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business tips
by Sue Walsh on July 11, 2008
For most home business owners marketing is far from a favorite chore. However, for a business to be successful it has to be done. Here are a few tips to make it a little less painful!
Do join forums and discussion lists related to your business area. This is a great way to network and promote your business. Make sure to put a link to your business website in your signature and use it on every post you make.
Don't spam! Unless a particular site or list allows it, don't post ads for your business on them. Let your sig do the talking and make your posts interested and relevant to the topic at hand.
Do have a professional looking website. These days a website is an invaluable marketing tool. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it should look professional. Stay away from the free website services that plaster your site with ads. Purchase your own domain name and a webhosting service. Neither are very expensive. When designing it, keep it simple. Flashing text, animated gifs, music and the like will just drive potential customers away.
Don't let your resume get dusty. No matter how successful your business it, it's always a good idea to keep your resume and if applicable, portfolio up to date. You never know when a potential client may ask to see it!
Do invest in nice looking business cards. Do it yourself cards are easy and inexpensive but the fuzzy edges scream amateur. Instead, order them from your local printer or a service like Vistaprint or Overnight Prints. Both offer high quality cards at great prices. Vistaprint often offers deals such as 250 cards for free. Business cards are still valuable marketing and networking tools-don't skimp on them!
Don't be afraid of cold calling. It's no fun and we all hate it, but it's still an effective marketing tool. Just be polite and professional-and if you are nervous rehearse ahead of time with a friend.
Do make time in your weekly schedule to do some marketing. You won't regret it!
Do join forums and discussion lists related to your business area. This is a great way to network and promote your business. Make sure to put a link to your business website in your signature and use it on every post you make.
Don't spam! Unless a particular site or list allows it, don't post ads for your business on them. Let your sig do the talking and make your posts interested and relevant to the topic at hand.
Do have a professional looking website. These days a website is an invaluable marketing tool. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it should look professional. Stay away from the free website services that plaster your site with ads. Purchase your own domain name and a webhosting service. Neither are very expensive. When designing it, keep it simple. Flashing text, animated gifs, music and the like will just drive potential customers away.
Don't let your resume get dusty. No matter how successful your business it, it's always a good idea to keep your resume and if applicable, portfolio up to date. You never know when a potential client may ask to see it!
Do invest in nice looking business cards. Do it yourself cards are easy and inexpensive but the fuzzy edges scream amateur. Instead, order them from your local printer or a service like Vistaprint or Overnight Prints. Both offer high quality cards at great prices. Vistaprint often offers deals such as 250 cards for free. Business cards are still valuable marketing and networking tools-don't skimp on them!
Don't be afraid of cold calling. It's no fun and we all hate it, but it's still an effective marketing tool. Just be polite and professional-and if you are nervous rehearse ahead of time with a friend.
Do make time in your weekly schedule to do some marketing. You won't regret it!
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I am a HUGE fan of online businesses, but for those of you who don't know what the next big idea is, read on, I'm going to show you what you can do to broaden your online business vision and make money online instead of set up a product site and hope to make a sale. It is not too difficult for someone to put together a money making site, you just need to adjust the way that you think and the way you see the Internet.
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It may sound simple, but newbie online marketers have laser focused themselves on product sales and therefore cut themselves off of another means of making money - advertising. There are alot of ways to make money advertising on your site - most people will sell banner space, but you have to have a site that has a certain level of traffic before you are seen as a viable advertising website.
If you want a way to start using your homepage as a means of advertising, you need to sign up for affiliate programs and get yourself a Google Adsense account. If you have a website and you don't post affiliate offers and Google Adsense ads, you are missing out on a lot of potential cash and giving your website visitors what they want. If people knew how much money Google is paying out EVERY MONTH in Adsense revenue or how much affiliates are willing to pay simply for posting a link to their products on your website, online business owners would stop focusing solely on how to sell the latest as seen on TV gadget, and start putting out related affiliate product offers as well.
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This is NOT DIFFICULT! Now that you have the idea, run with it and start giving yourself alternate ways to make an online income.
If you have any questions about this method of marketing on your site, please email me at seoangelgoddess@gmail.com – I'm tired of seeing good people's dreams getting trashed simply because the experience and vision of online marketing was not there. Take advantage of online advertising and start working on your own success today.