What Your Guidance Counselor, Career Counselor, and Own Mother Probably Never Told You…
June 30, 2008
The alarm clock jars you awake at some insanely early hour. As you hit the snooze button you think, “there’s gotta be a better way to make a living.” As someone who rolled out of bed this morning at 8:30, I’m here to deliver the good news: there is.
A lot of people dream of escaping “Dilbert’s world” and being their own boss. Perhaps the biggest reason these dreams get derailed is money. Or, more accurately, faulty thinking about what it means to “make a living.” I’m no exception. For a long time I thought before I could take the leap to self-employment, I had to first figure out a venture that would generate the same amount of income as I was then earning.
Develop Multiple Profit CentersNot so, says Barbara Winter, self-bosser and author of Making a Living Without a Job Winter is an enthusiastic advocate of what she calls “multiple profit centers.” Instead of thinking in terms of a single income, i.e. a “job,” Winter recommends aspiring entrepreneurs develop several income sources.
Six Ways To Attract New Customers To Your Restaurant
June 29, 2008
Without new business, your restaurant won’t be able to grow. You need a constant stream of new customers to replace those you lose as a result of customers relocating, switching jobs, or changing dining habits. Here are six strategies for getting more customers through your doors.
1. Market Your Restaurant In Hotel RoomsBusiness travellers and people on holiday may not be familiar enough with your town to know where to find an excellent meal. You can give them a hand simply by doing some hotel room marketing. Talk to hotels within your three-mile radius area and ask if you can place menus and advertisements in their rooms and lobby area. Some hotels have a "Nearby Attractions" list which they provide for their guests. You can ask to be added to the list. When guests get hungry and start trying to figure out where to eat, you’ll be one of the first restaurants to come to mind.
Tips for Improving AdSense Performance
June 28, 2008
Tips for Improving AdSense Performance
by: Will Spencer
Tear Down the Borders
Remove borders on your AdSense ads. Web visitors eyes wander around the screen; borders stop them from wandering.
Removing borders from your AdSense ads can lead to a significant boost in CTR.
Use Matching Fonts
Match the font of your site content to the fonts of your AdSense ads
Use Matching Colors
Match the colors of your AdSense ads to the colors of your site content. Make the ads look like content and more visitors will look at them.
One exception to the color matching rule is sites that are designed to appeal to scammers and spammers. Those sites sometimes perform better with highly contrasting colors.
Use Blue Links
Another exception to the color matching rule is to set the links in your AdSense ads to blue. Blue links tend to have a higher CTR than other link colors, because people have become used to clicking blue links.
Use Large Ads
Larger ads outperform smaller ads. Wider ads also outperform more narrow ads.
The Large Rectangle (336×280) is the best performing ad unit.
31 Ways to Get An Extra Hour Out of Each Day
June 28, 2008
How can you get an extra hour out of each day? For many small business owners this is a daily challenge.
I myself have often wished that there were 27 hours in the day. I’ll even settle for 25.
Here are some tips to help you squeeze those extra minutes out of your day. Of course, you can adapt these so that they will fit in with your situation. I hope these are helpful to you.
1. Get up earlier
2. Watch less TV(I mean how many Law & Order spinoffs does one need to watch?)
3. Avoid allowing others to waste your time
4. If you don’t have to drive to work, use that time to study or planIf you do drive to work listen to a motivational tape on the way to work instead of that mindless dj talk.
5. Organize your work; do it systematically.
6. Make creative use of lunchtime.
7. Delegate authority if possible.
8. Spend less time on unimportant phone calls.
9. Think first, then do the task.
10. Do what you dream about doing, instead of just dreaming about it.
Book Summary: Mind Your Own Business
June 27, 2008
A maverick is an independent person who will not go along with the other members of a group (Oxford ESL Dictionary). This book provides priceless stories and insights from a maverick of the business world; an exemplary business leader who prefers not to follow orthodox beliefs in business, nor be eaten by the hyped up ideas of the present. Instead, he chooses the course of action that is appropriate for the changing times.
The Maverick’s Way: New Old Thing
What is effective? This is the question answered by the maverick. He reconciles the good things from both the Old and New times, and focuses on what is really effective in confronting the challenges of 21st century business dealings.
A maverick thinks outside of the bed, knows that it pays to be daring, does not allow technology to tyrannize, finds strength in diversity, maintains balance and harmony among people, sets leadership by example, has a strong ethical base, and values employees and customers. A maverick knows his customers and believes strongly in his products.
To a maverick, a company is a not just a big candy store. It is a living instrument with living human beings. It should have a HEART.
Writing Guarantees that Sell
June 26, 2008
"This offer is good but can you guarantee it."
Why write a guarantee for your product or service? It reduces the risk in the eyes of your customers, enough to turn a cynical customer into a convinced customer.
So, what makes a good guarantee? Besides the obvious, "I guarantee it," strong guarantees include elements that not only ease the customers’ fears but also reinforce your offer. Before you put your guarantee in writing, here are some tips to keep in mind.
* Emphasize the benefit in each guarantee. Say you’re selling an energy supplement. Write a statement saying, "If you’re not drinking less coffee, skipping down the street, or simply more energetic after thirty days, just ask for your money back."
* Offer objects other than money. If you simply can’t afford to return your customers’ money or hesitant to offer that type of guarantee, offer to correct the problem at no additional charge. Send them another product. Contribute to the charity of their choice, in their name of course. Use your imagination and think of ways you can ease your customer’s fears.
Work At Home Using The Internet
June 25, 2008
Work At Home Using The Internet
by: Chris Stirling
If you want to work at home, start a home based business on the internet. Basing a business on the internet broadens your client . It also has the advantage of low or no overhead.
Home based businesses on the internet abound. To find one that suits you, work within a field you enjoy. The internet increases your client base, but because of the competition you will have to work hard to make your product or site stand out.
Home based business on the internet can be started in almost any field of interest. If you want to offer services, writing web content and designing websites can provide good opportunities. Artists can offer services ranging from graphic design to pet portraits. You can offer advertising services on the internet. Think of any field you are interested in and search the web. You will probably find somebody offering services in that field. If the competition is too much, you narrow your services to a specific group. For example, instead of offering pet portraits you could offer dog portraits.
Networking Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them
June 24, 2008
‘Fear of rejection’ is the major reason why individuals looking for a career change hesitate to use networking as the most powerful weapon in their job search armoury. This is even the case with senior people who you would have thought anybody would be delighted to receive a call from. In 99.9% of cases this fear is unfounded - most professional people are pleased to receive calls from like-minded people and are a pleasure and delight to talk to.
(In all my years of networking and listening to people who are conducting networking campaigns, I have only experienced rude rejection once and that was from Bernard Matthews, the factory farm turkey man. My advice is not to ring him.)
Only yesterday, four of my coaching clients came to see me to tell me about the job and project offers that they were currently negotiating and it got me thinking about how they had each successfully overcome their initial reluctance to network effectively. The ‘courage’ and ‘character’ they had shown had made a huge difference not just in their jobs but in their lives.
20 Tricks to Help Get That Envelope Opened
June 23, 2008
When your envelopes aren’t opened, you can’t make money! Beforeyou can get an order, the recipient of your mailing package mustfirst open the envelope. Unfortunately, many recipients ofdirect mail simply discard the material without opening theenvelope.
Because of the high costs of printing, envelopes, and postage,your mailing package represents a sizable investment. Yousimply can’t afford to make this investment, and then have yoursales material discarded in unopened envelopes.
With the following methods, you will have a substantialreduction in the number of unopened envelopes and a pleasantlyprofitable increase in sales.
How to Profit Handsomely From a Secret Business Model Virtually No Small Business is Using!
June 23, 2008
Have you been searching for the perfect home-based business? I have spent nearly twenty-five years searching for the holy-grail of home-based businesses. Now this article is not about a business, but rather a system that Fortune 500 companies always use but it’s rarely used by home-based businesses, affiliate or network marketing companies. And based on my experience, you should not even attempt a home-based affiliate or network marketing opportunity unless you use a system that almost guarantees you’ll be successful.
But before we get into the specifics of the secret business model, let’s first talk about what most people do wrong and why 95% of home-based business operators fail within the first few years in business.
Here’s a Few Reasons Why People Fail
* Lack of sufficient capital for promotions and marketing. It takes lots of money and time for your message to capture the attention of your prospective customers. It is a proven fact that most people must see or hear about your product or service at least five to seven times before they’ll inquire or purchase.
