Author: admin

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8 Legit And Realistic Ways To Make Money Online In 2018

Posted on by admin

You probably spend a great deal of time on social media every day so why not make money while you’re using Facebook, Instagram or Twitter?

Let’s face it; when you try to Google the words “how to make money online” you will most probably get close to a million search results on the topic. That number is hardly surprising as more and more people find that social media opens up ways to make some extra money or to even make a living.

Many naysayers will disagree but recent polls and trends have shown the exact opposite. Even just looking at the number of active users on social media can make your eyes pop out. Facebook has over 2 billion active users, Instagram has 800 million active users and Twitter has about 330 million monthly active users. Most people will say it is risky to try to make money online but that is the very nature of any business though – it’s all risky.

Bottomline, the internet, and social media have given you the opportunity to make money from your business idea via social media and it’s pretty much up to you to do something about it.

Here are a few ideas of how you can maximize social media for your monetary benefit.

1. Define your niche/target market

You need to give your business idea more specific definition.

Broad strokes are not useful when you’re trying to strategize for online success. Your business idea has to address a certain target market or niche.

First off, you need to decide on your target audience and be specific.

This may seem like a moot point but one that is constantly overlooked. The more specific your audience the more impact you will have.

Secondly, define the product or service you are offering to your audience.

You may find that you will need to structure your offering a bit more. For example, your business idea may be to venture into marketing. However, what type of marketing are you offering specifically?

Will you be offering digital services, traditional marketing or perhaps copywriting?

Each type of marketing speaks to a very different target market.

2. Figure out your ultimate goal

It is vital for you to decide what you really want from this exercise. Before you subscribe to any social platform or app you must know what it is you are aiming for.

For example, do you want to use social media to attract more traffic to your website, or do you want to become the next Instagram influencer?

Your goal will decide which strategy you’ll eventually employ. Once you have decided on the ‘why’ then commit it to paper. This will help keep you on track if you are on the path to success.

3. Test your hypothesis

Every successful growth hacker and digital influencer will tell you to test before hitting the throttle at full tilt.

Missing this crucial step will cause you to miss a few vital insights.

For example, are you sure your target market is big enough for monetary gains?

Also, the problem you are trying to solve, is there an actual market for it?

And finally, does your plan follow the precepts of your original goal?

Testing and validating your idea is a very important next step.

Search Google Trends to view your niche market

Punch in your niche keywords and hit search and a graph will pop up showing you the level of interest in that topic over a specified time.

The graph should give you a good indication regarding the interest level of your niche among your target audience.

Research any competitors

Competitors are a good indicator of whether there is a market for your business or not.

This should not be a negative factor as competition will highlight the demand for your product or service.

You can do a simple search on Amazon as book sales will also give you a good indication of demand.

A search on Udemy (an online learning platform) will also highlight a demand especially when there are loads of courses in your niche that are being offered.

YouTube is the most popular video platforms and if people are viewing your niche content then there is a clear demand. YouTube will also reflect the number of people viewing the content, this is a great indicator of demand.

Instagram is the second most popular app and a simple hashtag search will show you the number of posts in your niche. A big number of post is a good indicator of demand.

Once you have successfully validated your idea, you can go about monetizing the idea on social media.

4. Develop a content strategy

A content strategy is not a marketing strategy.

Social media relies on content to attract your audience. The type of platform you choose will determine how you deliver that content. For example, videos will work for YouTube and photos will work for Instagram because that’s what those two social media platforms cater for.

You need to research the content that is already out there to give you an idea of what works and what does not.

Determine what makes you different from the rest.

Use this element to make your content great. Finding out what your competitors are doing and making it better is one way of ensuring that people are attracted to your posts. Be sure to make it unique.

5. Monetize

Here are a few proven ideas of how to make money via social media:

Affiliate marketing

People in the blogging world have known about affiliate marketing for a while now. It has steadily made its way into the mainstream of social media marketing and monetizing.

Affiliate marketing involves a process where you promote other people’s products or services for a commission. You need to have a blog to get into affiliate marketing and as long as people click on the link you provide links to the Affiliate site you’ll be able to score a commission.

Affiliate marketing is all about trust, if people trust you online then they’ll most likely purchase whatever you’re pitching to them.

There are actually a lot of affiliate networks that you can become a part of, but some of the best ones out there are Amazon Associates, CJ Affiliate, and ShareASale.

If you’re thinking of posting affiliate links on Facebook or Instagram hoping that someone would click on it, you’re living in a fantasy world sparky. The best and most effective way of promoting affiliate products is through honest reviews.

If you’ve personally used a product and you honestly like it, and you also know that your followers can benefit from it, then write a review on your blog and then share a link to the product. The more honest you are the more people would trust you and buy whatever you’re promoting.

Just make sure that you are not selecting products that are unrelated to your niche. You’d run the risk of losing your followers trust. Don’t forget to tell your followers about your affiliate partnerships as well, transparency goes a long way with your followers.

Sponsored advertising or blog posts

This method is actually more popular on Instagram and not in blogging circles. This is where you will earn a fee for publishing a post or promoting a product on your account. Brands themselves will pay you for the post as long as you have a decent following.

A number of Instagram influencers who have more than 50,000 followers can easily earn $1,000 per post.

But if you’ve just started your Instagram account and you don’t have a lot of followers yet, you can still make money online, you just need to assure potential sponsors that you can offer them something of value.

Why don’t you offer an Instagram shoutout post and sweeten the deal by adding a blog review? If you have a Twitter account or a YouTube account you can also throw in a Twitter shoutout post or a YouTube vlog review. That should catch someone’s attention.

Provide informational products

Products as information are gaining incredible momentum. Providing an audience with product or service information is incredibly lucrative when done correctly.

Every single person is always searching online for information. For example, you can provide online events, courses or ebooks and you don’t even need a website to host this, you can just set up funnels using land pages and email management.

Keep in mind that quality is key to creating something people would want to pay to read.

Websites such as Gumroad, Sellfy and Amazon’s KDP program can make it easy for you to sell your books or videos as long as they can take a small commission.

Offer a service

If you have some sought-after skills, there will always be someone willing to pay for it. Use your skills and strengths to offer a service. For example, there is a huge demand for social media marketing or freelance writing so you can try and tap that niche if you have a background in it.

Sell your photos online

If you’re active on Facebook or Instagram and you love taking photos you can try selling your photos online. Just make sure you’re active on these two social media platforms and you’re engaging with your followers so that they’ll buy whatever you’re selling.

You can also use websites such Snapwire, Mobileprints or Twenty20 if you want to find buyers for your photos. There’s also the option of selling professional photos to stock photo websites like Shutterstock or Istockphoto.

6. Focus on a few social media platforms

It is just plain dumb to try and cover every single social media platform available. Unless you have nothing better to do then knock yourself out.

Instead, focus on a few social media platforms and focus on those. Most people will focus on the top three or five. You need to consider elements such as your target audience, your content, and what platform will work best for you content.

When it comes to social media platforms, you are spoilt for choice because there’s just so many out there.

7. Create a kickass profile online

Use your profile to attract clients and an audience. Gaining followers is a golden ticket to validation of your idea.

To make your profile stand out, ensure your profile photo is professionally done and add your chosen keywords with your name before you upload it.

Be sure to complete your profile. Do not leave any blanks and the more information you can give out online the better.

Don’t forget to add a message or note that will appeal to your target audience. Think of your profile as your billboard. Make sure it is unique and that it highlights your unique selling point.

And most importantly, you need to tell your audience what to do so you need to insert a call to action statement.

8. Do not overlook email list

An email list is like treasure to any entrepreneur. Successful marketers will use email marketing as their go-to marketing tool.

It is important to start compiling an email list from the very start. All you need to do is use a call to action asking online traffic to subscribe or sign up for a newsletter or blog. There are plenty of platforms out there that make email marketing simple, such as MailChimp so you need to start working on getting those targetted emails.

In conclusion

In today’s digital world anyone can make money online or via social media.

The question is, how far are you willing to go to make it happen for you?

Just like any business venture, it needs careful planning and strategy. Luckily, there are many tools available online to help you formulate and execute a clear path to success.

The one great thing about social media is that you don’t even need a website or a laptop, as you can do all you need with a smartphone or any mobile device. Long gone are the days where you need to be desk-bound to start a business and make a profit – welcome to the future!

Don’t forget to visit StarCentral Web if you want more tips and tricks when it comes to making money from your website.

Business,Person,Think,Before,Make,Decision,To,Lay,Off,Employee

How To Make Over $5000 Per Month Publishing Kindle eBooks On Amazon

Posted on by admin

 

Did you know that you can make a LOT of money publishing Kindle eBooks on Amazon?

Here’s another question that might shock you, did you know that you can earn a lot of money writing Kindle eBooks without actually writing it??

Some people even earn over $100,000 a month, and I’m about to reveal the secret to making money from Kindle eBooks based on my own experience.

If you’re a pretty good writer who’s got a knack for words, then you may look at considering publishing Kindle eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle program because it can be pretty lucrative as long as you’re consistently churning out dozens of quality books.

Long gone are the days where you need to approach publishing companies to look at your book clinging to the hope that they’ll one day publish it. Nowadays, anyone can be a self-published author as long as you are willing to put forth the effort and a few tricks up your sleeve.

The beauty of publishing a digital/kindle book is that you don’t need a lot of money to publish, you just need a lot of time to write the books and market them the right way.

Publishing a digital/kindle book is similar to blogging – if you’re an author who sells a lot of books and gets a lot of positive reviews per book, then you are well on your way to cash kingdom.

I’ve actually earned a lot of money from publishing books on Amazon, and the thing to remember is that not every book is going to be a hit, some books will sell and some won’t. You just have to be consistent when it comes to publishing books and eventually, you’ll start seeing some results.

My first book was around 30,000 words, and it was a niche that is very popular in Amazon – romance.

I chose romance for my first book because after much research I discovered that romance is one of the most popular Kindle categories, so the market for romance books was huge.

Based on my research the most in-demand romance books involves super rich people like the dude from Fifty Shades of Grey, war romance and military men, love triangles and even vampires.

Writing my first book

I wrote a love story based on one of my previous relationships on a trial basis – I was involved in a love triangle at one point in my life, and the plot was juicy enough to turn into a book.

The book took me a few days to complete, and as soon as I finished it, I headed straight to Fiverr and got a book cover made for just $5. Once done I then uploaded the book to the Amazon Kindle store. I was shocked that I received many compliments about my awesome book cover when it only cost me $5 to get it done.

I sold maybe five copies in the first month and around 15 on the second which wasn’t too bad for a first book since I had no expectations whatsoever. But in the same breath, I wasn’t rushing to quit my fulltime job either. I also didn’t do any form of marketing for the book because I assumed Amazon is excellent when it comes to marketing its products via organic search.

After my first book, I wrote five more books on romance. They weren’t epic novels, so I managed to finish the five books in two weeks. It wasn’t anything like those Danielle Steel books with over 200,000 words. Mine were more like short novels ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 words. Four of them went on to make an average of $300 per month, but one of the books surprisingly made over $5,000 per month which was shocking because I didn’t think that specific book was the best out of the five books I wrote.

What drives sales in Amazon’s Kindle program

I discovered that making money on Kindle books boils down to two things: People tend to buy Kindle books based on how great your cover looks and a compelling book description. Funnily enough, the content comes third. Once you’ve hooked Amazon users with your eye-catching cover and enticing book description, then it’s up to your content to keep your audience mesmerized and keep Amazon users wanting more.

Let me put it to you this way, would you watch a movie if the trailer was crap? Of course not! Movie trailers are deal breakers when it comes to how a film will eventually perform in the box office hence the reason why movie producers shed a lot of money on their trailers.

Similar to Amazon, a weak book description is a sure sign that your book won’t ever have the chance of taking off because you need to establish a “hook.” Why would random strangers buy a book with a bland book description? You need to hook the readers in the first two sentences of your book description to keep them wanting more.

How to write a book without actually writing it

Since I was running a number of businesses at the time, I had no time to sit down and write books anymore, so what did I do?

I went to Fiverr and hired some ghostwriters!

Just in case you didn’t know, a ghostwriter is a person who is hired to write books that are officially credited to another person as the author. You’ll probably be shocked to discover that many big-time authors also hire ghostwriters themselves.

I know… shocking right?

First I sent out a press release in Fiverr, and around 20 ghostwriters responded. I chose five that I liked out of the applicants because the five writers I picked can really fill space, churn out paragraphs loaded with flowery words and make the book sound a lot slicker.

I discovered that a lot of authors make money from short stories with around 10,000 – 20,000 words so I decided to get in on that market. I created five different romance books in point form; they were around 4,000 words each – I submitted them to my ghostwriters, paid them $250 for each book and within a few weeks they’ve come up with five books with around 30,000 words each.

How much should you charge for your book?

I sold the books at around $2.95 each which is a price that most Amazon users would gladly pay because most people would hesitate to pay anything that’s more than $5. Amazon is the best platform for impulse buys so $2.95 is right up that alley.

Since it only took me a few hours each to create the five books, I didn’t feel bad about selling them at a much lower price. I also discovered that selling them in a bundle was also more lucrative so I decided to offer that as an alternative.

Prime Reading programme

Another option I tried was the Prime Reading programme. Prime Reading offers free access to subscribers similar to Netflix, and you’ll get paid based on pages read by Amazon users. You can earn decent money out of it, but I prefer the bundle route because I can earn much more.

I was easily making more than $5000 per month, and that’s with the help of cheap but talented ghostwriters, 5 dollar book covers, and attention-grabbing book descriptions.

I was even writing random books about random subjects like women’s shoes, parenting, baking, home improvement, etc.. As long as I could see a potential niche, If it’s a niche I could see making a book out of it I even hired professional editor on Fiverr around $100 to edit the books since I didn’t have time to edit the books anymore.

How to hit the bestseller list

Some of my books have surprisingly hit the bestseller list, and once that happens, you’ll see a lot more cash coming in.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a massive authority in your niche to be a best-selling author. It just means that you’ve reached the number one spot in any category. I’ve hit the bestseller list for some small categories but only for a few hours but those few hours should be enough to get more eyeballs on your book.

A secret trick to getting into the bestseller list is to place your book in specific categories that aren’t that competitive so that it’s a lot easier for your book to make it to the top. Case in point: when I chose romance as a category, I was competing with a million other books in the same category because this specific category is way too popular. When I switched to categories such as “Australian historical fiction” and “Religious Historical Fiction” – that’s when I was able to reach number one.

How to get more reviews for your book

Reviews are also critical when it comes to making money for your books because the more positive reviews your book has, the more chances people will buy it. It’s called social proofing – you’ll convince a lot more people to buy your books if hundreds of people had a positive experience out of it. The magic number is around 30 reviews, any book with 30 reviews and over has a better chance of getting sold.

Here’s how you can get more reviews for your book:

Once you’ve published a book, Amazon will give you the option of giving the book away for free for up to 5 days as a promotional tactic. You can send a link to people you know during this time and ask them to review your book.You can also

look at the reviewers of similar books within your niche – target your competitor’s reviewers.

To do this, you need to head to the review section of one of your competitors. Pick a reviewer who gave the book a positive

review, click the reviewers’ Amazon profile, and you’ll be able to see their contact information including an email address,

Facebook account, Twitter account, YouTube account as well as other SNS accounts.

Once you’ve got an email address, you can shoot them a friendly email telling them about yourself and your awesome book and give them a link to your free book. I used to have the time to do this, but now I just hire Book Razor to do it since this process takes forever to do and I just don’t have the time to do it anymore. The good thing is, once you’ve compiled your reviewer’s list you can just keep that list and keep those reviewers in the loop whenever your latest book has been released.

In conclusion

So in a nutshell, if you’re thinking of making money out of publishing Kindle books in Amazon, think Eye-catchy cover and breathtaking book description. Once you’ve gotten through these first two hurdles, then it’s up to your content to keep the readers coming back for more.

Did you know that you can make a LOT of money publishing Kindle eBooks on Amazon?

Here’s another question that might shock you, did you know that you can earn a lot of money writing Kindle eBooks without actually writing it??

Some people even earn over $100,000 a month, and I’m about to reveal the secret to making money from Kindle eBooks based on my own experience.

If you’re a pretty good writer who’s got a knack for words, then you may look at considering publishing Kindle eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle program because it can be pretty lucrative as long as you’re consistently churning out dozens of quality books.

Long gone are the days where you need to approach publishing companies to look at your book clinging to the hope that they’ll one day publish it. Nowadays, anyone can be a self-published author as long as you are willing to put forth the effort and a few tricks up your sleeve.

The beauty of publishing a digital/kindle book is that you don’t need a lot of money to publish, you just need a lot of time to write the books and market them the right way.

Publishing a digital/kindle book is similar to blogging – if you’re an author who sells a lot of books and gets a lot of positive reviews per book, then you are well on your way to cash kingdom.

I’ve actually earned a lot of money from publishing books on Amazon, and the thing to remember is that not every book is going to be a hit, some books will sell and some won’t. You just have to be consistent when it comes to publishing books and eventually, you’ll start seeing some results.

My first book was around 30,000 words, and it was a niche that is very popular in Amazon – romance.

I chose romance for my first book because after much research I discovered that romance is one of the most popular Kindle categories, so the market for romance books was huge.

Based on my research the most in-demand romance books involves super rich people like the dude from Fifty Shades of Grey, war romance and military men, love triangles and even vampires.

Writing my first book

I wrote a love story based on one of my previous relationships on a trial basis – I was involved in a love triangle at one point in my life, and the plot was juicy enough to turn into a book.

The book took me a few days to complete, and as soon as I finished it, I headed straight to Fiverr and got a book cover made for just $5. Once done I then uploaded the book to the Amazon Kindle store. I was shocked that I received many compliments about my awesome book cover when it only cost me $5 to get it done.

I sold maybe five copies in the first month and around 15 on the second which wasn’t too bad for a first book since I had no expectations whatsoever. But in the same breath, I wasn’t rushing to quit my fulltime job either. I also didn’t do any form of marketing for the book because I assumed Amazon is excellent when it comes to marketing its products via organic search.

After my first book, I wrote five more books on romance. They weren’t epic novels, so I managed to finish the five books in two weeks. It wasn’t anything like those Danielle Steel books with over 200,000 words. Mine were more like short novels ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 words. Four of them went on to make an average of $300 per month, but one of the books surprisingly made over $5,000 per month which was shocking because I didn’t think that specific book was the best out of the five books I wrote.

What drives sales in Amazon’s Kindle program

I discovered that making money on Kindle books boils down to two things: People tend to buy Kindle books based on how great your cover looks and a compelling book description. Funnily enough, the content comes third. Once you’ve hooked Amazon users with your eye-catching cover and enticing book description, then it’s up to your content to keep your audience mesmerized and keep Amazon users wanting more.

Let me put it to you this way, would you watch a movie if the trailer was crap? Of course not! Movie trailers are deal breakers when it comes to how a film will eventually perform in the box office hence the reason why movie producers shed a lot of money on their trailers.

Similar to Amazon, a weak book description is a sure sign that your book won’t ever have the chance of taking off because you need to establish a “hook.” Why would random strangers buy a book with a bland book description? You need to hook the readers in the first two sentences of your book description to keep them wanting more.

How to write a book without actually writing it

Since I was running a number of businesses at the time, I had no time to sit down and write books anymore, so what did I do?

I went to Fiverr and hired some ghostwriters!

Just in case you didn’t know, a ghostwriter is a person who is hired to write books that are officially credited to another person as the author. You’ll probably be shocked to discover that many big-time authors also hire ghostwriters themselves.

I know… shocking right?

First I sent out a press release in Fiverr, and around 20 ghostwriters responded. I chose five that I liked out of the applicants because the five writers I picked can really fill space, churn out paragraphs loaded with flowery words and make the book sound a lot slicker.

I discovered that a lot of authors make money from short stories with around 10,000 – 20,000 words so I decided to get in on that market. I created five different romance books in point form; they were around 4,000 words each – I submitted them to my ghostwriters, paid them $250 for each book and within a few weeks they’ve come up with five books with around 30,000 words each.

How much should you charge for your book?

I sold the books at around $2.95 each which is a price that most Amazon users would gladly pay because most people would hesitate to pay anything that’s more than $5. Amazon is the best platform for impulse buys so $2.95 is right up that alley.

Since it only took me a few hours each to create the five books, I didn’t feel bad about selling them at a much lower price. I also discovered that selling them in a bundle was also more lucrative so I decided to offer that as an alternative.

Prime Reading programme

Another option I tried was the Prime Reading programme. Prime Reading offers free access to subscribers similar to Netflix, and you’ll get paid based on pages read by Amazon users. You can earn decent money out of it, but I prefer the bundle route because I can earn much more.

I was easily making more than $5000 per month, and that’s with the help of cheap but talented ghostwriters, 5 dollar book covers, and attention-grabbing book descriptions.

I was even writing random books about random subjects like women’s shoes, parenting, baking, home improvement, etc.. As long as I could see a potential niche, If it’s a niche I could see making a book out of it I even hired professional editor on Fiverr around $100 to edit the books since I didn’t have time to edit the books anymore.

How to hit the bestseller list

Some of my books have surprisingly hit the bestseller list, and once that happens, you’ll see a lot more cash coming in.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a massive authority in your niche to be a best-selling author. It just means that you’ve reached the number one spot in any category. I’ve hit the bestseller list for some small categories but only for a few hours but those few hours should be enough to get more eyeballs on your book.

A secret trick to getting into the bestseller list is to place your book in specific categories that aren’t that competitive so that it’s a lot easier for your book to make it to the top. Case in point: when I chose romance as a category, I was competing with a million other books in the same category because this specific category is way too popular. When I switched to categories such as “Australian historical fiction” and “Religious Historical Fiction” – that’s when I was able to reach number one.

How to get more reviews for your book

Reviews are also critical when it comes to making money for your books because the more positive reviews your book has, the more chances people will buy it. It’s called social proofing – you’ll convince a lot more people to buy your books if hundreds of people had a positive experience out of it. The magic number is around 30 reviews, any book with 30 reviews and over has a better chance of getting sold.

Here’s how you can get more reviews for your book:

Once you’ve published a book, Amazon will give you the option of giving the book away for free for up to 5 days as a promotional tactic. You can send a link to people you know during this time and ask them to review your book.You can also

look at the reviewers of similar books within your niche – target your competitor’s reviewers.

To do this, you need to head to the review section of one of your competitors. Pick a reviewer who gave the book a positive

review, click the reviewers’ Amazon profile, and you’ll be able to see their contact information including an email address,

Facebook account, Twitter account, YouTube account as well as other SNS accounts.

Once you’ve got an email address, you can shoot them a friendly email telling them about yourself and your awesome book and give them a link to your free book. I used to have the time to do this, but now I just hire Book Razor to do it since this process takes forever to do and I just don’t have the time to do it anymore. The good thing is, once you’ve compiled your reviewer’s list you can just keep that list and keep those reviewers in the loop whenever your latest book has been released.

In conclusion

So in a nutshell, if you’re thinking of making money out of publishing Kindle books in Amazon, think Eye-catchy cover and breathtaking book description. Once you’ve gotten through these first two hurdles, then it’s up to your content to keep the readers coming back for more.

Business,Person,Think,Before,Make,Decision,To,Lay,Off,Employee

10 Crucial Mistakes You Could Be Making Selling Blog Sponsorship

Posted on by admin

Let’s face it; selling sponsorship to a potential client is not an easy task because a lot of small businesses these days don’t really have a marketing budget.

In a nutshell, getting sponsors boils down to two things: offering something of value and building rapport.

So what are some crucial mistakes a lot of website owners make when it comes to selling sponsorship? Read on and find out.

1. Not contacting the right person

It’s quite obvious that if you want to sell sponsorship to a company you need to find the right person to talk to – the decision-maker.

Think about it, why would you bother pitching your offer to the receptionist when that person wouldn’t know what to do with your proposal??

If you’re pitching your blog/website to a company, you need to reach out to the head of the marketing department or possibly even the brand manager. Approaching the CEO or managing director directly may not be the best idea either because most of the time those guys are extremely busy.

2. Antagonizing Potential Sponsors

A lot of entrepreneurs think that antagonizing is an excellent way to seal the deal with a potential sponsor.

WRONG.

Don’t ever create a sense of urgency if there’s no sense of urgency.

Spitting out a line like “Hi Tony, the website sponsorship deal I’m offering you is for a limited time only, if you don’t take it now I would have to give it to someone else” is an epic FAIL.

First of all, keep in mind that you’re the one that needs their business not the other way around. Secondly, if you’re talking to the CEO or the marketing manager, you have to assume that this person is smart so they’ll probably end up laughing off your bullying tactics.

Just be courteous when you’re presenting your pitch, building rapport and lasting relationship go a long a way.

3. Allowing the Potential Sponsor to dictate the price

Most entrepreneurs and marketing managers are very savvy when it comes to getting value for their money. They want to milk any deal as much as they can for as low as they possibly can.

Don’t let a savvy CEO talk you into lowering down your offer to the point that the offer is just plain ridiculous.

It’s quite fine to negotiate and give a bit of a discount, but you need to put your foot down at some point otherwise if the word gets around, other businesses would want to get the same deal from you which could be very bad for business.

Try and price your packages above your actual price as well so that you have room for negotiations and to give potential sponsors the illusion that you’re offering a huge discount.

4. Pricing your offer too Low

If you’re pricing your offer a lot lower than what it costs to maintain your website, then it’s either you’re on crack, or you’re living in la-la land.

If you’re spending $500 a month to hire writers for your website, it’s pretty silly to start selling sponsorship space on your site for a measly $50.

Do your maths. Sort out your budget first before you start negotiating with other businesses. Having a clear indication of your expenses goes a long way.

5. Failing to give potential sponsors sufficient time

Setting deadlines are always smart, but you need to take into account that the bigger the company is, the harder it is to request sponsorship and funding as the money has to go through a lot of channels.

Corporate sponsors usually take time to get the funding sorted and are traditionally quite delayed with payment because the funding has to go through a lot of hands and approvals.

Make sure you allocate enough time for your sponsors to come up with the money and be courteous when you’re chasing payment. No one likes to deal with someone who sounds straight out of a debt collecting agency.

6. Not offering long-term contracts

Offering just a one-off sponsorship for your blog or website is not the way to go.

Why secure a one-time sponsorship when you can secure residual income for the next 2 to 3 years?

When you start designing your sponsorship packages, try to come up with a one-year and even two or three-year contracts.

This is a guarantee that there’s going to be funding for your website in the next two to three years.

7. Giving up

Did a potential sponsor just shut you down?

Don’t fret; it happens to the best of us. Don’t burn any bridges though; there’s no harm in calling your contact again and touching base – maybe telling them later that you have a great deal they might be interested in? You never know what can happen. Just make sure you give plenty of time in between these requests.

Don’t be that person who still follows up every week even though the business head has already said no. You’ll sound like one of those annoying lead generation telemarketers who keep calling until you give in.

8. Not doing your research

The dumbest thing you can ever do when you’re pitching something to a prospective client is not researching them.

How can you try to pitch something to a potential sponsor when you don’t even know what their business is all about??

I recommend going through their website and social media pages and learning more about their business.

Who’s their target market?

Is their website or social media pages lacking anything?

How can you improve their website and their business?

What value can you provide this business to get them to sign with you?

You need to study a business thoroughly and tailor a package that’ll suit their needs. You can point out what’s lacking in their business and offer an actionable solution.

Maybe their website is not optimized?

Maybe no one is managing their social media pages properly?

You need to explain to the potential sponsor why they need your business and what value you can provide.

9. lame marketing materials

Another stupid thing you can do is approach a potential client with a dumbass looking proposal.

Do you think you can secure a deal with a marketing material that looks like it was designed by a 10-year-old and has grammar and spelling errors everywhere??

Or can you really see your blog getting sponsors even though it looks like it came straight out of the 50’s?

Get outta here!

If you want to secure high-end sponsors, then you need a decent looking blog and topnotch looking marketing materials – it’s as simple as that. The more professional you look, the more they’ll trust you with their money.

10. Failing to discuss expectations

Once you’ve signed a sponsor, it doesn’t mean you can drop the ball and neglect them since they’re already on board.

Once you’ve signed them, you have to do everything in your power to make them feel like a VIP so that they end up sponsoring your blog over and over again.

Make sure you keep the sponsor in the loop and exceed their expectations. You don’t want to lose a significant sponsor just because you failed to meet their expectations.

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How To Use Free Data From Google To TRIPLE Your Profits

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Editorial credit: Alexey Boldin / Shutterstock.com

Let’s face it; most businesses have set up Google Analytics on their websites but then they rarely review it nor use it to laser-focus on their target market or understand their website’s performance.

To put it simply, how else are you going to drive revenue on your website if you don’t have a clear indication of who your customers are??

I’ve always been a massive fan of Google Analytics.

Why?

Because Google Analytics will provide you with extremely detailed and valuable information about your website and your actual customers and the best thing about it is – it’s FREE! Which is perfect for cheapskate entrepreneurs like myself because “free” is my middle name.

Now Google analytics may just be the best damn tool to laser-focus on your customers, but the reality is, there’s just so much information on it that it’s easy for most entrepreneurs who don’t use it often to get overwhelmed.

So to help out my fellow entrepreneurs find out exactly who their target market is and help them triple their profits, here are 8 essential ways to laser-focus on your target market using Google Analytics.

1. Use Real-Time report

The Real-Time reports section in Google Analytics will actually allow you to examine activity on your website as it happens from moment-to-moment. This report is perfect for measuring your audience’s reaction to a new campaign or piece of content published on your website.

Keep in mind that your website would only qualify for the Real-Time reports section if it has activated an event or pageview within the past 5 minutes. To view your website’s Real-Time reports data, head to the Reporting tab and select Real-Time from the left-hand report navigation column as per below. The report is divided into six sections.

Overview

The Overview section is the big picture of the current activity on your website. Such as how many visitors your website has at the moment, which pages are they reading,  what’s your top traffic sources and what country your active users based in.

Locations

The Locations report lets you know which countries your active visitors are from. You can actually filter your data by country by either clicking one of the options in the list or on one of the points on the map.

Traffic Sources

The Traffic Sources report will help you determine what websites your current visitors are coming from. The detailed data is organized by Medium, Source and the number of active visitors from each one.

Content

The Content report demonstrates which actual pages your current visitors are spending time on, which includes the page URL, the page title and the percent of active visitors that are on each page.

Events

The Events report allows businesses to create custom events for the purpose of interactions on their website, which includes button clicks, downloads, video plays and ad clicks.

Conversions

The Conversions report will give you an indication of which goals active users are completing. You’ll be able to find out the total number and percentage of active users who have completed a goal.

2. Create Goals

Here’s the definition of Goals according to Google Analytics:

“Goals measure how well your site or app fulfils your target objectives. A goal represents a completed activity, called a conversion, that contributes to the success of your business. Examples of goals include making a purchase (for an e-commerce site), completing a game level (for a mobile gaming app), or submitting a contact information form (for a marketing or lead generation site).

“Defining goals is a fundamental component of any digital analytics measurement plan. Having properly configured goals allows Analytics to provide you with critical information, such as the number of conversions and the conversion rate for your site or app. Without this information, it’s almost impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of your online business and marketing campaigns.”

Basically, the Google Analytics goals measures how and when people complete specific actions that you want them to complete. Once you’ve created a goal you can then start measuring the Google Analytics data against your goals. If your data is looking good, then obviously you’re successfully achieving your goals.

3. Find out your highest performing keywords

For the newbies out there, keywords are vital for every website as they actually drive targeted traffic to your website for free. In a nutshell, keywords are the words and phrases that Internet users type into the search box of a search engine like Google to find out what websites match what they are looking for.

Discovering your highest performing keywords is very important to the success of your website because it’ll help you figure out what people are searching to find you, you can take advantage of those keywords to reach a wider audience.

To find out what your best performing keywords are, you need to go to Acquisition > Overview and keep scrolling down until you see this:

You need to then click on “Organic Search”

and then keep scrolling down until you see this Keyword box and there you have it – you’ve just identified the top performing keywords that are driving traffic to your website.

4. Know your audience’s demographics

Did you know that Google Analytics can give you a detailed look at the age and gender ranges of your audience?

All you have to do is navigate to Audience > Demographics > Overview in the reporting tab.

You can also find out where your readers are based in the world and what language they speak. All you have to do is navigate to Audience > Geo > Location.

5. Know who your active audience is

The Audience reports provide insight into the characteristics of your customers. You can actually track active users for increments of 1, 7, 14, and 30 days, and by looking at this report you’ll be able to determine the level of user enthusiasm for your website.

6. Find out how people are finding your website

Google Analytics can actually tell you how people are finding your website. It’s got “Referral” which is a page that leads people to your website. If someone clicked on a link on a blog post and they end up on your website, that blog post’s URL would be the referral.

Here’s how you find out how people are ending up on your website. In the left-hand column, click on Acquisition > All Traffic > Referrals. If you scroll down you’ll see the websites that are sending traffic to your website.

This tool will help you determine what other websites are driving traffic to your website. Knowing where your website traffic is coming from can help you laser-focus on what sort of marketing strategy you can implement to make sure these readers keep visiting your website.

7. Figure out why your bounce rate is so high

Bounce rate is the number of visits to your website in which a person leaves your website from the landing page without browsing the rest of your website any further.

Your website’s “bounce rate” is the percentage of visitors who come to your website’s landing page but then leave without engaging with any content or clicking through to another page.

According to Google Analytics Guru Avinash Kausik it’s almost impossible to get a bounce rate under 20%, anything above 35% is a cause for concern and anything above 50% is a massive red flag. Low bounce rate is usually an indication that visitor engagement on your website is good and of course, high bounce ratings is worrying.

If you want to figure out why visitors are bouncing from your website then Navigate to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages.

Click on Secondary Dimension > Acquisition and type in Source/Medium.

Lastly, click on Unique Page views to sort your web pages by popularity so that the most popular pages will appear on the top then check the bounce rates for each page.

If you have high bounce rates on any popular pages then that’s a huge red flag because that usually means that people are visiting that specific page but they’re bouncing off because they are not finding what they’re looking for.

You can improve the bounce rate on your website by targetting keywords with high-value traffic,  great content, avoiding pop-ups and creating an amazing call-to-action.

Google Analytics is an amazing tool that goes into tremendous detail, with almost any metric you can think of. I’m a huge fan of this tool because it’s totally FREE and you can get so much insight into your customers online.

It may take you a while to get used to using Google Analytics, but as long as you keep at it you’ll eventually see the fruits of your labour.

Editorial credit: Alexey Boldin / Shutterstock.com 

 

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The Complete Guide To Choosing The Best Social Media Platform For Your Business

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Have you ever wondered Which social media platform is best for your business since there are so many out there?

Let’s face it, with the birth of social media platforms, laser-focusing on your prospective customers is so much easier than ten years ago. Small businesses now have the ability to market directly to their customers and reach out to them on a more personal level and at a fraction of the usual advertising price.

The beauty of social media is that it suits frugal entrepreneurs like myself. You don’t need to splash out a ton of money in advertising anymore to reach out to your prospective customers, you just need to be social media savvy and you’ll be able to reach your target market for FREE which means there’s more money in your pockets.

Cha-ching!

But how do you know which social media platforms are the best fit for your business? Which platform would effectively help you deliver an effective online marketing strategy? Well first, you have to familiarise yourself with how each platform works and then you can make a decision.

That said, below is a list of the seven best social media platforms that are widely used by other businesses.

1. Facebook

What type of business should use it: Every single business you can think of because everyone is on it even your cats and dogs.

With more than 2 billion users, Facebook is the undisputed king of social media platforms.

It’s an incredible social media platform that can connect businesses to its prospective customers from all over the world. Facebook is quite honestly the best equipped social media platform to spark interaction and conversation out Of all the other social media platforms out there.

Facebook also provides you with incredible data that’ll help you laser-focus on your target market. From age to relationship status, to hobbies and interests, you can literally zero in on your audience and serve them with content that’ll appeal to their needs.

One of the best things you can do on Facebook is to create a Facebook page for your business wherein Facebook can provide you with detailed data on how your audience is engaging with your brand. The data is so detailed that Facebook can even tell you what time of day it is best for you to reach your audience.

Keep in mind that you should never make your Facebook page look like a massive billboard advertising your business though. Rather, you should use it to engage with your customers and talk to them on a more personal level so that they’ll actively engage with your brand on a constant basis.

2. Instagram

What type of business should use it: fashion, events, travel, luxury brands, food, Lifestyle – basically any business that has a visually driven marketing strategy.

According to SEO guru Neil Patel, more than 800 million people all over the world use Instagram on a constant basis so it’s another force to be reckoned with next to Facebook.

Did you know that Instagrammers also use Instagram to shop?

According to Statista, Instagram will apparently generate $6.84 billion in mobile ad revenue in 2018 which is a massive increase from the $1.86 billion that they generated back in 2016.

Brands also receive four times more engagement on Instagram than they do on Facebook and as many as 14% of users are likely to buy items directly from Instagram itself.

So whether you just want to increase your revenue and sell your products directly to people or you just want to increase your brand’s exposure, Instagram should definitely be included in your list of social media platforms to include in your online marketing strategy.

3. Twitter

What type of business should use it: Every single business you can think of as well.

We all know that Twitter is Donald Trump’s favorite social media platform and so does a host of celebrities, but besides the obvious, this social media platform is also a huge asset in any entrepreneur’s social media strategy.

Twitter is the fastest way to get your message out there. Your aim as an entrepreneur is to use Twitter to deliver tweets that’ll hopefully encourage more people to share your posts and “retweet” your content resulting in more followers.

A majority of the biggest businesses and media companies use Twitter to announce press releases and post the latest news and updates.Hashtags are a huge deal on Twitter so you need to pay attention to what’s currently trending so that you can include relevant hashtags in your tweets.

4. YouTube

What type of business should use it: Businesses with video content. It’s great for businesses who want to establish their authority in their field by providing video tutorials.

YouTube is owned by Google and the second largest search engine which is the big reason why you need to tap on the power of YouTube if you want your business to thrive.

Furthermore, since Google owns YouTube, this social media platform is perfect if you want your website to be search engine friendly.

Did you notice that videos are more likely to appear in Google search results than any other websites? That’s another big reason why you need to include YoUTube in your social media strategy.

5. Pinterest

What type of business should use it: fashion, events, travel, luxury brands, food, Lifestyle – perfect for businesses who have female customers.

Pinterest is a bookmarking website and is actually one of the most popular social media platforms and most visited websites in the world. It has over 100 million active users and how it works is that people can pretty much “pin” whatever they found online on their Pinterest “boards.” People can either share their bookmarks, save it for later and you can also use the Pinterest search bar to find out what other people are bookmarking.

This social media platform is perfect for fashion retailers as it is visually driven and if you have some amazing high-quality images to share they are likely to go viral on this website. Same as with any other platform, if your image gets pinned by a member with a huge following then it has the potential to be viewed by millions of people.

Pinning and re-pinning on this social media platform frequently are quite necessary if you want your images to appear repeatedly within the results for a given search term.

6. Yelp

What type of business should use it: bloggers, restaurants, stores, travel – basically brick-and-mortar outlets

Yelp is very important for entrepreneurs because it can make or break your business.

You need to have a strategy in place that can help your business receive favorable reviews.You probably need to provide an incentive for your customers to leave positive reviews for you on Yelp just in case you have a bad one – at least the number of positive reviews can drown out the negative one.

Pay close attention to keywords when it comes to updating your information on Yelp because Yelp listings appear quite prominently in Google searches for local businesses. You need to constantly monitor customer feedback about your business and respond to any concerns a reviewer had so that your customers know that you care what they think.

A smart but sneaky tactic for Yelp is to offer your customers a discount on their next order if they decide to review your business. That should drive some positive reviews your way.

7. LinkedIn

What type of business should use it: Recruiters and B2B (business to business) service providers – it’s also perfect for Job-Seekers

This social media platform is perfect if your business is in the B2B field.

LinkedIn enables you to target businesses by industry, job title, and many others and it’s also about building connections and relationships similar to other social media platforms.

An awesome feature of LinkedIn is LinkedIn Groups wherein you can create groups in your niche or industry and then invite others related to your industry to join.

Businesses that are seeking clients or job seekers seeking employment should grow their LinkedIn networks by adding as many authentic connections as possible. You can also use your second and third-degree connections to possibly request personal introductions to enable you to gain some real connections.

8. Google+

What type of business should use it: bloggers, B2B service providers, and businesses who are already on the other major social networks

Google+ is Google’s answer to Facebook. Since this is a Google initiative, the use of keywords and search engine optimization techniques work well on this platform. If you have a Google+ account just make sure you often link to your website to maximize traffic potential.

You can also set up Google Authorship to enable your Google+ profile to follow your content from across the Web in the search results.

A search engine’s goal is to surface the best, most relevant results for your search query. The way they do that (after considering relevancy) is largely through evaluating authority and popularity signals.

Generally speaking, that means older websites that have been around and publishing on the same topic day in and day out for years tend to get the benefit of the doubt (over a brand new upstart).

Here’s a perfect example. Type in any search query into Google right now. Let’s do “grow a website,” because that’s generally what we’re talking about.

That doesn’t mean you should expect SEO to deliver new customers overnight suddenly.

One day it might, but right now, there’s going to be a tiny trickle (if any). There definitely won’t be enough to lift your business off the ground.

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19 Incredible Facebook Statistics Every Entrepreneur MUST Know

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Editorial credit: Miss Ty / Shutterstock.com

With over a billion active users logging into Facebook daily, Facebook remains to be the undisputed king of social media platforms.

That’s why if you’re planning to drive sales to your business or traffic to your website then you definitely need to incorporate Facebook in your marketing strategy. If you’re still doubting what I just said because of all the new social media platforms out there that are popping up like mushrooms which seem cooler and hipper, here are seven actionable Facebook statistics from Wordstream that might change your mind.

1. 50 million businesses use Facebook Pages.

2.There are around 400 new users signing up for a Facebook account every minute. 

3. Users access their Facebook accounts at an average of eight times per day.

4. 35 million people update their statuses on Facebook every single day.

5. Facebook Messenger alone has over 1.2 billion monthly active users.

6. As of June 30, 2017, Facebook has a whopping 2.01 billion monthly active users.

7. Facebook is apparently the “most important” social platform for marketers.

Now that I’ve thrown in some mind-boggling stats, here are a few more statistics from Wordstream that will prove to you that Facebook is a marketing force to be reckoned with.

8. 36% of users confirm that they are Facebook friends with their neighbors, 83% of parents with a teen between the ages of 13 and 17 say that they are friends with their child on Facebook and 58% confirm they are connected to their work colleagues in Facebooks. Which means that pretty much EVERYONE is on Facebook so if you target a specific type of consumer you’ll be able to target their family, friends and even work colleagues as well.

9. Thursdays and Fridays between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. are considered by many to be the best times to post on Facebook so if you’re thinking of posting a new content from your website or Facebook page try to stick within these timeframes for maximum engagement.

10. 57% of consumers confirm that social media influences their shopping which is aptly led by Facebook at 44%. This means that if you have an online store then Facebook is the best bet when it comes to possibly doubling your revenue.

11. Facebook Pages with smaller followings generally have a higher reach and engagement rates which means that even it’s quality over quantity. Even if you have a small following on your Facebook page, as long as your followers engage with your brand on a constant basis then you’ll be well on your way to making a decent money online.

12. User-generated content tends to generate 6.9 times the engagement of brand-generated content which means that if your customers love your product and decided to be vocal about it online, they’ll most likely get their families and friends to like your brand as well.

13. The most effective length for an ad title on Facebook is four words to fifteen words for a link description so just make sure that you keep your ad titles short and sweet for maximum engagement.

14. Images account for 75-90% of Facebook Ad performance so if you’re planning to release a Facebook ad then you need a visually captivating image to draw potential customers to your brand.

15. 26% of Facebook users who clicked on a Facebook ad reportedly made a purchase so this is proof that Facebook ads do work as long as you know how to create an effective Facebook ad.

16. 83% of women and 75% of men use Facebook, 83% of Facebook users worldwide are under the age of 45, 44% of Facebook users 18 and older are women. while 56% are men and 39% of Facebook users are married, while another 39% are single. These are actionable statistics that you can use to laser-focus on your target market and increase your sales.

17. Facebook is the preferred social platform of supermarket shoppers, in fact, 89% use it. Which means that Facebook is a goldmine for supermarket owners.

18. Facebook gets over 8 billion average daily video views, over 75% of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2020 and videos earn the highest engagement rate which means that if you’re serious about marketing your business then you should look at incorporating videos in your marketing strategy.

19. 42% of Facebook fans “like” a page with designs of getting a coupon or discount so if you want more likes on your Facebook page it’s probably a good idea to promote discounts as a marketing strategy.

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The 5 Most Profitable Blog Niches For Making Money Online

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Contrary to the general opinion that successful people are successful because they followed their passions and found niches that they were passionate about – it’s about time I finally set the records straight. Since most of the people don’t exactly know what they’re passionate about, they never end up finding that “magical” niche and that holds thousands of bloggers and entrepreneurs back from making any real money online.

Here’s the single biggest tip I can give you when it comes to choosing a profitable niche to blog about:

NEVER focus all of your energy in looking for a specific profitable niche.

Instead, focus on determining a problem and figuring out a solution.

It’s that simple.

There are in fact people out there who are making an insane amount of money from their blogs. Some of these internet superstars have monthly incomes that are wayyy higher than the annual income of big-time executives. And I’m not just talking about a few thousand dollars per month, I’m referring to the big whales who are raking in more than $100,000 per month!

Leaving most of us to wonder – how in the world did they get to that point??

I can give you five simple reasons why:

– They have identified a problem and developed a solution.

– They are constantly finding ways to make life easier for everyone.

– They write search engine friendly articles – which means that their articles rank better in search engines.

– Their blogs provide high-quality content. No website or blog can EVER succeed without providing great content. Do any of you remember the good old days when content length or quality was not a factor in the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? Unfortunately, those good old days of simpler content that rank high is long gone.

– They are consistent when it comes to continuously providing high-value content. Most people who start a blog don’t actually follow through and lose heart when they see that their blogs aren’t making any real progress. Most people, unfortunately, forget the fact that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a long-term game, as long as you continue to write high-value content and build links, you’ll eventually see progress. You won’t always see results straight away, but as long as you consistently produce great content and wait patiently for 4 to 7 months, you’ll eventually start seeing the fruits of your labor.

Forbes has identified a number of bloggers who are making at least $1 million dollars in annual revenue and here are four great examples out of the lot:

Tuts+

This blog earns around $175,000 per month and it provides amazing tutorials for newbies that are looking to learn how to code.

Smashing Magazine

This blog earns around $215,000 per month and it offers high-value content to newbies that are looking to get into web design and web development.

CopyBlogger

This blog earns around $1,000,000 per month and it provides some of the most practical online marketing advice in the world.

Moz

This blog earns around $4,250,000 per month and it offers high-value content about search engine optimization. It’s considered the authority when it comes to Search Engine Optimization.

Can you see the pattern?

These blogs are consistently making an obscene amount of money simply because they have identified problems and they kept providing high-value solutions day in and day out.

Now let’s get back to why you’re really reading this article – so what are the most profitable blog niches? Here they are in no particular order.

Cars

You’ll be surprised how lucrative blogging about cars can be. The best car blogs out there lets consumers compare vehicle specs and prices, get the most recent news about cars and display photos and videos faster than the much larger media outlets out there. Car Advice, for example, has a monthly income of $125,000. Alborz Fallah started Car Advice as a hobby, so he has an excuse to test drive cars and write reviews about them. But now it is one of Australia’s top motoring sites, and one of Australia’s biggest blogs overall.

Personal Finance

Personal finance includes topics such as income, taxation, insurance, real estate, mutual funds, equities, loans, home finance, mortgage as well as a number of finance and wealth-related aspects for people. You could blog about how to invest well and wisely and make more money in the process. Tell readers how to save money and how to earn more money by doing side-jobs. The point is that making money and saving at the same time is always an attractive concept. Michelle of makingsenseofcents.com is an example of a successful personal finance blogger. She blogs about how to save money and make more money and she earns over 140,000 a month. MoneySavingExpert.com has a monthly income to the tune of $1.3 million. It was created by UK financial journalist Martin Lewis back in 2003 and the website offers tips and advice on all aspects of personal finance, with a bigger focus on saving consumers’ money.

Fashion

The dual benefits of being a fashion blogger are that you’re guaranteed to make money in this niche and you’ll also get a chance to enjoy yourself at a number of high-end beauty and fashion events. YouTube, being a visual platform, is a great way to make headway- and from there, the sky is the limit for building out on your blogs. The world’s most successful fashion bloggers get to travel the world for free, get incredible designer clothes for free, constantly have people shower them with gifts and earn millions of dollars annually so I’m pretty sure their not complaining. Bloggers like Pink Peonies’ Rachel Parcell, Song of Style’s Aimee Song, The Blonde Salad’s Chiara Ferragni, Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine, and Into the Gloss’ Emily Weiss are just some examples of fashion bloggers who belong in the Millionaires’ Club.

Food

Let’s face it; everybody eats and everybody loves good food. There are a number of food blogs out there that are earning big money and that’s through providing recipes and tutorials. Pinch of Yum is a great example of a food blog. It has a monthly income of $95,000 and it’s, of course, a cooking and recipe blog as the name suggests. According to Blogging.com, the blog is run by elementary school teacher Lindsay Ostrom and her husband Bjork, and the website is monetized through a combination of advertising, sponsored content, affiliate links as well as an onsite shop selling food products and kitchen equipment.

Make money online

Let’s face it, EVERYONE wants to be rich. Hence the reason why the internet is teeming with blogs that teach you how to make money. Here’s a great tip if you want to blog about making money online – treat your blogging as an explorative journey and you’ll be surprised at how much you discover. It can start off slow, but it’s guaranteed to pay in the end. Smart Passive Income is a great example of a successful blog that rakes in a lot in this niche. It has a monthly income of $148,000 and it teaches you how to create an online product or awesome content and then monetize it. Pat Flynn, the man behind Smart Passive Income earns money through a mixture of affiliate links, sponsorship, and selling courses and ebooks. Smart blogger is another example of a successful make money online blog and it earns to the tune of $100,000 per month. The blog is dedicated to advising bloggers how to make their website a smashing success.

The above ideas are just some examples of starters to trigger those gray cells of yours – there are seriously hundreds of niches out others that are equally as effective. The sum and essence of this article though are to start broad – that gives you room to move about without being stifled. Over time, you can niche up or niche down- the point is to create enough sub and over- niches.

A famous person once said, “ you’re confined only by the wall that you build yourself.” Therefore, don’t build walls, build open spaces instead that can encompass flavored blogs that have your signature. I bet that you’ll gradually find what you’re good at and will also learn to be good at what you do.

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How An Instagram Model Generated Over A MILLION Dollars From Instagram

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Who would have ever imagined that in this day and age you could actually rake in millions just by using Instagram??

With over 800 million active monthly users, Instagram is one heck of a powerful marketing tool. And for frugal internet marketers like myself – the word ‘free’ is music to my ears so that I can maximize a marketing campaign’s profit potential.

I recently came across marketing Guru Neil Patel’s blog the other day and in one of his blog posts, he did a case study on a small business that ended up raking millions by leveraging the power of Instagram.

The case study revolved around Jessica Killings, the girlfriend of Dan Fleyshman who happens to be the co-founder of a company called Uwheels.

Jessica generated over a million dollars in revenue to Uwheels by using one single tactic: using Instagram influencers.

Granted, she did spend a considerable amount of money for this marketing campaign to work, but it was all worth it in the end because the company’s profit more than tripled due to her brilliant marketing campaign.

Here’s how she did it:

1. First, she commissioned a number of Instagram influencers such as Instagram models, athletes, rappers and singers to post about Uwheels when the product was initially released. Basically, she created a massive buzz around the product by getting a lot of influential people talk about it at the same time.

2. She focused on an effective message that would make the product unique compared to its many competitors so that the product would stand out from the rest of the pack. The message she used was, “Got my @Uwheels with the alarm and the Bluetooth speaker system. @Uwheels.” Check out the example below.

3. She continued to keep the buzz going by making sure that the Instagram influencers she commissioned kept posting about Uwheels in the coming months. This ensured that the buzz around the product kept on lingering even after the initial launch.

4. Besides Instagram she also commissioned Facebook pages of models with huge followings – she paid them cents for every click they drove to the Uwheels product. Now, this may have cost money to pay off models but in hindsight, it’s still a heck of a lot cheaper than paying for ads.

Bottom-line: Instagram is a force to be reckoned with. You can either keep up with Instagram or go back to the 80’s and call it a day.

With over 800 million monthly active users, Instagram actually ranks higher than other social media sites such as Tumblr, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest or LinkedIn.

People in general love visual-driven content so it would be a smart marketing move to include Instagram in your marketing efforts especially.

What about you? How have you used Instagram to increase revenue in your business?

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Five Basic Online Marketing Tactics That Are Guaranteed To Supercharge Your Business

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Let’s face it; internet marketing is becoming an integral part of most of the businesses today.

If you want to ensure that your company holds a strong position in your market, then using web marketing in the right manner becomes essential. Running a business in the 21st century is not a piece of cake and requires immense effort, hard work, and creativity. To attract consumers, nothing works better than effective marketing and no other marketing medium is better than the internet of course. Below are some examples vital internet marketing techniques that are guaranteed to give more money in your pockets.

1. Less is Actually More

Fortunately or unfortunately, most of the people today are not into reading. They would not even enjoy longer videos or messages; therefore, it has become very important to keep everything concise and straight to the point. By doing this, your message will reach a wider number of audiences and will be more impactful as well. For example, instead of writing a 200-word article about online marketing – why not create a 2-minute video instead?

2. Make People Come to You

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of traffic to your website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo and many more. In a nutshell, it’s making your website “Google-friendly.” It never goes out of fashion and neither does it fail to be an effective marketing strategy. Making people themselves come to your company, service, or product is one of the strongest moves one can make while being in the industry.

3. Adopt Diversity in Social Media Marketing

Relying only on just the social media giants is not a good option at the end of the day. Although biggies like Facebook and LinkedIn do provide your company with a very strong platform, you should never forget the emerging entities which have managed to gain a significant position in the market. With options like Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest in the market, you need to clearly become familiar with the nature of your business and use the right kind of social media platform for marketing it.

4. Mobile Friendly Content is a Necessity

Laptops and personal computers have taken a back seat with the advent of Smartphones. There is nothing that cannot be done with the help of your thumb; therefore, more and more people go for this convenient way. If your website is not compatible with mobile then you are missing out on putting more money in your pockets.

5. Videos are a Instant Hit

Short and meaningful videos will promptly click with the audiences and will give away a lot of information in a limited time which other means are not able to deliver. If your video manages to talk about the most important points in an effective way then it will be able to make you reach wider audiences in a short time.

Internet marketing is available to everyone who makes it essential to be unique and different in its use. Come up with strategies which are innovative and I guarantee that it pave new paths of success for your business.

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90% Of Startups Fail: Here’s 3 Of The Biggest Reasons Why

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Let’s face it; starting your new business is never easy because you’re investing time, money and resources on a ‘hunch’. In a nutshell you’re investing on something that may or may not actually work out in the end.

While most people would like to gladly work for themselves so that they can control their own their own time, not everyone has the will nor the patience to follow through with it though. Studies show that in average it actually takes around 5 years for any new business to just break even, basically you’re more likely to see any profits on your new venture after 5 years have passed which of course sounds like a bloody long time for any budding entrepreneur!

Of course, this is not always the case because a lot of entrepreneurs do reap profits almost immediately after they put up a new business – especially those entrepreneurs that provide service rather than a product. But typically, you are supposed to be looking at 3-5 yeas before you can start seeing any real profits so you really need patience if you want your business to stick around.

Now if you’re a budding entrepreneur who is interested in starting a new venture, then here are three crucial mistakes most people make that you should be aware of:

1. People don’t do their homework

The biggest reason most entrepreneurs fail is because they don’t do their homework.

The moment they come up with a good idea they want to get things going immediately without enough research or background work on this idea which of course is a big mistake! A good idea for a new business is a good start, but it is imperative that you do your homework though.

You should be asking yourself questions such as: Who’s your target market? Why would people buy your stuff? What makes your business unique? How will you market your new business? What sort of capital and resources would you need to get things going? How will you make the business grow?

There is no possible way any new business can succeed without proper research and background work. Keep in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day; it takes time and perseverance for any business to grow. Just make sure you do your homework properly so that when hiccups start to show, you’re more than ready to tackle it head on!

2. People are afraid to take a risk

It’s quite simple really, no risk – no reward. The higher the risk – the higher the reward!

But in saying that though, keep in mind that you need to take “calculated risks”. Make sure you won’t get stuck at a point where you have zero dollars in your bank account because you have invested everything in the new business. Remember, it may take a while before you start seeing any profits from the new venture, what if it takes years and years before you start seeing any profits? What then?? Are you going to live on virtually nothing until the new business “potentially” starts making any real money??

Don’t be afraid to take any risks, but in saying that, just make sure they are calculated.

3. People don’t network

Your business will never succeed if you don’t know how to network and connect with others.

Start mingling with people who are actually successful in their businesses and learn from their experiences. Start going to functions and events and start connecting with potential sponsors and investors within your field. Networking is one of the key components in any new business, the more you network the bigger your database gets and the more people you attract to your business.

It’s simple really; you have to prioritise building relationships rather than making money because if you focus on building relationships first then money will eventually follow.

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3 Stress-Free Tips On How To Run A Financially Stable Business for Emerging Entrepreneurs

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Secured funding is one of the major feats for every business, which requires expertise in thorough planning and analysis. However, an emerging entrepreneur can only see the real value if he makes use of the initial support he has and turning it into a long-term growth by means of doing an initiative to transform sustainability.

Financial stability is very important. Without it, brands and businesses lack a solid foundation to cater their business endeavours such as revolutionizing product lines, expanding storefronts geographically, or creating new investments into packaging and shipping for an enhanced customer experience. This is very true to emerging businesses.

Emerging entrepreneurs have a tough job in transitioning pioneer funding resource into companies having verified equity. If you’re just starting up then you need to know that in order for your business to prosper, you have to change from you simple selling idea into thinking about your whole business model and looking into a tangible financial plan.

Here are 3 tips for you on how to run a financially-stable business as a starting entrepreneur:

1. Develop your Clear Vision and Path to Profitability

As an entrepreneur, it’s essential for you to have strict principles when it comes to finance because it will govern your incoming as well as your outgoing spending. If you’re planning to seek capital by means of funding, there’s a need for you to demonstrate your anticipated ROI too investors and add detail as to where your expenditures will be going.

You should give an explanation on how you decide to manage all receivables and cash. You should exhibit a firm and clear vision on how you can become and remain positive in terms of cash flow. “Building your business” is not enough as a financial plan if there’s already the involvement of venture capital funding and private equity.

2. Make use of Investors to Increase your Financial Viability

Thinking about your own finances is an utmost priority for you as an entrepreneur but it’s also equally important that you critically think about your partners’ and investors’ success because they’re the ones backing up your business’ growth. It’s a sign of good partnership if you’re able to make decisions having them in your mind. By helping your investors and partners, you’re also given the chance to ask help as a return of the favour.

3. Make Stable Hiring Decisions

Shortcomings are hard to admit but as a smart entrepreneur, self-awareness is your mark on focusing on your business’ financial future. Other successful entrepreneur’s expertise and experiences are best in avoiding the waste of essential financial opportunities. It will be very impressive if you can better understand leveraging finances. Be smart in bringing in executives; better if they’re already successful players in the industry.

Running your business as an emerging entrepreneur is not all about money but the proper management of your finances is an integral key to the long-term success of your business. It’s good to make investments and smarter in making financial decisions on advertising spend, customer acquisition, costs, and strategies for liquidation.

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Five Must-Know Tips To Start Your Business With Little To No Capital This 2018

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‘I want to start a business but I don’t have the means’, says the entrepreneur-wannabe that resides within you. Most of you are taunted by the idea of shifting from the typical corporate slavery to the empowering realm of entrepreneurship. Commonly, you fear the possibility of losing job security and you are not financially stable enough to carry out a big plan like running your own business. Apart from these, you are also crippled by the thought that you don’t have the financial resources to ditch your crappy boss and become your own master. Apparently, all these are just myths designed to encapsulate you in your cowardice by settling into mediocrity. The truth is – there is promise amidst the uncertainties. You just have to be brave enough to embrace it while making use of all your skills, your marketing and sales knowledge, and your good work ethics.

Now you can take heed of all entrepreneurship advices from successful entrepreneurs, but when you’re sitting alone, torn between the amount of money in your bank account and your tedious pile of office work, remember that the following guidelines do not require big investments.

#1. Know your target market and create something

While creating something does require some money to fulfil supplies in order to fill your inventory, the products you create can always be priced more than the actual cost. Better if you are an artisan as online platforms are sweet spots for handcrafted items, for example Etsy and the newly launched Handmade at Amazon. Both have their advantage and disadvantage. While Etsy’s listing price ($0.20 USD per item) remains inexpensive compared to Amazon, the latter has a strong foundation in terms of online selling and attracting traffic. Either way, both have their strengths and weaknesses, it just depends on how you market your brand to your target market.

#2. Master the art of reselling

Holding garage sales in your own backyard is a cost-effective way to earn income. Have the freedom to rummage through various thrift shops and/or flea markets near you for unique items that you can resell either online or in person. Should you decide to take the route of online selling, consider the convenience of drop shipping which is a retail fulfilment method that allows you to sell items without even touching your products. The process begins when you purchase your products from a manufacturer and let them ship it directly to your buyers. This definitely enables you to launch your own ecommerce store with very minimal capital and low overhead expenses.

#3. Bank on intangible capital – Skills

No money? No problem! Earning extra income through your talent and skills is another revolutionary way to break into the entrepreneurship realm. The variety of services that you can sell is almost limitless. Can you write, babysit or even be a personal assistant? If you answer yes to any of these, stop vegging out in front of your TV and slowly carve your way through financial stability. While this is not a cake walk due to a large pool of services out there, ensure that you have a competitive advantage that can make your service distinct from the rest. This is where branding comes in but promoting your services through Upwork, Elance, or Craigslist will definitely be a good start.

#4. Try outsourced services to build up your business

We all know that brand exposure is critical especially when starting up a business. You may need ad campaigns or to build relationships within the industry you’ve chosen in order to establish your brand. To make it happen, your logo, website, and other online representation should reflect the image that you want to portray. When you hire designers, take advantage of outsourced designers that you can find on various talent sites and websites such as Fiverr, Upwork, or Elance. You’ll be surprised at how much you could save without sacrificing your desired quality.

#5. Enjoy free advertising through effective use of social media platforms

When you seize the power of social media advertising, take full advantage of it and use it effectively. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are currently leading the list of traffic generators in terms of brand promotion. Analyse the analytics and utilise it to reach out to your target consumers. When you discover their social media behaviour, it gives you the edge to speak to them lucratively through your brand. Learn how to engage other users and they will surely keep coming back to your page which will lead to increased traffic that will eventually yield high conversation rate.

Feeling confident enough? You don’t always have to break the bank. Sometimes, all you need is the drive to ignore the negativity and just dive in with a solid plan. While starting up a business is definitely not an effortless task, one day your sweat equity will pay off.

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3 Easy Ways To Make Social Media Work For You And Your Business

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The world of business is very competitive. It’s a dog eat dog kind of world and as they say “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. That’s how one should condition his own mind if he wants to succeed and stay successful. No sulks or losers are allowed to dabble in the business world – might as well pack up and go home! Being on top would rake in more investors and the company’s monetary value will increase. It would also mean your business would expand, more branches/offices opening up and more responsibilities. But before all those can happen, let’s focus first on how we should market the business to gain its popularity.

Social Media, being one of the most popular mediums we have right now, can work very well for you and your business. It’s basically free advertising! Well, not all the time, but even if you do shell out a couple of bucks, it should be worth every cent of it since it’s got a wide coverage. It’s capability to reach out to your targeted audience and beyond that is a big help towards your business. Here are a few pointers on what you should basically keep in mind in your first step to advertising via social media:

1. No such thing as a (totally) free publicity

When we mention the word “spend”, we automatically think the cost might be too much. However, the type of spending you might do for social media marketing would surprise you compared to that when you spend it on print media—it would cost a lot less. Sure you have to spend for graphic artists, content writers and pay the social media sites to give your ads a bit of a boost, but when it comes down to cost cutting, social media marketing should be considered. The cost of having to put up billboards and signage for your business in different areas are ten folds larger than what it should cost you to pay for social media advertising!.

2. Be strategic because people still read

Yes, people read and appreciate, so hire the best graphic designers and content specialists/writers. Hire the right people to make your social media ads eye-catching. To attract audience your social media posts should be visually stimulating! People will not tolerate garbage content. They have to feel some sort of connection to the product they are seeing advertised on social medias and they have to be able to relate to it, so might as well consider being a bit realistic and don’t let your content writers and graphic artists go over the top in the marketing agenda. Provide contents that are informative, inspiring and entertaining at the same time. Be as realistic as possible without compromising the “charm” of your ad. Use taglines that are short yet catchy and can describe your business in less than, say, four words. Hashtags are useful tools for social media marketing, too, so you might want to use them (since everyone else does). Like taglines, they should be kept short and catchy, describing your business in just a few words and should also be unique as much as possible.

3. If you want to be heard, learn to listen too

Listen to your audience. Find out what they are saying and what they want so you can use that for your marketing strategies. Do not underestimate your audience and their expectations of what they might want to read. Social media has raised the bar of social awareness, therefore it would be very easy for the public to criticize and compare so be sensitive to your audience and their constructive criticisms.

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Which Social Media Accounts Are The BEST For Your Brand And Why

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If you are planning to launch a small business or you’ve started one just recently and you haven’t utilised the power of social media because you think it’s for teeny boppers only – then you’re dumber than I thought! You have probably encountered a load of information explaining how you can use social media to promote your business which makes sense because social media is a powerful money making machine as long as it’s utilised the right way. It doesn’t really matter if you think social media is for kids, bottom line, EVERYONE is on social media and it’s free communication.

Although there are millions of social media users all throughout the world, it is quite easy to get carried away by the number. Looking for the right social media sites to get your business promoted and maximize its potential is important to the success of a business, and it is the part where you should be concentrating your efforts.

What will your business gain from engaging in social media?

Social media is all about engaging through sharing, which means, in business, it’s targeting your services, your product range, or your articles at engaging a possible client base or customer. With millions of users worldwide, social media is covering every topic range that you would be able to think of.

Along with engaging a prospective client base and customer, social media also plays a big relevance to SEO. Social media has been a unique format because it is helping you promote your content directly to your audience, which in turn, would generate traffic through people who share your content with others, and through search engine optimization.

The most prominent social media sites and their uses:

Below are six of the most prominent and significant social media sites that you need to utilise right now if you want your business to succeed.

1. YouTube  – This site is about showcasing videos to a large range of audience. It is being utilized by businesses at all times to sell products and services. While YouTube is owned by Google, videos have a tendency of featuring prominently on the search engine results. You are even given chance to utilize the YouTube ads for making a secondary stream of income.

2. Google+ – It is in part a combination of Twitter and Facebook and has become essential for SEO, if nothing else.

3. Facebook – This social media site has been predominantly built for sharing. These can be articles, products, or services. It is for sharing your content with as many people as possible.

4. Twitter – It is about sharing news on any subject. You should not let the word “news” make you feel as if it does not apply for products. Twitter is good for new stock ready to be sold, new product launches, and other press releases.

5. Blogging – It is a great way of imparting expertise and news to your customer, client base, followers, and readership, offering a great way of attracting visitors to your website through search engines.

6. Instagram, Pinterest and other bookmarking sites – These social media sites are good to use when it comes to showcasing visual products. If your business is selling something on the web, make sure you post on Instagram, Pinterest and as many bookmarking sites as you can find.

These are just some of the basic advantages of social media, and the uses of each of the sites. Later on, I’ll get into detail how you can use your social media accounts to make decent money online.

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3 Ways to Think Like A Self-Made Millionaire

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There is nothing worse than being a loser trapped in a job that you don’t like. It’s a known fact that most people want to actually break free from the rut of a nine-to-five job and start their own businesses. Why? Because with most nine-to-five jobs the pay is sh*t, the hours are annoyingly long and for some, the work environment is bloody ridiculous. Now if you are one of these people that want to finally resign from your jobs and start a new life as an entrepreneur or possibly a millionaire in the near future, then good on you for having the balls to do it.

Here’s what a lot of people don’t realize; crossing over from a typical day job to a full-time business is not just a physical move – it requires a complete change in your state of mind because you will be crossing over to a completely different world from what you were used to. You have to dump the old job mentality, and instead, you have to develop an entrepreneurial outlook. If you want to be a big shot millionaire one day then you have to THINK like one.

Now if you want to cross over to the entrepreneurial world, you need to embrace the following three ways of thinking:

1. Networking is essential

As an entrepreneur, you have to realize that most of the time ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.’ You have to interact and build relationships with like-minded individuals and business contacts that you can trust and whom you feel can help you grow your business. It’s a simple formula, people do business with people they like and trust, just as they are friends with those they like and trust. If you want your business to succeed then you have to realize that networking is not just about what others can do for you, it’s also about what you can also do for others. Being an entrepreneur actually means helping out others and providing value when you can, not taking others down. It means creating a mastermind group of individuals you can share and discuss ideas with. You shouldn’t be afraid of losing out and having others rise above you.

2. Learn from other successful people

As an entrepreneur, it’s second nature to be competitive because you want to be on top. But even though you have to think big and be the best in what you do, you don’t have to go as low as destroy other people in the process. You have to understand that we each have a unique outlook and value that we can offer. To get to the top you have to learn from others who are already sitting at the top. You don’t look at the person in their fancy house and feel envious of what that person has, instead, find out who this person is and tell them that you admire what they have achieved and want to learn from them – usually, that successful entrepreneur would agree to give some tips. Entrepreneurs understand the notion of profusion. They know what it takes to get to the top and most of them are more than happy to take the time to help someone get to the top as well.

3. You have to think BIG

As Donald Trump would say, “If you are going to be thinking anyway, you might as well be thinking big.’ It’s true, if you are thinking small time then you’ll always be small, if you can’t even think of doing something big then you will never do anything big in life. There is no cost in dreaming so you might as well dream big.”

As an entrepreneur, you have to realize that that the road to eventual prosperity and success can be a very long and tough one. Many losers start with huge goals but then the moment they run into some unexpected hiccups, they get distracted and they lose sight of their goals. Keep in mind that you always have to focus on the ultimate vision. In saying that, you also have to be different from the rest of the pack – you have to think outside the square and find new and unique ways to be make money and be successful. You always have to say to yourself, ‘How can I make this better? How can I be unique? How can I do this in a much bigger way?’

A typical nine-to-five job employee only focuses on the task provided to them by their boss, they follow what most people are doing so they are not used to looking at the bigger picture because that vision is for someone else to worry about. Bringing this limited mindset over to the entrepreneurial world is dangerous because it can restrain your creativity and hold back your ability to cope with and solve the many challenges that will come your way. When you think outside the square, you also create things that make you move above the rest of the pack.

If you currently have a business and you haven’t made much money yet, that is okay. As long as you keep your eye on the prize, focus on the bigger picture, build your brand, and network with the right people then later on you will reap the rewards. You also have to be HUNGRY for success. Hungry people are motivated people, if you are currently satisfied with what you’re earning then what will motivate you to be wealthy and successful? To get to the top you should always set a higher goal for yourself.

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Top 3 Reasons Why Most Businesses Fail Miserably While Others Succeed

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Let’s face it; starting your new business is never easy because you’re investing time, money and resources on a ‘hunch’. In a nutshell, you’re investing in something that may or may not actually work out in the end.

While most people would like to gladly work for themselves so that they can control their own their own time, not everyone has the will nor the patience to follow through with it though. Studies show that in average it actually takes around 5 years for any new business to just break even, basically, you’re more likely to see any profits on your new venture after 5 years have passed which of course sounds like a bloody long time for any budding entrepreneur!

Of course, this is not always the case because a lot of entrepreneurs do reap profits almost immediately after they put up a new business – especially those entrepreneurs that provide service rather than a product. But typically, you are supposed to be looking at 3-5 years before you can start seeing any real profits so you really need patience if you want your business to stick around.

Now if you’re a budding entrepreneur who is interested in starting a new venture, then here are three crucial mistakes most people make that you should be aware of:

1. People don’t do their homework

The biggest reason most losers fail is that they don’t do their homework.

The moment they come up with a good idea they want to get things going immediately without enough research or background work on this idea which of course is a huge mistake! A good idea for a new business is a good start, but it is imperative that you do your homework though.

You should be asking yourself questions such as: Who’s your target market? Why would people buy your stuff? What makes your business unique? How will you market your new business? What sort of capital and resources would you need to get things going? How will you make the business grow?

There is no possible way any new business can succeed without proper research and background work. Keep in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day; it takes time and perseverance for any business to grow. Just make sure you do your homework properly so that when hiccups start to show, you’re more than ready to tackle it head on!

2. People are afraid to take a risk

It’s quite simple really, no risk – no reward. The higher the risk – the higher the reward!

But in saying that though, keep in mind that you need to take “calculated risks”. Make sure you won’t get stuck at a point where you have zero dollars in your bank account because you were such a dumbass that you have invested everything in the new business. Remember, it may take a while before you start seeing any profits from the new venture, what if it takes years and years before you start seeing any profits? What then?? Are you going to live on virtually nothing until the new business “potentially” starts making any real money??

Don’t be afraid to take any risks, but in saying that, just make sure they are calculated.

3. People don’t network

Your business will never succeed if you’re a loser who doesn’t know how to network and connect with others.

Start mingling with people who are actually successful in their businesses and learn from their experiences. Start going to functions and events and start connecting with potential sponsors and investors within your field. Networking is one of the key components in any new business, the more you network the bigger your database gets and the more people you attract to your business.

It’s simple really; you have to prioritise building relationships rather than making money because if you focus on building relationships first then money will eventually follow.

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Six Brilliant Ways To Keep Yourself Motivated For Entrepreneurial Success

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If you’re someone who works freelance or has a small business, you would know that there’s a fair bit of work involved in “keeping the dream alive”. There are unique challenges that come with this approach to creating a living.

It’s a lot like building your own empire. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is your freelance or small business success. If you are working on your dream there is no off button and no downtime. It takes a lot of dedication, and most importantly, it’s about keeping your motivation levels replenished. If you’re not prepared for the challenges that come with working for yourself then you might as well quit now and go back to a 9 to 5 job punching numbers like a mindless loser.

It’s quite possible that when you initially conceptualised the idea to ‘break out on your own’ with stars in your eyes – you probably had the dumbass idea that working for yourself would mean an easy lifestyle. If this was the case then you might as well pack your bags now and head back to La La Land because this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Working on your own business often becomes a harsh reality when you’re finally on your own looking for the next big payday to help you get by. When everyone is leaving the office to have after-work drinks or chilling on the weekend with family and friends, you are often stuck fielding phone calls, catching up on invoicing and trying to ramp up your marketing efforts to get you through the lean patches.

It’s often the case that you end up far too busy than you can comfortably handle, just to make sure you have enough momentum to keep you going during the quieter periods (they are inevitable). It’s all about sacrifice really.

However, that’s not to say that it’s all not worth the steep incline that you tread. But, the goal is always ‘to stay the course’ – with a dogged determination that is stronger than any of the tough times that you might encounter.

Warning: when you are forging your own path you will find that some unintentional side-effects can arise. When you are subject to the unyielding and time-consuming commercial realities that are unavoidable factors in the pursuit of success, it is somewhat likely that those who are only around for the fun times will drop out of your life. It’s often a practical reality and one of the bitter-sweet indicators that you are, in fact, on the right path.

Set a daily reminder deep within your psyche to stay true to your goals. You may have heard the idiom: surround yourself with those on the same mission as you. This rings true. Also, you might find this quote from Will Smith increasingly pertinent – “If you’re absent during my struggle, don’t expect to be present during my success.” That said, you need to say goodbye to friends who bring you down and annoy the crap out of you!

Another tip for sustaining self-motivation is to look back on the road that you have already traveled and at what you have invested. Sure, this means coin, but never forget the blood, sweat, and tears. Realising how far you have come is the key to moving forward.

Keeping yourself motivated is also about making consistent progress. It doesn’t always matter if this is just a small win each day, or even each week. It’s about moving forward. What if you could generate even just an extra 50 dollars a week profit?

Always think about pushing the envelope just that little bit more – what more can you squeeze out? Could you be doing more on social media to attract leads and conversions? Is there scope in your budget to cut back on expenditure? These are just a couple of the questions that you could ask yourself. Always think about your next move. It’s very easy to get caught up in the daily grind, in the operations of your tasks – to forget about the bigger picture. That’s an easy trap to fall into. Remember that it’s crucial to keep evolving and expanding. And yes, sometimes this might get a little overwhelming. Do you sometimes feel like there are periods where you flounder? What can you do to overcome this phenomenon?

Sit back and refocus. Review your business plan. A lack of structure is enemy number one when it comes to productivity. Also, think about your daily routine. You need to create a schedule and stick to it. Wake up early and set a start time. You will be more motivated to work harder and to finish tasks quicker when you have the luxury of more time set aside to do so. This produces a more manageable (and less stressful) workload.

Sure, being regimented can be a challenge. It’s a brutal fact that when you work for yourself, the only one who will keep you accountable is you. Without a boss to keep tabs on you, and without rigid working hours, you are responsible for managing yourself and your business. You are ultimately responsible for its success or failure.

Be mindful of the challenging aspects of working from home/running your own business. It can be a very isolating experience and there are some things that you do have to compensate for. Sure, it’s great that you can work in your PJs if you want to – but, you don’t necessarily get the benefit of bouncing ideas off people and the support of a team environment.

Sometimes it helps to take your work to a place where people congregate with some purpose– like a café or library. The effect of having people nearby might just trick your brain into a more productive gear. Take a small break when you are feeling stymied. Go for a walk. Fresh air often goes hand in hand with a fresh perspective. Then, begin your task anew.

Keeping the dream alive when it comes to working freelance or in your own business is often about your internal thought process. Also, it’s got quite a bit to do with your heart and soul. More than anything – it’s about refreshing your point of view on a regular basis. Building your ‘business empire’ is a day-by-day task and every single brick in the wall counts. I’ll leave you with one last quote on the topic to consider…“ people often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily” – Zig Ziglar.

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4 Crucial Steps For Creating A Profitable Business Website

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What is your business without a website? The short answer is probably f*ck all! Or, it hasn’t even begun to reach its full potential. While it’s true that for some businesses a website isn’t always essential (those that rely on foot traffic like a barber, for example) a website is generally a prerequisite to establishing strong presence – and thereby strong profits – for your business.

So, we are going to assume here that you already have a website. But, have you thought about how your website might be better? Do you believe that your customers are having the most positive experience that they possibly could on your site? Or do you just don’t give a sh*t?? Most people would agree that there’s always room for improvement. And let’s face it, a better website means more conversions i.e. more dollars. So, what are the top ways to improve your website today?

An effective home page

You would have heard it said at some point that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression and this is so true when you consider a website’s homepage. This is clearly the page that your customers see first, otherwise known as a landing page.

When someone is wanting to buy some goods or services and they have a good ‘ol google for said thing, then this is where they are naturally going to wind up. Because this page receives the bulk of your traffic it’s crucial that it facilitates the process of transforming visitors into a base of paying customers – otherwise known as “conversion”.

Call to action (CTA)

You need to direct people to where they can take action on your website. If you’re not doing this right now then you’re a certified dumbass! This is what is referred to as a “call to action” or CTA. It’s most valuable to have an image or line of text on your landing page so that your visitors, leads and customers can take action in the first instance. A CTA can link customers to a purchasing platform (such as PayPal) or a subscription form that allows you to capture their contact details and to set up a customer database.

Or, they could be used to facilitate such marketing tools as downloading an eBook, obtaining a coupon or watching a webinar. They are also very effective at the end of a blog. CTAs can be used throughout your website to increase your conversion rate as much as possible. Some tips for a great CTA? You want the design to be eye-catching and you want to pose a proposition that explicitly tells people what they will get in exchange for clicking on it.

Functionality

A website is only ever as good as the user experience. Contact information needs to be easily accessible so that conversions are achieved and your brand legitimacy is never called into question. Is the site easily navigable?? People will click away in seconds if it’s all too hard to use. Another question you need to ask is can the website be viewed easily on all devices? Smartphone and tablets are driving an increasing amount of traffic to e-commerce sites. You need to make sure you’re not missing out.

Is your site social media integrated? This is all about keeping your audience engaged where they participate most (and that’s usually Facebook, Instagram etc.) so this is a massive marketing tool that you must tap into. Having the right buttons on your website to connect your users with various social media channels also keeps your search rankings high on Google, referring here to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Content

Customers need to know the benefits of buying from you but they don’t want it served up in a dry fashion. You need to provide content on your website (often by way of a blog) that is entertaining and engaging while still being informative.

It’s about giving your audience the information that they actually want to read while neatly slotting in some promotional material for your product or service. It’s a tricky thing but, nonetheless, a very important factor in achieving effecting SEO. Customers also love to feel connected to your brand and providing a “humanised” reference point can go a long way to enhancing loyalty and therefore your profit margins.