Self Employed Blog

You can make money with a blog. It can be a platform for affiliates or it can also be used by a business to introduce a new product or service or create excitement about a new product. But more than the money you can make specifically from blogging, your service or product simply has a better chance of being known in the market if you can get others to read your blogs and link back to them.

However, keep in mind that a blog is a different beast then something like a press release. Forget about writing copy that is full of flashy hard-selling talk. The idea here is to be more casual and friendly. You don’t need inflated language. The purpose of a business blog is to create a reputation for being a company that cares for its customers.

If you are a particularly talented blogger, the writing pieces that you post could also lead to invitations to seminars and speaking engagements. The blog is an invaluable tool if you are styling yourself as an expert or a guru on a subject and selling a book.

It is easy to see how a blog can help you accomplish everything – from increasing your visibility in the search engines, to drawing more traffic to your site, to creating more credibility for your reputation. A business blog is probably one of the single most important tools that you can use to augment your business and it is one of the only ways to actually create a business where you sell something –even if you don’t have a web site or a store.

One of the easiest sites to set up a first time blog on is Blogger, although you may want to consider using a stand-alone domain name (one that doesn’t include http://yourname.blogger.com) for branding purposes.

There is no reason why your small freelance business can’t go global because nowadays there are all kinds of online sites offering free long-distance service. A good example is Skype, which could save your company thousands of dollars in the cost of long distance. You can also talk to clients whenever you want for free. No more waiting for the most convenient time your plan will allow you to talk to a client.

This handy online tool allows you to phone anyone that you like anywhere in the world and talk to them for free using your computer’s microphone and speakers. You can also read what is going on as people speak. This is because at the same time, a record of your chat will automatically scroll on the site so you can now keep a paper trail of all conversations and refer to them for later reference. This is invaluable for sending follow up to your customers. You will never have a misunderstanding then.

You can also use this type of long-distance service to train employees or communicate with your clients with proposals or other cards.

You can also use Skype as you would an ordinary instant messenger service and simply use it to chat if you want.

The days of messing with a tape recorder to do interviews are over. Your chat is recorded. This also saves money on transcriptions and also mistakes in accuracy such as misquotes.

If professional looking invoices are important to you then you might want to look at the FreshBooks service. Freshbooks is an online invoicing and time tracking service that saves you time and makes you look professional.

You can try the trial by sending out one of sites many very polished looking Fortune 500-style invoices. The tool also interfaces well with the U.S. Post Office so that you can send invoices by post or by regular email.

You can also this tool to set up an invoicing system with your staff. FreshBooks will also help you keep track of when a deadline from an employee is due, when it is time to release an advance and create reports so you can keep track of your business.

FreshBooks is worth exploring if you want a more corporate or professional looking image. Why is this important? Studies have shown that the more professional the invoice, the more secure people feel about paying you. The idea is that if you are going to brand yourself you might as well brand big.

Find out which freelance or outsourced projects are worth maintaining by using the FreshBooks reports, which will help you keep track of deadlines and monies due.

You can also use the reports generated by Fresh Books as a record for proving your income for taxes.

If you are starting an online endeavor you need a niche for your business because by operating in a niche, it will allow you to make your customers feels special. The great thing about niche marketing is that it allows you to develop a clique with your membership. People love to belong to forums, groups or chats that talk specifically about a hobby, interest or unique niche.

Niche marketing really benefits those who want to sell informational products such as ebooks. This is because people will for information that is rare or unique. Yet another way an ebook or report can be used in niche marketing is to give it away for free.

People will forward your information to people who are likely to click on the links in your ebook to buy the products that you recommend. Or they might be inclined to visit your website.

An understanding of niche marketing is also vital if you are using pay per click programs such as Google Adsense to monetize your site. An important part of niche marketing is knowing what keywords your clients might use to search for products on your site.
This is also an aspect of submitting search engine optimized articles to e-zine and article directories in order to boost your site’s page rankings in popular search engine indexes such as Yahoo or Google. For ideas on how to get started when you develop a niche check out the concepts to help you get started at Smartzville.

When you use a blog as a way of affiliate marketing it is casually known as bum marketing.

A blog is basically just another persuasive marketing tool, just like a web page, newsletter or a press release. However unlike web pages, that can take a lot of time to create, you can upload your message quickly to a blog and have it able to be searched the same day. This is because blogs are created on templates that are quickly refreshed and indexed by the search engines. This is a boon to affiliate marketers whose links are seen a lot sooner then if they are just posted on ordinary web pages.

The fact that blogs can be easily updated and indexed quickly search engine spiders allows you to post the “latest” news about your product or services or news stories that relate to your business. It also allows you to be more entertaining and personable in general as an affiliate marketer.

Another advantage is that bogs are cheap to set up. They are most valuable for small Internet businesses that can’t afford other forms of advertising.

On most blogging sites each entry or post is supplied with its own unique URL. This means that search engines can easily spider and index individual posts. This of course greatly increases your visibility in the search engine indexes and if your blogs are also linked to your site, it can increase the number of sales.

Once you have your content you can then decorate your blog with affiliate URLs and monetize it using Adsense. This is known as bum marketing. For great information about bum marketing check out Bum Marketing Method.

Dominating Clickbank is an ebook that is actually sold on Clickbank. It is about how to make money in on products that you don’t even own. Dominating Clickbank also teaches you how to get the 113,000 plus affiliate marketers that are now working on Clickbank to your business!

This ebook is written a 24-year-old self proclaimed genius named Andrew Fox from Ireland. The secret that he reveals in this book is some kind of glitch or breakdown in the Clickbank system itself that will allow you access to thousands of affiliates and allow you to make money faster and easier online than ever. 

The author claims that Clickbank is more than just a market place for digital products or affiliates. It is actually the source of a mailing list and also a lot of traffic that is yours for free. Instead of focusing on creating an informational product he says that you should learn how to promote someone else’s. He recommends buying resale rights to a product and then making a few critical changes in the sales letter. His next tact would be to create an enticing sales letter to attract affiliates. 

If you are thinking of starting an affiliate business, you might want to check this out.  Andrew promises that you can make as much as him in a month employing his techniques. He makes $27,000 a month, which is of course quite a bit of money! If you don’t make that much you can get your money refunded for buying the book.

Although some experts will tell you that a lender can be persuaded to lend you money on the basis of your well-written and very convincing business plan, nobody walks out of a bank with a loan unless they have the following things in place:

1) Invested savings or personal equity in your business totaling at least 25% to 50% of the loan you are requesting. Remember, a lender or investor will not finance 100% of your business – only part of it.

2) A reputation for being credit-worthy as indicated by your credit report, work history and letters of recommendations. You might also need to prove that you have sufficient experience and training to operate a successful business. 

3) A loan proposal and business plan that demonstrate your understanding of and commitment to the success of the business.

4) Enough cash flow to make the monthly payments on the loans.

If any of these items are not in place, then chances are you will not get a loan. The fact is that the lender is primarily concerned about how you will repay the loan. To determine this, loan officers obtain your business credit report from a credit-reporting agency such as Equifax. The only thing that can guarantee a business loan is your ability to present the lender with both a killer business plan and a sound credit rating. One doesn’t substitute for the other. 

If you are looking for a lender The Open Directory Lender List is highly recommended.

Photo by Jeff Poskanzer

The beautiful thing about starting an Internet business is that usually the start-up costs
are low. But sometimes, as we all have heard, it takes money to make money, especially if you are thinking big!

Raising capital is the most basic of all business activities. But, as many new entrepreneurs quickly discover, raising money for a venture may not be easy.

Personal savings provide funding much of the time. The primary source of capital for most new businesses comes from savings and other forms of personal resources. While credit cards are often used to finance business needs, there may be better options available, such as credit lines and overdrafts.

Friends and relatives might also be a good option. Many entrepreneurs borrow from friends and family when starting out in a business venture. Sometimes you can convince your loved ones to loan you this money interest free.

Banks and credit unions are the most expensive way to fund your freelance business. The most common source of funding, banks and credit unions, will provide a loan if you can show them that killer business plan you spent hours writing.

Venture capital firms are also to be considered. These firms help expanding companies grow in exchange for equity or partial ownership of the company. Wikipeida has a huge list of Venture Capital Firms that can be approached for funding in the United States.

Sometimes being self-employed can mean setting up a partnership. Although several types of partnerships exist, the two most common types are general and limited partnerships.

A general partnership can be formed simply by an oral agreement between two or more people, but a legal partnership agreement drawn up by an attorney is the best course of action. Legal fees for drawing up a partnership agreement are higher than those for a sole proprietorship, but may be lower than the cost of incorporating a business. A partnership agreement will be helpful in solving any disputes. However, partners are responsible for the other partner’s business actions, as well as their own.

A Partnership Agreement should include the following essential information:

• Type of business

• Amount of equity invested by each partner

• Division of profit or loss

• Partner’s compensation

• Distribution of assets on dissolution

• Duration of partnership

• Provisions for changes or dissolving the partnership

• Dispute settlement clause

• Restrictions of authority and expenditures

• Settlement in case of death or incapacitation

These are just a few of the things that should be considered when you form a partnership. There is great information about how to find the right forms in this article – Creating a Winning Business Partnership at About.com.

Before you build your Web site, you need to look at it as an Internet marketing machine.  This machine processes people to turn them into faithful customers that return again and again. And the No. 1 marketing priority that you must have in order to make that happen, is to capture an email address from your visitors.

There are a number of reasons that visitors will give you their email address and agree to being contacted. You can entice customers to give you their email address by signing a guest book or agreeing to a membership or some other kind of subscription. You can offer them something for free (such as a white paper) that they will only be able to get if they submit their email address. But whatever the tatic, the rule of thumb is never let a single soul leave without first leaving their email address. 

Once you have acquired their email address, you should immediately send them an automatic email congratulating them for becoming a member of your online community.  This email should also contain a message that promises the customer discounts, rewards or free perks if they decide to return to your site for another visit. Also, it is very important that you follow all email marketing laws (including CAN-SPAM) and that you make sure that you have their permission to send them follow-up email messages.

The idea is to create a welcoming and interesting atmosphere that will have your visitors (potential clients) wanting to return to your site to see if you are up to offering any new deals for them. You should also follow up with an email course or series so that you can remind them every few weeks that your business is online and offer them special deals and discounts. 

Finding a piece of technology to support this type of messaging series is not a big deal and you can find many on the web for free at sites that offer web hosting or web site building.  A really nice one may cost you however. 

If you are looking for a good email marketing tool that can help you collect the email addresses and also one that looks right with your site can find a list of them at Web Buyer’s Guide.