-•- TheHomeBizDigest Newsletter - Issue 228 -•-
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Marketing Tip
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If you're one of the thousands of people who has been getting free
promotion on Yahoo as a result of your Google listings, things are
going to change. Yahoo has decided that they are going to use their
own company, Inktomi as their premier listings provider. There are
probably going to be some major shakeups in your traffic patterns
once the changes are official, so you have to be ready. The search
engine numbers you've been seeing over the past year or so, these
are all going to change. Most of you should start putting aside a
few bucks here and there if you want to get traffic from Yahoo in
the time after the switch. Inktomi, the company that will be used
by Yahoo, uses a paid inclusion model, not a pay-per-click model,
this means you're going to have to pay to be listed. This might be
a good thing depending on how you end up listed in Yahoo, but it
might be bad as well. I'm expecting to see a number of ebooks and
software programs on the market in the next few months that make
Inktomi listings easier to figure out, so keep your eyes peeled.
Inktomi like any other search engine, uses an algorithm to rank
it's pages, and eventually someone will figure out how to beat it.
This might be something you want to put some time into. Google has
been a hot search engine property over the past year or so, but
Google's listings are going to carry as much weight as they used
to. I'm not recommending you drop Google by any means, but I would
strongly suggest you take a hard look at Inktomi if you count on
search engine traffic to bring in the sales.
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Featured Guest Article
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Angst
Angst is a feeling of anxiety or apprehension often accompanied
by depression, and is experienced by many newbies (those new to
the Internet) who want to go into an online business. Angst
equates to how much money you spent vs. the amount you earned.
The only thing that differs is the intensity.
Slight Angst - people who invested little or nothing and
received the same in return. They joined AOL, and immediately
found their mailbox was overflowing with spam (junk email). They
read some of the mail and, and believing what they read, bought
into a program for $20. They sat back and waited, and waited,
and waited and nothing happened.
Losing heart, they quit the program and dropped AOL after the
free trial period. They now send their email to Aunt Martha,
which is all they really wanted to do from the "get-go", using a
free ISP.
More Angst - these people believed many of the offers that wound
up in their mailbox, and bought into a few. They then started
their free advertising campaign. When that didn't pay off, they
started investing in paid advertising. Here a banner, there a
banner, everywhere a banner, banner - they quickly learned the
reality of banner ads. But with no long term commitment, they
folded their tents, cut their losses, and disappeared into the
night.
Real Angst - these are the tenacious ones - they failed at level
one and two, but believed the hype and invested in an online
store. They're like the guy who rented a huge vacant brick and
mortar building, and then started to think about what he was
going to sell. After an awful lot of work and many bucks later,
they found out that just having a store isn't the key to success
on the Internet.
So what's the scoop? Is everyone doomed to failure?
Of course not - there are a lot of people making money on the
web. But you have to find your "niche". Unless you have very
"deep pockets", like anything, you have to know what you are
doing.
If your area of expertise is ornithology, why not consider a web
site for bird watchers. With some timely articles that are
updated on a regular basis, and a store where you sell items of
interest, you just might attract a following.
Does that mean you immediately commit to a store and get a
merchant account so your customers can pay for their orders - NO.
Start your web site, and advertise it heavily. One of the better
bets is ezines and newsletters that target the audience you wish
to reach. Try to build a following on your website - consider
your own newsletter - doesn't have to be fancy.
If you are able to get a respectable number of visitors to your
web site, or subscribers to your newsletter, you just might have
a shot at your online store succeeding. Remember, "Content is
King". If you provide good content, you will have return
visitors. Return visitors are potential future customers.
Offer freebies, run contests, have guest columnists contribute;
these all enhance your site. But forget some of the hype you
will run across. This does not happen overnight. Once
established, will you make money while you sleep - you betcha.
Like any business, you will need a war chest. How much? If
you're going to be selling a product, you'll need an inventory.
But don't be like the person who bought into Equinox (see
http://www.mlmwatch.org/06FTC/Equinox/equinoxftc1.html)
who has $5,000 worth of junk in their garage they can't sell.
Look for a distributor who will sell in small lots. Sure they
will charge a bit more, and you will earn a bit less, but you're
not in over your head. If the product moves, you can then afford
to buy larger lots at a lower price.
You should then know pretty quickly if it is going to work. If
it is positive at that point, move to your next level. Open your
online store, get merchant status so you can accept credit cards,
and move forward.
Above all, use "due diligence" in any venture you take, and you
just might avoid the "Angst" that comes with failure.
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Did you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine the
"Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their Business at his Web
Site? Great Business and Computer Tips - Monday thru Friday.
Instructions on how to place your ad are in the Newsletter.
Subscribe at: http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
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Beware
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Are you taking too much on at one time? That happened to me over
the last 5 days. I had everything overlapping, and way to much to
accomplish. I ended up having to get the extra time I needed from
my "sleeping" time, and then was exhausted when trying to get my
tasks completed.
I've always prided myself of being very organized and being able
to prioritize well. However, sometimes if you take on too much,
there are literally not enough hours in the day to get everything
done.
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