Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Streamline Operations by Using Surveys Online

Every office has a few things that are always a pain. For some firms, it’s keeping track of stationery and other office supplies that need to be ordered on a relatively regular basis. For others, it’s keeping track of the holidays, sick leave and vacation time. Some companies need an ongoing assessment of training needs and requirements, others are always on the look out for a more effective way of tracking requests for office parties and so on. And when the one person who was keeping track of the sticky notes with the key information on goes away for lunch at the wrong moment, all systems can grind to a halt.

This is where online survey software can lend a helping hand. There are a number of ways one can deploy online surveys within the workplace to improve productivity and smooth some of the more common kinks in the proverbial corporate hose.

Surveys for One-off Projects
When it comes to organizing the annual Christmas party or a summertime picnic, there are a number of things people like to have the opportunity to voice their opinion on. From the nibbles to the venue, you can organize an online survey that allows employees to vote – anonymously, of course. By including mostly multiple-choice questions listing your short-listed venue options, cuisine types and entertainment possibilities, you can design an effective survey in very little time.

What’s more, the online survey can be made available through a specific link on your intranet, and participation can be restricted based on your own criteria – you can ‘close’ the survey as of a specific time, for example. The survey results are easy to interpret, appearing in a graphical or downloadable format as your employees or co-workers complete the questionnaire.

Using Online Surveys for Ongoing Projects
When it comes to rolling requirements, like stationery, having a simple link on the intranet your colleagues can click to enter their requirements can make organising office supply orders a lot simpler. Using a combination of open-ended questions and multiple-choice matrix questions, your survey will enable office staff to select the pens, paper or other supplies they require with a few simple clicks – then, at the end of the week or whenever the need for supplies reaches a particular level, you can simply print out the survey results page provided by your online survey software and complete the order in a matter of minutes.

Another innovative way to apply the power of online survey software to your normal office chores is by using an online survey to establish and maintain your firm’s skills and training matrix. Human resources departments can be busy places – so anything that lends an air of simplicity to maintenance of the records is usually welcome with open arms. You can design an online survey for new or existing employees that polls what software skills or special training they have had, as well as any they would like or need to receive in the future. When designing your online skills and training survey, aim to include the ‘right’ questions – semantic differential scale questions, for example, can allow employees to rate their skills from ‘none’ or ‘basic’ to ‘expert’, while multiple-choice questions will make it easy for them to identify areas where they’d like to receive further training.

Analyze, Interpret and Bank Online Survey Research


Creating online surveys is relatively easy – as is the process of attracting survey participants. One part of the online survey process that many organizations overlook is what comes after the survey has been completed. Analyzing and interpreting the data an online survey provides is key to getting the most from your investment in online survey software.

Making Sense of Online Survey Data
A good online survey software provider gives you a number of straight-forward methods for constructing your survey. Usually this involves using a customizable template and providing a variety of ways in which your survey can be deployed. What separates a good online survey software firm from a great one is simple – how you receive your results.

Data should be easy to understand, simple to collate and ready to interpret. When it is, you’re able to move swiftly through the post-survey process and get straight to the work that matters most – taking the required action. When choosing an online survey software provider, check to see if your survey results are:
  • Available in real time; this is to say, can you check the results whenever you wish to once the responses start coming in?
  • Available in a variety of downloadable formats; keep a lookout for popular options, such as CSV, as well as customizable options to suit your specific working methods
  • Available as individual or group results; this allows you to look a little deeper into specific responses
How to Use Online Survey Results
When you design your online survey, it is important to keep your eyes on the prize, so to speak. You’ll need to know what you’re trying to find out and choose questions that lead your survey participants to offer that information to you with ease. Providing you’ve designed your survey well, the data your participants respond with will answer your questions, and more.

Analyzing the information survey participants provide will give you a good indicator as to whether your new product lives up to your customers’ expectations or if you should introduce a new line of specialty travel mugs instead of water bottles. This can be done in a snap through graphics provided by your online survey software firm’s online interface. And, because you can easily print and present the information to colleagues, discussing and interpreting the trends your online survey highlights is easy.

When you’ve looked at the results of your online survey for overall trends, it’s well worth taking the time to further examine the minutiae of the responses. Why? Well, because you never know what you’ll find. Heartfelt testimonials about your quality of service that are left in open-ended response boxes can be used for product promotion purposes. On the other hand, criticism of your internal processes can be helpful in improving your reputation for superior customer service and support. In either case, being able to delve deeper into individual responses to your survey provides you with invaluable insight to the mindset of your customers. Sometimes, they’ll leave you with more questions to ask – paving the way for future online surveys.

Thanks to flexible exportable data, you can build an archive of your online survey responses. Over time, you can use this bank of information to provide direction to your sales, marketing and development activities. This allows you to look at market trends in a whole new way – straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth – and react more swiftly to emerging issues facing your firm.

User-Friendly Surveys in 5 Simple Steps

What good is an online survey if no one takes it? Or similarly, how useful are survey results if questions go unanswered? As you might expect, it can be an almost completely wasted effort. Some researchers are willing to accept a large percentage of non-responses. This is usually the case with surveys being distributed to large populations. However, regardless of any survey size, there’s no need to settle for less-than-optimum response. By following just five simple guidelines when creating online surveys, response rates can be maximized to their fullest potential.

Step 1: State Your Purpose
In today’s world of spam-sensitive email users, it is important to let recipients know why they’ve made it to your list of survey participants. If it is to evaluate a recent purchase, give as many details about the purchase as you can. Things like purchase date and items purchased can help jog participants’ memory as to the nature of their relationship with your organization. Like any other email, surveys from a trusted source have more chances of getting opened.

Step 2: Give Clear, Concise Directions
It was Mark Twain who said, “If you make something idiot-proof, the world will build a better idiot.” While his words are a bit harsh, there is a bit of truth in them. What seems obvious to some is completely confusing to others. If it is important that respondents complete the survey within a certain period of time; say so. If questions have multiple choice answers and participants can select more than one answer; be sure to let them know. There’s nothing to be lost from survey recipients that already understand the intended directions, and everything to be gained from those that needed a little extra help.

Step 3: Watch Your Language
Even if you want your organization to be viewed as an incredibly intelligent or experienced authority, try to avoid industry terms or difficult vocabulary words. All they serve to do is confuse your audience – and confused audiences don’t take or finish surveys. If you keep in mind that most of America reads at about an 8th grade reading level, a fairly easy self-test to run on any survey is to see if the words in your survey are typically used by the average junior high or middle school student. Of course, if you’re speaking to an educated or highly professional audience like physicians, lawyers, scientists, architects and the like, feel free to use any industry-specific terms that will encourage greater understanding among your participants.

Step 4: Go With a Flow
There’s a logical order to the way the human mind thinks. Surveys that follow this order help respondents spend more time focusing on answering questions and less time trying to understand them. Begin with simple answers, those that require the least amount of consideration from the audience. Personal data such as age, education level, profession, and household income are easy warm-ups for virtually any online survey recipient. Once participants are comfortable, the more complex questions become easier to answer.

Step 5: Size Matters
Be respectful of your online survey participants and their time. No one wants to invest the time to complete an 80-question survey. Even if they’re your most loyal customers, it is unreasonable to expect that any respondent is as interested in your survey as your organization is. Be as brief as possible while still collecting all the information that you need. Remember also that this is not your only chance to gather survey information, so stick to a single topic for each survey and save other topics for future surveys.

It’s surprising how large of an impact these small changes can have on the success of your online survey efforts. As your organization gets more experienced and skilled at applying these five strategies, they’ll become like second nature for your organization and you can concentrate on other survey strategies.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

How to Make Money from Paid Surveys

Paid surveys on the Internet are something that we have all heard about, but can you actually make any money with them? Most people delete the emails that they get for them and don't bother to click on the links, but if you are looking to make a couple bucks in just a couple minutes of your time you'll find that paid surveys are a great way to do it. There are literally hundreds of survey companies out there that need your help to get information about a variety of products and you can get paid anywhere from one dollar to as much as $100 depending on the length of the survey.


The best way to find these survey opportunities is to watch your email. Many times offers come into your email and you don't pay any attention to them. You don't necessarily have to open each email you get but if the email subject lists a survey opportunity you might want to take a peek at the email and see what the company is offering. You might get a sample survey and you can gauge if it is something that you are willing to do with your time. Each survey usually pays a nominal amount but it can be a fun way to earn five dollars and maybe even get a sample of a new product that is not yet on the market.


You can find survey opportunities by searching for them yourself. The more companies you sign up with, the more earning potential you will have. While some surveys may take just five minutes and you may only get a couple of dollars, when you couple them with the surveys that pay more you can potentially earn a couple hundred dollars a week. Some survey companies don't have surveys available every day, or even every week, but when you sign up with several companies you will hopefully have a survey or two that you can complete every day.


Most of the time you will be required to complete a profile that will tell the company a little bit about you. You may be asked about your interests, your education, and the products you buy, and where you have lived. While you might want to check off only the things that you really like or really know about, you may want to broaden your interests for the sake of the surveys. The thing is, these companies use your profile to determine who they should send each survey to. If you have listed a broad range of interests and products that you buy regularly, you are sure to get more surveys than if you list a very narrow range of interests and products that are purchased.


While you can earn money doing online surveys, it's important to realize that you won't become a millionaire by doing this! Paid surveys alone likely will not pay your rent, but it may be enough to pay your bills associated with the Internet and may buy you a new pair of shoes every once in awhile. If you are involved with several paid survey companies you may earn a bit more, but generally this is thought to be fun money or a supplement to your current income. If you work online or you work from home, this is a great opportunity to make some extra cash and it won't take you long to earn it. Paid surveys can be fun, interesting, and generally are worth your time, just don't expect to become rich and famous as a result!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Top Benefits of Owning a Home Based Business by:

The benefits of owning a home based business are opportunities that people now more than ever are taking full advantage of. We are now living in very exciting times due to the world economy never being like it once was. Granted, for some it may be challenging with loss of jobs and high unemployment but, for home based entrepreneurs it is an opportunity to solve many more problems (particularly financial) for everyone who is open while generating massive amounts of money. The following are major benefits that all should take advantage of.

1. Liberation/Freedom- This is probably the main reason why most home-based entrepreneurs enjoy their business. It is an opportunity to have full control over your own life. As a home-based business owner, YOU are the boss, thus you can shape your schedule based around your individual lifestyle and ambitions. Time freedom is truly priceless. Just as equally exciting, is the potential financial freedom that it can provide because YOU determine how much you want to earn. This is especially true if you’re in a network marketing/direct sales type of business because it gives the business owner the opportunity to earn residual income.

2. Tax Advantages- There is a number of tax advantages when using your home as a place of business. From deductions on home, whether rent or own, to gas mileage, to everything else in between, there is a wealth of deductions for the home-based businessperson. Everything that you use to operate your business is a deduction. Some examples include: phone bill for talking with clients, electricity and internet to power the computer and reach potential clients through e-mail for marketing, gas reimbursement for going to meetings with potential clients, lunch for feeding clients, and this is only the beginning. However, please consult your Certified Public Accountant for a thorough evaluation of which deductions would be considered liable.

3. Empowerment- When you own a home-based business there is a whole new level of power that is yours. Compared to being at a traditional job or a traditional “brick and mortar” business, the home-based business entrepreneur does not worry about being told when to eat lunch, when to wake up in the morning to arrive by a certain time, deadlines, employee competence and trust, office politics, large overhead costs, or incompetent bosses. Rather, this privileged entrepreneur has full control over every detail of their life including flexibility with personal life. Granted, for some who are use to being in a “worker bee” mindset all of this control could be scary. Nevertheless, on days when it’s -4 degrees outside, when a child is sick and need caring for, or when paychecks are cut let alone pay raises, having a home-based business is priceless. More importantly, personal growth and development (the key to success) is greatly enhanced as you learn more about your business, others, and yourself.

These top benefits are only the tip of the iceberg. Although for many freedom and empowerment in every way imaginable is more than enough. As stated earlier, these are very exciting times where more people are choosing to take full responsibility and control over their lives and a large percentage are choosing to do that through being a home-based business entrepreneur. Consider the limitless opportunities that this growing movement can provide and be a dream achiever. Cheers to the home-based business entrepreneurs!

Top Benefits of Owning a Home Based Business

The benefits of owning a home based business are opportunities that people now more than ever are taking full advantage of. We are now living in very exciting times due to the world economy never being like it once was. Granted, for some it may be challenging with loss of jobs and high unemployment but, for home based entrepreneurs it is an opportunity to solve many more problems (particularly financial) for everyone who is open while generating massive amounts of money. The following are major benefits that all should take advantage of.

1. Liberation/Freedom- This is probably the main reason why most home-based entrepreneurs enjoy their business. It is an opportunity to have full control over your own life. As a home-based business owner, YOU are the boss, thus you can shape your schedule based around your individual lifestyle and ambitions. Time freedom is truly priceless. Just as equally exciting, is the potential financial freedom that it can provide because YOU determine how much you want to earn. This is especially true if you’re in a network marketing/direct sales type of business because it gives the business owner the opportunity to earn residual income.

2. Tax Advantages- There is a number of tax advantages when using your home as a place of business. From deductions on home, whether rent or own, to gas mileage, to everything else in between, there is a wealth of deductions for the home-based businessperson. Everything that you use to operate your business is a deduction. Some examples include: phone bill for talking with clients, electricity and internet to power the computer and reach potential clients through e-mail for marketing, gas reimbursement for going to meetings with potential clients, lunch for feeding clients, and this is only the beginning. However, please consult your Certified Public Accountant for a thorough evaluation of which deductions would be considered liable.

3. Empowerment- When you own a home-based business there is a whole new level of power that is yours. Compared to being at a traditional job or a traditional “brick and mortar” business, the home-based business entrepreneur does not worry about being told when to eat lunch, when to wake up in the morning to arrive by a certain time, deadlines, employee competence and trust, office politics, large overhead costs, or incompetent bosses. Rather, this privileged entrepreneur has full control over every detail of their life including flexibility with personal life. Granted, for some who are use to being in a “worker bee” mindset all of this control could be scary. Nevertheless, on days when it’s -4 degrees outside, when a child is sick and need caring for, or when paychecks are cut let alone pay raises, having a home-based business is priceless. More importantly, personal growth and development (the key to success) is greatly enhanced as you learn more about your business, others, and yourself.

These top benefits are only the tip of the iceberg. Although for many freedom and empowerment in every way imaginable is more than enough. As stated earlier, these are very exciting times where more people are choosing to take full responsibility and control over their lives and a large percentage are choosing to do that through being a home-based business entrepreneur. Consider the limitless opportunities that this growing movement can provide and be a dream achiever. Cheers to the home-based business entrepreneurs!

Top Benefits of Owning a Home Based Business

The benefits of owning a home based business are opportunities that people now more than ever are taking full advantage of. We are now living in very exciting times due to the world economy never being like it once was. Granted, for some it may be challenging with loss of jobs and high unemployment but, for home based entrepreneurs it is an opportunity to solve many more problems (particularly financial) for everyone who is open while generating massive amounts of money. The following are major benefits that all should take advantage of.

1. Liberation/Freedom- This is probably the main reason why most home-based entrepreneurs enjoy their business. It is an opportunity to have full control over your own life. As a home-based business owner, YOU are the boss, thus you can shape your schedule based around your individual lifestyle and ambitions. Time freedom is truly priceless. Just as equally exciting, is the potential financial freedom that it can provide because YOU determine how much you want to earn. This is especially true if you’re in a network marketing/direct sales type of business because it gives the business owner the opportunity to earn residual income.

2. Tax Advantages- There is a number of tax advantages when using your home as a place of business. From deductions on home, whether rent or own, to gas mileage, to everything else in between, there is a wealth of deductions for the home-based businessperson. Everything that you use to operate your business is a deduction. Some examples include: phone bill for talking with clients, electricity and internet to power the computer and reach potential clients through e-mail for marketing, gas reimbursement for going to meetings with potential clients, lunch for feeding clients, and this is only the beginning. However, please consult your Certified Public Accountant for a thorough evaluation of which deductions would be considered liable.

3. Empowerment- When you own a home-based business there is a whole new level of power that is yours. Compared to being at a traditional job or a traditional “brick and mortar” business, the home-based business entrepreneur does not worry about being told when to eat lunch, when to wake up in the morning to arrive by a certain time, deadlines, employee competence and trust, office politics, large overhead costs, or incompetent bosses. Rather, this privileged entrepreneur has full control over every detail of their life including flexibility with personal life. Granted, for some who are use to being in a “worker bee” mindset all of this control could be scary. Nevertheless, on days when it’s -4 degrees outside, when a child is sick and need caring for, or when paychecks are cut let alone pay raises, having a home-based business is priceless. More importantly, personal growth and development (the key to success) is greatly enhanced as you learn more about your business, others, and yourself.

These top benefits are only the tip of the iceberg. Although for many freedom and empowerment in every way imaginable is more than enough. As stated earlier, these are very exciting times where more people are choosing to take full responsibility and control over their lives and a large percentage are choosing to do that through being a home-based business entrepreneur. Consider the limitless opportunities that this growing movement can provide and be a dream achiever. Cheers to the home-based business entrepreneurs!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Affiliate Revenue: Recession Proof Yourself With Affiliate Revenues

In these times of economic uncertainty, we need to recession proof ourselves. Many of us find ourselves in a financial bind, we have lost our jobs, our incomes have dropped. Foreclosures are at and all time high and the cost of everything is going up.
Our political leaders do not have a clue, it is beyond me how you have an jobless economic recovery. Ninety-five percent of American's were promised a tax cut, then government raises taxes on everything they can get away with, which in turn raises taxes on all Americans. The old bait and switch at it's best. It is painfully clear that Washington is not the answer to our economic success, but the cause of our economic misery. That is why we must depend on ourselves to create our own robust personal economy. We can only do this by becoming recession proof.

It is a necessity that we lower our expenses and increase our revenues. Unlike the federal government we do not have the option of taxing the populous and printing more money when we see fit. There are some simple things that we can do to lower our expenses, such as cut down or cut out entertainment expenses, indulgence's, and impulse purchases. Simply by cutting down on expenses increases revenues, usually that is not enough to recession proof our lives, but it is a start. There are only a few options to increase your personal revenues. They are to get a raise on your job, get a new job that pays more, have more than one job, create a side business that's about it.

Do not believe the hype, yes we need people buying things to get the overall economy going, but if you cannot afford it, do not get it, because what is of the utmost importance is your economy. We as a people have to get out of the mind set that we have to have the latest and greatest of everything and we are spending our hard earned money on looks, bling, all in an effort to impress others. It makes no sense.

A personal story, when I was in the process of refinancing my house, and out of curiosity I asked the broker how much house could I qualify for. He told me that I would qualify for $400,000.00 (It is a lot of house were I am from). At first I was like I could get a really nice upgrade and I was on way, only if Momma could see me now. I being the youngest child, could be in the biggest, prettiest house of my siblings, done pretty good for ole farm boy. Did not take long to realize that it would have been all for show. I did not think if buying a house costing that much would be in the best interest of my family, did we need the extra room, taking the children from their school and friends. Initially those thoughts never entered my mind. It would have been a status symbol for me. I could puff my chest out and say "Hey look at me, look what I have done, I am the man". It would have all been for show. For the bling of it, if you will. I told a buddy of mine about it and he told me that I was crazy, if they going to let you have it then get it. Momma did not raise no fool. I refinanced my house, leveraged my money and purchased five more houses over a two year period all below wholesale.

That move was better for my family, because I was able to take the same qualifying criteria to acquire a million dollars worth of income producing real property that has been an asset instead of an liability that the $400,000.00 home purchase would have been. I know you are like come on your home is your largest asset. Yeah, it is, but if it is not producing you any revenue it is costing you, like the mortgage, water, lights, repair cost, upgrades, and in most cases it only produces an income when you sell it. Financially, your house is just somewhere to lay your head. One of the biggest lies that is told when you go to buy a car, when the sales person says to you that your car is an investment. Your car at best is a depreciating asset, it does not produce any income for us it just gets us from place to place.

Though I have been somewhat successful investing in real estate, that has not made me recession proof. I do not own the properties outright and they are held as collateral and if I do not continue to make the payments the banks will take the properties. Everything has to go right, and in this shaky economy it has been a hair raising experience. Tenants losing jobs, not paying or being late on the rent. Ultimately the landlord is responsible for mortgage if rent is not paid, the mortgage still has to be paid.

Now, I reduced my expenses, created a side business to increase my revenues and while the over all economy was good, things were rolling well. With the down turn in the economy though I had taken steps to insulate myself, my tenants had not done the same. Fortunately, I had set aside funds for a rainy day. None of us know how long this recession is going to last, and most of us are not prepared. I thought I had prepared for difficult times, realizing that I was not fully prepared. I set out to see how I could recession proof my personal economy.

After much research, trial and error, I have come the conclusion that Affiliate-Marketing is the most cost effective way of becoming recession proof. With the advent of the Internet, it has provided us with opportunities that have never existed before and opportunities that we do not even know exist. The power of Affiliate-Marketing is truly amazing. If you can focus, and have a clarity of thought, because of the vastness of the net you can get bogged down going nowhere because it is just to much information and it becomes overwhelming. Like I said if you can have clarity of thought and focus. Affiliate-Marketing is a side business that you can set up in addition to your job, second job, or business that you currently run. There is low start up cost, low overhead, and no employees and once in place runs on auto-pilot except for some tweaking.

The beautiful thing about Affiliate-Marketing is that you can market as many products as you chose and it can be done from anywhere as long as you have a computer connection. These products are products that people want and buy. As the world becomes more depended on the net, the more net sales are going to rise. Everyone can be a part of this economic boom.

Affiliate-Marketing has the potential to generate revenues outside of your main source of income without infringing on your quality of life, and over time payoff all of your outstanding debts allowing you to become debt free while building you a nest egg for your retirement which now doesn't have to be your golden years, thus making you recession proof.

I own a handy man service, and had been during well over the years. I had gotten into the real estate market purchased five properties had a good cash flow working only three days a week and then the bottom fell out. I loss $2500.00 month in revenue, and jump into research mode quickly to replace the lost revenue.

How many times have you seen this headline "Make $783.00 a day from home" or this one "94,113.48 in a month" and said to your self. Self, this is a crock of %^$#. Most of the time I would pass them right on by, but recently I found myself in dire straights because of the failing economy. I had not recession proofed myself.

I was surfing the net and I saw "Make $783.00 a day from home". I was desperate I saw my rainy day fund getting low, so I clicked on the link, read it, and decided to give it try. Heck, what did I have to lose? Am I going to tell you that I am making $783.00 a day, or that I set up a campaign that is generating 94,113.48 a month...

Wish I could, but no. I was only hoping to replace the $2500.00 a month that I had loss, that's a little over $83.00 a day. I have replaced the $2500 a month that I had loss, and I am making myself recession proof.

I only wish that my desperation had not been the catalyst for trying out this program. I don't know what your situation is, but from my experience this program has been well worth the investment. I only wished I had done it sooner.

Check out the following link, it is the easiest Affiliate-Revenue program out there: http://jaz0726.copyprofit.hop.clickbank.net

Monday, July 20, 2009

WHAT YOU CAN DO MAKE MONEY FROM NCHES

One reason that so many people want to work from their homes is that there in no need for a large financial investment to begin an online business. One doesn’t need to invest heavily in product development. Those who have expertise in almost anything can begin by simply writing an e-book and promoting it or obtaining a website and promoting products that are produced by others.
Think of the people who promote products that are produced by others as the modern version of the old door-to-door salesman except instead of knocking on one door at a time they knock on the doors of millions of people at the same time by way of the Internet.
Another attractive reason that draws people to a work-at-home job or small business is the fact that they don’t need to incorporate.a sole-proprietorship does nicely. One person working from one computer these days can accomplish the same things that once required many people working many hours to accomplish. A sole-proprietorship business isn’t required to file separate tax returns or pay any special taxes on income that is earned in the way that a corporation, an llc or even a partnership business is required to do. The taxes levied on a sole-proprietorship business are just for personal income.
The Internet isn’t called “The Information Super Highway” for nothing. A person can make a very good living selling nothing but information on it. The populations of every industrialized nation in the world have learned that if you want to know anything about anything, you get on a computer and ask the question. They have also learned that you must pay for special information and they are more than willing to do just that. A person who has special knowledge of a subject and could be considered a ‘guru’ has a market for selling that information on the Internet.
All that needs to be done is to set up a website, publish the information, advertise and sell the information. It’s a wonderful concept and information is a wonderful commodity. There is no inventory to maintain and no shipping or handling costs involved to deliver the product. Everybody gets what they want. The seller gets paid for delivering information to a person who wants that information.everybody is happy.
There are so many advantages of working from home for the individual as well as for owners of large businesses that it is truly the way that ‘work’ will be done more and more in the future

GOING TO BOOKSHOPS TO IDENTIFY A HOT MARKET

The day may come when people do all of their researching and reading online but it isn’t here yet. Fiction, of course, will always be in print it would be hard to curl up with a good novel in front of the fireplace on a cold winter day with a computer.
Research, however, may eventually all be done online. People buy ‘how-to’ books and books that are devoted to solving their problems and/or making their lives better every day. By identifying the hot market books that are being sold in bookshops (online and off line) you can identify a hot niche marketing topic.
Go to the bookshops in your area and take note of the kinds of non-fiction books that are stocked. You should particularly note the ones that are self-help or how-to books. If you can create the opportunity, ask the stock boy which ones are selling the best. He’s the one who knows what is being restocked most often. That failing, ask a floor salesperson the same question. Asking the bookstore owner or manager is the last option. They are more likely to be pushing the books that aren’t selling well in order to make a sale. Learn by whatever means you can which self-help or how-to books are the hottest sellers.
Another option is the online bookstores. You can’t, of course, ask for information from a person but you can research the site and determine which of the non-fiction self-help or how-to books are highest in sales.
Finding out what books people are most often buying can give you some insight into what the hot market subjects are. Armed with this information, you can go about creating a niche marketing website that will have a better chance of becoming successful.

WHY NICHE MARKETING IS THE WAY TO GO IN SUCCEEDDING ONLINE

Niche Marketing is the last great frontier for the small business entrepreneur. Out there in the ‘real’ world, small businesses don’t have a half fair chance of competing against the giant international corporations of the world. The Internet has evened the odds for small business. The Internet has created a real equal opportunity for those who are willing to use it. There are several different ways to make use of niche marketing and succeed. All of the ways require getting a domain and a webhost, building web pages and adding content. Those are just the basic basics of Internet Marketing in any form. Then there are the choices of how to go about building a successful niche marketing site that will provide you with a profit.hopefully a very large profit.
1. You can create an informational product. An informational product can be articles, reports, columns, audio or video, or other things. These can be sold as stand alone products or used for advertisement or promotional causes.
2. You can build a content rich web site that will be so interesting it will draw potential customers again and again.
3. You can publish newsletters and ezines that are so full of pertinent information that people will happily pay for subscriptions to them.
All of the above listed ways can be used to create a niche marketing website that has the capacity to make money. There are two things that all of these methods have in common.
1. The topic must be one that helps people solve a problem, makes them healthier or happier, or provides them with information that they want or need in some way.
2. The content of the website, no matter the topic, must be relevant, timely and interesting to the people who are reading it and the website must be easily navigated.

HOW TO RESEARCH AND IND YOUR NICHE ONLINE

Deciding on what product or service you will promote in a niche market should be based on a simple principle. There should be a demand for your product or service. You want to offer something that people actually need, something that will make their lives better, make them feel better physically, make them look better, or help them solve a problem.
Once you have chosen a product or service to market, researching to find the right niche for your product or service is the next most important part of beginning a niche marketing program. The things that you need to know are where they spend their time online, and what makes them tick from a personal and business point of view. There is niche marketing software out there that can help you learn these things about your potential niche market.
The next thing you need to learn as you research your online niche market is what you can reasonable charge for your product or service. The best and most effective was to do this is to visit sites that advertise products or services similar to what you have chosen to sell. It should be easy to see if they are giving away a service or selling the product at a price far lower than you would have to charge.
If you can determine that there are people out there who are willing to spend money to buy what you are selling and you can identify those people then you have a niche marketing product or service that can make money on the Internet.
Sometimes it takes reframing your product or service to make it more attractive, better or just different than what others are selling it for. Research is the key to successful niche marketing.

NICHE MARKETING VS INTERNET MARKETING NICHE

Comparing niche marketing and an Internet marketing niche is equivalent to comparing apples with oranges. Apples and oranges are both fruit. Niche marketing and an Internet Marketing niche are both forms of Internet marketing but as different as apples are from oranges.
The term ‘niche marketing’ means selling a specific product to a specific type of buyer. There are far less competitive niches than an Internet marketing niche. Most niche markets are more open to the latest marketing strategies, as well. Small niche markets are not over stocked with gurus and wise men and are much easier for the beginning marketer to break into.
A niche market allows you to promote your own niche product or that of a niche affiliate product. There is a niche market for anything and everything you can imagine. All it takes to break into a niche market is a good idea, a good product created by you or someone else that will appeal to certain people, some advertising and the desire to succeed.
The Internet marketing niche, on the other hand, means that you will be promoting your own Internet marketing product. This is a very crowded field of endeavor and really difficult to break into. It’s a world filled with gurus and wise men who have been playing and winning the game for a long time. This doesn’t mean that it is impossible to cash in on the Internet marketing niche because, of course, you can.
It is a world still built on demand and that means that if you have a product that can compete and if you have the willingness to play hard ball with the big boys then you can succeed at the Internet marketing niche game. Just be aware that there are easier niche market nuts to crack.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

MAKING MONEY FROM PUBLISHING NEWSLETTERS

The object, of course, of any niche marketing business adventure is to make a profit. When people subscribe to your online newsletter or ezine, their object is to get the information that you are able to provide to them. When people subscribe to your online newsletter or ezine, your object is to make money by supplying that information.

This is a simple concept that is easier said than done. Making a website profitableany website.isn’t easy or quick. Try to remember that anything worth doing is worth doing well even if it takes more time than you thought it would.

If you have chosen a topic that addresses the needs or wants of a specific segment of the population and if you have set up your opt-in software correctly, you have a list of potential customers. If they have subscribed to your newsletter, then they obviously believe that your have information about a subject that is near and dear to their hearts. They must consider you to be an expert maybe a guru. If you have worked hard at building your customer’s belief in your own credibility, then you should be able to make a nice profit from your newsletter.

You can use your newsletter to recommend products and services to the members of your list. Some companies will happily pay you for simply recommending their product or service to your list and give you a commission on any sales that your recommendation generates for them.

You can use your newsletter to recommend products and services to the members of your list. Some companies will happily pay you for simply recommending their product or service to your list and give you a commission on any sales that your recommendation generates for

MAKING MONEY WITH CONTENT RICH SITES

Making money from a content rich niche marketing website can be very easy, very difficult or impossible. First let’s define and describe what a content rich niche market website is and how it works. You won’t find a list for “Niche Markets” anywhere. There isn’t one.

A person will find niche marketers when he types words into his favorite search engine and hits search. Let’s say he types in “Improving my golf score”. He will get many hits that will provide links that take him to niche marketing sites. On these sites, he will be asked to enter his email address and opt-in to receiving a newsletter. Since he is in need of learning how to improve his golf score, he willingly does that.

On the content rich site he will find articles and other information about improving his golf score and advertisements for products and services designed to help him improve his golf score. In the future he will receive a newsletter, about every two weeks usually, and he will have become a niche market customer.

If you are the niche marketer, the opt-in email address supplied is pure gold because you will have a customer or a potential customer. When he buys the products and/or services that you are advertising on your site, you will make money. Having a content rich site enhances the possibility of sales.

The trick to making money from a content rich niche marketing website is to have a topic that helps people solve their problems, makes them feel better or look better, or supplies them with information that they need. You will need to have related products and services advertised on your site since that is where the income actually comes from. The website content is what makes people visit your site again and again. The more content rich it is will determine how often they visit and how long they stay. The longer they stay the more opportunities you have to sell to them

WHAT YOU NEED TO SELL INFORMATION PRODUCTS TO HOT NICHES

There are a lot of people who would love to be able to create a cool informational product and be able to make a great living (even get rich) while sitting in a comfy chair in front of their computers knowing that never again would they have to drive in rush hour traffic with all those crazies or put up with an unrelenting, over zealous boss who never had and never would or could be pleased.

What a beautiful vision! The truth is that that lovely vision can become a reality but you will have to pay your dues first. Successful niche markets for an informational product don’t grow on trees or fall out of the sky.

The first thing you need and must have to create an informational product is an ideaa subjecta topicthat will fill the needs, solve a problems, or just make life better for some particular and very specific segment of the general population. You are surrounded by ideas if you just look. Look at yourself first. What is your biggest problem? Do your friends share the problem? Are you passionate about a hobby or a sport? These kinds of things are the stuff of which informational products are made of. So the very first thing you need is to identify a topic and, thereby, a market.

Another thing that you need to have in order to create an informational product which will become successful is research. Every topic and every subject are not going to make money. Many of them willbut just as many will not. The best research is accomplished by reading and talking to people who have succeeded in niche marketing informational products. Savvy niche marketers can spot a great topic from forty paces with one eye shut. Ask. Read. Research.

When you have an idea and have done the research that has proven that there is a market for your informational product, the rest is just a matter of creating the product building a great website and advertising it.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Advance in Online Marketing

Internet marketing refers to the process of selling products and services in the World Wide Web. For most entrepreneurs, this is convenient and way cost-effective as you don't need to burn your pockets to extend your reach to the global market.
Here's how you can advance in internet marketing:
1. Keywords. You need to understand the importance of keywords in internet marketing. These are your most powerful allies when you try to connect with your potential buyers. Before you do anything, I recommend that you perform a keyword research first. Through this, you'll easily identify the terms that are usually being used by your prospects when they go online. You will need to use these keywords/keyphrases on your web content, ads, articles, and blogs posts.
2. Pay per click marketing. If you want to follow the foot steps of the big dogs, I recommend that you use the marketing tool that they are using -- PPC advertising. This is one of the easiest ways to gain exposure in the online arena. What you need to do is to create compelling and powerful ads around keywords that are popular within your chosen niche. These ads will show up on search page results each time a relevant search is made.
3. Inform first before you advertise. You'll most likely to win the business of your target market if you offer them information that can influence their buying decisions. Show them that you have what it takes to solve their problems and offer them information about your products through article marketing, ezine publishing, blogging, and video marketing.

How to Supplement Your Income on the Internet

Article writingWrite articles. You can write for companies like demandstudios.com or associatedcontent.com. These two companies need short easy articles written for them and pay out as much as $15 an article which can take as little as 15-30 minutes to write.
Revenue SharingJoin a revenue sharing program and create content, with videos, pictures, audio, or text. There are a number of revenue sharing programs out there that will pay you for your content such as eHow.com, Triond.com and Bukisa.com. For every article, video, audio piece, or photo that you produce for them you can make a few dollars a month. Add this up over hundreds or thousands of pieces of income and you've got yourself a decent residual income.
Online Network MarketingJoin a network marketing company. While many people are turned off by the idea of multi level marketing times have changed and many of these companies have developed a strictly online presence. What this means is that you don't have to do any selling. You don't have to do phone calls, or go to any silly meetings, or use any high pressure sales tactics. All you have to do is get people to your website where there is a movie and a sales page that will do the work for you. A couple of good ones are Global Domains International which deals in domain names, and Virtual World Direct, which deals in the European Lotto. Since both of these products are virtual it also means no having to carry inventories of product. They are also cheap to join and can develop a good residual income stream.
FreelanceFreelance your skills. There are a few websites out there like Elance and Guru that allow you to showcase your job skills and bid on contract jobs. Almost any job you can do in an office you can do online today. There are jobs for things like writer, virtual assistant, financial analyst, web designer, graphic artist, engineering, legal support, programming and sales and marketing. Some people make a full time living freelancing online. You can also use this site to get clients for your company.

Instant profitable packages

If you do any kind of search on the internet you will quickly see how many advertisers are out there trying to sell you some sort of instant profit package. They all claim that you can make an easy Google profit by purchasing their kit and applying their methods.
The problem is that more often than not they want to charge you an exorbitant amount of money for these packages, amounts that most people don't have. Also there are absolutely no guarantees that you will actually earn an easy Google profit from their materials. Most of the instant profit packages will have a money back guarantee but the problem is that in order for you to fully test their programs and apply their methodology you would need to keep the course far past the refund period.
This is why most people become disillusioned with starting their own home business and working online. They often end up calling all these programs scams and give up on the whole endeavor. However if they did a little bit of research and understood the root core of ecommerce then they would have a much better rate of success with or without an instant profit package.
The first thing that you need to know about earning an easy Google profit online is that much of the information can be found online for free. There are basically two methods that you need to focus on and each has many resources available for free.
The first is using a combination of affiliate marketing with the Google AdWords program which involves placing ads for products that you are an affiliate for. When a customer purchases something from your ad you will earn a commission. The trick with this method is to balance how much you are spending with much you are making to make sure that you come out profitably at the end. Again the information that you can find in an instant profit package can be found in one of the hundreds of Google forums and free sites so you can pay for the info but only if you don't want to do the research.
The second popular method to make an easy Google profit is to make a website that hosts Google sponsored ads. When your visitors click on your ads you get paid an amount based on how valuable that term is to advertisers. So for instance if your site is about how to find the best lawyer you can make a great income because there are lots of lawyers who are willing to pay top dollar to have people searching for this info be directed to their sites.
Both these methods are excellent ways of earning an easy Google profit, it is up to you to decide which one you want to pursue. The most important thing to remember is that you can get all this info without an instant profit package as long as you are willing to do the tedious labor. If not you can always buy one of these courses and dive right into the info.

How to select the best niche

STEP UP ACTION POINT NO. 1
Decide on your niche
I must make it clear that your niche is the subject matter of your business. It must be very specific, in fact, the more specialised it is, the more likely your success! If you work with a smaller more defined niche you are able to work out exactly what information they are wanting. In turn you will also build your own reputation as being an expert in that field. Also the large companies often ignore these smaller markets so you will have less competition. This, in effect, means that although you are targeting a smaller group, you will in fact make more sales as you are specialised in that market. Does that make sense to you?
What is a niche?
If you have a general interest in gardening, then that in itself is not a niche market, but an interest in Herb Gardening in Containers is a lot more specific, or if your interest lies in cars then you need to focus on one particular make and model of car. Perhaps you like arty-crafty things, then really narrow it down to one specific craft, for example, Making Vases from Beads. Obviously there are millions of niches out there but make sure it is something that YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN, as you will find it so much easier to locate and generate products and books etc., if it is a matter close to your heart.
So to recap, in order to build yourself a business on the Internet, you need to know what group you are going to market to:
What interests you? What are your hobbies? You could use your previous work experiences to create an online business.
However if you really can't think what niche market would work for you then I suggest that you take a look at clickbank and browse their site for ideas.
The Sports and Leisure industry are generally good markets as are any subjects relating to Earning Money, Being Healthy and Relationships topics, but go and have a play around yourself. However I must stress that it is important to have an interest in the topic yourself. In fact if there is any particular subject you feel passionate about then that is a really good place to start. Your enthusiasm will came across in your information and that in turn will generate sales. I have a friend who is passionate about Vintage Tractors, (which has absolutely no appeal to me at all!) and as such has built a membership website. He has now built up a list of 1000 subscribers and only charges £18/annum to be a member of his site, but that in itself generates him £18000 - pretty good eh? Can you see that if you had several niche sites, how your income could grow?
Please don't worry that if you get too specific you will limit your sales. Remember that the Internet is massive. There are reportedly 1.3 billion people connected to the Web. You are not talking about limiting your sales to the village, town or even city where you live. Internet means global. Just think, very soon you will have your own International Business and all from the comfort of your own home. Fantastic!
Final Niche Note:
If you are interested in more than one thing (probable, I know!) then that is great, as immediately you have the potential for multiple income streams. This is how lots of people make money online, but to start with, just focus on one niche, then once you are established and know exactly how to do it, then you can start working with your other ideas.

Errors to avoid in marketing

If you want to make money online or grow your businesses you need to do a few things right. But the sad reality is, if you do a few things wrong you can actually drive yourself right out of business before you even see any progress. That is why I want to show you how to avoid the top Internet marketing mistakes. Mistake #1:
Going into a market without direct competition. This is a deadly mistake that will drive you out of business before you make your first $100,000! Don't go into a market unless you know there are other people selling what you are selling.
The reality is - if there is no one selling what you want to sell, it probably means the market is not big enough for a successful company or marketer to go into. This should tell you something!
If a successful person won't touch the market - why should you?
Mistake #2:
Only going after free website traffic. This is very dangerous and can cost you years of your life without seeing any results. The reason is, most people actually think there is free traffic online.
The fact is you have to either pay for it with your time or money. Search engine traffic is free! And yes you can get 20 or 30 visitors to your site without really doing anything. But the problem is, you have to pay for it with your time if you want to get massive traffic.
So, make sure you factor in the time factor before jumping into a "free traffic" project. Cause most of the time - paid traffic is better. The reason is, you can get faster results cause you can buy your way in.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Understanding the Nuts and Bolts of Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is basically an extension of the traditional marketing promotion technique adapted to the Internet's virtual marketplace where businesses sell products and services online to clients. To date, one of the most successful and effective affiliate marketing programs is the one employed by Amazon. Their affiliate program has generated a great source of revenue for the company and their affiliates.

In an affiliate marketing program, a merchant (or company) grants permission to sub-merchants (affiliates) to promote their products or services. In return the affiliate gets a percentage of each sale generated through their efforts. The affiliate is responsible for sending targeted visitors to a vendor to buy the product, which in turn generates the sales from which they get commissions. This is one of the primary reasons webmasters affiliate their sites with complementary products and services.

How then does a would be sub-merchant (affiliate) profit from affiliate marketing?

Although there is no guarantee for success if you engage in the affiliate marketing online business, there are a number of fundamental marketing principles that you need to observe and follow in order to earn your commissions.

1. Customize your website content to compliment the affiliate products and services you market. You stand to gain more commissions by promoting goods and services if what you sell and promote is complimented by your websites content. In this manner, you get targeted traffic who are more likely to respond positively and purchase what you offer instead of simply putting a banner or text link that is totally unrelated to your content.

Hypothetically, if you are searching for Pomeranians and visit a website with the relevant information and saw a banner for Hummer vehicle customization kit, it is doubtful you would even be interested to click on the banner, right?

2. Generally, niche websites do better compared to all purpose sites when it comes to generating affiliate income streams because of their related content. A visitor visits a niche website for one specific reason (the sites content), therefore he or she is more likely to be interested in the complimentary products and services related with the purpose of their visit. Hit to sale conversion ratios are considerably higher on websites that affiliate themselves with complimentary products and services.

3. Make sure that you embed your affiliate links directly to your website content. Embedding affiliate links directly into your web content articles guarantees higher response rates, which can definitely result in substantial affiliate income.

4. Always use redirects when placing affiliate links in your content. You can easily do this by creating a redirect file, which contains your affiliate link, making sure that the page opens in a new browser window with a professional looking link. This also provides protection to your links against affiliate hi-jacking to ensure that you are properly credited for your promotional efforts. Redirect scripts are readily available on Internet script sites.

To put it briefly, in order to be one step ahead in the affiliate marketing program, you should customize your website to fit. Make sure to find complimentary products and services that you can promote and integrate your affiliate links directly into your web content and always use redirect scripts to protect your affiliate links from hijackers.

Simple? Yes, but neglecting to observe the simple and fundamental marketing techniques more often leads to failure instead of success and a steady stream of extra income.