Promoting Your New Business Web Site

Promoting Your New Business Web Site
by Stephen Woodall

Anyone with a new web site needs traffic. A web site without a steady flow of traffic is useless. No matter how well the design and appearance, traffic is the fuel for its survival. Article writing can bring much needed traffic to any web site, especially a new home business site just starting out. Many work at home opportunities come with your own web site and that is the easy part. In most cases we have to build our traffic from the ground up with promotion being a never-ending process.



Article writing is a way to take our link to the public and get targeted traffic. Your web site link in the article resource box is your payment. To me this is the best compensation plan there is for generating good traffic to a new web site. There just isn’t any better trade off because everyone wins. For a work at home business in the early stages this is a must needed way to stimulate traffic.



When submitting to article directories resist the urge to jump around without reading their submission guidelines. They are there for a reason and you will save yourself as well as those editors in charge of approving articles, much wasted time. If you skip the guidelines, a declined article on the shelf for two weeks will make you rethink your submission process. They may all seem the same but there are variations in what they accept.



As you begin to familiarize yourself with one, add another. Do the same again setting up an account and following their guidelines. Make a list of your directories as you grow and visit them often to see what your articles are doing. This will also make your navigation through their web site much easier. Try to set up the same username and password for all accounts. This will make for a smooth process when accessing them.



When submitting articles we have to give our best research, experience, and expertise. Keep your articles informative and not just a sales presentation. Article writing can be outsourced should it be needed. Articles should to be submitted on a regular basis. We have to be patient with our articles and allow them to take their course. As your articles grow so will the traffic to your web site. The internet is in constant growth so we have to be consistent with our article submissions. Submit with regularity. Take care of your articles and the directories that distribute them, and the process will take care of you.


Stephen Woodall, Marketing Analyst, FSC2 Member -
Visitors Link http://storewholesale.fsc2.com





Article Directory: Article Dashboard

Your 10 Best Home Based Business List

Your 10 Best Home Based Business List by Marl Atkins

Do you know that if you *really* want to, you can work for your own business from your own home - even if you're UNDER SIXTEEN!! Literally thousands of people have home based businesses, many of whom have no other jobs. If they can do it, so can you.



Before you decide what to do you need to educate yourself on the many different opportunities that exist, on the basic mechanics of running your own small business and at least briefly on five or six different types of business. From there you can compile a list of the best home based business opportunities for you and then simply select your top choice.



Here are a few ideas and examples to get your creative juices flowing:



When I was 12 years old, I had a paper route. Now paper routes are considered small businesses and they're available for sale. I got just a little older and dropped the paper route. I put an ad in the local newspaper offering services as an 'odd job guy'. I got calls and soon had a regular clientele, mostly of small businesses who needed clean up work done at regular intervals. At the time I was too young to realize that this was a very viable and potentially VERY lucrative business. You can very easily start a business as an 'odd job guy' or a 'handy man'.



I had friend who worked in a document printing shop. She started creating decorative stationary packages on the side. She sold them to friends and small businesses with whom she was aquainted. Soon afterward she had an e-commerce Website developed for her new business and started marketing it more. Soon she was selling a whole array of products that were related to her stationary. Before the end of a year she had to quit her job. She said she was losing too much money by working there. You could start a business selling products that you can make yourself.



As far as e-commerce Web 'stores' go, you don't have to make anything. Many companies offer businesses an opportunity to sell their products for a profit. You can sell trinkets, clothes, kitchen items, cameras, clocks, insurance!; the list goes on and on. You don't even have to buy stock in bulk, store it OR ship it. You can buy items as you sell them and have your supplier 'drop ship' the items directly to your customer.



Here's a twist: you can expand the above idea to include international buying and/or bartering. You could start an international bartering company.



Both my wife and I had normal jobs working for companies. My wife worked as a technical editor. She got layed off from one company and started work for another. Soon after, the first company started hiring her on the side to do work after hours. Before long she was working evenings and weekends for a few companies. We decided to start a small business offering technical writing and graphic design. At one point her company went through a major lay off and she along with a few hundred others was layed off. I determined that it was a good time for her to start working for our business full time and I launched a major mail marketing/cold calling campaign. Within one year we had so much business that I had to quit my job just to keep up with the work. Not long afterward I acquired a Microsoft® certification for software development. I started developing software for the clients we already had. We've made more money working for ourselves than either of us ever made working for a company. If you can write you can start a business as a 'writer'. If you can develop software (or can learn how to) you can start a business as a software consultant.



In our small business we contracted a bookkeeper. She had been working for a company as a customer service rep. and as their bookkeeper. She was very personable and had a reputation for being very trustworthy. People she knew from her customer service work started asking her to do their books for them on the side. Before long all her weekends and evenings were taken up doing bookkeeping. The company she worked for went bankrupt. She had to get another job. Instead she called every small business owner she knew and also went through the phone book calling businesses, offering 'off site bookkeeping services'. She never did get a job. She still has her own business offering bookkeeping services and makes more money than she ever did working for a company.



The same girl, now very excited about having her own business, started buying materials and studying other home based business opportunities. She learned of a popular business: 'Bill Auditor'. Unfortunately, many utility companies (phone, water, electric, etc.) consistently overbill their clients 'by accident', especially when the client is a business. Because their internal staff is too busy to check, most of these 'oversights' go undetected costing the company thousands of dollars over the years. She started offering 'bill auditing' which basically amounts to checking every single bill and then forcing the companies to fix any 'mistakes' and resend their bill. She also handles all of the bill paying for her client. She can easily market this service because she can offer it to them for BETTER THAN FREE! because of the the savings from the billing 'mistakes'. In the long run her service costs them NOTHING and instead they actually SAVE money.



I know a girl who worked for a medium sized business as a secretary. She started to get intrigued with the idea of working at home and started buying books and did some research. she learned that she could start a business in 'secretarial services'. She bought a computer with a built in fax and Internet capability. She studied enough to learn how to market it and put a few ads in some newspapers. She got enough response to gain the courage to quit her job and launch her business full time. She sent out a few mailings to small businesses and then called the same businesses. Soon she was getting more work than she could handle. Now she has employees who also work at home but for her business. If you can type and have a computer you can pretty easily start a 'secretarial services' business.




I know many people who learned to buy real estate as investors and soon after quit their jobs. You see infomercials on TV all the time about techniques for becoming a real estate investor. We're all skeptical but it's TRUE. You really CAN buy properties for 70% of market value, with NO MONEY DOWN (out of your pocket), even if your credit is less than perfect. In fact, the United States is currently in the middle of a foreclosure crisis. This misfortune is creating a very unique opportunity to cash in big on foreclosures while helping alleviate the problem. The banks are all but giving these properties away. YOu can do a little bit of research on how to buy a house with a 'short sale'. Basically, you convince the bank to let you pay off your seller's loan but at a very deep discount (as low as 50% of the loan balance). Where do you get the money? Do a little research on 'hard money lenders'. YOu can get the money VERY EASILY!




I have friends who are 'day traders'. That is, they buy and sell stocks at home, for themselves. This business does not involve offering products or services to anyone. You simply buy and sell stock all day, trying to make a profit on each transaction. This business does take a significant amount of start up capital (50K to 100K) and nerves of STEEL. I did it for awile and made pretty good money but the stress is very high. The trick is to NOT GAMBLE. That's right. Basically, I used a technique called 'technical analysis' and ALWAYS played WITH the odds. If a deal went south, I baled out quick. If it went my way I stuck with it until I EXPECTED a probable change and then baled out even if it was still going my way. I have friends who do this full time and make very good money doing it.




Many home based businesses exist. You can start a 'mobile car care' business. You would wash and detail customers' cars at their place of business while they work. You could start a lawn care or snow shoveling business. How about a 'mobile dog grooming' business. You can groom animals (cut their fur, shampoo, etc.) at their homes. If you don't mind a little education you can be a 'medical transcriptionist'. Are you a Certified Public Accountant? You can start a business as an accountant or maybe a 'tax accountant'. I have a tax accountant. You could start any number of construction companies. Many do not require special licenses. For example, you could be a drywaller or a tile setter. You could do pressure cleaning or run a concrete pumper. Some of these businesses would require some start up capital. Others really only require initiative.




So you see, if you have just a little bit of 'vision' you too can work at home in your own business. Chances are high that you can make more money than you ever will by working for another company. After all, they're taking all the 'profit'. Where do you start? Buy a few books and a few 'home business packages'. EDUCATE YOURSELF. Then start creating a list of the businesses that you think are the most appropriate for you. Study those businesses further until you've got a clear idea of what you're getting into. Then pick your top choice and GO FOR IT!!


Marl K. Atkins is an Internet marketing consultant specializing in the promotion of small to medium sized businesses.

A Premier Florida Web Design Firm, Orlando


Article Directory: Article Dashboard

Think Like An Entrepreneur!

Think Like an Entrepreneur!
By Gary Ryan Blair

There was a time when being the biggest, most experienced corporate
kid on the block guaranteed success and dominance. However, in the
new economy, organizations that lack the commitment and capacity
for leveraging size and experience strategically will see these
attributes as vices instead of virtues.

The new economy will require an entrepreneurial mindset. Competition
will come from anywhere at anytime. Technology will empower smaller, nimbler competitors dramatically.

The days of sitting back, waiting, and depending on corporate size and reputation to attract business are effectively over.

To be clear—the relationship between size and entrepreneurial
behavior doesn't have to be an inverse one. People like Bill Gates
have already demonstrated convincingly that huge companies like
Microsoft can be as proactive and aggressive as the most
entrepreneurial start-up. In fact, entrepreneurial behavior can no
longer be the exclusive preserve of just the young start-up.

Everybody has to get in on the act!

Entrepreneurship is a bit like dieting: Everybody's in favor of it in
principle, but only a few have the intestinal fortitude to do what it
takes to reap the rewards.

In my view, the major source of the problem is cultural and is rooted in our fear of failure.

The new economy calls for a far more entrepreneurial corporate
culture, one where experimentation, risk taking, and even failure are
not only tolerated, but also actually celebrated. After all the only
real alternative to experimentation and risk is decay and decline.
The essence of risk is the possibility of failure.

Honor your errors. To advance requires a new frame. But the process
of going outside the conventional method is indistinguishable from
error.

Evolution can be thought of as systematic error management.

Scratch a successful entrepreneur and what you'll find is someone who failed a time or two or... get the idea?

The emerging rigors of the new economy leave us little choice. We
must experiment, and experimentation carries with it the near
certainty of at least occasional failure. In a truly entrepreneurial
culture, failure tends to be regarded as a learning opportunity, a
necessary pre-condition to eventual success. The status quo is simply
not a viable option any longer. You can stand still if you like, but
your competition certainly won't.

One other critical point about entrepreneurs. They are above all men
and women of action! Entrepreneurs instinctively understand the
importance of real-world experimentation, trial and error, and speed.
Experimentation, feedback, failure, learning, adjustment,
action—that's what successful entrepreneurship is all about.

Entrepreneurship, like innovation, is a profoundly relative concept.
At its core, it implies a willingness to risk challenging
conventional wisdom and prevailing approaches.

A company may employ you, but you work for yourself! Two defining
qualities of an entrepreneur are an appetite for risk and a strong
bias towards action. For many years, business conditions operated
strongly against the entrepreneur.

Size, stability, and industry experience were the only commodities recognized as having value in the business world; without them you could forget about making an impact. That's changing.

The business landscape of the new economy will be more hospitable to the entrepreneur than any we've seen before. The volatility and unpredictability of global competition have completely devalued most existing corporate currencies and virtues.

What good is size if your organization is too slow and muscle bound
to capitalize on new, fast-moving opportunities? What use is lengthy
industry experience if your most ferocious competitor is likely to
come at you from out of an entirely different sector? What's the
point of conducting exhaustive market surveys if the market changes
so fast they're obsolete before you've analyzed them?

Under these kinds of conditions, what counts is the willingness and
ability to take risks, get real-life feedback and react quickly. In
short, the ability to be entrepreneurial.

As a genuine entrepreneur, either inside an organization or
independent of one, you should prove to be ideally adapted to the
evolving imperatives of the new competitive environment.

Emboldened by its competitive dynamics and liberated by new
technologies, entrepreneurs will build not only bridges to the new economy but castles on the other shore!

Everything Counts!

Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. A visionary and gifted conceptual thinker, Gary is highly regarded as a speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach to leading companies throughout the globe.

He helps business owners, corporate executives and sales professionals manage their time, set their priorities, and stay focused so they can achieve their goals, grow their business, and sustain a lasting competitive advantage. Learn more at http://www.personalstrategicplan.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Ryan_Blair
http://EzineArticles.com/?Think-Like-an-Entrepreneur!&id=641378

Chosing The Right Name for your Business

Choosing a Company Name

By: Michael Harris

When forming a limited company the name of the company can be an important decision. Some people may choose the first name that they think of and others may select a ready made company for speed or because they like a particular name. However, many businesses may prefer to select a company name that either clearly distinguishes itself from its competitors or contains something unique or personal. Company names can be chosen for different reasons.



One of the most common ways of selecting a company name is to use something personal. A quick look through your local newspaper will probably introduce you to many personalised business names. Johnson Consulting Limited, T Smith & Son Limited, Stephens & Barley Limited are some fictional examples of what may be found. This may instantly make a company recognisable locally, it can be deemed as more personal by its customers, and often works well within geographical areas. However, it does little to tell new customers what your company does.



A popular choice for a small business is to choose a name that is 'descriptive'. This tells prospective clients exactly what your company does. Examples of this may be to call your business The Window Company Limited, City IT Consultants Limited or The Advertising Agency Limited. Whilst this does serve to reinforce your primary business it offers little differentiation and may easily be adapted by competitors.



A less personal option is to use a company name that is 'associative'. This type of company name helps to create an image or connection to your business activity. It is less direct than using a descriptive name but helps to position your company's name within the market through peoples understanding of what words mean. For example a flick through the Yellow Pages will offer plenty of examples of this. A hairdresser called Classic Cuts or a printer called Selectaprint Limited are examples of what may be found. These names offer some differentiation but may not ultimately set your company aside from its competitors.



An alternative is to choose a company name that is 'freestanding'. These names are completely abstract and not related to the companies business activities. A fictional example may be to call your catering company Zedoc Limited. There are many popular brand names that illustrate this point. Consider, Kodak, Gillette, or Mars, these names will probably be instantly recognisable to you and conjure up a particular product or business. This is a good way of setting your company aside from the competition but it is important to consider the market that you operate in. Will your prospective clients know what your business is offering?



Choosing a company name may be a simple process, but it is not uncommon for people to deliberate over names for quite some time. Whilst company names can, and often are, changed during the life of the company most people like to choose a name that they like from the outset. Therefore consider your market, how much you want to differentiate from your competitors and what your company name should say about your organisation. Once the decision is made focus on the important business of making your company a success.

Author Bio

Michael Harris is a university graduate who has worked within the company formation and business advice industry for many years. Simple Formations is part of the SFS Group of Companies providing Company Formation the same day with your own company name.

Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com

Starting Your Own Business

Tips to get your Entrepreneurship off and running

By: Michael Johnson

One of the best of the small business associations is the University of Central Arkansas Small Business Advancement National Center (SBANC.)



While the ideal way of starting a small business would be to free yourself up from every other venture, problem, time consuming effort and obligation and throw yourself into starting a small business every waking moment, this isn't an ideal world. Few of us can afford the luxury of setting everything else aside to devote all our time and efforts, as well as capital - to starting a small business.



Some of us have the itch to become an entrepreneur but have to "keep our day jobs" while we give this starting a small business idea a go. It may well be, in fact, that starting a small business part time is the most common entrepreneurial process.



Part of succeeding at starting a small business if you have to do so part time is to know your schedule and your time limitations and choose a business concept that you enjoy, have some training or expertise in and can be accomplished around your work schedule. The other alternative is to change your work schedule either with your current employer or choose an alternative employer. Starting a small business takes effort and focus as well as time.



It may be that your current job is not only time consuming but also the type of work that requires a great deal of energy, a great deal of concentration, a very regimented schedule and perhaps the responsibility that tends to have you taking your work home with you either actually or mentally. This sort of work style doesn't lend itself well to starting a small business part time.



Let's look at an example of a journalist who has a successful writing and editing business from her home office. When she decided she was interested in starting a small business she had been working for many years in newspaper management. Her executive responsibilities required 70 and 80 hour workweeks and even then she took work home.



After many years of this she began to think more and more about her dream of starting a small writing business. It called to her more and more urgently. But how was she to even think of starting a small business when she had little time, energy or focus left in her busy work week? Besides, she had to work to keep the roof over her head.



What she did to determine if starting a small business was even possible, was to sit down and write out a budget, deciding where she could eliminate some non-essential expenses in her life, and what she absolutely had to have to live on. She then looked for, and found, a job that not only brought in enough money to live on but freed up a lot of her daytime work week hours as well as her mental focus. She took a customer service job in a call center.



Starting a small business was going to be possible with this job where it had not been with her newspaper career for a number of reasons. It required considerably less mental acumen, it didn't require that she take her work home with her, it was easy, the hours were flexible (she worked 3pm-midnight Thursday through Sunday) and the dress code was highly casual. She could work all day starting her small business and then don her jeans and go into the call center in the evening. Now she's quit that call center job and her dream of starting a small business has been fulfilled. Her business is thriving and she works at it full time.



You will find links to other small business associations from the SBANC site. These small business associations include the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) offering one on one counseling in person or online, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Small Business Development Centers which provide a ton of small business assistance including mentoring, training, publications, tapes, workshops and financing, Allied Academies - a worldwide research and training group, the Small Business Institute which provides entrepreneurial teaching and training, and the Federation of Business Disciplines, a group of educators devoted to small business teaching conferences.

Author Bio

About the Author:
M. Johnsona operates a variety of small business websites and newsletters. Visit the website for many business start up ideas. www.smallbiztipscenter.com

Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com