By - Paul Bliss
Using frequent posts to drive the search engines to your site.
It's no secret that blogs are great for helping to boost your seo rankings. You can use a blog to get a new site ranked quickly and ahead of your main site if you are dedicated to posting on a frequent basis.
While the main goal of your blog may be to express your thoughts, talk back to your customers or as a vehicle to promote your product or services, there is another critical element to blogging.
Search Engine Optimization & Marketing.
Because of the frequency of active blogs (daily - or at least 5 times a week) the search engines have put high weight on blogs that are focused and tend to stay on topic.
It's the freshness of content (in a perfect world) that a search engine is craving and rewarding to the blogs. The ideal situation is that the blog would provide for tiny snippets of information that over time build up to a greater whole. (Almost like a blook)
But the most overloooked element of a blog is that once you've established a frequent pattern of posting and you have the Googlebot coming to your site every few days, you can then use that to link to other sites, sub-domains or any deep links that you need to get crawled. While most blog postings may not have direct links to any sites in particular, you could always format your blog with some permanent links on the side.
Another mistake made by the amatuer blogger is that they don't realize that you can optimize your blog. True, most blogs only have a few areas, namely the "home" page and the "archive" page. But depending on the tool being used to post the blog, there are some places where you can take advantage seo-wise.
The title of your blog should be thought of as a headline - grab the reader's attention - but also be sure that your blog title is also what gets archived - that way your titles can become search queries as well.
While the main objective of a blog should be to get your message out, don't forget to take a little time for SEO and you should see your efforts payoff in the search engine results pages.
-To your online success!
About The Author
Paul Bliss
www.SEOforGoogle.com
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Deep Linking Strategy for Content Sites
By - Jack Humphrey
<)))
Linking - what a mess if you don't know what's going on. Either linking is "IN" or it's "OUT" according to what you read these days.
Here's the good news: Linking Works.
Here's the bad news: HOW It Works Has Changed!
The good thing is you are going to pick up a linking tip today that will put you light years ahead of most webmasters who think a reciprocal link directory is all you need to gain link popularity in Google and traffic from other sites.
Link directories are still ok, but the key is moderation. Directories with thousands of links are a dark ages website promotion tactic.
Today there are many people focusing on content again, thank god. And that means you have a lot more real estate than just a home page and a link directory to work with.
People have written to me to completely disagree with me on what I am about to show you, but believe the expert, it works!
Say you have 500 pages of article and resource content on your site. If you are publishing articles on several categories you could have many more pages than that.
But even if you only have a 30 page site right now, it should be growing all the time and will be large eventually. (If not, forget about Google staying excited about your site if it never changes.)
Each of those articles and resource pages is a link to your site waiting to happen.
There are two ways to get links to your site here:
Ask for a link to your main page in exchange for a link on one of your relevant article pages to the site you are requesting an exchange with.
Deep Linking: Ask for a link right back to the specific page on your site you are going to link to them on. Again, find relevant pages of content to the sites you are going after. People respond well to this, especially if you say you are limiting your outgoing links to "further resources" to 5 per page. (The number is up to you.)
What does this do for your site?
1. It gets webmasters WAY more excited about linking with you because you are putting them ON your site, not in some cobweb-ridden part of your site that no one ever visits.
2. It lets other site owners know you have ACTUALLY taken the time to review their site enough to know where they would best fit on your site according to the topic of the page you want to link to them on. Again - this is a way different message to them than the "Let's swap links" letter we all trash these days.
3. You start building link popularity and traffic direct to pages within your site other than your index. (If you choose to direct swap with them.)
4. It gives you leverage to ask for a better link from other sites than just being thrown in their link dump (link directory) where, again, far fewer people ever visit. You command the power to ask for a similar link of importance from the pages their visitors actually see. Win-Win
5. You increase the value of your links page because you are not loading it down with any and every person who will link with you. You can go back to old school linking to sites that you HONESTLY do recommend and that list can be far smaller and really fit on 1-2 pages. All the sudden you have traffic to your links page again and can truly reward webmasters who are on it with some traffic.
6. The links you get this way are going to be some of the first links you have probably ever gotten that actually send you significant traffic. The same goes for your link partners.
"But Jack, I don't want to send traffic away from my site!" Yes you do, in fact. Because you are asking your link partners to do the same. Links like this are just as profitable in the long run as Google Adsense ads because you are finally engaging in a real traffic exchange and leveraging your eproperty for what it's really worth. Trust me - this works. Send some traffic out and see what happens to your referrer stats.
Never give more than you get. Many people won't understand this form of linking for another year or so. They will try to shove your link in a dark hole on their site. Don't let them do it!
If someone doesn't understand the power of deep linking from their content pages, send them this article as a last ditch effort and tell them Jack said so. Otherwise, move on, take their link down, and find someone smart enough to see where linking is headed.
Overall, you are going to find it is much easier to get links this way, even from sites bigger than yours. Telling people "I want to link to you as a recommended resource on (name of article) page..." tells them that you are a pro and not some schmuck who has a linking program that spits out cookie cutter emails.
Too much work? Hire someone and pay them per link they secure in your name. Write the letter and have them fill in the blanks for specific sites. Teach them how to go through your site, learn the content, and go out and find RELEVANT recommended resources for each page.
You'd be surprised to find out how cheaply you can get good work done these days on Elance.com and other "for hire" sites.
Sit back and watch your incoming QUALITY links soar from month to month!
About The Author
Jack Humphrey is the author of Power Linking 2: Evolution at http://power-linking-profits.com> and marketing consultant for http://webfoxmedia.com.
<)))
Linking - what a mess if you don't know what's going on. Either linking is "IN" or it's "OUT" according to what you read these days.
Here's the good news: Linking Works.
Here's the bad news: HOW It Works Has Changed!
The good thing is you are going to pick up a linking tip today that will put you light years ahead of most webmasters who think a reciprocal link directory is all you need to gain link popularity in Google and traffic from other sites.
Link directories are still ok, but the key is moderation. Directories with thousands of links are a dark ages website promotion tactic.
Today there are many people focusing on content again, thank god. And that means you have a lot more real estate than just a home page and a link directory to work with.
People have written to me to completely disagree with me on what I am about to show you, but believe the expert, it works!
Say you have 500 pages of article and resource content on your site. If you are publishing articles on several categories you could have many more pages than that.
But even if you only have a 30 page site right now, it should be growing all the time and will be large eventually. (If not, forget about Google staying excited about your site if it never changes.)
Each of those articles and resource pages is a link to your site waiting to happen.
There are two ways to get links to your site here:
Ask for a link to your main page in exchange for a link on one of your relevant article pages to the site you are requesting an exchange with.
Deep Linking: Ask for a link right back to the specific page on your site you are going to link to them on. Again, find relevant pages of content to the sites you are going after. People respond well to this, especially if you say you are limiting your outgoing links to "further resources" to 5 per page. (The number is up to you.)
What does this do for your site?
1. It gets webmasters WAY more excited about linking with you because you are putting them ON your site, not in some cobweb-ridden part of your site that no one ever visits.
2. It lets other site owners know you have ACTUALLY taken the time to review their site enough to know where they would best fit on your site according to the topic of the page you want to link to them on. Again - this is a way different message to them than the "Let's swap links" letter we all trash these days.
3. You start building link popularity and traffic direct to pages within your site other than your index. (If you choose to direct swap with them.)
4. It gives you leverage to ask for a better link from other sites than just being thrown in their link dump (link directory) where, again, far fewer people ever visit. You command the power to ask for a similar link of importance from the pages their visitors actually see. Win-Win
5. You increase the value of your links page because you are not loading it down with any and every person who will link with you. You can go back to old school linking to sites that you HONESTLY do recommend and that list can be far smaller and really fit on 1-2 pages. All the sudden you have traffic to your links page again and can truly reward webmasters who are on it with some traffic.
6. The links you get this way are going to be some of the first links you have probably ever gotten that actually send you significant traffic. The same goes for your link partners.
"But Jack, I don't want to send traffic away from my site!" Yes you do, in fact. Because you are asking your link partners to do the same. Links like this are just as profitable in the long run as Google Adsense ads because you are finally engaging in a real traffic exchange and leveraging your eproperty for what it's really worth. Trust me - this works. Send some traffic out and see what happens to your referrer stats.
Never give more than you get. Many people won't understand this form of linking for another year or so. They will try to shove your link in a dark hole on their site. Don't let them do it!
If someone doesn't understand the power of deep linking from their content pages, send them this article as a last ditch effort and tell them Jack said so. Otherwise, move on, take their link down, and find someone smart enough to see where linking is headed.
Overall, you are going to find it is much easier to get links this way, even from sites bigger than yours. Telling people "I want to link to you as a recommended resource on (name of article) page..." tells them that you are a pro and not some schmuck who has a linking program that spits out cookie cutter emails.
Too much work? Hire someone and pay them per link they secure in your name. Write the letter and have them fill in the blanks for specific sites. Teach them how to go through your site, learn the content, and go out and find RELEVANT recommended resources for each page.
You'd be surprised to find out how cheaply you can get good work done these days on Elance.com and other "for hire" sites.
Sit back and watch your incoming QUALITY links soar from month to month!
About The Author
Jack Humphrey is the author of Power Linking 2: Evolution at http://power-linking-profits.com> and marketing consultant for http://webfoxmedia.com.
4 Ways to Get Your Prospect's Attention Fast
By - Bob Leduc
<)))
Can you remember the last dozen advertising messages beamed at you today? Can you remember even one of them? Most people can't.
This illustrates the biggest obstacle you need to overcome to successfully promote YOUR product or service. You must capture your prospect's attention in the first few seconds or your sales message will be ignored. This is especially important on the Internet where a visitor can simply click away from your website -- forever.
Here are 4 proven techniques you can use to quickly capture a prospect's attention. They apply to all media including the Internet.
1. MAKE A DRAMATIC STATEMENT
Did you ever write a headline for an ad, web page or other sales message? You probably used a dramatic statement. It’s the most obvious way to get someone’s attention. For example:
"Lose 8 Pounds In The Next 2 Weeks Without Dieting"
"My Doctor Uses These Nutritional Products"
"Double Your Sales And Reduce Your Advertising Expenses
TIP: Your dramatic statement will be most effective when it describes a major benefit for your prospect.
2. SURPRISE THEM WITH SOMETHING UNEXPECTED
Unexpected surprises always attract attention. It’s often negative attention caused by something going wrong. But you can also use an unexpected surprise to attract positive attention. It happened to me last week.
The office supply company I use sent me a letter announcing an automatic $50 deduction off my total bill for this month. I immediately placed an order for items I wasn’t planning to buy for another month or two. I even stocked up on several items I normally buy elsewhere. Their unexpected surprise got my attention and generated a large order during a month I hadn’t planned to order anything.
3. ASK A PROVOCATIVE QUESTION
I once saw a direct mail letter that began with the question, "If you’re such a smart executive why aren’t you making a six figure income?" Not many executives could resist reading that letter, especially if they weren’t making a six figure income.
Provocative questions startle your prospects and compel them to find out more. Here are 2 more examples of provocative questions:
"Why are you paying so much for your health insurance?"
"Do you really expect to get rich working for somebody else?"
4. GET PERSONAL
Personalization also attracts immediate attention. Your personalization can be individualized or group oriented.
Use INDIVIDUALIZED PERSONALIZATION when you’re communicating directly with one person by email, postal mail, telephone, etc. Use your prospect’s name. It’s the number one attention grabber. Merge it into the subject line and the opening line of your email message. Do the same in your postal mail. Include other personal information you know about them. But be careful not to overdo it.
You can personalize with a name when you’re communicating directly with one prospect. But how can you get personal with a prospect visiting your web site, reading your ad or listening to your radio commercial?
Use GROUP ORIENTED PERSONALIZATION when you’re NOT communicating directly with one person. You can get personal by referring to known characteristics of prospects in your targeted market. For example, use phrases like:
"When you started your business..." for business owners.
"Your favorite NFL team..." for sports fans.
"Every mother knows..." for women with children.
Group Oriented Personalization isn’t as effective as using a person’s name. But it still attracts attention because your prospect can react with, "that’s me".
Take some time today to plan how you can use these four proven techniques to attract more attention to your sales messages. The results will probably surprise you. So will the increase in your sales and profits.
About The Author
Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business owners titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards" and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. For more information... Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards". Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time) Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
<)))
Can you remember the last dozen advertising messages beamed at you today? Can you remember even one of them? Most people can't.
This illustrates the biggest obstacle you need to overcome to successfully promote YOUR product or service. You must capture your prospect's attention in the first few seconds or your sales message will be ignored. This is especially important on the Internet where a visitor can simply click away from your website -- forever.
Here are 4 proven techniques you can use to quickly capture a prospect's attention. They apply to all media including the Internet.
1. MAKE A DRAMATIC STATEMENT
Did you ever write a headline for an ad, web page or other sales message? You probably used a dramatic statement. It’s the most obvious way to get someone’s attention. For example:
"Lose 8 Pounds In The Next 2 Weeks Without Dieting"
"My Doctor Uses These Nutritional Products"
"Double Your Sales And Reduce Your Advertising Expenses
TIP: Your dramatic statement will be most effective when it describes a major benefit for your prospect.
2. SURPRISE THEM WITH SOMETHING UNEXPECTED
Unexpected surprises always attract attention. It’s often negative attention caused by something going wrong. But you can also use an unexpected surprise to attract positive attention. It happened to me last week.
The office supply company I use sent me a letter announcing an automatic $50 deduction off my total bill for this month. I immediately placed an order for items I wasn’t planning to buy for another month or two. I even stocked up on several items I normally buy elsewhere. Their unexpected surprise got my attention and generated a large order during a month I hadn’t planned to order anything.
3. ASK A PROVOCATIVE QUESTION
I once saw a direct mail letter that began with the question, "If you’re such a smart executive why aren’t you making a six figure income?" Not many executives could resist reading that letter, especially if they weren’t making a six figure income.
Provocative questions startle your prospects and compel them to find out more. Here are 2 more examples of provocative questions:
"Why are you paying so much for your health insurance?"
"Do you really expect to get rich working for somebody else?"
4. GET PERSONAL
Personalization also attracts immediate attention. Your personalization can be individualized or group oriented.
Use INDIVIDUALIZED PERSONALIZATION when you’re communicating directly with one person by email, postal mail, telephone, etc. Use your prospect’s name. It’s the number one attention grabber. Merge it into the subject line and the opening line of your email message. Do the same in your postal mail. Include other personal information you know about them. But be careful not to overdo it.
You can personalize with a name when you’re communicating directly with one prospect. But how can you get personal with a prospect visiting your web site, reading your ad or listening to your radio commercial?
Use GROUP ORIENTED PERSONALIZATION when you’re NOT communicating directly with one person. You can get personal by referring to known characteristics of prospects in your targeted market. For example, use phrases like:
"When you started your business..." for business owners.
"Your favorite NFL team..." for sports fans.
"Every mother knows..." for women with children.
Group Oriented Personalization isn’t as effective as using a person’s name. But it still attracts attention because your prospect can react with, "that’s me".
Take some time today to plan how you can use these four proven techniques to attract more attention to your sales messages. The results will probably surprise you. So will the increase in your sales and profits.
About The Author
Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business owners titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards" and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. For more information... Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards". Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time) Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
Evaluating Affiliate Programs
By - Sarah Coles
<)))
Affiliate programs, also called partner or associate programs, have become one of the most popular ways to earn money with a website. Participants earn money by receiving commission for clicks, leads, and/or sales generated through a website. But, some affiliate programs are more rewarding than others. Knowing what to look for is the first step in choosing which affiliate programs will be most effective.Commission and Earnings per Click (EPC)
The commission an affiliate program pays can help you choose between similar affiliate programs, but it is not always the most effective measure of how the affiliate program will perform. Some affiliate programs get a lot of clicks, but very few sales. You may make more income from companies that pay a lower commission, but are easier to sell. The Earnings per Click (EPC) is the average earnings per 100 clicks and is often a better measure of how much success you will have with different affiliate programs. Many affiliate tracking programs provide the average EPC?s for their participating companies.
Third-Party Tracking
Although most companies with affiliate programs are honorable and will not try to stiff you on your commissions, it is generally a good idea to choose affiliate programs where sales and clicks are tracked by an unbiased third-party. Companies that specialize in tracking commissions normally have much more reliable systems and have no incentive to miss-track your sales.
Website Reporting
If you have a website, you most likely have some sort of program that tracks the traffic to your site, but most site statistics scripts cannot track affiliate links. In order to fine-tune your site to generate the most income, choose affiliate programs that provide free software for tracking which banners or text links are getting the most traffic.
Minimum Check Requirements
Minimum check requirements are the amount of commission that you must be owed before they will send you a check. Ideally, this should be in the $25-$50 range. Much smaller and you could end up cashing dozens of $2 and $3 checks, much higher and it could be quite a while before you receive a check.
Repeat Business and Deferred Sales
Often visitors will click on an affiliate link but not purchase a product during that visit or will return later to make additional purchases. Some affiliate programs will not pay commission even though the customers were referred through your site. When possible, choose affiliate programs that will pay you for repeat business and deferred sales
About The Author
Sarah Coles is a Web Developer at Jumpline.com Web Hosting
<)))
Affiliate programs, also called partner or associate programs, have become one of the most popular ways to earn money with a website. Participants earn money by receiving commission for clicks, leads, and/or sales generated through a website. But, some affiliate programs are more rewarding than others. Knowing what to look for is the first step in choosing which affiliate programs will be most effective.Commission and Earnings per Click (EPC)
The commission an affiliate program pays can help you choose between similar affiliate programs, but it is not always the most effective measure of how the affiliate program will perform. Some affiliate programs get a lot of clicks, but very few sales. You may make more income from companies that pay a lower commission, but are easier to sell. The Earnings per Click (EPC) is the average earnings per 100 clicks and is often a better measure of how much success you will have with different affiliate programs. Many affiliate tracking programs provide the average EPC?s for their participating companies.
Third-Party Tracking
Although most companies with affiliate programs are honorable and will not try to stiff you on your commissions, it is generally a good idea to choose affiliate programs where sales and clicks are tracked by an unbiased third-party. Companies that specialize in tracking commissions normally have much more reliable systems and have no incentive to miss-track your sales.
Website Reporting
If you have a website, you most likely have some sort of program that tracks the traffic to your site, but most site statistics scripts cannot track affiliate links. In order to fine-tune your site to generate the most income, choose affiliate programs that provide free software for tracking which banners or text links are getting the most traffic.
Minimum Check Requirements
Minimum check requirements are the amount of commission that you must be owed before they will send you a check. Ideally, this should be in the $25-$50 range. Much smaller and you could end up cashing dozens of $2 and $3 checks, much higher and it could be quite a while before you receive a check.
Repeat Business and Deferred Sales
Often visitors will click on an affiliate link but not purchase a product during that visit or will return later to make additional purchases. Some affiliate programs will not pay commission even though the customers were referred through your site. When possible, choose affiliate programs that will pay you for repeat business and deferred sales
About The Author
Sarah Coles is a Web Developer at Jumpline.com Web Hosting
A Home Based Business Modeled After Google
By - Gobala Krishnan
<)))
Probably the most exciting company to not only survive, but come out strong out of the dot-com crash of the late 90's is Google Inc (http://www.google.com). Having started out small as a company operated in the garage of a friend and employing a staff of three, Google's meteoric rise to a top name on the Internet is not really that perplexing when we analyze the core strengths and policies of this company.
I am a super-fan of Google. I am also a fan of studying success so that I can learn from it. Here are a few key points that you, as a home based business entrepreneur, can learn from Google:
1) Capital Isn't EverythingIt may be hard for the newcomer to the home based business scene to swallow this fact. After all, more capital investment would mean more money to spend on advertising and building a home business. Its tempting to think how your business would be right now if you had, say $100,000 to start with, instead of the meager $1000 you scrambled to get from selling things around your home.
But here's one thing more important than capital - ingenuity. Ingenuity involves making the best of the resources available to you, making every advertising dollar count, and treating every customer or prospect invaluable to your business.
Capital in the wrong hands, in the hands of an inexperienced entrepreneur or marketer, is just a waste of money. Ingenuity, on the other hand, can turn a $1000 capital into a thriving business. And yes, when you get the ingenuity part right, then whatever extra capital you get would be worth so much more.
2) Differentiate and Win - Think Outside the Box
Innovation, ability to think outside the box and a willingness to test ideas and make mistakes is the trademark of any truly successful company, especially in Google's case. Recently when Google's Gmail (http://www.gmail.com) was launched, many ISPs and email providers were scrambling to offer more space to their free email accounts, simply because Google offered 1G of space. What they didn't get, however, was that Gmail was more that just about space.
So how did Google differentiate? They turned what would otherwise been just another email service into something much more. It is, as any user would be able to testify, the best way to store, organize and find information contained in emails. Keeping track of business responses and follow-ups is a breeze with Gmail. Try it yourself if you cannot believe that statement.
Many home based business entrepreneurs, especially the ones involved in network marketing, shiver at the word "saturated". In a network marketing environment it may dawn upon every person, at one point or another, that there are many others with products and opportunities that are similar to theirs, and the products that they are expected to sell may be in the highly competitive industries. I felt that way once too, but here's the real question - what can you offer?
Not too long ago a friend of mine, after completing her course on cosmetics, offered free facials and beauty consulting to promote cosmetic products sold by her network marketing company. By doing things most people were not doing at that time, she simple blew the competition away.
So what can you contribute to your home based business to make it different, to make it stand out from the crowd?
3) Give Your Customers Exactly What They Want
The success of Google's AdWords (http://adwords.google.com) and AdSense (http://adsense.google.com) is due to this simple fact - they gave advertisers exactly what they wanted. Marketers wanted a quick, results based, and dynamic advertising tool, and they got Adwords. Website owners wanted more advertising revenue, but did not want the hassle of maintaining it over the hundreds of pages that they have, and they got Adsense.
Its a pretty simple strategy - understand what your customers want and give it to them!
My ex-sponsor in my old network marketing company used to say that in order for me to move their nutritional supplements, I had to teach people that supplements can prevent many hazardous illnesses. Prevention is better than cure. But here's what I learned in a few years - the majority of people are looking for cures, not prevention. Most of the people I met in Malaysia are looking for a cure to sleeping disorders, a cure for fatigue, a cure for arthritis, and so on.
Sure, it may be a noble deed to educate people about prevention, but the world does not always work that way. The majority of people look for a home based business only when they get retrenched, when they run out of savings, or when they retire. So why not make your recruitment efforts match this need? Why not develop your niche market based on this category of people?
Instead of teaching them about residual income and the power of duplication which they are not interested in, wouldn't your message be more effective if you taught them how to earn a comfortable retirement income, or how to replace their current income instead?
The point is this - as a home based entrepreneur you must understand your target market's need, and serve them well. You should focus on being the best in providing the cure, not the best in preaching about the prevention. Focus on customer needs, and they will flock to you.
4) Are You Having Fun?
Everything about Google spells fun. But don't get me wrong. They are probably the most innovative company at the moment.
The fact that they can present their complicated technology in such a simple way to end-users is an act that every company can envy. Have you ever heard anyone complain about Google search being too complicated to use? Yet as an Internet marketer I can go crazy trying to understand the complexity behind the simple white page and squiggly logo.
Leave the complexity of a home based or network marketing business behind the scenes. Teach people how to have fun, while achieving goals and building their business. Show them that you are having fun yourself, and they will buy, they will join, or at least tell someone else about you, and your exciting business.
When you're having fun, it will not seem like work at all. Everyone could use a little fun in their lives, don't you think?
5) Focus on Your Core Competency
Yes, this is another phrase that is thrown around in the business world, but how many entrepreneurs actually practice it? As a home based entrepreneur, you may find the need to explore other sources of income. There's nothing wrong in that, but here's the catch - don't go where the money is, especially if it's not related to what you're doing.
Many people tend to find other sources of income that is totally unrelated to their main home business. As a result of that, they become an expert in nothing, and they become the best in nothing. If you make custom furniture at home, why take a job at a fast food chain to make ends meet, when you can explore other ways to make money out of your core competency? Having woodworking workshops, writing a 'how to' book on woodworking, or even a sales job at a furniture outlet can make good sources of additional revenue, while building your name and expertise on your core competency itself.
Starting out as a search engine, Google pretty much maintained their core competency until today. When they explore other sources of revenue or develop new products, you can be pretty sure it's related to search technology. And the undisputed result of that is that there is simply no other better alternative when it comes to search and information retrieval.
Therefore, we have much to learn from the success story of Google. Just as much as the age old story of entrepreneurs who drop out of school, and go on to develop multi-million dollar businesses armed with nothing more than guts and ingenuity, Google's success story is inspirational to say the least.
A tale of humble beginnings with extraordinary endings. Maybe that will someday be the story of your life, and your home based business...
About The Author
Gobala Krishnan is an internet marketer and home business owner. Visit his site at http://www.sfidreamteam.com to start your own Internet based home business today, and get a free kickstart package, one-on-one coaching and a clear, proven system to earn a six figure income.
<)))
Probably the most exciting company to not only survive, but come out strong out of the dot-com crash of the late 90's is Google Inc (http://www.google.com). Having started out small as a company operated in the garage of a friend and employing a staff of three, Google's meteoric rise to a top name on the Internet is not really that perplexing when we analyze the core strengths and policies of this company.
I am a super-fan of Google. I am also a fan of studying success so that I can learn from it. Here are a few key points that you, as a home based business entrepreneur, can learn from Google:
1) Capital Isn't EverythingIt may be hard for the newcomer to the home based business scene to swallow this fact. After all, more capital investment would mean more money to spend on advertising and building a home business. Its tempting to think how your business would be right now if you had, say $100,000 to start with, instead of the meager $1000 you scrambled to get from selling things around your home.
But here's one thing more important than capital - ingenuity. Ingenuity involves making the best of the resources available to you, making every advertising dollar count, and treating every customer or prospect invaluable to your business.
Capital in the wrong hands, in the hands of an inexperienced entrepreneur or marketer, is just a waste of money. Ingenuity, on the other hand, can turn a $1000 capital into a thriving business. And yes, when you get the ingenuity part right, then whatever extra capital you get would be worth so much more.
2) Differentiate and Win - Think Outside the Box
Innovation, ability to think outside the box and a willingness to test ideas and make mistakes is the trademark of any truly successful company, especially in Google's case. Recently when Google's Gmail (http://www.gmail.com) was launched, many ISPs and email providers were scrambling to offer more space to their free email accounts, simply because Google offered 1G of space. What they didn't get, however, was that Gmail was more that just about space.
So how did Google differentiate? They turned what would otherwise been just another email service into something much more. It is, as any user would be able to testify, the best way to store, organize and find information contained in emails. Keeping track of business responses and follow-ups is a breeze with Gmail. Try it yourself if you cannot believe that statement.
Many home based business entrepreneurs, especially the ones involved in network marketing, shiver at the word "saturated". In a network marketing environment it may dawn upon every person, at one point or another, that there are many others with products and opportunities that are similar to theirs, and the products that they are expected to sell may be in the highly competitive industries. I felt that way once too, but here's the real question - what can you offer?
Not too long ago a friend of mine, after completing her course on cosmetics, offered free facials and beauty consulting to promote cosmetic products sold by her network marketing company. By doing things most people were not doing at that time, she simple blew the competition away.
So what can you contribute to your home based business to make it different, to make it stand out from the crowd?
3) Give Your Customers Exactly What They Want
The success of Google's AdWords (http://adwords.google.com) and AdSense (http://adsense.google.com) is due to this simple fact - they gave advertisers exactly what they wanted. Marketers wanted a quick, results based, and dynamic advertising tool, and they got Adwords. Website owners wanted more advertising revenue, but did not want the hassle of maintaining it over the hundreds of pages that they have, and they got Adsense.
Its a pretty simple strategy - understand what your customers want and give it to them!
My ex-sponsor in my old network marketing company used to say that in order for me to move their nutritional supplements, I had to teach people that supplements can prevent many hazardous illnesses. Prevention is better than cure. But here's what I learned in a few years - the majority of people are looking for cures, not prevention. Most of the people I met in Malaysia are looking for a cure to sleeping disorders, a cure for fatigue, a cure for arthritis, and so on.
Sure, it may be a noble deed to educate people about prevention, but the world does not always work that way. The majority of people look for a home based business only when they get retrenched, when they run out of savings, or when they retire. So why not make your recruitment efforts match this need? Why not develop your niche market based on this category of people?
Instead of teaching them about residual income and the power of duplication which they are not interested in, wouldn't your message be more effective if you taught them how to earn a comfortable retirement income, or how to replace their current income instead?
The point is this - as a home based entrepreneur you must understand your target market's need, and serve them well. You should focus on being the best in providing the cure, not the best in preaching about the prevention. Focus on customer needs, and they will flock to you.
4) Are You Having Fun?
Everything about Google spells fun. But don't get me wrong. They are probably the most innovative company at the moment.
The fact that they can present their complicated technology in such a simple way to end-users is an act that every company can envy. Have you ever heard anyone complain about Google search being too complicated to use? Yet as an Internet marketer I can go crazy trying to understand the complexity behind the simple white page and squiggly logo.
Leave the complexity of a home based or network marketing business behind the scenes. Teach people how to have fun, while achieving goals and building their business. Show them that you are having fun yourself, and they will buy, they will join, or at least tell someone else about you, and your exciting business.
When you're having fun, it will not seem like work at all. Everyone could use a little fun in their lives, don't you think?
5) Focus on Your Core Competency
Yes, this is another phrase that is thrown around in the business world, but how many entrepreneurs actually practice it? As a home based entrepreneur, you may find the need to explore other sources of income. There's nothing wrong in that, but here's the catch - don't go where the money is, especially if it's not related to what you're doing.
Many people tend to find other sources of income that is totally unrelated to their main home business. As a result of that, they become an expert in nothing, and they become the best in nothing. If you make custom furniture at home, why take a job at a fast food chain to make ends meet, when you can explore other ways to make money out of your core competency? Having woodworking workshops, writing a 'how to' book on woodworking, or even a sales job at a furniture outlet can make good sources of additional revenue, while building your name and expertise on your core competency itself.
Starting out as a search engine, Google pretty much maintained their core competency until today. When they explore other sources of revenue or develop new products, you can be pretty sure it's related to search technology. And the undisputed result of that is that there is simply no other better alternative when it comes to search and information retrieval.
Therefore, we have much to learn from the success story of Google. Just as much as the age old story of entrepreneurs who drop out of school, and go on to develop multi-million dollar businesses armed with nothing more than guts and ingenuity, Google's success story is inspirational to say the least.
A tale of humble beginnings with extraordinary endings. Maybe that will someday be the story of your life, and your home based business...
About The Author
Gobala Krishnan is an internet marketer and home business owner. Visit his site at http://www.sfidreamteam.com to start your own Internet based home business today, and get a free kickstart package, one-on-one coaching and a clear, proven system to earn a six figure income.
Create Monthly Cash Flow Without any of Your Own Money or Credit
By - William Bronchick, Esq.
<)))
A profitable, yet easy-to-learn method of creating cash flow is to buy and re-sell properties in back-to-back closings. However, flipping properties in this manner requires you to KEEP WORKING. When you stop working, the cash flow stops coming in. Rather than flip properties for all cash, flip them for some cash and a promissory note that pays you monthly income with interest for years and years.
The "Wraparound" Transaction
Obviously, you need the cash to buy the property. Most people buy properties using a mortgage loan, which means you need enough cash flow from the sale of the property to pay off the loan you borrowed.
Enter the wraparound formula. A "wrap" is a transaction that involves leaving the first mortgage in place and creating a new loan to a buyer which is secondary to the first mortgage. The payments come in from the buyer, and you make the payments on the underlying loan still in place. There is a "spread" between the two payments which equals cash flow to you. Most agents equate a ?nothing down? offer with a buyer who is not serious.
Example: Buy a property worth $100,000 for a discounted price of $90,000. Put 20% down ($18,000) and finance the balance of $72,000 at 9% with a conventional loan. Your principal and interest ("P&I") payment is about $580.00 per month. Resell the property for $110,000, taking a down payment of $15,000 and a $95,000 note at 12% interest. You collect about $977 per month. Your cash flow is almost $400 per month ($4800/year), with just $10,000 invested (figuring $5000 in closing costs.) That's 48% annual interest on your money!.
This deal is definitely "cookie cutter" and easy to do, but I said "no money or credit." Here's the solution: find a partner to put up their money and credit.
Step 1: Locate an open-minded investor who has good credit and provable income.
Step 2: Form a limited liability company ("LLC") of which you are both the members, 50/50.
Step 3: Locate properties in nice middle class neighborhoods available for 10% or more below market.
Step 4: Execute a resolution from the LLC that your investor member will purchase a particular property in is name, for the benefit of the LLC. Have the investor purchase the property in his name, using his credit and down payment.
Step 5: Advertise the property for sale by owner "no credit required." Find a buyer willing to pay at least 10% more than the appraised value of the property with 10% or more as a down payment. The investor gets the cash to recoup his investment
Step 6: Execute a land contract to the new buyer.
Step 7: Collect monthly cash flow and split it with the investor.
In the above example, you so all the legwork and you split the cash flow with the investor. When the investor is unable to obtain any more loans, find another investor, rinse and repeat
Copyright 2000 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied
or reprinted without the express written permission of the Author.
About The Author
William Bronchick, Esq.
Legalwiz Publications
==================================
E-mail bronchick@legalwiz.com
Website: www.legalwiz.com
<)))
A profitable, yet easy-to-learn method of creating cash flow is to buy and re-sell properties in back-to-back closings. However, flipping properties in this manner requires you to KEEP WORKING. When you stop working, the cash flow stops coming in. Rather than flip properties for all cash, flip them for some cash and a promissory note that pays you monthly income with interest for years and years.
The "Wraparound" Transaction
Obviously, you need the cash to buy the property. Most people buy properties using a mortgage loan, which means you need enough cash flow from the sale of the property to pay off the loan you borrowed.
Enter the wraparound formula. A "wrap" is a transaction that involves leaving the first mortgage in place and creating a new loan to a buyer which is secondary to the first mortgage. The payments come in from the buyer, and you make the payments on the underlying loan still in place. There is a "spread" between the two payments which equals cash flow to you. Most agents equate a ?nothing down? offer with a buyer who is not serious.
Example: Buy a property worth $100,000 for a discounted price of $90,000. Put 20% down ($18,000) and finance the balance of $72,000 at 9% with a conventional loan. Your principal and interest ("P&I") payment is about $580.00 per month. Resell the property for $110,000, taking a down payment of $15,000 and a $95,000 note at 12% interest. You collect about $977 per month. Your cash flow is almost $400 per month ($4800/year), with just $10,000 invested (figuring $5000 in closing costs.) That's 48% annual interest on your money!.
This deal is definitely "cookie cutter" and easy to do, but I said "no money or credit." Here's the solution: find a partner to put up their money and credit.
Step 1: Locate an open-minded investor who has good credit and provable income.
Step 2: Form a limited liability company ("LLC") of which you are both the members, 50/50.
Step 3: Locate properties in nice middle class neighborhoods available for 10% or more below market.
Step 4: Execute a resolution from the LLC that your investor member will purchase a particular property in is name, for the benefit of the LLC. Have the investor purchase the property in his name, using his credit and down payment.
Step 5: Advertise the property for sale by owner "no credit required." Find a buyer willing to pay at least 10% more than the appraised value of the property with 10% or more as a down payment. The investor gets the cash to recoup his investment
Step 6: Execute a land contract to the new buyer.
Step 7: Collect monthly cash flow and split it with the investor.
In the above example, you so all the legwork and you split the cash flow with the investor. When the investor is unable to obtain any more loans, find another investor, rinse and repeat
Copyright 2000 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied
or reprinted without the express written permission of the Author.
About The Author
William Bronchick, Esq.
Legalwiz Publications
==================================
E-mail bronchick@legalwiz.com
Website: www.legalwiz.com
SEO for Digg
By - Paul Bliss
<)))
In case you haven't been on the Internet for the past year or so, there has been a tremendous amount of attention being captured by socially-powered sites such as digg.
So, what does this have to with the world of Search Engine Marketing?
There is something called the Digg effect, which essentially brings a ton of traffic to your site in a small amount of time. (Usually within minutes of a posting).
While digg readers despise seo-planted stories, if you do have something topical or free to use or even something that's just "cool", you won't feel the wrath of the digg community, and end up with your post getting buried.
So how can you leverage this site?
One of the key elements of getting a story on the home page is to have either a ton of people who have "dugg" your posting, or if you happen to know some of the top users on digg to vote for your story, you'll have no time reaching the front.
For the rest of us, we need to work harder. While there are sites that sell services to "digg" stories for you, at some point in time, digg will wise up and stop that.
There is another site that allows you to alert any of your friends when you have posted on digg, called Digg Alerts.
But despite all the "gaming" that goes on, at the end of the day, you need to have a compelling story to have the readers interact with what you're saying.
As for the SEO coding and copy writing element of digg, you need to have a great title and summary to get any reader to even bother checking out your site. Another course of action you need to take is to review all of digg's categories - if your story would not fit on the site, don't waste your time.
The expectation set forth when using digg in as part of your marketing strategy should be to create buzz, build brand name and drive traffic to your site. To expect digg users to click on your Adsense ads is non-sensical - digg readers are tech-savvy and can smell that technique a mile away. Be patient, post often and become part of the digg community by also submitting great stories you find - often times it will already be posted, but every once in a while you can beat them to the punch, and you gain a little bit of credibility on the site.
-To your online success!
About The Author
Paul Bliss
www.SEOforGoogle.com
<)))
In case you haven't been on the Internet for the past year or so, there has been a tremendous amount of attention being captured by socially-powered sites such as digg.
So, what does this have to with the world of Search Engine Marketing?
There is something called the Digg effect, which essentially brings a ton of traffic to your site in a small amount of time. (Usually within minutes of a posting).
While digg readers despise seo-planted stories, if you do have something topical or free to use or even something that's just "cool", you won't feel the wrath of the digg community, and end up with your post getting buried.
So how can you leverage this site?
One of the key elements of getting a story on the home page is to have either a ton of people who have "dugg" your posting, or if you happen to know some of the top users on digg to vote for your story, you'll have no time reaching the front.
For the rest of us, we need to work harder. While there are sites that sell services to "digg" stories for you, at some point in time, digg will wise up and stop that.
There is another site that allows you to alert any of your friends when you have posted on digg, called Digg Alerts.
But despite all the "gaming" that goes on, at the end of the day, you need to have a compelling story to have the readers interact with what you're saying.
As for the SEO coding and copy writing element of digg, you need to have a great title and summary to get any reader to even bother checking out your site. Another course of action you need to take is to review all of digg's categories - if your story would not fit on the site, don't waste your time.
The expectation set forth when using digg in as part of your marketing strategy should be to create buzz, build brand name and drive traffic to your site. To expect digg users to click on your Adsense ads is non-sensical - digg readers are tech-savvy and can smell that technique a mile away. Be patient, post often and become part of the digg community by also submitting great stories you find - often times it will already be posted, but every once in a while you can beat them to the punch, and you gain a little bit of credibility on the site.
-To your online success!
About The Author
Paul Bliss
www.SEOforGoogle.com
Monday, May 28, 2007
AdWords Campaigns? Avoiding the Mistakes
By - Adriana Iordan
<)))
How to avoid the most common AdWords errors. Some of the most common AdWords campaign mistakes come from superficiality or insufficient knowledge about the targeted market and the way the Web works.
With the emergence of Google's AdWords service, online marketing has changed. It is now possible to target potential customers more accurately than ever, taking into account that Web search is the second most used online application after e-mail.
What is AdWords?
AdWords is Google's tool, meant to help you advertise your business. It can be used to create simple, yet effective ads that will be displayed to people performing online searches for information related to businesses such as yours. Basically, a Google AdWords campaign is one way of doing online keyword-based advertising.
At the core of any pay-per-click campaign lays the commercial links (the ads) associated to keywords, displayed on the right side of the result page when a Google search is performed. What Google offers is actually placing certain Web sites on top of all the results for a specific search (i.e. keywords). Against a fee, naturally. These sites are placed systematically on the right on the right side of the result screen and marked as "commercial links" so that the user is not mislead, since Google's goal is, above all, to maintain the credibility of its search engine.
The AdWords ads are very simple. They come in a verity of formats, amongst which the most common are the text format and the image format. There can also be animated ads, video ads, mobile ads, etc. The text ads usually consist of:
An ad title (up to 25 characters, including spaces): must attract users that may have an interest in your products or services
Two description lines (up to 35 characters each, including spaces): should be clear and compelling enough to convince the user to visit your site
The display URL (up to 35 characters, including spaces): this is where the user will be directed when clicking on the ad.
15 Most Common Errors in an AdWords Campaign
Don't assume that this is an easy task. It's not. Remember that Google is a tough nut to crack, but with the right set of tools and a lot of hard work and dedication, it can be done. Therefore, it is good that before creating a pay per click campaign, you have a clearly established goal. According to this goal, begin creating your AdWords campaign.
As with Search Engine Optimization, AdWords campaign management is a must and must be done properly. There are many aspects that can be overlooked. Some of the most common AdWords campaign mistakes come from superficiality or insufficient knowledge about the targeted market and the way the Web works.
Among the worst mistakes being made in such cases are:
Bidding too much in order to be placed on the top position
Even if this seems like the best choice, being "Number One" in this case is not necessarily the best. Keep in mind that Web users are accustomed to searching, and they usually don't stop at the first ad. And, since they are first prospecting the market, it is highly possible that you only get an unqualified click. It seems that being no. 3 in paid search is one of the best (i.e. profitable) rank.
No geo-targeting
Try to relate to the potential customers in your area first. They are more likely to take their business to a local company. Add, for example, the name of the town or of the area where your company is in your ad and the effects will be noticeable.
Bidding on broad keywords
Broad keywords are very likely to take your CPC (cost-per-click) to a very high level. Therefore, try to brush the keyword list that you wish to use for your PPC campaign and retain only highly searched-for keywords. Those are worth bidding for.
Boring content
Don't say what others have already said. Be creative. Be fresh.
Non-relevant landing pages
Make sure that when the Web user clicks on the URL in the ad, it will take him/her to a relevant page. You don't want the user to get frustrated by not finding the desired product/service advertised in the ad.
Directing users only to the home page
Unless you have a really cool Web site that will captivate the users and make them browse through it for endless minutes, they will get frustrated if they have to search throughout the site for what the need, starting from your home page. You should send them directly where they will find what was advertised.
No keywords in the ad text
Do insert your keywords in the title and description of the ad. Nevertheless, remember to keep an eye on the clarity and relevance of the ad. The visitors must understand exactly what they will get when clicking on it.
Not tracking the results
You should monitor the keywords that you use in your Google AdWords marketing campaigns. The most at-hand tool is Google Analytics, built into the AdWords interface. You should be able to see and rule out the keywords that are not helping you get the desired ROI (return on investment).
Same bids for the content network
AdWords gives you the possibility to have two separate campaigns, one for the content network, and the other for the search network. You should set different bids for the content network. Otherwise, the CPC will be much higher than anticipated.
Suggesting that what you offer is free
Don't try to lure the visitors with false statements. All you'll get is irrelevant traffic, but no conversion (or not significant enough).
Not identifying the uniqueness of your product/service
Identify what makes you and your product/service unique, what makes you stand out from the large crowd of competitors. Find the keyword(s) that supports this uniqueness.
Failure to create multiple ad groups and ad campaigns
Don't fall into that trap. Unorganized campaigns will fail to produce the expected results. Group all the single ads that target related keywords. If you're advertising more than one product/service, it's best to have the ads grouped by category. Also, don't use just one campaign. Split your ads into separate campaigns. You will be able to see which of them gives you more satisfaction in terms of conversion rate.
Failure to test with more that one ad
Don't limit your advertising campaign to just one ad. It may not contain the best keywords. Create more ads and see which one works best.
Not using targeting options for keywords
Broad matches may or may not improve your conversion rate. But if you use the keyword targeting options, you may notice significant improvements. The targeting options are the square brackets - [blue tulip] - and the quotation marks - "blue tulip". Also, you can use the negative character (minus sign) in order to specify certain keywords for which you don't want your ads to be shown: -tulip. This will also prevent you from paying for such words. A penny saved is a penny earned, they say.
Not using company/brand name keywords
Don't leave out the name of your company or of a brand you've created. You wouldn't want the competition to make profitable use of it, would you?
So, when you plan on creating an AdWords campaign, try to keep an eye on the aspects mentioned above. There is too much at stake to afford bad internet marketing campaigns.
What's In It For You?
To make it short (taking into account that your Google AdWords campaign is a good one): an improved conversion rate. After all, this is what you were aiming for. If you only take a look at the possible AdWords campaign mistakes mentioned above, it is easy to figure out the disastrous consequences of a poorly managed advertising campaign.
Ultimately, it can put you out of business. On the other hand, a well-directed and properly instrumented pay-per-click campaign can go a long way. You gain notoriety and make a profit.
There are so many ways in which you can save money when creating an AdWords campaign. If you manage to avoid the above-mentioned mistakes, you will surely notice an increase in your sales or amount of contracts for your services.
About The Author
Read more free internet marketing articles. http://www.avangate.com/articles/internet-marketing Copyright © 2007, www.avangate.com, all rights reserved. This article was written by Adriana Iordan, Web Marketing Manager at Avangate B.V. Avangate is an eCommerce platform for electronic software distribution incorporating an easy to use and secure online payment system plus additional software marketing services and sales tools.
<)))
How to avoid the most common AdWords errors. Some of the most common AdWords campaign mistakes come from superficiality or insufficient knowledge about the targeted market and the way the Web works.
With the emergence of Google's AdWords service, online marketing has changed. It is now possible to target potential customers more accurately than ever, taking into account that Web search is the second most used online application after e-mail.
What is AdWords?
AdWords is Google's tool, meant to help you advertise your business. It can be used to create simple, yet effective ads that will be displayed to people performing online searches for information related to businesses such as yours. Basically, a Google AdWords campaign is one way of doing online keyword-based advertising.
At the core of any pay-per-click campaign lays the commercial links (the ads) associated to keywords, displayed on the right side of the result page when a Google search is performed. What Google offers is actually placing certain Web sites on top of all the results for a specific search (i.e. keywords). Against a fee, naturally. These sites are placed systematically on the right on the right side of the result screen and marked as "commercial links" so that the user is not mislead, since Google's goal is, above all, to maintain the credibility of its search engine.
The AdWords ads are very simple. They come in a verity of formats, amongst which the most common are the text format and the image format. There can also be animated ads, video ads, mobile ads, etc. The text ads usually consist of:
An ad title (up to 25 characters, including spaces): must attract users that may have an interest in your products or services
Two description lines (up to 35 characters each, including spaces): should be clear and compelling enough to convince the user to visit your site
The display URL (up to 35 characters, including spaces): this is where the user will be directed when clicking on the ad.
15 Most Common Errors in an AdWords Campaign
Don't assume that this is an easy task. It's not. Remember that Google is a tough nut to crack, but with the right set of tools and a lot of hard work and dedication, it can be done. Therefore, it is good that before creating a pay per click campaign, you have a clearly established goal. According to this goal, begin creating your AdWords campaign.
As with Search Engine Optimization, AdWords campaign management is a must and must be done properly. There are many aspects that can be overlooked. Some of the most common AdWords campaign mistakes come from superficiality or insufficient knowledge about the targeted market and the way the Web works.
Among the worst mistakes being made in such cases are:
Bidding too much in order to be placed on the top position
Even if this seems like the best choice, being "Number One" in this case is not necessarily the best. Keep in mind that Web users are accustomed to searching, and they usually don't stop at the first ad. And, since they are first prospecting the market, it is highly possible that you only get an unqualified click. It seems that being no. 3 in paid search is one of the best (i.e. profitable) rank.
No geo-targeting
Try to relate to the potential customers in your area first. They are more likely to take their business to a local company. Add, for example, the name of the town or of the area where your company is in your ad and the effects will be noticeable.
Bidding on broad keywords
Broad keywords are very likely to take your CPC (cost-per-click) to a very high level. Therefore, try to brush the keyword list that you wish to use for your PPC campaign and retain only highly searched-for keywords. Those are worth bidding for.
Boring content
Don't say what others have already said. Be creative. Be fresh.
Non-relevant landing pages
Make sure that when the Web user clicks on the URL in the ad, it will take him/her to a relevant page. You don't want the user to get frustrated by not finding the desired product/service advertised in the ad.
Directing users only to the home page
Unless you have a really cool Web site that will captivate the users and make them browse through it for endless minutes, they will get frustrated if they have to search throughout the site for what the need, starting from your home page. You should send them directly where they will find what was advertised.
No keywords in the ad text
Do insert your keywords in the title and description of the ad. Nevertheless, remember to keep an eye on the clarity and relevance of the ad. The visitors must understand exactly what they will get when clicking on it.
Not tracking the results
You should monitor the keywords that you use in your Google AdWords marketing campaigns. The most at-hand tool is Google Analytics, built into the AdWords interface. You should be able to see and rule out the keywords that are not helping you get the desired ROI (return on investment).
Same bids for the content network
AdWords gives you the possibility to have two separate campaigns, one for the content network, and the other for the search network. You should set different bids for the content network. Otherwise, the CPC will be much higher than anticipated.
Suggesting that what you offer is free
Don't try to lure the visitors with false statements. All you'll get is irrelevant traffic, but no conversion (or not significant enough).
Not identifying the uniqueness of your product/service
Identify what makes you and your product/service unique, what makes you stand out from the large crowd of competitors. Find the keyword(s) that supports this uniqueness.
Failure to create multiple ad groups and ad campaigns
Don't fall into that trap. Unorganized campaigns will fail to produce the expected results. Group all the single ads that target related keywords. If you're advertising more than one product/service, it's best to have the ads grouped by category. Also, don't use just one campaign. Split your ads into separate campaigns. You will be able to see which of them gives you more satisfaction in terms of conversion rate.
Failure to test with more that one ad
Don't limit your advertising campaign to just one ad. It may not contain the best keywords. Create more ads and see which one works best.
Not using targeting options for keywords
Broad matches may or may not improve your conversion rate. But if you use the keyword targeting options, you may notice significant improvements. The targeting options are the square brackets - [blue tulip] - and the quotation marks - "blue tulip". Also, you can use the negative character (minus sign) in order to specify certain keywords for which you don't want your ads to be shown: -tulip. This will also prevent you from paying for such words. A penny saved is a penny earned, they say.
Not using company/brand name keywords
Don't leave out the name of your company or of a brand you've created. You wouldn't want the competition to make profitable use of it, would you?
So, when you plan on creating an AdWords campaign, try to keep an eye on the aspects mentioned above. There is too much at stake to afford bad internet marketing campaigns.
What's In It For You?
To make it short (taking into account that your Google AdWords campaign is a good one): an improved conversion rate. After all, this is what you were aiming for. If you only take a look at the possible AdWords campaign mistakes mentioned above, it is easy to figure out the disastrous consequences of a poorly managed advertising campaign.
Ultimately, it can put you out of business. On the other hand, a well-directed and properly instrumented pay-per-click campaign can go a long way. You gain notoriety and make a profit.
There are so many ways in which you can save money when creating an AdWords campaign. If you manage to avoid the above-mentioned mistakes, you will surely notice an increase in your sales or amount of contracts for your services.
About The Author
Read more free internet marketing articles. http://www.avangate.com/articles/internet-marketing Copyright © 2007, www.avangate.com, all rights reserved. This article was written by Adriana Iordan, Web Marketing Manager at Avangate B.V. Avangate is an eCommerce platform for electronic software distribution incorporating an easy to use and secure online payment system plus additional software marketing services and sales tools.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
A New System Of E-Commerce?
By - Terence Tan
<)))
A MLAP, short for a multi level affiliate program, is a relatively new type of affiliate program offered by some innovative web merchants.
In addition to referral commissions for their direct sales, affiliates of MLAPs also get paid commissions when their sub-affiliates at multiple levels sell affiliate products.
Unlike MLM programs, which charge "recruitment" fees, "starter kit" fees, "product testing" fees etc, there is never any money needed to join a MLAP...Which means that there is never any money to be made by simply recruiting sub-affiliates.
The power of MLAPs lies in their ability to unlock the huge potential for increased earnings that lie in the "wasted traffic" that websites receive.
For example, out of 1000 visitors to a website, perhaps a maximum of only 5 might eventually buy any affiliate products that the webmaster would recommend. The other 995 become "wasted" as they do not contribute in any way to the affiliate's earnings.
However, many of these "wasted" visitors, would see enough value in these products to sign up as affiliates themselves and sell the products to their own contacts and web visitors.
When this happens in a single level affiliate program, the original affiliate earns nothing. In a MLAP, the original affiliate would also be paid a referral commission on the sales made by these sub-affiliates.
Depending on the number of levels the MLAP uses, commissions from sub-affiliate sales get multiplied at each level, resulting in greatly increased affiliate earnings.
For the affiliate, MLAPs provide a way to maximize the value of their "wasted traffic" using the viral power of "word of mouth" marketing, without the risks associated with MLM programs.
For the MLAP merchant, an MLAP allows his affiliate program to sign up affiliates more effectively by standing out from the crowd of single level affiliate programs.
Because they are relatively new, certain issues, (such as the ideal number of levels a MLAP should have, and the percentage of referral commissions that should be paid at each level), are still open to debate.
What has become clear though, is that MLAPs have become an important option for both merchants and affiliates, to increase their share of the ever-growing size of E-Commerce.
About The Author
Terence Tan is the project manager of HugeAffiliates.com, a website dedicated towards the development of Multi Level Affiliate Programs as an alternative system of business.
<)))
A MLAP, short for a multi level affiliate program, is a relatively new type of affiliate program offered by some innovative web merchants.
In addition to referral commissions for their direct sales, affiliates of MLAPs also get paid commissions when their sub-affiliates at multiple levels sell affiliate products.
Unlike MLM programs, which charge "recruitment" fees, "starter kit" fees, "product testing" fees etc, there is never any money needed to join a MLAP...Which means that there is never any money to be made by simply recruiting sub-affiliates.
The power of MLAPs lies in their ability to unlock the huge potential for increased earnings that lie in the "wasted traffic" that websites receive.
For example, out of 1000 visitors to a website, perhaps a maximum of only 5 might eventually buy any affiliate products that the webmaster would recommend. The other 995 become "wasted" as they do not contribute in any way to the affiliate's earnings.
However, many of these "wasted" visitors, would see enough value in these products to sign up as affiliates themselves and sell the products to their own contacts and web visitors.
When this happens in a single level affiliate program, the original affiliate earns nothing. In a MLAP, the original affiliate would also be paid a referral commission on the sales made by these sub-affiliates.
Depending on the number of levels the MLAP uses, commissions from sub-affiliate sales get multiplied at each level, resulting in greatly increased affiliate earnings.
For the affiliate, MLAPs provide a way to maximize the value of their "wasted traffic" using the viral power of "word of mouth" marketing, without the risks associated with MLM programs.
For the MLAP merchant, an MLAP allows his affiliate program to sign up affiliates more effectively by standing out from the crowd of single level affiliate programs.
Because they are relatively new, certain issues, (such as the ideal number of levels a MLAP should have, and the percentage of referral commissions that should be paid at each level), are still open to debate.
What has become clear though, is that MLAPs have become an important option for both merchants and affiliates, to increase their share of the ever-growing size of E-Commerce.
About The Author
Terence Tan is the project manager of HugeAffiliates.com, a website dedicated towards the development of Multi Level Affiliate Programs as an alternative system of business.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Google TrustRank
By - Paul Bliss
<)))
There has been an ever increasing awareness to the value of Google's "TrustRank" algorithm. While there are many factors that are "Off-page", there are a number of simple actions you can take to make sure your site earns the trust from Google by employing these easy techniques.
The best way to think about Trustrank is to compare it to if you were to purchase a product or service in the real world. There are many built-in factors that we use to pre-qualify a business to see if we are willing to part with our cash for their goods or services. This is the same approach Google takes in order to measure the quality of a site, and doing this will get you out of the so-called "Sandbox" much faster than the typical 4-6 months.
While in no particular order, some are most costly than others, but all are worth doing.
Register your domain for 10 years. If you can't afford the $70 it costs at GoDaddy then are you really serious about your site?
Buy a SSL certificate - this tells Google that you are a legit business since they know you have to have a verified checking account to get a SSL cert. (And buy it for as many years as you can at a time, at the very least for 2 years)
Have a privacy policy that tells in exact detail what happens to the information about the visitor that is collected from the site.
List a mailing address (no P.O. Boxes) - Just as in real life, you feel better purchasing a service or product from a place that has a physical location.
List your contact information - telephone, fax (if needed), email & name.
If you have a bigger budget, use any of the "Hacker Safe" services and place those icons on your site. Again, this tells Google that you are seriously committed to protecting your visitor's experience on the site.
Those are simple techniques that you can directly apply to your site, and are signals to Google that you take your online presence seriously.
As far as the "Off-page" factors, it's really about linking to quality sites that are relevant and sometimes considered "authority sites" by Google. Also, getting links from those trusted sites will help re-enforce the quality of your site in the eyes of the Google spiders.
-To your online success!
About The Author
Paul Bliss
www.seoforgoogle.com
<)))
There has been an ever increasing awareness to the value of Google's "TrustRank" algorithm. While there are many factors that are "Off-page", there are a number of simple actions you can take to make sure your site earns the trust from Google by employing these easy techniques.
The best way to think about Trustrank is to compare it to if you were to purchase a product or service in the real world. There are many built-in factors that we use to pre-qualify a business to see if we are willing to part with our cash for their goods or services. This is the same approach Google takes in order to measure the quality of a site, and doing this will get you out of the so-called "Sandbox" much faster than the typical 4-6 months.
While in no particular order, some are most costly than others, but all are worth doing.
Register your domain for 10 years. If you can't afford the $70 it costs at GoDaddy then are you really serious about your site?
Buy a SSL certificate - this tells Google that you are a legit business since they know you have to have a verified checking account to get a SSL cert. (And buy it for as many years as you can at a time, at the very least for 2 years)
Have a privacy policy that tells in exact detail what happens to the information about the visitor that is collected from the site.
List a mailing address (no P.O. Boxes) - Just as in real life, you feel better purchasing a service or product from a place that has a physical location.
List your contact information - telephone, fax (if needed), email & name.
If you have a bigger budget, use any of the "Hacker Safe" services and place those icons on your site. Again, this tells Google that you are seriously committed to protecting your visitor's experience on the site.
Those are simple techniques that you can directly apply to your site, and are signals to Google that you take your online presence seriously.
As far as the "Off-page" factors, it's really about linking to quality sites that are relevant and sometimes considered "authority sites" by Google. Also, getting links from those trusted sites will help re-enforce the quality of your site in the eyes of the Google spiders.
-To your online success!
About The Author
Paul Bliss
www.seoforgoogle.com
Friday, May 25, 2007
Can you succeed marketing an affiliate based program?
By - Ian Bosworth
<)))
Internet Marketing can be an enjoyable and profitable
experience, but it can also be very frustrating, time consuming,
money draining and anti social.
So why do we keep putting ourselves through all this pain?
Well, I’m sure that for everyone there is a different answer
depending on your driving force, but for me it’s the thought
that one day I’ll succeed and make a tidy income. God knows how
many ‘Get Rich’ schemes are out there but experience has taught
me that 95% of them are simply schemes for making the owner rich
and not the affiliate. On the plus side, they do teach you the
pitfalls of Internet Marketing and hopefully move you that
little further down the line towards your ultimate goal. You may
think that this article is simply a moan about the chaos which
is ‘Internet Marketing’ but I assure you that’s not the case. My
aim is to pass on the good and bad of this type of venture and
to hope that I can help someone to avoid the many obstacles and
reach there goal reasonable unscathed.
Can you make money from a program which doesn’t sell a tangible
product?
Time and time again you’ll see these type of programs – They’ll
say pay $5 as a one off payment and we’ll give you thousands in
return. The word that comes to mind is ‘Pyramid’. Logic tells
you that $5 can never become $1,000 without you sponsoring
thousands of people and then they’ve got to sponsor thousands of
people and so on. At some point you run out of people and the
system fails. You loose your money but the owner makes a tidy
sum. Maybe the answer is to invent your own ‘Get Rich’ scheme
but then, how do these people sleep at night? Personally, these
schemes should be outlawed because all they do is serve to
undermine the ethics of Internet Marketing. So, can you make
money from these types of programs – My experience tells me ‘No’
Should you avoid them? Most certainly ‘Yes’
What about programs where you pay a monthly fee but again there
isn’t a product?
These are very much the affiliate based programs and do have
some merits. They tend to offer the same, old same old, free
resource tools, safe lists to join and a type of ad co-op
guaranteeing leads and/or sign-ups. Of course, the tools are
usually obsolete in today’s market, the safe lists are more
geared towards the owner making an advantage by you joining
using their affiliate ID and the guaranteed leads are too old to
be of any use. I’m sorry for being a cynic but I’m sure there
are people out there who are reading this article and nodding
there head because they’ve been there.
On the plus side these programs do have a sustainable growth
because of the monthly income and so getting personally
sponsored affiliates can recoup your loses over time. The
problem however, is that people tend to be reticent to join
because of the fees and then become despondent when they
struggle to get affiliates for themselves. Most of the programs
offer free membership and ‘Yes’ you will get tens to hundreds of
people joining the free program but the ratio from free to paid
is very poor.
People enter these programs believing, that by simply joining,
they will be given thousands of Dollars for doing zilch! Like I
said these programs do have there merits and if you stick in and
spend loads of your money on advertising, hours of your time
promoting to rotators and safe lists then you may come out the
other side breaking even or with a small profit. Don’t get me
wrong I still have some involvement with these types of programs
– Why? – Because I believe the hype that I can be the one
success story and come out the other side, a rich man!
What about the programs where you pay a monthly fee and promote
a product?
If the product is unique in some way, affordable to the masses,
useable and needed and you can get in on the ground floor then
you could be onto a winner. In my experience, it’s the product
which brings in the serious marketer not the affiliate program.
Think back to the early days of mobile phones, when they use to
be very bulky and expensive and people were saying “They’ll
never catch on” However, the marketer with vision saw the mass
potential and stuck in. Oh how I wish I’d been in this game then
because now I wouldn’t be here typing this article, I’d be on a
beach somewhere and my secretary would be typing this article.
There are other types of product based affiliate programs out
there which will also give you a chance for success, but finding
it is like crawling through a minefield. Don’t simply sign up
because it’s free membership or the site looks professional,
read all the pages and understand the ethics of the owner.
Consider the product(s) on offer and think about your target
audience. The product(s) should be affordable, useable,
sellable, exciting and hopefully unique in its market. The
affiliate program should be affordable and sustainable. Look at
the Compensation plan and consider how feasible it will be for
you and your potential team, to reach the profit line. Some
plans may look impressive but sometimes they dazzle you with big
Dollars. Look at the amount of paid sign-ups required together
with the percentages paid and compare this to the cost of the
program and the cost of advertising needed to reach those
required sign-ups. Work out how long it will take you to break
even, for instance, if the cost of the program is $20 a month
and you spend $20 a month on advertising you may get 1 or 2
sign-ups a month. If the comp plan pays you $5 a sign-up you’ll
need 8 sign-ups to break even but it may take you 4 to 8 months
to get to that point. So it could cost you between $160 and $320
to get there.
Do your sums or you may never really break even?
You should look at the make-up of the down line and how it fits
in with the matrix/comp plan. Some down lines have legs, in that
you build so far down and then the line splits off and begins
again. This usually happens when you reach another level in the
comp plan, but the resulting effect can make it hard to progress
to the next level. Some have a straight down line so everyone
who joins will be in your line. This can be misleading in that
you believe that it’s your sign-up and you’ve earned money.
However, it does allow you to assess the popularity of the
program and help you decide if you should continue.
Now Image you’ve come across an affiliate site (Not hard to do
with today’s Internet) Ask yourself the following questions:-
Does the site look impressive? Does it make you want to read on?
Does it have a product that excites you? Could you use the
product? Could you sell the product? Would you buy the product?
Is the product affordable? Do I get the product as part of the
affiliate program? Can I afford the monthly payment? Do they
have a worthwhile Compensation Plan? Do they have a matrix or a
straight down line? How quickly will I break even? Can I make a
profit?
SO CAN YOU SUCCEED BY MARKETING AN AFFILIATE BASED PROGRAM?
Find today’s ‘Mobile Phone’ with an affordable affiliate
program, offering you a good compensation plan, workable matrix
and responsive down line and the answer is undoubtedly
‘YES’
Thanks for reading my article. If you want to subscribe to my
newsletter then go to
http://www.profitmashine.com/biztipspop.html
About The Author:
The author is Ian Bosworth who has 2 years experience in
Internet marketing. He has put together a website and newsletter
designed to help other marketers looking for a home based
business http://www.profitmashine.com
<)))
Internet Marketing can be an enjoyable and profitable
experience, but it can also be very frustrating, time consuming,
money draining and anti social.
So why do we keep putting ourselves through all this pain?
Well, I’m sure that for everyone there is a different answer
depending on your driving force, but for me it’s the thought
that one day I’ll succeed and make a tidy income. God knows how
many ‘Get Rich’ schemes are out there but experience has taught
me that 95% of them are simply schemes for making the owner rich
and not the affiliate. On the plus side, they do teach you the
pitfalls of Internet Marketing and hopefully move you that
little further down the line towards your ultimate goal. You may
think that this article is simply a moan about the chaos which
is ‘Internet Marketing’ but I assure you that’s not the case. My
aim is to pass on the good and bad of this type of venture and
to hope that I can help someone to avoid the many obstacles and
reach there goal reasonable unscathed.
Can you make money from a program which doesn’t sell a tangible
product?
Time and time again you’ll see these type of programs – They’ll
say pay $5 as a one off payment and we’ll give you thousands in
return. The word that comes to mind is ‘Pyramid’. Logic tells
you that $5 can never become $1,000 without you sponsoring
thousands of people and then they’ve got to sponsor thousands of
people and so on. At some point you run out of people and the
system fails. You loose your money but the owner makes a tidy
sum. Maybe the answer is to invent your own ‘Get Rich’ scheme
but then, how do these people sleep at night? Personally, these
schemes should be outlawed because all they do is serve to
undermine the ethics of Internet Marketing. So, can you make
money from these types of programs – My experience tells me ‘No’
Should you avoid them? Most certainly ‘Yes’
What about programs where you pay a monthly fee but again there
isn’t a product?
These are very much the affiliate based programs and do have
some merits. They tend to offer the same, old same old, free
resource tools, safe lists to join and a type of ad co-op
guaranteeing leads and/or sign-ups. Of course, the tools are
usually obsolete in today’s market, the safe lists are more
geared towards the owner making an advantage by you joining
using their affiliate ID and the guaranteed leads are too old to
be of any use. I’m sorry for being a cynic but I’m sure there
are people out there who are reading this article and nodding
there head because they’ve been there.
On the plus side these programs do have a sustainable growth
because of the monthly income and so getting personally
sponsored affiliates can recoup your loses over time. The
problem however, is that people tend to be reticent to join
because of the fees and then become despondent when they
struggle to get affiliates for themselves. Most of the programs
offer free membership and ‘Yes’ you will get tens to hundreds of
people joining the free program but the ratio from free to paid
is very poor.
People enter these programs believing, that by simply joining,
they will be given thousands of Dollars for doing zilch! Like I
said these programs do have there merits and if you stick in and
spend loads of your money on advertising, hours of your time
promoting to rotators and safe lists then you may come out the
other side breaking even or with a small profit. Don’t get me
wrong I still have some involvement with these types of programs
– Why? – Because I believe the hype that I can be the one
success story and come out the other side, a rich man!
What about the programs where you pay a monthly fee and promote
a product?
If the product is unique in some way, affordable to the masses,
useable and needed and you can get in on the ground floor then
you could be onto a winner. In my experience, it’s the product
which brings in the serious marketer not the affiliate program.
Think back to the early days of mobile phones, when they use to
be very bulky and expensive and people were saying “They’ll
never catch on” However, the marketer with vision saw the mass
potential and stuck in. Oh how I wish I’d been in this game then
because now I wouldn’t be here typing this article, I’d be on a
beach somewhere and my secretary would be typing this article.
There are other types of product based affiliate programs out
there which will also give you a chance for success, but finding
it is like crawling through a minefield. Don’t simply sign up
because it’s free membership or the site looks professional,
read all the pages and understand the ethics of the owner.
Consider the product(s) on offer and think about your target
audience. The product(s) should be affordable, useable,
sellable, exciting and hopefully unique in its market. The
affiliate program should be affordable and sustainable. Look at
the Compensation plan and consider how feasible it will be for
you and your potential team, to reach the profit line. Some
plans may look impressive but sometimes they dazzle you with big
Dollars. Look at the amount of paid sign-ups required together
with the percentages paid and compare this to the cost of the
program and the cost of advertising needed to reach those
required sign-ups. Work out how long it will take you to break
even, for instance, if the cost of the program is $20 a month
and you spend $20 a month on advertising you may get 1 or 2
sign-ups a month. If the comp plan pays you $5 a sign-up you’ll
need 8 sign-ups to break even but it may take you 4 to 8 months
to get to that point. So it could cost you between $160 and $320
to get there.
Do your sums or you may never really break even?
You should look at the make-up of the down line and how it fits
in with the matrix/comp plan. Some down lines have legs, in that
you build so far down and then the line splits off and begins
again. This usually happens when you reach another level in the
comp plan, but the resulting effect can make it hard to progress
to the next level. Some have a straight down line so everyone
who joins will be in your line. This can be misleading in that
you believe that it’s your sign-up and you’ve earned money.
However, it does allow you to assess the popularity of the
program and help you decide if you should continue.
Now Image you’ve come across an affiliate site (Not hard to do
with today’s Internet) Ask yourself the following questions:-
Does the site look impressive? Does it make you want to read on?
Does it have a product that excites you? Could you use the
product? Could you sell the product? Would you buy the product?
Is the product affordable? Do I get the product as part of the
affiliate program? Can I afford the monthly payment? Do they
have a worthwhile Compensation Plan? Do they have a matrix or a
straight down line? How quickly will I break even? Can I make a
profit?
SO CAN YOU SUCCEED BY MARKETING AN AFFILIATE BASED PROGRAM?
Find today’s ‘Mobile Phone’ with an affordable affiliate
program, offering you a good compensation plan, workable matrix
and responsive down line and the answer is undoubtedly
‘YES’
Thanks for reading my article. If you want to subscribe to my
newsletter then go to
http://www.profitmashine.com/biztipspop.html
About The Author:
The author is Ian Bosworth who has 2 years experience in
Internet marketing. He has put together a website and newsletter
designed to help other marketers looking for a home based
business http://www.profitmashine.com
The Down Side Of Using Drop-Shippers On Ebay!
By - Robert C. Potter
<)))
Ok, let me just say right up front that I am not against drop-shipping! I love the concept. If you are dealing with a particular wholesale drop-shipping distributor that is serving your Ebay ambitions well, then hold onto that company with bonds of steel, for truly good drop-shippers are hard to find!
Drop-Shipping sounds like the utopian business model. No up front investment in inventory. You don’t have to carry packages to the Post Office, United Parcel, or Fedex. All you have to do is set up your own business, auction, or retail website and advertise the products that the company provides. Once the orders come in, you forward it to the drop-shipper and they send the product directly to your customer.
Free eBay Seller's GuideBut, the devil is always in the details. Dropshipping is best suited for a stand alone E-Commerce website, mail order, or catalog advertising venue. If you are considering using a wholesale drop shipper for your Ebay auction, then you might want to take a step back and let me provide you with some “points to ponder.”
Back ordered products..The reality is that drop-shipping companies run out of product and will be back ordered. Ebay bidders purchase product in “real time.” They are under the impression that the item you auction, is the item they bought, not a product that is subject to shortages.
One or two customers might be understanding about the situation, but most will not. If you happen to run out of product on a regular basis then your negative feedback rating will go through the roof, and your reputation will suffer.
One way to combat shortages is to buy a pallet of product in advance, and have the drop-shipper store it in their warehouse so that you are assured of an ample supply. This method sort of goes against the idea of Drop-Shipping (buying the product in advance) but if you are selling on Ebay, you would be best served by employing this method.
Also, if possible, find a drop-shipper in your area, or within a comfortable traveling distance. If you run into any supply or shipping problems, then you could be on hand to visit the facility, should any shipping or logistic concerns arise.
Fees..Some dropshippers will charge you a sign up, or entry fee of about twenty five to fifty dollars just for the privilege of selling their product. You are also charged a “processing fee” for sending the product to your customer.
The “price for processing” can range anywhere from seven to twenty dollars per item, depending on the type of merchandise you are selling. These expenses, plus Ebay fees, can take a big chunk out of your bottom line. Finding a product that can bring you a profit, as well as offseting these types of expenses, can be a delicate balancing act.
Circumventing your customers..While I do not believe that this is a pervasive practice among drop-shipping companies, anecdotal evidence has suggested that some unscrupulous enterprises can cut you out of the sales loop. They could they easily substitute your return address for their company logo, selling directly to your customers.
Market saturation..One of the largest wholesale drop-shippers in the county is the B&F System, BNFusa.com. A lot of Ebayer’s started selling their products, one in particular, called Giovanni Navarre leather jackets. At first, it was a profitable item. After a while, everyone started selling the same product. Too much of the same supply, creates market saturation, ultimately destroying profit potential for the seller.
The Giovanni Navarre leather jackets are still being sold on Ebay today, but I doubt that they still provide a very profitable return for the seller. Even though B&F carries over 500 products in 14 different categories, they are intimately familiar to the Ebay community. You could probably make a great profit from just about any B&F product if you were to sell them off line, and out of the auction arena.
When a company becomes too well known to the general public it becomes almost impossible to make money from products that have flooded the marketplace. In addition to finding a drop-shipper who is close to home, it might be a good idea to find a DS company that is not well known to the Ebay market, or who’s products have not been scattered all over cyberspace.
These days however, it is hard to find drop-shippers that will cater to the smaller seller. Most will find it more profitable to sell in volume than by the piece. The larger wholesale dropshipping distributors are used by retail catalog operations. To get involved with the larger operations, you would have to be doing a tremendous sales volume.
If you still want to pursue drop-shipping as a source of supply for your Ebay auction, then I would suggest that you read other opinions, and become as educated as you can about the drop-shipping company you do business with.
Remember, when it comes to Ebay auction selling, “own what you sell.” Never leave customer service, or your feedback rating in the hands of other people!!
About The Author
Robert C. Potter is a wholesale and retail surplus products specialist. He is the author of “The Ultimate Guide To Products For Resale!” Over 300 Wholesale & Surplus Supply Sources For Ebay Auction Sellers, E-Commerce Websites, Flea Market Vendors, and Retail Store Owners! You can find his 160 page ebook at: http://www.productsforresale.com
<)))
Ok, let me just say right up front that I am not against drop-shipping! I love the concept. If you are dealing with a particular wholesale drop-shipping distributor that is serving your Ebay ambitions well, then hold onto that company with bonds of steel, for truly good drop-shippers are hard to find!
Drop-Shipping sounds like the utopian business model. No up front investment in inventory. You don’t have to carry packages to the Post Office, United Parcel, or Fedex. All you have to do is set up your own business, auction, or retail website and advertise the products that the company provides. Once the orders come in, you forward it to the drop-shipper and they send the product directly to your customer.
Free eBay Seller's GuideBut, the devil is always in the details. Dropshipping is best suited for a stand alone E-Commerce website, mail order, or catalog advertising venue. If you are considering using a wholesale drop shipper for your Ebay auction, then you might want to take a step back and let me provide you with some “points to ponder.”
Back ordered products..The reality is that drop-shipping companies run out of product and will be back ordered. Ebay bidders purchase product in “real time.” They are under the impression that the item you auction, is the item they bought, not a product that is subject to shortages.
One or two customers might be understanding about the situation, but most will not. If you happen to run out of product on a regular basis then your negative feedback rating will go through the roof, and your reputation will suffer.
One way to combat shortages is to buy a pallet of product in advance, and have the drop-shipper store it in their warehouse so that you are assured of an ample supply. This method sort of goes against the idea of Drop-Shipping (buying the product in advance) but if you are selling on Ebay, you would be best served by employing this method.
Also, if possible, find a drop-shipper in your area, or within a comfortable traveling distance. If you run into any supply or shipping problems, then you could be on hand to visit the facility, should any shipping or logistic concerns arise.
Fees..Some dropshippers will charge you a sign up, or entry fee of about twenty five to fifty dollars just for the privilege of selling their product. You are also charged a “processing fee” for sending the product to your customer.
The “price for processing” can range anywhere from seven to twenty dollars per item, depending on the type of merchandise you are selling. These expenses, plus Ebay fees, can take a big chunk out of your bottom line. Finding a product that can bring you a profit, as well as offseting these types of expenses, can be a delicate balancing act.
Circumventing your customers..While I do not believe that this is a pervasive practice among drop-shipping companies, anecdotal evidence has suggested that some unscrupulous enterprises can cut you out of the sales loop. They could they easily substitute your return address for their company logo, selling directly to your customers.
Market saturation..One of the largest wholesale drop-shippers in the county is the B&F System, BNFusa.com. A lot of Ebayer’s started selling their products, one in particular, called Giovanni Navarre leather jackets. At first, it was a profitable item. After a while, everyone started selling the same product. Too much of the same supply, creates market saturation, ultimately destroying profit potential for the seller.
The Giovanni Navarre leather jackets are still being sold on Ebay today, but I doubt that they still provide a very profitable return for the seller. Even though B&F carries over 500 products in 14 different categories, they are intimately familiar to the Ebay community. You could probably make a great profit from just about any B&F product if you were to sell them off line, and out of the auction arena.
When a company becomes too well known to the general public it becomes almost impossible to make money from products that have flooded the marketplace. In addition to finding a drop-shipper who is close to home, it might be a good idea to find a DS company that is not well known to the Ebay market, or who’s products have not been scattered all over cyberspace.
These days however, it is hard to find drop-shippers that will cater to the smaller seller. Most will find it more profitable to sell in volume than by the piece. The larger wholesale dropshipping distributors are used by retail catalog operations. To get involved with the larger operations, you would have to be doing a tremendous sales volume.
If you still want to pursue drop-shipping as a source of supply for your Ebay auction, then I would suggest that you read other opinions, and become as educated as you can about the drop-shipping company you do business with.
Remember, when it comes to Ebay auction selling, “own what you sell.” Never leave customer service, or your feedback rating in the hands of other people!!
About The Author
Robert C. Potter is a wholesale and retail surplus products specialist. He is the author of “The Ultimate Guide To Products For Resale!” Over 300 Wholesale & Surplus Supply Sources For Ebay Auction Sellers, E-Commerce Websites, Flea Market Vendors, and Retail Store Owners! You can find his 160 page ebook at: http://www.productsforresale.com
Thursday, May 24, 2007
How To Sell Lease Purchase Deals To Landlords & Sellers
By - James Gage
<)))
People sell their homes for various reasons. Some of which include, but are not limited to:
Job transfer.
Making two mortgage payments.
Trade up to a bigger home or better neighborhood.
Tired of managing properties.
Moving in with a significant other.
Divorce.
Lost job or income and can not make the payments.
Physical problems with the property that they do not have the ability or time to repair.
Etc...
MOTIVATION is the key when dealing with Landlords/Sellers. If you can find out what motivates people, you can strike a great deal with them. Your goal is to find out what needs they have and satisfy them.
If they are a landlord and are sick of renting out that house and fixing leaking toilets at two in the morning, you can offer them something that will fill their needs. You can offer them a friendly way of selling that property over time for a price they can live with and with none of the landlord hassles. I spent the last nine years as a landlord and to be honest, there were plenty of times that if one of you called me up and offered to take all of my properties off my hands I would have jumped at the chance.
Landlords are a key source of deals. Many landlords are not as sophisticated as you might think. Many of them inherited their properties or just have homes that they had trouble selling so they decided to rent them out. The key when dealing with landlords is to let them know from the beginning that you just want to help them solve their problems and make some money in the process. Make them understand that it is a one-sided partnership. You are agreeing to do their work and still give them the money that they want for the property. If it doesn't work out in a year or two, they can have their property back plus keep the option money. If they rent it out, they will still have to worry about replacing the carpeting and painting when it turns over. They really are in control of the process.
Let them know the advantages available to them. The reality is that what you are doing is limiting the landlord's risk and at the same time accomplishing what a real estate broker and property manager would. You are taking a small part of the monthly rent and making a small percentage of the total sales price at the end of the deal. If the house doesn't sell, they get to keep what you have into it.
No real estate broker in the country would do for them what you can.
I define selling as the art of fitting a persons needs to a product or service and educating them on its utility. I suggest that when you approach a Landlord/Seller that you project a sense of confidence that you know that this is what will work for both them and for you and that you explain the benefits. I find that in order to build trust between the person I am selling to and myself, I need to discuss the drawbacks. If you do not talk about the drawbacks, the Landlord/Seller will spend hours trying to find out how this deal might be bad for him.
You want him to know right up front what the drawbacks are and then you can discuss these issues together and work out solutions.
We are all in this business to make money, but you will find that if you come off as trying to make a buck, you will look like a swindler. I like to think of myself as a creative problem solver. I do take pride in helping other people solve complex problems and so far have been able to make some cash in the process. When people call me on ads or signs that I have out, I immediately go into a mode of discovery. What does this person need? What do they have? What is keeping them from getting what they need? What do I have that can help in this situation. Sometimes I talk to someone and find out that their best answer does not involve me. In those cases, I let them know what I would do if I were them. I know that I probably lose deals that way, but I know that I have built some good will and will get referrals down the line from some of these people.
You know what they say about integrity, once you loose it, you can never be whole.
About The Author
http://www.jgage.com
James Gage
Coach@jgage.com
<)))
People sell their homes for various reasons. Some of which include, but are not limited to:
Job transfer.
Making two mortgage payments.
Trade up to a bigger home or better neighborhood.
Tired of managing properties.
Moving in with a significant other.
Divorce.
Lost job or income and can not make the payments.
Physical problems with the property that they do not have the ability or time to repair.
Etc...
MOTIVATION is the key when dealing with Landlords/Sellers. If you can find out what motivates people, you can strike a great deal with them. Your goal is to find out what needs they have and satisfy them.
If they are a landlord and are sick of renting out that house and fixing leaking toilets at two in the morning, you can offer them something that will fill their needs. You can offer them a friendly way of selling that property over time for a price they can live with and with none of the landlord hassles. I spent the last nine years as a landlord and to be honest, there were plenty of times that if one of you called me up and offered to take all of my properties off my hands I would have jumped at the chance.
Landlords are a key source of deals. Many landlords are not as sophisticated as you might think. Many of them inherited their properties or just have homes that they had trouble selling so they decided to rent them out. The key when dealing with landlords is to let them know from the beginning that you just want to help them solve their problems and make some money in the process. Make them understand that it is a one-sided partnership. You are agreeing to do their work and still give them the money that they want for the property. If it doesn't work out in a year or two, they can have their property back plus keep the option money. If they rent it out, they will still have to worry about replacing the carpeting and painting when it turns over. They really are in control of the process.
Let them know the advantages available to them. The reality is that what you are doing is limiting the landlord's risk and at the same time accomplishing what a real estate broker and property manager would. You are taking a small part of the monthly rent and making a small percentage of the total sales price at the end of the deal. If the house doesn't sell, they get to keep what you have into it.
No real estate broker in the country would do for them what you can.
I define selling as the art of fitting a persons needs to a product or service and educating them on its utility. I suggest that when you approach a Landlord/Seller that you project a sense of confidence that you know that this is what will work for both them and for you and that you explain the benefits. I find that in order to build trust between the person I am selling to and myself, I need to discuss the drawbacks. If you do not talk about the drawbacks, the Landlord/Seller will spend hours trying to find out how this deal might be bad for him.
You want him to know right up front what the drawbacks are and then you can discuss these issues together and work out solutions.
We are all in this business to make money, but you will find that if you come off as trying to make a buck, you will look like a swindler. I like to think of myself as a creative problem solver. I do take pride in helping other people solve complex problems and so far have been able to make some cash in the process. When people call me on ads or signs that I have out, I immediately go into a mode of discovery. What does this person need? What do they have? What is keeping them from getting what they need? What do I have that can help in this situation. Sometimes I talk to someone and find out that their best answer does not involve me. In those cases, I let them know what I would do if I were them. I know that I probably lose deals that way, but I know that I have built some good will and will get referrals down the line from some of these people.
You know what they say about integrity, once you loose it, you can never be whole.
About The Author
http://www.jgage.com
James Gage
Coach@jgage.com
Want To Be Profitable In This Real Estate Bubble?
By - Chris Anderson
<)))
I’ll Show You How In Just Three Easy Steps.
This is a question I get almost everyday from either our web site www.GetPreconstructionProfit.com or from my individual investment activities. The question is “How Can I Be Profitable When We Are In A Real Estate Bubble”?
STEP#1. First you have to recognize that in order to make money in almost any market (i.e. stocks, commodities, real estate, etc.) you need to have the market in motion. In other words, the prices or value have to be changing substantially, either up or down, for you to make money. Did you know that many traders back in the NASDAQ bubble made millions by adopting a style that made perfect sense for the type of bubble market that was being experienced? Of course this was financially devastating to buy and hold investors who bought at the market top. So what is the difference? The answer is a difference in investing/trading style and risk management.
STEP #2. Now throw a little reality into the picture. Specifically, you need to realize that nobody can consistently predict the turning point of a rapidly moving market. People who pay attention to value (which is always a wise move) can tell you when things are out of whack with the market, but they cannot tell you if the market will turn in a week, a year, or a decade! Warren Buffet correctly predicted that the stock market was way over valued LONG before it actually corrected. Since Warren is a value-type investor, it made perfect sense to stay on the sidelines. In contrast, many active traders became multiple millionaires during that period and then rapidly adapted to the market downturn. Both were “correct” for the type of style that they employed.
STEP #3. You have to realize that there are many ways for an overvalued market to correct. For example, in the real estate markets, many people are claiming that the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is out-of-balance; that is the price you can collect for rents in a year relative to the purchase price. Typically this should be around a ratio of 100 to 150 for a good cashflow investment. In some areas of the country, this ratio is over 400.
You need to realize that this imbalance can be corrected by the price dropping (as many claim), rents escalating, or combinations of both. In addition, it may not correct as demonstrated in many markets for over 20 years! So your choice becomes “do I sit on the sidelines” or “do I learn how to invest safely in this fast moving market.” This is a personal choice that you have to make in regards to your own personal style.
Want to know an additional little secret? Like in stock trading, the secret to any successful investing is learning how to control your risk relative to your potential gain. It’s that simple! As an example, there are preconstruction real estate deals out there where an investor can risk less than $2,000 and can still make a potential reward of $50,000 or more. If the investment does not work out, then all that investor is out is the $2,000 initial risk. Knowing that little piece of information can potentially save you hundreds of thousands of dollars! For investors that participate in real estate investments on a continuous basis, they always try to educate themselves on the risk potential first followed by the potential for gain.
The bottom line is that if you follow these simple steps, you can also learn how to invest in markets that other people perceive as dangerous bubbles!
About the Author
Chris Anderson is a leading authority on preconstruction real estate investing. Get his 4 day e-mail course and a 33 minute video free today! Visit http://www.GetPreconstructionProfits.com
Chris Anderson, PhD
<)))
I’ll Show You How In Just Three Easy Steps.
This is a question I get almost everyday from either our web site www.GetPreconstructionProfit.com or from my individual investment activities. The question is “How Can I Be Profitable When We Are In A Real Estate Bubble”?
STEP#1. First you have to recognize that in order to make money in almost any market (i.e. stocks, commodities, real estate, etc.) you need to have the market in motion. In other words, the prices or value have to be changing substantially, either up or down, for you to make money. Did you know that many traders back in the NASDAQ bubble made millions by adopting a style that made perfect sense for the type of bubble market that was being experienced? Of course this was financially devastating to buy and hold investors who bought at the market top. So what is the difference? The answer is a difference in investing/trading style and risk management.
STEP #2. Now throw a little reality into the picture. Specifically, you need to realize that nobody can consistently predict the turning point of a rapidly moving market. People who pay attention to value (which is always a wise move) can tell you when things are out of whack with the market, but they cannot tell you if the market will turn in a week, a year, or a decade! Warren Buffet correctly predicted that the stock market was way over valued LONG before it actually corrected. Since Warren is a value-type investor, it made perfect sense to stay on the sidelines. In contrast, many active traders became multiple millionaires during that period and then rapidly adapted to the market downturn. Both were “correct” for the type of style that they employed.
STEP #3. You have to realize that there are many ways for an overvalued market to correct. For example, in the real estate markets, many people are claiming that the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is out-of-balance; that is the price you can collect for rents in a year relative to the purchase price. Typically this should be around a ratio of 100 to 150 for a good cashflow investment. In some areas of the country, this ratio is over 400.
You need to realize that this imbalance can be corrected by the price dropping (as many claim), rents escalating, or combinations of both. In addition, it may not correct as demonstrated in many markets for over 20 years! So your choice becomes “do I sit on the sidelines” or “do I learn how to invest safely in this fast moving market.” This is a personal choice that you have to make in regards to your own personal style.
Want to know an additional little secret? Like in stock trading, the secret to any successful investing is learning how to control your risk relative to your potential gain. It’s that simple! As an example, there are preconstruction real estate deals out there where an investor can risk less than $2,000 and can still make a potential reward of $50,000 or more. If the investment does not work out, then all that investor is out is the $2,000 initial risk. Knowing that little piece of information can potentially save you hundreds of thousands of dollars! For investors that participate in real estate investments on a continuous basis, they always try to educate themselves on the risk potential first followed by the potential for gain.
The bottom line is that if you follow these simple steps, you can also learn how to invest in markets that other people perceive as dangerous bubbles!
About the Author
Chris Anderson is a leading authority on preconstruction real estate investing. Get his 4 day e-mail course and a 33 minute video free today! Visit http://www.GetPreconstructionProfits.com
Chris Anderson, PhD
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
14 Ways to reduce your eBay & PayPal Fees-Non HTML
By - Trevor Ginn
<)))
One of the top complaints against eBay is the level of fees. It is therefore surprising that many large eBay sellers make unnecessary and easily avoidable payments to eBay. This article lists 14 easy-to-implement ways to reduce eBay fees and improve the profitability of your eBay business.
Strategies for all eBay Sellers
These fee-saving strategies can be implemented by all eBay sellers, no matter what items they sell or their listing strategy.
1. PayPal Merchant Discount
If you are a volume seller on eBay, then you are probably eligible for a merchant discount on PayPal fees. The merchant fee structure is as follows:
UK PayPal Fees
£0.00 to £1,500.00 - 3.4% + £0.20
£1,500.01 to £6,000.00 - 2.9% + £0.20
£6,000.01 to £15,000.00 - 2.4% + £0.20
£15,000.01 to £55,000.00 - 1.9% + £0.20
above £55,000.00 - 1.4% + £0.20
US PayPal fees
$0.00 to $3,000 - 2.9% + $0.30
$3,000.01 to $10,000 - 2.5% + $0.30
$10,000.01 USD-$100,000 - 2.2% + $0.30
above $100,000 - 1.9% + $0.30
To receive discounted fees you must log onto your PayPal account and apply. This can be done from PayPal’s fees page.
Potential saving - up to 2% (1% on PayPal.com) on all PayPal transactions.
2. Relisting Credits
Insertion Fees are generally non-refundable. However, eBay will automatically credit the Insertion Fee for an unsuccessful auction if:
You relist the item by clicking the "relist your item" button on the item page for the ended listing (or any other relist feature on the website) and the relisted item is sold the first time you relist it.
Potential saving: Up to £2 ($4.80 on eBay.com) per relisted item.
3. Reclaiming Non Paying Bidder Fees
If a buyer does not pay for their item, you can claim back the eBay fees via eBay’s unpaid item process. An unpaid item can be reported up to 45 days after an item closes.
See http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/unpaid-item-process.html for more details.
Potential saving: Listing and final value fees on unpaid items.
4. Host Your Own Photos
If you need to use more than one photo to describe your item, eBay will charge per additional picture. However, it is simple to host your own photos, and avoid this extra cost.
If you have an eBay shop, eBay provides 1MB of free picture storage. In addition, there are many free photo hosting services such as http://www.theimagehosting.com or http://www.pictiger.com/
Potential saving: £0.12 ($0.15 on eBay.com) per additional picture.
5. Tweak your Starting Prices
Be careful when you choose your starting price, as a very small difference in price can lead to a large increase in insertion fee, especially if you are selling multiple items. For example, an item with a starting price of £29.99 incurs an insertion fee of £0.75, whereas a starting price of £30 would cost £1.50.
On eBay.com a staring price of $49.99 incurs a fee of $1.20 where as a starting price of $50.00 would cost $2.40.
Potential saving: Up to £0.75 ($1.20 on eBay.com) per listing.
6. Pay for Your eBay Fees Using a Cash Back Credit Card
Several credit cards give cash back on money spent. By using an American express credit card to pay your eBay fees, you can receive a small rebate for your eBay fees. Bear in mind that this only works if you pay your credit card bill in full each month.
Potential saving: Up to 1.5% cash back on eBay fees.
7. Teach Yourself HTML
Many sellers use eBay’s listing designer service to improve the look of their listing. If you are listing multiple items, this cost will soon add up. By learning some simple HTML or employing a designer, you can develop your own template and save on the extra listing fee.
Potential saving: £0.07 ($0.10 on eBay.com) per listing.
8. Open an Ecommerce Store
Potentially the best strategy of all is to expand your business beyond eBay. By setting up your own ecommerce store you can upsell to customers you have acquired through eBay, and pay no fees at all. Channel Management software such as eSellerPro, Marketworks and ChannelAdvisor enable eBay sellers to run an ecommerce store off the same inventory as their eBay sales.
Potential saving: You pay no eBay fees on items sold off eBay!
Savings Fees on Listings
The following fee-saving tactics involve changes to your eBay listing strategy and should therefore be considered in the light of your business objectives. For each of these tactics, run a limited trial and compare the conversion rates (% of listings that sell), average sales price (sales total/number of items that sold), take rate (% of sales that eBay takes as fees) and margin against your current listing strategy.
9. eBay Shop Listings
Despite the recent rise in shop listing fees, eBay shop fees are still on the whole cheaper than core listings. The best use of shop listings is for upselling commodity items and for unusual items that require a longer listing period.
10. Sell More Expensive Items
eBay has a sliding scale of fees, taking a higher percentage of the sale price (take rate) of less expensive items. By selling more expensive items you can reduce your take rate. For example, the take rate of a £5 item is 9.25%, whilst for £200 item it is 4.55%.
11. Reassess Your Use of Listing Upgrades
Listing upgrades are expensive, and should not be used unless they are improving sell-through rates and average selling prices. eBay research products like eSellerStreet (http://www.esellerstreet.com), Hammertap (http://www.hammertap.com ) and Terapeak (http://www.terapeak.com/ ) will allow you to investigate the effectiveness of listing upgrades for products in your categories. You should also conduct your own trials.
12. Second Chance Offers
eBay’s Second Chance Offer feature allows more than one item to be sold from a single listing, saving on the listing fee for each additional sale. When using second chance offers, you should be aware that you are making a trade-off between price and sales volume, as second chance offers are inevitably lower than the item’s final price.
Potential saving: Up to £2 ($4.80 on eBay.com) per sale.
13. Lower Your Starting Prices
eBay’s insertion fees are linked to the starting price of an auction, by lowering your starting price you will encourage bidding and lower your listing fees.
Potential saving: up to £1.85 ($4.60 on eBay.com) per listing.
14. Dutch Auctions
Dutch auctions, like the Second Chance Offer, allow you to sell multiple items off a single listing, saving on multiple listing fees.
Potential saving: Up to £2 ($4.80 on eBay.com) per item.
About The Author
Trevor Ginn is Head of Consulting at Auctioning4u (http://www.auctioning4u.co.uk) the UK's leading eBay service provider. Previous to working at Auctioning4u, Trevor ran the eBay drop-off shop Auction Partner. Trevor's eBay blog, eBay, ecommerce, life can be found at http://www.trevorginn.com.
<)))
One of the top complaints against eBay is the level of fees. It is therefore surprising that many large eBay sellers make unnecessary and easily avoidable payments to eBay. This article lists 14 easy-to-implement ways to reduce eBay fees and improve the profitability of your eBay business.
Strategies for all eBay Sellers
These fee-saving strategies can be implemented by all eBay sellers, no matter what items they sell or their listing strategy.
1. PayPal Merchant Discount
If you are a volume seller on eBay, then you are probably eligible for a merchant discount on PayPal fees. The merchant fee structure is as follows:
UK PayPal Fees
£0.00 to £1,500.00 - 3.4% + £0.20
£1,500.01 to £6,000.00 - 2.9% + £0.20
£6,000.01 to £15,000.00 - 2.4% + £0.20
£15,000.01 to £55,000.00 - 1.9% + £0.20
above £55,000.00 - 1.4% + £0.20
US PayPal fees
$0.00 to $3,000 - 2.9% + $0.30
$3,000.01 to $10,000 - 2.5% + $0.30
$10,000.01 USD-$100,000 - 2.2% + $0.30
above $100,000 - 1.9% + $0.30
To receive discounted fees you must log onto your PayPal account and apply. This can be done from PayPal’s fees page.
Potential saving - up to 2% (1% on PayPal.com) on all PayPal transactions.
2. Relisting Credits
Insertion Fees are generally non-refundable. However, eBay will automatically credit the Insertion Fee for an unsuccessful auction if:
You relist the item by clicking the "relist your item" button on the item page for the ended listing (or any other relist feature on the website) and the relisted item is sold the first time you relist it.
Potential saving: Up to £2 ($4.80 on eBay.com) per relisted item.
3. Reclaiming Non Paying Bidder Fees
If a buyer does not pay for their item, you can claim back the eBay fees via eBay’s unpaid item process. An unpaid item can be reported up to 45 days after an item closes.
See http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/unpaid-item-process.html for more details.
Potential saving: Listing and final value fees on unpaid items.
4. Host Your Own Photos
If you need to use more than one photo to describe your item, eBay will charge per additional picture. However, it is simple to host your own photos, and avoid this extra cost.
If you have an eBay shop, eBay provides 1MB of free picture storage. In addition, there are many free photo hosting services such as http://www.theimagehosting.com or http://www.pictiger.com/
Potential saving: £0.12 ($0.15 on eBay.com) per additional picture.
5. Tweak your Starting Prices
Be careful when you choose your starting price, as a very small difference in price can lead to a large increase in insertion fee, especially if you are selling multiple items. For example, an item with a starting price of £29.99 incurs an insertion fee of £0.75, whereas a starting price of £30 would cost £1.50.
On eBay.com a staring price of $49.99 incurs a fee of $1.20 where as a starting price of $50.00 would cost $2.40.
Potential saving: Up to £0.75 ($1.20 on eBay.com) per listing.
6. Pay for Your eBay Fees Using a Cash Back Credit Card
Several credit cards give cash back on money spent. By using an American express credit card to pay your eBay fees, you can receive a small rebate for your eBay fees. Bear in mind that this only works if you pay your credit card bill in full each month.
Potential saving: Up to 1.5% cash back on eBay fees.
7. Teach Yourself HTML
Many sellers use eBay’s listing designer service to improve the look of their listing. If you are listing multiple items, this cost will soon add up. By learning some simple HTML or employing a designer, you can develop your own template and save on the extra listing fee.
Potential saving: £0.07 ($0.10 on eBay.com) per listing.
8. Open an Ecommerce Store
Potentially the best strategy of all is to expand your business beyond eBay. By setting up your own ecommerce store you can upsell to customers you have acquired through eBay, and pay no fees at all. Channel Management software such as eSellerPro, Marketworks and ChannelAdvisor enable eBay sellers to run an ecommerce store off the same inventory as their eBay sales.
Potential saving: You pay no eBay fees on items sold off eBay!
Savings Fees on Listings
The following fee-saving tactics involve changes to your eBay listing strategy and should therefore be considered in the light of your business objectives. For each of these tactics, run a limited trial and compare the conversion rates (% of listings that sell), average sales price (sales total/number of items that sold), take rate (% of sales that eBay takes as fees) and margin against your current listing strategy.
9. eBay Shop Listings
Despite the recent rise in shop listing fees, eBay shop fees are still on the whole cheaper than core listings. The best use of shop listings is for upselling commodity items and for unusual items that require a longer listing period.
10. Sell More Expensive Items
eBay has a sliding scale of fees, taking a higher percentage of the sale price (take rate) of less expensive items. By selling more expensive items you can reduce your take rate. For example, the take rate of a £5 item is 9.25%, whilst for £200 item it is 4.55%.
11. Reassess Your Use of Listing Upgrades
Listing upgrades are expensive, and should not be used unless they are improving sell-through rates and average selling prices. eBay research products like eSellerStreet (http://www.esellerstreet.com), Hammertap (http://www.hammertap.com ) and Terapeak (http://www.terapeak.com/ ) will allow you to investigate the effectiveness of listing upgrades for products in your categories. You should also conduct your own trials.
12. Second Chance Offers
eBay’s Second Chance Offer feature allows more than one item to be sold from a single listing, saving on the listing fee for each additional sale. When using second chance offers, you should be aware that you are making a trade-off between price and sales volume, as second chance offers are inevitably lower than the item’s final price.
Potential saving: Up to £2 ($4.80 on eBay.com) per sale.
13. Lower Your Starting Prices
eBay’s insertion fees are linked to the starting price of an auction, by lowering your starting price you will encourage bidding and lower your listing fees.
Potential saving: up to £1.85 ($4.60 on eBay.com) per listing.
14. Dutch Auctions
Dutch auctions, like the Second Chance Offer, allow you to sell multiple items off a single listing, saving on multiple listing fees.
Potential saving: Up to £2 ($4.80 on eBay.com) per item.
About The Author
Trevor Ginn is Head of Consulting at Auctioning4u (http://www.auctioning4u.co.uk) the UK's leading eBay service provider. Previous to working at Auctioning4u, Trevor ran the eBay drop-off shop Auction Partner. Trevor's eBay blog, eBay, ecommerce, life can be found at http://www.trevorginn.com.
Making Adsense Work In The Smart Pricing Era
By - Jean-Philippe Schoeffel
<)))
Smart pricing has changed Adsense. Publishers are seeing lower per click payouts and are lamenting the inability of their old methods and systems to produce a profit under the current circumstances. The old guard of Adsense gurus, meanwhile, continues to hold tight to a perspective born before smart pricing became a reality. They continue to encourage new publishers to follow their methods for Adsense success. Others have overreacted, announcing that Adsense is no longer a viable moneymaking opportunity. Some have even argued that smart pricing killed Adsense.
The old guard gurus are merely protecting their own best interests. As long as they can pretend nothing meaningful has changed, the longer they can continue selling their systems and software. Those tolling death bells for Adsense are stirring up controversy for the sake of promoting click-flipping and other wealth-production strategies. The only people who seem to have it right are those publishers who have noticed that the old Adsense gravy train has run out of steam and who have discovered that the future of Adsense lies in treating it differently than before.
Instead of proclaiming the death of Adsense, savvy users are taking a different approach to the changed environment. Adsense still has a place and can still be a valuable part of a successful overall strategy. However, the previously embraced strategies that were premised on constructing lower-quality sites en masse and monetizing them exclusively with Adsense are no longer tenable.
Instead, Adsense can be used as one of a multiplicity of revenue-producing tactics on smart sites designed to provide visitors with real value. Earlier Adsense techniques were based on sending mass traffic to a site and collecting ad clicks exclusively. In many cases, the sites were actually designed in a way that aimed to make people want to leave rapidly, using Adsense ad blocks as an “escape route.”
Smart pricing has decreased the per click payout of such prices by such a substantial margin that one cannot hope to profit from those strategies in any meaningful way. Instead, smart publishers will create better sites that really interact with visitors in a meaningful way. Relevant contextual advertising fills the role of one many services offered to visitors. Instead of being the “only way” to make a dime, Adsense can be used as part of a full roster of moneymaking opportunities.
Not only does this strategy allow webmasters to effectively tap into to other revenue sources (some of which are more valuable than Adsense ever was in its heyday), it also comports with Adsense’s own recommendations for improving per click values in a smart pricing environment. There are more ways to make money and one can make more money with Adsense at the same time. Regardless of what some might be announcing, there is no reason to give up on Adsense. You just need to use it differently.
Adsense did not change in a vacuum. While it lumbered toward smart pricing, web access, technology and user expectations were also in a state of flux. Today, the old methods of top-down site design premised on the old publication model is outmoded. The arrival of what many are terming “Web 2.0” reflects the convergence of several different trends. Those who will successfully use Adsense as a monetization strategy today and in the future are aware of those trends and how to approach them to effectively generate a substantial income.
Adsense has changed. Do not believe those who tell you that “business as usual” will still work like a charm. Adsense is not, however, dead. It is still a strong and vibrant means by which to earn. The old Adsense business models are dead. They just do not do the trick anymore. You can make money with Adsense, but it will require the use of strategies that merge appropriately with the current environment and trends. Sites that seek to provide real value to visitors can make use of multiple revenue earning strategies including Adsense and will succeed regardless of smart pricing adjustments.
About The Author
JP Schoeffel ( http://www.nichesinabox.com )has created a "site building system" unlike any in the world, focusing on multiple income streams and interactions with visitors. He now runs a membership delivering a complete business each and every month : http://www.nichesinabox.com
<)))
Smart pricing has changed Adsense. Publishers are seeing lower per click payouts and are lamenting the inability of their old methods and systems to produce a profit under the current circumstances. The old guard of Adsense gurus, meanwhile, continues to hold tight to a perspective born before smart pricing became a reality. They continue to encourage new publishers to follow their methods for Adsense success. Others have overreacted, announcing that Adsense is no longer a viable moneymaking opportunity. Some have even argued that smart pricing killed Adsense.
The old guard gurus are merely protecting their own best interests. As long as they can pretend nothing meaningful has changed, the longer they can continue selling their systems and software. Those tolling death bells for Adsense are stirring up controversy for the sake of promoting click-flipping and other wealth-production strategies. The only people who seem to have it right are those publishers who have noticed that the old Adsense gravy train has run out of steam and who have discovered that the future of Adsense lies in treating it differently than before.
Instead of proclaiming the death of Adsense, savvy users are taking a different approach to the changed environment. Adsense still has a place and can still be a valuable part of a successful overall strategy. However, the previously embraced strategies that were premised on constructing lower-quality sites en masse and monetizing them exclusively with Adsense are no longer tenable.
Instead, Adsense can be used as one of a multiplicity of revenue-producing tactics on smart sites designed to provide visitors with real value. Earlier Adsense techniques were based on sending mass traffic to a site and collecting ad clicks exclusively. In many cases, the sites were actually designed in a way that aimed to make people want to leave rapidly, using Adsense ad blocks as an “escape route.”
Smart pricing has decreased the per click payout of such prices by such a substantial margin that one cannot hope to profit from those strategies in any meaningful way. Instead, smart publishers will create better sites that really interact with visitors in a meaningful way. Relevant contextual advertising fills the role of one many services offered to visitors. Instead of being the “only way” to make a dime, Adsense can be used as part of a full roster of moneymaking opportunities.
Not only does this strategy allow webmasters to effectively tap into to other revenue sources (some of which are more valuable than Adsense ever was in its heyday), it also comports with Adsense’s own recommendations for improving per click values in a smart pricing environment. There are more ways to make money and one can make more money with Adsense at the same time. Regardless of what some might be announcing, there is no reason to give up on Adsense. You just need to use it differently.
Adsense did not change in a vacuum. While it lumbered toward smart pricing, web access, technology and user expectations were also in a state of flux. Today, the old methods of top-down site design premised on the old publication model is outmoded. The arrival of what many are terming “Web 2.0” reflects the convergence of several different trends. Those who will successfully use Adsense as a monetization strategy today and in the future are aware of those trends and how to approach them to effectively generate a substantial income.
Adsense has changed. Do not believe those who tell you that “business as usual” will still work like a charm. Adsense is not, however, dead. It is still a strong and vibrant means by which to earn. The old Adsense business models are dead. They just do not do the trick anymore. You can make money with Adsense, but it will require the use of strategies that merge appropriately with the current environment and trends. Sites that seek to provide real value to visitors can make use of multiple revenue earning strategies including Adsense and will succeed regardless of smart pricing adjustments.
About The Author
JP Schoeffel ( http://www.nichesinabox.com )has created a "site building system" unlike any in the world, focusing on multiple income streams and interactions with visitors. He now runs a membership delivering a complete business each and every month : http://www.nichesinabox.com
Tips For Maximum Adsense Content Relevancy
By - Jean-Philippe Schoeffel
<)))
One of the most essential aspects of getting the most out of your involvement with Google’s Adsense program is to be certain that Google serves up the most relevant ads possible on your site. The concept is easy to grasp--visitors travel to your sites in search of certain content on their topic of interest. If they see advertisements directly related to those content desires, they are far more likely to click on the ads than if they encounter only tangentially related material or, in a worst case scenario, ads that are not even related to their interests. As such, it is in your best interests to make sure your site displays relevant ads. Here are few tips for improving your content relevancy to produce more accurately targeted contextual advertising from Adsense.
FIRST THINGS FIRST. Before you even begin to use Adsense as a monetization tool, make sure there are relevant ads for your site or pages. In most cases, you will have determined this long before you even embarked on site design or content development. However, if you are thinking of adding Adsense to an existing site built with other monetization strategies originally in mind, you may not have bothered checking to see if other advertisers were going after that particular market. Be sure you are addressing a topic for which ads exist in sufficient quantity. If related advertising is sparse, it will difficult to avoid irrelevant ads.
KEYWORDS MATTER. You do not want content that is overstuffed with particular keywords to point of destroying readability and value, but you do want to make sure your materials make liberal use of on-topic keywords likely to spawn the most relevant possible ads. Experts maintain that using keywords with your titles and H1 tags is an excellent way to assist in getting the most relevant possible ads. This has added advantages in terms of search engine optimization, as well.
METATAGS. Once upon a time, metatags were a critical aspect of search engine optimization in general. Although the engines rely upon metatags far less than they once did, there is some evidence to suggest that using ad-triggering keywords in your pages’ meta-tags may increase the relevance of the advertisements displayed. This strategy may help, and it certainly cannot hurt.
LOOK FOR LACKLUSTER CONTENT. Many sites to a great job of supplying content related to particular themes or keywords in the main portion of a page, but have sidebars, headers and footers filled with less targeted terms and material. Take a long look at your navigational elements and other “side of the page” text and remove keyword terminology that may be leading to irrelevant ad service. Alternatively, you can use Adsense’s section targeting tool to remove those areas from Adsense’s consideration completely, so long as you do not plan to display ad blocks or ad link units in those areas.
TIGHT THEMING. You want to keep content tightly themed. That means you do not want to feature long, rambling articles that cover multiple topics. Instead, rely upon materials that address singular issues. You also do not want to feature multiple chunks of content on disparate matters on the same page for that very same reason. The value of tight theming may extend past individual pages. Many publishers argue that Adsense tends to reward tightly-themed overall sites with more relevant ads, as well. Even though this aspect of theming is not as well researched and proven, it makes sense to follow the practice, because of the search engine optimization advantages of having a focused site.
BLOCK THE BAD ADS. Monitor your site regularly and take note when irrelevant ads appear. Then, take the time to add them to your blacklist for the site. Google does give you the ability to block individual ads via the Competitive Ad Filter. If you block out commonly served irrelevant ads, you may improve your chances of featuring more ads upon which your visitors will actually click.
The more contextually relevant the ads appearing on your site are, the more clicks you can expect to see. As such, it is important to make an effort to use a combination of proven SEO methods that also work well with Adsense and some program-specific maneuvers to secure the best possible ads on your site.
About The Author
JP Schoeffel ( http://www.nichesinabox.com )has created a "site building system" unlike any in the world, focusing on multiple income streams and interactions with visitors. He now runs a membership delivering a complete business each and every month : http://www.nichesinabox.com
<)))
One of the most essential aspects of getting the most out of your involvement with Google’s Adsense program is to be certain that Google serves up the most relevant ads possible on your site. The concept is easy to grasp--visitors travel to your sites in search of certain content on their topic of interest. If they see advertisements directly related to those content desires, they are far more likely to click on the ads than if they encounter only tangentially related material or, in a worst case scenario, ads that are not even related to their interests. As such, it is in your best interests to make sure your site displays relevant ads. Here are few tips for improving your content relevancy to produce more accurately targeted contextual advertising from Adsense.
FIRST THINGS FIRST. Before you even begin to use Adsense as a monetization tool, make sure there are relevant ads for your site or pages. In most cases, you will have determined this long before you even embarked on site design or content development. However, if you are thinking of adding Adsense to an existing site built with other monetization strategies originally in mind, you may not have bothered checking to see if other advertisers were going after that particular market. Be sure you are addressing a topic for which ads exist in sufficient quantity. If related advertising is sparse, it will difficult to avoid irrelevant ads.
KEYWORDS MATTER. You do not want content that is overstuffed with particular keywords to point of destroying readability and value, but you do want to make sure your materials make liberal use of on-topic keywords likely to spawn the most relevant possible ads. Experts maintain that using keywords with your titles and H1 tags is an excellent way to assist in getting the most relevant possible ads. This has added advantages in terms of search engine optimization, as well.
METATAGS. Once upon a time, metatags were a critical aspect of search engine optimization in general. Although the engines rely upon metatags far less than they once did, there is some evidence to suggest that using ad-triggering keywords in your pages’ meta-tags may increase the relevance of the advertisements displayed. This strategy may help, and it certainly cannot hurt.
LOOK FOR LACKLUSTER CONTENT. Many sites to a great job of supplying content related to particular themes or keywords in the main portion of a page, but have sidebars, headers and footers filled with less targeted terms and material. Take a long look at your navigational elements and other “side of the page” text and remove keyword terminology that may be leading to irrelevant ad service. Alternatively, you can use Adsense’s section targeting tool to remove those areas from Adsense’s consideration completely, so long as you do not plan to display ad blocks or ad link units in those areas.
TIGHT THEMING. You want to keep content tightly themed. That means you do not want to feature long, rambling articles that cover multiple topics. Instead, rely upon materials that address singular issues. You also do not want to feature multiple chunks of content on disparate matters on the same page for that very same reason. The value of tight theming may extend past individual pages. Many publishers argue that Adsense tends to reward tightly-themed overall sites with more relevant ads, as well. Even though this aspect of theming is not as well researched and proven, it makes sense to follow the practice, because of the search engine optimization advantages of having a focused site.
BLOCK THE BAD ADS. Monitor your site regularly and take note when irrelevant ads appear. Then, take the time to add them to your blacklist for the site. Google does give you the ability to block individual ads via the Competitive Ad Filter. If you block out commonly served irrelevant ads, you may improve your chances of featuring more ads upon which your visitors will actually click.
The more contextually relevant the ads appearing on your site are, the more clicks you can expect to see. As such, it is important to make an effort to use a combination of proven SEO methods that also work well with Adsense and some program-specific maneuvers to secure the best possible ads on your site.
About The Author
JP Schoeffel ( http://www.nichesinabox.com )has created a "site building system" unlike any in the world, focusing on multiple income streams and interactions with visitors. He now runs a membership delivering a complete business each and every month : http://www.nichesinabox.com
5 Ways To Increase Your Adsense Earnings
By - Jerry Franks
<)))
If webmasters want to monetize their websites, the great way to do it is through Adsense. There are lots of webmasters struggling hard to earn some good money a day through their sites. But then some of the “geniuses” of them are enjoying hundreds of dollars a day from Adsense ads on their websites. What makes these webmasters different from the other kind is that they are different and they think out of the box.
The ones who have been there and done it have quite some useful tips to help those who would want to venture into this field. Some of these tips have boosted quite a lot of earnings in the past and is continuously doing so.
Here are some 5 proven ways on how best to improve your Adsense earnings.
1. Concentrating on one format of Adsense ad. The one format that worked well for the majority is the Large Rectangle (336X280). This same format have the tendency to result in higher CTR, or the click-through rates. Why choose this format out of the many you can use? Basically because the ads will look like normal web links, and people, being used to clicking on them, click these types of links. They may or may not know they are clicking on your Adsense but as long as there are clicks, then it will all be for your advantage.
2. Create a custom palette for your ads. Choose a color that will go well with the background of your site. If your site has a white background, try to use white as the color of your ad border and background. The idea to patterning the colors is to make the Adsense look like it is part of the web pages. Again, This will result to more clicks from people visiting your site.
3. Remove the Adsense from the bottom pages of your site and put them at the top. Do not try to hide your Adsense. Put them in the place where people can see them quickly. You will be amazed how the difference between Adsense locations can make when you see your earnings.
4. Maintain links to relevant websites. If you think some sites are better off than the others, put your ads there and try to maintaining and managing them. If there is already lots of Adsense put into that certain site, put yours on top of all of them. That way visitor will see your ads first upon browsing into that site.
5. Try to automate the insertion of your Adsense code into the webpages using SSI (or server side included). Ask your web administrator if your server supports SSI or not. How do you do it? Just save your Adsense code in a text file, save it as “adsense text”, and upload it to the root directory of the web server. Then using SSI, call the code on other pages. This tip is a time saver especially for those who are using automatic page generators to generate pages on their website.
These are some of the tips that have worked well for some who want to generate hundreds and even thousands on their websites. It is important to know though that ads are displayed because it fits the interest of the people viewing them. So focusing on a specific topic should be your primary purpose because the displays will be especially targeted on a topic that persons will be viewing already.
Note also that there are many other Adsense sharing the same topic as you. It is best to think of making a good ad that will be somewhat different and unique than the ones already done. Every clickthrough that visitors make is a point for you so make every click count by making your Adsense something that people will definitely click on.
Tips given by those who have boosted their earnings are just guidelines they want to share with others. If they have somehow worked wonders to some, maybe it can work wonders for you too. Try them out into your ads and see the result it will bring.
If others have done it, there is nothing wrong trying it out for yourself.
About The Author
For more information on how to find the Start Small Business try visiting Small Business Start located at http://Small-Business-Start.com where you will find valuable information on internet marketing, making money and other information..
<)))
If webmasters want to monetize their websites, the great way to do it is through Adsense. There are lots of webmasters struggling hard to earn some good money a day through their sites. But then some of the “geniuses” of them are enjoying hundreds of dollars a day from Adsense ads on their websites. What makes these webmasters different from the other kind is that they are different and they think out of the box.
The ones who have been there and done it have quite some useful tips to help those who would want to venture into this field. Some of these tips have boosted quite a lot of earnings in the past and is continuously doing so.
Here are some 5 proven ways on how best to improve your Adsense earnings.
1. Concentrating on one format of Adsense ad. The one format that worked well for the majority is the Large Rectangle (336X280). This same format have the tendency to result in higher CTR, or the click-through rates. Why choose this format out of the many you can use? Basically because the ads will look like normal web links, and people, being used to clicking on them, click these types of links. They may or may not know they are clicking on your Adsense but as long as there are clicks, then it will all be for your advantage.
2. Create a custom palette for your ads. Choose a color that will go well with the background of your site. If your site has a white background, try to use white as the color of your ad border and background. The idea to patterning the colors is to make the Adsense look like it is part of the web pages. Again, This will result to more clicks from people visiting your site.
3. Remove the Adsense from the bottom pages of your site and put them at the top. Do not try to hide your Adsense. Put them in the place where people can see them quickly. You will be amazed how the difference between Adsense locations can make when you see your earnings.
4. Maintain links to relevant websites. If you think some sites are better off than the others, put your ads there and try to maintaining and managing them. If there is already lots of Adsense put into that certain site, put yours on top of all of them. That way visitor will see your ads first upon browsing into that site.
5. Try to automate the insertion of your Adsense code into the webpages using SSI (or server side included). Ask your web administrator if your server supports SSI or not. How do you do it? Just save your Adsense code in a text file, save it as “adsense text”, and upload it to the root directory of the web server. Then using SSI, call the code on other pages. This tip is a time saver especially for those who are using automatic page generators to generate pages on their website.
These are some of the tips that have worked well for some who want to generate hundreds and even thousands on their websites. It is important to know though that ads are displayed because it fits the interest of the people viewing them. So focusing on a specific topic should be your primary purpose because the displays will be especially targeted on a topic that persons will be viewing already.
Note also that there are many other Adsense sharing the same topic as you. It is best to think of making a good ad that will be somewhat different and unique than the ones already done. Every clickthrough that visitors make is a point for you so make every click count by making your Adsense something that people will definitely click on.
Tips given by those who have boosted their earnings are just guidelines they want to share with others. If they have somehow worked wonders to some, maybe it can work wonders for you too. Try them out into your ads and see the result it will bring.
If others have done it, there is nothing wrong trying it out for yourself.
About The Author
For more information on how to find the Start Small Business try visiting Small Business Start located at http://Small-Business-Start.com where you will find valuable information on internet marketing, making money and other information..
Can You Deduct Expenses for Your Home Business?
By - James Martell
<)))
Deduct part of your electric bill? Write off refrigerator repairs? Depreciate your house? Such tax advantages aren't easy to sustain but you can enjoy them if you spend at the right time in the right place.
Suppose you live in a 10-room house and set aside one room exclusively for business use. You may be able to write off 10% of your utility bills, deduct 10% of home maintenance costs and even take depreciation deductions based on 10% of your home's value.
However, you must follow the rules carefully if you want to avoid a disallowance.
The IRS has established a two-part test for approving home office deductions, and your deduction will depend on the amount of time you spend in that office and the relative importance of the work you do there.
The key question the IRS asks is whether your home office is your "principal" place of business. If it is, and it's only used for business, you're entitled to home office deductions. However, you won't be allowed any write-offs if your home office is not your principal place of business.
To qualify for these deductions, you must show that you spend more business time in your home office than anywhere else. You also must show that the functions performed in the home office are the most significant events relative to that business.
If you're a graphic artist, for example, you might work at home but also spend time meeting clients. As long as the at- home work is the most significant part of your business, you can qualify for home office deductions by showing that you spend more time working at home than at other locations.
On the other hand, if you're a consultant who spends time at home doing paperwork but generally performs services at your clients' premises, you won't be entitled to a home office deduction. Your on-site work will be considered more important than your at-home work. For an individual who performs services at customers' job sites, the use of a home office for management and planning won't be deductible.
Some savvy strategies may help you get the rules on your side. The tax code permits home office deductions for separate structures. An office in a room above your garage will likely qualify. Another technique is to set up a separate business, limited to home-based activities. Then, you can take home office deductions for that business, up to the amount of income generated by those activities.
For example, suppose you're a consultant who travels to various companies, presenting seminars. The administrative work you do at home won't qualify for a home office deduction. However, if you create a separate company to prepare a manual that you sell to your clients, and do this work from home, the revenues from that company may be offset by home office deductions.
Keeping good records is always crucial to sustaining a home office deduction. Don't be reluctant to take the deductions if you're entitled to them. Establishing a home office may also enable you to take more auto-related deductions. If you have a home office that's your principal place of business, daily transportation expenses incurred in traveling between your residence and other work sites are deductible.
According to FindLaw on the web, if a taxpayer's use of a home office qualifies as business use of the home, the taxpayer can deduct an allocable portion of depreciation, insurance, rent, repairs, security systems, and utilities and services paid with respect to the home. The amount deducted is limited to the amount allocable to the home office.
Example: If a taxpayer pays $10,000 total for expenses related to the home and 25% of the home is used for business purposes then $2,500 of the expenses are deductible. Similarly, if depreciation on the total structure is $5,000 per year, $1,250 (25%) is deductible. Although home mortgage interest and real estate taxes are deductible in any case, the amount attributable to the home office should be reported as an expense for business use of the home.
You can get more information on deducting your home office expenses by reading IRS publication titled, Business Use of Your Home. Call 800-829-3676 to order. You can also get some more tax tips from the IRS Web site (www.irs.ustreas.gov). To hear a tape recorded message on the subject, call 800-829-4476, and punch in No. 509. Finally, to speak to an IRS representative, call 800-829-1040.
About the Author
James Martell is a successful author for hire, stay-at-home father of four, husband and a seasoned work at home entrepreneur who provides valuable insight and advice for those looking to extra money in a homebased business of their own using a computer and the Internet. His numerous articles offer real-life tips and techniques for getting the most out of a homebased business.
<)))
Deduct part of your electric bill? Write off refrigerator repairs? Depreciate your house? Such tax advantages aren't easy to sustain but you can enjoy them if you spend at the right time in the right place.
Suppose you live in a 10-room house and set aside one room exclusively for business use. You may be able to write off 10% of your utility bills, deduct 10% of home maintenance costs and even take depreciation deductions based on 10% of your home's value.
However, you must follow the rules carefully if you want to avoid a disallowance.
The IRS has established a two-part test for approving home office deductions, and your deduction will depend on the amount of time you spend in that office and the relative importance of the work you do there.
The key question the IRS asks is whether your home office is your "principal" place of business. If it is, and it's only used for business, you're entitled to home office deductions. However, you won't be allowed any write-offs if your home office is not your principal place of business.
To qualify for these deductions, you must show that you spend more business time in your home office than anywhere else. You also must show that the functions performed in the home office are the most significant events relative to that business.
If you're a graphic artist, for example, you might work at home but also spend time meeting clients. As long as the at- home work is the most significant part of your business, you can qualify for home office deductions by showing that you spend more time working at home than at other locations.
On the other hand, if you're a consultant who spends time at home doing paperwork but generally performs services at your clients' premises, you won't be entitled to a home office deduction. Your on-site work will be considered more important than your at-home work. For an individual who performs services at customers' job sites, the use of a home office for management and planning won't be deductible.
Some savvy strategies may help you get the rules on your side. The tax code permits home office deductions for separate structures. An office in a room above your garage will likely qualify. Another technique is to set up a separate business, limited to home-based activities. Then, you can take home office deductions for that business, up to the amount of income generated by those activities.
For example, suppose you're a consultant who travels to various companies, presenting seminars. The administrative work you do at home won't qualify for a home office deduction. However, if you create a separate company to prepare a manual that you sell to your clients, and do this work from home, the revenues from that company may be offset by home office deductions.
Keeping good records is always crucial to sustaining a home office deduction. Don't be reluctant to take the deductions if you're entitled to them. Establishing a home office may also enable you to take more auto-related deductions. If you have a home office that's your principal place of business, daily transportation expenses incurred in traveling between your residence and other work sites are deductible.
According to FindLaw on the web, if a taxpayer's use of a home office qualifies as business use of the home, the taxpayer can deduct an allocable portion of depreciation, insurance, rent, repairs, security systems, and utilities and services paid with respect to the home. The amount deducted is limited to the amount allocable to the home office.
Example: If a taxpayer pays $10,000 total for expenses related to the home and 25% of the home is used for business purposes then $2,500 of the expenses are deductible. Similarly, if depreciation on the total structure is $5,000 per year, $1,250 (25%) is deductible. Although home mortgage interest and real estate taxes are deductible in any case, the amount attributable to the home office should be reported as an expense for business use of the home.
You can get more information on deducting your home office expenses by reading IRS publication titled, Business Use of Your Home. Call 800-829-3676 to order. You can also get some more tax tips from the IRS Web site (www.irs.ustreas.gov). To hear a tape recorded message on the subject, call 800-829-4476, and punch in No. 509. Finally, to speak to an IRS representative, call 800-829-1040.
About the Author
James Martell is a successful author for hire, stay-at-home father of four, husband and a seasoned work at home entrepreneur who provides valuable insight and advice for those looking to extra money in a homebased business of their own using a computer and the Internet. His numerous articles offer real-life tips and techniques for getting the most out of a homebased business.
Selling to the Bottom Line
By - C.J. Hayden
<)))
"Every person who has ever started a business, I imagine, thought he had a good idea. It's the smart person, and the rare person, who tries to find out the most important thing: do other people think it's a good idea?"
-- Bernard Kamoroff, author of "Small-Time Operator"
If you've ever wondered why more people don't respond to your sales attempts and marketing messages, here's the first place to look -- are you selling something that people are willing to spend money on?
It can be hard enough to get your marketing message heard and work your way toward closing a sale when you're offering a product or service that prospects already know will help them. But if you also have to educate prospective customers about why it's worth their while to buy what you are selling in the first place, you are fighting an uphill battle.
A student in one of my classes proposed an idea to sell financial counseling services to college students. He reasoned that more and more young people were incurring massive amounts of debt and declaring bankruptcy. Obviously, the need in the marketplace was there, right? But when I asked him if students thought they needed financial counseling, his immediate answer was no. They had other concerns and ignored their finances, which was why he thought they needed him.
Right there is the catch. He thought they needed him; they didn't think so. The vast majority of buyers -- whether they are individual consumers or buying on behalf of a business -- only purchase products and services that solve a problem they have already defined. If you are the one who has to tell them that they have a problem in the first place, you have a pretty tough sale ahead of you.
In fact, your customers not only have to know they have a problem, they have to be willing to spend money to solve it.
A client of mine was marketing her services to companies to help them build community partnerships. She knew that many corporate donors were choosing to sponsor one nonprofit instead of spreading their donations around. But finding the right fit for a sponsorship was hard. She tried to sell companies on her ability to locate appropriate nonprofits and help establish relations. But they weren't buying. They knew they had a problem, but weren't willing to pay to fix it.
So it's not enough that people want what you offer, it has to be something they will spend money to get. And very importantly, they must also be able to justify that purchase to themselves and others. This is where you can provide exactly what your prospective clients need to make a buying decision.
Let's take as an example a life coach who tells clients he can help them find more passion in life. The prospect tells a friend: "I'm thinking about hiring a life coach to help me discover more passion in my work." The friend is skeptical, and says: "Sounds a little vague to me. If I were you, I'd spend my money on taking those art classes you keep talking about." The client has been unable to justify the purchase and she is now having second thoughts.
But what if the same coach told the prospect he could help her find a new job? When the friend asks for details, the prospect, briefed by the coach, responds: "He says he can partner with me to help me seek out the opportunities that match what I'm really looking for, and stay motivated while I'm looking." A much more likely response from the friend now is: "Sounds like it could be helpful. What's the coach's name?"
What the coach has done in the second case is sold to the client's bottom line. He has offered a result that not only the client, but her friend, seem willing to spend money on. He has also given her the language to explain his solution and justify the purchase to both her friend and herself. In fact, the nature of the work he ends up doing with this client may be exactly the same as it would have been when he offered her "passion." The difference is that the sale just got much easier.
The more concrete you can be about the results clients can expect, the more likely they are to buy. And the closer your offer is to a result that is already in their budget, the easier your sale becomes. When selling to organizations, these factors become even more critical. Every purchase has to be justified to a boss or a board, and if it's not in the budget, your sale may have to wait for next year.
One of my clients was marketing herself as a facilitator. In her sales pitch to corporate clients, she talked about her experience and produced glowing testimonials. But all her hard work produced only a few contracts. Then she began marketing her facilitation in the form of team-building retreats. All of a sudden, organizations that had no need for "facilitation" were eager for "team-building," and in some cases already had that need defined in their training budget.
The key to selling to your client's bottom line is knowing what that is. Ask the people in your target market not just what their problems and goals are, but where they have spent money in the past. A client who has worked with a massage therapist is a likely prospect for chiropractic. A company that has hired graphic designers is probably a good target for communications consulting. Get to know your market's spending habits and you will know better how to sell to them.
In every communication, talk about the specific results you deliver and the amount of value you provide. When you can assign an economic benefit to making a purchase, you increase the likelihood of a sale. This is why finding a new job sells better than finding passion, and helping a company make teams more productive attracts more buyers than helping them run a meeting. If clients believe you can either help them make money or save it, working with you can pay for itself.
When you are selling a product or service with no definable value -- for example, you can help to improve a person's quality of life or a company's work environment -- be aware that you may have a tougher sale than when your offer can be translated into currency. Look for how you can describe your value in the most tangible terms possible, and be prepared to spend some time educating your customers before they will become willing to buy.
Selling to the bottom line may require no changes at all to what you do, just a change to how you talk about it. "Nice-to-have" products and services may generate interest, but "got-to-have" ones generate sales.
About The Author
C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients Now! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of "Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You'll Ever Need" at http://www.getclientsnow.com
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"Every person who has ever started a business, I imagine, thought he had a good idea. It's the smart person, and the rare person, who tries to find out the most important thing: do other people think it's a good idea?"
-- Bernard Kamoroff, author of "Small-Time Operator"
If you've ever wondered why more people don't respond to your sales attempts and marketing messages, here's the first place to look -- are you selling something that people are willing to spend money on?
It can be hard enough to get your marketing message heard and work your way toward closing a sale when you're offering a product or service that prospects already know will help them. But if you also have to educate prospective customers about why it's worth their while to buy what you are selling in the first place, you are fighting an uphill battle.
A student in one of my classes proposed an idea to sell financial counseling services to college students. He reasoned that more and more young people were incurring massive amounts of debt and declaring bankruptcy. Obviously, the need in the marketplace was there, right? But when I asked him if students thought they needed financial counseling, his immediate answer was no. They had other concerns and ignored their finances, which was why he thought they needed him.
Right there is the catch. He thought they needed him; they didn't think so. The vast majority of buyers -- whether they are individual consumers or buying on behalf of a business -- only purchase products and services that solve a problem they have already defined. If you are the one who has to tell them that they have a problem in the first place, you have a pretty tough sale ahead of you.
In fact, your customers not only have to know they have a problem, they have to be willing to spend money to solve it.
A client of mine was marketing her services to companies to help them build community partnerships. She knew that many corporate donors were choosing to sponsor one nonprofit instead of spreading their donations around. But finding the right fit for a sponsorship was hard. She tried to sell companies on her ability to locate appropriate nonprofits and help establish relations. But they weren't buying. They knew they had a problem, but weren't willing to pay to fix it.
So it's not enough that people want what you offer, it has to be something they will spend money to get. And very importantly, they must also be able to justify that purchase to themselves and others. This is where you can provide exactly what your prospective clients need to make a buying decision.
Let's take as an example a life coach who tells clients he can help them find more passion in life. The prospect tells a friend: "I'm thinking about hiring a life coach to help me discover more passion in my work." The friend is skeptical, and says: "Sounds a little vague to me. If I were you, I'd spend my money on taking those art classes you keep talking about." The client has been unable to justify the purchase and she is now having second thoughts.
But what if the same coach told the prospect he could help her find a new job? When the friend asks for details, the prospect, briefed by the coach, responds: "He says he can partner with me to help me seek out the opportunities that match what I'm really looking for, and stay motivated while I'm looking." A much more likely response from the friend now is: "Sounds like it could be helpful. What's the coach's name?"
What the coach has done in the second case is sold to the client's bottom line. He has offered a result that not only the client, but her friend, seem willing to spend money on. He has also given her the language to explain his solution and justify the purchase to both her friend and herself. In fact, the nature of the work he ends up doing with this client may be exactly the same as it would have been when he offered her "passion." The difference is that the sale just got much easier.
The more concrete you can be about the results clients can expect, the more likely they are to buy. And the closer your offer is to a result that is already in their budget, the easier your sale becomes. When selling to organizations, these factors become even more critical. Every purchase has to be justified to a boss or a board, and if it's not in the budget, your sale may have to wait for next year.
One of my clients was marketing herself as a facilitator. In her sales pitch to corporate clients, she talked about her experience and produced glowing testimonials. But all her hard work produced only a few contracts. Then she began marketing her facilitation in the form of team-building retreats. All of a sudden, organizations that had no need for "facilitation" were eager for "team-building," and in some cases already had that need defined in their training budget.
The key to selling to your client's bottom line is knowing what that is. Ask the people in your target market not just what their problems and goals are, but where they have spent money in the past. A client who has worked with a massage therapist is a likely prospect for chiropractic. A company that has hired graphic designers is probably a good target for communications consulting. Get to know your market's spending habits and you will know better how to sell to them.
In every communication, talk about the specific results you deliver and the amount of value you provide. When you can assign an economic benefit to making a purchase, you increase the likelihood of a sale. This is why finding a new job sells better than finding passion, and helping a company make teams more productive attracts more buyers than helping them run a meeting. If clients believe you can either help them make money or save it, working with you can pay for itself.
When you are selling a product or service with no definable value -- for example, you can help to improve a person's quality of life or a company's work environment -- be aware that you may have a tougher sale than when your offer can be translated into currency. Look for how you can describe your value in the most tangible terms possible, and be prepared to spend some time educating your customers before they will become willing to buy.
Selling to the bottom line may require no changes at all to what you do, just a change to how you talk about it. "Nice-to-have" products and services may generate interest, but "got-to-have" ones generate sales.
About The Author
C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients Now! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of "Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You'll Ever Need" at http://www.getclientsnow.com
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