Your business website is only as good as its content and its usability. Without a well-thought out design and plan, your site is not likely to generate sales for you and your site will be just another one of millions. It needs to give you an identity which is unique in its own field.
So what should your business website have to make sure that you get noticed, generate new business and enhance customer brand awareness?
Well of course you need to make sure that it’s aesthetically pleasing and that you think about colours, layout and so on. But there are other essentials which people fail to acknowledge and we have listed some of them here. Without them, your website could create a negative experience for visitors and fail to give you the return on your investment that you are looking for. They are not complicated essentials and they are by no means rocket science but they are, nonetheless, important.
Contact details and map
How is anyone going to find you if you haven’t put your contact details on there? You need your name, your address, a telephone number and an email address. People won’t spend hours looking for you and trying to trace you – they’ll just go elsewhere and find another site. It sounds basic but make sure you have these details on your site and that they are clearly visible from the home page as well as other pages.
Having a map of where you are gives customers peace of mind that you actually do exist and that they can find directions to you using a postcode search, perhaps on Google.
A ‘contact us’ form
Give customers a chance to contact you in their own time and from the comfort of their own computer. These forms mean that they can fill out a simple form with questions they may have and you can either call or email them back. Plus it saves them the cost of a phone call. Please ensure that you do respond - sounds obvious but it’s essential!
Photos and videos
Make sure you add a photo of you and your team if you have one. No it’s not being vain! It means that people can see who you are and it assures them that you are real! The more ‘authenticity’ and ‘reality’ you apply to your website, the more drawn in people become and the more they are likely to think that you are a genuine business which has its customers in mind.
Using relevant video footage can add a three-dimensional look to your site and is just another way to show people that you are real and that you understand their needs.
Newsletters and sign up facilities
Newsletters are a very important part of any business, particularly if you’re a new business. Sending out regular newsletters is a way to involve your potential audience. Allow them to sign up and opt out of your newsletters and you can then draw them in with a capturing, well-written letter on a regular basis.
Customer feedback and testimonials
One of the most powerful selling tools comes from word of mouth from others. If potential customers can see that others have used you and were happy, they are more likely to use you themselves. The feedback and testimonials will ‘speak’ directly to your audience and add yet another dimension. And don’t make them up! Make sure you get genuine feedback which can be accounted for.
Email to a friend button
Allow your visitors the chance to email the link to your site to a friend. What better way to get noticed than if someone else says to their friend “hey look what I found”? It can save you a lot of effort in getting the message out there.
Social bookmarking buttons
Social bookmarks are public web pages which allow you to list the links to all your favourite websites. They are a way for customers to tell others about you and that they like you. There are countless social bookmarking sites out there now and can be found with a quick Google search.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn links etc.
Again, it’s all about bringing the personal touch into your website and giving people the chance to ‘interact’ with you. These links will mean that your visitors can tell their friends about you and share your website link with others on their own Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages (to mention just a few). It’s all about networking and having a presence. Gaining brand recognition; being noticed and being recognised.
Blog
Give people the chance to see what you have been up to and what you have to say. Using your own blog can be a great way to enhance SEO for your site and introduce regular new content which the search engines love. It keeps your site current and fresh. It adds another dimension to your site and shows people that you are interested in them. It can include a range of topics which can promote discussions and further interest in your site.
A completed site
An incomplete site will mean that people think you are either not trading or that you are not a very reliable business. Make sure that all page are completed and that your site has credibility. Using a website builder makes this process much easier and there is online help available.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Monday, 11 January 2010
Thursday, 7 January 2010
How to create a website for your beauty salon
So you can cut and colour people’s hair, exfoliate skin and make women beautiful but you also need a website that’s cutting edge and manicured to perfection so that it will draw in those customers and generate business for you.
Your website can contribute to the marketing mix of the common Four Ps – price, place, product and promotion. You can proportion these elements as you see fit in your website, depending upon what you want from the final outcome.
So let’s get down to business on how to create that perfect website for your beauty salon and get those customers queuing up around the block.
1. First of all, get yourself a website builder. There are many of them out there online and they offer a range of free options, with additional add ons. The website creator tool will allow you to create your own professional looking website within moments and you will be part of the World Wide Web, selling your wares to an audience as big as you want it to be. Update it anytime you need to and make sure you tell people where to find you. Be visible!
2. You’ll want to include in your website a ‘products and prices’ page so that your customers know how much you will charge them before they book with you. And make sure you’ve done your homework so that your prices are competitive. Maybe offer something unique – a few specials. Keep this page up to date as paying customers will hold you to it!
3. Including some positive video footage of staff at work in your salon would be a useful addition to one of your web pages so that potential customers can interact with your site and see for themselves the look and feel of your boutique and what they can expect from the whole beauty experience. Show them how special they could feel if they came to your salon.
4. Your website may also want to include testimonials and customer reviews. This could be an area where they can leave feedback about the service they received from you. You can monitor it to make sure that nothing untoward is posted and the positive feedback will be a great referral marketing tool for future custom.
5. A gallery – now what could be better for a salon website than photos of what you can offer in terms of treatments and so on? Pictures of happy clients or even models showing off your fantastic expertise. This could turn out to be your main seller and visual aids are always more effective for this sort of service than walls of text. Splash them with lots of colours that capture the essence of relaxation and all things beautiful.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
Your website can contribute to the marketing mix of the common Four Ps – price, place, product and promotion. You can proportion these elements as you see fit in your website, depending upon what you want from the final outcome.
So let’s get down to business on how to create that perfect website for your beauty salon and get those customers queuing up around the block.
1. First of all, get yourself a website builder. There are many of them out there online and they offer a range of free options, with additional add ons. The website creator tool will allow you to create your own professional looking website within moments and you will be part of the World Wide Web, selling your wares to an audience as big as you want it to be. Update it anytime you need to and make sure you tell people where to find you. Be visible!
2. You’ll want to include in your website a ‘products and prices’ page so that your customers know how much you will charge them before they book with you. And make sure you’ve done your homework so that your prices are competitive. Maybe offer something unique – a few specials. Keep this page up to date as paying customers will hold you to it!
3. Including some positive video footage of staff at work in your salon would be a useful addition to one of your web pages so that potential customers can interact with your site and see for themselves the look and feel of your boutique and what they can expect from the whole beauty experience. Show them how special they could feel if they came to your salon.
4. Your website may also want to include testimonials and customer reviews. This could be an area where they can leave feedback about the service they received from you. You can monitor it to make sure that nothing untoward is posted and the positive feedback will be a great referral marketing tool for future custom.
5. A gallery – now what could be better for a salon website than photos of what you can offer in terms of treatments and so on? Pictures of happy clients or even models showing off your fantastic expertise. This could turn out to be your main seller and visual aids are always more effective for this sort of service than walls of text. Splash them with lots of colours that capture the essence of relaxation and all things beautiful.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
How to create a website for your Vacation Rental
Trying to sell your vacation rentals in the old fashioned way? Don’t just do it in the directory – do it online with your own professional-looking website.
OK so you need to compete out there with the big fish when it comes to selling your vacation rentals. You need to build yourself a website.
There are many free website creators and builders out there which you can register with free of charge. You can be up and running within no time and you can then tell the world about who you are and where you are. Creating your own website has never been so easy and it is possible to create something very simple but incredibly effective.
Once you have the hang of your new website, you will want to amend it at regular intervals to keep it fresh. You should consider using search engine optimization techniques (SEO) which will drive traffic to your site – these could include the use of keywords in your site content, writing and posting short articles elsewhere on the web which are keyword rich and generic but point towards what your company is offering, and so on. SEO is quite a specialist field these days and so you should do your homework about it when building your site, although a lot of website builder packages come with the offer of SEO assistance. It’s not difficult – it just needs some thought.
So here’s what you should think about when trying to build your website specifically for your vacation rental business:
1. The website creator means that you have total control of building your own site in very easy steps with ready-made tools built in for ease. Update it anytime you need to, from anywhere there is internet access, and make sure you tell people where to find you. Use your site to say “this is who we are, this is what we offer and this is where you can find us”. Get your name, address and contact number on the home page and on all pages of your site.
2. Build yourself a gallery page. It’s really easy to do and the use of pictures of happy clients is always a winner. Visual aids are always more effective for this sort of service than walls of text because people want to see for themselves what they are paying for. Splash them with lots of colours that capture the essence of vacations, relaxation and fun for everyone!
3. You’ll want to include in your website a ‘vacation sites and property type’ page, with prices included, so that your customers know what types of rentals you are offering and for how much. Keep this page up to date at all times as paying customers will hold you to it! As with any tourist, they’ll be looking for the cheapest deal and will want to see what amazing offers you have so consider a ‘special deals’ page as well.
4. Including some positive video footage of, let’s say, a tour around some of your properties gives potential customers the chance to interact with your site and see for themselves the look and feel of your rentals. Show them what they will get for their money and why they should come to you. Interaction within any website gets a positive response because people want instant gratification and they feel drawn in by moving visuals.
5. Your website should also include testimonials and customer reviews. This could be an area where customers can leave feedback about the service they received from you or about one of your properties in particular. The positive feedback will be a great referral marketing tool for future custom.
Use the directory as well if you want to for more local tourism but to reach a wider audience, the internet is the only place to be!
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
OK so you need to compete out there with the big fish when it comes to selling your vacation rentals. You need to build yourself a website.
There are many free website creators and builders out there which you can register with free of charge. You can be up and running within no time and you can then tell the world about who you are and where you are. Creating your own website has never been so easy and it is possible to create something very simple but incredibly effective.
Once you have the hang of your new website, you will want to amend it at regular intervals to keep it fresh. You should consider using search engine optimization techniques (SEO) which will drive traffic to your site – these could include the use of keywords in your site content, writing and posting short articles elsewhere on the web which are keyword rich and generic but point towards what your company is offering, and so on. SEO is quite a specialist field these days and so you should do your homework about it when building your site, although a lot of website builder packages come with the offer of SEO assistance. It’s not difficult – it just needs some thought.
So here’s what you should think about when trying to build your website specifically for your vacation rental business:
1. The website creator means that you have total control of building your own site in very easy steps with ready-made tools built in for ease. Update it anytime you need to, from anywhere there is internet access, and make sure you tell people where to find you. Use your site to say “this is who we are, this is what we offer and this is where you can find us”. Get your name, address and contact number on the home page and on all pages of your site.
2. Build yourself a gallery page. It’s really easy to do and the use of pictures of happy clients is always a winner. Visual aids are always more effective for this sort of service than walls of text because people want to see for themselves what they are paying for. Splash them with lots of colours that capture the essence of vacations, relaxation and fun for everyone!
3. You’ll want to include in your website a ‘vacation sites and property type’ page, with prices included, so that your customers know what types of rentals you are offering and for how much. Keep this page up to date at all times as paying customers will hold you to it! As with any tourist, they’ll be looking for the cheapest deal and will want to see what amazing offers you have so consider a ‘special deals’ page as well.
4. Including some positive video footage of, let’s say, a tour around some of your properties gives potential customers the chance to interact with your site and see for themselves the look and feel of your rentals. Show them what they will get for their money and why they should come to you. Interaction within any website gets a positive response because people want instant gratification and they feel drawn in by moving visuals.
5. Your website should also include testimonials and customer reviews. This could be an area where customers can leave feedback about the service they received from you or about one of your properties in particular. The positive feedback will be a great referral marketing tool for future custom.
Use the directory as well if you want to for more local tourism but to reach a wider audience, the internet is the only place to be!
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
Thursday, 31 December 2009
The importance of business failure
Some of the world’s most successful business men and women have not made it on their first attempt you know. Some of them have had to fail on more than one occasion before they have made it to the big time.
Success comes in all shapes and sizes and there is an element of luck involved with any success story – right place, right time and all of that. No one who has ever made a success of their lives would ever tell you that they have had an easy ride all the way there and that they didn’t have some failure.
Failure is as much a part of success as the end product is – without failure, and an element of reality, we can never understand what it is truly like to be successful. Some of the biggest and wealthiest entrepreneurs have had to pick themselves up from failure before they finally made it.
Mr James Dyson for example – he built over 5,000 prototypes of his revolutionary hoover before it could be marketed! And now, the Dyson hoover is a household name and everyone wants one! There must have been times when he wanted to give up but he didn’t. He understood that it was not going to work without effort and some set backs.
The late Anita Roddick – the founder of The Body Shop. She had several failed attempts at business before she launched the world-famous Body Shop brand which is also a household name.
Even the world-famous Simon Cowell went bankrupt in his 30s when he invested in his employer’s firm and it went bust – he claimed he had just £3 in his pocket but he built it all back up again. This experience will have made him more business savvy and a lot cannier.
Having been through the bad times, it makes you stronger and it helps you to see where you are going wrong, where you need to focus and it builds your character. You need to be pretty tough skinned to be in business and you will need to learn how to take criticism and deal with setbacks.
Life is, as they say, one long learning curve and this is so true. The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know. Every day, we learn something new and we learn from our mistakes. To error is human.
If you know what it is to have failed, then you will have an advantage over those who have only ever had it easy. You will be stronger for it and will be able to use your experiences to enhance your strengths.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
Success comes in all shapes and sizes and there is an element of luck involved with any success story – right place, right time and all of that. No one who has ever made a success of their lives would ever tell you that they have had an easy ride all the way there and that they didn’t have some failure.
Failure is as much a part of success as the end product is – without failure, and an element of reality, we can never understand what it is truly like to be successful. Some of the biggest and wealthiest entrepreneurs have had to pick themselves up from failure before they finally made it.
Mr James Dyson for example – he built over 5,000 prototypes of his revolutionary hoover before it could be marketed! And now, the Dyson hoover is a household name and everyone wants one! There must have been times when he wanted to give up but he didn’t. He understood that it was not going to work without effort and some set backs.
The late Anita Roddick – the founder of The Body Shop. She had several failed attempts at business before she launched the world-famous Body Shop brand which is also a household name.
Even the world-famous Simon Cowell went bankrupt in his 30s when he invested in his employer’s firm and it went bust – he claimed he had just £3 in his pocket but he built it all back up again. This experience will have made him more business savvy and a lot cannier.
Having been through the bad times, it makes you stronger and it helps you to see where you are going wrong, where you need to focus and it builds your character. You need to be pretty tough skinned to be in business and you will need to learn how to take criticism and deal with setbacks.
Life is, as they say, one long learning curve and this is so true. The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know. Every day, we learn something new and we learn from our mistakes. To error is human.
If you know what it is to have failed, then you will have an advantage over those who have only ever had it easy. You will be stronger for it and will be able to use your experiences to enhance your strengths.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
Is my business successful?
So you dreamed about having your own business and being the master of your own destiny. But why do you want these things? What do you believe will follow from being a successful business person?
How do you know whether or when your business has become successful? What factors determine this success and how can you measure it?
Some people would argue that success means money. Some would say that, unless you never have to check your bank account again before you buy anything, you are not successful. Money, material things and a certain type of lifestyle are what some would say are the measures of true success.
Some, on the other hand, would argue that success can be measured in many different ways and what makes one person happy does not necessarily make another happy. There are those who would love to be millionaires and there are those who are already millionaires but have not yet found ‘happiness’.
There are indeed many very wealthy people around but many of them seem yet to be looking for happiness. So it could be argued, therefore, that money does not make you happy.
Success of your business to you may mean that you now have a comfortable lifestyle. It may mean that you have managed to design and sell a certain product which has given you brand recognition for something that you have a passion for. It may mean that you are reaching people who you always wanted to reach. Success for you may mean that you have managed to help someone and make a difference to their lives through your business.
Whatever success means to each of us, there is no doubt that society tends to measure success in terms of the car that we drive, the house that we live in and the clothes that we wear. Others judge us by our covers whether they admit it or not, and so we strive to be what other people want us to be in order to fit in. It follows, therefore, that we start to measure our own success by the car that we drive, the house that we live in and the clothes that we wear – which can be a dangerous game to get in to.
So what makes a successful business in general terms? Is it one which is turning over millions; is it one which has become a household name; is it one which is turning over steadily each year and surviving the economic climate; is it one that has grown and has employed lots of staff; is it one which stays small but provides excellent service to its regular customers?
Whatever form success comes in, it is clear that it means different things to different people and it becomes ‘horses for courses’. A company could make millions but, in the process of doing so, makes thousands of people redundant and breaks every moral code in the business – or a company could make just a few thousand each year but that few thousand has allowed its owner to provide a better lifestyle for his or her family.
How do you measure your own success?
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
How do you know whether or when your business has become successful? What factors determine this success and how can you measure it?
Some people would argue that success means money. Some would say that, unless you never have to check your bank account again before you buy anything, you are not successful. Money, material things and a certain type of lifestyle are what some would say are the measures of true success.
Some, on the other hand, would argue that success can be measured in many different ways and what makes one person happy does not necessarily make another happy. There are those who would love to be millionaires and there are those who are already millionaires but have not yet found ‘happiness’.
There are indeed many very wealthy people around but many of them seem yet to be looking for happiness. So it could be argued, therefore, that money does not make you happy.
Success of your business to you may mean that you now have a comfortable lifestyle. It may mean that you have managed to design and sell a certain product which has given you brand recognition for something that you have a passion for. It may mean that you are reaching people who you always wanted to reach. Success for you may mean that you have managed to help someone and make a difference to their lives through your business.
Whatever success means to each of us, there is no doubt that society tends to measure success in terms of the car that we drive, the house that we live in and the clothes that we wear. Others judge us by our covers whether they admit it or not, and so we strive to be what other people want us to be in order to fit in. It follows, therefore, that we start to measure our own success by the car that we drive, the house that we live in and the clothes that we wear – which can be a dangerous game to get in to.
So what makes a successful business in general terms? Is it one which is turning over millions; is it one which has become a household name; is it one which is turning over steadily each year and surviving the economic climate; is it one that has grown and has employed lots of staff; is it one which stays small but provides excellent service to its regular customers?
Whatever form success comes in, it is clear that it means different things to different people and it becomes ‘horses for courses’. A company could make millions but, in the process of doing so, makes thousands of people redundant and breaks every moral code in the business – or a company could make just a few thousand each year but that few thousand has allowed its owner to provide a better lifestyle for his or her family.
How do you measure your own success?
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - EzWeb123.com
Saturday, 26 December 2009
What Is Google Analytics?
Google analytics is a free web-based service which gives you up-to-the minute website traffic statistics and marketing effectiveness figures. So how can it be helpful to a website owner?
Well, you’ve set up your website but how do you know who has visited it and how effective it is? It may look good to you and your mum will have told you that it looks lovely – but as a business tool, is it working and having the desired effect of bringing in customers and getting you noticed? That’s where Google analytics comes in handy.
The analytics will allow you to see who is viewing your site (and sometimes where they are based in the world), so again you can see whether there are any trends or patterns around who is most likely to hit upon your site and for how long they visited each time. It will also tell you which pages they viewed so you can see which are the most popular and which pages are perhaps not working for you.
You can set up email campaigns which are targeted at your chosen audience and then Google will tell you who has opened them, read them and how many ‘click-throughs’ to your own website you’ve had on the back of them. This enables you to revise your campaigns as you go along so that you know exactly where your marketing tactics need to be improved.
Like any other web tool, it’s relatively easy to set up and use but there are also add ons which you can select if you want to get really involved. It can actually become quite addictive!
On the back of your statistics, you may decide to revise your website completely or just target specific areas which you feel need to bring in the customer further. You will soon get a feel for which bits are working and which aren’t.
You can set up Google analytics to work in conjunction with other Google money-making sites such as Google Adwords, Adsense and so on. Additionally, this allows you to improve your return on investment (ROI) for the business and you can determine which visits to your websites are converting into sales for you – this is a huge enhancement and a very useful tool for any business person. Website hits are all very well and good but we want them converted into referrals and ultimately cash.
So if you’re a natural ‘curtain-twitcher’ and can’t resist wondering what others are up to, then Google analytics is for you and your website! It’s not spyware because it can’t pinpoint who your customers are and where they live exactly – but it can tell you how popular your website is and who is bothering to read your email blasts. Watch those campaigns turn into hits and your hits turn into cash.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder - EzWeb123.com
Well, you’ve set up your website but how do you know who has visited it and how effective it is? It may look good to you and your mum will have told you that it looks lovely – but as a business tool, is it working and having the desired effect of bringing in customers and getting you noticed? That’s where Google analytics comes in handy.
The analytics will allow you to see who is viewing your site (and sometimes where they are based in the world), so again you can see whether there are any trends or patterns around who is most likely to hit upon your site and for how long they visited each time. It will also tell you which pages they viewed so you can see which are the most popular and which pages are perhaps not working for you.
You can set up email campaigns which are targeted at your chosen audience and then Google will tell you who has opened them, read them and how many ‘click-throughs’ to your own website you’ve had on the back of them. This enables you to revise your campaigns as you go along so that you know exactly where your marketing tactics need to be improved.
Like any other web tool, it’s relatively easy to set up and use but there are also add ons which you can select if you want to get really involved. It can actually become quite addictive!
On the back of your statistics, you may decide to revise your website completely or just target specific areas which you feel need to bring in the customer further. You will soon get a feel for which bits are working and which aren’t.
You can set up Google analytics to work in conjunction with other Google money-making sites such as Google Adwords, Adsense and so on. Additionally, this allows you to improve your return on investment (ROI) for the business and you can determine which visits to your websites are converting into sales for you – this is a huge enhancement and a very useful tool for any business person. Website hits are all very well and good but we want them converted into referrals and ultimately cash.
So if you’re a natural ‘curtain-twitcher’ and can’t resist wondering what others are up to, then Google analytics is for you and your website! It’s not spyware because it can’t pinpoint who your customers are and where they live exactly – but it can tell you how popular your website is and who is bothering to read your email blasts. Watch those campaigns turn into hits and your hits turn into cash.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder - EzWeb123.com
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
The Pros and Cons of Business Partnerships
Being the master of your own destiny and your own empire seems like a wonderful concept. You have a business idea and you want to make it work but there may be times when you cannot do it alone. Should you look to get into bed with a business partner or is remaining a sole trader going to be more beneficial in the long run?
Going into partnership with someone requires a long thought process. Going into business with a friend requires an even longer thought process! If it doesn’t work out, you could end up losing your business and your friend. So think carefully before you consider letting someone else in on your business idea.
Of course, there are many pros to having a partner in business. In an ideal world, you can share the workload and the profits. In an ideal world, the partner will have ideas that you had not thought of and vice versa. Your business could grow more quickly with the help of another person. You can share the risks as well as the costs and benefits. You can complement one another’s skills and be there for one another to offer morale and support when times are tough.
But what if it goes wrong? Well, you don’t have total control over the business for a start. If you are the type of person who likes to control every situation, then you will need to learn to share and share alike. You will need to work as a team and think like a team with a common goal.
What if you fall out with one another? There are bound to be times when you don’t see eye to eye and you will need to be able to resolve these disputes amicably, with the best interests of the business in mind. Are you the kind of person who can do this? Maybe you need to sit down and work out whether you really are the type of person who wants to go it alone or who likes the idea of a partnership.
There will be times when one or more people in the partnership don’t appear to be pulling their weight as much as the others. This can lead to friction. People are different; people work in different ways and there is always a chance that you might end up frustrated at someone else’s lack of motivation or cooperation. Again, you need to be prepared for this and it’s a good idea to set out ‘roles’ for each partner up front so that you are all clear on where you stand and what your responsibilities are.
Do a check on your prospective partner(s) because they may not be who you think they are. If your business partner runs off, you are liable for his or her debts as well as your own. You need to make sure that you trust this person completely. Make sure you have spoken to past employers and colleagues about them and find out as much as you can about them.
Get legal help from the outset. Make sure you have a lawyer and an accountant involved and that everything is done above board and not by word of mouth and on trust.
Whatever you decide, go with your instincts but make sure that you have done your homework.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder - EzWeb123.com
Going into partnership with someone requires a long thought process. Going into business with a friend requires an even longer thought process! If it doesn’t work out, you could end up losing your business and your friend. So think carefully before you consider letting someone else in on your business idea.
Of course, there are many pros to having a partner in business. In an ideal world, you can share the workload and the profits. In an ideal world, the partner will have ideas that you had not thought of and vice versa. Your business could grow more quickly with the help of another person. You can share the risks as well as the costs and benefits. You can complement one another’s skills and be there for one another to offer morale and support when times are tough.
But what if it goes wrong? Well, you don’t have total control over the business for a start. If you are the type of person who likes to control every situation, then you will need to learn to share and share alike. You will need to work as a team and think like a team with a common goal.
What if you fall out with one another? There are bound to be times when you don’t see eye to eye and you will need to be able to resolve these disputes amicably, with the best interests of the business in mind. Are you the kind of person who can do this? Maybe you need to sit down and work out whether you really are the type of person who wants to go it alone or who likes the idea of a partnership.
There will be times when one or more people in the partnership don’t appear to be pulling their weight as much as the others. This can lead to friction. People are different; people work in different ways and there is always a chance that you might end up frustrated at someone else’s lack of motivation or cooperation. Again, you need to be prepared for this and it’s a good idea to set out ‘roles’ for each partner up front so that you are all clear on where you stand and what your responsibilities are.
Do a check on your prospective partner(s) because they may not be who you think they are. If your business partner runs off, you are liable for his or her debts as well as your own. You need to make sure that you trust this person completely. Make sure you have spoken to past employers and colleagues about them and find out as much as you can about them.
Get legal help from the outset. Make sure you have a lawyer and an accountant involved and that everything is done above board and not by word of mouth and on trust.
Whatever you decide, go with your instincts but make sure that you have done your homework.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder - EzWeb123.com
Starting a business on a shoestring
There was once a perception that only those with money could make money; that only those who had financial backing could start up their own business. Let’s have a look at why this is not the case.
Many entrepreneurs have gone on from nothing, with very little cash, to make a lot of money from their ideas. The key factors to their successes are the right idea, a good business plan and the desire to make it work. You can have all the money in the world to throw at a new business in the first instance but, if you don’t have the business savvy to make it work, then you may just be throwing money down the drain.
There are online companies that can help you to grow your business venture on a shoestring. It depends on the type of business you are hoping to run so choose your business idea carefully. Why not stick to a business in an area with which you are already familiar – stick to what you know. And if you do have to borrow, then borrow wisely and do your homework first. The last thing you want is to owe money that you can’t afford and end up losing everything you had your heart set on.
Working online is one way to keep your set-up costs down and give the impression that you are a larger business than you really are. Once you have set up a website using a free package, you can be up and running in no time, with very little money required.
Keep your costs to begin with as low as you can; be a miser, stop being a consumer for a while and learn that you cannot reap the rewards at the outset. A lot of hard work will have to come first and so you need to tighten your belt and park that idea of driving a flash car just for the time being!
Work from home; work from your garage, your kitchen and so on. Advertise in free online business directories and make the most of all free advertising opportunities that come your way. Use free stationery printing offers. Basically, get as much as you can for free! Join clubs, join online networking sites and get the word out there at no cost.
Website builders give you the option to trade online and set up an online shop (an e-commerce solution) so that your customers can buy from you any time they like. You become instantly accessible and, being part of the world wide web, you are able to grow beyond your wildest dreams if it works out.
To begin with, source out work which will allow you to get paid in cash quickly. You can’t afford to wait for 30 or 60 days before being paid if you have started your business on a shoestring. You need it now.
And once your business starts making money, then you need to put some of this aside for future growth as opposed to spending it on personal things. There will be plenty of time for this later down the line when you are raking it in! You need to think work, work, work; business, business, business and be thinking ten steps ahead.
Plough as much of your earnings back into the business as you can and watch it grow. Watch your shoestring turn into a fully fledged profitable business!
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder - EzWeb123.com
Many entrepreneurs have gone on from nothing, with very little cash, to make a lot of money from their ideas. The key factors to their successes are the right idea, a good business plan and the desire to make it work. You can have all the money in the world to throw at a new business in the first instance but, if you don’t have the business savvy to make it work, then you may just be throwing money down the drain.
There are online companies that can help you to grow your business venture on a shoestring. It depends on the type of business you are hoping to run so choose your business idea carefully. Why not stick to a business in an area with which you are already familiar – stick to what you know. And if you do have to borrow, then borrow wisely and do your homework first. The last thing you want is to owe money that you can’t afford and end up losing everything you had your heart set on.
Working online is one way to keep your set-up costs down and give the impression that you are a larger business than you really are. Once you have set up a website using a free package, you can be up and running in no time, with very little money required.
Keep your costs to begin with as low as you can; be a miser, stop being a consumer for a while and learn that you cannot reap the rewards at the outset. A lot of hard work will have to come first and so you need to tighten your belt and park that idea of driving a flash car just for the time being!
Work from home; work from your garage, your kitchen and so on. Advertise in free online business directories and make the most of all free advertising opportunities that come your way. Use free stationery printing offers. Basically, get as much as you can for free! Join clubs, join online networking sites and get the word out there at no cost.
Website builders give you the option to trade online and set up an online shop (an e-commerce solution) so that your customers can buy from you any time they like. You become instantly accessible and, being part of the world wide web, you are able to grow beyond your wildest dreams if it works out.
To begin with, source out work which will allow you to get paid in cash quickly. You can’t afford to wait for 30 or 60 days before being paid if you have started your business on a shoestring. You need it now.
And once your business starts making money, then you need to put some of this aside for future growth as opposed to spending it on personal things. There will be plenty of time for this later down the line when you are raking it in! You need to think work, work, work; business, business, business and be thinking ten steps ahead.
Plough as much of your earnings back into the business as you can and watch it grow. Watch your shoestring turn into a fully fledged profitable business!
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder - EzWeb123.com
Have you got what it takes to run your own business?
Having a dream is not enough anymore to turn it into a reality. The opportunities out there are greater than they have ever been before but do you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?
In order to turn that dream into a reality, you need to have something that sets you apart from other people. You need vision but you also need a whole host of other attributes.
Drive. This is something that will help you to start up your business but also keep you going when times aren’t always a breeze. Running any business is not an easy task; otherwise everyone would be doing it. The drive in you is what will give you the idea, give you the desire to set up your small business but then the determination to carry on and see it through.
Motivation is something that you will need in bucket loads. When all else is failing around you, when people are telling you that it won’t work and that you should get a regular job, your motivation is what will keep that fire in your belly raging.
Commitment is a word that is over-used at times but it’s one that you’ll need to think about a great deal if you want to run your own business. If you are the owner of a business, then its success relies upon one person and one person alone - and that is you. Without 110% commitment, your business is unlikely to succeed. Of course there are many extenuating circumstances which will affect how well your business will thrive but your own commitment will be the making or breaking of your venture.
The buck stops at you in this game and if you’re not prepared for that then this is not for you. You get the glory when it’s going well but boy are you going to take the stick when it isn’t going so well! People will look up to you because you’re a business owner but they will also look down on you quite quickly if you’re not true to your word.
If you’ve longed to turn a dream into a reality, then don’t let it go to waste once you have it within your grasp. Make it happen and make it succeed. You need to be the type of person who will keep their goal in mind and never let go of that goal, even when times are a challenge.
These attributes are what sets a good business person apart from someone who just does not have what it takes. Without the above in abundance then your business venture is not going to take off the ground and your dream will remain just a dream.
So what are you waiting for?
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 – EzWeb123.com
In order to turn that dream into a reality, you need to have something that sets you apart from other people. You need vision but you also need a whole host of other attributes.
Drive. This is something that will help you to start up your business but also keep you going when times aren’t always a breeze. Running any business is not an easy task; otherwise everyone would be doing it. The drive in you is what will give you the idea, give you the desire to set up your small business but then the determination to carry on and see it through.
Motivation is something that you will need in bucket loads. When all else is failing around you, when people are telling you that it won’t work and that you should get a regular job, your motivation is what will keep that fire in your belly raging.
Commitment is a word that is over-used at times but it’s one that you’ll need to think about a great deal if you want to run your own business. If you are the owner of a business, then its success relies upon one person and one person alone - and that is you. Without 110% commitment, your business is unlikely to succeed. Of course there are many extenuating circumstances which will affect how well your business will thrive but your own commitment will be the making or breaking of your venture.
The buck stops at you in this game and if you’re not prepared for that then this is not for you. You get the glory when it’s going well but boy are you going to take the stick when it isn’t going so well! People will look up to you because you’re a business owner but they will also look down on you quite quickly if you’re not true to your word.
If you’ve longed to turn a dream into a reality, then don’t let it go to waste once you have it within your grasp. Make it happen and make it succeed. You need to be the type of person who will keep their goal in mind and never let go of that goal, even when times are a challenge.
These attributes are what sets a good business person apart from someone who just does not have what it takes. Without the above in abundance then your business venture is not going to take off the ground and your dream will remain just a dream.
So what are you waiting for?
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 – EzWeb123.com
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
How to Raise Funding For A Small Business
You have your business idea ready on paper and you have researched it well, you’ve come up with a marketing strategy and you are raring to go. Just one problem…where’s all the money going to come from for the equipment that you need, the stock, the staff and so on?
If you’re lucky, you will have saved this money up and you can fund yourself. However, very often, small business ideas and ventures arise at times when you don’t have the capital to be able to invest. You might find someone to invest in your idea such as a friend or a colleague but, chances are, you might not. So how are you going to get the money?
There are all kinds of ways in which to fund a new business idea. Identifying the right finance option for your own venture is important. To attract funding of any type, you will need a thorough business plan which will come under much scrutiny. As part of any funding agreement, you will also be audited and there will be requirements for you to fulfil, such as cash flow levels and so on. You will also need to make sure that your credit rating is kept in order.
Whether you need to acquire assets, hire premises, pay for marketing, pay for staff or need, you can apply for funding, grants and loans from various sources.
You could go to the bank and ask your lovely bank manager to lend you the money in a loan agreement, with a fixed term payment. Your credit ratings will be taken into consideration and he will want to see your business plan – fair enough if he’s going to lend you the money; he needs to know whether your business will grow sufficiently to be able to pay it back. Whilst you are there, ask him if he can extend and increase an overdraft agreement on your existing bank account so that you have a buffer in which to fall.
Of course you might like to use a credit card, or more than one. Apply for a card which is offering a 0% interest rate for a fixed period and then change it when that period is over – keep doing this for as long as you can so that you are borrowing money but not actually having to pay interest back on it. Whilst an option, it is probably not the best option for financing a small business as you may run up huge debts that you are not able to afford.
There are grants out there for which you can apply that do not need to be paid back. However, the competition for these is fierce, with a strict application process and they can be quite lengthy affairs. It is worth looking into but you should also have another source from which to call upon in case the funds run out. There is also government support available for many businesses and so check with your own local governments’ websites.
Outsourcing part of your business to a third party might be a way to reduce your costs. As a start-up, you might be entitled to non-financial support in the form of free training session, business advice, marketing tools, networking events and so on. Utilise whatever free resources you can get your hands on! You may have shares to sell, other assets to sell or debts which you could restructure.
There are many ways in which to fund your business but remember to research them all well and not to put all your eggs into one basket so that you are spreading the risk.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
If you’re lucky, you will have saved this money up and you can fund yourself. However, very often, small business ideas and ventures arise at times when you don’t have the capital to be able to invest. You might find someone to invest in your idea such as a friend or a colleague but, chances are, you might not. So how are you going to get the money?
There are all kinds of ways in which to fund a new business idea. Identifying the right finance option for your own venture is important. To attract funding of any type, you will need a thorough business plan which will come under much scrutiny. As part of any funding agreement, you will also be audited and there will be requirements for you to fulfil, such as cash flow levels and so on. You will also need to make sure that your credit rating is kept in order.
Whether you need to acquire assets, hire premises, pay for marketing, pay for staff or need, you can apply for funding, grants and loans from various sources.
You could go to the bank and ask your lovely bank manager to lend you the money in a loan agreement, with a fixed term payment. Your credit ratings will be taken into consideration and he will want to see your business plan – fair enough if he’s going to lend you the money; he needs to know whether your business will grow sufficiently to be able to pay it back. Whilst you are there, ask him if he can extend and increase an overdraft agreement on your existing bank account so that you have a buffer in which to fall.
Of course you might like to use a credit card, or more than one. Apply for a card which is offering a 0% interest rate for a fixed period and then change it when that period is over – keep doing this for as long as you can so that you are borrowing money but not actually having to pay interest back on it. Whilst an option, it is probably not the best option for financing a small business as you may run up huge debts that you are not able to afford.
There are grants out there for which you can apply that do not need to be paid back. However, the competition for these is fierce, with a strict application process and they can be quite lengthy affairs. It is worth looking into but you should also have another source from which to call upon in case the funds run out. There is also government support available for many businesses and so check with your own local governments’ websites.
Outsourcing part of your business to a third party might be a way to reduce your costs. As a start-up, you might be entitled to non-financial support in the form of free training session, business advice, marketing tools, networking events and so on. Utilise whatever free resources you can get your hands on! You may have shares to sell, other assets to sell or debts which you could restructure.
There are many ways in which to fund your business but remember to research them all well and not to put all your eggs into one basket so that you are spreading the risk.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
How to Evaluate A New Business Idea
“I’ve got a great idea for a new business”, says Tom to his mate Dave down the pub. “Want to come in with me?”...but has Tom considered all the avenues and made sure that he has evaluated his business idea fully?
As with many entrepreneurs who are great ideas people, an idea starts on paper but cannot always become a successful money-making business without proper consideration and without first taking the necessary steps to make sure that it is not just another pie in the sky flop.
Start-ups and small businesses need to make sure that, before they commit to heavy marketing plans and paying out money on websites and other such expenses, they assess whether there is a market for their idea and whether they are capable of pulling it off. The desire to be successful is great but it does not guarantee that your business will take off.
Good management and marketing skills are essential and so it is wise to see what help is on offer to those of you who have no experience in these fields. Planning is paramount and some small businesses fail because they have just not thought ahead and planned properly for all eventualities.
Let’s consider some things that Tom and his mate down the pub need to discuss:
• is there a market for their product/service? They should carry out extensive research into this.
• what kind of competition are they up against? Every business has competition and they need to be aware of who is doing what and whether they are doing it better and more cost effectively.
• will the product maintain its appeal when fads and fashions change and, if so, are they ready to diversify if need be?
• how useful is their product or service? Will anyone really want to buy it if it’s quirky but of no use whatsoever?
• is their product or service unique? How can they offer something over and above their competitors and what is going to be their unique selling point (USP)?
• will a sale generate repeat or further sales? Building a client base of repeat customers is a sure way to build a business. These loyal customers will not only buy more but could also help to grow the business through referral marketing.
• is the product safe enough to be on the market? If it’s a manufactured product then it must comply with regulations and these must be adhered to.
• have they got a plan B if it fails? Plan Bs often work better than As and it’s important not to put all their eggs into one basket.
Lots of great business ideas are not actually completely original so if you can take a tried and tested product or idea that has worked well and adapt it in your own way to put a new spin on it, then this can work brilliantly. No it’s not cheating! Tom and Dave really do need to sit down and get some business advice before they rush headlong into anything and this can be obtained through many local organisations and funds. Research it, plan it and then research it some more.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
As with many entrepreneurs who are great ideas people, an idea starts on paper but cannot always become a successful money-making business without proper consideration and without first taking the necessary steps to make sure that it is not just another pie in the sky flop.
Start-ups and small businesses need to make sure that, before they commit to heavy marketing plans and paying out money on websites and other such expenses, they assess whether there is a market for their idea and whether they are capable of pulling it off. The desire to be successful is great but it does not guarantee that your business will take off.
Good management and marketing skills are essential and so it is wise to see what help is on offer to those of you who have no experience in these fields. Planning is paramount and some small businesses fail because they have just not thought ahead and planned properly for all eventualities.
Let’s consider some things that Tom and his mate down the pub need to discuss:
• is there a market for their product/service? They should carry out extensive research into this.
• what kind of competition are they up against? Every business has competition and they need to be aware of who is doing what and whether they are doing it better and more cost effectively.
• will the product maintain its appeal when fads and fashions change and, if so, are they ready to diversify if need be?
• how useful is their product or service? Will anyone really want to buy it if it’s quirky but of no use whatsoever?
• is their product or service unique? How can they offer something over and above their competitors and what is going to be their unique selling point (USP)?
• will a sale generate repeat or further sales? Building a client base of repeat customers is a sure way to build a business. These loyal customers will not only buy more but could also help to grow the business through referral marketing.
• is the product safe enough to be on the market? If it’s a manufactured product then it must comply with regulations and these must be adhered to.
• have they got a plan B if it fails? Plan Bs often work better than As and it’s important not to put all their eggs into one basket.
Lots of great business ideas are not actually completely original so if you can take a tried and tested product or idea that has worked well and adapt it in your own way to put a new spin on it, then this can work brilliantly. No it’s not cheating! Tom and Dave really do need to sit down and get some business advice before they rush headlong into anything and this can be obtained through many local organisations and funds. Research it, plan it and then research it some more.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
Monday, 7 December 2009
What is a SWOT Analysis?
Are you good at planning and telling others what your strengths and weaknesses are? Have you sat down and worked out how your small business is going to work and made a plan for yourself? Ever heard of a SWOT analysis? This is how it could help you.
No it’s not about someone who was really clever and nerdy at school. This SWOT is an acronym which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Basically, it is a model which is used as a tool for analysing all the above elements before you set off on a new venture. It’s used in education as a method for identifying development areas, in project management and lots of environments and can be easily adapted to any decision-making situation.
It is a way of taking a business objective and identifying the internal and external factors which are likely pose an opportunity or a threat to your business and it was first used in the 1960s. You can take the SWOT analysis even further and use the match or convert process where you look in more detail at how strengths and opportunities can be linked and also at how weaknesses and threats can be converted.
OK so as a beginners’ guide, take a piece of paper and draw a cross or plus sign through the middle (+). You now have four segments on your piece of paper. Write S in one of the segments, W in another and so on. Once the artistic bit is done, now you can actually start to fill the segments with something meaningful.
The S and the W speak for themselves so write down all the things that you think are your business’s strengths and weaknesses. Now look at the threats and opportunities. S and O are likely to derive from internal situations and W and T are more likely to come from external forces. If your SWOT analysis then tells you that your business venture or objective is not going to work, you need to find another idea and repeat the whole process. If you can’t minimise the threats and overturn the weaknesses, meaning that they outweigh the strengths and opportunities, then it is advisable not to go ahead.
Essentially, what you are doing is assessing a business situation and planning ahead. Marketers use it all the time, or other methods which are similar. You can use the analysis as a foundation on which to build further and it can be used to assess competitive advantages and so on. It should form the first part of the planning process for any start-up or small business.
So what are you waiting for? You want to set up your own business and you can do it just like anyone else. Don’t forget that it is worth concentrating on weaknesses and threats because they can be overturned and converted into great selling points. Don’t overlook them or you may miss out on an opportunity in reverse.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
No it’s not about someone who was really clever and nerdy at school. This SWOT is an acronym which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Basically, it is a model which is used as a tool for analysing all the above elements before you set off on a new venture. It’s used in education as a method for identifying development areas, in project management and lots of environments and can be easily adapted to any decision-making situation.
It is a way of taking a business objective and identifying the internal and external factors which are likely pose an opportunity or a threat to your business and it was first used in the 1960s. You can take the SWOT analysis even further and use the match or convert process where you look in more detail at how strengths and opportunities can be linked and also at how weaknesses and threats can be converted.
OK so as a beginners’ guide, take a piece of paper and draw a cross or plus sign through the middle (+). You now have four segments on your piece of paper. Write S in one of the segments, W in another and so on. Once the artistic bit is done, now you can actually start to fill the segments with something meaningful.
The S and the W speak for themselves so write down all the things that you think are your business’s strengths and weaknesses. Now look at the threats and opportunities. S and O are likely to derive from internal situations and W and T are more likely to come from external forces. If your SWOT analysis then tells you that your business venture or objective is not going to work, you need to find another idea and repeat the whole process. If you can’t minimise the threats and overturn the weaknesses, meaning that they outweigh the strengths and opportunities, then it is advisable not to go ahead.
Essentially, what you are doing is assessing a business situation and planning ahead. Marketers use it all the time, or other methods which are similar. You can use the analysis as a foundation on which to build further and it can be used to assess competitive advantages and so on. It should form the first part of the planning process for any start-up or small business.
So what are you waiting for? You want to set up your own business and you can do it just like anyone else. Don’t forget that it is worth concentrating on weaknesses and threats because they can be overturned and converted into great selling points. Don’t overlook them or you may miss out on an opportunity in reverse.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
10 Reasons To Start Your Own Business
Are you fed up of the rat race and turning up for work on a dreary Monday morning, only to be confronted by your boss who has had a less than perfect weekend and looks as though they’re about to take it out on you? For anyone with anything about them and the desire to do well, setting up your own small business could be the way to go.
They always say that you will never make any real money whilst working for someone else. More and more people are starting up on their own because they recognise that they can do a better job than the company for which they are working. Here are ten reasons why you should consider setting up your own start-up business and how you can benefit from it:
• High earning potential - if you are working for an employer, you are on fixed earnings. These earnings, especially in times of financial crisis, are not likely to rise and you may even see pay freezes. Working for yourself, whilst difficult to begin with until your business starts to pay, means that you have unlimited earning potential. How much you earn depends on how much you put into it.
• Getting paid your worth - do you get paid your worth in your current job? How many of us believe that our talents are going unnoticed? Working for yourself is another way to make sure that you are not only increasing your earning potential, but that you are paying yourself for your talents.
• Self and job satisfaction - how many people actually enjoy their jobs? Doing a great job for an employer very often goes unnoticed or someone with no morals comes along and claims the credit for your hard work. OK so you’ll have to take the rap if your own business goes wrong but the satisfaction gained from knowing that you did a great job far outweighs the initial hard work.
• Making the economy go round - in the long term, if your business succeeds, you may well need to take on staff. As long as you are a fair employer, then you have the satisfaction of knowing that you are providing work for someone else and that you are supporting the economy.
• Professional development - many companies claim at interview that they will enhance your career by offering you superb professional development opportunities; and then they never arise. You become a number on a payroll and you disappear into a sea of other faces. Running your own business means that you are responsible for your own development and you are concentrating on areas at which you know you are good.
• Answer to no one but yourself! Speaks for itself...oh yes!
• Creativity – you can be as creative as your mind will allow and you will amaze yourself at how good you can be.
• Variety of work – no two days will be the same and nor should they be! Realistically, not many people want a repetitive job so being your own boss means you do what the business demands.
• Cut out the traffic – work from home or a local office space and you need never be stuck in those endless queues of people all looking as fed up as one another.
• Make it your second career if you are not ready to give up the day job just yet. You get the best of both worlds in that case.
So the benefits of starting up a business are wide and varied and the above list is by no means exhaustive. Make it your new year’s resolution and give it some thought!
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
They always say that you will never make any real money whilst working for someone else. More and more people are starting up on their own because they recognise that they can do a better job than the company for which they are working. Here are ten reasons why you should consider setting up your own start-up business and how you can benefit from it:
• High earning potential - if you are working for an employer, you are on fixed earnings. These earnings, especially in times of financial crisis, are not likely to rise and you may even see pay freezes. Working for yourself, whilst difficult to begin with until your business starts to pay, means that you have unlimited earning potential. How much you earn depends on how much you put into it.
• Getting paid your worth - do you get paid your worth in your current job? How many of us believe that our talents are going unnoticed? Working for yourself is another way to make sure that you are not only increasing your earning potential, but that you are paying yourself for your talents.
• Self and job satisfaction - how many people actually enjoy their jobs? Doing a great job for an employer very often goes unnoticed or someone with no morals comes along and claims the credit for your hard work. OK so you’ll have to take the rap if your own business goes wrong but the satisfaction gained from knowing that you did a great job far outweighs the initial hard work.
• Making the economy go round - in the long term, if your business succeeds, you may well need to take on staff. As long as you are a fair employer, then you have the satisfaction of knowing that you are providing work for someone else and that you are supporting the economy.
• Professional development - many companies claim at interview that they will enhance your career by offering you superb professional development opportunities; and then they never arise. You become a number on a payroll and you disappear into a sea of other faces. Running your own business means that you are responsible for your own development and you are concentrating on areas at which you know you are good.
• Answer to no one but yourself! Speaks for itself...oh yes!
• Creativity – you can be as creative as your mind will allow and you will amaze yourself at how good you can be.
• Variety of work – no two days will be the same and nor should they be! Realistically, not many people want a repetitive job so being your own boss means you do what the business demands.
• Cut out the traffic – work from home or a local office space and you need never be stuck in those endless queues of people all looking as fed up as one another.
• Make it your second career if you are not ready to give up the day job just yet. You get the best of both worlds in that case.
So the benefits of starting up a business are wide and varied and the above list is by no means exhaustive. Make it your new year’s resolution and give it some thought!
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
How To Use YouTube To promote Your Business?
Whether you work as part of a small business or a larger organisation, YouTube can be used as a platform on which to promote your service or product and, in turn, drive traffic to your website and boost your brand recognition. Getting the right angle and making your video worthy of viewing is something that is important and worth spending some time on before you begin because there are quite literally millions of videos on there.
You may already have videos made for your company and these can quite easily be uploaded onto YouTube in their current form. YouTube acts as a web host meaning that you don’t have to take up space on your own website. Basically, YouTube is handling the risk for you and you don’t have to worry about technical issues such as bandwidth and so on.
So how do you make the video for promotion on YouTube? Well, shoot the video as you would with any other recording, using a camcorder or mobile device with a built in camera. Then go to the YouTube website and upload. Sign into YouTube or create an account for free if you don’t already have one. Then you will see an ‘upload video’ option in the right hand corner. The site will pretty much guide you through the process from hereon in. You will, of course, need to consider YouTube’s policies and make sure that you are not violating any of them.
You need to make sure you put some keywords in the tag field as well – keyword driven videos will act as another SEO technique for your own website. YouTube videos do appear in Google searches and so someone may just stumble upon it whilst searching on your keywords. Select the correct category in which to upload it and then make it public. It’s really easy and quite addictive!
Here’s the clever bit. You can now go back to your own website and embed the YouTube video into your own pages by using the special code that YouTube provides you with. And remember, your website is not hosting the video so it is not using up vital storage space.
Keeping your videos down to under ten minutes in length means that they play in better quality for the viewer, so bear this in mind also. You are now ready to make that all important promotional piece which could help your business to grow in unimaginable ways. The power of the internet and popular services such as YouTube should never be underestimated. It is used by quite literally millions of people and not just for singing sensations with big egos who want to be famous!
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
Saturday, 5 December 2009
How LinkedIn can help you promote your website
So you want to start networking and you have heard your friends talking about LinkedIn and how it can help you to promote your business but you want to find out more. Could LinkedIn be for you or is it just another site for other people?
LinkedIn is a free social networking site, aimed primarily at businesses. It allows business owners, sole traders and other professionals the chance to link with like-minded people and grow their own community or join with others.
Using LinkedIn can help you to promote your EzWeb123.com business website and your services to potentially millions of people all over the world. You connect with one person and LinkedIn will show you who that person is connected with and you are then able to create a spider’s web of connections in just a matter of moments. You’re only ever about two links away from thousands of people.
You can often find jobs through LinkedIn and you can also start discussion groups, inviting people to share thoughts and discuss ideas about your own products or services as a way to generate interest. It can be a great resource portal for business information and really is just like an online gathering of busy working professionals. You may just meet someone on LinkedIn who could be the next link to your most lucrative job or who will help to promote your business for you. The site is self perpetuating and the snowball effect that takes place is quite astounding once you get started.
Before promoting your website on LinkedIn, however, you do need to make sure that your website with EzWeb123.com is looking in tip top shape. EzWeb123 can help you to do this with its team of dedicated staff who provide online support around the clock. The website building package will assist you in not only setting up your website but will also give you the tools with which to customise it, enhance it and having it looking like a quality business website to rival any other.
Because EzWeb123 gives you the tools with which to promote your products or services in a complete package, your job on LinkedIn becomes so much easier. You have your fantastic looking, fully functioning website and the platform on which to promote it around the world. Watching your network grow and the number of connections you have on LinkedIn increase is satisfying for any business owner. Watch the number of visits to your website take off and, in turn, hopefully watch your business expand.
LinkedIn is just one of many social networking sites on which you can promote your EzWeb123 website and it’s all right there for you online, at the click of just a few buttons. You don’t need to be a techy – let the experts do it all for you!
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
Why good navigation is key to your sites success
You are about to design your website and your head is full of ideas of how it will look, the colours, the images, the overall effect and impact it will have on your audience. But have you understood the real importance of the navigation system that you have used in your design?
The value of good navigation architecture in the infrastructure of your website should not be underestimated. Good website navigation architecture is the most important job in the development process for any web designer. Many website designs are not constructed with page rank considerations in mind and this is where they will fall short in terms of search engine rankings.
In layman’s terms, page rank is measured by how many links any website page has from other website pages. There is a complicated science behind it with mathematical equations to boggle the most intelligent of minds. However, what it all boils down to is that your website will rank much higher up a Google search if the navigation layout is well designed. Optimal navigation layout should allow both search engines and visitors the best of experiences - a human being will search a website in a different way to a search engine spider as the latter can only read html.
Any good website designer will first ask their client who their audience is before they begin to design the website structure and create their site map. Users will benefit from an easy-to-navigate system and will become quickly confused by difficult and conflicting sites. The types of pages which are useful to a designer as navigation tools include: home pages; index pages; navigation bars; next/previous navigation – these are all useful ways for promoting products and services, as well as driving traffic to other pages. During the initial design process, it is also important to decide whether to have multiple levels of navigation, using sub menus, or whether a flatter navigation level is the better option.
Some of the benefits of having a good navigation scheme are that there will be fewer clicks in the click path, the content will be clear and is more likely to be read, and the visitor will be able to see more clearly where they should go for the information they need. In essence, visitor usability will be optimised. They should always be able to get to the information they require with ease and with minimal searching or you will lose them and they will go elsewhere.
So in reality, it is all in the design process. Laying it out up front and planning the design well will make the rest of the process much easier and the end result will be higher page rankings along with the most important bit – an altogether better customer experience.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
The value of good navigation architecture in the infrastructure of your website should not be underestimated. Good website navigation architecture is the most important job in the development process for any web designer. Many website designs are not constructed with page rank considerations in mind and this is where they will fall short in terms of search engine rankings.
In layman’s terms, page rank is measured by how many links any website page has from other website pages. There is a complicated science behind it with mathematical equations to boggle the most intelligent of minds. However, what it all boils down to is that your website will rank much higher up a Google search if the navigation layout is well designed. Optimal navigation layout should allow both search engines and visitors the best of experiences - a human being will search a website in a different way to a search engine spider as the latter can only read html.
Any good website designer will first ask their client who their audience is before they begin to design the website structure and create their site map. Users will benefit from an easy-to-navigate system and will become quickly confused by difficult and conflicting sites. The types of pages which are useful to a designer as navigation tools include: home pages; index pages; navigation bars; next/previous navigation – these are all useful ways for promoting products and services, as well as driving traffic to other pages. During the initial design process, it is also important to decide whether to have multiple levels of navigation, using sub menus, or whether a flatter navigation level is the better option.
Some of the benefits of having a good navigation scheme are that there will be fewer clicks in the click path, the content will be clear and is more likely to be read, and the visitor will be able to see more clearly where they should go for the information they need. In essence, visitor usability will be optimised. They should always be able to get to the information they require with ease and with minimal searching or you will lose them and they will go elsewhere.
So in reality, it is all in the design process. Laying it out up front and planning the design well will make the rest of the process much easier and the end result will be higher page rankings along with the most important bit – an altogether better customer experience.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
twitter – only useful if you are famous?
Twitter allows you to post ‘tweets’ and let everyone know what you are doing at any one given moment in time. People can then follow your tweets and suggest to others that they also follow your tweets – and so it goes on.
However, is Twitter only useful for those who are already famous? Of course everyone wants to know what Simon Cowell is up to and of course everyone would love to hear what Chris Moyles had for his breakfast (well almost everyone!). It can make the famous even more famous and is almost certainly a way for them to massage their own egos by counting the number of followers they have on twitter.com before they set off on their way to work.
But does Twitter have uses for the non-famous and even for businesses? Well there is certainly an increasing number of businesses adding to twitter.com on a regular basis and using the Twitter badge on their own websites to allow people the option to link through from one to the other. It can be a way to drive up business but only if your business is one where there is lots of activity and newsworthy items to report on – you are, otherwise, likely to run the risk of annoying your followers and making them wonder what you do all day!
You only get a couple of lines per tweet on twitter.com in which to tell people what your business is up to so it needs to be succinct and punchy. However, if you have a promotional offer to advertise, then Twitter could be a great way to send a blast with an update to all your followers – assuming by now that you have some followers! You can put a picture on there of either yourself or your logo and you can set your username up in your own name or your business name.
Perhaps for smaller businesses and start-ups, it could be a great way to get friends on board who may already have a Twitter account and ask them to spread the word. It’s another form of free advertising which is another positive. It can also be used as a form of referral marketing as well as for networking. It shows that your business is in tune with modern society and is accessible, transparent and open to new business connections. It could also be a great way to increase brand awareness – both for newer and already established businesses because your name is out there and is being passed around among a whole network of users.
As with all other social networking sites, you do have to remember to update your tweets as and when you get the time and have something worthwhile to say. It has become another platform for communication which can only be a good thing as there is no such thing as too much advertising – as long as it is worth reading.
Like most networking sites, they were set up with the aim of connecting people and have grown to become so much more. Twitter.com is no different and can be exploited to use as you see fit for your business if you are smart enough. You do have to remember to let people know that you are on twitter.com as well – don’t forget that part!
Could twitter.com allow the non-famous person to become famous? Who knows – it seems anything is becoming possible.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
However, is Twitter only useful for those who are already famous? Of course everyone wants to know what Simon Cowell is up to and of course everyone would love to hear what Chris Moyles had for his breakfast (well almost everyone!). It can make the famous even more famous and is almost certainly a way for them to massage their own egos by counting the number of followers they have on twitter.com before they set off on their way to work.
But does Twitter have uses for the non-famous and even for businesses? Well there is certainly an increasing number of businesses adding to twitter.com on a regular basis and using the Twitter badge on their own websites to allow people the option to link through from one to the other. It can be a way to drive up business but only if your business is one where there is lots of activity and newsworthy items to report on – you are, otherwise, likely to run the risk of annoying your followers and making them wonder what you do all day!
You only get a couple of lines per tweet on twitter.com in which to tell people what your business is up to so it needs to be succinct and punchy. However, if you have a promotional offer to advertise, then Twitter could be a great way to send a blast with an update to all your followers – assuming by now that you have some followers! You can put a picture on there of either yourself or your logo and you can set your username up in your own name or your business name.
Perhaps for smaller businesses and start-ups, it could be a great way to get friends on board who may already have a Twitter account and ask them to spread the word. It’s another form of free advertising which is another positive. It can also be used as a form of referral marketing as well as for networking. It shows that your business is in tune with modern society and is accessible, transparent and open to new business connections. It could also be a great way to increase brand awareness – both for newer and already established businesses because your name is out there and is being passed around among a whole network of users.
As with all other social networking sites, you do have to remember to update your tweets as and when you get the time and have something worthwhile to say. It has become another platform for communication which can only be a good thing as there is no such thing as too much advertising – as long as it is worth reading.
Like most networking sites, they were set up with the aim of connecting people and have grown to become so much more. Twitter.com is no different and can be exploited to use as you see fit for your business if you are smart enough. You do have to remember to let people know that you are on twitter.com as well – don’t forget that part!
Could twitter.com allow the non-famous person to become famous? Who knows – it seems anything is becoming possible.
Copyright © Peter Moore 2009 - Co-Founder of EzWeb123.com
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