By Angela
Home based businesses are rapidly gaining in popularity. Not only do they offer you the opportunity for freedom and the flexibility to set your own work terms, but you also have control over your financial independence. What do successful home businesses have in common? Here are a few tips...
1. Research Your Market.
Don't try to force a new product or service on an unwilling market. Research your intended market first, then create a product or service to fit that market. Put another way, you can't force people to want what you have to offer... but you can offer them what they want. Your research should also include an in-depth look at your competition. Is there too much competition for the area that you plan to service? Can you offer something that your competition cannot, while still making a profit? By analyzing your competitors, you'll be able to learn from both their successes and failures.
2. Don't Try to Be Everything to Everyone.
You will never make everyone happy, no matter how hard you try. So don't; instead, focus your efforts on one particular segment of the population. For example... let's say you run some sort of business related to gardening. Gardeners range in skill from the rank amateur, who can barely manage to keep even the most robust houseplant alive; to the serious professional who is able to nurture and coax exotic and fragile flowers to bloom.
Instead of attempting to offer every type of plant or information to all types of gardeners, you could instead narrow your focus to one specific group: for example, amateurs who are interested in colorful, low-maintenance and easy-to-grow plants. Focusing on a niche market allows you to more easily build a unique and solid reputation for your business.
3. Keep Your Spending Under Control.
Keep overhead costs low, and don't spend frivolously. There will always be necessary expenses - for example, if you're running a business online, you'll need a good computer and a reliable Internet connection. But would you also need new, top-of-the-line home office furniture? On the other hand, don't balk at spending money when you need to. Figure out which expenses are true necessities, and which are luxuries. As cash flow improves you can look into purchasing other items you may need.
4. Keep Growing.
A business can't be successful unless people know about it. That's where marketing comes in. All businesses require hard work - and even after you've established your business, you will need to continue to work hard in order to make it grow. At times, the hard work may be necessary just to sustain your current level of profitability.
5. Have a Contingency Plan.
Businesses go through rough times. Sometimes it will appear to happen "all of a sudden", but there are always warning signs. Learn to recognize the signs of trouble. By pinpointing potential problems before they occur, you can try to prevent them from occuring at all. Develop a well-thought-out contingency plan to keep your business running with a minimum of lost time, effort, or profits.
6. Learn From Your Mistakes, and Build On Your Successes.
Just as you will experience success in some of the things you do, you will also make some mistakes. In both cases you'll have an opportunity to improve your business. Ask yourself what you did right (or wrong), why it worked (or didn't work), and what you could do differently. Ask yourself questions. What kind of startup capital do you need? What are your estimated monthly expenses? Is your business making the profits you expected? If so, what are you doing right and how can you improve upon it? If not, what can you do differently? What are your competitors doing and how can you convince customers to switch (or stay) with you? These types of questions will help you to make smart, educated business decisions -- decisions that will help your business to grow and flourish.
7. Be Customer-Focused.
It's much easier to sell to a happy customer, than to try convince a new prospect to buy from you. Be professional, courteous, and always deliver a quality product or service. Your customers will be thrilled and much more inclined to come back.
8. Target Your Marketing.
This goes back to the research you did before you started your business. Know who to target in your marketing efforts. You want to attract people who are interested in what you have to offer -- not just curious 'passers-by'. You can see great examples of targeted marketing by looking in your mailbox. If you've ever ordered from a mail-order gardening club, you've probably received additional catalogs from them *and* from other gardening clubs who purchase the customer lists. They know that you have an interest in their products, so the chances of you ordering something are much higher than if they were to send a mailing out to a random bunch of addresses.
9. Take Your Business Seriously.
There are lots of images floating around that show relaxed 'home business owners' reading a book, playing with their kids, lounging in a comfortable chair, etc. There's a tendency to think of a 'home business' as 'not real work', or not as serious as a 'real' (corporate) job. To start and build a successful business, it needs to be treated like a business - not a hobby. Take it seriously and work hard to achieve your goals.
10. Do Something You Love!
This is what it all boils down to. Find something that you're passionate about, and will enjoy doing. Business doesn't have to a daily grind; it can be a true pleasure!
Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical, down-to-earth guide to building an Internet business on a beginner's budget. If you enjoyed this article, you'll love the book!
How to Make Money Online with Google AdWords
The one way to take advantage of Google AdWords is to become affiliate. Affiliate marketing is where someone advertises for another website and in return that person receives commission for each sale their advertising brigs to that website. Here's an example: Let's say I want to sell Laptop Computers, but I don't have a website and/or I don't have any computers to sell. Well instead of starting a company, I can just find a company online which already sells computers and offers an affiliate program. Now that I have searched and found a company, I look at what they offer. Let's say they are giving 10% commission on every sale I make. I decide to use that company and I set up my affiliate account with them and they give me a special URL (a web address that will let the company know that it was my advertising which gave them the sale), which I use in my advertisements. Now I make ad advertisement, and display it on Google. Whenever someone sees and clicks on my advertisement it will go to the company's webpage. Let's say that one hundred people clicked on my text advertisement and one of them buys a computer that cost $1,200. Because that person who bought the computer clicked on my advertisement that company will give me 10% of $1,200 which means that I made $120.00
Most online companies offer affiliate program. Companies like Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Max, Amazon.com, Buy.com and many more, literally tens of thousands. There are also companies online which all they do is offer other online business a way to have an affiliate program. These affiliate Companies manage affiliate programs for thousands of online companies. This means that if you have an account with Affiliate Company (they are completely free), you can advertise for any of the thousands of companies that use them to manage their affiliate sales. If you want to, you can search Google for affiliate programs just to see how big online marketing currently is.
By using AdWords and high paying affiliate program you can start earning money today. The AdWords advertisements are Pay Per Click (PPC), which means that the owner of that advertisement pays Google every time someone clicks on their advertisement. The main reason for wanting to pay for traffic is because it is very very difficult to receive free traffic on Google. When you sign up for Google AdWords Pay Per Click advertising your advertisement will be displayed almost immediately in Google's search results (usually within 5 minutes). You can also decide which page you want your advertisements to be displayed on ( the first page receives more visitors than the other pages).
It is very simple to start Google AdWords account. Go to www.google.com and look toward the bottom of the page. You will see a link says "Advertising Programs". Once you there, you should click on the link which says Google AdWords. After clicking "Click to Begin", you will be taken to a couple of pages which will ask you how you want to set up your advertising group(s) with Google. Google will send you an email to the email address you specified which will contain a URL that you will need to go to in order to activate your account. After you go to that URL you can log into Google AdWords using your email address as your user name. Now that you have an account set up, you are ready to learn how to create a Campaign so you can begin making money online.
Here is how to create a AdWords campaign in Google. First off to create a new keyword campaign, click the link" Keyword-Targeted" campaign. You will be prompted to name your campaign. Your campaign name is what will be displayed on the first screen when you log into your Google AdWords account. Since you will most likely have several campaigns, when you name your campaign you will want to make sure it is unique name that will let you know exactly what you are advertising in that campaign. Next you will need to name your AdGroup. Remember, you will have several different AdGroups with one Campaign, so name it something that will help you know exactly what keywords are in that AdGroup. Next, you should choose the area(s) where you want your ads to appear. There are three different ways to choose where you want to advertise. You can choose to advertise by Countries and Territories, Regions and Cities, or Customized.
The most important thing you need in order to have a successful Google campaign is a text ad with a high CTR. Text Ads with a high CTR will increase your Quality Score which will increase your overall position. Things You Should Know: 1. You are not required to have "http:" or "www" in your display URL. 2. Google will not let you capitalize all the letters in all your words, but they will let you capitalize most of your words. 3. The website must not require additional software to load (example: it cannot be a .pdf instead of .htm). 4. Back button must be able to go back to Google with one click. 5. You can't have websites that mirror other websites that are advertised for the same keyword (example: having the same pictures and text but using a different web address). I know many affiliates do this, but I don't know how much Google enforces this rule. 6. The website you are advertising cannot have a pop up or pup under ad.
Another key to having a successful online business is making sure that every single person who is even the slightest bit interested in your product sees your advertisement. The best way to do this is by creating a very huge keyword list (thousands of keywords). Some products have many keywords, while others have very few. Usually the more keywords there are available for the product, the better. Not because it is searched more often, but also because most people who are also selling the same product will only select a few general keywords which may be very broad keywords. When you bid on Google, you will not always pay the price you enter. The price you enter is the MCPC (Maximum Cost Per Click) you are willing to pay for that keyword. Google constantly updating the bids for the keywords in their search engine. For example if your MCPC is $0.15 and the advertiser in front of you is bidding $0.16 and the Ad one position behind you is bidding $0.05, you will only pay $0.06 per click, because there is no reason why you should have to pay $0.15 per click if you can get the same Ad position for $0.06 per click.
Google is a most searched search engine on the internet and with that they are consistently making update and improvement. If you are really serious about making money online or promotion you current business I will make a recommendation that will make you an absolute pro on AdWords. I've spend thousands trying to research best possible ways to market in the internet. With all the money I've spend I could of just gotten one system Google MoneyPro by Steven Holdaway. You absolutely cannot ignore what he has to share with you. He personally makes over $120,000 per MONT
The one way to take advantage of Google AdWords is to become affiliate. Affiliate marketing is where someone advertises for another website and in return that person receives commission for each sale their advertising brigs to that website. Here's an example: Let's say I want to sell Laptop Computers, but I don't have a website and/or I don't have any computers to sell. Well instead of starting a company, I can just find a company online which already sells computers and offers an affiliate program. Now that I have searched and found a company, I look at what they offer. Let's say they are giving 10% commission on every sale I make. I decide to use that company and I set up my affiliate account with them and they give me a special URL (a web address that will let the company know that it was my advertising which gave them the sale), which I use in my advertisements. Now I make ad advertisement, and display it on Google. Whenever someone sees and clicks on my advertisement it will go to the company's webpage. Let's say that one hundred people clicked on my text advertisement and one of them buys a computer that cost $1,200. Because that person who bought the computer clicked on my advertisement that company will give me 10% of $1,200 which means that I made $120.00
Most online companies offer affiliate program. Companies like Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Max, Amazon.com, Buy.com and many more, literally tens of thousands. There are also companies online which all they do is offer other online business a way to have an affiliate program. These affiliate Companies manage affiliate programs for thousands of online companies. This means that if you have an account with Affiliate Company (they are completely free), you can advertise for any of the thousands of companies that use them to manage their affiliate sales. If you want to, you can search Google for affiliate programs just to see how big online marketing currently is.
By using AdWords and high paying affiliate program you can start earning money today. The AdWords advertisements are Pay Per Click (PPC), which means that the owner of that advertisement pays Google every time someone clicks on their advertisement. The main reason for wanting to pay for traffic is because it is very very difficult to receive free traffic on Google. When you sign up for Google AdWords Pay Per Click advertising your advertisement will be displayed almost immediately in Google's search results (usually within 5 minutes). You can also decide which page you want your advertisements to be displayed on ( the first page receives more visitors than the other pages).
It is very simple to start Google AdWords account. Go to www.google.com and look toward the bottom of the page. You will see a link says "Advertising Programs". Once you there, you should click on the link which says Google AdWords. After clicking "Click to Begin", you will be taken to a couple of pages which will ask you how you want to set up your advertising group(s) with Google. Google will send you an email to the email address you specified which will contain a URL that you will need to go to in order to activate your account. After you go to that URL you can log into Google AdWords using your email address as your user name. Now that you have an account set up, you are ready to learn how to create a Campaign so you can begin making money online.
Here is how to create a AdWords campaign in Google. First off to create a new keyword campaign, click the link" Keyword-Targeted" campaign. You will be prompted to name your campaign. Your campaign name is what will be displayed on the first screen when you log into your Google AdWords account. Since you will most likely have several campaigns, when you name your campaign you will want to make sure it is unique name that will let you know exactly what you are advertising in that campaign. Next you will need to name your AdGroup. Remember, you will have several different AdGroups with one Campaign, so name it something that will help you know exactly what keywords are in that AdGroup. Next, you should choose the area(s) where you want your ads to appear. There are three different ways to choose where you want to advertise. You can choose to advertise by Countries and Territories, Regions and Cities, or Customized.
The most important thing you need in order to have a successful Google campaign is a text ad with a high CTR. Text Ads with a high CTR will increase your Quality Score which will increase your overall position. Things You Should Know: 1. You are not required to have "http:" or "www" in your display URL. 2. Google will not let you capitalize all the letters in all your words, but they will let you capitalize most of your words. 3. The website must not require additional software to load (example: it cannot be a .pdf instead of .htm). 4. Back button must be able to go back to Google with one click. 5. You can't have websites that mirror other websites that are advertised for the same keyword (example: having the same pictures and text but using a different web address). I know many affiliates do this, but I don't know how much Google enforces this rule. 6. The website you are advertising cannot have a pop up or pup under ad.
Another key to having a successful online business is making sure that every single person who is even the slightest bit interested in your product sees your advertisement. The best way to do this is by creating a very huge keyword list (thousands of keywords). Some products have many keywords, while others have very few. Usually the more keywords there are available for the product, the better. Not because it is searched more often, but also because most people who are also selling the same product will only select a few general keywords which may be very broad keywords. When you bid on Google, you will not always pay the price you enter. The price you enter is the MCPC (Maximum Cost Per Click) you are willing to pay for that keyword. Google constantly updating the bids for the keywords in their search engine. For example if your MCPC is $0.15 and the advertiser in front of you is bidding $0.16 and the Ad one position behind you is bidding $0.05, you will only pay $0.06 per click, because there is no reason why you should have to pay $0.15 per click if you can get the same Ad position for $0.06 per click.
Google is a most searched search engine on the internet and with that they are consistently making update and improvement. If you are really serious about making money online or promotion you current business I will make a recommendation that will make you an absolute pro on AdWords. I've spend thousands trying to research best possible ways to market in the internet. With all the money I've spend I could of just gotten one system Google MoneyPro by Steven Holdaway. You absolutely cannot ignore what he has to share with you. He personally makes over $120,000 per MONT
Minggu, 16 Maret 2008
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