Offline Promotion Strategies

No business can survive the long run without some form of
consistent advertising. As a result, most business owners will
eventually consider using advertising to promote their business.

The toughest part of the advertising equation is in determining
where and how to spend your advertising dollars. If you do it
wrong, you could plunk down your entire advertising budget and
receive absolutely no return on your investment. But, if you do
it right, your advertising could continue to bring a nice return
for years to come.

HOW DO I MAKE THE RIGHT ADVERTISING DECISIONS

In order to make good decisions concerning how to spend your
advertising budget, you must first have a good understanding of
the different types of advertising and promotion available and
what can be expected to be achieved by each.

· You must understand which markets the different media`s can
reach.
· You must understand the demographics of the media`s
consumers.
· You must understand the buying habits of the consumers
reached through the media.

WHAT OFFLINE ADVERTISING & PROMOTION MEDIA`S SHOULD BE CONSIDERED

The media`s that people think of most often are television,
radio, newspaper and magazine advertising. Of course, these are
the big boys that big businesses use regularly.

Other methods of promotion include trade shows, press releases,
direct sales, telemarketing, word of mouth, branding and
billboard advertising.

CONSIDERING THE BIG MEDIA OUTLETS

The big boys of advertising media`s generally cost big bucks.
Given certain circumstances, the big media`s can be bought for
very little money.

Take for example, television, radio and newspapers cost big
bucks during their prime times, but can be bought for pennies on
the dollar during non-primetime hours.

Television primetime is between 7pm and 10pm. Radio primetime is
between 7am and 6pm. With newspapers, the primetime is
Wednesdays and Sundays.

If you intend to hit a media during prime time, get ready to
drop some bucks. Primetime means that you will be able to hit
more consumers during these times. So, in most cases, a
primetime buy will enable you to reach more people with your
advertising.

Non-primetime hours can still deliver a lot of eyes and ears to
your message, and sometimes, these off-hours can be bought for a
bargain basement price.

GETTING MILEAGE FROM EVENTS

Trade shows and press releases are more event-driven. The trade
show is the event, while the press release generally exploits an
event.

Trade shows are an exceptional tool when you deal directly with
potential sellers of your products or services. Other shows are
directed at the consumer, and those can be very valuable avenues
for sales as well.

The press release is aimed towards gaining attention for a
business by distributing newsworthy information about the
business.

Sometimes the appearance of a business at a trade show or other
show can provide the necessary angle for a press release. But
most often, a successful press release will actually require
more noteworthy information than the appearance of a business at
a show.

Yet, even the most mundane of information could be spiced up to
give the real air of importance necessary to get your press
release read and printed.

The great thing about a press release is that might permit you
to get relatively inexpensive promotion on television, radio,
newspapers and magazines; for far less than what it would cost
you to buy advertising in those same outlets.

UTILIZING A SALES TEAM

Depending on what type of business you run and the consumers you
are trying to reach, you might find direct sales and
telemarketing to be very lucrative ways to drive sales to your
business.

Both are very similar in nature. Direct sales can be very
expensive, as it requires a great investment of time to
accomodate. Telemarketing seeks to minimize the time
expenditure, but it often leads to a smaller degree of respect
and attention.

Depending on your product or service --- and always depending
upon the people you employ to the task --- each method will be
more suited to each business on an individual basis.

BRANDING YOUR BUSINESS

I grouped branding and billboard advertising together in my
original list for a reason. I did this because billboard
advertising serves most businesses best by helping to support
the process of branding.

Branding is the process of establishing your business as the
supplier of a certain product or service, or in emphasizing a
certain USP (Unique Selling Proposition) as it pertains to your
business.

If branding and USP seems to be a confusing concept, think about
Wal-Mart and their tag line: "Always Low Prices, Always."

Think about Ford Motors, "Quality is Job One."

Think about the Visa Card, "It`s Everywhere You Want To Be."

You see, these top corporations have managed to make their USP
part of their branding.

Even if you are only competing in a local marketplace, your USP
can and should fit snugly into your branding strategy.

NO MATTER THE MEDIA OR METHOD

Whichever method or media you should choose to employ in your
advertising and promotion, you should become knowledgable about
your market, and the consumers reached by each media. It is
important to understand which consumers can be reached by a
certain media, and in what quantities.

However you choose to spend your advertising dollars, you should
always track the results of your promotional efforts. Failing to
track successes and failures will ultimately lead to the failure
of a business.

When you know whom you are trying to reach and how you think you
might be able to reach them, you will begin to learn how to use
advertising and promotion to make your business successful. That
is a good thing --- after all, that is why you got into the
business in the first place, isn`t it?

How to Win the Advertising and Promotion Game

I am certain that, as a business owner, you have often
entertained the question as to how much to spend and where to
spend your advertising dollars. For most small business owners,
these questions can add to the headaches suffered in the course
of normal everyday operations of their business.

THERE ARE NO SIMPLE ANSWERS

The how much to spend and where to spend it questions have no
easy answers.

Depending on your type of business, many people suggest that the
*how much* should be equal to anywhere from 4% to 10% of your
gross receipts.

The quandary is that a business cannot survive without a fresh
flow of incoming customers. But, a business can seldom generate
a fresh stream of customers without spending money to get the
word out about their business.

THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING

Have you ever paid for advertising and sat back to await the
fresh flow of customers, only to find yourself sitting and
sitting and then sitting some more?

Don't feel bad about that. It has happened to many of us before.

See, knowing where to spend the advertising money is not enough
to get the job done.

Where to spend the money only begins to highlight the other
issues connected with advertising:

· Marketing Plan
· Advertising Strategy
· Headlines, Ad Copy and Visual Presentation
· Tracking the Success of Your Advertising Campaigns

THE MARKETING PLAN

The Marketing Plan is used primarily to identify your own
products and services, costs, strengths, weaknesses and the
strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

ADVERTISING STRATEGY

It is important to understand what you expect to gain from your
advertising.

Do you simply wish to get your name known so that when your
customer will need you, they will think of you first? Or, do you
wish to get your customers in your front door on Saturday?

Do you want your customers to come in and take a look around to
discover the next object that they cannot live without? Or, do
you want them to come in and buy a specific widget?

Do you hope that enough people will come in to buy enough
products or services to pay for your single ad? Or, do you
expect to gain a lifelong customer who will help pay for your
advertising over the course of several years?

When you know what you want, then you will better understand
just how to do it.

HEADLINES, AD COPY AND VISUAL PRESENTATION

You might be surprised how many business owners put out
advertising without regard for the quality of the sales pitch or
presentation. The quality of your distribution outlet or the
amount of money you spent to get there will do little for you if
the advertising vehicle is a junker.

Test all of your advertising materials in smaller markets before
blowing your advertising bank roll on it. You must absolutely
know the value of your advertising before putting large sums of
money behind it.

TRACKING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Tell your customers to save another 10% when they tell you they
heard or saw your ad in such-and-such location. Suggest that
they can register to win a free widget if they fill out a form
and have them to tell you how they heard of your business.
Advertise a specific widget in your ad and track the sales of
that widget.

It does not matter how you track your advertising --- just make
sure you do it!

IN SUMMARY

The ideal way to spend your advertising budget is to buy a rifle
with a high-powered scope and to only shoot your targets in the
light of day.

If you are not tracking your advertising, then you are shooting
a pellet gun without an attached scope, with blinders on, and
shooting in the dead darkness of night.

Even with a bigger gun, the blinders in the dark constitute the
single largest mistake made by advertisers. If you are unable to
track your advertising to learn what is working well, what is
working somewhat, and what is a money pit, then you are
condemned to repeat your mistakes over and again.

By relying only on gut instinct, you may be choosing to spend
more money in the money pit and to lose all of your money in the
process.

When you get down to the nuts and bolts of making money from
your advertising, you should plan, prepare, track and study your
results. You must have factual information on which to base your
advertising decisions. When you are making the right advertising
decisions, then making money from your business might just come
easy.

Fast-Track Your Journey to Home Business Success

No one has ever logged onto the Internet for the first time and
started pocketing dollars in a really short period of time. As
with all things in life, there is a learning curve.

SOME PERSONAL HISTORY

Just a few short years ago, I was a working stiff just like you.

One day, I bought and read a book called "Multiple Streams of
Income" by bestselling author, Robert Allen. Immediately, I
began my journey.

Every night after work and after my wife and children went to
sleep, I would get online and explore different ways of using the
Internet to make money.

In the two years that followed, I spent over $10,000 racking up
credit card debt buying eBooks, membership sites, special
reports, opt-in leads, and joining every "guru" recommended
business opportunity that flew into my email inbox.

I stayed up learning, working, and drinking coffee until 5:00 in
the morning, month after month filled with the hope of making
money online.

In my third year of working part-time to build a home based
income, I finally broke through and earned over $100,000 in just
twelve months from the Internet.

BECOME THE MASTER OF YOUR LEARNING CURVE

Research the lives of all of the "gurus." The one thing that
you will learn is that my own experience is not unique. Most of
the high earners on the Internet experienced a learning curve
very similar to my own.

Chances are that your curve will also be similar to mine, but it
is my hope that you can get to the top faster than even I did.
Three years was a long time to struggle, but every ounce of
struggle was worth the reward I have finally received.

In order to shorten your own learning curve, you must do a few
things differently than the rest of us did. You must become the
master of your learning curve.

THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS IS A STRAIGHT LINE

There is only one way to shorten the curve on the Internet:

You must plan to succeed!

Here is the deal. Most people put up a freebie website and select
a few affiliate programs to add to their website. Right out of
the gate, most people are running for the finish line without any
real plan in mind.

After a few short weeks, people begin to see the writing on the
wall that says, "This is going to be a long hard road."

People check their hit counters daily for six weeks before they
realize that getting traffic to their free site is going to be
tough.

At this point, they begin developing their first batch of
advertising. Then they spend countless months finding places to
show their advertisements for free. Some make an even more
drastic mistake by blowing thousands of hard earned dollars on
their new and untested ads.

These are the people who will learn the facts of life the hard
way.

In time, they will learn how to make their advertising work for
them, but most will earn very little money from their affiliate
programs.

At this point in the learning curve, most people throw up their
hands and walk away from their dreams in utter disgust. Instead
of a walking away point, this should have convinced the
struggling online entrepreneur that they were simply traveling
the wrong road.

YOU MUST PLAN TO SUCCEED

From day one, you must begin to learn about the nuances of web
promotion. Read everything you can get your hands on. Don't just
read the hype, back it up with the opinions of others who have
reviewed the same programs before you came along. Learn from
their mistakes and successes.

As you begin to learn, you must also look to make a decision. Do
you want to step into a pre-built program that is designed to
help you to succeed, OR do you want to create a completely new
program of which you are the sole owner?

If you decide to step into a pre-designed and complete turn-key
online money-making venture, then you must select the right
venture to step into. If this is your decision, I encourage you
to check out the Plug In Profit Site at:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-4145

If you decide to go the journey on your own, then do all of the
necessary research, planning and preparation that is needed for
your success.

PREPARE TO SUCCEED

Decide what you think you would want to do, and then figure out
how your planned site will generate a real income.

Internet old-timers know about hundreds of corporation domains
that existed with IPO millions, but did not have an actual money
plan that could sustain their business model. Most of these
companies were among the hundreds of companies that bellied up in
the 2000 dot bomb experience.

Don't blindly believe in your plan. Research others on the web
who have undertaken similar business models and see if they have
survived. Study your competitors in depth to learn what is
working for them and what did not work for them. To better
understand what has or has not worked for competitor websites,
check out their time lapsed progressions using the Wayback
Machine: http://web.archive.org

Once you have determined your money plan, then you should
undertake the development of a business plan and a marketing
plan. Utilize professional assistance if you need to do so. While
creating your plans, make a determination as to which domain name
you think would be best, then register it along with a hosting
account. You can do this at Host4Profit in Step 2 on this page:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-4145

Once you have developed your business plan and marketing plan and
have run them through several revisions, then it will be time to
buy your domain name and to begin work with a site designer and
developer. You may need to have your domain sitting on a web host
for your site developer, but this is not always necessary. While
they are doing their work, enlist a copywriter to help you with
your site sales copy.

When your site designer and developer have your site working, you
should then undertake significant testing to make sure everything
works as planned. It is much harder to fix problems on a
operational site than it is to fix problems on a site that has
yet to be launched.

When testing is done, then you should fill in your sales copy and
then shoot for launch. Of course, you already have a marketing
plan in place, so your preparation here will be simply a matter
of putting the pieces of the puzzle into place.

You are finally ready to open for business. Don't be afraid to
spend the money to bring your dream alive. Time can replace money
in the goal of starting a profitable online business, but money
invested can shave years off of your company's growth.

Understanding the Difference between Marketing & Promotion

Are you an online marketer? Or do you simply promote affiliate programs? Marketing is truly the most misunderstood word in use today on the Internet. Let me see if I can clarify this issue just a bit.

In Marketing 101 at your local university, marketing is actually the process of Product, Place, Price and Promotion.

PRODUCT

No business can exist without a product or service to sell.

In a nutshell, entrepreneurs are the people who believe in a product, service or idea, so much that they are willing to invest their lives into the development of their dream.

Historically, every major corporation in the world was started by an entrepreneur with a dream and the drive to make it a reality.

However, there comes a time in the life of every corporation when those who fear the gambling nature of their founder, squash the entrepreneurial drive that made the company a viable concern in the first place. The entrepreneur will either submit to the careful nature of the stockholders, or he will be forced to leave the company he created.

The only entrepreneurs who withstand the pressure to move more carefully are those who have maintained majority control over their companies.

PLACE

In the offline world, place is defined by location. On the Internet, place is defined by domain name and the web hosting service chosen.

Both online and offline, place can make or break a company without respect to the quality and value of the product, service or idea.

PRICE

Selecting a price is determined first on a basis of whether the company wants to be seen as a discount or a value company.

Take for example Wal-Mart and Staples.

Wal-Mart is the lead discounter in the marketplace. Staples on the other hand is the specialist in office supplies.

Both sell a significant number of office supplies despite the fact that the lowest price can usually be found at Wal-Mart. As a value dealer, Staples can afford to charge more for their products than Wal-Mart.

So the question for you is whether you want to position your company as a discount or value company.

Testing has shown that products and services can be sold at any number of prices and still reach a significant number of people.

The challenge of selecting the best price for your product or service will require a certain amount of testing.

UNDERSTANDING THE PRICING EQUATION

Let`s assume we are selling a product. Let us also assume that we know that the product can be sold for $10 or $50. Let us also assume that if the price dips below $10 or rises above $50, then the product sales fall off significantly.

Our challenge is to determine the best rate at which to sell our product.

Testing has shown us that we can sell 1000 items a week at $10.
Testing has also shown that we can sell 500 items per week at $50. And testing has shown that we can sell 650 items per week at $45.

At $10, our projected weekly earnings are $10,000. When we sell the product at $50, we know that we can earn $25,000 per week.
Most importantly, we know that we can earn $29,250 when our product is priced at $45.

With the imaginary testing we have done on our imaginary product, we can easily see that selling our product at $45 per item will earn us more money over the long haul.

Thus, when we make the decision for a national rollout of our product, then we will price our product at $45.

Of course, this is a very simplistic analysis of the point I am trying to make. Though simple, I believe this analogy will help you understand the methods of developing a product`s prices.

PROMOTION

Promotion, on the other hand, is the process of notifying the consumers for your product or service of your availability to serve them.

Methods of promotion vary distinctly and should be arranged to meet very specific goals.

As with product, place and price, promotion should not be left to chance. You should test every ad, every media, and every price point to determine the best bang for your promotional dollars.

HEADS UP!

If you are an online promoter or marketer, please factor in the most important element concerning the cost of your promotions.

What element is that? Your time!

Value your time at a certain dollar amount, and figure in your time into the cost of your promotional accounting.

I say this because too many online promoters lose sight of this concept and spend 20 hours to generate one sale while using free advertising. Even if you rate your time at the federal minimum wage, then you will have invested $105 of your time for one sale that might only net you a gross sale of $45!

ARE YOU TRULY A MARKETER OR ARE YOU JUST A PROMOTER?

Most people who run a business on the Internet call themselves marketers. Yet, most of these same people are really just promoters wrapped in the label of a marketer.

True marketers do not promote without a lot of advance work.
They spend time planning, testing and measuring their actions and results to get the most out of every dollar spent and earned.

Entrepreneurs finesse the art of marketing as they build their company into a major enterprise.

If you are a promoter who does not keep an eye on the total marketing equation, then you are bound to fail.

If you do call yourself a marketer, then do what a professional marketer does. Make sure that every dollar spent is spent well.
Make sure that every dollar earned is put to good use. Market well so that when the people of the next generation look at your life, they will see a fine example of a successful entrepreneur that they will strive to emulate.

Networking Your Home Business within Circles of Influence

When you need an auto mechanic or an air conditioning repairman, where do you turn for help? Sure, some people turn to the yellow pages. But most will turn to friends and family and ask if they know of anyone who can do the work.

The best place for your business to be positioned is to be the business on the tips of the tongues of the people asked to make the referral.

THE 300 RULE

Preachers, funeral directors and people in a few other professions have learned "the 300 rule" through their own personal experience.

"The 300 rule" states that the average person knows 300 people on a friendly level. Wedding planners tend to make reservations for 300 guests. Funeral directors tend to need to make room for 300 mourners. You get the idea.

DOODLING WITH CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE

Imagine your circle of friends, family and acquaintances, a.k.a.
your circle of influence. Now, draw your circle of influence as a circle on a blank piece of paper.

Next, contemplate the people in your parents` circle of influence. Some people who know your parents also know you.
Therefore, you will share some influence with the people your folks know. Now draw your parents` circle of influence on your piece of paper.

Your circle and your parents` circle will intersect in one area, although the larger majority of the two circles will not intersect. If you are like most people, the two circles on your page at this point looks very similar to the MasterCard logo.

Now imagine drawing a page full of intersecting circles, each circle representing the circle of influence of the people who are within your own circle of influence. Imagine trying to encapsulate an accurate rendering of where your circle and the circle of your friends will actually intersect.

Some circles will share a large area of space, while others will barely cover one another.

Actually, you can only imagine at this point what your piece of paper will look like. The actual layout of the circles imagined in this analogy is simply too overwhelming for the mind to comprehend.

THE BIG PICTURE

300 multiplied by 300 equals 90,000. By using the analogy of doodles in the previous section, the average person can actually network with up to 90,000 people! Even factoring in the overlap, one can still probably network with 50,000 people through their own circle of influence!

Simply amazing, isn`t it?

HERE IS THE SECRET TO YOUR SUCCESS

There are 300 people on this planet whom you have a reasonable amount of influence. Take advantage of this fact. Make darn sure that every person within your own circle of influence KNOWS that you are in business for yourself, and make sure they understand what your business offers.

When your friend is asked to make a referral, they will recommend you.

PASSIVE VERSUS ACTIVE REFERRAL NETWORKING

When people ask your friends for a referral and your friend mentions your business, that is passive referral networking.

Active referral networking is when you can get your friends go directly to their friends and say "Hey, I have a friend who just started a business. If you are in need of what he offers or you know someone who will need his services, would you please give my friend a call or make the referral to his business?"

If you can get even a portion of the people in your own circle of influence to actively refer your business, then you have built the foundation to build an advertising campaign even more effective than the average local television advertising campaign.

Think about that for a moment.

Most people only dream of reaching 50,000 potential customers with their television advertising dollars. You now have the knowledge to reach 50,000 people without spending a single penny.

Children in the Home Business Environment

Operating a home business is seldom easy and interruptions come in all shapes, sizes and forms.

Between the family, friends and neighbors who call or come by, and the telemarketers who insist on ringing your number off the hook, getting through the workday can be a real challenge.

When you introduce children into the home office environment, your productivity and patience can be seriously tested.

For example, right now my three-year old daughter is pulling on my shirt and begging me to read her a story. Clearly, Im in the middle of something important here, but how can I say no to those eyes? Ill be right back...

Ok, that wasnt so bad was it? Shes happy, Im happy (having bonded with my daughter) and now Im back to continue my conversation with you :-) Whats the lesson here? Flexibility is a major key to balancing your home business priorities with your familys needs.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that maintaining a deep level of concentration on work in a home business for long periods of time is next to impossible. Naptime does offer some reprieve, but any break from the kids is usually short lived.

Even with older children, summertime introduces new challenges with kids running in and out of the house all throughout the day.

I would like to share with you some of the tips I have discovered to help manage your home office with children in your midst. Since children of different ages pose different challenges, I will present my tips in terms of age groups.

OLDER CHILDREN AND TEENS

We will look at older children first since they pose the least challenge to our work productivity.

Children, who are old enough to understand the idea of schedules and chores, are old enough to understand the needs of your home business. Explain to your children that you do your work at home so that you can be near them when they need you. But also be sure they understand that you must do your work so that you will have the money necessary to keep your house, feed the family and to provide them with money for entertainment.

Once your children understand the necessity of your work, then outline a work schedule and explain it to them. Do make sure they understand that emergencies are definitely an acceptable reason to interrupt your work. Then make sure they understand that between hours x and y, you will be doing work --- and then hold them to respecting your schedule.

INFANTS

Infants will never understand your needs for work. But fortunately, babies do well under a schedule or routine. Instead of expecting your child to work around your schedule, schedule your work around the needs of your baby.

It is simple. Babies eat, sleep and poop. Sometimes they play.
Fortunately, babies sleep more than they do anything else.

Naptime offers the best advantage for getting your work done.
Get your baby into a routine of eat, sleep and play, and you will experience unexpected levels of productivity.

TODDLERS

If you have a toddler running around the house while you are operating your home business, then you may find that your hair turning gray or disappearing altogether. But, gray hair is a sign of character, right. ;-)

I am venturing to guess that the person who devised the door lock for the inside of the house did so because he had toddlers in his own home. Inside door locks should only be utilized when you are making that important phone call and your toddler is screaming for your attention. At all other times, your door should remain unlocked with your door open.

Develop a routine with your children for meal times, naptimes, and play times. Work these times into your work schedule and adhere to them. If you fail to keep appointments with your children, your children will have less respect for your work and do more to prevent you from the completion of your work.

Don`t be afraid to let your children sit in your lap while you are working. It helps them to feel wanted and it helps them to be a part of your daily life. There are times when it is okay for them to be sitting in your lap while you work, and at other times you need them out of your lap. Don`t be afraid to tell them to get down and go play or read a book so that you can resume your work.

Permit your children to have their toys in your office. Often they will sit contently and play while you work. Just knowing you are near is enough to keep them happy.

Be prepared to take an hourly break to deal with your toddler.
Try to do potty breaks at your hourly break and to do drink refills. This can help your child grow into a routine that will work well with your home business. At each break, spend a few minutes with your child giving hugs and kisses and talking with your child about what he or she wants to talk about.

Toddlers don`t always do well with the routine, so be prepared to take a few minutes when needed to give the attention that your child so desperately needs in the moment.

IN CONCLUSION

I hope these tips serve to help you in the challenge of operating a successful home business.

My home business permits me to fulfill my financial obligations
*AND* see my children grow up. I would never contemplate trading my home business for another kind of business. Even with the added challenges of dealing with toddlers in my home office, the upsides far outweigh the downsides.

Growing my own home business with children around has definitely given me a new respect for all people who successfully run a home business with kids in the work environment. I tip my hat to you... You deserve it!

How to Stay Focused on Your Home Business Goals

When you are the owner of a home business, you will find hundreds of distractions that vie for your time, energy and focus.

Common distractions include: children, family, friends, neighbors, pets, phone calls, mail, household chores, video games, television, neighborhood children, visitors, and so many more.

As an owner of a home based business, you must always remember your purpose in bringing your profession home. What was your reason for wanting to own a home business? Was your goal to work from home so that you can share in the lives of your children?
Was your goal to be out from under the rule of a tyrannical boss? Was your goal to have the freedom to work when it is convenient for you? Was your goal to make tons of money working for yourself?

Here`s a few good tips that will help you stay focused on your home business:

TIP #1:
Whatever your reason for going out on your own, you must keep your reason in the forefront of your mind. If you forget your reason for starting your own home business, you will not be working for yourself for long. It is far too easy to let circumstance drive your activities --- and when circumstance is in the driver`s seat, you are more likely to crash and burn.

TIP #2:
Remember --- your own business is a lot like a real job. Some people go to work to play, some go to socialize, and others --- most often those who are paid in a commission or tip environment
--- go to work to work and to make money. When you work for yourself, your salary is directly proportional to your productivity. Therefore, wouldn`t it make sense to stay focused on getting as much done in as short of a period as possible?

Go to work to work and to make money. Leave playtime and recreation for when your workday has ended.

TIP #3:
When you are dealing with family in the course of your workday, it is important to schedule your activities as much as possible.
With small children, you must take time when you must, but you should also work hard to make sure you dedicate a specific number of hours to your workday.

With older children, it is much easier to tell them that you will be working between the hours of x and y. Your children and your friends must understand that certain hours of your day are devoted to the activities of your business.

TIP #4:
Don`t permit your friends and extended family to run over you.
Many people get the blind idea that if one works from home then they are not actually working.

Well-meaning people may try to fill your doorway to bring advice about getting a real job. Others may simply believe that if you are at home, then you are fair game for chitchat and socialization.

You must stand firm. You must make certain your friends and family understands that when you are working, then you ARE working! If they wish to socialize with you, then they need to do it during the hours that are not dedicated to your home business.

You are the only one who can stand up for you. Your friends and family will seldom be able to appreciate your dedication to your home business, unless you make the effort to make sure that they have the same respect for your business that you do.

TIP #5:
You should allot a certain portion of your day to email and to regular mail. For example, allot one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon to handling your written communications.

Unless you dedicate certain times to the handling of these communications, you will soon find yourself on the downward slope of decreased productivity.

TIP #6:
When you find yourself spending too much time doing non-productive activities, then you should seriously consider finding a third-party service provider who will assist you in those non-profitable business activities.

As an example, you might be in the mail-order business. You might believe that your time is best spent writing ad copy and setting up your advertising, but you find yourself spending far too much time taking care of your books to take care of your advertising in the manner that you should. In this event, it might make more sense to hire a bookkeeper to handle your financial records for you.

CONCLUSION:
In the end, the success of your home business is entirely and completely reliant upon you and the decisions that you make.

You had your reasons for deciding to start your own home based business. You must always keep your reasons in the forefront of your mind. You must always be able to rely upon your own self and your dedication to the success of your business.

Your friends and family might be annoyed that they cannot come visit upon their own whim, but when success comes to you and your business, they will better appreciate you for putting your foot down when necessary.

Success is within your reach, if only you can stay focused on your goals. You must decide to reach for your goals, and then, you must have the discipline necessary to reach them.

Combing The Power Of Google Adsense And Email Marketing

Scott Patterson -

Scott J. Patterson is a self proclaimed Dunce, yet in a recent month he earned $12,124 from one of his online businesses. To find out how YOU can do the same, download his free ebook- A Guide to Online Businesses

In the past year, Google Adsense has become the “It” way to make money on the Internet.


But even if you already use Google Adsense on your site, you are probably leaving money on the table. Let me explain why…


Most people create a site, slap some content and then wait for people to click on their ads.

But once people click on an ad, they are gone….probably forever!


One method that smart Internet marketers use to maximize their Google Adsense is to harness the power of their email list. By getting people to subscribe to their list, website owners can continue to make money from their readers.


By utilizing the power of their email list, website owners can dramatically increase their Adsense income.


Here is how you can do the same. In the following article, there is a step-by-step list of how you can harness the power of your list to create a steady stream of Adsense revenue.


The first step is to create a topic that is in high demand. A good topic would be something that people have an interest in, or information that can help your readers personally or financially.


Your next action would be to create content for your site. The idea is to write or use information that would provide value to the reader. All your articles should help improve their life in some manner. You can create content for your site in a large numbers of ways. This can include:


· Your own web articles

· Guides, product evaluations, and “How To's”

· Blogs and RSS Feeds

· Public domain works

· Private label rights

· Hiring a freelancer to write your content


Obviously creating content for your site is an ongoing process, so once you've created at least 10 pages of quality information for your readers, you should create your web pages and optimize them for Google Adsense.


As you are designing your pages for Adsense, you should keep one thing in mind- Your primary goal is to get people to click on your Adsense ads.


So don't give your readers too many options. As a result, it is important to keep your web page simple. To do this, you should include do the following:


· Place the article on the web page

· Ad all three Adsense blocks in prominent places

· Make sure that the ad blocks look like standard text, with the no borders and blue links

· If you have to have other links on this page, include them at the bottom where there is a less chance of being clicked on

After designing your web pages, you need to create an autoresponder sequence for your email list. The primary focus for each email is to get people to click on your Google Adsense pages. So it is important to create and intriguing title. Then in the email, write a little bit about the importance of the article and tell your subscribers how they can learn more by clicking over to the site.


Once you've created your sequence of bringing readers to your Adsense pages, you should start promoting your lists. You can do this by articles, PPC, ebooks, viral marketing and SEO. The more people usually means more money, so you have to continuously work at marketing your website.


Once you have finished creating your Adsense and email system, you should go back and continue to add more content and market your site. By having a large selection of information and more readers, you'll discover that your Google Adsense income will grow exponentially.

The Disadvatages Of Using Google Adsense For The Affiliate Marketer

Matthew Meyer


Matthew Meyer. For more information on affiliate marketing see the affiliate marketing section of TheFreeAdForum.com directory at:
www.thefreeadforum.com/infowizards/CAT/Affiliate-Marketing_68_1.html

As adsense becomes the most popular publisher program for Price per Click advertising, flaws and disadvantages still exist. Since its inception advertisers have chosen to advertise in search because they felt that visitors would be less targeted. This is a genuine concern and one that makes perfect sense. If you are visiting a website, and notice an advert then the chances are you are not particularly concentrating on its content.


Adsense has also become so popular that people can distinguish them from other adverts. Therefore people may choose to ignore them without even paying them a thought. This has been a hot topic discussed by Bloggers and one that could contain a lot of truth. Many have blamed Google for this, and their decision to include text that says “ads by Google” beneath the advert.


Many publishers also fail to ever gain the revenues they anticipated when starting the program. Those only gaining 30 – 40 visitors a day to their website would be unlikely to earn even one dollar a day. Many advertisers talk of rates such as 1.5%- 5% for traffic to click conversion, whilst only gaining around $0.10 per click. The maths doesn’t work out great, but you can hardly blame advertisers or Google if you are not bringing enough traffic. The key is to bring targeted traffic to your website that are likely to click on adverts, however it is said that it may be easier on other programs which allow figures such as 75% share of advertising revenues for publishers.


Another disadvantage in adsense is that it has almost become tacky. Its appearance on websites that generally appear to be designed in a DIY fashion has lead people to associate them inextricably. This can only be tackled through adsense evolving to be more attractive to the bigger brands, whilst those who currently use adsense are restricted.


Google Adsense also has to tackle the issue of click fraud which is anticipated to count for over 15% of click through rate in content. This has meant that advertiser’s who have been particularly affected, have moved away to other programs or have restricted their advertising to search.


This has meant that there is less competition in content and therefore smaller revenues for publishers. Publisher’s who previously had high yielding ads, are now having to alter their content to ensure they get any adverts at all. This has largely been the fault of the publishers themselves however the issue is one that; if not addressed could bring adsense to its knees.


Google Adsense also has the disadvantage of not paying enough for their search program. Other similar programs pay higher rates, and if publishers decide to go elsewhere then problems will occur for advertisers and publishers alike. Although Google fail to pay enough for search another major problem with Adsense is that it does not have a powerful database of graphic adverts. Many advertisers prefer showing graphically drive advertisements, however this has yet to materialise. As several other programs exist for PPC graphic distribution problems could occur.


Whilst this may not be a problem for all publishers, many complain that the adverts within their site do not change, so their repeat visitors fail to see fresh adverts so therefore fail to visit them. This is a problem which could be addressed through making adverts rotate. However if adverts rotate then how will that be linked with advertisers paying a rate per click? These are all problems which Google has to address to ensure that Adsense remains the market leader.


Adwords on the other hand also has major advantages, and remains the best in the market. It’s CPC rates can be chosen by the advertisers so that even when they feel that they are not getting the results they expect they can lower their prices whilst still using the service.


Whilst many issues remain with adsense the program still remains the most popular amongst publishers, whilst Google Adwords remains the most popular amongst advertisers; with a database of over 140,000 Adwords will remain on top for the time to come.


You need to have optimized niche website templates for best results. You may find the best adsense templates and blog templates at www.AdsenseTemplates.com (http://www.adsensetemplates.com). They are offering 100 fresh new templates every month.

How To Incorporate Adsense Into Your Online Affiliate Marketing

Jamies

Author is writter for sites such as Information
Today

Article Submission done by: www.articles-submit.com

Courtesy of:Article Search Online


A lot of people are lured by affiliate marketing because it can be financially rewarding, even if you just stay at home. Affiliate marketing programs are best alternatives to those who are sick and tired of their arduous daily work just to climb up the venerated corporate ladder. You don’t need products to sell, you just have to market them in your own web site and you don’t have to worry about processing the customers’ payments and the shipment of the products. If you are already into affiliate marketing, probably you were thinking about these benefits, too, before deciding to join an affiliate program.



Of course you want earn huge amount of commission. Who would not want it anyway? Keep in mind, however, that affiliate marketing cannot guarantee you instant success if you don’t work on it. There are a lot of ways of maximizing your income. The Internet is a huge library of information, use it to learn of other opportunities and ways to increase your income. You can partner with several merchandisers and promote different products in your website; thereby, increasing your chance to earn a commission.









The easiest way for you to rev up your revenue potential is by incorporating Google AdSense into your marketing campaigns. What is Google AdSense? What are its advantages? How can it boost my revenues? These are some of the questions you might want to ask. Let’s try to probe into Google AdSense, so you would know how it could help you in your affiliate marketing program.



Merchants place their ads in Google, which is one of the most popular search engines or tools for locating various resources in the World Wide Web. Now the Google AdSense program allows you to display these ads in you website and when your visitors click through them, you earn. The advertiser, which is the merchant pays Google for every click-through made by the customer and you as a partner of Google, gets a share from that payment.



What’s great about the Google AdSense is that the ads are relevant to the content of your web page. Most likely, visitors of your web site are interested on the theme of your site and specifically, on the content of your web page. So, seeing ads related to their interest would definitely drive them to click through the link or the ad. Using state-of-the-art technology, Google scans your web site and matches the content of your pages to their large database of advertisers; this way, Google is able to find ads that are targeted by the users of your site. In addition, Google changes the ads in your site as you change the content of your pages, so you can always expect the ads to be relevant to your site.



Having Google ads in your website is also a way of convincing your users to return to your site. Repeat customers multiply your income without having to exert extra effort to convince them again to click through your links. And your potential to earn doesn’t depend on them alone. Since you already have their confidence, they can be your endorsers as well. They could refer your site to family and friends who probably share the same interests with them.



Advertisers in the Google AdSense program range from large international brands to small-time domestic and local businesses, so the targeted market for the ads can range as well. This adds variety to your site; thereby, attracting different kinds of users. As you attract more users, you increase your earning potential as well. If you are targeting a specific nationality for your site users, don’t worry because AdSense can be used in different languages.



In order to boost your revenues through Google AdSense, you must pay attention to making web pages of high value topics. Make contents related to high-paying ads, so you can earn more. Some ads pay only a few cents while some ads pay you dollars just for a single click. You would need to do a little research on this so you can come up with a more relevant content. Join affiliate marketing forums and get tips from experienced affiliate marketers.



Becoming an AdSense affiliate marketer is easy and fast. You just have to apply online and once your application is approved, you can instantly set up Google ads in your site. All you need to do is copy and paste some codes in your web pages and in no time the ads will appear in your site.



Strike while the iron is hot! Take advantage of the favorable circumstances the Internet is offering you. Make the most of your affiliate marketing opportunities, use Google AdSense!

Does Your Adsense Site Have A Newsletter?

Seth Willis Jr. -

Seth Willis Jr. is the webmaster for www.adsenseschool.com he is an experienced internet marketer and has a lot of expertise with adsense." I created adsense school so that I could help others who are starting out and needed a resource and tutorial site to get started, the school is completely free and there for anyone with a desire to learn how to make an income using adsense."

One element every Adsense user should put on all their web sites is a newsletter form in order to collect email addresses.



Why? Because, if you do it correctly, setting up a newsletter can be a goldmine!









Let me start by listing the benefits of creating a newsletter:



Benefit 1: Your sites don't look like they were "Made for Adsense"



Now that Adsense has become very popular, more and more people are creating web sites solely for the purpose of making money with Adsense.



This is creating a backlash with people who see this as a negative thing. Plus, web sites that look like they were obviously made for Adsense are against the TOS. So you could actually get a warning from Google for this.



Adding special features to your Adsense sites make them more than just "Adsense sites".



Benefit 2: Another income stream



Having a newsletter allows you another way to make money with your web sites.



With a newsletter you can…



Promote affiliate programs… or your own products.

Sell advertising space to other web sites owners.

Advertise your other Adsense sites.

This is great because if your web site stops making money with Adsense, it can still make money from the newsletter!



Benefit 3: More repeat traffic for your web site



You should advertise your web site every time you send out your newsletter to your subscribers.



When you do this, it reminds them of your web site and many of them will return again and again. Every time they visit, there is a chance that they will click your Adsense ads!



Okay, Now that you know WHY you should have a newsletter, HOW do you start one?



Contrary to what most people think, creating a newsletter is actually very simple. There are two main ways to get started:



Using a third party service



There are quite a few companies that specialize in newsletter delivery. The two main companies are Aweber and GetResponse.



With both of these services, your subscriber list is hosted on their servers. When someone wants to unsubscribe from your list, they just click a link in your newsletter and they are taken off automatically.



When you want to send an email to your list, all you have to do is upload your content to the third party company and they send the emails from their servers.



Using your own servers



With this option you will probably need to install a script on your own server. There are scripts that will do everything that the third party services do. The only difference is, the emails are sent through your servers.



If you don't want to install a script, another option is to manually keep track of subscribers and manually remove them when they want to unsubscribe. This option is only viable when you only have a few people on your list but it will quickly become too difficult as your list grows.



We recommend using a third-party company when you first start. The cost is usually only about $20/month.



Providing content for your newsletter



Another misconception that people have is that you will need to write all the content for your newsletters. This isn't true!



The first way you can get content for your newsletters is by purchasing it.



You can find many freelance writers at eLance.com. All you have to do is post your project, wait for bids, and pick a writer. It typically costs about $5-20 per article.



We are currently working on an in-depth lesson on this subject… so look for that in the near future.



Another way to get FREE content for your newsletter is by reprinting articles that other people have written. You can find tons of targeted articles at web sites like ArticleCity.com, EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com, IdeaMarketers.com, and many more!



You can also search for free articles on Google by typing "KEYWORD articles reprint" (replace KEYWORD with your actual of course)



Archiving Your newsletter



Every time you send out your newsletter, you NEED to archive them on your web site. Every issue should have its own HTML page.



The reasons why you need to archive every issue…



It’s more content for your web site. Each issue of your newsletter is full of keyword rich content. Search engines eat, breathe, and love content. Every page that you get indexed into the search engines is another opportunity for more traffic (and income!)



It’s another feature of your site. Having a newsletter archive is another feature that makes your site more than “just another Adsense site”. As we discussed earlier, any feature that you can add to your site that makes it different than all the other cookie cutter Adsense sites is a very good thing.



It gives people a reason to return. Having repeat visitors is great thing because it’s free traffic that has a good chance of converting to clicks. People will bookmark your article archive page and some will even recommend your site to their friends!



Some people will reprint your articles. Every time someone reprints your articles on their web site you will get a link pointing back to your web site. This helps boost your link popularity, which in turn helps your site rank better in the search engines.



It gives people a preview of your newsletter. You’ll get more people to sign up for your newsletter if you have an archive because it gives your visitors a taste of what they will receive when they sign up.



Article writers will submit their articles to you. When article writers see that you archive every issue of your newsletter, they will be more willing to send their articles to you for free. Why? Because they know that their articles (and the links to their sites in their articles) will be found by the search engines.



Hopefully you see why it's so important to have a newsletter on your Adsense sites.



Don't hesitate to ask for help in the forum if you have any problems setting up your newsletter!

5 Ways To Improve Your Google Adsense Making Money Online

Ram.Sharma

Please browse for more information at our websites.
www.youradsenseprofits.com
www.reprintarticlesite.com

If webmasters want to monetize their websites, the great way to do it is through Adsense. There are lots of webmasters struggling hard to earn some good money a day through their sites.



But then some of the "geniuses" of them are enjoying hundreds of dollars a day from Adsense ads on their websites. What makes these webmasters different from the other kind is that they are different and they think out of the box.









The ones who have been there and done it have quite some useful tips to help those who would want to venture into this field. Some of these tips have boosted quite a lot of earnings in the past and is continuously doing so.



Here are some 5 proven ways on how best to improve your Adsense earnings.



1. Concentrating on one format of Adsense ad. The one format that worked well for the majority is the Large Rectangle (336X280). This same format have the tendency to result in higher CTR, or the click-through rates. Why choose this format out of the many you can use?



Basically because the ads will look like normal web links, and people, being used to clicking on them, click these types of links. They may or may not know they are clicking on your Adsense but as long as there are clicks, then it will all be for your advantage.



2. Create a custom palette for your ads. Choose a color that will go well with the background of your site. If your site has a white background, try to use white as the color of your ad border and background.



The idea to patterning the colors is to make the Adsense look like it is part of the web pages. Again, This will result to more clicks from people visiting your site.



3. Remove the Adsense from the bottom pages of your site and put them at the top. Do not try to hide your Adsense. Put them in the place where people can see them quickly. You will be amazed how the difference between Adsense locations can make when you see your earnings.



4. Maintain links to relevant websites. If you think some sites are better off than the others, put your ads there and try to maintaining and managing them. If there is already lots of Adsense put into that certain site, put yours on top of all of them. That way visitor will see your ads first upon browsing into that site.



5. Try to automate the insertion of your Adsense code into the webpages using SSI (or server side included). Ask your web administrator if your server supports SSI or not. How do you do it? Just save your Adsense code in a text file, save it as "adsense text", and upload it to the root directory of the web server.



Then using SSI, call the code on other pages. This tip is a time saver especially for those who are using automatic page generators to generate pages on their website.



These are some of the tips that have worked well for some who want to generate hundreds and even thousands on their websites. It is important to know though that ads are displayed because it fits the interest of the people viewing them.



So focusing on a specific topic should be your primary purpose because the displays will be especially targeted on a topic that persons will be viewing already.



Note also that there are many other Adsense sharing the same topic as you. It is best to think of making a good ad that will be somewhat different and unique than the ones already done.



Every clickthrough that visitors make is a point for you so make every click count by making your Adsense something that people will definitely click on.



Tips given by those who have boosted their earnings are just guidelines they want to share with others. If they have somehow worked wonders to some, maybe it can work wonders for you too. Try them out into your ads and see the result it will bring.



If others have done it, there is nothing wrong trying it out for yourself.

Starting Your Home Based Business On A Shoestring Budget

Whether seeking a supplemental income or a full-time income, many folks have undertaken the task to discover a viable home based business solution to meet their personal needs.

For most folks who contemplate a home business, a low-cost or no-cost solution is not only nice, but also very necessary. Many also seek to find a home business that will permit them to maintain their regular day job in order to protect their base income.

Taking the cautious approach to a home based business and keeping one's job during the start-up period is often a very good decision. By maintaining one's job, one can maintain the health of their personal finances while permitting their home business grow healthy and strong.

Fortunately, most home based businesses can be started with little or no cash, can be maintained on a shoestring budget, and can be operated successfully with only a part-time investment.

One day, the business will be strong enough to support itself and its owner. When that time comes, it will make good sense for the business owner to leave his or her outside job to dedicate more time to growing and maintaining their new thriving home based business. You will know when that time has finally arrived.

The nature of a home based business makes it easy and very realistic for most folks to take the plunge into home business ownership.

Yet, many folks put off starting their own home based business, because they have the misconception that they will have to risk thousands of their own hard-earned dollars at start-up. Then later, if their business fails, they fear they may be forced to take out a second mortgage on their house just to stay out of bankruptcy.

Are you one of these folks? Do you let your fears of failure keep you from reaching for your dreams?

If so, then allow me to introduce you to a few home business ideas that you can start for less than $100 and can be started and operated very profitably as a part-time business.

THE LIFEBLOOD OF ALL SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES

First of all, let me advise you to search out a business model that will deliver steady and repeat business. It is the one thing --- above all others --- that will assure that your company can survive the test of time.

HOME-BASED MAIL ORDER:
Home-based mail order is a good example of how one can quickly grow a home business income. Mail order is a low cost start-up business that can be launched for around $100 USD.

With proper planning, your home-based mail order business will not require up-front inventory purchases. In the mail order business, it is not uncommon to rely upon drop-shippers for product fulfillment services.

By utilizing drop-shippers, we can sell the products, collect the money and then purchase the products from the wholesale outlet. The wholesale outlet will then put a return address for your company on the product packaging and deliver the product directly to your customer.

Your primary expense in the mail-order business is advertising.
Classified advertising tends to be a relatively inexpensive form of advertising with thousands of outlets available to the small business owner.

WHOLESALE BUSINESS:
Buy low --- sell high. You can acquire high quality, top-of-the-line merchandise for a fraction of the retail cost.

AUCTIONS:
Auctions can be an excellent source for buying cheap and selling high. Both government auctions and Internet auctions can lead to some excellent profit opportunities. Auctions are an excellent tool for both acquiring and selling merchandise.

MAKE AND SELL YOUR CRAFTS:
Crafts are a hot seller at country fairs, swap meets or anyplace where people gather. Make your own crafts and sell them for a tidy profit!

SELLING INFORMATION:
Selling information by mail is another good example of an inexpensive home based business start-up. One can gain the resale rights to information for usually about $50 USD. Other costs will include printer cartridges, paper and postage. There are plenty of free classifieds sites on the Internet, in which to successfully advertise your information.

WRITE INFORMATIONAL BOOKLETS:
Write and publish your own informational booklets; sell them at a high price! All you need is a little know-how, a printer, paper and stamps. This is a GREAT home business idea! You can also sell the resale rights to others, for extra profits. In this age of the Internet, you may also take advantage of the fact that selling information is one of the most profitable endeavors one can pursue online.

OFFICE SERVICES:
Offer office services for hire in your local paper. You`ll be surprised at the amount of regular office business that can be gleaned from one little classified ad. Word processing, typing, accounting, data entry, proofreading, transcription, promotional letters and newsletters. All these tasks can be accomplished right from your own home office.

AVON REPRESENTATIVE:
Yes, Avon`s been around for eternity, hasn`t it? Then it`s not such a bad prospect as a home based business, is it? I once knew a woman who did so much business as an Avon rep. that she had people calling her and knocking at her door wanting to order products at all hours of the day and night! Once you are an established Avon representative, you, too, will turn a good profit.

CONCLUSION:
On your search for the ideal home based business, try not to get caught up in any scams that will run off with your money. There are thousands of scam artists out there just waiting for the next sucker to come along. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Just use your good judgement and invest wisely in proven methods of earning extra income.