Publisher: Earl Williams
The Affiliate Mini Mall
The more money you save, the bigger your bottom line. Here are five money-saving ideas for your home-based business.
#1 Reduce, reuse and recycle
When it comes to office supplies and equipment you can spend a lot of money. A simple desk chair can cost hundreds. However, a used desk chair or a repurposed one can cost just a few dollars. And don’t forget to reuse items. For example, you can print on both sides of your printer paper. A PDF e-book can turn into scratch paper for planning purposes. You can use coffee cans and shipping boxes to store supplies and files. Take a look at the items you have around you. What can you reduce, reuse and recycle to save money?
#2 Get rid of your business credit card
If you don’t pay off your monthly balance on your business credit card, you’re paying interest. This is money you could be using to grow your business. Instead it’s helping the bank grow their business. Switch your credit card to a debit card. It offers all the same advantages a credit card does. It makes online purchasing a snap. However, you won’t have to pay interest or monthly fees.
#3 Analyze your existing merchant and bank accounts
When you opened your business you may have opened a merchant account. This would enable you to take credit cards. You may have also opened a PayPal account. Take a look at the various accounts you have and assess if there is a way to save money.
For example, can you close your merchant account and open a merchant account with PayPal? You’ll consolidate your accounts and perhaps save money each month. Also take a look at your existing bank accounts. Some accounts charge a hefty fee each month. There are free checking and savings accounts you can open for your business. IF you’re paying a lot in fees it’s worth the switch.
#4 Analyze your outsourcing plan
Do you outsource? Is your outsourcing plan as streamlined as it can be? For example, you may have one contractor managing transcription and another contractor managing your affiliates. Would it be cheaper to hire one person to manage both tasks? Take a look at your current outsourcing practices and make sure they make financial and business sense.
#5 Are you using the right technologies?
ABC company has the best Smartphone on the market. The owner loves her Smartphone and all of the wonderful tools and applications it offers. The phone costs her $60 a month, not including her $60 unlimited data fee. However, the owner of ABC company works from home. She’s never more than thirty seconds away from her laptop.
Thus email and planning and organizing tools are always available on her computer. This essentially makes her Smartphone nothing more than an expensive toy. She could get a $20 a month pay as you go phone and save herself $1200 annually.
This story is a common story. We love technology and we love to have the latest and greatest even if it isn’t important for business success. Analyze the technology you’re spending money on. Are you using it? Is it vital to the success of your business? If not, get rid of it.
Saving money is usually a simple process of taking a look at your expenses. What can you improve or eliminate? Remember - the more you save, the more you make!
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He uses the affiliate programs to setup Affiliateminimall.com where you can fine discount shopping along with great coupon deals. To learn more visit: www.shoptamm.com
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
CPM versus PPC Advertising – Which One Works for You
Publisher: Earl Williams
The Affiliate Mini Mall
Creating a search engine advertising campaign can boost your business. When you’re creating your campaign you’re going to have many decisions to make. One of those decisions is whether to choose CPM or PPC. If you’re new to search engine advertising, this can be a confusing choice. Let’s clear up some of the mystery and help you make the best decision for your ad goals.
What Are CPM and PPC?
CPM stands for Cost Per Thousand Impressions. That means for every thousand people who see your ad, you’ll pay an agreed-upon fee. An ‘impression’ is an instance of your ad appearing on a website.
PPC stands for Pay Per Click. This means that each time someone clicks on your advertisement you’ll pay an agreed-upon fee.
The Differences between PPC and CPM
In many cases you’ll likely find that CPM is much more cost effective than PPC. With a PPC ad you may pay a dollar each time someone clicks on your ad. Ten clicks means ten dollars out of your pocket. However, with CPM your ad may only cost you a dollar for a thousand impressions. So on a very basic level the ad is much less expensive if you choose CPM over PPC.
However, the click-through rate for a CPM ad may be much lower than a PPC ad. It depends largely on the goals for your ad. You can receive great awareness and exposure with a CPM ad.
CPM enables you to practically set it and forget it. If you have a PPC ad, you’re going to want to pay close attention to your budget and your ad’s performance. It’s also difficult to measure the success of a CPM advertisement. With PPC each click and/or conversion is relevant data you can analyze.
Finally, PPC makes you susceptible to click fraud. CPM doesn’t; since you don’t pay for each click it doesn’t matter how many times a fraudster clicks on your ad.
If you can afford it, consider trying both options to see which generates better results for you. Create a goal for your ad and establish systems to measure success. Make sure to use identical advertisements for both campaigns so you eliminate other variables. At the end of a specific period of time, examine the results. Take a look not only at your website traffic, sales, clicks and conversions but also at your return on investment.
If your budget is tight, consider starting with CPM. It’s low risk. If you are launching a new product or service and want to really drive traffic, then consider PPC. Watch your budget, your clicks and your conversions. It’s easy for a PPC campaign to get out of hand. To your success!
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He uses the affiliate programs to setup Affiliateminimall.com where you can fine discount shopping along with great coupon deals. To learn more visit: www.shoptamm.com
The Affiliate Mini Mall
Creating a search engine advertising campaign can boost your business. When you’re creating your campaign you’re going to have many decisions to make. One of those decisions is whether to choose CPM or PPC. If you’re new to search engine advertising, this can be a confusing choice. Let’s clear up some of the mystery and help you make the best decision for your ad goals.
What Are CPM and PPC?
CPM stands for Cost Per Thousand Impressions. That means for every thousand people who see your ad, you’ll pay an agreed-upon fee. An ‘impression’ is an instance of your ad appearing on a website.
PPC stands for Pay Per Click. This means that each time someone clicks on your advertisement you’ll pay an agreed-upon fee.
The Differences between PPC and CPM
In many cases you’ll likely find that CPM is much more cost effective than PPC. With a PPC ad you may pay a dollar each time someone clicks on your ad. Ten clicks means ten dollars out of your pocket. However, with CPM your ad may only cost you a dollar for a thousand impressions. So on a very basic level the ad is much less expensive if you choose CPM over PPC.
However, the click-through rate for a CPM ad may be much lower than a PPC ad. It depends largely on the goals for your ad. You can receive great awareness and exposure with a CPM ad.
CPM enables you to practically set it and forget it. If you have a PPC ad, you’re going to want to pay close attention to your budget and your ad’s performance. It’s also difficult to measure the success of a CPM advertisement. With PPC each click and/or conversion is relevant data you can analyze.
Finally, PPC makes you susceptible to click fraud. CPM doesn’t; since you don’t pay for each click it doesn’t matter how many times a fraudster clicks on your ad.
If you can afford it, consider trying both options to see which generates better results for you. Create a goal for your ad and establish systems to measure success. Make sure to use identical advertisements for both campaigns so you eliminate other variables. At the end of a specific period of time, examine the results. Take a look not only at your website traffic, sales, clicks and conversions but also at your return on investment.
If your budget is tight, consider starting with CPM. It’s low risk. If you are launching a new product or service and want to really drive traffic, then consider PPC. Watch your budget, your clicks and your conversions. It’s easy for a PPC campaign to get out of hand. To your success!
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He uses the affiliate programs to setup Affiliateminimall.com where you can fine discount shopping along with great coupon deals. To learn more visit: www.shoptamm.com
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Free Advertising Ideas for Small Businesses
Publisher: Earl Williams
The Affiliate Mini Mall
Advertising is often one of the least used methods to promote and market a business. Why? Because advertising can be expensive. Additionally, many advertising methods are unproven. The results can be unpredictable. Smart business owners are careful with their money. They generally tend to choose proven marketing methods. However, advertising doesn’t have to be expensive. There are many free advertising option small business owners can use.
Here are seven free advertising ideas for small businesses.
#1 Register the business website on free listing directories like DMOZ which would help increase the online traffic on the small business website.
#2 Utilize classified ad sites. Create ads to advertise a specific product or service. Make sure to create your ad like you would any other paid ad. Solve a problem. Create a compelling headline. Offer a call to action.
#3 Add your business to local search engines like Google Places, Local Yahoo, Local MSN and so on. Add reviews to your profile. Make sure the address and contact information is consistent with what you have published on your site. Also add a few local keywords to your website SEO strategy. For example, if you’re located in Austin Texas and your website is about fitness training, then you might choose “Fitness training Austin Texas.”
#4 Publish ads on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. Don’t go crazy with the advertising. Simply publish them on your profile page or include them occasionally in your posts.
#5 Swap advertisements with relevant websites. For example, if you’re a fitness trainer and you know a nutritionist, you can each publish an ad for the other on your website. It’s a simple advertising partnership. You can also publish ads in each other’s newsletters.
#6 Participate in industry forums that allow you to promote your business. You can create advertisements specifically for your forum audience.
#7 Use free listing sites like Craigslist to advertise for your business. Create the advertisements like you would for any other medium. Have a captivating headline, copy that provides a solution to a problem and then a call to action.
You can also print flyers and brochures and leave them around town. And while it’s not free, you can also print your website on stickers or magnets and place them on your car. These types of ads generally don’t cost much and they can have a good return on investment - particularly for local businesses.
Free advertising opportunities are all around you. It just takes a bit of creativity to recognize and capitalize on them. To your success!
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He uses the affiliate programs to setup Affiliateminimall.com where you can fine discount shopping along with great coupon deals. To learn more visit: www.shoptamm.com
The Affiliate Mini Mall
Advertising is often one of the least used methods to promote and market a business. Why? Because advertising can be expensive. Additionally, many advertising methods are unproven. The results can be unpredictable. Smart business owners are careful with their money. They generally tend to choose proven marketing methods. However, advertising doesn’t have to be expensive. There are many free advertising option small business owners can use.
Here are seven free advertising ideas for small businesses.
#1 Register the business website on free listing directories like DMOZ which would help increase the online traffic on the small business website.
#2 Utilize classified ad sites. Create ads to advertise a specific product or service. Make sure to create your ad like you would any other paid ad. Solve a problem. Create a compelling headline. Offer a call to action.
#3 Add your business to local search engines like Google Places, Local Yahoo, Local MSN and so on. Add reviews to your profile. Make sure the address and contact information is consistent with what you have published on your site. Also add a few local keywords to your website SEO strategy. For example, if you’re located in Austin Texas and your website is about fitness training, then you might choose “Fitness training Austin Texas.”
#4 Publish ads on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. Don’t go crazy with the advertising. Simply publish them on your profile page or include them occasionally in your posts.
#5 Swap advertisements with relevant websites. For example, if you’re a fitness trainer and you know a nutritionist, you can each publish an ad for the other on your website. It’s a simple advertising partnership. You can also publish ads in each other’s newsletters.
#6 Participate in industry forums that allow you to promote your business. You can create advertisements specifically for your forum audience.
#7 Use free listing sites like Craigslist to advertise for your business. Create the advertisements like you would for any other medium. Have a captivating headline, copy that provides a solution to a problem and then a call to action.
You can also print flyers and brochures and leave them around town. And while it’s not free, you can also print your website on stickers or magnets and place them on your car. These types of ads generally don’t cost much and they can have a good return on investment - particularly for local businesses.
Free advertising opportunities are all around you. It just takes a bit of creativity to recognize and capitalize on them. To your success!
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He uses the affiliate programs to setup Affiliateminimall.com where you can fine discount shopping along with great coupon deals. To learn more visit: www.shoptamm.com
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