All about Marketing

Are you trying to start an online business? Are you overwhelmed with the many online business programs available or concerned that you'll lose money by investing in them? While many offers sound too good to be true, there are some very good ones available - but how can you be sure? Learning to read 'between the lines' will better prepare you for what's really involved.

Why do most people fail with their online business? In the first 3 months usually?

It is because they fail to plan and plan to fail. You need to determine what you want to sell first, it doesn't even have to be your own product. Find some good resale right products that you can sell just like your own. Expect to succeed! Put the time, effort and whatever money is needed and test your promotions. Always test to find out what works and what doesn't. That is another subject for another day.

Here are some common phrases used to promote online businesses and what they really mean:


1 - Simple & Easy

Simple and easy depends on who's speaking. A doctor may tell you it's only a 'simple procedure' but that doesn't mean that you should attempt it yourself. Many online businesses ARE simple to operate. If you understand how it works you will be amazed at the simplicity - but getting to that point will require time and experience. You may just need to try a few to get a 'feel' for the business before deciding which one is easiest for you.

Those who have learned from experience can look back and see how simple it COULD have been if they'd known what to do all along. Finding a trustworthy guide can be a great assistance to your business efforts.


2 - Anyone Can Do This

Sorry - starting a business of any kind is stressful and requires a learning curve. If you are attempting an online business out of desperation or the belief you will make easy money you will face enormous obstacles. On the other hand, if you are truly seeking a business you can learn, work at and make a living from, you will find something online that fits your needs.

Studies of successful business people concur that those who make it have common qualities of persistence, patience and desire. These qualities are essential when trying to start an online business - do you have them?


3 - Turnkey

The term 'turnkey' use to mean that a business was set up and ready to go. You will find the term in business classifieds where the new owner can just step in and start running the business. Unfortunately some marketers use the term to suggest a business is fully automated - that thereis no work involved.
There is always work involved. If the business really is turnkey than you will begin work right away because it has already been set to go. If you want an automated business you will have to do the work to make it automated. Either way, nobody is going to give you an automated, turnkeybusiness that makes money - they had to do the work, so why would they share it?


4 - It Won't Cost Anything

You absolutely CAN set up an online business with no money, but be prepared that a combination of no money and lack of experience will stifle your efforts immensely. Most individuals who start or run a business with no money have learned how to make use of the best FREE techniques through experience. They have paid their dues by trying businesses that cost money. They have spent time in and around their industry or market and they've been able to see where they can cut costs.

If you are prepared to spend a LOT of time researching before starting your business you may be one of the few who does it right the first time. For most people though, expect to pay something towards your online business education before seeing results - you just can't buy experience.

Online business obviously has its share of work involved, but finding the right one has enormous payoffs many people are willing to sacrifice time and money to achieve. Running your own business is satisfying and can give you more time to do what you really want to do in life.

Creating a successful online business is within the grasp of nearly everyon^e who is prepared to stick to it. Face the task of starting your business with realistic expectations while continuing to dream big and you may just surprise yourself!


Written by Dan Farrell
http://www.teawithedge.com

Every internet marketer wants to make as money as possible. But how much money do you really need? What are the financial goals you want to achieve with your online business? These are the fundamental questions you have to answer when you start an online business.

Like many others you probably stumbled into the demanding task of managing an online business by accident. You bought some ebooks, signed up for multiple affiliate programs, set up your own website, subscribed to several membership sites and at the end of the day you realized that this all costs a lot of money.

You are in desperate need of more income from your business. Common sense tells you that you need to advertise for your business. So you go out there and buy any kind of advertising. This leaves you with even more expenses and like many others not much to show for.

Now you are at the turning point. You have substantial expenses, but not enough earnings to support these expenses. The foolish continue what they are doing and hope for the best. There’s a better way to get your business finances under control. The following 7 steps should give you an idea how to straighten out your business finances and how you can prevent a financial Waterloo for your business.


1. Create a business plan

This sounds like a broken record, but without a clear business plan you are setting yourself up for disaster. A business plan can be as simple as a few pages describing what you want to do, how you want to do it, how much profit you plan to make, how much money you have to begin with and how long you can survive before you run out of money or you break even with income and expenses.

The idea of a business plan is not to predict the future, but to create a roadmap for yourself, in case you get lost on your journey and need directions to save your business.


2. Separate your finances

It doesn’t matter if you operate your online business as a real incorporated business or if you just want to test the waters. Mixing your business finances with your personal finances is a bad idea period. Create a separate checking account. Use it to deposit the checks you will receive and as the linked account for your business PayPal account. Yes, a separate PayPal account is necessary to track your business finances and to provide a more polished, professional image for your business.

If you don’t have a separate credit card for your business, use one of your personal credit cards and use it for your business expenses only. This way you can easily track your expenses. Knowing the exact financial situation of your business is vital for your survival. If you’re loosing money you need to know right away to make necessary adjustments and if you’re making money you don’t want to wait until tax time to get a rude awakening.


3. Reinvest

A rule of thumb is to reinvest 75% of your earnings back into advertising for your business. In the beginning it can be as high as 100%, because you need to get the word out. Without customers you are not making any money. You do know that an online business is by definition a sales business? You are selling either a product or a service. If you don’t, you don’t have an online business.

Of course a startup online business has no income to be reinvested. However the same rules apply to the startup capital that every new business needs to get started. A new computer and a fancy new car won’t get you any new customers, but good advertising will.


4. Keep track

You need to know where you spend your money at all times. In order to do this, a simple spreadsheet will get you started. Later you need a little bit more help from a professional finance program. Either way this will keep you on track with your spending and you will know how well you’re doing at all times.

Keep track of your advertising. You need to know if your advertising is working or not. Like a real store you need to know why a visitor entered your store and if they don’t buy get at least their contact information. Hardly anybody sells to first time visitors. Repeat business from visitors and customers are the bread and butter for any online business.


5. Organize

This is not only for tax purposes, but you need to organize everything you’re doing with your business. Nothing kills your business faster than not knowing what pays your bills and to whom you owe money. Imagine you forget to renew your domain name registration. A few bucks could cost you a million dollar business. So do yourself a big favor and get organized with your business.


6. Repeat

Readjust non working advertising immediately. If it is not working, dump it. On the other hand repeat a profitable advertising campaign. Rule of thumb, if it brings in more money than it costs to run, keep doing it. This seems to be a simple rule, but many online business owners simply ignore this rule. Instead they are chasing the white elephant and end up with nothing to show for.

If you have a successful advertising campaign, keep it running and build a new campaign next to it. Never drop a profitable campaign, always expand. This is your safety net. In case the new campaign fails. In marketing there’s never a guarantee. Be creative, track and repeat. That’s the only way to get something going.


7. Expand

If your business is not growing your business is dieing. Unfortunately this is reality in today’s business world. This means that you need to adjust your financial goals for your business to allow for expansion. Consult your business plan to determine what went well and what went wrong. Whatever you do, always aim higher.

There you have it, 7 steps to set the financial goals of your online business. I know that it takes more than filling out a membership application to run a successful online business, but you can do it if you keep these steps in mind.


Courtesy:
Peter Dobler
http://www.teawithedge.com

Creating and maintaining an effective presence on the Web has become increasingly complex and challenging as the power of the Internet as a marketing tool becomes more and more necessary to entrepreneurs and emerging businesses.
Creating and maintaining an effective presence on the Web has become increasingly complex and challenging as the power of the Internet as a marketing tool becomes more and more necessary to entrepreneurs and emerging businesses.

The good news is that technologies that were only available to the big guys just a couple of years ago — audio, video, ecommerce, e-mail database management applications — are now affordable for almost everybody. The bad news is that the number of choices and opportunities can be confusing and overwhelming.

Here are my eight favorite tips to help you steer clear of some of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen people make when designing or re-designing their Web projects.


1. You begin without a marketing strategy.

Web sites, like brochures, newsletters, business cards, post cards and the like, are simply part of your marketing mix, not just something you build so you can say you have one.Before you begin, you need to ask yourself important questions about your Web site strategy beginning with why you want a Web site in the first place.

a. What are your objectives? To educate? Motivate? Inform? Attract new business? Serve existing clients? Be perceived a certain way, such as compassionate or trendy?

b. Who is your target audience?

c. What do you want your visitors to discover and/or do when they log on to your site?As the Cheshire cat explained to Alice — if you don't know where you're going, I can't tell you how to get there. So before you do anything else, make an Internet marketing plan for your site.


2. You have no Internet branding or inappropriate branding.

Once you know what your objectives are and have identified your target audience, your site needs to reflect that knowledge. A music site selling hip-hop to teens needs to look and feel a lot different from a health care site for seniors or a motorcycle site for guys that ride Harley Fat Boys.A good brand should repel as strongly as it attracts. Once you get the positioning and Internet branding right, your site will sort out your potential clients from the online crowd.


3. You buy the wrong technology for your goals and objectives.

There are two big, broad categories of Web sites — one that you own and one that you rent. The "rental" model is a site offered by what is called an Application Service Provider or ASP. You usually will pay a set up fee and a monthly fee ranging from $59 way up to hundreds of dollars depending on the sophistication of the Web site application.At the low end, you may see an ad for a "FREE WEB SITE." The company offers to build your site and then you "just pay" $59 per month— forever! With this model the site itself never belongs to you, only your content. If you leave the provider, you can't take the site with you.With the ownership model, you will hire a Web site designer, or do the work yourself, then pay an annual or monthly hosting fee — usually much smaller comparatively — and you own both the site and the content, which you can move to a different service provider if you wish.


4. You have no Internet marketing plan.

“We will build it and they will come,” has not worked for a long, long time. Budget the money necessary to promote your site and meet your objectives, or wait until you can. It doesn't have to be a very expensive plan. But do something! There are way too many "secret Web sites" out there in cyberspace. Start building your email database as soon as possible. Consider an eZine to keep you in front of your prospects on a regular basis. Offer a free report on your site. Put the offer on the back of your business card.If you want to do more, work with a Search Engine Optimizer (SEO), who will make your site attractive to Google and Yahoo and other top search engines. You may also want to consider pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to get you to the top of the search engine listings.


5. You have no way to measure your site's effectiveness.

Remember that old saying: "If it's not broken; don't fix it?" Well you will need a way to know if your site is working for you or not. Make sure that your service provider offers site statistics, to let you know who is visiting, how often and if your traffic is growing.Use an email sign-up form to build your database, and keep an eye on your progress. Track what works and what doesn't, and make changes as you get feedback.


6. Your technology doesn't match the target audience.

We've all had the experience of landing on a Web site, only to get a message saying that we don't have the right plug-in to view it. Sometimes the site designer has a link letting you know that since you are among the "great unwashed" without the "right" browser of technology, you must go download it to view the site. Don't expect that potential visitor to stick around!Research your target audience to make sure your site considers their technology level. Don’t use images that are too large to load in a reasonable amount of time if your users don't have a broadband connection, for example.


7. You let your users get lost in Cyberspace.

Your navigation system needs to be clear, and intuitive. Links should be in the same position on each page. There should always be a "home" button. Confusing navigation drives potential clients and users away.


8. You play hard to get.

Don't make it hard for your clients and prospects to communicate with you. Make sure your contact information is on every page and is easy to access. Let your visitors know what you want them to do, like: “Call me!” or “Sign Up for My E-EZine.”


About the author:
Marcia Torrey-Jay is a Web designer, writer, and Internet marketing professional http://www.visionquest.tv/