Christlike4life
SET UP HOME OFFICE
YOU WILL NEED A WORK PAD AND A COMPUTER Start your ideal for your business from your ideals and write theam down on your 8X10 scrach pad, Draw your images as you would like theam to appear on your Advertisement, Web Page, or flyer. You do not have to be an artis to get the main ideal!
- PRINTER You will need a printer with a scanner and fax machine ( Fax machine optional) http://www.lexmark.com/
- BUSINESS CARDS You will need to order Business cards and a stamp pad with your business information on it, if you would like to have your P.O.Box number on your busisness cards you will have to perchase it before you order cards also, your bussiness phone number and adress should be set up before you order your cards. http://www.vistaprint.com/
- P.O.BOX NUMBER You will need a P.O.box to receive large amounts of mail.
- TRANSPORTATION If you are going to do business deals in your city and state you will need transportation to get to place to place, if you are to pass out flyers or advertisements .
- DISTRIBUTION If you are to do door to door advertisment or street both work.
- BUSINESS PHONE NUMBER You will need a business line in your home office.
- STAMP WITH BUSINESS When you order your business cards and your P.O.box
- INFORMATION have this information put on a ink stamp so when you have to do a large mailing you will not have to write you information down over and over.
- TAX NUMBER You will need to go to city Hall to get a tax number or check with your city goverment to see where to go.
- TWO Dital CAMERAS You will need a camera to take pictures to download to your web site,also a back up camra in case of camera failer
- WEB SITE YOU will need to Go to http://www.mysite/ and get you a Free website to start working on your web, Also they have banner free websites at low prices.
- Stapler , file boxes, Rubberbans, index cards , 500 enevelopes, Find you a kinkos or resonable print shop to do print jobs you do not want to do, also the libary has printers that the public can use at 10. a copy.
Choosing A Business Name
Why establish a business name
Having a registered business name allows you to take advantage of many tax deductions associated with a home-based business. Many of those tax deductions are mentioned in the Accounting & Taxes Curriculum section that we will cover a little bit later.
Most manufacturers and dropship companies will require you to be a registered business with a Tax ID before they will work with you.
Choosing a business name
When selecting a business name, consider choosing one that is non-specific (e.g, "Jones Marketing"). A general name will allow you to operate multiple online businesses under that one "umbrella" name. Keep in mind that your registered business name does not have to be your domain name. Your individual sites will have their own specific domain names that don't necessarily need to match your business name. It doesn't hurt if they do match, but it is not mandatory.
Before you register your business name, check to see if the name is available. Check with your local county clerk's office, state department of commerce, or the state tax commission office.
Remember, as part of registering your business, you'll need to have chosen a legal structure for your business, as we already discussed in the previous Choosing A Type section.
What is a DBA & a State Tax ID number?
DBA stands for "Doing Business As." A DBA is also known as a Fictitious Business Name. If you plan to operate under a name other than your own main business name you will want to register it as a DBA.
In addition to registering a business name, you will most likely need a State Tax ID number for your business. Some states allow you to use your Social Security number for your Tax ID number. Check with your local government to find out what is required in your state.
Where to register
Generally, you can register your business name and get your State Tax ID number at your local county clerk's office or the state tax commission.
For a state by state list of web sites where you can register a tax ID number, click here.
At http://www.sba.gov/ you can find where to register your business for your individual state. Go directly to this list by clicking here.
Assignments
Register a business name with your local county/state and get a State Tax ID number.
Making Sense of Bookkeeping, Accounting, & Taxes
Taxes
Because tax laws can be very complex, we recommend that you work with a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) for handling your home-based business taxes. Many of our clients have also used the services of The Web Tax Center. This Company is made up of a group of accountants who specialize in helping our clients maximize their small business tax savings. They can also set up your business as a corporation if you decide you could benefit from the additional protection and tax benefits that a corporation offers. For more information, visit their site at www.webtaxcenter.com.
Otherwise, check your local listings for a CPA in your area.
Keeping track of your accounting and tax info
One essential step in setting up and running a business is doing the bookkeeping. Knowing your sales revenue and expenses are essential to your success. For example, if you spend $100 on a specific marketing technique in a given month, you will want to track whether that technique was effective in increasing sales. Proper accounting will help you become more profitable.
How to do your bookkeeping
In order to properly keep track of your accounting records, you will definitely want some type of method of doing your bookkeeping. Whether it be through keeping a notebook full of expenses and revenues by hand, or purchasing a program like Quickbooks to assist you, it doesn't matter, just as long as you have some type of accounting procedure. (Check out http://www.myfinancialsoftware.com/ for a great, inexpensive bookkeeping software.)
What to know about doing your own taxes
One date everyone's familiar with is April 15th--"Tax Day". If you decide to file your own business taxes, you will need to file them by that date. In order to take advantage of all the tax write-offs you are entitled to you must have set up your business legally. Refer back to that section if necessary for instructions on how to setup your business legally.
When filing your business taxes make sure you have the proper tax forms. Visit www.irs.gov for more information. Each business structure will have different forms that need to be filed. We recommend that you consult with a tax accountant to assist you in filing taxes for your business. Your local county clerk's office will usually be able to assist you in knowing which forms to fill out as well.
Tax breaks to know about
Saving money with a home business involves learning what tax deductions are available to you. You can learn what deductions are available by contacting the IRS at 1-800-tax-form or online at www.irs.gov. There are also two tax guides that can assist you: #334 and #530. These are home/small business tax guides that you may want to become familiar with.
There are many different tax deductions that you, as a business owner, can take advantage of. Some of those deductions are listed below:
Home business write-offs (e.g., a percentage of your mortgage, phone bills, and utilities).
Your computer equipment or software that you've purchased for business use is also tax deductible.
The money you spent on being a part of the Internet Success Team is also a business expense that is tax deductible.
Assignments
Make sure you've got some type of accounting method that you are utilizing.
Find an accountant that specializes in working with small businesses.
Writing an Effective Business Plan
What business plans are
A business plan is an outline of the basic idea and direction of a business. It is a process of evaluating a potential business opportunity and then outlining how that opportunity will be pursued.
A business plan brings together the different elements of a business including marketing, operations, human resources, accounting, etc., under a single roof so that all elements can work as a single unit.
A normal, full-fledged business plan that you might present to investors if you needed capital to start your business would be between 20-30 pages long. For your purpose, a 2-5.html minibusiness plan should be sufficient. You don't want to spend 10 weeks putting together a business plan and never get into designing and marketing your web site. The minibusiness plan that you'll want to create will be more like the executive summary portion of a normal business plan; therefore, we will call our minibusiness plan an Executive Summary Business Plan.
Why business plans are important
Business plans are a very important aspect of starting and running a successful business. Is it essential for you to put together a full 20.html business plan in order for you to be successful? No, but an outline of the key business aspects is a very good idea. Some of the major reasons for formulating a business plan are listed below.
1. To give overall direction to your company. - A business plan enables individuals from all areas of a company to come together under a single purpose and function. It is a communicating tool that merges ideas, concepts, goals, and vision. It forces you to define your main purpose and competitive advantage. Without a clear direction that is communicated throughout all areas of a company, failure is imminent. A business plan gets management, investors, and employees all on the same page.
2. To establish goals and checkpoints for your business that keep you going in the right direction. - The reason most start-up businesses fail before the end of the first year is because they are running a business on a dream or an idea. Their goals are to be financially independent, to have some retirement or travel money, etc. Without specific, measurable goals, and checkpoints for those goals, failure is likely. A business plan provides such goals and checkpoints that can keep an organization, whether large or small, moving forward.
3. To force you to do your homework instead of just guessing blindly - Homework--meaning market research, product research, etc. There are millions of businesses out there, how do you plan on competing? Knowing the size of your target market, their characteristics, and their needs, are important questions that a business plan forces you to ask.
4. Business plans are essential if you plan on receiving any type of financing - The first question any potential investor will ask is "What is your plan?" In other words, "Let me see your business plan!" Without a clear and concise business plan, obtaining any type of financing, whether it be from venture capitalists, the SBA, a bank, etc., is impossible. You may get some money out of a wealthy family member or friend without a business plan, but you shouldn't count on it. If you are not seeking financing at this time, an Executive Summary Business Plan should be sufficient.
Outline of an Executive Summary Business Plan
I. Purpose of the plan - Is it to attract capital from investors, act as a guide for the management? Establish goals and checkpoints for your business or some other purpose?
II. Business Description - - What is your business?
What is your mission/vision statement?
What is your product line?
Is it focussed enough? What needs will you satisfy?
How will you compete in the market place? In other words, what's your competitive advantage?
A competitive advantage is what sets you apart from your competition. For example, do you have free shipping, secure ordering, free info that you send out, etc.?
Research your competition in order to determine what their competitive advantages are and then develop your own. Part of your site will be based around your competitive advantages.
III. Market Analysis - What are the current market trends?
What are the specific demographics of your target market?
What characteristics do they possess? How old are they? Are they male or female? Do they have children? What other web sites would they visit and shop at? Who are your competitors?
IV. Development and Production - How will you fulfill your objectives?
How will your web site be built and who will build it?
Who will manage, make changes and updates to your web site?
Who will manufacture and ship your products?
Who will cover shipping costs? How long will it take for the products to arrive in the hands of the customers?
Who will handle returns? How will customer service issues be resolved?
V. Marketing Activities - What's the overall marketing strategy? How will you target and market to your customers?
This is where you will outline the specific marketing tactics you plan on using for promotion of your business. (We'll cover over, You may also want to include a timeline for applying those marketing strategies. Additionally, you may include your sales projections. In other words, how much traffic and sales revenue do you expect during the first year on a month-to-month basis? What will happen in the second and third years?
VI. Management Team - Who are the key owners and managers? What are their credentials?
As your business grows, will you need to hire employees to fill certain positions? What are those positions and what credentials will you be looking for?
What is the legal structure of your business? Will you form an LLC, a corporation, or will it be a partnership or sole proprietorship?
What support services will you be outsourcing? (accountants for taxes, Internet Success Team, Internet Coaching Hotline, etc.)?
VII. Financial Data - What are the costs of starting your business? What will the future costs be? For example, did you buy or will you buy a new computer?
Are you paying for web site design and advertising (Internet Success Team costs?) What are the future financial projections and how did you come up with them? (This information will be helpful when you go to do your taxes. You may want to put together an Income Statement that shows all the expenses and future financial projections.)
VIII. Final Objective and Risks - What's the long-term goal of the business? Do you plan on going public, will you grow it and then sell it? Will you expand into other businesses? Explain your future plans with your business here.
The main keys to a successful business plans
Specific keys to an effective business plan are outlined above. In summary, though, be sure to remember these 2 important keys to a successful business plan:
Develop clear competitive advantages and know who your target market is.
Outline a specific marketing plan with details such as timelines and when each strategy will be implemented.
Articles with great business plan information
AmericanExpress.com's Small Business section has one of the best business plan outlines on the Internet. Go to http://www.americaexpress.com/ and click on Small Business. You'll find the outline in the section labeled Create an Effective Business Plan. To go there directly, click here. AllBusiness.com has some great information and articles that explain how to develop a business plan. Browse their website by clicking here. The Small Business Association also has a good business plan section. Go to the business plan section of www.sba.gov by clicking here.
Hot business plan products and software
Business Plan Pro is a great software program that will take you step-by-step through building your business plan. It costs $99.95 and can be found at http://www.paloalto.com/ or at www.businessplanpro.com. BizPlanBuilder is also a great software program that will assist you in putting together a business plan. It also costs $99.95 and can be found at http://www.jian.com/ Click here and then on BizPlanBuilder to read more about it. Nolo.com has a lot of great information and software for small business owners. Their Business Plan Pro, at $99.99, is a great software program for developing a business plan. Visit www.nolo.com and under Software click on Business Plan Pro.
How To Start & Setup Your Business
Welcome to the Business Setup section. Here you'll learn everything you need to know about getting your business foundation in place so that you can achieve maximum results on the Internet. Be sure to review all the information contained in this section so that you can make sure you're utilizing all the tools available to maximize your online success.
The first, and often times most skipped, step to making loads of money will be to get your business setup properly with your local government. This step is extremely important for lots of reasons, but most importantly it will help when tax time rolls around and when legitimizing your business to partners, affiliates, investors, etc.
In this Business section, you'll learn about the different types of business types available so that you can make an educated decision on choosing your own business structure. We'll also discuss coming up with a business name which you will need to have in order to become a legal entity. You'll also need to get together with an accountant to go over tax issues to make sure your business is being properly accounted for financially. Lastly, as your business grows, obtaining additional financing may be an avenue that you'll want to go down to take your business to the next level. In order to get any financing, whether it be from a bank or a venture capitalist, you'll need an effective business plan. So, we'll go over the different elements of a business plan as well.
The last step in this section will be to review our Checklist to make sure that you have not missed anything along the way. So let's get started!
What Is Viral Traffic?
Generating viral traffic is when you do something once, then sit back and watch the fruits of your labor spread throughout the internet like a virus.
Viral traffic is generated from your digital media being "passed on" throughout the net. At least that's the type of viral traffic we're talking about in this book. Traffic from media you create.
Media such as:
- PDF eBooks and Reports
- MP3 Audios
- AVI and Flash Videos
- EXE Software Here's the idea...
You create a PDF, MP3, AVI, or EXE file with some of your best information included. Then you give it away to other marketers along with Giveaway and Resell Rights for them to circulate it.
Tips:
- Make sure the information is in demand by using market research methods. For example, go to ClickBank and find the most popular product in your niche. Take a look at the sales page. Then create digital media based on the same type of information.
- The media you create is going to have a link back to your website or a message that drives visitors to your website or to a page on your website.
- Not all media goes viral, so choose carefully.
DOWNLOAD :
YOU will need to download Mozilla Fire Fox: They offer tools that internet Exployer cannot duplicate.
Go to http://www.openoffice.org/ and download it.
OPen Office and install it on your computer: you are going to be able to create a PDF flie , and other Documents that Word cannot pefrom. This solfware is free.
Once installed on your computer Register your copy :You will need a new Email adress just to keep up with all the new information We will provide you go to Msn.com and get a Live Email account This Email is free and you can send everything you are learning and downloading and emailing to one Email adress. YOU BUSINESS NAME@live.com
CREATE AN OPEN OFFICE TEXT DOCUMENT:
Right click mouse onto desktop "New" open Document text Use the office writer program if you need help formatting your text. follow your ideals that you put down on your 8X10 pad you will be updateing this text daily intill it is prefected to your likeing so you will be saveing as you go along.
Market your Product:
Make sure you put in your Product offers free service you offer craet links incert ads , incert HYPERLINK to create your link make sure your document is about five to 10 pages long incert what size font center or right left your page or use full page; do not for get to save your document as you go.
download all pictures you want to use to your picture folder, some you can get from clip bord or scan on your printer, use your camera to take pictures of your product.
CONVERT THE DOCUMENT INTO A PDF
Click on the PDF button in open office browser
Making Your PDF Truly Viral
Creating a report that others can sell or give away is not enough to make it viral.
You can give it away yourself, but in order to make it viral, you need some incentive to encourage other people to distribute it.
The most popular incentive is of course CASH!
Pay people affiliate commissions on the products promoted inside your report.
The easiest way to do this is to sell your products through Clickbank.com - but you can use any sort of affiliate program.
Types of Websites
The last thing I want to discuss in this section, is websites. There are three main types of websites available to you for using in an online business. The first is a billboard website or more commonly called a FREE website. These can be found with any major web provider. Basically, you just use their software to build your own insecure site on their server space. I don't suggest using one of these unless it is only used as a way to market and advertise business, driving potential customers to your main site. (Hence the name "billboard" site.)
The second type of website on the Internet, and one of the most popular, is called an e-commerce sales website. This is the type of website you see all the time when you visit a company's online site. This website is designed to offer the company's product or service online, tell the customers about it, and make it easy for them to purchase that product or service directly from the site as opposed to having to call in or order from a magazine or other source. An excellent example of this is the popular company called Omaha Steaks. Omaha Steaks has been around for a long time, and yet, they only sold their steaks through a mail order business. At the beginning of 1999, they set up their own e-commerce website and instantly, that same year, doubled their sales. Why? Because they opened their business up to a huge potential customer base on the Internet - millions of steak lovers across the world.
You can do this as well. You can put up a site to give your customers the option to buy from you, or you can offer free information that will draw them to another site where they can then find out about your core products or services. This is the most straight forward type of website, and one that most people are familiar with.
The third type of site you can utilize online is a portal web site. This type of site is an online "community" of sorts. Think about Yahoo and Alta Vista. These sites are designed to draw people to the site and keep them there for all their online needs such as weather, stocks, maps, traffic, shopping, etc. A portal offers information to its "citizens". A broad "horizontal" portal offers a large range of topics and information catering to "everyone". A narrow "vertical" portal caters to a narrow segment of the market, with specialized information that would be of interest to a smaller range of the population.
As you read on about portal sites, remember that this is not a quick cash generating business. It can take a lot of investment in time and money to get one up and running. However, the potential payoff down the road can be huge. So if a portal site is of interest to you, keep reading. If you are more interested in putting up your sales website and getting cash flowing in the door, move on the next section where I will discuss creating your successful online presence.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM IN A PORTAL SITE?
A portal website can be a money maker for you, even if you don't necessarily have a product to sell. The reason for this is that once you have sufficient traffic visiting your site, advertisers to your narrow market segment will pay you to advertise at your portal.
A portal site can also help you become recognized as an industry expert, increasing sales to
an already
established business venture. For example, suppose you are an online business selling scrap-booking supplies. You have a reasonable amount of traffic to your site, but let's face it; there are a lot of scrapbook suppliers out there.
You decide that you would like to create a scrap booking portal site. You can become THE online resource for all the crafters out there that are into scrap booking. You can create forums to
allow people to share their ideas and even images of their finished pages. You can add links to other websites and suppliers, you can include daily, weekly or monthly articles and ideas. You can allow your "citizens" to provide the information for articles and tips.
Think about it. Once you have established your portal site as an industry standard, people will be willing to visit YOUR online store to purchase their products since you are so helpful and knowledgeable about the industry.
And here's the best part, once you have a lot of traffic to your site, advertisers will pay you to advertise to those crafters that are visiting your site every day! By constantly adding information and ideas, you will encourage repeat visitors and establish an "online community" where people who scrapbook can visit often.
So we've talked about how a portal can drive potential customers to your core sales site to increase product sales. What if you don't have a product?
Use your portal site to refer your visitors to the products or services of others. And get a referral fee for doing it! You don't have to take credit cards, ship products, or maintain inventory - simply tell the customers who see you as an expert what is the best "widget" to buy and send them to that site. Then collect the referral fee from the company you just referred them to.
sections you have, the more money you are collecting in advertising revenues each month!
So how do you go about developing a portal site? You have the knowledge and want to move forward to establishing yourself as an industry expert, so what now?
The first thing I would recommend is move NOW. Don't wait. There are people out there that know as much as you do about your industry. You want to move in quickly and establish yourself before someone else does.
Another important element is that to be an industry expert, you can't just rely on the stuff you already
know. Do research! Read and increase your knowledge.
Communicate with people in your industry. Continue to learn as you
enrich your site for others.
Along the same lines of your continuing education about your industry, make sure that your site grows along with your knowledge. Keep your visitors coming back by maintaining a well-designed site with compelling and informative content. This is very important. Your main purpose on the Internet is running your business. So make sure to automate it, and make it as "hands off as possible. This creates and maintains a strong residual income for you.
You can do this in some very easy ways, but you must put the time in now to make this so. Keep your site looking "fresh". Change it often, daily if possible, to keep them returning to learn more. Stay focused and keep your target market in mind when you publish content. Communicate with your visitors through email campaigns or online surveys to find out what they would like to see added or changed, then do it and make sure to let them know it has been done. If you don't tell them that you made the changes they wanted, they won't come back and take a look. Customers need a little friendly reminder on occasion.
Diversify your income on the portal site by developing products or services that will appeal to the huge base of potential customers that are visiting your site all the time. By doing so, you will have a "built-in" client base for your product or service, AND you will already be seen by them as the industry expert.
So, whether you are building a billboard site, an e-commerce sales site, or a portal catering to a niche in
the market, you still have to do one thing. Build the site! You've heard that cliche statement from the
movie "Field of
Dreams" - "If you build it, they will come." Get started with something! Remember your business plan can
change monthly if needed, but taking action is what will start the flow of success. Now move on to the next
section, where I will discuss the basics of creating that successful online presence through your website.
Some sites create an elaborate graphic as their "navigator" and their visitors must dick on parts of the picture to surf to the various parts of the website. This will only slow your site, and the novelty of it will not outweigh the slow speed.
Above all, make the site consistent. Keep the background color the same for all pages. Choose link and text colors, but don't over do it. You want to keep a feeling of consistency throughout your site, so that your customers will instinctively know that they are still on YOUR site and haven't navigated off to someplace else.
DON'T OVERDO THE COLORS!
Remember you want your website to look professional and appealing. It is not a contest to see how many colors or fonts you can use on your site. Use color to emphasize key concepts or points. Use a specific color to denote your hyperlinks, and perhaps only one or two other colors as highlighting devices. Don't overdo it!
CHOOSE YOUR BACKGROUND WISELY
Not all computers "see" color in the same way. What may look great on your computer, may not even be readable on someone else's. Brightly colored backgrounds may drown out the text making it nearly impossible to read. Some people may have the colors on their computer set to a lower setting than you do, so make sure to use simple colors if you are going to use a colored background. This way, you will get the proper results on the greatest number of computers.
MAKE SURE YOUR FILE NAMES MAKE SENSE
The file names for your website pages will show up in Search Engines, bookmarks, and browsers. Make sure that the names you choose for your pages are description and make sense. You dont want someone to bookmark your page and then wonder later what www.abc.com/pagel was and why they book marked it in the first place. Use a description that will explain what the page is.
Suggest that your visitors bookmark your site. This increases repeat visits. Do this at the beginning of your sales message or site, and then again later on. Making this suggestion, will remind people to visit again.
YOU DON'T NEED FRILLS
Your sales copy will be what sells your product, not spinning logos or elaborate Java script. Use these "fancy" features wisely. They increase your site's download time and can be distracting to the customer. The information on your site is going to be what will influence the customer, not flashy graphics.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Make sure that your site allows visitors to easily find out how to contact you. Make your real email address and phone number, even address, available to those who want to reach you. It establishes credibility for your site when someone can get a "real" person on the other end and can make a big difference on swaying leery buyers.
MAKE YOUR WEBSITE EASY TO FIGURE OUT
Make it easy for your visitors to get the information they are seeking and then purchase your product or service. You don't want them wandering helplessly through your site, only to lose interest or become frustrated and leave. Your site needs to guide them to buying your product.
Clearly give them the benefits of your product, establish your credibility, stoke their excitement to buy the product. Ask for their order, and give them more than one chance to move on to the purchase. Give them the opportunity to order via phone, mail, or fax for those who are uncomfortable ordering online. Be willing to take checks or money orders as payment options. Make this an easy step-by-step process.
Make sure your order forms are easy to understand. You want the ordering process to be quick and easy. If your forms are too hard to figure out, people will give up and find someone else to buy from.
In order to allow online ordering, you will have to be able to process credit cards. Not doing so, will cost you orders and lost dollars! I recommend a company called Tradeworks as a good merchant service provider, (www.keystoneresources.net/tradeworks)
SECURE ORDERING
If you are going to offer online credit card processing (and I strongly suggest that you do), you will need a secure order page. Nowadays, people will NOT enter their credit card information online, unless they can be sure it is secure. Remember, your entire site does not need to be secure, only the ordering pages. If you current hosting company does not offer secure hosting, just host the order page(s) with a hosting company that will provide this feature.
SHOPPING CART
If you have more than one product for sale on your site, you may want to consider providing shopping cart software for your customers. This software will allow them to browse your products and add the things they wish to purchase to their virtual "shopping cart" and then check out once they are finished "shopping".
If you go this route, make sure that the shopping cart software you use on your site it easy to use, easy to understand, and allows the customer to add or delete items without difficulty. If your shopping cart is "hard to handle," you will lose customers. I will discuss shopping carts in more detail in the next section.
KEEP YOUR SITE UP TO DATE
Make sure that the information on your site is always current. Update your articles daily or weekly. You want to make sure that people will come back. If the same information is always up at your site, why would they EVER return? Keep the information new and relevant to your target audience. Keep your statistics current,
add new content or information, offer new recommendations, etc.
MAKE YOUR SITE 24/7
Be prepared to automate your site. You want to be able to take orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and YOU don't want to have to be at your computer all the time. You want your site to be able to handle your customers at any hour. The Internet can facilitate customers from all over the world, at any time of the day or night.
If you dont want to become a fixture at your desk, you will want to automate your business. Your best bet is to plan to do this from the beginning. Why? Because your first customers will become repeat customers if they are treated right. This is where the idea of residual income comes in. It is the ability to bring customers back into your website without you having to be there.
If you don't want to have to check your email every single day, confirm and process orders every single day, and spend your time handling orders and doing paperwork, then you must make the effort to automate your business. I'll show you how at the end of this section.
PROVIDE LINKS TO YOUR SALES MESSAGE
You want your website visitors to buy your product. Make it easy for them by providing links to click over to the product sales message. Place these links strategically on your site. When you have finished a piece of information, allow them the option of "learning more about your product" by clicking "here".
You don't want your visitors to simply read your interesting content and then surf off to another interesting site. Give them the option of finding out how to fix whatever your product was designed to "fix". If you don't, you are relying heavily that they will get there on their own. Do you want to hope that they do?
Now that we have discussed some things to remember and watch out for when designing your site, let's move on to the text that will be featured there. Don't neglect the text on your site! It is easy to get caught up in designing a "cool" site, and totally forget the stuff that really makes a difference - the copy.
Headlines
The first step in writing your product-selling copy is to create headlines that grab your customers' attention. This is the most important text your customers will read. If they don't like your headline and it doesn't entice them, they won't read anything else. In fact, it has been proven that headlines can increase your sales by over 1000%!
The same body text and a different headline can
make a huge difference in sales.
When you write your headlines, focus on communicating the benefits that your product can offer the customer. Create curiosity so that they continue to read.
A great headline emphasizes a key benefit or solution and applies it to the
customer's situation. Poll your current customers and find out why they bought Create
your product. You may find that there is only one reason they bought from you, headlines
and it wasn't what you thought! If you change your headline to reflect this new That Q rab
information, your sales will jump drastically!
After you write your headlines, test them, modify them, test them... You get the Customers picture. You will find that some are better than others, and that you can make a Attention. huge difference in sales by changing your headlines. It's worth the effort to keep trying to find one that really brings in the sales.
How To Create a Viral MP3
What is a Viral MP3?
A 10 minute+ long audio MP3 with an offer at the end that you will give away to circulate the internet.
•STEP 1: Write 5+ pages of what you're going to say on your recording then print it out. Make sure it's in-demand information and you're not holding back anything.
•STEP 2: You'll need a mic you can plug into the back of your computer. You can get a headset with microphone built in for less than $30 at Amazon or Wal-Mart. The lowest priced ones look something like this:
•STEP 3: Download Audacity, the free audio recorder. And install it on your computer.
Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder - Mozilla Firefox
File Edit View History Bookmarks Tools Help
http://audacity.sourceffarge.net/
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MySpace.com - Static Sun Over... ^4 Audacity: Free Audio Editor
The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor
Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Unux, and other operating systems. Learn more about Audacity... Also check our Wiki and Forum for more information.
The latest release of Audacity is 1.3.5 (beta). Because it is
Because it is a work in progress and does not yet come with complete documentation or translations into foreign languages, it is recommended for more advanced
Done
•STEP 3: As for the audio, you can use the same mic as before. However, you may want to buy a cheap USB to Audio Adapter with a Microphone Jack. Because the USB plug will filter out the noise you get from just plugging the analog plugs into the back of your computer. And there is no noise reduction feature on CamStudio.
>USB 2.0 to Audio Adapter w/Microphone Jack
•STEP 4: Set your volume levels on your computer by double-clicking the volume button at the bottom right side of your screen. Now adjust the mic volume so that it's not too high or too low.
If you can't find your volume control that way, then Click "Start" > "Search" > Type in "Volume Control.
•STEP 5: Click the record button on Audacity and read your content into your microphone. Make sure at the end of the recording, you make an offer for the listener to visit your website. For example, tell the listener about your free offer and provide your squeeze page URL. Also tell the listener he/she has Giveaway and Resell Rights to promote your MP3.
•STEP 6: Highlight the picture of the sound waves by holding down your left mouse button and dragging the arrow across all the sound waves. Then Click "Effect" > "Noise Removal" to filter out the backgrou1.0
•STEP 7: Export and save as MP3. Click "File" > "Export As MP3" to save audio as anMPS.
STEP 8: Distribute your MP3 in the same ways you would a viral PDF.
How To Create a Viral Video
What is a Viral Video?
A downloadable video with an offer at the end that you'll give away to circulate the internet. You can also brand the video with your URL if you choose.
•STEP 1: Download CamStudio screen capture video recorder for free. Install it on your computer.
-2 CamStudio - Free Screen Recording Software - Mozitla Firefox
•STEP 2: Make all the adjustments to your computer so you can set your computer up for quality video recording.
Right Click Desktop > Select "Properties
Display Properties |
Screen Shot Displays Screen Resolution At 800 By 600 Pixels And Color Quality At
Medium (16 bit.
Click the "Advanced" Button highlighted in bottom right.
Screen Shot Shows "Advanced" Button Highlighted At Bottom Right Of Display
Properties
Under the "Troubleshoot" Tab, adjust the hardware acceleration to "None"
Display Properties |
and Play Monitor and RAGE 12... General Adapts Monitor Troubleshoot Color Management |
having problems with your graphics hardware? These |
settings can help you troubleshoot display-related problems. |
Hardware acceleration |
Manually control the level or acceleration and performance supplied by your graphics hardware. Use the Display Troubleshooter to assist you in making the change. |
Hardware acceeration: |
Disable all accelerations. Use this setting on|y if your computer frequently stops responding or has other severe problems. |
Screen Shot Of Hardware Acceleration Adjusted To "None"
Click "OK" to save settings. Also click "OK" again for "Display Properties.
Geneial Adapter Monitor Troufaleshoot Color Management |
Are you having problems with your graphics hardware? These settings can help you troubleshoot display-related problems. |
Hardware acceleration |
Manually control (he level of acceleration and performance supplied by your graphics hardware. Use the Display Troubteshooter to assist you in making the change. |
Hardware acceleration: None |
Disable all accelerations. Use this setting only rf your computer frequently stops responding or has other severe problems. |
Screen Shot Of Saving Adjusted Settings For Hardware Acceleration
Open CamStudio > Click "Options" > Click "Record audio from microphone"
CamStudio File Region Options Tools View Video Options Cursor Options |
Do not record audio Record audio from microphone Record audio from speakers |
Screen Shot Of Configuring CamStudio For Audio
Click "Region" > Click "Full Screen"
How To Configure CamStudio To Record Full Screen
•STEP 4: Open CamStudio and create a screen captured video of revealing how to do something on your computer or on the internet. Make it about whatever your market wants. Make an offer at the end or brand the video with your URL. Click the red Record Button. Once finished. Click the blue Stop Button and Save. Message Editor - Mozifla Firefox
Actions: Select Action...
CamStudio Opened, Ready To Record A How-To Video Inside
|
Set up a free acount at Tubemogul.
Submit your screen capture video that you've
already made using the simple instructions on site. Your video will be distributed to several video sites like YouTube and Metacafe. From these sites, your video can be embedded on other sites and your video can go hyper viral.
TubeMogui.com - Online Video Distribution and Analytics - Mozilla Firefox UJI
•STEP 2: Make sure in your author bio box that you make an offer. Don't actually tell the reader about yourself. Treat the bio as if it were an advertisement.
a* Affiliate Marketing and YouTube: How to sell using video: GoArtteles.com... _
http://www.goarttles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=960651
co Marketing Category: GoArticles.,,.
ce> Affiliate Marketing and yout...u
Once you have completed you video you can upload it to YouTube. YouTube accepts a wide range of file formats so it doesn't matter what software you have been working with. You simply upload your video, YouTube does the hard work and once it has completed you can give the video a title and tags.
Tags are describing words for you video, you need to select good tags so that you get your video found. Google have a free keyword tool that can help you find the most popular and targeted keywords.
Once you have uploaded, titled and tagged your video it is available on YouTube for people to find. If people search YouTube for your one of your tags your video will appear in the search results, The other benefit of YouTube is the Google loves video, if you search in Google you will tend to see search results that point to a video on YouTube. Essentially you are getting 2 of the most powerful resources on the web at finger you tips.
How To Write a Press Release For Viral Traffic
What is a Press Release?
In your case, a press release is a news story featuring some aspect of your online business. Includes a link to your site. Your press release can even make it into newspapers and send you traffic from the off-line world. Great for getting people talking about your business and starting buzz.
•STEP 1: Write something newsworthy about your website or your product. Write your press release as an actual news story. You might need to dig deep for the story.
•STEP 2: Submit your press release to prlog.org.
-4: Free Press Release Distribution - Mozilla Firefox
PRLog
Home | Submit Free Press Release | News Archive | By Category | By Location | By Date | Newsletter | 40,000 RSS Feeds
Free Press Release Distribution Service services are free: |
How To Publish Reprint Articles For Viral Traffic
What is a Reprint Article?
An article you publish on the web with a link to your site at the bottom. You give website owners the right to republish the article as long as they give you credit and publish the link back to your site.
•STEP 1: Write an article on an in-demand topic and submit it to GoArticles.
&• Article Search Engine Directory: GoArticles.com - Mozilla Firefox
'
Article Content v Search by Author, Title or content |
ARTICLES
The Web's Largest Free Content Article Directory
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Index of Words and Phrases
A
Actual Cost Per Click
The amount you actually pay for each click, considering your click through rate and the performances of your competitor ads. In this way, you may get to pay less than you bid.
Ad Group
An ad group can contain one or more ads targeting the same group of keywords.
Ad Rank/Ad positioning
The ad rank is calculated by considering the bid (max. cost per click), the click through rate and ad text.
Ad Served Percentage
The number of times an ad is displayed, in relation to the number of searches and the other ads in the ad group.
AdSense
An advertising program by which Google acts as the intermediary between content sites and web advertisers.
AdWords Discounter
The Google tool that allows you to pay less that your maximum bid, as soon as your competition loosens.
Affiliate
Someone who sells online other people's products and services and earn from commissions. When you subscribe to an affiliate program you become an affiliate (marketer).
Affiliate Directory
A list on the web where you can find affiliate programs.
Affiliate Link
A link on your website that refers to a program you are affiliated with.
Affiliate Marketing
The sum of activities you develop to promote the programs you are affiliated with.
Affiliate Network
A specialized intermediary website that links between affiliate marketers and merchants, providing a wide range of services to both categories.
Affiliate Program
A system defined by a merchant site by which it attracts affiliates.
API
The acronym from Application Programming Interface.
Average Cost Per Click
The average amount you pay when somebody clicks on one of your ads.
Average position
Your ad's positioning on the average throughout a period of time.
B
Bid
The maximum amount of money you are willing to pay for a click on your ad; the same as maximum cost per click (Max. CPC).
Broad Match
An option that relates to keywords set-up. By using the broad match option, your ad will display for every possible search phrase that uses your keyword phrase. The broad match doesn't consider the topic of the words or the existence of additional words in the search phrase.
C
Click Through Rate (CTR)
The ratio/percentage of the number of times an ad is clicked divided by the number of times an ad is viewed.
Content Network
The network of websites that are being subscribed to the Google AdSense program and thus can display the Ads by Google.
Conversion Rate
The percent of people that buy your product/service of all who visit your webpage.
Cookie
A small text file that you can store on your hard drive and allows you to track the visitors to your website and how many times they come back.
Copy
The actual text of your ad or webpage.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
The amount of money you pay to a search engine for one click on your ad.
Cost Per View/Cost Per Impression
A concept by which you pay not for the clicks on your ad but for the number of people that view your ad.
D
Daily Budget
The maximum amount of money you are willing to spend in one day with Google AdWords.
Destination URL
The actual URL of your landing page (the webpage you send your visitors to).
Display URL
The "cosmetic" URL that displays in your ad.
E
Editorial Guidelines
A list of do's and don't do's assessed by Google, that you have to know by heart and comply with when using AdWords.
Exact Match
A keyword option by which you set your ad to be displayed only when the search phrase you define and that of the internet user match exactly. When you use this option you put your keyword phrases in brackets.
F
Full Ad Delivery
An expression for those ads that are displayed for all the searches that match the keywords they target.
G
Geo-targeting
Geographical targeting. Describes the distribution of your ad to Internet users in different countries.
Gmail
The email service from Google. It displays AdSense ads that relate when possible to the subject of the conversation.
GoTo
The former name of Yahoo's pay per click program - Overture.
GoToast
The former name of Atlas One Point, a bid management service.
H
Hit
When people click on your webpage you say they make hits.
Home Page
The main page of your website. Usually not recommended to make it your landing page, because it has less targeted content.
I
Impression
When somebody views your ad but doesn't click on it, it means your ad has got one impression. Impressions are counted by the number of searches that your ad is being displayed for.
In-house Advertising
All the advertising activities that are done by one or more people within the company, with no contribution from a specialized agency.
K
Keyword/Keyword Phrase
The term or phrase that a user types in the search box of a search engine, in order to receive more information that relates to that term/phrase.
Keyword Matching
A set of options that, when applied to the keywords in your AdWords account, allow you to control the distribution of your ad. Through keyword matching you "tell" the system how exactly to match your keywords with those of the people that make a search.
Keyword Status
In your AdWords account, your keywords may have four statuses: Disabled, In Trial, Normal and On Hold.
Keyword Tool
A tool that you can use as soon as you set-up your AdWords account. It allows you to estimate numbers like keyword-popularity and maximum cost per click.
L
Landing Page
The webpage that you send your visitors to, through one or more ads.
M
Maximum/Minimum Cost Per Click
The maximum cost per click is the amount of money you have to pay for one click so that your ad ranks best. The minimum cost per click with AdWords is five cents.
Misspellings
Errors in spelling. You have to take them into consideration when building your keyword list. The reason is that many people type their search phrases with misspellings, but they are still potential targeted traffic for you.
Merchant
A person who sells a product or service online. Usually, a merchant is referred to as the person that also opens affiliate programs that you can join.
Metrics
All the numbers that you need to know in order to track your campaign results.
N
Negative Keyword
A keyword that defines the term(s) you don't want your ad to display for.
O
Organic Results
The unpaid results which are being displayed at the left of the search engine's results page when somebody makes a search.
Overture
The first pay per click program, that belongs to Yahoo, formerly known as GoTo. Today, Overture is the main competitor of Google.
P
Paid Placement
The reverse of organic placement. The system through which you agree to pay so that your ad is displayed on a search engine results page (SERP)
Pay Per Click (PPC)
A concept for online advertising where you pay a certain amount of money each time somebody clicks on your ad.
Pay Per Lead
The amount of money you spend to generate an action from one visitor. That action doesn't necessarily have to be a purchase, but a subscription to your newsletter for example.
Pay Per Sale
The amount of money you need to pay to generate a sale through your website.
Pay Per View
The system by which you pay every time when somebody views your ad, even if that person doesn't click on it; A concept that is not very popular anymore.
Phrase Match
The option that limits your ad to be displayed only when somebody types in the search box a phrase that includes your keywords, in the same order.
R
Reactivation Fee
The amount of money you have to pay every time you restore full delivery of your account after it has been slowed.
Relevancy
The accuracy of the match between the keyword typed in the search box by an Internet user, and the results returned by the search engine.
Results Page
The list of resources a search engine returns when somebody performs a search.
Return On Investment (ROI)
A percentual expression of the amount of money you gain for the sum you invest.
S
Search Engine
A web-based program that allows users to search and retrieve specific information available on the Internet.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
A single term definition for both pay per click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimization (SEO).
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
A term that defines the sum of activities you run in order to promote your website as high as possible among the organic results on a search results page.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
See results page.
Search Term
A word or phrase through which a person defines what s/he is looking for. The phrase is used to inquire the database of indexed pages of a search engine.
Statistics, Stats
All the data that expresses the results of your campaign: totals, percents, means, evolution curves and predictions.
Stemming
The family of words that derive from the same base (radical). Word stemming is a common way of generating new keywords.
T
Targeted Traffic
The number of people that visit your website and actually have the potential to become customers right away or at a further moment.
Tracking URL
URL that has specific parameters assigned to it, allowing you to gather information about the source of the click, the search query used, and other metrics.
Traffic
The number of people that visit your webpage, being led there by your ads.
Two-tier
An Internet marketing model that allows affiliates to sign-up for other affiliates. The principle is similar to multi-level marketing.
U
Unique Visitor
The unique IP address that describes the identity of the visitor.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
A unique sequence of characters that describes the location of a webpage.
Usability
The potential of a website to return value to its users as quickly and easily as possible.
W
WordTracker
The keyword tool most widely used by PPC advertisers.
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