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.

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 know many would-be business owners are caught up in the dream of solo business.

They envision themselves as enjoying lots of money as the fruit of their efforts.

They see themselves as being the "boss" of their own lives.

They fantasize about working when they want, doing what they want, and being accountable to no one.

They sometimes are so desperate to begin their new life they don't properly prepare for what is ahead of them.

They don't think about the extent of the commitment it is to leave a paying job and begin a new business venture that is untested and untried.

It seems that almost everyone has an idea for a killer home business.

In fact, some folks can only think of ideas - they get stuck trying to figure out how to implement their ideas to the point of never actually starting anything!

At times, it will pay to have confidence in your idea and be its champion from start to successful business launch.

At other times, many of us tend to over-analyze or over-scrutinize our business ideas to the point of dooming the business before it ever has a chance.

Why not identify the roadblocks to coming up with a great business idea, then move beyond them once you understand what they are.

A sound marketing plan is very important to the success of any solo online business operation.

Your plan should include areas of focus like niche market research, the customer profiles that you have targeted, an analysis of your competition, your positioning, the products and services
that you are selling, your pricing plan, and your advertising and promotion details.

Do your homework before developing your market and niche plan. Effective marketing, planning and promotion begins with solid data and information about your specific marketplace and the sub-niche you have chosen.

Your business will benefit immensely by the amount of quality information and thoughtful pondering your give your plan.

I'd like to talk about a way to conduct your solo business online that will bring you all the profits and business that you can handle. What I'm speaking about has as much to do with your mindset as it does about your strategy or business system of operating.

If you will adopt an "MO" (a method of operating) that includes what I'm going to describe here, your business will automatically be differentiated from your marketplace competitors. You will have a unique and wholly creative business that your clients will love and clamor for.

What I'm talking about has nothing to do with your chosen business niche, per se. This model can be implemented in any niche market, with any product or any service.

In addition, anyone can adopt this business mindset as it is totally age, gender, culture, education, and experience independent.

Have you guessed yet what I'm talking about? Yes, the title of this post should have given the secret away.

Are you anything like me? The thought of trying to sell something to someone really turns me off.

I dread the idea of "selling" for a living. I don't like being sold to, as a rule, and I abhor the thought of having to actually be the person that lots of us kind of despise!

I’m going to let you in on one of my closely guarded personal secrets.

In fact, if this ugly secret finds its way into the media, I could become the laughing stock of the Internet small business world!

So please, please, please . . . don’t tell anyone. Promise?

Okay, here it is (in a whisper): I hate selling with a passion.

In the previous post, I mentioned that the fear of selling totally incapacitates some folks that might otherwise become great small business owners.

In fact, these folks may never even try their hand in business because of this fear.

Here are some more suggestions (added to the ones from the previous post) that have helped me to realize that selling phobias can be conquered with a change in mindset.

For some, selling represents a great "leap of faith." They doubt their own ability to actually convince a prospect to reach for his credit card.

In such cases, it may be helpful to consider this: You are the expert!

Yes you. You are in the driver's seat. Prospects are coming to you for information and guidance. You should feel confident, if you've been honest in your sales pitch, that you can deliver exactly what the customer is coming to you to receive.

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.

Sometimes there's a tendency to evaluate the earning potential of a particular niche by the number of potential customers that are there. Alternatively, entrepreneurs may evaluate the likelihood that a niche will be hot in the future, or possibly offer the potential for higher end products and services.

In either case, and there are other alternatives (like a person's passion for the subject of the niche, or his knowledge of the field, or previous experience in the market, etc.), one must never overlook the importance of focusing on targeting of the audience.

Whether the number of potential prospects is relatively large or small, the best results for your advertising and marketing will always come as you are able to hone in on "the perfect customers" for your products or services.

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.

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.

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.

You're asking the wrong person, I'm afraid. I'd like to hear from some of you out there in Internet land that have experience in this arena.

It's not wise to take advice from someone that has never been involved in MLMs or to make an assessment of their value, potential, and advantages or disadvantages.

Let me just set the stage with this short introduction to get you going:

MLM is short for Multi-Level Marketing. It is the type of business opportunity that appeals to many people because the business model and products have already been proven by others who have been successful at it.

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.

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.

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.

I know, I know, we all use the term freely and without much thought.

But it really is wrong. A virtual business can't have assets, employees, products and customers.

The term "virtual" means a realistic simulation; of such effect that something appears to be real even though it's not.

Well let me tell you, Internet business is the real thing. It is a different kind of business because of the way it's operated and delivered; but it is as real, legal, and legitimate as any other physical business.

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:

If you play the "we guarantee the lowest prices" game, you will usually regret the decision. Of course, only you can be the judge as to your approach to pricing your products and competing in your niche markets.

But I will tell you that unless you are into razor thin margins and moving lots and lots of products, undercutting competitors is a chancy game - at best.

Here's why:

Often, when a new businessman enters the market, he often forgets or totally ignores the cost of support for his products and services.

Depending upon the type of business you operate, that could be a very costly mistake. Why?

Because if you don't understand fully the expenses of doing business in its entirety, there is a good chance you will have a good portion of your profits consumed by these "hidden costs."

Especially in online information sales, the tendency sometimes is to assume that you won't have to deal with very many customer issues.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

I spoke with a young gentleman today about his dream to start a business. That's not a rare occurrence as I deal in such discussions quite a few times every week.

As we began talking, it was obvious to me that he was passionate about his idea and his plan to take that idea to market.

His reason for contacting me was to find out where he might begin looking for funding to finance his project. It was the next item on his "to do" list.

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 remember vividly a debate carried on some thirty years ago in one of my graduate school classes that centered on the question of whether it was a good idea to encourage students to set up and operate for-profit businesses prior to their completion of formal education.

There was a very distinct minority that took the side of believing in student run businesses. I was not one of them.

I felt that education shouldn't be interrupted by business world training and pressures. The classroom needed full attention and focus at this critical time.

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.

Over the short history of the Internet, there have been many creative and unusual strategies attempted by entrepreneurs to generate income, both as a means to make a living and also to simply add additional streams of income to the owner's business.

The popularity of the blogging craze has given some blog authors an additional stage or venue for their money-making tactics. It was only a matter of time before smart folks realized that anywhere there's traffic on the Internet, there's the opportunity for monetization of those visits.

If you own and operate a blog, you have a number of avenues open to you to pull some income from your effort. As is usually the case, the greater your exposure and traffic, the larger the opportunity will be to make substantial money from the blog.

The premier search engine Google has come up with several programs that may be of interest to the solo small business owner. But there seems to be some matter of conflicting opinion about whether a web site owner should do anything to send his traffic away to someone else.

Here's the deal: Google allows web site owners to advertise products and services on their web site in exchange for a small referral fee each time a viewer clicks on one of the Google ads.

This is not an affiliate program since Google pays for each click rather than for a product that is actually purchased. In a sense, the web site owner is sharing in a PPC (pay per click) program. Google serves the ads and keeps track of the clicks. The web site owner puts Google's html code on his pages and provides relevant content for Google to match to its advertisers.

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.

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 have not tried this strategy but I read about it and I think it would work extremely well in a solo home business application.

It's relatively inexpensive and easy to do, yet it brands your business in ways that you determine and it will make your direct mail stand out from the crowd.

I read about a lady that uses an inexpensive digital camera to snap photos of everything from her own portrait, to images of her products, to places she likes to visit that relate to her business.

The idea is to get pictures she can use legally in her advertising that relate to her products.

If you have visited some of the large stock photo stores on the Internet, you know that buying the rights to just one small image for use in a mail campaign can cost up to several hundred dollars.

I read a news opinion column recently that claimed the great benefit of the Internet to small businesses was that it allowed every business to be built on the same footing - low startup cost and potentially unlimited exposure.

The article went on to say that if a business expected to compete in its niche online it had to give a lot of things away for free as that was the expected standard online these days.

Is the Internet business model really that different from the way business is done in the off-line physical world?

Do solo entrepreneurs really have to give away a lot of their valuable information products in order to attract customers and expect product purchases?

It's really an important question because every one of us are placed in daily situations where we need to sift the buying decisions thrown in our faces into separate piles labeled "Hype" and "Fact."

Well, our decisions really aren't that simple.

We probably also have piles of offers and advertising we've labeled "Maybe," "Not today," "When I have the money," and "I know my spouse will kill me, but..."

There two problems with "hype."

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.

Press releases are one of the most effective yet misunderstood tools the business owner has at his disposal to market his business and drive targeted traffic to his products.

Here are a few simple suggestions to boost your copywriting effectiveness and increase your chances of having the release published:

6. Leave 'em hanging. One technique that is effective in getting press release viewers to head to your web site is to offer part of a story or a list but tell the reader he can find the remainder at your web site, at such and such address.

You build some curiosity and maybe a little suspense in not giving all the good details right then and there.

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.

When you do business as a solo small business owner, you alone are responsible for every aspect of the business.

If there are breakdowns in your product sales, customer relations, or financial management, there's no one to shake a finger at except the guy in the mirror.

Now in a typical "regular" business, each of the employee managers that handle a department like those mentioned above will be scrutinized and evaluated in their performance.

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.

If you were to ask me that question face to face, I'd probably do a double take and say something stupid like, "You have an advertising budget?"

You see, most small solo operators that I know begin business on a shoestring and a prayer. They spend as little as possible on their business in the hope that they can begin to grow revenues and extract operating income from that stream.

It usually makes more sense than maxing out a credit card with the hope that the new business revenue will service the monthly debt until the card is paid off.

Often, a business owner will have no specific marketing plan in mind. In fact, he may simply try to get the largest bang for the buck that he can buy.

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.

Years ago there were some business characteristics that, if exploited, propelled a small business into the limelight and fueled its growth for years into the future.

What were some of these characteristics?

If your business had the undisputed lowest price in town, you were often rewarded with lots of sales and the revenue to expand your operation.

Some businesses grew quickly because they had access to unique manufacturing processes - those that allowed them to produce products faster and at a lower cost than the competition.

One of the true challenges facing every Internet business is the process of turning prospects into paying customers.

Lots of people can be directed to a web site by various means and incentives - but getting those prospects to spend money with your business is a whole different proposition.

How do you optimize your conversion rate - turning lookers into buyers - that certain percentage of surfers that will actually give you a credit card number and deposit their money into your bank account?

We'll save the details and numbered lists of tactics and strategies for another day.

What I wanted to get across as your sole "take away" (bit of wisdom you can use in your business) from this discussion is:

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.

In the previous installment, we discussed some basic business principles that should guide your Internet marketing campaign.

They will help you to know what you should do, when you do it, and how you bring together these various elements or activities to accomplish some solid and powerful small business marketing.

The first two "Rs" were recognition and recount. Here's the third . . .

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.

It seems that the new American Dream is to own a business of your own. No longer is it much of a dream to own a single family home. Everyone seems to have one these days.

I want to caution you, though, that you need to be very cognizant of why you are going into business for yourself.

Of course there are many different reasons why you start a solo business.

But when an entrepreneur tells me that his main reason for going into business is so that he can get way from his demanding boss – I begin to see some red warning flags about that person.

I wonder if he really has what it's going to take to be successful as a solo small business operator. Why?

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.

I like to quiz solo business owners about how they spend their time in a typical week.

That's about the right length of time (seven days) to measure both simple and complex tasks that the owner completes.

I find that most do very little active marketing. I believe that's a big mistake for a small business. But here's an even bigger one:

The tendency for most solo business owners is to focus on extending "reach," the breadth of the company's range of customers. They try to market to prospects that are new to the company.

As the title implies, there is a business principle that all great companies adhere to that produces wealth and abundance beyond the infusion of cash into a business.

It is the principle that value can be created in a business in ways other than by direct cash deposits. It's a pretty simple concept, really, but many folks looking at business from the outside (like an entrepreneur deciding that he wants to create a business) don't think about growing a valuable company from within without spending money to do it.

Why is owning a business so profitable? Why is small business such a prized and universal dream for so many people?

Most would tell you that the reason they want to have a business is for the income stream that it can provide.

It seems that when most folks think about starting a new business, they consider what product or service they might sell to the consumer.

Everyone is familiar with consumer goods and most of us relate to them because we use them in our everyday lives.

We see and hear about these products in TV ads, radio spots, in the newspaper, and on signs and billboards.

We naturally begin to think about the products we use and how we might be able to come up with a better version or maybe we think we can sell consumer goods in a more effective way than they are being offered to us.

It might pay for you to change your thinking slightly and begin to contemplate what you might have to offer other businesses.

There are some advantages to avoiding consumers and simply dealing with businesses in your niche.

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 . . .

Sorry for that title, especially if it offends you in any way. I use it for one purpose: to draw your full attention to the importance of the F-word in small business. That word is "focus."

More than anything else, entrepreneurs need to develop focus in their approach to every aspect of what they do. If the business owner can't focus on what he is trying to accomplish, his efforts will be severely diluted and wasted on things that don't matter to his business.

In no other business is focus so critical as it is in solo business. Why? In solo business, if you don't do it, who else will?

If you don't dream it, or create it, or organize it, or set it up, or follow it through, or finish it . . . whatever "it" happens to be . . . "it" doesn't get done.

If you were to hear this complaint (which by the way, I hear very often) what would you guess the business owner was really saying?

Was he saying that he had a great product, but his targeted customers were just too dumb to recognize it and hence they weren't buying?

Or was he lamenting the fact that he was not selling to the right customer niche market?

Or maybe he was charging too much for his awesome product and nobody wanted to buy at that price?

Or could it be that no one was hearing his sales message and seeing his ads and therefore he was not making sales?

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!

No one knows the exact number, of course, but professional marketers generally agree that a strong and powerful headline accounts for 70-80% of the effectiveness of every advertisement.

That's a pretty remarkable statistic when you think about it. A few words at the top of the ad can either make or break the selling power of the entire remaining ad copy.

Why is that true? Well, if you consider that most readers sprint from one headline to the next when they "read" a newspaper you'll understand that the viewer is randomly (or maybe methodically) sorting each entry to find clues that tell him "this might be the type of content I want read more thoroughly."

Headlines are usually bold, easy to locate, and often they are summaries of the content of the ad or article. At a quick glance, it's pretty easy to decide if you want to stay and dig deeper or jump to the next headline.

Every business needs to identify something that sets it apart from all other businesses in the same niche.

This principle is called the USP or "unique selling proposition" by some, and others call it a variety of similar things. The principle is simple: you should attempt to capitalize on some characteristic or trait in your business that you can be known for -- some differentiating aspect that only you can claim.

It seems in almost every industry niche there is at least one business that desires to claim it has the lowest prices. It often brands itself with the slogan, "we will not be undersold."

To me, that is exactly the wrong message that a solo business ought to extend. My feeling is that solo businesses will almost always have difficulty trying to compete on the basis of product pricing.

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.

A friend of mine that worked radio and even a little television, but now owns a very successful Internet marketing business, once confided in me, "The trouble with business marketing is there's just too much of it!"

Oh, how true it is. The reason we all have to work so hard at our marketing is the fact that all of our competitors are working hard at theirs.

If you want to be heard, you must speak up! But exactly how you do that depends upon your business, your skill, and your customers. Let me explain.

Typical mass marketing where fast food restaurants, brewing companies, and auto sellers spend their gargantuan media budgets, is a continuous barrage of one ad message after another, each one intentionally shouted louder than the first in hopes of catching our attention.

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.

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.

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..."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Both online and offline small businesses can create and distribute product and service offerings very cost effectively with coupons that are designed to do all of the following things:

1- Collect the name and contact information of the respondent,

2- Provide an incentive for the user to contact your business,

3- Brand your company and it's products (services) with your unique tag line, logo, and web site URL,

Both online and offline small businesses can create and distribute product and service offerings very cost effectively through the use of coupons distributed to their niche market.

Coupons are generally seen as having great value, are welcomed over advertising that merely asks for a visit to the business during a sale, and are considered as a scarse commodity - there are only so many coupons printed and distributed at a time.

They also typically include a purchase deadline of some type which motivates buyers to make a purchase now rather than later.

Here are the layout and form ideas that others have used most successfully in coupon campaigns for small businesses:

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:

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.

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.

For a long time I've felt that the future of entrepreneurship in the United States is very bright. And contrary to many that feel this nation is headed toward an economy based on mega-corporations and giant conglomerates, I've always believed that the key to a strong national economy is a growing and prosperous small business sector.

Of course, an important element of small business is the solo entrepreneur, the one-person company that thrives in a very narrow and focused niche with a business built on the delivery of fresh and detailed information.

Marketing a small business can be a daunting task for the owner that has no previous marketing experience.

I was in that position many years ago and I remember having a constant struggle to come up with ideas or ways to market my business on a shoestring budget.

Yet, around a holiday it was usually easy to dream up a promotion of one sort or another based on that holiday's theme.

It's pretty easy and natural to promote a New Year's Kickoff, a 4th of July Firecracker Deal, or a Halloween Spooky Special.

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?"

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.

Did you know there are ways to see what buyers are looking for at any given time online?

The information is free. Smart marketers and product developers ought to keep an eye on the buying public and their wants. Understanding "demand" is one of the pillars of Internet marketing and product creation.

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.

Like most new and innovative things, Internet business for many people seems to be nothing more than a fad, a fancy, a fleeting hot topic that will soon cool off and die in obscurity.

Many computer savvy folks have yet to make a purchase online and some still hold to the notion that the dot com era will soon be over for good.

They reason that e-commerce online is not secure, too much of a passing fantasy, and something that they can easily do without.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

I am a firm believer that anything can be sold online.

Granted, some types or products and services are a better fit for Internet selling than others; however, I believe that every business needs to have an online presence online.

If you don't believe what I'm saying, think about this: What product or service couldn't be marketed online? What business couldn't include their name, address, phone number, fax number, web site URL, and product or service description online? What business type couldn't advertise what they do online and benefit from it?

Sure, there are some businesses (like car sellers) that can deliver their product as a download or mail order item. However, product or service delivery isn't a prerequisite for an online business. There are still lots of other aspects of every business that can be conducted online.

I would be surprised if there are any major car dealerships in your region that don't have a web site.

Let's spend a minute and see what kinds of businesses thrive online. If we can identify these, they may be a great starting point from which you might decide upon a business niche to enter solo business for yourself.

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.

This past week has been an especially difficult one for those of us who subscribe to many of the largest Internet Marketing mailing lists.

Some of you can relate, I'm sure.

It seems that every would-be guru trying to hawk his wares decided to flood the niche this particular week with junk product launches and phony money-making products that are designed for just one thing: sales to unsuspecting and eager consumers that have the misfortune of having their names on someone's email list.

I feel sorry for the masses that are trying to carve out a spot for business online.

Yea, yea, I know that most of us gave up our virginity (innocence) without being forced and we offered our email addresses in exchange for a delectable freebie in a moment of weakness.

Sure, no one is forcing anybody to make a purchase or even read a 30-page direct sales letter.

We subscribe to mailing lists to learn how the big boys build their relationships with prospects, right? We subscribe because we want to keep our finger on the pulse of the IM online world. We are all waiting for that easy, automatic, and fool-proof system that floods our bank account with non-stop Franklins.

Like many of my fellow Internet marketers, there was a time when I was very enamored with the thought of owning and operating a large PLR business.

It seemed like a great way to make money.

Other people did the work of creating products (mostly e-books) and all I had to do was gather them up, feature them on a large "catalog" type e-commerce site, and sell them to a hungry crowd of business owners looking for content.

Or so I thought ...

I purchased my share of digital resale rights products; and to this day, most sit on my hard drive collecting fairy dust because I never did get around to using them.

There are some notable exceptions, mind you, but that is a discussion for another day.

I love the PLR model of selling digital information. Think about how perfect it is . . .

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:

My guess is ... most entrepreneurs don't go into solo business with the exit door in mind.

Why would they? Entrepreneurs are frantically focusing on starting and growing a business and the last thing they spend time worrying about is how to get out of their business when they are done with it.

Simply put, an exit strategy is a game plan of sorts. It's a thoughtful plan for going out of business.

Why would a business owner want a plan for going out of business?

For some profitable businesses, at least, an exit strategy can include realizing a significant profit above and beyond the revenue that comes from daily operations.

As a solo operator, wouldn't it be important to "collect" or receive payment on the sale of your business that you had created, grew, nurtured, and monetized over a significant number of years?

There are a lot, and I really mean A LOT, of entrepreneurs that have a fear of offering products for sale online.

Now, you may not have that specific kind of fear, but many others have mentioned over and over again that their fears are holding them back from moving forward in business.

I'd like to examine that topic and see if we can break those fears down and overcome them be (1) identifying the problem, (2) analyzing how and why it happens, (3) proposing solutions that anyone can implement, and (4) moving beyond the barriers that block action.

We will make this a two part series because of the details that we need to discuss!

Lots of new business owners (or would-be owners) have said that they have not been able to start a business because they have been halted in their tracks by one or more crippling, paralyzing roadblocks that they just can't find their way around.

Here are the most often mentioned reasons (fears) for failing to get started:

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.

When it comes right down to brass tacks, I would say every Internet business owner should consider herself or himself an information publisher.

It seems to me that all business web site owners need to be publishers of:
a) website information;
b) sales letter copy;
c) site content in the chosen niche;
d) products in digital or hard copy form;
e) blog content;
f) email communications;
g) customer service responses;
h) advertising / marketing copy;
i) articles and press releases;
j) probably other things I'm forgetting about ...

My point is, whether you consider yourself to be an info marketer or not, you really need to pay close attention to your publishing (i.e. putting it out on the net or in emails) and how it can affect your overall business.

All small business owners will be faced with the decision to use less than truthful advertising and promotional strategies in their sales letters, email communications, ads, and other promotional material.

How do I know? It seems to be the way business marketing has evolved on the Internet.

Deceptive practices include all those little white lies, half truths, and marketing tactics that many feel are perfectly legal, excusable, and appropriate in this day and medium.

Some, I know, would question why we are even discussing this topic as they feel anything is game as long as you don't cross the line of outright lying in your presentations.

I don't see it that way.

I believe that Internet marketers has a responsibility to their prospects and customers that includes being upfront, honest, and ethical in everything they publish, say, and do.