“
Business has only two
functions - marketing and innovation.” - Milan Kundera
Marketing your business properly
can mean the difference between being successful or going to of
business.
The article below discusses some
marketing methods that you could use.
To
read more business articles, visit:
http://mwbuyingagency.wordpress.com/
Michael Wilkovesky
How Local Online Advertising And
Web Presence Affects The Sustainability Of A Small Business - by
Stacey Kephart
Many small businesses are closing
their doors in today's global economy due to the inability to
properly market their business. The fact is that most people will
only travel within a 5 mile radius of their home for products or
services. With this in mind, businesses have got to find a way to
constantly be expanding their customer base. If a business has
products and services that can be sold and shipped to customers, the
web presence of that business could determine if that business
succeeds or fails.
Web presence is more than just
having a nice looking website. It involves having a clean looking
site that focuses on 5 or 6 popular products and marketing them
heavily. Web presence is also about how your site ranks in the search
engines when someone does a search for your niche. Many people today
use the internet to find information. If your business and products
can be found easily when someone types in various keywords, you
should make many more sales. If no one can find your business, it is
just like locking the doors and staying closed for the day. Web
presence can affect what businesses are able to sustain this economic
time.
To build a strong web presence,
Concentric Local Advertising focuses on utilizing many marketing
techniques simultaneously and putting them on auto pilot. Many of the
marketing strategies are either free or low cost, but all together
they are a powerful force. Using this technique, even the struggling
marketer can find affordable small business advertising.
Some of the methods of Concentric
Local Advertising involve:
1. building an effective website
to market your products
2. placing local online ads
3. email marketing
4. forum marketing
5. social networking and social
bookmarking
6. direct mail campaigns
7. video marketing
All of these methods work well
individually, but together, they are very powerful. There are tools
available online to automate many of the methods described above.
Concentric Local Advertising explains what tools work best and where
to find them. For example, there is a program called Twit Source
which helps with marketing to social networking sites. Another
program called the Tweet Tank can help you to automate Twitter. These
programs are very cost effective when you look at the amount of time
that can be saved from entering all information and comments
manually.
In conclusion, constant marketing
must be done in order to keep a small business running. If a business
has a strong web presence and utilizes online local advertising
effectively, the chances of gaining more customers will increase.
These advertising efforts can be done manually, as well as
simultaneously through automation tools. What ever the case, it is
crucial that small businesses continually try to keep the attention
of their customers while trying to introduce their products and
services to potential customers.
Source:
Stacey Kephart is a founding
member of the A-List Ladies http://www.alistladies.info and a protege
of Dr. Jason Secord http://www.jasonsecord.com. For more information
please visit: http://www.concentriclocaladvertising.info.
Notice:
Some of the links in
the post above and on this blog site are “affiliate links.” This
means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive
an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or
services we believe will add value to our readers.
This
post or blog site contains Third Party Advertising, using online
behavioral tracking technology. You can learn more about our policies
regarding online behavioral advertising and your choices regarding
such ads here --> Privacy
Policy.
We have not received
any compensation for writing this post. We have no material
connection to the brands, products, or services that we have
mentioned.
“
The
world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore; It will
be the fast beating the slow.” – Rupert Murdoch
5 vital characteristics all
entrepreneurs must have, do YOU have them?
Being an entrepreneur is a very
different life and lifestyle. There are certain characteristics that
entrepreneurs must have (as well as any businessman)
The article below gives 5
characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.
To
read more business articles, visit:
http://mwbuyingagency.wordpress.com/
Michael Wilkovesky
5 Characteristics an Entrepreneur
MUST Have - by Shaun Lee
What is an entrepreneur?
According to Wikipedia, an entrepreneur is a person who has
possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant
accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. To translate
it into simple terms, an entrepreneur owns a business of which the
entrepreneur is responsible for the risks and outcomes. To be an
entrepreneur, one has to possess defined characteristics of an
entrepreneur.
What are the characteristics of
an entrepreneur? Are these characteristics vital? It's a no-brainer
actually, of course it's important! Your chances of business success
is significantly lower if you do not possess these characteristics.
The characteristics of an entrepreneur consists of:
1. Good leadership
Leadership is a rare
characteristic. It is very hard to find individuals with good
leadership qualities. This is because not many people dare to take
responsibility, or take the lead. Alan Keith of Genetech once said,
"Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to
contribute to making something extraordinary happen." Precise
and right to the point.
To be a good entrepreneur, you
must be a leader. You must be able to guide, direct, influence and
affect people. This way, all your business problems can be overcomed
with ease.
2. Risk taker
All businesses involve risks.
There is not a single business in the known world right now that is
100% risk-free. You can't make money if you are not willing to take
risks. If you are not willing to take risks, then you are bound to
fail in the business world.
But, a successful entrepreneur
does not take all the risks he faces. All risks must be evaluated
first, before taking the dive. You wouldn't want to dive into some
unknown waters, would you?
3. Honest and Trustworthy
This is an undeniable
characteristic that all entrepreneurs MUST have. Let's face it, would
you give your money to some stranger that guarantees you to make
1000% profit on the street? No you would not. Maybe if that stranger
asked for $10 dollars or he convinced you with hard facts, you would,
but that's out of the case. As the saying goes,"Honesty is the
best policy." Every one likes honest and trustworthy people.
Being honest and trustworthy is
considered one of your most important characteristics. It would take
years to build your credibility and honesty, but it would take just a
few seconds to totally destroy your image should you do something
dishonest.
4. Your Passion
Your passion fuels your actions.
And your actions make money. Any entrepreneur should be passionate
about their business to be able to perform well. You must maintain
your enthusiasm and interest in your field. For example, when making
money online is your passion, you wouldn't feel working even if you
stick yourself to the monitor 24hours a day.
Your passion makes it easy for
you to act. Working no longer means working when you work with your
passion. It just means doing something you like. If you like to play
games and playing games is your 12-hour job, it certainly wouldn't
feel like working 12 hours a day.
5. Intelligence
No, I don't mean you need to have
exceptionally high IQ to success. But what I mean is that an
entrepreneur should be clever and witty in all your business
dealings. You have to show that you are concentrated and 100% focused
on your job to be able to gain your clients' respect and trust.
The world is a mean one. Scammers
are out there somewhere, preying for a weak target everyday. To
resist being scammed or being duped, an entrepreneur should be smart
and be alert of who you are dealing with. If not, you would
eventually suffer some uncalculated losses.
These are one of the few
characteristics of a successful business entrepreneur. These
characteristics will, no doubt, help you overcome obstacles you may
have to face when you are operating a business. And without these
characteristics, your business may eventually fail and you will have
to bear the losses.
What if you have the main
characteristics of an entrepreneur already? Then study the market,
find a solution or make a product, get some capital and you're ready
to make a killing in the ever-changing world of business.
Source:
Shaun R Lee is a budding new
entrepreneur. Visit his blog at
http://startyourinternetbusinessnow.blogspot.com for more details on
internet businesses. This article can be used anywhere, as long as
this resource box is not modified in any way and is being included
along with the article. Copyright(c) 2009. Shaun R Lee.
Notice:
Some of the links in
the post above and on this blog site are “affiliate links.” This
means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive
an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or
services we believe will add value to our readers.
This
post or blog site contains Third Party Advertising, using online
behavioral tracking technology. You can learn more about our policies
regarding online behavioral advertising and your choices regarding
such ads here --> Privacy
Policy.
We have not received
any compensation for writing this post. We have no material
connection to the brands, products, or services that we have
mentioned.
“
From
the beginning at Intel, we planned on being big.” – Robert
Noyce
If you want to be successful in
an on-line business, then you sometimes have to prepare and behave
like an athlete.
The article below does that when
talking about the keys to success for an on-line business person.
Michael Wilkovesky
The Key Success Factor for Any
Online Business - by Milford Bender
In a marathon the physical factor
for runners might be very comparable, but what could be the main
differentiators between those who get to the finish line and those
who don't? And what would be the main differentiators between those
who finish first and those who finish last? What makes a person push
himself/herself to the maximum limits to achieve his/her targets?
Depending on the field, things
like physical fitness and knowledge are pre-requisites of course, but
endurance and patience are the common denominator that separates the
winners from the quitters in any field.
From normal observations we
realize that the level of endurance and patience to achieve self set
targets differ between one person to another. So what is it that
creates this difference? It is motivation and more importantly self
motivation.
The engine that drives us to
overcome obstacles and enhance our endurance and patience is how well
we can motivate ourselves. We need to differentiate between external
motivational factors and self motivation.
Results and achievements motivate
most of us, but if failure and slow or no improvements are happening,
the only source of motivation available is within ourselves.
Online business is an industry
that requires a huge amount of self motivation. Self motivation is
the sole driver for discipline, endurance and patience which are the
success factors that differentiate the winners from the quitters.
This makes self motivation the
most crucial success factor in online business as external motivators
take time to materialize.
How can we fuel the self
motivation engine to keep it running? There are numerous ways:
1- Set clear Targets: I know you
have heard this a million times, but the reason we are mentioning it
here is the following:
a. Clear targets are easily
measured and accordingly you will see by time the small improvements
you are making. Thus energizing your self motivation by this external
factor.
b. When setting clear targets,
you can easily divide them into targets to meet within smaller time
intervals. Accordingly, you see closer results.
2- Keep remembering your initial
driver: Keep reminding yourself why you got into online business in
the first place. Keep implanting this driver into your head on daily
basis.
3- When you completely lose hope
and realize that online business is not for you, try to find other
options that would satisfy the driver that made you start your online
business. If you could not find other options you will realize that
online business is your only option.
4- Do not talk about your online
business with potentially skeptical people.
5- Pick an active forum and hang
around there every now and then, not only because it is good for the
business, but to keep you motivated by helping others and getting
help from others. You can find ideas that you never thought of before
and are easily implemented which will give a huge boost to your
motivation.
6- Try to enjoy your online
business and make money a secondary issue. By enjoying the work you
will find the material factor accomplished without you noticing. If
you keep stressing yourself out regarding the monetary achievements,
each day in online business will seem like a whole year. This one is
the most magical of all solutions.
Do not make your online business
like any other job. This is your kingdom and you can create any
working environment you desire. Therefore, create an environment that
will keep you motivated all the time.
Source:
Notice:
Some of the links in
the post above and on this blog site are “affiliate links.” This
means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive
an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or
services we believe will add value to our readers.
This
post or blog site contains Third Party Advertising, using online
behavioral tracking technology. You can learn more about our policies
regarding online behavioral advertising and your choices regarding
such ads here --> Privacy
Policy.
We have not received
any compensation for writing this post. We have no material
connection to the brands, products, or services that we have
mentioned.
“
Many a small thing has been
made large by the right kind of advertising.” - Mark Twain
How do you get customers to visit
your website? You need to advertise. This can be expensive for a
small business owner.
The article below gives some low
cost or no cost methods to advertise your business on line.
Michael Wilkovesky
Small Business Online Advertising
Ideas That Won't Break the Bank - by Timothy S. Young
Many small business owners who
have started up a website online were initially excited about the
potential new customers that their online presence would inevitably
draw in. As they registered their domain, signed up for webhosting,
and designed a sharp looking website, they eagerly awaited the steady
flow of traffic that they would surely receive.
I mean come on, in today’s
world, everyone’s on the Internet right? Surely if I just throw up
a fancy website I’ll be able to instantly generate hundreds of
visitors a day without lifting a finger.
In the not too distance past,
this scenario could actually play out. You could create a small
business website and without really doing much, you could receive a
fairly healthy stream of traffic.
However, today in 2014, with our
overcrowded Internet, having a website is not enough. You must use
small business online advertising techniques to promote your website,
as well as spread the word about your products and services if you
really expect to see any results.
But when you have a budget size
that is significantly less than Coca-Cola’s, how do you compete?
How do you do it?
I want to provide you with a
brief list of some small business online advertising ideas that won’t
make a mark on your budget.
Small Business Online Advertising
Ideas
1. Get a Twitter account for your
small business and become an active participant. Engage with your
clients and you’ll be surprised how much community respect this
rewards you.
2. Sign up for Facebook and get
involved with what’s going on in your area. Create an interactive
group, post articles and events, and keep a detailed, personal
profile page.
3. Create a YouTube account and
post some promotional, yet relational videos for your small business.
4. Start a blog about your small
business. Make it honest, simple, and entertaining. Share your
journey in the business, your goals, your vision, and how you’d
like to give back to your community. Make it personal and people will
begin to trust you.
5. Join some online forum
discussion groups related to your industry. Make thoughtful, valuable
contributions, and look for the right opportunity to share
information about your business and when to leave a link to your
site.
6. Write articles about your
industry to establish yourself as an expert in your field, and submit
them to article directories online. They will include your name,
company, and a backlink to your site which will continue to increase
your exposure. If webmasters like your articles, they’ll even
publish them on their own sites.
There are many, many more small
business online advertising ideas. These are only a few to get you
started. Pick your favorite and try to spend an hour a day committing
to this new idea. After a bit of time, you will definitely see
results and some of your fears about small business online
advertising will disperse. Stay focused, be creative, and be patient,
and with hard work your small business will make an impact in the
online world.
Source:
We invite you to visit us at
http://breaktheblog.com to learn more about how to have a successful
web business. If you are interested in starting your own home
business, fill out our free request information form at
http://breaktheblog.com/partnerprogram.php to get started.
Timothy S. Young is the founder
of eMarketing International, a web-based company that specializes in
home business development.
Notice:
Some of the links in
the post above and on this blog site are “affiliate links.” This
means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive
an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or
services we believe will add value to our readers.
This
post or blog site contains Third Party Advertising, using online
behavioral tracking technology. You can learn more about our policies
regarding online behavioral advertising and your choices regarding
such ads here --> Privacy
Policy.
We have not received
any compensation for writing this post. We have no material
connection to the brands, products, or services that we have
mentioned.
“
Behind every small
business, there's a story worth knowing. All the corner shops in our
towns and cities, the restaurants, cleaners, gyms, hair salons,
hardware stores - these didn't come out of nowhere.” - Paul Ryan
Starting out in any business can
be daunting. Sometimes we make mistakes because we are not prepared
or we just don't know any better.
The article below outlines 5 of
the biggest mistakes that people make.
To
read more articles on business success visit:
http://mwbuyingagency.wordpress.com/
Michael Wilkovesky
The 5 Biggest Home Business
Mistakes - by Brad Scott
Unfortunately the sad fact
remains that 97% of home business owners will taste failure! But why
is this? Why in an industry which creates more millionaires then any
other is there such a high rate of failure? Well the simple answer is
that most home business owners have no idea what steps they should be
taking in order to be successful and as a result they are simply lost
and there are 5 common mistakes that most home business owners will
make...
1. Treating it as a hobby instead
of a business.
Too many people get involved in a
home based business opportunity with completely the wrong mindset.
They tend to look at their business as a lottery ticket, crossing
their fingers, hoping that large pay cheques will eventually come to
them. In others words they are amateurs and not professionals.
Successful home business owners have a clear vision of what they want
to achieve with their business and they take constant and effective
action towards their goal. They understand it takes work and
dedication to make their dreams a reality and they take fully
responsibility for every area of their business. The amateur on the
other hand will choose to work on their business when it is
convenient to them and will often put things off that need to be
done. Excuses always come up as to the why they can't work on the
business. They have other commitments which continue to get in the
way, the gym, the party, the washing, the beach. A home business
needs to be treated as a "business"
2. Not getting the right
training.
If a person wants to become a
pilot then they must go through the appropriate training before they
will be an accomplished pilot. It is no different with a home based
business. It is essential that home business owners get appropriate
training and education in all areas of running their business.
Successful business owners continually invest in their own training
and education and they understand that building up their knowledge is
a continuous process. There will never come a point where a business
owner can stand up and say they know it all and don't need to learn
anymore. Obviously anyone new to the world of a home based business
must invest a significant amount of time and money into learning the
fundamentals as quickly as possible. The company and more
importantly, the sponsor, should be responsible for offering
appropriate training and support to all new associates, but
ultimately it is the responsibility of the individual to invest in
their own training and education.
3. Not building relationships.
Success with a home-based
business is all down to relationships. Building up trust and creating
bonds with people is a must. Because people will only do business
with people they know, like and trust. Understanding people's needs
and wants and offering solutions to help people get what they want
should be a top priority for any home business owner. The home
business industry is often referred to as network marketing and
therefore networking and creating bonds with people is of up most
importance. In the age of the internet many home-business owners
think they can simply hide behind the websites and emails. But
unfortunately these people will only achieve a certain level of
success. There is nothing wrong with using websites and emails of
course, it is just important that a connection is created on a
personal level as well.
4. Not following a proven system.
When it comes to a home business
there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Anyone just stating out needs
to find a company, team or sponsor who is achieving the kind of
results they want to achieve and plug into their system. This could
be a turn-key automated marketing system or a certain way of working
and a methodology which has created success for others. Simply find
successful people and successful systems and follow them. And
remember, the network marketing industry creates more millionaires
then any other, so there's plenty of successful people and systems out
there to follow.
5. Not telling stories.
The majority of home business
owners have a tendency to offer facts, facts and more facts. They
will explain how long the the company has been in business, how great
the compensation plan is, how wonderful the company's product is and
an infinite number of facts, features and benefits. There's nothing
wrong with sharing these kind of details with prospects, but if this
is all that is done then problems will arise. Why? Because people do
not connect emotionally to facts and figures and it is emotions which
motivate people to action. Connecting with people on an emotional
level is essential for any home business owner to be successful.
Personal stories and accounts need to be shared. What challenges have
been overcome? What successes have there been? How was it decided
that a home based business was right? How did it feel when the boss
was fired? When these kind of stories are shared either via a website
or during personal communication an emotional connection is made and
people are inspired to take action.
Anyone starting out with a home
based business needs to be aware of these 5 common mistakes if they
want to achieve the level of success they have envisioned for
themselves.
Source:
If you would like to learn more
about how to achieve success with a home based business visit
http://www.livingfreeandwealthy.com/?t=5mistakes
Notice:
Some of the links in
the post above and on this blog site are “affiliate links.” This
means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive
an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or
services we believe will add value to our readers.
This post or blog
site contains Third Party Advertising, using online behavioral
tracking technology. You can learn more about our policies regarding
online behavioral advertising and your choices regarding such ads
here --> Privacy Policy.
We have not received
any compensation for writing this post. We have no material
connection to the brands, products, or services that we have
mentioned.
“
If you want to be an
entrepreneur, it's not a job, it's a lifestyle. It defines you.
Forget about vacations, about going home at 6 pm - last thing at
night you'll send emails, first thing in the morning you'll read
emails, and you'll wake up in the middle of the night. But it's
hugely rewarding as you're fulfilling something for yourself.” -
Niklas Zennstrom
As an entrepreneur our life is
different than other business owners. We have made a major change in
our lifestyles and our lives.
The article below gives some
advice on what you should do and challenges you to move ahead in 30
days.
Michael Wilkovesky
The 30 Day Challenge For
Entrepreneur Success - by Bryan Moore
The moment that you begin with
your new online business you are taking the challenge and beginning a
new part of your life. Entrepreneur success is about making changes
to your habits and your to your thinking, so when you take the 30 day
challenge with your online business you set the seeds for success in
you.
Habits take about 30 days to
become a part of our new way, and by building sturdy entrepreneur
habits you set off the process of creating a solid foundation for
yourself and for your business. Make some time in deciding what you
want to do and achieve over the next 30 days in your online business.
Take the 30 day challenge and set
your goals for your entrepreneur success. Make an action plan of
what you will to gain knowledge of and begin to master and build an
action list of what exactly you will do to develop your online
business. It is the process of daily action in the pursuit of your
goals that leads to business success.
The very process of starting a
new business means you expect to set up a new way of life. Make the
new way a way of self empowerment. By educating yourself as much as
you work on your business, you will be creating the new habits that
are critical factors for entrepreneur success. You can reach
whatever you believe you can, and the same applies to you will fail
at whatever you believe you will, so by setting strong empowering
beliefs and following your action plans you will lead yourself
towards the outcomes that you want. Positive thoughts and actions
are the critical success factors.
Adopt change, welcome the change
that will occur. The more that you prepare the changes the more you
will feel in control of what is happening. We all are happy in
ourselves to the degree that we have control of what is happening
around us. By organising yourself for the next 30 days you will be
taking control of your new habits and actions and at the same time
taking control of your new business.
Entrepreneur success is a habit,
take the challenge and shape a forward momentum in your life. By
changing how you see yourself and how you behave you will at the same
time change how others see and believe in you. That will change the
outcome with your business.
Take the challenge and create
your entrepreneur success. It is easier to create wealth now than in
any other time see how here take the challenge
Read more here takethechallange
Source:
“
Most small business owners
are not particularly sophisticated business people. That's not a
criticism; they're passionate about cutting hair or cooking food, and
that's why they got in the business, not because they have an MBA.”
- Andrew Mason
If you are a small business owner
but you are not that successful yet, you maybe wondering how other
people have become successful in their particular business niche.
The article below gives some tips
that if you follow them you to may become a small business success
story.
To
read other business success articles check out:
http://mwbuyingagency.wordpress.com/
Michael Wilkovesky
Tips for Your Own Small Business
Success Stories - by Bell Albino
Your small business idea might be
ripe enough now to give it a little push and make it happen. Sure
thing, the hardest part in anything is the first step forward
especially in starting your own small business but look around you
and you will see that those courageous enough to plunge in the
unknown are those who really succeed. Take it from them and you will
see that they too started small and who knows business started in
their own backyard too. Be motivated with their small business
success stories, know their ingredients and follow the lead. It takes
more than passion and hard work to succeed in small businesses
because the competition is out there and if you are not prepared with
the neck-to-neck battle your competitors will eat you alive.
I have listed below some of the
most basic ingredient of a successful small business.
1. Market Research - A lot of
successful businesses had spent time and money researching on what
the market wants and needs. Doing so they would know what to create
and offer the probable clients. They have also researched their
nearby competitors and how they package and do their marketing. If
the market is already saturated with their would-products, they could
consider repackaging it or target a more specific clientele. They
have also studied very well the pricing of each competitor’s
pricing. Knowing these things would be vital on how to decide on your
own too. Also, keep in mind that creating a need for your product is
highly advisable to make it click and this is where successful
entrepreneurs are good at.
2. Reduced Costs - Since most of
successful small businesses started at home, they have the
flexibility to reduce costs and overheard. They are also very frugal
and maximize all their resources. With this habit, they were able to
give a very competitive pricing for their products. Keeping your
overhead costs at a minimum is very ideal and you could also do this
on your own by multi-tasking or outsourcing small jobs to quality and
yet inexpensive workers.
3. Flexible in Terms of Shifting
the Company in Terms of Obstacles - Many successful entrepreneurs
have the ability to shift their company to a different direction when
they met obstacles. Most of these small businesses are the ones who
managed to keep their small businesses afloat amidst the economic
crisis. Follow this attitude of flexibility instead of negativity
when small problems hit your own business too especially if your
small business is based at home since you have lower costs to incur.
4. Passion and Focus - Successful
small business entrepreneurs who made it are usually those propelled
with the right attitude towards their business-passion and focus.
They are guided by a clear vision and they have outlined these in
well in their small business plan. Most of start-up entrepreneurs
have the passion in starting their own small business but lost their
focus along the way because they failed to write their small business
plan which serves as their compass.
5. Most importantly, they are
surrounded with people who believe in their vision. You would notice
that those successful entrepreneurs are surrounded with people who
love, support and believe in their small business vision hence;
follow this lead perfectly. Starting a small business alone is
possible but as you grow you will need a helping hand and make sure
that you will hire people who have the same burning passion to
succeed like you.
There are thousands of small
business success stories everywhere, you can just pick-up one and
follow the lead and who knows one day your success story will
motivate others as well.
Source:
Follow great tips from other’s
small business success stories
Check
out more success tips and
advice at http://mwbuyingagency.wordpress.com/
