If you own any type of business, you’re probably very aware of the ever-changing market conditions. During a booming economy, you reap the rewards of increased sales and revenue. However, you need to quickly adapt your business to the current conditions and learn to do more with less when faced with a recession. This is particularly true for small or home-based businesses. Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to protect your business during hard times. Instead of making rash decisions such as downsizing or slashing prices, you can follow several simple guidelines to help your business survive.

Increase Customer Service Levels

It’s crucial to retain your customers during a recession. Customers are more hesitant to spend their money during hard times so you need to convince them to choose your company. As the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, Lee Odden remarks: “If you can do a better job at demonstrating value to customers who are spending more conservatively, you’ll do a better job at hedging against drops in sales.”

In addition to offering high-quality products, you should ensure you’re providing the most satisfying customer experience possible. Remain client-focused and offer incentives for bulk or repeat purchases. You can also distribute satisfaction surveys to ensure you’re meeting your customers’ requirements.

Expand Your Product Line

Diversifying is very important during a weak economy and can help your business survive. You’ll attract more customers by offering a wider variety of products. Try expanding your business to offer related products or services. Another option is to repackage your existing products in order to target different customers. For example, if you sell informational DVDs, host an educational seminar. Diversification will expose your company to many more prospective customers.

Increase Your Marketing Efforts

Marketing your business effectively is essential during the best of times, but even more so when times are tough. Ironically, many business owners reduce their advertising and marketing budgets during a recession. This is an unwise decision, as you should be increasing your marketing efforts during this time. Reach more prospective customers by offering discounts or establishing a referral reward program. Contact your past clients and evaluate your current marketing methods to ensure they remain cost-efficient and effective. Remember to heed the advice of the famous showman, P.T. Barnum: “Without promotion, something terrible happens – NOTHING!”

Establish a Unique Selling Position

In addition, you need to distinguish yourself from your competitors during an economic slowdown. Attempt to establish your company as a market leader. Attract new customers by offering a greater selection of products, flexible payment terms, convenient payment methods, 100% refund policies or faster deliveries. Be creative and offer something other companies in your business can’t match. A unique USP will lure customers away from your competition.

Adopt Innovative Marketing Methods

Take the time to investigate many of the available online marketing techniques. Slow economies present a great chance to try new advertising methods and ensure you’re getting the most marketing bang for your buck. Incorporate some of the following online techniques into your next promotional campaign:

•Search Engine Optimization
•Social Networking
•Email Marketing
•Blog Posts
•Online Banner Ads

Not only do they cost less than traditional marketing methods, they also offer a quantifiable success metric. They will help you increase sales and attract more customers. This is very important when you’re searching for ways to reduce expenses during a slow economy.

Commit to Constant Improvement

Successful businesses are always looking for ways to improve. Even if you’re doing well, don’t rest on your laurels; you never know when the next recession will hit. Search for improved marketing methods, new products to sell or more effective ordering processes. Re-evaluate your business practices and policies, including pricing and employee performance and read books on effective business management. You should also talk to owners of successful businesses and request feedback from customers and colleagues. You can always do something more to run your business as smoothly and effectively as possible.

Incorporate Leading Technologies

Another effective solution is to make use of the latest technology. Investigate advanced accounting programs or point-of-sale systems that will save you time and money during an economic slowdown. Perhaps you can eliminate some of your current tasks and reduce your workload by purchasing sophisticated new software or equipment. Another option is to outsource your administrative functions. Virtual assistants or freelancers can perform tasks ranging from redesigning your website to managing your business correspondence. During a slow economy, technology can also help you reach millions of prospective customers worldwide.

There is no need to panic during an economic recession. Take simple steps such as implementing online marketing methods, diversifying, establishing a unique USP and seeking innovative new business practices. By offering the best customer service and utilizing current technology, you’ll remain one step ahead of your competitors and successfully weather an economic storm.

If you are a website owner and you are currently working hard on your online presence, you probably didn’t know that by adding SEO articles to your website, you can dramatically increase your online visibility. SEO article writing is specifically done for the keywords and key phrases you wish to target on the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. The more article writing you do, will add more keywords and key phrases to your site, which will help you gain a better ranking on the search engines.

People tend to underestimate the power of article writing and do not realise the effects it can have on ones business. When article writing is done correctly and by a professional, the impact it can have on your search engine ranking is phenomenal.

One of the problems I see as a professional writer is too many business owners cutting corners when it comes to their online content and article writing. Plenty of money is being spent on creating and branding your product/service, but then many business owners fall at the finish line by producing sloppy content and articles.

If you are looking to enhance your online visibility, then you will need to actively promote your website. Internet marketing can be expensive and this is why it is important for the success of your business to gain as much natural traffic as possible. Gaining natural traffic is all about improving your websites search engine ranking, and this is where article writing truly comes in to play. To make your website attract the maximum targeted traffic, it’s very important for the content of your website to always change and be added to. To gain the maximum benefit from article writing you should hire a professional writer who can optimise your content and provide you with quality information for your website, which the search engines are sure to love.

Search engines work on the basis of keywords that are entered by web searchers, and the more keywords you have will lead to a much higher search engine ranking, which will equal more organic traffic. A professional SEO article writer can add flavour to your keyword oriented content, they can ensure that your articles are optimised with your targeted keywords, but also keep your articles interesting to read and not overly obvious that it has been created for SEO purposes only.

As a business owner you will be busy with the every day to day running of your business, and even though your grammar skills might be up to scratch, it is easy for you to rush and make mistakes. If you choose to take on the job of doing your own article writing, be sure to take care and maybe research on the best ways of optimising your articles before you start. Sloppy content that is full of errors or maybe not enough keywords will do the complete opposite of what you are trying to achieve. It will gain you a much worse search engine ranking rather than helping you climb to that number 1 spot on Google. SEO article writing is a part of your business you really cannot afford to cut corners on, so do the smart thing for your business and hire a professional today.

Have you finally made a commitment to start your own business?

Have you recently started a company, but can’t market it effectively?

Well, this informative guide is designed to help individuals in either category.

The main goal of this guide is to help you become more familiar with the many online marketing options currently available. This will enable you to establish a solid presence in today’s thriving online marketplace and gain a competitive edge over your competitors.

One of the keys to business success is effective marketing.

At B Business Smart,

We’ll show you how to increase your customers and revenue by marketing successfully online.

Attracting customers and introducing your company to the online world is essential for any type of company, especially new businesses.

The problem is that many new business owners become overwhelmed with the mere thought of marketing. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry because we’ll show you some simple marketing strategies you can use.

Even if you decide to hire an expert to assist you, you will have a clearer idea of the exact type of strategies you wish to implement and how each one works.

We will provide you with valuable advice, helpful tips and useful links to online resources that can assist you with all of your online marketing efforts.

Our goal is to expand your marketing knowledge and introduce you to some strategies you may not have previously considered or even known existed! We’ll introduce you to many forms of online marketing; some may be already familiar and some may be brand new to you.

As you know, the industry continues to grow rapidly with new methods continuously being introduced. By the time you read this guide, there will most likely be new methods appearing. However, we want to provide you with a comprehensive overview of some of the online marketing strategies currently used by businesses worldwide.

Read through all of them and decide which ones would work best for you and your company. You may decide to try all of them, just one of them or a combination of several. The choice is completely up to you.

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you plan to start or are already running. We have described the various online marketing strategies in a general manner so they will apply to absolutely any business – including yours!

We can help you achieve success with your business!

Advantages of Online Marketing

Increase Your Customer Base

You can attract many more prospective customers by marketing online. Millions of potential customers can learn about your business and access your products or services with a few clicks of their mouse.

Expand Your Market Worldwide

You can introduce your new business to prospective clients anywhere in the world, rather than just locally or nationally. Nowadays, it’s important to establish a solid online presence to gain a competitive edge.

Market 24/7 365 Days A Year

Your online marketing efforts will continue to work for you 24/7 every day of the year. There is always someone ready to visit your website.

Relatively Inexpensive

Online marketing will cost you much less than traditional marketing methods. Your lower marketing budget will provide you with more cash to spend in other important areas of your business. It will also enable you to test more creative ideas.

Easy To Update Information

You can easily revise, delete or add to any online content. This enables you to keep your existing and prospective customers well-informed.

Facilitates Targeted Marketing

Online marketing enables you to more effectively target a specific audience. This means you waste valuable marketing dollars on general markets that may not be interested in what you have to offer.

Gain Detailed Statistics

You will find it easy to keep track of your online marketing methods with the wide array of statistical options available. By continuously monitoring your results, you can tweak your marketing efforts to ensure they are effective for your business.

Establish a Detailed Plan

Before we begin discussing the specific online marketing methods, we need to explain the importance of establishing a plan. Too many new business owners throw all of their energy and money into their new company without spending any time to decide on their plans and goals.

It’s very important to sit down and answer some important questions. Better yet, write yourself a detailed business plan. This will allow you to market more effectively because you will know the specific audience you want to target and the goals you wish to achieve.

Before you begin to market your particular business, ask yourself the following important questions:

1. What are the demographics of my intended customer base?

2. How much money can I allot to my current marketing budget?

3. How much time can I devote to marketing my new business?

4. What are my specific financial goals for my first year?

5. What is my targeted number of customers for my first year?

6. What are my main competitors locally and nationally?

Answering the above questions will provide you with a clearer idea as to your specific goals and objectives and will enable you to set more realistic goals. Hence, you will minimise the risk of taking on too much and suffering disappointment or even worse, causing your new business to fail before it even gets off the ground.

BLOGS

Have you ever read a blog? Do you know what the word even means? If you don’t, you certainly should because blogs are becoming an important component of online marketing.

The term blog is an abbreviation of the term weblog. A blog is basically a frequent chronological online publication of personal thoughts or web links. Although many people think of blogs as a type of personal online journal, they can also be very effective marketing tools.

Powerful Marketing Tool

You can establish a business blog to generate interest in your website and increase the number of online visitors who will want to learn more about your particular business. Blogs will increase your search engine rankings and the number of people who want to link to your site or your blog. The point is that blogs increase traffic which can increase your customers and revenue.

Provide Valuable Information

You want people who read your blog to feel they are gaining valuable information. This will encourage them to visit your website and give you a more professional appearance. Include informative articles and helpful discussions about a wide variety of topics: starting up a business, business directories or anything else that would interest readers. Make sure to also include some industry-specific information about your particular business.

Ensure most of your posts include the following:

v Articles you or fellow business owners have written to help others such as tips for starting up your own business

v Informative articles you find elsewhere that may generate additional interest in your blog. Just be sure to contact the original writer or copyright holder and obtain permission to republish the article with a link to the owner’s website.

v Your personal opinions and views on business subjects. People who read blogs want to hear how you feel about issues.

Promote Your Blog as a News System

In order to use your blog as a marketing tool, we recommend promoting it as a news system. Attract readers by providing current business news and posting informative and helpful articles on a frequent basis.

This will help you to establish credibility. It will also encourage more visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed (see page 24). You can even add an option to enable readers to vote for the articles in your blogs. This can further increase the number of visitors to your website.

A major advantage is that you can attract readers who have already expressed an interest in your particular field or industry. This enables you to target more effectively. Most blog systems allow you to customise the layout to suit your particular needs.

Integrate Subtle Marketing Messages

Rather than directly promoting your company, you should include very subtle marketing messages within your discussions or within your posted articles. This can convert readers into new customers or clients.

For example, you can include one line to the beginning of an article entitled “Top 10 Tips to Make The Most of Your Advertising Budget” that states:

Technorati

Technorati is a relatively new Internet search engine that searches specifically for blogs. As of August 2007, the site indexes more than 94 million blogs. The growing popularity of the site is yet another reason to begin implementing a blog into your company website.

Utilise Free Blog Systems

Make sure to take advantage of the many free blog systems currently available. They can save you time and frustration by showing you how to set up your blogs faster and easier. They will enable you to easily integrate your business blog in to a page on your company website.

Visit the following blog systems or conduct an online search to find one that suits your business needs:

Atom 5: http://www.atom5.com/

Blog: https://www.blogger.com/start

Blog Drive: http://www.blogdrive.com/

Blog System 1.5: http://www.netartmedia.net/blogsystem/screenshots.html

Bravenet Blog: http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/journal/index.php?afilid=47985953

Serendipity: http://www.s9y.org

Typepad: http://www.sixapart.com/typepad/affiliates/acqlp

FORUMS

Forums are another effective method of online marketing that are sometimes overlooked by new business owners. They provide a free way to promote your company to millions of users worldwide.

You can participate in industry-related discussions and find others who are already interested in the field concerning your business.

Don’t Promote Your Company Directly

Never promote your company directly or your posts will be considered spam. They may be deleted entirely by the forum administrator, and you risk being permanently banned from the forum.

A more effective approach is to mention your company infrequently during some of your posts. This can drive more traffic to your website, especially if you choose appropriate forums such as ones geared to new businesses or start up companies.

TIP: Include a link to your business in your signature of any forums

SEO MARKETING

Increase your online rank by incorporating search engine optimization or SEO into your marketing strategy. Basically, SEO increases the search results by including popular targeted keywords individuals enter when they are searching for websites. The higher your company website ranks, the greater the number of visitors will visit it.

Search engine optimization can be a complicated process. Hence, it may be wise to hire an SEO expert who is already very familiar with all of the ins and outs of the system. You may discover that the benefits of hiring an SEO professional far outweigh the costs.

Regardless of whether you decide to conduct SEO marketing yourself or hire an expert, you should learn more about how the process works.

Distribute Business Questionnaires

Distribute some business questionnaires to business owners in your field. Find out the specific keywords they normally enter when they search for the type of products or services offered by your company. Make sure you target terms related to directories and new businesses and incorporate local terms such as “new businesses in London”.

TIP: Enter your chosen words in large search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN to learn more about your competitors.

Learn About Keyword Density

In addition to discovering the specific words and phrases you should target, you need to know how often to include them in your site and promotional material. Keyword density refers to the number of times a specific keyword or keyword phrase appears on an online page in relation to other words. It always appears as a percentage.

You should aim for a maximum keyword density of 5-7%. This means that 5 to 7 percent of the text on any given page will be one of your specified keywords or key phrases. By optimising your website and your articles, you can generate more traffic. However, don’t include too many keywords or search engines will consider you to be spamming and may penalise your site.

Calculate Keyword Density

You can easily calculate the keyword density by determining the actual word count for a page. Most programs have a function for this so you don’t have to manually count. Then use the “find” tool to count how many times the keyword or phrase appears on that page. Finally, divide the number of keywords/phrases by the total number of words to get the keyword density.

If your page contains 500 words and 25 keywords, use the following formula:

25/500 = 0.05 or 5%

TIP: You can learn more about SEO and find a useful free keyword density tool by visiting http://www.webconfs.com/15-minute-seo.php

Utilise Keyword Tools

Make sure you take advantage of many of the keyword tools available. Some are free and others charge you a nominal fee. However, they are often invaluable when it comes to determining the most effective keywords and key phrases to include.

You can enter general keywords and then click on the resulting words. Look for words that include the highest search numbers because more people enter these specific words or phrases during their online searches. You can investigate the number of websites using those words, the effectiveness of AdWord ads (see page 19) and the size of the top-ranked sites.

Here are just some of the many available online keyword tools:

Good Keywords: http://www.goodkeywords.com/

Keotag: http://www.keotag.com/

Keyword Discovery: http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html

Wordtracker: http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

WordZe: http://www.wordze.com/?roia=!YzUxMgBVAAAQ1UEAAkEd

Include Your Website Links Everywhere

Try to include a link to your company website in as many online areas as possible. Add them to other websites, online forums, business networking sites, blogs and online business directories. Many readers will link to your site if they find the content you provide valuable and informative.

By optimising your website, articles and posts properly, you can increase the number of people who reach your site. Optimise each page so that if an individual enters a search on one of the major search engines for help with marketing, your marketing articles and the marketing pages of your company website will appear.

TIP: If possible, avoid reciprocal links where the owners of a website only agree to link to your site if you link back to theirs because sites such as Google often devalue these links.

BUSINESS NETWORKING SITES

Become actively involved in various business networking sites such as:

Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com

Konnects: http://www.konnects.com/?gclid=CNGm6pmYvpACFQacggodeQrjWA

Ryze: http://www.ryze.com/

Some sites such as Jigsaw (http://www.jigsaw.com/) even allow you to purchase and trade your business cards.

These sites will provide you with other individuals in your industry who can answer your questions and offer you advice and support. You can learn from some of their triumphs and mistakes to help you in your own business.

Answer Questions in the Q&A Section

Another effective method of increasing your profile and marketing your business indirectly is by visiting the Q&A of these sites. Spend some of your time answering as many of the business-related questions others pose. You may be surprised at how helpful this can be and you are more likely to have others return the favour when you have a question of your own!

In addition to business networking sites, you should also take advantage of social networking sites such as:

Bebo: http://www.bebo.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/

Second Life: http://secondlife.com/

Many of these sites attract millions of daily visitors so you can increase your network of prospective customers. You can also find other professionals in your industry who can answer questions and provide you with invaluable support and advice.

Give & Take Opportunity

You should be prepared to offer advice and answer questions for others. This should never be just a give-give, but a give and take opportunity. By reaching out to others and investing a little of your time, you will receive a lot more in return.

You can create a signature that includes a link to your company website, a mission statement about your company or your business contact information. Participants will be much more likely to seek your help or visit your site if they see that you are always willing to lend a hand and offer advice.

ARTICLE MARKETING

Article marketing is becoming increasingly popular as an effective online tool. Include well-written, professional articles on business-related topics on your company website, your business directories and your blog or forum posts. Informative articles will attract a greater number of visitors and help you gain credibility as an expert in your particular field.

Submit to Article Directories

Thousands of article directories exist so you should take advantage of them. Submit some of your business-related articles to sites such as:

Article Resource Directory:

http://www.sitepronews.com/article-directories.html

Ezine: http://ezinearticles.com/

Some sites such as http://www.homebiz-direct.com/articleWriting.html also include helpful article submission tools and software that can save you time.

TIP:Make sure you follow the specific requirements of each article directory or your article will be rejected.

Add Foreign Language Articles

Another option is to expand your prospective customer base by providing articles written in other languages. Most visitors feel more comfortable and are more inclined to read articles written in their native language.

Did you realise that Latinos represent the fastest growing online market? More Latinos are purchasing products and services online so you can tap into this lucrative market by providing relevant articles in Spanish.

Expand your articles to other languages as well; the more people who read your articles and visit your site, the larger your potential customer base! If you can’t translate the articles yourself, you should consider hiring a professional translator to convert all of your English articles into several different languages.

PRESS RELEASES

Submit press releases to online directories to gain press coverage and maximise your business presence. You can even turn some of your best articles into press releases. Promote your new business or additional features or services you are offering by issuing press releases.

You can choose to write the press releases yourself or hire a professional writer to help you with this important task.

To find out more about how to write a press release or where to distribute them, visit sites such as the following:

Free Press Release List: http://www.topwebsitetips.com/PressReleases.aspx

Nationwide Express Press Release Distribution Sites:

http://express-press-release.com/nationwide.php

Publicity Insider:

http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp

GOOGLE ADWORDS

Pay-per-click or PPC is marketing becoming a more prevalent online strategy and additional source of income. Many companies are using PPC marketing methods such Google’s AdSense program. You sign up and pay for AdWords which places image, text or even video ads that are relevant to your business on each page of your website or business directory.

How the Program Works

The ads will change depending on the specific content of each page and you will receive a pre-determined amount of money each time a visitor clicks on one of your ads. The revenue can vary greatly from a few pence to one pound for every click. Monitor your results frequently to see which ads work best and revise them accordingly.

How to Use AdWords Effectively

Ask Many Questions – Ask Google as many questions as you need, rather than assuming something that may cost you later on.
Adsense-tech@google.com or adsense-support@google.com

Never Place Ads on Blank Pages – If you display codes on a blank page, the AdSense crawler has to guess the content of your site and may display incorrect ads.

Ensure You Meet The Keyword Density – Displaying text content with too many keywords is not permitted. Google may consider it “keyword stuffing” so always perform a keyword density check.

Don’t Use Non-English Characters – Try not to use non-English characters such as French or Spanish accents because adwords management may display non-related ads.

Don’t Send Ads Via Email – Google does not permit users to place any ads in email messages and they can check for this violation by consulting their logs.

Never Alter the AdSense Code – Although you can customise the ads according to your preferences, don’t change the codes. This could violate the terms of service and prevent the code from working.

Don’t Click Your Own AdSense Ads – Resist the temptation to click on your own ads or use automated clicking tools. Google may suspend your account if they discover fake clicks from you or your friends.
TIP: You can obtain a free coupon worth a £30 AdWords credit for opening a new account by visiting: http://services.google.com/marketing/links/aw-freecoupon

PROMOTIONAL BROCHURES & EBOOKS

If you have a company website, make sure to include some promotional brochures that visitors can download for free. Convert them to PDF format so visitors can easily download them without experiencing potential conversion problems.

Have visitors enter their email address to download the document. This provides you with a database of customers you can send promotional mailings or contact about your business.

Include Valuable Tips or Advice

We recommend including a new business tips section or helpful hints guide. You can include a brief overview of your business, a personal message from the owner and contact information. This will increase the value of the guide and make it much easier for readers to contact you. Promote the benefits of your company and include a call to action.

TIP: Break the text up into short sections with subheadings for improved readability and include an attention-grabbing headline!

ONLINE ADVERTISING

Design an eye-catching online ad for your new business that can be placed in online business magazines, websites and directories. If you’re not a graphic artist, you should consider hiring one as a poorly designed ad can have the opposite effect and discourage potential visitors to your site.

Make sure you spend some time researching the various options to find the most suitable avenues to place your ads. The price can also vary greatly so be sure you know exactly what you are getting for your money!

Monitor Your Results

Make sure to continuously monitor the results of your ads to ensure they are actually bringing you more customers. If the results are not as promising as you expected, you can either revise your ads or choose to place them on another site or directory. You need to ensure the amount you are spending is actually worth the expense. More expensive ads don’t necessarily mean more visitors or revenue so be choosy and find a reputable company.

COMPANY WEBSITE

Last but certainly not least, make sure you create a company website. Unless you’re a web designer, we recommend hiring a professional to design a visually appealing and easy to navigate site.

In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s more important than ever to establish a solid online presence. You can increase the number of prospective customers, inform visitors of your current products, services and specials and enhance your professional profile.

TIPS:

Keep the content simple and uncluttered

Break up text into short sections for improved readability

Don’t use too many distracting animations or graphics

Explain the benefits and unique selling points of your company

Provide a consistent feel

Include easy to find contact information

Ensure your pages are all easy to navigate

Regularly Update Your Content

You should make a genuine effort to keep the content of your site updated regularly. People will soon grow tired of visiting a site that contains the same outdated content month after month. Consider adding a section that outlines all of the new content that has been recently added. This makes it much easier for repeat visitors to find out what’s new with your company.

Include an RSS Feed

Another brilliant way to keep your visitors regularly updated is to provide an RSS feed to your website. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it is basically a type of web feed format used to publish content that is frequently updated such as podcasts, news or blog entries.

Visitors who subscribe to your RSS feed can remain advised of any new content as soon as it appears. They will receive a list of new items starting from newest to oldest with a link to the actual page of your site containing the information.

This prevents them from having to continuously check your site manually for any new information. RSS is the easiest method of keeping your visitors well informed about any recent news or changes to your new business!

SUMMARY

Starting a new business is always a risk. However, if you learn how to run it properly, you’ll find the numerous benefits far outweigh the risks. Becoming your own boss and taking control of your financial destiny is a brilliant feeling. Never be afraid to ask questions or seek guidance and advice from other professionals.

Online marketing can play a crucial role to the success of your business. Make sure you find out as much as possible about the various online methods we discussed. Making an effort to become better informed and learning as much information as possible is a brilliant way to increase your chances of success!

We hope this guide provides you with advice and tips so you can increase your marketing effectiveness and stretch your marketing budget further.

If you’re currently focused on marketing locally, online marketing is a relatively inexpensive way to attract more customers and expand your market worldwide. Prospective customers and clients can access your information 24/7; hence, your marketing efforts will continue to work for you around the clock every single day of the year!

In addition, you can keep your customers up to date quickly and easily because online content is very easy to update. Another advantage is that online marketing methods allow you to target specific clients.

Last but not least, you can easily compile detailed statistics and regularly monitor your online marketing efforts. This enables you to ensure that any money you spend on marketing provides you with optimal benefits in terms of increased exposure, customers and revenue

ONLINE MARKETING CHECKLIST

Review the following checklist to remind yourself of the various online marketing methods available for you and your business. You can decide which ones you want to pursue during your next marketing campaign:

Use a blog system to establish a business blog; integrate marketing messages and promote your blog as a valuable information source.

Participate in business-related online forums and offer advice to others.

Learn more about search engine optimization, keywords and keyword density by conducting business questionnaires and using keyword tools and include links to your website in different areas.

Become an active participant in popular business and social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

Include informative articles in English and other languages and submit them to many different online article directories. Article marketing will enable you to attract a greater number of prospective clients and establish yourself as an expert in your particular field or industry.

Create powerful press releases to promote your new business and submit them to online press release companies to increase your company exposure.

Increase your marketing efforts and revenue by participating in pay-per-click advertising such as Google AdWords.

Include promotional brochures or ebooks containing valuable advice to individuals who enter their email address when they visit your company website. This can help you gain credibility and provide you with a valuable customer database for targeted marketing campaigns.

Design compelling online ads and have them included in various free or paid online websites or business directories. Monitor the results frequently to ensure you are gaining maximum value for your money.

Create a visually attractive, informative and functional company website to promote your business and attract new customers. Make sure you regularly update the content.

CUSTOMISED MARKETING PLAN

Be Business Smart is pleased to offer you the option of having a customised marketing plan designed specifically for your business. We will spend time discussing your particular company and the goals you wish to achieve. We realise that every business has its own unique needs and objectives.

We can then provide you with a customised, professionally written and affordable marketing plan to help you achieve those goals. Together, we can help you ensure your business becomes a complete success!

If you have any questions or wish to discuss our customised marketing plan option, please email us at support@bebusinesssmart.com

WE WISH YOU THE BEST OF SUCCESS

WITH YOUR NEW BUSINESS!

“Since approximately 07:50 AM GMT today, 20thy AUGUST 2008, a technical issue is occurring with the payment service. We are unable to process payments at this time. We are working to resolve the issue urgently.”

Do you realize the consequences if all of your prospective customers visited your website or online store only to discover the above message? I’m sure you can imagine how much money and business you would end up losing. Many people will simply visit one of your competitors if they encounter problems with your payment system. The old adage “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket” certainly applies to payment methods. Make sure you retain customers by offering them a range of convenient payment options.

Protect Your Business from System Crashes

As much as technology is continuing to advance, errors and system crashes occur on a regular basis. This is why it is so important to offer a variety of convenient payment options. If one method of payment such as the online credit card system or PayPal happens to experience a crash, your customers can choose a different payment option. This is a much more suitable alternative than advising them to wait a few days and try to purchase the goods again. Many customers will simply click on to another website that offers them an instant payment system that actually works.

Expand Your Customer Base

Certain customers prefer to make payments using a convenient online service such as PayPal, Moneybookers, debit cards or e-gold. Others will use a credit card because they want to take advantage of features such as air miles, reward options or extended purchase protection. Some people may not even own a computer or may feel uncomfortable using an online method to pay for their purchases. Therefore, these individuals may prefer to use a traditional payment method such as sending a cheque by mail or providing their credit card information via the telephone.

You also have to remember that some of your customers may live in a country where PayPal or other online system is not even available as a payment option. The bottom line is that you want to attract as many customers as possible. This is especially true if you sell goods or services online to a global market. Offering a wide variety of payment options that appeal to many types of people is a great way to so do.

Increase Your Sales

The obvious end result of attracting more customers with different payment options is increased sales and revenue. The more people who are tempted to visit your online store or website, the more purchases will normally be made. If customers are able to use their preferred method of payment to purchase your goods or services, they will be more likely to buy more. You may find that you are losing sales to other competitors who offer a greater number of payment options than you. If you factor in the relatively low cost of many payment systems, you may discover that you can’t really afford not to offer them.

Convey A More Professional Image

Offering your customers a more varied range of payment options also helps to enhance the professional image of your company. Many people become wary if they visit an online store or website that only accepts personal cheques or cash. The same goes for companies that won’t accept a cheque or cash for the purchase of their goods. If you offer many alternative payment methods such as credit cards and PayPal, you will appear to a more legitimate business.

Don’t limit your payment options to one or two. You will attract many more customers, protect your business from system crashes and increase your sales by offering a wider range of options. You’ll also enhance the professional image of your company if you choose to accept cheques, credit cards, debit cards and online payments such as PayPal.

If you require assistance with implementing further payment systems in to your current website, you can visit www.effluxinc.com where we will be able to asses and advise you of your options.

Operating a business takes a lot of time and energy. You need to manage many different tasks form arranging for mail delivery to creating an effective business plan. That’s why we’re providing you with 10 simple tips that will ensure your business continues to run smoothly and efficiently.

1.Establish a Benchmark – Make sure you compare the performance of your business with that of competitors. By comparing elements such as customer service, variety of goods and services offered and price, you will be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses more easily. You will also discover new opportunities that can increase your profits.

2.Obtain A Postal Kit – Don’t waste time and money on direct mailings and deliveries. Not when you can obtain a free mailing toolkit from Royal Mail. Just visit www.royalmail.com/toolkit and maintain better control of your daily mailing tasks.

3.Review Your Suppliers – You should periodically assess the suppliers you have chosen to ensure you are receiving the best value for your money. You may be able to negotiate a better deal with them or even find a more suitable company.

4.Update Your Policies & Procedures – Make sure you continuously review your company’s policies and procedures. This will ensure you remain competitive in your industry, stay abreast of new standards and meet any new legal issues that may affect your business. Given the constantly changing business practices and legislation, you can’t rely on outdated policies.

5.Conduct Staff Appraisals – Motivate your staff and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your employees by conducting regular staff appraisals. By reviewing their performance and helping them to set personal goals, you can better prepare them to conquer challenges and increase their productivity.

6.Evaluate Your Financial Health – Find out how your business is doing financially by conducting a financial health check. You need to be keenly aware of your finances in order to grow and remain profitable. Investigate whether you are paying too much tax or whether you could improve your current cash flow.

7.Listen To Your Customers – Given that your customers are one of the most important factors in your company’s success, it makes sense to solicit their advice. Talk to them and find out if your business is currently meeting their expectations. They may be able to offer you very helpful suggestions on how you can attract more customers or improve your current practices.

8.Update Your Products – You need to remain competitive, and you can do so by continuing to add exciting new products or services to your portfolio. Investigate the current trends and regularly brainstorm to discover new ideas for your business.

9.Update Your Equipment – Perform regular checks to ensure your equipment has not become outdated. Fix any items that require maintenance or replace them with new, more efficient products that can improve your performance.

10.Rewrite Your Business Plan – You have probably long forgotten about the business plan you first drafted when you started your business. Well, now is the time to update it so you can reflect the current status of your company as well as establish future goals.