RN to MSN - Career Benefits and Education Options

A nurse in many cases holds a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). The implications of an RN receiving an MSN go beyond patient care. Their education in leadership, research, and understanding the current political framework of the medical system allows an MSN to achieve greatness in the field of nursing.

Changing Course – RN to MSN

There are major differences between an RN and MSN. The education attained by an MSN opens the doors to learning the field of medicine that is similar to the work of a medical physician.

An MSN may choose one of many different nursing roles. They may be a Nurse Practitioner who diagnose and treat patients, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist who provide anesthetics to patients in collaboration with surgeons, dentists, or childbirth procedures. Next we have Certified Nurse Midwives who provides primary health care to women, prenatal care, labor and delivery care, care after birth, gynecological exams, and many other care taking procedures necessary for women’s health. Lastly, there is the Clinical Nurse Specialists who specialize in education, research, consulting, case management, and leadership.

National Implications of MSN

Managed care, Medicare, Medicaid, and hospital reimbursement issues are all realities of the current health care system. Many new nurses are unfamiliar with the national crisis occurring each day; a cloud of financial and political challenges that are within the medical system.

For an RN who seeks to make a difference in the current structure of our political system, they will be motivated to receive an MSN. An MSN degree offers the opportunity to deal with these issues head-on.

As medical costs continue to increase astronomically, the challenge is to cut costs wherever possible. Studies show that the U.S. could save up to $8.75 billion annually if MSN’s were used in place of physicians (Thomson Petersons). Advanced practicing nurses with MSN’s will be at the frontline to save money and treat patients, to diagnose and replace the role of the physician.

In addition, MSN nurses such as clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, midwives, and anesthetists, are in high demand, for the medically underserved areas of both rural and urban settings to serve as lower-cost primary care providers (U.S. Department of Labor). In rural settings in particular, there may be fewer physicians available and the MSN will replace the duties of the absent physician unless the patient requires the use of hospital facilities or advanced medical care.

Education, Admission Requirements, and Salary

In order for an RN to achieve an MSN and become an advanced practice registered nurse, most programs require a masters program lasting approximately 2 years following the Bachelor of Science Nursing degree. Some programs require at least 1 to 2 years of clinical experience as an RN for admission. In 2004, there were 329 master’s programs for nurse practitioners, 218 for clinical nurse specialists, 92 for nurse anesthetists, and 45 for nurse midwives (U.S. Department of Labor). Many programs combine the BSN and MSN degree for the nurse to graduate with two degrees together.

The education includes both classroom learning and clinical requirements. Admissions usually require scores taken from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or the Miller Analogies Test (MAT). In addition, college transcripts, letters of recommendation, and essays, are usually required.

MSN’s generally receive a higher salary than BSN’s and RN’s. The average salary for a RN/BSN is between $43,000 and $63,000. The average salary for a Nurse Practitioner, for instance, is approximately $66,000 and can go up to $90,000 if the nurse owns their own practice.

Conclusion

An RN who is becoming an MSN has much to ponder for the field they are about to enter. It is no longer about just becoming a practitioner. Many RN’s become outstanding clinicians; however the doors are open to make a difference in the current financial, political, and health care system. Their training is in leadership, research, clinical learning, and communication skills. This is a formula for success in the dynamic field of nursing.

Copyright 2006 Michael V. Gruber, MPH

Registered Nurse Jobs

It sometimes may seem like there are pages in the classified ads every Sunday for registered nurse jobs. In fact, registered nurses now constitute the largest healthcare occupation, as there are over 2.3 million jobs available. If you are looking to get into a growing field where you are in the drivers seat with employment and salary choices, it may be that becoming a registered nurse is a good option for you.

What is a registered nurse and why are there so many registered nurse jobs out there? A registered nurse is one that has a college degree (Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree) from an accredited institution and has passed his or her nursing boards. Required classes to get a degree so that you can qualify for registered nurse jobs include anatomy, physiology, chemistry, nutrition, and behavioral science classes like psychology. Most schools require clinical experience, and this experience will also help you when you are looking for registered nurse jobs.

Education and experience are key components to certain registered nurse jobs. If you are considering registered nurse jobs in administration, you may want to consider getting a Bachelor degree, as many organizations now require it. Sometimes if you are considering registered nurse jobs in more complex areas like surgery or neo-natal intensive care, organizations will want you to gain significant clinical experience. Also, other registered nurse jobs may even require you to have a masters’ degree, like being a nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, or certified nurse anesthetist.

Registered nurse jobs require a lot of patience and dedication, as a registered nurse will be promoting good health, prevent disease, and helping patients through times of illness. Registered nurse jobs also require you to be detail oriented and have decent writing skills. For instance, registered nurse jobs in psychology will require a nurse to document (in detail) behavior, response to medication, and follow doctor directions carefully so that a patient receives the appropriate care.

If you are qualified or looking to be qualified for registered nurse jobs, then you should be pleased that the job outlook for registered nurse jobs is very high. In fact, registered nurse jobs are expected to grow faster than the average growth for all other jobs through the year 2012. Registered nurse jobs in hospitals is expected to remain the same, though registered nurse jobs in nursing care facilities is expected to grow exponentially as the baby boomer generation ages.

Other areas in which registered nurse jobs are expected to increase is home healthcare and outpatient care centers. The growth for these registered nurse jobs may be due to technological advances and pressure from insurance companies to avoid in-patient hospitalization. Many advances in medicine have created registered nurse jobs in which RNs travel to patient homes to provide care or perform procedures in outpatient facilities.

The varying types of registered nurse jobs, and the great need for people to fill those jobs has offered the opportunity for RNs to have more variety in their careers. Many organizations now offer major bonuses and high salaries to lure RNs, as there are more jobs than nurses. Thus, finding registered nurse jobs can be a process of knowing what type of nurse you want to be and seeking out the opportunity to fill that need.
by: Charles Fuchs

Welcome to the Board of Registered Nursing

The California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) regulates the practice of registered nursing and certified advanced practice nurses in order to protect the public. The Board exists to protect the health and safety of consumers and promote quality registered nursing care in California.
Information About
Picture of nurse

* Applying
o Frequently Asked Questions
o Licensure by Examination
o Licensure by Endorsement from Another State
o Repeat / Reapply for Licensure by Examination
o Advanced Practice Certification
o Reinstatement of a Lapsed RN License
o Continuing Education Provider Number
o Fingerprint Card / Live Scan Form Requests
* Renewing
o Frequently Asked Questions
o Renewal of RN License
o Renewal of Advanced Practice Certifications
o License Duplicate/Replacement Requests
o Verification of Licensure
o Change of Name and/or Address
* Careers in Nursing
o Careers in Nursing
o Become a Nurse Ambassador
o Steps to Become a Registered Nurse
o Financial Aid Information
o Get a Nursing License
o For Future Nurses
o Governor's Nurse Education Initiative



Upcoming Meetings

* Board Meeting
November 29-30, 2007 | More Information
* Diversion/Discipline Committee Meeting
January 17, 2008 | More Information
* Education/Licensing Committee Meeting
January 17, 2008 | More Information
* Nursing Practice Committee Meeting
January 17, 2008 | More Information

What's New

* Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Fingerprint Processing Fees Reduced - October 1, 2007 | More Information
* Forecasts of the Registered Nurse Workforce in California - September 20, 2007
* Exciting Job Opportunity, CA Department of Aging (CDA)! | More Information
* Survey of Registered Nurses in California 2006
* 2005-2006 Annual School Report with Prelicensure Interactive Database | More Information
* Regional Forecasts of the Registered Nurse Workforce in California
* More What's New

A Female Soldier's Last Battle

I arrived at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1974, in my 19th year, into the heart of the 82nd Airborne Division at the John F. Kennedy Center. The old timers called Fort Bragg “Little Hell.” The 82nd Airborne was the first to engage the enemy on land to protect America’s freedom. Even in peacetime, there was always a natural tension of readiness and alertness among the troops and around the base itself.

Every other day or so a C-40 transport plane would arrive with a load of America’s kids, gaunt, aged, gray-haired beyond their years. Some shielded themselves with a barrier of hostility. They wouldn’t let you get close, didn’t want to know anyone, didn’t want anyone else to die in their arms. Some were hostile, some clearly mentally destroyed, forlorn and withdrawn, being led around like zombies. The first ones off the plane were in wheel chairs or on crutches, missing limbs, faced burned beyond recognition. All would be greeted by mobs of defiant protestors.

“Baby killers!” the mobs would chant, taunting and spitting at the returning soldiers. The protestors wore flags sewn to the seats of their jeans to demonstrate their disrespect for the American government and our country’s policies. The irony was their freedom to protest against the very kids who were risking their lives to defend democracy and the right to protest.

In the midst of the mob were grieving parents, claiming their sons in body bags. Many of the young returning survivors were hooked on heroin or cocaine, not at all coping with the devastating Vietnam experience they had endured. The rejection of their sacrifice by the American people only compounded the residual trauma of the killing fields. I saw the irony. Most of the returning vets were from lower and middle-class backgrounds. Most of the protestors were the privileged and the educated who didn’t have to go to war.

The talk on the base was all about John Travolta’s Saturday Night Fever. Another John by the name of Elton was making a splash with Kiki Dee in the duet Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. Sadly, for me, this was clearly be a place of broken hearts and broken dreams. From my point of view, the returning vets were damaged for life. I didn’t see how they would ever get on their feet. More than the loss of a leg, an arm or a fellow soldier, how would they ever heal their broken spirits?

In “Little Hell,” I was the first white soldier to be phased into an all-black unit. This phasing-in process was part of the military’s on-going plan to fully integrate the army. Official desegregation was passed into law in 1948, but that was the end of it. The reality was the races had difficulty working together, so ethnic groups congregated. All white and all black units still existed, and desegregation was still only on paper. When I was in basic training in Missouri, three white soldiers viciously assaulted a black soldier who they refused to allow in their unit. The drill sergeant supported it, and looked the other way. At this point in time, everybody looked the other way. But at the moment of my enlistment, through the encouragement of President Jimmy Carter, the Army official policy intended to make desegregation a reality. I was one of the first soldiers to be involved in the process.

Understandably, many among the African-American troops did not welcome my arrival. In particular, one of my roommates, Marty, had the habit of making “whitey” his punching bag. He continuously incited others to vent their racial anger as “black power” and do the same. I remember that into this tense situation, my other roommate, a good friend and fair-minded individual by the name of James Bailey, spoke words of wisdom.

“This is the army, and everyone has only one color…green. Give him a chance, Marty.” James was wiry and tough, with a don’t-mess-with-me quality honed in the streets. Marty was a good fighter, but he was softer from privilege in his life, a little more GQ, and he listened to James.

The music that defined my life at this moment came from Pvt. Billingsley, a heroin addict, who always seemed to be playing the Average White Band album, and particularly the single, Play that Funky Music, White Boy. It was either this or Herman Melville and the Bluenotes singing, “Oh, mercy, mercy me, things ain’t what they used to be.”

Billingsley used a three-word response in every situation to sum up the negativity of the environment. “This is bullll-shit, man, this is bullll-shit!” If I entered the barracks, if it was raining, if it was time for dinner, it was always the same response. Soon everyone would be repeating this mantra, and most would nod their heads and agree, “Uh-huh,” with vacant, drugged eyes. This was one of the more obvious signs of the depressed and oppressive atmosphere in “Little Hell.” The sergeants in my unit had just come from long tours of duty in Vietnam. They knew the military from experience. Shortly after my arrival, Second Lieutenant Mayer was put in charge of our unit. He was a thin, white Mormon from Brigham Young University who had only book experience from the ROTC, and had never tasted combat. Since he had to prove his authority over the combat soldiers, he made certain we took orders from him, by making our lives miserable. Tensions were high between the white lieutenant!

and the black sergeants. I was caught in the middle.

Fortunately, this was a time in my life when I was gathering much personal strength through the spiritual path of Zen Buddhism, a path of meditation that awakens the seeker to the timeless present moment. Zen Buddhism teaches the practitioner to value life, because it is transitory; we never know when death may come to call us. So we work diligently in the here and now, where we are, to achieve the enlightened state. The enlightened state is experienced when the practitioner brings all of his or her aliveness and concentration fully to the present moment. This is a way of finding the strength of God within right here, right now.

The requirements of sitting zen, known as zazen, are rather demanding. Zazen is the practice that Buddha used to attain spiritual enlightenment. In zazen, the meditator sits Japanese-style on the heels. However, in this rather difficult practice, the weight of the body is held approximately one-half inch off the heels by the strength of the legs. The chin is perfectly parallel to the floor, and every effort is made to hold a perfectly erect position. You sit absolutely still and keep the attention focused on the present moment, the breath, and nothing else. It is a powerful technique used by many martial artists, as it sharpens the mind and body very quickly. Our days were rather full so I would have to be up by four AM in order to get an hour of zazen under my belt. I wore a T-shirt and combat fatigue pants. It was quite cold, but in zazen you learn to ignore the needs of the body. What is a little cold compared to the goal of liberation and spiritual enlightenment?

Buddha was only a man, and he told himself after he sat under the Bodhi tree that he would not leave that spot for any reason until he achieved enlightenment. If Buddha could do it, there is hope for the rest of us. Buddha said, “I am a human being who is evolving spiritually. What I can accomplish, you can accomplish.”

One morning, Marty got up to use the restroom. Imagine his surprise to see me sitting so erect and motionless! He freaked out, and kept staring at me. And staring, And staring. I didn’t move a muscle. Marty was petrified. He was spooked, as if he was witnessing something demonic. He awakened Bailey to have a look. Bailey explained, “He’s meditating, man. It’s cool, it’s what you do in karate.”

Thank you, James Bailey. From that moment on, I was known as the meditating martial artist. I was continually giving classes to my fellow soldiers, showing them how to punch, block, and kick. It is amazing that in the West you can get away with being into God and spiritual subjects if you are a good fighter. The contortions one goes through for the Lord!

Bailey started to meditate with me every morning. Then another soldier from Hawaii, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do named Rick, joined us as well. Soon we had five meditating military monks in our zendo. (A zendo is the hall where the group practice of Zen takes place.) Before long, there were too many of us to use the barracks room. We relocated to a recreation hall and practiced around the pool tables. We needed a roshi, a Zen priest, and I was elected to serve in that capacity. I used the pool stick for the kyo-kyaku stick to keep the fires of meditation burning. The kyo-kyaku stick is also known as the stick of compassion. The monk uses it if your posture weakens or you start to fall asleep. He strikes you on either the right or left shoulder. After you are struck, you bow to the roshi in gratitude for keeping you on the path to enlightenment. The loud “crack” of the kyo-kyaku stick has been known to bring many a monk into spiritual enlightenment. Because the crack happens in!

the moment, it forces you to awaken into the moment. Buddha means “the awakened one.” To remind others of the transitory moment of life is an act of great compassion. It encourages the experience of the preciousness of life. Further, Zen teaches that we all have the power to turn hell into heaven. “Little Hell” needed a dose of Zen Buddhism.

Bailey invited our first female practitioner to join the group. This was Margaret, a single African-American mother of two young children. In attitude and physical shape, she reminded me of Whoopee Goldberg, except for her short military haircut. Nobody messed with Margaret. Her will power was too strong. Since the military was strict about weight, she had remarkably trimmed her body for 90 days on nothing but tuna and water. Margaret was a loner, who had clearly had a hard life. She’d known plenty of alcoholism and abuse from family members and her ex-husband, and although she was only twenty-four, she looked about fifty. In addition to her substantial military duties, she had the full responsibility of raising her two kids, four year-old Joe and five year-old Little Maggie. Yet she also was taking college classes. I first met her at night school, in Black History class. She needed the credit for the Nursing Degree she was working toward. I admired Margaret. “Little Hell” wa!

s hard enough for a man. Women weren’t respected. They could technically join the military, but they weren’t welcome.

All who attended the morning sesshins, as they were called, were dedicated and disciplined individuals without exception. I was a committed roshi, very serious about meditation and very strict about latecomers. I wanted everyone to achieve enlightenment so that we could live in a happier, and more peaceful world. No one wanted to be the recipient of Sergeant Schnell’s displeasure. That was the effect of the military, karate and Zen on me!

One day we knew something was wrong when Margaret didn’t show up. I discovered later that afternoon that she’d been diagnosed with leukemia. Her case was advanced, and she was in great pain and suffering. The doctors gave here only a short time to live. Margaret continued to attend sesshin for as long as she could. She said that the meditation helped her manage the pain and get through her day. Every morning she’d show up. She didn’t care about the diagnosis or what the doctors said. Her indomitable will kept her focused on her Zen meditation discipline. For all of us in sesshin, Margaret became the Buddha. Her strength during this crisis made our practices and difficulties seem lightweight by comparison. Margaret always asked for an extra dose of the compassion stick from me.

Her disease progressed until one morning Margaret didn’t appear. The temperature in the zendo that morning was particularly cold. Later that day, I learned from James Bailey that Margaret was in the hospital. I found her there, practicing her zazen in spite of heavy pain medication. She asked me if there was a way I could bring the sesshin to her hospital room. With her encouragement, nine of us gathered at the hospital early every morning to keep the sesshin going. The rest of the group continued without us at the recreation hall. Everyone wanted to participate with Margaret, but we couldn’t bring that many people into her room.

Our first obstacle was Nurse Leona, a Christian Fundamentalist. With a temper that matched the color of her red hair, Leona let us know that she didn’t want any disturbance on her floor. We explained that what we were doing was spiritual, that it was Margaret’s religion, and that we would be extremely quiet. She wanted no part of what she perceived to be Satan’s work and went to great lengths to have us expelled.

Leona complained to the hospital chaplain that a non-Christian element was invading the peace of the hospital. She called Second Lieutenant Mayer, and enrolled him to keep us distracted from our practice. He put me on all night guard duty with no relief, and he sent Bailey and I into the field for a week of survival training with no food. Margaret persevered while awaiting our return, and as a group we held our ground with clear, quiet, Zen authority. It was the first time I realized how few rights a hospital patient has. You can be dying and a fundamentalist nurse can deny you’re your religious preference and freedom. In order to see Margaret and help her with her Zen practice, I was required to fill out several forms declaring my religion to be Zen Buddhism, although I was, in truth, a Christian practicing Zen Buddhism. I had to do the same for Margaret and the rest of the group. I was also told that this admission would affect my ability to keep my Top Secret clearance. It!

was clearly a threat, designed to discourage me, but Margaret’s one-pointed determination that the group must continue as a whole was my inspiration. She was a clear model that especially in sickness that you need to keep your spiritual discipline.

An old, black Master Sergeant, a Green Beret, who joined our group every day went straight to the Head Chaplain of Fort Bragg. This Master Sergeant was one of the first people in my life who completely impressed me. He was all soldier, tall, erect, muscular, all spit and polish, an African-American king. No one crossed him, but not because he was mean. On the contrary, he was kind and fair, and he was known to be colorblind. He treated everyone equally. He was so decorated for heroism and carried himself with such regal dignity, his word on the base was essentially law. He worked around the clock to get the returning soldiers from Vietnam off drugs. The Master Sergeant had seen action in the Korean War and served multiple tours in Vietnam, where he saved countless lives and seen numerous buddies killed in action. Yet he maintained a powerful, positive spirit and strength I only wanted to emulate. In fact, he had been first exposed to Zen while touring in Vietnam. One of is ob!

vious big frustrations was dealing with the “textbook” officers like Second Lieutenant Mayer, who had no experience in combat but ranked over him because of a college degree.

The Chaplain was a textbook soldier like Lieutenant Mayer with a higher rank than the Master Sergeant, but I suppose the Master Sergeant made it clear that if Mr. Chaplain wanted to continue to receive the cleanest and finest transportation everyday he would have to play ball. I suspect he also made it clear that he was aware of some of the married Mr. Chaplain’s shenanigans with one of the young female soldiers. Apparently, he’d transferred her from his motor pool to be his personal secretary, and things were going on in his office behind closed doors. At that time, sexual harassment had not yet become an open issue in the military, but the Master Sergeant had a case to make, and the Chaplain knew it. No one messed with this Master Sergeant, not even the generals!

Much to Margaret’s relief, and the chagrin of Nurse Leona, we were granted clearance to report to the hospital at 8 AM to honor our spiritual practice of zazen. We were excused from all other duties from 8:00 to 10:00 AM.

Still there was quite a scene. Imagine a typical military doctor striding into the room with, “Hello, and how we doing today,” only to find nine soldiers sitting on the floor in perfect, silent zazen around the bed, in which sat his patient, totally still and erect. When doing a sesshin, we would not even veer from our practice to acknowledge the doctor or anyone who entered the space. The sesshin was our time to focus on our inner divinity. Often Margaret’s two young children, Joe and Little Maggie, would participate by sitting on the Master Sergeant’s lap. The kids behaved, because their mother had taught them the rules. After a few days, the doctor got into the spirit of it. He realized he was walking into a zendo temple. He came in quietly and performed his examination serenely. It was a total shift in the typical hospital protocol.

As Margaret grew weaker, she took advantage of the tilting mattress to keep her upright. Then she would just lie back with the bed tilted at the proper angle. In Japan when a person is dying, a screen is put in front of them that shows the Buddha traveling to heaven. The screen is used as a reminder about where we are to focus during this journey of life. Every minute of every day I wished for that screen for Margaret. I told her about the screen and its symbolism, but we both knew that it wasn’t likely we’d find a Buddha screen in the Bible Belt of North Carolina. She remarked that for her I was her screen, her reminder to look to heaven and follow the Buddha. For me, Margaret’s poise and her grace as she faced her death certainly made her the Buddha.

The doctors were amazed at how calm and accepting Margaret was about everything. They said she was taking about one-third the pain medication that similar patients would take. On some days, she took no pain medication at all. They didn’t understand how it was possible. Since Margaret had no family, the Master Sergeant was busy making arrangements with the social organizations to take care of Joe and Little Maggie.

We arrived on time one spring morning to find Margaret’s bed empty. Nurse Leona told us somewhat cruelly that we were no longer allowed in the hospital. We learned from the doctor that Margaret had died peacefully around 4:00 AM. He said she rang the bell for assistance and when they got there she had already died. Her bed was tilted up and she was sitting comfortably with a peaceful look on her face – a Zen Buddhist all the way! More than likely she made a conscious transition to the heavenly realms while sitting and doing her habitual practice.

Margaret had a military funeral, disguised as a weapons training procedure. Military funerals for ordinary soldiers are not customary, but all the arrangements had been quietly made by the Master Sergeant. The Chaplain was absent, so the Master Sergeant read from the Old Testament, the 23rd Psalm. I was given the privilege of folding the American flag that adorned Margaret’s simple casket and presenting it to her children. I walked toward them in the slow, dignified, carefully measured steps of the walking form of Zen meditation known as kinhin. A lump formed in my throat that I couldn’t control.

“Your mother was so strong, Joey,” I whispered as I knelt close to him. His big sad eyes looked directly into mine. “Keep this flag to always remind you of how strong you are and how strong your mother was.”

He asked, “Is my Mommy coming back?”

With tears streaming down my face, I said, “She’s with God now.”

As Joe took the flag in his little hands, he stood straighter and tears rolled down his young face as well. I rested my palm upon Little Maggie’s head. She reached up for me to hold her, which I did. Her little arms squeezed around me in the tightest grip I’d ever known. She buried her head in my shoulder and sobbed.

The shots from the rifles rang out in the clarity of that brisk spring morning, unexpectedly, like the crack of the kyo-kyaku stick. For me, and I’m sure for most of the zendo group, they symbolized Buddha’s teaching to awaken in this very moment to the preciousness of life.

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by: Donald Schnell

What You Need To Know About SEO: Basic Facts

Exposure could mean a lot for different firms, organizations or groups seeking a wider venue to make their views heard, accepted, and patronized. The main term used for this web-positioning method is the seo, or the Search Engine Optimization.

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What exactly is Search Engine Optimization?

The Internet age has spawned a phenomenon of new terms, new jobs, and new career paths. The growth of the Worldwide Web is creating a new realm, where new types of internet-savvy folks engage in careers that require the skills of an intrepid explorer, searching for new worlds to discover. Among these new tasks are those that require the faster, more strategic placement or positioning of company adverts, documents, products or issues, in order for these entities to have the most maximum level of exposure in the web.

Exposure could mean a lot for different firms, organizations or groups seeking a wider venue to make their views heard, accepted, and patronized. The main term used for this web-positioning method is the seo, or the Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization is the terminology used to define, or describe the action of gaining a better position within a search engine or internet directory system based upon a selected key word or a group of key words. With well over 4 billion documents already on the internet, the prominent search engines are all flaunting that they can locate most of them and show you a link from within their systems, and each of the search engines or directory providers have different guidelines by which a listing within their system is accomplished.

* Achieving Maximum exposure

As web-updated consumers, we are constantly on the lookout for sites that address our specific interests, goals, or products at a specified time and day. Most of us do not always know the URL (Universal Resource Locator) for all the types of businesses that can fulfill that interest, so we use a search engine or directory service to find them for us.

For example, I plan to go out and take my girlfriend with me to a bar, but I haven’t got an idea of which place to go to that I haven’t already been to yet. The next most probable step for me would be to go to a search engine and type in something like: “bars and restaurants pasadena ca"; I put in the quotation marks to make the search more specific, to get me closer to what I am looking for. The phrase I wrote, "bars and restaurants pasadena ca" will be used represent my main key word phrase.

Once I write those key words, I am, hopefully, going to get back a list of the restaurants within the greater Pasadena area, and I indeed got well over 500 or so choices too. What makes it more helpful is that I could find those assorted choices in the local phonebook listings. However, if I wish to make my list of choices much shorter, I would type in, or enter a new search maybe like: "jazz bar pasadena ca”.

Once the search engine has done its job, then I probably will get a shorter list with these new, more precise characteristics. However, the list created will be made in an order that is determined by the search engine. The first one may or may not be starting with the letter A or a number like the one on the phone directory.

From the bar and restaurant viewpoint, if they could be in the top 10 or 20 and get a lot of “hits” or visits by web users, they will have a chance of being seen by the searcher. This is what Search Engine Optimization is all about: gaining a position as close to #1 as possible and then staying there on top, and to achieve maximum exposure.

* It’s all about location

For those who own businesses, then the primary name of the game is profits. Revenue of course, comes from people who spend their incomes with you. The more people spend their money with you, the richer and more successful you become.

In today’s business environment, it is all about LOCATION, and the next important word that comes is “ADVERTISE”.

The way the worldwide web works is the same as in the world of advertising or the directories: It’s about location in the search engines and directory systems, and advertising. If your listing is something less than the top 100, you stand an excellent chance of never being seen, or viewed. Most people are notoriously impatient, and they do not wish to wade through tons of listings. This simply means that you really need to be near, or on the top of the lists for the key words that you feel your prospective customers are, or will be using to find you.

* How Search Engine Optimizers Do This

Improving your position on the web could be done through a wide variety of methods. An easy way for this is to hire a professional Search Engine Optimization firm that can do the job for you. You could check their fees and price ranges on the web or the phone book. The process is definitely a labor-intensive one, and definitely doesn’t come cheap.

But anyway, you too can do it yourself. All you need to do is to get the rules for listing within each of the engines and directory systems where you wish to be listed, the register with them. If they allow you to point to secondary pages that also discuss specific topics, then be sure to do that by pointing to the pages within your site that cover that topic. You may also need to check on your position every month within each of the engines and directories to see how you are stacking up, and sometimes you may need to modify your site to improve your position, as well as your exposure.

by: Vanessa Doctor