II.  Web Site Tips and Techniques

Auto-forward a domain site to another domain

There may be times when you need to use a "ghost" domain site that you want only for the domain name but when clicked on will automatically take the user to another domain where you actually maintain web site content. To do this is simple and straightforward.

On the Index page of the "ghost" site, place the following html code:

<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="3;URL=http://www.somedomain.com/">

When the "ghost" domain is entered as the url address by the user, it will automatically forward to and open up the home page of the domain "somedomain.com".

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III. Product/Service Review

Free Advertising at Access Atlanta

Recently, I had a desire to sell some equipment my wife and I had purchased in a previous business venture. The equipment was bulky and packed into several fairly large boxes. We could have sold the items individually but preferred to sell the whole lot to a single buyer to reduce our efforts. Another major incentive was that the equipment was taking up a large part of one room in our basement.

Introducing Access Atlanta ( www.accessatlanta.com ). I discovered this little jewel by accident while cruising the web looking for something else. As I looked through the content of the site I noticed a free advertising section.

Timing is everything. I had just completed packing all of our equipment to make it easier to transport to a buyer and was about to place an ad in the Atlanta Journal when I found Access Atlanta. I've tried free ads before with little success, but "what the heck". I decided to place an ad for the equipment and I soon discovered that the process was simple and the final listing was of high quality, crisp, and professional.

Within a week, a buyer called and bought $2000 worth of equipment and soon after my basement room was open for more storage. That's a good thing.

Access Atlanta has many features and is rich with content. Take a look around; you may have a local web site similar to this one that helps promote the sale of an item or to highlight a yard sale at no charge.

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IV.  Business Entrepreneur Thoughts

It's All in the Numbers

For all you true entrepreneurs, what I'm about to tell you comes as no surprise. Wealth can be generated by selling a $10 item, even a 5-cent item. It's true! Create a situation where 1,000 people will pay you $10 per month for a product or a service and you have a very nice steady income of $10,000 per month. Find just 10 people that need a product or service for $1,000 per month and you generate the same income.

I've always heard the story, but haven't confirmed it, that one of Atlanta's multi-millionaires got his wealth in such a way. The story goes that he developed the code that banks still use to manage their ATM machines that you see at every bank today. In the late 70's and early 80's this was a new concept and quite a few people thought that it would never go over with the public. Those same people undoubtedly are now looking for gas stations that have full service. Remember those days ?

At any rate, the story goes that this guy decided to take a commission payment of a penny on every  transaction utilizing his software for 20 years rather than taking a contract fee for his time. It was a high risk with so much uncertainty of the technology at the time but he apparently knew something. If the story is true, he now lives in a home worth $35 million or more.

The point is that if you find the right product or service that has lots of appeal and repeat business, you don't have to charge much as long as it does not cost a lot to provide it.

I'll expect my 5% commission on all new startups as a result of reading this story.

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