THE CHEAPSKATE'S GUIDE TO FINDING THE BEST ECOMMERCE WEB HOSTING

By : Brian McAboy

When you’re setting up business online, the provider you choose for your ecommerce web hosting is absolutely one of the most critical decisions you make. In a manner of speaking, this is where you will live for the rest of your business life – and you know what a hassle moving can be.

It is the location where your customers will come, where your online “building” will be. You want to make sure that your customers can visit your place and do business with you, and have a pleasant experience so they’ll come back again and again. You don’t want to have any problems either, because you’re open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and any time people can’t get to you, you’re losing money.

You want to know that you can set up your shop and have everything work the way you expect it to, plus if ever any issues do come up, they’ll be resolved immediately. Not in a few hours, now. So you want a hosting company that will be reliable, be trouble-free, plus won't eat into your profits.

Here are several of the really important things to look for when choosing a good web host.

1. How long have they been around? When it comes to your website, you want to work with a company that has been around long enough to have perfected what they do.

2. Do they have great customer support that is available around the clock? There is nothing worse than having your site go down and having to wait until they decide to come to work. The hours seem like days and will be costing you money.

3. Do they have a state-of-the-art site themselves? You can bet that if a hosting company has an unprofessional website then the company is also run sloppily. You want to make sure that your hosting company has high standards for themselves.

4. Are they certified hacker safe? If you are going to be collecting names and emails on your site, then you absolutely have to know that your clients' information is safe. If this gets lost, it can kill your business.

5. Are they willing to help you get set up - at no charge? Services such as free transfer of your domains, files, databases, etc. is a huge time saver, and if they truly want you to do business with them, they'll help you take care of these matters. A truly friendly host will give you a domain name at no extra charge.

6. Are they asking a reasonable fee for their services? Though they may be hard to find, there are several good and reliable hosting companies for under $10 per month.

Your web hosting should be one thing that you set up once and basically forget about it after that. This is one aspect of having a website that you don't want to spend your time on once you're underway. If you currently have a host where you know everyone in the support department from calling so much, then perhaps you should consider changing your hosting provider.
P/S: Did you know that most internet marketers change web page hosts at least twice before they've found one they're happy with? Do it once and be done!

SHARPEN YOUR BUSINESS WRITING SKILLS

When writing a business letter or document it is important that you have your readers' needs in mind. I always think before I write… who am I addressing, what point(s) am I trying to get across and how will this be interpreted?

You should layout your document so that it is easy on the eye, and highlights the key points. Always state your purpose clearly and quickly. Be specific and concise and make sure you avoid overused words and phrases.

A decent document should be effortless reading. Craft your sentences carefully so that they hold the readers' attention and are simple to understand. I find that most documents I read are written poorly and some are difficult to understand and very tedious to read.

The best technique I have found when creating a document is to dump my thoughts on paper and then to edit it for clarity and ease of reading. I organize the information so that it is easy to understand and has some semblance of order. I then search for and eliminate unnecessary words & difficult phrases.

When writing emails I try to keep them simple and straight to the point. I spend a little time on creating an attention-grabbing subject line so that the reader will feel like opening mine over the hundreds that they might receive daily.

I have read research which says the first leading sentence determines whether the full email will be read! So I always try and craft this accordingly.

When writing a blog or a press release the title becomes even more important as now you are vying / competing for the readers' attention from.

Finally when I finish an important document I carry out a spell and grammar check before asking somebody else to proofread it.

I then print important documents using decent quality paper. What is the point of spending so much time on your document to then print it on cheap paper? I usually print out the envelope unless I am in a real hurry when a neatly hand written one will suffice.

I am much more creative when writing in the morning after a good nights sleep. I find that a hot cup of tea also helps me to concentrate and the caffeine provides a really good kick and sets me up for the rest of the day.

I therefore make it a ritual to do most of my writing first thing. I find that early mornings are great for writing without being disturbed whilst my creative juices are at their peak.

Everybody is different so therefore choose the timing that works for you. If possible ask someone else to answer the phone and switch your mobile off.

Writing a lot also helps. The more I write the easier it becomes. It used to take hours writing a five hundred word article but I find that with practice I can now write an article very quickly.

When you write a document, you are creating an image of you and your business in your reader's mind. By analyzing and improving your writing skills you can create a better impression on the reader.

LITTLE TRICKS TO MAKING MONEY WITH YOUR HOME COMPUTER BUSINESS IDEA

There are a few little tricks to making money with any work at home computer-based business, but the number one so-called secret is in how you actually market your web site. The first crucial thing you need to do is to advertise your site so that people know that you even exist. How you advertise, however, is one of the tricks.

If you are running a computer-based business you have already determined that your potential customers are also online. Regardless of the quality of your product or service, if people do not know you are present on the internet, you will eventually become just another casualty of the online community.

Affiliate marketing programs offer one of the best methods of advertising for fledgling computer based businesses where the cost of your advertising is deferred until a customer buys something from you. Through affiliate marketing you provide promotional tools such as graphics and text embedded with links for other website owners to post on their site. When one of their visitors sees your advertisement, clicks on the link and buys something from you, that website owner is paid a sales commission.

The more external websites that carry a link to your site, the more essentially free advertising you will receive for your affiliate marketing program. You can also carry affiliate advertising on your site for related internet businesses and earn a commission on sales from their sites. Some affiliate marketing companies give you the option of automatically approving others to post links to your site on theirs while others give you the option of approving a site before your link is posted. Just as you can be particular about which companies you link to, you can also be particular about which sites link to you.

There are also numerous opportunities to network with companies as an affiliate and if you are signed up as a member of their site, your income potential can increase dramatically. For example an online retail site may pay you a five percent commission on sales if you are a free member, but the first level of paid membership has that commission jump to 10 percent. Some companies may offer premium memberships and the commission will go as high as 30 percent or more, or there will the opportunity to earn on several referral levels.

There are also services which will pay you for taking surveys online, and while the per survey earnings may not be high, they generally take little time and you get to give an honest opinion on a variety of topics. Surveys typically pay between $2 and $10 each and take from five to 20 minutes to complete. Making money on the internet filling out surveys will of course depend on how much actual spare time you are willing to put into it. But this extra money could then be used on advertising your home business.

However, having a decent, updated computer and a fast internet connection will be necessary, regardless of any programs you may join, if you plan on making money on the internet and taking your computer based home business seriously.

ONLINE MARKETING AND PROMOTION PLAN

Getting visitors to come to your website is the crux of the success of your home business online marketing promotion. You can build the good home business if you have a good marketing and promotion plan. If you don’t, you are in trouble. Once those visitors are coming to your site, your tracking software can let you know which pages they view and for how long and what brings them to the site and what page they are on when they exit the site. All this information helps you improve your site and the online sales process for your home business Internet marketing and promotion.

Your online marketing and promotion plan for your Internet home business should include the following goals:


• To get instant low cost traffic to your site so that these users can let you know if your web sales copy works, if the order form is right, if the navigation is easy and if the opt-in e-mail offer is productive.

• To test whether the sales process you have set up online does the optimal job of converting your home Internet business’ Web traffic into the greatest number of sales.

• To bring the greatest number of consumers to your Web site in the least amount of time.

• And to assure that putting your Web traffic marketing and promotion campaign on autopilot successfully grows your Internet home business.

When it comes to test your Internet site prior to home business online marketing promotion, a lot of entrepreneurs don’t know how to test and what to test. The basics that you need to look at are the ordering process, the sales copy, the opt-in e-mail offer and the navigation of the site. The ordering process must be designed with the assumption that the consumer who buys from you has never done so online before. Make it so easy to navigate that the Web novice won’t give up in frustration.

When looking at the sales copy on your site you want to pay close attention to how captivating our headlines are, how clear and influential the benefits are spelled out, that the guarantee is clear and that there is a strong call to action.

The opt-in offer must be prominent and just about mouth-watering. The point of testing this is to make sure that you’re getting the contact information from that consumer. You now can lure them to your site over and over again until they say otherwise.

3 UNUSUAL HOME-BASED BUSINESSES IDEAS

Hello guys, welcome back! Today I’m going to share with you guys an article that I found out recently. This article will reveal 3 unusual and highly profitable business ideas.

First of all, let me ask you something – do you have a million dollar idea? No? Come on, I bet you’ve got at least one brainwave!

Tip: Coming up with fabulous ideas aren’t that hard. All you’ve got to do is identify a problem and offer a solution. Now that’s not rocket science, is it?

So if you’d like to start an unusual home-based business, starts thinking about the problems people are faced with. It doesn’t have to be broad; you can even focus on a particular niche. Here’s an example:

Which smart guy decided to manufacture a guitar tuner with a light on it?

Well, it was probably a guitarist who couldn’t see his tuner in the dark, right?

Can you see how this guy spotted a problem – and turned it into a lucrative business opportunity? You can easily do the same, can’t you?

Now here are 3 other extremely unusual home-based business ideas you can model your business after:

Model idea #1: Ever heard of a Rent-A-Cow business?

When Swiss dairy farmer Paul Wyler and his wife Helga, were unable to sell as much cheese as they produced each year, they hit upon a great idea. ‘Why not rent our cows?’

A rent-a-cow business was born and the Wylers, who run a 50-head farm in the Brienz area, managed to rent some of their cows to a few local restaurants.

This enterprising couple also set up a website at http//www.kuhleasing.ch, offering their cows for rent on the web. Now cheese lovers can easily rent their very own cheese maker – a brown and white cow living on a mountain. All the cheese produced goes to the ‘owner’.

During the summer, cows cost around $280. with the Wylers taking good care of the animals and making fresh, quality cheese from their milk. Prospective renters can check out photographs of the animals at the website before they pay up.

Model Idea # 2: http://origamiboulder.com – Pure genius, or just another crazy idea?

Well, whatever your opinion, this site sure is generating a ton of sales. The webmaster sells an ‘origami boulder’, which is actually a wadded bit of paper!

For just $ 3, he’ll crumple up a boulder, toss in the trash, and email you with a brief description. He also offers you the choice of selecting a ‘deluxe’ kit.

Model Idea # 3: ‘Ah, for the good ol’ days!’

A group of people were enthusiastically talking about the days of yore; the fun sleigh rides through the country side, right down to a delicious, piping hot, traditional country supper.

One of the people in the group suddenly remarked ‘I sure wish those good ‘ol days would come back again…..’

Well, this remark started a profitable business for a gentleman who did bring them back! He went around meeting some farmers in the area, and asked if they’d like to rent their horses and old sleighs. One of the farm houses readily agreed to supply good, old-fashioned country supper.

The rest, like they say, was history! Clubs, social groups, societies, etc. all flocked for an enjoyable sleigh ride, and a piping hot meal afterwards! In the summer, he organized hay-ride parties instead of the sleigh rides.

Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading this article, as much as I did in preparing it. Cheers!

By: Morten Olander

WHAT CAN MAKE YOU AND YOUR HOME BUSINESS SUCCESSFUL

The best home based Internet business opportunity you’ll ever have is one you know and love. Combining your skills, your experience, your joys and your loves into a home based business opportunity is the best way to enjoy your life, find happiness and develop a thriving and satisfying entrepreneurship. That’s exactly what I did; of course to be realistic you need some money and brains as well.

The key is determining what you know and what you love. For some it’s easy – it’s almost as if they were born signing or song writing. Perhaps they started writing short stories in first grade at their daddy’s knee. There are those who started out their toddler years by taking apart and putting back together every mechanical thing they came across. These lucky folks seem to have been born into a chosen field of endeavor. But what about the rest of us? Some folks graduate from college still not sure about what they want to be and do? How do these folks decide the best home based Internet business opportunity for themselves?

One way might be to take an online test, such as a personality or skills set assessment. Some of these are free, while most have minimal charges. There are some that offer assessment tools that can be used by therapists, counselors, teachers and other professionals to help you determine the business that would best fit with your skills set and interests.

One test offered online, for those who want to make a decision on the best home based Internet business opportunity as well as those who are trying to decide on what career to pursue working for others, is offered by a prominent higher education and training publisher and online service.

This interest and skills survey measures an individual’s attraction to specific areas of occupation. It goes beyond other traditional skills inventories, however, in that it adds parallel scales of skill that are able to estimate your confidence in your ability to perform these various occupational tasks. The data is rich and comprehensive thanks to this combination of testing tools. The test can be taken in person or online, but the online version is preferred if you’re working with an employment counselor or other career professional. The Web version provides a unique counselor test management system and a career planner that is expansive.

This particular testing apparatus specializes in assessment of the best home based Internet business opportunity or careers for those who have completed or plan to complete at least a four year post-secondary education. The way the assessment works is to not only produce results that tell a potential entrepreneur the best home based Internet business opportunity for her or his interest or skills but also suggest academic studies that would hone these skills and enhance her ability to succeed. The assessment also offers advice to employees who are transitioning to a business opportunity, with particular attention to displaced employees who have decided to venture out on their own.

SETTING FINANCIAL SYSTEMS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Before you start with your business, let’s learn how you can start your own business, what the steps are you have to follow and how you have to manage your business. In addition, you will find a very interesting thing about business forms that will make your life easier. First, let us look at how you can start your own business. You have to understand that there are many things you have to consider when you are starting a new business.

The first thing you have to do is to get ready for it. Ask yourself the following questions: Am I ready to start a business? Do I have what it takes to be a great leader? Can I take the shots in my business and do I have the strength to stand by my business in bad times as well? If you can answer affirmatively these questions, I think that you are ready to take on the responsibilities of starting your brand new business.

You should know that before you even move an inch in developing a business you have to do some research and a lot of planning. First of all, you have to decide if you are going on this business alone or if you need a partner.

If you are going solo, you have to do all the planning and management alone. If not, you will probably share the responsibilities with your partner. Delegate your responsibilities and it will be easier to run the business. After that, start planning your business plan. Your business plan should define all of your plans and expenses. In your business plan, you should define how much each phase of your business will cost, your approximated return, and any other ideas you have for returning an income. If you are planning to get a loan, you should also outline the amount of money you'll need and how long you will need to pay the bank back. Business plan is essential as you should have a direction for your business enterprise with ends and an outline of costs. Knowing the business you're about to open is another way to prepare. Explore the demand for your business, your competitors, and how long you will be able to survive till your business turns lucrative. Almost all folks forget to checkout their own funds before setting up a business. This could give rise to unnecessary tension and cause you to lose sight of what you need your business to become.

Then, you have to finance your new business and be aware of some regulations, like business license and organization, the name of your business, tax information, copyrights, trademarks, minimum wage and many more other issues. This is basically the second step, starting your business and you should pay great attention to it. Without a good financial systems is the most common reasons why home businesses fail. A lot of small business owners do not really keep good records of their revenue and expenses. In the end, they find it hard to determine whether their business is earning enough or not. If you are one of those business owners who have not been keeping good financial records, now is the best time for you to establish good financial systems for your company. Good financial systems will not only help your business grow, it will also keep you out of trouble when it is time to file for your income tax returns. Remember that!

If you have an accountant, call him/her and explain that you are just starting your own home business. You will be surprised of all the tax deductions you are able to claim (heat, electricity, phone, rent, etc). Your accountant will advise you to keep financial records for your business.

Setting Up Your Financial Records:

You do not really have to be an accountant or a professional bookkeeper to be able to keep records of your financial transactions. To set up your financial records manually, all you need is a worksheet where you can record all your earnings and your expenses. To keep everything simple, just use a two column worksheet where you can record all your earnings in one column and your expenses in the other. Record your financial transactions at the end of each day so that you will not miss out something. Keep all your bills and receipts on file so that your accountant will be able to easily review your transactions later on for purposes of filing your income tax returns.

Another way to keep records of your financial transactions is the use of those accounting software being sold in the market today. The good thing about using accounting software is that you do not have to keep a lot of papers in your office and you do not have to bother writing things down a number of times in your worksheets. Just load the program into your computer and you can already use it by following the menu. With the use of good accounting software, all you need to do is to enter your financial transactions for the day and the software will do the rest of the work.

Most of this accounting software will also give you complete financial statements after you uploaded all the necessary information so you get to save a lot of time and efforts in computing your earnings. What is more interesting about this computer software is that some of these can also help you project your future income and calculate your estimated internal rate of returns.

How Much Will the Accounting Software Cost You?

The price of the accounting software will depend on the complexity of the program that you need. Simple programs do not really cost so much so you need not worry about the cost. Besides, you can always put the cost of accounting software as part of your business expenses. Get organized early in the game and avoid the pitfalls that may com