The Know Insider Weblog

May 30, 2008

Charting Out Your Online Business Plan

Charting and carrying your business plan is essential to ensure the success of your Online Business every time you start. A well-charted business plan assists you a well-organized approach towards achieving your goal.

Your business plan is very similar to a treasure map which without it, you would not be able to find your way to obtaining your rewards from running an Online Business.

Your Online Business plan should have the following charted out before executing them in action:

Business Mission

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This is the most important component of your business regardless of any kind. It must have a genuine mission to help other people in one way or another. If you engaged in a business solely for the money, you will need a lot of tough luck.

As customers or consumers ourselves, we do not like to be involved with people who are solely looking into our pockets without even a little responsibility in customer service. Agree? Certainly! On the same token, let us not engage business solely to make money. There are more wonderful reasons to be in business besides the attractive potential income one could make.

Very often, your business mission should always be summarized in a sentence easy to remember and follow by. The sentence should summarize the aim of your Online Business and the reason it was built.

Objectives

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When you have summarized your business mission, what follow are the objectives of your Online Business. What do you and maybe your partners or employees want to accomplish through this business? What are the products or services is your business going to offer to the people who are in need of them?

Marketing

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First, you need to identify your target market. Just who do you want to market your product or service to? Remember that if you do not have a market, you do not have a business. You must be able to identify your potential customers who will be interested in what you have to offer through your business.

You must also identify your competitor. Who are the people who have already accomplished what you want to do? What are they offering? How are their products and services priced? How is their website designed?

The more competition you have, the more unique you will have to be. You can also beat your competition by increasing the quality of your customer service.

Now, each time we hear the word competitor, we subconsciously interpret that word as something negative. The truth is we do not necessarily have to destroy or outsmart another Online Business owner in order to win financially.

Have you heard of the saying “I destroy my enemies by making friends”? There is a lot of truth in this quote. In the 21st century, people succeed by having win-win agreements and you are encouraged to do the same. As an Online Business owner just starting out, you can reduce your competition by being friendly. Yes, be friendly!

I know it might sound awkward to you if you have been spending most of the time in your life fighting to secure prestigious posts in school clubs or impressing your boss to give you a raise or promotion and make your colleagues envy you. But imagine the number of competition you can reduce just by establishing Joint Ventures, interviews or even giving some kind words on the forum!

I have explained a great length about identifying your competitors. Now, let us discuss your plans on advertising. So how do you plan to advertise?

When you set up your Online Business website, you need people on the Internet to know that you are in business. The first step is to always submit your website to search engines.

There are many Internet Marketers who spend most of their time trying to top the search engine listing, but in my humble opinion, it is a battle not worth continuing. With many books published to tell everyone how to be number one on the search engines, you are obviously not the only one who wants to secure the top listings on search engines (that is even if you know how!).

The good news is that there are several more ways to market your product or service effectively even without the help of search engines. You can easily research for ways to market your product or service in detail from other friendly articles on Internet Marketing.

Product

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There are three aspects you will need to consider at the start of your Online Business:

[1] Price - take the time to select your product price carefully. If you price it too low, people will perceive that it is too low on quality. If you price it too high, people will perceive that it is too expensive.

[2] Delivery - if you are selling a physical product, how would you deliver the product to your customers? What shipping prices will you charge? If you are selling an electronic product, you will need to have security measures in place and automate the delivery process for instant download by your customers.

[3] Payment - you can choose some of the common credit card payment processors below:

www.2checkout.com

www.clickbank.com

www.paypal.com

www.ibill.com

www.stormpay.com

Plan each step carefully and explore your options in full. Then, carry your plans out religiously, improve where needed, and you will be well on your way achieving your Online Business goals!

Copyright © Edmund Loh

EzineArticles Expert Author Edmund Loh

About the Author:
Edmund Loh is the author of the E-Biz Wiz Blog and Starting An Internet Business Special Report. Visit E-Biz Wiz Blog for proven ideas, tips and information on starting your own Internet Business and subscribe to the 12 Day Internet Marketing Success Course at http://ebizmodelsyoucancopy.blogspot.com

Filed under: Economy — Admin @ 2:43 pm

May 28, 2008

Top Tips For Investing Into Land

Expand your network.

Landlords who have had more experience are knowledgeable when it comes to finding properties. They usually: check out repossessions, run ads in newspapers, or work with estate agents. To gain contacts, many landlords suggest that investors join a local property owner’s organization.

Another way is to get in touch with landlords directly to see if they are selling their properties. You can also call the numbers posted on rental ads in the newspapers. If you’re willing, you can also comb neighborhoods with your eyes on the “for rent” signs.

Make sure your finances are robust.

If you have good credit, low credit card and consumer debt, it is more likely that you can get yourself a loan at a decent rate. When you buy rental property, a lender will require that you make bigger down payments and pay higher interest rates compared to a loan on your own home. This is because there is a higher percentage of investment property owners that default compared to homeowners.

A lot of landlords also suggest that there should be a sufficient amount of cash reserve at hand even after buying a property. This will be useful in times of vacancy and whenever there are unexpected repairs to be done. You should also make sure that you can save enough for your retirement needs and other life goals before you invest in rental property.

While not all property markets are the same, the key is to ensure that the rental income will include expenses, such as mortgage payments on the property, maintenance and repairs, vacancy rate, taxes and insurance. If you want to get a better estimate of your costs you should get a detailed inspection before you buy any property.

For More information please contact Nigel Walter of Connaught AM

Filed under: Economy, Finance Resources — Admin @ 5:37 am

May 18, 2008

Are You Scared to Start a Home Based Business?

Every year more and more people are working from home, starting
their own businesses. Men and women, even teenagers are starting
their own home business ventures. In the last ten years
work-at-home businesses have tripled, according to statistics. I
think it’s probably more than that actually. Just look at how
many people make a living selling things on EBay!

It’s no wonder really why so many people want to work at home
and there are a vast amount of good reasons why.

The costs of traveling, including vehicle maintenance, the cost
of gas, child-care, and dry-cleaning, are just a few good
reasons why it’s cheaper to stay home and work, right?!

Not having to answer to a boss or a supervisor is another great
reason too. Being able to set your own hours and work when you
want to work is a definite plus as well.

Some people can’t see how they are going to do it though. I
mean, how are you going to give up work and replace that income
and not worry about how you are going to pay the bills? It’s
impossible, right? — Wrong! — It’s not impossible, and it will
take some hard work at first, and some extra working hours, but
you can do it if you want to badly enough.

Choose a business that will allow you to work in your spare-time
and keep your job, and you have eliminated the risks. This is
not possible in all circumstances, but for the small business
person, it’s the ideal way to go. If this is not possible, make
sure you set aside enough income to live on while you get your
business established.

There’s going to be some sacrifice in the short term, such as
working extra hours in the week building your business. But
those kind of sacrifices will still allow you to sleep at night
and not put you in the poor house, thereby increasing your
chances of success!

A lot of people do some “side work, or extra work” at first to
gain customers or to save up some extra cash to start a business
or pay for inventory. I know one mechanic who did some evening
and weekend work so he could save enough money to buy his own
tools and work out of his garage at home, for himself. Now that
garage has grown into two workshops in his back yard and he
employs another mechanic to help him out.

I have two friends who do the home parties. One lady sells Mary
Kay and the other lady sells candles. Both are quite successful.
The lady who sells the candles has only been doing so for just
over eighteen months and her income exceeds $50,000 per year.
Once you have the vision of working from home, you will find a
way to make it happen.

You need DISCIPLINE AND MOTIVATION. That’s as important as your
business idea. You need to be a go-getter kind of person to have
your own business. You need to be willing to get things off the
ground yourself, and often willing to work for no financial
return at first, or very little financial return. It helps to
have vision; you have to sow the seeds to see the flowers.
Overnight success is quite rare.

You can help yourself stay motivated by making a “to do list”,
and “working your business” every day in some small or big way.
It doesn’t really matter as long as you have a “plan” and keep
chipping away at it until it happens. You hear people say all
the time that you need to set your goals, well that’s great
advice, and a “to do list” will enable you to cross off things
as you work through them, giving you a feeling of accomplishment
as well.

If you really have the dream of working for yourself out of your
home, it is possible, you just have to be determined to find a
way to do it. Millions of people are realizing this dream, - you
can make it happen for you too!

Filed under: Economy — Admin @ 4:57 pm
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