A website is essential to any business these days

New and small business owners can often be the most innovative and creative marketers there are. They don’t have the huge budgets of the corporate giants; they don’t have large teams of creative designers, advertising executives, brainstorming committees, PR agencies or even a tea person! However, enterprising cash-strapped individuals are constantly striving to invent novel and cheaper methods of marketing their businesses, often with varying degrees of success. 

What must be reiterated though is that marketing and advertising need not cost a fortune, but can still be very effective depending on how you approach it.

The big names and multinationals will have an extraordinary amount of funding set aside in which to convey their marketing message to the masses.

The process will involve an inordinate amount of people, multiple marketing agencies, countless ‘creativity’ meetings and thousands of work-hours. From television adverts to full pages in the newspapers and glossy magazines, brand names and logos jump out at us and are instantly recognisable - such is the power of advertising on an extremely large budget.

Easily missed then in this marketing free-for-all are the smaller or new businesses. After the usually costly process of setting up a business with its requisite equipment, possibly an office or other type of premises, there is usually little or no funds available for marketing or advertising.

From the first trading day of a new business enterprise, the going is tough. It is small wonder therefore that most new businesses do little or nothing about marketing because of what they see as prohibitive costs.

There are instances of course where new businesses have originated from someone’s hobby or part-time occupation; in these cases, the market is usually already there and forming a company was the next logical step, immediate marketing was obviously not required to generate the first customer.

There are many advertising agencies that say there is no need for small businesses to spend a fortune on marketing. This is totally true, but what money a small business does have to advertise should be spent wisely and not just thrown at an agency that might end up failing to deliver.

There are far cheaper and more effective ways to get a business on the map.

A website is essential to any business these days and will certainly be an asset. However, your site will be one amongst many millions of others and will not be of immediate use due to the nature of search engines and the way the Internet works in general; therefore you will need to look to other methods.

One of the most important things to bear in mind is not to run before you can walk.

Start small, start local. Unless you already have contracts from further afield, there is no point in casting nationwide for business when a vast amount is already likely to be on your doorstep.

Depending on what type of business you run, leaflets and flyers to other businesses or homes are a good way to get yourself known.

Always carry a business card with you they are invaluable, you never know when you are going to meet someone who wants printed contact details – hey presto! - Instant advertising. 

If you have access to a computer, join an online business forum. They are an excellent source of information help and advice from people in the same situation as you. Even those in the same line of business as yourself will usually be happy to offer their help – don’t be afraid to take it, you can always return the favour.

Contact your local Chamber of Commerce for practical sound advice on any aspect of business. They are there to help and are extremely knowledgeable and friendly people.

Business breakfast clubs are normally held once a week in most towns and cities and are another rich source of information and a great place to make contacts, again, don’t forget to take your business cards with you.

The methods I have mentioned are by no means the only ways to market on a budget and have no doubt been written about before, and although they take lots of effort and are very time-consuming, they do produce results.

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The following are the most common methods offered to the aspiring entrepreneur and none of them work

Probably you’ve heard about all the money that can be made on the Internet. Maybe you’ve tried Internet Marketing and been unsuccessful. I very much doubt that anyone reading this has been successful because most of the talk about how you can make your fortune on the Internet is hype to take your money. 

What you want and need is a way of bringing in large volumes of visitors to your site, most of whom are interested in buying your chosen product. 

The following are the most common methods offered to the aspiring entrepreneur and none of them work. We thought it best to share them with you first of all. 

What Doesn't Work? 

Mass Mailing Programs: These are programs which you load into your computer and which then enable you to mail thousands of addresses per night with a sales letter. They do not work because you cannot ordinarily obtain good addresses. You have to buy the program to learn this of course. 

Mass Mail (Spam) Lists: These are sold cheaply by the million for use with the programs above. People do not realise that not only are the addresses random rather than targeted-by-interest but they are all mailed thousands of times by everyone who purchases either the Mass Mailing Program or lists. Expect one per ten thousand with a good letter and appealing, cheap product. And your ISP will shut down your Web Site. 

Opt-In Lists: These rented mailing lists are much more expensive and hardly any better than those above. The names on the lists have allowed incoming mail in a certain subject in return for some other benefit. This does not mean they are interested in buying anything and they usually get 500 offers per day. You never see the names but have to trust the list owner that the names exist and are mailed. You have no recourse following a negative result. And a negative result is what you will get. 

Banner Advertising: For a set (and hefty) fee your advertisement appears a certain number of times on the screen of a number of computer users. (Allegedly) The ad can be slightly targeted but, again, there is no reason to suppose the viewer wants to buy anything. Banner ads do not give a cost effective return for anyone other than the person who sells the banner space. 

Affiliate Programs: These are where you recruit and set up people to sell your product for you on the Internet. The system has part of an idea which works and which we will examine elsewhere, affiliates in principle are a very good thing, but normally it involves other people trying, hopelessly, to do what you cannot - find clients on the Internet. You end up with a large recruiting bill and lots of affiliates doing nothing. (Unless you know how to sell on the Internet and can tell your affiliates. See below.) 

News Groups: There are tens of thousands of news groups on the Internet where people meet to exchange ideas on all manner of subjects. Some are concerned with marketing. If you post an advertisement on a news group which is not related to your business the members get really cross and do not buy - they shut you down. If you post to a group which accepts marketing your ad is buried under thousands of other ads which people post and no one ever reads. Expect zero results.

So What Does Work? 

Targeted Emailing: This is similar to direct mail by post with one vital exception - The % take-up rate is lower. Delivery is cheap but the rental lists are still quite expensive. Rental prices are coming down and there are now some "fair" lists around. 

This will improve as the Internet gains acceptance amongst the population and people become more used to buying directly from an email approach. The advantages are that return on investment is already much higher than snail-mail and it is much quicker and more amenable to automation. 

Internet Two-Step Is Currently By Far The Best Way To Sell Effectively Using The Internet. 

This is how it is done: You have to use a web page as a sales brochure and run it like "Two-Step" in a conventional mail order business. We call this - strangely enough - "Internet Two Step". Using this secret, known only to a few marketing professionals, is how you can make your own fortune and keep the money rolling in for the rest of your life. 

What Is Conventional "Two Step"? 

In conventional mail order there are two ways to sell a product: Either "Off the page" or "Two Step". Off The Page involves a large and expensive advertisement in a magazine or newspaper. It includes the order form and asks for payment with order after "selling" the product. The disadvantage is the size of ad-space, and therefore expense, required to explain and sell a product. The advantage is that with low cost products, say under $200, it "pulls" well and avoids the immense amount of administration and expense necessary to handle many thousands of enquiries. 

Two Step is where a much smaller, cheaper ad is used to attract the potential client’s interest and he is asked to telephone for free details. The disadvantage is that there is a great deal of expense and administration involved in collecting names and sending out a sales brochure to each enquirer. The advantage is that the ad is much cheaper. With conventional media it’s a case of "Horses for courses." 

How Does "Internet Two Step" Work? 

First you set up a web page as your "sales brochure". The Internet is extremely well suited to this use with full color display and also sound and movies available. An Internet web site can be immeasurably more appealing and effective as a sales tool than can a printed brochure. Your potential market for the right product is the entire civilised world and you can offer your web page in translation to reach everyone. 

You doubtlessly know it is possible to collect money over the Internet by credit card. Be aware that many people still prefer to send cash or cheque so you might offer this facility with a "print out" order form if your product is appropriate. The hurdle which stops most businesses is that, having put up their Web Site Brochure, they then try to use the Internet to drive clients to their site: This is difficult to do cost effectively as you have seen above so do not try. 

Instead, run the same type of ad in conventional media that you would use to attract enquiries for "Two Step" but ask the reader to visit your Web Site instead. A huge number will if your ad is right. You gain the same advantage of a far lower advertising spend and combine it with zero brochure production and distribution costs. 

You also obtain a much higher conversion rate on enquiries because a well designed site sells the product better than a brochure ever could. Once your site is set up you just have to get an advertisement in front of your target audience and the orders will flow in as fast as you can process them. And orders can be processed automatically with the right product and set-up. 

A few (pounds or dollars) invested in advertising can bring in tens of thousands of (pounds or dollars) worth of orders. 

Internet Two Step is the future of mass marketing and you are among the first entrepreneurs to learn of it. Use it well and make your fortune. 

The beauty of the Internet combined with the power of computers is that just about everything can be automated. 

Running a shop you have to be there or get a headache employing staff. 

Running a direct snail-mail program you spend all your time chasing mailing houses and fretting over delivery and responses. There is also masses of work to handle a successful response - orders to process, cheques to bank and orders to ship. There is more work than an outsider would credit. 

Selling from a web site, however, is a different animal entirely. 

Yes, you do have to get the site set up in the first place and complete the following once-and-for-all tasks: 

• Choose the right product 
• Design your Web Site 
• Arrange to accept payment by credit card 
• Arrange for the automatic despatch of the information-based product 
• Publish your site 
• Place your advertising and recruit your affiliates 

When this list is completed you have little else to do because the advertisements or affiliates bring the visitors to your site. The site sells and ships your product automatically. You can check your bank account over the Internet from any beach in the world. You can even re-book advertising from your deck chair. 

Do you know a better way to make money?

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In starting an online business at home, it is good to look at your past experiences and jobs

In starting an online business, it is important to consider what type of business will be suited to your type of personality. For example, if you are an outgoing and sociable person, you might be better suited for an online business involving sales. On the other hand, if you are introverted and shy, your personality might be better suited towards data entry. 

In starting an online business at home, it is good to look at your past experiences and jobs. If you were previously employed with a marketing firm, then maybe you should consider letting them know you have started your own online marketing and public relations business.

They might hire you to do freelance work for them. Another example is if you were a secretary or still work as a secretary, you can start an online virtual secretarial or related enterprise. Regardless of the type of online business you start with, it must be something that you enjoy doing. 

After you have decided on what online business that would be good for your personality and previous work experience, it is necessary to consider the time commitment involved in making your dream into a reality. In order to make this into a reality, you should consider writing a business plan for yourself. 

The business plan should include the online business's name along with your company's finances such as the amount of money you would like to make in order to achieve a profit. Also, it is a good idea to write down the projected costs that your online business might incur. These would include buying office equipment and marketing ads. 

If you are considering registering to sell another company's products online, it is important to investigate the company before signing up. If the company promises large sums of wealth that can be made in a short period of time, it is advised that you stay away from them. Make a point to search forums and newsgroups online to see if anyone has reported the company as a scam. 

If you plan carefully and give much thought to your decisions, you should be able to find many similar onine businesses with proven success. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. Take advantage of the experience of successful marketing experts by purchasing e-books, subscribing to e-zines and e-courses offered by the many people making modest and even hugh incomes from their home-based online businesses. 

Starting an online business is, for some, a difficult decision to make. Choosing which home based business to become affiliated with is an even harder decision. It is important to find an online business that will generate a profit in the shortest time possible.

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Instagram considers itself a "home for small businesses"

These days, if you're not marketing on Instagram, you're likely missing out, but at the same time, things aren't as rosy in that department as they once were. For those trying to get more marketing bang from the photo and video sharing service, there's good news and bad news, and the bad news is probably only going to get worse.

Instagram's follower growth also remains rather impressive when you compare it to other networks like Facebook and Twitter. The number for Instagram in January was 0.37% while Facebook was 0.16% and Twitter was 0.11%. Again, we're just talking about organic growth

Having 'audience size' as one of your KPI's is not the most appropriate way of measuring performance. It's very difficult to grow much without spending money on advertising, no matter how great your organic content efforts are. It's worth considering this when setting your goals and targets for the year. Engagement rate may be a metric that helps you measure the results of your efforts better.

And that's where the bad news comes in. Engagement rate is down by 66.07% on Instagram over the past ten months. It fell by 12.04% just from December to January. And why is that, you ask? Most likely because of ads.

Instagram is a place where people come to be inspired and [find] things they care about, and that includes content from businesses. In fact, 60% of Instagrammers say they learn about products and services on Instagram and 75% say they take action after being inspired by an Instagram post—like visiting a website, searching...or telling a friend.

As we discussed, Instagram has been making some significant improvements to its marketing offerings, including longer campaign options, longer videos.

Videos on Instagram haven't been performing as well as photos in terms of engagement, but the time users spent watching videos increased by over 40% over the past six months. 

In addition to the aforementioned video-related improvements from Instagram, the service is also promoting video views by curating videos related to live events. Look for them to do even more with video as time goes on.

Do you expect to put more or less time and resources into marketing with Instagram?

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The small business owner needs to determine why their company is using social media sites

Today's social media tools are great for business building, provided that the small business owner and their employees know how to use them for the company's ultimate benefit. Therefore, the small business owner needs to determine why their company is using social media sites and then let that purpose be known throughout the entire company. Additionally, they need to implement clear social media guidelines that small company employees can follow in order to further their company's mission.

As a result, many marketing, media, technology, and advertising experts use social media forums as a way to champion the use of social media. They suggest a company, especially a small business on main street with a modest marketing budget, become better known, extend their reach, and improve their company's sales using social media.

Here is an example of a teaser message recently transmitted in an email campaign to small and medium sized businesses... the message says, "Social Media is the most explosively growing media of all-time and growing faster with each passing day with no slow-down in sight. It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users. It took TV 13 years to reach 50 million users. Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months. And iPhone applications hit 1 BILLION in 9 months."

Based on this message, it is easy for entrepreneurs to get seduced into thinking that by using Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, big sales are just around the corner.

However, social media should work in conjunction with traditional marketing and selling techniques such as relationship marketing within "old" social networks, cold calling, vertical marketing, and other effective prospecting activities.

Small business owners should take the time to learn how to maximize their use of social media but they should not rely on it to make their sales. Business owners need to learn how to use social media to engage their prospects and customers and how to get their prospects and customers talking about something that is important to them and the small business. This type of engagement is necessary and will ultimately get prospects and customers to take the action the business owner wants them to take... leading to a sale. 

In order to make the best business use of social media, the small business owner needs to prepare a simple strategy with several guidelines to follow in the use of social media. The strategy and guidelines need to pinpoint the specific message to be communicated so that all employees using social media for the business know what direction their messages should take and how they should focus their posts. For example, is the company's focus to improve customer service? Is it to enhance awareness of their products or services? Or, is it to boost their brand recognition? Each of these things would have a different yet consistent message for the employees of the business to follow.

For example, one insuránce company uses Twitter and Facebook to let people know about all the philanthropic things they are doing for the community. All the posts are about events they are sponsoring and contributions they're making. Employees know that they should post information about personal things they're doing for the community, such as volunteering at the local animal shelter or helping out with Habitat for Humanity. With a clear guideline that the social media effort is to elevate philanthropic awareness it is easy for employees to know the kinds of things they should be doing on social media sites. They have a clear focus and a unified purpose. 

Another company in the retail industry uses social media to improve customer service. All their posts highlight things they are doing internally to improve the customer experience, what they are doing online to make shopping easier and how they are handling phone inquires to deliver a memorable shopping experience. They also regularly ask customers how they would like the company to improve customer service. With that as the key message, all of the company's employees are focused on problem solving and on making the customers happy.

Therefore, a good social media strategy, with employee guidelines, is far more than a list of good and bad words or topics. Instead, the strategy with guidelines needs to focus on the core message the small business wants to portray along with the best ways to spread that core message.

The guidelines should cover the following topics.

Building Trust

The business employees should use their posts to build a reputation of trust among clients, media, and the public. When they are reaching out to others on social media sites, they should take every opportunity to build a reputation of trust and to establish themselves as a credible and transparent representative of the company.

Being Transparent

When participating in any online community, the small business employees should disclose their identities and affiliations with the organization, clients, and their professional and / or personal interest.

Being Direct

When creating posts and content, the business employees should be direct, informative, and brief.

Giving Due Credít

If the business employees post copyrighted materials, they should identify the original sources.

Self-Editing

The small business employees should always evaluate each posting's accuracy and truthfulness. Before posting any online material, they need to ensure that the material is accurate, truthful, and without factual error. This includes doing a spell and grammar check on everything.

Responsibility

Make sure the business employees know that they are responsible for what they post. Negative or questionable posts should not be tolerated.

Being Professional

When posting comments, the business employees should refrain from writing about controversial or potentially inflammatory subjects, including politics, sex, religion, or any other non-business related subjects. The tone of their comments should be respectful and informative and not ever condescending or "loud."

Privacy

The business employees shouldn't ever disclose proprietary or confidential information. This includes product releases, service updates, and employee information not made public yet.

Obeying the Rules

All business employees should follow local, state, or federal laws and regulations. Ultimately, their online activities will be a reflection on the company.

Ultimately, when small businesses know how they are supposed to use today's social media tools, they can do so with focus and purpose, leading the small company confidently into the communication age.

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Determining the kind of work you want to do is can be difficult

As more and more employees of large corporations have discovered, there is no such thing as job security. Seniority no longer takes a part in how things are handled. For these reasons alone there is no time like the present to move on and start working from home. 

Some of the questions will be fairly easy to answer while others will take a little more time. Determining the kind of work you want to do is can be difficult. The goal of working from home or having a home business is being able to call the shots in one's own business. At times it even reaches the point of worry. 

• Do I have enough space to perform the work? 
• Where will I work at? 
• What type of work do I want to do? 
• What hours will I want to work? 

1) Be a doer, don't just talk about it or be a dreamer. 

Good words of advice: "When all is said than done, more is said than done." We all like to dream and are much easier to talk about our goals. You need to put the plan inaction and follow through. I too was one of those people, but I finally combined my dreams with action, and it worked. 

2) Effective time management. 

Time is money in the business world. If must have the ability to manage your time effectively both in business and personal life, this will become an asset that can repay you many times over. Most people will start their work from home online business while working a full-time job at the same time; this means getting maximum productivity from your time is even more crucial. If your business is growing and you find that you do not have enough time in the day to pursue other business increasing activities, you can consider cutting back on the hours at your regular job, or find a job that may work better for you 

3) Have Knowledge in the Field of Choice. 

Being an expert is not required when starting out, you will gain that valuable knowledge as your home business grows. You will need to make sure that you stay up to date on the developments in your field. If you do this for a period of time you'll become an expert. 

4) Always be persistent. 

I sympathize with those that commute 5 or more days a week to a job they don't like, but it can be a plus. It can be a strong motivator and your persistence will prove useful. Tip: It will be much easier to persist if you select a field of business that you like, as opposed to pursuing something just for the money. Then your work can be fun, not drudgery. 

5) Focus 

Believing that you can "succeeding by helping others succeed", can you a long way. Focusing on clients and helping them solve their problems through your products and services contributes more toward long-term success than just selling them products and services. 

6) Self-discipline. 

Self-discipline is definitely needed in any business especially when you work from home. No matter what you choose to do, if you do not have the discipline you will not succeed. You have to be a self-starter and know when to work and when to take time to do other things. No home business can survive without this. 

7) Marketing skills. 

Marketing is a skill and like any other skill, it can be developed through knowledge and practice. You can never learn too much about marketing. Find ways to market your business both online and offline, and you will have more success.

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Ready for more tips on how to make your AdWords campaign work more effectively for your business?

Adwords does not have many protections against Click fraud, although they do disable Adsense accounts who cheat. Google are very hesitant to refund the victims, if at all. Reports tell many organisations are actually suing Google to get their money back, so be careful.

In this article I have illustrated some of the most beneficial ways to save money when advertising with Adwords. My main advice to you is, do not go crazy with your spending. You may not see the results you are after, it does take a while to get to know Adwords.

Ready for more tips on how to make your AdWords campaign work more effectively for your business?

It's easy to overlook the basics of a strong AdWords campaign. Without them though, your AdWords campaign can be doomed from the very start. Follow these tips and you can be sure that your campaign will have a strong foundation for both short term and immediate success.

Use Proper Grammar and Spelling

It may sound basic, but ad text that uses slang, has misspelled words or doesn't read clearly isn't going to get clicked. If anything it makes your business seem unprofessional and could actually harm your business' reputation.

Make sure that you spell and grammar check your ads. You might also have a friend, co-worker or employee read through the ad text to make sure that it reads smoothly and makes sense. Input from others is invaluable when creating AdWords ads.

Start Small With Geographical Targeting

If you're just starting out, try limiting your ad's distribution to one or two regions (e.g. for businesses based in North America, limit your initial distribution to the U.S.A and Canada). By starting with a smaller distribution area, you will be able to keep your costs lower and "fine tune" your ads and keywords before you start to expand.

When you feel comfortable that your AdWords ads are profitable, start to expand several countries or regions at a time.

Scout the Competition

Chances are, no matter what kind of product you are selling, you will have a competitor who is already selling something similar and advertising it on AdWords. Search for the terms you wish to use on Google to see what kinds of ads your competitors are writing.

You might even try a tool like GoogSpy to see exactly what terms your competitors are buying.

Pay close attention to the terms they use, the deals or incentives they offer and the titles they use. You can learn a lot from your competitors. You don't want your ads to be exactly like theirs, but you can use elements from each competitor to make your ads perform even better.

Start with a Modest Budget

Just as you should start with a smaller geographical region, start with a modest campaign budget. Spend a few days or a few weeks fine tuning your ads before you really decide to pump up the budget. The more "finished" and tuned your ads are before you start spending serious amounts of money on advertising, the better.

Patience in building a strong ad group before you expand will benefit you and your bottom line.

Remember Your Audience

Write ad text that will appeal to your audience and bring in the traffic you want. If your products appeal to hobbiests, use terms that hobbiests would understand. If your products are directed mainly at younger customers, use youthful verbage and terms that will draw their attention.

You only have your ad text to convince the "right" customers to visit your website. Make those words count by making sure that you target the message toward them.

Attract the "Right" Customer

There is a fine line between writing ads that appeal to customers enough to get a high click-through rate and writing ads that merely draw anyone. You want to have a high click through rate on your ads, since it will get you higher placement and save you money. You don't want to attract customers who won't ever becom customers though.

Use strong action words in your ads. Include powerful selling points and benefits. Try to stay away from phrases that will draw everyone though such as "free" and "bargain." Write an ad that will bring you viewers who have a good chance of becoming customers too.

Make Your Ads Different

Your completed AdWords ads are going to run right along side everyone else's. You need to use words that will make yours stand out. Again, here is where you need to look at your competitors ads to see what they are saying. Once you've done that, you need to figure out how to make yours stand out.

Don't use the same terms at beginning of titles and sentences. Think of synonyms for more commonly used words. Think of different ways to say things.

Whatever you do, make your ad different. If it stands out, for the right reasons, you will get more clicks.

Run Several Different Ads at Once For Each Ad Group

AdWords allows you to run as many ads as you would like for each " Ad Group" (keyword group). Take advantage of this feature. Don't limit yourself to only one ad. Run two or three different ads for each Ad Group.

Experiment with different wording in titles, different text in the ads themselves and different "Destination URLs" to see which ads get the highest clickthrough percentages and which have the highest conversion rate.

Keep the ads that make you the most money and delete the other ones. You can then try other variations of the ad that converted well to make it even better. Always run more than one ad, even if the "different" ads are very similar.

Even a change to one word can increase your conversion percentages dramatically at times.

Consider Using Different "Destination URLs" for Your Ads

Your website's main page may not be the page that best "converts" viewers into customers. If you're trying to sell one specific product with an ad, don't send people clicking on your ad to your website's main page. Send them directly to the webpage for that product.

You might also consider designing specific "splash" pages for each Ad Group you run. Each of those splash pages can then use the terms you're including in that Ad Group. If your customers see the same terms on your web site that made them click on the ad in the first place, they'll be more likely to buy your product.

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