A host is a server which provides a home for your website on
the World Wide Web. Just as your computer contains all your
files, so a host contains all the files needed to run your
website. Why can’t you just keep all those files on your own
computer? Because that would mean users would have to
connect directly to your computer to see your website. Not a
good idea—it wouldn’t be secure and it would make your
machine run like a tired snail. With a host, you can simply
upload everything you need to the server and your users can
then connect there to see your site. It lets the site run
faster and allows it to have all the security and extras it
needs.

Selecting a host is the first important step towards
building your Internet business.

Hosting services and companies vary from totally free,
shared servers to large-scale dedicated machines. You’ll
have to decide which is right for you and your business. To
help you make that decision, study the following tables:

As you build up your subscriber list, you’re going to find
yourself with a problem. Whichever mail program you’re
using, whether it’s Outlook or Eudora or something else,
it’s just not going to be set up to deal with the kind of
mass mailing involved with newsletters.

If you have more than 50 people on your list—and that will
probably take you less than a week—you’ll need to use a
listserv. Don’t even try to do this by yourself!

My hosting company organize this for me. They have a mail
server that handles all the mail. I just send them the
newsletter and they send it out. Alternatively, you can use
a professional listserv such as Microsoft’s List Builder or
Sparklist.

There are free list servers available too. While you can use
these if you’re on a really tight budget, I don’t recommend
it. First, they stuff their own adverts onto your
newsletter. That doesn’t just reduce the effectiveness of
your brand, it draws attention away from your own
ads—provided you can persuade people to advertise on a
newsletter like this. But their privacy policies have also
come under a lot of criticism lately and even some of the
biggest companies have been found to have used their
clients’ lists to market their own goods.

If you’re going to do a newsletter—and you should—it’s worth
investing in a professional service. That is, after all,
what you’re offering.

In conclusion, newsletters then are one of the most
effective ways to keep customers, and keep your revenue
flowing in. They remind people you’re still out there,
provide news about deals and bargains, and give customers
the confidence to buy. You can put them together in a snap,
or even pay someone a pretty small fee to do it for you. If
you sell advertising space on your newsletter, you’ll even
find each issue will pay for itself.

The aim of a web site's navigation is simply to allow users
to get to the content they require. For sites that have a
large number of sections and web pages (and information
sites can be one of these) the navigation plan has to be
properly researched and designed. You have to consider
different types of visitors and simulate the most common
steps they would take to find what they want on your site
and the navigation plan has to optimize this movement. For
example the steps required from searching a catalog of
items, selecting from the catalog, adding them to a shopping
cart, proceeding to check out, to entering the payment
particulars is a specific sequence that should be
facilitated by the navigation system. If the sequence is
haphazard, it could lead to frustration or the user may miss
an important step and you would have an aborted sale.

To find their way about, users need to know two things:

* Where they are now
* How to go elsewhere

Navigation does not exist in isolation; good site
organization is a prerequisite for a coherent navigation
system.

First, have the diamond appraised. In fact,
have it appraised by two or three jewelers to
get an accurate idea of the diamonds value.
Tell the appraiser that you want the Rapaport
Value. This is the wholesale value of the
diamond, and it basically tells you the highest
price that you can sell your diamond for. If your
diamond has no certificate, you should
consider getting a certificate from GIA. This
may help you get a better price for the
diamond as well.

First, try to sell the diamond yourself, to
people you know. Friends and family
members may be interested. If you don’t have
any luck with friends or family members, you
should turn to outside sources. Absolutely
avoid pawn shops! A pawn shop will only offer
you about 10% of what the diamond is worth!
Also avoid offers of selling the ring on
consignment. There are many things that
can go wrong, and there is no shortage of
diamond scams – even in well known
jewelry stores.

If the diamond is important, you should
strongly consider auctioning it off through
one of the famous auction houses, such as
Christie’s or Sotheby’s. If it isn’t what is
considered an ‘important’ diamond or a
high-end diamond, you should try to sell it
to an individual using classified ads, or even
eBay. However, selling to an individual that
you do not know could put you in danger –
especially if the diamond is worth a lot of
money.

Your final option should be a jewelry store. It
is vital that you not let your diamond out of
your sight while in the jewelry store – you
might find that the diamond you walked in
with is not the same diamond that you walk
out with! The jeweler will try to tell you that
your diamond is of poor quality or low
weight. Inevitably, there will be some
problem with the diamond. This is where
your appraisal and/or certificate will come
in handy.

If the jeweler is fair, they will offer you
between 60% and 80% of the value of the
Rapaport Value. Do not accept anything less
than this. Again, do not let the diamond out of
your sight until you have been paid for it.

First, only deal with reputable jewelers, and
when you find a reputable jeweler, stick with them. Avoid buying diamonds or other jewelry from jewelers that you have never dealt with before in the past. Ask to see the certificate for the stone. If no certificate exists, walk away.

Look at the setting that the stone is in. Fake diamonds, such as zirconias, are usually set in low quality metals. Take a close look at the stone. Fake diamonds are not durable – natural diamonds, on the other hand, are the most durable stone on the planet. Look for scratches or nicks.

After purchasing a diamond, take it to another jeweler for appraisal. In fact, take it to two or three other jewelers for an appraisal to make sure that the appraisals are all fairly close. If you find that you have purchased a fake diamond, you may be accused of making a switch when you return to the store of your purchase; therefore, it is important to have a certificate for the diamond. No two stones are alike.

Diamonds become dirty. When you wash
your hands with a diamond ring on, soap
scum clings to it. When you put on hand
lotion, it gets grease on it. Shower with your
diamond earrings or necklace, and again,
you get soap scum. In one short day, your
brand new diamond could be dirty!

Purchase an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner the
same day that you purchase your diamond
jewelry, and use it every single day, without
fail. The clarity of the diamond changes
when the diamond is dirty – it loses its
sparkle. By taking one minute each day to
clean your diamond jewelry, you can avoid
this, and your diamonds will never be dirty!