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For Internet business ventures, you don’t need as many resources and capital as you’d need for a traditional business. Whether you just want to start up a website or you want to make your own cryptocurrency, the risks are low, and the rewards significantly high.

In short, the Internet has completely changed the world of business and entrepreneurship, redefining success and multiplying the paths to profitability.

If you believe in the power of the Internet to generate success, we present you with the best online business advice. Whether you want to provide services like writing a dissertation for someone or providing high-end solutions to companies, the steps to success with an Internet business are the same.

5 Easy Steps to Start an Internet Business

Maybe you just want to supplement your income. Or perhaps you want full financial independence. Either way, the Internet provides you with the freedom to test your ambitions. If you want to build Internet business opportunities for yourself and make money online, these are the first steps you should follow.

1. Find a Niche for Your Internet Business

The worldwide web is huge. Therefore, the first piece of advice for starting an Internet business is to choose your niche wisely. Which activities or markets interest you? The niche you choose for your business will determine its profile. Moreover, it will have a massive influence on its success or failure.

For a reasonable chance of success, choose a market that has already proven profitable by attracting large numbers of customers willing to spend good money. Selecting a lucrative niche that intersects with your own interests and preferences is one of the first keys to success with an Internet business.

2. Consult with Professionals

Before you get to work, you may feel tempted to ask for advice, information, or feedback from others. While this is a valid desire, don’t consult with friends or family when it comes to Internet business ideas, unless they have solid experience in your chosen market. Instead, consult with professionals who have achieved the success you aspire to. Finding professionals and getting inspired by them is an infallible way to grow.

Additionally, consulting with people in your niche will reveal your competitors in the sphere of Internet business you have chosen. This is important, because, even as a beginner, you need to know who is dominating your market. Then use this information to discover more about the inner workings of your industry.

So seek professionals to learn from. And if they won’t provide consultation or advice, study what they’re doing and learn to replicate their success. Don’t copy them, but let yourself be inspired by their breakthroughs.

3. Research Your Market

Research means more than a quick Google search. If you’re willing to invest time and money to build Internet business success, you must conduct extensive research of your market until you know it inside out.

You need to understand exactly who your potential customers are. Moreover, you need to understand your competitors, too. Additionally, you should know what the average rates are for the various services you plan to provide, and so on.

For example, let’s say you want to build a custom writing business on the Internet to serve the UK market. Your potential customers are asking themselves “Who could do my dissertation in the UK?” Your service must be the first they come across.

In other words, before proving yourself by writing a dissertation for a client, you must become visible to people who need your services. You’ll do this by understanding how potential customers think. Researching your specific market is thus crucial.

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4. Start a Website

The most common-sense Internet business advice is to make sure your business truly has a presence online. Many companies fail to realize the importance of having an intuitive, user-friendly, and informative website where they present their services. Your website gives customers the first impression of your Internet business, so you must invest in it accordingly.

Even with the rapid advance of social media, you still need to start up a website to serve as the Internet headquarters of your growing online business. If done correctly, the website can establish you as a professional and respectable brand. The best thing is that setting up a website takes minimal time and budget if you follow these tips:

• Choose a catchy and
  easy-to-remember domain name and register it.
• Use the popular and user-friendly
  WordPress platform to host your site.
• Invest in a good WordPress template
  or hire an affordable graphic designer.
• You can also choose a free
  professional-looking theme and add the necessary plugins for your type of
  business.
• Ensure user navigation is easy and
  straightforward.

Make sure the website for your Internet business includes important keywords so potential customers can easily find you with a quick online search.  Returning to the example above, when you’re growing a custom writing business, if someone types in “write my dissertation for me” or “do my dissertation” online, your website must come up in the first results and catch the person’s attention.

5. Focus on Marketing

Since the Internet forms such a massive landscape,
even if your business is in a highly lucrative niche, people need to find you
to spend money on your services. Online, this is harder than it seems if you
don’t have a good marketing strategy.

For healthy business performance, you need to invest seriously in promoting your Internet business venture. The most convenient way to promote your new business is to rely on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or LinkedIn, depending on your business’s profile. This will attract traffic to your website and increase brand recognition.

Starting an Internet Business Takes Smart Planning

Starting an Internet business is easy, considering the abundance of resources, tools, and free advice that floods the Web. However, it still takes a good strategy and a good amount of work to achieve success. Choose your niche and make yourself visible on the market, and you will open the doors to your entrepreneurial dreams.

Photo by Muhammad Raufan Yusup on Unsplash

The Internet is everywhere, they say. Yet it can be hard to pinpoint the right Internet Service Provider (ISP) to assist you in your journey. Whether you’re looking for a new ISP for your business or you just want a good connection for your home, there is so much to sift through.

For example, there are complicated contract details, service delivery
channels, unending bundle choices, and availability. What’s more, there is
always lots and lots of fine print—and you might still choose the wrong one!

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So go through the following guide to make this a little less of a hassle.

Determine the Right
Speed

Understanding what bandwidth or Internet speed means should be your first concern. Once that is clear it will be easier for you to choose the service that best satisfies your Internet needs.

Bandwidth is the maximum speed with which you can transfer data to and from the Internet and your device. It is usually expressed in megabits per second, or Mbps. The more you rely on data-intensive activities or the greater the number of devices you have over the same connection, the greater the bandwidth you are going to need.

The following table will assist you in determining the right speed for your personal or professional use.

What Internet Service Providers Operate in Your Area?

The first stage in selecting an Internet service provider is to find out which providers offer services in your area. This is because:

1. Not every company is operational in every region.

Service areas are different from company to company, so your options are restricted to providers that offer network in your area.

2. Rates, Internet speeds, special packages, and line-ups of products often differ according to area. 

Always check if an offer is applicable in your area before you decide on a provider. In addition, keep in mind that most distributors have variable pricing in different areas.

Once you have sorted the Internet speed you need, you can search for “Internet providers in my area” to get the best deals and offers available where you live or have your business.

If you live in an urban area, you’ll have the luxury of choosing between cable, satellite, or fiber optic providers. However, rural subscribers generally have only satellite service available to them.

Choosing the Right Internet Channel

Cable service providers generally provide the fastest, more affordable, and most reliable Internet speeds. The Internet speeds you can get from a phone company via digital subscriber lines (DSL) are a less expensive but slower alternative.

Satellite Internet is available practically everywhere. However, this is the slowest of them all. Fiber optic offers the highest speeds, but this isn’t a common channel and it can be more expensive than cable Internet.

You’ll need to choose the available option that best suits your needs in terms of consistent target bandwidth.

Finding a Company That Suits You Best

Now you need to choose from among the various packages and deals that are available to you. As we mentioned earlier, your choices can vary considerably, based on your location. Additionally, here are a couple of other important considerations before you decide on your ISP:

Promotions

You will often see offers to attract first-time customers. For example, a provider might offer the first year of broadband service at $20 per month instead of $40. While you can find good rates among these offers, just make sure that at the end of the contract period you are prepared to either pay extra or terminate your service.

Bundles

Most cable providers sell bundled packages of telephone, Internet, and TV services in various combinations. When subscribing for these bulk options, think carefully. Remember that these companies also seek to upsell their services. In other words, they will try to get you to purchase more products from them than you originally intended.

For instance, the representative might ask if you need a home phone. Or they might question your intention to get by on an Internet connection to stream television. Wouldn’t it make more sense, they might argue, to purchase a complete cable package with three services bundled?

And, indeed, it might. Bundling services can make good sense in certain cases. Just remember to consider your investment and returns before making a decision.

A Final Word

Overall, be careful about the upsell. Know exactly what you need when you place your subscription, and don’t be enticed to purchase more until you’ve done sufficient research.

Last but not least, don’t forget to negotiate with the service provider. They usually have a little wiggle room in the packages on offer. A little effort might save you a lot in the long run.

For more information about technologies available for your business, be sure to check out our blog.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay 

A new generation of students has a wide variety of opportunities in front of them. For example, previous generations frequently saw attending a university as a privilege. However, today’s students see college as a tool. They easily initiate discussions with professors, seek unconventional ways of doing things, and add more creativity and critical thinking to the learning process.

Being a college student is no longer their sole occupation. They can easily be busy with running their own businesses while attending lectures and submitting their academic assignments. In fact, starting a business in college is even more effective because students can immediately apply the knowledge they receive at school and see it applied in practice.

Do You Already Have a Startup on Your Resume?

Many college students now have their own startups mentioned in their resumes. However, others are still hesitant about starting their own thing. However, university years are a great time to study and try each opportunity that comes along. To this end, here are several useful tips you can use to launch your business while studying at university:

Identify Your Best Niche

Finding your niche and filling it with high-quality product or service is your key to success. An in-depth understanding of what you can do to help your customers satisfy their needs comes with knowledge and experience.

However, sometimes the best ideas come unexpectedly. Still others require careful planning and thinking. Whatever your path is, give it a thought even while you’re still in college, because it really matters for your venture’s success.

Design a World-Class Business Plan

During your college years, you have enough time to make a mistake and start over. This is your greatest advantage. It gives you a wonderful opportunity to produce a brilliant business plan.

A well-thought-out business plan is one of several critical steps to starting a business. This document, where you analyze each detail carefully, is very helpful in minimizing mistakes. Once you have it on paper, ask your peers what they think. Ask them what they would add as customers to make your idea more customer-oriented.

You may think, “This is not that easy. I’d better have someone do my assignment.” However, nobody feels your idea the way you feel it. Nobody is passionate about making it work the way you are.

Therefore, take advantage of this opportunity while you’re young. Make up your mind now regarding your role in business and draft the best plan ever—while you’re still in college.

Educate Yourself

Your college years provide you with lots of opportunities to get ideas about how to start a successful business. While you’re in college, you are most likely to meet people with good business ideas who can contribute to your vision.

Moreover, they can help you with those business aspects you know little about. You can also attend courses and extracurricular activities that can help you understand better what you should focus on.

Additionally, choose
your courses critically. Decide what information can really be helpful to you
along your way to success. Spend your college years on the things that you find
useful for your business model.

Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash

Network with Bright Minds While in College

While you are a college student, you have a chance to communicate with the brightest minds. They are your peers, professors, and visiting guests who often come to give lectures. Use this opportunity to get a better idea of how the business world functions.

Additionally, try to make the most of each interaction and each conversation you have. Sometimes invaluable experience or advice can be subtle. So develop the awareness that will allow you to seize it.

Search for Funding During Your College Years

Money is always a problem when it comes to a business venture. Especially when you’re attending college, it can be difficult to save enough to invest in your idea. Therefore, you have to look for people willing to invest in your business.

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During your time at the university, keep abreast of the recent trends in fundraising and crowdfunding. Also, search for sponsors who really believe in your success. This is the time when your passion for making a difference can really help you fulfill your dreams.

Learn to Break Bad News

If you really want your business to succeed, you need to develop your skills. One of the abilities that is very helpful in running a business is learning to say “no.”

if your friends invite you to a party when you have lots of things to do, it is okay to say “no.” If somebody wants to partner with you, but you have doubts about this idea, it is okay to say “no.” In the future, you will need this skill to break bad news to your employees and colleagues, so learn to practice it now.

Make the Most of Your College Years

Running a business is a complex undertaking that requires you to be alert all day every day. However, starting it while you are in college is easier than it would be later.

While you are a college
student, you have access to people, courses, and materials that can direct you
to the best solutions. You can find your niche, develop a perfect business
plan, and network with those who can help you get the money you need to start.
Most importantly, you have time and knowledge combined with a passion for
driving changes. Seize this opportunity and make the most of your university
experience.

About the Author

Jeff Blaylock is a freelance writer who focuses on topics related to business, finance, and entrepreneurship. He often engages in independent journalistic research to shed light on the opportunities that students have while in college. In this post, he analyzes the benefits of starting a business while studying at university.

To read more inspiring articles for beginning entrepreneurs, visit our blog often.

ContractZen offers a centralized solution that helps companies keep due diligence materials up-to-date. Additionally, everyone in your organization will know how to quickly find business documents and contracts, create virtual data rooms in a matter of a few clicks, and organize fully digital meetings.

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ContractZen Facilitates Corporate Governance

Managing critical documents and contracts is never an easy task. The ever-present competition between companies within complex economic environments further complicates this task. Additionally, the various regulations every company needs to comply with make corporate governance a veritable pressure cooker for company managers. Further, the proliferation of information silos can bring on a severe drop in productivity.

However, company leadership can avoid these problems by ensuring that critical documents are kept in a centralized location. Then, employees won’t have to struggle to find those documents when they’re needed most.

Centralized Storage Maximizes Productivity

When you store your critical business documents in a safe, centralized location, you’ll be able to quickly, securely, and easily share them with trusted parties. Meanwhile, you can also maintain powerful access control.

In this article, we take a close look at ContractZen, a turnkey business software service that simplifies digital file management, sharing, and workflows.

ContractZen Is an All-in-One Solution

In a nutshell, ContractZen is an all-in-one SaaS solution. It helps companies keep due diligence materials, meeting documents, and contracts up-to-date. This makes it easier to manage workflows. This is because users can upload, store, share, and manage critical business documents from the cloud.

In addition, with ContractZen, users can easily create new virtual data rooms for all sorts of audit situations with only a few clicks. For example, the software simplifies tax audits, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and similar situations.

Key features on offer with ContractZen are:

1. Contract Management

Navigating “compliance fatigue” in a corporate environment is challenging. However, with ContractZen, you can drag-and-drop multiple files into the cloud-based system at the same time. In other words, you can quickly import your existing documents and get to work right away.

Of course, you can also easily use email with the ContractZen system as well. Additionally, you’ll have the option of setting automated email reminders on contracts. These can notify team members of important upcoming dates. Therefore, you’ll never have to worry about missing, for instance, a contract renewal date.

ContractZen Uses a Unique Metadata Tagging System

Further, ContractZen uses a unique metadata tagging system to create dynamic folders. This gives you quick access to contracts. It does this by improving on the age-old method of storing folders inside folders inside folders.

Alternatively, ContractZen’s metadata-driven storage allows you to organize data based on the type of information it contains, rather than the document it’s contained in.

This way, you can leverage visual tagging to set metadata. This makes it easier to more quickly find the the contract or document you’re looking for. For example, if you’re storing different sorts of contracts—such as NDA’s, licenses, and rentals—you can simply create a tag for each type. This makes it easy to access all related documents.

Easily Integrate an E-Signature Service into the ContractZen Platform

With ContractZen, you can also connect your e-signature service to your contract management hub. This allows you to send documents for signing. Plus, you can keep track of their progress until they’re signed and stored in your account.

ContractZen offers integration with several e-signature services. These include Assently, DocuSign, SignHero, and Adobe Sign.

Additionally, other tools within ContractZen’s suite of features support e-signature integrations as well. These include the virtual data rooms, board portal, financial administration, and meeting management.

All Your Documents Will be Easily Searchable

One of the standout features of this platform is that it’s powered by Microsoft’s Machine Vision OCR technologies.

Here’s how it works: Whenever you upload a document to ContractZen, the software transforms your document into searchable data. This way, you can simply search for what you need instead of trying to remember which document contained what information.

2. Virtual Data Rooms

Virtual data rooms are secure online spaces for storing and exchanging information. You might want to create a virtual data room for due diligence around mergers and acquisitions, for instance. This gives you the ability to effectively and securely execute deals in an online environment, instead of meeting in person to sign documents or review paperwork.

Alternatively, in cases where in-person meetings are necessary, everyone can come to the meeting prepared and with easy access to everything they need.

With ContractZen, you can set up a virtual data room with just a few clicks. Its advanced user management capabilities make it easy to grant access to authorized users. Additionally, you can choose tiered permissions, such as reading, printing, or downloading rights.

The virtual data rooms feature built-in tools for tracking users’ responsibilities by way of tagged documents and attachments. Each tagged document also has a group discussion timeline linked to it.

Documents Stored on the Platform Have Complete Audit Logs

With ContractZen, you can use the metadata tagging system to quickly find all of the documents you’re looking for. Then you can add them to a virtual data room on an ad hoc basis. For example, if you want to share documents relating to a specific company, simply search for it using the company’s name. Then add them to the virtual data room all at once.

In addition, documents circulated through virtual data rooms have complete audit logs and reports. This underrated feature can be especially useful in joint venture or merger and acquisition scenarios. ContractZen gives you insight into user actions, along with IP address tracking. Knowing who’s reviewing your documents (and when) can help companies maximize deal value.

From a technical standpoint, all documents and attachments are encrypted using RSA 256 encryption. The virtual data rooms themselves also have encrypted connections using Symantec SHA 256 RSA SSL. This means that documents stored within the ContractZen system are secure.

3. Meeting Management

Using ContractZen, you can manage board meetings, sales calls, and executive meetings. This will increase work efficiency, along with creating a better audit trail.

ContractZen’s meeting portal paves the way for a fully digital meeting process. This includes everything from scheduling the meeting to signing documents and contracts. Moreover, users can create meeting agendas and meeting minutes in mere moments. It also features a review tool for gathering feedback from attendees. All of this is done in a digital environment with no paper involved.

The Platform Includes a Built-In Meeting Scheduler

The platform also features a powerful, built-in meeting scheduler that takes the grunt work out of finding available slots that suit all stakeholders.

What’s more, it lets hosts send out invitations for meetings in a single click, then set automated email reminders. This way, there’s virtually no excuse for anyone to miss a meeting.

Use It for Task Management

ContractZen also has built-in features for effective task management and team collaboration. Specifically, it lets you create, prioritize, and follow up on tasks that have been agreed on during meetings.

Users can also securely share the meeting agenda and materials with their team. It also features a MeetingBook tool that lets users digitally add personal comments and annotations to materials.

Use the Platform on the Fly

ContractZen is a cloud-based service. This means it’s designed to work seamlessly across all devices. Therefore, corporate users have uninterrupted access to important business documents on the go.

Conclusion

ContractZen includes features like metadata-driven contract management, virtual data rooms, and meeting management capabilities, all rolled into one powerful corporate governance tool. It helps companies improve business operations by effectively reducing costs, accelerating internal and external processes, and minimizing risks with its top-notch encryption and security systems.

Its centralized solution will help to keep your company’s due diligence materials up-to-date. What’s more, everyone in your organization will be able to quickly find business documents and contracts, create virtual data rooms in a matter of a few clicks, and organize fully digital meetings.

Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay 

SaleSource is an AI-powered, ecommerce marketing tool that helps online businesses grow faster. At its core, SaleSource provides business owners with the ability to analyze products, evaluate market trends, and keep a close eye on competitors. These things are crucial in finding hot, trending products.

Drop Shipping Will Help You Start Your Own Business

In recent years drop shipping has become a popular way of earning income from the comfort of your own home.

For example, let’s say you’ve been thinking about opening up your own online business, but you don’t know where to start. You don’t know what you should sell and you don’t have much money to invest into products. Plus, when you look around, you don’t have room for inventory.

That’s where drop shipping comes in. With drop shipping you can sell products online without their ever spending time in your garage. All you need is a computer, an online store, and a basic understanding of how to market and sell online.

How Does Drop Shipping Work?

Here’s how it works, in a nutshell. First, you find what you want to sell from a supplier. Then list that product on your website at a price you set.

Next, when someone places an order for that product, they pay you the retail price you’ve set. At this point, you’ll place the order with your supplier. They sell you the item at wholesale price.

Now, here comes the best part: you now have that item shipped directly to your customer.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you found a watch on a supplier’s website for $10. You would then list it on your own website for $30. When the order comes through your website, you then place your order with your supplier. You give the supplier your customer’s information so they can ship the product for you directly to your customer.

Finally, you keeping the $20 profit you just made. That’s pretty much it.

Here’s How SaleSource Fits In

Now, you might be wondering why somebody wouldn’t just order the watch directly from your supplier’s website?

Well, there are a few interesting phenomena at play here. For one thing, the Internet is vast. For another, most consumers have no idea which supplier to turn to when they want to buy something. Most are in a hurry, so they don’t take the time to find out which suppliers are best suppliers to meet their needs.

Then again, when people buy things online, they’re not just buying into products. They’re buying into the marketing, brand, trust, and lifestyle these products represent.

With drop shipping, you can focus on marketing your products. That is, you can practice saying the right things at the right time and providing real value to the right people. You’re free do these things because you’re not warehousing your inventory. Nor are you having to deal with most of the other challenges that come with running an ecommerce business.

However, one of the most important aspects of this business model is to actually find good quality products to sell. That’s where product tools like SaleSource come in really handy.

Learn More from This SaleSource Review

SaleSource is an AI-powered ecommerce marketing tool that helps online businesses grow faster. At its core, SaleSource provides business owners with the ability to analyze products, evaluate market trends, and keep a close eye on competitors. These things are crucial in finding hot, trending products.

SaleSource is made up of four different elements. These are the product analyzer, the store analyzer, the marketing center, and the sales center. These elements allow users to:

• Find long-term best-selling products
• Identify the cheapest and most reliable long-term suppliers
• Identify viral products
• Make easy and convenient price comparisons across the board
• Identify and keep a close eye on competitors
• Make sure products aren’t saturated
• Get better at marketing with compelling product descriptions and high-converting product videos

SaleSource Product Center

The SaleSource Product Center will give you all of the most important data you’ll need to know before attempting to market a particular product. At its heart is the product analyzer. This gives you the ability to determine whether the product has potential as a lucrative item in your online store.

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Also, it has a tool where you can either drop product images into the software, as shown here….

… or you can import the Aliexpress or Shopify product link, as shown in the image below.

There is also a third way, which is to use the Chrome extension, like so:

This versatility makes SaleSource a truly useful tool that will suit almost every online seller.

After you have uploaded your products and SaleSource has completed its analysis, you’ll be able to see all of the key product data. This would include the least expensive and most reliable suppliers, as well as your competitors, product descriptions, and product videos.

Additionally, the product center contains sections that will help you to carry out targeted product research. For example, you can search for topics such as “Trending Now,” “Best Sellers By Niche,” and “Best Sellers All Time.”

All of these topics are routinely updated by the AI-powered software, which continuously scouts the Internet to find the best deals.

SaleSource Store Center

This feature allows users to perform in-depth analytics of their store’s competitors. To put it simply, the product center helps you find your competitors. Meanwhile, the store center helps you to take your best ideas and apply your own marketing and product research strategy.

Additionally, the store analyzer will provide you with information about your competitors. For example, you will learn about their estimated monthly revenue, as well as their best-selling products, their Facebook marketing campaigns, and the apps they use. Here’s an example in the image below:

You’ll also be able to view the “Top Stores” (both generally and by niche). For inspiration, use the “Store Tracker.” This way, you’ll never lose sight of your key competitors. You can also tap into the professionally curated “Store Checklist.” Every drop shipping store needs to have access to tools like these in order to be successful.

SaleSource Marketing Center

This feature will help you to market your products the right way, using product videos to capture consumers’ attention. The marketing center offers up a product video finder, for example, as well as a Facebook video ad finder and a traffic checker.

Facebook Video Ad Finder

The Facebook Video Ad Finder is particularly useful, as it is filled with a seemingly endless array of relevant product videos. In fact, there are more than 300,000 of these videos at the time this article is being published, with more on the way, all the time.

What’s more, you can use any of these videos in your own marketing campaigns. Just imagine: More than 300,000 ideas are just waiting for you to use them in your own marketing campaigns. This gives you an extraordinary opportunity to excel in the marketplace and outpace your competition.

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SaleSource Sale Center

When you first visit the Sale Center, you’ll see some short training videos, which are definitely worth watching. There is also an “Import From Shopify” feature. This comes in super handy for those online business owners who are using the Shopify platform (by far the most widely used platform in the drop shipping business).

Arguably the most underrated SaleSource feature is called “Factory Pricing.” Here, a dedicated team of specialists source specific items at your request. This will help you to avoid large mark-ups. (You might run into this problem otherwise, as there is no guarantee that you’re always dealing with suppliers directly.)

What About Pricing?

SaleSource pricing currently stands at $69 a month. If you review all of the SaleSource features we discuss here, you’ll have to admit what a bargain this is. In short, you’ll not only be getting what you’re paying for, but you’ll get, in fact, so much more.

SaleSource Could Be the Answer to Your Prayers

SaleSource is a cutting-edge, ecommerce product research tool that may well be the answer to the prayers of small online business owners and drop shippers.

Of course you could manually do what each of the features of SaleSource does. However, doing that would take a staggering amount of time. To put it bluntly, SaleSource does a great job of saving business owners both time and money. Moreover, with SaleSource, you’ll no longer find yourself wasting time on products that don’t sell.

So if you’re serious about starting and running a successful online business, $69 a month is a small price to pay, because with SaleSource you’ll have much better odds at succeeding.

For more ideas about how to start and run your own online business, take a few minutes and browse our site.

Holding business lunches is essential for meeting new clients and networking. Lunch meetings allow you to meet potential clients with added intimacy. Gatherings among influencers in your industry can help you devise new strategies that will elevate your business to greater heights. Utilizing a meeting over lunch allows for generative dialogue and shared fun which enhances creative energy.

Expense is always an issue when hosting a business lunch. It is only sensible to claim back the amount you spend on food if you are self-employed. Employees of all kinds should be informed about Claiming Business lunches to learn about best practices. Still, whether or not to claim an expense impacts year-end tax deductions for employees and businesses. Consultation about appropriate expense claims may be necessary. Companies like Fusion Chartered Accountants provide access to SME focused accountants offering the right advice on this matter. 

FEATURED CONTENT: BUSINESS TRAVEL: HOW TO MANAGE IT RIGHT

Once you have determined the appropriate expense practices, you will be prepared to host a meal with clients and stakeholders. Of utmost importance when holding this type of meeting is your company’s image. You must ensure that everything you do and present is in line with your company’s image. The following are tips for a successful business lunch.

Business Lunch Attire

How you dress for any kind of meeting communicates a lot about your company. Relaxed attire signals a relaxed work environment. Business formal attire communicates that working with you means working with a professional. Chances are you are aware you are attending a business lunch, so you will probably don the right attire. However, if you are uncertain, the purpose of the meeting can provide insight on the attire that is expected. What you wear has an impact on the success of selling your products or services, as well as your company values.

Photo by Rebrand Cities from Pexels

Be Prepared

Preparation is vital to ensuring your business lunch is successful. This is especially true if you are hosting the lunch. Familiarize yourself with the venue and their menu in advance. Doing so will guarantee your ability to answer questions among your attendees and placing your order expediently. 

Be prepared for the kind of discussion you want to have during lunch. Because a business lunch is time-limited, it is important to utilize your time well. Having an agenda or list of issues you hope to discuss will keep you on track.

Stay Self-Aware

You should be in control of your emotional presence when engaging in the discussion over lunch. Though some companies allow the consumption of alcohol at a business lunch, it may be best to avoid it. Alcohol can impair your speech and lower your self-awareness. Countless mistakes can be made when you are not in full control of your thoughts and actions. Also, the people you are meeting may have different views about alcohol, and your use of alcohol during a business meeting may negatively influence them about you or your company. 

Business Lunch Manners & Etiquette

How you order your meal at a business lunch can also impact the image your guests have of you and your company. Treat waitstaff politely, speak clearly, and be patient. Consider allowing your guests to place their order first. If you are not ordering the same meal as them, then look for something that is of comparable size to what they have ordered. Choose a less expensive meal if you are not the one paying the bill.

Proper eating etiquette is also essential during such meetings. You should display high levels of hygiene when having your meals. Eat at a reasonable pace so as to not risk making a mess. Order meals that are easy to consume and allow you to avoid spills and drops on your clothing. 

When you follow these tips, you are sure to have a successful business lunch.

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If you work in marketing or sales, conversion rates are your proof of success. A conversion rate is a part of a sales funnel that refers to the moment a potential customer becomes a paying customer.

Of course, the type of action you want a customer or client to make varies from one company to the next. Yet, converting an interested party into a buying, investing, or engaged customer is the point of success or failure for all businesses.

The most common conversion rate actions include purchasing products (eCommerce). Additionally, companies focus on having customers join mailing lists and complete online forms. Your website’s usability, design, page speed, call to actions and quality of customer service all affect your customer’s decision to convert on your site.  

For example, consider Refused Car Finance, a car finance provider who specializes in bad credit car finance. They receive a majority of their applications from their website. For Refused Car Finance, the main goal is to increase the number of people who apply for car finance through their online application form. This is the measure for their conversion rate. Further, everything on their website focuses on getting the potential customer to provide their information. In this way, Refused Car Finance gets customers to engage with the process for securing financing.

The conversion of potential customers is the Refused Car Finance website’s primary mission, and it should be yours, too. Consider these methods to increase your conversion rate and subsequent sales, subscriptions, and contacts.

Analyze Your Current Conversion Rate

First things first, you must know what your current conversion rate is in order to increase it. Choose your target pages on which you hope to see a potential customer become a customer. Determine where users entering and exiting your site to get a sense of what is working and what isn’t.

For instance, a tool like Google Analytics is incredibly helpful in evaluating the conversion rate of different pages. Using Google Analytics, you can set goals you want each page to reach. Additional tools such as Crazy Egg or Hotjar allow you to see a snapshot of different user journeys on your website. These give you a visual representation of user clicks, taps and scrolling behavior. Tools like this can help you interpret your user’s experience and decisions to (or not to) convert. 

Online Form Best Practice: Brevity

If your conversion rate goal relies on increasing the number of applications or online form responses you receive then closely consider the form’s structure. Forms often become a challenge for users due to timeouts and fieldsets. As a company, it’s important you get all the information you require in order to follow up, but a long form may prevent users from following through. Speed up the application or sign up process by limiting the number of fields you MUST have to engage with a potential customer. Review your form and get rid of any unnecessary fields, enable autofill and opt for checkboxes where possible. This creates a more seamless experience for users who are more likely to convert. 

You may want to review your competitors’ forms as well. When you offer similar products and services, a conversion success may depend solely on the most succinct online form!

Use testimonials and reviews

Testimonials are a great way to build trust in your brand. According to BigCommerce, 72% of people trust a product or service when others have already provided positive reviews. Therefore, conversion rate increases are helped by having testimonials on your site. Testimonials and reviews reduce the risk for the user and encourage users to convert. If you’re selling a specific product, place your reviews on the same page as the product. If a user is unsure, the positive review provides a little added peace of mind.

Utilize White Space

It can be very tempting to fill your homepage with all your products and services. However, from a user’s point of view, being bombarded by sales as soon as they click on your site can be overwhelming. Instead, utilize white space to your advantage. White space (aka negative space) is the empty space on a webpage that highlights a specific element. You should make use of white space to draw users’ attention and guide them through a specific experience with your brand. This will result in a higher conversion rate. A beautiful, accessible design helps the success of your website conversions by increasing readability, improving focus and enhancing the user experience.

RELATED CONTENT: SIX WEB DESIGN ELEMENTS THAT WILL IMPROVE YOUR CONVERSION RATES

CTAs and Conversion Rates

When a potential customer visits your website, you must meet them with a succinct and highlighted call to action. If your CTA is not in an optimum position or your wording isn’t strong enough, you may be missing out on potential conversions. Experiment with the placement of CTA buttons, colors and language. Calls to action should be specific and personal.  As a result, consider using first-person to encourage conversions, such as ‘I want to apply for car finance’. For the user, this reduces the feeling of being talked AT, rather than being spoken TO.

Guarantees for Purchase Confidence

If you’re selling a product, a money-back guarantee may be a great way to increase your conversion rate. Many retailers offer a 100% money-back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied with their product. This kind of guarantee communicates to the user that you and your employees are so confident in your product that you will support them if they are less so. Some companies are even offering double money-back guarantees to encourage conversions. Users like to know that they may get their investment returned to them if they are not satisfied. This method reduces the risk of being taken advantage of and is an easy way to build trust in your brand.

Conversion Rates and Website Speed

There is no real guideline on how fast your website should be. So, as a general rule, the faster, the better. In competitive markets where conversion rates can run low, it can be difficult to keep users on your site. Having a slow website can dramatically reduce the quality of user experience and prohibit conversions.

Chat Enabled Customer Service

A chat-enabled customer service option is a great way to improve your conversions. For Refused Car Finance, online chat is used to answer potential customer’s questions before they complete an application. Even though their website uses keyword distribution to offer customers information about bad credit, users still ask, ‘Can I get car finance with bad credit?’ Having a chat-enabled customer service allows their company to provide answers in real-time, giving that little extra push users need to become a customer.

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Businesses spent roughly $1.3 trillion on global business travel in 2017, with the United States ranking second for business travel spend. Moreover, one-third of all travel tourism revenue stems from business travel. Therefore, it’s clear to see that modern companies are willing to go the extra mile to help their organizations succeed.

However, managing business travel isn’t always as easy as booking a flight and hotel. There are several moving parts to consider, and the details between Point A and Point B can be pretty complex.

Some businesses enlist corporate travel management services, while others tackle their travel needs in house. Whatever the case, it’s important to understand how to streamline your travel processes. Here are a few tips on managing business travel.

Photo by Benjamin Cruz from Pexels

Talk to Your Team About Business Travel

Building a great company culture is necessary for long-term growth. One of the best ways to achieve a cohesive culture is by speaking to your team and gathering feedback.

Therefore, collect feedback on your business travel policy and the experiences your team has during their trips. This allows you to make every trip as efficient as possible. Moreover, your staff will appreciate your dedication to their involvement.

RELATED ARTICLE: 4 WAYS TO BUILD A REMARKABLY STRONG CONNECTION WITH YOUR EMPLOYEES

Sign Up for Rewards

Rewards programs aren’t limited just to individuals. Many rewards programs are geared towards businesses, too. For instance, businesses partnered with American Airlines Business Extra get reward points for each flight their employees take. Plus, the employee gets their own points, too.

Additionally, many hotels have reward programs in place, and the more you sign up for, the more you’ll save. If there’s a particular hotel or service you use often for business travel, contact them to arrange a discount on your company’s behalf.

Choose the Right Accommodations

One of the most important decisions your travel team will make is deciding on final accommodations. Of course you want your team to be comfortable, and you also want them to be productive.

With this in mind, opt for accommodations with work spaces and close proximity to meetings. For example, some hotels are designed especially with the business traveler in mind. These best of these offer expansive business lounges, boardrooms, coffee shops, and event spaces.

Create a Business Travel Policy

No matter how well-thought-out your travel rules and guidelines are, you won’t get too far without committing it to paper. A travel policy allows everyone to follow the same guidelines when it comes to business travel. Moreover, it sets the foundation for what is and isn’t permissible.

On the other hand, without a policy, you’ll find your expenses will quickly pile up. Managing receipts and paperwork will become a big hassle. So in your policy, detail the expense categories and process, as well as any spending limits. Take a look at these sample travel policies for a concrete idea on how to spearhead your own policies.

Additionally, as you build your business travel policy, it’s important to sync your management objectives. For instance, if you plan to bring several new employees on board in the coming months, take this into consideration for your overall budget. Your final business travel policy should always reflect the goals of the company.

Communicate the Guidelines

It’s important to communicate your business travel guidelines. Although the fine print is there, having a meeting will help solidify the basics and convey the importance of your policy.

“Most employees want to do the right thing, but they need to have clear travel guidelines that are posted and communicated to them,” Jeanne Liu, Vice President of Research for the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), told Airbnb.

“Then, when you can track data that shows they are booking with preferred suppliers and so on, you are in a much stronger position to negotiate for better rates. At the same time, you may also get better value, including more perks and amenities for your travelers.”

Utilize Business Travel Planning Tools

Google calendar is great for scheduling meetings and setting reminders. However, it can’t compare with the robust features of a niche business travel planning platform. When members of your company are traveling often, it helps to take advantage of these tools. With them you can streamline travel plans and collaborate among employees.

These platforms will help you keep tabs on the who, what, and where of your staff. And they can also be a great way to organize big trips among multiple groups.

For example, with the business travel planning platform Travefy, you can quickly add confirmation and flight numbers. Plus, the system populates your itinerary with relevant gate numbers, times, directions, and other pertinent details. You can also share itineraries with other people, allowing them to view and change plans as they see fit.

Conclusion

When you streamline your business travel process, you save travelers time and stress, and you save the company money.