Ryze.com: Recommended Online Networking For Businesses

I don't remember how I came across this site, but I joined Ryze.com a little over a year ago. I've met many great people through Ryze, including my mentor, Marilyn Jenett. I've also connected with dozens of people across the globe. Ryze is the perfect place to promote your business for free. You can also join forums/groups where you could share your expertise, collaborate with others, or find your next job. There are three types of membership with Ryze: regular, gold, and platinum. You get your very own page where you can say whatever you want to say about your business as well as list experience, education, have's, wants, etc. With gold or platinum membership you can lead your own network and get even more exposure for your business. Visit my Ryze page at: http://www.ryze.com/go/homesolutions Happy Networking!

Five Online Marketing Tactics Every Business Should Use

By Stephanie Diamond Every online business strives to make their website unique. In my experience, there are five fundamental tactics that every online business should employ. Some are intuitive, some are not. I have found that businesses find several of them ‘inconvenient’ and choose to ignore them. Review the list and see if you are guilty of avoiding a useful tactic. 1. Use Professional-looking branding If you were to choose one item from this list not to ignore it should be branding graphics. Professional graphics can make or break your company. If you don’t have strong, well-thought out branding, you are wasting your time selling on the internet. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune on a high-priced designer. It means you have to decide what your business is about and make it clear to visitors the moment they hit your home page. The key here is strategy, not pretty pictures. 2. Make your Products Easy to Buy I picked “Make it Easy to Buy’ as the tagline for my online marketing company because I believe most online businesses get that wrong. Intuitively, you know it’s true, because you can’t always buy an online product you want. You have chosen your item, you have your credit card in hand, but you just can’t make it happen. Ask three people who are not associated with your company to log onto your website and attempt to buy a product while you observe. This is always eye-opening. Do this today and you’ll learn something about why your sales are stagnant. 3. Reward your Customers It seems strange, but most companies don’t really thank their customers for buying from them. By that I mean REALLY thank them, by offering a future discount, a special newsletter or something that moves the relationship forward. No one is required to buy from you. If they are willing to purchase your product, make sure they are rewarded. People, who are rewarded, will repeat the experience, it’s as simple as that. 4. Partner with others in your Field This tactic separates the successful from the very successful. Many businesses jealously guard their information and never look outside for inspiration. The best way to grow your business is to partner with others who market to the same customers. Not only do I recommend that you seek out those in complimentary businesses, I encourage you to look at others doing the same thing you are. Approach them and see how you can be stronger together. This may seem threatening at first, but once you realize that more resources and more ideas make you stronger, the quicker you’ll see the value. Obviously, don’t give away proprietary secrets, but find common ground and you’ll be amazed what can happen. 5. Provide Content Variety Everyone has a favorite way to access information. The internet makes it mandatory that you read text to get where you’re going. But don’t be limited to this method. Use audio, video, flash movies and anything else you can try to diversify your message. Don’t be afraid to try teleseminars or pod casting. Use it as a test. You don’t need to commit a huge budget to these tactics, but a small test will allay your fears and might point you toward a great new way to generate revenue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Digital Media Works, Inc.(http://www.DigMediaWorks.com ) is an Internet marketing and design firm that specializes in solutions for e-commerce companies . . A seasoned 25+ year management/marketing professional , founder Stephanie Diamond is experienced in building profits in a broad range of product and services businesses . She created a line of multimedia software products that sold millions of copies for America Online

Yahoo! Webhosting: Highly Recommended For Newbies

If you’re thinking of starting an online business, but feel overwhelmed by the thought of creating a website, I suggest using Yahoo! Sitebuilder and Webhosting. All elements of the software are basically cut and paste. No HTML coding knowledge needed! When I first started an online business, I used Yahoo! Geocities because it was a free service. However, I was annoyed with the ads that showed up on my site that could potentially attract customers away from my site. If you don’t have a budget at all (like I did when I first started), I still recommend Yahoo! Geocities. But if you have $8.95 a month to spare, I would upgrade to get an ad-free site as well as a free domain. This makes your site look more professional. For only $11.95 a month you can have Yahoo! Sitebuilder which has many, many more templates than the $8.95 plan. The Sitebuilder software also allows you to work offline. Yahoo! also offers a plan that gives you the ability to add a shopping cart to your website. However, if you have PayPal, you can easily add “Buy Now” and “Shopping Cart” buttons yourself! To add HTML to your website, I would suggest reading the “Sitebuilder Manual” or contact me (I charge $5 per question). For more information on my business consulting services, email me at: prosperouscareeronline@yahoo.com To Our Success!

How to Achieve Your Goals and Dreams

We all have dreams. Dreams of being rich and famous. Dreams of making it big in the business world. Just how committed and focused are you on making your dreams a reality? Are you willing to sacrifice time, energy, sweat, and tears to achieve all your dreams in life? Sometimes it takes years for dreams to fully manifest themselves. Some people quit because the road gets rough. Others are told by friends and loved ones that their idea or goal is outlandish and impossible to achieve. It is the losers that quit and the winners that perservere. It is the winners that don't let anyone or anything stand in the way of achieving their goals and ultimate bliss. I have a friend whose parents used to call him a "roach" and told him that his business venture was never going to work. He now has a profitable restaurant business and owns a million dollar home on a hilltop with a great view. One of his parents is now working for him! Whatever your goals are, start by writing them down. According to Robert Allen, author of The One Minute Millionaire, Creating Wealth, and other best selling novels, the secret to achieving goals are: 1) Have a specific written goal 2) Have a deadline for your goal 3) Have a consequence if your goal is not achieved 4) Have no other option Writing your goals down embeds them into your subconscious where your mind will begin to work to come up with an action plan. Look at your written goal(s) everyday before you go to bed and when you first wake up. Visualize yourself achieving your goals. Before you know it opportunities will begin to open up for you and your dreams will soon become reality!