At this point, you could say that search industry was almost exclusively driven by profit and share price. At many of majors, needs of searcher were temporarily replaced by (or mistaken for) needs of shareholders.

>> But in background a relatively small search engine had been slowly building their database and gaining market share since 1998. Increasing numbers of searchers, disappointed with irrelevant or outdated results they were receiving at other sites, began to flock to this newcomer with curious name: Google. Despite still being in BETA mode, search engine began to get a reputation for quality of sites in its database, lightening fast results it produced and simple, no-nonsense site design. Media attention arrived, as did more market share.

The major search engines and directories now had no choice but to sit up and take notice. Almost too late, they realized what they had been doing wrong for past few years and why they were losing market share so easily to this young upstart firm. Searchers have always wanted fast, relevant, up to date results from their chosen search engine. The fact was that very few directories and engines were offering this any longer. Their sites had become portals packed with advertising and third party information sources; original search function seemingly lost in forest of information. But Google had made a point of ALWAYS offering searchers what they wanted, hence their success. The penny dropped and majors scrambled to get back to basics. Yahoo! took things one step further and embraced Google as their new third party results provider, taking a small investment stake in company and dumping industry veteran Inktomi in process.

So where are we now in plot of "Days of our Search Engines"? Over past 12 months, some search engines and directories lost their way completely, yielding to pressure in boardroom to become more profitable and in so doing, losing forever trust of their market. Others simply slipped a long way off radar and are desperately trying to claw their way back up mountain. But with KISS example set by Google and glaring evidence that you CAN be profitable by listening to users rather than cash registers, search industry storyline is finally getting back on track.

Yahoo! has recently combined Google results with their main search listings, new technically advanced engines such as FAST and Teoma are making an impact on market and AltaVista appears to be making solid efforts to improve their index refresh rate and quality of results. The end result is a richer user experience for searchers and a more promising future for search industry where content is, once again, king.

Article by Kalena Jordan, CEO of Web Rank. Kalena was one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australasia and is well known and respected in her field. For more of her articles on search engine ranking and online marketing, please visit High Search Engine Ranking.

Sample Proposal Collections

Sample Proposal Collections include examples of finished proposals. Samples illustrate how proposals have been created using various Proposal Pack styles. Sample Proposal Collection Volume 1 and Volume 2 are already included in every Proposal Pack and Proposal Kit and are also sold separately. Pricing ranges from USD 27 to USD 87 per pack.

Contract Pack

Contract Pack is a large collection of contract and agreement documents for web, CD-ROM, software, computer, multimedia and other computer software and hardware related work. Contract Pack is available in a stripped down "starter" version (Standard) and a complete version (Pro). Contract Packs are included in Proposal Kit bundles. Pricing ranges from USD 47 (Contract Pack Standard) to USD 97 (Contract Pack Pro).

Proposal Kit Wizard

Proposal Kit Wizard is an optional add-on software interface for use with Proposal Kit templates. Proposal Pack Wizard must be used with a Proposal Kit and/or one or more Proposal Packs. Proposal Kit Wizard works as a Word Macro, automating common tasks that are usually performed manually using proposal templates. Drag and drop your chosen templates into your Proposal Master document or simply merge them from multiple docs to create your final Proposal, ready to send. Use Mail Merge feature to integrate your client's details. >> Add an attractive border or a custom logo or graphic using global replace tool. Automatically create a Table of Contents and page numbering based on your merged document. Regular retail price of Proposal Pack Wizard is USD 97 but because it's a new release, they've set introductory pricing at only USD 47 for a limited time.

I've only touched on products here, but plenty more information is available on web site and their product comparison chart is, quite frankly, best I've ever seen.

Proposal Kit Wizard's Template Selector

Proposal Kit requires Word 6+ for Windows/Mac or higher and supports Office XP, Mac Office and Office X. The only negative aspect of product (and it's not actually a negative, just a necessary restriction) is that legal contracts in Contract Pack should not be viewed as binding legal documents. Because every business has different products, services, clients and operates in different geographical environments, legal requirements vary widely. By all means use contract templates to draft your contract, but make sure you have document carefully reviewed by your company law firm to ensure it meets your specific legal requirements. This is emphasized within templates.

Proposal Kit has been available since 1999, Proposal Packs were introduced in 2002 and Proposal Pack Wizard was just released this month. Developers of product, Cyber Sea Inc., claim that Proposal Kit has customers world-wide, primarily in US, Canada, UK and Australia. A large number of customer testimonials for Proposal Kit are viewable from here and I can understand their enthusiasm.

I was so excited by my discovery of Proposal Kit that I immediately wrote to company asking permission to write a review and share my excitement with my newsletter and web log subscribers. Here's an extract from my gushing email to them:

"The huge range of proposal and international contract templates offered on your site seem to be ideal for persons in my industry - what a delight to find them! I would love opportunity to tell my readers and SEM colleagues all about your products".

Sample Proposal Kit Executive Summary Template

So am I still excited? Absolutely. I've created a new Master Proposal, incorporating some of professional templates such as Company History, Non-Disclosure Agreement, Production Schedule, Cost/Benefits Analysis, Testimonials and List of Acronyms into my client proposals. I was so impressed that I've even become a Proposal Kit affiliate (links to product in this review are my affiliate links). Judging by feedback I'm receiving, use of Proposal Kit has already made a huge improvement in quality and impact my proposals have on potential clients.

So if you run an Internet-based business and want to more accurately quote your projects, impress your clients, brand yourself as a top professional and close sale, I highly recommend you check out Proposal Kit. Just don't tell my competitors about it!

Copyright © 2003 by Kalena Jordan. All rights reserved under U.S. and international law.

Article by Kalena Jordan, CEO of Web Rank. Kalena was one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australasia and is well known and respected in her field. For more of her articles on search engine ranking and online marketing, please visit High Search Engine Ranking.