Successful Blog

4 Online Business Ideas that Don’t Require Incorporation

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By Ken Myers

The availability of internet access has minimized the complications that come with starting a traditional business, and it’s easier than ever to provide products and services to the public. Online businesses are subject to many of the regulations and tax laws that storefront businesses abide by, but one main advantage is that there are certain services and products you can deliver without needing to go through the formal process of incorporating. With some business idea lists reaching well over 100, the possibilities are astonishingly numerous; however, we’ve shared four ideas that anyone can do below:

Content Management

Social media marketing and management, copywriting, ghostwriting, technical writing and transcription are just a few types of content management services you can do online. The first step to tackling this career goal is to validate yourself as a professional freelance writer. Businesses and employers who need your writing skills are going to be looking for a polished portfolio and examples of previously published work. The fact that you can work for a number of clients as a sole proprietor or as an independent contractor is what makes this business so attainable. If you were to really take off, you could leverage your services by expanding and outsourcing to other writers for larger projects.

Blogging

One of the most popular and straightforward ways to make money off the internet is through blogging. Even hobby bloggers have started monetizing their blogs. Many bloggers host ads and get paid every time one of their visitors clicks on one. If a blog has an exceptionally high amount of traffic, you can give advertisers the option to place unique ads directly on the blog. Sites like Pay Per Post bridge the gap between bloggers who write for an audience and advertisers who want to reach those readers.

A blogger can also sell products as an affiliate. You can become an affiliate by marketing an eBook or reviewing an online service such as HootSuite or GoToMeeting, and then provide an affiliate link (be sure to properly disclose) that users can click to sign up. If you have a blog with high traffic or you’re interested in starting a niche blog, affiliate marketing can supplement your income. 

Multilevel Marketing

If you’re looking for a business that will make you money and give you the chance to flex your marketing muscles at the same time, then you may want to invest in an MLM, or multilevel marketing company. Amway, ACN, Thirty-One, Organo Gold, Empower Network and Scentsy are among the reputable companies that you could buy into. By signing up as an independent distributor for an MLM, you save on the substantial startup costs that it would normally take to start another business. Also, much of the work has been done for you in an MLM. The most enticing benefit is the residual income that you can earn from commissions, which means you get paid on a recurring basis from a transaction that took place once.

The companies that offer services instead of products make earning residuals incredibly easy. ACN, for instance, offers cell phone and cable packages. Every time that a customer pays a bill, the sales rep who sold that package gets paid time and again. However, the MLM business model is a bit controversial and receives split reviews around the internet community. There are many individuals who see enormous results from their businesses, and there are those who stand on the other end of spectrum, struggling and failing to close enough leads to make their investment worthwhile. If you’re a natural marketer and find a company with a product or service that you believe in, consider giving it a shot. Just do your research first and use your own judgment about whether or not it fits your budget and the time you can dedicate to the business.

eCommerce and Dropshipping

As an alternative to offering creative services, you can sell your own products through your website or another eCommerce platform. Maintaining an online store is not for the faint of heart, though, especially if you plan to operate on a third party platform like Etsy, Amazon or eBay. There will be a steep learning curve because these companies make constant revisions to their websites and procedures. One benefit of using them, however, is that they do much of the marketing for you.

There are other stores for creative products similar to Etsy that feature your products to their viewers. Zazzle, Cafepress and Artfire are among them. These websites will deduct a percentage of your profit, so if you want to retain as much of your earnings as possible then you can always set up your own store. Volusion and BigCommerce are web tools that you can use to construct an online store entirely from scratch. The end result is a site that uniquely fits your own brand and allows customers to check out directly from your website.

Both eCommerce options will require a financial investment. Selling your products will not be a get-rich-quick option. In fact, none of these online business ideas will take off overnight. If you choose a line of work that best fits your interests and lifestyle, though, the overall process will be much more smooth and, hopefully, profitable.

Share Your Thoughts
What is your experience with starting an online business? Do you have any other ideas for attainable business opportunities? If so, share them in the comments!

Author’s Bio: Ken Myers is a father, husband, and entrepreneur. He has combined his passion for helping families find in-home care with his experience to build a business. Learn more about him by visiting @KenneyMyers on Twitter.

5 Tips for Over The Top Customer Service

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By Deb Bixler

In any home business or direct sales business, just providing good customer service is not enough in a very competitive economy.

Customer Service

You need to encourage your team members to take their customer service from bland and average to spectacular.

How do they do that?

5 Tips For Over The Top Customer Service

Here are five things to do that will make your customer service stand out from the pack by turning indifferent customers into raving fans who will return again and again.

1. Create a positive experience from start to finish. Take a look at all aspects of your company to see how customers perceive their experience dealing with your business.

Did their phone calls get answered courteously and promptly?

Were they greeted with a smile and an enthusiastic hello every time you met with them?

Did you or a team member do everything possible to find answers to their questions?

Was every point of contact enthusiastic, energetic and incredible?

It is important to view your business from the other side and then improve any area that appears lacking.

2. Engage your customers and step into their shoes.

Listen to their wants and needs. Learn to empathize with their problems. They want to believe that you care about their desires. The direct sales business is all about customer relationships and sales consultants who can truly make connections will have the inside track on making the sale.

3. Think outside the box.

Doing the same thing over and over again is boring. It is also bad for business. Though customers are sometimes resistant to change, they do enjoy surprises from time to time.

Without making wholesale changes to your way of doing business, you can still offer little surprises that delight both repeat and new customers. Creativity, imagination and ingenuity are essential ingredients for successful entrepreneurs.

4. The customer is always right.

It can be difficult at times to acquiesce to the customer’s demands and requests. However, good customer service demands that you work with your team members to get them to truly understand that the customer is always right. If you offer more service, more empathy and more understanding than your competitor, your customers will notice.

5. A little enthusiasm goes a long way.

If you are not enthused about your business, how can you expect the customer to be enthused about your products or services? Deliver your customer service with enthusiasm and excitement. Make sure that your team members also provide customer service with the same levels of enthusiasm and excitement.

Customer service should impress and inspire.

It should be grounded in the fundamental belief that you have something wonderful to offer your customers and that they are intelligent and well-informed consumers. If customers are impressed and inspired, they will pull out their checkbooks, cash and credit cards to purchase your products and services.

If they feel that your service is bland and boring, you won’t be in the direct sales business for very long.

Author’s Bio:
Deb Bixler retired from the corporate world using the proven business systems that made her a success working for others by incorporating them into her home business. In only 9 months Deb replaced her full time income with the sales and commissions from her home party plan business. Find her on Twitter: @debbixler.

What Google Added To The Link Schemes Document Found In Webmaster Tools

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By Matthew Schmoldt

Recently, Google updated the “Link schemes” informational document found in Webmaster Tools. The change was easy to miss. There were no large scale announcements.

Unlike a Wikipedia document, there is no easy way to see what was changed. Thankfully, the Internet has the wayback machine for such matters. The tool shows that two records have been kept this year for the page in question. One archive is from June 28th, the other is from August 5th.

As you can see, there seem to be significant changes. The June 28th version of the link schemes page had an opening paragraph that explained why external links were important and why Google uses them as a key influencer in search results. Now the document begins with a stern warning:

“Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.”

To many, this paragraph is not only troubling but troublingly ambiguous. You will notice the use of the word “intended” in the paragraph. How does Google determine if a link is intended to manipulate PageRank? In the second sentence, is Google saying any link building efforts will be considered manipulation?

On July 10th, Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s webspam team, was interviewed and said the following:

“No, not all link building is bad. The philosophy that we’ve always had is if you make something that’s compelling then it would be much easier to get people to write about it and to link to it.”

Does the July 10th interview with Matt Cutts answer the questions of the August update to the link schemes document? My guess is, yes. Google seems to be preparing to take the webspam fight to the next level and has updated their official link schemes document with a hardcore and broad stance.

In the same interview, Matt Cutts said:

“I would concentrate on the stuff that people write, the utility that people find in it, and the amount of times that people link to it. All of those are ways that implicitly measure how relevant or important somebody is to someone else.

Links are still the best way that we’ve found to discover that, and maybe over time social or authorship or other types of markup will give us a lot more information about that.”

It is clear to me, that link building is quite appropriate and still legal. But, shift from thinking about link building to the idea of link earning. High quality links from high authority links should be the target. These sorts of links are earned and not built with a few clicks of the mouse.

What else was changed in the link schemes document?

Buying or selling links that pass PageRank. This includes exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a “free” product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link

The above paragraph seems to be fairly black and white. Google doesn’t want people to sell links for money or for products. But, what If you sign up for a Chamber of Commerce and pay a fee. Have you just purchased a link from their site? Should you request a nofollow of your link just in case?

Matt Cutts has said that you should only pursue a link if it is something you would have built or pursued if SEO did not exist.

Excessive link exchanges (“Link to me and I’ll link to you”) or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking

The use of excessive and exclusively are ambiguous and troubling in this new entry in the document. It is impossible to know where the line is with this rule. But, remember, Google wants you to do things naturally. They want you to do things that make logical sense. If you are a flower shop, it makes sense to have a linking relationship with the local chocolate shop. It may make sense to link to the local cookie shop, to the local wedding dress store, etc.

Large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links

The ambiguous word here is “large-scale.” To me, I refer back to my rule of link earning and not link building. If the link is too easy to get, it’s probably not the kind of link that is desirable. Removing the easy to get links removes most of the ability to create a large-scale link building operation. The hard links take time to get. Also remember, Google is targeting keyword-rich anchor links and not generic links in articles.

Using automated programs or services to create links to your site

This seems to be the one area where Google was decisive. Do not use automated means to build backlinks. If you are tempted to use automated programs, don’t. Google is constantly indexing the Internet and can detect a sudden and unnatural increase in backlinks.

Author’s Bio: Matthew Schmoldt is an Internet marketer who has been published at Yahoo and Moz. He has four years of SEO and social media experience. He is the owner of Cool Things To Buy Inc. His website features amazing gadgets other neat stuff.

Pinterest for Business: The Secret to a Picture Perfect Social Media Marketing Strategy

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By Brittany Thorley

Launched in early 2010, Pinterest has fast become an essential tool for social media enthusiasts and creative businesses to share the images they admire, but many businesses still don’t include this picture perfect platform into their social media marketing strategy. However, this online scrapbooking site could be your key to marketing your business, boosting online presence and tapping into a brand new customer base – with great results!

Why Pinterest?

Pinterest is unlike any social network, and may be a confusing place for people who are unfamiliar with the format. The Pinterest network is built on a series of pinboards, which are used to collect, organise and share the images people love and the things that inspire them. Pinners set up themed boards and pin their own images from websites and blogs as well as share other pinners’ favourites. Pinterest is essentially a great way to exchange links, increase you website’s popularity and generally spread the word about your business through images. You can also target pinners with specific interests by selecting the theme of your own boards carefully to ensure you attract the right user and interacting, favouriting and liking images and boards from pinners with similar tastes as you.

Getting Started

It’s free and easy to sign up for a Pinterest account but doing it the right way is tricky for many newbies, especially when keeping their business interests at the heart of their campaign.

Make sure you join as a business. Start by using your company name as your account name, add your company logo and provide a thorough description of what your company is all about in the bio. It may also be worth linking in your Facebook and Twitter accounts, giving fellow pinners more opportunities to follow your company, as well as visit your website. Now it’s time to create your boards– focus on themes that embody your ethos as a company; for example, if you are a plumber, focus on boards centered around home improvement or interior inspiration to enthuse the pinners who could turn into potential customers.

Top Tips for Pinning Success

When pinning to promote your business, drive traffic to your website and gain the interactions you need to make your company profitable, these tips may just come in handy to ensure your Pinterest campaign is not only business-driven but customer-focused, interesting and fun.

  • Promote products and services in moderation: no one likes a selfish pinner, share other people’s images first before promoting your own to ensure your boards aren’t just full of your own images from your company website. Avoid over-promotion at all costs.
  • Pin your blog posts: If you update your on-site blog every day or week, create a board for industry news and pin your blog posts using their images. It’s a great way to share useful information, establish yourself as an industry leader and drive traffic to your website, but again moderation is the key.
  • Interact regularly: As with any social media marketing, keep your posts useful and frequent to maintain your online presence. Interact with Pinterest users and re-pin their posts to build relationships, and in return they will share the images on your boards.
  • Pin to Win: You can also run competitions and giveaways using Pinterest, everyone loves a freebie so indulge this with a ‘pin to win’ campaign, where re-pinning means prizes.
  • Always complete your profile for maximum business exposure: An incomplete profile could just mean the difference between getting the interaction you need to grow your business and not. Invest some time and effort in creating the perfect Pinterest profile before you start your pinning mission!
Author’s Bio: Brittany Thorley specialises in business-focused social media management at Forsyth Offices. You can find her on Twitter as @forsythbusiness.

Your Brand Voice – Which Social Networking Site is the Best For You?

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By Ryan Connors

The first step in deciding which social networking sites are best for promoting your blog is really learning more about who your ideal readers are. If you don’t know who you’re talking to, how can you know where to find them? By identifying your blog’s “brand” identity before you start any type of marketing regimen you’re saving yourself tons of time and effort in wasted research.

Whether you write a food blog, a tech blog, or even a parenting blog, there’s a social outlet perfectly suited to your customer base. Below we take a look at some of the most popular social networking sites and break down which sites are best for which types of blog.

So, which social networking site is best for you?

FACEBOOK

Facebook is the granddaddy of social networking and it’s still a great place to be. If you’re going to engage in only one type of social networking, Facebook should likely be it. The site provides the most opportunities for marketing and a diverse array of ways to promote your blog. Odds are, your customers are on Facebook if nowhere else.

TWITTER

Twitter is a terrific platform if your blog industry is fast-changing. When you have a constant need to put out new content (“Check out this cool new product!” or “New blog post!”), Twitter is the place to be. It’s also a good network to use if you plan on interacting with other bloggers a lot. If you’re going to be on Twitter, however, be sure you can commit to updating daily at the very least.

LINKEDIN

Is your blog more professionally-focused than personal? If the information you put out pertains to businesses more than individuals (or perhaps to individuals engaged in business) then LinkedIn may be a great spot to invest in. LinkedIn allows you to post content, start discussions, and even endorse other members for certain skills. More than that, though, it can be a great data mine to come up with your next blog topic or to find out what people in certain industries are talking about.

PINTEREST/INSTAGRAM

Pinterest and Instagram are similar enough that they can be grouped together, although you should probably focus your efforts on one or the other to avoid repeat content on two sites. If your blog features lots and lots of photos, whether of hair, houses, or ham sandwiches, a photo-sharing platform is a smart choice. Be sure you can update regularly and that you’ve got the conditions (and a good enough camera phone) to take sharable photos. And learn the power of hashtags before you begin.

YOUTUBE

Many people don’t consider YouTube a “social networking” site but it absolutely is. If you’re not consistently producing videos, YouTube is not the place for you; however, it’s worth considering if you write about a subject matter that’s video-friendly. For example, if you run a craft blog, why not post informational videos on how to best use certain products? The great thing about YouTube is that production quality doesn’t have to be high – as long as the quality of your content is.

Deciding which social networking site is right for your blog promotion is up to you, but it’s always smart to research before you spread yourself too thin. In general, choose two to three sites to focus all your effort on and ignore the rest. It’s better to be a big presence on one or two sites than a tiny presence on ten.

Author’s Bio: Ryan Connors is a product manager at BizShark.com, with 5 years experience in online marketing and product development. In addition to web related businesses, he also enjoys the latest news and information on emerging technologies and open source projects.

Don’t Sweat the Page Views

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By Michelle Rebecca

Yes, today’s online business leaders have it hard. There’s a ton of competition and a lot of complexity involved in dealing with certain kinds of market realities. It’s hard to monetize a web project the way that businesses monetize other kinds of investments and campaigns.

However, some of those who are promoting a business and its products or services online can get too wrapped up in various kinds of technical fixes for these issues, and may tend to disregard the bigger picture. Meanwhile, big companies like Google are trying to promote big-picture thinking that adds to the general quality of the Internet.

Effective Online Management and User Interest

Even though online business owners know that Google has made a raft of changes to its algorithms, punishing content mills and other generic SEO sites, many of those managing web projects are still obsessed with the idea that they can manipulate page rankings through metrics like keyword placement metadata and back linking.

Busy managers who want results without coordination simply plug page view analytics into automated job managers that they think will force outsourced marketing or content people to spit out the magic formula for growth. What these businesses are neglecting is the idea that natural interest is derived naturally from creating actual benefits for Web viewers.

Preserving Traditional Practices… and Branching Out

It’s not that businesses need to disregard all of their analytics or drop all of the market research. Targeted content and user analysis has its place. But beyond just micro-managing technical results, web project managers who free up content producers to explore new avenues connected to “the meat space” (the off-line world) can see a lot of improvement in their return on investment.

Time and time again, online entrepreneurs who take risks have seen their sites blossom as the consumer audience for a particular industry starts to read more, link more, and share more of what they have to offer. This generates web results in a system with longevity, where yesterday’s linking and page optimizing created quick floods of web traffic that taper off when Web viewers understand they have simply been directed by a search term.

Web project managers who understand all of these new dynamics often source projects differently. Instead of getting a low dollar bid for a few landing pages or some generic high-volume domain SERP optimization, they hire industry professionals and qualified freelance journalists to create actual content that explores the flesh and blood realities of an industry and offers readers material from the real world rather than rehashed phrasing from a Google analytics result.

That can drive a lot more vitality and power into a web campaign than anything dreamed up in an SEO laboratory.

Author’s Bio: Michelle is a blogger and freelancer. She’s written about almost every topic under the sun, and loves constantly learning about new subjects and industries while she’s writing. In her spare time she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs. Check out her blog, SocialWeLove, and follow her on Google+.