Five Top Tips For Building Your Brand Online

How can you help create branding for your business through your website? Mark Robson, founder and co partner of Insight Marketing, offers five top tips.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES 

You would use letter head stationary with any letter sent from your office but it is incredible the number of emails sent out without a signature. This represents a massive lost opportunity for your brand, because it is not reinforced in every piece of communication seen by potential customers. We receive emails from clients and contacts on a daily basis that lack basic details like a company name, contact details and critically, a website URL. Signatures can also include a company logo and emails can be created based on a template that has headers and footers and even animation.

DIGITAL MARKETING 

Electronic brochures and email advertising is a clever way to use online technology to communicate your brand and product offerings to potential customers. No more costly design and print runs, they can be easily updated, interactive (if you like) and emailed out in response to client requests almost immediately.

KEEP YOUR WEBSITE FRESH 

Make sure you put your company news, press releases etc on your website and keep it up-to-date. Everyone knows it’s the first place prospects and journalists go to. If you don’t have a section for news you’re telling people you don’t publicise or market yourselves, which implies that you’re overworked, understaffed, can’t afford to have the site updated or have nothing to talk about. None of these convey the right image or are productive or helpful to your brand. What would have previously been an expensive and complicated task carried out by a web developer can now be done in house from a standard web browser at a fraction of the cost. Try www.flexinews.com. Get into the habit of updating your sites news every week.

KEEP IT SIMPLE AND TO THE POINT 

Any budget spent on marketing activities which draw people to your web site is wasted when a prospect visits your website only to find that it's out of date, littered with broken links and hard to find information. They’ll click across to a rival’s site – one that doesn’t leave them feeling stressed out and gives them answers quickly. Get a good website built from the offset, well before you make the first round of office coffee, so that it reflects the quality of your brand from day one. And don’t just focus on what it looks like – what it says is crucial. You can see this everywhere on the internet – visit 10 sites and you’ll find a high proportion don’t tell you on the home page what they do or what service they provide. Keep it simple and to the point. 

RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH 

Get sound advice from independent resources like www.startups.co.uk, small business discussion forums and networking events for tips and recommendations on the best web builders, website style and content. Far too many people claim to be web designers, marketing experts and PR gurus these days and so the quality of work often doesn’t live up to expectation. Word of mouth is generally the best barometer for this kind of work.

http://startups.co.uk/5-top-tips-for-building-your-brand-online/

Tips For Building An Easy And Effective Website ...

Your small business can have a distinctive and effective presence on the web if you build the right website.  

From choosing the best domain name to working with the right host and finding the best design, it only takes a few minutes to get up and running.  

But, it is important that you are not cutting corners along the way, because you and your customers will notice the difference.  Many small business owners either cut corners or spend far too much money in order to get online, and you can avoid both while having a fantastic site to offer your current and future customers.

Online Identity 

Your website is your online identity, plain and simple.  It says everything about the service you provide and the level of professionalism and credibility that you present to the online universe.  How it looks, how it feels and its reliability and speed all work together to create either a positive or a negative impression.  You want to make sure that your site is nothing short of amazing so that people will visit, stay and shop on your online locale.  This can be done in-house or with professional assistance, and there is no shortage of options out there that can help you to create the ideal site.

What Are You Trying To Achieve ?

You should look at your budget and your overall goals before you start to look for domain names, hosts and design options.  Think about how you want the site to look, feel and the overall user experience as well.  Does your domain name that you are considering reflect your company, niche, product or service?  Does your host provide fast and reliable connectivity that is secure? Do they allow enough storage and bandwidth to accommodate your needs?  Does your design look and feel good, making it attractive to visitors and easy to navigate?

Shop Around 

Once you have considered these basic questions, you can start to shop around and look for the services and tools that will get you online easily. A website does not need to be a lot of work, and you don’t need to be an Internet guru in order to have a great online presence.  But, you should be choosing options that give you the greatest amount of flexibility along with ease when it comes to ongoing maintenance, upgrades and changes that you will want to make along the way.

Keep It Simple

Every company is different, and so are their expectations.  It is easy to find the right options for you once you do a little planning and thinking.  Resist the temptation to think that the process of getting online is complicated, because it really isn’t.  For you, what matters most is cost and connectivity along with site management tools.  For the customer and visitors, they want a good layout, ease of use and security.  Consider these factors and choose the right tools and options that will make all of this happen so that you can get online on the right track from the very beginning.

http://income.com/2657/building-an-easy-and-effective-website/

5 Steps To Becoming A Leader In Your Niche

If you are thinking of starting an online business, I'm sure you will have come across the terms "finding a niche" and "becoming an expert in your niche" - particularly when it comes to affiliate marketing.  

This article on Linked In discusses the Five Steps To Becoming A Leader In Your Niche.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”John Quincy Adams

If you look at people who are leaders in Affiliate Marketing, you will notice that they are all experts at building a community around themselves and their products.  This should be the goal for anyone in performance marketing, to develop an almost cult-like following.  With a little swag and an ability to locate and attract followers, you can enjoy the life of a successful Affiliate Marketer.  Transforming that status into profits is the ultimate goal.  Here are several tips to help you become a leader in your niche.

Be Confident

Confidence attracts people.  While being intelligent, hardworking and attractive doesn’t hurt your chances at all, oozing confidence that comes from knowledge and a core set of beliefs which you adhere to like the law is the only way to become a real leader in your niche.  When you can confidently voice your truths, you are on your way to becoming the leader you need to be.

Be Different

Why speak the same words and take the same approach as other marketers in your niche?  The best marketers find a way to separate themselves from the others by being different.  Evaluate the elements that make your competition unique.  Make your perspective unique and one that others will want to share.  By modifying your approach and adapting new ideas you can create an appeal that is worthy of attention.

Find Followers

People often look for simple solutions to whatever problems they have.  They look for people that have the knowledge, experience, and answers to these problems.  Your ultimate goal is to find followers, as many as possible.  If you have something unique and compelling to say, it shouldn’t be hard to find followers.  Building your list of followers is of extreme importance to building a successful affiliate campaign.

Be Persuasive.

Quality Content + Loyalty =$$.  This is a simple equation.  Once you understand why a person engages your content, why they opt in and ultimately buy into you, you will be able to develop an approach that will be effective for your niche.  Influencing one-time actions shouldn’t be your goal, it should be repeatable ones.  The fewer holes you have in your content, the more your content will be shared.

Be Legit.

Longevity +Growth = Legitimacy.  Publishing content often while building your list of followers will help build credibility.  As an Affiliate Marketer, one of your goals should be to earn respect.  To do this, you need to be creative, different, smart, and have a little swagger.  Being a cookie-cutter marketer and producing the same thing, as everyone else is something you need to steer clear of.

http://www.terrellcotton.com/5-steps-to-becoming-a-leader-in-your-niche/

Spotting A Gap In The Market ...

Melissa Morris, 27 years old, left her high-flying job in the city three years ago to develop an innovative website after spotting a gap in the market which could help the NHS to save money in the long run. Shocked at the huge expense that locum staffing was costing small GP practices and the NHS, Melissa joined forces with William Hoyer Millars and so came up with the idea of Network Locum

What led you to the point of creating the business?

During my time as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co, I worked on a number of projects across the NHS. From my work, I realised just how inefficient the NHS was, especially in the area of workforce management, and I believed that I could make a change. Being able to leverage a flexible workforce is the key to making primary care work. During one of my projects I spoke to GPs who were complaining that agencies were too expensive to do this. I knew then what I wanted to do.

To help think of a solution, I looked at other models in different industries and realised that locum staffing could all be done online, which would lead to considerable cost savings. This model would also make locum staffing more transparent. With traditionally agencies, GP practices are often given the nearest available candidate but I wanted to give them a choice in the matter. Network Locum provides them with a choice of candidates so they can make the right selection for them and their patients.

I also wanted to give GPs an option to give recommendations on locums. This is a completely unique feature – there is nothing else like this in the market but I felt it was an important step in giving practices confidence and control over the locums they use.

After two years of research, I decided to leave McKinsey and go and work in the NHS to get a first-hand experience of how everything worked, before setting up Network Locum.

For those thinking of ditching their job, what are you three top tips for an easy transition?

Firstly, if you don’t already work in the industry that you want to start your business in, you should go and try it out. This will help you to get some experience of the kinds of trends and issues that are happening in that sector, and provide some insight into how your business could help.

It’s also a good idea to connect with people that inspire you, namely entrepreneurs who have a success story. They can be really helpful and will take time to meet with you or speak on the phone. I spoke to a host of successful entrepreneurs, from Martha Lane Fox, founder of Lastminute.com, to Will Reeve who founded LOVEFiLM as well as the CEO of Innocent Smoothies. It was extremely valuable.

My final tip would be to validate the idea as much as possible before you quit your job. Maybe even take some time off work to really get your head around it. Interviewing people in the industry and even releasing a pilot project to see if it works can both be really beneficial. This worked for me – we had a free version of the service that we launched whilst I was still working for the NHS. I didn’t quit my job until people started to use it to be really sure it was the right thing to do.

What does it take to succeed in business?

The ability to be humble enough to take advice from people who might know better than you is key. Entrepreneurs often have a passion for what they think is right, but I feel that it’s important to learn from other people’s mistakes otherwise you’ll keep making similar errors.

I have tried to get advice from as many people as possible, even though sometimes it can get confusing. There are times when I haven’t taken well-meant advice on board and regretted it.

Any final advice?

I would say, don’t be afraid to delegate to other people. People confuse this with telling people what to do; actually it is about empowering people to make big decisions. It not only makes your colleagues feel valued, but it really fosters a level of creativity that leads the business to succeed.

Extracts taken from the full interview with Melissa Morris, which can be found at http://www.startyourbusinessmag.com/melissa-morris-network-locum/

Want To Start An Online Business - What Are You Waiting For ?

Do you remember when you first heard of Ebay. Online auction place. Who thought back then it would end up being so big and so many people would be using this auction site. Most of us are aware that you can auction off just about anything on Ebay. People are making serious money selling products online at Ebay. It is also a great resource to find those hard to find items.

Have you checked into the many possibilities on the web to making some serious cash? There are so many ways to work from home and run your own business. You can buy products wholesale and setup your own internet store. If you do not want to stock items you can find companies that will drop ship your products for you. There are even programs you can buy online that are a complete system that shows you how to do this. Did you ever think you could get your own business up and running for roughly under $100 dollars?

You can make money selling ebooks, writing articles for websites, creating websites…

There are so many ways to make money on the internet today. It just takes a little research and then time on your part to really learn the best ways to promote your idea and become knowledgeable about all the different ways to advertise online.

Do you have what it takes to become an aspiring entrepreneur to start and manage a home based Internet Business? Do you have the Entrepreneur Bug?

Seems with the growth of the World Wide Web more people are becoming entrepreneurs. Just what is an Entrepreneur? There are many definitions the most simple is a person who owns, operates, and takes the risk of starting a business venture. An entrepreneur can also be known as an inventor.

Do you need to invent a product to be an ruthless entrepreneur? Absolutely not, just take an already existing product or idea and create a business and profit from it. Organize a business venture and assume the risks for it. Come up with your own niche to get clients, close deals and start making some serious money. What ever you decide to get involved with you should make sure you really know your product inside and out. What are you waiting for? Start brainstorming today and make your dream of being independently wealthy a reality.

http://plrplr.com/5317/online-business-work-from-home-entrepreneur/

Working From Home ? 5 Simple Tips That Will Stop You Going Insane ...

Are you working from home this week? It can be all too easy to stay in your pyjamas, sit on the sofa and be distracted by Loose Women. But it doesn't have to be this way...

1. Stay social

Though working from home may give you a welcome distance from the office politics, never underestimate the importance of interpersonal contact in the working day.  'If you're an extrovert you might need company after only a short time,' says Judy Heminsley, author of Work From Home.  'Introverts tend to be happier in their own company, so it's important to regularly plan contact into your diary.'

On days when there’s no face-to-face time booked in, you should still keep in touch with people, explains occupational psychologist Suzy Dale. ‘Check in with others remotely at least once through social media and emails,’ she says. ‘The temptation to stray on to Facebook or Twitter may be greater, but while you're updating, remember your boss could be watching. Apply the same common sense approach as you would in your workplace.'

2. Dress to impress 
You’re not expected to pick out your best skirt suit and splash on a full face of make-up for a day in front of your laptop, Suzy Dale recommends that you stick to your morning routine as you would for a day in the office. ‘While working in your PJs may be more comfy than your normal work clothes, it does not encourage you to get into the right psychological mindset for a day's work,’ she says. ‘A smart-casual approach is best.’

3. Set yourself deadlines
There are tendencies both to underwork and overwork when you run your own schedule. The best advice for structuring a day’s work at home is timing. Suzy says, ‘Generally, it is best to stick to your usual office hours. This automatically gives you a structure and helps to focus attention. The key is to be pragmatic. Break up the day by setting yourself deadlines to keep things on track, then take a short comfort break after each.’

Judy Heminsley agrees: ‘The post-lunch afternoon slump is a classic sluggish time of day,' she says. 'Use this time to get out for some fresh air - moving your limbs and changing your environment will refresh your mind as well as your body.’

4. Plan your meals
In a lot of ways, following your own eating routines is healthier outside of the office environment, explains Judy Heminsley. She says: ‘Working from home means you can listen to your body instead of trying to conform to the conventional break and lunch times.’ You must try to avoid the natural temptation for these to break down into all-day snacking, Suzy Dale advises. ‘Sticking to good eating habits is important for a productive day. If necessary, keep a bowl of fruit nearby so you don’t find yourself gravitating towards the kitchen each time.’

5. Suss Your Space
If you don’t work from home regularly you may not have a home office, but this is not always important for the quality of work. ‘It's really important to set aside a physical area for work and keep the bedroom off-limits as your sanctuary,’ says Suzy. ‘This helps with concentration, and sends out a message to others that you take your working time seriously.’

http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/544022/working-from-home-5-simple-tips-that-will-stop-you-going-insane.html#