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Archive for the 'Small Business' Category

How To Mine Social Conversations

While everyone else is talking about using social networks to connect, reach out, build a relationship or in many cases woo customers, there are some who prefer to simply sit back and observe. certain, they will participate in conversations and reach out but to a point. What they are more interested in is,

  • What public are talking about
  • Who they are talking about
  • What are their concerns
  • Why they feel that way
  • What’s the competition doing and how
  • What kind of activities draw people

There is no secret that I like Twitter. Yes, I am on places like Facebook and yes, Twitter is a dwarf compared to Facebook, but I find Twitter easier to mine for knowledge, and that process can be somewhat automated. Here are some examples how Twitter shapes my blog posts, articles, affiliate product recommendations and even products I create.

  1. Get yourself a tool like TweetDeck where you can group society you’re following and additionally create separate streams of conversations by search term.
  2. Questions. At any given day, there are a ton of questions being asked on Twitter. Create a search based on the terms that relate to what you do or your industry. You’ll see questions pop up regularly. reply those questions on your blog. Tweet them after you’re posted it and newsletter it to your list.
  3. Recommendations. In the same search stream, you’ll additionally find recommendations for products and services. In fact you’ll probably find a lot of them since everyone is out there trying to sell something. that is a good way to find out new affiliate products, new competitor products or new product ideas. Just considering someone else has a product like that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create it too. Competition is good.
  4. If there’s a lot of chatter around a specific product you can more or less gauge how well a product is doing. whether a product is doing well, that’s a good sign that the product could be profitable for you too. whether there’s a lot of negativity thereupon you know what not to spend your precious resources to develop or promote as an affiliate.
  5. Trends. After a while, you’ll notice that the bulk of some conversations revolve around a specific topic, person, groups or products. Depending on what they are, they’ll construct great blog posts, scoop topics or even mini-products.
  6. Viral stuff. When something razes through Twitter, you’ll know it. You’ll see it being mentioned by several public you follow and it becomes a hot topic when you’re watching sites like TwitScoop. One of my favorite things to do when I see these viral topics, products, promotions or events is to figure out why they are so popular. Sometimes it’s a matter of getting the topic into the hands of an influential person who will tweet it. Other times, the promotion is pretty creative. Create similar promotions and strike a deal with those key players in your industry. You could be the next big thing on Twitter.

Every separate day there’s something I learn on Twitter that can be applied in several ways in my business. As a matter of fact that post itself as you can see is inspired by Twitter and something I recently tweeted. I’m positive there’s something in there for your business as well but wait, before you go… a little bit of advice. Don’t spend all your moment there.

So how do I mine the data whether I don’t spend moment on Twitter? Simple. With TweetDeck, I set all notifications to no - so it never bothers me while I’m working. I turn it on in the dawn and let it ‘collect’ the tweets I’m interested in througout the day. During lunch break or towards the end of the day, I hop on TweetDeck to scan, pick out the good stuff and do a mini analysis. Total moment, amoung 15 - 60 minutes depending on how chatty I am. On days I get questions directed to me I spend more day but when you’re just there for business intelligence, it doesn’t take you lengthy.

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Original post by Lynette Chandler

How To Develop A Mini newsletter Trade Show!

No matter where you look on the web, the key to making any money online is wrapped up in the list. Without one, you’ve got a major hurdle to clear. The following concept, may be your reply to fast-tracking exposure!

At some point in duration, you have probably visited a trade show within your industry. You saw legions of companies within your industry, selling goods from booths and visitors looking to buy or develop leads for themselves. Using that model, why not create your own mini trade show with friends or colleagues who compliment each other’s businesses?

By combining the lists from say five to ten companies, who share the same target audience, put together a promotion to present a series of services to that body of contacts and feed off of each other. Here is how you could approach it:

1: Gather together businesses who have a growing list of emails from contacts that the group as a whole might benefit from. For instance: Accountants, lawyers, business consultants and financial folks would all share the same target audience - small business. Put together a joint list. produce it a rule that your list is not for sale, but only to be used within the confines of the trade show arena. The joint list only mails from one location. Once the show is by, all parties return to their own lists.

2: Put together some teazer emails, and start to push them at that joint audience, to prime the pump. Let them know the day span the “Trade Show” will occupy. additionally give them the opportunity to opt-out of the mailing whether they so wish.

3: The day of the “Trade Show” launch send out the first of many consecutive mailings. energize each of the participants to offer something of value to contacts. An example would be to offer something, that could be used to harvest new emails for your own growing list.

4: Once the span of the “Trade Show” has expired, follow up leads, and send out thank you emails with announcements on the term to expect the next one.

5: Send out a web survey to gage awareness of the show and see what needs tweeking.

How ever you do that, be certain to take your best shot as it could expose your product or service to a large audience. In the lead up, your list could be told of your valuable contacts, and your desire to supply meaningful assistance to them from a variety of positions. Benefit from a larger list without the grueling years of building one. It is a great way to boost your make by helping others to succeed. The true spirit of networking.

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Original post by Ed Roach

Affiliate Marketing 101 (QA) - Part 1

Many looking for a way to work from home and run their own business turn to the Net for answers. It’s only natural that citizens turn to the World Wide Web to find info on the topic, since television commercials seem to abound now with claims of citizens who are making money running their own at home business.

Maybe you even know someone personally who runs an online business. It’s not as strange as many think. The Net is full of opportunities to turn your dream of working from home, being your own boss, and having control of your financial future into a reality.

With its huge amount of info on nearly any subject you could imagine, citizens in households around the world are jumping online and Googling “ways to manufacture money online” every day.

One of the more frequent terms that pop up when searching for ways to construct money on the Web is Affiliate Marketing. But, what precisely is affiliate marketing and how can it help you create a thriving and profitable business?

In that spread series you’ll find 11 of the most frequently asked questions on the topic of Affiliate Marketing along with the answers to each of them. You’ll learn what affiliate marketing is, the basics of how it works and by the end of the report you’ll have a better understanding of what everybody online is talking about.

Who knows, you just might decide that affiliate marketing is something you’d like to try for yourself. whether so, I wish you success! Just remember any business worthwhile does take instance and work. It won’t happen overnight (although it is possible to do some work before you go to sleep at night and wake up to money in your pocket the next dawn with affiliate marketing).

When done correctly an Affiliate Marketing business can produce the income, shield, and longevity anyone looking to create a successful business could ever need or want.

Defining Affiliate Marketing

Q: What is Affiliate Marketing?

A: Affiliate marketing as defined by Wikipedia.com:

“Affiliate Marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s marketing efforts.”

I don’t know about you, but when I first read that definition, it wasn’t precisely jumping out at me, making me go “Oh yeah, I get it. Now I know what I want to do to invent a living!”

Of course you can read more about the practice of affiliate marketing at the Wikipedia website, but we’ll save you the trouble, considering although it isn’t hard to understand, it is a bit overwhelming and really doesn’t tell you in easy to understand terms what affiliate marketing is.

Affiliate Marketing Is The Process of Referring Others To A Product OR Service And Being PAID For Your Efforts

A great example that I’ve found most humans can easily understand is that of a car salesman. When you go to a dealership to purchase a new car, you’re normally greeted by a salesperson. He or she will do their best to reply your questions, show you the car including its features, engine, warranty, and even let you tryout drive it.

Once you decide the vehicle is the one you want to buy, they will next walk you through all the paperwork, getting financing, taking your down payment, trade-in and everything else involved in the process from start to finish.

Once the deal has been made and you’ve driven off the lot with your new car, the dealership receives the sticker price of the car.

But, what about the sales person who worked with you all afternoon? He listened to your needs, recommended the car that you fell in love with and are now sporting around town in. What does he get out of the deal? After all, he did all the work – he should get something for making the sale. And, he does. He will receive a percentage of the sales price of the car you just bought. that is known as a commission.

Affiliate marketing is the same thing, only in that specific case you are doing the referring and “selling” on the World Wide Web.

Make Money With Affiliate Marketing

Q: How precisely do you invent money from Affiliate Marketing?

A: We touched on the reply to that question in the previous question. When you (the affiliate) refer someone to a product (or service) and that person makes a purchase, you receive a commission on the sale.

However, there is more to it than that. After all, how can a company know for certain that you are the one who sent that person to their website since you’re not there to tell them and the person buying may not even know your name?

When you sign up to become an affiliate with a company or individual, you’ll receive a special link (your affiliate link) that is embedded with a tracking cipher to let the affiliate program owner identify you among other affiliates and their own marketing methods.

Whenever you use that special affiliate link to refer someone to the company’s website the person’s visit is tracked to you via that special cipher. There are various software programs that assemble that possible and the process is beyond the scope of that specific report. Just remember that visitors to the website are tracked back to you from that special cipher within your affiliate link.

Whenever someone who uses your link purchases something from the company’s website you are credited for the sale and receive some sort of payment.

Common Types of Affiliate Payments

Sales Percentage – that method is the most common style of payment to affiliates. Example: For every sale you refer as an affiliate, you’ll earn 50% of the total sales price. You refer $50 worth of sales and we’ll pay you $25. Percentages vary and are set by the company or individual who runs the affiliate program. They can vary from 5% all the way to 100%.

Pre-set dollar amount – that type of commission is not extremely common, but it is out there, specific dollar amounts could include things such as: For every $5 worth of product sales you refer to us, we’ll pay you $1 or a flat $20/sale.

Credits
– Some sites pay their affiliates in credits that can be used for future purchases of their products. An example of that would be receiving 1 credit for every dollar’s worth of product sales you refer.

Here’s the end of Part 1, in Part 2 we will discuss how to know your Market, you MUST get to know them before you can successfully promote products and services they will buy.

Original post by Vera Raposo

Affiliate Marketing 101 (Q&A) - Part 1

Many looking for a way to work from home and run their own business turn to the World Wide Web for answers. It’s only natural that folks turn to the World Wide Web to find data on the topic, since television commercials seem to abound now with claims of humans who are making money running their own at home business.

Maybe you even know someone personally who runs an online business. It’s not as strange as many think. The World Wide Web is full of opportunities to turn your dream of working from home, being your own boss, and having control of your financial future into a reality.

With its huge amount of info on nearly any subject you could imagine, citizens in households around the world are jumping online and Googling “ways to assemble money online” every day.

One of the more frequent terms that pop up when searching for ways to form money on the World Wide Web is Affiliate Marketing. But, what precisely is affiliate marketing and how can it help you create a thriving and profitable business?

In that spread series you’ll find 11 of the most frequently asked questions on the topic of Affiliate Marketing along with the answers to each of them. You’ll learn what affiliate marketing is, the basics of how it works and by the end of the report you’ll have a better understanding of what everybody online is talking about.

Who knows, you just might decide that affiliate marketing is something you’d like to try for yourself. whether so, I wish you success! Just remember any business worthwhile does take date and work. It won’t happen overnight (although it is possible to do some work before you go to sleep at night and wake up to money in your pocket the next dawn with affiliate marketing).

When done correctly an Affiliate Marketing business can produce the income, protection, and longevity anyone looking to create a successful business could ever need or want.

Defining Affiliate Marketing

Q: What is Affiliate Marketing?

A: Affiliate marketing as defined by Wikipedia.com:

“Affiliate Marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s marketing efforts.”

I don’t know about you, but when I first read that definition, it wasn’t precisely jumping out at me, making me go “Oh yeah, I get it. Now I know what I want to do to manufacture a living!”

Of course you can read more about the practice of affiliate marketing at the Wikipedia website, but we’ll save you the trouble, considering although it isn’t hard to understand, it is a bit overwhelming and really doesn’t tell you in easy to understand terms what affiliate marketing is.

Affiliate Marketing Is The Process of Referring Others To A Product OR Service And Being PAID For Your Efforts

A great example that I’ve found most citizens can easily understand is that of a car salesman. When you go to a dealership to purchase a new car, you’re normally greeted by a salesperson. He or she will do their best to reply your questions, show you the car including its features, engine, warranty, and even let you analysis drive it.

Once you decide the vehicle is the one you want to buy, they will thereupon walk you through all the paperwork, getting financing, taking your down payment, trade-in and everything else involved in the process from start to finish.

Once the deal has been made and you’ve driven off the lot with your new car, the dealership receives the sticker price of the car.

But, what about the sales person who worked with you all afternoon? He listened to your needs, recommended the car that you fell in love with and are now sporting around town in. What does he get out of the deal? After all, he did all the work – he should get something for making the sale. And, he does. He will receive a percentage of the sales price of the car you just bought. that is known as a commission.

Affiliate marketing is the same thing, only in that specific case you are doing the referring and “selling” on the Net.

Make Money With Affiliate Marketing

Q: How precisely do you invent money from Affiliate Marketing?

A: We touched on the reply to that question in the previous question. When you (the affiliate) refer someone to a product (or service) and that person makes a purchase, you receive a commission on the sale.

However, there is more to it than that. After all, how can a company know for certain that you are the one who sent that person to their website since you’re not there to tell them and the person buying may not even know your name?

When you sign up to become an affiliate with a company or individual, you’ll receive a special link (your affiliate link) that is embedded with a tracking cipher to let the affiliate program owner identify you among other affiliates and their own marketing methods.

Whenever you use that special affiliate link to refer someone to the company’s website the person’s visit is tracked to you via that special cipher. There are various software programs that manufacture that possible and the process is beyond the scope of that specific report. Just remember that visitors to the website are tracked back to you from that special cipher within your affiliate link.

Whenever someone who uses your link purchases something from the company’s website you are credited for the sale and receive some sort of payment.

Common Types of Affiliate Payments

Sales Percentage – that method is the most common profile of payment to affiliates. Example: For every sale you refer as an affiliate, you’ll earn 50% of the total sales price. You refer $50 worth of sales and we’ll pay you $25. Percentages vary and are set by the company or individual who runs the affiliate program. They can vary from 5% all the way to 100%.

Pre-set dollar amount – that type of commission is not extremely common, but it is out there, specific dollar amounts could include things such as: For every $5 worth of product sales you refer to us, we’ll pay you $1 or a flat $20/sale.

Credits
– Some sites pay their affiliates in credits that can be used for future purchases of their products. An example of that would be receiving 1 credit for every dollar’s worth of product sales you refer.

Here’s the end of Part 1, in Part 2 we will discuss how to know your Market, you MUST get to know them before you can successfully promote products and services they will buy.

Original post by Vera Raposo

Podcast #2 - Ghostwriting with Regina Baker

Can Written substance Increase Your Customer Base?

Listen Now by Pressing Play

With the increase and popularity of audio and video use on the World Wide Web, some might think that the written word is becoming a thing of the past. Is the “subject matter Is King” mantra dead?

NO! Written composition is still just as urgent to your business as ever. Search engines currently do not have a way to “see” the audio or video files, thus making your written words very fundamental.

Today I’m sharing an interview with one of my friends and clients, Regina Baker, owner of WAHMCart.com. Regina is a client at Get subject matter Results and shares her experiences with hiring writers on her own, why some public are afraid of hiring ghostwriters, and why she credits Get composition Results with increasing the number of customers using her ecommerce services.

Enjoy!

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Original post by Vera Raposo

Have you indentified your employees as a key target audience?

Have you identified your employees as a key target audience?

Guest post by Bill Hogg, http://www.billhogg.ca/

Much has been written about the need for communicating with employees.

People are often put in charge of internal communications and spend their instance creating newsletters and memos that get sent far and wide informing folks about what is going on in the organization. Often we designate the employees as one of our key target audiences or stakeholder in our planning documents. that is all a good thing.

However, being the provocative person that I am, I have to ask, “Is that really what you want to do?”

I would propose that communicating usually means creating and delivering messages to an audience. Further, I would propose that what you really want to do is facilitate a conversation or a dialogue with your employee community.

For many, you are probably saying, “That’s just semantics — that’s what we mean”, so let me ask, “Is that what is happening?” Are you facilitating a conversation? Do you have a process set up that stimulates a conversation or is your messaging primarily just being pushed out from the communications team?

That distinction is more than semantics. It is why organizations struggle - and often fail - to generate meaningful employee engagement. We get blinded by the belief that considering we are actively communicating, we believe we are engaging employees in a conversation. Bottom line, whether it isn’t two-way, it isn’t communication. It’s simply report distribution.

Let me share how the internal newsletter we set up at ServiceOntario was envisioned. Rather than having someone in the Marketing team write the newsletter, they acted primarily as an Editor who worked with an Editorial Board who was responsible for generating the substance. that Board was made up of writers from across all divisions in the organization. Level or operate were not relevant, their only commonality was their interest in sharing what was happening in their areas of work. They additionally had pretty free rein on topics for publishing.

The Editor compiled their articles and reviewed them for general appropriateness, spelling, grammar, etc. They did not re-write the articles. The Editor additionally included news that was relevant to the organization on behalf of the organization.

Resultant we had a newsletter that reflected the wider organization while still containing vital organizational communications/news. It was filled with topics (with lots of pictures) of things that were of interest to the citizens across the organization — not just management.

The aftermath? public looked forward to receiving and reading it each month. Plus, society saw demonstrated behaviour that management was interested in hearing from them — a very vital signal to the organization.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a systematic approach to sharing data and gathering feedback/input. So ask yourself, is your internal communications really communicating — or just delivering messages.

Something to think about.

Cheers!

Bill’s passion is branded customer service that exceeds expectations. He works with clients to activate a “customer-focused” culture where engaged employees internalize the sort promise and deliver an intentional Branded Customer Experience — internally and externally.

As well, he is a dynamic, results-oriented speaker on the importance of a customer-focused culture, either as a guest speaker or acting as a facilitator of a group discussion/workshop.
For more knowledge please contact (905) 841-3191
e mail: bill@billhogg.ca, Web: http://www.billhogg.ca/

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Original post by Vera Raposo

Outsourcing is a Small Business Owner’s Best Friend

In my last post we discussed what outsourcing is precisely. whether you haven’t had a chance to read the post, you can do so here.

As I mentioned before, outsourcing can save business owners like you and me tons of money, but sometimes more fundamental than our money is our moment. As mother of three who owns her own business, I know how easy it is to get your mind set on nothing but business. You want so poor to succeed and grow your business. It’s hard to NOT think about working, particularly when you are the one responsible for every part of it.

I see countless business owners sacrifice many parts of their life, including urgent moments with their family, their own personal interests, and even their health. All for what they signal their “desire” to succeed. It’s not worth killing yourself by. Outsourcing can help you have both a successful business and happy, fulfilling life.

By outsourcing everyday tasks in your business or things that you don’t know how or don’t enjoy doing, you will give yourself more duration to do the things you enjoy doing not only in your business, but in your personal life as well.

This is different for everyone. Some of us hate dealing with the massive amounts of e mail received daily while others may despise bookkeeping. Personally, I am one who doesn’t like dealing with numbers, so that was one of the first things I outsourced in my business.

Outsourcing will additionally give you the opportunity to strategically plan your business and market it effectively. whether you’re so busy doing all the little tasks, it’s firm to focus on the big picture.

Think about what things you prefer to handle yourself as well as what can easily be done by someone else, you can determine what areas of your business to outsource. You will plus need to consider your budget when determining what to outsource to someone else. Your answers will allow you to pick and choose what you will keep and what tasks to outsource.

Let’s face it as a small business owner you often wonder, “Can I get it all done?” and in most cases the reply is no; at least not without a little help. We’re all human and therefore need to realize we can’t do everything. That is where outsourcing can become the small business owner’s best friend.

Even whether you can only afford to outsource one or two things, the benefits of doing so will be great and you will in turn be much more productive in the areas you are able to focus on. Outsourcing is truly “smart business” for a small business owner.

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Original post by Alice Seba

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