Your Questions About Business Online Services Group

Jere answers:

Putting up a company would of course require a lot of things, to get straight to the point, you need a capital. To make money requires money as well. But of course, with the versatility the internet offers, there are many ways you could find that could help optimize the potential of your site or business in generating traffic.

While there are ways to jumpstart your traffic flows, many sites don’t have the resources that others have to generate more traffic for your site. Well, you don’t have to spend a cent; all you need is the proper mindset and a lot of eagerness. You also must have the drive and perseverance to do hard work and research to generate more traffic for your site.

How sweet it is to have more traffic for your site without spending a single cent. Now it’s a sure thing that many sites have articles that offer tips and guidelines in how to generate traffic using only free methods. Because it is possible, you don’t need to speed a single cent, it may take time, to say honestly, I’m not going to beat around the bush with you. You get better chances by paying for your advertisements, but at least you get a fighting chance with some of these free methods I’m about to tell you.

Take advantage of online forums and online communities. The great thing about forums and online communities is that you can target a certain group that fits the certain demographic that you are looking for. You can discuss about lots of things about the niche that you represent or offer. Another great advantage is that you know what you are getting into and you will be prepared.

With online communities and forums you can build a reputation for your company. Show them what you are made of and wow them with your range of expertise about the subject, with that you can build a reputation and build trust with the people in your expertise and knowledge.

You can also make use of newsletters. Provide people with a catalog of your products and interesting and entertaining articles. If you make it really interesting and entertaining, more people will sign up for your newsletter and recommend it to other people. The more people who signs up for your newsletter, the more people there will be that will go to your site increasing your traffic.

Another great idea is trading links with other sites. You don’t have to spend a cent. All you have to do is reach an agreement with another webmaster. With exchanging links, the efforts both sites do will benefit both sites. Every traffic that goes to the site could potentially click on the link of your site and visit your site as well. This works well especially when both sites feature the same niche.

Write articles that could pique the attention of people that have interest in your product. Try writing articles that will provide tips and guides to other aficionados. Writing articles that provide good service and knowledge to other people would provide the necessary mileage your traffic flow needs.

Many sites offer free submission and posting of your articles. When people find interest in your articles they have a good chance of following the track by finding out where the article originated. Include a link or a brief description of your company with the article and there’s a great probability that they will go to your site.

Write good content for your site. Many search engines track down the keywords and keyword phrases your site uses and how they are used. It is not a requirement that a content should be done by a professional content writer. You could do your on but you have to make content for your site that is entertaining as well as informational. It should provide certain requirements as well as great quality.
Generally, internet users use search engines to find what they are looking for. Search engines in return use keyword searching in aiding their search results. With the right keywords, you could get high rankings in search engine results without the costs.

All of these methods and more will drive more traffic to your site for free. All it takes is a bit of effort and extended man hours. Learn all you can about the methods depicted here and you will soon have a site with a great traffic flow without the usual costs that come with it.

Jere answers:

I’ve been creating and marketing large ecommerce sites for people for 10+ years (I am part of Web Retail Group – http://www.webretailgroup.com/ ), I hope I can give you some good ‘starter’ advice and answer your specific questions:

1. Yes, make your own site at your own domain name. This has many benefits: build up your site with your Internet Marketing efforts, not someone else’s site that you have a page on.

A) Register your domain at http://www.godaddy.com – they’re cheap and the best in the biz. (w/ good customer service most of the time)

b) Get an ecommerce consultant with real experience to help you build your site–let them help you choose technologies, etc; and let them advise you on design/usability issues on the site. If you want to do it your self first to get a feel for it–the GoDaddy website tonight service is cheap so you can try it without losing too much money…but ultimately you’re have a more professional standards-based if you hire a professional ecommerce consultant.

2. Internet Marketing methods with the best ROI:

a) Mailing List – ask visitors to join your mailing list; put those who buy from you on your mailing list; use facebook to build your mailing list; tell people you’ll offer them discounts for joining your mailing list.

B) Search Engines – Post your new site to dmoz.org, google.com, yahoo.com, bing.com:
http://www.dmoz.org/ – find a good category they click the ‘add your url’ link at the top of the page to add it
Google – http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/…
Yahoo – http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/sub…
Bing – http://www.bing.com/webmaster/SubmitSite…

c) Social Networking – use Facebook and others like linkedin and twitter, digg, etc. To build lists of friends for your business website and link to your site. Keep at it, and keep updating.

D) SEO – Search Engine Optimization
i) Keyword Research – Use this tool to determine great keywords for your products that are actually being searched for online,
ii) On-site Optimization – then put those ‘good keywords’ in your website content, and in your TITLE tags on your pages, and in some of your in-site links to your pages.
Iii) Link Building – the most time-consuming part – get other sites to link to yours–many ideas on this…too many to list here!
Then wait…over the next 60+ days you should see an increase in your website traffic for them.

E) List your products on shopping comparison engines (CSEs), here’s a good list of them:
http://www.productfeeds.org/ – some are free, others require payment to advertise. At least do the free ones!

3. Take your time and don’t spend too much money on PPC / CPC marketing online. (maybe spend NO money on this if the above works out for you!)

i hope this helps you get started…

Jere answers:

There are some very good answers here on this post already and I highly recommend going through them all as you will gain a bit of good advice from each. BUT, as a whole, each answer I’ve seen posted here is incomplete because they really don’t have enough information from you to give a direct strong answer. Knowing what kind of business you do is a key element in getting the right advice.

Here are the best steps I can suggest as a small business web builder based on what information is given in your question.

1. Although this first step may seem as an odd step, it’s of vital importance. FIRST and foremost, identify the niche your business operates in and do a little research as to what people are searching for the internet who use your services. Try to then find a domain name that you purchase that has the keywords that Google users search. This will help immensely with your site being found in Google and help your business in general.

2. Find a good host provider that has an easy WordPress installation. I personally like Bluehost as a web host, but there are many good ones out there.Wordpress is a free blogging software tool and the #1 choice among top internet marketers for too many reasons to list here. Just know that it is fairly easy to learn, very Google friendly, and makes your website easily accessible to edit from any computer hooked to the internet. Although it was made for blogging, it can easily be used to be a business website as well.

3. Do a little research on some good WordPress templates or look into purchasing a WordPress template maker like Artisteer.

4. If you know someone who knows WordPress and is willing to help you, use them to give you a personal rundown of WordPress and how it works. If you don’t, finding a local meetup group at meetup.com can be helpful as well. If not, then look online for WordPress tutorials, there are a ton of them on YouTube and in other places easily found by doing some searching.

This answer is presuming that you want to build the site yourself. If you are looking for a place to hire your help, make sure that you find someone that will give you references and does updates quickly.

Here is a list of things I strongly believe about small business websites that you may want to keep in mind:

1. A simple, basic, and informative website should not cost you thousands.
2. Simplicity is best. Clarity is key. Cleanliness is a necessity.
3, Your website is a direct reflection of you. You should look good.
4. A website is a waste of money if you’re the only one who knows how to find it.
5. If you want to edit small things quickly, you can.
6. Small updates should not be a big ordeal.

Jere answers:

1) Think about businesses your customers will visit before and after they buy your products. Brainstorm about related, but non-competing services. These will be really good companies to partner with.

2) Connect with other related businesses on Linked In. Join the discussion groups, help people out and participate in the community. This is a great way to network and form powerful partnerships.

Here’s a great resource for learning how to use Linked In: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-linkedin/

3) Search your competitors’ websites. Do they have sponsors? These types of businesses or even those same companies may be interested in sponsoring you, too.

Jere answers:

A true business credit card is a line of credit that is taken in the name of the business, under the business’ credit. Activity, whether good or bad, is reflected on your business’ credit report through D&B and other financial institutions, and the liability for any debts incurred and bills owed is with the business.

However, some companies out there offer “business” credit cards which they require a person guarantee for. These institutions will often ask for a personal guarantee, and will almost always ask for a social security number from the person applying for the card. If this is the case, the credit card is not a business credit card, but is simply a personal credit card which is used for the business. The business is not liable for bills and debts – you are.

When applying for a credit card for your business, watch out for areas asking for your SSN (and not your TaxID or EIN) and be wary of any credit card that asks for a personal guarantee. By ensuring that your credit card is in the name of your business, you can help to build your business’ credit, while avoiding creating problems with your own.

Many companies offer a list of credit cards that are issued under the business name only. Those lists typically run $300-$900, depending on the quality of the information inquiring. I would suggest starting your search online via google or yahoo. Search for “strong business credit” (just like that in quotes) to find services that sell the information.

Good luck,

Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting Group