Will You Add? - Internet and Businesses Online

Customer Relationships: Are You Boiling the Frog?
Against my better judgment, I spent this past Sunday morning working in the yard. With the heat wave bringing temperatures into the upper 90’s by mid-morning, I knew I couldn’t start in the afternoon like I normally do. So I got up early and started mowing the lawn around 7:30, while it was still just lukewarm outside. One project turned into another, and before I knew it, I was on a roll. When my wife finally came out to check on me at 11:00, I was drenched in sweat, a little redder in the face, and it was hotter than blazes in the shade. Oddly enough, I was so wrapped up in what I was doing that I hadn't really noticed the temperature creep up nearly 25 degrees during the morning. If I had waited all morning to get started, the shock of the heat would have sent me straight back inside. As it was, my body had simply acclimated. This got me to thinking about the legend of the boiling frog. Perhaps you’ve heard of it before. Rich Froggy, Poor Froggy The idea is that if you place a frog in a boiling kettle of water, it’ll hop right out. But if you place the frog in there while the water is cool, and gradually turn up the heat, it won’t notice the change until it’s too late. It'll just acclimate and then, well, croak. OK, it’s a little morbid. But in the context of marketing communications, it’s a very important concept. When you get new prospects, you probably don’t want to hit them over the head with an immediate sales pitch. That’s like throwing a frog in boiling water. Chances are much higher that they will put their guard up and retreat for safety. How to Avoid This Instead, use effective mark

possible about the programs/products you are referring them to. You will have a better chance of someone following one of your links this way rather than just having a pretty, but uninformative, banner or ad.

Promote Your Site:

Congratulations! You've made it to the final step of your journey into the world of online earning. All you have to do now is promote your site and you can do it without paying a cent in advertising if you so choose. There are a number of ways you can do this:

1. Search Engines: Most of the bigger Search Engines will allow you to add your site to their directories for free. There are a few things you must do first though. You should recall we said before that Search Engines don't like link farms. This is especially true of Google. A link farm is essentially a site that has no actual information and just a list of links. If you have a site like this, Google will very likely refuse to add you. If you've followed our advice and given your users enough information then you'll be safe. Now, we want you to look up these terms online - Meta Tags, Keyword Density, and robot.txt. You need to know about these things and correct any mistakes in your site before you submit it to the Search Engines. Note that the time it takes for your site to be added to the directory depends on the Search Engine.

2. Traffic/Hit Exchanges: This is one of the most popular ways to get traffic to your site. Remember earlier when we told you to join a few 'Paid to Surf' sites even though you didn't have a website yet? Well, now you're going to upload your website URL to those sites and assign the credits you've earned. Don't bother to do this with Autosurf sites. No one actually looks at the ads on these. You'll want to use Manual Surf sites so that there is at least the possibility that a visitor may be curious about your site and visit it. A variant of this is the Banner Exchange where you place a banner on your site you earn credits each time your banner is viewed. This can bring in additional traffic but we wouldn't recommend it if your site already has a lot of ads.

3. Classified Ads: There are quite a few sites that allow you to post classified ads for free. Remember though that your link will go down as one of many and there may not actually be a lot of people visiting the ads site. Seriously, when was that last time you visited a free classified ads site online? You may bring in a few visitors but don't let this be your main method of advertising.

4. E-zines:

The Keys to the Kingdom: Finding PAIN
It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience. -Julius CaesarOne day I was talking with one of the technicians at Lanier named Bill Wilbur. We were talking about why people paid more for some things than others did. Bill said something that I never will forget; “You can’t pay too much for something you really want!” Over the years I have found this statement to be right on the money. If this is the case then how do you get your prospect to really want your product? The answer is simple. Get them to see your product solving a major problem for them. How do you do this? The key is asking the right PAIN questions.When you go to the doctor they don’t immediately start trying to sell you on the benefits of what they are going to prescribe. Before a doctor can help you with your PAIN he has to ask you diagnostic questions. A great salesperson is like a great doctor. They know how to ask great diagnostic questions. One of things I have done to help myself with formulating diagnostic questions is to use the acronym PAIN. PAIN stands for problem, anxiety, interests, and needs.PROBLEMSEvery business in America has problems. For some businesses, cash flow is a major problem. For other businesses, declining revenues can be the challenge they are trying to deal with. If you walk into an appointment with a list of PAIN questions you significantly increase your odds of success. Ask yourself before you walk into an appointment, “If I were the CEO of XYZ Company, what problems would I most likely be faced with?” If possible talk to vendors you know who call on the account, to see if they can give you any insight into what

It's not all that difficult to make a few dollars each month from your online activities. Most affiliate sites pay in US dollars and a quick $5 to $10 is just fine for those who live in countries where there is a high conversion rate. This can actually work out to a couple hundred, or more, in local currency for them. However, this amount really isn't worth the time or the effort for most people. That's why you need a plan. Here are some of the key money making tips that should be included in your strategy.

Open A Payment Account:

There's no point to joining a whole lot of programs without giving them somewhere to send that hard earned cash, now is there? Payment differs by program but, by and large, there are a few common methods.

1. If you live in one of the supporting countries, it would be a very good idea to open a Paypal account. This is one of the most recommended payment methods and is accepted almost everywhere online. You are allowed to withdraw cash and it is very easy to use.

2. E-Gold is becoming increasingly popular with more and more online merchants accepting it. The one downfall of this program is that, while you can easily transfer funds, you need to go through a third party to withdraw funds as cash. We would highly recommend E-Gold only if you plan on using your earnings online.

3. Stormpay is another good program, similar to Paypal except that it is available worldwide. Previously you had to supply copies of your identification and you could not sign up with any email address other than that provided by your ISP. These practices have since been discontinued. An advantage of this program is the still fairly new StormClix program.

4. We have heard this next program referred to as E-Gold without the restrictions. Moneybookers has also been increasing in popularity and is even being accepted by domain registrars such as Registerfly. There are a number of ways to fund your account and they are available worldwide. Unlike E-Gold, you can withdraw your cash directly.

5. Some affiliate programs will offer to pay by Check or Money Order. If you want access to your money ASAP then this may not be for you, but it's a good option for those who prefer to see concrete evidence of their earnings. However, the associated fees might make it more profitable to look into another payment method.

Get An Email Address:

Once you sign up for any affiliate programs, you are going to start getting a lot of emails. You can choose to read your emails at your Site Inbox but if you are sticking to only 'Paid to Read' programs, we would strongly suggest having your emails sent to your own mailbox so that you can have everything conveniently in one place. That being said, you don't want your personal email address being cluttered by endless messages. Get an address that you intend to use strictly for online earning activities. A good choice is Yahoo.com as they offer a huge mailbox and you can filter your incoming emails by program. However, they will send most of your emails into the bulk folder unless you add the addresses to your contacts list so you need to keep checking. Another good bet is Mail2world.com, with their unlimited account in its testing phase. Do not use a Hotmail account. Unless you live in the USA and can access the 250MB mailbox, or you intend on checking your email a few times each day, you are going to have a lot of bounced messages.

Join Only As Many Quality Programs As You Can Handle:

You know, when we first started this, we made the most common mistake ever...we joined every program that we could find. We were convinced that we could keep up and for a couple weeks we did. Then we started getting overwhelmed. There was just too much to do...too many emails to read....too many banners to click...too many sites to surf. The end result? We got completely frustrated, left all of the programs and made exactly $0. After a while we decided to try again, but we were careful this time...we drew up a plan and we did our research. We joined only a few 'Paid to Read' programs that were the most recommended online. Little by little, we were able to join a number of different types of programs (including surfing programs) and generate a small but steady income stream with just a moderate effort on our part. What’s the moral of the story? Do only what you can handle. If you know you're not going to be able to be online everyday then don't join 'Paid to Click' sites because these only work if you can devote at least half an hour each day to clicking links. If you know you can't sell anything to save your life then don't join the high paying affiliate programs that everyone else is already a member of because you'll be trampled by the competition. If you try to do too much, you'll end up wasting your valuable time.

Construct A Spreadsheet:

So you've joined all these different programs. How are you planning to remember each and every one of them? The best way is to construct a spreadsheet. Include the name of the site, your user ID, your passwords (especially if you have a different one for each site), what the program involves (reading email, clicking links, etc.), the value of each action, payout levels, your referral link and the number of people in your downline. It's also a good idea to update your current earnings at the end of each month. This way you'll never lose track of your information.

Re-Invest Your Earnings:

If you've been following the steps so far, you'll have quite a little list of high quality programs going. Most, if not all, of these you would have joined as a free member...which is how it should be. However, once you've actually started earning money, you'll want to put at least some of it back into your memberships. Why? Paid memberships often come with benefits, from no minimum payout levels to higher earning opportunities. Simply put, you can earn a lot more as a paid member and it's usually quite cheap to upgrade.

Build Your Own Site With Your Own Domain Name:

Remember when we told you to include all your referral links on your spreadsheet? Well, you're going to need them now. Don't let anyone fool you. Yes, you can make a decent amount from just participating in the programs you've joined, but the real money lies in building your downline. What does this mean? Your downline includes all the people who have joined using your referral link. You then earn a small percentage when they actively participate in the programs. You'll want as many people as possible joining under you and that's why we're so particular about recommending only quality programs. The last thing you want to do is get a bad reputation. You only make money from your downline for as long as your referrals stay active. But how do you get the word out? You build your own website of course, and you can do this in a number of ways.

If you have a program such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Frontpage, or it's free alternative NVU, installed on your computer you can construct your own pages from scratch with minimal difficulty or you can download free templates from the web and just add the content. If not, a number of hosts offer at least a basic editor that you can use online. One of the best online editors that we've come across is offered by Yahoo Geocities. Now, you may choose to go with a free host and the decision is entirely up to you, but there a few disadvantages to this approach.

Firstly, most reputable free hosting companies offer packages that include extensive advertising (banners or pop-ups) that may detract from your site. Secondly, some free hosts are not reliable and you stand to lose your site when they either fold or switch to paid packages with no prior notice. If you prefer using a free host, use a host that has been around a while and has a good reputation. We would recommend either Geocities or Tripod but you can do a simple search on Google to find one that may be more suited to your needs. Whatever you decide, a domain name is a must. You want a name that people can easily remember. If you have any experience with website design or you're a quick learner, we would highly recommend that you purchase a domain name from a registrar who offers free hosting such as GoDaddy, download NVU, and build your own pages. A major point to note, search engines don't like link farms (read more in the last section).

Get Some Products:

So you've joined your programs, gotten your referral links and built your website. Now what? Well, if you're satisfied with what you've gotten so far then you don't have to read any further. If you want to boost your earnings significantly then you're going to have to learn how to be a salesperson...and to be a salesperson, you've got to have something to sell. You can try to come up with a product of your own. For example, we could have taken this information, made it into a e-book and then charged you for the privilege of reading it. However, it's much easier to just sell someone else's product and keep a share of the profits, i.e., become an affiliate. To do this though, you have to know your own capabilities. While you may be tempted to go with bigger brand names or very high-paying affiliate schemes, you must face the fact that everyone else is going to think just like you. This is where the concept of niche marketing comes in. Determine your target audience and join selected programs that would be of interest to them. For instance, if you are targeting webmasters, you would want to affiliate yourself with sites that offer domain names, hosting, software, etc.

Marketing e-books is also a good starting point. There are a number of sites that offer free e-books which you can either give away as an incentive or resell and keep all the profits. However, many of these have a minimum price at which you can sell the e-book individually and this can be quite high. Our best advice... put together a package. This will make it more attractive to potential buyers and you can be more competitive with your pricing.

You should always give your visitors as much information as possible about the programs/products you are referring them to. You will have a better chance of someone following one of your links this way rather than just having a pretty, but uninformative, banner or ad.

Promote Your Site:

4. E-zines:<

Are You Making The Same Costly Mistake Many Other Small Business Owners Make?
I spent a number of years consulting with small business owners on a daily basis, and I can unequivocally state that most of them had an extremely good understanding of the daily operations of their businesses. Unfortunately, most of them didn't have even a fair understanding of the general business principles that are ultimately responsible for determining their success or failure.So, while the owner of an Air Conditioning / Heating Service might know virtually everything there is to know about Air Conditioning and Heating systems, he or she wouldn't know nearly enough about proper recordkeeping or marketing or customer service. I saw this same problem in every industry I worked in.What is the source of this problem? Too often, the owners are still acting like they are employees. They are so busy doing the actual work or managing the actual work that they don't have time to properly manage their business (or at least they don't think they have time).To express it in a more comical way, these business owners are too busy working to properly run their business. It's like the old Lucy show in which Lucy is working on the assembly line, and the results are too often the same.So how do you avoid getting on this "Failure Treadmill"? And if you're already on it, how do you get off? Planning is the key. Although you may not be able to anticipate every single thing that can happen in your business, you can anticipate many of the necessary duties and functions of operating a successful business.For example, you should put a good recordkeeping system in place before you ever open your business. You should have a well-conceived marketing plan before you ever open your doors

ead your emails at your Site Inbox but if you are sticking to only 'Paid to Read' programs, we would strongly suggest having your emails sent to your own mailbox so that you can have everything conveniently in one place. That being said, you don't want your personal email address being cluttered by endless messages. Get an address that you intend to use strictly for online earning activities. A good choice is Yahoo.com as they offer a huge mailbox and you can filter your incoming emails by program. However, they will send most of your emails into the bulk folder unless you add the addresses to your contacts list so you need to keep checking. Another good bet is Mail2world.com, with their unlimited account in its testing phase. Do not use a Hotmail account. Unless you live in the USA and can access the 250MB mailbox, or you intend on checking your email a few times each day, you are going to have a lot of bounced messages.

Join Only As Many Quality Programs As You Can Handle:

Construct A Spreadsheet:

Re-Invest Your Earnings:

Build Your Own Site With Your Own Domain Name:

Get Some Products:

Promote Your Site:

4. E-zines:

The One-Person Company
An Entrepreneur is an individual who chooses to go into business by himself. Often entrepreneurs decide to stay a one-person company to keep decisions and quality of work under control. These single entrepreneurs are often called solo entrepreneurs, too. These entrepreneurs are often referred to as free agents, freelancer, self-employed, sole proprietor, or home based business owner (although not all single person entrepreneurs are home-based). This often depends on the professional field they work in.Being a one person business does not mean being completely on your own. These entrepreneurs often collaborate with other businesses or build alliances with other entrepreneurs or consultants. It all depends on their business needs. Outsourcing of basic work or certain project related work is the closest these businesses get to in regards to having “staff”. Businesses run as one-person companies often have owners that meet certain characteristics. What are typical Solo Entrepreneur characteristics?- The desire for personal freedom that allows them to adopt the lifestyle of choice.- The drive and passion to implement the business plan and to fulfill their personal dreams.- The willingness to go the extra mile and the desire to succeed- They are very passionate about what they do.- Being committed to their venture.- Comfortable working alone and an above average usage of new technologies such as the Internet or Voice over IP (VOIP).Why the “one-person company”?Many entrepreneurs are “refugees” from the large corporate world, while others choose to be self-employed in a “one-person company” as a change from a traditional-based small business with em

our user ID, your passwords (especially if you have a different one for each site), what the program involves (reading email, clicking links, etc.), the value of each action, payout levels, your referral link and the number of people in your downline. It's also a good idea to update your current earnings at the end of each month. This way you'll never lose track of your information.

Re-Invest Your Earnings:

Build Your Own Site With Your Own Domain Name:

Get Some Products:

Promote Your Site:

4. E-zines:

Front Line Customer Service
I read an amazing statistic in an article written by the Canadian Management Centre.“The average company loses half their customers in 5 years and half their employees in 4 years?. This has significant impact to overall customer, employee, investor and supplier loyalty.”Wow! Think about that statistic. 100% customer turnover in 5 years and 100% employee turn over in 4 years. Management at all levels must understand the changing role and importance of front-line customer service operations to achieve the core mission of the business, i.e., customer retention, customer acquisition, customer satisfaction, employee retention and increased profitability.When managers do not envision the relationship between management practices and front-line actions, the business has not recognized the evolution of the customer’s Service Output Demands (SODS). Nothing short of service excellence will initiate and maintain customer relationship equity, which is the cornerstone of customer retention and increased customer spend. The most successful businesses in any industry are those that maintain relationships through ongoing customer satisfaction earned by meeting changing customer expectations, versus those that focus just on new business and new sales but lose existing customers. Consequently, customer service requires a priority focus on existing customer relationship equity. Customers have become accustomed to receiving “The Ultimate Customer Experience.” Today’s customers are just smarter and utilizing the internet and the proliferation of information available to them your customer is poised to expect your absolute best. They may know an awful lot about your company before you ever walk in their d

that may detract from your site. Secondly, some free hosts are not reliable and you stand to lose your site when they either fold or switch to paid packages with no prior notice. If you prefer using a free host, use a host that has been around a while and has a good reputation. We would recommend either Geocities or Tripod but you can do a simple search on Google to find one that may be more suited to your needs. Whatever you decide, a domain name is a must. You want a name that people can easily remember. If you have any experience with website design or you're a quick learner, we would highly recommend that you purchase a domain name from a registrar who offers free hosting such as GoDaddy, download NVU, and build your own pages. A major point to note, search engines don't like link farms (read more in the last section).

Get Some Products:

Promote Your Site:

4. E-zines:

Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk: Part 2
In Part One, I described the Leadership Talk and how it is a much more effective leadership tool than presentations or speeches.I also described two fundamental premises that the Leadership Talk is based on.In Part Two, I will show you the purpose of the Leadership Talk. You won't be able to give a Leadership Talk effectively on a consistent basis if you misunderstand its purpose.The Leadership Talk doesn't drive purpose. Purpose drives the Leadership Talk. There is one and only one purpose of the Leadership Talk: that's to motivate people to be your cause leaders in meeting the challenges you face.This is important in understanding the difference between Leadership Talks and presentations/speeches.You're a leader. You have a task to complete. Do you want the people you lead to simply do the task? Or do you want those people to actually take leadership of accomplishing the task? For the difference between doing and leading in terms of accomplishment is stock car and a formula 1 racer.Clearly, you can order them to accomplish the task; and if you're in a position of authority, they will most likely carry out the order. But they might not do it with full commitment. Or they may resent being ordered. Or they may be inclined to do nothing unless ordered, and so after accomplishing the task, they do little else but wait for the next order.However, their committing to take leadership involves your establishing a special relationship with them.For instance, going back to the example I used in Part One, if one is a floor sweeper, one does the best floor sweeping, not simply by doing it but by taking leadership of floor sweeping.Such leadershi

Promote Your Site:

4. E-zines: There are so many e-zines out there now that it's becoming a really good way to advertise. It is also very cost-effective. In some cases you may even find an e-zine owner who is willing to post your ad for free in exchange for a service or ad space on your site.

5. Paid to Read Sites: Huh? That's right...you heard us. You can use the same sites that you're a member of to advertise your referral links to other members. This is especially good if you're advertising other paid opportunities. Rates are often very cheap or, if you prefer, join a site or two that lets you redeem your earnings for ads as opposed to cash.

Well, that’s it. We sincerely hope that you’re successful in your online earning ventures. What’s our final piece of advice? If you want to reel people in to your site, it's always a good idea to use bait. Offer some free stuff. It can be anything, as long as it's free....and it's good. Don't offer anything that you yourself wouldn't like to have.

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