Business Alone

I saw an obituary in the national news that should be of interest to every solo business owner.

The eulogy was tucked away in an obscure spot where I doubt many took notice.

Please read the full text - it is extremely important and so very appropriate for our times. You will want to keep in mind whom you are reading about!

Execute your business with the memory of this old friend always in your mind.

You have heard many times that keeping customers and web site visitors on your site and coming back for more should be one of the top priorities of every online solo business owner.

There are a number of reasons for doing this - one of the most important is that the cost of finding new customers is typically higher than the cost of retaining current customers.

There are other reasons as well. Today we're going to look at just what the business owner can do to keep his paying customers coming back for more!

Regardless of the niche you are in, developing your web site and business philosophy so that you keep this simple principle at the forefront of your execution will pay you great dividends over the course of your business life.

Here are seven top ways to hold on to your customers:

In our previous discussion, we talked about seven ways to best retain your loyal customers.

I'd like to continue that discussion today with seven additional things you can do in your business to make your web site "sticky" (as in hard to let go of) and to keep your prospects and buying customers happy with your business to the point they want to continue their relationship with you.

When you think about it, online customers has a nearly unlimited choice of options in almost ever niche. For you to gain a paying customer and then let that person "go" because their is nothing new or exciting at your site, is not a smart strategy.

It's much better to actually focus on the needs of your loyal and best customers, possibly even to the extent of giving new customers less attention.

Online business owners need to become familiar with the concept of "keyword research."

I will explain, in a very basic way, what keywords are, why they are so important, and how they are found and used.

Very simply, keywords are the words you use on your web site and in your marketing to let your prospects know exactly what your business is all about.

They are the words that succinctly "target" your audience.

Keywords are used so that search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN will understand what your business is all about so they can send you customers that are looking for what you have to offer.

From your prospect's point of view, keywords are the short phrases that they will enter into web searches in order to find what they are searching for.

Online business owners need to become familiar with the concept of "keyword research" because it will allow your business to open its doors to the specifically targeted customers that will buy what you offer.

The concept of "keywords" is a detailed and somewhat technical field, but it is one of the most important parts of every online business owner's strategy to marketing successfully.

In our previous discussion we talked about what keywords are, why they are important, and how they are found. Let's dig a little deeper now and show you how to research the keywords and phrases that are most relevant to your business.

Let's spend some time and talk about how to develop your keyword strategy.

I'll admit it . . . I'm a victim.

So are thousands of other would-be entrepreneurs that never start a business because they just can't seem to find the traction to get going.

Sure this is a big step . . . sure there are lots of reasons to begin slowly and not jump into the water that's too deep or too swift until you know how to swim.

Yes, careful planning and thoughtful mentoring will certainly increase your chances of success.

Regardless, the first step is always the hardest!

So many, many people have great difficulty in setting themselves in motion. The reasons are many, of course, but the sad truth is that many dreams fade as the morning breaks because the dreamer can't get out of bed.

Indecisiveness, over-analysis, and the fear of making the wrong move stop many people in their tracks and paralyze them from ever planting and growing their own small business idea.

I'd like to spend some time giving you what I believe are great solo business quotations. These are not my thoughts (although I wish I had the keen insight that these business savvy people express) but rather the ideas of others that are targeted to helping you in your online business.

No, most of these quotes are not specific to Internet solo business. Some were made way before the Internet was born.

But don't discount their appropriateness just because some were spoken in times long ago.

These business thoughts can help you to understand some of the timeless wisdom that other entrepreneurs have shared to help you in this day and age.

Every solo business owner knows (or should know) the needs of his business better than any other individual. The key, then, to being a smart business owner is to be able to analyze what is going on in your business and correct any deficiencies quickly.

If there was ever a more appropriate quote for a business owner than "the buck stops here" I don't know what it would be. As a solo business owner, you have the ultimate, final, and only say regarding what happens in your business.

We're back again reviewing some more wonderful small business advice from some of the most successful people in the business world. These are not my thoughts (although I wish I had the keen insight that these business savvy people express.)

No, most of these quotes are not specific to Internet solo business. Some were made way before the Internet was born.

But don't discount their appropriateness just because some were spoken in times long ago.

These business thoughts can help you to understand some of the timeless wisdom that other entrepreneurs have shared to help you in this day and age.

Every solo business owner knows (or should know) the needs of his business better than any other individual. The key, then, to being a smart business owner is to be able to analyze what is going on in your business and correct any deficiencies quickly.

If there was ever a more appropriate quote for a business owner than "the buck stops here" I don't know what it would be. As a solo business owner, you have the ultimate, final, and only say regarding what happens in your business.

Business mentors are a real boon to most entrepreneurs. They have traveled the same road and can keep you out of danger.

These business ideas are not my thoughts (although I wish I had the keen insight that these business savvy people express) but rather the ideas of others that are targeted to helping you in your online business.

No, most of these quotes are not specific to Internet solo business. Some were made way before the Internet was born.

But don't discount their appropriateness just because some were spoken in times long ago.

These business thoughts can help you to understand some of the timeless wisdom that other entrepreneurs have shared to help you in this day and age.

Every solo business owner knows (or should know) the needs of his business better than any other individual. The key, then, to being a smart business owner is to be able to analyze what is going on in your business and correct any deficiencies quickly.

If there was ever a more appropriate quote for a business owner than "the buck stops here" I don't know what it would be. As a solo business owner, you have the ultimate, final, and only say regarding what happens in your business.

Do you have the proper mindset for solo business?

As more and more "regular" folks move online to start businesses, it is quite apparent that not all of them think about their businesses in ways that will help them to become successful.

And you really can't blame them for this thinking . . . after all, very few entrepreneurs are involved in some type of formal business education prior to setting up their shop.

Typically, Joe Average (and I'm not using that name as a "slight" or criticism in any way) decides that his fortune lies in being his own boss. He's had it with working for other people and wants to try his hand at self employment.

Joe hears or reads that there is a lot of money to be made on the Internet. And because the barriers to Internet solo business are minimal, he ventures online to make his fortune selling ____________ (whatever.)

I was rummaging through some files last night and came across the checklist I'm going to share with you today.

Unfortunately, I am not sure where it came from. Usually, I clip articles and stories with their full attributes so I can credit the author. However, in this case, I am just not sure where this info came from and I apologize that I am not giving credit where credit is due. I don't like to operate like that.

The information is good, however, and it will help you to analyze your own situation to see if you "have what it takes" to be a successful entrepreneur.

Of course you can make a change in your behavior, your thinking, your attitudes, and even your skills.

So if you find that you don't measure up at the level you would prefer, you can always work on those things that are not your strengths.

It seems to me to be a little weird. There are lots of daily searches for the phrase "business ethics" but there are very few products that deal with the subject.

I'm guessing it's a function of supply and demand - no body is willing to purchase products about this subject so the demand is being met with freely available material.

Maybe folks believe they already have the subject mastered (or at least under control). Others probably believe in being ethical but that's about as far as they go - no sense delving into a subject that doesn't directly bring money into the business. (Or does it?)

Most would probably say the study of ethics is boring, old school, and not worth the time for the busy business owner.

So what are business ethics and why is it an important subject?

If you've read anything about home business conducted on the Internet, you know how important, even critical, it is to choose a specialized niche, one that you can compete in successfully.

Generally, you want to be involved in a niche that is vertically deep as opposed to horizontally broad. If you don't know what that means, here's a simple explanation:

Every niche market has a different dynamic, a unique structure based on the various parts or segments of that niche. In addition, each will have a different set of enthusiasts.

Optimally, you would want to concentrate on depth rather than breadth of the market you're in.

In the previous post we talked about turning a hobby into an online business and why it was a good idea to choose a very deep and specialized market niche.

We also said that the subject of the niche was important and that it should usually be a topic that the owner had experience in, knowledge of, training for, and passion about.

Most often, the business owner will be most successful if he can narrow his potential customer pool down to just those folks that have a great and frenzied interest in exactly what the owner is selling.

I think you would be surprised with the number of potential prospects globally, even though the niche chosen seems way too narrow.

I sincerely believe that a successful business can be created around almost any marketable idea.

I also believe that every person has hidden away in his/her mind, a potentially profitable business idea that can be made marketable in the right hands.

Your task, as I see it, is to identify the idea(s) that has this great potential and test it to the extent that you're comfortable with it becoming the basis of your new business going forward.

So how do you pull this good business idea from your mind? Where do you go to find it?

Here's an exercise that anyone can do that should help you come up with some great and personalized ideas for the subject of your new online business.

Spend some time and find a niche that takes advantage of the areas of specialty for which you are uniquely skilled or qualified, but which also keep your interest and stoke your passion.

The steps are fairly elementary. I would recommend doing this exercise with your spouse or a close friend that knows you well - that way you'll be able to get a second opinion about your suitability to enter this niche.

In the previous two posts, we discussed a technique for drawing up a very specific list of business subjects that could become the basis of your online enterprise. They are designed to take advantage of your past life experiences, education, skills and passion.

There is a good chance there will be duplicate items on the list. If you find them, cross all the duplicates off so there is only one listing left, but for each duplicate you crossed off, place a star by the one remaining. (For example, if there were three entries the same, you are now left with one entry and two stars by it.)

Now re-list the items from top to bottom in a new list: the items with the most stars at the top, then the next most, then the next, etc.

For all the remaining items with no stars, list them in descending order according to how much you now enjoy doing them, or working with them, or in some way participating in that subject. The entries you enjoy most are ranked above the ones you don't enjoy so much.

Who says Internet business can't be adapted and put to profitable use by a youngster?

Here's an example of a young boy in my neighborhood that has chosen the Internet as his business contact and delivery mechanism.

You may have heard the slightly cynical phrase - "If you can't figure out how to do something on your computer, just find a six-year-old." There's a whole heap of truth to that observation. Anyway . . .

I learned about this kid in my neighborhood, who shall remain anonymous in case the child labor law spies are lurking about, that decided to run his business online.

What I am about to tell you may shock you, enrage you, or maybe just disgust you -- but I will not mislead you!

You deserve to hear the naked truth about starting a business on the Internet from someone who has spent his entire career in the small business development field and the past 10 years online.

I want you to understand what is going on all around you in this frenzied and "enlightened" time of global communication, instant access, and light-speed digital transmissions.

Most of us have contemplated starting our own business at one time or another - in fact, some have called this almost universal desire - the new "American Dream."

My friend Jeff had tried three different business creation "systems" or turn-key packages over the past few months that had initially sounded like they were exactly the solution he needed to profit from his own online business idea.

But for various reasons, none of the systems had given him even one dollar of revenue to date.

Jeff just couldn't understand why he had failed, and why his purchases hadn't produced the income he was counting on.

With slight variations, these are the common themes of the systems Jeff had purchased:

OK. I've given you a bunch of reasons why you should NEVER rely on a business startup package that seems too easy, guarantees your success, is the same for everyone, and prescribes the subject of your business.

They are pretty much doomed to failure even before the owner makes her very first sale!

Nationwide small business start-up statistics show that after one year of existence, only one in five new start-ups (20%) are still actively doing business.

And of the 20% of start-ups that make it after one year, only one in five is still operating after five years.

I've often thought about the myriad of reasons for startup business failure. Because creating and operating a business involves so many details, it's easy to understand why problems galore plague entrepreneurs.

Many mess-ups are not fatal.

The owner can recover from non-crippling problems that result from unexpected circumstances or misjudged steps. Persistence and adaptability are key ingredients in the owner's arsenal of personality traits that are needed to overcome big mistakes.

But there is one very tough problem to correct: a poor choice of the basic business idea.

If the whole subject of your business is wrong - if you have employed an incorrect model - or you have overestimated the "salability" of your product - you could be in for a very rude awakening.

Some call it "the paralysis of analysis."

Others refer to it as "a mental block" or "brain freeze."

But whatever you call it, don't let it get in the way of you coming up with a sound and workable business idea.

You see, more than a few aspiring entrepreneurs mistakenly believe that they must come up with an idea that will appeal to the masses - that will become the "next big thing." If they don't get that flash of inspiration, they hesitate to get going on anything.

Some folks believe that ordinary ideas have all been tried and unless they find a new or innovative idea they won't become successful in online business.

I say, "don't worry about finding the perfect idea - just find a good idea, test it, and then develop your business around being exceptional in your niche in some way."

Most new business owners tend to be great advocates for their product or service as they prepare for their business launch.

They become cheerleaders and proselyters for their product's features, benefits, and usefulness. They want to shout to the whole world that their "baby" is being born and it's the greatest improvement to ___________ of the century!

Do you know what I'm talking about? Have you ever felt this way?

I think new business owners are better served at the outset by playing the role of buyer or consumer of that product. Here's why . . .

Everyone that goes into business as a solo operator needs to develop a certain amount of "creativity" or non-traditional thinking. Why?

Business in today's world is extremely competitive, full of dime-a-dozen copycat boring companies that survive marginally (or not at all), but always willing to reward fresh thinking combined with outstanding execution.

You don't have to be creative in the sense that your ideas are revolutionary or Nobelian.

In fact, my definition of being creative, in the business sense, might go something like this: the ability to transcend the usual thinking and commonplace practices of most businesses.

You don't have to have one-in-million ideas; you just need to discover ways to add value, merit, worth and importance to your business, especially in the eyes of your targeted customers.

Coming up with a workable home business idea is only a beginning. If whatever that idea is never develops beyond a thought, your dream of a real business will never happen.

In fact, let me be so blunt as to say that your chances for success in any business creation attempt will be directly proportional to your ability to translate ideas, and feelings, and thoughts into executed action steps.

Every new product and service that you see in the world today is the result of someone's acting upon an idea and following through by executing a series of steps that eventually resulted in the product's launch.

There may have been many, many people that had a similar, or even the exact same idea.

Entrepreneurs are a diversified bunch. They appear in all sorts of sizes, temperaments, ages, and with various backgrounds.

Some produce tons of workable business ideas in a year. Others seem to struggle to come up with one good idea in a decade.

Regardless of where you fit on the continuum, there is a very underutilized place you can go to get all the good ideas you'll ever need to keep you in business for a long time to come.

Go online!

In a previous post I talked a little about the importance of being honest with yourself as you undertake any business creation.

For the solo entrepreneur, especially (because you are the business), it is critical that you begin on solid ground - not taking anything for granted, not overestimating your abilities, time you'll have available for the business, or your customer market potential.

You can't afford to keep a closed eye to any one of the many business realities that can be evaluated up front before so you don't lose a lot of time or money traveling down a dead end.

By asking questions at the outset, you are forced into analyzing, researching, and evaluating the information at hand in order to come up with honest answers that will lead to your business being planted on solid ground.

Otherwise, you may cripple your business output at a later time because you ignored, or chose to "skim over" some critical details that might have influenced your decision to even move forward at the outset.

It's a nasty name, "swipe files," but it's an idea you should implement immediately if you haven't already gotten yours started!

If you're like me, you run across great little ideas and tidbits on the Internet every day.

But if you don't record that idea, or web site, or reference, or "how to" hint for later recall, you will have forgotten that even existed within a day or two.

If you've been involved in copywriting, direct ad creation, web site development, graphics creation, email headlining, and any number of other online business tasks, you've probably heard the term "swipe files."

That's kind of a nasty or unpleasant term, but the concept is smart and the results of you building such files will be significant as you venture into your new information business.

If you don't know what a "swipe file" is, or you're not convinced you need one (or several), read on.

Working for yourself often seems like the perfect solution for finding a way to earn a living and also enjoy some freedom of expression and the flexibility to set your own work schedule.

In addition, the idea of getting paid what you're worth and not having to share the profit of your own labors really appeals to many.

But before you dive into a solo business, you would do well to discuss the implications of being your own boss and "going it alone" with others that have already chosen this path and are actually making a living this way.

Their insights and advice will most likely do one of two things: strengthen your resolve to strike out down this path, or bring doubts into your mind about whether this type of business is really something that you will be happy and productive doing.

This can be one of the most perplexing and difficult decisions you have to make as you decide to create a business.

Here are some questions to ask yourself that may help you to come up with the right decision for YOU.

Obviously, there is no "one best way" to enter self-employment. The choice you make on how to do it will most likely depend upon your current state of affairs: your employment situation, your tolerance for risk, your family size and makeup, and your ability to take care of your financial obligations possibly without a regular paycheck.

There is some wisdom in not rushing things at the outset. Quitting your full time job and putting your loved ones at risk can be a very scary proposition.

If you lose your medical and life insurance coverage, will you be able to afford these new out-of-pocket costs?

How long will you be able to last if your daily and monthly living expenses have to come from your savings account?

There are special challenges and unique rewards for married couples that create and operate a home business in tandem.

This kind of joint project can create new feelings of unity, togetherness, and working for a common goal that many couples don't experience in their hectic "do your own thing" lives.

On the other hand, business partnerships involving mates, if not handled properly, can also intensify negative feelings toward one another, add stress and pressure to a marriage, and drive a wedge in the heart of the relationship.

For these reasons, some couples would never consider working together in a small business, not wanting to risk possible clashes and avoidable irritations.

The unique and important aspect of any web based solo information business operator is the fact that he/she can deliver personal knowledge, skills, or experience to targeted customers over the Internet and get paid to do so!

Since everyone's knowledge and experience is unique, one-of-a-kind, and personal, your business cannot be duplicated (at least legally) by anyone!

Now it may not have occurred to you that if you adopt this business model, you have chosen to set yourself up as an expert in your field.

Even though you may deny you want that role, or won't ever admit to assuming such, you will be perceived as an expert by your audience. They are coming to you, money in hand, seeking the information you distribute.

If you choose to become such an entrepreneur, regardless of the subject of your business, you are putting on a robe of authority, so to speak, and acknowledging that you are a legitimate source of valuable information - the type of information that your client wants and is willing to pay for.

Think about that for a moment . . .

Have you ever heard that story about the ocean-going ship engine that failed?

I used this story several times in the past, so bear with me if you're heard it before . . .

I've actually heard several slightly different versions of the same story so I know it has "made the rounds" online.

Nevertheless, the story has an important point. One that shouldn't be lost on Internet solo business.

In the version I heard, it was the Queen Elizabeth luxury liner that was in need of an engine repair.

I recently came across an article that gave some specific proven advice about launching a new web site. The steps explained were simple and straightforward. I don't remember where I saw the article, but I did make a copy and thought I would summarize it here for you.

The title of the article was: "Launching your Web Site the SEO Way" and it was authored by Paul Fleming.

First of all, you web site needs to be SEO friendly - no flash, no frames, judicious use of images and graphics.

One of the most important things you can do for a new site is to begin building the incoming links to your site from outside, trusted sources. This process takes time and will be something you need to pay attention to always.

Try to get links from sites with a page rank above 3. Here is a directory that offers good links, both paid and free. It's a good place to start.

Other candidates are Wikipedia (Page Rank of 9), Yahoo! (Page Rank of 10), Superpages.com (Page Rank of 8) and Dmoz.org (Page Rank of 9). It may take some time (especially with DMOZ), but a link from any of these sites would be wonderful.

Here is my checklist of crucial questions to ask yourself about your solor business, whether it's still in the making or already cranking out a profit.

Yes, there are some important things to consider beyond what you'll see on this list. But this is a place to begin, a reality check of sorts, to make sure that you understand what your business is about and where you're headed.

[ Just in case you missed the definition of a solo business, it is a small information based business operated by one person on the Internet. The subject of the business will be related to the owner's knowledge, skill, passion, training, or life experiences. - Author's note ]

Anyone can choose a name. Anything will get you by. But the way I see it . . . why not find the very best name you can that will give value and meaning to your business?

Sure it will take a little bit of effort and some time to come up with the perfect name, but I can tell you that finding it will pay you great dividends over time.

Especially on the Internet, your business name sets you apart, defines your niche, and is the address that customers will be hunting for if your marketing reaches them.

So what's in a name? What considerations are important as you mull over the choices that you have? How do you find the best alternative available?

One of the first considerations in choosing a name for your new online solo enterprise should be to find out if someone else has already reserved and registered the same (or a similar) name.

You can hire this chore out to a professional firm if you have lots of money for such things or if you don't trust your own research capability.

Handing this chore off would probably be a good idea if you were treading on thin ice with your preferred name. For example, if you planned to register a name that is very close to a protected name, something like Amazon Jungle for your new book service, you may want to put the burden of proof on a company that will guarantee their results and have the legal muscle to steer the process through to conclusion.

Creating a new business is like preparing for a wedding: there are a thousand details that must be planned and executed.

It's easy to overlook some of the steps that are important to a business - especially when they are often perceived as being distasteful, expensive, and sometimes purely nonsense.

So it is with securing the necessary permits and licenses to make your business legal, keep you out of hot water, and legitimize your company.

Please give me a little slack if your State is different than mine. I guess there's a good chance that the sequence of obtaining the necessary business licenses could vary from State to State.

My business was registered in Utah, first as a sole proprietorship and later on as a Subchapter S Corporation.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a lawyer and my experience in this realm is limited to just one State. I will tell you what I did. You may find things are done a little differently where you register your business.

I began my license quest at the county administrative office. That ended up being a mistake since they needed to have my DBA and State business registration information before they could process my application.

When most business owners talk about "framing their business license" they are referring to the municipal or city business license that authorizes them to do business at their chosen location.

It is very important, especially before you make any permanent location decisions, to check with your city to see if what you plan to do is allowed in the municipal code.

The city planning and zoning office should be able to help you determine what requirements will apply in your case.

There could be some zoning issues relevant to where you live that might have an impact on your business or the type of license and fees you will be assessed.

I was thinking the other day about how my tastes, preferences, and attitudes have changed over the years since I was first married and had four little ones running under foot.

All my children have now reached adulthood and I'm called "grandpa." (By the way, for any of you staring a similar transition in the face - it's a wonderful thing! It beats the alternative, doesn't it?)

I don't read the same things that used to interest me. I don't watch the same TV I did back then (mostly "kiddie TV" to keep the wee ones happy). The Internet was not around yet.

I'm as guilty as the next small business author. I like to share the business owner personality traits that seem to go hand-in-hand with successful business.

But we rarely discuss the qualities you shouldn't possess.

Maybe we don't like to dwell on the negative. Maybe we feel that as long as the owner has the good qualities, he can also be forgiven for harboring a few of the bad.

Maybe we'd just prefer to keep silent and assume that small business owners hide their personality flaws by keeping to themselves.

These 10 qualities are not reserved for business types. Anyone can become infected. Also, like most diseases, it's a heck of a lot easier to get it than it is to get rid of it.

Among the many choices the entrepreneur faces in setting up a business from scratch is deciding upon the type of structure he/she will set as the framework for the enterprise.

Sometimes the alternatives are few and the choice is readily apparent. At others, it may be difficult to know what's best.

Typically, the decision about the structure of your business is influenced by the following factors and the answers you come up with to some pertinent questions like:

Every business needs a skeleton, a backbone, a framework that gives structure and organization to the operation.

Having a structure also allows you protections and rights under the law and qualifies your business for particular tax and income advantages.

The structure you choose is important. The decision you make will affect your financial, operational, and legal standing and reporting.

It will also create some responsibilities and requirements for reporting that may force you to seek outside help or assistance. Whether you undertake to learn the do-it-yourself way or you opt for some professional help, here are a few ideas to keep in mind.

Picture yourself leaving on a journey to a far away place you've never been to before. You're not quite sure how to find this place, but you think you can ask questions of the locals along the way so you'll be able to zero in on your final destination.

Let me ask you: "What's the single best resource you could take with you on the journey if you had your choice?"

Would it be lots of money to buy your way in to the directions you need? Maybe.

Would it be a detailed map that showed you the exact way to your destination? Maybe.

What would you want to take on your journey?

Regardless of your business structure (sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation) you should apply for an EIN (employer identification number) if you want to be seen as a legitimate business.

Yes, sole proprietors can get by without one. Social security numbers are acceptable on income tax filings for persons without employees. But often those who would do business with your business, i.e. suppliers and vendors, want to see an EIN as a way to verify that you really are in business.

Your EIN will be assigned to your business by the Internal Review Service. It's your taxpayer ID, so to speak, and it will be used by federal, state, and local governments.

Most of the Internet's best marketing minds agree on this philosophy:

"Don't try to create interest and excitement in your prospect for your product. Find an overwhelming desire already in your prospect's mind and fill it."

What does this idea suggest? Simply this . . .

Does the headline of your sales ad or marketing piece really deserve 80% of the time you spend on writing the ad copy?

That's the suggestion of author Ted Nicholas, one of the all time greats in direct marketing.

He figures that between 50 and 80% of the sales generated in direct advertising are attributable to the ad's headline.

That's a pretty amazing statistic, but maybe not totally surprising given the way readers skim copy and jump from heading to heading.

Just a few years ago, if you owned a solo business and contracted your time and expertise out on an hourly basis, you probably called yourself a freelancer.

Maybe you were good at writing, or typing, or graphics design, or doing research.

Whatever the skill you possessed, you found you were able to hire your time out to others on an hourly or "per job" basis. It seemed pretty nice at the time.

Hopefully, you enjoyed whatever it was that you did because you were being paid to perform that function only as you were able to produce. Typically, the more hours you spent in someone's service, the more you got paid.

Most of the professional solo businesses that I am aware of have followed a very traditional model in how the business is set up and operated.

Most attorneys, doctors, counselors, and accountants design their practices around the way their predecessors did business before them.

They may decide to locate in a single office or they might opt for a group setting where several others of their practice get together to take advantage of a single building with a common reception area, staff of office assistants, and shared billing system, parking lot, and rest rooms.

Each professional is in business for himself, but his business only thrives as he is able to apply his trade.

He bills at an hourly rate, sees whom he chooses, and sets his own schedule, although his assistants really handle the appointments and flow of work throughout the day.

One of the ways solo business was conducted for many years in this country (U.S.) was by what I call "the one man band" business model.

An entrepreneur would create or find a product and proceed to sell that product to as many buyers as he could find. Sometimes the owner would develop a full line of products offering the consumer many styles, sizes and other choices.

The one man band was many business employees rolled into one. He did the research and development on the product, the manufacturing and/or purchasing, he was the salesman, the secretary, the customer service representative and the business owner all at the same time.

For many years, solo businessmen worked among the ranks of the self-employed as "organizers" or facilitators of groups of like-minded people.

They held titles such as "consultants," "coaches," "mentors," and "instructors." Sometimes they operated strictly as solo entrepreneurs being the only source of expertise in their company.

Others banded together to form a "team" or group that offered the same type of service but included the perspective and experience of multiple experts that often worked together on one project to provide the service.

These workers would organize their own curriculum, design their own delivery approach, and earn their fee by teaching or coaching their clients either in a one-on-one setting or small group atmosphere.

Since the beginning of time, solo business persons have opened and maintained retail stores that sold products to walk-in customers.

Sometimes the stores featured only specialty items, like a bike shop or bakery. Others carried a range of goods (like a mercantile) but remained small enough that one person could man the shop by himself and perform all the daily functions necessary.

There would be goods to order from manufacturers or wholesalers, shelves to stock, customers to wait on, books to be balanced, and cleaning at the end of the day.

If you are serious about starting a small solo business, there is no greater lesson to learn than how to apply the principle of maximum leverage to everything you do in your business operation.

Your survival, and ultimately your success, will hinge on how well you grasp the concept and make it your slave.

It's a difficult lesson for many, partly because most of us rarely practice applying leverage in our own personal lives. We tend to get complacent and accept low output and/or maintaining the status quo as our daily M.O.

When you get right down to brass tacks, most successful businesses are pretty boring. Really!

How many boring hamburgers does your local McDonalds crank out in a year? How many boring oil changes does Jiffy Lube perform for their customers every day? How often do Amazon employees wrap up a boring package of books to be shipped worldwide?

Many of today's most successful companies are at the top of their niche because they have mastered the execution of very boring business subjects and activities. They understand how to execute their boring routine over and over and over again; usually better and cheaper than anyone else.

Profitable companies develop systems of execution based on testing, modifying, and refining. Once they determine what works best, they simply repeat that formula or system over and over again.

Remember how difficult it was to be 13?

Everybody was always on your case trying to get you to do things you really didn't want to do.

Taking out the trash was a simple and easy enough chore that I was assigned. But oh, how I loved to "forget" to do it.

I wasn't much for raking leaves, pulling weeds, or my least favorite job - cleaning up after the pets.

I was constantly on the lookout for ways to avoid the daily tasks that needed to be done around the house.

There are actually dozens of smart and effective ways to begin the business creation process that will reduce the risk of a new venture for the owner.

I'll focus on what I call the ten "B"s. These are logical and practical ideas you can follow in your own business startup mode to reduce your risk.

They're not theoretical or academic guesses; but tried and proven ways of protecting your assets, both time and money.

Here are a few ideas that may be useful as you consider what you can do to become a star performer in the eyes of your customers.

In a solo business, it's easy to understand why most customers don't differentiate the owner from his business. If you, the owner, treat the customer poorly, your business stinks (even if the customer actually likes the products you deliver.)

And when your offerings disappoint, you, the owner, take the black eye.

It's understandable since the customer sees you and the business as one and the same.

Every business begins with an idea. The idea may or may not be your own, but it will determine, to a large extent, the success of your business.

So it follows that finding a good idea, the right idea for you at this time and place, is paramount in your attempt to begin a solo business.

But how do you know whether you have a good business idea or not? How do you know that the product or service you will offer will be something that others will buy?

Maybe you trust your brother-in-law Harvey's opinion that "this business is going to revolutionize the future of every man, woman, and child living in the free world."

I don't always recommend that you seek out an attorney and a financial advisor for your business safety and peace of mind.

And most of you know that I don't recommend the solo business owner buy an already established business.

But if that's your intent, and you have thoroughly checked out the business as I have suggested elsewhere, you still need to make absolutely sure this transaction is exactly what you intend. Surprises are not a good thing in this business.

Since you will most likely be investing a good deal of change in your purchase, and you will be spending the better part of your waking hours on managing your new "used" company, you would be well advised to consult with legal and financial counsel prior to closing the deal.

Before you take this step, I would encourage you to do a little research and study into the practice so you'll at least be aware of the laws, regulations, and tax consequences of this practice.

Should you pay your children (or the neighbor's kids) with cash to help you in your business and not call them employees so you can avoid the laws governing child labor standards? I won't answer that - it's your decision.

Generally, no youth under the age of 16 is permitted to work more than four hours in one school day. They can't be employed before 5:00 am or after 9:30 pm (unless the following day is a non-school day.) You can't hire a youth for more than 8 hours in a 24-hour period.

Youth that are 14 and 15 can be employed in certain situations and businesses that are non-hazardous like restaurants, janitorial services, fast food chains, landscaping firms, etc.

Digital information is not unlike written information, except that it exists in the form of little data bits that consist of "1s" and "0s."

Every character and many symbols that we use in our language can be represented "digitally" and transferred electronically over wires and cables and even through the air waves.

Those characters are developed or "written" in software programs like MS Word and others but are "saved" as digital files which can then be transferred to other media and output types.

Information businesses that are created, developed, promoted, operated, and delivered over the Internet are "the perfect business" because the product or service requires no employees, no stored inventory, no physical packaging, and no physical delivery.

These businesses can be operated from anywhere around the globe with just an Internet connection and the proper business set-up!

But for these businesses to exist, the following conditions must be met:

Today I had a rude awakening. I discovered I needed to practice what I preach. I needed to start taking my own advice.

I'll explain what I mean by telling you about my day.

The phone rang this morning a little after 3:00 am. I was tired and thinking I didn't want to answer it. I hate middle-of-the-night calls.

Most parents hate 3 o'clock calls because they worry that there could be some bad news about one of their children or grandchildren or another relative. Why else does the phone ring at 3:00?

When you do business online, you have to get a little personal with your customers. There's no way around it.

Being personal is fine with most of us, if we like and trust the person that's moving into our space. But online, being personal is a real challenge and a very sensitive issue for the business owner.

From the very beginning, you'd like to know how to reach your prospects individually. So, you go after a first name, last name, and an email address at the very least.

I started following Internet businesses back in the mid-90's and continue to be amazed at the variety and sheer number of creative business techniques and selling ideas that I've seen during that time.

Of all the trends, promotions, sales, and marketing ploys I witnessed, I am continually amazed at one particular selling strategy I've seen that has enormous power and sales potential yet very few marketers ever consider using it.

Here it is:

There should be a number of considerations that you look at before you set a pricing structure to your products.

But many entrepreneurs don't think much about an overall strategy. They believe they are limited in their ability to set prices beyond a certain range.

Let's say you decide to sell a DVD, for instance, that you produced yourself called "The Ups and Downs of Exploring the Grand Canyon on a Pogo Stick!"

It's fun to skim through a number of new business plans in a short period of time. I always take special note of the sales projections and compare set against set.

Of course, there is probably no merit in comparing apples to oranges as I'm suggesting I like to do. But it sometimes becomes apparent which prospective owners are attempting to be objective, and which are merely dreaming.

Even if you don't understand specific market demand, you will get a distinct "feel" for the amount of hype and exaggeration that floats around in the numbers and the logic.

There is a tendency among new business owners to price their products and services too low in the hope that they will attract more customers and not be given a reputation of being overpriced.

There are several problems with this strategy.

First, the kind of information business we propose for solo Internet entrepreneurs won't have any direct competition. The products, information and business execution are likely to be very unique and tailored to the owner's personality and experience.

Let's face it, many folks that start their own solo business are first time entrepreneurs. They have no history, background, or training in small business development or operation.

That presents a great challenge - one that can certainly be overcome - but one that must be recognized and met head-on.

You see, operating a business is like most other professions. You don't just declare that you want to be in business for yourself and all of a sudden possess all the skills and knowledge that you need to be successful.

Preparation for business success can come in many ways.

Some follow a regimented career path through college and possibly graduate school to learn the art and science of becoming a business owner.

Others choose to get their education from home study courses, books, tapes, and other media presentations.

Most businesses are started by folks that don't have formal training in business. The school of "hard knocks" is their educational backdrop.

Over the next few posts we will be looking at things you can do in your business to:

- gain the education and experience you need to learn important and useful business skills directly related to your success,

- present your business in the best light as one that is real and credible,

- grow your business beyond being just a startup that doesn't go anywhere,

- expand your mind and your opportunities for new business ideas, new products, and creative solutions to business problems,

We're discussing the steps you can take as a business owner to make yourself and your company a professional, trusted, "real" business; not some sloppy and suspect half-hearted attempt to grab a few customer dollars.

Here's the next step: Search out one or more experienced mentors to guide you in your business.

If you can find experienced business people that are willing to provide you some direction, advice, and counseling, you will be miles ahead of the pack of those who simply "go it alone" with no additional help.

I cant' overemphasize the notion that the most successful business owners are the ones that become "students" of small business and especially, their own business model and niche.

What does it mean to be a student of your business?

Some who go into business become so focused on the daily routines and operations, they never take the time to study and learn about doing business in a more efficient and effective manner.

I've seen a vicious cycle, a treadmill that catches business owners in a kind of "time warp" or trap. The owner starts running on the treadmill and can never seem to jump off.

He finds himself running faster and faster to keep his business afloat as he becomes more successful, but he's never able to slow down, catch up, and he can't jump off.

There is a critical business principle that you need to learn and implement in your solo Internet business that will serve you extremely well. In all digital businesses it will become either an invaluable friend or a nightmare of an enemy.

Some stay in business for years and spend a lot of valuable daily time on managing this area of their business, while others adapt and implement an automated system that does almost all of the manual work for them.

I'm talking about implementing and operating a system of records and data keeping that will aid you in maintaining your business and your customers.

If you want to have a professional and legitimate solo business, you must learn the discipline of setting goals and visualizing where you want your business to be in the future.

Goal-setting is sometimes viewed as nothing more than the worthless act of day dreaming. After all, how can anyone see into the future? Why waste time in guessing where your business will end up 5 or 10 years down the road?

There are three main hang-ups or difficulties with setting goals that keep most folks from realizing the power they hold in their hand when they establish proper goals.

Every business needs to establish and maintain professional working relationships with suppliers, distributors, vendors, service providers, and outsourcing companies.

You may think that just because you're running a solo operation and you are developing all your information products in-house you don't need to worry about on-going relationships.

Every business will need to establish partnerships (or relationships) with an Internet service provider, a bank or other financial partner, tax consultants (even if you prepare your own returns), insurance providers, possibly an attorney, and most likely some online service providers (like a merchant account company to provide for credit card transactions).

Businesses have to communicate in a variety of ways, but I've noticed that many of the online businesses (that I assume are run by solo owners) these days provide no address or telephone number for the company.

I am guessing that the business owners of these web sites have full time employment away from home and just figure that since they can't be around to answer the phone, it's better to just not list a number.

I won't deal with businesses that don't allow contact. Do you?

Was it tennis star Andre Agassi that proclaimed, "Image is everything!" in his popular commercials?

Your business image is an important tool for your success because it can either add to the overall perception your customers have about you or it can leave prospects wondering if they really want to take a chance on dealing with such an amateurish or careless business.

Image results from a lot of characteristics and visual clues about your business, but we're going to mention just two of the more important things you can do to portray your desired message in this post.

Have you ever noticed an advertisement in a magazine, a brochure, a newspaper, or online that looked like it was produced on an old typewriter?

Chances are pretty good that the owner of the ad produced it himself using non-professional graphics tools. He sent the ad in "camera ready" to save a few bucks, and it gets published looking like child's play.

Is that the type of material you want associated with your business?

Occasionally you will find announcements, brochures, and web sites with frequent misspellings, incorrect grammar, and other structural problems that can only be construed as a lackadaisical attitude on the part of the owner.

More than anything else, marketing your business and your products effectively will make or break your company. Read that again.

If you are not able to attract prospects to your offerings, whatever they are, you won't be able to generate income and your business will die.

Too often I hear online business owners saying something like, "I don't like to sell, I just want to develop my products" or "My products are great and they will sell themselves."

Regardless of the size of your business, you should separate all your business financial information and record keeping from your personal banking.

It does not look like you're very serious about your business if you continue to co-mingle your business and personal checking accounts, credit lines, credit cards, etc.

Legitimate companies keep their financial transactions totally separate from those of the owner. So should you.

Separate accounting will help you to avoid confusion, keep your information organized for tax purposes, and it will give you a "check" on the health of your business.

I don't know of a large profitable corporation that doesn't regularly seek professional advice on a whole range of business issues.

As a solo business owner, you may have a tendency to rely strictly upon your own knowledge and skill for all your business needs. You may figure that since you're in business for yourself, it's up to you to find answers to your questions and problems.

In actuality, the smart business owner is one that recognizes and admits he has limitations in certain business areas and will seek out professionals who can advise and help him over the rough spots.

I get a number of calls every week that go something like this:

"I want to start a business. I have a wonderful idea. I have no money but so and so told me there were government grants available for new businesses. Can you help me get $50,000 so I can start right away?"

Not wanting to burst the bubble immediately, I might say something like, "What do you want $50,000 for?"

"That's how much I need to rent a building, make some improvements, and set myself up in business. I figure I'll make it all back in the first year."

Here's the number one reason why most people that dream of owning their own business don't ever realize that dream: F-E-A-R

Americans dream about owning a business. 56% of recent survey respondents said that was their great ambition in life. Yet very few ever see that dream materialize.

Most of us work for someone else from our mid twenties until our mid sixties. That's 40 years of our lives, roughly 83,000 hours.

Bruce Judson reports that a Gallup survey of over 1 million U.S. employees found that over 70% are disengaged from their jobs. They have no real commitment to their work or their company. 70%! Wow!

One of the greatest obstacles to man's drive to succeed in his own business (or any other great undertaking, for that matter) is the disdain most of us have for taking risks.

The term "risk" has a very negative connotation for most of us; it suggests a situation that we'd prefer not to encounter.

Why do we dislike risk? As a young child and throughout our schooling we are taught that risk is bad, that we should avoid risk whenever possible . . .

In the past, creating a small business has been a very risky proposition.

You could quit your job to start a new business and not be able to get it back if your business failed.

You could severely cramp you lifestyle if the new business required more time to operate than you expected and didn't return what you wanted.

You could risk losing all your company health insurance benefits, your life insurance, and your 401K.

Let's look at how the Internet, combined with a simple approach to solo business, allows the entrepreneur to control and greatly minimize the risk of creating an owner operated small business.

Risk #1: You could quit your job to start a new business and not be able to get it back if your business failed. A simple approach to online business doesn't require that you quit your job.

You will need to spend time, a considerable amount of time, on your new business; but since it's operated from home (or wherever you have Internet access) you can work on your business before work at your regular job, after work, at lunch, at night and on weekends.

In case you haven't noticed, there is an important trend unfolding in the evolution of modern-day businesses that you need to understand and exploit as a solo Internet business owner.

Years ago, traditional businesses would set up shop in a physical location, stock shelves with the goods the owner expected to be in demand, and lastly open the doors to customers and hope they would buy what was offered.

The solo information business of today is different. No longer does the owner need to make such an expensive commitment to his guess or hunch about which niche is profitable and which products will sell.

A lot of small business owners would reason that because their business is very small and specialized, they ought to try to save money and increase efficiency by keeping all operating functions in-house under the watchful eye of the owner.

Why trust important activities like communications, product development, customer relations, financial management, or fulfillment to an outside firm or several firms that won't have the same concern over these functions that the owner would.

And why pay someone else when the owner is trying to conserve cash and keep operational costs as low as possible?

Here are five good reasons why every Lone Wolf owner ought to seriously consider outsourcing some parts of his operation:

I'm not suggesting anything like copying or plagiarizing someone's profitable business model and products to push them out of their own chosen niche.

Although this very practice happens all the time on the Internet with cloned or stolen and copied products and services, you should never consider such a blatant attempt to shortcut your way to success.

What I am suggesting is that you put on your thinking cap, get creative, and look at the solutions that successful businesses in other niches come up with to solve the problems they find in that niche.

Nowhere has the Internet made a more dramatic change in the existing power structure than in the business world.

It used to be that companies wielding the most power and influence were those that operated from a position of strong cash reserves and seemingly unlimited access to professional service muscle like Wall Street financial advisers, Big Five accounting expertise, and legions of powerful corporate attorneys.

The "Big Boys" could buy their way into business advertising that dwarfed their competitors.

What you end up doing with what I am about to tell you could have a great bearing on your ultimate future as a solo Internet business operator.

I can't over emphasize this point. I hope you pay close attention and get the message clearly.

Undertaking a solo business is like placing yourself in the pilot's seat of a commercial airliner. Your customer's pay to climb aboard and have you fly them to wherever it is you've advertised.

No doubt you have heard this famous phrase many times before - it is used in context with both scientific application and general business principles.

I will borrow it today to talk about an important habit that I think all entrepreneurs ought to adopt and practice for the rest of their lives.

I have mentioned many times that the most successful solo business owners are the ones that ride the crest of the wave of trends and technology in their niche.

One of the ways they do that is by keeping themselves informed about the environment in which they operate (their niche subject) and the world of business both nationally and globally.

One of the things that most business owners look for are ways to add value to their businesses.

The usual thoughts are to add more products to the mix of things sold thereby increasing the profit potential. They reason, "More to sell = more sales!"

If you sell other people's products and if you have a source of additional offerings, this strategy may make sense for your business.

But what if you create your own products and can't readily add new offerings? What if you sell a single item and your business revolves around just that product?

II tend to be personally aligned with perfectionists.

I believe in doing the very best I can no matter what I'm doing. I sometimes spend hours on trying to get something right, even though that pursuit is mostly meaningless.

I'm a sucker for puzzles, brain teasers, and word games.

As an entrepreneur, I have to fight this tendency toward perfection and "coming up with the very best solution" all the time.

One of my favorite mentors (even though I have not personally met him) is a gentleman by the name of Seth Godin. He was formerly the Direct Marketing Vice President at Yahoo!

I call him a mentor because I feel his direction and guidance have helped me immensely in my business career. He keeps in contact with his readers through his popular blog found HERE .

Seth is also a prolific writer and a creative genius when it comes to understanding human behavior in the context of online marketing psychology and how companies can be successful as they develop relationships with their customers.

There is a tendency to believe that in order to have a successful business, you must be better than the other businesses in your niche.

You need to understand that it may be impossible to compete against some businesses in some ways. No matter what you do, they will be better at some things than you could ever be.

But that's OK. There is room for many good businesses in most every niche.

Your challenge will be to pick what you want to be good at, let your customers and prospects know what that specialty is, then execute your business and build your products around that strength.

Don't try to compete in things that you can't excel at. Figure skaters are excellent ice skaters, but their talents may not be of much use to a burly hockey player. They become known for their specially developed and honed skills.

Many businesses are simply little fish in a big ocean, swimming and scurrying about hoping to be noticed or "chosen" by those customers that want what they have to offer.

That is no way to run a business.

Getting noticed involves a lot of positive, pro-active, and planned steps that lead to incremental wins or successes. Typically, the process of being noticed and spreading the word about your products is an expensive and drawn out affair.

But there are things you can do every day in your business to create "buzz." And according to author Richard Laermer, in his great little book Full Frontal PR, this one characteristic of your marketing (creating buzz) is often the difference between success and failure in your total effort.

There is a huge amount of talk and banter these days about niche business and the necessity to focus your efforts in very targeted segments of your market sector.

There is a lot less open talk about what it means to position your business in a certain way or stance and how to do it within your specialized niche.

"Positioning" very simply refers to the choices you will be making about how you desire your business to be viewed by others. You will be determining your positioning either consciously by the actions you take, or automatically if you don't do anything to influence your position.

You business positioning differentiates your company and brand from others in the same niche, your competitors, by:

I was asked recently by a lady that had decided to operate a home-based business, what it meant to "niche your way" to a business fortune.

I didn't ask her where she picked up that phrase, but I have a good idea it was something said in an ad or a "how to" article somewhere online associated with running a business in today's environment.

It's a pretty trite expression these days, but the concept is still relevant and should be the basis of most every business entrepreneur that's thinking about doing online commerce.

This gal's question took me back a bit - I guess I just assumed that everyone knew what a niche business was and that it was pretty much a "given" for today's highly segmented business market.

If so, you need to do everything possible to increase the amount of traffic, the click-through response rate to your affiliate page links, and the relevance of your content to the product(s) you're promoting.

Typically, affiliates slap up a web page, add a few links, some cut-and-paste content, and forget about the site for a few weeks or months waiting for it to get spidered and included in the search engines.

There is a better way to accomplish affiliate sales. If you pay close attention to the details of your site, like you would if you were selling your own direct marketing product, your affiliate sales can soar.

Depending upon the type of solo business you operate, and the needs that your business has to communicate with the "outside" world, you may want to consider setting up a private area on your company site.

I'm not talking about creating a forum, chat room, or discussion board as is commonly done among niche community web sites.

I'm not talking about a private membership site either. In both these models, your web site is open to the public and you attempt to recruit members (paying or otherwise) that have to identify themselves before entering by submitting a user name and password.

Malcolm Gladwell, a talented and observant staff writer for "The New Yorker," has written a little book that you, the entrepreneur, should read as part of your basic small business education.

Here are the details:

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell, Feb. 2000, 288pp.

Gladwell understands human behavior and social trends that have shaped the American economy and influenced the business world so profoundly.

If you're a businessman, an advertiser, customer relations specialist, product developer, or web site owner, The Tipping Point holds many nuggets and gems that will influence the way you view your job and execute your mission.

On my reading list for all online solo business owners is Michael LeBoeuf's little paperback called The Perfect Business.

The corporate salaried employee stereotype with stock options, a hefty 401K, and holiday pay may soon become a relic of the past.

Job security is no longer prevalent. Corporate downsizing, mergers, and take-overs can spell unemployment for even the most proficient and tenured of workers.

LeBoeuf's book is perfect for the employee that decides to leave structured business life and test the waters of self-employment.

His writing is motivational, inspirational, and filled with solid reasons why solo business may be just the solution for those ousted from the 8-to-5 routine.

In a lot of online business situations, email is the lifeline between you and your customers and suppliers.

You don't have face-to-face contact and you may never converse over the phone.

Since your emails are so important, so critical to your communication with both customers and vendors in the business world, it is very smart to pay particular attention to both the substance and presentation of your emails.

All of us get in the habit of becoming lax in the business "chores" that are commonplace and routine. Email is no different.

Late in 2005 (December), several PR experts gave presentations at the Utah Information Technology Association's (UITA) gathering that was labeled: "PR Tips from the Trenches."

I was quite interested in the event because of my belief that public relations strategies are:

(1) often ignored by small solo businesses,

(2) assumed to be too expensive or too complicated and out of reach of the "little guy,"

(3) seen by small businesses as exclusively the tools or resources of the large and well-connected companies,

In 2005 I purchased and read Seth Godin's latest contribution to new age business thinking and culture and immediately was struck by it's logic, practicality and seemingly correct vision of how we must sell our products and services now and in the future.

Seth Godin's book, called All Marketers Are Liars - The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World, is a fun read and certainly challenges traditional thinking about marketing products and services.

According to Godin, successful companies will be those that invent good products worth talking about and then come up with good, believable stories about what they've invented.

Godin writes, "Make your story bigger and bigger until it's important enough to believe."

Another book that I like to recommend to entrepreneurs and existing small business owners is The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki, a columnist for The New Yorker magazine.

It was published in May 2004 and has 320 pages. The subtitle is: "Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations."

That's quite a mouthful and suggests that there really is wisdom, influence, and, in particular, power in the thinking and opinions of the masses, either to the benefit or detriment of every society, organization, and economy in the world.

To my way of thinking, there are two business functions that every single company needs to execute well, every day of the year, in order to be categorized as a successful business.

The first function is marketing. Regardless of the product you sell, the size of your company, or the underlying bankroll you operate from, if you don't market what you sell, and market it well, you will never be successful.

The second daily business function that is critical to every business that I know is customer service. That is the topic for this post.

How many people do you know personally that don't really care how they're treated? How many folks enjoy being put off, ignored, lied to, ripped off, pushed around, run around in circles, or treated like they were criminals?

We're discussing the little operating changes that can easily be set up in an online business that will add greatly to your customer support process.

4. Set up a responsive help system or customer support mechanism. It doesn't have to be an expensive and complex hosted solution.

The main thing customers want to know is how to easily, quickly, and reliably get in touch with you should a problem or concern arise.

Customers online understand that small companies may not have full time "operators standing by" waiting to answer every question thrown at them. But by all means, return phone calls and emails just as soon as you can, preferably within a few hours of receiving them.

I believe it's a wise move to investigate all the options you have in executing your online business.

You may quickly dismiss many of these options for any number of reasons, but you might also find just that one perfect little advantage that sets your business apart from your competitors and propels you to success.

Drop-shipping could become your business "ace in the hole" so to speak, but there are many dangers in this industry so you need to be cautious and thorough in your research about the drop-shippers that you employ, their reputation for quality products and service, their fee structure, their policies, and your rights as the selling agent.

Some business owners have chosen to ship purchased products to their customers at no additional cost with the idea that such generosity could mean the difference between landing a sale or not, all other considerations being equal.

I would caution that you be very careful in implementing this strategy. If you choose to offer free shipping, that's certainly your prerogative as the business owner; but if your business can't really afford this luxury, it could become an awful drain on your capital.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying you should never employ this strategy. In fact, some businesses have used the "free shipping" tactic to differentiate and set their company apart from all the other competitors in their niche.

Have you ever noticed a shopping cart full of groceries sitting next to the checkout stand at the supermarket?

I've seen it happen a few times and usually figured that someone simply left their wallet or purse at home and would be back soon to claim their abandoned goods.

It's not a big problem since most stores are accommodating about the oversight.

But online, shopping cart abandonment is a huge problem! No one really knows the extent of this loss to e-tailers, but I have seen some estimates that suggest fifty percent or more of all online sales processes are never completed.

In the previous installment we discussed some of the costs associated with delivering physical products to your customers.

Be careful to study the numbers and understand exactly what it is costing your business on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis to send out your goods.

In most instances, it is best to charge your customers about what it costs you to handle and ship their purchase. The amount can vary a little from your exact cost so that you can standardize and simplify the shipping cost structure you present to your buyers.

The ways an auto responder can be employed to automate your business tasks are many. Here are just a few of the typical business uses of an auto responder:

- if an email address is no longer valid, a message can be sent from the mail server that the email is now "undeliverable,"

- if the business changes its email address or URL, a new forwarding address can be sent to those that send mail to the old address,

- if you go on vacation or are otherwise unavailable for a time, your auto responder can alert customers to your absence and when you'll return,

Having to ship merchandise out to customers reminds me of the hassle of shaving every morning. It's a part of the daily routine, it's something to be tolerated but it's never enjoyed, and the longer you let it go, the more difficult the chore grows for the next day.

In my mind, having to ship merchandise, keep inventory on hand, box and package products, etc, is one of the reasons I feel strongly about solo operators focusing on information based business only. There is no shipping.

If you ship merchandise, you have to keep merchandise. All of a sudden you are in the warehousing and inventory business that presents all kinds of extra manpower costs, worries and hassles.

By now you understand that the solo information business strategy discourages dealing in physical products that require shipping and handling. These products require human intervention and a lot of financial costs that are the antithesis of the one-person solo Internet home business model.

Nevertheless, many of you will continue to do business in a physical delivery world because of the types of products you sell.

So I have a few suggestions about shipping products that will hopefully help you in your business to avoid the pitfalls and traps that some solo businesses have fallen into in the past.

Today's solo business owners have an amazing array of tools at their disposal to share their story and their wares with customers compared to days bygone.

Now I'm not an expert in the use of this strategy by any means, but I'd like to mention to you one tool that is easy to put your hands on, and learn how to use, that will open the door to greater customer loyalty and put your web business in front of a growing audience.

I've always believed that business owners should stay on the leading edge of technology available to businesses in order to profit from new advances and efficiencies.

In a previous post, we talked about what meta tags are whether they're important to the search engines. We're going to continue that discussion here and add a few other thoughts.

As the Internet has become more crowded with e-commerce sites, the race to attract traffic through the free search engines has greatly intensified.

In fact, today it's all-out war when it comes to competing for top billing: the rush to grab the very highest search engine rankings for competitive key words that drive tons of traffic to the winners.

Linking strategies for commercial web sites seem to be grabbing a lot of attention these days from marketing experts that claim in-bound links are critical to the search engine rankings.

There is a lot of on-going debate about just how important your links are to top rankings. I'm sure each of the top search engines has its own view of the subject. No doubt they give varying importance to this criterion.

Some claim also that the "page rank" (Google) or the importance of the site linking to your site also affects your search engine position.

But there are other reasons why you need links.

To tell you the truth, I'm having a hard time coming up with any reasons why you shouldn't absolutely consider having a forum at your site.

In the early Internet days folks would chat back and forth via email only. Some sites placed comment forms in strategic places around the site to encourage visitor input, but that communication was pretty much one way.

If the site owner wanted to answer a comment, it was back to the email station to shoot off a reply.

You will hear me very often say, "You are the business." The solo Internet business operator is often an individualist that would rather be creative, adventurous, and find his own way over joining the pack.

If you want to become such, you should execute your business as though it is an extension of yourself. Your company is built around the skills, knowledge, education and passion that make up your life.

So in terms of both subject matter, and executing the daily business operations, you are the business. Without you, the company is nothing.

Some business owners prefer to deal with problem customers by writing them off and shoving them out the door. They don't want or need to be bothered with further dealings or more headaches.

I think there is a better way, however, to attempt to appease and "soften" an irate customer.

Why not turn him 180 degrees around and convert him into one of your most loyal and valued customers?

You won't be 100 per cent successful with this strategy, but it will work often enough that you will soon understand the benefit to your business of this approach.

Often, new business owners figure the only way to increase sales is to put your product or service in front of more people.

Such a strategy usually means that you spend increasing amounts of money on advertising so you can extend your reach in to more and more markets.

Increasing sales by ramping up advertising is one way to pump up the bottom line. But there may be other more effective uses of your business operating budget.

There are more ways to increase your sales than to just try to entice more and more customers to purchase your product by increasing your advertising budget.

Have you ever considered establishing an affiliate sales program?

Such an effort may seem overwhelming or too complex for a small solo business. But the truth is, with the tools currently available online, there is no reason why the solo owner can't leverage his/her own effort quite inexpensively.

Creating an affiliate sales program is much like recruiting a large group of independent contract salesmen. These folks go out on their own and sell your products or service for a sales commission or portion of the profit on each and every sale they make.

Most small business owners look for additional sales in increased advertising and marketing.

But there are other strategies to explore and some unique methods of driving more sales in your business without turning up any additional customers.

One of those strategies involves up selling - offering additional products to the sales of your current buying pool. You're not having to locate new first time buyers . . . you're simply selling more to those who buy a product.

When you think about it, there is no better place to find new prospects that may have an interest in your particular niche than to ask your satisfied customers to recommend their friends and acquaintances that have similar interests and passion for the subject.

Some of your customers may not legitimately know other people in your niche, but those instances will be the exception.

If you are dealing in any kind of business subject or niche like a hobby, or a recreational pursuit, or a leisurely pastime, there's a very good chance that your customer will have friends and maybe even family members that also participate in the same activity.

A joint venture is simply a partnership created to take advantage of non-competing products or services that are extended to the customers of the partner's business(es).

There are many different ways to set up a joint venture and a lot of variations to the theme, but this is basically how it is structured:

One business will make contact with a non-competing business owner to offer his services or products to the non-competing businesses customers and will offer that owner a portion of the profits of all sales (in return for the privilege of contacting his customer base).

Entrepreneur is kind of a funny word. It's obviously of French origin. I've been hunting for years to find its English counterpart, but have not yet come up with a suitable substitute.

Maybe we don't need an English word for entrepreneur - it's used so commonly these days in the English language that most business-minded people, at least, have a pretty good understanding of the term.

My dictionary states the word "entrepreneur" comes from the Old French "entreprendre" which means, "to undertake." An entrepreneur is one who undertakes the creation, organization, operation, and risk of a business venture.

I want to welcome my new friend Chris Elliott to the blog and the amazing world of Internet business. Chris is a high school senior about to make a choice between colleges and is interested in entering the business world after school is completed.

Chris reminds me that there is a legion of potential solo Internet business candidates among us - the future business leaders that will blossom in the coming generation.

Most of the attention I pay to solo business owners goes to those who have a wealth of knowledge and experience under the belt. They are folks that already have some life and business experiences in the work place.

I was actually born about 40 years too soon.

If I were a teenager today I'd be busy creating a network of web site businesses that I'd set up to grow over time, that could be run mostly on autopilot, and that would passively generate growing income for me for many years to come.

I'd study and learn (mostly online) how to use computers to automate business operation. I'd carefully watch which online business owners were being successful and I'd try to follow their lead.

I've written a number of times on getting started in business and most of those discussions, at some point at least, lead back to the importance to small businesses of doing market research to understand who your customers are and what they really want.

I have come to the conclusion over my years in dealing with small business owners that some of them (the true entrepreneurs) are exceptionally good at the skill of listening, and others (let's call them business road kill) haven't a clue what listening entails and don't ever do it.

I recently viewed a video clip produced by John Reese that showed his amazing VRE strategy that added over $500,000 to his business the first year it was implemented (beginning in February 2005.) You can view the video for yourself right here. (Excuse me if this link is no longer working - John has changed his business model several times in the past couple of years and the link may be down by now.)

John says he spent about 120 hours initially setting up this project which includes a network of small web sites that carry Google Adsense ads along with specifically targeted content related to high-paying keyword niches.

John is the same fellow that made some huge waves in the Internet marketing circles when he sold over $1 million of his Traffic Secrets course in a 24-hour period.

If you are a solo business operator and choose to increase the revenue generated at your web site, you have the option of employing Google Adsense advertising. I believe Yahoo and MSN also (or will soon) offer similar programs that allow the web owner to monetize his content.

There are several factors that determine how much revenue a web owner can generate for each of the particular content pages on his site that serve Adsense advertising.

First, the traffic to a site is important as most Internet advertising is, in part at lease, a numbers game. Your viewers will only click on an Adsense ad a certain proportion of the time.

Let's use the example of 1 click every 200 visitors. Given that type of click-through rate, a site with 200 visitors/page/day will generate 1/10 the income that a site with 2,000 visitors/page/day will get, all other things being equal.

Anyone that has searched online for information type products, and even physical products in some cases, has been offered one or more "bonuses" along with the purchase of the main product.

The question you may be asking is this, "Does a bonus offer increase the sale of a particular product?"

You may think that bonuses should naturally increase sales; but that is not always the case.

In this day of increasingly complex e-commerce systems, it seems that there are many strategies that product sellers have at their disposal to increase product sales. The strategy of offering a bonus product is so common now that it may seem like a necessity to follow suit if you want to make sales.

Successful Internet business owners know that a consistent, fresh, value-packed email newsletter is one of the best marketing tools at their disposal in terms of both cost effectiveness and customer satisfaction.

Here are some tips that will help a solo business operator create and develop a valuable and profitable newsletter.

1) Before you begin publishing, answer these four questions:
- Who is my perfect customer? (My targeted prospect)
- What do I intend to accomplish? (My purpose)
- How can I be different and unique? (My specialty)
- What do I have to offer? (My personality, experience, skills, etc)

Some solo business owners have experienced great success by marketing their company and products off-line.

That may sound weird, counter-productive, or just plain wrong. You've got to figure that online marketing is the cheapest and most widely reaching form of advertising there is.

Well, I'm certainly not advocating that you abandon your online marketing strategy - that needs to remain intact.

What I would suggest, however, is that you think about all the ways to spread the word about your web site, brand, products, and your business in general - off-line in the physical environment as well.

It may be something you do as a matter of routine, but I've seen enough sales letters and web site catalogs that don't do this that I'm convinced some sellers just don't know what they are missing.

I've often spoken of the need to do everything within your power to garner the trust and confidence of your prospects in online selling.

Lots of people are still a little skeptical about doing business online.

And even though many have moved beyond the fear that credit card numbers will be stolen and used illegally, they still have a certain natural tendency to not give their full faith and trust to a new Internet company they have never dealt with in the past.

I think some people are born to complain.

We've all been acquainted, or at least come in contact, with this type of personality at some point in our lives.

It seems that if the person is not registering a complaint, he's out of character.

It's sad because we all tire of this constant criticism and negative attitude, even though we may be good friends with the person.

But this type of personality can be damaging to a small business in a number of ways.

I'm no expert on the subject because I've only been blogging a short time now (since February 2006 on a blog different than Business Alone).

However, I have been a writer for quite some time and many of the same rules apply to blogging as well.

I have taken the time to do some research on the subject.

Specifically I have been reading about "How to Blog" and trying to follow the instructions of some who have been successful bloggers for quite some time now.

I've also spent a fair amount of time visiting popular blogs, watching what other authors are doing, and trying to follow their lead by seeing and incorporating their techniques into my own blog.

Every new technology faces the same uphill battle when it comes to public acceptance and dispelling people's fears that something bad will happen to them as a result of some unknown or unanticipated problem.

Many people say they are hesitant to make a purchase online because the either fear the process or they fear that their money will be lost forever because the seller will "take the money and run."

I'm too young to remember the early days of inventions like the car, the radio, and the telephone, but there were great fears among the public about what these new devices would do to society.

Many people were slow to adopt and embrace change. It wasn't until they actually saw and understood the advantages and noticed other folks were using the inventions without harm that they decided to give them a try.

Here are a few additional suggestions of practical things you can do in your business to gain the trust of your prospects by calming their fear of purchasing on the Internet and dealing with an unknown company:

6. Be very clear and precise about what the customer is getting with his purchase. Don't leave anything unclear or in doubt. If anything, be overly specific and descriptive so the customer doesn't wonder what his dollars are actually purchasing.

7. Make the actual buying process as easy, straightforward, and intuitive as possible. Don't ask for more personal information than is necessary. Now is not the time for a customer survey. Explain each step you ask the customer to take. If the buyer is going to be taken away from your web site (for instance, to have a credit card transaction approved), explain to him why he is leaving the site and how he will be returned automatically.

Before we get to today's post, I want to wish each of our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Take some time off today and enjoy the holiday with your family - I'm going to do just that since I wrote this post yesterday!

When the Internet was new and online business owners were jumping on the ship right and left, there was often the feeling that all a business owner needed to do to have a business was put up a web site, add a product or two, and the sales would begin to flow.

Yes, I'll remind you once again of that worn out phrase that everyone else quotes to describe this erroneous thinking: "if you build it, they will come."

Online business owners now understand that phrase is a lie.

I did a little experiment myself that proved the point to me in very real terms. Two years ago I set up a little web site with it's own domain name, some content, keywords, etc.

I asked visitors to register at the web site (for free) to get my newsletter with lots of great benefits. I even offered a bonus worth a legitimate $300 merely for signing up and there were no other strings attached.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought press releases were one of the most effective yet misunderstood tools the business owner had at his disposal to market his business and drive targeted traffic to his products.

No one ever taught us how to write a good press release!

The single most important rule to remember is to focus on the wants of the reader. Write what the viewer wants, what will make him happy, save him time, or solve a problem he has.

Forget what you (the business owner) want. It's not about you.

In addition, here are some simple suggestions to boost your copywriting effectiveness and increase your chances of having the release published:

I have often made the comment, "You are the business." As a small business owner, you are the solo creator, founder, operator, and employee of your business.

Without you, and everything that you know, do, and are, your business is nothing. There is no business if you don't make it so.

I am a proponent of the solo small business strategy because I believe in digital information business as the "perfect" strategy for this day and age, especially for those that want to control every aspect of their life in the business world and beyond.

The solo business owner has many tools and resources at his disposal that can leverage his time and automate his business so that he can accomplish much more by himself than would ever have been possible prior to the Internet.

Most business owners that utilize email will tell you that its low cost and "free" fast delivery are the main advantages of using it. But in my mind, at least, there are some other very important reasons why email is the communication medium of choice for the solo business owner.

If you are not using of these email advantages, why not give them a try? They may even be more important resources for your business than the low cost of contacting your customers and prospects.

I think this is an important question that every entrepreneur needs to ask of him/herself. I'm not talking about turning a dollar bill into coins.

You've probably noticed that everything related to Internet business changes quite rapidly. It's business at the speed of light, so to speak.

Your niche market changes and morphs over time as new innovations come on the scene and old traditions die out.

You targeted customers change. It is a rarity nowadays to keep the same customers as regular purchasers at your site for more than a couple of years.

There is one huge roadblock that stops men and women from accomplishing great things in their lives. It's the four letter "f" word . . .

No, not that one . . .

It's FEAR!

I want to let you know that most all of us have an unhealthy attitude toward fear. It's not your fault that you shy away from your fears. That's what you've been taught to do every since you were a child.

When you were afraid of the dark, rather than helping you meet your fear, Mom helped you avoid it by getting you a nightlight.

I had to chuckle a bit when I read the following statement in the biography of a local politician that was used to describe his philosophy:

"I've seen many changes in (community name) and I've been against most of them!"

He wanted to bring back "the good old days" when traffic was sparse, crime was low, taxes were much less, and folks were friendly.

Such may be the view of this old-timer, but it is a philosophy that can be very damaging to a company.

Most great entrepreneurs welcome change, embrace change, and seek ways to profit from the opportunities brought about by change.

I've often spoken and written of the accelerated pace of business on the Internet. Online, everything moves quickly and changes happen almost overnight.

It seems products, businesses and the strategies used to reach customers are here today and gone tomorrow.

Press releases and the way businesses keep in the public eye have also changed significantly with the speed and open access of the Internet.

Just a few years ago, press releases were confined to a very predictable format and were used to relay certain kinds of company highlights and events to the mass media.

Today, things have changed and press releases are nothing like they used to be. Here are some of the changes:

You would think most people are rational when spending money on products and services that they find online. After all, the complete information about the product is readily available right on the Internet.

You can also quickly compare prices, shipping, and other factors between two or more sellers to assure you're getting the best deal possible.

I'll admit that I've spent hours online comparison shopping, researching benefits and features, and reviewing the sales pages for just one item I wanted to purchase.

The time I spent online was probably worth way more than the product I was after.

It's only been since the late 1990's that marketers are able to look at the phenomenon of Internet purchasing.

It's really too short a time to accurately begin predicting more long-term trends and patterns that will spill over into the future.

Initially, most online prospects were hesitant to give up credit card information and personal data required to make a purchase. But by about 1998 or so attitudes toward security began changing and customers were more at ease in divulging their information.

As I have watched Internet business begin to grow and mature, I have noticed that certain recurring patterns seem to play themselves out over time.

Observing these patterns and keeping a careful eye on emerging trends will help the solo entrepreneur position himself and his business in a way that will benefit his revenue generation.

For many years marketers have known the popularity and selling power of contests that are offered to prospects and customers.

On the Internet, a fun and profitable (for the participant) contest can to lead to increased traffic and site popularity, returning customers, and word of mouth advertising among family and friends.

The contest you offer doesn't have to be especially costly, cutting edge, or filled with large cash prizes. Since you are working in a specific niche, the contest and the winnings should be somehow related to that niche.

If you have a business based in the U.S. and you pride yourself on having the lowest prices in town (or in your industry), are you ready to be severely challenged?

One of the most evident changes that the U.S. economy has undergone in the past 15 years or so is the flight of industrial and manufacturing companies away from the U.S. Why?

Well there are a lot of reasons, but the basis of this exodus is the fact that labor in the U.S. is increasingly expensive and hard to find.

Regardless of the size of your marketing budget, there are some business principles that should guide what you do, when you do it, and how you bring together the various elements of your business marketing.

The tendency for many new small businesses is simply to strike out and begin spreading the word about your product or service in a random hodge-podge manner, jumping from this to that depending upon where you think you'll get the most bang for your effort.

Your marketing "plan" has no real thinking behind it . . . you just figure the best you can do is to spread the word as quickly as you can to as many sources as you can and hope for the best.

Now that game plan certainly beats doing no marketing at all, but it lacks the leveraging power of a unified and comprehensive approach that ties all your different marketing efforts together and cements your brand in the minds of your customers.

Of course the Internet small business has many formats to choose from when advertising its products and services.

I believe using a variety of methods is generally preferable to always relying upon one format. Your customers may tire from the same looking message received repeatedly.

One of the most effective selling formats is the personal letter from you (the small business owner) to the customer. It's a proven strategy that often works better than any other because it's:

(1) personal - most of us are much more likely to buy a product that is personally recommended than one we have no human tie to;

(2) intimate - we feel that a personal letter is not something that would be shared with lots of other people, hence we view it as tailored to our own needs or geared to our own circumstance (even though that may not be the case since the same "personal" letter might be sent to thousands of prospects);

What I am about to say may strike a chord of discontent among many of you . . . but that's okay.

It will bring to light a strategy that many of the Internet's most successful and profitable business persons have adopted on the road to increased business and nice incomes.

I will ask the question again, "Who gives out points for creativity and innovation?"

Most entrepreneurs and new small business owners feel that in order to be successful at Internet business, they must create or invent the next unique and valuable product - something different from all others in the same niche market. I beg to differ.

Now I am certainly not opposed to being creative or innovative, all of the other things being equal, it's a real blessing to have these personal characteristics manifest in your business. . . but . . .

Most often though, success is found in other ways. Here are some examples:

Of course the type of business you run will often dictate the accepted and profitable practices that are used in your industry.

Your brand may be strong enough that having a slogan may be overkill.

But in most new business situations, I think it's preferable to add a useful slogan as opposed to relying upon your business name alone.

I said "useful" and that is important.

Just adding any slogan because it sounds cool or looks good in the logo probably won't help your marketing cause much.

But if you develop a slogan that tells a story and brands your business in a useful way, it can become a great advantage to you over time.

Affiliate programs have proven to be an important additional stream of income for many small Internet business owners.

It is not a "cure all" for lack of sales at your own web site as some self-proclaimed gurus have stated.

You must first determine if adding affiliate sales to your overall marketing strategy is a positive step or one that will detract from your web site's mission.

There are some types of business, and certain niches, where selling other's goods will not help your own cause.

This may seem obvious, but I see this mistake being made all over the Internet - don't sell competing products or unrelated (to your niche) products in your affiliate program.

Big Madison Avenue advertising agencies need to know what customers think about specific companies (their clients) and the products and services they sell.

They create branding messages, images, and positioning for these companies that affect how the business is perceived by the general public.

Such information can be helpful to a small business as well; however, most small businesses are not in a position to be able to afford this level of outsourcing and detail in their marketing.

Still, there is an easy way to check on consumer sentiment about the companies that do business in your niche.

I'm always amazed that entrepreneurs are so anxious to spend their money.

I think the traditions and practices of the past have spilled over into the Internet generation of entrepreneurs and clouded the view of some soon-to-be business owners.

They feel that the old business cliché "you have to spend money to make money" still holds true.

I want to challenge that notion and tell you that you can play that game if you want to, but I would strongly advise a different approach.

I want to suggest that you conserve as much cash as you possibly can as you begin your new small business. Look for ways to save money instead of focusing on all the possible things you could spend your money on.

Owning a small business is the new American Dream. A recent national survey found that nearly 60% of Americans listed owning a business as high on their wish list of things to accomplish, even higher than owning a home.

But how many of those same folks are going to see their dream happen this year, or next, or the next . . .?

If you have this same dream of creating and owning a small business, there's a very high probability that no one in your lifetime is going to step up and hand you your own business.

If you're waiting for the right opportunity to come knocking, I doubt that you'll recognize it.

You see, that opportunity is standing in front of you right now, staring you right in the face.

I believe that every business has the opportunity to "make a difference" in the world today, even if only in a small way.

There are lots of ways of doing that besides merely providing valuable and useful products and services that help people and make their lives better.

By being productive and profitable, a company has the opportunity to contribute to the economic stability of the city and region in which it operates.

Small businesses will also have a number of opportunities to become socially responsible.

Here are a few ideas for the small business owner:

It seems somewhat incredible that many entrepreneurs go into business without knowing exactly their true business purpose.

Have you ever taken the opportunity to boil down your purpose to its very essence?

"What is my business?" Try to find an answer that covers all the bases in just a word or two. Usually that's a very challenging task.

Your company may sell a number of different products and services and it's purpose may be multi-faceted. Here's maybe a different way of defining what it is that you do.

One of the things that small business owners often forget is the fact that customers come to a small business often for the experience, not just for the products or services that are offered.

Yet many small businesses don't capitalize on that fact. Instead, they try to act like large sterile non-personal corporations. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about.

I was recently in Park City, Utah with my wife and family. We had made the one hour drive from home specifically to walk Main Street. For those of you unfamiliar with the place . . .

Nothing grabs a prospects attention like seeing his own name printed in a hand-written letter from a friend.

When a business customer feels like he is appreciated, singled out by the owner for some personal attention, and given the opportunity to join in the membership of a group of "insiders," he will likely commit to being personally involved in the niche with this business.

Personal involvement invites activity in forums, registration as a member of a community of serious like-minded folks (either free or paid), and status as a preferred customer (one most likely to buy products from the business.)

Whether you decide to publish information in a paid newsletter, a "members only" web site, or an email or notification service, the questions you'll have to answer are basically the same. Why do you want to do this?

Is the decision based on your love of the niche and desire to share what you know about it? Is it because you already have the advantage of possessing the knowledge and experience that will be needed?

Are you trying to gain a dedicated group of subscribers so you can offer them niche products? Or is the decision simply one that allows you to start a business and earn a living in a niche of your own choosing?

Whatever the reason, there are business principles that you ought to think about prior to committing much time and money to your new venture.

Keeping your valuable information behind locked doors and only giving access to those that pay you for the privilege is the basis of the membership or subscription web site model.

As the owner of a membership site, you will have to determine how to best handle the security of your information and still make it convenient and easy for your paid members to get access.

Here are the usual approaches that I've seen and dealt with in my Internet experience.

Every business owner, sooner or later, comes to the realization that her time is money in the bank!

Wasted time is cash burned . . . and really for no good reason.

Every business is a little different, but in most cases where the owner principally operates online, requests for support by customers can be a major daily time drain.

In some cases, it is the major activity that keeps the owner/operator glued to her computer and telephone during regular business hours and then some.

The other day I spent some time at Borders, the giant bookseller franchise that I often frequent when I'm searching for some Internet selling tips and advice that I can't find in the books on my own bookshelf.

Borders is a cool place, much like a mini library where the atmosphere is pretty laid back and browsers are free to pull a book from the shelf and sit down to read a chapter or two.

I must admit that Borders' intentions are obviously to sell books rather than play the role of a library for the cheapskates (like myself) who usually purchase books online at Amazon. But still, they don't seem to mind too much if I'm there and generally walk out empty-handed.

Anyway, I was in Borders checking out the latest books on marketing and advertising on the Internet. I was a little surprised at what I found.

One-on-one advertising, that is direct response advertising, is designed to solicit some type of action from the viewer. It may also have the side benefits of building a companies brand or attaching credibility to a product, but the main desired outcome is still related to getting the customer to take action.

One step response selling is pretty simple: the prospect sees the ad, reads the copy, is prompted to click on the "Buy Now" button, and leaves with a digital file of some type that will help him solve a problem or enjoy a passion.

In a two step direct response ad, the customer is prompted to take some action (not purchase initially) like register a name and address, download a free e-book, or watch a short video clip.

This first action is generally designed to provide some type of partial benefit to the prospect, or create a sense of urgency or scarcity, or build a swelling desire for the latest model, or to educate the buyer on the benefits of ordering the widget now because there are only 13 left!

The answer won't be a surprise to most; nevertheless, the concept or principle behind the answer needs frequent repeating until it's permanently embedded in the business operator's memory.

Suppose you're hungry and anxious to find something to eat. So you stroll down the block past all the shops peeking in display windows and looking for something to satisfy your appetite. You're particularly sensitive to the sights and smells of each open door as you pass by, but you're not willing to venture inside unless you're fairly satisfied that you'll stay and dine.

Are you likely to stop and sample food that appears to be many days old? You can see the mold and dust growing everywhere. Or would you be more apt to pass on that shop and find something that appeared fresh?

Are you going to stop at the store that displays its food in used, dirty, or leaking containers? Or will you search for items that are presented in an appealing and appetizing manner? Wouldn't you like to see some nice garnishments and maybe a succulent cherry on top?

One of the foundations of any successful marketing program is repeated and systematic contact of the prospect.

One initial encounter is rarely sufficient to brand your company in the mind of the customer.

We all are bombarded with literally thousands of marketing messages every day no matter what we do or where we go.

Radio, television, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, billboards, and other venues attempt to grab our attention long enough to flash a message to our brains that the advertiser hopes will "stick" sooner or later.

Most of us learn to subconsciously "tune out" or tone down this constant barrage of advertising. That means there are natural challenges awaiting every business that tries to communicate with their prospects.

I know of no other activity required of business operators that can be so frustrating, expensive, and fickle as the advertising game.

Sure, it would be nice to have the viral engine stoked up enough that you never had to do another ad spend. But for most small businesses, advertising, in one form or another, is the "necessary evil."

I don't know too many business operators that get the kind of traffic to their web site they want without playing the ad game.

It is a game, you know. You prepare and publish your ad and wait to see the outcome. Sometimes you win; often you lose.

One thing is for sure: advertising can be a huge black hole for a small business if you're not disciplined and selective. You can dump all the cash down the hole that you like - yet there is no guarantee that one product will be sold as a result.

One of the great advantages to operating a solo business is that you, and you alone, control what transpires in the business. You make all the decisions, you set the rules, and you alone reap the business spoils.

Solo business appeals to many people, not because they're anti-social or paranoid about taking on business partners, but because they see distinct advantages in the lifestyle and daily routine of the owner/operator. Many prefer to work at home, work from a laptop, or enjoy the autonomy that a solo business provides compared to the "impersonal" nature of corporate society.

But for all the advantages of the solo business model, there is one distinct disadvantage that surfaces for some operators. It is the fact that some become so engrossed in their business that they never step out of it to check the reality of what they're doing and to look around and see what else is going on within the market.

I'm convinced that press releases are one of the most misunderstood tools a small business has available to tell its story and drive targeted traffic to its web site and products.

But industry surveys show that the vast majority of all press releases (some estimate the number to conservatively range between 90 and 98%) from small businesses never get past the desk of the editor. Why is that? Don't editors want good releases?

Of course they do. There are a variety of reasons why a release isn't accepted and subsequently published, but the main reason given most often by the editors questioned has to do with the copy that the author submits.

You see, authors write in an effort to put the best light or spin possible on their business or product. In other words, they write from the business point of view, usually with a marketing slant or focus.

I believe in small business! I believe in entrepreneurs!

I believe that anyone can create and operate their own successful small business if they will choose a viable niche and apply sound business strategies and principles (which you can learn here).

My favorite solo Internet business strategy suggests you create an information-based business around your education, training, interests, knowledge and passion.

So what is this "passion" I'm talking about? Does it mean you have to like the subject of your business?

Well, not exactly. You see, passion is much more comprehensive and deep than simply "liking" what you do.

I visited a web site last night related to Internet marketing that touted all the methods the large corporations were using to build trust in the company - thereby reducing the fears of customers with the end result of making them more apt to make an online purchase.

There were something like thirty methods of building trust listed, but I was very surprised to notice the lack of mention of using testimonials from satisfied buyers.

In my mind, there are few things you can do that are more important than using testimonials.

So why did this marketing "authority" leave this method out? Who knows? Maybe it was a large corporation "thing," an acknowledgement that the site was too important to place one person's comment in the showroom of this company.

You've probably noticed the proliferation of "how to" content sites and businesses that have sprung up in every niche across the Internet.

The popularity of this business model is undeniable. Find a niche that has customers craving how to do something that is not generally understood and you might just be swamped with more prospects than you can handle.

The reason for all this commotion in the "how to" circles? It's simple - everyone wants to find good solid information that is readily available that can solve a problem that they are having.

You want to know how to diversify your stock portfolio without paying a securities broker? Go online and do some research.

Maybe I should have titled this "Tips from the underground" or "Marketing secrets that few businesses discover."

These are not the kinds of tips you find in textbooks or "how to market your business" courses or articles.

Yet, many of them are common sense based and really pretty logical in their thought and implementation.

So here you have some of the most simple, down-to-earth, practical yet seldom followed ideas that will boost your marketing traffic and success almost immediately.

Buying trends emerge online over time to give business owners, product developers, and marketers clues as to the kinds of things that sell and the strategies that perform best in putting the products in the hands of the customer.

One trend that many have noticed of late is the attraction of "simple and easy" with regard to online purchases. It seems that the public prefers to buy products that are easy to use, easy to understand, take little or no set up or skill to activate, and that are simple to maintain.

Why does this trend seem to be so prevalent? Is it that the population is generally lazy? Do we not have the time to worry about learning to use and care for things? Are there better uses of our discretionary time?

Most marketing experts will tell you that they go to great lengths to try to draw the prospect into a sales pitch.

If he remains on the "outside," so to speak, he will not be affected by or overcome with the emotion, motivation and sense of urgency that marketers try to build into their sales presentation.

One of the many and best ways marketers draw prospects into the sales dialogue is to use the word "You" often in their content so the reader begins to feel like the message is directed right squarely at him. The dialogue is personal and engaging.

"You will receive these benefits when you buy the product..."

Blogs, like most every other type of Internet web site, gain value, grow, and even thrive when they are heavily viewed.

The more traffic a blog receives, the greater the chances for continued relevance and possible revenue generation.

Of course, money and income don't drive most blogs.

Typically bloggers are content with having their own soapbox to publish their opinions and feelings to the world (or at least those who care to visit.)

Bloggers are also finding that most search engines seem to like blogs. Why?

The owner of a solo digital information business is the perfect candidate for a targeted niche blog authored by the business owner and directed to support and advertise the business and the product.

Remember that the solo business owner is generally an independent, a free spirited thinker, one who prefers to do business alone without the constraints of employees, physical overhead, or management induced policies and rules.

This is exactly the profile of a successful blogger: one that is not shy about forming his own biases and opinions based on his life experiences and then publishing and sharing his knowledge and ideas with other like-minded nichers that hunger for the same type of information.

Writing enticing sales copy for ads, web sites, newsletters, etc. can often be a daunting task because so many different approaches seem to work equally well at a given time depending upon the target audience, the product being sold, the venue, etc.

At other times, nothing seems to work well. You scratch your head wondering if there is any way possible to make your copy stand out and seem appealing.

It's like trying to sell sand to a nomad in the desert.

Here's a little "trick" to try the next time you get stumped and are not sure how to approach the task.

Actually, it's not really a trick but just a different way of thinking about your ad layout.

When business owners develop a service or product that is designed for a highly targeted audience, they often struggle to find enough prospects gathered in one place to design a marketing strategy for the group.

Typically the marketer turns to pay-per-click ads on the Internet because he can use his keyword lists and target his message to the surfers that are looking for web sites or products that are in the search engine results pages.

Another popular approach is to identify targeted ezines or newsletters that offer advertising.

The readers of these publications will have some common desires, passions, or tastes that the advertiser can appeal to.

One of the keys to selling products online is to somehow personalize your approach to the prospect.

Impersonal, sterile, boring sales letters and advertisements aren't attractive and convincing.

They tend to put the prospect to sleep. Unless the prospect is already sold and anxious to buy one particular product, he will not pay much attention to generic and faceless advertising.

On the other hand, have you ever noticed how friendly people attract a crowd?

Their demeanor and friendliness are compelling! They act like magnets for most of us because we like being around upbeat and happy, gregarious people.

One of the first and most important tasks of any web site owner is to capture at least the name and email address of every visitor possible.

You want to be able to communicate with your customers and send them follow-up messages. You want to keep your business in front of the prospect, but you must have their permission and blessing to do that.

Often web site owners will offer a premium or freebie to the visitor in hopes that the exchange of the personal information for the freebie will be seen as a "fair trade" by the customer. But too often the freebie has no relation to the business or product of the owner.

I saw this question in a marketing magazine recently and it got me to thinking about the importance of defining what you expect your ad to accomplish.

Well there are lots of different types of ads and so there are multiple outcomes that could be targeted for your specific ad depending upon its purpose.

My guess is, most small business ads are pretty ineffective. Let's be truthful here - how many times has your ad pulled the type of response that you had hoped for?

Usually, ads under-perform our goals and sales never seem to overwhelm us on the positive side.

Online business in today's marketplace has many advantages that the small business has never had in the past.

The challenge for the business owner is to take advantage of these advances and use them to grow his business in ways that direct competitors either don't know about or are too lazy to set up.

The advances are only an advantage if they're put to good use. That's why they are so powerful to you - because you know the strategies and can implement them into your business and others in your niche won't.

Have you ever noticed how customers like to be given very specific instructions or detailed directions from those they consider to be an expert?

I used to work retail in the sporting goods industry when I was a struggling college student trying to get my education and support my young family.

My great passion and hobby was fly fishing and I took every opportunity I could to help fly fishermen who came into the store to become better at "my sport."

I was an evangelist, a mentor, and an instructor for the sport of fly fishing even though the store was paying me to be a salesman.

Often small business owners have little or no formal training or skill in advertising and marketing their products.

Whenever they write copy, whether it be advertising, a press release, narrative at the web site, or in answer to client's questions, they tend to be driven by the facts.

Business minds just naturally are tuned in to think in terms of facts, numbers, dates, deadlines, instructions, policies, etc.

These are the details that a solo operator has churning around in his mind every waking moment it seems.

Here's the problem, in terms of marketing at least, with this mindset.

Grab any piece of junk mail and take a quick look at it.

You will probably notice one of two things: either the copywriter hits you right between the eyes with his offer up front, or he forces you to read through the ad to locate the offer which will invariably be hidden at the tail end.

The first strategy is employed to qualify the potential buyers from the "just looking" crowd.

The sales copy is very straightforward and pushes the prospect early to decide if this offer is for him or not.

If the viewer has a genuine interest, he will continue reading the ad.

Of course you would want to do that. Here's why!

Everyone likes to be stroked. We all enjoy the praises of others and the acknowledgement or validation of our own talents and worth.

Even celebrities gush over fans that sing their praises and idolize their image.

You can use this knowledge to your advantage in the online business world.

Here's how you do it and why it's a good idea.

Do you remember that line from radio and TV advertising of yesteryear?

You don't hear it so much anymore, but sponsors remain an important part of many companies today, both private for-profit and non-profit.

Have you ever stopped to think that your little solo business may have the opportunity to reach a lot of potential customers by becoming a sponsor?

Here's what I'm suggesting:

Don't mistakenly believe that corporate press kits are something reserved for the "big boys" of the business world!

Press kits can be prepared and distributed by any company and they are a great way to get some positive publicity for your solo business.

The idea behind a press kit is to present the media with information and facts about your business in a way that will make it easy for them to publish your story.

You're trying to give them exactly what they would want to see if they were coming to you on their own looking for details about your business.

Most of the time, I see marketers making the freebie "easy pickins" (i.e. in exchange for the name and email address only) and available whether the main web site ad is seen or not.

We all know that many people set up free web-based email accounts with MSN, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc with the soul purpose in mind of using it to register at web sites and pick up their freebies without ever intending to actually read the marketing that is being sent to these email collection sites.

Copywriting expert Peter Fogel, in his article "Ten Reasons Why People Don't Buy From You," makes this point about reading the ad before getting the freebie:

As the name implies, an advertorial is a cross between an advertisement and an editorial.

So why should you use this strategy in your sales process?

Some marketers claim that advertorials pull up to 5 times better than regular sales ads.

They say that the public is fed up with most regular advertisements penned by over-zealous copywriters that exaggerate claims and specialize in making products and services seem to be something way more than they really are.

There's a very interesting phenomenon that often takes place in small business environments that to some extent can be predicted.

Solo businesses that roll along from day to day and week to week, never trying new methods or strategies, never experimenting with radically different systems or marketing, can be pretty much assured that their results will remain steady and predictable.

I have noticed that it's at times of greatest change and upheaval that some businesses make their greatest leap forward.

In essence, the business owner decides to depart from former or traditional ideas and methods and strike out in a new direction, or with a completely different approach.

There is a simple and very straightforward way to engage your prospect in the conversation, or in your advertising, or your web site, or your email.

Savvy marketers have used this technique to grab the attention of casual on-lookers and passers-by when other copy and narrative tactics simply fail to produce the results that the owner expects.

Here's the simple technique: State your title or headline in terms of a thought-provoking question and include the word "you" so that it grabs the viewer and demands a response.

The manufacturers of the industrial era had at least one thing in common: they found that mass production could cut both product costs and production times by substantial amounts when work was compartmentalized and the flow of assembly was orchestrated to bring all the parts together at the proper time (on the assembly line) and sequence.

The expectation remains today that products can be made and delivered to the customer in record time.

You order a digital camera over the Internet today on your lunch hour, even from a dealer thousands of miles away, and you should be able to have it delivered to your front door by noon tomorrow, if all goes well.

One of the surest things besides death and taxes, is the fact that change will occur in your business niche. It's inevitable.

Markets for products and services evolve over time.

Innovations in products and technology create new markets and make previous products obsolete.

Changes in economics, politics, and consumer appetites constantly force upheaval and churning in niches.

It doesn't matter that you have a successful product or a profitable business.

Sooner or later (and it's usually sooner), the market that you're in will change and the profits that you're now amassing will dwindle.

A lot has been written over the past ten years about business owners as risk-takers, and the characteristics or qualities that they possess which allow them to be successful in what they do.

But very seldom does this skill show up on the lists that writers prepare extolling the virtues of the top entrepreneurs.

Yes, persistence, attention to detail, willingness to take a risk, and determination are all candidates for the usual list of "must have" qualities for the successful business man/woman.

But there is another ingredient that I have found to be most important - even crucial - to the success of the creator of small business.

If you have targeted your customers properly, there will be few better or more productive business lead generating tools than to publish a "Tip of the Day" related to the education of your audience in your chosen niche.

Why? Simply because people want to be educated.

They come to the Internet for information in their niche. You can provide what they will consider to be very valuable bits of information learning and assistance.

Most folks are followers. They're like sheep in some respects - they wait in line to get behind a leader, a pace setter, or a spokesperson.

Many of these people could be the leader themselves, except they would prefer to stay out of the limelight, the public eye, or the position of attention.

Some people prefer not to lead out because they fear others will think they're fanatical, or after attention, or that they have a big ego.

Still others don't want to expend the energy, commit the time, or put their reputation on the line for a cause.

The popularity of survey results in a specialized niche is undeniable. Customers and prospects alike love to be part of a survey and then look at the results.

Often they compare their own responses with those of the survey to see if they have similar or differing opinions than the "group."

Surveys that are not targeted, i.e. those that ask very generic and general questions, are often ignored or disregarded.

Most people feel they are a waste of time because the respondent is not interested in the subject and could care less how the masses feel.

Every business owner, at some point in her career, will face sharp and emphatic criticism by a customer, supplier, or competitor.

Whether the criticism comes about as the result of an honest mistake, an ignored customer, a failing product, a wicked competitor or from some other source - it will eventually happen.

No one appreciates being the brunt of verbal tirades and name-calling.

We all take offense to blame that belongs elsewhere and rude customers that get their jollies by preying upon the "hold your tongue" business owner that wants to avoid confrontation at all costs.

Anyone who is unfamiliar with web site development, search engine optimization, and all the technical terms and usage surrounding HTML and computer language is apt to be very confused by the existence of meta-tags and all the varied opinions about them.

What are they? Why are they important? How do you properly construct, place, and use them?

I am not an expert in this science by any means. In fact, I am one of the people that probably discount meta-tag usage to some extent.

In the previous post we began a discussion of the meta-tags - what they are, how they're used, why they're important, etc.

It was noted that there is an immense amount of discrepancy between the experts as to which tags are most critical, how they should be constructed, etc.

We began by talking about the title tag. We'll now continue with the discussion of the other two important tags.

If you're a blog author, you've probably contemplated what, why, and how you write.

It seems to me there are several different purposes for publishing a blog and depending upon the purpose you choose, the format and content of your blog will differ significantly from other blogs, even in the same specialized niche.

First, let me say that some blogs I've read seem to have no real purpose. The author might have decided, on the spur of the moment, to start blogging because he wanted to express his opinions to the world. But for what purpose?

Wouldn't it be great if you (and your solo business) were on the Rolodex of all the local and regional newspaper editors?

Would you like to have the Chamber of Commerce and the local Small Business Development Center calling you whenever they needed material for a story?

Most small business owners don't have the luxury (and the serious advantage) of being a household word around local community business circles.

In fact, many owners disregard the media altogether thinking that they will never be contacted or receive publicity because no one cares about their business.

I'll have to be careful with this post because some business owners will think I'm giving some very poor and bad advice about growing a solo business.

Nonetheless, I need to warn you of a temptation that appears before almost every new business owner that gains some traction and realizes some measure of success in his solo business.

Here's the temptation:

In our previous discussion, we talked about the fact that a new business owner cannot rely upon "the corporation" to provide him with contacts, invitations to events and groups, company resources, credibility, etc.

When you strike out on your own, you're basically naked!

Here are some ideas to help you, as a solo business owner just getting started, develop your own business network and support system.

Here are some additional suggestions on ways to begin a business network of contacts and support if you are creating a solo business:

4. Leverage the resources and networks of others as much as possible. Whenever you locate a new contact person be sure to ask if they have other contacts that might be of interest to you and your new business.

Because your contact will most likely have been in business in this niche longer than you, he may know of additional networking contacts that he will share with you that could be a great resource for your business.

Here are a few more suggestions of ways to begin a business network of contacts and support if you are creating a new solo business:

7. Own your failures. If you've been an employee of a business that has more than a few employees, you know that often failures in specific campaigns and projects are bantered about without anyone owning up to the blame for the failure.

One person after another deflects the blame from himself and directs it toward another employee.

Soon, the failure is everyone's fault - and thereby - it becomes no one's fault.

I'm going to tell you about some marketing tactics that every solo business owner can use to reach a broader market and ramp up online sales.

In fact, these marketing methods are so important and profitable that I'm going to do several posts in this series to give you some further ideas and examples of how to implement this strategy and hopefully I can get your creative juices flowing to think of your own promotions related to the niche your business works in.

But before we get into specific strategies, let me tell you exactly what "piggyback marketing" is and why it can be such a powerful sales tool.

In the previous article, we began our discussion of some marketing tactics that fall under the title of "piggyback marketing."

With this strategy, you have the opportunity to "piggyback" your marketing message with other products, sales messages, a service, or a bill.

Your marketing "piggybacks" with something else that is going to be delivered anyway and can be thought of as a "bonus" or gift by the prospect.

Free coupons are a perfect example of the piggyback marketing strategy.

You come up with an idea for a free coupon to something in your business and offer it as an "include" in the mailing being done by your partner.

/>We are continuing our discussion of some marketing tactics that fall under the strategy called "piggyback marketing."

With this method, you take the opportunity to "piggyback" your marketing message along with other products, sales messages, a service, or a billing.

In essence, your marketing "piggybacks" with something else that is going to be delivered anyway and will be thought of as a "bonus" or gift by the prospect.

We are continuing our discussion of some marketing tactics that fall under the strategy called "piggyback marketing."

With this method, you take the opportunity to "piggyback" your marketing message along with other products, sales messages, a service, or a billing.

Your marketing "piggybacks" with something else that is going to be delivered anyway and will be thought of as a "bonus" or gift by the prospect.

Think back to the time you had your first thoughts about working for yourself by creating a business.

You probably followed your dream and started a lemonade stand out on the front curb, began delivering newspapers so you'd have some spending money, or borrowed Dad's lawnmower to take your lawn care service to the neighbors.

In it's early and very basic form, entrepreneurship means you have an idea of a way to earn some money and you act on that idea or follow through to the point that you do the work and reap the reward.

Here's a quick tip that I've used on several occasions to get me over the direct marketing hurdles of creating a winning headline, effective ad copy, layout questions, developing a good offer, finding the best sizes, etc.

As a solo business owner, it will be up to you to perform the direct selling and marketing tasks that larger companies usually hire professional agencies to handle for them - at a usually high cost.

You will have the choice of accomplishing your advertising campaigns either in-house (meaning you will do it yourself) or by out sourcing the job.

A friend of mine inherited a small gas station from his father.

The mechanic's blood (oil?) ran through the family genes I suppose as he and two of his younger brothers all worked for either car dealerships (in the service department) or garages in the area.

At the passing of his Dad, Trent decided to quit his job, take over the ownership and management of the business his father ran for many years, and see if he could make a go of being his own boss.

That was the response I got when I suggested this as one way a solo small business owner might spread the word about his company without spending a fortune on advertising.

The owner had a small consulting business (principally conducted over the Internet) in the human resource management field - he specialized in coaching mid-level managers and other mid-career white-collar employees in making job changes.

He was always looking for new ideas on ways to expand his clientele.

What I'm about to describe to you is an actual example of the creativity and ingenuity of a small business owner.

I am changing the names of both the owner and his niche because I am quite sure the owner wouldn't want me divulging this information about him or his business.

Nevertheless, this is a true story and one that you may or may not want to use as the basis of your own similar effort to get your business known and to drive more traffic to your web site.

If you've been doing business on the Internet for any length of time, you've undoubtedly heard the term "sticky" or "stickiness" used to describe the ability of a web site to engage it's audience.

If a site is sticky, it is one that attracts customers and keeps them at the site for unusually long periods of time. Sticky sites are a good thing!

Why? The reasoning goes that the longer you can keep a customer, the more apt that person is to eventually make a purchase and to make additional return visits.

Small business is never easy.

I don't care what tales and stories you hear of entrepreneurs coming up with the perfect idea at the perfect time.

Most such tales are just that. Millionaires aren't typically created overnight and they don't automatically or magically appear when an Internet company goes public.

So to suggest that a great piece of entrepreneurial advice and wisdom can be boiled down into three tiny words is really heresy in many ways.

I was asked this simple question in a roundtable discussion of business owners recently, and to my utter surprise, a very lively dialogue carried on into the night as the group of us debated the challenges and opportunities that affect small business today in comparison with "the way it used to be" just 10-15 years ago.

My opinion, and that of several others that specialize in online business, was that indeed, small business has changed dramatically for those that have discovered and subsequently embraced the new technologies that empower the small business owner.

Every small business owner wrestles with understanding how to increase his business.

The bottom line is this: "How do I bring additional revenue into the company?"

Well friends, you have just two choices: sell more or charge more.

Regardless of how complicated you try to make this puzzle, these are the only two things you can do to increase your business.

Everything else you do supports your ability to make additional sales or charge more for the products and services you sell.

Now comes the critical question: "What can the business owner do to increase sales?"

How many ways are there for a small business to fail?

Don't try to count them . . . life is too short as it is . . .

I want to talk a bit about one of the dangers of solo Internet business.

I have always preached the message of niche specialization for the solo business owner. I say you should dig down deep and become an expert in a very tightly focused market.

Here's a very powerful marketing strategy for every small business owner that has ever wanted to "force" his clientele to identify with him.

You realize by now the popularity and effectiveness of including stories in your ads.

Human stories, that is, where the personal emotions of pain, hurt, love, greed, jealousy, sorrow, joy, etc are particularly strong and aroused in the customer.

Gripping stories tend to break down barriers, engage customers, and humanize the sometimes sterile world of Internet business.

Often entrepreneurs and small business owners have a difficult time trying to keep from being "stale" in their businesses.

By that, I mean they struggle to come up with fresh ideas, new and unique products, and creative solutions to the problems and wants of their market niche.

Many feel that they must continue to sell the same old things they've always sold, that they have no way of being able to offer brand new services or goods.

Some of you may have seen this on MSN recently, but I thought I would share my synopsis of it anyway for those interested in the "wants" of Internet users.

CNET's Download.com is a library of free and free-to-try software programs and applications for Windows, Macintosh, and handheld devices. It began 10 years ago with 3,000 titles and today has over 30,000 potential downloads.

Here are the TOP TEN DOWNLOADS over the past 10 years:

I have to be careful here because I'm not a search engine optimization wizard.

What I am going to tell you is either what I have experienced or what I have gleaned from others that I consider to be very knowledgeable on the subject.

Often business owners wonder what the best URL or business naming strategy is for an online business or product. Sometimes they even wonder if the domain name has any bearing whatsoever on the search engines.

Of course, the reason to be concerned about SEO is to be able to get as much "organic" (or non-paid search engine) traffic as possible to your web site.

Every business owner will have his moments when all creativity and unique ideas seem to hit a lull. No matter what the owner does, he just can't come up with anything new and exciting for his customers.

It's at these times that repurposing your content may be the answer until your creative juices begin flowing again!

Here is a simple list of things you can do to get yourself going again.

Of all the tricks and strategies that direct marketing professionals have devised over the years to increase sales and push prospects to take action at crunch time, maybe the ultimate trick is employing the "scarcity" factor to a product or service.

When a product is limited (scarce) in availability, it's value skyrockets dramatically.

Most of us understand the reasoning behind using this tactic and I can guarantee you that at least 90% of the online product offers and "launches" that you'll encounter will use one or more scarcity tactics in the sales message to get you to buy.

Buyer beware! Many a novice business owner has charged into the pay per click advertising world (PPC, for short) with high expectations of mega targeted traffic at small cost and come away with an empty wallet, few or no sales, and a vow never to waste money again in that arena!

One of the keys to solving the PPC dilemma remains hidden from many folks view. Usually the campaign owner focuses on keyword strategies and maximizing ad placement.

Yes, bumper stickers have been in use for a very long time. In fact, they continue to be an excellent strategy for small business because the cost of employ this strategy is minimal but the exposure it can give your business can be great!

Who doesn't notice and read unique bumper stickers?

Yes, there are many boring, ugly, and hard-to-read bumper stickers. The impact that these stickers have can be minimal.

But circulate some fresh, eye-catching, humorous, and outrageous bumper stickers for your business and you may just unleash a wonderful branding and marketing campaign!

One of the most overlooked steps in web site publishing, product creation, and article writing is the "chore" of first doing market research.

It's a chore to most people and therefore it is often neglected or shunned altogether because performing the research takes time, a certain amount of "know how" and definitely some amount of your precious time.

But the consequences of not first doing research are almost always negative and will certainly cost you time and money in the long run.

Often a web site privacy policy is overlooked, thrown together in haste, or altogether omitted as the site owner is anxious to move on to more glamorous and creative aspects of developing a business home on the Internet.

Privacy policies are sometimes akin to the "fine print" of most lengthy legal documents - something to be tolerated and considered, but probably there only in the extreme case that the user really cares about such things.

I believe, strongly, that the site's privacy policy is very important and something that can greatly enhance the visitor's sense that the site owner really can be trusted - that he/she really does care about the confidentiality of the visitor's personal information.

Who hasn't received a mailer that included an offer to purchase a product or try a service with the stipulation that all you have to do in order to activate the offer is peel off a pre-printed label and stick it in the box marked "I ACCEPT" and then send it off in the mail?

Direct marketers send millions of these post cards or printed coupons everyday and have been doing so for many, many years. Why?

Simply because they get response!

The type of fraud I'm referring to is credit card or payment fraud as opposed to things like embezzling, tax evasion, or product scams.

The Internet presents a special environment for payment fraud because transactions take place all over the globe often without one or even two parties being physically present to inspect or insure that everything happens as it should.

Anonymity enables dishonest people to become bold and brazen.

Credit card numbers and individual identities are stolen everyday by the unscrupulous.

Web sites and shopping carts are hacked in every industry.

Abuse of the payment system is commonplace nowadays.

Taking on a business partner is a serious step. Regardless of the project type or business arrangement, you as a business owner should be very cautious that you understand WHY you are trusting your business reputation (and possibly your business health) to another individual. The old phrase "getting in bed with a stranger" is certainly appropriate for your consideration.

Family members, friends, old associates, and others that you have some sort of "tie" with are dangerous partners particularly because you will tend to let your guard down when you scrutinize the move to share your business. You may believe that all of these people can be trusted and that they would never do anything that you don't approve. Watch out!

Regardless of your partner's intent and innocence, you can't afford to take a chance on letting another human become the master of ship (i.e. your business).

I'm going to give you the URL (web site address, in case you're unfamiliar with the term) of a great resource for brainstorming small solo business ideas. There are many other nice features and helps at this site, as well, so be sure to browse around and spend some time there when you have a few minutes.

There is an index with 27 main categories of small business ideas. You can click on any of those main links to be taken to a more specific targeted business idea. For instance, one of the main categories that might be of interest to a lot of home solo operators is one called "Arts and Crafts."

Clicking on "Arts and Crafts" will take you to a new page (two pages actually) that has an index of 74 (at the time of this writing) arts and crafts related businesses. Here are just a few interesting examples: art prints, belt buckles, charcoal portraits, coloring books, hand painted pots, lamp shades, mirror art, seashell jewelry, wall murals, wind chimes and wood carving.

One of the most frustrating aspects of web business is trying to figure out problems to customer response rates on your web site. Why are my customers getting lost online? Why are they not responding to my ads? Why are my offers being ignored?

The challenge of this puzzle is figuring out what parts of the web site need to be fixed.

Is it the offer itself? Are my navigation signals unclear? Is my offering price too high? Is my offer language boring or uninspiring? Is there a problem with my ordering system?

You see, it seems that there are an endless number of little variables that could be hindering sales at the web site. Often, trying to figure out where the roadblocks are is a difficult and frustrating exercise.

I was going through some of my Internet business books yesterday and noticed a little red paperback book that I remember reading several years ago. I dusted it off and read it again.

It is a quick read - a little over 100 pages. I remember the conclusion of the book more than anything else . . . probably because I was so frustrated reading the book and waiting for the one bit of information that wasn't revealed until the very end of the text.

The book is titled: The Ultimate Success Secret. The author is Dan Kennedy. Many of you Internet marketers will be familiar with the name, if not the man himself.

Dan is a fairly prolific writer, speaker, and information marketing coach who is recognized in the field for his knowledge and grasp of what it takes to be highly successful at internet business. He commands a very high price for his consulting time - if you're lucky enough to catch him and drag him away from his crazy schedule.

I don't intend to give you a book review in this post. I just wanted to touch upon a few principles that I thought about as I re-read Dan's book.

Being a good solo business owner often means persuading or motivating people to accomplish tasks that you need to have done. Often, you just can't wait for folks to start a project on their own time frame. You need to have services and business execution happen quickly or you will lose money.

When you think about it, being a master motivator is not an option for anyone that sells products or services for a living. If you are a salesman, you by default, should be a good motivator so that your prospects will be "prodded" along down your purchase funnel.

Being a great motivator is also important in accomplishing the leverage you need in order to be successful at things like joint venture marketing, out-sourcing and affiliate selling. You must have the skill set that will allow you to "force" (not a good choice of words but it suggests more than just asking) prospects to join your email list, sign up for your web site, or purchase your products.

Last night was one of those nights that I absolutely hate! And as I grow older, I have them more often than I used to.

I got to bed at a decent hour, about 10:30 pm or so. I like to retire after the news so I can get a good night's rest and wake up early to meet the new day. I guess one would say I'm a morning person. I don't do well if I stay up late and work into the early morning hours.

I'm not knocking that lifestyle if it's yours ... I just do better getting up early in the morning than trying to force myself to stay up and think at night when I'm tired.

Anyway, last night was a terrible weather night here in Utah. The thunder and lightning were fierce and didn't let up until about 3:00 am. I had a hard time sleeping early on as the lightning flashes and thunderous booms would startle me each time I started to doze off. After an hour of similar interruptions, I got out of bed, went downstairs, opened the patio door (it was cool but not cold) and watched the stormy displays.

If there was ever a time to say "it rained cats and dogs" this would be it. This summer storm was much needed as our lawn has been burning up with the heat of this July and August so far.

I thought I'd post a little change of pace today. I ran across an interesting bit of wisdom a couple of days ago that I wanted to share with you.

This bit of information was written by Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. The focus is not on business.

Ms. Brett, a columnist, writes about the lessons of life that she has learned from her 70 years of life experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed this and hope you find it helpful.

Extract what is meaningful to you. If your life is fulfilling, you will be that much more able to run a successful small business.

Of all the things you need to pay particular attention to on your web site ... content is probably the most important.

Your business will be judged by your site's content. If it's remarkable, your business will be seen as remarkable.

If your site content is nothing but scraped or rehashed dribble, well, you site will be viewed in the same way.

Besides your content being "good" it also needs to be timely (updated often), targeted to the niche you have chosen, and of sufficient "uniqueness" that it separates itself from the content of other web sites in your niche.

Prospects and customers need to have a reason to keep coming back to your web site.

Every web site needs traffic. For most web sites, especially business sites, the more traffic you can get . . . the more sales you can make, all other things being equal.

One of the important characteristics of the most highly trafficked sites is that they have managed to build lots of inbound links. Not just "lots" as in dozens, but "lots" as in thousands.

Simply put, a link to your web site is a referral on a different site pointing to yours. A web site, other than yours, has "linked" to you by means of an active button, graphic, or text which anyone may click on to be immediately taken to your site.

Why would you want to have lots of "incoming" links?

I know there has been a lot written about Google's Page Rank "rating" system. Yet most folks I speak with don't really know what it is, how to increase the rank for your web site, and whether or not page rank (we'll call it "PR") really is that important to your web site and business or not.

The name "PageRank" is a trademark of Google, and the PR process has been patented by them. However, the patent is actually assigned to Stanford University and not to Google. Google has exclusive license rights on the patent from Stanford University.

The university received 1.8 million shares of Google in exchange for use of the patent; the shares were sold in 2005 for $336 million according to Wikipedia.

Here is Google's own explanation (or definition) of Page Rank:

I came across some wonderful advice written by Benjamin Franklin hundreds of years ago. I thought I would share it with you today and also in the next post. There is so much wisdom and sound advice here.

I hope you can appreciate what he is saying.

Yes, I understand that times have changed and today's business world is much different than when Franklin penned these ideas.

However, the principles behind what he is saying still hold true.

Solo entrepreneurs would do well to follow this advice; especially his wealth-building ideas and his abhorrence of debt.

We all fear the unknown, don't we?

Maybe that's why we tend to shy away from digging into web site analytics.

Many web owners that have been online running a solo business for years have never really bothered to look into their site stats to analyze where their traffic is coming from and what those visitors are actually doing on their web site.

Maybe these owners feel like doing web analytics is akin to filling out your income tax return - it's something to fear ... to put off as long as possible. After all, it seems like a pretty boring and tedious thing to use numbers to analyze something.

The difference between the two, however, is that there are penalties and the law that will come after you if you don't file your taxes.

If you don't look at your analytics, there is no one that is going to force you to "comply" - to make your business stronger and more profitable.

List building is one of the greatest keys to establishing a viable and lucrative solo business online.

When you think about it, communicating with your prospects and customers is one of the best and most effective ways to build a relationship with them.

You need the trust and confidence of your customers. If you don't have it, they won't give you money for your products or services, and they will only allow you a short amount of time to prove to them that you are worth dealing with in your niche.

Building a list of prospects, and possibly a different list of buying customers, allows you to make contact with them repeatedly so that you can share your knowledge, products, and advice for their benefit.

A list is simply a data base of customer names and email addresses. It is possible to add additional customer information items (like address, phone number, age, etc) but typically that is only done for your best customers that give you such information as part of an order for your products.

Every solo business owner has a set of core principles or values that determine how his/her business is operated.

Some owners are very methodical and precise. Others tend to fly by the seat of their pants, so to speak.

No two businesses are run exactly the same.

But regardless of your methods and strategies, there are some very fundamental execution principles that all successful solo businesses seem to adopt.

Some business owners catch onto these ideas quickly. They learn them early on in their business career and adopt them as a daily method of operation.

Others gradually move toward these ideas through trial and error as they learn in their own business exactly what works and what doesn't.

Many times the experience of a newcomer to Internet selling is not what a business owner expects or wants.

Most often, new owners are surprised at the lack of sales they experience in the beginning of their web business career.

Selling online can be tough, especially for those that have no mentor or coach who can point out the usual pitfalls and obstacles to avoid.

Even then, markets change, demand for a product ebbs and flows, and niches get saturated with too many sellers.

More often than not, however, lack of sales early on is a symptom of one or two things that need to be fixed by the owner before he can expect success. Here is what those two challenges involve:

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:

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:

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.