Almost everyone I have known since getting on-line five years agohas a driven ambition to design their own web site or sales pagesfor some project of theirs. Yours is a special design or article that makes it tough to design everyday web-pages for it seems. But thru the years what I call "html" blues has stopped more than one project to fold. The endless 'TESTING' to make sure everything works as designed has caused more than one to turn away from a profitable career on-line. This program is designed to create perfect code EVERY TIME. All you have to do is copy and paste to your page or site for publication. I really wish I had this when I first started out a 'newbie' I would have had more hair now!!!
1. Hire a professional, do a lot of study time, or use a program like mine to elimate the "html" blues caused by the trial and error method that takes forever to get right for instant set-up and use.
Unless you are computer literate, html trained, the strain of completing the trial and error method will cause you to pull your hair out! Plus if you have to 'hire' the work done by a 'professional' you are never really sure it only has what you want programed to work in your space.
2. Plan, Plan, Plan, and just paste and copy!
With your own copy of Instant Site Maker you can 'experiment' with all the ideas you have in mind and select the ones that work best for you. With my program on your desktop it will be easy to fill in your facts and paste and copy the correct code to your web-site or page!
3. No experience needed to have PERFECT CODED pages and site information in under two minutes!
The program offers a step by step process that takes all the guess work from preparing your information in the correct format. PLUS you will have RESELL RIGHTS to make an additional stream of income from family and friends who do want to hire someone else to solve their html blues, YOU!!
In closing I want to impress upon all the buyers of this program the tremendous RESELL RIGHTS value of this program. Even if you have never wanted to 'sell' anything on the Net your family, friends, and associates could very well make this the 'best buy' of your career!!Please visit:http//www.seldomrest.com
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Branding, control and results - Submit Articles in Your Own
Article distribution is currently booming on the internet. Authors do it for a number of reasons.
Various products and services have become available that help you distribute your articles to the 100s of article directories and mailing lists.
a) Software that speeds up maunal submission, or can in some cases do this automatically. b) Services that distribute articles in your name c) Services that distribute articles on your behalf, but in their own name.
Many people pay a premium rate for article distribution on their behalf, without the worry of having to join various article directory sites as a member, giving their own email address, and receiving lots of emails from various Yahoo groups.
Unfortunately what they don't realise is that often this devalues their work.
1) In the author section on many sites, the name of the distribution service will be shown, not that of the original author.
2) Author sections of many article directories are a unique marketing venue. Many visitors will visit the author profile before reading an article all the way to the bottom. Most profiles could have one or more websites listed.
3) Within RSS feeds from the article directories, the distribution service might be shown in the byline, not the original author.
4) Many article directories allow an author to change or modify their resource box. If an article was submitted using an account owned by a 3rd party distribution service, that avenue will be closed.
For authors who want complete control of their branding, either submit manually, or use article submission software. You will receive more emails, but can always have a special email address for this purpose. Googles Gmail service I find is an excellent choice. Article Announcer and Article Submitter Pro are two examples of such software.
Use an automated submission service that ensures you are the author. There are services that signup for members to directories on your behalf, using a username and password of your choice. One such service is Article Marketer.
You will have to confirm your membership to many distribution points, and some will continue to send emails containing articles from other people. Yahoo groups normally allow you to select a digest mode, or to not receive emailed articles at all. Most of this is a one time effort, although you will have to be on the lookout for important messages on the email account you use.
They are your articles, and you should gain maximum benefit from them.
Using article distribution is much like a varient of Pareto's 80/20 rule. You potentially gain 80% effective results compared to manual distribution, for 20% of the work.
However if your method of article distribution doesn't give you all the possible credit for your articles, rather than 80% effectiveness, you might only be getting 60% or less.
Managing your own article distribution with tools such as Article Announcer or Article Submitter Pro gives you complete control to achieve your 80/20 goals. A service such as Article Marketer which gives you full credit, and reasonable control, might be 70% effective, for 10% of the work.
Refining your processes, and only using the most effective method where it benefits you the most, you can maximise your return for the work invested.
I use a combination of service and software for my own distribution
- It is a good way to be picked up by the search engines.
- The backlinks from your resource box can help your search engine position.
- You have the possibility of secondary traffic if your article is picked up by a popular website or ezine.
Various products and services have become available that help you distribute your articles to the 100s of article directories and mailing lists.
a) Software that speeds up maunal submission, or can in some cases do this automatically. b) Services that distribute articles in your name c) Services that distribute articles on your behalf, but in their own name.
The Double Edged Sword
Many people pay a premium rate for article distribution on their behalf, without the worry of having to join various article directory sites as a member, giving their own email address, and receiving lots of emails from various Yahoo groups.
Unfortunately what they don't realise is that often this devalues their work.
1) In the author section on many sites, the name of the distribution service will be shown, not that of the original author.
2) Author sections of many article directories are a unique marketing venue. Many visitors will visit the author profile before reading an article all the way to the bottom. Most profiles could have one or more websites listed.
3) Within RSS feeds from the article directories, the distribution service might be shown in the byline, not the original author.
4) Many article directories allow an author to change or modify their resource box. If an article was submitted using an account owned by a 3rd party distribution service, that avenue will be closed.
Complete Control
For authors who want complete control of their branding, either submit manually, or use article submission software. You will receive more emails, but can always have a special email address for this purpose. Googles Gmail service I find is an excellent choice. Article Announcer and Article Submitter Pro are two examples of such software.
Limited Control
Use an automated submission service that ensures you are the author. There are services that signup for members to directories on your behalf, using a username and password of your choice. One such service is Article Marketer.
The Inconvenience
You will have to confirm your membership to many distribution points, and some will continue to send emails containing articles from other people. Yahoo groups normally allow you to select a digest mode, or to not receive emailed articles at all. Most of this is a one time effort, although you will have to be on the lookout for important messages on the email account you use.
The Massive Gain
They are your articles, and you should gain maximum benefit from them.
Using article distribution is much like a varient of Pareto's 80/20 rule. You potentially gain 80% effective results compared to manual distribution, for 20% of the work.
However if your method of article distribution doesn't give you all the possible credit for your articles, rather than 80% effectiveness, you might only be getting 60% or less.
Managing your own article distribution with tools such as Article Announcer or Article Submitter Pro gives you complete control to achieve your 80/20 goals. A service such as Article Marketer which gives you full credit, and reasonable control, might be 70% effective, for 10% of the work.
Refining your processes, and only using the most effective method where it benefits you the most, you can maximise your return for the work invested.
I use a combination of service and software for my own distribution
Monday, December 29, 2008
Articles and Internet Branding: 5 Steps to Success
Are you ready to become an internet marketing expert? Are you ready for a massive conversion rate plus unlimited residual streams of income for your web-based business? Excellent! I'm here to focus your mind on the job at hand. Today you will learn how article marketing is the means to the end, and that end is PROFIT.
Web marketing success happens one project at a time. The formula we're about to discuss works best when your product is information-based. Meaning, if you're an expert in your niche, other people are going to want to learn Your Secrets. You can use this to your advantage- by creating marketable products that deliver information (your Secrets) to customers who are willing to pay for it. You will then use web articles to lure in your prospects.
How will you go about this? Take it one step at a time.
Step 1. Select a niche market. What are your interests? Where does your expertise lie? Wherever that is, is where you will focus your next marketing project. Let's say it's real estate. Your Marketing Mission is: make your name recognizable within the realm of real estate. Build yourself up as an expert in the buying and selling of property.
Step 2. Create an online persona and brand for your business. For continuity's sake, let's go with the real estate example. Suppose you want to be known as the Inside Expert on house flipping for profit. Sounds like a great plan to me! Now grab yourself a web designer and a great copywriter and get going on perfecting that image of you as the Real Estate Go-To Guru!
Step 3. Develop an informational product that readers can buy directly from your website. You've seen those kits that all the Experts are selling, right? Who told you that you can't sell one on your website? Nobody. So, get going. Start pulling all nighters if you have to, just get that kit written and make it powerful so that your buyers will go, WOW! I can't believe what I learned from this guy/girl, and for such little money! Hire a ghostwriter, if you really want to get this project cracking. Either way, as Nike says: Just Do It.
Step 4. Write articles to build your credibility. If you've been reading my "series of internet marketing articles" in order, you'll already be familiar with the concept of article marketing. This is where you use an Article Distribution website like Ezinearticles.com to help deliver quality articles to end users who will feature your articles.
(Note: I listed this as Step 4, but really your articles should be flowing as early as Step 2.) As part of your brand-building strategy, stream a steady flow of web articles to content-hungry webmasters who fall into your topic category, who will then spread your sage advice all over the internet. If you're burdened with time constraints, hire a ghostwriter to do this work for you. At the end of the articles, include a bio that directs them to your website. From there, they can learn more about you and what you can offer them.
Step 5. Direct your customers to a sales letter that teaches them about your product. Again, you can do this with article marketing. An easy scenario to follow: You write an intriguing article featuring five tips on how to gauge the real estate market. At the end of the article is your bio, which directs the reader to a link where a sales letter page opens. That sales letter will then contain certified testimonials from happy clients and customers of yours. All of this will further enhance your reputation as a qualified expert.
The final outcome: clicks to your website, where visitors use PayPal or another easy money transer in exchange for your informational product. The profit's in your pocket. Beautiful! YOU DID IT! Give yourself a pat on the back. Take a vacation!
Of course, if you're going to be an internet expert, it's a smart idea to create multiple areas of expertise for yourself in more than one niche. Again, articles are the means to the end. Suppose now that you're done with your online real estate venture, you've figured out that Copywriting is another God-given talent of yours that can be leveraged for profit. Time to create a Brand New Internet Personality! How will you do this? Easy. Follow the five steps I mentioned above, only replace each mention of real estate with Copywriting.
Do you see the INFINITE POSSIBILITIES? Good! You've got plenty of work to do. So stop reading, and start writing those articles!
Web marketing success happens one project at a time. The formula we're about to discuss works best when your product is information-based. Meaning, if you're an expert in your niche, other people are going to want to learn Your Secrets. You can use this to your advantage- by creating marketable products that deliver information (your Secrets) to customers who are willing to pay for it. You will then use web articles to lure in your prospects.
How will you go about this? Take it one step at a time.
Step 1. Select a niche market. What are your interests? Where does your expertise lie? Wherever that is, is where you will focus your next marketing project. Let's say it's real estate. Your Marketing Mission is: make your name recognizable within the realm of real estate. Build yourself up as an expert in the buying and selling of property.
Step 2. Create an online persona and brand for your business. For continuity's sake, let's go with the real estate example. Suppose you want to be known as the Inside Expert on house flipping for profit. Sounds like a great plan to me! Now grab yourself a web designer and a great copywriter and get going on perfecting that image of you as the Real Estate Go-To Guru!
Step 3. Develop an informational product that readers can buy directly from your website. You've seen those kits that all the Experts are selling, right? Who told you that you can't sell one on your website? Nobody. So, get going. Start pulling all nighters if you have to, just get that kit written and make it powerful so that your buyers will go, WOW! I can't believe what I learned from this guy/girl, and for such little money! Hire a ghostwriter, if you really want to get this project cracking. Either way, as Nike says: Just Do It.
Step 4. Write articles to build your credibility. If you've been reading my "series of internet marketing articles" in order, you'll already be familiar with the concept of article marketing. This is where you use an Article Distribution website like Ezinearticles.com to help deliver quality articles to end users who will feature your articles.
(Note: I listed this as Step 4, but really your articles should be flowing as early as Step 2.) As part of your brand-building strategy, stream a steady flow of web articles to content-hungry webmasters who fall into your topic category, who will then spread your sage advice all over the internet. If you're burdened with time constraints, hire a ghostwriter to do this work for you. At the end of the articles, include a bio that directs them to your website. From there, they can learn more about you and what you can offer them.
Step 5. Direct your customers to a sales letter that teaches them about your product. Again, you can do this with article marketing. An easy scenario to follow: You write an intriguing article featuring five tips on how to gauge the real estate market. At the end of the article is your bio, which directs the reader to a link where a sales letter page opens. That sales letter will then contain certified testimonials from happy clients and customers of yours. All of this will further enhance your reputation as a qualified expert.
The final outcome: clicks to your website, where visitors use PayPal or another easy money transer in exchange for your informational product. The profit's in your pocket. Beautiful! YOU DID IT! Give yourself a pat on the back. Take a vacation!
Of course, if you're going to be an internet expert, it's a smart idea to create multiple areas of expertise for yourself in more than one niche. Again, articles are the means to the end. Suppose now that you're done with your online real estate venture, you've figured out that Copywriting is another God-given talent of yours that can be leveraged for profit. Time to create a Brand New Internet Personality! How will you do this? Easy. Follow the five steps I mentioned above, only replace each mention of real estate with Copywriting.
Do you see the INFINITE POSSIBILITIES? Good! You've got plenty of work to do. So stop reading, and start writing those articles!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Branding: ARE YOU BRANDING YOURSELF?
Are you placing your email address and URL on all correspondence?
Many people forget to add this to important mailings and even their business cards.
Today, most people prefer to email messages than make phone calls, so it is very important to have your email address on all letters, invoices and business cards.
Make sure your URL (web address) is on everything that you send out. Keep "branding" your business. Keep that URL out where it can be seen.
It's not enough to have your phone number and fax number on your business cards or letterheads. Addyour email address and URL if you have one.
It's important also to have a signature on all emails that go out. There is a cool free "signature writing" service at: http://www.TheDiscountPrinter.com/freeads.htmcheck it out.
Don't be left behind. Promote and brand your business every chance you get. It's the professional thing to do.
Some say it takes up to nine times for people to see your name before they will do business with you. If that is
true, then it's very important to have your name and email address out there.
Try to encourage email exchanges. The more emails you have going back and forth, the more credibility you will build in your potential clien't head.
Offer something free. Make people email you for information. This way you are opening the door to email correspondence without spamming. Your goal should be to have the person email you first asking for information or just a simple question. Once the ball starts rolling, your various email exchanges can easily turn into sales.
It's important to have a pop account or an account that reflects your company or website.
Using generic @aol.com or @hotmail.com really puts a damper on your look and makes you appear unprofessional. Plus, when you email a person with your own private "branded" email address, you are actually advertising your company just by the mere action of sending a message.
Joe@bikeseller.com sounds better than joe@aol.com Or Mary@thegiftstore.com is much better than mary@hotmail.com.Isn't it?
Brand yourself. Brand your business. Do it today.
Many people forget to add this to important mailings and even their business cards.
Today, most people prefer to email messages than make phone calls, so it is very important to have your email address on all letters, invoices and business cards.
Make sure your URL (web address) is on everything that you send out. Keep "branding" your business. Keep that URL out where it can be seen.
It's not enough to have your phone number and fax number on your business cards or letterheads. Addyour email address and URL if you have one.
It's important also to have a signature on all emails that go out. There is a cool free "signature writing" service at: http://www.TheDiscountPrinter.com/freeads.htmcheck it out.
Don't be left behind. Promote and brand your business every chance you get. It's the professional thing to do.
Some say it takes up to nine times for people to see your name before they will do business with you. If that is
true, then it's very important to have your name and email address out there.
Try to encourage email exchanges. The more emails you have going back and forth, the more credibility you will build in your potential clien't head.
Offer something free. Make people email you for information. This way you are opening the door to email correspondence without spamming. Your goal should be to have the person email you first asking for information or just a simple question. Once the ball starts rolling, your various email exchanges can easily turn into sales.
It's important to have a pop account or an account that reflects your company or website.
Using generic @aol.com or @hotmail.com really puts a damper on your look and makes you appear unprofessional. Plus, when you email a person with your own private "branded" email address, you are actually advertising your company just by the mere action of sending a message.
Joe@bikeseller.com sounds better than joe@aol.com Or Mary@thegiftstore.com is much better than mary@hotmail.com.Isn't it?
Brand yourself. Brand your business. Do it today.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Branding: About Branding
Branding, type-establishment, character-determination, name it whatever you like, we are practicing it all the time. Admitted, in business the skill of developing a rapid insight could be invaluable. Imagine how great it would be if we would all develop the ability to make a snapshot of every job-applicant, in order to see where his/her strengths and weaknesses were? Well, the positive side, according to the lecture I received today is, that we already do that - unconsciously. We "brand" people the moment we see them. However, the negative side remains that we don't always execute the branding process in the right way. It is this very branding - this first moment snapshot - that guides our approach toward another person. It is branding that makes us extra open to some and overly defensive toward others. There are some people that we just can't stand, no matter what they do... and others that just can't go wrong with us, no matter how often we will receive warnings from third parties! As I also learned tonight, we tend to ignore those warnings, and sometimes even their realization, because we don't like to admit to ourselves that our first impression was wrong?
Another funny thing I observed tonight is, that people will easily tell you, when asked, that they prefer to hire employees that are their opposites, "so that performance gaps can be filled." This, as we all know by now, is just an idealistic dream, a song that we know by heart and therefore sing so well; yet don't understand the words of. For in reality, it has been proven time and again that no one really goes for diversity, because we have an inborn tendency to stick with whatever is familiar to us, and that is...right!... the person with most of the characteristics we know best: the ones we own ourselves!
But in case we, as potential leaders, really want to establish an ideal work-environment with the necessary diversity in characteristics, backgrounds, and qualities; how can we, make a mental snapshot to be sure that we're hiring the right people given our current team of workers? Well, easy: if you know what you have, you also know what you lack, and ? therefore - need to find. If you know about yourself, for instance, that you are a fast-paced, goal-oriented decision-maker (let's call this type 1), you want to get an analytical and stabilizing element to balance your team. People with persuasive tendencies (type 2) usually don't mind showing their emotions, while the type 1 individuals ? the ones with controlling personalities - will hide their feelings and just go for the job? fast! People with stabilizing skills (type 3) will seek to solve interpersonal problems. The ones with analytical skills (type 4) will review and re-review the process endlessly before shooting it to execution. Interestingly, most people have 2 types represented within them: a dominant and an underlying type. The dominant one is the one you represent, while the underlying one determines how you get your results.
It's an interesting skill for leaders to look into. And an eye opener for people who thought they knew themselves for decades. However, a word of caution is in place here, no matter what personality test you take, remember that these are mere snapshots that are subject to change through time and in different situations: one can, for instance, predominantly be a controller at work, yet more of a persuader in the private domains of life.
Branding people on basis of a first impression is therefore never a good idea, even though it's hardly preventable. The only thing we can do, now that we are aware of this tendency within us, is to keep an open mind for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and even 5th impressions. Sounds reasonable? I thought so too!
Another funny thing I observed tonight is, that people will easily tell you, when asked, that they prefer to hire employees that are their opposites, "so that performance gaps can be filled." This, as we all know by now, is just an idealistic dream, a song that we know by heart and therefore sing so well; yet don't understand the words of. For in reality, it has been proven time and again that no one really goes for diversity, because we have an inborn tendency to stick with whatever is familiar to us, and that is...right!... the person with most of the characteristics we know best: the ones we own ourselves!
But in case we, as potential leaders, really want to establish an ideal work-environment with the necessary diversity in characteristics, backgrounds, and qualities; how can we, make a mental snapshot to be sure that we're hiring the right people given our current team of workers? Well, easy: if you know what you have, you also know what you lack, and ? therefore - need to find. If you know about yourself, for instance, that you are a fast-paced, goal-oriented decision-maker (let's call this type 1), you want to get an analytical and stabilizing element to balance your team. People with persuasive tendencies (type 2) usually don't mind showing their emotions, while the type 1 individuals ? the ones with controlling personalities - will hide their feelings and just go for the job? fast! People with stabilizing skills (type 3) will seek to solve interpersonal problems. The ones with analytical skills (type 4) will review and re-review the process endlessly before shooting it to execution. Interestingly, most people have 2 types represented within them: a dominant and an underlying type. The dominant one is the one you represent, while the underlying one determines how you get your results.
It's an interesting skill for leaders to look into. And an eye opener for people who thought they knew themselves for decades. However, a word of caution is in place here, no matter what personality test you take, remember that these are mere snapshots that are subject to change through time and in different situations: one can, for instance, predominantly be a controller at work, yet more of a persuader in the private domains of life.
Branding people on basis of a first impression is therefore never a good idea, even though it's hardly preventable. The only thing we can do, now that we are aware of this tendency within us, is to keep an open mind for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and even 5th impressions. Sounds reasonable? I thought so too!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Branding: Winning With Branding
If I were to ask you what K.D. was, you would undoubtedly know it is a short form associated with Kraft Dinner. Thereprobably aren't many people who have not heard of "Kraft Dinner" or who have not eaten it at one point in their life. In fact, if I was to ask you to take a look in your cupboard now, chances are, the majority of you would even have a box of it in there!
If asked you who Eminem was, the chances are, you would know who he was too. You may NOT exactly like him or his music, but the fact is, you still know WHO he his. There's no possible way you could miss hearing about him, as he is themost talked about "BAD Boy Rapper" currently in the music industry today.
Now, I am certainly not going to tell you to go out and break the law to make yourself famous online. Because you want to be able to actually spend all YOUR hard earned money! Although branding yourself *effectively* consists of a lot of work, it isn't worth that kind of fame. If you apply the correct techniques it will not seem like much "work" at all! Now that we have that covered I'm going to tell you, what has worked for ME.
When I first became a publisher - I was "widely known" for my "tell it like it is - attitude". In fact, if you were to go to my site http://www.optinfrenzy.com/about.html and read all the testimonials, that's exactly what you would read. My fellow publishers loved the fact that I had the "guts" to tell people what I really thought and because they liked my demeanor,they would send me "referred subscribers" on a regular basis.
Most people are familiar with me because I co-authored a best selling ebook with Jimmy D. Brown, (Ezine Resource Guide). But despite that there were a lot of people who still had NO idea who I was. So, I began writing a lot of articleson a VERY controversial subject - "SPAM", which in turn, gave me the opportunity of becoming a "Featured Writer" for one of the internet's most "prominent" ezines - DEMC.
If you want to WIN with Branding, this is what YOU need to do:
1.) Give people ONE thing that they can associate YOUR name with. And as an eg., the VERY first thing that people see in my signature file is - Laurie Rogers is the Co-Author of Ezine Resource Guide. Hundreds, if NOT thousands of people own that book, so when people read it, they know right off the bat, WHO I AM.
2.) Don't be afraid to step outside YOUR comfort zone attimes to get "KNOWN". Write about popular topics, BUTuse a different approach than other people do. Comparetopics to applicable scenarios that you see in "real life", just as I did above with "Kraft Dinner and Eminem". Makeyour article one to REMEMBER!
3.) Express YOUR TRUE feelings to your audience and beYOURSELF, you will get more referrals and RESPECT for it in the long run.
4.) Be CONSISTENT! Just as it does with everything else,being consistent PAYS OFF in the long run. This is exactly where people FAIL because they are NOT consistent with their efforts. They don't advertise on a regular basis, whichmeans LESS sales - Branding works the exact same way, the more promotion you do, the more recognition you will receive.
By using the techniques above, YOU can easily WIN withBRANDIN
If asked you who Eminem was, the chances are, you would know who he was too. You may NOT exactly like him or his music, but the fact is, you still know WHO he his. There's no possible way you could miss hearing about him, as he is themost talked about "BAD Boy Rapper" currently in the music industry today.
Now, I am certainly not going to tell you to go out and break the law to make yourself famous online. Because you want to be able to actually spend all YOUR hard earned money! Although branding yourself *effectively* consists of a lot of work, it isn't worth that kind of fame. If you apply the correct techniques it will not seem like much "work" at all! Now that we have that covered I'm going to tell you, what has worked for ME.
When I first became a publisher - I was "widely known" for my "tell it like it is - attitude". In fact, if you were to go to my site http://www.optinfrenzy.com/about.html and read all the testimonials, that's exactly what you would read. My fellow publishers loved the fact that I had the "guts" to tell people what I really thought and because they liked my demeanor,they would send me "referred subscribers" on a regular basis.
Most people are familiar with me because I co-authored a best selling ebook with Jimmy D. Brown, (Ezine Resource Guide). But despite that there were a lot of people who still had NO idea who I was. So, I began writing a lot of articleson a VERY controversial subject - "SPAM", which in turn, gave me the opportunity of becoming a "Featured Writer" for one of the internet's most "prominent" ezines - DEMC.
If you want to WIN with Branding, this is what YOU need to do:
1.) Give people ONE thing that they can associate YOUR name with. And as an eg., the VERY first thing that people see in my signature file is - Laurie Rogers is the Co-Author of Ezine Resource Guide. Hundreds, if NOT thousands of people own that book, so when people read it, they know right off the bat, WHO I AM.
2.) Don't be afraid to step outside YOUR comfort zone attimes to get "KNOWN". Write about popular topics, BUTuse a different approach than other people do. Comparetopics to applicable scenarios that you see in "real life", just as I did above with "Kraft Dinner and Eminem". Makeyour article one to REMEMBER!
3.) Express YOUR TRUE feelings to your audience and beYOURSELF, you will get more referrals and RESPECT for it in the long run.
4.) Be CONSISTENT! Just as it does with everything else,being consistent PAYS OFF in the long run. This is exactly where people FAIL because they are NOT consistent with their efforts. They don't advertise on a regular basis, whichmeans LESS sales - Branding works the exact same way, the more promotion you do, the more recognition you will receive.
By using the techniques above, YOU can easily WIN withBRANDIN
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Buisness: 1 Business Building Tool in Network Marketing
Ever wonder why one person succeeds and another fails in MLM? Or why someone has massive success in a company, then leaves, goes someplace else, and never, ever again duplicates that success? Or why some people spend 5, 10, even 20 years in network marketing with NO success...
Yet they never quit!
Or how an industry that does so many things so wrong can still be so popular ...
This Tool Can Change Your Life
On December 12, 2004, our team released the ebook "Success In 10 Steps", the story of what we have learned from 26 years in MLM.
The feedback has been astonishing.
People say, "I could have written that book!
That was my story.
Why did you steal my story? How could you know exactly what I went through?"
Back in 1991, my mentor was making full-time income from MLM.
He retired from that company and actually joined over 100 network marketing companies in the next few years, to figure out how this industry really works: the good, the bad, the ugly.
This process answered all the mysteries. It also revealed some valuable, valuable secrets about network marketing.
The hard-driving, closing salesperson is about 8% of the population. And those 8% have convinced the other 92% that the 8% are right and the 92% are wrong.
How did they do that?
Because that is what THEY do. It works for them, so they have total confidence they are right, and when you feel their confidence, you KNOW they must be right, so you do what they tell you.
92% of the world's population is sales-resistant.
They do not like to be sold, and they do not want to become that pushy, aggressive salesperson nobody likes. Yet when they join MLM, some upline leader tells them,
"Make a list of your friends and family. Call them up. Get 'em into the business. You need to hear 100 'No's for every 'Yes'.
Guess what?
It still only works for the 8%.
If you let them mesmerize you, you can wander aimlessly in the "failure" desert for years...
Maybe forever.
The Choice Is Yours
You can't become something you hate in order to be successful. This model works for the 8% who are real salespeople.
It's a disaster for the rest of us...
A very bad business model.
Every person on the planet has to be educated in the skills of what they're doing.
Whether you're a doctor, carpenter, plumber, ditch digger ... whatever you are... You've got to be taught the skills of that business.
And what "Success In 10 Steps" does for people is, it gets them to realize,
It's not your fault! The people teaching you didn't know any better.
They weren't bad people. They weren't lying to you intentionally. They just didn't know any other way to do the business.
Do you think you can wake up one morning and say, "I'm going to be a doctor!"
And you go down and join a company, get a distributor kit for 50 bucks, and you're a doctor?
Of course not. That's ludicrous.
How about a carpenter?
No way. You have to learn pitches and square and level and plumb.
You have to be taught the skills. Yet people get in network marketing, and they're told,
"Call your friends & family." It's the biggest fallacy in the industry.
Network marketing is not a sales business.
It's a teaching & mentoring business.
When you build people, people will build your business. Those upline guru leaders will tell you,
"Well, you didn't make enough phone calls. You're a loser. If it's to be, it's up to me." Have you heard all that stuff?
I bet you believed it, too, haven't you?
Why This Ebook Is Such a Hot Tool For Building Your Business
So the ebook really opens people's eyes to the fact that they've been lied to. You must do your business with people who WANT to be in business with you. You have to sell product to people who LOVE the product and want to buy it. That only comes through target marketing.
We learned early-on about targeted marketing.
Only talk to people who have raised their hand and want what you have.
Well, guess what? EVERY person who downloads "Success In 10 Steps" is trying to figure out why MLM is not working for them. When you call them up, they could be in a company already. They could be working the business a year or 2 or 5, 7, 10 years. But why would they download that ebook?
They're divulging some critical information. The business is not working for them.
They want to figure out what the problem is. And they're looking to you for help. THAT is the basis of a long-term relationship, and THAT is the effect you can create with "Success In 10 Steps
Yet they never quit!
Or how an industry that does so many things so wrong can still be so popular ...
This Tool Can Change Your Life
On December 12, 2004, our team released the ebook "Success In 10 Steps", the story of what we have learned from 26 years in MLM.
The feedback has been astonishing.
People say, "I could have written that book!
That was my story.
Why did you steal my story? How could you know exactly what I went through?"
Back in 1991, my mentor was making full-time income from MLM.
He retired from that company and actually joined over 100 network marketing companies in the next few years, to figure out how this industry really works: the good, the bad, the ugly.
Here's what he did:
1. Got on dozens of company conference calls
2. Organized & categorized companies, products, compensation plans, distributor kits, & marketing materials to compare each company with all the others
3. Studied their business models, to understand what kind of behavior certain business models drove
4. Studied how different "upline gurus" trained (or did not train) their people
This process answered all the mysteries. It also revealed some valuable, valuable secrets about network marketing.
Example #1:
The hard-driving, closing salesperson is about 8% of the population. And those 8% have convinced the other 92% that the 8% are right and the 92% are wrong.
How did they do that?
Because that is what THEY do. It works for them, so they have total confidence they are right, and when you feel their confidence, you KNOW they must be right, so you do what they tell you.
92% of the world's population is sales-resistant.
They do not like to be sold, and they do not want to become that pushy, aggressive salesperson nobody likes. Yet when they join MLM, some upline leader tells them,
"Make a list of your friends and family. Call them up. Get 'em into the business. You need to hear 100 'No's for every 'Yes'.
Guess what?
It still only works for the 8%.
If you let them mesmerize you, you can wander aimlessly in the "failure" desert for years...
Maybe forever.
The Choice Is Yours
You can't become something you hate in order to be successful. This model works for the 8% who are real salespeople.
It's a disaster for the rest of us...
A very bad business model.
Example #2:
Every person on the planet has to be educated in the skills of what they're doing.
Whether you're a doctor, carpenter, plumber, ditch digger ... whatever you are... You've got to be taught the skills of that business.
And what "Success In 10 Steps" does for people is, it gets them to realize,
It's not your fault! The people teaching you didn't know any better.
They weren't bad people. They weren't lying to you intentionally. They just didn't know any other way to do the business.
Do you think you can wake up one morning and say, "I'm going to be a doctor!"
And you go down and join a company, get a distributor kit for 50 bucks, and you're a doctor?
Of course not. That's ludicrous.
How about a carpenter?
No way. You have to learn pitches and square and level and plumb.
You have to be taught the skills. Yet people get in network marketing, and they're told,
"Call your friends & family." It's the biggest fallacy in the industry.
Network marketing is not a sales business.
It's a teaching & mentoring business.
When you build people, people will build your business. Those upline guru leaders will tell you,
"Well, you didn't make enough phone calls. You're a loser. If it's to be, it's up to me." Have you heard all that stuff?
I bet you believed it, too, haven't you?
Why This Ebook Is Such a Hot Tool For Building Your Business
So the ebook really opens people's eyes to the fact that they've been lied to. You must do your business with people who WANT to be in business with you. You have to sell product to people who LOVE the product and want to buy it. That only comes through target marketing.
We learned early-on about targeted marketing.
Only talk to people who have raised their hand and want what you have.
Well, guess what? EVERY person who downloads "Success In 10 Steps" is trying to figure out why MLM is not working for them. When you call them up, they could be in a company already. They could be working the business a year or 2 or 5, 7, 10 years. But why would they download that ebook?
They're divulging some critical information. The business is not working for them.
They want to figure out what the problem is. And they're looking to you for help. THAT is the basis of a long-term relationship, and THAT is the effect you can create with "Success In 10 Steps
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
3 Keys To Success With Your Affiliate Program
Affiliate programs (also called Referral Programs or Partnership Programs) are essentially commission-based sales schemes.
Joining an affiliate program is a neat way to make money from your users. But just as you can join someone else's affiliate program, so you can set up your own program and invite webmasters to sign up. Here are my top 3 tips to succeed with your own affiliate program.
One of the biggest fears new Affiliate managers have is in finding new affiliates. This fear is a stumbling block that stops many site owners from getting started with affiliate marketing. Interestingly, with a proper marketing strategy, getting affiliates may not be very difficult. Given below are some tips that may help in attracting new affiliates.
Find content sites - There are many sites that do not sell any kind of product or service but are mainly content oriented sites. Such sites promote an idea, concept, study or belief. Content sites that are used as a resource for your target market are ideal affiliates.
Finally, there are several sites on the Internet dedicated to listing affiliate Programs. Get your program listed in these directories.
The hardest part of administrating an Affiliate Program is deciding what your affiliates need to help make the sale. But, by carefully categorizing your affiliates, you can easily determine what their needs are and how to accurately meet them.
The first step is to pick at least three types of affiliate. Take a look at your affiliates and try to determine one outstanding characteristic that can easily be compared across the board and choose at least three types of the characteristic.
The Second Step is to determine the needs of each type. Each of your affiliate types will have different needs; some of their needs will overlap, but you should find a distinct difference in many of their needs. If you find that all of them have the same needs, go back to step one and re-think your types.
The Third Step involves the process of creating and compiling linking methods for each group of affiliates. Based on the needs you identified in Step two, create and compile linking methods for each type.
Any time you run a program where your affiliates rely on other signups to generate profits, you will eventually have a problem with spam. One of your affiliates will inevitably get it into their head to blitz the Web with unwanted garbage.
When this happens you need to be ready to take action otherwise it will cost you! Your Internet company can boot you off your server and you can find yourself blacklisted. Not good for business. If you get an email from someone claiming they received spam with your URL, then take it as an early warning.
I am not advising you to immediately terminate the affiliate's account, but be sure to contact them to follow up on the complaint. Let your affiliate know you received a complaint and advise them to remove this person from their list.
The best thing to do in this case is to immediately terminate or disable the account of the affiliate URL that was spammed.
Joining an affiliate program is a neat way to make money from your users. But just as you can join someone else's affiliate program, so you can set up your own program and invite webmasters to sign up. Here are my top 3 tips to succeed with your own affiliate program.
1. How to attract affiliates
One of the biggest fears new Affiliate managers have is in finding new affiliates. This fear is a stumbling block that stops many site owners from getting started with affiliate marketing. Interestingly, with a proper marketing strategy, getting affiliates may not be very difficult. Given below are some tips that may help in attracting new affiliates.
Find complimentary sites - "Complementary" sites are sites that sell products or services that compliment your offers. If you sell "gardening tools", a site that sells books on "gardening tips" would be a perfect affiliate.
Find content sites - There are many sites that do not sell any kind of product or service but are mainly content oriented sites. Such sites promote an idea, concept, study or belief. Content sites that are used as a resource for your target market are ideal affiliates.
Finally, there are several sites on the Internet dedicated to listing affiliate Programs. Get your program listed in these directories.
2. Classifying Affiliates for Better Management
The hardest part of administrating an Affiliate Program is deciding what your affiliates need to help make the sale. But, by carefully categorizing your affiliates, you can easily determine what their needs are and how to accurately meet them.
The first step is to pick at least three types of affiliate. Take a look at your affiliates and try to determine one outstanding characteristic that can easily be compared across the board and choose at least three types of the characteristic.
The Second Step is to determine the needs of each type. Each of your affiliate types will have different needs; some of their needs will overlap, but you should find a distinct difference in many of their needs. If you find that all of them have the same needs, go back to step one and re-think your types.
The Third Step involves the process of creating and compiling linking methods for each group of affiliates. Based on the needs you identified in Step two, create and compile linking methods for each type.
3. Safe Guarding Against Spam
Any time you run a program where your affiliates rely on other signups to generate profits, you will eventually have a problem with spam. One of your affiliates will inevitably get it into their head to blitz the Web with unwanted garbage.
When this happens you need to be ready to take action otherwise it will cost you! Your Internet company can boot you off your server and you can find yourself blacklisted. Not good for business. If you get an email from someone claiming they received spam with your URL, then take it as an early warning.
I am not advising you to immediately terminate the affiliate's account, but be sure to contact them to follow up on the complaint. Let your affiliate know you received a complaint and advise them to remove this person from their list.
If you only get one or two complaints, it's probably not spam, the complainants might simply have signed up for an email list and forgotten all about it. You will know when one of your affiliates is spamming, because you will get anywhere from 10 to 100 complaints in the same day all regarding the same URL.
The best thing to do in this case is to immediately terminate or disable the account of the affiliate URL that was spammed.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Affiliate Programs Worthless for 80% of Affiliate Market
No doubt you've heard of the 80/20 rule - which states that20 percent of affiliates generate 80% of affiliate income, andconversely, remaining 80 percent of affiliates generate only20 percent of all income for most affiliate programs.
There are ten basics that will put your affiliate marketingin the top 20 percent of affiliate earnings. Ten suggestionscreek that barely covers your hosting fees, to a roaring river
Cloaking affiliate links should not be necessary, but is. Oddlymany site visitors refuse to visit your links if they see an affiliate code appended to the URL when they hover their mouseover a link on your web page. Sometimes they will type theaffiliate domain directly to the browser address bar whileremoving your affiliate ID from the URL. To short circuit thisodd behavior, simply cloak the URL. How? Visit this Link Tool:
http://WebpositionAdvisor.com/tools/link_cloaker.php
Writing articles about your market niche is essential to gainreputation as an expert in your field. But the biggest benefitcomes not just from writing those articles, but from havingthose articles published by other web site owners and ezinepublishers. Your article gains you both reputation and linksfrom other web sites from the resource box appended to theend of each article. Here are major article distribution sites.
http://yahoogroups.com/group/free-content/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness/
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.ideamarketers.com
Filling a web site with content reflecting a narrowly focusedproduct or service niche is a well known method of gaining webtraffic in your area of specialty. An excellent resource thatan help you determine relevant and focused areas to fill yoursite with is called NicheBot. They offer innovative tools toresearch and pinpoint market niches for your web site based onthe WordTracker Database and Google. http://www.nichebot.com
Autoresponders are incredibly valuable tools that allow you to send a timed series of email messages to those that sign up for them. Most often those autoresponders are sent through a thirdparty provider. Some of the top providers are Sendfree.com and aweber.com, for a tutorial covering autoresponder basics, visit:
http://website101.com/email_e-mail/email_autoresponder_basics.html
Creating either testimonial pages or review pages that discussand pre-sell the product or service you are affiliated with isthe best method of getting increased orders for your chosenaffiliate programs. Many programs actually provide either anarticle or recommended text to sell their products for you and allow reproduction of those articles with your links embedded.
The best affiliates collect email addresses on their web site by offering free reports via the above mentioned autoresponders or by giving away ebooks or through newsletter signup forms.The best use all of these methods or more to build their listof email addresses. This also allows you to contact potential customers that would otherwise never see your site again after clicking away to the affiliate program web site.
Depending on your market niche you should advertise using PPCand/or ezine advertising. Some categories of Pay-per-click can be prohibitively expensive, but advertising somewhere is all abut mandatory to gain substantial additional traffic to yoursite. There are some great bargains in ezine advertising and some less popular PPC engines other than Yahoo's Overture and Google's Adwords. Try 7search, Kanoodle and FindWhat for lowerBids than the big boys of PPC.
Search engine optimization is becoming more complex as more and more webmasters participate, but the basics applied to your site can increase visibility dramatically over time. The most critical of the many SEO techniques is to use title tags that reflect individual PAGE content. Many webmasters write a master title tag and apply that site-wide. This is the worst thing you could do for search engine ranking. Learn more SEO:
http://SearchEngineOptimism.com/SEO_Tutorial/
Everyone knows by now that giving something away is a greattraffic generator and allows you to gather email addresses to allow contact of potential customers at a later date. This strategy is employed by EVERY successful web-based company at one time or another. Think of all the free things YOU have
collected online over time. Screensavers, software, ebooks, discount codes, toolbars, white papers. They work!
The best of affiliate marketers have their own newsletter or ezine and gather email addresses on their site to build their list of subscribers. Having this list allows regular contact with potential customers interested in your site, your product and your market niche. If you don't write your own material or think you can't produce weekly content, there are hundreds of authors out there that will gladly product articles for you. The article distribution lists provide free content and ghost Writers provide high quality content for a fee.
If you implement ALL the above techniques, you are guaranteed to become one of the top affiliate marketers on the web. Then you can create your own product telling everyone how YOU did it, create your own affiliate program and have hundreds of usselling for you.
There are ten basics that will put your affiliate marketingin the top 20 percent of affiliate earnings. Ten suggestionscreek that barely covers your hosting fees, to a roaring river
TOP AFFILIATE MARKETERS DO MOST OF THESE TEN ITEMS
1.Top affiliate marketers cloak web site links
Cloaking affiliate links should not be necessary, but is. Oddlymany site visitors refuse to visit your links if they see an affiliate code appended to the URL when they hover their mouseover a link on your web page. Sometimes they will type theaffiliate domain directly to the browser address bar whileremoving your affiliate ID from the URL. To short circuit thisodd behavior, simply cloak the URL. How? Visit this Link Tool:
http://WebpositionAdvisor.com/tools/link_cloaker.php
2.Top affiliate marketers write & distribute articles
Writing articles about your market niche is essential to gainreputation as an expert in your field. But the biggest benefitcomes not just from writing those articles, but from havingthose articles published by other web site owners and ezinepublishers. Your article gains you both reputation and linksfrom other web sites from the resource box appended to theend of each article. Here are major article distribution sites.
http://yahoogroups.com/group/free-content/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness/
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.ideamarketers.com
3.Top affiliate marketers focus on a market niche
Filling a web site with content reflecting a narrowly focusedproduct or service niche is a well known method of gaining webtraffic in your area of specialty. An excellent resource thatan help you determine relevant and focused areas to fill yoursite with is called NicheBot. They offer innovative tools toresearch and pinpoint market niches for your web site based onthe WordTracker Database and Google. http://www.nichebot.com
4.Top affiliate marketers use autoresponder series
Autoresponders are incredibly valuable tools that allow you to send a timed series of email messages to those that sign up for them. Most often those autoresponders are sent through a thirdparty provider. Some of the top providers are Sendfree.com and aweber.com, for a tutorial covering autoresponder basics, visit:
http://website101.com/email_e-mail/email_autoresponder_basics.html
5.Top affiliate marketers create web pages to pre-sell
Creating either testimonial pages or review pages that discussand pre-sell the product or service you are affiliated with isthe best method of getting increased orders for your chosenaffiliate programs. Many programs actually provide either anarticle or recommended text to sell their products for you and allow reproduction of those articles with your links embedded.
6.Top affiliate marketers gather email addresses
The best affiliates collect email addresses on their web site by offering free reports via the above mentioned autoresponders or by giving away ebooks or through newsletter signup forms.The best use all of these methods or more to build their listof email addresses. This also allows you to contact potential customers that would otherwise never see your site again after clicking away to the affiliate program web site.
7.Top affiliate marketers advertise SOMEWHERE
Depending on your market niche you should advertise using PPCand/or ezine advertising. Some categories of Pay-per-click can be prohibitively expensive, but advertising somewhere is all abut mandatory to gain substantial additional traffic to yoursite. There are some great bargains in ezine advertising and some less popular PPC engines other than Yahoo's Overture and Google's Adwords. Try 7search, Kanoodle and FindWhat for lowerBids than the big boys of PPC.
8.Top affiliate marketers optimize for search engines
Search engine optimization is becoming more complex as more and more webmasters participate, but the basics applied to your site can increase visibility dramatically over time. The most critical of the many SEO techniques is to use title tags that reflect individual PAGE content. Many webmasters write a master title tag and apply that site-wide. This is the worst thing you could do for search engine ranking. Learn more SEO:
http://SearchEngineOptimism.com/SEO_Tutorial/
9.Top affiliate marketers give away ebooks or freebies
Everyone knows by now that giving something away is a greattraffic generator and allows you to gather email addresses to allow contact of potential customers at a later date. This strategy is employed by EVERY successful web-based company at one time or another. Think of all the free things YOU have
collected online over time. Screensavers, software, ebooks, discount codes, toolbars, white papers. They work!
10. Top Affiliate marketers have their own mailing lists
The best of affiliate marketers have their own newsletter or ezine and gather email addresses on their site to build their list of subscribers. Having this list allows regular contact with potential customers interested in your site, your product and your market niche. If you don't write your own material or think you can't produce weekly content, there are hundreds of authors out there that will gladly product articles for you. The article distribution lists provide free content and ghost Writers provide high quality content for a fee.
If you implement ALL the above techniques, you are guaranteed to become one of the top affiliate marketers on the web. Then you can create your own product telling everyone how YOU did it, create your own affiliate program and have hundreds of usselling for you.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Affiliate Programs to Avoid
As an affiliate marketer of Internet dating services, I'm always on the lookout for good quality dating sites and products to offer my single visitors. Merchants help me out when they let me know about their new products and affiliate programs.
I was therefore thrilled when one of my friendly affiliate competitors got in touch to tell me that he'd started his own Internet dating service and affiliate program.
Having launched a community membership site myself last year, I could fully appreciate the huge amount of time and money my friend had invested to develop this new site. He was justifiably proud of his accomplishment and I was excited by the prospect of having a product to promote that would benefit everyone - my customers, my friend and myself.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way.
The first stumbling block was the low commission he offered. His top rate was 30%, with no commissions on recurring sales.
This puzzled me. As an affiliate marketer of dating programs, he should have been aware that new sites offer at least 50% on new and recurring sales to entice good affiliates to sign up. If commissions on recurring sales are not offered, then the rates on new sales should be increased to between 70 and 100 percent.
In most cases, his affiliate program would have struck out for me at that point. However, as this was my friend's site, it occurred to me that perhaps his product was so unique that the potential for high volume sales might offset the lower commission. Hoping for the best, I continued my review.
When I got to the site, the first thing I noticed was '6 registered members' prominently displayed at the top of the homepage. That normally wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that my customers are looking for friends and soul mates. If I send them to a site where there are only six people to meet, they'll likely be disappointed. Worse, by wasting their time, they lose trust in my judgement and then I will lose them as customers.
That's not good. My customers are literally my bread and butter. Giving them what they want and expect is how I stay in business. Paying for traffic that I send to a merchant site where there is nothing to buy, will put me out of business.
(This is how a membership site should be structured. When starting a dating service, the merchant pays for advertising to bring people to their site. To entice visitors to sign up as members, he will initially offer his services for fr*ee. When the database is large enough to attract paying customers, the affiliate program manager then invites potential affiliates to join their program.)
Although my friend's program had already struck out for my customers and me, I was still curious, so I kept on looking.
Next I clicked on a link labeled 'Dating Resources'. Expecting to find Internet dating tips and advice, I found links and banners pointing to Lavalife, FriendFinder and other affiliated dating sites instead. When I asked him about placing affiliate programs on his site, my friend said he simply wanted to supplement his income until the
dating service got *rolling*. I can understand his motivation. However, what he doesn't understand is the concept of customer 'hijacking'.
As an affiliate, you pay good money to get visitors to your site. You presell your merchants' products and expect the merchant to honor their end of the bargain by making the sale and sending your commission check. You don't pay for the merchant to send YOUR customers to THEIR affiliated merchants.
I didn't need to look any further. I told my friend that I would hold off on signing up and why. Fortunately, he understood and has already alleviated some of the problems I mentioned.
Knowing when NOT to sign up for an affiliate program can sometimes be a tough call. However, you can simplify the process considerably. Put yourself inside your customer's head. If the product won't work for them, the program strikes out. Simple as that.
I was therefore thrilled when one of my friendly affiliate competitors got in touch to tell me that he'd started his own Internet dating service and affiliate program.
Having launched a community membership site myself last year, I could fully appreciate the huge amount of time and money my friend had invested to develop this new site. He was justifiably proud of his accomplishment and I was excited by the prospect of having a product to promote that would benefit everyone - my customers, my friend and myself.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way.
The first stumbling block was the low commission he offered. His top rate was 30%, with no commissions on recurring sales.
This puzzled me. As an affiliate marketer of dating programs, he should have been aware that new sites offer at least 50% on new and recurring sales to entice good affiliates to sign up. If commissions on recurring sales are not offered, then the rates on new sales should be increased to between 70 and 100 percent.
In most cases, his affiliate program would have struck out for me at that point. However, as this was my friend's site, it occurred to me that perhaps his product was so unique that the potential for high volume sales might offset the lower commission. Hoping for the best, I continued my review.
When I got to the site, the first thing I noticed was '6 registered members' prominently displayed at the top of the homepage. That normally wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that my customers are looking for friends and soul mates. If I send them to a site where there are only six people to meet, they'll likely be disappointed. Worse, by wasting their time, they lose trust in my judgement and then I will lose them as customers.
That's not good. My customers are literally my bread and butter. Giving them what they want and expect is how I stay in business. Paying for traffic that I send to a merchant site where there is nothing to buy, will put me out of business.
(This is how a membership site should be structured. When starting a dating service, the merchant pays for advertising to bring people to their site. To entice visitors to sign up as members, he will initially offer his services for fr*ee. When the database is large enough to attract paying customers, the affiliate program manager then invites potential affiliates to join their program.)
Although my friend's program had already struck out for my customers and me, I was still curious, so I kept on looking.
Next I clicked on a link labeled 'Dating Resources'. Expecting to find Internet dating tips and advice, I found links and banners pointing to Lavalife, FriendFinder and other affiliated dating sites instead. When I asked him about placing affiliate programs on his site, my friend said he simply wanted to supplement his income until the
dating service got *rolling*. I can understand his motivation. However, what he doesn't understand is the concept of customer 'hijacking'.
As an affiliate, you pay good money to get visitors to your site. You presell your merchants' products and expect the merchant to honor their end of the bargain by making the sale and sending your commission check. You don't pay for the merchant to send YOUR customers to THEIR affiliated merchants.
I didn't need to look any further. I told my friend that I would hold off on signing up and why. Fortunately, he understood and has already alleviated some of the problems I mentioned.
Knowing when NOT to sign up for an affiliate program can sometimes be a tough call. However, you can simplify the process considerably. Put yourself inside your customer's head. If the product won't work for them, the program strikes out. Simple as that.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Affiliate: $27,817 Monthly With Affiliate Programs
I still remember thinking that promoting Affiliate Programs was a waste of time. Until I started making a small fortune.
At the end of 2004, I started some time exploring the concept of promoting affiliate programs through pay-per-click search engines. I knew of some Internet Marketing gurus who were claiming you could make thousands of dollars every month. But I was skeptical. I remember thinking, "I know what these guys are about. They just want to sell more books."
But I decided that at least it was worth a look. The concept is quite simple. Choose a product - and one that has an affiliate program, of course. Set up an advertising campaign at a PPC search engine like Google and choose how much you want to pay per click. Write a three line advertisement and add your affiliate link. Whenever anyone clicks through your ad and buys the product, you earn a commission.
So I looked. And thought about it. And looked some more. I was still very uncertain about the whole concept, but I finally decided to test for myself whether it could really work. And since I knew I'd be spending quite a bit of money on advertising clicks, I felt it was well worth investing in a book so I could learn from more experienced marketers how to maximize the profitability of my campaigns.
As my business grew over several weeks I purchased and read several ebooks. By far the best I read was Chris Carpenter's Google Cash ( http://tinyurl.com/6gdaq ). His approach is genuine, down-to-earth, and he explains very clearly how to build your own affiliate marketing business. And importantly, he makes a fortune doing what he explains in the book.
I started by testing 20-30 campaigns on various products. Most of them were unsuccessful, but I expected that from what I had been reading. I would test a product, and if it didn't work, I would drop it quickly. The key with this business is identifying the affiliate products and campaigns that are successful. Once you find one that works, the money starts rolling in.
By February of 2005 I had identified several campaigns that were turning a profit. With one of these I was spending $0.08 per click to promote an affiliate product that pays me $18 commission on each sale. Approximately 1 visitor in 100 buys the product, so I make around $10 profit for every 100 visitors that I send.
What a formula! For every 1,000 visitors, that's $180 in commissions. That might not seem like all that much, but remember once you have a successful campaign it keeps going all day, every day. If you send just 1,000 visitors to a program like this every day, then by the end of the month you will have earned $5,400 in commissions, of which $3,000 is profit.
Does it seem too simple? Well, if it was so easy everyone from your Aunt Mabel to the mailman would be doing it. In fact, while the concept is simple, getting your campaigns to run profitably does take some work. Since I can't possibly teach you all you need to know in one article, I'll give you a few tips here and recommend Google Cash for a detailed explanation:
It's incredible really. I made this money without a web site. From home. Working an average of just an hour or two a day.
I'm finally making the amount of money online that I dreamed about.
How about you? Would you also like to build an affiliate marketing business? Could you use some additional income? I encourage you to proceed, but be smart about it. There are risks involved and you should be aware of them. You should read Chris Carpenter's book. That way you'll be on a fast track to more profitable campaigns. And his book will save you hundreds of dollars, easily, as you avoid some common mistakes and pitfalls.
Good Marketing!
At the end of 2004, I started some time exploring the concept of promoting affiliate programs through pay-per-click search engines. I knew of some Internet Marketing gurus who were claiming you could make thousands of dollars every month. But I was skeptical. I remember thinking, "I know what these guys are about. They just want to sell more books."
But I decided that at least it was worth a look. The concept is quite simple. Choose a product - and one that has an affiliate program, of course. Set up an advertising campaign at a PPC search engine like Google and choose how much you want to pay per click. Write a three line advertisement and add your affiliate link. Whenever anyone clicks through your ad and buys the product, you earn a commission.
So I looked. And thought about it. And looked some more. I was still very uncertain about the whole concept, but I finally decided to test for myself whether it could really work. And since I knew I'd be spending quite a bit of money on advertising clicks, I felt it was well worth investing in a book so I could learn from more experienced marketers how to maximize the profitability of my campaigns.
As my business grew over several weeks I purchased and read several ebooks. By far the best I read was Chris Carpenter's Google Cash ( http://tinyurl.com/6gdaq ). His approach is genuine, down-to-earth, and he explains very clearly how to build your own affiliate marketing business. And importantly, he makes a fortune doing what he explains in the book.
I started by testing 20-30 campaigns on various products. Most of them were unsuccessful, but I expected that from what I had been reading. I would test a product, and if it didn't work, I would drop it quickly. The key with this business is identifying the affiliate products and campaigns that are successful. Once you find one that works, the money starts rolling in.
By February of 2005 I had identified several campaigns that were turning a profit. With one of these I was spending $0.08 per click to promote an affiliate product that pays me $18 commission on each sale. Approximately 1 visitor in 100 buys the product, so I make around $10 profit for every 100 visitors that I send.
What a formula! For every 1,000 visitors, that's $180 in commissions. That might not seem like all that much, but remember once you have a successful campaign it keeps going all day, every day. If you send just 1,000 visitors to a program like this every day, then by the end of the month you will have earned $5,400 in commissions, of which $3,000 is profit.
Does it seem too simple? Well, if it was so easy everyone from your Aunt Mabel to the mailman would be doing it. In fact, while the concept is simple, getting your campaigns to run profitably does take some work. Since I can't possibly teach you all you need to know in one article, I'll give you a few tips here and recommend Google Cash for a detailed explanation:
- Choose Your Product Wisely. The program should pay a commission of $15 or more, otherwise it won't be worth paying for your clicks. And if the commission is very high, be careful. Some products like web hosting and satellite dish installations may pay commissions of $100, but you face intense competition from other affiliates, so the price you need to pay to get ad exposure and clicks will probably also be very high. Sometimes it is better to identify a niche product with less competition from other affiliates.
- Track Your Campaigns Carefully. If you're paying around 7 or 8 cents per click for a program that pays close to $20 commission, you need to make at least one sale for every 250 visitors. If you send 300 to 400 visitors with no sale, consider dropping it.
- Days Of The Week Do Matter. When testing campaigns keep in mind the day of the week and even the time of day. Some products sell better on Mondays through Fridays, during business hours. Others, like entertainment products, sell better in the evenings and on weekends.
It's incredible really. I made this money without a web site. From home. Working an average of just an hour or two a day.
I'm finally making the amount of money online that I dreamed about.
How about you? Would you also like to build an affiliate marketing business? Could you use some additional income? I encourage you to proceed, but be smart about it. There are risks involved and you should be aware of them. You should read Chris Carpenter's book. That way you'll be on a fast track to more profitable campaigns. And his book will save you hundreds of dollars, easily, as you avoid some common mistakes and pitfalls.
Good Marketing!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Buisness:4 Steps To Unleashing Profits In Your Online Business
Ever wonder how the thousands of "under the radar" web businesses that earn well over $100,000/year (many with much higher sales) out of their own home do it?
Over the last year I've had the great fortune to speak with many of these true, hidden entrepreneurs at conferences, seminars, e.t.c.
What I'm about to share with you also came true for me, and is outlined in more detail in my Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Success Package
Here's an example of their business model:
1. Information Products. Without a doubt, each one of the successes I know market their own infoproducts.
For some, it's an ebook. Others have special reports. Still others run online coaching programs, membership sites, paid newsletters, teleseminars, or produce digital audio or video products. It's not their only source of income, but is a MAJOR source of income, and more important, brands them an expert in their field leading to success with 2 and 3 below.
2. Market related Affiliate Products. Again, in almost every case, these online success stories become experts
at finding and creating joint venture deals with partners.
But, they work differently than most affiliates.
They start by ALWAYS reviewing the product they will market. Second, they look for a different way to present the product or service - a more beneficial way to show users the real benefit in the affiliate product. Third, they use the branding from 1 to negotiate higher commissions and focus on high commission programs only.
3. They monetize their traffic using Adsense or selling advertising on their sites. For high traffic pages
where adding paid ads or Google's Adsense will not impact their own sales, they will run ads to further monetize their sites.
4. Sell their time. You will find that truly successful people online LOVE to help people succeed. But...for
every person who is really dedicated to succeeding there are 10 "tire kickers" who want someone to hand them success on a silver platter. It doesn't work that way, nothing works that way. So, in order to leave time to help those who really want it, coaching programs are formed. Yes - you have to pay big money, but you should easily be able to get 10X the value for money spent.
So as you can see, there is no ONE single way to build your wealth online.
Instead, you build a diversified, rich and healthy business by focusing on these 4 pillars. Not only will you earn more money, but your business will be stronger and build momentum faster when you do.
Over the last year I've had the great fortune to speak with many of these true, hidden entrepreneurs at conferences, seminars, e.t.c.
What I'm about to share with you also came true for me, and is outlined in more detail in my Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Success Package
Here's an example of their business model:
1. Information Products. Without a doubt, each one of the successes I know market their own infoproducts.
For some, it's an ebook. Others have special reports. Still others run online coaching programs, membership sites, paid newsletters, teleseminars, or produce digital audio or video products. It's not their only source of income, but is a MAJOR source of income, and more important, brands them an expert in their field leading to success with 2 and 3 below.
2. Market related Affiliate Products. Again, in almost every case, these online success stories become experts
at finding and creating joint venture deals with partners.
But, they work differently than most affiliates.
They start by ALWAYS reviewing the product they will market. Second, they look for a different way to present the product or service - a more beneficial way to show users the real benefit in the affiliate product. Third, they use the branding from 1 to negotiate higher commissions and focus on high commission programs only.
3. They monetize their traffic using Adsense or selling advertising on their sites. For high traffic pages
where adding paid ads or Google's Adsense will not impact their own sales, they will run ads to further monetize their sites.
4. Sell their time. You will find that truly successful people online LOVE to help people succeed. But...for
every person who is really dedicated to succeeding there are 10 "tire kickers" who want someone to hand them success on a silver platter. It doesn't work that way, nothing works that way. So, in order to leave time to help those who really want it, coaching programs are formed. Yes - you have to pay big money, but you should easily be able to get 10X the value for money spent.
So as you can see, there is no ONE single way to build your wealth online.
Instead, you build a diversified, rich and healthy business by focusing on these 4 pillars. Not only will you earn more money, but your business will be stronger and build momentum faster when you do.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Affiliate: 4 Steps to eBay Affiliate Success
Getting started with the eBay affiliate program is as simple as 4 easy steps. eBay knows you have a business to run, so they have created a step-by-step guide to see you down the road of success. With the eBay Affiliate Program, you could bring in an extra $25,000 a month, as well as gain access to many tools and strategies that will optimize the working of your website, its effectiveness with search engines and on the Web in general. Getting started in a successful venture has never been so easy.
Step# 1
To register for the eBay Affiliate Program simply to go http://affiliates.ebay.com/ and do a little research. When you have seen the unlimited opportunities for success that the eBay Affiliate program affords its members, you will next want to click on the ‘API Program Join Now’ button. At this point you will be prompted to select the platform you would like to join with. The platform you choose will influence the tier and type of business your eBay Affiliate Status becomes. Each platform offers unique advantages, and should be considered carefully. Once you have selected your program platform, simply click the Join Now button for that particular platform.
After you have completed your application, the eBay Affiliate network you choose will send you an email with your login details and instructions on getting started. The application process itself is easy, and simply requires some information about your business. This information helps eBay optimize the tools and guidelines they provide you for your success. The application takes only a few minutes, and is not sold to competitors. The Affiliate network you chose will be in touch with your personal information and you can get started with your successful new venture.
Once you have received your password and login information, you can proceed to the affiliate network site http://affiliates.ebay.com/tools/ to find eBay banners, text links, and search boxes. This website offers detailed tracking statistics. The tracking statistics will help you see which products and companies are performing best. This information will help guide you as you develop your affiliation with eBay, and will enable you to make the best decisions for your website’s performance.
The last step to success with the eBay Affiliate Program is to further grow your eBay strategy using the affiliate website and all of its many features. The affiliate website will not only get you started down your road to success with eBay, but they will provide you with invaluable tools to maximize your strategy. These tools and kits will help you transition into the affiliate member you want to be, and will continue to keep you updated so you stay current with trends and technology.
These 4 easy steps take you from learning about the eBay Affiliate Program, to being a super successful eBay affiliate.
Step# 1
To register for the eBay Affiliate Program simply to go http://affiliates.ebay.com/ and do a little research. When you have seen the unlimited opportunities for success that the eBay Affiliate program affords its members, you will next want to click on the ‘API Program Join Now’ button. At this point you will be prompted to select the platform you would like to join with. The platform you choose will influence the tier and type of business your eBay Affiliate Status becomes. Each platform offers unique advantages, and should be considered carefully. Once you have selected your program platform, simply click the Join Now button for that particular platform. Step# 2
After you have completed your application, the eBay Affiliate network you choose will send you an email with your login details and instructions on getting started. The application process itself is easy, and simply requires some information about your business. This information helps eBay optimize the tools and guidelines they provide you for your success. The application takes only a few minutes, and is not sold to competitors. The Affiliate network you chose will be in touch with your personal information and you can get started with your successful new venture.
Step# 3
Once you have received your password and login information, you can proceed to the affiliate network site http://affiliates.ebay.com/tools/ to find eBay banners, text links, and search boxes. This website offers detailed tracking statistics. The tracking statistics will help you see which products and companies are performing best. This information will help guide you as you develop your affiliation with eBay, and will enable you to make the best decisions for your website’s performance.
Step# 4
The last step to success with the eBay Affiliate Program is to further grow your eBay strategy using the affiliate website and all of its many features. The affiliate website will not only get you started down your road to success with eBay, but they will provide you with invaluable tools to maximize your strategy. These tools and kits will help you transition into the affiliate member you want to be, and will continue to keep you updated so you stay current with trends and technology.
These 4 easy steps take you from learning about the eBay Affiliate Program, to being a super successful eBay affiliate.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Adsense Tips: 3 Unusual Formats For Auctions on eBay
eBay users are accustomed to only two "standard" formats for sales on eBay: either the 'regular' auction which involves bidding and waiting; and the Buy It Now, which is an instant purchase.
But there are three other formats that are less well known.
1. Live Auctions
Before eBay, the traditional auction included live bodies in chairs and an auctioneer up front (talking so fast he was frequently unintelligible). Any buyer can still participatein these live auctions via eBay. Live auctions are a hybrid - a buyer is 'sort of' present in a live setting yet is at home using an Internet connection.
The products for sale are usually expensive and unusual. There are such items as expensive and unique coins, Asian art, native American artifacts, incredible jewelry, costly furniture, memorabilia from major sports stars and even history. Today, for instance, there are documents signed by John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, James Madison and Ulysses Grant (he confides that he was strenuously opposed to the "wicked" war with Mexico).
If you choose to participate in a live auction, be certain that you register first because you can't just drop in on a whim.
You can find all the details here:
http://www.ebayliveauctions.com
2. Private Auctions
Private auctions are similar to the typical auction that we're all familiar with except for one detail - the identities of the bidders are kept secret. Only the seller has access to the names.
Why would anyone create a private auction? It's usually for one of three reasons:
* The item is quite expensive and buyers might be uncomfortable having others know they can afford such merchandise. Their concern about their financial status is most likely misplaced because it is quite possible to distance yourself from eBay contact information, but much of selling is about perception.
* The buyers might be embarrassed by the nature of the merchandise.
* Some sellers habitually use private auctions to make it harder for their competition to snoop on them.
3. Restricted Access Auctions
This is usually for sales of "adult" items. The main purpose is to prevent children from seeing this kind of merchandise, and is similar to having covers on racy magazines at storecheckouts.
To bid on these items, the buyer must:
* Be 18 years old
* Must have supplied credit card information to eBay.The theory is that no one under 18 can get a credit card and therefore cannot get into these sections.
* Agree that he is voluntarily accessing restricted access auctions In addition, restricted auctions are excluded from the Featured pages. So if you are a seller using this format, your listing will be harder to find.
Even though they are less well known, these three formats for auctions on eBay still account for tens of millions of dollars in sales each year. If they suit your business model, you might consider them.
But there are three other formats that are less well known.
1. Live Auctions
Before eBay, the traditional auction included live bodies in chairs and an auctioneer up front (talking so fast he was frequently unintelligible). Any buyer can still participatein these live auctions via eBay. Live auctions are a hybrid - a buyer is 'sort of' present in a live setting yet is at home using an Internet connection.
The products for sale are usually expensive and unusual. There are such items as expensive and unique coins, Asian art, native American artifacts, incredible jewelry, costly furniture, memorabilia from major sports stars and even history. Today, for instance, there are documents signed by John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, James Madison and Ulysses Grant (he confides that he was strenuously opposed to the "wicked" war with Mexico).
If you choose to participate in a live auction, be certain that you register first because you can't just drop in on a whim.
You can find all the details here:
http://www.ebayliveauctions.com
2. Private Auctions
Private auctions are similar to the typical auction that we're all familiar with except for one detail - the identities of the bidders are kept secret. Only the seller has access to the names.
Why would anyone create a private auction? It's usually for one of three reasons:
* The item is quite expensive and buyers might be uncomfortable having others know they can afford such merchandise. Their concern about their financial status is most likely misplaced because it is quite possible to distance yourself from eBay contact information, but much of selling is about perception.
* The buyers might be embarrassed by the nature of the merchandise.
* Some sellers habitually use private auctions to make it harder for their competition to snoop on them.
3. Restricted Access Auctions
This is usually for sales of "adult" items. The main purpose is to prevent children from seeing this kind of merchandise, and is similar to having covers on racy magazines at storecheckouts.
To bid on these items, the buyer must:
* Be 18 years old
* Must have supplied credit card information to eBay.The theory is that no one under 18 can get a credit card and therefore cannot get into these sections.
* Agree that he is voluntarily accessing restricted access auctions In addition, restricted auctions are excluded from the Featured pages. So if you are a seller using this format, your listing will be harder to find.
Even though they are less well known, these three formats for auctions on eBay still account for tens of millions of dollars in sales each year. If they suit your business model, you might consider them.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Adsense: 3 Internet Home Based Businesses Anyone Can Do
If you’re serious about having a home based business, then you need to prepare. The leading reason for a failing home based business is the lack of preparation people commit after they’ve made a decision to start a home based business.
So what kind of home based business opportunity should you take on? Do you want to have an internet-based home business? Millions have done it, are doing it and are earning good livings doing so.
Here are three different kinds of Internet based business models you can try:
1) Be an online retailer for reputable companies. Your home based internet business can give reviews about all the products and services of these companies. Your customers will browse around your website, and then click on to the link. The link will send the customer to the company’s customer service website, which takes care of processing and shipping their order.
Your home based online business website does the marketing, promoting and advertising aspects for these companies. Your commission comes from the proceeds of the sale. You don’t even have to spend money for expensive e-commerce software.
2) You may not be able to bear the pain of separating from your oldest possessions, but how about auctioning these things off? For a minimal entry fee and closing fee, you can put your prized possessions on auction at Ebay or other spin-offs found on the net. This is a virtually free home based business since you don’t pay for web presence. You’ll get traffic since Ebay receives as many as 4 million visitors a day, and you won’t need to worry about your e-commerce software. Plus your small home based internet business stays open even when you go fishing!
3) Sell information. You can start your home based internet business by writing on a subject that you enjoy or are knowledgeable about. If you can do this, then this small home based internet business is for you. Write your e-book and sell it on sites like Ebay.com, ebookAd.com, or Clickbank.com.
Just remember these home based internet tip:
Constantly fine-tune your marketing strategy and always test new ad copies to see what brings you the most sales!
So what kind of home based business opportunity should you take on? Do you want to have an internet-based home business? Millions have done it, are doing it and are earning good livings doing so.
Here are three different kinds of Internet based business models you can try:
1) Be an online retailer for reputable companies. Your home based internet business can give reviews about all the products and services of these companies. Your customers will browse around your website, and then click on to the link. The link will send the customer to the company’s customer service website, which takes care of processing and shipping their order.
Your home based online business website does the marketing, promoting and advertising aspects for these companies. Your commission comes from the proceeds of the sale. You don’t even have to spend money for expensive e-commerce software.
2) You may not be able to bear the pain of separating from your oldest possessions, but how about auctioning these things off? For a minimal entry fee and closing fee, you can put your prized possessions on auction at Ebay or other spin-offs found on the net. This is a virtually free home based business since you don’t pay for web presence. You’ll get traffic since Ebay receives as many as 4 million visitors a day, and you won’t need to worry about your e-commerce software. Plus your small home based internet business stays open even when you go fishing!
3) Sell information. You can start your home based internet business by writing on a subject that you enjoy or are knowledgeable about. If you can do this, then this small home based internet business is for you. Write your e-book and sell it on sites like Ebay.com, ebookAd.com, or Clickbank.com.
These home based internet business are all simple and easy enough to do. You can earn a living on these ideas if you view this small home based business with passion and commitment.
Just remember these home based internet tip:
Constantly fine-tune your marketing strategy and always test new ad copies to see what brings you the most sales!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Accounting Tips: 9 things you must do to maximize your chances of obtaining a small business loan
To get approval for your small business loan application, you must be able to meet the lending criteria set down. Some organisations are more risk averse than others, and will therefore have more stringent criteria.
To vastly increase your chances of a successful funding application, you will need to present the following information:
1. The reason for the loan. The lender will be looking for something that fits within the normal range and expertise of your business. The amount may cover a number of items, so you will need to cover each.
2. The amount required, and the repayment term of the small business loan you want. (e.g. $10,000 term 5 years, payable quarterly).
3. Details of how you will repay the amount borrowed. For example, “From the increase in profits of reduced running costs of the Whizzbang Go4It”
4. Details of security you will be able to offer to the lender. This will act as reassurance for the lender. If you’re not prepared to put up some aspect of security, then why should they?
5. You will need to include your business plan which will serve to answer essential questions relating to management capabilities, information about the market you operate in. What kind of business you are in etc.
6. 3 Years financial statements. You will need to present quality financial information from your accounting software, preferably signed off by your accountant or tax advisor.
7. Latest Set of Management accounts. Again produced from your accounting software.
8. Accounts receivables (debtors) and payables (creditors) ageing reports.
9. Principals financial statements. – Particularly required if some form of security is necessary.
If you are a new company, the emphasis is going to be on your business plan , and the security (also called collateral) you or your business can provide against the loan.
You must take the time to practice presenting your case to the bank or lender to iron out any glitches. Practice on your colleagues and family (you never know, they might be so impressed, they'll invest or lend!). It may help to role play the lender and come up with as many pointy questions as possible. The more time you take the better your chances will be. (But remember, don’t fall into the analysis paralysis trap!)
Good luck!
by: Neil Best
To vastly increase your chances of a successful funding application, you will need to present the following information:
1. The reason for the loan. The lender will be looking for something that fits within the normal range and expertise of your business. The amount may cover a number of items, so you will need to cover each.
2. The amount required, and the repayment term of the small business loan you want. (e.g. $10,000 term 5 years, payable quarterly).
3. Details of how you will repay the amount borrowed. For example, “From the increase in profits of reduced running costs of the Whizzbang Go4It”
4. Details of security you will be able to offer to the lender. This will act as reassurance for the lender. If you’re not prepared to put up some aspect of security, then why should they?
5. You will need to include your business plan which will serve to answer essential questions relating to management capabilities, information about the market you operate in. What kind of business you are in etc.
6. 3 Years financial statements. You will need to present quality financial information from your accounting software, preferably signed off by your accountant or tax advisor.
7. Latest Set of Management accounts. Again produced from your accounting software.
8. Accounts receivables (debtors) and payables (creditors) ageing reports.
9. Principals financial statements. – Particularly required if some form of security is necessary.
If you are a new company, the emphasis is going to be on your business plan , and the security (also called collateral) you or your business can provide against the loan.
You must take the time to practice presenting your case to the bank or lender to iron out any glitches. Practice on your colleagues and family (you never know, they might be so impressed, they'll invest or lend!). It may help to role play the lender and come up with as many pointy questions as possible. The more time you take the better your chances will be. (But remember, don’t fall into the analysis paralysis trap!)
Good luck!
by: Neil Best
Monday, December 15, 2008
Accounting: 9 Strategies for Writing Accounts Payable Procedures
You have permission to publish this article free of charge, as long as the resource box is included with the article. If you do run my article, a courtesy reply to sean@bizmanualz.com would be greatly appreciated. This article is 1,067 words long including the resource box. Thanks for your interest.
The Cash to Cash Cycle
Part Four of Series
Part One: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/01-05-05_inventory_procedures.html/?ART78
Part Two: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/01-11-05_accounts_receivable.html/?ART79
Part Three: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/01-18-05_Sales_Marketing.html/?ART80
Next Week: Complete Cash to Cash Cycle
The white flag is just a nose away…toward the Million dollar prize in cash savings for your business…
So far, in Inventory and Accounts Receivable, we've found $250,000 each in cash savings. Then we found another 250K in Sales and Marketing. And so, now, Accounts Payable is the final process within the Cash to Cash Cycle - and also the final $250,000.
The cash cycle is undoubtedly the single most important process to optimize for any business – from when you spend money to when you get money.
Circling the Cash to Cash Cycle
So let’s tie this back to accounts payable - the event that pays for the liability incurred by purchasing, which is for inventory required by manufacturing to meet demand. Sales generate this demand that creates the accounts receivables, which is turned into cash. And now we have come full circle and completed the discussion on the cash to cash cycle.
Increasing the Velocity of Accounts Payable Processes
Your accounts payable is a bit different than the other processes we have examined so far. The first three processes we looked at represented processes where the focus was on reducing the size of assets (inventory or accounts receivable) or expenses (marketing) and increasing the velocity or cycle time. But in accounts payable our focus is on increasing the size of the asset, while maintaining a solid credit rating - and increasing the velocity of the process.
Now let’s look at how to find $250,000 in accounts payable savings. If your organization has $500,000 in accounts payable each month, then STOP! We can find $250,000 in savings right here. Where, you ask? Increasing payables by 25% will produce $125,000 in cash plus $125,000 from automating tasks, taking more discounts, and managing the process better.
Service Business Procedures Case Study
An organization with $600,000 in monthly payables needed assistance. We examined their payables process to understand and quantify workflow, paper processing and credit issues. Then we designed and implemented a process to increase their use of payables and discounts, improve their payables cycle efficiency, and tie it to their purchasing and receivable cycles. We then reinvested $50,000 back into an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program to automate some of the processes that weren’t automated already.
The metrics we developed reduced their purchasing & payables expenses by 25% and increased their efficiency from 50% to 75% within 2 months of implementing the new procedures. With these new processes and reports, the company now tracks payables cycle efficiency and average days payables, rather than just bills paid on time or outstanding balance, as the measure of their payables effectiveness. The result: an extra $300,000 in cash plus a 50% increase in process capability (capacity).
But how?
Methods to Design Your News Accounts Payable and Accounting Procedures
• Eliminate Paper. The single biggest cost for any purchasing and payables department is paper, including: purchase orders, purchase order follow-up, small-dollar purchases, delivery tracking & receipts, and vendor payments. Utilizing paperless invoices, Web-based supplier self-servicing, centralized vendor files, automated workflows for electronic or imaged invoices (see ERP below), and payment methods, such as business credit cards, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), can reduce paper handling costs by as much as 90%.
• Integrate ERP Systems. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) automates the purchasing and payables functions, which allows a company to get more work done with fewer personnel. Also, electronic invoice matching applications save time in retrieving paperwork. It is estimated that an ERP system can annually save an organization $300 per million in sales.
• Increase Payment Terms. Negotiate payment terms based on receipt of goods or the invoice. This can add one week or more to your terms, which can be 25% of 30 day terms. Use EFT for just-in-time payments to maximize your payables terms and minimizing the impact to your credit.
• Take Payment Discounts. If you are getting 2%/10 net 30 terms, then consider taking it. This means you are offered a 2% discount if you pay within 10 days, instead of the normal 30 day terms. This translates into an 18% return on your capital, and for many organizations this is a good return on your investment.
• Review Purchases. Purchasing is a continuous process that requires continuous review. Consider: transportation charges, expedited fees, odd lot penalties, new pricing, new products, consolidating vendors, new vendors or buying groups, payment terms, and more. Communicate with your suppliers to improve the process. And review and monitor everything to account for changes in your environment.
• Communicate with Suppliers. Communicate with your suppliers to improve the process. Ask suppliers to submit their invoices electronically. This will save you time, resources and losses due to waste.
• Eliminate Disputes. Disputes with your suppliers are typically the result of a problem with your purchasing/receiving process. When disputes occur, review your purchasing procedures to ensure that they are producing the correct metrics and that you are not forced to pay for your mistakes.
• Reduce Errors. Overpayments, payments made to the wrong vendors, fake invoices, or even late payments represent a common problem for payables. Increasing your focus on error control, along with written procedures and audits, can reduce these errors considerably.
• Train personnel. Provide your accounts payable staff with regular formal training. This will arm them with better knowledge of frauds, negotiating skills, and an understanding of the economics of payables – which will result in improved effectiveness.
Accounting Policies and Procedures for Cash in the Bank
In the past few weeks, we have showed you four parts of your financial statements that will each contribute $250,000 in cash savings. The last hurdle was Accounts Payable, and we sailed through it. And now we have crossed our final goal: $1,000,000!
Time was - and is - the key. All you have to do is own it. And, remember, next week we will put together each of the four elements of the cash to cash cycle, and look at how it affects the working capital of your business.
About the author:
Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance.
To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com?src=ART81
The Cash to Cash Cycle
Part Four of Series
Part One: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/01-05-05_inventory_procedures.html/?ART78
Part Two: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/01-11-05_accounts_receivable.html/?ART79
Part Three: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/01-18-05_Sales_Marketing.html/?ART80
Next Week: Complete Cash to Cash Cycle
The white flag is just a nose away…toward the Million dollar prize in cash savings for your business…
So far, in Inventory and Accounts Receivable, we've found $250,000 each in cash savings. Then we found another 250K in Sales and Marketing. And so, now, Accounts Payable is the final process within the Cash to Cash Cycle - and also the final $250,000.
The cash cycle is undoubtedly the single most important process to optimize for any business – from when you spend money to when you get money.
Circling the Cash to Cash Cycle
So let’s tie this back to accounts payable - the event that pays for the liability incurred by purchasing, which is for inventory required by manufacturing to meet demand. Sales generate this demand that creates the accounts receivables, which is turned into cash. And now we have come full circle and completed the discussion on the cash to cash cycle.
Increasing the Velocity of Accounts Payable Processes
Your accounts payable is a bit different than the other processes we have examined so far. The first three processes we looked at represented processes where the focus was on reducing the size of assets (inventory or accounts receivable) or expenses (marketing) and increasing the velocity or cycle time. But in accounts payable our focus is on increasing the size of the asset, while maintaining a solid credit rating - and increasing the velocity of the process.
Now let’s look at how to find $250,000 in accounts payable savings. If your organization has $500,000 in accounts payable each month, then STOP! We can find $250,000 in savings right here. Where, you ask? Increasing payables by 25% will produce $125,000 in cash plus $125,000 from automating tasks, taking more discounts, and managing the process better.
Service Business Procedures Case Study
An organization with $600,000 in monthly payables needed assistance. We examined their payables process to understand and quantify workflow, paper processing and credit issues. Then we designed and implemented a process to increase their use of payables and discounts, improve their payables cycle efficiency, and tie it to their purchasing and receivable cycles. We then reinvested $50,000 back into an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program to automate some of the processes that weren’t automated already.
The metrics we developed reduced their purchasing & payables expenses by 25% and increased their efficiency from 50% to 75% within 2 months of implementing the new procedures. With these new processes and reports, the company now tracks payables cycle efficiency and average days payables, rather than just bills paid on time or outstanding balance, as the measure of their payables effectiveness. The result: an extra $300,000 in cash plus a 50% increase in process capability (capacity).
But how?
Methods to Design Your News Accounts Payable and Accounting Procedures
• Eliminate Paper. The single biggest cost for any purchasing and payables department is paper, including: purchase orders, purchase order follow-up, small-dollar purchases, delivery tracking & receipts, and vendor payments. Utilizing paperless invoices, Web-based supplier self-servicing, centralized vendor files, automated workflows for electronic or imaged invoices (see ERP below), and payment methods, such as business credit cards, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), can reduce paper handling costs by as much as 90%.
• Integrate ERP Systems. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) automates the purchasing and payables functions, which allows a company to get more work done with fewer personnel. Also, electronic invoice matching applications save time in retrieving paperwork. It is estimated that an ERP system can annually save an organization $300 per million in sales.
• Increase Payment Terms. Negotiate payment terms based on receipt of goods or the invoice. This can add one week or more to your terms, which can be 25% of 30 day terms. Use EFT for just-in-time payments to maximize your payables terms and minimizing the impact to your credit.
• Take Payment Discounts. If you are getting 2%/10 net 30 terms, then consider taking it. This means you are offered a 2% discount if you pay within 10 days, instead of the normal 30 day terms. This translates into an 18% return on your capital, and for many organizations this is a good return on your investment.
• Review Purchases. Purchasing is a continuous process that requires continuous review. Consider: transportation charges, expedited fees, odd lot penalties, new pricing, new products, consolidating vendors, new vendors or buying groups, payment terms, and more. Communicate with your suppliers to improve the process. And review and monitor everything to account for changes in your environment.
• Communicate with Suppliers. Communicate with your suppliers to improve the process. Ask suppliers to submit their invoices electronically. This will save you time, resources and losses due to waste.
• Eliminate Disputes. Disputes with your suppliers are typically the result of a problem with your purchasing/receiving process. When disputes occur, review your purchasing procedures to ensure that they are producing the correct metrics and that you are not forced to pay for your mistakes.
• Reduce Errors. Overpayments, payments made to the wrong vendors, fake invoices, or even late payments represent a common problem for payables. Increasing your focus on error control, along with written procedures and audits, can reduce these errors considerably.
• Train personnel. Provide your accounts payable staff with regular formal training. This will arm them with better knowledge of frauds, negotiating skills, and an understanding of the economics of payables – which will result in improved effectiveness.
Accounting Policies and Procedures for Cash in the Bank
In the past few weeks, we have showed you four parts of your financial statements that will each contribute $250,000 in cash savings. The last hurdle was Accounts Payable, and we sailed through it. And now we have crossed our final goal: $1,000,000!
Time was - and is - the key. All you have to do is own it. And, remember, next week we will put together each of the four elements of the cash to cash cycle, and look at how it affects the working capital of your business.
About the author:
Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance.
To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com?src=ART81
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Accounting: 7 Things to Consider Before Buying Small Business Accounting Software
The world of small business accounting software can be a minefield for any business owner. However choosing the right package is one of the most critical business decisions you will make.
Here are the seven things you must consider before making a purchase that will help you achieve your businesses goals.
upgraded when needed with minimum disruption and cost to your business.
enquiries with other businesses about the package they use and who helps them.
To sum up think ahead when planning your purchase of small business accounting software. You will make a much smarter business decision that will save you plenty of trouble and money in the future.
About the author:
Please visit us for more information and a feature by feature comparison of:
Small Business Accounting Software
Here are the seven things you must consider before making a purchase that will help you achieve your businesses goals.
1. Scalability
Businesses change over time so it's critical that the small business accounting software you choose can change too. Some things that often change are the number of products and services offered and the number of employees. When you choose your package try and imaging the business in 5 years or 10 years time and how different it will be. Use this information to guide your purchase decision. It may well be better to pay a little more now for the software knowing that it can be easilyupgraded when needed with minimum disruption and cost to your business.
2. Support
It is important that any software has great support for when something goes wrong (and it always does). Most major companies offer support but you also need to think about support in your local area. It's often much easier to have someone locally come in and do things you need done with your software than have someone trying to help you over the phone. Make someenquiries with other businesses about the package they use and who helps them.
3. Accountant Interface
It's most unlikely you will handle every aspect of your businesses accounting. Your accountant is an important factor in making the right decision. What software are they used to working with and what do they prefer? Can you easily supply them data and reports from your package without the need for any extra work (which you'll have to pay for). Don't be afraid to ask their opinion as they live and breathe this stuff.4. Best Value For Money
Once you have selected the right package for your business you may as well get the best value. Shop around as the price can vary greatly and the product is exactly the same. Online merchants such as Amazon may offer better pricing because of the sheer volume of products they sell. However price is only one part of the equation so if their is great merchant locally with support or installation assistance this may be far more valuable.5. Major Brands
There are two major players in the small business accounting software market. They are QuickBooks and Peachtree. Microsoft is expected to enter the market soon. I recommend choosing a major brand so that you can get regular updates and you know the company will be around as long as your business needs them.6. Ease of Use
Ease of use is a personal thing but it is worth trying the software before you buy it if you can. Remember to get the person who will be the main user to test the software as well. Also consider how well the package can interact with other software you use. This is an advantage the Microsoft package may have when it's available.7. Features Needed
I touched on this earlier when talking about thinking ahead as to where you business will be in 5 or 10 years time. Most accounting software packages come in several different versions. If you don't need certain features now and can't see a need for them in the future then don't buy them. The major differences are usually - number of users allowed, inventory management capability and number of reports available.To sum up think ahead when planning your purchase of small business accounting software. You will make a much smarter business decision that will save you plenty of trouble and money in the future.
About the author:
Please visit us for more information and a feature by feature comparison of:
Small Business Accounting Software
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Accounting: 3 Essential Tools for Starting and Maintaining a Small Business
We believe that there are 3 factors that drive the success of small businesses.
There are two ways to obtain a business plan.
Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city – where ever you live in the world.
Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.
Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It’s essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low – you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven’t paid – you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay your employees – or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.
Our research led to a website that compares and reviews top accounting software for small businesses. The cheapest software cost US $89.99 and the most expensive software cost US $1,499. It was interesting to note that the top 3 ranked websites were not the most expensive and cost between US $250 - US $300.
Hopefully you now have an idea of some of the tools that you can use to grow and maintain your small business. If you would like to benefit from our research please visit our website. We do not charge for this research and offer the content freely on our website.
About the author:
http://www.best-quality-small-business-resources.com/
Ryan Hough is the webmaster of best quality small business resources.com, who's aim is to help you save time and money by finding reviews and case studies that will enable you to choose the best resources at the right price.
by: Ryan Hough
- Acquiring start-up capital
- Finding customers
- Accounting for, budgeting and controlling sales and expenses
Acquiring Start-Up Capital
An adequate supply of capital is essential as many profitable businesses fail because they don’t have enough cash to pay their employees and suppliers. But what is an adequate supply of capital? The only way to tell is by doing a significant amount of research on your potential market and formally documenting this in a business plan. I’m sure you know that a business plan is a very important document that is crucial to convincing your banker to lend you money.There are two ways to obtain a business plan.
- Do it yourself by amending a business plan template, or
- Hire a professional to do it for you.
Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city – where ever you live in the world.
Finding Customers
Finding customers is a difficult and expensive task for service business owners such as accountants, lawyers and plumbers. We believe that a cost effective marketing strategy for service business owners is to simply give all their personal contacts a few business cards.Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.
Accounting For, Budgeting and Controlling Revenue and Expenses
Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It’s essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low – you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven’t paid – you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay your employees – or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.
Our research led to a website that compares and reviews top accounting software for small businesses. The cheapest software cost US $89.99 and the most expensive software cost US $1,499. It was interesting to note that the top 3 ranked websites were not the most expensive and cost between US $250 - US $300.
Hopefully you now have an idea of some of the tools that you can use to grow and maintain your small business. If you would like to benefit from our research please visit our website. We do not charge for this research and offer the content freely on our website.
About the author:
http://www.best-quality-small-business-resources.com/
Ryan Hough is the webmaster of best quality small business resources.com, who's aim is to help you save time and money by finding reviews and case studies that will enable you to choose the best resources at the right price.
by: Ryan Hough
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