Adding PayPal to Your Web Site

If you think PayPal is just for eBay sales, then you're missing out on a great opportunity to get revenue (or more revenue) from your Web site. If you're not already selling products from your Web site, adding Buy Now buttons or the PayPal Shopping Cart is the easiest way to turn a marketing site into an e-commerce site. If you're already accepting credit card payments, then offering PayPal as an additional payment option widens your customer base because people who don't want to use a credit card can still make purchases.

PayPal is the easiest way to add e-commerce to your Web site
If you don't know how to code, but you're comfortable using FrontPage to create a Web site, you can integrate e-commerce quickly and easily with PayPal's free tools for Microsoft FrontPage. These tools let you add Buy Now buttons, a Shopping Cart, or set up subscriptions and recurring payments while you're designing with FrontPage.

You don't need to apply for a merchant license
In order to sell and accept credit cards online, you normally need to work with a credit card processing company or bank. The role of the processor is to validate buyer's credit cards at the time of purchase. Credit card processors help prevent you from fraud by checking whether the buyer's credit card is valid, and blocking IP addresses, e-mail addresses, or names of known problem buyers. Additionally, the processor can block a payment that sends the user over their credit limit.


You get a lot of peace of mind when working with a processor, but the application process can be a pain. (You need to provide a lot of information about your company, have a business bank account, and so on.) After the processing company approves you, you need to set up your Web site to accept secure payments and to configure your e-commerce software to send payment data to your processor's payment gateway. To work with a credit card processor, you spend a lot of time and resources before selling your first item.

PayPal also lets you accept secure payments, even credit card purchases, but the application process is as easy as providing your country, name, address, home telephone number, and e-mail address, and accepting the PayPal User Agreement. You can decide to open an e-commerce shop in the morning and start accepting payments in the afternoon.

You can specify payment preferences
If you accept PayPal payments, you can set up your Payment Receiving Preferences to block certain types of buyers. You can decide not to sell internationally or to block purchases from buyers who have not confirmed their address. This adds another layer of protection for you as the seller. Additionally, you can decide to accept payments only if they are made in a specific currency, and you can block buyers who try to purchase with a credit card when they have a bank account linked to their credit account.

In addition to deciding whether to block certain types of buyers, you can easily change your credit card company name (the one that is shown on the buyer's credit card statement).

The buttons are free
Most credit card companies charge you a monthly fee, even if you don't receive any payments. Adding PayPal e-commerce buttons to a Web site costs you nothing — if you don't sell anything, you don't pay. When you do sell an item, you pay $0.30 for each transaction plus 2.9 percent of the selling price. The percentage can drop as low as 1.9 percent, depending upon your monthly volume of sales.

Easy encryption
When you want to set up a secure e-commerce Web site, there are a number of steps you must take. First, you need to apply for an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) license. SSL is a protocol used to send secure data over the Internet. SSL encrypts data that is sent from the browser; the data is decrypted when it gets to the server. After you implement SSL, you need to build an e-commerce Web site that works with SSL to transmit data securely (usually to a credit card processor).

Compare this to the ease of encrypting buttons with PayPal! When creating a button with the Button Factory, all you have to do is click the Yes option to have your button's code encrypted. When you copy the encrypted code to your Web site page, snooping eyes won't be able to see any personalized information by viewing the source code for the Web page.

Setting up subscription payments is easy
PayPal makes it easy to set up subscriptions and recurring payments and frees you from the hassle of sending out periodic invoices. When you set up your subscription, you can specify up to two trial periods (for example, the subscriber can be billed $0.00 for the first month, and $20 for every month after the trial period has ended). You can set your billing cycle to be days, weeks, months, or even years.

You have the option of setting up recurring payments, in which the buyer pays the specified amount every month, without end. You can also set up payment installments; for example, you can charge the buyer $20 for five installments to purchase a $100 product.

Finally, PayPal can generate unique username and password combinations if you want to give buyers access to "members-only" content, stored in a special folder of your Web site.

No setup fees
Usually setting up an online store involves some type of setup fee — either you have to pay for the price of the e-commerce software, a setup fee if you're using an online service, or you have to pay a developer to write custom code. Not with PayPal. . . . You have no upfront fees to open an online store if you use the PayPal Buy Now buttons or the Paypal Shopping Cart. With PayPal, you don't pay a thing until you actually sell something!

Detailed transaction data
When you use PayPal for e-commerce transactions, you can use the PayPal History Reporting Tools to download and analyze detailed information about every sale made. You have the option of including Shopping Cart details in the report. You can also do an advanced search to find transactions linked to an e-mail address, transaction ID, buyer's name, receipt ID, or item number. You can import the downloaded file into Excel, Quicken, or QuickBooks for additional tracking and analysis. You can also look at summary information available from the Merchant Sales Report.

Promotion through PayPal shops
If you accept PayPal payments on your Web site, you can enroll your online store in PayPal Shops, a directory of Web sites that accept PayPal. After you enroll, PayPal members can search for the products and services you sell.

There is no cost to list your site with PayPal Shops, but you do need to have a Premier or Business PayPal account. Additionally, you need a bank account and credit card linked to your PayPal account and you need to invest in the PayPal Money Market Fund. To enroll in the fund, you need to provide a social security number or an employer identification number.

Making Sense of Pay-Per-Click Advertising - 5 Adwords Myths

It can be overwhelming if you do not know much about pay-per-click advertising or are new to the PPC game. There is a ton of information out there and not quite possible for anyone to consume it all. But that should not stop you from venturing into pay-per-click advertising as a means of promoting your website for more sales and subscriptions. This article will dispel some misconceptions and show you some truths to the current myths surrounding Adwords.

Sad to say, most people are not optimizing their pay-per-click advertising. I offer here 5 myths of Adwords and reveal my thoughts about them. This will be useful to your campaign efforts, so make sure to read and consider them carefully.

1. You Need To Take No.1 Spot

Some marketers think that they must be in the coveted top spot to get targeted traffic. There are advertisers who would pay top dollars just to be in the “yellow” portion up there above the Google search results. Those who do not know what they are doing end up losing their pants. So the truth is this, you do not need top spot to get real targeted traffic. Many of these are free clickers, not serious buyers actually according to studies done.

The best ad position is within position 4 – 6. Think about it, if the prospect is willing to scroll down to that ad placement, there is a likelihood that he or she is really eyeing for some relevant ads right? Some experts argue that position 9 is a good spot because if your prospect is genuinely interested in buying, they would look through the various options even to the second page of the search results.

2. You Need A Killer Relevant Website Address

This is correct. If you are selling cars and your website address is hireadriver.com, this is not very relevant and it is quite unlikely that people would visit. Make it relevant and give a killer touch. Go for something like BuyACar-On-Offer.com.

3. You Need Thousands of Keywords Running All The Time For Your Campaign

Friends, you do not need thousands of keywords in your ad campaign. While it is true that you need to start off with a sizeable keyword list, a few hundred will do and they are meant for initial testings. Subsequently, once you figure out which are the best targeted keyword, use them only. This could even mean using only 3 or 4 keywords.

4. You Can Just Send Your Customers Directly To Affiliate Sales Page

This used to work well in the past when Google Cashing was all the craze. Today, if you attempt this stance at Adwords, your ad campaigns will halt after a while. Adwords clamp down quite a great deal in the name of poor quality score that dilutes the effectiveness and quality of their ads. So make sure you have a proper content site to promote with PPC.

5. Single Landing Pages Are Ideal For Pay-Per-Click Advertising

This is yet another lie many would want you to believe in. The truth of the matter is Adwords has changed the rules so much that simple one-page landing pages just wouldn’t perform well anymore. You now need a proper content web page that is part of an overall website in order to rank well in quality score.

4 Ways To Drastically Improve Your Web Success!

Anyone who has ever tried to make a living online, even if only part-time, is well aware of the negative pull caused by information overload.

It usually goes something like this: you sign up for free reports, ebooks and the like with the hope of finding the "magic bullet". Next thing you know your inbox is stuffed with all kinds of products and services promising you the golden key to online riches.

Instead of actually helping you, the massive amount of information you're receiving clutters your brain and confuses you even more.

On top of that you have to deal with sites that pry on your eagerness to make money online. Their sole intention is to scam you by stealing your money in exchange for promises that are nothing more than hot air.

So how do you go about figuring out what's real and what's not? How do you protect yourself from information overload and avoid being a victim of unscrupulous sites who are only interested in getting your money?

Here are 4 pointers that should keep you on track and make your quest to make money online a bit easier:

1. Get-Rich-Quick schemes:
I've been in business for over 20 years and I can tell you first hand there are no "get-rich-quick" plans. If there were I would be the richest man in the world right now...! Getting rich takes planning, action and time. Granted, you can get rich quicker with the net than the conventional way. Still, the basic principle is the same.

2. Verify BEFORE you buy:
Did you find something you think is a good opportunity to make money with on the net? Verify it first! Here's how: Send an email asking more detailed information than what the website reveals. If you get a possitive answer back within 24/48 hours, go ahead and purchase the product. At the very least you'll have the guarantee they stand behind their product.

Don't get an answer or get some lame response or worst yet, can't find contact information on the site? FORGET ABOUT IT! Look for another opportunity.

3. Talk to someone:
There are forums on virtually every topic imaginable available to you. Go online and ask questions. Based on the response you're getting from other forum visitors you'll have a good ideal whether or not the product your interested in is worth your time and your money.

To find a forum go to Yahoo, Google or MSN and type in: forum , where is the name of the topic. Example: 'forum mercedes benz' (without the quotes) will give you a list of all forums that deal with mercedes benz.

4. Stay focused:
By far this is the hardest for most online wannabes. Somehow staying focused on what you want to accomplish seems to be impossible. In part because of the information overload and in part because of lack of "know how".

The best thing for you to do is to completely avoid anything that does not deal with your topic of interest. Let's say you are looking to make money online selling novelty ice cream. To improve your chances for success, join forums that deal with this topic, sign up for free information about novelty ice cream, find out who is already selling this and then check out their website. In other words, stay focused on your topic and forget the rest.

Don't sign up for an ebook that tells you how to detail your mag wheels just because it's free. Not only is it distracting, before long you'll have your inbox cluttered with everything and anything that does not relate to your business. How can you possibly stay on track or expect to make money?

So there you have it, a simple, easy routine to improve your chances for success on the web: stay away from "get-rich-quick" schemes, verify before you buy, talk to someone first and stay focused to your business.

Most successful people online will tell you that they noticed a substantial increase in their web business the moment they started to practice these 4 pointers.

Top 35 New Network Marketing Companies

Below you will find a list of the Top 35 Network Marketing "Start Up" Companies.

1. Xango 60,536
2. Agel 60,784
3. Mona Vie 66,009
4. Send Out Cards 68,686 (+1)
5. Photo Max 70,461 (-1)
6. Freedom Rocks 73,957
7. Xooma Worldwide 94,460
8. One Group 120,333
9. Burnlounge 138,180
10. Acai Plus 147,577
11. Waiora 167,295
12. World Leadership Group 189,270
13. 4-Ecorp (Ethos Fuel Reformulator) 198,185
14. BookWise 204,410
15. Max International 207,786
16. The Limu Company 209,880
17. Fruta Vida International 220,028
18. Vemma, Liquid Vitamins & Minerals 232,979 (+1)
19. Citizenre 240,107 (-1)
20. Lifewave 254,689 (+1)
21. Wealth Masters International 262,478 (-1)
22. MyVideo Talk 270,899
23. Ignite 399,588
24. Guardian International Travel 464,922
25. MXI Corp 593,362
26. Amigo Health 774,096
27. ViaViente 793,890
28. The Balance Company 870,239
29. Goldshield Elite 1,143,812
30. Univera Life Sciences 1,586,629 (+1)
31. IGONET 1,825,862 (-1)
32. ExcelaWash 2,161,095
33. Nefful 4,054,462
34. Yoffi Fine Jewelry 4,408,933

Now, let's talk a little bit about on how to spot and choose a top network marketing company.

1. First go to alexa.com and check to see if they are growing in traffic. Check to see if their traffic details are not suddenly taking a dive. If you see a sudden decrease in traffic, it usually means that something drastic is going on in that particular company.

The company could be being sued by the FTC, or FDA. This can be the immediate death of a company.

Take the recent dive in traffic for Burnlounge. Burnlounge was or is a music download store that was using Network Marketing as their distribution model. Even though Burnlounge is #9 on the list above, if you check alexa.com it is nose diving drastically. Could the reason be that Burnlounge was recently sued by the FTC, I think so. Whatever you do, don't join a company who shows a steady decline in internet traffic growth.

If a company is not growing in traffic, it is a good indicator that they are not growing as a company. Which is the point, right? So at all costs, stay away from companies that are not growing. And don't believe all the hype without doing your own due diligence first.

2. Be first to get in. Being first to get in, should be considered as well. It doesn't take a "brain surgeon" to realize that a huge downline is more likely to occur, if a company is still in it's infant stages. Pre-Launches are great. Go to Google, and Google, "mlm pre-launch and you should get some hot news on companies that are getting ready to launch. Usually you can lock in a position, and be at the top before the actual launch.

3. Check out the management. If a solid management team is not in place, growth will not occur. One can grow a business a lot faster with a company that is stable and management that is secure.

5 Things I Wish my Dad Told Me About Search Engines

I've learned a lot about search engines and search engine marketing, mostly by trial and error. It's those countless hours of researching, testing, and failing when I often think it would have been better to let someone else experience it first. Then I could have simply observed and learned. But, I don't have the patience to stand around and let others fail first. What's the fun in that?

So, I've put together five points that, hopefully, someone else can learn from and avoid the mistakes I made when I first started in the SEO business.

1) Google is the 800 pound gorilla. This is something I learned when I was mostly using pay per click advertising. Google is so far ahead in terms of technology and usability. Other search engines not only missed the boat, they fell in the water and drowned. Yahoo! is coming around but how many years did it take? Google is where it's at. So, get over your love of Yahoo!, MSN, and AskJeeves. Join the gorilla.

2) Be patient. So simple yet so profound. I see it time and again. People, especially new internet marketers, get dollar signs stuck in their eyes. They bite off on all the garbage that says you can get millions of visitors with no money and no effort. I bought off on it too. And it worked, for a few months. Trying to start an online business will try your soul like nothing else. The only way to have patience is to set goals, way out in the future goals, and move towards them. There's no more free lunch on the internet

3) Nobody owes you anything. We get upset. We cry and scream. We think we've been treated unfairly. We're doing good and then, wammo! We get hit with an update which knocks us out. Someone posts an ugly comment about our business. We get accused of all sorts of stuff. Some of it true. Most of it false. But we have to keep perspective. Nobody, not even the search engines, owe us anything. Think about it. Search engines are a free service. How many daily newspapers let businesses advertise for free? That's essentially what you're getting, free advertising.

4) You have to prove yourself. This goes back to patience. When you're just starting out, no matter how great you think you really are, you still have to prove yourself. You have to go out just like everyone else, toot your own horn, give away free advice, and basically do it all for no money. How do you earn trust? By being trustworthy. Very few bootstrap startups are successful from day one. Set goals, keep your perspective, and never give up.

5) Spammers still make money. I never officially considered myself a spammer. But, I did use a few spammy techniques to get search traffic. What you have to realize is that there will always be spammers. If people are still making money by sending spam email, they still make money by spamming the search engines. Yes, it's getting harder but it's not impossible. But, don't fall to that temptation. Spamming as a business is a lot of work. Why not focus on what you really want to do and not worry about the search engines? Trust me, you'll rest a lot easier.

By Jerret Turner

Everything I Learned About Entrepreneurialism I Learned From Thomas Edison

“It’s never been done that way before, Thomas.” Oh how many times had he heard that before? Yet here he sat in his laboratory trying just one more time to perfect his idea.

“Thomas, why not give up, your laboratory has burned down. Isn’t that saying something?” There they were again, constantly complaining. Yet he rebuilt and created something new then he kept creating and in so many ways the world was never the same.

That creative mind was Thomas Alva Edison and he came to be known as “The Wizard of Menlo Park”. This entrepreneur was responsible for such inventions as the phonograph, light bulbs and electric power distribution among other things.

“Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work.” – Thomas A. Edison

Edison was a single father for a time and knew what it was like to provide for his family. His first wife, Mary, died thirteen years after they married.

At the end of Edison’s life he held more than 1,000 patents for various inventions and improvements he brought to the world.

This inventor was a consummate entrepreneur. He could see existing products and find ways to make them better. He found better uses for existing products with a few alterations and he steadfastly refused to give up in the face of adversity.

Nikola Tesla, a contemporary of Edison’s said following the death of the inventor, “I was almost a sorry witness of his doings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90 per cent of the labor. But he had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's instinct and practical American sense.”

What Edison may not have known in education was made up for in dogged determination. Edison did not let that which he did not know affect that which he wanted to accomplish. Edison’s life is an incredible object lesson for those involved in entrepreneurialism today.

“I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun. “ – Thomas A. Edison

Edison learned what most of us only dare to hope – following a passionate pursuit of life often yields its own rewards. We each have interests that can be reshaped to include the entrepreneurial spirit and potential business success while doing the very things we enjoy most.

“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.” – Thomas A. Edison

Mobile Messages Make AdSense to Google

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has launched a mobile version of its AdSense program in several major markets, the latest in a series of high-profile moves that underscore the mounting interest in delivering marketing messages to mobile phones and other devices.

Google has been offering a version of its AdWords search marketing program for mobile placement since last year. This week, it formally introduced AdSense, which serves up contextually relevant ads on content sites, in some markets.

The move means any Web site accessible by a mobile Web browser will be able to become part of Google's ad network. Previously, only search queries directed at Google or third-party sites it provides search technology to could generate mobile ads.


Clickable Text Ads
The program involves having Web-based advertising converted into brief text ads that can be viewed alongside content on mobile devices. The ads will offer users the chance to click through to learn more, with the publishers of the Web content earning a per-click payment.

Google launched AdSense for Mobile in several markets, including the U.S., Germany, England, China, Japan, India and Russia.

Alex Kenin, the AdSense Product Marketing Manager, said the move will enable existing publisher partners in the AdSense program to "start monetizing" mobile-friendly sites "by accessing a growing number of our mobile advertisers." It may also prompt those who have not yet developed mobile Web content to do so.

"When you add the new AdSense for mobile code to your site, we'll display relevant ads using the same targeting technology" used on the Web, Kenin said in a post to the official Google blog. That includes targeting ads contextually, based on the content displayed on the sites the mobile user is visiting.

Gphone Home
The mobile push comes amid rampant speculation that Google is working on software and other technology that would enable it to offer its own mobile phone. Dubbed the "Gphone," the device's existence has been widely downplayed from inside the Googleplex.

Still, there's little doubt that Google is eager to extend its Web search and contextual advertising dominance to the next logical step, the mobile devices often referred to as the third screen -- after the TV and the personal computer.

In addition to the Gphone rumors, Google has said it might be interested in paying at least US$4.6 billion for the right to acquire some of the high-end wireless spectrum to be auctioned off by the Federal Communications Commission early next year.

Interest Increasing
Overall interest in mobile ads is running high amid predictions it is set to take off in coming years thanks to advances in phone designs and carrier networks.

On Monday, handset maker Nokia (NYSE: NOK) said it was buying mobile ad firm Enpocket, which designs campaigns and offers a platform for distributing marketing messages. Other recent deals in the space include AOL's purchase in May of Third Screen Media and WPP Group's acquisition of mobile ad player JumpTap.

Work remains to be done, however, to ensure that user-friendly marketing experiences are possible on mobile devices, Sterling Market Intelligence analyst Greg Sterling told the E-Commerce Times.

"When those pieces are in place, monetization will naturally follow," Sterling added. "AdSense for mobile is Google's bid for mobile ad syndication on third party mobile content sites."

Testing the Waters
With mobile Web use still relatively low in key markets such as the U.S., now is a "great time for advertisers and media companies to be experimenting and learning what does and doesn't work," said JupiterResearch analyst Julie Ask.

Advertisers aren't yet knocking down the door to advertise on mobile devices or be at the forefront of the mobile search movement, so Google may also be trying to prove the value of such placement by first rolling out AdWords and now AdSense in the mobile arena.

Internet Ad Spending Soars Despite Overall Slump

With a few notable exceptions -- the Internet, primarily -- advertising spending has declined for the second quarter in a row, according to a report released Tuesday from TNS Media Intelligence.

Total advertising expenditures in the first half of 2007 slipped by 0.3 percent to US$72.59 billion versus the same period in 2006, TNS found. The outlook for the remainder of the year is not much better, it predicted.

"For the first time since 2001, media advertising expenditures have declined for two consecutive quarters," said Steven Fredericks, president and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence.

"While the protracted downturn in automotive spending has been a prime contributor, the overall results reflect weakness across a wide range of industries and advertisers," he added. "Given the uncertainties about near-term economic growth and consumer spending, we expect core ad spending will continue to face challenges during the second half of the year."


Unequal Fortunes
While the across-the-board numbers were bleak, there was tremendous variation among media. Internet display advertising remained at the head of the pack, registering a 17.7 percent increase to $5.52 billion in expenditures, TNS said.

Consumer magazines didn't do too badly either, with a 6.9 percent gain to $11.5 billion in advertising. Outdoor expenditures were up 3.6 percent to $1.9 billion, while cable TV followed with a 2.8 percent increase to $8.38 billion.

Broadcast TV media, on the other hand, were less fortunate. Network TV expenditures fell 3.6 percent to $11.84 billion, while ad spending on spot TV dropped 5.4 percent to $7.29 billion. Syndication TV was down 5.3 percent to $2 billion.

Heading Online
The story was roughly the same for newspaper and radio, which also recorded increasing losses. Ad spending on local newspapers plunged 5.7 percent to $11.09 billion in the first half of 2007 on a reduction of 4.7 percent in space sold. Radio advertising fell by 2.7 percent, to a total of $5.14 billion.

Shares of total spending were also particularly divergent, TNS found. Whereas Internet display advertising accounted for 6.4 percent of total spending a year ago, the recent data shows it has increased to 7.6 percent. Magazines rose 0.9 percent to 20 percent of ad spending, while newspapers slipped a full percent to 17.8 percent. National and local TV each lost share but still accounted for a combined 43.6 percent of all expenditures, TNS said.

Looking at advertisers, the top 10 spent a combined total of $9.0 billion in the first half of 2007, down 2.2 percent from last year. Their spending did increase slightly from the first to the second quarter, however. AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) came in at second and third place, respectively, in the top 10. Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) was No. 6, Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) was No. 8, and Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) was No. 9, according to TNS.

Changing Habits
"The Internet has momentum vs. traditional media because audiences have shifted and the ad dollars are just starting to catch up to those audiences -- especially agency and brand dollars, which are slower to move," Greg Sterling, founder of Sterling Market Intelligence, told the E-Commerce Times.

Internet media are also more "accountable," Sterling noted, which can be particularly important during times of budget constraints.

Consumers' changing media habits may be the most important factor of all, however, reflected in recent data indicating that the Internet ranks on par with TV in terms of overall time spent, Sterling noted.

"The thing that trumps all of the myriad issues here is that the audience, especially younger audiences, have embraced the Internet as a primary medium, in some cases at the expense of traditional media," he explained.

Growing Up Fast
Whether Internet ad spending will continue on its upward trend is another question.

"I would caution anyone in Internet advertising against getting too cocky about this," Andrew Frank, research vice president with Gartner (NYSE: IT) , told the E-Commerce Times.

"Internet ad spending is still catching up with consumer media usage, so growth continues to be almost inevitable," he noted. "Someday soon, though, the Internet will be a mature medium like the others and subject to the same economic volatility that has frequently characterized the general advertising business, as marketing budgets tend to be among the most discretionary sectors of corporate spending."

Generate Web Site Traffic With Video Marketing

Video marketing can be an excellent way to generate web site traffic. Video marketing is essentially free (other than the cost of the camera to shoot the video) and can be a very powerful strategy in getting targeted traffic back to your site, as well as in other facets of the marketing process like building relationships and branding yourself. Many people are intimidated by video marketing because they are not sure exactly how to do it. It is really quite simple and when done properly, this technique can generate web site traffic in large quantity.

The basic idea behind using video marketing to generate web site traffic is to create a marketing video on a particular topic. What you make the video on will obviously depend on what product, service, or opportunity you are promoting. When you make the video, you can edit it and add text in the beginning, during, or after your video that displays your website URL. When you upload your video to sites like youtube and yahoo video (there a tons of sites where you can submit videos, I mentioned these two because they are two of the most popular) you will enter tags which are basically like keywords. They are essentially the terms you would want your video to show up for in the results when someone searches that term on that particular site.

As people are searching the videos on these sites, you can have your video displayed when people are doing searches that are relevant to the tags you have on your video. If people like what they see on your video and you have displayed your website URL, some of these people who check out your video will go back to your site.

Using video marketing is an effective way to generate web site traffic if done properly. First you want to be sure to create videos that have decent content or that are going to interest the audience you are targeting. If your video is not interesting to the target group, they are not going to have incentive to go and check out your site. You really want to make sure you are giving a people a reason to check out your site.

Another thing you will want to do to generate web site traffic using video marketing is to submit your video’s to multiple sites. Just as people have favorite search engines, they have favorite video sites. The more site’s you submit to, the more of a presence you will have and the greater the likelihood of someone coming across your video.

Video marketing can be a great way to generate web site traffic. If you are committed to putting in the work and creating good video’s that interest people in your target market, you can really get some nice traffic that costs you nothing but your time. Additionally, video marketing can enhance other aspects of the overall marketing process such as building relationships and personal branding. The fact is more and more successful marketers are using this powerful technique. If you are willing to learn how to do it and take action, you could generate web site traffic in substantial volume and allow your business to reap a number of other benefits as well.

As for me, I really liked BlogRush intro video.

Internet marketing by women

Women hoping to start a new business should have a sound marketing strategy and potential customers.as well as a start up found, female entrepreneurs should know who the product or service will be aimed at and exactly how it will be marketed.
Which women are capable of starting their own businesses?
1 Women between the ages of 35 and 44 are more likely to become entrepreneurs, as are women with graduate degrees and higher incomes.
2 Women are more likely to engage in a venture involving sideline business than men although the likelihood for women to begin businesses in manufacturing, transport, retail and distribution is the same as men.
And concerning to the internet.
Internet-based businesses are perfect for women who need to juggle family commitments and need flexible working.
Another recent set of research, commissioned by insurance group AXA found that 34% of new and expectant women were planning to set up their own business from home.
The most popular ways of doing this were to use the web and email to carry on offering professional skills like accountancy on a consultancy basis, or to move into retail - buying or selling goods on email or launching a mail order service.

women in the web:

FemaleSOCCER.net
Salma Rana realised there was a gap in the market for a women's football website. She's since scored a spectacular success with FemaleSOCCER.net.

http://recruitmentrevolution.com/
Frustrated with the whole process of recruitment agencies Jamie Mistlin and Anna Taylor decided to design a new system where employers and candidates could communicate directly with each other.

http://www.luette-leihen.de/
Since newborns grow out of a clothing size every month or so in the first half year of their lives, German Lütte-Leihen came up with a solution: a layette rental service for a fixed fee per month.

http://www.thebabybunch.com/
Clothing for newborns packaged as a bouquet for the new mom

http://www.moonjar.com/
What's the best thing to do with money: Spend it, save it or give it away?
The ideal answer, says Eulalie Scandiuzzi, is to recognize the importance of all three. That's why she created colorful children's banks with three compartments: spend, save and share.

I think that's enough.

Is a Google Reader a friend or foe of blog owners?

Some days ago I opened my Google account. It was the first time when I used Google reader.
The first impression was good. I found my first blog and then second. It’s so handy. This is what I told to myself. And the guy in the introduction video told me
that they tried hard to create it. OK, I believe that.

It’s really good for those who read blogs. But concerning to the blogger’s , is it really good?

If have your own blog you rather try to earn some money using some ads. You optimize it,
you try change the Adsense units size, insert banners.
So what happens when your blog is read in Google reader? I can tell you. The ads you have in your blog disappear. Even Google’s Adsense. So what do you think?

Is Google reader your friend or foe?.

Top 10 Internet Marketing Mistakes

Internet marketing can be very powerful, but it needs to be done right to be effective. Many Internet marketing rookies -- and even some veterans -- continue to make the same types of mistakes in their online marketing efforts. Here are a few marketing mistakes to watch out for and avoid.

Making viewers wait. People expect the Internet to be fast. If your server is slow or use graphics that take two minutes to download, you can say goodbye to your potential customers. To market yourself effectively, you need to put your information in front of people quickly.

Technical arrogance. Do not assume that everyone has the latest version of a program to view your site. Not everyone has Macromedia's Flash installed, for example. Always have plain HTML and text versions at the ready for these users.

Not marketing offline. The goal is driving traffic to your site, but no one is online all the time. To successfully market an Internet site, you need market offline, too.

Not listing your site with search engines. It is surprising how many people use search engines constantly but do not bother to get their sites listed on these very same search engines. You should manually list yourself with each search engine to make sure you are listed where you want to be. Since search engines are different, find out how to move up on their listings.

Not remaining timely. Far too many businesses let their Web sites go fallow. You need to stay current if you hope to attract customers. If you?ve got marketing material on your site about a Memorial Day special and it?s June 15th, you?re losing customers.

Poor partnering. Be very careful with whom you align yourself. Some spammers and spyware companies operate co-registration and affiliate programs that violate the CAN-SPAM act and other rules and regulations. Before you sign an agreement with any third party, investigate your potential partner and be sure they are operating above board.

Giving users the third degree. If you are trying to interest customers in signing sign up for a newsletter or make a purchase, do not make them jump through hoops or answer a battery of questions. Each question you ask subscribers, beyond name and email address, will cost you 10 to 15 percent of your potential customers.

Not using viral marketing. Having your customers market for you is very cost effective. From a simple ?forward to a friend? link to two for one offers to offline marketing on t-shirts and other accessories that your customers can wear, you can benefit by the use of viral marketing ? also known as "word of mouth" marketing in the offline world.

Not collecting email addresses. To market successfully online, you need people to market to. Take every opportunity to collect email addresses from your visitors to create a permissioned list to continue marketing to your target audience.

Spamming. Do not succumb to the temptation of spamming. Market via permissioned lists only. If you have any doubts or you are not sure whether or not you are spamming, do not send your mailing. Even one questionable mailing could be enough for you to get labeled a spammer by ISPs, which will make it difficult, if not impossible, for you to do email marketing in the future.

Make Some Noise

How web 2.0 tools can help you communicate with customers more effectively

The web has long been hailed as the next great marketing frontier for entrepreneurs. But even with the best Web site, it's tough for little-known companies to attract online visitors. Sure, pay-per-click campaigns and search engine optimization strategies are a start, but they won't do much to help you find the customer who isn't aware he needs your product or service.
That's where a whole host of new technologies comes in. These low-cost marketing and communications tools let you reach customers and clients across the Web—in many cases, even those who don't know they're looking for you. The idea is to transform a static Web site into a constantly evolving experience, better engaging customers with audio, video, photos, and even community-generated content.Two of the best known of these tools, Webcasts and blogs, are already being used by more than 400,000 small and midsize businesses, according to a March study by consulting firm AMI Partners. About 260,000 more companies are using podcasts. That's 660,000 entrepreneurs maximizing the capabilities of the Web to market and advertise themselves to new customers. After reading the following profiles of five who've used these tools successfully, maybe you'll be convinced it's time to make it 660,000—and one.

TRAMP THE GRAPES, WRITE THE BLOG

In 10 years since starting the Dover Canyon Winery, Mary Baker and Dan Panico have learned to expect surprises. But last March, when Baker heard someone yelling from her driveway at 3:30 a.m., her heart pounded. "Truly freaked out, I awakened Dan and I suggested (in case it was a homicidal maniac) that he should go check it out," wrote Baker on her blog the next day, adding that the maniac turned out to be a truck driver whose rig was stuck on the road to the Paso Robles (Calif.) winery.Baker's humorous and informative posts give readers a peek into life at the two-person, $400,000 winery, which makes zinfandel and syrah. Mail-order sales have almost doubled in the past year, and the blog is an inexpensive way to reach the growing number of online buyers. "It's more important than ever to create a personal connection," says Baker.Baker started her blog in April, 2006, using a software package called TypePad Pro that costs $149.50 a year. She got the blog up in a half-hour and spent two weeks tweaking the design. "It grew into this place where I could be creative and tell what we're all about," says Baker. Beyond the daily happenings at the 10-acre winery, she posts articles on sulfites and tannin, grilling recipes, news about Paso Robles, and anything else she feels might pique her readers' interest. That's just what a blog such as hers should do, says Debbie Weil, owner of WordBiz.com, a blogging consultant in Washington. "Nobody cares about your widgets," says Weil. "People care about what they can do with your widgets or the lifestyle surrounding your widgets."To get people reading her blog, Baker drops a postcard with the blog's address into bags with customer purchases. She includes a link in the winery's e-mail newsletter, and has joined a community of bloggers who in turn link to her. Weil suggests building an audience by making insightful comments on the feedback sections of other blogs and including your blog's address. Just be subtle: Asking influential bloggers to trade links, says Weil, is "totally bad form."It's a good idea to post at least a couple times a week, but Baker often doesn't have time. TypePad allows her to schedule posts, so she can write several entries at once that appear several days apart. As she juggles the many tasks of running a winery, Baker takes comfort knowing she can at least blog about them in the morning.

SIT DOWN. LOG ON. TALK RECRUITING

The folks at Hireability wanted to get people talking about their Londonderry (N.H.) recruiting software and services business. So they created a place for recruiters to meet and chat.In May, the $1 million, 12-person company launched The Recruiting Network, a social networking site. In two months, some 500 recruiters signed up, with about 90% creating profile pages detailing their specialties. Members can link to friends in the network, post videos and blogs, and participate in discussion forums about everything from techniques for finding candidates to job interviews gone horribly wrong. "We're hoping that, because we've put in this time and energy to build a community, we have another vehicle to promote and highlight our offerings," says Craig Silverman, HireAbility's head of sales and marketing. His employees post company news in the site's forums, and information about HireAbility is displayed in Silverman's blog and in a section of the site called the Recruiter's Toolbox. Silverman says a handful of the site's members already have become HireAbility customers.Silverman built the site in about a week using a free service called Ning. (Others include PeopleAggregator, GoingOn, and CrowdVine.) Creating a more highly customized site could run up to $100,000 for developers, servers, and software.HireAbility announced the site's launch in the monthly newsletter it sends to 35,000 recruiters. Several of its employees have profiles on the site, while others post questions on forums and answer members' questions. Silverman says he's happy with the response, but that launching such a site is like having a housewarming party before you have all your furniture—you have to trust that the guests have as much vision as you do.

THE WIKI AS ONLINE CONVEYOR BELT

Much as Henry Ford's assembly line let him crank out the Model T efficiently, Dan Woods employs a strict division of labor at Evolved Media in New York, but with a digital twist. The $1.2 million, five-employee company creates technology-related books, guides, and marketing materials. Woods coordinates about 20 editors, writers, project managers, and graphic designers around the world.He gets a big assist from a wiki, online collaboration software that lets anyone with access to a particular Web site edit content. Woods uses TWiki software (some Linux knowledge required) to create about 50 secure online workspaces since starting Evolved in 2002.Woods divides a project into small chunks, and the wiki functions much as a conveyor belt. One person may conduct interviews and post digital audio files. An alert is then sent to the transcriber, who downloads the file, transcribes it, and posts the results. Writers then use that information to craft chapters, and so on. Clients sign on via Evolved's Web site to see the progress of their project. TWiki can be downloaded free from www.twiki.org, but there are other costs. Woods' server runs about $150 a month, and he has a systems administration consultant come in occasionally to check the wikis and deal with any problems.Small companies that don't want to run their own servers have other options. PBwiki and Netcipia are two free hosting services offering private wikis. Other companies, such as Socialtext and Atlassian, offer wikis for $49 to $449 a month with features such as extra security. "Hosted services are excellent for quick sites," says Woods. "But I have multimedia files that are very large, and the access control [offered by hosted services] is not nearly as good."Now, with editors and contractors working together more efficiently, projects get published in a fraction of the time it used to take. Seven people recently completed a 452-page book in six months, instead of the 18 months to two years it might have taken in the past. Says Woods: "I couldn't run my business without it."

RADIO DAYS

Christopher Penn belts out the news with the smooth delivery of a professional radio broadcaster. But he is actually chief technology officer of Edvisors Network, a 20-person, $6 million company in Quincy, Mass., that works with banks to market student loans. Nearly every weekday since 2005, Penn has recorded a 10-minute podcast about financial aid and scholarships for college students and their parents.Each episode attracts about 3,500 listeners in the 90-day period Penn tracks responses. Edvisors earns fees by referring people seeking loans to banks, and Penn credits the podcasts with boosting revenues by about 5% last year.Penn spends an hour a day on the podcasts. To record, he uses a MacBook Pro equipped with GarageBand podcasting software, broadband Internet access, and a $99 microphone from a music store. He has built an audience by e-mailing people who receive the company newsletter, and by setting up a blog, FinancialAidPodcast.com, on which he posts notes about each episode. The blog also helps people searching on Google to find the podcast, as most searches are built around text, not audio. Penn registered the podcast on Apple.com, so people can find it via iTunes. And in 2006, Edvisors started an affiliate program to syndicate the program to other Web sites. Penn also plays music from new artists at the end of each show. "When you promote someone else, they are likely to promote you, too," he says, adding that 5% to 10% of traffic comes through links from those musicians' sites. After about 550 episodes, Penn is going strong: "I still look forward to it, and I still have lots to talk about."

THE LITTLE AD THAT COULD

Dirk slaps a post-it note on Brent's backside that says "reboot." Brent retaliates by stapling Dirk's tie to the desk, causing him to fall backward when he tries to stand. So begins what the two twentysomething interns call Cubicle War 2006.Dirk and Brent aren't real employees, of course. They are characters in a two-minute online video promoting Boulder (Colo.) software maker Windward Studios. The video, posted on YouTube and Digg.com, has been viewed more than 2 million times since 2006 and won an award for creative excellence in advertising from the American Advertising Federation in 2007. David Thielen, CEO of 12-person Windward Studios, says the company had a 20% increase in downloads of its demo software in the six weeks after the video was posted. And 2006 revenues jumped 100% from the prior year, to $1 million.Thielen doubts he could have achieved such excellent results had he used a traditional campaign. Aware that software developers are largely immune to direct mail or phone pitches from companies such as Windward, Thielen thought that a funny video would be a better way to promote his software, Windward Reports, which takes information such as customer names from databases and puts it into templates. For $2,500, Thielen hired Corner Booth Productions, a video production company in Spokane, Wash., to make a humorous video about what even he calls "the absolute most boring software segment in the universe."Thielen liked the initial script but surprised Corner Booth's Luke Barats and Joe Bereta by saying it mentioned Windward Reports too many times. The final version included only one reference. Thielen posted the video on Windward's site, and urged by the enthusiastic response, had it up on Digg.com and YouTube within a few days. Word of mouth took care of the rest.Doing it yourself can be cheaper, depending on which digital video camera, computer, and editing software you choose. Posting a video is free on YouTube, Revver, and about 70 other online video sharing sites.

Ten Reasons Why Internet Marketing is the Best Marketing Model

You are not convinced that internet marketing could be your marketing model of choice? Here are ten reasons that will convince you why internet marketing will be the best marketing model, no matter what type of products or services you offer.

1. No other marketing method can work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also, no other marketing method has the potential to reach customers all over the world, instead of the limited circulation area of whatever traditional avenues you choose.
2. Though it is not free, the Internet is the most cost-effective method of advertising your business and your products. Your investment in Internet marketing will involve much more of your time than your money. If you think there are cheaper methods of advertising, call your local newspaper and ask about display advertising rates.
3. You can reach a broad, diverse potential customer base, particularly if you set up multiple websites.
4. You can have a seamless vertical and horizontal business integration using the internet and spending the least cost. This can be achieved by having various websites in different niches and promoting relevant products in those niches.
5. Even those visitors who don't become immediate customers can be added to your database, and likely translated into future sales.
6. The Internet brings your products and services to life like no other media. Only television commercials can provide as much motion as a website, and television is not interactive—you can't click on a TV screen! (Besides, can you guess how much a television commercial will set you back financially?)
7. Just imagine the expenses that you may need to incur if you were to have a network of offices around the world. But, on the internet, by enlisting professionals, who are into affiliate marketing, you will have a bigger network of web publishers and affiliate marketers (in fact, millions of them) and at, practically, no cost to maintain the network. They will be able to do a much better job of promoting your products as they will earn incentives.
8. More than 1114 million people have access to the Internet and that number is growing every day. You have the potential to harness far more customers than a strictly land-based business ever will.
9. This is the only marketing model which is the most cost effective, requires least capital, generates the most revenues, with practically NIL overheads, requires no special skills except for common sense and with the highest growth potential.
10. With the latest Web 2.0 technology catching on like wild fire, it has become even more easier to market and monetize through internet marketing.

The Benjamin Franklin Guide to Marketing Your Business Online

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin never said “A penny saved is a penny earned?”

As popular as the saying is, it doesn’t really make sense (or its meaning is not as clear as it could be). Here’s what Franklin actually said:

“A penny saved is twopence dear.”

Translated, if you save your money you can double it (or a penny saved is two pennies earned). Ahhh… sound investment advice! So maybe Ben can help you out in other business matters, even when it comes to marketing on the Internet.

Here are seven wise things that Benjamin Franklin had to say that you can apply in today’s interactive marketing environment:

1. “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
The key to online marketing is content, and the ability to write well provides any professional or business owner with an unfair advantage over others, both in terms of social media audiences and with search engines. Video and podcasting are also ways to effectively communicate, as long as you have something compelling to say.

On the other hand, simply doing or providing something remarkable allows other media-empowered people to do the writing and spread the word for you. Either way, the lightening-fast viral nature of the Internet allows for unprecedented exposure—but only if you offer truly unique value.

2. “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
The days of telling people what you have to offer are mostly over, and without a doubt dead as a doornail online. Educational marketing via valuable content is the rule of the web, and social media has given us the ability to fully heed Franklin’s prescient advice.

Educational marketing has morphed into conversational marketing, and the nimble and responsive business will see great advantages by involving prospects and existing customers in a dialogue that is beneficial to everyone involved. You lose control of the message (as if control was ever anything other than an illusion), but anyone who thinks you can talk “at” people online and succeed is deluded.

3. “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”Benjamin Franklin was a true Renaissance man, and as a polymath accomplished much in the fields of business, politics and science. In these days of hyper-specialization, it’s ironic that the broader your knowledge base, the better your odds of not only providing remarkable products and service, but also of devising innovative ways to reach out to your target audience.

Another quote from Franklin illustrates the importance of constant learning: “If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it from him.” Invest constantly in keeping up with the latest online marketing developments and techniques, but more importantly, broaden your general knowledge base so as to have more ammunition to drawn upon when faced with new challenges.

4. “Drive thy business or it will drive thee.”
The price of success can be truly expensive. You work your tail off to develop business through innovative online marketing techniques, only to be buried with work and growing pains when you succeed. And what’s the first thing you slack off on when you get busy? That’s right, the production of the very content that got you the business in the first place.

In the very short term, you won’t feel it, but if you’re trying to grow a real business and avoid the feat or famine cycles that are inherent when engaging in marketing only when hungry, the content should never stop. If you’re looking to grow, make sure you bring on people that can do the things you shouldn’t be. You might be surprised to find that your marketing is the last thing you should hand over to someone else.

5. “Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
One of the most dangerous things about marketing online is the allure of the possibilities. Yes, it’s entirely possible that you can write something that spreads like wildfire across the ‘net. And yes, it’s possible that your every prospective customer could find you and jump on board. The problem is that’s not likely to just happen.

The truth is, marketing your business online is much like anything else—you work at it consistently and get better as you go along. As Wood Allen said, “90% of success is showing up,” and luck come to those who work hard.

6. “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain and most fools do.”
I think one of the toughest things for successful offline business people to deal with online is the wide-open nature of social media communication. Everyone has an opinion, whether qualified or not, and the least qualified are shockingly eager to share. Plus, there are always the naysayers who will take the time to complain that what you offer or say cannot possibly work for them, regardless of any evidence to the contrary.

The people who succeed in attracting attention online, and converting that attention into cash, are those who take action, try things out, observe, and try again. The Internet is a medium that allows for unprecedented levels of tracking, testing, and low-cost experimentation, so idle opinions and complaints are even less warranted than at any other time in history.

7. “Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked, and never well mended.”
Reputation has been paramount to business success since well before horse-and-buggy days, and now news of bad business will spread faster than any other message you might want to communicate. If you’re tempted to put one over on people in the interest of short-term gain, you’d better be ready to close up shop and go do something else.

This does not mean that you should try to please everyone. Quite to the contrary, you have to fanatically please the people that matter to your business goals, and never sacrifice their interests to please those that ultimately don’t matter. Also, be wary of the inevitably opportunity for flame wars and stepping into unrelated controversy. You’re not going to change anyone’s mind, and they’re not going to change yours, so why bother? Stick to speaking to people who want to listen, and concentrate on speaking well.

by Brian Clark

The NUB Of Your Marketing Strategy.

Most of you would say : "what?"
Let's investigate..


Many people buy in to the notion that you need a marketing strategy or a business strategy. It almost seems the 'politically correct' thing to have. Strategies seem to be everywhere: financial strategy, investment strategy, selling strategy, poker strategy, black jack strategy, strategy games, and the list goes on and on.

Strategy originally was a military term to describe how a whole war would be conducted with all the logistical support that was needed. Strategy was carefully thought out and then was the master plan for how the battles were conducted. Strategy was often almost cast in stone and was only changed after very deep thought if new conditions forced this. However if you observe people in action particularly using marketing or business strategies, the rules seem much more flexible now. They sometimes seem to be following that precept from Yogi Berra, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Developing A Good Strategy
A good strategy gives a clear direction for activities and efforts. All resources, energy, enthusiasm and even passion are then channelled and focused on moving in that direction. Without such a strategy, the lack of focus dramatically reduces the effectiveness of efforts and may even guarantee failure.

How do you get a good strategy? There's a library of books to guide you and an army of gurus. Much very wise advice has been set down on this. The works of Michael Porter are particularly good in this field. Clearly you want to get the management group together and devote some serious time to hammering the strategy out. It should be one that all agree on and support. Some techniques for such group thinking have been suggested. SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for example seems to have very wide acceptance.

Unfortunately the outcome from such a groupthink can often be a wordy document that does not clearly indicate what should be done and more particularly what should not be done. Cutting such a wordy document down to the essential minimum is tough. As Mark Twain said, "I'm sorry this letter is so long, but I did not have time to write a shorter one." The best strategy document for practical use is the shortest possible one that ensures the right actions are taken.

The Absolute Minimum
So what should that wordy strategic document be cut down to? Or if you're starting with a clean sheet of paper, how can you best outline your company's strategy on just one page? The best word to describe it is 'Nub'. Nub means 'the most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience'. So that's what you need to get down, no more and no less. What should be 'the most essential or most vital part' of the marketing strategy?

Practical experience, watching a host of companies over the years apply what they thought of as marketing strategy, suggests the following. What must be included is what might be called the NUB. NUB is the most essential or most vital part of strategy. More importantly when considered as an acronym, it provides the short list of what must be included in the strategy. NUB stands for:

N - Niche of potential customers

U - USP, Unique Selling Proposition. This describes what you offer to those potential customers, that is unmatched by the competition, and

B - Bottom-line. The forecasted 12-month cash flow to confirm that this is a satisfactory and viable scenario.
Every one of these three letters is tough to focus on. The lack of one or other of these has been the downfall of many companies. With all three strong and well-defined, success is highly probable. Each of them does of course interact with the other two. So you're involved with a cycling process of continual refining each until the total NUB is consistent.

N - Niche
A Niche is a group of potential customers (they could be individuals or they could be companies) who share some common characteristics. In this global age of the Internet, it no longer needs to be a regional grouping although some are. So why do we need to define a Niche? Why not sell to anyone who is ready to buy? There are a number of reasons but here are just 6:

1. A niche of 'similar' customers allows the product/service package to be developed exactly to meet their needs and provide the benefits they are seeking.
2. Publicity can be optimized for this particular niche and a 'rifle' approach can be adopted rather than a 'shotgun' approach in using the publicity budget.
3. The company can become known as the speciality supplier to the niche and provide better and more targeted service.
4. To the extent that the niche forms a community, either on a regional or industry basis, the company can better become involved in this community.
5. By selling more similar product/service packages the company can optimize its purchasing of raw materials and supplies to provide the best cost basis.
6. By producing and selling more similar product/service packages, the production and selling teams can both go down their learning curves faster and optimize their efficiency and productivity.


Taken together, these six reasons ensure the best possible profits and the most assured sales growth.

The Niche should not be too large and should not be too small. If too small, it will not support the sales growth required for success. If too large, then it is more difficult to secure some of the economies of scale suggested in the above list. It is also difficult to develop the position of specialized supplier to the niche. Ideally the niche should allow potential for adequate sales growth even with optimistic projections for a time horizon of 3 to 5 years.

U - USP
The Unique Selling Proposition has been much discussed throughout the years since Rosser Reeves coined the phrase in his book, "Reality in Advertising", in 1961. His definition was as follows:

The proposition to the customer should be: "buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."
The proposition itself must be unique.
The proposition must be strong enough to pull new customers to the product.


However here we will define it a little more precisely. The USP must be what a typical member of our Niche would acknowledge as applying to our product/service package. It makes our product/service package stand out measurably from the other competitive products available to this Niche. So this is very much as seen in the eyes of the beholder, our potential customer. It must be sufficiently outstanding that when a potential customer sees this USP mentioned on our website, he or she finds it very believable. As Reeves said, it should be so believable that it creates a desire to contact the company and initiate a purchasing process.

This is a very tough criterion. Just wishing it to be so, doesn't create a USP. It may require investments or extra resources or efforts to make the USP a reality for our product/service package among members of our Niche.

B - Bottom-Line
The third letter, B, is for the Bottom-Line. Or it could be for any of a number of other letters starting with B. They all relate to Cash, a critical resource. B could also be Budget, or it could be projected Balance Sheet, or it could be Bucks in North America. For a start-up enterprise eager to get moving and not waste too much time on planning, I would suggest it could even be Back-of-the-Envelope Cash Flow projection. The important thing is to project out for 12 months using believable sales estimates and conservative cash availability. Unless, using our current view on the Niche and the USP, we can project a survivable Bottom-Line, then the business is doomed to failure. The sales estimates in this survivable Bottom-Line, then become our minimum targets.

So many start-up enterprises fail because they don't look at the B. Faith, passion, and enthusiasm for your USP may not be enough. The likelihood is that the first time round the Bottom-Line is not survivable. It is not then sufficient merely to juggle with the numbers to make it look right. It may require a redefinition of the Niche or the USP. Perhaps a different way of making the product or selling it must be found. At the end a credible and deliverable B must be determined.

So You Have Your NUB
Once the NUB is determined, then your team can follow the actions that will make the B a reality. The U defines better what your potential customers will find attractive and the N determines where you go to look for them. This clearly defined direction will make every one of your actions more effective. You can create a website that will be more effective in converting visitors into potential customers. You can take actions that will make members of your Niche more likely to see the website. Your continuing contact with potential customers will confirm that your company is the very best possible supplier for them. At the right moment, when you ask for the order, you will make the sale.

Copyright
Copyright 2004 Barry Welford, Montreal, Quebec, Canada