How To Start a Home Based Business

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Starting a new business is scary, exhilarating, challenging and at times downright confusing. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the huge number of tasks in front of you. When you get in that state, step back and think, "What can I do today that will get my message in front of my customers?" If you're thinking about this all the time, the other details will fall into place.

The first thing you need to do is decide on the goals for your business. What do you personally want to get out of it? How many hours do you want to work? How many employees do you want to have? How much money do you want to make? The idea here is to get as clear a vision as possible of what your business will look like when it is established so you'll know what needs to be done to get there. For a very clear step-by-step method to do this, I highly recommend a program called E-Myth.

Next, do the math. So many people—including me—have learned the hard way that the business they created is not capable of meeting the goals they set for themselves. To help avoid this problem, do some market research to determine how much you'll be able to charge for your product or service and what volume you'll be able to sell. Think about how many hours you'll be able to work in a day and get a rough idea of the maximum amount you could make. Once you have rough estimates for those figures, you can decide if the money you could make or the time you need to put in will be worth the effort. You'd be surprised at how many people spend years working in a business that is just not capable of becoming what they hoped it would, even if everything went perfectly.

Many new entrepreneurs think success is all about developing a great product or service, but actually it's all about selling it. Before you spend tons of time and money developing your product, make a prototype or develop a clear and concise description of what it will be, and do some market research. Figure out who your prospective customers will be, and go talk to them! Ask questions. Find out what they'll pay. Consider their feedback and modify your design accordingly. Look at other companies that are selling similar products or services. Find out what they charge, how they market and what their competitive advantage is. Go into their stores and watch their customers. Find out what they are doing and why, and how customers respond. Once you think you have a clear understanding of what the market wants, then move ahead with your product or develop your service.

You'll also need to decide what kind of company structure will best fit your plans (S Corp., LLC, sole proprietorship and so on).

If possible, work out of your home for awhile or rent the minimum space and equipment necessary to run your business. It's important to keep your overhead as low as possible, at least until things start to take off. Resist the temptation to rent a nice office and fill it with furniture and equipment. I used to think that was impressive, but I came to realize it was just expensive.

Turbo Charge Your Website

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keywords

Turbo Charge Your Website
By Greg Mate and Barry Byers

brought to you by SearchEngineAcademy.ca

Search Engine Optimization and Web Site Design Go Hand in Hand.
Barry Byers of www.SearchEngineAcademy.ca discusses new opportunities for small and medium enterprises on the web.

“Like most things, unless you know what you are doing, it’s not likely to work. The same holds true for Internet Marketing,” said Barry Byers President of Search Engine Academy Toronto .

“For many businesses simply “putting up” a web site is a major coup. They write a few pages of facts about the company. They hire a web site designer to add some graphics and bingo! They are online,” said Byers. Indeed, it sounds simple, right?

It’s so simple that 55% of Canadian businesses have a website. A November 2005 Report from Statistics Canada states that in 2004 total online sales, by private firms, reached an estimated $26.5 billion.

So, what’s next for these businesses to do? “They then sit back and wait for the business to pour in. Then, wait some more. Only to realize that the time and money they invested is not paying off,” said Byers. So what is the problem?

“Just because you build a web site it doesn’t mean they will come,” he says. “The programming used to write your web site has to be “coded” in such a manner that Search Engines like Google and MSN can find it, and understand it. A competent SEO firm will ensure that the guidelines detailed by the Search Engines are adhered too when programming (or reprogramming) a web site.”

Enter the next generation of Witch Doctors. They call themselves “Internet Marketers” or “Search Engine Marketers” or “a SEO” (a Search Engine Optimizer). They are the Merlins of the Internet who claim that their hocus pocus techniques can take you from Internet obscurity to financial freedom. How?

Imagine how many widgets you could sell if your site was listed on the first page of www.google.ca. If the SEO does their job right your web site can vault towards the top of the “Organic Listings” (as apposed to the Sponsored Ads) on the Search Engines.

Big whoop? There were 19,888,000 visitors to the top 100 Internet properties in Canada in December 2005 (data from COM Score Networks). What could just a 1% share of that traffic to your website do to your business? More like a big whoopee.

“If there is a great deal of competition using SEO techniques for your product or service, it may not be easy to get to the top of the Organic Listings,” said Byers. In which case, rather than a cost of $1,000 to $4,000 to reprogram your web site, hiring an SEO firm could cost from $1000 to $5000 per month to higher still as ongoing optimization is required to maintain a high page ranking. “Yet the Return on Investment may warrant the expense, he said”.

Some companies prefer to pay to be listed at the top of the Search Engines by purchasing “Sponsored Ads” also known as Pay Per Click (or PPC) ads, where the advertiser pays each time someone clicks on an ad that leads to their web site. There is an online bidding process that determines your placement and the PPC costs involved. The more competition there is for a search term the more expensive each click is. The advertiser can set a maximum daily budget, or temporarily halt the campaign, or end it altogether at any time.

However PPC is susceptible to “Click Fraud” and must be monitored very closely to ensure that someone, a competitor perhaps, is not simply clicking on your ad to burn through your budget without resulting in sales or leads for you.

According to studies by Eye Tools, Inc of San Francisco, over 80% of all Click-Throughs are to the Organic Searches Results versus the Sponsored Ads. “The expense of SEO can seem high, but the potential returns can be huge,” said Byers.

Well, if that weren’t enough, after finally deciding to have your web site reprogrammed, you knew there had to be something else, right? “Properly writing the code of your web site is only half the battle,” said Byers, “once someone lands on one of your web pages, you only have 5 seconds for them to find the information they are searching for or else they will abandon your site.” He said you must make sure the site is written to meet the needs of the user. “Make sure the user finds what he looking for and finds it fast. This way you will likely meet your objectives if you can keep them on your site.” In Internet-speak the more “sticky” your site is, the more time people will spend on your site. Of course the more chance you have of selling your product as well.

Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) may more bring more traffic to your website, and Internet Marketing may result in making more money for your business. “There are no guarantees however, so it’s best to be well informed before building a website in-house or outsourcing the work.” said Byers. He suggests combing the wealth of information available on the Internet, and/or to take courses offered online or even better, to attend courses in person. “This way you will be better able to either perform the SEO work yourself, or hire and better communicate with an outside firm” said Byers.


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About Gregory Mate & Barry Byers
Gregory Mate is the Co-Director of Training of Search Engine Academy Montreal and Toronto with Barry Byers. Together, they teach 2-day beginner, 3-day advanced, and 5-day all-inclusive "hands on" search engine marketing workshops in the Greater Montreal, Quebec and Greater Toronto, Ontario areas.

About Search Engine Academy
The Search Engine Academy is the first search engine optimization training designed for people with little or no previous experience with SEO. It also has a detailed certification program for current SEOs to ensure they possess the most current and correct skills. The Search Engine Academy was formed by industry leaders Robin Nobles and John Alexander. Each of the Search Engine Academies are independently owned and operated by licensed associates of the Search Engine Academy.

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Copyright 2006 Mate/Byers. All rights reserved.

What is Google’s OneBox, and Will Local Search Ever Land in Ireland?

Irish Symbols

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What is Google’s OneBox, and Will Local Search Ever Land in Ireland?
Posted in: Google, Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engines, Social Media by Richard Hearne on January 31, 2007

Google recently announced that they are going to include Local Results in the OneBox feature of their search results.

Now I’ll try to explain that in English
Let’s say that you are looking for a trades person of some description to come and fix an electrical appliance. You might head over to Google and search for ‘[trade] [location]’ (replace with the relevant info).

Well now when Google ’senses’ that you are looking for location-specific information they provide a nice map and some listings of local service providers:

[Edit: or let’s say you’re looking for a hairdresser in Harrogate :mrgreen:]

Now this currently does not work for Irish searches (we’re not important enough :(), and I doubt it’s going to appear any time soon.

According to Barry Schwartz over at SEL the US version also includes a rating system indicated by stars next to the listings, but I couldn’t see this from where I am located.

So how do you get into the local listings?
Well currently listing a local business on Google Maps is only possible in the following countries:

United States
United Kingdom
Italy
Netherlands
Canada
Spain
Germany
France
China
Japan
Users must validate there address with a PIN which is snail-mailed to that address. Once you’ve validated your site it has a chance to be returned in the Local Search results that now appear in OneBox.

Hang on a second. What the hell is OneBox
OneBox is an inserted ‘box’ of relevant info that Google decides to insert above the organic search results. You’ve probably come across OneBox if you’ve ever searched for weather related phrases:

Google’s search technology finds many sources of specialized information. Those that are most relevant to your search are included at the top of your search results. Typical onebox results include news, stock quotes, weather and local websites related to your search.

(Hat tip to Bill Slawski at SEL for finding that.)

Who cares? I’m in Ireland…
Well chances are that this technology will be rolled out across more markets in the coming months/years. The biggest impact will be on websites targeting local search phrases. I see a lot of localised searches here in Ireland (e.g. ‘[search phrase] dublin’ or ‘[search phrase] ireland’).

If local search is rolled out in Ireland you might find that your coveted number #1 rank in Google for ‘estate agent ballsbridge’ suddenly becomes a number 4 or 5 spot after that big eye-catching map and those very relevant local listings.

Marry those local listings with a ratings system (which plugs into the social aspects of search) and it might turn out that few people bother to scroll any further down the page beyond the local results that appear in the OneBox.

Of course one person’s threat is another person’s opportunity. Worth keeping in mind I think.

Europe Clears Google's DoubleClick Acquisition, and Deal Closes Immediately!

Five Powerful Ways to Make Money Online with a Website!

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There are many ways to make money online and the best way for you is to simply be creative with your skills, knowledge, and abilities. However, the following five options are powerful ways to make money online with a website and definitely something you should consider.

#1 Knowledge

You can always sell your knowledge, which many times is the best way if you are an “expert” of any type or subject matter. People are looking for your knowledge and input, regardless if it is self taught, learned in college, or wherever. People are always looking for answers online, so if you sell your knowledge you can simply make money from what you know.

#2 Affiliate Programs

Become an affiliate for products based on your website theme and then simply promote these programs where you earn money from referrals. It is easier than it sounds and only takes you creating a website full of rich content.

#3 Hard Goods

Selling hard goods is a traditional way of making money and it transfers to the online forum as well. No matter what hard goods you have to sell you can certainly find a buyer online. Create a website that focuses on your goods, have a good shipping plan in place, and then start selling online.

#4 E-books

Selling e-books, articles, and other written materials is also a powerful way to make money online and if you are good at writing it is certainly something you should consider. You can have your own website selling pre-written topics or else you can also write on demand, whatever works best for you and your web business.

#5 Auction Goods

Auction web sites are also very powerful ways to make money. The reason for this is you can sell a wide variety of products, do not necessarily need your own website although it helps, and can change your products from time to time as you need to. Many people enjoy working and selling via auction sites because any number of things can be sold from old personal items to new products as well.

The best way for you to make money online is for you to do something that you like and enjoy. When you do some thing you like and enjoy you will be able to commit yourself to doing it full time. The reason for this is working online can be difficult at times and if you do not enjoy it then it will be difficult for you to be successful making money via your website.

Five Deadly Mistakes Affiliates Make - A Quiz!

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Some people are making big money with affiliate programs-some are not. With a little research I have discovered that the people that are not cashing many checks are making the same five mistakes. Why not take a short quiz to see how you rate? Do you qualify as a novice, average, or super affiliate? Try this true and false quiz. You might learn something!

1. To make sure that you get all of the traffic you need, all you have to do is to put a link or banner on your site. Sales will come flooding in. (T or F)

2. It is a good idea to promote as many programs as you can on one web page created solely for that purpose. (T or F)

3. Free classified ads and FFA’s generate sufficient traffic. You don’t HAVE to invest money into advertising to be effective. (T or F)

4. Use the words, “amazing, fantastic, and incredible” as many times as you can to generate enthusiasm when advertising a site. (T or F)

5. If sales do not come immediately, you should drop the program and find another one that sounds better. (T or F)

How did you do? Let’s see…

1. False. Although a smart affiliate will include his link on his web site, this alone will not result in much traffic. It is much smarter to branch out with several kinds of advertising such as paid emails and solo ads to business opportunity seekers. I have found that sending my ads to targeted traffic results in far more sales than “shot gun” marketing to one and all. Although we hope that people will click on our links, we have to get them there first. Targeted traffic programs are best.

2. False. While being actively involved in several different affiliate programs is not harmful, including a dozen affiliate links on a single page with no “main” product advertisement, brands the webmasters as amateurs-especially if the offers conflict with one another! On the other hand, a list of “resources” to the side that complements the main product is a good idea-and may result in sales!

3. False. Although these “freebies” may sound tempting to newbies, we that have been around the net for awhile have discovered that they are generally a waste of valuable time. Using that time to write articles with URLs in the signature boxes or gaining testimonials for your site is more profitable. Actually, most super affiliates are willing to invest a few bucks to be successful. Paid email programs and solo ads are inexpensive and still effective. Many good programs will let you begin with as little as ten bucks. That’s less than the cost of a decent lunch!

4. False. Using these “hype” phrases when advertising may not generate as much enthusiasm as it does skepticism. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We know this. So, tell the truth. If you have a good product, then tell your potential customer how he can benefit. Then let him decide how “amazing” it is. If it really is so awesome, then testimonials will do the real advertising.

5. False. Big mistake! Give the program some time. DON'T give up quickly. While it’s not a bad idea to test out new programs, don't jump from program to program. You'll find that legitimate programs with good products will pay off if you are patient.
Your score: 2 or less correct. Right now, you are in the NOVICE rating. Your affiliate marketing skills need to be honed. But don’t despair! You need help and there are lots of terrific techniques out there that are just what you need to achieve that affiliate income that you’ve always wanted!!

3-4 correct. You are an AVERAGE affiliate. You have obviously been around affiliate marketing awhile, but you could use a refresher course. I highly recommend finding a pro to learn from! Before long, you too will be a SUPER AFFILIATE!

All 5 correct: You are a SUPER affiliate! Keep up the good work and don’t forget that the best affiliate marketers NEVER stop learning!

Try this Free Niche book that is an excellent insight to Niche domination!
==> FIND YOUR NICHE!

Word of Mouth Marketing

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Word of Mouth Marketing
by Michael Southon

'Word of Mouth' is still one of the most effective
marketing techniques, online or offline.

Joe arrives at your website and he likes it. In fact,
he'd like to tell Fred about it. It's just the thing
Fred's been looking for. What if Joe could recommend
your website to Fred by sending him an email straight
from your website?

Well, he can...if you have an 'email to a friend'
script installed on your website.

There are many free scripts that will do this for you.
But the one I found easiest to install is a script
developed by William Bontrager, called 'Master
Recommend'.

This one was easy. I had it working on my second
attempt.

You can see this script in action at:
http://www.freezineweb.com/index.html

Basically all you have to do is (1) configure the cgi
script and upload it to your cgi bin, (2) create a new
web page with a form that is linked to the cgi script
on your server.

You can download Master Recommend at:
http://willmaster.com/master/recommend/mr.pl?v=zip

To get a detailed explanation of how to install it,
visit:
http://www.willmaster.com/master/recommend/MasterRecommend
manual.html

This script will even send you a copy of your visitor's
message (it's useful to know what your visitors think
about your website).

If you prefer not to have anything to do with cgi,
there's a much easier way of putting 'email to a
friend' on your site.

Thetellafriendnetwork.com has a program that is hosted
on their site. Installing it is as simple as pasting
some HTML code into your web page. Your visitors will
be presented with a simple form where they can enter
up to three of their friends' email addresses.

You can add this service to your website at the
following URL:
http://www.thetellafriendnetwork.com/addasite.html

------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over
3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use
this simple technique to build a successful online business.

Why Just The Right PPC Campaign Management Brings in Lots and Lots of Cash

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So you spent all your time and energy building the perfect website. Now you want to share the fruits of your labor, and maybe even make some money on the side through your online ads.

Maybe you have an online business that markets a hot product that you are selling on your website; but you find that you are having trouble bringing customers into your site. So instead of gaining money, you are actually losing money because of the monthly rent that you're paying to have your website hosted in cyberspace.

The best solution to this problem is to advertise. Let people know that you are here and ready to do business. One of the quickest and most effective ways to advertise your website on the net is to come up with a great PPC campaign management plan. PPC is an abbreviation for Pay Per Click.

Certain keywords or phrases that people type into a search engine lead to hundreds and hundreds of search results that pertain to that specific keyword. Businesses that want to advertise on the net using a PPC campaign have to come up with a plethora of keywords that is associated to the business that they are running; so when potential customers type in these keywords, it will lead them to their business site.

This is pretty much the whole concept that operates behind PPC. This is how a PPC campaign brings in traffic to your site, with the selection of the right keywords that people can search through the net.

Some keywords tend to be more expensive than others, especially popular ones. It is vital to select the right keywords, in order to get your money's worth. This is why it is important to manage you PPC campaign wisely. Sometimes you are better off opting for the less popular keywords that are not so expensive, especially if you have a limited budget. Some businesses even hire the help of a consultant to manage their PPC campaigns.

There are a lot of experts that specialize in PPC campaign management. They come with strategic plans, and assess the need of their clients. They then come up with a PPC campaign that caters to their client's specification.

This is why big online businesses seek the expertise of a professional to run their PPC ad campaign, because the right set of plans, can potentially bring in a large amount of profits. The more keywords you have, the more you increase the chances of customers clicking these keywords that would lead them to your website. There are also some software you can purchase, such as GoToast, or Bid Rank. These software track down your keywords listing.

If you are running a business online, and are planning to run a PPC campaign, it is advisable to purchase keywords that are extremely related to the theme of your business. This way, people know what they are getting, and don't get confused about the content of your website. The secret is to use keywords or phrases that are searched frequently, but cost very little.

The chances are, the longer people stay in your site, the likelihood of these potential customers making a transaction. But first thing is first. You must lure them into your turf.

This is why a lot of entrepreneurs spend a large amount of their budget on advertising, because they know that the right advertising campaign can start the ball rolling.

Also, you should do some research before you start your PPC campaign. There are a lot of PPC search engines to chose from. Those who are less renowned charge less for the same keywords that you'd find in the bigger PPC search engines.

The great thing about PPC campaigns is that you can reach a worldwide audience. Advertising online means global marketing.

Most PPC search engines require a monthly payment in exchange for their services. But if you fail to make payments, they will automatically take your listings out of their search engines. So make sure that you pay your monthly bills, so all the efforts that you put into your PPC campaign don't go to waste.

The potential earnings that can be generated by starting a pay per click campaign is significant. That's why a lot of online businesses now are trying to get in on the act. Now, with the right set of keywords, and a smart PPC campaign management plan, more than ever, online businesses are bringing in the big bucks.