small business tips
Below, we outline why a Cheap Business Website can be a very bad idea!
If things change quickly in business, they change even more quickly on the Internet. From Dec 2009 new American FTC laws changed forever the way we do business over the internet.
If you do not sell in America, this does not affect you (unless of course, you do not have the mandatory legal documents for your country on your site). BUT, if you sell internationally you need to keep reading. And no matter where you sell, adopting USA legal protections probably offers good cover anywhere.
Practices that have not changed since 1980, and are standard usage in many businesses, ARE affected.
Even the truth will not protect you. If, for example, you sell a weight loss product and you have fully documented proof that someone lost 60 kilos in 3 months – using that as a testimonial WILL get you in hot water if you sell in the USA after 1 Dec 2009.
Even the old “results not typical” disclaimer no longer protects you. To understand why, and what the problems are with commissions and endorsements, check the link below.
Please click here to see how this could affect your small business website
And why could a cheap business website destroy You and Your Business? Because most web designers are not business people and do not need to do your Risk Evaluations for you; most web designers have no idea the FTC is even doing this. And if you are considering buying a small business website from a moonlighter rather than a pro …
But of course, there is a solution. Check out the solution I use to protect my small business website by clicking on “Legal – please read” at the top of this page. If you buy our $495 version, all of these forms are included. If you are only selling locally in Australia and not making any outrageous claims you may not need legal forms on your website, but we can provide them as an optional extra on the versions below our $495 bestseller website.
Of course, you will probably be tempted to just copy the legal stuff on my site. The guy I purchased this from, Internet lawyer Mike Young, is President of the Internet Attorneys Association. If you want to mess with guys like Mike, that’s your business. Me, I choose to pay him. Paying Mike: Cheap. Being fined by the FTC: Very expensive. Being sued for breach of copyright … You do not even want to think about it 😉
Income opportunities still abound on today’s internet and within the small business world. Now, more than ever, it is possible to launch your own small business website and actually be successful. You can even incorporate a brick and mortar storefront into an online market. Sell Public Label Rights, create your own information exchange, even earn passive income through programs such as affiliate programs and click-throughs.
You can sell directly to your customers and obtain instant feedback from them so that you can improve and grow your small business website even further. The opportunities are limitless. There are, however some pitfalls that you should avoid when building, nurturing, growing and maintaining your small business. Any of these can cause all of your efforts at the growth of your business to crumble. When pursuing those income opportunities worth millions, keep these then handy tips in mind.
1. Cheap or free web hosts make you look unprofessional and cheap. Consider your small business website an investment. If you want results then your website should have a professional appearance.
2. Unnecessary additions will drive away customers. Extensively graphical, sound, flash and other extras can make your page slow to load. Some browsers can’t handle your graphics or other extras unless the customer downloads a plug in. They will just go elsewhere.
3. Ignoring your customers is death to a company. When you do not ask for your customer’s feedback and ignore their inquiries, questions and comments, you are sending a message to the customer that they are not important to you.
4. Failure to manage your time. Time management is crucial to your productivity and success. Your time is money and spending your time on frivolous activities will cause you to lose valuable time that will cause you to lose those income opportunities worth millions.
5. Not paying attention to the quality of your emails that you send to prospects and customers. Your correspondence is a direct reflection of your small business. At least spell check your work and make sure that your writing is grammatically correct. Try to present a million dollar image.
6. Not keeping in touch with your customers and prospects with opt-in lists. Create an opt-in list for your customers and prospects so that you can inform them about site updates, new products, sales, special deals and information.
7. Don’t ruin your business’s reputation with advertising that is inappropriate. Keep your reputation pristine by refraining from spam and other unwanted correspondence.
8. You can not achieve success without marketing. All income opportunities worth millions are based on marketing. You have to market in order to gain ground and be successful. And a small business website at the prices we charge is a no-brainer!
9. You won’t get rich overnight. Just like any other kind of business, an online business must be nurtured and grown in steps. Building a business is work and you have to be committed just as you would with any income opportunities worth millions.
10. Not collecting email addresses. To market successfully online, you need people to market to. Take every opportunity to collect email addresses from your visitors to create a permission list to continue communicating with them.
In conclusion, harness the power of the internet. The internet can bring customers to you from all over the world. The internet can provide to you income opportunities worth millions and help you to financial independence. Get your small business website NOW for peanuts.
anonymous
Having a home business is great – you can set your own hours, work in your pyjamas, and be there for your children and your family at any time. You can also vacation when you want to and you can take care of all kinds of things right from home. It can be a great life, and you can really enjoy it, but the key to having a home business that is successful is making sure that you have clients that are going to want to have your services and that are going to want to have you do things for them in exchange for money.
So, when it comes down to it, advertising is an absolute must. You have to be able to draw people in and you need customers in order to have your website work. You have to have traffic to whatever site you have for your home business and you have to be sure that you are getting business. This is important to do no matter what type of home business you have.
However, not a lot of people that start up home businesses are wealthy to start with, and you might find that you don’t really have a budget for advertising. When this happens it is important to remember that you have to be able to budget not only your time but a little bit of money, towards advertising.
There are many ways to get lots of business, cheaply. There are things that you can do with limited funds to make sure that you are getting the customers that you need. First of all, you have to be sure that you are putting up advertising in the correct place. Are you having a business from home that caters to just your area, such as a hair salon or a photography business?
If so, then your advertising should be in print, because you don’t need the whole world to see it. If you are localized, don’t bother spending your money on internet advertising, just do print advertising with your website on it. This is the best way to advertise, and you can always do this cheaply by finding a cheap place to have posters and business cards made up.
However, if you are running a home business that is on the internet, this means that you want the whole world to have access to it. In this case, don’t bother putting up flyers in your hometown, work on internet advertising. You can find many free blogs that will let you post a link to your site and there are many places that you can get your name out there. The fact remains that you just have to do it – you have to spend several days surfing the web and getting your name out there in whatever way that you can.
Here are 5 ways to advertise your home business for free on the internet:
1. Trade links with other websites. They should be related to the subject of your website. Instead of trading links, you could also trade banner ads, half page ads, classified ads, etc.
2. Start an e-zine for your website. When people read each issue they’ll be reminded to revisit your website. They’ll see your product ad more than just once which will increase your orders.
3. Form an online community. It could be an online message board, e-mail discussion list or chat room. When people get involved in your community they will regularly return to communicate with others.
4. Write articles and submit them to e-zines, websites and magazines that accept article submissions. Include your business information and web address at the end of the article.
5. Give away an electronic freebie with your ad on it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away. This’ll increase your ad exposure and attract people to your website at the same time.
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