December 2022 - Page 4 of 13

Starting Your Own Small Business – First Steps to a Successful Business

Starting your own small business can be a good start, especially if you do have a hobby and a passion that can be made into a profitable venture. Knowing some basics and some tips from those who are into a successful business, you can indeed put up and start your own small business and work on making it successful.

Whether you want to put up a cake decorating business, a hobby store, or a wedding organizing business, here are the first few steps that can help you in establishing a successful moneymaking venture.

– Decide what type of business you want to put up. If you have a hobby and you are good at it, you may want to consider putting up a business about it. Indeed, it is an advantage putting up a business on something that you love doing. Aside from having the interest, enthusiasm and motivation to do it, it is also an advantage that you are knowledgeable about it.

– Make your business plan. After you have decided on what type of business you want to engage in, start making your business plan. Your business plan will guide you on what you will need, what are your goals and how you can attain those goals. In starting your own small business, whatever business it may be, you will always need a business plan to plan out everything – from the investment that you will need, to making your strategy on how to make money out of your venture.

– Find a catchy business name. Finding a good name matters a lot in starting your own small business – and in any business of any size. Your business name alone can catch your client’s attention so take advantage of that. You may be thinking about very specific names for your business describing a single service, but you have to think about future expansion of your products and services as well.

– Prepare your start-up capital. Of course, money is one important requirement in putting up a business, how small may it be. If you already have saved an amount intended for your business, then that would be good, but if you need more sources of funds, you can avail of small business grants or loans though.

– Make your marketing plan. Determine who will you sell your products to and how you can reach out to them. These days, you don’t have to stick to the conventional ways of advertising or promoting your product. Take advantage of the internet. People find information and answers online so you can take advantage of that too. Moreover, advertising and promoting your business online is cheaper than the conventional way and of course, you can reach out to a wider audience online than off-line.

In starting your own small business, plan your business growth as well. In a competitive world, you also have to make sure there is growth in your business. Improve skills as well as your products and services. This way you will beat competition and really excel in your moneymaking venture.

Your Domain Name Is Very Important

The domain name you choose can actually make or break your internet business. It is the very center of your business’s online identity. So, what exactly should you name your domain? What types of factors should you take into consideration when you are choosing your domain? The following paragraphs will provide some helpful information regarding the best domains to choose. The first thing you should remember when it comes to choosing the name of your business domain is the length of the name.

Even though some places will let you select a name over 60 characters long, it is not a good idea. You should select something short so that it is easier to remember. Customers will have to type it into their browsers in order to visit your website. The shorter your URL is, the easier it will be remembered and typed in. The next thing you should think about when you are trying to come up with a domain name is what you want to follow the dot at the end.

For businesses, it is recommended that you consider using.com. It is what most people will instinctively type in when they type a URL into their browser. In addition,.com is the oldest extension available, and will give your domain the feel that it is established, or been around for a while.

Domains are being registered and purchased so fast that you should register yours as soon as you can. You do not have to have your website together before registering your domain name. Unless you want to end up with a domain name that no one else wanted, it is a good idea to register it at once. Time is of the essence in this type of situation. Finally, do not pay a large amount of money to register your domain.

There was once a time when you could be charged outrageous prices in order to register your domain, but that is not the case anymore. A few years ago many companies opened and are able to compete. This has lowered the cost of domain registration drastically.

The name you choose for your domain is very important to the success of your business. If you pick a good name, then more people will be likely to visit. However, on the other hand, if you pick a name that is hard to remember, you may not get much business.

Home Based Business Ideas And Your Online Presence

Many people all over the world have started home based businesses of all kinds. They range from babysitting to online Internet related businesses that depend on the reach of the Internet to be successful. In this short article we will discuss how having an online web site can assist your home based business regardless of the business that you operate.

You may be one of these small business owners who has started a business out of your home, which is doing very well, however you want to take it to the next level. Although you are making sufficient revenue to maintain your business and provide for your family, you are ready to take it up a notch. There is not a business in the country, home business or otherwise that does not need and online presence today.

Even if your online web site only provides basic information about the services and products that you offer, it has become a necessity for any successful home based business to maintain an up to date online presence. Your customers, more and more are demanding to be able to learn about your company, your services, your products and even place orders online.

You might ask what are the features or capabilities that you require for an online web site to ensure that your customers obtain what they are looking for and are even able to find you. The basics include selecting a web site name, URL, that is easy to remember, is catchy and reflects your business persona. Next your web site needs to provide the basic level of information in a professional manner. The information includes a description of your products or services, information about your company, contact information and how to order, whether it is online or by placing a phone call or visiting your business.

Now that you have your web site up and running, the search engines will crawl your site, index your site and display your sites URL to people who are searching for the products and services you offer. Sounds easy, however there is much more to consider if you are truly trying to bring additional revenue to your home based business utilizing the power of the internet.

Internet surfers use a variety of search terms to search for information on the Internet. Search engines will present web sites as part of the search results that contain these search terms. If for example you are selling cell phone boosters, but do not mention that term on your web site anywhere, chances are your web site will never be included in any of the search results.

Home based business owners must also complete a thorough analysis of the appropriate keywords that are applicable to their home based business to ensure that these search terms are used throughout their web site to ensure that they will be indexed by the search engines and included in the search results presented to online surfers.

Brand Your Business on Facebook: How to Easily Add a Username to a Facebook Business Page

When you first create a business page on Facebook, the URL to your gorgeous new page will be something long and unsightly with lots of numbers at the end.

While you can hide the ugly URL by creating linked text in your emails, blog posts, etc it’s easy to create a username for your Facebook page, and there are lots of good reasons to do it:

You can tell people about your Facebook business page in conversation, ie, “facebook dot com slash health coach”
It’s easier for your fans to tell other people about your page
You can link to your Facebook business page without having to memorize or copy/paste the long URL
When posting in places where you can’t add a link, you’ve got an easy URL
Prevents someone else from using your business’ name as their Facebook business page username
Allows people to find you easily on and off Facebook
Makes it simple for you to add your Facebook business page link to your website, other social media accounts and everywhere else

So now that you’re convinced, let me show you how easy it is to do.

Requirements:

You must already have a Facebook page set up for your business (this is different from your default personal profile)
You must have at least 25 “likes” already for your Facebook business page

How to:

Log in to Facebook and navigate to your Facebook business page
Once there, click on Edit Page in the top right corner
Next, in the left-hand column, click Basic Information
On this screen, you’ll see an option to create a Username (if you already have 25 “likes”)
Type in a username of your choice, keeping these points in mind

You will not be able to change the username you choose
Make sure that it’s very easy to remember, ie, no unusual spellings, weird abbreviations, etc
Try your best to have it match the name of the page
If the name you want is unavailable, consider adding -, or _, or even better, include your personal name along with the business page name

Bonus tip (this is a very good idea, but you can only make this change if you have 100 or less “likes”): Add your name to your Facebook business page.

Instead of, for instance, naming your page “Health Coaching” you would instead name it “Health Coaching with Jane Smith”, or “The Super Moms Health Coach – Jane Smith”.

This way it’s clear who’s behind the page, personalizes it, which is important for solopreneurs like us, and allows my page to show up anytime someone searches for me by name. You can make this change on the same page as the username change.

It’s all about building community on your Facebook business page so you can share what you know and create relationships with people who will become new clients and customers, and these tips will help you do just that.

To your awesome biz,

Heather

How to Start a Candy Bouquet Business Online

If you are looking for a do-it-yourself type of business and you have an artistic flare, you might consider starting a business with creating gift arrangements of candy bouquets. Candy bouquets are becoming very popular and are the perfect unique gift for all occasions. Everyone loves candy and everyone loves these sweet delights.

Getting started in a candy bouquet gift store is simpler than it seems and getting started online is much easier then opening a full service retail store. In getting started online, there are 10 general steps I used which I will identify below:

Step 1: Choose your form of business organization. You may choose between sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, corporation and etc.

Step 2: Choose a name for your business. You will want to keep three things in mind here. First, choose a name that is fitting for your product and if possible have your product name in the business name. Second, keep it simple and make it something a customer may remember. For example: If someone was selling widgets, they may pick a business name “Widgets by Sam” or maybe “Cool Widgets for Websites.” Third, not only should your name be fitting it needs its own brand or its own identity to set yourself apart from your competitors.

Step 3: Obtain business licenses and permits. Each state has their own requirements so contact your state business licensing department. In my state of Minnesota, you fill out a form and pay a business licensing fee, and you list it in a newspaper as a new business. Others states may require additional steps.

Step 4: Create and write up a business plan. You can find many templates to help you create and write up a business plan online. They will identify all the areas you need to consider such as products you sell, market, demographics, financing options, goals, etc. This document is critical in pulling together a plan of what you are going to do and how you are going to achieve it. You will also need a business plan should you need financing. If you choose to go the route of an online candy bouquet store, there is a minimal investment up front. Your up front investment would generally be for inventory and office equipment or supplies to get started.

Step 5: Determine funding and financing needed. Take the business plan you created to a bank or look for investors if you have determined you need financing. Each investor will want a copy of your business plan to take a look at all the details of your business. If you have determined it is a minimal investment which you have funding for then you will not need to go to a bank or seek investors.

Step 6: Determine insurance requirements. Contact a local insurance agent to get quotes and determine what you feel is best for your business needs. They will work with you and keep you informed of your options.

Step 7: Set up a business checking account with your personal bank. Since you already do banking with them, you should be able to set up an account rather easily and at minimal cost.

Step 8: Purchase your startup inventory. Your business plan should have identified the products you will be selling, suppliers, and costs associated. Determine and order your startup inventory needs.

Step 9: Create business products. You will need to create your candy bouquet arrangements, brochures, business cards, etc. You may want to start small and as you expand add products to your business.

Step 10: Setup your online website or hire someone to do that.

Advertise your business. You may choose to advertise locally through newspaper or radio. You may advertise through internet marketing. All ways of advertising should be considered.

In conclusion, these 10 steps should help get you started in starting your own venture into a candy bouquet business. Here I cut it down into 10 smaller more manageable tasks. These steps are a guide to help you as you begin and get started.

Corporate Business Gifts – Gift-Giving in Harsh Economic Times

In our day and age pretty much any business transaction can be done online. Whether you are purchasing a service or a product, the Internet has allowed us more choices and better deals. This is exactly what you get when you buy your corporate business gifts online.

The gesture of giving corporate business gifts is a classic tradition and a renowned way of saying thank you. With a corporate business gift you could be saying thank you to your customers, staff or boss and thanks to the boom in online business there is now more choice than ever when it comes to gaining corporate business gifts. Almost any gift that you can think of can be found on the Internet; even unique gifts. All of the gifts that are available can be customized to present your business name and logo as well as an original image that you have the option of supplying.

Below are examples of some of the most popular corporate business gifts that are available for you today:

· Pens

· Mugs

· Umbrellas

· Bags

· USB Products

· Mouse Mats

· Conference Folders

· Key Rings

Depending on who and how many people you are giving corporate business gifts to, you are able to order the above, and many more, in bulk or individual orders. You could want to say thank you to the customers of your business or, on the other hand, you may want to use corporate business gifts to thank your staff for their continued hard work. However, despite who you want to give a corporate business gift to, it is becoming increasing difficult due to the state of the economy.

The credit crunch and threat of recession is all too real and as a result you may find it difficult to afford the corporate business gifts you want to buy but don’t worry help is at hand.

Believe it or not there are companies out there who aren’t out to bleed you dry for your every last penny. Many of the companies who offer you corporate business gifts understand that to make money in these hard times they need to lower prices. Corporate business gifts may not be on the top of a priority list, which is why these companies are offering you some of the best deals around. In these cases you get the corporate business gift that you require and the companies supplying them don’t lose out on business.

To help you beat the credit crunch the companies who supply corporate business gifts have an array of offers that you can’t miss! If you are planning on buying corporate business pens then did you know you can buy a minimum of 500 for as little as 30 cents? How about coffee mugs? Well you can get a minimum quantity of 100 from $2! If Key Rings are more what you are after then how about a minimum of 100 from $3.50 or less. These prices are some of the lowest that you can find on the web, if you search around more, you will probably find much better deals. With a bit of web browsing you will find the corporate business gifts that you require at a price that is hardly going to break the bank.

Corporate business companies who offer prices such as the above will allow you to buy the perfect corporate business gift for your clients or staff; in fact at prices like those you could afford to buy all of your clients and staff corporate business gifts and still feel financially good about it.

An Introduction – Web Hosting & Domain Name

Web hosting is a kind of a company which gives you a space in a server for your website, and you’re connected to the entire world. You can find lots of hosting companies out there so to make sure that you are getting the best deals and services, you should look and opt for some of the top web hosting providers.

Before you choose a company, some points should be kept in mind. First of all you should check company’s reputation and collect some information about that company. Do some research about a few company’s and their services and evaluate them according to your necessities, collect information about support and backup of that company, check companies creditability and customer services. Check how many features company gives you, how many space it provides, what is the bandwidth size, you should collect all the above information before joining any companiy’s services.

Basically Hosting is a business of storing and manage Web Pages of your website. A web server holds thousands of websites, runs 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. So web hosting is a method to earn money online.

You should take unlimited bandwidth facilities to your hosting company, so your visitors open many pages and you can load video in your site.

There are many kinds of Web hosting companies like Free web hosting companies, Reseller web hosting, VPS (Virtual Private Server) etc.

Domain Name

Domain Name is an address of a site on internet like http://www.example.com. It is an addressing scheme assigns names and numbers to identify the computers on the Internet.

A good Domain Name is that which clarify your business or your work, for example a website which gives you information about Tennis that Domain Name must relate to Tennis like www. Tennisedu.com, www. Tennissport.com Domain Name is difficult to remember so Domain Name should be short and easy.

Some Domains are

.gov = Government agencies

.edu = Educational institutes

.org = Organizations (Non Profit)

.mil = Military

.com = Commercials Business

.net = Network Organizations

.ca = Canada

.uk = United Kingdom

.in = India

Incorporate Your Online Business – Correcting Myths About Incorporating Your Website

Below are five common myths about incorporating a website. I base this list on feedback I have received from feedback from hundreds of thousands of visitor to my website about forming limited liability companies.

1. You have to form a separate limited liability company (LLC) or corporation for each domain name.

This is entirely untrue. You absolutely do not have to form separate entities for each and every domain name your business operates under.

A business entity serves two purposes. One is to limit, or contain, all liability within the entity and prevent liability from “spilling” out to affect your personal assets or the assets of other businesses you own. The second is to create separate accounting.

2. A corporation or LLC can’t own a domain name.

Of course a corporation or LLC can own a domain name. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to have your corporation or LLC own your domain names, as it protects you from personal liability in case the domain name is misused.

For example, you might innocently register a domain name that infringes on a company’s trademark. If the company is particularly nasty, it might accuse you of cyber-squatting and sue you. By having the domain registered in the name of an LLC or corporation, the only assets this vindictive plaintiff could go after would be the LLC’s or corporation’s, and not your personal house, car, bank account, etc.

3. I have to form my corporation/LLC in the same state in which my website is hosted.

Not at all. Your LLC should be formed in the state in which you do business. For a home-based internet business, that means forming your company in your home state.

The location of your website’s server is basically irrelevant.

4. If I ship goods as part of my internet business, I have to form a corporation/LLC or register to do business in every state where I ship product.

No no no. You only have to register as a foreign corporation/LLC (by “foreign”, they mean formed in another state, not corporations from outside the US) in states where you transact business. Transaction of business is a technical, legal term, and it does not include mere advertisement or shipping of goods into the state.

5. I won’t be able to sell my domain name or business if it is owned by a corporation or LLC.

Many people purchase domain names and start internet businesses with the intent to sell them at a profit on website marketplaces like Sitepoint.com or Digitalpoint.

I have been asked before if it’s true that a corporation (or LLC) that owns a domain can’t sell that domain. That’s absolutely not so.

A corporation or LLC can sell any asset, just like an individual can. A domain name is an asset. So is the content contained on that domain, along with customer lists, software, etc. Any and all of those assets can be sold by an LLC or corporation.

I hope this list has been helpful.

How to Advertise Your Business Online Cost Effectively: Advertising Ideas for Your Small Business

Learning how to advertise your business online without losing your shirt can be mind-boggling with all the internet hype you see online these days.

Quite obviously, if you’re a small business owner, you can’t afford to dish out thousands of dollars to purchase your own website, and Google pay-per-click will gobble up your money in no time!

Pay-per-click is especially dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Everyone who has been successful with paid advertising has admitted that you just have to be willing to “waste” a lot of money in the beginning until you figure out how to track your success and tweak your ad…

… The idea behind pay-per-click is that you need a strong capture page to attract attention… but that’s not enough!

Once you attract attention, the visitor clicks your link (and you pay) – but then you need a strong sales page to finish the deal – or you’re out some big bucks!

So what do I suggest for how to advertise your business online without paying thousands of dollars on pay-per-click?

Blogging is the new way of how to advertise for free, since the average buyer is looking more to be entertained than to be sold. And there’s no better entertainment and your own personal story-telling or video!

Naturally, for the purpose of making the blog about how to advertise your business online, you’ll want to include links that go to good capture pages and sales funnels.

Even if you learn how to advertise for free using a blogging system, you’ll need to setup a capture page, sales funnel and shopping cart. But your reader is drawn to your product initially by being attracted to your blog.

How to advertise your business online using a blog… (learn what attracts people to your blog)

The fastest action comes from social media, and the long-staying action comes from ranking your blog on Google. Contrary to popular belief, some of the top sites you’ll see on Google are blog sites…

… but it depends on what you’re searching for.

For example, my own personal blog is currently ranking top of Google for “Easy Money Making Blog”.

What makes your blog rank highest?

1. An authority domain

What is that? Anyone can buy a domain (that’s the name of your blog.. most people just use their own name dot com. However, as businesses come and go, so do domains. The ones that Google will pay particular attention to are the ones that have been in operation longest – so domain age is a big factor.

2. Social “likes” & comments

The easiest way to explain this is that you need to build popularity on your blog for it to rank. Social commenting and tweeting will help a lot, so it’s best to syndicate your blog through Facebook, Twitter and other social sites each time you create a post. This will start the ball rolling.

3. Backlinks

When you have a good site, other sites linking to it (“track-back”) will help the popularity of your site. The more popular the site linking to your site, the more popular your site will become.

But when you’re learning how to advertise your business online using a blog, you need to begin with keyword research…

Google’s keyword external tool is actually not as easy to use as it used to be, so I prefer to use keyword research software. This will tell you not only how many people are searching for a particular phrase, but how much completion there is for you to get ranked.

For example, the keyword phrase in this post, “how to advertise your business online” gets over 200 searches monthly, and the keyword phase “free advertising ideas” gets over 1000 searches monthly.

If you’re trying to rank on Google for free, it’s mandatory that you frame your blog post around a keyword phrase that gets very little competition…

Then, simply put that phrase into the “tag” section on your blog. The “long tail” phrase (several words) is notoriously easier to rank.

For how to market a product, the more specific your phrase, the easier it is to rank.

And, your blog visitor will also be more likely to be very interested in your offer. For example, if I’m looking to but a hairspray that works well for curling fine hair, I would be much more interested in reading a post about “hairspray for curling fine hair” or even “best hairspray for fine hair” as opposed to “best hairspray”.

If you’re looking for how to advertise for free, blogging isn’t completely free, as you do have to pay a monthly fee for hosting.

However, if you use the system often enough by blogging daily, you’ll find that blogging is the most cost effective way of how to advertise your business online available today.

Should It Compulsorily Be A .Com Domain Name?

The .com extension for domain name registration is, unarguably, the most popular and sought-after. A lot of people will rather modify their names to fit the extension than go for others. However, with the introduction of more generic top-level domains (gTLDs) by the regulator, ICANN, the domination of .com may soon be over.

In times past, domain name registration is limited to few gTLDs; .com, .net, .biz, .org, .edu, .gov, etc. But now, the story has changed as you can now make use of more interesting gTLDs that were not in existence before. For example, if you have a band and you want to register a domain, the .band extension is now available for you. So, if the name of your band is ‘Soul Food’, you can register a name like ‘soulfood.band’ and anyone seeing that name will easily know that it belongs to a band. Other new extensions of gTLDs are .photography, .actor, .church, .ceo, .boutique, .academy, .business, .agency and so on.

As a result of this, it is not a must to register a.com domain name and many people will even prefer the new extensions due to their uniqueness. For example, churches in times past make use of.org extension when carrying out their domain name registration but will now be using the.church extension and this will boost branding as well as marketing tremendously. The new gTLDs will also reduce the length of domain names and make it easier for people to remember. For instance, the ‘soul food band’ whose example was used above will have to register ‘soulfoodband.com’ instead of ‘soulfood.band’ if the new gTLDs have not been introduced.

Furthermore, it will enable newbies to get choice names since majority of hot names have been taken. Also, the face of online marketing will change because of these new gTLDs. There is the possibility that search engines, especially Google, will change their algorithms in order to accommodate the new top-level domains. Internet marketers will also need to change their strategies since search engines may change their algorithms.

Domain name registration will never be the same again as the path to registration has now been made wider with the latest gTLDs. You only need to ensure that you deal with an ICANN accredited registrar so that your registration process will be hitch-free and inexpensive. You should also be wary of trademark infringement when choosing a name for registration. In fact, it is ideal for you to get a trademark for your business name before registering a domain name for it.