Top 7 Small Business Sites for 2005 – Domain Name
Top 7 Small Business Sites for 2005
Jinger Jarrett
If you want to start a business in 2005, and start making money almost immediately, the sites listed below are some of the best I have found. Ive chosen each site because it is absolutely outstanding in providing the tools you need to get started, as well as taking you through the steps you need to get started immediately.
My1stBusiness.com - http://www.my1stbusiness.com - This site is owned by Ben Botes, who is currently working on a doctoral degree in business. Ben will take you through every phase of creating your business, and it doesnt matter how large or small it is. Youll find all of the information you need right here.
Teleclasses are currently free, and youll find a wide variety of top notch business coaches to help you build your business.
This site is scheduled to go to a paid model soon, but it will definitely be worth the price tag. If youre looking for a one stop solution to constantly update your business knowledge, and stay ahead of your competition, this is it.
Ron Olinger - http://ronolinger.ws - Everyone needs a little motivation, and Ron is the guy to help you with that.
He offers a newsletter called "Winning Attitudes" that is absolutely dynamite. Youll find lots of quality tips and information. Definitely a must read if you are struggling to get started.
Not your run of the mill newsletter, it will help you achieve what you want to achieve in both your persona and professional life.
Ultimate Marketing Center - http://www.ultimatemarketingcenter.com - Hands down, this is the best web host on the Internet.
However, the reason I selected this site as a business site is this: it is a complete and total solution for starting your business.
Youll get a complete web hosting account with all of the bells and whistles, as well as 1000s of dollars in software and ebooks to teach you everything you need to know about building a business.
What makes this site better than any other online is that its a complete solution. It includes affiliate program management software, unlimited autoresponders, custom made scripts the owner sells for $35 each on his other sites, unlimited email accounts, and a generous sized web hosting account.
Theres nothing else like it on the Internet, and its the only place where you can run your entire business for only $19.95 per month. The support is excellent.
Website.ws - http://www.website.ws - For the newcomer to the Internet, this is the site you need to start your business.
Youll get a domain name, a generous mult-tier affiliate program to help you build a backend income, and a website builder that is so easy to use, a child can build a web site.
There are also videos to teach you web site building, as well as a nice 20 page ebook to show you how to market this opportunity and make money from it.
Its the easiest solution I know of to starting a business on the Internet, and you dont need to know HTML. You can also use your web site account to build your primary business and generate another source of income.
Coachville.com - http://www.coachville.com - Thinking of starting a service business
Even if you arent interested in starting any type of coaching business, this site is definitely for you.
They offer a wide variety of free and paid courses, and you can even earn your certification as a coach. This site will cut your learning curve dramatically, and youll be up and running in no time.
Alexa - http://www.alexa.com - When it comes to smoking the competition, this is the site you want to use.
Youll get detailed stats, contact information, site rankings, sites that are linked to a particular web site, and a whole lot more.
No other site will offer you more comprehensive information on whats hot and whats not on the Internet. They also offer a toolbar, and its free to use the site.
Automate Internet Marketing - http://www.automateinternetmarketing.com/ - Internet marketer Patric Chan offers you a free marketing membership with plenty of excellent information. What blew my mind when I saw this is that Patric is giving it away.
If youre new to the Internet, and new to Internet marketing, start here. Patric knows how to explain marketing in a way that is easy to understand.
Whether youve started a business and want to increase your profits, or you want to start a business, now is the time. These seven resources are not to be overlooked.
Copyright 2005 Jinger Jarrett
About The Author
Jinger Jarrett is a small business coach and Internet Marketer living in Alpharetta, Georgia. She teaches small business owners how to build a fulltime passive residual income and how to do it for only $10 per month.
http://www.jingerjarrett.ws
jingerjarrett@smallbusinesshowto.com
12-month 2005 Marketing Calendar that Boost Sales – Marketing
12-month 2005 Marketing Calendar that Boost Sales
Sharron Senter
The following is my 12-month promotional marketing calendar. Keep it handy, as youll need to refer to it throughout the coming year when forecasting your promotional messages. By no means is this list exhaustive. In fact, you should add to it based on your industry-related activities. There are many holidays throughout the year that may be a natural tie-in with your product or service, such as National Book Week in January, if youre an author or editorial-related service or American Heart Month in February, if you sell health-related services or products.
My calendar list focuses on the major holidays when most Americans have been trained to spend extra money or participate in a ceremonial activity. Generally speaking, you want to link your marketing promotions to a time of year when customers have their wallets out. Thus, youre simply positioning your product or service as the perfect gift or solution for the celebrated event.
Be Prepared
You can never be too early in preparing your marketing campaigns. For example, in order for the typical small business owner to prepare for a Valentines Day direct mail campaign, youll need to get most of your materials printed and ready to go by the third week in January and in the mailstream by the last week in January, certainly no later than the first week in February. I recommend you plan two months in advance. Thus, you should start planning your Mothers Day campaign in early March. Obviously, the more involved the campaign, the more lead time. Whats more, some advertising vehicles have extensive lead times, specifically magazines that need your camera-ready ad approximately 6 weeks [possibly more or less] before publication, and newspaper inserts also require a reservation approximately 6-8 weeks before publication.
Unique Angle
Your promotional angle is the key to standing out from your competition. People are going to buy gifts at Christmas, without a doubt. But what makes your service or product so interesting, that shoppers should hand over their money to you instead of the myriad of other stores Find a creative answer, and youll grow your business.
JANUARY
New Years Day, and the proceeding two weeks -- Launch your marketing messages the last week of December.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day -- Although not a big gift-giving time, this is a great time to spread a non- profit message.
FEBRUARY
Valentines Day -- Launch your marketing messages the last week in January. **Popular Gift- giving Time**
Presidents Day
MARCH
St. Patricks Day
APRIL
April Fools Day
Daylight Savings Begins
Easter **Popular Gift-giving Time**
Secretaries Days **Popular Gift-giving Time**
MAY
Mothers Day -- Launch your marketing messages approximately 3 weeks before. **Popular Gift-giving Time**
Memorial Day
JUNE
Fathers Day **Popular Gift-giving Time** Launch your marketing messages approximately 3 weeks before.
Graduation **Popular Gift-giving Time** Launch your marketing messages approximately 3 weeks before.
JULY
Independence Day
Back to School -- Although not a holiday, its certainly a popular time to find wallets open and increased spending, particularly by moms and teenagers.
AUGUST
Dog days of summer
Back to School continued
SEPTEMBER
Back to School -- Marketing messages can continue through the first week of September.
Labor Day
Grandparents Day
OCTOBER
Columbus Day
Halloween **Popular Gift-giving Time**
Holiday preparation should be 1/4 completed, seriously. Launch your first holiday message immediately after Halloween. This message will generally go to your current customer base, offering them an exclusive early-bird holiday special to expire in early November.
Daylight Savings Ends
NOVEMBER
Thanksgiving **Popular Gift-giving Time**
Your Holiday advertising is in full swing
Election Day
Veterans Day
DECEMBER
Christmas Day **Popular Gift-giving Time**
Hanukkah **Popular Gift-giving Time**
New Years Eve -- Launch New Years message late the second week in December.
About The Author
Sharron Senter is a New-England based marketing consultant, speaker, writer and founder of Senter & Associates, a marketing communications firm that helps small businesses deploy low-cost online and offline marketing tactics. Senter is well known for her free monthly emailed marketing tips found at http://www.sharronsenter.com
Make your 2005 Email Marketing Plan Successful – Six useful tips – Email Marketing
Make your 2005 Email Marketing Plan Successful - Six useful tips
Mike Savaliya
Email Marketing is growing more and more every year. Many small E-business owners have already made marketing plans for 2005. Email marketing is a very popular tool these days but often not utilized correctly to reach out to prospective customers. E-mail is very effective and inexpensive tool than regular mail to attract prospective customers, grow relationships with current customers, gain mindshare among affiliate partners and resellers and increase brand awareness. Below are six useful tips to make your 2005 email marketing successful:
Improve your Email Marketing tactics
When used correctly, and ethically, email marketing is one of the most effective forms of online advertising. But if misused, abused or underutilized, e-mail marketing may have an adverse effect on your business. Here are some keys to successful email marketing.
Select the right Audience
Selecting right audience is the first step to any marketing strategy. Make sure to buy the right targeted audience segmented in right demographic groups. If gathering audience list on your website, make sure you collect as much information as you can to segment your list in to interests. If you are using an audience list that you currently have, make sure to divide it in to groups to make your message more effective.
Personalize your message
Segment your audience in to groups depending on geographical areas or interests or age and personalize your message for each group of audience. Expert statistics and results show that the more you personalize your message or newsletter, the higher your open rates and clickthrough rate will be.
Send HTML and Text versions
Send both HTML and Text version of you message so that everyone of your audience receive either HTML or plain text message depending upon their server settings. HTML messages tend to get much more response in terms of open rate than regular plain text.
Proper use of From, To and Subject line fields
Proper use of these fields is one of the most important keys to a successful email marketing message. Effective subject line will make your prospective customers to read your message.
Use your company name or an individual within the company.
Personalize each message with the recipients first name or last name.
Use an effective and message related non-deceptive subject line. Creative, interesting and to the point straight subject line tends to give good results. Dont use "newsletter" word in your subject line if possible. Dont use the same subject line every time. Ad words like free, cheap, free money does not work.
Balanced use of Text and Graphics
Balanced use of text and graphics are also important for getting your message read and responded to. Not everybody have fast internet connection to download your graphics loaded message.
Keep your message as clean as possible. Use soft colors with appropriate use of white spaces.
Write a brief and to the point message rather than making them read the whole story. Make them to visit your website to read the full story.
Too much graphics results in low open rates as nobody wants to wait till they download it.
Always write your physical address at the bottom of your message to be CAN-SPAM compliant. Read the CAN-SPAM act on our website www.mailmailer.com
In many cases, search engine optimization and link popularity can be more effective to drive more traffic to your website but with low "visitor to customer" conversion rate. Traffic from your email marketing efforts will have high "visitor to customer" conversion rate. But Again If used wisely. There are many more useful tactics and tips for successful email marketing, but I cannot write them all in one article. MailMailer will be back with some more ideas on Email marketing for you in 2005.
About The Author
Mike Savaliya is the president and editor of MailMailer.com, an leader in web-based email marketing service provider.
manish@mailmailer.com