Category: Online Business

Article Contributed by Marc McDermott

Starting a web store can be a very profitable venture. Every day millions of people across the world turn to the internet for their shopping needs. Your e-commerce store can be just what they’re looking for. Here are the top 5 things to know when starting an e-commerce store.

#5. It Pays to Drop Ship

Drop shipping is the process in which online stores send products to their customers from a centralized warehouse in a different location than the actual store. When a customer buys a product from your store, the drop shipping company sends the product to the customer. The e-tailer never has to carry inventory or worry about shipping. They simply pay a fee to the drop shipper, who handles all of the inventory management and shipping. They will even ship the product with your company’s logo on the package.

#4. You Can Build Your Store Without Breaking the Bank

Many new entrepreneurs think that they need a fancy website to attract customers. While a great design may be eye-catching, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on expensive graphic design services or a dedicated web designer. There are many sites that offer low-cost templates that you can use to set up your store instantly. Simply replace the stock pictures with your own photos and you’re in business. A great place to start is ThemeForest for templates and Magento for a free store platform.

#3. A Merchant Account is a Must

When you set up your store, make it easy for customers to pay for their purchases. A merchant account will allow you to accept major credit cards on your site, and encourage your customers to spend more money. Studies have shown that customers spend more when they use credit cards, so make it simple for them. Merchant accounts are easy to set up and, in most cases, can be set up within a few hours. Sign up for a merchant account today and watch your sales skyrocket.

#2. Be the Master of Your Domain

A catchy and short domain name is one of the fastest ways to drive customers to your site. Although most one-word domain names have been purchased, you can add in a local word to attract attention. If you’re selling pet clothing, try www.dallaspetclothes.com for example. This will make it easier for search engines and customers to find your site.

#1. They Can’t Buy if They Don’t Know It’s There

Many e-commerce business owners spend thousands of dollars in fancy websites and new inventory but lack the customer base to make their business profitable. The most important part of starting an e-commerce store is to market your business. If nobody knows about it, they can’t find it. Brush up on your SEO (search engine optimization) skills and join a few social networking sites and watch your business flourish.

About the Author
This guest post is contributed by Marc McDermott, who writes on the topic of small business, ecommerce, and credit card processing. He welcomes your comments at his twitter id.

Avactis has always strived to create easy-to-use e-commerce software. Since those solutions have achieved good results in simplicity for developers, Avactis is now bringing the software up to a new level. The new release turns to non-programmer users.

Those who intend to open an online store often encounter the problem that buying a software license is not the only expense that needs to be considered. Apart from hosting services, out-of-the-box software requires designers to create a template, and programmers who can implement the project. To create a unique website design, a store owner will have to pay from $1,000 to $3,000. To change design elements, a store owner has to hire a programmer. Therefore the $200 to $400 spent for the license grows to at least 7 to 10 times the original cost.

To resolve this situation, Avactis is offering a solution that helps owners, who are not programmers, easily change default templates without having to resort to web-developers. The Avactis built-in visual CSS editor allows the changing of backgrounds and block sizes, font styles, logos, etc. The Avactis visual layout editor allows the showing and hiding of blocks and also changing their locations. These tools can help design a unique storefront from a standard Avactis template and save the store owners thousands of dollars.

One of the major advantages of Avactis, compared to other e-commerce solutions, is fast and easy integration of an online store into an existing website without any programmer’s knowledge or skills. In addition, the complexity of design does not matter. It’s equally easy to integrate Avactis into websites with simple design and into highly structured websites with complicated design and Flash intros. For this purpose we use a unique tag-based technology, which greatly facilitates the integration process.

Unlike other shopping cart software, Avactis is integrated into your website, instead of integrating your website into the online store.

Article Contributed by Eric Gruber

Every time, Google changes its algorithms – it causes a frenzy among those internet marketers relying heavily on the search engines.  The latest change made many marketers stock up on Maalox and Pepto Bismol as it made them literally sick to their stomachs. Google’s latest change was an attack on article directories and content farms like Ezinearticles.com.

You see, many internet marketers were writing 150-200 word articles that gave no informational value whatsoever, just to get the link. They were after the SEO benefit and not taking full advantage of what article marketing has to offer. But now, because of the new Google algorithm change sites like EzineArticles.com lost a lot of its visibility on Google and it has many internet marketers up in arms.

Now, unlike many internet marketers, I think the change is a GOOD thing — and here’s why…

4 Reasons Why I Think the New Google Algorithm Change is a Good Thing

1. It forces article directory sites like EzineArticles.com to enforce stricter editorial guidelines. Google wants quality! Your readers want quality! I can almost guarantee this is why EzineArticles.com now requires you to write articles at least 450 words. And, it’s why they are going to review your articles even more thoroughly for spelling, grammar and formatting errors. They are  increasing their quality control – and that’s usually a good thing.

2. It forces you the article marketer to go beyond the article directories – and target the best websites, ezines and blogs. Now, as the Google algorithm change focuses on article directories (and I’m sure this is only the beginning!) you cannot solely focus on SEO. You need to start putting your content on targeted websites, ezines, blogs and forums that your audience is going to every day.  This way, you go directly to your audience instead of you hoping they find you on the search engines. Plus, these sites will give you the credibility and expert status you need to build your business. To find out the correct way to submit your articles so you can get published on more websites (and not just the article directories) go to:

http://www.articlesubmissionsecretsrevealed.com/special

3. It forces you to use other mediums to get your content out in front of your prospects’ faces. If you didn’t have a reason to start engaging in social media before – now you do.  Besides trying to get rid of the “junk”, Google is changing its algorithms based on the way people search. Now, your prospects are gaining the information they need from social media sites like LinkedIn. If you want to be found and if you want to be heard, then you need to engage in social media.

4. It forces you to start creating articles that give prospects the perception that you are the thought leader. You think sites like Entrepreneur.com and WomenEntrepreneur.com (which my article submission clients have been published in!) want to publish regurgitated content that is already all over the Web? No way! So, if you are going to go beyond the article directories and get your articles published on top websites, then you need to up your game. You need to start offering information that is usually held back – and you need to “wow” publishers and readers with the information you are revealing.

How to Embrace the New and Upcoming Google Algorithm Changes..

Understand that article marketing is not what it used to be. No longer can you submit an article to thousands of article directories and expect the traffic to come pouring in! Whether you’re just starting out in article marketing, or you already run an article marketing campaign, you have to learn how it should be done in today’s world if you want it to succeed.

If you need help, remember that my online article submission secrets course, will take you by the hand and literally walk you through setting up and executing your new article submission campaign from the very start.

Here’s to submitting articles the right way – that won’t have you affected by the recent Google algorithm change and any upcoming changes.

About the Author:

Article marketing expert Eric Gruber creates online marketplace opportunities for authors, internet marketers and small business owners who want more website traffic, publicity and prospects. If you’re looking to build your business with article writing and article submission, check out Eric’s free ebook: How to Build Your Business Just with Articles at: http://www.FreeArticleMarketingBook.com

Are you unknowingly writing articles that simply annoy your readers? If you are making the 10 article writing mistakes below, then I’m sorry to tell you – but “YES!” you are.

10 Ways to Make Sure Your Article Readers Do NOT Become Prospects and Customers…

1. Over-promising and under-delivering in terms of content.

If you make an outrageous proposition or a huge promise like (Lose 30 pounds in 30 days) in your article title, then you better make sure you back up your claims. For example, when I wrote the article, “How to Promote Your Book to the Top of the New York Times Best Sellers List,” I showed the exact steps we took to help Dr Mark Hyman achieve that status. Within our article, we shared our case study and provided valuable information for authors.

2. Too many errors.

Whenever I make an occasional grammar mistake (or when I pronounce a word wrong) my GetLinkedInHelp.com business partner Kristina Jaramillo has to correct me. She’ll do it in a lovingly way (as she is my partner in business and in life) – but she has to point it out every time because to her it’s like taking your fingers and making the screeching sound on the blackboard. Do you want your readers to have that kind of response because you simply did not take the time to proofread your articles?

3. Not enough beef.

You really expect me to trust you and buy from you when you are giving me bits and pieces of information. Yes, 200-250 word articles are perfect for your blog as long as you produce highly-valuable, highly-informative content all the time. But if I’m reading your articles on someone else’s blog, website or ezine I need to see that you are the expert and I need you to give me a real reason to go to your website to grab even more information.

4. Hard selling.

If you if you are hard selling within your articles, you instantly lose credibility. Instead of being seen as an expert who truly wants to help others success, you’ll be seen as an advertiser.

Also, trying to sell me within your article is like asking me to marry you on a first date. You have to build and nourish your relationship with me first. Provide rare gems that no one else is offering, then invite me in your bio box to grab a free resource such as a special report, ebook, templates, video etc. And, make sure this free offering provides real value – otherwise you are wasting your time.

5. Writing in gigantic blocks of text.

Big blocks of text are easy to get lost in. They also strain eyes and make reading difficult because it’s hard to scan, let alone read. In fact, a study shows that only 16% of your readers will actually read your article word-by-word. The rest mostly scan.

6. Writing like a robot with no personality.

Readers do not like to read writing without personality. It feels as if you’re reading from a robot! Or even an impersonal “professional” commercial site! Instead, write your articles with style and personality.

This is one of the reasons why I say that you should be writing your own articles instead of hiring a writer. No one can copy your personality. Let your personality shine through and you will create an instant connection with your readers. This connection builds trust and will help you in your cause of getting them onto your list.

7. Crossing the line with your writing.

I want you to write with personality. That doesn’t mean to get profane. It doesn’t mean to insult your audience. It does not mean to talk down to your readers. It doesn’t mean to be a Rush Limbaugh in words!

8. Re-purposing the same story over and over again.

One of my article marketing clients includes the story on how he went from barely making it to the bottom of his driveway to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in every single one of his articles. These articles are getting put on his blog. They are being used for article submission and in a 30 day auto-responder series. Now, I just want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to get away from this story.

9. Over-stuffing your articles.

Now, I already talked about not adding enough beef. Here, it’s the complete opposite. Many article marketers are throwing together so many different ideas together – and they’re all over the map. They’re literally confusing and overwhelming readers.
Keep your articles on focal point! If you need help, check out these article templates: http://www.StartWritingArticlesFaster.com

10. Making your articles boring.

The number one rule of writing anything – is to stay away from boring. You need to
add stories. You need to engage readers. And, you need to add psychological triggers.

By avoiding these 10 ways to piss off your article readers you will convert more readers into prospects and customers. Just remember, you need to provide value.

About the Author

Article marketing expert Eric Gruber creates online marketplace opportunities for authors, internet marketers and small business owners who want more website traffic, prospects and profits. Now you can get started with article marketing fast with Eric’s free instant article writing templates that will help you write articles in 30 minutes or less. Grab them now at: http://www.trymyfreearticletemplates.com

Article Contributed by Tami Stodghill

Many times people starting out in their home business contact me inquiring as to whether I see more value in hosting a blog site or just a business site with blog entries. First of all, from all the experience we have had as well as instruction from several SEO Gurus, we know that blog sites are capable of ranking higher faster. So whichever type of site a new business owner decides to go with, it should be a blog site.

We actually have a number of websites for our business, but maintain one of them as a blog only site. It does nothing to push our business opportunity, really, with the exception of a couple links should people choose to check out our business. Otherwise, it exists solely to offer any small or home based business owner tips for success. We feel that it is important to give something without the marketing hype and this will remain a blog only site. Our other sites are blog sites in that they reflect our business opportunity and offer complete information regarding that business, but also allow for blog entries which keeps the content fresh and updated—a must for SEO and rankings!

I always tell people that to invest in both types of sites will do nothing but bring them more success. We actually garner as many leads from our blog only site as we do from our business-specific ones. People read our blog entries, trust that we bring honesty, integrity and support to the table and then choose to contact us through the blog site. I strongly believe that if you can offer something of value without expecting anything from the reader, then you have demonstrated that you are honest and open and would offer an opportunity filled with the honest and open ongoing training and mentoring.

We have also found other businesses pinging back to our blog site and have countless requests for sharing links. Because other businesses see our blog as informative and educational, they want to share with their followers or customers and that only serves to offer more exposure for us and our business. The types of businesses who do link back to us vary, but that also means that we gain exposure in all types of businesses and an unlimited number of potential prospects.

When you set out to design a site or sites to represent your business, try considering this approach. It means managing more than one site, but WordPress and other blog-type sites are easily updated by anyone—even those without experience. You can have fun with a variation of themes and approaches to what you want representing your business and can share content between the two sites as well. Take some time to plan what approach you want to take, but whatever the approach, keep your content updated regularly, post informative and valuable information, and share yourself with your readers or followers.

About the Author
Tami Stodghill was the Press-Relations manager, for a world-wide extensible-technology distributor based in London and the US for 20 years. She was also a freelance writer for several industry publications and is now a home-based business owner with WMI. She makes her home in Page-Lake Powell, Arizona, in the summers and Palm Harbor, Florida in the winters where she enjoys boating and reading, camping, hiking and meeting new people. She runs a blog site exclusively to offer tips for success for any small or home-based business.