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How To Start A Vending Machine Business - Find Locations Fast!

Here are a few tips and some of the best ways to find locations for your vending machines. Learning the ropes around the vending business is not as hard as you think if you have the right information.

By far this has got to be the most popular question around because people are always trying to figure out “Hey, I can get the machines because they are all over the place.

I just need to figure out how to get them into these companies and on location.” What you are going to want to do is actually start implementing some different tactics and strategies.

Cold calling, using your local business directory, going to your local business department, getting your phone number listed in the telephone directory. These are all some of the basics that you want to actually get started with for finding locations and getting your business up and running.

Also getting comfortable with talking to people, because the more and more comfortable you get with talking with people, the better your going to get at it. In the beginning I was fumbling over my words.

I didn’t even know what I was really saying; I just knew that I wanted to do something. Eventually, after I talked with more and more people I became more comfortable and confident and actually now, I have pretty much refined my content of what I say to people. I can answer their questions with a lot of confidence.

Eventually part of your marketing plan is going to be the advertising. You have to think that companies out there in your community are looking for vending services right now. What you have to do is get yourself in front of them so you can deliver your message.

For years I would look up at the big companies and think, How can I compete with these guys? Well you know what, I did my homework and research and found a way. Now, I have companies calling me for help, looking for me, instead of me going to them.

At the end of the day, eventually you want to get advertising in some different forms. Using the internet, telephone directories and yellow page listings are part of it.

The only issue is that there is a cost involved with advertising. Building a website to promote your business is another strategy. There are different strategies that you can start to utilize on the internet, where people can find you and you can position yourself in a way so that you can give them the information that they require.

Maybe they will call you or even send you an e mail. Eventually that is the part of the business that you want to do. Can it be done? Sure it can be done. Is it something that your competition is doing? Yes, some of them are doing it. Are they doing it well? Probably not as well as you might think. Is there an opportunity for you to actually do something here? Sure there is, there is totally an opportunity here.

So take some time to research what the costs involved are going to be before using some of these strategies. You want to make sure that you are making money with your advertising investments.

Which Machines Are The Best Performing & Don’t Require A Lot Of Maintenance?

In my view, basically, to start with the best performing that don’t require a lot of maintenance is really snack machines. They don’t have as many moving parts, as say a pop machine or a coffee machine vending machine. They have a light, the fan, the motors that turn the snack coils and they have a computer board.

I find the least amount of problems with snack machines. Pop machines you can get more in to the can jams and things like that. Pop machines are pretty economical, they are great. They work great.

Sometimes you get a coin jam or something like that. I don’t get a lot of breakdowns because I keep the machines clean and working. I don’t really have a lot of problems, so in my view pop and snack vending machine would be the best performing.

Once you get in to coffee and food, it can be a little more intricate, because the coffee machines have a lot more moving parts. They have hoses and coffee grinds are going through. You have to keep cleaning them all the time.

Then there are the food machines which have the compressors and the big trays that move around. They are bigger machines. It is going to be a little bit more expensive once you get into the food and coffee end of things, especially if you have to start fixing things.

Learn How To Start A Vending Machine Business and see how easy it is to get started on the right foot when you have the right information by visiting Your Vending Resource a great website that provides tips, advice and resources about How To Start A Vending Machine Business

Why Your Small Business Needs a Web Site

Does your small business have a web site? If not, you are missing a huge opportunity. In this article, I will explain the benefits and opportunities small businesses can gain with a website.

First, let’s define “small business”. Drive down the main street in any town, and you will see everything from taco shops, pizza places, coffee shops to gift shops, travel agencies, and dry cleaners, and the list goes on.

We all know the world is changing, but when it comes to your business, what is changing is the way your customers find your business.

I recently threw my phone book away because I felt as if I didn’t really need it anymore. Here’s why, let’s say you’re at the office and your computer printer gives you an error message and quits. You could thumb threw the phone book in search of a repairman, or you could simply type the error message in to your favorite search engine in your computer’s browser, and in minutes know the problem, the parts you need, and the business that sells the parts.

Here is another example. You are out of town in your car and would like to locate one a pizza place, but you have no idea were to find one. Simply type in pizza and a city into Google maps, and pick the one you like, with directions. In fact, the new iphone with GPS has software that lets you know all the restaurants around you. That is great, unless your restaurant not on the list.

Yes, the way the world finds your small business is changing. That is why your small business needs a web site. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. It could be just a single web page with a photo and information about your business. You just need a presence on the web.

You have a couple of options. If you like to do things your self, there are programs available with pre-built templates in which you could have a web site up and running very quickly, and for as little as five to twelve dollars a month. The second option is to have a designer build a professional web site for you. This cost is a little more per month with prices ranging from forty nine to eighty nine dollars.

As you can see it is very inexpensive to have a presence on the internet, but it could be very expensive if new customers don’t know you are there.

Gregg Brown is owner of Easy Secure Domains. Where you will be able find Domain names, Web Hosting, have a Custom Web Site or Blog designed. Also the tools to build a Web Site your self.
EasySecureDomains.com

12 Reasons To Get Electronic Sales Help and IOVC Technology

Your problem is you need to reach more customers? You have nagging concerns that you could be doing a lot more with your business. You may even have an existing web site but like most people it’s static and not very active. Your situation is that you have limited exposure to the internet and the World Wide Web.

You also do not have enough knowledge to make good use of the internet and in-house expertise is not something you want or needed. However you know for a fact that you need to gain more business and help your business succeed through the use of technology.

Imagine how much more money you could make with your very own additional sales person helping increase your internet marketing capabilities 24 by 7. Imagine this sales person costs very little to operate once the sales person is set, trained and educated on your business. Imagine even better that this sales person can communicate with your customers on the issues that are top most on their mind at that moment. Further imagine this very inexpensive sales person can help coach your customers and make a decision to buy your product and service.

Now envision that all of these internet, office, voice and customer focused capabilities are being done without you being in attendance. Sounds too good, to be true? Well read on and I think you will see these benefits are worthwhile to investigate further.

A dozen reasons to explore electronic sales help in the use of your internet marketing online campaigns are because electronic sales help can:
- deliver your internet marketing message using both sight and sound
- make you seem alive and working 24 x 7
- help you maintain and increase your customer base
- takes advantage of IOVC extremely customer focused technologies
- serve your customers when you are not physically present
- actually converse with your customer
- help you address a specialized market
- help you to go international very inexpensively
- address the many diverse cultures of the world in their language
- be adapted to each market as you change the focus of your sales campaigns
- grabs people’s attention and cause them to spend more time on your website
- deliver a way to differentiate yourself from your competition

As stated, since the World Wide Web is just that, world wide, you need tools and technology that provide these benefits. These benefits are powerful because in conjunction with IOVC technology, electronic sales help speaks and reflects a real world character that can be human like in nature.

IOVC technical office services and solutions with an electronic sales help character allow you to build human like characters that speak, dress, think and respond to your customers as electronic sales people. An electronic sales person as part of your internet marketing strategy is powerful because it allows you to rapidly provide customer focused solutions. Your office processes become enhance because you now have office personal on the web and of course using their voice to communicate with customers. So electronic sales help meets the IOVC (internet, office and voice and customer) focus paradigms.

Your internet marketing strategy is great because you can just place them on a standard sales website page. But more importantly and definitely more relevant, is the electronic sales person speaks to a specific need based on customer action of the moment.

Research has shown that virtual electronic salespeople, such as those provided by various characters based development companies can increase your conversion and sales. As some early implementers’ have stated “These tools give your business the opportunity to talk directly to site visitors about a complex subject and make them feel welcome and comfortable.”

Now that you understand the major benefits and you know that a static non interactive websites loses customers, animated talking characters become a major benefit to helping you acquire and retain business as part of your online internet marketing strategy.

Knowing that your website and internet marketing tools are critical success factors in today’s global economy; you need to get on with using and understanding this key online internet marketing tool that is part of the IOVC technology framework. With the proper introduction to the electronic, animated talking business technology, you can quickly learn how to use this electronic sales tool to improve your profits, gain more customers and improve your bottom line. You owe it to yourself to get additional electronic sales help that works for free 24 x 7.

TechOSS IOVC Services! Save money, reduce cost and increase customer acquisitions through- IOVC - Internet, Office, VOIP and Customer Focused Technolology solutions. TechOSS Business, Internet and Technology Solutions

Naming Software For Your Corporate Branding Needs

Corporate branding involves getting a good business name for your company. A good business name is one way of getting noticed in the industry you are in, and it is a means of getting your customers to easily remember you.

If you are in a bind right now, and dont know what name you want to have for your company - you have options on how to go about this. You may hire a consultant or an agency that can help you with this predicament of yours. Or you may also continue staring outside your window until you find the name you are looking for - but this may be take too long a time, dont you think?

Given your pressing need to come up with a name - you need a name now, and you need it fast. In business, as in life, every second counts. While you are still thinking of a business name, your competition is already out there in the market - getting customers and making money. So what can you do now?

Naming Software for Corporate Branding Needs - Your Solution

Many can now get a name fast with the use of a naming software for corporate branding needs. One can use such software to help you come up with the right name for your business. Entering specific keywords or attributes into the program will give out results that can guide you to come up with a good name.

There is also a feature for a naming software for corporate branding needs that will concatenate words for your business name. You may specify a particular word that is fixed, and let the software combine this with other words in its database. This will produce concatenated names you can choose from that will fit with the type of business you are in.

Another feature for a naming software for corporate branding needs is being able to fuse letters to come up with a name. One only has to specify in the program the starting letter and the ending letter - and the software will fill in the other letters for your business. The software will be able to give you a lot of choices for this and you will be amazed by the results - and you may just very well get your desired business name here.

A naming software for corporate branding needs may also form a name out of the first letters of the series of words you specify. The software will be able to produce possible acronyms that you can use as your name.

Get The Word Out - You Have A Business Name

A naming software for corporate branding needs may prove to be the best thing that you have invested your money on. Having the right business name would earn a check mark in your corporate branding strategy. Getting your name in just a short period of time, you can then start on concentrating on the actual business itself - and of course, start making serious money in the process.

For more articles and information or to view a selection of business communication articles and information and customer service articles and information visit Articles.net.au - Your source for free Articles, Information and Website Content.

Small Business Ideas: Tips on How To Start An Online Business

The Internet is a perfect place for you to start your own small business. It requires little capital, you have 24/7 coverage, a worldwide market and other positive aspects. When you want to start your small business online, you have to think of the various things you need to do first.

Know What You Want To Do

Find an online business system that suits you. If you are selling your own physical products, find a place where you can sell them, for example at Internet auction sites such as eBay or Yahoo!Auctions. There are millions of products currently listed on these auction sites, and millions of online shoppers all around the world visit these sites to find the products that they need, at the best price. You could sell your physical products there.

If you do not have your own products, why not promote others and earn commissions? Be an Affiliate Marketer. Basically, you have to find yourself a niche or a small market to promote your products to. It would be better if you are promoting something that you are passionate about to make you love your online business even more. It is also easier for you to generate great content onto your site. The affiliate marketing system works by you promoting a product and when the customer is interested to buy that product, your customer will click on your link that directs them to the company’s sales order page. When the company has made a sale and it came from your website, the company will track you and provide you with commissions.

You can also learn how to become a copywriter. A copywriter is a person that generates sales letters that have the potential to implement advanced mind control techniques to make prospects buy a certain product. It is a skill to master by going through a copywriting training course. You can do freelance copywriting where you can charge up to $15,000 depending on your skills or you can use the skill to promote your products or other people’s products.

Know Your Market

Research on your market’s needs and wants and learn where to find them. You can find them in forums, bulletin boards, chatrooms and so on. Participate in their dicusssions and find out what they want in a product. However, do not sell them anything or you’re more or less likely to get kicked out of the program.

Draw Up A Business PLan

Firstly, ask yourself what would you like to achieve in your business. What are your goals and how are you going to accomplish it? Do some goal setting and a timeline for how long you feel you have achieve your goals. Secondly, draw up business strategies. They can take form in a mindmap or a flow chart. Plan what are the things you need to do first like setting up a website, market research and so on. Note down the things you feel you need to do next, like how to get your market to your website, how to sell the products. Also, note down the kind of problems you think you’ll face, like time constraints, costs etc.

Setting Up Your Website

To set up a website, you need to first obtain a webhost. A webhost is an Internet hosting provider that allows you to ‘rent some space’ on the Internet for you to set up your own website. Firstly you need to think about how much space and bandwidth you need to promote your products. I personally feel that you should have at least 5GB of space and at least 500MB/second of bandwidth. Bandwidth is basically how fast your website will take to download at your visitor’s screen.

After implementing your website’s design, get your site filled with your products, pictures and great quality content so your visitors can trust you with your extensive knowledge of the products.

Refer Constantly To Your Business Plan

Find out about the things you should be doing next and implement them. Find solutions to the problems you face. Seek help from online business courses if you want to learn more on how to move forward with your business. Always be on the move.

When starting out a small business online you have to plan every single step very carefully. When you want to think big, you have to start small. Starting out your small business will require a lot of hard work, but once it is up and running, things will move forward in no time.

Jo Han Mok is a #1 bestselling author and a masterful planner in developing successful small business systems online. Find out how he can make you discover the internet millionaire within! Visit his website at http://www.internetmillionairecode.com

The Advantages Of Expanding Your Small Business On The Internet

Are you currently running your own small business in your country?

Think about the worries you face everyday when you manage your business. Natural disasters might occur such as floods and huricanes that can destroy your office or factory. Your country might face a huge economic downturn and you’ll lose revenue as a result. You might also find it hard to reach out to more customers. There’s also the rent, business expenses, payment to employees to think about and so on. But what if there’s a simple solution that will dramatically lessen the worries about your business?

I’m talking about the online business industry on the Internet. Expanding or moving your business into the Internet world has its awesome advantages. I’m going to describe them in this article.

The World Is Your Market

What do I mean by ‘The World Is Your Market’? There are over 1,060,000,000 internet users in the world and this number is multiplying year after year. You can promote your products to a specific target market. Let’s say, you’re selling baby clothes. Your target market could be expecting mothers, people buying baby gifts etc. And these people can come from countries like the US, UK, Australia, China, France and so on. The bottomline is, your customers can come from every single part of the globe.

You’re Open 24/7

When you run your own small business in your country, your business might not be open 24/7 and you only make a certain amount of revenue at different times of the day. When you have a website that promote your products, your online “store” is constantly open for your customers. Basically, when almost half of the world goes to sleep, the other half becomes your market for the next 8-12 hours and vice versa. Do you think you’ll make tons of revenue on a 24 hour basis? Hell yeah.

Low-cost Capital

Starting up a small business on the internet requires little capital. You need to apply for a webhost in order to set up your own website. Applying for a webhost is like asking a landlord for a space to rent on the internet. You might need to hire a web designer to design your website and a writer to generate quality content. A technical support person is also needed to constantly upgrade and improve your site.

If you’re selling multiple products, you would want to have an online “shopping cart” on your website to allow your customers to purchase more than one product. It might be included as part of your webhosting package features. As for payment from customers, you can use payment gateways such as Paypal, which is a free service.

To promote your website, you can use pay-per-click advertisements on Google Adwords to bring the target market to your site. You only have to pay for the number of clicks your visitors clicked on to come to your website. This business expense should be covered by the profits you make on your website.

Delivering Your Products

If you’re going to sell physical products, you have to take note of the shipping costs to the consumer’s country. You will also have to take note of the product packaging, warranty etc.

Constant Advertising

When your consumers buy something from you, simply ask them for their name and e-mail addresses to promote future products you will be featuring in a form of a newsletter or you can cross-sell with other products. For example, if your consumer bought a set of a newborn baby’s clothes, you could recommend a pair of baby shoes that could go along with them. In this way, your consumers will be constantly notified of the products you are promoting and will continue to buy from you again.

Expanding or moving your small business to the online world is considered the most recommended step of all to take. The online business industry is generating billions of profits every year. As for you, why not have a percentage of those profits?

Jo Han Mok is a #1 bestselling author and a masterful planner in developing successful online small business systems. Find out how he can make you discover the internet millionaire within! Visit his website at http://www.internetmillionairecode.com

Talking Points: Finding Your Niche With Article Marketing

Since hiring a high-powered advertising firm is not in the cards for most business owners, coming up with creative ways to market on a budget is an essential part of any business plan. Don’t be intimidated by the hype surrounding the extravagant advertising budgets during the Super Bowl. Not everyone needs to spend millions for a thirty second ad. The Internet offers an inexpensive and effective way to get your name out there and get your products in the hands of customers.

Don’t Let Your Marketing Efforts Fall on Deaf Ears
With a limited budget, it’s critical that each and every dollar you spend gets your message directly to your target audience. By narrowing down your market to the niche group most likely to respond, you’ll see a higher return on your marketing investment.

For example, if your company sells books about hiking in the Pacific Northwest, you want to find those consumers who not only like to read, but are also interested in the outdoors, and planning a vacation in the near future. Sound impossible to target that selectively? It’s actually surprisingly simple.

Find Your Niche and Stay There
The Internet has opened a whole new world of marketing opportunities, in which potential customers are actively seeking new information on specific topics. Blogs, public forums, content rich niche sites, and news groups offer the perfect opportunity for business owners to connect with customers on a personal level.

Say Joe and Sandy are interested in hiking. They’ve probably subscribed to an email list, or visit a good website, or participate in a forum on that topic. And they’re always looking for new places to explore, or useful information on hiking gear and outdoor equipment. Simply by being a member of these online communities, they’ve expressed an interest in your product.

And you, with your great book on Pacific hiking trails, have some fantastic information to share. Here’s the important thing to remember — this is not about simply pitching your book to potential customers. It’s about providing sound information, sharing your opinion and having a conversation. And it’s possible to have this conversation with the exact type of customer you want to reach!

Article marketing has risen to the forefront as an inexpensive, and extremely effective, way to get your message out in front of your niche. The process is simple — write informative articles in your area of expertise. Submit them to an article distribution service, and select the exact category and subcategory you hope to reach.

For example, to promote that great book you wrote, you might write an article titled “10 Great Hikes in the Pacific Northwest,” and submit it to the “Outdoor Recreation” and “Travel Destinations” subcategories. The key here is to find the categories that connect most directly with the type of people you want to reach!

You article is distributed to content publishers, newsletter editors, email lists and news groups in your exact target market. Joe and Sandy get that email, or read that newsletter, and can’t wait to get more information on those trails you talk about. So they visit your website, and buy your book.

It’s really that simple to reach your target market…no expensive market surveys, no complicated advertising schedules, just your message out there in front of the people who are already looking for that information.

This exposure has a second important benefit. When your articles are published, with your About the Author information, you automatically build a growing number of backlinks to your site. Those backlinks help to raise your website’s page rank, which is the primary way that Google and other search engines determine your search engine results.

When your page rank goes up, your site is more likely to be listed near the top of the search engine results for your niche market. So the next time someone googles “hikes in the Pacific Northwest,” that person is more likely to find YOUR book on YOUR website.

Thousands of authors are using article distribution services to maximize their marketing potential. It’s the affordable way to get your message out to your exact target market, and watch the traffic rise. Connect with your customers today!

Carol Palmatier is the brand manager at Article Marketer, a highly popular article distribution service. Take advantage of the power of article marketing to connect with your customers today!
http://www.articlemarker.com

Marketing Your Small Business

If the idea of marketing your small business falls somewhere between flossing your teeth and cleaning the toilet, you’re not alone. As entrepreneurial as any small business owner has to be, there’s something about sales and marketing that can be intimidating for even the most ambitious business person.

And while marketing is obviously a “big deal”, many times the marketing of a small business is put on the back burner somewhere after buying a new coffee pot for your office and coming up with some cool business cards.

Yeah, those business cards count as marketing - sort of. But it’s no exaggeration to say that how you go about marketing your business will make or break it, which means that marketing your small business calls for more than just a passing thought.

Research, Research, Research

The best place to start with small business marketing is perhaps the easiest. Research - and lots of it!

You can start by looking into your competition and finding out what they’re doing to get the word out about their business. Pay special attention to those businesses that seem to be industry leaders in your market space.

What are they doing that’s contributing to their success? How are they increasing brand recognition for their business? What are the things that are most appealing about their website, sales collateral, and other advertising?

Take notes as you go. Call the company and ask for literature. Cruise their websites for ideas.

The best part? This part of your marketing plan can be from your desk with a nice cup of coffee from that new coffee maker!

A Little Reality?

It’s easy to get carried away with big ideas for small business marketing. Now more than ever, there are a lot of cool ways to get the word out about your business. From Flash-enabled websites to high-end, professionally designed logos, you could easily spend thousands and thousands of dollars marketing your small business.

But you do want to give it some thought - a lot of it, in fact!

Small business marketing is kind of like shopping for a house. It’s a good idea to identify your budget first so you don’t fall in love with something you can’t afford!

Sit down in the early days of your business and decide how much you can afford to spend marketing your small business. At this stage in the game, it will be difficult to do this too far in advance, so just figure out a budget for the first 3-6 months. Hopefully the small business marketing strategies you choose will be so successful you’ll have even more to spend later.

But for now, let’s just get your business off the ground!

Divide and Conquer

Now that you have a “big picture” number in mind, it’s time to divide it up. You might start with the obvious, like business cards if your business is the kind that needs them, or internet advertising if that is more suited to your type of business.

From there, you can prioritize the things you “have to have” versus the things you’d “like to have”, and make compromises accordingly.

Stay Flexible

You know that old saying, “The only sure thing in life is that things will continue to change”? Well, it was never truer than for a small business. In the beginning you’ll likely have all kinds of ideas about how things will turn out and about what will work best. But it’s next to impossible to foresee at the outset the future of any small business.

So remember, slow and steady wins the race. Take things a day at a time, review the results from your existing small business marketing measures, and be willing to make adjustments as you go.

With a little luck - and a good small business marketing plan - you’ll have even more money to spend as your business grows!

John Edmond worked for many years in insurance and finance and now writes on Small Business Marketing. Join our Newsletter” and get 5 ebooks completely FREE of Charge.

How To Get Your Website Indexed In MSN For Free In Just 24 Hours

It goes without saying that there are many expensive methods for getting indexed in search engines fast. The fact of the matter is that there are many inexpensive and even free methods to get indexed in search engines almost immediately. This is great news for small businesses looking for affordable seo techniques. Today I am going to focus on the search engine MSN.

MSN has a significant enough piece of the whole search engine traffic pie to make it one of your priorities when optimizing your website pages. I will go into this in more detail at another time.

The best reasons why organic (free) search engine traffic should be your focus is the fact that you do not have to pay for any traffic (visitors) to your website; surfers are actually searching for precisely what you are offering at your website; and your website visitors are able to visit your website 24 hours a day 7 days a week regardless of what you are doing or whether you have pay per click campaigns underway or active.

A recent study has shown that people searching on search engines such as MSN, Yahoo directory and Google always look at the organic free search results first (on the top left hand part of the page) rather than any pay per click ads anywhere else on the page.

For this reason alone it is absolutely critical that you optimize your web pages to get targeted traffic from organic search results PLUS that you get indexed (listed) as quickly as possible in the search engines to take advantage of your targeted traffic. The more targeted traffic you get to your website the more sales that should result.

Now if you have just launched or are about to launch a new website you may be scratching your head wondering how you can get listed in the search engines for free. Of course there are timely delays on some search engines in getting listed and some directories and search engines you must pay to even get consideration for a listing, however, with the search engine MSN it is possible to get your brand new website listed in 24 hours without paying a cent.

In fact, you can achieve all this in only a few minutes of your time. Simply go to msn.com and type in your full url, that means with the http:// prefix and the full url after it. You will then be told that MSN could not find any results for your url. Do not despair because this is where it gets pretty exciting! Keep reading down the page on msn and you will find the following words: if you cannot find a page that you know exists send the address to us. All you have to do is click on the send the address to us link. All you need to do is type in the displayed characters and then your full domain url and click submit url. It is as easy as that. That is just one affordable seo technique for small businesses.

If you are 100% serious about getting top search engine rankings on Google and other major search engines then you need to get over 130 pages of FREE Affordable Small Business Search Engine Optimization SEO Secrets at http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com today!

How To Get Your Website To The Top Of Google And All Major Search Engines Fast

You have probably just built a new website, submitted it to search engines and are now waiting wondering where all the visitors are that are going to put hundreds of dollars into your bank account. A few weeks pass by and you are still left wondering where all your website traffic is. Your website is open for business but no-one seems to know about it.

If this situation sounds familiar to you then you have probably thought about giving up and thowing the whole thing away. This is NOT what you should do and this is not how your website is going to rank high in the search engines.

There is one critical first step that you must follow when creating any website. This crucial first step involves picking the best keywords for your on page optimization and the only way you can decide which keywords will get you the highest rankings for your website is by doing some research.

Your first point of call must be at one or all of the following online keyword research tools:

http://www.goodkeywords.com
http://www.digitalpoint.com
http://www.overture.com
http://www.wordtracker.com

All of these tools are free (there is a free trial for Wordtracker); however, where Wordtracker differes from the other websites mentioned above is it shows you how competitive your keywords are compared to other websites. The higher the KEI analysis number the less competitive the keyword phrase is and the easier it should be to get a high ranking with that chosen keyword.

In Goodkeywords you type in your chosen niche topic. For argument sake we will use the example camping. Goodkeywords will bring up the top 100 keywords related to campming that were searched in the last month. On the right the number of times that keyword has been displayed appears for the last 30 days. It is absolutely critical that you do NOT start on page optimization of your home page for keywords at the very top of the list. Before you think I’m crazy there is a very good reason for this and that is if a certain keyword high on the list is searched that many hundreds of thousands of times you will have an almost impossible time to get noticed between all the other hundreds or millions of competitive websites that are also targeting that same keyword. For this reason alone do not start off optimizing your website for the keyword camping.

Let me go back a minute to show how competite the word camping is. If I go to Google and enter camping I find that there are 230 million other websites targeting the same phrase. It is always best to start of targeting keywords that have the least competitive keywords as possible. Once you start getting traffic from search engines with your main keywords you may then start targeting more competitive phrases.

Using the online tools I’ve mentioned above it’s easy to find a few less competitive phrases that can be a good base for our on page website optimization related to camping.

It is also important to repeat the same research process by going to Google and seeing how competitve your chosen keywords are. I will start with the keyword and take a few minutes to analyse the number 1 website for that keyword on Google.

It is also critical to analyze what the page rank is of the number 1 website for your chosen keyword. Page rank is used by Google in ranking websites and generally the more links that you have pointing back to your website by other websites the higher your Google page rank will be. Download the Google toolbar for free to find out what your page rank is and the page rank of other websites at http://toolbar.google.com.

Now we need to do a little spying on the website that has number one for that keyword. We do that by looking at the HTML code or source code of their website. Go to that website url and click on View and then Source. That website’s HTML code will appear in a notepad file. That file contains what the web page will look like when “read” by search engine robots. This trick will show you exactly what on page optimization is being used to rank so highly in the search engines.

Search engine optimization involve both on page and off page optimization. In this article I am focusing on on page optimization. I will deal with off page optimization in more detail at another time.

Now when we view the source code we want to look at the header tags for a start. Do you see h1 at the very top of the source code. If not then that’s a bonus. If you do then it is important to make a note of what words they are using for their heading 1.

The next thing you need to look at is title. What is the title that they are using. This should appear immediately below the head tag. It is also important to make a note of the keywords that they are using in the title. The less words you actually have in your title the better. It is also critical that your main keyword or keyword phrase is in your title too.

Now take a moment to check out the keywords that they are using in the meta tags and make a note of them. Use the same keywords they use, check out the keywords that they have used in their description. Make a note of their description. A good guide for you is to repeat your main keyword or keyword phrase two or three times in the description but obviously in a way that makes sense.

Look at their webpage to find out if they have bolded, underlined or italicised their main keywords. If they have then you know that you need to do the same thing to achieve high rankings for your chosen keyword. If you have trouble looking for these codes in the notepad file simply look at the webpage itself.

One more thing to look out for in their source code is wehther they have optimized their images for the chosen keyword. For example, some website images will simply have bigebook.jpg as the name of their image but have not used alternative text. An example of an alternative text would be home made dog treat ecover.

Just following a few of these very simple SEO techinques and strategies will greatly increase your rankings in the search engines. To ensure you get the highest possible search engine rankings that you can it’s absolutely critical that you spend a little time finding out search engine optimization secrets of the professionals. Fortunately affordable small business seo techniques and help is readily available if you know where to look.

If you are 100% serious about getting top search engine rankings on Google and other major search engines then you need to get over 130 pages of FREE Affordable Small Business Search Engine Optimization SEO Secrets at http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com today!

4 Things to Avoid When Marketing Your Small Business

In the rush to open your small new business, you’re probably occupied with a thousand details. In many ways, the timeline sets itself according to what has to be done in order to launch your product or service.

Unfortunately, what gets left behind is often an equally important, but seemingly invisible consideration - marketing your small business.

By the time you get around thinking about marketing your small business, you may be low on time and money! Not exactly the best conditions in which to make important decisions about marketing strategy!

Making small business marketing decisions under the gun leaves you with a greater risk for making mistakes. Marketing is one place where even small mistakes can have lasting consequences.

Following are a few of the most common small business marketing mistakes.

Not Doing Your Homework

First and foremost, you have to spend a little time researching your industry. Start with your competition. What are they doing to market their business? Take note of where and how they market their product or service, especially the successful ones. Call in or email an inquiry as if you are a potential client. See what their process is, what type of material they send you, and how they follow up.

You can also join an organization like the local Chamber of Commerce to strategize with other business owners in your area or field. Developing relationships with other small business owners allows you to leverage combined expertise, and may also leads you to joint marketing ventures that can save you time and money.

Spending Too Much, Too Fast

It’s easy to jump in and start spending money, especially if you have it in the way of a small business loan or other start-up capital.

But this is one of the most dangerous mistakes you can make when planning your small business marketing strategy. More is not always better. Sometimes it’s just more.

You want to spend smart, not necessarily big. Don’t spend a dime until you’ve done the research to back up your investment, and then start small. It’s much, much easier to add additional marketing than it is to ramp back after you’ve already spent the money.

Spending money too fast can mean running through most of your start-up capital too soon, leaving your business without the funds it needs to survive.

Spending Too Little

In an effort to curb costs and ration your budget over the long, slow haul to profitability, you may just make the opposite mistake of spending too much money and spend too little.

Starting a business is scary, and most small business owners don’t have an unlimited time to turn to a profit. With a tangible or intangible deadline looming, it’s common for small business owners to keep a death grip on whatever capital they have “just in case”.

But you will have to spend money to make money, at least on some level.

If you have the jitters about spending your working capital, start small with something that has measurable results. You need to be able to determine if your campaign has produced results within a short period of time and before you’ve spent too much money. This way you can kill it and move onto something different if it’s not working or ramp up the existing campaign if it’s doing its job!

Information Overload

The internet makes it possible to tap into previously unheard of quantities of information. That’s both good and bad for anyone looking online for small business marketing advice.

With the advent of blogs and free websites, everyone’s an expert! But they’re not, really. They only play one on TV!

Seriously, though, carefully choose the advice you seek out and use to market your small business. To avoid getting bogged down with too much information, choose one or two sources you know to be reliable, and resist the urge to cruise the internet for fifty more opinions.

Take it Slow

Launching a small business is a learning experience above all else. Avoid making rash (or expensive) decisions when it comes to marketing your small business, at least in the beginning.

By taking it slow, you can try different marketing techniques and check the results as you go, mitigating the consequences for your long term small business marketing plan.

John Edmond worked for many years in insurance and finance and now writes on small business marketing and the Internet at A href=”http://www.business-in.info/blog”>Small Business Marketing. For ebooks on marketing off and on the web go to OneClickBooks where all single ebooks are just 99p

Website Search Engine Optimization Secrets To Boost Your Rankings By More Than 300 Positions

If you are a small business looking for affordable, economical and effective SEO strategies and techniques to get a high ranking in the search engines then you will be pleased to know that there are a few very simple things you can do to boost your search engine ranking by more than 350 positions on Google. That could mean the difference between appearing 20 pages deep to appearing in one of the top 3 spots.

That’s great news for small business owners who are starting a new business online and just don’t have the funds to pay the kind of fees that some search engine optimization services and SEO consultants charge for search engine optimization.

We will start with creating the right title for your webpage. It’s absolutely critical that your webpage title contains ONLY your main keywords and as few keywords as possible. For example, millions of webpages actually have the word “welcome” and “home page” included in their title. Wrong! That’s one
perfect way to guarantee a very low ranking in the search engines and be doomed to failure.

As I have said, it is absolutely critical that your page title includes only your main keywords. Also it’s important that your title contains as few words as possible. It is possible to overlap keywords in your title. For example, home made low fat dog treats targets people looking for home made dog treats and low fat dog treats. Also instaed of using “and” in
between your chosen keyword phrases use the symbol | with one space around it. So, for example, instead of Home Made Dog Treats And Low Fat Dog Food it looks like Home Made Dog Treats | Low Fat Dog Food. Combining keywords is a great way to boost the strength of each of your individual keywords.

Now this search engine optimization technique is ignored by many internet marketers, which is unfortunate for them because search engine robots read these tags and give them a lot of weight when listing your webpages. It is important to add header tags to your website, at the very least a heading 1 tag. It is also important to add your most important keyword
into the h1 header tag. It is also advisable that your h1 tag be as far towards the top left of your webpage as search engines actually read your web page like most people read any page - from top left to bottom right of the page. So it is important that your h1 header tag appears at the very top of the page.

To create a heading 1 header tag you have the HTML coding for h1 at the very beginning of your headling and h1 at the very end of it. If you have multiple keywords in your title it is also advisable to use only the main keywrod that your page is targeting for. With some HTML editors like Dreamweaver and
Microsoft Frontpage you simply highlight the phrase and then select heading 1 in the drop down menu. With some other editors you may have to insert the HTML coding itself.

If possible also include a heading 2 header tag which has exactly the same HTML coding as h1 except you replace the 1 with a 2. You can use your heading 2 tag as a sub heading if you like. Using my earlier example I could use the keyword phrase Low Fat Home Made Dog Treats. So as a recap your main keyword is in your h1 tag and your second main keyword is in your h2 tag.

Once you have done this it’s time to work on the content of your webpage. It’s recommended that you have at least 250 words on your page because the fact of the matter is that search engines don’t read your whole page. If they don’t see much information early on on your webpage they’re not going to stick around to find out where it is. The bottom line is the shorter your page the less important search engines are going to think it is and you will be penalized for it.

It’s recommended that you have at least 500 words or long if possible. It is critical that your webpage content links in with your page title and keywords used in the meta tags. For example, since the example I have used is about home made dog treats if I started talking about dog kennels or dog boarders while it’s on the same topic it’s not really relevant to my title or keywords.

As I have stated earlier, search engine robots do not read your whole page so it’s important that you place your main keywords at the top of your page content and repeat it throughout. Of course, they must make sense. Search engines are not stupid. They know when a webmaster is just trying to include the phrase as many times as possible.

The wrong way to incorporate your keyword or phrase in your webpage is by writing home made dog treats and more home made dog treats, everything about home made dog treats, did I mention my site is about home made dog treats yet? It’s important to understand that you can actually change the order of your keywords too. Here’s an example of the right way to use your keywords in your writing:

“Dog owners are saying no to commercial dog food and are looking for delicious ways to make their own home made dog treats in the comfort of their own home. My dog loves the treats I make for him at home. In fact, unless it’s home made he won’t even touch it anymore.”

As you can see from the example I have given above, I have included the keywords in a natural way that makes sense to the human reader of the page. Try to include your main keyword phrase at least once every 1-2 paragraphs in your web copy, provided it makes sense.

Another effective method for getting a higher search engine ranking is after completing your web page copy going back and highlighting by either bold, underline or italics your keyword phrase once in the copy. Also having your main keyword in a bullet list also helps.

What I have discussed above are only onpage optimization methods to improve your search engine rankings. It’s critical that you follow these search engine optimization techniques and strategies to improve your search engine rankings. However, if you really want to outrank your competitors and dominate the search engines you need to focus on offpage optimization techniques as this is what will ultimately get you top search engine rankings on Google.

If you are 100% serious about getting top search engine rankings on Google and other major search engines then you need to get over 130 pages of FREE Affordable Small Business Search Engine Optimization SEO Secrets at http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com today!

How Any Website Can Get Listed In Google In Under A Day

You may be surprised to learn that you can actually get listed in Google in a day or less. Many small business owners assume that it’s virtually impossible to get into Google without waiting the 8 or so weeks that it can normally take but there is good news for small business owners who are looking for affordable and economical ways to get high search engine rankings.

Before I give you more details about that I am just going to take a moment to focus upon what you should not do when trying to get indexed quickly by Google in particular and that is, in particulary, not to add your url manually by using the Google website submission form. The reason for this is by doing it manually you could be waiting for around 2 months or more to even appear anywhere on Google. I don’t know about you but if you are after fast search engine results and are wanting to get noticed among the many millions of other websites on the internet you need to work a bit smarter, not harder. Search engine optimization consultants also recommend that you not use the manual website submission forms for any of the top search engines.

So no doubt you are wondering how you can get your website indexed in under a day without using the manual website submission form on Google. Let’s say that my website related to home made dog treats. I would first go to Google and type in dog treats. Then I would take some time to analyse every website and look at what the page rank is for each website that has top rankings for that keyword phrase. Page Rank is what Google in particular uses in deciding how popular your website is. It is based on how many other websites on the internet link back to your site and how high the page rank of those sites is. If you have lots of high quality, high page rank backlinks to your site then Google stands up and takes notice and rewards you accordingly with a high page rank.

Generally, the more backlinks you have to your website the higher your page rank will be. The lowest page rank you can have is 0. Anything over 5 is considered pretty good by Google. In order to view the page rank of sites on Google simply download the Google toolbar which is free.

Getting back to my example about dog treats. Now that you have installed the Google toolbar you need to find websites on Google with a page rank of 5 ideally (PR5) or higher. Once you have spent the time locating such websites look at the very bottom of their home page to ee if they have a links page of some sort. If they do send them an email asking for a link exchange. If you do this correctly they may say yes. If they say no then move on and try someone else. Remember the higher your own page rank the more likely other websites will link to you. Worse comes to worse though, if you keep getting rejected you may have to offer to buy a text link advertisement for a fee for a backlink from a high PR website.

If you can locate a PR5 website that will link back to you you will be listed in Google in less than 3 days. If you get a PR6 website to link back to you you will be listed in Google in under 24 hours.

However, don’t be surprised if high page link partners say no because more often than not they will check what your page rank is for your own website and if you are just starting out it is going to be 0 and that will be of no direct benefit to other websites, or so they think.

Of course, if you own another website or websites or blogs that have a PR5 or PR6 then simply link back to your new website from their home page. You only need to leave a link to your new website for a few days and then it should be indexed.

Another method for getting high page rank websites linking back to you is by actually purchasing a link on their website for a month. You will have to pay a fee and it could be as high as $150, however I just purchased one myself for $60, however if you are after an immediate listing and it is worth it to you, and ultimately of course much cheaper than an Adwords campaign, then it’s really as simple as that to get
indexed by Google in a day or less.

Once you are listed in Google you can start to focus on other search engine optimization techniques that will help you outrank your competitors and dominate the search engines.

Good luck!

If you are 100% serious about getting top search engine rankings on Google and other major search engines then you need to get over 130 pages of FREE href="http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com">Affordable Small Business Search Engine Optimization SEO Secrets at http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com today!

How To Avoid Having Your Website Penalized Or Even Banned By Google - Part One

New internet marketers frequently complain about having no idea why their websites have been banned by Google. The majority of these people claim they have absolutely no idea why they have been banned or penalized. The only thing they are 100 percent sure of is that their website no longer exists in the Google search engine.

There are many on page and off page search engine optimization factors that can result in Google penalizing or even banning your website. Let me deal with some on page optimization strategies that can get you banned by Google. I will explain some off page optimization strategies in more detail later. Now many webmasters actually use these “black hat SEO” strategies in the belief that it will actually result in a high ranking in search engines. As far as I am aware this is simply not the case. They may get away with it for a period of time but ultimately Google will probably find them out and ban them as a result.

If you or someone you know incorporates some of these SEO techniques there are far more simple and affordable small business SEO techniques and strategies that will result in top rankings on Google and you will never get penalized or banned by Google.

Hidden text is an on page optimization SEO technique that some webmasters use to incorporate keywords on their pages which are actually “invisible” to visitors to their website but not to Google. Hidden text is visible by clicking control and “a” on your keyboard when visiting a certain web page. These keywords are invisible for the sole reason that the colour of the text has been made the same colour as the page of the website. For example, if the page has a white background then the text colour is configured to white. There are actually websites that have high rankings that do use this black hat SEO technique, however, why risk being penalized or ultimately banned by Google when you could get to number 1 of Google and stay there indefinitely through legitimate means. Every day these websites have the potential of being banned by Google. For a number 1 website, why would you or anyone else take the risk? There are far more powerful search engine optimization tricks and tips that work with no penalization.

Spamming your alt image tag with keywords is another way you put your website at risk with on page optimization SEO strategies. It is critical to use the alternative text in your alt images as I have explained on a previous occasion. A recommended way of doing this is just using your main keyword once! An example of spamming your alt image tag that could result in heavy penalties by Google includes stuffing your alt image tag with too many keywords. An example of this would be:

Home made dog treats, treats for dogs, recipes for dog treats, low fat home made dog treats, home made dog treat recipes, low fat home made dog treat recipes, food for dogs, home made dog food, home made dog food recipes, low fat home made dog food recipes.

I think you get the idea! Notice how many times the alternative text example above uses keywords related to dog food. The idea behind alternative text in image tags is to assist blind people navigating webpages. Spamming your alt image tags serves no purpose at all and could ultimately get you penalized or even banned by Google. A better example to use the image tag is by simply typing in “home made dog treats”.

Cramming your page title tag with a repeat of the same keyword is another way you risk being penalized by Google. An example of this would be having a title that said home made dog treats, home made dog treats, home made Dog treats, Home Made Dog Treats, etc. As previously discussed, you should only place your main keyword once in the page title. Doing it anymore than that can result in serious penalties.

Overstuffing your keyword metatags is another way you could catch the eye of Google, for all the wrong reasons. This is done by repeating the same one keyword over and over again in your keyword meta tags. An example of this would be affordable small business SEO, affordable Small Business seo, Affordable Small Business Seo, AFFORDABLE SMALL BUSINESS SEO.

These are just a handful of what people do online that ultimately can result in being banned by Google. A fraction of these people may not be aware that what they are doing is wrong, others may not be so innocent. I would highly recommend that if you or anyone else you know is using any of these black hat SEO techniques and strategies that you immediately stop before it’s too late. When there are so many affodable, economical and effective SEO techniques and strategies that can actually result in a number 1 ranking on Google that would never put you or your website at risk, why would you take the risk?

If you are 100% serious about getting top search engine rankings on Google and other major search engines then you need to get over 130 pages of FREE href="http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com">Affordable Small Business Search Engine Optimization SEO Secrets at http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com today!

Your Small Business Web Site: 7 Ways a Web Site is Better than the Yellow Pages

According to industry experts, in the past years, hard-bound Yellow Pages usage by consumers has dropped each year, while search engine usage has grown 55% from 2004 to 2005 alone. Each day, businesses see the advantages of having a website as they recognize that more and more customers are hitting the internet on a daily basis.

What’s that mean for you? In a nutshell, if you’re still relying solely on the Yellow Pages to attract new customers, you’re losing out on business. Now, that’s not to say you should cancel your advertising today! No, not at all; the Yellow Pages has it’s place and if it’s been working for you, then keep at it.

But, as an additional advertising method, you must get online now. And here are seven reasons why:

You have more space. Unless you have a huge advertising budget, it’s most likely your Yellow Page ad is small, maybe just a few precious lines. With a web site, you have as many pages as you need to sell your products or services.

More measurable traffic. Do you know how many new customers you received from your Yellow Pages ad yesterday, last week, last year? Probably not. With a web site, you can monitor your traffic daily, so you know exactly how many visitors reached your site.

Build loyalty…before a customer ever meets you. Create ways to interact with potential clients, building their trust in you, by developing newsletter, offering coupons, or helpful free advice. Can you do that with your Yellow Pages ad?

Advantage over the competition. Everyone takes a Yellow Pages ad. And unless your business starts with “AAAA” or you have unlimited funds for huge one-page ads, your business can get easily lost in the shuffle. With a properly done web site, you can get to the top of the search engine rankings, regardless of your name or budget.

Open new markets. The internet is a global marketplace, reaching visitors from all over the world. How far does your Yellow Pages ad reach?

Create new revenue streams. You may discover new ways to market your products or services to clients around the world, allowing more ways to make money.

Cost. Quite simply, the cost of a domain name and hosting are a fraction of what a Yellow Pages ad costs, yet it serves you and your business 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has the potential to reach billions of people.

Do you understand now how a small business web site can generate new clients or customers for you, beyond your
expectations?

If not, maybe this true story will convince you. A dentist practicing in a mid-size California city wanted to build his business. Let’s call him Dr. B. He tried everything to reach his community: newspaper ads, Yellow Pages, coupons, and mailers. But none generated the leads Dr. B wanted.

Then he built a web site. In the first month, his web site received a measly 26 visitors. However, within nine months, that same web site was averaging 1800 unique visitors a month, with 22 of those becoming new patients! Fast forward three years and Dr. B’s small business web site generates 25 new patients a month for him, some coming from as much as 120 miles away. That is the power of web site.

So why isn’t your small business on the internet yet?

Erin Nield and Jennifer McVey offer small business web site solutions in a step-by-step guide at Niche-build-it.com.

How To Avoid Having Your Website Penalized Or Even Banned By Google - Part Two

Today I am going to spend some time focusing on off page optimization factors that over 50 percent of website owners are currently doing resulting in being penalized or even banned by Google altogether.

There are some common myths that people have regarding backlinking campaigns (ie. getting other websites to link back to you). Some of these misconceptions are that page rank 0-1 websites won’t help your ranking. Another misconception is that you will be panelized or banned from Google by having unrelated websites linking back to you. Another common misconception is that you will get penalized by having a link farm linking back to your website.

The bottom line is that you can only get banned or penalized by Google as a result of your linking campaign if there are penalized websites linking back to you. Let me take an example. You have set up a link exchange with a PR4 website. Two months go by and you are still happily linking to that person. However, in those two months that website has been utilizing black hat SEO strategies that I have discussed on another occasion and this has resulted in them being penalized or banned by Google. Unfortunately for you, you are still linking to that website which now has a very bad reputation with Google and as a result Google could impost some heavy penalties upon you without you or your website actually doing anything “wrong”.

To find out if a website has been gray barred by Google simply go to that website and look at the Google toolbar page rank result at the top of your web browser. You can download the Google toolbar for free if you don’t already have it. If the toolbar is completely gray it means the site has been banned by Google. That’s why it’s highly recommended that you go back every once in a while - once a month is a good guide - to websites that are linking to you to make sure they have not been penalized in any way by Google.

In fact, if you do discover that one of your link partners has been penalized or barred by Google just deleting them from your links page could result in a dramatic increase to your ranking almost immediately. If you notice that any of your link partners have a page rank of 0 this could easily mean they have a brand new website and don’t have a Google page rank yet. It could also mean that they have been banned. A way to find this out is by looking to see if the website is still indexed by Google.

Let’s say for argument sake that you have a link partner with a page rank of 0. Simply go to Google and type in their url into the search box. If it is a new site that may not appear in the index. However, if the website is not new then the probability is that they have been banned by Google and you should stop any association with them.

If you are 100% serious about getting top search engine rankings on Google and other major search engines then you need to get over 130 pages of FREE href="http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com">Affordable Small Business Search Engine Optimization SEO Secrets at http://www.Affordable-Small-Business-Seo.com today!

Why You Should Run Your Business Like Tiger Woods

On September 4, 2006, Tiger Woods won his fifth straight golf tournament. Just two weeks earlier, he won his twelfth major golf title, the PGA Championship. Both are amazing accomplishments for someone who’s only 30. Some say that his current domination of the sport means he has nothing to fear and that his career has nowhere to go but up.

How would you like to be at the top of your game and the undisputed leader in your industry?

You would think that Woods could afford to coast a little bit and simply maintain his position. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” right?

Wrong.

If you ask any expert, and even Tiger himself, to identify his greatest weakness, they will undoubtedly tell you it’s his putting. Although he currently ranks #1 overall in the Official World Golf Ranking, for putting he lags far behind at #38.

Let me tell you a story.

Just before beginning the final round of the PGA Championship, Woods placed two golf tees about 13 centimeters apart, nearly one meter away from the hole on the putting green. He then began practicing putts by swinging the blade of his putter through the tees to hit the ball into the hole. He usually performs this drill until he makes 100 consecutive shots.

Read that again…100 consecutive shots.

Because Woods knows that he is vulnerable on the putting green, he makes it a priority to find a way to master the art of putting. He is not interested in making excuses or simply maintaining his skill level. He constantly strives for improvement.

How does this apply to you and your business?

Let’s face it. You probably have an Achilles’ heel, some particular area of business that you avoid because you either lack confidence and/or proficiency. And yet you suspect having expertise in that area would skyrocket the growth of your business.

There’s a school of thought in management that you should focus on a person’s strengths and minimize his weaknesses. (Check out, “First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently” by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.) This is an excellent strategy if you have team members with complimentary talents at your disposal and you are comfortable delegating those areas of your business where you don’t shine.

But what if your weakness is essential to the survival of your business? Not only that, what if your active participation is non-negotiable? After all, it’s not as if Woods can simply rely on his skills down the driving range and opt out of putting altogether.

So what’s the solution?

First, CHOOSE to do whatever it takes to master the key to succeeding in your business. Next, use the following 4 steps to help you minimize your risks:

“The 4 Keys to Conquering Your Weakness”

1. Identify Your Achilles’ Heel: You probably already have a nagging suspicion of where you could use some improvement. Write it down. And by the way, you’re not alone if you discover that your weakness lies in the areas of effective networking, customer follow-up, prospecting, or cold calling!

2. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Look for and consult with others who struggled with and overcame similar challenges. Chances are there are multiple books, programs, and solutions out there that someone else has created. You can slash the learning curve if you find the one that fits you best.

3. Practice Makes Perfect: Just like Woods, devise a drill or system that allows you to develop good habits and dedicate yourself to an unwavering determination to get the job done. After a while, it becomes a sheer numbers game. The more you practice, the better you get until you wake up one day and realize that your execution is effortless.

4. Take Your Ego Out of It: It’s not really about you…it’s about your business. You’ll probably be lousy at first. It will feel uncomfortable and you’ll make mistakes. That’s a given. Keep your eye on the big picture and get comfortable with discomfort. It’s a short term pain that will yield long term rewards.

(c) 2006 Kim Nishida, Small Business Success Coach and founder of Ready to Evolve Coaching, helps you get focused, get organized, and get going! Subscribe to the “Success Hot Sheet” our free newsletter and receive a free Success Kit at http://www.readytoevolve.com

The Eight Things You Must Do To Optimize Your Site For Search Engines - Missed By Over 98.4%

Search engines are better at spidering than you. Of course, you need a professional looking site, easy to navigate, appropriate content and size. Many webmasters and sites are great at displaying graphics (flash) and visually appealing sections on their sites. However, the search engines really don’t care much about that. If you can give the spiders what they want, they not only will eat it up fast, but you will provide content-rich, relevant data to their index (database). As time, content, size and relevancy increase, you will rise up in the search engine results pages. Properly applied search engine optimization techniques and online marketing principles will help you.

The 3 most important search engines to optimize for are Google, Yahoo, and MSN. (Ed Note: Google owns over 50% of the market today, and is growing fast every day. This includes their exposure via partners like Ask, Earthlink, DogPile, etc). For you to get elevated and relevant rankings you must get into the search engine indexes, and we recommend you start with Google. You should get spidered by Google in less than 3 weeks if applied correctly, but a long term approach to SEO work is needed. You can expect to see your listing within 2-4 months for some pages, and as much time as 2 years for certain keywords/phrases within those.

I invite you to take a look at the starter list below. These are steps you can start today and it is fairly easy and impactful.

Number 1: Learn the SEO concepts.
SEO tries to ensure that your web pages appear at the top of the search engines for target keyword requests. It increases brand awareness, qualified traffic and revenue. Fact: Only 1/2 of the people visiting look at the sponsored (paid) ads (PPC) and only 20% of those actually click. However, 4 out of 5 total clicks - apply their mouse on natural search results. Therefore SEO done right can really elevate your business visibility and revenue. Additionally, the top 5 sites returned from any search are where the action is. Your goal? You should be in the top 10 (Search Engines Results Pages (SERPS)) for your selected keywords.

Number 2: Research the competition.
I am sure you do this no matter what business you are in - whether online or not (brick and mortar). If not, this is one of the big steps missed by online businesses. There are techniques on how to do this effectively, quickly and with high quality results.

Number 3: Linking Strategies and Relevancy.
One of the most important things you can do is to build out your relevant linking neighborhoods. There are a number of great tools you can use to automate this, but we have found that via email and the phone (we are amazed by how many do not use the phone) — you will establish a closer relationship with your virtual partners, and even though you may only spend an hour a day building link partners, it is well spent. Typically, only 1-2 will exchange links with you out of 8 companies called. However, let us say you get one quality link per day through the year. That is over 300 quality links that will help your relevancy, build your business and get your PR(Page Rank) level moved up.

Number 4: Proper HTML and Site Building.
There are many articles written on this topic. If you are not HTML-savvy, it can be a challenge. However, it is not hard to learn, and many tools are available. Just search for free website design tools. Other SEO tools can analyze your content, HTML syntax and appropriate application of tags like TITLE, H1, META tags, BODY content and more. You must also make notes of server-side issues, including IP numbers that may have belonged to (and still do) block listed ranges.

Number 5: Meet The Search Engines.
Make sure you read the webmasters guidelines on all the search engines, especially Google, Yahoo and MSN. They actually are very helpful, and they want you to do well, contrary to what you believe or have heard. Also, keep in mind, there are robotic search engines, algorithmic based search engines and AI-type search engines - different styles of writing. Additionally, you must include listings in the directories, like DMOZ (free, but takes weeks to get listed), Yahoo (free, months - or paid, immediate). Lastly, you must study and learn the PPC (pay-per-click) strategies, learn how to write ads, copy writing for (cash) landing pages, and implement a solid back-end sales process. If you have never used the AdSense programs, you may be missing out on *significant* income, but many do it incorrectly. We have seen adsense programs go from $3.00/day to over $19,000/month.

Number 6: Use a proven methodology.
None of the SEO “white hat” (opposite: “black hat” - unethical) strategies are rocket-scientists-qualified only. The key areas to keep working on are: a) keyword research, b) competitive analysis, c) analyze your own site(s), d) submit your site(s), e) monitor rankings, f) Reporting, g) link development and h) dynamic site mapping. This approach works, and used by many of the professional SEO companies in the industry.

Number 7: Learn how to use the SEO tools.
Metaphor: For many home-owners, the worst thing that can happen when approaching any project, large or small - is not having your tool belt attached. Even worse, if there are tools missing from that belt after spending 15 minutes retrieving the ladder, lining it up just right, then scaling it just to get to the top of the roof — you not only feel aggravated, but plain stupid.

Being affiliated with some of the guru-type tools & specialists in the industry is nice, but most people are not. Therefore, free tools are a good place to start (search for seo tools and seo email courses). These will help you get to work immediately, and you don not have to come down off the roof to get them.

Number 8: Relevancy, Relevancy, Relevancy. Why be “search relevant”?
The objective here is to make the search engines “see”. You must always ensure that you insert unique relevant content such that the page becomes more worthy of a high ranking in the search engines. You must also make sure you adhere to Style Guide Requirements. The ultimate objective is not to make an inferior page appear superior, but to actually make it superior. Yes, you must be relevant - for any site - be it a commerce/shopping type site, to an information page about Da Vincis life (and, if you have something to sell, that is great). Do not try any uncommon tricks, especially not for the search engines. You will regret it. There are too many sad stories of revenues and business lost from “black hat” strategies (cloaking, spamdexing, link farms). They appear to work for a little while, and suddenly you are gone from the listings and not easily turned around. Be relevant and ethical. It may take a little longer, but you will win out in the end.

Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and has spent over 10 years developing websites and web marketing solutions at companies like Overture and Yahoo. His website, Los Angeles SEO Agency, provides a wealth of informative articles, resources and complimentary SEO email courses on everything you will ever need to know about SEO and Search Marketing.

Eight Free Marketing Ideas to Promote Your Expertise

Promoting your small business can at times be very expensive. There are many techniques, however, that cost you little or no money - only your time. These strategies can be immensely satisfying too as you start to see instant results for your marketing efforts. The response from your prospects and clients will let you know which of the following free and low-cost ideas is right for your business:

1. Make customer service a priority
Providing exceptional customer service will keep your clients coming back and sending you referrals. Follow up by phone or email with people you meet. Have a policy to respond to all inquiries within 24 hours. Provide a personal touch by making phone calls and putting customer’s needs first.

2. Add value
Giving away value that will serve your clients and prospects is a great way to bond your relationships. You can create raving fans by over-delivering on value and being of service in meeting the key needs of your prospects and clients. This doesn’t mean giving away more of your time. You can be creative in thinking about what clients would really like from you over and above the time they spend with you.

3. Expand your database
Creating a targeted list of people who would like to hear from you is the #1 thing you need to do to promote your expertise and expand the reach of your business. Treat every encounter you have as a chance to expand your network.

4. Keep in touch
Designing a ‘keep-in-touch’ strategy is crucial to your business growth. On average, it takes at least seven contacts before people are ready to do business with you. You need to regularly send items like a tips list, a book review, an article, an interview, or a checklist to clients and prospects to keep your services top of mind.

5. Ask for testimonials
Clients are very happy to say nice things about you if you ask them. Place their comments in a prominent place in all your promotional materials (with their permission, of course); at your web site, in your brochure, in your e-zine. Ask clients to be as specific as possible, and to write about real results they achieved or a valuable difference you made to them, rather than just general, vague comments that anyone could say.

6. Write and submit articles.
If you like to write, article writing is a very effective promotional tool. Even if you don’t like to write, you can dictate an article into your voice recorder or voice dictation software, and then have it transcribed. Send articles to print publications, online article directories, and specific online sites that your target market would read.

7. Write testimonials and comments for others.
Writing testimonials for people you do business with, or for authors whose books you have read, may get you noticed if they put your comment at their website or in their ezine. Posting to other peoples’ blogs or in forums and discussion lists related to your target market also works well. Putting a link in your posts will drive traffic to your website.

8. Send a press release.
Sending a press release makes good business sense. You can create a list of media contacts that you could use many times. Write your press release and connect it to a current event in the news or to a holiday season to get noticed. Send it directly to the specific editor for your area of specialty. Don’t make it too salesy or about promoting you or your business - that would be an ad, not a press release.

Choose to take action on any of these ideas to expand on your current marketing strategies and promote your expertise for free.

Jan Marie Dore publishes the newsletter ‘Success Secrets for Women Entrepreneurs’. She teaches solo professional women marketing and sales strategies to attract new clients, grow their business, and make more money. Subscribe and be invited to free teleseminars at www.femalepreneurs.com

Does Your Workspace Inspire You?

The environments we surround ourselves with are often overlooked as a potential nurturance for both our work and our daily lives. Our surroundings shape the way we think and feel. Exceptional achievers make sure their surroundings reflect their commitment to perform at their best.

Your office space can reflect your intention to do great work that makes a contribution to the world. It can provide aesthetic nourishment where the colors and textures of the interior space nourish your creativity and inspire you, or it can leave you feeling exhausted and unfocused.

We need only to step into different offices to notice how they affect us.

Close your eyes and picture this. It is morning, and you are walking into your office to start your work day. You step onto a lovely patterned carpet, and walk over to your beautiful, functional wooden desk. You sit in a very comfortable chair that supports your back, and gaze out the window at the sunny day. A fresh breeze blows in from the open window. You hear the sounds of birds singing and leaves rustling in the wind. A large green plant is in the corner and a vase of fresh flowers is on your desk. A beautiful lamp infuses warmth and soft light throughout the room. Your eyes are drawn to a lovely piece of art on the wall, then to an artifact you bought on your latest trip, and then to an array of family photos.

Would this type of space uplift your spirit and inspire you to do your best work?

You bet it would!

Yet, very few people take the time to create for themselves an office that is truly nourishing and uplifting.

If our offices are beautiful and inspiring, then what is produced in those offices will have a sense of purpose and integrity. The challenge is to seek a way to occupy your office space in a way that harmonizes with your personality, energy, and purpose.

Take Action

Look closely at your workspace. What is the message that your office area currently communicates to you and others? What do you see that stimulates your creativity and inspires you to do your best work?

If your workspace doesn’t currently nourish your creativity and effectiveness, take a moment to mentally create the perfect space for you to do your best work. Think about changes you could make, even if you’re on a limited budget, to create a more inspiring work environment.

Could it be by moving your desk so that the view is more inspiring? Or by adding fresh flowers, a plant, or music? What about adding a water fountain, a wind chime, a poster, or a beautiful piece of art to your workspace? Or, choosing to write with pens in a rainbow of colors?

Are your office and desk areas visually stimulating with lots of pictures, photographs, quotes, and memorabilia? Or, you may prefer a clean, uncluttered state for working.

Only you know the type of surroundings you will thrive in. Determine what you need in your environment to inspire your best work. Decide how to change your space so you feel more inspired and creative - and watch your productivity and satisfaction levels soar!

Jan Marie Dore teaches women business owners secrets to success. Sign up for her savvy and smart FREE e-zine and receive a 30 page Bonus Workbook ‘The 7 Critical Small Business Marketing Mistakes Women Make. . . and Solutions to Easily Fix Them’ by visiting www.femalepreneurs.com

Mastermind Your Way to Business Success

I’m a big believer in mastermind programs and success teams. A business mastermind team is a group of entrepreneurs who get together to support each other in growing their business, in moving through stuck places, and in brainstorming ideas for new opportunities.

If you’re a business owner you may notice how easy it is to get stuck in the details of running your business and how hard it is to stay focused on the big picture of where you want your business to go. If we don’t get support and feedback from other people who know us and our business well, it’s almost impossible for us to see how and where we’re getting stuck. We don’t often take the opportunity to step outside our business, take an objective viewpoint, and reconnect with our vision.

The benefits of participating in a mastermind team are many. You benefit from the creative ideas of many people instead of just your own limited thoughts. The group will help you problem solve your biggest challenges. The synergy of the group helps you to step out of your comfort zone into the place of new possibilities. The group will also hold you accountable so that you’re more likely to take action to reach your goals.

If you want to pull together you’re own success team, here are some tips to get you started:

Create a vision of the outcome you want
The first step is to get clear on what you want to create. What do you want your business and life to look like 5 years from now? How do you define success? The clearer you are on your vision and the outcomes you want, the more likely you are to achieve them.

Write out your goals and objectives
Less than 5% of people write out their goals, but those who do are much more likely to achieve them than those who don’t. Writing out your goals and objectives to achieve your vision will give you and your group a clear roadmap to your success.

Decide who you want on your success team
Think about who you’d like to invite. Who would be the right partners for you? It’ been said that our business will be as successful as the five business people we spend the most time with. Our income and success tends to stay in the same range as the group we’re connected to.

Take responsibility for your experience
Decide what you’d want to get out of being a part of a mastermind team. What would be the best outcome you could achieve? If these people were your ‘virtual board of directors’, how would you want to interact with them? Establish guidelines for trust, honesty, confidentiality, commitment, timeliness, and accountability.

Rotate leadership
The group doesn’t need one leader, but it’s good for each member to rotate through the leadership role. This may mean the person who hosts the meeting reminds people of the day and time, sets the tone, facilitates the discussion, and keeps time so that everyone gets air time. Or, you may set roles for each member, such as meeting scheduler, host, note taker, and time keeper.

A mastermind team can be a powerful support for your business success. Commit to taking action to create your own personal success team, and watch your results multiply.

Jan Marie Dore publishes the newsletter ‘Success Secrets for Women Entrepreneurs’. She teaches solo professional women marketing and sales strategies to attract new clients, grow their business, and make more money. Subscribe and be invited to free teleseminars at www.femalepreneurs.com

Small Home Business Idea

Think about some of the most famous companies out there. Did you know that Hewlett Packard was started in a garage? Or that Motorola was also a shoe string operation…nothing more than an idea really but that’s all it takes to change your life.

One small idea from a home business or a fortune 500 company can mean the difference between outrageous wealth and struggling along in a 9 to 5 cubicle rat race. Now we know it’s certainly a lot easier for a company like Apple to create the iPod than it is for you to invent it in your garage but what about the huge number of internet businesses that started with a small idea and just a little flexing of their Mastercard credit limits?

Did you know that YouTube.com was started just this way? Nothing but two guys, multiple credit cards and one small home business idea. It sure didn’t take long before that little idea became a huge phenomena did it?

But here again, I’ll admit that it’s tough to hit upon an idea like YouTube or MySpace (not impossible by any stretch though) but is it reasonable for you to add ‘just a little extra’ to your monthly budget with a home business? A small idea could certainly be turned into a ‘niche website’ and niche websites are really what the internet is all about.

So let’s quickly examine why this niche concept works on the internet but does not work in the ‘brick and mortar’ world. It all has to do with demographics and reach. Let’s pick on an obscure niche like ‘die cast replicars’.

If you were to open a strip mall store to sell these replicars, how many people in a 15 mile radius would know about your store? And how difficult would it be to advertise to this niche audience in a 15 mile radius? Pretty tough right?

And even if you could find these replicar fanatics with your advertising (likely expensive advertising), how far would they drive to come to your store? Can you start to see how tough this is getting and why your strip mall store is likely to fail a miserable flaming death?

Now flip this around and put your replicar business on the internet. For starters, you probably only have to shell out $2,500 for a full blown e-commerce website which is less than 1 month rent at most strip malls. After that, figure in about $30 a month in fixed costs and that’s it. Your fist year business budget is less than $3,000…not bad in comparison is it?

But it gets a lot better because you’re no longer scrounging around searching for the replicar fanatics in a 15 mile area…you’re spanning the globe! Now you’re taking what used to be a niche product and selling to a global audience of over 5 billion people and think about how many replicar fanatics there are in a global market versus a 15 mile market. This is a truly amazing paradigm shift.

There is no longer a ‘niche market’ as we used to know it, there are no longer geographic sales borders and you no longer have to limit yourself to a small home business idea because there are no longer any small ideas…any idea can now become huge in a global market.

Start small with your home business…sure, best to walk before you run but don’t think you need to limit yourself to staying small. Take your small idea and turn it into whatever you choose. There has never been a better time to work from home and there has never been a better time to turn a small idea into a large business.

How would you like to own a highly profitable Small Home-Based internet business?

Sit back and enjoy your residual income from your Small Home Based Business… while I do all the work for you.

Web Site Promotion, Who Needs It?

In short, YOU!

So you’ve heard the term web site promotion and you’re saying to yourself, “I have a website, should I be more proactive in promotion?”

The answer to this question is yes. But of course, this leads to more questions:

* What is website promotion?
* Do I have to do it all myself?
* What if I’m not selling anything, is web site promotion still important to me?
* What are some of the more common techniques?

In this installment we’ll talk in depth about on-page factors and what you can do to increase your relevance with good site content.

So, starting at the top, we’ll try to explain some of this in non-technical terms:

Q: What is website promotion?
A: Website promotion is the combination of efforts which help you rank better against certain key phrases. In general, search engines will rank your web site on 2 major areas - on-page factors, and off-page factors.

On-page factors include your title, your description and keywords META data, your use of heading tags (i.e. H1, H2, et-cetera), ALT text on your images and of course, your body text (also known as web site copy).

The fact is, well executed on-page factors really equal good usability. Here are some examples of why:

Title tags: The title’s greatest value is to give a one-liner which can be picked up by the search engines and act as your first clue to prospective visitors what your page is all about. If for instance, your page is about Website Promotion, then “Website Promotion” is a very explanatory title. If it gets too long, the search engines tend to cut it off anyway, so remember, brevity is the soul of wit online too.

META Description: Many of the search engines, and some automated listing services will use your page title and description as the introduction of your site to viewers. For this reason, it’s important to have a brief, explanatory introduction. Taking the example above: “Website Promotion is the combination of efforts which help your site rank better for certain key phrases. Company X is an expert in Website Promotion.”

META Keywords: Think of keywords like the index of a book - if there’s something on the page you think is important, highlight it as a reference in your Keywords META tag. Other good uses of the Keywords tag are the inclusion of common misspellings, your company name, any thing which will help better describe your message to the user and the search engines.

Keywords have become less a factor for search engine ranking due to the abuses in which every keywords tag had the words “sex”, “money”, “get rich” - in short, keyword stuffing for high search traffic. Those search engine engineers are smart enough to know when they’re being toyed with and have started ignoring keywords. They still have value, but mostly to your users when they don’t know exactly what they’re looking for.

Heading tags: The internet was dreamed up and originally populated by engineers. If there’s one truism about engineers, they like structure. As such, they are prone to outlines. Think of every web page you create as an outline and you’ll understand the value of H1, H2, H3 tags in web site promotion. By defining a top-level heading, you’re saying this is my main body text, and I’m describing the whole thing and it’s therefore more important. As you continue through the text and you talk about sub-topics, second and third level headings indicate you are talking about sub, and sometimes sub-sub topics. Think “outline” and you’ll have no problem deciding what should be an H1, H2 or H3 tag.

ALT text: Way back when, the Internet wasn’t as fast as it is now. In the first browser I remember using, “Mosaic”, the images loaded in a separate viewer and you had to click a link to get them to appear. In this instance, having a good description of the image content was very important. Still today, a description of an image, or a description of the page to which you’re linking with an image are good ideas as ALT text. This way, those with sight challenges, and those who still use dial-up have a quick reference to know if they want to follow a link or load an image. Given the potential importance of ALT text, it is often misused for keyword stuffing in an attempt at better website promotion. From a usability standpoint, this isn’t so great. If your keyword phrase will help explain the image, or at worst won’t hurt the usability for those with text based browsers go ahead, but remember much of the on-page factors ranking is an attempt toward better usability.

Body text: Your body text is right up there in importance (perhaps most important) for both usability and web site promotion. Let’s face it, if your copy is no good you may attract a visitor one time, but they certainly won’t come back. Back to the engineers and their view of a web page: If you’ve ever read an academic paper, you know that often it seems quantity outweighs quality. As such, you’re rewarded for having a lot to say on one page. Hopefully, if it’s worth writing about it’s worth writing several hundred words about. The other thing the engineers seem to believe is that if a key phrase is important to you, you’ll repeat it a few times.

So, for both usability and web site promotion you want to assure you have a fair amount to say, that it will make good reading for your users and that you mention your key concept more than a couple times.

Too often, web site promotion needs outweigh usability and information needs. Thankfully, if you have a topic about which you are passionate and knowledgeable which features strongly in your site design, you can create good content, make a useable site and still be proactive about website promotion.

Will Scott of Search Influence has been helping small businesses succeed online since 1994. Search Influence: a New Orleans Internet Marketing company helping resource strapped small businesses find ways to increase website revenue through website promotion. Visit: http://www.searchinfluence.com

eBay - So You Want to Make a Mint Selling Online

As with most phenomena of the Internet heyday it’s no longer possible to make a fortune just by selling any old thing on eBay. However, there are still opportunities aplenty for the hard working, savvy eBay seller. In order to have a happy ending though you need to have a good beginning and that’s what we’re here to do: Start at the very beginning. Explore eBay and decide if being an e-commerce tycoon is really the ticket for you.

Never even visited eBay? There then is your first step. Go to eBay.com and have a look around. eBay realizes that buyers and sellers are its lifeblood so the eBay website is very user friendly. You don’t have to register to browse and at this point you probably shouldn’t. Registering requires choosing a user I.D. which will follow you forever. You will want to choose it and use it carefully.

For now just get the feel of the site. eBay is enormous and it’s entirely true almost anything a person could want can be found there. It may be that you already have a store and want to use eBay to increase your sales or even to become your sole outlet. Or, you may be new to the whole process and have only the vaguest idea of what you want to sell. Either way, now is the time to scope out the competition.

eBay sellers are a very sophisticated lot. Many of them make use of cutting edge software to list literally hundreds of products a day. They may also have separate eBay stores and even traditional brick-and-mortar locations. Anyone who becomes part of eBay today will need to have skills in lots of areas not just have something to sell. A successful eBay merchant needs to be computer literate, able to write copy that sells and give excellent customer service. All of this must be done while also taking care of the primary business: Selling product.

After spending time perusing the website and doing a quick study of its diverse content, stop by the eBay Learning Center. Be sure and pay strict at