Everyone from industrial giants to corner flower shops currently wants to stake a profitable claim in cyberspace.
The lure of low startup costs compared to brick-and-mortar operations and the promise of high rewards draws an ever-swelling crowd of merchants to the online marketplace.
Yet despite the optimism statistics tell us that 80% of these "e" businesses will fail within their first 12 months of operation.
People from all over the country ask me what it takes to succeed in the e-commerce world once they've completed the basic steps for getting online.
The following three keys virtually *guarantee success* for any online enterprise.
The First Key:
A Quality product or service with highly evident and readily understood benefits for consumers.
If your product or service does not represent the highest quality and value possible, and if consumers don't understand exactly why they should purchase from you, the speed of the Internet will just expose your shortcomings to the marketplace that much quicker.
In the offline world a product's benefits, not the features, cause consumers to make purchaseing decisions.
A man doesn't purchase a car with a 5 liter engine because of the horsepower, he purchases it for the feeling of supremacy and control he thinks it will give him.
Kids don't want a 3000mHz computer with a Nvidia or AMD card for computing power in doing homework, they want to play the latest games. The Internet magnifies this "what's in it for me" benefits- driven evaluation by consumers.
Products or services presented with readily understood, self-serving benefits for consumers sell best online (and off).
The Second Key:
An excellent website that loads fast, provides pertinent information to targeted consumers, and allows them to make online purchases quickly and securely.
Your website should: · Load fast by making conservative use of graphics. (Go to yahoo.com for an excellent example.)
· Provide exactly the information your potential customers want and need.
· Make it extremely easy for surfers to navigate your site and find exactly what they want by paying attention to navigation menu layout.
The Third Key:
Consistent, targeted website traffic by consumers capable of purchasing your product or service.
Imagine purchaseing a 50 foot billboard and, instead of putting it out by the highway, you hid it in your basement. Nobody would see it!
The same thing happens if you don't actively and continuously promote your website to attract visitors.
With its incredible speed and communications power, the Internet acts as a magnifying glass for any organization's strengths and weaknesses. E-commerce, e-mail, and a website won't do the job of marketing, selling, and customer service for any company.
They will, however, help every organization perform all of those business functions better, faster, and less expensively with the real and tangible result of "striking it rich" in cyberspace!
Showing posts with label how to's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to's. Show all posts
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Tips Finding Affordable Car Insurance Rates
Auto Insurance rates will vary depending on the insurance agency, your driving record, and the type of insurance you are looking to purchase. If you are looking for affordable car insurance or truck insurance then read on.
There are ways to reduce your premiums without giving up coverage. One of the easiest things to do is get auto insurance rate quotes online. This will allow you to comparative shop stress free.
Raising your deductibles is the easiest way to reduce your rates. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium will be. The deductible is the portion you will have to pay in the event of accident, before your insurance coverage steps in. It’s important not to carry a deductible that’s more than what you are able to pay. Your insurance company will not honor its portion of the claim until you’ve paid your deductible. However, the higher your deductible the lower your premium cost will be, so you need to find a
Always remember to ask your insurance broker for any available discounts. Quite often we forget to ask and they don’t seem to volunteer the information. A clean record on the current policy for a certain period of time, having your homeowner's coverage with the same insurer, taking a defensive driving course, having an accident free driving record, and having an approved anti-theft device will reduce your auto insurance rates.
The type of car you drive can also reduce your rates. Stay away from cars that have a high class rating. Rates vary among the different makes and models of vehicles. The different rates are based on the risk of accident, cost to repair, higher theft rates for a particular model and replacement costs such as with a new vehicle. So be sure your vehicle isn’t going to be in a category that increases your rates too much.
A safe driving record consisting of no accidents and no traffic violations will get you the most substantial discount. Most insurance companies are very good at recognizing good driving habits. These are the drivers they want to insure because their risk is much lower.
If the car is old and not very valuable, comprehensive insurance is probably not worth purchasing as it can quickly add up to more than you’d ever receive in the event of an accident. You can save up to 20% by eliminating collision insurance. You may want to opt not to carry collision insurance as well which can save you and additional 20%.
Check around to make sure you are getting the best auto rates you can. Online auto insurance shopping has taken the guess work out of purchasing insurance and you can very quickly see if you are being hosed. So if your insurance is coming due now is the time to start shopping!.
There are ways to reduce your premiums without giving up coverage. One of the easiest things to do is get auto insurance rate quotes online. This will allow you to comparative shop stress free.
Raising your deductibles is the easiest way to reduce your rates. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium will be. The deductible is the portion you will have to pay in the event of accident, before your insurance coverage steps in. It’s important not to carry a deductible that’s more than what you are able to pay. Your insurance company will not honor its portion of the claim until you’ve paid your deductible. However, the higher your deductible the lower your premium cost will be, so you need to find a
Always remember to ask your insurance broker for any available discounts. Quite often we forget to ask and they don’t seem to volunteer the information. A clean record on the current policy for a certain period of time, having your homeowner's coverage with the same insurer, taking a defensive driving course, having an accident free driving record, and having an approved anti-theft device will reduce your auto insurance rates.
The type of car you drive can also reduce your rates. Stay away from cars that have a high class rating. Rates vary among the different makes and models of vehicles. The different rates are based on the risk of accident, cost to repair, higher theft rates for a particular model and replacement costs such as with a new vehicle. So be sure your vehicle isn’t going to be in a category that increases your rates too much.
A safe driving record consisting of no accidents and no traffic violations will get you the most substantial discount. Most insurance companies are very good at recognizing good driving habits. These are the drivers they want to insure because their risk is much lower.
If the car is old and not very valuable, comprehensive insurance is probably not worth purchasing as it can quickly add up to more than you’d ever receive in the event of an accident. You can save up to 20% by eliminating collision insurance. You may want to opt not to carry collision insurance as well which can save you and additional 20%.
Check around to make sure you are getting the best auto rates you can. Online auto insurance shopping has taken the guess work out of purchasing insurance and you can very quickly see if you are being hosed. So if your insurance is coming due now is the time to start shopping!.
Labels:
car insurance,
cheap,
Fashion amp; Lifestyle,
how to's
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Your First Website and an Affiliate Income
When you put up your first website – you have to admit that you are pretty green to the ways of the Internet World. You think that once your website is up, and you have put your links in place, you will be in the money. I, and I am sure many, would love that to be true. Just think how many Super Affiliates we would have. I will give you a small sampling of what to truly expect.
The Begin of the Begin
You will be excited at first, and you will have a sense of pride in your accomplishment. Granted, it is no small feat to getting a website up and online. But this is just the beginning of your small business marketing ideas experience.
Once you have your website up, you should be asking yourself -- where do I begin, or, what do I do now? If you are short of cash, which, in most cases people in the beginning are -- you can begin by:
1. Writing articles
2. Optimizing your site for the search engines
3. Putting Adsense on your site
All this takes time and work. But, when you first begin, you do have time to optimize, to write articles, and to put adsense ads on your site. Why? It has been said that for the next six months or nine months, Google, and possibly, the other search engines, may put you in the Sandbox. Some say the Sandbox exists, some says it does not. Whatever it is called, you will see a degree of dormancy in your site.
My own thinking is that there may be a pre-set time of six months before you see a rise in your unique clicks – I know I did. I feel that there may be several reasons for this:
1. It’s a great way to protect the Internet community against unscrupulous sites – I figure that these sites have a lifespan of six months before people give them the boot. It only takes one person to feel the blunt of a scam, before talk in the online forums begins.
2. Websites go up and go down daily. The search engines are looking at saving themselves time and money. If you are still on line after six months or nine months, you’re paying your dues, and they may figure you are serious about maintaining a business online.
What Do I Do During That Six or Nine Month Period
First, and foremost – since I have supplied you with this information – do not get frustrated and throw in the towel. Granted, at first the only clicks you may see is your own, but that will change.
Second, start positioning yourself, so when your dormancy with the search engines ends, you have the quality content, and the quality products to begin to fly. That means, writing articles, getting your name out to the masses, and learning to utilize Adsense.
And when you have spare change, try your hand at advertising on Adwords.
In the beginning your learning curve is just out of the starting gate – take this time to read, purchase appropriate ebooks, experiment and research. All are important to moving your learning curve to the expert level.
To conclude, a website is just a small part, but an important part, of becoming an Affiliate Marketer. The other important elements, is persistence, hard work, and marketing. And finally, if you still have the passion after the initial exhilaration of becoming an online entrepreneur wanes – then you’ll make it.
About the author:
Vickie J Scanlon has a BBA degree in Administrative Management and Marketing.
The Begin of the Begin
You will be excited at first, and you will have a sense of pride in your accomplishment. Granted, it is no small feat to getting a website up and online. But this is just the beginning of your small business marketing ideas experience.
Once you have your website up, you should be asking yourself -- where do I begin, or, what do I do now? If you are short of cash, which, in most cases people in the beginning are -- you can begin by:
1. Writing articles
2. Optimizing your site for the search engines
3. Putting Adsense on your site
All this takes time and work. But, when you first begin, you do have time to optimize, to write articles, and to put adsense ads on your site. Why? It has been said that for the next six months or nine months, Google, and possibly, the other search engines, may put you in the Sandbox. Some say the Sandbox exists, some says it does not. Whatever it is called, you will see a degree of dormancy in your site.
My own thinking is that there may be a pre-set time of six months before you see a rise in your unique clicks – I know I did. I feel that there may be several reasons for this:
1. It’s a great way to protect the Internet community against unscrupulous sites – I figure that these sites have a lifespan of six months before people give them the boot. It only takes one person to feel the blunt of a scam, before talk in the online forums begins.
2. Websites go up and go down daily. The search engines are looking at saving themselves time and money. If you are still on line after six months or nine months, you’re paying your dues, and they may figure you are serious about maintaining a business online.
What Do I Do During That Six or Nine Month Period
First, and foremost – since I have supplied you with this information – do not get frustrated and throw in the towel. Granted, at first the only clicks you may see is your own, but that will change.
Second, start positioning yourself, so when your dormancy with the search engines ends, you have the quality content, and the quality products to begin to fly. That means, writing articles, getting your name out to the masses, and learning to utilize Adsense.
And when you have spare change, try your hand at advertising on Adwords.
In the beginning your learning curve is just out of the starting gate – take this time to read, purchase appropriate ebooks, experiment and research. All are important to moving your learning curve to the expert level.
To conclude, a website is just a small part, but an important part, of becoming an Affiliate Marketer. The other important elements, is persistence, hard work, and marketing. And finally, if you still have the passion after the initial exhilaration of becoming an online entrepreneur wanes – then you’ll make it.
About the author:
Vickie J Scanlon has a BBA degree in Administrative Management and Marketing.
Labels:
business basics,
how to's,
make money online,
Marketing
No Tricks Guide to Getting Started with Google Adsense
When you make your living online, you realize the need for multiple streams of income. One of the easiest and most lucrative ways to generate a secondary income, which also happens to be passive, is via Google’s Adsense program.
I’m sure you’ve read the claims of a few individuals generating five figure monthly incomes from Adsense. For many of you, I’m sure you are wondering why you aren’t making this same income yourself.
Well, wonder no more. If you follow my simple six step system, you will be well on your way to healthy Adsense profits within three months.
Are you ready? It’s now time to pay attention.
Step 1 – Preparation.
The key to making money with Adsense is all about numbers. BIG numbers!
Sure, there are a few people making serious money with less than ten sites, but these are the exception.
Your goal will be twenty-four sites in three months. That’s just TWO sites per week!
In order to accomplish this, I recommend one of the many available page generation tools available today.
Step 2 – Determine Your Markets.
In order to maximize Adsense income with only twenty-four sites, you must know which markets are paying well.
To break this down even further, you need to know which keywords within those markets are paying the most.
Step 3 – Register you domains.
Once you’ve identified and chosen your markets, you must register domains appropriate to those markets. For example, if your market is ‘Cabbage Patch Dolls’, a domain such as http://www.cabbage-patch-doll.com/ would be appropriate.
Step 4 – Create your site.
Using your favorite page generation software and keyword list, it’s time to develop your site. There are several key points to bear in mind when you develop these specifically for Adsense.
1. Format – Always use the large 336x280 large rectangle.
2. Border – Match the same color as your background.
3. Background color - Border – Match the same color as your background.
4. Link = "0000CC"
5. Color_url = "999999"
6. Color_text = "333333"
7. Position – Far left or center and just above the page fold (Top 25% of site)
Step 5 – Verify and track your site
Visit your site and make sure all links work and that the sites appear to your satisfaction. You should also check out the ads Google is displaying. Are they targeted to your primary high paying keyword? If not, recreate your site using your high paying keyword in a higher density throughout your site.
Make sure you track your Adsense format, position, and traffic with a tracking system specifically designed for Adsense. Once you know your stats, you can adjust for maximum clickthroughs and higher revenues.
Step 6 – Get your site listed in the search engines.
This is simple… no tricks involved. Simply rent links to your site. A PR7 or PR8 link will do the job.
About the author:
This article has been authored by Keith Baxter, the founder of http://www.topkeywordlists.com
Labels:
google adsense,
how to's,
make money online,
Startups
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
How to write a business plan - Quick & Relatively Painless Method
If you've never written a business plan before, the idea alone can be overwhelming. But it doesn't have to be the nightmare of your imagination.
Traditionally, a business plan is used to secure funding from a lender or a potential investment partner. It serves as something akin to your business's resume, outlining the purpose and scope of your business, identifying the goals, marketing and management, and establishing a basic balance sheet.
Now, even if you aren't going to seek additional funding, even if you're going to grow your business by yourself from your office at home, you'd be wise to put together a business plan. Simply going through the process has value. It'll help you develop a clearly defined vision of what you intend to do with your business and how you intend to do it.
These are some of the questions you should already have asked and answered before you sit down to write your business plan:
== What "want" does your business fill, and what service or product will you be providing to fill that want?
== Who will be your potential customer (this should be an established, niche market with die-hard purchasers).
== Why will people purchase from you as opposed to the business down the street (in other words ... what's your Unique Selling Position)?
== How do you intend to reach your customers? A storefront? An ad in the phone book? Direct mail? An Internet campaign? Selling door-to-door? A combination of these?
== Will you need additional funding and if so, how much will you need and how do you intend to secure it?
Okay, so let's take a look at what you'll want to include in your business plan.
Most business plans are structured to examine four primary areas:
1. Executive Summary - a description of the business
2. How you intend to market the business
3. How the business finances will be arranged and handled
4. How the business will be managed
Let's take a further look at these.
Executive Summary: what the business will do, its Unique Selling Position, the business goals, its ownership and legal structure, your skills and knowledge and how they will benefit the business.
Marketing The Business: describe your product or service, identify your market niche, how big it is, and how you plan to reach it. Define your customer, identify your competition, detail your pricing plan, outline how you intend to attract and convert customers.
Financing The Business: estimate your start-up costs, project your monthly operating budget for the first year, outline your ROI (return on investment) and cash flow for the first year, project your income and expense balance sheet for the first two years, explain how you're going to compensate yourself, establish who will maintain the accounting records and how they'll be maintained, and if you're in need of funding, explain how much you need and how it'll be used by the business.
Managing The Business: how will the business be managed day-to-day, what the hiring and personnel procedures will be, how the products or services will be developed and how they'll get into the hands of your customers. You'll also need to account for equipment the business will need, and how insurance, rental agreements, etc. will be handled.
That's it in a nutshell.
About the author:
David Silva; http://businessstartertools.com
Traditionally, a business plan is used to secure funding from a lender or a potential investment partner. It serves as something akin to your business's resume, outlining the purpose and scope of your business, identifying the goals, marketing and management, and establishing a basic balance sheet.
Now, even if you aren't going to seek additional funding, even if you're going to grow your business by yourself from your office at home, you'd be wise to put together a business plan. Simply going through the process has value. It'll help you develop a clearly defined vision of what you intend to do with your business and how you intend to do it.
These are some of the questions you should already have asked and answered before you sit down to write your business plan:
== What "want" does your business fill, and what service or product will you be providing to fill that want?
== Who will be your potential customer (this should be an established, niche market with die-hard purchasers).
== Why will people purchase from you as opposed to the business down the street (in other words ... what's your Unique Selling Position)?
== How do you intend to reach your customers? A storefront? An ad in the phone book? Direct mail? An Internet campaign? Selling door-to-door? A combination of these?
== Will you need additional funding and if so, how much will you need and how do you intend to secure it?
Okay, so let's take a look at what you'll want to include in your business plan.
Most business plans are structured to examine four primary areas:
1. Executive Summary - a description of the business
2. How you intend to market the business
3. How the business finances will be arranged and handled
4. How the business will be managed
Let's take a further look at these.
Executive Summary: what the business will do, its Unique Selling Position, the business goals, its ownership and legal structure, your skills and knowledge and how they will benefit the business.
Marketing The Business: describe your product or service, identify your market niche, how big it is, and how you plan to reach it. Define your customer, identify your competition, detail your pricing plan, outline how you intend to attract and convert customers.
Financing The Business: estimate your start-up costs, project your monthly operating budget for the first year, outline your ROI (return on investment) and cash flow for the first year, project your income and expense balance sheet for the first two years, explain how you're going to compensate yourself, establish who will maintain the accounting records and how they'll be maintained, and if you're in need of funding, explain how much you need and how it'll be used by the business.
Managing The Business: how will the business be managed day-to-day, what the hiring and personnel procedures will be, how the products or services will be developed and how they'll get into the hands of your customers. You'll also need to account for equipment the business will need, and how insurance, rental agreements, etc. will be handled.
That's it in a nutshell.
About the author:
David Silva; http://businessstartertools.com
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Choosing a Tax Service for your Business
There are a number of ways that you can find tax services companies. The yellow pages is a good place to start for companies in your area but, depending on where you live, the list of names may be extremely long. It is a good idea to ask your friends, colleagues and business partners to recommend the tax services that they have found helpful and efficient in the past. Then you can call the tax services professionals that you have on your list and discuss your requirements.
The first step in finding the best tax services for your needs is deciding what level of help you require. Perhaps you simply need someone who can file a simple tax return but has to wade through your slightly disorganised accounting documents, or maybe you have a number of employees and need
assistance sorting out their tax withholdings or you may even want all of these tax services, and more. The size of the tax services company may also be an issue. You may want one person to be able to perform all of your tax work, especially if you are only a small business owner or you may want a team of tax professionals and you want to find tax services that have a number of specialists available. Once you have identified the type of tax services then you can begin your search more easily. Your available tax services budget is obviously going to be an issue but you should try to allocate as much money as possible to ensure that you can afford the best possible tax services. Remember that you can incur heavy fines if you have incorrectly filed your tax return or are late paying any type of tax that your business is liable for.
Apart from professional qualifications and references one of the most important points to consider when assessing which of the tax services companies you want to use is whether you feel comfortable with the person you are dealing with. At the end of the day you are going to trust them with your financial records and it is essential that you feel that you can depend upon the person.
Every business, at some time, needs the help of some type of tax services at some stage. Large organisations usually have their own tax services department with accountants and tax lawyers but small companies often have to hire tax services on a regular basis to help keep their tax returns and other issues in order. It is important to know how to find the best tax services, no matter what type of business you are involved with.
About the author:
Don Kransteuber writes about Tax Software at http://www.alltaxsoftware.info.
The first step in finding the best tax services for your needs is deciding what level of help you require. Perhaps you simply need someone who can file a simple tax return but has to wade through your slightly disorganised accounting documents, or maybe you have a number of employees and need
assistance sorting out their tax withholdings or you may even want all of these tax services, and more. The size of the tax services company may also be an issue. You may want one person to be able to perform all of your tax work, especially if you are only a small business owner or you may want a team of tax professionals and you want to find tax services that have a number of specialists available. Once you have identified the type of tax services then you can begin your search more easily. Your available tax services budget is obviously going to be an issue but you should try to allocate as much money as possible to ensure that you can afford the best possible tax services. Remember that you can incur heavy fines if you have incorrectly filed your tax return or are late paying any type of tax that your business is liable for.
Apart from professional qualifications and references one of the most important points to consider when assessing which of the tax services companies you want to use is whether you feel comfortable with the person you are dealing with. At the end of the day you are going to trust them with your financial records and it is essential that you feel that you can depend upon the person.
Every business, at some time, needs the help of some type of tax services at some stage. Large organisations usually have their own tax services department with accountants and tax lawyers but small companies often have to hire tax services on a regular basis to help keep their tax returns and other issues in order. It is important to know how to find the best tax services, no matter what type of business you are involved with.
About the author:
Don Kransteuber writes about Tax Software at http://www.alltaxsoftware.info.
Labels:
Business,
business basics,
how to's,
Startups,
tax
Tips to drive traffic to your webpage
After all the debate over website design, shopping carts and credit card processors, every website owner eventually comes to the startling realization that they need one more thing to survive - website traffic!
Without website traffic it's the same as building an expensive billboard and, instead of placing it alongside a busy highway, hiding it in your *basement* where nobody can see it.
Upon realizing they need traffic, most website owners run out and start blowing chunks of money and time trying to get "hits," but they fail to grasp that there are really only three (3) reliable ways to get traffic to any website.
Method #1 - purchase Traffic
Currently, the fastest way to get traffic to any website involves using the little classified ads on the right side of search giant Google's results pages
called Google AdWords, the system allows any advertiser to open an account with a $5 activation fee and start seeing their ads appear on Google within about 15 minutes.
Advertisers only pay when visitors actually click through from their ad on Google to their website or affiliate link.
Overture.com also sells traffic by the click, but they make you wait three to five days to go through their editorial review process before allowing ads to appear on their network.
You can also purchase advertising on dozens of other pay-per-click search engines.
They all follow the same basic model of only charging advertisers for targeted visitors who read an ad based on a keyword search and decide to click through for more information.
Log on to www.payperclicksearchengines.com for a list of over 600 choices ranked by market penetration.
A word to the wise on pay-per-click advertising: Watch your costs and track and measure everything. Even though you can get traffic for as little as a penny, you should track your results by search engine and by individual keyword if you want maximum success.
Many a company has lost its entire advertising budget paying only a nickel or a dime per click, but not watching their conversion rates and pouring money into keywords that don't convert... while neglecting the keywords that do bring sales (mainly because they don't know which is
which!).
Method #2 - Borrow Traffic
If you need traffic to a website, then borrow it from people who already have it... especially people with lists of loyal subscribers or traffic from search engines, affiliates, or other steady sources.
"Endorsed Mailings" and "Reciprocal Linking" by other people represent the two fastest ways to borrow someone else's traffic.
If they maintain a list of subscribers, convince them to send an email out to their people telling them why they should check out your site.
Also, negotiate a prominent link on their web pages to siphon off targeted visitors who find their website.
Often the best way to persuade someone to do this involves paying them a commission, agreeing to do a similar mailing, or providing a link to them on your site (or a combination of all three).
Imagine how much traffic you could get if someone with a list of 10,000 loyal subscribers told their people to go look at your website!
Method #3 Recycle Traffic
The most economical way to get traffic involves turning one-time visitors into regular, repeat visitors that you direct to multiple sites over time.
You do this by pulling website visitors into your sphere of influence by enticing them to sign up for your newsletter, autoresponder sequence, or "mini-course."
Then you keep in contact with regular articles, special reports, and recommendations enticing them to visit your own and other people's websites.
Ultimately, every website owner should orient all of their marketing efforts towards this end of developing a stream of recycled traffic, because it costs the least and creates the best return on time and money invested.
It doesn't matter if you promote your own product, promote only as an affiliate, or some combination of the two... if you don't recycle traffic and get more than one hit out of each visitor, you're making one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make online.
Without website traffic it's the same as building an expensive billboard and, instead of placing it alongside a busy highway, hiding it in your *basement* where nobody can see it.
Upon realizing they need traffic, most website owners run out and start blowing chunks of money and time trying to get "hits," but they fail to grasp that there are really only three (3) reliable ways to get traffic to any website.
Method #1 - purchase Traffic
Currently, the fastest way to get traffic to any website involves using the little classified ads on the right side of search giant Google's results pages
called Google AdWords, the system allows any advertiser to open an account with a $5 activation fee and start seeing their ads appear on Google within about 15 minutes.
Advertisers only pay when visitors actually click through from their ad on Google to their website or affiliate link.
Overture.com also sells traffic by the click, but they make you wait three to five days to go through their editorial review process before allowing ads to appear on their network.
You can also purchase advertising on dozens of other pay-per-click search engines.
They all follow the same basic model of only charging advertisers for targeted visitors who read an ad based on a keyword search and decide to click through for more information.
Log on to www.payperclicksearchengines.com for a list of over 600 choices ranked by market penetration.
A word to the wise on pay-per-click advertising: Watch your costs and track and measure everything. Even though you can get traffic for as little as a penny, you should track your results by search engine and by individual keyword if you want maximum success.
Many a company has lost its entire advertising budget paying only a nickel or a dime per click, but not watching their conversion rates and pouring money into keywords that don't convert... while neglecting the keywords that do bring sales (mainly because they don't know which is
which!).
Method #2 - Borrow Traffic
If you need traffic to a website, then borrow it from people who already have it... especially people with lists of loyal subscribers or traffic from search engines, affiliates, or other steady sources.
"Endorsed Mailings" and "Reciprocal Linking" by other people represent the two fastest ways to borrow someone else's traffic.
If they maintain a list of subscribers, convince them to send an email out to their people telling them why they should check out your site.
Also, negotiate a prominent link on their web pages to siphon off targeted visitors who find their website.
Often the best way to persuade someone to do this involves paying them a commission, agreeing to do a similar mailing, or providing a link to them on your site (or a combination of all three).
Imagine how much traffic you could get if someone with a list of 10,000 loyal subscribers told their people to go look at your website!
Method #3 Recycle Traffic
The most economical way to get traffic involves turning one-time visitors into regular, repeat visitors that you direct to multiple sites over time.
You do this by pulling website visitors into your sphere of influence by enticing them to sign up for your newsletter, autoresponder sequence, or "mini-course."
Then you keep in contact with regular articles, special reports, and recommendations enticing them to visit your own and other people's websites.
Ultimately, every website owner should orient all of their marketing efforts towards this end of developing a stream of recycled traffic, because it costs the least and creates the best return on time and money invested.
It doesn't matter if you promote your own product, promote only as an affiliate, or some combination of the two... if you don't recycle traffic and get more than one hit out of each visitor, you're making one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make online.
Marketing the Old School Way
1. Find a strategic business partner. Look for ones that have the same objective. You can trade leads, share marketing info, sell package deals, etc.
2. Brand your name and business. You can easily do this by just writing articles and submitting them to e-zines or web sites for republishing.
3. Start an auction on your web site. The type of auction could be related to the theme of your site. You'll draw traffic from auctioneers and bidders.
4. Remember to take a little time out of your day or week to brainstorm. New ideas are usually the difference between success and failure.
5. Model other successful business or people. I'm not saying out right copy them, but practice some of the same habits that have made them succeed.
6. Take risks to improve your business. Sometimes businesses don't want to advertise unless it's free, sometimes you have to spend money to get results.
7. Include emotional words in your advertisements. Use ones like love, security, relief, freedom, happy,
satisfaction, fun, etc.
8. Ask people online to review your web site. You can use the comments you get to improve your web site or you may turn the reviewer into a customer.
9. Out source part of your workload. You'll save on most employee costs. You could out source your secretarial work, accounting, marketing, etc.
10. Combine a product and service together in a package deal. It could increase your sales. If you're selling a book, offer an hour of consulting with it.
About the author:
Wesley Atkins is the owner of http://www.reviewbooth.com/ and writes intelligent Marketing tips & tricks for the masses.
2. Brand your name and business. You can easily do this by just writing articles and submitting them to e-zines or web sites for republishing.
3. Start an auction on your web site. The type of auction could be related to the theme of your site. You'll draw traffic from auctioneers and bidders.
4. Remember to take a little time out of your day or week to brainstorm. New ideas are usually the difference between success and failure.
5. Model other successful business or people. I'm not saying out right copy them, but practice some of the same habits that have made them succeed.
6. Take risks to improve your business. Sometimes businesses don't want to advertise unless it's free, sometimes you have to spend money to get results.
7. Include emotional words in your advertisements. Use ones like love, security, relief, freedom, happy,
satisfaction, fun, etc.
8. Ask people online to review your web site. You can use the comments you get to improve your web site or you may turn the reviewer into a customer.
9. Out source part of your workload. You'll save on most employee costs. You could out source your secretarial work, accounting, marketing, etc.
10. Combine a product and service together in a package deal. It could increase your sales. If you're selling a book, offer an hour of consulting with it.
About the author:
Wesley Atkins is the owner of http://www.reviewbooth.com/ and writes intelligent Marketing tips & tricks for the masses.
3 Essential Tools for Starting and Maintaining a Small Business
When its about starting up a small business, there are 3 factors that drive the success of small businesses.
1) Acquiring start-up capital
2) Finding customers
3) Accounting for, budgeting and controlling sales and expenses
The following resources will help your small business achieve these success factors.
Acquiring Start-Up Capital
An adequate supply of capital is essential as many profitable businesses fail because they don’t have enough cash to pay their employees and suppliers. But what is an adequate supply of capital? The only way to tell is by doing a significant amount of research on your potential market and formally documenting this in a business plan. I’m sure you know that a business plan is a very important document that is crucial to convincing your banker to lend you money.
There are two ways to obtain a business plan.
1) Do it yourself by amending a business plan template, or
2) Hire a professional to do it for you.
Obviously obtain 1) will be a great deal cheaper.
Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city – where ever you live in the world.
Finding Customers
Finding customers is a difficult and expensive task for service business owners such as accountants, lawyers and plumbers. We believe that a cost effective marketing strategy for service business owners is to simply give all their personal contacts a few business cards.
Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.
Accounting For, Budgeting and Controlling Revenue and Expenses
Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It’s essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low – you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven’t paid – you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay your employees – or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.
About the Author
Ryan Hough is the webmaster of best quality small business resources.com, who's aim is to help you save time and money by finding reviews and case studies that will enable you to choose the best resources at the right price.
1) Acquiring start-up capital
2) Finding customers
3) Accounting for, budgeting and controlling sales and expenses
The following resources will help your small business achieve these success factors.
Acquiring Start-Up Capital
An adequate supply of capital is essential as many profitable businesses fail because they don’t have enough cash to pay their employees and suppliers. But what is an adequate supply of capital? The only way to tell is by doing a significant amount of research on your potential market and formally documenting this in a business plan. I’m sure you know that a business plan is a very important document that is crucial to convincing your banker to lend you money.
There are two ways to obtain a business plan.
1) Do it yourself by amending a business plan template, or
2) Hire a professional to do it for you.
Obviously obtain 1) will be a great deal cheaper.
Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city – where ever you live in the world.
Finding Customers
Finding customers is a difficult and expensive task for service business owners such as accountants, lawyers and plumbers. We believe that a cost effective marketing strategy for service business owners is to simply give all their personal contacts a few business cards.
Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.
Accounting For, Budgeting and Controlling Revenue and Expenses
Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It’s essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low – you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven’t paid – you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay your employees – or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.
About the Author
Ryan Hough is the webmaster of best quality small business resources.com, who's aim is to help you save time and money by finding reviews and case studies that will enable you to choose the best resources at the right price.
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