WordPress Training Expert

Author: WP Training Expert

  • Choosing The Right Niche For An Offline Consultant

    The world of offline consulting is massive. There are so many opportunities and such a wide variety of ways to help an offline business find success online.

    In this section of the guide, you will find a list of services that many offline consultants are performing today in their own consulting companies. It is impossible to list every possible service opportunity but let this list serve as a starting point and you can create your own unique ideas from there.

    Web Design – Creating websites, company blogs, mobile sites or specialized sites to meet a businesses particular industry needs.

    Website/Blog Maintenance – Once a site goes live, it needs to stay current. Many companies do not have the time or expertise to do this themselves so it presents a fantastic consulting opportunity.

    Search Engine Optimization – Once a company has a website live on the internet, they need to make sure the site is found by potential buyers. SEO services can be an easy sell if the client sees the potential payoff of being ranked high on search engines. Google Places is a “must learn” for local SEO.

    Media Buy Campaigns – Most companies have advertising budgets and they understand that their audience is surfing websites like Facebook. Helping companies run effective Pay Per Click campaigns on these kind of networks can be very profitable for both the consultant and the offline company.

    Lead Management – Generating and managing leads found through online methods can also be a profitable service. If you can help a company capture warm/hot leads online and turn them into buyers, you will have repeat business for a long time.

    Domain Registration and Hosting – While these are both very inexpensive things to setup, most offline companies don’t even know where to begin. This is a very easy way to help a company and make a nice profit as a consultant.

    Social Media Management – Ask any local business if they think Twitter and Facebook are important and they will agree. They will also be willing to pay credible consultants a management fee if they can take care of the company’s social media profiles.

    Mobile Marketing – Mobile media is exploding and offline companies are noticing that most of their customers are carrying around hand held devices. Turning those devices into marketing messages for a local business is something that many of these companies would be very interested in learning about.

    Video Marketing – Once a business has a website and/or company blog running, they are going to attract an online audience. A great way to extend more value to that online audience is showing them videos of the company in action. A restaurant owner can show “behind the scenes” footage of the kitchen, a dry cleaner can show the detailed process they follow to make their client’s clothes come out clean and perfect every time.

    There are many other opportunities available to a consultant when it comes to working with offline companies. In the end it all boils down to your interests, your skill set and what the customer sees as the highest value in terms of return on investment.

  • Focusing On Your Strengths For Bigger Gains

    One of the best things that you can do for your business whether it’s online or offline is to make yourself be seen as an expert in the field. Having that sort of weight behind you draws potential customers because they can sense that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to your line of work. It keeps current customers coming back because they can be confident in your products and services. This is why having a reliable blog on your site can be such a huge gain in drawing in new customers. Another great way to build this kind of credibility is through joining forums that are related to your area of trade. If you join and start dispensing helpful advice and recommendations, you’d be surprised how much credibility this can get you and how it turns directly into gains for your business.

    The issue, though, is to become narrowed in focus without becoming too narrow. You need to be able to appeal to a broad swath of people in order to get maximum interest in your business. If you own a car parts dealership and your area of expertise is in auto body repair, you’ll do much better if you can also help the person who wants to know how to do an oil change. Keeping your focus narrow enough to be able to give off an aura of expertise about the subject at hand without becoming too esoteric or getting pegged as “the brakes guy” is the key. If you get too specific, you’ll lose a great deal of potential clients.

    Joining several different forum groups is a great way to spread your expertise across many lines. If you focus in German cars, be sure to work with the Volkswagen fan group as well as the BMWs. If you like to do paint jobs on cars, you’ll better your business if you can also speak about changing the rims on tires. There are many ways to vary your expertise.

    Also, be sure that all of your blog entries aren’t about the same sort of thing. Being able to write well about many different aspects of your business makes you seem more knowledgeable and you will get many more people coming to your website and asking you for advice. Ultimately, this level of trust will get you business.

    Essentially, you want to go for the “jack of all trades, master of all trades” persona. This can be rather difficult to pull off, no doubt about it. But the fact of the matter is that when you get down to the business of spreading your expertise across many areas, the business will come back to you. Guaranteed.

  • Starting Your Own Online Business From Scratch

    Starting an online business has become a very popular venture in recent years as more and more people become acclimated to using the Internet in their everyday lives. As little as twenty years ago, the Internet was new to the average consumer and not much more than a novelty; today, it’s rare to encounter a home in the Western world that’s not stocked with at least one computer. Most middle class houses in America have multiple computers at this point.

    What this means is that starting an online business can be profitable if done correctly, given the predominance of the Internet in the average household. People who are naturally entrepreneurial or those who have already started a non-internet based business will definitely have a leg up on the rest of the game, but for the right person who’s willing to take appropriate steps to ensure success, starting an online business can be easy, fun, and even profitable.

    In general, the differences between online business and traditional businesses are slight but distinct. Here are a few things that potential online business owners should take into consideration before jumping on the Information Superhighway:

    Lower start up costs/high effort. One of the greatest things about online businesses is that they typically don’t cost much to get started. There’s no need to rent out a space or pay utilities, and there are lots of free avenues to advertise with over the digital waves. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that “less money invested means less work,” because nothing could be further from the truth. Online business owners often feel like their computers are grafted onto their hands!

    Be a jack of all trades. It’s not good enough just to have a stellar idea or a fantastic service. In order to be successful, you need to be able to do graphic design, understand web server technology, programming, and knowledge of the Internet as a marketing medium. For those that can’t do all of this single handedly, outsourcing is an option, but this raises overall cost.

    Think globally. This isn’t opening up a small Mom and Pop store in your neighborhood. The business will be able to reach all corners of the globe, thanks to the Internet. The good part is that this potentially means more business – the bad part is that owners will have to make provisions for costs such as international shipping, and maybe even pay for translated versions of their websites.

    Marketers make the market. There are thousands of ways to market on the Internet, including pay-per-click, viral, drip, social networking, AdWords, and many others. Don’t know what these things mean? Owners of successful online businesses take the time to learn!

    Some of these attributes make working online easier, some may prove to be more of a challenge – but they all make online businesses unique!

  • Know Where To Look For Answers To The Most Common WordPress Errors

    Using WordPress is a smart choice for anyone who is looking to build a web presence. One of it’s best “selling” points is that it is free. Their .com site will even provide hosting for you. There is one downside to this though – there is no one to call when something goes wrong. For the most part you are on your own. It is usually up to you to fix your own problem, but luckily there is some help out there:

    1. WordPress.com/WordPress.org Forums: Whether you host your own site or use the .com service, both instances have an online forum. This is probably the first place you should look for any issues you are having. If something is wrong with your WordPress site there is a good chance that someone else has dealt with it.

    Before you make a post asking your question, do a search on the forums and you might find a thread with your answer. If you can’t find an answer that addresses your issue, then you can make your own thread dealing with it. Titling and tagging your post properly will be a huge help in getting the answer you need. Make sure you describe your issue in detail, including your website URL never hurts.

    2. Paid Theme Support: This is only helpful if you have paid for a WordPress theme. Most of these premium WordPress themes will have their own support. If you come across an issue, this should be the first place you look. Either email your theme provider or use their support forum (they should have one). The reason this should be your first stop is that there will be people there that know specific issues with your theme. The WordPress.org forums won’t have access to certain details about your theme.

    It will also be hard to find support elsewhere, because paid theme providers make sure that theme specific support info is only shared by them. This ensures people aren’t just stealing their theme.

    3. Google: Google is your friend. Just today a friend of mine upgraded to WP 3.0 and had an issue. His admin panel was all of a sudden full of error messages. We had no idea what to do, and no idea what the error meant. I simply took as much of the error code that wasn’t specific to his site and Googled it. I got a couple different results but the fixes didn’t work. I then Googled the error code with the name of his theme, and instantly got the fix from a blog. It was as simple as changing a tiny piece of code. Google is the world’s leading search provider for a reason – it works.

    By using the above methods you can probably address just about any problem you come across. The toughest part of fixing your problems is properly explaining them and only with practice will you get better. The more times you use a support forum means the better you will be at using it. The same goes for Google, once you have spent some time hunting down answers you will get a knack for stringing together the right search terms. Good luck, and I hope you find the answer to all your probelms quickly and painlessly.

  • Don’t Leave Your Prospects Doubting You

    Up to this point, you have done a great job. Your presentation of the problem was ideal. Your followup with the benefits and proof of how efficient and valuable your product was great. You even thought the close statement was right on the mark.

    So why is the prospect still hesitating?

    Consumers always have objections. It is a fact of life. It is also a fact that you overcame some of them in your copy already. What remains is to address the remainder of them and thus remove all obstacles to the final sale. Here’s what you need to do.

    ? Give bonuses – In other words, provide added value to the benefits already listed. These may be more specific, whereas the earlier content was broad.

    ? Give long period of money back guarantee – This will often hook in many consumers who are sitting on the fence. If you are willing to provide a six month money back guarantee where the competition offers thirty days only, you build a lot of confidence and credibility with the prospect.

    ? Give FAQ to answer common questions – This is your chance to get specific. You may even use questions that have come up in the past through discussions with established customers or general queries that came in to your website. Reading through the Frequently Asked Questions page can make a huge difference for your prospect.

    ? Offer trial for monthly memberships – this may be a short trial membership that is free for the first month, or one that is deeply discounted. This will depend a lot on your target niche markets, but keep in mind that people usually are suspicious of something that is given away for nothing. A discounted introductory rate might be just the ticket.

    ? Show testimonials from experts – People like to know that some type of expert thinks the product is a good choice. Your experts may be professionals who use the product, or even researchers who can point out some of the more attractive characteristics of the product.

    ? If it’s software, give a demo – A quick and partial test run can alleviate fears that the product may be too complicated for the prospect to figure out. Calm those fear with a test drive that shows just how user friendly the product really is.

  • Social Networking Blog Benefits

    There are many different social networking websites on the internet and each of them have different features that they offer. With these sites you can meet new people and make new friends as well connect with potential customers for your business. One very effective method of marketing your business with social networking is with a social networking blog.

    There are two ways to market your business with social networking blogs.

    1. Join a general social network site that allows you to have a blog as part of your personal profile.

    2. Join an actual blogging based social networking site. These websites are created specifically for people to blog and meet other people through their writing.

    When you write on a blog it can be very personal and also offer some great information so this is a very effective way to promote your business on a social networking site. With social network blogs you are allowing people to get to know you on a more personal level which builds a good relationship with your potential customers.

    There are so many different social networking blogs around the internet and more are being created all the time. Some of the popular blogging sites are WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Weebly, LiveJournal and Soulcast. Even larger social networking sites like MySpace have the option of blogging within your account, which allows you to use their website a big part of a business marketing plan. With these social websites you can reach out to existing and new customers within the networking community.

    With social networking blogs you can create personal blogs or business blogs or a mixture of both. If you are creating a blog for your business it is recommended to have a personal approach so you can develop a connection with other members. When you regularly write on your blog you will find that other members will view your blog and your profile and get a good idea about who you are and what you bring to the community. Members will know what you are about, what your business is about and what you are trying to achieve and they can respond accordingly.

    Social networking blogs allow you to reach out to new friends, business partners, customers or even to build personal relationships. If you are honest with your blog and open about what you do and what you have to offer then you will attract people that are interested in your business and your niche.

    When you create a social networking blog you should fill in your details in your profile so that if anyone wants to get a good idea of who you are and the interests you like, they can do so by viewing your profile. Your profile doesn’t change at any time unless you update it so if you change any details be sure to update them in your profile.

    To get the most out of social networking on the internet you really should have a social networking blog to promote your business.

  • Getting Great People on Jobsites

    Since the online jobsites are the best places for you to get professionals, let us look at them in a little more detail.

    Here are some of the advantages of getting professionals from here:-

    People you will find on the jobsites have registered here with the express intention of finding work. Many jobsites are free to join, but some require paid memberships. Being a paid member may reflect a bit more on their sincerity about being professional. Hence, you can be sure you get some sincere people to give your work to.

    There are various ways in which you can find how good a particular worker is. Every jobsite has a rating and review system (for the employee as well as the employer). This helps you decide.

    All websites have an escrow system. This takes care of all disputes. Once an escrow is made, the website will arbitrate any problems that arise.

    You can make detailed project posts, outlining clearly what you want to be done, what time and budget you can afford. People make bids accordingly, so you can be sure you won’t have to bargain.

    You can ask people to show samples of their past work.

    You can also invite people to bid on your project.

    It is very simple to post projects on online jobsites. Many of them, like GetAFreelancer, allow you to post projects for free (though they do take a $5 refundable deposit for each project you post). You only have to post all details of the work as you want it, spell out the timeframe and the budget you can offer and post it in the relevant category.

    Once your project is live, which is instantaneous, people start bidding. Then, all you have to do is to look at the bids closely and make your decision on whom to select for your job.

    You cannot communicate personally with the bidders till you select them. However, there is a private message board that helps you communicate with them, subject to certain restrictions (like you cannot give out your personal contact details in any way). This helps you decide better about whom to select.

    Many people are forging fruitful and long-term work relationships through these online freelance jobsites, irrespective of geographical barriers, and getting mutually benefited. Without the hassle of actually needing employers on their premises, they are able to get their work done professionally and, in most cases, in cheaper ways as well.

  • Harnessing The Power Of Twitter For Your Marketing Needs

    There are two things to remember on Twitter that are key:

    1. You need a third party Twitter client

    2. You have to engage the community with value

    If you keep those two things in mind then you will be off to a great start.

    The first thing you need to do when new to Twitter is to get a Twitter client – I like to use Hootsuite. I suggest you also use this. The benefits are many.

    First off the Hootsuite layout is much easier to use effectively than the actual Twitter set up. It will allow you to do much more than the traditional Twitter dashboard. In fact you will be able to:

    Create Custom Search Columns – See every Tweet that mentions a keyword you set, as it happens in real time.

    Track your Tweets – Hootsutie has great analytical tools that will track click on your Tweet links, retweets etc…

    It Runs in Browser – So no downloads to worry about, you can access it from ANY computer that is connected to the internet.

    Manage Multiple Accounts – It lets you manage more than one account and in fact allows more than Twitter. I have my Facebook linked as well.

    Scheduling a Tweet – You can set up Tweets to be send out at any time you want. This will allow you to keep a consistent presence on Twitter, and is a time management tool as well.

    Hootsuite is also free – so that is a nice addition!

    Once you are set up on Hootsuite it is time to start Tweeting. Keep these best practices in mind when Tweeting:

    Set up search columns that are based on key terms within your niche. Engage these people.

    Don’t spam links – you want to offer value to the Twitter community. For every link of your own you promote, you should have at least 5 nonpromotional @replies to other peoples Tweets.

    Retweet others links and interesting Tweets. This will foster a sense of community.

    Engage with people on a personal level

    Be yourself – it is OK to be different on Twitter

    Respond to anyone who Tweets you or about you

    Leave 20 spaces in your tweets so people can easily retweet them

    Use and learn about hashtags!

    Really the most important thing to remember is Twitter is a community. You want to be a valuable part of it and not a spammer. Think of Twitter as a cocktail party – you wouldn’t go up and give random people your business cards, you would chat first, get to know them, find some common ground etc… That is how oyu should use Twitter.

    Building your followers might seem like a grind at first, but eventually you will get to the point where your followers start paying off – and then you will realize the grind was well worth it.

  • How to Use Facebook for Business

    Video: Facebook for Business

  • Post Your Ideas With Forum Marketing

    Being a part of the network marketing business you’ll know that participation on forums is an effective way to grow your downline if you can do the right forum marketing. If you are using forums to build your downline, these two basic things you must do regularly to get hundreds of target audience interested to check you out and then join your team.

    Regular Participation

    Inability to use forum everyday is quite overlooked. Most people think after joining a forum and participating for a few days that people will check them out. But they generate no leads because you must post a lot before anybody will check you out.

    For maximum results here is what you should do. First locate 3-5 forums that are in the network marketing field by searching on Google. By doing this you’ll get a list of forums to join and participate in.

    While doing your search make sure to look for forums which have more than 10000 members and above. This will increase your chance of getting enough traffic that will subsequently pay for the time you have spent on posting.

    After this prepare a good signature from your profile settings. Create something that will get everybody’s attention towards you after reading it. However do not overtly try to advertise on your signature, rather be subtle and get the message across. Every little detailing you think will add to your credibility must be added in the profile.

    Once you are through with this, introduce yourself to the community. After that make sure you are regular with you postings on the forum. The traffic would not come if you have not posted in the forums regularly for at least 2 weeks.

    Only Post High Quality Content

    Every day you will encounter new people who will post questions. Try to reply to every post that you have answers to or opinion about. Do this for 5 people (at least) each day on each forum. You can also ask relevant questions yourself for attracting replies so that many people will notice your signature link.

    Sometimes try to write posts which are very informative and has relevance. This will benefit other people in the forum. You must write articles based on your experience. For example: in areas you have been successful in getting traffic or any similar useful tip that would help others to build their business.