Archive for the ‘Business Systems’ Category

Designing Interactive Learning

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Designing effective business improvement programs can be difficult, especially when faced with too many technology options. Many of the more effective presentation methods are actually more traditional style, rather than the animated build so commonly overused in PowerPoint. And of course there is the content – how much is too much, or too little. Check out this simple, yet powerful presentation on how to create more effective business improvement training programs. By Cathy Moore.


For a comprehensive list of free and paid screencasting and authoring tools

High Quality PLR Content Can Reduce eBook Development To Just Days

Monday, May 4th, 2009

I often get asked how long it takes to write a book – and of course, the answer is, that I know how long I take, but every person is different. The differences are from the factors one would expect – time available, research requirements, writing style and speed etc.

I admit that I find it easier to write non-fiction, than I imagine it would be to design a suitably interesting plot for a novel, but even then, sometimes it takes longer to get persmission to print research data that backs up ones own thoughts.

If you want a really quick way to write an ebook, using Private Label Rights (PLR) content is a good place to start. Don’t be too quick to think that using PRL is only for lazy people who don’t want to do their own writing. As you learn more, you will find you will come up with new ways to use PLR content in your own ebooks as well as in other aspects of your business.

PLR is content that is sourced from the original author, together with their permission to use it as your own. That means you can even put your own name on it and have your own product to sell or give away! Using PLR, you could easily complete an ebook in less than a day. If you want to supplement it with your own content, you can still have a saleable ebook in less than 2 weeks.

When you search for PLR content you will find a lot of different types of sites available. Some offer monthly memberships and others offer just one time purchases. So be sure to look around before you decide where to buy.

One site I found that is well worth visiting is PLRWholesaler. They have an unbelievable amount of content, but it’s completely FREE. I’m aghast that they give away the quality of content that they do – most sites charge a fortune for the amount of content this guy is giving away.

Although I haven’t been through everything yet, what I have read is very good quality. It’s information you would actually want to use as your own.

Since it’s free, I highly recommend that you check out PLRWholesaler and see if they have anything that you can use in your business. There just may be an ebook or audio recording that you could quickly brand with your information and start selling to your list.

Check it out and let me know what you think…

PLR Wholesaler

Free Step By Step Online Marketing System

Monday, October 13th, 2008

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about business – any business, whether it’s online marketing, or running a store – it’s that it is you will be more successful is you model highly successful people, and you can duplicate their success. They have already made all the mistakes you are about to make – so why bother making them again.

If your goal is to succeed in online marketing, there is one expert who is willing to share with you, ALL of his secrets for building a highly successful online business? And, he is willing to do so at NO COST TO YOU?!

Now unless you are stupid, you will jump at this chance.. get them NOW!

In May 2008, Internet Marketing Guru, Glen Hopkins (Best Selling Author of ‘Lucrative List Building’ and ‘Confessions Of An Online Marketer’) held a sold-
out LIVE event where he shared the entire step-by-step process of how he generates a high-six-figure income with his onine business!

Attendees paid $4,500 per person for the entire weekend and it was sold out. The testimonials were glowing – imagine what a workshop like that could do for YOUR business?

Fortunately for YOU, the entire weekend was recorded – and Glen Hopkins is willing to give YOU a complimentary copy of these recordings…OUTSTANDING!!

No catch, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear one of the Internet’s top marketers explain – in detail – how you can follow his step-by-step path to success.

And you can get it right now, by clicking here:

To Your Success,

Esmart

P.S. Seriously, if you are still reading this you need to get over there now before they are all gone!

Internet Marketing Holding Ground During Recession

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Like most business people, you have probably been wondering how you will fare if the USA [and the rest of the world] slip into a deep depression.
Certainly some industries are more recession proof that others, some even perform better during such times.

A few days ago, Media Week published some welcoming news for Internet Marketers. Their forecasts for e-commerce business for 2008 predict e-commerce sales in 2008 will increase by 23 percent in the United States.

Reports from eMarketer project similar growth, based on a global increase in e-commerce of11.8 percent. This is typical of almost any other publication you can find on fact doing business on the internet. There seems to be no sign that e-commerce will slow down any time soon.

In amongst tough economic times, with most industries forecasting significant decline, IM appears to be one of the only industries demonstrating growth today.

So can you consider the internet businesses to be recession-proof?

A lot of that depends upon how well you manage your business, and which of the many streams of making money online you are involved in. Like any share portfolio – diversification is the key.

The recession is likely to hit employment before too long – and that means an increase in the numbers of people looking to make money from other avenues – and online is one of them.

This is going to be a time of sorting out for may Internet business owners – you need to work smarter than the next guy to retain your market share. That makes it a good time to revisit all the basics of Internet Marketing, and tidy up any loose areas of your strategy or operations.

Remember – you don’t have to be brilliant or perfect, you just have to be better than the next guy [or gal!]

Esmart

Boosting Your Online Business Over the Holidays

Saturday, December 22nd, 2007

Whether you are celebrating Christmas, taking a mid-winter break or just annual leave, any holiday is a great time to refresh the mind and body and refocus your efforts for the coming year.

I like to start jotting down ideas for content between Christmas and New Year, so that by the time I hit Jan 2-4 [my 3 day planning fest] I have an arsenal of ideas not only for content, but also for new development and ways to improve my existing websites.

Over the past year I have set up a number of websites in different niches, and although they are well optimized and converting well, they still lack traffic. I have done no marketing of these sites, other than a few articles. Hence, my main goal for next year is not to develop any more new sites, but to grow the ones I have.

I have spent a wonderfully satisfying year learning about Internet Marketing, about website building and performance. As a corporate performance consultant I am very aware how measuring performance is critical to really understanding your business.

There are two parts to this performance measurement:

1. Measuring the performance of your business input

2. Measuring the performance of the outcome of those inputs.

Measuring Inputs

It is very, very easy to focus on just one part of your business and get carried away at the expense of another. Do your find yourself obsessed with link building, and then realise you haven’t written a blog for weeks or submitted an article for over a month! Or all your efforts are going into one or two websites, when your main revenue conversion is with another site.

I also know that I perform much, much better when I have a balanced scorecard to indicate exactly where my efforts are being applied.

As my holiday gift to you I would like to share my worksheet with you, so you can alter it to build your own version. This scorecard ensures that I not only deliver a mix of inputs across one website, but that all websites receive a balanced input over a six week period. [You can set your workbook up to measure whatever work cycle you like - I find 6 weeks works for me, but your scope will likely be quite different]. Download Here

Measuring Outputs

Google really delivers when it comes to measuring online performance – and all tools are free:

I use a combination of:

  • Google Adwords Campaign Manager
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Website Optimizer

Each of these tools can be integrated to work together, using the Google Analytics interface as a main reporting tool.

Early in the New Year I am launching a new ebook on how to get the best from each of these tools. This will be a really easy to read guide that steps you through each toolset, as if you had someone standing over you giving you key by key instructions.

So watch this blog for launch date.

In the meantime, have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday

Esmart

Build You Business On Solid Business Principles

Saturday, February 10th, 2007

Over the past year I have failed. In fact I confirmed my success by failing.

After being a corporate strategist and performance consultant for over 15 years I decided to take a year off and look at ways to productise my knowledge, so that it could be shared amongst more businesses, and not just the large corporates and new ventures I generally work with 1:1.

Do you know how many consulting BMAPS I completed? – ZERO!!

Now, giving myself a bit of a break, I hadn’t planned to complete any until the end of the fourth quarter, which is 31 March 2007. So what have I done with the rest of the 12 months.

This is how I approached my 12 month plan.

I split it into 4 x 3 month phases.

Phase 1 – learn as much as I can about online business streams and decide what suits me best.

Phase 2 – Build a flagship site so I can learn how to use Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Autorepsonders and all the other site tools I have purchased.

Phase 3 – Build 10 other niche sites that work into an overall vision map

Phase 4 – Complete 3 e-books based upon the top 3 consulting knowledge demand niches.

The Outcomes

Phase 1 – I identified 12 streams and built operations manuals outlining each stream in detail

Phase 2 – I completed and launched www.antiaging-wellness.com at the end of July 2007

Phase 3 – I built the following niche sites:

1. www.electrosmart.com

2. www.go-reviews.com

3. www.golfswingclub.com

4. www.anti-tiredness.com

5. www.theonlinegraduatedegree.com

6. www.lemonlawreview.com

7. www.golfvacationsreview.com

8. www.richmediamix.com

9. www.remodelingrenovations.com

10. ….and coming soon www.lifesuccesshabits.com

My aim was to spend the year building, rather than marketing.

  • I didn’t want crappy adsense sites with headings that didn’t match equally crappy articles.
  • I didn’t want low content – high unrelated link sites to drive people to click on my adsense
  • I didn’t want sites that I would be ashamed to admit I owned.

I wanted to spend the year working out what worked and what didn’t.

So far, my income has been minimal – a couple of dollars a day on adsense. In place of a $350,000 consulting income, that is pretty awful, but that’s okay. Because my goal was to set up a business base that I could continue to build over the next five years, when I return to consulting, that would provide sufficient residual income for my retiring years. I would also give me a business interest that I could continue to build upon, anywhere in the world.

Now my sites may not have flashy graphics, but they are all reasonably professional looking sites, that provide quality unique information. Every one of those sites I have a background experience in that I can draw upon as I continue to build them.

There are days when I cringe at how much time it has taken to get this far. I have pretty much worked 9 hours a day, six days a week to get to the point of making $2 a day!!!

If I was to dwell on this, I could easily target myself as a real loser. But I am not, and this is why.

  • I have negotiated my way through the over priced, low quality, programs that fail to deliver.
  • I have built up a considerable resource knowledge bank – that is documented!! In an organised fashion
  • I have built systems and process maps for my business.
  • I have learnt everything I need to know to build and manage my own sites
  • I understand all the software needed.
  • I understand all the business concepts – which ones work and which ones don’t
  • I learnt that all those IM gurus that claim they made $1million in their first 4 months are basically liars; or misleading at best. Most have been involved in IM for at least 3-4 years, or had a customer base they could readily establish on.
  • I know bullshit now when I hear it.

In total, I have built a very solid platform upon which I can manage my business very successfully going forward, whilst being a full time consultant again.

And business processes, information systems and solid business tools are what makes a business great. It is what enables a business to move rapidly as new trends and opportunities emerge.

I admit I have been pulled into purchasing a number of “systems in a box” products – there is not ONE that I can highly recommend. They all had significant gaps in the feature set which made the process clunky and disconnected; or they were so buggy, they just made my day, very frustrating.

So why would a credible consultant risk her reputation by admitting that I have not achieved the goals I set out to achieve. The reason is this – I entered a totally new domain where I had absolutely no idea how long each task would take, what success risk factors would come into play, or what was real and what wasn’t in all the marketing hype.

One thing I can tell you – is that I sure know now. By having solid project management skills and tools I now have a recorded account of timings, process steps, errors, bugs & fixes and everything else one needs to make smooth sailing going forward. I still have an incredible amount to achieve, but hey! That’s what the rest of my life is for.

So as I go forward now into my fourth quarter, I want to bring this knowledge together and apply solid business success principles to it that I have used in every consulting program in the past 15 years. I have unsubscribed from every IM guru email list [apart from 3] and will focus solely on building a solid foundation business.

And I will be sharing these with you on this Blog as I go. If you are also a person that is aiming to build a credible sustainable business, I am sure you have also been disillusioned and wondered whether everyone else REALLY does find it easy, when you are struggling. So let’s help each other by sharing our experiences. In this way, we keep it real. We are less likely to beat ourselves up for not achieving the unachievable.

Esmart

[Getting Smarter By the Day]