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The Basics Of Starting An Online Business (Part 1)

The main thing about starting an online business is having a product to sell that customers want to buy. You can spend all the money you want setting up an elaborate website with colourful graphics. If the product is not enticing to customers or if you don't advertise it in the appropriate way, your online business will not make any money. Just as you would with a brick and mortar business, you need to start with a business plan so that you know what you need to do in each step of the process.

Online Business

In most cases, you don't need as much money to get started in an online business as you would with a regular business. For one thing, you don't need to rent office or warehouse space and you don't need to have as many employees. Many of the successful online businesses only have one employee. This is because these people operate out of their home and use part of the basement to store the inventory. Since all the business is conducted online, they only need a computer with an Internet connection to connect with the customers.

An online business starts with setting up a website telling customers about your product. Since customers can't actually touch and sample the product, it is the words you write that will do the selling for you. Even if you purchase Adwords and advertise your product on other sites, when potential customers come to your site they need expert articles about the product that will convince them to buy. The cost of setting up this business is the purchase of a domain name and web hosting, which don't add up to very much money. Then you have to spend time building your site by adding more pages or products.

If you already have an existing business, you can make your presence known by having a website. This helps to draw customers into your store because they will want to examine the product themselves. It will also give you more exposure to potential customers farther away from you when they can order the products they want online and have them shipped to their addresses.

Well-located Forms processing services

Forms processing outsourcing services from our company offering complete forms processing services, form design to mailing and database management. Provide the online form processing services to clients worldwide at lowest rates and 100% accuracy.

 

outsourcing services

Manual data entry is not only time strong and expensive but also level to errors and a less competent method. To overcome this problem, automatic forms processing system was adopted. An organization’s forms and data can now be fed on to a computer and processed. Our huge experience in expediting and automating the processing cycle means our clients get the information they need when they need it, quickly and easily.

Forms processing consists of applying for a preferred service or benefit, whether it be an appreciation card application or insurance coverage. Our solutions provide information in real-time to providers, physicians, pharmacists, customers, companies, and governments. Cover Forms Processing in large volumes, while maintaining high levels of safety and strict time frames. With our experienced project managers and staff we can handle all of your insurance forms processing needs.

Form processing involves extracting information form structured or customized forms, faxes and scanned images and updating in on ranges of outputs. Form Processing for Insurance, banking and medical forms which need to be replicated electronically.

On Web helps customers to convert stacks of paper records of Insurance, banking, medical forms and any other forms that have to be replicated electronically into electronic files that are convenient, legal, and quickly accessible. Compared to paper files, our Form processing services will save you space, time and personnel. Our process integrates scanning; image processing, and ( http://www.dataentryindia.com/data_processing/data_cleansing.php” target="_blank- data processing ), document indexing into a single package. Security restrictions on viewing and other applications can be put in place. It allows you to protect your files on a user-by-user password basis.

Form processing is a leading provider of forms processing solutions and offers the services with a professional feel. We are able to handle more than thousands of forms per day by utilizing the service of our well experienced service personnel. Our primary focus is on data accuracy and quality. We do not compromise on quality at any level.

Forms processing outsourcing services from our company offering complete forms processing services.

Server Virtualization

The term ‘server virtualization' is something of a paradoxical terminology. Imagine having to work on a ‘virtual server' many people, not familiar with IT terminology, will wonder how you can use a ‘virtual' machine. To them virtual would mean something that should be, but it not. However, to a computer savvy person the term ‘virtual server' may not come through as such a confusing term. After all they are used to dealing with ‘virtual assistants' all the time.

 

What Can Server Virtualization Achieve?

In two simple words, savings and efficiency, what more can an entrepreneur want and desire? Server virtualization is a technology that all businesses using multiple servers should invest in, and the earlier the better. Server virtualization reduces the need to have multiple servers running in a rack simultaneously and service different clients on a network. Given that no single server utilizes the full potential of the hardware installed only means that a lot of resources is wasted. Not only is the server wasting its hardware resources by under-utilizing them, it is also wasting electric power by itself and through the switches that are connecting the servers to the network. Anyone familiar with networking will acknowledge the fact that network switches guzzle electric power. Server virtualization does away with all the unnecessary hardware and saves on investment as well as running costs.

No Call List Complaints – Are You Covered On Purchased Leads?

If you’re an insurance agent buying leads from a company, you should ensure you’re purchasing names and numbers from a company that protects you if you’re sold and call the number of someone whose telephone is registered with the National Do Not Call Registry.
National Do Not Call Registry

Starting on January 1, 2005, people who register their phone numbers with the National Do Not Call Registry may not be called by telemarketers and certain other businesses 31 days after the listing of the phone number. The registry was created in response to consumer complaints regarding unsolicited telemarketing calls. In order to stop calls, a consumer must list their telephone with the registry. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is the country’s consumer protection agency, along with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and state law enforcement are in charge of making sure businesses are in compliance with the law governing the no call list.

Personal phone numbers, including cell phones, may be registered. Phone numbers remain in the registry for 5 years. After that time, they may be re-registered. Calls from charities, from or on the behalf of political organizations and those from telephone surveyors are not restricted under this law. Additionally, if a consumer already has a business relationship with a company, that entity may call and solicit the consumer. A person may also give written permission for specific companies to call them to solicit business. The registry is only for personal phone numbers and business phones may not be put on the no-call list.

The list is updated every month and telemarketing companies are responsible for recording any new numbers every 31 days and deleting those phone numbers from their call lists. Law enforcement officials have access to the registry in order to confirm that businesses are in compliance with the law. Telemarketers and other businesses can face high fines (up to $11,000 per complaint) if found in violation of the regulation.

If you are purchasing insurance leads from a company, the service providing the names and numbers should guarantee that they are not on the no call list. If you do phone a number that’s in the registry, the business from which you bought the lead should agree to pay any fines connected with the violation. A responsible lead provider will have a written policy concerning the law.

There will, of course, be certain criteria used by the lead supplier to evaluate whether or not your call falls under their guarantee. A company will protect you if the number is on the no call list on condition that:

  • The number that you called was the correct number supplied by the lead provider.
  • The person you contacted then requests that you refrain from calling again and you follow their instructions.
  • You call between the legally determined hours for telemarketing calls (from 8 am to 9 pm).
  • You identify yourself in the proper manner to the lead.
  • You are professional and courteous when calling the potential customer.
  •  The person filing the complaint is the contact person on the lead or appropriately related to the contact person.

 

Additionally, you will have to allow the company that sold you the lead to manage the objection, letting them properly defend the complaint. The lead generating business will also require that your account is current and in good standing and that you’ve acted in good faith and abided by all contractual commitments.

If you and your insurance company abide by the following guidelines, the business that provided the lead should agree to hold you, your employees and company harmless regarding all fines, expenses to defend the complaint and other fees associated with the case.

To determine if a lead generating company is reliable in terms of the contact information it supplies insurers:

  • Make sure they have a written no call list policy.
  • Call the attorney general’s office to see if any complaints have been filed against the company.
  • Work with a company that specializes in insurance lead generation and that has a track record.
  • Buy leads from a company that only supplies the names and numbers of people who have requested an insurance quote.
  • Purchase leads that are from a database of verified phone numbers.
  • Work with a supplier that is a member of the Better Business Bureau or the Better Business Bureau OnLine.

 

Although no lead you purchase can guarantee a sale, all leads should be guaranteed against complaints in relationship to the National Do Not Call Registry. Leads that are not certified in this manner may be less expensive, but in the long run that money you save may cost you more in legal fees and fines.

This is the amazing true story of how one woman, with no previous business experience, earns $435,000+ per year online

This is the amazing true story of how one woman, with no previous business experience, earns $435,000+ per year online

... selling other people's stuff!

Have you seen all the hucksters' hype about 'How to earn HUGE money on the 'Net?'

It's sickening! Most of them have never earned a dime online! They're trying to sell you some gimmick, or 'Internet Mall' that won't bring you 2 red cents.

If you're tired of the B.S. and are ready to learn the truth about Internet and Affiliate marketing - stick around.

This book could change your life!

Letter from the Author, Rosalind Gardner

earns a lot of money

 

Dear Aspiring Netpreneur,

Honestly! I get angry every time I hear someone say that there's no money to be made by promoting affiliate programs.

What a pile of unadulterated cow dung! Anyone telling you that affiliates aren't making money, either hasn't tried it himself, or is so greedy that he doesn't want you to share in the wealth.

The truth is, you can make INCREDIBLE MONEY online by promoting ONLY affiliate programs.

Everyday hundreds of thousands of affiliates make money promoting their affiliated merchants products online. Thousands of folks have been able to quit their jobs simply by promoting other people's products.

These companies want YOU... to promote their products!

Here is just a tiny sampling of the BIG brand-name companies that use affiliate programs to promote their products online:

  • Barnes & Noble
  • Dell
  • Discover Card
  • Dollar Rent-a-Car
  • eBay
  • Eddie Bauer
  • Gateway
  • Gap
  • KMart
  • New York Times
  • NBC
  • Old Navy
  • Patagonia
  • PayLess Shoes
  • PetSmart
  • SONY
  • Sports Authority
  • Staples
  • TimeLife
  • USA Today
  • Verizon Wireless
  • Weight Watchers

 

Find Lucrative Home Business Opportunities Using a Narrowed Search

Sifting through all the millions of home business opportunities available online can be difficult. You must determine which work at home jobs are really what they claim and which are scams. That's why it's important to take your time and investigate each business opportunity before spending your money.

Find Lucrative Home Business Opportunities Using a Narrowed Search

You can use the search engines and narrow your searches to improve your chances. Here are some tips to help you find the home business ventures that best fit your needs.

Search for Home Business Types

Before you narrow your searches, you should know generally what type of business opportunity you are seeking. There are many out there in the world of cyberspace, and it's your duty to find the ones that will match your skills and lifestyle. Among some of the most popular ways to make money on the Internet are paid surveys, MLM systems, turnkey website solutions, affiliate opportunities, and more.

Use the search engines to narrow this search even more by typing in one certain business opportunity by name such as "paid surveys." This will bring up a list of companies offering paid survey tips, paid survey business opportunities, and so forth. You can also use the keyword "paid surveys from home" or similar words to narrow the search again.

Narrow Searches to Match Your Personal Interests

Once you find several types of home business opportunities you feel will work for you, it's time to search using your personal interests. What this means is to find work at home jobs that are of interest to you; don't settle for jobs you won't enjoy doing. For instance, if you're going to start a turnkey website of your own, find a turnkey website opportunity that sells products or services that are of interest to you.

If you like crafts, you might be able to find a turnkey website opportunity related to crafts. The same goes for finance, herbs, health and beauty products, electronics, children's clothing, jewelry, home decor, and fashion.

A turnkey website is a website that you purchase or receive upon joining a home business opportunity. The website is pre-designed to sell certain types of items or services so all you have to do is promote the website.

To narrow your searches, add a keyword to the business opportunity name while searching. The keyword should be what interests you. An example would be "crafts turnkey website" or "photography turnkey website." Or, if seeking an MLM opportunity, you could type in "crafts MLM" or "herbs MLM."

Time to Make Money on the Internet

Once you find work at home opportunities of interest, you're ready to make money on the Internet. Don't put all your eggs into one basket as the saying goes, but try out several of the opportunities you find that appear to be the most lucrative.

Be sure the home business opportunities are not scams by checking them out through search engines and the Better Business Bureau. Then, give them a try!

Best practices for eMeeting

Preparation

According to the number of participants, you will decide to broadcast the voice through a normal telephone call or through an audioconference. In this regard, we offer a free audioconference service in which the participants make a usual long distance call with access points in Europe and America as well as in a passage via Skype, with the necessary password to join in. The meeting’s WEB page is edited to display the order du jour. Other resources are offered, under SERVICE, specially to detect the opening of an invitation e-mail ensure the automatic resend to those whom have not confirmed their participation as well as to convert an Excel  file into an interactive board.

eMeeting

Progress

Several Conferenceware functionnalities can be used to profit from the efficiency of an eMeeting. The same apply to the PowerPoint presentation and screen sharing in order to be able to display Word or Excel documents, for example. Also, several presenters may intervene under the guidance of a conference master or president of the assembly and each of the participants might be authorized to write on an interactive board or to make notes on a presentation. The presenter can transmit to the participants any screen saver or image or file, such as a report. While in meeting, a participant can virtual raise his/her hand to show the intention to share something publicly or communicate privately with the presenter, just like whispering. Finally, a question might be submitted to consideration by vote and the results may be displayed or not, as wished by the presenter.

Follow up

The meeting’s report indicates not only the participants but also the answers given to questions asked or votes taken. Moreover, by recording a meeting, in which voice and image are synchronized, the absentees could see it any time by getting the hyperlink and password required to replay it.

How Long Can I Expect My Virtual Assistant To Stay With Me?

That’s the number one question I’m asked by clients, future clients, and interviewers.  So how long can we expect virtual assistants to stick?  My answer is always the same:  “it depends”.  It depends on many things.  But first we need to realign our thinking a little bit and better understand today’s workforce.

Virtual Assistant

As a small or home-based business owner, are you basing your perception of how long a worker stays in a position on your own work history?  Yeah, me too.  Big mistake.  Personally, when I take on a position I intend to stay with it – I don’t give up.  I’ve enjoyed lengthy tenures at my places of employment throughout my career.  All except one and that’s a story for later.

What we need to remember though is that everyone is not like us.  Especially the current workforce.  I mentioned in a previous article (http://www.teamdoubleclick.com/news/free_articles/workingwithnewgeneration.html) that the days of staying in your job for the rest of your life are long gone.  As business owners, we tend to forget that and we are frustrated by it.

Let me say it again in this article:  A recent study said that the average tenure in a job for Generation Y is 18 months.  That’s realistically the max you can expect someone – anyone, bricks-and-mortar or virtual, to stick with a job.  Let’s leave that thought to stew for a while and talk about the “that depends” I mentioned earlier.

Depends on what?

•      Things change in people’s lives – everyone’s lives.  Mine and yours and your virtual assistant’s.

Think back to the reasons you have changed jobs in the past.  What things in your past have caused a need for job changes?  Pregnancy, sudden depression, death in the family, shift in financial obligations, relocation, change of career goals, a decision to go back to college, ill parents, ill children, ill spouse?  Of course, and there are many more.  Your virtual assistant is a human being too and they’re also subject to all of these normal human occurrences.  Any one of these or many more reasons are cause for a virtual assistant to move on elsewhere or even stop working altogether.

•      Job likeability.  You’ve got to like your job.  I hope we can all agree on that.  If you don’t like what you’re doing you’re not going to do your best and you’re always going to be shopping for a better job or better opportunity.  Virtual assistants, as with bricks-and-mortar assistants, are not immune.  I’m not talking about being a virtual assistant in general – though that happens too – where a virtual assistant decides she can’t handle the isolation and hangs up her computer.  I’m talking about all of the tasks a virtual assistant does on a daily basis.  For one client she may answer phones, for another she may do data entry, and for yet another she may be asked to cold call.  If she doesn’t like those duties she’s not going to like the job and will ask for reassignment or quit entirely.

•      Boss likeability.  For me, the only one I didn’t stick with for a good length of time was one where I was treated like a prisoner in a concentration camp, neck breathed down and so on.  I left one day for lunch and never looked back.  Have you ever had a boss you just couldn’t stand?  How about one with whom you just couldn’t see eye-to-eye.  Or maybe there was the one you always thought was creepy or shifty.  Would you stick with a boss that gave you those feelings?  Certainly not!  Yet we expect our virtual assistants to do that and we can’t.  With 6.6 billion people in the world every one of them is not going to like each and every one of us.  And you’re not going to like every one of them either.

•      Then of course there’s Big Bad Team Double-ClickSM.  At Team Double-ClickSM our job, as we see it is this:  to help you determine your needs in a virtual assistant; to locate the best virtual assistant for you, our client, based on your personality needs as well as your skills needs; to locate problem virtual assistants and send them packing before they do damage to you; to nurture the relationship between you and your virtual assistant; alert you to potential problems with a virtual assistant; to stand by what we do and what we offer; and locate a new virtual assistant for you should things not work out.  Now, sometimes the virtual assistants we contract don’t like this.  This is when we become “Big Bad Team Double-ClickSM”.  You see, we’re the good guys when we’re offering work to virtual assistants.  However, when we have to take that work away or ask a virtual assistant for reimbursement for a client due to negligence in their actions, we’re no longer popular with that virtual assistant.  This quite often causes a virtual assistant to quit.  In order to protect you, our client, sometimes we have to tick people off to do it.

•      Theft.  Yes, theft.  Team Double-ClickSM is a virtual staffing agency – we’re the middleman.  We work hard to do the best by our clients and locate quality virtual assistants for them.  And theft does happen – even from virtual assistants who’ve shown no signs of being anything but above board.  If finances get tough, the first thing most people want to do is cut out the middleman.  Why?  Usually to make more money of course!  While we do our best to prevent it from happening it does from time to time happen that a virtual assistant will attempt to steal a client – to make more money.  I’m sure you can see how this opens a whole can of worms here and can easily mess things up for other clients.  My question to you:  would you want to directly hire a person with that kind of track record?  Could you really trust they wouldn’t try to steal something from you later on down the road?  I wouldn’t.  In fact, this brings me to an interesting story.  A virtual assistant (let’s call her Jane) recently successfully stole a client (let’s call him Dick) from Team Double-ClickSM.  In this instance, rather than enter into a lengthy legal battle with Dick and Jane, we let it go.  We of course discussed with Dick the potential for Jane the Thief to repeat her history again in the future.  Three months later Dick came back and said “Gayle, Jane just stole from me – she embezzled my funds in fact.”  While I felt badly for Dick we predicted that this could happen which is why we’d warned him.  Dick chose not to listen to our years of experience and the information we had available.

•      Popularity.  Team Double-Click‘s virtual assistants are contracted – not employed – by Team Double-ClickSM.  As with most contractors (think home builders, highway builders, and other competitive bidders) we too impose restrictions, benchmarks, and even penalties on our contractors for lack of performance.  Again, this sometimes makes us unpopular and can cause a virtual assistant to quit.  Would you want us to do anything less in the name of protecting our clients?

Knowing what causes people to leave should help you better understand how long a virtual assistant may stay in a position.  About 25% of our virtual assistants have been with us and the same clients for well over a year and many more approaching the one year mark.  In fact, earlier this year one of our virtual assistants retired from Team Double-ClickSM and the client she was assigned, after being with him for more than three years.

So when asked “how long can I expect my virtual assistant to stay with me”.  I always say “It depends.  As long as nothing goes wrong and there is no reason for the virtual assistant to leave, she will most likely stay.”  As one of my daughter’s teachers used to say, “It’s all about cause and effect.

This article’s goal was to give you a better perspective of what to expect in this day and age of hiring and some insight into what can go wrong.  I hope I’ve accomplished that.  And with a better understanding maybe we’ll all be less shocked and better prepared when one of our workers – bricks-and-mortar or virtual - departs.

The Basics Of Starting An Online Business (Part 2)

There is much more to starting an online business than just having a product to sell and setting up a website. In order to turn this into a profitable business, you have to reach the customers. This means that you have to rank high in the search engines - at least in the top 20. If you are wondering why this is so, just think of the many times you searched for something on the Internet. How often did you continue pages the first two screens of results? If you are like most searchers, if you don't find what you are looking for in the first two pages, you try another search term.

Online Business

The words you write have a direct impact on how successful your online business will be. You have to be aware of keyword search optimization so that the major search engines will pick up your site. You can submit to the search engines for free, but the words you write will determine your ranking.

When you have an online business, you can make money while you sleep. Your store is open 24 hours a day with customers from all over the world visiting and making purchases. Therefore, you need to have a secure way of paying for the products so that customers can use their credit cards and feel safe about doing so. Buying by credit card is the only way to be sure of getting your money online. If you sell products, ship them to the customers and wait to get your money by check or money order, you are running the risk of not getting paid at all or of receiving fraudulent checks. There are may businesses online that will process the credit card payments for a low monthly fee, which means you don't have to set up a merchant account of your own. PayPal and CCNow are two examples of these sites.

You have to consider how you will get the products to the customers. Shipping charges are quite expensive, so you can add more to the cost of the product and offer free shipping to entice more customers to buy. Another option is to have shipping charges added to the total cost that the customer has to pay, but you must have this printed right on your website. Customers need to know this right up front.