What is the Foundation of Your Marketing Business?

If someone were to ask you what the foundation of your Internet Marketing business endeavors consisted of, would you have an answer? If you find yourself hesitating for even a moment, then it may be time to review this age old concept and analyze how it impacts your online ventures.

From a very early age, we were all taught that a building is only as strong as its foundation. This analogy was usually used when teaching a life lesson - whether to enforce the importance of a strong foundation in matters of family, emotions, friendships, education, or business endeavors. And for brick and mortar businesses, the concept of a solid foundation is usually not lost on most people either.

When it comes to online marketing however, this principle often eludes Internet Marketing Professionals. The apparent reason is the vast amount of options and diversity of revenue streams that are available and the ease of their implementation.

Because it is much easier to institute an online business than a traditional brick and mortar, the importance of creating a solid foundation is often overlooked in the swiftness of the inception of new niche products or marketing efforts.

In Internet Marketing circles, you frequently hear a lot of talk about the importance of focus, and this certainly touches upon the concept of creating a solid foundation; but just being admonished to maintain focus is not going to suddenly manifest a solid foundation for your online pursuits.

The idea behind a foundation is to uphold the entire structure. When Internet Marketers are told to focus, what should really be stated is the importance of focusing on the foundation. Not just focusing on a given product, or a specific project or a dedicated niche. To the contrary, the foundation of your online business is the glue that holds your products, projects and niches together.

You don't have to look far to see the effects of a lack of foundation. In fact, all you have to do is listen to the panic that ensues every time Google has one of their infamous algorithm changes. This is akin to putting all of one's eggs in one basket and has caught many a marketing guru in the proverbial cross.

With Internet Marketing, the prospect of laying a proper foundation is a double edge sword. On the one hand, it is not advisable to jump from one project to anther; but on the other hand, it is critical to stay current with trends and technology. While trying to maintain a balance between these two, you walk a fine line in establishing a solid foundation that will be both dynamic as well properly grounded.

Whether you have been marketing online for a while or are just beginning to assess your place in the Internet Marketing world, take stock of the direction you are going and where it may leave you in the months and year to come.

For example, when choosing a niche, by its very definition it is based upon consumer demand. And that demand is largely dependent upon current fads, available technology, market need or some combination of all three. Regardless of whether you choose to serve that niche through email marketing, affiliate programs, blogging, or authority sites, in each instance you will be rising to meet the current trends.

So using the above example, a typical scenario would be to capitalize on a niche topic like MP3, podcasting, or something similar. However, the moment that technology makes these things obsolete and replaces it with the latest and greatest electronic wonder, the profitability of this niche would swiftly decline.

If however, you choose a niche such as consumer electronics or audio video equipment, then your foundation would remain much more solid and have the ability to stand the test of time. Establishing yourself as an authority in the consumer electronics niche -- albeit through promotion of iPods, MP3s and podcasting today -- gives you the reach for incorporating anything else that may turn to favor tomorrow.

These are the types of things that need to be considered when addressing a proper foundation for your Internet Marketing endeavors. Utilizing this method of reasoning will insure longevity and to do otherwise will insure only short term success at best.

Integrity Before Success!

If you are going to be successful on the internet or any home business as far as that is concerned, then, integrity must come before your financial success. Many people are financially successful on the internet, but some have forgotten the meaning of true success.

As Jim Rohn (One of the all time favorite motivational speakers) says, quite often, it is far more important of who you are becoming, then, what you are earning. Jim even goes so far as to say that you should work toward becoming a millionaire, not for the money, but because of who you will become in achieving the goal.

The stress is on becoming a better person. A person who has integrity. Integrity is being able to be counted on, to be depended upon, if you say that you are going to provide a service or product for a certain amount of money, then you do it. You are looking out for your customers, as well as yourself.

In most cases your reputation will precede you! You may think that no one is discovering your flawed business manners, but actually, the word is spreading and on the net, it spreads quite rapidly.

One of the universal laws of success is that financial success follows hard work with honesty. In other words, "help enough people get what they want and you will find that you receive what you want." However, if you are just looking out for you, you are only hurting yourself in the long run. Wouldn't the internet be so much better if we were all watching out for each other?

One important lesson I have learned when it comes to making a sale is that people buy from those whom they trust. If they trust you they will buy from you. If your integrity is guiding you as you make your presentation to others it will come across to your potential buyer. You are more likely to make that sell with your integrity guiding you, then, any other aspect in your presentation.

It does not matter how well you intellectually present your service or product, if they detect flaws in your character you might as well close up your brief case and go home.

Perhaps, even of a greater reward for being a man or women of integrity is that you will sleep better at night just knowing you did your best to sincerely help others achieve their dreams. What can be more rewarding, then, to help others reach their goals?

If you have children, perhaps, that would be the ultimate reason to permit integrity to lead you. Your children will have someone that they can be proud of and more importantly someone whom they can trust!

How to Make More Money with Email Marketing

The number one rule in effective email marketing is to ALWAYS capture every email address of every possible prospect. Here is the way to get started building a large customer list to promote your products and make more money in the process.

First you will need to sign up for a paid membership at a respected autoresponder service. This is not very expensive. It usually costs no more than $20 per month. Either Aweber.com or Getresponse.com are two good recommended autoresponder services. Here is the outline for using your autoresponder to create campaigns that will sell products for you consistently.

Tip #1. Place a sign-up box on every website you own to capture email addesses from your prospects.

Offer them a FREE report or eBook for signing up to your new newsletter.

You will use this newsletter to 'broadcast' news, special offers, discounts and clearance sales to your 'active' list of prospects at different times as needed. A good tip is to keep your prospect audience 'on the hook' and always receptive to your email messages. Build good rapport with your subscribers.

By capturing as many email addresses as you can and broadcasting a newsletter to your customers on a frequent basis (once every 2 to 3 weeks is O.K. for most businesses), you will increase your sales and profits.

Tip #2. When sending out a broadcast, give your prospective customers a FREE offer that complements the product or service that you are promoting in the email.

This could be a FREE eBook or report that might make them more interested in the product that you are selling. Include in the free eBook or report a hyperlink to your product sales page just in case they decide to go ahead and buy your product after reading the FREE eBook or report. You always want to make it as easy as possible for your customers to read, review and purchase your product.

Tip #3. Then in the same email broadcast, give your customers a "preview" of your next email offer. Also include a line or two about the next FREE bonus offer that will accompany your upcoming email to interest them and set up your next product mailing.

It all comes down to meeting the expectations of your customers. They will know what is coming to their inbox next. Who knows, your customer might already be sold on the next offer as soon as it arrives!

Tip #4. When advertising your product in ezine ads, always give the people that are reading your ad the opportunity to get on your mailing list.

In fact, you should be advertising your product for the purpose of capturing the prospect's email address. You are going to make your sales and profits on the back-end. Avoid trying to sell your product from the ad itself.

To do this, you offer them FREE information, and MORE DETAILS about the product that you are promoting in your ad. Then have the prospect send a blank email to your autoresponder. Follow-up using your autoresponder with a message of your choice that includes the promised information. Also add these prospects to your newsletter mailing list.

Refer to the instructions at your autoresponder service on how to make the hyperlink to your autoresponder and how to organize your new email addresses.

Email marketing makes you more money when it is done right. Follow the tips above and cash in on your company's new email marketing strategies with ease.

Now you have a way to get people to see your offers at a minimal cost. And you have built up a high level of trust and loyalty with your subscribers. Plus in the eyes of your customers, you always overdeliver. That's a triple winning combination for your marketing mix. And you did it all automatically!

Two Words that Separate the Online Winners from the Quitters

Ask five people what to do to be successful when starting a business and you will probably get five different answers. Everything from, "you absolutely have to have a business plan" to "failure is eminent without my new software." Although a business plan is very important and there are some very valuable software applications to grow a business, there is one aspect of success that seems to be very hard for many people to overcome.

Here's a story to illustrate the point. A friend, named Joe wanted to start an internet marketing business. Before he began selling anything he hired someone to coach him. The coach did not have any really revolutionary ideas, pretty much the same as the other guru's but he was honest with Joe when he needed to hear the truth. Joe followed his instructions on researching profitable niches. Once Joe's coach emailed him with a suggestion that he thought would make it easier for Joe, but Joe responded saying that he thought the suggestion made by his coach was nearly impossible. Joe told him, "I cannot do that, it's too hard." The response from the coach was paramount to Joe's success. It changed everything for Joe. He replied saying, "Joe, if you think you can't then you're probably right."

Joe understood what his coach was getting at. Joe's own thoughts about what he thought he could and could not do were holding him back. Joe decided that very day that he could in fact do what his coach suggested to find a profitable niche. That's right, he made a decision that he could do it and that he would not give up. Not only did Joe find a very profitable niche, he found ten profitable niches. Joe quickly started his first internet business selling a hard good product and it turned out to be a total success. This rest as they say is history.

Ask yourself, what could you do if you removed "I can't" from your vocabulary and weren't hindered by what you think are your abilities. Joe knew nothing about the niche he started in and even so his business took off like gangbusters. He learned about his product as he went along. He didn't know how to build a website but he learned. Joe's success had nothing to do with a large starting capital because he started with less than $300.

Your success at any business venture has very little to do with talent, money you have to invest, knowledge about the product and a whole host of other excuses that people come up with about why they can't start an internet business. Your success does have everything to do with your determination to succeed and perseverance when challenges come your way. Now don't go and throw money down the toilet because you don't want to give up, please use common sense. If you haven't made any money after a couple months don't decide that online marketing isn't for you. Consider moving on to find another niche. There are millions of hungry buyers in thousands of niches waiting to buy. Keep plugging away until you find a need to meet in a specific niche and fill that need. It will only take a few months to get to know your market.

Every single month, there are millions of people searching for information on how to make money on the internet, yet less than 3% of those people ever actually make any money. The difference among those that succeed and those that do not is that the ones who make money don't back down when faced with the same challenges that all online marketers face. It comes down to this, you have to delete the phrase, "I can't" from your vocabulary. Don't be one of the 97% that give up right before you strike gold.

The Power of Sharing

It has been said that "If you give, you shall receive". This saying is often used to refer to giving of your time, your effort, your money or other material things before you can reasonably expect to receive any of these things from others. All of these things can be very valuable, but one of the most powerful things to share, and also one of the easiest, is thoughts and ideas.

When we consider sharing something, we often think of this as parting with something. Share some of your money and you will no longer be able to spend it yourself. Share some chocolate and whoever you share it with gets to taste this delicious substance, not you. At least you won't taste all of it. Sharing, in these cases, means parting with. It means you give something away that you will no longer benefit from directly. This is not the case with thoughts and ideas. When you share a thought or a good idea that doesn't mean you lose it. It doesn't even mean there is any less left for you. As a matter of fact, quite the opposite is true. You can truly be enriched by the thoughts and ideas you share with other people. Share some wisdom with someone else and now two can benefit from it. Even though there was no cost involved for you in sharing it, to the person on the receiving end it could represent a huge value.

Unfortunately we often try to keep things for ourselves in order to keep a competitive advantage. To 'keep the edge' so to speak. This is understandable and can sometimes be a good strategy. Certain information can be extremely valuable and if it really gives you this 'edge' then keeping it to yourself may be the smart thing to do. In reality however most of us don't possess any information that really offers sustainable advantage over others. The truth is that the real advantage in this day and age, with the Internet at everybody's fingertips, is no longer in any single piece of information. The people that have been most successful have done so by combining ideas and concepts into combinations that others haven't thought of. From this perspective not sharing your ideas may actually rob you of many opportunities and as such cost you a great deal.

In business, as well as in personal life, breakthroughs often come from a combination of ideas. Rarely is one man's creative idea completely fabricated by his own mind. The tossing back and forth of ideas and concepts usually plays a critical role in the development of new ideas. In discussing the potential application of a certain technology with a customer, this customer can come up with ideas that you would have never thought of. After all it's the customer's business and he probably knows more about it than you do. Especially when you're talking to an entrepreneurial type of individual. Most entrepreneurs are always looking for new opportunities to improve their bottom line and expand their business. Now why would he share his ideas with you if you haven't shared anything with him? Good question. You could of course turn the situation around; why share anything with him if he hasn't shared anything with you? Although this may be a fair question, it isn't really relevant. After all this is exactly the deadlock situation that hampers so much creativity. Of course there is always a risk of someone running off with one of your ideas. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to protect your idea or at least a part of it. You could for instance leave out some details that aren't necessary to paint the big picture but would surely be critical in bringing the idea to fruition.

The human brain makes connections based on our frame of reference. Since every persons frame of reference is unique it's possible for a group of 1000 individuals to listen to one and the same speech, talk or idea and yet, have all of them interpret it differently. As a matter of fact, this is not just possible, it will inevitably be the case. Since no two persons share the exact same background, body of knowledge and life experiences. These differences in interpretations could therefore lead to very different concepts and ideas a person could come up with. That is where one of the most powerful aspects of sharing comes into play. Your ideas may spark a new idea in someone else that you would never have thought of by yourself, which in turn sparks another idea in you that they would never have thought of by themselves. Of course this doesn't have to be a conscious sharing of ideas. Most of the time it will happen without you actually being aware of it. A thought will come up that you think is your own when in fact it was initially put their by someone else. In your quest for ideas your mind dug up this idea and perhaps linked it to some other fragments in your memory banks that, put together, formed a new breakthrough idea.

Even though this is mostly unconscious, it's still a good strategy to share more ideas on a consistent basis. Think of it like this; every time you share something a number of things happen. For starters, you deposit something into someone else's memory bank. You never know what this little piece of information, this concept will do for the person you share it with. Perhaps it does nothing for them but it eventually does for someone else they share it with. This person may or may not share something with you in return. But there is a universal law that states that: "If you give out, something is coming back". The law doesn't say that it's coming back on Thursday morning at 10.00, when you might need it the most. It just says "It's coming back". In many cases when you share something, that person will feel obligated to share something with you. Perhaps right away, perhaps a month from now. Not necessarily out of obligation, but out of human nature. This is the law of reciprocity at work. Whenever they share something with you, that concept will be stored inside your head. Perhaps you may not see an immediate use for it. In many cases you probably never will. However you never know when and in what situation their idea may turn out to be useful. Perhaps in combination with some other ideas that have yet to be shared with you by other people.

But guess what? If you don't share your thoughts with them, they may not share theirs with you. And because you didn't share you missed out on that one little idea that you needed to put everything in its place. Who knows how much you will miss out on because of that? It's safe to say that not sharing could cost you infinitely more than keeping it all to yourself would ever earn you. And that is just too much of a price to pay. So whenever you have the opportunity to share some worthwhile thoughts with another person, do so. It may work wonders, for you and them, and it won't cost a thing.

Just Do It NOW!

Just do it. Put on your Nike shoes and run with it. Yeah! Jump on it. Go for it. Right now is the moment. Apply the wisdom from Confucius, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Use the philosophy of Ansonius who says, "To begin is to achieve." So start with zero hesitation. Dare to live your dream. Use initiative to annihilate procrastination. Heed the words of Edward Young about procrastination, "Procrastination is the thief of time: Year after year it steals, till all are fled, And to the mercies of a moment leaves The vast concerns of an eternal scene." Procrastination is stasis and stasis is the clammy frozen death of dreams.

Ponder and learn from these words of William Shakespeare's King Richard the Second. "I wasted time, and now doth time waste me; For now hath time made me his numbering clock: My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch, Whereto my finger, like a dial's point, Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears. Now sir, the sound that tells what hour it is Are clamorous groans, which strike upon my heart, Which is the bell: so sighs and tears and groans Show minutes, times, and hours."

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe who is Germany's "Shakespeare" is attributed with the statement, "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

It is said that everything is attitude and attitude is everything. You have just read five quotes, but think of them as tools for shaping your attitude. The correct attitude is a can do, will do, right now is everything, can't wait to get started attitude. Throw on Van Halen's song "Right Now" and crank it up for even more inspiration. Joseph Addison sums it up with this proverb, "Swift and resolute action leads to success; self-doubt is a prelude to disaster." That is from the 1713 work called "Cato."

What work is it you want to do? Do it now! Without question! Do not wait, for you will wait forever, and it will get done never. No mistake about it, the simple choice comes down to two. Do it or lose it. Positively YES is the answer that moves mountains and simultaneously makes them into molehills. Take action. Here is the sublime mantra of magical manifestation - DO IT, DO IT, DO IT, JUST DO IT NOW!

Are You Passionate about Your Internet Marketing Niche?

Internet Marketing offers many benefits that traditional employment does not including the ability to set your own hours, an unlimited stream of income, the flexibility of choosing a niche that you are passionate about, and the opportunity to help others.

By virtue of the fact that a large portion of Internet Marketing revolves around the sale of information products, the opportunity to help others is by far the strongest draw that online ventures provide. Not only is the marketing professional able to make hundreds, if not thousands of dollars by pursuing their passion, in the process they are contributing to the education or training of others at the same time.

There are very few careers that afford the instant gratification this arrangement provides. Many traditional jobs provide an education or service, but the end result or the consumer that acquires the benefit is so far removed from the supply chain, that the employee never gets to see first hand the difference they are making in someone else's life.

On the other hand, an Internet Marketing professional many times will not only see first hand the difference they are making, they are directly involved in the process while it is evolving. This is a very strong draw for those who seek and gain their gratification from helping others.

Because the claims of making an overnight fortune are so plentiful, it is often believed that it is the financial gain that drives online entrepreneurs. And while that is certainly one of the overwhelming benefits to online opportunities, more often than not you will see the people making the most money are the ones that are the most passionate about what they are doing.

This passion is what will stand the test of time. There are plenty of online marketing opportunities that fade into the background as fast as they originally appeared, but someone who puts their heart and soul into every aspect of their product or service almost always backs the ones that have the greatest longevity.

This model is one that does not get a lot of exposure, because too often the headlines we see are designed for shock value and the easiest way to capture the attention of an audience is through the income potential. But looking beyond that, if you see someone with passion, you will most likely see someone who is going to be around for quite a while or has already been around for a long time. It is a common denominator that is shared by many of the top Internet Marketing Gurus today and will remain so for a long while to come.

New entrepreneurs who aspire to reach great heights in the Internet Marketing community will do well to recognize and emulate this business model. There is no limit to the amount of ways that someone can make a living online, but if care is taken to choose a topic that is also part of your passion, then the odds of a long and successful career in this business greatly increase.

Parttime Entrepreneurs

Today’s economy is characterized by is a lot of insecurity in the workplace. People are becoming aware of the fact that job security is now really a thing of the past. Some have replaced job security with the idea of employment security. Employment security is a concept that states that if you concern yourself with being a valuable person and employee, someone that is of value to an employer, you may not be guaranteed to keep your job but you will most certainly be able to get another one. To a large extent this will probably hold up in many situations. However it still assumes an employer - employee relationship.

The original relationship between the employer and the employee will probably be around for a long time. However in the future it will not be as commonplace as it is today. People who used to work in a single department in a single function for most of their professional lives are now getting used to working more on a project by project basis. In most situations they are still on the same company's payroll, however this is already starting to change.

Many employers are starting to outsource some of the work that was traditionally performed by employees to freelancers and small businesses. The disadvantages of having people on the payroll are starting to weigh in on their hiring decisions. With today's high speed of technological change the necessary expertise to perform certain functions can literally change from year to year. In some areas it's even more extreme. In many of these cases it's simply easier and cheaper to hire different people on a limited time basis instead of continuously having one employee trying to keep up with all the different tricks of the trade.

This trend will have far reaching consequences for today’s workforce. Even the more experienced employees will have to stay sharp. They can't sit on their laurels anymore because they will continuously have to prove their worth in new situations, more now than ever before.

Some consider this a huge threat to their career. The truth is, they probably should. Then again, some seem to be adapting to this phenomenon by looking at the opportunity that this brings them. More and more people today are starting their own part time businesses. Many do this while still working on their day job, either full- or part time. Scott Adams, author of the famous Dilbert comic, identifies this trend in his book "The Dilbert Future". He claims this trend will become more prevalent in the years to come. Many of these newborn entrepreneurs start businesses that perform a function that was formerly performed by an employee. Sometimes people even come back to their original employer who has now become their customer.

Everybody knows running your own business can make you more money. There are a number of reasons for this. Of course you are probably more motivated and more results oriented than you would be working for someone else. You can also control your overhead better. Larger companies are not as efficient as they should be in many areas. Company policy sometimes drives up operating costs significantly. Certain companies hand out cell phones and laptops to all employees without taking proper notice of the need for such items. Also employees are less aware of many costs and business expenses. The bottom line is simply not a priority for them. If they had to pay for everything out of their own pocket this would probably be very different. The fact is: when you are in you're own business you have to keep a very close eye on your bottom line or you'll probably be out of business in no time.

This raises questions for many people who currently hold a job as well as the people they work for. Which functions will continue to be performed by employees and which jobs will be outsourced? It would be hard if not impossible to make an easy distinction at this point. Some companies may choose to retain employees for the same jobs that are outsourced by other companies. Each may have their reasons and who's to say what's right. It will depend on many different factors like: the importance of the job for that particular business, the ability to attract the right people and the company's culture. Nobody could accurately predict what the situation will be ten to fifteen years from today.

One thing is for sure though: for many of us it will be vastly different than our current situation. The question is: Are you ready for it?

How To Promote Your Business By Speaking in Public

As an entrepreneur, public speaking has to be one of the most effective ways of marketing yourself. There are countless opportunities out there for you to get yourself in front of your target market. There is no better way to have a captive audience full of prospects. It is the fastest way of establishing yourself as an expert.

You don’t have to be a professional speaker to speak in public. Just doing a reasonable job is better than not doing anything at all.

Prospects are much more likely to engage your services if they’ve seen you speak. Let’s look at the following example. Say you were looking for an accountant. Would you be more inclined to trust someone you had found in the Yellow Pages, or someone you had heard speak knowledgeably at the local Chamber of Commerce?

Look into opportunities in your local area where you can offer to speak for free. Professional associations, networking groups, Chambers of Commerce, educational bodies and Rotary Clubs are all potential public speaking venues. They often look out for speakers for their events, meetings and workshops.

Also research the audience that is going to be at your talk. For example, what industries are they likely to represent? Are they from large or small companies? What would interest them? What angle should your presentation take?

When it comes to finalizing your speech topic, be sure to make it sound enticing and interesting. People often decide whether to attend a talk based on just the title so put some serious thought into this.

Practice is key to coming across in a professional manner and reducing nerves. Write your speech out in full, but never read it verbatim. Have an outline prepared and available for you to refer to.

Check with the event organizer how long you have for your talk. Include timing in your practice runs. There is nothing worse than having a speaker run over time.

Get the most mileage out of your presentation by having some promotional material at the back of the room, for example some business cards, flyers or brochures that people can take with them if they wish.

You can be even more proactive and set up a newsletter before starting to give speeches. At the end of your presentation you can encourage your audience to sign up for your newsletter in exchange for a promotional gift or free e-book. That way you have also added valuable contacts to your database.

Many entrepreneurs swear by public speaking as a way of building and maintaining a steady stream of clients for their businesses.

Preparing to Sell a Business while Keeping Your Customers Happy

Preparing to sell a business may not be as straightforward as it seems. Selling a business requires a balance between enticing buyers for the business and, at the same time, keeping the current customers happy. If the customers are unhappy then the business value drops and the sale may not go as planned. If a person goes into selling a business without planning or the knowledge of how to do so, they may end up losing money.

The following list explains the first steps a person should take to prepare to sell while also keeping customers happy.

Get a quote on the value of the business. This is extremely important. If a business owner asks too much, they may have a hard time selling, but if they do not ask enough they are losing out on valuable revenue. A professional can help with this because they usually know how certain time and economic factors can contribute to the value of a business. But you should also do your own research. You are the best source to know your own niche market. This appraisal should be done before selling to get the actual value.

Determine if the sale will be public or private. If there is a chance that customers will be lost once they find out the business is sold, then it is wise to do a private sell. This way the new owner will have a chance to gain their business. Also, will the employees stay or will they leave for fear of the upheaval of new ownership? Most buyers would like to see that a business could withstand any changes that can come about with a sale. These factors should be considered when determining if a sale should be public or private.

Set up a marketing campaign. Just as a business owner needs to advertise their products, they need to advertise the sale. The marketing efforts will be largely based on the type of sale, either public or private. In the case of the private sale, an example of this may just put the business name out in the public by advertising donations to charities. Just remember, the appearance of the business can help determine the value. This goes for physical appearance as well as just appearing financially secure and stable.

Prepare all information to show buyers. Potential buyers will likely be interested in seeing all the details of the business. They will want to know why the business is being sold and will need to see financial statements and tax returns in order to make an informed purchase. A business is perceived as much riskier with no solid financial history and that can decrease the sale value.

Preparing by doing these four steps can make selling a business easier. The key is they can be done up to years before the actual sale. But, they are also just the tip of the iceberg. They do not cover every aspect, like legal and financial considerations, so a business owner should contact their lawyer, accountant, and other professional assistance to ensure everything is done correctly.

Moonlighting Your Way to a Full-Time Copywriting Career

If you are moonlighting as a copywriter and want to go full-time, you can. But be sure to have a plan in place first. Owning your own business can be great, but not if you fail to plan for the first year's up-and-down income.

1. Be sure you know why you want to go full-time.
Reason: "I want more freedom and flexibility."

Full-time copywriting is great for more flexibility during your workweek, but taking longer breaks like vacations can be tricky. You will need to plan for this.

"I'll make more money as a full-time copywriter than I do as a [fill-in-the-blank]."

You well may! Full-time copywriters easily earn from $50,000 a year to $85,000 and many of them earn more. It is not uncommon to earn $120,000 a year for an in-demand copywriter, and this is NOT the stratosphere. But be aware that it takes some time to get there! Plan to buy your own health insurance and plan to get slammed with self-employment taxes. And cash flow can be very challenging.

"I have always wanted to own my own business."

Good for you! It's a fantastic way to go, especially for parents who want to be more available to their kids. Go for it, just plan for it.

2. Make a financial plan.

- Have clients ready to go so you know you will get paid right away. If you've been moonlighting as a freelancer, then this should not be a problem. You will need to ramp up to full-time, so ramp up your networking and marketing outreach.

- Whittle down the expenses. Boat, 2nd mortgage, credit card debt... you do not want to get into working for yourself and be laden with debt at the same time.

- See if you can add your employer as a client. It happens more often than you think.

3. Make a timeline.

Plan your planning! Decide when you are going to have your financial plan ready, including when and how you are going to cut out unnecessary expenses and/or pay off debt while you are still employed. Then plan your marketing and pump up your client list. You will be really busy for a while until you quit your job, so take care of your health!

Then write that resignation letter! Be bold, dream, don't be afraid. You can do this!

What is Your Number One Asset as a Business Owner?

As a business owner you have many assets. Your expertise, your client base, your brand, the list could go on. But what is your number one asset and how do you protect it?

It’s your health, of course. Without good health, your expertise, your client base and your brand will all suffer.

You need good health to be able to function effectively, be creative, productive, to have enough energy to see projects through.

However, it is all too easy to neglect your number one asset when running your own business. Client demands, commitments, family life, crises, all compete for your time and attention.

You feel you can’t justify regular breaks during the day because work is piling up! You stay up later and get up earlier in order to stay on top of things. Perhaps you’re not even sleeping as well as you used to.

Did you cancel dinner out with friends because you simply didn’t have the time or energy? How about weekends, is work seeping into Saturday and Sunday? Are you grabbing fast food on the run just to save some time?

If any of these questions resonate with you it’s time to take action. There’s no need to make drastic changes straight away. Start by making small changes.

Take regular 15 minute breaks throughout the day for a quick stroll outside, or for sitting quietly doing nothing. Rather than wasting time, you’re actually going to be saving time because when you get back to work you’ll be so much more efficient and productive.

Exercising regularly will enhance your energy levels and general health immensely. It doesn’t even have to be slogging it out at the gym or running. Thirty minutes of walking a day will greatly improve your sense of well being.

Make sure you’re getting at least 7 or 8 hours of good sleep a night. Reduce the amount of caffeine you drink during the latter half of the day so that you’re sleeping more soundly.

Staying connected to your friends and family is essential for balance. Schedule time out to share laughter with friends over dinner and enjoy a game of Frisbee in the park with the kids. Don’t let your hobbies and other interests slide because of your business. If you like reading, relax and read books that aren’t related to business!

Make a commitment to yourself that at least on one day of the weekend you don’t turn your computer on at all, you don’t go into your office, you don’t even think about work!

Working on Your 'Why'

In today's society we often put a lot of emphasis on how things are done. Present a plan with lofty goals to the board of directors of any company and surely they will ask you how you suppose those goals will be met. Apply for a mortgage and you will be asked to demonstrate how you plan to pay it off. Give a professor the correct answer to a complex question and you might be asked how you arrived at your conclusion. The How is often so predominant that the Why is sometimes completely forgotten as if the Why is of less importance. Nothing could be further from the truth. Why you want something is infinitely more important than how you think you're going to achieve it.

To find out what your Why is start with identifying what it is that you want. After all, if you can't visualize what you want how could you ever hope to realize it? This seems easy enough but apparently it's a bit more challenging than one would think. Ask an adult to write down everything they want on a list with a minimum of 50 items and you will find that for most it turns out to be quite difficult. Stating that you want a certain amount of money, want to quit working or just want a bigger car than your neighbor can cause people to experience discomfort. After all it may make them appear greedy or lazy and that's not generally considered positive. So they try to come up with something that's socially acceptable and in doing so make what they want subject to the opinions of others. Kids on the other hand have no problem here. They'll come up with 50 items and more in no time, listing things you didn't even know exist. They don't worry about what others may think of it, whether it makes them look greedy, lazy or whatever. All they know is that they want it.

After you have identified what it is you want, then you get to the Why. Why would you want all those things? Again, kids have the upper hand here. They'll be quick to point out why they want it all: mostly the fun they will have and the popularity it will give them. Ask an adult why they want something and you'll enjoy watching the expression on their face. You'll see them searching for an answer. Why would you want to be rich? Why would you want to quit working? What would you do if you no longer had to go to a job every day? You may decide you want a bigger house than anyone in your family before you ever had. But what does that do for you? Would you sleep better? Would it make your life better? Or is it because you just love cleaning house all day? Whatever it is, it's important that you know.

Exactly how you plan to achieve your goal is far less important, especially in such an early stage. Too much focus on the How early in the process can have a devastating effect. It could paralyze you. If your financial situation is so bad that you are actually below broke, achieving financial independence can seem so far fetched that reaching it appears impossible. You might sell yourself on the idea that it's so far out of reach that you couldn't possibly make it happen in this lifetime. As much as that may seem true at the time, it doesn't have to become your reality. However in order to get there you will probably have to overcome some serious hurdles. And for that to happen you need a reason to get up and take the necessary action. That reason needs to be strong enough to pull you through the tough times that inevitably will come. That reason is your Why.

History is packed with unbelievable stories of accomplishment. People facing seemingly insurmountable odds who overcame obstacles you wouldn't believe. Individuals with relentless determination who decided to push on in situations where most people would give up. Why is that so many people throw in the towel when things don't go their way and only a small number of people seem to persevere? It's not because they're genetically stronger and it's not because they've been dealt a better hand in life. What sets them apart is their Why. That's what keeps them in the game. Their Why is so strong that whatever gets in their way they will find a way to deal with it. They don't have all the answers, but what they do have is an inner conviction that they can and will find them.

Working on your Why is one of the best ways to improve the chance of reaching your goals. So make sure that you know what your Why is. Find it and refine it over and over again. Make it so strong that achieving it becomes an absolute must for you and the How will magically reveal itself to you over time.

Affiliate Marketing - Success Tips for the Beginner

Most people starting out looking to make money from their own home based internet marketing business are drawn towards the affiliate marketing arena with claims of easy money.

But is it really as easy as just sending prospects to your affiliate link? In a word, no. Nothing's that easy. There is work involved. There's no such thing as a free ride.

And most people that fail at affiliate marketing are the ones that enter it with that mindset. You, as an aspiring affiliate, need to realize that it is still marketing and as such you will need to hone your skill set to achieve any level of success.

As with any product or service you must advertise to make prospects aware of what you have to offer. You can't just join a program and hope that your link will be clicked.

A successful affiliate applies many different strategies. Most of these can be used in any niche with a little altering to fit that particular niche's parameters.

Here are a few tips on how to grow your affiliate earnings.

*You're the expert

Get to know the product you're promoting. Research it as thoroughly as possible. If it's feasible, buy the product and use it. This gives you the advantage of working from a position of superior knowledge. Write your own testimonial or review. This instills confidence in the buyer because you've already purchased it yourself.

*Your own website

You have to have your own website. This is imperative to your affiliate success. Why? Because every other affiliate will be using the exact same sales pages as you. You must stand out from the crowd. Differentiate yourself.

With your own site you can create custom landing pages to pre-sell the product. You can also write a special report and set up an autoresponder to capture the name and email address of curious individuals and follow up with them.

Always check with the affiliate agreement before creating your own ads and landing pages as this may be against the rules for that particular program.

*Forums and discussion boards

Participating in online forums and discussion boards gives you two advantages. It not only allows you to drum up business for your products but it also gives you input from a customer’s point of view.

By asking and answering questions you'll get a better feel for what exactly your prospects are looking for. What problems do they have? What do they feel would be the best way to solve these problems? Which do they think is the most pressing problem that needs to be addressed?

*Your own newsletter or ezine

There are a tremendous amount of free newsletters and ezines on the web today, and for good reason. People who are passionate about a certain subject will always welcome more information on it as long as it's well written and presented.

By building a relationship with your readers you build their trust too. This is when you can start recommending products and services and when your affiliate profits will soar.

Simply send out an email every other week with an article written by either yourself or another expert along with some tips and possibly a famous quote and you've got a winning formula for a newsletter.

Capturing someone's email can also be applied to giving away a special report or product review so long as you let the person know that you will be sending additional emails.

All in all, these tips should help you greatly increase your earnings in any affiliate program in any niche.