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22 June 2007

What is a business model?




The topic of business models has become important in today A business model is a conceptual tool that contains a big set of elements and their relationships and allows expressing the business logic of a specific firm. It is a description of the value a company offers to one or several segments of customers and of the architecture of the firm and its network of partners for creating, marketing, and delivering this value and relationship capital, to generate profitable and sustainable revenue streams
A model describes the original in a way that its essence without having to deal with all its characteristics and complexities.There are mainly9 building blocks
to describe a business model:




1. The value proposition of what is offered to the market;
2.The target customer segments addressed by the value proposition;
3.The communication and distribution channels to reach customers and offer the value proposition;
4.The relationships established with customers;
5.The core capacities needed to make the business model possible;
6.The configuration of activities to implement the business model;
7.The partners and their motivations of coming together to make a business model happen;
8.The revenue streams generated by the business model constituting the revenue model;
9.The cost structure resulting of the business model.


All above model can applied to any type of business. In case the online auction business model

" eBay", the world's largest online auction site, is one of the better known examples. It merely facilitates the process of listing and displaying goods, bidding on items, and paying for them. It acts as a marketplace for individuals and businesses that use the site to auction off goods and services.

15 June 2007

Marketing Plan

5 Steps to a Live Marketing Plan

It's true. Failure to plan is planning to fail. When talk with business owners and marketing people I'm often asked, "How do I plan my marketing? There are so many details."
Answer is to keep it simple. But focus on the important stuff. To make it easier, I've broken down the planning process into five key steps by Stuart Ayling can help you.

1. Identify the source/s of revenue. I suggest you go back a step or two (in your thinking process) and consider the sources of revenue for your business. This helps you focus on who your potential clients are (such as demographics, psychographics, job description etc), and where they are located (such as size of business, geographic location etc).

2. Select suitable marketing tactics. You need to consider which marketing tactics are really going to make an impression. And importantly, which ones can fit into your available marketing budget. These decisions also need to take into account the communication objectives for your business.
For example, if potential clients need to be educated about a new process or service you are offering, you might consider using a "staged" communication process. You could use email or direct mail as the first stage to get attention. Then follow it up with an offer of information (e.g. a white paper or case study) or a demonstration. The third stage would be to meet with all decision makers. This method moves prospects quickly into your sales process.

3. Plan your marketing tactics over the year. No matter whether you plan by the financial year or by the calendar year, plan your marketing in 12-month blocks. This enables you to manage your budget so you have enough to cover peak periods. It also allows you to see any major overlaps that will stretch your capabilities. This is especially the case for service businesses where much of the "marketing" requires personal time to be spent by the service providers.
Get your free copy of my easy-to-use 12 month weekly marketing planner. You can use it on your PC, or print it out and fill it in by hand. Click here to download (Excel file 20KB). Tip: For best results Right-Click link and select Save Target As... to save the file on your own computer.

4. Create an action plan for each marketing tactic. You must consider each tactic on your annual planner. For each tactic write down all the tasks needed to accomplish that goal, in chronological order. Estimate the time needed to do each task so you can plan ahead. Then decide who will do it, and when it is due. Voila! You're nearly there.

5. Start doing it. That's right. No high-tech solutions required. Just start actioning all the tasks, in the priority needed to meet your timeframes. Remember to monitor completion dates and outcomes.

If you follow these 5 simple steps you'll have a living, breathing marketing plan that will put you on the road to marketing success.

14 June 2007

Trend in 2007

What trend to watch for in 2007....

*Online Ad Spending

*Some Money and Lots of Hype for Online Video Advertising

*Social Networks

*Downloadable Games Will Get Hotter

*Mobile TV Arrives

*US B2C E-Commerce

*The Retail Power of Word-of-Mouth*Broadband Services Will Matter as Much as Speed

*DVRs Pump Up TV Viewing

B2B Buyers Use Search Over eight in 10 US technology buyers begin their research for information on a major search engine, according to KnowledgeStorm and MarketingSherpa's "Connecting Through Content, Issue Two: Content Distribution — Where Information Intersects With Interest" report, fielded in April 2007. Over half of buyers scan three to five pages of search results on average. Only 11% stop at the first page. Over half of buyers read sponsored links "frequently" or "sometimes." Just over a third click on such links "frequently" or "sometimes." Some 14% of technology buyers said they frequently read sponsored links, and 6% frequently click on them. Nearly four in 10 technology buyers "sometimes" read the sponsored links, and 28% "sometimes" click on them. Nearly two-thirds of B2B marketers use a paid ad strategy to place their content on search results, and about the same proportion have a strategy for ensuring high organic/natural placement on search engines. Eight in 10 technology buyers said offline marketing, such as magazine ads or direct mail, "sometimes" or "frequently" leads them online to seek information.


read more emarketer

13 June 2007

Make selling

5 Ways to Make Selling ...

By: Barbara Weltman

Estee Lauder, who built a billion-dollar cosmetics empire, said: “I have never worked a day in my life without selling.” This strategy is something that every small-business owner should take to heart. You may prefer to focus on the core activity of your business – Web design, accounting or car repair – but you must make selling a priority. Without sales, there is no business – if you build it they will not necessarily come. Here are five ways to make selling a less difficult task.
Let others sell for you.This doesn’t mean you must employ a team of salespeople. Let your satisfied customers become your unpaid representatives. Use referrals from them to create “warm” leads to your next customers.
Make a habit of asking customers for referrals. If appropriate, offer an incentive, such as a $25 coupon for every referral that brings a new customer.
Include a referral request on your invoices so customers can conveniently provide you with the information when paying your bill.
Listen, don’t talk. Don’t try to “sell” anything. Let the potential customer talk his or her way into using your services. Being a great listener will help you develop the message that encapsulates what you do. Just saying “we prepare your tax return,” does not convey anything meaningful to the customer. But it, in the course of a conversation, a potential customer says he thinks he is overpaying his taxes, you can describe your services by saying “We prepare your tax return to provide you with every write-off you’re legally entitled to.” You’ve answered the customer’s concerns because you took the time to listen and hear them.
Talk to customers as one business owner to another. Have you noticed the different way in which you are treated when you are acting in your capacity as a professional versus when you are trying to sell your professional services? With the first hat, you may receive deferential treatment; with the second hat, you often are looked down upon. For example, when you make a sales call to promote your services, no one may want to listen to what you have to say, but when a customer engages you to provide services, the customer hangs on your every word. Correct this demeaning treatment – instead of viewing yourself as a salesperson when promoting your business, discuss problems and solutions from one business owner (you) to another (the potential customer). This can make you more comfortable in promoting your services.
Change your attitude about selling. Some business owners are loath to put on the salesperson hat; it feels too much like begging rather than selling. Changing your mindset can make it easier to operate in the selling mode. Slogans and catch phrases can help you reorient your thinking so that selling becomes a more comfortable activity:
• Remember that there are plenty of fish in the sea. Each prospect is only one of many out there. If you don’t like the way things are going, cut bait and move on.
• The customer is lucky to have you. If you have confidence in your service, then certainly anyone engaging you will benefit from the sale.
Print out and display in your work space any slogan that can remind you to remain positive in your selling activities.
Think about the big picture to develop a collaborative effort. Depending on your business, your services may lend themselves to working as part of a team to provide a complete product for a customer through reciprocal referrals, For example, an attorney who helps a small business incorporate knows that the new company now needs stationary, business cards and sings. The company may also require web site design. If the attorney can network a printer and a web designer for referral purposes, the printer and designer obtain a ready-made customer.

10 June 2007

Email marketing campaign

4 Steps to Creating an Email Marketing Campaign
By:Ilise Benun

Step 1: How to come up with tip ideas It's not hard, it doesn't take long and you can do it while you work. All you have to do is "think tip," which means:

1. Think of yourself as a conduit. Your job is to pass useful information along to those who can use it.
2. Pay close attention to questions, problems and ideas that come up when you're doing your work or interacting with customers and clients.
3. Distill the lesson (or lessons) into a tip that you can share with your network, via email or snail mail or even in simple conversation.

Step 2: How to Write a Great Tip The next step is the actual writing of the tips. Here is the structure for a skimmable and satisfying tip:

1. State the problem or situation as an introduction. Distill it down into its essence. (That's the hard part.).
2. Give 3 solutions. Tips are action-oriented so make sure you give a couple actions to take.
3. Describe the result or benefit of using these tips to provide some incentive to take the action.
4. Include tools the reader can use without doing any work, phrases they can use verbatim, boilerplate clauses, etc.
5. List websites and other resources where readers can go for more info.
HINT: For the strongest impact, put your best tip first, in case people don't read the whole thing -- because sometimes even really short tips are too much.

Step 3: How to Introduce Your Tips Begin to build your email list by inviting everyone you know to receive your tips. Here's how:

1. Send out a one-time e-mail message to everyone you know inviting them to receive your tips. Don't say "do you want to be on my list?" because no one wants to be on another list unless they're getting something good.
2. Show them what they'll get. Include an actual example of the type of tip they'll get if they sign up.
3. Choose between opt-in and opt-out. This is a very touchy subject. The "right" thing to do is send it only to those who say, "Yes, I want it." (That's opt-in.) But sometimes people want it and don't say so. If the people on this in-house list (and I emphasize in-house, otherwise it might be considered spam?!) know you and you know they'd benefit from the info, experiment with sending it to them even though they didn't ask for it. Just make sure it's useful. And immediately remove anyone who asks (That's opt-out).
4. Include a simple way for people to unsubscribe from your list. And don't take it personally, but do ask why they don't want it. You'll gather some excellent intelligence that way.

Step 4: 5 Easy List-Building Tips

1. Don't ever buy or rent an email list. I don't care how many names are on it or how cheap it is, your time is better spent slowly growing your list using your own efforts and targeting qualified leads, that is, people who are actually in a position to work with you.
2. Mention your email campaign everywhere you can. Let people know it's available. Remind them it's a great way to stay in touch in this age of message barrage. Then, in your signature file and in any byline or publicity you get, always include a one-liner about it, plus link to sign up for it.
3. Make it easy to sign up on your Web site. Above the fold (so they don't have to scroll), place a simple box or link to a form where visitors can subscribe to receive your messages. Include the sign up on other pages of your site as well, like your Resources page or even on your portfolio or client list pages -- anywhere someone might be thinking, "Hmm, I'd like to stay in touch with these people."
4. Encourage viral marketing. At the bottom of every message in your campaign, include an easy way for recipients to forward the message to others who may benefit. (Also include an easy way to be removed from the list.)
5. Send an invitation message. If you want to add someone to your list but feel uncomfortable sending your tips out of the blue, send them a simple, personalized invitation message telling them what they'll get. Then wait for their positive response.


07 June 2007

5 Reasons to say Not to New Business

5 Reasons to Say No to New Business
By: Barbara Weltman

Small businesses are usually eager to accept money from anyone willing to pay for their products or services. But some of these new customers can lead a company down the wrong financial path. Debbie Bermont, president of Source Communications (www.outrageousbusinessgrowth.com), is a leading expert on helping businesses accelerate their sales for growth. She advises that you listen to logic and your instincts in deciding whether a new customer is a good fit for your business, and she offers these pointers.

#1 Value what you offer
Make sure new customers appreciate your expertise, credibility, service, knowledge, reliability, and guarantee. If price is the customer’s deciding factor, then you are likely to be viewed as a commodity rather than valued as a specialist. This type of customer typically lacks any loyalty to you and may become fickle and switch to a competitor when offered a lower price for a similar product or service.

#2 Have customers make a financial commitment
Don’t give free advice. Have your customers make a commitment to you before you hand over your product or service. This can be done by making a purchase, paying you upfront for work to be performed or signing a contract for payment when the job is done. Prospects who expect you to provide things to them for free will probably turn out to be customers who always expect freebies, wasting your time without paying you for your efforts.

#3 Expect courtesy
Continuing business with a customer is based on building a relationship, something that can only be done when there is mutual respect and your professionalism is valued. Don’t expect to build a strong bond with a customer who is always questioning your judgment.

#4 Stay within your expertise
Don’t routinely try to satisfy customers with products or services beyond those you usually provide. Two bad things can happen if you attempt to meet this need: You may wind up providing inferior goods or services because you lack the knowledge or resources to meet customer requirements. And, even if you do live up to expectations, you may stretch your company resources and put yourself on shaky financial ground.
Customer requests for added products or services may be a sign that it’s time to expand your business. Do your own research to determine whether expansion is feasible; don’t do it simply to satisfy a single customer.

#5 Share values
Try to work only with customers who share your values. One highly successful financial planner, for example, won’t accept a new client who is not “fun” to work with. Make sure new customers fit within your company’s mission.
Copyright @ 2005 BWideas.com, Inc.

Basic SEO

Basic for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The integration marketing communication (IMC) is importantly now, Today internet com many new advertising opportunities.(I think the internet is golden opportunities to beginning business to business (B2B) at home.) You can find anything on it (Search on keyword).
But when you are a new merchant, the problem that you must to know
Basic how to promote you website.
The most successful webs tell a tip:
· Open the door to your site by ad URL submission on search engine
(Such as: Google,Yahoo, Altavista , and more; who are you?
Write anything about you that will help visitor go to your site and search engine to
pick up those keywords from your description
Tips on Google Search Engine Optimization for your web site
· Build quality links to your site pages from other well ranked sites on Google.
· Make sure you provide quality content that have something unique to offer and that have keywords or key phrases people might search to find your site in Google.
· Optimize you web site pages by making sure your top keywords appear in your title, meta tags and content.
· If you sell products, give something away free (The word "free" is one of the top most searched words on the internet).
· Keep a track of your listings/ranking in Google and analyze it periodically. Some google tips on this:
· Indexed Pages: To know which pages on your site are listed in the google and to see how they will appear to google searchers type site:www.yourdomainname.extn in the google search box.
· Link Popularity: To keep a track of sites that link to you (and also see their google page rank), type link:www.yourdomainname.extn in the google search box.

You can Submit URL here
By Google :http://www.google.com/addurl.com.html
By Yahoo :http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
By Dmoz :http://www.dmoz.org/add.html
By Altavista :http://www.altavista.com/addurl/default
By Alexa :http://www.alexa.com/support/get_archive.html


· Answers and comment in the forum a high PR (page rank = how important Google think website is)
· Writing article or content about your website and sending to E-zinearticles or Goarticles.

All of them can help to get traffic and some back links come to your websits .To day this tip is know as “SEO”. It is a goal advertising website for (IMC) and it is easy begin (B2B) at home and most important learn basic HTML and knowledge to update your site with a charm
You must remember that when you begin own business a personal relationship and service mind are of critical importance in the IMC.

06 June 2007

Basic online advertising

Basic online advertising :Ho! Today online advertising is growing in popularity with many businesses because they want to promote their product. Some off all strategies: Ad word, banner, guest book, email subscribe etc. online advertising technology advance are being made everyday that enhance what visitors would like to see. How can it help for success?

Ad word: when the people come in the Internet they must to search with keyword.So! Look for keyword that their want to search and advertise it with some agency such as google adword. Also you must pay some money to advertise them and now you are a customer you can learn more about the term of them: CTR (Click through rate), CPA (Cost per action), PPC (Pay per click), CPT (Cost per thousand).It can help you to understand process and the way that there work. When you use it with your site and earn with it easy

Banner: Banner ad is advertises by graphic image or animation displayed on website.It is a way to show your site such as exchange with some website. Standard size is 88x31 pix, 120x120 pix, and 480x60 pix. But some site not frees. Vedio ad is similar to a banner ad

Guest book: when you visit some web you can comment with admire and appreciate.Another newer technique to display advertising networks hyperlinks

Email subscribe: when you create a new thing or update on your site email is the way to contact your customer or some one who come visit your site again. Subject: “clear and can “ Clear with concept product and Can be true. Body: Show true information with profile company, URL or Addresser to contract and remember all of e-mail that you sent they can unsubscribe and not Spam

To day Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and amazon create new product for earn money but they are the same basic all above such as: Google Adsense is the product for advertises on web or blog. I think it is fast and easy with earn money. But the long time when the people make Adsense more than information that they present in web the consumer can be fill then they are not click. Because they know what is it?
So! Advertising is the art that webmaster must to learn and make it with a part off data or main information that they post. However if it can complementary the pots to be the one. It will be success to win online advertising.