There are many businesses that can be developed from home and operated out of your home. The trick is to select one that will be compatible with your home situation, your skill set and a home business that will generate sufficient income to support the lifestyle that you are looking for. We will examine a few of the lifestyle changes that you may want to consider for work at home businesses in this article.
The vast majority of people leave their homes every day to go to an office or some other location to work for the day. They fall into the routine of facing traffic, going to their place of work, chatting with colleagues, lunch with co-workers, coffee breaks and then heading home after work at the same time every day. Their pay check arrives every two weeks and their benefits are included as part of their salary. After 10 years, 15 years even 30 years, this routine has become pretty comfortable and the thought of not going to work is abhorrent.
Unfortunately many companies have laid off thousands of people in the past few years, downsizing, right sizing, mergers, bankruptcies, etc. Whatever the reason more and more people are having their lives disrupted, the comfort zone disappears and they are faced with a significant lifestyle change. This also presents an opportunity as well for these same people to work at home and start their own home business.
There will be adjustments and you may have to work harder than you have ever worked before, as you launch your home based business and build it up to something that not only you can be proud of, but it also generates the income you require for the lifestyle that you want to lead.
The trip to your office may be down the stairs to your home office, coffee breaks are gone and relaxed casual one hour lunches are replaced by fifteen minutes of snatched time, however you do not need to face the traffic every morning and your costs for work are reduced. If you're the type that needs the interaction with colleagues, you may want to set up regular coffee breaks or meetings every week, however your main focus and challenge is now to operate and build your own business.
Over the years of working for an employer you have acquired many skills that you may have taken for granted. Use these skills now to build your own home business. These skills may include a wide scope, everything from how to build or repair something to organization, presentation, selling, writing, computer related skills and on and on. Evaluate these skill sets and put them to excellent use as you develop and build your home business, while managing the lifestyle changes that you are going through!
Article Source: www.superfeature.com
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
9 Steps To Create a 'Winning' Home Business
Why are some web sites successful, while others are not? Your web site will either break the bank...making hundreds, thousands or it will leave you broke with empty promises. You ask yourself, "how can I capture my visitors' attention, so they can immediately buy from me?" Think about it....you have at least between 10-30 seconds to grab their attention as they are reading through your web site. Your home business site is a reflection of YOU! Since they cannot see you face-to-face, be honest and truthful....and they'll come to visit your site again and again until you make a sale.
These are basic steps of making your home business site a complete WINNER.
1. Make sure your web site is easy to open. No one wants a site that is too slow to open. Your visitors will soon become too impatience and then decide to forget about your site, which leaves you with no possible sale. It makes sense by not having too many animation in your web site and also, you must get a good hosting company too.
2. The design of your web site is extremely important because it has to be comfortable to look at. The color of your site needs to be pleasing to the eye....making it easier to read. Never use bright colors as it will turn your visitors away. Remember, our eyes may get sensitive when staring at the computer for many hours.
3. Be certain that your web site is targeting a specific market. For instance, if you are selling apparel clothing then you need to provide valuable informations about apparel clothing. Let them know about the latest fashion trends, hot styles or perhaps what celebrities are wearing. Also, create a grabbing, effective title for your web site because your title will heighten their curiousity. They'll want to learn more about what you have to offer, so be consistent and to the point.
4. Remember, your web site should contain as many keywords density because this will help your site in search engines. If your business is about having a home based business or Internet marketing, then emphasize your business by using as much keywords. You need to realize that 90% of web surfers are searching in the search engines by typing their specific keywords. So, remember to put your keywords in your title page and description in your web site.
5. Visitors definitely want easy navigation to your web site. This allows them to find whatever information about your product and will surely help them narrow down their choices. So, make sure your web site provides easy access when they are searching or looking through your web site.
6. Having your own domain name for your business lets visitors know that you are the owner of your home business. This adds professionalism to your web site. This gives visitors more reasons to do business with you. It's like having your own private label name on designer clothes.
7. Visitors like to read about testimonials of other people who has purchased your product. This will give more value and truth to your product. Remember, people are searching a solution to solve their problem. Let them know your business is not a get-rich scheme.
8. Make sure your web site provide easy payment online. If you don't, then get a merchant account that allows you to accept credit cards (i.e. Paypal Premier acct.). If your customers don't have a credit card, then give them an option to send a check or money order to your business mailing address.
9. Credibility on your web site is absolutely a must! Remember, your web site has to be very professional, otherwise they will not trust you at all. Customers are looking for an honest, home business they can trust for many years to come. They are spending their hard earned dollors in your product and YOU. So, always be sure to have your contact name, address, phone number and an email if your customers have any question about your product.
Because you've decided to have a home business, these simple steps will help your web site be on a WINNER'S list. It takes time, patience and persistence in your part to build a successful home business. It's almost like nurturing it...and seeing your business blossom to its full potential. You will see the improvement of your web site due to increase sales and incoming traffic. Besides, you will be following your dreams to success and living the lifestyle you deserve.
Copyright (c) 2006 Tessie Jantoc
Article Source: www.superfeature.com
These are basic steps of making your home business site a complete WINNER.
1. Make sure your web site is easy to open. No one wants a site that is too slow to open. Your visitors will soon become too impatience and then decide to forget about your site, which leaves you with no possible sale. It makes sense by not having too many animation in your web site and also, you must get a good hosting company too.
2. The design of your web site is extremely important because it has to be comfortable to look at. The color of your site needs to be pleasing to the eye....making it easier to read. Never use bright colors as it will turn your visitors away. Remember, our eyes may get sensitive when staring at the computer for many hours.
3. Be certain that your web site is targeting a specific market. For instance, if you are selling apparel clothing then you need to provide valuable informations about apparel clothing. Let them know about the latest fashion trends, hot styles or perhaps what celebrities are wearing. Also, create a grabbing, effective title for your web site because your title will heighten their curiousity. They'll want to learn more about what you have to offer, so be consistent and to the point.
4. Remember, your web site should contain as many keywords density because this will help your site in search engines. If your business is about having a home based business or Internet marketing, then emphasize your business by using as much keywords. You need to realize that 90% of web surfers are searching in the search engines by typing their specific keywords. So, remember to put your keywords in your title page and description in your web site.
5. Visitors definitely want easy navigation to your web site. This allows them to find whatever information about your product and will surely help them narrow down their choices. So, make sure your web site provides easy access when they are searching or looking through your web site.
6. Having your own domain name for your business lets visitors know that you are the owner of your home business. This adds professionalism to your web site. This gives visitors more reasons to do business with you. It's like having your own private label name on designer clothes.
7. Visitors like to read about testimonials of other people who has purchased your product. This will give more value and truth to your product. Remember, people are searching a solution to solve their problem. Let them know your business is not a get-rich scheme.
8. Make sure your web site provide easy payment online. If you don't, then get a merchant account that allows you to accept credit cards (i.e. Paypal Premier acct.). If your customers don't have a credit card, then give them an option to send a check or money order to your business mailing address.
9. Credibility on your web site is absolutely a must! Remember, your web site has to be very professional, otherwise they will not trust you at all. Customers are looking for an honest, home business they can trust for many years to come. They are spending their hard earned dollors in your product and YOU. So, always be sure to have your contact name, address, phone number and an email if your customers have any question about your product.
Because you've decided to have a home business, these simple steps will help your web site be on a WINNER'S list. It takes time, patience and persistence in your part to build a successful home business. It's almost like nurturing it...and seeing your business blossom to its full potential. You will see the improvement of your web site due to increase sales and incoming traffic. Besides, you will be following your dreams to success and living the lifestyle you deserve.
Copyright (c) 2006 Tessie Jantoc
Article Source: www.superfeature.com
10 Ways eBay Sellers Can Avoid Negative Feedback.
Your eBay feedback is your biggest eBay selling tool bar none. If you have bad eBay feedback you will struggle to make sales and your eBay business will suffer. Therefore you must protect your eBay feedback as much as possible. Here are 10 tips that will help you maintain an excellent feedback rating.
1. Always be polite in all correspondence. This goes without saying, always treat your customers with respect and give them a pleasant buying experience. By doing so you may gain a customer for life.
2. Avoid excessive shipping charges. If you charge $10 shipping for an item and the cost is only $3 you are leaving yourself open to negative feedback.
3. Mail your items as soon as possible. Don't wait till the end of the week. Taking too long to deliver your goods means you are risking your feedback. You should always aim to have items packaged and sent within 48 hours of payment.
4. Make sure your item description is accurate. Don't say your item is as good as new if it's not. This is probably the most common reason for negative feedback.
5. Answer emails promptly. Don't wait days and days to answer any queries. This only makes your customer frustrated and this can result in a negative comment.
6. List any flaws your item has. If the item you are selling has a scratch or mark say so or you could be left a negative comment for a poor item description.
7. Don't retaliate to awkward customers. Sometimes you may get an awkward or offensive customer, that's life. Don't retaliate, just deal with their query in a polite and professional manner. This usually ends in the customer apologising and excellent feedback follows.
8. Accept returns. If a customer is not happy with your product for whatever reason allow them to return the item and refund their purchase minus shipping fees. You can then cancel the transaction through eBay and you will get your fees returned and therefore wont be out of pocket. This leaves you free to relist the item with your feedback intact.
9. Package your items carefully. If you are selling delicate items make sure they are packaged carefully with plenty of protection, the last thing you want is your customer to receive damaged goods.
10. Don't leave feedback first. If you do you are leaving yourself open to negative comments. A happy customer will always leave feedback first, if you leave feedback first you will learn the hard way, trust me.Remember! Your customer is a real living person. I think sometimes people forget this, try to make the whole buying experience as easy and pleasant as possible. Your customers are the lifeblood of your eBay business and your number one goal should be to make them happy. This can only result in excellent feedback and in turn success for your eBay business.
Article Source : www.superfeature.com
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
5 Ways a Website Can Help Your Business
A business website isn't just another gimmick or tool that you have in your business arsenal anymore – it's a necessity in order to compete. If you're still holding back from getting on the Internet, you're doing yourself and your business a disservice. Here are the five ways that your website could be helping you:
1. A website can reach more people – Because your website will never be closed or gone for a holiday, you can be up and running, giving your customers information at all times of the day and night. This allows customers to browse your selection of goods and services at their leisure.
2. A website can boost your sales –It's very simple for shoppers to purchase exactly what they're looking for. Having a website also allows you to suggest additional products that they may be interested in as back end purchases or up sells.
A website generally allows customers to be repeat customers without much hassle. Imagine logging on, clicking on the items you need and you're done. Sales skyrocket.
4. A website allows you to be where your customers are – Because more than 25% of all people have shopped online at one point or another, you need to start being where your customers are… online! More people are looking to the Internet to avoid the lines, the parking, and the hassle of traditional shopping.
Customers like shopping on the Internet, so you need to be ready for them to look for and find you. Your site needs to be found for local internet searches as well as general industry searches.
5. It's an inexpensive way to boost sales – Having a website is one of the absolute best marketing tools you'll ever invest in. There are many options for building a website. Keep one thing in mind- cheap hosting typically does little to drive traffic to your site.
Without traffic, you have no business. Do a little research to find the best hosting company for the best price. Contact me to see who I use and recommend.
Whether you build a website yourself or hire someone like me to do it for you, you're priority should always be on landing in the top of the search engines. Everything you do should please 2 target groups: your site visitors and the search engines.
These 5 ways that a website can help your business are well known, but very few entrepreneurs have actually figured out how to make the Internet work for them and their business. Be different. Make smart and educated business decisions and a website can be the best investment you've ever made.
Article Source: www.superfeature.com
1. A website can reach more people – Because your website will never be closed or gone for a holiday, you can be up and running, giving your customers information at all times of the day and night. This allows customers to browse your selection of goods and services at their leisure.
2. A website can boost your sales –It's very simple for shoppers to purchase exactly what they're looking for. Having a website also allows you to suggest additional products that they may be interested in as back end purchases or up sells.
A website generally allows customers to be repeat customers without much hassle. Imagine logging on, clicking on the items you need and you're done. Sales skyrocket.
4. A website allows you to be where your customers are – Because more than 25% of all people have shopped online at one point or another, you need to start being where your customers are… online! More people are looking to the Internet to avoid the lines, the parking, and the hassle of traditional shopping.
Customers like shopping on the Internet, so you need to be ready for them to look for and find you. Your site needs to be found for local internet searches as well as general industry searches.
5. It's an inexpensive way to boost sales – Having a website is one of the absolute best marketing tools you'll ever invest in. There are many options for building a website. Keep one thing in mind- cheap hosting typically does little to drive traffic to your site.
Without traffic, you have no business. Do a little research to find the best hosting company for the best price. Contact me to see who I use and recommend.
Whether you build a website yourself or hire someone like me to do it for you, you're priority should always be on landing in the top of the search engines. Everything you do should please 2 target groups: your site visitors and the search engines.
These 5 ways that a website can help your business are well known, but very few entrepreneurs have actually figured out how to make the Internet work for them and their business. Be different. Make smart and educated business decisions and a website can be the best investment you've ever made.
Article Source: www.superfeature.com
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Starting an Online Business? 6 Must Have Features That Your Hosting Company Should Provide for Free
In a recent study, 72% of Americans expressed interest in starting their own online business. Are you one of those folks? If so, I have some valuable secrets to share with you.
One of the first issues you will address as an online business owner is selecting your hosting company. A hosting company charges you a monthly or yearly fee in exchange for allowing the world to “see” your site online. You cannot create your online business without a hosting company. Choosing a hosting company can be extremely tricky and challenging to beginners and experts alike.
During your search for a hosting company be sure each feature listed below is included. These features are crucial to running a successful online business. With growing technology you need a smart, efficient, low cost hosting program that delivers results. Do not pay extra for these features!
Here are 6 must-have features that your hosting company should provide to you- for free!
1) Complete Traffic Analysis- You need to know how your visitors are finding you. Many hosting companies provide a below par traffic analyzer. You should know what keywords yielded visitors, what search engines referred visitors, what websites referred visitors, how many unique visitors you receive each day/month, what country your visitors are from, what page your visitor entered/exited your site, how many times each page on your site was viewed and more.
All of these traffic analysis features should come included in the cost of hosting.
2) Search Engine Optimization- Each webpage of your online business should be optimized for search engines. You have a few choices for optimizing your pages: learn how to do it yourself, pay a professional or use your hosting company’s free optimizer tool.
Learning how to optimize web pages is a long and boring process. If you are a serious online business owner, then you will not have time to learn the SEO (search engine submission) process.
Paying a professional is expensive. There’s not much more to say about it!
I’d save your time and money by allowing your hosting company’s tool to optimize pages for you. This feature is crucial to ranking well at search engines. This tool should be included in the final monthly or yearly hosting fee.
3) Search Engine Submission- Your online business must be seen! There are 3 major search engines: Google, Yahoo and MSN. There are several smaller engines that are also worth mentioning. Every single page of your website should be submitted to all search engines.
The problem here is time. Who has time to read through search engine submission guidelines? Again you have the option to pay a professional, do the process yourself, or have your hosting company do it for free.
Your hosting company should automatically submit each and every webpage to all major search engines. It should submit each page upon its creation and upon making any changes. Your hosting company’s submission program should submit your site and pages within each search engine’s submission policies.
This feature should be free and included in the monthly or yearly hosting fee!
4) Newsletter- This one is often overlooked. There are many third party newsletter providers, but why pay the additional fee when your hosting company can provide the tool for no cost at all?
Be sure the hosting company follows anti-SPAM guidelines, and be sure that you have the ability to create, edit and send emails to your list at your convenience. Lastly, you need to know the statistics of your mailings. You need to know how many people opened the email, how many emails were rejected, how may people, if any, reported you for Spamming, etc.
5) RSS and Blogging Capability- This feature is blossoming as you read this article. The future of online businesses may very well rest in the hands of RSS and blogging. This tool allows people to keep in touch with your online business. Many people do not want to sign up for newsletters for fear of Spam. This is their answer.
Many people know have RSS readers. Your site visitors should be able to sign up for your RSS feed or blog to keep in touch with updates, news, specials and more. This feature should be free from your hosting provider!
6) Friendly, Business-Oriented Help Forums- There is a difference between a remote help desk and forums. These days forums are infested with cranky folks chasing the next black hat trick or trying to sell you a tool you do not need.
Your hosting company should have free and friendly help forums where other online business owners can meet, network and discuss online business issues. This may seem like a feature you can overlook, but I urge you not to.
Successful online business owners know the impact of fast, reliable help. There’s nothing worse than feeling alone and confused about online businesses. A forum filled with success-minded folks is a true gem.
These 6 must-have tools and features should all be free. Each and every one has proved invaluable to my online business success. Should you have any questions or need assistance in selecting the proper hosting company for your online business, please feel free to contact me.
Your success depends on you, your tools, and your budget! Nuture all three to the fullest and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Best of luck!
Copyright 2006 Lynn VanDyke
Article Source:www.superfeature.com
One of the first issues you will address as an online business owner is selecting your hosting company. A hosting company charges you a monthly or yearly fee in exchange for allowing the world to “see” your site online. You cannot create your online business without a hosting company. Choosing a hosting company can be extremely tricky and challenging to beginners and experts alike.
During your search for a hosting company be sure each feature listed below is included. These features are crucial to running a successful online business. With growing technology you need a smart, efficient, low cost hosting program that delivers results. Do not pay extra for these features!
Here are 6 must-have features that your hosting company should provide to you- for free!
1) Complete Traffic Analysis- You need to know how your visitors are finding you. Many hosting companies provide a below par traffic analyzer. You should know what keywords yielded visitors, what search engines referred visitors, what websites referred visitors, how many unique visitors you receive each day/month, what country your visitors are from, what page your visitor entered/exited your site, how many times each page on your site was viewed and more.
All of these traffic analysis features should come included in the cost of hosting.
2) Search Engine Optimization- Each webpage of your online business should be optimized for search engines. You have a few choices for optimizing your pages: learn how to do it yourself, pay a professional or use your hosting company’s free optimizer tool.
Learning how to optimize web pages is a long and boring process. If you are a serious online business owner, then you will not have time to learn the SEO (search engine submission) process.
Paying a professional is expensive. There’s not much more to say about it!
I’d save your time and money by allowing your hosting company’s tool to optimize pages for you. This feature is crucial to ranking well at search engines. This tool should be included in the final monthly or yearly hosting fee.
3) Search Engine Submission- Your online business must be seen! There are 3 major search engines: Google, Yahoo and MSN. There are several smaller engines that are also worth mentioning. Every single page of your website should be submitted to all search engines.
The problem here is time. Who has time to read through search engine submission guidelines? Again you have the option to pay a professional, do the process yourself, or have your hosting company do it for free.
Your hosting company should automatically submit each and every webpage to all major search engines. It should submit each page upon its creation and upon making any changes. Your hosting company’s submission program should submit your site and pages within each search engine’s submission policies.
This feature should be free and included in the monthly or yearly hosting fee!
4) Newsletter- This one is often overlooked. There are many third party newsletter providers, but why pay the additional fee when your hosting company can provide the tool for no cost at all?
Be sure the hosting company follows anti-SPAM guidelines, and be sure that you have the ability to create, edit and send emails to your list at your convenience. Lastly, you need to know the statistics of your mailings. You need to know how many people opened the email, how many emails were rejected, how may people, if any, reported you for Spamming, etc.
5) RSS and Blogging Capability- This feature is blossoming as you read this article. The future of online businesses may very well rest in the hands of RSS and blogging. This tool allows people to keep in touch with your online business. Many people do not want to sign up for newsletters for fear of Spam. This is their answer.
Many people know have RSS readers. Your site visitors should be able to sign up for your RSS feed or blog to keep in touch with updates, news, specials and more. This feature should be free from your hosting provider!
6) Friendly, Business-Oriented Help Forums- There is a difference between a remote help desk and forums. These days forums are infested with cranky folks chasing the next black hat trick or trying to sell you a tool you do not need.
Your hosting company should have free and friendly help forums where other online business owners can meet, network and discuss online business issues. This may seem like a feature you can overlook, but I urge you not to.
Successful online business owners know the impact of fast, reliable help. There’s nothing worse than feeling alone and confused about online businesses. A forum filled with success-minded folks is a true gem.
These 6 must-have tools and features should all be free. Each and every one has proved invaluable to my online business success. Should you have any questions or need assistance in selecting the proper hosting company for your online business, please feel free to contact me.
Your success depends on you, your tools, and your budget! Nuture all three to the fullest and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Best of luck!
Copyright 2006 Lynn VanDyke
Article Source:www.superfeature.com
E-Commerce, Put your business on Internet for success.
If your business is not on the Internet, it is not doing as well as it could. In today’s day and age, if you are not advertising on the Internet, you are losing a significant amount of business.
You advertise your business in local newspapers, local television and even local radio. That is good. You are getting enough business to keep you afloat. You may receive inquiries from the surrounding cities, or even the bordering states, and that is great.
What if you could attract business from another country?
When you finally decide to take advantage of technology, the Internet is an incredible universe of its own.
When you create a Website, and starting an e-commerce trade, you are opening your business to a whole new world.
Businesses that would not know that you exist are now able to view your website, research your services and contact you with any questions.
By taking advantage of the Internet, you are allowing your business to grow in ways that it could not if you were to advertise with conventional methods.
In recent years, the E-commerce trades as raised a steady twenty-five every year, and experts feel that this trend will continue. When you finally decide to take the plunge and get your business started on the Internet, there are a few steps that you should take before starting. This will be a nerve wrecking, nail biting point in the growth of your business.
There are steps to take before jumping in. As with any new venture, do a lot of research. Find out what the statistics and trends are for your type of business.
Make sure that your products or services are available as soon as your Website goes live. You want to have everything ready to ship as soon as you get an order. If a client feels that they have received exceptional treatment, your business will experience repeat business.
After your website is created and goes live, there is more to do. Advertising your business in the right manner is crucial. Joining E-commerce organizations and associations, can give your business the boost it needs. These are groups of business owners just like you who want to advertise their businesses.
When you join these organizations and associations you are agreeing to their rules and terms. Most have very strict rules of conduct, and once established, Potential clients will find you through them. Remember, if you are debating whether or not to go forward and start an E-commerce Trade, your competitors are taking advantage of the Internet.
For everyday that you procrastinate, your competitors will take full advantage of all that the Internet has to offer. If you are not familiar with the “Do’s and Don’ts” of the Internet, have no fear. A simple search of the Internet will yield Thousands perhaps millions of companies who will explain to you the benefits of an online business. They will assist you in creating and maintaining an online business that will raise your standard of living.
Copyright 2006 Patrick Tremblay
Article Source : www.superfeature.com
You advertise your business in local newspapers, local television and even local radio. That is good. You are getting enough business to keep you afloat. You may receive inquiries from the surrounding cities, or even the bordering states, and that is great.
What if you could attract business from another country?
When you finally decide to take advantage of technology, the Internet is an incredible universe of its own.
When you create a Website, and starting an e-commerce trade, you are opening your business to a whole new world.
Businesses that would not know that you exist are now able to view your website, research your services and contact you with any questions.
By taking advantage of the Internet, you are allowing your business to grow in ways that it could not if you were to advertise with conventional methods.
In recent years, the E-commerce trades as raised a steady twenty-five every year, and experts feel that this trend will continue. When you finally decide to take the plunge and get your business started on the Internet, there are a few steps that you should take before starting. This will be a nerve wrecking, nail biting point in the growth of your business.
There are steps to take before jumping in. As with any new venture, do a lot of research. Find out what the statistics and trends are for your type of business.
Make sure that your products or services are available as soon as your Website goes live. You want to have everything ready to ship as soon as you get an order. If a client feels that they have received exceptional treatment, your business will experience repeat business.
After your website is created and goes live, there is more to do. Advertising your business in the right manner is crucial. Joining E-commerce organizations and associations, can give your business the boost it needs. These are groups of business owners just like you who want to advertise their businesses.
When you join these organizations and associations you are agreeing to their rules and terms. Most have very strict rules of conduct, and once established, Potential clients will find you through them. Remember, if you are debating whether or not to go forward and start an E-commerce Trade, your competitors are taking advantage of the Internet.
For everyday that you procrastinate, your competitors will take full advantage of all that the Internet has to offer. If you are not familiar with the “Do’s and Don’ts” of the Internet, have no fear. A simple search of the Internet will yield Thousands perhaps millions of companies who will explain to you the benefits of an online business. They will assist you in creating and maintaining an online business that will raise your standard of living.
Copyright 2006 Patrick Tremblay
Article Source : www.superfeature.com
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