Tag: home business

    Digital Marketing or Affiliate Marketing Pros and Cons

    digital marketing

    The Digital Product vs. Affiliate Business Method

     

    Which Business Model will fit into your Lifestyle?

     

    When starting an online business, many newbies can’t decide on the business model which will fit their lifestyle while making them revenue. When starting a business, the decision often boils down to two options – promoting other’s products or selling their own products.

     

    There are definite pros and cons to each one, and some of that is based on your own personal skills and preferences. But other aspects of your decision will be based on things like profit potential, ease of implementation, and even the speed with which you can earn.

     

    There are some new things that have changed in the marketplace in recent years making it easier than ever for people to choose either of these methods for their business – or, combine them into one lucrative option!

     

    Below, we’re going to go over some things that might sway your mind to select one over another, and help you start off on a path that will not only be profitable, but personally fulfilling as well.

     

    How Fast You Can Get Your Money

     

    There’s a big difference between how fast you can earn money and how fast that money is deposited in your bank account. We’re starting off with this point, because for many (if not most) people, the desperation they feel in needing to get paid is palpable.

     

    In order to calculate the speed with which you can earn, several factors come into play. For example, as a digital vendor of products like eBooks or video courses, you have to factor in the product creation time and whatever amount of time you want to spend recruiting affiliates.

     

    This is going to vary for everyone because it takes some people months to create products and others a few hours. It’s feasible for some people to come up with a product idea, create it in a day, tell affiliates about it and start having money in their PayPal or Stipe account within 24 hours.

     

    But that’s not usual for everyone. Most people take at least a few weeks. Once it’s live, though, you will only have to check to see how fast your payment processor is in depositing the funds to your bank.

     

    Affiliates’ payments also vary by many factors. Each platform may have their own unique payment system. For example, ClickBank is going to pay affiliates on Fridays, two days after the end of the pay period and if you’re going direct deposit, you can get paid weekly.

     

    But on Amazon, you’re not getting paid until 60 days after you earn, and the payments are once a month. On Warrior Plus, you will have your affiliate earnings going into a site wallet, and the speed with which you can get those funds varies, too – from a few days to an entire month.

     

    How Much Money You Can Earn

     

    Now let’s dig into how much you can earn through each of the two business models. This is going to have variations as well. For example, as an affiliate, you have a myriad of options available that will impact the amount you earn.

     

    You might promote digital products, which have a low-price front end but an entire funnel of upsells and downsells that contribute to higher profits (not to mention some affiliate contests you can earn from, too).

     

    You might be promoting recurring income items that build your profits like a snowball, or you may choose one-time commission items instead. Even if you promote tangible products, there will be high ticket items that are harder to convert but pay more – and low ticket items that convert easily, but pay less.

     

    As a digital vendor, your earnings are going to be impacted by several factors. The first is the speed with which you release new products. Then there’s the matter of how many upgrades you have to add more profits to your bottom line.

     

    You also need to take into consideration whether or not you are going to spend time split testing your sales letter for improved conversions and recruit the top affiliates for your launches.

     

    There’s also the matter of control. You can earn as a digital vendor because you’re in control of your process. But as an affiliate, you’re at the mercy of the product creators and platforms, hoping you get approval to promote.

     

    There are some affiliates and vendors who only earn three figures each month because they’re slow or they just aren’t very good at what they do. Then there are seven and eight figure earners online, with many five and six figure earners as well.

     

    Basically, there’s no crystal ball that will tell you how much you can earn because everyone is unique and their process will vary from others’ processes, even if they try to copy someone else verbatim.

     

    What It Requires to Get Started

     

    The requirements include a mix of skill, tools and money. For some, it doesn’t require any money upfront. For others, it may require minimal investment – but nothing big or insurmountable for either business model.

     

    Let’s look at the cost of getting started first. If your plan is to launch products as a digital vendor, you pretty much need a domain and hosting. It is possible to set up a store on Etsy or elsewhere, but most people want control over their business, and if you’ll be creating sales pages, JV (joint venture) pages for affiliates and download pages, you’ll need to get a domain of your own.

     

    Look up GoDaddy coupon code and find a $0.99 dot com domain and then pay for a small hosting plan that should not cost more than $5-10 per month. From there, you can use WordPress themes for free.

     

    But if you want to, you can invest in a page building tool that will help you create   professional pages made from templates. The platforms (like Warrior Plus) won’t cost anything up front to sell on – but they’ll take a small fee from each sale as their cut.

     

    If you’re operating as an affiliate marketer, you definitely want to have your own site eventually, but it’s not a requirement up front. You can get started, though using social media platforms instead.

     

    You can promote products on YouTube, Facebook and other places that allow your links without having to buy a domain and hosting until you feel you can afford it. The only other investment you may want to make from time to time is of a product you’re reviewing, but that’s not a necessity.

     

    Now let’s look at the tools you may need to learn. In addition to WordPress or page builders, you’ll likely want a good keyword tool. This can be a free or paid tool, but it can tell you what the needs of your customers are and help you craft products and reviews.

     

    Graphics creators are another type of tool that will come in handy. But luckily, you can pair a free stock photo site with a tool like Canva (the free version) and use the built-in templates to create what you need.

     

    Last, let’s consider the skills you need to succeed with these business models. As a digital product creator, you have to know how to write well or how to record your course, depending on your preferences and those of your customers.

     

    You’ll also need to know how to create listings on platforms like Warrior Plus, JVZoo, ClickBank or an individual platform like Thrivecart, depending on how you want to set it up.

     

    There’s also the matter of customer service. As a digital product vendor, you’re going to need to deal with people directly. But as an affiliate, you’ll simply be the bridge between the vendor and customer, so the vendor will handle any customer service issues that arise.

     

    As an affiliate, you’re also going to need to know how to write or record your product reviews. Plus, you want your reviews to get found easily, so you have to learn more about search engine optimization than if you were a digital vendor getting traffic through a launch.

     

    For both business models, you’ll need to have good research skills. The good news is, there are tools that can help you with content creation, SEO and even customer service.

     

    Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can spiff up your content, it can conduct research on your behalf, engage in social listening and predictive analysis to help you create something your audience craves and more.

     

    How You’ll Get Customers

     

    This is one aspect that’s very different between the two business models – the way in which you’ll get customers. As a digital product vendor, if you have a launch coming up, you’ll want to recruit affiliates to promote for you.

     

    If you were to optimize your own site and promote it, you could also get customers that way, but it’s far more time-intensive than recruiting the right affiliates. They will send a recommendation of your product to their list of subscribers on your behalf.

     

    So in order to make sure you achieve this goal, you have to first ensure the quality of your product and that it’s something that will be in demand. Then price it so that it gives value to the buyers, with an upsell funnel that caters to the commission needs of your affiliates.

     

    The more you can do to entice affiliates onboard, the better. That means creating an informative JV page with readymade swipe files they can use, hosting a cash prize contest, and giving them advance notice so they can create a bonus (or give them a bonus to use instead).

     

    Traffic as an affiliate is a bit different. You’re going to need to optimize your content - whether it’s on social media or Google and other search engines. That means learning the algorithms and hashtags, which thumbnails will grab the attention of users and more.

     

    Knowledge You’ll Need to Have

     

    This brings us to the knowledge you need. In addition to what’s already been covered about research, tools and SEO, you will have other knowledge needs. For example, if you are a digital vendor, you are going to be immersed in a continual learning cycle.

     

    You must constantly pay attention to trends and research within your niche so that you can teach what your audience needs to know. But in addition to niche-based learning, you also have to stay on top of the marketing aspect have your business.

     

    There will always be new evolutions in marketing strategies, so you're going to have to learn how to sell in a way that allows you to be competitive. There also will be new ways of developing products.

     

    For example, webinars and video products were not always an option in the early days, where people had to teach from text only. Anytime a new strategy emerges that consumers embrace fully, you want to be aware of it so you can use it in your business.

     

    As an affiliate marketer, you're going to have to stay on top of different trends and marketing methods that are used on social media and elsewhere. But you also have to pay attention to different products that are being released within your niche.

     

    It's not just an affiliate’s job to present the product and tell people about the features and pricing. You have to know enough about the niche itself, such as the problems and pain points you are audiences having as well as the new technology or strategies that are being released so that you can select the right products to review.

     

    Time Benefits and Obstacles

     

    Lastly, you want to compare the time benefits and drawbacks of both business models. Many people avoid being a digital vendor because it's more demanding than affiliate marketing.

     

    If you decide to have an info product launch, you are going to be setting a date for the release of that product that your affiliates are going to expect you to abide by. That means you will need to put yourself on a schedule with boundaries in place to ensure your launch goes live at that date and time.

     

    It can be a bit more pressure filled than working as an affiliate, where you are on your own timetable discussing products that are already released, unless you are getting ready for a vendor’s product launch and trying to create a bonus or review for it.

     

    As a digital vendor, you're also going to be restricted by time when it comes to providing support to your customers. If you have an inbox filled with customer service requests, you need to make sure you are replying to them in a timely manner rather than letting them go unaddressed.

     

    With affiliate marketing, there's more pressure to scale your business so that you can continue bringing in profits, so you must be consistent with your reviews. As a digital product creator, depending on how well your post launch sales go, you may be able to take your foot off the gas a bit and slow down in the development of your next launch.

     

    With both options, you'll be able to scale your business into something bigger, but it's going to require you to invest more time and effort so that you can continue serving your audience well and even expand your audience base.

     

    There are definite benefits and drawbacks to both business models, but that’s true of every option you have available to you. The key is to find what you enjoy and pursue it vigorously so that you build a thriving online empire – even if that means combining them into one!

     

     

    Categories: Run a Home Business Tags: Tags: , , ,

    Recruiting New Subscribers Based on Your Reputation to Serve

    Once you start a list, it will be your job to grow the number of subscribers that you have over time. While it may seem meager at first, with subscribers only trickling in, it will pick up steam when you put more effort into it.

    Word-of-mouth is a powerful indicator of who to follow and who is trustworthy in any niche online.

    When you can generate positive word-of-mouth and recommendations as a niche leader, you will see your subscriber numbers soar.

    You do this by maintaining your ethics and showcasing a true desire to step up and help people. There are many of your competitors who are only in it for the money, and when you can set yourself apart from them as someone who truly cares, you will find that people naturally flock to you.

    You want to be open and honest about your own journey in the niche. Whether it’s online success or weight loss, telling the story of how you overcame obstacles and succeeded will resonate with your readers. They will want to share your stories with the people they care about – such as friends and family members.

    Some people try to position themselves as guru marketers who have never made a mistake. And while these individuals do develop a following of like-minded people, it’s more ethical and honest to be transparent about your journey.

    If you want to develop a reputation as someone who consistently shows up to serve your audience, then you’ll want to invite people to contact you. You can have a contact form or give out your direct email address.

    Make sure you respond to emails and contact in a timely fashion. If your audience grows to a level where you can’t handle all of the communication on your own, then you might want to host a webinar where your people can frequently interact with you or hire a virtual assistant to help you maintain communication flawlessly.

    While many marketers focus on their responsibility to provide good information to their audience, keep in mind that it’s also your responsibility to protect your followers from bad information.

    When you turn down opportunities to make fast cash by only recommending quality products as opposed to anything and everything, word will spread of your morals and subscriber numbers will increase.

    Make sure you’re strategic about growing your subscriber base. Whether you participate in giveaway events, create valuable content to be shared by others, or simply develop friendships with competitors who will sing your praises, you can’t rest on your laurels and expect people to flock to you for no reason.

     

    There is free training on setting up AWEBER and MAILCHIMP at HOME BUSINESS STARTUP TOOLKIT.

    If you want help with setting up an email subscriber service you can check out the HOME BUSINESS STARTUP TOOLKIT set of FREE Trainings here 

    Categories: blogging, Grow a Home Business Tags: Tags: , , , ,

    What are some of the secrets that no one tells you when starting a home business

    When starting your own business there are few myths that have to be dispelled and a few Elephants in the Room that need to be discussed to help you be successful in your business.

    The Elephant is the Idea of Getting Rich, Quick on the Internet

    There is no “get rich quick ideas” that are legal and work for a long time. **You can be the first** to open a legal marijuana selling business in your community that follows all the rules and pays all the fees needed to open but at some point there will be competitors who will be opening stores nearby. On the internet, there are business ideas that have made money quickly but it doesn’t last as either competitors come in the same field or Google decides to change its algorithm and your “secret get rich idea” suddenly doesn’t work anymore.

    Say you find a business idea that everyone loves and pays you for in an sudden instant of money. So you then go spend the money on cars or house and you realize that “the idea isn’t as hot as it used to be” so you have to bring others into your business to expand your market. Well, you do a campaign and once you have paid your employees and affiliates who helped you make $200000 in sales but know the net profit is $50,000. Suddenly it is a business that needs staff, more investment in advertising and time and outreach and its not a “get rich quick idea” anymore.

    Being in Business you have to Work!

    Having been in home business with husband for 20 years, we know that owning a business is not all laptop free time and working only when we want to. We have clients who we promise to get the work done to a certain deadline so you work till 2 in the morning if you need to get it done for 8 a.m. in the morning. If the work isn’t done, you have an unhappy client and you don’t get paid on deadline. There is a myth going round that you can work 20 hours a week and make a $100,000 but you have to have automations and outsourcing some of your work for you to make that kind of money only doing 20 hours a week.

    The Secret is Persistence

    It isn’t a glamourous answer on the *secret to success in business* but it is being persistent even when you fail and moving forward and adapting to the current business climate to keep on as a successful entrepreneur.

    The other secret is to come into The Business of At Home Business Community and get some great advice, resources, training and ideas on starting a home business (but you knew that already. 🙂 )

    Categories: Be Your Own Boss Tags: Tags: , , ,

    Will The New Business Fail?

    As the phrase goes, “there is no guarantee in life” but there are certain steps you can take to make sure your new business doesn’t fail.

    Step 1. Research research research

    Do your research before you even start your new business as to whether there is a market out there for your business. There are many ways to research whether anyone wants your new business by looking at your ideal customer and the demographics of the audience.

    You can check if there are any competitors in your market which can be a good thing because it means there are people buying but dig deep to make sure they are a viable business or holding it all together with smoke and mirrors. There are many Internet marketers who “make a million” one year and crash the next because they don’t put in the foundations of a good business.

    Now, if there are competitors and they have a sustainable business, what makes your business unique from their business so you can stand out from your competitors. For example, when this auto repair shop fixes a repair, they also wash the car whereas you could be the auto repair shop that fixes repair, washes car, rotates tires and installs new window wiper blades. Who doesn’t love free window wiper blades!

    Whether you want to or not, it is good practice to do a business plan for your new business before you start because once you look at the expenses vs. income, market research, marketing plan and obstacles to your success, you will be able to see before you spend a penny whether your business will fail.

    Step 2. Start your new business part-time

    I’m not a believer in quitting your job without knowing whether your new business is going to be successful so you should do it part-time while you are working at your job. Any business whether it is internet-based, production or offline , you can do it part-time. Steve Jobs worked in his parent’s garage while creating the Mac. So, even a cleaning company you could start part-time and clean in evening offices that are closed. You could go to weekend trade shows or events to display your product to see whether people will buy or they are interested enough to invest. You can join your local Chamber of Commerce and talk about your business to see what feedback might be from other local business entrepreneurs. You could create a Meet-up with the title “Internet Marketing Success” or if you are an artisan, “
    Crafting Business made Easy” and share free information and make connections with others to form collaborations on a part-time basis. With your first sale, celebrate but don’t quit your job until you are getting enough money to replace your monthly expenses. You could be a part-time consultant for other companies and work from contract to contract.

    Step 3. Start your business

    So, you have been working part-time at your business and you’ve made the sales that have been consistent or got the contracts to fulfill that could give you the income per month to start your business. You have done your research and you have been marketing to your ideal customers who have given you repeat business. You have reviewed your business plan and made adjustments needed from doing the work part-time. You have done future projections of income and how you will increase it once you work at it full-time.

    For our structural engineering home office, we worked part-time weekends and evening doing design and putting in hours to finish work to deadline while commuting back and forth to a job. We had three to four regular clients who gave us regular work so when we got laid off from work, we could easily go full-time in our home office.

    You have all your government required licenses and you are set for making your business into a system with foundations to make the business grow. You are ready and there may not be any guarantees but you have done all you can to make your business a success!

    For more on starting a home business, go to The Business of At Home Business Community at http://boahbtips.com/member

    Categories: Start a Home Business Tags: Tags: , ,

    Writing Content for your Business

    The content of your site tells a whole lot about your website. They will basically describe what your site is about and also tell people what your site has to offer. Articles and website content makes a whole lot of difference in your site because they can catch the attention of your website visitors and keep them in there.

    With good website content you get the benefit of clearly depicting what it is you want to share with people. Also, good content and articles can lead people to your site. With more traffic, you get to earn more from your site making it profitable. A sites success, be it for profit or not, is the number of the flow of traffic in your site.

    SEO Enhanced Website

    So how does good content and great articles get you traffic? Well, many search engines rely on the keyword and keyword phrases of a site to put it in their results list. If your content contains a good number of keywords and keywords phrases, it may be chosen to be a part of the top listed sites in the search result pages.

    But before you think of just plastering your site with all the keywords and keyword phrases it could hold, search engines also filter out that abuse. You must have good well written articles that incorporate the keywords and keyword phrases properly in their content and articles.

    There are many of those who cannot afford the time to write their own website contents and articles. While writing content and articles specifically designed for the internet may take some getting used to and some researching and learning, there are many writers that can be found all over the world who could do it for you.

    Outsourcing your Web Content

    Many of us do not have the time to learn web content writing and article writing designed for the internet. There are writers who have great experience in doing this and charge only a minimal fee for such work. Writers like this can be regarded as experts in this style of writing and can greatly help your website to get that coveted spot in the search engine rankings.

    Other than getting your site in the web results page of search engines, they can also provide your site with meaningful articles and content that can impress your website visitors and entice others to view your site. Every website could use the extra traffic website visitors could invite.

    Outsourcing your Writing in Your Business

    Then there are those who need papers to be done either for their school or office work. Top writers around the world are very knowledgeable and do extreme researching to get a job done right. They are also very adept in many writing styles that are needed to best suit the client’s need.

    Many writers around the world charge a minimal fee depending on the type of writing job needed and the number of words needed in the content. Usually, a two hundred fifty worded article would cost from 4 to 8 dollars depending on the writers experience and ability. This is a small price to pay for having a content rich site or for a well researched and written paper.

    Finding a Good Writer

    There are also many sites that can offer you these services with their team of well trained and experienced writers. They offer many writing services to cover any writing needs. A writer can be based anywhere in the world and are guaranteed to offer good contents and articles. Each one are doubly checked, edited and proofread so that you would get your money’s worth.

    Finding a good writer or a site that offers these kinds of services is simply done by searching for them in search engines. Type down your keyword or keyword phrase (e.g. Content Writers, Article Writers) and you will see a long list of sites that offer these services.

    The services site include:

    Upwork.com

    Freelancer.com 

    The top sites would probably be the best since they have done a good job of keeping their content at a high quality to get them high rankings. But you may also want to shop around and read some of their sample work to get an idea of how much it will cost you.

    Writing content is a skill that can reflect well your business or not reflect well if the content is less than grammatically correct or it is not easy to read. So, make sure you get samples of someone’s work from them before you hire them to write your content. They should be able to give you a $ per page or $ per 1000 words rate so you can budget your money for outsourcing some writing.

    Categories: Content, Grow a Home Business, Outsourcing, SEO, Website Tags: Tags: , , , , , , ,

    What is #1 Priority when starting a home business?

    The #1 Priority for any business whether home based or brick and mortar is Cash Flow!

    The biggest concern with any business is cash flow.
    At all times you have to be marketing, selling and
    fulfilling the service of your home business.

    You need a minimum cash flow every month just to cover your business
    expenses and living expenses.
    You can start by looking at your own bank account and
    see what are your expenses to live every month.
    Then do an analysis of the expenses needed in order to do your business
    (by doing a business plan).
    Add all the expenses together and that will be the income minimum
    you need to make just to cover your expenses.

    In most businesses you don’t make a profit which is income above
    what you need for expenses for a few months or more.
    So, you need to have some startup funding (whether savings or family support etc.) in the first year.

    At all times, it is cash flow which can make a business profitable or a loss.
    At all times as an owner you have to have three hats on:

    The Marketer Cat

    Cat wearing felt hat with feather

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Marketer Hat where you go out and make people aware of your business. Okay, yes, I am not a cat but doesn’t he look like a marketer cat! 🙂

     

    The Seller Cat

    Portrait of cat wearing straw hat

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Seller Hat where you close the sale when you have someone asking about your business. This is where you are serious and know what you want to say just like the Seller Cat.

     

    The Business Cat

    Cat wearing red hat

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Business Hat where you fulfill the promise of the sale that you made
    whether to fulfill a service or produce a product. The Business Cat is professional at all times in fullfilling the promise!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    My husband and I have had a home based business for 20 years.
    Just like any business, we have to have cash flow.
    In one day, you can be meeting a potential client to fulfill a service
    by a deadline while fulfilling another promised service
    in the 8 hour time period
    and responding to enquires with quotes over the internet.
    At all times, you have to be a marketer, salesperson and service provider.
    That is common to any business, homebased or otherwise,
    if you don’t have the cashflow needed for your business,
    you will get into serious trouble.

    #1 Priority for Any Business is Creating the Cash Flow!
    For more go to http://boahb.com on how to start run and grow a home business!

    Categories: Run a Home Business Tags: Tags: , , , ,

    What Is The Biggest Obstacle You Face When Starting A Home Business?

    So you want to start a home business?

    When you look at starting a home business as a new entrepreneur, you look at all the things you need to do to get started.

    Website

    Sales Pages

    Traffic

    Product creation

    Design graphics

    Social media

    Funnels – what are funnels?!

    All the other requirements like taxes, books, government regulations and so on ..

    All you want to do is find the customers who need your solution to their problem or what they desire…..

    All the equipment or technology you need to create a functioning business can seem like the biggest obstacle to starting a home business but it is not the biggest obstacle.

    The biggest obstacle to starting a home business is YOU!

    Paralysis

    Your brain will get overwhelmed by all the “things” you have to do in your business.

    Your Mind is powerful and it is great at collecting knowledge from here, there and everywhere.

    But that can be overwhelming and cause “Paralysis Analysis.”  You will become overwhelmed by all the information and get STUCK. What should I do next?!

    Well… take a deep breath ..and make a step by step checklist of what you need to do and cross it off as you do it.

    Perfectionism

    Don’t try to be Perfect.

    Perfectionism can also cause paralysis in terms of “waiting” till I get this done and it takes longer than you thought and suddenly, it has been three months of you trying to perfect a sales page.

    Imperfect Action is better than no Action.

    Perfect is unattainable so don’t even try for Perfect. Just Perfect Enough to get moving!

    The Next Best Thing

    There is no quick way to make money with a home business. It is about building a business that has systems in it to keep the cash flowing. So always following the newest idea on how to make the cash flow will get you into chasing the quick money instead of a business. It is called the “Bright Shiny Object” syndrome and the promise of the “NEW” has always moved people to buy but you don’t want to move “off your path” chasing rainbows, you want to be focused on a path to your business such that you can see how it works.

    The Business of At Home Business Membership

    As an entrepreneur working in home business, I have (and still know) known the challenges of being in home business so I have developed a Membership to help others get their home business started quicker and easier.

    Check it out at  The Business of At Home Business here.

    Categories: Be Your Own Boss, Knowledge, Mindset, Run a Home Business Tags: Tags: , , , , ,

    5 Steps to An Online Business

     

     

     

     

    Today we’re going to be talking about systems again because you need systems in your business in order to save time and save you money and ,  of course,  give you the time to go out and get more money!

    So,  we’re going to talk today about the five steps to have an online business and we’re going to be talking about one step at a time.

     

     

    So, today we’re going to be talking about your Web site. Basically,  there are five basic steps to getting an online business on the Internet.

    1. The first step is to get a hub on the Internet. So,  to get your web site to have a place for your visitors to come and have a place for your clients to come and have a place for people to contact you.
    2. Then the second step is to get video and audio storage and product storage which is separate from your Web site. This will be the place that you will connect to process any sales. Obviously this is where you keep your product or and where you keep your messaging.
    3. Then you have the collection system which will collect your leads which will then become clients as long as you continue to contact them on a regular basis.
    4. The fourth step is to get a sales system set up in your business. This sale system will be connected to your Web site.
    5. Then the fifth step is to get a marketing system to send your prospects to your Web site.

     

    So those are the five basic steps for getting a system that will collect yearly to  engage your visitors and keep a place for you to have your product and store your videos and ideas you might need for your website and keep it separate from your web site so that if your Web site goes down or your video and audio product isn’t lost now.

    Four Things you Need to Have for a Website

    You will need to invest in some software tools to make the system work on its own of course. However,  there are some free software and tools that you can use as well.

    You can get a hub on the  Internet which is your Web site. For that,  you, of course,  you need a domain name which we’ll talk about in a minute. You need hosting for your web site and then you need a WordPress Web site is my preference as it is easy to use. Then you need an SSL secure certificate which I think it says will talk about this in a minute.

    But first of all, lets  talk about your dream team now.

    Your domain name is basically a name that is registered on the Internet which is the identifier for your Internet address. So, on the Internet you have internet hosting and Internet domain providers who give you what is called an IP address of say 1 9 2 1 6 8 45 23 but then it becomes identified to a domain which makes it much easier for people to connect with you.

    So, you need to get domain name.

    Of course,  I have a small story on that  as when I went to pick the name The business of home business,  Google was ranking according to keywords and at home business was a lower ranking key word than Home Based Business or entrepreneur et cetera. So,  it was available. The business at home business but you know obviously home business is a very competitive domain name. So,  there wasn’t any other choice. So I picked that because it was sort of like the others that were more popular like home business or home biz or home based business. But in the end, when I picked the business home business,  it was perfect. It was awkward and of course it’s a very long address but the business of our home business is my brand because I want to assist others with the foundations and business of their business while they deal with involving their vision and brand for their business.  So, my brand is who I am even though I would have been another brand.

    So what about you?

    I mean does your business name speak about who you are in your business and see if it’s available so you can reserve a domain name.  There’s various places on the Internet where you can get your name reserved. Obviously,  I’m not going to say any domain name provider is better than the other but I have a few listed here.

     

    Most of all the hosting providers will also register your domain name or get registered and then you need to get hosting as I mentioned before because you need a place in your house. This is going to have your Web site hosted on a host business. So,  for example go daddy and hostgator and  blue host,  they are all hosting providers and they put your information into a website location.

    They give you a location on their servers on the Internet and then you point your domain name to that location on their server and that becomes your Web site.

    So you need hosting.

    Then, of course , as I mentioned you need to get a WordPress Web site because I know there’s other platforms but WordPress software is free. It’s easy to learn and is very flexible in how you use it. I mean even a newbie person can work with WordPress once they learn the basics so you need as a solopreneur,  you need to be in control of your own assets.

    Now  some web design,  you can make quick and simple edits to your Web site and you don’t have to wait for your web designer. So that is why I recommend WordPress because I know it sounds intimidating but it actually is very easy to use.

    Then the last thing which has become so important because it’s actually required by almost all Web sites now and is in fact you can get free certificates. It’s called an SSL secure certificate,  a secure socket layer certificate which proves to Google search that your web site is safe and also to your visitors will feel more comfortable about entering their credit card number on your Web site.

    So, if you don’t have an SSL certificate then sometimes Google will put a big red mark through your domain name when someone is searching for it to say I’m not sure this is secure and you want to really get go there and of course you want your visitors to come anytime.

    So if it’s so easy to get a free SSL certificate I would certainly recommend it.

     

    So those are the four things that you need to get for your Web site set up.

     

    So,  in your business you need to have systems.

    You can have five systems in your business.

     

    1. You have a Web site system.
    2. You have your sale system you have your payment system.
    3. You have your storage system.
    4. You have a collection system to collect leads and customers.
    5. Your marketing system to send your prospects onto your Web site.

    We’ll talk about the other systems in a later post but for now, join The Business of At Home Business to get your online business up quick with systems to make a lifestyle business!

     

     

    Categories: Be Your Own Boss Tags: Tags: , , ,

    Social Media can be #1 Time Waster when starting a Home Business

     

     

     

    “Get on Facebook.” “Find your fans on Twitter.” “Do a livestream on Instagram Stories”

    You need to get out onto the Internet to connect with your potential customers. But when starting a home business online there are so many systems to have in place and time spent that you need to be strategic with your time.  There are only 24 hours in a day and you need to sleep for some of that time.

    Social media marketing is the #1 time waster when you are starting a home business. It is easy to spend hours checking out cat pictures or entering discussions on what is your favourite 1980’s song.

    Your #1 priority when starting your home business is “What get’s you closer to your money.”

    What can you do in the next half hour that attracts a potential customer to your product or service or creates the newest sales page?
     

     

     

     

     

     

    The more focused you are on getting the sale every minute of the day, the less likely you will go down that time wasting vortex that is social media.

    How to do social media in your business

    Connecting and posting on social media can attract your ideal customers but do it strategically.  Create a Marketing Plan  just for social media so you can take an hour or two on one day to create your messages and set them up to broadcast when your potential audience is on their favourite social media channel and monitor so you can interact and comment if needed with audience.

     

    To learn more about how to create a marketing plan and set up systems in your new business, join The Business of At Home Business membership where you can be productive with your time getting skills and  strategy of being online to save you time and money when setting up your home business.

    Categories: Be Your Own Boss Tags: Tags: , , ,