If you're just starting your internet business (or even if you're already established), one of the questions you should ask yourself is...What kind of lifestyle do I want to have?

When I started my business, I always thought about having the freedom to travel. I wanted to be able to work wherever and whenever I wanted. That's what attracted me to affiliate marketing in the first place. I loved the idea of creating a business online and being able to make money no matter where I was.

One of my dreams is to be able to travel all over the world and to help people in developing countries start their own internet business. I would like to establish learning centers with computers and provide opportunities for people who normally don't have access to a computer.

So, what dreams do you have? What do you want to do with the money you make from your internet business? Where would you like to travel? Start thinking and imagining the lifestyle you want to live with your business.

And speaking of travel...

British Airways is currently offering the world on sale! Get the upgraded experience on packages to places like Cairo, Delhi, and Dubai. From New York to Milan there's a package deal for $821 which includes airfare and a 3-night hotel stay. I love that British Airways offers complimentary food and cocktails on all flights.

Click here for details about the sale. You must book by November 19, 2009.

Also, check out the destination guides that British Airways offers...

One of the most popular posts on this blog right now is "What's a Good Niche Product To Sell?", so I thought I'd share this video by Katie Freiling where she talks about how to discover your niche when creating your personal brand...

I share the same philosophy as Katie that you have to do what you love and love what you do. The more passionate you are about your niche, the more successful you will become. Stick with a niche that you know and understand and brand yourself as an authority on the subject.

Do you have any tips to share on discovering your niche market?

This is a guest post from TRUSTe...

You may be a small business, but chances are you collect some form of PII. Even small businesses are accountable for the safety of user PII, and thereby must take adequate measures to protect it. Lead Microsoft.com editor Monte Enbysk gathered TRUSTe’s insight to help develop 6 privacy tips for small businesses:

1. Take inventory of the personal information you collect and store.

2. Analyze how safely you use and store this data.

3. Make sure you’re complying with industry or federal laws.

4. Post a privacy policy that is clear and comprehensive.

5. Have your policy reviewed by an attorney or by a privacy seal program.

6. If you have employees, make sure their personal information is protected too.

According to Enbysk , you should seek the expert opinion of a privacy service like TRUSTe who can help ensure the accuracy and validity of your privacy statement. Not only may a third-party privacy authority ensure your privacy statement and practices are up to par, but a seal from TRUSTe can benefit your brand.

“The Web privacy seal is one of TRUSTe's most popular products,” says TRUSTe’s VP of Communications, Carolyn Hodge. A privacy seal may be most beneficial to small e-tailers with little or no name recognition outside their hometown or region.

About TRUSTe

TRUSTe Privacy Seals help consumers click with confidence by guiding them to trustworthy Web sites. More than 2,400 Web sites rely on TRUSTe industry best practices to help them make the right decisions about privacy and protecting confidential user information. Half of the top fifty Web sites are certified including Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, Disney, eBay, Intuit, and Facebook. Independent research shows that when a TRUSTe web seal is present, visitors are more likely to share personal information, register at higher rates and spend more money. To learn more about internet privacy services for SMBs, visit http://www.truste.com/privacy_seals_and_services/small_medium_business_privacy/index.html

For many years now, every internet marketer on the planet has touted the "Content is King" philosophy in running an internet business. You give valuable content to your blog readers/customers and karma rewards you with increased sales and better relationships.

Although I do believe this philosophy is still true, if you are a blogger or you write your own content, sales letters, or newsletters for your business, I recommend reading Larry Brooks article over at Copyblogger: "Why Content is No Longer King (And Who's Taking His Place)".

Yes, content is great because you are providing value to your customers, but there does need to be a balance between content and promotion. I could write content all day, but if I'm not asking for the sale, chances are I'm not going to make a sale.

There are some interesting comments in response to Larry Brooks' post. It made me think that maybe we should change the philosophy to "Value is King". People buy because of the perceived value of an item, right? If it enhances their life or provides a solution, it's considered to be a value.

What do you think? Is content dead?

As a website owner, one of your goals is to attract loyal customers who will continue to visit your website and make repeat purchases. Business experts say that most of your business will come from 20% of your customers, so reaching out to this 20% is important to the success of your internet business.

So, how do you get these repeat visitors to your website? Here are ten tips:

1. Keep your website updated. Sites that do not produce fresh content tend to get dropped by some search engines. You can also let visitors know when your website was last updated by including a date counter on the page.

2. Provide additional value to your website visitors. Link to relevent resources and other content on the web. If you have joint venture partners or are affiliated with any programs related to your niche, you can include links to their sites and/or products and ask them to do the same for you.

3. Offer your customers or potential customers a chance to ‘opt in’ to get discounts and special offers. You can encourage them to ‘opt in’ by offering a free report, ebook, monthly newsletter. By keeping in contact with customers on a regular basis, they'll more than likely visit your website again.

4. Never spam a customer. If a customer has opted in to receive newsletters, don't bombard them with unsolicited emails. Later if they choose to ‘opt out’ of the mailings, make sure you honor the request and take them off the mailing list. If they like your products, they may just revisit your website anyways. However, they will certainly NOT come back if you insist on flooding their email with information that they no longer wish to receive.

5. Add a link to your home page with a script such as ‘Book Mark or Add this site to your Favorites’.

6. Add a ‘Tell a Friend’ link so that a visitor can email your website link with a prewritten title like, “Thought you might be interested in this”.

7. Make sure your website design is consistent so that visitors always know they are on your site. Use consistent colors and logos, and make sure you have a ‘Contact Us’ link in your navigation bar in case they have any questions.

8. Create a FAQ page that clarifies what your product or services are about. An FAQ helps to answer and resolve customers' doubts or questions in the first visit to your website.

9. Make sure that each page on your website is fully optimized with appropriate titles and keywords so that customers can find their way back to your site via the search engines in case they forget to bookmark it.

10. Offer phenomenal customer service. If there's only one tip that you take away from this article, this is it. If you take care of your customers' needs, you're pretty much guaranteed to get repeat visits to your website.

Getting and keeping visitors on your site is something that every website owner should try to master. When you have repeat visitors to your site, you don't have to worry so much about marketing or advertising your business. Now you can just focus on turning those visitors into lifelong, raving fans!

Do you have any tips to add?

Photo Credit: Jesse CourteManche