It was just about an hour before I put this blog together that I sat with Konica, our eldest daughter, helping out with her math homework on calculating simple interest. Eyes watery, limbs growing visibly restless, and sleep fast advancing, she struggled with the last problem and at this point something became very obvious to me...she didn’t fully master the principles governing the accurate determination of simple interest including time period and rate of interest.
Everything around us is based on a set of principles. Your car is based on a set of mechanical and electrical principles. The bulb in your living room is designed on a set of principles. Your telephone is intricately created on some basic fundamental principles, and did I mention the needle your tailor used to hem your dress or suit? The list goes on and on.
Running a home based business is no different. There are some very critical "know-hows" that you must get the hang of before a work at home dream can come true. Anything from as simple as running an email campaign to as complex as getting the top ten ranking on Google search engine takes into focus some vital insight to avoid becoming the next internet marketing casualty.
One very effective internet marketing tool that can truly make your work at home business take off like a rocket is knowledgeably using pay-per-click search engines. Whilst pay-per-click search engines can be the impetus to your internet success, if used foolishly, they can dry up your bank account! No kidding, pay-per-click campaigns can either leave you whistling all the way to the bank or shamefacedly whimpering away from the bank!
Let’s take you back to my preamble which spoke to understanding the principles behind any process. Put another way, nothing in life is to be feared, it's to be understood. Having said that, you can certainly maximize your ROI (return on investment) by building a wildly successful PPC campaign if you understand some basic principles.
Like anything else, you have to first determine a budget. Would you jump in your car/truck, drive to the supermarket, grab the biggest trolley, pack it navel high without first ensuring that you have enough funds to pay for the goods. So, how do you determine your pay-per-click budget? Not that difficult at all.
You must at least know your total sales. This is very easy to calculate as you will see in the following example. Mark sells hand crafted antique glass trinkets made in Poland. He sold 30 pieces this month making his total sales clearly 30. He then calculates his gross revenue, which would work out to be $300 if he sold one piece of ornament at $10 a piece. Mark now needs to determine his total expenses (this is very important). So, let's say he had to spend $2 per glass decoration, let's say a glass chain in this case, then $1.50 shipping, clearly his expenses would be $3.50. Mark would be in a path to profitability because his gross revenue exceeds his total expenses.
But wait...
Mark has to do one more very important thing. He must determine his unique visitors. How does he establish this? Not too hard really. He would simply need to get his server log from his web host, which is a file that details how many unique visitors (first-time visitors to his site, not repeat visitors!) visit his site, in addition to exactly where on the page his visitors landed and even how much time they spent there!
Now that we have got those basics right, it's time to figure out the value of each visitor to your website which would speak to such things as conversation rate (unique visitors divided by total number of sales), net profit (gross revenue minus total expenses divided by total number of sales) and visitor worth (net profit per sale divided by conversion rate).
Next, you need the best keywords for your pay-per-click campaign, but how do we do this? I will save this for my next issue. Keep looking out.
Oh, just before I go, here is another cool Jamaican Tip of the Day:
Did you know that "wicked!" is a Jamaican street slang that means "very good or impressive" Ironical, isn't it?
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Helpful Online Shopping Tips
There is little doubt that, in a considerably short period of time, the Internet has grown enormously in both its applications and number of users. The Internet's great degree of adaptation, coupled with its relatively unique characteristics of interactivity and personalization, increases the chances of innovative business strategies.
(Source eMarketer.com)
FACT - Only 1/3rd of the World are on the Internet despite 1.58 
million users
joining us every month.
One revolutionary change brought forth by the Internet - online shopping - has become a viable threat to traditional shopping channels, such as retail stores and catalogs in certain product areas (Lohse and Spiller, 1998). According to Ernst and Young's Annual Global Online Retailing Report (2001), online shopping will represent 10 to 12 percent of all sales in apparel, health, and beauty, and as much as 25 percent of all sales for books, music, software, and consumer electronics by 2005.
While the traditional "brick-and-mortar" shopping venues are restrained by time and space, the Internet has decreased the effort and time consumers spend on shopping (Bhatnagar et al., 2000). Furthermore, the Internet makes an unlimited range of products and services accessible for consumers all around the world (Quelch and Klein, 1996). Subsequently, people can buy or sell virtually anything, at anytime, from anywhere, through online shopping. For this reason, Samiee (2001) declared the Internet to be "one of the most significant, and perhaps the greatest, marketing tools for the global marketplace" (p. 284).
Despite the significant growth and optimistic outlook for the future growth of online shopping, negative aspects are also becoming more frequently associated with this alternative shopping method. For example, consumers are worried that the Internet still has very little security with respect to using their credit cards and disclosing personal information (Pallab, 1996). Consumers are also concerned about purchasing a product from "faceless" sellers without physically examining the products. Therefore, it is assumed that people may feel a certain degree of risk when purchasing a product through the Internet. In other words, consumers may worry about the performance of the product they are trying to purchase, the possible loss of their time or money, or even other people's judgments about their purchase, until they finally confirm the quality of the product.
Exercise the following precautions when shopping online:
- Know your vendor. You can check on the company's reputation with the Better Business Bureau. This is an especially good idea if you learned about the company from an unsolicited e-mail message. Ask if the vendor is located overseas because you might not have the same legal protections with overseas companies.
- Protect your privacy. Web sellers often collect information about you to share with other companies, so you can get bombarded with sales information you don't want. You can reduce the risk of unsolicited sales pitches by shopping from vendors that post their privacy policies and offer you options about use of personal information. In most cases, a vendor needs only your password, credit card number and shipping information. NEVER give anyone your credit card details via email.
- Pay with a credit card. Other payment options don't offer the same consumer
protections. If the product doesn't arrive on time or if you aren't satisfied, you can dispute your vendor's charges. You also are protected from unauthorized credit card charges. Federal law limits your liability for unauthorized charges to $50. To confirm that you are on a secure server, look for an unbroken key or padlock at the bottom of your browser window. These symbols mean the information you send is encrypted. Paypal is an excellent way to make very secure payment online. - Check delivery dates. Vendors usually tell you when to expect your merchandise when you place the order. Sellers must ship items no more than 30 days after the order date. If the seller can't ship the goods by then, you must be given a chance to cancel and receive a full refund.
- Check shipping and handling fees. Be sure to designate the delivery mode you prefer, or the vendor may decide for you. Many retailers base their shipping fees on the price of the item or the weight of the goods.
- Track your purchases. Print out and file any records related to on-line purchases. Save a printout of the web pages with the seller's name, address, phone number, a description of what you ordered, and any e-mail messages to or from the seller. These documents can be your insurance policy in case you don't receive you order or you receive the wrong shipment. Fedex and DHL for example, employ very effective tracking systems, giving you the ability to trace your shipment from dispatch to delivery.
Choosing The Best Affiliate Programs
Getting started online is not one of the easiest things to do, especially if you lack the requisite know-how or guidance. It's quite like falling in love for the first time and not being able to find the right words to say. As simple as introducing yourself becomes
such a maze, you wonder what you had for dinner last night.
Now what makes the situation even more challenging, is the fact that you have
literally thousands of offers puling you in every conceivable direction, all at the same time, all having one aim…your wallet! Oh, I mean your credit card!
Quite an ordeal, isn’t it?
Well, it is so truly said that experience teaches wisdom, and, no kidding, I can attest
to that. Sitting up before my computer night after night, until 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m.
…staggering out of bed with eyes half opened, fighting with the little energy that is
left to stay awake so I can get the kids ready for school on time and most importantly,
get me ready for work, calmly assuring myself that things will be better the next time around.
I was dead wrong! Why?
Because the next time I pushed that power button on my computer, flexed my
neck a bit (it’s a blessing I’m not wearing a neck support by now) and jumped online,
would have been the worst nightmare yet!
Before I could barely pull up my chair, someone yelled frantically from the other side of cyber space “Join my affiliate program and make six figures overnight!!!” Pl-lease, that should have been “Enter your credit card number here and I will show you how to become poor overnight!”
I have learnt my lessons the hard way. I have seen many eerie days, spent many sleepless nights, stumbled many a times, lost hard earned money chasing some fly-by-night join-and-do-nothing-and make BIG-bucks schemes, suffered ridicule from family members, you name it, but today, thank GOD, I have turned over a new page in my internet diary.
With all this experience, I believe I am rounded enough to guide you to not making the
same silly mistakes I made. (Wow! That just gives me such a feeling of joy)
Now even though they come with their pitfalls and cul-de-sacs, joining the right
Affiliate program/s, is probably the easiest and fastest ways to get started online.
This is simply a basic “no risk” agreement /partnership giving the right promote
someone else’s product, in exchange for a commission. Simply put.
You get your own affiliate link/URL like, http://www.howtomakeitonline.com/your
ID. Once you refer someone to your link and he/she makes a purchase, voila, you make
Money! You don’t have the cumbersome task of storing inventory, worrying with shipping woes, employing and paying staff, not even renting an office!
There are two types of affiliate programs on the: one-tier or two-tier. You make
money with the former by direct sales only. On the other hand, the latter allows you the flexibility to sign up “sub-affiliates”, on whose efforts you make money as well!
However, there some questions and possible actions you should ask or take before joining an affiliate program.
They should include:
1. Does the affiliate program offer you a free way to join
without buying the product or service? This option gives
you the opportunity to kind of “feel out” the program
before actually committing your hard earned cash.
2. Contact other affiliates already in the program to see if
they have had any problems. You can do this through their
discussion board (a great way to know what others are saying)
or do some research online using Google etc.
3. Is the product or service related to your target audience?
For example, if you have a passion for gardening, look out for
Affiliate programs in this area.
4. Can they notify you by e-mail when a sale is made? Critical
factor. You need to see if your efforts are paying off.
5. Do they offer backend products so you can get repeat sales
from the same person? This is a very effective method. For eg. You are
buying a book at Amazon.com and during the process you see some-
thing like, “People who buy The Purpose Driven Life also bought
God Came Near” or something like that.
6. How often will you receive a commission check? AND, how much sale
you will have to make before receiving your check. I am yet to collect
$70 from a home based self-claimed millionaire who painted a dazzling picture
of promptness and guarantee.
7. Do you get credited for a sale if people come back in a month
and then make a purchase? Of course, people here speaks to your
or your sub-affiliate’s personal referral.
8. Can you get around-the-clock help online or offline?
9. Do you get a large percentage of each sale as commission? How
unreasonable it would be for your affiliate program to give you only
$5 on a $97 sale! After all, you had to work hard to make that sale.
10. Do they provide you with proven sales material? (links,
banners, classified ads, sales letters etc)
11. Will they give you the leeway to create promotional ads.
It would be pointless if you are unable to creatively promote
the program to maximize your earnings.
12. Do they offer you access to an online sales stats page?
13. Do they use a reputable system to track your sales?
14. Does the affiliate program pay commission for sales of
people who sign up under you? This is the two-tiered approach
referred to above.
15. Can they offer customers a lot of different ordering
options, so in return you won't lose sales. What if I came
to your affiliate website looking for how-to tips on skiing
but you only offer skiing gears? See the logics?
16. Will they keep in contact with you on a regular basis by
e-mail?
I would also suggest that you “cloak” your affiliate ID if you
don’t already have your own website yet (for more info on how to obtain
your own website at zero cost, visit http://www.retirein365.net).
Here’s a link providing you with FREE resources, including a tool to cloak
your affiliate ID, http://www.addme.com/tools.htm
In closing, be patient when starting your online journey. Anxiety is the your
greatest enemy with frustration on the other side as its alibi. It takes time to
achieve success online and one must always be mindful of the pitfalls and
“cyber pockets”.
If you are prepared to walk the walk and talk the talk of the successful,
your online future is bright.
Before I run off here's anotherTip Of The Day for you on Jamaican creole (Patois):
In English you ask, "Where are you from?" In Jamaican patois you say, "weh yu come from?"
AND (hold on to your seats for this one!)
You say "I love to eat at KFC", Jamaican patois goes like this, "mi love fi nyam a KFC"
Chao! Keep looking out for more very interesting articles from yours truly.
such a maze, you wonder what you had for dinner last night.
Now what makes the situation even more challenging, is the fact that you have
literally thousands of offers puling you in every conceivable direction, all at the same time, all having one aim…your wallet! Oh, I mean your credit card!
Quite an ordeal, isn’t it?
Well, it is so truly said that experience teaches wisdom, and, no kidding, I can attest
to that. Sitting up before my computer night after night, until 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m.
…staggering out of bed with eyes half opened, fighting with the little energy that is
left to stay awake so I can get the kids ready for school on time and most importantly,
get me ready for work, calmly assuring myself that things will be better the next time around.
I was dead wrong! Why?
Because the next time I pushed that power button on my computer, flexed my
neck a bit (it’s a blessing I’m not wearing a neck support by now) and jumped online,
would have been the worst nightmare yet!
Before I could barely pull up my chair, someone yelled frantically from the other side of cyber space “Join my affiliate program and make six figures overnight!!!” Pl-lease, that should have been “Enter your credit card number here and I will show you how to become poor overnight!”
I have learnt my lessons the hard way. I have seen many eerie days, spent many sleepless nights, stumbled many a times, lost hard earned money chasing some fly-by-night join-and-do-nothing-and make BIG-bucks schemes, suffered ridicule from family members, you name it, but today, thank GOD, I have turned over a new page in my internet diary.
With all this experience, I believe I am rounded enough to guide you to not making the
same silly mistakes I made. (Wow! That just gives me such a feeling of joy)
Now even though they come with their pitfalls and cul-de-sacs, joining the right
Affiliate program/s, is probably the easiest and fastest ways to get started online.
This is simply a basic “no risk” agreement /partnership giving the right promote
someone else’s product, in exchange for a commission. Simply put.
You get your own affiliate link/URL like, http://www.howtomakeitonline.com/your
ID. Once you refer someone to your link and he/she makes a purchase, voila, you make
Money! You don’t have the cumbersome task of storing inventory, worrying with shipping woes, employing and paying staff, not even renting an office!
There are two types of affiliate programs on the: one-tier or two-tier. You make
money with the former by direct sales only. On the other hand, the latter allows you the flexibility to sign up “sub-affiliates”, on whose efforts you make money as well!
However, there some questions and possible actions you should ask or take before joining an affiliate program.
They should include:
1. Does the affiliate program offer you a free way to join
without buying the product or service? This option gives
you the opportunity to kind of “feel out” the program
before actually committing your hard earned cash.
2. Contact other affiliates already in the program to see if
they have had any problems. You can do this through their
discussion board (a great way to know what others are saying)
or do some research online using Google etc.
3. Is the product or service related to your target audience?
For example, if you have a passion for gardening, look out for
Affiliate programs in this area.
4. Can they notify you by e-mail when a sale is made? Critical
factor. You need to see if your efforts are paying off.
5. Do they offer backend products so you can get repeat sales
from the same person? This is a very effective method. For eg. You are
buying a book at Amazon.com and during the process you see some-
thing like, “People who buy The Purpose Driven Life also bought
God Came Near” or something like that.
6. How often will you receive a commission check? AND, how much sale
you will have to make before receiving your check. I am yet to collect
$70 from a home based self-claimed millionaire who painted a dazzling picture
of promptness and guarantee.
7. Do you get credited for a sale if people come back in a month
and then make a purchase? Of course, people here speaks to your
or your sub-affiliate’s personal referral.
8. Can you get around-the-clock help online or offline?
9. Do you get a large percentage of each sale as commission? How
unreasonable it would be for your affiliate program to give you only
$5 on a $97 sale! After all, you had to work hard to make that sale.
10. Do they provide you with proven sales material? (links,
banners, classified ads, sales letters etc)
11. Will they give you the leeway to create promotional ads.
It would be pointless if you are unable to creatively promote
the program to maximize your earnings.
12. Do they offer you access to an online sales stats page?
13. Do they use a reputable system to track your sales?
14. Does the affiliate program pay commission for sales of
people who sign up under you? This is the two-tiered approach
referred to above.
15. Can they offer customers a lot of different ordering
options, so in return you won't lose sales. What if I came
to your affiliate website looking for how-to tips on skiing
but you only offer skiing gears? See the logics?
16. Will they keep in contact with you on a regular basis by
e-mail?
I would also suggest that you “cloak” your affiliate ID if you
don’t already have your own website yet (for more info on how to obtain
your own website at zero cost, visit http://www.retirein365.net).
Here’s a link providing you with FREE resources, including a tool to cloak
your affiliate ID, http://www.addme.com/tools.htm
In closing, be patient when starting your online journey. Anxiety is the your
greatest enemy with frustration on the other side as its alibi. It takes time to
achieve success online and one must always be mindful of the pitfalls and
“cyber pockets”.
If you are prepared to walk the walk and talk the talk of the successful,
your online future is bright.
Before I run off here's anotherTip Of The Day for you on Jamaican creole (Patois):
In English you ask, "Where are you from?" In Jamaican patois you say, "weh yu come from?"
AND (hold on to your seats for this one!)
You say "I love to eat at KFC", Jamaican patois goes like this, "mi love fi nyam a KFC"
Chao! Keep looking out for more very interesting articles from yours truly.
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