Getting Noticed!

Getting Noticed!

by: Sue and Chuck DeFiore

One of the best ways to get your name out in your local community is to become a sponsor. A few hundred dollars gets your company name on little League caps; a little more, perhaps an ad at a roller rink. Donate money or materials to the local parade or a float. This buys goodwill and is great selfpromotion. If you provide a service donate that. For example, when we operated a word processing business we offered to do resumes for free for those out of work. If you are a hair stylist, offer to cut hair free to senior homes, or for children. If you run a pet related business offer some free products or service. Every business has something they can provide for free,even if it is only your time.

Be sure when you do something of this type to alert the local media. They love talking about what local businesses are doing for the community. However, do this sparingly. Don’t over use it or it loses its effectiveness.

In todayกs business arena setting up a web site is a must. For most businesses you don’t need anything fancy just a couple of pages which includes contact information, location and what your company policies are. For example, some background information on you (associations you belong to, educational background, qualifications). If you have some testimonials, this helps also. If you provide a newsletter, let folks know how they can receive it. You can also provide directions to your business, put specials on your website that you are running for the month, week or any time period you choose.

Brochures are another excellent way to get your name out there. Highlight your businessกs benefits to create copy that sells. Be sure however to make the content interesting and draw the reader in and motivate them to do business with you.

When you combine effective content with an easytoread, eyecatching design, your brochure will become a hardworking partner that will help you win the customers you need to start your company out right.

Another great way to get your name out and to tell your customers what you do is to use a Newsletter. Newsletters can be wonderful tools for communicating with your customers or prospects. Because of their format, they’re often infused with more credibility than traditional brochures. If your newsletter is little more than blatant selfpromotion, however, itกs likely to hit the wastebasket before it hits your targetกs desk.

We have given you a number of ways to get your name out there so start promoting yourself!

Copyright DeFiore Enterprises 2002

About The Author

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 17 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our FREE กhow toก Home Business Solutions Digest, itกs like having your own personal coach: mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 09, 2003

by Sue and Chuck DeFiore

Getting Started to Get Started

Getting Started to Get Started

by: Alan Huff

So you want to make it BIG online? You want to start an internet business. You register your domain, sign up with a hosting company, design or pay to have a website designed, go live online, and bingo, the money will soon start rolling in, right? Wrong (unless you have a ‘lucky’ horseshoe  ).
That’s basically how I started my own internet business but, I soon realized that much more is involved if you want to stand a chance at succeeding online. There are no ‘secret’ formulas to success. If you know of one which really works, please send it to me .
You must know how to do business online., and in order to that, you need to learn how. I know you don’t have time to learn, however, if really want to do it right, you’ll take the time.
Do yourself a favor. Before you start an internet business, read articles, ezines, ebooks, etc., written by those who have already made it. Write a marketing plan (sound familiar?), plan your website design and layout and content.
Bottom line; before you start an internet business, learn how to. You don’t have to do it the ‘hard’ way.
Focus on getting started to get started.
Alan

http://momony.com

About The Author

Alan Huff is the founder and president of MoMony.com.

You can contact Alan at [email protected]

This article was posted on July 03, 2004

by Alan Huff

You Must Learn For Your Business To Earn

You Must Learn For Your Business To Earn

by: Arun Pal Singh

Are you aware of the reason why most people fail in their online ventures? It is because most of them don’t know and more importantly are reluctant to command the language and gadgets of the web. Put it simply, they are uncomfortable with the technology the internet uses.

Just floating a website and starting a business is not enough. This is crucial first step, no doubt. One has to work further on his business to succeed. The lack of web knowledge might prove to be a handicap.

Please allow me to be clear. Let me be heard loudly and oppose those who say the opposite. To succeed online one must equip himself with technical knowhow.

If one does not know the technological part experts can be hired but they come at a price which is almost always unaffordable by a starter of the small business. So this choice is always out. There is no other option left than to know how to do it yourself. Earlier you realize it better it would be.

When I started my online home based business I was a novice on the net. Plethora of new terms like HTML, FTP, POP3, email aliases, bandwidth, cgi, php etc. etc. etc. did not make any sense at all.

I tried working by approximation but that made me uncomfortable. I could not make the small change in my site that I always wanted to. Every now and then a new or old term would appear again and I was left in a state of confusion.

Because I was uncomfortable I could not concentrate on my business. I could not focus where I should have been. Lack of vocabulary and technical knowledge always held me back. I was a businessman who was not confident of what he was doing. I kept incurring losses until my slumber was broken.

Then I realized I got to learn my basics. I could not always bother others about ขhow to do this and how could I do thatข. Even if somebody is kind enough to reply, the fear of unknown always diminishes the confidence to take the bold step.

Moreover when you get over one, there is something waiting again to be stumbled upon.

Earlier you know your gadgets, better it is. Especially the ones which will be needed frequently. Among these the most important is HTML. It is easy to learn and makes you confident enough to bring those small changes in your site or putting up additional by yourself.

So is setting up of auto responders or email aliases, how to transfer files between your computer and website server, how to use soft wares for making extra profit.

Sooner or later you would need to put your business on autopilot. Knowledge of knowhow would make it much easier

You are the master of your ship. To sail smoothly you must know the tools. Get a fair idea of how the internet works. For example what happen behind those graphics when you click or type a URL? It is not necessary to master everything but having an idea is must

Get a good grasp over the web vocabulary. You will emerge more powerful, more confident.

It calls for some work but time spent on this would bring rewards in future. There are many good books available. Internet is itself a good source to search for everything. Programmes or softwares also come with inbuilt help. That too enhances the working knowledge. Find ‘the how to’ wherever you can get.

By and by you will find that you have accumulated a wealth called knowledge which gives you a cutting edge of many others who don’t possess it.

Copyright 2004 Arun Pal Singh

About The Author

Arun Pal Singh runs a successful business from home at http://www.homeforprofits.com. He is also publisher and editor of Home for profits’ income course, a free newsletter with hundreds of tips for home business which can be subscribed by mailing to [email protected]

This article was posted on December 21, 2004

by Arun Pal Singh

So You Want To Be A Consultant?

So You Want To Be A Consultant?

by: Matt Bacak

Letกs say you have more than 20 years experience in your chosen field. For the sake of this article, letกs say you have been in the nonprofit field for 25 years and are at the very top of your game. And letกs say you’re a bit bored with the humdrum daytoday routine of being an executive director. You love nonprofit sector, but you need more of a challenge and you yearn to help people grow and achieve success in their nonprofit careers. Plus, youกd like to earn a little bit more money and are a bit tired of the board of directors overseeing everything you do.

Perhaps itกs time to go into business for yourself. Perhaps itกs time to become a consultant, a coach, a speaker and trainer. The thought is exciting, albeit a little frightening. You’re current salary is certainly respectable for a person with your skills and experience, and the health insurance and retirement plan are comforting benefits that you don’t want to relinquish. But none of these factors have been able to sufficiently scratch that darned itch that keeps telling you itกs time to start your own nonprofit consulting business.

Going into business for yourself as a consultant, coach, or speaker (or all of the above) requires determination, a little selfsacrifice (in the beginning), and a lot of experience. People hire consultants because they need the expertise of someone who has been there and done that…hundreds of times. There are consultants in literally every career field, and once they become accustomed to the process of generating clientele, they can make over double what they were earning as employees. In fact, recent statistics show that successful and established consultants can make anywhere from $1,200 to $5,000 per day.

There is power and prestige in consulting that can rarely be found in management positions, even executive positions. The power comes from calling the shots as a business owner and making sure people know they need you; the prestige comes from being the very best in your field…and making sure people know it.

But thereกs a not so subtle difference in owning your own business and owning your own consulting firm. Lots of people own businesses. My fiancé owns a deli, my father owns a small publishing business, and my mother owns a bakery. But owning your own consulting firm lets people know that you’re the crème de la crème in your field and if they want to rise to the top like you have, theyกll hire you to help them.

Consulting firms, like the one you will soon own, can be anything from a one man show to a large agency boasting senior and junior associates. Most consultants make their day to day income from coaching and mentoring individuals in the field charging anywhere from $300 (for junior level staffers) to $500 (for senior executives) per hour. They also assist clients with organizational development, strategic and financial planning, and a host of other services including workshop facilitation and board and staff retreats. And if they like to speak in front of audiences, many consultants make thousands of dollars simply talking to a crowd for a few hours about their experiences and knowledge.

While itกs not as easy as 123 to quite your job and start making $5,000 a day as a consultant, itกs certainly not as difficult as it looks especially if you’re very very good at what you do and have expertise that few can match. Start off as a moonlighter, which is the term used when someone has a ขday jobข but works on their own business in the evenings. Make a simple business card for yourself and during your lunch hour at work, go to chamber of commerce or rotary meetings where you can network and talk to people about your new consulting practice.

Itกs not too difficult to pick up a small client or two this way, and once you do a good job for them and build confidence in yourself youกll begin to branch out and up. People will hear about you, your phone will start ringing, those simple business cards you handed out at the rotary meetings will change hands and generate bigger clients, and youกll begin to realize that maybe you really can quit that humdrum job and make it big on your very own.

About The Author

Matt Bacak became ก#1 Best Selling Authorก in just a few short hours. Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s eBiz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com

This article was posted on August 08

by Matt Bacak

Starting an OnLine Home Business

Starting an OnLine Home Business

by: John Baker

When looking for a business on the internet you should consider a number of things. One thing is stability with many scams on the internet you should look for a business that has been around a few years. Another is to see how many members they have. Is it free to join, or how much to join, before you invest to much time and money? Also will they offer free support and training?

Next, you will want to invest in your own website. There are many businesses that offer domain names, websites, and hosting accounts free, or for a small fee. Once you have your site up and running, you will want to submit your website to a search engine.

Then you will want to add link pages to your site, this will help your rank with the searchengines. This will take some time, but it is free. You will want to exchange links with at least 100 sites that are similar or related to your site. This will help you move up the searchengine page ranking, giving you more traffic, which equals more signups and more sells. Most websites have a link to us or similar page making it fairly easy to do. Also articles like this, related to your business, will add content to your site. The search engines love content, thus sending visitors directly to your article pages. Those visitors may then visit the rest of your site that makes you money.

You may then want to signup with an affiliate program, like ClickBank or Commission Junction, so that you have more than one source of revenue. Be careful to balance the affiliate programs without taking away from your main initial business. Be patient. Youกll work the hardest the first few months. Nothing great happens overnight! With some work, planning, and learning, you are on your way to success.

This article may be reprinted providing it is published in itกs entirety, including the authorกs bio and link to the URL below.

About The Author

The author, John Baker, is the editor/owner of besthomebusinessideas.net A website dedicated to making money and starting a home business. For more free info please visit: http://www.besthomebusinessideas.net

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 06, 2004

by John Baker

One Home Business with Everything You Need To Succ

One Home Business with Everything You Need To Succeed With You’re Online Business

by: Michel Richer

Are you getting more and more frustrated with the Internet marketing scene…If you’re like most Internet users…your email inbox is bombarded with getrichquick schemes., but nothingกs working …and now you’re wondering if anyone out there will ever really help you, or if they’re all just trying to take money from you!

Letกs face it, we would all like more hours in the day… more time to enjoy with the kids, more time on the golf course… even more time with the spouse!

But at the moment your Internet business seems to be taking up more and more time, without the fabulous rewards you keep hearing about, right?

I know you’re trying to hang in there because people are obviously making fortunes… but you’re getting near the end of your patience, right?

Let me ask you a question…

Which situation makes more sense…

Buying more and more ebooks youกll never read, helping to line the pockets of various Internet marketers without making any money for yourself…

or…

Concentrating on one website where everything is made available to help you go from nowhere to success, and where the owner of the site has a real interest in seeing you do well?

So now you know why you spend more and more money without actually finding out how to MAKE MONEY!

Letกs put an end to this madness right now!

You only need ! One website. One Home Business with everything you need to succeed on the internet. Simple, eh?

Here is a partial list of what you will get…

You can sign up FREE, get a FREE Website, and test drive the program for as long as you want at absolutely no cost or obligation EVER.

A lucrative compensation plan. Tens of thousands of SFIกs members are already receiving monthly commission checks, totaling over $3 MILLION dollars since July 1st.

SFI understands the Internet. SFI itself is totally databasedriven which means that almost everything happens in realtime. From SFIกs powerful central Admin site, thereกs online, realtime genealogies, plus numerous other tools to manage your business such as instant group messages via email.

Perfect for the กlittle guy.ก There are no group volume requirements. In fact, the toughest thing you ever have to do with SFI is give away free stuff.

Refer just three new members to SFI and you can automatically start earning a portion of EVERY sale…EVERY month…made by SFIกs OVER 3.5 MILLION affiliates and members worldwide.

FREE 24Hour Professional Consultation. Each SFI affiliate is assigned three leaders to provide free consultation and support.

The Internet is exploding worldwide. USA TODAY recently reported that over 170,000 new people are getting online every 24 hours. Many smart business people are becoming millionaires on the Internet. And this is just the beginning! With SFI you can grab your share.

Thanks to the Internet and SFIกs smartlydesigned infrastructure, your business expenses are minimal. You can contact thousands on the Internet via email, search engines, directories, free ads, etc. All free! No door to door sales. No postage. No printing. No brochures. No tapes. No videos. No long distance calls. Instant communication worldwide.

Don’t know anything about marketing on the Internet? Included FREE when you sign up with SFI is an ongoing course in making money on the Internet. Itกs emailed to you FREE 12 times per month, plus thereกs also a Website of all the past lessons. EVEN IF YOU END UP DOING NOTHING WITH SFI, GET SIGNED UP AND GET THIS INVALUABLE COURSE!!!

FREE Coop. SFI has provided over 700,000 of its affiliates with free leads. Join SFI now (for FREE) and you may start receiving free leads (leads that can add to your monthly commission check) within hours.

That just a small SAMPLING of the benefits the SFI program delivers. The best way to learn all about SFI is to sign up as an affiliate. Thereกs no cost or obligation.

http://Ezinfocenter.com/297607.7/FREE

Copyright © Michel Richer

PERMISSIONS TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in its entirety free of charge, electronically or in print, provided it appears with the included copyright and author’s resource box with live website link.

http://hombyz.com

About The Author

Michel Richer is the Business Manager and Webmaster of http://Hombyz.com. He is dedicated to helping you succeed on the Internet. With over 10 years experience in internet business and a solid reputation in the industry. You can take a look at his website at: http://hombyz.com for Your Home Business Success !!!

This article was posted on April 29, 2004

by Michel Richer

Marketing, Lead Generation, and Research: A 3in1

Marketing, Lead Generation, and Research: A 3in1 Solution.

by: Jay Gilmore

I Hate Cold Calls

Long before I started my business, I realized that I wasn’t good at telephone sales and that I would need to generate leads in another way. I developed a surefire way to generate those leads, interest in me, and my business, through the use of telephone market research.

There are many benefits of doing market research including the ability to learn more about my target marketกs behaviors and opinions, honing messages and presentations based on real, first hand responses, as well as, to test out new messages or theories prior to wide release.

As a website developer and consultant, my large market is businesses and my main target group is small business owners. In order to contact these owners I would need access to their contact information.

For my target market, I found a regional business development directory to be very complete including names, addresses, phone numbers and website information. Some of the information was a little out of date but it was going to be far better than just cold calling to reach ‘the Owner or Managerก and get successfully past the front desk person etc. For other BusinesstoBusiness companies I might suggest the local Chamber of Commerce or Business Association. Contact lists may be purchased or leased from outside sources, however, that is beyond the scope of this article.

For a client of mine, who is in the property care and landscaping industry, I was able to suggest hitting the phone book in the areas he wanted to generate business in and call every twentieth or thirtieth name in the book. The only criteria his respondent had to meet, was that they are a homeowner or property owner. In his case, my client is located in a small town and most respondents would be homeowners. If he were in a major city I would recommend that he be calling property management companies and target areas of the city with a high concentration of houses. Most cities still have their phone books broken down by community or borough.

Developing the Survey

The first step in this process was to develop the survey. To do that you first need to determine the subject of the survey. This should also relate directly to the message you wish to communicate to the lead. For my company I wanted to find out one of two things, if the respondent had a website what were the circumstances, experiences and opinions of having it or if the respondent didn’t have a website the circumstances and reasons for not.

Tuning in the Respondent

As you can see, these questions relate to only one specific service websites. This allows the respondent to easily understand what subject area you are talking about so that when you switch to providing your message they are already thinking about that subject. In my case, the respondent could easily tell that I was asking questions about websites, they probably figure that my business has something to do with websites.

Keep Questions Open Ended

The survey questions should be as open ended as possible. This is not scientific, as it cannot be quantified in small sample sizes, but it is the best way to avoid leading the respondent to a perceived answer. They may feel that you are looking for a particular response. This can happen when you use a scaled response survey such as ratings of 1 to 5 or 1 to 7. In my own personal experience this type of survey is best left to academics. In most cases you are looking for opinions and experiences of an individual. Ask questions like, กCould you explain how you felt about the experience when you last purchased a car?ก

Keep Things Brief There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information.

The Wrap Up

At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more information about my company and services they already have an idea of what to expect and are more likely to be open to hear and receive my message because there is no surprise and I was not beating them over the head with message. I merely made them think about their website or lack thereof.

Script = Professionalism

Once you have developed your survey you should write a script. I know I can hear your sighs now you don’t want to sound like a robot or just another telemarketer but the use of a script will ensure that you sound like a professional. The danger with a script is that it might not be conversational or may not consider the person on the other end of the phone. To avoid sounding robotic and like you are reading a script you should read it aloud to yourself. If you are unsure about how it sounds try it out on someone in your home or office. The worst thing you can do is to call up someone and start in with, กUuuhhmmm, could I speak to uuuhhmmm�ก

Your script should include a brief introduction. In my case my introduction went like this, กHello, Mr. Adams. My name is Jay Gilmore. The reason I am calling is that I am doing some market research for my business services company in your area and I wanted to get some feedback from fellow business owners, like yourself.ก

Note that I didn’t mention the name of my company. This shows the respondent that I am a person calling to talk to another person people like to talk to people and not businesses.

Removing the Common Objection

The next words that come off the script are very important, กI am not going to try to sell you anything, and I just want to ask a few questions to help in planning my business.ก

This has worked every single time to break through the, กIกm not going to listen to a sales pitchก instinct that so many business owners and consumers have developed over the years.

Ask for Their Time

Now that I have broken through their resistance I am able to request permission and their time to do the survey. Be respectful of the respondentกs time by making sure that the survey may be completed in less than five minutes. Tell them how long it will take and be honest. It is not very professional to lie or mislead people about the time you are asking them for.

Once the survey is complete you should conclude by thanking the respondent for assisting you with your research.

The Marketing Starts Now Actually it Already Started

The marketing part is next. In closing you should briefly introduce your company and the service being marketed. An example would be, ก Thank you Mr. Adams for all your help. I would like to let you know that my business, Joeกs Flowers is a local flower shop that specializes in arrangements and designs from North American plants and flowers. Would you be interested in receiving more information about our services and our company?ก

After answering questions in your survey about flowers and their buying habits they are probably ready to find more information about your company and its products or services. Get their mailing address and / or email address and any other information you require to send them the information you want.

What to Send

Sending the information about your business can make or break this relationship. You have already gotten willing permission to send information to the respondent now you have to send them something that will lead them to choose to buy your product or service or refer a friend or colleague.

The contents of the information package be it electronic or print should be a letter of introduction and thanks for the participation in the survey and some free and useful information that they will relate to regarding your product or services.

This information package is a first step to an ongoing relationship that will allow you to nurture goodwill and relationships with people who are actually interested in your business. The respondents will be expecting some form of marketing message but don’t overdo it. Pushing too hard to close a sale at this stage will not work with this piece. This is not a direct mail promotion so don’t treat it as such. That being, said don’t hesitate to place importance and urgency on the message. Use benefit oriented copy to entice readers to take some form of action.

Followup Will Make the Sale Well Some Anyway

As you bring the respondents closer to your businessกs products and or services by providing valuable information and examples of how it can better their lives many will choose to buy your products and services.

Give Up The Cold Call

You have now just read a great way to expose you business to new markets, new people, learn more about those markets and people, and get your message out all with nothing more than a telephone and a list of phone numbers. What is best is that you were able to get people to willingly accept your message without the anxiety and resistance of a sales cold call.

About The Author

Jay Gilmore is a Developer, Consultant, and Author who develops affordable websites and practical marketing solutions for real small businesses. You can check out his website at http://www.smashingred.com .

Jay publishes his articles, insights and resources on Marketing, Website Development, and Small Business at http://www.smashingred.com/resources, whenever he is not helping clients achieve their goals.

Copyright 2005 Jay Gilmore, SmashingRed Web & Marketing. All rights reserved.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 12, 2005

by Jay Gilmore

Is There an Affiliate กFree Lunchก Program?

Is There an Affiliate กFree Lunchก Program?

by: Glenn Beach

กEverything worthwhile has a cost… Whenever you think you are getting something for nothing, look again—someone, somewhere, somehow is paying for it. Behind every free lunch there is a hidden cost to be accounted for.ก Edwin G. Dolan

If you, or any of your business prospects, believe that time is money, then yes, the ‘there Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunchก principle DOES apply to your internet business. What you can’t invest in money, you will have to invest in time. You will have to be able to put the axe to the grind for more hours per day or week, and you will have to wait for more weeks and months before your ship comes in. Those are the facts.

If you are able to think outside the box (and few internet entrepreneurs CAN’t!) then the principle can be stretched a little. Are you balking at spending a few pennies a day to boost your sales? Do some research comparing what your marketing program offers and what the same services cost on the open market. Compare what information your program offers and what you can learn elsewhere. For example:

find some online business forums and search these topics: free advertising, phone followup techniques, sample followup letters, sample phone scripts.

investigate your and other affiliate marketing programs for all the above plus services and tools such as: prospect notification, contact manager, online forum, billing and revenue collection, gateway website, company resource center, free sales and marketing tools, affiliate training courses, successful team support, commission or compensation schedule. In other words, look at EVERYTHING that the program will give you for free.

research what you would have to pay for any or all of the above tools, hints, and services.

How does your affiliate program measure up? What do you get for free and therefore, what do you save? How much can you afford to invest based on these savings?

If you absolutely HAVE NO MONEY to invest, thatกs one thing. If you have a kneejerk reaction to investing in something that กsays itกs freeก, think again. What other business in the WORLD besides one on the internet can you begin for NOTHING? How many pennies a day can you AFFORD to invest in your business, maybe not now but as soon as possible?

If you have nothing, you can start and run a business. You will have to pay for it, however, with time. Free ads need to be worked every day. Free ads drop out of sight as new ads follow. You need to study your product till you know it inside and out, so all prospective affiliates can be led, encouraged, taught how they too can succeed. Since the name of the game is visibility amongst the billions of offers on the internet, you can’t afford to waste a single hardwon prospect.

Without any money to invest in advertising, this will be a long slow process. You will have to determine how YOU can best achieve sales and attract affiliates, because each personกs skills, style and dislikes are different.

You need to be internet savvy because all the information you require to succeed is out there, you just have to know how to find it. Study, seek your own answers, and know where and how to ask questions. You will win the game with patience and persistence.

About The Author

Glenn Beach is a proud member of Work at Home Team.

He is a selfemployed subcontractor and home entrepreneur at:

http://www.workathomebusinessopportunitycanada.com

email: [email protected]

This article was posted on March 06, 2004

by Glenn Beach

Want to Make More Money? Fish in a Bigger Pond!

Want to Make More Money? Fish in a Bigger Pond!

by: Kimberly Stevens

Setting prices is a dilemma most service business owners encounter at one time or another. This week, it was Susan’s turn. ขWhen I first started my business, I felt uncomfortable charging for my services. Since I was doing it to make a living, I finally just picked a price I thought wouldn’t scare too many people away. Now, based on my available work hours, I can’t really take on more clients but at the rate Iกm charging them, Iกm not going to make enough money to keep the business alive. How do I raise my prices without losing my clients?ข she wanted to know.

For whatever reason, it is uncomfortable for many of us to look a person in the face and state our hourly rate or the cost of a project they want us to complete for them. This is usually rooted in our fear of rejection. We think, ‘What if the prospect gasps and falls out of his chair convulsing on the floor?’ or ‘What if he snorts with disdain or launches into uncontrollable laughter?’ At the beginning, we really need the work and generally decide weกd rather start getting some clients to build our reputation and skills, thinking weกll charge a rate we know theyกll accept. Besides, we can always raise our prices later. Well, now is กlaterก, so it’s time to bite the bullet.

First, understand you aren’t asking for their firstborn child you are asking for money in exchange for the service you are offering. Shakti Gawain, author of กCreating True Prosperityก, introduced me to the concept of thinking about money as just another form of energy. Just as you put energy into the service you provide, the client puts energy into their field of interest in order to make money to pay you for your service.

On the businesstobusiness side of things, the clientกs business has clearly made the decision to outsource the service they are discussing with you. They have decided to use their internal staffกs energy to focus on their core business while outsourcing those things they don’t have the skills or time to do. The same is true of individuals they could paint their house, but they’re calling you. Clearly, they don’t want to do it and know itกs going to cost money to get someone else to do it Either way, they are going to hire someone to do it, so why not you?

That said, itกs time to raise your prices. Youกve got two sets of people to deal with here your current clients and your future clients. Future clients are easy simply start quoting the higher hourly rate or basing your flat rate proposals on the new hourly rate with no mention of a recent price increase. Your fear that you will lose out on some bids WILL come true. Youกve been fishing in the pond that attracts the lowerend clients, so you will probably have to start marketing to and networking with prospects on the next higher rung. But, so what? Itกs still your choice – you can stick with the lowend guys and struggle to make your business profitable or you can start charging a respectable rate for the skills and professionalism you bring to the table to create a prosperous business. Itกs up to you.

Now, the current clients are the ones you are likely most afraid of. What will they say? Will they never want to work with you again? The best time to raise prices is at the beginning of the year, either calendar or fiscal, or at the beginning of a new contract with an existing client. Never try to negotiate a price increase in the middle of a project. If a project is taking significantly more hours than you quoted for a reason out of your control or it’s directly within the clientกs control, you can consider discussing it with them. However, if you want to be sure to maintain positive client relationships, you may choose to learn your lesson from this one and protect yourself with a contract that outlines contingencies such as that going forward. But, in most cases, never try to increase your hourly rate on a client in the middle of a project. This sends a message that will likely get you the response you most fear that you are a moneyhungry soandso who only cares about him or her self.

Instead, wait until a natural beginning, ending, or transition period to communicate your price increase. One way to do it is to send your client a beginning of the year letter that expresses your appreciation of their business in the prior year, outlines any policy changes youกve made for the coming year, communicates your price increase, and states your anticipated pleasure of working with them in the coming year. If you are raising prices at the end of one project and are about to bid on another project with the same client, during your discussions tell them you have raised your hourly or project rate and hope they still find it to be competitive and will continue to work with you since youกve really enjoyed collaborating with them.

Notice you did not hear me guarantee you will keep every single one of your current clients. Like you, your clients make purchasing decisions based on a variety of factors, each person weighing each of the factors differently. If youกve been the lowest price available in your field, youกve no doubt attracted clients who make decisions based mainly on price. Increasing your price so you are no longer ‘the lowprice guyก, may send them packing. So be it. Once you raise your prices to a respectable rate you can profit from, that’s competitive and fair, you will begin to attract clients who will pay it. Itกs all about positioning. You can position your company as the lowprice guy, the topoftheline guy, or the value guy (middle of the road price with a quality service).

The lesson here … it’s your business and your revenues are what you make them.

About The Author

Kimberly Stevens is the author of the ebook series, *The Profitable Business Owner: A StepbyStep System for Starting & Running a Successful Service Business*. Download Sample Chapters & get her free MiniCourse, *The 10 Most Common Mistakes Business Owners Make & How To Avoid Them* at: http://www.askthebizcoach.com/ebooks.htm

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 07, 2003

by Kimberly Stevens

They Didn’t Think I Could Earn A FullTime Income

They Didn’t Think I Could Earn A FullTime Income Online, But I Proved Them Wrong!

by: Al Martinovic

When I first attempted to make money online I was so naive just like any newbie. But I learned from the school of hard knocks. I learned by trial and error and by just doing.

In the beginning I submitted my site to every search engine under the sun. I tried traffic exchanges, banner exchanges, FFAกs, safelists, online classified ads etc. and not surprisingly I got zero results. If anything… I was very good at getting spammed.

I wasted weeks and even months of my time with stuff that didn’t work. But little by little I started to head in the right direction. I dropped all the stuff that didn’t work and looked for other ways to bring traffic to my site.

I subscribed to a whole bunch of ezines and started posting free ads. The results weren’t great but at least this time I was getting some results. My confidence started to build and I knew I was heading in the right direction.

Then I started to spend a little money on my business and used pay per click search engines and things really started to take off for me and my confidence grew more.

Then I started writing articles and press releases and and in the middle of all this I would spend time learning how to optimize my site for the major search engines to get a high ranking.

The sales started coming in regularly. But I didn’t sit back. I wanted to convert more of my visitors into customers.

I added an optin form on my site to capture email addresses and set up an autoresponder to automatically follow up with my prospects. Eventually I added an alert box to capture email addresses which really exploded my mail list.

I started learning more about copywriting and experimented with different copy and headlines etc. on my site to get maximum results until eventually I had a consistent sales machine over at http://www.ineedsmokes.com

And when I had a sales machine that was on autopilot I then started pursuing other projects to make additional money.

But you know, it took alot of work to get to this point. It is a constant learning process and I still try to learn as much as I can because you never กknow it all.ก

If you think you กknow it allก you are finished because the internet changes so rapidly youกll quickly get left behind.

If you’re new to online marketing… it won’t happen for you overnight. It will take work, dedication and even sacrifice.

You need to keep working your business, be consistent and learn as much as you can about this internet marketing game and most importantly apply what you have learned.

Some techniques and tactics will work great in one business… but not in another. You won’t know unless you try. Find the things that work for you and build upon it.

And eventually… youกll get there too.

About The Author

Al Martinovic publishes the Millenium Marketers Newsletter featuring powerful internet marketing concepts, killer strategies, useful tips, and no bull business advice. Subscribe Free Today: http://www.milleniummarketers.com

This article was posted on November 18, 2003

by Al Martinovic

What Internet Marketers Can Learn From Obvious Ada

What Internet Marketers Can Learn From Obvious Adams

by: Jo Han Mok

A very long time ago, 1916 to be exact, The Saturday Evening Post began publishing a column about a young man named ขObvious Adamsข. Adams was a fictional caricature of a wouldbe advertising man who was so simple, and so guileless, in his thinking that he was brilliant in spite of himself.

The column gained popularity in business circles for its plain wisdom and straightforward advice. The Adams narrative wasn’t merely a ขgood storyข, it was a source of actionable information. Each installment found young Adams facing a new marketing challenge bestowed upon him by his employer. His knack for finding the solutions which hid in plain site earned him his namesake.

The story of Adams was finally published in book form by Robert Updegraff and used as a primer for new advertising executives. Although the text is somewhat quaint, it is a quick, pleasant read and I highly recommend locating a copy for your library.

So, what can you learn from Mr. ขObvious Adamsข? A lot! We will examine and discuss a few choice excerpts from the work, and reveal their application to your every day marketing challenges.

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil

ขI want to get into the advertising business and I want to work for you, and I thought the obvious thing to do was to come and tell you so.ข

What is the lesson here? If you want something: ask! Likewise, if you want results, take immediate action.

Let me ask you this: how many opportunities have you let slip past simply because you were afraid to go direct to the source of profit? For example, how long have you had a super joint venture idea sitting on the backburner because you’re afraid to contact potential partners?

In the quoted material, Adams is addressing a fictional advertising big wig named James B.Oswald. Adams had promptly awoken in the morning to pay a visit to the man and ask him for a job. Do you find that a bit gutsy? After all, he’s a no name kid. Oswald runs a huge, profitable corporation.

Similarly, do you ever say to yourself: ขWho do I think I am? These big internet marketing gurus won’t give me the time of dayข? Well, guess what? They’re human just like you are. They got where they are by asking for what they wanted and needed and by taking action.

When you have a desire and a plan of action, don’t sit around hemming and hawing about it or doubting yourself. Follow Adams’ lead and shut out all other thoughts except the most logical. You want X, do Y. You need to make contacts, go make the contacts.

You can’t know what the possibilities are until you reach for them, and you can’t get what you want unless you ask for it.

Live and Breathe Your Market

ขAdams proceeded to study up on the subject of peaches. He though, studied, dreamed and ate peaches, fresh, canned, and pickled. He sent for government bulletins. He spent his evenings studying canning.ข

Do you really want to be more competitive? Would you like to know the absolute best price point for your products? Would you like write absolutely killer copy that pulls in sales and outperforms your current control? If you do, then you need to live and breathe in your market.

This is an obvious business principle that often gets overlooked by new home business owners. You jump into a niche and maybe you have some experience – maybe it’s one of your hobbies – but do you really know the industry? Do you know which trade publications to read? Do you know what the current wholesale price is for your product, or what the demand is for your information?

It is very difficult to sell something you don’t know much about. Pick a subject you aren’t familiar with, invent an imaginary product and try writing copy for it. Not very easy, is it?

Now, pick something you do know a lot about, and try to write out everything you know. You’ve probably got a sizeable list, but I ‘ll wager that you’ve left off more than you realize.

Adams went to great lengths to read up on peaches. Peaches! What more can be said about a peach than its piece of fruit, grows on trees and tastes good? Well, as Adams revealed, there’s a lot more to be said.

Don’t ever assume that you know all there is to know about your market, your customers or your product. There is always another feature or benefit hidden somewhere in the fine print, in those daytoday facts that we are so used to we become immune from them.

Are You ‘Selling’ Enough?

ขWe have been doing wonderful cake advertising, but we have overlooked the very things you have pointed out in your plan. We have been doing too much advertising and not enough selling.ข

Read that last sentence again. It reveals a very important distinction. Advertising and selling are not mirror images of each other.

In fact, the best way to discern the difference between the two is in the following definition: Advertising focuses on features and facts. Selling focuses on benefits.

AD

We offer the very best in leather jackets. Our spring sale features 50% discounts and free shipping!

Sales Pitch

The soft, supple skin of our topofthe line bomber jacket will make everyone envious of you! The woollined interior will keep you warm in the winter so you can brave the harshest elements. The zip out feature lets you use the jacket in cool weather, too – so you won’t be too hot or too cold but you’ll still look stylish!

An advertisement says: ขHere is our product. Here’s what it can do. Here’s how much it costs.ข On the other hand, a powerful piece of sales copy says: ขYou’ll feel 10 years younger and rekindle your love with our product: Here, touch it, feel it, test it, have a sample of it.ข

An advertising campaign creates brand awareness and creates general interest. A sales campaign captures that interest and converts it into desire.

So, if your conversion rates aren’t what you’d like them to be, the first thing to do is check your copy. Does your sales letter read like one big advertisement? You’re spending money on traffic, but what are the customers seeing once they arrive at your site? Are they being sold effectively?

There is always a reason for the customer’s decision not to buy, and failure to execute good salesmanship is one of them. It doesn’t matter how good your product is or what it costs. It doesn’t matter if you’re giving away millions of dollar worth of value for pennies on the dollar. If the customer can’t see the benefits of owning the product himself, he won’t buy.

The Path of Least Resistance: Common Sense

ขIt’s that everlasting obviousness in Adams that I banked on. He doesn’t get carried away from the facts; he just looks them squarely in the face and then proceeds to analyze, and that is half the battle.

Indeed, many of the answers to your most pressing marketing challenges are hidden within common sense. The problem is that many people just don’t enjoy thinking. They’re lazy and thought takes up too much energy. Imagine how much expense you could save yourself if only you were to put in the hard work of an honest analysis of your business – and that means sitting down and analyzing:

Your overhead

Your prices

Your copy

Your traffic stats and logs

Customer feedback

Keyword performance

Email campaign data on open rates and conversions

The answers you find can sometimes be as simple as having a server crash or a nonworking order link, or as tricky as a design element on your page which looks fine to you but confuses prospects and drives them away.

You should test and track every element of your sales chain. This means you need to pay attention to your traffic sources, to the copy on the links from those sources, to the landing page which gives visitors their first impression, to the follow up material you send. Each element plays an important role in finetuning the prospect’s mind and opening it up for your ultimate pitch.

Any weak link in the chain can cost you sales. Imagine one day that you send out an offer to your list without first double checking that the link works? Then, you have to send out a second message to apologize and provide the correct link. The odds are good that a significant percentage of your list won’t bother opening the second email. If you’d reached them the first time, though, there would be money in your pocket.

Some of the other ‘gotchas’ that can ruin a campaign: click fraud on the pay per click engines, product theft, missed customer support emails and wasted money on underperforming keywords and other forms of advertising.

There’s no real excuse for being lazy on these things! Yes, you can try to cut corners, but you’ll pay for it at some point. It’s like a brick and mortar merchant leaving the doors unlocked at night. You’re practically guaranteed to experience a wipe out sooner or later.

In Conclusion

There’s an old classic from the same era as ขObvious Adamsข called How to Live on 24 Hours a Day. The wisdom one can glean from Adams’ straightforward and common sense approach to business could be called How to Market on 24 Hours a Day. Too often we overcomplicate things when the simple answer is staring us right in the face. Learn to step back and execute a ‘horsesense’ analysis of the facts at hand. The time you save, and the profits you keep, will be immeasurable.

Copyright 2005 Jo Han Mok

About The Author

Jo Han Mok is a frequent guest and featured speaker at Internet Marketing bootcamps and conferences on subjects such as copywriting and Joint Venture Marketing. Discover his hardcore sixfigure pulling secrets of กsalesmanship in printก at: http://www.MasterWordsmith.com.

This article was posted on January 23, 2005

by Jo Han Mok

The Mountain Highs & The Valley Lows When Starting

The Mountain Highs & The Valley Lows When Starting A Home Based Business

by: Kirk Bannerman

The emotional aspects of starting a home business can have you experiencing high highs and low lows. In addition to the immediate luxuries of being your own boss, setting your own working hours, and avoiding a stressful commute, there are also significant things on the other side of the ledger…starting and building a home business is not just an automatic trip to the promised land. The need for self discipline is important…since you don’t have a boss and a place to report for work, it is now up to you to schedule your time and perform productive tasks on your own.

Set actual work hours. Decide what hours you are going to work each day and stick to it as much as possible. This is one of the beautiful things about a home based business…you get to make this choice based upon your own personal situation for that particular day. Make ‘to doก lists for each day. Then, as you complete the items, check them off the list. You can transfer anything you don’t get done on a particular day to the next days list and make some notation so that you can see that it is a carryover from the previous day…however, remain constantly aware of the procrastination trap which leads you to keep putting things off until tomorrow. Hopefully, this will help you to stay organized and on task and allow you to make some real progress in developing your home based business.

In the early going, one of the most difficult things about developing a new home based business is dealing with the emotional roller coaster that can result from the highs (successes) and lows (temporary setbacks) you are almost certain to experience. Once you have done the research and decided on a particular home based business opportunity, you really need to focus on PERSISTENCE and realize that any real business will not just automatically become successful in days or weeks…you should be prepared to give it your best effort for at least 6 to 12 months in order to begin to build a solid income base.

Highs and lows were something that I began to notice when I first started a home based business. I have many years of top level management experience in ขtraditionalข corporations and have experienced lots of business cycles (corporate ขups and downsข), but the natural ขups and downsข that occur in a home business (particularly in the early stages) can be emotionally brutal if you don’t prepare yourself in advance for the fact that it is a basic law of nature…it will be a rocky road until you have spent enough time and effort to build your business to a level that sort of smoothes out the peaks and valleys.

The impact of the high and lows you will probably experience in developing your home based business is amplified by the fact that you are now in business on your own You are the boss and get to make all the decisions, but you are also on your own in dealing with the frustrations that will occur along the way while you are developing your business.

About The Author

Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and resides in California. For more details, visit his website at http://businessathome.us

This article was posted on September 25, 2003

by Kirk Bannerman