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Why Write Articles?

The catch-22 of Internet business is how to drive traffic to your site, even if they've never heard of your business at all. Most people who visit an online site will either find it through a search engine, hear the URL from an offline business that is online too, or have a friend tell them about a new website. In general, there are so many different sites out there competing for everyone's attention that to get noticed by new potential customers, you actually have to create content outside your website, preferably in high traffic areas, with links that go back to your products and offerings.

That's where article marketing comes in. The purpose of article marketing is to gather attention from high traffic areas and bring them back to your site. Instead of relying on your website to attract people to it via the search engines, article marketing is a method where you actually go to places where large crowds of online viewers congregate and offer them valuable information that makes them want to learn more about you and your business.

DON’T RELY ONLY ON YOUR WEBSITE COPY

Your website copy is great for converting customers once they arrive at your site, but it's not enough to draw people to your website all on its own merit – even with good search engine optimization techniques. Instead, you want to find multiple article directories where people are interested in reading various topics and submit your own articles to target the audience that might be interested in your products so that you can convince them to visit you online. After all, your website copy may be spectacular, but if no one reads it, you're not going to make many sales. You have to get people to your site first before you can actually sell them anything online.

INCREASE YOUR TRAFFIC TO INCREASE YOUR PROFITS

The best way to increase traffic to your site is to actually go out and find areas of high traffic and then drive some of that traffic back to your site. Article marketing does this exceedingly well for various reasons. One, people are always looking for fresh content, and article directories provide just that. Two, you are allowed to put backlinks to your website in the resource box, providing a conduit where traffic can flow back to your website from high traffic areas. Three, article directories provide a large audience to start, and it's easy to harvest some of that traffic. Finally, article marketing lets you market a niche via topics, keywords, and categories, making it easy to attract highly targeted traffic that will be interested in your products and services and not just random traffic.

Make Yourself An Expert

Most business owners are experts on the products they are selling; however, they don't always have the time to sit down with each new customer to go over the wonderful benefits of each product. Yet, if people understand the benefits, they will be more likely to want to buy. People buy products because they're looking to solve some problem or to improve their lives. If you're the person who can show them how to solve their problems or improve their lives, then you take on an air of authority and credibility as an expert that can help you to gain trust and to sell more products.

PULL OUT YOUR CREDENTIALS

If you happen to have them, you should flaunt them, especially in the resource box that is available for authors to say more about themselves. People believe people more when they have some level of authority that makes them credible. That's why if you have a higher degree in a specific niche, have written a book, or can lay claim to expertise based on some remarkable accomplishments, make sure to mention some of that in your resource box.

MAKE YOUR ARTICLES INFORMATIVE

Another way to impress people with your knowledge is to make your articles informative, as well as entertaining. People don't have much time these days, and when they take time out to read your article, they want it to count. If instead they reach the end of your article and feel like it is a “puff piece,” they are likely never to read another article by you again.

PICK TOPICS RELEVANT TO YOUR NICHE

Write numerous article topics in the same niche, all on various aspects of that niche. The more articles you write on the same niche, the more people looking for information on that topic will get to know you and your expertise. If people don't find the answer to their problems or issues in one article, but they found you credible as an expert, they will look at the other article that you've authored to find one that does answer their questions. If you have many different articles, and they take the time to read several of those articles, eventually, they will also want to learn more about you personally. Since the resource box allows you to put two links to your presence online, you have two opportunities to show them more of who you are and what your business can do for them. Once they've read a few of your articles, they will have some idea of who you are and are more likely to visit your site with some set opinion about you that influences them, hopefully favorably, to buy something from you.

How To Write Good Articles

In article marketing, you may end up taking the same article and submitting it to different sites in order to get more traffic. You will want to use the same mechanics of article writing that you would use to draw people to the content on your site and to make it people and search engine friendly. Article directories are highly indexed by search engines to begin with, but adding keywords in the right density can really boost your exposure with them in your targeted niche. Meanwhile, you also want to concentrate on making the articles easy to read, informative, and entertaining.

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Introduction

Self-love is perhaps one of the most fundamental yet misunderstood concepts in the world right now. Some dismiss it as a new age ideology that cannot be applied in practical terms. But nothing could be further from the truth. This eBook will show you practical steps with regard to developing self-love. It will also explain what it is and outline the history of the trait and how it has been a core foundation of all spiritual teachings.

Self-love is the ultimate way to boost your self-esteem and become a fully healed and integrated human being. People often come at the idea backwards. They look at attributes such as the

way that a confident person walks or observe their traits. But fundamentally, all radical change begins from within. You then start to really value yourself as a powerful creator of your own reality and deserving of love and respect from everybody. Selflove is the opposite of selfish. You cannot love another person unconditionally unless you love yourself first.

Self-love is not about engaging in destructive patterns of behavior and turning a blind eye. It has nothing to do with arrogance or narcissism and everything to do with becoming a fully whole and integrated individual.

When you are able to exercise self-love, your life will become so much easier. This is because you will not sabotage yourself as much, which is what everybody does with their beliefs about unworthiness. You will also have much more stability in your life as you will no longer depend on others for fulfillment. Your emotions and reactions will not be volatile and you will actually become detached (but not uncaring) from a lot of stuff that goes on in the world.

Love is the ultimate building block of the entire universe. Humans are born into the arms of loving parents and die with their loved ones around them (ideally). They live and die by love alone. In the words of Gautama Buddha:

“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you” Your ability to love yourself and others is all that really matters. How to get there is another matter entirely. For this, you have to find out who you are and love yourself unconditionally.

Chapter 1 - Finding the Self

Finding the self is a mystical concept that has been around since ancient times. The ‘self’ has been described by many names, such as the soul, the oversoul, the atman, the monad, the “I AM” presence, the Christos, the illumined one, and so on. Labels aside, it can be described as who you truly are without any of the social behaviors and attitudes that you have downloaded since birth. It can be ‘found’ by shedding illusion and peeling away the layers of programming, which can also be called the ego.

The entire process of childhood and socialization is essentially learning how to forget who we really are. Our peers and parents scold us when we do something that does not conform to their viewpoint. As such, we learn how to behave in such a way that we can be accepted. Being part of a group, family or tribe is the single most important social norm. This dates back to a time where non-conformity would have gotten us thrown out of the tribe - likely to starve or freeze to death. Pleasing others is ingrained deep within us, but it is also very harmful in terms of spiritual evolution.

So when born, we experience traumas in forgetting who we are. And we then have to go through the process of forgetting everything we learned in school and through wider society to find our true selves. Sadly, reconnecting is anything but easy in the modern age. Technology ensures that information is everywhere so we will look everywhere but inside - where the self resides.

How to Find The “Self”

There is a defined path to find the self “quickly”, though the process could still hardly be described as quick. Many people are swift to dismiss Eastern modalities as outdated, unusual, and unworkable. But the fact of the matter is that in terms of finding the self, Vedic philosophy occupies a distinct position of respect. To proceed with finding Self, you will need:

1. A silent and serene location 2. The ability to meditate on the heart chakra 3. The ability to severely restrict diet

4. The ability to leave behind all technology and distractions. In many ways, it is simple and straightforward. Get to a silent location and meditate on loving the self. Restrict your diet so you are not eating any meat, processed food, caffeine, or alcohol. Avoid technology and eliminate all mental, physical, and emotional distractions.

Though this can be difficult to do, the results will be immense. It is the ideal healing modality. 3 - 7 days is enough for significant changes to occur with the above protocol. It can be repeated as often as necessary and while you won’t succeed the first or even the tenth time, it is enough to fully rejuvenate you from the stresses of modern living in a big way.

Ironically, the quickest way to find the self is to do absolutely nothing at all. Your body, mind, and soul will heal if you just stop eating, thinking, and reading garbage material all the time. You will be in a perfect state of health if you stop doing things that put you in a depressed mood and environment. The grand irony of it all is that people feel to need to ‘do something’ to fix an illusory problem. This leads to fad diets, liposuction, gender changes, unhappy relationships, and unaffordable mortgages.

Vedic philosophy has by no means a stranglehold on silent retreats and fasting. But it really cuts to the heart of the matter with its emphasis on these things and its constant focus on finding the self. There are hundreds of other esoteric modalities such as crystal bowls, visualization, spinning, manifestation, lucid dreaming, chakra work and many more. While they might bring many benefits and even some paranormal effects, they do not cut to the core of finding the self. This involves letting go of everything you have learned to step into new dimensions.

The pinnacle of self-esteem ultimately culminates in selfrealization, a state of being that is talked about in practically every piece of spiritual literature of note. This state goes beyond the typical human experience to full bodied bliss and understanding. However, self-realized people are still flesh and blood, live to tell their experiences, have written books, and can be found by those who actively search for them.

Other Methods to Help Find the Self

There are more ways to try and find who you really are. It is best likened to the peeling of an onion where only the true self is left. A good place to start is to review all of what has happened to you in this lifetime and the major events. The point is not to wallow in them or take pride in achievements. Just draw a linear map of the major events that happened, what their effect on you was, and try to see the bigger picture. This will help to build a degree of objectivity.

In terms of finding self, you do not want to be dependent in any way. So look at all the ways you are emotionally, mentally, physically, or financially dependent on other people and things. Become as self-sufficient as possible. This could entail an eliminating of cigarettes or bad food and finding a new job where you work for yourself. It will be different for everybody.

Finding self is an individual process. Nobody has ever selfrealized themselves together. It is just not the way that the universe works. Groupthink is the antithesis of individual empowerment. Because even in groups, solutions only come from one individual with one spark of inspiration. There is no way to share creativity or ingenuity because it comes from within. This means that when you are finding the self, the practices that you use and the philosophy that you adopt will be yours alone. If you simply copy what others are doing, then you are already disempowered, and will never find the self. Without making decisions of your own volition, you are not giving yourself any power.

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WHAT IS IDENTITY THE FT?

Identity theft happens whenever someone uses your personal identification to commit fraud or other types of crimes. They may use your name, credit card number, or your Social Security number (or other identifying information).

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States, some 9 million Americans have their identities stolen every year. They also state that identity theft is likely to affect most people in some way. The thief may rent an apartment using someone else's name. He/She may open a line of credit or use your own line of credit for his/her buying needs. He/She may apply for a job using your identification.

The effects of identity theft are very real. Your credit may be destroyed. You may have more debt than you should. You may be denied school loans or other types of loans due to poor credit or overuse of credit. You may even lose out on job opportunities if the case becomes severe enough.

The good news is that this very serious problem does have solutions. You may not even know about the problem until a debt collector calls you about a debt you do not remember creating. In other situations, you may spot the minor problems right away. In many cases, the victims of identity theft can solve their problems quickly by being vigilant both online and offline.

These crimes are punishable by jail time and the repayment of funds. Unfortunately, the road to getting your credit repaired and getting your debts worked out is rarely as easy to accomplish.

HOW DOES IDENTITY THEFT HAPPEN?

There are many ways in which identity theft can happen. Most of the time, you will not be making big mistakes such as handing over your personal information. Rather, it may be small things that you do not think of or realize that can allow for someone to get your information. Still, by knowing how this happens, you will be able to prevent further occurrences.

The following are some of the most common methods by which identity thieves get their information:

- Phishing: One of the most common and hard-to-spot methods is phishing. Here, the identity thief pretends to be a credit card company, bank, or even an online payment service like PayPal or eBay. They send you messages through email or even pop-up messages when you visit websites. They claim that you need to verify information or that your account has been put on hold. The goal that they have is simply to get you to log into your account through their website so that they can steal your personal information.

- Dumpster Diving: While it may sound like something that would never happen, dumpster diving is also a commonly used method for getting your personal information. They look through trash for bills that contain personal information. This may be done when you put your trash out or when you toss information at work.

- Skimming Methods: Skimming is a clever method in that it is very hard to detect. Imagine going to a restaurant for dinner. You hand over your credit card to the waiter. If the waiter has a skimming device, they could swipe your card through it, which then allows them access to your information. They can later use that information to make purchases on your account. These special storage devices can be hard to detect.

- Stealing Via The Old-Fashioned Ways: Of course, stealing your personal information may be done in any number of ways, including the old-fashioned way. They may steal your wallet or purse. They may take your mail. Pre-approved credit card offers can easily be used by them. They may take personal records or even bribe employees to provide this information to them.

- Address Changes: Some criminals will change your address at the post office. They forward your mail to their address in the hopes of stealing some of your personal information in the process. All it takes is filling out a change of address form.

- Pretexting: By pretending to be a merchant, your banker, or a telephone salesperson, identity thieves can easily take your information and use it for their own purposes. It is essential to ensure you know whom you are talking to and to make them verify it!

There may be other methods by which they can steal your personal information as well. It is up to you to do the best you can to find out what they are doing and to work to stop the process.

HOW DO THEY USE STOLEN INFORMATION?

Now that they have your name, Social Security number, your credit card numbers, your address or other information, they can use it in various ways to steal from you.

CREDIT CARD FRAUD

One of the most common methods of using stolen information is credit card fraud. Here, the thief may simply use your own information, such as the credit card itself, to make purchases. He/She may also use the information he/she has obtained to open new credit card accounts in your name. He/She does not pay the bills, which causes these accounts to become delinquent (in your name). They end up on your credit report as well.

Another form of credit card fraud occurs when the identity thieves steal your information, change the address on your credit card statements, and then use the information to run up the bills on already-existing credit cards. You no longer get the bill, but you likely do not realize it for some time.

PHONE FRAUD

Phone or utility fraud is yet another common problem associated with identity theft. Here, they may obtain a new mobile phone or even other utilities in your name. They use those accounts, never paying the bills on them, and run up the charges. Sometimes, they may be able to access your current information so that they can use that to their own advantage.