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Internet
Business Setup Guide - Articles |
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Internet
Business Step-up ......
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Dear friends,
Assalam O Alaikum:
Thanks for
appreciating my first article. I’ve received
many emails from hostingpartner.pk subscribers,
thanking and asking for more information.
Now, I’m going to continue the same with
more informative details.
So, you’ve
decided to start your own Internet Business.
Haven’t you?
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Here’s the first rule
you must follow to succeed in your business
online or off:
Don’t
cheat anyone out of their hard earned money.
When you run an honest business you stand
a much better chance at success. |
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You must
describe your product clearly, without making any
false claims, or omitting any important facts that
the average person would need to know.
Any testimonials given must be genuine and authorized
by the person who gave them. You should be prepared
to show proof of any testimonials and they should
be of an honest nature.
Startup
Materials :-
Here is a list of
a few important things, you need in your home-based
/ small business startup:
Research
Material :-
Read books, instructional
literature, magazines and anything else related
to your area of interest to keep yourself informed
and updated.
Basic
Office Supplies :-
Just start with the
very basics. Pens, pencils, paper, business size
envelopes, and a good notebook should get you
started.
Business
Account :-
You should open a
business account in a bank sooner or later to
keep all of your business transactions separate
from your personal finances.You should open this
account once you have chosen a name and registered
your new business domain name.
Office
Equipment :-
Other than the computer
which you already have, most people can probably
get by without purchasing any office equipment
at all. The point is, don’t go out and buy anything
until you absolutely need it.
Software :-
Here are the basics
you’ll need…
¨ A good word
processing or desktop publishing program. Microsoft
Word or whatever you like.
¨ A web design
program. Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver.
¨ A good email
program. Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Outlook
Express.
¨ Another very
helpful program to have is a mail list or address
list program. This helps you grow a customer list
as well as track product ship dates, amounts paid,
Email address and other relevant information.
Microsoft Access is very good for this, but you
can use any other you prefer.
¨ One more item
that you will need eventually is a web hosting
company to host your web site. Pricing varies
widely here, and my next articles will cover hosting
in details.
I know, what are
you thinking? “What will I sell online?” Right?
What
can you sell online?
The very best
way to make money, either online or off,
is to market your own products
or services. Not only this give
you complete control, it enables you to
maximize your profits by keeping most
of the money from every sale.
Now perhaps
you already have a product or service
in mind for your business. If you do,
great! You're a step ahead, but if you
have no idea what you could sell to make
money online, here are just a few ideas…
I’ve learned
that the number one seller in the world
has always been, and always will be –
information, specialized information.
I made a decision that I would start my
business on this basic. .
I set out to come up with the best information
about Internet marketing I could offer
at a price far below what others were
selling it for. This has always been my
business strategy & it will remain
the same until it stops working.
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And
I've got news for you... creating your own
information products is not hard at all.
Everyone knows
something about a particular subject. Whether
it is "gardening" or "computer
hardware" you can easily create your
own information products. Simply take
your area of expertise and start writing
down everything you know about it.
If you have
expertise in any field, of course, you have
good command on whatever you do. Suppose,
you have a degree/diploma (and some experience)
in Web Engineering, you know how to develop
a web site and its programming:
You can offer web development services to
business owners who require your services.
If you have some experience or some existing
clients, it will be your PLUS point. Think...
what can you do? what
services you can provide?
Offer these services online.
You can introduce yourself as a web developer,
software developer, hardware specialists,
network engineer, estate agent, teacher,
instructor, doctor, lawyer, sales promoter,
accountant, engineer etc. Busy businesspeople
need guys who can work for them. Think...
what you know? what you can do perfectly?
Work as a freelancer.
Promote yourself, utilize your
existing qualification,
abilities, professional skills
& experience & convert them
into a business, online business & you
will start making attractive earnings.
Now let me
get back to that side note... I can already
hear lots of you thinking...
I
don't want to create a product or sell information.
Can't I make money reselling
products & services
that other companies have already produced?"
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The
answer is yes. The Internet is generating all
types of new products and services every day,
and you can make money selling them, but you must
be extremely selective. You can make serious money
only when selling products and services that fit
a certain criteria.
What are the criteria?
Well, if the product or service fits the following
categories, it should be considered:
1.
It must have a large demand.
That is, you must
be able to identify a large group of people who
would be interested in it.
2. You
must be able to earn a minimum of 25% of the profits
on anything you sell.
There are far too
many companies paying 5% or 10% commissions or
less. The hard fact is, you just cannot sell enough
of something at those commission rates to earn
a substantial income.
3. You
must be able to become a reseller without spending
a large amount of cash.
I know many web sites
that charges hundreds of dollars for the privilege
of reselling their products or services. Many
people who spend their money there, most of them
never earn even their initial investment back.
If you see a business opportunity that will require
a large outlay of money, or the need for you to
make many sales to earn back your initial investment,
leave it.
But
when done correctly, reselling can be extremely
profitable...
Marketing
Strategies That Work …
What
online marketing methods really work? Bulk email?
Banner adverting? Email advertising? Discussion
group participation? Search Engine Submission?The
list of possible solutions goes on and on. And ,
I’ve tried them all, believe me.
Although I don’t have room in this email to go into
details on everything I’ve tried, I will reveal
one method that works head and shoulders above anything
else. What is this powerful income generator?
Your own “email newsletter”
or “ezine”.
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An email newsletter
or ezine is simply a regular email message
that you send to anyone who asks for it.
It delivers free, helpful information to
your customers & your best prospects.The
“information”
can take on the form of industry news, web
resources, discount specials or anything
your heart desires.
Why
would you want to? That’s simple. Here are
just a few reasons…
Your customers & prospects won’t have
to find you or your web site. They ’ll constantly
be “in touch” & in tune with your business.
You can keep them side by side of new products
& services as they become available.
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Whether
it’s a new product you are introducing or a service
you are adding to your existing web site, your
newsletter is the perfect place to announce it.
Since the cost of publishing an email newsletter
is near zero, you can offer free subscriptions.
This insures a steady flow of new prospects for
your products and services.
Educating potential customers and prospects is
an excellent way to market your wares. What better
way to educate them than through your free electronic
newsletter? You’ll be proving your expertise in
your field and establishing credibility with every
issue.
A
Professional WebSite With in Anyone's Reach
…
Many people will
delete an email message if it does not contain
a URL where they can “anonymously” investigate
your offer. With all the unsolicited email on
the net, folks don’t like to risk being added
to yet another list without their approval. That’s
what they’re doing when they email someone they
don’t know.
However, if they
are invited to a URL and are presented with a
professional web site, they are likely to stick
around. You just earned a prospect.
It’s really quite
simple… you NEED you own website!
So how do you set
up a professional web presence? Simple…
Here’s a checklist
of tasks you’ll need to complete:
Register your own
domain (A Must)
This will give your
business an internet established presence. Too
many marketers skip this crucial step. The Rs
599/- yearly fee is a small price to pay for professionalism.
If you’re serious about your business, don’t skip
this step.
Don’t use unusual
words, phrases or ellipsis in domain name. Choose
an easy-to-remember name that also describers
your products, services or expertise.
Get your own domain
and paid web hosting services. Free domain and
free hosting (with a lot of banners or popup windows)
doesn’t leave good impression on your web site
visitors about your business and professionalism.
Build
the site
If you do not have
the webmastering know - how, try to learn it.
If you prefer to outsource your design work, be
sure to hire a professional designer. Tell them
you want to see examples of their work including
unique logos, working scripts and more. You want
a site that you will be proud to direct people
to. Also, be sure to pack your website with helpful
information so people will stick around!
Host
it
Be careful here. I’ll
discuss it later.
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To Avoid These Mistakes
For Planning A Web Site:
Mistake
# 1:
Using someone else’s domain name.
Does the first impression
your site makes look like this… www.somefreewebspace.com/user/
or is it more professional and established like
this www.yourcompany.com
Mistake
# 2:
Failing to promote!
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This
one is a classic. For too many business
owners pop a site up on the web and cross
their fingers. In order to grow traffic,
you need to promote it. How?...
Well if you
have an advertising budget, spend money.
this is the easiest way to promote a site.
Buy banner ads on busy sites, sponsor email
publications and reorder every avenue that
is effective.
If you do not
have much of an advertising budget, fear
not. You can generate traffic for free.
I’ve being doing it for years. My favorite
methods are article submissions, ezine advertising,
search engine positioning, and my associate
program just to name a few.
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In closing…..........
Remember,
your web site is the first thing your online
prospects see. It is the very heart and
sole of your online marketing campaign.
Make a lasting impression!
It’s all up
to you to Get Started…
You now have
everything you need to get your internet
business started and shifted into high gear
immediately.
So what are
you waiting for? Are you worried you won’t
succeed? Why not look at it like this. If
you try to succeed in your own business
and fail, the most you will lose is a little
money. (and not much with the low start-up
costs on the net!)
Thanks to the
internet, you no longer have to risk your
life savings when starting a business. The
knowledge alone, that you will gain from
simply attempting you own business will
outweigh any financial loss by far.
That’s not
to say it will be simple. Success can sometimes
be a difficult thing to sneak up on. Determination
is a major asset for anyone starting their
own business. After all, failure, as well
as success, is a part of life. As the old
saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed,
try, try again. This saying wouldn’t be
so popular if everyone succeeded the very
first time they attempted anything.
You cannot
fail… unless you quit!
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If
you succeed, and more than 75% of all new entrepreneurs
do, you will no longer have to rely on others
for your income.
You’ll be able to
work the hours YOU want to work
So what are you waiting
for?
You can do it!
Just keep reading my articles and refer to them
as you go along.
Have faith in yourself, work hard, and you may
be surprised how easy it really is…
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If
you ever have any questions about online business,
you’re invited to email support@hostingpartner.pk
& I’ll do my best
to help you!
Regards,
Yousuf Idris
yousuf@yi.com.pk |
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