Top 5 Ideas For Starting a Small Business

Are you thinking about starting your own business? Perhaps you’re still employed but would like to start a business on the side. Or maybe you’re a homemaker whose children spend the day in school and you would like to earn some extra dough. Whatever your motivation, your mind must be full of questions about business plans, ideas and startup costs.

There are plenty of decisions you have to make, from broadband plans to business card printing. But for most potential entrepreneurs, the most difficult part of this process is coming up with business ideas. The truth of the matter is many potential business owners never get started because they have trouble coming up with business ideas. If you are lacking that creative spark then this article, which examines 5 ideas for starting a small business may be of some help to you.

If you love cooking then catering is a fun way to combine business with your hobby. Catering can be done on a small scale if you already have a well-equipped kitchen.

Start a consulting business online. Business consulting is one industry that performs well during recessions and if you have the skills and the know-how to help organisations improve their performance, this may be an ideal business for you. The key to success in this business is networking, so pick up the phone and call everyone you know!

Having an online business is the quickest way to the global market from your sofa. But just how do you succeed as a webpreneur? First and foremost, do your research and find out what’s worth chasing and what’s not. By being well informed, you can take educated and calculated risks. You also need to know your market. You will have many competitors so the best way for you to stay ahead is to add value in your service, be it in pricing, quality, quantity or aftercare. A little extra service goes a long way. It pays to learn about search engine optimisation or SEO because this will help you promote your website, which should look fantastic and provide accurate and adequate information. Finally, constantly check the results you are getting and if the business needs to be tweaked, don’t be afraid to do it.

People love working from home and if you have the skills to be a web designer, you can do just that in the comfort of your own home. Although there are many web designers in the market, demand for their services is high and if you market yourself well, you will have a large clientele in no time. One way to get your name out there is to work with complementary businesses. For example, if you’re good at designing brochures, speak to a brochure printing company and come up with a package deal for potential clients.

Are you an avid photographer? With the right equipment this can be a fantastic job for you. Although camera equipment costs a fair bit, you can make a killing at weddings and corporate events.

  1. Catering
  2. Consulting
  3. Webpreneur
  4. Freelance web designer
  5. Photographer

These ideas may or may not work for you so before you start any business, ask yourself these questions,

  • Is there a demand for your product of service?
  • How much money do you need to start your business?
  • How will you differentiate your business from your competition?

Top 10 Small Business Ideas for 2012

Starting a small business takes a lot of planning and the ability to execute your business plans. Though it doesn’t require a big capital for a small business however you cannot lose your capital as this will cause a serious trouble on the financial front at the same time your future expansion plans. If you have knowledge about how to run a business successfully, you won’t be able to take a wrong move that can affect your business plans. Before we go on further to the small business ideas, refer to the tips for running a small business.

• Can it sustain your everyday expenses and can it profit you.

• Can it raise enough funds to get it running for a long time and can become a profitable venture.

• Is it something that is needed everyday and does it has an appeal to sell on a steady basis?

• Is it something that you know how to do and can you do it well?

• Is it something that you like to do and doesn’t mind you at all doing it over and over again?

Now that we know our objective in putting up a small business let’s go forward and see what are the best idea for small business this 2012.

1. Online business – this may include article writing/blogging, virtual assistant, translator, copy writer or bookkeeper, data entry, etc. This is one of the ideal business ideas for beginners would be to take advantage of various online business opportunities. By doing online data entry and online paid survey jobs, you can earn money per hour for your work. The more accuracy and consistency you show in your job, the more work you will get.

2. Mobile apps development – almost all people nowadays possesses a mobile phone and included on the mobile phone is application that people always uses. Calendars, Alarm Clocks, notepads are some example of applications that are commonly downloaded. Whether this is a businessman, a politician, an artist or just an ordinary person has a lot or even tons of mobile application.

3. Make-up artist or hair salons – Providing either makeup artist services or hair salons is yet another interesting small business idea. Makeup artists are in great demand in the fashion and entertainment industry. If you have the required makeup skills and talent, you can start your own company and do the makeup of television and movie stars. By providing good service, you can get long-term contracts which will increase your revenues greatly. The great thing about hair salons is that they are a sure thing. No matter how dismal the economic climate, women will still scrape together the money to get their hair done, even if they have to let their nails go. So hair salons with talented stylists and well-priced services will still be real money makers.

4. Cleaning services (pool, yard, garage etc.) – A cleaning service is a good business proposition for a person who relishes the idea of cleaning apartments, homes and commercial establishments. Housekeeping is an art and people are typically deterred by the prospect of getting grease, tough stains and odors out of carpets, keeping their bathroom clean and eliminating odors from their refrigerator. Hence, a cleaning service can be a steady source of income assuming that there are no immediate competitors. Otherwise, one would have to spend money on advertising and this may eat into one’s profits. Cleaning services can operate round the clock since residential apartments are generally cleaned during the day while commercial buildings are cleaned after office-hours. Considering that cleaning services earn popularity and goodwill through word of mouth, a job that is well done will rarely go unnoticed.

5. Elder assistant or baby sitting – being a babysitter doesn’t require you to have a license, with more parents needing to work and offering a home based child care can be a great way of starting your own business while taking care of your own kids too. The growing numbers of senior baby boomers also provide growing business opportunities for senior care. In-home care and senior residences are the obvious ones, but don’t forget all the related opportunities such as driving, delivery, catering and cleaning services for seniors who want to stay in their homes. You can certainly develop your own business providing care for seniors.

6. Recycler – the best thing of being a recycler is that you’re not just earning your own money and you’re also helping the environment. Average homeowner doesn’t always know where or how to recycle the stuff they’ve got. A pickup truck are all you’d need to start buying or simply offering to remove scrap metal, old computers, electronics, ink cartridges and other recyclable materials.

7. Event management/party planner – Event management or party planning can also be a good option for a small business. Event planners have to organize a particular event by taking into consideration the suggestions given by their clients. This job requires creativity, patience and ability to get work done from people on time. It can help you be a successful event planner if have a good team of creative professional that can help you organize the event under you.

8. Online selling – whether this is a pre-loved or brand-new stuff you can still earn big bucks. This is being popularized by e-bay. There are still some people who have a whole lot of money and are willing to spend it on the name products that matter. Luxury handbags, scarves, and shoes for women are still selling well, for instance.

9. Social media consultants – With the ever rising of the social media era and the giant social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and You tube, businesses have been taking advantage of this to gain more exposure for their brands and products. With more than 800 million active users in Facebook alone, business promotion in this top social networking site is now a priority for business owners and marketers. If you have the social media marketing skills that can outsource likes and follows for your client’s business, then this business can help you earn cold cash on the Internet.

10. Pet related services such as pet sitter, pet cleaning and grooming services – Most Canadians and Americans loves pet especially dogs and feeding, caring for them and pampering their pooches a spending priority. Kennels, doggie daycare, dog treat bakeries and dog resorts are few of the things that you may want to venture in.

These are not necessarily ideas for businesses that anyone can start however you can get some idea on the list above. But in my opinion, these are business opportunities that are going to provide real chances to make money in 2012 and beyond. Business that is done right, in the right place and for the right people may be profitable enterprises for years to come. If you’ve been considering a sale in 2012, take your time and do it right. Plan ahead, research your market and stand out from the competition. Knowing the sales process is half the battle. With proper preparation, you can ensure a stress free transition and a financially successful exit from your business.

Top 10 Business Tips For Newbies

1. Love What You Do

It’s a good idea to select an area which you already have an interest in, for a number of reasons. You already have some knowledge and expertise in this area which is invaluable and you won’t necessarily be starting from scratch. If you chose an area which is already of interest to you it won’t necessarily feel like work, especially when the going gets tough. No matter which area you chose you will undoubtedly have rough patches, when this happens you are much more likely to persevere because you have an attachment, a vested interest and a passion. If you have no interest you’ll be much more likely to throw in the towel at the first sign of trouble.

2. Prepare a Business Plan

A business plan is not just something which you need to prepare to show to banks for a loan or to investors. A business plan is necessary and useful as it also serves as a guide to operate by. It’s a great way to set goals, measure progress and achievements and keeps you on track with spending. Keep yourself organised and create a folder on your computer where keep your business plan and other relevant documents that you’ll be using regularly, such as an invoice template or your sales documents.

3. Set Realistic Expectations

Don’t expect miracles over night. Searching the internet you’ll find thousands of people claiming to have generated millions over night with one scam or another. Genuine business ventures take time, care and persistent. There is no such thing as easy money or money for nothing, cliche but true, if it were that easy everyone would be doing it. Know that there will be obstacles and difficulties to overcome from the start.

4. Just Do It

The best way to gain knowledge and learn, is by doing. You can read all the books, take all the courses, study and research for years but until you take that first step you’ll never actually know. It’s like learning to drive, you have an instructor by your side in every single lesson with their safety pedals as a back up. You learn all the technicalities of driving but the real learning only starts when you venture out onto the road by yourself. Nothing and no one can prepare you for every eventuality. Research and educate yourself in your chosen field by all means but there will never be a right time to jump in. Even if you take a very small step into your venture, the sooner you get started the sooner you’ll be on your way.

5. Ask yourself Why

Work out why you want to go into business for yourself. You need to have a good list of all the why’s before you get started. This exercise can also be used as your goal indicator. If you’re looking to have more time for yourself for instance, your business venture could take up to a year if not more before you can get a little time for yourself and your family and if that is your main focus you may get disheartened as you begin to build your business, when you realise your free time is not only limited but you have a lot less of it. Starting a new business is not your typical 9-5, it’s more of a start when you wake, finish when your head hits the pillow. If you prepare yourself for this, it won’t be such a shock to the system.

6. Budget and Finance

Looking to set up a business with very little start-up costs isn’t too difficult in this day and age especially on the internet. You may be looking at setting up an online business and the costs of a website are little and nothing but once you have your website, whether you’re selling products or providing a service you need to advertise and whilst your initial outlay may be minimal you have to be prepared to continue this for the life of your business. Will you require help to run things? Do you have marketing skills? Learning about marketing is going to be a fundamental part of your business growth, you can hire someone but if this puts a strain on your budget you may want to look into learning a few key tips yourself.

7. Building your Network

Networking is crucial in business whether online or in person. Every contact is either a potential customer, or may be someone who has advice or inspiration for you. You’ll be surprised by the amount of successful business owners and entrepreneurs who are ready to impart valuable advice and tips and can point you in the right direction for all sorts of services. There are a whole treasure trove of supportive business owners online, you can read blogs, ask questions in forums etc and its all for free.

8. Learning to Adapt

Ensure that you set a realistic budget for everything from your internet connection down to stock or billable hours. Every single penny counts. There’s no point in spending thousands on advertising if you’re not seeing a return, you may have to go back to the planning stages. This is all part of your learning, so test out strategies and don’t be afraid to adapt to the climate. There are all sorts of things that can impact a businesses growth and income and if your business is not responsive to the market or technology for instance this may cost you dearly.

9. Focus

It’s very easy to be side-tracked, there are so many ideas and new ventures out there, so focusing on the goals you first laid out in your business plan are crucial. Focus on one task at a time. You can always make notes for ideas and projects you’d like to take up in the future but remain focused, otherwise you may fall foul of procrastination, looking at lots of different ideas and at the end of the day find you haven’t achieved anything or actually done any work.

10. Believe in yourself

Self-Belief goes a long way, this is not whimsical advice this is fact, if you don’t believe in yourself and your product or service then you cannot expect anyone else to. It may seem difficult especially when starting out but you have to learn to believe in yourself, this will impact every aspect of your business, from creating your Business plan right down to networking. If you don’t believe what you’re doing this will show in everything you do.

If you believe it, you can Achieve it!

Good Luck!

7 Top Motivation Killers That Business Women Can Avoid

Women leaders in business must find ways to stay motivated to reach goals with or without outside support. You might have to work alone in the in this effort as your pursue professional opportunities. You can become more aware of ways you might be losing your motivation by understanding these 7 top motivation killers that a business woman can learn to avoid or change.  

1. Waiting for others to motivate you. If you need others to motivate you in order to reach your goals you will soon find that you won’t be getting much support. People are busy and few people take time to consistently provide others with the motivational words they need. Reach into your leadership background and find ways to set short and long-term goals that keep you going to reach goals all by yourself.  

2. Keep doing what you don’t like. Few things are more de-motivating the continuing to do activities that you really don’t like to do. When you have a lot of skills and talents, don’t waste precious time in life pursuing activities you don’t like. Wrap up your obligations if necessary and move on to activities and adventures that keep you excited and happy instead of struggling with activities you are not excited about doing.

3. Take criticism from others to heart. It is common for others to share more negative words than positive. If you let yourself be discouraged when others criticize you or what you do, you will find yourself down and out most of the time. Put everything you hear in perspective. You are not what others say; you are what you say to yourself. Learn positive self talk and speak truth to your mind on a consistent basis to drown out the negative criticism that might come your way.  

4. Procrastinate and increase your stress. When you fail to complete tasks you increase your stress. Procrastinating until the last minute or to the point when things really get out of hand is a way to only cause more problems in your life. Set a schedule and face difficult tasks one step at a time. Get things done ahead of schedule and give yourself relief and time to do your task correctly.  

5. Fail to have confidence in your decisions. If you consistently worry about decisions you make learn to look at all of the available alternatives and review the pros and cons of each prior to making a decision. If you have time, don’t make a hasty decision but give yourself time to really think about what you’ll decide. If you have to decide quickly go with the decision that will cause the least harm. Then take a course on decision making so you can feel better about the necessary decisions you will inevitably have to make.

6. Give up easily. One of the best ways to lose motivation is to be in the habit of giving up when things get tough. Instead of being a quitter learn the self-discipline necessary to stick things out to completion. No doubt about it, you will face some very tedious tasks as a leader. But you can’t lead if you can’t finish. Decide to reach the goal and analyze the steps you have to take to complete a difficult task. Be ready to reach the goal line or don’t take on the leadership task.  

7. Maintain bad habits.  A habit is an action you do without thinking. In order to change a habit you have to be conscious of your activities and then deliberately do something that changes that behavior. If you have a habit of telling yourself negative things you have to consciously know how to change that self talk into something positive. If you have a habit of quitting you have to change that to create a habit of completing activities. It is possible to change habits but like anything else worthwhile it can also be hard to do; but as a leader you are up to the task.

Learning to stay motivated is an important skill for the woman leader in business. Sometimes you can be doing things that you are not aware of that take your motivation away. By recognizing the 7 areas in this article you can increase your self-motivation and become a more successful professional.

Top 3 Reasons For Writing Business Plans

Whether you are a start up or established business, and whether you are a non-profit organization, writing a business plan can be one of the most useful things you can do for your business. Obviously there are different types of business plans depending on the nature of your company or organization. It’s not enough that you have a “hunch” your new start up will be a roaring success, or you believe your latest web. 2.0 idea a surefire “ten bagger” success for the lucky venture capitalist. There are people who need to take a close look at your business plan; whether it’s you, internal management or external investors. In this article, we will look at the top three reasons for writing business plans.

First to answer the question: “Is the business feasible?”

Before you actually commit funds, manpower and time on starting a business, it helps to actually have a “dry run” to see if the venture you have in mind has a good chance of success. The business planning process forces you to look at what your competitors are doing and to ask yourself how you can differentiate your product or service. Typically we call this a SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. At the same time you want to identify, as clearly as possible your unique selling proposition. This can be a special feature or something unique about your branding. Just be different and attractive in the eyes of your target market. Going through this process will give you a better idea of you chances for success in the marketplace.

Then look at your projected financials – do you have the required funds to start your business? Where are you going to raise the capital? How soon will the business break even? All of them are pertinent questions.

Secondly, a business plan is used to help secure loans from banks or financing from outside investors. Typically if you are a start up, you will find it very hard to get any financing from your local bank unless you have landed collateral, regardless if you have a plan written or not. If your business is established for several years and have healthy cash flow, then the bank will definitely want to see your financials before given you any loans or bridge financing.

If you are looking for angels or venture capital investment, then a business plan, particularly the executive summary is what they will require. What’s more important to these investors, more than the plan itself, is the entrepreneur’s track record and the strength of your management team. Be sure to include these important points in your bplan.

Last but not least, a written business plan should be constantly evolving. It acts as a blue print to guide management in the execution of business strategy and to meet goals. By constantly reviewing and updating the plan, it is used as a useful communication tool within the company to guide business growth.

We’ve looked at some good reasons from writing business plans. Now, if you don’t think you know how to write one, help is available. Look for a template online, such as at the site given below. Or better still get business plan software. The good ones, such as Business Plan Pro 2007, are easy to use and will guide you to input the necessary text and numbers and come out with a complete plan for you. There’s absolutely no reason why any business person should not have a business plan blueprint.

SEO Tips to Get Your Website to the Top of Search Engines

When it comes to the success of digital marketing and finding new customers via the web, keyword optimization is one of the most important tools you can bet on. Keyword optimization or keyword research is the act of researching, analysing and selecting the best word or concept of great significance to your product, services or campaign in order to target and drive traffic from search engines such as Google to your website and other digital platforms.

Getting your website or blog on the first page of search engines can be a daunting task if you do not understand the fundamentals of optimization. Although this tutorial is not guaranteeing you the first place in major search engines, it does point out what one needs to do to be in the Search Engine Optimization game.

It is much easier than you think and this article is to guide, help and provide you with the basic and key for successful search engine optimization:

Step 1. Choose the right keywords

It is tough to be the best at everything and that includes Keyword Optimization. The first step of reaching the top of search results is identifying the right keywords. It can either be a single or multiple words or entire phrases. As you might already be aware of, most searches on the internet are made in the form of a question. Therefore, before you start writing down the keywords, you need to decide which keywords you want to focus on. These are the words people would type into the search engines in order to find your page, blog, website or product.

It is very essential that the word you choose as the keyword is broad enough for lot of people to search for on the internet, but narrow enough that you have a decent chance of getting a high search rank for it on the search engines and results.

For example, the word “shoe” is way too general. However, “Where can I find cheap shoes online” is a pretty good one. Similarly, the word “Europe” is way too general and Wiki sites will normally dominate these top spots. So, “the best holiday destination in Europe” is a much better phrase to focus on.

Here are my top tips for choosing the right Keywords:

1. Start with customers

Think about who your target audience or customers are. What are they likely to type into the search bar when they are looking for answers where your services can help them? Why not ask existing customers what they would search for?

2. Weigh up the competition

Although it is important for you to choose words that many of your target audience might be typing into search engines, they should not be words that bigger companies with the most muscles and bigger budget will compete for.

3. Use Google tools

Guess not only. Google has several good tools which can aid you find what is popular to search.

On Google Trends, a public web facility based on Google Search engine, shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages including a list of popular searches. You can also enter keywords and see how popular they are, compared with other phrases and ideas on similar terms – in order to choose the one that most are looking for.

You can also find keywords using Google’s ad tool AdWords. You do not necessary have to advertise, you can just create an account and select using the “Keyword Planner” under the “Tools” menu.

Step 2. Customise Your Content

Once you have successfully chosen your keywords, there are a few other things you need to do in order get your site ranked high on search engines. One of such things is content creation. You have to create and distribute relevant and valuable content (such as speech, writing, photograph or any of the various arts) that attracts and engages your well-defined target audience. Content marketing helps us to attract new customers and build loyalty with existing customers.

For existing customers, this could also mean they take part of the relevant content that creates additional sales by learning more about your offer, and is more expensive products/ services than they have done previously. The following are few tips to consider during content creation:

1. Working actively with texts

Use keywords in the title and preamble of all the pages. Also, include the keywords in the body, the much higher up it is in the text, the better it is for your ranking.

However, be careful not to use your keywords too much. Google may interpret your site as a nonsense page which is only trying to attract traffic and you go down in search results. A rule of thumb is that your content should feel natural and interesting. Which of course is also important for your visitors.

2. Do not forget your photos!

Rename even your photos with your relevant keywords. This will make it possible for search engines index them and you can get hit even in image search. If you have the opportunity to enter an alternative text for each image, do not let go of such an opportunity.

Step 3. Get visits and links from others

The most important thing for search engines is to deliver good and relevant results, remember that’s their primary business. Therefore, priority is given to websites that Search engines deems others rate high or think is good. An example is sites with links and many visitors who stay long to engage with the site. Therefore, this is really important to:

1. Make sure to get a lot of visits to the page

Ask family and friends to visit your website. Get the link or URL out there as often as possible, for example, you make a video, put it up on YouTube and the links there – but incorporate all the content on your site and link to it there.

2. Ask others to link to your site

Ask friends, business partners or customers to link to you, perhaps in exchange for a link back or share interesting tips in your field and let others get put up pieces of contents with a link to you.

3. Share your site on social media

Sharing your website and contents on social media (not forgetting Google+ Google for obvious reasons) is extremely important. It can provide visits to the website, more traffic, attention and higher rankings

4. Get visitors to share

Get others to share your site and contents on social media, using “share” buttons. AddThis is a one of the free tools allows you to instantly share or bookmark pages with one easy-to-use tool. AddThis can also get statistics on how much your content is shared.

Step 4. Revise the technical

Even how your site is built technically is important for your rankings. Here are some things you can do:

1. Use Google Webmaster Tools (Now Google Search Console)

The Google Search Console (aka Google webmaster) is an amazing tool which offers many tools that will aid you to thoroughly analyse your site. From this analysis, you can work on problem areas to make your site rank better on Search engines especially Google

2. Make Your Site Mobile Friendly,

With a good percentage of the world’s population owning mobile devices these days, it makes sense to make sure that your site is mobile friendly. Mobile users also expects good mobile experience when they visit site.

If your site is not mobile friendly, it may rank lower in searches from mobile phones. Google recently Google released a significant new mobile-friendly ranking algorithm that’s designed to give a boost to mobile-friendly pages in Google’s mobile search results, therefore you can’t go wrong with this offer.

3. Make sure the page is fast

A site that takes a long time to load will rank lower on search engines. Google has indicated in the past that site and page speeds is one of the signals used by its algorithm to rank pages.

Page speed is also important to user experience, the slower your site/page speed the more likely you will have high bounce rate and lower average time on your site. Some of the great tools which can help you with your site speed is Google Pagespeed Insights and GTmetrix. This are tools that empowers you to make decisions that increase the performance of your website.

Step 5. Use Web Analytics Tools

Use analytics to measure the outcome of your efforts or to determine which areas of your site are doing well. Google Analytics offers free and enterprise analytics tools to measure website, app, digital and offline data to gain customer insights.

Example: Google Analytics enables you to track the visitors to your store, and generates reports that will help you with your marketing.

Under the “acquisition” in Google Analytics select “all traffic” -> “Channels” -> “organic search” so you can under the “keyword” to see which keywords drive the most traffic and the “source” which search engine. Using Google webmaster tools, you have access to them in Google Analytics under “acquisitions” -> “search engine optimization”.

Step 6. Use Google AdWords

Business regardless of size, wants to be found on the first page of Google. Getting seen by customers at the exact time they are looking for your information, products, services, deals or location is intent marketing (marketing based on someone intending to find your products), and it’s profitable.

Many businesses use Google AdWords to archive these by creating highly effective advertising campaigns to market their products and services, drive traffic to their website, and ultimately, increase sales.

I hope this article has given you an in-depth view of keyword optimization and you find one or more of the above tips useful.

Top 10 Traffic Strategies For New Bloggers

Nowadays competition is stiff in almost any niche! If you’re a new blogger you really can’t expect to become world famous quickly or just because you blog regularly.

As a new blogger you need to know that people are not watching everything you do. Some people don’t even care and most aren’t aware of you or your business.

This is why so many new bloggers are struggling with traffic. Don’t live in a bubble, take action and change your situation.

A good way to start is to build traffic the right way. Follow these 10 Traffic Strategies and start driving traffic to your site today!

Traffic Strategy #1 Distribute Viral eBooks for New Bloggers

New Bloggers creating an eBook that you write and produce once can drive traffic to your site for a very long time. How you ask? By putting your name, website address and email or phone number on each page.

Pick a topic that your readers would happily pay for. Then write the eBook and then give it away for FREE! Yes, I said FREE! Have the topic relate to what you are doing, what your website is about. Tell people who get your eBook to share it with their friends, share it with everyone they know.

Remember all of your contact information is listed on each page of your eBook. This will bring traffic to your website. People will want to see what else you have to share with them. They will come to your site because they received this great eBook from you for FREE!

Traffic Strategy #2 Self Promotion for New Bloggers

There are so many little things that new bloggers can do to help promote you that many can be overlooked. Everything you can do to promote you, you can also use to promote your website which is better.

Keep in mind you may not be able to drive large amounts of traffic with these methods, you just never know what will happen with those handful of visitors.

Add a link to your website in your email, share links to your posts and of course your business cards are just a few ways to self-promote you and your website.

Traffic Strategy #3 Quality Content for New Bloggers

Now as a new blogger you may think that quality content has nothing to do with getting traffic to your website. The impact of quality content can be very substantial.

Visitors come to your website to find out what you have to offer and read your information. If they like what you have, what they read, the will subscribe to your RSS feed, sign up for your newsletter and of course tell their friends about your great website/blog.

Remember content is king! Blogs are a fantastic tool for creating quality content on a regular basis. Each time your add a post you increase your blog content which is turns is creating a smorgasbord of relevant content that Google and other search engines really love!

Traffic Strategy #4 Article Marketing for New Bloggers

As a new blogger you may think why do I need to write article? I’ve been told article marketing no longer works! There are far too many articles out there, what could I possibly have to say that hasn’t already been said before?

I personally use article marketing to drive traffic to my website, to increase the visitors to my website/blog. Some of them (the visitors) will turn into customers/clients. The time spent writing and promoting the articles is time well spent.

New Bloggers article marketing will continue to work as long as people need information. Think…how you can as a new blogger fit in by contributing that information…into articles.

Article marketing is one of my favorite traffic strategies which does not take months to see results. You can start to generate traffic within days. Write articles that are targeted to your market, your niche. Submit your articles to the top 5 to 10 article sites including your name and website url.

Traffic Strategy #5 Social Networking for New Bloggers

Social Networking sites are popping up everywhere. You can join groups of like-minded people that are bloggers or entrepreneurs.

As new bloggers don’t let all the social networking sites overwhelm you! A few of the top sites to join are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Start with these first and then add more later when you get comfortable.

As a new blogger it is important to remember is start with your profile, invite your friends and start connecting with likeminded people.

You have a website/blog it is important to not only create a personal Facebook page; you also need a Fan Page for your business. Facebook Fan Pages are really starting to take off as a method of traffic generation for your website/blog.

Keep in mind start with a couple social networking sites…get to know them, how they work etc. Get really good with those networks before joining more. Quality time is more important than quantity. As new bloggers joining a ton of social networks and not participating will not generate traffic. You will feel overwhelmed and just give up.

Social Networking only works if you participate regularly…Relationshipping with people. This is a relationship building business.

Traffic Strategy #6 SEO and Keywords for New Bloggers

What you write whether articles or content for our website/blog you need to use relevant keywords. A keyword density of 3-8% is a good target for getting higher page rankings in Google and other search engines.

Research your keywords to find the most popular words used in the search engines for you target market, your niche. Use tags and keywords in your posts will help you move up in the search engines.

All photos and also add an alt tag using your keywords helps in the search engines.

As you write your posts you want to optimize your pages for both your human readers as well as search engines. Some say that if you make it work and rank for your keywords that your website/blog will be a search engine magnet.

You can write naturally and the search engines will notice if you know which keywords to target. Search engines do need time to work so don’t expect instant results.

Traffic Strategy #7 Social Bookmarking for New Bloggers

Being a new blogger you may be wondering what is Social Bookmarking?

How do I use Social Bookmarking?

What do I Social Bookmark?

With Social Bookmarking you submit your posts to the top social bookmarking sites. This allows others who are members of those sites to visit your website/blog. Taking this time to submit your posts to social bookmarking is a simple way to quickly boost traffic to your website/blog.

Social Bookmarking is all about people sharing their posts or posts that interest them at your website/blog. In other words your visitors if they like your posts they can also bookmark your posts…they can share with others through social bookmarking.

Put a plugin on your website/blog to the top social bookmarking sites, this will help your visitors to bookmark your posts or pages quickly and easily.

WordPress has several different social bookmarking plugins to use…one favorite is Sexy Bookmarks. Sexy Bookmarks has several of the top site to pick from. Add this plugin to your posts and pages and make it easy for your visitor to bookmark your website/blog.

Traffic Strategy #8 Document Sharing for New Bloggers

New Bloggers every document, article, post that you write is by my definition a marketing document. These documents present an image of your business, your website/blog.

It’s important to reuse your articles and posts…turn them into PDF’s and upload them to the top 10 to 15 document sharing sites. Why you may ask?

The reason is the top document sharing sites have thousands of people visiting daily, looking and reading and finding your articles and will in turn visit your website/blog for more information.

Each article needs to have your contact information, your name, your website/blog url. Set up your profile at each of the document sharing site with your website/blog url as well.

What you are doing is creating backlinks to your website/blog and generating traffic.

Sharing information is what they internet is all about. Document sharing sites are a boom and a great way to generate FREE traffic to your website/blog. Be creative add pictures, increase the font size of your header and add color to your articles before you turn them into PDF’s.

Traffic Strategy #9 Video Marketing for New Bloggers

Listen up new bloggers Google and other search engines love videos! Video on your website is becoming more and more an effective method to help continue to grow your business, your online presence.

Here’s some trivia. A school of business stated a well-produced video increases information retention by 50% and it also speeds up buying decisions by 72% over a printed brochure.

Video marketing is quickly becoming the medium for branding and online communications. This is an important traffic strategy that you need to incorporate into your business put on your website/blog.

The most popular video marketing websites is YouTube which is owned by Google! See why Google loves videos?

Produce your quality videos; upload to YouTube plus at least 10 to 15 other top video marketing sharing sites and of course your website/blog. Always making sure your website/blog url is listed in your video. You want to send people back to your website/blog. This is also creating quality backlinks to your website/blog and this is generating free traffic.

Traffic Strategy #10 Syndicate Your Blog for New Bloggers

Setting up an RSS feed and putting a button on your website/blog makes it easy for you visitors to read your blog each time you publish new content.

As a new blogger it’s important to give your visitors ways to know you’ve added new content. You don’t want to rely on people’s memory, to remember where your website/blog is located. To remember to come back now to your website/blog; then to visit and see if you have add new content or not, everyone is busy so give them a way to remember!

For new bloggers and all bloggers who are growing a business online, making money by selling products or services, visitors are important and returning visitor the lifeline of your business.

Setting up an RSS feed for you website/blog is very quick and easy and another avenue for generating FREE traffic to you website/blog.

Conclusion to Traffic Strategies for New Bloggers

I want you as new bloggers to know that there are several more ways to promote your website/blog, to generate more traffic than what was mentioned in this article. It is just a matter of creativity and diligence.

Some traffic strategy methods work better than others. Some traffic strategies sources will send and generate more traffic for you website/blog.

Remember all traffic strategies take time don’t expect overnight riches or millions of visitors. Consistency is important, don’t just do each of these traffic strategies once or partially and expect tons of traffic. You will see traffic and it will continue to increase as long as you continue to follow the traffic strategies you put into place.

Regular traffic to your website/blog will continue and will increase if you as new bloggers continue adding new quality content to your website/blog and if you consistently continue these and other traffic strategies. I know I said that before but it is worth repeating.

Top 20 Guidelines to Budget SEO

SEO has never been efficient to websites until now. Popular search engines seasonally change its algorithm to rank the indexed websites. Different types of guaranteed SEO services are offered by large SEO companies. Take a look at the tips below to budget SEO before signing a contract with an organic SEO company.

1. Pick the most correct keyword for your website. Make use of long tail keywords so that users will be able to get into your website for specific terms.

2. Make your primary keyword be inserted on the domain. Use hyphen to separate words.

3. For better SEO, use the secondary keywords in the subsections.

4. Search engine spiders don’t like web pages with syntax errors so validate your HTML and CSS.

5. Shorten your title at least 60 – 80 characters or 3 – 9 words. The primary keyword must be included in the title.

6. For headings, use the h1 tag. Put your keywords on the headings but it should not be exactly the same as the title.

7. Make your meta keywords at least 15 – 20 keywords or 101 characters. Even though not all search engines give importance, there’s no catch on doing it.

8. Include your keywords to the meta description for it will be seen on the search results.

9. Instead of using images or JavaScripts in the navigation menu, use text.

10. When creating hyperlinks make sure to use your target keywords for the anchor text.

11. Use alt attribute to images using the proper keywords. Alt attributes are readable to search engines and not the images.

12. You must submit a site map of your website so that all the web pages will be indexed and crawled.

13. Visitors will not wait if the size of a web page is below 50kb. In SEO, 15kb is the ideal size.

14. Don’t insert contents in flash, frame, images and JavaScript form for search engine crawlers cannot read those stuffs.

15. Don’t use dynamic URLs, use static URLs instead. Make your URL search engine friendly.

16. Keyword spamming, cloaking and other black hat techniques must be avoided.

17. Submit your website to major search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing and Ask only once.

18. Provide newsletter and RSS feeds for your website subscribers.

19. Try to write and submit articles related to your niche and then leave a link going to your website.

20. Build links to related websites. As the number of links increase, the chance of improving search engine ranking increments. In general, to be able to budget SEO, go for the natural method. If possible, go for an organic SEO company that will provide you guaranteed SEO service and long term results.

Learn My Internet Business Top 5 Free Marketing Strategies

I would like to share with you mine My Internet Business free marketing strategies that are generating for me great results. There are many free marketing strategies online, most of them will require to put some effort and not necessary much skill.

Here are some top free advertising strategies:

  1. Article Marketing – writing articles can be a great way to generate consistent traffic to your website. If you are able to write few articles per day you will see descent traffic. Before writing any article first make some research for some good keyword you will be optimizing to. Include this keyword in article title and few times in body. Remember also to share some valuable content, share some knowledge and experience. Make your article easy to read and understand, simple language is a key.
  2. Video Marketing – popularity of videos on the internet is growing constantly. The leader of video sharing sites is of course YouTube. If you want to use full potential of videos post it to the top video sites, with most traffic. The main benefit of making video is branding yourself and marketing your program. People will know you better, you will build a relationship with them even though you didn’t spoke to them. I’m promoting My Internet Business on YouTube and get amazing traffic. Google is listing videos really high in result pages.
  3. Forum Marketing – forums is another great place to branding yourself, making contacts and relationships and of course promoting your business. Under any post you can write own signature, few lines promoting your site. Remember to make your signature short and sweet, offer free report or training, encourage people to click in your sig. There are forums about every possible topic. It won’t be hard for you to find some descent forums, just use Google.
  4. Classified Sites – it’s a great free marketing strategy because it’s the easiest way to promote your business. Look for top classified sites first like Craigslist, Backpage, Kijiji, USFreeAds and start posting your ads regularly. The headline of your ad is playing a key role of getting more traffic. Make your title creating curiosity to people. To really see some good traffic from classified sites you will have to post consistently many ads to many sites. I mostly focus on posting ads only on Craigslist. Conversion rates for My Internet Business are great. Each site will bring you a little traffic that’s why to see some significant results you will have to post your add massively.
  5. Blogging – blogs can be a great sample of free advertising. Blogs are trendy right now, Google is giving high listing to them and people really enjoy reading them. To set up a blog you can go to Blogger and with a few clicks you will have it created. You can post in blogs your articles and optimize for specific keyword to get better listing. There are many blog directories and web directories where you can easily and for free get a lot of quality backlinks.

As you see there are many free marketing strategies to promote My Internet Business. You don’t need to spend a dime to make sales. Using each of these strategies and implementing in your business will give you massive exposure online and flow of fresh and targeted leads. I recommend to anyone who is beginner in internet marketing to start from free advertising to really understand marketing online.

Top 3 Free and Easy Affiliate Programs to Join for Beginners

Let’s assume you have your website up and running. You have built a website or blog, and now it is time to monetize it. There are so many choices out there online, so where is the best place to start? First of all, from my own experience as a beginning affiliate a few years back, I didn’t have a plan of action. I began my affiliate programs blindly because it was simply too much to process in the beginning, with all of the choices. I didn’t do much research at first, and that made it tough to know exactly where to go for some order in the information overload.

Through my failures and successes, I have learned a lesson of strategy that has finally grown with me. If I had begun my affiliate start up with first a solid plan of action, followed by research on all of the affiliate networks in order to minimize my choices to only the top plan of action and best three affiliate networks to promote while I learned the ropes, I would have succeeded much sooner.

Top 3 Affiliate Networks for beginners

1. Google AdSense

· This is actually an Ad Site, but because it is an extremely popular and easy way to monetize your website, I use it in the same or similar way as I would use to promote products from the actual affiliate network sites.

· Google AdSense offers high rewards along with several options for displaying monetized content.

· You can run various tests and or campaigns for the right types of ads to use on your website. They can be automatic or responsive ad units that change according to those who are viewing the pages on your site, or the content of your site.

· Payouts are monthly. Minimum payout amount available is $100.00. Don’t worry; it adds up quickly when you begin active affiliate marketing.

2. ClickBank

· My number 1 go to market place where there are tens of thousands of vendors offering hundreds of thousands of affiliates commissions of anywhere between 50 to 75% for every sale.

· ClickBank is also a lot like a payment processor.

· Fast, weekly payouts and great customer support.

· ClickBank is awesome for beginners with how easy it is to use.

3. Amazon Associates

· This affiliate program is hands down the easiest to use with about 1.5 million sellers, it is among the largest affiliate marketing programs online.

· Amazon unfortunately offers smaller commissions and longer payout periods at first, which means you have to promote products at a higher volume, but the success and volume of sellers as well as how easy it is to incorporate into any niche makes it worthy of this top 3 list.

Now you have the best 3 affiliate markets for beginners in the affiliate marketing arena. It’s time to know your products and get a step by step plan of action built. It is difficult to form a detailed plan of action when you are new to marketing, but along with knowing the affiliate networks you will utilize first, a detailed plan is a must for any affiliates success.

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