Title:


Affiliate Marketing -- Get In the Loop of Internet Home Business





Word Count:



564





Summary:



Have you ever dreamed of putting your destiny into your own hands? Or have you imagined that you could earn commission on a brand-name or niche product just by placing a link on your website or in your email? If you have, you may want to try affiliate marketing.







Keywords:



affiliate marketing,Internet home business,Google Adwords,Banner advertising,PPC advertising







Article Body:



Have you ever dreamed of putting your destiny into your own hands? Or have you imagined that you could earn commission on a brand-name or niche product just by placing a link on your website or in your email? If you have, you may want to try affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is essentially a website network. It is a modern variation of the practice of paying finders’ fees for introducing new clients to a business. Nowadays, affiliate marketing is primarily conducted online as the number of people surfing the Internet for what they want is growing exponentially. It is a popular method of promoting web business in which an affiliate is rewarded for driving traffic (visitor, subscriber or customer) to merchants’ websites through his efforts. Commission may be made depending on a certain value of registrant (pay per lead), sale (pay per sale), or any combination. Simply put, it’s about paying people money for helping merchants sell products.

Let’s say you created a website dedicated to promoting computer repair services/consultations and reaching out to potential customers. While your service is basically fixing PC problems, you notice that your clients also need registry cleaner utilities for the maintenance of their computers. In this case, affiliate marketing could involve contacting software developers selling registry fix or repair products, posting links to their sites on your website, and collecting a percentage of profit for each purchase those companies receive. In the long run, you can exchange links or sign contracts with the companies you are affiliated with. When someone browsing for computer maintenance or repair service on their websites clicks the link to your website and then decides to contact you for a consultation, the website that sends business your way will then receive commission.

In fact, you are not required to have your own business as far as affiliate marketing is concerned. You can make a living selling any products without having to take orders or maintain your inventory.

How is this done? Build up a website to promote the products you are interested in. Make sure to include appealing articles about the products. After your website is established, contact online companies selling similar products and set up affiliate agreements. Those who hit your site and become regular visitors will inevitably be interested in ordering the products advertised on your site. Once an advertisement link is clicked by your site visitor and a purchase is made, you will receive commission.

If you don’t have a website, you can still earn money through affiliate marketing by generating targeted traffic to the websites you’re affiliated with. Google Adwords is the most important PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising system on the Internet. It allows you to directly advertise your affiliate links in the Google search engine results and on their partner networks.

The key to be successful in affiliate marketing is simply driving traffic to your site consistently. The more hits on your website, the more chances you have of gaining profit from purchases made through your links. Promoting your website through eZine and Banner advertising and providing free newsletters for subscribers would be promising ways to generate traffic to your website. Once your site consistently achieves a lower ranking in Alexa toolbar (which means your website is popular), other website owners or companies will be more likely to join forces with you in affiliate agreements.


Title:


Advertising In Your Businesses





Word Count:



484





Summary:



When you have a business, you know very well that your advertising is something you have to focus on to make sure that you are getting as much business as possible. If you are trying to advertise your business, you want to be sure that this is something you can do. One of the best ways that you can advertise is to try to do it without spending too much money, because if you spend more money than you should be spending on advertising, it isn’t going to be worth it.





Several...







Keywords:









Article Body:



When you have a business, you know very well that your advertising is something you have to focus on to make sure that you are getting as much business as possible. If you are trying to advertise your business, you want to be sure that this is something you can do. One of the best ways that you can advertise is to try to do it without spending too much money, because if you spend more money than you should be spending on advertising, it isn’t going to be worth it.





Several way’s to advertising



There are several ways that you can advertise inexpensively. The best thing that you can do is to focus on the free advertising that you can get. If you have an online business, this can be even easier, as long as you are willing to take the time to do it. If you can go to chat rooms, blogs, or other interesting places and keep your website or your business name as your signature, even if that is only seen by a few people it is still a free way to advertise. You can also post your name on various threads and in various places that will allow you to post your website.





Find a place for advertising



By large, advertising online is usually very cheap. The key is to find a place online where lots of your customers are going to go. In order to do this, you have to be sure that you know who your demographic is and who is using your business. This might require some work on your part. Once you have identified who the people are that are using your business, you can go to other sites that these people are also going to be using, and you can advertise on these sites, quite easily.





Cheaply advertising



The other way to advertise cheaply is by word of mouth. This might require you to be online for a long time, simply going to sites and talking about your business and how good it is. This is something that requires time and energy, but in the end you will find that it is actually a very inexpensive way to advertise.





Off-line advertising



IF you have the time and money, you can also advertise out in the world, not on the internet. This is something that you can do by way of posters, billboards and flyers and by other methods as well.





Conclusions



The main idea is that you should find out where your customers are going to be, and locate them, whether it is in the real world or whether it is online. Once you have located your customers, you can go ahead and start advertising in ways that they are going to understand, and ways that they are going to be able to take advantage of.





All the best, Jos van Helvoirt


Title:


Honest Business Opportunities Review





Word Count:



252





Summary:



Check out the reviews of the top 3 business opportunities that actually works!







Keywords:









Article Body:



Tired of business opportunities that do not deliver what they promise? We have reviewed the top selling programs on the Internet today. Below you will find reviews of the top 3 opportunities that actually work.

The key to making money online is knowing how and where to start. Without the right starting point you will waste precious time and a ton of money. The following products guarantee your online success, all you have to do is read them and follow their expert advice!

At Bynavco you will find reviews of the top 3 opportunities that actually work. Here is a little sample of each review.

#1 The Rich Jerk
This is the #1 resource you can get your hands on for making money on the Internet. The Rich Jerk gets straight to the point, he cuts out all the B.S. and tells you what you really need to know to make a lot of money online.

#2 Forex Enterprise
This system is so powerful you will start making money the first day you begin this! Anyone can create a guaranteed stream of income with Google AdWords & ClickBank. Earn $1,000 Per Day, Part time!

#3 Affiliate Cash Vault
New fail-safe system virtually runs 100% on autopilot. Just set it and forget it! You Will Very Easily Earn An Extra $500, $1000, Even $5000+ Every Week With Only 15 Minutes Of Your Time.

Be sure to check out our new #1 Pick! The Rich Jerk is rated the #1 Opportunity for making money online for more information.


Title:


3 Plans to Expand You Business That You Don't Want to Miss Out On!





Word Count:



478





Summary:



It's difficult to reach your buisness goals if you don't have the right materials and/or the information to help your buisness reach the success it's capable of. These three insights will help you generate the buisness you've always dreamed of.







Keywords:



joint promotions, niche markets, emerging trends







Article Body:



1. Find Your Niche
Chances are, you already have a target audience that you are marketing your products to. Let's face it, you're probably looking for ways to increase your market audience and profit...or you probably wouldn't be reading this article. Here's the real facts... you don't have to find a wider audience to increase you sales.

Have you noticed similar characteristics that groups within your target audience have in common? Maybe you have a group of businessmen, a group of young mothers, and a group of retirees that frequently make purchases. That is just the set-up I'm talking about.

Pay attention to the individual characteristics of each group, and divide your advertising into similar segments, or niches. Focus on the specific needs of the group in the advertising products you put out. General advertisements are not as effective as more specific ads. Hey, we all sit up and pay attention to someone who recognizes our specific needs and desires!

2. Create A Unique Selling Point
Why should someone buy from you and not your competitor? I hate to deal a blow to your ego, but it really has nothing to do with you , your product, or your service. Yeah, its a little self-centered, but customers are attracted by offers that point out the things that benefit THEM.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, create a unique selling proposition that stresses the benefits the customers will receive from doing business with you. Will they get faster service? Go ahead and dramatize it, but keep the customer at the focus..."Get free overnight delivery!" Hey, it tells the customer...you get quick service and a discount on shipping. Two definite benefits in one statement.

Don't go out on a limb to create new products and services to get attention. Just, add a special benefit to the ones you already have... maybe it's quicker service. The most effective things to emphasize are benefits that your competition cannot or is not willing to give.

3. Offer Your Way To Greater Profits
How many times have you began manhunting? Sure, as a marketer you scrounge and search for brand new or ancient methods of drawing brand new faces to your place of business. The fact of the matter is that you don't have to find new customers for your sales to grow.

No, in fact you can take the current business you have and send your profits to the moon with one easy technique... make an offer.

Greet every sale with an offer of an item that is related to the purchase. The offered product doesn't even have to be yours. The Internet is wonderful for affiliate marketers who can make great profits selling the material of others.

Making your business grow doesn't have to be a stressful, backbreaking or frantic process. Simply implement these three strategies, and watch it boom!


Title:


Creating A Home Business From A Part-Time Hobby





Word Count:



456





Summary:



If you have a hobby that you think could be turned into a full-time business venture, you should consider making the transition. Working from home doing something you enjoy is one of the greatest feelings you can have. Because we all need to earn a living, finding a job that we can be passionate about in addition to earning a steady income is a dream for most. But if you research your idea, create a business plan, and work within your means, this dream can come true.





When ...







Keywords:









Article Body:



If you have a hobby that you think could be turned into a full-time business venture, you should consider making the transition. Working from home doing something you enjoy is one of the greatest feelings you can have. Because we all need to earn a living, finding a job that we can be passionate about in addition to earning a steady income is a dream for most. But if you research your idea, create a business plan, and work within your means, this dream can come true.





When most people think about starting their own business, they usually come up with a million reasons why the business would fail. They may not even have an idea about what they want to sell or provide. If you already have an idea, you are ahead of most people. The next step is research to determine if there is a market for your product and if you will be able to sell it quickly and easily. Most research can be conducted at home on your computer. While you may need to visit the library, retail stores, and other outlets, you can rely on your computer to give you a lot of useful information.





Finding a market for your product may be difficult depending on what it is. But you may also find many avenues including opening your own store, selling your product at trade shows, flea markets, or online, or you may find others who are looking for products like yours and who may want to go into business with you. There are many possibilities. If you are interested in selling your product online, you can create a website or sell your product on online auction sites. The Internet has created many opportunities for those who want to sell a product, but who don’t want to pay for retail space each month.





Creating a business plan is essential especially when you have a certain budget or you aren’t sure how successful your business will be. A business plan is one or two pages that include your budget, your accomplishments, and any other considerations you may need to make before creating and selling your product. You can change this plan at any time if it becomes impractical or if you exceed expectations.





Since most people have to create a budget when starting their own businesses, being realistic about the cost of materials, shipping, and advertising and marketing is important. If you don’t estimate enough, then you may fall short, so be sure to create a budget that fits your needs. As your business grows, you can adjust your budget and start generating a profit. This is when your will see the results of all your hard work.


Title:


4 Search engine type for your Internet business





Word Count:



508





Summary:



According to research 80% of people searching website using search engine, therefore search engine still the best way for you to generate traffic. You need to put your website into search engine.

In this article, I want to explain about 4 different search engines that you can use to generate traffic for your website.







Keywords:



Search engine, Directory, Internet business, Internet Marketing







Article Body:



According to research 80% of people searching website using search engine, therefore search engine still the best way for you to generate traffic. You need to put your website into search engine.

One of the great advantages of search engine for your internet business, it can bring you a large amount of targeted traffic to your website. Some of them will not cost you a cent, but some of them will cost you a dollar. It is depend on what search engine do you use.

Search engine will become very powerful for your business if you can put your website in the top 50, but it will be useless if your website listed further down. Because people will not see the result more than 50 result.

In this article, I want to explain about 4 different search engines that you can use to generate traffic for your website. They are…
1. Directory
2. Crawler search engine
3. PPC search engine
4. Meta search engine

Directory sometimes called a category database. This directory will list all website inside category. This kind of search engine will edited by human, it means there are some directory admin will check your submission to this directory. They may accept or reject your website if they feel your website is not appropriate to the category that directory has.

When you submit your website to directory, you just need to enter your title, description and keywords. Some of directories will not ask you to enter keywords. You also need to select category you want it. The example of directory is yahoo.

Crawler search engine also known as spider or robots. This search engine use small software that will jump between websites called as crawler. This crawler will look for new website 24 hour a day, 7 days a week.

For crawler search engine, you do not need to submit your title, description and keywords. This crawler will index your website automatically. You just need to submit your URL and crawler will come to your site and index every thing they need.

PPC search engine stand for pay per click search engine. This kind of search engine will ask you to pay them to use it. Mostly, they will cost you minimum 1 cent until 5 cent. However PPC search engine will list your website depend on how much you want to pay them in particular keywords. If you want to pay them more than other competitor that use the same keywords, you will be listed on the top.

Before you use PPC search engine, you need to add some deposit. Then your deposit will decrease when someone click on your link.

Meta search engine is search engine that collect result from multiply search engine simultaneously. You don’t need to submit to Meta search engine since they use result of the major search engine.

Meta search engine will rank your website by calculated combination of ranking of all search engines that they use. So the key to have high rank in Meta search engine, you need to ensure that your website listed in all crawler search engine.


Title:


3 Sensational High Profit, Low Cost Internet Business Models That You Can Set-up Today (and Start Seeing Profits Tomorrow).





Word Count:



764





Summary:



It is far easier, cheaper and rewarding to start an online business than an offline one. The models we’ll look at in this article do not take a genius to start. Let’s get going:





**1. The Membership Site Internet Model – The internet has made accepting payment an automatic and hassle-free experience. When you set-up your own membership site you’re either offering premium information (ebooks, general content in a protected server, tutorials) or software on a particular theme...







Keywords:



start membership site,internet business,affiliate marketing,ebay,make money from home,







Article Body:



It is far easier, cheaper and rewarding to start an online business than an offline one. The models we’ll look at in this article do not take a genius to start. Let’s get going:





**1. The Membership Site Internet Model – The internet has made accepting payment an automatic and hassle-free experience. When you set-up your own membership site you’re either offering premium information (ebooks, general content in a protected server, tutorials) or software on a particular theme or topic.





There is no shortage of potential topics for your membership site. It’s possible to charge anything from $10 to $500 per month depending on the quality and perceived value of your protected contents.





The benefits of setting up a membership site are huge. For instance your overheads are practically zero, you can deal with pure content that is delivered digitally and (the holy grail of earning online) you are assured regular residual income, month after month.





However, you do need to be very well organised – plan your publishing schedule for the entire month (and note down your long term objectives for the site too). You will also have to ensure you can provide quality content month after month and will need some degree of technical know-how in setting up a protected site (although these days you can purchase point and click software that will do all the work for you).





The possibilities for the membership site business model are endless – with several niches offering customer bases that run into the millions there is always space for a quality niche membership site.





**2. The SUPER AFFILIATE Model – You may have heard the term “super affiliate” or “super associate” before. What exactly do these terms mean? A super affiliate is someone who is extremely good at selling other people’s products or services.





The advantage of the super affiliate model is that you spend no time on creating the product or customer service issues. You simply have a method of getting traffic to quality sites and enjoying the sales commissions generated. The biggest challenge faced by affiliates is that for a good product they are competing against tens, hundreds and sometimes even thousands of other competitors.





So how do you get past the competition? You do two things – first create your own unique sales promotion tools (for example a viral special report), and you also offer customers special bonuses that they can only get when purchasing through your affiliate link. These two pointers will go a long way towards making you a super-affiliate.





Affiliate commissions vary in size – paying anywhere from just 5% to even 90%. As an affiliate you should determine which products to promote and create a plan for them. Here’s a very strong tip – promote as many products as you can that pay a monthly recurring commission. This way you get paid for months (or years) after the initial sale.





**3. The eBay Power-seller Model – eBay boasts monthly page views that numbers in the billions. Think about that for a second – it’s a HUGE base of targeted prospects and you can use this to set-up a thriving online business.





As always you need a plan of attack. What will you sell? Will you stock physical products or opt for a drop-ship solution. How will you accept payment?





One important consideration on eBay is developing a “unique selling point” – this is something that makes you different from your competition and can be the difference between luke-warm income and turbo-charged profits. It’s worth spending a considerable amount of time planning your USP.





If you’re selling a physical product can you combine that with a unique info-product about that niche? It’s really quite simple to produce an eBook or purchase the rights to one and offer it as a high value bonus to those who bid on your product. Do you notice that I said “bid” and not “buy”? Why? Because if you promise a copy of the info-product to all bidders you will generate more bids and (the best part) assuming your product is branded with your site/ebay store you will drive targeted traffic to it. Simple yet very effective.





So we’ve looked at three internet business models that you can implement quickly for surefire profits. Believe me, this is only scratching the surface – as you establish yourself online and learn more you will discover that there are many more simple methods of creating several powerful income streams online. Stay focused, have a quality blueprint to guide you and you will do far better than you ever imagined possible.


Title:


3 Pillars of a Solid Home Based Business





Word Count:



605





Summary:



This article is a guide to starting a successful home based business while avoiding the pitfalls of wasted time and money.







Keywords:



Home based business, affiliate marketing







Article Body:



In this day and age it is almost impossible to maintain a decent standard of living on one paycheck, but in a family where children are involved it is not always feasible for both dad and mom to have a job outside of the home. Daycare expenses, the need for a second car, and too much time away from the children are some common drawbacks. This however is the exact situation that a Home Based Business works to its greatest advantage.

Home Based Businesses are great and can be extremely profitable but without the proper knowledge and tools you can waste an incredible amount of time and/or money which defeats the purpose you started out with, namely to make money and have time to do the things you want to do. This article was written to give the average person like you and I a practical guideline to getting started in a home based business the right way, and to save you wasted time and money.

My experience has shown me that there are basically 3 main pillars or principles of a solid home based business.

Pillar #1: It must have minimal start up cost.

A home based business that has a high start up cost will take longer to see a profit, and as we said earlier, time is one of the things we are trying to cut down on. Minimal cost will also make the home based business more assessable to a larger amount of families or individuals who are just starting out.

Pillar #2: It must be easy to set up and maintain.

The more complicated your home business project, no matter what it is, the more likely you are to give up out of sheer frustration before you see a profit. A business that is easy to set up and maintain will give you confidence and a sense of accomplishment as you complete each simple step in the process.

Let's face it if you enjoyed wasting a lot of time and effort maintaining a home based business you would not be reading this article. This is about freeing you to spend time with your family and doing the things you love, not creating another taskmaster to replace your job! The first two pillars of a solid home based business are necessary for the third to occur.

Pillar #3: It must have a quick return on investment. (ROI)

You can spend months building a home based business but it there is never any real profit generated in a reasonable amount of time many people may get discouraged and give up. What is a reasonable amount of time? I would plan for a time frame on the order of weeks instead of months. Depending on the type of home based business some people have had a decent ROI within days, and unbelievable as it may sound some businesses that deal with affiliate marketing and sales can see profit as early as 15 minutes from startup!

You may be thinking to yourself "that's too simple!" Let me say that within these 3 pillars there is plenty of detail to keep anyone busy. The business that you choose to start should definitely be something that interests you and possibly even something that you already have a measure of experience in doing. Whatever home based business you get involved in make sure that it is propped up by the 3 pillars listed in this article. Do not make the mistake of overcomplicating your efforts or you will see very quickly that you will get bogged down with a lot of needlessly wasted time and effort.

Here's to your home based business success.


Title:


Your Free Home Based Business





Word Count:



675





Summary:



If you’re looking to make some extra cash but have little business experience or little money, then starting an online free home based business could be for you.

By beginning with a free home based business you will gain the experience and the capital you will need to really take your earnings to the next level. You will learn what works and what doesn’t. The risk in a free home based business is nothing - so you have nothing to lose!

Any one can be successful with a fr...







Keywords:



free home based business







Article Body:



If you’re looking to make some extra cash but have little business experience or little money, then starting an online free home based business could be for you.

By beginning with a free home based business you will gain the experience and the capital you will need to really take your earnings to the next level. You will learn what works and what doesn’t. The risk in a free home based business is nothing - so you have nothing to lose!

Any one can be successful with a free home based business but it does take time and lots of it. Having some funding will speed the process up and a good strategy is to use half of your profits towards paid advertising.

The following free home based business requires little knowledge, no financial investment and provides a firm foundation for the future. Here’s what you need to build your own free home based business:

(a) Product
Find a free program with a wide range of products for your free home based business. This way you will be able to experiment with different markets to find the one, which works, for you.

Choose a program, which has been around for more than 10 years. One with the largest possible number of affiliates (or members) and with a step-by-step training program.

The program must provide no cost advertising pages for your free home based business to use.

To start, select a product where you are paid to give something away. As your skills grow, you can move to selling more costly items from your free home based business.

(b) Advertising.
There are a number of advertising options for a free home based business. Traffic exchanges, free advertising directories, blogs and forums are the most widely used. You can also submit articles with your tinyurl (see below) in the bio line at the bottom of the work.

(c) Page or URL Rotator
A URL rotator is a must for an online free home based business. It will allow you to send all your advertising to one place – the rotator. It then shares all the incoming hits amongst the products you have chosen advertise.

Having a rotator allows you to change products without having to go back and change all the advertisements for your free home based business.

There are many excellent free rotators on the web. A good one will provide you information about the number of page hits sent to each product and where the incoming hits came from.

(d) TinyURL
Most page rotators have quite long names. These can be off-putting to prospective customers. So go to a site named www.tinyurl.com. There you can type in a long name. It will be shortened into something which works better with your advertising campaigns (and protect your precious affiliate commission).

Pulling it all together:

1. Load up the page rotator for your free home based business with web pages of all the products you wish to sell. I suggest starting with no more than three.
2. Then create a tinyurl for your page rotator.
3. Place advertisements in every directory you can find
4. Add your link to the bottom of your emails
5. Join every free traffic exchange you can
6. Write and submit an article per week with your tinyurl in the bio line
7. Find a number of active forums and post helpful messages making sure your tinyurl is included in your signature line.
8. Start you own free blog. Put a new entry in your blog at least once per week. Make sure there are plenty of links to your free home based business products from your blog. Always announce your blog updates using the tool at www.pingomatic.com.

Your objective is to get as many links back to your page rotator as you possibly can. The more people who see you links the more traffic to your rotator and the more sales you will make.

There it is, the basis of a free home based business and the start of your online empire.

To your success!


Title:


Small Home-Based Businesses -- Five Simple Steps to Success





Word Count:



1039





Summary:



In Australia, 60% of small businesses fail within the first twelve months. For anyone wanting to start a small business -- maybe even work from home -- that statistic seems daunting. Don’t be discouraged! Read about five simple business principles that can help you to succeed.







Keywords:



Small home-based business opportunity, work at home, serious home-based business opportunity, best home-based business opportunity.







Article Body:



Did you know that, in Australia, 60% of small businesses fail in the first twelve months? For those of us who would like to start a small business -- maybe even work from home -- that’s a very discouraging statistic.

Does that mean that your business idea is doomed to failure? Far from it! There are steps you can take that greatly increase your chances of success. With a little time and some serious research you can hit the ground running. Let’s start from the beginning…

The bright idea

First, of course, you need to come up with an idea. Typically, business opportunities can be divided into four groups:

1. Offering an existing product/service in an existing market.
2. Introducing an existing product/service to a new market.
3. Offering a new product/service in an existing market
4. Introducing a new product/service to a new market.

At this stage of the game the only limit is your imagination. Inspiration can come from anywhere -- maybe you have a hobby that you’d like to turn into a full-time job; you may be on the receiving end of bad service one day and decide to try doing it better yourself; or you may have a talent that you’d like to capitalise on.

Once you’ve come across something that you’d like to do, it’s time to take a look at the market and see what’s on offer.

Passing the test

So you’ve had a great idea and you’re keen to roll with it; now it’s time to put it through its paces. For the purpose of the exercise, let’s say that you have a passion for healthy living, and that you want to distribute a range of lifestyle accessories that promote healthy living with a do-it-yourself approach.

Ask around: Is there a market for products that promote healthy living? What sorts of products are available? Who would you be competing with and what do your competitors offer? Do you have the necessary skills to run such a business and -- more to the point -- what would those skills be? Where would your business be located?

Once you’ve answered those questions you should have a fairly clear picture of what your business will look like.

You source some products and decide to do some further research into the range of lifestyle products offered by a company called Vitality 4 Life. Your own life experience plus some work you’ve done as a dietician has given you the necessary skill sets, and you think that you’ll be able to work from home, giving you more time for family. There is an existing market, but there’s room for expansion. Now it’s time to take a closer look.

To be or not to be?

It’s time to get down to the nuts and bolts. You don’t want to jump into something feet first and find out the hard way that the budget just doesn’t work.

To get started, sit down and work out if you need to hire staff, which means paying wages.

If you lease a premises you’ll need to be able to pay the rent, and your location will have to be suitable for your business and target market (which also means that you’ll have to think carefully about just what that target market is). You’ll also need to work out the likely demand for your product/service.

Ok… you’ve worked out that there is enough demand for good quality juicers, sprouters, water filters and other high end accessories to take a shot at a distributorship as a home-based business opportunity. Now you need to make some marketing decisions.

Look at me! Look at me!

Advertising can be costly so you’ll want to be sure that your advertising budget is spent wisely. That means more market research, this time one-on-one. Profile your customer groups so you can aim your marketing at the right group/s of people.

Draw up a questionnaire (a short questionnaire -- people run out patience if you ramble for too long) and hang around outside a few of the local gyms (for our particular example). Come up with a mixture of open questions (What do you think of……..?) and closed questions (Do you have a gym membership? Yes/No.); sliding scales can be useful too.

For our health accessories business, a good question might be ‘How did you hear about this gym? Radio, tv, newspaper, word of mouth etc…’ Such a question would then give you an indication of the types of media that your target group responds best to.

Choose a business name, print up some business cards, buy some stock and get ready to trade!

Measure it, manage it!

A teacher of mine made the point that, in business, if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.

You need to be able to plan ahead, and to do that you need to know -- or to be able to accurately predict -- your total sales. The equation is simple: number of customers x average sale x frequency of visits per customer per year = total sales. Remember it, revise it often, measure your business and you’ll be able to manage it!

Keep an eye on your bottom line and, most importantly, always be aware of your cash flow -- the cold, hard cash that you have in the bank. Allow for invoice periods (14 days, 30 days etc) when you’re planning your budget.

The market place has a life of its own, and no one can prepare for every contingency. Put some thought into your idea; make sure that there’s a market for what you’re offering; research, research, research; promote your business effectively; always know what’s going on in your bank account and don’t forget about cash flow!

It’s not perfect but, if you follow these few simple steps, you’ll be miles ahead of many new small business ventures. If you’ve heard of a great home-based business opportunity, or have a product or service of your own to market, you’re off to a great start!