A task I often have is to uncompress (UnZip, unRAR or whatever) loads of files. At one time this meant an endless chore of sitting and clicking.
A couple of years ago I came across the solution to my problem and like all my favourite solutions it is free of charge.
The solution is a small program called 'UnZipThemAll' and it does what it says!
To unzip a folder of files you simply select the folder through the program interface, the application will identify the compressed files, you then confirm the operation and the location of the uncompressed files and then click the GO button. Quickly and efficiently the software will uncompress your files where you want them to be.
I love this little application and apologise for not having mentioned it before.
You can read more and download from this location: UnzipThemAll Download
BTW, if you like the thing, donate a few dollars to the writer, it is worth it!
Filed under LAMMs Techniques, Reviews by on Aug 11th, 2008. Comment. 
When ever I get a project done by a freelancer whether it be articles on Elance or coding on Scriptlance I always get the contractor to sign and send me a 'Work For Hire' agreement by post. I wait for it to arrive before making any payment is made.
I tell freelancers that if the agreement is taking a long time to arrive and they complete the project before the agreement arrives (has never happened this way yet) that they can have the option of scanning in an image of the signed agreement and emailing it for a quicker payment. Even so I still require a posted version of the Work For Hire agreement.
Nowadays I use a free legal agreement that can be seen in the link below which was recommended by Frank Kern, he says he has used the same document for his own ebook projects on Elance.
http://www.copylaw.com/forms/Workhire.html
I've only just relatively recently started getting into hiring freelancers for writing and even though the costs can mount up it is really worth it. I have used some ok and some pretty poor writers along the way but have now found a couple of sources who I use regularly and are great.
In my opnion, if you just keep trying new people you will eventually find someone that works well for you.
It helps to be very descriptive and precise in your project descriptions and also mention that, depending on the quality of work, there may be repeat business – this can add an incentive for them to do a better job and just possibly make them bid a tad lower than they might otherwise have done.
Make it very apparent you want to build a relationship with them, make the process more personal and less cold/distant, especially if you are talking to one individual and not a group of writers.
At the start I was tempted into going with one of the very cheap bids from a non-English speaking country, took a bit of a gamble, and well, it didn't pay off. They got the job done in the end but you could definitely tell the articles were written by either someone in a big hurry or whose English was most not their native or daily spoken language! Go for writers who speak English as their primary language, it well may cost a little more but you can expect more natural writing. That said, there ARE writers who are from places where you would not expect to find top quality English but it is much harder work tracking them down and that should be reflected in the price that you pay.
Filed under Blogging Tools, Internet Marketing Training, Making Money by on Aug 11th, 2008. Comment.
Are You Getting Enough Traffic To Your Sites?
As serious internet marketers all know traffic is the bedrock of our businesses. Without traffic nothing happens.
The problem is that we get pretty good at making websites, we do good research, we add appropriate offers for our readers and then it kinda stops.
What happens next?
Well, what should happen next is that hundreds, if not thousands, of folks should find your web pages and offers and some of those visitors should click on your ads or buy your offers.
Yup, that SHOULD happen.
But getting traffic to your websites is not so easy – and it is getting harder.
Every day there are more websites, every day more competing offers and every day more noise in the market place.
Well, what's an internet marketer going to do?
Actually he does the same as he always did! He asks his friends for their help. He asks them to tell other people about his great website. He asks them to post articles on their blogs about his new offers. He might even ask his friends to say nice things about his articles on his websites and blogs.
This kind of activity has worked in every market since man invented money and markets.
But, I hear you say, 'how do we find friends' and maybe more particularly, given the global nature of our businesses 'how do I find enough friends to make a difference?'
Well, I think I can offer some help here!
I have been working with friends in my business for quite a while. We work together to help each other to do the tasks that need to be done. I have a network of friends with over 1,500 members!
Yup, that's right. Over 1,500 people all of whom are willing to work with me, and I with them, to get our pages noticed by search engines and real people.
To make a big noise every time we do something interesting.
To help me write content for my sites.
To tell social networking and bookmarking sites about what we are up to.
Well, as a person can always use a few more friends I'd like to suggest that you take a look at how I manage my network of friends. See how we work together to make our businesses stronger. Traffic Kahuna have re-opened the doors to accept another 200 members. Together we are making a big noise about our businesses and people all over the world really do notice when friends help friends to spread the word!
This is a cool opportunity for anyone who wants to get more people to visit their site and make more money from their business!
Join our network of traffic building friends!
Filed under Blog Promotion, Comment Kahuna, Internet Marketing, LAMM add-ons, Making Money, Reviews by Andrew on Aug 7th, 2008. Comment.