Affliate Marketing Secrets

iate Marketing comes down to two main factors, first is niche research. Niche research is a key to your Affiliate marketing success. Niche research is the process of picking what market your going to try to make money in.

The second factor is keyword research, keyword research must play a large role in your niche research, and it's also whats going to determine exactly how much Affiliate marketing money your going to make.

The best Affiliate marketing secret I can share with you, is a complex method of keyword research.

Lets say you want to sell an Affiliate product in the Diet, Fitness, and Exercise niche. To start out with keywords like lose wieght, best diet, or lose wieght fast, is going to be near impossible to rank for. If your looking for free search engine traffic the competition will be much to high for a new website to even sniff the first page of Google. If your going the pay per click route, again the competition will be much to high which will in turn cause your cost per click to be way to high.

Instead, you have to try and find those more specific, long tail, and unique keywords, for example drop pounds quick, instead of loss wieght fast, which is unique. Instead of best diet, maybe something like no carbs wieght shifting diet, this would be specific. Or, most Internet marketers favorite, a long tail keyword like, loss wieght fast an easy before summer, instead of lose wieght.

Slowly but surely you can work your way up to those harder to target keywords.

For some very valuable Affiliate marketing secr

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Saving Money with Time and Attendance Software

Managing employee payroll is one of the most expensive recurring costs in most companies. Staff time and attendance directly affects the operations efficiency whilst being the most easily correctable resource drain on your company. Time and attendance software is no longer considered to be a luxury but rather an essential part of successful businesses large and small.

Basic features of a typical time and attendance software package include:

Secure login to a system which electronically files employee details such as leave and absence management. Scheduling functions to ensure that staff is appropriately resourced to changing workplace requirement. All these details will be centrally stored, making the filing and retrieving of vital information quick and easy to manage, and reducing the risk of error.

Apart from these basic features time and attendance software development companies often provide different additional features which may be worth asking about. The most important aspect of modern workforce time management would be whether or not a system allows for accurate tracking of flexible or part-time workers. Additionally does the system allow for 'remote' clocking so that your employees can clock in from multiple branches, from home or even whilst on the road? Ask for a detailed demonstration of the reporting functions of any software you may be reviewing. Reporting by department or project, costing modules and strategic forecasting features aid decision makers by creating accurate overviews of past and projected future activities.

Compliance with federal and state law such as FMLA regulations in the US are also well worth asking about. Time attendance software that already includes such requirements will save you a lot of time in implementing these new technologies.

Time and attendance software also increase effectiveness when it is part of an integrated system. Some support companies will be able to integrate building access control and security features such as Fire Evacuation Systems and visitor control with your TMS (time management systems). This means that your company can manage staff clocking in while managing both daily visitors and special events. With such management systems your company will avoid duplicating information gathering processes whilst serving the needs of your different. HR will be able to manage their payroll, security will be able to monitor visitor activity and division/project heads will be able to monitor absenteeism.

So what are the drawbacks?

A fully integrated time management system will most likely cost more than time management software. Apart from that, different suppliers will provide different features across a range of prices. The best approach to cutting costs in your company is that of weighing up the cost of implementation versus the cost savings in a certain time period. You can waste a lot of time working with amateur companies and

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Helpful Hints for Future Business Owners

During this period small businesses has a really big advantage with little overheads compared to large businesses. Through a little invention and so financial backing a small business can thrive through this storm. During this period diversification is vital for long term growth, I would advise in looking into providing your products/services to the developing nations like Brazil, China and India.

Some clear examples from the past are Virgin Group, born out of the financial crisis of the 1970's, finding a niche in the market has made the Virgin Group one of the UK's fastest expanding business in living history. I would agree getting to Richard Branson level of success is very slim, though having a strong and flexible business plan can make the difference of been part of a statistic of failed businesses or been a leading company in the markets.

One of the most important and difficult issues you will face during this time is getting finance for a business. Banks are still very curious in lending, so without an outstanding Business plan you possibly may struggle to get lending from some of the banks. Although the banks are not lending with interest rates on savings been so low, we have started to see an increase in small private investment into businesses.

Investments can be one of the best ways to get your business up and running, though similar to lending. Investors will expect wide business knowledge and a robust business plan. A business plan is key part to getting any sort of finance into a business, you must prove that you can deliver the projected profits and also deal with possible further economic uncertainties along the way. As I'm sure many of you have seen Dragons Den, there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from people over estimating business growth, products usability and projected orders. One of the key thinks investors wish to see is a passion for all things business and realistic projections on business growth and their returns. If you can prove that a business plan is realistic and gives enough flexibility and still provides a good return for an investor you will be successful in any pitch.

Above all remember your businesses are the future of this country, providing jobs, products and services. I wish you all every success.

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This is the Best Way to Make Money

e people, you would love to find a way to expand your monthly income, and you wouldn't mind helping others as well. Many people find themselves without work these days; others are wondering when the axe of redundancy is going to fall on them. Being laid off is a frightening prospect. However, most people would not like to branch off on their own unless they are forced to. Some would like to put out tentative feelers and see whether they could make it on their own and start a private business. ‘Is there a way I could do this part time at first to see whether I have it in me to succeed?' you ask yourself. ‘What sort of business would I be able to start part time? I must not have excessive overheads; I must be able to work at my own pace, at my own timings. It has to be at home. I cannot afford to travel. I have neither the time nor the money to spare.' What a lot of constraints! But believe it or not, there is a solution out there for you. You need a computer, an internet connection, a very little amount of time, and no more than a few cents a day……..and that is all. Yes, it is true! This is an internet business; but you don't need a vast amount of online or even word processing experience. In fact, if you know enough about the internet to enter the name of this site on your browser, and make the search to the site, that is all you need, for starters. Of course, everyone who starts a business needs a few important attributes, and these are what you need most of all: First, you need to be really serious about wanting to earn money. Usually the more urgently you need money, the more likely you will succeed, and the quicker you will succeed. Then you need to be able to read. This sounds odd, but it is true that when people are afraid of not being able to follow instructions, they don't take the trouble to read. They skim through in a sort of panic stricken, negative way, and cannot even follow the easiest steps. A lot of people, especially older people, are so freaked out by the idea of working online that they are quite sure they won't be clever enough to do so. If you are one of them, you need to take a deep breath, calm down and quietly read through every single thing you see on the screen in front of you. Long before you have got through the first page, you will be amazed at how easy, simple, and user-friendly the instructions can be. Incidentally, this goes for learning almost anything from online instructions on the internet, but most particularly it applies to this wonderful opportunity you are about to discover. If you are good at promotions and have a wide network of friends and acquaintances, you are about to discover a way to make a lot of money from an online business, as well as an opportunity to help all your friends make a tiny bit too. Do yourself a favour and make the very small effort to follow the link to this site and read all about the really clever way they have figured out to make some really easy extra money. You will soon realize it is the best way to make money. They even offer a challenge to you to find an easier way anywhere else on the internet. They don't believe there is one!

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The Art Of Free Event Advertising?

Jo knew that events could be advertised in the Trade Magazines linked to her company's line of business but, as a newcomer to event organization, with a non-existent advertising budget and with no marketing expert at her elbow; where should she begin?

Some of the best advertising you can get is editorial written about your event or your company. Print media like trade journals, magazines and newspapers are often looking to fill their pages and you may have noticed that articles about companies and their activities are often surrounded by advertising for related businesses. Most print media is paid for by the advertising, so this type of article has benefits both ways. If the topic of your workshop or roadshow is a controversial, exciting or popular subject, it is more likely that an article about it will be printed however you have little control over the timing. The article might be included in any month and will be driven more by space than by your deadline.

To get an article printed, all you might have to do is lift the telephone and talk to the editorial staff of your chosen publications. If you are a persuasive person they may send someone to interview you and your colleagues. They will then write the article without further reference and the next you will see is the printed word.

Press Releases

You may be in the position where you need to contact a large number of publications to let them know about your event, you may also want to get noticed by current affairs or business programs on television and radio. To ensure consistency and as much accuracy as possible, it is worth producing a Press Release that explains what the event is all about, who it is aimed at and all of the details about venue and timing.

A press release should be produced in a certain way. It ought to be written in the third person (he, she, it and they), it should have an introductory paragraph that more or less tells the whole story, it must not extend to much more than a single page and, where possible, include quotes from specific people. Make sure the people are happy to be quoted in print and try, where possible, to use unambiguous wording to avoid embarrassment. The release should finish with the contact details of the person to be approached if further information is needed.

A good journalist can produce a 750 word article from a well written press release without any reference back to the company. Some trade publications devote several pages to listings of industry specific events. Your press release will, at least, improve your chances of being included in those lists.

Producing a press release and Emailing or posting it is only the beginning of your promotional activity. Follow up with as many phone calls as you can program in to get your story to the top of the pile as often as possible.

Jo was amazed at how easy it was to compile a press release by getting ideas from everyone involved in the event. She pulled them together in one document and circulated copies to every relevant magazine, paper and even local radio. The response was surprising; local and national newspapers picked up the story, one television production company has even signed them up for a documentary show. Starting from a situation where Jo thought no sane person would be interested in their event, the publicity seemed to take on a life of its own and they were soon booking repeat sessions to meet the demand.

Write on your business card

Like the majority of sales people, I visit a huge number of clients and prospects every month, some end up buying some do not, but every single one of them has my business card. I attend business breakfasts, seminars and other networking event in my search for new contacts and ultimately new business, each person I meet also gets a business card.

One day a few years ago I realised that I not only hand out a huge number of cards, but I also receive a fair few myself. I decided to go back through some of the older ones to see if I could find some new prospects. As I started to sift through them I began to realise that most peoples cards are actually meaningless in isolation. Unless you work for one of the few companies who’s name actually reflects what you do, you may as well be writing your telephone number on a piece of paper and forgetting to add your name.

ABC Company
Mr Bob Jones
General Manager
Telephone number
Mobile number
Fax number
Email address
Website

Without going online and looking at every single website I have no idea what the companies do!

Likewise, all those people I had been diligently handing my business card too had every conceivable method of contacting me, written there in black and white, but no idea what I do! It’s my job as a sales person to “put my face about”, make sure I am always contactable and remember as much as I can about all my prospects (with perhaps, a little help from my CRM). My prospects are also everyone else’s prospects, they do not need to remember me, and so they need a little help.

I realised the solution is simple. WRITE ON YOUR BUSINESS CARDS!!!

Here’s the scenario: The prospect gets back to the office one day and is told they need a new supplier for widgets, it’s his job to find one. He remembers speaking to a few suppliers at the seminar but can’t remember exactly who, so he quickly flips through the cards collected, then, he comes across one, he can’t remember the name or the face to match it, but, in nice clear writing it says “Widgets, budget to high end” Who gets invited in for a meeting?

I'm one of those people who guard my business cards at meetings. I don't like meaningless cardboard connections (exchanging business cards without a purpose). I'm put off by someone who says, "Hello, my name is.... Here is my business card, can I have yours?" My suspicion is that I'm going to be put on someone's junk mail list. However, by first striking a chord, you've accomplished something very important in your networking mission -- you've found a reason to extend the relationship beyond the event at which you met.

Not all prospects you meet are going to fit your ideal client (or center of influence) profile. This is especially true for me, since I have a highly specialized niche. Focus your attention on those who meet your criteria. Jot down notes on the back of the card (the reason for the solid connection), and then you'll have a conversation point in which to build your relationship at the next meeting or in your correspondence. Follow up quickly after the meeting by sending information you promised.

The Term "cardboard connection" was coined by Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon authors of "Make Your Contacts Count" www.ContactsCount.com

Writing a good headline for your advertisement

There is no denying the fact that the success of an advertisement lies mostly in the headline. The headline should attract the reader and make him read the rest of the advertisement. The headline should be simply catchy and various key points should be embedded when deciding on the headline for the ad.

The headline should catch attention of the eye at the first glance. Words in headlines should act as tags for the advertisement. It should say it all about the content that follows. If a company is selling reasonably priced furniture, the headline of their advertisement should be ‘Durable furniture for less price’. This headline will attract the right customers who are on a look out for durable furniture as well as low cost furniture. If the customers to be reached belong to a category that are interested in decorating their house with beautiful furniture and aren’t concerned about the price to get the right look, then the headline can be ‘Change how your house looks by our oriental furniture’. Anything other than the prospects should not be included in the headline. If both men and women can use a product, both of them should be referred to in the title, missing out even one of the category is like losing a huge number of potential customers.

The title should be instant product seller. According to a research, five times more readers read just the headline when compared to those who read the complete advertisement. So the investment is of no use, if the title isn’t good enough to sell the product. There can be a possibility that the content of the ad isn’t strong enough. All the harm can be undone by having a powerful headline.

The headline should be centered on the product and not the company that is selling the product. The customer’s interest should be reflected and he should feel that he is directly addressed. Start with ‘you’ and not ‘we’. So if the client specified on mentioning the company’s name, don’t start the sentence with it. For example, instead of writing ‘Tylenol – solution for sever cold ’, write ‘Got sever cold? Try Tylenol’. Never forget to mention the name of the product in the headline. The product name should be of top priority.

A snapshot of the benefits of the product should be given in the headline. This is an important quality of a well-phrased headline. The customers look out for advantages when he thinks of buying a product. Keywords like whiter teeth, nutritious cereals, or miraculous growth should be incorporated in the title.

If inculcating all these factors have made the headline long, it should be remembered to write the product advantages in bold. If a visual is placed in the advertisement, it will be a good complement. As a picture speak thousand words. But care should be taken that the headline should say some part of the story and the visual should say the rest. Don’t repeat the headline or the picture.

Too much of cleverness should not be applied to design a headline. There are nearly five hundred advertisements in a local newspaper on weekends. A regular reader reads the headings of all of them. He will be able to classify between a false heading and a genuine heading. No false promises or information should be included in the headline. Over smart headlines are good for award competitions, but don’t really work with the savvy

5 Tips To Make Money on Craigslist

Craigslist is one of the most visited sites on the internet today, with millions upon, millions of visitors a day. With this many visitors
daily, it is very easy to get a nice chunk of traffic with your postings. I have put some tips together for you guys, apply these, and you WILL
make money!

Tip 1: DON'T POST DUPLICATE POSTS!
Posting duplicate posts will do nothing for you but get your ads taken down. Yes, it is easy to just copy and paste, and make over 100 ads within minutes, but it won't do you any good.

Tip 2: USE DIFFERENT IPS!
Using different IPs is another way to avoid getting your ad flagged. One way Craigslist will know to flag your posts is by looking at the IP you are using. If they see multiple ads from the same IP, they will most likely flag your ad, thus your profits will suffer. (Wait, you won't have any.) One way you can
change your IP is by using a proxy. If you want a list of them, check out proxy.org. They have thousands of them.

Tip 3: DONT BE AN IDIOT!
Being an idiot is the easiest way to not make money on Craigslist. Do not post something, blatantly spamming your URL. This is an example of what NOT to do:

"HEY GUYS CHECK OUT MY SITE ITS THE BEST!!!! LOL11!!! http://myaffiliatelink.com LOL OK GO THER PLX"

Doing this is also a good way to get banned from your CPA network as well, which also is not a good thing.

Tip 4: CATCH THE CURIOSITY OF THE READER!
This is one of the most important tips of all. By catching the curiosity of the reader you have a much higher chance of getting an email from them, or getting a click on your link. Also, make sure to keep your ad short - this will help catch their curiosity.

Tip 5: DON'T GIVE UP, EVER!
That's it, DON'T GIVE UP. Giving up is the easiest way to not make money online. To make money you must stick with it. I know it will be hard, but when you finally do get that first sale, or that first lead, it's the greatest feeling ever. If you can do it once, you can do it a million times.

5 Simple and Easy Ways to Advertise Online

Some people say that advertising is everything!  Regardless if you have a product, a service, a hobby website or just want to share pictures of your wedding, you have to advertise somehow to get the traffic to your site or blog.

But not all traffic is equal. There are services that can help you drive tons and tons of traffic to your site and it won't do you any good at all because it's not targeted traffic.

Take for example all of the many different 'surf for traffic' or 'traffic clicking' programs that are out there. If you have a website that is about your hobby, say model airplanes, then what good is this traffic really going to do you? Who's using these services?

Webmasters and marketers that want traffic on their own site. So they most likely won't spend any more time on your page than is required by the little timer these services use and then they are gone again. Even if your site is about these traffic services (this is about the only time you will see very much benefit from using such a tool) you will still have to spend a ton of time just surfing and clicking around to get a real benefit from these programs. Once marketers realized this they switched gears. They started promoting all the different programs to a lot of other marketers to get them in their downlines, so they could get some traffic as a bonus. This became their new focus. The problem is that everyone else did exactly the same thing, so not a lot of people were surfing the internet anymore.

Bottom-line is this. You need targeted traffic. So here are some tips on how you can generate exactly the traffic you need and bring the visitors you want to your website without having to chase after them.

1. Content
What is your website about? Do you just have a page with a lot of links and not much else?

If this is the case, think about adding some content to your website that will be of value to any potential visitors. You could write articles or find articles at one of the many directories that you can reprint on your site.

2. Talk about your experiences in your subject matter.
You don't have to put up some kind of resume (although that can work too), but rather try writing about what you are doing, as it relates to your topic of choice. Let's look at the model airplanes again briefly, you could talk or write about the latest plane type you built, how the last time flying your plane went, what challenges you run into or perhaps even post some pictures of your plane or of you flying it.

3. Forums and bulletin boards.
You could add a forum or bulletin board to your website where your visitors can interact with each other. There are a lot of free services available out there that you can use to either remotely host a forum for you, or even software you can install on your website's server. To find some of these, just head over to your favorite search engine and you will definitely find plenty to choose from.

And while you are visiting the search engine, why not run a search for any bulletin boards and forums that are already out there for your chosen topic? You could visit those and interact with the visitors there and since many allow you to post a signature or a profile, you could add a little line about your own site with a link (just check the rules of the forum first so
you don't violate any of them).

4. Start a blog.
Blogs are very popular and search engines love them because they provide constantly new and fresh content. Your blog would be a great place to talk about what you are up to that day. So if you spent some time today buying new parts for your plane you could write about where you found them, how much they cost you, why you chose those parts, anything really goes.

The really great part about this is that you can point links from your blog back to your website, so when the search engine stops by to grab and index your latest content, it will also stop by your website and you will start seeing very targeted traffic heading your way.

5. Write articles.
Writing articles isn't hard and can be a great source of fresh, new traffic to your website. There are a lot of ezines on any topic out there and there are also a lot of directories where you can share your article.

Basically, what you do is write an article and then add a small resource box that links back to your website (just like a signature) and then let other ezine publishers know that you are allowing them to print your article in their ezine. And many publishers go to the article directories to find new content for their newsletter and even their websites. And since there are
websites and ezine newsletters on any imaginable topic out there, you can't lose. Write an article every couple of days and post it in the directories (even one a week or every two weeks will start getting you traffic). Very soon you will find new traffic coming from search engines, newsletters and websites.

Best of all, these 5 simple tips will bring targeted traffic, meaning the visitors are coming to you because they are interested in what you wrote.

So there you have it. Whether you have a simple and basic Work at Home Business or a significant Internet Marketing enterprise you can benefit from these 5 easy and simple ways to advertise and drive traffic to your website at absolutely no cost.



Stephen Wright is President & CEO of InternetMarketingUSA.com
Looking for Internet Marketing Ideas, Tips, and Solutions?  Get everything you need to make money online in "Dotcomology: The Science of Making Money Online". Absolutely Free at: http://www.InternetMarketingUSA.com/dotcomology.html


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3 Marketing Tactics That Will Send Your Sales Through The Roof

When the tide comes in, all boats in the harbor go up... the tough part is figuring out how to bring the tide in.  Booming economies come and go and bring surges of profit increases,  then ebb to leave behind shortages and tough times.  Regardless, there are some business that just seem to weather the tough times with grace, not really affected by recessions.  It's almost as though they have a secret source... maybe they do... customers.

Hey, customers always buy... in the good times and in the bad times.  They still have needs and still make purchases.  When you understand their needs and wants, you have the keys to keeping your business afloat when others are grounded.  Implement these three tactics successful marketers use, and you're set for success.

1.  Just One
Customers can be like a two year old in a candy store... they want it all.  Yeah, sometimes it's hard to make up your mind about what you really do want when everything looks so good.  That's why it pays to promote one product over the others.  It spells out loud and clear... I'M THE BEST DEAL.  That will be the deciding factor in most cases.

2.  Make Them Feel Good
Customers buy because they want to enjoy the benefits of the purchase.  A lady might buy a dress because she wants to feel sexy, or a man will buy a saw because he finds pleasure in creating things.  Emotions are the key element that drives purchases.

Use word pictures to stir up the emotions that will instigate the sale.  Let them "feel" the benefits, and they'll be more apt to head for the cash register.  Put them where you want them.

Selling a riding mower?  ... the birds are singing, Easter lilies are blooming and kids are flying kites in the wind... spring has arrived.  Yep, it's time to get out that mower and fuel it up for the summer ahead.  How many springs have come and gone since you promised yourself a riding mower? ... It's not hard to paint mental pictures that whet their appetite for the product you are advertising.

3.  Make Contact
Following up with a customer who didn't buy can be the determining factor between and "almost sale" and a satisfied, loyal customer.  Simply contact them afterwards and let them know the product is still available or offer them further information they may find valuable.

Internet marketers can offer free newsletters or reports that consumers find useful and marketers find profitable.  Not only do you keep your product in front of the customer on a regular basis, you get email information to stay in contact.  Both parties win!

Work and Preparation Equal Success and Confidence

You have decided to start your own business on the internet. The first question is what do I do? What kind of service do I offer or what product do I sell.

What field are you knowledgable in? What do you have to offer others? Am I qualified to help others?

Most everyone has the knowledge and ability to help others. The problem is that most do not have the confidence to share that knowledge. We question ourselves and the abilities that we possess.

Years ago when I was in the United States military, I learned some valuable lessons about people. The majority of people are content to follow. There is nothing wrong with this and the world needs followers as well as leaders.

The world also needs leaders and the confidence that goes with that role. To be a successful leader, you must have the confidence in your own abilities. And to be successful in the marketing world, you must be a leader.

You must have the confidence that you can help others and have the ability to convey that confidence to them. You must possess the knowledge to allow you to portray this confidence to your clients as well.

If you cannot convey this confidence to your potential customers, you will have a very difficult time being successful in any type business. People come to you for help, you must project a sense of confidence or you have little chance of attaining that success.

A few years back when I was in the advertising business, a client told me one day that I seemed so confident that the ad campaign I has just written would be a rousing success. He asked me how I could be so confident when we had yet to even test the campaign?

My answer to him applies to almost any task or any field. I told him that I was confident because I had spent many hours studying the market that we were targeting. I had also spent many hours looking at other ads, both successful and unsuccesful. I had then spent a lot of time putting together the campaign and when I finished, I went back and spent even more time ensuring that everything was just right.

The key here was preparation. I was totally prepared and felt like I had exhausted every possible means to ensure that the ad campaign was the best that it could possibly be. How could I not be confident.

It reminds me of school. When I spent the time studying, I always felt confident when test day arrived. The times that I did not spend the time studying, the confidence was just not there, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself.

Back in those days, confidence seemed to come because you were driving the fanciest car on campus and everyone looked up to you. Or you were the captain of the football team or the head cheerleader. At that point in life, most looked up to you for the wrong reasons. Well, I am here to tell you that those things mean nothing in the today's world.

You have the ability to start your own business and turn it into a successful venture. What does it take? You are going to have to have the confidence to pass along to others. How do you acquire this confidence? Well, it does not come because you are good looking, popular or inherited a million dollars. It comes from work and preparation.

Do you have the ability to make it happen? Of course you do. The question is, are you willing to put forth the time and effort that it takes. Success and Confidence take work and preparation.

Your Greatest Marketing Assets

When you're in business for yourself - whether you like it or not, feel like you're good at it or not - you are a marketing and sales person.

I tell my marketing clients and those that attend my various marketing presentations all the time that the two greatest assets you posses are your Attitude and Belief. When these are positive and show through your marketing and sales efforts, your results will increase dramatically.

<b>Attitude: Be enthusiastic and passionate</b> about your value proposition to the marketplace. You know that what you offer can make a difference and have an impact on your clients. When it comes to your own marketing, if you feel good about yourself and you have self-confidence because you are doing everything for the benefit of your clients, you'll become more attractive to prospective clients.

<b>Belief: You don't have to have a degree in marketing</b> to get great marketing results. But you do have to believe in yourself and your actions. I call it a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe that can't do something, you're right - you won't do it. On the other hand, if you believe that you can learn what it takes to get better marketing results you will.

<b>If you're persistent in pursuing your business</b> and your small business marketing with a positive attitude and belief that you can, sooner or later you'll find what works for you. You'll discover the marketing strategies and tactics that allow you to begin attracting attention and bringing in new clients consistently! I know because it's happening for me.

Your Web Site's Success Are You A Perceived Expert

Do you want to know what it takes to successfully market a web site and generate repeat sales?

It's simple really.

You must position yourself as a perceived expert. It doesn't matter what product or service you are selling, this same premise will hold true.

What is a perceived expert, you ask?

Good question.

Gone are the days where you could build a simple company web site, list your products and send customers to an order page. New web sites are sprouting up like blades of grass and competition is intensely fierce.

The bottom line is this: why should a customer buy from YOU?

A small but growing number of small business owners have discovered the answer to this question and are kicking your butt. How are they accomplishing this? By positioning themselves as an expert in their industry and using their web site to communicate that fact to potential customers.

How can you become an expert too?

Offer your potential customers an education to compliment the product or service you are selling. You can write it, buy it or license the content you need. Whichever you choose, teaching your customers should be an essential component of your web site and its importance cannot be overstated.

Here are some examples:

If you are selling diamonds or jewelry online, offer articles, tips or even a free guide on "How do I choose the right diamond for me?" or "20 ways to spot fake jewelry."

If you operate a job search or career database, offer a wealth of guides and tips such as "20 ways to improve your resume," "what to wear at a job interview," or "how do I know if a job is right for me."

If you are selling health related items (ie: vitamins, pills or creams), don't simply throw up ad copy, a few product images and an order form. Educate your customers on the benefits of each ingredient and how it can improve their well-being. Take it one step further and provide an education on every vitamin and mineral known to man. Just make it fun and easy to read.

You get the picture.

How can this help your web site prosper?

People want to buy the best product they can, at the best price, from someone they trust. Given the fact your customers will never see or meet you, this task is accomplished by your web site. By offering them a wealth of expertise related to the products you are selling, you immediately create a foundation to build upon. You are helping them make a more informed decision as to what to purchase while at YOUR web site. In essence, your web site becomes the salesperson that the customer would normally see in the store or talk to on the phone. Customers always have questions. You have the opportunity to give them the answer and a whole lot more knowledge by becoming a perceived expert in your industry.

If you give your potential customers an education, they will reward you for it. Plus, they will likely tell their friends too!

Home based small business – boon or a bane?

If you are serious about the idea of making money through home based business then here are tips which are a beneficial tool for those who want to begin to work at home based business. A simple solution is to start with a business from home focused on the internet arena i.e. where the work is based on Internet.

The market is teeming with numerous ideas of home based internet business launched by innumerable companies. Every single day new schemes come into the market under the garb of legitimate home based internet businesses. Sadly, most of these so called top home internet business are pure pyramid scams.

Home based internet businesses can be a good opportunity provided you are serious about it. With increasing unemployment & rising costs, having a steady income has become a critical issue nowadays. This has a direct bearing not only on the security and well-being of their children but also on the security of their retirement days. If you work at home on internet, not only will you be able to earn a steady income but also be with your kids in their growing years. Moreover, the more you earn now, the more secure their future will be. In such circumstances, if you plan to start a home based internet business, it makes perfect sense.

But the problem lies in how to select the right internet home based business opportunity? The different ideas of top home internet business often confuse the mind and stop us from taking a quick and concrete decision regarding the best home businesses. Then there are questions regarding the viability of these top home internet business opportunity. Then, you are also doubtful whether the income generated from the work at home on internet opportunity be able to replace that from a fulltime job?

In addition to the reliability factor there is another question regarding the amount of investment. What would be the costs of starting work at home on internet business initiative? When the monetary return from top home internet businesses is uncertain, then there is no logic in starting one. Hence, selecting the right internet home based business is of critical importance.

One such work at home on internet business opportunity is internet affiliate marketing. There are innumerable companies offering reliable affiliate programs. And in most cases, the affiliate fees are either free or a basic minimum. The benefits of these home based internet businesses are many. There are tensions regarding inventory build up, or issues such as commercial property, licenses and other related chores. You will be able to keep your total focus on how to market the product or business concept on your website.

After selecting the right affiliate program to start your internet based home business, you should go about building your own website which will mark foray into home based small business.

Do not leave your internet home based business midway and change to stable but permanent job. This is the mistake most people in the work at home on internet do. Also don’t expect that you will become successful in your top internet home internet business in a short span of time. So stay put and works hard at your internet home business.

There are various benefits associated with internet based home business. They also require a smaller investment than offline ones. But it requires equal dedication, ethics and hard work to make it successful in this competitive world.

How to Create Your Own Small Business Press Kit

In last week’s article, we talked about why your small business needs a press kit.  Because they’re not just for the press, I prefer to call them small business information package.  To recap, you need a small business information package to augment your business card, which has only limited information about you and your company.
Your small business information package is the printed materials to give or send to prospective clients to tell them who you are, where you are, how to contact you, what you do, how to buy, and why to buy from you instead of your competition.

This week, we’re going to discuss what you should put inside your information package.  For all intents and purposes, anything that promotes your company can go inside it.  Some of the more common things include:

• Business card
• Small business brochure
• Letter of introduction
• Product or service review
• Price list
• Press releases
• White papers
• Recent articles written by you or about your company
• Biography of key officers
• Flyers, coupons or direct mail pieces
• Information pamphlets

So, let’s talk a bit about each. And let’s start with the big one—your small business brochure.  Your small business brochure can stand alone.  If you decide not to have a complete small business information package, at the very least, create a tri-fold brochure so you have detailed printed information to give clients.

If your prospective client reads only one thing in your whole information package, it will most likely be your brochure.  Why?  Because it captures the reader’s attention better than any other item in your information package.  Most of your other items will be letters, articles or reviews.  They’ll look good, and they’ll all match because they’re on your letterhead, but they won’t jump out at your readers like your full color tri-fold brochure will.

So, you want to make sure it’s the first thing people see when they open the front cover of your information package.  If you can capture their interest with your brochure, they’re more likely to read the rest.

The first page of your small business brochure should have your business name and logo, and possibly a photo or some graphics.  Make it colorful.  Make it interesting.  Add a slogan or motto on the front that will make people curious as to what’s inside.  You don’t want them to just look at the front cover and put it aside!

Inside, try to introduce yourself and review your product or service briefly.   If you can, keep the introduction and review to the length of the first inside page or so.  Adding a few graphics or photos throughout the whole brochure, together with informative text helps keep your readers’ interest.  And, make good use of your headings, remembering that most readers will scan from left to right, stopping at graphics and headings, and sometimes reading the last paragraph.

Now, this part is important, and is possibly the biggest mistake most small businesses make with their brochure—at least some of the other two inside pages could be better used to show prospective buyers how your product or service can benefit them, rather than to describe your product or service features.

I cannot stress this enough.  Too many times small business brochures are used simply to talk about you, your company or your product/service.  Most of your readers simply won’t care who you are, what you do or how you do it.  What they really care about is how you can benefit them.  How you can save them time or resources.  How you can make their lives just a little bit easier.

Often, the last outside page of your brochure summarizes the inside pages, or lists products or services in point form.  You could even add a price list, if you have one.

The next several items in your small business information package are all written on your letterhead, and the sky’s the limit as to what you can use.

You could put the letter of introduction just behind your brochure, or you could include it outside the information package cover if you’re mailing it.  Usually this is just a short, one-page letter introducing yourself and your company, and thanking the recipient for taking the time to look at your information package.

Your product or service review could be long or short, depending on what you’re offering.  This is not the place to stress benefits, but simply to list and describe your services or products.  You can combine a product or service review with your price list very effectively.

Include any press releases about your company, and articles written by you or about your company.  If you don’t have any, don’t worry.  You can write some specifically for your information kit.  Include announcements of your grand opening, for example, or a new line of products, or your new location.  Or write an article about one of your products or services.

White papers are becoming increasingly popular.  Are you an expert in a particular area?  If you are, you might want to write a white paper to include with your information package.  A white paper discusses specific business issues, products, technology or other such topics.  It usually summarizes information about the topic, and then suggests a proposal for action, referencing research data to justify the reasons for the action.   It explains your topic in terms most people can understand, with the goal of educating consumers and marketing your product or service. White papers help establish the writer as an authority.

The biography of your key officers is basically a resume.  Include short one-page biographies of key officers to highlight areas of expertise and level of experience in your industry.

Fliers, coupons and direct mail pieces can also be included in your small business information package.  Fliers and coupons emphasize current specials or discounts. Here’s  a few tips.  When you’re thinking about specials or discounts, try to create a sense of urgency with them by making them time- or quantity-limited.  And, consider the 10/10 rule, which theorizes that people are most likely to buy when they see discounts of 10% or $10.  Or, better yet, offer something extra free.

Recent direct mail sales letters can also be included.  There’s simply too much to say about them to really give justice in this short article, but some things to remember are: to stress benefits, create a sense of urgency, the 10/10 rule and a bolded P.S. including a call to action.

Keep direct mail sales letter simple and relevant.  Be enthusiastic, know your product, use your imagination and understand your target audience.  Establish trust and credibility.  Include testimonials.  Give free nuggets of information.  And, just like in your brochure, write your direct mail sales letter for how people will read it, scanning left to right, and stopping at graphics and headlines, and the P.S.

Now that you’ve gotten all your information package items written and printed, it’s time to put them all together.   You can buy covers in your company colors and have your logo and business name printed on them.  Put your business card in the front slot and your information in the inside pockets, making sure your brochure is the first item they’ll see.  Then send it out, and sit back and wait for responses you’re sure to get!

Internet Ecommerce Business - Internet Marketing

<p> </p>
<p>If you were to ask any <a href="http://www.businessmarketingagency.com/">Internet business</a> owner about how well organized their operations are, they'll more than likely say, Possibly not.<br />
In fact, many organizations throw up an expensive website using all the latest bells and whistles, only to find it a generally unsatisfying experience. Apart from the technical versus sales and <a href="http://www.businessmarketingagency.com/">marketing</a> issues of the website itself, many organizations, both in terms of appropriate behaviors, as well as of effective organizational designs has been sadly neglected by many established site owners.</p>
<p>You may have a business site with dedicated Web staff, yet it is poorly integrated within your parent organization and tasked with non-defined roles.</p>
<p>A simple question needs to be asked, Do you have a networking group directed by a chief Web officer and composed of dedicated staff for each business function? If not, then depending upon your organizations' size and abilities, you'll need to implement such a group or outsource those functions.</p>
<p>Typically, many conventional site owners have acquired organizational habits that are not well aligned to the needs of <a href="http://www.businessmarketingagency.com/">internet marketing</a>. It should be noted there are various undesirable traits or behaviors found in many organizations that must be guarded against.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You might find that increasing complexity in your company has resulted in inflexibility and slow decision making processes. There is also a tendency towards internal conflict and stratification, as well as a leadership that would tend to emphasize capital investment as a solution to all problems.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The movement towards networking with a specific group, which characterizes a typical consumer goods business, will carry with it limited coordination among your departments and divisions resulting in a weakened sense of market trends and increased dissatisfaction.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>These features are in direct conflict with what you should know about the cultural characteristics of pure successful ecommerce businesses. An Internet business is predominantly a flat organization with quick decision making, where risk taking is encouraged and failure is merely an education.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Employees may tend to work long hours at the office by choice and are very self disciplined. Typically, such companies use guiding principles rather than procedures and tend to lead by example. When these two types of cultural environments are brought together, unexpected and perhaps dysfunctional behaviors must be expected to emerge.</p>
<p>Given the cultural and organizational differences between new and old ecommerce businesses, the way in which you, as an established site owner should set up and manage Internet operations, is therefore extremely important.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One factor to consider, is that small Internet businesses are more flexible organizationally. You should consider that ecommerce has provided greater electronic quality for smaller businesses in relation to their larger competitors.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You will need an increased willingness to seek appropriate alliances and partnerships, plus consider organizational designs, company spin-offs, etc., that will provide convergence to the integrated business model required to overcome these mismatches in culture and outlook.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The many advantages derived from the Internet must be exploited both within and between existing sectors of your offline business. With the ways in which networked organizations are evolving, it should be realized that only those retaining an Internet culture, in a parallel or networking group style of operation, closely identifies with the ecommerce aspects of a business'overall objectives will become more successful.</p>

Internet Meetings and Small Business

The world today is a global village. It is no longer necessary, or sometimes even possible, for all the employees of any organization to come together. Equally though people need to share ideas and information more than ever. Business associates or even family and friends may be located anywhere, but our need to stay connected grows daily. We may need to talk, share pictures and programs, work together or collaborate on many projects.

The Internet has brought the world even closer. It has taken our ability to share information to a new level with brand new abilities to work and communicate worldwide. Internet meetings are web based and accessible to anyone with high speed Internet access. Unlike email, they are real time and they allow you to get immediate feedback and communicate your ideas faster.

At an Internet meeting you can exchange all sorts of information. Internet meetings have many different features depending on the software and service provider used.  Most Internet mettings today use live video and audio. They can also pass files between participants and share a common whiteboard to share ideas as well as the ability to work on Word, Excel or PowerPointdocuments together. Web meetings also provide the ability to share programs running on your PC and let the Internet meeting attendees view your desktop.

With these capabilities, the options of Internet meetings to help us keep connected are endless. Perhaps a family will stay in touch with children at school or university where they can talk and share experiences and pictures.

Small business owners can also benefit immensely from Internet meetings. A small business can present a very large and professional corporate image using Internet meetings. Internet meetings, for the small business user, are a cost effective way to grow the business. They can offer long distance sales presentations to customers or update a sole salesman living and working thousands of miles away.

Small business's now have the ability to have global offices - in reality a virtual office residing on your desktop. It becomes easy and cost effective to invite clients from Europe, Africa, or anywhere in the world to join in a virtual meeting. Working with contractors and clients all over the world has never been easier.

Internet meetings are often hosted by Internet service providers. For a flat fee, you can log in via the web and set up a virtual meeting with participants in the USA, Europe, the Far East and Australia. Even scientists at the South Pole can join in via satellite technology. Once you have scheduled the meeting, your meeting attendees can log in via the web at no additional cost.

Internet meetings make you more productive and can reduce your travel costs and increase your productivity. Internet meetings are a way to meet with one person, ten people or a thousand people virtually. You can collaborate and work without the time and expense of travel or locating physical conference rooms.

Where to Find the Perfect Business to Buy

Summary:
You dream of owning a business and experiencing its many benefits – freedom, power, wealth, and fulfillment. But you don’t want to start a business on your own.  There’s too much risk and uncertainty.  Plus, you don’t know what you would want to do that could be successful.


Keywords:
businesses for sale, business for sale, franchises, franchisor, franchiser, franchising, franchise opportunities, the business market, thebusinessmarket, colorado businesses for sale, california busin


Article Body:
You dream of owning a business and experiencing its many benefits – freedom, power, wealth, and fulfillment. But you don’t want to start a business on your own.  There’s too much risk and uncertainty.  Plus, you don’t know what you would want to do that could be successful.

Instead, you want to find an existing business or a proven business idea that you can operate successfully.  But the million dollar question is: “Where do you find it?”

There are several methods of finding a business to buy, and each has its own benefits.  Here are some options to consider:

Word of Mouth

This method of finding the perfect business to buy is very much chance-based and consists of someone telling you about, or you driving around and seeing, a business that is for sale.  Due to its nature, you are exposed to a very limited number of businesses.  And unless you are very lucky that one of the few discovered in this fashion is exactly what you want, this method is not very effective at finding the perfect business to buy.

Classified ads in the local newspaper

The old-fashioned method of finding a business to buy is to look in the classified ads in the local newspaper and see if any catch your eye.  This is a very difficult way to find a business to buy for several reasons.  One, the number of businesses-for-sale listed in the classifieds is very small compared to the overall universe of businesses that are for sale at any time.  Two, classified ads typically present you with only three lines of cryptic text to give you background on the business.  And three, classifieds do not have a search function so you have to spend a lot of time looking through all of the classifieds to find those businesses that interest you.  While classifieds can serve a purpose in buying a business, they are not very efficient or effective.

Business Brokers

Business brokers are typically very professional and knowledgeable in the art of buying and selling a business.  Plus they are skilled at helping sellers sell their business.  But therein lies the rub – they are contractually obligated to help the seller sell the business. They are not obligated to you as the buyer.  Therefore, brokers will usually look out for the seller’s best interests first, which means they will often only show you businesses that they represent.  This severely limits your exposure to the number of businesses that are available for sale at any one time, which makes it an inefficient method of finding the perfect business to buy.

However, more common these days are Buyer Brokers.  These business brokers represent you, the buyer, in your efforts to buy a business.  This can be very effective because the broker knows how to navigate the process of buying a business.  However, you often have to personally pay the broker to help you buy a business, which increases your costs.  Therefore, it is often best to conduct a search for a business on your own, and then hire an attorney or experienced broker to guide you through the purchase process.  But where do you search for businesses on your own?

Online marketplaces

Online marketplaces typically contain an exhaustive list of businesses that are for sale.  Plus, it is easy to search these thousands of businesses instantly to find only the ones that meet your criteria.  This makes online marketplaces the most effective, efficient and comprehensive method of finding the perfect business to buy.
There are many online marketplaces to choose from, but they are far from equal.  Some have inadequate search functions, others are just interested in collecting listing fees from business sellers, and others do not offer the buyer tools to help make your search process easier.  As a result, selecting a good business-for-sale marketplace is critical in your search for finding the perfect business to buy.

You want a site that allows you to search its listings for free, and has a strong search function to help you do it effectively.  In addition, you want a site that allows you to save your searches and be alerted via email (“Email Alerts”) anytime new businesses are listed that meet your search criteria.  This saves you the time and effort of continuously searching sites everyday looking for the right business.  Instead, the site does the work for you and presents you with businesses that are of interest to you.

Finally, you want a site that puts its money where its mouth is, one that charges sellers based on performance and not on a pre-set monthly fee.  These sites are dedicated to helping match business buyers with sellers while lowering the cost of selling a business.  As a result, these sites are very effective for both buyers and sellers.

Resources

 * Find the perfect <a href="http://www.thebusinessmarket.com/411000-Buy_a_Business.asp">business to buy</a> or <a href="http://www.thebusinessmarket.com/411001-Buy_a_Franchise.asp">franchise to buy</a>,

 * To find a broker to help you buy or sell a business, visit <a href="http://www.thebusinessmarket.com/500000-BrokerSource.asp">BrokerSource</a>

 * <a href="http://www.thebusinessmarket.com/420000-Sell_a_Business.asp">Sell a business or franchise</a> quickly and easily

When Is The Best Time To Incorporate Your Small Business?

If you're a sole proprietor, perhaps you've considered incorporating your small business or self-employment activity.

And so maybe you've been wondering, "When is the best time to incorporate?"

From a legal standpoint, any time is the best time. The sooner you incorporate, the sooner you make the move from the world of unlimited liability to the world of limited liability.

From a tax savings standpoint, any time is the best time. The sooner you incorporate, the sooner you will start putting more money in your own pocket and less in  Uncle Sam's.

But from a **tax reporting** standpoint, there is one time of year that stands out as best: January 1st.

Why is that?

Assuming you have a sole proprietorship (or other entity, such as a partnership) that is up and running as of  January 1, and assuming you then incorporate that existing entity on any date other than January 1, you face the possibility of filing not one but two business income tax returns for that year.

Here's an example to clarify this important point . . .

Let's say you've been operating your sole proprietorship for a few years, and in early 2006 you decide to  incorporate. In January you get around to starting the paperwork, but life gets in the way and you finally get it done in late February. By the time your state processes the Articles of Incorporation, the start date of your new corporation is March 1.

For 2006, you must file a Schedule C for the period of January 1 through February 28, when your business was still a Sole Proprietorship. And you must also file a corporate income tax return for March 1 through December 31.

Maybe that's no big deal. Maybe you enjoy filing one business income tax return so much, filing a second one doesn't bother you. And it may be that the inconvenience of filing two tax returns in 2006 is far outweighed by the legal and tax advantages of incorporating.

Keep in mind, too, that 2006 will be the only year you have to do this "double duty". In 2007 you will only have to file the corporate income tax return.

But if you are thinking about incorporating, the best time to do it, from a tax paperwork standpoint, is as of January 1. Only then do you have a "clean break" from the old sole proprietorship to the new corporation.

This timing issue can also be relevant if you decide to make the switch late in the year. If the effective date of the incorporation is November 15, you will have to file a Schedule C for January 1 through November 14, and a corporate return for November 15 through December 31. In that scenario, you should ask yourself, "Do the benefits of incorporating outweigh the convenience of waiting until January 1?"

So before you decide when to incorporate, take a moment to reflect on the tax reporting consequences of incorporating on January 1 vs. any other date.

Sometimes it may make sense to wait a few weeks (as in the second example), and sometimes it makes sense to "do it now", especially when January 1 is nearby.

Your Home Office - Work Smarter, Not Harder!

Working the cube farm has been a disaster for worker productivity for years and you are finally fed up. Your company has offered you an opportunity to work from home. So finally, the home office is born.  The choice of the location of your home office is crucial to your success.
Too close to the activities going on and you get distracted. Too far away, and you become stranded on an island. Another concern is the “7-Eleven” effect, in other words, you are always open for business and in a very short time you find yourself exhausted. But there are ways to manage these issues in order to make your home office experience a success.

Now the home office is more of a focus in the design process, make this space worth living. Make it comfortable, but not too comfortable. Make it warm and inviting, but not a play room for the kids. Make it a place to work, but also a place to live. Confused? Don’t be because this is your space to with as you wish. Just keep in mind your particular situation and plan accordingly.

Maybe converting your attic for use as a home office is a wonderful idea. Maybe working in the corner of a bedroom works. Whatever your space allocation is having a true home office is a great way to keep your overhead low since you are already paying for the space and the real hidden value of a home office is that it doesn't have to look like a corporate office with a huge oak desk and wall-to-wall filing cabinets. And even though your children will disagree, your home office is not somewhere they should be playing. Finding space for a home office is a major concern these days.

Once you have found your space, you should hopefully find that working from a home office is interesting, varied and provides an opportunity to deliver results that will make a real difference to your life. It won’t be difficult to work if you have a well-organized, fully equipped home office and you have organized well and are comfortable.

But the key to a well run home office and a satisfied worker is this: create a work schedule just like you would if you went into the office every day. Don’t wake up tomorrow and ask yourself what you are going to do that day, have a plan. Also set working hours, you go into the office from 8-5 or 9-6 and that’s it, you leave for the day, turn off the light behind you and shut the door just as if your commute were miles away from home instead of inches from the couch.

Another suggestion is turn the audible notification off for new email on your computer. Every ding, or dong, or beep and you will be running for the computer like Pavlov’s dogs. Remember: Work Smarter, not harder!

our Small Business May Be At Risk Unless You Have A Security and Recovery Plan

Don’t think your small business is at risk?  Think again.  Whether you realize it or not, your business has valuable information and assets that probably are not protected right now.   Your business likely has confidential client information, proprietary business knowledge or just internal knowledge that you wouldn’t want to be exposed to criminals or competitors.  The loss of this information could have a devastating impact to your business.  While business insurance is an important part of your protection, it cannot protect clients from identity theft or your business from unscrupulous employees or competitors.

No matter how big or small, your business needs to have a security and recovery plan in place that determines what risks you have, helps protect against those risks and sets plans in place to handle the most likely types of losses you may experience.   Your plan should also look at the both the ‘physical’ and the ‘virtual’ aspects of your business.

Start by considering the types of risks to which your business may be vulnerable.   What if your business information was lost or stolen?  Do you have customer files or records, tax receipts, bank statements, business plans, customer work products?

Next, consider the physical aspects of your business that may be vulnerable.  Do you have unique office equipment, inventory, computers or trade specific tools?

Finally, look at how you do business.  Do you rely on technology, the internet or employees with unique skills?  Does your business model depend on repeatable processes that are unique to your business?

Now, consider what would happen to your business if these parts of your business were lost, destroyed or stolen.  Could you continue operating if you lost your client files?  Could you be sued by customers if their personal information was exposed? Could you be the target of negative publicity?  Could your competitors benefit if they gained access to the information?  What if you lost email access for a day?  What if that key employee suddenly left for another job?  What if your office space caught fire or was flooded?

Your security and recovery plan should put in place the safeguards and policies and procedures to prevent some of these risks and the potential to negatively impact your business.  Physical access to buildings is relatively easy to control although most small business have little more than a lock on the front door.    Should you consider locking file drawers? Is inventory controlled?  Does every employee have access, even to things that are not part of his or her job?  Could a disgruntled or fired employee return to the workspace after hours with an extra key copy?

Your plan should consider how to protect the ‘virtual’ parts of your business also.  Do you have backups of any important files?  Do you have passwords, account numbers and other ‘keys’ securely guarded?  Do your computers have virus and firewall protection and is it up-to-date?  Do you have internet and email usage policies in place to protect your employees form harassment charges?

What about remote employees or workers who ‘take work home?’  In today’s highly mobile environment vital business information can now be easily accessed outside of your physical controls?  Do your employees know how to safeguard laptops, cell phones, flash drives or even print outs of business information once they leave your workspace?  What if a laptop is stolen from a worker’s car or home or hotel room?  Do you have a backup of the data that was on the laptop? What if your employees are accessing your information from a coffee shop Wi-Fi?  How do you know if your clients and business are protected?  

Lastly, your security and recovery plan should consider how you would handle the most likely losses.  For instance, if the computer that holds all your sales information crashes, you should probably have a plan to immediately restore that information from a backup.  Where is the backup tape or disk kept?  Who has access to it and most importantly, who knows how to restore a backup?  If you office is flooded, how quickly can you relocate?  Can some employees work from home or other remote locations temporarily?  If client information is stolen, do you have a way to contact them?

Most small business owners likely have taken first steps like purchasing insurance and putting locks on the front door.  Unfortunately, few have taken the time to really understand the potential risks to their business.

Taking the time now to at least put together an informal plan will go a long way in the event of a real disaster or other loss.  Even the best planning obviously won’t protect against all disasters but it can certainly lessen the impact to your business once one occurs.

Aubrey Jones is President and founder of Riverbank Consulting, Inc.  Since 1996 he has worked to protect internet banking clients for one of the top US financial institutions including serving as a Risk Manager.

Your Small Business Web Site

A web site is a crucial ingredient of your marketing strategy because it can widen your target market to include anyone who has access to a computer and the internet.    Almost 60% of Canadians had access to the internet at home in 2003, and around 8 million had regular access to the internet from somewhere, either at home, at work or at school.  

And that’s just in Canada.  Ecommerce sales from Canada were $7.2 billion, and we only captured 4% of the global ecommerce market!    So, how can you reach some of those internet surfers, and how can you capture some of that $7.2 billion spent in ecommerce?

First, you build it
The first step is designing your website.  If your company already has business cards and letterhead, it’s best to design your website around them.  A matching corporate identity and website helps with branding.

I like uncomplicated websites, with a simple layout and easy navigation.  A nice, simple layout, with good graphics, balanced look and good color combinations is my #1 goal when designing a small business web site. Remember to use graphics sparingly and to optimize them for your website because internet surfers are impatient.  If your page loads too slowly, they’ll leave.

Navigation should be easy to find and to use, and it should be consistent from page to page.  I’ve left more than one site frustrated because I couldn’t easily find their navigation.

Small business web sites aren’t static.  They evolve.  You need to start somewhere, and starting with an introductory web site is probably easiest.  All you really need to start is five pages.  You can always add pages later.  The important thing is to just do it—take the plunge and get it out there.

Your five pages could include an index, or home page, about us, services, contact and a sitemap.  The index page is your landing page.  Typically its design is a little more detailed than the others, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

I like to use CSS (cascading style sheets) for designing because it’s simply easier to build a web site and to edit its layout with CSS rather than just HTML (hypertext markup language) alone.  A change on a CSS sheet changes all the pages on your site at once.

Content is king
Once your site is designed, you’ll want to start thinking about content.  Design is very important, but it does little good to have a beautiful site without high-quality content.

Your small business home page introduces you and your company—who you are and what you do.  The about us page is usually used to give more detail than the home page about who you are, and your services page gives more detail about what you do.  You might wonder why you’d “waste” a page on a sitemap since you only have 5 pages, but sitemaps help search engines find all the pages in your site.

As far as content goes, more is better, up to a point.  Your pages should be content rich and informative, but they also need to be relevant to your small business.  If your visitor can’t figure out what your web site is about in just a few seconds, they may leave.

The internet was at first strictly informational, and that’s how it remains today.  Several times people have tried experiments using copywriting similar to direct mail sales letters, but they’ve all failed.  It seems as if people surf the internet more for information than anything else.  Knowing this will help you write pages people will want to read.

Attracting visitors
You could follow your instinct and just start writing, but wait.  There’s research you must do first, or your web site simply won’t be high enough in searches to be found.  Search engine optimization is far too big a subject to cover in this short article, but among other things, search engines find your pages based on keywords.

So, pretend for a moment that you’re on the other side of the desk.  If you were a customer of your own business, what words or phrases would you use to search for your product or service?  Ask friends and neighbors how they’d search for your product or services.

When you’ve come up with a few, check them out on a keyword suggestions tool.  You can also use that tool to suggest similar words and phrases.  Then find out how many results there would be if you searched for that term.  What you want to do next is narrow down your choices to the words or phrases that are searched for the most, but have the fewest results.

Remember that people generally don’t look beyond the first three pages for any search term, so if you’re not in the top three pages, your business is not likely to be found at all.  If there are millions of results for your phrase, you might simply need to make it more specific.

For example, let’s say you have a small business consulting company that specializes in communication for small business.  Using “communication” as a search term is nearly pointless because there are almost 2 billion results for that word.  But, there are only 974 results for “small business communication”.

Much better, but how often is that searched for?  According to WordTracker, it’s searched for 10 times a day.  Not bad, but I think we can do better.  How about “small business consulting”?  That’s searched for 261 times a day, and there are 373,000 results.  That could be the best primary phrase for a small business communication consulting company.

What you want to do, is write your content around those words and phrases.  You don’t want or need very many—three or four are plenty.

Getting them to come back again and again
Getting visitors to come back to your site again and again is relatively simple.  Keep your content fresh and lively, make sure it’s informative, and add to it often.

I hope you decide your small business needs a web site.  It’s the best way I know how to reach a wider target audience with a relatively small investment.

Advantages and Disadvantages of doing Data Entry versus

Overview of OCR

Optical Character Recognition is a modern technology for digital replication. OCR technology comes with software, hardware and an additional circuit in the computer to execute conversion process. <a href="http://www.intnlcommerce.com/data-entry-ocr.htm">OCR software</a> can not only read the fonts but also recognize line breaks in a document. The process of OCR is quite simple and easy to manage. The entire process of converting hard copy of a document into electronic document may take only a few seconds.

Advantages of OCR

If you are looking for only converting any document into editable digital format then there is nothing better than OCR services. <a href="http://www.intnlcommerce.com/data-entry-ocr.htm">Optical Character Recognition process</a> saves the time and effort of developing a digital replica of any document. No need to type characters manually on a digital file. Just place the hard copy of the document inside a scanner and get the digital format of that document with the help of OCR software.

With OCR process you can convert a document in several electronic formats like – Microsoft Word, Excel, HTML, PDF, Text or Rich Text formats.

Documents, which are converted through OCR process, are editable and allow the user to modify the content. Compared to manual data entry service the cost of OCR service is quite less for developing electronic replica of any document. OCR service proved better than data entry service for the organizations, which are engaged in developing electronic copy of printed books.

Disadvantages of OCR Service

There are several disadvantages of OCR service regarding the cost as well as the process of recognizing the characters. Initially, the cost of developing replica through OCR process may seem lucrative but if you consider the cost of entire OCR system life cycle, the cost will be much higher than <a href="http://www.intnlcommerce.com/data-entry-printed.htm">data entry service</a>. Correcting OCR errors counts more cost than preparing a digital format of the document.

High accuracy OCR software can read more than 400 characters/second, approximately, and generates less number of OCR errors compared to any ordinary OCR software. Therefore, if you are looking for OCR process you have to maintain a separate workstation for correcting OCR errors.

OCR software is not efficient in recognizing the handwriting and the fonts, which are quite similar to handwriting. In such cases manual typing plays better role than OCR process.

How efficient is <a href="http://www.intnlcommerce.com">Data Entry Service </a> than OCR?

Compared to ordinary OCR process, conversion life cycle cost is less in data entry service and it provides complete flexibility to data entry operators preparing digital documents from multiple formats like hard copy or audio files. Consider the service of medical transcription where you need to prepare digital documents from audio files. OCR cannot prepare digital document by scanning any audio files. In such services, data entry can prove better than OCR.

It has been found that for services like mailing list conversion or data extraction from the Internet, manual data entry services are still widely accepted across the industry. Data entry service comes with several levels – staring from inserting raw data in a document to an error free document. OCR is efficient during the initial level of data entry service but cannot be a substitute of data entry service. However, the selection of a right service (Data Entry or OCR) depends on requirements of the job.

15 Steps On How To Welcome Your New Employees

Looking after a new employee during their first few weeks at work can mean the difference between their success and failure as employees as well as your success and failure as an employer, manager or supervisor.

Proper orientation determines how fast the new employee can be productive and efficient in his or her new job while giving you a good opportunity to make your new employee an efficient part of your team.

Below are 15 suggestions that will help you deal with your new employees during their first few weeks to help make sure that they get started on the right track.

1. Have a induction policy for welcoming and training new employees. Don't just leave it to whoever is available. Human resources should cover the HR side of the induction with a trainer (if you have one) or a senior manager or supervisor covering the more hands on part of the job. Either way the following is a minimum of what is required.

2. Give your employee a warm welcome. Don't just point them to the area they work and let them get on with it. Nothing makes a new employee feel comfortable more than a warm welcome.

3. Give them a brief description about your role as a supervisor. Knowing who's in charge and what you expect from them will make them more comfortable with you as the boss.

4. Give your new employee a welcome tour of the whole department or, if the site isn't too big, the whole site. Make sure they know how to get to the bathroom, emergency exits, cafeteria, etc.

5. Give them a brief summary about the company, its history as well as its mission and objectives.

6. If possible demonstrate your company’s products and/or services, paying particular attention to the products relating to the area in which the employee will work.  This will make them more secure and confident with the work that they are going to be doing.

7. Explain to your new employee how the company works particularly if the company has any unusual working practices or a different structure than the norm.  Again, this will help familiarize them with the company.

8. Tell your new employee about the company’s competitors and what is being done to make sure that the company is staying ahead of the competition.

9. Explain in detail your new employee’s responsibilities and describe their job functions. Don't leave it to the other employees to teach them the basics unless there is a trained member of staff whose job it is.

10. Let your new employee be aware of what you and the company expect from them.  This includes proper work ethics, productivity, teamwork, and appearance.

11. Explain the specific conditions and requirements of employment, including hours, pay, pay periods, holiday pay, sickness provisions, pension, medical benefits, lateness etc.

12. Be very clear about the safety rules, policies, procedures and regulations. Explain and show proper use of safety devices.

13.Introduce your new employee to his or her co workers along with a brief description of their jobs and responsibilities.

14. Outline opportunities for promotions and other opportunities.

15. To give them time to acclimatize give them a work buddy, a friendly experienced worker, to show them the job and work with them for the first week of two.

Covering all of these basics will help new employees settle in and they will be more efficient able to be contribute much more quickly compared to employees that are just left to their own devices.

15 Easy Steps to Starting Your Small Business

Yeah, sure it's easy, and of course, that title is a little tongue in cheek. It takes a lot of hard work to get a business off the ground. But, it's worth every hour I've spent getting to where I am now.
When I decided to start my communication and image consulting business, I tried hard to find a good startup guide. I couldn't find any that had all the steps. So, I decided to write one. So far, it's mostly just the bare-bones outline (which is long enough as it is) you see in this article.
 I'll be adding to it every week or two, and writing more detailed articles on all the steps, so try to stop by and check it out from time to time. Let me know how I'm doing. Shoot off an email to me if I've forgotten something or you have questions.

Before you spend so much as a dollar, talk to a few experts.  Go to the library or get on the internet and research, research, research.  Take a little time to make sure entrepreneurship is right for you.

Make a pro and con list of business ownership, and evaluate yourself honestly.  How many characteristics do you have in common with successful entrepreneurs?  Is your financial position strong enough?  Do you have the necessary technical and management skills?

You’re not going to be the perfect entrepreneur.  Nobody is.  But in order to make yourself the best entrepreneur you can be, consider ways to compensate for any weaknesses you might have.

I’m from Canada, so the government agencies I’ve mentioned in this guide are Canadian, but really, it can be used by anyone. All you have to do, if you’re from somewhere other than Canada, is find out where you need to find some of the things I’ll talk about. Some of the steps might be slightly different, and you may not have to worry about things like GST for example, but I’m sure you’ll find this discussion helpful all the same.

These steps to starting a business are in reasonably good order, but you might find yourself varying from it under your particular circumstances. That really isn’t a big deal, as long as you get most of it done. There are some steps you’ll be able to skip as well, but please don’t skip any of the “big ones”, which I’m sure you’ll pretty much figure out from taking a look at the list.


So, assuming you’ve done your evaluation and you still want to start a business, take a deep breath, and let's get started.

1. Conduct a feasibility study of your business.  Describe your typical customer, your product and your competitors.  Who will your suppliers be?  What will you charge for your product?  How will you market your product?  These are just a few of the questions you need to answer.

2. Write a complete business plan for your company, using the information you gathered from your feasibility study.  This vitally important, often overlooked step needs to include a description of your company, its goals, competitors, market, financial information, and of course, how you intend to meet your goals.

3. Get your financing in place.  There are many ways to finance your business, from your own savings to personal credit cards to bank loans.  If you need credit, know your business plan from front to back and maybe even sideways.

4. Decide what kind of structure your company will have.  From a legal standpoint, there are three basic choices, sole proprietorship, partnership and incorporation, each with advantages and disadvantages.

5. Choose a name for your company and check on name availability. Naming your company is highly individual, but it’s the first thing associated with your business, so choose your name carefully.  You’ll need to do a NUANS (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search) report, which checks your name choices for uniqueness against a database of other business names.  A reserved name is valid for 90 days.

6. Decide whether you want to register federally or provincially and register your company.  If you register federally, you’ll also have to register provincially, which almost doubles the cost. You don’t have to have a lawyer process them for you, but it might be a good idea to at least consult with one.  You can get the forms from your local government office, have them faxed to you or download them.  You can fax or email printed copies, or complete the forms online

7. Contact Canada Revenue Agency Business Window for your business number, and to register for GST/HST, payroll, corporate income tax and import/export (if applicable).  You can also contact the CRA if you need general information about business expenses.  Chances are you’ll have to collect GST, but you may want to register for a GST number even if you don’t have to collect it because of input tax credits.

8. Decide whether you need to collect PST.  If you do, you need to submit “Registration as a Vendor” documents with your province.

9. Determine whether there are special permits or licenses in your municipality.  It’s highly unlikely that your municipality does not have special permits or licenses.

10. Develop the marketing materials you decided on in your business plan.  They should include at least a company identity package, press kit and website.  Your identity package is your logo, business card and letterhead.  A press kit can include letters of introduction, biography sheets, press releases, articles and a brochure.  In today’s electronic age, printed materials aren’t enough.  You need a website that looks professional, matches your printed material and has great copy.  You’ll also want to make sure it’s optimized for search engines.

11. Set up your business bank account and record-keeping system.  Your banker will need to see your incorporation documents, and you should probably set up more than one account so you can keep track of your finances better.  Record-keeping is required, and can be done manually or with a computer program.

12. Purchase insurance.  There are many different types of insurance, but most probably your company will need at least one.  For example, if you’re going to have employees, you need to contact the Worker’s Compensation Board.  Depending on your type of business, you might want to contact them even if you don’t have employees to insure yourself.

13. Contact potential creditors and set up credit terms.  You should have researched suppliers when you were doing your feasibility study.  Now is the time to contact them.

14. Decide where your business will be located.   Lease your business’ space.  Alternatively, you could choose to start your business from home if it’s feasible.  There are advantages and disadvantages to starting your business from home.  You have tax write-offs for example, but sometimes your image suffers.

15. Purchase supplies and office equipment.  You’ll need too many things to list here, and of course, each business has different needs.  You might need a fax machine and printer.  You’ll probably need a computer.  You’ll definitely need paper, pens, pencils and a calculator.

Congratulations! Go out, buy yourself a bottle of champagne and celebrate. You're about to embark on a most exciting journey. And may I be the first to wish you good luck and prosperous times in your business venture.
As promised, here’s my email address so you can ask questions, make comments or add steps to my list. Or, if you want, you could just drop me a line to let me know how your small business is doing. I’d really like to know.
Copyright© 2006 Eve Jackson