How a specialty shop could virtually survive the crunch

How a Specialty Shop Could Virtually Survive the Crunch

Out of the many possible reasons, there are two main reasons why people set up their own business as a specialty store. One is due to limited capital. No matter how any entrepreneur wants to venture into all kinds of merchandise all in one store, budget constraints compel you to concentrate on just one type of merchandise,. The other arises from personal choice. Certain craft greatly interest you as an individual, and these are what you’d like to deal with both for fun and profit. That’s why there are specialty stores which cater to food, pet supplies, toys, books, electronic gadgets, jewelry and accessories exclusively.

With the current economic crunch, small businesses like specialty shops find it difficult to compete in the real market dominated by bigger, more established chains. They’re hardly surviving with the overhead costs. Many are forced to close shop, consolidate their credit, or file for bankruptcy.

One of the clearest ways a specialty store could virtually survive the crunch would be to do just that. Go virtual. In other words, go online.

Bringing your specialty business online could be more cost-effective. It’s less expensive if you don’t pay rent and bills, hire staff, and settle business fees. You’d have to invest a little on web space and online advertising which would give you many happy returns.

To get your specialty shop up and running, you should identify exactly what you’re going to sell online, how you’re going to get and stock these items, and how you’re going to transact business. Do an inventory of all your stock and classify them as to fast-moving and slow-moving items, because this determines how you will replenish your stock and how you will market the merchandise so as not to tie-up your funds and to generate steadier income.

Plan and prepare for web space and online advertising. Learn to create your own website or have it created for you, and optimize your free online advertising by enlisting in widely-used search engines. Familiarize yourself with online listings in a particular directory. Most specialty stores can be browsed by area or state and by sub-specialty. More importantly, they can be browsed and arranged by popularity through good links and reviews and by ranking because their goods and services are of top quality. You will have to invest a little money and a lot of hard work to accomplish all of the above goals.

Study online shopping to systematize how customers can order from you and how items can be mailed or shipped effectively. Determine also the best payment scheme that would work for you online.

While you’re getting the business back on its feet, and even when it already is, always keep updated with the latest fashion to inspire you on how your specialty items should look and appeal. There are so many tips and news circulating in forums of social networking sites which discuss items like yours.

As you launch your specialty store online, don’t forget to keep your feet on the ground and maintain the goodwill you have with your current suppliers, sponsors, and customers. If there’s a solid foundation on which an online specialty store can be built upon, it would be reliability and trustworthiness in doing business, and these aren’t virtual at all. They’re basics.

How to make ppc search engine advertising affordable

How to Make PPC Search Engine Advertising Affordable

PPC search engine advertising is by far the most affordable form of advertising available. PPC search engine advertising is a flourishing business that by 2009 is expected to reach $8 billion. PPC search engine advertising is about producing leads. Creating leads will help potential buyers find the specific website that will provide them with the product or service they need.

However, PPC search engine advertising does not end there. It is important to understand that although PPC search engine advertising generates leads, it is also important for users to find relevant information at the website they are directed to. Information is a valuable asset in PPC search engine advertising that is often left unchecked by many websites. Keep in mind that users are more likely to purchase products or services from a company that provided them with the necessary information they needed in the first place.

a) Qualified traffic with PPC search engine advertising

One of the benefits of PPC search engine advertising is that it provides qualified traffic to a specific website. Users that click on a PPC ad are those in search of a particular product or service. This helps eliminate unnecessary clicks from non-prospective buyers that only produce expenditures not profits. PPC search engine advertising is also the fastest way to get a reasonable return on investment.

A bidding process is used to establish the price of a specific keyword. In general, the budget for PPC search engine advertising may be a $100 to $100,000 depending on the number of keywords used. These prices can skyrocket in just minutes as more and more sites bid for the same keyword thus causing the prices to jack up.

PPC ads are placed alongside search engine results to which they are relevant. The highest bids for a specific keyword or phrase gets top billing on the search engine results page. Getting top placement provides greater odds for a PPC ad to get clicked by a qualified searcher.

b) Elements of PPC search engine advertising

PPC search engine advertising involves three basic elements; constant monitoring, response analysis and refinement as the essential factors involved in PPC search engine advertising. Proper management of PPC search engine advertising can result in big profits for a website.

PPC search engine advertising makes it possible for sites to monitor the productivity of each PPC ad they place. This gives a site the opportunity to turn off any PPC ad that is not performing at its best. PPC search engine advertising provides the most economical way for a site to advertise on the World Wide Web.

The cost entailed in PPC search engine advertising is dictated by the clicks made on a particular PPC ad. The number of clicks made on a PPC ad is subtracted from the initial amount paid by the business to a search engine company. To minimize cost and maximize return on investment, a business will have to regularly monitor its PPC search engine advertising campaign.

c) How to use PPC search engine advertising

Many businesses are unable to get the most out of their PPC search engine advertising campaign. PPC search engine advertising involves a lot more than just bidding on the highest keywords. Information is a main concern of many online users.

Providing online users with relevant information they need will help bring about a more long-term relationship with an online user that will more likely result in a sale.

Information provided to online users may be in the form of a newsletter or e-zine that online users would likely sign up for. Sign-ups may be enough to cover the expenses of a PPC search engine advertising campaign.

Sign-ups also help generate leads for websites as they build opt in list from qualified online searchers who clicked their PPC ad. Getting personal information from qualified online searchers can be done in a variety of ways such as offering freebies for surveys or signing up for newsletters.

PPC search engine advertising is a continuous process that requires hands on supervision and a thorough understanding of PPC search engines. Businesses may opt to hire the services of a professional or do PPC search engine advertising with in-house experts. Whatever course of action is selected, a business is sure to get a huge return on investment with PPC search engine advertising.

Their are some good programs at my atclickbank website…………See link kelow………

How to start your own baby food business part #4: understanding your market

How to Start your Own Baby Food Business Part #4: Understanding your Market

Understanding your market is critical. As early as possible, before you launch your business, I encourage you to survey moms in your area to learn about their values, buying habits, and infant feeding rituals. An easy way to do this is to use an online survey tool (there are dozens out there) to create your survey. Then send an email to all the moms you know, post a notice on a local mommy message board, or send an email to an online Yahoo! Groups community that is targeted to parents.

Not only will this help you learn about your target market but it will give you valuable data that you can use when discussing your business with the local media.

Here are some of the questions and answer options that we used for the first Sprouts Baby Food survey years ago.

How old is your baby?

Which of the following best describes you?

Stay-at-home mom

Working mom

If you are a working mom, which of the following best describes your childcare support?

n/a

in-home childcare/nanny

daycare center

family member

Are you concerned about food allergies?

Yes

No

Does your baby have any food allergies?

Yes

No

FEEDING YOUR BABY

Did you breastfeed your baby?

Yes

No

How long did/do you plan to breast feed your baby?

0-3 months

4-6 months

7-9 months

10-12 months

13-18 months

19-24 months

2+ years

How old was your baby when you began feeding him/her solid foods?

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Older

Why did you begin your baby on solids?

Advice from doctor

Advice from book

Advise from website/web forum

Advice from family member

Advice from another mom

Baby seemed ready

Other

Which of the following is most often your source for feeding and childcare information?

doctor

book

website/web forum

family member

other moms

Did your doctor give you enough information to help you feel confident about making feeding decisions for your baby?

Yes

No

What is the most frustrating thing about introducing new foods to your baby?

WHAT YOU FEED YOUR BABY

Which best describes the food that you most frequently give your baby?

Home-made baby food

Traditional store-bought baby food (jarred)

Organic store-bought baby food (jarred)

Organic store-bought baby food (frozen)

Pureed table foods

Catered baby food (such as Sprouts)

Do you regularly give your baby formula?

Yes

No

Never

Which of the following baby food brands do you most frequently use (please check all that apply).

n/a ‘ I don’t give my baby commercial baby food

Gerber Baby Food

Heinz Baby Food

Beech Nut Baby Food

Earth’s Best

Gerber Organic

Organic Baby

Homemade Baby

Bohemian Baby

Happy Baby

TotPots

Mom Made

Evie’s Organic Edibles

Plum Organics

Healthy Times

Bright Beginnings

If you DO NOT make your own baby food, please give us the reasons why. (check all that apply)

n/a ‘ I make my own baby food.

I think store-bought food is as good as what I could make at home.

I would like to make my own baby food but I don’t have the time.

If you DO make your own baby food, please give us the reasons why. (check all that apply)

I think that fresh is the best.

I like to choose my own ingredients.

I think that store-bought baby food contains a lot of sugars, starches, and fillers.

I don’t like that store-bought food is made to sit on store shelves for 2+ years.

Store-bought food lacks variety.

Is price a factor when feeding your baby?

No ‘ I want the best for my baby, no matter what the cost.

Not really ‘ I’ll pay more for better quality foods.

Kind of ‘ It depends. Sometimes.

Yes ‘ We are on a budget and can’t afford to spend a great deal of baby food.

Yes ‘ I just don’t believe in paying a lot for baby food.

Do you read the ingredient labels on baby food in the store?

n/a ‘ I make my own baby food.

No

Yes, always

Yes, but only for baby food

If yes, what are you looking for on the labels?

On average, how much do you pay for baby food (per jar)?

$.10 — $.49

$.50 — $.99

$1.00 — $1.49

$1.50 — $1.99

$2.00 — $2.49

$2.50 — $2.99

$3.00 ‘ more

How much would you pay for quality, freshly-made, organic baby food?

$.10 — $.49

$.50 — $.99

$1.00 — $1.49

$1.50 — $1.99

$2.00 — $2.49

$2.50 — $2.99

$3.00 ‘ more

On average, how many jars of baby food do you purchase each week?

0-5

6-10

11-15

16-20

21-25

More

RESTURANTS

Before having a baby, how many times did you eat out per month?

3-5 times per month

1-2 times per month

Once every 2 months

Other

After having a baby, how many times do you eat out per month?

3-5 times per month

1-2 times per month

Once every 2 months

Other

Since having a baby, is «kid friendliness» (kid menu, high chars, toys, etc. ) a key factor when choosing a restaurant?

Yes

No

Would you be more likely to frequent a good restaurant that had healthy, organic menu selections for your baby?

Yes

No

When dining out at a restaurant do you…..?

Bring baby food along

Feed the baby off of your plate (mashing something up)

Order something off the menu for the baby (then mash it up)

Other

Additional comments on dining out with your baby.

Importance of online business tracking

Importance of Online Business Tracking

Any online marketing carries with it the risk of making mistakes small and big. Tracking provides you with information on which parts of your business campaign has been successful and which hasn’t, along with the reasons as to why it failed. As with any Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign, typically site visitors will increase, sales shoot up and everything will seem to be going well. However, tracking your PPC campaign will provide you with better visibility and insight into your website and its inherent functionality. Then it becomes very easy for you to understand how your site visitors are using the website. No matter how good the site design, what determines future sales and strategic marketing campaigns, is consumer behavior on your site. Tracking helps provide you with these statistics.
What needs to be tracked on the site is largely determined by what you want to obtain from your PPC campaign. If you are selling products online, it’s natural you want more sales out of your site. With a service-based site, you want to know how many enquiries you’re getting from site visitors. An efficient tracking system can provide you with valuable information about how to refine your campaign to maximize ROI. To ensure your business goal is achieved, you need to track your PPC campaign and your site traffic behavior.
Nowadays several tracker software contain free hit counters to track one or many pages of your website, weblog or homepage. In search engines you need proof that repeated pay-per-clicks are not coming from the same user. When you get clicks from a place with which you have no existing business, then that will be considered fraud. As part of your marketing and promotional campaigns, you need to ensure fraud control.
Site stability along with site accessibility and operational stability is very important in a website. Having a prompt response to any crisis situation maximizes downtime and helps to ensure satisfied customers. Site monitoring and site alerts are essential for ensuring a sound tracking system. The use of several site-monitoring points eliminates any chance of getting false alarms. For example, when accessibility problems aren’t caused by your resource but are the results of improper connection between your system and the site. If an error gets detected, the system will keep ongoing checks on the status of the resource and when it’s accessible again, you get a message notifying you about its restored functionality and also about the duration of the resource’s unavailability.
There are several e-Book sites, which provide easily downloadable books in PDF or other formats. With such freeware available, site traffic is bound to shoot up. Thus, site tracking in such cases is an absolute must.
There are several tracking software which can accurately track every link on your website and tell you the exact number of clicks you are sending to an affiliate program or a promotional partner. They also give information on the accountability for the site traffic you direct to other web sites and affiliates. They also monitor internal links so you can keep track of your site visitors, which links they visit more and their behavioral patterns.
So, how can you go about tracking the effectiveness of the links on your site? Link popularity checker helps to quantify and measure your website links’ effectiveness. In layman terms, link popularity means the total number of links or «votes» that a search engine finds for your website. A website is a volatile place where pages and links are dynamic in nature. Hence, it is essential to ensure connectivity between links and a proper navigational flow. Dead link checker helps to identify dead links in your website and eliminate them. Equally important is to ensure that all live links are in order and fully functional. Live link checker helps to ensure this.
Banner rotation ensures a good flow of site traffic and generates high revenues for your site. It is essential to have more than one banner to promote each product. Once a site visitor sees a particular banner more than 3 times, he/she will typically ignore banners, which make their appearance repeatedly. If click-throughs are declining, then it’s a steady indicator that you need to rotate your banners more often.
Directories and link submission forms are very important from a search engine perspective. You need to submit your link to the appropriate category. Else, it will lose its significance and context. There are several rules and guidelines in place for link building and link submission which ensure that the submission and approval process is as smooth as possible. It’s essential to provide concise names for links to avoid excessive text. At all cost, avoid spam filled links and most importantly chose the right directory. Any successful link submission campaign will maximize your time so that you get listed in the most directories possible.