Maintaining a Positive Attitude Is Good For Business

Maintaining a Positive Attitude Is Good For Business

And the end result of managing your time properly should be fostering the right attitude for business. Here are six ways to build a positive attitude.

1. Be Committed

It took me a couple of years to reach the point I’m at now. I could have given up any time before I got here and I had a million different reasons for doing so. But I knew what I wanted and stuck it out. That’s the first key to success.

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2. Accept Challenges

Being your own boss and owner of your own online business can be scary and a bit intimidating. It takes guts to leave a 9 to 5 job and start your own online empire. It takes guts to have a dream and to go for it. You ultimately determine whether your business succeeds or fail.

3. Be In Control

Keep your mind focused on important things. Set goals and priorities for what you want to do and accomplish. Develop a strategy for dealing with potential problems—and when those problems surface, feel confident in your ability to handle them. The worst you can do is fail.

4. Don’t be too Critical

There is no use criticizing yourself once you’ve made a mistake. Saying “I should have landed that account or handled that situation differently” is not going to make any difference at all. It’s just going to drain you of your energy and discourage you. Simply learn from your mistakes and move on.

5. Practice Makes Perfect

And stop worrying about getting everything right. It’s not going to happen. If Time Warner can buy AOL, you can create a website that bleeds cash. Just keep trying.

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6. Ask for Help

You want to work for yourself not by yourself. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. Don’t think you’re incompetent simply because you can’t do it all. Professionals hire other professionals to do the job properly. Don’t be afraid to bring in a specialist when you need it.

 

If I have to warn you that there’s nothing more important than getting the work/family balance right, then the chances are you’re going to learn the hard way. I went into this for the money. But there’s no question that the greatest benefit my business has given me is the extra free time I have to spend with my family. I’m sure if I put that time into building more websites or creating more products, I’d make more money.

But there’s more to life than money.

You can also see that the following myths are simply untrue:

Your site has to have millions of page views to make money.

It doesn’t. Small sites with good conversion ratios can make more cash than large sites with lots of click-through traffic.

Ad revenue and affiliate revenue don’t make money.
It’s easy to make money: just put up a website and the money will roll in.

They do, if you know how to use them.

If only that were true! Making money on the Web takes time, effort and investment.

Creating a Weekly Schedule

Creating a Weekly Schedule

Do you work from home?  If so, your ability to manage time is important to your success.  When marketing a website where you sell a product, service, or have affiliate links displayed, traffic can translate into dollars.  So, the more you market the more money you make, but you must have good use of your time.

In terms of improving time management, there are many available approaches.  Some rely on the use of to-do lists, others use desktop calendars, time management software programs, alarm clocks, and schedules.  Each of these approaches are nice, but try a weekly internet marketing schedule.  Chances are, you will like the results.

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Before seeing samples on how you can create an internet marketing weekly schedule, it is important to know why.  There are hundreds of ways to market or advertise a website online.  You want to implement each of these steps, but it is impossible for you to do so in one day.  That is why you need to rely on time management.  It allows you to effectively work and produce quality results, which should translate into income.

The first step in creating a weekly internet marketing schedule is to decide how you want to make your schedule.  Three options include by hand, in Microsoft Word or Works, or with a spreadsheet.  Each method has its pros and cons.

When creating a weekly schedule by hand, you write everything out.  This means that you are more familiar with all the items on your list.  You will still need to consult it, but many like seeing their own handwriting.

When creating a schedule in Microsoft Word, you type as opposed to write.  This is great if you have poor handwriting.  If you quickly write a schedule, you may later be left wondering what it was you wrote.  You don’t have this problem with typed schedules and to-do lists.

When creating a schedule in a spreadsheet, you gain access to one of the greatest organizational tools.  Spreadsheets are designed to promote organization, so your schedule will be organized.  As previously stated, typed documents are easier to read and reference than handwritten ones.

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If you opt for creating a weekly internet marketing schedule by hand, you can create a list or a chart.  A list may be easier.  Start with large headings for each day of the week.  Underneath each heading, write a task.  For example, do you want to write five pages of web copy on Monday?  If so, add that underneath the day’s heading.

If you opt for creating a weekly internet marketing schedule in Microsoft Word, you can also use a chart or a list.  When opting for a chart, you are technically inserting a table.  Have five columns for each day of the week.  You can have as many rows as you want.  The more tasks you intend to complete each day, the more rows you need.  Hit enter to make each row larger in size.  Enter in your daily tasks or print and handwrite.

If you opt for an internet marketing schedule in a spreadsheet, you are provided with less freedom.  This does, however, make creating a schedule easier.  Once again, create a total of five headings in each column. This is for the days of the weeks.  In the row, type in what tasks you want to complete on each day.  Your list may look unproportioned if your to-list is longer on certain days.

When using a spreadsheet to create your internet marketing schedule for the week, you are limited on space.  Large columns will result in multiple pages, which can be difficult to read.  So, you can use abbreviations.  For example, $ 5 ads can translate into arrange to buy five advertisements on applicable websites.

In conclusion, there are many ways for you to create a weekly internet marketing schedule, no matter what your preferences are.  As for why you should.  Remember, a schedule gives you more time to market your website, as you have a guide to follow.  More marketing can translate into more money.

What’s Your Passion?

What’s Your Passion?

notes-on-boardOkay, you’ve decided you want to make money with Affiliate Marketing. So, you join some affiliate programs and start submitting free ads to newsletters and free advertising classifieds sites. You’re going to make BIG money now — right?

Nope! Sorry! Just sending out a few ads is not going to do it. Not if you want to be a real success.

You must first determine your passion. I mean other than making the money! What is your hobby? What do you know how to do REALLY well? What is your job? Everyone has something that is their own special talent. Find yours.

You probably have more than one thing that you are very interested in and do well. See if you can find five (ten if you’re really ambitious). Write them down in a list. Remember, you are going to be spending a lot of time working with this subject. Make sure you enjoy it!

Go down each item on your list. Start writing a rough outline of everything you know about the topic. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. This is just to give you an idea of how much information is available for a given subject.

what's-your-passionTry mind mapping. Write down the main subject of your idea. Draw a circle around it. Now, start thinking of sub-categories that are related to your main category. Draw a line from your main category and end it with a circle. Put the sub-category title inside this circle. Find as many sub-categories (and sub-sub-categories) as you can.

Go through each of your interests with this procedure. Choose the one that you know the most about and that you can write about comfortably.
What if you “think” you don’t know enough about your topic? Then, do some research. Read books and magazines. Do some searches on the Internet. Who knows? You might find an area, a niche, that is just waiting for you to fill it with useful information.

There’s a lot more to affiliate marketing, of course. But the first step is to find your passion. Your “passion” doesn’t have to be making money on the Internet. It can be cooking, sewing, billiards, or whatever. In fact, it’s better if you find a niche that isn’t in the online marketing arena because that’s what nearly everyone else is doing.

Make your topic unique. Make it yours. And make it your passion. It will pay you well.

Who’s Afraid Of Internet Marketing?

Who’s Afraid Of Internet Marketing?

It’s no wonder so many business owners have the ultimate desire to employee a marketing director. There are so many different means and methods to marketing a company to the public it can be difficult, at best, to mange them all and run a business

person-using-macbookThere are certain elements that share a commonality between traditional marketing and online marketing, but there are elements to Internet marketing that may seem foreign to the sensibilities of a traditional marketing specialist.

Some of the more common themes are news items such as press releases that encourage the news media and interested individuals to keep up your firm’s latest news. There is also the general commonality of simply getting your name in front of people. The differences often come in the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of marketing and not the ‘what’ and ‘should’.

Most businesses understand the need to get people tuned into what their business is doing. Long standing brick and mortar marketing principles would suggest traditional media outlets such as newsprint, radio or television as obvious choices. While these media outlets certainly have a place in marketing, the bulk of successful Internet marketing happens online.

Marketing for the web requires an understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques along with linkable connections scattered throughout the web. What this means is that every time you post on a blog or forum you should make sure a link to your business is included in the signature box. This also means you ask business associates to consider placing a link to your site on their websites.

internet-marketingOne of the most cost effective means of advertising your online business will be Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. This is one of the smallest advertisements you will ever see, but they are highly targeted so you have the best chance of reaching prospects that can be turned to customers.

Internet marketing may also mean developing knowledge-based articles or ezines that can readily connect with your customers. Many site owners have either personally developed articles or hired a freelance writer to produce an ebook on the subject of their business that can be passed along to members of their site either through autoresponders or as part of an opt-in membership. These members help you establish a mailing list online. List building techniques include offering a freebie to customers and often result in a very low cost means of growing your contact list.

Internet marketing is vitally important to the establishment and growth of your ecommerce site, but it may require learning a new language and developing new marketing skills. If you can’t afford a marketing specialist you can still learn the skills needed to grow your site into a premier online ecommerce destination.

Affiliate Marketing In Perspective

Affiliate Marketing In Perspective

What is affiliate marketing on the internet? It is a derivative of internet marketing where one is paid for every customer or sales provided by him. Affiliate marketing is a basic element in most of internet marketing strategies.

affiliate-marketingAffiliate marketing involves the use of affiliate management companies, in-house affiliate managers, and third party vendors, who use e-mail Marketing, Search Engine Marketing and RRS Capturing and Display Advertising, to ensure the success of the product. Web traffic, being critical to online marketing, can be traced with the help of a third party or own affiliate programs. Yes, this process requires a lot of effort. When it first started, this method involved a lot of spamming, false advertising, trademark infringement, etc. With the invention of complex algorithms and enhanced security that make it safer for doing business online, affiliate marketing became more popular as it offered more opportunities. However, at the same time, affiliate marketing has also increased the competition in marketing.

Such pressure led to the introduction of out-sourced programs. These services are offered by companies with expert affiliate and network program managers, who have various affiliate program management techniques. In addition, these affiliate networks also have association with publishers to help them on the advertising aspect.

When was affiliate marketing started? It was started by cdnow.com that had websites related at music. A list of music albums can be found on the website. One is paid if he put those links in his website and a visitor bought an album through his site. Shortly, a woman approached Amazon with a similar marketing strategy. The woman would sell Amazon’s books on her website and she would be paid a certain percentage in return if she sold Amazon’s books through her site. This triggered the Amazon’s associate program.

Affiliate network started to gain popularity and has since been adopted by different businesses, such as travel, education, telecom, retail and subscription sites, just to name a few.

man-using-laptopThe compensation methods vary from one affiliate program to another. Amongst the methods, we have the Cost per Sale (CPS), Cost per action (CPA), Cost per mile (CPM) and Cost per click (CPC). The CPS and CPA are most commonly used today. In CPM and CPC, the advertiser may not capture the target audience as a click would be enough to generate commission. On the other hand, for CPS and CPA, the visitor has to click the link and buy something or sign up for some services, which proves that he is among the target audience, before the affiliate is being paid. What is important here is to send as much targeted traffic as possible to the advertiser in order to increase his returns. Therefore, affiliate marketing is also known as performance marketing because the success of the product really depends on the performance of the affiliate. Is there a difference between an affiliate team and a sales team? Yes, from the nature of the job! It is the job of an affiliate team to generate traffic, and it is the job of the sales team to follow on from there, to influence the visitor to buy the product.

Affiliate marketing is very effective and many businesses have shared and attributed their successes to this method of marketing.