For a web site to get close to fulfilling its potential, you need absolute clarity on two points.

First, achieve clarity on what your site’s core purpose is

Is to provide information? Is it to complete direct sales? Is it to drive prospects to pick up the phone and call you? Is it to start a free trial? To register?

The more companies I work with, especially larger ones, the more apparent it becomes to me that very few sites have absolute clarity of purpose.

All too often, too many different stakeholders impose a variety of different ‘purposes’. The result? A site that is not clearly focused. A site that appears disorganized and complicated to its visitors. A site that wanders, meanders and ultimately fails – because none of the writers or designers really know what they should be doing.

When and if you do achieve clarity as to the purpose of your site, everything becomes easier.

You can look at every page, every heading, every line of content, every link and image…and ask yourself this simple question: Is this content working hard enough to achieve our purpose?

If it isn’t, change it, or dump it. It’s as simple as that.

You may be thinking, “Nick you are so na๏ve. Our business is complex. We have more than one purpose.”

That may be. If you are selling high-end hospital equipment, for instance, your site may serve both to drive new sales and also to support existing customers.

That’s OK. But make it clear. Make it clear on your home page. Make it obvious to visitors that there are two distinct areas of the site – one for people who already have some of your equipment, and one for those who don’t.

Then apply the same discipline to every page in each area. Does the page drive your purpose?

Second, understand what your visitors are hoping to find

I’m written about this before. But without this second pillar in place, your site won’t work as hard as it should.

Put simply, you need to understand the expectations of your visitors. Understand why they are coming to your site, what they are hoping to find.

When someone arrives at your site, whatever the landing page, they have a ‘pain’ or problem they want solving.

If your site is doing its job, it will take that visitor only a couple of moments before they think, “Yes, I can find what I need right here.”

When that happens, they become filled with confidence.

It’s then your job to help that person achieve their task as quickly and as simply as possible.

Both pillars working together

When your own purpose is clear, and when you meet the expectations of your visitors, everything becomes golden. You both get what you want.

How do you get to this ‘golden’ place?

Just step back from your site for a while and do some thinking. Get clarity on the purpose of your site. And go back over your site’s history to figure out what it was people were hoping for when they arrived.

For sure, not everyone came to your site for exactly the same reason – but maybe 80% came for one of three reasons.

This isn’t about achieving perfection. It’s about getting as close as you can.

Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author, speaker and advocat of good writing. You can access all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the web at his Excess Voice site. You’ll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his Freelance Writing Success site.

Did you know that 80% of all sales are made after the 5th contact?

The biggest mistake we make is not following up with our clients regularly. We not only lose the chance to offer other services and products, we lose the chance for satisfied clients’ referrals.

Building your practice needs consistent bi-monthly follow-ups.

If you think this takes too much time, follow my lead and delegate some of it where you will spend only 6-8 hours a week. Remember, only marketing and promotion builds income and business, the rest are expenses.

Part one of this article is available at www.bookcoaching.com/freearticles/article-129.shtml.

Here’s the top ten ways:

6. Follow up in two steps.

In the first ecommerce follow up, give a fre.e report adding your sparkling signature file as a soft sales piece. In a week, follow this up with your offer. Refer to the report, and then make your one irresistible offer. If I sent a report on what web sites need before contacting a web master, I follow it up with the three-session “telecoaching” program on writing a web site with marketing pizzazz.

One personal coach offered an excerpt from her new book the first time, and followed up with a discount offer for the book.

7. Motivate yourself and your staff with a poster of each month’s follow up promotions.

It’s great to see your follow up progress. Your promotions can be small or large. You know your’ re going to attract new clients because you put out messages that keep you in your audience’s minds.

With the help of your assistant, in just two hours, you can send out PR to local papers on a seminar, update email addresses, send an article to the top ten, finish an interview and send to no spam ezines, email your new content to your Web master, and send out new proposals for talks to different organizations.

When you notice these 10-20 actions you take each month, you’ll also notice new clients coming each month.

8. Offer teleclasses to attract past, present and new clients.

A good first teleclass can be a question and answer call. Once you survey your groups and discover the top 4-8 questions they want answered, include this information in your teleclass sales letter. Two schools of thought on this–a free 1-hour or a small charge for the first. Without some risk such as $15-$20, you may only attract lookie loos.

Be sure to give clear information on the where, when, and how to register. Offer 800 and Web site registration. Include a mini sales letter– a paragraph with benefits on your topic, your audience, and then add testimonials from satisfied attendees, as well as the list of sample questions you can answer. While topics are interesting, it’s the benefits you write that attract people to the call.

9. Make only one offer per follow up contact.

Each time you send out a fre.e tip or report, place a “special offer” at the bottom of the email before your signature file. The common mistake is to offer too many choices. Make it easy for your contact to “buy.”

For one follow up, offer a fre.e or discounted eBook or report at your Web site. When they visit, they will see all you have to offer. For another, offer your ezine. For another, offer a discount on your introductory coaching session. Always include a time limit for your offers.

10. Make your follow up offer enticing.

The biggest mistake coaches and other small business people make is to just list the offer in the subject line. One creativity coach sends me a notice of his upcoming talks and seminars. His subject line says, “Upcoming Seminars by Joe.” Does that move you to open the email? Since less than 50% of your lists will open the email, put a big benefit in the subject line with your name near it. “Double your Clients in 5 Months” That perks up my interest, does it yours?

Follow up means giving to your potential clients. When you give, many will give back. They will pass your fre.ebie on to their associates and friends and even keep the information in a file.

Don’t think you are bothering your contacts. If they don’t want your news, they can opt-out. Thank you’s and free gifts keep your name in front of your buyers. It tells them you appreciate them and let’s them know what new things you can offer them. Follow up is good business.

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” and “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

Did you know that 80% of all sales are made after the 5th contact?

The biggest mistake we make is not following up with our clients regularly. We not only lose the chance to offer other services and products, we lose the chance for satisfied clients’ referrals. Building your practice needs consistent bi-monthly follow-ups.If you think this takes too much time, follow my lead and delegate some of it where you will spend only 6-8 hours a week. Remember, only marketing and promotion builds income and business, the rest are expenses.

Here’s the top ten ways:

1. Keep track of every one who contacts you, in person or by email about coaching or other service.

Treat email addresses like gold. These are already qualified, targeted future clients. Copy and paste their email note, date, and question into Textpad or notepad under the name “potential clients.” Print it out and keep in a hard file named the same.

2. Don’t throw away email addresses.

When someone connects with you, copy and paste their address into your computer folder called “eLists.” Place the address where you think it belongs. Name one file “potential clients.” If they are past clients, create another list and call it “past clients.” If present clients, make a file for them too. Categorized into groups, you can personalize your note to each one. Every month you’ll want contact one of these groups and offer them something special.

3. Keep track of your ezine subscribers’ emails separately.

While you may use a company to send out your ezine, you may also want to have that list handy in your own office. My assistant uses www.textpad.com shareware program to manage all of my different email lists. Since I only send out my ezine on book coaching and business tip monthly, I follow up in between with a thank you or special offer. It takes less than 3 minutes to send out through text pad.

4. Choose the appropriate follow up message for each group.

For your monthly ezine, you may want to send out a mini “marketing survey.” You ask 4-8 questions. For any who takes the time to respond, you offer them a fre.e eBook or report. In one follow up I asked, “What are the 3 top questions you want answered about writing and publishing a book?” My subscribers knew I was thinking about them and appreciated it by signing up for the follow up small cost book coaching marathon teleclass.

People love fre.ebies, so when your follow up offers a fre.e tip or question and answer, your potential clients will see your value.

5. Leverage big results from just a little effort.

Don’t waste any information that helps you promote. After you get responses to your mini survey, use them again and again. After you answer the questions, keep them in a folder called Q and A. Create a new web site link and post them as new content for your hungry web site visitors.

When other professionals ask me for an interview for their ezines and sites, I get them via email, answer them and get promoted by others through their ezines and Web sites.

At the same time, I divide these interviews into articles under 1000 words and submit them to opt-in ezines looking for free content.

From just one ezine interview, several high power professionals called me to order books first, then to become business clients.

Don’t think you are bothering your contacts. If they don’t want your news, they can opt-out. Thank you’s and free gifts keep your name in front of your buyers. It tells them you appreciate them and let’s them know what new things you can offer them. Follow up is good business.

Part two of this article is available at www.bookcoaching.com/freearticles/article-130.shtml.

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” and “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

Pitfalls of E-business solutions installation process

A large distribution company has decided to use a new online supply chain management solution. The people – those who were supposed to use the system – were quite skeptic about the ability of the system, as they did not have enough knowledge and had very little or no training in using a similar system. As a result, it took over a year for the company to bring the solution to its full operation. Productivity suffered severely. The final implementation cost came out to be several times more than initial budget. A large number of companies are reporting to face similar difficulties with the implementation of their e-business solutions.

The problems that occur while a company tries to implement e-business solutions, most likely, include:

Senior managers do not spend enough time and efforts to learn and understand the solutions. As a result, they have no idea how their workers will adapt to this new solution; and fail to set forth quantifiable objectives for them in terms of efficiency and productivity. The end users do not receive required training. As a result, treat the new solution as an added burden rather than a tool to increase efficiency and productivity. In many cases, IT infrastructure is not up-to-date enough and lacks power to support the new solution. Due to inadequate understanding by the management of the e-business solutions that they plan to adopt, often, the time and money allocated to the project are far less than required. Often the advanced Internet based e-business solutions require to be integrated with portion of old systems that the company is presently using, which in turn, sometimes generates software and system incompatibility. How to avoid pitfalls

E-business solutions are sophisticated systems that encompass significant areas of the company and its relationship with customers. That’s why implementation of these projects should be carried out according to detailed plans.

Preparation

Create a well developed scope. In creating the scope involve all end-users of the solution, not only the technical and business model experts. Get answers to the questions like:

- What is the single most important goal that the company is planning to reach thanks to this solution? – What critical problems the solution is meant to solve? – Are the time and money spent justifies its implementation? – What are the implementation milestones? – How you will know that you have reached those milestones? – Once you got all the relevant people of the company involved in the process, choose an implementation taskforce of experts from all required sections. This team should be responsible for developing the implementation plan. According to this plan assign resources and deadlines. Upon completion of each stage of implementation get senior management involved in order to review the progress.

Education and Training

Education should cover the “why” side of the solution and training the “how” side.

- Identify the people that required getting trained and educated. – Define objectives – Define training and education criteria and select syllabus – Set the evaluation method – Conduct the actual learning process – Assess their progress

Implementation

Implementation of the solution should take place according to the strict predefined stages.

Upon completion of each stage of implementation get senior management involved in reviewing progress. Conduct reality check!

- How does the solution meet your expectations so far? – Is it doing what it’s supposed to do? – Do you need to revise any of your priorities?

Once the implementation is over, set up a thorough post implementation meeting with the taskforce and the relevant end-users. The important thing here is to identify if everybody involved with the project is satisfied with the result or not.

In order to successfully implement e-business solutions, it is very important that you fully understand the technologies behind it. If require hire a consultant and work closely with her. In the long run, this might save you substantial time and money.

Here are other things to remember:

1. E-business solutions are mere tools. Don’t expect them to radically change everything that you learnt about business processes.

2. E-business solution implementations like any other project require strict step by step project management.

3. Before considering an e-business solution, make sure that there is a sound business need to get it. E-marketplace, Private exchange, Business portal are few of the e-business solutions that help you attracting new customers and markets. These solutions also allow streamlining many of the vital business processes. In your e-business strategy these solutionsshould be at the top of the list.

4. Keep track of the new technologies and keep an eye to your competitors’ e-business strategies. E-business is an extremely fast moving segment; you should be ready for changes and embrace them whenever it’s necessary.

Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of Rusbiz.com. A Ph. D. in Information Technology, he has wide experience in Business Consulting, International Trade and Web Marketing. Rusbiz is a Global B2B Emarketplace with solutions to start and run online business. You can contact him at mailto:nowshade [at] rusbiz.com, http://ezine.rusbiz.com/archivenews.html?nl_oid=43

This article will explain in depth the steps needed to sell your website fast in today’s marketplace.

Step 1 Establish a Reasonable Price for Your Site

How Much Can I Get?

Before you sell, it’s a good idea to know how much the domain is worth. Market prices for domain names can run from a few dollars to thousands of dollars for premium names. The domain name “Loans.com”, for example, sold for $3,000,000 just a few years ago. The key to deciding whether or not to sell a domain name you own is to determine its worth to you if kept and, alternatively, how much a buyer is willing to pay. You may have heard ?rags to riches? type stories of cheap domain names resold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. During the good old days of the Internet boom this was possible. However, things have slowed down considerably since then and there it is very rare to hear of a domain name sold for more than $10,000. However, while big deal domain sales do occur less often in today?s domain market, selling domain names can still be very profitable. Short, catchy, top level domain names are selling for upwards of $5,000 on the domain aftermarket. Other longer, but still usable, names may be worth hundreds of dollars.

Pricing is relative. Relative to your desire to sell, the type and timeliness of bidder inquiries (individual or corporate) and how well the sale price is negotiated. Don’t try to fit your domain name into some ‘proprietary pricing model’. Every domain name is applicable to a different target market. Determine who your potential buyers are before determining your asking price so you don’t over or under estimate that price. Most names (~85%) sell for between 15%-40% of the asking price. Exceptions to this trend:

* Fantastic names – Truly great names can command what a seller requests, unless that amount is unreasonable.

* High asking prices – Names that have ridiculous or greedy asking prices rarely sell. Important!

* Poor names – Names littered with hyphens, adult names, “4″s for the number “four”, “2″s for the number “two”, “U”s for the word “you”, etc. Don’t waste your time listing names like these. They rarely sell.

How Do I Determine My Sites Worth?

Selling virtual real estate is a lot like selling physical real estate. Just like with the housing market, website ?homes? (also known as domain names) can be purchased for a low cost, remodeled and decorated to look very attractive to potential buyers, and sold for a considerable profit. To understand how this works, first consider that you were in fact selling an actual house built on land instead of an abstract entity on the web. It would be impossible to price your home without doing extensive research to determine its worth. You?d need to take many factors into consideration, such as: size, landscape, curb appeal, the value of other properties in the area, the current buying market, and ? perhaps the biggest factor ? location, location, location! You?d never dream of arbitrarily assigning a sale price to your home without having some idea of its worth and what buyers might be willing to pay. If you underprice your home, you could be missing out on a substantial profit opportunity. However, if you overprice your home, you might not be able to sell it at all. That?s why it?s so important to have all the facts before putting your home on the market ? and the same holds true for selling your virtual home on the web.

When determining your sites value, you may need to do some research online. It is often a good idea to compare different websites on the Internet and to see which sites catch your eye. You can make a mental note of the methods used on websites that were appealing to you; then you can use those ideas when creating or updating your own website. The design of a website is very important when you are trying to sell an existing site online. The design should be bold and colorful, but should not be too busy. You may want to use colors that relate to the theme of the site as well. For instance, if you are selling bottled water, it would be logical to use shades of blue on your website. However, no matter how brilliant the website design is, the purpose of the site must also be useful for the website to sell. A good website will revolve around an interesting idea or useful type of business. To reflect the purpose of your website, you should include clear, informative content that is easy to understand. A website with a clear and interesting purpose is very likely to sell on the Internet.

What Makes a Site Valuable to Buyers?

These days most websites are valued by the number of visitors they attract. One common yard stick is your domain name is valued at $10 to $30 per hit per day. If 1,000 people land on your front page each day, your domain could be worth $10,000 to $30,000. Another optimistic way of looking at domain values is each unique visitor you get over the course of a month is worth $250. If the visitor clicks to a second page on your site, her presence is worth $500. By this measure, a site getting only 10 hits per day could go for $15,000. This strategy is a lot like the way traditional businesses have always been sold. The more customers a store has, the more it is worth to a buyer. That is a pretty solid way to value domains. It is a model that is likely to be around for a long time to come.

Here are some of the main questions a typical buyer will ask him or herself when considering whether or not a website is worth purchasing ? and at what price:

1. Is the site making any money? Is there proof?

2. What is the potential for future profits?

3. Does the site have traffic? Is there proof?

4. Is the site attractive/well designed? Is it functional and user friendly?

5. When was the domain name registered?

6. How is the site ranked with the major search engines?

7. What does is take to maintain the site? i.e. hosting fees, content addition, promotion, etc.

8. Why does the owner want to sell the website?

If you?ve purchased a unique domain name with a great deal of potential value, it may not be necessary for you to have an existing website in order for you to sell your domain name for a profit. Typically, domain names will sell based on its performance in four key categories:

1. Commercial Development Potential – The ability of your domain name to be used as a brand, redirect, campaign address, etc.

2. Recognition – The relevance of your name to the market and how easy it is to remember.

3. Length – In most cases, shorter is better. However, a longer more obvious name can sometimes be more valuable than a short classified-ad contraction style domain.

4. Extension Value – This refers to the .COM part of your domain name. Currently .COM names still command the highest values followed by .NET, some national domains (such as .UK) and .ORG names.

How Can I Guarantee I?ve Priced My Site Correctly?

Unless you are a true domain name expert, we strongly recommend having your site professionally appraised. In fact, this is probably one of the most important steps you can take towards ensuring a successful sale of your site. Appraisers are professionals and experts in their field, and they have the means and methods to conclude what your domain name is worth. As we mentioned earlier, if you place an exaggerated price on your name, potential buyers will be scared away from making a reasonable offer. If you undervalue your name, you may end up kicking yourself when your newly sold name rakes in millions ? for someone else. Furthermore, an appraisal is a very handy thing to have when buyers want ?proof? that your name is as special as you claim. In the end, it is an exceptionally valuable asset, available for a very small price.

For information on UK Website for Sale?s professional appraisal services, visit: http://www.ukwebsiteforsale.co.uk/appraisal/. They offer a 20+ page Website Appraisal that can dramatically increase the value of your website. No one on the Internet offers a more complete or cost effective Website Appraisal, and certainly no one offers all the extras we do that are included for FREE!

Step 2 – Prepare your Business Information for the Sale

After you have decided to sell your business for whatever reason and chosen an asking price that you can support (hopefully with some advice from research or, even better, through a professional appraisal service), you are now ready to talk to some potential buyers. Or are you?

Much like the asking price, the art of preparing your business for sale is not that easy. So, what do you need to successfully prepare the business and information? The list and needs vary greatly over business types, revenue sizes, verticals, and so on. For any business, the basic requirements for what you will need are quite similar. At the very least, you should have the following items:

1. Business Summary — what it is and why you are selling

2. Business Plan/Marketing Plan — if you have them

3. Asset List — both tangible and intangible

4. Search Engine Rankings

5. Website Traffic Reports

6. Any Technical details

7. Financials (previous years and Current YTD financials)

8. Most recent completed year’s Profit & Loss or Income Statement report and Balance Sheet — if you have it

9. Sales Forecasts

10. Supporting documents for the Financials — Tax, Bank, and/or Merchant Statements

The previous items will give all potential buyers a good idea what is for sale and probably a good idea if they are interested in pursuing the sale or not. However, that is usually just the beginning, so be prepared for many, many, many more questions.

Also, please keep in mind that your materials, presentation, and responses will be graded as part of the business in a way. Why? Because, how can your business be successful if you are unorganized, not well presented, and not able to respond quickly and concisely? This is what the buyer will be thinking. And in my experience, this is pretty accurate.

Step 3 – Market Your Website/Domain Name

There are various methods of putting your domain name up for sale. Decide whether you would like to sell your domain by owner or simplify the process and significantly increase your chances of receiving the best offer in the shortest amount of time by listing your domain name with a third party, such as http://www.ukwebsiteforsale.co.uk.

What if I Want to Market My Site On My Own?

There are 101 different ways to promote your domain name. One way we don’t recommend is blanketing companies with unsolicited email. Writing mail to 200 banks asking if they want to buy FasterInternetBanking.com is not likely to win you many friends, nor make you any deals. Your time would be better employed using the methods listed below:

a) Update the domain name registration information

Many potential buyers will look at the information in the WHOIS database as a first step when investigating a name that they are considering buying. So make it perfectly clear that the name is for sale. Update the owner’s name to include (This name is for sale) after your own name. Make sure all your contact information is current and accurate. Contact your domain name registrar to update your WHOIS listing.

b) Put a promotional website up

The other obvious way for a potential buyer to find out if a domain name is for sale is to visit the website. Don’t disappoint them. If you don?t have an existing website, get some web space from a decent host provider and put a simple, one-page site up, showing that the name is for sale. Include a form or at least an email address so that interested parties can submit offers.

c) Get the Word Out

There are two different types of e-marketing strategies that may help increase your sales.

Direct Marketing: Identify and Address Your Audience. What types of businesses or individuals would be interested in your name? When you have identified your specific audience, you can take the next steps:

1. Visit newsgroups related to domain names and the nature of your name for sale. Post messages and begin discussions.

2. Subscribe to ezines related to the topic and find out where these people are on the web, and how you can contact them.

3. Once you have contacts, you can send out emails to potential customers.

Mass Marketing: Address Many. As opposed to direct marketing, mass marketing targets a large amount of people, hoping for a small response. Some ways to do this are:

4. Participate in domain forums, ask questions and seek out domain resellers or people who may be able to offer you more tips.

5. Use search engines. Although search engines differ in their methods of operation and website submission, you can often submit your site for no cost. To find out more information about different search engines and how they work, visit http://searchenginewatch.com/.

What are the Benefits to Registering My Site With a Third Party?

For a small fee, you can list your site with a reputable third party, such as http://www.ukwebsiteforsale.co.uk, and greatly enhance your site?s exposure to qualified buyers and ultimate profit potential. Among the many benefits you?ll receive by registering with ukwebsiteforsale.co.uk are:

* High visibility ? Reach 1000s of qualified buyers every month

* FREE 3-Month Featured Listing with purchase of professional appraisal

* Professionally written ads

* FREE email newsletter

* A professional appraisal to accurately determine your sites worth and increase your chances of selling ? ready in three to five business days

* The security of working with a trusted, experienced and highly recommended company

* The opportunity to connect with a recommended site broker, who will further simplify the process by handling payment, escrow, and domain and registrar transfer.

Step #4 – Make The Deal

You could get lucky, and receive an offer just days after listing your name. Typically, though, names are listed for months before any offers arrive. The key here is to be patient. Think about it – a party needs to come along who believes that the name is right, even essential, for their new Web site. The only other offers you will get will be from domain resellers, who will typically offer you 20-25% of a name’s potential value. Unless you really need the money, turn down these offers, but note them anyway, as they are external confirmation that your name has resale value.
Once you have agreed a deal with the buyer, then you will have to complete the deal. They send you payment, and you transfer the name to them. It’s best to use an escrow service here. It protects both parties, but adds to the cost, so make sure you have agreed beforehand who will pay for it. Normally the buyer pays, but sometimes the cost is shared. Please note: to sell a domain name by owner, through a private transaction rather than a trusted third party, is risky business unless you completely trust the buyer.

There will be some wait time as money switches hands and the domain name ownership is transferred. Unless you are selling your domain to your mother or selling it for a very low price, we recommend using an escrow service to take care of the money transaction.

Good luck!

Copyright 2004

M. Avedissian – Owner of UKWebsiteForSale.co.uk
Mr. Avedissian has owned and operated other online businesses. Manny is a graduate of Montcliar State University and holds other techical certifications.

Let’s face it, there’s just way too much information out there for any one individual to try to keep abreast of. And yet, if we shut ourselves off from the world, we risk building our businesses in a vacuum and suffering on the bottom line. So how can we put structures in place that help keep us plugged in, with the minimal amount of energy and effort on our part? Here’s a few tips.

1.) Remain open to all information, and use technical and human filters

First, don’t try to stop the flow of information because you can’t. Instead, adopt a soft and flexible stance towards it.

Subscribe to any and all things that are of interest to you. These things can be in your niche market or areas that are of interest to your customers. Bring on all information sources that will inform you and create a context for you from which to make decisions.

For the most part this means you’ll get more email. This is simple to manage using filters. Create a dumping folder called “Library” or “Ideas” in your email program. Then direct the stream of information you’ve created into that folder.

From there, allot yourself an hour or 30 minutes each week to scan these publications. When one piques your interest, read further. If everything is bland, let it go. Delete or simply move on to your other work.

2.) Follow the work of a few leading-edge authors

Have you heard the saying that there is no new material, just new ways of presenting or interpreting it? Along those same lines, have you heard the idea that often it’s the 3rd, 27th or Nth time a person hears a certain concept that it really clicks? Meaning that many people have said the same thing to that person, but not at the right time or in the perfect way for them to really hear it?

For these reasons, it’s very worthwhile selecting a few authors that you find particularly unlock your thought processes. Certain authors have a way of putting things that makes you connect things well. Others seem as clear as mud and do nothing for you.

Once you find these individuals, follow their work. Sign up for their stuff, visit their sites, buy and read their books.

3.) Cultivate relationships with people around you, to keep an eye out for things of import

Whether this be your support team, your friends and colleagues or your customers, take the opportunity to educate them on what is of interest to you. They’ll help you scan your environment and bring you pertinent information.

Staying cutting edge is a mentality. As you build your environment to include the elements above, your way of thinking will start to be shaped by it. Once your mind stretches to incorporate new ways of thinking, it won’t be able to stretch back, so thinking small or bland will become a way of the past. Instead of feeling forced to keep up, let information flow around you. You’ll save a lot of energy that way.

Andrea J. Lee coaches entrepreneurs and online business owners. As Thomas J.Leonard’s General Manager, she helped build and manage the largest network and trainer of personal and business coaches in the world. Now the CEO of Andrea J. Lee Group of Companies, she writes, speaks and consults on Marketing, Internet and Business systems. For more helpful tips, visit www.39lessons.com

For whatever reason, when we get a new boost in productivity, whether that be from a tool, technology or technique…we quickly forget how much more efficient it’s made us. It’s human nature. It’s like the commuter who gets angry about how bad traffic is, but forgets what a pain it was to wait for the bus. Or the cell phone user who complains about a bad connection, and forgets about the days when he had to fish for spare change to make a call from a pay phone.

It’s much the same with technology.

If your plan for your online business is in a long term one, there’s no getting around it: You will have to find a way to overcome the frustrations you will have with technology. It’s inevitable.

Here are some simple tips for dealing with the frustration

Slow down.

Let’s start with an analogy: When you’re driving a car at 100 miles per hour, a small thing like a bumblebee hitting the windshield can cause you to lose control and crash. How does this translate to online frustration?

When you’re straining your systems and technology to work faster and better for you, the smallest technical glitch can have a bigger impact on your performance than seems logical. That’s because you are pushing for “more, faster and better” in the first place.

The solution is to slow down. What this means for you as a carbon-based being is: take a stretch break, breathe a couple deep breaths and generally loosen up. Lighten your grip on the intensity you are trying to sustain, both for yourself and your systems.

Concretely, this may mean taking care of your email just a little bit slower. Typing not quite as fast. Or giving yourself an extra hour to set up your new audio recorder. The extra time spent is worth it if it means you don’t have to clean up a tangle later. This may seem counterproductive, but it gives your tools time to do their work for you. Sometimes you have to slow down to get to your destination sooner.

Change channels.

Online frustration is something most people experience from time to time, and this includes your suppliers or contractors. If you have a virtual assistant, you likely know this first hand. The next time you, a colleague or assistant experiences frustration with technology, suggest they “change channels”. This means exactly what you think it means, that is, switch tasks.

If your technology is acting up, try switching to an activity that comes naturally to you before going back to solve the problem. There’s no point forcing something to work when it is resisting you. Go where the energy is flowing by changing channels.

“Remember when.”

Yes, a little reminiscing can be the perfect medicine when you’re struggling with technology. As you try to set up your email account for the 12th time, consider the fact that just 10 years ago, thousands of small business owners did not have email, and did all their correspondence by mail, telephone or fax. Do you remember your “mail inbox” in the last office you worked in? How about letter openers, overflowing voicemail boxes or wet sponges to seal piles of envelopes? Remember when we used to get paper cuts on a regular basis?

With the increasing growth of the personal development movement in the last 10 years, many of us have learned to become more self-aware and handle anger, frustration and other strong emotions with techniques such as meditation, journaling or even prayer.

But because the Internet is a new-ish modality, sometimes we forget to apply these relaxation techniques to handle “cyber” stress. The next time you have the technology blues, stop. Don’t struggle. Instead, become child-like — slow down and enjoy, play awhile, and laugh a little about the wonder of it all.

Andrea J. Lee coaches entrepreneurs and online business owners. As Thomas J.Leonard’s General Manager, she helped build and manage the largest network and trainer of personal and business coaches in the world. Now the CEO of Andrea J. Lee Group of Companies, she writes, speaks and consults on Marketing, Internet and Business systems. For more helpful tips, visit www.39lessons.com

1. You didn’t follow up after the first sale. After the

sale you could have introduced your other product

on the thank e-mail.

2. You didn’t ship the product in the about of time

you stated. If they needed it in a hurry and you

didn’t provide, they won’t rely on you again.

3. Your product didn’t do as promised. If your

product didn’t accomplish their desired goal they’re

not going to think your second product will either.

4. Your customer couldn’t get a hold of you in time

when they had a “after question” sale. You could

have added extra lines of communication.

5. Your customer doesn’t want to revisit your web

site because it didn’t offer much. You could have

offered more original content or freebies.

6. Your competition is offering free shipping with

their product. You should have been more aware

of how they are targeting your customers.

7. Your customer forgot your web site address.

You should have given your customers your web

site information in your product package.

8. Your customer service couldn’t solve a problem

they had with your product. Your customer service

should be trained to handle most problems.

9. You didn’t up-sell when they were already in the

buying mood. You can always try to sell your other

product when they’re ready to buy your first one.

10. Your competition offers a stronger money back

guarantee. You must always be thinking of better

ways to remove the risk from your customers.

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Summer must be when many work at home Mom start to think that their business is a flop and begin to look for a new opportunity. This is fine if your business is truly a flop – but chances are, you just need to take a look at it from a fresh perspective.

It will always be easier to give a present business a fresh effort than to start all over.

Here are three very good reasons why:

Reason #1 – You will earn Respect. When you stick with something, you develop respect from others. When you flit from one opportunity to another you will be viewed with some sceptisism from others who will wonder how long you’ll last with the new business before changing again!

Reason #2 – You will earn Product Recognition. How many times do we have to read it? The business experts all say it takes two years to really get a business off the ground. So why do we give up so easily after just two months? When we keep grounded and keeping working the business we have, we begin to be recognized for our product. This is true locally and online. There are so many online WAHMs who when I see them, I think of their product.

Reason #3 – It’s Financial Smart. Instead of investing $100 to $300 or more into a new business, invest that into a really good marketing effort. Reach a new group of people! Sponsor a great event or contest that will reach new potential customers.

The key here is to really brainstorm! Imagine that you are starting a new business, what is it that you would do to get the word out? Now just do it for your present business! LOL! It’s so simple that many WAHMs miss it. Don’t waste all the energy on starting over – apply it to what you already know about.

Kelly McCausey hosts Work at Home Moms Talk Radio
Listen while you work!
http://www.wahmtalkradio.com

My previous article I wrote called “One Point Two Billion”
attracted quite some attention, the downloads through all
the article syndication services has been astronomical
compared to any other articles I wrote which are still with
them.

It seems the numbers game is popular not only with the
accountancy profession, but with just about anyone running
a website who is interested in more sales from anywhere in
the world.

The internet has proved to be the great leveller, even a
grandmother I know has made hundreds of thousands of dollars
just from publishing a couple of e-books, business of that
magnitude is not now confined to those people with large
sums of investment capital, teams of accountants, planners,
secretaries, swanky offices etc. Anyone, even you, can make
money regularly on the internet, just aim for a goal and
‘go for it!’

The costs of setting up have never been lower, the ease of
making web pages has never been easier, ( I make my web
pages in Notepad, which is on every Windows computer), and
the potential audience for your web pages has never been
larger. So what are you waiting for?

The sheer mountain of information available through e-books
on any subject and especially on setting up a business on
the internet would take you a lifetime to read through, so
just be selective and read only what you need to know about
and get started in that business. Businesspeople who have
‘been there-done that’, have written up an enormous amount
of e-books to pass on their knowledge and experience,
pitfalls to avoid, how to spend your advertising dollars,
and just about everything else you need to know about to
ensure success. So profit from their experience, avoid the
pitfalls, do what they say you should do, and you should be
in a profitable business in no time, just the way they did it.
No large sums of investment are needed, just time and
dedication.

If you provide an excellent service that benefits all your
clients, they will recommend you to their friends,if on the
other hand you want to be a ‘scammer’ and a ‘fly by night’
operator determined to ‘rip-off’ as many people as possible,
you will come to grief. You will find your web hosting
account rapidly terminated, your e-mail account likewise, and
your name plastered all over the forums and newsgroups.
You get out of life exactly what you put in.

There are still mysteries about life we still don’t understand
and this is the reason we come to grief, but on the other hand,
if you work for the benefit of others, this ‘mystery of life’,
for want of a better name,cuts in and helps us along, we go
with the flow and good things start to happen.
I could tell you of many experiences I have had, both good and
bad, which I have learnt a great deal from, but space precludes
that, maybe one day.

All right, you win, I will tell you of one particular incident
more recently and then move on with this article.

I carried a St.Christopher medallion on a gold chain in my wallet
for six years, given to me by the wife of a good friend overseas,
‘it will keep you safe’ she said. I received a new wallet for a
Christmas present and changed everything in the old wallet into the
new one, except the St. Christopher medallion, it was looking a
bit ‘worse for wear’ and I decided to put it in the cupboard.
That day I lost my mobile phone!

For two whole days I felt a loss which can only be described as
a ‘bereavement’. I had lost touch with the network I was attached
to night and day, seven days a week, I felt bereft. I did not know
if someone was trying to ring me, whether something was urgent I
had to know about, my sense of loss was total.

Was this to do with the St. Christopher medallion? I thought surely not.
That was on the Tuesday, by Thursday morning I had decided to put
that ‘good luck’ St. Christopher medallion into my new wallet.
My mobile phone turned up via a ‘good samaritan’ who would take no
money as a reward whatsoever.I was never more pleased to see my mobile phone.

So what happened here?Was it something to do with the St. Christopher medallion? Was it because I had ‘bad thoughts’ that it was the ‘worse for wear’so discard it as inconsequential? I don’t know the answer.

There have been too many such incidents in my life it would take
volumes to relate the details.

We don’t know these ‘mysteries of life’ but one thing is important
-keep a positive outlook to everything and everyone and good things will happen for you.

It’s difficult to visualize how many people that are out there who can
log on to your website. It’s also difficult to understand what kinds
of people they are, what background and education they have had. Why
they are logging on to your new site. What do they expect to see, or
learn, or buy?

How will they benefit from visiting your site?.

Will they buy a good product, or learn something, or get some amusement
or entertainment from it?.

Here are some figures to think about:-

It’s not hard to see that the net is a hive of activity and people are
paying for things they want, music in particular.Content has not been a thing that people have been keen to pay for except sex sites, one of the most successful ecommerce businesses of all time. Newspapers online charge for content with some success, but a survey by Jupiter Media Metrix claims that 70% of adult online users don’t see why they should pay for content. The researchers project that revenues will only grow to $US5.8 billion by 2006 for online content!

Of that revenue the highest earners will be “Audio and Video
Entertainment and Games’. This survey also shows that 42% of net users
grudgingly expect that over time they will have to pay for content on
the net.

So, which way will you go?.

Will your site be a subscription only site charging a monthly fee to
access the content? Look at the history of one such subscription only
site called Salon Magazine. They changed to a subscription only site
and over the first six months only signed up 25,000 users, out of
3.8 million users per month who used the site previously.

Statistics are a wonderful thing as many accountants know too well. Will
you be guided by all the statistics available through all the research
companies out there when you build your website?

Yes, the numbers game attracts a lot of attention has I stated at the
beginning of this article. Always remember though, that all these users
in these stats are only human beings and want, need, and desire pretty
much the same things you do, and set up your website accordingly. There
are enough humans out there to visit your website, whatever you decide to do.

Oh, and did I mention?

The worlds population of humans is now 3 BILLION!

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The author Tony Dean runs a web site where he has free ebooks

for instant download as well as sells ebooks and software.

“The Best Ebook and Software Site On The Net!”

http://www.ebook-sales.com

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