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Introduction

Ethereum is a public, peer-to-peer network or blockchain that makes use of its own digital currency known as Ether. It aims to function simultaneously as a decentralized internet and a decentralized app store. It bears a close similarity to Bitcoin and was created in 2014 by a 19-yearold cryptocurrency researcher and programmer from Toronto named Vitalik Buterin.

Buterin was originally inspired to create Ethereum while he was still involved with Bitcoin Magazine. He sought to expand the capabilities of Bitcoin by making it more than just a store of wealth. And so, in late 2013, he released a white paper proposing a new platform that will be able to create smart contract (scripting) functionality supporting a range of applications for developers. This platform is what we know today as Ethereum.

If you have been considering mining a type of cryptocurrency, you very well may want to consider Ethereum. In this eBook, you’ll learn all about what Ethereum mining is, how to determine if it’s right for you, and how to get started.

What is Ethereum Mining

After the release of his whitepaper which described the technical design of Ethereum and the protocol, Buterin immediately started garnering the support of other developers. Before long, Co-founders Dr. Gavin Wood and Joseph Lubin came on board. Together, they launched a crowdfunding campaign which saw participants buying Ether or Ethereum tokens in the form of shares in the project.

With their combined efforts and massive support from numerous participants, Buterin and his team were able to raise more than $18 million from the crowdfunding campaign. Their success didn’t go unnoticed; within a short while, several other developers joined in to grab a piece of the action.

Today, the smart contract platform which Ethereum provides has grown into an ecosystem of hundreds of developers. Tech giants including the likes of Microsoft and IBM, who have pitched their tents with Ethereum and are working closely with developers to ensure that the system remains sustainable.

This process of ensuring the sustainability of the network thus requires the continued mining of Ethereum. Mining is the major factor responsible for making decentralized record-keeping a possibility.

The mining process of Ethereum is almost exactly the same as Bitcoin’s – it is an open-source public software platform that focuses on Blockchain technology and they both use Proof of Work (PoW). For every block of transactions, miners repeatedly and rapidly solve a cryptographic puzzle with the use of a computer until one of them wins Ether.

It is hard for miners to cheat at this game. This is because the system is based on an elaborate puzzle-solving method known as ‘proof-of-work.’ Hence, it is practically impossible for any miner to fake this work and generate an accurate puzzle answer out of thin air.

Normally, a block is found every 12-15 seconds. If the miner begins to solve the block, either more slowly or faster than the allotted time, the algorithm will automatically modify the difficulty of the puzzle to maintain the standard 12-second solution time.

Ethereum uses a proof-of-work algorithm specifically known as ’ethash.’ In a nutshell, miners run the block’s unique header metadata through a hash function. After receiving feedback in the form of a fixed-length of random numbers and letters in a scrambled string, the ‘nonce value’ changes, impacting on the resulting hash value.

Ethereum tokens are thus created by generating Ethers at a rate of 5 ethers per mined block. Ether is simply a unique piece of code that can be used to make payments for the computational resources that are usually required for operating an application or program.

Ether can be transferred from one account to another and can be used to compensate miners for computations performed. However, instead of simply running as a digital currency or payment, Ether seeks to take it a step further by providing “fuel” for the decentralized apps on the network.

Because of this, developers from all over the world are now able to build and run decentralized applications on the Ethereum platform. This same platform has also provided the main gateway for new tech-startups to launch successfully from it.

Why do people mine Ethereum?

As the trend of Ethereum mining gathers momentum, more and more people have decided to join the bandwagon of miners and claim their stake in the cryptocurrency boom for Ethereum. In 2017, the value of the Ethereum (ETH) currency increased over 13,000%, and it is still climbing.

Just as BTC can be easily sold for cash, mining Ethereum is a good way to earn some cash for yourself. You can sell your ETH directly on major exchanges like Bitfinex, Kraken, Coinbase, BTC-e, and Gemini. Asides from its potentially astronomical profit generating capabilities, there are several other reasons why people mine Ethereum.

Also, and as earlier pointed out, Ethereum was introduced to improve upon Bitcoin by offering smart contract features. That reason, however, is just a tip of the iceberg. There is a very high likelihood of Ethereum switching from its current Proof of Work mining phase to a Proof of Stake. Therefore, mining ETH and building on your coins now can give you interest on your holdings in the event Ethereum switches to a Proof of Stake. Mining is like the glue that holds Ethereum's decentralized app store together, making sure that it adapts to each change effected to any of the applications (dapps) running on the network. Mining works to verify and validate transactions with the Ethereum network.

One other major reason is that, while Bitcoin was introduced with the objective to disrupt PayPal and online banking, Ethereum was introduced with the goal of using blockchain to substitute for internet third parties. This includes those that store data, transfer mortgages, and monitors complex financial instruments.

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Introduction to Running Successful Webinars

If you have ever attended a live seminar, you pretty much know what a webinar is. Thanks to the worldwide reach of the Internet and the prevalence of computers, smartphones, and tablets, most of the world is online. Webinars take advantage of this fact, allowing you access to a global audience by conducting a seminar-like event online rather than in a physical, real-world environment.

Traditional seminars are limited in scope and get be very expensive. You have to rent a room or presentation facility, and you are limited as to how many prospects you can address. If you want to host multiple seminars, it requires the presence of you and any trainers or presenters involved at every one of those seminars. This means travel and lodging costs if you want to step out of your local environment. Those expensive and time-consuming restraints don't exist in the virtual world of webinars.

You can record, present and profit from webinars for very little money. If your budget is extremely tight, you can host live and recorded webinars which cost you nothing more than your time and expertise. With free and paid screen capture software, webinar services and live streaming video integrated into popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, anyone can boost their brand, increase sales and profits, and build their reputation as an expert in their field with webinars. If you are wondering whether webinars have a place in your business, consider the following webinar benefits.

- You build a list of interested prospects.

- It is possible to create a passive income stream.

- You are looked upon as a leader and authority figure in your field.

- Your prospects are highly engaged, you have direct contact with your target audience.

- Webinars make effective use of your time, allowing a single presentation to reach hundreds, thousands or even millions of prospects.

- Webinars are extremely inexpensive ways to market your business.

- You can host a webinar anytime and anywhere, from your smartphone, tablet or computer.

- You can sell your webinar as an information product.

- No matter the size of your business, you can instantly develop a global reach.

Aside from those substantial benefits, webinars help you become more real to your audience. They can hear your voice, and if you choose to show your smiling face, their perception of you as a real person rather than just a website or business is enhanced even further. People buy from people, and webinars show you as a person to your audience.

Webinars give you the ability to connect with your audience in ways that text-based marketing can't.

What you will learn in this report on running a successful webinar is the many different types of webinars you can host and present. Webinars can be live or recorded, one-time or recurring, and you can use webinar services, live video streaming applications or screen capture software to get your message across. You will discover why an intimate understanding of your audience is essential to success, the specific tools you need to host webinars, as well as how to use a landing page to build your audience.

You will learn no webinar can be successful without effective follow-up and email integration, and you should always host a Q & A session after delivering your content. There are tips you need to know for delivering your sales pitch, as well as effective follow-up procedures that engage your audience and lead to sales long after the webinar is over. This special report reveals all that information and more, and since webinar implementation can be simple and fast, your business can benefit from this engaging marketing tool in no time.

Let's begin your webinar education with perhaps the most important lesson ... the importance of intimately understanding your audience. (NOTE: Webinars can be used for customer service and retention, to train sales staff, to introduce a new product or service to employees, and for other non-sales activities. The how-to aspect of this report will help in all those situations, but the main focus of the overall report is on using a webinar as a sales tool.)

Knowing Your Audience Is Essential

The success of any marketing campaign depends first and foremost on understanding your audience. Attempting to sell veggie-burgers to diehard meat eaters is not going to work, no matter how good your offer, presentation, and your product are. That is an extreme example which points out the first step to success for running webinars - choosing who will see your presentation, and understanding what they want from your products or services.

If you are selling a weight-loss product, the relentless driving force in the minds of your prospects is not "to lose weight." Yes, your perfect prospects do you want to weigh less than they currently do. However, that is not their core desire. People want to lose weight so they can feel good about themselves, receive compliments from others, finally look good in a bathing suit again, or to improve their health.

Someone may want to lose weight because he or she is tired of being called mean-spirited, hurtful, demeaning names. Women and men may desire to drop 30 or 40 pounds so they can attract a specific type of mate. Whatever the reason or reasons, you will not sell even the greatest weight-loss product in the world if you do not understand the real reasons your prospects are considering your offerings.

You must understand the core beliefs driving the behaviors of your audience.

Never stop asking yourself why someone would choose your product over another. Think about the biggest problems and most nagging questions that trouble the people in your market. Focus on a very narrow, welldefined group of people and not only will your webinar registrations improve when you market to that audience, but you will see your clickthrough rate (CTR), webinar attendance and sales increase as well. When you cater and present your weight-loss solution to "over-50 divorced men trying to lose 25 pounds to get back in the dating game" rather than "all overweight men and women," your webinar experience improves dramatically.

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Introduction

It is no longer news that the adoption of digital currencies as a means of making payment is rapidly gaining momentum around the world. Bitcoin, which is the first example of the growing category of money known as the cryptocurrency, is the most popular and widely accepted of them all. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that was invented by a software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto, and it is currently taking the lead amongst other digital currencies. It is an electronic payment system based on mathematical proof that is created and held electronically. Bitcoin is also a decentralized form of cryptocurrency that is independent of any central authority – meaning, there is no single institution controlling the Bitcoin network.

This eBook is going to help you go beyond a basic understanding of Bitcoin and the mining of it. When you are finished reading, you’ll be ready to get started mining Bitcoins today!

What is Bitcoin Mining?

In traditional fiat currency systems, money is printed by the government and released into circulation whenever it is needed. Bitcoins, on the other hand, aren’t printed, rather they are mined. Computers around the world ‘mine’ for coins by competing with each other using software that solves mathematical problems.

Bitcoin is mined by people, and increasingly, businesses using computing power in a distributed network. It can be transferred electronically and costs very little in transaction fees. The first groups of people to stake their claim in Bitcoin mining were cypherpunks, cryptographers, technically-minded libertarians and multi-talented hackers.

Miners get rewarded in Bitcoins for each new block that they discover and for every transaction that gets finalized. Bitcoin mining usually involves two main aspects; these are: confirming transactions to the blockchain and introducing new Bitcoins to the system.

The blockchain is normally kept in a chronological order to provide the proof needed to complete transactions. Hence, it makes it extremely difficult and nearly impossible to undo transactions because it will require new proof on not just one block, but on all the others.

The network is programmed in such a way that when two blocks (or pending transactions) are found simultaneously, the entire Bitcoin network works on the first block they’ve found. It follows a one-block-ata- time process so that no new block is solved until the penultimate block has been finalized. Then, whoever solves the block gets rewarded with Bitcoins.

The process of solving subsequent blocks continues on to the next block, and it keeps going on and on in circles with a reward for each successful block that gets finalized.

As the mining population increases in the field, there is a proportionate increase in the difficulty of finding new blocks. This difficulty is enhanced because the network is always wanting to ensure that the average time for miners to find a block is limited to 10 minutes. Hence, there is an inherent cutthroat competition lingering among the miners because they only have 10 minutes to finalize their transactions. With this rule actively in place, no one person can control the blockchain, rather, a series of miners get to finalize transactions.

Bitcoin Mining Terminology

To begin your journey into Bitcoin mining, you will need to run software with specialized hardware. We will go into further details about this in the next few chapters. But first, we are going to explain how Bitcoin mining works by defining the basic technical terms that are commonly used in mining. These terms include:

Block:

A block is a group of Bitcoin transactions that are collected during a set period from current pending transactions. These transactions are usually entered into an ever-growing list of blocks, also known as the blockchain, by the miner. It is clearly visible to everyone who is a part of the Bitcoin network. It is estimated that a new block is created on average every ten minutes.

Proof of Work Hashing:

This is the function which miners perform to define a new block. It is usually done to ensure that the Bitcoin blockchain is functioning properly. Miners compete with each other to solve a cryptographic "puzzle," known as a hash, by using raw computational power. When a miner correctly hashes the current block, he successfully solves the "puzzle," thus proving his investment of work. He is then rewarded with a certain number of newly-created Bitcoins.