Steps To Improve Your Business Credibility

Credibility is critical in order to convert website visitors into clients or customers. Consequently, website credibility is a requirement for a successful web presence. If you are a fortune 500 company building your website, you don’t have to worry about establishing credibility. You have an established brand name, most likely recognized worldwide. Unfortunately, the rest of us will have to work hard to establish credibility online.

In the process of building a successful online business, you have to establish credibility. Take steps to establish your site as a credible business. Credibility does not guarantee sales, but, without a doubt, it will improve your sales conversion. As you consider your strategy for building credibility, think of the companies you consider credible. Think of the characteristics that make them credible. Is it their, customer service, product, quality of service, image in the community, philanthropy?

Make your site personable. Post pictures of real people. Don’t use stock photos of models. Your clients want to see the people behind your business. On your “About Us” page, take a picture of your team members and provide a brief description of their job descriptions. Posting the pictures will have a positive impact on your customers. In addition, your team will have a growing self-respect.

Make your contact information highly visible. Don’t hide your phone number if you want your customers to call. If your business is unable to support phone calls, don’t list your number. Instead, implement an easy to use “Contact Us” form. Your physical address should be listed on your site. If you are a home-based business and you don’t feel comfortable listing your address, get a PO Box. It is an inexpensive solution. Real businesses have real addresses.

Do not use auto responders. Ten years ago, when people were receiving ten percent of the e-mail they are receiving today, it would have been a great idea. Today, auto responders are the sign of amateurs. With a few exceptions, you should not use them. Don’t ever send an auto responder to an e-mail. Your customers don’t care that you have received their e-mail. They want an answer to their query, and if your response doesn’t include the answer, you have no business sending the e-mail.

Referral Business: 3 Steps to Generating Unlimited Referrals

Of course, every sales person knows referral business is vitally important. But how do you generate enough referrals to triple your sales and commissions? That’s easy, keep reading and I will share three sure fire steps to creating massive referrals for your business:


Step#1: Wow your clients

The first step to generating referral business is to go out of your way to demonstrate a high level of service to EVERYONE who comes in contact with your business – not just clients.

Everyone who comes in contact with your business is a potential customer or referral source. As a mortgage lender, I’ve had service people come into my office, see how we do business, and ask about refinancing.

But how do you “wow” your clients and others to generate referral business?

Basically, you will need to be honest, knowledgeable, friendly, professional, and deliver on your promises.

Exceed their expectations. Set yourself up to succeed. If you think a task will be completed on Wednesday, tell your client it will completed on Friday. Then, when you call them on Wednesday to report that the task has been completed you’ll look like a superstar because you exceeded their expectation. In short, deliver ahead of schedule.

Communicate proactively. Find out why your clients call and stop them from calling by answering all questions ahead of time. In the mortgage business, I found that clients and everyone else involved in the transaction would call for status updates. So I put a system in place to communicate updates to everyone automatically. Now, my phone doesn’t ring because clients get regular scheduled updates.

Give unexpected bonuses. Give your clients some kind of surprise bonus. Give them more than what they expected. Your bonus could relate to your product or it could be in the form of a gift. Here are a few gift giving ideas to help generate referral business:

Before the sale
Try to give your clients something right up front. Try giving clients a $5 gift card before they even agree to do business with you.

During the sales process
Send cookies to both spouses’ work with a thank you note and plenty of your business cards so they can give them to co-workers. This is a excellent technique for creating referral business.

After the transaction is complete
Send flowers to your clients’ home.


Step #2: Collect testimonials

Now that you have wowed your clients, get a testimonial from them.

In fact, it would be a great idea to survey your clients at the beginning, middle and end of the sales process immediately after they have received one of your gifts.

Collect your surveys in writing by using short, quick answer questionnaires – 10 questions or less. Here are sample questions for your questionnaire:

1) Why did you choose to do business with us?

2) Was your transaction closed on time? YES / NO

3) How would you rate our courtesy?
EXCELLENT / GOOD / FAIR / POOR

4) How would you rate our efficiency and speed?
EXCELLENT / GOOD / FAIR / POOR

5) How would you evaluate the competitiveness of the price you received on your product?
EXCELLENT / GOOD / FAIR / POOR

6) Overall, how would you rate the service you received during this transaction?
EXCELLENT / GOOD / FAIR / POOR

7) Have you ever purchased a similar product from a company other than Your Company Name? YES / NO

8) If you answered YES to question #7, would you say we were:
BETTER / SAME / WORSE

9) Would you recommend us to a friend or relative? YES / NO


These questionnaires will serve as testimonials for the next step in the creation of your referral business.



Step #3: Generate more referral business

Use your client’s testimonial to target everyone in their center of influence. Send your testimonial to prospective clients and referral business partners along with an approach letter.

More on the approach letter in a moment; first, here is a list of potential referral business partners that can be targeted after a mortgage transaction just to give you some ideas:

* HR manager at their work
* Listing real estate agent and that agents entire office
* Selling real estate agents and that agents entire office
* CPA
* Financial planner
* Insurance agent
* The seller of the home on a purchase transaction
* Title Company
* Real estate appraiser
* Neighbors


Now, do you need some ideas for writing your cover letter? To download three approach letter samples visit: www.Mortgage-Leads-Generator.com/a/approachletter.htm

In summary, incorporate these ideas into the way you conduct business and you will automatically deliver such a high level of service that your clients will jump at the chance to tell their family, friends, and co-workers about your service.

Please feel free to reprint this article as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.

7 Steps to a Purpose Driven Home Based Business: The Winning Combination of Passion and Profit

Have you been thinking about leaving your job and starting a work at home enterprise? If you have mentioned your desire to anyone other than another entrepreneur you may have been discouraged. For many people it is hard to understand why anyone would want to leave “the safety and security” of a job and “risk their lively hood.” But if you have ever been hit by an entrepreneurial seizure there is something that happens which is unexplainable.

If you are willing to respond to this deep emotion you will never be happy living your life by a job description. You want more. A cubicle will feel like a prison and until you create something you can call your own you will feel like each day a part of you is making a deal with the devil.

For most people starting a business is a scary proposition. So how do you create an environment that pulls you towards success? What can you do to inspire yourself to take your life back and build wealth from home? Creating a purpose driven home based business is the winning combination that blends living your passion and profiting from it.

Here are 7 seven steps you can take towards a purpose driven work at home career:

1. You can create a vision and mission for your home based enterprise that inspires you. Life is too short. When you make the decision to leave the rat race you don’t want to create a business that’s simply another job. So why are you taking this journey? What do you want your business to look like?

For example, I am clear that my home based venture is as much about lifestyle as it is profit. When ever I work on my business I look at my mission that includes income developed through passive income and working no more than 25 hours a week.

Why? Because after 15+ years in Corporate America I learned that what are important to me are my personal relationships. I no longer wanted to trade my time for money. At the end of my life I don’t want to remember how many hours I worked for someone else or the sacrifices I made for a company. As a result, my vision is to create a lifestyle that allows me to enjoy life with the people I care about.

What is your vision for your business? Try to include all of your senses. What will it look like when you get there? How will you feel? Who will be there to celebrate with you? With you smell the breeze of the ocean water or the pungent fragrance of swaying honeysuckle? The more you connect with your vision the more you will be inspired.

2. Create your business based around something you are passionate about. There is something magical that happens when you are operating in something you love to do and are uniquely good at. Have you ever had a job you hated? How did you feel? You will never live a life of purpose doing something you don't like. Discover your passion and give it all you've got.

For years I worked in jobs that I was good at but hated. However, when I struck out on my own I wanted to have a life I loved. I uncovered my unique talents and went to work. And what happened for me can happen for you.

When you start to live the life you were born to do the universe makes all of the resources available to you that you need to be successful. So what are you passionate about? What skills and talents do you have you can create a life and business around? Write down two or three skills have that would be utilized in your purpose driven business.

3. Make your business a business that is bigger than you. What would it feel like to know that your business was directly responsible for impacting the world in some way? How would you feel to know that when you passed on people from around the world would thank you for the part you played in creating something of value that was important to them?

At first, this line of thinking can be overwhelming. However, not when you start to think of what is at the core of any business. Your goal is to find a solution to your customers’ problems. And in exchange they are willing to pay you for it. To the extent that you get to know their hopes, desires, dreams and pains and you help to successfully maneuver the maze of life they will be forever grateful.

So how can your venture make its mark in the world? My goal is to help people discover their passion, monetize it and live a life they love. I personally want to help 1000 people in the next 3 years take their life back and build wealth from home. The very thought that I could play a small part in helping someone else do this gives my business a purpose much bigger than me.

Write down one goal that you have for your business that is bigger than you. Make sure you keep the goal in front of you where you can see it everyday.

4. Develop a business plan that supports your values and beliefs. Whenever you are working to accomplish something great you must have a plan. The creation of your business plan is the map that you will use to guide you through your journey. One of the keys to a successful plan is to make sure everything you do is consistent with your values and beliefs.

For example, if you have a family and want to spend more time with them you don’t want to build a business that requires you to spend long amounts of time away from them to build.

Don’t get me wrong. You will make choices and sacrifices. However, those should be things that are short term and spelled out. You want to be clear what you are giving up or making adjustments and what you will get in return.

"Strive for integrity--that means knowing your values in life and behaving in a way that is consistent with these values." ---author unknown. When you are building something that is consistent with who you are as a person your daily actions will feed your soul.

5. Consider giving a percentage of the profits to an organization you love. I love the quote, "No one has ever become poor by giving." --Anne Frank. Actually our lives are enriched when we give.

For example, maybe you have a religious organization you would like to tithe to. Or you might like to help a cause that is close to your heart. One of my favorite charitable organizations is the Junior Achievement.

Junior Achievement uses hands-on experiences to help young people understand the economics of life. This organization partners with business leaders and educators. The mission of Junior Achievement is to bring the real world to students and open their mind to their potential.

I chose to contribute to this organization because I love to see young people find their passion and follow it early in life. I feel like my life is enriched when I can help a young person discover their passion and avoid the rat race.

Do you have an organization you would like to contribute to? Think about how you would feel if your company was contributing to an organization that was helping to make a difference in the world.

6. Extend your hand to help someone who wants to do what you do. One of the ways to give purpose to your business is to teach, coach or mentor a person. There are people who would love to benefit from the knowledge and expertise you have acquired.

You might want to teach a class or create a coaching club. You can impact several people at once and leverage your time.

Who can you reach out to and help? What vehicle will you use to make a difference for someone else? Write down 3 ideas and implement one immediately.

7. Create a community by enrolling others to make it happen. Have you ever experienced the power of what happens when several people are committed to one goal? There is a powerful force that happens when you speak your purpose out loud and invite others to become a part of it.

Look for opportunities to have customers, friends, family and colleagues to become a part of the mission of your business. Your company could become a cause for change in the world.

For example, who would ever imagine that the purpose of a greeting card company was to change peoples lives one card at a time? Well it’s true. I had the privileged of hearing the CEO of this greeting card speak.

He told the story of how he had a prompting to say goodbye one more time to his brother when he was moving and failed to do so. Shortly after the move he got a phone call that his brother had died tragically. He was haunted by the fact he had failed to say good bye.

Later he was inspired to create a greeting card company that allows people to act on their promptings. Never again, would anyone miss any opportunity to send someone they care about a card. His passion and commitment about his business is contagious. He truly embodies the characteristics of a purposed driven home based business.

So the choice is yours. You can create a business that focuses solely on making a buck and during the difficult times it might not be enough to get you through. Or you can create something with purpose. These 7 traits are a winning combination. Life is truly a joy when you can have a home based business with purpose and profit from it.

5 Steps To Explode Your Business

Here’s a great strategy that can dramatically change your business. It works best for professional service providers but it can work well for others as well. If you haven’t started down this road before, it can involve a lot of work but you only have to do it once. As soon as you’ve gone through the process once, you can use the same strategy over and over again. And you’ll be positioning yourself as an expert along the way.

First things first. You have to ensure you’re an expert in the field. Does that mean you have to be a PhD in the topic? No, it doesn’t. It just means you have to know enough about the topic to be authoritative. Keep in mind that most people know very little about any one fields and a recent study found that if you read just three books on a particular subject, you’ll effectively become an expert on that topic relative to everyone else.

The next thing you have to do is write a short handbook on the topic. This can be as easy as summarizing the content in the three books you read and putting the same content in your own words and in a condenses document. By doing this, you can forever more refer to yourself as an author and other people will treat you with more respect as a result. I have written two handbooks in the past. One was 28 pages and the other was 34. So these don’t need to be long novels. They just need to demonstrate your expertise.

The process of writing a short handbook does something else too. It structures your thoughts and your understanding of the topic. By being forced to explain the topic to an uneducated reader, you will end up knowing the subject better yourself. And with that understanding in place, you need to massage that content into a 2-hour workshop. Think about the most important points and organize them into a logical order for an audience to hear.

Next up, schedule the event and market it to get a few people in attendance. There are a lot of different ways to market an event like this and it doesn’t need to cost you a lot of money. The important thing is to get 10 or 15 people in attendance. That will give you a sufficient audience to practice delivering the information and getting the questions that naturally come up.

When you’re comfortable with the process, bring a microphone and record an event live. You can download Audacity for free and the microphone will cost $50 or less. Then, you’ll get the exposure from the workshop as usual but you’ll get an information product to boot. The importance of this is significant. A lot of speaking engagements require the speaker to have an information product to sell. It also builds more credibility. And it allows you to make some money even though you’re providing the workshops for free.

This 5-step strategy is a great way to position yourself as an expert within your field and leverage that position to gain new clients or partners. And once you’ve gone through the process once, you’ll have the tools forever more and can use them as often as possible without further efforts.

Tactical Execution has made a business out of helping others achieve their goals. The information in this article is just the tip of the iceberg and I encourage you to visit the website to take advantage of the resources available there.

5 Steps to Success in the Private Label Water Business - Affiliate Program Success for Profits and Wealth

The private label bottled drinking water is a growth industry with double digit growth and profit opportunities for the entrepreneur. But like most opportunities care must be taken to seek out and exploit the most profitable niche in the market.

A recent market study examined the growth and potential of the market for bottled water and concluded:

"The bottled water industry grew about 10% in 2005, while carbonated soft drinks revenue is essentially flat," says Gary Hemphill, marketing director of BMC. "There are a couple of things driving the market—sure, people like to have a tap water substitution, but it's really driven by people's demands for a healthier alternative to the wide array of beverages on the market."

Private label water is the fastest growing segment of the overall bottled water market and its future growth is considered by many to be “explosive”. .

Private label water combines the purity of refreshing drinking water with consumable advertising that is designed to an individual customer’s specification. The water is popular and the branding message, if designed properly, serves to promote business.

Almost every company in the United States can benefit from private label water with a custom branding message. The opportunities are huge, the market is largely untapped and the private label product is viewed by customers as a cost effective, power way to promote a brand message.

The bottled water industry consists of a number of interrelated parts including research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Much of the business model however, requires significant amounts of capital and has high barriers to entry for most entrepreneurs.

Nevertheless, with the advent of the internet and e-commerce, an aggressive sales focused entrepreneur can develop a substantial profitable private label business through affiliate programs .

What Are Affiliate Programs?

Affiliate programs are revenue sharing programs between an entrepreneur and a company that manufactures and sells a product or service. Affiliates are rewarded with referral payments for sending customers to the manufacturer’s Web site. The process works as follows:

• The affiliate place links on its site to a particular manufacturer’s Web site.

• When a visitor clicks on the link and makes a purchase the affiliate earns a referral fee that is a percentage of the total sale.

• The best manufacturer sites have automatic payment mechanisms and real time accounting.

But an efficient affiliate site requires planning and work. Many affiliates believe they will be able to just put up a Web site, establish some affiliate links and sit back and wait for streams of cash to start coming in. Care must be taken however to be truly successful. Consider the following:

• What type of Web site should you have to make money through affiliate programs?

• What are the best programs for your site?

• How will you effectively market your site and the underlying product?

• How can you find niche markets?

Similar to other facets of developing a home business, careful planning is needed to map out a profitable strategy for building a home based business using affiliate programs - a strategy that will allow you to build income through content in a sustainable, month after month way.

The issue is – what are the steps required to develop an income producing web site using affiliate programs that generate consistent, substantial revenue?

Tip Number 1: Align With a Manufacturer That Produces A Quality Product With Unique Features and Manages a Robust Affiliate Program.

As any good sales person will tell you, a high quality product is mandatory for sales success. Look for a company that manufactures (resellers add little value) a quality product that is recognized as different in the marketplace. There are many types of water in the market but purified water is clearly recognized as the highest quality.

After identifying a manufacturer with a quality product offering, chose one with a robust, profitable affiliate program. This should include at a minimum:

• commitment to affiliate success

• commission plans that are substantial

• a website that allows for easy ordering and accrual and payment of commissions

• support for marketing, selling and booking of orders

Tip Number 2: Identify a Niche Market and Create a Plan to Penetrate That Niche Deeply

Avoid the tendency to mass market and “shoot at the flock”. Mass marketing is beyod the scope of most companies and entrepreneurs. There are many profitable niche markets that have significant growth potential. Identify a niche market, understand the buying patterns of that niche and penetrate the market. It takes time and work but done right this effort is very profitable.

Some examples of niche markets: hotels (small and large), health spas, golf courses, gyms, car dealerships, organizations and health clubs to name a few. Almost any organization is interested in promoting their brand and brand message in a cost effective way.

Tip Number 3: Create an Eye Catching Website With a link to The Manufacturer

One of the advantages of an affiliate program is that profitable business can be developed with only a nominal investment. Given today’s technical level of internet development expertise, creation of an attractive web site is easy and cost effective. The critical part of the website however is the creation of a focused message presented in an attractive manner.

Following the creation of the site, establish a banner link with the chosen manufacturing partner that will direct affiliate inquires to the site for order creation and booking of the affiliate commission.

The manufacturer’s site must be able to design and produce labels, provide powerful e-commerce facilities for order booking and shipment and include a facility for the booking and payment of commissions to the affiliate.

Tip Number 4: Create and Implement a Sales Strategy

A clear sales strategy is the most effective path to success and profits in the private label business. Identify in writing the target niche, strategy to penetrate that niche, buying patterns, target prospects and communication material (sales collateral) and tactics to sell targeted prospects. Then implement the strategy in an organized manner and make adjustments to the strategy as conditions change. Remember the old sales adage “Always Be Closing”.

Tip Number 5: Follow Up on All Orders and Provide Feedback to Customers

As part of any effective sales effort, follow up and feedback with and to customers is critical to maintaining good customer service and obtaining repeat orders. One of the most powerful aspects of private label water sales is that happy customers tend to be repeat customers. Creation of a long customer list with satisfied customers will generate a steady stream of repeat orders and significant cash flow.

5 Steps To Get Your Priorities Straight At Home And In Business

Operating a successful home-based business is a time-consuming endeavor. This is doubly true as work-at-home moms in that we are responsible not only for the success of our business, but for our family as well. We must be self-reliant, self-motivated, and discipline ourselves in order to attain success in both areas.

When running a business from home, it’s easy to let the phone calls, emails and paperwork keep you tied down, making you feel that you don’t have time to take a break or to spend quality time with your family. Maybe you’ve noticed that you spend a little more time than you’d like in front of your computer or on the phone. Maybe you see your kids acting out, trying to gain your attention. Perhaps you are seeing that this isn’t the work-at-home dream you envisioned. You started out with such noble intentions, but maybe the excitement of success in your business has caused you to lose sight of the REAL reason do what you do each day. It happens to so many of us, but don’t worry, help is on the way.

Below are five ideas to prioritize your life and business:

1. Be honest - You probably didn’t start your work-at-home career to climb the “corporate ladder” of your at-home business. Chances are that you started your business with the best of intentions – to be able to be at home with your children, to contribute financially to your family, or simply to have a little spending money of your own. Spend some time in prayer and ask the Lord to show you the things that you need to change.

Take a moment and honestly ask yourself how you’ve been handling the time commitment of owning a business:

• Are you spending too much time on the phone, the computer, etc?
• Are your kids spending more time than usual in front of the TV?
• Do you snap at your children because of the stresses of your business?
• Do you worry about your business – to the point that it distracts you when you are with your family?

2. Make a list – Sit down and write out a list of things that you see that you’d like to change. This can be a list of things you can do differently to limit the time you spend on your business; or a list of ways you can “de-stress” so that you can deal kindly with your family.

3. Log your time – Buy a notebook or create a spreadsheet that you can use to log the time you spend on your business each day. Make a column for each day across the top and a row of half an hour increments down the side. Every time you sit down at your desk, write “IN” in the box that corresponds to the time and day. Every time you leave your desk (or complete a task), fill the appropriate box with the word “OUT.”

At the end of the week, total up the hours each day that you have spent on business tasks. Are you surprised or is it about where you thought you’d be? This can be a real eye-opener and show you in black and white if your priorities have gotten off track. Take special note for how much time you spend on e-mails and things that aren’t billable.

Diana Ennen of Virtual Word Publishing, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com also recommends that you plan ahead and schedule your time. Prioritize things and have the work that will require the most effort and concentration scheduled for your peak time. Try and not get sidetracked and stay on task focusing on what you need to do. You’d be amazed how much more work you can get done by simply changing how you work e-mails. If you only answer them at set hours, you save yourself from being online all day and not accomplishing much.

4. Take a break – If you get to the end of the week and your time log has you in shock, it’s time to take a break. If you normally work during the weekend, make it a point to take this weekend off. Shut down your email, turn off the ringer on your phone and shut the door to your office. You’ll be surprised at how refreshing this will be.

Use this time off to re-evaluate how you need to be spending your time. Try to plan out when you can work on your business without losing out on time with your children. If your children are in school, make it a point to stop working when they get home. If your children are still small, maybe you can limit work hours to naptime or, if possible, have a grandparent watch them once or twice a week to allow you a bit more work time.

5. Plan an activity – Now that you’re ready to make a change in your routine, why not plan an activity once a week? This can be an outing with your child or just something simple like setting aside time to make cookies together.

If possible, find another work-at-home mom and hold one another accountable to keep to your new schedules. Make a weekly play date where your children can spend time together – you can talk business if necessary or decide to make it a “no business talk allowed” discussion time.

The years that you have at home with your children are a gift as is your business. The time necessary for each will be different for every family and situation. Take the time to find what works for you and set your schedule accordingly. Make it a point to evaluate your priorities every few months to make sure that your time in spent properly. The rewards will be well worth it, when your family not only is proud of your accomplishments in your business, but also more importantly your accomplishments as their mom. Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. This site is dedicated to providing work at home moms with opportunities to promote their businesses while at the same time providing them spiritual encouragement and articles. Visit CWAHM.com for additional information. Jill and her husband, Allen of CWAHD.com (Christian Work at Home Dads) reside in Nebraska with their two children.

The 3 Easy Steps For You To Start Your Home Based Business

If you are looking for more time with your family, yet making extra income, a home business is what you need. It has become a trend to set up businesses from home because of its flexibility and most importantly, it is less stressful as compared to working in a company.

How do you start a home business then? It is not as simple as ABC but it involves some skills that you need to ensure successful and effective operations of your home business.

1 - Planning

You should process the skill of planning. Planning is essential to any business. To begin with, you should produce a comprehensive business plan. This is the blueprint of the future of your home business. The plan should include the business objectives, proposed action plans to accomplish these objectives and the time line for these tasks.

Besides, as part of your planning process, you should conduct market research to gather some information about the demand and supply of products on the internet. This will help you plan effectively for your home business.

2 - Selling

Are you a good salesman? The ability to sell is critical to the success of the business, because no matter how good your product is, if you do not possess the right selling skills, it will be ignored and forgotten.

So, first of all, check out the companies selling the same products and their performance. Study and analyze their strengths and weaknesses to enhance your selling methodologies. Then, most importantly, know your target market. Understand your customers’ requirements so that you can reach out to them and provide support to their needs.

3 – Marketing

Once you have planned your business and selling approach, next, you need to market your product. Marketing is critical to ensure a successful business. You can start by distributing business cards to family members, friends and acquaintances.

You can also post your business on online bulletin boards. Create a blog for your business to share the essentials about your business. The whole idea is to create awareness that you have a business and to generate interest in your products.

In summary, these skills are essential to help you maximize your business growth and bring in profits from your home business.

Writing Business Articles? Follow These 5 Steps To Business Writing Success

Business articles are a great way to let readers searching the Internet know everything about your new or existing company, and what you can offer them in your unique products and services.

You may be a company that only does business on the Internet, or a Brick & Mortar retail store that would like to increase their online presence via your web site to create additional exposure internationally or worldwide, and increase your customer base.

No matter what type of business approach you take, you will realize that finding a variety of marketing avenues to reach new potential customers is one of the most important components for the growth of your new or well-established business.

When you finally decided to test the waters in article writing because you wanted to add it to your overall marketing plan, I’m sure you will quickly realize that this is a very powerful, yet cost effective way to reach enormous amounts of targeted traffic!

However, in order to reach your desired traffic online, you must not only create value added, informative and creative articles, but you must place them on the Internet for people to find and read. If you’re not sure where to start, you can use my 5 simple article-writing steps as a guideline, and create your own writing style and article distribution plan that will work best for you:

Tip #1: Have a complete understanding of the business you’re in, the product and services you offer, and don’t over sell and underachieve your readers!

I’m surprised how many times I read an article where some company is telling me they will offer you the world, and when you visit their web site, it looks like they actually do offer you the world, a lot of dirt, and the some of that smelly stuff.

Example: Company XYZ expresses that they’re #1 in customer service online, and when you provide a link to your site for your readers to view your claim that you wrote in your article, the reader navigates your site, and quickly they notice you have no access to a live customer service chat service, any toll-free numbers to reach a customers service specialist, and all you’re providing them is an email address saying that you may get back to them sometime after the summer beach season is over. If you don’t offer the best customer service on the Internet or planet, don’t even think for a minute to convey that message to your readers.

Tip #2: Don’t get business article writing mixed up with a press release!

Writing press releases are a good way to get the message out that your company offers a unique and exclusive product in the market, and you want to introduce it with a bang, or that your business just hired a top executive that will drive your company shares straight up in the stock market. Writing your business article is slightly different, you want to use your article to express your company’s best features and benefits offered.

Write about how you can save time and money, or give them a better lifestyle, how about your products/services offer customers that give them complete “Peace-of-Mind”. Believe it or not, people do searches to find your products and services to either solve a problem, or possibly to fill a desired need they have. You have to tell them how you’re going to solve their problems, and fill their needs, and put it in writing.

Tip #3: Find out who your readers are, and write your article in their language!

Nothing is worse than when I come across an interesting article, and I find out halfway through, there is a completely different language that I don’t understand. There are many business writers that have a technical writing background, and when they communicate their message in the article, readers may stumble on your article that is saturated in technical mumbo jumbo that only tech savvy individuals understand.

When you start preparing to write you article, think about your people you want to reach, and who will be interested in reading your information, because if you’re writing for the non-technical person, and you put a ton of information that the average individual won’t understand, your message will definitely be lost and your readers you’re trying to attract will move on and find another article that is easier to read.

Tip #4 Once you have written the perfect article, now you want to know how to reach your targeted readers!

You wrote the perfect article, and it is jam packed with your features and benefits. You’re telling your potential readers how to reach you, but they won’t be able to reach you if you don’t take the steps to get your article out there on the web.

The best way to get your company article distributed is through ezine and article distribution directories. You may decide to only submit your articles to a select few of the top article directories that offer a high volume of traffic, but I would suggest that you consider also submitting to a variety of smaller ones, because you never know where they will be picked up from and prominently placed for inbound traffic.

One of the biggest changes happening with article directories is that you will find more niche targeted business content distribution sites that focus on your related themes. Highly consider these sites, because they not only offer you more category options, these sites will eventually be classified as an authority site on your specific business topics.

Tip #5Your Author Bio can make or break the goal of your article!

Believe it or not, but your Author Bio is probably the most important piece to your article puzzle! You worked very hard on your article, and you took the time to make sure your message was clear and to the point, but what I find with many well-written pieces is that they end with a very weak author bio. It’s like winning your customer over with a knockout presentation, and then not asking for the sale.

The same goes with your Bio, you should not over sell, but you definitely should let your readers know you’re the expert, and that everything you talked about in your article will be explained in more detail once they click through your hyperlinks. If you’re talking about a specific product or service and you have several pages with more information, normally most directories will allow you to place up to a maximum of three links including your main index page. Take advantage of this, and always maximize your links that will give you many optimizing opportunities.

These tips are pretty straightforward, and most of you would consider them to be common sense, but even the best article writers sometimes get off track, and may forget some of the fundamentals of writing. It’s always good to get some outside tips to get you right back on track. Take my advice and use it as a tool to help you design your own writing style, and before you know it, your article will be flooding the Internet with business flair!

5 Steps To Start A Home Based Business

To start a home based business there are five steps that you need to take. Of course, you can deviate from these a bit, but all in all they will help you to get started on the right path. When it comes down to it, starting a home business is not as hard as many entrepreneurs think. In fact, if you know what you are doing, you can have your home business started in no time at all. Many people have found that all it takes is a bit of hard work, and before they know it, they are working at their home business day in and day out.

Here are the five steps that you should follow if you want to start a home business. Remember, you can insert your own steps where you see fit. But even if you have no idea of what you are doing, you can follow these in order to get started.

1. The first thing that you must do is to decide what type of home business you are going to start. Until you know this, there is no reason that you should continue to do anything else. Luckily, there are thousands of home business opportunities that are waiting for you. Once you choose one, you will be well on your way.

2. Now that you have a home business in mind, the next step is to write a business and marketing plan. These plans will give you direction from day one. Although you may be able to get away with not having these, you will be much better off if you do. After all, business and marketing plans will tell you how to move forward with your home business.

3. It is finally time to get all of your equipment and information together. For most people, a computer is essential to home business success. In fact, you might as well buy one of these before you move on from this step. Without a computer in today's day and age, you are not going to get very far.

4. Start off slow! You do not need to jump ahead on the first day that you are doing business. Instead, work the plans that you outlined in step number two above. These will allow you to know where you are going, and also keep you on pace.

5. When you are finally ready, it is time to start marketing for clients. You can do this a bit in step four, but this is when you need to turn up the heat. Remember, without clients your home business is not going to go far. Every home business opportunity has people that can be called on in order to increase business.

Clear Business Communication: 4 Steps To Success

Business owners know the bottom-line impact of business communication. It doesn’t matter if the communication is a memo to employees, a sales letter to prospects, or a thank you note to customers... A clear, quality message can build your business and the wrong message can demolish it.

Clear messages motivate employees, create positive change in the workplace, increase the possibility of getting a raise, and (most importantly) make a sale! The wrong message can mean lost opportunities, upset employees, and can even send your customer to the competition! Which type of message would you rather give?

Use these 4 steps to make sure that your communication improves your bottom line.

1. Know your audience. Ask yourself what is important to your audience? Make sure that every sentence resonates clearly with the message that you know what your audience wants and you can deliver it. For example: If you are writing to your boss and you’re asking for a raise, don’t complain about the rising cost of homes; your boss is concerned about the business’ bottom line. So instead, talk about how you are going to be more productive and improve the business’ bottom line because of your raise.

2. Know the action you want your audience to take. Often, our messages can be muddled if we are not clear in stating what we want. Don’t “beat around the bush”… make it obvious that you’d like to see a specific action occur as a result of what you’ve written. For example, if you are sending a memo to employees, don’t just write several paragraphs about the need to be on time in the morning. Your employees will think that your memo is right but won’t necessarily take action to correct their behavior. Instead, clearly point out the time you expect them to show up, the consequences for not showing up, and a specific action they can take to indicate that they have arrived on time.

3. Make your communication easy to read. At the beginning of your communication write what you are going to cover. Then cover the topics in the order you stated at the beginning. Then review the topic quickly at the end. If appropriate, put a space between each paragraph and break up lists into bullets. Repeat your point clearly in the first and last paragraph. Avoid unnecessary words.

4. Proofread your work! Nothing reduces the perceived value of a business communication like a missing or incorrectly spelled word. If you are dashing off an email to a coworker, give it a quick read-through. If your work will be read within company walls by subordinates or superiors, have someone else read through it too. If the message is leaving the company to go to prospects, customers, or vendors, make sure that you have at least two other people read the communication before it leaves the building.

Written business communication is an important way that we interact with others. The right messages can build our business and the wrong messages can demolish it. To increase productivity, to improve customer service, and to make more sales, follow these 4 business communication steps to success.

Business Accounting: 7 Steps To The Best Software Solution

It is important to know in business where money is coming in and where it is going out. As such, accounting is one of the most vital processes in any business. It is even more important than developing products and selling. The management of the flow of revenues and expenditures is what ultimately makes a business fail or succeed.

Accounting is simply called the language of business. The requirements of every business may vary, but the general requirements of a business like collecting, classifying, reporting and analyzing of financial data is what constitutes the crux of accounting.

An enterprising businessman always looks for opportunities to make accounting simple. Without proper accounting process, your prospering business can take an unexpected nosedive towards bankruptcy. That is where the importance of accounting lies. Accounting is a critical component of a prospering business. It plays a role in every financial decision you make, like that of purchasing machineries and vehicles, equipment and supplies, to increasing production, selecting inventory quantity etc. But if you lack any extensive background in accounting, where do you begin?

Hiring an accountant is an option. But the best bet would be to invest in accounting software which aids you to save money and time as well. Maintaining accounts is challenging task. You may find it difficult and daunting to select the perfect software with so many options before you. However, remembering some criteria will help you in your endeavor. The following are the different aspects that you should keep in mind before purchasing any accounting software.

1.The first thing to take note of is your budget. That is, how much you are willing to pay for the software. Your software should be able to compliment your business, rather being a liability. Generally the more features the software supports, the more is the cost of it. Certainly, you do not need all the features available in the market. So according to your accounting needs pick a decent accounting software at reasonable price

2.Secondly, look for a software which is user-friendly and is easy to use. It should be compatible with your existing system, so that as you can cut on time in training your staff.

3.Scalability is another thing which you should keep in your mind before buying a software. It is particularly important for a growing business. You should choose a software imagining where your business would in future. A good accounting software should be able to grow as your business grows. It is always better to invest in a slightly costly accounting software that can compliment your business in future also.

4.Fourthly, you should be open to take in to account the views from different quarters, mostly from accountants. The views of accountants are important as they live and breath among this stuff. They are particular about the different business needs and their peculiar features requirement. You can only ignore their views at your own peril.

5.It is also important that your accounting software have all the features you need. It must have all the modules and reporting categories necessary for your business. Accounts payable and accounts receivable are some of the general modules an accounting software must have. Most of the accounting software come in different versions. You should look for a software which provides future versions also to match your future needs.

6.Value for money is the sixth aspect which you should keep in mind before buying. Selecting the right package means that you can get the best value. For the same lines of products, prices vary greatly. So just shop around. You can also purchase the product cheaply from online merchants such as Amazon or eBay.

7.Last but not the least, the manufacturer whose product you buy must provide after sales service. Most of the companies provide support after sales. But you have to think about local support which is more feasible. A perfect after sales support must have a complete FAQ package, a toll-free call center, and local service center.

All in all, the best thing would be to shop around, read some reviews and invest in software with expandable features. Your software must be capable of handling your growth. To sum up, you need to do some meticulous planning before purchasing. This smart decision to invest in a accounting software will save a lot of money and trouble in the future.

6 Easy Steps to Separating Your Personal Life from Your Business

If you work from home, chances are you already know that you’re really pulling “double duty”. You probably work on your business while doing the laundry, corralling the kids, or fixing dinner... and let’s not forget all the phone calls from family and friends expecting you to run errands or just "go out" for an afternoon of fun.

One of the hardest parts of running a home business is separating your work from your family and social life. Here are six proven ways to keep your home life running smoothly while keeping your business on track.

1. First, create a work schedule and stick with it. It may be tempting to answer personal calls during the day or take business calls after-hours, but doing this actually shows that you’re expendable – not dependable – and people will take for granted that you’ll “always be there” for any little things that come up. Even though family comes first, stay true to your business hours and resist the urge to chat with friends or pick up groceries during working hours.

2. Your friends may consider “working from home” an invitation to chat during the day or just go out for coffee or shopping for an afternoon. Make it clear that your business hours are just that – for business. Leave personal calls for after-hours, and you’ll find that your friends will gradually accept your schedule without feeling slighted.

3. Just because you have to set up a work schedule, doesn’t mean that you have to keep the same hours as everyone else. One of the benefits of working for yourself is setting your own hours to fit your most productive times. Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, you’ll find that you’ll get much more done when you’re attuned to your body’s own natural rhythms. Some people work in the morning, take a break in the afternoon when the kids are home from school, and work again in the evening. Schedule your work time when you feel the most productive and you’ll find that things get done easier, faster and better than when you were dragging along during those same rigid work hours that everyone else has.

4. If getting after-hours business calls or work day personal calls is a problem, it helps to have a separate business phone line, or at least an answering machine or voice mail, to take the incoming calls. This also gives your business a more professional appearance to clients than if you and your family make and receive calls from the same phone line.

5. If at all possible, try to separate your “home office” from the rest of your home. If you don’t have the luxury of a separate room, a room partition or screen can be just as helpful. This also serves as a visual cue to family that you’re working and shouldn’t be bothered.

6. Dress and act professionally while working. Some people find it helpful to dress in casual business attire during their working hours. This reinforces that just because you’re working from home doesn’t make you any less of a professional. Answer the phone with your name, or business name, and keep your children off the phone during business hours. Also, spend money investing in the tools you need to do your job right. A cell phone, fax machine or even a budget computer can help turn your home office into a true workspace.

If you follow all of these tips and stick with them, chances are you’ll find a routine that not only makes you feel productive and active in your business, but also projects the message that you mean business – literally!

Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Best

10 Easy Steps For Getting Video On Your Business Website

I'm often asked, "I have no video training but I want to put video on my website to help promote my products and services what can I do?" Well the answer is simple. If you can shoot a home movie you can put a video clip on your website. Now the first thing is to not be scared of the camera. A good sales person needs to be able to speak clearly and present their product in a manner that everyone can understand and enjoy. So with that in mind turn on your camera, cell phone, or whatever video capturing tool you have and begin shooting. But here are a few tips for making your shoot successful and getting it up on your website.

1. Speak clearly, and so that everyone watching can understand what your saying and what your product is about.

2. Make sure you have enough light so that you and your product can be seen. But be aware that you can also have to much light. So the best thing to do is to test your video and the area your going to be shot in. Make sure you look natural.

3. A microphone is important and you need to be heard. If your using a mini-dv camera you can easily get a microphone that can attach from the camera to your clothing. Use make sure you can't see the wire that connects the mic and the camera during your video.

4. Have FUN! No one wants to see a sour face on camera. So make sure you are having fun and that you SMILE. The better you come across on camera the more people would want to buy your product or services.

5. Don't use big words in your video presentation. Keep it short sweet and simple.

6. Once you've finished your recording, watch it. Make sure it's what you want and something that you'll feel proud to have on your website.

7. Now get the clip to your computer. Your camera will have instructions on how to upload the footage. Now you can get fancy and use one of the high end video editing products. But those take a long time to learn. So if your on a PC use Windows MovieMaker and if your on a Mac use IMove and edit your clip to your licking. Don't use to make crazy effects keep it about you and your product.

8. Now once your clip is edited you need to output it to a web file. If your on a PC then output the file to a WMV. And if your on a MAC then output your clip to a .MOV file.

9. Upload it! If you don't have server space then use http://Video.Google.com or http://Youtube.com. You can easily upload your video to these services. Not only will you have the code to embed the file to your website but you will also allow others to see your video and your product who haven't been to your site yet. It will be as easy as CUT and PASTE to an HTML page.

10. Promote your video clip. Include links to your clip in your weekly newsletters. Send your clip to your friends, family, and business associates. Let them see the work you've done and ask them to pass it on to other friends. Son you'll notice that you have a ton of visitors watching your video and more traffic to your website.

Avoiding Home Business Scams - 3 Easy Steps

Over the past 10 years or so the home business industry has literally exploded. As the home business industry approaches the $500 billion mark scams are popping up everywhere. Unfortunately, more and more people are falling victim to these scam artists and as a result vowing never again to try and realize their dreams of working from home. People seem to be living by the old saying, “scam me once, shame on you. Scam me twice, shame on me.” Once a person has been scammed there is a natural thought process that warns maybe all home business opportunities are scams. After all, almost everybody knows somebody that has lost money in an MLM scam.

If you were to do an online search for, “home business opportunities,” it would take you a couple of days to read all the ads. Most of which are either misleading or just outright lies. It seems almost impossible to figure out which ones are legitimate and which ones are scams.

However, there is a way to sift through all the scams to find those little nuggets that can help you be well on your way to making money from home. Here are a few tips that can help you avoid scams and find the real winners.

1. Most scams are never “upfront” with explaining how you will actually make money. Most ads will say, “no selling, no phone calls, no work,” as if they want you to think money is going to fall out of thin air. Always remember, no one is going to make a dime until some sort of product or service is sold.

2. Most scams do not offer any type of support either by phone or email. You will need help getting your business up and running on the right track. If someone has developed a really good business model they will be glad to help you to succeed.

3. Here is the biggest tip off that you are about to be scammed. Do they offer a no questions asked, money back guarantee? If not, stay as far away as you can get. Any good business developer knows that no business appeals to everyone. If they truly have confidence in their business model, they have nothing to lose by offering you a full guarantee.

Following these few simple steps can save you worlds of time and give you the confidence you need to move forward. Don’t let a bad past experience keep you from accomplishing your dreams and goals.

3 Steps For A Successful Home Business

s, if you

really want to be successful.

Firstly, you need to have a Expert or

Mentor.

Don't know much about Copy Writing,

Internet Marketing, Or Website Design?

Don't worry, most people don't. What you

need to do is play smart. You need to find

yourself someone who has, "been there,

done that", an Expert. Finding yourself a

mentor can be a huge advantage to you;

both financially and mentally. This can be

seen in that the majority of people

who try to establish a online home business, have absolutely no

idea what they're doing. This can be a

massive hurdle, as money is spent and

lost, and the mental hardship continues to

erode any determination.

Secondly, having a back-up plan can be a

big help.

Trying to establish and run, or simply

start a home business, is likened to being

a boat captain, with no life rafts. If the

boat starts to sink, you really have no

option but to go down with it. The same

principle applies to having a home

business. Even though we may try as hard

as we can, some things just don't work.

This is where your back-up plan comes in

handy. Make sure you give your home

business every chance it can to be

successful, but if it doesn't all go

right, don't be afraid to cut your losses

and move on to plan "B".

Thirdly, and this is a big one. To be

successful, you need something which a lot

of people don't have. Unstoppable determination

and desire.

Interestingly enough, this is the sole

reason why the majority of people don't

succeed online. They don't have that

"x-factor". They don't have that

relentless desire and determination.

Here is something which you should write

down, and read every time you wake up,

before you go to sleep, while you make

your cup of coffee or tea--while you do

anything, in fact.

"Whatever your success achieved, it will

be in direct proportion to the

determination and desire which you

expressed. More desire, more

determination, the greater the success!"

Here is an example to illustrate my

point:

I'm sure we've all heard of Kobe Bryant,

right? Most people believe that it's his

excellent talent that makes him the

special NBA player he is. In saying that, his

amazing talent does play a big role in his

success. Want to know what really makes

him such an amazing player? It is his

desire and determination. Put simply, he

just wants more wins, more championships,

than anyone else on the court.

Thats how you, the new online home business owner, must learn

to think and act. You have to want your

success with your entire being. Every part

of your body, mind and soul, must be

screaming, "I want to be successful!", and

you have to make sure nothing can stop you

from being successful--nothing!

And just remember,

"Whatever your success achieved, it will

be in direct proportion to the

determination and desire which you

expressed. More desire, more

determination, the greater the success!"

10 Steps To Running A Home-Based Business

The failure or success of a business often relies on the most fundamental operations-the ones that often get overlooked as a tipping point process in the daily business cycle. Fortunately, one of the leading business sites, AllBusiness.com, offers advice and solutions that help businesses succeed. These 10 easy-to-follow steps will help your home-based business become a success.

1. Plan ahead. Take the time to make plans for every eventuality that may arise. From natural disasters to unexpected financial problems, you will need a plan that you can readily access to get you through a difficult time.

2. Put money aside. Don't begin your business with delusions of overnight success. You'll need funds to tide you over while your business grows. Put some money aside to tide you over until you do start earning revenue.

3. Organize your time. Being a responsible business owner means managing your time wisely. Initially you will need to spend extra time making your vision a reality.

4. Organize your space. You can't run a business effectively if you are wasting time looking for an important receipt under reams of loose paper. Take time to organize your home office and make sure you can function efficiently.

5. Stay focused. Family responsibilities, chores, TV and the warmth of your own bed can all distract you from the task at hand. Remove as many distractions as you can from your home office and stay focused.

6. Figure out tax laws now, before it is too late. Do your research now so you will be prepared come tax time.

7. Advertise. You can't afford to wait for your customers to come to you-you need to go out and get them. Advertising is an investment, and spending money now to market your business effectively can pay big dividends.

8. Get the proper equipment. Office equipment is an extra expense, but you need the hardware to run your business correctly. To compare features and prices, check out the Business Products comparison engine at AllBusiness.com.

9. Cover your assets. Don't wait for a natural disaster to destroy your entire inventory-now is the time to purchase the insurance you need.

10. Don't get discouraged. Success does not come overnight. It will require dedication, hard work and a lot of extra effort to make it a reality. This is your dream; do all you can to keep it alive.

4 Steps To Making Your Home Business A True Automated System

You hear it al the time if you have been involved or are involved in the home business or internet business industry:

“You need a system to succeed.”

I like to take this a step further. You not only need a “system”, but in order to get the most out of your home business opportunity, you need to have an Automated System. To take that even one step further, your Automated System must hit your prospects from EVERY angle in order to achieve the highest levels of prosperity.

Here are four techniques that if used on all of your prospects WILL increase your earnings with ANY home or internet business opportunity.

Step 1: Create a “capture” or “squeeze” page.

Even if you have no idea what this is, you have almost certainly seen a capture page and even been “captured by one. A capture page is simply a page that is set up to give some brief information about a product or service, but then requires the prospect to enter their info to get the full details. It is often a teaser or hyped up page to get the prospect to want to know more. The most effective capture pages touch on the prospects personal or financial needs compelling them to find out more by filling in their information. Once they do, you own their information for life and can continue to follow up with them or contact them about other offers of services you have no, or develop in the future. Capture pages are a MUST to start building your list that you will be able to promote any product or service. A great program that allows even the most novice person to create capture pages in minutes is Lead Page Generator.

Special note: NEVER LOSE YOUR LIST OF CAPTURED NAMES, ADDRESSES, EMAILS, ETC.

Those that are highly successful in any home business or internet opportunity have a list of thousands that they have built over the years. Any time they have a new product, service or opportunity to promote they send it out to their list first. This gives you a big head start and if your products, services and opportunities have been successful in the past, your list will follow you everywhere.

This all leads into the second technique to creating a totally automated system, email auto responders.

Step 2: Follow up with prospects via email

This is the easiest and most recognizable form of follow up. When creating a capture page, all you have to do is tie the information form into an auto responder. This can be done very easily using services such as aweber. Now, when a prospect fills in their information, you not only get to keep their information for your list, but now you can follow up with them daily, weekly, monthly without having to lift a finger. Of course, you have to write your email follow up messages ahead of time, but once you have them completed, you are following up with your prospects over and over while doing no additional work.

While email is a nice tool to make your system automated, it is far too often the ONLY tool people use. This is a huge mistake. Fact is, that email follow up and marketing is becoming far less effective due to spam laws and people filtering their email accounts.

In order to reach as many people as possible, you need to come at them from different angles.

Step 3: Follow up with a voice broadcasting system

Voice broadcasting gives you yet another method of following up with prospects. It is an awesome tool and as of late has been sort of the “new email.” Because email is getting caught by filters and spam control features, it is necessary to try and reach prospects using other methods. Outside of email, voice broadcasting is the easiest and least expensive means of following up. In addition, voice broadcasting can keep your system totally automated. You can record a simple message or series of messages, collect the prospects phone number on your capture page and then simply set up your voice broadcasting software to call them once, weekly, monthly or whatever you choose. There are lots of services to use out there. Goldcalling, voiceshot, probuilderplus, and protus are just a few.

Step 4: Postcard follow up

Direct mail is by far the most forgotten means of follow up, but often the most effective. Postcards are a terrific way to make sure that your prospects hear form you. By simply collecting their mailing info on your capture page, you have set yourself up to use an incredible tool that will definitely help increase your sales and income.

There are a couple of services that allow you to set up a direct mail campaign to work just like an email auto responder. The best service in my opinion is PostCardAutoresponder.com. You can input a prospects mailing address and set up a campaign that will send them a postcard once, twice, weekly, monthly, or whatever you choose. Just set it up once and forget it. You can contact a prospect for an entire year on autopilot . You can even create custom postcards for any business , service or opportunity.

If you use that simple 4 step plan to create an automated system for your business, you will definitely increase sales and income. Plus, you will not only have an automated system that works for you while you are doing the things you enjoy, but it will be one that contacts prospects from every angle so they are sure to get your message early and often. Remember, it is not always enough just to have a system. You need to have an automated system that you can plug each prospect into that will run itself while you focus on building your business.

Build Your Business With Four Easy Steps

Creating a successful and profitable business is no easy task. It’s reliant on many outside factors, including competition, timing and demand, which you have very little to no control over at the beginning. Assuming all of these outside factors are in your favor, having a sound business plan can lead to having a successful business. Here are five steps to consider when you’re building your business from the ground up:

1. Determine your business. What are you selling?

This question isn’t as easy to answer as you may think. For example, Nike is in the sportswear business, but the truth is that when you buy a pair of Nike shoes and a t-shirt at the mall you’re buying a lot more than sportswear — you’re buying an image, a feeling. You're buying the Nike brand. Richard Thalheimer, the former CEO of The Sharper Image and the founder of RichardSolo.com, has worked in specialty retail for more than 30 years. When asked what business he’s in, he’ll tell you “convenience” or "innovation" before he specifies any particular industry, and he's built one of the most powerful brands in America. Keep in mind, there’s more to a product than, well, the product. Your brand is what sets your product apart from your competitor’s.

2. Select your market. Who are you selling to?

This step is a bit less interpretive as the first, though equally important. Who are you selling to? or more importantly, what do you know about this person? Understanding your consumer is a key to success. What do they do? Where do they hang out? What do they watch on television? These are just a few of the questions that you should be able to answer about your consumer. Knowing the answers to these questions can answer a lot of questions of your own when it comes to a devising a marketing strategy. Richard Thalheimer understood his market for The Sharper Image, probably as well as they understood themselves. From an article in the LA Times, Tracy Wan, who was president and chief operating officer under Thalheimer says "Richard has the amazing ability to figure out the things that people want to have." This ability to perceive your consumer's desire can only be a result of knowing them like your neighbor.

3. Create a marketing strategy. How do you speak to these people?

This is a culmination of understanding your brand and your consumer. As mentioned in number two, understanding your consumer can answer a lot of questions concerning your marketing strategy: Where should you advertise? What's the voice of your brand? What kind of prices are reasonable for this demographic? In order to engage your consumer, a.k.a. sell your product to them, you must know where your advertisements will be noticed, how to speak to them, and how much they will be able to spend, among many of things. Really, this step should have been combined with the last because who your market is dictates your marketing strategy entirely.

4. Learn by example. Seek advice from those who have done it.

There are many books written by professionals who have already started their own business and have been successful in doing so. One that comes to mind immediately, as we've already mentioned him a couple of times, is Richard Thalheimer. "Creating Your Own Sharper Image" shares the story of how he grew his tiny office supply company, The Sharper Image, into the thriving enterprise that it has become today.

Remember, building a successful business in not all about the dollars and cents. Equally as valuable is you brand equity and your ability to engage your consumer, which is only attainable by understanding them. Assuming there is a demand for your product, and you can compete with the other brands, following these four steps shall guide you in the right direction.

3 Steps To Starting A Home Business...

This little article will give some proper ideas for you to be able to choose and start a very profitable and enjoyable Home Business.

With so many different kinds of opportunities that can be found, it can be quite confusing on just how to make this whole Home Business phenomenon work for you, and earn you much income.

So, in order for you to prosper with your own business here are 3 steps you should always follow in order to make it all work for you.

#1 - Choose the right product or service to offer your future customers. It should be something you are comfortable with,plus having some knowledge of the product or service will be to your advantage. You will naturally have to do some research to help you with this.

In order for your Home Business to be enjoyable you must be able to pick a product/service that will work for you. Then your aim will be to earn money -- ask yourself if this is the perfect product or service for you.

HOW DO YOU DO THIS? - Simple.

Choose the product or service that gets you excited.

Yep, that's it. Make sure that you are happy with your choice, then you can honestly offer it to your buyers who will also be happy too.

This way,you will be able to get behind your decision and put your best effort into making your Home Business a true success for your future income, and you will have happy customers, too.

#2-Use time tested and proven marketing techniques.

Do not try to "reinvent the wheel".

You MUST use proven techniques that have been tested to give your Home Business the very best results. Your buyers will want these results too!

Some of these are: Place little inexpensive classified ads in newsletters, newspapers, magazine etc. As well as using powerful and professional sales letters that are simple and to the point.

#3-Be Professional.

You must give the impression that your Home Business is not some hobby or passing idea. Remember, this is YOUR business and you will have to stay motivated. Do not forget also that there will definitely be some competition to be expected - you will have to deal with this also.

You are what you put into your Home Business. You may have to get a business license, and register with the BBB (Better Business Bureau). Also register your own domain name.

You may need to get some nice inexpensive letter head for correspondence. Even in these hectic times, people still like to receive letters on nice letter heads - they will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

So, there you have 3 ingredients that when used properly will surely build for you a profitable and very successful Home Business that can and will make you very proud.

In closing, let me also point out that a business will need some work on your part. As mentioned above, this will not be a hobby or a 1-minute passing idea, so be prepared to spend some time and energy to get your business up and running - SUCCESS WILL FIND YOU!

Basic Steps for Home Business Success

When you make the decision to earn income from the internet you will need to go through a set up process to be ready for your home business.

Following are the basic steps in setting up for home business success.

1. Attitude

The key to your home business success is your attitude.

Treat your home business like a business.

This is critical whether you are working part-time or full-time. One of my colleagues is a mother who works from home around her family. She has always put her family first whilst at the same time developing her home business. She says, "I work part-time, but I have a full-time attitude."

Put another way, "If you have a hobby attitude you will have a hobby income, if you have a home business attitude you will have a home business income."

You can be successful working part-time and you can be successful working full-time but it is highly unlikely that you will be successful working in your "spare time".

2. Working Environment

A space that you can call your own, free from distractions for your scheduled time.

A comfortable chair and organized desk.
Stationery supplies as required. For example:

- pens
- highlighters
- stapler
- hole punch
- sticky tape
- note book(s)
- a simple filing system
- ring binders
- manilla folders

Consider the value of a broadband connection. Your time is valuable and a broadband connection can allow you to get more done in a given time frame.

3. Schedule

Develop a schedule that works for you, your family (or "significant others") and your home business. When you allot a block of time for work then use that time for work. Equally important is to schedule time for your other commitments - family time, self education ( reading, listening and viewing), "health time" (exercise, cooking and eating), and leisure time. During these other times don't work. After all if one of the reasons to work from home is to spend more time with your family then you don't want your working at home time to consume your family time.

You are working for yourself and your schedule (by your choice) is your "boss". When you have people calling you or dropping around unexpectedly or maybe out-of-town visitors may want to catch up with you then you need to make a choice. Are you committed to your own home business success? What will be your choice in these situations? Only you can decide what is important to you.

In a family environment you may need to negotiate with your partner and children to have your home business time agreed upon, during which you will not be interrupted. Put this schedule prominently somewhere so all family members are aware of your work schedule.

4. Describe Your Home Business

Be able to describe your home business concisely; a powerful one or two sentence description that someone can repeat in describing your home business to others. A unique and memorable tag line can also be invaluable for promoting your home business.

5. Know Your Product or Service

Once you have selected your product or service to sell, it may or may not be something that you use yourself but you need to know your product intimately. If you are selling ebooks then know the content and its value. If you are selling software then use it know it "inside out". You will develop a reputation of providing quality information and because of your product knowledge you can become the preferred supplier.

It is not practical to use certain products (for example a woman may choose to sell man's shoes or vice versa) in which case the seller won't be a product user, however the seller can still know the benefits and features of the product intimately.

6. Administration

Use good record keeping practices.

This may involve a consultation with a tax advisor who can let you know about the optimal way to set up your financial records and what records need to be kept. Your advisor will also recommend record keeping systems and you can find out what software may simplify this aspect of your home business. Additionally your obtain advice on the best arrangement for your bank accounts. You will most likely be advised to have a separate bank account.

You will also need to keep track of your various logins, usernames and passwords. A very handy little software tool for this is Treepad available as either the free Lite version (without password protection) or the commercial Plus or Biz versions. http://www.treepad.com

There are other useful tools for this also from a simple paper notebook to free and commercial password keepers. One popular solution is Roboform that will remember your login details and can automatically fill out your login and other registration forms. http://www.roboform.com

7. Computer Protection

Your computer is the lifeline to your home business dealings and must be protected including the data that is stored.

You need a virus scanner, personal firewall, anti-spyware and anti-adware and preferably an email scanner with the ability to delete suspect of spam email from the server before it is downloaded to your computer.

Some suggestions are:

AVG Anti-Virus: http://www.grisoft.com
Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org
Microsoft Anti-Spyware:
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Adaware: http://www.lavasoft.com/
Mailwasher Email Scanner: http://www.mailwasher.net

8. A Domain Name

You will most likely need a domain name for your home business and one cost effective registrar is GoDaddy, http://www.godaddy.com.

9. Payment Processing

You will need a way to process credit cards; that may be using services such as:
- PayPal https://www.paypal.com
- Storm Pay http://www.stormpay.com
- 2 Checkout http://www.2checkout.com
- Clickbank http://www.clickbank.com or others.

This is the most economical way to get started. Once your home business picks up you may need to look into your own merchant account for credit card transactions.

Consideration may also be given to other forms of online currency such as eGold http://www.egold.com

10. Email accounts

Once you have your own domain you can use an associated email account. This can further assist in the promotion of your home business and promotes a more professional business image.

As a final comment on continuing in your internet home business, conduct your home business ethically, provide extraordinary service and be proud to put your name to the products or services that you are selling and you will be on track to developing a sustainable long term internet home business.