Product Spotlight: Little Black Book of Home Party Plan Marketing Secrets

Where to buy: www.partyplanpat.com

From ACMOM

The Little Black Book of Home Party Plan Marketing Secrets gives you the know-how to build a successful home party business. It will teach you secrets on how to get more bookings and increase your sales.

The book features:

* Ways to attract new direct sales representatives and customers

* Secrets of how to get your prospects to call you

* How to position yourself as an expert in your field

* How to avoid expensive mistakes that can cost you thousands

* Biggest reason that’s stopping you from succeeding

* How to get return customers that come back over and over again

* How to get your clients to refer their friends to you

* And lots more

In this book you will discover the secrets of creating a successful direct sales business. It provides lots of in-depth information and advice.

This product has a 60-day money-back guarantee.

For more information, go to www.partyplanpat.com

Freelancing websites can be a great way to build a portfolio, fill in gaps between projects and add to your customer base. But not all projects are created equal – and there are definitely a few tricks and tips to make sure you get the best jobs.

Here are seven tips for using freelancing websites.

#1 Make the most of your membership. Most freelancing websites offer varying degrees of memberships. That means if you have a membership that allows you to bid on ten jobs a month, you want to be choosy with the jobs you bid on. Choose jobs that match your expertise and make a habit of checking the freelance websites once a week, once each morning, or whatever fits best into your schedule. Some sites will email you jobs that match specified criteria, which will save you time searching through endless job postings.

#2 Look for providers that post jobs frequently and come through with them. For example, you don’t want to bid on a job where the provider has posted 110 jobs in the past six months and only completed or followed through on ten. Instead, search for reputable projects and companies.

#3 Review buyer feedback. We don’t have to tell you that some jobs just aren’t worth the headaches and buyers can be a real pain in the neck. Of course, there are also wonderful customers who are great to work with. Review feedback on potential companies before bidding on a project.

#4 Trust your instincts. Bid on projects that make you feel positive about them. Projects that get you excited will help you put your best foot forward when bidding and communicating with the buyer. This enthusiasm and confidence in your instincts will translate in your communications and you’re actually more likely to get the job.

#5 Customize your bid for each project. Buyers can tell if you’re simply cutting and pasting the same old bid verbiage for each project. Customize your bid for the specific project and share your relevant experience.

#6 Ask questions. One of the biggest mistakes freelancers make when working on freelancing websites is that they’re afraid to ask questions. Instead, they make assumptions and the result is often costly to them, making them lose money on the project and perhaps not give as positive an impression as they could have.

#7 Go beyond the norm. Most freelancing websites enable you to publish a portfolio. That’s great, but it also helps if you can link to your website or attach relevant examples in your bid. For example, if you’re bidding on a graphic design project for a pet food company and you have logos you’ve designed for the pet industry, attach those to your bid even if they’re already in your portfolio.

Finally, and perhaps above all else, be professional and treat others as you would like to be treated. Respond promptly to questions from potential customers, be willing to negotiate, and always be positive and polite.

You may not be chosen for the project you’re bidding on, but customers remember people who impress them and you may be the freelancer they contact the next time they have a project.

Helpful Links
Looking to find work? Visit Elance.com

While iPhones have an amazing number of applications with social and personal benefits, you might be surprised at the sheer number applications that can help you grow and manage your business.

The iPhone itself comes with the Microsoft Exchange, which gives you the ability to send and receive email messages with the touch of a button along with the ability to view documents on your phone. Because of the view screen, viewing documents is easy and productive. The Microsoft Exchange also lets you view your calendar.

Additionally, surfing the web, checking your stats on your affiliate sites or logging into your Google Analytics account is quick and easy with the iPhone user interface. But let’s get beyond this basic stuff and into where the real productivity lies: iPhone applications!

iPhone apps for Business Productivity

1. Bento. Bento is an iPhone application that helps you take client information with you on the road, track trip expenses, create to-do lists, manage membership lists, or plan events. It works with the applications that come with your iPhone, which makes it easy to use and integrate. It’s billed as a “Productivity” tool and costs $4.99.

2. “Things” is another task manager. It’s an iPhone staff-pick and it’s designed to help you organize, schedule, and complete your to-do list. It lets you schedule tasks to do right way, tasks to do tomorrow and tasks to do “someday.” Plus, you can synchronize it with your computer so your task list can follow you where you go. “Things” costs $9.99.

3. “Air Sharing.” This application lets you copy documents onto your iPhone and review them whenever and wherever. Capabilities include Microsoft Office, Pages, Keynote, PDFs, images, and more. The cost is $4.99.

4. “Xpense Tracker” is exactly what it sounds like – it helps you track your expenses. As a business owner this can be a very useful tool. XpenseTracker also offers reporting and exporting options. It lets you track mileage, set your currency, and use the iPhone camera to record receipts. You can also create categories for expenses like mileage, meals, airfare and so on. Xpense Tracker costs $4.99.

Social Networking

Social networking plays a very important role in the success of some businesses. There are many applications that allow networking while away from your computer; however, the iPhone staff recommends AIM. AIM lets you send instant messages right from your iPhone.

And there are website specific applications, too, such as FaceBook and Twitter, which are free to install.

The iPhone offers a number of applications far beyond the scope of this article to help you stay productive even when you’re away from your computer and still need to conduct business and keep tabs on your progress, traffic and sales. Keep an eye an iTunes for staff picks and new developments.

You thought you were done when you optimized your site for Google, MSN, and Yahoo, right? Nope – the Microsoft Network, MSN, has partnered with Yahoo in a 10-year, $275 million dollar agreement and launched Bing.

Bing went live in June of 2009 and was instantly popular. It is intuitive and offers users a number of search options.

While we can’t predict the future, all signs point to making the effort now to optimize your website for Bing. Here are some tips:

#1 Make your content longer than 300 words. According to SEO experts, Bing algorithms seem to place a higher value on content that is over 300 words. That means longer blog posts, more content on web pages and longer articles.

#2 Optimize your title tags for your keywords and use unique <title> tags on each page. You may be doing this already for Google and Yahoo. Keep it up; Bing likes title tags and pays attention to them when indexing and ranking your page.

#3 Linking is always important. Bing likes backlinks from relevant websites and outbound links are treated with a bit more weight than other search engines.

#4 Target no more than 2 keywords per page. That’s a suggestion from Bing’s FAQ page.

#5 Meta Tags. You may have let your meta tags slide because rumor has it that Google doesn’t really pay attention to them. But Bing recommends you use unique <meta> description tags on each page.

#6 Continue to use other standard optimization techniques and strategies.

For example:

* Use H1 tags

* Use text navigation links

* Use keywords in your URL

As you might expect, there’s some disagreement on these points among experts. There are some reports that indicate Bing places value on longevity. The older your website, the more respect Bing seems to want to give you. Other sources cite that younger, newer sites, have the advantage. Regardless, whether you’re a brand new site or a website that’s been around for years, put the above practices in place and be patient.

As an Internet business owner it’s always good to pay attention to what the big three are doing, the big three being MSN, Yahoo, and Google. And when two of them team up then that most certainly deserves a change in strategy. As the months pass and Bing continues to grow, there will likely be some additions or changes to how they index and rank websites. Stay tuned for further developments.

Affiliate marketing can be a very profitable business model. Whether you’re pursuing affiliate marketing as a business or are looking to add a few affiliate products to your current model, there are some secrets to selecting the best affiliate programs for your niche.

Here are 7 guidelines for choosing the best affiliate programs:

1. Check out the company’s reputation in the industry. There are literally thousands of companies around the world with affiliate programs and, chances are, you’ll have plenty to choose from in your business niche. But not all of them are created equal, and it pays to be selective.

Research a potential company’s reputation in the industry. Do they have a reputation for quality products? Do they have a reputation for good customer service? Are they respected? Is the company growing or is it on a downward turn?

When you market an affiliate product, you are – in effect – aligning your reputation with that of the company. Make sure this company is one you feel proud to represent.

2. What are their payment terms? Does the company pay you whenever you make a sale or only when you reach a certain level of sales? This is important because if you have to wait until you make ten sales or reach $500, this affects your cash flow.

Cash flow is important not only in staying afloat as a business owner but also in staying profitable. Make sure the payment terms of your chosen affiliate program meet your cash flow needs.

3. How are their sales pages? If you’re being paid per sale, rather than pay per view, there’s no profit in sending 1000 customers to an affiliate sales page if the sales page doesn’t convert visitors into customers. Make sure the sales pages of your affiliate product or service convert traffic into sales.

4. What materials do they provide you to promote? Some affiliate programs give you an affiliate link and send you on your way. Other affiliate programs offer you a wealth of content, advertisements, promotional materials, buttons, and more to promote their products. The more materials a company provides, assuming its quality marketing material, the easier it will be for you to make money.

5. How do they treat their affiliates? This is important. Look closely at the program terms. How many return days are offered? What is the commission rate? Is there a possibility for negotiation of a higher commission rate if you prove to be a successful affiliate?

When issues arise or when you need to speak to an affiliate manager about anything, is there someone available to help you? Look for companies that have a good reputation for treating their affiliates like the valuable assets they are. If you have questions about whether an affiliate program is the right choice for you, contact them.

6. Do you feel good about their products or services? Instincts and intuition are important, and so is your ability to sell or promote an affiliate program’s products and services. If you’re unable to promote them with enthusiasm then you’re probably not going to make much money from them.

7. Does the program complement your other affiliate programs? The best way to make an affiliate program profitable is to make sure it fits into the needs of your audience and that it complements your other affiliate programs. If you’re seeking your first affiliate program, then make sure it fits your business vision.

Finally, ask around if you have questions about an affiliate program’s potential profitability. If you cannot find anyone who represents the products, which you should be able to do with a quick search online, then contact the program manager and ask for a few references or the contact information of a few affiliates. Talking to these affiliates will likely answer any questions you may have.

A Must-Read Resource on this topic is:
Super Affiliate: How I Made $436,797 In One Year.
By Rosalind Gardner
(Available here for instant download).

When people attend direct sales parties, they have certain expectations. There’s probably an expectation to have a good time, or at least to have a little time to gather with friends and sip some wine.

But you can go further than that. Here are a few easy tips to make your direct sales parties more fun, to make sure everyone has a great time.

1. One great way to get the party off to a fun start is to host a contest to get people talking and mingling. If you’re selling makeup, for example, have a “name that lipstick” contest and give a little prize (a piece of gourmet chocolate, perhaps) for the guest who can come up with the most creative or interesting name.

If you’re hosting a party for home goods, choose one of those items whose job isn’t apparent and hold a contest for people to guess what the item is used for.

Another idea: Fill a jar with money, ask people to guess how much is in the jar and give them the jar as a reward – a jar full of money will put anyone in a good mood!

2. Smile. A good, old-fashioned genuine smile is contagious and it’ll spread like butter on a hot day. Welcome each guest like you would a long lost family member and make them feel welcome and appreciated.

3. Play background music. Parties can lull and when they’re too quiet it can become awkward. Have some festive music playing to set the mood – not too loud, of course, because you want people to be able to hear each other speak.

4. Decorate a bit to make the party feel like a party. You don’t have to put up balloons and streamers, but a beautiful bouquet or two of flowers, some candles and smaller decorations can make it feel like a party.

5. Food! Food has a way of bringing everyone together and it can make an average direct sales party a superior one. A few tasty appetizers and some decorative cocktail napkins is a nice touch.

6. Let attendees handle the products. People love to be able to touch, examine and explore products and many sales experts agree that once a product is in the hands of the customer, the chances of converting that to a sale go way up.

Let your party attendees handle the products as much as possible. In fact, if you can display them on a table and let people explore that’s a great way to decorate too.

7. Play a game or two. We already talked about contests, but a game can also lighten the mood and make a direct sales party more fun. For example, a hostess scavenger hunt is a fun way to get people to work together and have fun.

Making a direct sales party fun just takes a little planning and a desire to make each party you hold the best it can be.

For more information:
Direct Sales Success-Little Black Book Of Home Party Marketing Secrets.
Home party plans and direct sales marketing success blueprint – known only to a small group of marketers.
This is a step-by-step guide for home party consultants and direct sales consultants on how to increase home party sales.
Available for instant download

Here’s another service to look into for monetizing your website or blog.

BidVertiser is an ad network company that connects websites that want to host ads with advertisers who want to run ads.

As an advertiser, BidVertiser allows you to create and run their ads on thousands of relevant websites. You can browse through the categorized directory of websites and select the ones appropriate to your business. Create your text add, set a budget plus capping and run your ad. You can monitor the performance of your ad using the website’s Advertiser Center.

As a publisher, you can turn your advertising space into money. Display the Bidvertiser text ads on your website and get paid when visitors clicks on the ad.

The company abides by strict network standards for all participating advertisers and publishers. They manually check each website and ads to make sure that the highest quality, for both advertisers and publishers, is maintained.

For more information, go to http://www.BidVertiser.com

“The money is in the list.”

Every online marketer has heard this classic piece of advice. But sometimes we’re so focused on subscriber numbers that we neglect the relationships with those subscribers. We assume that, the bigger the list, the more money we’ll make.

This may well be true, but what’s even more important than having a large opt-in list is using it well.

If you have a list of 1000 names and 10% of them become customers, you have 100 customers. That’s great.

Yet if you have a list of 1000 names and 20% of them become customers because you’ve taken extra measures to make sure they are treated well, then that’s even better. That’s 200 customers and a group of loyal and valued subscribers.

People buy from businesses they like and whom they can relate to.

They also buy when they feel

• appreciated
  
• part of a group
  
• when they feel the need to reciprocate.

By making each and every subscriber feel important and valued you make the very most of your list, regardless of the size.

Here’s how to make sure every subscriber feels important.

* Use your subscriber’s name. In every communication you have with your audience, make sure you personalize the message. “Dear subscriber,” is very impersonal and won’t create the same connection as something like “Dear Anne.”

There are applications that can personalize your email and autoresponder messages or you can do the coding yourself, or hire someone.  The point is, find a way to send personal messages to your subscribers. The little details matter and it begins with getting their name on your communications.

* Reward your subscribers. Consider analyzing your list and sending special promotions to those who click through often, make purchases or forward your information to others. Some people subscribe to a list just to get the free information you’re offering. They may give you an email address they don’t access often or they may just send all your communications to their junk mail box.

Other subscribers will be interested in your information. They’ll click though to read your content, they’ll download materials from your website and they’ll express an interest in your products and services. These subscribers are valuable because they’re on the cusp of making a purchase. Taking great care of these subscribers is important. And designing special offers and promotions for them is a great way to make them feel special.

* Connect with them personally. Another way to make your subscribers feel special is to take a break from marketing to them and instead include them in your business. You can ask their opinion, give them the opportunity to contribute to your content by writing guest posts or asking questions. You can offer them contests and sweepstakes and give them first dibs at new products or services.

* Always be sure to thank your subscribers. Gratitude is wonderful; it’ll change your life and it will let your subscribers know you’re a businessperson who has their priorities in order.

Facebook, Twitter and other social media have made it easier than ever to connect on a personal level with your subscribers. Don’t neglect these important tools.

Here are some good resources to get you going in social media:

Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm

Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans

The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success by Lon Safko

Websites, like any marketing materials and business processes, needs to keep up with the times. Whether that means tweaking your website from time to time to keep it up to date or completely redoing it, is a decision that can only be made by you. Here are some questions to help you decide if it’s time.

1. When was the last time you updated your website design or functionality? If it’s been more than a year since you’ve done anything to your website other than add content, then it’s probably time to at least give your website a few touch-ups.

2. Does your website design still accurately reflect your company personality, brand, vision and mission? Businesses change and grow and you can easily outgrow your website design. If it no longer represents who you are and where you’re going as a business, it’s time for a makeover.

3. Is your website able to accomplish all that you need it to accomplish? Old platforms may not be able to handle all of the functions and features you’d like to offer your audience. For example, maybe you want to be able to offer a paid membership option.

4. Have you rebranded your business? If you’ve rebranded your business then your website most certainly needs an update.

5. Is your website poised to handle the future? If your website already has a retro look and feel, it may not be ready for what the future has in store. A touch-up now may prevent you from having to do a complete overhaul in the near future.

Here are ways you can improve your website:

* Upgrade or fix the navigation. Navigation, or how your users are able to get around on your website, is essential to them staying on your site and revisiting it. If things are difficult to find, you can bet impatient website visitors will not stay. Navigation is an important function and is a good way to update your website.

* Design. When people think of makeover this is what often comes to mind and yes, you can change or update your colors, design, layout, logo, and graphics to give your website a fresh look and feel.

* Search engine optimization. Hopefully you’ve been updating your keywords and SEO tactics as your business grows and your audience changes. Internet users have become significantly savvier when they search and it’s important to keep up with the trends. This is more of a behind-the-scenes makeover and can be handled by a SEO professional or by you or an educated administrative assistant.

* Functions and features. Today’s prospect likes to interact online and that means offering web 2.0 features and functions.  Most often this doesn’t require a complete overhaul but rather adding some user-friendly items to an already existing site. However, if your platform hasn’t been updated in a long time, you may need to upgrade to stay current.

To stay competitive, it’s important to assess your website on a regular basis. Every six months to a year is a good idea to keep things fresh, innovative and interesting to your audience.

One of the most challenging aspects of being a business owner and working from home is keeping all of the balls in the air at the same time.

When you work at home, things have a tendency to get in the way. And these minor bumps in the road, while they can’t distract a motivated and serious business owner from ultimately achieving goals, can set you back and cause you to lose time and money.

Here are a few tips to keep your home business running smoothly:

1. Try to keep regular business hours, whatever they are. One of the benefits of working from home is the ability to work when you want to and – let’s face it – even if we love what we’re doing, sometimes we just don’t feel like working.  Other times, say, when the children are sick or your water heater just exploded and flooded your office, you can’t work.

But to keep your home business running as smoothly as possible, try to keep regular business hours. If, for example, you find you’re most productive in the morning then make it a habit to work for a few hours every morning.  You can, of course, work during other parts of the day as you feel like it (or as you need to) but that regular habit of working from 9-12 every day will help things stay on track. You also don’t want to work so much that you burn out. Keep it steady, especially as you are starting out in your home business.

2. Make time for planning. You may not realize it, but one of your most important tasks as a business owner is to plan your business. Set time aside each week to plan your business.  For example: every Friday afternoon, plan what you’re going to do the upcoming week. Each day, before I leave my desk, I make a quick to-do list for the next day. I find that this helps me to organize my thoughts at the end of the day, and it helps to jumpstart my productivity the following day.

You’ll also want to set goals and outline steps to achieve those goals on a regular basis.  On the first day of the month, make a written plan. You’ll also want to create an annual plan and each week or month, take a look at this annual plan and your data to see where you are and what you need to do to accomplish your goals.

3. Keep records. It’s difficult to know how to plan or how to create goals if you don’t have information to base your decisions on.  Record keeping, analytics, financials, and the like are incredibly important.  When you have the right data, and it’s easy to access, you can make great business building decisions. Make gathering this data a part of your daily or weekly routine.

4. Make room for fun. Making time for fun every day is a great way to keep things light and interesting. Even if it’s just a few minutes of dancing to your favorite music, it’ll help you face any challenges that come your way.

5. Partnerships make a big difference. Partnering with other business owners not only helps your business grow, it helps you stay on track to attain your goals.  When you have someone counting on you, it helps you stay accountable.

6. Consider outsourcing. Trying to do everything yourself, particularly as your business grows, is not only is stressful but it makes it difficult for you to stay on top of everything and keep your business running smoothly.  Hire experts to help when necessary.

7. Do something you love. If you enjoy what you’re doing and are fulfilled by it, it’s just easier to make sure the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed.  You’ll be better able to focus, to move past mistakes,  and to seize opportunities.

Keeping your business running smoothly is about knowing your limits, creating systems and setting parameters for yourself and doing something you genuinely enjoy doing.  As life doles out its little surprises you’ll take them in stride and your business won’t suffer any setbacks.