How to market your business online

How To Market Your Business Online

How to Market Your Business Online

Many business owners see the web as the «Promised Land» for creating new revenue for their organisation. Whilst this is certainly true, these companies fail to take into account the difficulties of the overcrowded marketplace they are entering into. Many business owners have the misguided belief that: «If you build it they will come». These sentiments should be reserved for Hollywood movies. In actual fact, nothing can be further from the truth. From the start of their endeavours, their sentiments should have been «If you Market it they will come». Marketing is the key to any successful online business.

There are numerous ways to generate traffic to a website, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Budget lines for these marketing methods vary dependent on the industry you’re in, so upon deciding your marketing method, it is essential to check out your competition in these areas to determine budget.

Online marketing methods

Pay per click (PPC)

There are many PPC services available. The most widely known is Google AdWords, whilst others include Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft AdCenter. PPC will give a business immediate Target Traffic. In most cases a working PPC campaign can be setup in a matter of days. PPC also offers the clearest track ability in terms of sales and return on investment (ROI).

There is only one major disadvantage to PPC and that is the cost associated with it. These are payable even if it does result in a conversion, therefore there is a possibility of spending more than you make on the sale. To check out the cost associated with your selected industry I suggest using the Google keyword tool and follow the instructions.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

If PPC is a sprint; SEO is a marathon. The short term effects of SEO are very limited, although once an effective SEO campaign is in full swing, its effects don’t incur any charges for a click through. This type of marketing provides a wealth of traffic through long tail and short tail keyword search terms. Unfortunately it is much harder to calculate ROI with an SEO campaign.

If you’re looking at procuring long term business on the web, SEO is simply a must and the sooner you start the quicker you will make money with this method. It is always a good idea to look at your competition for the natural search term before the creation of your website. Look at the number of results for your key industry terms. This can be found by typing in your term to a search engine. In the results on the right hand side you will see how many other people are targeting that term. Anything above ten million results and you’re probably looking at least six months of hard work to get to the position you want to be at, the first page of the search engine results.

Another thing to look at is page-rank. Don’t obsess over this but check out the page-rank of your top twenty competitors using Google toolbar. If most of your competitions page-rank is above four then you are going to need a very weighty budget.

Shopping Feed

If you’re planning to sell products online, a shopping feed should be a serious consideration for immediate traffic. Most shopping feeds can be configured and automated with a one time setup, however this can vary depending on your content management system. The majority of shopping feeds do have a cost per click associated with them but it is normally far less than that of a Google Adwords campaign or such like. There are also a number of free shopping feeds such as Google Base and MSN product search beta (invite only). When looking at a shopping feed it is essential to check their target area as many are limited to the USA. The main pitfall to consider with shopping feeds is they allow for easy price comparison so if your mark-up is extreme you could easily be priced out of the market.

Social Media

Social media is a great source of converting traffic; as a recommendation from social sites are normally treated by users like a recommendation from a friend. This being said social media requires a lot of hard work.

If you have an inward approach or don’t spend a lot of time on your chosen social site, then it is a pointless exercise. On the other hand; if you’re constantly helping other social users by outwardly directing your content, then social media can be a great part of your marketing plan. If you’re just using social media to promote your own site (inward directed) then you will struggle to see a great deal of difference in site traffic.

Once you have considered all these factors you can then begin investigating budgets for online business success. If you’re looking for more help then we suggest hiring a consultant or visit our consultancy site for more great tips.

How to write articles for pay

How To Write Articles For Pay

In the search for an internet home business that is legitimate and well-paying, article submission is one solution that seems to work well for many people. Article submission in the traditional sense has usually been restricted to writing for magazines or newspapers. Some people have found that this type of article submission works well for them, and the freelance writing from home is an excellent way to make some spare money on the side. However, with the advance of the internet, there are plenty of companies and individuals who need content for their websites. This is an excellent stroke of luck for those who are a little less talented in the area of writing, but are still interested in article submission.

Article submission is now growing in popularity through the use of websites that provide content for other websites. Those who put up websites, especially business websites, are not always talented writers. Therefore, they are often looking for writers who are interested in article submission. Those who are willing to write for article submission can then write about whatever content the website owner would like to see on his or her website.

Many times this is done through a website that brings both those interested in article submission and those needing website content together. Usually, the people writing content will turn their article submission over to a website for review. If the article submission review is positive, the content website will usually accept the article submission and put it up on the site. Then, those interested in buying the article will purchase it from the website. Normally, the content website pays the authors who sent in an article submission, while taking some type of commission.

Article submission can be a good way to make money if you are good with words and enjoy writing. However, it is important to note that getting into article submission means you will need to have good grammar and sentence structure skills. Additionally, most article submission sites make you proofread your own material. It is recommended that anyone interested in article submission research what is involved before making any commitments.

Learn the basics of uk annuity rates to obtain maximum benefit

Learn The Basics Of UK Annuity Rates To Obtain Maximum Benefit

Annuity rates are the rates that you will be receiving from your pension annuities. Such annuity rates are normally based on index-linked gilts and securities that provide a regular index-linked income, apart from offering you a fixed redemption value at a particular time in future. Normally, the annuity rates will decline with time due to lower inflation levels and expectancy of longer life. Further, the inflation will also erode the actual value of the money and the exact buying of power of the annuities being held by you from your pension benefit would invariably be lesser.

However, the effects of inflation could be countered by adding open market options that contain escalation features. This would help the holder of the pension annuities to obtain best annuity rates and increase the income over time. Still, the initial income in opting for such a scheme will be significantly lower than the conventional annuity schemes. Similarly, the annuity rates will be adversely affected by the inclusion of other benefits, such as adding the income of the spouse or a specific guaranteed payment period to protect against the risk of early death of the annuity holder.

An individual can buy an annuity through a personal or a company money purchase fund. To obtain the highest pension annuity rates, the open market option is the ideal one. The additional features mentioned above can be added at the time of purchase but they cannot be added later. Moreover, to obtain the best annuity rates, you should compare the annuity rates offered by different pension annuity providers by asking for quotes from several such providers. You should select only the pension annuity scheme that offers guaranteed annuity rates and accurate income forecasts.

Annuity rates are paid every month as gross income before tax deduction. Level annuity rates will fetch you the same income every month as long as you are alive. Level annuity rates and 50% spouse rate schemes will pay the stipulated income every month throughout your life and after your death, your spouse will be eligible for 50% of the stipulated income until the death of the spouse. In the United Kingdom, annuity rates are applicable to single males and females between the ages of 50 and 74. The pension annuity rates do not include any medical benefits or enhancements. All the annuity rates assume that the female will survive for a longer period than a male and hence, the monthly annuity payments will be higher for a female than for a male.

The income payable to a person who had retired in September 2008 and opted for a pension annuity scheme had been significantly higher than the income assured to a person retiring in September 2009 and purchasing an annuity. The decrease in the income was in the range between 6% and 9.4% for single males and single females between the ages of 50 and 74. This clearly reveals that the economic downturn had an appreciable impact in the pension annuity rates offered by the pension annuity service providers in the UK.