Category: Online Biz Tips

I am sure by now the term blog is well known by most people, if you don’t know it is essentially a style of website. It is a website platform that allows the quick and easy posting of content (blog posts) on a regular basis. They first gained popularity as a personal diary, but have since became one of the most popular platforms for a website period.

Even your older traditional websites have moved towards at the least adding a blogging aspect to their website.

This will be a controversial statement to some people but my favorite blogging platform is WordPress. I think that it is the most effective and user friendly blogging/website platform out there.

Don’t take my word for it – try it out. Set up a free blog on WordPress.com. A WordPress blog hosted here isn’t as dynamic as hosting one yourself, but this is a great way to get used to the back end of WordPress and it is 100% free.

You might be asking yourself why WordPress anyways? Why do I care?

Well, when you are working online you will enjoy the power of WordPress.

You will be able to build professional looking websites on your own through the use of themes.

You will be able to easily add content from any computer that has internet access.

The WordPress editor is similar in style to many word processing programs. Adding content to your site doesn’t require a web designer – it is so simple anyone can do it.

You want to add fresh content to your site constantly, so having a platform that makes that easy is super important.

Google loves WordPress and blogs in general. it also loves fresh content. If you want your website to show up higher in Google searches – then built it with something Google loves: WordPress.

If you don’t have a website yet, consider building your first with WordPress. If you do have a website – consider adding a blogging aspect. It will make adding content easier on you, and the content will good for web traffic.

There are innumerable ways to use E-Books to promote your business and drive quality traffic to your website. Once posted on your site, you can turn them into a daily course, which brings your customer back to read the next chapter. You can use them as a free gift for making a purchase or for filling out a survey. Put your E-Book on a disc, and you will have an innovative brochure. Blow your competition away by inserting the disc into your sales packages.

The most effective marketing products are those that are unique. Copyright your E-Book, and immediately, you have a powerful tool that you, and you alone, can offer to the public. People will have to visit your site to acquire your E-Book, which increases the flow of quality traffic and the potential of sales and affiliate contacts.

Make sure that you keep your E-Book current. Update it frequently as the market and trends change. Add new advice and techniques to show your prospects how your goods or services can enrich their lives. By constantly keeping abreast of new trends and techniques, you can continue to see profits from your E-Book for years after your original creation.

Another phenomenal advantage of E-Books is that you can test their marketing potential without putting out hardly any cash at all. You can even produce an E-Book one copy at a time, each time you receive an order, eliminating the need for storage and inventory. By this method, you can gauge the salability of your E-Book, and make adjustments as necessary until the orders start pouring in. E-Books allow you to learn about your market and customer habits and motivation over a period of time, without risking your precious financial resources. They also provide you with an invaluable way to gather marketing information, which you can use in many different facets of your business.

Use your E-Book to discover what the specific goals and problems are in your specific industry. Then figure out how to solve these problems, and publish an E-Book with this invaluable information. This will increase the value of your business, upgrade your reputation, and get you known as an expert in your field.

You can extend the value of single E-Book by breaking the book down into chapters for a serial course, into special reports available on your website, or into audio or visual tapes. E-Books can be broken down into several different promotional materials by accepting some of the articles and using them to promote your product. You can include a catalog in your E-Book to promote all the products or services you sell. You can include a thank-you note for reading your book and an invitation to download a trial version of your product. Or you can include a form for your audience to contact you for further information or with questions, thereby building your business relationships and your mailing list.

Using E-Books in this manner helps to cut the cost of individually producing separate promotional materials. You can use a single E-Book to entice new prospects and to sell new products to your current customers.

No other medium has this kind of flexibility and ability for expansion. Think of your E-Book like a spider spinning a beautiful and intricate web. Now go and create that web, and see how many customers and prospects you can catch!

What if Jonas Salk hadn’t tested the polio vaccine? Or, what if Einstein never tested his theory of relativity? Do you think they would have been successful? In the science world, definitely NOT, and in the marketing world, testing is every bit as important if you want to achieve success.

Any number of tracking programs are out there from Hits Connect to Track That Ad to the new Link Brander. Even server-side tracking scripts are available for purchase. Regardless of what you use, tracking every ad that you post, whether it be to a traffic exchange or to a safelist, you need to know how successful your marketing is. Why? Because if you don’t track your ads, you may spend tons of time and money chasing a dog that you’ll never catch.

Tracking works simply. You place the ad URL into the tracker, which devises a new URL for you to use in its place. Every time you employ the tracker URL, that “hit” is recorded by the tracking system.

Let’s say you buy 1,000 hits at XYZ traffic exchange. How will you know if they have been delivered, unless you’re using a tracking system? You won’t, and though it’s the exception rather than the norm, you may not get the hits you paid for.

What should really interest you are actual click-throughs. That tells you how many times someone has actually seen your page and clicked on the link to take them to the site you’re promoting. In this case, you will use the tracker link as the URL in your “call to action” (the click here, join now, etc.) button on your splash page. Or, use it as the link in your safelist mailing, as an FFA link, or in any other form of traffic generation system. By using the tracking link, you’ll know every time someone clicks because the tracking system will tell you.

As another example, let’s say we advertised site ABC on traffic exchange XYZ and we used a tracking link for our call to action. We did the same thing at traffic exchange 123. At XYZ, we got our 1,000 hits and only 15 people clicked through to our page. At 123, we got 1,000 hits, but 100 people clicked through to our page. In which traffic exchange do you want to promote that particular page more heavily? No brainer, right? At 123, of course.

The only way that you can possibly know whether your advertising is working is by tracking the results. Check out several tracking services to see which fits your budget and has the features you like. Then, either buy the script or sign up for a subscription. A tracking system is one tool in your marketing toolbox that you cannot afford to be without.

If you are anything like me, you are always looking for better ways to manage your time. This year I have started many things in motion that have already improved my productivity immensely. I would like to share some of my tips with you.

Get Dictation Software

It might surprise you to know, that I didn’t type a single word of this article. Dictation software also known as speech recognition software has been available for a long time but recently it has become extremely accurate.

I get more work done because I’m able to do everything from writing content to replying e-mails much faster than before. If you are using a PC I suggest using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, if you are on a Mac I suggest MacSpeech which is the application I use.

Set Up A Schedule

Using your favorite calendar software you should set up a weekly calendar that will help you structure your days. This was a new habit for me and it has made a huge difference in how much work I get done.

As a for instance, I have scheduled one hour every other day to reply to e-mail. The rest of the time I do not touch my e-mail. Many times entrepreneurs get stuck in a loop of doing nothing, this includes frantically checking e-mail, statistics, social media destinations etc. None of these activities are productive unless they are structured into your day.

I even scheduled time to be creative, meditate, exercise, eat and learn Spanish.

Make Lists Of Your Goals

I am not talking about simple goals here, I want to think about what you want to do, have, and become. As a for instance one of my goals is to become a published author. That won’t do me much good unless I also write “write a book” on my list as well.

Many people tell you that goal lists don’t work, those are the people who don’t make lists. Having a list on your wall remind you every day to focus on your desired outcome. Without it we can lose direction and forget what we are working towards.

Always Be Mindful Of Your Unpaid Time

I have a friend who is a perfectionist, he is a professional whose time is very valuable. His clients are willing to pay a fortune because of his impeccable work. The problem is that my friend has to do everything himself.

Consider this example: if your time is worth $100 per hour and you can hire a contractor for $50 per hour to do work at your house, common sense dictates that you should pay someone to do that work because your time is more valuable. Many people miss the simple equation because they are too busy saving money. What they don’t realize is that their bank account would be larger if they worked the same hour that their contractor did.

The goal of business owners is to make money. This often results with the selling of a particular product or service. However, to sell that product or service business owners need to alert the general public. Customer cannot buy a product or a service if they do not know that it exists. That is why, as a business owner, you need to advertise your business.

When it comes to advertising there are many business owners who literally cringe. Are you doing this now? There is a good chance that you are because many advertising methods cost money. As a business owner you want to make money not spend it, right? Unfortunately, if you believe that all forms of advertising take money, you are sadly mistaken. Although you may have to spend money to make your business what you want it to be, there are ways to promote your business and the products or services that you sell without having to spend any money at all.

Is your curiosity peaked yet? There is a good chance that it is, rightfully so. One of the ways that you can promote your online business, without having to spend a dime, is by using something that is readily available online. That thing is an online social networking website. A large number of Internet users, in fact millions of them, belong to at least one social networking website.

When it comes to social networking, there are many individuals who think of online friendships or online relationships. While these types of relationships are the most common, did you know that social networking is also used for businesses? In fact, that was originally how social networking got started. If you are a small business owner, especially one that operates an online business, there is a way that you can use social networking sites to your advantage.

Although social networking websites are traditionally focused on those that would like to make online friends or develop online relationships, there are networking sites that are designed for business owners. These websites will not only allow you to share your business information with other business owners, but it will also allow you to develop close relationships with those that share an interest that is similar to yours. Essentially, this means that you could not only learn valuable business information, but you could also walk away with a new business partner or a new friend.

As previously mentioned, social networking websites with a focus on businesses, are a great way to promote your business. However, this does not mean that you should completely forget about the other online social networking websites, the ones that are designed to make online friendships.

If you are looking to join an online community, you will need to create your own profile or profile page. If you are planning on joining a traditional social networking website, to gain access to millions of potential new customers, you are urged to be careful when making your online webpage or profile. One thing that Internet users hate is being solicited for business. This does not mean that you cannot use social networking to your advantage; it just means that you need to be careful with how you do it. Instead of creating a MySpace page or a Yahoo! 360 page for your business, you are advised to make one for yourself, but, of course, you will want to include information on your business.

By joining a social networking website, especially one that is popular and has a large number of members, you should be able to generate interest in your business, including the products or services that you sell. Who knows, but that interest generated could turn into sales; thus making your social networking experience more than worth it.

An attraction of affiliate marketing is the savings that the merchant will gain when he no longer conducts his own advertising and publicity. Some merchants, who already have a well-established affiliate marketing program, no longer bother to conduct any activity that will lead to more sales. Such may not impair the current sales of the online business, but it failed to tap into another avenue of selling that can increase the revenue of the online business.

Thus, the merchant must still conduct some form of advertising even when he has an effective affiliate marketing program, and even when he has hundreds of affiliates conducting the promotions for him. The merchant must look into making a second or even a third sale to the customers he acquired. Such is called back-end selling. The practice of back-end selling can complement affiliate marketing.

Here are some ways that a merchant can perform back-end selling:

Newsletters – Whether through email or sent through snail mail, these publications are perfect avenues to introduce the other products of the merchant. These other products are the back-end products. Therefore, in the merchant’s website, there should be a part where the customer is asked whether he would like to receive free newsletters from the online company. If the customer clicks yes, then this customer will be taken to a page that will ask for his email or mailing address.

Thank You Letters – Sending a thank you letter for patronizing the merchant’s products is not just a form of courtesy. It is a wise business practice. With the thank you letter, the merchant must mention the back-end product.

Customer Satisfaction Calls – If the merchant is not comfortable in writing brilliant thank you letters, he may choose to give the customer a phone call. During the phone call, the merchant will check if the customer was happy about the product they already bought. This call shows a concern for the customer. But it is again an avenue for back-end selling. The merchant will attempt to mention the back-end products.

Customers Only – In the website of the merchant, there will be a webpage that can be accessed only by its customers. When a visitor has become a paying customer due to affiliate marketing, this paying customer can go to the webpage that contains more about the product that he has bought. In that same page, there may be ads for the back-end products

Back-end selling for the merchant becomes easier because the customer has already given his trust after the initial sale brought by affiliate marketing.

You are interested in starting a home-based business. You also want to use the Internet for your work-at-home idea. However, you are not sure if you can make money online. To make matters worse, you are confused about what home-based business opportunity to pursue.

If this sounds like you, rest assured that money can be made online with a home-based business. You don’t need to study for years until you can reap rewards. There are sound business concepts that have been taught and proven to be true by some of the most highly successful marketers in the world. What is the top sound principle that will ensure your success? It is choosing the right niche market.

You might be wondering what is a niche.

A niche is simply a group of people with similar interests and needs. They are very passionate about their topic of interest. Think of a small pond packed with starving fish and you have the bait specific to their needs; they will like what you have to offer the best. This, in essence, is a niche.

Why a niche market? Well, unless you are a huge corporation with bottomless pockets, niche marketing is the way to go. You see most of the large corporations blow off niche markets because they are not trying to make an additional $1000 to $15000 per month like many home-based business entrepreneurs and other small business owners. They are seeking to make millions per month, which is good for you because you don’t have to compete with those companies that have massive marketing budgets.

It really is easy to find potential customers in niche markets. Here are some examples:

Motor Home Owners

Carpet Cleaner Business Owners

Restaurant Owners

Winter Camping Enthusiasts

Siamese Cat Owners

Dentists

Landscape Company Owners

You get the picture.

Before you decide which niche market to target for your home- based business, here are four important points to consider:

1. Is the market easily defined and reachable? Do you know where they hangout? What kind of trade journals or publications do they read? Do they have clubs or are members of particular organizations?

2. Is the market small enough that you will not have tons of competitors, but still large enough for you to make a good profit?

3. Does the market have the money to spend?

4. Does the group have an insane passion for their hobby or topic of interest? Do they eat, sleep, and breathe their hobby? Are they constantly seeking more information related to their subject?

A great example of this would be golfers and NASCAR enthusiasts!

Doing research related to these questions will help you pick the perfect niche market for your home-based business.

As you think about starting a home-based business and what market to target, follow the above suggestions and you will be way ahead of many other home-based business opportunity seekers who want to start a work-at-home business.

Let me ask you and be honest with yourself here, are you getting the results you want in your business? If you are great, this message will be helpful in getting you to the next level. If you’re not, don’t worry, it will certainly put you on the right path.

Now I’ve read the studies too that state the lack of capital as the main reason most small businesses fail however, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that although I can’t prove it, I believe one of the biggest reasons business fail or underachieve is due to lack of effective marketing.

When I attended a seminar by T. Harv Eker a few years back, he mentioned and I quote “it takes creativity to make money”. In other words it doesn’t take money to make money; it takes creativity to make money. Now that’s a hard concept for most of us to grasp, it certainly was for me until I started reading a few Guerrilla Marketing books by Jay Conrad Levinson which primarily deal with using sweat equity and creativity instead of money to promote your business.

Now why am I telling you this? Basically to lay the foundation for the gem I’m about to share with you here today. That gem is a simple yet effective technique I picked up from two of my mentors Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield.

This technique is called the “Rule of 5” and what it means is simply doing at least 5 things every day towards accomplishing a specific goal.

Now since learning this concept a ways back, I have expanded on it a bit to make it more relevant and effective for me. And my guess here is that there’s a good chance it will suit you as well.

So here’s my adaptation that I call “Rule of 5 Marketing”. Essentially it means doing at least 5 marketing activities every day to effectively promote yourself or your business. You commit to this and you are virtually guaranteed success.

Now that can mean making 5 phone calls to key prospects, giving a teleseminar to 5 or more prospects, sending out a press release to 5 publications that cater to your target audience or, whatever marketing activity is most effective for your business. Just make sure you do 5 things day in and day out, without fail because a big part of marketing is about consistency.

And speaking of consistency, a great way to hold yourself accountable and to stay on track is to keep a daily journal where you log the 5 marketing activities you completed each day.

If you find yourself slipping and not getting it done, I recommend you enlist a coach or a colleague to become an accountability partner for you – then you can phone them or shoot them an email letting them know you honored your commitment. This just adds that little extra something to inspire you to get it done.

So commit to it, journal it and be accountable to apply the Rule of 5 to your marketing every day and watch your business take off.

People are basically visual creatures. They are easily turned on by what they see. The outrageousness of the design, graphics and colors teases their sense of sight. It sends excitement and thrill that generates more appetite to stare longer and be charmed.

Among design, graphics and color, the latter is the most difficult to show accurately. This is because color perception can be affected by lots of factors. First, it depends on the structure of a person’s eye. The viewer may be colorblind. Colorblindedness may vary. It can be either slight or acute. Another factor is the impact of one color to another when placed side by side. This can happen either through reflection or visual illusion. How do this happen? To make a clear notion, you can practice this: hold a bright red colored paper or object right next to a white piece of paper. Do this near a sunny window. As you can observe, the paper turns into a pastel color of red which is pink.

With regards to printing services, colors vary. Colors may not match especially if you use different printing services, some may use CMYK while others prefer Pantone colors. Colors may also vary between presses. It depends on the setup or calibration used. Thus, if your printed materials were printed on different machines or at different interval, the appearance may vary.

To minimize inaccuracies and misrepresentations, you can use or ask your printer to use the Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors. With this printing process, the exact colors of your logo or graphics can be had. You can also select from a wide array of paper choices that have different textures and colors. However, this process is more expensive compared to the 4 Color Printing and is limited up to three colors only.

4 Color Printing otherwise known as full-color printing or process color printing uses CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) inks in printing. They are printed as tiny dots called screen or line screen. These dots create a miniature rainbow of colors. If your printing job needs a wide range of colors like photograhy, you can use 4 Color Printing. One of the latter’s drawback though is that it is also limited in a way that it cannot produce metallics and very bright colors.

If you want to produce ‘match proofs’ of your colors and to ensure that the colors are close to each other, compare first the colors of 4 Color Printing and Pantone. There are also books that show how Pantone colors will translate to CMYK. These books can help you translate Pantone colors into CMYK so that your print jobs can be had in the most economical way.

Colors can capture the rage of an individual’s zeal and let him get lost in it. Be sure to keep your colors teasing and haunting!

If you haven’t heard the word ‘niche’ being batted around by Internet Marketers then you haven’t been listening. Finding a niche has become the antidote to competing in overly saturated online markets.

What is a niche?

According to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary a niche is described as “a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted… a specialized market”.

Have you noticed that despite the closing of many businesses in these harsh economic times, the local hobby train store is still around? That the ‘hole-in-the-wall’ eatery is thriving? Or that trends such as scrapbooking can start with a bang and still close within a year when four similar businesses start up in the same area?

The online business world reflects the same trends as experienced in the offline world – often with faster turnover and startup rates. Those who promote a product or site that targets a small, select audience can tap into a market that is otherwise not being served. Despite the limitations of the client base, the targeted nature of the business creates a devoted and active market – the aim of any business.

HOW DO I FIND A NICHE?

Finding a niche requires diligent research. Whether you have access to software that harvests and sorts information or you take a manual approach you must first start with ideas.

With a pen and paper (or computer, if that’s more comfortable) brainstorm a list of businesses, products and industries. Create a list of keywords and phrases you think would be used by individuals looking for these items online.

Use a software program such as Wordtracker or a free resource such as the Overture Keyword Selector Tool to find keywords for your niche that have a high amount of traffic.

Although a program like Wordtracker makes it easy to find details such as how many sites compete for that market, you can also do your own research.

Concentrate your attention on question phrases such as “how do I…” or “where can I…”. These questions will clue you into potential markets that need servicing.

Next, look in Google Answers. Type one of your keywords into the search area. What questions are being asked and how much are people willing to pay for answers? If you find a group of keywords with a high number of questions then enter these words in your browser’s search engine.

What sites come up? Do they provide answers or solutions to the problem? How are they making money? Can you see an opportunity to service these individuals?

Finding a niche can open the door to a profitable online business. Research the market and be certain that your product or service is valuable to this group. Find forums or groups that target this audience and pay close attention to their concerns.

If you can help these people you WILL make money. The best of both worlds!