Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A Strategy To Get Free Website Traffic



This article is to discuss methods of free advertising for people that have just started an online business. The premise behind this article came after speaking with several people that wanted to start a home-based business, but simply did not have the cash flow to immediately start with a paid advertising program. I wanted to write an article to assist people by offering some free marketing ideas.

A Few Housekeeping Notes...

I do not claim the strategies outlined in this game plan are the absolute best ways to market your business. Remember, we are developing FREE strategies. As with anything that is free, you get what you pay for.

I believe that in order to explode your business, at some point, you will need to incorporate some paid marketing strategies in your business marketing plan. The concept is to use some free strategies, generate some income, then re-invest that income back in your business.

Here is a list of what I believe are important expectations in a free marketing strategy:

Tip # 1: Effort and consistency is the key. A free marketing strategy comes with the clear understanding that nothing in this life is FREE. If you have decided to start an online business, you need to understand that your consistent effort will be required to achieve success. An online business is tough. Even if you have limited time to devote, you absolutely must put in the effort. Without your consistent effort, your business plan will fail.

Tip # 2: Don't expect immediate results. Of course, you'll certainly take it... if it comes. However, understand, this is a start-up business. Plan and expect that it might take 90 days to see positive results.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Having a Millionaire Mindset Is the Key To Success



Have you finally reached a point in your professional life, where you want to start a home business and get out of the rat race for good? If you answered yes, then you need to conquer getting over the wrong employee mindset and instead adopt a millionaire mindset.

The right mindset can be the difference between success and failure when attempting to start an Internet business. Each successful entrepreneur that has created a business online, has the right mindset. This is one of the prime reasons that successful entrepreneur get that way is because they have a certain mindset that makes them money. These folks are not quitters and they persevere even when it looks like they might continue to fail.

Having a Millionaire Mindset is one of the most important parts of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Essentially, this mindset is the make or break between you starting the online business, or you basically wasting your time and money. So essentially you want to learn those things that you want to do, the things that you want to avoid doing and the things that you should avoid dwelling on. It Takes Practice.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Should You Separate Business From Personal On Facebook?



Yes! There are 3 reasons why you want to keep your business activity separate from your personal life on Facebook.

1. Keep friends from being annoyed with your business posts

Your friends are on Facebook to connect with you personally. They aren't interested in seeing your business information in their news feed. Invite your business friends to LIKE your fan page and keep your business discussions there.

An unobtrusive way to maintain connectivity between your personal profile and your business page is by making your business page your place of work. This appears as a link below your photo on your personal profile and is a classier way to make your friends curious about what you do for work.

Tip: Make sure your fan page has your name in it as well as your business description. This way when people search for you by name on Facebook, they will see your personal profile under the People category and your fan page under the Pages category.

2. Be more organized by separating business and personal news feeds

I love doing this because it makes my life easier. When I am in Facebook, I can choose to focus on either personal or business news.

Let's say that you like a page on cooking and this reflects your personal interest. LIKE that page while in your personal persona. When you click Home to go to your news feed, the status updates of that page will appear.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Blogging For Profits Can Increase Your Take Home Pay



More and more people are coming to realize the enormous potential of blogging. The search engines love fresh content and since blogs are updated frequently they give the search engines what they want, in return the blogs get a high rank in the search engines which results in a lot of free traffic, everyone wins. If you want to start blogging for profit there are a few basics that you need to keep in mind to get the most out of this potential.

Here are a few points to keep in mind as you set up your online blogging business:

1. There's always varying opinions on what makes the best blog platform, the two top contenders are WordPress.com and Blogger.com. Most internet marketers I know recommend WordPress. It doesn't matter too much which one you choose, just find the software that you feel the most comfortable using.

2. Stay away from using the free WordPress or Blogger services. I know when you're just starting out you might not have a lot of money, but this is not the place you want to cut corners. Why? Because if you use the free services you don't own anything, you have to abide by the terms of service (TOS) of whichever site you are using and these TOS can change often. If you have a profitable site that is getting a lot of traffic and the company updates it's TOS and you're no longer compliant, your blog will be gone. No discussion, no warning, just gone. While that doesn't happen too often it is a risk you shouldn't take.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Easy Business Ideas To Beat The Recession



Easy business ideas, do they exist? In this time of recession this seems to be what many are looking for.

Many people suddenly have what they think is a "light bulb" moment and decide that they will get rich easily online and all their problems will be solved.

I bet you have met someone like this haven't you?

Perhaps you are one of those people?

If you have answered yes to any of the above questions then please read on, you may find this very interesting!

What many people are hoping to find is a push button scheme that requires no effort and the monetary returns are astronomical. If you ever find such a thing please let me know!!!

The fact of the matter is, that EVERY business, whether on or offline requires time, effort and dedication and unfortunately you are not likely to get rich overnight (not unless you win the lottery in the meantime that is!).

You will need to build your business, whatever your chosen niche maybe, and there are millions you could choose from.

Educating yourself is an absolute must, you wouldn't expect to become a chef without first learning your trade would you? Building a business online is no different!!

Educate yourself in building a profitable website and sales page.Educate yourself in how to market your business effectively, how to attract customers, how to keep your customers and how to keep attracting more. Educate yourself everyday in your chosen niche, things change daily whatever you're into so make sure you are up to date and well informed.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Running Your Own Amazon Business From Home



Long before the internet, retail was well established as one of the most competitive industries to enter. The internet has given new entrepreneurs the ability to launch their business with more ease, but it can still be difficult to find a foothold.

Even though there are tens of thousands of retail websites online, a few major brands continue to dominate, much like traditional high street retail. By some distance, Amazon is the largest online retailer of all.

The simple truth is that very few companies will ever be able to compete with Amazon. So why bother? The best thing that you can do if you want to start an online retail business from home is to get involved with the Amazon brand and turn it to your advantage.

Read on to learn the basics of getting up and running with your own Amazon business. You'll find out that by treating Amazon as an ally, not a rival, you too can start earning a great living from home.

Running Your Own Amazon Business From Home



Long before the internet, retail was well established as one of the most competitive industries to enter. The internet has given new entrepreneurs the ability to launch their business with more ease, but it can still be difficult to find a foothold.

Even though there are tens of thousands of retail websites online, a few major brands continue to dominate, much like traditional high street retail. By some distance, Amazon is the largest online retailer of all.

The simple truth is that very few companies will ever be able to compete with Amazon. So why bother? The best thing that you can do if you want to start an online retail business from home is to get involved with the Amazon brand and turn it to your advantage.

Read on to learn the basics of getting up and running with your own Amazon business. You'll find out that by treating Amazon as an ally, not a rival, you too can start earning a great living from home.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Helpful Hints For Finding Work From Home



In today's world, making ends meet can often be difficult and not even possible at times. A lot of people often give up hope because of how difficult the job market has become. A decade ago, it was more than enough to have a regular Bachelor's degree; nowadays, a Master's degree is not even enough to land a job for yourself at times.

Did you know that freelancing has actually become a mainstream method to provide an income for both single people and couples alike? The most popular form of freelancing from home has become writing for others. I was very skeptical myself when I was first told about this eighteen months ago, but then I began to explore my options and I actually found very viable websites that would act as a "go-between" for you and the potential employer. It was like the best of Monster.com meets eBay, and I quickly dove in and started participating.

A friend of mine was doing online article writing, and he was making enough money to pay all of his bills every single month. I asked him for his secrets, and he told me to check out vWorker, Elance, and oDesk. After I looked into all three, I quickly chose vWorker as it seemed the simplest option to me. (Elance and oDesk were actually more popular, but I still prefer vWorker as it seemed to give me the most options.)

Monday, August 6, 2012

Steady Income When You Freelance From Home



In today's world of being always-connected to the Internet via your phone, computer, tablet, and MP3 devices, many people are choosing to leave behind their daily 9-5 grind in favor of being able to freelance from home. This option appeals to a great many people as it gives them greater control over their time and, more importantly, greater control over their income. Instead of letting someone else determine your worth, your home, your spouse, and even your pet, by becoming a freelancer, you are able to determine your income and how much you work. You might even have a few friends who are doing this already!

In all honesty, making money online is a piece of cake. You do need a little common sense going into it, and you have to have an open mind as well. For most people it doesn't take long until they can decipher the difference in a legitimate work proposal and a seemingly innocent scam, but you still need to be careful getting your feet wet. It is also impossible to pre-determine your earnings potential because there are so many different factors involved. The more ways you advertise your abilities, the more income potential you will have. For example, a lot of people will find one forum or discussion board where they feel comfortable and never advertise anywhere else. This sets them up for limited exposure and they become trapped into the economy of that board. If they were to spread out to 5-10 boards and Craigslist, they might find a much wider variety of clientele.

A lot of people will choose to freelance from home to pay a few bills that they day job doesn't cover or as a way to start putting money back towards retirement. These people may not have more than two or three hours per day to devote to this new business and will need to remember that they may not earn as much as someone who can sit in front of his or her computer 12-16 hours per day bidding on jobs and placing new ads. (Then again, if you know what you're doing, you might easily outperform that full-timer in 25% of the time he spends!)

Choosing Whom To Follow

When you choose someone to follow or maybe even to have mentor you in your new online business, don't expect to become as successful as they are right off the bat. You might not realize it, but the person you're following might have ten or twenty years of experience in that business. This will invariably give them an edge over your fledgling business and may frustrate you in your first efforts to freelance from home. Things that your mentor can do in an hour or a day may take you a week or even several weeks. Don't get frustrated; you'll eventually get there too.

Choosing A Business Model

Not every freelancer chooses the same business model. You will need to take your time and research various ways that you can make money in the online world. Some people are natural-born writers, able to conjure up images of mountains and sports cars and beach-front homes in just a few sentences. Other people can take a mouse and Adobe Publisher and create the images out of the random pixels on a computer screen. Still others can take that writing and completely imagery, design a site, and create a successful business model by combining the talents of other people.

Friday, August 3, 2012

The Top 5 Freelance From Home Positions



The biggest secret to being able to earn money working from home is opening your mind to all of the possibilities. Instead of relying on a boss or manager to tell you what to do, you have to go out and find the work. You don't have a set wage, either; it's up to you to find that "sweet spot" between what you need and what your clients are willing to pay. As you begin to dive into the work at home world, you're going to inevitably come across all kinds of advertisements. Some will be legitimate offers from large corporations looking to reduce their employee-levels by outsourcing work while others may be scams. It's up to you to train your eyes and mind to determine which is which.

One of the best routes to take, however, is to see what Internet Marketers are doing to make money. I'm not talking about people such as yourself who are brand new to the world of making money online; I'm actually referring to online business owners who have been working hard for at least two years and have achieved a full-time income online. A lot of these marketers started off just as you are starting off, with a dream to own their time and not work to build someone else's dream. Now they've built their dreams into a handsome income, and if you study their methods, you can do the same thing.

Virtual Assistants

Once you start studying these successful entrepreneurs, you will see that they have a lot of the same needs as the chief executives of established bricks-n-mortar businesses. Often their businesses have grown so large that they employ several assistants. These assistant are called "virtual assistants" and are often working from home, just as you'd like to do yourself. They can help with writing, advertising, sales, accounting - anything that the business owner needs done.

Do you think you would like to become a virtual assistant? If so, you need to immediately address your skills and see if you will be able to specialize in a certain field. For example, if you are a talented SEO professional, you can often draw a higher fee than if you are just a general skills virtual assistant. Perhaps you are or were a marketing expert, a commission salesperson, or even a true people person who can network via LinkedIn and other opportunities to help expand a business on several fronts. These are all extremely valuable skills that, when advertised correctly, can begin to bring in a full-time income for you and allow you to work at home!

Affiliate Manager

Perhaps you could specialize in being an affiliate manager. If you've never heard of an affiliate manager before, this is someone who helps to discover other people who are interested in promoting a person's or company's products for them. For example, you have probably noticed tens and hundreds of sites by now that all promote various products from Amazon.com. The people doing the promoting are called affiliates for Amazon. An affiliate manager would help Amazon to spread their brand out to a wider audience and find more people willing to promote those products.