by guest writer Darren

The Thirty Day Challenge is a free training course that teaches you how to make your first $10 online. For a full 30 days master Internet marketers Ed Dale and Dan Raine teach you exactly how to start your own Internet business and generate your first income online without spending a dime.

That's right, without spending a dime. The entire training program is free, and you won't have to spend a thing to get your business started and begin making money. No credit card required.

The 2008 Thirty Day Challenge starts on August 1st, but pre-season started in June.

I participated in last year's challenge and would like to share the lessons I learned. Here we go:

Lesson #1. There is no way to know whether a particular idea will work or not. The only way is to test.

This is a big lesson. I see so many newbies out there who don't test and track their results. If you're not testing and tracking, you won't know what works and what doesn't. For example, if you're into affiliate marketing, you must track where your referrals come from. If they come from search engines, then you need to see which phrases work best and focus on them.

by HomeBusinessWiz contributing writer Katja Bartholmess

Today I'm going tackle an issue that you and everyone with an online presence should know about: why you should avoid using Flash on your website. Ignore this advice, and you might let untold amounts of traffic flow right past your website.

[Editor's note added July 5, 2008: Google announced this week that they will begin to index content from Flash files. For a discussion of the SEO implications of this change, go to this article from e-consultancy.com. ]

Now back to the homepage booster...

Kathryn Lim is an image consultant who helps companies and individuals look their best by coaching them on their personal appearance. But her website, www.kathrynlim.com, isn't pulling its weight. In her words, "My website looks pretty but is not in alignment with what I truly want. It is not a marketing tool and does not really help me promote my business."

Kathryn, I couldn't have said it better myself. One glance at your website shows that your excellent consulting services are being hobbled by an insidious web demon - a demon known as Flash.