A Dollar In Your Pocket And a Dream

That's the least you need to start your own online business. Well, that's what I started with and it doesn't have to be different with you.

In today's Information Age, we are bless to have such wonderful opportunities right at our fingertips. A brick and mortar business can cost you thousands of dollars to get off the ground, where as an online business can cost you zero dollars to start.

There are many companies that you can sign up and sell their products and services for a commission. They provide marketing tools, tracking software and product links all free of cost to you. You can then market for free through classified ads, articles and forums.

At sometime you will realize that you will need to invest some money in your online business to help speed up it's growth. As they say there is no free lunch, because all these stuff are available for free that does not means your success is also free. Your dollars will be well spent and will give you a more professional appearance.

For example, I know webmasters that purchase domain names just to market their affiliate products. I have seen people like Willie Crawford published an article with a web link embedded in it which redirects you to TheRichJerk.com. This is clearly an affiliate link presented in a professional format. And that domain may have cost Mr. Crawford just a few bucks.

Sorry if I have let any cat out of the bag but that's the way these people are making things happen. Here in my homeland of Jamaica, many are bewildered when I show them how easy it can be for them to start their own online business.

They are even more startled when they learn that they can set up a free website through Geocities or a free blog with Blogger and create a source of income. They can place pay per click ads or affiliate links on them and make some mail box money.

With economies around the world so unstable, it is imperative that you seek to create a stable source or multiple sources of income. And in today's world the easiest way to do so is with your own online business. All you need to start is a dollar in your pocket and a dream.

Author Bio
Nicholas Dixon is the owner of Oceanroc Classic Books. Visit his website www.Lulu.com/Oceanroc to learn more about The Blue Strategy of Sarah Jack

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By: Melody Campbell

If you're a small independent business owner it could serve you well to take a birds eye view of your entire money making process for your business.

1. Looking at this year's activity and make sure you've identified your most profitable customer - profile the characteristics that help you identify similar customers in the marketplace so that you develop your message specifically to target the customers with the characteristics you've identified as those of your most profitable customer.

In my promotional products business I want relational customers vs. transactional customers. All of my marketing and sales efforts are designed to attract the client that is looking for a trustworthy, reliable promotional products distributor with great ideas. The customer that wants a cheap transaction with no loyalty on either side of the table is probably not my customer and I'm not offended when they don't want to buy from me. As I've been doing business over the last 15 years I've identified the transactional customer as a time waster for me. I end up doing a lot of research and servicing of an account with very little profit.

2. Establish or fine tune the marketing message to the prospect you've identified with your profile as most likely to be your most profitable customer. Look at everything you are doing, saying and printing about and for your business - Is your message clearly spoken to the target customer?

3. Identify the most effective activity to reach your prospects and schedule that activity so that it happens consistently. If you bring customers in by running ads in your local newspaper then schedule them for the entire year. You get a better rate if you contract for a years worth of advertising.

If the activity that brings you business is your weekly email newsletter then sit down and plan your editorial calendar for the year and begin to write the articles now. You can always edit or add to them before you send them out for those written far in advance. By using autoresponders you can schedule the email newsletter well in advance.

If the activity that builds your customer base is face to face selling then you need to be sure that you are calling on customers to schedule appointments. You should identify how many prospects you need to call to get appointments, and how many appointments you need to create sales for your product.

4. Understand your sales cycle. Whether or not you are running ads, sending email or scheduling appointments you need to understand what happens and how long it takes to finally close the sale. The rule of thumb is "the more costly the investment the longer the sales cycle." No matter what you sales cycle is you need to plan your most productive activity to steadily continue to draw in new prospects while you're finalizing sales for other customers.

I have a few small business owners who ask if they should take the time to do this kind of review of their business plan every year. YES, in fact, do a mini version of this every week to be sure that you're on track and making money consistently. Your income will be consistent if you've

Take the time to do this review before the end of this year and give yourself the gift of more business next year.

Author Bio
Melody Campbell is The Small Business Guru. You can view more Small Business Owner Resources at The Small Business Guru website. Educate yourself for Success in the Core Competencies to becoming a Master Small Business Owner. New monthly membership trial for only $1 for the first 30 days! www.thesmallbusinessguru.com

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Many years ago, my wife ran book parties through a multi-level-marketing scheme. She was successful, met her goals and then pulled out. She made a bit of money, enjoyed herself and gathered a wonderful library for our growing family. She was, and there is no insult in this, an amateur.

Her parties were, like almost all MLM schemes, selling one company's product range. In her case, it was books published by that company, but I have various friends who have sold plastic-ware, telephone services, gas and electricity, clothing and goodness knows what else.

One friend did especially well for a while, until the company found itself no longer able to compete with high-street competitors and closed down. Its problem was that it did not develop its product range and manufacturing base fast enough and was overtaken by rivals. This flaw is inherent in almost all MLM schemes, with representatives at the front line relying on the quality of the company's product.

As far as I am aware only one scheme has come up with a good solution to this problem, but I'm sure others will follow. Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing (FHTM) is unique becuase it does not have any products of its own, but markets on behalf of other companies. This means that they can switch product providers and even different market areas. If a partner organisation cannot maintain the quality of service that customers expect, FHTM can (and does) switch to a better provider. If a partner does not keep up with the pace of change in the fast-moving world of communications, then a new partner is found. The number of partners and products expands and changes each year so that FHTM representatives (who are, as usual in MLM, actually independent) are never caught out. The product range always stays fresh, up to date and at the cutting edge.

Amazingly, the key is not in selling lots of products to lots of people, as is usually the case in party plans and most MLM schemes. Word-of-mouth selling is a lot cheaper than advertising and offering incentives - so much so that a partner company is prepared to pay a considerable sum for each new customer. The most efficient way of both grasping and sharing this wealth is for new representatives to become the new customers and then recruit new representatives to do likewise. Everybody in the network wins a share and nobody loses, which is the big difference from the dreaded pyramid selling.

Party plans will no doubt continue, as will many other MLM schemes, but the new breed of MLM will take the lion's share of the market in the next few years. The key is that it will draw in the most profitable and far-sighted representatives, leaving the traditional schemes to the amateurs. It will also attract many employed people who want to build a solid residual income. It is the way of things to come.

Author Bio
John Philip has been a writer, editor and educator for over 30 years. He now mainly provides consultancy to businesses, professions and public services and continues to work for befirstgroup.com, which offers writing and editorial services. He is also an independent representative for Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing, a unique marketing project.

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