Pinoy Internet Marketing

2006-12-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

Making Money with MySpace

There are tons of guides out on the internet right now about how to make money with

MySpace by promoting affiliate products, sending them to Adsense pages, building opt-in lists

for your target market, etc...

This guide is giving you the EXACT steps that I use to make money with MySpace.

It is pretty short because I don't like filler, so here goes:

Step 1: Create a MySpace account, you can use a fake email address you do NOT have to

click the link to verify the account.

Make sure you select “Female” and choose an age between 18-23. You should also use a zip

code from a popular city – more people on MySpace will find you this way.

Also, the CAPTCHA is NOT case sensitive – you can type all the letters in lowercase. I only

recently found this out and it made me mad

Step 2: Upload a picture of an attractive girl to the profile. This should be self-explanatory,

sex SELLS. If you have a picture of an attractive girl, more of your friend requests will be

accepted and that is more people to market to.

Step 3: Edit your user profile. You should make this as believable as possible. Make the

headline something like “I'm better than you!”, “Keep dreaming...”, etc. Fill out the rest of the

profile.

Step 4: Now that you have a believable looking profile, it is time to start sending out friend

requests! Currently the limit is 50 per account per day. After 50, you have to type in a

CAPTCHA code by hand if you want to continue. I do not continue I just go onto my next

account. To find people to add as friends I go to the “Browse” page on MySpace. Then use

the following search criteria:

– Both Men and Women

– Last Login

– Show only users who have photos

– Age 18 to 18.

Once you have collected all of the friends for this criteria, you can change the age to 19 to

19, 20 to 20, 21 to 21, and so on. This is the best way to target lots of different people.

This will take you a long time by hand, so I recommend using BadderAdder for much more automation.

Step 5: Comment time! A lot of people send out bulletins, messages, event invites, group

invites and others...BUT I am telling you that they will not bring in much profits compared to

comments. Comments are seen on the user's public profile. That means their friends see the

comment you leave as well.

Say you send out 50 comments in one day and for each one of those 50 users, 10 friends

views their MySpace page. That means that you potentially have 500 eyeballs about to see

your comment, just from sending out 50 comments!

You can only send comments to people that are your “friends” however. That is the point of

the friend requests. Here is an example of a

comment that I send out:

“hey you!

wereyou the one always takes a peek on my profile? Nah that’s okay. I alsostumbled upon a site. Tell me what you think…here’s the URL ”

This is a comment that I send out VERY OFTEN, and it converts VERY WELL. I don't

recommend you use it exactly, but take notes from it and write your own.

You will have to wait until your friend requests get accepted to start sending comments. If

you do, you should start back at Step 1 again and keep creating accounts and adding friends

to them using BadderAdder

DAILY TASKS:

1. Make new MySpace accounts, edit the profile, upload picture(s).

2. Add 50 friends to each account.

3. Send up to 50 comments from each account.

That is it. If you follow these steps exactly you WILL start to make sales using

FREE MySpace advertising.This is not the only path you can take however. You can sell different products to different

groups of people on MySpace by going into the groups section as well. This is just what

works BEST for me.

As you grow your MySpace marketing by adding new accounts, new friends, and

more comments, so will your profits!

2006-12-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

Work ON Your Business, Not IN Your BusinessCommon Sense

Imagine if you will a futuristic military logistics system that you could view on a wall or a laptop computer. It would allow you to instantly acquire real-time data on items expended and that need to be replaced to support organizational needs.

Imagine that the view you have is of the earth's surface, like a Google satellite map, and with a single click you can zoom in to any portion of the world where you have logistics or resupply responsibilities. A single click and you can instantly obtain an accurate logistics situational assessment of a broad, wide-ranging area.

Click again and your view and focus narrows even more. At this new level, you get a more detailed, local assessment of the logistic situation, say of a particular country. Click once more and you're presented with a picture of the logistical situation of a particular city or perhaps a company within that municipality.

Sound like the far off future? Not at all.

The hardware and software to accomplish the "futuristic" scenario just described has been developed and is available for use practically worldwide. And the implications are phenomenal in terms of the production, moving and storing whatever types of materials a given company might require. But there's a big problem looming for those who might mistake these modern tools for cure-all logistic wonders.

Granted, much of the hardware and software capabilities available in today's marketplace comes to industry from military applications where the concepts were battle-tested and proven effective in all types of terrain and environments. And the software and hardware has been refined to the point that now most of these "futuristic" applications can be run on a simple hand held device like a Palm pilot.

These applications literally allow the operator to "see" the logistic situation of the entity that is being examined and to quickly assess and make reliable logistic estimates based upon the scenario presented. But, guess what. The system isn't perfect.

In fact, the system is far from perfect because it's reliability hinges on something that often times proves quite unreliable – the human being.

Any logistic system such as the one envisioned above requires three distinct and separate components to provide useful logistic data to the end user. First, the person designing the system has to have a thorough understanding of the organizational needs of the company or entity that will utilize the system. A miscalculation in this vital area can have devastating effects on the system's overall reliability and usefulness.

But let's say the planners get it right and the logistician now holds the "perfect" hardware and software combination required to produce an accurate logistics assessment for his particular needs. That leads us to our secondary concern – the person inputting the logistics data at the organizational level where the goods are required. If that data is faulty, then the information others in the supply chain rely on is equally suspect and prone to inaccuracies.

But let's say we've got the perfect system, and our logistic operator at the organization level inputs accurate data. That still leaves one final area of concern - the recipient of the logistic estimate.

In other words, the logistician on the receiving end of this equation must make reasonable judgments when interpreting the data the system provides. That's the reason it's called a logistics "estimate." And if he doesn't interpret the data he receives correctly and develop a reasonable resupply strategy based upon it and his logistical experience – no amount of "futuristic" software or hardware will help.

A prudent logistician will realize that software and hardware tools are just that. Tools to help him make better supply decisions. No tool yet has been developed that can replicate human experience and common sense. Perhaps that's a good thing.

2006-12-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

Why Logistics Systems Depend on Human Experience and Common Sense

2006-12-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

Teambuilding for Any Business

Teambuilding can be an important way of developing your businesses most valuable assets, its employees. Especially when hiring new employees or starting a new business, building a relationship within your team is of prime importance.

There are many companies that offer teambuilding courses, both residential and in house. Teambuilding courses can be expensive, so let us explore the options so that you are sure to choose the right teambuilding exercise or teambuilding course for your staff and company.

In-house teambuilding, done on the site of your company, is the cheapest option as you have no accommodation fees to pay. If you need to keep the cost really low there are many teambuilding guides available on the internet that will allow your human resources department to create their own teambuilding course suited to your companies needs - all without employing an external teambuilding consultant.

Having a teambuilding consultant visit your company for a day or a week (the length of course is something we will discuss in a later article) can be cost effective however if you have no spare resource in your HR or personnel department. This can also be more convenient for employees who may not prefer to stay overnight away from home.

Teambuilding exercises usually begin with an icebreaker, which is a term used to describe a 'getting to know each other' session. Each person will usually be asked to stand up and describe themselves in some detail. This is often surprising even when you have worked with a person for many years as there may be many things that you did not know about them.

Other exercises throughout your teambuilding course will focus on interaction between members of the team. Common exercises include building bridges or crossing rivers. Tasks undertaken on teambuilding courses should be ones that would be impossible to complete as an individual, but easily manageable as a team working together.

Often members of a team will be struck by how simple exercises draw on the different strengths of team members. One person in the team may be a natural leader, another has good analytical or engineering skills, and another may have great communication or personal skills. All different skills come into play and will be brought out of your team members as they work through the exercises.

Often after teambuilding sessions members find they have new found skills to apply to work situations, and are ready for new challenges, which is great for business!

2006-12-04T20:33:00.001-08:00

Team Building Icebreakers

The first challenge you will encounter on any teambuilding exercise is personal introductions. Members of the teambuilding course need to become acquainted with each other and the course leader. These initial exercises are commonly called 'icebreakers' as they break down any barriers between team members.

The most popular icebreaker is for the team leader to arrange the team members in a circle and ask them one by one to stand up and tell the group a little about themselves. Each member of the team will stand in turn and give their name and some brief details about their work and/or hobbies by way of an introduction. If the members of the teambuilding course work for the same large company, often it is a good idea to ask them to describe the department they work in and their job role. In this way it allows other members of the team to position them in their mind. Sometimes the team members may already have relationships that they are not aware of - possibly they have spoken on the telephone, or have emailed each other in the past as part of their job function.

Another great icebreaking activity is to assign each member of the team a partner whom they have never met before. The pairs are given a short time (10 minutes is suggested) to get to know a little bit about each other. The icebreaking task is then for each team member to describe their partner to the group.

At icebreaking sessions it is also a good idea for the team leader to encourage laughter. Laughter and humor are great icebreakers. Possibly each member could be given a sheet of jokes and asked to stand and tell their favorite joke to the group, and then give the reasons why they chose that joke. As well as breaking the ice this is a clever way of learning a little about a person - the reasons they give for choosing the joke will give a little insight to their personality.

Remember when leading a teambuilding session the importance of icebreaking. This is the most important part of the course and sets the foundation for the work you will do over the coming hours or days. Setting your icebreaking session around breakfast or coffee can help as these are natural times of social interaction - watch as team members help each other with the simple task of making and pouring coffee.

2006-12-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

Strategies for Business Success - Buy or Lease?

You are starting or expanding your business - great! But you are looking at many more demands on your finances: office equipment, tools, furniture, computers and peripherals, vehicles, etc. Deciding whether to buy or lease what you need might seem overwhelming.

Leasing is tempting to many, as it requires less cash up front. Having enough cash is essential for survival when beginning or expanding your business, as you will also need to invest in many intangibles such as marketing, licensing, or hiring help. But, leasing usually costs more in the long run, often quite a bit more, and you are normally committed to a contracted time period. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

Let's look at some of the pros and cons:

Some Advantages of Leasing:

1. Lower Costs at Start-Up
Few businesses have "more than enough" cash on hand, especially when just beginning or expanding. Lower start-up costs can give you more time to get settled into the marketplace and get the word out about your products and services, giving you a much better chance of surviving those risky first years. You can get a lot more for a lot less immediate expenditure by leasing. Buying 20 computers will cost you thousands of dollars; leasing 20 computers may only run you a few hundred dollars per month.

2. Support and Maintenance
Leased equipment usually includes ongoing support, maintenance, upgrading, and possibly even training for you and your staff. You can even "lease" your business management software and services by way of online subscription. This can enable even the smallest business to have the latest software versions automatically provided, and support staff on-call in the event of trouble. (You might be amazed to learn how much time is lost and headaches created in many small businesses by confusing and challenging management and record keeping software and systems.) With hardware, it is far easier, for example, to call the lessor and have a broken copier replaced immediately than to wait for the repair serviceman for your purchased copier, wait out the downtime, and then face the bill for his services.

3. Flexibility
When you buy something, even if your needs change or better technology becomes available, your investment is tied up in the purchased item. Leasing may allow you to update or replace your equipment or furniture when you need to, or even get rid of the commitment if you no longer need the item.

4. Tax Advantage
Most lease payments can be fully deducted in the year you paid them, whereas major equipment purchases may have to be depreciated over several years. Since your money will likely be tighter in the beginning months and years of your business, the ability to offset lease expenses against your initial investments may help you greatly at tax time.

Some Advantages of Buying Equipment and Supplies Outright:

1. Lower Lifetime Costs
Many things will cost you far less in total if you purchase them outright rather than leasing. You might pay $300 for an ergonomic desk chair that will serve you well for many years. The same chair, if leased, might run you $30 per month. You would then be paying $360 per year for the leased chair.

2. Lower Monthly Overhead
When you lease, you must pay the lessor on time, regardless of the level of cash on hand. If the income of your business varies widely from month to month, you can choose to only purchase equipment when you have the cash on hand and you will have fewer problems meeting your monthly budget.

3. Assets Rather than Liabilities
What you buy outright becomes an asset of your business, and so enhances your "bottom line." Lease payments, on the other hand, qualify as liabilities, and so lower your company's value. This may be important if you need to get a business loan or decide to sell your business. If you move or go out of business, your assets may be sold or taken with you, but it may be much harder to dispose of your lease contracts.

4. Tax Advantage
Since the IRS allows you to deduct a large amount of your business purchases from your gross income, if you are having a good year you may save significantly more by purchasing outright rather than leasing.

So, obviously there are pros and cons of buying as well as leasing. Here are some tips to help you make the best decision:

* Leases are best for more expensive items, and cash purchases for less expensive items. Lower cost items can usually be afforded from income on hand, but it may not be advisable to deplete your funds to make larger purchases. If you lease the larger items, you can budget to save and purchase your own later, and still have management and promotion funds available now.

* Check with your tax advisor. Find out the financial and tax implications of leasing versus buying for your individual situation.

* Last but certainly not least, don't be tempted to buy what you don't really need. If you are just getting started, use thrift-shop desks and other furniture, settle for a good telephone with answering machine rather than the full inter-office network being promoted, and watch for office or industrial close-out sales or auctions, where you can buy still-serviceable supplies for pennies on the dollar. If your company is to grow and thrive, cash in the bank is worth much more than beautiful furniture or the latest techno-marvel.

2006-12-04T20:32:00.001-08:00

Start Your Internet Business by Finding a Niche

Everywhere you go online, you hear the same thing - You must find a niche for your business. If you are new to Internet Marketing, this is advice you will do well to pay heed to.

Every day thousands more people come online in search of wealth. Many jump right into the markets that are already completely saturated and then wonder why they are not making any money.

Given unlimited time, money and patience, they might succeed. For those that do not have unlimited supplies of these precious resources, aiming for a smaller niche market can be a much smarter way to start your online business.

So just what is a niche?

If you want the long answer, you can buy any one of the thousands of e-books being sold online about niche markets. You can go to a dictionary and see what definition of niche it gives. But the short answer is niche simply means distinct or individual.

Everyone and their mother wants to start a business focusing on Internet Marketing. This is how the big guns are making all their money, so it must be the way to go. That is the problem. The market is totally saturated with people who have years of experience in this area. A new person trying to compete in such a broad market does not have much chance of success.

On About.com, Susan Ward defines Internet Marketing as "the strategies that are used to market a product or service online, marketing strategies that include search engine optimization and search engine submission, copywriting that encourages site visitors to take action, web site design strategies, online promotions, reciprocal linking, and email marketing". A new person coming online to start a business has little chance of knowing enough about all the above areas to be able to compete in this market.

So how is a new person to have any chance at success?

Thing Smaller - Think Niche!

Just from the above definition you can come up with the following pieces or niches:

Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Copywriting
Web Site Design
Promotion
Linking
Email Marketing

Even if you are lucky and are extremely experienced already in one of the above niches, you will still have a lot of competition in such broad niches. This may be what you decide to do in the end, but at least be willing to explore niches within the broader areas. You may find a niche you are much better suited to.

When it comes to finding a niche market, the best resource available online is Wordtracker. You can find pieces of this program on different sites and software programs but Wordtracker brings everything together in one place for those trying to find a good niche to go into.

Using Wordtracker is a breeze. If you want to break Internet Marketing down to many more niche markets, just type in Internet Marketing and look at all the ideas that pop up. Each of these can become keywords that you decide you want to focus your niche on. Or you can pop in those keywords and keep defining your niche.

Using Wordtracker, what you will end with is a list of niche keywords that you can focus your Internet business on. Having a smaller niche will give you a much better shot at being successful then trying to build a site around a broad topic like Internet Marketing.

Remember, success in any business always comes back to supplying a product that the public has a demand for and that the market has room for. Find the right niche and you are on the right path.

2006-12-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

Market Your Storefront with a Website

Many people think that the Internet offers a tremendous marketplace, while others will question the extra effort and money to purchase and design a website. Some of the money-making values of having a website are summarized in the following paragraphs for your consideration.

1. If you have a local group of customers and want to expand to the neighboring areas, states or even, countries, without spending massive amounts of costly advertising money or even leasing more company space, then the Internet can work very well for you. Niche markets (small groups of customers scattered about that are interested in a very specific item or service) also work very well on the Internet.

2. As a business owner, you need to provide a map and directions to your store for your customers and enable them to look up specials, discounts, limited merchandise, or varieties and prices of each item you market. For instance, let's say you sell cheesecakes and you would like to spend less time on the phone explaining the different varieties, how many people the different varieties will serve, prices, and availability. Here's how this could work online for you. You would provide a secure, encrypted order form thereby collecting the person's credit information as well as their address, phone, and email information. They would list their preferences as to varieties and sizes of cheesecakes. This form would be sent directly to your email or to your fax so that you would have the items ready for the customer to pick up that day or the day they designate. You would have the cheesecakes shipped for those that cannot make it to your store. When a customer returns to order another product from your website, they would not have to fill out most of the form as it would already be in your database.

3. You build their confidence when you show customers that you have their best interest and shopping convenience in mind when you open a website and properly maintain that website with new and updated information. Customers will appreciate being able to read about the owners, the store's policies, the service after the sale, and any other items you think would develop a rapport to allow them to do more business with you. Having a website allows your company to develop its style and branding and develops a sense of security for the customers in doing business with your firm.

4. A small operation can look just as important as a large corporation. A website builds confidence and value into your products and services and allows you to receive orders you may have missed without being on the Internet.

5. If you do advertising on the radio or TV, newspapers or direct mail, having a website gives the customer a place to review what you tell them in the ads in much more detail. Every ad should reference your website so customers can view the details at a time and place that is convenient 24 hours a day seven days a week. You can quickly change and update information on a website without the expense of printed materials.

6. You can do any promotion online that you can do offline and much cheaper. Coupons, money-off sales, discounts, employee recognition, limited merchandise you want to move, all these can be marketed on your website. Keeping the website up-to-date can be provided by your webmaster at a very nominal fee.

I hope that you can see from some of the above points that having your own website is necessary in today's marketplace for any small or medium-sized business as well as any at-home business. Customers are out there looking for you and you need to take advantage of where they are looking and, right now, that is the INTERNET! Since your competitors have a website, they are perceived as being more up-to-date. The ease, convenience, special online savings, information about your company's mission, your services, your ability to communicate with customers are all important reasons for having a dynamic online website. Online marketing will only continue to grow...WILL YOUR CUSTOMERS FIND YOU ONLINE?

2006-12-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

Make Money Easy with Your Own DVD!

Making and marketing your own DVD. Does that sound like a viable business? Well, let us see...

You shoot some video tape and have it transferred to a blank DVD. Just a few bucks spent for a one time expense. From there you can have the DVD duplicated with four-color printing on it and have it in four-color printed packaging which makes it look very professional for just a couple dollars each, but that's just if you want to be fancy about it by using photographs. Otherwise, two-color printing will work just fine.

Now your DVDs are ready to sell. From just over a dollar's worth cost for production when you use two-color printing, you can mark up your product as you see fit. Charge $97.00 or $149.00 a copy, over and over again. Or produce a set of DVD's and charge $495.00! Does not take much math skills to figure why people are becoming rich doing this!

The way to make a valuable DVD is to have it show and tell how to do something people want to do, or how to have something people want to have. You can come up with some ideas if you reach into your experience of things you have learned or discovered how to do.

This is the information age and if you put out the information, people are going to buy it up because they are hungry to know everything. Truth is that if you are currently selling printed how-to material, you can command a much higher price to provide that information in DVD format. Sell them your knowledge on a DVD.

Of course you will need some equipment to make your DVD. You can be up and running without a big budget. A tripod holding a digital camcorder than can connect directly to your computer so that you can use video editing software and a good microphone so you can be heard clearly is what it comes down to.

Having a remote control on your camcorder could even make video editing unnecessary, since what really counts in DVDs is the information contained in the DVD and not how pretty the presentation is. What really makes winners is down and dirty content.

A good place to get content from which to produce a DVD that you can call your own is http://www.infogoround.com. In fact there is so much there covering the most popular niche markets that you can give yourself the reputation of being an expert! InfoGoRound has hundreds of top quality, private label articles for the taking!

Converting some of the many information products found at InfoGoRound to DVD is the fast track to being a 'how-to' author able to effortlessly bring in the easy money. You will have so much content to work with that you should even use some of the video you make to put up on a website. Showing free video samples on your website is sure to drive traffic and skyrocket DVD sales.

Are you ready to do this and join the ranks of the Millionaire Internet Marketers? There are a couple of those marketers who amazingly enough have separate website videos in the same spacious white room with huge decorative windows. Assuming they don't live in the same mansion, you might think they are filming in the same studio. If you think that then you would be wrong.

You can make your video look like it was done at a beautiful gorgeous place no matter what the surroundings you currently have. To set up your own amazing studio, get some florescent lights as they provide lighting without much extra heat or shadows, and set up a screen for your background. Put a light on each side of the camera pointing toward the screen. You will want to experiment in order to get the lights placed just right.

Now you have a clutter free background by using a screen, which could just be a sheet or curtain placed up. The secret to having any type of background you want however, is to invest in a chroma key green or blue screen. Also get and learn how to use video editing software that has chroma key effect. What chroma key effect does is replace the colored background with any type of background you want... even an image of the inside of a mansion! It is definitely the way to make a great impression.

Information DVDs are perfect products to develop. You can build your whole business around them. They are inexpensive to make, yet have a high-perceived value. They are heavily in demand, and staggeringly easy to sell for big fat wallet-filling profits. Film yourself on DVDs sharing what you know. The money you can generate from doing this is outrageous!

2006-12-04T20:30:00.000-08:00

Introduction to ClickBank

It is entirely possible that someone reading this article may never have heard of Clickbank. For those of us that "eek out" a living online, Clickbank is one of the core resources used to generate cash flow.

There are several ways to produce income through Clickbank and they can all add up to a tolerable income paid in two week cycles.

The two main ways of creating income through Clickbank are "affiliate sales" and "direct product sales".

Affiliate Sales
There are thousands of downloadable digital products for sale at Clickbank in a variety of categories covering a wide range of topics. When products are added to Clickbank by the sellers they are given the opportunity to allow for affiliate sales. The product owner determines the percentage to be paid to the affiliate, if any.

Anyone can view all the products with affiliate sales potential at this link:
http://clickbank.com/marketplace/

Once a category is clicked on in the Clickbank Marketplace, sub-categories and product listings appear. For example, today in the 'Business to Business' category the top selling product listed is: Data Entry Ads Online - Join The Best! [Earn 50%].

As an affiliate marketer, you would click on the [Earn 50%] link and fill in your Clickbank ID to capture the correct Clickbank Hoplink for the product. This Hoplink would be used in conjunction with all ads directing traffic to a particular product.

Each product Hoplink contains the ID of the affiliate and the ID of the seller thus making successful affiliate sales attributable to the correct parties.

Clickbank has an automated tracking system that determines which affiliate, if any, is to be associated with the sale. Although Clickbank feels their tracking system is "more fair and accurate than any alternative" it is still not perfect.

There are apparently ways for unscrupulous people to take advantage of the system for their benefit at the expense of those of us who do not delve into such matters. Link cloaking can be useful in these situations.

The benefits of affiliate marketing through Clickbank far outweigh any potential negative experiences that may arise due to an unscrupulous few.

Direct Product Sales (Your Own Products)
A popular way for internet marketers to get their products to the public is by using Clickbank payment processing. Clickbank makes it very easy for anyone to sell a downloadable product through their service and their fees are not likely to be out of the reach of anyone with computer access.

Although not shy about being one of the most expensive payment processors on the Internet, Clickbank makes up for their several imperfections by general ease of use and reliable service.

It is simple to sign-up for a Clickbank ID; just go to Clickbank.com and create an account. You can begin to promote affiliate products immediately after your membership is confirmed.
http://clickbank.com/signup/

To sell your own products on Clickbank there is a seven step process:

(1) Signup with Clickbank
http://clickbank.com/signup/

(2) Make a "Pitch Page"
http://clickbank.com/setup.html#ppp

(3) Make a "Thank You Page"
http://clickbank.com/setup.html#thankyou

(4) Make a Test Purchase
http://clickbank.com/setup.html#test

(5) Submit Product Approval Request
http://clickbank.com/setup.html#limit

(6) Pay $49.95 Product Review Fee
http://clickbank.com/setup.html#activate

(7) Set Your Product Price and Start Making Sales!
http://clickbank.com/setup.html#setprices

It is not mandatory to offer affiliate sales of your products but there is at least one good reason to do so. Often sellers get to a point where affiliate sales produce enough income that they can stop using pay per click advertising to drive traffic to their site. What is lost in direct sales at the full item price is made up by the savings in pay per click marketing.

Overall, Clickbank is an excellent place to get a start in product sales on the Internet. Whether you are selling your own product or putting up affiliate links, the potential to create a viable income is available to everyone.

2006-12-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

Interruptions or Opportunities?

Another phone call, email or someone just popping by – can’t a person get any real work done around here? Sound familiar? But wait just a minute! What if those so-called annoying interruptions are actually opportunities knocking? What if those ‘interruptions’ are actually a part of our work that we can’t afford to neglect?

Changing our perspective about interruptions can reduce the annoyance factor and any resulting pressure. It may also help us put the interruptions to a good purpose. If we take the time to answer that call or visit briefly with a colleague we may be building relationship bridges that will serve us in the future. Besides, courtesy and friendliness are as essential at work as in any other part of life.

That is not to say that we need to spend inordinate amounts of time in conversation, but a few minutes is well spent. After a few minutes, it is respectable to say something like ‘I’d love to talk more about this with you? When are you available?’ If you really can’t afford to be interrupted, close your office door – it’s much more difficult to stop by. You could let the reception or your voice mail take messages until you are more at liberty to respond. Even if you decide that an open-door policy is more your style, you might consider placing your computer in such a way so your chair is partially turned away from the door and direct eye contact can be avoided.

When it comes to emails, instead of answering them as they come in, it’s better to set aside some time each day to respond. That way, you’re in control and can focus on your work projects. Messages from list-servers can overwhelm and take a lot of time to go through to find those ‘gems’. Organize your list-server and put emails into a separate file you can check periodically.

Why take the time for ‘interruptions’? In short, the more connections we have the more innovative we become. We learn from others, their opinions and advice and we can even draw on their professional network of contacts – if we have really listened and noted who they are. Knowledge flows through organizations not only in relation to the organizational structure but through channels of influence and trusted relationships that are often external to that formal structure. You will never know what helpful information you missed if you don’t take the time to network in these ways.

Make your ‘interruptions’ work to your advantage! Sometimes they can actually help you stay connected, get new ideas and become more productive and innovative. Now that’s a new perspective on interruptions!

2006-12-04T20:28:00.001-08:00

How to get Started on EBAY

EBAY is a 70 billion dollar a year industry giant. The really interesting situation is that they are dependent on entrepreneurs, like you, to make that business figure grow. In 2005, the number of people making money from working on EBAY increased by 68%. Over 724,000 million people either make a full time or a supplemental income from working EBAY. And another 1.5 million say that EBAY gives them additional income throughout the year. EBAY, Inc. 2005 offers these figures.

What is interesting is that there are many ways to get started working EBAY for an extra income. The main thing is to get a plan and work the plan. Gather up some income products from around your home, your relatives, garage sales, thrift stores, salvation army, big lots, consignment shops, etc. Invest a set amount, say $200. Make sure that you get items that are useful or entertaining and that provide a quick turn over. The way to do that is to think about your own buying habits. Would you purchase this item if you saw it advertised, does it appeal to a mass market, is it a niche product people might be willing to purchase? What you want are items that you can pick up for very little money and that you can put up on EBAY for a small price and, thereby, create an immediate cash flow. At first, you will want to return almost all your profits back into purchasing some more items to sell. You will do this until you have a comfortable amount of money invested in your business and then you will have set up your own profit stream.

To get your items ready to market what you need to do is to take a quality digital photo of the item from different angles. For smaller items, you should use a whiteboard backdrop to get the maximum amount of light with few reflections. For larger items, outside shots work well, just have the sun behind your back when taking the picture. You also need to write up a very good description of your item and do not try to hide any imperfections. Point out the usefulness and benefits as well. A description that is fair and honest will result in much better comments received in EBAY feedback. I will explain this more in a later paragraph.

You can open a starting seller's EBAY store for just $15.95 a month and have about five pages to sell your items. You also receive a free month when you start your store, so you can get a feel for how it all works. You will have to pay EBAY for their sale fees which amount to an insertion fee and a selling fee. I will attempt to explain each in an example format.

The insertion fees differ based on the listing price, but for example, you will pay a fee of $.60 for an item listed from $10.00 to $24.99 and when that item sells, you will also pay 5.25% of the selling price. If that price is $24.99, then you would pay $1.32, so it has a cost of $1.92 to sell this item. Since you have several items to sell, you will want to know the following qualifications. The insertion fee for multiple items, dutch auctions, and fixed price items is based on the opening value of your listed items. The opening value is the starting price or fixed item price multiplied by the number of items you list. The maximum insertion price from EBAY is $4.80.

The final value fee charged by EBAY is determined by taking the multiple items or dutch auctions final value fee of the lowest successful bid item and multiplying it by the number of items sold. The final value fee charged by EBAY for a multiple value fixed price listing is calculated on per item sold, based on the final sale price of the item.

A EBAY Store is a very effective way to display your items, drive traffic to a website, or to display a couple of your best items in EBAY auctions and get people to visit your other items through your store listing on your auction websites.

After you sell an item, you will be eligible for "feedback." This is where the buyer makes comments about your service, your responsiveness to email questions, and general comments about how it was interact with you as a seller of EBAY items. You want this to be 100% or as close as possible to it. If there is a dispute on any item, you will try to work it out and make sure that the buyer is satisfied within your own selling descriptions. You have a right to have your terms met, but you also have to satisfy the buyer as much as possible. You want return customers and you want others that will check your feedback section to be sure to find good comments about your service. This enables those who have not conducted business with you to know your track record and feel more confident that they will have a good buying experience with your company or store. Another thing that happens is that you should return the feedback to the buyers account so that they also have the good notations on their membership listing as a buyer. For instance, "buyer pays promptly, buyer is easy to deal with, buyer is welcome back to your store," etc.

If you have any qualms about listing or do not know how to list, there are actually places you can take your EBAY items and have them do the marketing, listing, and selling for you. However, if you really want to make this a good source of income, I suggest learning to do the listings yourself and capitalize on more profits. But the key thing is to GET STARTED.

EBAY will only continue to grow as more and more people make money with them, so why not capitalize on this easy to do program. Go where the people are looking to buy...that is EBAY right now!

2006-12-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

Evaluating Your Business Idea

You may have several ideas for a new business or only one. Before you start pouring your effort and money into an idea you need to see if it will stand up to some analysis. Try a SWOT analysis. This requires you to think about the Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities your business will have, and the Threats it may face.

A high level of skill with a range of equipment, or a friend that is prepared to loan you some money would be strengths. If you have never run a business before that could be a weakness. A ready, enthusiastic market would be an opportunity, while several businesses almost identical to the one you are thinking of starting or a weakening economy would be threats. This type of analysis can show you if your business idea is viable and should encourage you to exploit opportunities and help you decide how to tackle threats.

Decide on your Unique Selling Proposition...

Why should a potential customer come to you and not a rival? Will you specialize in a certain area? You should be able to identify where and how you can contact your potential customers and have an idea of the demand for your type of service or product.

Write a Business Plan...

There are many versions and it seems every bank and business advisor has slightly different requirements. However every version should keep you focused on what you want to do with your business and the strategies to achieve this in a certain time frame. It should identify the services or products you intend to offer initially, and those you hope to expand into later. Remember the plan is a working document. If you miss deadlines you should be able to modify the plan to get your business back on course.

Once you have decided on the type of business you want to start do some research to see if there are any gaps in the local market. Find out your competitor's pricing. You could get friends to ask for quotes from the competition, or use a more direct approach and have discussions with a local expert. Remember, a company could be a potential competitor or a potential joint venture partner. Perhaps you could approach them with an idea for a product or service that would complement theirs.

When setting prices do not immediately assume undercutting is the only solution. You need enough income to cover your overheads and a low price may give the impression that your skills and work have little value.

Cash flow is another important element in starting and running a business. Make sure you do not have to make too big an investment before you get paid. You should know how much you have to earn to at least break even.

After working through your business plan and giving cash flow a good deal of thought you should know whether your proposed business is viable.

2006-12-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

Do You Have an InfoProduct to Offer?

If you have been researching or involved in online business for very long, you have no doubt seen a multitude of offers for "eBooks", books, reports and training course on every subject imaginable.

Why? Because information is the hottest product on the market! (At the foundational level, it's actually the Only product, but that's another article.) Information cuts straight to the root of all selling, which is answering the customer's question: "What will this product do for me?"

There's another reason, though. Pure information is a product that doesn't require a huge financial overhead to produce(other than the hard knocks you got in gaining the experience and information), and is easy and relatively low cost to deliver to the customer. That is what makes it such a great product for us, as entrepreneurs, to offer.

Everyone has life experience, training, and skills that others don't have. Everyone knows something that others want to know, or can do something that others want to learn. That's how I know you have an InfoProduct inside you, everyone does. Your first assignment is to decide which of your many gifts you are going to offer to the world!

Does that mean you have to be able to write a book? No. Not necessarily. I'm talking about what is known as USP...Unique Selling Position. Your USP might be that you have detailed knowledge about someone else's product that you are selling as an affiliate. It could be that humorous way you present the information you have collected on some subject of interest, or the fact that you offer the best customer service available for the service you offer. You may offer the same products that others are also selling, but find your own unique market for them.

But whatever you decide to use for your information product, your USP, you need to find one. If you were to research the online marketers who are honestly making the money they claim to be earning online, you would discover that they all have a USP. Your USP IS your product, however you package and deliver it.

If you are working a Multi-level Marketing program or one of the BIBs (Business in a Box), you are not left out of this concept, but you may have to work harder to figure out how to be unique. You can still go for the niche marketing idea. Find a group of people who aren't usually reached by these kinds of businesses, or aim your advertising at people in the countries that are just now going online.

You may, of course, actually write a book, eBook, or training course and sell it. Many are making good money doing just that. The list of helpful software and online publishers is growing every day. But even if you write your own product or design your own software, you will still need a well-thought-out USP to stand out in the crowd. It's like your business plan -- you need a firm foundation before you can build your future online success.

2006-12-04T20:18:00.000-08:00

Build Excellent Lifetime Relationships!

Do you realize relationships begin shortly after birth and are ongoing ways of life for every person on the planet?

An important part of life depends on how we develop our relationships with others. Perhaps, if we consider examples of this development, a better understanding will enable us to think more clearly before we interact with others.

Examples:

1. At birth we acknowledge a relationship with our mothers
2. Growing up, we build friendships with family members
3. In school, relationships with peers and teachers are normal
4. Most begin their dating relationships along the way
5. Searching for first employment, relationships must be formed
6. To market products, relationships are tried, tested, used

Most sports require close relationships to build a winning team. How far would the space programs have gotten without close working relationships? Would we marry without an excellent relationship with our partner?

As people mature in life, many relate an emptiness that is often difficult to understand or comprehend if a relationship has not been established with our creator. This personal relationship will fill a void that no other can fill. This is the most important relationship of all in every life, for complete fulfillment and joy.

The purpose for these examples are to enhance our willingness and desire to work on developing meaning in our lives, our families, and our businesses to become better persons and better marketers with positive relationship building goals.

A few very important traits in relationships are integrity or honesty, trust, and a willingness to open ourselves to others and be examined.

Have you ever seen failure? Perhaps it was caused by the lack of trust or integrity in another. Can relationship building with other persons prevent failure? Would your business become more successful with many great relationships? Think on these statements and make the adjustments in your life that you feel may improve your disposition.

These basic groundwork ideas on relationships are written to jog thinking and perhaps increase your business skills until they direct you to where success in business is inevitable and joy in your work becomes a normal lifestyle.

You may find varied and rotating articles on relationship building on our website, along with tips you can possibly use for your business.

Many times along the path of life, failures occur. It is good news to recognize and know the importance of earning good relationships during these trials and to be well prepared for the needed improvements.

Expect the best, prepare for the worst, and take what comes, is a great buffer for the many trials that happen in life.

Great relationships developed over a lifetime, yield great rewards!

2006-12-04T20:17:00.000-08:00

8 Ways to Gain Expert Recognition

No matter what business you are in it always helps to be seen as an expert. If you were calling someone to fix a drain or sell your house you would approach the person you saw as most credible and reputable in that area of expertise.

To become an expert takes hard work and experience. It can involve study or the honing of practical skills. It demands high standards of work. But after all this effort will you be perceived as an expert? If you feel you've earned the mantle of expert but are not recognized as one, here are eight ways to start establishing your reputation.

Publish a book or series of reports or articles
The internet has made this much easier. You can now create an ebook that can be downloaded without having to involve a publisher. There are ezine owners always looking for good quality articles and reports for their ezines. A well-written book or series of articles will establish your reputation as an expert in your field.

Publish a newsletter
Set one up on the internet and distribute it to your customers. This is an excellent way to regularly keep your name in front of your prospects as an authority on your subject.

Write press releases
Used correctly these can gain you a lot of positive publicity. Make sure the press release looks like newsworthy information and not like an advertisement.

Create a website
Set up a user-friendly website that will appeal to customers and you have expanded the reach of your reputation. Keep it timely and informative, and people will continue to return to your site. If you don't know how to set up a website there are plenty of web designers who do. Alternatively enquire at a college teaching web design. Some students might want to build a portfolio.

Join associations
If you are a member of an association it will enhance your credibility. But don't just be a member. Be an active member. This will build your reputation among your peers and lead to useful introductions. Membership can have many benefits, and it will certainly keep you up to date in your field.

Networking
You can boost your reputation and influence by speaking to the right people. Keep your name in front of your prospects. Organize mutually beneficial ventures. You cannot predict what may come from a contact so make as many as you can.

Public Speaking
Even speaking to a local group of people can establish you as an expert and get you referrals that may lead to a wider audience. If you are not sure you can speak in public, preparation and rehearsal are the keys to success. Make sure your presentation is aimed at the right level, follows a sensible sequence and will not sound like a dry textbook-like monologue. Write your main points on small cards so you are not relying solely on your memory and start in front of a small audience.

Teach workshops or seminars
If you have knowledge that people would like to tap into you can pass on your expertise. If your presentation is well planned you will be seen as an authority in your subject. You will also meet people who are likely to recommend you to others. If you are teaching a hot topic you will also be gaining a useful income stream.

Any of these methods will start building your reputation as an expert. Use them all correctly and you will gain the sort of reputation that will have potential clients approaching you without having to seek them out.

2006-12-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

3 Things You Must Include in Your Next Ebook or Report

Many people are now using ebooks and reports to promote their business. Sometimes those reports are aimed at turning the reader into a subscriber; sometimes to turn the reader into a customer; and sometimes to turn the reader into a purchaser of an affiliate product.

But whatever the reason you are writing an ebook or report, there are three things you should include every time:

1. A resources section
Let's say your ebook is about dog-training, and aimed at convincing the reader to join your membership site on dog training tips. Well, as well as writing about your site, you could also include other useful resources:

* Other sites that they might find useful
* Other reports or ebooks that they might find useful
* Details of some of the best newsletters on dog training
* Links to Amazon for books or DVDs on dog training

And so on. And of course, any of these could be your products, affiliate products, or just normal links to normal sites.

If your ebook or report is rebrandable, you might even want to include details of the rebranding software that you're using, with your affiliate link on it.

2. A "freebies" section
As well as reading the report or ebook, let the reader know about other freebies they can get from you. These could be in return for joining your mailing list (if they have not already joined when they downloaded the report), or just a way of saying "thanks" to new subscribers.

Again, these freebies might include affiliate links or links to your own products. They might also be viral tools you use to promote your site, such as rebrandable ebooks.

Or maybe you have a free "dog training hints" newsletter which offers small snippets of information based on your membership site. And you then use the newsletter to convert free subscribers into paying customers.

3. A "work in progress" section
Do you have other sites that are perhaps not related to dog-training? Share those as well, in case some of your readers are interested.

Do you have forthcoming products that you want to promote (perhaps a dog-training DVD set to complement your membership site)? Write a little bit about those, and point readers to a lead-capture page for that product.

Maybe you're interested in surveying readers of the report - let them know about the survey so that you can get some more feedback.

2006-11-20T04:23:00.000-08:00

testing the internet marketing is as easy as 123