Entrepreneurship | BizSieve.com

What Does Your Domain Name Say About You

Designing and publishing a website for your business is an important way to enter the world-wide market and choosing a domain is a critical step to that process. Experts agree that choosing the right name can help the success of your business when it’s to the point and describes what your business does.

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the way consumers look for a particular business by typing it into the browser. It can also lead to an individual website via your business link. This small line of text can aid users in navigating the Internet with ease. Imagine if the Internet didn’t use domain names, and you were required to utilize a string of numbers instead to search for a company. Domain names are registered daily and can cost the user between a minimal fee and thousands of dollars depending on the level and value of your search engine. There are many domain names for sale that can be purchased through a Domain Broker.

Finding and Being Found

The name that you choose is important and can help you reach your consumer base. Many businesses think up catchy names that have nothing to do with the services or products that they offer. As a business strategy, this makes zero sense and will only lead to confusion and aggravation. Setting up your domain name and website are important steps to a successful business, and you don’t want to change it later on. This could cause you to lose loyal customers and make your company look unprofessional and scattered.

Choosing the Right Name

Select something that showcases your business in the best light and tells them exactly what you do. If your company handles myriad services, focus on the one thing for your domain that you do best. You can easily add additional pages that will outline your other services or products.

Building a Solid Reputation

To ensure your business has a solid business reputation, you’ll want to choose the perfect domain name. In case your business grows and expands in the future, you may want to find something broad based. This allows you to add things down the road. It also gives you a bit more creativity with the actual name. Some well-known online retail establishments have found success with a particular domain, and the name has had nothing to do with the products that they offer. They also offer more than just books and may include DVDs, electronic gear and much more. You can also find success with something specific that targets exactly what you do or sell. Choosing something synonymous with what you do can generate greater search engine optimism and promotes the exact name in the URL window.

Selecting the right domain name is important from the beginning and can help consumers find the goods or services that you offer with ease, and the right amount of accessibility. It’s also imperative that it sends the right message to your customer base, and the image that you want to portray to them. Not only will it help your business achieve success, it will make you stand out from the rest of the competition.

Author Anthony Joseph enjoys writing about new business subjects to help offer information to start up companies. Toby Clements, a self made Domain Broker, is one of the top dealers in the world – creating millions of dollars in sales on a consistent basis. Buying and selling of these names are happening everyday, and knowing which one is best can have a significant impact on how well your business succeeds.

Why Your Internet Business Needs a Human Voice On the Line

The Internet has brought about many changes to the way a company can conduct business. One of the most significant changes is the change from brick and mortar to laptop offices. A business no longer needs to have a physical presence to conduct business. They can purchase from suppliers, contact remote employees, interact with their customers and ship their products all from their virtual location.

“This seems like the ultimate way to conduct a business!”

In most ways, this statement is true. You have reduced operating expenses, you can work from anywhere and you can produce a product or service with little effort.

However, consumers are starting to grow tired of computer generated customer service. They want to “connect” with a real person when they have a question or an issue. They want to know that the company they are dealing with is “real.” They are becoming disenchanted with live chat options and want to talk to a human being.

Is This The End For Internet Based Businesses?

Of course not, internet businesses are here to stay, they only need to adapt to their consumers. Any business that wishes to meet the needs of their clients will prosper, and Internet based companies can meet this need by investing in a virtual office.

An online solution like a virtual office from ring central(dot)com provides that personal touch that laptop businesses often lack. They have “real” receptionists to take your calls and interact with your clients. The receptionist will be assigned to your company and you can interact with them as you would an answering service.

This one feature alone can set you apart from other online businesses that only provide online contact. It will also give your company live support for any time of the day, meeting the needs of your clients in different time zones.

Can You Still Keep Operating Expenses Low?

The additional benefits of using a virtual office are that you do not have to rent office space, pay for electricity, or pay employee related expenses. You will not be obligated to pay payroll tax, carry workers compensation insurance, or worry about someone calling off from work. Your virtual office will always be there and operating, increasing your business and profit margin.

The Internet has become a large part of everyday life. More people turn to the Internet now for information, advice, and shopping than ever before. It has become a tool that helps people find what they want, regardless of distance, and make connections with people all over the world.

As much as this technology has helped advance the world, the desire to communicate with a real human still remains. People want to place a voice behind their transaction to make sure that it is real. They want to hear sympathy when they are upset with a product or service, and they want to hear a calm voice when they are angry. By providing a point-of-contact for your clients by using a virtual office, you are providing them with that voice they desire to hear. This will increase your business while still giving you the freedom to operate your Internet based business on your own terms.

A small business operator, Ann Bailey presents these tips for new ways to save and succeed in the office. Having a virtual office from ringcentral.com is an easy way to provide all of the old fashioned charm of a typical store front office while only paying for the sleek, new streamlined business model of internet enterprises.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwichary/2398196800/

The Top 4 Most Effective Ways To Improve Your Facebook Advertising Results

Looking to improve your Facebook page and become more popular? If you are, this article will get you going. Read on!

There’s one simple reason why Facebook is one of the best online mediums for advertising: its wide spectrum of active users (just over 960 million as of March 2013). From all corners of the earth, people long on to Facebook daily to socialize and for various other reasons, and more and more marketers realize how powerful the world’s largest social network can become when used to its fullest.

If you want to take your Facebook presence to the next level, here are 4 tips you can use to improve your advertising results:
• Improve your SEO. Facebook is very SEO-friendly, giving you all the features needed to turn your page into a traffic driving machine and reap the benefits directly. Use these 3 SEO ‘secrets’ for Facebook to beef up your efforts:
1. Choose the best name for your Facebook Page and stick with it. Changing the name will cost you SEO points, especially if you give in to the temptation to stuff the title with keywords. Avoid doing this!
2. Choose the best URL. Facebook offers the ability to select a custom URL for your page, which is an important SEO opportunity for Facebook you can explore. Make the URL simple and relevant to your business.
3. Place your keywords in the “About” text-box. It’s always a good idea SEO-wise to place keyword-dense content as close to the top as possible, and Facebook allows you to do this in the “About” section.

• Get professional designed graphics. This is optional, but remember: Facebook is a place where potential clients come to interact with your business — just like every other place on the Internet where your brand is attached. If you want your Facebook page to look professional, have it designed by a professional.

• Create interaction. Facebook users seldom find a page with no activity to report on. Facebook also uses an algorithm to determine what’s newsworthy based on interaction (i.e. the number of likes an updates that a page receives). Be likable, ask questions to start up conversations and you will be more and more visible each day.

• Buy Facebook likes. Here’s why buying Facebook likes is important: it makes the hard job of getting likes easy. Have you ever wondered why many Facebook marketers give up? In most cases, it’s because growing a Facebook page naturally is time consuming and hard work. Do it right and there’s no downside to buying traffic. If you’re not sure how to buy Facebook fans, there’s no absolute guide to follow, but it’s important to buy them from a company that gives you real users.

So, to recap, what you need to do to improve your Facebook advertising results is: (1) work on your SEO, (2) look professional (use a high quality design), (3) create interaction and engagement on your page, and (4) scale up your business with quality traffic. Add these tips to your arsenal if you don’t want to miss out. If done right, your advertising efforts will help you tap into a powerful source of traffic and an opportunity with serious potential for business.

About the Author: Roman Sahakov is the co-founder of Followershop, a company which provides Twitter followers and other social media metrics to musicians, entrepreneurs, businessmen and others for the growth of their campaign. Followershop agency is notorious for its duly delivery and professionalism in fulfilling the orders. The company also provides the opportunity to buy twitter followers.

3 Misconceptions About Starting Your Own Business

Many people see successful businesses and think “what a simple idea, why didn’t I think of that?” But what they often don’t realize is the sheer amount of planning and work that went into making that business a success – not to mention the money spent. In fact, there are a lot of misconceptions that people have about starting a business. Here are three of the most common.

1. It is All About the Product

When it comes down to it, if your business starts with a bad product, it cannot succeed. However, just because your business starts with a good product, it does not necessarily mean that it is guaranteed to succeed. One of the biggest assumptions that people make when starting a business is that people will actually buy their product. Whether it is because of bad marketing, unaffordable prices, or just a bad product, there are many reasons why certain ideas do not take off with consumers. Extensive research is needed to prevent this sort of a problem. Things such as surveys, market research, and focus groups will help you to know what people want, as well as where there is space in the market. Again, you could have the best idea in the world, but if it will be entering an already saturated market, it will struggle to take off.

2. Money is All the Motivation That I Need

Obviously you are going into this business wanting to make some money, but if you sole motivation is that you want to make a million dollars, you might just want to rethink it all. It is incredibly hard for a startup business to even break even, let alone start making money, and this will take a lot of hard work and time. When not much else is going for you, passion and sheer enjoyment of the work that you do will be the only things that carry you through. Your business is also much more likely to succeed if you are creating it because of an interest and talent for business, and passion about your product or service.

3. A Business Plan is Ironclad

The most common piece of entrepreneur advice is to have a solid business plan. Firstly, it is important to have a business plan. Not only will it help you organize your ideas and prepare for what comes next, but you will need it to present to potential investors who will help you to fund your venture. But one mistake that people make is over planning, as well as taking a plan too far. As you start your business, you will soon realize that it is full of hurdles to overcome, and pits to climb out of. The business world is notoriously fickle and constantly changing. This makes it almost impossible to have an ironclad business plan, because within a few months, it is likely that you will just have to throw it out of the window. Good businesses quickly learn to adapt to the changing needs of the market, and those are the ones that survive.

About the Author: Robert Cordray is a freelance writer and expert in business and finances. He has received many accolades for his work in teaching and small business consultation.

Help And Ideas On Becoming Self-Employed

It’s a very difficult time for people to find work, particularly for students entering the job market and those who have been made redundant or out of employment for a long time. It’s an accomplishment simply to be invited to interview and on average only 1 in 10 companies offer a “thanks but no thanks” response to applications. This is very depressing for people who have been seeking work for months or even years. Many people resort to taking jobs for which they are highly overqualified or to accept part-time work to try and make ends meet. Some people take out online loans while they seek work, retrain for a new career or as an investment in a new business.

One option for those who are out of work is to look into becoming self-employed. But where do you start? Just finding a job which is suitable can be daunting. Read on for inspiration.

Look Online

Try investigating online to see what other people are doing. Use a search engine and look for articles, blogs and forums where people recount their own experiences and offer advice and inspiration. You could also try on line quizzes and tests to find out what type of jobs suit your personality, interests and skills. Try brainstorming, keep notes and record every type of job that is appealing to you and then keep on researching.

Look at government websites to get information on becoming self-employed, including legal advice and information on self-assessment tax returns.

Look on job sites where people advertise their services to see what is available. Freelance websites are growing all the time; spend some investigating the work that is offered and also what services others provide. If you have a skill, such as writing, art, crafts or photography – look at what others are doing to make money from their abilities.

Talk to Other People

Ask around and find other people who are self-employed, they can be a great source of information and inspiration. Perhaps you have employed the services of someone who is their own boss, or perhaps you have other acquaintances who are self-employed. Ask your friends and family if they know anyone who might be willing to have an informal chat or give you a few pointers.

Talking to friends and family about your interests and skills is also a brilliant way to stimulate ideas. Sometimes you can overlook the obvious and an outside perspective might help. Your perfect job may turn out to be something you have never considered before, or even a job that you didn’t know existed!

Government Initiatives and Career’s Advice

Look for Pathways to Work or other similar initiatives provided by the government. Visit your local job centre or seek out a career’s advisor. If you are at university, careers advisors will be based on your campus, try to start thinking about your career options long before you leave. Being self-employed for a period of time is a valuable way to get work experience and looks great on a CV as it shows you are responsible and have initiative. If you have already left university, try contacting the careers advisors where you studied, it is likely that they are still willing or even obliged to see you as a graduate.

Local Media

Look at the types of work undertaken by self-employed people who operate in your area by looking in local and national newspapers or business directories. You may be surprised at the amount of different self-employed job opportunities that exist, in a range of different professions. They can range from routine and manual work to highly skilled professional roles. Don’t feel disheartened by the amount of jobs that you aren’t qualified for, just focus on what interests you. It is never too late to retrain or embark upon a new career. Also investigate funding that is available or the possibility of free or discounted courses that are available, particularly as a job seeker. Even some university courses are free, particularly those related to healthcare – where there is a desperate need for staff.

Retrain

Investigate courses that are available, either online, through private companies or at local colleges. Find out which colleges offer adult education or professional qualification courses in your area, then look at their website or write to them to request a prospectus. If you are interested in retraining, you could look into online loans as an option for funding you studies.

About the Author: Wendy Derbyshire is a blogger who understands the current challenges of the job market. If you are considering taking a course or starting up your own business, why not investigate online loans to fund your new career?