Customer Loyalty: The Backbone of Any Successful Business

The truth about making money from home

Anyone that has ever owned a business can attest that customer loyalty is the back bone of it. There are many other benefits that are essential to a thriving business that can emerge from high customer loyalty. The question becomes how do you increase customer loyalty? Customer loyalty isn't built out of one practice, but rather a multitude of them that can help increase it. A book that includes details on many of the facets of customer loyalty and how to employ them has been released by the Harvard Business Review.

Harvard Business Review on Increasing Customer Loyalty.

Making sure your customers are coming back and bringing new customers with them is the main ideas behind customer loyalty. The idea itself is rather easy to understand but executing it is another story. To start on the path towards this kind of success make sure that your employees enjoy their jobs. Spreading their happiness to your customer will be much easier if your employees are happy at work. This will result in all of your customers feeling that your business is a great place to buy from.

Making sure that any negative situation that a customer initiates is turned positive is the next important step. Your happy employees will need to be trained in this skill, but should be willing to learn. Deepening a relationship is something that can be done easily when a customer brings a problem to you. Start with the idea of never saying no to a customer, make sure that they know you are making an exception just for them, and then exceed their expectations for a solution. Not only will this type of interaction will result in loyal customers, but also customers who refer.

Extensive research has been done by the Harvard Business Review and they have discovered certain steps that business owners can use to improve loyalty of their customers. The book goes into much more detail on the subject, much further than the ideas briefly listed above. Many of their suggestions are based on customer service, but customer loyalty is rooted in other arenas as well. All the topics concerning customer loyalty are reviewed to help you build a well rounded plan.

Running Promotions That Work

The truth about making money from home

When you are running a business, one of the most important things involved will be that you figure out ways to get customers into your store; of course, there are many ways by which you can go about doing this, but one of the best things you can do in order to get customers into your stores is to run promotions - and of course, if you are running promotions, you will need to make sure you know how to run promotions that actually work.

One mistake many companies make when running promotions is that they give customers things that they will not actually want - that is, giving them “throwaway items” - but you must realize that you will need to make sure you are giving your customers something they will actually want if you want to get them into your store with your promotion; think of yourself when you are running a promotion, and make sure you are only giving away something that you yourself would actually want to receive from a store!

Another thing you should realize is that the things you give away in a promotion do not necessarily have to be from you or your store; one of the best ways to make a promotion work is to give away a large gift card to a website lots of people use, such as Amazon or iTunes, as this will give everyone a product they are familiar with, and will in turn give them the drive they need to take part in the promotion.

And one of the big things when you are running a promotion for your business will be paying attention to what is working and what is not working; as the promotion moves along, be willing to always tweak your approach - enhancing the things that are working well, and getting rid of the aspects of the promotion that are not working at all.

The more often you run promotions with your business, the better you will become at knowing how to run promotions that work - but as you get started with these tips in mind, you will be well on your way to having a successful promotion!

How To Convert Your Website Visitors Into Customers

The truth about making money from home

When people start working on a website of their own, a lot of them focus on the things they will need to do in order to get people to come their way, but while this is certainly an important component of running a website, all the work you have done to get people to come to your site will be for nothing if you fail to convert these visitors into customers.

One of the best ways for you to convert casual visitors into serious customers is to get them to become part of your social media circle; when you get people to add you on facebook, or to start following you on Twitter, you will be a whole lot closer to getting them to take that next step of purchasing products or services from you!

Cultivating a "members" section of your site, through which members will be able to receive special discounts and deals is another valuable thing you can do in aiming to create loyal customers; when you simply take the time and effort to craft an appealing members pitch, and to feature this aspect of your business prominently on your site, you will find that you are building a lot more loyal followers for your business.

And quite frankly, "relationships" are one of the main things that will make a customer choose one company over another, and even though you will not be able to use your online presence to create face-to-face connections like you could with a physical location, you can use your online presence to interact directly with those who visit your site, and in this way, you will create a lot of relationships, and will find that a lot of your visitors are becoming customers.

As you build your website, make sure you are keeping in mind how absolutely important it is that you convert visitors into customers - and pay attention to these ideas, as well as any other creative ideas you can come up with for converting visitors, so that you can further build your customer base!

How To Use The Buying Cycle To Your Advantage

The truth about making money from home

If you have a small business website, or if you have started a site for search engine marketing, you will likely be using search engine optimization in order to target people who are searching for the product or service available on your site; while this is a great start to driving traffic your way and making money as a result, you should also realize that there are a few more things you should pay attention to in order to make sure this traffic turns into sales - namely, the way the buying cycle works these days.

There is a high percentage of consumers who will head to the Internet these days when they are about to buy a product (especially a product that will cost a decent chunk of money - which is where your focus should be, especially if you are a search engine marketer), and the first thing people are likely to do when they go online is compare the specs on different products; while it is fine to bring traffic your way at this point, one thing you should also realize is that you are unlikely to convert this particular traffic into profits!

The reason you are unlikely to turn this traffic into profits is because most people will move from this point to A) asking friends (perhaps on Twitter and facebook) for opinions on the products they have looked at, and B) looking up reviews of these products; this is another big spot in the buying cycle that a lot of people target on their sites, but it is not a big part of the buying cycle for actual sales!

Finally, you are going to arrive at the end of the buying cycle, when consumers will be searching keywords such as "best deals on" the particular product, or "best prices on" the product in question; because this is the part of the buying cycle when the most sales are going to be made, this is the part of the buying cycle you will want to aim to target in your keyword approach, as this will bring you the highest conversion rate!

Bringing lots of traffic to your website will be an important part of making money on this site, but another aspect that will be just important is converting this traffic into sales - and when you understand the buying cycle, you will be well on your way to doing this!

Resolving Conflicts In A Family Business

The truth about making money from home

The idea that trying to separate "work life" from "family life" can be difficult causes many of people to advise you to never work with family, but if you are already involved in a family business, this advice does not do much to help you; instead, you should acknowledge that conflicts are inevitable in any form of business - and when it comes to participating in business with your family, it is essential that you know how to resolve these conflicts, as they will otherwise be able to injure relationships in both work and family.

Having a structured plan in place that you can follow whenever conflicts arise is the best way to resolve conflicts within the confines of a family business; you need to wait until a time when no conflicts are occurring in order to come up with this plan, as this will enable everyone to give their input into the process without a current issue getting in the way.

If the conflict in question is about something that is minor and interpersonal, the two people involved should work it out between themselves whenever this is possible, avoiding the need for mediation from someone else in the family or business; for such conflicts, a designated room or area should be set aside for the two involved in the conflict to have their discussion, as this will allow the rest of the work space to remain a peaceful environment that is conducive to work while the two in conflict resolve their issue.

On the other hand, if the issue in question deals with the entire company or family, having a process that will allow both sides of the argument to be heard by everyone will be useful, after which everyone in the family can vote on the issue to complete the resolution.

Once these processes have been agreed-upon and put in place, it will be easy to follow these processes in order to resolve conflicts at work, without allowing these conflicts to trickle over into your regular family life.

Does It Matter Who I Exchange Reciprocal Links With On My Website?

The truth about making money from home

When you are conducting some search engine optimization on your website, you will probably be looking for different ways by which you can take advantage of the manner in which search engines work - and once you understand that backlinks (that is, links from another site that point users to your site) are among the most important elements of SEO, this may lead you to start doing some reciprocal links - where you link to another site in exchange for a link back to you - but while this can be a beneficial SEO trick, it can also hurt your website if you do not do it right!

Know who is linking to you: If you have a website that ranks well, and you are exchanging a reciprocal link with a site that is brand new, or that is not high-ranking at all, you will still be helping them, but they will not be helping you at all; furthermore, you will not receive any help through a reciprocal link if you are exchanging links with a site that is deemed by search engines to be irrelevant to yours.

Know who you are linking to: While links from a poorly-ranked site will not hurt your search engine ranking, you should know that it is possible to hurt your search engine ranking by linking to "unsavory" sites; if a website has lots of spam on it, or if it is overflowing with pop-up ads, or if the content on the site is offensive, linking to this site will actually hurt your standing with search engines rather than helping you!

Pay attention to anchor text: The anchor text (that is, the text that this "partner website" is turning into a link) will also make a difference in whether or not the reciprocal link does anything for you; the best way to reciprocate links is to tell the other person what you want the anchor text to say, as this will allow you to make sure that the anchor text contains keywords that are relevant to the page being linked to, which will cause the link to have more weight with search engines.

SEO can be complicated at first, but once you start understanding the little things such as this, you will be in much better shape to boost your placement on search engine rankings pages!

Tips For Composing Print Ads That Shine

The truth about making money from home

One thing that will be important when you have a business is that you keep your eyes open for every different thing you can do in order to expand the scope of your business - and when it comes to expanding the scope of your business, one of the best options is often to use print advertising; of course (as is the case with any form of advertising, in fact), print ads can either be extremely effective or can be a great big waste of cash, and which side of this you fall on yourself will depend largely upon your understanding of the things you can do to make your print ads stand out.

The first step to creating a successful print ad is for you to make sure it catches the eye from the start; if someone is flipping through a newspaper or a magazine, they will be searching for content, not ads, so you will need to make your ad visually appealing in such a way that the person will not only notice it as they flip through the pages, but that they will also want to stop and find out what the ad is all about.

Of course, attempts at making an ad "visually appealing" can go too far, and you can cause people to pass right on by it; if you are wanting an example of great visual appeal, take a look at the approach to advertising that Apple takes - noticing the minimalistic manner in which they present their ads, and noticing also the way in which these ads implore people to look at them and find out more.

And even if you have done everything right in order to get people to linger on your ads, it will not be worth anything if you fail to make it clear in the ad exactly what it is about in the first place; before you create a print ad, determine the one thing that you feel is most important for someone to take away from the ad, and focus on making this "one thing" clear.

You will be able to increase the profile of your business when you approach print ads in this manner, and the more you do to increase your profile, the more you will find that you are also achieving a higher level of success.

Getting Started With Online Investing

The truth about making money from home

Regardless of whether you have been investing for a long time and simply want to do something new by investing online, or are a brand-new investor who is just starting out in the stock market, you are likely to start your online investing in the same place - and in order to get the most out of your online investing experience, there are a few things that will be important for you to know.

There will be a lot to wade through when it comes to choices for online investing firms, and before you make your decision of who you will go with, you will need to compare all of these - taking a look at the commission they charge, the tools they offer, and the experiences their customers have had; typically, you will have more in the way of investing tools and expert advice from a service that charges a higher commission, but there are actually some highly rated sites but have low commissions, so take the time to look around and find the fit is right for you!

Once you have picked out a brokerage firm that you will feel comfortable using, you will then need to fill out a basic application on their website; this application will pretty much just require your personal information, and should be a fairly easy process to go through.

After these steps are all taken care of, you can move onto figuring out how much you want to start out with for your first wave of investing; every brokerage will have a different minimum that you must invest, but of course, your best bet would probably be to start out with a little bit more than what this minimum is, while also making sure that you are using an amount you feel comfortable risking.

And finally, you can start doing some research and studying up on things before you begin investing; this is the most important step of all when it comes to investing, as you are unlikely to achieve success with your investments if you have not done your research, so take the time to research, and then start investing well and enjoying the results!

Marketing Once You Have the Consumer's Permission

The truth about making money from home

A drastic movement of change is taking place in the world of marketing. Gone are the days where the most effective form of marketing is through interruptions in entertainment. Magazine ads, commercials, and direct mailings are still being used but are no longer the most cost effective ways to advertise. Instead consumers have developed defenses for these types of ads. They are able to effectively avoid advertisements once they know that they are being sold.

Marketing now involves a process that is lengthier but also more efficient. Getting permission to advertise to someone is now the best way for you to do the marketing. This can be accomplished in a few various methods. A few examples are to offer a free item in return for a survey or to offer a large discount on an item they want to buy. The customer will spend time interacting with you when they partake in any of these ways. Accomplishing a long lasting relationship with them is something you can then do.

The time of a customer is extremely valuable and their permission to occupy it is gold to a business. The use of the internet is the best way to do this. There will be many costs involved for those offering surveys for items or coupons. Physical copies of the offer, envelopes, and stamps would all be needed. These costly supplies can be eliminated by the use of the internet thus allowing you to market this way much cheaper.

People pay attention to what you are trying to sell them if you market in this way according to statistics. Their attention span will also be longer than in other times. Any form of marketing today is rather transparent and this one is really no different. The difference is they will be ok with it since they are also getting something in return. Even if you are marketing something that they do not want to buy from you they are getting something of value to them in return for their attentions.

Marketing Your Business Effectively

The truth about making money from home

As a business owner, you might have heard it said that the most important thing you can do with marketing is to find something that works, but honestly, there is a step before this: you first have to make the effort to at least find something! Too many businesses fail to market themselves at all, and because of this they fail to remain in business. If you want to remain in business, you have to make sure you understand how to market yourself; once you understand how you can market your business, it is not difficult at all. Find a marketing strategy (or several marketing strategies) that you enjoy, and that you can run effectively, and you will see your business blossom as a result.

As you stare at your computer screen and read this, take a moment to think about the ways in which people use their time; usually, catching people where they spend their time is the best way to market, and once you start pondering this, you will realize that you and most of your potential customers spend a lot of time on the internet. From this realization, you can conclude that the internet is a veritable gold mine when it comes to marketing. You can have high visibility on the internet, can reach a broad audience, and can even often customize your ad to reach exactly the audience you want to meet. What's more, you can use pay-per-click advertising so that the only time you ever pay for an ad is when someone shows interest by clicking on it. With pay-per-click ads, you will get some of the best return on investment you can find with any marketing tools.

You can also advertise on the internet absolutely free! Facebook and Twitter can help you create greater awareness, especially if your business already has an established presence and is recognizable. Once you understand how to use these free social networking platforms effectively, they can do a whole lot to help you spread the word about your business.

Finally, you can use the internet through email. Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing methods, and most programs for auto-responder technology are relatively inexpensive for the results you will achieve.

Without marketing, your business has no chance, and without good, marketing your business has very little chance. Figure out the marketing method that works for you, and then give it all your energy!

How To Find A Job: Quickly!

The truth about making money from home

There are times when you are looking for a job that you will be keeping your eyes open for "the right job" - a job that you hope to stay in for years and years - but there will also be less-fortunate times when you simply need to find a job, and find one quickly; regardless of the circumstances that cause you to arrive at this point, it will be important to know how to find a job quickly when this situation arises; here are some tips to help you find a job without delay!

The first thing you are going to want is a resume, and even if you are applying to places that only require you to fill out an application, you will set yourself apart from others applying for a job if you take the time to make sure you have a clean, clear, professional resume that you can give them.

Submitting your resume correctly will also be important, and while there is no "wrong way" to submit a resume, there is certainly a "right way; rather than just going into a place of business and handing your resume to the person who greets you, ask to speak to a manager, as this will only take a few extra minutes to do, and it will enable the manager to put a face to the name when they shuffle through the resumes.

And also keep in mind the fact that a lot of people go months without finding a job, and they wonder why they are unable to find something - but they neglect to realize that they are only approaching a few places each week; it only takes a few minutes to submit a resume for a job, so once you have your resume ready to go, you should make sure you are submitting it to at least ten places every single day, doing everything you can to get yourself out there.

And of course, when it comes time to interview, you should dress in a sharp, professional manner - regardless of what the job is for - and you should make sure you are practiced in the sorts of questions you might be asked, which will enable you to answer them in a proper and impressive manner.

You can continue keeping your eyes open for that "dream job" - even continuing to look for it while you are working this new job - but it is always better to get hired quickly and have a job until that dream job finally comes along!

How To Design Your Business Card

The truth about making money from home

In order to promote both yourself and your business to customers, a business card is one of the most important tools you can use.

A business card will ensure that you always have something handy that you can give out to people whenever the opportunity strikes. But while a business card can be a useful tool, it can also be a waste if you do not know how to make your business card effective. Not only should your business card list a name and phone number, but it also needs to inspire people to call the number!

One thing you have to remember when you hand out your business card is that the people you give your business card to will not always remember who gave it to them. In fact, it is not uncommon for people to end up with a pocket full of business cards every day! In addition to clearly stating who you are and how you can be reached, your business card should also clearly state what you do. It is especially important to make sure the card clearly states what it is you do if the name of your business does not make it clear!

Another thing you should add to your card is your logo, but you should be aware of its placement; do not allow it to take over the card! The logo should be noticeable, but it should not be the focal point; after all, the logo is an important element, but it is still only one element.

A high-quality business card will reflect well on your business, so pay a little extra money to make sure that your card looks professional. If someone is looking for a plumber, for instance, and they have nothing to go off of but a few business cards, they will choose the highest-quality, most professional-looking card.

It is not difficult to make sure your business card helps your business stand out, but it is also not difficult for your business card to detract from your business! Make sure that your card is effectively designed, and make sure that you spend a bit of extra money to have a card that looks great!