4 Instant Tips for Running a Successful Internet Business

 Running an internet business is not a difficult task; but running a successful internet business can be a bit more difficult.  There are thousands of people that have their own online business, but many of them are not having any luck at all.  If you want to be successful while running your internet business, there are a couple of tips you can follow.

1. Before you can run a successful internet business, you are going to need the necessary knowledge.  In other words, if you are looking to start an internet business, choose an industry that you are familiar with.  By doing this you will ensure yourself of knowing where to start, and how to handle problems as they arise.  Of course, it is possible to run a successful internet business even if you do not have past experience.  You will just want to make sure that you do your homework before starting.  This way you will have some background information on the industry instead of simply going into the venture blind.

2. Make sure that you are organized from the very start.  The most successful internet businesses are ones that have a quality business and marketing plan in place from the start.  This will allow you to follow your plan as the days go by so that you do not get lost.  It is hard to be successful in anything if you do not know where you are trying to go.  A business plan will give you an idea on how you want your company to progress, where as a marketing plan will direct you on how to grow your company.  These are two things that are synonymous with every successful internet business.

3. Never be ashamed to ask for help if you are having a rough time.  A lot of business owners do not like to ask other people for help because they do not want to hurt their pride.  This is something that you should come to grips with before you even get started.  It is impossible to know everything about your industry, so there are times when you will have to ask questions.  Instead of thinking of this as a bad thing, why not look at it as a way of making new business contacts?  If you are having a technical problem that you cannot figure out, you should get in touch with an IT company right away.  There is nothing wrong with doing this.  In fact, if you do not ask questions to other people you will only be holding your company back. 

4. Do not reinvent the wheel, by following an established Internet Marketing Plan you can take a shortcut to your online success. Be aware though to not follow unsuccessful plans, there are free ones which are just excellent like "The Internet Marketing Master Plan".

By following the tips above you will be well on your way to running a successful internet business.  Remember, anybody can run a business, but to be successful you will have to be determined.

3 Free Website Marketing Ideas - Easy And Quick

 Online marketing is not cheap. You can spend thousands of dollars on Pay Per Click (Google Adwords) and thousands of site-targetted dollars (AdBrite), and you can spend thousands just buying text links from individual sites. Trust me, I've spent thousands on advertising.

However, my favorite form of marketing is the free kind. Anything free I like, especially if it helps my websites make more money without increasing my advertising costs.

Here are three easy and quick ways to market your website at no additional cost.

1. Free Business Cards

Free business cards are a staple in my advertising arsenal. You can leave them everywhere and give them to anyone. The best part is, they are free! Use them where you want, when you want, and as often as possible. That is the motto I live by whenever I get a shipment of free business cards in the mail.

2. Link Exchanges

Link exchanges are a great way of spreading Page Rank, but also of sharing visitors. Most people who like a site will bookmark it. After they have read everything they want, they will read the site that you link to. You get the visitors, and share the visitor through a link exchange.

3. Business card networking

After you have received your free business cards, use them to network with other people. Everytime you meet someone, hand them one of your free business cards. After that, ask for one of their business cards in exchange. If they don't have one, make sure you mention what you do, and the website address that is also listed on your free business card. Free business cards make a great networking tool if you will put them to use. Never forget, they are free, and should not be used sparingly. Use them in any situation you can think of. People will take them home and visit your site when they pull your business card out of their pocket.

With those three free website marketing ideas, your website will not only be more successful, but you won't have to spend any of your hard earned money on marketing!

3 Easy, Money-Making Internet Business Models

Amid all the noise and hype on the Internet today, not many people realize that all the ideas and techniques you can find are petty much useless if you don't first understand your business model. In other words, even the most amazing Internet marketing technique will not work if you don't understand how to apply it to YOUR business.

The 3 most popular business models are:

1) Affiliate Marketing

This is perhaps the most popular one out there, since there are absolutely no barriers to entry. Almost anyone can sign-up for an affiliate program for free and start promoting the product or service on the Internet with hopes that someone will buy, giving them instant commissions. Affiliate marketers don't carry any risk, since they do not pay for the creation of the product, they do not handle customer service and they do not need any up-front investments.

When you consider that those are the top three things people want to avoid, it's no surprise that almost everyone and their neighbor promotes an affiliate program or another. In fact, if there is a single reason why the Internet today is so proliferated with ads and banners, it's because of affiliate programs.

Even though there are so many affiliate marketers out there, only 5% ever make any money and only 1% makes big money. The "Super Affiliates" do it very differently from all the other millions; therefore they earn the big checks.

2) E-book and Information Publishing

Sitting at the other end of the spectrum, e-book authors need to be more disciplined in their approach to Internet marketing.  Of course, they also need to invest more than affiliates do. While affiliates can get away trying to "get something for nothing" the same is not true for the e-book type of business.

If you're thinking about publishing and selling your own e-book online, and you think it's going to be easy, think again. You'll need to learn a lot more than affiliates are required to. You'll need to spend some amount of money getting your business up and running. However, when you do it right, the payoff in this online business model is much more rewarding.

The reason why e-book marketers and "Infopreneurs" make more money is simple; they have very, very low production and maintenance costs. Anything digital doesn't cost a single cent to be produced in millions if necessary. Whatever initial start-up costs spent can be covered by selling just a few copies of high-margin e-books, and you can even recruit an army of affiliates who are more than willing to do all the selling for you.

Of course, it's not as easy as it sounds, but the point is, when done properly, the "E-book Publishing" model is a truly profitable business.

3) Internet Based Network Marketing

I've heard many people say that the Internet and network marketing are a match made in heaven. In my opinion, though, almost 90% of people get it wrong when it comes to Internet based network marketing. People in this business usually think they're talking about network marketing, but in reality they are talking about affiliate marketing.

They try to make the Internet do all the work. They hide behind their computers and pretend everything's going great. They focus on selling more and more every month. They have systems that are so complicated only they can understand it. Well, that doesn't sound like network marketing to me!

Internet based network marketing is simple if you understand it, and are willing to put in the effort. The role of the Internet here is only to get you the names and contact details of people you can talk to, after which YOU, not a computer, has to build a relationship with these people and help them to start their own business.

For this simple purpose, it is not necessary for you to have a high-tech system and pretend that your auto responder is building relationships for you. It's not going to work. The key is to have simple systems that are duplicable, something you can teach to all those people you have built a relationship with.

E-book authors, no matter what they say, have no obligation to teach you their "Secret Strategies to Become a Millionaire” of any variations to that. The reason is simple; why tell you the absolute truth when you'll end up as their competitor? No one wants more competitors, right?

Internet based network marketing is very much the opposite of that. You HAVE to tell people EVERYTHING you know or your business will never take off. For this reason alone, I always recommend that if you're new to the online world, you need to first join an Internet based network marketing business at least to learn. Rest assured, no one will be selling you half-baked truths when their success ultimately depends on yours.

No matter which model you choose, make sure you understand the basics, and stop listening to and buying things that are not applicable to your business. Information overload can stop you before you even get started.

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 Copyright © 2006 Gobala Krishnan

Seven Secrets of Internet Millionaires

Internet millionaires don’t acquire their wealth and success by luck of the draw.  They know the secrets to success.  These secrets are so valuable that if you implement them, you will succeed in your own Internet business.  

There are two general types of secrets that Internet millionaires know which include external and internal secrets.  We will discuss these secrets in detail in hopes that you will use them to your advantage and become an Internet millionaire yourself.

First, let’s look at the external secrets that Internet millionaires have in their tool kit.

Internet Millionaire Secret #1:  Internet millionaires recognize that strategy should be the foundation of any marketing plan.  It is critical to have a marketing strategy and not just jump into marketing techniques.  For example, we don’t have to use mass advertising anymore because mass advertising doesn’t have strength because consumers have choices.  You would have wasted valuable time and money if you used mass marketing techniques without first strategizing about the state of the market.

Internet Millionaire Secret #2:  Internet millionaires are not generalists.  They focus on selling their products and services to specific niche markets.  The business market in general is going in the direction of niche markets because customers have more choices regarding places to buy their products.

Internet Millionaire Secret #3:  Search for and grab untapped markets.  Seek out people that have not been able to have access to your product in the past.  In untapped markets, you don’t have to deal with competitors which helps keep the marketing costs down.  In addition, you will be able to establish a rapport and trust with your customers.

Internet Millionaire Secret #4:  Your backend strategy is crucial to success.

You want several profit centers that allow you to sell your products and services to more customers.  The backend part of your company supports these profit centers.  It diversifies your business so you are bringing in money through many different areas.  You can’t rely on retiring early if you only have one profit center.

Internet Millionaire Secret #5:  Try to automate as many services as possible.  This will allow you to sell services 24 hours a day 7 days a week online.  Automate your service centers to cut down on costs and help your customers at all hours of the day.

 

Internet Millionaire Secret #6:  Set up your business so that you are replaceable.  You can make yourself replaceable by branding.  Branding encompasses yourself or the value that you provide.  Branding yourself is lucrative, but it doesn’t allow you to take a break because you have to make every decision.  Branding your value, on the other hand, sells your expertise and not your time.

Internet Millionaire Secret #7:  Don’t work alone; build a team to support your business venture.  Create a team of marketing, business, a mentor and accountability individuals.  Remember, two heads are better than one so you can discuss ideas and strategies you have for your business.

Internet millionaires also have internal secrets.  An Internet millionaire has self confidence and believes in their product.  They are able to make decisions quickly.  They have learned the correct information and modeled others that have proven success.  They are not afraid to make a mistake and realize that their job doesn’t define who they are.  One of the most vital secrets is that Internet millionaires persevere and never give up no matter what obstacles cross their path.

Creating Pareto Chart Using Microsoft Excel : Part II

Now to create the chart. If you arrived at this post and have no idea why you're suddenly creating a chart, you may check the previous post on accumulating data first.

To continue, we're selecting the data for the chart. 

Choose B3:B7 and D3:D7 (Highlight B3:B7, press Ctrl, hightlight D3:D7). Then, choose Insert->Chart->Combo. Choose Series 2 as Secondary Axis. 

Now you have the Pareto chart. Customize by adding labels, values and changing the horizontal range.

Now that your chart is complete, you may begin analyzing the highest defects, problems or causes to plan the countermeasure.

Creating Pareto Chart Using Microsoft Excel : Part I

First of all, what is pareto chart?

Pareto chart is a chart that have both bars and a line graph. Pareto chart analyzes the frequency of problems, causes or defects. It is useful to prioritize the defects or problems in order to create a countermeasure.

Image source : Metacomet/Wikipedia

How to create Pareto chart using Microsoft Excel?

The first part is to collect the data that you need. Organize it in descending order based on the total of causes, problems or defects that occurs.

Then, sum all the causes to find the total value. Next, find the cumulative values of each causes.

C3 value is B1, C4 value is by adding C3 to B4. You may use the calculation provided by Microsoft Excel. For example, in cell C4, use =SUM(C3+B4). For C5, =SUM(C4+B5). Continue until you add all value.

Now, we're going to calculate the cumulative percentage.

To calculate, use Cumm value/Total*100. For example, in D3, it should be =C3/B8*100. Continue for all values. The last value should be 100%. Now, you're ready to create the chart.

<<Proceed to the second part on creating the chart.>>

Data Entry: Protypers With Payment Proof

I decided to try Protypers weeks ago. Normally people can make their first payment during the first week but my schedule don't allow me to do that. Besides I normally worked around one to two hours per day and not at the best rate. Most of the time I worked at the lowest rate. What are the rates? I'll tell you later.

First of all, what is Protypers?



However, some people said solving captchas are helping hackers. To be honest, I don't know whether it's true or the above is true. So I'm holding on what I see now until it's proven otherwise.

How it works?

As I mentioned above, you need to solve captchas. Register for an account, then refer to the tutorial (IMPORTANT!) Then click on 'Solve Images' on the sidebar to start working.



Easy?

Maybe. Maybe not. Bear in mind, you're solving captchas. For me, sometimes captchas didn't make any sense. I couldn't figure out what the words were most of times. But the more you work, the better you'll become.

The Rates

Finally to that part (money$$) The rates varied. The least would probably be $0.50 per 1000 images but I hadn't get to that rate yet. The least I came across so far was $0.60 per 1000 images. The first week I worked was $0.85 per 1000 images. That's the least rate. The rates changed each hour. The best rates normally at 16.00 but it's sleep time in Asia so I never have a chance to work at that rate. To have a better understanding on the rates, here's an example:



Precision Rates

This will tell how accurate you are. It's best to maintain 90+%. Mine is like a rollercoaster. It goes up and down but still maintain higher than 90%. I thought I was going to be kick out after it dropped below 95% but I was wrong.

Payment Proof



Payment will be made on each Monday. The minimum payout for Paypal would be $3.00. There's no payout button. Once you hit the minimum amount, they send you the money.

Rules and Tips

1) Work fast. Time is not a leisure and it's in seconds. It's best if you don't have to look at the keyboard while typing but if not, don't despair. I normally took seconds to figure out the text and look at the keyboard to type. I could type without looking but I tend to make mistakes. To correct the mistake, I lose precious time and get kickout. Multiple kickouts=ban.

2) Don't type garbage. Type the real words/text. If you encounter a text that you don't know, just click 'Don't Know'. However, only click 'Don't Know' when you really don't know as multiple 'Don't Know'=ban as well. Another thing to remember, if you came across a Chinese character/text, click 'Don't Know' as well. I typed error once and my account was frozen for awhile after they send me directly to Rules.

3) Don't try to cheat or scam. Should I explain?

4) Mind the space and capital letters. If there's space, then space the texts. However, the most common problem for me would be capital letters. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate 'U' from 'u', 'X' from 'x' or 'Z' from 'z'. They're almost the same!

5) Focus on the obvious. Just type the main and obvious text. Ignore the punctuation marks.

6) Do read the Guide and Rules. They're really helpful.

So, JOIN PROTYPERS NOW?

How To Find Top Clickbank Marketplace Products That Sell

CBEngine Website

'If you're just starting out with affiliate marketing, or you're a seasoned pro, CBengine is a great tool to have at your disposal.'

For most of us as Clickbank's affiliate, searching for a marketable product can be a very difficult task. It's like searching for salt in sugar needle in the haystack. Most of the time, we just click at the Marketplace and randomly search for something worth promoting then promote it with complete faith it's worth trying.

As an alternative easier option, let's try CBengine. With awesome database, CBengine offers to find an awesome product for you. CBengine offers Free Edition and Pro Edition. If you're only trying, then go for Free Edition. Of course it's pretty limited (what do you expect from a Free Edition anyway?)

Want to try it?

Apart from that, CBengine can also notify you on Removed Products, commission rate charts, store front to use in Wordpress, charts on popular products and many more. 

Online Payroll

Paylocity

Example of Other Services Offered:

- Reports.
- Human Resources.
- Tax services.


Online Payroll Management System, Inc

Example of Other Services Offered:

- Personal Income Tax Return
- Sales & Use Tax Return
- Bookkeeping Services


intuit

Example of Other Services Offered:

- Tips on human resources.
- Tax filling and payment.

LiteAccounting : Online Invoicing Made Simple

For those in need of accounting tool, one of the website that you can visit is LiteAccounting.

LiteAccounting offers services ranging from invoicing, track payments to address book to keep customers' information details.

Prices for the service can start from FREE for free account to $25.00 per month Gold account. You can use the free account, but they're pretty limited. What do you expect  from free account anyway?

If you uncertain whether to use or not the service provided by LiteAccounting, you're welcome to try the demo.

Making Money Out of Apps

Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Making App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa

"The future of mobile development is clearly web technologies like CSS, HTML and JavaScript. Jonathan Stark shows you how to leverage your existing web development skills to build native iPhone applications using these technologies."

--John Allsopp, author and founder of Web Directions

Starting an iPhone Application Business For Dummies

Learn to:

* Find your niche, develop a great idea, and build your brand

* Develop a business model and revenue strategies for success

* Build your development team from the ground up

* Use marketing and pricing surveys, reviews, and blog marketing

Aaron Nicholson

Joel Elad

Damien Stolarz

ibuilapp

As you could probably see from the image, everything was free (except you need their help to publish on Apple store under your own developer account).


Seattle Clouds

Seattle Clouds can be try for free but you need to purchase one of the plans. The prices range from $9.99/month to as high as $599.99/month.

The .whatever Web Address Coming Soon

A quarter-century after the creation of ".com," the agency that assigns Internet addresses is loosening its rules and allowing suffixes named after brands, hobbies, political causes and just about anything else.
Under the guidelines approved Monday, Apple could register addresses ending in ".ipad," Citi and Chase could share ".bank" and environmental groups could go after ".eco." Japan could have ".com" in Japanese.
It's the biggest change to the system of Internet addresses since it was created in 1984.
More than 300 suffixes are available today, but only a handful, such as the familiar ".net" and ".com," are open for general use worldwide. Hundreds of new suffixes could be established by late next year, thousands in years to come.
"This is the start of a whole new phase for the Internet," said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the California nonprofit organisation in charge of Internet addresses.
The novelty addresses will be costly - US$185,000 (RM555,000) to apply and US$25,000 (RM75,000) a year to maintain one. A personal address with a common suffix such as ".com" usually costs less than US$10 (RM30) a year.
ICANN said it costs tens of millions of dollars to write the guidelines for suffixes, review applications and resolve any disputes. Even with the hefty fees, the organisation said it plans only to break even. It's also setting aside up to US$2mil (RM6mil) to subsidise applications from developing countries.

source : TechCentral

No, they don't really created the .whatever suffixes, though I do see the possibility in the future. The .xxx already exist. More to be created soon. What about .duh or .yeahright or even .seriously?

The domains have become nuts.