By Hamza Muchtag

Branding yourself online is one of the most important things that can you do for your business. To be a success in today’s market, every business needs to have an online presence. This is to ensure that the business is able to reach the maximum number of potential clients each and every day. There are three steps that a business can do to successfully brand itself.

Create a simple, elegant website – The first step that a business must take is to have a simple and elegant website. For the majority of consumers these days, a website is going to be the first thing that they look for in a business. They want to see what they have to offer, they want to see that the business owners are serious about their business, and they want to have the chance to check out the business on their own terms. That is why a website is so important for branding a business.

Be available – The second step that a business owner should take to successfully brand themselves online is to be available. before someone will be willing to make a purchase from a business, they want to know that the business owner will be there if they have a question or concern. This is going to tell consumers that the business owner won’t simply take their money and run, that they are willing to answer questions and give advice.

Write Content – The third step that a business owner should take to brand themselves online is to provide content to people online. This content can be put onto their website, but it can also go into blogs, article directories, and other places. The point is for the business owner to provide useful content to people online to show that they are willing to help them without the expectation that they will make a purchase from the company. This also shows that the business owner knows their business well. These are three main steps that business owners can take in order to successfully brand their business online. The main point of branding is to let people know that the business is there and to get some positive buzz going about the business. One thing that consumers want to know is that a business isn’t all about taking their money, that they offer good customer service and that they are willing to help whether they make a purchase or not.

Hamza is owner and proprietor of Python Solutions, the premier spot for website creation, social media marketing, and virtual office solutions. Let Python Solutions help you to get your business off the ground and get the customers that you want. http://pythonsolution.com/

We’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments.  Please share with your community on Facebook and Twitter as well. Thanks for reading and sharing!

I’ve gotta tell you, I know first hand that being desperate impairs your chances of internet success.

When first getting started in online business, I was totally clueless.

When I was a single mom in my 30′s I was too busy raising my daughter all alone and working 2 jobs to survive to really take notice when Al Gore (smirk) invented the internet. Of course I knew of the internet, but it didn’t enter into my life until much later.  So I was at a disadvantage when I decided to give this work at home online thing a try. I knew how to use my email and surf the web a little, that was it. Oh yeah, I was pretty skilled at buying stuff on eBay too,  But that was the extent. Maybe some of you can relate?

I was recovering from a very serious illness, and needed to work from home.

I had to be able to work when I felt up to it and rest when I was too weak. During my recovery I spent most of my time researching online home business opportunities. Yikes, did that take me down some rabbit holes!

One free teleseminar led me to another, then another, from freebie to freebie. Again, you’re relating, right? Finally, I found someone I could resonate with.  A guru who promised to teach me everything I needed to know about building an online business if I signed up for the 12 month deluxe program – paid in full up front, no payments please.Well, by this time I was getting a little worried about finances, but after talking with Mr. Happy, we decided to take this guru at her word and went for it.

I paid $1000.00 up front…

Unfortunately, I didn’t learn how to build the business of my dreams. After about 3 months the program fizzled out. I got a monthly cheer leading session via teleseminar, but not the mechanics of how an internet business worked.  What I did learn was the process in which to build an internet business. I do appreciate that. That should be the first training all new internet entrepreneurs receive, so you understand the flow. Once you learn how to do step one, this is the next step.

For instance, first you need a keyword rich domain name, next you need web hosting, then you will need to install WordPress to build you website on, and so on and so on.  Heck, I teach that class $37!  For $1000 bucks I expected to learn the “how to” of each step in the process. Most of us have paid for training somewhere along the road that didn’t quite live up to the hype. Once again you can probably relate.

By then I was getting desperate for internet success. I really needed to make some moola! I had to learn the mechanics of how to put all of this stuff together on my own because by then we were really broke. To make a bad situation more desperate, Mr Happy had taken a 24 ft. fall on concrete, messed himself up pretty badly and was laid up for the next a year.  I had no choice but to continue to stay home to care for him while trying to figure out how to get this freakin’ internet business to cough up a paycheck.

By then I had taught myself through trial and error (and 14 hours a day seven days a week), how to build my WordPress blog, how to use an autoresponder and how to build an opt in page. For Pete’s sake, get some help. Don’t try to go it alone like I did. I started testing different ways to create income. Desperation keeps you from focusing on one project until you see profits. You tend to try one thing, give up on that when it doesn’t produce fast enough, then move on to another. Bad. Bad. Bad.

Finally, I found a good mentor who taught me the actual “how to” mechanics of how everything works, how to market myself and drive traffic to my blog. Then everything started to fall into place. She also taught me the importance of sticking with one thing until I got good enough at it to create income before I added something else into the mix. I owe her much.

So, learn from my story. Don’t let desperation take over, it’s so counter productive.  Find a good mentor who will help you to put the puzzle pieces together so they make sense. With the right training and guidance, plus determination, you really can find internet success and build the business of your dreams. If I can do it, so can you!

It’s your turn to talk. Ask a question or share your ideas with us in the comments below.

Image: Pixomar / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Anybody can start an online business, unfortunately very few ever achieve internet success.

The $64,000 question is how can you make sure you are not one of those fatalities?

First, there are a few things that you need to bring to the table. If you are going to build a successful online business, you need to have persistence.  If you are going to quit when you try a few things and they don’t create income, you might as well go get a 2nd job at the 7-Eleven making slushies and call it a day.  Ignore those “overnight internet success on autopilot” stories. Most of them are bull$#!t. It takes time. Some see success quicker than others, but mostly it takes time and a persistent attitude.

It’s like a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle without the box!

Unless you are a techie, geek or your brother is a for real rich internet marketing guru, there’s a learning curve. Internet success rarely falls in your lap. Just like any other career, you need educatin’! You wouldn’t hang a sign on the side of your barn saying “Doctor’s hours – now open” and hope that folks would line up for medical advice and that you would just automatically know how to treat them when that happened, would you?  Heck no you wouldn’t. If you wanted to be a doctor, you would go through 8 years of college and internship to become one.

It works the same way when building an online business, regardless of how well you know your business topic.  You need the right training and tools for internet success.  When you get started online, it’s sort of like trying to put together a huge jigsaw puzzle without ever seeing the box top. It could take years! But it doesn’t have to. That’s where mentors like me come in. I help you fit everything together so it all makes sense. I teach you the process and the mechanics of how you make it all fit, piece by piece.

So what do you need to make this internet dream a reality?

Most importantly , you need a great mentor. Someone who understands where you are in the process and how to help you put the puzzle pieces together so they fit, so it makes sense, without overwhelming you. Step one, step two and so on.

Then you will need the right tools and resources. Again, if you have a great mentor, he or she will guide you to those as well.  The most important basics you will need to get started are:

•  A Keyword Rich Domain Name.
  

Go to GoDaddy.com for that. This is your addresses on the internet. You should make your domain name something that people are searching for in your niche. However do not buy your hosting there. They don’t offer cPanel.

• Web Hosting
  

  Your address on the internet. You need your own web hosting with cPanel (short for control panel)  This means instead of renting you own your site. It’s yours to do with what you wish. If you want to paint you don’t have to ask the landlord.  If you want to tear down a wall, grab your sledge hammer – you have no one to answer to.

• A Blog/Website
  

  Nothing beats the WordPress.org free blogging platform for this!  You do not want WordPress.com. They’ll own your site. WordPress puts your marketing efforts on steroids. You’ll get bad ass results. Plus Google loves WordPress, meaning more organic traffic. There is a learning curve, but with a little help WordPress is easy to learn.  If you can point and click, you can learn to use WordPress.

• Autoresponder
  

  This is your automatic email system. Choose wisely as it could be difficult to transfer your list to a new autoresponder later when it becomes sizable. This is the system that automatically sends out your emails and manages your lists of prospects and customers.  Everything is contained within you account on their server. No slips of paper with names and email addresses all over the place. No need for huge databases of people on your hard drive. An autoresponder does all of that for you. It’s pretty sweet!

Of course there will be lots to learn, but these are the main tools, puzzle pieces if you will, to to get you started off on the right foot.  You can actually start your online business for less than the cost of a tank of gas! Where else could you start a business without the bank holding your house hostage?

With a good mentor and these 4 tools in place, plus your never say die entrepreneurial  attitude, you’re well on your way to achieving internet success.

Start a conversation. Leave your questions and comments below.

Image: cooldesign / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

By Guest Contributor,  David J. Boozer

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When writing headlines, you must use words that get your readers attention. Period.

If you’re doing it right, you are in business to serve others.  If your blog posts and emails don’t get read, how will you reach them?  If you don’t reach them, how can you serve them?  You absolutely gotta become a master at writing headlines. If the headline doesn’t grab your clients, your competition’s headlines will.  Period.

If you are doing it right, you are in business to make a profit while you are serving others. To do that you need to attract your ideal client, then you need for them to open your emails and click on your offers.  Period.

As you grow your audience, those that resonate with you will stick around as long as you offer great content and quality products. Those that are not your ideal clients, will go by the wayside and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. As Sandi Krakowski puts it – “attract and repel“.  It’s one or the other, you can’t do both.  You can’t make everyone happy all of the time. If you try,  first you’ll become a crazy person no one wants to be around, next, you’ll go under! The only people you will be serving then are the ones you have to ask “Do you want fries with that?”

Today, I had to have a talk with myself about all of this. So instead of just talking to myself (like a crazy person no one wants to be around), I decided to share it with you.  There’s a valuable lesson to learn here.  If not for the headline, you wouldn’t have read this, right? That’s point #1.

That brings me to point #2.  This afternoon I opened my email to find an unsubscribe from someone on my list that said,

“Don’t send me emails with such raunchy offensive headlines!”

YIKES!! For a minute, while I was processing this, it was like someone slapped me. Then I took a calming breath and heard Sandi’s voice (in my head – I don’t really hear voices), “Attract or repel, you can’t do both.”  Obviously this woman was most definitely repelled.

Recently I have been testing more aggressive, attention getting headlines, (none raunchy, I assure you) and seeing my open rate double and my sales increase!  Lately, I’ve been writing less like a business person and more like me. When I write, I picture you and I sitting at my kitchen table chatting it up over a cup of coffee. You are important to me. You’ve become like family. I would never ever intentionally offend you.

Would I write a headline that would make you want to open it and see what’s inside? Absotively, posilutely! That’s my job. That’s how I’m able to serve you. I would be doing you and myself a serious disservice if I didn’t.  YOU can’t teach them something that will help them to reach their goals, or guide them to products they want and need if your clients don’t read your stuff! You need your headlines to make them want to read what’s inside.  Period.

The moral of this story… If you are writing headlines that get their attention and draw them in, someone, somewhere along the way just might get offended and leave. Then they weren’t your ideal client anyway. But many more will eagerly read your stuff and learn something to help them reach their goals or buy a product that will teach them what they came to you to learn in the first place…and be grateful. Period.

With love and blessings,

I’d love to here your take on this. Do you have a question or similar story. Please leave it in the comments below. I still answer every one personally!

Do you find yourself struggling to figure out how to stay on track in your online business?

Last week my husband came home and announced that he was starting on the evening shift at his job beginning the next day.  He seemed really excited about the new duties and hours. My first response was to freak out quietly inside my head while smiling and nodding as I pretended to listen.  All the while, thinking “Oh crap! Having him under foot all day is really gonna screw with my schedule and mess me up!”

Needless to say, I liked my days in my quiet house, undisturbed (for the most part, unless I have my cutie patootie grandson under foot) to be able to concentrate and get my work done, uninterrupted. I had a nice routine going.

Life as I knew it has done a total 180! I have to be honest and say that I have had a difficult week.  My office is right off of the kitchen in my open concept house. The ying to my yang has been pretty good about keeping to his man cave for the most part, but does make frequent trips to the kitchen which is the hub of our home.

It’s not like he bothers me (much) but just having him home, wandering around, going in and out, opening and closing cupboard doors, playing with the dogs that are normally sleeping peacefully under and beside my desk while I work, is a disturbance. I’m having to learn how to stay focused and on task all over again.

Managing your time when you work at home on your own can be really difficult, especially when you have young children at home, or other taller distractions like mine.  I’m reading your mind right about now, you’re thinking “Finally Celene – welcome to my world!” Right?  So,  I thought I’d share with you how I’m going back to the basics of good time management and organization with you in hopes that it will help us both get back on track.

1. Use WordPress.  WordPress is easy to learn, simple to use and your marketing efforts will see greater results. Google loves WordPress.  You can schedule your blog posts in advance and have them trickle out as you want them to, so blogging will take up less of your day.  Automated is good! 
2. Plan your work for the next day before you quit today.  I find that if I don’t have a hand written to do list before I sit down at my desk, I tend to dart here and there after every shiny object that appears on my computer screen. There’s just something about writing out your plan and being able to physically cross it off the list when completed that keeps you on task and more focused. 
3. Set a specific amount of time for each task and write it on your to do list beside that task.  I use a kitchen timer to keep me honest. If you know you have a set amount of time to accomplish something, rather than your time being open ended, you will stay more focused and get more done in less time. You won’t be tempted to open up Facebook or check your inbox or get up and wonder around the house.  When that timer goes off, stop.  You may need to finish it up tomorrow, but you will stay on track for today. 
4. Schedule your email and social media time into your day. That will keep you from going back and forth all day which is a real big time suck. 
5. Schedule your social media.  I use Hootsuite as my social media management tool.  I have all of the major social media networks as well as both my personal and fan page on Facebook walls all in one place on my Hootsuite dashboard. I go in first thing in the morning before I do anything else and take a few minutes to schedule several posts and tweets that will go out automatically throughout the day.  Then I pop in and out to respond, retweet and engage.

These are just a few things I do to stay on track.  My man’s new schedule has blown mine out of the water this week, but writing this has helped to to regain control and get focused on what I already know I need to do to, the things I was doing before I got hornswaggled! I believe most of us already know how to stay on track everyday,  we just needed a little reminder from time t0 time.

If you have any other ideas on how to stay on track in your business, please leave a comment and let us know.  I’m always looking for fresh ideas!

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Normally I don’t write review posts, but I had to tell you about Liz Tomeys Tax Man BlowOut.

So here goes…

I have to admit that I was a bit afraid that the Tax Man BlowOut package was not going to live up to the all of the hype. I expected it to be good, as Liz always over delivers, but this is not good. It’s freakin’ AWESOME!! Really.

There is literally thousands and thousands of dollars in PLR products, niche site content (whole site content, not just a few articles),  a membership site set up for you to personalize, make your own and ready to start selling memberships to your clients. The price is only $47 for all of this.

I am bowled over at the amount of content in this package.  I’ve been shouting it from the rooftops since I bought it.  This is one HUGE.

The Tax Man BlowOut is one of the absolute very best packages created to help the online business owner make money. If you purchase this package and you apply what you get here, you can’t help but make money.

Here’s a video telling you everything you get.

Liz Tomey’s Tax Man BlowOut

Here are screen shots of the dashboards of everything in this package:

There’s an OTO (one time only offer) in the thank you email that I suggest you take a look at as well. It for “My Make Money Online Coach” program where most of Liz’s other products as well as personal coaching for just $14.95 per month. I bought that too and am excited to have it. It’s normally $50 a month. Great deal.

I highly recommend Liz Tomeys Tax Man BlowOut and the OTO to online marketers. As a teacher who helps beginners  starting an online business figure out how to put the pieces the puzzle together and make sense of it all, this is perfect for my community. If you are trying to make money online, it’s perfect for you too!

Stop circling your mountain and climb it!

With love and blessings,

By Guest Contributor, Jimmy D. Brown

If you’re trying to build a steady stream of traffic on your own, you’re in for an uphill climb. You’ll need to spend a lot of time (such as on tasks like search engine optimization), a lot of money (such as on pay per click marketing) – or both.

Fortunately, there’s an easier way to get loads of traffic very quickly – and for free. All you have to do is leverage other people’s traffic and resources. Read on to discover 10 traffic tips to get other people to send you their traffic…

#1. Be a Guest Blogger

Some bloggers solicit guest articles, in which case you can create a blog post and submit it for consideration. However, even those that don’t advertise accepting guest articles may be open to the idea if you give them a reason why they should.

For example, you can:

•   Trade articles with the blogger (so that they get to post an article on your blog too).
•   Use the blog owner’s affiliates links in your article, so that they make money when their readers buy a product.
•   Offer something else attractive in trade, such as an endorsement in your newsletter. #2. Recruit Them to Your Affiliate Program One quick and easy way to sell more products using other peoples’ traffic is by asking them to join your affiliate program.

  If you’re selling digital products, you should offer at least a 50% commission rate to affiliates, and even higher for “super affiliates” (those who can send you a lot of traffic and sales). You may even offer additional perks, such as bonuses or discounts for their customers.

  Tip: You can quickly and easily set up an affiliate program for your digital products using Clickbank.com (which is also a payment processor).

  #3. Trade Blog Links

  Instead of trading content, you can trade blog links with other people in your niche (AKA “blogrolling”).

  The first benefit is that it’s visible for a long period of time, as usually these links are permanently placed on the front page of the blog.

  Secondly, you can also get a search engine optimization benefit if the blog has a high Google Page Rank (and if you use your keywords as the anchor text for your link).

  #4. Trade Newsletter Articles

  If you like the idea of trading content, then consider trading newsletter articles with other people in your niche.

  Tip: Look for those who also post their newsletter issues on their blogs, as then you’ll get the benefit of a backlink and ongoing traffic!

  #5. Co-Promote On Your Download Pages

  If you have products or services that are closely related to another marketer’s products, then you may agree to trade product links on your thank you / download pages.

  Alternatively, you can ask the marketer to use his affiliate link to point to your product sales page.

  Either way, this tends to be responsive traffic, since they’re customers who just bought something (and thus they’re in the buying mood).

  #6. Swap Links On Your Subscription Confirmation Pages

  Another place you can trade links is on your newsletter subscription confirmation pages. You may even agree to trade endorsements in the welcoming emails that you send to your new subscribers.

  #7. Do Joint Mailings

  If you ship physical products, then seek out other marketers who’re selling physical products in your niche. Then ask these people to send out a flyer advertising your products in every shipment they send, and you’ll do the same for them.

  Tip: Look on eBay® to find marketers in your niche who’re selling a high volume of physical products.

  #8. Ask to Interview Them

  The biggest marketers in your niche might not be open to some of the other suggestions we’ve talked about so far, such as content swaps (especially if you’re relatively unknown and don’t have a busy blog yet). However, they may be open to you interviewing them, perhaps on a teleseminar. And if so, then they’ll also likely help you advertise the call, which means you get free traffic.

  Tip: Be sure to mention your website link on the call, because then you’ll get traffic months or years from now if you distribute the recordings.

  #9. Co-Write and Promote Articles

  Instead of creating a recording with another marketer, you can create an article together.

  Example: You can each share five niche tips. Or one of you can share the tips and the other person can write the article.

  Either way, you’ll get traffic because your partner will help you distribute the content, perhaps by posting it on his blog and telling his list about it.

  #10. Create Rebrandable Reports

  Finally, you get others to send you traffic by creating rebrandible reports (using a tool like ViralPDF.com). This is where you allow others to change the affiliate links in a report to their affiliate links, so that anyone who distributes the report has the opportunity to make money on the backend.

  Summary

  You don’t have to invest months of work or thousands of dollars to get traffic – not when you simply leverage other people’s traffic! Follow these 10 traffic tips and watch your traffic go through the roof!
  —————–
  Jimmy D. Brown knows about getting completely free traffic as he’s been getting it for more than a decade.  His groundbreaking course, How To Get Free Traffic, is a whopping 300+ pages of step-by-step tutorials, examples and ideas.  Never pay for advertising again!  Details at http://celeneloves.me/getfreetraffic

We’d love for you to share your traffic tips with us. Please sound off in the comments!

Image: jannoon028 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Just imagine if you developed one of the most popular blogs in your niche. Think of how much money you could make selling your products or affiliate products.

If you want to become a better business blogger, we’d love for you to join us for this weeks…

FREE Lunch N’ Learn
Training Webinar

• How to optimize your blog post for more FREE traffic
  
• Keep your audience coming back for more time after time
  
• How to create killer headlines
  
• Which hot topics spur discussion and more comments
  
• And much, much more!

Get Your Questions Answered!

DATE & TIME: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm Eastern*
FORMAT: Webinar

Let’s do lunch! Grab a sandwich, your favorite beverage, prop up your feet, kick back and Lunch n’ Learn with us!

**Don’t worry if you miss this free training. We offer training on a variety of subjects to help you build and market your online business. Sign up in the box above anyway and we’ll receive an invitation to the next one, plus you’ll get our FREE i-magazine featuring training, tips and strategies from our panel of experts!

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net