Home Business - Part 3

Archive for the 'Home Business' Category

Great Customer Service From Smaller Businesses

Saturday, May 10th, 2008

Many small business owners do not know where to start when it comes to customer service. While you may have no direct experience with customer support, or maybe some, the best thing you can do for your small business is provide excellent customer service, and being a small business owner your ability to provide customer support is far easier than that of a big company. When it comes to providing excellent customer support you need to remember a few things.

The first thing to remember is to treat people how you like to be treated yourself. You know what it’s like when you call a big company with a service issue, you get put on hold and after some time you get the feeling that the individual you are dealing with does not really like their job. As a small business owner you will not have that problem.

You’ll soon discover that one of the things that is typically seen as a mark against small business, that is, the smallness of your organization is actually one of your great strengths when it comes to customer service. While you’ll never get to hide behind the blanket of ‘company policy’ you will actually be able to offer the person on the other end of the line real solutions that have all been approved by the company CEO, that is, you! You’ll find that when a customer can constantly deal with a single person, or even a very small group of people that he or she will start enjoying the personal attention and the ability to really communicate with the people who are doing the work.

Customer service is not as difficult as many people would have you believe. A lot of customer service involves simply communicating with your customers about where there orders are and when they will be delivered, or often times they may want to make some late changes, or add more to their order. All of this in general is positive. In actual fact you will find the majority of customer service issues are positive, and very few people get mean. When dealing with your customers, be adaptable and listen to their needs. Always try and remember your customer’s details, this way you will keep them happy.

Never give up on providing your customers with good service; sure you may not be able to do this around the clock, as you may not have the resources to do so. However when the doors are open you need to provide the best service you can, and when you do your customers will thank you for it by doing more business with you.

68% of people will quit doing business with companies that have poor customer service! Discover how to give great customer service - learn the keys to good customer service at http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Give-Great-Customer-Service

- Kale McClelland

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5 Small Business Customer Service Tips

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

As a small business, you are always looking for ways to set yourself apart from the larger players in your industry. The good news is that smaller businesses have the flexibility to do things their larger competitors could never accomplish. If you can play to your strengths, you stand to gain a loyal and growing customer base. Keep reading for some tips on how to maximize your potential as a small business.

1.See your customers as individuals Just like you and your company, your customers are individuals, and for a small business, there is absolutely no profit in treating them as part of a massive herd. Chances are, you don’t even have a massive herd of customers yet! Greet your customers by name and make sure that they know how important they are to you. Remember their preferences; keep notes if necessary. Remember that the more you remember them, the more they’ll remember you!

2.Follow up. Customers are allowed to drop the ball, but as the business person in question, you are not allowed to! If they said that they’d call but didn’t, give them a ring if you have their number. Even sending a gentle e-mail reminder will be a great deal better than simply letting a deal fall away. Chances are, they are simply busy and forgot, but it is in your best interests to remind them that you and your services exist.

3.Discounts You don’t need to get drastic with discounts and get to the point where you cut into your bottom line, yet you should figure out what is in demand among your customers and find a way to get it to them at a favorable price. The items you sell the most of are your best bets for this; you will likely make up the difference in volume, and your customers will appreciate and remember you for it. Consider keeping a preferred customer list for the purpose of discounts.

4.Admit your mistakes One thing that many larger companies refuse to do is admit when they have been wrong or have made a mistake. If you have been wrong or made a mistake, own up to it at once, even if the customer doesn’t know it yet. If he or she finds out about it on their own, you’ll find that it looks much worse; it’ll look like you’re trying to hide something, and even if you have not been, it’ll cement a picture in their mind of you as being dishonest and untrustworthy.

5.Don’t be afraid to answer the phone As a business owner, it creates confidence in your customers by being available to take their calls rather than pass it off to an employee. It shows them that they are valued enough to be put right through to the person in charge. If they have concerns, address them and do whatever possible to remedy the situation. This will create you great word of mouth recommendations and build customer loyalty.

Did you know that 68% of people will quit doing business with companies that have poor customer service? Learn the keys to good customer service - get effective customer service tips at http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Give-Great-Customer-Service

- Kale McClelland

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Web 2.0 Marketing Basics

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

If Web 1.0 was all about chatrooms, tacky banner exchanges and cute emoticons, Web 2.0 is all about social networking, interactivity and user-generated content. So which sites are the icons of Web 2.0? Well, social networking websites (FaceBook, MySpace, Bebo, etc.), social bookmarking sites (Digg, Del.icio.us, etc.) and, of course, the grand daddy of user-provided information, Wikipedia, are a few examples of the new icons of the Web 2.0 universe.

Savvy Internet marketers look at the new social interactivity as a dynamo of solid traffic. Using a 2.0 platform guarantees interactivity, community and a stream of visitors looking to buzz backlink and comment on what’s going on in the Web 2.0 universe. Through word-of-mouth, email and traditional publicity, people are flocking to sites that perpetuate the feeling that they are important. While all this traffic is terrific, getting the snowball rolling can prove a bit daunting at first.

Is it as easy as it seems?

Well, in actuality, the answer is a resounding NO! Web 2.0 marketing requires time, effort and commitment that previous web tactics barely touched. There has to be a lot of time for learning, implementing and tweaking what will hopefully turn into a successful campaign.

1. First, your website will need to look chic and have quality content that informs and entertains. It must build a feeling of credibility in the person reporting, and it must be easy to read.

2. People hang around social networking websites to kill time, not to buy stuff. So, if you have to divert them to your websites you must use killer tools (entertaining videos, games, audios, commentary, etc.) that will hook them up instantly. You cannot hoist a sales pitch on a Web 2.0 site! You have to be innovative and plant some cool entertaining content if you want to attract them to your website.

3. You shouldn’t approach your Web 2.0 marketing campaign in a half-hearted manner. If you have decided to go the whole hog, then you must put in a whole lot of time and effort to plug in informative-cum-entertaining content, and finally you can leave a small link in your signature that links to your website.

4. Web 2.0 websites are designed for you to interact with people. It is not there for you to sell. You must be expert, able to answer questions and put up posts that both entertain and inform. You are building rapport, not making sales. Any other thought will stop you dead in the water.

5. You shouldn’t expect Web 2.0 marketing to draw traffic automatically to your site the way pay per click campaigns operate. It doesn’t work like that as you are not paying for people to read your stuff.

6. You don’t want to start Web 2.0 marketing when your site is just starting or if the site is mediocre and sales are just average. Web 2.0 marketing techniques are good for established, working sites. Marketing this way needs to happen when you have a decent amount of content to offer arriving visitors.

These were the fundamental principles of Web 2.0 marketing. Go for it!

Marketing on the internet is not as difficult as you may think. Find legitimate ways to make money online, or how to increase website traffic at http://www.nitromarketing.com/blog

- Kale McClelland

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{Looking Towards Getting Website Traffic|

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

If you are looking to get more traffic to your website, there are many different ways that you can make this happen. The best website on all if the internet will be of no use to you if you cannot get anyone to visit it. No matter how good your site is, there is one thing you need - traffic. It can be harder than you might think to get visitors to your site. It is well worth finding out anything you can that will help you get more traffic; especially of interest is what your competition is doing to drive web traffic.

1. Link building

Link building is simply the process of getting others to link to your website. This helps your site in a few ways. One, it is a process of networking. People are more likely to visit your site when it is linked from a site they already visit. Secondly, search engines rank websites based on many factors, including link popularity (a measure of how many sites link to yours). The higher this number, e.g. the more websites out there which link back to yours, the higher your website will place in search engine results. Submitting articles which contain links to your website to directories are one good way to both greatluy increase your link popularity and to drive traffic to your site.

2. Pay per click advertising

This is placing a ad on a website whose content is somehow relevant to the content of yours. This ad is inherently targeted, as those most likely to see it are those already interested in what you have to offer. You pay a very small charge every time someone clicks on that ads link to your website; the advantage over traditional advertising is that you only pay when your advertisement is actually bringing traffic to your site! This can be useful as a testing ground to find which ads are the most effective, as well as finding out more about keyword searches.

3. Good keyword optimization

When people use Google, they are searching using keywords, and as someone who wants to ring people to your site, you need to start thinking about what keywords they would be using to find your business. You’ll find that there is a lot of business that goes into finding out the best keywords for any given business, and that there are companies that will help you figure out which ones are the best for you.

4. Article writing

Article writing is used by many to get traffic to their websites. It can be a very effective method, which is why it is in heavy use these days. Well written articles will place an image in the mind of readers of you as an expert in your field; and this will also bring you repeat traffic, meaning much better search rankings for your website. Informative, entertaining writing can do more than almost anything else to drive traffic to your site. People go to the internet looking for information; provide it to them and you will quickly build an audience.

Marketing on the internet is not as difficult as you may think. Find legitimate ways to make money online, or how to increase your website traffic at http://www.nitromarketing.com/blog

- Kale McClelland

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The Most Important Skill To Have In Internet Marketing

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

If you are in a position where you want to bring more people to your website or you are simply looking to bring more attention to your product or services in general, you will need to take a look and see what copywriting can do for you. The ability to write good, clear copy is something that will bring both customers and investors to your website, and you’ll find that unless you have exactly that, your business will suffer. Take some time to think about copywriting, specifically as it pertains to search engine optimization, and you’ll soon realize exactly why it is so important.

The first thing to think about is the importance of writing as it pertains to your customers. We have all heard the phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ but you need to remember that that picture needs to be backed up words. Perhaps it will take a thousand words, or maybe it will only take fifty words, but you’ll find that the amount of time and quality that you put into your copywriting directly proportional to the attention and the business that you are getting.

One reason being able to write good copy for an internet based business is to build yourself up as an authority in your particular field. Words, after all convey information. When people see the printed word, they automatically assume that they can learn something from these words. Many people automatically begin reading whenever they run across printed material, even without thinking. Contrast this with A/V (audio/video) presentations, where people have to do something to receive the message; e.g. click or download. Well written copy captures and retains the interest of passers by.

Today, with the importance of the internet, we are finding that there is an extremely large niche when it comes to well-crafted, search engine optimization copywriting. SEO copywriting, as it is frequently called, plays the important part of bringing people to your website through the use of words that can be searched by websites like Google or Yahoo. Given the fact that an overwhelming 90 percent of purchases online are made directly after the use of a search engine of some sort, you’ll find that writing good copy is vital.

Further, when you start thinking of copywriting, remember that you will need to make judicious use of headlines. Your headlines can be easily summed up as your topic headers, and whether you are outlining the benefits of your product or the the advantages that you have over other services, the key is to create engaging headlines that will keep people reading down the page. Good copywriting, at every turn, will tell people what the benefits are of using your service over everyone else’s.

Consider what some high quality copywriting could mean for your business. You are sure to decide that this can be a large part of your advertising campaign, and is certain to increase business for you.

Learn tips for marketing an online business, or how to start a home based internet business. Visit the website marketing tips blog at http://www.nitromarketing.com/blog

- Kale McClelland

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Ebooks With Resale Rights - Understanding The Terms

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

ebooks are basically electronic books, most commonly in PDF format that you can download directly on to your computer. You can find a variety of these books ranging from fiction to business. It is an emerging new trend and many people are appreciating the fact that they are easily accessible. Once you download what is required, you can read it at your leisure and they are comparatively easy to read.

ebooks with resale rights offers you the possibility to earn sizeable online profits without a great deal of work. In fact the product development has already been done and all you have to do is, to market it. ebooks with resale rights can be purchased in two different ways, the most commonly used form of ebook resale right is called a simple resell rights that allows you to sell the product and make a profit. This form is usually inexpensive to purchase and you cannot claim the product as your own or alter it in any way.

The biggest benefit of simple resell rights over an affiliate program is any profits you make are yours alone. But without the tools and resources of a experienced affiliate, the disadvantage is that you may have to create a marketing strategy from the ground up.

It is necessary to understand the conditions related to the resell rights that you buy. You can give off some ebooks with resale rights without taking any charge while others have a certain specific selling price. Be very attentive and cautious while reading the terms as there may be some restrictions or other terms included that are required to distribute the product.

Spending more time in researching about the demand for a certain product is more likely important before purchasing your ebook with resale rights package. See to it how many people are searching the information about your ebook? Is there any competition? Or is the product good or not? Quality of course is important to a certain product before trying to introduce it. With people trying to make an easy buck on poor quality ebooks then it turned rubbish on the internet.

If you understand the terms properly, surf the net to find the popular ebook and provide nice quality, you can surely earn profits through the sale of an ebook with resale rights. Many sites are available that offers a record of ebooks for sale and thus help you to determine your requirement.

Edson Buchanan invites you to check the weekly low cost “Resale Rights” or private Label rights product available at http://www.infoprofitweekly.com Most of these weekly deals can be sold, used as bonuses or a list building incentive. Go to http://www.infoprofitweekly.com today to start increasing your online profits.

- Edson Buchanan

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Starting A Home Based Business

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

The proliferation of internet usage in the average home has made a lot of things possible, largely in the fields of data exchange and social networking. But the biggest impact of the internet explosion has been in the business world. Almost every business now has some sort of online presence; and many find themselves working almost exclusively over the web. An internet based business has one obvious advantage over traditional businesses: low overhead. Many are even starting their own home based businesses. If you want to ditch that nine to five (you do), or just have a part time business to add to your income, starting a home based business can be the way forward for you.

When you are interested in starting a home based business, think about what you have to offer. What services do you provide, or what product can you bring to people? Once you have a complete idea in mind, it is time to get online and do some market research. Who else is offering that? What are they charging? Can you offer an improvement when it comes to quality or cost? Can you afford to offer them an improvement over what is already being provided? You’ll find that this is an important thing to consider, and it can guide you towards figuring out what you need to do and what is possible.

The next step, of course, is to come up with a plan for your new business. Write it down, it will help you to plan things out. Even if no one else will ever read it, this is not a step that should be neglected. Estimate your operating expenses, both in money and time. Remember costs like web hosting and domain registration for your website, and keep in mind that you will be spending time processing orders too; factor in all of these things. Try to determine what you will accept in terms of a profit margin.

The majority of home based businesses these days are internet based. This means that one of the most important things in this process is deciding what your website will look like. This is your presence on that massive marketplace we call the internet, so you’ll want something that looks professional. Free hosting is available from many companies, however if you are serious about starting a home based business, you’ll probably want to invest in your own domain name and a good hosting company - this will give you far more control over your site and give you a much more professional image as a business. As far as the actual design goes, you can either hire a designer to build it, or if you have a knack for such things, use software like Dreamweaver or Frontpage to do it yourself.

Once your site is up and running, you’re going to need to do something to make people aware of it. The answer, just as with a traditional sort of business is to advertise. Do some research on keywords, search engine optimization (SEO), link building and pay per click advertising. All of these are simple and cost effective ways of getting more visitors to your site, so be sure to take advantage of them. No one who was being totally honest with you ever said that starting a home based business would be a cakewalk, but if you are willing to put in a little work, the rewards can be great.

Learn tips for marketing an online business, or how to start a home based internet business. Visit the website marketing tips blog at http://www.nitromarketing.com/blog

- Kale McClelland

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Build Web Traffic With a Good Press Release

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

One of the secrets of succeeding online is generating great traffic. That’s not just getting people to come to your site, but rather getting people who are good customer prospects to come out again and again. And a fantastic way to do this is to get some buzz generated in the right places.

Companies have known for a long time how to start the buzz; the time-honored press release. When you get the press involved, they will report your news and get the buzz flowing. Writing an effective, compelling press release is easier than you think.

The format of a press release is a semi-set format designed to be both informative yet brief. It needs contact information, a media spokesperson at the top and boilerplate text about your company and contact information at the bottom. Press release sites will give you samples and examples of formats to follow. The top and bottom portion of the press releases doesn’t change, only the news in the middle.

Once you have a template, ask whether the news you have is really newsworthy. The media is used to hearing about online store openings and big sales - what makes your store new and different, truly worthy of coverage? Recent unique online businesses I’ve heard of include a date matching site for self-described nerds and an automatic dog wash appliance; these are the sorts of things that get on the news. If your business isn’t unique in this way, find an angle that makes people sit up and listen - donate something really special to a charity or overseas soldiers, for instance, or come up with a fun new way of doing things.

An example: let’s say your business makes custom doll clothes. How about matching the doll’s clothes to the child’s favorite outfit? Or working with the Girl Scouts to teach young girls how to make clothes themselves, and donate the resulting works of art to a children’s hospital or Toys for Tots? It’s things like this that make the media melt.

Write your press release like a news story. Remember a little journalistic secret. A lot of stuff you read in the newspaper is written straight from press releases. Editors dislike rewriting; they don’t want to hire reporters to go out and track down stories. Good press releases that read like newspaper articles stand a very good chance of gaining publicity simply because its well-written and formated correctly.

All other writing rules apply: clarity, conciseness, and truthfulness without spin. You want your article to begin with a hook, a compelling idea or question that will “hook” the attention of readers. You need it to be active in tone, not passive (”Danny kicked the ball” vs. “The ball was kicked by Danny”). Focus in the story needs to be on your special news and on your business, not on anything else. And don’t use exclamation points or flowery language to make your dull news seem exciting - this never works. Just stick with the facts, and if the facts aren’t compelling by themselves, change what you’re doing until they are.

When you have completed your press release, what’s next? On the web, there are dozens of services like PRWeb, where you can submit them for a small fee. In turn, they will send it out to hundreds of media outlets. You should also have a press release section on your own site, listing subsequent press releases as written. It will become part of your press kit and promotion will take on a snowball effect over time.

Learn tips for marketing an online business, or how to start a home based internet business. Visit the website marketing tips blog at http://www.nitromarketing.com/blog

- Kale McClelland

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