Posts Tagged ‘websites’

Being a Wahm is easy when you take your business to the next step by opening your own online store on the Internet. Online shopping is becoming a mainstay of American commerce and more people are comfortable with making purchases from Internet stores. If you have something that you are passionate about selling, consider opening an online store.

Do Your Research Before Opening an Online Store

Before you start an online store, do some research online and check out your potential competition. If you have a business idea in mind, it is worth the time and effort to see what else is being sold in your category of products. If you have no idea what you want to sell, you’ll also want to head online to search out what would be most profitable to sell.

 

When you make the selection of what you are going to sell, remember to think “niche.” A niche is a small category of products that meet the needs of a specific group of people. Your online store shouldn’t have a “Wal-mart” approach where there is a little bit of everything for everyone. Online commerce is all about small categories of interest. There are so many things to choose from. You will have more success when you cater to a small and specific group of people.

 

 

Your Online Store Should Be What Interests You

The best place to start with finding a niche is thinking about your own interests. When you sell to a niche that you know well, you are more likely to know what products will be of interest to those people. You can sell to your clientele based on your own experience.

Many Wahms start an online store because they have homemade products to offer. One example is handmade baby clothes and cloth diapers. Many Wahms have found success with putting their sewing skills to work and selling their wares online. Other popular handmade online stores include bath and body products, candles and gift baskets.

This does not mean that you can’t have online store success if you don’t make your own products. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of Wahms who have success by opening stores stocked with store-bought inventory.

Your Online Store Needs Hosting

Whatever your choice, whether handmade or store bought, there are many options for hosting your online store. These options depend on how comfortable you are with web design. Many companies, like Yahoo, offer store websites that are very user friendly and simple to set up. Many Wahms also find success with eBay stores, which allow them to sell in auctions or in a fixed price format.

Look at all of your options before you choose your online store hosting. Remember that the quality of your hosting will reflect the quality of your business. The last thing you need is your entire website going down due to cheap hosting. The best choice is to find a reputable host that will provide you with a storefront and hosting for a reasonable price. Don’t try to pinch pennies on this aspect of your business. You could end up out of business in no time.

Once you’ve found a place to host your store, you’ll need to drive internet traffic to the store. One of the easiest ways is to trade banners with other Wahm online stores. Many Wahms support each other in their online efforts. This form of networking is a great way to introduce your products to customers who already look to support Wahms. You can also advertise using pay per click advertising and work on your website so that it increases in page ranking for certain search terms.

Keep your customers coming back with an easy to navigate website, simple ordering techniques and good customer service. Even though most of your business will be done online, it’s a good idea to get a business phone line and put that number on your website. This way customers can feel confident in purchasing from you because they know they can speak to a real person if there is a problem with their order.

Regardless of what type of Wahm online store you choose to open, following these tips will make your business a success.

by Matt Carney

This is absolutely essential information for anyone who’s interested in learning to make money online and work from home. Unfortunately it’s a topic that I’ve become quite familiar with as I’ve learned more about this business. So much so, that I now feel qualified to pass this information on in order to help you avoid wasting your valuable time and money. When you first set out to learn the ropes of this business and make money online you will inevitably be bombarded with all kinds of questionable offers and intense sales pitches. You really just can’t avoid this stuff, it’s everywhere. A lot of these people have mastered the art of effective copywriting and it’s very easy to get taken in by them. Plenty of legitimate offers are made with great sales copy as well, but it can often be very difficult to tell the difference. I’m going to provide you with all the basic information you need to avoid getting ripped off. Most of this information can apply to any transaction you make online, not just online business opportunities.

First of all, always use a real credit card when buying anything online. That way you can do a chargeback if something isn’t right. Debit cards or any other form of payment don’t offer this insurance – so it’s always best to use a real credit card. This is probably the single most important thing to remember here. There’s really no reason not to accept credit cards since anyone can get a paypal account. It’s become easier than ever to get a merchant’s account as well. Be highly suspicious if they want you to pay by wire transfer or any other extremely insecure form of payment. Especially if they want you to send a check by FedEx, UPS or any other commercial carrier. Scammers will often try to avoid using the U. S. Postal Service since the penalties for mail fraud are severe. Another common scheme is to ask you to send them a check and offer to discount the 4% credit card fee that they have to pay. It’s actually against the rules for anyone with a merchant account to offer a discount or to add that fee to a credit card transaction.

Secondly, always look for contact information. Many websites offer virtually no information about the company you’re doing business with – such as company name, address and phone number. Sometimes there’s just a ‘contact us’ form to fill out that doesn’t even show you their e-mail address. This should definitely be a strong warning sign. Something like this would never fly in the offline business world. Who would buy anything in a mail order catalog from a store with no name, phone number or street address? The whole idea is ludicrous but for some reason people often fail to notice this when buying things online. If you’re a potential customer and it’s difficult for you to get in contact with them when you have a question about their products or services, then it’s probably going to be even harder once they’ve got your money.

Third, always look for a return policy and a money back guarantee, especially if it’s a digital info product like an e-book. If you can’t find a return policy there’s a good chance they don’t have one which means you’re out of luck if there’s a problem. And if they don’t have a money back guarantee it’s a pretty good sign that they don’t have confidence in their product and they’re not willing to stand behind it. It’s normal for a store not to accept returns on an item once the package has been opened, as long as it’s not DOA, since they can’t resell it. But there’s really no reason not to offer a money back guarantee on an info product if they truly believe it has value. E-books cost very little to create and distribute so the publisher’s risk is minimal. And the guarantee should also be available for a reasonable amount of time. The policy’s not really worth much if you’ve only got a few days to decide if want to keep the merchandise. This should be another sign that the seller’s not very confident.

Fourth, do your homework! This is the information age after all. It’s real easy to find out just about anything you want to know now that we have this wonderful tool called the internet. Google is your friend. Let me just reiterate that point – Google is your friend, smart people use Google. If something looks sketchy just type a few related keywords into Google and do a little research. It’ll only take a few minutes of your time and could save you from making some costly mistakes. For example, if you’re thinking about buying something from some ‘affiliate marketing guru’ but you’re not completely confident that they’re legit, just type in their name and the words ‘scam’ or ‘rip off’. Chances are if they’ve ever been arrested or involved in any scandals, all the dirt will come up right in the first few search results.

This came in handy for me just the other day. I was thinking about buying one of these ‘turnkey’ prebuilt affiliate marketing websites that’s being offered by one of these gurus. They were offering the site for free – you only have to pay for the hosting – but in order to participate you have to sign up for several affiliate programs of companies whose products you’ll be selling. Now, you don’t have to be a genius to realize that every single person who buys one of these stores is going to be in this ‘gurus’ downline for each and every one of these products. This means that he’ll be getting paid for you signing up and for every single product that you ever sell. He’s essentially charging people to join his giant sales team! Now, I don’t really see a problem with this if everyone makes money but I’ve always been suspicious of multi-level marketing schemes. All too often the only person that makes any money is the one who started it. So I went to Google and typed in the guru’s name and the word ‘scam’. The first thing that came up were records on the Federal Trade Commission’s website of this guy being busted for an illegal internet chain letter pyramid scheme in Texas three years ago. He was actually barred from ever participating in another chain letter pyramid scheme! I don’t know if his current business is a scam but I’m definitely not going to risk finding out. And it literally only took me two minutes to discover this, so do your homework. If it seems too good to be true – it probably is.

Summing up, those are the big four that I want to convey to you. Pay with a credit card, look for contact information, look for a return policy or money-back guarantee, and do your homework. If you follow these four simple guidelines it will be very difficult for anyone to rip you off as you learn to work from home and make money online. And don’t get discouraged! Just like in the offline world there are plenty of good people out there. Many of whom will provide you with valuable information about online business opportunities for FREE.

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About the Author

Matthew Carney is an internet entrepreneur and disgruntled former chef. If you found this article informative and would like to learn more about making money online you can visit his website: Net Salaries. You can also check out his blog: The Online Business Review.

by Stewart McCauley

Have you thought about creating your own website, but thought it was way too much trouble or too much money. The truth is, it can be hard, but it can also be easy. You need to ask yourself the exact purpose of the website. Five basic questions to ask yourself as to before undertaking your own site, are:

• What is your budget?
• Do you know any HTML, PHP, XML or able to work with graphics?
• What is your audience?
• Will the site have static or dynamic content? (i.e. will it be updated on a regular basis)
• Are you going to depend on search engines to bring in traffic?

The five somewhat simple questions can mean the difference from a highly popular site to a site that may get 1 hit a year. I know women that are in direct sales pay a good amount to have a semi-hosted web page with their direct sales company. Due to the terms of service with these companies, some companies do no allow women in direct sales to have external websites to list their products. When I say external websites, I mean your own domain name, hosted and setup by you. Here are two examples of company hosted and non-company or personal hosted sites:

Company Hosted
• www.xyzcompany.com/yourname
• yourname.xyzcompany.com
• www.xyzcompany.com/index.php?=userid=yourname

Non-Company Hosted or Personal Site
• www.yourname.com
• product1.yourname.com
• product2.yourname.com

When you have a company that you sale products for host your website, trust me, they are making money off you. Some offer them for free which is great, but a lot charge a monthly fee which only you know if it pays for itself. Here are some a list of a few PROS/CONS of direct sales company hosting your site:

PROS
• Easy to setup.
• Easy product updates.
• Semi-custom layout.
• Product catalogs integrated.
• Automated Shopping Cart.

CONS
• Cost
• No flexibility to do what you want with site content.
• Generic site look. (looks like every other direct sales consultant)
• Not able to list other products you may offer.
• Search Engines will not index and track correctly. (more on this later)
• Low traffic.

Both the PROS/CONS almost balance each other out, but again you have to ask yourself what the website is used for and how much you are willing to put into it.

How much headache are you willing to put up with and how fast do you want a website ready for the public. Are you thinking long term or just something to get by with? I know you would like to have a super cool, all-in-one; website that has everything including the kitchen sink, but I have to inform you, it can be hard work, but in the long run more profitable.

I know I keep stressing the question of asking yourself what and why, but it is very important you know what you want. Not only is it important to start off on the right foot, but it can save you a ton of money and a ton of frustration. If you are not sure of which way you should go, ask around, tell people your idea even if they know nothing about websites, talk to family members, talk to other direct sales consultants. Try to get a feel for the task that you want to under take. Other direct sales consultants will be able to tell you, if having a hosted website by their direct sales company is cost effective.

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About the Author: Stewart McCauley has been in the Technology Industry for 16 years, dating back to the old days of BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) before anyone knew what the Internet was. He has worked with the latest technologies in many job markets and helped many companies pick the correct technology for their needs. He is constantly staying on top the latest web based trends and always trying to convey to the simple users how they can use the new technologies to benefit and better themselves. 2Digital Technologies (http://www.2digital.com ) is his consulting firm. His latest project has been helping women in all walks of life get the most out of the Internet (http://www.momssource.com)

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

I converse with people all the time regarding their at home based business advertising techniques. A majority of the time I help work from home company entrepreneurs, who don’t think of themselves as Internet organizations, develop a marketing strategy that expands their home based business promotional techniques to include Internet and social media as important elements.

A Website Provides Benefits to a Home Based Business

What I frequently pick up is, “I don’t really need a website – and I for sure don’t want Twitter!” Well, I’ll talk about Twitter in another post, but the following are 11.5 benefits of constructing a top home based business website – even if your primary businessis not online. And remember that even if you’re a part time entrepreneur, just trying to earn extra money from home, all the benefits a full time operation would obtain from having an Internet presence would apply to you as well!

Reasons for a Home Based Business Website

1. Cheaper and More FlexibleThan Print Advertising.

Taking advantage of the Internet for promotions is quite dissimilar from print advertising due to the fact that promotions on the “net” are so much cheaper! Also, your promotion is get-at-able for as long as you need it to be, the information can be re-written without needing to request someone to change it for you and you can likely reach a much wider audience .

2. Market Enlargement

The Internet has allowed businesses to push through geographical barriers and be mostly accessible from any area in the world by customers that have Internet access.

3.  Opens Up Diversity in Revenue Opportunities

Not only will a well-visited top home based business site bring more clients to your organization, but you can also produce advertising for people on your website too. Equivalent and complimentary businesses will pay to put their advertisements on high-traffic websites, permitting added revenue for your organization.

Additionally, you can use your primary site to advertise your own work from home company diversity. A catering business, for example, could also advertise event planning services and tent rentals as well as their catering activities .

4. You’re Always Open

Customers will now always be able to do business with you even when you close your physical shop or turn off your workstation. You’re ready-to-go 24 hours a day, everyday providing your customers and prospects with important info about your home based business, it’s products and services, and presenting them an avenue to provide you their contact information that may be instantly sent to your attention.

5. Easy to Search

Today, so many people prefer to “check out” a product on the Internet before they decide to buy. By allowing them the opportunity to research your information at their convenience, they are more likely to think they are making a well thought out buying decision when looking at your products and services.

6. Add Value and Satisfaction

Your website is an extension of who you are and is a super chance to furnish your unique touch. You can render tips, advice and other interesting information that will keep your top home based business people re-visiting to your website and will help them to remember you when they want a solution to their problem.

7. Standardize Gross Revenue Performance

By “checking out” the variety of content you provide on you website and analysing promotional strategy A to promotional technique B, you will easily be able to view which strategy resulted in bringing in the most prospects. Now you will be able to refine and constantly improve your advertising technique almost instantly!

8.  Enhance Credibility

A site enables you the chance to tell potential clients about your business and why you deserve their trust and confidence. In fact, many people go online for pre-purchase research so that they can find out for themselves whether a particular business or brand is worthy of their business and won’t take them for a ride if they come to the conclusion to do business.

The Internet also opens up “viral marketing”, where your website people take it upon themselves to spread ”upbeat” word-of-mouth promotions about your operation after their many upbeat experiences they’ve had dealing with your organization! It doesn’t get any better than having your customers do your advertising!

9. Promote your Brick ‘n Mortar Company

Getting lost trying to locate your business can be frustrating for a prospective client. You can solve that situation by building what they call a ”dummy” map on your site, that gives directions and landmarks graphically, so the  potential customer could print it out and have it with them when looking for your Brick ‘n Mortar location.

You might also market a promotion on your site encouraging the prospect to visit your Brick ‘n Mortar operation, (e.g. ”At a Location Near You!”).

10. Growth Opportunities

A top home business site serves as a dynamite location to refer potential investors to, in order to show them what your organization is about, it’s products and services, what it has achieved to date and what it projects to achieve in future.

11. Two Way Communicative Marketing Advertising

Prospects can quickly and simply give feedback on your products, services and/or marketing style. You could also reach-out to your home based business customers with newsletters or timely advice that you can upload to your site or, if they want, email to them on a timely basis! This will keep your business on top of their mind – for your customer and referrals.

11.5. Cheap Market Studies

You can utilize options on your website such as visitor polls, online surveys and your website statistics to discover what your customers like and want more of from your home based business. This will keep you always informed concerning how they feel about certain aspects of your company and will help to determine how you can improve your products, services and the way you do business.

A Website for Every Home Based Business

So is a online presence for everybody? Well, I haven’t really hooked up with anyone yet where a website wouldn’t help in some form or other. So I always recommend, when putting together an at home based business advertising plan, to check out every one of the above benefits to learn if any of them would apply to the client’s enterprise. And again, it is very RARE that a top home based business would not be enhanced by having an online presence.

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One of the best and simplest ways to start a Wahm business online is to become a seller on one of the several online auctions sites. Ebay is the most popular, and most widely recognized. However, sellers are also having success on Overstock auctions, eBid auctions and many others. Being an online auction seller has many benefits for a Wahm. You can run your online auctions business from your home. You can set up online auctions to automatically list at certain times of the day, so you don’t always have to be at the computer. Plus, there is guaranteed traffic to the online auctions websites which makes it simple to get new customers.

Skills Needed for an Online Auctions Business

Before you start an online auctions business you should decide whether or not you have the skills or willingness to do so. Although there is a lot of money to be made in auctions, there are also a lot of challenges. As a successful auction Wahm, you need to have the tenacity to try different things to increase you sales. You must also have knowledge of what the market wants so you can provide in demand products that will sell. Money management is a must, since selling on an auction is typically a home-based business. You will be in charge of the finances of the business and need to be responsible for keeping your business and personal finances separate.

Starting an Online Auctions Business

Online auction businesses are very simple to start. To start an ebay business, for example, all you need is a registered account with ebay and a paypal account. The ebay account will allow you to perform transactions on their website. The paypal account will allow you to accept payment for items that you sell, as well as pay for the ebay fees. Although you can technically take payments through check or money order if a customer requests that type of payment, using paypal makes the process a whole lot faster and more enjoyable for your customers.

Online Auctions Fees

The fees involved with running an ebay business are minimal compared to having your own store on a separate website. While hosting for a website can cost upwards of $20 per month, ebay only charges you a small percentage of the items that you sell. There are also some other minimal fees involved and most sellers work those fees into their listing price. When your online auctions business grows large enough, you can pay a monthly fee for your own eBay store.

Buy Before You Sell

Before you decide to sell on an auction site as a business, try buying from the auction site first. Understand the process from the buyer’s point of view. Take note of how you are treated by the seller and ask yourself what you would do differently. Buying before selling is also a good method because you can build feedback in the auction site system. Feedback is left whether you buy or sell, so building some feedback as a buyer is a good idea. A positive feedback record will make you more appealing as a seller.

Finding items to sell is the biggest perceived problem with selling on auction sites. However, you can start with items from around your home. Look in your closets and in your garage for items that can be sold on the auction sites. You will be surprised by what people will buy. Selling from around your home will give you experience with the selling process and will build positive selling feedback and provide a great start for your Wahm auction business.

Familiarize yourself with the auction process before you begin selling. Remember to start your online auctions business small and let it develop as you become more confident in your auction selling abilities.

Blogs are here to stay, and many Wahms are taking advantage of the trend. Making money with blogs is a popular choice for many work at home moms. Blogs are simple to set up, and relatively easy to update. This is especially true when you compare blogs to other types of websites. Within just a few minutes, you can set up a professional looking blog for free and start your Wahm blogging business.

What are Blogs?

A blog is an easy to update website that looks sort of like a journal. Entries are made at a minimum of each week, and the newest entries appear at the top. Entries are normally short articles of 200 to 500 words. Readers visit the blog or read the new blog entries through a blog reading program. Readers can also comment on entries and provide links between their own blogs and your blog.

With blogs, the opportunities are wide open. Choosing a blog topic is as easy as looking at your own life for inspiration. There are blogs about everything from celebrity news to bathroom cleaning tips. Before you start a blog, do some research on the Internet to see if people are interested in your possible blog topic. Your topic doesn’t have to be popular, but it does have to have a dedicated group of people who are interested in the topic.

When you pick a topic, make sure to stay within a fairly small “niche.” The term niche is used to describe a group of people who have a similar interest. There are big niches – like working at home – and small niches – like tips for training your cat to sit on the toilet. Try to find a happy medium between a popular topic and a niche interest so your blog has plenty of readers. Some topics, like working at home or parenting, are too broad and have too much competition for readers.

What Platforms Do Blogs Use?

You can set up your blog through a free blogging platform, like www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. There are also a half dozen others to choose from. The blogging platform will walk you through making your first entry into your blog.

Monetizing Your Blogs

After you’ve made a few entries into your blog, its time to monetize your blog. This means you’ll be making specific changes to your blog in order to make money. One of the most popular ways to gain income from a blog is by using a contextual advertising program, like Google Adsense or Chitika. Contextual advertising pays you for each time a reader clicks on one of the advertising links on your page. The advertising program will scan your blog entries for keywords, and then place advertising on your page that relates to your page content.

For example, if you have a blog on children’s television and write an article about Sesame Street, the ads appearing next to that article will have to do with that program. They might be links to shopping for Sesame Street items, or an ad for vintage Sesame Street collectables selling on ebay.

One thing to note with contextual advertising is that you won’t have to worry about placing the ads yourself each day. Once you enter the code on your blog, the program will automatically refresh the advertising when you make a new post. You will be paid several cents for each click. It doesn’t seem like a lot per click, but it sure does add up quickly.

Contextual advertising is just one way to make money from your Wahm blog. You can also make product recommendations and suggest information products (e-books) to your readers. Each time someone buys a product you recommend, you will get a commission. Many bloggers find that making gentle product recommendations throughout their blogs are a way to garner extra income.

Finally, some companies will pay bloggers to create posts that suggest certain products or services. These companies pay a few dollars per post, and are fairly easy to use. The only drawback is that you’ll have advertising posts throughout your blog content. However, many bloggers have found a way around this by putting “And now a word from our sponsers” at the beginning of each of their required advertising posts. This helps the advertising appear less intrusive on their blogs.