Starting a new business can often feel like something you’re doing in a vacuum alone. This is most especially true if your business is online, but it can feel like that if you’re starting any type of business. But, the truth is, you’re never alone – you will just have to seek out the relationships and network rather than having them built in for you like they are at a job. Here are ten ways to build your network when you’re just starting your business. 1. Online Forums – You can meet a lot of interesting people in online forums. Find forums consisting of people you want to start networking…

People often ask about what is the best time of year for email marketing. However, the answer is never what they expect because like most things marketing, the answer completely depends on the products and/or services you’re promoting plus your audience. It may get old hearing that answer – but the fact is, your audience and your product matters greatly. 1. Off-Time Sales – If you have a shop that is mostly frequented in the summertime, then you want to create an email series for the off time. An example often used is the tanning shop. Sending out email marketing campaigns to tanners during the winter can help bring those…

Many small business owners have jumped on the Facebook Page bandwagon. Some are even abandoning the idea of having web pages and blogs in favor of a Facebook Page. It seems so much easier than the other options. However, this is a huge mistake. Facebook is not enough in the world of online marketing to make a difference. Here’s why. Your Online Presence Needs Many Entry Points To attract your audience today you need several places in which they can find you. You need social media like Facebook, along with your website. Your website should be considered the main source for all your social media sharing. Your entire focus with…

Throughout the lifetime of your business you will be making many decisions about many different issues. As your business grows and you mature as a business owner, the objectives you develop today might appear vastly different than the objectives you had when you first started. When that happens it’s very important to consider a commission restructure. 1) Study Your Audience – It’s important that you continually study your audience to enable you to continue to put out products that resonate with them, providing solutions for their pain points. If you don’t really know who your audience is, down to their sex, income, hopes, dreams, desires and fears, you can’t create…

Being a business owner carries a lot of responsibility and risk. It may feel like if you’re not there, nothing will get done, and you’ll lose money. That is likely true if you’ve not created and established systems to work for you so that you can work on your business instead of at your business. After all, wasn’t the entire point of starting your own business to have more freedom? Money is great, but it only goes so far to creating happiness if you’re always at work. Create and Establish Systems Every successful business has something in common with another successful business. That’s organization. Every business from a restaurant to…

Learning how to price products for your Etsy store front can be challenging. Pricing your products is a very important part of starting a successful Etsy business. If you under price you will not make a profit, and if you over price you may not sell anything. It is a real balancing act to come up with the right price point and can take some trial and error. In general prices should: * Follow Etsy’s Terms of Service – It’s important, no matter what service you use to sell your items, that you read their terms of service and all updates. You do not want to accidentally break rules when…

The internet is used by just about everyone these days and by now you’ve probably realized it has a language all of its own. There a few basics that everybody knows but it’s always good to educate yourself to make sure your information is secure. You’ve most likely surfed quite a few websites in your time and noticed that all of them either start with “HTTP” or “HTTPS.” Do you know what these acronyms stand for? You may not think there’s much of a difference between the two, but the difference is actually quite significant. What Exactly Is the Difference? For those of you that don’t know, “HTTP” stands for…

As a retailer it’s important to realize that showrooming is not going to go away. So, instead of packing your bags and heading out of town for the virtual world, focus on other ways that you can turn your retail store into a place that shoppers want to experience as well as make purchases in. Here’s how to do it. Accept Reality Showrooming is here to stay. Consumers are going to compare prices, and they’re going to get the best deal they can and the most perceived value possible out of every purchase they make. Avoid Lines Find a way to make the in-store shopping experience have fewer lines. Apple…

Running a great affiliate program requires you to provide awesome tools for your affiliates. There are some really fabulous ways to create and develop affiliate tools for your program. You’ll need tools like an affiliate platform, landing pages, creatives and more. You will be successful if you follow these tips. 1) Chose a Great Affiliate Platform – There are many platforms to choose from, but the better platform you choose, the easier it will be for you to provide the right tools to your affiliates to use to market your products and/or services. 2) Ask Affiliates – If you already have in mind a few people who would probably want…

There is no question that multi-channel marketing offers a high return on investment. It doesn’t matter what your product is – if you’re not sending your message to multiple channels in multiple ways, you’re going to miss a large portion of your audience. Reaching more of your audience translates into higher profits. But, along with these profitable opportunities comes challenges. Keeping a Consistent Message It’s tempting when moving to a new channel for marketing to change your entire personality. However, you actually want to keep your message consistent no matter what channel you’re sending the message. Cohesive Branding Think about brands that you know. Taco Bell, Netflix, Facebook – all…