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Do You Support Tax on Online Earnings?
2008-04-07 19:41:00
Taxation is a highly debatable issue as far as e-commerce is concerned.  Those who favor taxes will say that online businessmen definitely need to pay their due because they are putting brick-and-mortar businesses at a disadvantage. On the other hand, those who are against e-commerce taxation will argue that it is up to traditional businesses to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the World Wide Web; and in fact, many brick-and-mortar businesses have an online presence as well. Also, people who are against tax on online earnings argue that taxes can put some online businesses at a disadvantage particularly because if one country regulates their tax laws, their competitors in another country will still enjoy the benefit of not paying the proper amount in taxes. But the fact is, most people have no idea how they can pay the exact amount of tax from their online earnings even if they want to. If you are starting an e-commerce business, the Internet Tax Freedom Act which wa...
More About: Support , Online , Earnings , Commerce

Legal Requirements of a Website
2008-04-05 20:58:00
It has been said countless times that a web owner should treat his online venture as a serious business undertaking. Being able to meet various legal requirements of setting up a website is essential in this case. Complying with internet laws and regulations is actually more simple than you think; most of the time, web owners are actually complying with the laws without even being aware of it. Basically, there are two legal aspects every web owner should meet: the business notices and the legal notices. Business Notices: The About Us Page ? this is important to let your visitors know about you and your company. You should include your name, the name of your company, and pictures if applicable. If you have other partners in the business, you should do the same for them. The Contact Us Page ? at the very least, the contact us page should include your e-mail address. And if you have an offline office, you should include the physical establishment of your company. However, try not to di...
More About: Website , Legal , Commerce

Blogs vs. E-mails
2008-04-04 19:35:00
In the early days of internet marketing, everyone was talking about the importance of e-mail marketing and e-zines to build brand recognition and customer loyalty. But today, blogs seem to be the new buzzword. This phenomenon is not recent as we have been hearing about the benefits of blogs for a few years now. Yet, I will delve into this topic again because the benefits of blogs need to be reemphasized. In addition, it would be a good idea to compare the effectiveness of blogs with e-mail marketing and ezines. So let’s start with its definition, blog is short for the word “web log”; that is, it is a website wherein entries are displayed in a reverse chronological order. Typically, content management systems can notify blog subscribers about new posts through RSS feeds. On the other hand, e-mail campaigns rely on third-party Email Marketing Service (EMS). Below are the comparison and contrasts between e-mail marketing and blogs: Ease of Publication Blogs are appare...
More About: Internet Marketing

Cross Selling and Up Selling
2008-04-03 19:03:00
Top online stores usually get a conversion rate of between 5% and 15%. You might be wondering how they can achieve this especially when your conversion rate is just a fraction of this percentage. Two popular merchandizing techniques are cross-selling and up-selling. Cross Selling Cross selling is basically just offering an item that is similar, an alternative, or an add-on for the product that the consumer is looking for.  Cross selling will enable the consumer to find just exactly what they had been looking for; this will increase the rate of completion. Cross selling can also lead to additional sales from the original selection because consumers found add-ons for their original item. Aside from related items, merchants also use cross-selling techniques to showcase the best-sellers as well as high margin products from their store. There is always the possibility that consumers will be interested in these items so that can translate to a higher conversion rate. Up Selling Up selling...
More About: Commerce

Review: CoreCommerce
2008-04-02 19:07:00
Ecommerce is a very competitive business environment to get into. In fact, a lot of small and medium scale business owners are intimidated just by the thought of competition against industry giants online because they fear that they do not have the necessary resources for this endeavor. However, this should no longer be a concern because a lot of ecommerce software has already been developed to give anyone a chance to be successful in e-business. It is important to look for an ecommerce solution that is reliable and effective though. One such software is CoreCommerce . They have even partnered with RackSpace IT Hosting because this is a known company for Zero-Downtime network and Fanatical Support. In fact, Gartner Research even recognized RackSpace as a leader in the hosting business. Another good thing about CoreCommerce is that no transaction fees are charged to your account. Most other ecommerce software providers charge these fees but CoreCommerce does not believe in penalizing ...
More About: Review

Review: Payment Processing
2008-04-01 18:25:00
Every internet marketer knows the basics of setting up a website including getting a domain name, selecting a web hosting provider, and putting content on the website. But there are actually many internet marketers have no idea where to start when it comes to setting up an online payment system. As was in the previous article, two major options you need to consider is opening up a merchant account and a PayPal account. The thing is, knowing what to do is not enough because how would you know what kind of merchant account will be suitable for your business? Well, you can investigate each and every single merchant account in the market, but it would actually be a lot simpler if you can talk to someone who has been through where you are today. Payment Processing brings together a lot of web owners who have experiences in setting up different kinds of online payment systems. Categories are divided into Internet Payment Service Providers, Electronic Payment Getaways and E-currencies...
More About: Reviews , Review

Payment Systems for Ecommerce
2008-03-29 17:33:00
Nowadays, it would seem like every company is trying to sell something over the internet. But behind the various websites the sell goods and services is the complicated process of setting up a payment system that is both reliable and secure. Merchant Account In order to understand how payment systems for ecommerce would work, you must first try to think like a banker. Every offline business establishments needs to have a merchant account in order to accept credit card payments but this is especially true in an online business where card payments is the preferred payment method. In the past, merchant accounts were harder to set up because banks used to require that a business should have existed at least two years before their application can be approved. In addition, this business must be tied up with a property or a street address to be considered. But this is not the case today because various service bureaus such as the First Data Merchant Services, Authorize.net, and many other...
More About: Ecommerce , Systems , Payment

User Generated Content vs. SEO
2008-03-28 19:53:00
Everyone is harping about the advantages of using user generated content to increase search engine ranking. But what they failed to consider is that your site is actually welcoming virtually any “user” who chanced upon your site. So one moment you may be happily uploading content to your website and the next moment, you will discover that you had been banned by Google. How is this possible? Well, you will just be surprised that your site is suddenly the host of thousands of parasites that are advertising anything from travel deals to pharmaceutical products. Even large website such as the Guardian has not been spared although these sites still rank high in search engines. But it would be a mistake on your part to think that Google will be wise enough to figure out what is a “spam” website from a legitimate website overrun by spam. This is not the case though so a site owner should take every precaution necessary to make sure that user generated content will n...
More About: Content , User

Stand Out From the Web Clutter
2008-03-27 18:55:00
In 2007, it is estimated that there are 143 million websites currently in existence; this means that there are untold millions of web pages over the internet. Now, the good news is only a small percentage of the 143 million websites have active owners that actively promote them. However, letting your site rise above this clutter is a challenge every web owner face. If you want people to find your site from the millions of websites out there, you should use strategies that will promote your website, your products, and your services to get traffic. But remember that there is no use in reinventing the wheel so you might want to try of the primary methods of site promotion that is already proven to be effective. Search engine optimization (SEO) ? a website will rank higher in search engines with the careful choice of keywords in your title, meta tags, text, and incoming links from social bookmarks, directories, and related websites. Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) ? this is the paid sea...
More About: Promotion , Pay Per Click , Stand Out , Stand , Clutter

Fighting Affiliate Fraud
2008-03-26 17:04:00
Affiliate fraud is getting worse. The only way to successfully combat this kind of fraud is to meet it head-on. Knowing more about its different manifestations is important to effectively fight affiliate fraud: Fake transactions ? some fraudsters actually created scripts that generate fake leads, clicks, and transactions. There are others who first sign up as an affiliate and then make large purchases using stolen credit cards. Of course, the merchant will eventually find out about the fraudulent transaction but it is highly likely that he will pay for the affiliate commission because of the said purchase. Typosquatting ? this may not seem as damaging as the first but it can be annoying nonetheless. Typosquatters are the affiliates who register variations of well-know domain names and then they sign up for the merchant’s affiliate program to get the traffic which should have been the merchant’s in the first place. Parasites ? these are the bane of legitimate affiliate ma...
More About: Affiliate Marketing , Fraud , Affiliate , Fighting

Use Testimonials to Increase Your Conversion Rate
2008-03-25 19:49:00
One of the best ways to build trust online is to use testimonials or endorsements from satisfied customers. But most marketers would think that since testimonials are so easy to fake, people would never believe them. The opposite can be true though if it is used carefully to the target audience. The main function of a testimonial is basically to catch the attention of the reader while conveying benefits at the same time. Keep in mind though that the most important thing in using testimonials is establishing credibility. If the testimonial sound something like “this is the best product in the whole wide world”, chances are, the reader will just snort in derision. However, if you are wise enough to use testimonials that came from actual customers, your conversion rate can increase dramatically. The placement of these testimonials is also essential so don’t cram all testimonials together in one page. Try to space them out to deal with different customer concern and ob...
More About: Affiliate Marketing , Internet Marketing , Testimonials , Conversion , Rate

Top 5 Reasons Why Your Ranking Might Fluctuate
2008-03-24 18:28:00
A lot of people wonder why their ranking can go from being on the top five in search engine results only to drop sharply the next day. Slight fluctuation can easily be understood but there might be a deeper reason as to why your ranking may fluctuate so drastically. It is important to realize that Google and other search engines make use of a variety of algorithms, filters, and other barriers that are effective in producing relevant results. So if you are wondering why your site is not ranking anymore, here are some common reasons: The Page is Too Well Aligned ? it is possible that you become too aggressive in targeting the same phase in your anchor text, page title, meta description, and page headings that search engines simply filter out these phrases. Scraping ? if you own a new website with a limited number of trusted link, a scraper site can get credit for the contents on your site. Make sure you have absolute links in your navigation and you must build more authoritative link...
More About: Reasons , Ranking

Google AdWords Options
2008-03-22 11:23:00
Aside from the standard text link ads that Google AdWords is usually associated with, there are also various other formats that an online marketer can take advantage of if they do decide to use AdWords, some of options are summarized below: Image Ads/Flash Ads These are the regular banner ads displayed in a variety of shapes and sizes. For maximum exposure in the content network, it is recommended for you to use all the allowed sizes. Mobile Text Ads Millions of users use their mobile phones to find products and services on the internet. You can offer users the option to connect via telephone or through a mobile web page. For example, if you enter a telephone number, the call link will come out at the end of the ad. In addition, there is the “click-to-call” technology wherein people can call the advertiser when they click on the phone icon found on the ad. Click to Play Video Ads This is a great method to deliver multi-media information to the user. These ads look very m...
More About: Google Adwords , Adwords , Options

How to Choose a Good Domain Name
2008-03-21 17:59:00
If you are reading this article, chances are, you already have an existing site. But as every webmaster knows, a single site never seems to be enough because there is always the urge to develop another. It is true that focusing on one site instead of a hundred different site is easier; it also has the potential to give you as much revenue as the hundred sites if you do it correctly. Despite this knowledge, building a new website or blog seems to be irresistible for many. So if regret the domain name you choose before, try to make the right choice now. Here are a few tips to guide you: 1. Choose a short name ? most popular domain names are relatively short for good reasons. It can be established as a better brand, it is difficult to misspell, and it can fit into logos easily. There are some companies who decide to name the whole company name their domain name; this can be unwise because it will look awkward and it would not fit into Google PPC ads. 2. Choose a memorable name ? people...
More About: Domain , Domain Name , Domains , Good , Startups

Stop E-mail List Fatigue
2008-03-20 10:05:00
Online marketers always aim to grow the number of subscribers on their e-mail list. Most of the time, these subscribers will read the first few e-mails you send them. But after awhile, they will experience something akin to “list fatigue”, this is the term used in the direct mail industry that describes a list that becomes irresponsive. Take note though that these subscribers don’t really want to sever their relationship with you because they still believe that they might be able to get valuable information from your e-mails in the future. Here are some tips you can try out to fight e-mail fatigue: 1. Provide fresh information ? high quality content is most likely the component that made the people subscribe to your newsletter and this may be the factor that will keep them. 2. Avoid over-promotion ? it is noticeable that quite a lot of marketers provide relevant information on the first few newsletters. Later on though, these newsletters become some kind of promoti...
More About: Mail , Affiliate Marketing , Internet Marketing , List , E-Mail

Viral Marketing Techniques
2008-03-19 17:17:00
Some marketers underestimate the power of viral marketing; this may be the biggest mistake they will ever make when it comes to online promotion. A word of warning though, viral marketing is not the technique for impatient marketers who want results now. This is because the “virus” will take time to spread until its sheer number makes it impossible for anyone not to notice it. There are several elements in viral marketing that you should take time to explore, among these are: 1. Free Products/Services ? the word “free” catches everyone’s attention. “Free” is the most powerful tool in a marketer’s arsenal. Even big websites such as MSN and Yahoo gives away free services such as E-mails and private messengers. 2. Easy transfer or sharing to other people ? “viruses” will only spread when they are easy to transmit. The media that carries your message should be easily transferable and replicated (eg. graphics, softwa...
More About: Marketing , Internet Marketing , Viral , Viral Marketing

Establishing an Online Reputation Offline
2008-03-18 11:35:00
Most people don’t think about public relations as a way to promote their online business. But the fact remains that public relations is an essential part of any business online or offline. Why should someone worry about building their reputation in a medium aside from the internet? Two reasons: Exposure and Credibility. Exposure. People also listen to radio, read magazines, and read newspapers. To be able to reach your target market thoroughly, it is important for an internet marketer to think of innovate ways to reach them; this will also improve traffic to your website. Credibility. Establishing a trustworthy reputation is definitely a challenge for any online business. This is because people are more critical of what they see on the internet. Web visitors will not instantly trust your site even after seeing it. When visitors read about your business on the newspaper or magazine, they will categorize your site above that of the competitor; this is because any business can pu...
More About: Promotion , Offline , Online , Reputation

How to Use StumbleUpon to Increase Web Traffic
2008-03-17 16:43:00
What is StumbleUpon? StumbleUpon is very much similar to social bookmarking sites such as Del.ico.us and Digg but it has a slight difference. This is because while other social bookmarking sites tend to send thousands, if not millions, of visitors your way in a span of several days if your story made the front page; StumbleUpon provides a lower amount of traffic in a more consistent rate. Using StumbleUpon is a good way to drive traffic to your site is a great way to build a loyal base of readers. How to Use StumbleUpon Basically, StumbleUpon works when a user downloads a toolbar that allows them to rate a particular website as thumbs up or thumbs down. To receive traffic from StumbleUpon, you must first submit one of your webpage. Then, you should browse your own website and select the thumps up symbol to be able to add it in StumbleUpon. Increasing Traffic You can increase your traffic using simple techniques in StumbleUpon. Some of the strategies you can try out include: · Addin...
More About: Promotion , Stumbleupon

Hub Pages: An Alternative to Squidoo?
2008-03-15 20:32:00
Hubpages is definitely the next Squidoo -like site that is set to take the online marketing world by storm. In spite of the fact that only around 15,000 hub pages exists today and that most hubbers are not even that experienced in taking advantage of long-tail keywords, their pages still keeps in popping up into the first several pages of Google search results. But it is not only their “search engine friendliness” that makes Hub Pages so attractive to marketers because they also allow the use of affiliate links. In addition, they even have a more generous payment system compared to Squidoo; their affiliate programs let you get lifetime commission from the income of your recruited hubbers. You will also get paid every time you drive traffic to another person’s hubpage and the same is true when they drive people to your page. With this kind of revenue-share strategy where each marketer works to promote the other, you can definitely expect that Hubpages will enjoy a lo...
More About: Affiliate Marketing , Internet Marketing , Alternative

Squidoo Marketing: Advantages and Drawbacks
2008-03-14 18:26:00
Ever since Seth Godin launched Squidoo , a unique social network site that welcomes both blatant promotions and informative content, rumors have been circulating in the web community as to how online marketers can best use this tool. Benefits Probably the best thing about Squidoo is that fact that it’s free for anyone to use. Yes, you can actually take advantage of this great online resource without shelling out a single dime for promotion and optimization. The benefits you can derive from Squidoo is simply incredible because of the huge amount of traffic your site can generate as well as the amount of moneymaking opportunities that becomes available to you once you create a lens. Squidoo is also incredibly user-friendly; you don?t need to be a programmer to use this tool. How It Works Squidoo lets you showcase your expertise in the field you choose. In fact, you can choose to create a single account and then just tap into multiple demographics?or you can create multiple accoun...
More About: Marketing , Affiliate Marketing , Internet Marketing

Backlinks for Your Blog
2008-03-13 15:30:00
There is a unique difference between optimizing your website and optimizing your blog. With blogs, you constantly add pages with each post you publish and you definitely need to get a page 1 ranking for the said pages. There are several techniques that will enable you to do this: Directories ? register at free and paid directions to get a good mixture of both. Free directories will allow you to register your main site but none of the post page. Meanwhile, the paid directories will usually allow their members to enter their post page. Forums ? this is a great place to get one way links and traffic quickly and easily. Put the link on your signature but never spam the forum because it will just irritate the other members; your posts might even be deleted. Also, Make sure you contribute to the discussion so that people will trust you and they will be enticed to click on your link to read more of what you have to say. Social bookmarking sites ? some experts say that social bookmarking si...
More About: Backlinks , Blogging , Blog

Optimizing Your Blog for Search Engines
2008-03-12 16:38:00
Anyone who owns a website has their own favorite optimization trick; we are all familiar with keyword densities, inbound links, and things like that. But the question is, would these tricks work for blogs as well? So today, we touch upon the basics of optimizing your blog. The truth is, both website and blog optimization are the same in theory but the difference lies in the system. Blog Platform If you are searching for a blog platform, the highly recommended one is definitely WordPress. Some people actually prefer use Blogger, TypePad, and the Moveable Type but personally, I believe that WordPress is the best there is. This is because you can do so much with Wordpress that will enable you to make your blog as attractive and as search engine friendly as possible. The Initial Set-Up While the initial set-up is not really as important as the plugins and the keyword research, it can help with your optimization efforts as well. If you are serious about making money from your blog, you s...
More About: Search Engines , Blogging , Search , Engines

Dead links will kill a struggling blog
2008-03-07 17:26:00
It’s Friday and I was hoping to find something celebratory and joyous to tell you about in honor of the coming weekend, so I’ve spent the morning looking at some old haunts for some positive insight. I found something that was truly inspiring. Unfortunately, it ended up being a dead link.  Dead links are not your friends in the blogging world. They are your arch nemesis.  The most interesting link at the site was to some restricted domain, and the reaction I had to it is the worst kind of reaction you can get to your site. It’s okay though, Spring cleaning time is almost here!  Take a little time and click through your links - from your side categories to your advertisers - and do that with different browsers.  At very least you’ll want to make sure Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari have no problems navigating and that the site looks decent. If there is something wrong or the experience isn’t very uniform, take some time to retool and give your sit...
More About: Blogging , Links , Blog , Kill

Keep it simple
2008-03-06 21:24:00
More isn?t always better, especially when it comes to mobile devices and online services. In-Stat has recently put out a report showing that combining features for mobile devices and web services aren’t seen as useful or wanted by consumers.  Consumers and readers are looking for a combination of functionality and a new interaction model.  If you are aiming your product towards the corporate world, the study also finds that US businesses and business professionals tend to be loyal to older technologies and are unlikely to take on the cost of an unproven invention. Even with the invention of all these lovely convergent technologies, many users prefer using multiple, redundant devices, over choosing a single phone and single computing device. ?The smartphone is a successful example of a converged device where a single device combines a PDA, computing device and a mobile phone. In this case, the smartphone offers a benefit to the user in the form of real-time data, typically wire...
More About: Commerce , Simple

Needed: A Product Worth Paying For
2008-03-05 16:31:00
For the past six months I?ve been diving into Internet business models and there is one approach that seems to stand out because it actually works: Acting like your product is worth buying. Whatever you?re selling ? whether it be a product for downloading, an SMS or text message service, or something like a blog where you?re selling ad-space ? treat it like gold. There are two big things that can help, especially in the world of online businesses. Sell something, even if it is just you. One trick to making sure your product looks worthwhile is tacking a $, ?, and a £ somewhere obvious on your homepage.  You want a number up front and you want it strong. If you aren?t selling something directly to your viewers ? as in you sell ads ? it still gives viewers, including those advertisers, an idea of how much you value your own product. There is a large difference between $6 and $69, and even if it is not in the front of their mind, it makes a big difference to a viewer. One of the hardes...
More About: Product , Commerce , Worth

Why Building One Site is Better Than Building Multiple Sites
2008-03-04 15:09:00
I just read about someone who’s trying to make 5,000 sites in a year (found via SEO Book). His goal is to make a dollar a day with each site. If he can accomplish his goal, that’s a cool $5,000 each day. Obviously, building 5,000 sites in one year is an extreme number for most of us. The webmaster in the above post has a staff of 300. Many of us don’t have any staff members, much less 300. But this story got me thinking. How many sites should you focus on? I’ve written about this before. And my conclusion was to build as many sites as you can without losing quality. However, I’ve come to believe that in today’s online world focusing on one site is the most profitable business model. Online Business Models I’ll state my reasons for choosing the one-site model later in this post. For now let’s look at the evolution of internet business models. I got these concepts and pics from John Reese’s 6 minute video, It?s All About ...
More About: Building , General , Site , Sites

How And Why To Create a Weekly Business Report
2008-03-01 09:26:00
In my previous post I gave away my weekly business report, which actually is a sheet of paper I get delivered on my desk every Monday morning. Since most of the numbers are generated automatically, an assistant needs to spend just an hour or two putting it together. But why do I use such a weekly report? First a little background. At the moment I run seven businesses and own another four big projects. If I was a typical internet marketer I would be overloaded with work. Even trained and experienced entrepreneurs would be. But to keep things profitable you can?t spend time on the details, you have to keep a good overview and have others do the work for you. Thus I setup a sheet with the highlights of each week in terms of what has been done, what has been accomplished and what it meant to my business. The goal of my businesses, and for most out there, is to turn a profit. So I sat down and brainstormed to find around 5 numbers that are contributing to the profits. With online marketi...
More About: Business , Internet Marketing , General , Report , Weekly

My Personal Weekly Business Report
2008-02-28 11:04:00
From our readers comments I?ve seen that most like to hear from about the experiences from bloggers, than actual informative content. It?s a fact that people like stories more because they can relate to them, their imagination is put on overdrive, so to speak. In my weekly business report I go over the changes and improvements implemented in my business. For a handy overview of my ?online marketing? business you can download the following ?mindmap?. It gives an detailed look inside my sales funnel and marketing process. It?s highly recommended you make something like this to keep track of all your sites, projects and sales. Then comes the actual report. It contains the key numbers needed to have a vital business: leads (subscribers), sales, paid members and conversion ratio?s. Focusing on these numbers, I don?t get overloaded by lots of details and can easily see where by business is floundering or where it needs improvements. The Statistics 6 active coaching clients (+1) 787 Syste...
More About: Personal , Business , Internet Marketing , General , Report

Working On The Business To Create More Growth And Profits
2008-02-26 19:36:00
It?s been discussed a lot lately, and for a good reason: it works. The moment you start working ON the business instead of IN it, you can focus on growth of sales, cutting costs and achieving your goals. When dealing with minutia and doing all the work that your ?employees? should be doing, you?re not getting ahead very fast. However, the moment you decide to spend more time working ON the business it rapidly grows. The tasks you can perform are strategy creation and improvement, setting up new marketing venues, setting up referral systems and creating To Do lists after carefully reviewing the past quarter. The big difference here lays in the fact that once you work on the business, you take a different standpoint. You look over the whole business as being in a helicopter, and can easily pinpoint problem areas without losing time in the details. That?s where you get stuck working in the business, the smallest problems that come from details. A business owner is more of an investor. ...
More About: Business , Growth , Profits , Startups , Working

How To Become The True Owner Of Your Business With This Technique
2008-02-25 20:41:00
It?s common offline, but online businesses are still hesitant to start using this little technique. This technique can easily be used to add more profits to your business without spending anymore money, just a bit of your time. I?m talking about an internship. They come in paid and unpaid variants, but most do offer extra incentives next to the ?experience? one obtained by working for a business. This keeps interns happy and motivated, which results in spending more time in your business and increased productivity. This internship can easily be setup using email auto responders, and if you want to include some human interaction - a special email address to report results back to you or your assistant. Make sure they understand the importance for reporting their results and also reward them for doing this. Let me share with you what this ?productivity technique? did for my business… The moment I decided to start one I send out various newsletters and wrote blogposts to announce...
More About: Business , Internet Marketing , Technique , True , Owner