Business means profit and loss of a project. But I always focus on profit of my business. If you start a new business, you will remember some important issue. Here is some tips for you to start a new business.
1. Do your homework. You may think your idea is fantastic and your friends and family have probably told you it is great too, but what do other people think? Test out your idea on your potential customers before you start.
2. Work out your costs. You must be able to have enough money coming into the business to cover what your product or service costs you to make. If you don’t, you’re in danger of not making any money out of your business.
3. Think of free ways to promote your business. Let’s face it you’ve got enough to spend your money on without spending it on marketing. Think about where your potential customers go (i.e. if your customers are mums, they’ll go to schools, post office, doctor’s surgeries etc) and go where they go.
4. Don’t spend a fortune on a website. Believe me you’ll want to change your website after a few months when you get to know what you’re doing. Spend the money on your website then and get it done cheaply at first.
5. Write a business plan. Too many businesses don’t write a plan and 90% of them will fail during the first 18 months. If you write a business plan, 90% of businesses are still going after the same period. What would you prefer?
6. Be passionate. Your business idea should be something you would happily get out bed in a morning for without being paid. Your passion will come across to customers and everyone you meet and will help you get started.
7. Don’t worry about getting a ‘niche’. Listen, all of us would like to find the perfect idea that no-one else has thought of, but then you’ll need to work hard at telling people what it is because they won’t have heard about it. Competition is good! Your ‘niche’ is all about you – it’s what you’re passionate about that makes you stand out.
8. Forget about other people. Countless new businesses are worried about telling people in case their idea is stolen. But remember 60% of people are sat in businesses right now wanting to start their own business – but, only 3% actually do it. So, even if people think it’s a great idea, chances are they won’t actually set up. Bite the bullet and tell people!
9. Go for it! We’re all a nation of “what ifs” and “it won’t work”. If you’ve done your homework and believe in your idea, go for it! Also, remember that everyone is an expert, even if they’ve never run a business before. Trust your instinct – not theirs.
10. Go on a start-up course (well I would say that wouldn’t I?). But, a start-up course is run by experts who will give you the real answers – not rumours that your friends and family have heard. Our next 3-day start-up course, costing just £99 will be held on the 18th, 19th and 20th February and then every 3rd Monday to Wednesday of each month in Cheltenham. Have a look in our profile to book on.
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Top ten marketing tips
Marketing is summation of some techniques. It is a practical game in our life. So everyone needs to know some marketing knowledge if he wants success in life. Anyone can succeed in marketing sector if he is confident himself and practise day by day in consistent way.
1. Become a student of your business. Study your customer, competitors and the industry trends. Make it one of your goals to become an ‘expert’ in your business, so much so that you know how your customers think. The more you know, the easier you will find it to get customers and give them compelling messages that convince them to buy your product or service.
2. Sit down with a friend or business contact and get them to put themselves in your customer’s shoes. Try to come up with ten new ways to market and promote your business. It’s really difficult to come up with these ideas yourself as sometimes you can get too close to your business, but someone else can often give you fresh ideas.
3. Remember that not everything you do to market your business will get you clients. Some things you do will be better for building your reputation or getting awareness of your business (PR for instance is very good at getting people to recognise your business is out there) than getting you clients. You need to have a good mixture of marketing activities designed to build your reputation, get awareness of your business and actually get your customers in order to market your business. Check out my 50 ideas for promoting your business by clicking www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk
4. If you hate a particular aspect of marketing your business, don’t do it! For instance, if you hate cold calling, why push yourself to do it? There are loads of methods that you might like doing more AND don’t cost a great deal to do. Click www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk to get my 50 ideas for promoting your business.
5. Do marketing!! Most small business owners don’t like marketing. It’s another activity that eats into their time. And on top of that, it’s not much fun. Ideally though, you should be spending 2 half days a week on marketing (at the very least), so choose something from my list of 50 ideas and do it!!
6. Decide what is a marketing activity for you – marketing for me is any activity where I spend time getting new or looking after existing customers (bar working on their projects). So, marketing could be emailing 5 customers a week to see how they’re getting on; writing a proposal; going to a networking event; seeing a potential new customer etc. Why is defining what marketing is important? Well, once you start doing this, you will realise that you are doing some marketing…then it becomes easier to do more.
7. Stretch your comfort zone – write down what activities you’re comfortable with and also write down which ones you’re not comfortable with. Then choose one activity you don’t really like doing every month and get on with it!!
8. Most of us are very good at following up if we need to. For example, if I said to you “Here is a potential customer” you would probably contact them. But, how many of us follow up without a real reason? Try this exercise – next time you go to a networking event, get the list of attendees (usually available when you sign in) and then contact all those you haven’t met by email asking if they would mind spending 15 minutes on the phone with you so you can find out a bit more about each other. This is excellent for building relationships and may even get you clients too!!
9. Remember marketing is like riding a bike. Most people start off by peddling really hard (doing lots of marketing) and when they get busy and don’t market their business, they can coast for a while. But, if they don’t start to market their business again soon, their bike will stop and believe me, it’s hard work to start peddling again. So, you need to keep marketing all the time.
10. We’ve created a new e-course called “Survive your first year in business”, where you’ll receive a workbook every month direct to your PC that helps you address issues such as getting more customers, keeping motivated, managing your finances and making the most of your time. As well as this, you’ll receive 12 months of unlimited e-mail support and coaching whenever you need it, all for just £25+VAT per month.
1. Become a student of your business. Study your customer, competitors and the industry trends. Make it one of your goals to become an ‘expert’ in your business, so much so that you know how your customers think. The more you know, the easier you will find it to get customers and give them compelling messages that convince them to buy your product or service.
2. Sit down with a friend or business contact and get them to put themselves in your customer’s shoes. Try to come up with ten new ways to market and promote your business. It’s really difficult to come up with these ideas yourself as sometimes you can get too close to your business, but someone else can often give you fresh ideas.
3. Remember that not everything you do to market your business will get you clients. Some things you do will be better for building your reputation or getting awareness of your business (PR for instance is very good at getting people to recognise your business is out there) than getting you clients. You need to have a good mixture of marketing activities designed to build your reputation, get awareness of your business and actually get your customers in order to market your business. Check out my 50 ideas for promoting your business by clicking www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk
4. If you hate a particular aspect of marketing your business, don’t do it! For instance, if you hate cold calling, why push yourself to do it? There are loads of methods that you might like doing more AND don’t cost a great deal to do. Click www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk to get my 50 ideas for promoting your business.
5. Do marketing!! Most small business owners don’t like marketing. It’s another activity that eats into their time. And on top of that, it’s not much fun. Ideally though, you should be spending 2 half days a week on marketing (at the very least), so choose something from my list of 50 ideas and do it!!
6. Decide what is a marketing activity for you – marketing for me is any activity where I spend time getting new or looking after existing customers (bar working on their projects). So, marketing could be emailing 5 customers a week to see how they’re getting on; writing a proposal; going to a networking event; seeing a potential new customer etc. Why is defining what marketing is important? Well, once you start doing this, you will realise that you are doing some marketing…then it becomes easier to do more.
7. Stretch your comfort zone – write down what activities you’re comfortable with and also write down which ones you’re not comfortable with. Then choose one activity you don’t really like doing every month and get on with it!!
8. Most of us are very good at following up if we need to. For example, if I said to you “Here is a potential customer” you would probably contact them. But, how many of us follow up without a real reason? Try this exercise – next time you go to a networking event, get the list of attendees (usually available when you sign in) and then contact all those you haven’t met by email asking if they would mind spending 15 minutes on the phone with you so you can find out a bit more about each other. This is excellent for building relationships and may even get you clients too!!
9. Remember marketing is like riding a bike. Most people start off by peddling really hard (doing lots of marketing) and when they get busy and don’t market their business, they can coast for a while. But, if they don’t start to market their business again soon, their bike will stop and believe me, it’s hard work to start peddling again. So, you need to keep marketing all the time.
10. We’ve created a new e-course called “Survive your first year in business”, where you’ll receive a workbook every month direct to your PC that helps you address issues such as getting more customers, keeping motivated, managing your finances and making the most of your time. As well as this, you’ll receive 12 months of unlimited e-mail support and coaching whenever you need it, all for just £25+VAT per month.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Google:Top 10 Tips to the top
Google is the leading search engine company in the web industry. You should know its features and its uses to perform better in internet.
Having a Web site that gets found in Google isn't hard to do, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. Here are ten tips to get you started.
1. Start out slowly
If possible, begin with a new site that has never been submitted to the search engines or directories. Choose an appropriate domain name, and start out by optimizing just the home page.
2. Learn basic HTML
Many search engine optimization techniques involve editing the behind the scenes HTML code. Your high rankings can depend on knowing which codes are necessary, and which aren't.
3. Choose keywords wisely
The keywords you think might be perfect for your site may not be what people are actually searching for. To find the optimal keywords for your site, use tools such as WordTracker. Choose two or three highly targeted phrases for each page of your site. Never shoot for general keywords such as "travel" or "vacation."
4. Write at least 200 - 250 words of visible text copy based on your chosen keywords. This is a crucial component to high rankings and a successful Web site. The search engines need to "read" keyword rich copy on your pages so they can successfully classify your site. Use each keyword phrase numerous times within your copy for best results.
5. Create a killer Title tag
HTML title tags are critical because they're given a lot of weight with all of the search engines. You must put your keywords into this tag and not waste space with extra words. Do not use the Title tag to display your company name or to say "Home Page." Think of it more as a "Title Keyword Tag" and create it accordingly. Add your company name to the end of this tag, if you must use it.
6. Create Meaty Meta tags
Meta tags can be valuable, but they are not a magic bullet. Create a Meta Description tag that uses your keywords and also describes your site. The information in this tag often appears under your Title in the search engine results pages.
The Meta Keyword tag isn't quite as important as the Meta Description tag. Contrary to popular belief, what you place in the keyword tag will have very little bearing on what keywords your site is actually found under, and it's not given any consideration whatsoever by Google. Use this tag, but do not obsess over.
7. Use extra "goodies" to boost rankings
Things like headlines, image alt tags, header tags , etc.), links from other pages, keywords in file names, and keywords in hyperlinks can cumulatively boost search engine rankings. Use any or all of these where they make sense for your site.
8. Be careful when submitting to directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory Project (DMOZ). Having directory listings are a key component to getting your site spidered and listed by Google. Making mistakes in the submission process could cost you dearly as directory listings are difficult to change later in the game. Therefore, it's important to read Yahoo's How to Suggest Your Site and How to add a site to the Open Directory before submitting.
9. Don't expect quick results
Getting high rankings takes time; there's no getting around that fact. Once your site is added to a search engine or directory, its ranking may start out low and then slowly work its way up the ladder. Some search engines measure "click-through popularity," i.e., the more people that click on a particular site, the higher its ranking will go. Be patient and give your site time to mature.
10. Don't constantly "tweak" your site for better results
It's best not to make changes to your optimization for at least three-to-six months after submission. It often takes the engines at least that long to add your optimized pages to their databases. Submit it, and then forget about it for a while!
If you've followed these tips and still can't find your site in the engines, the first place to "tweak" would be your page copy. If you added less than 250 words of visible text on your pages, this is probably your culprit. Also, double check your keyword density, and make sure that you only targeted two or three phrases per page. Eventually, you'll see the fruits of your labor with many top ten rankings in Google and the rest of the search engines!
Jill Whalen is an internationally recognized search engine optimization expert, a frequent speaker and workshop presenter, and the owner of HighRankings.com.
Having a Web site that gets found in Google isn't hard to do, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. Here are ten tips to get you started.
1. Start out slowly
If possible, begin with a new site that has never been submitted to the search engines or directories. Choose an appropriate domain name, and start out by optimizing just the home page.
2. Learn basic HTML
Many search engine optimization techniques involve editing the behind the scenes HTML code. Your high rankings can depend on knowing which codes are necessary, and which aren't.
3. Choose keywords wisely
The keywords you think might be perfect for your site may not be what people are actually searching for. To find the optimal keywords for your site, use tools such as WordTracker. Choose two or three highly targeted phrases for each page of your site. Never shoot for general keywords such as "travel" or "vacation."
4. Write at least 200 - 250 words of visible text copy based on your chosen keywords. This is a crucial component to high rankings and a successful Web site. The search engines need to "read" keyword rich copy on your pages so they can successfully classify your site. Use each keyword phrase numerous times within your copy for best results.
5. Create a killer Title tag
HTML title tags are critical because they're given a lot of weight with all of the search engines. You must put your keywords into this tag and not waste space with extra words. Do not use the Title tag to display your company name or to say "Home Page." Think of it more as a "Title Keyword Tag" and create it accordingly. Add your company name to the end of this tag, if you must use it.
6. Create Meaty Meta tags
Meta tags can be valuable, but they are not a magic bullet. Create a Meta Description tag that uses your keywords and also describes your site. The information in this tag often appears under your Title in the search engine results pages.
The Meta Keyword tag isn't quite as important as the Meta Description tag. Contrary to popular belief, what you place in the keyword tag will have very little bearing on what keywords your site is actually found under, and it's not given any consideration whatsoever by Google. Use this tag, but do not obsess over.
7. Use extra "goodies" to boost rankings
Things like headlines, image alt tags, header tags , etc.), links from other pages, keywords in file names, and keywords in hyperlinks can cumulatively boost search engine rankings. Use any or all of these where they make sense for your site.
8. Be careful when submitting to directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory Project (DMOZ). Having directory listings are a key component to getting your site spidered and listed by Google. Making mistakes in the submission process could cost you dearly as directory listings are difficult to change later in the game. Therefore, it's important to read Yahoo's How to Suggest Your Site and How to add a site to the Open Directory before submitting.
9. Don't expect quick results
Getting high rankings takes time; there's no getting around that fact. Once your site is added to a search engine or directory, its ranking may start out low and then slowly work its way up the ladder. Some search engines measure "click-through popularity," i.e., the more people that click on a particular site, the higher its ranking will go. Be patient and give your site time to mature.
10. Don't constantly "tweak" your site for better results
It's best not to make changes to your optimization for at least three-to-six months after submission. It often takes the engines at least that long to add your optimized pages to their databases. Submit it, and then forget about it for a while!
If you've followed these tips and still can't find your site in the engines, the first place to "tweak" would be your page copy. If you added less than 250 words of visible text on your pages, this is probably your culprit. Also, double check your keyword density, and make sure that you only targeted two or three phrases per page. Eventually, you'll see the fruits of your labor with many top ten rankings in Google and the rest of the search engines!
Jill Whalen is an internationally recognized search engine optimization expert, a frequent speaker and workshop presenter, and the owner of HighRankings.com.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Top 10 effective way of getting blog subscribers
This tips is so important that every blogger should follow these. This article will help you a lot for blogging.
Here are 10 specific strategies you can begin to implement today and start getting more blog subscribers right away.
1. Make it easy and obvious
As I’ve said before in more detail, make your subscription options prominent, offer an email alternative to RSS, and ask for the subscription, preferably at the bottom of each post.
2. Be laser focused
Make sure that you are primarily focusing on a particular topic, and the more specialized that topic is, the better you’ll do. It’s also key to step back and evaluate whether there are enough prospective readers in your chosen niche. It’s better to be brutally honest with yourself than to toil away and end up disappointed.
3. Offer a bribeRelax, it’s nothing illegal. It’s an ethical bribe, in the form of a free ebook, report, e-course or audio series. Typically this only works with email subscriptions tied to autoresponders, because you want to condition delivery of the bonus on subscription.
but here’s a nifty way to do it with RSS:If you have a WordPress blog, use the free Feedvertising plugin to link to the download page for your free gift. Since Feedvertising links only show up in the feed (and not in the post), only feed subscribers will see the link and have access to the bonus.
4. Use viral ebooks
This is a spin on the ethical bribe strategy, but instead you let other people give away your PDF ebook or even bundle it for sale with other products. The PDF in turn promotes your blog. Check out this post to see how I bundled my free Viral Copy report with a book that spent several days at the top of the Amazon bestseller list.5. Dedicated subscription landing page
Create a page that is dedicated to nothing more than obtaining a subscription, and drive traffic to it from your blog, AdWords, or really any other source you want. You can even put it on a unique URL, and add in the ethical bribe strategy to increase signups. For more information on doing this with AdWords, read this article, and then this one.6. Become a guest blogger
Contributing content to someone else’s blog may seem crazy, but it’s a solid strategy to gain exposure for your own blog and build your subscriber base. Just make it very clear to the blog owner that you require a very brief byline at the end of the post, with a link back to your site. And make sure it’s original content, not something recycled off of your blog.7. Start a podcast
Start a related podcast on your subject matter, and get it into iTunes and listed in the various podcasting directories. Mention your blog in every episode and the benefits of subscribing, and try to land some interviews with prominent players in your niche. Not only will you be opening up a new promotional channel, you’re also creating bonus content that can be reused as part of your ethical bribe campaign for new subscribers.8. Post in forums
A tried and true technique since the earliest days of the Internet is to be a helpful, proactive participant in forums that are important in your niche. People will notice that you are offering yourself up to others, and will be more inclined to see what else you have to offer with your blog.9. Networking
This is perhaps the most overlooked strategy for gaining traffic and subscribers. Don’t badger other bloggers for links, because it rarely works anymore. Find a way to help them with something, and then eventually work that initial graciousness into a business relationship and even friendship. There are real people behind these blogs, and they respond to good will just like people do offline.10. Cross-promotional deals
Here’s another cool way to make use of the Feedvertising plugin for WordPress.Find a blogger that publishes related, but non-competitive content. Work out a deal where you both promote each other in your RSS feeds, using Feedvertising. If one blog has way more subscribers than the other, work out a ratio deal. Since Feedvertising allows you to create up to six rotating links, the smaller blog would promote the other blog continuously, while the larger blog would reserve one slot for the smaller blog, and use the other slots for other cross-promotion deals, affiliate links, or sponsor ads.
So there you have it, with one additional word of caution.
All of the above presupposes that you are producing the best content you can. If you honestly cannot say that you are doing your best work content-wise, start there. But afterwards, using some or all of the above will definitely increase your subscriber count.This article is originated from:http://www.copyblogger.com/10-effective-ways-to-get-more-blog-subscribers/
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