www.knockknock.biz
Company: Gift and stationery company in Venice, California
Projected 2006 Sales: $3.5 million
Latecomer: Former book editor Bilik was a chronic procrastinator. The idea for her business actually came while putting off the creation of her illustrated memoir. After designing and sending belated holiday cards in January, her friends encouraged her to sell the cards. “Humor is a great way to acknowledge and excuse your own shortcomings,” Bilik says. “January” is now her bestselling holiday card.
Homegrown: With the profits from a real estate sale, Bilik launched Knock Knock in 2002 with 13 products. Buyers were hesitant until they saw prototypes, so a sales company came onboard to help her gain entry into specialty gift stores. Despite difficulties keeping up with orders, sales shot to $650,000 the first year. “The key is resiliency,” says Bilik, who learned quickly from her mistakes.
Culture Clash: Knock Knock acknowledges the oft-unspoken hilarity of life, whether it’s in office politics or relationships. One card, for example, tells the newly single: “Time wounds all heels,” and “You’re better off.” “It’s observational humor,” Bilik says. “Most greeting card companies are so idealized. They’re not funny about the actual occasion.” Knock Knock products, including a dating kit and humorous flashcards, are sold on www.knockknock.biz, in more than 3,000 stores nationwide, and in Canada and the UK. Bilik plans to create additional brands, such as a line of contemporary office products called No. 2, and rework the company’s signature products for mass merchants. Says Bilik, “I’ve inadvertently tapped into a psychology zeitgeist.”
Friday, November 24, 2006
How You Can Ethically Profit From Your Fiercest Competitors
Jay Abraham
www.abraham.com
I taught one client, who was generating leads for office equipment, how to make more money off his office equipment competitors than he made off his own business. Every time my client mailed 1,000 pieces of direct mail, it cost him $1,000 and brought a 5 percent response - 50 inquiries for $1,000.
Of those 50 inquiries, he would sell 10 percent of five people - meaning he did not sell 45 of them. Until he met me, he just kept sending out 1,000 letters for $1,000, selling five more people and discarding the non-converted prospects. I told him “Your goal is to ethically exploit every profit opportunity in all these prospects and customers.”
First, I had him figure out why the other 45 people didn’t buy from him. He identified some as “tire-kickers”, but most of them didn’t buy for one of four reasons. Either (a) his product of service was too expensive, too complex, too intimidating; or (b) it was not sophisticated enough for them; or (c) his sales personnel irritated the customers; or (d) the price or financial terms weren’t affordable.
That didn’t mean they didn’t want to buy office products. It just meant that client was unable to sell to them. If he could convey these prospects to his competitors – those dealers whose products, services, sales people or pricing were what these people wanted - they could probably sell to many of them.
The client reluctantly allowed me to prove the point. I made a deal on behalf of his office products client for his competitor to work the unsold leads. His client got half of the profit from the sales his competitor made and ended up making more money off the people he didn’t sell than on the ones he did sell. Non-traditional? Yes. Unorthodox thinking? Absolutely. But it quadrupled the profit from the clients business with absolutely no extra effort or expense on the client’s part.
www.abraham.com
I taught one client, who was generating leads for office equipment, how to make more money off his office equipment competitors than he made off his own business. Every time my client mailed 1,000 pieces of direct mail, it cost him $1,000 and brought a 5 percent response - 50 inquiries for $1,000.
Of those 50 inquiries, he would sell 10 percent of five people - meaning he did not sell 45 of them. Until he met me, he just kept sending out 1,000 letters for $1,000, selling five more people and discarding the non-converted prospects. I told him “Your goal is to ethically exploit every profit opportunity in all these prospects and customers.”First, I had him figure out why the other 45 people didn’t buy from him. He identified some as “tire-kickers”, but most of them didn’t buy for one of four reasons. Either (a) his product of service was too expensive, too complex, too intimidating; or (b) it was not sophisticated enough for them; or (c) his sales personnel irritated the customers; or (d) the price or financial terms weren’t affordable.
That didn’t mean they didn’t want to buy office products. It just meant that client was unable to sell to them. If he could convey these prospects to his competitors – those dealers whose products, services, sales people or pricing were what these people wanted - they could probably sell to many of them.
The client reluctantly allowed me to prove the point. I made a deal on behalf of his office products client for his competitor to work the unsold leads. His client got half of the profit from the sales his competitor made and ended up making more money off the people he didn’t sell than on the ones he did sell. Non-traditional? Yes. Unorthodox thinking? Absolutely. But it quadrupled the profit from the clients business with absolutely no extra effort or expense on the client’s part.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
How You Can LEGALLY Buy Stolen Items Online
www.propertyroom.com
(CNNMoney.com) Last year PropertyRoom.com, an auction Web site that sells lost, stolen or forfeited goods from police departments, opened its doors to third-party vendors.
Revenues jumped 33 percent, to $8 million, and are projected to hit $10 million to $12 million in 2006.
PropertyRoom.com has signed up more than 750 departments since it was launched in 1999, and its 70 employees ensure each product's authenticity and condition.
By extending that vigilance to third-party vendors - conducting background checks on all merchants, including jewelers and electronics sellers - the company hopes to allay the concerns of e-shoppers. "We're after a fraud-free environment on the Internet," Lane says.
Today about 50 percent of the site's gross sales come from its third-party vendor program. And the firm is developing new partnerships: selling surplus goods from government bureaus and unwanted props from movie sets.
(CNNMoney.com) Last year PropertyRoom.com, an auction Web site that sells lost, stolen or forfeited goods from police departments, opened its doors to third-party vendors.
Revenues jumped 33 percent, to $8 million, and are projected to hit $10 million to $12 million in 2006.
PropertyRoom.com has signed up more than 750 departments since it was launched in 1999, and its 70 employees ensure each product's authenticity and condition.
By extending that vigilance to third-party vendors - conducting background checks on all merchants, including jewelers and electronics sellers - the company hopes to allay the concerns of e-shoppers. "We're after a fraud-free environment on the Internet," Lane says.
Today about 50 percent of the site's gross sales come from its third-party vendor program. And the firm is developing new partnerships: selling surplus goods from government bureaus and unwanted props from movie sets.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Online Niche Marketing And Your Bottom Line
By Titus Hoskins
www.bizwaremagic.com
Let niche marketing increase your bottom line and show you where the real money is made online. Savvy marketers and webmasters are taking full advantage of this effective marketing strategy, are you?
The Internet is tailor made for niche marketing. As more and more people turn to the web to find the information and products they need, opportunities for online marketers to cash in has never been greater. Buyers now look to the web to find countless products and services not available in their own local areas.
Niche marketing is a simple marketing technique you should be using with your online marketing. Targeting small sections of the vast online consumer marketplace is one of the fastest and surest ways to produce an online revenue stream. Are you taking full advantage of this marketing strategy with your own site or sites?The web and niche marketing has opened up this whole new area in the worldwide marketplace; delicately balancing supply with demand, no matter how obscure or unique the product or service may be.
Niche marketing is catering to these small segments of the marketplace, from mountain climbing footwear to fly tying equipment to home entertainment systems. Narrowing down and targeting a specific market niche or group has proven to be a very effective online marketing strategy.
Internet marketers and webmasters who have searched out and optimized for these small niche markets are reaping the rewards. Those marketers who find the niche markets where there is high demand but very little competition are benefiting the most.
Finding these profitable niche markets is easier than most people believe, mainly because most of the activity on the web is keyword driven or powered. All a marketer has to do is find the keywords or phrases potential customers are using to search for the products they want to acquire.
Savvy online marketers use different keyword research software and online sites to find these profitable keywords. They use software like Nichebot or Keyword Elite and sites like WordTracker and Overture (Yahoo Marketing) to find profitable keywords in their respective niches.
Before any content is created, before any sites are made, before any products are born - these marketers do extensive keyword research to find out exactly what people are looking for on the web. How many searches are made each month and the keyword ratio or competition for their niche keywords.
The objective is to find little known niches where there is great demand but very little competition. Many marketers also use the 'Long Tail' - a whole long list of keywords or keywords phrases that relate to their niche. Creating webpages or content for this Long Tail has proven to be more profitable then targeting general popular keywords.
For example, someone searching for the keyword 'vacation' may just be shopping around or dreaming - whereas someone looking for 'honeymoon vacation Jamaica' may have their minds already made up and are ready to buy... finding a whole (Long Tail) list of keyword phrases where the customer is ready to buy will obviously prove more lucrative than a general list of keywords.
Many niche marketers also use this Long Tail keyword list in combination with targeted articles which they submit and syndicate around the web through such sites as Ezinearticles, GoArticles or IdeaMarketers. Thus, creating high search rankings for the profitable keywords in their particular niche.
Many smart marketers also tie in an informative 'How To' 'Further Information' or 'Special Deals' autoresponder series to keep in touch with their visitors. Knowing that many interested parties may not buy on their first visit, it has been shown that it takes around six or seven follow-ups before many consumers will buy.
For those webmasters who are not extensively into web marketing, joining a free affiliate program like the Amazon Associates program and creating an aStore is an effective way of promoting niche products on the topic of your site. Products can be hand-picked to perfectly fit the content of your site or niche.
Niche marketing is not a complicated process. Anyone can take advantage of these small marketing niches and exploit the demand for countless products and services that have no or little competition. There is no reason why you shouldn't turn the information highway into your own private source of income.
Your bottom line will be the first to thank you!
www.bizwaremagic.com
Let niche marketing increase your bottom line and show you where the real money is made online. Savvy marketers and webmasters are taking full advantage of this effective marketing strategy, are you?
The Internet is tailor made for niche marketing. As more and more people turn to the web to find the information and products they need, opportunities for online marketers to cash in has never been greater. Buyers now look to the web to find countless products and services not available in their own local areas.
Niche marketing is a simple marketing technique you should be using with your online marketing. Targeting small sections of the vast online consumer marketplace is one of the fastest and surest ways to produce an online revenue stream. Are you taking full advantage of this marketing strategy with your own site or sites?The web and niche marketing has opened up this whole new area in the worldwide marketplace; delicately balancing supply with demand, no matter how obscure or unique the product or service may be.
Niche marketing is catering to these small segments of the marketplace, from mountain climbing footwear to fly tying equipment to home entertainment systems. Narrowing down and targeting a specific market niche or group has proven to be a very effective online marketing strategy.
Internet marketers and webmasters who have searched out and optimized for these small niche markets are reaping the rewards. Those marketers who find the niche markets where there is high demand but very little competition are benefiting the most.
Finding these profitable niche markets is easier than most people believe, mainly because most of the activity on the web is keyword driven or powered. All a marketer has to do is find the keywords or phrases potential customers are using to search for the products they want to acquire.
Savvy online marketers use different keyword research software and online sites to find these profitable keywords. They use software like Nichebot or Keyword Elite and sites like WordTracker and Overture (Yahoo Marketing) to find profitable keywords in their respective niches.
Before any content is created, before any sites are made, before any products are born - these marketers do extensive keyword research to find out exactly what people are looking for on the web. How many searches are made each month and the keyword ratio or competition for their niche keywords.
The objective is to find little known niches where there is great demand but very little competition. Many marketers also use the 'Long Tail' - a whole long list of keywords or keywords phrases that relate to their niche. Creating webpages or content for this Long Tail has proven to be more profitable then targeting general popular keywords.
For example, someone searching for the keyword 'vacation' may just be shopping around or dreaming - whereas someone looking for 'honeymoon vacation Jamaica' may have their minds already made up and are ready to buy... finding a whole (Long Tail) list of keyword phrases where the customer is ready to buy will obviously prove more lucrative than a general list of keywords.
Many niche marketers also use this Long Tail keyword list in combination with targeted articles which they submit and syndicate around the web through such sites as Ezinearticles, GoArticles or IdeaMarketers. Thus, creating high search rankings for the profitable keywords in their particular niche.
Many smart marketers also tie in an informative 'How To' 'Further Information' or 'Special Deals' autoresponder series to keep in touch with their visitors. Knowing that many interested parties may not buy on their first visit, it has been shown that it takes around six or seven follow-ups before many consumers will buy.
For those webmasters who are not extensively into web marketing, joining a free affiliate program like the Amazon Associates program and creating an aStore is an effective way of promoting niche products on the topic of your site. Products can be hand-picked to perfectly fit the content of your site or niche.
Niche marketing is not a complicated process. Anyone can take advantage of these small marketing niches and exploit the demand for countless products and services that have no or little competition. There is no reason why you shouldn't turn the information highway into your own private source of income.
Your bottom line will be the first to thank you!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
10 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2007
By Kim T. Gordon
Entrepreneur.com
An inside look at the latest marketing trends that’ll help you boost your business in the coming year
Throughout 2006, I've been watching and interpreting the marketing stats and studies that impact small businesses to give you tips on staying one step ahead. Now, with 2007 fast approaching, let's look at a roundup of the hottest trends, from changes taking place among consumer audiences through what to watch for in traditional and online marketing. Here's the info you need on the most important trends and how to make the most of them to increase sales and grow your business in the New Year.
Consumer Trends
1. College Grads
If you're searching for the most effective way to reach this desirable prospect group, move your marketing dollars into online media. The internet is now the primary source of media and entertainment among college grads, whose top planned purchases upon graduation are professional clothing, travel/airline tickets, health insurance and furniture according to the “Y2M: eGrad College Graduate Survey”. Nearly 80 percent of respondents are online purchasers, making them ideal candidates for your online campaign.
2. Affluent Working Women
The big news is that this group is increasing in size, and the best way to reach them may be online. According to The Media Audit, affluent working women with family incomes of $75,000 or more are growing in number, and 94.3 percent access the internet during an average month. About half are now considered heavy users of the internet, while heavy use of radio, television, newspapers and direct mail has all declined within this group. To increase sales from this expanding audience, alter your media spending to place greater emphasis online.
3. Asian Population Growth
The southern region of the U.S. boasts the fastest Asian population growth rate (31 percent), followed by the Midwest (24 percent), the Northeast (23 percent) and the West (19 percent), according to an analysis of Census Bureau data in the “American Community Survey” by Kang & Lee Advertising. Asians represent a prospect group with higher than average household incomes and education levels. Can you offer a product or service that will appeal to this growing market?
4. Word-Of-Mouth
Want to build buzz? Lucid Marketing's study, "U.S. Adults: Word of Mouth Communications," found that women were more likely than men to share a positive experience with a business or recommend an enjoyable product; full-time employees made substantially more daily contacts than those not in the workforce; and people with household earnings of more than $100,000 were more likely to make recommendations than those earning less. So buzz marketers should direct efforts to these three "chatty" groups.
Trends in Traditional Media
5. Yellow Pages
According to a study from the Kelsey group, marketers targeting younger demographics should transition away from print. Only 28 percent of teens said they would turn to print Yellow Pages first to find a local business, product, or service, while 47 percent said their first choice would be search engines. And just 44 percent of respondents between the ages and 18 and 34 favored print Yellow Pages.
6. Simultaneous Media Usage
There's no longer such a thing as a captive media audience--consumers are frequently participating in more than one form of media at any one time. Seventy percent of web users, for instance, watch TV occasionally to regularly while online, according to BIGresearch’s “Simultaneous Media Survey.” It also found that nearly 65 percent watch TV while they read, and 51 percent of radio listeners read the newspaper while listening. The rise in multitasking among consumers mandates an integrated media approach and an increased emphasis on advertising within the most relevant and engaging content.
7. Newspapers
This past year, many of the websites of major newspapers have become the number-one portals in their geographic markets and are drawing a larger, younger and more affluent readership. The audience that reads a newspaper’s website but not its print version accounts for 2 to 15 percent of the Integrated Newspaper Audience, according to Scarborough Research, and that represents hundreds of thousands of readers for many newspapers in larger markets. They’re successfully attracting 18-to-34-year-olds to their sites, and the online readers are more upscale, which can make them a more desirable audience. If you're an advertiser in the "print" newspaper, you can negotiate for a combo rate to run online as well to reach these additional readers. And if advertising in the print newspaper is too expensive for your business, you may find more affordable rates online by drilling down past the main pages to place ads on content-rich, but less frequently visited web pages.
Hot Online Trends
8. Web Conferencing
As business travel becomes increasingly challenging due to increased security, advance check-in times and transportation delays, online workshops and meetings that require no travel are coming to the forefront. It’s more desirable than ever to demo your new product to a group or make a sales presentation without anyone ever leaving home. Participants can watch your presentation on their computer monitors and hear you live on their computer speakers or by phone. In fact, I'm now transitioning to this technology to deliver webinars, and you can, too.
9. Online Research
Whether you sell exclusively online or primarily through a brick-and-mortar site, online search will have a profound impact on your sales in 2007. When asked how often they researched products online before buying them in person or in a store, 87 percent of nearly 7,500 respondents to a BIGresearch “Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey” said they did so occasionally to regularly. And a comScore research study showed that 63 percent of searchers completed a purchase in offline retail stores following their search activity. So no matter whether you sell online, off-line or both, you need a great website with deep, persuasive content that keeps your prospects and customers shopping on your site or sends them to your store.
10. Local Search
Want to know where to invest your online marketing dollars in 2007? Aim for higher rankings in the top search engines. Sixty-two percent of searchers click on a link within the first page of results, according to a report from iProspect and Jupiter Research. To win higher rankings in natural search results, you can optimize your site by sprinkling the keyword phrases your best prospects will be searching for throughout all the pages of your site, in your page descriptions and in metatags. You should also secure links to your site from other high-ranking websites. But to guarantee you'll turn up in the top search results, invest in a paid search campaign. Local search campaigns are often the most affordable and will bring traffic from your immediate market area in the New Year.
Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc.Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.
Entrepreneur.com
An inside look at the latest marketing trends that’ll help you boost your business in the coming year
Throughout 2006, I've been watching and interpreting the marketing stats and studies that impact small businesses to give you tips on staying one step ahead. Now, with 2007 fast approaching, let's look at a roundup of the hottest trends, from changes taking place among consumer audiences through what to watch for in traditional and online marketing. Here's the info you need on the most important trends and how to make the most of them to increase sales and grow your business in the New Year.
Consumer Trends
1. College Grads
If you're searching for the most effective way to reach this desirable prospect group, move your marketing dollars into online media. The internet is now the primary source of media and entertainment among college grads, whose top planned purchases upon graduation are professional clothing, travel/airline tickets, health insurance and furniture according to the “Y2M: eGrad College Graduate Survey”. Nearly 80 percent of respondents are online purchasers, making them ideal candidates for your online campaign.
2. Affluent Working Women
The big news is that this group is increasing in size, and the best way to reach them may be online. According to The Media Audit, affluent working women with family incomes of $75,000 or more are growing in number, and 94.3 percent access the internet during an average month. About half are now considered heavy users of the internet, while heavy use of radio, television, newspapers and direct mail has all declined within this group. To increase sales from this expanding audience, alter your media spending to place greater emphasis online.
3. Asian Population Growth
The southern region of the U.S. boasts the fastest Asian population growth rate (31 percent), followed by the Midwest (24 percent), the Northeast (23 percent) and the West (19 percent), according to an analysis of Census Bureau data in the “American Community Survey” by Kang & Lee Advertising. Asians represent a prospect group with higher than average household incomes and education levels. Can you offer a product or service that will appeal to this growing market?
4. Word-Of-Mouth
Want to build buzz? Lucid Marketing's study, "U.S. Adults: Word of Mouth Communications," found that women were more likely than men to share a positive experience with a business or recommend an enjoyable product; full-time employees made substantially more daily contacts than those not in the workforce; and people with household earnings of more than $100,000 were more likely to make recommendations than those earning less. So buzz marketers should direct efforts to these three "chatty" groups.
Trends in Traditional Media
5. Yellow Pages
According to a study from the Kelsey group, marketers targeting younger demographics should transition away from print. Only 28 percent of teens said they would turn to print Yellow Pages first to find a local business, product, or service, while 47 percent said their first choice would be search engines. And just 44 percent of respondents between the ages and 18 and 34 favored print Yellow Pages.
6. Simultaneous Media Usage
There's no longer such a thing as a captive media audience--consumers are frequently participating in more than one form of media at any one time. Seventy percent of web users, for instance, watch TV occasionally to regularly while online, according to BIGresearch’s “Simultaneous Media Survey.” It also found that nearly 65 percent watch TV while they read, and 51 percent of radio listeners read the newspaper while listening. The rise in multitasking among consumers mandates an integrated media approach and an increased emphasis on advertising within the most relevant and engaging content.
7. Newspapers
This past year, many of the websites of major newspapers have become the number-one portals in their geographic markets and are drawing a larger, younger and more affluent readership. The audience that reads a newspaper’s website but not its print version accounts for 2 to 15 percent of the Integrated Newspaper Audience, according to Scarborough Research, and that represents hundreds of thousands of readers for many newspapers in larger markets. They’re successfully attracting 18-to-34-year-olds to their sites, and the online readers are more upscale, which can make them a more desirable audience. If you're an advertiser in the "print" newspaper, you can negotiate for a combo rate to run online as well to reach these additional readers. And if advertising in the print newspaper is too expensive for your business, you may find more affordable rates online by drilling down past the main pages to place ads on content-rich, but less frequently visited web pages.
Hot Online Trends
8. Web Conferencing
As business travel becomes increasingly challenging due to increased security, advance check-in times and transportation delays, online workshops and meetings that require no travel are coming to the forefront. It’s more desirable than ever to demo your new product to a group or make a sales presentation without anyone ever leaving home. Participants can watch your presentation on their computer monitors and hear you live on their computer speakers or by phone. In fact, I'm now transitioning to this technology to deliver webinars, and you can, too.
9. Online Research
Whether you sell exclusively online or primarily through a brick-and-mortar site, online search will have a profound impact on your sales in 2007. When asked how often they researched products online before buying them in person or in a store, 87 percent of nearly 7,500 respondents to a BIGresearch “Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey” said they did so occasionally to regularly. And a comScore research study showed that 63 percent of searchers completed a purchase in offline retail stores following their search activity. So no matter whether you sell online, off-line or both, you need a great website with deep, persuasive content that keeps your prospects and customers shopping on your site or sends them to your store.
10. Local Search
Want to know where to invest your online marketing dollars in 2007? Aim for higher rankings in the top search engines. Sixty-two percent of searchers click on a link within the first page of results, according to a report from iProspect and Jupiter Research. To win higher rankings in natural search results, you can optimize your site by sprinkling the keyword phrases your best prospects will be searching for throughout all the pages of your site, in your page descriptions and in metatags. You should also secure links to your site from other high-ranking websites. But to guarantee you'll turn up in the top search results, invest in a paid search campaign. Local search campaigns are often the most affordable and will bring traffic from your immediate market area in the New Year.
Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc.Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.
Monday, November 13, 2006
1-800-Gone
Kevin Maney at USA Today:
The 800-number — for 40 years a part of daily American life — is doomed. Like what happened to pay phones. And milkmen.
This would be very bad news for phone companies, which rake in $12 billion a year from toll-free numbers.
The 800-number’s destiny first occurred to me a couple of months ago as I stood outside a neighborhood hardware store looking at Weber gas grills. On each grill was a sticker that said if you have any questions, call this 800-number.
Clever, right? Just about anyone who is out looking at Weber grills is probably carrying a cellphone. And a Weber call center person no doubt can explain the grill better than a part-time hardware store clerk.
Except there’s something odd about this equation. Just about everyone who has a cellphone has a flat rate package for local and long-distance calls. In other words, as I stood there with my phone, there really would’ve been no difference whether I called a toll-free 800-number or a “toll” 847 area code number at Weber’s headquarters in Palatine, Ill. Both calls would’ve cost me essentially nothing.
But if I call Weber’s 800-number, the call costs Weber at least a few cents a minute. Those calls add up to millions of dollars a year for a company like Weber.
Huh, I thought. Why would a company spend all that money it didn’t have to spend?
At some point, this will reach a tipping point. Companies will decide they no longer need an 800-number to allow the vast majority of consumers to reach them. When you add it all up, the toll-free-number industry is just going to collapse.
The 800-number — for 40 years a part of daily American life — is doomed. Like what happened to pay phones. And milkmen.
This would be very bad news for phone companies, which rake in $12 billion a year from toll-free numbers.
The 800-number’s destiny first occurred to me a couple of months ago as I stood outside a neighborhood hardware store looking at Weber gas grills. On each grill was a sticker that said if you have any questions, call this 800-number.
Clever, right? Just about anyone who is out looking at Weber grills is probably carrying a cellphone. And a Weber call center person no doubt can explain the grill better than a part-time hardware store clerk.
Except there’s something odd about this equation. Just about everyone who has a cellphone has a flat rate package for local and long-distance calls. In other words, as I stood there with my phone, there really would’ve been no difference whether I called a toll-free 800-number or a “toll” 847 area code number at Weber’s headquarters in Palatine, Ill. Both calls would’ve cost me essentially nothing.
But if I call Weber’s 800-number, the call costs Weber at least a few cents a minute. Those calls add up to millions of dollars a year for a company like Weber.
Huh, I thought. Why would a company spend all that money it didn’t have to spend?
At some point, this will reach a tipping point. Companies will decide they no longer need an 800-number to allow the vast majority of consumers to reach them. When you add it all up, the toll-free-number industry is just going to collapse.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Five Ways to Screw-Up a Good Idea
Don The Idea Guy:
Check out the “Five Ways to Screw-Up a Good Idea” below. I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of one or more of them at some point in our life. I know I am!
1. Flies The Coop: You don’t write down the details of the idea, and it slips from your memory.
2. Failure to Launch: You’ve captured the idea, but do absolutely nothing with it.
3. Fear of Loss: You’re not doing anything with the idea, but you’ll be damned if you’re gonna share the concept with anyone else for fear THEY will actually DO something with it.
4. Faulty Follow-Through: You actually make a concerted effort at putting the idea into action — but then you abandon it, half-finished.
5. Fades Away: The idea has been back-burnered for so long that its ‘born-on date’ has expired. The once fresh concept has gone bad — it’s spoiled. Your opportunity to profit from your creative idea has been spoiled by your lack of initiative. Others who may have had the same (or similar) thought put it into action and are reaping the rewards of their hard work while you’re just a little older and (hopefully!) a little wiser.
Check out the “Five Ways to Screw-Up a Good Idea” below. I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of one or more of them at some point in our life. I know I am!
1. Flies The Coop: You don’t write down the details of the idea, and it slips from your memory.
2. Failure to Launch: You’ve captured the idea, but do absolutely nothing with it.
3. Fear of Loss: You’re not doing anything with the idea, but you’ll be damned if you’re gonna share the concept with anyone else for fear THEY will actually DO something with it.
4. Faulty Follow-Through: You actually make a concerted effort at putting the idea into action — but then you abandon it, half-finished.
5. Fades Away: The idea has been back-burnered for so long that its ‘born-on date’ has expired. The once fresh concept has gone bad — it’s spoiled. Your opportunity to profit from your creative idea has been spoiled by your lack of initiative. Others who may have had the same (or similar) thought put it into action and are reaping the rewards of their hard work while you’re just a little older and (hopefully!) a little wiser.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
How To Make Profits From Niche Markets?
How To Make Profits From Niche Markets?
By Azam Yazid
Do you understand niche marketing? Do you practice niche marketing? Those are among the regular questions I received about niche marketing. And this is the most frequent one:
How To Make Profits From Niche Markets?
To tell you the truth, there is a really simple formula for that (I mean not complex at all)! It is so simple that most people are ignoring it, thus losing money!
The formula lies on the two ways to approach and make profit from niche markets. You would probably hear them before. But, most people didn't know/hear about its 'finer points' - the real secrets to making money which will work - for YOU. That is what you'll learn today!
Now, I'm revealing - the two ways to approach and make profits from niche markets:
The 1st way: Follow Your Passion
The 2nd way: Follow The Money
Many people, mostly beginners, but experts also do choose the 1st way (Follow The Passion). Why this way? Because it's easy! Since you love what you're doing, you'd be good at it. Most probably, you are already an expert - or can quickly become one.
By following your passion, you could head on to build your niche web sites which will be chockfull of contents in various forms, such as:
- articles
- special reports
- ecourses
- information products
- video tutorials
- audio courses
And then you'll turn this wealth of online content into cash - by implementing some revenue models, such as:
- advertising
- direct selling
- selling content
- licensing content
But there are some downsides from this way. They are:
1) You'll need to invest a lot of time and effort - or money - creating the high value resource. Building a content sites need hard work, and furthermore, to keep it fresh and up-to-date need more hard work.
2) This one is more important - the possibility of working in a niche that's just not profitable! I've gone through this mistake - staying stuck creating awesome content resources that drew tons of targeted visitors.... but remained stubbornly unprofitable.
And with that, we'd better go to the next way, whish is to ......Follow The Money (The 2nd Way).
Since our field of interest/passion may not be lucrative, we'd better use this way - another proven model for online success in niche marketing - that is to go to where the money is - even if it doesn't excite you, the financial rewards are greater.
One reminder: if you're thinking to use this way, please remember: The Approach Is Different.
Firstly, you'll need to search for hot niches and find ones that are highly in demand.
Secondly, you'll have to identify keywords people are using to search for information on those niche areas.
Thirdly, you'll have to design web sites optimized for each of the keywords, so they'll rank well on search engines.
Finally, you'll have to to put up as many pages as possible on related keywords, so you'll reach as large audience as possible within your niche.
With this way, your revenue model will be:
- pay-per-click advertising
- brokering the traffic
- list building
- direct selling
The downsides of this way:
- the need for expert niche research
- the need for expert search engine optimization
- the ability to craete multiple web pages quickly
So, think and choose the way wisely and hopefully this article did help you a little in making the decision.
That's the end for this article. How was it? Did you find this article helpful? Hopefully you've gained some ideas about the two potential ways/aprroaches/models to make profits from niche markets. Whichever route you choose to follow, one thing is abundantly clear:
There's money in niches. BIG money.
By Azam Yazid
Do you understand niche marketing? Do you practice niche marketing? Those are among the regular questions I received about niche marketing. And this is the most frequent one:
How To Make Profits From Niche Markets?
To tell you the truth, there is a really simple formula for that (I mean not complex at all)! It is so simple that most people are ignoring it, thus losing money!
The formula lies on the two ways to approach and make profit from niche markets. You would probably hear them before. But, most people didn't know/hear about its 'finer points' - the real secrets to making money which will work - for YOU. That is what you'll learn today!
Now, I'm revealing - the two ways to approach and make profits from niche markets:
The 1st way: Follow Your Passion
The 2nd way: Follow The Money
Many people, mostly beginners, but experts also do choose the 1st way (Follow The Passion). Why this way? Because it's easy! Since you love what you're doing, you'd be good at it. Most probably, you are already an expert - or can quickly become one.
By following your passion, you could head on to build your niche web sites which will be chockfull of contents in various forms, such as:
- articles
- special reports
- ecourses
- information products
- video tutorials
- audio courses
And then you'll turn this wealth of online content into cash - by implementing some revenue models, such as:
- advertising
- direct selling
- selling content
- licensing content
But there are some downsides from this way. They are:
1) You'll need to invest a lot of time and effort - or money - creating the high value resource. Building a content sites need hard work, and furthermore, to keep it fresh and up-to-date need more hard work.
2) This one is more important - the possibility of working in a niche that's just not profitable! I've gone through this mistake - staying stuck creating awesome content resources that drew tons of targeted visitors.... but remained stubbornly unprofitable.
And with that, we'd better go to the next way, whish is to ......Follow The Money (The 2nd Way).
Since our field of interest/passion may not be lucrative, we'd better use this way - another proven model for online success in niche marketing - that is to go to where the money is - even if it doesn't excite you, the financial rewards are greater.
One reminder: if you're thinking to use this way, please remember: The Approach Is Different.
Firstly, you'll need to search for hot niches and find ones that are highly in demand.
Secondly, you'll have to identify keywords people are using to search for information on those niche areas.
Thirdly, you'll have to design web sites optimized for each of the keywords, so they'll rank well on search engines.
Finally, you'll have to to put up as many pages as possible on related keywords, so you'll reach as large audience as possible within your niche.
With this way, your revenue model will be:
- pay-per-click advertising
- brokering the traffic
- list building
- direct selling
The downsides of this way:
- the need for expert niche research
- the need for expert search engine optimization
- the ability to craete multiple web pages quickly
So, think and choose the way wisely and hopefully this article did help you a little in making the decision.
That's the end for this article. How was it? Did you find this article helpful? Hopefully you've gained some ideas about the two potential ways/aprroaches/models to make profits from niche markets. Whichever route you choose to follow, one thing is abundantly clear:
There's money in niches. BIG money.
Niche Your Internet Business
Copyright 2006 Antonio Jimenez
Where ever you go online, you hear the same thing - You must find a niche for your business. If you are new to Internet Marketing, this is advice you will do well to pay attention to.
Every day thousands more people build online businesses in search of wealth. Many jump right into the markets that are already completely saturated and then wonder why they are not making any money.
If they had unlimited time, money and patience, they might succeed. For those that do not have unlimited supplies of these resources, aiming for a smaller niche market is a much smarter way to start your online business.
So just what is a niche?
If you want the long answer, you can buy any one of the thousands of e-books being sold online about niche markets. You can go to a dictionary and see what the definition of niche is. But the short answer of niche simply means distinct or individual.
Everyone wants to start a business based on Internet Marketing. This is how the big guys are making all of their money, so it must be the way to go. There is a problem with that statement. The market is so saturated with people who have years of experience in this area. A new person trying to compete in such a broad market will watch their business die a quick death.
On About.com, Susan Ward defines Internet Marketing as "the strategies that are used to market a product or service online, marketing strategies that include search engine optimization and search engine submission, copywriting that encourages site visitors to take action, web site design strategies, online promotions, reciprocal linking, and email marketing". A new person coming online to start a business has little chance of knowing enough about all the these areas to be able to compete.
So how is a new person to have any chance at success?
Thing Smaller - Think Niche!
Just from the above definition you can come up with the following niches:
Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Copywriting
Web Site Design
Promotion
Linking
Email Marketing
Even if you are extremely experienced already in one of the above niches, you will still have a lot of competition in such broad niches. This may be what you decide to do in the end, but at least be willing to explore niches within the broader areas. You may find a niche you are much better suited to.
When it comes to finding a niche market, the best resource available online is Wordtracker. You can find pieces of this program on different sites and software programs but Wordtracker brings everything together in one place for those trying to find a good niche to go into.
Using Wordtracker is a breeze. If you want to break Internet Marketing down to many more niche markets, just type in Internet Marketing and look at all the ideas that pop up. Each of these can become keywords that you decide you want to focus your niche on. Or you can pop in those keywords and keep defining your niche.
Using Wordtracker, what you will end with is a list of niche keywords that you can focus your Internet business on. Having a smaller niche will give you a much better shot at being successful then trying to build a site around a broad topic like Internet Marketing.
Remember, success in any business always comes back to supplying a product that the public has a demand for and that the market has room for. Find the right niche and you are on the right path.
Where ever you go online, you hear the same thing - You must find a niche for your business. If you are new to Internet Marketing, this is advice you will do well to pay attention to.
Every day thousands more people build online businesses in search of wealth. Many jump right into the markets that are already completely saturated and then wonder why they are not making any money.
If they had unlimited time, money and patience, they might succeed. For those that do not have unlimited supplies of these resources, aiming for a smaller niche market is a much smarter way to start your online business.
So just what is a niche?
If you want the long answer, you can buy any one of the thousands of e-books being sold online about niche markets. You can go to a dictionary and see what the definition of niche is. But the short answer of niche simply means distinct or individual.
Everyone wants to start a business based on Internet Marketing. This is how the big guys are making all of their money, so it must be the way to go. There is a problem with that statement. The market is so saturated with people who have years of experience in this area. A new person trying to compete in such a broad market will watch their business die a quick death.
On About.com, Susan Ward defines Internet Marketing as "the strategies that are used to market a product or service online, marketing strategies that include search engine optimization and search engine submission, copywriting that encourages site visitors to take action, web site design strategies, online promotions, reciprocal linking, and email marketing". A new person coming online to start a business has little chance of knowing enough about all the these areas to be able to compete.
So how is a new person to have any chance at success?
Thing Smaller - Think Niche!
Just from the above definition you can come up with the following niches:
Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Copywriting
Web Site Design
Promotion
Linking
Email Marketing
Even if you are extremely experienced already in one of the above niches, you will still have a lot of competition in such broad niches. This may be what you decide to do in the end, but at least be willing to explore niches within the broader areas. You may find a niche you are much better suited to.
When it comes to finding a niche market, the best resource available online is Wordtracker. You can find pieces of this program on different sites and software programs but Wordtracker brings everything together in one place for those trying to find a good niche to go into.
Using Wordtracker is a breeze. If you want to break Internet Marketing down to many more niche markets, just type in Internet Marketing and look at all the ideas that pop up. Each of these can become keywords that you decide you want to focus your niche on. Or you can pop in those keywords and keep defining your niche.
Using Wordtracker, what you will end with is a list of niche keywords that you can focus your Internet business on. Having a smaller niche will give you a much better shot at being successful then trying to build a site around a broad topic like Internet Marketing.
Remember, success in any business always comes back to supplying a product that the public has a demand for and that the market has room for. Find the right niche and you are on the right path.
10 Killer Ways To Multiply Your Sales
articlealley:
By Michel Korn
1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer.You could follow-up with a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for other products you sell.You could follow-up every few months.
2. You could upsell to your customers.When they're at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale.They could just add it to their original order.
3. Tell your customers if they refer four customers to your web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price.This will turn one sale into three sales.
4. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product.This will multiply the sale you just made.
5. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to your products.You could include an ad on or with the product for other products you sell.You could make sales for the reproduction rights and sales on the back end product.
6. You could cross promote your product with other businesses' products in a package deal.You can include an ad or flyer for other products you sell and have other businesses selling for you.
7. When you ship out or deliver your product, include a coupon for other related products you sell in the package.This will attract them to buy more products from you.
8. Send your customers a catalog of add-on products for the original product they purchased.This could be upgrades, special services, attachments, etc.If they enjoy your product they will buy the extra add-ons.
9. Sell gift certificates for your products.You'll make sales from the purchase of the gift certificate, when the recipient cashes it in.They could also buy other items from your web site.
10. Send your customers free products with their product package.The freebies should have your ad printed on them.It could be bumper stickers, ball caps, t-shirts etc.This will allow other people to see your ad and order.
By Michel Korn
1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer.You could follow-up with a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for other products you sell.You could follow-up every few months.
2. You could upsell to your customers.When they're at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale.They could just add it to their original order.
3. Tell your customers if they refer four customers to your web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price.This will turn one sale into three sales.
4. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product.This will multiply the sale you just made.
5. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to your products.You could include an ad on or with the product for other products you sell.You could make sales for the reproduction rights and sales on the back end product.
6. You could cross promote your product with other businesses' products in a package deal.You can include an ad or flyer for other products you sell and have other businesses selling for you.
7. When you ship out or deliver your product, include a coupon for other related products you sell in the package.This will attract them to buy more products from you.
8. Send your customers a catalog of add-on products for the original product they purchased.This could be upgrades, special services, attachments, etc.If they enjoy your product they will buy the extra add-ons.
9. Sell gift certificates for your products.You'll make sales from the purchase of the gift certificate, when the recipient cashes it in.They could also buy other items from your web site.
10. Send your customers free products with their product package.The freebies should have your ad printed on them.It could be bumper stickers, ball caps, t-shirts etc.This will allow other people to see your ad and order.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Top Web Entrepreneurs Paradox
webpronews:
"Trend following" is a strategy normally associated with trading. You won't see it associated with Top Web Entrepreneurs. This is surprising.
The strategy serves both types of activities quite well. I intend to set the record straight with this article!
First, A Bit Of Background
If you lookup "trend following" on Google, it will report that some 286,000 pages mention the expression. I am willing to bet that most, if not all, are related to speculative trading.
However, I am also willing to bet that Top Web Entrepreneurs, whether knowingly or not, use a strategy based on "trend following" to guide them in their choice of Web endeavors.
Let me explain.
I used to invest my money. That has brought me a certain significant return. But, it took decades of compounding the meager crumbs that the banks and other financial institutions were (reluctantly) giving me in interest.
One day, in 1998, I switched strategy. I became a trader. I am what is known as a "system trader". I have developed a system to protect myself while trading. My trading is based on a "trend following strategy".
I'm proud to say that it works remarkably well. For me, that is. There's a catch, you see. It requires strict adherence to the a plan: my plan.
My plan, discipline, tight control over emotions, and patience make up "the name of the game".
What Does "Trend Following Trading" Have To Do With Top Web Entrepreneurship?
The skills required to become a Top Web entrepreneur are not much different than the ones a consistently successful trader uses. Note the use of the word "consistently". Anyone can be a lucky trader. Many think that Top Web Entrepreneurs were lucky to find their "niche". Not so. They all worked hard at identifying it, and at planning how to best exploit it … sometimes months, or years, before the event makes the news.
Top traders also work hard. Most of their energy goes into preserving their capital, so that they will always have enough to trade the next day, and never go broke. They never take risks! They manage risk. There's a major difference.
So much so, that managing risks is the most important factor between success and failure, both in trading, and in business.
When the trend becomes newsworthy, it rapidly ceases to be worthy of exploiting! It is cresting, in it's adult phase, then. It will soon begin to decline.
Top Web Entrepreneurs, just like Top Traders, plan to get in as close to the (confirmed) beginning of the trend as possible. They avoid entry when the trend has already given most people a good run for their money! The probabilities of cresting are getting bigger, at that point. They do not want to enter a trend, just as it is about to decline.
How does one become a successful Web entrepreneur without taking risks?
By testing your ideas "offline" first!
Successful traders, do their testing outside of the markets. That use sophisticated computerized systems, either bought commercially, or home brewed. The very Top traders use home brewed systems. They feed their system years of historical data about the stock, or foreign currency they are interested in trading. The tests are computerized, so they take a few moments only. In a flash, they know what potential their idea may have about that given stock or currency. They also know what the risks are. They can prepare to counter them.
Successful Web entrepreneurs also make use of computers, of course. But not in the same way. They do not have years of historical data to test their ideas on. Only uncharted grounds are potentially ripe to give new types of crops. It's in the very nature of innovative ideas to not have a history.
Top Web entrepreneurs use sophisticated systems to mine the Web for the data they need. They develop their own system (around a strategy), but use the computerized applications that are available on the Web. Remember, the data they need does not exist … at least, not as a coherent, filtered set yet. They have to look for "signs" of it. Then they analyze the signs. This analysis leads them to retain some pieces of data, and reject others as irrelevant. Not an easy task at best.
Top Web entrepreneurs will use their brain, and their experience in a given field of interest, to analyze what they find.
Their imagination gave them a business idea. They will carefully validate it, plan for it, and time their move into implementation.
They are like top competition surfers. They know what signs to look for, and they have the acquired a sense of timing to take advantage of a "building" wave. They are in there even as the wave is beginning to form (below the surface and most everyone's radar). Sometimes, like Top traders, they reach the "zone", totally concentrated. They are already stalking - and preparing for - the next profitable wave (trend), in the right spot, at the right time, before the coveted event even begins to form!
To get there, Top Web entrepreneurs use sophisticated, flexible Web searching tools to mine the Web for information. These tools exist, and are mostly free to use. However, they are scattered, uncoordinated, about the Web. Sometimes, they only exist as "beta" applications that only a few enthusiasts know about.
To give you an idea of what "trend stalking" might mean on the Web, have a look at the "Google Alerts"™, and "Google Trends"™. Many Web entrepreneurs use them, as general purpose tools, in an attempt to identify the "trend" they are looking for.
There are dozens of much more specialized and powerful tools for Web research and analysis available. You just have to try them until you find the ones that best fit your requirements, and personality.
When The Signs Are There
When it begins to look like their idea is being confirmed by enough verifiable signs (note the word verifiable), Top Web Entrepreneurs will immediately start planning it's implementation carefully. They will give it a structure that will later house what they will be offering their targeted clientele. They will also have identified the latter through thorough research.
Their Web business is taking shape offline, at that stage. No risks involved. I hope you get my drift! They make sure their idea will work, before they commit themselves! That's what planning is all about.
The First Small Step
If the idea looks viable, they start small. Very small! Just to give you an idea, I never bet more than one percent - yes, you have read correctly, never more than 1% of my total equity on any given trade idea. That's how small a step I am willing to take at any given time. That should give you a measure of how careful, patient and disciplined successful trading is. After a while, if my trade idea works, I will add to my position progressively. If all the conditions of my trading system continue to be met, I continue to execute my trading plan … in a very disciplined way.
When Top Web Entrepreneurs have thoroughly researched and tested their business idea - offline - they will create the home page of their Web site, and publish it online.
They will slowly add to their position, from there. Meanwhile, they keep up their research effort. They watch for signs of their idea drifting away from the trend they have identified, and chosen to follow.
In fact, they go wherever their traffic leads them. They will patiently, and dutifully follow that trend to destination … and success.
They will publish one - well researched, keyword focused - Web page at a time. They will slowly furnish the structure they planned in the first stages of preparation … and thus progressively increase their "tailor made" offer to their arget clientele.
A New Web Business Is Born!
As you can see, it did not happen suddenly. Nor, was it due to a stroke of luck.
Top Web Entrepreneurs innovate … and follow trends.
That's the "apparent" paradox.
"Trend following" is a strategy normally associated with trading. You won't see it associated with Top Web Entrepreneurs. This is surprising.
The strategy serves both types of activities quite well. I intend to set the record straight with this article!
First, A Bit Of Background
If you lookup "trend following" on Google, it will report that some 286,000 pages mention the expression. I am willing to bet that most, if not all, are related to speculative trading.
However, I am also willing to bet that Top Web Entrepreneurs, whether knowingly or not, use a strategy based on "trend following" to guide them in their choice of Web endeavors.
Let me explain.
I used to invest my money. That has brought me a certain significant return. But, it took decades of compounding the meager crumbs that the banks and other financial institutions were (reluctantly) giving me in interest.
One day, in 1998, I switched strategy. I became a trader. I am what is known as a "system trader". I have developed a system to protect myself while trading. My trading is based on a "trend following strategy".
I'm proud to say that it works remarkably well. For me, that is. There's a catch, you see. It requires strict adherence to the a plan: my plan.
My plan, discipline, tight control over emotions, and patience make up "the name of the game".
What Does "Trend Following Trading" Have To Do With Top Web Entrepreneurship?
The skills required to become a Top Web entrepreneur are not much different than the ones a consistently successful trader uses. Note the use of the word "consistently". Anyone can be a lucky trader. Many think that Top Web Entrepreneurs were lucky to find their "niche". Not so. They all worked hard at identifying it, and at planning how to best exploit it … sometimes months, or years, before the event makes the news.
Top traders also work hard. Most of their energy goes into preserving their capital, so that they will always have enough to trade the next day, and never go broke. They never take risks! They manage risk. There's a major difference.
So much so, that managing risks is the most important factor between success and failure, both in trading, and in business.
When the trend becomes newsworthy, it rapidly ceases to be worthy of exploiting! It is cresting, in it's adult phase, then. It will soon begin to decline.
Top Web Entrepreneurs, just like Top Traders, plan to get in as close to the (confirmed) beginning of the trend as possible. They avoid entry when the trend has already given most people a good run for their money! The probabilities of cresting are getting bigger, at that point. They do not want to enter a trend, just as it is about to decline.
How does one become a successful Web entrepreneur without taking risks?
By testing your ideas "offline" first!
Successful traders, do their testing outside of the markets. That use sophisticated computerized systems, either bought commercially, or home brewed. The very Top traders use home brewed systems. They feed their system years of historical data about the stock, or foreign currency they are interested in trading. The tests are computerized, so they take a few moments only. In a flash, they know what potential their idea may have about that given stock or currency. They also know what the risks are. They can prepare to counter them.
Successful Web entrepreneurs also make use of computers, of course. But not in the same way. They do not have years of historical data to test their ideas on. Only uncharted grounds are potentially ripe to give new types of crops. It's in the very nature of innovative ideas to not have a history.
Top Web entrepreneurs use sophisticated systems to mine the Web for the data they need. They develop their own system (around a strategy), but use the computerized applications that are available on the Web. Remember, the data they need does not exist … at least, not as a coherent, filtered set yet. They have to look for "signs" of it. Then they analyze the signs. This analysis leads them to retain some pieces of data, and reject others as irrelevant. Not an easy task at best.
Top Web entrepreneurs will use their brain, and their experience in a given field of interest, to analyze what they find.
Their imagination gave them a business idea. They will carefully validate it, plan for it, and time their move into implementation.
They are like top competition surfers. They know what signs to look for, and they have the acquired a sense of timing to take advantage of a "building" wave. They are in there even as the wave is beginning to form (below the surface and most everyone's radar). Sometimes, like Top traders, they reach the "zone", totally concentrated. They are already stalking - and preparing for - the next profitable wave (trend), in the right spot, at the right time, before the coveted event even begins to form!
To get there, Top Web entrepreneurs use sophisticated, flexible Web searching tools to mine the Web for information. These tools exist, and are mostly free to use. However, they are scattered, uncoordinated, about the Web. Sometimes, they only exist as "beta" applications that only a few enthusiasts know about.
To give you an idea of what "trend stalking" might mean on the Web, have a look at the "Google Alerts"™, and "Google Trends"™. Many Web entrepreneurs use them, as general purpose tools, in an attempt to identify the "trend" they are looking for.
There are dozens of much more specialized and powerful tools for Web research and analysis available. You just have to try them until you find the ones that best fit your requirements, and personality.
When The Signs Are There
When it begins to look like their idea is being confirmed by enough verifiable signs (note the word verifiable), Top Web Entrepreneurs will immediately start planning it's implementation carefully. They will give it a structure that will later house what they will be offering their targeted clientele. They will also have identified the latter through thorough research.
Their Web business is taking shape offline, at that stage. No risks involved. I hope you get my drift! They make sure their idea will work, before they commit themselves! That's what planning is all about.
The First Small Step
If the idea looks viable, they start small. Very small! Just to give you an idea, I never bet more than one percent - yes, you have read correctly, never more than 1% of my total equity on any given trade idea. That's how small a step I am willing to take at any given time. That should give you a measure of how careful, patient and disciplined successful trading is. After a while, if my trade idea works, I will add to my position progressively. If all the conditions of my trading system continue to be met, I continue to execute my trading plan … in a very disciplined way.
When Top Web Entrepreneurs have thoroughly researched and tested their business idea - offline - they will create the home page of their Web site, and publish it online.
They will slowly add to their position, from there. Meanwhile, they keep up their research effort. They watch for signs of their idea drifting away from the trend they have identified, and chosen to follow.
In fact, they go wherever their traffic leads them. They will patiently, and dutifully follow that trend to destination … and success.
They will publish one - well researched, keyword focused - Web page at a time. They will slowly furnish the structure they planned in the first stages of preparation … and thus progressively increase their "tailor made" offer to their arget clientele.
A New Web Business Is Born!
As you can see, it did not happen suddenly. Nor, was it due to a stroke of luck.
Top Web Entrepreneurs innovate … and follow trends.
That's the "apparent" paradox.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Breakfast Business Finds a Niche
Business is booming for these entrepreneurs, and they’re not worried about the competition.
When we profiled entrepreneurs David Roth, 44, and Rick Bacher, 38, in our March 2005 issue, their innovative cereal restaurant concept, Cereality, was as fresh as the milk they served. Fast-forward to the pres-ent, and several businesses are dishing out cereal in a similar cafe fashion, including Bowls: A Cereal Joint, The Cereal Bowl and Cerealicious.
Like Cereality, all three competitors sprouted up on or near college campuses. Bowls opened near the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2005 before relocating to North Carolina State in Raleigh. Bowls founder Rocco Monteleone, who says he has never been to a Cereality location, offers croissants, salads and sandwiches in addition to cereal and has created more of a “hangout” feel to his space, which he shares with a hamburger restaurant. Monteleone, 39, projects 2007 sales of $50,000 and is focusing on making the first location a success before planning any expansion.
In 2006, Michael Glassman and Kenneth and Joshua Rader, all 25, opened the doors to Miami-based The Cereal Bowl across from the University of Miami. Projecting first-year sales to reach between $350,000 and $400,000, they’re scouting additional locations and will start franchising next month. The partners serve a variety of cereals, but unique items such as “Oaties” (oatmeal smoothies) and custom cereal-flavored frozen yogurt set them apart. The company has partner-ships with Taylor’s Equipment, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Grandy Oats Granola.
Meanwhile, with four locations open in three states since its launch in 2003, Chicago-based Cereality is pursuing area development franchising and multichannel deals, but that’s just the start of their brand-building effort. Catering large events, Cereality also gets personal with customizable cereal boxes. It partnered with Dodge, turning a Dodge Sprinter into a mobile cereal cafe that toured the country, and is working on a multiyear global deal with a major food manufacturer to license Cereality for snack foods. The company already makes cereal bars as giveaways for companies like Old Navy and is in talks with various hotel chains to create room-service offerings. Says Roth, “We’ve taken a simple idea of giving people cereal in a restaurant-like setting and turned it into an enterprise.”
Roth isn’t sweating the competition, either, saying, “It’s like, ‘Oh, you serve coffee, too?’”
When we profiled entrepreneurs David Roth, 44, and Rick Bacher, 38, in our March 2005 issue, their innovative cereal restaurant concept, Cereality, was as fresh as the milk they served. Fast-forward to the pres-ent, and several businesses are dishing out cereal in a similar cafe fashion, including Bowls: A Cereal Joint, The Cereal Bowl and Cerealicious.
Like Cereality, all three competitors sprouted up on or near college campuses. Bowls opened near the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2005 before relocating to North Carolina State in Raleigh. Bowls founder Rocco Monteleone, who says he has never been to a Cereality location, offers croissants, salads and sandwiches in addition to cereal and has created more of a “hangout” feel to his space, which he shares with a hamburger restaurant. Monteleone, 39, projects 2007 sales of $50,000 and is focusing on making the first location a success before planning any expansion.
In 2006, Michael Glassman and Kenneth and Joshua Rader, all 25, opened the doors to Miami-based The Cereal Bowl across from the University of Miami. Projecting first-year sales to reach between $350,000 and $400,000, they’re scouting additional locations and will start franchising next month. The partners serve a variety of cereals, but unique items such as “Oaties” (oatmeal smoothies) and custom cereal-flavored frozen yogurt set them apart. The company has partner-ships with Taylor’s Equipment, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Grandy Oats Granola.
Meanwhile, with four locations open in three states since its launch in 2003, Chicago-based Cereality is pursuing area development franchising and multichannel deals, but that’s just the start of their brand-building effort. Catering large events, Cereality also gets personal with customizable cereal boxes. It partnered with Dodge, turning a Dodge Sprinter into a mobile cereal cafe that toured the country, and is working on a multiyear global deal with a major food manufacturer to license Cereality for snack foods. The company already makes cereal bars as giveaways for companies like Old Navy and is in talks with various hotel chains to create room-service offerings. Says Roth, “We’ve taken a simple idea of giving people cereal in a restaurant-like setting and turned it into an enterprise.”
Roth isn’t sweating the competition, either, saying, “It’s like, ‘Oh, you serve coffee, too?’”
How To Make $4 Million A Year From An Ugly Website
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/
Joel Boblit parlayed nostalgia for his childhood toys into big-time business when he discovered how much Transformers - robot action figures whose popularity has continued since the 1980s - were being sold for online. He launched BigBadToyStore.com in 1999 shortly after graduating college, while he was reliving fond memories of trading his favorite childhood toys - GI Joe, Masters of the Universe and Transformers. The biggest challenge in those early days? Boblit admits: "Being teased by my friends."
While in college, Boblit sold action figures as a hobby for extra money, but when he decided to turn his hobby into a business, his parents supported him on all levels. They went heavily into debt to finance the business, and worked 100-plus-hour weeks alongside him for BigBadToyStore. Housing his inventory at one point, his parents had to create aisles in their home to navigate around the ceiling-high boxes. Says Boblit, "They have been instrumental throughout all this and worked just as hard as I did to keep it all together during the tough early years."
BigBadToyStore caters to specialty toy buyers with vintage favorites like Star Wars figurines and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Boblit also branched out to comic- and movie-related items, earning loyal customers around the world. Serious collectors prize mint-condition toy packaging, so Boblit guarantees his toys by using a grading system to distinguish "standard grade" (mint or near-mint condition) from "substandard grade" packages.
He also offers a premium packing service that ensures an item is in tiptop condition and handled with extra care when it's shipped. Another big draw is the "Pile of Loot" function, which allows customers to stockpile items they've already paid for in a virtual storage bin. Upon the customer's choosing, the company will ship out all the items at once, reducing shipping costs. Future plans include distribution to approved retailers, who can view volume pricing online. Boblit says, "We've got the competitive edge for convenience."
Joel made $4 million dollars in sales in 2005, so the strategy seems to be working.
http://www.entrepreneur.com
Joel Boblit parlayed nostalgia for his childhood toys into big-time business when he discovered how much Transformers - robot action figures whose popularity has continued since the 1980s - were being sold for online. He launched BigBadToyStore.com in 1999 shortly after graduating college, while he was reliving fond memories of trading his favorite childhood toys - GI Joe, Masters of the Universe and Transformers. The biggest challenge in those early days? Boblit admits: "Being teased by my friends."
While in college, Boblit sold action figures as a hobby for extra money, but when he decided to turn his hobby into a business, his parents supported him on all levels. They went heavily into debt to finance the business, and worked 100-plus-hour weeks alongside him for BigBadToyStore. Housing his inventory at one point, his parents had to create aisles in their home to navigate around the ceiling-high boxes. Says Boblit, "They have been instrumental throughout all this and worked just as hard as I did to keep it all together during the tough early years."
BigBadToyStore caters to specialty toy buyers with vintage favorites like Star Wars figurines and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Boblit also branched out to comic- and movie-related items, earning loyal customers around the world. Serious collectors prize mint-condition toy packaging, so Boblit guarantees his toys by using a grading system to distinguish "standard grade" (mint or near-mint condition) from "substandard grade" packages.
He also offers a premium packing service that ensures an item is in tiptop condition and handled with extra care when it's shipped. Another big draw is the "Pile of Loot" function, which allows customers to stockpile items they've already paid for in a virtual storage bin. Upon the customer's choosing, the company will ship out all the items at once, reducing shipping costs. Future plans include distribution to approved retailers, who can view volume pricing online. Boblit says, "We've got the competitive edge for convenience."
Joel made $4 million dollars in sales in 2005, so the strategy seems to be working.
http://www.entrepreneur.com
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
3 ways to make money with your software
by Jason
37signals:
There are three primary ways to generate revenue from web-based software. Let’s take a look…
Advertising-supported
Give your product away for free and sell advertising around it. You can do this with desktop software (as IM clients usually do) or web-based software.
It’s definitely the easy option for web-based software: Just paste in the Google Adwords include and bam, you’ve got ads. But pasting in ads doesn’t mean you’re pasting in revenue. Unless you have massive traffic, revenue can be very hard to come by using this strategy.
This option also doesn’t work for password-protected, log-in-required products since Google can’t get behind your authentication. If you want ads on a password-protected app, you’ll need to sell them yourself — and that’s a full-time job.
Grade: B-. Personally I don’t like this model because it throws your priorities off — you’re beholden to your advertisers and their screen real-estate demands instead of your customers. It’s tough to serve these two groups at once since their priorities are likely to be different; The advertisers want to win your customers’ attention but customers want to focus on the task at hand. A true win-win is tough in this scenario. Possible, but tough.
Subscription-supported (or single price)
This option asks the customer to pay for the service. This model is really saying, “We think our product is worth paying for and if you agree we’d love to have you as our customer.” It can be a monthly/yearly subscription or a single one-time price like traditional software. From a revenue standpoint, the subscription model really fits. If you look at in reverse, your company is subscribing to each customer’s bank account (not in an evil way, of course).
The downside is that it’s tough to make a product that people will pay for. Some customers are willing to pay but are there enough of them to keep you afloat? That’s part of the territory when you sell anything though. However, if enough of the right customers find you, healthy revenues await. Plus the people who pay you and the people who use the site are the same. That helps bring priorities in line. When there’s a clear connection between customers and revenue, it’s a lot easier to focus.
Grade: A. I recommend this model. If you go into your project thinking you have to build something worth paying for, then you’ll likely build something worth paying for. You’ll try harder because you know it has to be really worth something to people. Of course, even good ideas sometimes fail. But building-to-charge puts you in the right mindset to succeed.
One more thing I’ll say about this: When people pay for your product they have a vested interest in seeing it succeed. They want their investment to be a good one. They want to believe in it and care for it. And they want you to stick around. All that helps ignite passion and interest around what you’re doing and that’s a very good thing.
Support-supported
This is the strategy of the open-source software movement. SugarCRM is a good example of this. Their software is free — but if you want vendor-backed support help you’ll have to pay for it.
Grade: C+. On the surface it seems like a good deal, but for who? If the revenue model depends on helping people, then there’s an implicit motivation to make things difficult instead of simplifying and make things easier. This model punishes tools for being intuitive and easy to use. In essence, you wind up selling complexity and a secret language that only insiders can speak. That’s good for the company but bad for the customer.
A combo meal?
There are other ways to make money off software too. You could create a model that mashes up the ones mentioned above, Or you could license your software to other companies to sell or give away. Or something completely different.
The bottom line
In the end, we think building a real product that people are willing to pay for is the best way to go. It’s a dive with a high degree of difficulty, but if you can pull it off you’ll be swimming in profitable, sustainable waters.
37signals:
There are three primary ways to generate revenue from web-based software. Let’s take a look…
Advertising-supported
Give your product away for free and sell advertising around it. You can do this with desktop software (as IM clients usually do) or web-based software.
It’s definitely the easy option for web-based software: Just paste in the Google Adwords include and bam, you’ve got ads. But pasting in ads doesn’t mean you’re pasting in revenue. Unless you have massive traffic, revenue can be very hard to come by using this strategy.
This option also doesn’t work for password-protected, log-in-required products since Google can’t get behind your authentication. If you want ads on a password-protected app, you’ll need to sell them yourself — and that’s a full-time job.
Grade: B-. Personally I don’t like this model because it throws your priorities off — you’re beholden to your advertisers and their screen real-estate demands instead of your customers. It’s tough to serve these two groups at once since their priorities are likely to be different; The advertisers want to win your customers’ attention but customers want to focus on the task at hand. A true win-win is tough in this scenario. Possible, but tough.
Subscription-supported (or single price)
This option asks the customer to pay for the service. This model is really saying, “We think our product is worth paying for and if you agree we’d love to have you as our customer.” It can be a monthly/yearly subscription or a single one-time price like traditional software. From a revenue standpoint, the subscription model really fits. If you look at in reverse, your company is subscribing to each customer’s bank account (not in an evil way, of course).
The downside is that it’s tough to make a product that people will pay for. Some customers are willing to pay but are there enough of them to keep you afloat? That’s part of the territory when you sell anything though. However, if enough of the right customers find you, healthy revenues await. Plus the people who pay you and the people who use the site are the same. That helps bring priorities in line. When there’s a clear connection between customers and revenue, it’s a lot easier to focus.
Grade: A. I recommend this model. If you go into your project thinking you have to build something worth paying for, then you’ll likely build something worth paying for. You’ll try harder because you know it has to be really worth something to people. Of course, even good ideas sometimes fail. But building-to-charge puts you in the right mindset to succeed.
One more thing I’ll say about this: When people pay for your product they have a vested interest in seeing it succeed. They want their investment to be a good one. They want to believe in it and care for it. And they want you to stick around. All that helps ignite passion and interest around what you’re doing and that’s a very good thing.
Support-supported
This is the strategy of the open-source software movement. SugarCRM is a good example of this. Their software is free — but if you want vendor-backed support help you’ll have to pay for it.
Grade: C+. On the surface it seems like a good deal, but for who? If the revenue model depends on helping people, then there’s an implicit motivation to make things difficult instead of simplifying and make things easier. This model punishes tools for being intuitive and easy to use. In essence, you wind up selling complexity and a secret language that only insiders can speak. That’s good for the company but bad for the customer.
A combo meal?
There are other ways to make money off software too. You could create a model that mashes up the ones mentioned above, Or you could license your software to other companies to sell or give away. Or something completely different.
The bottom line
In the end, we think building a real product that people are willing to pay for is the best way to go. It’s a dive with a high degree of difficulty, but if you can pull it off you’ll be swimming in profitable, sustainable waters.
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