I like PayPal personally , but I hate paying transaction fees. If you hate paying money to make money ( or charging extra transaction fees to your customers ) I have 2suggestions for you to save money using Pay Pal and discovering Google Checkout.
Pay Pal :
If you are going to use PayPal as your transaction processor then you MUST get the PayPal debit Card . It's free and you earn 1.2% cash back on your purchases. If you process a transaction for $10.00 and use your PayPal debit card to purchase the product from your supplier , you'll end up saving 1.2% off the transaction fee . A pretty sweet deal . Also If you use PayPal to cover some of your business expenses you'll be making/saving 1.2% as well .
Google Checkout: While Google Checkout charges roughly the same transaction fee as PayPal , if you are a google Advertiser a large portion of your transaction fee is waived. There are certain qualifications to take advantage of these savings which can be easily found on their website. Checking out with Google is just as safe as with PayPal , but with one major advantage , the ability to place CC holds.
Whichever processor you choose make sure to look into ways to save and make more money for you and your business. You don't have to utilize just one processor, use whichever is best for your business at any given moment ! In fact you could do what I do and advertise with Google, process transactions through google and Use a PayPal debit card to make all your business purchases . I just added 1.2% to my commissions , and so can you !
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
Friday, January 16, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Are you WAHM material- See if you've got what it takes to work at home.
Not everyone is gifted with a "Brain for business and a Bod for sin" like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl , some of us transitioned into WAHMing after the birth of a child or after many endless weeks crying at a desk wishing you were anywhere but away from the kids. I can guarantee not ONE of us ever took a Work at Home Mom class in college . How do you know you are Work at home material , the answer ; you don't know till you try .
I mean really try , not some half hearted attempt where you sign up , get the kit ,look through it , put it in the garage , call 2 friends who aren't interested in having a party ,sigh , put the stuff from your car's back seat on top of the kit , put some other stuff on top of the stuff you put on the kit and in 1 year while cleaning out your garage you FIND the kit and later sell that kit on Ebay because it was "just tooo hard" !
No job is easy , and no one gets rich sitting at home with a business kit under a pile of junk in their garage . Customers will NEVER beat a path to your door if it is covered in debris and the porch light is off. You Don't have to be Donald trump to build a successful business from home you just have to actually open that business for business.
First things first :
When people at your child's playdates , church groups, friends you haven't seen in a while , your husband's Christmas Party, the Dental Hygenist, The girl behind the deli counter asks you what you do STOP SAYING NOTHING , or I'm JUST a Mom , and Never mention you are the CEO of your Home Based Business ! While you're at it stop saying "i don't know anybody " , I just named at least 10 people you probably know , they might not be your friends but you KNOW them . Best of all they know OTHER people and that, my friends, can open many doors for your business.
Make your Business your SECOND priority :
But deffinitely make it a priority. I would never tell any mom to put her business before her family , family is first . After all you quit the daily grind to change diapers, sing nursery rhymes and listen to "But Why " four hundred times a day . Remeber what attracted you to the business and make that your niche . Maybe you wanted some adult time, maybe you wanted a new challenge, or possibly a pink cadillac , whatever YOU wanted you can acheive as long as you make it a priority.
Follow the leader:
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your business be built in a day, week, or month . This is a learning process for 99% of WAHMs . The best advice I ever got , that I completely ignored is "Don't innovate, duplicate". There are successful women , staying at home , working your same business. Follow the leader, and if your leader isn't good follow hers, and on and on . If they can do it so can you , believe it.
Be positive:
When someone asks how your business is going always say "Great, Awesome or Fantastic" . Even if you have never booked a single party or made 5.00 lasat month your business is going where you are taking it , period. If you're flushing it down the tubes , you're right things are "not so good" . If you are constanly striving to do better your business is that much closer every day to being exactly what you say it is . You'll never attract customers or recruits by being negative , begging , or looking desperate. if something is not going your way , move on .
So You might still be questioning , am I WAHM material ? My answer is can you promote yourself, can you maintain a positive attitude , can you replicate what someone else has already done and can you dedicate a part of your life to building a business and reaching your goals. If you asnswered yes , than you ARE WAHM material !
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
I mean really try , not some half hearted attempt where you sign up , get the kit ,look through it , put it in the garage , call 2 friends who aren't interested in having a party ,sigh , put the stuff from your car's back seat on top of the kit , put some other stuff on top of the stuff you put on the kit and in 1 year while cleaning out your garage you FIND the kit and later sell that kit on Ebay because it was "just tooo hard" !
No job is easy , and no one gets rich sitting at home with a business kit under a pile of junk in their garage . Customers will NEVER beat a path to your door if it is covered in debris and the porch light is off. You Don't have to be Donald trump to build a successful business from home you just have to actually open that business for business.
First things first :
When people at your child's playdates , church groups, friends you haven't seen in a while , your husband's Christmas Party, the Dental Hygenist, The girl behind the deli counter asks you what you do STOP SAYING NOTHING , or I'm JUST a Mom , and Never mention you are the CEO of your Home Based Business ! While you're at it stop saying "i don't know anybody " , I just named at least 10 people you probably know , they might not be your friends but you KNOW them . Best of all they know OTHER people and that, my friends, can open many doors for your business.
Make your Business your SECOND priority :
But deffinitely make it a priority. I would never tell any mom to put her business before her family , family is first . After all you quit the daily grind to change diapers, sing nursery rhymes and listen to "But Why " four hundred times a day . Remeber what attracted you to the business and make that your niche . Maybe you wanted some adult time, maybe you wanted a new challenge, or possibly a pink cadillac , whatever YOU wanted you can acheive as long as you make it a priority.
Follow the leader:
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your business be built in a day, week, or month . This is a learning process for 99% of WAHMs . The best advice I ever got , that I completely ignored is "Don't innovate, duplicate". There are successful women , staying at home , working your same business. Follow the leader, and if your leader isn't good follow hers, and on and on . If they can do it so can you , believe it.
Be positive:
When someone asks how your business is going always say "Great, Awesome or Fantastic" . Even if you have never booked a single party or made 5.00 lasat month your business is going where you are taking it , period. If you're flushing it down the tubes , you're right things are "not so good" . If you are constanly striving to do better your business is that much closer every day to being exactly what you say it is . You'll never attract customers or recruits by being negative , begging , or looking desperate. if something is not going your way , move on .
So You might still be questioning , am I WAHM material ? My answer is can you promote yourself, can you maintain a positive attitude , can you replicate what someone else has already done and can you dedicate a part of your life to building a business and reaching your goals. If you asnswered yes , than you ARE WAHM material !
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
How to Monetize your Blog
I have been looking for ways to monetize my blogs and websites . After all affiliate and PPC advertising are proven to generate more income than a HBB selling products alone. Fortuneately I came accross a blog by Steve Pavlina ( www.stevepavlina.com ) . He gives concrete , none of that buy my e-book to get the whole story , help for people looking to make money letimately from the internet .
The whole article by Steve, over 7000 words, isn't a page tuner by any means but , if you are serious about learning to monetize a blog his blog is a must read.
Along with lots of other tips and solid advice Steve made a list of sorts, of the tools you'll need to be more web savvy , and hopefully convert that savvy into money . If you are ready to study up to power up your blogging profits start by learning the concepts and skills on Steve's list below.
blog publishing software
HTML/CSS
blog comments (and comment spam)
RSS/syndication
feed aggregators
pings
trackbacks
full vs. partial feeds
blog carnivals (for kick-starting your blog’s traffic)
search engines
search engine optimization (SEO)
page rank
social bookmarking
tagging
contextual advertising
affiliate programs
traffic statistics
email
Optional: podcasting, instant messaging, PHP or other web scripting languages.
I am a new Steve Pavlina fan , and not for his writting style . Steve makes $1000 a day from his blog and I can't imagine what he makes from consulting others looking to improve their blogging profits. The good news is you don't have to pay a dime to tap into Steve's fountain of blog monetizing information . Just set aside an hour or 2 a day and visit steve at www.Stevepavlina.com , or read the full article here http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/05/how-to-make-money-from-your-blog/
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
The whole article by Steve, over 7000 words, isn't a page tuner by any means but , if you are serious about learning to monetize a blog his blog is a must read.
Along with lots of other tips and solid advice Steve made a list of sorts, of the tools you'll need to be more web savvy , and hopefully convert that savvy into money . If you are ready to study up to power up your blogging profits start by learning the concepts and skills on Steve's list below.
blog publishing software
HTML/CSS
blog comments (and comment spam)
RSS/syndication
feed aggregators
pings
trackbacks
full vs. partial feeds
blog carnivals (for kick-starting your blog’s traffic)
search engines
search engine optimization (SEO)
page rank
social bookmarking
tagging
contextual advertising
affiliate programs
traffic statistics
Optional: podcasting, instant messaging, PHP or other web scripting languages.
I am a new Steve Pavlina fan , and not for his writting style . Steve makes $1000 a day from his blog and I can't imagine what he makes from consulting others looking to improve their blogging profits. The good news is you don't have to pay a dime to tap into Steve's fountain of blog monetizing information . Just set aside an hour or 2 a day and visit steve at www.Stevepavlina.com , or read the full article here http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/05/how-to-make-money-from-your-blog/
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Good vs Bad fillers for your promotions
I Posted this to a user group and thought it applies to my blog as well !
Hope it helps when selecting fillers !
Your company doesn't offer samples or samples are really expensive
1. Print business size cards offering a free gift with purchase
2. Start a Frequent buyer club , ( I have this with my Barefoot Books
Business) I offer 1 point for every dollar spent. You can keep track
of this and make a sign up form for free at wufoo.com .
3. Buy some trinkets or other "gifts" . I love etsy.com for finding
unique and inexpensive promo products . I am building my own promo
site for WAHMs but I'll save the ads for Sat . and Sun.
Your Company offers samples :
1. Send a flier along with your sample for a special discount on the
full size of your sample.
2. Add a gift certificate/ coupon like 5.00 off your purchase of
25.00 or more .
3. Promote catalog parties and group orders . Even if the purchase
won't qualify for a official party ( My minimum party with BB is
$100.00 for example) it still will increase sales . I offer my
discount on BB ( via Coupon code) for customers with outside orders
that don't qualify for free books .
Just catalogs, or Just business cards don't seem to work . While
these might be an inexpensive way for you to send fillers it probably
wont pay off , in my opinion. People want to get something they can
use , like dangling a carrot .
visit www.savvywahm.mybisi.com for company specific promo items !
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
Hope it helps when selecting fillers !
Your company doesn't offer samples or samples are really expensive
1. Print business size cards offering a free gift with purchase
2. Start a Frequent buyer club , ( I have this with my Barefoot Books
Business) I offer 1 point for every dollar spent. You can keep track
of this and make a sign up form for free at wufoo.com .
3. Buy some trinkets or other "gifts" . I love etsy.com for finding
unique and inexpensive promo products . I am building my own promo
site for WAHMs but I'll save the ads for Sat . and Sun.
Your Company offers samples :
1. Send a flier along with your sample for a special discount on the
full size of your sample.
2. Add a gift certificate/ coupon like 5.00 off your purchase of
25.00 or more .
3. Promote catalog parties and group orders . Even if the purchase
won't qualify for a official party ( My minimum party with BB is
$100.00 for example) it still will increase sales . I offer my
discount on BB ( via Coupon code) for customers with outside orders
that don't qualify for free books .
Just catalogs, or Just business cards don't seem to work . While
these might be an inexpensive way for you to send fillers it probably
wont pay off , in my opinion. People want to get something they can
use , like dangling a carrot .
visit www.savvywahm.mybisi.com for company specific promo items !
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
Are you on Cafe Mom ?
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
Monday, January 5, 2009
Business On a Budget
I'm sure I don't have to explain that business is down for us WAHMs . In general people are spending less and ( trying) to save more. This has truly affected business as we know it , but there is hope !
Just like we have to scale down on the household spending we also need to scale down on the business spending . I made this tough decision today as the cost of advertising is not being coverd to the same degree as before. I have traditionally used Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing to promote my online businesses and I spend around $100.00 a month in promoting ( after adsense profits) . Since this had been paying off , I could justify the expense. Adsense revenues are down and it seems that in desparation other businesses are increasing their PPC bids , forcing me out of the PPC market . Is this happening to you ?
I decided to forego the PPC for a while , until the economy improves. I can't just stop advertising my businesses so here is a step by step guide of what I am or will do to keep advertising and promoting my businesses without the big budget !
Divide and Conquer
I am dividing my businesses ( yes there are multiple businesses) into online and home party or off-line. I am likewise dividing the advertising budgets. I tend to spend less money on the home party businesses ( there are 3) and more on the online businesses ( there are 7) . If you have online and offline businesses I recommend looking at which side you spend more money advertising and which is more profitable. Spend the most money on your most profitable business. This really isn't the time to be promoting something that is making relatively little money .
Avoid Pay per Clicks.
People seem to be wish listing or window shopping lately . I have excellent , targeted key words , but now a low ROI . It seems people are clicking, looking, wishing , but not buying . I have moved my advertising to Jayde , which guarantees top ten ad placement in over 200 smaller search engines . It costs just 12.00 a month and up. This is a much more affordable option than PPC.
Cooperative Advertising
I am really going to promote my Cooperative advertising websites . I have alot of businesses because I do mainly fundraisers . I just set up 2 new websites , www.catalogfundraisers.info and www.brochurefundraisers.info ( yes I am creating backlinks to promo my new websites for free , see how simple free advertising can be ! ) . By having more than just my website and businesses promoted , cooperatively advertising with other WAHMS, I can spend more time and effort marketing and advertising that website , and in turn the websites of the other WAHMs in my coop advertising group !
Stop blowing money !
I usually buy my business supplies from Staples or Office Depot , my promotional stickers from Zazzle or The Booster . Silly Me ! I could sell and buy from myself through affiliate sites like BigCrumbs and earn money back, sign up as a consultant on a Website like Whisperedkisses.com or I could just scour the dollar store for useful items . I looked at the Dollar Tree down the street and found
Catalog Envelopes 12 for $1.00
Blank Round Stickers 300 for $1.00
Blank Address Labels 150 for $1.00
Pens 12 for $1.00
And a really cool Hostess Booking tree that I will cut out construction paper leaves ( $1.oo/pad at Dollar Tree ) leaves with booking rewards on them and hang them on this cute tree at my wildtree herbs parties. I already have Leaf template fom my scrapbooking supplies , but you could cut one out , preferably one related to your Business , and promote bookings at your parties . But I digress. The point here is to stop blowing money on business supplies and think out side the box and create some supplies for yourself. Sure this sounds like extra work but on my dollar store shopping spree I ended up saving 32.00 compared to my usual supply purchase ! That's 32.00 to pay for gas or make up for lower party /online sales!
You have a GREAT idea ( heck even a good one)
Please let us know !
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
Just like we have to scale down on the household spending we also need to scale down on the business spending . I made this tough decision today as the cost of advertising is not being coverd to the same degree as before. I have traditionally used Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing to promote my online businesses and I spend around $100.00 a month in promoting ( after adsense profits) . Since this had been paying off , I could justify the expense. Adsense revenues are down and it seems that in desparation other businesses are increasing their PPC bids , forcing me out of the PPC market . Is this happening to you ?
I decided to forego the PPC for a while , until the economy improves. I can't just stop advertising my businesses so here is a step by step guide of what I am or will do to keep advertising and promoting my businesses without the big budget !
Divide and Conquer
I am dividing my businesses ( yes there are multiple businesses) into online and home party or off-line. I am likewise dividing the advertising budgets. I tend to spend less money on the home party businesses ( there are 3) and more on the online businesses ( there are 7) . If you have online and offline businesses I recommend looking at which side you spend more money advertising and which is more profitable. Spend the most money on your most profitable business. This really isn't the time to be promoting something that is making relatively little money .
Avoid Pay per Clicks.
People seem to be wish listing or window shopping lately . I have excellent , targeted key words , but now a low ROI . It seems people are clicking, looking, wishing , but not buying . I have moved my advertising to Jayde , which guarantees top ten ad placement in over 200 smaller search engines . It costs just 12.00 a month and up. This is a much more affordable option than PPC.
Cooperative Advertising
I am really going to promote my Cooperative advertising websites . I have alot of businesses because I do mainly fundraisers . I just set up 2 new websites , www.catalogfundraisers.info and www.brochurefundraisers.info ( yes I am creating backlinks to promo my new websites for free , see how simple free advertising can be ! ) . By having more than just my website and businesses promoted , cooperatively advertising with other WAHMS, I can spend more time and effort marketing and advertising that website , and in turn the websites of the other WAHMs in my coop advertising group !
Stop blowing money !
I usually buy my business supplies from Staples or Office Depot , my promotional stickers from Zazzle or The Booster . Silly Me ! I could sell and buy from myself through affiliate sites like BigCrumbs and earn money back, sign up as a consultant on a Website like Whisperedkisses.com or I could just scour the dollar store for useful items . I looked at the Dollar Tree down the street and found
Catalog Envelopes 12 for $1.00
Blank Round Stickers 300 for $1.00
Blank Address Labels 150 for $1.00
Pens 12 for $1.00
And a really cool Hostess Booking tree that I will cut out construction paper leaves ( $1.oo/pad at Dollar Tree ) leaves with booking rewards on them and hang them on this cute tree at my wildtree herbs parties. I already have Leaf template fom my scrapbooking supplies , but you could cut one out , preferably one related to your Business , and promote bookings at your parties . But I digress. The point here is to stop blowing money on business supplies and think out side the box and create some supplies for yourself. Sure this sounds like extra work but on my dollar store shopping spree I ended up saving 32.00 compared to my usual supply purchase ! That's 32.00 to pay for gas or make up for lower party /online sales!
You have a GREAT idea ( heck even a good one)
Please let us know !
Jami
If you're looking to start , looking to better, or looking to share your Home Based Business , you're in the right place !
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Building your Home Party Business in 2009
I am not much for tele-semminars , in fact I avoid them like a disease. For some reason , maybe my personal New Years resolution to take my Direct sales businesses off line and into customer's homes, I listened for 90 minutes to a tele-semminar from Karen Phelps (www.karenphelps.com) . Holy CRAP ! This was exactly what I needed !! I have been trained by some of the "best" direct sellers in the United States ( debateable) , not one can hold a candle to Karen Phelps . Aside from actually being able to hold my attention for 90 minutes straight ( ok I pushed 5 and paused the semminar for 30 minutes to cook dinner) , she gave actual real world tips on how to talk to customers from the dreaded phone solicitation to creating a sense of urgency for your customers to book, and the all important drumming up new business when you don't know anyone or you have taken a hiatus from your business . Some key points she brought up that lit up the "OH YEAH" bulb in my brain were :
1: Create a sense of urgency with your words . For example instead of trying to book a party by saying I am running a huge special with XYZ company for the 1st week of January and I have a couple days to choose from , Say I am running a huge special with XYZ company and have January 3rd and 4th left , I wanted to give you the first shot at booking your next party before I contact the rest of my customer list . This creates more of a sense of urgency for your potential customers. Instead of using I have some, or I have a couple , use the I only have a few dates still left ..
2. Dont give new customers a chance to turn you down . Instead of saying I am a rep for xyz co. and we have awesome hostess promotions , would you like to book a party, try I am a rep for xyz co. and we have awesome hostess promotions WHO do you know that might be interested in hostessing a party and getting some free stuff ! You have eliminated the Yes/ No aspect of the question ( where you only have a 50/50 chance of getting the response you want ) , now your open ended question could end in the potential customer nominating herself or a friend or family member. If she claims to not know enough people on her own offer a buddy bash where she and another person hostess a party together and split the hostess rewards !
3. Be exciting and talk faster ! Karen believes that people are attracted to others who are full of energy and positivity , especially on the phone . Always leave a message and give a short time frame like "call me back in 24 hours so I can be sure there is a spot open for your party".
There was much , much much more and if I had the money I would buy her training program "The Whole Enchilada" , but I am buying one of her books that I really think will help me in 2009 to keep my resolution . If Karen Phelps is speaking within 100 miles of my city I am for SURE going to be there. If you want to become a Karen Phelps Groupie , like I think I am becoming, start by visiting www.KarenPhelps.com or dialing in to listen to the free tele-semminar I did , The number is (712) 432-0453 Pin: 6494740#. This recording will only be available through Jan 4th !!!!
Best of Luck with YOUR business !
1: Create a sense of urgency with your words . For example instead of trying to book a party by saying I am running a huge special with XYZ company for the 1st week of January and I have a couple days to choose from , Say I am running a huge special with XYZ company and have January 3rd and 4th left , I wanted to give you the first shot at booking your next party before I contact the rest of my customer list . This creates more of a sense of urgency for your potential customers. Instead of using I have some, or I have a couple , use the I only have a few dates still left ..
2. Dont give new customers a chance to turn you down . Instead of saying I am a rep for xyz co. and we have awesome hostess promotions , would you like to book a party, try I am a rep for xyz co. and we have awesome hostess promotions WHO do you know that might be interested in hostessing a party and getting some free stuff ! You have eliminated the Yes/ No aspect of the question ( where you only have a 50/50 chance of getting the response you want ) , now your open ended question could end in the potential customer nominating herself or a friend or family member. If she claims to not know enough people on her own offer a buddy bash where she and another person hostess a party together and split the hostess rewards !
3. Be exciting and talk faster ! Karen believes that people are attracted to others who are full of energy and positivity , especially on the phone . Always leave a message and give a short time frame like "call me back in 24 hours so I can be sure there is a spot open for your party".
There was much , much much more and if I had the money I would buy her training program "The Whole Enchilada" , but I am buying one of her books that I really think will help me in 2009 to keep my resolution . If Karen Phelps is speaking within 100 miles of my city I am for SURE going to be there. If you want to become a Karen Phelps Groupie , like I think I am becoming, start by visiting www.KarenPhelps.com or dialing in to listen to the free tele-semminar I did , The number is (712) 432-0453 Pin: 6494740#. This recording will only be available through Jan 4th !!!!
Best of Luck with YOUR business !
Step by Step to start your online business
Here you will find my Step by Step guide to creating a successful business with lots of traffic to your website . After all ,if no one knows you exist you'll have a hard time making any money !!Step 1Join a Business . Sounds simple enough but you first have to decide what type of business you want to run. Do You want to Sell a Product ? Do you want to sell it in person or online? Do you simply want to promote products and earn money when people click on links from your website or blog ? Now is the time to decide if you want to do one , the other or , yes even BOTH . Step 2 Get a website . This is especially important if you want to sell products from a direct sales company . This is the art of self promotion and SEO that draws free traffic to your website and then directly to your business. You need to learn WHAT ARE PEOPLELOOKING for when they are looking for your product and load your page with keywords so that when your site is "crawled" you can move up the website ranks. A good place to start searching the competition's websites is www.alexa.com. You'll want to add your website to Alexa too !Step 3 Get Traffic. FFA Pages, Webrings related to your industry , and advertising exchanges are a good place to start. When you start getting traffic your website will rise in the rankings. Don't forget the importance of creating back links ! If you know a little something about your business or just your products go to Squidoo.com and write a lense . You can also monetize your Squidoo lense ; that will not only earn you traffic but extra income. Youtube.com is also a great marketing tool for your business , sign up for them all.Step 4Get some badges for your site . WAHM.com is a good place to start looking for badges. Step 5Paying for advertising is the next step to really explode your traffic. Google and yahoo are my 2 personal favorites . Some other good places like adparlor.com cover the ever important social networking sites. Make sure you find great key words and be specific to make your advertising dollars work harder for you. For example, if you sign up for Teaporia and you want to advertise your affiliate link dont use tea as a keyword , you'll get lots of clicks but low ROI. Try Specific key phrases like loose green tea, or lavendar green tea blend .
Go to http://pocketchange.info for more useful home based business information
Go to http://pocketchange.info for more useful home based business information
The Economy Sucks !
I'm sure I don't have to explain to any American how badly the economy sucks right now. Sales are at an all time low and us homebased business owners are not exempt from the hard times . Luckily we have such low overhead costs , and we are usually our only employees , so riding out the economic downturn shouldn't be as hard for us as some others.
People keep asking how to make money in these financially difficult times and the answer is really simple , I was watching The Godfather the other day so it just dawned on me , "give them an offer they can't refuse". If someone is looking to buy earmuffs and you sell earmuffs you need to do a little research. How much is the competition selling earmuffs for , how much is the competition's shipping, and how can I out price my earmuff competition ? Alot of HBB owners balk at the thought of drasticly cutting their prices but I'm going to ask you , if you can sell 1 pair of your earmuffs at a 10 dollar profit or 10 pairs of your earmuffs at a 3.00 profit you tell me which is better for you ?
How do you let people know you have these low priced earmuffs without spending your meager profits on advertising ? The answer is equally simple , end stage advertising where you pay for results only ! I just heard a collective "HUH?" . So I will make it even simpler by naming my top choices for this paid advertising method .
1 Price Grabber
2.Shopzilla
3.Live Search Cash Back
Since you only pay for results , you don't end up spending more than your actual sales which can and does happen with pay per click. If you insist on using Pay Per Click advertising I recommend Yahoo and MSN , Google seems to be getting a tad over priced and their features are diminishing . I have always had more sales from my clicks on yahoo than google . Make sure your key words are very specific and as always do your research to see which products that you carry are popular ..mysimon.com is a good place to start your research.
My one semester of Marketing in college by no means qualifies me as a marketing expert. Trial and error has made me marketing savvy , however, and it seems to me that there are 3 stages of the online buying process . Research, Comparison Browsing and Purchase..you always want the customer in purchase mode. You want the credit card out and the fingers typing exactly what they are looking to buy in the browser. Any other stage and you will have an Anemic ROI . How do you know you are hitting the marketing sweet spot ? Your advertising reports will of course reflect this but if you are seeing alot of clicks and purchases from your key phrases like "Buy red pom pom adult earmuffs" , you'll know .
People keep asking how to make money in these financially difficult times and the answer is really simple , I was watching The Godfather the other day so it just dawned on me , "give them an offer they can't refuse". If someone is looking to buy earmuffs and you sell earmuffs you need to do a little research. How much is the competition selling earmuffs for , how much is the competition's shipping, and how can I out price my earmuff competition ? Alot of HBB owners balk at the thought of drasticly cutting their prices but I'm going to ask you , if you can sell 1 pair of your earmuffs at a 10 dollar profit or 10 pairs of your earmuffs at a 3.00 profit you tell me which is better for you ?
How do you let people know you have these low priced earmuffs without spending your meager profits on advertising ? The answer is equally simple , end stage advertising where you pay for results only ! I just heard a collective "HUH?" . So I will make it even simpler by naming my top choices for this paid advertising method .
1 Price Grabber
2.Shopzilla
3.Live Search Cash Back
Since you only pay for results , you don't end up spending more than your actual sales which can and does happen with pay per click. If you insist on using Pay Per Click advertising I recommend Yahoo and MSN , Google seems to be getting a tad over priced and their features are diminishing . I have always had more sales from my clicks on yahoo than google . Make sure your key words are very specific and as always do your research to see which products that you carry are popular ..mysimon.com is a good place to start your research.
My one semester of Marketing in college by no means qualifies me as a marketing expert. Trial and error has made me marketing savvy , however, and it seems to me that there are 3 stages of the online buying process . Research, Comparison Browsing and Purchase..you always want the customer in purchase mode. You want the credit card out and the fingers typing exactly what they are looking to buy in the browser. Any other stage and you will have an Anemic ROI . How do you know you are hitting the marketing sweet spot ? Your advertising reports will of course reflect this but if you are seeing alot of clicks and purchases from your key phrases like "Buy red pom pom adult earmuffs" , you'll know .
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