tag:www.businessalone.com,2011://1 2010-11-18T17:18:17Z Home based business resources, strategies and tools for the solo business owner Movable Type 3.33 tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.420 2010-11-18T16:37:27Z 2010-11-18T17:18:17Z

Here are 16 quick ways you can make your business web site a very user-friendly experience for your prospects and customers.

Steve Web sites should be designed to facilitate and encourage efficient and effective human-computer interactions. Designers should make every attempt to reduce the user’s workload by taking advantage of the computer’s capabilities. Your web site prospects will make the best use of you site when information is displayed in a directly usable format and content organization is highly intuitive. Prospects also benefit from task sequences that are consistent with how they typically do their work, that do not require them to remember information for more than a few seconds, that have terminology that is readily understandable, and that do not overload them with information. Your site visitors should not be required to wait for more than a few seconds for a page to load, and while waiting, they should be supplied with appropriate feedback. Prospects should be easily able to print information. In addition, designers should never ‘push’ unsolicited windows or graphics to users.]]> 1) Do Not Display Unsolicited Windows or Graphics. Do not have unsolicited windows or graphics ‘pop-up’ to users. Users have commented that unsolicited windows or graphics that ‘pop up’ are annoying and distracting when they are focusing on completing their original activity. 2) Increase Web Site Credibility. Optimize the credibility of information-oriented Web sites. Based on the results of two large surveys, the most important web site-related actions that organizations can do to help ensure high web site credibility are to: a) Provide a useful set of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and answers; b) Ensure the web site is arranged in a logical way; c) Provide articles containing citations and references; d) Show author’s credentials; e) Ensure the site looks professionally designed; f) Provide an archive of past content (where appropriate); g) Ensure the site is as up-to-date as possible; h) Provide links to outside sources and materials; and i) Ensure the site is frequently linked to by other credible sites. 3) Standardize Task Sequences. Allow users to perform tasks in the same sequence and manner across similar conditions. Users learn certain sequences of behaviors and perform best when they can be reliably repeated. For example, users become accustomed to looking in either the left or right panels for additional information. Also, users become familiar with the steps in a search or checkout process. 4) Reduce the User’s Workload. Allocate functions to take advantage of the inherent respective strengths of computers and users. Let the computer perform as many tasks as possible, so that users can concentrate on performing tasks that actually require human processing and input. Ensure that the activities performed by the human and the computer take full advantage of the strengths of each. For example, calculating body mass indexes, remembering user IDs, and mortgage payments are best performed by computers. 5) Design for Working Memory Limitations. Do not require users to remember information from place to place on a Web site. Users can remember relatively few items of information for a relatively short period of time. This ’working memory’ capacity tends to lessen even more as people become older. One study compared the working memory performance of age groups 23-44 years and 61-68 years. The younger group performed reliably better than the older group. When users must remember information on one web page for use on another page or another location on the same page, they can only remember about three or four items for a few seconds. If users must make comparisons, it is best to have the items being compared side-by-side so that users do not have to remember information—even for a short period of time. 6) Minimize Page Download Time. Minimize the time required to download a Web site’s pages. The best way to facilitate fast page loading is to minimize the number of bytes per page. 7) Warn of ‘Time Outs’. Let users know if a page is programmed to ’time out,’ and warn users before time expires so they can request additional time. Some pages are designed to ’time out’ automatically (usually because of security reasons). Pages that require users to use them within a fixed amount of time can present particular challenges to users who read or make entries slowly. 8) Display Information in a Directly Usable Format. Display data and information in a format that does not require conversion by the user. It is best to display data in a manner that is consistent with the standards and conventions most familiar to users. To accommodate a multinational web audience, information should be provided in multiple formats (e.g., centigrade and Fahrenheit for temperatures) or the user should be allowed to select their preferred formats (e.g., the 12-hour clock for American audiences and the 24-hour clock for European audiences). Do not require users to convert, transpose, compute, interpolate, or translate displayed data into other units, or refer to documentation to determine the meaning of displayed data. 9) Format Information for Reading and Printing. Prepare information with the expectation that it will either be read online or printed. Documents should be prepared that are consistent with whether users can be expected to read the document online or printed. The major reason web users gave for deciding to read a document from print or to read it online was the size of the document. Long documents (over five pages) were printed, and short documents were read online. In addition, users preferred to print information that was related to research, presentations, or supporting a point. They favored reading it online if for entertainment. Users generally favored reading documents online because they could do it from anywhere at anytime with 24/7 access. Users were inclined to print (a) if the online document required too much scrolling, (b) if they needed to refer to the document at a later time, or (c) the complexity of the document required them to highlight and write comments. 10) Provide Feedback when Users Must Wait. Provide users with appropriate feedback while they are waiting. If processing will take less than 10 seconds, use an hourglass to indicate status. If processing will take up to sixty seconds or longer, use a process indicator that shows progress toward completion. If computer processing will take over one minute, indicate this to the user and provide an auditory signal when the processing is complete. Users frequently become involved in other activities when they know they must wait for long periods of time for the computer to process information. Under these circumstances, completion of processing should be indicated by a non-disruptive sound (beep). 11) Inform Users of Long Download Times. Indicate to users the time required to download an image or document at a given connection speed. Providing the size and download time of large images or documents gives users sufficient information to choose whether or not they are willing to wait for the file to download. One study concluded that supplying users with download times relative to various connection speeds improves their web site navigation performance. 12) Develop Pages that Will Print Properly. If users are likely to print one or more pages, develop pages with widths that print properly. It is possible to display pages that are too wide to print completely on standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper in portrait orientation. Ensure that margin to margin printing is possible. 13) Do Not Require Users to Multitask While Reading. If reading speed is important, do not require users to perform other tasks while reading from the monitor. Generally, users can read from a monitor as fast as they can from paper, unless they are required to perform other tasks that require human ’working memory’ resources while reading. For example, do not require users to look at the information on one page and remember it while reading the information on a second page. This can reliably slow their reading performance. 14) Use Users’ Terminology in Help Documentation. When giving guidance about using a web site, use the users’ terminology to describe elements and features. There is varied understanding among users as to what many web site features are called, and in some cases, how they are used. These features include ’breadcrumbs,’ changing link colors after they’ve been clicked, the left and right panels on the homepage, the tabs at the top of many homepages, and the search capability. For example, if the term ’breadcrumb’ is used in the help section, give enough context so that a user unfamiliar with that term can understand your guidance. If you refer to the ’navigation bar,’ explain to what you are referring. Even if users know how to use an element, the terms they use to describe it may not be the same terms that a designer would use. 15) Provide Printing Options. Provide a link to a complete printable or downloadable document if there are web pages, documents, resources, or files that users will want to print or save in one operation. Many users prefer to read text from a paper copy of a document. They find this to be more convenient, and it allows them to make notes on the paper. Users sometimes print pages because they do not trust the web site to have pages for them at a later date, or they think they will not be able to find them again. 16) Provide Assistance to Users. Provide assistance for users who need additional help with the web site. Users sometimes require special assistance. This is particularly important if the site was designed for inexperienced users or has many first time users. For example, in one web site that was designed for repeat users, more than one-third of users (thirty-six percent) were first time visitors. A special link was prepared that allowed new users to access more information about the content of the site and described the best way to navigate the site. If you follow these tips for a great user experience at your web site, you prospects and customers will be more likely to stay longer and complete your "call to action" instructions. [Thanks are given to the U.S. Dept of HHS for these tips from their "Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines." The information provided here is not original to BusinessAlone.com] ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.419 2010-11-15T15:30:22Z 2010-11-18T17:19:45Z

Before you attempt to design a new web site for your business, you ought to consider these 11 design issues prior to beginning the development process.

Steve There are several usability issues, methods, and procedures that you need to consider when designing and developing new business web sites, regardless if you hire a professional for the design or attempt to build the site yourself. Most important are issues relating to ’upfront’ decisions such as setting clear and concise goals for your web site, determining a professional and smart set of user requirements, ensuring that the new site meets user’s expectations, setting usability goals, and providing useful content within the niche you've chosen. To ensure the best possible outcome, designers should consider a full range of user interface issues, and work to create a site that enables the best possible user experience. The latest research suggests that the best way to begin the construction of a web site is to have many different people propose design solutions (parallel design), and then to follow up using an iterative design approach. This requires conducting the appropriate usability tests and using the findings to make changes to the Web site.]]> 1) Provide Useful Content. Provide content that is engaging, relevant, and appropriate to the audience. Do not waste resources providing easy access and good usability to the wrong (irrelevant) content. Many users say that content is the most critical element in their choice of which web site to visit. Content is more important than navigation, visual design, interactivity, and even functionality. 2) Establish User Requirements. Use all available resources to better understand users’ requirements. The more information that can be exchanged between developers and users, the higher the probability of having a successful web site. These could include customer support lines, customer surveys and interviews, bulletin boards, sales people, user groups, trade show experiences, focus groups, etc. Successful projects require at least four (and average five) different sources of information. 3) Understand and Meet User’s Expectations. Ensure that the web site format meets user expectations, especially related to navigation, content, and organization. Users often define 'usability' as their perception of how consistent, efficient, productive, organized, easy to use, intuitive, and straightforward it is to accomplish tasks within the site. The use of familiar formatting and navigation schemes makes it easier for users to learn and remember the layout of a site. It’s best to assume that a certain percentage of users will not use a site frequently enough to learn to use it efficiently. Therefore, using familiar conventions works best. 4) Involve Users in Establishing User Requirements. Involve users to improve the completeness and accuracy of user requirements. One of the basic principles of user-centered design is the early and continual focus on users. Users are most valuable in helping designers know what a system should do, but not generally in helping designers determine how best to have the system do it. 5) Set and State Goals. Identify and clearly articulate the primary goals of the new site before beginning the design process. Primary goals might be to educate, inform, entertain, sell, etc.). Goals determine the audience, content, function, and the site’s unique look and feel. It is also a good idea to communicate the goals to, and develop consensus for the site goals from, management and those working on the web site. 6) Focus on Performance Before Preference. If user performance is important, make decisions about content, format, interaction, and navigation before deciding on colors and decorative graphics. Focus on achieving a high rate of user performance before dealing with aesthetics. Graphics issues tend to have little impact, if any, on users’ success rates or speed of performance. 7) Consider Many User Interface Issues. Consider as many user interface issues as possible during the design process. These can include: the context within which users will be visiting a site; the experience levels of the users; the types of tasks users will perform on the site; the types of computer and connection speeds used when visiting the site; evaluation of prototypes; and the results of usability tests. 8) Be Easily Found in the Top 30. In order to have a high probability of being accessed, ensure that a web site is in the ‘top 30’ returned results (SERPs) presented from a major search engine, especially Google. One study showed that users usually do not look at Web sites that are not in the ’top 30’ or even the 'top 20.' Some of the features required to be in the ‘top 30’ include appropriate meta-content and page titles, the number of quality links to the site, proper and relevant keywords, as well as updated registration with the major search engines. 9) Set Usability Goals. Set performance goals that include success rates and the time it takes users to find specific information, or preference goals that address satisfaction and acceptance by users. It can also help make usability testing more effective. For example, some intranet Web sites have set the goal that information will be found eighty percent of the time and in less than one minute. 10) Use Parallel Design. Have several developers independently propose designs and use the best elements from each design. Most designers tend to adopt a strategy that focuses on initial, satisfactory, but less than optimal, solutions. Group discussions of design issues (brainstorming) by design firms often do not lead to the best solutions. The best approach is parallel design, where designers independently evaluate the design issues and propose solutions. The more varied and independent the ideas that are considered, the better the final product will be. 11) Use Personas. Ppersonas will keep the design team focused on the same types of users. Personas are hypothetical ’stand-ins’ for actual users that drive the decision making for interfaces. They are not real people, but they represent real people. They are not ’made up,’ but are discovered as a by-product of an investigative process with rigor and precision. Interfaces should be constructed to satisfy the needs and goals of personas. Some usability specialists feel that designers will have far more success designing an interface that meets the goals of one specific person, instead of trying to design for the various needs of many. It is usually best to detail two or three technical skills to give an idea of computer competency, and to include one or two fictional details about the persona’s life. Keep the number of personas for each web site relatively small – use three to five. For each persona include at least a first name, age, photo, relevant personal information, and work and computer proficiency. By considering these web site design issues well in advance of beginning the development process, your new web site will be positioned to give your users the optimum browsing and site user experience. [Thanks is given to Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines, U.S. Dept of HHS for these design considerations. This is not an original work of BusinessAlone.com] ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.418 2010-11-11T14:17:55Z 2010-11-11T14:50:20Z

Have you ever wondered about stretching the truth in your marketing and advertising? Do you find yourself resorting to tactics that are considered entering the "gray area" of being slightly less than honest and ethical?

Steve All small business owners will be faced with the decision to use less than truthful advertising and promotional strategies in their sales letters, email communications, ads, and other promotional material. How do I know? It seems to be the way business marketing has evolved on the Internet. Deceptive practices include all those little white lies, half truths, and marketing tactics that many feel are perfectly legal, excusable, and appropriate in this day and medium. Some, I know, would question why we are even discussing this topic as they feel anything is game as long as you don't cross the line of outright lying in your presentations. I don't see it that way. I believe that Internet marketers has a responsibility to their prospects and customers that includes being upfront, honest, and ethical in everything they publish, say, and do.]]> ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.417 2010-11-08T15:02:32Z 2010-11-09T23:44:58Z

If you are an information publisher (you are if you have a web site) have you set up some automated "systems" on your site to handle routine procedures and tasks? If not, you are working too hard and you need to think about leveraging your time more effectively!

Steve When it comes right down to brass tacks, I would say every Internet business owner should consider herself or himself an information publisher. It seems to me that all business web site owners need to be publishers of: a) website information; b) sales letter copy; c) site content in the chosen niche; d) products in digital or hard copy form; e) blog content; f) email communications; g) customer service responses; h) advertising / marketing copy; i) articles and press releases; j) probably other things I'm forgetting about ... My point is, whether you consider yourself to be an info marketer or not, you really need to pay close attention to your publishing (i.e. putting it out on the net or in emails) and how it can affect your overall business.]]> Fred's home site. I have been most impressed with Fred's contention that all information marketers need to employ publishing "systems" in order to be effective and successful at selling information. What are systems? They are processes or procedures that the owner puts into place in order to handle or execute certain functions of the information business. Your business systems, once in place, leverage your time and effort so that a certain amount of automation and integration can transpire without your unending and continuous personal attention to every single activity and task. Here are the systems Fred says Internet publishers will benefit from employing: 1. Back Office Online System. Your information business needs to have a system in place for taking customer orders, processing credit cards or other forms of payment, maintaining your database of customers, tracking your ads, and much more. 2. Domain Name Registration System. Most serious information marketers have a need for numerous domain names. Best practices suggest that every product or unique offering is promoted most effectively from its own top level domain. It's easy to track, renew, and even sell domains from a single system that is set up in advance by the business owner. 3. Creating and Publishing Web Sites. Fred suggests setting up more than one web site for an information business. In fact, you will most likely end up with numerous sites and having an integrated system for handling this area of your business makes a lot of sense. But rather than paying for custom web design, Fred is a proponent of using WordPress and professional templates that are readily available. He also suggests hosting all your web sites yourself - which just happens to be the next system you must have. 4. Web Site Hosting. Making web sites and pushing them online is different than having a system to host your sites. Again, it will pay dividends for you to host your sites from a central system that you have set up and can manage without outside assistance. There are an infinite number (it seems) of companies that you can choose from for your hosting system but it certainly pays to do your homework and pick one that is reliable, inexpensive, has the right options for your purposes, and is totally secure. 5. Video Email. I was a little surprised by Fred's inclusion of this system as a "must have" component of information marketing businesses. But he insists it increases your email conversion (closing) rate and adds features that improve your communications beyond just the written email systems. Video email accounts can be set up for as little as $10/month. To be honest, I had never given video email a second thought! 6. Continuity (Membership) Site Software. If you desire to keep some or all of your content (information) secure so that it is only accessed by paying members, it is smart to have a dedicated system set up on the site for that purpose rather than using unpublished URLs, etc, for the purpose. Such software varies greatly in its cost according to the features present, but setting up a system that is integrated with other systems on your site makes for the greatest efficiencies and least amount of work for you, as the business owner. 7. Tracking the Competition. Fred believes you need a system in place for following your competition's activities, products, marketing, publishing, etc. Not only will you get ideas about things you could be doing in your own business, you will also know what you need to do to beat the competition at their own game. You can find out for yourself what systems Fred recommends for each of these areas - I will not divulge his personal favorites here. The point is, you need to leverage yourself and your time if you are an info marketer, and one of the most effective ways to do that is to set into place a series of integrated processes (systems) that will work together to execute the various tasks needed for this kind of business. One of your main considerations should be to make sure that all the systems on your web site combined accomplish their tasks in a seamless, smooth, and efficient way. I couldn't agree more! ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.416 2010-11-04T14:25:14Z 2010-11-04T22:23:59Z

Many would-be business owners have a sincere desire to create an online business but also have personal fears that stand in their way of moving forward to actual income generation. Here are some tips to help you overcome your fears and work through your stumbling blocks.

Steve We are continuing our discussion of the fear of Internet selling. You see, many would-be entrepreneurs have extreme fear of offering products and services online to potential customers. Some have expressed their frustration with fears so intense and debilitating that their business has stalled and they have not been able to get past this single obstacle. In our previous discussion (Part 1 of the same title) we listed the top seven fears that seem to be fairly common among new business owners. Today's discussion is about how to approach those fears and move past them in order to push a new business idea forward. Here is a very simple but undisputed fact: only a small percentage of the people that have ideas about making money online ever get to the point of actually doing it! For many, one or more of their fears have paralyzed their ability to implement their business plan and carry it through for income generation.]]> 1. Fear of "spinning wheels" in the wrong niche. Many people feel that market research is a daunting task. They have read about markets that are not profitable for online business. They fear that by making a commitment to a niche they will be locked into that decision forever. But in reality, choosing a niche can be a relatively quick and painless activity. One doesn't have to survey the whole online landscape. All that is needed is to find a single niche that looks promising, make some quick online testing of the niche, and decide whether to attack it further or not. Some serial entrepreneurs feel that the more competition there is in a niche ... the better. They like the idea that there is a lot of activity and selling going on (even by others) and that they will carve out a place for their own business so that they can share in the action. Fear is often dispelled by action. Jump into the niche quickly, do some testing, and either decide to ramp sales up or get out now! Fear is often a human emotion that is not totally rational. Fear is flamed by negative thoughts and "supposed" outcomes that never materialize. Some would say fear "is all in the mind." 2. Fear of being able to compete with many other small online businesses who are vying for the same prospects and customers. If you fear competition you have several alternatives to choose from. First is to dig down deeper into the niche (specialize more) where the competition is less or non existent. A second idea that will help to overcome the fear of competition is to position your business so that you are not competing directly (or head-to-head) with the other businesses in the niche. If most of your competitors are selling ebooks on a topic, you might decide to sell videos or audio recordings on the topic in order to differentiate your business. You can also become unique by changing your income generating strategy. Maybe instead of selling books and reports on a topic like all of your competitors, you might decide to create a membership site and hold private "webinars" to dispense your information. 3. Fear of failing at small business. Creating a viable and successful small business can be a very scary undertaking, especially for newbies that have never attempted this kind of activity. There are lots of detailed and "uncommon" steps that new business owners need to execute in order to get an online business up and making sales. A certain amount of risk can be associated with business creation. The track record of entrepreneurial success is not in favor of the first time owner. Because it is so easy to fail, many let their fear of failure become a stumbling block to moving forward to the outcome of success. Here are some ways to overcome the fear of failure: (1) find a mentor to help you calm your fears about setting up your business; (2) outsource those tasks that you don't think you can execute successfully on your own; (3) set up a management team to guide your business creation so that you can rely on outside talent to minimize failing at various aspects of starting your business; (4) minimize the possibility of failure by modeling what other successful businesses are doing - both in and outside your niche; and (5) choose a very simple and straightforward business model that will allow you to ease into business without getting too technical or complicated. 4. Owner fears that he hasn't gained sufficient knowledge and skill to begin making money online just yet. Some of the same solutions listed in #3 above will also help to dispel the "don't know enough yet" fear that many owners have. Here are some additional remedies for this mindset: (1) set a time limit or deadline for the amount of learning or research that can be done prior to working on starting the business; (2) find a partner that you can work with who already has the knowledge you lack so that together your knowledge and skills will be sufficient to get moving forward; (3) jump into business and get started even though you may think you lack the necessary tools or skills right now - you will be surprised how much you learn quickly with "on the job training!" (4) find a "done for you" type business building package - there are many of these being promoted online. You simply let the business system be implemented by someone else. [ A word of caution here: there are many alternatives in this arena but not all of them are tried and proven. This is a niche rife with less than honest sellers! ] 5. Information overload is blocking the business plan. Most every new business owner feels overwhelmed with all the various business creation alternatives and strategies that are being touted online. There is no end to the number of sellers that will offer you their own "proven" or "guaranteed" system. My best advice is to get the opinion of several successful online business owners, choose a methodology and strategy that fits your comfort and skill level, then move forward with testing and tracking sales results to see if you can turn a profit. Refinement, modification, new products, and back-end development all work to increase your business effectiveness and bottom line as you move forward. If it becomes obvious that you are not going to be successful and your business savvy friends agree, get out of the niche or change your strategy quickly so you don't invest additional time and effort in a losing campaign. 6. Fear of the technical aspects of online business. This is a straightforward problem to have: either learn what you need to know (usually not the fastest or best alternative, at least in the beginning) or get some outside help to accomplish the tasks you need to have done. I have often heard very successful Internet business owners say they don't know the first thing about creating a web site, setting up an auto-responder, or fiddling with HTML code. They simply leave the technical tasks to others! Understand your own limitations and get partners or 3rd party service providers to do what you can't do. It's easy to find technically competent help for small solo businesses these days. Popular sites like eLance, Rent-a-coder, and ScriptLance are filled with willing and able experts who offer their services at reasonable costs. 7. Fear of rejection - that the customers will not like an email, blog, e-book, or a product or service that is offered by the owner. Strange as it may seem to some, this fear is very real to many people who want to run a business but can't bring themselves to "laying it all out" for the customer's reaction. I can tell you that, short of scamming innocent prospects, most potential customers will overlook a lot of owner oversights if they feel that they are "getting their money's worth" from a product or service. There will always be (in every niche) a small number of customers that will never be satisfied, customers that will take offense to something you do, and customers that will complain about your business or the way you treat them ... regardless whether the alleged wrong is real or not! Most successful online business owners will simply say goodbye to those few trouble makers and focus on building their relationships with their best customers. They reason that 2% of their customers are not worthy of 50% of their customer service time and commitment. A second thought here ... every business owner needs to develop the mindset that allows them to not take complaints or criticisms too personally. Some percentage of every business following will be very intense and vocal (typically the complainers). Come to understand that this is their nature and they treat most businesses the same way regardless of what you as a business owner do for them. The next time you recognize that one or more of your personal fears is standing in the way of your online business moving forward, I hope you will have the courage to admit your fear, think about why you have the fear, what you can logically do to remedy the situation (maybe by reviewing this discussion and taking the appropriate action) and then have the conviction to move forward knowing that you can do business successfully in spite of your seeming shortcomings. ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.415 2010-11-01T13:59:07Z 2010-11-03T21:23:29Z

Fear is a powerful human emotion. Many entrepreneurs let their fears become major roadblocks in their path to online business creation. Some have even expressed that their fears have kept them from starting a business altogether.

Steve There are a lot, and I really mean A LOT, of entrepreneurs that have a fear of offering products for sale online. Now, you may not have that specific kind of fear, but many others have mentioned over and over again that their fears are holding them back from moving forward in business. I'd like to examine that topic and see if we can break those fears down and overcome them be (1) identifying the problem, (2) analyzing how and why it happens, (3) proposing solutions that anyone can implement, and (4) moving beyond the barriers that block action. We will make this a two part series because of the details that we need to discuss! Lots of new business owners (or would-be owners) have said that they have not been able to start a business because they have been halted in their tracks by one or more crippling, paralyzing roadblocks that they just can't find their way around. Here are the most often mentioned reasons (fears) for failing to get started:]]> 1. Fear of "spinning wheels" in the wrong niche. Of course, you already understand that Internet business has millions of niches, micro-niches, and sub- sub- niches that can be targeted for sales! One can literally go many, many levels deep down into a niche and carve out a spot for a thriving business. It takes real effort, commitment, time and sometimes a little bit of capital to begin attacking a niche. Many folks don't want to waste their valuable time and resources on a niche that will be unprofitable; hence, they study niche after niche trying to find the "perfect" match for their skills, temperament, and knowledge. Often, the hesitancy about committing to one niche leads to never making a firm decision on any niche. 2. Fear of being able to compete when there are so many other small online businesses vying for customers. Online business is no secret. Over the past 15 years or so the word has gotten out that ordinary folks are making nice incomes online and quitting their day jobs to follow that dream. It seems as though competition in most every niche is growing steadily. As one does market research it becomes apparent that many others have had similar ideas to yours and they already have a head start on your business. Soon the new owner begins to doubt his or her ability to position a new business in a niche where others are already dominating the landscape. 3. You would be surprised by the number of people that confess they are hesitant to get started in business because they fear they will fail miserably! No one likes to fail - it's taken as a personal sign of weakness or lack of ability. For some, at least, the fear of failing is so powerful and strong that it keeps them from ever starting or following through with a business plan! Yes, there are many things that can go wrong in everyday business and some new business owners are paralyzed by the thought of confronting their own failure at something new. 4. Some people get stuck because they believe that they haven't gained sufficient knowledge and skill to make money online. The challenge with this understandable position is that online business encompasses a huge amount of available knowledge and one could study for the rest of his life and still not learn it all. Some new business owners could be students from now to eternity and still feel that they didn't "know enough" to get started in solo business. 5. Information overload. Because the Internet is so pervasive, it offers a million ways to make money, millions of products, millions of niches, and endless business models and sales strategies. It is not uncommon for new business owners to become stalled in their business idea simply because they are faced with myriads of choices and they feel they are not ready to decide on which direction to head without some more analysis. This fear is similar to number 4 above, but it is different because the entrepreneur has enough knowledge to get going but lacks the discipline to make some key decisions about his business. 6. Fear of the technical aspects of online business. Certain people stall out once they get started in business because they lack the technical background or skill to do some of the "techie" aspects of business creation. They don't know how to create a web site, make an ebook, set up an autoresponder, register a domain name, ftp files to a server, engage a merchant account, set up a shopping cart, and on and on. 7. Fear the customers will not like something they offer like an email, blog, ebook, or a product or service that is offered by the business owner. Fear of rejection is a powerful emotion and some would-be online business owners allow this fear to overwhelm their desire to begin selling. In our next edition, we will discuss some ways to overcome these business fears and move forward toward developing a new mindset that is not easily derailed from thinking positively about confronting and overcoming these online selling fears. [ to be continued in Part 2 ] ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.414 2010-10-28T15:49:31Z 2010-10-28T17:36:25Z

Is your solo business a victim of the Google Dance? Has your content or advertising all of a sudden vanished from the search engine rankings? Did your online income inexplicably take a nose dive? If so, you need to take some steps to present your content in a more Google-friendly manner.

Steve Online business is a game of sorts. You are competing against others in your niche for customers and their dollars. There are only so many "winners" in the game within a niche. When enough competing businesses divide up the available customer dollars, at times, the niche can become saturated with a excess number of players. When the "pie" (customer purchases in a given niche and time period) or prize is divided up, too many sellers can mean a small share for each winner - sometimes not enough revenue to justify the work that is going into the business. Of the many challenges that an online solo business owner faces in growing and maintaining a business, few are as exasperating as finding that previous work you have done has been wiped out (for some reason) through no fault of the owner. Online business owners are in the game of creating enticing offers for their products and services (or affiliate products), driving web traffic to those offers, and hopefully converting the prospects who come to the offers into paying customers.]]> Publish as much high quality targeted content (tidbits or every kind) as you can. You never know what Google will "downgrade" or drop from its rankings at any given time. If you have hundreds or thousands of pieces of content spread all over your niche, your chances of surviving "the dance" without major income reduction will be enhanced. 2. Publish most of your content on static pages. Good quality stand alone content has a good chance of staying put and growing the amount of traffic to your site over time. Advertising and other people's websites can be dropped from the rankings quickly or downgraded in importance. 3. Try to get your content syndicated if possible. If you can get many other web sites to post your content, the chances are pretty fair that Google's actions will be less destructive than if you keep everything on your site or in just a few places. 4. Be sure to use targeted keywords in your articles, reports, ebooks, advertising, videos, etc. As you do, your content will be seen as a better fit for higher search engine placement by the search engines. Your offerings will be relevant, less likely to be considered SPAM, and more easily categorized. 5. Use HTML tags and put the title or summary of your content within them. The search engines recognize the tags and know that they are there to set off your main ideas or title. The approach we suggest is to learn as much as you can about what is preferred by the search engines and then give them what they want. In this way, you are less likely to be "danced upon" or slapped. 6. Work to increase the backlinks to your web site. The Google ranking formula places much importance on the number and quality of links coming into your web site. If lots of other relevant (to your niche) high ranking sites are linking to yours, Google will rank the quality and importance of your site higher. 7. Set up traffic tracking on your web site. In order for you to play the search engine game at a high level of confidence, it is important to know how much traffic you're getting, where it's coming from, and what it does once it's on your site. Google Analytics (and many other free and paid traffic analysis software applications) help you to break down your site traffic so you can see what's working and what's not. 8. Make quality content an ongoing "must do" execution in your business. Google likes constantly update web sites. They don't like to see old and never-changed pages. "Dripping content" refers to publishing one page after another in a steady constant manner (which is good) compared to dumping large amounts of content all at once (not as good). When you think about it, most abandoned web sites are never taken down. I'm guessing there is a lot of "stale" material sitting and collecting dust in cyberspace. It might be really shocking if there was a way to know just what percentage of the world wide web is trash left over from a previous venture that no one cares for any longer. Hopefully, if you follow these logical steps you will keep your content ranked highly in the search engines and be able to withstand the Google Dance when it comes along again. ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.413 2010-10-25T14:02:52Z 2010-10-27T00:38:14Z

Business creation experts suggest that entrepreneurs include an exit or succession plan in their overall business goals and strategies. Growing the business with the idea that the original owner will be cashed out when he no longer wants to own the business make real sense.

Steve My guess is ... most entrepreneurs don't go into solo business with the exit door in mind. Why would they? Entrepreneurs are frantically focusing on starting and growing a business and the last thing they spend time worrying about is how to get out of their business when they are done with it. Simply put, an exit strategy is a game plan of sorts. It's a thoughtful plan for going out of business. Why would a business owner want a plan for going out of business? For some profitable businesses, at least, an exit strategy can include realizing a significant profit above and beyond the revenue that comes from daily operations. As a solo operator, wouldn't it be important to "collect" or receive payment on the sale of your business that you had created, grew, nurtured, and monetized over a significant number of years?]]> succession plan answers the following questions: 1. Who will own the company when it is passed down to heirs at the retirement or death of the current owner? 2. What accounts receivable or investments will accompany the business? 3. What income will be available to the business and where will it come from? 4. What amount of income is expected by the original owner and how will it be taken (monthly, yearly, a lump sum)? 5. Who will be responsible for outstanding debts and accounts payable, the original or new owners? 6. Will the new owners be expected to purchase assets of the original company? 7. What will be the disposition of intellectual property, patents, trademarks and other intangible assets? In the corporate world, exit plans typically lead to one of the following: (a) a merger with another company, (b) a buyout by one or more of the interested company shareholders, (c) an IPO (initial public offering) where shares of stock in the company are sold to the public and then traded on the exchanges, (d) an outright sale of the company and all its assets and liabilities to another person, a company, or group, or (e) the creation of a franchise where the business is replicated in multiple locations. The form that the exit strategy takes will depend largely upon the worth of the company at the time of exit, the desire of the original owner as to whether the business stays in the family or not, the potential to identify and cultivate potential business buyers from either current investors or the public, and the needs of the original owner for an income stream or lump sum payments. Thinking about all these questions and variables at the time of business creation is a sound strategy. Some businesses are specifically created with a 3 to 5 year exit strategy window. Serial entrepreneurs are very good at creating, growing, then quickly selling (flipping) a business for fast and maximum profit. ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.412 2010-10-21T15:40:04Z 2010-10-21T17:51:41Z

Do you know what your prospects are experiencing when they land at your web site's front door? Be sure to design your squeeze page with a specific purpose in mind.

Steve Often business owners unknowingly leave good potential customers turned away at their front door! No business person would consciously make this mistake because new prospects who come calling on your business are the whole reason for your marketing and advertising campaigns. But the way you greet and welcome your prospects could be turning some folks away from your efforts even before you realize it. Most folks who are in business on the Internet and who own web sites have heard of "squeeze pages" or "landing pages." They are the initial spot where prospects "land" or arrive when they come calling. These pages are shown to convert prospects into targeted potential customers because they have a sole function: to get the viewer to give his/her contact information so they can be called upon by the business.]]> The index page or home page of your web site. This is the typical "default" squeeze page that most business owners employ simply because they don't know that there may be a more effective "contact" gathering mechanism that could be used. Often home pages are not squeeze pages at all. If there is a sign-up form of any type it might be hidden away someplace where it is never seen. Some sites don't even offer a contact form. In a few cases the owner might plan the web site home page to be the landing page of this site simply because that is where the owner intends to send his new prospects so that they can see what is being offered by the business. It could be that the site is set up to be a single direct sales page for a product such as an affiliate sales or review site that is intended not to collect contact information but rather it's sole purpose is to presell a prospect then direct him on through an affiliate link. 2. Content pages. Some websites will greet customers with a squeeze page designed to be an advertisement for the content included on the inside of the web site. The idea is to entice the prospect to join the site in order to be able to get to the content based only on a list or table of contents that is offered on the landing page. Sometimes very short descriptions are offered to help the prospect understand why he should joint the site. 3. Identifying keywords are promoted. Some marketers design the squeeze page around their top targeted keywords that are used in marketing the site to the search engines. This approach is an attempt to push the site to the top of the SERPs (search engine results pages) so that traffic will be increased to the landing page. As prospects arrive, they will quickly see whether they are at a site that is very targeted to what they are seeking or not. 4. Pay or leave. That's maybe an unfair description of this type of squeeze page, but it gives you a quick idea of what we're talking about. No doubt you've come across this type of squeeze before. You are greeted with simple "teaser" copy and the option to pay to read the full version or not. If you pay you get access to the site - if you don't, there is no other option available to you except to leave. This type of landing page is typically not high converting, but it is direct and it does differentiate or screen the prospects into "buyers vs. everyone else." Some web business owners like this "you're in or you're out" directness. 5. Catalog of products. As the name implies, some web site owners choose to greet customers with a catalog of all the products that are at the site for sale. It is a quick and direct exposure of the prospect to the options of products that they will find. Owners employing this strategy are most likely to be successful with it if they marketing of specific products has brought the prospect to the front door looking to buy one of the owner's goods. Catalog sites are very popular for a number of reasons ... maybe the most important being that the site owner can promote his main web site without worrying about keeping track of dozens or even hundreds of single product sales sites. 6. Private or secret code entry. One of the unique strategies of Internet marketing is for the product owner to offer his prospects a private invitation to his product site. It could be a "members only" site or a "by invitation only" offer but the strategy is the same: to give prospects a key to the front door that others don't have. The prospect sees the offer as enticing because he is getting exclusive or privileged treatment. He has an access code or the combination to the safe and he is urged to get in while he can. Scarcity and exclusiveness are the "hooks" that will grab this prospect. 7. Try now and pay later. This type of squeeze page entices the prospect by giving him a benefit right now without having to use his credit card. This approach has been widespread and very popular of late, especially by those promoting high ticket courses, seminars, coaching and mentoring programs, continuity offers, etc. The usual squeeze is that you sign up or join today for nothing (or maybe a small fee to cover shipping) and try out the product for 30 days (or whatever time frame is chosen by the owner) and you will only be billed in the future if you choose to extend or stay as a member. The enticement to the prospect is that he can test the product for the trial period for no or very little cost to see if he likes it. If he chooses to leave, he can always do that without difficulty. This is seen as a low risk commitment. The owner, on the other hand, hopes that the prospect with like the product so much that he stays as a member long enough to be billed, or he hopes that the prospect forgets about the offer and is billed anyway automatically when the trial period is up. [ Side note: I have talked to membership site owners who bill customers monthly for years who say the customers never come back to the site. Some people must not ever inspect their credit card charges or they figure they'll get to the site sometime in the near future but never do. ] 8. Name or fame squeeze. In some cases, the web site owner is a famous personality, is known for his/her expertise, or already has a niche following for some reason. It makes sense to base the landing page on the web site owner's name since traffic to the site is based on searchers looking to find the individual by name. Examples of this type of squeeze would be people looking for Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, etc. The celebrity may not be a household name like the examples given, but could instead be someone that has an already established Internet presence. In the Internet Marketing niche it could be a name like Jay Abraham, Dan Kennedy, Frank Kern, or Yanik Silver. These people have firmly planted their names in the minds of prospects. They all sell products or services, but in most instances, prospects couldn't name the things they offer. They are found by people searching on their names. 9. Book or article listing pages. These are squeeze pages that feature listings of the content of articles, blog posts, books, tips, or other content that has been produced by the owner. The content could be found in niche directories, other people's sites, magazines, ezines, syndicated feeds, or elsewhere. The idea is to present the prospect with a smorgasbord of choices that were authored by the site owner as the entry point so that the prospect can see what the author has to offer. 10. Tool site or web app. On occasion, the web site owner might choose to employ some kind of free and useful tool or application on his site. The tool could be anything but it is the main drawing card of his marketing. The idea is to draw prospects to the site by offering the use of some tool. Once at the site there are other things of interest there (hopefully related closely to the tool that is offered). The tool or application could be something like a free keyword generator, a free drawing tool, a free application for your iPod, some web site utility, a game you can play on the site, etc. Often this type of approach is used in conjunction with Adwords or other types of advertising (like banners or affiliate links) where the owner generates revenue by getting site visitors to click on links offered on the page. The tool is the hook that draws in the visitor while the push to click on a link is the money-making approach employed by the site owner. Regardless of the type of squeeze page employed, you need to understand the purpose for your landing page and what you are trying to accomplish. These welcome pages are all about leading your visitors into taking some kind of specific action. The action could be giving contact information, purchasing a product, clicking an affiliate link, or taking a trial offer. The next time you design a welcome page, spend some time and effort in thinking about what you want your visitor to do after they land at your site. ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.411 2010-10-18T13:40:25Z 2010-10-19T04:24:18Z

All of these practices will help your web site ranking (to some degree) and they will allow the search engine spiders to do their job more perfectly. Your site visitors will also appreciate your attention to the little image details that give them a better user experience.

Steve One of the "tricks" of search engine optimization has to do with the way images are treated. It might be a revelation to many site owners that are not familiar with the way the search bots work that images are not "read" like text on the page. Images are not really "read" and therefore usually contribute nothing to the on-page SEO efforts of the webmaster. Nevertheless, they can contribute to search engine ranking if they are optimized properly. It's easy to find great detail on the subject if you simply go to Google and search on the phrase "optimize images."]]> 1. Image naming: make sure you name your image with an appropriate description and include your important keywords in the name if possible. Rather than name an image "photo1.jpg" you would be much better off naming it something like "floridabikerental.jpg." 2. Alt text description: you have the opportunity to add "alt text" to every image and you should use it. Your text should be brief and very descriptive, again, hopefully including one or more keywords. The search bots need to know what your image is and how it relates to your on-page text. Many people these days search for images in addition to text and the search engines need to be able to discern what your images are about. Text in the alt description can also help your site visitors to know where an image came from or what it is about as they scroll their mouse over your image. Another advantage here is that disabled prospects can read what your image is about via the use of screen readers. 3. Captions used for your images: According to Google's image information on their site, "Google analyzes the text on the page adjacent to the image, the image caption and dozens of other factors to determine the image content." "Google also uses sophisticated algorithms to remove duplicates and ensure that the highest quality images are presented first in your results." So it is important that you use targeted keywords in your captions and that the text surrounding your picture "fits" the theme of the image so that Google will see that the image is appropriate for the page and that it contributes to the overall theme of your page. 4. Image quality: obviously the quality of any image will affect the picture's loading time on the site. Too many images, or too much detail in each image and your pages will load slowly and may turn away anxious surfers and prospects. Image size can be optimized in the better image editors without much noticeable effect on the web site viewer. One solution that many astute webmasters employ is this: they will include small images on the web page that are then linked to much more detailed images off the page. That way, a viewer can click on the small image and up pops a much larger more detailed image in a separate window. Search engines will be able to follow the link and know that the off-page image relates to the smaller on-page image if it is properly tagged (labeled). Often directories, catalogs, and product sales sites will use this tactic extensively. On the web site sales page is a thumbnail image that can be expanded into a much more detailed image at the click of the mouse for those interested in seeing a larger picture with additional detail. 5. Proper HTML formatting: this isn't difficult for even the novice. Your images can be formatted with an image tag and alt text as follows: <img src="image_title.jpg" alt="Keywords and description text paced here" /> 6. Avoid text embedded in an image: some folks use this tactic often but the search engine spiders will not be able to "see" or read the text. A better way to handle something like this is to use HTML text "on top of" a background image. It's a simple solution and viewers probably won't realize that the text is not part of the image. Since the text is HTML it will allow for search bot and spider reading. 7. Image type: this isn't a hard and fast rule by any means. It is a personal preference that I have with all my web images. I like to use "ping" files whenever I can. These are images with the .png file type. "Ping" files are "lossless" meaning they don't degrade when shown. They can also have transparent backgrounds which is very classy for colored web pages or non-white backgrounds. There are times when .jpg or .gif images are preferred so don't think they aren't optimal in certain instances. Also, know that you can save image files in different formats (file types) with a click of a button when using some of the better image editors like Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. So turning .jpg and .gif images into .png files is a snap! The next time you create or edit a web site, pay attention to your treatment of all the images on the site and you will help your own SEO cause, aid the search engine spiders, and make the visitor experience a much better one! ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.410 2010-10-14T15:18:48Z 2010-10-14T16:50:32Z

Don't worry that your tightly focused business niche has too much competition and that the number of prospects is too small to support your selling on a full time basis. I will show you how to look at your niche and position your business so that competition is not an issue.

Steve More than once I've been asked about the saturation of deep, focused, tiny niches. It's a logical concern as business owners evaluate their potential for success, either in a new niche or in expanding into a different corner of their currently occupied market. The reasoning goes like this: "I realize that I need to specialize - to drill down deeply into my niche so that I can focus very tightly on what I do best." "But I'm worried that if I focus too narrowly, one or more of three bad things will happen: (1) I'll be so targeted in what I'm doing that there will not be a large enough pool of prospects to draw from to support my business; (2) the other businesses already in my narrow niche already have a strangle hold on most of the potential customers and I'll be playing 'catch up' forever; or (3) if I am able to compete in my extremely narrow focus, what happens when I've exhausted all the products and information there is to give my customers?" Well, I have an answer for each of these concerns!]]> there is no need to be concerned about niche saturation online. Here's why ... 1. Niches and their sub-parts are always changing, evolving, and "branching." Nothing online is static. Technology advances, information availability grows, new and exciting developments in software, hardware, and communications are continuous. If you focus on the "new", the "cutting edge", or the visions of tomorrow, there will always be a place for your business because many established concerns don't adapt well to change. 2. The prospect and potential customer pool in every niche changes. When people think that a niche isn't large enough to support their business, they often ignore or discount the fact that the Internet is growing and so are its parts (niches). There are new customers entering every niche (so long as you can confirm that the driving force behind the niche is not becoming obsolete). Today's teenagers will be tomorrow's workforce with disposable income. As more and more folks move online to take advantage of all the web has to offer, tiny niches will benefit from greater access and the global "reach" of the net. 3. Some businesses in your niche will drop by the wayside. There has been a tiny "goldrush" if you will, to move businesses online over the past dozen years. I think you'll see that trend continue into the foreseeable future. As sub-niches expand, you are going to witness the weaker competitors folding up shop and either moving to greener pastures or deciding "online business isn't proving to be the goldmine I envisioned." 4. Differentiation isn't just a "good thing" for every deep niche business, it is a sacred cow. It is so important that I would argue it may be the only strategy that makes complete sense for every business in a sub-niche. If you want your business to be "findable", attractive, and sustainable, it must be unique in one or more clearly defined ways. You must have a "hook," an "angle," or some call it a "USP" (unique selling proposition.) It becomes your brand, your tagline, and what distinguishes your business from all others that occupy the same space in the market. If you can make the point to your clients that your business really is different from all the others in some important way (that benefits the client), you stand a good chance of capturing the business of that client. Remember, I always like to say that your goal is to become "the only logical buying choice in the mind of your customer." 5. Chances are very high that your business will not be in the same sub-niche in five years anyway. If you follow the historical path of most every growing and profitable business online, you will notice that they are not selling the same things they did when they began business. Often they are not catering to the same clientele or targeting the same prospect demographics that they did initially. It's all part of the need for small businesses to adapt, change, and seize good market opportunities as they arise. What this means is simply that you can't anticipate the exact trajectory of your rocket (business) to any great degree in this era of rapid human and technological evolution. 6. Even if you find that your sub-niche is getting too crowded, it's easier to command an increasing piece of the pie once you're in the market and you understand its dynamics. If you're on the inside of the sub-niche you have a unique view and perspective of the world around you. Often, that view is much, much different than the one you had as you contemplated entering the niche before you kicked off your business. It's a great perspective to have because you can ask your customers what new and unmet needs they are finding in the niche and branch out to take advantage of those opportunities. All of a sudden, you don't view your market pie as so contracted. You don't have to believe that your market share is limited. There are other reasons that sub-niches aren't saturated but the important point I hope you'll understand is that the level of competition you experience in your business niche depends upon your strategy as much as it does upon your pool of prospects - maybe more! You can always find new corners or "edges" in any niche that you can migrate toward and thrive in if you work hard on your business to develop uniqueness and added value for your clients. ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.408 2010-10-11T15:18:07Z 2010-10-11T16:31:41Z

You need to spend some time learning about the different types of search engine "matching" that is possible. Google, for instance, allows you to choose keywords based upon broad, phrase, exact, and negative keyword matches.

Steve Internet marketing for the solo business owner is an interesting study of very unique principles that you won't find in other fields. On unique topic is that of "keywords." If you want to be successful, you need to master this arena because on the Internet today, it is absolutely imperative that you focus and target your marketing effort. If you don't pay attention to this aspect of your business, you'll lose your shirt in advertising costs and you won't attract the audience that will be hungry for your offers. The phrase "drilling down" refers to the approach in your marketing that suggests you dig deeper and deeper into your niche in order to come up with extremely targeted and focused products, customers, advertising, partners, and keywords that will be used to position your business in a tightly focused manner. There is so much information online these days ... if you don't tightly target what you're doing ... you will appeal to no one.]]> https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal It's important to understand the different kinds of keyword searches you can initiate with this Google tool. You have three options: broad match, phrase match, and exact match. By the way, I focus my keyword searching on what's known as "phrase match." Here is what each match type encompasses (right from the Google "help section"): Broad Match: Allows your ad to show on similar phrases and relevant variations. (The broad match modifier may also be used to further refine your broad keyword matches: +keyword.) This is the default option. If your ad group (keywords associated with a particular ad campaign) contained the keyword 'tennis shoes,' your ad would be eligible to appear when a user's search query contained either or both words ('tennis' and 'shoes') in any order, and possibly along with other terms. Your ads could also show for singular/plural forms, synonyms, and other relevant variations such as: tennis, shoes, buy tennis shoes, tennis shoe photos, running shoes, and tennis sneakers. Phrase Match: Allows your ad to show for searches that match the exact phrase. If you enter your keyword in quotation marks, as in "tennis shoes," your ad would be eligible to appear when a user searches on the phrase tennis shoes, with the words in that order. It can also appear for searches that contain other terms as long as it includes the exact phrase you've specified. Your ad could show up for red tennis shoes, buy tennis shoes, and tennis shoes photo. You ad would not show up for ads like shoes for tennis, tennis shoe, or tennis sneaker. Phrase match is more targeted than broad match, but more flexible than exact match. Exact Match: Allows your ad to show for searches that match the exact phrase exclusively. If you surround your keywords in brackets -- such as [tennis shoes] -- your ad would be eligible to appear when a user searches for the specific phrase 'tennis shoes,' in this order, and without any other terms in the query. Your ads wouldn't show for search terms like tennis shoe, red tennis shoes, or buy tennis shoes. You likely won't receive as many impressions, clicks, or conversions with exact match as you would with broad match. However, if you've carefully constructed a comprehensive keyword list, the traffic you do receive may be more targeted to your product or service. To my way of thinking, "broad match" is just to broad - it gives you too many variations of your targeted keywords and allows your focus to include words and phrases that you don't want. If you are paying for traffic, you will waste a good portion of your money and effort on people that really aren't searching for what you offer. Similarly, "exact match" is too specific for my liking. You will severely limit the number of searches you attract because you are being too explicit. You do need some flexibility. There's one more match type you need to know about ... negative match. Negative Match: There's another type of keyword that works in a different way. Negative keywords help make sure that your ad doesn't show for searches that include that term. They work in unison with your normal keywords to target your ads just to the audience you want. For example, add "free" as a negative keyword if you want to make sure your ad isn't shown to people looking for a free product. Negative keywords contain a dash in front of the keyword like -free. If, for example, your keyword is 'tennis shoes' and you add the negative keyword '-used,' your ad will not appear for any searches that contain the word 'used.' Negative keywords are especially useful if your account contains lots of broad-matched keywords. It's a good idea to add any irrelevant keyword variations you see in a Search Query Performance Report or the Keyword Tool as a negative keyword. It's important to understand the types of keyword phrase matching that the search engines use so that you can target just those phrases that will bring you customers and search engine traffic that are looking for exactly what you offer. ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.407 2010-10-07T14:19:40Z 2010-10-08T19:13:24Z

Have you ever wondered how your web site ranks in terms of its appeal to the search engines? With this free online service, you can score your web site and compare your score to those of your top competitors. It will show you where you might "beef up" your site and improve your rankings.

Steve I found a great online resource that I'd like to share with you. It's an online service that "grades" your web site. It can be used as a tool that will help you to see and understand what deficiencies your site may have. Of course, the idea is to then work on fixing those details. The site allows you to type in your URL (like "www.mydomain.com"), press a button, and a few seconds later your grade pops up. The grade is a number between 1 and 100. Just like a test in school, the higher your grade, the more your web site conforms to all the things that make a web site good. To see all the variables that are tested, you will need to go to the web site itself. I just graded my web site at Business Alone and was given an "89." I'm doing OK, I suppose, but there is certainly room for improvement.]]> Business Alone: "The website www.businessalone.com ranks 321,950 of the 2,898,662 websites that have been ranked so far." "A website grade of 89/100 for www.businessalone.com means that of the millions of websites that have previously been evaluated, our algorithm has calculated that this site scores higher than 89% of them in terms of its marketing effectiveness. The algorithm uses a proprietary blend of over 50 different variables, including search engine data , website structure, approximate traffic, site performance, and others." (depending upon when you read this post, the ranking most likely will have changed) Here are the specific things that are taken into consideration (and that are explained for the particular web site in question): 1. Create Content - the quality and quantity of the written word on your site. A. Blog Analysis B. Blog Grade C. Recent Blog Articles D. Google Indexed Pages E. Readability Level 2. Optimize - how well you have optimized your content so that it is found by the search engines on the web. A. Metadata B. Heading Summary C. Image Summary D. Interior Page Analysis E. Domain Info F. MOZ Rank G. Last Google Crawl Date H. Inbound Links 3. Promote - how well you are promoting your web site content on the Internet at some of the most important and popular spots. A. Delicious bookmarks B. Link Tweet Summary C. Twitter Grade D. Google Buzz Count 4. Convert - turning as much of your traffic as possible into customers and sales. A. RSS Feed B. Conversion Form 5. Analyze - how well your web site compares with other similar sites. A. Traffic Rank B. Score Summary A couple of cautions are in order. First, different web sites have different purposes. If your web site is a large "hub" type authority site filled with mega content, lots of back links, etc, your score will be higher than if it's a simple squeeze page where you're only concern is capturing a name and email address. So the purpose of your site will be partially responsible for your graded score. Second, this isn't the "be all - end all" of web site analysis tools. What is important in this system may not be that critical in your industry or niche. This is simply a tool to help you understand where your web site could be "beefed up" to be more search engine friendly and more attractive to web users. The name of this service is Website Grader by Hubspot and it can be found online at: Website Grader It's a free service and allows you to compare your web site grade to that of your competition. You simply input your URL, the URLs of your competitors, and hit the "generate report" button at the bottom. Try it out and see how your web sites score! ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.393 2010-10-04T13:42:32Z 2010-10-04T14:24:58Z

If you are not experiencing the growth or level of success that you want in your solo business, chances are pretty good that you have a problem area (or several). Here are the ten areas of a typical small business that you ought to seriously take a look at to see if they can be improved.

Steve In the previous post we began discussing where to look (in your business) to find areas that you might grow in your business. What can you do to become more successful? "Where do you look for answers if your web site and business are not successful as you would want?" It seems that lots of business owners these days are moving to the Internet as a way to make a living or even a supplemental income. No doubt they've heard all the hype and raves about how much money there is waiting for those who want to extract it from the Internet. Business is a complex thing and any one trouble spot could be to blame for an under-performing business entity. And if many trouble spots are present, the task of identifying them all and fixing them becomes a major undertaking. If your business isn't performing ... or if it is performing but not at the level you expect, here are the ten areas of your business that I would first analyze in order to remove potential trouble spots: ]]> Please note: these items are not in any particular order of importance. Yes, some will be more critical to your specific business depending upon your business model - but one size doesn't fit all, in this case, meaning that you will have to decide where each of these items rank in order of priority for your own business. ] 6. Your business execution. Ah, one of my personal favorite areas to talk about. Business execution relates to all the systems, the automation, the procedures and processes you use in order to take a prospect through your selling cycle from first contact to product follow-up and customer service. You have to look at how all parts of your system are set up to interact with one another. Is your system running like a well-oiled machine? Or are there snags, interruptions, weak spots, and downright failures? What is the experience of your customer as he makes his way through the sales cycle? Is the experience easy, intuitive, and satisfying? If so, you will have a customer that comes back again and again if your product or service is sound. But if your sales system is slow, confusing, a pain in the neck, or too cumbersome, your bottom line and sales will suffer immensely. This area of your business can be fixed quite easily if you know your system intimately. If not, you can always get help from experts who will help you to set up an efficient system. 7. Your business market distribution. How do you disburse your products and services? Are you a wholesaler? A retailer? Do you have a network of affiliates that sell your products? Do you do joint ventures? Do you offer continuity products? Do you sell to other businesses? Once you understand your market and all the potential ways to get your product into the hands of your targeted customers, then you will be able to assess your success in leveraging the best distribution channels for your business. The sky, quite realistically, is the limit here. There are many, many creative ways to get your products "out there." If you want to grow your small business, you would do well to think about all the ways to distribute your goods and then test and track your results. Some methods of distribution will be much more successful than others. The key is to find the ones that work best for your particular situation. 8. Your business products. Whether you sell digital products, physical products, or some type of service (or a combination of several of these), this is an area of your business that can make or break you. You should ask yourself: Do I have a unique product, or can this same thing be found at a lot of other sites online? Are my products of the highest quality, or are they mediocre and un-inspiring? Are my products appropriate for my market? Are they up-to-date and fresh or are they yesterday's fads or flash-in-the-pan? If your business isn't doing well or growing at the pace you want, it always is a good idea to get feedback from your customers as to how they perceive your products. If you get lots of raves and compliments - that's great. If you get a weak or even luke-warm response, it may be that your product line needs to be changed. 9. Your customer relationships. Have you ever stopped to think that your dealings with your customers could be an important key to how well your business operates? It's true! If your customers don't trust you or your sales systems, your revenue will suffer greatly. If they don't feel engaged with you or comfortable with your style, they won't buy your products. If your customers doubt your sincerity, or wonder if you are a real person, they will take their business elsewhere. Make sure that you build long-term relationships with your customers. Don't just target the initial sale and nothing else. Many smart owners make this area of their business the very top priority they have. They have learned that people buy from folks they like and trust. If you are seen as a friend or someone that has a real genuine interest in seeing their customers being satisfied, you will attract great business customers. If you are unknown, never present, totally behind the scenes and unwilling to share your personality, your business will likely fail because folks don't spend money with people they don't trust. 10. Your business strategy. Often overlooked, or reduced to something of little importance, your business strategy can make all the difference in the world to the level of sales you do. This is not business systems or models. Your strategy is the "big picture" of how your business functions. A great analogy of strategy is that of a well performing orchestra where all of the separate parts are brought together in absolute harmony to make a pleasing sound. Analyzing strategy is about dissecting your business into all its parts and then putting it back together again in a perfect way so as to optimize and get the utmost out of each piece. If your business isn't generating lots of income, it could be that there are one or more pieces of the whole that are not in sync or operating for the good of the total business. Here are a few strategies that are simplified to show you what I'm talking about: - Give away a freebie, get folks in the door at break-even, then sell your products to them through a series of email offers. - Let people join your membership site for a trial period for $1, then automatically upgrade them to the full price plan. - Have a large catalog of products and market them individually but with quantity discounts for multiple items purchased. - Sell people an inexpensive item first, then market an intermediately priced product to them, then a high ticket item. Move them through your sales funnel at increasing price points. - Sell people a product, then create another related "must have add on" and sell that to them as well. Then create another similar product, and another, and another, etc. All of these examples are different business strategies and one or more can prove to be successful in your business. The challenge to you is to discover (hopefully through testing and tracking) which strategies (or combinations of strategies) work best in your market and given your abilities and aptitude. All ten of these areas of your business can be sources of great business growth. As a business owner, it is up to you (and you alone), to discover where your business needs improving, and how you will implement the "fixes" that will make a difference. ]]> tag:www.businessalone.com,2010://1.392 2010-09-30T17:26:01Z 2010-10-03T20:52:32Z

Let's look at some of the areas of your business that may potentially be keeping you from becoming hugely successful in your solo Internet business. These are areas of growth that if "perfected" will lead to the greatest possible success in your business.

Steve Often I am asked something like the following: "Where do you look for answers if your web site and business are not successful?" It seems that lots of business owners these days are moving to the Internet as a way to make a living. No doubt they've heard all the hype and raves about how much money there is waiting for those who want to extract it from the Internet. Business is a complex thing and any one trouble spot could be to blame for an under-performing entity. And if many trouble spots are present, the task of identifying them all and fixing them becomes a major undertaking. If your business isn't performing ... or if it is performing but not at the level you expect, here are the ten areas of your business that I would first analyze in order to remove potential trouble spots:]]> Please note: these items are not in any particular order of importance. Yes, some will be more critical to your specific business depending upon your business model - but one size doesn't fit all, in this case, meaning that you will have to decide where each of these items rank for your particular business. ] 1. Your business mission. Do you have a specific and well-defined purpose for being in business? Can you tell a stranger, in 20 seconds or less, exactly what you do and what your business is about? Can you describe your "perfect customer" in detail (who he is, where he is found, what he is looking for, etc)? Do you know what you expect to get out of your business? How much money you want to make when the business is at full capacity? How many hours you want to work every week? Do you intend to take on partners? Are you going to out-source any of your business execution? How are you going to leverage your personal time? You see, many business owners don't know the answers to these questions - they've never really thought about these things. This could be a major speed bump in your pathway. You need to get a laser focus in place so you have a specific mission and purpose to what you're attempting to do and accomplish. 2. Your business positioning. How are you wanting your business to be perceived in the market? Do you want to be the authority in your niche? Maybe you just want to be known for the cheapest priced products in your niche? Do you want to be known for your fantastic customer service, or your fast product delivery, or your huge breadth of product lines? Whatever your "angle" or hook is, you need to review that and make sure it makes sense for your niche. Have you tested this angle with your customers to see if it really is important or unique in their way of thinking? The idea is to set yourself apart from all the other competitors in your niche. How can you differentiate your business from all the others? You goal should be this: to be the only logical choice for customers in your space. 3. Your business marketing. This is one area of your business that is maybe the toughest to evaluate and the most important "to get right!" You can have the most fantastic product or service in the industry ... but if your perfect customers don't know it, you've got nothing! Not only do they have to know that you exist, they must become personally engaged with your business and they must be converted from prospects into buyers. Marketing is key to your business success. Look at your competitors and see what they are doing to market their businesses. Can you replicate what they are doing? Can you surpass their efforts by being more creative, more persistent, more widely distributed and more engaging? Sometimes, very small changes in your marketing can cause exponential growth in your sales and net profits. Look at your marketing first, even if things are presently going well; you can always do a better job or do a similar job for less money and time spent. 4. Your business assets. What is your capital situation? What human capital do you currently have? What is the amount and value of your intellectual capital? Do you need mentoring or training in certain areas to beef up your business? Are there things you are currently handling yourself that would be better outsourced? Are there tasks that take your time currently that could be handled with software? Leverage is critical to every solo business. You should be constantly asking yourself: "How can I leverage my time in this area of my business?" 5. Your business model. How do you achieve your business strategy? What method do you use to sell your products and services? Is there a better, more efficient business model that you could be using? Regardless of what you sell, there will be a hierarchy of business models for your niche and desired positioning. Your challenge is to find out what model allows you to generate the highest bottom line (revenue) for the amount of work necessary to run the business. So, for instance, you may be selling from a private membership site - but that business model takes a huge amount of your time to execute. Maybe there is a different business model that can produce the same or better results that doesn't require as much of your time to run. What models have been adopted by your top niche competitors? The idea is to review how your sales execution is handled and see if there isn't a more productive and efficient way to run your business. There may not be. Or maybe some type of hybrid model would serve you best. We will continue this discussion in the next post. Let's look at some more areas of your business that may be keeping you from becoming hugely successful in your small Internet business. ]]>