Google Maps and Google Earth have been helpful in other emergencies; both the flooding in England and the bridge collapse in Minnesota saw them receive international attention.  Now, it’s possible that information available on the two programs will save some lives.

The Google LatLong Blog points to a KPBS map “that includes up-to-date news on the spread of the fire and shows the location of evacuated areas, Red Cross evacuation centers, and closed highways.”  It’s likely that firefighters will use the information to plan their activities.  At the very least, the map should, as in those previous instances, keep everyone aware of the ongoing issues.

There are also maps featuring imagery from the U.S. Forest Service and NASA, as well as one showing time-lapse animations.  Yahoo’s even getting in on the story thanks to Flickr, where hundreds of photos related to the fires have been posted.

The only unfortunate thing about the Internet companies’ involvement is a Google Trends report; searches related to Stevenson Ranch are common enough to have been called “on fire.”

Google and Oliver Williams, that is; Williams, who works for BBC Berkshire, constructed a Google Map to track the flooding.  “We’re trying to keep it updated around the clock with the latest flood warnings for Berkshire alongside photos, video and audio from visitors to the site and our own reporters,” he wrote following Ed Parsons’s coverage of the map.

Parsons acts as Google’s “Geospatial Technologist,” so maybe it’s not too surprising that he would deal with this development.   But bigmouthmedia and the Guardian Unlimited, which are based in the UK, have also taken note of Williams’s map.  Bobbie Johnson called it “a powerful example of how data can be pooled online and added to by individuals.”   Similar creations have since been made to show where safe drinking water can be found.

So Williams certainly deserves a pat on the back (as do the other maps’ authors).   As for Google’s role in all of this . . .  “May I say the Google Map is holding up remarkably well and serving exactly the purpose I had in mind – very flexible and brilliant for illustrating exactly which rivers are in trouble,” Williams wrote.

“My only gripe . . . is that there’s a limit of 100 markers before you get a second ‘page’ of them,” he continued.  “Then you have to move between pages to see the markers and that’s less than ideal, so I have to keep the number below 100.  But you can’t have it all, especially when it’s free!”   And especially, perhaps, when Google Maps was never designed to be a crisis-management tool.

Best wishes to Britain.

No matter how you say it, kinda has a ring, doesn’t it?

No matter what you are selling online, no matter what your sales strategy, no-cost traffic is always a good thing.

One of the best ways to generate traffic to any website is through writing articles. Here are some keys to effective traffic generating articles:

1. Choose a compelling Title

Most webmasters and ezine (email newsletter) publishers will determine just from reading your title whether or not they are interesting in publishing your article. Consider the following for a “Health” related article on an over-the-counter supplement which reduces arthritis pain. Which would you be more interested in publishing:

“New Supplement for Arthritis”

or

“Reduce the Pain of Arthritis with Low-Cost OTC Supplement”

Obviously, the second has a more compelling title-though much longer. Which brings us to a second point:

2. Start with a Clear Benefit

Both in the title and in the opening paragraph, start with a clear benefit statement. Consider that with a long title (like the second one above) most people will only be able to see the first few words in their email subject line. By starting with a clear benefit, they will likely see “Reduce the Pain of Arthritis.”

By repeating the benefit in the opening paragraph, targeted readers are more likely to read the remainder of the article.

3. Format your Submission Properly

Articles for submission should be formatted as text only, with a hard carriage return every 65 or less characters, with the article inserted into the body of the email (not as an attachment). They should begin with publishing guidelines and end with a resource (also called “bio”) box.

While each submission location will have slightly different policies, these are pretty standard. To format your articles, you can use this simple tool:

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/format

4. Submit to Article Announcement Groups

Here is where you can make or break this strategy.

There are thousands of places where you can submit articles (Google lists over 200,000!) You could easily spend all your time trying to chase down the “best” places to submit.

Here are some keys to using your time well:

Go to:

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/groups

This is a directory of the top article announcement groups on the web. This is fast, free and easy.

If none of the groups there meet your target market, go to:

http://www.groups.yahoo.com

and search for groups related to your area of interest.

5. Submit to Article “Banks”

Article banks are simply “repositories” where publishers can go to pick up content for their site or newsletter. Some of them can deliver high volumes of traffic for the right article. Some never will.

Here is how you can judge which ones will serve you best:

Download the Alexa Toolbar.

http://www.Alexa.com

Alexa ranks websites according to their traffic. As you consider various services, see which ones have the LOWEST Alexa number-the lower the number the higher the traffic.

Focus on submitting your articles to sites with the LOWEST Alexa numbers first.

6. Submit to Targeted Websites

If you see a non-competing website in your target market is publishing content (either online or via a newsletter), contact the site owner and find out if they will accept article submissions from you. Often this can be a great way to generate tons of referred traffic as well as getting you a link from a higher traffic website.

To get the contact info, use the Alexa bar mentioned above.

Use these six tips and not only will your articles get published, you will likely see a flood of traffic to your site.

Kevin Bidwell is owner of

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/cg-bin/at.cgi?a=274293

Kevin just finished a complete report on building a passive
income. Grab your copy here:

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/cg-bin/at.cgi?a=274293&e=/pi

With both free and paid variations available, co-registration is based on the practice of presenting a prospect with multiple opt-in opportunities (usually subscriptions or memberships) at the same time.

The Free Way:

The free method of co-registration involves a cooperative effort between competitors, where each offers their list the chance to sign up for a competing ezine(s), often on a confirmation page after a purchase is made.

In this way, members of the co-op ‘share’ each others traffic. You can think of this as a type of joint venture. It works best when you partner with one or two other ezine publishers, offering 3-4 ezine options. You must limit the choices, as too many can be overwhelming to the prospect.

The Paid Way:

There are a number of services popping up across the Internet where an ezine publisher can pay to have their ezine posted with others, in a directory setting. A prospect visiting these sites will be presented with a number of sign up opportunities to opt-in. These services are also known as pay-per-subscriber directories.

However, as with other forms of paid promotions, before investigating a paid co-registration service, you MUST have a firm understanding of your numbers. Do you know how much a new subscriber is worth to you?

Once you’ve grown your opt-in list to around 500, run your conversion rates; know how much you can afford per lead beforehand to break even.

If you’re brand new and haven’t yet gotten a firm sense of your return-on-investment (ROI), wait until you do before signing up. Without an understanding of your revenue and conversion, you could end up overpaying.

Remember, the internet is a numbers game – make sure you know yours before proceeding.

When considering a co-registration service, there are a few critical questions you must ask:

*Does the service provide only opt-in traffic? If it doesn’t, move on. The more targeted the lead, the better.

*Can the new leads be automatically subscribed/added to your opt-in list? Or will the service give you a list of new subscribers that you’ll need to input manually?

*If you’re paying, try to avoid buying leads that have been shared too heavily with ezines that have a target market identical to yours.

*Only use those services that allow potential subscribers to read short descriptions of the ezines being offered – again, this serves to sort, target and pre-qualify the potential opt-in traffic. The closer their interests match your offered information, the better.

*Avoid those services that collect email addresses based on promotions and/or contests. These leads are not as qualified, since subscribers often opt-in only to win a prize. Their interest may be short-term, while you are looking to build a long-term, lasting customer relationship.

So, as with every opportunity, do your homework first. There are a number of co-registration services to consider; you can start with the ones listed below:

http://www.list-builder.com
http://worldwidelists.com
http://ezinecentral.com
http://www.zmedia.com
http://www.profitinfo.com
http://www.myfree.com
http://www.funezines.com
http://www.internetfuel.com
http://www.bay9.com

Paula Morrow heads up http://www.idealmarketingcorp.com She specializes in
public relations, information marketing and creating cashflow systems. Her
newsletter, IDEALProfits, is now read in 12 countries. Subscribe and receive 5
BONUS ebooks! http://www.Idealmarketingcorp.com/subscribe.html