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How To Use Bartering To Gain An
Advantage Over Your Competition
If you have a business on the
Internet you should be bartering
goods and services with other businesses. You should
always
try to trade for something before you buy it.
Barter deals
usually require no money. Although sometimes you may
need
money to offset the value of the goods or services
being traded.
Bartering will give you many advantages over your
competition.
It can save your business money. You can spend the
extra
money on a buying paid Internet advertising. It
allows you to offer your products and services at a lower price
than your
competition. You can afford to get the higher priced
goods and
services to compete on the internet.
There are numerous ways to find barter deals online.
Set up a
barter message board or chat room on your web site
to get
more barter offers. Note on your web site or e-zine
you are
willing to barter for goods and services. Join
newsgroups or
e-mail discussion groups that are about bartering.
Join an
online barter club to meet other businesses that
barter. Find
web sites that barter by looking up the keywords
barter, trade,
or swap in your search engine of choice.
There are a few things you should do before
bartering. Compile
a list of your goods and services you are willing
to barter.
Make a list of goods and services you need or want
for your
online business. Know the approximate cash value of
the
things you are trying to trade and the value of the
things you
are seeking in return. All of this information can
help you
negotiate a successful barter deal.
When proposing a barter offer, tell the person the
benefits of
the barter deal. Explain to them why it would be a
win/win
situation. Give their business many compliments in
your
proposal. Prove to them why it would be a fair
trade. This
type of proposal can increase your chances off them
saying "Yes, I will barter".
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Quote of the Day:
"Fair words never hurt the tongue."
--
George Chapman
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5 Sure-Fire Ways To Attract New Customers Now
1. Give Away An Electronic Information Product
The product could be a simple report posted on your
Web
site or autoresponder to a downloadable e-book. The
information product should relate to your target
audience. Just
place your advertisement somewhere on the product.
Allow
other people to give away the information product to
attract
even more customers.
2. Offer Free Consulting Via E-mail
Allow potential customers to ask you specific
questions
relating to the subject of your business. Giving
away free advice
can show your prospects your expertise and give you
instant
credibility. Another benefit is when you e-mail them
back the free advice or information include your signature
file to get free
advertising.
3. Hold A Free Chat Room Seminar
People go to seminars to learn about a particular
subject.
With chat rooms you don't need to fear public
speaking or
spend money to rent out a seminar room. You can use
your
own chat room or hold the seminar in someone else's.
Holding a chat room seminar is an incredible way to
get free
publicity. Just send a press release to the media
announcing
your free seminar.
4. Start A Free-To-Join Club
Having people join your club is a creative way to
attract
new customers. People want to belong to something,
why
not your online club. The club should be related to
your
product or service. You could give away a free
e-mail
newsletter for club members only . Have a members
only
message board, e-mail discussion group or chat
room. Post
your advertisements on all the club information.
5. Provide Your Product Or Service For Almost Free
Tell potential customers you'll accept barter deals
for your
products or services. You may not be getting money
but they
will become your customers. If they are satisfied
they might
pay money the next time they make a purchase. Barter
for
things to improve your business or your own
personal life.
Quote of the Day:
"What was hard to bear is sweet to
remember."
-- Portuguese
proverb |
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You can
increase sales and profits
by offering freebies to
people who buy your main product or service. They
increase the over all value of your main offer and
in return
people feel they're getting more for less.
It's important that you have a high enough profit
margin so
you can afford to give them away. Some freebies can
be
created without a lot of expense; like electronic
information
products. With these type of freebies there's no
shipping or
physical material costs.
Below are some popular types of freebies. In the
examples
are some other benefits and a tips for offering
freebies to
your buyers.
FREE COUPON/GIFT CERTIFICATE
Offer potential customers a free coupon or gift
certificate
for a back end product or service you're selling.
This will increase your chances for repeat purchases.
FREE BOOKLET/E-BOOK
Offer a free booklet or e-book related to your
main product
or service. Inform potential customers that it is a
limited time offer and it will only be available before a
specific date.
FREE MEMBERS ONLY WEB SITE
Offer a free membership into your members only web
site.
Tell them what it normally costs for people who
don't
purchase.
FREE AUDIO CASSETTE/VIDEO
Offer a free audio cassette or video to people who
buy. Let
them know this audio cassette or video can't be
found
anywhere else, only through this special offer.
FREE E-MAIL COURSE
Offer a free e-mail course on a topic related to
your product
or service. Add your back end product ads to each
e-mail
course lesson.
FREE CHAT ROOM SEMINAR/CONSULTING
Offer a free chat room seminar or consulting to
give away
as a freebie. You will become know as an expert on
the
topic by electing to do the seminar or consulting
yourself.
FREE GIFT
Offer a free gift if they buy your product or
service. Giving
the value of the free give will attract them to
purchase your
main product or service.
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Quote of the Day:
"Kites rise against, not with the wind. No
man has ever
worked his passage anywhere in a dead
calm."
-- John Neal |
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Online Business Press Release
Writing Tips And Ideas
Press releases are one of the most
cost-effective ways to
get promotion for your online business. Many
entrepreneurs
ignore this type of promotion because they don't
know how
to write a press release. It's important to promote
your online
business with press releases because of the media
all over the
internet. The following is a list of some common
press
release writing tips:
-
your press release should sound like news, not an
ad
-
you should only send your press release to the
media
related to the topic of your press release
-
keep your press release one page in length
-
your header, contact information and release date
should
be at the top of your press release
-
use short sentences and double space in between
sentences
-
your header and first few sentences should capture
the
readers attention
-
you should tell a story and briefly mention your
business,
product or service in the body of the press release
-
proofread your press release many times. Look for
grammar and spelling mistakes.
Another reason entrepreneurs ignore promoting their
online
business with press releases is because they don't
know
what's newsworthy. Here are 16 online business press
release ideas:
-
new products or services you're offering on your
web site.
-
the results of an online survey or poll you've
completed
-
a virtual trade show or seminar you're hosting.
-
a free chat room class you're teaching
-
your opening of a new web site
-
an online award your business or web site has won
-
a free e-mail newsletter you're publishing
-
new online products or services you're giving away
-
an online business association or club you're
starting
-
a famous person that's endorsing your business
-
a major joint venture you're doing with another
business
-
a new book or e-book you wrote
-
an expert or celebrity who's speaking in your chat
room
-
a fundraising event you're doing at your web site
-
a new contest or sweepstakes you're having at your
site
-
major sponsorships you're doing online
You can get other press release writing tips and
ideas by
reading other businesses press releases, reading how
to
publications, talking to experts and visiting other
media
web sites. I hope this article persuades and helps
you to
promote your business through press releases.
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Quote of the Day:
"Adversity is the trial of principle.
Without it, a man
hardly knows whether he is an honest man."
-- Henry
Fielding |
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3 Ways To Generate Profitable
Business Ideas Anytime
All businesses are created first by
ideas. Then once you're in
business you need ideas for marketing, advertising,
solving
problems, product development etc. The difference
between
success or failure could be one just one idea.
That's all!
Below are three ways to generate profitable business
ideas.
1. Communicating regularly with other business
people can
generate many ideas. There are many resources online
and
offline to meet new business people lie; seminars,
chat
rooms, discussion boards, trade shows etc. Sharing
your
knowledge, asking questions, and taking in new
information
will stimulate your mind. Your brain will begin to
put all this
information together to create profitable business
ideas.
2. If you're not much of a communicator, try
reading. Reading
can also stimulate your mind. Read business books,
magazines,
e-books, web sites, journals, e-zines, newspapers
etc. Your
brain will generate profitable ideas by absorbing
and
rearranging this information on a regular basis.
3. Don't have a lot of time to read? You could
listen to
business audio books, seminars and courses. Listen
to
them in the car, while your doing house work,
working in
the yard, or exercising. Also, tune in business
related radio
stations. This will help you save time and generate
profitable business ideas at the same time.
There are a few extra tips that will help improve
these idea
generation strategies. Take short breaks to
brainstorm about
the information you absorbed. Keep a notepad and pen
handy to record your ideas so you don't forget them.
All
businesses need profitable business ideas to stay
ahead of
competition and survive.
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Quote of the Day:
"A leaf that is destined to grow large is
full of grooves
and wrinkles at the start. Now if one has no
patience and
wants it smooth offhand like a willow leaf,
there is
trouble ahead."
-- Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe
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18 Reasons To Write An E-book And
Then Give It Away For FREE
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People will visit your web site
to get the free valuable
information.
-
Advertise your products or services in the
e-book.
-
You will become known as an expert on the subject
of the e-book.
-
Offer the e-book as a
free bonus for purchasing
one of
your products or services.
-
Allow other people give away the e-book to
increase
visitors to your web site.
-
Gain new leads by having people sign up and give
their
contact information before they can download your
e-book.
-
The word "FREE" is the most appealing word on
the
internet.
-
Conduct market research asking people to fill out
a
survey before getting the e-book.
-
Make money selling advertising space in the
e-book.
-
Give away the e-book as a special gift to your
current
customers letting them know you appreciate their
business.
-
Gain free advertising by submitting the e-book
on
freebie sites.
-
Make money selling the reprint rights to people
who
would like to sell the e-book.
-
You'll gain valuable referrals from people
telling others
about your e-book.
-
Make money cross promoting the e-book as a
free
bonus with other people's products or services.
-
Gain free publicity sending press releases
announcing
your ''Free E-book Giveaway.''
-
Increase subscribers to your e-zine by giving
away the
e-book as an incentive to subscribe.
-
Give away the e-book to people that join your
affiliate
program.
-
The biggest reason you should write an e-book
and
then give it away for free: you'll feel good
helping people
improve their lives.
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Quote of the Day:
"It is not every calamity that is a curse,
and early
adversity is often a blessing. Surmounted
difficulties not
only teach, but hearten us in our future
struggles."
--
James Sharp
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The Secrets Of Chat Room Marketing
Exposed
Chat Room Marketing is the use of
online chat rooms to
promote your product or service. Chat rooms are
usually
broken into categories. Find the right chat room
where your
targeted audience would gather. Create a chat room
profile
with your ad, business info, or signature file in
it. Announce
to everyone in the chat room something interesting
or free
that's offered on your web site. This will draw
visitors to
your web site. Always be aware of chat room rules
before
engaging the visitors in a sales pitch that could be
considered
SPAM.
Send electronic messages to target people in the
chat room
that would be interested in your products or
services. Start a
conversation with them. After a few moments
indirectly
bring your sales pitch into the conversation. This
is a great
way to do one-on-one selling electronically. Do not
directly
SPAM them with your messages.
Marketing With Your Web Site's Chat Room
Just having a chat room on your Web site can create
an
online community and bring visitors to your Web
site. Host
a free online seminar in your chat room about a
subject of
your expertise. Use a chat room to meet with current
customers if they have any questions or problems.
Regularly
schedule free events in your chat room. Schedule
experts to
speak in your chat room.
Host other people's chat rooms as an expert. Charge
for
doing this to earn extra money or just do it for
free to gain
publicity. Make sure your spelling and grammar is
correct
when chatting, so people understand what you are
typing.
Use some chat room emotions and acronyms to help
people
understand you're typing.
Use " :D " to show your laughing
Use " :) " to show you are smiling
Use " BTW " which means "by the way"
Use " FAQ " which means "frequently asked questions"
Use " IMHO " which means "in my humble opinion"
Use " LOL " which means "laughing out loud"
Use " TU " which means "thank you"
Marketing your products or services in chat rooms is
a
more personal way to gain new customers. Prospects
are
actually communicating with you instead of reading
your ad.
You may even make a few friends along the way.
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Quote of the Day:
"It's hard to tell our bad luck from our
good luck
sometimes. And most of us have wept copious
tears over
someone or something when if we'd understood
the situation better we might have
celebrated our good fortune instead."
-- Merle Shain |
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How To Draw Visitors To Your Web
Site By
Holding An Online Contest Or Sweepstakes
Holding a contest or sweepstakes can
draw a lot of traffic
to your Web site. You can announce your site to
hundreds
of Web sites that list free contests and
sweepstakes. Send
out a press releases about your contest or
sweepstakes.
Ask entrants to your contest or sweepstakes if they
would
accept offers from your business in the future by
e-mail.
The prizes should be something your target audience
would
need or want. Try to be as original as possible with
the prizes you are offering. Always offer more than
one prize,
a grand prize and runner-up prizes. Use your
products or
services to give away as prizes. Make sure your
prizes have
some value, nothing cheap. Give enough information
about
all the prizes, so people will be interested in
entering.
Make it easy for people to enter your contest or
sweepstakes. I feel the easiest ways online are from an
entry form
on your Web site or by e-mail. Capture as much info.
as
you can when they enter your contest or sweepstakes
like:
Company Name
First/Last Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Day/Evening Phone Number
E-mail Address
Web Site Address
Purchasing History
Survey Questions
Give your contest or sweepstakes a professional look
and
feel. Provide an "Official Rules" Web page for
your contest
or sweepstakes. Include a time period of how long
your
contest or sweepstakes will be held. Tell visitors
how you
will deliver the prizes. Include pictures of the
prizes on your
site. Tell visitors who will judge your contest.
Check out other contests and sweepstakes Web sites to get more
ideas.
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Quote of the Day:
"I learn by going where I have to go."
--
Theodore Roethke
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Redecorate Your Web Site To
Increase Sales
The use of the right colors on your
web site can actually increase your sales. When people see certain colors
they can
change their emotions or they can symbolize things
related
to the colors. Here are a list of colors with some
emotions
and symbolizations they can cause:
Red - love, excitement, warmth
Pink - romantic, affection, sensuality
White - purity, peace, perfection
Blue - sky, water, travel, freedom, truth
Purple - royalty, dignity
Black - space, night, authority
Green - money, calm, envy, greed
Yellow - light, purity, understanding
Orange - autumn, youthfulness, fire
Brown - wood, comfort, strength
Its very important to know which emotions or
symbolizations
will trigger your target audience to buy your
product or
service. If your selling a money-making product you
should
use green colors to represent money or bring out the
emotion
of greed. People also associate comfort and travel
with
money so you maybe want ad in some brown and blue
colors on your web site.
The same principle can be applied to graphics or
pictures
of your product on your web site. Package your
products
with colors that will trigger your audience to buy.
If your
selling a book about how to be more romantic, use
red
and pink colors on the cover. I hope these simple
web
site color techniques will increase your business's
sales.
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Quote of the Day:
"It is the character of a brave and
resolute man not to be
ruffled by adversity and not to desert his
post."
-- Cicero |
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Joint Ventures Revealed
A joint venture is when two or more
businesses join together to
work on a project for a set period of time. Doing
joint ventures
with other businesses can increase your chances of
beating
your competition, increase your sales and increase
your profits
quickly. Plus:
-
you can save money when businesses share operating
costs
-
you can get referrals from other businesses
-
you can save valuable time when businesses share
the workload
-
you can offer your customers new products and
services
-
you can gain new business associates
-
you can save money by sharing advertising and
marketing costs
-
you can get free advice and important information
from other
businesses
You can find businesses to joint venture with online
or
offline. I try to find businesses that have the same
target
audience, but are not direct competition with my
business.
Here are a few ways to find joint ventures online:
-
subscribe and participate in e-mail discussion
groups, online
forums and newsgroups that deal with your target
audience
-
subscribe to e-zines that deal with your targeted
audience
-
note on your Web site or e-zine that you are
interested in
doing joint ventures
-
search in your favorite web directories and search
engines to
find businesses to joint venture with online
Once you find a business simply e-mail them your
proposal.
Tell the business owner the benefits of the joint
venture.
Explain to him or her why it would be a win/win
situation for
both of your businesses. Give them a lot of
compliments about
their business, Web site, products and services.
Using all three
methods above will greater your chance of
constructing a
profitable joint venture. Good Luck!
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Quote of the Day:
"While there's life, there's hope!"
--
Ancient Roman Saying |
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