Business Cycles and The Overture Bid Tool

The loss of the Overture bid tool is creating a major slow down for those depending on adsense sites as their sole source of business income on the internet. Adsense is not yet dead, as some say, but it is in a downward cycle.

This should serve as a major wake-up call to internet marketers. Diversify or you may find your income resources drying up.

In the business world whether it is offline or online businesses cycle from season to season and year to year. For some businesses the impact of a business cycle is far greater than for others.

Tax, debt relief and personal finance sites have cycled into their best season right now. People tend to stop and take stock of their general financial condition during tax time. Once April 15th arises the peak will be over for another year.

Businesses that cater to most outdoor activities will be picking up about the time that tax time ends and will have a good run until the cycle takes a downward turn around ! Labor Day when children return to school and outdoor temperatures begin to drop.

Just prior to the end of this season, the back-to-school season kicks in. This is beneficial to retailers selling clothing, and school supplies. And those returning or starting college will contribute to sales in clothing, computers, new and used cars, and small appliances and supplies for dorm rooms.

Soon after that consumers will start giving serious thought to indoor family functions and the Christmas season will cycle in, and many retailers both offline and on will show a marked increase in sales until January when sales will diminish for many businesses until tax time is over again.

The point is that different businesses have different natural cycles each year. That is just how it works.

That is why a savvy internet marketer will diversify their business interests into a number of markets so that when one cycles to an off time another one is there to fill the g! ap. For small business owners the internet is a real opportuni! ty to se t up these diverse business interests without breaking the bank.

In the offline world it is very difficult and expensive for the small business person to branch out into a variety of businesses. We, who market on the internet, should recognize the hazards of business cycles and changes in internet marketing and utilize our opportunity.

It seems that the Overture bid tool will return. At least that is what the notation on their site is saying. Supposedly the Overture bid tool will return soon in an updated form. But what if it never returned?

It would serve as a great blow to those marketing adsense exclusively, but it would also take away a major resource of research for most marketers on the internet.

The internet is ever-changing. What works well today could cycle out and be gone tomorrow. Look at all the generated sites of a couple of years ago. Yes, they made money, for a while. Some of them made a killing. There are still a few lingering arou! nd, but for the most part they are gone and that phase is over.

New things will come in their place, flourish for a time, and eventually fade away. This may be good while it lasts, and who wouldn't want to jump on the bandwagon? It is wise, however, for a marketer to build a wide business base including a variety of businesses that will span the normal cycles, stand the test of time, and still be standing when the dust clears.

Source: http://www.articlesalley.com/article.detail.php/51875/180/Home_Business/Business/1/Business Cycles and The Overture Bid Tool
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Internet Home Business Basics for Beginners

Did you ever ask yourself "Can I really be successful in a home based business?" If this question ever went through your head at least once and you are running short of business ideas, the option of making a living online should be seriously taken into consideration. Why? Because of the internet's quickly expanding market there are literally hundreds of possibilities of earning a decent living out of online businesses.

It's not a question of "if"; it's a question of "how." It's a proven fact that many smart internet marketers have made fortunes on the internet, just by taking advantage of its immense potential. And few people would argue when I say that what we are witnessing nowadays can be easily called "the internet revolution." This is the golden era, when real money can be made before it gets too crowded.

From selling a product of your own to engaging in affiliate marketing, there are hundreds of possibilities and business ideas you can exploit. The only! limit is your imagination but still, there are a few things that are a "must know" if your online business is to succeed.

First of all, let's talk about your line of business. What do you specifically want to do? What do you want to market? Remember one thing: there is a lot of competition in the internet world today, but a problem can't exist without its solution, right? The answer to all the fierce competition as an easy one: specialization. I want to stretch out the importance of this term because it can be your key to success.

Let's say you like fishing. Now, if you search for the term you will probably find online shops that sell everything from fishing boots to fishing rods. In this case, if you are to follow my specialization theory, you should break down all the fishing products into small categories and focus ONLY on a specific one. This is the big secret (which is not a secret at all). You could sell fishing hooks, bait, or anything you desire. This! way, your visitors will know exactly what they are looking fo! r when t hey enter your shop.

And now that I've mentioned the shop, it's probably obvious that your online shop is a website. You should design a simple and clear website, in which visitors don't get lost. It has to provide clear and well-organized information, and give the impression of professionalism. Try to reduce the loading time to a minimum. So avoid little flash animations, especially if your ultimate purpose is a commercial one. People don't want to wait until a webpage is loaded, and the most important impact upon their perspective on your site is made in the first 10 - 15 seconds.

These tips which I gave you so far are very effective, but are even more so if another factor is taken into account: passion. All internet businesses thrive if done with passion. Choose a field in which you would like to work, a hobby of yours. You will do things more easily, and that is very noticeable when it comes to how you approach things. You will bolster with confidence and t! his image will be projected on your visitors also. They will trust you more, they will be sure that you know what you are talking about, and thus they will be open-minded when it comes to buying something from you. So remember, you are the big specialist and love what you do!

Finally, it all comes down to how you design your internet marketing strategies. Even the best of business ideas can be unsuccessful if proper management and marketing is not taken into consideration. You have to know anything and everything that's related to: marketing your products, increasing your traffic, increasing your CR (Conversion Rate), keeping your customers happy, Search Engine Optimization and so on.

If you think you can't deal with all these yourself, you should hire some professionals to help you. Ultimately, an online business is not an easy task, but if done properly it can bring you a lot of satisfaction. The proven fact is that it can be done, and the most important ing! redient needed in your success recipe is motivation. If you ha! ve that, you really can have a successful home based business!

Source: http://www.articlesalley.com/article.detail.php/51886/180/Home_Business/Business/1/Internet Home Business Basics for Beginners
Your Home Based Business

How To Fulfil Your Dreams Of Starting Your Own Business

They began with a dream, an idea for finding a way to make a go of finding what they really want for their work.

Indeed many of the world's most successful businesses and organizations began with a very simple idea; and an inspired individual.

Starting your own business doesn't have to be a complicated process or require a particular degree. It just needs a little foresight and determination.

The first step in starting your own business is finding out what you want to offer consumers. You need to think seriously about what it is that will set your business apart from others.

This involves gaining some first-hand experience and on-the-job training that cannot be found in school books or lectures. By finding things out for yourself, instead of relying on what you have read, you have a better understanding of how things operate.

Then, you can have a more solid grasp on how to handle different situations as they arise in your own business.
First-hand experience can really help you sharpen up your business focus in the real world, which will be useful for your future business.

Finally, first-hand experience can help you develop the determination you need to make your business grow and prosper in a crowded marketplace of ideas.

Determination and razor-sharp focus are vital to help your business reach its fullest potential and lead you to the top of your game.

After you gain broad experience in an area you want to start a business in, you need to figure out where and how you want to open your business.

This involves picking out a location that will cater specifically to your business needs, such as office space and the availability of relevant, local personnel.

Location, winning products and great employees are things that will make or break a business. So, for example, you need to understand what the customer base is for your particular business and find an area that fit! s that, assuming, of course, that yours is a real, rather than! 'virtua l' business.

If you are opening a retail business, you want to find a store that has a lot of street traffic and puts your storefront in full view of potential customers.

If you are planning on starting an Internet business, you need to find a place where you can install cable and phone lines for web access. You also need to consider the availability of pretty quick help with IT problems and questions.

Finally, when it comes to location, you also need to see how many competitors are going to be near your business. Having more competitors near your business means you may have a more difficult time getting a solid clientele established.

And, on the upside, it also indicates that there is a good, local market for the type of business you are in. With a bunch of specific selling points, unique to you, that's quite a pool of willing customers or clients for you!

Although it is not a requirement, having a degree to back your dream of starting a b! usiness can give you an upper hand for several reasons. The first reason is hanging out with other people with interests similar to your own.

This 'social networking' is one of the leading ways to getting yourself ongoing business, whether you are getting the word out to friends, relatives or social acquaintances.

A degree program also means you will be exposed to ideas from other successful entrepreneurs from around the world. You can read and listen to what their failures were, how they made their successes and short-cuts needed to get more bang for your buck.

Becoming clear about what you want from your employment, in addition to financial reward, may well challenge you - yet it is a vital step on the way to a life where work and play meet - a wonderful opportunity for your future.

Source: http://www.articlesalley.com/article! .detail. php/51923/180/Home_Business/Business/1/How To Fulfil Your Dreams Of Starting Your Own Business
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How To Run A Successful Work At Home Based Business

The expression how to run a successful work at home based business deals about methodology. The adopted methodology to starting to a business online is important, or exactly vital to have unequivocal success in the new enterprise.

The theoreticians previously say that the trees hinder us to see the forest. This can happen when the concentrated focus is the work methodology and not it reality where the recent business will go to gradually develop itself.

An Internet marketing business basically requires hard work of constantly learning new how to make money online knowledge. And the newbie target should be to leave of being parasite of the other. It means to be educated to make with always do not need the assistance of others.

Generally, the newbie is not lead to make its planning of study, plan of goals. And without a plan of goals the apprentice leads its life without an appropriate direction.

Anyway, when the newbie starts a working at home ba! sed business he runs a powerful self instruction.

The view of self instruction is critical for the Internet marketing education. It means by the interaction with a machine. It is different of conventional education, where the interactions between teachers and students, and the students and them selves promote the permanently motivation. In the self instruction the success of the newbie depends over all, on the newbie motivation and its conditions of work.

The biggest challenge is to personally undertake a plan of learning for the proper hands. What it is in game is the designs for self instruction. And here the methodology is very important.

How to implement a plan of study and learning of a new business? What to study? What to read?

That is essentials questions. When newbie is starting a work at home institute must come across with a pedagogical plan. I suggest pay attention on some strategies.

First of all, you need a web site and to hos! t it some where. If you cannot do it by yourself, hide someone! to do i t to you.

To run your profit site successfully, you better visit forums, where you will see the home Internet business overall ideas and contact a lot of productive members. When you participate in Internet forums you have added a selling link to your signature. It means you must write a short description not of your personal life, but of your skills, pointing all your readers to your web site reference. The more important part of your profile online is to normally ensure other people should identify you, your products.

Write articles about the area of your site and add them to free article directories. When different people find it they will link to your site from the informative article.

Add your site in web directories. There are many directories that expect to exchange linking with you. It is simple to do: you put a link from an Internet business on your site and so you have your link inside another site.

Select a few niche keywords and SEO y! our pages. It is very important to search for strategic keywords to put it in your site and to have back link to your sales page.

You create an amount of reference where your selective readers could click and get relevant information to buy through your web site.

I hope it will help you to understand and run a successful work at home based business.

Source: http://www.articlesalley.com/article.detail.php/51946/180/Home_Business/Business/1/How To Run A Successful Work At Home Based Business
Your Home Based Business

You Cannot Make Money Online Sitting On Your Ass

You won't earn money online by sitting on your backside in spite of what you may have read on some websites.

IF you don't have some money to invest then the above is even more true. Without the cash to buy automated tools to make your promotional chores a little easier then you are going to have to put in a lot more work than those who pay for internet software and marketing services.

Take article marketing for example - I pay a monthly fee for subscriptions to two of the most popular online article submission sites. It literally takes me around 5 minutes to copy and paste my article into the online submission form and click send.

Every site the submission services submit to can be done by hand, EVERY one. So shouldn't I save myself a little cash per month and do them myself? No way, that would be plain stupid. To achieve the same results I get by paying for a service, I would spend days, not hours, submitting to different article databases.

Thi! s is true right across the internet marketing arena whether it is article submissions, search engine optimization or building niche websites.

Many people have an unrealistic view about making money online. They are either taken in by the hype or they are living in cloud cuckoo land. Wake up! Business is business whether it is offline or online. You wouldn't even contemplate going into business for yourself offline unless you had a few thousand dollars to get started and to cover any unforseen circumstances.

You can get a web business up and running at a tiny fraction of the cost that you would pay the 'real world'. Still, once your website is live, it won't earn you a cent unless it gets some visitors. You must work to get your site seen if you are ever going to succeed online.

Another point, paying for services will lessen your workload but once the work is done you still have to make an effort. Think about it - Who in their right mind would take your ! money to do ALL the work for you? If there is any chance at al! l that t he work they do will bring in the bucks immediately then of course they will do it for themselves. Why would anyone take a one off payment if, they can do the work, and get paid forever?

What you don't pay out of your pocket you will pay in time, IF you are going the free route. Any money made at the beginning should be invested in internet marketing resources or paying for the services that are going to leave your hands free to continue to build your business.

The good news is that every minute I have spent building my web business has been worth it. I can now take days off and generally take things easy but it is ONLY because of the work I have contributed in the past, from I began delving into online business back in 1998.

Some internet marketers could retire now and they would continue to make money from their sites for the rest of their lives, provided they paid their web hosting bills. I haven't reached those heights yet but I know it is possible! because of what I have achieved up 'til now.

Do you believe you can put in the work and time to achieve what many have achieved?

If you are truly committed to working towards your goals, making a positive contribution to the building of your internet business everyday then I have no doubt you will reach the heights in internet marketing. If you believe that there are riches to be made without time and effort, at least in the beginning, then please stay in your dayjob.

Source: http://www.articlesalley.com/article.detail.php/52013/180/Home_Business/Business/1/You Cannot Make Money Online Sitting On Your Ass
Online Home Based Business

Realistic Ways to Earn Money from Home

Many parents dream of earning money from home. It could be so that they could be a stay at home parent or it could be a much-needed supplement to the family income. In either case, an online search can quickly lead to disappointment, with all the scams, hard to land legitimate work at home jobs, and home business opportunities.

But there are some relatively easy ways to earn money at home. As the internet grows and changes, more possibilities open up for anything from a few extra dollars a month to some serious money to be earned from your very own computer.

One of the easiest is paid blogging. There are a few ways to do this, from signing on with companies that hire bloggers to write about topics they love to paid posting companies. It's a fair bit of work and can be time consuming to do a good job of it, but it can also be loads of fun.

With the paid posting option, one of the big tricks is to keep things honest and interesting to your readers. You're! essentially writing ads, but if you do it well they won't be too obvious. The ideal is to keep with the flow of your blog. This can make it hard to find enough paid posts, but if your blog is a source of pride to you, it will probably be worthwhile.

One tactic to get around this is to start multiple blogs, each with a different focus. This will allow you to post on more topics, but will tremendously increase the number of times you can accept paid posts.

If you do paid posting, make sure you do enough unpaid posts. Most companies want at least one post between paid posts. This ensures that your blog is more than just an ad.

Mystery shopping is another way to earn from home. In some cases you may even be able to bring the children along, which can be a real plus. This requires an eye for detail and a great memory.

Love photography? Try selling your photos online. It's a fun excuse to haul out your camera, drive around and take pictures. Just thin! k, your vacation could be something that helps to build your i! ncome. C heck out stock photo sites to find places to sell your photos.

What skills do you have? Virtual assistants are very popular right now, as are website designers, programmers and people who understand software. You can earn money by using these skills.

Obviously it will take some time to build a good client list, but it may not be as impossible as you think. If you want to be a virtual assistant, for example, don't just limit yourself to marketing online. Contact small businesses in your area and tell them what you have to offer. They may well be delighted to find help that they don't have to hire as an employee.

Sites such as eLance and Guru are excellent for those of you who want to offer services. It's a chance to build a portfolio and a customer list. Whatever you do, however, do not underprice yourself. You want to earn what you're worth. Yes, you may get fewer customers, but if you balance things correctly, you'll still earn more than if you price yo! urself too low.

As you can see, options abound. Your earning potential is much more up to you when you start a home business. If you need a little, you can probably do that. If you need to earn a lot, work harder and remember that overnight success is rare. But keep at it. No one builds a successful business by quitting.

Source: http://www.articlesalley.com/article.detail.php/52014/180/Home_Business/Business/1/Realistic Ways to Earn Money from Home
Home Business Articles Blog

The Guaranteed Killer Approach To Trading For A Living

It is a common quoted statistic within the industry that in the region of 90-95% of traders/investors in the financial markets fail. Conceptually, trading looks to be an easy pursuit. With hindsight the price swings are easily identifiable and thus should be profitable and yet the above failure rate shows this is far from true. A bystander could reach the conclusion that this group of people must be gamblers of low intelligence, even stupid, considering that many within it will continue in this vain pursuit year after year, repeatedly following the same path.

Albert Einstein once said, "The definition of an idiot; someone who repeatedly does the same thing, but expects different results, not learning from the experience". Yet this group will persuade themselves that

it's all part of the education process,

-  the next system/methodology will be different - it will work,

-  I'm determined not to give up, I'm not a failure and will! ultimately succeed,

-  I was unlucky                  ...... the list could go on.

However, far from been of low intelligence or stupid, the profile of this group is in fact more often than not one of, well educated professionals, middle-class, successful business or career people of medium to high net worth. Typically, they are successful in other walks of life, particularly in their career or business and yet they fail to make a successful transition to a trading career. Furthermore, they spend vast sums of money on trader education typically accumulating a vast library of trading books and attend numerous expensive training courses and yet they still continually fail. With these apparent advantages why is it that they continue to fail (and on many occasions spectacularly so) over a prolonged period of time? The answer is that they attribute the failings to the wrong as! pect of trading and incorrectly focus on resolving this. The 3! main as pects of trading are;

- the "Psychology" of trading,

- the "Methodology" or Systematic approach to entering/exiting trades,

- the "Money Management" of funds.

However, most people focus almost exclusively on the "methodology" (or system, often primarily using technical analysis) and give scant regard to the other two interrelated and more important elements. Consider a "system" that has a win/loss ratio of 50% and also a risk/reward ratio of 1:1. Such a hypothetical system is equivalent to "tossing-a-coin" and as such, ignoring transaction costs, would merely deliver breakeven returns and yet this is an inherently better performance than the majority of the trading hopefuls. However, most traders would argue (probably correctly) that from the knowledge and experience gained from studying technical analysis that firstly their win/loss ratio was better than 50%. That is, when planning and entering a trade they have used their skill and judgment to ens! ure that more often than not it will move in the direction they want. (If this were not true than you may as well toss a coin to determine when to trade!). Just a modest increase on tossing a coin, say 60%, meaning achieving 6 out of 10 winning trades should be easily achievable by applying correctly just a little knowledge. Secondly, they would argue that they can plan a trade that would have an initial minimum risk/reward ratio of 1:2, ensuring that on average, winning trades would be twice as profitable as any losing ones. Given just a modest win/loss ratio of 60% and a risk/reward ratio of 1:2 most traders would be happy with achieving this (certainly as a launching point to a successful fulltime career). If most traders stuck to their "rules" they probably could in fact achieve comparable results however, in practice, other factors take over; greed, fear, ego, hesitation, hope ......

Whatever the good intentions of the initial plan, quickly the "Psychology" of tr! ading becomes the most important aspect. It is an individual's! persona lity traits that are ultimately the determinate of the success or failure in the execution of any system or methodology. Simply put, they don't stick to the plan for a variety of well documented reasons. This also has a dramatic impact on the "money management" side of trading. It becomes non-existent, unquantifiable and certainly impossible to do a risk assessment going forward when the trading style has become virtually arbitrary. If aspiring traders would only analyze past trades critically to categorize if it were in fact the system that failed or the failure was in the execution of the rules, then much progress would be made. However, this leads to another failure of novice traders in that a trading log/diary is seldom kept to allow this crucial evaluation.

Final Comments
Overall, unsuccessful traders rarely make the step up to a professional full-time trader because when the performance of a system doesn't match expectations they discard it and move onto they! next "system". However, often it is not the system that is at fault but the application or adherence to the rules of that system. If a trader has spent a number of years pursuing this unproductive path of trying to find that allusive "system that works", then more likely the problem lies within and not in the selection of a system. If this applies to you then, get those old trading books down from the shelf and focus more on the Psychology of trading and Money Management; you know those chapters that you skipped over and felt were not that relevant to you! If you want to succeed you need to reappraise your viewpoint and only then can you enjoy the wealth and lifestyle that is on offer to a fulltime professional trader. A highly effectively trading system is only the start and one that delivers consistent results in any market is recommended below. Choose a methodology (system) that works, stick with it and remain disciplined in its execution to ensure the success that has ! eluded you for so long. Your rebirth as a trader starts now.
< br />Source: http://www.articlesalley.com/article.detail.php/52474/180/Home_Business/Business/1/The Guaranteed Killer Approach To Trading For A Living
Your Home Based Business

Leverage Your Time & Talent to Help More People & Make More Money

When I first went into business for myself six years ago as a marketing and public relations consultant, I struggled with setting my fees. Even though I had been making a good salary working for someone else in this capacity, at first I found it difficult to set my fees at what they truly were worth (plus the added 20%-30% for overhead for being a sole proprietor!).

 

Then I learned about "dollarizing" (a topic for another article) and about looking at the results that I was creating for my clients. I also had to build my confidence and comfortability in telling prospective clients what my fees were without stammering... :)

 

I don't struggle with this anymore, for a few reasons. One reason is because I KNOW what a difference I can and do make in my client's business. And another reason is that I have loads of clients, past and present, who continue to tell me what a difference I've made for them in their business. Both o! f these have helped to build my confidence and comfortability factors in setting my rates.

 

Now it's easy for me to say that my coaching rates are $350 an hour, or that a private mentorship with me starts at $5000. Obviously that means I have fewer clients than I did when I was charging $350 a month (as opposed to an hour), but it also means I work one-on-one a lot less, which frees up an incredible amount of time to put towards other profit-producing activities.

 

And, by packaging my knowledge into information products, I actually help MORE people now than ever before, and I love that!

 

Now, my business has gone through more than one iteration over the last six years, so I don't want to give the impression that this happened quickly for me, because it didn't. But it could happen for you a lot faster if you implement some of the tips I've given you here:

 

1. Consider your! self the expert.

 

Why wait for someo! ne else to crown you something? Seriously, if you didn't think you knew what you were doing, you wouldn't have taken the leap into entrepreneurship. So make yourself the expert and put yourself out there as such.

 

Why? Because you'll build credibility faster, your name will be the one that comes to mind when people are in need of what you offer, and because it will allow you to command higher fees that people are willing to pay.

 

People want to hire someone who is an expert in solving their problem. For example, I started out as a generalist in marketing and public relations (and web development), and I did ok money-wise as such. Then I started focusing on working with entrepreneurs in marketing their business, and financially I did better. Now I focus on online marketing for a specific niche (solo service professionals) using the multiple streams marketing and product funnel model, and my client base and income has increased expon! entially! My business is also a lot easier and much more fun!

 

2. Increase your income by increasing your fees.

 

Like I did, most of my clients struggle with this issue at first. It's normal. They're afraid of losing clients (they will), and of charging themselves out of their market (they won't). But, among other things, I encourage them to remember that if they charge more, they don't need as many clients, and by having less clients, they will have more time and freedom to do the things they enjoy (and even more so if they create products to offer to their niche - see #3).

 

If there's still resistance, I suggest that any new clients they accept, they do so at their new higher rate, and keep their current clients at their old rate.

 

3. Package what you know.

 

Stop trading time for money and start packaging what you know. By this I mean creating ! information products that you can sell to your niche that help! s them s olve their problem at a much lower rate than working with you one-on-one.

 

This has made a huge difference for me, particularly once my daughter was born. Creating products for my niche helped me to continue to bring in the revenue I "lost" by not taking on any new one-on-one clients while I raised her.

 

There are many ways to leverage your time and talent, but these three will get you started in the right direction to building a more satisfying business for you ~ one that gives you the freedom to enjoy both your work and your life.

Source: http://www.articlesalley.com/article.detail.php/56021/180/Home_Business/Business/1/Leverage Your Time & Talent to Help More People & Make More Money
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