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By Daniel Ngandu, October 12, 2010 3:52 am

People are frustrated! Whether it’s their jobs, their families, the economy, or their retirement - it all adds up to concerns about the future. But one thing is for sure – commerce is the backbone of all we do. No matter what happens, people are always going to be buying things they need for themselves and their families. And they’re always going to be wanting the best deal and the best value around. In addition, E Commerce and online shopping is on the rise. There are more than 1 million new Internet users every day! The Internet has seen explosive growth – from 1.2 billion users in 2006, to 2 billion in 2010 (that’s 1 in every third person in the world who now has Internet access).

And that’s where DubLi comes in. DubLi is a global online shopping portal, and consists of two major components – the retail component and the business opportunity. Dean Mannheimer, Country Manager for DubLi North America, explains ”it is a perfect time for a company like DubLi to position itself in this particular market, at this particular time”.

So let’s take a quick look at the customer focused side of DubLi…

This consists of the DubLi Shopping Mall, and 2 DubLi Auctions – the Xpress Auction and the Unique Bid Auction.

Dean Mannheimer says the purpose of the DubLi Auctions is simply “to bring the best products and brands, the newest products… in a fun, exciting, and entertaining shopping environment”.

Customers have additional confidence because they have the reassurance of the Best Price Guarantee. He states that if customers purchase something from DubLi but find the same item cheaper elsewhere, within 2 weeks of their purchase, DubLi will not only match the price but also better it by 10%.

What’s the difference between the Xpress Auction and the Unique Bid Auction?

With the Xpress Auction, customers will see everything on screen, including product, original price, etc, but they won’t be able to see the latest “current price” until they use 1 DubLi credit. The benefit of this is two-fold: not only can they see the price as it stands in the auction at the moment, but by doing so, they also contribute to driving the price down by 25c (US)! They can then make a decision to buy the product immediately or wait a little longer to see how much further the price will drop. Dean Mannheimer continues: “this group of customers is driving the price down, not up as in other online auctions”. This is known as a ‘Reverse Auction’.

By contrast, each Unique Bid Auction has a time restriction on it. Within that time, customers place bids at ‘Price Points of Interest’, in increments of 25c, each trying to place the lowest unique bid. The excitement is that they don’t know what the lowest unique price bid is (unless they’re the lowest unique bidder). During the auction, a bidder gets an instant message on the shopping portal screen which notifies them as to their position in the ‘race’ – telling them whether their bid is one of the lowest or the lowest, as well as whether their bid is unique or not. This allows customers to strategically decide in which direction to bid, to ensure they’re the lowest unique bidder when the auction closes. Dean Mannheimer adds that the Unique Bid Auction is DubLi’s “longest running auction – it’s very entertaining and one of our most popular auctions”. In fact some high ticket items have been won in this way for very low prices, such as this brand new BMW Z4 valued at $52,000, which sold for $1,106:

What’s the catch? There isn’t one! The question you should ask yourself is: was it money worth spent when Mr Daniel Gibbons (the winner of this BMW) used 1 DubLi Credit (80c) to place the winning lowest unique bid, thus saving himself 97%?

So what are DubLi Credits?

DubLi Credits are simply a ‘passport’ that enables customers to participate in the DubLi Auctions, to drive prices down. Customers can visit the DubLi website any time, but if they want to take part in the Auctions, they’ll need to purchase a minimum of 10 DubLi Credits (currently $8 or €5). So each DubLi Credit costs only 80c (US).

Compare this to annual memberships for Sam’s Club or Costco. On the other hand DubLi customers pay only 80c a time to take advantage of deep discounts up to 90%!

And when first time customers register with DubLi and purchase their first DubLi Credits, they will also each get a $500 resort voucher and a $25 restaurant voucher, simply as a thank you.

But that’s not all – you can share in the DubLi phenomenon as a Business Associate…

DubLi offers one of the best business opportunities around, simply because when people choose to join DubLi as a Business Associate, they’ll earn commission from customer sales in a number of ways. And because DubLi is customer focused, there are 3 methods of acquiring customers: personal customers that are referred to DubLi by each Business Associate and by other customers, organizational customers referred by the team of Business Associates under each Business Associate, and Partner Program customers.

The beauty of this business model is that it’s truly global, online and you don’t have to buy or distribute any stock. Customers will continue to get value and convenience from the DubLi shopping portal, and even more is being added to it over time (such as the new Entertainment Division, about to be launched in 2010). Thus Business Associates will continue to grow their income, and receive between 5% – 27.5% commission on customer purchases and activity, based on which of the DubLi Business Associate packages they choose.

It costs just $175 to register as a Business Associate, and then depending on your personal circumstances and the type of business you wish to grow, there are three packages of DubLi Credits you can choose from. These DubLi Credits are sold on to customers by DubLi, on your behalf, making you immediate profits. Business Associates also receive commission from customer purchases in the DubLi Shopping Mall and Auctions, as well as from purchases of customers referred by Business Associates you have recruited to your business team.

Dean Mannheimer states that “DubLi is one of the most unique business transitions taking place today. It’s simply the best business opportunity that exists today”.

He goes on to say that “When all is said and done we’re going to find books written on this model about a historical event and transition that took place that we get to be able to participate in – if we understand the value and we see what DubLi truly represents for each one of us and each one of our families”.    

More information

Why not check it all out? Register with DubLi for free to try out the auctions for a fun, innovative and real value for money shopping experience (don’t forget you’ll get a $500 resort voucher and a $25 restaurant voucher too); or find out more about making money and changing your future with the DubLi global business opportunity.

Questions? Simply contact Daniel Ngandu and he’ll get back to you with all you need to know.

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By Daniel Ngandu, September 27, 2010 8:28 am

The phenomenon of shopping online is growing significantly. The days when you climb into your car and drive around for hours, looking for something specific, and being repeatedly disappointed, or paying more for something not quite what you were looking for, are almost over.

These days, with even small businesses often selling their products online too, it’s possible to do a few simple searches in Google or the other search engines, and find not only what you’re looking for, but also extensive reviews and information about it, price comparisons, details of stores stocking that product, the addresses and telephone numbers of those stores, and the opportunity to simply order it online - all in a matter of minutes. 

InternetWorldStats.com estimate that as of June 2010, there are almost 2 billion Internet users in the world, and that’s a 444% growth compared to year 2000. Even in February 2008, Nielsen reported that 85% of Internet users had made an online purchase. So old shopping habits are making way for new consumer buying trends.

What does ‘new ecommerce’ look like?

New consumer shopping trends are emerging as fast as the number of websites are growing (currently there are around 227 million websites, according to Netcraft.com). Not only are buyers gaining confidence to shop online, but a number of interesting phenomema are emerging alongside this:

• Security on ecommerce websites has increased. Nowadays it is much safer to shop online and give your credit card details over the Internet, because online stores dealt with identity theft and card fraud in the past, and have had to do something about it to reassure shoppers.
• With the rise in use of Social Media like Facebook and Twitter, Internet users are increasingly getting information about products and brands from their Friends and Followers, rather than simply searching in Google. This brings in the trust factor, because people will go with what other people recommend.
• This means there is an increase in the power of ‘word of mouth’, via Social Media and email, etc, for purchase decisions. Big brands such as Coca Cola that previously traded on being liked, known and trusted are now having to join in with Social Media discussions, and become ‘personalized’.
• Shoppers are not only using their computers to access online shopping. With the advent of Internet on phones, smartphones like iPhone, and various mobile phone applications, increasingly people are shopping from their cellphones, when out and about, at work, or even in their cars!  
• Online stores often give exclusive online discounts, not available in store, to encourage online shopping.
• In the early days of ecommerce, online stores like Amazon.com simply listed their products online, you ordered them over the Internet, and they shipped them to you. But now there are various options with Internet shopping, giving consumers all kinds of choices. Some of these are:
  • The chance to either have the products you bought shipped to your home or another address, or for you to collect your purchases from your nearest store.
  • The ability to simply reserve a product online, without purchasing it, for collection from your nearest store in a day or two, and paying for it then. This gives buyers not only the opportunity to change their minds, but also ensures the product they want is in stock for them to touch, examine and decide about in person.
  • Consumers can bid for products in online auctions. The large and well known online auction site Ebay had gone from strength to strength, and now has hundreds of millions of registered users.
  • A popular concept that has emerged recently is the reverse auction - where the more bidders there are for a certain product, the lower the price will fall (this is the opposite to the traditional auction, where the price rises). Stay tuned – we’ll discuss this next time!

So why shop online?

• It will save you time (you’ll need to move your mouse, rather than travel around), and sometimes money too.
• You will be exposed to much more choice than is available from popping out to the shops near you.
• It is relatively secure, with security measures increasing all the time.
• You can order from around the corner, or around the world.

What are the disadvantages of online shopping?

• Do your research before pressing the Checkout button - because you can’t try on, examine or measure the product personally to help you make your purchase decision.
• Make sure you’re aware of the online store’s return policy, so if your purchase turns out to be wrong, or you don’t like it, there is a way to return it and get your money back.
• There are still some things that are maybe best bought in person. These include items which must be a specific size or flavour, or something that is customized. However, electronic communications can help when you can’t be there, such as photos sent via your mobile/cellphone or email.
• Card and identity fraud is still a problem, despite more sophisticated controls. Be careful and vigilant – don’t give out your details to just anyone, and make sure you’re giving your details only at the point of purchase on a secure, encrypted site.

If you’d like to check out these and other interesting ecommerce trends, watch the movie below:

Go here for more information about the DubLi global ecommerce opportunity. Not only can you partake in the exciting reverse auctions, but there is a huge online shopping mall, incorporating thousands of well known online stores and known brands, and you’ll get rewards for shopping too! Go here to register with DubLi for free. And all first time DubLi shoppers automatically get a $500 resorts voucher and a $25 restaurant voucher!

More information

Read about the latest online shopping trends(from ShopsLand.org).

Read Nielsen’s Trends in Online Shopping Report (February 2008).

Find out more about DubLi shopping.

If you liked reading this article, please share it! Simply click on the sharing icons below.

Social media graphic thanks to: http://www.webseoanalytics.com/blog/social-media-case-study/
Auction hammer pic thanks to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/10/housingmarket.mortgagelendingfigures

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By Daniel Ngandu, September 17, 2010 5:08 am

There’s a statistic that’s often quoted in the world of Multi Level Marketing (MLM) or Network Marketing. It’s the “97% failure rate” statistic, by which is meant something along the lines of: 97% of all Network Marketers fail to make a living wage and/or they give up within 1 year of having started. Whether this figure is accurate or not doesn’t really matter – because the truth is that a lot of MLMers don’t make enough money to throw in their day jobs, and a lot do leave the industry, within a few months or their first year - often feeling negative and blaming the Network Marketing industry, their upline mentor, their downline distributors/reps (or lack of them), the products, or the company.

So what’s this 97% about then?

Let’s be fair - blaming all those things for your lack of achievement is not entirely incorrect either. It is no secret that the word ‘scam’ has been attached to this industry, and for two main reasons:

• Many MLM companies encourage their distributors/reps to use what I will call “soft melted chocolate” tactics when recruiting people to the business opportunity. Potential reps are told that the old style of contacting their ‘warm list’ of family, friends, colleagues and associates works; and they should work the list (and not give up). Often what happens is that they might gain some customers and distributors from this warm list, but it’s really difficult trying to convince a list of people that they need your products or must join your business opportunity (when many of those people are simply NOT in your target market). 
• It’s quite common for Network Marketing companies to overclaim the benefits of their products (especially those in the health field, which many are) - and thus have disgruntled customers wanting their money back, or even in extreme cases, taking the MLM company to court.

However, most Network Marketing companies are not scams. You need to evaluate the opportunities sensibly when being recruited, ask a lot of questions, and shop around before you join any opportunity.

These ‘scam’ associations are by no means the only reasons contributing to a large fall out rate. These are some other reasons for the low success rate in Network Marketing:

• Many new businesses (Network Marketing or otherwise) do fail in their first year, through lack of funds or skills. You only have to speak to the banks and new business support organisations, or look up company statistics for your country online. Remember this applies to all types of businesses, not only MLM.
• Sometimes people joining MLM are simply not cut out for it, or don’t learn or apply new skills quickly or appropriately. Network Marketing requires a healthy combination of marketing knowledge, sales skills, and personality traits like warmth, determination, discipline, resilience, and innovation.
• Often distributors are not shown really practical things they can do on a daily basis to make it work. They might have an active upline/mentor who says they will provide training, but the usual process when recruiting someone is to have a meeting or two with the new rep, communicate to them the old way of contacting people personally, and then simply leave them to it.
• New reps can feel overwhelmed with what seems like the sheer volume of work and different things they need to learn, including contacting customers, promoting the business opportunity, offline and online marketing methods, various internet marketing processes and tools, etc. 

All is not lost, however. There are thousands of people who earn a very good income from their MLM business.

So what can be done to ensure you have success?

The long answer on how to is a topic for another few articles! The short answer (and one that is positive, you’ll be glad to know), is that many of the essential skills and even personality traits can be learnt and practised, in order to make your business successful. Those who have achieved success already in Network Marketing will give various versions of the following advice: stay with it, work hard, work out the best ways to make it work for you, and spend most of your MLM working time each day on activities that produce income/results (not on filing papers, writing up client details, or answering emails that have nothing to do with your business, for example). This means organizing your day and activities in a more efficient way.

One of the best ways to help with your daily marketing activities is to use an online marketing system. The reason this tool can help you substantially with all your Internet Marketing activities is that it is designed to take care of the most important online marketing activities for you, all in one system, and they’re all as automated as possible, thus saving you time (and money!). Not only do you get to promote your primary MLM business opportunity as well as any other affiliate businesses you may be part of, but you are also able to recruit prospects and leads, via online offers and autoresponder emails, and you have access to good training about all the ins and outs of online marketing. The only online marketing system that I know of that offers all this - for free – is New Rich Report (usually other systems that do the same thing cost around $20-$50 a month) - check it out.

Finally, remember that success doesn’t usually happen quickly (no matter how hard you wish it to). Mixing up all these elements into a cocktail of MLM achievement takes time. So make sure you do a majority of ‘income producing activities’ everyday and that you organize your activities efficiently by utilizing tools that can help. But don’t forget you – you need to look after yourself by staying positive, learning all you can, applying what you’ve learnt sensibly to your particular business, trying, trying again, and asking for and getting genuine and helpful advice from positive, good people who are successful with the methods you’d like to emulate.

Need more info?

Read about the 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing – the Controversy at this hubpage.

Contact me, Daniel Ngandu, about the Network Marketing opportunities I’m involved with, to discuss how they can work for you.

97 sign image courtesy of: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_97.svg

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By Daniel Ngandu, September 10, 2010 10:46 am

There’s so many home based business opportunities and online money making offers out there, usually with huge promises, that it’s almost impossible to know what to choose and how to ensure it will be successful for you. And then there’s that dirty word, “scam”, that seems to raise its ugly head every now and then, especially with internet business opportunities. You need to be able to avoid those - while still finding something that is legitimate and profitable, that has a low cost to you, that you can easily do, and that you feel passionate and excited about.

I’d like to introduce an online only, new and exciting business opportunity that costs a total of just $10 a month! What’s more, you get to try it free for 7 days, so if it’s not for you, you can cancel without paying a cent. And it’s from a global, long standing and debt free corporation, GDI (website.ws), who own the worldwide rights to the .ws domain extension. Not only do you get to earn residual income from this business opportunity, but a website is included in the package!

Huh? What’s the .ws domain extension all about?

The original .ws domain extension was for domains registered in and for the island country of Western Samoa. However GDI have secured international rights to the .ws domain extension, which now simply stands for “website”. No longer do you have to worry about whether you should have a .com, .co.uk, .org, or .info extension, and what they mean – because websites have just become clearer and simpler. A lot of big corporations have already bought their .ws domains, in readiness for the future. Now’s your chance to get in on the action, while it’s still relatively new, before everyone else has a .ws website (did you miss the dot com boom? Well, don’t miss the dot ws boom!). 

So what is this business opportunity?

GDI is created with a Network Marketing or Multi Level Marketing (MLM) structure, which simply put, allows its affiliates to earn more income, because income is paid as commission not only from your own sales of the website package, but also from the sales of all the affiliates you refer, for 5 levels down. When you buy into the program (for just $10 a month), you promote the website package and business opportunity to others (as an affiliate or distributor of GDI), and when they sign up, they fall in under you in the marketing structure. They in turn then also refer and recruit more customers/distributors, and so on.

Can you think of anyone who’d want a low cost and easy to create website, and the chance to earn money as well? You can probably think of a few! Well, the company provides you with all the promotional banners, emails and videos you need for referrals (and leads too, if you want them), so the whole marketing and sales process is fully automated and stress free for you. 

The benefits of this business opportunity to you are:

• No stock for you to order, buy, handle, pack, ship or deliver!
• Everything happens online – you simply promote the website and opportunity, your customers and affiliates sign up online, and you earn commission from all sign ups, whether they take the website only, or the business opportunity with the website.
• You have unlimited markets and customers you can promote this to - from those who simply want their own family website; to sports teams, clubs and groups wanting to showcase their achievements and contact details; to serious minded home based business people making money from this as their main business; to small businesses needing an alternative source of income.
• There is a simple and good compensation plan – you earn $1 per person you sign up, every month, and a further $1 per person per month signed up below you in the marketing structure, for 5 levels down. Simple but powerful. $1 might not sound like much, but once you’ve got a few people signed up, and they have a few signed up under them, it can multiply into a comfortable monthly income. Check it out – use the Income Calculator to see what you could earn.
• Heard of residual or passive income? With the chance for you to promote this opportunity and build up a team of affiliates over time, who in turn will build up their teams of affiliates doing the same thing, your income will grow exponentially, and keep coming in, even at times when you’re not that active, or when you want to take a break.
• All of this, with a website included, comes for a monthly fee of $10. That’s it. No start up costs or any other costs, unlike many other MLM or work from home business opportunities on offer.

And there’s a website included too?

Yes, at no additional cost. You get your own domain name, hosting, and up to 10 email addresses at your domain, all included. The website can be whatever domain name you choose - such as your name, or your business name, and comes with a .ws extension, for example DanielNgandu.ws or MoneyDreamsAgain.ws.

You can use the website solely to promote the business opportunity, or for any other use you choose, such as a personal, family, vacation, pet, hobby or sports website, to name but a few ideas. Small businesses can use it as their main business website, perhaps with one of the web pages promoting the additional income opportunity, or they can use it as a supplementary website, promoting this business opportunity or anything else. The choices are limitless!  

You get easy website building software included in the package, and a number of attractive templates. You simply decide on how many pages your website needs, choose your template, and add your text and pictures. It can be up and running in half an hour - really! Plus if you need any support with putting your website together, we can help for a reasonable once-off fee.

It’s not for everyone, so who won’t benefit from this business opportunity?

You probably won’t want to take up this offer if:

• You’re not at the stage of your life where you’re ready to take on your own business and do the work required to make it successful.
• You prefer to build your websites from scratch, and you have technical expertize way beyond what’s required here.
• You prefer personal contact with people and products you can feel and hold; online communications, promotions and sales are not for you.

Maybe you’ll look at it another time, when you feel it suits you better. 

So for those who want to seriously look at it, where can you get more information about this opportunity?

==> Check out the official and fun company video (make sure you fasten your seatbeats!), which tells you everything you need to know: Your GDI business opportunity.

==> Visit the official company website, view a personal seminar, and read what other customers say about it: Global Domains International.

==> Use the Income Calculator to see how much you could earn from this opportunity.

Remember you can sign up for 7 days for free, to enable you to check out if you think it will work for you! You will only be billed your first $10 after 7 days; you can cancel anytime within those 7 days, and you won’t be billed at all.

Questions? Email Daniel Ngandu now.

Ready to sign up? Simply click on any of the top two links above (the official video or website) and then click on “Sign Up Now Free“. That’s it. And I’d like to say “welcome” to you! As soon as you’re signed up and ready to make it work for you, contact me, Daniel Ngandu. I’m your sponsor, and I’ll help you in any way you need to make you successful. If you’re successful, I’m successful!

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By Daniel Ngandu, August 31, 2010 8:12 am

Multi Level Marketing (MLM) or Network Marketing is defined as a business structure that is composed of multiple levels of distributors/reps, who earn commission from sales of the main company’s products/services, and usually also commission from the sales of a few levels of reps below them in the structure. Reps are usually self-employed, and represent the main company but market through their own home based business. The main MLM company usually provides the reps with products/services to sell, and all the marketing literature they need, plus often they put on training for their reps. 

But is MLM a legitimate and good business opportunity, for those looking for supplementary income and/or to start their own ‘work from home’ business? Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of Network Marketing.

The good….

Despite all the scare stories you may have heard about MLM and Network Marketing, there are various factors that make it a good home business option:

• MLM companies usually charge a relatively low start up fee to join them as a rep, compared to purchasing your own franchise business, or starting your own business from scratch. The MLM joining fee is often around $250 (although some companies have various options, to fit your budget), and this usually includes some products and marketing literature to get you going.
• When you have your own business as an MLM rep, you earn your income from two sources. Not only do you earn commission from selling the main companies’ products/services, but you also earn commission from the sales of the reps you have recruited into your network (the commission percentage amounts vary, depending on the main company’s incentive/compensation plan, as well as how many levels of reps below you that you will earn commission from).
• It is one of the only business opportunities that you can build up residual income from. This means ‘passive’ income paid on an ongoing basis, generated by only one or a few actions on your part. Residual income is possible in the MLM structure because of the reps in your team below you that you also earn commission from. Once you’ve built up a small team, and they’ve sponsored reps to their teams too, you will continue to receive income, even if you’re not particularly active with generating your own sales.
• The nature of Network Marketing is that it is possible to do it part-time, alongside your other work commitments, as a supplementary source of income; or full-time.

The bad and the ugly….

Unfortunately MLM has also attracted ”scam” labels over the years, and some of this is even warranted! What are the pitfalls of Network Marketing?

• Let’s look at the scam thing. Some MLM companies have had a backlash of scam accusations, because they or their reps have either over-claimed their product benefits (especially when the products are in the health field, as they often are); or when sponsoring new distributors, they have over-simplified the process of setting up your own business and selling products/recruiting reps, as well as exaggerated the earnings potential and time taken to achieve it.
• It’s not as easy as it looks! It will take time to build up a presence for yourself, recruit reps to grow your business, and develop a reasonably sized customer base. It will also take hard work, and you’ll probably need to learn and apply lots of new skills. Plus you’ll need to spend money to earn money – besides having to buy products and literature from the MLM company you represent , you’ll also have to shell out on marketing campaigns, depending on how you choose to promote your home based business opportunity and the products/services you sell.
• Although most MLM companies these days offer good online training for their reps, sometimes reps are left to get on with it, without getting the right type of support and mentoring from the person who sponsored them into the business. Sometimes this is because their sponsor is too new and inexperienced, but sometimes it’s simply laziness on the part of the sponsor. 

….And we all lived happily ever after?

Network Marketing can be an excellent way for you to get onboard with your own home based business and to make passive income for life. But be objective when evaluating any Network Marketing or home based opportunity that’s presented to you – make sure that you also check out the main company’s history, training offered, products/services, and the rep who is recruiting you. Great successes have been, and still can be achieved with MLM, but remember it will require hard work, discipline, time, and an open and enquiring mind. 

If you’re interested in a different type of MLM opportunity, have a look at this:

• Dubli is an online only business opportunity, which means no stock for you to buy or sell;
• You’ll get all the tools, tips, training and support you need to make it work;
• The Dubli online shopping and auction experience is something novel that helps customers save money on things they’d be buying anyway;
• It’s easier to recruit people to this business opportunity, because of it’s simplicity and novelty;
• Plus there are additional markets you can exploit: you can promote the business opportunity via the Dubli Partner Program to charities, church groups, sports clubs, and small businesses, as a way for them to raise funds and generate secondary income.

Find out more about the Dubli work from home business opportunity here, or contact me, Daniel Ngandu, for more information.

Please add a comment – we’d love to have your views - or visit the SavingMoneyBargains.com main website.

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Honey bees picture acknowledgement: http://www.virginmedia.com/science-nature/natural-world/apocalypse.php?ssid=3

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By Daniel Ngandu, August 27, 2010 4:14 pm

As a small online business, you’re wanting the same that businesses have always wanted, no matter when in history or which context – you need sales in order for your business to survive. But online marketing and customer relationship management are of course slightly more complicated than meeting and greeting customers in the village marketplace.

The process that customers go through before and during purchasing needs to be understood and addressed – we’re talking specifically about the customer relationship management phases of Acquire, Enhance, and Retain; and everything inbetween.

Searching and Finding

The two principle online methods, excluding advertising, of reaching your customers and being found in the Search Engines, are through Social Media and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Customers might be searching online for information or products/services, or have received a website link through a Social Media post, and are much more likely to stop at your website/blog if it is easily navigable, friendly in approach, and genuinely reaches out to them, with the kinds of information and products/services which show a thorough understanding of their needs.

Giving and Acquiring

But that’s all by the by, unless you have a method of capturing their details for further contact. Obviously your method must be honest and transparent, and they must happily and voluntarily share this information with you. One of the most commonly used and successful ways of eliciting their details from them is through a free or low-priced reciprocal item – you offer an ebook, report, or series of newsletters on a topic which they’d really like to know about (which gets us back to you implicitly knowing your customers and their needs), in exchange for their contact details. Examples of your free giveaway might include tips on how to win online auctions, successful parenting tips for parents of new babies, or the A-Z on how to set up and succeed with an online business - whatever is relevant to your customers, your website content and your products/services offered.

Enhancing and Communicating

So once you’ve got a list of interested potential customers (“leads” or “prospects”), who have signed up for a free giveaway from you, what now? As long as you specified in the beginning that they were signing up for the gift as well as occasional other interesting information and offers, you’re free to send them friendly emails now and then giving them further information, introducing them to new products, and offering them discounts and incentives to re-visit your website. But don’t overdo it – it’s best to have a schedule for these newsy emails, say once a month, that you stick to.

The most effective way to manage your contacts and communicate with them is through a customer relationship database linked to email autoresponder software (sometimes these are all in one system). That way, not only can you filter customers with certain demographics, needs or buying habits (as long as you have captured this information), to communicate with them on a more customized or niche basis; but you can also pre-prepare your email communications, and these will be sent out to customers automatically when they sign up, and at regular intervals whenever you have specified.

Converting and Retaining

The bottom line is that your leads and prospects must feel that your interactions with them add value. Over time, your communications and content marketing should encourage them to feel they know, like and trust you. They are then much more likely to interact back with you, for example, by asking your advice during a purchase decision, which means you’re likely to get sales conversions. Because they like how you’re treating them, they will prefer to buy from you rather than another retailer. Don’t forget that all important “after sales service”: thank them, give them a special extra gift or discount just for being your customer, and keep building your relationship with them. In most cases, if they’re happy, they will come back for more, and you’ll have a good customer retention rate. 

You may be interested to know that New Rich Report is an all-in-one online contact management system incorporating various strategies to generate customer leads and prospects, a back office to manage and interact with those leads, a linked-in email autoresponder, and various promotion options for your online business(es). All of this is in one place, making it easier for you to handle all the different aspects of customer relationship building, marketing communications, and online business management. The best news is it’s free, unlike most other online marketing and contact management systems which usually cost in the region of $20-$50 per month. You can check out NRR here, or contact me, Daniel Ngandu, for more information.

Further reading:

If you’d like to find out more about Customer Relationship Management (CRM), read “The CRM Business Cycle” at information-management.com.

And for more about the importance of customer service, read “Customer Service is the New Marketing” at radian6.com.

Customer service image acknowledgement: http://www.radian6.com/blog/2010/05/customer-service-is-the-new-marketing/

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By Daniel Ngandu, August 19, 2010 4:07 pm

Small online businesses often have a tough time finding, communicating with and retaining their customers. This is usually because of a number of reasons:

• Small business owners are often new or inexperienced online and/or offline marketers,
• They usually have limited budgets and often end up doing everything themselves, so some important things don’t always get attended to, while the things that are done are perhaps not always done effectively,
• There is a phenomenal amount of competition out there these days, especially on the Internet but also offline, which means smaller businesses often simply don’t get noticed.

So what can you, as a small online business owner, do to attract customers, make them happy, and keep them coming back for more?

Local is good!

The Internet is global, and having a business presence on the web and being able to be found and contacted by anyone in the world, 24/7, is really important these days. But small businesses can also capture local customers and markets more easily perhaps than they can compete on the Internet globally – a kind of small fish in a small pond idea! They can do this in a number of ways:

• If you’re struggling to get a first page listing in Google searches for your business, place a listing for it in the Google Local Business Centre directory (or Google Places). When customers search for your business type, products or services locally (with a geographic/area filter in the search string), your Google Maps link will come up on the first page of the search results (with other similar businesses in that area)! Try it out – you can list your business, with extensive details about your company, products, opening hours, pictures and videos, for free!
• Search online for local or community groups, forums, Facebook groups or pages, etc, and join them. Be part of their communities – partake in discussions, give free and useful advice, put on business promotional events (even if it’s simply open days with special discounts) and invite other members to them, and join up with other similar but not competing businesses so you can mutually promote each others’ businesses through links, comments, etc.

Combine online and offline marketing efforts

 As a small business, you’re in the privileged position of being little and local enough to use offline marketing methods alongside your Internet Marketing efforts, such as:

• Attending local business meetings, groups and events (grow awareness of your business and share information),
• Using printed leaflets, adverts or articles in community free sheets, on notice boards around the community, or in local newspapers and magazines (which often cost less than those placed in larger/national media),
• Taking part in offline community events such as fairs, festivals, shows, etc (which will help establish and build your local presence).

Use the best of both worlds to your advantage.

Build relationships, not your bank account!

The way to manage customer retention is to grow your relationships with your customers. People are drawn to and respond to nice people. So will your customers. Treat them well whether you’re on the phone to them, emailing them, or writing information for them online. Listen for what they really need, then give them useful information that helps them make decisions and saves them time. Let go of the idea that every conversation you have, online or offline, will end in you making a sale and hearing that wonderful ”ker-ching” sound!

Remember that a relationship is ongoing, not a once-off interaction. Think of and create different ways to connect with your customers, so that they have frequent and helpful communication from you – whether that is through a newsletter they can subscribe to, a membership site with special offers and discounts, or a discussion group/forum for them to ask questions and share information, etc. Be aware that when customers research or buy products and services, they may need a lot of help and support for some complex products/services (for example, technology or baby products); but less for simpler products/services (for example, known-brand food or consumables).

To wrap it all up…

The point is that small businesses need to use a variety of creative ways to target, communicate with, and convert customers into loyal buyers. A great tool to promote your online business effectively, which ties all your online marketing efforts together, is New Rich Report, an all-in-one marketing system – it’s unique because it’s free! The beauty of this system is it simplifies promoting your main business and affiliate products/services, generating leads and prospects, and communicating with your customers; while also giving you the chance to earn money from supplementary sources to boost your income. Plus you get all the website capture pages, emails, tools and training you need to help you market more effectively. This will allow you to free up some time, so that you can also concentrate on local and offline marketing, which will help build your business in multiple ways.

Please add a comment – we’d love to have your views - or visit the SavingMoneyBargains.com main website.

To receive more blog posts as soon as they’re published, please subscribe to this blog (click on the RSS feed button, then “subscribe to this feed”).

Customer service Image courtesy of: http://www.callcentercomics.com/call-center-free-images.htm

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By Daniel Ngandu, August 14, 2010 10:57 am

Raising funds for your charity, non profit, church group, sports club or small business can be really tough. There’s so much competition out there - so many bigger groups, with larger marketing budgets, who are often perceived by the public as more deserving.

You probably know that the Internet is the way to go these days, but again, bigger non profit groups usually have sophisticated websites up and running already. Did you know that there have been more than 300 million new internet users in the last 10 months alone? In 2010, there are already 2 billion internet users – that means that every third person in the world now has internet access (this includes own computers, work computers and public access computers).

So, a perfect solution for raising funds is to combine something really unique (to get noticed), and to do it online to get maximum reach.

You have a few options:

• Beg, borrow, or ‘steal’ a techno whizkid’s time, and get your own “great” website (there are no guarantees you’ll even end up with a usable website, and there are still costs associated with this, such as website design, domain and hosting, plus maintenance)
• Pay for a website to be created professionally by a website design company (the most expensive option, probably running into thousands of dollars)
• ‘Piggy back’ onto someone else’s idea, which gives you the best of both worlds

Both of the first two options need you to offer products for customers to buy and to have donation and payment taking facilities on your website - and you’ll have to process the payments and orders. The last option, usually via an affiliate program, means you sell other companies’ products/services for them, so you don’t have all the bother of processing money and delivering orders. In most cases you will simply get an affiliate website link which redirects customers to the affiliate company website (but pays you the commission for referring them). 

The tricky bit though is to find an affiliate package that is both easy for you to manage and more importantly, has a wow factor for consumers and supporters. Most affiliate programs have been around for awhile, and there are still plenty of money making opportunities in them - for example, selling books, DVDs and other products for Amazon.com - but it would be even better if you could promote something that customers will get very excited about.

One of the most interesting options is the online shopping portal and auction. We’re not talking just another online shopping experience here. DubLi is a new company and concept - customers are flocking to shop at the thousands of online retailers for the great choice and discounts offered, as well as to earn reward points, or to partake in the novel online reverse or unique auctions. These auctions are no Ebay though – as each person bids, the price drops, not increases! It’s a really fun experience because they don’t know the price, but can use credits to reveal it, or buy the product whenever they feel it’s low enough or at risk of someone else buying it. 

Some crazy low prices have been won on luxury or branded items, such as $1500 paid towards a holiday won for $0.75 (a saving of 99%); a $100 Ritz-Carlton gift voucher won for $44 (a saving of 56%); and a brand new BMW Z4 (worth over $52,000) won for only $1,106.75 by Dan Gibbons in December 2009. Check out the DubLi online auction site to see this wonderful auction concept for yourself.

The benefits to your charity, sports club, church group or school are many – you’ll earn 30% commission on others’ credits and purchases via this amazing online discount shopping portal from both the online shopping and the auctions, whenever you refer a customer or supporter. You’ll get your  own easy-to-build, no-technical-skills-needed website splash page which will include your logo, so you’ll have a web presence, bringing additional awareness of your charity or group. You’ll get access to professional banners and various promotional materials to help you promote it. And you’ll get all the one-to-one help and support you need throughout the process, such as creating your website and promoting it online and offline. 

If you’d like to find out more about this fun and creative fundraising idea, check out the DubLi Partner Program or contact Daniel Ngandu with your questions now.

Please add a comment – we’d love to have your views - or visit the SavingMoneyBargains.com main website.

To receive more blog posts as soon as they’re published, please subscribe to this blog (click on the RSS feed button, then “subscribe to this feed”).

Piggy Bank image courtesy of: http://saintandrewscotia.org/ministries/parish-ministry/fundraising/

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By Daniel Ngandu, August 3, 2010 4:35 am

If you’re about to launch a business online, or you’ve already got your business and website up and running and need to promote it - how do you go about planning, scheduling and doing your daily and weekly Internet Marketing activities?

This depends on a number of factors:

• Whether this is your only business and job, or if you have another job to attend to,
• What size budget you have (although it is possible to start off doing Internet Marketing for free!),
• How many other people are available to help you (again, it is possible to do all or most of the initial Internet Marketing activities yourself),
• How much knowledge you have of marketing processes and tools.

You need to ensure that you get around to all of the activities you have chosen and planned every week, as far as is possible. Really, it is advisable to do some activities every day, even something small, because this helps you keep in touch with your business, keep up to date, and encourages regular working habits.

Your weekly Internet Marketing schedule

Here’s a suggested weekly schedule of Internet Marketing activities. Hopefully it will spark off some ideas for creating your own timetable. The activities you undertake may vary from this, because they depend of course on your own Internet Marketing strategy:

Monday: Create a new website/blog or social bookmark/lens page, or manage the existing sites you already have.
Tuesday: Write a new article or blog post, create a new video, or design your general social media posts for the week. Post your article/video to various relevant sites, such as your blog, article directories, your social networking sites, social bookmarking sites, etc.
Wednesday: Announce your new material via Twitter, Facebook/social networks, etc. If you have an opt-in list of subscribers/customers, send them an email telling them about your new material.
Thursday: Visit all the relevant forums and discussion sites where you are a member, and post answers to others’ questions. Make sure your forum signature is up to date with links to your websites/affiliate links.
Friday: Attend to your social media sites, update them, send general posts and messages. Or join a new social networking site and create a profile.
Saturday and Sunday: Rest-time/Family-time, or whatever you feel needs doing, depending on your available time. Maybe email catch-up time?
(Schedule adapted from Daily Niche Idea).

Online Automated Marketing Systems

These online systems can help make your online marketing efforts more efficient. They often include promotion tools like website splash pages or lead capture forms, email marketing tools including ready made auto-responder emails, a back-office for managing and interacting with your leads/prospects, and the chance to promote your own primary business as well as a number of affiliate products for additional income opportunities. They usually incorporate training on Internet Marketing and their system too. Sounds great, but do beware of some issues with these systems:

• The way they are set up is usually with a heavy bias towards their own branding and products, so in many cases you might find yourself marketing their system and tools (for which you’ll get commission of course), but your own business might not get the exposure or generate the sales they promise.
• As a result of the emphasis on their own branding, they usually won’t enable you to properly develop your own personal and business brand, without you utilizing additional more customizable and personalized promotion tools, like your own website or blog.  
• These systems can be expensive, charging a membership fee of around $20-$50 per month.
• Sometimes the membership fees exclude essential add-ons which are required to be integrated into the systems, like email marketing software, and these will be at additional cost.

Outsourcing

Of course you have the option to outsource some or all of your Internet Marketing activities, which will mean you accomplish more and free up some of your own time. It is often not expensive to outsource things like article writing, social media marketing, website and/or blog design and creation, etc – search online for the services you require. The cheapest source of services will usually be the freelance sites rather than the all-in-one online marketing companies.

In summary, whether your online business is the only job you do, or a source of supplementary income, you will need to view it seriously, treat it like a business, and pay attention to it, in order to grow it. Effort is definitely required in order to be successful!

If you’re interested in an automated online marketing system, check out New Rich Report. The great thing about this particular online system is that its free to join (unlike many others which can cost $20-$50 per month). It allows you to generate leads, attract customers and prospects, build your downline if you’re part of a Network Marketing/MLM business, and promote your primary business, products and services; as well as earn additional income from various relevant Internet Marketing and other products and services. All for free!

Please add a comment – we’d love to have your views - or visit the SavingMoneyBargains.com main website.

To receive more blog posts as soon as they’re published, please subscribe to this blog (via RSS feed).

Acknowledgement for pictures:
Marketing plan: http://bobgaboury.com/internet-marketing-plan-with-red-markers.php/

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By Daniel Ngandu, July 23, 2010 12:21 pm

Maybe you’ve chosen your online business, and are ready, set to go. Or you’re looking for a work from home business opportunity, but feel confused or unsure how to market your business on the internet. So, how exactly do you go about reaching those millions of customers who you know are out there, if only they knew about your product/service and website?

Perhaps you’ve done some research, listened to the ‘marketing gurus’ in webinars or videos, and read some stuff about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Back-Links, Blogging - but it can all seem quite overwhelming at first, because there seems to be so much to the topic of Internet Marketing.

Really, though, the concept of Internet Marketing is simple. It’s the actual activities that take time, dedication, effort, discipline and creativity. Like any other marketing promotion methods, strategy or campaign, Internet Marketing is simply about communicating with a certain set of prospects or customers, in a way that appeals to them, in places where they are, and offering them products/services that will attract them, at the right price. So let’s break this down, and look at the issues surrounding your customers first of all.

Getting to know your customers

Who are they? You need to think really carefully about who would be interested in buying what you’re selling. And don’t think too broadly, because there are almost 206 million websites and 6 billion people on this earth! You need to narrow down what you’re offering, who you’re offering it to, and think “Niche Market”. For example, it’s no good thinking your customers are “all shoppers” (even if you wish it so!), because there are far too many competitors on the web trying to reach the very same shoppers.

Rather think about how you can reach a segment of those shoppers, maybe shoppers looking for specific items at a specific time of their life cycles, such as older people wanting to buy new technology. Then try to narrow it down even further if you can, even if your business is promoting something that many others promote too (such as affiliate or network marketing products).

Google’s free Adwords Keyword Tool can be very useful for this purpose – you can look up search terms that internet surfers might use, and see the global and local monthly volume (the number of people searching for those items or information). This will help you tighten your target market definition.

Where and how can you reach these customers?

Next, you need to think about where, on the Internet, you can reach the people who you hope to turn into buyers. Think about where they might be – social networking/media sites such as Facebook, specific forums (such as for grandparents), discussion groups and online clubs, etc.

And if you’re wanting to set up social media profiles and pages, such as Facebook Groups or Fan Pages, you will need to ensure your Friends/Followers are relevant. In some social networking sites, it is possible to search for people on certain keywords, and then add those people. Usually they’ll agree to follow you/add you back, which means you’ll be able to send them group and individual messages. The beauty of using Social Media, such as social networking sites and forums, is that this method of reaching and communicating with your customers is free!

Obviously, there are also other methods of finding customers, such as listing your website in online directories and using free and paid classifieds and advertising, for example Google Adwords pay-per-click advertising.

In the next few blog posts, we’ll consider other Internet Marketing issues, such as marketing communications, your products and prices, the various online media and tools, and so on.

If you’re looking for a viable, novel and clever new online business idea, check out DubLi – it’s global, it’s easy to promote, customers love it, and there’s no stock for you to buy or distribute!

Please add a comment – we’d love to have your views - or visit the SavingMoneyBargains.com main website.

To get blog posts as soon as they’re published, please subscribe to this blog - simply click the Entries RSS button, top right.

‘Frustrated internet user’ Picture thanks to: http://www.bauer-power.net/2009_01_01_archive.html

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