Keeping Small Australian Businesses Up To Date
Click to read more:WorkFromHome wrote:
Technical writing is a very large portion of freelance writing jobs. Companies and professionals need manuals and documents created about their product that sounds professional, is extremely detailed, and also easy to read. Many writers avoid this type of work because of the editing process that is usually involved in this type of work.
Click to read more:Julian Smith wrote:
Finding your inspiration is important when you start a business. What makes a success full business compare to one that never rises above the ground. Julian Smith was at a Telstra Business Awards presentation and describes the traits of a winning business person.
Click the link to read more:WorkFromHome wrote:
“In the affiliate marketing world, there are a lot of people who would like to take advantage of individuals who are looking to work from home or make money online in general. They will usually want you to buy some product or service from them that guarantees some kind of crazy success story that’s ultimately unrealistic.”
To read more click the linkWorkFromHome wrote:
There are many gifted writers that would love to quit their day jobs and work full time in the writing industry. Since the advent of the Internet, this dream has become a reality for many. However, many writers can’t seem to make a career out of freelance writing, regardless of how they try. What most of these writers do not realize is that succeeding at a freelance career in writing takes a lot of effort….o
Amanda Steinberg creator of DailyWorth: A daily e-mail newsletter with advice on personal finance for women talks about the 5 key things to remember when starting a new business.
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David Ronick wrote:
As an affiliate marketer, it can be easy to lose focus on what’s actually important in your day to day dealings. One solution to this problem is putting extra emphasis on the idea of making investments that pay out over time instead of all at once. This will help you to have the discipline and motivation to consistently produce high-quality work since you treat everything you do as an investment that will earn dividends over time. The higher the quality of your work, the greater your dividends. The following will show you how to focus on the long run in a number of areas that are critical to success in affiliate marketing.
Content Writing as an Investment
Writing content for yourself is one of the most boring and uninspiring parts of affiliate marketing for a lot of people. Whether you’re writing content for your website or content for article marketing, it can be tricky to find the motivation needed to produce high-quality work on a consistent basis. Looking at your content writing as an investment, even if you outsource your content, can help you to make better decisions and get better results.
Consider the following. Each piece of content that you write will likely be on the Internet for years to come. That means that every day for the next few years, people will have a chance to buy from you based on the quality of your work. When you think about the vast number of people that will eventually read your content, and the amount of money that can be made over time from these people if you do a good job, a lot of inspiration can be found. By focusing on the rewards you’ll receive over the long run, finding the motivation for writing content can be made easy.
Making Your Website Stand the Test of Time
One way to view your website as an affiliate marketer is as a static tool that is used to communicate a fixed message to your readers. This perspective is very limited, and doesn’t allow for the growth that you should work to achieve as an affiliate marketer. With a fixed mindset like this one, your website’s true earning potential cannot be realized.
To combat this, make sure that your website’s design and linking structure both allow for fluid expansion. Adding an extra section to your website shouldn’t be awkward or cause problems for any menu or navigational tool. Moreover, everything should be easy to find and easy to read on your website, no matter how large it gets in the future. By planning for the future with the design and layout of your website, you will avoid the headaches that come with a lack of flexibility, and this will put you one step ahead of any competitors who do not use such a fluid design.
Keyword Research Methodology
Sloppy keyword research without a long-term strategy won’t get you very far. You should have a plan and a system in place that allows you to expand both the breadth and the depth of what keywords your content is targeting. One way to achieve this is by using detailed spreadsheets that group keywords according to the topics and subtopics in your niche, including all of the keywords you are currently using and not using. This way, your keyword research is always one step ahead of the actual content you have posted on your website, and you will never find yourself stuck without keywords to use as your affiliate marketing campaigns expand.
Moving Forward: Building Assets
An asset is anything that earns you money over time. Every piece of content that you write, web page you design, and keyword you research is a potential asset. Your goal as an affiliate marketer is to maximize the dividends you receive off of each individual asset so that your total profits in the future are maximized.
Siamak Taghaddos and David Hauser met as undergrads at Babson College while both were managing businesses they started in high school. One of their biggest challenges was how to answer work calls while in class. “If a customer wanted to place an order for a product, the only number I could give them was my house line,” says Taghaddos. “I had my mom picking it up, and you could hear my sisters yelling in the background.”
In 2002 Taghaddos wrote a business plan for a telecom company that would act as a virtual phone system for small businesses. It won Babson’s 2003 Business Plan Competition and caught the attention of Hauser, who had been thinking about starting the same kind of business. The two teamed up that year to launch GotVMail, which gave customers a toll-free or local number to use for incoming calls. The calls were picked up by the GotVMail system, which played a customized greeting then routed the call to the appropriate person or sent it to voicemail.
Hauser, now CTO, and Taghaddos, CEO, estimated they would need $1.5 million to start. “We were $1.25 million short,” says Taghaddos. They had a quarter million from their previous businesses and Taghaddos’s father, who became the seed investor. “When you have a quarter million for something that requires $1.5 million,” says Taghaddos, “you have to be very creative with hiring, working with vendors and investing in software.”
The pair initially just repackaged existing telecom software; they have since created their own proprietary software. In 2009 the Needham, Massachusetts, company was rebranded as Grasshopper. “We were spending money on 60-second radio spots and half the time was used just spelling the company’s name,” recalls Taghaddos. In 2010 they formed Grasshopper Group, which will provide multiple products aimed at entrepreneurs.
Last May, Taghaddos and Hauser circulated a petition to create a National Entrepreneurs Day in the United States. Taghaddos says it wasn’t just a novel idea, but the start of a movement to support entrepreneurs. Six months later, President Obama declared a week in November as National Entrepreneurship Week; the last day of the week is National Entrepreneurs Day.
Although Grasshopper’s growth slowed from astronomical—1,983 percent in 2007—to 5 percent during the worst of the recession, the company is on track this year to grow 20 percent over 2010; revenues are more than $15 million. Next up? “We want to expand globally,” says Taghaddos. “By 2015, we want to be a global phone company for entrepreneurs. We want to be their dial tone.”
Data entry is one of the most popular fields for at home workers, since it offers a way to make a great deal of money from the comfort of home, without having to invest in an expensive education or costly equipment. Not all typists are able to make the same amount of money though, since some data entry workers may not be as qualified as others are. To maximize your earning opportunities in data entry, while working from home, read the following success factors for this growing field.
The More You Can Type, The More You Can Earn
At the heart of the field of data entry is being able to type fast and accurately. How fast can you accurately type? That means being able to type the words that are in front of you, without making any mistakes. Remember, your clients will not be interested in paying for the wrong information in their system! In the field of medical transcription, the wrong information can even prove dangerous to a patient’s health, while in computer programming, if you input the wrong symbol, letter or number, it can totally ruin the code and render a program useless and unable to run.
If you can type quickly on a 10-key, which is an industry term for the number pad on the right side of your keyboard, then you are much more valuable in the field of data entry as a typist. As you continue to grow your typing skills, you will be able to type faster and faster. Being able to type both longhand and typewritten documents is also an asset.
Focus On Your Work Even From Home
Like many workers who are based at home, data entry typists run the risk of losing focus and, as a result, losing potential income. After all, if you are not focused on your work, then you will not be accomplishing it. In data entry, if you do not accomplish your work, then you are not paid. Although you may not think that sitting at a desk or table and typing is particularly tiring, many data entry workers report that it is exhausting.
You can stave off focus problems and exhaustion by taking scheduled breaks from your data entry work. Make a point of stretching and walking around your house at least once every few hours, so that your body’s muscles do not become sore. You also can avoid uncomfortable muscle cramps by exercising regularly. Working at home means that you can schedule a break midday to go to your local fitness centre to walk on the treadmill or do some circuit training. Take advantage of this benefit to keep your body healthy and your mind focused on your work at hand.
Staying comfortable while typing is also important to getting as much data entry work done during the day as possible. Even though you could do your work from your couch, it is much better for your back, neck and even your hands to do your typing while sitting up in a chair at a desk. Purchase an ergonomic office chair to use while working, even if you are doing the bulk of your typing at the kitchen table. Consider it an important investment in your back’s health and in staving off carpal tunnel syndrome, which could end your career in data entry.
Find Your Data Entry Job
While previous generations of typists found work through newspaper ads, today you can use the Internet to search for your ideal position. You can create a website that shows off your data entry skills, as well as any web design acumen that you may have. This is a great idea for anyone who may want to supplement their data entry income with web design work in the future.
Data entry work is in demand by many industries, including the medical field and different areas of the financial world. Data entry workers are needed by banks, brokerage houses and even government agencies for data entry work concerning highly confidential information, such as clients’ personal information. You may also be asked to input large volumes of bank transactions and financial information during transitions between financial reporting systems. This also is needed when clients transition between banks or accounting firms, so as to realign their historical data.
To get jobs that concern confidential data, you will need to demonstrate that you are able to properly safeguard it. This means being able to pass a security background check by your potential employers. Having a criminal background or even a low credit score may be enough to disqualify you from these lucrative positions. You also will have to have a secure Internet connection over which to transmit your completed work.
“Street Smarts” columnist and senior contributing editor Norm Brodsky is a veteran entrepreneur who has founded and built six businesses. Here, he shares his advice for businesses just starting out.
Though Norm Brodsky is often sharing his thoughts and opinions with the many entrepreneurs who come to him looking for direction, he makes sure they understand that the decision is theirs and theirs alone. “Otherwise,” says Brodsky, “they won’t take responsibility if they fail. They will simply blame ‘bad advice’ and lose the opportunity to learn from failure, which is always the best teacher.” So the next time you’re faced with a difficult decision, begin by asking yourself what it is that you want to be doing for the next 10 years. Be aware of the potential downside of each decision and, more important, the time, money, and energy each will require. Never lose focus of your goal. (For more, read “Building Your Business,” May 2011.)
Novice business owners often find themselves spending their cash on building their inventory, which is a mistake, says Brodsky. However, the real problem isn’t in the cash flow but the business model that requires you to have inventory in the first place. When you find yourself in this situation, Brodsky suggests selling off any excess inventory and using the cash to pay down debts. (Search “sell excess inventory” online, and you’ll find a slew of services catering to that need.) Then, consider an on-demand business model. Sure, you might not be able to fill every order, but running out of a product from time to time isn’t necessarily a bad thing. (For more, read “Are Your Credit Card Bills Out of Control?,” April 2011.)
“One of the most common mistakes you can make in business is to assume that potential customers think the way you do,” says Brodsky. Consider Justin Esgar, who created an iPad app that allows you to sign PDFs on your iPad in hopes of helping to reduce the amount of paper in the world. He had been pitching his product as a way to go green, says Brodsky, but for most people, the real benefit has to do with the time and money it can save. “Not that Justin shouldn’t continue to tout the green virtues of his product, but he’d probably sell more copies if he focused instead on the time-saving features that almost any professional with an iPad would gladly pay $3.99 for.” (For more, read “How to Keep Your Message Clear,” April 2011.)
Generating publicity is key to getting the word out about your new business, but it oftentimes isn’t enough to reach your target market. A mention in your local paper might not result in the surge of traffic you’d expect, probably because the article isn’t targeted at a specific market, says Brodsky. Instead, he suggests, “make a list of the 10 categories of people most likely to want [your] services, along with ideas of how to reach each category.” For example, if you’re trying to target people planning to move, you could talk to moving associations about getting on their websites. “But building a business takes time,” advises Brodsky. So don’t be discouraged if your idea doesn’t go viral overnight. (For more, read “Reaching Your Target Market,” March 2011.)
There’s no substitute for homework.
That’s where the real learning happens for students, and the same is true when investigating a franchise. The most important homework step is calling people, specifically the franchisees of the system you’re interested in. You’ll receive a list of all the existing franchisees in the Franchise Disclosure Document you get from the company, so take the time to call at least five to 10 of them. It also a good idea to do a search online to find some former franchisees.
Here are the best questions to ask them:
1. How well did your first unit opening go?
This broad question focuses on how effectively the franchisor’s systems and training work. An honest answer will reveal how easy the franchisor can help make the process of opening and operating that first unit. There will always be snarls when opening any new business but this question will tell you if they were small annoyances or ulcer-inducing.
2. How well do the marketing programs work?
Most franchises have required marketing initiatives designed to help build the business by seeking to attract a lot of customers. Few subjects arouse more emotion or controversy among franchisees than whether their required marketing programs work.
3. How well does everybody get along?
Many franchisors describe their s as being just like family. That may be true but find out whether it’s like Beaver Cleaver’s or Archie Bunker’s. If you don’t want to live a life of conflict with someone calling you “meathead” every day, then the answer to this question is important. Make sure you have a good feeling about the support and teamwork of the organization and that it matches your values.
4. How much money can I make?
This question is the most important one for many prospective franchisees. You’ll want to determine the average startup investment, the average unit sales, the main expense categories, gross and net margins for the business, and how long it takes a new unit to break even and start making money for the owner.
It is usually best to save the money questions for last. Most people are reluctant to discuss their personal finances with someone they don’t know. You’ll find that franchisees are more willing to cover this subject once you’ve established some rapport with them.
5. If you had it to do all over again, would you still buy this franchise?
No matter what the answer is, explore it. Your response should always be “Why?” The most common answer is a pause followed by a yes. This usually means that there are valid arguments for answering yes or no, but pride of ownership usually tips the balance toward the positive answer. Ask for the strongest argument they can think of for answering yes or no. The contrast can be very informative, especially if you can read between the lines.
Another benefit of these calls is that you will likely find your interest in the franchise quickly increasing or waning after a handful. Waning interest is a red flag telling you that this probably isn’t the right business for you. If you find your interest rapidly increasing, it is a very positive sign.
Even if you can’t really put your finger on why either of these reactions is happening, trust your gut. Your instincts have a way of making you feel right or wrong about a decision like this and they are usually correct.
