Common Sense - The Missing Link in Online Business

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I like to think that my approach to business is 1 part experience, 1 part research and 2 parts common sense. I know my business; that’s my experience. I read as much as I possibly can to strike a balance in my efforts between tried and true and newer methods of business planning and marketing. But to me, the most important, and often lacking in my opinion, is the common sense part of running any business, especially online.

I do not claim to be an expert in SEO or SEM or any of those acronym concepts. In fact, I’m not sure who legitimately can claim to be. In my observation, the rules to those theories seem to change daily if not more often. However, like most online entrepreneurs, I do try and pick up as much as I can from all sources in trying to market and run my business.

In working on both my own business and my client’s, I have found that too often I can get too focused on the technical aspects of my website and business. We are constantly inundated with tips, tricks and techniques for getting more traffic and finding new leads. Please don’t think I’m discounting any of those or disparaging those giving advice. On the contrary, I think it is necessary to take in as much information as possible in determining your own strategies. The problem, in my eyes, lies in getting too involved in these “new” concepts and losing sight or doubt your innate sense of how to do things.

I am not suggesting any hot new modes of marketing, nor am I guaranteeing any way of making thousands of dollars a week! I am merely suggesting that before, during and after implementing any new techniques, you always take a look at your website and all your materials from your customer’s point of view. Better yet, have someone else take a look.

Make sure that you have designed your site and written your copy in a way that is accessible to both ends of the spectrum: the techies and the technically challenged alike. In a perfect world, each visitor to your site would be very computer and internet savvy. Unfortunately, we all know it is not a perfect world. You must make your site as user-friendly as possible.

I spent a lot of time designing my website. I put a lot of thought into what I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it and how I wanted it to function. Those are all important things to consider and steps that must not be skipped. However, shortly after launching the site I discovered what I could improve.

The first thing I did when I uploaded the site was to inform all my friends and family. I knew within two days that I needed to make things a whole lot simpler! I had not taken into account that I have grown up in the internet age and things that I take for granted like knowing how to navigate a site via a site map or navigation bar are not second nature to everyone. I got the best feedback from my 91 year old grandfather who really wanted to see the whole site and know what it was all about. He tries so hard to keep up with the technology, but using the internet is not his cup of tea.

After speaking with him and a few other relatives, I sat down and took a hard look at my site. I went through and made two ways to get to every single page. I tried to simplify things as much as possible. I didn’t change the copy because I had made a point to write copy that was inviting to potential clients from any background. I used my keywords as much as I felt comfortable doing without sounding like a broken record.

Albert Einstein once said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” In our excitement to boost our search engine rankings and generate traffic, I think it’s important to remember those words. The more people who can use your site and hear your message; the more customers you will have!

6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense - Part 1

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VRE -- better known as "Virtual Real Estate" is literally everywhere online.

That's right. Everytime you do a search on whatever it is your searching for via the Internet you get a list of results. Within that list of results lye's thousands, if not, millions of pages of Virtual Real Estate that is making someone out there on the WWW some handsome profits.

The question is... "what have you done in order to stake your Internet "VRE" claim so you too can enjoy some of that profit as well?"

If you haven't started anything yet, that's okay because I did a little research for you and came up with these "6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense" so you too can benefit like the many others out there online.

The first VRE business model I'd like to talk about are -- Article Directories.


VRE Model #1. Articles Directories.

Article Directories are in my mind are probably one of the best VRE business models on the web simply because they offer your audience and publishers Multiple Channels of information on any topic.

And the facts are, people come online for information.

So, what do Article Directories contain?

That's right... Information! ... and lots of it.

The other great benefit to Article Directories is that you don't have to write a single word if you don't want to because the whole purpose of starting your Article Directory in the first place is to get other people(we also call them authors) to submit their content for your readers and/or publishers to read and use.

Now, the Rule Of Thumb is simple when it comes to growing your Article Directory and that is... the more authors you recruit, the more your Article Directory will grow, filling it full of targeted information for your readers to digest and for publishers to use on their websites.

It gets better, so keep reading.

Did you know that the more pages you have within your Article Directory means... the more search engine food you'll have for the search engines to come and index into their database which will then be displayed within the search engines search results.

Remember in the beginning of this article when I was talking about the search engine results being full of Virtual Real Estate. This is where your Article Directories webpages(or your Virtual Real Estate) will be listed for web surfers find.

This also means that you'll receive a lot of FREE targeted search engine traffic to your Article Directory as it grows giving your authors FREE targeted traffic to their sites and keeping them happy, and at the same time, will be building your VRE nest egg on the WWW.

Are you starting to see the benefits to starting your own Article Directory on the Internet?

I hope so.

But don't go anywhere just yet, I'm not finished.

There's two more things I want to talk to you about before this part of the article series ends.

The first is RSS -- better known as "Real Simple Syndication" and what RSS does is it allows you to syndicate your Article Directories content or just content in general through an RSS feed so that any reader and/or publisher who subscribes to a particular RSS feed within your Article Directory will receive ANY new updated content that is published... INSTANTLY!

The other benefit to a RSS feed is... lets say you have 1000 publishers subscribed to one of your RSS feeds and one of your authors submits a new article at your Article Directory, all those publishers who subscribed to that RSS feed will receive it once that RSS feed updates and when someone clicks on the link within that RSS feed to read the new article, guess where the visitor is sent to?

You guessed it, your Article Directory, with your Google Adsense ads(I'll talk about that in a second) and whatever other related affiliate links you have on that webpage.

Now... for the BEST part, how-to make a $Profit$ with your Article directory.

I'm telling you, this is the easiest money you'll ever make for simply supplying your viewers and the Internet(A.K.A. The Information Super Highway) with what it needs the most, Information!

How do you do it?

Heard of Google Adsense(as I mentioned just a minute ago), because if you haven't, now you have.

What is Google Adsense?

Google Adsense is Googles affiliate program for publishers and how it works is it displays ads targeted towards the content on that particular webpage being viewed.

How do you get paid? Simple. Your reader just has to click on one of the ads within the Google Adsense ad box on that webpage and depending on what the topic is and keyword could pay some handsome commissions(usually between 35% to 50%).

And, guess what? You didn't even have to do any selling OR follow-up.

Not bad and believe me those clicks add up Fast and by having the search engines returning frequently for regular indexing and having RSS feeds(remember, when someone clicks on the RSS feed link on someone elses website they get redirected back to yours with your Google Adsense ads on it and other affiliate links) for other publishers to use on their websites you'll soon see your Google Adsense profits get Bigger and BIGGER!

Well, that's it for now. So be sure to be on the look out for my next installment of the "6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense".

Internet Business Info That You Need When Starting a Business

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Everyone is drawn to the attraction that an Internet home based business offers. You can be your own boss and you don’t have to commute to work everyday. However, family can be one of the biggest attractions as well as distractions from a home based business. A home based business allows you to be home more often, but at the same time, your work time can be taken up with family responsibilities.

Another factor that you should consider is you will be transitioning to a completely different working environment. You will change from a people filled environment to a solitude work environment in your home. There are many factors you should think about when deciding to start a home based business. These factors will help you to decide if a home based business is right or wrong for you.

The first thing you should factor in is your personality. Are you the type of person who prefers to work alone or gets more work done when alone? Or do you prefer to work with people and become more motivated when you work with others? You should consider these very important questions before starting a home based business.

After this, if you still want to start your business then you should be sure to set your goals. You should know as much as possible about your business. An estimate on how much money you are going to spend and what your potential for profit is will help you in designing your goals. By being prepared, you can know what you can achieve and have your eyes set on a future goal.

For the best preparation, you should try talking to experts who have a business type similar to yours. Do thorough research on the business you are trying to start. This way you will be fully prepared for anything that may happen once you start your business.

One of the biggest and most important factors to consider is whether your home business is going to meet your financial needs. You should be sure your business is going to provide a steady, stable income that will meet all your needs.

It is also very important to make sure you are starting a business you are going to enjoy. Enjoying your job is the key factor that will help your business in the end. If you are not interested in your job after a few weeks or months, you won’t be progressing much with your business.

Once you have started your home business there are still several things you should consider to help keep your business running smoothly. The most important of these is your working environment organization. You should be very organized with every aspect of your working environment. Everyone should be within arms reach and the area void of distractions. It should clearly be an office, but yet comfortable.

In addition, you want to keep a well-organized work schedule. Make sure you daily schedule is well thought out as far in advance as possible. If you stray from your schedule and let daily distraction get to you then you will soon have a backlog of work, which will cause you to become stressed.

In your schedule, make sure you provide for breaks and meal scheduling. You don’t want to be in front of your computer alone in a room for more than two hours. Missing breaks or meals will cause a strain on your body and can lead to many illnesses.

There are many benefits to a home based Internet business. While you may not have the same job security as other businesses and you can have lonely times, it is a rewarding career. Just follow the suggestions here and you come to enjoy your home based business.

5 Steps To A Successful Internet Business

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STEP 1. Find something you feel is a good business opportunity. You can scour the internet for all sorts of different business ideas and opportunities. Doing a search on any search engine with the keywords Work At Home, Business Opportunities, Home Based Business, Affiliate Programs, Make Money Online, etc., will produce 1000's of different search results. Affiliate programs are THE ABSOLUTE BEST business opportunities out there because the ONLY thing you need to do to run your internet business is to market your affiliate link. With a traditional business you must deal with inventory, storage, packing, shipping, complaints, returns, phone calls, emails, checks and credit cards just to name a few! Not so with affiliate programs, once someone has clicked on your affiliate link your only job is getting the next person to click on it. Sweet deal!

STEP 2. Get your own webpage. You want to put your internet business on a webpage of your own. A webpage is like a store front. It projects respect to your business and who you are. Think about it. Do you feel the same about buying from a vendor on the street as you do about buying from a person in a store? They’re both vendors, but the store gives you a certain feeling about the person you are buying from that a street vendor just can’t give you! Your webpage dose not have to be fancy. If you only have a brief description of what your webpage is about along with individual descriptions of your product or products people will respect that. If it is affiliate programs you have decided upon, simply put a BRIEF description of what is being offered along with your affiliate link. Do not disclose too much in your description because people might THINK they know what it is all about and not click on your link. You want to let your affiliate website do all the selling for you. These sites are professionally designed to maximize the number of people who buy or join so a brief description, just enough to spike their curiosity, is sufficient.

STEP 3. Get your own Blog and make one post a day. A Blog, short for, “Web Log,” is a great way to establish yourself as an authority figure on whatever topic you decide. As people return to read your daily articles, they will eventually come to view you as an authority on whatever your Blog is about. They will eventually develop confidence in what you are saying, and will begin to trust you. As a result some people will check out your webpage to see what you have to offer them, and people tend to buy more from people they know and trust. Their confidence in you will be an additional factor that will compel people to buy from you. There are many places online that will host and let you set up your Blog for free.

STEP 4. Put Cost-Per-Click(CPC) advertising such as Google AdSense on your website. Having Cost-Per-Click advertising on your website is a way to earn additional income that can be VERY substantial. Most people who visit your website will not buy from you. If people are going to leave your website, wouldn’t you rather them leave through a link on your website that will pay you money every time someone clicks on it? Google makes putting their AdSense on your website E-A-S-Y! The ads are relevant to the content of your website. Google can even put its AdSense on your Blog as we’ll.

STEP 5. Write and submit articles to article submission sites. This is the most important advice you need to know. This is how you will get FREE advertising! People are searching the internet for free information. When you submit your articles online, the search engines will eventually find them and will spider every word. When people do a search using keywords or phrases that are in your articles, they will turn up in the search results, so be sure to insert highly searched for keywords and phrases into your articles! You will need to include at the bottom of all your articles your bio. Your bio will contain a brief description about who you are along with a link to your website. It might read for instance [ John Doe is the owner of yoursite.com. John helps people to work at home using various business opportunities that include affiliate programs. If you desire your own home based business visit http://www.yoursite.com] The more articles you write and submit, the higher the chances are of your articles keywords and phrases showing up on search results. The more links you have pointing back to your website, the higher your websites page rank with the search engines will be, meaning the higher up on the search results will your article turn up, so don’t stop writing and submitting articles! I do want to stress however, quality over quantity. Take your time and check your spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. No one will take what you have to say seriously if you don’t write correctly.

So there you have it! Having a successful internet business is simply a matter of understanding how things work, and applying that knowledge. It dose not take any special skill or any great intelligence. If you follow these five steps, you cannot fail. The most important thing, as with anything in life, is persistence. Continue following steps three and five and watch your internet business grow!

Start Your Internet Business by Finding The Right Niche

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Everywhere you go online you hear that you must focus on a niche for your business. If you are new to Internet Marketing, this is advice you will want to pay close attention to.

Every day thousands of people come online for the first time in search of wealth. Many jump right into the markets that are already completely saturated and then wonder why they are not making money.

Given unlimited time, money and patience, they might succeed. For those that do not have unlimited supplies of these precious resources, aiming for a targeted niche market can be a much smarter way to start your online business.

So just what is a niche?

If you want the long answer, you can buy any one of the thousands of ebooks being sold online about niche markets. You can go to a dictionary and see what definition of niche it gives. But the short answer is niche simply means distinct or individual.

Everyone and their mother wants to start a business focusing on Internet Marketing. This is how the big guns are making all their money, so it must be the way to go. That is the problem. The market is totally saturated with people who have years of experience in this area. A new person trying to compete in such a broad market does not have much chance of success.

On About.com, Susan Ward defines Internet Marketing as "the strategies that are used to market a product or service online, marketing strategies that include search engine optimization and search engine submission, copywriting that encourages site visitors to take action, web site design strategies, online promotions, reciprocal linking, and email marketing".

A new person coming online to start a business has little chance of knowing enough about all the above areas to be able to compete in this market.

So how is a new Internet Marketer to have any chance at success?

Thing Smaller - Think Niche!

From the above definition you can gather the following niches:

Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Copywriting
Web Site Design
Promotion
Linking
Email Marketing

Even if you are lucky and are extremely experienced already in one of the above niches, you will still have a lot of competition in such broad niches. This may be what you decide to do in the end, but at least be willing to explore niches within the broader areas. You may find a niche you are much better suited to.

When it comes to finding a niche market, a good resource available online is Wordtracker. Wordtracker brings several tools together in one place for those trying to find a good niche to go into.

Wordtracker is a breeze to use. If you want to narrow Internet Marketing down to targeted niche markets, just type "Internet Marketing" into Wordtracker and look at all the ideas that pop up. Each of these can become keywords that you decide you want to focus your business on. Or you can pop in and analyze those keywords and keep fine tuning your niche.

With Wordtracker you will end up with a list of niche keywords that you can focus your Internet business on. Having a smaller niche will give you a much better shot at being successful than trying to build a site around a broad topic like Internet Marketing.

Remember, success in any business comes from supplying a product that the public has a demand for and that the market has room for. Find the right niche and you are on the right path.

6 Powerful VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense - Part 2

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Okay, it's now time for the next installment of... "6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense" series.

By now you should have a good idea of what Virtual Real Estate is and why it's to your benefit that you start a network of your own VRE sites depending on the model you choose.

In the last installment of this series I covered "Article Directories".

In this part of the VRE series I'm going to cover "Web Directories" in general and then give you some examples of what they might be and look like.

Sound good?

VRE Model #2. Web Directories.

An "Web Directory" is simply a directory on the World Wide Web that specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links. Web Directory owners will often allow site owners to submit their site for inclusion. Then human editors will review their submission and if accepted, will be added to their database.

The one thing about Web Directories is they are often used as part of a website marketing strategy for being indexed in the major search engines like Yahoo!, Google, MSN to name a few.

The main strategy behind someone submitting there website to a directory is that a new site needs to quickly build inbound links from reputable sources. In doing this they will get a higher ranking within search engine results under there target keywords depending on the PR(popularity ranking) of that directory or inbound link.

That's the basic run-down of what an Web Directories purpose is and why they make a great VRE business model.

Web Directories can be and target anything you want them to. It's your directory, so you make the decision as to what it is about.

As your directory grows, so will its traffic.

And if you have targeted affiliate programs strategically placed on your directory along side your Google Adsense code, you could be making a nice, steady income form your directory like many others are right now.

Now... as I said at the beginning of this article I would give you some examples of some Web Directories with Google Adsense so you see for yourself whether or not this is something you want to venture into.

So, with that said, here are 3 directories that I think will give you a good idea of what to expect:


Free Stuff Directory:
All Free Things - http://www.allfreethings.com/

eBook Directory:
Wisdom eBooks - http://www.wisdomebooks.com/

Software Directory:
Software5 - http://www.software5.com/

Now remember, your Online Directory can be about anything you want. Your in control.

These are just some examples of whats out.

Did you happen to see the Google Adsense ads?

BINGO!

Also, pay special attention to where those Google Adsense ads are positioned because this is KEY to getting a good CTR(Click Through Rate) with your Google Adsense ads.

Now, at this point, it's up to you to make the decision on whether or not this is the type of VRE business model you want to use and start.

I recommend you surf around and see whats out there with your interests in mind. By doing that you will be able to get some good idea's as to what to expect and more importantly, model your directory and/or VRE sites from.

Well, that's it for now.

Web Business Overview – Site Practicalities

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When starting a web business, the first step is generating a business plan. Once completed, it is time to move on to the particulars of your site.

Research

Are people actually buying your widgets from other sites? To find out, you could check stock of stores and Web sites, ask for friends' opinions and find more data online, in media and at the library. If it turns out people are not buying very many widgets these days, now may be a good time to change you business plan. Also research what your competitors are doing and if there is any way to improve upon their business models.

Web Site?

After you have a business plan and done some research, it is time to begin building your business. Though it is not essential for a web entrepreneur to have a web site, for our purposes we will assume one will be required. Other methods of making money on the web are quite possible, such as by creating an opt-in mailing list or selling products though services such as eBay.

Host and Domain

In order to have a web site one must have a host and a domain name. Think of the host as the home of your web site and the domain, such as www.widgets.com, as its address. Domain names can often be registered for less than $10 per year. Free hosting is even available, but a user of such services is required to have the host's banners on their site, which is not particularly desirable.

A host should have reliable customer service, have very high uptime, meaning your site is accessible on the web as close to 100% of the time as possible, and give your business room to grow. You don't want your host to crash if you get ten thousand visitors in one day. If you need programming or ecommerce, you will want to make sure your host will support your needs. Server stats are also very handy.

Build It

After you have a home and address for your web site, you will need to build it. There are two roads you can walk down. Many web entrepreneurs choose to build their own sites and learn as they go. This is often desirable if you are interested in HTML and programming, have time to spare and don't require a professional polish. Many sites that make money promoting affiliate programs attract an audience that expect a rough, non- professional site to lead them to a polished sponsor site where they will spend their money.

The other road is to have a professional design your site for you. This is the best solution for many. Like a construction worker who knows the best way to build houses and can do it better and faster than the average layman, so it is with web design. If you are planning on selling a product or service directly, it is essential to have a sharp image by which your potential clients will judge you. With so much information and so many web pages available, surfers often move on after only a few seconds. A professional design will ensure you will be making the most of each visitor that views your site.

Now you have a plan, a product or service and a web site to sell it with. This is all very nice and all, but without people viewing your web site, you can't make any sales. You need a solid marketing plan to get the visitors to you site, by which you can make sales.

And that’s the subject of our next article.

An Introduction To Drop Shipping - The Easy Way To Start An Ebay Business

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The term ‘Drop shipping’ has become a popular method for selling goods on eBay. This method allows the seller on eBay to sell goods without the need to have an inventory or the necessity to ship the goods. Many companies also allow the user to purchase their goods and then have them blind drop ship the product to the winning bidder. The company uses the eBay seller’s name or company details as the return address to make it appear that the item actually came from them and not the true goods supplier. The true supplier will however, handle the packaging, the shipping, and any return of items.

It is very easy to start a drop shipping business on eBay. You do not need to make any huge investments when starting your ebay drop shipping business and your initial costs will be negligible. Remember that this is a virtual business and does not need heavy startup costs, unlike an offline business that can expensive to start.

Drop shipping has gained in popularity because you do not have to pay for and stock inventory the upfront. Once the buyer makes the payment, the order is sent to the drop shipper and they complete the procedure including sending the tracking number for the shipment, which is then forwarded to the buyer - You do not pay until you have sold the item! This method ensures that you earn money and the risks are minimized for the sellers.

But make sure that you find legitimate drop shippers to work with and avoid the "middlemen" that can cause problems with shipping and your profits. Stay clear of drop ship guides that just list companies and addresses. These guides lack any substance and, if you want to find "middlemen" you will not need to look any further. A good source for finding your ideal drop ship partnership is at alibaba.com.

Ebay is the biggest e-commerce portal in the world today and is providing a livelihood to thousands of people worldwide. According to a survey by AC Nielsen in 2005, 724,000 Americans have confirmed that their livelihood depends on their auction ebay site store. Apart from this number, at least another 1.5 million people have said that they make an extra income by selling their products on e-bay. Last year 150 million registered users sold their products on eBay and transactions amounted to over $34 billion. This makes e-bay the biggest online market place globally.

You do not need any special skills for starting a drop shipping business on eBay and although there are certain products that you cannot sell on an auction ebay online shopping store, you can sell virtually anything else and don't forget that you will have an existing database of over 150 million customers to sell your product to. You will however, need to carefully assess the pros and cons to ensure success, read as much as you can on the subject and learn from those that know. A good resource can be found here.

Ebay gets somewhere around 1.5 billion page reviews every month. You can imagine therefore the kind of traffic that can visit your auction ebay site store - just be sure to check out what is selling and what isn't before you start and just remember this, a little time and effort is all that will be required to get started and after that just sit back and watch the bidding. Even while you are sleeping, on holiday or doing whatever else, ebay is still working for you, day and night.

Internet Business: How to Find the Best Home Internet Business

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The first and most important rule to remember when you are selecting the best Internet business idea is the one that works for you. Often times the best Internet business, idea you can come up with is one that you will have fun doing.

A founder who has enthusiasm will often help a business thrive and survive far beyond other companies in the same field. However, you cannot have enthusiasm to keep your business running if you don’t like your job.

In addition, modern technology and Internet has made it possible and easy for almost anybody to thrive with an Internet based business. As long as you love your idea and you understand it then you will have a thriving business.

The second rule you should remember when selecting the best home internet business is if there is a good marketing system in place. You need to have an advanced plan or idea that will help generate the best possible traffic to your business or subscribers to your email newsletter. While you run your business always, keep in mind that without traffic you don’t have a business no matter how good your idea is.

When selecting the best home internet business you should be on the look out for some advantages that only the best internet business opportunities would have. These advantages may not look very important at first but they will eventually make the difference between early some spending money from your business opportunity and regularly taking home a six-figure check every month from your business opportunity without ever having to leave the house.

The best of the Internet business opportunities usually have a long and detailed section on affiliate information. Go to this section and check out the details. These details should provide you all the information you need to know how best to sell the Internet business opportunity. Having a large affiliate section is important since you won’t make any money off your business without sales. The larger the affiliate section the easier it will be for you to make an income off your home internet business. Some of the best opportunities even have a list of key contacts.

It is also a good idea to go with Internet business opportunities that have a detailed and specific payment policy and preferably one that allows you to be paid for second and even third tier affiliate sales. This means you are paid for sub affiliates that you introduce to the business program. This way you can earn an income off both your direct sales and those of the ones who have joined the program. This can make a big difference in the size of the paycheck you receive.

It is Personal, It's Business

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“It’s not personal, it’s business”- The gangster says to his victim pointing the barrel of the gun straight at his head. Then, the camera angle changes, the shot fires, and the body of the helpless victim falls on the ground. You have probably seen a couple of movies with scenes similar to this one. It exemplifies very well that in the mafia style business, making money comes before anything else, no matter which law needs to be broken or how deep or personal the relationship was with the person that needed to be “taken care of”. If that person was somehow interfering with business, they had to go away.

Unfortunately, many businesses nowadays have adopted the same “It’s not personal, it’s business” mentality and they put the interests of their customers in the back burner. How? Not establishing a good relationship with the customers, tricking him into spending his money in low quality products, not having a friendly, helping attitude, not trying to go beyond his expectations, but falling short of them, lying and being unreliable, just to name a few. These are costly mistakes that pretty much tell the customer right to his face that his interests are not the first priority. “It’s not personal, it’s business”. How can you, as an online business owner not fall into this trap that could potentially destroy your credibility and the success of your business? Let’s talk about three basic concepts that could put you on the right path.

1-Use Your Words

Your customer will most likely visit your website as the first means for getting to know your business and check out your offers and products. The way you approach him with your words could give him the beginning warmth and trust on which you can start building a long lasting, happy relationship. Write to him; make him feel as if you wrote the words with him in mind. Use good grammar, be polite and stay professional. You can even display a small sense of humor; it will be refreshing for the customer. Always make him feel comfortable, don’t pressure him to buy. Remember, you want happy, repeat customers, not a one time disappointed buyer.

2-Display Honesty

With all the scams, the garbage and the filth floating around the Internet today, it is easy to understand why many regular online customers have developed a special “sense” to sniff out lies and untruthful hypes miles away. If something sounds too good to be true, they will automatically assume that it is. Be very careful. Be honest when promoting your products and when answering the customer’s questions or concerns. Remember, you’re not just trying to get the sale; you’re trying to gain the customer’s trust, build a relationship and keep him coming back for more. Show that to the customer. Achieving this will put your business right on the path to success.

3-Freebies

Giving away some freebies are a great way to get the visitor motivated to buying and keep coming back for more. What should you give away for free? Maybe a sample of the product that your business is based on, or a free e-book with content related to the one on your website. Make sure that your freebies portray the quality of the products or information that you are promoting. It will speak greatly to the visitor, as he already has the mindset that free things are either not really free or useless. If you give away something of quality and useful to the visitor, I guarantee you that he will most likely become a happy customer.

Most important of all, base your business on creating, not only happy customers, but raving fans. If you can go beyond your customer’s expectations every time, you will have loyal customers for a very long time. Always keep that in mind, in every aspect of the way you do business. Remember, create relationships, not one time disappointed buyers. Your business will skyrocket to levels of success that you have probably never imagined. You will have happy customers that will respect you and trust you, and will talk great about your business every time they have the chance, sending even more visitors and potential customers your way. Win-Win.

The gangster gets the job done. The intruder has been “taken care of”. Now he can go back to his boss and get paid. It’s all about the business. In your style of business, however, this won’t work very well, as we have already established. Make sure that with your words and actions you let every single one of your customers know: It is personal, it’s business.