Relationship Marketing | Build Your Online Business

During a recent conversation with a group of women who are in various Direct Sales companies, different opinions were given on the value of establishing an online presence.  The majority felt that they did not need to do this as –

1) Each company they represented had a company website, which their prospects and customers could be referred to.
2) Most Direct Sales companies place limitations and restrictions on their consultants/distributors as to what they can and cannot do with their company names, logos, etc. so that it would be a breach of company policy to establish personal websites to promote the products and services they offer.  Some persons also noted that most companies already allow consultants and distributors to have a company website with their own name.  Note that this is usually a duplicate of the company website that's basically a static site that's updated by the company and which each consultant/distributor cannot personalize.

Are you in Direct Sales?  Can you relate to the foregoing?  I definitely can and had similar views to those expressed above until just over one year ago when I was introduced to another concept:  Establishing an online presence is designed to promote ME, not the Direct Sales company I represent. It is essential to establish an online presence to promote YOU.  This will allow people to get to know you, who you are, what sets you apart from all the other consultants or distributors who represent XYZ company.  In this was you will also be helping people to develop the Know, Like and Trust factor, which is so critical to success in business in general, but especially in doing business on the Internet.

Everyday new businesses are started on the internet.  Some persons start an online business for fun, some with the intent of making some ‘extra money' while others have a purpose in mind: that of starting a ‘real business' to provide a regular income online.  Regardless of the reasons, one factor that most persons omit to take into consideration is the need to have a business plan.  What is a business plan? http://www.google.com/url?q=http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/business_plan describes a business plan as “A summary of how a business owner, manager, or entrepreneur intends to organize an entrepreneurial endeavor and implement activities necessary and sufficient for the venture to succeed.”  Your business plan for your online business should clearly explain the what, why, when, who and how of the project.

Based on the above I can hear someone saying, “I don't need a business plan.  After all an online business is not like a brick and mortar business…”  And that's true.  However, by setting up a business plan, you are laying out a roadmap to success. It will help you to develop your business goals and strategies, as well as provide you with a better understanding of the marketplace. It will also highlight any business strengths or weaknesses that you may have, as well as providing you with an opportunity to take a close look at your competitors. While this is optional at the outset, it would do no harm to include financial projections, historical data and growth expectations into your business plan.  If your goal is to make money, you will need to document what your resources are at the outset, and what it's going to take to reach your goal.

One vital concept of your plan for success in an online business endeavor is to identify your target audience.  This way you will know how your service, your product, or your knowledge can specifically meet or exceed the expectations of your audience.

Your business plan may be broken down into the following seven sections:

1. Business summary – The product or service you want to provide.

2. Market analysis – Research on the product or service and how the competitors are doing.

3. Product positioning – How to make it more prominent compared to your competitors.  Or, what need is not being filled in your area that you can fill.

4. Market strategy – How are you actually going to market it? Every business must have a marketing plan otherwise you are setting-up yourself for failure.

5. Customer analysis – Look at what the customer wants or needs.  How will you find out?  Feedback, surveys, etc.

6. Financial analysis – What you need to invest in order to set up the business and to keep it going while it is just getting started. You'll need at the minimum a domain name, a hosting service, and an autoresponder.  I use and recommend GoDaddy.com for domain name registration, and AWeber.com for e-mail autoresponder service. Click on the links to take you directly to both sites.

7. Overall business goals – What you hope to achieve in, say, a year’s time or even 5 years' time.  Short-term and long-term goals.

Although you may be thinking  you need pages and pages of information, which could cause you to hesitate, keep in mind that the sections listed above can be condensed into just about two pages.  This is for your reference, and should serve as a guide which you can refer to from time to time in order to determine your progress.  And, above all, make it your determination that once you have created a business plan for your online business you will stick with it.  As your business evolves, you can amend as you see fit.

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Are you building a  business online? Are you already an internet marketer?  Are you in Direct Sales? Do you have a blog or other type of website?  What is the one thing you're always in need of?  Most likely your answer will be: Good Quality Content for Your Articles. When I first started my two blogs: 1) Work-From-Home/Direct Sales and 2) Skin Care and Beauty just about one year ago, it was very challenging to come up with thought-provoking and informative articles for my blogs on a regular basis.  As a result I sometimes went for days without writing a post while I thought of what topics and information I'd present.  Added to blogs, if you have a newsletter or ezine you need even more content on a regular basis.  Participating in guest blogging in order to attract more visitors to your website presents another area where good content is required. Where can you find this valuable content?  Here are three of my favorite ways:

Visit Article Directories and Get Free Reprint Articles

Quality articles can be found on article directories like EzineArticles.com, ArticleBase.com, and LadyPens.com, which you can copy and place on your website. You may not, however, edit these articles in any way and you must include the author's resource box at the end, including any links to the author's website. Doing this you receive the quality content that you need, and the author or authors receive free publicity. There are, however, drawbacks to this method of obtaining articles:
1. Because you share the same article with everyone else that uses that directory, there is the issue of duplicate content, which could affect your search engine rankings.  This would not be a concern if you'd be using the article in your newsletter or ezine.  If you are adding the article to your website, I would suggest that you write an introduction to the article and a conclusion at the end with a wrap-up statement or recommendation.

2. It's difficult to find good quality articles with  content for your business.

3. By using the article with the resource box in place, as is required, you're basically advertising for someone else and diverting attention from your website.

Write the Articles Yourself

You can choose to write some of your web content yourself. I would highly recommend that you do write much of your own content, at least on the sites where you're trying to establish yourself as an authority.  But as I noted earlier this can be a challenge.

However, the third of my 3 favorite ways will enable you to post good quality articles to your website without having to write all of it yourself. Many you can just edit and use. The difference in the option below is that YOU become the expert, rather than endorsing someone else as the expert.

Use PLR Articles

PLR stands for Private Label Rights. PLR articles are usually written by a ghostwriter and sold to several website owners. This means that you (and a limited number of other bloggers) can edit the articles and publish them without being required to link back to anyone or give anyone credit for writing them. You become the expert when using PLR articles.

I had received numerous e-mails about PLR articles and had no idea how they could benefit me until I attended a Teleseminar on the topic and was amazed at the benefits of using PLR products. Many people choose to use these articles as they are, but I do and strongly recommend that you customize the articles, tweak them for your market, insert examples or photos or case studies then publish them on your website.

The main challenge I found for some time was finding a good PLR service that provides professionally written content sold in limited quantities.  That issue was resolved when I found EasyPLR.com.  EasyPLR.com has been offering the best niche plr article packs on the web since 2006.  Here are some reasons why I highly recommend their content:

-  Great reputation. Thousands of happy, repeat customers over the years.

-    Great quality. The content is written by Professional Writers on staff and edited by a separate staff member.-   Limited availability. You're not sharing your articles with thousands of other people.

-    Run by a Respected Internet Marketer. Nicole Dean owns EasyPLR.com and is oftentimes called the marketer with integrity, and runs her business by her gut and her ethics, not strictly by her pocketbook.

-    Excellent customer support. Need any help? They're there for you.
I'm a customer at EasyPLR.com and I have been extremely happy with the good quality articles and content. Check it out here.