Digital Work Without Boss Blog

Archive for September 13th, 2009

Do you lack funds for your online business development? You might think that there tare plenty methods to market on the internet but they also contain some pitfalls unless you are an expert in it. So how can you begin to build a intense online presence without investing too much money to start out? Even if you don’t believe that a solution exists here is some information on how article marketing can help you.

Primary, think of what are people looking for when they go online? Usually people are searching for requested info, and they want it to be relevant. Even people who plan on purchasing things will will browse the internet to get more data on the product before buying. As to that, if if you can create a good contentwhich these people will find interesting and thought provoking, you can be confident that you will be able to get your offer in front of them.

When writing an article for online marketing take into consideration the fact that readers must not read it from top to bottom. That is why you should commence with opening of the article give an idea why it is worth reading. The best method is using questions as in the introduction to the article you are reading right now. This will give reader an idea what need is going to be fulfilled by reading the article.

Once you have their attention you have got only several seconds to show how you will do what you have promised. In other words, you should make sure that there is useful information in each of the paragraphs and that each of them leads the reader to the next. The paragraph shouldn’t exceed five sentences and are best presented in the form of steps. For instance, each paragraph is a step of five step technique.

To sum up, try to interest the readers in the way which will make them press the link and go to your website page. For instance, if you are a SEO Agency, invite readers to go to your site and have a Live SEO Agency Chat to discuss the problems with Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search Campaign. Though, be aware that, don’t overfill people with information you give them they will have no reason to continue after the article. The best tactics is to to make a statement in the introduction and to restate it in the conclusion. In this way you will remind them that there is something else for them to know and they will stay with you to find it out.
So, put this into practice and get started on marketing your online business.

Hosting plan choice is a major step when you choose to start up a website.  In prior posts I discussed choosing a domain name and creation of web pages.  Now let’s talk a little about hosting:  Choosing a hosting plan is a primary step in launching your fledgling web presence.

Once you have created the pages for your website, now you want to publish it to the internet.  In order to do so, you will need a hosting plan.  By purchasing a domain name you have branded, or named your website.  You own the name, but now you must pay rent to someone to actually get your website online.  With a hosting plan you will be paying a service provider to publish your website on the internet for all to see.  This article covers what to look for in a hosting plan.

SERVICE  The number one thing to look for in a hosting plan is service.  Bells and whistles and fancy features will do you no good if you can’t get customer service in a timely fashion.  Once your website is live on the internet you will want it to be up all the time.  Strategically the best thing you can do for your website upfront is to choose a hosting company that is reliable in terms of customer service as well as “uptime”.

UPTIME  What is the hosting company’s “uptime guarantee”? The better hosting providers will offer up to 99% uptime.  Even at 99% average uptime it can mean that your website will be off the internet for over 7 hours per month. The best hosting providers will have a track record of up to 99.9% uptime, which essentially guarantees you that downtime is negligible or even non-existent.

SIZE  How large will the website be?  The amount of disk space all of your website’s pages takes up will determine the size of the hosting plan you will need.  If your website will be media rich with videos or music or photo files, or a large e-commerce site with a lot of catalogue pages, you will have to take space into consideration as a criteria for choosing the right hosting plan.

LINUX OR WINDOWS  Which operating system should your hosting plan use?  This question has no relevance to the brand of operating system you are using on your computer.  The determining factor here is what programming language was used to design the website.  For example, if CGI or PHP programming language was used, the best choice for the hosting operating system would be Linux.  For a website designed with ASP, the best choice would be Windows.  For the novice user who is building a simple html website the above may not be a consideration at first, but may become important later on as you become more experienced and add more features to your website.

TRAFFIC  Will you be expecting lots of visitors to your website?  Most hosting providers sell their hosting plans on a sliding scale according to bandwith usage.  Obviously more bandwidth is better because it allows more visitors to visit your site, but at the beginning this will be hard for you to gauge.  Usually the best way to proceed here is to start with a basic low bandwidth plan, and upgrade later as the traffic begins to flow to the website.

SHARED OR DEDICATED HOSTING  The question of shared vs. dedicated hosting is really answered in a very simple way:  First a brief description of shared hosting, which is sharing space on a server with dozens or perhaps hundreds of other websites.  The main factor here is that you will have no control over the operating system, database structure, etc., and will have to work within the structure setup by the hosting provider.  Dedicated or virtual dedicated hosting is different in the sense that you will have full control over the environment that your website resides in, and you will have the only access to that space.  Dedicated server hosting gives you full control over setup of the operating system and auxilliary programs such as database management or shopping cart or database management software.  This type of hosting is definitely geared to the more advanced user, and usually you won’t be able to get as much customer support because it will be a custom setup.  The best advice I can give to the newbie is to use shared hosting at first, until you gain more experience and abilities and are ready to take the plunge into something as advanced as dedicated hosting.

At StartYourWebsiteToday.com our uptime guarantee is 99.9% and we offer 24/7 customer service.  We also have a selection of shared, dedicated, and virtual dedicated hosting plans to suit all budgets and sizes and types of websites. To see what is available, click HERE: Hosting plans.

Although we have all heard about home based business scams, credulity still remains an issue as many people can’t believe it could happen to them. There are as many scams as there are ideas and opportunities to make money at home and most of the dangers lurk on the Internet. Here are a few things that should give a warning and help you avoid scams and scammers when working online.

First of all, you should start by never believing those who claim that the home based business solutions they have for you generate hundreds if not thousands of dollars every week. Plus, they claim that one needs no work experience to earn the money. However, few such sites actually tell one what exactly the job is about; further details are available only if you pay a fee or if you make call at a provided phone number.

Yes, it’s possible to earn a lot of money with a home based business but only in time, with plenty of effort and real experience in the activity field you cover. Those who claim that experience is not necessary lie, therefore, do not rush for easy-made money as only winning at the lottery and or getting an inheritance bring unexpected wealth. Yet, this is not the only lie you are being told by scammers. At a close look at the sites that advertise for wonder home based business solutions, you’ll be confused by lots of capitalized words and plenty of blah blah and testimonials of people who really made it!

The faking of the success stories function as a means of manipulation, instigating the desire to get wealthy that lies in every subconscious. Lots of marketing techniques are put together into the design of such web sites that fool you into believing in the land of fortune and claim to bring guru info in all the activity sectors specific to a home based business. This is an advertising scam meant to confuse the naive searcher and make him/her pay for a package, download option or some other minor service that will reveal its marketing power.

The most common of investments required for home based business launching is a tax for a comprehensive list of companies who employ home workers. Two more types of messages that should warn you there is something wrong with an offer are related to the negative feeling you get because of not answering the invitation. It may feel like only $15 stand between you and the chance of a lifetime, but you are too afraid to be successful.

Or in the least aggressive of cases you are invited by a friend, colleague or relative to a reunion where you’ll be offered the chance to enter a great business by purchasing a product and promoting it further on.

Start With One Of These Training Courses To Learn How To Make Money Online With Affiliate Marketing

The first make money online course which I highly can recommend and personally know that it isn’t a scam is the Google Conquest Authority training course. If you want to know what it’s all about, check out my Google Conquest Authority Review.

The Dominating Niches training course by Chris Freville is another excellent course I can highly recommend and know for sure that it isn’t a scam. If you want to know what it’s all about check out my Dominating Niches Review.

The Secret Cash Blueprint course is a highly recommended guide and for sure no scam which shows you secret techniques to start making money online as an affiliate marketers. Visit my site about this course and check out my in depth Secret Cash Blueprint Review to get an idea what this course is all about.

Why should you bother?

Good customer service is the life blood of any business. Although new customers are important good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business is likely to win many more customers through recommendations and remember, if you are not taking care of your customers, your competition will.

Online customer satisfaction surveys will help you not only identify problem areas but will also demonstrate to your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide.

Where to start?

Objective – Before you start compiling your survey you should first consider what the objectives of the survey are, in that way you will remain focused and find it easier to decide what questions to ask.

Analysis – Once the survey has been completed consider how you will analyse the answers.

Keep in mind that ‘closed’ questions (where the respondent is asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than ‘open’ questions (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want).

A great deal will depend on the likely volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results.

Opportunity – As well as obtaining valuable market research data keep in mind that customer surveys are also a good way to advertise areas of your service that your customers may not be aware of.

Before publishing the survey read through the survey from a market research view point to confirm that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that your chosen answer format will provide you with feedback that will allow you to make informed decisions.

Then, read through the survey from a marketing view point, check that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business?

The ideal question will perform the following three functions:-

• Market research – provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business
• Marketing – promote aspects of your business
• Information/Education – advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of

For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful?

By asking this question not only will the store receive good feedback on the facility they provide but they will also advertise their baby changing facilities and promote themselves as a family friendly store beyond those customers who have a specific need for the facility provided.

Warts and all – be prepared to accept criticism.

A customer satisfaction survey should be designed to highlight problems so that they can be addressed; regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and will also give early warning on where your competitors initiatives may be losing you business.

What are the questions you should ask?

Depending on their own particular size and makeup each business is likely to have unique factors in relation to providing good customer services however there are common areas relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online store or a service industry. The following are key areas to providing good customer service.

Communication – Are you proactive in making it easy for the customer to communicate with you?

When a customer telephones is the phone answered promptly; are enquiries about products or services properly handled? Good businesses will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, politely, quickly and fairly.

If there are reported problems that cannot be resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise?

Use a customer satisfaction survey to check that your customers find your staff to be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable.

Location – Are you doing everything you can to ensure that your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical store, does it have good access and is it conveniently located?

Making it pleasant, making it easy – For a virtual business it is important to ensure that your website is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing.

Regardless of the store being a bricks and mortar or purely online web based store, is the store properly laid out and can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient detailed information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?

The right quality products – In addition to measuring the quality of the service that you provide you should ensure that the products and services that you provide do in fact match your customers’ requirements.

Value for money – Cheap or expensive is not always a good measure, value for money is.

Do your customers consider that the products you sell or the services you provide are value for money, if not, why not?

Speed and attention – Customers want to be dealt with quickly but attentively.

Are you doing everything you can to avoid any delay?

A good business will try to treat each customer as an individual, does yours? Attention is one thing but this has to be hand- in-hand with a quick and satisfactory resolution of the query.

Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example their gender, age group and where they live?

The better you understand your customers the more you will be able to properly target your business.

Encourage customers to highlight their specific problems and provide contact details so that their concerns can be followed up.

What is next?

Having completed the survey analyse the results.

Trends – Identify specific and common areas where the customer service is failing.

Ask yourself honestly if any criticism that you receive is valid and if there anything that can be done to resolve or minimise the problem?

Training – Are the staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge?

Where customer service training programs have been implemented have they had the desired effect and improved the customer experience?

Follow-up – If a customer who has completed a survey has raised a specific issue do all you can to ensure that their complaint is addressed.

Don’t waste an opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer.

Continuously Monitor – Based on the survey results make changes and then re-measure by issuing further surveys.

If you are interested in tracking customer satisfaction and would like to see a sample survey for a store that demonstrates some of the above advice please view the following example that can be used as a customer satisfaction survey template.

• 10 People You Won’t See on Twitter Anymore http://bit.ly/INlfL #
• Updated list of IM Giveaways (September,13) http://bit.ly/i9q75 via @addthis #
• Join the Product Creation Giveaway with Odinn Sorensen and Micheal Savoie http://productcreationgiveaway.com/partners/id/29 #
• New blog post: ClickBank Cash System – The Ultimate Set-And-Forget System Bring 1000s Dollars To You Daily http://bit.ly/ZUJOh #

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• 10 People You Won’t See on Twitter Anymore http://bit.ly/INlfL #
• Updated list of IM Giveaways (September,13) http://bit.ly/i9q75 via @addthis #
• Join the Product Creation Giveaway with Odinn Sorensen and Micheal Savoie http://productcreationgiveaway.com/partners/id/29 #
• New blog post: ClickBank Cash System – The Ultimate Set-And-Forget System Bring 1000s Dollars To You Daily http://bit.ly/ZUJOh #

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