Increasingly sophisticated consumers using mobile search queries and increasingly sophisticated mobile search technologies are changing online marketing and advertising patterns, forcing businesses to adapt to a marketplace in which local products and services are increasingly found online – a trend that will only increase as both consumer behaviours and mobile search technologies evolve.

Mobile search and local search continue to grow hand in hand, as technological advances and changing consumer trends continue to shape a marketing and advertising landscape that is changing and changes consumer behaviour.

Numbers released by media tracking firm, The Nielsen Company, showed a huge increase in mobile search numbers in 2007. According to Nielsen’s estimates, 46.1 million mobile data users in the United States made some form of mobile wireless search in the third quarter of 2007. Of these, the number one search category was for local listings. Nielsen reports that 27.1 million of the 46.1 million users who conducted mobile searches were looking for local listings.

And the growth of mobile search shows no sign of abating, According to Nielsen Online (a division of the Nielsen Company), mobile searches on Google grew 35% in the first four months of 2008. Given these growth numbers it seems a mobile search-capable web page is becoming a business necessity in today’s mobile marketplace.

“As more mobile users turn to their phone for the answers they need, mobile search has quickly escalated as a critical part of the mobile media and advertising landscape,” said Kanishka Agarwal, VP of Mobile Media for Nielsen Mobile. “Knowing how mobile searchers find information – and what they’re looking for – will help us intelligently engage with consumers through mobile search.”

One thing that is clear about how mobile searchers are finding the information they are searching for online is that, overwhelmingly, the search engine that mobile searchers prefer as a portal to the Internet is Google. The world’s leading search engine accounted for 61 per cent of all mobile searches in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2008, while erstwhile rival Yahoo! accounted for only 18 per cent of mobile searches and third-place AMSN accounted for 5 per cent.

This dominance by the search engine giant is likely to continue in the near future as Google!, Yahoo and MSN compete to be the default search engine setting on new smart phones rolling off manufacturers’ assembly lines. Currently, Google is the default setting on Apple’s new and popular iPhones, giving it a considerable leg up on its competition.

But it is clear that even Google has room to grow and improve. Only 44 per cent of Google users rated their online mobile search experience highly, while only 40 per cent of Yahoo!’s mobile users gave their experience a relatively positive rating. This will, of course, change as the search engine leaders focus increasingly on the mobile search market. Most recently, Google announced that they were rolling out their popular GOOG-411 local listing service to Canada, the first time this feature has been made available in a market outside the United States.

The GOOG-411 is a free and fully-automated business listing service that uses voice recognition software to handle mobile search queries from user’s cell phones. Coming out of Google Research, the search giant’s R&D division, GOOG-411 searches relevant local business listings and sends search results via text message to the user’s cell phone, with an option to have Google Maps display the search results and listings, complete with map, on an Internet-enable mobile device.

What we are seeing is a convergence of evermore sophisticated mobile users using increasingly sophisticated mobile devices for mobile search and, principally, local search. The increasing abilities of consumers and search engines to obtain and provide accurate, geographically sensitive mobile search results is changing the way that consumers search for information online, as demonstrated by the Nielsen numbers. Local businesses fighting for foot traffic, will increasingly have to market themselves online and compete for the ever increasing web traffic that is being directed to businesses capable of being found online using these emerging mobile search technologies.

For more information on mobile search, local search and online marketing in general, visit Sesimi.com

If you were online around the start of this decade, i.e. the turn of the century, you probably heard a lot about the “Internet gold rush” and how “regular” people all around the world were seizing the opportunity to make their fortune through Internet marketing of various forms. If you weren’t online back then you may still have heard the term gold rush.

The general idea was that new opportunities in cyberspace were so big, and so many people were charging online to stake their claim, the only comparable time in history was the U.S. gold rush where a chunk of the national population and many people from other countries moved into the hills of Northern California in search of precious metals.

Ironically, almost nobody found any gold. Sure there were a few people who struck it rich, but most went broke and teetered on the edge of starvation before finally giving up and moving on.

Eventually the U.S. gold rush came to an end. A few miners made their fortunes, and several savvy merchants had done extremely well by setting up shop and selling tools and equipment to the mining camps.

The so-called Internet gold rush has a similar story.

A small percentage of people who tried to hit it big actually made a killing. And many people got rich selling “how to” information and marketing tools to the mass of people who cam online seeking their fortunes. But most people completely struck out.

The interesting difference between the historical gold rush and the Internet gold rush is how things ended, or didn’t end rather. Eventually people came to their senses in the hills of California and realized not everyone was going to find gold. But on the World Wide Web there are still millions of people determined to find their fortune.

So what’s with the title of this article? What’s this notion of “the end of the Internet gold rush”?

To get to that let’s take a look at how Google Adwords started out. Back when the search engine giant released their PPC solution, the big player for sponsored search was still Overture.

For the longest time after leaving beta, Adwords still had minimal bids on many prime keywords. In fact as late as 2003 most PPC advertisers were still spending their ad dime with Overture.

Not only were fewer people buying Google ads, there were far less sites in the Google organic index. It was a time when anyone with a modest budget could break right into a variety of high profile markets with minimal competition.

But those days are long gone.

Just try to find a prime keyword for a competitive market today. Unless you can spend a few bucks per click forget about it.

And with most competitive markets having millions of indexed sites don’t plan on climbing to the top of the natural search results either. Even if you are an SEO wizard it could take months to maybe, possibly break into the top spot listings for a really competitive market.

The days where anyone with a good product concept for a high traffic marketplace could just stroll right in and start making money are gone forever. If you want to be a player these days you need a massive budget and a lot of marketing know-how, and even then the deck is pretty well stacked against you.

The Internet Gold Rush Is Over.

But you can still make a great living online if you know how to target tight niches. This is the real key to prosperity as an Internet marketer. To read part 2 of this article please follow the link in my resource box below.

For part two of this article, and to learn more about how you can identify profitable niches, check out my blog post on niche marketing. Also for more ways to make money online check out my entrepreneur ezine.

A freelance business is often the easiest to start. You don’t have to worry about employees, setting up and paying for office space, and many of the other headaches facing entrepreneurs when they’re getting started with a business venture. But, that doesn’t mean starting a freelance business is a walk in the park - especially if you like to think big.

Picking a Niche

Before you start your freelance business, you’ll need to think about the service(s) you’re going to provide. Most people will have already thought about this, but for those that haven’t you need to think about what you’re good at and also enjoy. If you know about design, you could consider designing. If you have management experience, you could consider management consulting. Or, if you’re good at sales you could consider offering sales training or even provide lead generation.

Setting Stuff Up

Starting up a freelance business can be cheap if you’re looking to do it on a budget. Some people may choose to skimp on some of the initial expenses, and fund them later on when revenue comes in. Either way, you should:

Find out whether you should set up a limited company or work as a sole trader.

Set up bank accounts and an overdraft facility.

Get a website, business email address (@businessname.com), business cards, and other marketing materials.

Speak with an accountant if you would like to outsource your accounting, or set up a bookkeeping system if you would like to do this yourself.

Get in touch with a lawyer to work out your standard terms of service.

Pricing Strategy

Freelancers usually charge an hourly rate or a per-project cost. You should think about what would work best for you, and maybe consider offering both. When you give your clients a per-project price, you should think about how many hours will be involved in the project. If the client requires regular work on an on-going basis, you could consider offering them a discount if they promise to buy a certain amount of work every week or every month. This is sometimes called a retainer. When working out your hourly rate, don’t forget to take account of all costs like: paying your accountant; spending time marketing your business; banking expenses; traveling costs; and, of course, your wages.

Marketing

When you work from home it might be hard to invite clients to your home to discuss business. Instead you should try and make appointments over the telephone and go and meet potential clients at their office. Before you start spending money on advertising, or making cold calls, consider talking to your existing network. People who already know you can be a great source of direct business, referrals and getting your name out there.

Moving Out Of the Bedroom

If you see your freelance business as a stepping stone to setting up a consultancy or agency, then you need to think big if you’re going to finally stop doing your work from home and get an office. You need to make provisions to ensure your business is going to scale. That means thinking about whether your pricing is high enough to cover costs like rent, rates and administration when you move out of your home. If not, then how are your clients going to feel when you increase your costs in the future?

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Blogging is a really great and fun way to make money online. However, to be successful, you have to ensure that your blog contains certain elements. You need to find a profitable market, be interesting, be relevant, offer value and promote your blog. To learn how to turn your blogging from a fun hobby to a profitable one, keep reading. You will find 10 great tips to help you become a successful and profitable blogger.

Find a Profitable Market: In order to make money with blogging you must find a profitable market. The people in your market, don’t have to be rich, they just need to be wiling to spend some money. One way to determine this is to find out if a particular niche has a magazine, or products for sale that are targeted toward them. If so, then they are probably willing to spend money.

Be Interesting: In order for visitors to spend time at your blog and come back, your content must be interesting. Add video, quotes, audio and good entertaining information.

Be Relevant: Write about subjects that are relevant. However, stay away from solely basing your blog on trends. Trends come and go. You can certainly comment on trendy subjects, but don’t base your blog on them.

Offer Value: Offer your readers some value. Provide them with links to other sites that also have good information. Make your posts informative, funny and easy to read. Now every post that you make doesn’t have to be news worthy and serious. If your blog is supposed to be funny, a valuable post would be one that makes people laugh.

Be Consistent: Blog everyday or at least on a schedule. People should know when to expect you to update your blog. If you don’t set a schedule or are not at least consistent, people may come back to your blog a couple of times and if they don’t find anything new, they will forget about you.

Be Interactive: Be sure to interact with your readers. Respond to comments and create a dialogue. This is how you build relationships and a following.

Give Away Something Free: Give away free items every now and then. If you can purchase PLR products in your niche, give it away to your readers every now and again.

Monetize: If you want to make money with your blog, you have to monetize it. You can do so with Adsense, affiliate products or your own product.

Be Honest: If you want to gain credibility and build a long term following, you have to be honest. Don’t promote a product if you haven’t purchased it and don’t believe in it. You want your readers to trust you. If you break that trust, they will be gone. It is much harder and more expensive to attract new customers then it is to keep the ones that you already have.

Promote, Promote, Promote: Promote your blog like you would any other website. Write articles, press releases and participate in pay-per-click advertising and forums.

Larry McCullough has been marketing and writing on the internet for over 10 years. Owner of various websites. Main site Blog

What is an entrepreneur? You can ask virtually any other question and be able to find an easier answer than to try to define an entrepreneur. Technically it is probably simpler to describe then to define.

Literally, an entrepreneur is somebody who manages a business, takes risks and uses initiative to make it successful. The problem with this definition is that most entrepreneurs did not find instant success and often failed before making it on their second or third attempt.

One distinguishing mark of an entrepreneur is that they focus on a niche or opportunity that has as yet been unfulfilled or not been exploited properly, either because there is still room in the marketplace for one more, or is very new and not yet noticed by the more established companies.

Some American universities tried entrepreneur classes to make best use of the available talent, but I believe that entrepreneurs are neither trained nor taught. They just appear to happen, and perhaps it is intelligence combined with opportunity that makes an entrepreneur. Had the opportunity not arisen for Richard Branson to secure that store in Oxford Street would Virgin records have been born? Perhaps not. Had Alan Sugar not been there at that specific point in time when electronic goods hit a boom period would he have been the success he was? Who knows.

One of the problems an entrepreneur has is that they want to be personally involved in every aspect of their business. They have likely started the business up themselves, probably even seen the opening and opportunity and even created the product such as James Dyson did. Once the business begins to expand they find it difficult to let go of the reins, and whilst brilliant inventors or originators, they might not be the best businessmen.

An entrepreneur has to have some business acumen but not necessarily have the ability to run a large company. There are often conflicts when the business grows rapidly and the entrepreneur cannot accept that there are differences between running a small business and a large successful company. The problems generally occur when the company goes public and a chairman and board of directors are appointed.

Because entrepreneurs do not necessarily need to have a business brain in the beginning, some allow the opportunity for the shareholders to determine the board. Once the company has been established the entrepreneurs can become a liability to the business because they have no more meaningful input to provide in the latter stages. Since disagreement and friction then arises the entrepreneur will frequently leave to start up a new venture, or be forced out by the board or the shareholders.

Entrepreneurialism is an indefinable quality that is possessed by only a few but desired by many. However, the true entrepreneur will not be discouraged by failure, but will plug that gap in the market ignoring all the doom mongers. Once their task is done, they will seek new challenges and solve new problems.

Thomas Edison said “I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.” Mary Kay Ash said “Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel”. So if you put them together, the entrepreneur finds what is needed, provides it and then refuses to accept failure.

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A Marketing Plan is very important when managing a company, be it a small, medium or large scale business. It is the core of any marketing program and there are a variety of them according both to the type of business and its size.

A large corporation will have a number of marketing plans according to the size and geographical scope of the business and also to the range of products and services offered. A smaller business, however, will generally have a single marketing plan that will be the focus of the entire marketing strategy.

The most effecting marketing plans are those that are simple yet are effective and easy to implement. The benefit of having a short and simple marketing plan is that it can be easily updated and enhanced. Do not waste your time formulating a massive tome comprising hundreds or even thousands of pages.

Remember, a marketing plan is and must be a fluid document. It is something that you can modify any time depending on the changing circumstances.

A major aspect of a marketing plan is market research. You should make sure that all related data about your market are being considered. This part of your plan will focus on both existing customers and clients, and those that you are planning to secure.

What is your demographic? Take note of the target markets, their behavior, their buying decisions, and the market segment. You’ll also have to take note of your product. Who is your competition? What do they offer in comparison to what you offer? Write down your current sales and benchmarks in the industry.

How does your product address the needs in your market, and also make a note of these needs. Can your marketing plan include an element of new product development, or existing product improvement?

Then make sure to describe your competition in detail. What is unique about your product? You should be able to come up with a USP (unique selling proposition) that will show your customers how you stand out from the competition. Additionally to this, note how your competition handles their branding in comparison to how you do yours.

In your marketing plan, it is a good idea to include your mission statement. That mission statement must include your key market, your contribution to that market, and how you are addressing their needs in your own unique way. In short, how do you distinguish your business from the others?

Your market strategies are a very important part of your marketing plan, and many people confuse the two. However, your plan is basically what you must do, and your strategy is how you go about doing it. Make sure that you go through each of the different strategies and see how you will address those.

Marketing strategies include networking, advertising, trade shows, direct selling and marketing, exploiting your own web site, press releases, training programs, and giving advice through discussion boards, forums or website content. Other basic items that should be listed in your marketing plan includes branding, budget, marketing goals, positioning, pricing, and monitoring of results.

These form the basis of a good marketing plan, but at the end of the day it is how you follow that plan and achieve the end results that matter, not the plan itself. The plan is the blueprint, but your marketing strategies will dictate the end results.

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Customer service is the root of customer retention, but just how important is it to retain existing customers if there are many more on the horizon waiting to knock on your door? Why do so many supermarkets issue loyalty cards to their customers? These cards are only for customers, and are not generally used to attract new customers, so why do it?

It is because they understand the importance of customer retention, and that it is far easier to keep an existing customer than to attract a new one. However, it does not necessarily need a loyalty card for customers to keep returning to your business when they have need of a product that you supply. It’s a great idea for a retail business, but what if yours is a service or you are supplying to other businesses and not the public? How to you maintain their loyalty then?

The first step is for you to develop a customer retention strategy so that it is seen as part of the strategic plan of your company. Customer retention should be seen by all employees as being just as important as securing business from new customers. It is much harder finding new customers let alone persuading them to become repeat customers.

A good customer retention strategy starts with good customer service, and that starts with employee training and an ethos of customer satisfaction throughout your business. This is true whether you control a multinational corporate giant or a small one-person home business. Are your customers made to feel welcome and valuable when you answer the phone? Is your accounts department civil to those who might be a day or so behind with their regular payment schedule? Are your deliveries on time and do you take complaints seriously? Do you have a complaints procedure that investigates every adverse customer comment?

If you can answer no to any of these questions then your customer service needs some working on, because you are in danger of losing your customers to another company that will look after them much better.

Keep in contact with your customers on a regular but scheduled basis. Don’t keep calling them asking if everything is OK, or they will wonder why. What is wrong that you have to keep asking if they are OK? However, maintain some sort of contact so that they neither feel ignored or neglected.

A regular newsletter is a good idea, and there is nothing wrong with an occasional survey asking their opinion of your company phrased in such a way that you are offering them a means of helping you to improve your normal good service. Make sure that any postal or email campaign is agreed to by them, such as by means of an opt-in form on your website.

If your business is appropriate for a ‘reward’ scheme, then that is frequently part of an effective customer retention strategy. Volume-based discounts can go a long way to repairing any slip-ups in your customer service, since cash is a compelling argument for most customers. However, it cannot be used as a pay-back for bad service. The price of your product is not always the primary consideration with customers, and many put service first. They are prepared to pay a bit extra to get the level of service they expect, and even require, to ensure the smooth operation of their own businesses.

Put yourself in their position, and consider your suppliers. What is most important to you? Is it price, on-time deliveries, customer service or civility in their dealings with you? Whatever it is, make sure that you get that aspect of your business right for others.

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Packing for a business trip can sometimes be a very rushed affair. You need to be practical but also fast and you need to be sure not to skip any essential traveling items in the process of packing. For the specific purpose of business trips it is a good idea to have one or two suits that are understated but smart. With one or two suits – depending on the duration of the trip – you can quite effectively mix and match your shirts and ties to create a range of different looks and styles. Shirts and ties take a lot less packing space than full suits do and so by having a basic black or navy suit you can make your suits stretch into any number of different styles by making little and conscientious changes.

It is vital to learn to mix and match your clothing – this is something you need to keep in mind when buying your clothing too. An ideal suit can be matched with a wide range of shirt styles and colors, be sure to have a range of shirts from the classic crisp white to brighter and pastel colors. To add changes to shirts you can mix and match the ties that you combine with each shirt as well. Slightly subtler, but just as significant changes include a few sets of cufflinks that you can swap between shirt cuffs to create new and fresh looks.

Another aspect to consider when going on a business trip is that you are not likely to be wearing a suit all of the time. But just in case you run into a colleague or business partner when you are not wearing a formal suit you still need to be able to look smart while keeping it casual. A great way to do this is to keep wearing collared shirt but t o lose the tie and maybe take with a pair of jeans to wear outside of the business meetings.

When it comes to business the impressions you give count for a lot and so by paying attention to the details of your outfit and by being able to look good even when you are away from the comforts of home you will be able to show that you are somebody who is in control and able to handle varying circumstances. When packing for the business trips remember to double check from head to toe that you have packed all that you need. If it will make your packing easier write out a list of the all the things you will need to take with you before you actually need to pack. This will help to make sure that you have all the basic necessities covered and you will be less likely to forget anything behind. Also remember not to over pack, if you are going away for just a couple of days you really only need one pair of shoes, two suits and a shirt or two for each day.

Alain Picard
Writer for LinkYourShirt Cufflinks
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If you run a successful small business you may have thought about incorporating. You have probably heard of the many benefits that incorporating offers a small business owner, but you always heard that setting up a corporation was both expensive and timely. The way it used to be was you would have to go to a qualified attorney specializing in incorporating small businesses. Thanks to the many online incorporating resources available today, incorporating can now be set out at a reasonable cost, and with relative ease. The key to setting up a corporate entity is guidance, which allows you to submit the proper forms to the proper agencies. There is no need to pay an expensive attorney to fill out those forms for you; you can do it yourself with a little bit of research.

The most difficult part of incorporating your business is not the incorporating process itself, but rather choosing an appropriate entity that is suitable for your needs. Some of the common choices include a Limited Liability Company (LLC), an S corporation, or a C corporation. This is not a one size fits all choice, what might be appropriate for one small business owner, might be the opposite of what another small business owner needs. You will have to do a little bit of research, as each corporate structure has its positives and negatives. If you take a look at a corporate entity table, you will be able to weigh your needs with the corporate structure that is right for you.

The first corporate structure will take a look at is the C Corporation. A C Corp is what you think about when you think big business. C corporations are probably most suitable for large-scale corporations. The reason being is that they are the most complex to operate. You must hold annual stockholder and Board of Directors meetings, and keep track of corporate minutes. In addition to the more complex record-keeping C corps are the most expensive corporate structure to operate. You will have to file to different tax returns, one for yourself and one for your corporation. Depending on your state you may have to pay additional taxes, like in the case of California. It’s also important to realize that double taxation is a possibility, without proper planning, this adds to your costs. Now, these negatives don’t come without their positives. C corporations offer the most benefits of all the corporate structures. You get full deductions for health and disability insurance. Full deductions for medical expenses, above and beyond any existing coverage. Stock options are treated favorably, due to capital gains. Moreover, life insurance, pension plans, and dinner allowance are just some of the many benefits available.

The S Corporation offers many of the fringe benefits associated with C corporations, but without a lot of the headaches. You don’t have to deal a double taxation, and income and/or losses flow directly through to the owners. You are, however, limited to fewer than 75 stockholders, the stocks must be United States owned, must be a domestic corporation, and only offer one class of stock. Much like to C Corporation you must keep corporate minutes, and you must hold stockholder and Board of Directors meetings annually. The most attractive benefit the S Corp offers is the self-employment tax benefit. With S corporations you can save up to 50% on your Medicare and Social Security taxes. If you make more than the $102,000 (2008 limit) your Social Security savings will be nonexistent.

The Limited Liability Company, or LLC, is popular for many small businesses, as it is the easiest to administrate. You do not have to hold board of director meetings, stockholder meetings, or keep track of corporate minutes. LLC’s offer superior liability protection. There are also no restrictions as far as member numbers, foreign investors, like the case is with an S corp. The Limited Liability Company is the preferred choice when it comes to businesses that deal in real estate. Real estate gains are taxed at the capital gains rate within an LLC, whereas C corporations are taxed at the corporate tax rate. Now, the downside to an LLC is that you don’t get the self-employment tax benefits. So, if you make considerably less than the $102,000 limit, you may be better off with an S corp. If you are considering a Limited Liability Company it’s important to check with your specific state for LLC specific taxes.

The above corporate structures come with their benefits and drawbacks. The important thing when selecting an appropriate corporate entity is to find out what’s best for your individual business. We all have different businesses, with different business needs, what might be right for one business owner might be the wrong choice for another. So, make sure to do your homework, when choosing between a LLC, C corp, or S Corp, you and your business will be rewarded.

If you’d like more information on incorporating your small business, you can visit the site for specific details. For more on choosing between an LLC, C Corp, or S Corp structure you can get more details on that as well.

I’ve seen it many times. A new entrepreneur is excited because their website just went live after weeks, or even months, of hard work. But the excitement doesn’t last long when they see that they have yet to make a sale. Or maybe they’ve only made one or two. They’re not covering their expenses, and they’re certainly not making enough to live on.

I make sure to tell them not to worry, because it’s happened to all of us. Especially with a new website. And there is an answer. Or, I should say, a few answers.

There are some steps you can follow to make sure you are doing everything right to maximize your sales. Look through the list below. If you can say definitively that you have taken all of these steps, then you should see a big increase in your sales. Here you go:

1. Make sure there is a market for what you’re selling

By now, you’ve probably heard a lot about finding your online niche. If you did your research properly, you should have found a market that has a problem that you can provide an answer for. That’s probably the most important part of your business.

If you haven’t done the proper research yet, get started now. Use a keyword tool like Nichebot or Wordtracker to find what people are searching for online. And visit the forums to see what people are talking about and what problems they need to solve.

Don’t skip this step. It’s important that internet users are going to want what you’re selling or your whole business is lost before it even begins.

2. Make sure that you’re selling something that solves their problem

If you’ve found the right niche, then you should have some idea about what their main problems are. Do some research to find out what they need to solve that problem, then offer it to them. That’s the formula in a nutshell. Don’t let your product stray from the main topic. Solve their problem, and you’ll have success.

3. Make sure you’re getting enough traffic

It’s difficult to make a good decision about how effective your sales process is if you haven’t had enough traffic to your website yet. I recommend waiting until you’ve had at least 1,000 visitors. Anything less and you won’t really have enough data to work with. Be patient.

4. Find out where your traffic is coming from

It’s important that you are getting targeted visitors to your website. Make sure that if you’re using pay-per-click advertising you’re bidding only on words that are right for your market. If you’re selling cell phones, you don’t want visitors who are searching for land line phones for their office. Remember who your visitor is.

5. Test different headlines

Your headline is the first thing your visitors see on your site. Make sure it’s compelling and gets them to keep reading. How do you do that? Simply by testing different headlines and seeing which one works best.

You can do that by rewriting it every now and then and checking your stats, or you can split test your headlines using Google’s website optimizer. Website optimizer is part of your Google adwords account. If you don’t have an adwords account, you can get one free at http://adwords.google.com

6. Make sure your sales copy is effective

The last thing you want to do once you have a visitor reading your sales copy is to distract them with something that isn’t leading directly to a sale. In other words, leave out any links to other websites, forget about adsense and banner ads, and don’t start talking about things that don’t relate to your subject.

Concentrate on your sales message and proof elements, and dispelling any doubts they may have about giving you their money. This includes using testimonials if you have them, a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and good strong sales copy that keeps them interested all the way through to your “buy now” button.

7. Test different price points

It’s hard to know what’s the right price for your item right off the bat. You may have it at the price you’re willing to pay, but that may not be the price everyone is willing to pay. A lot of people will expect to buy something in your market within a certain price range. If your price is too high, they’ll shop elsewhere. If your price is too low, yes too low, they might think that what you’re offering is of poor quality. You can answer this problem by simply trying out different prices to see what works best.

8. Make sure your order processing works properly and is easy to use

Test all of the links from your “add to cart” buttons all the way through to your “thank you” page. You can normally run a $0 test before you go live with most shopping cart and merchant account systems. Obviously, if your ordering system isn’t working right, you’re not going to see any sales.

Also, make sure that it’s easy to use. Get a friend to run through it for you. It may make perfect sense to you, but that doesn’t mean that it will for everyone. Let some other people try it out and see if they get stuck anywhere. Chances are good that if they do, then others will too. If everything isn’t as easy as possible to use, then some people will just leave rather than trying to figure it out.

There you go. Eight steps you can follow with your site to make sure that you are maximizing your sales. Just from my own experience, anytime I was able to say that I went through all of the steps above completely, I saw significant improvement, and found good success with my website. I believe that you will, too. Good luck.

Mark Yarrobino is the president of Maroon Enterprises. One of their websites, Home Business Endeavors (http://www.homebusinessendeavors.com) was created to help internet users find the right information about starting their home based business while avoiding online scams.