How To Make Money Online In Nigeria » Small Online Business

How To Make A Hot Mess Of An Online Business Venture

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:01:37 +0000

Someone once asked me “With all the money, newbies to the online business creation niche, spend on Guru generated reports, why is there such a large scale failure rate?”

One of the answers I came up with was that most of us were not thinking outside the box but were rather trying to follow the business models detailed in the reports by the Gurus, while ignoring the fact that with so many people reading and downloading these reports worldwide, niche saturation becomes an evil one can easily fall a victim of.

Niche saturation aside, here are some other reasons why most make money online ventures are destined for doom from the get go.

Getting Stuck In Buying Mode: Keep buying those things! If you are confused by what “those things” are, they are the things you buy, download, and move on from because the next thing is being launched! If you keep buying them and just store them away, or say “I’ll do it tomorrow” you will most definitely fail online.

One thing we fail to realize is that over 90% of these “magnificent” reports from these $20,000 a month earning Gurus, all talk about the same goals but with slightly different approaches.

I was lucky it only took me the purchase of two master reports to realize this glaring fact after which I shut down on buying more reports and focused greatly on implementing the info contained in the reports which I had in hand.

Running with Eyes Wide Shut: With the gurus flashing pictures of their fast cars, amazing apartments and supermodel prototype girlfriends, newbies are sometimes way too keen on making it big FAST without paying attention to the small details that matter such as ad tracking, analytics, shopping cart conversion or abandonment and what have you.

These tiny but great details help us know if we are on the right track in our pursuit of online fortunes and how to stay on it for continued success.

Paying Too Much Attention To Failed Attempts – Not every business idea or approach the gurus throw at you is going to work as you’d be efficient in implementing some and fail woefully at others. Do not waste time trying to turn your failures into wins. Focus on what seems to be working excellently well for you now and only when you can’t perfect it anymore should you spend some time researching how to make your failures work.

In the end, the decision is yours if you want to fail or succeed online. I highlighted the most influential ways that will help you fail at a much greater rate. If you want to fail, keep doing what everyone else is doing.

There are so many other ways to crash and burn in the online business world and I’d very glad to have you share those with me by just leaving a comment below and while you are at it, please do take a few seconds to share this article with friends/followers on Twitter, Facebook and StumbleUpon.

“Mr. Business” is a business man (surprise) who tries valiantly to employ humor and sarcasm wherever possible in life. He has long been a fan of literally every non-numeric based business topic (payroll is no fun). Aside from having, a passion for developing businesses, “Mr. Business” also has numerous successful offline ventures ranging from a few fitness centers to a business services company. Visit Easy Affiliate Marketing to learn more about how online business is viewed through my eyes.

Continue reading this article @ How To Make A Hot Mess Of An Online Business Venture.

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Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Domiciliary Account: All You Need To Know

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:39:26 +0000

Getting paid for making money online can be quite tricky especially for those of us working with companies that don’t pay via Electronic Fund Transfer or Western Union. These companies pay through check or PayPal (which by the way isn’t available to some countries).

Cashing a foreign currency check (dollar/euro/pound denominated) in a country other than where the check was issued can be quite frustrating but with the right bank, you can’t go wrong.

To clear a foreign check in Nigeria, you would need a domiciliary account which is a current account that’s denominated in either Euros, Dollars or Pound Sterling.

I’ve been clearing my Google Adsense cheques here in Nigeria via Guaranty Trust Bank PLC and here’s how you can do the same too without fuss.

This quick guide sums up what you need and how to open a domiciliary account with GTB Nigeria and what they currently charge per transaction be it deposits or withdrawals.

NOTE: Domiciliary accounts are just foreign currency denominated current bank accounts.

How To Open A GTB Domiciliary Account In Nigeria

If you don’t have an account with GTB or own a savings account with them, you will need the following requirements

3 passport photographs
Photocopies of National I’d Card or Drivers License or International Passport.
Minimum of $100 opening deposit
2 completed reference forms from referrals that own current accounts in any bank in Nigeria.
Utility Bill (PHCN, Water bill) that’s no older than 3 months.
Properly filled domiciliary account opening form

NOTE: the minimum balance of $100 does not apply if you’re also depositing a foreign currency cheque at the time of opening the account.

If you already own a current account with GTB, all you have to do is go to the bank with your check or $100 minimum and fill the required form and in 24hrs, your account is live.

At the time of opening the account, it’s highly recommend that you tick all three boxes for dollar, euro and pound sterling transactions should in case you’ll be receiving checks in all those currencies.

Do please note that as it is with most current bank accounts, if you do not make a transaction on your account within 6 months, it will be deactivated!

GTB Nigeria Domiciliary Account Bank Charges

Like I said earlier as it is with current accounts, you should expect to be charged per transaction on your account.

As at the time of writing this post, GTB charges a flat rate of 1% per transaction with a minimum of $10. What this means is that for any transaction below $1,000 you will be charged only $10 and anything above that amount is subject to the 1% flat commission rate.

How to Fund Your GTB Domiciliary Account Via Wire Transfer

There are three major ways of funding your domiciliary account and they are via foreign currency cheques, travellers cheques or Wire Transfers.

Wire transfers are a type of Electronic fund transfer that take place between two banks. Anyone around the world can deposit money into your domiciliary account via wire transfer.

Listed below are the details needed when receiving US Dollars in your Domiciliary account via the USA. This info should be made available to the person initiating the wire transfer over in the States.

THROUGH CITIBANK NEW YORK:

CORRESPONDENT BANK: CITIBANK, NEW YORK

SWIFT CODE: CITIUS33

ABA NO: 021000089

FOR CREDIT OF: GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC, LAGOS NIGERIA

SWIFT CODE: GTBINGLA

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 36129295

FOR FINAL CREDIT OF :……………………………………( Beneficiary’s Name)

BENEFICIARY’S A/C NO: ……………………………………………… (With GTB)

ANY OTHER DETAIL: …………………………………………………………………

(E.g. Sender’s Name, Reference e.t.c)

THROUGH DEUTSCHE BANK:

CORRESPONDENT BANK: DEUTSCHE BANK, NEW YORK

SWIFT CODE: BKTRUS33

ABA NO: 021001033

FOR CREDIT OF: GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC, LAGOS NIGERIA

SWIFT CODE: GTBINGLA

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 04434658

FOR FINAL CREDIT OF: …………………………………… (Beneficiary’s Name)

BENEFICIARY’S A/C NO: …………………………………………… (With GTB)

ANY OTHER DETAIL: …………………………………………………………………

(E.g. Sender’s Name, Reference e.t.c)

THROUGH HSBC NEW YORK:

CORRESPONDENT BANK: HSBC BANK, NEW YORK

SWIFT CODE: MRMDUS33

ABA NO: 021001088

FOR CREDIT OF: GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC, LAGOS NIGERIA

SWIFT CODE: GTBINGLA

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 000156442

FOR FINAL CREDIT OF :……………………………………( Beneficiary’s Name)

BENEFICIARY’S A/C NO: ……………………………………………… (With GTB)

ANY OTHER DETAIL: …………………………………………………………………

(E.g. Sender’s Name, Reference e.t.c)

For more information on sending USD, EUROS AND POUND STRERLING from banks in London and Frankfurt. do please download this free PDF which contains all the major wire transfer channels for Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Though I got the file from a customer care agent at the bank, I strongly advise you verify those details at your nearest branch before sending them to whosoever is going to initiate the electronic fund transfer.

Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question regarding this article by using the comment form below. Corrections are also welcome.

Continue reading this article @ Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Domiciliary Account: All You Need To Know.

How to Start an Affiliate Marketing Online Business

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 07:04:03 +0000

PHOTO CREDIT: Deviant Art

Learning how to work the affiliate marketing business arena is simple on paper but somewhat challenging once implemented.

One big question that plagues those planning on going into the business is "How can I walk along the path towards a successful affiliate business online while avoiding the massive mistakes so many marketers make?"

Luckily, affiliate marketing as a business model is extraordinarily simple and it can be easy if you follow a set course of actions and don’t stray from your overall goal of having a successful business online.

Are you ready to learn how to start an affiliate marketing business from scratch? Ok, let’s go.

The beauty of running a business online that is centered around being an affiliate is that you never have to create something to sell…you can just sell someone else’s product. This means all you have to do is find a place to send traffic (your own website) and find a way to get that traffic (through marketing online). Once you have these two things set up and mastered it’s virtually impossible to not make money online and run a successful affiliate business.

Here are the three very basic steps you need to take to start an affiliate business online.

Pick a product/niche

This can be hard to do and feel confident about if you’re brand new to affiliate marketing but trust me it only gets easier with time. Right now you’re probably thinking you want to promote whatever makes the most money and isn’t too competitive, right? Well here are a few things to consider: if it costs too much you won’t get as many sales (if any at all) and if it isn’t competitive that probably means you won’t have much traffic or money coming in. Instead go for something that pays out at a medium level (around $25-$50) and has a medium level of competition. This way you know it’ll make money once you start getting traffic.

Please read Researching ClickBank Affiliate Programs for more details.

Set up a website

This is probably the easiest thing to do. You can either hire someone to make a very simple website or if you know how to set up a site yourself you can do this as well. Don’t over complicate this step. You can set up a simple WordPress blog in a matter of minutes and that will be more than suitable for an affiliate site.

All you really need a domain and website for is to have a “home” for you to send your traffic. Don’t spend hours trying to set up a site and don’t pay someone hundreds of dollars either, it isn’t necessary.

If you’d like to set it up yourself, be sure to Like our Facebook Page via PC and then download the free wordpress setup e-books titled: How To Create A WordPress Blog In 4 Easy Steps and Setting The Right Foundations For Your WordPress Blog.

Get your traffic

Ahh, here’s the hard part. To be honest you have a lot of options for getting traffic and each one of them will take a bit of work to “master.” There are free methods in driving organic traffic to your website (like article marketing, video marketing, social media marketing, etc.) and paid methods (media buying, pay-per-click, banner advertising, etc.)

The choice is really yours and each traffic source should be researched individually so you can get all the details on how to properly drive traffic with your desired channel of traffic. If you can master driving traffic it’s like having an on/off switch for cash flow…so put in the effort to get this down.

That’s all for now. More tips on creating a hugely successful affiliate marketing business online coming soon

John Abrena is a marketing consultant for Serverpoint, a leading provider of dedicated servers and VPS hosting plans since 1998. You can follow him on Twitter @johnabrena.

Continue reading this article @ How to Start an Affiliate Marketing Online Business.

Good Keyword Research Helps Make Money Online

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:22:00 +0000

Keyword Research is a MUST if you ever want to make money online. Bad keyword research leads to little or no traffic online and that in turn leads to no money at all. This is one of the points I was trying to pass across in my last post on No Google Search Traffic Despite Great Content? Here’s Why.

For quite sometime in the early days when I started seeking ways to earn free cash online, I ignored this fact until bored out of my freaking mind I decided to download Courtney Tuttle and Mark Butler’s The Keyword Crash Course.

This free e-book was an eye opener so was the information on their blog. I took time out to study their report and using what I learned on my new posts, I was able to get a few posts into the first page of Google all be it in the 8th-10th position.

Till today, it remains the most detailed free report I’ve ever read on keyword research and I highly recommend you get it.

Being an old yet effective ebook, here’s a link an updated tutorial on making money online via long tail keyword research.

Download Courtney Tuttle and Mark Butler’s The Keyword Crash Course below.

Continue reading this article @ Good Keyword Research Helps Make Money Online.

Top 5 Traits of Highly Successful Online Business Owners

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:16:34 +0000

Though the economy is slowly recovering from the recent recession, it is by no means out of it, and times more many are still very tough. Many small online business owners are discouraged by the downturned economy and feel defeated before they even continue in the race.

If there’s one thing that you should know during this economic climate, though, it is that attitude is everything. Yes, times are hard, but that doesn’t stop the dedicated business owners, and it shouldn’t stop you.

While every business owner has different strategies, there are definitely a few key qualities successful online businessmen and women share, and if you want your small online business to match theirs, you’d be smart to work these strategies into your own operations, so you can stay prosperous and leave the naysayers in the dust.

1. Work to Live. (Not the Other Way Around). Successful business owners statistically work more hours than their competitors, but they balance that heavy work load by taking more personal time. If you want your online business to boom, work like you’re earning your vacation—and then take it.

2. Stay Connected. Especially in the online field, constant contact with your network is an essential part of success. The key here, though, is to make the contact meaningful. Your customers will sniff out phoniness in a heartbeat, so find ways to keep your networks fresh and friendly, and they will pay off in the end.

3. Plan for the Future (Starting Yesterday). One of the biggest mistakes unsuccessful business owners make is being reactive and defensive instead of proactive and aggressive. Have a plan. Have a backup plan. Have a backup plan for you backup plan. Prepare for tomorrow as much as you can today, and it will be that much easier to deal with problems, while never getting sucked into them to the point that they are dragging you down.

4. Value Your Time. Remember that old adage “time is money?” Well, it’s true. Before you spend an hour filling out a survey, or get distracted surfing Facebook for “potential clients,” think about what else you could be doing that will better serve your company and bring in more revenue. Make every second count.

5. Value Yourself. You’re number one. Every success that you business has is also your success, so make sure to continually be expanding your knowledge and keeping yourself sharp. Stay positive, and stay rich mentally, and the real wealth will follow suit.

You can’t change the economy, but you can change your attitude, and studies have shown that that is all that matters. Do yourself and your online business a favor and start thinking and acting like a millionaire until you actually become one

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at accredited online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.

Continue reading this article @ Top 5 Traits of Highly Successful Online Business Owners.

Top Dangers Of Outsourcing SEO For Small Online Businesses

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 19:06:30 +0000

If you are running a small business and not making the most of Internet then you are really missing the boat. It costs peanuts to have a website but this small investment can bring huge benefits for your business. If you can rank on top for the right keywords, you can expect an influx of new leads and customers. And the best part is … there’s not much competition when it comes to ranking on the top for localized keywords, mainly because small businesses are still reluctant to go online. Maybe that’s the reason why Google had to offer free websites for businesses in selective cities to entice small businesses to explore the goodies at Internet.

Still, no matter how small is the competition, when it comes to getting on top for your targeted keywords, you will still have to optimize your website for search engines. For an average small business owner, maintaining a business website might sound like a hassle, let alone investing their time in learning and implementing Search Engine Optimization techniques. Therefore, the majority prefers to outsource the chores of SEO to some agency or SEO professional.

While it can save them a lot of time, there are certain drawbacks, which are part of the package. Let’s take a look at some of those downsides and how to deal with them.

The right price:

As I said the competition is a tad less intense when it comes to localized searches, and while it will still take some work before you can get on the first page, it should cost significantly less than what it will take to rank for the more generic ones like 123inkjets coupons or 4inkjets discounts. It’ll be hard to give the right price that’s appropriate for all kinds of businesses, but you can have an idea by performing “allintitle” and “allinanchor” searches at Google, with the keywords that defines your business e.g. San Francisco car rental or California window washers. This will give you an idea of the competition and what should be the right price.

The right guy:

For small business owners, identifying the right guy from the crowd of imposters posing as experts can be a very daunting task. You can’t go for established agencies because they will charge hefty prices, and when you go for low cost options, you will find yourself in the middle of hundreds of people claiming to be the specialists. To start with, never make a choice depending solely on the prices. Second, watch out for the people making tall claims and flowery promises. Ask questions, even if you are not sure about the answers yourself, because when you put the answers coming from different professionals side by side, it will be easier for you to decipher the more knowledgeable ones. Ask for references and get in touch with their past clients to make sure you are not hiring some amateur.

The right techniques:

SEO works wonder when you are doing it right, but when you get on the wrong track, it can do more damage to your business than good. So, you must make sure that they will not be using black hat methods or spammy techniques for your website. You should go through the reports and the work on regular basis to make sure there are no spam or black hat methods being employed. Same goes for the quality of the content used in the marketing (e.g. articles, press releases, blog posts, blog comments, or social media content). If you are outsourcing the SEO to some low cost region, you should confirm that they have proper English comprehension along with SEO expertise, because it will have a direct effect on your reputation.

The right approach:

Never leave all controls in their hands. You should have access to your social media profiles, and more importantly the contact numbers and emails given on your website. Make sure that all kinds of communication with your customers is been done by you or your in-house staff members, and not the SEO guys, because in that case, they might take the customers to some of your competitor if they are offering better rates. Also, make sure that they are not working for some of your competitors, because it will create a conflict of interest.

Making them sign Non Disclosure Agreement is another option that you should consider.

Arba Hana is an SEO expert, specializing in Hotels and Restaurants industry. On her website you can find restaurants in Bristol and restaurants in Hull

Continue reading this article @ Top Dangers Of Outsourcing SEO For Small Online Businesses.

How To Promote Small Businesses With Discount Coupons

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 09:00:34 +0000

The internet offers quite some benefits for businesses, including but not limited to low cost, global reach, good ROI on marketing, and so on. However, there’s a huge downside of running a business in the cyber world, and that’s … an ever increasing competition. With hundreds and thousands of websites going online on daily basis, you need to have excellent marketing skills to sustain. Millions of websites are fighting for the ranks at Google for any given keywords e.g. “1and1 discounts” or “Network solutions coupons”. Customers are spoiled by too many choices, and you need to pull off something special to catch their attention. By something special, I don’t mean some sort of a stunt; the something can be as simple as offering a discount. After all, what’s more special for a customer than a price-cut?

For years, discounts and coupon codes have managed to be a magnet for new customers, and if used wisely, this technique can work equally well in this time and age.

Following are four easy ways to use promotional codes and special offers for your online business promotion.

1. Newsletter:

I know many businesses that flaunt having lots and lots of mailing list subscribers, only problem is that hardly 10% of these users bother to open the email, let alone clicking on some links, regardless of how creative you get in your titles. But there’s one way of making those subscribers respond, and that is to offer a special discount and use it as bait for subscribers to open the email. Customers love discounts more than anything else, and when they see a title promising 30%-Off coupon inside, many of them will be tempted to take a look, and once they are in, they won’t mind taking a quick glance at other contents of email, as well.

2. Social Media:

There are many ways to use discounts or coupon codes to bolster your social media presence. You can use them to increase your Facebook likes (or +1′s in case of Google). For example, you can use the coupon code as hidden content that will be revealed once they click on the like button at your Facebook page (not sure if Facebook recent terms and conditions allow these tactics). Even if you are placing no such restrictions, and offering discounts straight away, chances are that the consumers who get the products at special prices will go on and like your page. Not to mention, people will share certain discounts with their friends or contacts, which means free marketing.

3. Special Offer Section:

When a visitor lands on a website, the special offer section is one of the most likely pages that he/she will visit. Providing them a special offer or discount deal at this page can increase your conversion rates. You might not make much profit from the first sale (at a discounted price), but there’s a chance that majority of them will be returning for more purchases at normal prices. Doesn’t sound like a bad deal, eh?

4. Introducing new product:

When you’ve got a USP (unique selling point) you can use it to attract customers, but most of the times, the products are pretty much the same. In this case, it can be very difficult to attract customers who won’t see a reason to try another name. You need to give these customers a reason, and more often than not, a tempting discount can be a good enough reason for customers to change vendors.

Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon

Arba is a marketing student and a young entrepreneur. She manages many coupon code and discount websites, featuring discounts for everything from domain registration to web hosting, like 1and1 or Network Solutions. You can make the most of these discounts by visiting 1&1 coupon or network solutions special code .

Continue reading this article @ How To Promote Small Businesses With Discount Coupons.

Can Twitter Help You To Sell More Online?

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:36:07 +0000

Almost all businesses, big or small, are using social media marketing to boost their sales. Using free social media websites, businesses are able to communicate with their customers. As a result, they are able to promote and market their business and increase their sales. Twitter is one of the most popular social media websites but its status as a useful tool for increasing sales remains under a cloud.

The issue here is that many entrepreneurs aren’t aware of how to utilize Twitter to its full potential. Twitter allows users to post ‘tweets’ of less than 140 characters at a time. Are you thinking how tweets can help you get more customers? You are not the only person apprehensive about using this social network for your business. The perennial question remains ‘Can Twitter Help You to Sell More Online’.

The answer is yes. Here are some ways in which twitter can be used to increase your sales.

1. Find New Customers and Interact With Existing Ones

You can spread the word about your business using Twitter. You are allowed to build a profile for your business, in which you can list all the important information regarding your business. Once you have created a profile, you will start getting followers. Followers are your fans and friends. Whenever you tweet something, it is listed on all your followers’ profiles. As a result of this, all their followers also find out about it.

2. Provide Customer Service

You can use Twitter to provide customer service. Your customers are allowed to contact you through Twitter and you can post replies to their queries. For example, a customer asks you a question and you answer it, all your followers and their followers are able to see it. You don’t even need to set up a department and yet be able to provide effective customer service through Twitter.

Companies like Netfirms and Hostgator use this method a lot.

3. Deals, Offers and Promotions

A direct way of increasing sales through Twitter is by letting people know of any special deals, offers or promotions you are running. This works incredibly well if you are giving discounts or a buy 1 get 1 free type of deal. People are instantly attracted towards such promotions. Not only can you inform people through Twitter, you can also track their responses.

4. Market Research and Feedback

Use your followers effectively to carry out your market research right there on Twitter. You need to carry out research if you are planning to launch a new product or discontinue an old product. Asking the people on Twitter about their opinion will get you valuable feedback and you will be able to have an idea of how your customers will respond to the new development.

Just because Twitter’s features are limited doesn’t mean it cannot be used to increase your sales online. Make Twitter a part of your marketing campaign and you might be surprised by the results.

Do you have any experience with marketing your small business via Twitter? Feel free to share your experience with us .

Photo Credit: Rosaura Ochoa

Richard is an online business consultant specializing in ecommerce solutions. Richard is a trained Magento developer.

Continue reading this article @ Can Twitter Help You To Sell More Online?.

Benefits Of Expanding Small Businesses Through Blogging!

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:06:12 +0000

A buѕineѕs blоg іѕ аn abѕolutеly аmazing оnlіne markеting toоl whісh nоt onlу ѕerveѕ thе purpоѕе оf ѕavіng thе comраnу а gоod аmount of mоnеу, but аlsо рrovіdeѕ great buѕіnеѕs орроrtunitiеѕ with јust оnе clіck. Suсh blogs аre usеr friendlу, flеxible and a рerѕonalized mеdіum of divulgіng іnformаtіоn ѕo thаt the рrоductѕ саn bе роѕіtіonеd аррrорrіаtelу in thе mаrkеt.

Thе сompаniеs thаt undеrtake businеsѕ blоggіng arе dеfіnіtеlу at аn аdvаntаge оver thе otherѕ thаt do nоt and listed below аrе ѕomе оf the benеfitѕ thеу enјoу:

BENEFITS OF RUNNING A BUSINESS BLOG

Word of Mouth: as реr а ѕurvеy соnduсtеd, there аrе 14 mіllion blogѕ on thе wеb сurrentlу and 80,000 blоgs arе addеd evеry singlе dау. Alѕо, а whopріng 30% of the 50 mіlliоn іnternеt uѕеrs аrе blоg rеаders. Henсе, there is nо limіt to the kind of bеnеfits a cоmраny can reap if theу advertiѕе thrоugh blogs.

If there iѕ аn imprеssіvе wrіte up that іѕ рoѕted along with the prоduct, thеn thе infоrmatіon іs bound tо ѕрread аll ovеr thе іntеrnеt lіkе wildfіre. Befоre yоu knоw, thе blog wіll bе рassed on tо hundrеds оf potentіаl сustomеrѕ.

Awarenеsѕ аnd Brаnd Lоуаltу: blоgѕ brіng аbоut oрen сommunісаtіоn wіth the сustomеrѕ аnd this gіvеs rіѕе to truѕt аnd loуаlty. When thеу knоw thаt thе соmраny iѕ аvaіlable to answеr queѕtіоnѕ and rеsроnd tо сommеnts, thе сuѕtоmers takе intereѕt in uѕing thе рrоduсtѕ.

Fееdback: blogѕ arе еspеcіаllу effесtіvе for thе purрoѕe of рrоduсt rеѕеаrсh and rеviews. Whеn thе соmpanіеѕ оbѕеrve thе behаvіоrаl patterns and lіne оf thіnking of their audience, it iѕ eaѕіеr fоr them tо makе imprоvеmеntѕ on theіr рrоduсts. Thе сomрanіeѕ cаn аlso tаkе іmmеdіаtе notе of the сuѕtоmer’s conсernѕ rеlating to thе product.

Cоmmunіtу Hаlo Effесt: usuаllу, bloggerѕ аrе rеalіѕtіc, сordiаl аnd hеlpful. Hеnсe, theу arе оpen to сrеating a blogosphere fоr the commentѕ that relаtе to thе produсt. аll that the cоmраnу hаs to dо is to tаkе асtіve pаrt іn thе bloggіng сulturе аnd witnеss the product bеcоmіng a bеѕtsellеr іn thе ѕupеrmаrkеts.

Tо еnjоy oрtіmum markеtіng reѕultѕ, thе cоmраny must рromote the рrоduсt tirеlеsѕly thrоugh blogs. Thіs cаn bе done by submіttіng the рroduсt rеlаted blоgѕ tо thе dіreсtоrieѕ and blog searсh sіtes. Onе thіng that must bе keрt іn mіnd whіlе doіng ѕо іѕ to раѕte the URL of thе cоmраny alоng wіth thе blоg. Thе blоg muѕt prоvіde the rеаdеr wіth vаluаble infоrmаtіоn about the рroduсt and should be updated rеgulаrlу ѕo thаt the reаdеrѕ сan kеeр соmіng back to the blоg tо get latеst uрdatеѕ оn the рrоduсt.

Havіng а blоg tоdау іѕ аѕ gооd аѕ hаving а ѕеtuр bооth іn thе bіggеѕt trаdе ѕhоw on the рlаnet. Thеre аrе amрle markеtіng pоѕѕіbіlitіeѕ thаt саn be ѕtruck tо cause sаlеs to rіѕе ѕteeрly.

Rohitesh Naik, a Freelance writer and a Internet Marketer who presently writes about the Upcoming Verizon Phones. It includes all the the news and updates about New Verizon Phones.

Continue reading this article @ Benefits Of Expanding Small Businesses Through Blogging!.

Top 10 Ways To Stop Employee Theft (Before it Starts)

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:04:48 +0000

Nobody wants to have to watch their employees like a hawk to see if they’re giving freebies to friends, leaving with a laptop that never returns, or updating their Facebook walls when they should be working. After all, you’re a boss not a babysitter. And yet, the buck stops with you, so to speak. If you’re not on top of money in and money out, you’re leaving yourself open to theft.

A few months back, my dad came face to face with the reality that his employees had been ripping him off. It was so bad that he practically couldn’t find any profit from which to pay his yearly NAFDAC bill. He ended up worried as hell and suffered an acute attack of high blood pressure. We were luckily able to resolve things together as a family.

Here are just a few ways to curb employee theft before it gets out of hand, or even before it starts.

HOW TO STOP YOUR EMPLOYEES STEALING FROM YOU

Assessment testing: Even if you have good instincts when it comes to people, you may not be able to weed out all of the dishonest candidates during the hiring process. Luckily, professionals are at your disposal. By asking potential employees to undergo online assessment testing before hire you can virtually see a psychological evaluation that will tell you whether or not an applicant is right for your business. This could go a long way towards helping you hire employees that are less likely to steal.
Check reference:. Once the interview is over, many companies fail to contact references or past employers. Although former employers are legally limited in what they can say about applicants to your business, they can tell you whether or not the person in question was fired, laid off, or otherwise let go, which could help you to establish a pattern.
Theft policy: It’s not enough to have a strict policy in place concerning theft; you also need to make sure that employees are aware of what constitutes stealing and the penalties that will result from infractions (including legal action).
Handling money: Many businesses find it necessary to allow employees to handle the majority of the cash flow, which is why it is important to make them responsible and accountable. Make sure that any employee handling cash counts the till both before and after a shift to ensure that the balance is correct. Give warnings for small discrepancies and fire for multiple offenses.
Alarm system: Since you may have to give many employees keys to access the store and you don’t want them coming in after hours, install an alarm system that will not only protect against burglars, but sneaky employees, as well. Use individual employee key-codes so that you always know who’s been in and out.
Surveillance cameras: Although this measure may seem drastic, just having that eye in the sky can discourage theft. And it will help you to catch the culprit if money, product, or other assets should go missing.
Data protection: In this digital era, theft doesn’t always revolve around money or material goods. Corporate espionage can cause just as much damage (if not more). So control files in your system by encrypting them with safety features like software that will corrupt any data copied to disc, hard drive, or email.
Web controls: Slacking off while on the clock is just another form of theft. But you can curb the tendency to partake of social networking by installing software that blocks certain sites from appearing on your network.
Asset marking: Labeling equipment, furniture, and other valuable assets with stickers that display a numerical or bar code (or both) is a good way to discourage theft and track assets. Scanning these labels when items are checked out means you’ll always know who is responsible for them.
Inventory control. You’d be surprised how much money can be lost when employees engage in petty theft around the office (supplies, small pieces of equipment, slush fund, etc.). Putting someone in charge of inventory so that people must sign for items will allow for tracking and inventory control, which will help you to manage both waste and theft.

Carol Montrose is a writer for SeaReach a manufacturer of labels, tags, and security documents.

Continue reading this article @ Top 10 Ways To Stop Employee Theft (Before it Starts).