Realize your Dreams with an Ecommerce Storefront

If asked what your biggest dreams are for this year, what would you say? Most people have goals that revolve around spending more time with their families, less time at work and yet having the financial freedom to enjoy their lives. The solution that many are finding works for them is to work from home. If you want to make a real move forward in this direction in the year to come, consider setting up an ecommerce storefront. Don't wait until more time has passed; your dreams are never something that should be put on hold.

The first thing that you'll need to do to set up an ecommerce storefront is to figure out what it is that you want to sell from your own home. You want to be able to meet two goals here. First, you want to make sure that you are selling something that interests you. Secondly, you want to make sure that you've got a moneymaking idea on your hands. After all, it's great to do something that you're passionate about. But the reality is that to make it work, you need to make money at it.

Many people look to their hobbies to get ideas for a business and end up designing their business around things like scrapbooking supplies, photography accessories or clothing. Brainstorm a list of your favorite things and then consider what related businesses could be made from those interests. Next, make sure that you have a moneymaking idea. To do this, you'll want to research your online competition. Figure out a plan that sets your site apart from the others. This helps to guarantee your financial success.

Once you have a business in mind, setting up the Ecommerce storefront should be relatively easy. You can use ecommerce software to assist you in putting your own creative ideas to use on the site. Alternatively, you can work with a business that will assist you in the design. Make sure that the site you set up is easy to navigate and friendly on your reader's eyes. A good design can often make the difference between a good business and one that fails. You want yours to work.

Once the site is up and running, you will want to give it your serious attention. If you're going to be doing this part-time while still working, figure out a set schedule after your normal work hours to commit to the job. If you're going for the gold and planning to run your home business full time, make sure that you're at the desk from nine to five every weekday to make this thing work. A good site will only get you so far; a good business is going to have to do the rest.

If you run it properly, the home business can be a terrific way to meet all of the goals that you'd like to see met this year. Working from home, you will be able to spend more time with your family. This is especially true if you get everyone involved in some aspect of the home business. Even kids can participate in some way if you get creative about the process. And if you set up an Internet business that sells something that you care about, you won't feel like you're working too much even when you're putting in a lot of hours.

Will your Ecommerce storefront make you rich? It may or may not bring you financial success. If you work hard at it, it should be able to provide you with the income that you need to manage your life. But more importantly, it will make you rich in opportunities. You will be able to do the things that you love with the people that you love. There's no value that can be placed on the realizing of that dream.

Andy West is a writer for AspDotNetStorefront, a premier ecommerce storefront and shopping cart provider. Visit http://www.aspdotnetstorefront.com/t-s-online-storefront.aspx for you online storefront needs.

An Online Shopping Cart: Why Every eCommerce Business Needs One

If your business sells products or services online, or you are planning to establish an online presence in the near future, then your business also needs to have an online shopping cart.

This feature is a vital part of ecommerce for many reasons. Here are three good ways that having this feature will benefit your business.

1: It helps you to process payments. When you sell your wares online, you will rely solely on credit card payments and echecks. The alternative is to allow customers to mail checks; however, most shoppers don't like to do that, as it can easily add as much as two weeks to their wait.

Just as in a brick-and-mortar store, an Internet business needs a way to process credit card payments and echecks. Many services include this feature when you purchase an online shopping cart for your website.

2: It helps you complete sales by reassuring your customers. Scams abound online, and many shoppers are wary as to whom they trust with their payment and contact information. This makes you look well established like the biggest businesses, such as eBay and Amazon. This creates confidence in buyers, who are then more likely to complete their purchases with you.

3: It helps you complete sales by bringing customers back to your site. These packages generally have many features that help to encourage customers to buy from you. For example, many allow shoppers to save their current cart, and come back to make the purchase later. If your cart has this option, you should be able to send an automatic follow-up email to the customer after a specified period of time, reminding them that their purchases are still being held for them.

Another useful feature that comes with many online carts is a wish list. Shoppers can choose whether to put an item in their cart, or save it to a wish list to buy later (or in the hopes that someone else will buy it for them). Some carts even remember a shopper's preferences and make suggestions when they return; a feature you may be familiar with from big ecommerce sites such as Amazon.

Finally, an online shopping cart takes customer information as part of the checkout process. Using this information, you can compile a list of customer email addresses, and send out automated newsletters to encourage them to return to your store at a later date.

Every online business needs this feature. You wouldn't open a brick-and-mortar store without a checkout counter and a cash register, so why would you open an ecommerce store without the online equivalent? Just as a checkout counter shows customers where to go when they have decided on their purchases, so an online shopping cart helps customers navigate your website to complete their purchases quickly and without frustration. And just like a cash register, this feature will add up a customer's purchases, subtracts for discounts and promotions, and calculates tax and shipping.

For any online business owner that is serious about their business, an online shopping cart is a necessity not only for doing business, but also for impressing potential customers.

Andy West is a writer for AspDotNetStorefront, a premier online shopping cart and storefront provider. Visit http://www.aspdotnetstorefront.com/t-s-online-shopping-cart.aspx for you Ecommerce storefront needs.

Frustrated With Website Marketing? Use This 4-Letter Word

When I set up my very first website, I must admit I used some 4 letter words. Struggling with HTML, tracking down an elusive web designer, wondering who really had answers...yes, I had many reasons to expand my vocabulary of colorful words.

And when I had slow weeks, I agonized. I asked friendly acquaintances. I paid consultants. Which domain name would be best? Which headline?

Everybody had an opinion.

"Your web colors are too bright."

"Jazz up your headline."

"Forget the website and market off-line."

But nobody ever yelled the 4 letter word I needed to hear: "Test!"

When I first heard of testing and tracking, I must admit I didn't pay attention. It seemed so complicated..something only the gurus did.

But after dipping a cautious toe into the Pay-Per-Click water, I was shocked. It wasn't that hard. It's not that expensive (if you do some homework ahead of time). And it was cheaper and more accurate than the opinions of acquaintances, including some pricey self-proclaimed gurus.

Now I believe testing is an essential part of website marketing. I've adopted the fanaticism of the new convert.

What to test? You can test headlines, specific words used on a website page, background colors and a whole lot more.

(1) How do I name my book, product or website?

Tim Ferriss used Pay Per Click to choose a title for his best-selling Four-Hour Workweek. You can test your domain name, e-book title, keywords and more, all with google adwords or another pay per click system.

Even a small change can make a huge - and surprising - change in response from website visitors and Internet surfers.

For example, I tested two versions of a title for a product targeted to men and women in the 40-60 age range. I found "mid-life" attracted 3 times as many clickthroughs as "midlife."

Hyphen-power!

I also compared 2 sales letters with identical content, headlines, body copy, font -- everything. I just tested two different background colors. One color pulled twice as any signups as the other.

(2) Do I need more traffic or better conversion rates?

On some web pages, I find the conversion rate surprisingly high -- but almost nobody comes. On others I get great traffic but few clicks.

The results help you figure out your next step: do you need to attract traffic or work on the copy to increase conversion rates. When you guess, you just waste time, energy and (usually) money.

(3) Do I need a picture here?

Should you add a graphic with your book cover? Your own photo?

You've been told you'll get more sales if you had a photo. Or you consider adding a graphic of your book cover to your sales page.

But no rules hold 100% of the time. Sometimes adding a picture actually reduces buyer interest. You have to test.

And after you realize you can sell your product or service, it's time to test price. Some product actually sell more if you raise prices. Some die if you add a penny to the price. That's another article.

Two facts you don't have to test.

(1) Testing takes time. Some professionals fine-tune their marketing materials over a period of months and years.

(2) It's worth it.

Testing is just one of the "Secrets of Websites That Really Attract Clients" by Cathy Goodwin. Download free and get weekly tips to increase the marketing potential of your own website.
http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com

How To Get People To Look At Your Products Online

It doesn't matter what you have to sell if you cant get people to look at what your selling. If they don't go and look, then you will never sell a thing.

In order to get people to go and check out what you're selling, you need to create a plan. You need a method to move people from where they are to where you need them to be. Buying your product!

It has taken me awhile but I finally improved my click through rate.

Not sure what a click through is let me give you a working definition.

Click-through rate or CTR is a way of measuring the success of an online advertising campaign. A CTR is obtained by dividing the number of users who clicked on an ad on a web page by the number of times the ad was delivered (impressions). For example, if your banner ad was delivered 100 times (impressions delivered) and one person clicked on it (clicks recorded), then the resulting CTR would be 1 percent.

Its taken me some time to learn how to get people to look at my products online. At first I was placing banners and paying for Goggle Ads.

I started by spending money on programs teaching me how to place ads, and even more cash on placing those ads on Goggle. I spent somewhere around 500 all together and made a fifty dollar sale. That was horrible!

However, the knowledge I gained from that experience has taught me how to improve my click through without paying a dime for any of them.

A bit of advice, if you are bent on spending money at Goggle, don't spend over .20 for any click. At least until you know what you are doing.

Now I average about a 4% click through. You want to be around 2-5%. If you are around those %'s then you know your ads are working.

However I get a 4% click through without paying for a single ad. I get a 4% click through with writing free ads. I write articles that pre-sell my products.

In other words I write articles that people want to read, and through that experience I gain trust with the client and they feel confident in what I am selling.

The more trust you build, the more people will check out the products you have. It is vital that you pick the right products to sell online.

Because if you build trust and work hard at getting people to check out your products, the product better be able to sell. If it is a cheesy web page or landing page then you just blew that trust.

So How Do I make more people look at my products.

1. I produce a great web page or blog
2. I focus on one thing with each web or blog
3. I write and give away great material. But if you are thinking to yourself that you cant write or produce great articles, I want to help you for free.

In order to make sells on the Internet, unless you are Amazon, Target, Walmart, or have thousands of dollars, you have to get your customers ready to buy your products.

The industry calls this pre-selling. 98% of the new people on the Internet believe they can just send people to a place and they are going to buy. That is false, and you will loose tons of money and time if you go this route.

It usually takes someone 5-7 times of seeing a product online before they will buy the product, that is unless they trust the sight or manufacture. I will look for a book at Amazon, find it, read a review or two, check the table of contents, and then buy it.

For us without name recognition we need to work a little bit harder and work to make a sell.

So in order to get people to look at your products online you need to pre-sell through writing great content on the web.

Phillip Longmire has a business degree and is the creator of http://canyoumakemoneyonline.homestead.com, a web page filled with free information on how to make money online.

Successful Affiliate Marketing Secrets

There are hundreds of thousands of affiliate programs out there, all of which claim to be the best. Many of them try to give you the impression that all you have to do is use their banners and links then wait for the money to start rolling in. Although this can be the case, this type of scenario normally applies to large sites with a lot of web traffic.

Choosing banners
With most affiliate programs, you are offered a variety of banners to plan on your website, as very few of them will be effective. The problems with most banners are their size. If you choose a banner that is high in size, it will take a long time to implement and use. Therefore, it's recommended that you use banners no more than 15kb in size.

When you select any types of graphical advertising, you should try and keep the theme of your website in mind. Even though graphical ads are meant to stand out and catch people's eye, they shouldn't be to the point where everything else on the page is completely ignored.

Pop ups and unders
A lot of companies will now give their affiliates the chance of using pop up or pop under ads. In most opinions, pop ups aren't the way to go. They can easily annoy visitors and are normally closed before they even have the chance to load. You should instead go for pop unders and those types that only display once per visit.

Text link ads
Once of the most successful means of advertisting is text link ads. They are easy on bandwidth, don't use a lot of space, and they easily be implemented into most types of page layouts. Good text links offer some information as to why your visitor should investigate your offers.

Email advertising
The direct promotion via email has really taken off over the last several years, although it has brought tons of spam with it. If you plan to use email as a method of advertising your products, you should stand behind what you sell and make yourself available to answer any questions.

Patience
If you feel confident that your site can generate great sales for certain company's, you should contact them to negotiate an arrangement. If they don't seem to enthused to begin with, you should remain patient as companies are approaced every day with affiliates looking to make better deals.

The reality remains that most affiliates can't deliver what they promise, and companies are aware of this.

You should always keep in mind that most forms of advertising will take time. No matter what methods you plan to use, give it some time before you make any type of decision. Although something may not happen overnight - it very well could in a few days or weeks.

Johanna Piittala got scammed several times and now wants to help others not to make the same mistakes. http://financialfreedom4all.typepad.com/

6 Reasons Why An Ebay Business Is The Easiest Way To Make Money Online

This article is about why an ebay business may be the best option for you to start earning money online. Many people want to start an online business, yet most of them never get it done. While the idea of working from home is nice, there are quite a few obstacles, especially if you're totally new to the business.

To build your own online business from scratch you'd have to learn about web site creation, programming, marketing, product creation and many other skills necessary to maintain an online business. For many online businesses you'd have to consider significant investments in software and online services. Before you know it, a few months have passed, and you haven't earned a penny!

Not so with an ebay business. An ebay business is easy to start and offers a few advantages:

1. You can start selling on ebay even if you don't have your own web site.
2. You don't have to buy expensive tools or equip an office. Your only cost is your ebay fee, which is tiny and can be paid as you go.
3. You don't need to buy products to sell or keep an inventory. You can sell something you already have and don't need any more. Ebay can earn you a nice additional income from stuff you no longer use.
4. You don't need complicated skills like programming and web site creation. Ebay provides everything you need to get your first offer online within minutes.
5. Your new ebay business instantly starts with a huge customer base. Millions of people search the ebay marketplace each day - and they intend to buy!
6. You start receiving money within a few days. Once your first ebay auction is over the buyer will send funds to your paypal or 2Checkout account.

I'm self employed since 1987 and from all the business opportunities I've seen, ebay is the one that is the easiest to start. At first it will not make you a fortune, but it will bring in a few smaller sales. But you can earn money from your very first week onward, and as you go along you will learn how improve it.

Then you can choose to either join the league of professional ebay businesses or to branch out into other online business ideas.

So if you thought about making money online but have not yet managed to do so, just head over to ebay and observe how it works.

Ralf Skirr has just released a brand new online course on how to create a successful ebay business. If you want to know more about making money on ebay please visit http://homeofinternetmarketing.com/ebay-riches and check out Ralf Skirr's free ebay video course.

5 Ways To Choose A Product You Can Sell Online

Recently I started a new project to see if making money online was as easy as everyone claimed that it was. Everywhere you look it seems that thousands of guys and gals are claiming million dollar pay checks from marketing online. So, I decided to journal my journey of making money online and today I am going to share what I have learned about choosing a product to sell online.

Keep in mind I am only discussing things I am learning. So, this will not cover anything outside of being an affiliate marketer, because I have zero intention of buying, storing, and selling any product. I am relying on the stores I trust to do that for me. In other words I will remain a marketer for other companies, not market my own products. You would be amazed at how many stores you know and love that are marketed through affiliates, it is a booming business, and I have to be honest, just a few, and I mean a few, do it and do it well. There are reasons why some make money and others don't. Plus there are a lot of products to choose from, and trust me; there are a lot of bad products to choose from.

So let's get started in discussing how you choose a product to sell online. This is part 2 of a 2 part lesson. To get part one visit our Bog listed in the author bio.

My first mistake was that I choose about 12 different products when I started and my second mistake was that I chose mainly bad products.

Lesson Learned when you are starting out chose one or two products.

Why only one or two, because this is a numbers game. I am in day 10 and I have generated 843 clicks to click bank and another 20 or so to commission junction. That sounds ok but the problem is when spread that many clicks among 12 or so products, you dilute the numbers game.

Since there are 12 products, I am not concentrating those 843 people to one or two products. And since it takes anywhere between 100-300 clicks to get a single sale, you really need to concentrate your clicks to one or two products when you start.

If you don't you will go broke and burn out due to lack of sales, I know because I have paid for some of those clicks. However there are ways to get free clicks, and I would suggest going the free route until you get use to moving product. Learn how to sell and convert clicks to sales before you start paying for those clicks. Because if you drop 200 bucks on ad words and get nothing in return...you are going to be bummed...you will learn a lot...but be bummed.

Ok so the question becomes...how do I choose a product?

If you go to commission Junction you will see products and stores you know and perhaps trust...so that is a no brainier...you just subscribe to the products you like and hope you get approved...

With click bank it is a little different. They rate their products in different ways.

At the bottom of each seller you will see this...

$/sale: $29.84 | Future $: - | Total $/sale: $29.84 | %/sale: 74.0% | %refd: 88.0% | grav: 437.58

What this tells you...

1. For every sell you are going to make 29.84
2. You are receiving 74% of the cost of the item
3. Grav is 437...or people promoting this product.

Now that is not a bad deal unless you are going to use ad words to promote your product...this product is listed as the most popular product in health and fitness...which means a lot of people are trying to promote it...plus you get 30 bucks for every sale...

BUT when that many people are promoting a product, that also means you are going to have high competition...which means you will be paying a whole lot more per click then you should...

SO HOW DO YOU CHOOSE A PRODUCT?

The first thing you do is look at the landing page or sales page. If you think it looks cheesy...guess what...it is. No matter how good the product is, if the visual presence on the Internet is lame then no one will buy from that page!

Second thing you do...once you see a page you like look through the page and see if there are any links that lead to any other products or link the person to any other place other than the sells page. If it does you might lose a sale...even though click bank keeps that person tied to you for sixty days...it might be difficult to get a sale if the landing page directs people to different places.

Third look for products that sell for 20 bucks or higher...there is no data shown that a less expensive product sells better than a high priced product...so go high. Plus if you are paying for clicks...then you need that room to make a profit.

Fourth look for a grav of 100 or less...once you pass that 100 mark the competition will be to high. Stated another way if you are paying for clicks on products of a Grav 100 or more the price per click will be too high. If I am getting clicks for free, I usually don't worry about it, but if I am paying Google for clicks, I stay at a 100 or less.

Fifth you need to find out if the seller has an affiliate page. A place where you can get articles, downloads, web page's, etc. A place that really supports there affiliates, in a good way, not a lame way, like saying hope you do well.

If they don't have a support page for you, and I'm not talking about a place to sell you more stuff, but a place that is willing to do everything in their power to make you successful, don't work with them.

Ok the next step, find your one or two people you want to promote

Phillip Longmire carries a business degree and started a blog called can you make money online. He is Blogging what he learns as he goes and is sharing a wealth of information he has paid for. http://canyoumakemoneyonline.wordpress.com
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Website Marketing Lessons From The Nerdiest Websites On The Planet

Copywriters like me tend to feel superior when we come across a certain type of website.

You know what I mean. Websites that clearly haven't been touched by anyone remotely familiar with copywriting. Websites that seem put-together by well-meaning, sincere people who never typed "internet marketing" into a search engine, let alone taken a copywriting class.

They open with "Welcome!" They send a message with paragraphs. Not a bullet in site... er, sight.

They don't get into benefits or offer you a compelling reason to buy. Each sentence begins with "we," not "you."

They don't even show their smiling faces in photos on the home page. In fact, their home page tends to look a little dull and inviting to the experienced eye.

But to the horror of us copywriters, they're doing well, thank you very much. They're attracting clients and earning a good living.

How do they get away with it?

Well, maybe know their markets. Their clients have very specific questions when they're choosing a resource. Their content immediately answers their clients' top-of-mind questions.

Or maybe they sound friendly and authentic. There is something to be said for the "plain brown wrapper" effect.

And maybe they market offline, so they find clients at face to face networking meetings.

Possibly that's why their nerdy web sites work so well. But I think the killer difference (a phrase you'd never find on those websites) is this:

They have mind-blowing testimonials.

Real, identifiable people have said, "I hired these services. I got amazing, tangible results. They transformed my health, wealth, life and/or business. Here are my numbers."eeeeeeeee

So if you want to win the War of the Website Nerds:

(1) Begin collecting testimonials as soon as you meet your very first client -even before you create your website.

It takes awhile to create results and attract the names and claims that will rock your visitors. Once you start collecting results-oriented testimonials, your web site will begin to work for you.

(2) Emphasize results that are most important to your clients when they hire you.

If you're a warehouse consultant, they need to squeeze more inventory into a smaller space. If you're a career coach, they want to get well-paying jobs - fast.

Your testimonials and success stories need to demonstrate that you have systems and skills to produce these results, over and over again.

(3) Test 2 or 3 versions of your website.

Let's face it: These nerdy websites are generating leads, converting visitors and creating a profitable business. But who knows what would happen if you turned a copywriter loose?

The answer: Test and see. Try a simple "this is just me" nerdy version but go head-to-head with a more benefit-oriented style.

Then you can shrug off the well-intentioned copywriters and web designers who say, "That will never work. Too nerdy!" You'll be taking your website marketing all the way to the bank.

Cathy Goodwin, PhD, is a copywriter, content strategist and author of "Secrets of Websites That Really Attract Clients. She works exclusively with service professionals who want "one compelling website and hold the hype." Visit
http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com

How To Accept Online Payments From Your Customers

If you are new to ecommerce and need a payment processing solution for your website, then this article will be of interest to you. There are several different ways to process payments for your internet business. We will outline each of the avenues available to you so you can select one that is right for your particular business.

If you own a store and are simply setting up a website to give your customers the ability to purchase your products online, then you probably already have a merchant account that you use to process credit card transactions. If this is the case, then you do not really need to process customer payments through your website; you can simply post an order form on your website for your customers to print so that they can fill it out and fax their orders into you.

Then, you would just process the payments by entering the orders into your credit card terminal you use in your store. However, if you want to process payments through your website, there are a few different ways to do it.

The most common method used by internet merchants to process payments is by signing up with a third-party transaction processing service, such as Paypal. All you need to do is sign up for an account with the third-party, and then you link to their order form from your website and they process the payments for you.

The processor charges a transaction fee for each transaction, ranging anywhere from 2% - 15%, depending on the company and the amount of business you transact. Most of these companies can process recurring payments as well (recurring payment processing is necessary if your site sells a membership for which you need to charge your customers on a regular basis).

Some of these third-party processors also have the ability to process your orders using an automated phone system. With this method, your customers can call a certain phone number to place an order, and are then prompted to enter a certain code. The order is charged to the telephone bill of the customer.

Also, some third-party merchants offer an online check payment option. This gives your customers the ability to pay for their order by entering the account number and routing number of their checking account on the order form, and then their checking account is automatically debited. It is good to offer this to your customers, because not everyone has a credit card. Offering online check payment processing will help you convert more sales.

If you do not want to use an outside company to process your payments for you, then you will need to open your own merchant account. This is not so simple to do. If you open a merchant account at a bank, there might be a monthly service fee of several hundred dollars per month.

There are several companies, such as CardService International, that offer cheap online merchant accounts, ranging from $50 - $100 per month. After you open the merchant account, you will need to hire an experienced programmer to create an order form that can process payments and connects directly to your merchant account.

If you decide to use a third-party payment processor, just make sure that they have a good service record, because if their systems are frequently down or their order forms do not work too well, then your business will suffer as a result of the lost revenue. If you are starting a multi-million dollar business, then you should probably set up your own merchant account and have a programmer create your own order forms to process your payments.

Jim Pretin is the owner of http://www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make an HTML form

How to Grow Your Virtual Assistant Business Online

For people that work at home as virtual assistants, using the internet to grow your business is a great way to meet new clients and increase your profits. While you should never ignore any local opportunities to grow your business, working over the internet allows for unlimited growth.

If you would like to grow your business online, you will definitely want to set up a website. Your website will be your portal for meeting new clients. When a prospective client finds your website, they can read about the services you offer, what rates you charge, see samples of your work, and book time with you.

When you have a website, all of those activities can take place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will be able to grow your business while you are making dinner, running errands, and even while you are on vacation.

Networking with other business owners on forums and message boards is one of the easiest ways to grow your business online. A message board allows people with similar interests to communicate by leaving messages on various topics.

You can perform a Google search to find forums that center on work at home businesses or entrepreneurial topics. Other business owners with home businesses make great clients, as they are used to working with people over the internet and are familiar with the concept of the virtual assistant.

Most message boards allow you to add a signature line to your profile, which will be displayed on all of your posts. You can add a blurb about your virtual assistant business and the URL to your website. Other business owners may click on this link to view your site or contact you directly to learn more about your services.

Social networking sites are another great place to grow your business. While some of these sites are geared more toward meeting friends, sites such as linkedin have more of a business nature and allow for networking with serious business owners.

You can also find job openings on job boards such as monster and craigslist. When performing searches with these sites, use keywords such as telecommute to help you find jobs in which you can work at home. Beware that some of the jobs posted will be scams. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Another alternative is to visit freelance job sites such as elance or guru. These sites allow business owners to post job openings. The twist with these sites is that the registered users of these sites bid on the jobs. For example, if you wanted to apply for a virtual assistant job with these sites, you would respond back to the job inquiry with how much you would charge for the work.

This does lead to people posting lower rates than they may normally charge, as they are competing for these jobs. However, not all of the job posters will choose the lowest rate. If they are smart, they will choose the person who can do the best work.

These are just a few of the ways that you can grow your business online. The internet really does open up many opportunities for you. Take some time to market your business every day and you will find yourself with plenty of clients.

Versatile Assistant is a Virtual PA and Lifestyle Management business providing secretarial support to busy professionals. Find out how a virtual PA can help you transform your business visit http://www.versatileassistant.com
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How To Discover Your Niche Market (Part 2)

You've almost completed your research on your target market. You have done research on the search engines and you've even visited news sites. There are just a few more ways you want to check out your potential target market in order to get the full picture.

The third way for you to do research is by finding trade magazines or newsletters (ezines) on your keywords or topics related to your target market.

By doing this, you'll learn about the problems or issues that pertain to that market. If you live near a bookstore you may want to find magazines that relate to your market and look at the table of contents for news stories. Take note of the articles that deal with issues your potential target market is having.

You'll also learn what products they like and what products they don't. Sometimes you'll even catch people in your potential target market offering ways to improve existing products. This is where the light bulb over your head should come on because now you have ideas for a new product.

Internet marketing guru Mike Filsaime even said the idea for one of his products came about from reading comments from people in an Internet forum. People were posting ways a particular product could be improved. Mike took their ideas and created a product with it. His millionaire dollar idea came from people in his target market!

This brings us to the next place you'll want to do research-discussion forums. Find out where your potential target audience likes to hang out. You'll want to get to know these people who may very well become your future customers. You'll want to "lurk" and watch the conversations and note the issues and problems that come up repeatedly. You can also do a survey or pose a question to the people about what they think about certain topics, issues and or products.

You can do a search for your market in discussion forums such as Yahoo and MSN groups.

The last way to do research is to use a keyword research tool, like Wordtracker. You can explore the words your target market is typing into the search engines. Here you will discover issues and or problems they want solved by the kind of words they type. You'll find a lot of details about your potential customers that you would have never known if you had not done your keyword research.

You can also learn about the competition that exist in your market and even learn the size of your potential customer base-at least online

Keyword research is a great method to use because you'll know what keywords your target market is using which in turn, reveals their needs and interests. Once you figure out what these words are, you can go to the websites that cater to those needs and see how those sites fulfill or don't fulfill those needs. This is where you can come in and dominate that market.

Keyword research does take some time to do, but it's worth the effort.

Once you've think you've identified your market, you want to make sure they are actively looking for a solution to a problem. There must also be a big enough market for you to provide a solution for as well.

Lastly, you want to check and see if the solution, your product or service, is something that can be easily sold over the Internet i.e. people will buy it over the Internet.

Once you've done your research and everything checks out ok, you'll want to start thinking of how you can develop a product or improve upon an existing product that solves the problems of your target market. See how simple the steps are to discover your niche market? Now get to it.

How Much is One Great Resource or Tip Worth to Your Business?
Corrisa malone has accumulated the best basic resources to get the newbie off and running making money in their home-based business on the Internet.
Please Visit: http://www.NewbieMarketingTips.com

The Most Profitable Thing You Can Sell Online

We've often been told that the most profitable industry to be in is health and wellness. This is due to the consumable aspect of it. This is true, you definitely want to be in the best consumable industry there is-when it comes to network marketing.

In network marketing, you get a residual check that you get month after month. So therefore, you want a product that can be consumed at least monthly if not weekly.

The factors to consider when you have a product that is highly consumable, like vitamins, is that it has to be formulated, stocked, packed, and shipped. Those are just four steps-it's not counting the numerous other steps in between. Each step reduces the profit margin.

Even with these disadvantages, health and wellness is still the most lucrative industry in network marketing due its high consumability factor. Notice I said in network marketing.

Now, when it comes to Internet marketing, that's a different story. In Internet marketing, you can deliver products electronically and the process is a lot simpler. Therefore, there are a lot fewer steps to get the product to the end consumer. Because of these factors your profit margins are increased exponentially. Let's examine it a little further.

Electronically delivered products such as e-Books, software, membership sites, video courses/tutorials, and paid newsletters can be made and set up relatively easily in a short amount of time. You don't have to worry about shipping, because everything is automated and delivered instantly. After you've created your product it is simple to make copies of it.

In the case of e-books, you can compile your book from works in the public domain, public label rights, or just create the content yourself. If you frequent forums a lot, there may be a person or two whose forum posts or rants are outstanding and would make a good read in an e-book. You will more than likely have to get their permission, but this still makes for an easy way to get content. Those are just a few ideas.

Membership sites are another revenue stream where everything is handled over the Internet and you don't even have to issue membership cards! The great thing about membership sites other than everything is handled electronically, is that it is recurring income. This is the kind of income you dream of.

The downside with most products that are delivered online, is that once the sale is made you're done- until the customer decides to buy again. With membership sites, you can count on the sale month after month or until they cancel their membership. In a sense you can say that it is consumable, because your customers want access to your information every month.

If you already have a business that does not sell products that can be delivered electronically, you may want to consider adding that aspect into your business to give you another stream of income.

As long as you have marketing system in place products that are sold electronically give you the best return of your time, energy and money.

How Much is One Great Resource or Tip Worth to Your Business?
Corrisa malone has accumulated the best basic resources to get the newbie off and running making money in their home-based business on the Internet.
Please Visit: http://www.NewbieMarketingTips.com

Generate Killer Income: 6 Simple Steps!

It is so much easier to make money in network marketing today, than it was years ago. Still, many have not had the best of "luck" as the top gurus in the industry have had. Part of the problem is that the unlucky mlmers are going according to the "Old School" methods of the business. Most are simply unaware of what to do in order to start out on top. This is the number one reason I have special interest in assisting network marketers turn their businesses into mega income generating machines! Network marketing can be a positive, rewarding business to get into. You just need to know how to achieve it.

There are ground breaking steps you can take to get the most out of your home business. These techniques can be applied to anyone's business, whether you are a professional marketer that's been in the game for years, a newbie/beginner to the business, a work at home mom with a home business or a stay at home mom that has an interest in network marketing.

When you follow these steps, it will get you going FAST!

1. Find a product or service that you enjoy or are good at. (If you do not have one, brainstorm to come up with one.) Perhaps you have had an idea lingering over some time that you thought was just plain outrageous. Trust me, it's not. If you've thought of it, chances are, others have also thought of it. They just have not put it out on the table. You are beating them to it!

2. Gather different websites that relate to and are important to your product. For instance, if you want to start a business about ballet, check out websites that sell ballet slippers, and leotards, etc. Become affiliates of those sites so that you can add them to your site.

3. Build a great website! There are many website builders with full packages that give easy, quality websites that generate extremely high traffic. You pay for the year. It usually comes with a domain name and everything. Easy. Affordable. Smart and Effective.

4. Find the inside scoop on network marketing and mlm. One that I recommend can be found on my network marketing resource page below. There you will find many other top notch tools like web builders and article writing/ distributing. It is like the bible of network marketing! I have done years of researching through eBooks and blogs for this type of information, but found a very select few by far to be the best. My recommended "How To" eBook gives step by step instructions on how to make your business boom. Then, the author turns around and shows you how to make money off her product! It's great! Smart marketing. You will learn top marketing techniques, how to get paid for prospecting, how to have prospects actually come to YOU rather than you have to hunt them down to sell your product. You will also be taught to put your opportunity on the back end.

5. Promotion by writing articles. As we all know article writing is great because it sells much better than a regular ad. Giving your audience a sense of who you are as a person and an opportunity to learn what you know is beneficial for you as well as your clients. It builds a relationship with customers, and makes selling your opportunity a bit easier. Can't go wrong!! This is a sure ticket to driving visitors to your website.

6. Article Generator. Of course once you are on your way writing articles on different areas of your topic, it is smart to sign up with an article generator that will distribute your work to THOUSANDS of ezines and websites at one time! Go for a free trial. It's great.

Follow these simple steps and you will generate KILLER income!!

Patrice Walker is a professional network marketing consultant who specializes in teaching others how to build successful online businesses. Visit: http://www.ThePatriceCompany.com to start building your successful online business today!

How To Discover Your Niche Market (Part 1)

Are you busting at the seams ready to get a product out to the marketplace? Hold up there one minute. First you have to determine what problems people are actively seeking a solution for. You then fulfill that need with your product.

You start by discovering your passions, your strengths, and your desires. Once you have identified them, you'll want to now do your research and discover the markets that lie within them.

The search engines are your first stop for research. In fact, you may not have to go beyond the search engines to search for your market. The biggest search engines you should be doing research in are Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

You'll want to type in the keyword or keyword phrase into the search engine. To get an exact match of the keyword, surround it in quotes or else the search engine will return results that feature the keywords, but they may not be in the right order.

Take a look at the results that come up and check them out. You want to take note of the products offered and the price points. This way you'll know what people are willing to pay for those particular products.

You'll want to see if the websites appear amateurish or if they look professional. They should be easy to navigate. Check out the "About us" page (they should have one). Look for testimonials with names. There you'll learn what people like about that particular business and its products. All this information will come in handy when you start building your business and designing your website.

You're almost like a spy, trying to find out the secrets to your competitors' success so you can emulate it and find out their weakness so you can avoid it in your own business.

A big plus to doing research on the Internet is that you'll get real familiar with the marketplace and some of the big players on the Internet that dominate it.

News sites are the second place you'll want to look to do research of your market. An example would be CNN. Most news sites have an archive that you can do a search in. You'll want to type in your keywords and see what comes up. Most news sites also have a news alert, where they will send out an email to you notifying you of a story containing your keywords.

With these two ways of doing research, you're almost ready to develop your product that will take care of your target market's problems. But wait, don't develop your product just yet, there are three important areas you must check before you spend your hard earned money and time developing a product. These are huge and if you don't do research in these areas, you'll be wasting a lot of money!

How Much is One Great Resource or Tip Worth to Your Business?
Corrisa malone has accumulated the best basic resources to get the newbie off and running making money in their home-based business on the Internet.
Please Visit: http://www.NewbieMarketingTips.com

Ecommerce Storefront - Comparing The Products

There are almost as many different ecommerce storefront options, shopping carts and software programs these days as there are products sold on the Internet. If you compare and contrast the many different online stores you visit, you'll notice that some are extremely elaborate while others are basic in their design. What's interesting is that it isn't always the most elaborate websites that encourage sales. It's more a product of the quality of a site than how complex it is.

Unfortunately, many people starting up their first retail website make errors in judgment regarding how they should be designed and organized. They may choose a design they like on a site where they've shopped or a design that was eye-catching.

However, what works for one site won't necessarily work for another. An ecommerce storefront that's spectacular for selling women's shoes may be completely wrong for selling automobile sound systems.

There are many different kinds of software programs you can buy to support selling products on a website. Shopping carts are best for simple sites.

The most basic is the electronic shopping cart, which is designed to make selecting, purchasing and inventorying the products you sell on your site. These programs are generally add-ons to a site that's already been set up. It provides the final interactive part of the customers' online shopping experience. You provide the remainder of the site, product images and descriptions, your company information, and other general information. You can purchase the license to a shopping cart program outright or you can pay a monthly fee to use one.

In most cases, a shopping cart solution is reserved for relatively simple websites with a smaller inventory that doesn't require a lot of interaction or changeability.

Ecommerce storefront software is ideal for the entrepreneur who hasn't yet built his or her website but is ready to set up for business. It's also excellent for any company that requires maximum flexibility and the ability to add additional products or services easily. Basically, ecommerce storefronts can grow with the website indefinitely.

These storefront solutions have templates that you can customize to provide the right look and feel for your site. Many of the companies that provide ecommerce storefronts also give users guidance and support so that they can find and use the best possible template for their site and will host the website for a monthly fee.

An ecommerce storefront generally includes a database function so that users can continually update and revise their inventory, prices and special offers. The programs are also very user-friendly, generally set up so that changes can easily be made without any knowledge of HTML needed.

One advantage of an ecommerce storefront solution is that the templates provided are extremely varied in style but with a common denominator, professional looks and navigation capabilities. You're guaranteed an end result website that won't look amateurish and will have a consistent look across pages that will give your website legitimacy and appeal.

When you're ready to consider one of the many products available, be sure to ask questions and determine how each package can meet your online store's needs. You'll soon be up and running.

Andy West is a writer for AspDotNetStorefront, a premier ecommerce storefront and shopping cart provider. Visit http://www.aspdotnetstorefront.com/t-s-online-storefront.aspx for you online storefront needs.

Forget Emailing Pictures - Use Free Online Photo Hosting Websites

There is a very good alternative to emailing photos; they are called free online photo hosting websites. People love to share photos. However, photos take up a tremendous amount of space and can really slow down your email, not to mention take up a tremendous amount of space in someone's inbox.

On a free online photo hosting website you open an account and load your photos directly to that site. You can then invite family and friends to visit your site, check out your photos and even comment on them!

The following photo hosting websites are some of the more popular sites on the net.

FACEBOOK
FaceBook is a social network of people who have photo pages. You can find new friends through the search or you can link to your own friends and family while uploading an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos.

Anyone with a valid email address can join FaceBook. If you register with your school or work email, you can connect to co workers or classmates. When you have registered you can find a regional network to join and then you can connect to people in your area.

WEBSHOTS
One of the largest photo and video sharing sites, WebShots has more than 400 million photos to check out and is a great hosting site for your own photos.

They have free and premium memberships that offer lots of storage, ensuring that you will never fun out of space. You can share videos, photos and slideshow on both WebShots and on your personal website. You can even order prints of your photos and create custom photo gifts.

PHOTOBUCKET
The self proclaimed most popular creative hub on the web, PhotoBucket links billions of personal photos, graphics, slideshows and videos to many of the most popular websites and social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Craigslist and Blogger.

However, the free online photo hosting website is not the only method that members can share their photos. They can also share their digital media via email, IM and even mobile devices.

Membership is free and it is a great place to share you latest shots of your new purple Mohawk or your adorable new baby.

FLICKR
Flickr is a fun site where members can keep a blog of memories that they have captured on their cell phone camera, or maybe they just want to post their best photos so that they can show off their talents and perhaps earn the title web celebrity.

Of course, they can post their photos to share with family and friends. Flickr is a free online photo hosting website, but it also helps members get photos to the people who matter to them. Members can organize their photos, share and keep in touch with others.

The free membership on this site offers you a lot of options, particularly if you have a lot of photos to store and share.

YAHOO! OR AOL PHOTO ALBUM
Yahoo! And AOL photo albums are free online photo hosting websites and are very effective for sharing your photos.

You can save, send and share your photos through these sites. There is no fee attached, the services are both free.

You can set your albums to private or you can make them public. Additionally, you can designate certain albums as private and others as public. If you want some simple photo sharing, storing and organizing, these are two great sites to use.

J.O. Moen is author and advisor of the wildly popular information site - Website-Hosting-Advisor - http://www.website-hosting-advisor.com

Backing a Business with a Quality Online Storefront

For those who sell various types of merchandise over the Internet, an online storefront can be one of the most important aspects of the business. With an overwhelming number of sites to compete with, it is important that an eye catching but pleasant setup be the first thing a customer sees. It should always be well organized, easy to maneuver and easy to read.

For those who shop online on a regular basis, quality is an important factor. A site that looks disorganized with broken links or a checkout process that takes too long is the best way to lose customers forever. In order for an online shopper to be pulled into a site he or she will need to feel that they, and their sensitive information, are safe and secure.

Unlike shopping at onsite stores, customers do not have the opportunity to see or feel the merchandise for themselves. They are instead required to place trust in the site on which they have chosen to shop. Sites that offer poor descriptions and do not display merchandise in the most flattering manner are less likely to earn that trust and will therefore see little traffic.

This is why having a well-organized online storefront can mean making or breaking an online business. Even if one is selling something intangible over the Internet, it is important to be able to create something a consumer can buy into. Just like a brick and mortar store front, an online site should be tidy, well lit and free of clutter.

There are a number of things that go into creating an attractive storefront. While color schemes are extremely important, the software that keeps the storefront up and running is very important too. The main concern is always providing a pleasant shopping experience for the customer.

There are many services available that are in the business of providing online storefronts. Though many promise great deals, it is imperative to remember cheapest is not always best. Going with a service strictly based on price can result in inferior, boring storefronts that use less than reliable checkout software.

By opting to invest in a reliable setup, one can expect to make up that difference since an attractive, dependable storefront is destined to attract more customers. Plus, once an individual has a pleasant experience with a site, he or she is likely to become a repeat customer. This often leads to word of mouth recommendations that bring even more traffic.

Services that provide online storefronts will either offer their customers the chance to subscribe to their service for a certain amount of time or pay a one-time fee and use the storefront indefinitely. Those in the startup stages of business usually only subscribe to the service until their business is more established. Those who have been in business longer are more likely to pay the one time fee.

With quality storefront services, individuals have the chance to arrange their storefront in any way they see fit. Quality storefront service providers make an effort to ensure that customers can do this with ease. Otherwise, a storefront program that is difficult to maneuver means lost customers for them as well.

Many online storefront service providers offer schemes that work not only to create a pleasing format but one that accommodates the number of items sold. Those selling one to five items simply do not need the same type of space as a person selling one hundred items on their site. Both, however, should offer easy to use checkout systems that allow a variety of payment methods.

Andy West is a writer for AspDotNetStorefront, a premier online storefront and shopping cart provider. Visit http://www.aspdotnetstorefront.com/ for you online storefront needs.
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Turning Your Direct Mail Campaign Into An Online Lead Generating Machine

Here's a GREAT way for you to save time, save money, and increase your sales leads. Let me tell you a quick little story...

I have a client for whom I run a lead generation direct mail campaign. I've been trying to persuade him to move some of the campaign online in order to cut down costs and increase conversions. He's been a pretty hard sell, but I've finally managed to convince him.

So, what was it that got him to step out of the Stone Age and into the 21st Century? It was simply a matter of running the numbers. Let's take a look at some of the hidden costs of his direct mail campaign that he hasn't been considering:

Additional Hidden Postage Fees
With the recent postage hikes, the additional cost of mailing is an obvious factor. But my client didn't consider how his campaign was fully impacted by the rate increases. Now that shaped-based postage is in effect, his overall campaign cost is more expensive because he's using the less expensive padded envelope. His campaign is already in need of an overhaul to maximize the savings that are available to him. So now is a great time to make the changes I suggested.

Man Hours
My client never realized how much time his employees are spending on packing and printing and shipping. He considers payroll as a human resources expense and never allocated a payroll line item in figuring out his direct mail ROI. When we actually sat down and looked at it, he was amazed at how many payroll dollars this direct mail project is eating up.

Storage Space
My client has tons of space dedicated to housing his cases of padded envelopes (which, by the way, take up a lot of room), video tapes (I told you he was in the Stone Age), audio CDs and the rest of the items for his campaign. Yet, when he hired a new administrative assistant, he couldn't find anywhere to put her desk. (And, just between you and me, he did get in trouble once with the fire marshall for having boxes stacked too high near the ceiling.)

Opportunity Costs
A lot of time and money goes into his direct mail campaign - time and money that could be spent elsewhere.

So he agreed to move the campaign on line. I suggested we start small and test it out for a few months. Here are the steps I followed that you can easily recreate with your own campaigns:

1. Redesigned the ad that had been running in a specialized magazine. Instead of telling prospects to call a phone number to request a direct mail package, I sent them to a special landing page.

2. Created a landing page to be used only for this ad. The page mimicked the look and feel of the magazine ad and focused strictly on the lead generation device. Check out my free report on maximizing lead generation for more details on how this works.

3. Broke the direct mail package into several smaller steps. The original physical product contains a welcome letter, a brochure, an audio CD, a videotape, a checklist and several miscellaneous printed pieces. All that material can be overwhelming to a brand new prospect. I decided to deliver each piece individually, over time.

4. Digitized each piece. The printed materials were turned into PDF files, the audio was turned into an MP3 file and the video was turned into a flash movie.

5. Opened an autoresponder account. My client decided to use the same autoresponder service that I use in my own business because it's easy to use and extremely cost effective.

6. Created the autoresponder messages. Individual email messages were created to automatically deliver the pieces over time. This was much less overwhelming than having a huge package loaded with tons of materials land with a thud on the doorstep. And, because the email messages are very warm and personal, the prospect feels like he is really getting to know the company.

So, how did it all work out? Well, we're still midway through our six-month testing period, but my client is already foaming at the mouth to move the rest of the campaign online. He's noticed a huge increase in the conversion rate of the online prospects versus the direct mail prospects. His current direct mail process involves mailing out the lead generation package, then following up with the prospect by phone a few days later. Usually, that phone conversation goes something like this:

Company Rep: Hi, this is Jane Doe from XYZ Corporation. I'm calling to see if you received our super duper lead generation package.

Prospect: Yeah, I got it the other day, but I haven't had time to look through it all yet.

Company Rep: Well, I'm sure that after you've reviewed it all, you'll agree that we offer the best widgets on the market. So please give us a call as soon as you're ready to make a purchase.

Prospect: OK, sure. Goodbye.

Not very productive, is it? With the new online system, I was able to totally revamp that process. Now, a company representative contacts the prospect personally only after all the individual messages and pieces have been delivered. By this time, the prospect has been receiving several personalized email messages and he's already warmed up to the company. Plus, because the pieces were gradually delivered over time, the prospect has had time to review them all. The follow up phone calls are warm and friendly and the conversion rate has increased dramatically.

Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE report on maximizing lead generation at your website. Download your copies at http://www.ModernImage.com

Your Online Shopping Cart: Portal To Profits

What attracts customers to an ecommerce site and keeps them there all the way through the purchasing process is your online shopping cart. Just as with any retail venture in real life, shoppers are looking for a user-friendly experience that gives them everything they want or need at that moment. We've all experienced both ends of the spectrum when it comes to shopping; either the salesperson is dogging our every footstep, or when we really do need them, they're suddenly nowhere to be seen. The same could be said of your online shopping cart. Some shopping carts are so flashy and confusing, the visitor often gives up before completing the purchase. Other carts are barely there, lacking clear navigation and the sale is killed before it gets a chance to start. You could have the best product in the world, but if you can't get your customers to buy, it's worthless.

Think of your website as a physical store. You want to showcase your product in the best way possible. If you were selling in the physical world, you certainly wouldn't choose a building in a poor section of town, or one that had numerous problems with it. Location is everything and easy to use navigation of your site is key. People need to see all of your products clearly and have the ability to compare each one. Your online shopping cart should have sufficient means to do this, with large pictures to show the product and enough space for detailed descriptions. Nothing is worse than trying to get a look at a product from a microscopic thumbnail image. Put your product images on display.

When designing your online shopping cart, take your time. You might be all jazzed to get the project running that you throw something together simply for the sake of getting it up quickly. Nothing will kill your sales faster than your customers' constantly running into an under Construction message. You can bet that the customer will find that same product elsewhere and won't be back. People want instant gratification and if they can't get it from your site, they'll leave.

The number one reason people buy from any given site is credibility. If a site looks shady, no one is going to give personal information, not in a day and age where identity theft runs rampant. A sense of trust is extremely important. Traditional stores, like Sears or Wal-Mart, work very hard to maintain an atmosphere attractive to their customers. The same goes for your site and online shopping cart. If your site is suffering from technical bugs or your checkout procedure is too hard to follow, it won't help build your credibility or trustworthiness with the customer at all. In addition, you have to offer enough support to back it up should the visitor encounter a problem.

A sense of openness with your visitors is important and goes hand in hand with credibility. Ecommerce sites with ambiguous pseudonyms for contacts cause customers to wonder what you might be hiding. Customers like to know with whom they're dealing. Put a picture of yourself on the site, give them a real name as an email contact, or put up a phone number where you can be reached should the customer have questions needing immediate attention.

All of this should appear clearly on your website. Don't make your customers dig for a contact page or an email address. Provide real time help for real time people. If people know you're there for them, they'll feel good about handing over their hard-earned cash. Make your site and your online shopping cart as safe and secure as possible and in turn, your customers will stay longer and buy more.

Andy West is a writer for AspDotNetStorefront, a premier online shopping cart and storefront provider. Visit http://www.aspdotnetstorefront.com/t-s-online-shopping-cart.aspx for you Ecommerce storefront needs.

Email Marketing Basic Process

If you are in business you should have a list of customers that you regularly communicate with. In fact, many would say that your list is your business. The reason for this is simple. When you advertise you pay to attract people interested in your niche market. If you make your offer once and they leave you only have that one chance to sell to them. If you gather their name and email address you can send offers and information to them for free any time you like.

You will need to select a niche market to serve first. Pick something you like working with and you'll enjoy yourself more. Make it narrow enough that you can be specific in your email marketing but broad enough that you have a sufficient customer base.

With your niche market firmly in mind, start gathering information about your niche. If you already have a product you're selling collect all of your product literature. Get every bit of information that your market might be interested in that you can find.

Now you need to pay attention to your profit centers. There are at least six in any list. You need to take the time to focus on each one and ensure that you maximize the revenue of each one by constant tracking and testing.

There are a few 'fact-of-life' expenses involved. You will need an autoresponder, a domain name and web hosting. Don't skimp. You want good reliable providers, especially your autoresponder since you have government email regulations to deal with.

You will also need a credit card processor and a viral report that you can offer in exchange for your customers name and email. You can write it yourself, hire a ghostwriter to write it for you or buy private label rights to a report in your niche.

Once all of that technical stuff is out of the way you can focus on the design and style of your e-zine or autoresponder series. You should define the theme of your site according to the specific portion of your niche market that you intend to serve. The more focused your list e-zine theme is the more responsive your list is likely to be.

After you have your theme you need to decide how many profit centers you will use and how you will implement them. Many of your profit centers will send your traffic to your affiliates. Once you know the structure of your list monetization strategy you can identify the specific affiliate products to promote to your market.

The layout and formatting of your email is very important. There are a few outlines for email structure that have proven themselves over time to pull better response rates. But the bottom line is you are going to have to test formats on your list to see what works best for you.

Another important consideration is the use of plain text verses HTML email. Each have a list of pro's and con's that you should consider carefully.

This is important. It's 'first impression' important. Make sure you take your time with the first message you send to your new subscribers. Offer good quality content and thoroughly proofread your work.

Your main goal is to create a bond of trust between you and your subscribers. Deliver real value. Treat them with respect and only promote products that you are sure live up to their promises.

Be fair and honorable with your list and your list will be very profitable. Here's the entire process in a nutshell.

1. Write a viral report
2. Create a cover image for your free report
3. Convert your report into pdf
4. Get an Autoresponder at aWeber or GetResponse
5. Get your domain and hosting
6. Set up your Squeeze Page
7. Redirect subscribers to a One-Time-Offer page (profit center)
8. Create your Thank You page with report download link and affiliate links
9. You're done - Now start Promoting

Every single marketing action you take from this point forward should be geared to driving qualified traffic to your squeeze page.

There are hundreds of ways to drive traffic to your list opt-in page. Just a few include ad swaps, buying ads in other e-zines, joint venture giveaways, articles marketing, blog marketing...

Once you have built a significant subscriber base you should start another list in a related niche and send your current subscribers to your second list to get it started quickly. Repeat the system and you are on your way to passive wealth.

Discover the simple step-by-step process for building wildly profitable email marketing lists when you sign up for your FREE Email Marketing Course at ...
http://www.ProfitableListMarketing.com

Do Your Readers See What You See?

You've set up a beautiful email campaign. Your copy is tight, your graphics are eye-catching, you are just sure the click-through rate will be more than respectable.

But are you sure your readers are seeing what you see?

In a recent survey by Epsilon, 48 percent of respondents said that the images in their email clients are "sometimes or always" turned off. Experts expect this number to increase in 2008, as fears of viruses and spyware increase. And, with email clients and platforms getting more sophisticated many of your readers will have image suppression set as their default.

The only way to guarantee the success of your next email campaign is to assume that none of your readers can see any of your images. Sure, it sounds harsh - but do you really want to risk alienating over 48 percent of your subscribers?

By following these best practices, you can ensure better results with your next email campaign:

1. It is critical that you use images to support your message, not convey your message. Never use an image as a headline, or in place of text. Never use an image to express an idea that is not repeated in the copy.

2. Always include an alt tag with all of your graphics. And be sure the tag is descriptive enough to actually take the place of the image. Also, adding captions to any applicable images will help in two ways: first, it will provide necessary information to readers who can not see your image, and secondly, eye tracking studies prove that captions do get read a majority of the time.

3. Be sure to tell your subscribers how to turn the images on in their email clients. I suggest creating a confirmation page with whitelisting instructions and image display instructions. Take your customer to this page immediately after he subscribes to your mailing list. Repeat the instructions in your confirmation email.

4. Create a web-based version of your email and include a link to it in each of your campaigns. Many readers want to see your graphics, but they don't want to take the time - or they don't know how - to adjust their email clients.

5. Always offer a text only version of your email campaign during the subscription process. And, since some readers will be accessing their email from multiple clients, such as Outlook when they're in the office and web mail when they're on the road, include a link to the text only version in each of your html campaigns.

As hackers and spyware and viruses become more prevalent and email clients become more complex, it is important for marketers to stay on top of the best practices and conventions. So, follow these steps for now in all of your email marketing campaigns, but beware, the rules are sure to change sometime in the near future.

Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE email pre-flight checklist to ensure your emails get delivered, get opened and get read. Download your copies at http://www.modernimage.com/freereports/preflight.htm

Conducting Business Online

The rise of the Internet in recent years has seen a boom for business the world over. The almost instant access to a global marketplace makes it easier to sell goods and services, and is boosting profits no end. With that in mind, it is important to remember a few salient points about online transaction, and there are a number of legal issues which have yet to be clarified in terms of formation of contract and jurisdiction online. In this article we will flag up the discrepancies and issues pertaining to conducting business on the Internet.

The first issue with the Internet is that any transaction is distant, i.e. not face to face. This gives rise to fairly obvious problems of its own when buying goods that have never been seen. However this also causes some complex legal issues, firstly with regards to jurisdiction. Under conventional international law the defendant in any trial has the right to defend in the jurisdiction of his domicile, i.e. the jurisdiction with which he has the greatest connection, and normally lives. This causes problems however in enforcing obligations online.

For example threatening to take legal action against a UK citizen under Californian law is pointless, because Californian law has no jurisdiction anywhere in the UK. To pursue action across frontiers in this way, you would literally have to raise the action in a UK court under the applicable English or Scottish law, and have legal advice from an expert in that field. The fact of the matter is this is a costly business, and at the end of the day it usually isn't worth it. Attempts can be made to bypass these issues in the standard terms and conditions. 'Contracting out' would probably not be considered valid in some jurisdictions with high consumer protection values, so again this is simple a risk that you take.

This leads neatly into the next major problem with online business. Determining when a contract has been formed online is almost impossible. With which law do you abide? French? Indian? Scottish? Nobody knows, so no-one knows when you are in breach, or when indeed a contract has been formed. Again, acceptance of standard terms and conditions may be enough in some jurisdictions, but it may be further necessary to show an intention to create legal relations as an express requirement.

Either way, conducting business online is still a tricky legal area, and one that looks set to majorly feature in the coming decades of international legal development.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://4kidsandteens.org/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://foracloserfamily.com/ and http://aboutoursociety.com/

How To Optimize Your Website For Ask

While Ask's share of the search market is comparatively small, it offers some great features that are sure to catch on. Consider grabbing a good ranking now before the word gets out and a tidal wave of webmasters start clamoring for top spots.

While Google has been grabbing a lot of press recently for their new universal search model, Ask has been providing it since day one. So here's a great place to get your feet wet and, shall I say, "practice" for optimizing for universal search. Consider these tips:

Optimizing images for Ask's universal search model is a little more complex than simply adding an alt tag. Yes, you still need to use an alt tag, and the alt tag should contain the target keyword. But in addition, the image's actual filename should also contain the keyword AND the page text near the image should include the keyword.

Create an account at Bloglines and add your blogs and feeds to your profile. Unlike most of their competitors, ranking in Ask Blogs is determined by relevance, not date. So be sure to maximize all your blog posts for your keyword phrases. Another feature of Ask Blogs is the ability to sort by popularity, so stickiness and incoming links become extremely important.

Ask Mobile is a neat feature that provides mobile users with search results by reformatting websites into one column. Ask Mobile returns local search results to cell phone users (genius, isn't it?), so be sure to include your address with city, state and zip on every page of your site to improve your possibility of being listed. And get yourself listed in Ask City by sending an email to askcitybusiness (at) help.ask.com. The email should contain the subject "Ask City Feedback - Business" and should include your business name and full address, your area code and phone number, your web address, your business category, your name and email address. Expect about one month before your listing in Ask City is approved.

Be sure to submit your sitemap to Ask to ensure your site is thoroughly crawled. Without a sitemap, chances are your deep content will not be indexed by Ask. Put your sitemap in your root folder and add it to your robots.txt file. Then submit it to Ask by pinging it in your browser.

Ask provides users with a website preview, so they can glance at the site before clicking the link. To guarantee maximum clickthroughs, make sure your best content is above the fold and that your site preview looks compelling.

Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE "Optimize Your Site For Ask Checklist". Download your FREE copy at http://www.modernimage.com/freereports/optimize-ask.htm

Can Your "Free" Marketing End Up Costing You Thousands?

Many entrepreneurs start email marketing campaigns because they provide an easy, inexpensive way to stay in touch with prospects and clients. But beware! If you're not following these few simple rules, your "free" marketing could land you with thousands of dollars in fines.

Keeping these best practices in mind before you hit the Send button will ensure that your email is CAN-SPAM compliant:

Ensure subscriber privacy. Never, ever, ever share your readers' email addresses or other personal information. And likewise, don't ever use email addresses that were shared with you. Make sure your subscribers have specifically asked to be added to your mailing list.

This seems simple enough, but if you're new to email marketing and you're trying to do it all yourself from your own PC (as I've seen many new entrepreneurs do) you need to pay special attention to this point. If you create a distribution list in Outlook and use that list in your "To:" field, you've just shared every email address with every reader! If you absolutely must maintain your own list, enter your own email address in the "To:" field and your distribution list in the "Bcc:" field.

If you want to be really, really safe, use a double opt-in process. This simply means, when someone subscribes to your publication, he must confirm his subscription before he is actually added to your mailing list. If you don't use a double opt-in, you're not violating any CAN-SPAM laws, but double opt-in is definitely a best practice.

Allow your readers to easily get off your list. Each and every email must should include an easy-to-use unsubscribe link. Once a reader asks to be unsubscribed, you only have 10 days to remove them from your list. Fortunately, most email marketing software packages and online services will handle the unsubscribe process for you automatically. If you're keeping your own list, make sure you maintain it in a very timely manner.

Be sure to include your contact information in each and every email. CAN-SPAM laws require that you include your name, phone number and a physical address. This can be a sticky situation for the hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs who works from home. Technically speaking, PO Boxes are "not allowed", but as of this writing, I have not heard of anyone being fined for using a PO Box instead of a physical address. Personally, I don't feel comfortable including my home address in mailings to thousands of anonymous readers. So, for now, I'm taking my chances and using a PO Box.

Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE Can-Spam checklist and FREE email pre-flight checklist to ensure your emails get delivered, get opened and get read. Download your copies at http://www.modernimage.com/freereports/canspam.htm
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How To Create Your Own Information Product

Information products, such as e-books and special reports, are the most profitable products you can sell on the internet today, not to mention the easiest. If you've spent anytime in internet marketing, you're probably already aware of this fact.

The best thing about creating info products is that it's so easy. All you really need are:

1. Information, and
2. Acceptable Writing Skills.

The hottest commodity on the internet is information, that's why so many call it the information superhighway. To keep your customers coming forever, you need to right kind of information. You also need a hungry market with high demand.

Writing an e-book is very similar to writing a special report. E-books are generally 30 pages or longer; significantly shorter works would be considered special reports.

Here are a few basic steps to follow when creating your e-book or special report:

1. Select a topic from your niche. Your niche is another word for your particular market. It needs to be something pertaining to your niche that your customers would want to know about.

2. Organize your work. You want to create an outline before you ever start writing. The more detailed and informative your outline is, the much easier it will be to write your e-book.

3. Don't forget to research your topic. Even though you're already an expert in your field, you want to be more than 100% positive that you are giving your readers their money's worth. Obviously, an informative work is highly valuable.

4. Go back to your outline and fill it up with the information you've collected on research. Believe it or not, your sixth grade teachers weren't lying when they said that outlines are important. I can't stress enough how important it is to be organized.

5. Don't plagiarize! This will ruin your credibility and lose you customers. Make sure whatever your selling is original, and learn how to respect intellectual property rights.

6. Have people proofread your drafts and make corrections. As with plagiarizing, a poorly written document will lose you customers in the long run.

After all the information is original and properly written, come up with an attractive cover. Sadly, the age-old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" doesn't apply to online selling. People have been known to make their buying decisions based on the appearance of the cover of eBooks alone.

Make sure your eBook is in .pdf format. This can be read by many computer platforms and will open up your potential customer range.

Once all of these steps have been completed, you're ready to sell!

Don't worry if you don't have time to write or don't possess the best writing skills, there are other options available to you. You can always outsource, using an outside party to help you prepare your ideas. Another great option available in the industry today are private label rights, or PLRs. Products sold with PLRs allow the buyer to alter the work and even name himself as the author.

Simply put, there is no excuse not to sell your own information products on the web. If you're looking to make money on the internet, then eBooks and special reports are the best way.

Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE Can-Spam checklist and FREE email pre-flight checklist to ensure your emails get delivered, get opened and get read. Download your copies at http://www.ModernImage.com

Passive Income Business 101

With the birth of Web 2.0, you don't need to leave your seat to find a dozen online advertisements that claim you can earn passive income by establishing an internet marketing business. The formula sounds simple: Find a niche, drive traffic, push, pull and dangle an electronic product for purchase. Instant gratification and a quick buck, right? What most internet marketers don't tell you is how many things they have to throw against the wall to get one to stick. I have personally tried internet marketing in product categories that would be considered extensions of my primary business and bombed miserably. Where one formula worked, another failed.

Despite some of the misleading advertisements, virtual businesses do have their obvious pluses. With very little sweat equity and maybe a few hundred dollars in start-up capital, one can start a relatively low-maintenance business. Testing the business is cheap and you can fail fast rather than grinding it out in an offline business that has brick and mortar overhead and inventory issues. Thinking of starting an offline business? Start it online first.

Social networking sites have made getting your message out to like-minded people faster and cheaper than ever before. MySpace and Squidoo are two popular sites that can be set-up as communication and traffic funnels to primary business sites. If you are able to drive significant traffic through search engine optimization, blogging, viral marketing or article marketing, the opportunity to sell Google Adsense or other pay-per-click systems becomes possible.

There are differing philosophies among online business owners concerning the right business model. I have found successful business owners that swear you need to make $300 per month across 200 sites and others that believe you need to find a long-term sustainable category and make $60,000 with one site. Finding the latter can be a short quest or a long process of trial and error.

To help short-circuit the path to success there are approaches that can minimize the number of failures and help you make your first dollar:

1) If you have a primary business, identify a niche that has synergy with your current expertise or marketing efforts. These sometimes reside on the front or back-end of your primary business' supply chain. Example: A bike shop owner could market and sell an ebook on the best bike paths in the United States. It is much easier and more enjoyable to turn a current passion into your first passive income business. Also, the passive business may help drive sales of your primary business if there are synergies.

2) Do you have an existing list of clients that trust you and have a common interest? Someone you have already made a sale to is more likely to buy from you again if they had a good experience. Also, the cost and time required to reach these past clients is also low. So finding a product in common with their interests could help accelerate and test your new ideas. Reach out to your contact list via email marketing or send them a mailer and drive them to your new website.

3) Follow macro-level trends in the economy and social issues. Currently the US is surviving a huge credit crunch and homeowners need high credit scores more now than ever. If you can market a solution to a desperate group of people, there will be opportunity.

4) Markets work in cycles and with any popular category or trend, there is going to be excessive competition. Finding the silent giants in hated categories will allow you to enter and establish your business for scalability before the category explodes. A current example is timber and lumber, a hated business by both owners and investors. However, the lumber market is set to go on a shortage that will drive prices through the roof and force most home builders to use alternatives. If you developed an information website that provides resources for lumber alternatives, it will surely get a lot of attention when builders get desperate.

Building a passive business can sometimes take periods of aggressive action. I don't know many entrepreneurs that haven't struggled or poured their heart into their work. Luck is sometimes part of the equation but more important is timing and speed. Timing your thrust can mean a growing success or slow death. Speed also plays a factor in penetrating a category quickly and establishing an authority position.

The reality is, most passive businesses are really what I call "light-load" businesses. You can design the business for automation, however, there is always a start-up cycle that is energy and capital intensive. Also, the market is going to change and your business will need to stay competitive. Scaling the business usually requires attention and, if wildly successful, may require outsourcing or staffing. Outsourcing is the best way to keep a business "light-load". The goal is to ultimately replace the income of your primary business. Outsourcing administrative or repetitive tasks allows you to focus more on strategic aspects of the new business and continue growing or developing new revenue streams.

Here are some tips to starting your first passive income business:

1) To get started and blow through the learning curve, select a virtual product that doesn't have any inventory, manufacturing time or logistics.

2) The product should be between $50-200 so the sales cycle is short and clients don't ask as many questions before buying.

3) Select a niche you have related experience in. It's important to be confident in what you are saying because everything else will be completely foreign.

4) Research what people are searching for online and utilize Google Adwords to piggyback on existing traffic sites. Use print ads offline in niche magazines that have readerships less than 15,000 people.

5) Split test advertising online and offline. It's important to determine the marketing message that consumers respond to.

6) Fail fast and cheap. Set a budget and ditch the losers before they suck you dry.

7) Keep your day job. Don't quit your primary business until your passive income business can replace your primary income.

To view a truly passive income business I've discovered, visit http://www.squidoo.com/xlrevshare
Brett Nordin is an entrepreneur and business owner who has a passion for online and offline direct marketing.
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The Basics of Selling Prints Online

People who don't want to take traditional photographs often decide to instead take art shots. These images are very artistic and quite fulfilling for the photographer to take. Most assume that art photography is only a hobby, and for some, it probably is best for it to be just a hobby. But you can make a lot of money when you sell prints online. In this article, we'll be going over the very basics of selling art prints online - you'll learn why to sell art prints online and tips for how to do it best.

Should I Sell Art Prints Online?

The answer to this is an unquestionable yes! You should sell prints online. But it's not enough for us to just tell you to sell prints online, so we'll tell you the reasons for doing it.

Reason #1: In Demand

Those who are looking for art prints used to find them by going to galleries or other places. Nowadays, they go online. They'll go to stock art print websites and browse through the many listings of photos. For them, it's a highly convenient way of finding the prints they need for their magazines, books, articles etc. Because of how well-used the internet is, and because of the demand for art prints, prints are quite in demand on the internet.

Reason #2: Exposure

When you put something online, you are exposing it to millions of people. These people can then choose to ignore what you've put up, or they can take an interest in it. Online stock photography sites are frequented by people who are looking for good stock photography, including art prints.

By choosing to sell prints online, you're opening your products up to a huge base of people - people who may just buy the prints, if they're impressed by them. This is the kind of exposure you could get on the TV or in newspapers, but instead of paying for advertising, all you need to do is get your art prints online on a reputable stock photography site.

Reason #3: Convenience

Going through the process of submitting art prints to regular stock photography companies can be a bit tiresome - not to mention, time-consuming. What happens if the prints are reject? Then you've wasted your time. Wasted time translates to lost money. You don't want to do that, particularly if you're trying to make a living as a photographer. If you sell art prints online, you'll go through a very quick submission process that doesn't take up a lot of time.

Reason #4: More Money

Online stock photography web sites tend to offer the best profits to those who sell their photos there. That's because of the competitiveness of the stock photography market. You literally cannot be cheated by an online web site when it comes to the amount of money you make from each purchase made by customers. You'll make more money than you would by using conventional methods. This is a great reason for why to sell art prints online.

Tips to Sell Art Prints Online

1. Unique Art Prints Sell. Those who are using art photos for their books and magazines want something that is unique. They don't want something that can basically be found in a hundred other places. When you take art photos, make sure they are original and are not like any other photos. That way, you'll be able to successfully sell art prints online because they are unique and people will want to buy them.

2. Quality. A huge mistake among photographers who have just begun to sell art prints online is that their photos aren't of a high quality. We're not talking artistically, but rather resolution-wise. Photographers take art photos with a lower end camera and it shows in the photo. People who use these images for books demand a high quality image. You must deliver by using a good quality camera to take your images.

3. Directions. To make the photo submission process easy, most stock photography web sites have submission guidelines. If the guidelines aren't followed, photos won't be accepted, no matter how good they are. A very important thing for those who wish to sell art prints online to do is to simply follow the directions. This will make it much more likely that your photos get posted and earn you money.

If you follow the above tips, you should have no trouble at all in becoming successful when you sell art prints online. Good luck!

Ron McNeil promotes software to sell photos online and to start your own site to sell art prints online and run your own stock photography software site powered by Web Scribble software located at http://www.webscribble.com/products/webstore/