The use of affirmations as “positive brainwashing”
Brainwashing is a term perceived in a negative way by most people. But you know what; I think our brains could actually do with a bit of a wash sometimes!
You see, everyone comes into this world with a clear mind, and a belief that everything is possible. All is positive and well. Remember as a child, you could do and become everything, without any boundaries! As we grow up however, we pick up beliefs, fears and limitations from our surroundings and peers that gradually form the person we are today. A lot of these beliefs unfortunately are negative and as we build our lives they limit us in our actions and being. Very often they therefore contribute to unhappiness or feeling unfulfilled in our lives and business. It can be the smallest –seemingly harmless- remark from a mother like “just let me handle that, you are no good at that” that can convince you that you are not good at a certain task. A teacher who calls a pupil “the clumsy one” can do more harm with this remark than he realizes when repeated often enough. With every remark the belief is harnessed further in the child that it indeed is clumsy. Even though a remark is said with a smile or with the intent to be funny, it still leaves a legacy in the belief system.
This programming of course doesn’t stop at adulthood; it keeps influencing people in all stages of life. We are being influenced by our parents, kids, partner, friends, colleagues, television, newspapers, and magazines and so on. Sometimes in a positive, but very often in a negative way. No wonder we limit ourselves in so many ways! Belief is the key to your success. If you believe you can do something, you can. If you believe you can’t do something, you will be right too.
The good news is: we can “reprogram” our mind and replace our negative, limiting beliefs for positive contributing ones. Positive brainwashing is what I like to call it! This can be done by the use of so called “affirmations”. An affirmation is a positive self talk statement, stated in the present tense that covers a goal you want to achieve and that ‘overrules’ negative beliefs towards that goal. An example is “I easily do 10 sales calls a day”. Or “I am an excellent negotiator”. By stating this affirmation regularly during your day, you will achieve the goal you have set for yourself easier. This positive self talk helps your mind to overcome beliefs that you have about yourself, that limit your success and actions. Compare our mind with a computer: when you change the input, the output will change accordingly. So if you have the limiting belief that you are no good in public speaking (probably because of negative experiences in the past) you can actually reprogram your mind by stating the following affirmation: “ I am an excellent public speaker. I love to speak for huge audiences and people love to hear me talk”. By affirming this belief over and over, you actually start to believe it and your mind will find a way to make this statement a reality. At some stage, you might decide to do a course in public speaking, or someone might ask you to speak at some kind of seminar, which forces you to work on your speaking skills. Somehow, these affirmations help you to reach the ‘goal’ you have set for yourself and open doors for you that would otherwise have been kept closed. And this works for virtually everything. Believe and it will happen.
Imagine standing at a big river, with a heavy stream. You have to cross it, but you don’t think you can actually do it. Your belief is keeping you from crossing, although you physically should be able to do it easily. It just looks too hard! Then someone else comes up from behind you, and without thinking starts crossing the river and gets to the other side. His belief was positive, and he knew he could do it. The interesting thing is that this will probably influence your belief: “if he can do it, I can do it too” and you will then cross the river without any problem at all. Similar things happen when a group of people is introduced to the phenomenon of fire walking. At first a big group of people will say that there is no way they will walk on fire. Until…other people with higher beliefs go first, then all of a sudden everyone else rushes over to do it as well.
So think about YOUR beliefs, and try to discover which beliefs are actually holding you back from reaching your full potential in your life. Then, one by one, start eliminating these beliefs from your system. Formulate an affirmation that counters your negative belief, and re affirm it daily. Write them in your diary, on your bathroom mirror, next to your computer; anywhere you see it often and say the affirmation out loud as often as possible. You will be happily surprised by the results!
Another powerful way to manifest your goals is by visualizing them. By looking at a picture of your goal or dream daily with a strong desire, you will start attracting them in your life. A brilliant visualization tool that can help you to create and maintain your affirmations and visualizations in a very powerful way is a software program called “Vision Board” or Dream Board. Use this fantastic tool to create a Vision Board with self chosen pictures and your personally formulated affirmations, which will help you to achieve the goals you have set in your life or business.
Click here now for more information!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
A Dozen Great Search Engine Placement Tips
To be noticed or successful in the World Wide Web one needs to apply sound business sense and practices. When a surfer uses a search engine to find information he will get what he needs within the first 7-10 results displayed. This means that sites that are ranked higher than 10 are hardly ever noticed. Most of the traffic is enjoyed by those who rank within the “top ten.”
Here are a few pointers that may get you a ranking within 1-10:
1. Use relevant target key words for your pages. Ensure that the key words are more than two words long. Put yourself in the shoes of the surfer and list what the likely search terms will be which are relevant to the content.
2. Use keywords frequently through the page but with relevance. Higher placements are recommended. Ensure that target keywords are placed in the HTML title tag. Include target words in the titles. Write titles that capture interest and attention. These are what appear in search engine listings and only if they convey the content of the pages clearly will a user access the web page.
3. Every page must have a title tag, Meta keywords tag, and Meta description tag.
4. Use text navigation with great thought. It is advantageous to use keyword phrases as links. If text navigation is not possible then try and include footer on every page.
5. Avoid search engine stumbling blocks like image maps or frames. Construct your pages such that any search engine, old or new can read the pages. Create static pages and avoid symbols in the URLs.
6. Link analysis is used by important search engines in ranking algorithms. So, it is crucial to build solid links. Ensure that the links are relevant to your web content. Think quality not quantity. The secret is in approaching sites that are non-competitive and are ranked high by search engines.
7. Avoid spamming. It can get you banned. Fight the battle for supremacy by ethical means. Just ensure that your content is relevant and interesting, layout simple, and titles attractive and teasing.
8. To maximize efficiency submit more than one page manually. Make sure the pages are good representations of your site and its content.
9. Avoid automated programs for submission of pages. Submit manually and pay attention to any problems reported.
10. Prepare your goals with thought and care. Use a designer who is aware of online architectural design principles. Synchronize content, design, and navigation. Make it user and search engine friendly.
11. If you are in a hurry to get your website ranked then consider the option of using search engine marketing programs like PPC. In this case traffic is generated within days.
12. Use a link analysis report which will consider your competitors plan of action and prepare a recommendation report for you that is exclusive to your business module.
Search engine placement is the corner stone to success. It will not just ensure a good ranking but substantial increase in traffic and optimal business returns. As an astute business person or avid cyber techie you need to view the site in a rounded way and consider not just aspects of content and design but marketing strategies and cost effectiveness.
Here are a few pointers that may get you a ranking within 1-10:
1. Use relevant target key words for your pages. Ensure that the key words are more than two words long. Put yourself in the shoes of the surfer and list what the likely search terms will be which are relevant to the content.
2. Use keywords frequently through the page but with relevance. Higher placements are recommended. Ensure that target keywords are placed in the HTML title tag. Include target words in the titles. Write titles that capture interest and attention. These are what appear in search engine listings and only if they convey the content of the pages clearly will a user access the web page.
3. Every page must have a title tag, Meta keywords tag, and Meta description tag.
4. Use text navigation with great thought. It is advantageous to use keyword phrases as links. If text navigation is not possible then try and include footer on every page.
5. Avoid search engine stumbling blocks like image maps or frames. Construct your pages such that any search engine, old or new can read the pages. Create static pages and avoid symbols in the URLs.
6. Link analysis is used by important search engines in ranking algorithms. So, it is crucial to build solid links. Ensure that the links are relevant to your web content. Think quality not quantity. The secret is in approaching sites that are non-competitive and are ranked high by search engines.
7. Avoid spamming. It can get you banned. Fight the battle for supremacy by ethical means. Just ensure that your content is relevant and interesting, layout simple, and titles attractive and teasing.
8. To maximize efficiency submit more than one page manually. Make sure the pages are good representations of your site and its content.
9. Avoid automated programs for submission of pages. Submit manually and pay attention to any problems reported.
10. Prepare your goals with thought and care. Use a designer who is aware of online architectural design principles. Synchronize content, design, and navigation. Make it user and search engine friendly.
11. If you are in a hurry to get your website ranked then consider the option of using search engine marketing programs like PPC. In this case traffic is generated within days.
12. Use a link analysis report which will consider your competitors plan of action and prepare a recommendation report for you that is exclusive to your business module.
Search engine placement is the corner stone to success. It will not just ensure a good ranking but substantial increase in traffic and optimal business returns. As an astute business person or avid cyber techie you need to view the site in a rounded way and consider not just aspects of content and design but marketing strategies and cost effectiveness.
Alternative Marketing Strategies
Marketing online has become fiercely competitive. Marketers are attempting to unravel and decipher online marketing to succeed. Some argue that there should not be a distinction between traditional (off-line) marketing and online marketing. Others feel that concepts applied to mail order work well on the web, while still others argue that online marketing is a breed of its own and what works in one arena may not work in another. While some standard practices like "above" the fold, hold true in both print and online copy, it is rare that you see the printed type face on the web the same as in printed advertisements. Regardless there are traditional forms of advertising that are viable and make sense to use on the web but many marketers do not.
These undervalued marketing opportunities are not the end-all be-all but are great supplemental channels, that compliment strong online marketing campaigns.
Buyers Guides
Many print magazines offer free listings in buyers guides. Buyers guides typically have a long shelf life and are viewed as a product resource, meaning it is one of the first places consumers look when wanting to purchase an item. Often magazines will include product reviews or sponsored placement in a buyers guide. Typically the standard listing is free, but optionally vendors can increase their exposure by adding listings in additional categories for a nominal fee. Regardless the free listings are a great value and worth pursuing.
Product Reviews
The impartial overview from a credible source can spark product interest. A third party independent review of your product or service is seen as a vote of confidence. Invite publishers or even bloggers to review your product or service.
When requesting a review, it is proper net etiquette to always provide the reviewer an evaluation product free of charge. After the review, be sure to thank the reviewer and if appropriate, link to the completed review.
Forums/Volunteering in Communities
Offering your time and expertise will establish expertise and knowledge in a specific industry. Participants who participate in forums have a genuine interest and are a great target audience. Posting helpful information rather than blatant product advertisements will enhance an image.
Article Syndication
Writing quality informative and educational articles will also establish expertise. Articles also educate users about related product or service. Generally educated users require less technical help and are an easier sale because they understand how the people or service will help them.
RSS Feeds
Provide content in an RSS feed. While RSS is becoming very popular there are still a number of industries and sectors where very little content is available via RSS feeds. Placing quality content in an RSS feed and being "early to market" will help your company shine.
When small businesses compete with big businesses there are a number of areas in which they can compete effectively. As more businesses turn to the web as an advertising model, it is important that marketers and businesses define themselves by giving themselves every opportunity to be found. Utilizing undervalued marketing opportunities will separate online successes from failures.
These undervalued marketing opportunities are not the end-all be-all but are great supplemental channels, that compliment strong online marketing campaigns.
Buyers Guides
Many print magazines offer free listings in buyers guides. Buyers guides typically have a long shelf life and are viewed as a product resource, meaning it is one of the first places consumers look when wanting to purchase an item. Often magazines will include product reviews or sponsored placement in a buyers guide. Typically the standard listing is free, but optionally vendors can increase their exposure by adding listings in additional categories for a nominal fee. Regardless the free listings are a great value and worth pursuing.
Product Reviews
The impartial overview from a credible source can spark product interest. A third party independent review of your product or service is seen as a vote of confidence. Invite publishers or even bloggers to review your product or service.
When requesting a review, it is proper net etiquette to always provide the reviewer an evaluation product free of charge. After the review, be sure to thank the reviewer and if appropriate, link to the completed review.
Forums/Volunteering in Communities
Offering your time and expertise will establish expertise and knowledge in a specific industry. Participants who participate in forums have a genuine interest and are a great target audience. Posting helpful information rather than blatant product advertisements will enhance an image.
Article Syndication
Writing quality informative and educational articles will also establish expertise. Articles also educate users about related product or service. Generally educated users require less technical help and are an easier sale because they understand how the people or service will help them.
RSS Feeds
Provide content in an RSS feed. While RSS is becoming very popular there are still a number of industries and sectors where very little content is available via RSS feeds. Placing quality content in an RSS feed and being "early to market" will help your company shine.
When small businesses compete with big businesses there are a number of areas in which they can compete effectively. As more businesses turn to the web as an advertising model, it is important that marketers and businesses define themselves by giving themselves every opportunity to be found. Utilizing undervalued marketing opportunities will separate online successes from failures.
Do You Want to Make Serious Money on The Internet?
I was one of the thousands (if not millions) of people who wanted my own "internet money machine" and I came from a position where I had little or no computer knowledge - I could send and receive emails and knew how to surf the net - but that was literally it!
Does that sound like you? If so then how do you get from that position to making serious money on the internet? The first thing I did was get incredibly excited. I'd been looking for a home based business and eventually stumbled across the internet as an obvious market place. After all I had a computer at home. So I looked around the web (using one of my existing skills - I knew how to surf!) and soon realized "I want to make money on the internet".
So I spent some more time surfing for ways of making this desire a reality. There seemed so many businesses and no shortage of people offering to make me serious money on the internet. How kind of them! Just type in "online business opportunity" in Google and see what I mean. It was about now I began to think perhaps not all these opportunities were as great as they were cracked up to be!
So I went around doing a bit of market research. How? I visited a few forums. You soon learn that there is a forum on just about any subject online. It is a phenomenon that you can use to weed out some of the good from bad if you use them right. Visit a few (again use Google or whichever search engine you have) and just read the posts relating to your interest. If you like you can join and actually ask some questions. Nearly everyone is helpful and friendly. But beware the person who tries to hard sell his or her opportunity to you.
It helps to get over the get rich quick mentality as soon as possible. Sure you can make serious money on the internet - it is after all a market place - but start out with the intention of making a steady income first. Don't try to run before you can walk. When you have your regular income covered you will be in a good position to move to the next stage (getting rich!)
There are so many business types and niches out there that you will have no problem finding something - in fact you will probably be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all. I really had no idea before I started. Just try and hone in on something you have an interest in or that you have some experience in at first. Then research the business and market and the opportunities presented. Visit websites, use the forums and download some e-books on the subject - invaluable in my experience.
After extensive research I finally found some great companies to be affiliated with and put them all together in one secure place so you don't have to spend countless hours searching on the internet. Click here for more Info on How to make a living on the internet.
Does that sound like you? If so then how do you get from that position to making serious money on the internet? The first thing I did was get incredibly excited. I'd been looking for a home based business and eventually stumbled across the internet as an obvious market place. After all I had a computer at home. So I looked around the web (using one of my existing skills - I knew how to surf!) and soon realized "I want to make money on the internet".
So I spent some more time surfing for ways of making this desire a reality. There seemed so many businesses and no shortage of people offering to make me serious money on the internet. How kind of them! Just type in "online business opportunity" in Google and see what I mean. It was about now I began to think perhaps not all these opportunities were as great as they were cracked up to be!
So I went around doing a bit of market research. How? I visited a few forums. You soon learn that there is a forum on just about any subject online. It is a phenomenon that you can use to weed out some of the good from bad if you use them right. Visit a few (again use Google or whichever search engine you have) and just read the posts relating to your interest. If you like you can join and actually ask some questions. Nearly everyone is helpful and friendly. But beware the person who tries to hard sell his or her opportunity to you.
It helps to get over the get rich quick mentality as soon as possible. Sure you can make serious money on the internet - it is after all a market place - but start out with the intention of making a steady income first. Don't try to run before you can walk. When you have your regular income covered you will be in a good position to move to the next stage (getting rich!)
There are so many business types and niches out there that you will have no problem finding something - in fact you will probably be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all. I really had no idea before I started. Just try and hone in on something you have an interest in or that you have some experience in at first. Then research the business and market and the opportunities presented. Visit websites, use the forums and download some e-books on the subject - invaluable in my experience.
After extensive research I finally found some great companies to be affiliated with and put them all together in one secure place so you don't have to spend countless hours searching on the internet. Click here for more Info on How to make a living on the internet.
Education is the Key for Success in Internet Marketing
More and more people are considering the World Wide Web as a great opportunity to offer their products and services to a new, bigger market or even as a chance to create entirely new businesses online.
Even if the perspective to reach millions of potential customers is surely exciting, the truth is that internet marketing is more difficult than it may seems and if you don't have a sufficient experience you will usually waste a lot of time and resources doing things that don't produce the results you expect.
For this reason, seeking advice from competent internet marketing experts is essential if you want to succeed online.
Hiring a consultant can be very expensive, but fortunately this is not the only possibility.
In fact you can utilize one of the many internet marketing informational products (like books, manuals or e-books) that are available online.
There are complete courses that deal with every possible aspect of the entire process of building, managing and promoting your business online.
Other products concern very specific topics like how to write effective advertisements or sales letters, or how to promote your site on search engines.
You can usually choose among a great variety of media formats: printed manuals, downloadable e-books that allow you to use the product immediately, CD-ROMs, or even videos and audio tapes, if reading a big manual is not something for you.
The only risk is to be confused by so many possible choices. So how can you determine the product more suited to your needs?
When I need to decide about the purchase of an informational product, the first thing I do is reading each and every page of the author's site.
You may think that the information on a site designed to sell a product are, by definition, not objective.
But you can still find a lot of useful elements that will help you with your decision.
The following are the most important for me.
1) How is the product presented?
Reputable authors will never tell you that you will be able to make a lot of money without work simply by reading their e-book or manual.
They will warn you that personal efforts are always needed to succeed online and every concept you learn must be applied to your particular situation.
Disappointment is the only thing you will earn from an informational product that is presented like a 'magic recipe' to make money fast and without efforts.
2) How many details the author gives about him/herself especially with regard to past business experiences?
You want to be sure that you are about to spend your money to learn proven techniques successfully tested on real businesses not some vague theory.
3) Does the site contain customers testimonials? Do they sound genuine?
A testimonial should be always followed by a full name, a website or email address so that it can be verified.
4) What kind of guarantee is offered should you dislike the product once you have purchased it?
Ideally every good informational product should be covered by a full money back guarantee as it's always the best protection for your investment.
If you pay attention you will find many other elements that will tell you a lot about the author and the product he/she sells.
Learning how to market online is an ongoing process. Even if your personal work is always needed, with e-books, manuals, courses you can learn from successful marketers experiences, concentrate your efforts on strategies that worked for them and consequently avoid mistakes and save time and resources.
Even if the perspective to reach millions of potential customers is surely exciting, the truth is that internet marketing is more difficult than it may seems and if you don't have a sufficient experience you will usually waste a lot of time and resources doing things that don't produce the results you expect.
For this reason, seeking advice from competent internet marketing experts is essential if you want to succeed online.
Hiring a consultant can be very expensive, but fortunately this is not the only possibility.
In fact you can utilize one of the many internet marketing informational products (like books, manuals or e-books) that are available online.
There are complete courses that deal with every possible aspect of the entire process of building, managing and promoting your business online.
Other products concern very specific topics like how to write effective advertisements or sales letters, or how to promote your site on search engines.
You can usually choose among a great variety of media formats: printed manuals, downloadable e-books that allow you to use the product immediately, CD-ROMs, or even videos and audio tapes, if reading a big manual is not something for you.
The only risk is to be confused by so many possible choices. So how can you determine the product more suited to your needs?
When I need to decide about the purchase of an informational product, the first thing I do is reading each and every page of the author's site.
You may think that the information on a site designed to sell a product are, by definition, not objective.
But you can still find a lot of useful elements that will help you with your decision.
The following are the most important for me.
1) How is the product presented?
Reputable authors will never tell you that you will be able to make a lot of money without work simply by reading their e-book or manual.
They will warn you that personal efforts are always needed to succeed online and every concept you learn must be applied to your particular situation.
Disappointment is the only thing you will earn from an informational product that is presented like a 'magic recipe' to make money fast and without efforts.
2) How many details the author gives about him/herself especially with regard to past business experiences?
You want to be sure that you are about to spend your money to learn proven techniques successfully tested on real businesses not some vague theory.
3) Does the site contain customers testimonials? Do they sound genuine?
A testimonial should be always followed by a full name, a website or email address so that it can be verified.
4) What kind of guarantee is offered should you dislike the product once you have purchased it?
Ideally every good informational product should be covered by a full money back guarantee as it's always the best protection for your investment.
If you pay attention you will find many other elements that will tell you a lot about the author and the product he/she sells.
Learning how to market online is an ongoing process. Even if your personal work is always needed, with e-books, manuals, courses you can learn from successful marketers experiences, concentrate your efforts on strategies that worked for them and consequently avoid mistakes and save time and resources.
Secrets To Affiliate Marketing List Building
The Money is in the List?
I am sure that you have heard this before. If you are involved with Internet marketing, you have probably heard it over and over again. But, Is it True?
Absolutely!!
I am involved with affiliate marketing and the great thing is that you do not need a product to begin making money. There are thousands of viable products available that you can make a great income on.
Whatever your interest or your niche is, there are plenty of products waiting for you to make money with. There is also plenty of room for you to create and promote your own product. Provided of course that it is a good one.
As for affiliate programs, they are very simple to get started with. You just need to sign up for their affiliate program, promote it, and watch the money start rolling in (hopefully). This is all great, but then what? Most likely you would find another product and start all over again.
What if, when you find or create this new product, you already have hundreds or thousands of people to instantly tell about it? You can shoot them a quick email and have immediate money in your pocket. Then you can start advertising this product and create even more people for your next great idea. As you can imagine, this process can take on a snowball effect. Before you know it, your primary income will be from your online business. Now you can work from home!
How do you go about starting a list?
One of the best ways is to create a squeeze page. This is a simple one page website that is designed to capture your visitors name and email address. You can do this by offering a free report, a free subscription to your newsletter, or both.
Once you have their information they are added to your auto responder and they are a part or your list. At this time you would redirect them to your affiliate product website or to your own website with a link.
You have now created a potential customer for your current and your future products.
When you start to email them regularly make sure that you are offering them something of value. Some ideas include: useful information, free reports, free software, and creative ideas that you come across.
You can than suggest your product and offer a link to your product or affiliate page. Build up your product with a strong sales message and watch the sales start pouring in.
One piece of advice, do not oversell to your list. This is a very valuable resource and should not be jeopardized.
You need to give good solid information and only promote worthwhile products. Treat your list as a group of friends that you want to help with the information that you are providing. Not as another dollar in your pocket. Just follow the golden rule and treat your list as you would want to be treated and you will be on your way to success.
I am sure that you have heard this before. If you are involved with Internet marketing, you have probably heard it over and over again. But, Is it True?
Absolutely!!
I am involved with affiliate marketing and the great thing is that you do not need a product to begin making money. There are thousands of viable products available that you can make a great income on.
Whatever your interest or your niche is, there are plenty of products waiting for you to make money with. There is also plenty of room for you to create and promote your own product. Provided of course that it is a good one.
As for affiliate programs, they are very simple to get started with. You just need to sign up for their affiliate program, promote it, and watch the money start rolling in (hopefully). This is all great, but then what? Most likely you would find another product and start all over again.
What if, when you find or create this new product, you already have hundreds or thousands of people to instantly tell about it? You can shoot them a quick email and have immediate money in your pocket. Then you can start advertising this product and create even more people for your next great idea. As you can imagine, this process can take on a snowball effect. Before you know it, your primary income will be from your online business. Now you can work from home!
How do you go about starting a list?
One of the best ways is to create a squeeze page. This is a simple one page website that is designed to capture your visitors name and email address. You can do this by offering a free report, a free subscription to your newsletter, or both.
Once you have their information they are added to your auto responder and they are a part or your list. At this time you would redirect them to your affiliate product website or to your own website with a link.
You have now created a potential customer for your current and your future products.
When you start to email them regularly make sure that you are offering them something of value. Some ideas include: useful information, free reports, free software, and creative ideas that you come across.
You can than suggest your product and offer a link to your product or affiliate page. Build up your product with a strong sales message and watch the sales start pouring in.
One piece of advice, do not oversell to your list. This is a very valuable resource and should not be jeopardized.
You need to give good solid information and only promote worthwhile products. Treat your list as a group of friends that you want to help with the information that you are providing. Not as another dollar in your pocket. Just follow the golden rule and treat your list as you would want to be treated and you will be on your way to success.
You Really Can Make a Million on the Internet
The key to successful marketing on the internet is to drive traffic to your website. Having a website that just sits un-promoted in cyberspace is not only a waste of time, but also highly frustrating.
I have been intrigued by the idea of internet marketing for years, but it has taken me a long time to overcome all the gumption traps involved in actually getting started (the biggest one being that I am a cyber-dinosaur -- my only real experience using computers for anything other than glorified type-writing involved Fortran IV and IBM punch cards almost thirty years ago).
What I have learned is that the internet marketing process can be relatively simple. You have to find a market, develop a product, and build a website to promote your product and process transactions. But, all of your efforts will be useless if nobody visits your website.
I have been studying a course that discusses the problem of driving traffic to your site in great detail. There are at least six ways to increase the number of visitors to your site, including word of mouth from one web user to the next (you are reading this letter, aren't you?), buying targeted hits to your site using paid keyword advertising on search engines such as Google, sending advertising e-mails to your proprietary list of prospects which you generate by signing up previous visitors to your site, exchanging links for your website with other websites that have similar products to your own, paying someone else with a proprietary e-mail list to send sales letters for you (you can pay for this with a flat fee up front or in the form of commissions that result from the e-mails they send), and paying fees or commissions to other websites for putting your banners, ads, or links on their pages. By using these techniques you will increase the number of visitors to your site, which is almost guaranteed to increase your sales.
In addition to pointers on increasing website traffic, the course I am studying includes incredible amounts of information about many other topics. It is a great course which covers every aspect of marketing on the internet. It covers material from the very basic to the very complex, including the nuts and bolts of building a website, the basic ideas behind the concept of selling on the web, and strategies for finding the right niche for marketing specific products. It is a tremendous resource for the beginning marketer, and is full of not well known tips for even the most experienced internet marketing experts.
I have been intrigued by the idea of internet marketing for years, but it has taken me a long time to overcome all the gumption traps involved in actually getting started (the biggest one being that I am a cyber-dinosaur -- my only real experience using computers for anything other than glorified type-writing involved Fortran IV and IBM punch cards almost thirty years ago).
What I have learned is that the internet marketing process can be relatively simple. You have to find a market, develop a product, and build a website to promote your product and process transactions. But, all of your efforts will be useless if nobody visits your website.
I have been studying a course that discusses the problem of driving traffic to your site in great detail. There are at least six ways to increase the number of visitors to your site, including word of mouth from one web user to the next (you are reading this letter, aren't you?), buying targeted hits to your site using paid keyword advertising on search engines such as Google, sending advertising e-mails to your proprietary list of prospects which you generate by signing up previous visitors to your site, exchanging links for your website with other websites that have similar products to your own, paying someone else with a proprietary e-mail list to send sales letters for you (you can pay for this with a flat fee up front or in the form of commissions that result from the e-mails they send), and paying fees or commissions to other websites for putting your banners, ads, or links on their pages. By using these techniques you will increase the number of visitors to your site, which is almost guaranteed to increase your sales.
In addition to pointers on increasing website traffic, the course I am studying includes incredible amounts of information about many other topics. It is a great course which covers every aspect of marketing on the internet. It covers material from the very basic to the very complex, including the nuts and bolts of building a website, the basic ideas behind the concept of selling on the web, and strategies for finding the right niche for marketing specific products. It is a tremendous resource for the beginning marketer, and is full of not well known tips for even the most experienced internet marketing experts.
Making Sense of Internet Marketing
The key components of an Internet marketing program include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Paid Placement, Affiliate Marketing and Viral/Social Marketing. The goal of all of these is to increase a website’s traffic (number of people who visit) however each uses a different tactic to meet this goal. An effective Internet marketing program leverages a mix of these components to maximize their value at a particular point in the overall program.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an attempt to increase your website’s ranking in ‘organic’ (non-paid) search results in Google™, Yahoo!™ and other search engines. Search engines use complex, proprietary algorithms to determine how a page ranks. In general higher ranking is achieved by optimizing the actual website content to increase its relevancy to certain search words (keywords). Additionally, SEO attempts to increase the website’s perceived ‘authority’ by acquiring quality links to your website from other complementary sites (back links). Finally higher ranking websites are highly visible to search engines meaning most or all of their web pages are indexed by the search engines.
Many aspects of a complete SEO effort can be outsourced, but some aspects are more effective when controlled by those most familiar with the product or service. SEO generally has a longer-term ROI than other Internet marketing methods because a website’s authority is generally built over time. It is important to know that SEO is never truly finished. Competition and buyer preferences change and evolve over time, therefore, the authority of a website changes and must be re-evaluated routinely.
Effectiveness of a SEO program is measured in terms of search result rank, search engine saturation and overall visibility. Result rank is determined by how high a website appears in organic results. Saturation is an indication of how much of a website is indexed by search engines and overall visibility shows how many references are found for a website.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) essentially is a shortcut to increased search result rankings. By sponsoring links in search engine results, advertisers can ensure that relevant links are displayed along with search results whenever certain keywords are searched for. These are generally displayed above or in a separate column beside organic results. In these pay per click (PPC) programs advertisers bid to determine ranking and only pay when links are actually clicked by a visitor.
SEM can be, and probably is best, outsourced. Experienced SEM practitioners can maximize the results of a pay-per-click program by increasing the quality of website visitors. Additionally, knowledge of the bidding process and keyword selection can significantly reduce the amount paid per click-through over time.
SEM has the shortest term ROI as resulting traffic is immediate and measurable. The ability to tightly control expenses, all the way down to cost per click, makes the expense very predictable. Negatively, there is little if any residual value effect of SEM beyond potential relationships with new buyers. SEM is predominately a point in time exercise, although it can be very effective during a campaign.
Paid Placement is similar to traditional print or media advertising. Advertisers pay a fee to have their ‘ad’ displayed on a website or alongside search engine results. Ads are often ‘banners’ that include a marketing message that entices viewers to click the ad and be transferred to the advertiser’s website. Paid placement also includes sponsored links on content pages, paid reviews or ‘pop-up’ ads that appear before or on top of a content page.
Paid placement can include SEM tactics, but here the sponsored links appear on content websites rather than search engine results pages. Placement is based on relevancy of selected keywords and the displaying website’s content. The advertiser has limited control over where ads appear. Ads on content sites generally rank higher for lower bids than on search engine results.
Direct placement of ads on specific content sites is generally based on a set fee or per million impressions (displays). Direct placement allows an advertiser to specify specific website, durations and potentially exact placement on a page. This is most effective if a product or service would appeal to visitors of a specific website. For instance, Dell might place an ad on a computer buying guide website.
Purchase and management of direct placement ads can be outsourced, although it requires less expertise and oversight than SEM.
Affiliate Marketing allows website owners to resell products or services for a percentage or set fee commission. Commissions may be paid for sales, leads or even website visit referrals. Almost all major retail stores support affiliate marketing programs and generally use a third party service to manage the relationship with affiliates. While affiliate marketing allows a product or service provider to extend its marketing capability it is still responsible for all aspects of distribution.
Affiliate marketing can be outsourced in part or whole. Generally the affiliate marketer selects an affiliate management provider to handle acquiring and managing new affiliates.
Although not an absolute, Affiliate marketing tends to be most utilized by product or service providers who have a wide range of products to offer. This increases the likelihood that content site owners are going to assign valuable screen space to a product. Alternatively the provider may offer higher incentive commissions or target very specific content sites.
Viral/Social Marketing is similar to traditional ‘word of mouth’ advertising although done through websites. Marketers attempt create ‘buzz’ about their products by leveraging social networks, emails, blogs, videos or other venues that allow viewers to easily ‘spread the word.’ This form of Internet marketing is often associated with the term ‘Web 2.0‘ because it tends to leverage more user driven venues and content rather than commercial content sites.
Viral/Social Internet marketing, much like SEO is an ongoing effort and similarly it is possible to outsource all or some efforts in this area. Development of complex marketing campaigns would likely be outsourced to a marketing firm specializing in leveraging the Internet, however, smaller campaigns and the tactical aspects could be handled internally or by your SEO/SEM partner.
In closing, an effective Internet marketing program will leverage some or all of these components in a complementary way. Each component brings visitors to a website through its own unique tactics, time frame and cost. If planned and managed properly, each component can be utilized by the next one to create even greater value. A successful Internet marketing plan will consider the short-term, long-term and budgetary goals of the product or service provider, deploying the components that met those goals.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an attempt to increase your website’s ranking in ‘organic’ (non-paid) search results in Google™, Yahoo!™ and other search engines. Search engines use complex, proprietary algorithms to determine how a page ranks. In general higher ranking is achieved by optimizing the actual website content to increase its relevancy to certain search words (keywords). Additionally, SEO attempts to increase the website’s perceived ‘authority’ by acquiring quality links to your website from other complementary sites (back links). Finally higher ranking websites are highly visible to search engines meaning most or all of their web pages are indexed by the search engines.
Many aspects of a complete SEO effort can be outsourced, but some aspects are more effective when controlled by those most familiar with the product or service. SEO generally has a longer-term ROI than other Internet marketing methods because a website’s authority is generally built over time. It is important to know that SEO is never truly finished. Competition and buyer preferences change and evolve over time, therefore, the authority of a website changes and must be re-evaluated routinely.
Effectiveness of a SEO program is measured in terms of search result rank, search engine saturation and overall visibility. Result rank is determined by how high a website appears in organic results. Saturation is an indication of how much of a website is indexed by search engines and overall visibility shows how many references are found for a website.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) essentially is a shortcut to increased search result rankings. By sponsoring links in search engine results, advertisers can ensure that relevant links are displayed along with search results whenever certain keywords are searched for. These are generally displayed above or in a separate column beside organic results. In these pay per click (PPC) programs advertisers bid to determine ranking and only pay when links are actually clicked by a visitor.
SEM can be, and probably is best, outsourced. Experienced SEM practitioners can maximize the results of a pay-per-click program by increasing the quality of website visitors. Additionally, knowledge of the bidding process and keyword selection can significantly reduce the amount paid per click-through over time.
SEM has the shortest term ROI as resulting traffic is immediate and measurable. The ability to tightly control expenses, all the way down to cost per click, makes the expense very predictable. Negatively, there is little if any residual value effect of SEM beyond potential relationships with new buyers. SEM is predominately a point in time exercise, although it can be very effective during a campaign.
Paid Placement is similar to traditional print or media advertising. Advertisers pay a fee to have their ‘ad’ displayed on a website or alongside search engine results. Ads are often ‘banners’ that include a marketing message that entices viewers to click the ad and be transferred to the advertiser’s website. Paid placement also includes sponsored links on content pages, paid reviews or ‘pop-up’ ads that appear before or on top of a content page.
Paid placement can include SEM tactics, but here the sponsored links appear on content websites rather than search engine results pages. Placement is based on relevancy of selected keywords and the displaying website’s content. The advertiser has limited control over where ads appear. Ads on content sites generally rank higher for lower bids than on search engine results.
Direct placement of ads on specific content sites is generally based on a set fee or per million impressions (displays). Direct placement allows an advertiser to specify specific website, durations and potentially exact placement on a page. This is most effective if a product or service would appeal to visitors of a specific website. For instance, Dell might place an ad on a computer buying guide website.
Purchase and management of direct placement ads can be outsourced, although it requires less expertise and oversight than SEM.
Affiliate Marketing allows website owners to resell products or services for a percentage or set fee commission. Commissions may be paid for sales, leads or even website visit referrals. Almost all major retail stores support affiliate marketing programs and generally use a third party service to manage the relationship with affiliates. While affiliate marketing allows a product or service provider to extend its marketing capability it is still responsible for all aspects of distribution.
Affiliate marketing can be outsourced in part or whole. Generally the affiliate marketer selects an affiliate management provider to handle acquiring and managing new affiliates.
Although not an absolute, Affiliate marketing tends to be most utilized by product or service providers who have a wide range of products to offer. This increases the likelihood that content site owners are going to assign valuable screen space to a product. Alternatively the provider may offer higher incentive commissions or target very specific content sites.
Viral/Social Marketing is similar to traditional ‘word of mouth’ advertising although done through websites. Marketers attempt create ‘buzz’ about their products by leveraging social networks, emails, blogs, videos or other venues that allow viewers to easily ‘spread the word.’ This form of Internet marketing is often associated with the term ‘Web 2.0‘ because it tends to leverage more user driven venues and content rather than commercial content sites.
Viral/Social Internet marketing, much like SEO is an ongoing effort and similarly it is possible to outsource all or some efforts in this area. Development of complex marketing campaigns would likely be outsourced to a marketing firm specializing in leveraging the Internet, however, smaller campaigns and the tactical aspects could be handled internally or by your SEO/SEM partner.
In closing, an effective Internet marketing program will leverage some or all of these components in a complementary way. Each component brings visitors to a website through its own unique tactics, time frame and cost. If planned and managed properly, each component can be utilized by the next one to create even greater value. A successful Internet marketing plan will consider the short-term, long-term and budgetary goals of the product or service provider, deploying the components that met those goals.
Making Money Online
I recently began an exploration of the internet and was overwhelmed by the amount of information available on making money online. You could spend years searching for the right information. Much of the information was free, and a good majority of it was available for a price. What i found was the right information was priceless, but if you did not use the information it was worthless, and some free information was worth many times more than the price of information you could pay for.
So what does it take to start making money online? You need a simple plan of action and the willingness to just start and take baby steps in the direction of your goals. Just Do It! Then observe the effects and continue on with the next step or make corrections. I think it's possible to make money online and highly probable if you have the right tools and information and take the action necessary with a positive attitude towards success.
So where do you start? It begins with a willingness to take chances and venture into unknown territory, learning from everyone you can. A good beginning would be learning the basics about finding a product to sell and how to market a product online, building a website, and then going on from there. The best way is learning from a mentor who has already gone through all the steps necessary to be successful and knows all the pitfalls of running an online business. Plus as an added bonus they could answer any questions that you may have.
In conclusion, I only have this to say. Nothing gets started without taking action, so do something positive in your life today and at least search for some answers. You will never know what you can find unless you do.
So what does it take to start making money online? You need a simple plan of action and the willingness to just start and take baby steps in the direction of your goals. Just Do It! Then observe the effects and continue on with the next step or make corrections. I think it's possible to make money online and highly probable if you have the right tools and information and take the action necessary with a positive attitude towards success.
So where do you start? It begins with a willingness to take chances and venture into unknown territory, learning from everyone you can. A good beginning would be learning the basics about finding a product to sell and how to market a product online, building a website, and then going on from there. The best way is learning from a mentor who has already gone through all the steps necessary to be successful and knows all the pitfalls of running an online business. Plus as an added bonus they could answer any questions that you may have.
In conclusion, I only have this to say. Nothing gets started without taking action, so do something positive in your life today and at least search for some answers. You will never know what you can find unless you do.
Internet Marketing Tips
If you are running a home business you are surely aware of how important it is to have a good marketing strategy in effect. If you want to make a lot of money using the internet, you will have to know how to market your company effectively. There are a couple of tips that you can follow when you are trying to figure out how to make internet marketing work for you.
1. When you are looking into internet marketing ideas you will want to make sure that you leave no stone unturned. There are hundreds of internet marketing strategies that you can use; it is just a matter of finding out which one best works for you, and how to go about implementing it.
2. If internet marketing is an area that you do not excel at, there is no reason to get worried. One of the best ways to find out which internet marketing strategies work best is to ask around. In other words, find a couple of companies that are similar to yours and get in touch with them. Ask them what they do as far as internet marketing is concerned. Most people would be glad to help you out if you explain your situation to them. By getting information from people who have been successful,
you up your chances of putting a solid internet marketing strategy into place.
On a similar note, you can also join a couple of message boards or online communities for help. By belonging to an online community that concentrates on home business internet marketing, you will be able to network with other people that are in the
same situation as you. Again, you can pick their brains for information, while also sharing your tips and successes with them.
3. Don’t get stuck with only one internet marketing strategy in place. Many people put all of their eggs in one basket, and end up getting themselves in trouble when their internet marketing strategy does not work. For example, instead of simply using
affiliate marketing, make sure that you combine it with other strategies such as ezine advertising. This will ensure that even if one method is not working that you can still draw in some customers from your other avenues. Having a diverse internet marketing strategy will go a long way in ensuring that you never have to deal with slow times.
Overall, if you own a home business you will need to have an internet marketing strategy to succeed. Without an internet marketing strategy you will only be tapping into a small fraction of your potential customers. Implement an internet marketing strategy today, and see results by tomorrow. You will be amazed at how easy it can be!
1. When you are looking into internet marketing ideas you will want to make sure that you leave no stone unturned. There are hundreds of internet marketing strategies that you can use; it is just a matter of finding out which one best works for you, and how to go about implementing it.
2. If internet marketing is an area that you do not excel at, there is no reason to get worried. One of the best ways to find out which internet marketing strategies work best is to ask around. In other words, find a couple of companies that are similar to yours and get in touch with them. Ask them what they do as far as internet marketing is concerned. Most people would be glad to help you out if you explain your situation to them. By getting information from people who have been successful,
you up your chances of putting a solid internet marketing strategy into place.
On a similar note, you can also join a couple of message boards or online communities for help. By belonging to an online community that concentrates on home business internet marketing, you will be able to network with other people that are in the
same situation as you. Again, you can pick their brains for information, while also sharing your tips and successes with them.
3. Don’t get stuck with only one internet marketing strategy in place. Many people put all of their eggs in one basket, and end up getting themselves in trouble when their internet marketing strategy does not work. For example, instead of simply using
affiliate marketing, make sure that you combine it with other strategies such as ezine advertising. This will ensure that even if one method is not working that you can still draw in some customers from your other avenues. Having a diverse internet marketing strategy will go a long way in ensuring that you never have to deal with slow times.
Overall, if you own a home business you will need to have an internet marketing strategy to succeed. Without an internet marketing strategy you will only be tapping into a small fraction of your potential customers. Implement an internet marketing strategy today, and see results by tomorrow. You will be amazed at how easy it can be!
Internet Marketing and Advertising Ideas
Website owners wanting good ideas for marketing and advertising are always seeking new and ingenious advertising and marketing methods. Of course, all business website owners want their ideas and efforts to bring in more internet traffic and increased revenue. Unfortunately, online advertising and marketing methods can be quite costly, but there are marketing and advertising ideas and techniques that don't cost a small fortune. There are great marketing strategies and ideas that can bring in a sizeable amount of website traffic and revenue.
E-zines are a popular method of marketing and advertising websites because e-zine publishers have control over links and banner ads within their e-zines. Publishing an e-zine can be very beneficial for online business owners. Even if a website owner isn't a skilled writer, with a little help they can still publish an e-zine for online marketing and advertising purposes.
Unbeknown to some, there are websites that offer free and low-cost content for those wanting to publish an e-zine. Besides the many free content websites, there are many e-zine publishers that trade content with writers who also want to take advantage of free marketing and advertising methods. Contributing writers submit original articles and include links to their business websites in exchange for the content they are submitting. This is a marketing method that benefits all concerned. The original e-zine publisher receives free content, and article contributors receive free marketing and advertising for their business websites. Writers without business websites often sell their work directly to websites that buy articles and sell articles to those seeking website and e-zine content.
Blogging is the latest internet craze amongst online business owners looking for fresh marketing and advertising ideas. It certainly doesn't take a professional writer to create a blog. An internet business owner can create a blog and submit content to that blog on a daily basis. If information is full of valuable keywords and phrases, many search engines will pick up that information. People searching for particular keywords and phrases will likely stumble upon the information. Include links to a business website along with related information people are seeking, and the business could receive a great increase in internet traffic and revenue. Advertising using daily blogs are simple low-cost marketing methods, and these marketing methods have proven effective for a great number of online business owners.
Internet business owners seeking marketing ideas and advertising methods are often willing to exchange links with other online business owners.This can be accomplished through link exchange programs or by directly contacting internet business owners. Those looking for free online marketing and advertising methods and ideas can create partnerships with many online business owners and greatly increase their traffic and revenue.
E-zines are a popular method of marketing and advertising websites because e-zine publishers have control over links and banner ads within their e-zines. Publishing an e-zine can be very beneficial for online business owners. Even if a website owner isn't a skilled writer, with a little help they can still publish an e-zine for online marketing and advertising purposes.
Unbeknown to some, there are websites that offer free and low-cost content for those wanting to publish an e-zine. Besides the many free content websites, there are many e-zine publishers that trade content with writers who also want to take advantage of free marketing and advertising methods. Contributing writers submit original articles and include links to their business websites in exchange for the content they are submitting. This is a marketing method that benefits all concerned. The original e-zine publisher receives free content, and article contributors receive free marketing and advertising for their business websites. Writers without business websites often sell their work directly to websites that buy articles and sell articles to those seeking website and e-zine content.
Blogging is the latest internet craze amongst online business owners looking for fresh marketing and advertising ideas. It certainly doesn't take a professional writer to create a blog. An internet business owner can create a blog and submit content to that blog on a daily basis. If information is full of valuable keywords and phrases, many search engines will pick up that information. People searching for particular keywords and phrases will likely stumble upon the information. Include links to a business website along with related information people are seeking, and the business could receive a great increase in internet traffic and revenue. Advertising using daily blogs are simple low-cost marketing methods, and these marketing methods have proven effective for a great number of online business owners.
Internet business owners seeking marketing ideas and advertising methods are often willing to exchange links with other online business owners.This can be accomplished through link exchange programs or by directly contacting internet business owners. Those looking for free online marketing and advertising methods and ideas can create partnerships with many online business owners and greatly increase their traffic and revenue.
Internet Marketing, The Main Source of Traffic
For a successful internet marketing strategy one must first have a product that they can market and a website to promote that product on. From that point on internet marketing takes over. The purpose of internet marketing is to promote a product in the most creative means possible.
The first step is to get the website of the product some traffic. The best way to accomplish this is to get the website on some search engines. Having your website come up in a search will do wonders. Make sure to think of as many keywords as possible to allow your website come up. Another good way to produce more traffic is to recruit affiliates, having them add links to their websites that will bring them back to yours. You can go to specific businesses that you know of already or use databases that have companies listed with them that are willing to make new affiliate relationships.
If your website is kept in your customers mind this will bring more repeat traffic. To do this, send a newsletter out to them, monthly at the very least, reminding customers that your website is still up and running and you are more than happy to do business with them. Use some of your favorite websites as examples. What is it that they do to get you to keep coming back to them to give them your money?
If things still seem a bit hazy there is always the option of internet marketing courses. Many of which are offered on the internet. In these classes a student will learn the ins and outs of terms, plans and little known secrets of the internet marketing world. At the end of the courses a student should be fully prepared to take on the challenge that lies ahead of them.
There is always the option of having someone do the work for you. There are several internet marketing agencies out there that will think of strategies of ways to promote your growing business. Some will even test your product with a consumer panel to best optimize your business.
Through imaginative internet marketing your business will flourish. It just takes a little ingenuity to get things off and running and before you know it your business will be booming.
The first step is to get the website of the product some traffic. The best way to accomplish this is to get the website on some search engines. Having your website come up in a search will do wonders. Make sure to think of as many keywords as possible to allow your website come up. Another good way to produce more traffic is to recruit affiliates, having them add links to their websites that will bring them back to yours. You can go to specific businesses that you know of already or use databases that have companies listed with them that are willing to make new affiliate relationships.
If your website is kept in your customers mind this will bring more repeat traffic. To do this, send a newsletter out to them, monthly at the very least, reminding customers that your website is still up and running and you are more than happy to do business with them. Use some of your favorite websites as examples. What is it that they do to get you to keep coming back to them to give them your money?
If things still seem a bit hazy there is always the option of internet marketing courses. Many of which are offered on the internet. In these classes a student will learn the ins and outs of terms, plans and little known secrets of the internet marketing world. At the end of the courses a student should be fully prepared to take on the challenge that lies ahead of them.
There is always the option of having someone do the work for you. There are several internet marketing agencies out there that will think of strategies of ways to promote your growing business. Some will even test your product with a consumer panel to best optimize your business.
Through imaginative internet marketing your business will flourish. It just takes a little ingenuity to get things off and running and before you know it your business will be booming.
Internet Marketing: Get Your Tax Money Back
Tax deductions for business expenses aren’t just for large corporations. As an Internet marketer or online entrepreneur it is important to know what you can and cannot deduct to save money on your taxes.
People new to business taxes tend to fall into one of two groups. The first group are those people who simply don’t believe they can be eligible for tax deductions. The second group are those who believe anything they touch while conducting business can be written off as a business expense. Both ideas will cost you money; the former in lost tax money, the latter in IRS fines.
In general, the kinds of things that can be deducted deal with the ongoing operation of your business: rental costs, utility expenses, and travel expenses. Not, for example, a new car. Items that add permanent value to your business (i.e. assets) are capitalized, not deducted. Interests on mortgages or repair of computer equipment (which maintain rather than appreciate your businesses value) are deductible expenses.
If you use your personal vehicle for your small business you may be able to deduct repair expenses. If you have a room in your home used strictly as a home office you can deduct certain expenses. There are numerous ways to plug the money leaks streaming out of your business.
Luckily, the IRS has listed in detail what you can deduct in its free publication entitled, shockingly, “Business Expenses.” (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p535.pdf) At fifty-eight pages it is not a casual read, but it has a good index you can use to find the parts relevant to your business.
The IRS Small Business site (http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html) contains a lot of useful information and, as government websites go, is well put together and easy to navigate. From this site you can access practically every form needed in your relations with the IRS and even find out how to electronically file for free. Our tax system isn’t simple, but at least they publish the rules.
People new to business taxes tend to fall into one of two groups. The first group are those people who simply don’t believe they can be eligible for tax deductions. The second group are those who believe anything they touch while conducting business can be written off as a business expense. Both ideas will cost you money; the former in lost tax money, the latter in IRS fines.
In general, the kinds of things that can be deducted deal with the ongoing operation of your business: rental costs, utility expenses, and travel expenses. Not, for example, a new car. Items that add permanent value to your business (i.e. assets) are capitalized, not deducted. Interests on mortgages or repair of computer equipment (which maintain rather than appreciate your businesses value) are deductible expenses.
If you use your personal vehicle for your small business you may be able to deduct repair expenses. If you have a room in your home used strictly as a home office you can deduct certain expenses. There are numerous ways to plug the money leaks streaming out of your business.
Luckily, the IRS has listed in detail what you can deduct in its free publication entitled, shockingly, “Business Expenses.” (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p535.pdf) At fifty-eight pages it is not a casual read, but it has a good index you can use to find the parts relevant to your business.
The IRS Small Business site (http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html) contains a lot of useful information and, as government websites go, is well put together and easy to navigate. From this site you can access practically every form needed in your relations with the IRS and even find out how to electronically file for free. Our tax system isn’t simple, but at least they publish the rules.
7 Deadly Sins of a Poorly Designed Website
Face it. There are tons of websites out there but very few that actually pull their weight and get results. Effective website design is not easy. If it was, every business that put up a website would realize enormous success. It takes many different skill sets to pull together a killer website.
That being said, here is a list of website design sins for your edification. Consider these deeply and I highly recommend you make sure your website doesn’t commit them.
Website Sin # 1 – Website does not have a crystal clear objective. Why do you have or want to have a website in the first place? What do you want it to do for your business?
Website Sin #2 – No clear call to action. This sin dovetails on the previous one. Once you are clear on your website’s objective, make it real clear to your visitor what action you want them to take. Clearly spell it out. Trust me, leave no room for interpretation.
Website Sin #3 – Website does not have a means to capture visitor’s contact information. You are missing a tremendous opportunity to gather prospects who are clearly interested in what you have to offer – hence qualified prospects to market to going forward. Do whatever it takes here. Offer what we call an “ethical bribe” in exchange for their contact information.
Website Sin #4 – Website doesn’t give visitors a reason to come back. Unless your website is a one-time sales website, you must keep it chock full of new and great content to keep it producing for you.
Website Sin #5 – Website has no substance, all style. Dovetailing on the previous sin, focus should be more on adding valuable content as opposed to having flashy animations. Flashy animations may wow your visitors once (if you’re lucky), but great content starts building a relationship or dare I say a dependency on you. Bottom line you’re adding value to your prospects.
Website Sin #6 - Website has an “it’s all about me” mentality. Keep the copy conversational in tone and focus clearly on what’s in it for your visitor. Make them feel that it’s all about them – make them feel special.
Website Sin #7 - Website is inconsistent with your “Brand”. Your website does not have to be the best looking site out there. It is far more critical to be consistent (same overall look, feel and design as your other marketing materials).
I have done my due diligence and have found a Website Builder that guarantees your Success or your Money back.
That being said, here is a list of website design sins for your edification. Consider these deeply and I highly recommend you make sure your website doesn’t commit them.
Website Sin # 1 – Website does not have a crystal clear objective. Why do you have or want to have a website in the first place? What do you want it to do for your business?
Website Sin #2 – No clear call to action. This sin dovetails on the previous one. Once you are clear on your website’s objective, make it real clear to your visitor what action you want them to take. Clearly spell it out. Trust me, leave no room for interpretation.
Website Sin #3 – Website does not have a means to capture visitor’s contact information. You are missing a tremendous opportunity to gather prospects who are clearly interested in what you have to offer – hence qualified prospects to market to going forward. Do whatever it takes here. Offer what we call an “ethical bribe” in exchange for their contact information.
Website Sin #4 – Website doesn’t give visitors a reason to come back. Unless your website is a one-time sales website, you must keep it chock full of new and great content to keep it producing for you.
Website Sin #5 – Website has no substance, all style. Dovetailing on the previous sin, focus should be more on adding valuable content as opposed to having flashy animations. Flashy animations may wow your visitors once (if you’re lucky), but great content starts building a relationship or dare I say a dependency on you. Bottom line you’re adding value to your prospects.
Website Sin #6 - Website has an “it’s all about me” mentality. Keep the copy conversational in tone and focus clearly on what’s in it for your visitor. Make them feel that it’s all about them – make them feel special.
Website Sin #7 - Website is inconsistent with your “Brand”. Your website does not have to be the best looking site out there. It is far more critical to be consistent (same overall look, feel and design as your other marketing materials).
I have done my due diligence and have found a Website Builder that guarantees your Success or your Money back.
Setting your Goals and Achieving them
I read a quote once:
“It’s not a tragedy not to achieve a goal it’s a tragedy not to have that goal to achieve!”
How many people wonder through life, without any aim or purpose, just passing the days? How many people with the best of intentions set a goal and go about trying to achieve it, and just because of an “issue”, they give up on the goal, then they fall into the aimless category?
How many people are just plain stubborn – like time – just go on and on to achieve their goal but don’t because they didn’t realize all that was hindering their success was a minor issue that could have been resolved if help had been sought!
To succeed in anything you need to have the right mindset, planning and action are simply not enough. You need a positive attitude, accept that you will make mistakes, accept that it wont happen by tomorrow and most importantly be willing to listen and learn (ask for help – don’t be afraid).
Whatever your goals are, at some point along the way it will involve money – whether your goal is to be the next Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or simply to help the helpless you still need money (via profit or donation). I’ve come across a straightforward and simple method of helping to achieve that goal, they are profiting from Internet Marketing. How many people use the internet now? It’s not small is it? – Lets face its only going to grow with increasing use in emerging markets like China and India (I was in India last year there is hardly any internet use – I felt lost without my buddy “the internet”!
These days, companies are looking for better methods they can relay their messages to potential consumers – so as to reduce advertising costs and increase customer acquisition (and later retention).
There are 3 ways that messages can be relayed at minimal or no cost.
1. Face to Face Direct Marketing – visiting potential customers at their place of residence (check local law to see if this allowed where you reside)
2. Internet Marketing – having even a basic website that has some traffic coming to it – is better than having no website – there is more chance of attracting/retaining customers.
3. Word of Mouth/Email – Have you ever told someone about a product or service that you’ve had a good experience with? Whether you do it by telling someone or emailing them, it’s a recommendation from a positive experience.
As advertising budgets decrease and competition increase the use of the above methods of marketing are simply put “the way forward”.
What about me? There are many ways for you to market online, you can market other peoples products (be an affiliate). You could even create your own product or service (maybe you already have one). The first thing to have a basic website; best of all – you don’t need to hire anyone - these techniques can be learned for little or no cost.
If you want to open more doors in terms of potential income and satisfaction then Internet Marketing might just be your ticket!
“It’s not a tragedy not to achieve a goal it’s a tragedy not to have that goal to achieve!”
How many people wonder through life, without any aim or purpose, just passing the days? How many people with the best of intentions set a goal and go about trying to achieve it, and just because of an “issue”, they give up on the goal, then they fall into the aimless category?
How many people are just plain stubborn – like time – just go on and on to achieve their goal but don’t because they didn’t realize all that was hindering their success was a minor issue that could have been resolved if help had been sought!
To succeed in anything you need to have the right mindset, planning and action are simply not enough. You need a positive attitude, accept that you will make mistakes, accept that it wont happen by tomorrow and most importantly be willing to listen and learn (ask for help – don’t be afraid).
Whatever your goals are, at some point along the way it will involve money – whether your goal is to be the next Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or simply to help the helpless you still need money (via profit or donation). I’ve come across a straightforward and simple method of helping to achieve that goal, they are profiting from Internet Marketing. How many people use the internet now? It’s not small is it? – Lets face its only going to grow with increasing use in emerging markets like China and India (I was in India last year there is hardly any internet use – I felt lost without my buddy “the internet”!
These days, companies are looking for better methods they can relay their messages to potential consumers – so as to reduce advertising costs and increase customer acquisition (and later retention).
There are 3 ways that messages can be relayed at minimal or no cost.
1. Face to Face Direct Marketing – visiting potential customers at their place of residence (check local law to see if this allowed where you reside)
2. Internet Marketing – having even a basic website that has some traffic coming to it – is better than having no website – there is more chance of attracting/retaining customers.
3. Word of Mouth/Email – Have you ever told someone about a product or service that you’ve had a good experience with? Whether you do it by telling someone or emailing them, it’s a recommendation from a positive experience.
As advertising budgets decrease and competition increase the use of the above methods of marketing are simply put “the way forward”.
What about me? There are many ways for you to market online, you can market other peoples products (be an affiliate). You could even create your own product or service (maybe you already have one). The first thing to have a basic website; best of all – you don’t need to hire anyone - these techniques can be learned for little or no cost.
If you want to open more doors in terms of potential income and satisfaction then Internet Marketing might just be your ticket!
Get Rich Quick Scams
Please be careful, there are many online scams that are simply out to part you and your hard earned cash. I should know as I have reviewed a great many of them.
When you decide to build a career online (or just want some extra cash) and if you are anything like me there are a couple of things you will probably try :
Search all over the Web for free information about making money online. I am sure in some dark isolated corner this does exist but I am yet to find it.
You may go out and buy every ebook you see that promises instant riches and untold wealth. Unless you have enormous cash reserves you will end you buying yourself into a great deal of debt.
I have been there, done that! I am sick and tired of all of these promises people make about being able to make a fortune online when in reality the only people making the money are the people selling you the get rich quick schemes.
That is why I have created a website that has only the best programs on it, the ones that actually work. With any of these programs you can actually use them to make money. Stopping beating your head up against a brick wall and lease take a look at peakperformersonline
When you decide to build a career online (or just want some extra cash) and if you are anything like me there are a couple of things you will probably try :
Search all over the Web for free information about making money online. I am sure in some dark isolated corner this does exist but I am yet to find it.
You may go out and buy every ebook you see that promises instant riches and untold wealth. Unless you have enormous cash reserves you will end you buying yourself into a great deal of debt.
I have been there, done that! I am sick and tired of all of these promises people make about being able to make a fortune online when in reality the only people making the money are the people selling you the get rich quick schemes.
That is why I have created a website that has only the best programs on it, the ones that actually work. With any of these programs you can actually use them to make money. Stopping beating your head up against a brick wall and lease take a look at peakperformersonline
Finding Hot Selling Products to Sell Online
In order to locate products that sell online, we need to understand what people already want to buy. Finding a good choice of idea or product is always accompanied by interfacing the demand for the product in the current market and the level of competition or market share that the product will be having in the long run.
“What should I sell? What products are hot selling? These are the questions most people are trying to find an answer in order for them to make the definite decision. And if we really want to know the answer to this question, our only choice is to do some research. There are all kinds of twists along the road that may lead you to think you have a high-demand idea. We must be able to understand and satisfy the need, wants and expectations of our customers on a certain product that they’re trying to buy. This three are called the basic needs or minimum requirements in a purchase. Needs are the basic reasons or the minimum requirements consumers are looking for in a product or service. They are called the qualifying or “gatekeeper” dimensions in a purchase. Wants are the determining dimensions among many choices. Expectations, on the other hand, are values or intangibles associated with a product or service. Expectations are actually part of “wants” but they become extremely important when products or services are not differentiated.
For example, in reading a logic book, university students look for the following: Relevant logic concepts use of simple language, easy to understand and affordable prices. These similar ideas can be applied to Internet Sales as well. After all, the Internet is just another place to sell products. The basic concept of demand is the same there as it is anywhere else, and has been all the time.
Now, the second thing that must be considered in finding “hot” products to sell are the level of competition or the market shares do your product will have. Market share or level of competition means the ratio of your brand sales versus the total market sales. While companies would naturally define its target competitors, it is actually the consumers who ultimately decide the competitive frame, or the list related products or services that consumers consider when exercising their purchasing power. We must therefore choose the market segment where we can have a potential leadership or at least a strong challenger role. Because the overriding objective of getting into this business is not just to satisfy the needs and wants of our customers but to do so profitably better than his competition. Otherwise, our competition will end up satisfying the customers better than our own interest.
Third factor to be considered in finding hot selling products is finding out the general interest level about the product. General interest in a product helps us to gauge where our demand and competition numbers fall into the big picture. Simply saying, if there isn’t much demand for the product, and there isn’t much competition, it would seem that it might not be good a good put up for sale. But the research doesn’t stop here; there is one last thing to be considered to exactly find the hot selling products that you’ve been looking for. We must also learn how others are advertising those products. If there are a good number of them doing so, it may mean that it’s a good product to get into. Coming to the last phase of the process is analyzing and evaluating all the information that has been collected. We have to look at all of the data we have collected on demand, competition, and advertising, and make decision as how they all balance out.
And here are several factors or aspects that must be measured: (a) not enough demand means not enough people are going to buy (b) too much competition means not enough of a profit to go around (c) too much advertising drives up the price of pay per click ads, and competition as well (d) not enough general interest, combined with low demand, means there may not be a good market even if there is competition trying to make the sales.
“What should I sell? What products are hot selling? These are the questions most people are trying to find an answer in order for them to make the definite decision. And if we really want to know the answer to this question, our only choice is to do some research. There are all kinds of twists along the road that may lead you to think you have a high-demand idea. We must be able to understand and satisfy the need, wants and expectations of our customers on a certain product that they’re trying to buy. This three are called the basic needs or minimum requirements in a purchase. Needs are the basic reasons or the minimum requirements consumers are looking for in a product or service. They are called the qualifying or “gatekeeper” dimensions in a purchase. Wants are the determining dimensions among many choices. Expectations, on the other hand, are values or intangibles associated with a product or service. Expectations are actually part of “wants” but they become extremely important when products or services are not differentiated.
For example, in reading a logic book, university students look for the following: Relevant logic concepts use of simple language, easy to understand and affordable prices. These similar ideas can be applied to Internet Sales as well. After all, the Internet is just another place to sell products. The basic concept of demand is the same there as it is anywhere else, and has been all the time.
Now, the second thing that must be considered in finding “hot” products to sell are the level of competition or the market shares do your product will have. Market share or level of competition means the ratio of your brand sales versus the total market sales. While companies would naturally define its target competitors, it is actually the consumers who ultimately decide the competitive frame, or the list related products or services that consumers consider when exercising their purchasing power. We must therefore choose the market segment where we can have a potential leadership or at least a strong challenger role. Because the overriding objective of getting into this business is not just to satisfy the needs and wants of our customers but to do so profitably better than his competition. Otherwise, our competition will end up satisfying the customers better than our own interest.
Third factor to be considered in finding hot selling products is finding out the general interest level about the product. General interest in a product helps us to gauge where our demand and competition numbers fall into the big picture. Simply saying, if there isn’t much demand for the product, and there isn’t much competition, it would seem that it might not be good a good put up for sale. But the research doesn’t stop here; there is one last thing to be considered to exactly find the hot selling products that you’ve been looking for. We must also learn how others are advertising those products. If there are a good number of them doing so, it may mean that it’s a good product to get into. Coming to the last phase of the process is analyzing and evaluating all the information that has been collected. We have to look at all of the data we have collected on demand, competition, and advertising, and make decision as how they all balance out.
And here are several factors or aspects that must be measured: (a) not enough demand means not enough people are going to buy (b) too much competition means not enough of a profit to go around (c) too much advertising drives up the price of pay per click ads, and competition as well (d) not enough general interest, combined with low demand, means there may not be a good market even if there is competition trying to make the sales.
15 Reasons To Join Affilite Programs
There are HUGE benefits to promoting affiliate programs with your own home based Internet business. Let’s look at 15 of the best reasons to join affiliate programs.
No Production Costs:The cost to develop and produce a new product is prohibitive for almost anyone who wants to start a home-based business. With affiliate programs production costs aren't an issue. The product has been developed and proven - all on the merchant's nickel.
Low Cost Set-up:Compared with building a brick and mortar store, starting a home-based Internet business is relatively cheap. You probably already have a desk, Internet-connected computer and word-processing software, which is all the equipment you may need to start making easy money from affiliate programs.
No Fees or Licenses:I often compare doing business as an affiliate, with distributing a line of products in the real world. The biggest difference is that the distributor must often pay for a license to distribute products within a limited geographic region. Affiliate programs,on the other hand, are usually free to join, and geographic market reach is limited only by the affiliate's ability to promote his website.
Sell Almost Anything:What isn't sold online? That list must be shorter than the one describing all that IS sold online. There are thousands and thousands of affiliate programs selling every product under the sun. That makes it easy to find products related to your current or planned web site.
No Sales Experience Required:When I started my affiliate business, I had absolutely no sales experience. That wasn’t a problem, however. The companies I affiliated with provided excellent marketing material. Using their sales copy, I was able to get my first affiliate site up in less than a day.
No Employees:Employee salaries are the biggest business expense. Although you may need or want someone to work for you on occasion, you'll never have to worry about hiring full or part-time employees while working as an affiliate marketer.
When you have a project you want to hire out, it is easy to find specialists in every computer-related field who can work for you from the comfort of THEIR own homes. You pay only for the project, and never have to worry about ongoing employee related benefits and deductions.
No Merchant Accounts: Setting up a merchant account is time-consuming and costly. However, affiliate marketers don’t need merchant account. Merchants bear all the costs for payment processing. As an affiliate, you’ll never lose sleep over charge backs, fraud or losing your merchant account.
No Inventory:As an affiliate marketer, you can sell large items without storage concerns, even if you live in a small one-bedroom apartment.
No Order-Processing: Forget the problems associated with collecting and storing names, addresses, credit card numbers, etc. The merchant does all that!
No Shipping: The cost and hassle to prepare and ship products to customers worldwide could be staggering. Affiliates never have to worry about packaging supplies or postal rates.
No Customer Service: Do you hate the prospect of dealing with nasty people or customer complaints? Don't worry about it! The merchant handles the snivelers.
Make Money While You Sleep: What other business allows you as a sole proprietor to keep your doors open and keep making money even when you take breaks or after you go home for the night?
Worldwide Marketplace: The Internet is the world's largest marketplace. You can drive more visitors to your online store in a day, than a small-town merchant will see in his or her brick and mortar business in a year.
Minimal Risk: The product you chose isn't making money? Dump it. Take down your links and promote another! It's that easy. There are no long-term contracts binding you to products that don't sell.
High Income Potential: If you have a job, your salary or hourly wage is probably pre-determined. Maybe there's not much, other than working overtime, that you can do to increase your income. With your own affiliate business on the Internet your income potential is limited only by your desire, effort and imagination.
No other business is so inexpensive to start yet offers such high profit potential without investing years of labor.
Affiliate programs enable you to work from Almost Anywhere in the World!
To your Success,
Paul DeBellis
Success Coach
888-931-9777
No Production Costs:The cost to develop and produce a new product is prohibitive for almost anyone who wants to start a home-based business. With affiliate programs production costs aren't an issue. The product has been developed and proven - all on the merchant's nickel.
Low Cost Set-up:Compared with building a brick and mortar store, starting a home-based Internet business is relatively cheap. You probably already have a desk, Internet-connected computer and word-processing software, which is all the equipment you may need to start making easy money from affiliate programs.
No Fees or Licenses:I often compare doing business as an affiliate, with distributing a line of products in the real world. The biggest difference is that the distributor must often pay for a license to distribute products within a limited geographic region. Affiliate programs,on the other hand, are usually free to join, and geographic market reach is limited only by the affiliate's ability to promote his website.
Sell Almost Anything:What isn't sold online? That list must be shorter than the one describing all that IS sold online. There are thousands and thousands of affiliate programs selling every product under the sun. That makes it easy to find products related to your current or planned web site.
No Sales Experience Required:When I started my affiliate business, I had absolutely no sales experience. That wasn’t a problem, however. The companies I affiliated with provided excellent marketing material. Using their sales copy, I was able to get my first affiliate site up in less than a day.
No Employees:Employee salaries are the biggest business expense. Although you may need or want someone to work for you on occasion, you'll never have to worry about hiring full or part-time employees while working as an affiliate marketer.
When you have a project you want to hire out, it is easy to find specialists in every computer-related field who can work for you from the comfort of THEIR own homes. You pay only for the project, and never have to worry about ongoing employee related benefits and deductions.
No Merchant Accounts: Setting up a merchant account is time-consuming and costly. However, affiliate marketers don’t need merchant account. Merchants bear all the costs for payment processing. As an affiliate, you’ll never lose sleep over charge backs, fraud or losing your merchant account.
No Inventory:As an affiliate marketer, you can sell large items without storage concerns, even if you live in a small one-bedroom apartment.
No Order-Processing: Forget the problems associated with collecting and storing names, addresses, credit card numbers, etc. The merchant does all that!
No Shipping: The cost and hassle to prepare and ship products to customers worldwide could be staggering. Affiliates never have to worry about packaging supplies or postal rates.
No Customer Service: Do you hate the prospect of dealing with nasty people or customer complaints? Don't worry about it! The merchant handles the snivelers.
Make Money While You Sleep: What other business allows you as a sole proprietor to keep your doors open and keep making money even when you take breaks or after you go home for the night?
Worldwide Marketplace: The Internet is the world's largest marketplace. You can drive more visitors to your online store in a day, than a small-town merchant will see in his or her brick and mortar business in a year.
Minimal Risk: The product you chose isn't making money? Dump it. Take down your links and promote another! It's that easy. There are no long-term contracts binding you to products that don't sell.
High Income Potential: If you have a job, your salary or hourly wage is probably pre-determined. Maybe there's not much, other than working overtime, that you can do to increase your income. With your own affiliate business on the Internet your income potential is limited only by your desire, effort and imagination.
No other business is so inexpensive to start yet offers such high profit potential without investing years of labor.
Affiliate programs enable you to work from Almost Anywhere in the World!
To your Success,
Paul DeBellis
Success Coach
888-931-9777
4 Must Have Tools for Affiliate Marketing Success
Do you know what does it takes to become a successful Affiliate Marketer? Could you tell me the essential ingredients of an affiliate marketing success story? Is there a shortcut to Affiliate Marketing glory? . All these of these questions play around in the minds of affiliate marketers who want to make it big in this business.
If you are anything like I was when I started out; excited and all set to make my fortune as an affiliate marketer and yet not knowing where to start you may have to say what I said, "I don't have a clue!" If you are new to affiliate marketing can I tell you something? There are some essentials that you must know or you will waste an incredible amount of time and money.
Although affiliate marketing is touted as one of the easiest and most effective ways to earn money online, it is not as easy as it sounds. The wise affiliate marketer plans every action and executes it the best way he can. He should also maximize the potential to earn by utilizing the right tools necessary for a successful Affiliate Marketing business. We have consulted some of the most successful affiliate marketers in the business and below are the top three necessary tools for a successful affiliate marketing business.
Important Tool #1: Your Own Website
The most important and indispensable tool in Affiliate Marketing is your own website. The first step in any successful affiliate marketing business is building a good, credible and professional looking website. Your website is the jump off point of all your marketing efforts. Thus, you must first build a user-friendly website, which will appeal to your prospects and encourage them to click on the links to the products and service you are promoting and make a purchase. Therefore, you must first concentrate your efforts in building a website that will cater to what your prospects need.
Important Tool #2: Quality Content
One of the most powerful tools for building quality content for your website is writing relevant and informative articles. Consider this, almost all web users go online to look for information, not necessarily to go and buy something. Above all else, make your website full of original, relevant and useful content. People will love articles that are appealing and helpful. Keep in mind that, on the Internet, content is still king and good quality content will not only build your credibility, it can also help you achieve a higher search engine ranking. By posting relevant and useful articles, you establish yourself as a credible expert in the field, making you a more-trustworthy endorser of the product or service you promote. Establishing a good reputation on the net is a good step in building loyal customers and articles help establish credibility.
Important Tool #3: Incentives
Competition is extremely tight in the Internet world. You must always be one-step ahead of your rivals to ensure that you capture a significant share of your target market. Therefore, you must use every possible means to encourage people not only to visit your site but also to click and proceed to the websites of the products and services you are promoting. Building an opt-in email list is one of the best ways to gather prospects. Offer a newsletter or an e-zine. Better yet, offer incentives to your prospects to encourage them to subscribe to your newsletters. You can present free software, access to exclusive services and other freebies that will be helpful to your prospects.
Important Tool #4: Link Popularity
The importance of driving highly targeted traffic to your website cannot be emphasized enough. The all-important web traffic is at the top of the list of the most important success vehicles in the affiliate marketing world. Attracting people to your site should be the first step you should carry out. Do what is necessary to achieve a high search engine ranking. Link Popularity is one of the factors that search engines use to determine search engine rankings. Therefore, to enhance your link popularity, you must have an aggressive link building campaign.
One of the best ways to do this - at no cost at all - is by submitting articles as mentioned above, with your website's link in the resource box. Submit to related e-zines and free article sites. You will not only gain exposure, you will also have the opportunity to advertise for free, just include a link back to your site. The more sites you submit your articles to, the better your link popularity is. Make your articles original, relevant and useful so that more websites will pick them up and post them.
These are but four of the many tools that an affiliate marketer can use to maximize earning potential. The possibilities are endless and are limited only by your imagination, creativity, resourcefulness and determination. You can always explore other ideas and adapt other strategies, which you think might help you become an affiliate marketing success.
If you are anything like I was when I started out; excited and all set to make my fortune as an affiliate marketer and yet not knowing where to start you may have to say what I said, "I don't have a clue!" If you are new to affiliate marketing can I tell you something? There are some essentials that you must know or you will waste an incredible amount of time and money.
Although affiliate marketing is touted as one of the easiest and most effective ways to earn money online, it is not as easy as it sounds. The wise affiliate marketer plans every action and executes it the best way he can. He should also maximize the potential to earn by utilizing the right tools necessary for a successful Affiliate Marketing business. We have consulted some of the most successful affiliate marketers in the business and below are the top three necessary tools for a successful affiliate marketing business.
Important Tool #1: Your Own Website
The most important and indispensable tool in Affiliate Marketing is your own website. The first step in any successful affiliate marketing business is building a good, credible and professional looking website. Your website is the jump off point of all your marketing efforts. Thus, you must first build a user-friendly website, which will appeal to your prospects and encourage them to click on the links to the products and service you are promoting and make a purchase. Therefore, you must first concentrate your efforts in building a website that will cater to what your prospects need.
Important Tool #2: Quality Content
One of the most powerful tools for building quality content for your website is writing relevant and informative articles. Consider this, almost all web users go online to look for information, not necessarily to go and buy something. Above all else, make your website full of original, relevant and useful content. People will love articles that are appealing and helpful. Keep in mind that, on the Internet, content is still king and good quality content will not only build your credibility, it can also help you achieve a higher search engine ranking. By posting relevant and useful articles, you establish yourself as a credible expert in the field, making you a more-trustworthy endorser of the product or service you promote. Establishing a good reputation on the net is a good step in building loyal customers and articles help establish credibility.
Important Tool #3: Incentives
Competition is extremely tight in the Internet world. You must always be one-step ahead of your rivals to ensure that you capture a significant share of your target market. Therefore, you must use every possible means to encourage people not only to visit your site but also to click and proceed to the websites of the products and services you are promoting. Building an opt-in email list is one of the best ways to gather prospects. Offer a newsletter or an e-zine. Better yet, offer incentives to your prospects to encourage them to subscribe to your newsletters. You can present free software, access to exclusive services and other freebies that will be helpful to your prospects.
Important Tool #4: Link Popularity
The importance of driving highly targeted traffic to your website cannot be emphasized enough. The all-important web traffic is at the top of the list of the most important success vehicles in the affiliate marketing world. Attracting people to your site should be the first step you should carry out. Do what is necessary to achieve a high search engine ranking. Link Popularity is one of the factors that search engines use to determine search engine rankings. Therefore, to enhance your link popularity, you must have an aggressive link building campaign.
One of the best ways to do this - at no cost at all - is by submitting articles as mentioned above, with your website's link in the resource box. Submit to related e-zines and free article sites. You will not only gain exposure, you will also have the opportunity to advertise for free, just include a link back to your site. The more sites you submit your articles to, the better your link popularity is. Make your articles original, relevant and useful so that more websites will pick them up and post them.
These are but four of the many tools that an affiliate marketer can use to maximize earning potential. The possibilities are endless and are limited only by your imagination, creativity, resourcefulness and determination. You can always explore other ideas and adapt other strategies, which you think might help you become an affiliate marketing success.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Promote other Companies products online
Each of us has its own interest or has a hobby. Some love all kinds of books, music, and movies while others are into sports and traveling. There are also people who love to grow flowers and loves pets. These things help us to relax and forget our everyday problems and troubles and these things are common to people. But not everyone has a hobby that makes money for him/her except if you love your job.
Money making hobby could let you treat your family and friends with the extra cash or you can even quit your current job that you almost certainly hate. That is why many of us today go online to start a business; their reasons are either to supplement their income or to gradually replace their offline income from their job. Affiliate marketing is a great way to start in making money online.
Affiliate marketing is a revenue sharing partnership between a web merchant and one or more affiliates. The affiliate is paid a commission for referring clicks, leads or most often sales to the merchant. An affiliate’s advantage is that he can make money in a business where he doesn’t have the upfront costs of creating his own product, and he doesn’t have to worry about e-commerce, bookkeeping, or even customer support for it is the merchant’s responsibility.
Now, for sure you want to be an affiliate marketer with all that benefits an affiliate could get. But, do you have what it takes to be an affiliate marketer? Before you begin your venture into affiliate marketing, you need to decide first which area interest you. What products do you know the most and which products you could do the best job of selling? Once you discover your specialty, perseverance, patience, determination comes next. These are the qualities you should possessed to be a good affiliate marketer.
Too many online business prospectors lose out because they become impatient. You also have to know what your strengths are, the things in which you are good at and your capabilities and abilities related to your chosen streak. And the most important thing is you have to have a strong desire to succeed in affiliate marketing.
To be an affiliate marketer is not an easy task. You have to learn the techniques of marketing your product or service. You shouldn’t be looking at every chance because marketing is all about attracting you to look at this or that particular opportunity. To be a successful affiliate marketer, you should learn how to listen and to be taught because in life we need to learn skills to get by.
For an affiliate marketer, you should know how to market your site effectively, in will enable you to get thousands of visitors coming to your site which transforms into more sales. This only means that the faster you set up a website, the bigger your chances of making money online faster. You should avoid the same mistakes some affiliates make everyday, they are only building a short-term business where they just make a small sale. Make sure you do understand that you should be building a long-term affiliate business and not just something that makes you a few dollars on one sale.
It is also better to have knowledge on how to upsell your visitors for expensive services. This will in turn make you become recognized as an expert in your field and making money will be easier. There are some people thinks that just by having affiliate links on their website will bring them good profits. This can have some truth to it, but then most successful affiliates still believe that making use of strong marketing campaigns for their affiliate programs is still important. But affiliate marketers become much more successful when they treat their customers or online visitors as friends. Make a commitment to establish relationships with your customers and especially with visitors to your site. It is very important for an affiliate marketer to have a good business relationship with customers or visitors.
Money making hobby could let you treat your family and friends with the extra cash or you can even quit your current job that you almost certainly hate. That is why many of us today go online to start a business; their reasons are either to supplement their income or to gradually replace their offline income from their job. Affiliate marketing is a great way to start in making money online.
Affiliate marketing is a revenue sharing partnership between a web merchant and one or more affiliates. The affiliate is paid a commission for referring clicks, leads or most often sales to the merchant. An affiliate’s advantage is that he can make money in a business where he doesn’t have the upfront costs of creating his own product, and he doesn’t have to worry about e-commerce, bookkeeping, or even customer support for it is the merchant’s responsibility.
Now, for sure you want to be an affiliate marketer with all that benefits an affiliate could get. But, do you have what it takes to be an affiliate marketer? Before you begin your venture into affiliate marketing, you need to decide first which area interest you. What products do you know the most and which products you could do the best job of selling? Once you discover your specialty, perseverance, patience, determination comes next. These are the qualities you should possessed to be a good affiliate marketer.
Too many online business prospectors lose out because they become impatient. You also have to know what your strengths are, the things in which you are good at and your capabilities and abilities related to your chosen streak. And the most important thing is you have to have a strong desire to succeed in affiliate marketing.
To be an affiliate marketer is not an easy task. You have to learn the techniques of marketing your product or service. You shouldn’t be looking at every chance because marketing is all about attracting you to look at this or that particular opportunity. To be a successful affiliate marketer, you should learn how to listen and to be taught because in life we need to learn skills to get by.
For an affiliate marketer, you should know how to market your site effectively, in will enable you to get thousands of visitors coming to your site which transforms into more sales. This only means that the faster you set up a website, the bigger your chances of making money online faster. You should avoid the same mistakes some affiliates make everyday, they are only building a short-term business where they just make a small sale. Make sure you do understand that you should be building a long-term affiliate business and not just something that makes you a few dollars on one sale.
It is also better to have knowledge on how to upsell your visitors for expensive services. This will in turn make you become recognized as an expert in your field and making money will be easier. There are some people thinks that just by having affiliate links on their website will bring them good profits. This can have some truth to it, but then most successful affiliates still believe that making use of strong marketing campaigns for their affiliate programs is still important. But affiliate marketers become much more successful when they treat their customers or online visitors as friends. Make a commitment to establish relationships with your customers and especially with visitors to your site. It is very important for an affiliate marketer to have a good business relationship with customers or visitors.
Building Affiliate Marketing Websites Online
There are some myths in affiliate marketing, which attract a lot of people to it believing they are true. First is they think managing an online business is easy and second, they think that one can make a fortune through online marketing in an instant. Probably not even 10% of those who are into affiliate marketing became rich overnight. There may be some who fortunately achieved overwhelming success in just a short span of time after setting up an affiliate program, but not a majority of them can confidently say they only had luck. Anyone who is successful in this kind of business would say he worked hard to get to where he is right now. Success in affiliate marketing takes time and hard work, but it’s worth it.
If you are planning to start an affiliate program, one of the things you have to consider is having your own website, not just an ordinary website but a professional looking one. How do you build an affiliate marketing website? What are the easy steps to build one? First, you must have already decided on the theme or niche of your website. It would be better if you already have an idea what products or services to promote as this would help you plan the design and lay-out of your web pages. The next thing to do is to choose a domain name and get it hosted. The domain name is a unique name used to label the actual address of your website on the Internet. In deciding what domain name to register, look into the type of products you are endorsing and the theme of your site. Having the right keywords in your domain name would give you better chances of drawing more visitors to your website. Also, choose a top level domain or extension, such as .com because it is more popular. In selecting your web host, consider the security of servers and up time guarantees.
Now, you can start creating your webpages. Don’t be disheartened when you know a little in this field. There are page generation tools and fast launch sites available online; you just have to search for them. Countless online sources could help you build an affiliate marketing website, though you might need time to study and learn the whole process. This is one of the reasons why your site or the products you are going to promote must match your interest. Building your marketing website for the first time would be a lot more fun if you know very well the theme of your site. If you don’t have time to make your own website, you can use templates or purchase readily available websites. The latter, however, is a more expensive option.
Creating an affiliate website on your own would be cheaper and more interesting. In the process of building your website, you may also increase your knowledge in Information Technology and the use of computers, softwares and the Internet. As you educate yourself in these fields, you are increasing your advantage against other affiliate marketers. It helps a lot, though, if you already know the basics in web page development like programming languages and graphics softwares because you can make your site extra corporate-looking, more convenient to use or easier to navigate. Furthermore, if you are knowledgeable and skillful in this area, you can already concentrate more on the content of the page rather than the design.
The key to draw visitors to your website is to have high quality content; thus, the next thing you must pay attention to in building your marketing website is this. There may be several other factors that contribute to the success of your affiliate marketing site, but a good content tops the list. This is precisely the reason why users choose to enter your site. They want to get information and so when they don’t find it, they would definitely go elsewhere. Write interesting articles related to your theme as this would make them frequent your site. If you have already looked for affiliate programs that complement your site, add links to the business sites and other very good informative sites. Links contribute to how well you will be listed in major search engines as well. Also, create pages for the products you are endorsing, but don’t just promote the products by putting hyped-up ads. Keep your readers interested by injecting lots of relevant and useful information. This would make them click the link to the business site and buy the product. Remember that no good content means no frequent visitors, no sales and ultimately, no commission.
Make your site simple yet not without a touch of class in order to make it appear more of a business website rather than a personal website. This would be pleasing to the eyes and more interesting to browse. To help you with the design, you can check some successful online stores to get an idea on how you can make your site look better. Make sure you don’t place too many banner ads since these could distract some site users; and thus, instead of clicking your ad, they might just leave your site and look for other interesting websites. After all, banner ads are not the only means of advertising your products. Now your website is complete, submit its URL to major search engines to increase your traffic.
Grow from where you started. Learn about use of keywords for search engine optimization and apply them in your content. Update your site regularly or add new webpages. Make sure to inform your prospects about the latest updates in your site. You can use newsletters to accomplish this. The Internet offers a huge source of information about just anything, make use of it. Continue to educate yourself on how to improve your website and soon you’ll find yourself successful in affiliate marketing.
If you are planning to start an affiliate program, one of the things you have to consider is having your own website, not just an ordinary website but a professional looking one. How do you build an affiliate marketing website? What are the easy steps to build one? First, you must have already decided on the theme or niche of your website. It would be better if you already have an idea what products or services to promote as this would help you plan the design and lay-out of your web pages. The next thing to do is to choose a domain name and get it hosted. The domain name is a unique name used to label the actual address of your website on the Internet. In deciding what domain name to register, look into the type of products you are endorsing and the theme of your site. Having the right keywords in your domain name would give you better chances of drawing more visitors to your website. Also, choose a top level domain or extension, such as .com because it is more popular. In selecting your web host, consider the security of servers and up time guarantees.
Now, you can start creating your webpages. Don’t be disheartened when you know a little in this field. There are page generation tools and fast launch sites available online; you just have to search for them. Countless online sources could help you build an affiliate marketing website, though you might need time to study and learn the whole process. This is one of the reasons why your site or the products you are going to promote must match your interest. Building your marketing website for the first time would be a lot more fun if you know very well the theme of your site. If you don’t have time to make your own website, you can use templates or purchase readily available websites. The latter, however, is a more expensive option.
Creating an affiliate website on your own would be cheaper and more interesting. In the process of building your website, you may also increase your knowledge in Information Technology and the use of computers, softwares and the Internet. As you educate yourself in these fields, you are increasing your advantage against other affiliate marketers. It helps a lot, though, if you already know the basics in web page development like programming languages and graphics softwares because you can make your site extra corporate-looking, more convenient to use or easier to navigate. Furthermore, if you are knowledgeable and skillful in this area, you can already concentrate more on the content of the page rather than the design.
The key to draw visitors to your website is to have high quality content; thus, the next thing you must pay attention to in building your marketing website is this. There may be several other factors that contribute to the success of your affiliate marketing site, but a good content tops the list. This is precisely the reason why users choose to enter your site. They want to get information and so when they don’t find it, they would definitely go elsewhere. Write interesting articles related to your theme as this would make them frequent your site. If you have already looked for affiliate programs that complement your site, add links to the business sites and other very good informative sites. Links contribute to how well you will be listed in major search engines as well. Also, create pages for the products you are endorsing, but don’t just promote the products by putting hyped-up ads. Keep your readers interested by injecting lots of relevant and useful information. This would make them click the link to the business site and buy the product. Remember that no good content means no frequent visitors, no sales and ultimately, no commission.
Make your site simple yet not without a touch of class in order to make it appear more of a business website rather than a personal website. This would be pleasing to the eyes and more interesting to browse. To help you with the design, you can check some successful online stores to get an idea on how you can make your site look better. Make sure you don’t place too many banner ads since these could distract some site users; and thus, instead of clicking your ad, they might just leave your site and look for other interesting websites. After all, banner ads are not the only means of advertising your products. Now your website is complete, submit its URL to major search engines to increase your traffic.
Grow from where you started. Learn about use of keywords for search engine optimization and apply them in your content. Update your site regularly or add new webpages. Make sure to inform your prospects about the latest updates in your site. You can use newsletters to accomplish this. The Internet offers a huge source of information about just anything, make use of it. Continue to educate yourself on how to improve your website and soon you’ll find yourself successful in affiliate marketing.
Online Business that involves minimal investment
Are you looking for an online business that involves minimal investment? If your answer is yes then read on.
Generally people think that to run a business they need to invest heavily. With the popularity of Internet increasing day by day you don’t have to invest a lot of money. Starting an online business can be one of the easiest ways to start a business and earn from home. You don’t even need an office. The only requirement is a computer with an Internet connection & a minimal investment.
How to Start an Online Business with Minimal Investment
Now the question in your mind would be that if you don’t need an office, and you don’t need to invest then what do you need to do? You need to become an affiliate for a good company and start selling their products to earn commissions. For this you don’t need to have your own product but actually you are just promoting someone else’s product to get paid.
However, it should be made very clear that this does not mean you don’t have to work at all and by becoming an affiliate you can start getting money by merely sitting at home. After all, you need to promote the products through your web site or newsletter.
Web Site
To have a web site you don’t need to be a web expert. Without knowing any web language you can create a web site which will be your virtual office.Web sites such as SBI provide an option where you can get build a web site yourself. No need to have HTML knowledge as you can directly configure your site and choose different background colors for your web site. They even provide very useful tools like page hit counter to have a record of the number of visitors visiting your site.
Research Affiliate Companies
Don’t expect high returns from day one. Every business takes some time to establish and to earn profits. However, if you have spent time initially to set up your business right then it will have the potential to provide good returns over time. Do some research before you choose the right product to promote, that interests you and has good demand in the market. It is important to choose a product of your interest because you will be in a better position to convince people to buy the product if you have proper knowledge and interest regarding the product. Affiliate programs are not only related to products but also involve information sharing or offering some advice. Like advice on successful marriage, painting, learning a new language, woodworking, gardening, etc. You can offer your advice free of cost and use affiliate-marketing programs to earn money.Learn more here
Promote Your Business
The success of an affiliate marketing business is promotion. If your site can draw people’s attention and then direct them to the affiliate company's web site then your earning potential is limitless.
To be successful it helps to spend time doing initial research to choose the right affiliate program that can give you maximum profits. Then you will need to follow through with a good marketing plan. While choosing the affiliate program, give thought to the process you’ll be following to promote the sales of the product. Since you would be more involved in the pre-sales, your web site should have good content regarding the product. If the conversion rate of the prospects to actual buyers is high from your site then you can consider yourself a good affiliate. Initial time spent on deciding the right product to promote is key to fetching good dividends later on. Click here to learn more
Generally people think that to run a business they need to invest heavily. With the popularity of Internet increasing day by day you don’t have to invest a lot of money. Starting an online business can be one of the easiest ways to start a business and earn from home. You don’t even need an office. The only requirement is a computer with an Internet connection & a minimal investment.
How to Start an Online Business with Minimal Investment
Now the question in your mind would be that if you don’t need an office, and you don’t need to invest then what do you need to do? You need to become an affiliate for a good company and start selling their products to earn commissions. For this you don’t need to have your own product but actually you are just promoting someone else’s product to get paid.
However, it should be made very clear that this does not mean you don’t have to work at all and by becoming an affiliate you can start getting money by merely sitting at home. After all, you need to promote the products through your web site or newsletter.
Web Site
To have a web site you don’t need to be a web expert. Without knowing any web language you can create a web site which will be your virtual office.Web sites such as SBI provide an option where you can get build a web site yourself. No need to have HTML knowledge as you can directly configure your site and choose different background colors for your web site. They even provide very useful tools like page hit counter to have a record of the number of visitors visiting your site.
Research Affiliate Companies
Don’t expect high returns from day one. Every business takes some time to establish and to earn profits. However, if you have spent time initially to set up your business right then it will have the potential to provide good returns over time. Do some research before you choose the right product to promote, that interests you and has good demand in the market. It is important to choose a product of your interest because you will be in a better position to convince people to buy the product if you have proper knowledge and interest regarding the product. Affiliate programs are not only related to products but also involve information sharing or offering some advice. Like advice on successful marriage, painting, learning a new language, woodworking, gardening, etc. You can offer your advice free of cost and use affiliate-marketing programs to earn money.Learn more here
Promote Your Business
The success of an affiliate marketing business is promotion. If your site can draw people’s attention and then direct them to the affiliate company's web site then your earning potential is limitless.
To be successful it helps to spend time doing initial research to choose the right affiliate program that can give you maximum profits. Then you will need to follow through with a good marketing plan. While choosing the affiliate program, give thought to the process you’ll be following to promote the sales of the product. Since you would be more involved in the pre-sales, your web site should have good content regarding the product. If the conversion rate of the prospects to actual buyers is high from your site then you can consider yourself a good affiliate. Initial time spent on deciding the right product to promote is key to fetching good dividends later on. Click here to learn more
Choosing A Domain Name
There has been much debate on which factors are the most important when determining what domain to purchase. Choosing a domain name should be deeply tied to the business plan and the vision of the company. A domain can be chosen for its advantages in Search Engine placement, a company’s brand, or as a description of a general term. One must consider a domains size, pronunciation, how memorable it is, and if the name is taken in other similar forms or extensions. For example, if one registers a domain.net, but the domain.com is taken and developed, creating a brand for domain.net would be very dangerous and might end up being confused for its .com counterpart.
Search Engine Placement Domains
The purpose of these domains is to rank high in the search engines, because the actual domain name contains the keywords being searched for. Search Engine domains are very rarely brandable, and are mostly used exclusively as side Internet properties to redirect traffic to the main site. A company who sells red widgets would benefit from acquiring red-widgets.com and redwidgets.com , because it is natural that people will remember such address, but most importantly, that domain name has a high probability of ranking at, or very near to, the top of a search for ‘red widgets’. A very popular tool used to find what is being searched for on the net is: Overture Keywords (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/) Search for your Domain here
Brand Domains
When coming from the offline business into the online, the obvious choice for brand domains is the offline brand name as .com and/or .country extension. Country extensions are used in countries were there is more popularity in their country extension than on the .com. In the case that no previous brand existed before moving online, one most be very creative into the approach of a brandable name. At this point, there are millions of domain names registered and many times, one finds that the desired domain is taken. There is a consensus among most Internet domain experts that the shorter the domain, the better. A domain that is about 5 letters long is highly desirable for a brand. However, the domain must sound right as well. Xyqpt.com would be undesirable, because it cannot be easily said or remembered to the general public.
General Term Domains
In the height of the Internet Bubble, general term domains were the most popular choice. Many companies failed, even though they had the generic word for their market. Companies like TheKnot.com refused to purchase Weddings.com, because they were conscious that they needed to focus on brand. Although this strategy worked for TheKnot.com, generic words have a value of their own that cannot be ignored. Like Search Engine Placement Domains, which attract a large number of visitors through search engine referrals, so do generic word domains. For this reason, generic word names are still very much desired and their value continue to rise. What should be learned about the Dot Com Bubble is that generic domains are not everything in a dot com business, rather they are a valuable (yet, not essential) component in an array of variables that make an Internet business a success. The current value of these domains, and other domains in general can be seen at an online publication that covers recent domain name transactions at: Domain Journal Sales (http://www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm) Search for your Domain Name here
Search Engine Placement Domains
The purpose of these domains is to rank high in the search engines, because the actual domain name contains the keywords being searched for. Search Engine domains are very rarely brandable, and are mostly used exclusively as side Internet properties to redirect traffic to the main site. A company who sells red widgets would benefit from acquiring red-widgets.com and redwidgets.com , because it is natural that people will remember such address, but most importantly, that domain name has a high probability of ranking at, or very near to, the top of a search for ‘red widgets’. A very popular tool used to find what is being searched for on the net is: Overture Keywords (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/) Search for your Domain here
Brand Domains
When coming from the offline business into the online, the obvious choice for brand domains is the offline brand name as .com and/or .country extension. Country extensions are used in countries were there is more popularity in their country extension than on the .com. In the case that no previous brand existed before moving online, one most be very creative into the approach of a brandable name. At this point, there are millions of domain names registered and many times, one finds that the desired domain is taken. There is a consensus among most Internet domain experts that the shorter the domain, the better. A domain that is about 5 letters long is highly desirable for a brand. However, the domain must sound right as well. Xyqpt.com would be undesirable, because it cannot be easily said or remembered to the general public.
General Term Domains
In the height of the Internet Bubble, general term domains were the most popular choice. Many companies failed, even though they had the generic word for their market. Companies like TheKnot.com refused to purchase Weddings.com, because they were conscious that they needed to focus on brand. Although this strategy worked for TheKnot.com, generic words have a value of their own that cannot be ignored. Like Search Engine Placement Domains, which attract a large number of visitors through search engine referrals, so do generic word domains. For this reason, generic word names are still very much desired and their value continue to rise. What should be learned about the Dot Com Bubble is that generic domains are not everything in a dot com business, rather they are a valuable (yet, not essential) component in an array of variables that make an Internet business a success. The current value of these domains, and other domains in general can be seen at an online publication that covers recent domain name transactions at: Domain Journal Sales (http://www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm) Search for your Domain Name here
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
7 Habits of Outrageously Successful Work At Home Businesses
You’ve read the ads or seen the infomercials. “Build a six or seven figure income while lounging in your pajamas in your work at home business. For many people who hear this, their scam detector goes up and they become defensive. Why? Because they have heard countless horror stories of people who have lost their shirt trying to create a business from home.
However, the truth is there are thousands of home based entrepreneurs around the country who have cracked the code, created their place in the world and taking it to the bank. So how did they do it? Why do some people struggle and never ever break even while others create outrageously successful home based careers?
There are certain habits which I believe are consistent with all of these enterprises. Here are seven habits or traits when implemented work to insure an outrageously profitable venture.
1. Find a hungry target market and look for a product or service to meet their needs. I am surprised how many frustrated entrepreneurs miss this. What often happens is someone gets excited, hit by an entrepreneurial seizure and tries to start a business with a product or service and feels it will sell simply because of their emotional attachment. Keep your mind open when looking at home based business income opportunities. However, make sure someone wants to buy whatever you have to sell before you jump in.
Don’t get me wrong you want to have a passion for what you do. However, if you love 8 track tapes it might be a problem. And depending on your age you might be thinking, “What’s an 8 track tape?” Get my point? However, if you find a group of people who are hungry for what you have is like shooting fish in a bucket. When you find a group that has a problem they want solved they will pay you to do it.
2. Understand nothing happens until a sale is made. I am amazed at how many budding entrepreneurs say they hate sales. This is unfortunate because everything else in a business is an expense. If you don’t have sales coming in the door eventually the doors will close.
Sales and marketing if done correctly is the engine to a company’s success. The key is to add value to the customer at every opportunity. One of the vital things to remember is the first time you obtain a client is the most expensive. But the real wealth is built when you have the opportunity to sell to a customer over and over again. Some companies even take a loss to get the customer in the pipeline because they realize the real money is on the back end and the true profit is in the lifetime value of the customer.
3. Develop a strong team. One of the traits that will accelerate the success of any business is the leverage generated by the help of others.
Robert Kiyosaki Author of Rich Dad Poor Dad says, “Business and investing are team sports.” The average investor or small-business person loses financially because they do not have a team. Instead of a team they act as individuals who are trampled by very smart teams.”
While you are building a home based business you don’t want to do it alone. There are only 24 hours a day and you can’t do everything. You want to look for opportunities to outsource all non revenue generating activities. Successful proprietors don’t waste a lot of time on filing and organizing.
4. Focus on the business not just working in the business. What separates you from being able to create a company that provides you with great income and lifestyle versus one that you are chained to the doors is a matter of focus. Successful entrepreneurs focus on the big picture.
I’m saddened when people say, “No one can do what I do.” This might be true however it presents a great challenge. You are now a slave to your business. The business no longer serves you. The goal must be to take “you” out of as much of your business as possible.
Look for ways to remove you, automate and systemize the process. One of the ways to do this is to use the leverage of technology. You might want to use a website that allows people to order your product or service 24/7. Or you might write a book which can be sold while you are sleep. Get the picture.
5. A highly successful home based business has a central theme or mission. Many home based businesses never reach success because they are trying to do too many things at the same time. You might be saying, “But I want to create multiple streams of income.”
The problem with multiple streams of income can be a nightmare if approached incorrectly. New entrepreneurs often make the mistake of trying to create several profit centers from non aligned businesses. For example, you will find people who try to start real estate, network marketing and internet marketing all at the same time.
The reason you will almost never have success with this strategy is you can not build momentum. Each business has a totally different business model and you can’t leverage the energy of one to another.
However, the successful home based entrepreneur understands the law of momentum. For example, if you were an author one of your products would be the book. However, you could spin that product into an empire by leveraging it into an e-book, tape set, work-book, seminar, boot camp and coaching program.
Do you see the power of having one central product or theme and how you can leap frog to success? You want to be focused and committed to a central theme. Once you have success you can add another stream of income. This trait is one of hidden keys to success.
6. Resilient and quick to adapt to change. This is one of the distinct advantage solo-entrepreneurs have over large companies. Often time’s large corporations invest thousands of dollars in a project and even when they know it’s not working they are slow to change. In Corporate America this may not kill a business because one mistake is just a cog in the wheel.
However, in small business your ability to change on a dime allows you test things and when things work you do it with massive all out action. And when something is not what working you simply let it go, test something else and move forward.
7. Commit to continual education. Now, I am not talking about another degree or certificate. There are plenty of people with plaques on their walls that aren’t able to create the income and lifestyle they want. However, I love the quote by one of the leading experts in self-development. Jim Rohn says, “Formal education will make you a living; self education will make you a fortune.”
Personal development and specialized knowledge often is the difference between a fledgling operation and one that has an outrageously bottom line. Why? Because successful people know that the best investment they can make is in self.
Make sure that you are always staying ahead of the curve and immerse yourself in your area of expertise. You can do this by attending seminars, tele-classes, boot camps or participating in coaching programs.
Do you want to build wealth from home? Cut your learning curve by modeling one or all of these traits from a successful home based businesses. You will find when you model those who have had success you will too if you embody the same traits. Start today and you will be on your way to outrageous success.
However, the truth is there are thousands of home based entrepreneurs around the country who have cracked the code, created their place in the world and taking it to the bank. So how did they do it? Why do some people struggle and never ever break even while others create outrageously successful home based careers?
There are certain habits which I believe are consistent with all of these enterprises. Here are seven habits or traits when implemented work to insure an outrageously profitable venture.
1. Find a hungry target market and look for a product or service to meet their needs. I am surprised how many frustrated entrepreneurs miss this. What often happens is someone gets excited, hit by an entrepreneurial seizure and tries to start a business with a product or service and feels it will sell simply because of their emotional attachment. Keep your mind open when looking at home based business income opportunities. However, make sure someone wants to buy whatever you have to sell before you jump in.
Don’t get me wrong you want to have a passion for what you do. However, if you love 8 track tapes it might be a problem. And depending on your age you might be thinking, “What’s an 8 track tape?” Get my point? However, if you find a group of people who are hungry for what you have is like shooting fish in a bucket. When you find a group that has a problem they want solved they will pay you to do it.
2. Understand nothing happens until a sale is made. I am amazed at how many budding entrepreneurs say they hate sales. This is unfortunate because everything else in a business is an expense. If you don’t have sales coming in the door eventually the doors will close.
Sales and marketing if done correctly is the engine to a company’s success. The key is to add value to the customer at every opportunity. One of the vital things to remember is the first time you obtain a client is the most expensive. But the real wealth is built when you have the opportunity to sell to a customer over and over again. Some companies even take a loss to get the customer in the pipeline because they realize the real money is on the back end and the true profit is in the lifetime value of the customer.
3. Develop a strong team. One of the traits that will accelerate the success of any business is the leverage generated by the help of others.
Robert Kiyosaki Author of Rich Dad Poor Dad says, “Business and investing are team sports.” The average investor or small-business person loses financially because they do not have a team. Instead of a team they act as individuals who are trampled by very smart teams.”
While you are building a home based business you don’t want to do it alone. There are only 24 hours a day and you can’t do everything. You want to look for opportunities to outsource all non revenue generating activities. Successful proprietors don’t waste a lot of time on filing and organizing.
4. Focus on the business not just working in the business. What separates you from being able to create a company that provides you with great income and lifestyle versus one that you are chained to the doors is a matter of focus. Successful entrepreneurs focus on the big picture.
I’m saddened when people say, “No one can do what I do.” This might be true however it presents a great challenge. You are now a slave to your business. The business no longer serves you. The goal must be to take “you” out of as much of your business as possible.
Look for ways to remove you, automate and systemize the process. One of the ways to do this is to use the leverage of technology. You might want to use a website that allows people to order your product or service 24/7. Or you might write a book which can be sold while you are sleep. Get the picture.
5. A highly successful home based business has a central theme or mission. Many home based businesses never reach success because they are trying to do too many things at the same time. You might be saying, “But I want to create multiple streams of income.”
The problem with multiple streams of income can be a nightmare if approached incorrectly. New entrepreneurs often make the mistake of trying to create several profit centers from non aligned businesses. For example, you will find people who try to start real estate, network marketing and internet marketing all at the same time.
The reason you will almost never have success with this strategy is you can not build momentum. Each business has a totally different business model and you can’t leverage the energy of one to another.
However, the successful home based entrepreneur understands the law of momentum. For example, if you were an author one of your products would be the book. However, you could spin that product into an empire by leveraging it into an e-book, tape set, work-book, seminar, boot camp and coaching program.
Do you see the power of having one central product or theme and how you can leap frog to success? You want to be focused and committed to a central theme. Once you have success you can add another stream of income. This trait is one of hidden keys to success.
6. Resilient and quick to adapt to change. This is one of the distinct advantage solo-entrepreneurs have over large companies. Often time’s large corporations invest thousands of dollars in a project and even when they know it’s not working they are slow to change. In Corporate America this may not kill a business because one mistake is just a cog in the wheel.
However, in small business your ability to change on a dime allows you test things and when things work you do it with massive all out action. And when something is not what working you simply let it go, test something else and move forward.
7. Commit to continual education. Now, I am not talking about another degree or certificate. There are plenty of people with plaques on their walls that aren’t able to create the income and lifestyle they want. However, I love the quote by one of the leading experts in self-development. Jim Rohn says, “Formal education will make you a living; self education will make you a fortune.”
Personal development and specialized knowledge often is the difference between a fledgling operation and one that has an outrageously bottom line. Why? Because successful people know that the best investment they can make is in self.
Make sure that you are always staying ahead of the curve and immerse yourself in your area of expertise. You can do this by attending seminars, tele-classes, boot camps or participating in coaching programs.
Do you want to build wealth from home? Cut your learning curve by modeling one or all of these traits from a successful home based businesses. You will find when you model those who have had success you will too if you embody the same traits. Start today and you will be on your way to outrageous success.
Monday, November 23, 2009
How to Handle Cold Calling with Sales Techniques
Solutions for Cold Calling
#1: Center the conversation around yourself and what you have to offer
In the old approach, you introduce yourself, explain what you do, and suggest a benefit or feature of your product. And then you close your eyes and pray that the other person will be interested
Unfortunately, the moment you stop talking you usually hear, "Sorry, I’m busy," or "Sorry, I'm not interested."
You see, you’ve started your cold call by talking about your world and what you have to offer. But realistically, most people aren’t all that interested in you. When you talk about your company and your product, it’s just another advertisement to them. You haven’t engaged them, so they often just "turn the page."
Prospects are much more interested in themselves and what’s important to them. So if you start the conversation by focusing on their world, they’re more likely to interact with you. So instead, talk about an issue or problem they may need solving. Focus on them rather than on what you have to offer. And see where it takes you.
Mistake #2: Be confident they should buy your product or service
In the old cold calling mindset, you’re taught to focus on the sale and be completely confident that what you’re offering is something the other person should buy.
The problem with this approach is that you haven’t asked them to determine this along with you. So think about it – in the old mindset, you’re really deciding for someone else what’s good for them. I know this isn’t intended, but that’s exactly what comes across to your prospects.
So rather than being full of confidence and enthusiasm, stop for a minute and think about the other individual. Relax into a real conversation instead of moving into a persuasive strategy or sales pitch. Put yourself in their shoes and invite them to explore along with you whether what you have to offer is a match for them.
Others really can distinguish the difference. You’re inviting them to see if you might be able to help them solve a problem. This makes for a much better connection right at the beginning, and you’ll get that immediate rejection reaction much less.
Mistake #3: When someone brings up an objection, try to overcome it
You know, one of the reasons cold calling is so difficult is that sometimes you may not be very familiar with the other person and their business. When you make that first call, you don’t know very much about their issues, problems, budget, and time constraints.
Chances are, not everyone is going to benefit by your product or service.
So realistically, your company or product isn’t going to be a match for everyone. And yet, when someone brings up an objection ("we don’t have the budget for that," etc.), the old cold calling mindset trains you to "overcome," "bypass," or "override." Eliminate this by having a system to call them and prequalify them & let only the interested people call you back.
Let the iBuzzPro voice broadcaster call them & eliminate those prospects that are not ready and then listen to their concerns and continue to explore whether what you’re offering makes sense for them. There are some wonderful phrases you can use that validate their viewpoint without closing the conversation.
So now you’ve discovered the 3 major cold calling mistakes people often make. See if you can shift away from those old self-sabotaging mindsets. When you do, you’ll notice that people will engage you much more, and the immediate rejection you’ve grown so accustomed to will happen much less.
If you find it difficult to deal with the rejection of cold calling prospects you can use iBuzzPro to do it for you, this will weed out all those who really are not serious and only the ones ready, willing & able will call you back.
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