Do you have a dream to make money from the comfort of your own home? There are many home based business ideas that you can use to get your business started, but you have to be sure you choose one that is right for you.It can be difficult to find the right idea for you when you don’t know what they are, but there are many different ideas that can be found on the internet. To help you get started, below are a few of the ideas that anyone can get a business started with easily.One: Network marketing – This is also referred to as MLM and many people are skeptical about using it to start a business. If you take the time to thoroughly research the network marketing opportunities online, then you can very easily find a good one that is legitimate.The mistake that many people make that leaves them skeptical about this type of business is choosing the first one that they find. You can’t do this because you have to ensure it is legitimate and profitable for you before using one of these opportunities to start a business.Two: Affiliate marketing – There are thousands of affiliate programs online that you can join for free and get started promoting to help you make money at home. You want to be sure you choose programs that you believe in and like so you don’t end up struggling to make money with it.Three: Sell your own products or services – If you like creating products of your own like, candles, gift baskets, jewelry, cookies, or other types, then this may be the best idea for you.There are many people online that will pay for different skills such as, writing, web design or copywriting. If your skill is in demand, then this can easily be a profitable business for you to start.Four: Niche marketing – You can find many products that you can promote in specific niches and use them to start a business for that one niche. You have to be sure that you only promote quality products and that you enjoy the idea that you chose so you don’t have to struggle to make money.Five: Business opportunities – There are many different business opportunities online that you can choose to start a business. Be sure you look at as many of the opportunities that you can find before choosing the one to use to help you earn money from the comfort of your home.These are just a handful of the home based business ideas that you can find online to get your business started with. You want to be sure that you choose one that you will enjoy building a successful business with because this will make it much easier for you to achieve that goal.
A Business Opportunity In Home Based Business Is Something Highly Sought After In Today’s World
A business opportunity in home based business is something which is in high demand in this hurry-up, rat-race world of ours. Hundreds of hours are spent commuting to and from jobs, hundreds of dollars are spent on fuel for transportation, parking fees, and general wear and tear on our cars and trucks. An expensive wardrobe is something which many women worry about when they are have jobs in the corporate world, although men often are in this same dilemma. Could there be a better way to have a comfortable lifestyle, provide for the family, and get away from some of the insanity of the modern-day work place?With so many choices of business opportunity in home based business today, especially when one considers what is on the Internet, the mind can be sent into overload. Is a business which is run out of the spare bedroom the best choice, or should one consider building a separate building for an office? Is this new home based business one which will disrupt the family if done inside the home, or is the home too much of a distraction to get the work done which is required to be successful in the home business world? Often a home will have a barely used attic or basement which could be turned into that home office, and many times something of this nature, which is more set apart from the main activities of day-to-day life in the home, can offer a better working environment. No matter where the office is located, there is some nitty-gritty discipline required to work from home.Which comes first in the business opportunity in home based business, the chicken or the egg? Is it best to decide on a home business before deciding on where to place it in the home, or is it best to start setting aside a great space for a future office at home, after which you pursue the dream of being your own boss? Both options are probably on equal footing; one of the most important things to do is make those goals, write them on a goal board where they are visible on a daily basis, and then take the massive action to achieve those goals. Pondering and planning and goal setting without action will only lead to frustration and, most likely, failure. There is a certain amount of ”Just Do It” that is required in the world of Business Building At Home.
Home Based Business Ideas That Make Money
In this brief article we are going to discuss several home based business ideas that can make a home based business owner a lot of money. First off, I want to mention that this is in no way a complete list and there are many other monetization models, business systems and income programs. This is a list of a few simple ideas you can take into account when looking to start a new successful home business.1.Multi Level Marketing. This is one of the more popular business models available online. It requires business owners to build down lines in which they make a percentage of profit off of the products that everyone in their organization sells. It is a highly leveraged income program, and is definitely one of the more profitable.2.Lead Generation. Many companies and individuals have a huge need for high quality leads for their businesses. By generating targeted leads in a number of different niches, you can sell these leads to these businesses for big profits. There will always be a market for leads and a demand for people who can generate them for as long as there is business on the internet.3.Affiliate Marketing. This is just a system of sales that exists solely on the internet. Affiliate marketing has really redefined what a commissioned salesmen is by taking the career online. A business owner simply refers customers to a product page and is paid a percentage of the sales volume. It is one of the more popular forms of marketing online.4.Contextual Ads (AdSense). One of the newer ways to monetize a website. Google (or another provider) will place contextual ads on a website in which a business owner will drive traffic. The business owner is paid on a per click bases 30-60% of the advertising revenue. Many newbie internet marketers go this route as it is easiest in which to profit.As mentioned before this is is no way an exhaustive list of possible businesses, this is simply a list of the most popular. If you are new to internet marketing and are looking for solid home based business ideas, I urge to to consider one of these popular forms of marketing. These are all business models that are not ‘here today and gone tomorrow’ type business models. They are all proven money makers and have been in existence for many many years. There is no reason to take huge risks on new business models when operating a home based business on the internet when proven systems such as these exist.
How Do I Start A Home Based Business?
There are probably thousands of home businesses you could choose, but how do you choose the right one? Well this article should help, you see I have already done all the investigations into finding a successful home business for you, so take note as I reveal the different types, which are scams? and whether there is a business model out there for YOU!So What Suits YOU? During your research you should really ask yourself what type of business would suit your lifestyle? I mean, lets say that you have children still at school, that could certainly rule out Forex or Commodity trading, as you must be able to monitor your trading screen pretty much ALL the time, AND THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT SUITABLE OR CONGUSIVE to the school run is it? So start by writing down EXACTLY what it is you want from your home business, what you enjoy and how much time you can commit to it, especially in the early days.Make sure that your business of choice is in an area which is of interest to you, working with something that you are passionate about will help you to discipline yourself to do whatever is necessary to succeed, and will help you soldier on when the inevitable roadblocks appear (and they WILL).Make sure the home based business you are thinking of starting is a legitimate one. Many MLM’s for example, in my opinion are bordering on the illegal, so do your due diligence, check out the owners, find out what their motives are, talk to the users of the systems and find out what the success ratio is.There are a lots of reviews posted around the Internet these days on just about everything you could think of, so utilise this resource and gather as much info as you can BEFORE making your decision.How Do I Start A Home Based Business?What about Support? One of the fastest ways to shorten the home business learning curve is to have access to, and the support of, a mentor. There are many home business systems out there which will promise you support and mentoring, but will dramatically fall short on this very important aspect, so another positive to look for is to ensure that any home business you are looking at starting gives you all of the support and training you will need to succeed, but more importantly provides you with the proof that they do, BEFORE you commit.What about cost? Even though running a home based business can be considerably cheaper to start than a traditional bricks and mortar business, there will still be costs, and anyone who tells you otherwise is talking nonsense.For example, you will need a Website and hosting, and you will probably need a marketing budget, as the fastest way for you to get results and start making money, will be to do some paid advertising. But this will really be a decision only you can make based on how quickly you need to see a return on your investment. There are many FREE marketing strategies you can use as well, but these tend to be more long-term, and WILL NOT produce big results quickly. I recommend implementing both free and paid marketing personally.How Do I Start A Home Based Business?Finally, you simply MUST Create a business plan. You know the old adage “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”, and this is very true. I have seen many businesses fail simply because they did not have a strategy to work with and therefore could not measure how they were doing. So set-up a plan for your home based business and follow through with it. Again when deciding what business system to invest in, check out the advice you are given on this subject and use this as part of your criteria when making your decision. Any legitimate home based business system SHOULD have within their support program, ALL the advice you would need to help you to create a good business plan to suit YOU.I would like to leave you now with a final piece of advice. Follow your plan through and take consistent daily action. Many people have the right idea and start out with the right intent, but fail to take the necessary actions. And remember that a business, whether it’s a home based business or not cannot succeed overnight.Nothing about running your own home based business will be easy, but if you take my advice and stick to it YOU WILL improve your chances of success a hundredfold.All the best.
-Jon
10 Things Every Small Business Should Do To Be Successful in Today’s Tough Market Conditions
The news about the recent economic problems and the looming double dip recession has been tough. The on-going Eurozone economic concerns have triggered a complete collapse in consumer confidence not seen since the original 2008 recession. The consumer confidence collapse coupled with the growing anxiety around global debt has led to a restriction of credit made available to small businesses as worried banks reduce their perceived risk to bad loan repayments. With consumers keeping hold of their money and credit becoming harder to access it is no wonder that small businesses are struggling. This article talks about the important role and benefits accounting software can play in allowing small businesses to navigate through these hard economic times.How can accounting software help small business?Business must be lean and financially sustainable to survive through the current business climate. Small businesses with large overheads and complex financing structures should work on re-organising the business to regain control of their long term economic futures. Now is not the time for reckless investment in the pursuit of growth that only adds increased debt and inflexibly that could ultimately lead to the businesses downfall. Now is the time for prudence and tight financial management that allows a business to be financially independent. Accounting software can be central to supporting small businesses become financially independent and below investigates how.1) Complete focus on cash flowA business owner should be 100% focussed on the financial health of their business. This means having a thorough understanding of the businesses cash flow position. There is nothing more important in a small business than its cash flow position and as result should be very tightly managed. One of the difficulties for small businesses keeping on top of cash flow is the organisation of receipts and invoices. An accounting software package easily compiles all of the relevant financial information and presents easy to understand dashboards and reports of company performance. Once provided with the required knowledge of the company’s performance appropriate action can be taken to improve the company’s performance.2) Focus on customer satisfactionIn times of economic hardship competition is notably increased in every sense. As customers are more considered with their buying decisions small businesses need to ensure that every aspect of their proposition is appealing to the customer. Margins are widely squeezed across all industries in the hope of enticing hard-up customers and therefore the only real differentiator to attract business is customer service. An accounting software package does not only improve business productively it also helps structure all customers and suppliers into an easy to manage database. This structured knowledge allows staff to provide a more tailored service to clients.3) Look for ways to cut costsIn this economic climate any investment that doesn’t directly add value to the top line should be cut. Accounts Payable features with an accounting software package detail every penny that is spent in the business. This allows a thorough review of expenditure to take place to ensure that savings can be made where appropriate. For example costs could be cut down on paper, postage, transitioning to direct debit payroll. These cost cuts would allow the business to reduce its operating cost without cutting expenditure that generates income into the business.4) Consolidate SuppliersBusinesses can also use accounts payable features within their accounting software package to streamline its supply chain. Many businesses needlessly have similar supplies from a range of suppliers. Buying in bulk is always a more economical way of doing business. Condensing suppliers with larger orders is more commercially viable in reducing supply costs. Generating reports by independent supplier will provide valuable information regarding the profitability of each supplier contract.5) Negotiate better rates with long standing suppliersIn addition to the consolidation of the supply chain there may also be an opportunity to renegotiate rates with long standing suppliers. The longer the relationship between a business and a supplier the more appropriate it would be that the business qualifies for a rate that reflects the loyalty of the relationship. Reducing the costs of the supply chain can make a significant and welcome difference to a small business P&L during tough recession times.6) Continuously look for ways to reduce non value adding admin workIn any small business the time of employees is one the company’s biggest assets and therefore spending time on non-value adding activity should be minimised wherever possible. An accounting software package ensures that people are not tied up managing basic bookkeeping tasks and completing quarterly and end year financial reports. Managing a business’s financial affairs can be very admin heavy if not managed in the correct manner. Having efficient software to automate these admin tasks allows staff to focus their attention on growing the business and generating income.7) Streamline payroll and human resource managementAs already discussed people are a huge asset in any small business. An accounting software system can help provide detailed information around staff costs in addition to hours worked and absence information. Having detailed information about staff costs allows a business to more accurately plan for the future and correctly budget for human resources. Also from a financial perspective large fines are imposed on businesses that make mistakes on Tax and National Insurance contributions. Having automated software negates the risk of mistakes occurring at a time when fines cannot be afforded to be taken.8) Streamline billing and invoicingNot being on top of your receivables can literally be the difference between success and failure in today’s challenging business environment. An accounting software package allows a business to fully manage and organise its invoices and payments deadlines around the businesses bills and costs. This way invoice payments get received in advance of bill payments ensuring cash flow is never a problem. Having effective and well organised billing and invoicing ensures that a business income remains consistent.9) Assertive debt collection techniquesEven if a business has streamlined invoice and billing processes there will still be some customers that do not pay on time. All of the structure and process in ensuring invoices are aligned with business costs will have been wasted unless good debt collection processes are adopted as well. Businesses should know when to make phone calls, send written communications and when work with debt collection agencies in order to optimise income collection.10) Know you financing optionsThe Accounting software package allows a business owner to have detailed forecasts of predicted income and expenditure over the short, medium and long term. Having a longer term view of capital expenditure allows more intelligent decisions to be made around company financing. As a rule of thumb last minute loans tend to be expensive as owners run out of time and simply need to pay bills. All forms of business financing from credit cards to structured loan agreements should be reviewed in line with long term accounting forecasts to ensure that the best suited finance is in place at the best possible price.It has never been more relevant for a small businesses to invest in an accounting software package. The benefits run much deeper than simply allowing businesses to keep accurate and timely financial records. Accounting software enables a business to self-analyse every business process in the eyes of profitability and business return. Businesses that adopt the mind set of accounting software by definition embrace the notion that all company expenditure should be controlled and used to drive additional revenue for the business. These lean businesses will be financially sustainable and able to withstand these hard economic times in order to be well positioned in the market to capitalise when consumer confidence returns.
Email Marketing – A Powerful Tool for Your Business
One of the excellent ways to get connected and engaged with your clients is using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. However, people claim that email marketing no longer remains effective and relevant because of the success of social media.
Stop listening to them, as these are just misconceptions. Email marketing is still alive and doing well as one of the most effective and powerful techniques of online marketing and being in touch with your clients.
Defining Email Marketing
Firstly, you must know what email marketing is, before moving towards the reasons explaining why it is so useful in business.
When a person visits your website and thinks of subscribing to your mailing list with the aim to keep in touch with you through email, it is known as email marketing. A mailing list like this is quite important if you are selling a service or product. Email marketing enables you to build customer loyalty, earn trust and promote brand awareness while encouraging your subscribers to purchase from you more often.
Email marketing has several benefits. Although, it is a great marketing tool however, unfortunately, it seems to possess a bad reputation with a few businesses, who fail to understand it fully.
Some companies are of the view that people immediately consider finding an email from a stranger and they delete it, thinking badly about their company.
This may be true to some extent, chiefly because businesses have failed to take the time for nurturing their list. Nevertheless, with responsible marketing, an email marketing campaign can be made to work exceptionally well for your business.
Email Marketing Against Social Media Marketing
As explained earlier, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are superb ways to connect with both existing and potential clients. They are ideal platforms to go for word of mouth advertising, creating strong bond with your current audience and putting yourself in front of a new audience.
Both of these tools are necessary for your business. However, you cannot keep a check over who is seeing your updates or when they are seen.
Apart from this, you cannot control these connections fully, as social media sites like Twitter, Facebook keep making changes without notifying how they could affect the way you are connecting with your followers.
Social media sites do not provide you the opportunity to connect people one-on-one as you can connect through emails. Using email marketing, your promotional campaigns can be fine-tuned by you, while forming a list of people who show genuine interest in whatever you are offering.
With Twitter for example, your message is competing with hundreds or even thousands of other Tweets from companies promoting similar products or services to yours. The same is true on Facebook.
Even if you have a huge number of fans, they certainly are following other pages as well, which reduces your message’s effect. The same thing is true about emails but by sending a personalized email, you can gain their attention as they would actually open and read your email. The distractions present on social networks including recent status updates, chat options and new photos are not there in email marketing.
For this reason, it is important for you to make an effort and transform your followers into your email-marketing list as soon as possible. Once it is done, you have full control and authority as they are in the list of YOUR contacts. You will lose them only if they choose to unsubscribe from your email list.
How Can You Make Your Social Network Followers to Subscribe Your List?
It is not at all difficult. You just have to provide them with the reason for joining you. For instance, offer them something for which they would not mind giving their email address is a good idea.
You could offer a how-to guide, special offer or an answer addressing a particular issue or problem that is bothering your audience, exclusive information or special type of voucher or discount, especially for all your email subscribers.
You must select something that is not only of real value to your email subscribers, but is also of interest to your target audience.
Such actions are not enough to keep your email list active and interested. To avoid losing these valuable connections, you are required to think how you can constantly deliver information that help them remain engaged and persuade them to open the email sent by you.
Consider Your Email Subscribers as Royalty
Customers visiting your offline business or contacting you over the phone, have high expectations that they will be treated rightly and in a special way. Undoubtedly, when you deal with your customers face-to-face, you get recognized for superb customer service and for offering an excellent buying experience. What you should do is, offer the same experience to your email marketing contacts.
When a person heads towards you by subscribing and trusting you with his/her email address, he is in fact conveying you that he likes whatever you are offering and wants to know you more.
Think of it this way, you have been invited by them into their inbox. Therefore, it is your responsibility that this relationship and trust should not be abused by the bombardment of your sales pitches that keep promoting your services and products. You must nurture your email list. Try to be helpful as well as informative and send news and offers, which you consider that they like to know about.
Do not consider your mailing list like a group of faceless names. Keep in mind your ideal customer and exchange thoughts with them one to one. This makes your emails more informative and personal, strengthening the bond with your target audience.
Design a Newsletter
A perfect way to remain in touch with your email list is a newsletter. It gives you an ideal mix of updates, news, information and special offers about your business to develop engagement with the subscribers and enables them to know more about you. Newsletter is also a superb way of encouraging calls to action, may be with limited time offer.
The main purpose is to make available the relevant information, which your ideal clients want to read. However, you should be careful about not to make them bored. The information should be passionate and interesting.
Establish a Strong Bond with Your Subscribers
With the passage of time, your connection with your subscribers will grow. As it becomes stronger, the loyalty of your subscribers to your business increases and consequently, your business sales and profits get a boost. Your company will get new referrals, opportunities and mutually beneficial associations together with building new customer base.
Your Business Gets Repeat Business with Email List
If you do not use the internet world, you might go for placing an advertisement in your local newspaper or investing in flyers or using any other advertising media.
Here, you capture new customer only if a good number of people see your advertisement. However, an email list provides you the opportunity to bond and nurture with your subscribers and in the long run, you successfully form a base of loyal customers who like to purchase from you repeatedly.
Email marketing is undoubtedly one of the most effective tools for establishing a large core of new clients online apart from your regular local clients in your business.
If you realize how powerful it could be to send out emails, which result in gaining extra sales as well as leads, you will eventually be able to formulate a marketing campaign making your business more profitable than before.
Cheapest as well as Effective Advertising Technique
Nevertheless, email marketing is one of the lucrative ways for promoting any business. With the passage of time, you can form a mailing list with numerous potential customers who show deep interest in whatever you are offering by giving you their email address.
Communicating with your subscribers is absolutely free and each of your email results in huge sales.
Underestimating the Power of Email Marketing is a Mistake
Email marketing tool is neither dead nor obsolete. Email marketing provides you more control and access over the message. In fact, by giving their email address, subscribers actually permit you to contact them. This action reveals their interest in whatever you have to offer.
Through email marketing, you are provided with the opportunity to form a strong relationship with your subscribers. This relationship is the one that empowers you as people like doing business with people. Looking after your list properly means your subscribers will like you more and trust as well. Ultimately, you are provided with a much better opportunity of increasing sales than your competitors.
Now you have understood the power of email marketing, you can create and run campaigns yourself and continue to establish a stronger bond with your online customers.
Becoming successful in creating a winning email marketing campaign and establishing a relationship with your customers, is surely a big achievement of yours. This is because, you actually become successful in winning their trust and acquiring their email address is definitely a huge and a rewarding responsibility.
If you do it properly, you will see your business profits bar rise. If you do it badly, you will see your business sales to decrease and it may also damage your brand reputation.
6 Tips to Make Your Email Marketing Campaigns Productive
It Should be Interesting
Make sure you have included lots of valuable information in all your messages. It should be in a way that captures your reader’s interest. Avoid sending out sales pitches or making it only about you. Add information that is actually interesting and useful for your target audience. If your subscribers think that you send emails only with the aim of enhancing your sales, they will never feel special or valued and you will fail to stop them from hitting the delete button, or unsubscribing from your list. They will not bother giving a look to your email messages any more.
Provide a Visible Link for Unsubscribing
You might consider it as a negative approach, but it is in fact a positive one. Your readers feel comfortable when they feel that they have full control and are not being pressurized to do anything. Therefore, never forget to include a link for unsubscribing in your email. Trying to hide it or not providing any link will only earn you frustration and anger of your subscribers, leading you to achieve completely opposite results of what you want to achieve.
Ask for Feedback
Feedback from your audience is necessary to make your relationship with them stronger and to enhance your email marketing projects. Therefore, keep asking for opinions, suggestions or feedback from your readers. Another way to receive passive feedback is through email marketing programs that track information regarding the number of people opening up your emails, or clicking on the links present there. All such feedbacks are essential for you to continuously improving and engaging with your audience.
Targeting the Right People
It is important to target the right people to achieve fruitful results. If you keep sending your emails to wrong customers, you will achieve nothing but their aggression and annoyance. Targeting wrong audience is simple a wastage of time of both, you and the targeted people. It is better to put in your efforts and time in your campaigns targeting audience who is actually interested in hearing from you.
Try Making Your Email Messages Mobile Friendly
In this technological world, your customers now can access their email messages on their tablets or mobiles. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that you format your emails correctly to ensure that you can read them easily.
Make Exclusive Offers Only for Your Mailing List Subscribers
You can show your gratitude to your subscribers by sending exclusive special offers, which is not available anywhere on your website. Such offers can be free delivery, discounts or any other deal that attract your customers encouraging them to buy from you.
Introduction to Online Advertising
Our next lesson covers the main items for online advertising. Advertising is probably the most important promotion tool for big brick-and-mortar companies. However, with a SEM businesses, advertising is only a supporting factor. The problem is that the majority of SEM businesses lack the scale to be able to effectively contact large numbers of prospects and clients. Furthermore, there aren’t many places on the Web where prospective clients come in flocks. Therefore, advertising is largely PPC-oriented.
Actually, online advertising is advertising on the Internet. This particular form of advertising is a source of revenue for an increasing number of websites and companies.
A significant number of firms, from small businesses to multinational corporations, incorporate online advertising into their marketing strategy. Online advertisements typically involve at least two separate firms: the advertiser or agency which purchases or sponsors the advertisement and the publisher or network which distributes the ad for display. Because of the close relationship between technical innovation and online advertising, many firms specialize in both. For example, most search engines couple their search service with an advertising program, exploiting the benefits of keyword-based search technology by including ads in search results.
Let’s look closer on the most popular online advertising form as traditional banner. PPC advertising form will be explained in details in 8 lessons of our next Step.
Traditional Banner
A Web banner or banner ad is a widely used form of advertising on the Internet. This kind of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a Web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking them to the advertiser’s website.
Generally the advertisement is constructed from an image (GIF, JPEG, PNG), JavaScript program or multimedia object employing technologies such as Java, Shockwave or Flash, and often employing animation or sound to maximize presence. Images are usually in a high-aspect ratio shape. Banners are usually placed on Web pages that have interesting content, such as a newspaper article or an opinion piece.
The Web banner is displayed when a Web page that references the banner is loaded into a Web browser. This event is known as an “impression”. When the viewer clicks on the banner, the viewer is directed to the website advertised in the banner. This event is known as a “click-through”. Many banner ads work on a click-through payback system.
At the base of a click-through system are mathematical calculations of the number of users (users clicking on an ad) divided by impression number. We remember that the term impression means the number of times the ad was delivered. For example, if your banner ad was delivered 100 times (impressions delivered) and 1 person clicked on it (clicks recorded), then the resulting CTR would be 1%.
It should be noted that banner ad click-through rates have fallen over time, often measuring significantly less than 1% and choice of an appropriate advertising site with high affinity is very important crucial factor in this situation. Personalized ads, unusual formats, and more obtrusive ads typically have higher click-through rates than standard banner ads.
When the advertiser scans their log files and detects that a Web user has visited the advertiser’s site from the content site by clicking on the banner ad, the advertiser sends the content provider a small amount of money (usually around five to ten US cents). This payback system is often how the content provider is able to pay for the Internet access to supply the content in the first place.
Nine Common Banner Ad Mistakes to Avoid
Banner advertising expert Rob Frankel advises e-marketers to avoid the following mistakes when creating their banner ads:
Overloaded. Too many colors. Too slow to load. Too hard to read. Nobody wants to grow old waiting for your banner ad to load. Frankel advises designing banner ads that will load and view easily with last year’s technology. “Personally, I design pages for people running no more than Netscape 2.0 on the equivalent of a 486 running at 66 MHz and 256 colors,” says Frankel. “That means your art should still be no deeper than eight bits, unless you’re a true minimalist and can bring it in at no more than four.”
Unattractive. People like good-looking stuff. What works for Cindy Crawford can work for you, too. So if you’re not a digital Da Vinci, find someone who is and pay him or her a few bucks to make your banner look great.
Too many bells and whistles. Just because technology offers you bells and whistles doesn’t mean you have to use every one of them. Chances are that the average Web surfer has been through several sites before he or she gets to your banner. Give the reader a break. Don’t overdo motion, movement, or message changes. And allow some time to digest what you’re displaying.
Illiteracy and illegibility. These are the ads that make you scrunch up your face and twist your head trying to make some sense out of the illegible scrawls that some knucklehead thinks are cool. But prospects don’t care how cool you think it looks. If they can’t read it, you’ve lost any chance of their clicking on it.
Missing link. Your banner looks great but isn’t linked to anything. That’s a mistake that anyone should be able to detect and prevent with a simple check.
Link errors. Your banner looks great. The link works… directly to a 404 message (meaning the requested Web page was not found). Maybe this one isn’t your fault. Maybe your webmaster inadvertently forgot to tell you he or she switched servers. But even if it was the webmaster’s fault, who do you think will catch the blame? Keep checking those banner links every few days.
Weak message. The same things that make good ads make good banners. Unfortunately, the same things that make bad ads make horrible banners. If you don’t know how to write and design a clever, compelling message, hire someone who does. Nothing turns off potenĀtial prospects more than a really stupid attempt at being clever, an offense usually committed with the aid of a bad pun. Remember that your ad is a representative of you, containing a smattering of your personality and ability. If it looks dopey to a viewer, guess what they’re going to think about you? It’s better to be clear than clever.
Confusing message. Your banner looks pretty, but nobody understands what the heck you’re talking about. This is the number-one mistake made by do-it-yourselfers.
Boring banners. One common mistake is that your banner doesn’t compel your recipients to respond within a certain time frame. Without a deadline, there is no immediacy to act, which means they scroll away until they forget it.
Web banners function the same way as traditional advertisements are intended to function: notifying consumers of the product or service and presenting reasons why the consumer should choose the product in question, although Web banners differ in that the results for advertisement campaigns may be monitored real-time and may be targeted to the viewer’s interests.
The evidence shows that Web banner ads are restricted by high cost and limited physical banner area. Let’s look at the Marketplace section of SearchEngineWatch.com:
Out of 10 advertisers only 3 are in the SEM services business. These companies – BruceClay, KeywordRanking and MoreVisibility – are the largest players in the industry; they have enough wherewithal to run these ads and enough resources to satisfy a large flow of traffic.
Pay per click advertising
Pay per click or PPC advertising is an arrangement in which webmasters (operators of websites), acting as publishers, display clickable links from advertisers, in exchange for a charge per click. As this industry evolved, a number of advertising networks developed which acted as middlemen between these two groups (publishers and advertisers). Each time a (believed to be) valid Web user clicks on an ad, the advertiser pays the advertising network, who in turn pays the publisher a share of this money. This revenue sharing system is seen as an incentive for click fraud.
The Finer Points of Internet Auctions
WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?
Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.
The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.
The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.
The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.
HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!
The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.
There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.
Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.
HOW TO WIN!
Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.
The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.
The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.
The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.
HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!
Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.
Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.
Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.
CONCLUSION!
New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.
There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.
It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.
How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items
Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.
Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.
There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.
There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.
Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.
There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.
Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?
Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.
Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.
A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.
Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.
When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.
When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.
Hiring An Auction Company
Estimating your assets value:
Typically, one of the first questions a business owner will ask me is, “how much will the assets bring at an auction”. After taking the time to review the assets, the auctioneer should give the client a conservative estimate of the sale based upon his experience and the current market trends. It is important that the company give realistic expectations so the seller can make informed decisions based on their best interest.
Compensation and Expenses:
Is the company you are considering working for you or against you? The agreement you decide may determine this.
A business owner should carefully consider how the auction company is compensated. The most common commission structures include: straight commission, outright purchase of assets, guaranteed base with a split above to both auctioneer and seller, guaranteed base with anything above going to auctioneer or a flat fee structure.
In a straight commission structure, the company is paid an agreed upon percentage of the total sale.
In an outright purchase agreement, the auctioneer simply becomes your end buyer. The company purchases your assets and relocates them. While this can be an option in some unique situations, keep in mind that they will want to purchase your assets at a very reduced price to make a profit at a later date.
In a minimum base guarantee, the auction company guarantees the seller that the auction will generate a minimum amount of sales. Anything above that amount either goes to the auction company or split with the seller. While a seller might feel more comfortable doing an auction knowing that he is guaranteed a minimum amount for his sale, keep in mind that it is the best interest of the auction company to secure a minimum base price as low as possible in order reduce their financial liability to the seller and secure higher compensation for the sale.
In a flat fee structure, the auctioneer agrees to show up for the sale and call the auction. There is no incentive for the auctioneer to get the best prices for your assets. The auction company is compensated regardless of the outcome of your sale.
What is the best option for business owners? In my experience, an agreed upon straight commission structure. This puts the responsibility on the auction company to offer the best outcome for everyone involved. There is an incentive for the auction company to work hard for both parties, set up and run a professional sale, get the highest bid and sell every item on the inventory. Successful auctions translate to a higher bottom line for both the seller and the auction company.
Auction Expenses:
In most auction agreements the expenses to conduct an auction are passed to the seller. If the auction company pays for the expenses, it is simply absorbed in higher commission rates.
All expenses should be agreed upon in advance in a written contract. Typical expenses will include the costs of advertising, labor, legal fees, travel, equipment rentals, security, postage and printing. A reputable auction company will be able to estimate all expenses based upon their experience in previous auctions. An agreement should be actual costs charged as expenses, not an estimated amount.
Advertising is typically the highest cost in conducting an auction. The auction company needs to set up an advertising campaign that will promote the sale to its best advantage and not overspend to simply advertise the auction company.
Once the auction is complete, the auction company should provide a complete breakdown of all expenses to the seller, including copies of receipts within the auction summary report.
Buyer’s Premium:
What is a buyer’s premium? If you attend auctions regularly, you are very familiar with this term. The auction company charges a fee to the buyer when they buy an item at auction.
The buyer’s premium has been around since the 1980′s and is standard auction practice. It was first used by auction houses to help offset costs of running brick and mortar permanent auction facilities. Since then, it has spread to all aspects of the auction industry. It is prominent in online auctions and allows auction companies to cover added expenses incurred from online sales.
It is the responsibility of the auction company to provide clear disclosure of the buyer’s premium to both the buyers and the sellers. Those not familiar with auctions are often taken back by the buyer’s premium. They looked upon it as an under handed way for the auction company to make more money. Reputable auction companies will provide full disclosure within the auction contract, advertisement and bidder registration.
Typically, an auction company will charge online buyers a higher buyer’s premium percentage than those attending an auction in person. Extra fees are incurred with online bidding and are charged accordingly to online buyers. This provides the seller a level playing field for both online buyers and those attending the auction in person. Without the buyer’s premium, there is no way to do this.
Pre-Sales:
We’ve all been there. We’re looking forward to attending an auction only to find that some items were sold prior to the auction date.
As an auctioneer with over thirty-six years of experience, I can honestly state that pre-sales will hurt an auction. When a company decides to liquidate their assets, it is easy to sell off high-end pieces of equipment through online sources, equipment vendors or to other businesses. The seller receives instant cash and avoids paying a commission to an auction company.
Auctioneer’s find themselves appearing to acting in a self-serving capacity when potential clients say they are planning to sell off parts of their inventory prior to an auction. It’s hard not to consider the auctioneer’s commission when they warn you not to pre-sell anything. Yes, the auctioneer wants to earn a commission on those sales but it is more important that the auctioneer protect the sale from potential negative backlash that comes from pre-selling. The buying public knows when an auction has been “cherry picked” prior to the sale and it reflects in their bidding. It becomes a sale of “leftovers” and that impacts prices.
A buyer who purchases prior to the auction usually does not attend the sale. They already bought equipment at a good price with no competition. If they do attend the auction, they tend to let others know of their great pre-sale purchases which again, impacts prices and the overall excitement of the sale.
It is important to understand that auctions work best with a complete inventory. You want competition on your higher end equipment. The easy to sell items make it possible to gain respectable prices for hard to sell items.
When a business owner decides to liquidate their equipment assets, there is only one opportunity to do it right. Hiring a reputable auction company will assist you with a professional, orderly and timely liquidation.