NetBusinessBlogWork from Home, Business Opportunities, Websites for Sale - Run an Online Business

From our readers comments I’ve seen that most like to hear from about the experiences from bloggers, than actual informative content. It’s a fact that people like stories more because they can relate to them, their imagination is put on overdrive, so to speak.

In my weekly business report I go over the changes and improvements implemented in my business. For a handy overview of my ‘online marketing’ business you can download the following ‘mindmap’. It gives an detailed look inside my sales funnel and marketing process. It’s highly recommended you make something like this to keep track of all your sites, projects and sales.

Then comes the actual report. It contains the key numbers needed to have a vital business: leads (subscribers), sales, paid members and conversion ratio’s. Focusing on these numbers, I don’t get overloaded by lots of details and can easily see where by business is floundering or where it needs improvements.

The Statistics

6 active coaching clients (+1)
787 Systematize For Profits members (+23)
27 Daily Brilliant Ideas members (+1)
4 active copywriting clients (+1)
230,451 people on email lists (+11,186)

Retention ratio membership sites: 6 months (+1)
Conversion Ratio Systematize For Profits: 7% (-0.5)
Conversion Ratio Daily Brilliant Ideas: 3.5% (+1)
Copywriting Deals Conversion Ratio: 4% (-)

What That Means…

Two weeks ago I increased the price of my coaching from $97 per month to $497 per month. New clients are still coming in and also respect my time more. Increased price equals increased perceived price. Next to the extra income it also gave me more free time and less worries, since I fired the two troublesome clients I had left.

My membership sites are still going while I don’t heavily promote them. It seems the new members come from some old forum and blog postings. This shows it’s really valuable to be featured on a good blog with lots of traffic. It took me ages to get on there, building a relationship with the owner - but eventually it all paid off.

A new SEO campaign has been launched, and if it works it will generate even more members thru natural search engine results. It the numbers climb with more than 20 a week it’s contributable to the SEO campaign.

The new headline for the lead capture page didn’t do so well, conversion ratio for that page dropped slightly. Instead of the usual *FREE* before the headline, I removed it. Immediately I saw the time spent on the page drop from 1.1 minute to just 14 seconds. However the new headline for the Pop-In, which now includes the words ‘instant delivery via email’ worked out great. People like instant and easy (via email).

I’d appreciate your comments and suggestions for future posts. Tomorrow and the day after I have planned some interesting posts about more experiences from my business, how I manage it and improve my headlines.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Popularity: 12% [?]

It’s been discussed a lot lately, and for a good reason: it works. The moment you start working ON the business instead of IN it, you can focus on growth of sales, cutting costs and achieving your goals. When dealing with minutia and doing all the work that your ‘employees’ should be doing, you’re not getting ahead very fast.

However, the moment you decide to spend more time working ON the business it rapidly grows. The tasks you can perform are strategy creation and improvement, setting up new marketing venues, setting up referral systems and creating To Do lists after carefully reviewing the past quarter.

The big difference here lays in the fact that once you work on the business, you take a different standpoint. You look over the whole business as being in a helicopter, and can easily pinpoint problem areas without losing time in the details. That’s where you get stuck working in the business, the smallest problems that come from details.

A business owner is more of an investor. He sees his business as an investment and wants to make the most out of it. This is done by ruling over the company like a true entrepreneur, being strong in your decisions and actions. That could also mean the moment you get ‘honest’ with yourself you might decide to fire a lot of your employees, drop entire projects or even drop a complete set of customers.

You should do what is in the best interest of your company and your customers and lays within your strategy. Reviewing and reflecting once a quarter, keeping the strategy in mind will get you more profits than staying in the business. You’ll just keep struggling and spending time where it isn’t the most profitable.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Popularity: 9% [?]

It’s common offline, but online businesses are still hesitant to start using this little technique. This technique can easily be used to add more profits to your business without spending anymore money, just a bit of your time. I’m talking about an internship.

They come in paid and unpaid variants, but most do offer extra incentives next to the ‘experience’ one obtained by working for a business. This keeps interns happy and motivated, which results in spending more time in your business and increased productivity.

This internship can easily be setup using email auto responders, and if you want to include some human interaction - a special email address to report results back to you or your assistant. Make sure they understand the importance for reporting their results and also reward them for doing this.

Let me share with you what this ‘productivity technique’ did for my business…

The moment I decided to start one I send out various newsletters and wrote blogposts to announce it. Many people responded with ‘so what? What’s in it for me?’ So I figured out that I might give them my products, coaching sessions and even money - but only if I liked their work. To make sure they believe this, I regularly feature these successful interns in my newsletters.

The whole sales copy was based around the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me), to show the benefits to the new interns. I also elaborated on this in a ‘welcome’ video and regularly wrote about rewards in the emails with new instructions.

In eight weeks they got a total of 20 tasks, all centered around promoting my sites, products and doing some small repetitive work. To show my appreciation I had a system to grade their productivity and everyone that scored at least a B on average got a gift.

Everyone that had an A could advance to the next level, with more advanced tasks and also the opportunity to earn more.

Because the tasks at level 1 were so easy, and people could earn quite a bit of money from me - the interns started telling others. Eventually it became a viral thing, where I now get 10 new interns a week. On average 28% actively works on the tasks, of which 80% graduates to the next level(s).

Since starting it I’ve grown my business’ profits with over 215%, even when taking the gifts in calculation.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Popularity: 7% [?]

Ever wanted to own a big Fortune 500 company? Then you must implement these changes. They aren’t expensive, are easy to setup and make your company look bigger instantly. And to be a big company sure has it’s advantages in terms of trust amongst prospects, customers and the marketplace.

1. Be The Vice President - Not only is this a very nice title to wear, but it also gives the feeling that there’s more than just you. The terms CEO and founder have been used a lot, and many immediate see thru them. But the moment you put yourself up as Vice President Of Sales, it seems like your company is huge.

2. Have a Physical Address - you can setup a US PO box for less than $100 a year and have the mail directed to your home. By doing that you have an address like all the big companies have. You can also opt to use pre-paid cards to generate more response from your mailings.

3. Multiple Departments - when I started out, I immediately setup different email accounts and phone numbers for various departments. With two persons at my company it wasn’t needed, but it was a good way to prepare for growth and make the business look much bigger than it actually was.

4. Voicemail And/Or Computer Telephone Services - Use an interactive computer to answer all your phone calls, directing your calls from a menu to all the different departments. Big companies do this because they’re busy, so from now on you look very busy. Next to that you can also install the third tip, multiple departments on this.

That are four tips to instantly look like a big company, and finally get the respect of your marketplace.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Popularity: 9% [?]

It was the late Napoleon Hill with his ‘Think And Grow Rich’ to introduce this secret that introduced this concept to the masses. Unfortunately for entrepreneurs, still many haven’t read his book or after reading it, applied this secret.

This secret is a mastermind group.

Unlike you hear from so-called internet marketers who form joint ventures and a close group of friends, a mastermind is pure business and not meant to be ‘fun’. It’s aimed at producing results for the participants and that’s the only reason people should come together at such a meeting.

After applying the secret of masterminding I’ve found great successes, hidden money in my business and utilized strategies unheard of in my industry to instantly crash the competition.

The true power lays in how the group is build and how meetings are done. Building a group isn’t like bringing a group of internet marketers together and have them talk about marketing on the internet. It’s about bringing successful entrepreneurs, consultants and advisors together that all work in a different industry, on a different type of work or job.

The moment you fill your group with those kind of people you have many different minds to tap into. Many entrepreneurs or marketers think the same, so you need to find the people who think differently from you.

Next to that it’s all about what you do during a meeting…

Here’s my personal success formula for Mastermind meetings: first open the meeting with a small motivational speech. Try to include some results from participants in it, and give thanks to everyone that contributes. Then present the main case. One participant who’s business is in desperate need for improvements. Work this out as a case study and take at least an hour to give advice to this person. Afterwards open the table and give everyone five minutes to discuss one problem with the whole group.

By keeping control of the meetings you also control the outcome. Every meeting you should help one participant, and in turn they will feel obliged to contribute. Never forget the principle of ‘you can only reap what you’ve sow’.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Popularity: 12% [?]

Today I want to reveal my best conversion tactic, to immediately boost your sales from articles and blog postings. Actually I really want to share it, since it also helps your readers and the overall online community. This is a tactic based on honesty and helpful information.

The moment I started using this tactic I’ve seen my sales raise from 3 or 4 to up to 20 sales per blogpost. That’s an average, from a blog that receives just 2,000 visitors per month. It has also grown my reputation amongst readers, which immediately resulted in more activity on the forum and blog commenting.

The Good, Bad And Ugly Model

Every product I review, and even my own use this model. I try to highlight the positive and negative points of my own and other people’s products, giving the reader a good overview of what the product can and can’t do. By being honest about this they rarely request a refund and buyers are more responsive to future offers.

Start by showing the positive sides of the product, in terms of both features and benefits. Then continue with the negative sides. It’s best if you’ve used the product yourself, so that you know the limitations. You may also list other products that can solve the problems that arise.

Giving Examples And a Motivation To Use The Product

If you really want to boost sales, don’t just give promises to the reader. Instead help him use the product by telling him about your own marketing strategies, detailing how you use the product to execute this strategy. Then make sure that you also give alternatives, for readers that don’t want or can’t afford to purchase the product.

By doing this you setup a Win-Win-Win situation. The vendor wins by gaining honest feedback, the reader wins by gaining advanced strategies and good recommendations. And eventually you’ll also win thru the increase of sales, reputation and you can even gain a lot more readers

Popularity: 11% [?]

Popularity: 11% [?]

People always want to see what they expect to see. The moment they don’t see what they expect, some are turned off, others can even become angry at you. All the while it’s so easy to give people what they expect to see and get from you.

Here are some examples that I’ve successfully implemented on my website, to give the people what they’d like to see. And it immediately boosted conversions too.

1. Authorization by Creditcard Processors

These small buttons from VeriSign, PayPal and many others show the visitor that their credit card details are in safe hands. Not only is their data protected, but they also know that they can easily get their money back if there’s a problem or if the items aren’t to their satisfaction.

2. Secure Transactions And Data Submission

Signs like that of ‘Hacker Safe’ let the visitor know that you’re protecting his information from hackers, thieves and other third parties. A privacy statement or button from a privacy protection company also helps. That way visitors are easier to convince to give you their contact details.

3. Website Popularity

This is the so-called Social Proof factor. You can say that you’re popular, but if you’re never seen with lots of people around you - others won’t believe you. The same principle holds true online. By showcasing the number of visitors, ranking on Alexa or even having comments on your website or blog you show that you’re not alone.

Those simple things will also spark more interactivity. People don’t want to be alone, so the moment they feel they’re with a whole group they will be more open and responsive to your messages.

4. Credibility Indicators

Most likely you’ve seen sites that have images telling you they’ve been featured on Oprah, in newspapers and other media. You can claim to have been featured the moment your name (referring to you, in case you have a common name), your product name or your company name have been mentioned somewhere.

Simply by blogging and posting at forums you’ll see that some journalists will pick up some of your comments. That’s the easiest way to get ‘featured’ in the newspaper, on the radio, television and in magazines. Show that to your visitors and you have instant credibility.

Those are my top 4 ways to boost my conversions. They can be implemented in just a few minutes and can have dramatic effects on sales, leads and even participation on your website.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Popularity: 10% [?]

With Google as the leading search engine on the internet, many business rely on visitors finding them by using Google to search for their product or services. If you have Google as your friend you can make your visitor counter go thru the roof, together with your profits.

To have Google as your friend you need to focus on your relationship with them and invest in it. You can do this by researching the right keywords, optimizing your website for those and then gaining links for other ’friends of Google’ sites. This process is called Search Engine Optimization, or in short SEO.

SEOInc.com is one of the many companies offering Search Engine Optimization for your website. And like many others, they offer a full range of services. But what many people don’t know is that SEO is still in its infancy. Many ‘witchdoctors’ are selling solutions to your problems, but don’t even know how to build a website. They claim to be successful, though can never back up their claims.

What really sets them apart is their track record of results and their professionalism. For example, their owner Garry Grant has over 10 years experience as a webmaster himself. He understands the aspects of websites and online businesses, that are crucial for any success with SEO.

SEOInc always comply with the Terms Of Service from all search engines, big and small. This means they don’t use so-called black-hat techniques and schemes that will ultimately get you banned from the search results. Plus, for buyers safety, they’re also registered at the Better Business Bureau and have formed partnerships with many other professional companies in this market, including various search engines.

Their clients list reads like a Who’s Who of the top (online) businesses. They’ve worked for Microsoft, Entrepreneur, Sony, Sierra and AT&T. They also have extensive case studies and execellent customer testimonials.

For more information about one of the best SEO providers on the internet, please visit SEOInc.com

Popularity: 17% [?]

Popularity: 17% [?]

Many businesses have an enormous load of paperwork and bureaucracy going on. Outsiders always question the purpose and need for this. But recently I found out why sometimes using paperwork can help you achieve your goals faster and easier.

I’ve modeled my system to a post by Darren Rowse from ProBlogger, tested it and kept extensive notes. After my tests I’ve found that it’s hard to use this Scorecard if you don’t make it a daily routine. That’s why I want to encourage you to use this system for thirty days, a full month. Don’t skip a single day. And if you do, use your spare time to get back on track.

So what’s this Blog Scorecard all about?

A scorecard is a piece of paper where you give yourself points for what you’ve done or accomplished. It helps you monitor your activities, keep up your motivation and allows an easy review to see if you’re still working towards your goals.

My own Blog Scorecard looks like this:

-15 Points for a long blogpost, of at least 600 words.
-15 Points for a guest post or article at a site with at least 1,000 RSS subscribers.
-3 Points for commenting on a blog I frequently comment on.
-4 Points for commenting on a blog I haven’t comment on before.
-5 Points for commenting on a blog with great content and good traffic that doesn’t receive more then 3 comments per article posted.
-3 Points for each submission to a blog carnival.
-10 Points for email and instant messenger communication with a blogger for at least 30 minutes.
-1 Point for each new blog found with decent traffic and low amount of comments, to put into my database.
-2 Points for every 15 minutes spent on social bookmarking my own and other bloggers’ articles.

Because I don’t work fulltime on my blog but also run other ventures, I don’t force myself to get a certain amount of points every single day. I work on my blogging network Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. At those days I have to accumulate at least 50 points. On Thursday and Friday I only have to get 25 points.

This minimum of points grow my blog consistently in many different ways. By mixing up where I earn the points, I can shift my focus from content creation to marketing or social networking from time to time. How you earn your points is based completely on your goals.

Use this Blog Scorecard and rate yourself everyday. This sets you apart from 90% of the bloggers out there, who don’t follow a plan and only post once in a blue moon. By being consistent in your efforts you have a much bigger chance at succeeding.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Popularity: 9% [?]

What’s your business model?

This post was guest blogged by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

So you’re ready to spend a fortune on advertising your website? Can you just picture those profits rolling in? But wait a second, is the foundation upon which you plan on building solid to begin with?

A lot of webmasters make the mistake of concentrating on all sorts of aspects related to their future website promotion or monetization efforts and end up neglecting the most important part of any project:the business model. No matter how hard you try, a structure built on a shaky foundation has no chances of lasting.

Without a sound business model, every online entrepreneur will be in for a serious reality check. Let’s take blogging as an example andanalyze things for a moment. What is your business model as a blogger?

What exactly makes you stand out compared to the millions of similar resources out there? Why would a person want to visit your website in the first place? What would he or she have to gain and, most importantly, why would they want to return?

Most people underestimate the importance of these questions and, instead, devote their entire attention to planning their marketing campaign and/or monetizing their website. They don’t realize that they are actually trying to figure out how to market and make money with a
poor product, and that the chances at long-term success are, sadly, slim to none. Wouldn’t working on developing a product which is actually worth promoting be a wiser approach?

When asked why people should visit their website, most bloggers come up with answers such as so that I make money?. But in order to makemoney, your blog needs to provide value to the Web, that’s just the way things stand. Making money as a blogger is definitely possible, but that doesn’t mean that you can succeed without offering anything in return. Why not dedicate a part of the time you spend promoting the blog to creating quality content actually worth linking to and spreading the word about?

If your article is bad, you have to literally beg other people to mention it, you would have to spend hours and hours trying to generate exposure for that article. Couldn’t that time be put to better use?

Wouldn’t investing time in order to create better articles, resources which actually provide value to readers, articles people will gladly link to be a better decision?

You need to take things one step at a time. Don’t fall into the trap of seeing everything in figures, always understand that people, not numbers will be visiting and judging your website. In the end, your ability to provide value to each visitor will make or break you as a webmaster. Think about it this way: what do you do when you come across a useless website?

That’s right, you leave and never look back. Well, guess what, that?s exactly what others will do after visiting your website if the content you provide isn?t worth it. Are you willing to take that chance?

Popularity: 16% [?]

Popularity: 16% [?]