Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Affiliate Internet marketing is a great way to earn money at home. With a wide variety of products and services that you can select from, it's easy to find a product or service that is useful, beneficial and in demand; but before you get started, let's take a quick look at what affiliate internet marketing is.
Affiliate Internet marketing is a simply a way of making money selling products on the Internet when you do not have a product of your own to sell. Rather than creating a product of your own, with services like Click Booth you are able to choose a product or service that already exists to market on your own. As an affiliate, you serve as a referrer; with Internet marketing, you drive traffic to the product or service online.
In other words, affiliate Internet marketing isn't about products. It isn't about selling. To a very large extent, if you hope to have a successful home based business with affiliate internet marketing, you also need to understand that it isn't simply about advertising.
That's going to confuse some people. After all, isn't advertising part of marketing - a term that is obviously relevant in that it's in the name affiliate Internet marketing?
Yes, advertising is a form of marketing; however, there's a lot more to it. The reason some succeed at affiliate internet marketing while others fail is simply that they understand the goals of marketing. They know that, in order to reach out to a lead (or prospective customer) they need to:
1. Have a product that is worthwhile to that lead;
2. Work with a product that fulfills a need - whether it's a physical need, an emotional need or a psychological need;
3. Approach their prospects in a way that addresses and appeals to their needs; and,
4. Meet their prospects where they are.
This is why is possible to make money with affiliate Internet marketing even if you do not have a website. Pay per click advertising campaigns can help to get your affiliate link in front of those who are already searching for the product or service that you're promoting - even if you don't have your own website. Article marketing - submitting articles about the product or service to internet article directories - can serve to provide more information for those who are looking for it, even if you don't have a website of your own. Participating in forums where your prospects already go to find products or services that are related to one of their hobbies or that will help them to achieve one goal or another is also an option for marketing an affiliate product when you do not have a website.
That's why many people look at affiliate internet marketing as a way of making easy money: with so many products and services available and with the ability to promote an affiliate product or service online even if you don't have a website of your own, all you need is a commitment to making it work.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, writes E-Business articles for people who want to achieve more online success. Learn Today, "How to Start an Online Business in less than 30 Days starting from Scratch"! Free Special Report - Limited Time! Plus, weekly newsletter from Online Empire Secrets (A $400 Value). Click ==> Small Business Ideas To get Your FREE REPORT!
http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
|
I will seek to answer those questions here, as well as to provide a Day Planner to enable the new online entrepreneur to navigate the maze of building a successful online business. When I find great advice by other writers, I will include that information as well. --- Clinton Douglas IV, Founder of Vasrue.com |
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Make Money with Affiliate Internet Marketing and Click Booth
Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
There are plenty of people out there who are trying to figure out how to make money fast. Whether it's the high cost of gasoline (and everything else along with it), the desire for a better life - taking more vacations, getting a nicer car, buying a home of your own - or you're simply looking ahead and want to be sure that you've got money in the bank when you need it, there's one place that people turn more than any other when they are looking to make easy money: the Internet.
Now, it's important to recognize that there are two types of opportunities when you're looking to earn money online. First there's the "opportunity" that's a scam in disguise - the offers and books and promises of great riches in not time flat for no effort at all on your part. Then there's the second type: legitimate business opportunities that allow you to make money online.
Some people read that and worry that it means that, in order to make money, they will have to come up with a product or service that they can offer. Then they think that they will have to learn more about designing websites, things like blogging, social networking, article marketing and pay per click campaigns. For them, the chaos of what they might have to do is often enough to stop them from taking a closer look at what could be their ticket to financial freedom.
Don't be like them.
Instead, take the time to learn more about affiliate Internet marketing - specifically, take the time to learn about affiliate Internet marketing with Click Booth. Advertisers who already have established products and services turn to Click Booth to find publishers to promote those products. From business services to networking sites, from DVD rentals to home security systems, no matter what your interests are, Click Booth's Internet affiliate program offers a product or service that you'll be able to stand behind.
That's a big part of the reason why Click Booth's Internet affiliate program is a valuable resource for those who want to learn how to make money online, but it's not the only reason. Of the wide variety of affiliate marketing programs out there, Click Booth offers some of the largest payouts because they only take a small margin on each sale that you make. Their offers are tested before the affiliates move forward on them and, rather than having a nearly impossible to understand payout structure, Click Booth offers a variety of payment options and reliable payments.
If you want to learn how to make money online, and are looking for a home based business that you can start right away without headaches - a business you can start now in your spare time so that it is established before you leave your current job - you owe it to yourself to discover the opportunities that exist and to choose to work with Click Booth, an affiliate marketing company that you will be able to count on.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, writes E-Business articles for people who want to achieve more online success. Learn Today, "How to Start an Online Business in less than 30 Days starting from Scratch"! Free Special Report - Limited Time! Plus, weekly newsletter from Online Empire Secrets (A $400 Value). Click ==> Small Business Ideas To get Your FREE REPORT! http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
There are plenty of people out there who are trying to figure out how to make money fast. Whether it's the high cost of gasoline (and everything else along with it), the desire for a better life - taking more vacations, getting a nicer car, buying a home of your own - or you're simply looking ahead and want to be sure that you've got money in the bank when you need it, there's one place that people turn more than any other when they are looking to make easy money: the Internet.
Now, it's important to recognize that there are two types of opportunities when you're looking to earn money online. First there's the "opportunity" that's a scam in disguise - the offers and books and promises of great riches in not time flat for no effort at all on your part. Then there's the second type: legitimate business opportunities that allow you to make money online.
Some people read that and worry that it means that, in order to make money, they will have to come up with a product or service that they can offer. Then they think that they will have to learn more about designing websites, things like blogging, social networking, article marketing and pay per click campaigns. For them, the chaos of what they might have to do is often enough to stop them from taking a closer look at what could be their ticket to financial freedom.
Don't be like them.
Instead, take the time to learn more about affiliate Internet marketing - specifically, take the time to learn about affiliate Internet marketing with Click Booth. Advertisers who already have established products and services turn to Click Booth to find publishers to promote those products. From business services to networking sites, from DVD rentals to home security systems, no matter what your interests are, Click Booth's Internet affiliate program offers a product or service that you'll be able to stand behind.
That's a big part of the reason why Click Booth's Internet affiliate program is a valuable resource for those who want to learn how to make money online, but it's not the only reason. Of the wide variety of affiliate marketing programs out there, Click Booth offers some of the largest payouts because they only take a small margin on each sale that you make. Their offers are tested before the affiliates move forward on them and, rather than having a nearly impossible to understand payout structure, Click Booth offers a variety of payment options and reliable payments.
If you want to learn how to make money online, and are looking for a home based business that you can start right away without headaches - a business you can start now in your spare time so that it is established before you leave your current job - you owe it to yourself to discover the opportunities that exist and to choose to work with Click Booth, an affiliate marketing company that you will be able to count on.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, writes E-Business articles for people who want to achieve more online success. Learn Today, "How to Start an Online Business in less than 30 Days starting from Scratch"! Free Special Report - Limited Time! Plus, weekly newsletter from Online Empire Secrets (A $400 Value). Click ==> Small Business Ideas To get Your FREE REPORT! http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Shocking Truth About How To Start An Internet Business - Part 5
Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Launching Your Plan and Building Momentum
Once months of preparation and planning are behind you, its tempting to focus solely on business as usual. After all, that's what brings in revenue. But as the economy shifts, seasons change and business grows, so should your plans and objectives.
Did you know that the number one reason businesses fail in the first few years is poor management? Management and strategy are key functions in any start-up. Your initial business and marketing plans were created using forecasted or estimated information. As your business matures, this information becomes more predictable. You'll learn who your customers really are, what they want and how much they're willing to spend. You'll also discover actual budget figures, with longer histories giving a more accurate financial landscape.
Revisit major forecasts and strategies annually, if not quarterly, to see where you stand. Then make adjustments accordingly. This includes your business and departmental budgets, your business, marketing and advertising plans and strategies. Ask yourself the following questions to make sure your company stays as effective and efficient as possible.
Do you qualify for greater bulk product discounts as a result of new purchasing habits?
Can you phase down marketing or advertising and still sustain your current sales momentum?
Is your website structure still relevant to your target audience?
Could you improve website features or functionality to strengthen your users' experience?
What seasonal sales fluctuations can you proactively address to maximize profitability?
Do you see any operational or organizational inefficiencies?
Does increased or decreased staffing make sense?
Could you improve your relationships with key vendors and suppliers?
Could you streamline or improve order fulfillment?
Set your ongoing strategy and continually review your goals on a routine basis. With the right map, you're sure to reach your intended destination.
Final Thoughts
Ebusiness freedom has a compelling draw, which is precisely why so many men and women have worked hard creating and developing their Internet company. When you own an ebusiness, you set your own hours, avoid the 'location, location, location' doldrums, living where you choose, working from home if you prefer, keeping start-up costs low and staying at your day job until unnecessary. But perks aside, ebusiness development still requires a great deal of planning, strategy and skilled execution to succeed.
Keep your customers loyal by paying considerable attention to all of the important bricks-and-mortar service techniques like delivering high levels of customer service, offering valuable products and services, managing complaints and returns effectively, offering various payment options, processing sales quickly and committing to ongoing sales and marketing efforts. Everything you do, whether local or global, start-up or blue chip, should consistently reinforce your initial business purpose and vision. While a strong brand and niche can set your company apart from the competition, you'll need to stay true to your original brand throughout growth and expansion to ensure your founding purpose isn't derailed.
As visitors use your website and process orders, listen and respond to their needs. Customer service can be a challenge when dealing with electronic correspondence and website interfaces. But remember, every ecommerce website is asking its customer to process his or her own payment, similar to asking a walk-in customer to run the cash register. So make check-our quick, intuitive and easy. Confirm orders immediately via email. Thank your customers for their business. Always remember that they could have chosen many other companies to conduct business with, but they chose you. Ship items quickly and respond to inquiries in a timely and courteous manner within 24 to 48 hours. You'll invest less in customer retention than you will in earning new customers, both in marketing dollars and time.
Stick to your budget, ensuring your lenders and investors are on the top of your priority list. After all, they had enough faith in you to put their money in your concept from day one. As revenue grows, use these funds to responsibly invest in ongoing promotion while keeping debt low. Give your business a good three years to establish footing, maintaining enough in the bank to cover expenses should you hit a slow week or month.
Finally treat your employees well. They're company representatives who can make or break customer deals, influence investor opinion, sway the media, cut costs and maximize profits. As you grow from one or a handful of founders into a larger business or enterprise, your employees act on your behalf when conducting day-to-day business. Ensure they have a motivating, pleasant and rewarding atmosphere with which to spend their days. You'll be rewarded ten-fold.
If you're willing to put the necessary time and effort into your ebusiness dream, your opportunity for entrepreneurial freedom awaits. Move over Ebay, here you come.
(Author's Note - If you have missed any article in this five-part series, you can find the missing articles here: http://www.thephantomwriters.com/recent/author/clinton-douglas-iv.html)
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Internet Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Launching Your Plan and Building Momentum
Once months of preparation and planning are behind you, its tempting to focus solely on business as usual. After all, that's what brings in revenue. But as the economy shifts, seasons change and business grows, so should your plans and objectives.
Did you know that the number one reason businesses fail in the first few years is poor management? Management and strategy are key functions in any start-up. Your initial business and marketing plans were created using forecasted or estimated information. As your business matures, this information becomes more predictable. You'll learn who your customers really are, what they want and how much they're willing to spend. You'll also discover actual budget figures, with longer histories giving a more accurate financial landscape.
Revisit major forecasts and strategies annually, if not quarterly, to see where you stand. Then make adjustments accordingly. This includes your business and departmental budgets, your business, marketing and advertising plans and strategies. Ask yourself the following questions to make sure your company stays as effective and efficient as possible.
Set your ongoing strategy and continually review your goals on a routine basis. With the right map, you're sure to reach your intended destination.
Final Thoughts
Ebusiness freedom has a compelling draw, which is precisely why so many men and women have worked hard creating and developing their Internet company. When you own an ebusiness, you set your own hours, avoid the 'location, location, location' doldrums, living where you choose, working from home if you prefer, keeping start-up costs low and staying at your day job until unnecessary. But perks aside, ebusiness development still requires a great deal of planning, strategy and skilled execution to succeed.
Keep your customers loyal by paying considerable attention to all of the important bricks-and-mortar service techniques like delivering high levels of customer service, offering valuable products and services, managing complaints and returns effectively, offering various payment options, processing sales quickly and committing to ongoing sales and marketing efforts. Everything you do, whether local or global, start-up or blue chip, should consistently reinforce your initial business purpose and vision. While a strong brand and niche can set your company apart from the competition, you'll need to stay true to your original brand throughout growth and expansion to ensure your founding purpose isn't derailed.
As visitors use your website and process orders, listen and respond to their needs. Customer service can be a challenge when dealing with electronic correspondence and website interfaces. But remember, every ecommerce website is asking its customer to process his or her own payment, similar to asking a walk-in customer to run the cash register. So make check-our quick, intuitive and easy. Confirm orders immediately via email. Thank your customers for their business. Always remember that they could have chosen many other companies to conduct business with, but they chose you. Ship items quickly and respond to inquiries in a timely and courteous manner within 24 to 48 hours. You'll invest less in customer retention than you will in earning new customers, both in marketing dollars and time.
Stick to your budget, ensuring your lenders and investors are on the top of your priority list. After all, they had enough faith in you to put their money in your concept from day one. As revenue grows, use these funds to responsibly invest in ongoing promotion while keeping debt low. Give your business a good three years to establish footing, maintaining enough in the bank to cover expenses should you hit a slow week or month.
Finally treat your employees well. They're company representatives who can make or break customer deals, influence investor opinion, sway the media, cut costs and maximize profits. As you grow from one or a handful of founders into a larger business or enterprise, your employees act on your behalf when conducting day-to-day business. Ensure they have a motivating, pleasant and rewarding atmosphere with which to spend their days. You'll be rewarded ten-fold.
If you're willing to put the necessary time and effort into your ebusiness dream, your opportunity for entrepreneurial freedom awaits. Move over Ebay, here you come.
(Author's Note - If you have missed any article in this five-part series, you can find the missing articles here: http://www.thephantomwriters.com/recent/author/clinton-douglas-iv.html)
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Internet Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.
The Shocking Truth About How To Start An Internet Business - Part 4
Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Finding People
As your business grows, so does your need for support staff. Whether that's professional project management, accounting, call center or distribution support, these new employees should align with your core business values and objectives.
Before you recruit employees, define your business vision and mission. Identify your ideal business culture. Do you support an open-door policy or a more formal structure? Do you want a casual atmosphere or conservative team? Are you looking for progressive or diversified employees? Hire right the first time to ensure long-term loyalty and minimal turn-over.
When you're first starting out, it's more financially feasible to outsource work. For instance web and graphic design, programming and IT, copy writing, legal and accounting/CPA/payroll are common services businesses outsource both at the outset and into establishment. Outsourcing eliminates payroll, annual salary increase, unemployment, insurance and retirement benefit, equipment and space expenses while offering improved experience and expertise. You gain the advantage of using services without a costly long-term commitment should your business slow.
Other alternatives include temporary staffing centers or employee leasing. Cash-strapped start-ups can even hiring paid or unpaid interns. Temporary staffing gives you immediate access, experienced personnel, lower training requirements and overtime fees plus reduced turnover. When your needs extend beyond six months, hire your new temp as a permanent employee, or recruit a long-term, permanent candidate.
When its in your best interest to expand your team, talk with friends, professional associates, customers, vendors, colleagues and others in your personal and professional network to get recommendations. You can also contact college, trade, vocational or high school placement offices and the local employment agency to find candidates. Trade or industry publications offer targeted advertising, while online job websites and newspaper advertisements are a more traditional and broad-reaching option.
Once you have a loyal and established employee base, save money on recruiting by implementing an employee referral program. These programs give employees cash bonuses for referrals resulting in a hire. You should also establish a competitive employee retention plan to sustain qualified workers, keep your recruiting expenses low and productivity high.
Planning and Building Your Online Storefront
Organization is key to making sales and offering a pleasant shopping experience. Your customer is busy and wants to accomplish tasks quickly with minimal frustration. They also want to find a clean and pleasing atmosphere, layout and design. Once you intrigue your visitor with your main landing page, your goal is to keep them there with simple navigation and fast check-out.
Jacob Nielsen, Ph.D., a leading website usability authority, User Advocate and principal of the Nielsen Group, explains: "The first law of e-commerce is that if users cannot find the product, they cannot buy it either." Your website is basically just an electronic catalog with a bit more technology. Use design, copy, multimedia and photographs that inform your visitor and help them buy your products. In studies, researchers found that nearly half of all sales are lost because visitors simply cannot use the site. Multiply this by the repeat business lost from the same customers and your numbers grow exponentially.
While many businesses strive to be unique, websites should use the standard navigation structure and labels of major brands. Pioneering Internet firms like Amazon have set the standard in customers' minds, making it intuitive to visit links like:
Your Account Shopping Cart About Us Contact Us Help Search Press Careers
Before contacting a website designer, analyze your products and audience carefully. Outline your navigation structure ensuring it takes few clicks to reach your intended objective - a sale. Know the expectations and experience level of your user. For instance, teenagers will be more fluent with computers and the Internet in general, though they may also be less sophisticated in reading or research strategies and have a lower patience threshold. They'll further need clever graphics and innovations to keep their interest.
Jacob Nielsen offers ten important website usability guidelines. These are:
Make the Site's Purpose Clear: Explain Who You Are and What You Do
1. Include a One-Sentence Tagline
2. Write a Window Title with Good Visibility in Search Engines and Bookmark Lists
3. Group all Corporate Information in One Distinct Area
Help Users Find What They Need
4. Emphasize the Site's Top High-Priority Tasks
5. Include a Search Input Box
Reveal Site Content
6. Show Examples of Real Site Content
7. Begin Link Names with the Most Important Keyword
8. Offer Easy Access to Recent Homepage Features
Use Visual Design to Enhance, not Define, Interaction Design
9. Don't Over-Format Critical Content, Such as Navigation Areas
10. Use Meaningful Graphics
Send your planned navigation outline to your website designer. Then, once your website's developed, gather a test group of about 10 people. Let each person run through various tasks on your website without offering help or guidance. Take notes on areas of confusion and make adjustments. If you have heavy traffic, phase in changes gradually to minimize confusion. We've all gone to the grocery store right after a reorganization, only to become even more frustrated when we can't locate the Lays or light bulbs. People get used to the way things are, good or bad.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Internet Home Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Finding People
As your business grows, so does your need for support staff. Whether that's professional project management, accounting, call center or distribution support, these new employees should align with your core business values and objectives.
Before you recruit employees, define your business vision and mission. Identify your ideal business culture. Do you support an open-door policy or a more formal structure? Do you want a casual atmosphere or conservative team? Are you looking for progressive or diversified employees? Hire right the first time to ensure long-term loyalty and minimal turn-over.
When you're first starting out, it's more financially feasible to outsource work. For instance web and graphic design, programming and IT, copy writing, legal and accounting/CPA/payroll are common services businesses outsource both at the outset and into establishment. Outsourcing eliminates payroll, annual salary increase, unemployment, insurance and retirement benefit, equipment and space expenses while offering improved experience and expertise. You gain the advantage of using services without a costly long-term commitment should your business slow.
Other alternatives include temporary staffing centers or employee leasing. Cash-strapped start-ups can even hiring paid or unpaid interns. Temporary staffing gives you immediate access, experienced personnel, lower training requirements and overtime fees plus reduced turnover. When your needs extend beyond six months, hire your new temp as a permanent employee, or recruit a long-term, permanent candidate.
When its in your best interest to expand your team, talk with friends, professional associates, customers, vendors, colleagues and others in your personal and professional network to get recommendations. You can also contact college, trade, vocational or high school placement offices and the local employment agency to find candidates. Trade or industry publications offer targeted advertising, while online job websites and newspaper advertisements are a more traditional and broad-reaching option.
Once you have a loyal and established employee base, save money on recruiting by implementing an employee referral program. These programs give employees cash bonuses for referrals resulting in a hire. You should also establish a competitive employee retention plan to sustain qualified workers, keep your recruiting expenses low and productivity high.
Planning and Building Your Online Storefront
Organization is key to making sales and offering a pleasant shopping experience. Your customer is busy and wants to accomplish tasks quickly with minimal frustration. They also want to find a clean and pleasing atmosphere, layout and design. Once you intrigue your visitor with your main landing page, your goal is to keep them there with simple navigation and fast check-out.
Jacob Nielsen, Ph.D., a leading website usability authority, User Advocate and principal of the Nielsen Group, explains: "The first law of e-commerce is that if users cannot find the product, they cannot buy it either." Your website is basically just an electronic catalog with a bit more technology. Use design, copy, multimedia and photographs that inform your visitor and help them buy your products. In studies, researchers found that nearly half of all sales are lost because visitors simply cannot use the site. Multiply this by the repeat business lost from the same customers and your numbers grow exponentially.
While many businesses strive to be unique, websites should use the standard navigation structure and labels of major brands. Pioneering Internet firms like Amazon have set the standard in customers' minds, making it intuitive to visit links like:
Before contacting a website designer, analyze your products and audience carefully. Outline your navigation structure ensuring it takes few clicks to reach your intended objective - a sale. Know the expectations and experience level of your user. For instance, teenagers will be more fluent with computers and the Internet in general, though they may also be less sophisticated in reading or research strategies and have a lower patience threshold. They'll further need clever graphics and innovations to keep their interest.
Jacob Nielsen offers ten important website usability guidelines. These are:
Make the Site's Purpose Clear: Explain Who You Are and What You Do
1. Include a One-Sentence Tagline
2. Write a Window Title with Good Visibility in Search Engines and Bookmark Lists
3. Group all Corporate Information in One Distinct Area
Help Users Find What They Need
4. Emphasize the Site's Top High-Priority Tasks
5. Include a Search Input Box
Reveal Site Content
6. Show Examples of Real Site Content
7. Begin Link Names with the Most Important Keyword
8. Offer Easy Access to Recent Homepage Features
Use Visual Design to Enhance, not Define, Interaction Design
9. Don't Over-Format Critical Content, Such as Navigation Areas
10. Use Meaningful Graphics
Send your planned navigation outline to your website designer. Then, once your website's developed, gather a test group of about 10 people. Let each person run through various tasks on your website without offering help or guidance. Take notes on areas of confusion and make adjustments. If you have heavy traffic, phase in changes gradually to minimize confusion. We've all gone to the grocery store right after a reorganization, only to become even more frustrated when we can't locate the Lays or light bulbs. People get used to the way things are, good or bad.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Internet Home Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.
The Shocking Truth About How To Start An Internet Business - Part 3
Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Creating a Realistic Budget
Your first three years of business are critical to your success - or failure. Not only do start-up businesses have heavy one-time, up-front expenses, but they're also tight on cash and funding. So your first task is to create a realistic budget. This acts as your blueprint for success.
Your preliminary budget outlines expected and conservative income figures. Start with broad expense categories like utilities and income, breaking these out into more detailed line items like Utilities: telephone, Utilities: gas, Income: paperbacks, Income: hardbacks, and so forth. Expenses are typically easier to project than income. But income grows more and more predictable as time goes by. For this reason, review and adjust your budget quarterly and annually based on new data. (We'll talk more about this in the final installment of this series).
Differentiate your one-time expenses (business license, legal fees, signage, sales literature, and so forth) from your ongoing expenses (leasing, utilities and insurance). Project figures out a full three years with growth dependent on market research or educated estimation. Add an extra 25 percent to all expenses to cover unforeseen or emergency events.
Survive on as little capital investment as possible during your first few years to ensure survival until you reach profitability. Buy and budget only those items necessary to generate revenue. Organize your budget into fixed and variable expenses. Your fixed costs are those which remain stagnant from month to month, including your building lease, utilities, advertising and insurance, while your variable expenses are typically dependent on sales, like commissions, inventory and shipping.
Avoid optional or unnecessary purchases. Nearly every penny you save goes into your pocket. So don't give in to temptation by spending $1,000 on a new desk. Buy only what's necessary to generate revenue and allocate money toward items receiving the strongest ROI. You can always upgrade down the road once your businesses is better established and income is more predictable. The leaner your organization, the better.
Finding Funding
Every business needs start-up capital. These funds help you purchase furniture and fixtures, computers and inventory while still bringing in a livable wage during the first few years when most companies see more red than black. But how much you need and where this funding comes from differs from business to business.
According to a Biz$hop article for Wachovia, the country's fourth largest bank and diversified financial services company, more than 17 percent of start-ups launch with less than $5,000 cash. So before you develop a funding acquisition plan, calculate how much money your business can realistically generate to finance its own expenses. Then define exactly how much money you need to cover necessities, expansion or possible risks.
Start-ups have several options for acquiring funding - from mom and dad to venture capital partners. Begin with your own resources including savings accounts or home equity. Next, tap into your family and friends. Next, research venture capital firms. These are companies that finance start-up ventures who have limited access to capital markets but need quick growth. Angel investors are another source of business financing. Angel investors are successful entrepreneurs that have money to invest in other companies. Newspaper ads and person-to-person networking is the best way to find angel funding sources. The Small Business Administration (SBA) also licenses Minority Enterprise Small Business Investment companies (MSBIs) and Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) to help fund critical growth stages.
Many small businesses have survived the first few years using credit cards and personal loans. Working or investment partners can bring in funding or services that can save your company money. For instance, if you partner with an attorney or a designer, you save a great deal on legal or design fees. When you need stronger financing, you'll need to discuss these goals with a commercial bank, savings and loan or finance company. You may qualify for a small business or SBA loan or line of credit. But make sure you have sufficient collateral to guarantee funding in the event of default. Borrowers want to make sure they give credit to start-ups that have as much confidence in their own success as the bank would be offering in loans.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Online Home Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Creating a Realistic Budget
Your first three years of business are critical to your success - or failure. Not only do start-up businesses have heavy one-time, up-front expenses, but they're also tight on cash and funding. So your first task is to create a realistic budget. This acts as your blueprint for success.
Your preliminary budget outlines expected and conservative income figures. Start with broad expense categories like utilities and income, breaking these out into more detailed line items like Utilities: telephone, Utilities: gas, Income: paperbacks, Income: hardbacks, and so forth. Expenses are typically easier to project than income. But income grows more and more predictable as time goes by. For this reason, review and adjust your budget quarterly and annually based on new data. (We'll talk more about this in the final installment of this series).
Differentiate your one-time expenses (business license, legal fees, signage, sales literature, and so forth) from your ongoing expenses (leasing, utilities and insurance). Project figures out a full three years with growth dependent on market research or educated estimation. Add an extra 25 percent to all expenses to cover unforeseen or emergency events.
Survive on as little capital investment as possible during your first few years to ensure survival until you reach profitability. Buy and budget only those items necessary to generate revenue. Organize your budget into fixed and variable expenses. Your fixed costs are those which remain stagnant from month to month, including your building lease, utilities, advertising and insurance, while your variable expenses are typically dependent on sales, like commissions, inventory and shipping.
Avoid optional or unnecessary purchases. Nearly every penny you save goes into your pocket. So don't give in to temptation by spending $1,000 on a new desk. Buy only what's necessary to generate revenue and allocate money toward items receiving the strongest ROI. You can always upgrade down the road once your businesses is better established and income is more predictable. The leaner your organization, the better.
Finding Funding
Every business needs start-up capital. These funds help you purchase furniture and fixtures, computers and inventory while still bringing in a livable wage during the first few years when most companies see more red than black. But how much you need and where this funding comes from differs from business to business.
According to a Biz$hop article for Wachovia, the country's fourth largest bank and diversified financial services company, more than 17 percent of start-ups launch with less than $5,000 cash. So before you develop a funding acquisition plan, calculate how much money your business can realistically generate to finance its own expenses. Then define exactly how much money you need to cover necessities, expansion or possible risks.
Start-ups have several options for acquiring funding - from mom and dad to venture capital partners. Begin with your own resources including savings accounts or home equity. Next, tap into your family and friends. Next, research venture capital firms. These are companies that finance start-up ventures who have limited access to capital markets but need quick growth. Angel investors are another source of business financing. Angel investors are successful entrepreneurs that have money to invest in other companies. Newspaper ads and person-to-person networking is the best way to find angel funding sources. The Small Business Administration (SBA) also licenses Minority Enterprise Small Business Investment companies (MSBIs) and Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) to help fund critical growth stages.
Many small businesses have survived the first few years using credit cards and personal loans. Working or investment partners can bring in funding or services that can save your company money. For instance, if you partner with an attorney or a designer, you save a great deal on legal or design fees. When you need stronger financing, you'll need to discuss these goals with a commercial bank, savings and loan or finance company. You may qualify for a small business or SBA loan or line of credit. But make sure you have sufficient collateral to guarantee funding in the event of default. Borrowers want to make sure they give credit to start-ups that have as much confidence in their own success as the bank would be offering in loans.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Online Home Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html
You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.
Improved Website Sales Conversion Is The Best Answer
Article Presented by:
Bret Plummer
When I first started learning how to make money online, I read that "content is king." Well, I am here to tell you that "content is not king." It is an illusion (a mirage) that traps many online business owners in the quick sand of failure.
"Content for the sake of content" is pointless.
Now, don't get me wrong here. Content is a good thing, so long as it will help deliver a potential customer to your sales page or the sales page of your advertisers. Any content that does not deliver a potential customer to a sales page is content that has not lived up to its true purpose, plain and simple.
A Number's Game
No web page or website will ever deliver a 100% conversion rate, so it is imperative for a website owner to devise some method for tracking patterns and sales conversion results on their websites.
Many people use and recommend Google Analytics for tracking website sales conversions (http://www.google.com/analytics/). The best benefit of using Google Analytics is the cost... it is free.
Personally, we are unsatisfied with the results that we get from Google Analytics, and we feel there has to be a better way. A few similar products worth considering include:
http://www.metasun.com/ http://www.sales-n-stats.com http://www.onestat.co.uk/
Real Numbers For Consideration
The Internet Retailer website compiled some interesting information back in 2005 and 2006. You can buy the 2006 data on their website, and they provide a good portion of the 2005 report on their website for free. This information comes from its 2005 report of the Top 500 online retailers: http://www.homebizcowboys.com/2005-net-sales-stats
In 2005, the top 500 online retailers completed 523.9 million separate sales at an average ticket price of $118. This in itself is a number that can encourage smaller website owners to have confidence in their future, but it is not the number I am most concerned with sharing with you today.
This article is about "sales conversion", so it is imperative that I show you what you should expect from your own sales conversion.
The Internet Retailer report shows us how the top online retailers are performing as far as sales conversion on their own websites. As you will see in this breakdown, sales conversions based on monthly visits (by visitor) varied widely, even within the same industries.
Chain Retailers ranged from 0.45% to 23% conversion;
Catalog and Call Center Operations ranged from 0.39% to 23.5% conversion;
Web-Only Merchants averaged between 0.10% to 31% conversion; and
Consumer Brand Manufacturers ranged from 0.75% to 20.2% conversion.
Web-Only Merchants stand out in two ways: they scored the lowest conversions and the highest conversion rates at 0.10% and 31%.
Closer To Home
One of our "cowboy" friends has been working on his conversion rates with our help, through his free report and online newsletter. It is always easier to give away information than it is to close a sale on someone's first visit to your website. So, he has adjusted his approach to build his email list first, and then to use good content to drive his sales down the road. (Yes, good content does have its place in the world.)
He still uses the old methods of promoting his websites that he has used for years. But now, he is trying out different advertising models to strengthen his opt-in numbers.
Banner Advertising
We have all heard about how bad banner advertising is, but my cowboy friend had read someone's eBook, where they said that they are making tons of money with banner advertising.
Willing to try anything once, my cowboy friend undertook his first banner advertising promotions with the AdBrite Network (http://www.adbrite.com/).
In his first run at the system, his banners only generated 0.0005% CTR's (click-through's) to his website. So he readjusted his banners and took another pass. With his second run, he generated 0.0054% CTR's. Again, he redesigned his banners and took another pass at the system. This third time out, he had managed to raise his banner clicks to 0.0695%.
On his third run of 144,000 banner impressions, he generated 101 clicks to his newsletter sign-up page. By spending one-third less money than he spent on his first run, he generated 100 times more CTR's than he did on his first pass.
These numbers only reflect how many of his banner displays generated a visitor to his website.
The industry conversion rates shown previously in this article only reflect the actions people took once they were at a website. For my cowboy friend, once people landed on his website after clicking a banner ad, he was able to convert 3% of his visitors to subscribers.
Co-Registration Marketing
Co-registration is a process by which one company will offer a subscription to its visitors, and then on its "Thank You" page, it will offer other subscriptions to similar but non-competing publications.
At the end of my friends' banner advertising campaign, he started a co-registration campaign. He started running his campaign in small increments, so that he could tweak his system as it progressed.
In his first 5,000-exposure pass, he generated a 0.5% CTR to his subscription page and converted 4% of his visitors to subscribers.
So, he tweaked his landing page and was able to increase his conversions to subscribers to 12% on his next run.
The next time through, he tweaked his co-registration advertisement. He saw his CTR increase to 2%.
He checked his stats, and then tweaked his system again. With the latest tweak, he is jubilant about his results. On his fifth pass, his results were so promising that he kept the system moving forward unabated.
With his last 4926 co-registration exposures, he generated 104 clicks to his website (2.11% CTR). Although he is still running about industry average on his CTR's from the co-registration page, he is getting a 55% visitor-to-subscriber conversion rate (58 subscribers from 104 visitors).
Good Statistics Are Integral To One's Success
Without good conversion statistics, it is nearly impossible to know how one can improve their overall conversion results.
Good tracking stats can show you when you have improved your conversions, and they can show you when you have diminished your conversion rates. Every time you make a change to your advertising, you should keep a backup of your original copy, just in case your changes produce poorer results instead of better results. If you see your conversions go down, then go back to the copy you had used prior to your last change.
By using his conversion statistics as a measure of his success, my friend was able to increase his results from banner advertising 100-fold in just a few weeks. When he took the same process to co-registration, he was able to increase his conversion results again, getting 58 times more subscribers for the same cash investment.
Learning From Our Friends...
We are working to duplicate the success of our friend. We had always thought that our own 10% visitor-to-subscriber conversion rate was pretty good, but 55%? Wow!
Going forward, my point is simple. Before investing great sums of money into driving traffic to one's website, the first and most important task should be to drive enough traffic to your website to get some real conversion data and to tweak and improve your conversion results. Once you know that you are converting well on the traffic you are already receiving, then and only then should you consider stepping up your investment into driving traffic to your website.
If I had called this article, "Increase Your Sales by 5,800%," you would have assumed me to be a hype-salesman, and you would have skipped over my article altogether. But, if you ask my friend, he would tell you in his own words, "If he can do it, then anyone can do it." And that includes you, my friend. If he can do it, then YOU can do it too.
About the Author:
Bret Plummer is one of the Home Biz Cowboys. Learn Today, how to successfully start your own Online Business and start generating a sustainable income within a few short weeks. Visit our website now, and sign up to receive our FREE 8-Week Training Course. Be sure to also confirm your subscription right away, so that you will not miss a single day: http://www.HomeBizCowboys.com
Bret Plummer
When I first started learning how to make money online, I read that "content is king." Well, I am here to tell you that "content is not king." It is an illusion (a mirage) that traps many online business owners in the quick sand of failure.
"Content for the sake of content" is pointless.
Now, don't get me wrong here. Content is a good thing, so long as it will help deliver a potential customer to your sales page or the sales page of your advertisers. Any content that does not deliver a potential customer to a sales page is content that has not lived up to its true purpose, plain and simple.
A Number's Game
No web page or website will ever deliver a 100% conversion rate, so it is imperative for a website owner to devise some method for tracking patterns and sales conversion results on their websites.
Many people use and recommend Google Analytics for tracking website sales conversions (http://www.google.com/analytics/). The best benefit of using Google Analytics is the cost... it is free.
Personally, we are unsatisfied with the results that we get from Google Analytics, and we feel there has to be a better way. A few similar products worth considering include:
Real Numbers For Consideration
The Internet Retailer website compiled some interesting information back in 2005 and 2006. You can buy the 2006 data on their website, and they provide a good portion of the 2005 report on their website for free. This information comes from its 2005 report of the Top 500 online retailers: http://www.homebizcowboys.com/2005-net-sales-stats
In 2005, the top 500 online retailers completed 523.9 million separate sales at an average ticket price of $118. This in itself is a number that can encourage smaller website owners to have confidence in their future, but it is not the number I am most concerned with sharing with you today.
This article is about "sales conversion", so it is imperative that I show you what you should expect from your own sales conversion.
The Internet Retailer report shows us how the top online retailers are performing as far as sales conversion on their own websites. As you will see in this breakdown, sales conversions based on monthly visits (by visitor) varied widely, even within the same industries.
Web-Only Merchants stand out in two ways: they scored the lowest conversions and the highest conversion rates at 0.10% and 31%.
Closer To Home
One of our "cowboy" friends has been working on his conversion rates with our help, through his free report and online newsletter. It is always easier to give away information than it is to close a sale on someone's first visit to your website. So, he has adjusted his approach to build his email list first, and then to use good content to drive his sales down the road. (Yes, good content does have its place in the world.)
He still uses the old methods of promoting his websites that he has used for years. But now, he is trying out different advertising models to strengthen his opt-in numbers.
Banner Advertising
We have all heard about how bad banner advertising is, but my cowboy friend had read someone's eBook, where they said that they are making tons of money with banner advertising.
Willing to try anything once, my cowboy friend undertook his first banner advertising promotions with the AdBrite Network (http://www.adbrite.com/).
In his first run at the system, his banners only generated 0.0005% CTR's (click-through's) to his website. So he readjusted his banners and took another pass. With his second run, he generated 0.0054% CTR's. Again, he redesigned his banners and took another pass at the system. This third time out, he had managed to raise his banner clicks to 0.0695%.
On his third run of 144,000 banner impressions, he generated 101 clicks to his newsletter sign-up page. By spending one-third less money than he spent on his first run, he generated 100 times more CTR's than he did on his first pass.
These numbers only reflect how many of his banner displays generated a visitor to his website.
The industry conversion rates shown previously in this article only reflect the actions people took once they were at a website. For my cowboy friend, once people landed on his website after clicking a banner ad, he was able to convert 3% of his visitors to subscribers.
Co-Registration Marketing
Co-registration is a process by which one company will offer a subscription to its visitors, and then on its "Thank You" page, it will offer other subscriptions to similar but non-competing publications.
At the end of my friends' banner advertising campaign, he started a co-registration campaign. He started running his campaign in small increments, so that he could tweak his system as it progressed.
In his first 5,000-exposure pass, he generated a 0.5% CTR to his subscription page and converted 4% of his visitors to subscribers.
So, he tweaked his landing page and was able to increase his conversions to subscribers to 12% on his next run.
The next time through, he tweaked his co-registration advertisement. He saw his CTR increase to 2%.
He checked his stats, and then tweaked his system again. With the latest tweak, he is jubilant about his results. On his fifth pass, his results were so promising that he kept the system moving forward unabated.
With his last 4926 co-registration exposures, he generated 104 clicks to his website (2.11% CTR). Although he is still running about industry average on his CTR's from the co-registration page, he is getting a 55% visitor-to-subscriber conversion rate (58 subscribers from 104 visitors).
Good Statistics Are Integral To One's Success
Without good conversion statistics, it is nearly impossible to know how one can improve their overall conversion results.
Good tracking stats can show you when you have improved your conversions, and they can show you when you have diminished your conversion rates. Every time you make a change to your advertising, you should keep a backup of your original copy, just in case your changes produce poorer results instead of better results. If you see your conversions go down, then go back to the copy you had used prior to your last change.
By using his conversion statistics as a measure of his success, my friend was able to increase his results from banner advertising 100-fold in just a few weeks. When he took the same process to co-registration, he was able to increase his conversion results again, getting 58 times more subscribers for the same cash investment.
Learning From Our Friends...
We are working to duplicate the success of our friend. We had always thought that our own 10% visitor-to-subscriber conversion rate was pretty good, but 55%? Wow!
Going forward, my point is simple. Before investing great sums of money into driving traffic to one's website, the first and most important task should be to drive enough traffic to your website to get some real conversion data and to tweak and improve your conversion results. Once you know that you are converting well on the traffic you are already receiving, then and only then should you consider stepping up your investment into driving traffic to your website.
If I had called this article, "Increase Your Sales by 5,800%," you would have assumed me to be a hype-salesman, and you would have skipped over my article altogether. But, if you ask my friend, he would tell you in his own words, "If he can do it, then anyone can do it." And that includes you, my friend. If he can do it, then YOU can do it too.
About the Author:
Bret Plummer is one of the Home Biz Cowboys. Learn Today, how to successfully start your own Online Business and start generating a sustainable income within a few short weeks. Visit our website now, and sign up to receive our FREE 8-Week Training Course. Be sure to also confirm your subscription right away, so that you will not miss a single day: http://www.HomeBizCowboys.com
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Starting an Ebay Business - An Online Business Model that Works (Revised for 2008)
Article Presented by:
Bill Platt
The Realities Of An Internet Business
Millions of people are still coming online each year, and many of those people come to the Internet with dreams of making their financial dreams come true.
The truth is that building a website to sell products and services is not the easiest way to make a living online. A lot of specific knowledge or money will be required to be successful with a standard website.
You must acquire skills - or pay someone who already possesses those skills - in the following areas:
Graphic design Copywriting HTML design Perl or PHP programming Database programming Marketing research Promotions
When this is understood, most people throw their hands up in frustration and walk away from their entrepreneurial desires.
Maybe cash is the problem; maybe the desire is just lacking.
If you have reached this point yourself let me offer one piece of advice...
Don't Throw Away Your Dreams Just Yet
More people than I can count are making a successful living online, and none of them own their own website or send a single commercial email to anyone.
How is this possible?
Two words, "Ebay auctions."
Ebay Makes It Easy
Ebay covers all of the difficult technical issues. And more importantly, Ebay already has floods of visitors eager to purchase your wares.
Ebay has provided everything you need to operate a successful business online with three exceptions:
1. Products to sell
2. Time to list the products in the Ebay database
3. Cash to acquire the products
Choosing The Kinds Of Products
Before choosing your products, you should ask yourself what you enjoy the most. You may enjoy cats, NASCAR or even antiques. You should select products consistent with what you enjoy for two reasons.
First, you bring to your presentation a real appreciation for the products your are offering.
Secondly, a job you hate is one you will quit. A job you enjoy doing will be one that you will want to keep forever. If you are starting your own business, the hope is that you will be doing it for a very long time.
I personally know people who have generated a nice living on Ebay selling cat-related items, NASCAR memorabilia and antiques.
Finding The Actual Products To Sell
I recommend against diving in and spending thousands of dollars buying products that you may or may not be able to sell.
A drop-shipper is a middleman who is willing to permit you to buy an individual product, and then they will put your business name on the return address of the product package and handle the actual delivery for you.
By utilizing a drop-shipper, you can speed product delivery to the client without risking your own cash to keep a product in inventory.
If you are at a loss as to how to get started with a drop-shipping company, we have uncovered three different drop-shipping resources in our research that we feel comfortable recommending. All three approach the drop-shipping market from a different perspective, but any one of them could be essential in your quest to start a successful online business or auction business.
Through this site, you can get all of the information you need to find drop-shippers, who can supply you with over 500,000 products from over 1,000 brand names: http://www.wholesaletradingclub.com/drop-shipping-directory
Through this company, you can gain access to more than 200,000 drop-ship products through an auction control panel or your own storefront website. The company will handle customer care, inventory, shipping and returns, so that you can stay focused on selling products and making money. Their original system has been set up to serve North American sellers, and they have developed a secondary system to serve sellers in the UK. Learn more here: http://www.wholesaletradingclub.com/dropship-biz
This company provides access to more than 1,200,000 drop-ship wholesale products to Ebay Power-Sellers. As the only drop-shipping company to be Ebay-Certified, with tools enabling sellers to easily place products into Ebay, they are a strong contender for any person looking to sell drop-ship products through Ebay: http://www.wholesaletradingclub.com/ebay-certified
Learning To List Your Products At Ebay
Learning to use Ebay is pretty easy and straightforward. Ebay has put forward a lot of effort to help people to become successful and to help you to be successful using their systems.
For example, Ebay has an entire area of their site devoted to the online entrepreneur.
To get an overview of all of the services and tools that Ebay provides to sellers, you may visit: http://pages.ebay.com/services/index.html
Ebay also delivers courses and strategies to help you to be more successful: http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/index.html
The Importance Of Cash Flow To Your Success
Ebay provides tools for both buyers and sellers to rate one another. The speed of delivery is one of the most important factors that sellers are rated on. By providing quick delivery, your buyers will give you a good rating - and more shoppers will bid on your products.
Ebay recently purchased PayPal.com to help facilitate purchases for their buyers and sellers, and they have integrated the two systems together.
Unfortunately, getting the money from your PayPal account to your personal account generally takes four days. Even with a merchant account, the time gap is nearly the same. This time gap expands the turn-around between the transaction and delivery of the product unless you take action to speed the process.
If you have attached a credit card to your Paypal account, you can get a Paypal debit card. Using your Paypal debit card, you will be able to process the payment for your customer's purchase, immediately after they have paid for the product you have sold to them.
If you were doing high volume, you would want to minimize the handling of a transaction to reduce the chance for a foul-up and to increase your ratings within the Ebay system.
But how can this be accomplished?
Managing Cash Flow
While you could rely upon credit cards to get the job done, it is not something I would recommend. Paying credit card interest rates to process your customer's purchase, is an unnecessary burden.
Instead, put a sum of money into a dedicated bank account with a debit card attached to it. When you verify a transaction has been credited to your PayPal account, then use your debit card to immediately process the order with your drop-shipper.
But, how can you do it this way on a tight budget?
The Federal Government To The Rescue
Let me ask you this. Do you have a 401(k) account?
Experts advise that you not touch your retirement savings for anything other than retirement income. That is good advice. Fortunately, it is possible under special circumstances to acquire loans against your 401(k) accounts.
Beginning in 2002, even the self-employed small business owner with no employees could open his or her own 401(k), called a solo-owner 401(k), and borrow from it just as employees with big companies can.
Weigh this option against the others available to you. It only makes sense to take out a loan rather than to take a hit in heavy taxes and penalties for drawing your retirement money early. Seriously, consider taking advantage of our historically low interest rates to meet your cash flow needs.
To learn more about creating and borrowing from a solo-owner 401(k), please visit: http://www.investsafe.com
In Conclusion
It is wise to choose your new business venture based on a model that has proven itself over the long-term. Ebay has been proving its concept since 1995; helping thousands of people build a successful and very profitable business.
The time to act is now. Choose the product line that will give you the most satisfaction and then get busy. Your success awaits you.
About the Author:
Bill Platt is the owner of The Phantom Writers article marketing service (http://thephantomwriters.com). Bill has found a way to reorganize his ghost writing services in order to be able to lower his prices for promotional article ghost writing. His team of ghost writers will create an informational article(s) to help you to promote your business online, and his distribution team will put your article into the hands of ezine publishers and webmasters interesting in publishing good quality content: http://thephantomwriters.com/services/ghost-writing.html
Bill Platt
The Realities Of An Internet Business
Millions of people are still coming online each year, and many of those people come to the Internet with dreams of making their financial dreams come true.
The truth is that building a website to sell products and services is not the easiest way to make a living online. A lot of specific knowledge or money will be required to be successful with a standard website.
You must acquire skills - or pay someone who already possesses those skills - in the following areas:
When this is understood, most people throw their hands up in frustration and walk away from their entrepreneurial desires.
Maybe cash is the problem; maybe the desire is just lacking.
If you have reached this point yourself let me offer one piece of advice...
Don't Throw Away Your Dreams Just Yet
More people than I can count are making a successful living online, and none of them own their own website or send a single commercial email to anyone.
How is this possible?
Two words, "Ebay auctions."
Ebay Makes It Easy
Ebay covers all of the difficult technical issues. And more importantly, Ebay already has floods of visitors eager to purchase your wares.
Ebay has provided everything you need to operate a successful business online with three exceptions:
1. Products to sell
2. Time to list the products in the Ebay database
3. Cash to acquire the products
Choosing The Kinds Of Products
Before choosing your products, you should ask yourself what you enjoy the most. You may enjoy cats, NASCAR or even antiques. You should select products consistent with what you enjoy for two reasons.
First, you bring to your presentation a real appreciation for the products your are offering.
Secondly, a job you hate is one you will quit. A job you enjoy doing will be one that you will want to keep forever. If you are starting your own business, the hope is that you will be doing it for a very long time.
I personally know people who have generated a nice living on Ebay selling cat-related items, NASCAR memorabilia and antiques.
Finding The Actual Products To Sell
I recommend against diving in and spending thousands of dollars buying products that you may or may not be able to sell.
A drop-shipper is a middleman who is willing to permit you to buy an individual product, and then they will put your business name on the return address of the product package and handle the actual delivery for you.
By utilizing a drop-shipper, you can speed product delivery to the client without risking your own cash to keep a product in inventory.
If you are at a loss as to how to get started with a drop-shipping company, we have uncovered three different drop-shipping resources in our research that we feel comfortable recommending. All three approach the drop-shipping market from a different perspective, but any one of them could be essential in your quest to start a successful online business or auction business.
Through this site, you can get all of the information you need to find drop-shippers, who can supply you with over 500,000 products from over 1,000 brand names: http://www.wholesaletradingclub.com/drop-shipping-directory
Through this company, you can gain access to more than 200,000 drop-ship products through an auction control panel or your own storefront website. The company will handle customer care, inventory, shipping and returns, so that you can stay focused on selling products and making money. Their original system has been set up to serve North American sellers, and they have developed a secondary system to serve sellers in the UK. Learn more here: http://www.wholesaletradingclub.com/dropship-biz
This company provides access to more than 1,200,000 drop-ship wholesale products to Ebay Power-Sellers. As the only drop-shipping company to be Ebay-Certified, with tools enabling sellers to easily place products into Ebay, they are a strong contender for any person looking to sell drop-ship products through Ebay: http://www.wholesaletradingclub.com/ebay-certified
Learning To List Your Products At Ebay
Learning to use Ebay is pretty easy and straightforward. Ebay has put forward a lot of effort to help people to become successful and to help you to be successful using their systems.
For example, Ebay has an entire area of their site devoted to the online entrepreneur.
To get an overview of all of the services and tools that Ebay provides to sellers, you may visit: http://pages.ebay.com/services/index.html
Ebay also delivers courses and strategies to help you to be more successful: http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/index.html
The Importance Of Cash Flow To Your Success
Ebay provides tools for both buyers and sellers to rate one another. The speed of delivery is one of the most important factors that sellers are rated on. By providing quick delivery, your buyers will give you a good rating - and more shoppers will bid on your products.
Ebay recently purchased PayPal.com to help facilitate purchases for their buyers and sellers, and they have integrated the two systems together.
Unfortunately, getting the money from your PayPal account to your personal account generally takes four days. Even with a merchant account, the time gap is nearly the same. This time gap expands the turn-around between the transaction and delivery of the product unless you take action to speed the process.
If you have attached a credit card to your Paypal account, you can get a Paypal debit card. Using your Paypal debit card, you will be able to process the payment for your customer's purchase, immediately after they have paid for the product you have sold to them.
If you were doing high volume, you would want to minimize the handling of a transaction to reduce the chance for a foul-up and to increase your ratings within the Ebay system.
But how can this be accomplished?
Managing Cash Flow
While you could rely upon credit cards to get the job done, it is not something I would recommend. Paying credit card interest rates to process your customer's purchase, is an unnecessary burden.
Instead, put a sum of money into a dedicated bank account with a debit card attached to it. When you verify a transaction has been credited to your PayPal account, then use your debit card to immediately process the order with your drop-shipper.
But, how can you do it this way on a tight budget?
The Federal Government To The Rescue
Let me ask you this. Do you have a 401(k) account?
Experts advise that you not touch your retirement savings for anything other than retirement income. That is good advice. Fortunately, it is possible under special circumstances to acquire loans against your 401(k) accounts.
Beginning in 2002, even the self-employed small business owner with no employees could open his or her own 401(k), called a solo-owner 401(k), and borrow from it just as employees with big companies can.
Weigh this option against the others available to you. It only makes sense to take out a loan rather than to take a hit in heavy taxes and penalties for drawing your retirement money early. Seriously, consider taking advantage of our historically low interest rates to meet your cash flow needs.
To learn more about creating and borrowing from a solo-owner 401(k), please visit: http://www.investsafe.com
In Conclusion
It is wise to choose your new business venture based on a model that has proven itself over the long-term. Ebay has been proving its concept since 1995; helping thousands of people build a successful and very profitable business.
The time to act is now. Choose the product line that will give you the most satisfaction and then get busy. Your success awaits you.
About the Author:
Bill Platt is the owner of The Phantom Writers article marketing service (http://thephantomwriters.com). Bill has found a way to reorganize his ghost writing services in order to be able to lower his prices for promotional article ghost writing. His team of ghost writers will create an informational article(s) to help you to promote your business online, and his distribution team will put your article into the hands of ezine publishers and webmasters interesting in publishing good quality content: http://thephantomwriters.com/services/ghost-writing.html
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Copywriting Secret 10: Why Originality Sucks!
Article Presented by:
Scott Bywater
If you want to write great ads, which sell through the roof, you need to toss all your fears from school... about CHEATING, out the window.
Here's why:
Let's imagine you have a competitor who's doing something which is bringing in bucket loads of cash. Maybe it's a mechanic who's offering a complimentary loaner car, or a coffee shop offering a complimentary coffee to draw in the customers.
Many businesses would look at their competitors and think "Aren't they clever? What idea can I come up with to generate loads of customers for my business?"
But the thing is...
ORIGINALITY SUCKS
There's absolutely no benefit in coming up with new ideas which are not tried and tested. Especially when you can take someone elses idea, make a few small changes and use it yourself - instead of trying out 20 "original ideas" that don't work.
After all, would you go and invent a new car, instead of just buying one that already works? Of course not!
So why not steal others idea, and get rich!
Of course, to avoid infringing on copywrit, you'll need to change the wording, and how you explain your product or service. But you can certainly take the concept and use it.
Now don't just look to your competitors. Get ideas from other industries as well.
Let's take a fish and chip shop as an example. What ideas could they steal and apply to their own business.
KFC has 11 herbs and spices. What would happen if the fish shop created their own blend of batter which tasted sensational? And made their Unique Selling Proposition... the "7 secret herbs and spices which makes our fish taste so good."
Or what about packaging their product like McDonalds do into "meal deals" to increase the average dollar sale. Or upsell by asking "would you like fries with that?"
And if their competitor is offering "2 for 1 chips" every Thursday night, and it's working, why not do the same?
Don't just copy similar industries. What about the hairdressing salon down the road offering every 10th haircut for free. Why couldn't the fish shop offer $10 free fish and chips for every $100 you spend? If it works for a hairdresser, human nature says the concept will work for a fish shop too?
Or what about the mechanic who's advertising: "If we don't fix your car" you don't pay... Could you advertise, "If our fish and chips aren't the best you've ever tasted, let us know, and there's no charge".
Ideas are everywhere. So keep your eye out for the next one. In fact, every time you see a great ad or sales letter file it away.
And ask yourself how can I apply this concept to my marketing?
All for now,
Scott Bywater
About the Author:
Scott Bywater is well known for getting results as a professional direct mail copywriter. And also the author of Cash-Flow Advertising. To get a free subscription to his "Copywriting Selling Secrets" newsletter where you'll discover the truth about why most ads and sales letters don't work (And how to make yours different) scamper over to his web site at http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au
Scott Bywater
If you want to write great ads, which sell through the roof, you need to toss all your fears from school... about CHEATING, out the window.
Here's why:
Let's imagine you have a competitor who's doing something which is bringing in bucket loads of cash. Maybe it's a mechanic who's offering a complimentary loaner car, or a coffee shop offering a complimentary coffee to draw in the customers.
Many businesses would look at their competitors and think "Aren't they clever? What idea can I come up with to generate loads of customers for my business?"
But the thing is...
ORIGINALITY SUCKS
There's absolutely no benefit in coming up with new ideas which are not tried and tested. Especially when you can take someone elses idea, make a few small changes and use it yourself - instead of trying out 20 "original ideas" that don't work.
After all, would you go and invent a new car, instead of just buying one that already works? Of course not!
So why not steal others idea, and get rich!
Of course, to avoid infringing on copywrit, you'll need to change the wording, and how you explain your product or service. But you can certainly take the concept and use it.
Now don't just look to your competitors. Get ideas from other industries as well.
Let's take a fish and chip shop as an example. What ideas could they steal and apply to their own business.
Ideas are everywhere. So keep your eye out for the next one. In fact, every time you see a great ad or sales letter file it away.
And ask yourself how can I apply this concept to my marketing?
All for now,
Scott Bywater
About the Author:
Scott Bywater is well known for getting results as a professional direct mail copywriter. And also the author of Cash-Flow Advertising. To get a free subscription to his "Copywriting Selling Secrets" newsletter where you'll discover the truth about why most ads and sales letters don't work (And how to make yours different) scamper over to his web site at http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au
Making Money Online Should Not Be That Hard
Article Presented by:
Bret Plummer
How many people do you know who are struggling with an online business? Are you one of them?
According to Internet World Stats (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm) there are more than 1.1 billion people currently online, around the world in 233 individual countries. Depending on where you get your information, global Internet sales exceeded $200 billion for the first time in 2006.
If you have started your own online business and you have yet to make your first sale or you are still struggling to find your first $1,000 in revenues, you might be asking yourself, "Why not me? Why can't I cash in on this Internet commerce stuff?"
Bad Advice
The answer to that question could very well be that you have been given bad information, and you are fighting an uphill battle that cannot be won on your present course of action.
Take for example the person who was talked into spending $2-$10,000 to have an online shopping mall designed and built for them, full of electronic products that are available for resale. How many other people have bought into the same package as he has?
We took a quick run on Google with the keyword search:
"playstation 3" ps3 console "buy now"
Google shows 45,800 pages offering the Playstation 3, with the option to "Buy Now".
Focus On The Positive
We bet the online mall seller did not share that short bit of information with the person who purchased their first online shopping mall.
We also bet that the shopping mall seller was very wise to share only the advantages of having your own online shopping mall:
Access to 10,000 of the hottest electronic products available on the Internet today; Customizable website layout; Customizable product selection; Set your own prices; Built-in shopping cart to process purchases; Your own merchant account; Profits sent straight to your bank account; Your own domain name; Search Engine friendly interface; and Information about how to promote your shopping mall.
That last bit might be a bit on the short side, and more importantly, it is probably the standard information package given to one thousand other "merchants" who bought the same shopping mall package.
What The Shopping Mall Owner Was Not Told
What the shopping mall seller forgot to tell their customers is that there are 45,000 other places online for people to buy the same electronic products.
They also forgot to mention that "search engine friendly" and "search engine optimized" are two entirely different concepts. "Search engine friendly" simply means that the shopping mall seller made a website whose code can be read by the search engines, and that the shopping mall seller really does not know what it means to be "search engine optimized."
Shopping mall owners frequently do not know that 1.4% of all online transactions in 2006 were estimated to be fraudulent, according to eMarketer.com
New shopping mall owners also do not know that most online shopping malls are still struggling for their first customers.
Pricing Pressures
The shopping mall seller may have also forgot to mention that there are websites on the Internet whose only purpose is to permit online shoppers to select a store based on the lowest price on a particular product and the amount of stock on hand. Here are some examples:
http://www.PriceGrabber.com http://www.NexTag.com http://www.mySimon.com http://www.PriceRunner.com
As long as consumers know about these kinds of websites, and the dozen or so just like them, then consumers will be buying their electronic products, based solely on price.
We are consumers; we did it. When we needed some new monitors for the office, we shopped using NexTag.com to find the best price with shipping, for the monitors we needed for our office.
Fortunately for most shopping mall owners, if a customer buys from a store once, 33% of those consumers will buy from a store twice.
When we needed another monitor for our growing office, we went back to the website where we bought our first two monitors. The price of the monitors had gone up between our first and second purchase by a sum of $20 each, but we went ahead and stayed with the store where we purchased our first batch of computer monitors.
In Over Their Heads
Shopping mall owners do not realize that they have entered into the toughest market in which to make money online.
They don't know that the biggest Internet retailers have huge brand names behind their stores, such as: Walmart.com, Amazon.com, Overstock.com, Sears.com, and BarnesAndNoble.com.
They have also never been told that that small product shopping websites that do well financially can usually tie most of their sales success to their participation in Ebay and other auction websites.
There Is An Easier Way
We advise our subscribers that if they want to get into a product-driven Internet business that there are two ways to do that.
We advise to either create your own product, or to get involved selling products through Ebay and other auction websites.
We also advise that we don't like an auction business if you are going to turn every spare corner of your house into a storage area for your products. We advise that if you are going to get into an auction-driven business, then you should work with drop-shippers, so that you do not have to buy-and-hold the products that you will be selling.
A drop shipper is a wholesale product supplier who is willing to ship individual orders. Drop shippers typically don't have minimum purchase requirements. Most drop-shippers will also address the package to the end-consumer, and they will label the return shipping address with the name of the retailer who bought the product from them.
Fortunately for our subscribers, we discovered in our research that there is a company who has been Ebay-certified to drop-ship products for Ebay sellers. We recommend this type of service highly.
About the Author:
To learn more about the Ebay-certified drop-ship company, please visit this URL: http://www.homebizcowboys.com/ebay-certified
Bret Plummer and his crew consider themselves to be Cowboys, not in the traditional "cowboy with his horse" sense, but in the "George Bush is a cowboy" sense. This bunch of cowboys does things their own way, and they make good money doing it. Their FREE SPECIAL REPORT is designed to show people how to make money online in 30-to-60 days. Sign up: http://www.HomeBizCowboys.com
Bret Plummer
How many people do you know who are struggling with an online business? Are you one of them?
According to Internet World Stats (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm) there are more than 1.1 billion people currently online, around the world in 233 individual countries. Depending on where you get your information, global Internet sales exceeded $200 billion for the first time in 2006.
If you have started your own online business and you have yet to make your first sale or you are still struggling to find your first $1,000 in revenues, you might be asking yourself, "Why not me? Why can't I cash in on this Internet commerce stuff?"
Bad Advice
The answer to that question could very well be that you have been given bad information, and you are fighting an uphill battle that cannot be won on your present course of action.
Take for example the person who was talked into spending $2-$10,000 to have an online shopping mall designed and built for them, full of electronic products that are available for resale. How many other people have bought into the same package as he has?
We took a quick run on Google with the keyword search:
"playstation 3" ps3 console "buy now"
Google shows 45,800 pages offering the Playstation 3, with the option to "Buy Now".
Focus On The Positive
We bet the online mall seller did not share that short bit of information with the person who purchased their first online shopping mall.
We also bet that the shopping mall seller was very wise to share only the advantages of having your own online shopping mall:
That last bit might be a bit on the short side, and more importantly, it is probably the standard information package given to one thousand other "merchants" who bought the same shopping mall package.
What The Shopping Mall Owner Was Not Told
What the shopping mall seller forgot to tell their customers is that there are 45,000 other places online for people to buy the same electronic products.
They also forgot to mention that "search engine friendly" and "search engine optimized" are two entirely different concepts. "Search engine friendly" simply means that the shopping mall seller made a website whose code can be read by the search engines, and that the shopping mall seller really does not know what it means to be "search engine optimized."
Shopping mall owners frequently do not know that 1.4% of all online transactions in 2006 were estimated to be fraudulent, according to eMarketer.com
New shopping mall owners also do not know that most online shopping malls are still struggling for their first customers.
Pricing Pressures
The shopping mall seller may have also forgot to mention that there are websites on the Internet whose only purpose is to permit online shoppers to select a store based on the lowest price on a particular product and the amount of stock on hand. Here are some examples:
As long as consumers know about these kinds of websites, and the dozen or so just like them, then consumers will be buying their electronic products, based solely on price.
We are consumers; we did it. When we needed some new monitors for the office, we shopped using NexTag.com to find the best price with shipping, for the monitors we needed for our office.
Fortunately for most shopping mall owners, if a customer buys from a store once, 33% of those consumers will buy from a store twice.
When we needed another monitor for our growing office, we went back to the website where we bought our first two monitors. The price of the monitors had gone up between our first and second purchase by a sum of $20 each, but we went ahead and stayed with the store where we purchased our first batch of computer monitors.
In Over Their Heads
Shopping mall owners do not realize that they have entered into the toughest market in which to make money online.
They don't know that the biggest Internet retailers have huge brand names behind their stores, such as: Walmart.com, Amazon.com, Overstock.com, Sears.com, and BarnesAndNoble.com.
They have also never been told that that small product shopping websites that do well financially can usually tie most of their sales success to their participation in Ebay and other auction websites.
There Is An Easier Way
We advise our subscribers that if they want to get into a product-driven Internet business that there are two ways to do that.
We advise to either create your own product, or to get involved selling products through Ebay and other auction websites.
We also advise that we don't like an auction business if you are going to turn every spare corner of your house into a storage area for your products. We advise that if you are going to get into an auction-driven business, then you should work with drop-shippers, so that you do not have to buy-and-hold the products that you will be selling.
A drop shipper is a wholesale product supplier who is willing to ship individual orders. Drop shippers typically don't have minimum purchase requirements. Most drop-shippers will also address the package to the end-consumer, and they will label the return shipping address with the name of the retailer who bought the product from them.
Fortunately for our subscribers, we discovered in our research that there is a company who has been Ebay-certified to drop-ship products for Ebay sellers. We recommend this type of service highly.
About the Author:
To learn more about the Ebay-certified drop-ship company, please visit this URL: http://www.homebizcowboys.com/ebay-certified
Bret Plummer and his crew consider themselves to be Cowboys, not in the traditional "cowboy with his horse" sense, but in the "George Bush is a cowboy" sense. This bunch of cowboys does things their own way, and they make good money doing it. Their FREE SPECIAL REPORT is designed to show people how to make money online in 30-to-60 days. Sign up: http://www.HomeBizCowboys.com
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The Business Planning Process: Launch Your Small Business Startup With Success
Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Business planning is one of the most important steps towards building a successful startup business, and you can use some specific strategies to create a comprehensive outline. An effective business plan will help you determine your goals and help you organize all of your small business ideas with ease.
If you've ever been stuck with too many ideas and not knowing where to start, business planning will help take the pressure off. Understanding the business planning process is important for creating something that works, and something that will help you reach your goals. Launching your small business startup is much easier with a clear, step-by-step outline; here's what you need to know:
Step 1: Organize your table of contents. This will help you outline each area of your business to include your mission statement, products and services, number of employees, and any basic market research information.
Step 2: Collect attachments and appendix materials. These are especially important if your business plan will be reviewed by potential investors or business partners, and can also help with your online business planning strategy.
Step 3: Create a list of key topics and sections. Not only will this create a cohesive document, but you'll also be able to jumpstart your business planning process with a clear 'map' or guide of all your strategies. This list is especially helpful if you're not sure where to begin, since you can just put each item down on paper and organize it accordingly.
Step 4: Assign projects and tasks for each area. This is an effective business planning strategy as it helps you break down each goal into actions steps. Assigning tasks and objectives in this way makes it much easier to stay on track during each step.
Step 5: Check for grammar, spelling, and even factual errors. Making sure your plan and notes are clear of mistakes is especially important if you'll be presenting it to others. Doing a quick check will also help you determine if you missed any pieces of critical information and help you fine-tune the final-draft.
Step 6: Write up an executive summary for your small business startup. This is an important step for all business owners, and can help you pull together the entire plan in a few short pages. Many business owners turn to this summary when they need a briefing on objectives during the course of business, and you can include basic points and topics as if you were presenting it to a board or audience.
Step 7: Get an outsider's perspective. While you need to keep your business planning strategy and ideas as confidential as possible, sharing your plan with a trustworthy person can help you catch a few key elements of your project. Get an objective view of your plan and notes so you have everything in well organized and presented in a logical way.
Business planning doesn't have to be difficult, but the process intimidates many startup business owners. Take the time to organize the critical areas of your business and put them in a logical order. Then, break them down into specific objectives and tasks so you have a strong idea of how you can be successful in each area. The time and effort you put into business planning will pay off for the long run, and help you launch your small business startup with success.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about internet home business. Learn how to make thousands of dollars while keeping your daytime job! Visit his site now; Learn the Insider Secrets to Building an Online Empire Click Here ==> Online Business
You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC – see more at http://articles.vasrue.com, education through reading. Build your business, advance your career and find hassle free travel adventures through the Articles of Vasrue. Visit today!
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV
Business planning is one of the most important steps towards building a successful startup business, and you can use some specific strategies to create a comprehensive outline. An effective business plan will help you determine your goals and help you organize all of your small business ideas with ease.
If you've ever been stuck with too many ideas and not knowing where to start, business planning will help take the pressure off. Understanding the business planning process is important for creating something that works, and something that will help you reach your goals. Launching your small business startup is much easier with a clear, step-by-step outline; here's what you need to know:
Step 1: Organize your table of contents. This will help you outline each area of your business to include your mission statement, products and services, number of employees, and any basic market research information.
Step 2: Collect attachments and appendix materials. These are especially important if your business plan will be reviewed by potential investors or business partners, and can also help with your online business planning strategy.
Step 3: Create a list of key topics and sections. Not only will this create a cohesive document, but you'll also be able to jumpstart your business planning process with a clear 'map' or guide of all your strategies. This list is especially helpful if you're not sure where to begin, since you can just put each item down on paper and organize it accordingly.
Step 4: Assign projects and tasks for each area. This is an effective business planning strategy as it helps you break down each goal into actions steps. Assigning tasks and objectives in this way makes it much easier to stay on track during each step.
Step 5: Check for grammar, spelling, and even factual errors. Making sure your plan and notes are clear of mistakes is especially important if you'll be presenting it to others. Doing a quick check will also help you determine if you missed any pieces of critical information and help you fine-tune the final-draft.
Step 6: Write up an executive summary for your small business startup. This is an important step for all business owners, and can help you pull together the entire plan in a few short pages. Many business owners turn to this summary when they need a briefing on objectives during the course of business, and you can include basic points and topics as if you were presenting it to a board or audience.
Step 7: Get an outsider's perspective. While you need to keep your business planning strategy and ideas as confidential as possible, sharing your plan with a trustworthy person can help you catch a few key elements of your project. Get an objective view of your plan and notes so you have everything in well organized and presented in a logical way.
Business planning doesn't have to be difficult, but the process intimidates many startup business owners. Take the time to organize the critical areas of your business and put them in a logical order. Then, break them down into specific objectives and tasks so you have a strong idea of how you can be successful in each area. The time and effort you put into business planning will pay off for the long run, and help you launch your small business startup with success.
About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about internet home business. Learn how to make thousands of dollars while keeping your daytime job! Visit his site now; Learn the Insider Secrets to Building an Online Empire Click Here ==> Online Business
You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC – see more at http://articles.vasrue.com, education through reading. Build your business, advance your career and find hassle free travel adventures through the Articles of Vasrue. Visit today!
Understanding Email Netiquette
Article Presented by:
Trevor Johnson
In life, it is the moral responsibility for the elder to teach the younger, or for the experienced to teach the inexperienced. In internet life, the same moral responsibility applies in regards to correct use of email.
One large difference is that, in internet life, it is very often the younger who are the experienced. The current waves of growth in internet usage, the new users, are largely from the older generations.
Accordingly, it becomes the responsibility of the experienced users to educate and train newer users in the correct usage of email. One simple way of imparting this education to lesser experienced internet users is to politely refer them to this article, either on the page you are currently reading or at http://BestPrac.Org/articles/netiquette.htm
The internet life carries it's own versions of courtesy, privacy and security issues that all users need to know. Hence a new word has entered the vocabulary - Netiquette. (Internet etiquette.)
For example:
In internet and email culture, ALL CAPITALS IS AKIN TO SHOUTING and is universally seen as rude and impolite.
New email users often forget to include a brief "Subject" line on their emails, or do not understand the importance of it. Ordinary postal service "snail-mail" does not ordinarily require a heading about the contents of the letter on the outside of the envelope - though most posted periodicals and many commercial accounts nowadays do identify the contents or level of importance on the outside of the envelope. Email, however, operates very differently from snail-mail. Never omit a subject line, and keep your subject line brief and relevant. Without a subject line, your email will probably be seen as yet another junk email and be deleted unread by the intended recipient. More commonly, it may not even reach the recipient at all. Many ISPs filter suspicious looking emails and delete them without delivery. A blank subject line to an email filter is like waving a red rag in front of a bull.
Never send emails to people you do not know without their express permission. Only send email to people who you know, or who have clearly indicated that they want to receive correspondence from you. Violation of this act of Netiquette can land you in all sorts of trouble. You will be labelled as a spammer. In some states or countries, you risk being charged with criminal or cival violations of the law for sending unsolicited email. Even in countries or states where there is no specific law prohibiting unsolicited email, it is regarded as bad manners and offensive. If you check with your ISP, you will almost always find that they reserve the right to terminate your internet connection if they receive complaints about you for sending unsolicited email.
Even when sending email to people that you do know, only send them what they are likely to want. Not everyone you know wants jokes or other "chain email" forwarded to them. Not everyone shares your sense of humour or has the time while connected at work to be reading frivolous emails. If you like forwarding jokes or other "chain emails" to your friends, check with them first to be sure they are happy to receive them.
Think before you type. Type, then think again. Unlike face-to-face or voice-to-voice communications, the easily and quickly typed email can all too easily be a source for expressing your feelings in the bluntest of ways. Similarly, the hastily written word may lack feelings and not express the emotions that can be sensed with eye contact or voice modulation in other forms of communications. It is too easy to forget that there is a human at the other end - not just a computer. You can very easily damage your own reputation and destroy friendships with thoughtless emails. Once an email is sent, you cannot retrieve it. The damage is done.
While to the experienced user all of the above is simply common sense, as the old saying goes "Common sense is not really all that common." These basics are not innate within the human sole. Newcomers need to be taught.
When to use To:, CC: or BCC:
Another vital area of appropriate email usage goes beyond merely being courteous in your communications - the correct use of To: or CC: or BCC when adding recipients to the email your are sending.
All popular email software and all web-email accounts give you a choice of these three different ways to add a recipient for your email. (Sometimes you might need to check your software menu and enable BCC as a visible option. It is not a visible option by default in all email software, unfortunately.) Your choice has vital privacy and security implications, so it is important to know which to use and when.While "To:" is self explanatory, a brief definition and history of CC: and BCC: will help you understand their correct usage.
CC: is a term from old fashioned typists. It stands for "Carbon Copy". In days of old, prior to photocopiers or word processors with laser printers, copies of letters were made by inserting two sheets of typing with a sheet of carbon paper in between into the typewriter. When a secretary typed a letter that was meant for one person though another person (other other people) was to receive a copy, and the first person was to be informed that a copy was being sent to another person, the typist would add a line under the signature at the end of the letter, along the lines of:
CC: Joe Bloggs.
Jane Smith.
This convention alerted to direct recipient to the fact that the letter had also been sent to other specific people.
If you did not want the direct recipient to know that copies were sent to other people, you'd simply not include a CC: line at the end of the letter.
BCC: stands for "Blind Carbon Copy". It is the electronic equivalent of sending a letter to multiple people without a CC: line. It means that people receive the email without any trace of who else is also receiving it being revealed.
Given those definitions, there are simple guidelines as to when you should use To:, CC: or BCC: in the emails that you send:
If your email is being sent to just one person or email address, place it in the "To:" section.
If your email is being sent to more than one recipient and all the recipients truly need to know who else is receiving it, put all the addresses in the CC: section.
If your email is being sent to more than one recipient but there is no urgent reason for all the recipients to know the names and email addresses of everyone else to whom it is being sent, put all the addresses in the BCC: section.
(Some email software requires at least one address to be placed in the To: section. If yours insists on this when you are trying to send a CC or BCC email, put your own email address in the To: section.)
Understanding these basic principles of email usage has many benefits. It preserves the privacy of your contacts. It prevents lists of names and email addresses being sent to strangers when someone you send an email then forwards it to others. It helps to prevent viruses, worms and trojans being accidentally spread by your friends with out-of-date antivirus programs.
Most of all, it shows the people with whom you communicate that you are sensible and responsible in your online behaviour. It shows that you take their privacy and security seriously. It builds trust in your communications.
About the Author:
Trevor Johnson is Chairman of the internationally active Anti Spam organization BestPrac.Org (http://www.BestPrac.Org) which promotes internet industry standards of Best Practice for the Prevention and Elimination of Email Spam.
Trevor Johnson
In life, it is the moral responsibility for the elder to teach the younger, or for the experienced to teach the inexperienced. In internet life, the same moral responsibility applies in regards to correct use of email.
One large difference is that, in internet life, it is very often the younger who are the experienced. The current waves of growth in internet usage, the new users, are largely from the older generations.
Accordingly, it becomes the responsibility of the experienced users to educate and train newer users in the correct usage of email. One simple way of imparting this education to lesser experienced internet users is to politely refer them to this article, either on the page you are currently reading or at http://BestPrac.Org/articles/netiquette.htm
The internet life carries it's own versions of courtesy, privacy and security issues that all users need to know. Hence a new word has entered the vocabulary - Netiquette. (Internet etiquette.)
For example:
While to the experienced user all of the above is simply common sense, as the old saying goes "Common sense is not really all that common." These basics are not innate within the human sole. Newcomers need to be taught.
When to use To:, CC: or BCC:
Another vital area of appropriate email usage goes beyond merely being courteous in your communications - the correct use of To: or CC: or BCC when adding recipients to the email your are sending.
All popular email software and all web-email accounts give you a choice of these three different ways to add a recipient for your email. (Sometimes you might need to check your software menu and enable BCC as a visible option. It is not a visible option by default in all email software, unfortunately.) Your choice has vital privacy and security implications, so it is important to know which to use and when.While "To:" is self explanatory, a brief definition and history of CC: and BCC: will help you understand their correct usage.
CC: is a term from old fashioned typists. It stands for "Carbon Copy". In days of old, prior to photocopiers or word processors with laser printers, copies of letters were made by inserting two sheets of typing with a sheet of carbon paper in between into the typewriter. When a secretary typed a letter that was meant for one person though another person (other other people) was to receive a copy, and the first person was to be informed that a copy was being sent to another person, the typist would add a line under the signature at the end of the letter, along the lines of:
CC: Joe Bloggs.
Jane Smith.
This convention alerted to direct recipient to the fact that the letter had also been sent to other specific people.
If you did not want the direct recipient to know that copies were sent to other people, you'd simply not include a CC: line at the end of the letter.
BCC: stands for "Blind Carbon Copy". It is the electronic equivalent of sending a letter to multiple people without a CC: line. It means that people receive the email without any trace of who else is also receiving it being revealed.
Given those definitions, there are simple guidelines as to when you should use To:, CC: or BCC: in the emails that you send:
(Some email software requires at least one address to be placed in the To: section. If yours insists on this when you are trying to send a CC or BCC email, put your own email address in the To: section.)
Understanding these basic principles of email usage has many benefits. It preserves the privacy of your contacts. It prevents lists of names and email addresses being sent to strangers when someone you send an email then forwards it to others. It helps to prevent viruses, worms and trojans being accidentally spread by your friends with out-of-date antivirus programs.
Most of all, it shows the people with whom you communicate that you are sensible and responsible in your online behaviour. It shows that you take their privacy and security seriously. It builds trust in your communications.
About the Author:
Trevor Johnson is Chairman of the internationally active Anti Spam organization BestPrac.Org (http://www.BestPrac.Org) which promotes internet industry standards of Best Practice for the Prevention and Elimination of Email Spam.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Online Article Marketing Brings Customers To You
Article Presented by:
Tammy M. Ratcliff
If you are not making use of online article marketing to help promote your business, you may be passing up an unlimited amount of advertising opportunities. Marketing through article writing is one of the easiest ways to gain notoriety for your company, and it is so subtle, it hardly seems like advertising at all.
How It Works
The standard marketing approach for companies has, for a long time, been to take out a billboard, a yellow pages ad, or to pay for a radio or television commercial. The typical ad would basically proclaim that, "our company is the best". The trouble with this kind of advertising is that any company can say anything they want to about themselves without having a bit of proof to back it up.
Online article marketing is a much more unique approach. Begin by choosing any subject that has something to do with what your company does or sells, and write a short article about it. Better yet, create an informational article that will appeal to people who are in your target market. For example if you sell toilets, tell people how to install their own toilet. Or if you do landscaping, tell people how to landscape their own property --- and in the end, most readers will decide that although you have shown them how to do it themselves, the actual task is hard work and they would prefer to pay someone like you to do the task for them.
Next, find a company who will distribute the article online for you through various e-zines, newsletters and websites, etc. These distribution companies typically charge a small fee for sending articles to publishers, and if need be, some distribution companies can also write the articles for you.
At the end of each article there is something referred to as a "resource box." In this box, there will be a short, 2-3 sentence sales pitch telling people why they should visit your website, with links leading directly to your company's website. The goal of the resource box is to entice the reader to visit your website. It is that easy.
Once a potential client is on your website, he or she can see exactly what your company has to offer. Chances are, they will use your services because they have already received free, useful advice from you through the article. In this way, you have actually proven you are knowledgeable instead of just saying it. This low-key approach tends to be more appreciated by customers than some in-your-face proclamation of greatness.
Is It Worth It?
Absolutely! For your money, you will never find a broader scope of advertising possibilities. Distribution networks are making it possible for these written articles to be seen by hundreds and thousands of potential customers. And when your article is picked up by a website, it has the potential of residing on that website for many years to come, and often, your article could find its way into the search engine results for your article's topic. That means almost unlimited opportunities for your company's name to be seen and heard. No other type of advertising can deliver those types of results for such a small fee.
How Big Is Your Dream?
Ever heard of a small company called StubHub? This is an online ticket broker that helps put sold-out event tickets into the hands of fans everywhere. This company is also in the process of being purchased by EBay, Inc. for a measly 310 million dollars! Interestingly, article marketing was used as part of their marketing strategy. Of course, offering a great service didn't hurt either. In any event, this company saw the possible benefits of this newer type of marketing and gave it a shot. Who knows, maybe your company will be able to credit some of its success to distributing well-written articles online.
Don't Just Write It, Write It Well
In order for article marketing to be as effective as possible, it is important that the printed articles have very few mistakes, if any at all. Misspelled words, run-on sentences and other writing errors are really noticeable on a computer screen. You want potential customers to focus on the content of the article, not the mistakes in grammar or syntax. Inevitably, this inattention to detail will only succeed in making your company appear not to care about small issues. A carefully written article shows that details matter to your company. In today's customer service starved society, a little thing such as this can make all the difference in which company a customer will choose.
That said; if writing isn't your strong point, don't hesitate to hire a professional writer. As stated earlier, some online article distribution companies have writers on staff that can help you with this. Other writers do freelance work and can be found advertising their services online. The point is, once you decide to use online article marketing to promote your business, make sure the articles being written truly represent the image of your company that you want to get across.
The Skinny
Online article marketing gives you the opportunity to advertise your company 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, and 365 days per year. It is an easy, inexpensive, and innovative technique being used more and more by Internet savvy businesses. Don't let this growing trend pass your company by. It could be the key to turning your small business into a major corporation.
About the Author:
Written by: Tammy M. Ratcliff, (http://www.thePhantomWriters.com) Stop throwing your money away on Ineffective Article Marketing Campaigns! Learn the Secrets of writing reprint articles that can generate thousands of dollars in new sales. The techniques shared in The Phantom Writers $37 ebook could even help you to get more effective articles from your ghost writers. Get your own copy of "Article Marketing For Traffic, Sales and Profit" today.
Tammy M. Ratcliff
If you are not making use of online article marketing to help promote your business, you may be passing up an unlimited amount of advertising opportunities. Marketing through article writing is one of the easiest ways to gain notoriety for your company, and it is so subtle, it hardly seems like advertising at all.
How It Works
The standard marketing approach for companies has, for a long time, been to take out a billboard, a yellow pages ad, or to pay for a radio or television commercial. The typical ad would basically proclaim that, "our company is the best". The trouble with this kind of advertising is that any company can say anything they want to about themselves without having a bit of proof to back it up.
Online article marketing is a much more unique approach. Begin by choosing any subject that has something to do with what your company does or sells, and write a short article about it. Better yet, create an informational article that will appeal to people who are in your target market. For example if you sell toilets, tell people how to install their own toilet. Or if you do landscaping, tell people how to landscape their own property --- and in the end, most readers will decide that although you have shown them how to do it themselves, the actual task is hard work and they would prefer to pay someone like you to do the task for them.
Next, find a company who will distribute the article online for you through various e-zines, newsletters and websites, etc. These distribution companies typically charge a small fee for sending articles to publishers, and if need be, some distribution companies can also write the articles for you.
At the end of each article there is something referred to as a "resource box." In this box, there will be a short, 2-3 sentence sales pitch telling people why they should visit your website, with links leading directly to your company's website. The goal of the resource box is to entice the reader to visit your website. It is that easy.
Once a potential client is on your website, he or she can see exactly what your company has to offer. Chances are, they will use your services because they have already received free, useful advice from you through the article. In this way, you have actually proven you are knowledgeable instead of just saying it. This low-key approach tends to be more appreciated by customers than some in-your-face proclamation of greatness.
Is It Worth It?
Absolutely! For your money, you will never find a broader scope of advertising possibilities. Distribution networks are making it possible for these written articles to be seen by hundreds and thousands of potential customers. And when your article is picked up by a website, it has the potential of residing on that website for many years to come, and often, your article could find its way into the search engine results for your article's topic. That means almost unlimited opportunities for your company's name to be seen and heard. No other type of advertising can deliver those types of results for such a small fee.
How Big Is Your Dream?
Ever heard of a small company called StubHub? This is an online ticket broker that helps put sold-out event tickets into the hands of fans everywhere. This company is also in the process of being purchased by EBay, Inc. for a measly 310 million dollars! Interestingly, article marketing was used as part of their marketing strategy. Of course, offering a great service didn't hurt either. In any event, this company saw the possible benefits of this newer type of marketing and gave it a shot. Who knows, maybe your company will be able to credit some of its success to distributing well-written articles online.
Don't Just Write It, Write It Well
In order for article marketing to be as effective as possible, it is important that the printed articles have very few mistakes, if any at all. Misspelled words, run-on sentences and other writing errors are really noticeable on a computer screen. You want potential customers to focus on the content of the article, not the mistakes in grammar or syntax. Inevitably, this inattention to detail will only succeed in making your company appear not to care about small issues. A carefully written article shows that details matter to your company. In today's customer service starved society, a little thing such as this can make all the difference in which company a customer will choose.
That said; if writing isn't your strong point, don't hesitate to hire a professional writer. As stated earlier, some online article distribution companies have writers on staff that can help you with this. Other writers do freelance work and can be found advertising their services online. The point is, once you decide to use online article marketing to promote your business, make sure the articles being written truly represent the image of your company that you want to get across.
The Skinny
Online article marketing gives you the opportunity to advertise your company 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, and 365 days per year. It is an easy, inexpensive, and innovative technique being used more and more by Internet savvy businesses. Don't let this growing trend pass your company by. It could be the key to turning your small business into a major corporation.
About the Author:
Written by: Tammy M. Ratcliff, (http://www.thePhantomWriters.com) Stop throwing your money away on Ineffective Article Marketing Campaigns! Learn the Secrets of writing reprint articles that can generate thousands of dollars in new sales. The techniques shared in The Phantom Writers $37 ebook could even help you to get more effective articles from your ghost writers. Get your own copy of "Article Marketing For Traffic, Sales and Profit" today.
Please Learn From My Mistakes!
Article Presented by:
Tammy M. Ratcliff
Lots of people know how to write, but not everyone knows how to write well, especially when it comes to writing an article for publication. In these instances, it is imperative that what is written be as error free as possible. Once something is printed, it cannot be corrected, and unfortunately, people will notice. Here are a few things I have learned not to do when writing for the general public.
Misspelled Words
Ever written an article, published it, and then discovered you had misspelled a word? Spell-check is a wonderful thing, but it doesn't catch every error. For instance, if a word is spelled correctly but is not being used in the proper context, spell-check is likely to pass right over it. That is what happened to me when I accidentally typed the word "pubic" instead of "public" in the middle of an article. My computer and I both failed to recognize the error, but millions of readers everywhere were treated to a nice, little chuckle on my behalf. That embarrassing incident taught me to always have someone else check my writing before releasing it to print.
Incorrect Word Choice
Some words are not only spelled similarly, but have similar meanings as well. This can lead to a lot of confusion for both writers and readers. Some examples include "it's" versus "its" and "may be" versus "maybe". Again, these are things that may not be recognized by spell-check software. Even if the distinctions between the words are subtle, it is still very important that they be used correctly. Somebody, somewhere will not only notice the mistake, but will have no problem pointing it out to whoever will listen. It is always better to be certain about a word's proper use before committing it to print, than to learn about the error from a reader after the fact. Sometimes, the dictionary is a writer's best friend.
Big Words and Lengthy Sentences
In college I studied mostly English and Philosophy. I wrote more papers than I care to remember, but one thing I do recall is being encouraged to write a variety of different sentence lengths and to be creative in my word choices. I was instructed to write down my deepest thoughts as thoroughly as possible and not be afraid to over-explain them. This may have been great advice for writing a theme or an essay, but it doesn't go over very well with most media publications.
I have found that people who read newspapers or internet articles want to be able to find information quickly. They tend to scan articles first to see if they want to read the whole thing. College professors may appreciate flowery words and sentences, but the general public prefers a more straightforward approach. Keep it simple, seriously.
Check the Facts
Believe me, there is nothing more embarrassing than spouting off about something, only to have it brought to your attention (by a reader) that your facts are a little off. For instance, I once wrote an article that included a reference to Orson Wells' book 1984. The only problem was, Orson Wells didn't write that book. George Orwell did! I was horrified when I realized what I had done. It no longer mattered what the article was about or how brilliant my observations had been. To those who recognized my mistake, I had lost all credibility.
Tricky Titles
I once read an article entitled "Judy Garland's Favorite Vacation Spot". The first paragraph did mention something about Judy Garland and something about "vacation spots"; but the rest of the article was about traveling in the southwestern United States. In other words, the title was not exactly forthcoming. This type of trickery should be avoided at all costs. It does nothing but irritate readers and create a bad reputation for the writer. There is too much deceit in the world already.
Conclusion
The moral of this story is, when writing for publication or self-promotion, read, reread, and then let someone else read it too. Be aware of problematic words and double-check them. Make sure the article is easy to understand, but most importantly, that it is accurate and truthful. It's true that everyone makes mistakes, but writers must be especially careful to avoid them. Once our words are printed for the world to see, we cannot easily take them back.
About the Author:
Written by: Tammy M. Ratcliff, (http://www.thePhantomWriters.com) Stop throwing your money away on Ineffective Article Marketing Campaigns! Learn the Secrets of writing reprint articles that can generate thousands of dollars in new sales. The techniques shared in The Phantom Writers $37 ebook could even help you to get more effective articles from your ghost writers. Get your own copy of "Article Marketing For Traffic, Sales and Profit" today.
Tammy M. Ratcliff
Lots of people know how to write, but not everyone knows how to write well, especially when it comes to writing an article for publication. In these instances, it is imperative that what is written be as error free as possible. Once something is printed, it cannot be corrected, and unfortunately, people will notice. Here are a few things I have learned not to do when writing for the general public.
Misspelled Words
Ever written an article, published it, and then discovered you had misspelled a word? Spell-check is a wonderful thing, but it doesn't catch every error. For instance, if a word is spelled correctly but is not being used in the proper context, spell-check is likely to pass right over it. That is what happened to me when I accidentally typed the word "pubic" instead of "public" in the middle of an article. My computer and I both failed to recognize the error, but millions of readers everywhere were treated to a nice, little chuckle on my behalf. That embarrassing incident taught me to always have someone else check my writing before releasing it to print.
Incorrect Word Choice
Some words are not only spelled similarly, but have similar meanings as well. This can lead to a lot of confusion for both writers and readers. Some examples include "it's" versus "its" and "may be" versus "maybe". Again, these are things that may not be recognized by spell-check software. Even if the distinctions between the words are subtle, it is still very important that they be used correctly. Somebody, somewhere will not only notice the mistake, but will have no problem pointing it out to whoever will listen. It is always better to be certain about a word's proper use before committing it to print, than to learn about the error from a reader after the fact. Sometimes, the dictionary is a writer's best friend.
Big Words and Lengthy Sentences
In college I studied mostly English and Philosophy. I wrote more papers than I care to remember, but one thing I do recall is being encouraged to write a variety of different sentence lengths and to be creative in my word choices. I was instructed to write down my deepest thoughts as thoroughly as possible and not be afraid to over-explain them. This may have been great advice for writing a theme or an essay, but it doesn't go over very well with most media publications.
I have found that people who read newspapers or internet articles want to be able to find information quickly. They tend to scan articles first to see if they want to read the whole thing. College professors may appreciate flowery words and sentences, but the general public prefers a more straightforward approach. Keep it simple, seriously.
Check the Facts
Believe me, there is nothing more embarrassing than spouting off about something, only to have it brought to your attention (by a reader) that your facts are a little off. For instance, I once wrote an article that included a reference to Orson Wells' book 1984. The only problem was, Orson Wells didn't write that book. George Orwell did! I was horrified when I realized what I had done. It no longer mattered what the article was about or how brilliant my observations had been. To those who recognized my mistake, I had lost all credibility.
Tricky Titles
I once read an article entitled "Judy Garland's Favorite Vacation Spot". The first paragraph did mention something about Judy Garland and something about "vacation spots"; but the rest of the article was about traveling in the southwestern United States. In other words, the title was not exactly forthcoming. This type of trickery should be avoided at all costs. It does nothing but irritate readers and create a bad reputation for the writer. There is too much deceit in the world already.
Conclusion
The moral of this story is, when writing for publication or self-promotion, read, reread, and then let someone else read it too. Be aware of problematic words and double-check them. Make sure the article is easy to understand, but most importantly, that it is accurate and truthful. It's true that everyone makes mistakes, but writers must be especially careful to avoid them. Once our words are printed for the world to see, we cannot easily take them back.
About the Author:
Written by: Tammy M. Ratcliff, (http://www.thePhantomWriters.com) Stop throwing your money away on Ineffective Article Marketing Campaigns! Learn the Secrets of writing reprint articles that can generate thousands of dollars in new sales. The techniques shared in The Phantom Writers $37 ebook could even help you to get more effective articles from your ghost writers. Get your own copy of "Article Marketing For Traffic, Sales and Profit" today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)