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Using Your Domain Name To Create More Business Products

The internet is a source of income within itself if you know what avenues to go down in order to generate the interest. Most companies nowadays have their own websites which offer information around the globe on what they offer. Whilst you may already be expanding due to this type of advertising would it not make sense to utilize this space to the best potential you can get from it? There are a few extra business opportunities that can bring in some extra cash for you and your business.

Examples of Business Opportunities Online

More often than not you will be using an Internet Service Provider to host your websites. It also means that the domain name that is used is not yours, it will be one assigned to you which promotes their name and not your. Normally if this service is provided free it also means that all advertising that is placed on your website is generating profits for your provider and not for you. This is just one of the many ways that you can use your domain name to attract business and generate income from various avenues globally.

There are companies who will provide you with the guidance to getting your website recognized and utilize your domain name to attract more business your way, making you stand out amongst the competition. They will research you and your website and find the pieces of information that stand out that will attract interest in your clients from amongst the rest of the competition that will get returned from online web searches.

Another way of ensuring added exposure of your business is by targeting your advertising spaces. In this way you will be linked with products and services that are in direct relation to what you are doing. This means that users who search for your type of product may be directed to you for that little something extra that they may require after their purchases. This is why your domain name is important in its clarity and simpleness.

Many companies may not realize that they need to register their domain names with the big search engine companies in order for them to get picked up in user searches. Search engine companies will list your domain name on their server and use specialized software to scan your site for word combinations that may be entered into a search engine. In this way you are ensured of being turned up in an online search, exposing you to literally millions of users the world over.

Email is a virtually free form of advertising. It is easy to gather peoples email addresses from those who wish to receive further information on your product. These can be from existing clients, online users who may subscribe to your email news letters; however it is important that when you use this sort of advertising you are not breaking the laws by encroaching on peoples privacy rights. This could get you and your company into some serious trouble and incur hefty penalties and even law suits against you.

Using these types of online opportunities means utilizing your web space to its full capacity. It is also a relatively cheap way of exposing your name to the international market without having to launch into expensive ad campaigns around the world. There are many opportunities for you to use your domain name as an extra business opportunity and all the research information is readily available online. Become a part of the ever growing popularity of online marketing and expand your business globally.

Using SWOT Analysis To Improve Your Business

Analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of a business is a well-established tool that is widely used by academics, consultants, and advisors. Although it is a simple concept, business owners often struggle when trying to use it because it is so broad. It is difficult to determine where to start, what questions to ask, and where to focus. The obvious problems get attention while many other important issues get overlooked. SWOT analysis is a great tool, but its effective use requires additional structure.

Strengths and weaknesses relate to internal factors, while opportunities and threats cover external ones. The internal factors can be divided into five categories: management, workforce, sales and marketing, operations, and financial. The external factors are also divided into five categories: threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of customers, threat of rivalry from competitors, and threat of substitution.

To approach the analysis in a structured way, prepare a checklist using the categories mentioned above. Identify factors within each category that are important to your business. Under management for example, a major weakness for virtually every small business is relying too heavily on the owner. What would happen to the business if something happened to the owner? In the workforce category a factor could be employee turnover and the availability of new hires. The threat of new entrants might include the possibility of a big box retailer opening near your business. The bargaining power of suppliers and customers categories should consider the possibility of losing a major supplier or customer. Come up with several factors for each category to complete the checklist. It is important that you do not try to rate or solve each issue as you identify them. If you do, you will get bogged down on each factor and never complete the analysis.

Once the checklist is complete, you should rate each factor based on its importance to your business. Use an alphabetical scale from A to E, where A = very important, B = important, C = some importance, D = little importance, and E = not important. Next rate each factor based on proficiency (internal) or vulnerability (external). Use a numerical scale from 1 to 5, where 1 = very proficient or not vulnerable, 2 = proficient or little vulnerability, 3 = average proficiency or some vulnerability, 4 = poor proficiency or vulnerable, and 5 = deficient or very vulnerable.

The factors with the lowest letter and highest number (A5) are the biggest weaknesses or threats. The ones with the lowest letter and lowest number (A1) are the biggest strengths or opportunities.

Using this structured approach makes a SWOT analysis possible and practical for any small business. To make this process worthwhile you must use this information to take action. Work to fix the worst problems first, prepare for the biggest risks, take advantage of the best opportunities, and build your secondary strengths.

Using Squidoo To Skyrocket Your Direct Sales Business

New and seasoned direct sellers need to stand apart from their competition particularly if you're with a direct sales company that offers cookie cutter websites. If you're looking to build online business specifically, you need to find a way to show your potential customers and recruits that YOU are the expert in your field.

You could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a marketing plan specifically designed for you and your company. You could spend another large amount on advertising and PR. But what I if I told you there was a way to set yourself apart on the internet - and also told you that it's free? Would you stop and take notice?

I hope so because there's a wonderful tool on the Internet that's just perfect for direct sellers to strut their stuff and establish themselves as the expert in their field and it doesn't cost a penny - and even the time element is minimal. You set this up in about 5 minutes and it's easy. It's called Squidoo!

Squid-what? Squidoo - I like to call it a blog on steroids. Squidoo doesn't call them blogs though; they're called "lenses" because each lens helps you to focus in on specific information on one area.

What can you do on a squidoo site that will help you maximize your position as the direct sales expert for your company?

1. Have a web identity separate from your company sponsored replicated website. It's great to have a company site, but having a squidoo lens will help people find YOU and not just your company.

2. Confirm your expert status. You can give details about your products and how customers can use them in real life. You can go beyond the product descriptions and really help your customers see the benefits of the lifestyle that your company's products promotes.

3. Links to your company site. Within the squidoo lens you can link to your company website too. It's a great lead generator for you.

4. Video and tutorials - show your customers how to sign up by displaying an online video of the process right on your lens (some special software may be required for this part). Even if you don't do video you can type out a step by step tutorial on your sign up process so the shy ones feel better about jumping in.

5. Book and resource recommendations - recommend books and other resources so your customers can become educated. Just another service to help set you apart from the crowd. This option allows you to also earn a little side income for yourself. Not bad!

Using Fleet Wraps To Advertise Your Business

A new form of advertising is hitting the nation and it is coming soon to a street near you. Fleet Wraps are becoming the new wave of the future for advertising. Some companies might only have a few cars that they are willing to advertise their business on, while others will have many. It is those companies that will benefit greatly from fleet wraps. Fleet wraps are advertisements on vehicles that are driven by the employees of the company the fleet wraps are promoting. They stop at job sites, travel down busy streets and get stuck in traffic. The drivers are doing their jobs while advertising the company.

This type of advertising can be much more beneficial than the traditional forms of advertising. Think about how often trucks are on the road or for that matter any vehicle driven by a company. By using a custom fleet wrap, the graphics can create up to 16 million impressions over the course of a year. Most often the fleet wraps contain more than just your companies name and number. The key to fleet wraps is the eye catching design. Most companies who design wraps are taking them to the next level. These companies will often offer custom design graphics. They work hand in hand in hand with their clients to create the ideal graphic design for their vehicles. These companies know how important it is to make the advertisements look interesting and attractive without being tacky or tasteless.

There are many benefits for companies who use fleet wraps as their advertising weapons. For starts they are cheaper than other advertising means. Purchasing billboard space can be expensive and sometimes it is not even noticed by drivers. Another pro is that fleet wraps do the hard part and that is advertising your company. All that needs to be done is have the vehicle driven around as they would any normal day and the vehicle is doing all the work for you. It is like driving around a moving billboard. Companies who have used fleet wraps have reported a significant increase in business. Even more of an increase than they would having a local ad in the paper, or a TV spot.

You will see that most fleet wrap designs are eye catching and bright. They make people take notice of the vehicle and it is done creatively. Their whole mission is to help companies promote their business. Each design should be handcrafted to meet the customer’s needs. It is so much more detailed than just a company name and a phone number. There is usually a design along with the company’s logo if any.

Nowadays people are too busy to skim through the local paper to catch any advertisements for a company, and with the invention of TIVO and the DVR, people are fast forwarding more and more through commercials. These same people however cannot miss a fleet wrap as it passes them by on the street, or even if they drive past one that is parked at job site. There is a whole new audience out there on the road, which just might be looking for what that company is promoting.

Using Video To Draw Business On The Web

It has been proven in the United States that there are more broadband internet users compared to dial-up. That being the case, media that requires high bandwidth is now more readily available to anyone who wants to download it.

A medium that is still relatively new is using video presentations to market your products and services. While photos do provide a potential customer a view of the product or service at hand, video commands much more attention. It delivers a multimedia experience to the viewer that demands attention. Also, the power of a moving image with audio over plain text is indisputable.

However, certain things are appropriate for video while others are not.

A very good use of video on the internet would be to sell real estate. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but you can’t exactly walk through a house via photos alone. Video will allow the potential home buyer to tour the home before they visit to pique interest. A use of video that would not work would be something that would not help sell the product at all. For example, if you were selling paint, using video would not enhance a paint’s color or texture. A photo would be much more appropriate.

If you are selling a product on the internet, explore ways to use video to show off your product or show people how to do things with your product. Encoding the video into Flash will make the video easily viewed by almost everybody online. It is important, though, that you pay attention to the quality of the production. While the video has a lot of power, it can work against you if the video looks amateur.

In the very near future, internet and television will not have any separation. As of now, major providers of services are offering plans that physically deliver television through the internet. This is an untapped medium for advertising that is sure to be a big hit.

Using the Power of Client Testimonials to Grow Your Business

Client testimonials are one of the most powerful marketing tools coaches can use. Did you know that they can help you attract new clients, increase customer confidence and generate a positive “buzz” about you and your services? (Actually, those are just a few of their marketing uses.)

Human nature gives testimonials such power because we love discovering what one person thinks of another - even when it's positive! It's the same dynamic that makes gossip so hard to resist. As a professional coach, you want the positive “gossip” that testimonials provide because you can use that information to promote yourself, your services and products, to call attention to your strengths and to distinguish yourself from your competitors.

Testimonials also are powerful because they are first-person accounts: when a client makes a positive statement about you and backs it up with his or her name and contact information, it enhances your credibility.

In addition, written testimonials are fabulously flexible. They can be used powerfully on your website, in printed and electronic promotional materials, following the signature line of your emails and in many other ways and places. Once you have obtained testimonials from your clients, you will think of a hundred ways to use them!

Now that we have established the value of client testimonials, here are a few dos and don'ts to guide you as you obtain and use them to grow your business.

DO let your clients know the benefits to them of providing testimonials that will be used on your website(s), such as:
- increased exposure for their business, thanks to internet serendipity;
- increased website traffic and/or business for them, generated by a link from your website to theirs;
- enhanced standing among search engines, due to more internet exposure; and
- that genuinely warm feeling that comes from helping another “solopreneur”!

DO obtain your clients' permission to use their full name and email address because it will give
their testimonials a great deal more credibility. (Let's assume I have written a glowing
testimonial for someone whose services I use. Now compare the impact of these two testimonial
signatures: “A.S., Coach” or Alicia Smith, Business Coach and DISC Ninja;
Alicia@aliciasmith.com . The second is far more powerful.)

DON'T (ever) use fictional testimonials because they can destroy your credibility.

DO utilize honest (verbatim) testimonials that speak to what your potential clients will most want
to know about you, including (but not limited to!) why you are such a fantastic coach and why
you, your services and your products are so special.

DO store your client testimonials in a Word document or Excel database so that you can find
them easily. You may want to organize them by client name, service or product.

The next step is to obtain testimonials from your clients. Here are the basic steps and some questions to get you started.

Begin by sending your clients a friendly email stating that you are seeking a testimonial you can use in your marketing. Personalize your communication as much as possible. For example, your letter may begin, “Dear Jim: Last December, you participated in my teleclass, (name of class). I certainly hope you found the class to be helpful. Because I am revamping my marketing materials, I am writing to ask you a favor: I would deeply appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to answer the questions below.” (Be sure to work into your letter the benefits to these clients of providing testimonials that will be used on your website.)

You may want to ask your clients some or all of the following questions and to customize each email with the name of the product or service the client purchased. When a client has purchased more than one product or service, send a separate email request for each.
- What first attracted you to (name the teleclass, internet course, product or service the client purchased) and why did you decide to purchase it?
- What was the most beneficial tool, concept or idea that you gained from (the product or service)?
- How are you currently utilizing (the product or service in your business and/or life)?
- Has it saved you and your business time, money or energy? If so, in what way(s)?
- Why would you recommend (the product or service) to your associates, colleagues or clients?
- What would you like to say to someone who is considering purchasing (the product or service)?

You now have the basic information you need to obtain client testimonials that you can use to power up your business and Make Money Now! Here's a very important final tip: once you begin to receive testimonials from your clients, be absolutely sure to enjoy the wonderful things they say about you!

© Copyright 2004 Alicia Smith

Permission to reproduce granted if all attribution & contact information is included.

Why you should choose a at home business using Private Label Rights Products?

Private Label Rights are a powerful business concept for many reasons but the most obvious is for the type of income it can provide webmasters. It is so powerful that many fortune 500 companies have used them, some are still using this business model to build their multi-million dollar empire.

So why cannot the average person do the same?

The answer is average people are already running some great home-based businesses using private label rights products. Are you one of them? If not, now is an excellent time to get started.

Millionaires have taken notice of PLR as a home-based business opportunity that average people can work into and build wealth.

PLR is a huge, thriving industry in spite of all the negative publicity it receives in the media from PLR enthusiasts. Many millionaires express how PLR is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in building a home-based business without having to work from scratch.

Can you use some extra income?

Most consumers would probably answer yes to this question. Everybody can use extra income every month. But where is this extra income going to come from?

One obvious solution would be is to get a second job. This option may seem to be the best solution but is really not. This is because the time you spend on your second job and the money you receive after taxes is not enough.

Of course you will have to consider your reasons for getting a second job and why you need the extra income to determine if getting a second job is really the right solution for you.

However, on the other hand, you can start working on your own part-time home-based business using PLR as your business opportunity. You can get started in the industry for nearly nothing. This is a big plus.

How can you start working in an private label rights products home business opportunity you have heard so much about?

Getting started has become so easy that anyone can get started even if you do not have a dime to invest in your start up. The key here is to simply get started then never quit.

Many legitimate PLR home business opportunities will allow you to get started for under $10. for web hosting to sell your products.You can even find free opportunities with little or no overhead expenses and with great support from other members in forums as well as the parent companys.

There are many companies will provide all the tools and system for you. You simply add your sweat PLR products, your working commitment, and persistence to the PLR home business opportunity.

Remember to choose a well-established company that offers quality products or services with an excellent management team and support to their distributors.

One of the best recources I have found for private label rights products is plrprostores.com

Another important key factor is your commitment to the company and its products and services. Working for a home business opportunity means that you should be a bona-fide user and marketer of the products and services you want to earn extra income from.

In conclusion, PLR is a smart business opportunity sense for anyone wishing to start working at home. It cost next to nothing to get started, you get a proven system like you would if you bought a franchise opportunity, and you can be in profit in months rather than in years.

Therefore, if you desire more income while still working a 9 to 5 job, or to build your retirement income, then you should seriously consider working for a home business PLR opportunity.

Open you online store and start selling private label rights products as you own.

Easy Profits Using PPC In Your Affiliate Marketing Business

PPC is one of the four basic types of Search Engines. PPC is also one of the most cost-effective ways of targeted internet advertising. According to Forbes magazine, PPC or Pay Per Click, accounts to 2 billion dollars a year and is expected to increase to around 8 billion dollars by the year 2008.

Let us take a quick look at how PPC Search Engines work.

These engines create listings and rate them based on a bid amount the website owner is willing to pay for each click from that search engine. Advertisers bid against each other to receive higher ranking for a specific keyword or phrase.

The highest bidder for a certain keyword or phrase will then have the site ranked as number 1 in the PPC Search Engines followed by the second and third highest bidder, up to the last number that have placed a bid on the same keyword or phrase. Your ads then will appear prominently on the results pages based on the dollar amount bid you will agree to pay per click.

How do you make money by using PPC into your affiliate marketing business?

Most affiliate programs only pay when a sale is made or a lead delivered after a visitor has clickthrough your site. Your earnings will not always be the same as they will be dependent on the web site content and the traffic market http://www.dogs9.com

The reason why you should incorporate PPC into your affiliate marketing program is that earnings are easier to make than in any other kind of affiliate program not using PPC. This way, you will be making profit based from the clickthroughs that your visitor will make on the advertiser’s site. Unlike some programs, you are not paid per sale or action.

PPC can be very resourceful of your website. With PPC Search Engines incorporated into your affiliate program, you will be able to profit from the visitor’s who are not interested in your products or services. The same ones who leave your site and never comes back.

You will not only get commissions not only from those who are just searching the web and finding the products and services that they wanted but you will be able to build your site’s recognition as a valuable resource. The visitors who have found what they needed from you site are likely to come back and review what you are offering more closely. Then they will eventually come back to search the web for other products.

This kind of affiliate program is also an easy way for you to generate some more additional revenues. For example, when a visitor on your site does a search in the PPC Search Engine and clicks on the advertiser bided listings, the advertisers’ account will then be deducted because of that click. With this, you will be compensated 30% to 80% of the advertisers’ bid amount.

PPC is not only a source of generating easy profits; it can also help you promote your own site. Most of the programs allow the commissions received to be spent for advertising with them instantly and with no minimum earning requirement. This is one of the more effective ways to exchange your raw visitors for targeted surfers who has more tendencies to purchase your products and services.

What will happen if you when you integrate PPC into your affiliate program?

PPC usually have ready-to-use affiliate tools that can be easily integrated into your website. The most common tools are search boxes, banners, text links and some 404-error pages. Most search engines utilize custom solutions and can provide you with a white-label affiliate program. This enables you, using only a few lines of code, to integrate remotely-hosted co-branded search engine into your website.

The key benefits? Not only more money generated but also some extra money on the side. Plus a lifetime commissions once you have referred some webmaster friends to the engine.

Think about it. Where can you get all these benefits while already generating some income for your site? Knowing some of the more useful tools you can use for your affiliate program is not a waste of time. They are rather a means of earning within an earning.

Best know more about how you can use PPC search engines into your affiliate program than miss out on a great opportunity to earn more profits.

Using The Government To Start Your Business

Many people, when starting their own business, aren’t sure where to turn for assistance. Yes, there are private institutions that can help you along your way, but one of the best resources for the young and aspiring entrepreneur is the federal government. Programs and money exist to help the fledgling business owner, and it is to the individual’s peril that they ignore these opportunities.

Money is perhaps the most important thing the startup business owner needs. Without capital, you’re stuck in the mud. You need money to finance your building, your rent, your employee roster, advertising, and the cost of purchasing or creating the product you intend to sell. This can all add up to quite a bit of cash. There are private banks and lending institutions that may be willing to help, and you can always turn to your friends and family for beginning investments. However, only a fool would ignore the money and grants offered by the government. The government gives away millions of dollars a year in capital for beginner entrepreneurs. The best part about the government’s money is that they do not expect to recoup anything from their investment. These grants are given for the greater good of the economy. Do some simple internet research and you will find plenty of grants to apply for. Apply for them all.

Money is not the only thing the government can help you with when starting your own business. They offer assistance in other areas as well. This can include assistance for expansion for your small business, development, and even assistance with renovation. If you’re looking for more assistance for your small business, try the Small Business Administration Office. Through this office, the government provides free training and assistance to small business owners across the country. This training and assistance can be invaluable to the young entrepreneur that doesn’t know all the ins and outs of starting a business.

When starting a small business, it can seem like every obstacle in the world in being thrown in front of you. If you fail to take advantage of the programs and government assistance out there, you are only hurting yourself. The government understands that putting investment into small businesses helps the economy and enriches the fabric of our country. Take a look around you for examples of this in your daily life. Do you think the Hindu family that owns the dry cleaning business down the street is just naturally wealthy? Unlikely. They simply knew where to go to find assistance in starting their business. The best place to look is the government. Go and do likewise and you will be on your way to having a healthy and successful business.

Using a Website to Market Your Business

There are many different ways to advertise your business on the Internet. Placing banner ads, orchestrating an email marketing campaign and tactfully mentioning your business on industry related forums and message boards are just a few of the popular options for Internet marketing. Another Internet marketing strategy involves creating and advertising a website to promote your business. You can use your website in a number of ways. Some of these ways include providing more information about your business and the products or services you offer, letting potential customers know how to reach you and even selling your products and services via the website. This article will highlight the advantages of using a website to market your business and will outline some of the ways the website can be useful.

One great advantage to using a website to market your business on the Internet is that you can place descriptions and photos of the products or services your business offers. This is important because many consumers use the Internet when researching products and services. Having an online presence gives your business an advantage over the competition because consumers are much more likely to select your products or services over the products and services offered by your competitors who do not advertise online.

Another advantage to marketing your business on a website is you can use the website to not only market but also sell your products directly. Again this can give you an edge over the direct competition. Consumers who use the Internet to research products and services are often very anxious to make their purchases and they would be more inclined to select a retailer or service providers who offer the opportunity to purchase products or services online over a retailer or service provider who only allows for purchase in a store or via phone.

Still another advantage to using a website to market your business is the ability to reach a large, worldwide audience. The Internet essentially knows no boundaries and advertising on a website means the business owner can reach competitors around the world instead of being limited to their general location. Advertising via other medium such as television, radio and the print media is somewhat limited and may only reach potential customers in a relatively small geographic area.

Another advantage to using a website to market your business is the Internet is available 24 hours a day around the world. This essentially offers you a storefront which is open 24 hours a day. While your competitors may be limited to their regular business hours, your website will enable you to reach your customers at any hour of the day. This is especially important for reaching potential customers in other time zones and for reach customers in your own area who are simply too busy to shop for products or services like the ones you offer during regular business hours. Many potential customers work long hours and appreciate the ability to research and shop online after hours.

One final advantage to using a website to market your business is you can actually generate a profit from your website in other ways than through sales to customers. You can also use your website to generate income by selling advertising space to other business owners who are marketing their own products and services on the Internet. However, care should be taken when advertising on your website. First of all you should not sell advertising space to direct competitors. This is important because this may cause you to lose potential business if potential customers opt to purchase product or services from competitors who advertise on your website. An ideal advertiser is one who offers products and services which do not directly compete with your own products or services but would be of interest to your potential customers. You should also take care not to place too many advertisements on your website. This is important because too many advertisements may detract from your business and may cause you to lose potential customers.

Using Social Networking Websites to Promote Your Business

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

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

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

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

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

As previously mentioned, social networking websites with a focus on businesses, are a great way to promote your business. However, this does not mean that you should completely forget about the other online social networking websites, the ones that are designed to make online friendships. Although you may not learn any valuable business tips by joining Yahoo! 360 or MySpace, you may be able to get new customers and new customers is exactly what your business should want and need.

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

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

Using The Web To Jump-Start Your Business

The U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that more than 580,000 small businesses will start up this year. Unfortunately, about 576,000 small businesses will fail during that same time period. So how can entrepreneurs hedge the odds in their favor? One way is to start a Web-based business or take your current business online.

Internet businesses sell merchandise, services, information and most anything a traditional brick-and-mortar business can sell-but often with a smaller operating cost because they only conduct business online. Brandon Lewis, president of StoresOnline, offers these tips to help online entrepreneurs make the most out of their companies:

Know Your Audience

A common online marketing mistake is to try to target too many audiences. There are 938 million users on the Internet. Marketing to all of those eyeballs is simply not effective and can be very costly. If your target customer group is women ages 14-27, it does you no good to spend time and money marketing your site to men ages 55-90. Take the time to find your customer and then customize your approach to people who actually search for and therefore want to buy your product or service.

Build A Second Site

A second common mistake is to have just one e-commerce Web site. Instead, you should build several sites that appropriately customize your sales approach to different audiences. This allows you to effectively sell the same product to different target groups using unique messaging, design and tone. One way to do this is by building a second site in a different language. The site can more easily be searched by customers according to their language-specific search terms and can help increase your revenue.

Get Specific

Try to avoid marketing dissimilar products on the same site. This will let you take advantage of the way Web users tend to search. People shop on the Internet by looking for specific items or categories of items. Selling tools and bedspreads on the same site will lower your search engine rankings and cause you to lose sales. Instead, start off selling one type of product and sell it well. You can always branch out in the future.

5 Tips and Tricks for Using Word for Business

Handy features can save you time and money

Most people don't use every feature built-in with their software applications. We tend to pinpoint those we find helpful and call it a day.

Here are five features within Microsoft Word, the word-processing software in Microsoft Office that I use in my business to save time and money.

Create and design your company's letterhead, choosing from an array of free clip art from Microsoft.

One thing every business needs is official letterhead. You don't have to buy it. If you know the design you want, you can create it in Microsoft Word and save it as a template to use time after time.

Creating a letterhead doesn't have to be complicated; it can be as simple as the company name, address and telephone number. Word provides a wide variety of fonts, and you can vary type sizes.

You may want to add art to your letterhead. You can scan in your logo and use it in your letterhead. Or there is another option.

Microsoft maintains a huge collection of free clip art. For instance, if you want to add a flower, Microsoft has more than 1,000 designs. The clip art collection is available to registered users of Word. You'll find it at Microsoft Office's Design Gallery Live.

Microsoft also offers free templates for letters, labels and forms. They're located in the Template Gallery. (Most run in Word, although some require other software programs. For example, the project management templates require Microsoft Project 2000 or a later version.)
Send the same letter to many people without addressing each separately.

Sometimes you need to make an advertising pitch to all of your customers. Or you want to announce a change in your staff. This can seem daunting but it doesn't have to be. Word's Mail Merge tool simplifies things greatly.

Basically, Word uses a list of names and addresses from a table. The table can be created in Word, in Microsoft Access or even in Microsoft Outlook. All are part of Microsoft Office.

This obviously works best with planning. You'll probably need a database and Access is the better way to go for that. But the learning curve here is much steeper than putting everything in Excel (also part of Microsoft Office). I'll use Excel as the example but keep in mind that you have more choices.

Start this process with your letter. The same letter goes to everyone; you can't do a lot of customisation. When you write the letter, leave space for the person's address and the salutation.

When setting up Excel, you obviously need the person's name and address. You'll also need a salutation field. If Rocky Jones is one of the people receiving the letter, you might want the salutation to be Dear Rocky. If your relationship with Dr. Rocky Jones is more formal, the salutation might be Dear Dr. Jones. So the names in the Salutation column would be "Rocky" or "Dr. Jones."

Next, open your letter. Click Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge. Follow the wizard's directions on the right side of the screen. To select recipients of your letters browse to your list of contacts in Excel, Outlook or another database.

In addition to letters, you can address envelopes and labels with Mail Merge. It can make life a lot easier.
Add a watermark to a document so everyone knows that it is a draft.

If you are circulating a proposal to your staff, you don't want it mistaken for the finished product. A good way to avoid that is a watermark that says "Draft," "Confidential," "Sample" or anything else you'd like.

A watermark is clearly visible on the document, but does not damage the legibility of the writing. You can even establish it in a variety of colours.

You can also use a picture for a watermark. Suppose you run a flower shop. You can use a drawing or picture of a flower that would appear on everything you print. How cool is that?

To use the watermark, click Format > Background > Printed Watermark. Make your selections and click OK. If you expect to use a watermark regularly, create a template (see No. 1 above).

Remember that there is a fine line between cool and irritating. If people must struggle to read the document because of the watermark, they may give up. Be sure you have "semitransparent" or "washout" selected.
Keep an eye on changes that people are making to documents.

When a sales plan or another document is returned to you, it is sometimes difficult to see changes made by others. Word has a simple way to show them to you.

Here are the instructions for Word 2002/2003: First, open the newer Word document. Click Tools > Compare and Merge Documents. Browse to the original Word document. Click it once to highlight it. In the lower right corner, click the drop-down box and select "Merge Into Current Document."

For Word 97/2000: Click Tools. Go to Track Changes. Click Compare Document. Find the original Word document and click it once so it is highlighted. Click Open.

Sometimes, the development of a document is so arduous that we lose sight of what we're trying to do. Looking back at previous versions can help.

That's easy to do in Word. Click File > Versions. Select "Automatically save a version on close." Every time you close the document, that version will be saved.

When you want to look at an old version, follow the same path. All of the versions will be listed in the box. The most recent will be on top. Highlight the version you want and click Open.

You can turn off this "versioning" feature by clearing the check mark from "Automatically save a version on close." Or, you can delete individual versions. Just highlight the ones you want to dump and click Delete.
Use a shortcut for many of your tasks.

For some tasks, I can work faster using the keyboard than the mouse. You probably know the standards: Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to Paste, Ctrl+Z to Undo, Ctrl+A to Select All and Ctrl+P to Print. But here is a list of other shortcuts you might find helpful as you use Word.

Using Social Networking Websites to Promote Your Business

Using Affiliate Marketing To Promote Your Business

Even if you are already using the Internet to market your business, you should consider adding affiliate marketing to you Internet marketing campaign. Affiliate marketing, when done right, can yield a great deal of positive results for your business. Furthermore, even when affiliate marketing is not done right, it will not likely be financially detrimental to the business. This is because affiliate marketing is essentially an advertising program in which you only pay the affiliates when their marketing efforts yield financial results for your business. This article will take a look at affiliate marketing and explain how it works and how you can maximize the benefits of affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing essentially involves having website owners, known as affiliates, post advertisements for your website on their own website. You can lear more about affiliate marketig by checking out the Internet marketing blog at www.jeremyburns.com for weekly updates. Affiliate advertisements encourage visitors to click on the link and visit your website. The advertisements are specially coded to allow you to determine how many visitors enter your website through this advertisement. Unlike other types of Internet advertising where the business owner pays for the opportunity to place the advertisement on the website, an affiliate program does not work this way. Instead the affiliate is paid when the advertisement yields a desired result.

Affiliate advertisement can work on a pay per impression, pay per click, pay per lead or pay per sale basis. Pay per impression means the affiliate earns a profit each time the affiliate advertisement is served. This means for each unique visitor who views the advertisement the affiliate is given a predetermined amount of money. This amount will depend on a number of factors and will be agreed upon by the business owner and the affiliate before the advertisements begin appearing on the affiliate’s website. Pay per click programs reward the affiliate each time a visit clicks through the advertisement. Pay per lead programs reward the affiliate when a visitor not only clicks on the advertisement but also performs a desired action such as filling out a survey or registering with the website. Pay per sale programs reward the affiliate each time a visitor clicks through the advertisement on the affiliate’s website and also makes a purchase during this visit. The compensation plans associated with affiliate programs are so desirable because the business owner can have a number of affiliates and they only have to pay these affiliates if the advertising on the affiliate’s website is effective.

Affiliate marketing does not always work. When seeking out affiliates it is important to look for a number of different factors. An affiliate with a great deal of experience, a website with high traffic and a proven track record for producing positive results will likely be a good choice for an affiliate marketing program. These affiliates rely on their advertising knowledge to promote the businesses and do not necessarily have to understand the business they are promoting. Another excellent choice for affiliate marketing is to select another business that is closely related to your own business but does not compete with your business. This is a good idea because they may share your target audience and their website visitors will also likely be interested in visiting your website as well. For example if you sell running shoes you may wish to run an affiliate marketing campaign on a website that promotes road races such as marathons, half marathons, 10Ks and 5Ks. This website does not directly compete with your business but they are likely to attract an audience that would be interested in and have a need for your products or services.

Deciding whether or not to implement an affiliate marketing campaign is easy. As we previously mentioned there is very little risk in this type of campaign so it is worthwhile in just about any situation. A more important decision to make is how you plan to compensate your affiliates. The compensation for pay per impression programs is typically pretty low because your business is not necessarily generating a sale from each impression. Conversely, pay per sale programs usually compensates the affiliate better because the business does directly generate a profit from the advertising on the affiliate’s website. This amount may a flat fee or a percentage of the sale depending on the affiliate agreement.

Using Google Adwords To Promote Your Bricks And Mortar Business

Google Adwords can be used to build your offline business, but only under certain circumstances. First, you must have a website or a blog before you can use Google Adwords and if you want to use them to increase the profitability of an offline venture, it must be a website.

If you already have a website, it is important to make sure that it is well designed and maximized to convert visits to sales. Make sure your phone number and address is clearly visible in many places on your site if you want people to personally contact your business. Also, make sure online contact is easy for website visitors should they have any questions. Your website is an opportunity for you to build credibility and if you can’t be contacted online all your good work could be undone.

It is possible to promote your bricks and mortar business with Google Adwords if you use geo-targeting to attract local visitors. Geo-targeting means that Google evaluates the location of each visitor and displays your Google Ad to local prospects only. Geo-targeting is an excellent way to increase the click-thru-rate (CTR) and the return on investment (ROI) for offline businesses by specifically targeting local prospects. You can further increase your CTR by using your location in the keywords you choose and in the advertisement itself.

However, you need to be aware that most people who choose to look for products and services on the internet also want to purchase online where possible. Therefore, even though you want to market your offline business, it is important to have the facility for online purchases as well. If visitors come to your website and don’t find anything there of interest, there is very little likelihood they will be inspired to physically visit your business.

At least one of four things is necessary to convert an online shopper into an offline buyer. These are:

1. You need a totally unique product that is only available from you and which people perceive they need.

2. A product too expensive to risk buying online and which personal customer service and backup (should anything go wrong) is considered essential.

3. A product that is too difficult to use or which has confusing set up instructions so that the potential customer needs to see someone face to face.

4. A product that must be replaced when used up and for which postage is an unnecessary increase in cost.

If your product does not conform to one of these descriptions, it is important to make sure your website is setup to take orders and make sales. It only makes sense to use your website for additional online sales while it is also promoting your offline business.

Google Adwords can certainly be used to promote your bricks and mortar business, however why would you choose to limit yourself when you can have a thriving online business as well?

Using Hardware And Software (IT) For Your Business

There's almost no-one nowadays who doesn't have a computer -- it's more-or-less a given that you've got a computer in your home office, and that you use it almost every day. But are you getting as much out of it as you could be? Here are some things your computer can do that you might not have thought of.

Keep Track of Customers in a Database.

Once you start to get some customers, you'll need to keep track of their contact details, as well as making sure you know who they are in case you forget. You have a choice: you can keep a file for each customer in your filing cabinet, or you could enter their details into a computerised database.

The good news is that if you have some office software, then you should already have a database package. Starting a database of your customers isn't too difficult to figure out, and lets you do all sorts of things -- you can sort them by the area where they live, or list everyone who's bought one of your products but not another, for example.

Graph Your Sales.

Once you've got your database telling you what you've sold to who and when, you can use it to produce all sorts of graphs and other reports that could help you to spot trends and see what works and what doesn't.

Do Your Accounting and Tax.

With inexpensive accounting software, it's not hard to use your computer to keep track of all your incomings and outgoings -- it can even be integrated with your customer database. Since you'll have all your sales data electronically already, it'll be a snap to do your taxes at the end of the year, where for people who have it all on paper it can be a complete nightmare.

Design Your Own Marketing Materials.

Modern desktop publishing software makes it dead easy to design your own logo, leaflets, brochures, and anything else you might want. With a little practise, you can produce things as good as any graphic designer a home business could afford, and save the money for distribution. Make sure you run your design by a few people first, though, to check that it's readable and there aren't any mistakes or flaws that you've been staring at it for too long to see.

Follow Market Trends.

With Internet access, you can read articles from the specialist press of the whole world, and keep up to date with all the latest technologies and trends in your industry. It's worth picking out the top five or so most important sites to your business and spending a few minutes each day checking them. After all, you don't want to get left behind.

Accept Credit Cards.

Many people don't realise, but Internet merchant accounts aren't just for accepting card payments over the web. You can also open one to use as part of your home business over the phone or by post, with you simply entering the card numbers and amounts into a website to process the payments. This is a powerful way of giving your customers more alternatives when it comes to paying you.

Promote Your Business.

Don't underestimate the effectiveness of the web as a tool for promotion. You should definitely take the time to list your business on every directory listing people in your industry -- make sure that someone searching for your profession and the town where you live would be able to find you listed easily.

Pay Your Staff.

When your business gets big enough to employ staff, you'll find your computer is a useful tool for keeping track of how many hours each person has worked, how much they should be paid, and how much of that amount needs to be kept behind as tax. Trying to do payroll manually is a big headache.

Keep Backups!

There's one thing, though, that it's important to always remember: when you use your computer to store any data that you can't afford to lose, make regular backups and keep them in a safe place. It's really not that much trouble, and if you don't do i then a simple computer failure can devastate your business.

Using Google Alerts To Help Your Business

At times it seems that Google releases more new products and services than we can keep track of. From Google Calendar and Google Video, to Google Base, Google Finance, and Google Trends, it can be overwhelming just to remember what each one does. One of the oft overlooked hidden gems in Google's enormous offering is Google Alerts. Within minutes, one can be signed up for email alerts that can give them and their business a leg up on the competition. Alerts can be used to spy on competitors, keep track of what people are saying about your business, or follow an important news story.

How Does It Work

Google Alerts sends you an email each time a new page for your chosen term makes it in the top twenty results on Google's web search. You can also have the alert check Google News and/or Google Groups. To sign up for a Google Alert, all that you need to do is visit the Google Alerts homepage (http://www.google.com/alerts), enter the search term, type of alert (search Google News, Google Groups, or the web), frequency of emails (daily, as it happens, or weekly), and your email address. You can set up alerts for as many terms as you like using a Google Account. So why would you want an unlimited amount of alerts? Because as a business owner, you have a lot to keep track of and very limited time to do it.

Spy on Your Competitors

Every business has a competitor. More likely, you have several direct competitors and several more indirect competitors. While regularly checking out their websites is an important part of the process, it doesn't paint the whole picture. A competitor’s website is very much crafted to the image that they want to portray to their customers. This is great if you want to know what their latest sale is or how much their new product costs, but it isn't likely to feature a negative review in last Sunday's newspaper.

That's where Google Alerts comes in. By simply setting up a News, Groups, and search alert for each of your competitors, you will know what other people are saying about your competition – both the media and consumers, both good and bad.

Keep Up To Date on Your Industry

Equally as important as what people are saying about your competition is what people are saying about your industry in general. If there's a negative PR swing against violent video games, and you just happen to run a video game store, you will probably be affected. By receiving alerts on important key words related to your industry, you can be on top of any sudden changes and react accordingly. By the time your competition realizes what's happening they will be scrambling to catch up to you.

Track Yourself and Your Business

It goes without saying, if it's important to know what people are saying about your competitors and about your industry, it would stand to reason that it's important to know what people are saying about you. I have Google Alerts on both my name and my businesses name. I know that they go hand in hand – if one is getting slandered you better bet it will hurt the other. By receiving alerts, you can be on top of anything negative relating to you or your business, and hopefully nip any problem in the bud before it grows too large. On the flip side, there's nothing better than receiving an alert where someone praises your business. Those are the types of things that you want to make sure are on the PR page of your businesses website.

Get News Stories for Your Site or Blog

I own a site where I do weekly news updates about what's going on in the industry. Some weeks, there are tons of news items to choose from, other weeks it's hard to find anything. In addition to the regular industry news sites that I check to get information, I have Google Alerts set up for each of the key terms. You'd be surprised how frequently a unique story from a local newspaper pops up in Google News. Many times these stories haven't been seen by my competitors and I am able to “break” the news to the online community. This works well for blogs too – if you have a daily blog about being an entrepreneur, having an alert for the word “entrepreneur” can fetch you several quality stories each day to help inspire fresh posts.

In this increasingly competitive business world, you need each and every leg up on your competition that you can get. Used properly, Google Alerts can be an extremely efficient way to track what's going on across the web. The alternative would be to search each term every day for new updates. Who has time for that? Spending less time researching enables you to spend more time on the things important to your business.

Using Strong Keyword Density Can Bring Success In Advertising Your Business

The ease of finding a site, product or service through a natural search online is what customer’s desire. The ability to simply type in a word or phrase and pull up a site that offers a relevant item is key. The only way that this can be offered is through optimizing your site or ads keyword density. You have to offer all words that are directly related to your product or service so that a customer can quickly and easily find your site with little chance of choosing a site that is no where near what they are searching for.

Importance Of Proper Keyword Use

It is said that over 134 million people search for services or products online simply through the use of the search engine. This is why your keywords are so important. The crawlers and web robots see searchers words and run I through sites ort ads that are relevant and then prompt a list of sites that could assist the customers. If incorrect keywords are used a customer could run into a site that is nothing similar to what they are even looking for. This is why is can be so dangerous for youth Internet users. They run the risk of entering a word or phrase that could pull up adult content that is unsuitable.

Setting Your Keywords Up For Success

You should take your keywords that are directly related to your site and use these first. Next you should take any words that offer the same meaning as the first set of words and use these. An average of 100 keywords has been found to be successful. You will be ensuring your customer the easiest route to your site, saving them time and effort.

One method online that aids you in setting up your keywords correctly is Google Adwords. You set up your site and your ad with your chosen keywords. If your keywords are found to be relevant you can post your ad. If the Google team sees them as irrelevant you have to change or ad words until suitable. You can use a keyword tool to help you find words that offer the same meaning ensuing that all bases are covered you can say. You are also given the ability to track and see how successful your ads are and if they should be altered to bring your business further success.

Search Engine Optimization

Optimizing your site or your ads keywords can mean a world of difference in your potential customer visiting your site or your competitor’s site. You could be losing customers and profits with a poor choice of keywords. If you are interested in learning more about building better keywords for your site you can search the Internet for articles or other areas of information on SEO or search engine optimization. Here you can find step by step results that can assist you in setting up your keywords in the way that will bring you the most site traffic, sales and profit in the end.

Top 10 Tips For Using Web 2.0 To Promote Your Business

We hear a lot about “Web 2.0″ these days. It sounds neat and it’s trendy to talk about blogging and social media. But does it really affect our businesses? Is Web 2.0 just for kids and tech-hipsters or is it something we business owners should use to help promote our businesses?

I can’t tell you if Web 2.0 is right for your business but I can tell you it’s something to be aware of Ignoring it means ignoring a possible tool that could be valuable in helping you get more customers.

So, to help you get started in thinking about Web 2.0 for your business, here are some things for you to consider.

1. Have a plan.

Don’t dive in just because it’s cool or because you read an article about it. Be clear about what you’re trying to accomplish, how much you’re willing to invest and what time frame you are working on. Like any aspect of your business - plan ahead.

2. Make sure your target audience is online.

Web 2.0 tools are fun but useless if the people who see your stuff don’t want what you offer. Or if they don’t look to the Web for information to help them buy what you sell, then your efforts will be less effective. Like any marketing channel, it only works if your prospective customers are there to see (or hear) your message and they are receptive to it.

3. Create good content.

Web 2.0 is the social web but it’s still content-driven. Lousy content leads to lousy marketing, no matter how flashy it is. Make your content relevant, interesting and real. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and answer their questions with your content.

4. Don’t sell.

Help, inform, educate but do not sell. Web 2.0 is all about people connecting by helping each other. No salesman allowed! Think education, not advertising. Deliver useful, nuts and bolts stuff or honest opinions they can believe. That’s how you build credibility and trust that lead to new customer relationships.

5. Start with a free hosted blog.

www.Wordpress.com and http://www.Blogger.com both have very useful and simple blogs you can setup for free. Use them to start blogging and get a feel for how it works and how people use Web 2.0. Dip your toe in the water before diving in.

6. Talk to kids

Chat with some kids (ages 8 to 18) and find out how they use the web. They are the trend-setters. What they’re doing now, the rest of us will be doing soon. Learn what they do and why. This helps you understand the web from a different perspective.

7. Do it yourself.

Web 2.0 is about being real. It’s real people connecting with each other. It’s okay to hire a pro to advise you. But to keep it genuine, make sure you or your employees create the content and do the work. Otherwise people will know you’re faking it.

8. Buy a camcorder and start shooting

Go to Best Buy or Radio Shack and buy an inexpensive camcorder, tripod and lapel microphone. Buy 20-30 tapes too. Then take a weekend and shoot film. Practice, practice, practice. Get comfortable being on camera so you’re not nervous or dorky. Then, write a funny or useful how-to sketch and film it. Use Microsoft MovieMaker to edit and then upload to http://YouTube.com.

9. Buy an inexpensive audio recorder

MusicBarn.com has a package that includes M-Audio’s MobilePre USB recording interface. Add a microphone and you have a high quality setup to record podcasts and MP3 audio files whenever you want. Then buy NGWave sound editing software to make it sound professional and you’re in business.

10. Surf ’till it Hurts

Surf blogs, YouTube, Google Videos, http://Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Technorati and other social media websites. Get a feel for how they work and who goes there. Become part of some social media communities. Make new friends online. Immerse yourself in the Web 2.0 culture so you know how it works and if it might fit your marketing plans.

Keystroke	Result
Alt+Ctrl+C	Copyright symbol
Alt+Ctrl+Period	An ellipsis
Alt+Ctrl+R	Registered trademark symbol
Alt+Ctrl+T	Trademark symbol
Ctrl+B	Bold text
Ctrl+E	Centres a paragraph
Ctrl+End	Skips to the end of a document
Ctrl+Enter	Inserts a page break
Ctrl+F	Opens the Find menu
Ctrl+G	Go to a page, bookmark, footnote, table, comment, graphic or other location
Ctrl+H	Opens the Replace menu
Ctrl+Home	Skips to the beginning of a document
Ctrl+I	Italics text
Ctrl+N	Creates a new document
Ctrl+S	Saves a document
Ctrl+Shift+F	Changes the font
Ctrl+Shift+P	Changes the font size
Ctrl+U	Underline text
Ctrl+W	Closes adocument
Ctrl+Y	Redo the last action
Esc	Close an assistant or tip window
Shift+F3	Changes the case of letters
Tab	Move between cells in a table

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