Business Alone

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

The U.S. economy is changing dramatically.

It's quite apparent that geography and physical boundaries are becoming less and less critical in company strategic decisions and plans.

Large industrial companies are moving overseas where cheap labor and sometimes relaxed standards or lower taxes allow them to produce more using less.

New companies are springing up in the U.S. to take their places - but these firms are different. They're knowledge-based and their growth is driven by intellectual capital.

Often these knowledge firms gather around one another in clusters in order to feed off each other and create a community were they rub shoulders on a daily basis.

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:

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:

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.

In the previous two articles, we have been discussing some marketing tactics that fall under the strategy of "piggyback marketing."

With this method, 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.

/>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.

Marketing your solo business with coupons can be a very effective selling strategy if you incorporate some of the time-proven and tested principles that other marketers have learned about this special kind of advertising.

Coupons can the open the door to better customer relations, more back door sales, and greater communication with your valued customers.

Here are a few more tips that will help any small business owner make his coupon campaign a success regardless of the product or niche he's in:

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.

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.

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).

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.

In my travels today I ran across a great site online that should provide a nice resource for you as a small business owner. At the very least, you can use it as a consumer to find just about any kind of product or service imaginable.

Often, solo business owners are in need of a particular service or piece of equipment that may not be available locally or within the surrounding area. Not to worry . . .

This resource I'm talking about is a business directory of sorts. What makes it such a good resource, however, is its search capability. You can search in any state or city in the U.S. and get great information about the business supplying the information.

Now searching for any type of service or product is a breeze. Not only will the search include the name of the vendor, it will also allow you to find all the contact information you need, web sites, email addresses and what kind of local competition there may be for a product.