Show Your Customers that You Care

If you have a web site that sells products or services, it is important that you show your customers that you care. Just like any other brick and mortar company in the real world, today's web site businesses depend on repeat visitors, quality products and customer service. If you are serious on building a long term ecommerce business online show your customers that you care.

A great way to show your customers that you care is to build a well organized web site that is easy to navigate. Make sure that you web site is easy on the eyes and looks professional. Do not have any popup ads on your web site or too many flash advertisements. One of the worst things that you can do is to welcome your visitors with a pop up and then 100 flashing advertisements. The site will look like a spam site and people will leave immediately.

Make sure the information that you give about your products and services is clear and concise. It is also important to make sure that your refund or exchange policy is clearly viewable and that there is an easy way for your customers to contact you if they have any problems. So if you are building long term business online, make sure that you show your customers that you care.
If you are a web developer or small businessman, it is tough to spread the word for your web site, product or service. Many people just don't have the budget to spend hundreds of dollars for advertising expenses. However if you are a little innovative, there are many ways that you can advertise your web site for free. Here are some tips.

To get your web site well known first do the obvious, make sure that your web site is optimized and submit it to all the major search engines and directories. While many web developers benefit from ranking high in the search engines, you will most likely need to do more to get traffic to your web site.

A great idea is viral marketing, creating an article or product that contains your back link and advertisement that is then submitted to thousands of people to freely download and post to their sites. Many people create valuable articles with their web site link and advertisement; they then post them on several highly trafficked article distribution sites. Within a few weeks you might see a rise in traffic using this technique.

There are also plenty of banner exchange sites, where you choose to show other peoples advertisement in exchange for others posting your advertisement or your banner on their web site. Banner exchanges do contribute to building traffic.

Another great idea is posting valuable information on web sites. If you contribute to a forum or blog, you can leave your signature which includes your product or web site link. This can also build a good reputation for your products and web sites. So if you want to build your web site but don't have a big budget, try some of these free advertising alternatives.

Shipping Software for Auction and Ecommerce Sites

If you are a small business and looking for a way to keep track of all your expenses and all the monies that you take in, you should look into online banking.

Online banking has revolutionized the banking industry. Less than a decade ago, people would have to run to the bank each day to check their balances and to check if checks or deposits were made into their account. Today making payments, transferring money and keeping track of your balance is as easy as pie. Online banking truly does offer the public and small businesses great services that are fast, friendly and reliable. Here are some popular services offered via online banking.

Send payments via the internet.
Many people no longer have to send checks in the mail to pay their bills, whether it is a bill for a supplier or a phone bill, you can easily pay it via your online banking account. Plus the cost is usually free with most accounts. You can easily pay each bill monthly or schedule bills to be paid at certain times of the month that are appropriate.

Transfer money between accounts.
If you hold several accounts and are constantly transferring money between them, then online banking is a great help. You can easily transfer money to different accounts automatically and instantly via online banking. Most instantaneous transfers take place within accounts at the same bank. Accounts at other banks usually take more time.

Find out your balance and account history.
If you are constantly checking your balance, and want to look up your account history, you can easily accomplish this with online banking.

So if you have a small business, switch to online banking to make your life easier.
Many people that start doing business online usually are amazed at how complicated it can get to send out a few packages each day. If you are selling lots of merchandise and do not have the proper software you can be wasting your time and creating big headaches for yourself. Here are some tips on choosing shipping software for auction and ecommerce sites.

There are several great shipping products that can make your ecommerce site and auction site business run smoothly. Most shipping software is inexpensive, easy to use and filled with great features.

You can usually find great shipping software that costs only a few cents a day to use. Many larger businesses can purchase shipping software with important features for less than $50 each month. Depending on the size of your business will determine the shipping software necessary.

Whether you run a stand alone database or pull sales information from an Ebay payment processing program, shipping software can cut the time it takes to create labels, calculate postage and keep records to minutes each day.

Many shipping software programs work flawlessly with other great ecommerce packages and can have you completely automated so that selling your items online can be economical. Some of the larger shipping programs also offer great customer support so that if you have a glitch or an important question you can get help and your questions answered immediately. So if you are looking for a great way to automate your online auction site or ecommerce business look into shipping software.

Motivational Seminars

If you are looking to start your own small business but don't know what to sell, here are some tips on where to find great start up business ideas.

Many people fail to realize that there are thousands of great business ideas right in front of their eyes, you just have to know where to look. For instance, looking to find a great item to sell on large auction sites, the best place to find items to sell on auction sites is to look carefully at these sites. The best thing about Ebay is that all the sales data is right in front of you. Look through the different categories and find a product that is selling well.

You can look at how many of these products are selling, daily or weekly, how many merchants are selling this product, and how much money does each product usually sell for. Selling an item with this type of information makes the entire process much easier. This information is far too valuable to pass up. If you still have questions, hit the merchant forums. There are always interesting posts on how to find great products and to get the latest buzz on what categories are hot. So if you are looking for start up business items, take a look at the above tips.
If you need to be inspired or to learn a skill that can help you back at the office, then you should look into motivational seminars. Motivational seminars are a great way to improve the morale and performance of your managers, coworkers or small business entrepreneurs. Here are some tips on motivational seminars.

Many people find that motivational seminars can have a profound affect on their lives. Motivational seminars teach people how to achieve their goals in life and work and can be extremely positive to your morale and relationships with other people.

Most seminars are very affordable and usually cost less than $100 per day. Depending on the topic and the speaker, a motivational seminar can last for one day or many days. Many successful people either run motivational seminars or are guests at them. You might want to choose a motivational seminar where many successful and famous people speak, giving the audience lots of insights and ways to cope with their obstacles in order to achieve. Most motivational seminars are located in bigger cities or at top corporate or vacation spots where it is easy for people to relax and congregate. If you would like to achieve in your personal or business life, look into attending motivational seminars.

Start a Business With Little or No Money- Part 6

As we discussed in the previous parts, having a great work history and ethic does not guarantee that you will retain your job. There are many culprits to blame, such as changing economic times, technology replacing humans works, and outsourcing work to foreign companies. The only real way that you ca retain your job is not put yourself in the position to be fired. This may seem impossible, but is really quite simple. You have to become your own boss.

Perhaps you are not worried about loosing your job, but you realize that you will never have the chance to advance any further in the company you are working for. Your monetary resources are capped out, and you will not be able to provide any better of a lifestyle for you and your family unless your pay increases. Again, the only way you will be in total control of your finances is to become your own boss.

The only way to be the boss is to start your own business. "But I do not have very much money, if any at all." you say. Well in today's culture there are quite a few businesses that can be started for little or no money at all. This is not a get rich quick scheme, I am not saying that you will be making five grand a month from the very beginning, but I am telling you, that no matter the amount of money that you have, you should still be able to start a business without much fuss.

Here are some more examples of businesses that require little or no money up front:

Apartment and Rental House Preparation

Local real estate agencies that host rental properties as well may hire make ready services for their properties. The best thing about this job is the fact that they typically supply all the tools and materials needed to complete the job.

Make ready services complete not technical services such as cleaning, painting, and small handy work (replacing door handles, light bulbs, etc).

Talk with your local apartment complexes and real estate agencies. You may also consider placing an ad in your local newspaper as well.

Restaurant Delivery Service

Restaurant deliverers, take orders by phone for local restaurants, go pick up the food, and then deliver the food the office or home of the person wanting it.

The only thing you will need is the vehicle in which to transport the food.

You may want to consider a detailed flyer stating the businesses you will pick up from, or a website that contains the complete menus of each. Talk with local businesses about possibly referring you to their customers.

By collecting a delivery charge and tip, the owner makes a substantial amount of money.

Valet Parking

Valet parking is simply the act of driving a person vehicle to a designated area to save the walk.

Local businesses may need valet parking at different times. You will want to contact then so they know that your service are available.

Businesses that offer event planning may also have an interest in your services and may call whenever you are needed.

No only will you receive a fee from the business for providing the service, but the majority of people who use valet parking will pay a tip as well.

Just let your local businesses that your services are available.
If you are starting a small business, or have a small business that is starting to expand, you probably want to look into incorporating your business to make it a separate legal entity from yourself. Creating a corporation or LLC (Limited Liability Company) is a great way to lessen the liability that can occur if your business fails or another party sues your business. Here are some tips on some easy ways to incorporate your business.

Incorporating your business is actually a quite simple procedure. Many people can either incorporate their business on their own or have a lawyer incorporate your business for you.

If you decide to incorporate your business on your own, check out incorporation guide books that have all the information to incorporate your business in the state that you choose. You can easily complete the forms and send them to your government office. You can incorporate your business or start an LLC for less than $200 and that includes choosing your businesses name.

If you don't feel like going it alone, you can hire a lawyer that will incorporate your business fast and easy. Most lawyers will charge you less than $500 and fill out the necessary paperwork as well as register your businesses name for you. So if you are looking to start a small business or expanding your present business, look into incorporating it.

Scams to Avoid Online

If you surf the web, have a web site or ecommerce site, or sell on auction sites, you should be prepared to be scammed. There are thousands of hackers trying to hack your computer, business or scam you out of money each and everyday, here are some tips that help you avoid scams.

There are major ways to avoid scams and hackers online. Have a powerful antivirus program running all the time, do not click on any links that you are not aware of, and if doing business online, never pay with sources other than check, money order or Paypal. You can cut down your risk to being scammed by following these three tips.

Virus software will help you protect you from general viruses as well as spyware and Trojan horses. Trojan horses are small programs that are inadvertently downloaded and find personal information which is then sent to a database online.

Do not click on links that seem suspicious. You can download a Trojan horse or give away your personal and financial information to an entity other than which was stated. If you do business on auction sites, never accept money or merchandise off the auction site and don't pay with Western Union or Cash. Western Union can not guarantee your payment and many times, it is used for scamming purposes. So follow the above tips to avoid being scammed.
One of the most important functions in any online business is the ability to sell your product. Many small businesses fail not because they have a bad product or service, but because they do not know how to sell their product. One of the easiest ways to sell a product or service is to put together a list of leads or people that fit your market that may be interested in your product.

Many salespeople work hard to put together a list of possible customers. Putting together a list takes lots of time, smarts and plenty of hard work. One of the easiest ways to put together a list is just to buy one, while some lists are a good value, if you are selling a certain product or to a certain list of people, you may find that lists are extremely expensive and usually worth the time and effort to create one yourself.

There are many ways to put together a list. One of the easiest ways to create a list is to set up a web site on a specific topic and offer a free product, service or newsletter. However, in order to get the newsletter, the visitor must submit his or her email address. Depending on the amount of traffic, over a few months you can receive hundreds or even thousands of email addresses that are interested in receiving information on products or services. If you are looking to build your business by developing your contacts, check out the above tips on putting together a list.

Start a Business With Little or No Money- Part 6

If you have a web site that you would like to monetize, one of the best ways to create profit is to sell other merchant products on your site. The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you share the commission when you either produce a sale for them or produce a lead to their web site. The affiliate merchant sells the product, collects the money, and then sends you the commission once or twice a month.

There are many affiliate marketing sites, each with their own products and each with their own ways to pay their affiliates that sell for them. Some of the well known affiliate sites are Commission Junction, Clickbank, Amazon and PaydotCom.

If your web sites can reach lots of visitors that buy your featured affiliate products you can make lots of profit each month. Many top affiliate sites make thousands of dollars each month just by having their visitors buy other merchants affiliate products.

Most affiliate marketing sites are free to join for affiliates and can be free or cost a few thousand dollars for merchants wanting their products to be sold. Affiliate marketing sites usually just require your contact information and bank information if you would like direct deposit each month or bimonthly to your account. If you would like to monetize your site, look into affiliate marketing sites.
As we discussed in the previous parts, having a great work history and ethic does not guarantee that you will retain your job. There are many culprits to blame, such as changing economic times, technology replacing humans works, and outsourcing work to foreign companies. The only real way that you ca retain your job is not put yourself in the position to be fired. This may seem impossible, but is really quite simple. You have to become your own boss.

Perhaps you are not worried about loosing your job, but you realize that you will never have the chance to advance any further in the company you are working for. Your monetary resources are capped out, and you will not be able to provide any better of a lifestyle for you and your family unless your pay increases. Again, the only way you will be in total control of your finances is to become your own boss.

The only way to be the boss is to start your own business. "But I do not have very much money, if any at all." you say. Well in today's culture there are quite a few businesses that can be started for little or no money at all. This is not a get rich quick scheme, I am not saying that you will be making five grand a month from the very beginning, but I am telling you, that no matter the amount of money that you have, you should still be able to start a business without much fuss.

Here are some more examples of businesses that require little or no money up front:

Apartment and Rental House Preparation

Local real estate agencies that host rental properties as well may hire make ready services for their properties. The best thing about this job is the fact that they typically supply all the tools and materials needed to complete the job.

Make ready services complete not technical services such as cleaning, painting, and small handy work (replacing door handles, light bulbs, etc).

Talk with your local apartment complexes and real estate agencies. You may also consider placing an ad in your local newspaper as well.

Restaurant Delivery Service

Restaurant deliverers, take orders by phone for local restaurants, go pick up the food, and then deliver the food the office or home of the person wanting it.

The only thing you will need is the vehicle in which to transport the food.

You may want to consider a detailed flyer stating the businesses you will pick up from, or a website that contains the complete menus of each. Talk with local businesses about possibly referring you to their customers.

By collecting a delivery charge and tip, the owner makes a substantial amount of money.

Valet Parking

Valet parking is simply the act of driving a person vehicle to a designated area to save the walk.

Local businesses may need valet parking at different times. You will want to contact then so they know that your service are available.

Businesses that offer event planning may also have an interest in your services and may call whenever you are needed.

No only will you receive a fee from the business for providing the service, but the majority of people who use valet parking will pay a tip as well.

Just let your local businesses that your services are available.