Money Talks: 5 money moves one market timer is making now
The U.S. market is in its historically worst six-month stretch between the beginning of May and the end of September, and Jeffrey Hirsch, editor-in-chief of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, says stock investors should take no chances.
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June 20, 2011
Money Talks: 5 money moves one market timer is making now
May 25, 2011
Fitch Rates Williams Capital Government Money Market Fund ‘AAAmmf’
Fitch Rates Williams Capital Government Money Market Fund ‘AAAmmf’
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fitch Ratings has assigned an ‘AAAmmf’ rating to Williams Capital Government Money Market Fund managed by Williams Capital Management, LLC. The rating reflects the fund’s extremely strong capacity to achieve its investment objective of preserving principal and providing shareholder liquidity through limiting credit, market and liquidity risks. The main drivers of the …
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August 18, 2010
How To Successfully Market Your Small Business On The Internet
* Have you ever tried building a successful small business on the Internet before, but failed to make it work?
* Would you like to discover a 5-step, sure-fire formula that is guaranteed to help you effectively market your business on the Web…?
* Would you like to know all of the FREE tools successful online small businesses use, that you can use too, to effectively grow your business?
If you found yourself answering YES to any of the questions asked above, then this will be the most important article you’ll ever read…
Today, practically every other brick-and-mortar business has an online presence. What with the Internet fast revolutionizing people’s lifestyles, it has come to a point where offline businesses that don’t have a presence on the Web, lose out on a large number of potential customers.
That’s why many offline small businesses are keen to establish a strong online identity as well. Unfortunately though, many end up shutting down in less than 12 months. And my guess is: you’ve had ‘a go at it’ yourself. How successful were you?
Well, this article will reveal a foolproof step-by-step formula you can easily use to get your small business up and running on the Web once more. Let’s dive right in, shall we?
Step # 1: Write Out A Business Plan
Even though most business owners write out a business plan when starting an offline venture, many of them forget to do it when it comes to Internet marketing. In fact, this is thought to be one of the foremost reasons for the failure of a small business on the Web.
FACT: To be able to fully tap into the lucrative potential of the Internet, you’ll need to have a specific blueprint.
Make absolutely sure you have a systematic approach in place, together with a detailed list of goals, and gear your business for success.
Step # 2: Find Your Niche And Position Your Business For Success!
‘To survive in the Internet jungle, it’s vital you stand out from the crowd!’
This is what an Internet marketing expert will tell you when you’re seeking to establish an online small business.
If you think about it for a moment, it makes perfect sense to set yourself as the best and most knowledgeable company folks can turn to, when seeking goods and services in your target market.
Finding your niche and then taking steps to dominate it, is guaranteed to propel your online small business to huge success.
But since this one article alone, is not sufficient to help you gain a good understanding of the vast amount of info Niche Marketing covers, here are some links to some outstanding websites that discuss this topic at length:
* www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingcolumnistkimtgordon/article49608.html
* www.wilsonweb.com/misc/niche-marketing.htm
* www.authenticpromotion.com/niche-marketing/
Step # 3: Maintain A ‘Sticky’ Site
A ’sticky’ website is simply a site that attracts repeat visitors. A major share of the success of an online small business can be attributed to the type of website it portrays. If you maintain a website that provides valuable information to potential customers, drives sales, and offers specialized solutions to the problems faced by clients in your industry, then your business can’t go wrong!
And oh, there’s one more thing you might want to consider: Maintaining a free electronic newsletter, otherwise known as an e-zine. You see, there’s no better tool to build a solid relationship and gain the trust of a customer, than a valuable newsletter. A newsletter is considered by many internet marketing professionals as THE MOST POWERFUL tool for gaining customer trust and driving sales!
Every week or every month, you can send out an ezine, containing useful snippets of information. Remember to avoid pitching your products heavily though, as this may turn off a lot of subscribers. However, a couple links inserted in between paragraphs, is perfectly alright.
TIP: Here’s a great piece of Email Marketing software you can use: Infacta offers a free version of their award-winning email marketing software – GroupMail. (www.group-mail.com) It provides all that you’ll need to start building a unique and personalized relationship with your customers via email.
Step # 4: Stay abreast Of Technology
The secret to running a hugely successful online small business these days is using every last piece of technology to your best advantage, so you can pass on all of the benefits to your customers.
Many online small businesses ignore this obvious advice, and have paid the price for it. You see, in order to stay two steps ahead of the rest in an intensely competitive online world, you need to keep up with the most recent technologies and who uses them.
And with the Internet evolving at such a frantic pace, the latest piece of software on the market today, may well become obsolete tomorrow! (so you may be spending too much effort in obsolete technology that no-one uses anymore. Example? – Meta-tags!)
Granted, you can’t utilize all of the newest tools that keep popping up, because frankly, some of them are just way too expensive, especially for a small business.
However, you sure can harness the amazing power of these FREE marvels of technology!
Here’s a list to help you get started:
* Blogging: A blog is a great way to get your customers involved in your business and let them know of the latest services/events you plan on rolling out. Many top companies use Wordpress (www.wordpress.com), because they offer an excellent package of free blog creation and hosting services, and are highly recommended.
* RSS Marketing: ‘Nooked’ (www.nooked.com) has a free RSS Marketing service that you can try out. It’s a great tool to help you familiarize yourself with the exciting opportunities that RSS offers.
* Podcasting: Podcasting is the hottest trend amongst online small businesses today, so check this one out right now! ‘Audacity’ (audacity.sourceforge.net) will give you access to a free podcast creation and management application that’s sure to add a new dimension to your existing content.
* Desktop Publishing: Want a free alternative to Microsoft Office? Open Office (www.openoffice.org/)comes equipped with word processing, presentation, drawing, spreadsheet, and database applications.
* Press Releases: PRWeb (www.prweb.com/) is a massively popular free online Press Release distribution service that will help publicize your business announcements to the Internet Community.
* Website Analysis: If you want to analyze the amount of traffic your website generates, and gage the success of your online marketing efforts, then make sure you head over to Google’s free website statistics utility (www.google.com/analytics/)
Step # 5: Cut The Learning Curve – Hire An Internet Marketing Expert!
If you prefer not to handle all of the above on your own the next time you attempt to re-build your small business on the Web, why not hire an internet marketing expert?
Sure, hiring a specialist costs money, but if you want to jumpstart your Internet marketing, or if you just want to get on with business and leave the internet to the expert professionals, then this is definitely the way to go.
Do-It-Yourself can be a low cost way to start, but don’t forget that your Return on Investment is directly proportional to PERCEIVED value by the consumer (your potential customer) and not related to PRICE or COST.
Hmmm… sounds like a whole separate subject on marketing…
Well, there you have it! A 5-step plan designed to help your business succeed with Internet Marketing.
May 22, 2010
Copywriting Tips To Market Your Small Business
Most people don’t realize that every small business uses copywriting to sell their product or service.
Those catchy phrases on that brochure are copywriting.
The content of that sales letterare copywriting.
The direct-mail packet you received in the mail with discounts to area businesses- Yep. You got it that’s copywriting.
And while you may appreciate the value in hiring a professional to write an effective sales letter, benefit-laden brochure, or have-to-have-it internet ad, professional copywriting services may be out of the price range of your small business.
It’s impossible to gain the expertise in a short amount of time that a professional copywriter has earned through years of training and experience. That said, there are a number of quick and easy things you can do to make your content stand out – and more importantly, to sell your product or service for immediate revenue.
Headlines
In almost every case, headlines are a quick and effective way to grab your reader’s attention. However exciting the information that follows, it’s not going to do you any good unless you can pull your prospective client in immediately by making them want to read more.
In the age of email, IM-ing and video conferencing, people want information fast. If you bore them they’ll move onto something else, and you’ll lose an opportunity to tell them why your product or service will change their life for the better.
The headline is usually in a larger and/or bolder font than the text directly below it. This enables your promise to stand out more and to get the readers attention. The idea is to make your prospective client want to keep reading.
You may have seen headlines like these
“Lose 20 pounds in Two Weeks – And Eat all You Want!”
“Make $5,000 – with Nothing More than a Computer and 5 hours a Week!”
“Save Thousands on Heating Oil This Winter!” (an ad for a woodstove)
In virtually every business, even those often deemed “professional”, your message will be more urgent and compelling with a headline. Consider the following example for a technology consulting company:
“Finish Your Projects On Time and Under Budget – Without Hiring a Single New Employee!”
See what I mean? Headlines work. Start by defining your company’s promise. Every small business has one – all you have to do is tell your customer what it is.
Bullets and Fonts
Especially with a very technical subject matter, or with a product or service that requires a lot of information, bulleting out the finer points of your small business benefits can break down large blocks of information into an easy-to-read format.
When faced with a page full of text, the eye tends to drift to areas of interest – things that stand out from the rest of the text. For this reason, varying your font style and size just a tiny bit can make a real difference.
If I bold this sentence, you will likely pay special attention to it.
If I use italics to make my point here, it will be the rare individual who doesn’t notice – not the italics, but what’s been written in them.
The key here is not to go overboard. You don’t want to make your letter or brochure look like an advertisement for the circus (well, unless your small business is a circus). Just create enough interest to keep them reading and keep them invested in learning more about your small business.
Do-It-Yourself?
You’d probably prefer to contract out your copywriting services. Hiring someone else means you get a professional and can move onto matters that fall more clearly within your area of expertise.
But the reality is that many small businesses simply do not have money in the budget to hire a professional copywriter – at least not in the beginning.
In this case, try coming up with some material of your own using these tips. Who knows? You might even discover a talent you didn’t know you had.
January 24, 2010
How to Market Small Business Tips
Anyone who has ever started a business venture, either online or off, knows how important it is to announce that business. When it comes time to understanding how to market small business, of any kind or size, many people are completely lost.
While marketing takes some knowledge and experience, that doesn’t mean that you can’t do some of the legwork yourself, and in doing so, save lots of money that can be better spent elsewhere — building your business for one. For those who intend to launch a small, independent business, especially those from a home office, there are a few key tips and pointers that will help get you started in learning how to market small business ventures.
Most people have their own set of how-to-market-small-business tips, and while some work great, others don’t. First, you need to ask yourself some important questions so that you know what direction to proceed when it comes to developing a marketing plan of action.
Is your business geared to local needs, or are you offering a product or service that can reach beyond town, city or county borders? Who makes up your target base? Teens, men, women, younger adults or senior citizens? You need to know who is more likely to use your service or product so that you can create advertising or information geared toward that group. Who is your competition?
Many ‘How to Market Small Business’ books are out there for novices and experts alike, and not one of them will offer the same information. However, there are a few basics that everyone agrees on. Whether you have a large or small budget, knowing how to market small business ventures of any kind can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes time to launch that business. To be successful in marketing your business, you will need to:
Create a website
An online presence these days is essential to competition as well as offering potential customers and clients an immediate view of who you are and what you provide, whether it’s a service or product.
Create a Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan doesn’t have to be something fancy, though the size and goals of your business will need to be taken into consideration when considering your marketing plan. Potential investors will want to see one, and even if your business is run out of your garage, a marketing plan will help to develop your business goals and help to keep you on track with your product or service development.
Create an Advertising Plan
You don’t have to have a huge budget to advertise your new business. When learning how to market small business ventures yourself, always keep in mind that there are many low or no cost options open to you. If you’re on a limited budget, and who isn’t, try online advertising for your business first. You may also create business cards, fliers and brochures at a fairly low cost at neighborhood printing businesses, and you’ll save even more if you design such advertising goodies yourself. Placing ads in carefully selected newspapers and magazines will also help if your business is local. Launching a mail campaign announcing your new business is not recommended unless you already have a customer base in place.
Promote Yourself and Your New Business
Many people declare their business open and then wait for people to find them and purchase their services or goods. However, you need to promote your business in any number of different ways so that everyone knows you’re out there. Having an online presence enables you to initiate search engine submission for your website, as well as providing articles, contests, special deals and any number of promotions that will help your business get noticed and grow.
Nothing happens overnight, so you will have to be patient when learning how to market small business ventures, but if you are patient and willing to research and learn on your own, your efforts will eventually pay off. Explore any ‘how to market small business’ ideas and suggestions so that you give yourself, and your new business, every chance at success that it deserves.