening up. Hardware shoppers can compare brands of similar tools within the same store, so ease of access takes on a greater importance.

Speaking of ease-of-access, traffic patterns can also make a difference, especially near busy intersections. The demographics of traffic can add to the complexity of making a commercial real estate investment.

Understanding where to invest in retail properties is one of the main reasons that demographic mapping is such a popular service, Wendy Cobrda explains. "To visually see the movement of people and their spending dollars helps businesses 'see' where they should open their next store."

Demographic data plays a role in vacation rental real estate, too. "Do you buy vacation rental properties, or do you sell the ones you have now?" asks Steve Curtis, owner of a listing website for Florida vacation rentals. "Well, that depends on how much disposable income people have for vacations and, more importantly, on the age of the population. A younger person is more likely to backpack through Europe, and stay at a hostel. An older person in more interested in comfort and privacy, which is what vacation rental properties offer."

It also depends on where populations are growing more, as well as where the affluence is growing. If an economic boom is happening in England and France, but not in the USA and Canada, a vacation rental in Spain might prove more useful than on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

"Business planning is just a shot in the dark without solid market data," explains Ms. Cobrda. "Demographic data reports and maps help businesses project market activity into the future, helping to avoid such catastrophes as building stores with no customers or storing a few million dollars of inventory that nobody wants."

Given the high ticket price of real estate, whether residential, commercial or vacation rentals, demographic reports and market segmentation data are even more important.

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David Leonhardt runs a ghost writer service, and is a freelance writer himself.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

The Weather Forecast on Your Computer

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0600

I use the Internet to find just about every type of information. Even the weather.

Sure, I could just stick my head out the window and call out, "Hello. What's the weather forecast today?" But if the response is "hurricanes, hail and meteor storms", I don't want my head to be on the wrong side of the window when the answer comes down.

Plus, that won't help me fine-tune my last minute travel plans.

So I turn to the Internet. There are three really easy ways to get a good weather forecast over the Internet:

Weather forecast websites:

There are some good weather forecast websites. The one I use most often, because I am in Canada, is The Weather Network, and I also like CNN.

CNN gives current conditions and a five day forecast. The Weather Network provides more detail, with a short term forecast ( this evening, tonight, tomorrow morning, etc.) and a longer term forecast over the next six days. The Weather Network provides the most detail of all the options, but it takes longer to download than the progress of climate change (so don't do it on a 26K modem!) Both offer forecasts for cities worldwide.

Weather forecast software:

A second way, which does not even require going to a website, is to get current conditions right on your desktop. There are free weather forecast software downloads that display key data right on your desktop, and even provide a text summary one click away.

Weather forecasts on the desktop are probably the fastest way to get local weather information, and the data is updated every five minutes. The display can be set up for local weather, but a couple clicks allows for a quick check of conditions form almost every weather monitoring station in the world – ideal for making last minute travel plans

Weather forecasts by Google:

A third way to access the weather forecast is through Google. Yes, the find-everything search engine has added weather to its repertoire. For instance, search Google for "weather Orlando", without the quotation marks, and see what you get.

At the time of writing, this service is available only to cities in the USA (I presume Americans get more weather than other people.). However, it will hopefully be available everywhere by the time you read this article.

Google's is the least precise weather forecast of the options, but fairly quick and simple to reach if you are looking for information on a city in the USA.

All three options are worthwhile, whether preparing for the daily commute or making travel and vacation plans. So pull in your head, close that window and log on. Why stick your neck out when there is weather on your computer.

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David Leonhardt is a website marketing SEO consultant and a Canadian SEO consultant. Watch for his travel directory.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Recruiting Excellent Job Candidates

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0600

An independent recruiter, recruiting agency or executive search firm is charged with tracking down excellent potential candidates for available job positions. Despite the fact that there are innumerable people seeking positions of employment in the 21st century, it often seems to a typical recruiting agency that qualified men and women are few and far between.

Here are six easy tips that recruiting services, staffing firms, or executive search firms should keep in mind when on the hunt for outstanding potential job candidates in the 21st century.

These tips are equally applicable to companies undertaking their own search without the help of recruiting agency services. Indeed, the headaches associated with finding qualified personnel is magnified for a company undertaking its own recruitment efforts.

1. Post an Ad on an Industry-specific Job Board. Oftentimes, a recruiter will take a scattershot approach to finding candidates that are worthy of consideration for an available position. They broadcast far and wide the fact that a certain position is open and available, in big city newspapers and on major Internet job boards.

If a recruiting agency were more thoughtful about its recruitment efforts, it would realize the benefits of positing an announcement of an available position on an industry-specific Internet job board. By posting in a selective and admittedly limited manner, recruiters and staffing firms would be reaching out precisely to the pool of people most likely to be qualified for an open position.

One excellent tool for finding industry-specific job boards can be accessed at The Online Recruiters Directory Job Board Directory.

2. Use Recruiters that Specialize in a Given Field. As with advertising, choosing an effective recruiter might be just a matter of targeting, particularly for a managerial or executive position. These positions can be very hard for in-house personnel directors and human resource managers. While these people do have responsibility for hiring, the search for a new employee with skills beyond the norm for their company can best be targeted by a professional executive head hunter.

The same can be said for specialized fields, such as accounting or information systems. In-house human resources staff might know all about pharmaceutical skill-sets required for a multitude of research and administration positions, but they might rarely have to deal with hiring staff to track money or to keep the computers functioning. That's when recruiting agency services specializing in IT or in accounting can come in handy.

3. Develop an In-House Referral Program. In many instances, exiting staff members can help speed up the search for quality job candidates. Employees often have contacts elsewhere within the industry, some of which may be looking for a change of employment.

By cultivating this internal resource, a personnel director can develop a wealth of ready information about prospective employees who might well serve the organization as valued employees.

4. Search Resumes Posted on Job Boards. In addition to advertising on an industry specific job board, a diligent personnel director or recruiting agency will want to take the time to search and consider resumes that have been posted on job boards.

Often, a person pounding the pavement looking for employment may not have the time to take in and review all of the various available positions that have been posted on a every job board. This is even more true if a given prospect is a highly sought-after candidate, who might be still busy in a current position of responsibility.

5 .Use a Directory of Recruiters. Because there are so many different type of recruiters in business in the 21st century it can often be difficult for in-house human resources staff to pinpoint the recruiter that will be best able to meet the needs of a given employee recruitment campaign. But there are resources available, such as directories of recruiters. One such directory is The Online Recruiters Directory.

By using a professional directory, in-house human resources staff will be able to identify the most appropriate resources for their company and for the recruiting task at hand. Even staffing firms can benefit from such a recruiters directory to seek help in a specialized field they don't often work with.

6. Don’t Rush the Process. Finally, while it is an overused saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” In the same vein, 99 times out of 100 there is no need to rush the process of seeking, identifying and hiring a new employee, particularly an executive level employee.

A personnel director should take his or her time to identify, screen, interview and hire the best candidate. Throughout this process, a human resources manager or specialist will rely on the services and support tools identified in this article.

By using these tips, in the long run the best possible candidate for a given position will end up being hired, and the company will benefit from the best

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David Leonhardt is a website marketing and effective SEO consultant from Canada. He wrote this article for an online directory of recruiting services and firms. Read more on staffing and executive search firm.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Recruiters: The Challenges of Executive Head Hunters

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Once upon a time, head hunters were no more than common cannibals. Some people still view them that way, but executive recruiters are a vital link in a chain that keeps major enterprises functioning well.

The top positions at any organization dictate the fortunes of the company, the shareholders and the employees ... and often the communities in which they are located. A good executive head hunter can ensure that new company executives have the skills required for the position and the challenges ahead. He can also ensure that the right executive is chosen, one whose style will flourish in the specific environment of that company.

However, modern executive recruiters face challenges to be effective. I caught up with Esther Barzel, co-owner of The Online Recruiter Directory.

Q: What are the main challenges of executive head hunters in today's business climate?

A: To start with, the geographic net has become much wider. A head hunter in , say, New York City or Toronto, can no longer rely on finding the right candidate right in town. In fact, the ideal candidate might be just minutes away by Internet, but he might be located in another country or even on another continent. We are looking at a new breed of executive recruiter.

Executive Recruiter in the Internet Age

Q: The Internet should make his job easier, right?

A: Yes...and no. He has to post requirements in more places and sift through more potential candidates to find the jewel he seeks. So his workload has actually increased.

Q: Plus, I presume, he still faces the challenges of yesteryear?

A: That's right. He still has to make contact with potential candidates, conduct preliminary interviews, set up meetings with the company, attend to minute details, brief the interviewer, etc.

Q: What about follow-up?

A: Yes, there is, of course, follow-up required after every interview, both with the client and with the prospect. It's a busy job.

Does the Internet Make Life Easier Or Harder For Head Hunters

Q: So how does the Internet make life easier for an executive recruiter?

A: Now you have online communities and bulletin boards, such as Monster.com, where you can place ads for positions. This makes it somewhat easier to cast one's net. Directories like ours help head hunters attract clients, so they can spend more recruiting and less time on business development.

Q: Don't online bulletin boards and directories just mean the head hunter has to spend more time in more places?

A: Yes and no. Online resources are more easily searched than, say, paper. Our recruiter directory gives employers the chance to search by geography or by vocation, or by the type of position. This means they can find a recruiter that specializes in pharmaceutical sales, or who specializes in accounting, or whatever field. The head hunter spends less time answering questions from people who will never be their clients.

Q: And I assume it works both ways?

A: Yes, the recruiter gets resumes from only those people who are likely candidates for the types of positions he works on. The pharmaceutical recruiter, for example will not get a resume from someone whose background is in aeronautical engineering.

Q: Wow, that's a mouthful. I don't know if I could even repeat that.

A: Many executive recruiters could not repeat it, either. So the Internet is making it easier for them to receive resumes targeted to their field of expertise, saving them time...not to mention overexertion of their tongues.

On that humorous note, we thank Esther for taking the time to explain how the Internet is making life both more complex and easier for executive recruiters and head hunters.

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David Leonhardt is a Canadian freelance writer and SEO specialist. Read more about today's head hunter opportunities and today's executive recruiter challenges. Find out more about Esther Barzel's online recruiting services.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

10 things you should be monitoring on your website

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Every business needs to know how it is doing. That's the idea behind exit surveys, customer feedback forms, suggestion boxes and other devices. Without feedback from the customer, monitoring inventory, expenses, revenue and other benchmarks, a business can take a quick slide down a slippery slope, without the owner ever seeing it coming – or being able to stop the slide.

Webmasters also have things they should be monitoring on their websites. Most of these can be classified as traffic related or server performance related. Here is my top ten list.

Monitoring website traffic

Traffic totals. You want to know how much traffic you are generating. If the line on the graph is heading down, you know you have to find out why.

Referrers. It's not enough just to know how many visitors you are getting. You need to know where they are coming from. I discovered I was getting a lot of visitors from a Thanksgiving site. They were all being funneled into my Thanksgiving Happiness article. Suddenly I knew I should get more links from other Thanksgiving sites. Valuable information.

Searches. Much to my surprise, my happiness site started getting a ridiculous number of hits from the search for "hairdressers". It just so happens I wrote a humor column on a hairdresser experience. I was surprised to see it getting so much traffic for such a generic, competitive search term. If that had been a term of a little more relevance for me, this information would have lead me to properly optimize the page and get even more traffic.

Pages viewed per visit. If people visit only one page per visit, you have some work to convince them to visit more pages, like those that make you money.

Pages visited. So you threw up on your site something cool as an add-on. How were you to know that other webmasters would link to it and send a whole bunch of traffic your way? Well, now you know, so add some copy to the page to pull visitors into the rest of your site.

Monitoring website performance

Forms. Are they all functioning? A good website monitoring service can keep tabs on them for you. The last thing you want is to have lost hundreds or thousands of subscribers because a sign-up form stopped functioning

Shopping carts. Slow and complicated shopping carts are responsible for an estimated $25 billion in lost sales. Make sure yours is functioning properly. A good website monitoring service can watch this for you, too.

Download speed. Clear your cache and test your pages. Hmm. Maybe those images are a bit large. Time to compress them, or even remove some. Remember that some people are on a much slower connection than you are. I use a satellite connection sometimes, but when I don't, my connection speed is 28K.

Server speed. re there problems with server speed? Maybe not where you are, but on the other side of the world. Global website monitoring can alert you to a transatlantic connection problem, so you can take it up with your web hosting service.

Server accessibility. All the web hosts promise 99% accessibility. But is that for real? Who monitors them? By one estimate, 75% of inaccessibility is not on the hosting server, but rather on the Internet's backbone network and in global routing. A global website monitoring service can help identify the problem, so that you can work with your web hosting company to resolve it before too many sales are lost.

Fun. If you are not having fun, audition for that drummer position in the local band. There is no point spending your life doing something that bores you. Webmastering should be fun.

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David Leonhardt is a freelance writer and website marketing consultant. He wrote this article for Dotcom-Monitor Website and Network Monitoring. Read more on network monitoring or on website monitoring.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com