Home Business The Easy Way 133 Update http://www.blogmoneymiracle.com en-us EasyRSS
By Jim Mack

Every day, millions of entrepreneurs get up, go to work, and they go no further than their own home. A home business is one of the most popular ventures for those who want to earn money, but also desire the freedom and flexibility that can only be achieved through working at home.

At day’s end, the most important thing that we have is our family. In an effort to spend more time with them, many entrepreneurs set up an office in a spare bedroom or even in the family room. This option is especially beneficial for those who have children and feel the need to be at home with them. Today, many families prefer to live in a suburban or country setting to allow their children the safety of playing outside or riding their bicycles. The problem is these areas are not commonly associated with a large job market, which means a longer commute for those who work away from home. For many, a home business is the answer to living in a safe area, eliminating the need to commute and still maintaining a steady income.

Family freedom is achieved through setting aside important time to share in special moments and always making sure to be there when you are needed. A home business allows for all of these things, but with a twist. It’s still possible to take your little ones to softball practice or pick them up from school, but it’s also possible to earn a full-time living while doing so.

If you work for someone else, what happens if you want to take a vacation? How early do you have to provide your request and what will happen if something later comes up and you need to change the date of your trip? If you’ve already requested a vacation from your employer and that request was approved, what happens to the vacation plans? It’s not always so easy to change plans when you are working on someone else’s time clock. If you want the freedom and flexibility to choose your schedule, arrange family outings and vacations at a time that is convenient for everyone, have the peace of mind to know that plans change and you need to be able to change with them, then a home business is the way to go.

Working at home is not just about being there to clean up little spills, run errands or even picking someone up from school. It’s more than that. It’s about taking care of your children when they are sick and need you. It’s about being there when one of them calls from school and wants to come home because they are hurt. It’s also about being there for the special moments that deserve your presence. Whether it’s your toddler’s first step across the carpet or their first step into kindergarten, these are the moments that shouldn’t be missed and won’t be missed, if you are in control of your own schedule.

Jim Mack is a home business professional that is dedicated to help his team succeed http://www.giantcashcow.com, the BEST home business out there today. To find out more about Jim go to http://www.giantcashcow.com ]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
Today, there are a lot of people who are interested in making money using their computer. How many? A simple Google search reveals nearly two and a half million results for the topic "make money online." Some of those results will no doubt offer some useful information, while others offer either scams or other sorts of "get rich quick" ideas. Still, the lure of working from home and making money on your own computer is appealing to many. While there are many different things that one can do in order to earn money on the Internet, one of the most popular, and perhaps the simplest, is to participate in affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is a powerful advertising method where the seller of a product (the merchant) enlists the help of third parties (affiliates) in making sales. The merchant may offer products for sale via his or her Website, but he knows that if other people help promote and advertise the products it will yield more revenue. In exchange for third party help, the merchant offers the affiliates a portion of the sales price in exchange for the free advertising that the affiliates provide.

In the most common scenario, the affiliates advertise products via their own Websites or e-mail campaigns, and include a link that prospective customers may use to purchase the products described. That link includes code that tells the merchant which affiliate sent the customer so that the affiliate may receive his or her commission for the sale.

The beauty of affiliate marketing is that participants don't have to stock inventory, make sales directly or ship any merchandise. The sales process is entirely "hands off" as far as the affiliate is concerned, making the process much simpler than running any sort of retail operation.

Where can someone find products to sell as an affiliate? Here are three popular options:

Amazon.com - Amazon, the giant online retailer, has a popular program that lets their affiliates promote just about everything for sale on the site - books, DVDs, electronics, kitchen gadgets and more. The percentage of the sales price offered for each sale varies with the type of item sold, but many people like working with Amazon because a lot of "niche" products can be found there that have little competition elsewhere.

Clickbank.com - Clickbank bills itself as the "Internet's leading retailer of digital products." They only sell downloadable products, such as software and electronic books, or e-books. There are thousands of products available for sale at Clickbank that cover a wide variety of interests. Each of these products has an affiliate program, and many of them offer commissions of as much as 75% of the sales price to affiliates. It's easy to sign up and they pay twice a month like clockwork.

Commission Junction - Commission Junction at CJ.com, offers affiliate programs for more traditional sorts of products - loans, insurance, cars, electronics, and more. There are literally thousands of different companies that use CJ to enlist the help of affiliates to boost their sales. Commission Junction has the widest variety of products available for those who are interested in affiliate marketing.

The nice thing about making money in this type of marketing is that it is easy to get started. You can sign up for these programs for free and the cost of doing business is quite minimal when compared to retail sales. If you have any interest in making money online, affiliate marketing is a good way to get started without risking too much of your money or time.

©Copyright 2007 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a company specializing in sites devoted to making money online and affiliate marketing.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
PPC, also known as Pay-Per-Click, is the best and the fastest way to increase your affiliate earnings.

Given below are some pointers that provide you with some very basic information that would be necessary for those who are new to pay-per-click to get started.

1. Be thorough in your keyword research: This is a vital step in successful PPC marketing. In order to pull quality traffic to your website that will result in sales, you need to know what the keyword phrases you need to bid on are. You can sign up for WordTracker, or you can make use of Google's free keyword tool.

You can expect higher bids for the more competitive keywords. However, as you browse through the list you will observe that there are some keywords that are not heavily targeted. They may result in a successful campaign.

The best advice when it comes to PPC is to know your target market and affiliate programs thoroughly. This way you can make pay-per-click ads that use keyword phrases those in your market would be likely to search for and increase your affiliate earnings.

2. Never ignore good advice: PPC is a game whose rules are constantly changing. This makes it difficult to gain expertise, unless you keep in touch with those who already have a good grasp on the game.

You should also buy and read books, subscribe to special newsletters that offer information on the topic, and stay up to date with the latest pay-per-click trends by seeking the advice of those who are already in the know.

Seasoned players would also find it to their advantage to constantly keep an open mind, in order to gain new knowledge to further increase their affiliate earnings. The worst thing you can do is to restrict yourself to a set pattern of thinking.

3. Keep testing: This is the most important step in successful advertising. You need to know which ads are working and which ones are not. The beauty of PPC is that the medium makes it very easy to measure your success.

Measurements and audience response can be gauged by creating split ads. Make sure that you direct one group of users to a particular page, and the other to its counterpart. The changes could be in the form of adding a value proposition or just changing the font style or size. Just be sure that you only change one thing.

Testing helps you to understand what is working and what isn't. You might also want to consider joining an ad tracker service that allows you to determine which ads are converting sales and which ones are sucking out your revenue.

4. Aim to get quality traffic: Keep in mind that traffic in numbers is not that important. True, more traffic will increase your probability of a sale; however, it is pointless creating an ad that draws numerous visitors if no one buys the product.

Let's say that you manage to send nearly 1,000 visitors to a sponsor or affiliate program. You buy those visitors from a pay-per-click search engine for 10 cents each, costing you $100 total.Say you made three sales. What you really paid is $33.33 per sale.

You spent $100 to make 3 sales. Three sales cost you $33.33 each. If you had made 10 sales from the same amount of traffic, your sales would have cost $10 each.

Obviously you would want to spend your time in targeting traffic that will result in clicks that ultimately result in sales, otherwise you are wasting your advertising budget.

To avoid losing money, test your ads, create a few ads in the beginning and measure their success prior to bidding on more keyword; create a different ad campaign for each keyword, and do not bundle your ads together.

Allen Thomason has been an entrepreneur for 4 years, and is an accomplished online marketer. To learn more about internet marketing and how Allen can help you, visit TheProfitCombination.com.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
Everyone seems to be looking for the "secret" to success or the "wealth formula" and most want it in the "fast lane" from online these days. The statistics show that 95% of your businesses fail online due to either having a business that offers no real value, or your level of understanding and experience of online marketing and advertising. The fact is, building an online business and earning six figures a year from home can be accomplished. But, I said "can" be done, just don't expect it overnight for the most part. If you are able learn and master properly how to market and advertise online and have a quality product, you will find that online success is very possible.

There are so many different marketing techniques used today in online marketing, it's easy to become confused and completely loose your focus. Currently, there are two techniques that are proven to work and are actually cutting-edge: article marketing and video (YouTube) that every new or well-versed internet marketer should be doing.

In article marketing, the internet marketer writes informative articles discussing or reviewing a particular product or service. Then, by submitting it to article directories provides content for hungry web masters and gives relative content to many. In return, when a web master posts an article on their website, it provides a link back to your service or product. Placing an effective article can lead to a large volume of "targeted" web traffic and visitors to your site, thus a potential of substantial incursion of sales.

At this point you may think "I'm not a writer" or "how do I know what to write about?" Great question, most other people feel the same way. However, there are already a vast supply of pre-written articles on your subject matter, whatever it may be. A simple search at www.ezinearticles.com will bring up articles related to your keyword search. Educate yourself by reading articles pertaining to your "keyword" or "niche", and rewrite what you have learned.

In addition to article marketing, video marketing is a new and upcoming technique. Google recently bought out "YouTube", a place where individuals can go and record videos of themselves promoting their business. Recording a simple video introducing who you are and the service or products you have available builds credibility and marks you as an authority in your niche market. Secondly, the Google search engine loves YouTube. Posting a video on YouTube in the proper categories using the proper keywords in your heading can earn you top positions in the Google search engine.

Both of these techniques are proven to work successfully, and have been used by many internet marketers. As with any other marketing technique, the more you use each technique acknowledged above, you will drive more traffic to your business and ultimately put you in a profit-building mode.

Allen Thomason has been an entrepreneur for 4 years, and is an accomplished online marketer. To learn more about article marketing and YouTube marketing along with other proven forms of internet marketing, visit TheProfitCombination.com.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
A lot of people are taking an interest in affiliate marketing as a way to either make a living or to earn supplementary income. The growth of affiliate marketing isn't all that hard to understand, as it provides a way to make money from retail products without having to stock inventory, make direct sales to the public or handle returns in the event that the customer is unhappy with the product. With affiliate marketing, the sales process is entirely "hands-off."

While there is no work to be done along the lines of making direct sales, there is a lot of work involved in making the public aware of the products you are trying to promote. Two popular methods of bringing your products to the public's attention are to purchase pay-per-click advertising on the major search engines or to build a Website promoting one or more products. While these methods both work, they require regular, active work, and in the case of pay-per-click advertising, a regular outlay of cash as you continually try to draw new customers to your advertisements for your products. There is a better way, however, and that is to leverage the customers you already have by creating a mailing list.

Studies show that customers who buy a product are likely to buy another in the future. Since it is far easier to make a sale to a proven customer than it is to attract a new one, it makes sense to compile a mailing list of customers. That way, should you decide to promote a new product in the future, you can e-mail a sales pitch to your list and know that the message will likely be read by customers who are "ready to buy."

The best part of having a mailing list is that you can automate a lot of the process by using an autoresponder. An autoresponder is an online service that handles mailings and mail lists for you, usually for a small monthly fee. Two of the more popular services are Aweber and Get Response. These services allow you to create a simple form that appears on your Website, asking visitors for their name and e-mail address. You can usually entice them to sign up by offering a free report of some sort in exchange for the information. Once they fill in the form and click the submit button, they are automatically sent a confirmation e-mail, followed by a link to download the report you offered them. From that point on, unless they unsubscribe, they are members of your mailing list.

The power of a mailing list should not be underestimated. There are marketers who have one hundred thousand or more names on their lists, and whenever a new product comes to market, these "super marketers" have the inside track on sales through their ability to instantly contact their members. When you compare the ability to contact hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of people instantly with having to build a Website or buy ads, you can easily see how useful it can be to have a list of your own.

A popular saying in affiliate marketing is that "the money is in the list." It's nice to make a sale on the Web or via a pay-per-click ad, but your goal shouldn't be to make one sale; it should be to make many sales. With a mailing list, you have the ability to do just that.

©Copyright 2007 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro-Marketing.com, a company specializing in sites devoted to affiliate marketing and making money online.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
The growth of social networks has given Affiliate Marketers worlds of new opportunities to make contacts, expand their own personal social network and promote products to a different client base in new ways. Static websites are almost a thing of the past, and waiting for Google Rank or paying for Adwords is sure to make you broke! To start, what is a social network? Most people think of MySpace and more recently Facebook. While these are social networking sites, an Affiliate Marketer must embrace a broader definition:

"Any website that provides a way for users to interact - such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, etc."

Unlike the days when Google Search and Adwords would send targeted "ready-to-buy" customers to your website, social networking sites take a little more work before you can even consider directing people to a sales pitch (social bookmarking). Social networking sites often have strict rules about selling, posting links etc. Make sure you are aware and comfortable with them before you start posting. Most sites will let you post to them with a signature that can contain your URL. Use it. Post often, but don’t spam.

Remember that your post content is what will gain you the reputation on the site that may eventually lead to sales. Personally, I take 2 approaches to this:

I am extremely helpful and friendly and try to answer ever question I can with a thoughtful and helpful response. I try to take the extreme opposite or unpopular view from the majority of the posters. Never become insulting or aggressive. Present well thought-out and researched answers that will make people think. I find that my "negative" posts drive about 50% more traffic to my sites than the positive ones; however, sales numbers are about even, which means I get a better ROI being positive and helpful.

When posting to blogs, keep your comments short and provide your web link with a descriptive in the comment text. Most blogs will link your "username" to your website, but that won’t drive much traffic. If comments are moderated you will actually need to spend some time writing something, but it usually doesn’t need to be more than a short comment to be allowed by the moderator. If your comment is more than about #10, don’t bother unless you have a nice piece of ASCII art or something else that will draw attention.

File sharing can be a good source of traffic. Create an e-book (or re-brand one that has no copyright) and share it on P2P and torrent sites. Make sure to include links to your site or some sort of promotional material to drum up visitors. Don’t expect many sales of traditional Affiliate products this way, but if the product you are promoting is well-respected and related to the topic, you might get a few (for example, last year I had a lot of success with an e-book of Video Game Cheats packaged with Affiliate links to Video Game pages on Ebay).

Martyn Carver is a successful Affiliate Marketer and webmaster of http://retire-with-millions.com and http://testosterone-zone.com]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
Websites are only as effective as the number of visitors who see the content. If the search engines are ignoring your site, it definitely won’t get a lot of hits. Therefore, you need to try these tips for getting your site noticed by the search engines right away...

- Use Google Sitemaps to get your inner pages indexed. Many sites have a problem when it comes to getting their inner pages indexed. Luckily Google has a solution to help webmasters overcome this problem. Google Sitemaps (www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps) is an easy to use tool that allows you to tell Google about every page of your site. Although it won’t help your rankings, it may get more of your pages in the index, which could mean more traffic.

- Make sure your link anchor text is varied. Search engines penalize sites that seem to have used link exchange services. They spot these sites by looking at the incoming links. If the anchor text on every link is the same, then there is a good chance that software and not a human generated the links. Instead of using an automated service, take the time to submit link exchanges one at a time and make sure to vary the link text. This gives a more natural look to your incoming links.

- Use terms related to your keyword phrases in your copy. As the search engines become more sophisticated, they are better able to look at all of the content on a page and determine what it is about. What they hope to find is content that is well written for the end user – and not just for the search engines. By using synonyms and words related to your keyword phrases throughout the page, you are showing the search engines that you are writing copy that is truly useable to their searchers. As important as it is to include your keyword phrases in your copy, it’s more important to write naturally so that it makes sense to your human readers!

- Find out what your competitors are doing. Although the information does not come cheap, there are services that provide very detailed reports on your competitors including the traffic they get, what keywords generate that traffic and from which search engines. If you’re in a highly competitive market it might be worth checking out http://www.hitwise.com

- If you use keywords in your file names, don't overdo it. If your keyword phrase includes 5 words you won't be doing yourself any favors to save your homepage file as “here_are_all_my_keywords.html”. This looks like you’re trying to stuff your keywords in anywhere and everywhere! Instead, choose a system for naming your files that makes it easy to tell what they are, without worrying about cramming in every keyword the page is optimized for.

The new buzzword among site developers is optimization. And with good reason. Unlike the past when only the appearance of keywords mattered, search engines now rank pages based upon many different factors. As you can see from the information presented above, you can help to get your site seen by the search engines with just a small investment of your time.

Ben Euporian of http://www.omsho.com/ makes it easy to learn from SEO Experts. For details, visit this site now: http://www.seo-tips-pro.com/]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
An online marketing business can be very complex when you think of all the ways you can market a business online. You may decide to choose one or two main methods of internet marketing, or you may choose several techniques.

If you're a seasoned internet marketer with an online marketing business, or even a newbie embarking on a new online business venture, you have probably already encountered the One-Time Offer (OTO) as one of these methods of marketing.

A one-time offer is a sales page that might pop up in several different places that allows you to make a purchase - now or never. You only see the page once, so you have to read it carefully and decide whether or not you want to make the purchase or forego the offer forever.

It's a very clever online sales tactic that works for some, but doesn't work so well for others. Successful and well-known internet marketers like Mike Filsaime use the OTO as a method that helps them generate millions of dollars each year.

I have also used the OTO as a method that would supposedly help me generate more extra cash. For example, I tried OTO GoldMine, a system designed for the newbie to make extra cash by offering software and other products related to internet marketing for a (usually) very low price.

At first I jumped at this free opportunity. Who wouldn't when you hear all about how well one-time offers capture those internet surfers who are rushed to make a decision now, or lose the opportunity forever?

I added it to my online marketing business website so that each time a visitor left my site, they were presented with the OTO Goldmine offer page, which, as an exit screen, offered products related to my site, much like you would capture subscribers with an exit pop-up.

After at least a few months, I realized that the OTO – for me and the way I was using it, anyway – goes against what I really believe and value when I think about my online marketing business and what it is intended to do. As excited as I was to put it up, I was equally excited to take it down.

After all, I am not about suckering people into spending their money just because they visited my website. I am really about building an honest business and recommending products as I see fit.

That does not, however, mean that I used the OTO GoldMine product in the best possible way. You really can make a lot of extra money with this system, and it is effective enough that it's used by the pros out there.

Perhaps the one-time offer is meant to be used more carefully. For example, if someone purchased something off my online marketing business website, it would be an ideal time to present a one-time offer--after they have made their initial purchase. Most good salespeople know that it's good practice to offer something else of related value upon making a sale.

I, on the other hand, placed the OTO in a place where people visited my site, decided they didn't want anything I had to offer, and then they saw my OTO sales page. It was as though I made one last desperate attempt to squeeze a few pennies out of those visitors who weren't interested in purchasing anything in the first place! Bad me.

I have learned my lesson, but have not returned to the one-time offer which-- I admit-- did not make me any money.

You may also advertise the OTO as a sales page in traffic exchanges or to your newsletter list. I still maintain that you will only be successful at this if you do it right, put the OTO's in the right places at the right times, and have an incredible offer that can't be refused.

In summary, I believe the one-time can indeed be quite profitable if you are a somewhat experienced online marketer and know exactly how, where, and when to use the one-time offer to your advantage and your customer's benefit.

Online marketing businesses are not all about making money online. That is certainly an added bonus, but be careful about how you go about the one-time offer. You don't want to lose the trust and respect of your valuable customers, so learn all you can about one-time offers, and work on building those customer relationships first.

I may try the OTO again for my online marketing business in the future, but rest assured, I will be smarter about it next time. Live and learn, as they say!

Liane Bate owns a Plug-in Profit Site web business, and is author of 100+ articles related to online business and internet marketing. Visit: http://www.HonestMoneyMaking.com , http://www.HonestMoneyMaking.com/pips.html , and http://www.HonestMoneyMaking.com/blog/]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
Most people don't know how to make money with their websites or blogs, and if they do, they don't make a large percentage of sales from the from the visitors they do get. The result? Less profit after all the hard work invested in promoting their websites.

For those of you who don't know where to start or how to make money online, I've supplied a basement for you to find an affiliate product to promote and a proven method to make sales and avoid wasting more of your precious time trying to find that surefire way to make money online.

How To Add Value To Your Site With Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs are a great way to add revenue to your website or blog. Even if you have an information site that does not sell a tangible product, you can make recommendations to affiliate programs and get revenue. Affiliate programs also add value to your site by offering additional resources to your visitors.
Joining an affiliate program is very quick and easy and you can get approved immediately. Most affiliate programs offer banners, tools and support to help you market their products and services. When you are approved you will get a personal identification number or code so your sales can be tracked and commissions awarded to you.

You can find almost any type of product to promote as an affiliate marketer. Online programs have a track record of being successful and have become popular with the webmaster community and hardcore wealth-builders.

Profiting As An Affiliate Marketer

You may be wondering where you can find a good affiliate program to promote. There are hundreds of online opportunities you can find if you do an internet search for "affiliate programs". You may know by now that the affiliate programs listed on the first page of your search results are well-established and popular, so you may want to start off by joining one of these.

To make (and maximize) profits, you will definitely need to capture the email addresses of your site's visitors who are interested in the affiliate program you promote. Why? Site visitors most often won't buy the first time they are introduced to a product. Do you usually buy a product the first time it is introduced to you? By capturing your visitors' email addresses, you can remind your customers about the product you offered as well as offering more products to them in the future. With time, you will develop a large email list of people who are interested in your product. As your list grows, so can your profits-- email lists can be sold to others who offer products like yours. Since these lists practically build themselves, ever dime you make through sales of that list will be 100% profit! The larger the list, the higher the value, and this means only more profits for you.

Knowing which affiliate product to promote and how to promote it does take a little bit of practice. Try promoting different products in various niche markets and track which products seem to make the most sales for you. This is where email capturing really comes at hand because you can now sell that good seller product your email list. But do keep track of customers you have offered the product so you don't offer the same product again.

Get more information and tips on money matters by visitng the Money Issues Information Guide at http://money-issues.information-guide.org/. Don't forget to bookmark the blog for future reference!]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
Having a website is an important element of your public relations mix but it needs to be working for you. What else can you do to get people to click on your site? Well, you could incorporate some PR activities around your site. Public relations is essentially communication, letting people know what your do, why you do it and how you make a difference.

One aspect of PR is publicity. Creating word of mouth interest in your business by getting free editorial coverage of your business in the media.

Publicity stories in the media are very effective but you won't get one for your website unless you have a new idea, controversial story, sensational aspect to your website, something unusual or completely different. Get the idea? Some story ideas: are you the first to use this technology? Have you made a huge sale through your website? Does your website help or benefit people in any way? Are you running a unique online competition or survey? Have you a heart-warming personal story to tell? My point is this; you need to have a point.

Let me give you an example of publicity that was designed specifically to attract people to a particular website.

An online travel company, Zuji.com.au, implemented a publicity campaign to drive traffic to their website. It was a simple idea. They put together
an online competition asking people to write in their travel secrets of their favourite destinations throughout the world and they could win a valuable travel prize. They told the media about it and, although a simple idea, it captured the attention of the travel media.

Consequently, the media promoted the competition quite heavily, resulting in heaps of visitors to the Zuji website. And, of course, it involved real people telling their own stories so the human interest element worked. It worked brilliantly for the company. First, they were successful in getting lots of free publicity from the competition. They also collected the email addresses of all of the people that visited their website. Plus, they captured some really interesting stories and content to put on their site. So an online competition works well, but you do need tell the media about it. Once you've developed a good newsworthy story you'll need to contact the relevant journalists who will help you reach your target market. Don't contact everyone, just the media that are appropriate to you and your product.

Contact them by sending a media release (including your website address) or telephone them. Research your target media by checking out the newspapers, magazines and wherever else your competitors are being featured. You can buy media directories to find these media sources if necessary.

Don't forget to let journalists know there is a media room on your website where they can obtain further information.

Another way to publicise your website is to put your domain address everywhere. Anytime you send out a media release or newsletter, write a letter to a potential client or sponsor an event, not only is it really important to put your name on everything, but put your website address there as well. Every where that you communicate, put your web address. Include it on your voicemail, stickers, business cards, your car, caps, t-shirts...on everything!

Sue Currie, the director of Shine Communications Consultancy and author of Apprentice to Business Ace - your inside-out guide to personal branding, is a business educator and speaker on personal branding through image and media. Sign up for free monthly tips on personal and professional PR at http://www.shinecomms.com.au/contactmanager/default.cfm and learn more about how you can achieve recognition, enhance your image and shine.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
Pay Per Sale affiliate programs have been around since the beginning of the affiliate marketing business and, due to its obvious fairness, it is still a popular commission model. The number of programs offering this commission model are plenty-- far more than any other model available online.

The reasons for its popularity are many, but a big reason is advertisers' full control over the margins. With any other commission mode, the advertiser needs to calculate the conversion ratio, number of sales and size of purchases very carefully to eliminate the risk of overpaying for clicks, leads or impressions. With the PPS model, advertisers know they will only pay a specific percentage of each sale, meaning every new affiliate - no matter how successful - will contribute to the revenue of the affiliate program.

Advertisers using other commission models stand a much greater risk of having a new affiliate join, only to see him send nothing but non-converting traffic, thus getting paid for nothing. PPC, PPL and PPM are also much more open for fraud, often in the form of auto-generated visitors (i.e. from a script) or other ways of generating impression, clicks or in some cases even leads. For newly-started affiliate programs, showing limited cash flow, other commission models can prove difficult in the beginning. Often it takes a while to get the ball rolling, and paying for anything but sales can cost a bit of money before you get some back. Be sure to calculate how long you can afford to pay for a certain amount of visitors if no one actually converts into a buying visitor.

There will, of course, be plenty of referred visitors who convert into sales, but there are no guarantees. If you were to use a PPS model, paying ONLY For sales, you would never have to pay a commission unless you were seeing a positive cash flow. This is true for the affiliate program as a whole, as well as on an individual affiliate level. Your affiliates won't get paid until they actually makes a sale, thus making the advertiser money in the process.

Some affiliate programs offer a fixed commission instead of a percentage, and if the commission is the same on sales for different amounts, the percentage will differ from one sale to another. Try to find an approximate percentage of commission to calculate the expected revenue for each affiliate sale. Calculating the minimum and maximum revenue is important as well, in order to keep track of the revenue of the affiliate program and its commission model.

Theo Swan - Writing about affiliate marketing and how to make your website stand out. Read more about converting traffic, or find a new program, at http://www.affiliateranker.com]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
Creating a viral report that will spread like wild fire on the internet is a possibility if you know what to do and how to go about it. In case you are wondering what a viral report is, it is a report whose rate of spread over the internet is identical to the way a virus spreads either on the PC or among humans or animals –insanely fast!

How do you create a report that attains a viral status? Simple. Create a report that is vastly relevant and include incentives that will make people benefit from it. If you do this effectively, you will have a tremendous spread of the report over the internet in no time.

To make a report viral, there are three major tactics you could use:

1. Include giveaway rights; 2. resell rights benefit and; 3. a rebrand rights benefit.

A resell rights benefit simply means the buyer has the right to resell the product and keep 100 percent of the profits. This method is highly viable and increases sales conversion rates ,hence making more money for the seller of the product because of the benefit of being able to sell again and keep all the profits.

Another advantage is that the author of the report will still make money in the back end. How? By including links to his websites or products he is promoting by himself. So while people with resell rights are making money from selling the product and keeping all the profits, they are also indirectly promoting your products and expanding the reach of the report.

A report can also attain a viral level of exposure if you give people the permission to give away the product for free. This works like magic. Karen finds the report and is fascinated by it, and then she sends a link to Paul, Peter, and Jessie who in turn send it to four people each and so on and so forth. With this single method, you could have over 1 million visitors within one short month of releasing the report. Is that nice or what? Imagine the potential of duplicating these same results over and over again. To make money from this, you’ll need to include the links to your website, products that you are an affiliate of, or services you intend to sell. Imagine the potential of 1 million people seeing your products and services. If just one percent of them were to buy your product at $29 each -which is more than likely because of the relevancy and the referrals from friends- you’ll be grossing over $290,000 over that period of time. Not bad for an investment of less than $50.

The third tactic is giving away the rebrand or private label rights of the report. This means everything in the report can be amended. From the affiliate links to the name of the author. The bottom line is you lose all rights to the report. The only benefit is that you make money upfront after which the rest is out of your hands. As a result, you could end up seeing what looks like a mutilated version of your report somewhere on the internet. But the end result remains the same; the successful creation of a viral report.

Aurelius Tjin is The Publisher of The 'Unstoppable Profits Blog' With Over 22,000 Readers. Discover His Secret Strategies To Skyrocket Your Internet Marketing Business. To Get Free Internet Business Videos, Tips, and Strategies Go To http://www.aureliustjin.com .]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
The struggle between literate, grammatically correct article composition and keyword seeding should not exist at all. Search engines are able to figure out the relevance of the content on your website to a user’s query. Therefore, an article filled with a jumble of keywords will have lesser relevance than a well-written article containing lesser keywords.

Internet marketers who need SEO articles commonly require grammatically correct and literate compositions from SEO writers like me. The more I read and write about how search engines function and how they equate relevance with a high search result ranking, the more I strive to place overall composition above keyword content.

With relevant articles on your website pertaining to your products, ideas or services, you get more chances of directing the correct kind of surfer traffic to your website. Of course, this will mean a decrease in bulky but irrelevant traffic. However, as a search engine user, I find it annoying to see search results that have no connection to what I need to find.

Admittedly, most web masters prefer bulk traffic over highly relevant web traffic. The more the merrier, so to speak. In my experience, surfing the web without any purpose becomes tedious. It gets even more tedious as your experience in web surfing grows. Nowadays, I specifically surf the web with a purpose in mind. Armed with that purpose, I single-mindedly search for what I need.

It would help me to find what I need faster if the descriptive content of your website were relevant to my search. Having a nicely composed descriptive article about the idea or object I am seeking will make your website more useful to me. Because your website has been highly informative and usable, I will return there again to see if you have something that I need.

In having relevant and highly descriptive articles, your website satisfies two totally different necessities. The more relevant necessity for you would be a high ranking search result. The lesser, and often times unnoticed necessity, is that of having satisfied your customer.

The more relevant your content is, the more chance you have of being able to direct your target market to your website. The percentage of people who buy your product will definitely increase as opposed to a decrease in just passing thru or wrong turn traffic. In counterpoint, the more relevant traffic you get, the higher your sales figures go up.

Targeting traffic that isn’t really interested in your website almost serves no purpose. I definitely won’t try to remember the name of a website that has nothing of what I need. Memory retention of a website by people is very much minimal unless it has served the people well. Furthermore, to be redirected to an irrelevant website by a search engine is very much an annoyance. These websites that bombard their content with nothing but keywords are now getting penalized and banned by search engines so that they can avoid sending people to the wrong place.

How would you feel if directory assistance gave you the wrong listing? Naturally, the supervisor at directory assistance will reprimand the agent who gave the wrong listing. It’s the same thing with search engines and web sites. Search engines are trying to provide internet surfers with good service in order to gain more traffic. The more traffic they have, the more expensive their advertising space becomes. Along comes a web master who abuses their system so that all traffic is directed to his website. How do you think a search engine operator will react to or against the evil web master?

Terry Detty finds Search Engine Marketing and Online Press Release Services his passion. In addition to marketing, he enjoys reading and occasionally goes out for a short walk. His latest interest is a newOnline Email Marketing program he's been using.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
When you are developing or designing a website you have to imagine to a certain extent how it will be used and what will attract the right kind of visitors to this site. Once the site is up and running the best way to test your theories or to find out where you can make improvements is to have hard data that you can analyse.

There are various ways of gathering information on people who visit your site. You can ask for personal information if the user wants to register but there is no guarantee that the information will be correct and not every visitor will register if they are not required to. The best way to get a definitive and accurate set of data is through visitor tracking. Each visitor to your site, however, has a web log that can provide very specific and relatively accurate information on everyone that lands on any page of a site.

Web tracking is non invasive since there is no personal information available through the web log. A java script is attached to each page that you want to track and when a visitor opens that page it is used to collect the information from their browser. Most users’ internet preferences will allow this and also allow a cookie to be stored so that they have a unique tracking history. Statistical analysis can then be done either on individual behaviour or behaviours can be grouped into certain actions.

The kinds of information that are usually available from a web log are:

• Geographic location or domain
• How the site was reached; from which directory or site they linked through
• Date, time and duration of visit and how often unique visitors returned
• Which page they landed on first and how they navigated from there
• Keywords used in directory searches and site searches
• The users browser and operating system
• Which visitor made a purchase
• At what point did those who initiated a purchase give up before the sale was completed

Other information is available such as the presence of click robots or HTTP errors and the data gather can be interpreted using web log analysis software. This will generate either a tabled list or graphic information that can be used for the following:

• Understanding where your visitors are from and what markets you can accommodate more efficiently
• Establishing peak visiting hours and capacity levels
• Seeing which content and features receive the most attention and what is ignored

This kind of information can also be critical in making improvements that will make a site easier to use, more relevant and will drive traffic to and through the most relevant pages. It will show you clearly:

• What keywords are most effective
• Where improvements can be made to the functionality and user-friendliness of the site in order to increase sales
• Which marketing campaigns and directories deliver the best results

Apart from discovering which links are the most valuable to your business the nature of the sites which feed into yours can also give you a lot of other information on your visitors such as their interests and you can even abstract a certain amount of personal information from the other sights that they visit.

Visitor and sales tracking has become an integral part of CRM (customer relations management and helps to determine ROI (return on investment). It can also be used to supplement other forms of interactive information-gathering such as blog pages. Although there is no way to link the statistics to information gathered on user forums you can get an idea of how and when they are being used or whether they are being underutilised. Indirectly it can also be used to develop social media marketing.

Affiliate sales tracking software has a slightly different objective and creates more of a two-way relationship between affiliates and traders. A different kind of software is required but there are some similarities to ordinary sales tracking. The main difference is that you are not tracking visitors but analysing the performance of other sites. There are also more functional tools that can be used such as automatically generated e-mails, sales reports and commissions.

If you have a website from which you conduct or facilitate your business activities, the best way to ensure the success of your business is to ensure that your website does not hinder the function of your business in any way. As the web is a constantly evolving environment, it is almost ensured that no site will be created perfectly or in a way that will not need to be changed over time. Without viable information on how your current model is operating you have very little idea of where you can make improvements. In this regard it makes no sense to run any website for a profit if you do not intend to track sales and visitors.

Egidijus Andreika is a creator of Click2Sell Affiliate Marketing Program Network. Click2Sell provides all info on visitors, sales and conversions rates that you and your affiliates generate by different search engines, websites, PPC campaigns. Find out which your products convert the best, which affiliates bring you the highest quality traffic. Visit Affiliate Marketing Program Network.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
by Jonathan Teng
http://www.TheMarketingCraze.com

"It's NOT another wave. It's a PERMANENT wave destroyer!"

I have to admit it...

Article writing is, hands down, the most powerful weapon in the marketing arsenal to date! I have always asked myself why very few marketers are taking advantage of it. It's so easy and so rewarding.

Just watch the article directories and announcement lists; you'll quickly see what I'm talking about...

...and you'll see the same names, over and over again!

These people are consistent in their work. They keep submitting articles, month after month, while they're establishing themselves as leading experts in their fields. They're building their credibility each day ... and their businesses? Well, they are simply thriving.

While most new Internet marketers will come and leave like a blink of an eye, these "article" guys have staying power. Their articles will be around years after they are gone -= a legacy that will outlast them.

Isn't this amazing?

(1) It's free. While other marketers are losing money on pay per click ads, article marketers promote their businesses for free. No hidden cost whatsoever. Their articles will be reprinted on hundreds of Websites, all bringing warm leads and pre-sold customers to their businesses.

(2) It's easy. They don't need to hold a PhD in order to be an article writer. It's as simple as writing a 300- to 500-word article a week, and they're done for the week.

(3) It appreciates. "Hey! I read your article ... It rocks!" "Great article ... I have bookmarked your site for other posts ..." "Fantastic ... I like what you write ..."

Only Article Marketers receive these types of messages in their inboxes. They are respected among their peers. They get their inspiration from the appreciation of other people.

(4) It sets them apart. What's the difference between an article marketer and other marketers? Simple ... Article marketers are smarter. They are a step above the average Joes in the business arena. They are problem solvers. They write for reputation and trust. And they write for profits.

(5) It's the center. Articles are the central part of an E-zine. They stand alone, with no disturbing ads. They get all the reader's attention and their words will gently direct them toward a link to their Website.

(6) It links to others. Articles are the ultimate linking strategy. Article Marketers don't need to beg for incoming links from Webmasters. Their job is to provide free content -- quality content that Webmasters will fight for.

(7) It's viral. While an ad will last only for a few days, articles will last for years. Great articles will be reprinted over and over again, reaching thousands of new potential customers. It's like planting a seed that will take root and then develop a life on it's own.

Article writing is the only complete weapon that a marketer should be equipped with because it's truly the only skill a marketer needs to master to succeed.

]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
by Charlie Cook
http://www.marketingforsuccess.com

========================================
Summary:
Want to hit your revenue numbers this year? Discover
which numbers to pay attention to.
========================================

Everyone wants to see growth in sales and net revenue. It's important for small business owners to set income goals and to watch sales results, but too much emphasis on these numbers can prevent you from reaching your goals.

Using your revenue figure to guide your marketing is like driving by looking in the rear view mirror the whole time. That number tells you where you've been. It doesn't tell you how to get where you want to go.

There are a couple of key numbers and ratios to keep in front of you that will help you get to your sales 'destination'.

Like an Iowa farmer growing soybeans, you've got to carefully plant seeds and nurture plants to maturity to ensure a good harvest and a good profit. The amount of seed you plant and the percentage that germinates and grows well determines your farm's profitability. The same is true in marketing and sales; the number of leads you generate and the number you convert to sales determine your income.

These are the two most important numbers to pay attention to in marketing. Use them to evaluate your marketing and determine how many sales you'll generate:

1. The number of qualified prospects in your database.

These are people who've told you they have a concern or problem you can help them with and who want to hear from you again.

2. Your prospect-to-client conversion rate.

The percentage of qualified prospects you convert to paying clients.

The math is simple; the more qualified prospects you have and the higher your conversion rates, the more revenue you'll generate.

Your sales will stay frozen at present levels if you focus on how much revenue you're making and ignore the importance of building your list of qualified prospects. You could double your business in the next few months by building your database of qualified prospects and improving your conversion rates.

Marketing Numbers

You don't need to be a math wiz to become an expert at marketing math. Pay attention to these numbers on a weekly basis;

- The number of people who saw your ads, read your articles or received your mailings.

- The percentage of these people that responded to your ad or article. It's not how many ads you run, but how many people pay attention to your ads that matters.

- The percentage of respondents that actually gave you their contact information and added themselves to your database. These are the people who have identified themselves as qualified prospects who are interested in learning more.

If you're marketing through your Website, it's incredibly simple to identify these numbers daily and weekly to track the success of your marketing. Here's how;

1. Look at the number of unique visitors to your Website daily or weekly.

2. Divide this number by the number of people who contacted you. This is your conversion rate of site visitors to qualified prospects. If your site is set up correctly, at least one out of ten people should be contacting you and adding themselves to your list of qualified prospects. If you use Google Ads to drive visitors to your site, you can send visitors to specific landing pages and increase your conversion rate to 20% or even 25%.

What should you expect from your Website? For every hundred unique visitors to your site per week, 10 to 25 should be sending you an E-mail requesting more information about your products and services. Each month, your list of qualified prospects and your sales should grow.

Before you finish this article, make a commitment to apply this simple marketing math to grow your business. Set a goal for your business. Look at how many qualified prospects your marketing is currently generating.

Write this number down, then put a diagonal line across it and next to it write down the number of qualified prospects you want to add to your database each week.

I've been doing this little exercise for two years with my current Website. My goals for acquiring qualified prospects get larger each month as my business grows. My latest goal is 500 new prospects per week. This translates into 6 to 7 percent more business each month. With a little planning, you can see your business grow just as fast.

2006 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals, small business owners and marketing professionals attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up
to receive the Free Marketing Strategy eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://http://www.marketingforsuccess.com.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
by James D. Brausch

One of the most effective methods of getting traffic to a sales Webpage is very well-known within Adsense circles (used to send traffic to Adwords advertisers through the Adsense program), but not as well known for traffic generation directly to sales letters.

That method is the content site. There are literally thousands of people making a living online by simply creating content sites, placing Google Adsense code on those content sites and collecting a check from Google every month.

There are literally thousands of others who have sales pages selling products and services who have never created a content site and pay for their traffic through the Google Adwords program. Much of that traffic is coming from those who are creating the content sites and placing Google Adsense code on their pages.

Isn't that interesting? If you have a sales page selling a product or service; how much could you save by cutting Google out of the loop? A lot! If you have been creating content sites and depending on Google for a paycheck, how much more could you earn if you sent that traffic to a site selling an information product of your own? A lot!

There is even more money to be gained with this strategy then you might first imagine. At first, you might be tempted to think that the only money being left on the table is the money going to Google for providing the Adwords and Adsense programs. Nothing could be further from the truth. If that was the only money involved, then, since the percentages that Google keeps are very small ... their
service is well worth that price.

But it's not! That money is only the start. Let's consider the following facts to see that we can actually earn a multiple of whatever you are currently earning from your Adsense check or from your product site if you cut Google out of the loop.

1. The Adsense algorithm isn't perfect. It often shows ads that aren't very relevant. If you cut Google out of the loop, you can make your content site to sales page site traffic 100% relevant, 100% of the time.

2. Adsense publishers often only get 0.5%-15% click-through rates on any Adsense ad, due to a number of factors. The method I will show you in this article will deliver 25% of the hotest buyers from your content site to your traffic site continually.

3. Adsense is currently a negative ranking factor on all three major search engines (see RankingFactors.com for more information on that). That means that, by running Adsense on your content sites, they are slowly losing search engine traffic month after month. By removing the Adsense and sending that traffic directly to a product site, you will retain your search engine traffic.

4. Many have reported getting banned by the Google Adsense program. You came to the Internet to make money because you wanted more control and freedom over your life. By getting a large percentage of your income from a single company (Google), you are sabotaging your efforts. You are at the mercy of Google just like you were/are at the mercy of any employer.

5. If you are selling a product using Adwords traffic, you also are at the mercy of Google and bidding wars. You must continually improve your conversion ratio or the ongoing bidding wars will eventually eat up your profit. Google (or Overture or any other bid-type PPC system) is slowly allowing your competitors to either receive more traffic while you receive less ... or causing you to pay them more and more of your profit every month as you are forced to raise your bids to continue to receive traffic. Wouldn't you rather generate your own traffic and not be held hostage to bidding wars?

So -- we are agreed that you want to cut Google out of the loop, whether you are a content site creator or the seller of a product or service; right? How?

Well, first of all you will nead to learn the skills of the other side. They aren't difficult, whichever side of the fence you currently sit on. If you are a content site creator, you can pick up InfoProdCreation.com and have your own product 35 hours from now with 5 hours of work. If you are a seller of a product or service, you already have the skills to create content sites. Just write articles instead of sales pages, and give information instead of trying to sell. Make it a multi-page site instead of a single page sales letter.

And -- I'm about to give you the secret to traffic delivery from a content site to a traffic site. It's very simple. Create a home page with only the following elements:

1. A very short two-paragraph, three-five sentence description of your product or service (no selling here).

2. A large (size 8) link that says either "Enter Site" or "Enter Here." This link leads to your product site.

3. Three smaller links (size 2) on a single line, below the above link, that lead to the rest of your content site. They can say "Widget Articles," "Widget Reviews," "Widget Forum," or whatever types of content you have on your content site ... about widgets, in this case.

You will find that about 50% of the traffic on a content site eventually ends up at the home page. You will find that about 50% of those that end up at the home page will choose to click the "Enter Site" or "Enter Here" link. You will find that those 25% of the content site visitors (50% of 50%) will be fairly pre-qualified to read your offer. In many, many split tests, this traffic has out-performed Google Adwords traffic!

Have fun and please drop by my blog and let me know how much more money you are making with this strategy. I would love to hear from you.

You can check out the author's marketing blog here: http://www.JamesBrausch.com.

]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
by Desmond Mantor

So, you have a killer Website that you're just certain will become the next Yahoo or Google, if only you could get people to actually visit your site. The only problem is that you don't have the money to spend on pay-per-click programs or software for e-mailing campaigns. As things stand, your site doesn't even rank in the first ten pages of search results and it's starting to look like your great idea may die a miserable and lonely death. Before you throw in the towel, here are some free ways to increase traffic flow to your site:

Being ranked first in the search engines does not cost a dime, but it does cost effort. If you're going to get to the first page of the search results, you need to do your homework. The first thing to do is to study your competition. The people who rank first already have a winning formula. You just need to figure it out. You need to study their keyword density formula, the sites they are linking to, and their meta tag usage. You will need to alter one variable at a time and test the results.

Finding the right keyword density formula should probably be your first priority. Once you find one that works, start generating a lot of useful content using this formula. Don't worry about getting it perfect, because no one does. Just find one that boosts your rankings and then generate the content.

Aside from having a lot of keyword rich content using the right formula, the second best way to boost rankings is to link with other popular sites. The search engines figure that, if you are linked with other popular sites, then your site must be pretty important. The key is to develop a site with content that is both relevant and useful to other Webmasters. This is why you need to develop your keyword density formula first, then generate content based upon it. This makes it a lot easier to convince Webmasters to link with your site. The more links you establish with popular sites, the higher you will climb in the rankings.

Once you have a site filled with great content, start sending out personal E-mails to Webmasters asking to link with their site. Some sites will even allow you to manually link with them without first obtaining permission. They are probably not the greatest links, but it's a start!

Another great way to generate traffic flow without spending money is using Yahoo classifieds. Yahoo has millions of visitors from all over the world every day, and your ad is sure to get noticed. You are allowed to post up to 10 ads at a time absolutely free of charge. The trick is to write compelling, attention-grabbing copy. You will achieve success if you are willing to experiment. While search engine rankings are more useful than online classifieds, these ads, especially the popular Yahoo classifieds, can provide a great start totally free!

All in all, search engines hold the key to traffic flow. Since almost 90% of all Web surfers use search engines to help them find what they're seeking, as a Website owner, you have to win them over in order to achieve online success. Analyze your competitors' sites closely, arrive at an optimal keyword density formula, and then create lots of useful, relevant and compelling content. Soon, you will be linking to other sites and climbing on the search engine rankings!

Desmond Mantor is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Have Traffic a business specializing in delivering highly targeted traffic for commercial Web sites, proven to convert to sales at higher rates in comparison to regular major pay per click sources. Please visit http://www.havetraffic.com for further details.

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If you were to walk into a business establishment, but you couldn't find the products that were being offered for sale or someone that could help you, chances are pretty good that you would leave, right? When you look at a website that's poorly designed, the same things happen. Visitors who can't immediately figure out a website are more than likely going to go back to the web search page to see what other sites are available. It's a matter of creating a user friendly site – and here's how you can do it.

Step #1: Less is More

Many businesses think that adding a lot of bells and whistles to a website is the way to increase their customer traffic. When you have a lot of graphics, Java applications, and other add-ons, you're not only going to confuse your visitor, but you are also going to overwhelm them. These are distractions that will make your website load slowly and, for some visitors, it may not load at all.

You need to start thinking about creating a website where less is more. You want to include the things that your customer needs in order to learn more about your business and to buy products or schedule services. Everything else is taking away from the basic goals of your business – which is also taking away your ability to make money.

Here are some things that you will want to remove from your website, or at least from the home page. Visitors make their decisions about your website from the first page they see, so this is where you need to quickly establish a professional impression.

Remove bright colors. Remove flashing words. Remove video clips (unless that's your business). Remove animated graphics.

Step #2: Remember the Basic Things Your Customer Needs

Like the first step, you need to realize that less is more. There are only a few things that a customer needs when they enter your site:

A home page that identifies who you are and what you sell. An About Us page that talks about the company. A list of products. A way to pay for things. A place to get help or contact information.

Try to look at this list as a check list of the things you absolutely have to include in order to be user-friendly. These are things that a website visitor is going to look for, so when you don't include them, you will confuse them and often make them look for another website that is more accessible in terms of their needs.

Step #3: Make Sure Contact Information/Help is Available

A way to contact you can be as simple as an email address, while other websites have 'live' support desks. In most cases, as long as there is a way for a customer to get help, this will help them in their experience with you. You might want to include a FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions section that will help them with basic queries, while offering an email address for more complicated questions. A phone number is another easy way for customers to contact you and for them to feel like you are always available for their needs.

Extra Credit: Look to Other Successful Websites

If you still aren't sure what to include and what not to include on your website, look at other websites that you frequent. You will notice this formula is the same. They offer simple ways to access different features, without being confusing or too energetic.

You can also include a comments section for visitors to tell you about their website experience so that you can make adjustments as necessary.

Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of "Website Traffic Secrets" and "Minisite Creation Tactics" for FREE -- immediate access here: http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
by Suzanne Falter-Barns
www.getknownnow.com

Learn tips on how one ezine owner built her list to more than 75,000 names in just a few years. (She bought only 4000 of them.) Guerilla tips from Suzanne Falter-Barns and Jenna Glatzer.

Want your E-zine list to catch fire and really start to fill up? Jenna Glatzer took her own list from the hundreds all the way to 75,000 in 7 years by simple, steady marketing, and using many of these techniques. (Jenna bought only 4000 0pt-in names along the way.) Here are some tips we provided, and some I've pulled from my own experience, building my list for The Joy Letter to 17,000 over five years.

1. Free Stuff.

Pick genuinely useful fr.ee stuff that you know your audience wants and needs. For instance, my brand new
E-zine, Expert Status, attracted 600 readers in just a few weeks by offering a report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents." The practical freebie works. Jenna Glatzer offers two free E-books/reports to subscribers on agents who are receptive to new writers, and on writer's markets. She notes: "Before I
did that, my subscriber numbers were in the hundreds, not thousands.

2. Put a subscribe box on every page of the site.

This has worked for both Jenna and me. Mine is parked in the left hand column of the site. Experts advise putting a simple sign up box (with freebie mentioned) in the top left hand corner, as that's where the eye naturally travels first. A simple sign up box that requests only E-mail address works best.

3. Ad swaps.

Exchange plugs for your E-zine with another Website, to run in each other's E-zines. Be sure to mention those freebies! Doing this on a regular basis with a rotating selection of Web partners will keep your subscription page busy.

4. Cross-registration.

I've found subscribers by having a plug for my E-zine on the thank you page of a comparable (but not directly competitive) Website. This offer is made to folks who just signed up for an E-zine, and are therefore deemed 'in the mood for more.' Offer a swap with your site, and try not to list more than about two other E-zines. Also, make a point of including only really good, reliable publications that reach your target market.

5. Give away a bonus for other sites to use, based on your E-zine.

A popular Web marketing technique is the special one- or two-day promo that offers big bonus lists when you buy a certain product on those particular days. (I cover this promo technique in more detail in my E-book/binder, "Get Known Now; How to Build Your Platform as a Self Help Expert.") So, collect some of your best E-zine essays, pack 'em up in a downloadable PDF-based E-book, and offer it as a bonus these sites can use in their special promos. Don't forget juicy descriptive copy about your E-zine, and a subscribe link at the end of your E-book. I've gotten hundreds of new readers this way, and much traffic to my site.

6. Announce E-zine 'events' on PRweb.com and other PR sites.

There's an entire world of web-based press release distribution services out there, some of which are low cost or even free. So, use them. But be sure to only plant press releases that are truly newsworthy, and thus likely to get press attention. Even if the media don't use your words this time, they'll hopefully
file you as an expert for future use.

7. Use discussion boards or groups.

These are sites frequented by gangs of people interested in the same thing. Avoid the unmoderated sites, because they're likely to be spam targets that generate little bonafide traffic. Boards found on member
sites are the best. Don't spam the board with your subscribe message. Instead, offer some genuinely helpful info. Then sign off with a signature line that includes E-zine and subscribe info. You can find some of these groups at groups.yahoo.com, topica.com, mail-list.com, and listfool.com, for starters.

8. Sponsor other people's contests.

Jenna Glatzer gives away products like her paid newsletter, "Absolute Markets Premium Newsletter," to writers' groups, contests, and conferences that request it, regardless of size. I've tried this too, to good effect. Simply run an announcement in your E-zine that you'd be happy to sponsor comparable events. Ask them to provide a URL for an event description, so you know it's legit. Then offer up your gifts, and ask for a plug for your E-zine and for them to talk up your dazzling freebie, as well. Jenna notes that
groups she sponsors "often send out ads for us to their lists … just as a thank you."

9. Run quality content.

There's no substitute for heartfelt writing plus solid information about a subject that matters.

Jenna writes: 'The main reason our list stays so big is our 'letter from the editor' … Each week, I chronicle my writing life and my triumphs and failures … when an article is killed, when I'm having trouble finishing a book … And I share personal things, too, like when my grandfather died…. People write: 'I feel like I know you so well.' And I think that's why they stay on the list, even when their mailbox fills up with dozens of other writer's newsletters.

10. Allow reprints.

Allow any newsletter that wants to reprint your articles to do so. I like to have an E-mail requesting permission, so I can enter their info into a big database I use to track where I can send more articles in the future. I end each article with the line: "You may reprint this article in your own E-zine or Website. Simply send an E-mail requesting permission to EMAIL ADDRESS. Please be sure to include our full
bio box at the end."

11. Create a survey or contest.

This would be one of those newsworthy 'E-zine events' I mentioned above in point # 6. Make it a fun, relevant question that you could really develop a good, newsy story from. I did a survey asking people what they fought with their spouse/partner/boy or girlfriend about. The results made for the kind of reading offline media enjoy running short, 100-word pieces about (fillers.) I made sure to attribute the survey to my E-zine, "The Joy Letter," with a mention of the site's basic URL. You can get the technology to run your own survey and collect responses at surveymonkey.com (for a fee) or bravenet.com (for free.)

I think I could actually go on and on here. The possibilities seem to be endless. If you try even half of these techniques on a regular basis, you'll find your subscriber rates double and even triple. Here's to building your list … the foundation that much of your traffic and success rely on.

Suzanne Falter-Barns' Website at getknownnow.com offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her free E-zine, "Expert Status," and receive her free report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents."

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When working with internet marketing and making websites designed to generate affiliate commission, it is sometimes difficult to find new niches to make websites about. Trying to find a niche with competitive commissions, but without the following fierce competition is, of course, difficult-- but it is not at all impossible.

One popular way of making money online is by using small websites designed only with AdSense – or any other contextual advertisement – in mind. These sites – often referred to as mini- or micro-sites - are made to target unusual search phrases, often in highly competitive niches. This way, they can reach fairly high search engine rankings without too much work. The terms targeted will not bring many visitors, but the traffic it does bring will be highly targeted, thus converting well.

When using contextual ads – as with any form of paid-per-click programs – the main objective is to make visitors click the ads, they do not necessarily have to end up buying anything. That’s for the webmaster buying the clicks to worry about.

When working with pay-per-sale affiliate programs, one needs to take a different approach. Most affiliate programs operate by a pay-per-sale model, making it essential to send good traffic their way, i.e. visitors who will actually buy the products promoted.

Compared to a PPC model, this sure is far more work, but the upside is huge. Working in a similar way as with contextual ad websites, you can easily target odd search terms in highly profitable niches, thus receiving search engine visitors of good quality. You might not get that many visitors, but if you are working with the right keywords, many of them will be searching for exactly what you are offering.

There are a lot of online tools to aid you when looking for a niche with good potential revenue, but a fast and easy way to get a grasp of a niche is to do a few searches on google. Looking at the number of results for any given search term will give you an idea of the competition. Mostly this is closely related to the potential profit, as more money naturally attracts more competitors.

Click a few of the sponsored ads, to see what landing pages people are using when buying traffic on that keyword. Remember people are paying to have a visitor see these landing pages, so in most cases they are very well-converting, making them excellent to study before you make a website in the same niche.

To fully take advantage of the visitors you send to an affiliate program, you should find a program offering residual commission. This way, you will not only get a commission on the first sale, but get a commission of all future sales to this customer. In a way, it’s your customer.

Considering the limited amount of visitors expected, another important factor to consider before joining an affiliate program is their promotional material. Are you looking for text links only, or are you looking for graphics for banner advertising on your page? If you can find an affiliate program in your niche, offering affiliate links to specific products rather than the main page, it will make it much easier to better target your audience. If you are getting visitors using the same search term, it’s not hard to find a specific product to present them with.

Many websites offer free stuff and/or an initial discount when a new customer joins them. Make sure you are using all the promotions available to you when you join and promote your affiliate program - preferably found at http://www.affiliateranker.com/directory

Theo Swan - Writing about affiliate marketing and how to make your website stand out. Read more about converting traffic, or find a new program, at http://www.affiliateranker.com]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
If you want to keep sensitive personal information safe and secure, never host your business on your personal computer. By hosting your business on your PC, you are giving your visitors direct access to your computer and all of your personal information.

Here are some of the reasons you should never host your business via your personal computer;

* It is not secure. The internet is full of threats, and unless you spend a fortune your computer would always be vulnerable to every kind of threat that's out there. Security problems are sometimes found in server software, and these can be exploited to gain access or cause damage to your files. Your computer must be kept absolutely up-to-date at all times and without exception-- a very daunting task for a home business owner trying to go it alone.

* If you want your site to be available on a 24-hour basis, your computer must be constantly connected to the Internet. Your machine would be working day and night. This puts more strain on your bandwidth.

* While it may seem hosting your business on your personal computer would save you money, the opposite may, in fact, be true. It can cost you money!

* It also won't save you time. In addition to building and marketing your business, you would also need to maintain your server.

* You would need to learn all about operating and maintaining a server and things like DNS, web server setup, security, debugging problems, logs, patching the server software. All of the time it would require to learn these things and to keep yourself current could be better spent developing your business itself.

* If anything breaks down, it is your own responsibility to find the problem and fix it. And until you've identified and solved the problem, your site will be down. Having a website that may crash at any time is a surefire way to lose customers.

* You would need to monitor your server all the time. You cannot leave for a project and then come back to find that your site is not working.

Remember that you came into this business because you wished to make a wealthy future, become independent enough to get out of that job routine rut, and make more time for you and your family to spend together. There is no point in starting a venture that would eat all of your time and send you back to work at that 9 to 5.

Web hosting companies are professionals. For a small monthly fee, you can enjoy quality osting without any headaches attached. Learn to hone your marketing skills instead of learning how a server functions. Leave that to the geeks. Host your site with a hosting company and concentrate on your business.

Arun Pal Singh is an internet marketer and web author who runs a website at http://www.homeforprofits.com to help budding online entrepreneurs with information and ready-made products. Visit http://www.homeforprofits.com to find how his products and tips can boost your business tremendously. Subscribe to his "Online Business Manual Course" by email. Visit http://ebizgo.info now and sign up for free.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
It seems like some websites are changing as often as every few minutes. While this is a necessity for news sites and those that want to provide readers with up-to-date information, what about your business website? You want to show your visitors that you're constantly innovating your business, but at the same time, changine your website too often might make it seem as though you can't make up your mind or that your business is less than stable. Here are some things you need to think about before you build your business website.

The Case for Change

There is certainly something to be said for always being fresh and new. When your visitors are looking for the latest and greatest fads in clothing, for example, you need to be able to deliver these trends as soon as they're on the red carpet or the runway. Change also shows your visitors that you are always looking out for them and their needs. You can include a daily blog, for example, that gives up-to-date information on the state of affairs in your business or perhaps on trends in the products you are selling. You might also want to keep a streaming band of words across your website to show updates on things like interest rates or stock market quotes. By keeping your website alive with new information, your visitors will see that you're interested in the long term health of your company.

The Case for Keeping Things the Same

On the other hand, you also might want to look into, for the most part, keeping your website the same. While there will be a need to change things up from time to time as things are out-of-date, keeping the basic setup of your website can help regular visitors feel like you are consistent and easy to keep up with. When you're always changing things, a customer can become confused as to how to do things on your site or whether or not your site is something they should spend time on.

The Verdict: It Depends on Your Customer Base

In the end, the case for change will largely depend on whether or not your customers are looking for constant updates. And this depends on your business focus. If you are trying to give your customers up to date gossip, yes, you will need to change your site a lot. But if you offer the same products over the course of a month, there's really no need to change your website until you change your stock.

There will always be times when you will need to change your website – as in when you introduce a new item or you discontinue an item or pricing scheme. But the overall consensus is that you might want to keep the basic structure for return visitors to your site.

Introducing Change to Your Visitors

If you plan on changing your website significantly, you might want to let your customers know well in advance of the actual change. This will give you time to get feedback on your changes as well as help you roll out your new look with minimal problems and concerns. Post a 'sign' on your website about the upcoming change and then provide a link to how the new website will look. Giving visitors a list of the changes they can expect to see will also help them see what they will notice when you eventually follow through.

Change is good, but when it scares away customers, it's not always the best idea. However, you also don't want to keep your website up for so long that you begin to seem outdated. Changing things up every season is a reasonable schedule without being too confusing for visitors.

Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of "Website Traffic Secrets" and "Minisite Creation Tactics" for FREE -- immediate access here: http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips133/user/index.php
by Herman Drost

When I surf the Net, I often see Web sites filled with beautiful graphics that strive to capture my attention. Well, they do so for an instant, however I click away when I don't immediately find relevant content. The content you add to your web site needs to attract both visitors and search engines.

Here are 14 ways to add content to your web site and attract visitors:

1. Get into the mind of your visitor. Brainstorm all the ways your visitor would think of your product. Write your content as if you are sitting next to him/her explaining your product. Don't write in the 3rd person, i.e. "we," "they," but use "I," "you," or "your." This makes it more personal.

2. Keep it simple - write as if explaining your Web site material to a 7th grader (12-13 year old). Don't use complicated words that people would have to look up in the dictionary. You want them to understand clearly what your site is about.

3. Convey emotion - people on the Web are often in a great hurry, so you need to appeal to their emotions to stop them clicking away to the next site. Use stories, convey your experiences or include testimonies from others. This adds to your credibility and trust, 2 essential factors for doing business online.

4. Communicate quickly and efficiently - people online tend to scan rather than read everything on the page. Therefore, use single lines of text for your headings and sub headings. Catch your visitor's eye with lists, bullet points and use short, snappy, active (not passive) words in your sentences. Your paragraphs should only consist of 2-5 sentences. Long paragraphs make it hard to read (scan) your
page quickly.

5. Create white space - the layout of your Web page should include plenty of white space. Don't lean text hard up against your graphics. Include white space between headings, sub headings and paragraphs.

6. Use graphics sparingly - you have heard it said, "a picture is worth a 1000 words." That's true, but only if the picture supports your content. Don't overdo the graphics. You may impress your visitors initially, however, to keep them interested in your site, you need high quality content.

7. Create high quality content - make clear points with each paragraph you write. Each paragraph should build on the previous one, so that you are pulling your visitor through your page naturally. You are trying to pre-sell the product or service to your visitor. This puts them in a natural frame of mind to buy (unlike many sites, which may just have pictures of the products and a shopping cart).

8. Web page background - a colorful or busy background can make your text hard to read and may give the impression of an inexperienced Webmaster. If you do use a background image, make sure it complements your site's theme, fits with your visitors' experience and will increase your credibility.

9. Use the correct fonts - the offline world primarily uses "Times New Roman". This works well in print but not online. Sans Serif fonts, such as Arial, Verdana and Helvetica are the best fonts for easy online scanning.

10. Font colors - the best colors for reading online are black text on a white or off-white background. If you want to use multiple colors only use a maximum of 3. Too many text colors on a Web page make it hard on the eyes and spell inexperience. To emphasize text, you can use the bold tag (this text will appear bold) or italic tag (this text will appear in italics).

11. Check spelling and grammar - run your page through spell check in your word processor. It won't pick up all the mistakes, so make sure you read it through yourself, to find other errors. Spelling and grammar mistakes convey an unprofessional impression.

12. Simple navigation - the main purpose of the navigation bar is to make it easy for your visitor to find his way around your site. Place your navigation bar on the left side or top of your page (or both). Repeat the bar at the bottom of the page, so your visitor does not have to scroll back up to move on to another section.

(Read my article "How to Create an Effective Web Site Navigation Structure" http://www.isitebuild.com/navigation for more specific help in this area).

13. Get a critique - don't fall in love with your writing and leave it there. Yes, it's hard to listen to someone criticizing your beautiful piece of work, but swallow your pride and get your friends or family members to do a review of your Web page. This will help you to refine what you have written and make it appeal to a wider audience.

14. Use specific keywords - weave targeted keywords into your Web page as you write your Web page content.

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and author of http://www.iSiteBuild.com. Affordable Web Site Design and Web Hosting. Pick up your copy of the 159 page E-book TODAY titled: "Make Your Content Pre-Sell," by going to this link: http://mycps.sitesell.com/webselling83.html

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(c) Copyright by Eva Browne-Paterson

It's well known that Internet marketers are in the business of marketing. To become successful in business, it's crucial to actively promote your business to gain new customers. Let's face it... No promotion, no new customers. It's as simple as that.

If you've ever spent money on advertising before, you will know that it can be a costly process. Whether the cost is measured in time, effort, money or a mixture of all three - the one thing that counts the most is the results. A lack of results from a marketing campaign can be a real disappointment.

More often than not, it is a case of hit-and-miss which leads to frustration and a wasted advertising budget.

This article will explain three steps that you can take to gauge how effective your marketing campaigns are and to rapidly improve the response rates of future campaigns. It also brings to light some relatively unknown tactics that some advertising companies are employing to rip-off their customers. I hope you're not one of those customers... But you might have been already without even realising it.

Step 1: T&T

You may or may not work out a proper campaign for your promotions, but let me make a suggestion to you if I may? You really should be Tracking and Testing. If you don't know how responsive a particular ad is, how can you possibly gauge the ad's effectiveness? Not by guessing, that's for sure! It is essential that you T&T because this keeps you in control of your earnings.

If your campaigns aren't creating the desired outcome - signups, sales, opt-ins, etc., something needs to be changed. By T&T, you can make changes, retest and gauge the results to repeat the process until you do generate the necessary effect and, therefore, increase your profits.

Step 2: Tweaking

What areas need looking at? Here is a short list of questions you can ask yourself. The answer to these questions should be "Yes". If the answer is "No," then simply tweak the item and T&T to produce a better response.

Ad Copy:

Does it have an eye-catching headline? Is it well written with the correct grammar and punctuation? Have you edited it over and over to create what you'd consider a perfect advertisement? Does it use hypnotic words and phrases that grab the interest of the reader? Does it make the reader want to click through to your Web site while pulling out their credit card? If you wouldn’t respond to the ad yourself, a rewrite is a must.

Product Demand:

If you truly aim to make sales, your advertising needs to be put in front of the people who will want to purchase your product. Have you carried out or have access to market research data on the product you are offering? If it's a niche-target product, are you targeting the appropriate audience? Have you polled your list or web site visitors to find out what they really want? Feedback is precious and should be taken into serious consideration.

Sales Page:

Does your sales page load quickly? Does it look good to the naked eye without making you frown or close the site in pain? Does it have an eye-catching headline? Does it appeal to the reader's sensibilities and rouse their emotions? Have you used short paragraphs? Have you included bullet point lists? Have you
refined the copy over and over again to make it as sharp as possible? Have you made it so there are no unanswered questions for the customer to ask?

Order Page:

Have you included a guarantee that removes the risk taken by the customer? Have you provided several payment options, where applicable? Have you made the purchasing process as quick and simple as possible? Have you included your contact details?

Price:

If everything else appears to be set correctly, but you're still not receiving the response you need, consider revising the price and T&T. Use a split tester, if possible, to see which price receives the better response (and it's not always the cheaper price, surprisingly). 100 is a good number to use for split-testing. ie: If you're testing two pages, the first to receive 100 responses is the one to adopt.

Step 3: QA

Usually QA stands for Quality Assurance and it still does, but in this instance, it also means Quality Advertising. T&T and Tweaking can be an ongoing process that you continually carry out using free or paid advertising.

There are many forms of advertising available on the Internet. Free advertising methods are excellent for T&T because they can illustrate how well an ad pulls through an E-zine or solo ad. You can also gauge how effective your sales page is by click-thru statistics in traffic exchanges, etc. But, for now, let's concentrate on the effective, paid advertising methods. Why? Because paid advertising brings results... Well it should -- but it doesn't always!

It is imperative that you gauge the effectiveness of the advertising vehicle that you are utilizing through T&T. If you don't, you could be throwing your hard-earned dollars straight down the drain.

If you have paid for an advertising campaign through a company and the results are less than you hoped for, you need to look into why the results were dismal. How do you do that? It certainly pays to ask questions and dig deeper to see exactly how your advertisement is being delivered.

In fact, I can save you some time and really open your eyes to some marketing methods that you probably didn't even know existed! These are methods that are being used quite frequently by some online companies who provide traffic and advertising services.

You really need to know about them now so you don't fall into that trap. Most of us have already and didn't even know it, until now...

If you utilise the 3 steps I've described above, you'll discover that your hard work really does pay off. Increased profits can indeed be yours with the right work ethic and the right quality advertising vehicle.

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About the Author: Eva Browne-Paterson lives in Australia and has been marketing online for over 12 years. She has been publishing EvieB's New-Z since 2001 at EvieB.com, is the CEO of INSTAPAY.net and a partner in the JVMoneyMakers.com group.

Looking for Quality Advertising? EQQU Ads are a NEW, Highly Targeted & Responsive form of advertising. Hundreds of thousands of members will see your ads beneath their E-mail display and view your web site. Split campaigns & Full statistics provided.

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by Charlie Cook
http://http://www.marketingforsuccess.com


-----> At least once a year its worth evaluating your marketing plan and tuning it up for to increase your ability to attract new clients. Use this marketing assessment to clean up your marketing for 2005. <-----

Has your once well-organized marketing plan come to resemble the jumble of stuff in your closet (not to mention the garage and the attic)? If you are like most people, each time you come across a new marketing idea, you try to adopt it and add it to your existing approach.

Strategies and tactics tend to accumulate and linger even when they may not be working as well as you'd like. Like the ill-fitting clothes that accumulate in your closet or the broken tools still in the garage, they are hard to get rid of, whether because of habit, emotional attachment or just plain not getting around to cleaning them out.

To improve your marketing, you'll need to clean out some old ways of working. While I don't want to get anywhere near your closet, and in fact I could use some help with mine, I can show you how to clean up your marketing plan so you're ready to take advantage of any new opportunities to grow your business that come along.

Cleaning Up Your Marketing Plan

Every morning, my friend, Michael Angier, of SuccessNet.org, sits down at his desk and asks himself the following three quëstions about his business.

1. What's working?
2. What's not working?
3. What can I improve?

You may not want to review your marketing plan five times a week, but it is a good idea to do it at least once a year. So, take out your pencil or fire up your computer and assess your marketing plan:

Your Marketing Plan

1. Is your plan working?
2. Do you have a well defined marketing strategy that helps you achieve the three phases of marketing: Getting Attention, Positioning, and Selling?
3. Do you need to write or rewrite your marketing plan?
4. Do you need additional information or coaching to complete your marketing plan?
5. What are you going to do to improve your marketing plan?

Getting Attention

6. Does your marketing message prompt prospects to contact you?
7. Do your ads, letters, and web site motivate prospects to contact you?
8. What are your conversion rates?
9. What steps can you take to improve them?

Positioning

10. What are you doing to establish your credibility with prospects, to help them know and trust you?
11. Is it working as well as you'd like?
12. What could you improve?
13. Is the value of your products and services clear to your prospects or do they quëstion you about merits and price?
14. Want to learn how to ensure that your prospects understand the value of your products and services?

Selling

15. How successful are you in selling, that is, in getting commitments for everything from appointments to orders?
16. What's your conversion rate of prospects contacted to clients and customers?
17. Do initial s/ales generate repeat s/ales and referrals for years to come?
18. Want to learn how to generate more s/ales from each client?

Evaluating Your Marketing Plan

Use Michael's three questions to summarize your comments about your marketing plan and your success in getting attention, positioning and selling.

1. What's working?

2. What's not?

3. What do you want to improve?

The hardest part about cleaning out your closet, attic, garage or your marketing is getting started. It may be time to straighten up or throw out some of your old marketing strategies and tactics and replace them with new more effective ones. Start 2005 with a well organized marketing plan, one that helps you Get Attention, Position your products and services and Sell and you'll find your business growing in leaps and bounds in the coming year.

2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

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The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Free Marketing Plan E-Book, '7 Steps to Get More Clients and Grow Your Business' at http://http://www.marketingforsuccess.com.

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by Kristie Tamsevicius

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Home business expert, Kristie T, gives tips on how to plan the perfect workspace; one that keeps you organized, inspires you, and boosts your productivity. - Excerpt from the book, Build it Big 2: 101 Insider Secrets from Top Direct Sellers
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One of the great privileges of the direct selling profession is being able to work from home. But, with the freedom of your career, also come the challenges. The sink is full of dishes, your son left his crayons on your desk, and the laundry is piled up in the corner.

A well-designed home office will help you transition from the role of domestic goddess to high power entrepreneurial executive. Just like Clark Kent changes in the phone booth to become Superman, as you enter your office space, you turn into queen of your home business empire. Instantly your mind shifts from the laundry list of household chores, to strategies for earning that big check next month and enjoying a hard earned Hawaiian vacation.

But -- how can you plan the perfect workspace; one that keeps you organized, inspires you, and boosts your productivity? Here are some rules of thumb to follow when designing your home office space.

Plan a space that meets your needs.

* Space: Imagine your dream space. You have the freedom to create the space of your dreams. Where is it? What items do you need to have in it? Some questions to ask yourself are: what equipment you'll need, what things you'll have to store, and how much privacy you'll need. Do you need to stay close so you can keep an eye on the kids? Do you need a meeting space? Will you have customers or other consultants stopping by?

* Location. Choose a space in your home that best supports those needs. Whether it's a spare bedroom, a corner of the living room, a large closet, an attic or a converted garage; find a room that that has enough space for the equipment and furniture you need.

* Storage. While not every direct seller needs to keep inventory on hand, those that do know that having an organized space to store product is critical. Make sure the space you choose has ample room for shelving and storage. Think about the items you handle on a day-to-day basis in your business. Now make a list of the items. Do you need a bookshelf or wall holders for catalogs and brochures? With the proper space and containers to keep your office tidy, you'll have a clutter-free, organized work space.

* Furniture. Next it's time to outfit your work space with a desk, bookcase, and filing cabinets. Today, with the boom in home-based careers, there is such a variety of office furniture to choose from. Whether it's a simple desk, an office armoire, or a complete L-shaped unit, make sure you'll have the desktop space you need to keep key items at your fingertips. Dare to splurge a little on getting yourself a comfortable and ergonomically supportive chair. It's a back-saver and worthwhile investment.

* Equipment. Plan a spot to put your computer, phone, and fax. Buying an all-in-one printer/scanner/fax machine is a smart choice that saves you desktop space and money!

Put it together in a way that makes sense.

* Placement. Decide what goes where. Place key equipment in a way that flows with the way you work.

* Organization. One great way to stay organized is to create centers for the tasks you frequently perform. For instance, you might want to put all your brochures, order forms, and catalogs together in one place. Other "centers" may include a mailing center, a faxing center, and a printing center. Boxes and bins are great for keeping smaller office supplies organized.

* Ergonomics. Place your keyboard, lighting, and monitor at proper heights. By being good to your body, you can function at peak performance without tiring as quickly or getting injured from incorrect positioning.

Create an inspiring atmosphere you'll love.

* Personalize. Now's the chance you have been waiting for to create the office of your dreams. Make your office a space that truly inspires you. Little things make such a difference. Choose a paint color that brings you joy. Pamper yourself with treasured photos, candles, and artwork on the wall. Add a touch of romance and a dash of color with a potted plant or vase with flowers on your desk. Finally, having inspirational quotes, a dream map, and visual reminders of your goals can be powerful tools to keep you motivated and on the track to success.

* Clean and tidy. There's nothing like starting the day with a clean desk. Try to get in the routine of either cleaning your desk at the end of the day or doing a 5 minute tidy first thing in the morning. By having a place for everything and everything in its place, it's easy to stay organized and be more efficient.

* Lighting. Don't skimp on lighting. In addition to creating ambiance in the room, proper lighting keeps you from straining your eyes. As well as having enough overhead lighting, you'll also want task lighting. Today there's a wonderful selection of stylish and functional lamps to choose from.

Start your Dream Office Today.

What are you waiting for? Get a jumpstart on your home office now by taking the following actions in the next 48 hours.

* Walk around your home and visualize your office. What space feels good and inspiring to you? Where can you see yourself spending a lot of time and loving it? Choose the perfect space and clear it out.

* Flip through catalogs and magazines. Clip pictures of furniture, décor, and items you'd like to include in your dream office. By getting crystal clear on the intricate details of your perfect workspace, it makes it easier to spot those items as you come across them.

* Shop around and look for smart buys. Scan the newspapers, store fliers, and online office store coupons for sales and special offers.

2005 © Kristie Tamsevicius. All rights reserved.

Speaker, author, and consultant, Kristie is an entrepreneurial expert who has helped thousands of people to start and succeed in their online businesses. She is the founder of Webmomz.com, president of Branding on the Net, and author of several books: I Love My Life: A Mom's Guide to Working from Home, and Build it Big 2: 101 Insider Secrets from Top Direct Sellers (Dearborn Publishing - April 2006). Claim your free Home Business Success course and expert work at home tips at http://www.webmomz.com.

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5 Steps To Not Let The Power Of A Paycheck Stop You From Starting Your Own Business

by Pamela Stewart

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Fear of losing financial stability is the number one thing that stops people from starting their own business. Learn 5 key steps that will move you from fear to confidence as you evaluate your chances as a successful entrepreneur.

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I recently ran a survey and asked people the question: "If you are not happy in your current work situation, then why haven't you changed it?" The top-rated response was "fear of losing
financial stability."

The financial stability of a paycheck is a big fat illusion. If you are an employee, you probably have a salary, which is divided in monthly or weekly paychecks. Because you get the same amount in each check, you may believe that you have a stable source of income and can live your life without fear of financial instability.

This is dangerous thinking that puts your financial life at risk.

Layoffs, downsizing, mergers, takeovers and incompetent managers are a well-documented part of corporate life. I have seen all of them in my career as a corporate employee, and even more in my career as a corporate consultant. I have been witness to conversations where managers had to lay off long-time employees with no notice. These employees were shocked, hurt, scared and angry. This work was horrible and gut-wrenching, but I learned something very important from it: Never rely on your status as an employee to insulate you from financial instability.

So, if this reason has stopped you from starting your own business, follow these steps to see if any of your fears are warranted.

Step 1: Get crystal clear how much money you will need to start up your venture

· If you have written an effective business plan, you should be able to predict how much money you will need to start and sustain your business. You haven't written a business plan yet? You better get cracking at it. In addition to clarifying your idea, it will force you to organize your thoughts, financials and start-up plans, which will only help you to make it a reality. Good sources are Rhonda Abram's The Successful Business Plan, Rich Dad's The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans and the free resources of SCORE.

· Make a budget of your monthly living expenses. This will give you a picture of your overall cash needs.

Step 2: Meet with a solid, professional, well-researched and well-recommended financial planner

· While I don't believe the illusion that a full-time job = security, I don't want you to make a foolish decision that will adversely impact your family and financial health. You need to look at implications of leaving your corporate job in the areas of insurance, investments and retirement benefits. Get the whole picture before you make a quick move. I recently spoke with a smart, competent and capable government employee who wants to start his own business, but has just 5 years to go until retirement. While I think he has what it takes to be successful on his own, I would never counsel him to quit without consulting a professional financial planner and doing tons of research to test his business plans.

Step 3: Set specific financial goals to meet your cash needs

· Savings: how much of your paycheck will you have to save per month in order to meet your goals?

· Raising cash: How much cash do you need to raise from outside sources including investors? (note: although some people recommend it, unless you have no alternatives, I don't recommend borrowing money from your family and close friends. There are too many emotionally-charged issues around relatives and money, and you could damage critical relationships that you need for personal well-being. That is just my 2 cents.)

Step 4: Get creative about funding strategies

· There may be ways that you can cover the costs of start-up expenses by bartering with friends and colleagues. Do you want to start a coaching business? Maybe you can barter some coaching sessions with your accountant.

· Clean out your house of unused valuables and hold a sale. If you live in a warmer climate, have it outside. If not, jump on eBay. Convert things that take up space in your house to money that you need to fund your dreams.

Step 5: Learn everything you can about your new venture

· Write a solid business plan and get honest feedback from knowledgeable experts.

· Read every book you can get your hands on about your business topic.

· Google websites, blogs and online forums to learn about your marketplace.

· Identify very successful entrepreneurs in your field and follow their work, study their business models and ask them what it has taken to be successful.

· Attend teleconferences, webinars and in-person classes.

· The more that you know about your business, the greater chance you have at being successful at it.

It takes a huge amount of work to launch and grow a successful business. Don't get scared off by a perception of financial risk. If you do very careful research and make sure you have a viable plan, you can have some concrete data to weigh your important decision. Whatever you do, please do not be lulled into complacency by your regular paycheck.

© 2005 Pamela Stewart. All rights reserved.

Pamela Stewart is a seasoned corporate consultant with a new mission in life: help corporate warriors to become thriving entrepreneurs! To take a free assessment, "Test Your Small Business Start-up IQ," and get other valuable tools, go to http://www.ganas.com/freestuff. Read Pam's blog at http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com.

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by Eva Browne-Paterson - www.evieb.com

1. Allow other e-zine publishers or web site owners to republish small nuggets or excerpts of information from your E-book with your byline or ad included.

2. Make extra profits from selling monthly updates of your E-book. You could also back-end sell the extra never released chapters of your E-book.

3. Give away a free E-book and then give people an option of buying the paid version of the E-book. Also let others give away the free version of your E-book.

4. Divide your E-book content