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Setting Goals for Your Online Business

November 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment
eBay corporate logo
Image via Wikipedia

Starting an Internet company isn’t quite as easy as it looks. Internet start-ups like Amazon and Ebay and two great examples of simple ideas executed to the fullest of their potentials and there is nothing about them that was easy. Perhaps the idea for a company has been in your brain for a while and you are ready to make it happen. The truth be told that it’s easier to imagine the company than it is to actually put it into practice but if you are smart and take heed of the following advice you might have the next big thing on your hands.

Keep It Simple

Great ideas online are about people addressing a simple need and starting there. Amazon didn’t start as the marketplace for everything under the sun and the maker of a big selling electronic reader. The truth is Amazon was a simple marketplace idea that expanded into all it is. So find that simple need people have and execute it. Once you are able to do that everything else will take care of itself. If you worry about branching out all you are going to end up doing is alienating your potential customers.

Have Goals

Wanting to be the biggest online company isn’t a goal. It’s a dream. Your goals should be tailored to growing your business. Going from 500 to 1000 customers should be your goal. That’s the easiest way to do it. Make it small and attainable and then from there you can see all your business can become. Once you do that the rest will start to reveal itself. Other opportunities will show up and you can take advantage of them. These rules might not seem like they are groundbreaking stuff but obeying them will give your business a better chance to succeed and surviving the online market is groundbreaking in itself.

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Reasons Internet Companies Fail

November 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Microsoft sign at the entrance of the Germ...
Image via Wikipedia

Starting an internet company is an exciting time. The advantages to it are great. No overhead on office space, ability to work from home and an instant blip on the radar of the advertising market that is the information superhighway. So if there are so many advantages to running your business online then why is it that so many businesses fail and why is it that it’s so hard to make money online? What is everyone doing wrong? Here are two reasons why so many businesses fail online:

Unreasonable Expectations

It’s important to have goals for your business but it’s just as important to have goals that you can meet. No one goes from selling a pair of shoes a day to selling 6 million pairs a day. There has to be middle ground and that middle ground is met when people understand that growing a business takes a ton of hard work and a ton of time. Don’t believe that being your own boss could actually be easy. It will take a ton more work, and a ton more hard hours before you can actually be ready to live on easy street.

Poor Game Plan

This doesn’t seem like it’s any different from the first idea but it’s a lot different. A business has to know more about itself than what it is selling. The truth of the matter is that it has to know what it is all about. Why do people want the product? When do they want it? How does it make itself valuable to people? This all comes into how you market the product. Making a mistake on the marketing side could prove deadly in the long run. The best thing you can do is know what the game plan is and go from there. That’s what it is all about.

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Bumping Your Ad Listing

November 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Buzz Logo
Image by louishatzis via Flickr

Sometimes the details make all the difference. Let’s take the competitive and complicated world of online advertising. Everyone knows just how hard it is to get their product or event advertised on the internet. You know just how hard it is to get the people to come out even once they see it online. There are a lot of you small business owners out there who are using your online advertising but are using it in the wrong way. There are ways to keep your business going and there are just ways you are missing the boat. Here is some very simple ways to increase the traffic to your site, product, or event.

The first thing to do, especially if you have a live event, is to take up space in the local listings. Call or email your local newspaper and see about free event listings. Most places are more than happy to do this for you and will do it free of charge. They provide the service for their readers and in turn those readers get free listings.
The listings aren’t the only thing you need to do. Many people make the mistake of doing nothing with the listings once they are done. You need to stay ahead of the curve and “bump” your listing. Let’s say you are doing a theatrical performance, after the first performance you can comment on it anonymously. Have friends do the same and say positive things without seeming as if they work for you. Once they do that it will show others that happen upon the website that there is something out there worth seeing and that should make for better attendance numbers all around. Advertising can be very helpful if you go that extra step. If you do not then you can expect the same result you always get. No one wants that.

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How Small Businesses Can Compete

November 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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A lot of people think that the key to good business is big capital to spend on products and services to help there business. They think that they need to invest in consulting firms and high end brokerage houses as well as top flight accounting people. The truth is that those services have infinite value for those people who can afford them. But you, like most of the people in the world, cannot afford that kind of help on the money you make. You have to be smart and resourceful and do it on a shoe string budget. If you are in a start up company or a small business you can get the help you need just by turning on the computer and having access to the Internet. You can find everything you need.

The key to any successful business is organization. You need to organize the dates that matter to your business as well as keep scheduling in front of you and keep mix-ups from occurring. Maybe the big boys can allow screw ups to happen but you cannot afford to. You can fix this problem by using an online calendar. If you are diligent about the upkeep and making sure you are storing information into it then you can rest assured that the online calendar will help you keep track of dates as well as let you see how busy your week and month might look for you.

The best part is that if there are others that work for you they can be hooked up to the same calendar and in many cases share their calendar with you. This is just one of the many ways that your business can be more efficient without having to go any further than your PC. It makes the computer a wonderful invention.

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Keeping Small Businesses Organized

November 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If you have a small business there are times when the constraints of it can feel a bit overwhelming. There are so many things to manage and in most cases you are left to manage them by yourself. You want the best for your business but there are times when you think the best means being able to spend big money on people who know it all and can help. The truth is while those people might be helpful you have everything you need right in front and all you have to do is turn on your computer. There is a world of help available to you for little or no money and there are many helpful programs that are available to be downloaded via software like the FileZilla FTP from the open source File Zilla server. Take advantage of it.

One of the easiest fixes you can do is to make sure that you have learned how to operate a Microsoft Excel program or the open source spreadsheet program found in open office. This program is a spreadsheet program that will allow you, the user, to keep track of things in your business that you won’t have to pay a web designer to do for you. You can keep track of customer information or keep track of the different orders that are coming through your business. These are great ways to keep track and excel is a top of the line spreadsheet that won’t waste your time and you can be assured everything will be exactly as it’s supposed to be.

Spreadsheets are a great way to keep organized and to get a different look at your business. You must make the promise to yourself that you will not get to overboard on spreadsheets. There are certainly instances where the spreadsheets can be an exercise in futility but when used for the right purpose they can paint a very accurate picture of your company. So make sure your have Excel and make sure you learn it, it could help you big time in the long run.


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Keeping Up WIth the Big Boys

November 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If you are the owner of a small business than you are no stranger to the idea of “struggle.” It’s a terrible part of the business and one that can cause you and your business partners, friends, and family and fair amount of grief but we also know that business can be rewarding too. If done right, with the right tools utilized you can find yourself very much ready to take the next step and to see the dollars really begin to increase.

But what tools like aresgalaxy are the tools that will make your business more effective? Some will tell you they are the kinds of people that you must pay top dollar to but the truth is the real business boost can cost little and come right from your own laptop. All it takes is just a little bit of dedication and a lot of organizing and your computer can help you to see your business better than you ever thought.

When you hear the words “do the books?” what do you think of? Do you think of a group of bookkeepers or do you think of what it really means? It really means just someone, which in this case can be you, that is taking a careful look at how your money is being spent.

So the first thing is to get yourself a money program. Microsoft money or something like it will do. These can keep track of not just where the money is going but how much and how often. Most programs can link right into your bank account and tell when money is being moved and where it has gone to. This is a great way to keep on top of your financial security and you can do it for very little money. It’s a great alternative to the big accounting firms. You’ll be able to afford them someday.

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