How to Succeed in Business by Jennifer Stewart

Quick Tip

Greetings,

No doubt about it, we all want to succeed, not just in business, but in everything we do and this week's issue focuses on how you can stack the odds in favour of success. My article explores the three key elements you need to succeed on the Web and the Quick Tip offers valuable advice on a simple way you can ensure every day starts and finishes the right way.

Here's an item I received this week from Masha Geller:

With the economy dangerously close to a recession, it was
only a matter of time before someone took it upon himself to
raise the waning morale of all Internet enthusiasts. That
someone is the biggest Internet optimist of them all,
Iconocast's Michael Tchong. And if you've ever had the good
fortune to attend one of his conferences, you know he's not
one to do things quietly or simply.

So mark your calendar - April 3 is Michael Tchong's Crusade
Day, or as he calls it, "Take Back the Net Day." In an email
he sent to tens of thousands of people on his Iconocast list,
he's asking web users worldwide to show their appreciation of
this growing medium by purchasing something online, donating
to an online charity, or buying stock in their favorite
online company.

Here are Michael's instructions for April 3rd: First and
foremost, avoid offline retail stores. Buy something online -
visit your favorite online store and make at least one
purchase. If you prefer, donate to your favorite charity
online. "This budding industry still needs your support,"
Michael writes. "Remember your positive Internet experiences
and on April 3, buy 10 shares in a company you admire."
Michael says your participation will send a signal to Wall
Street that Netizens will not abandon their favorite medium.

Will a crusade really perk up the industry? Hard to tell. But
at least instead of whining about how bad things are, Michael
is out there trying to do something uplifting. And in that
spirit, let's all "Take Back the Net" on April 3.

Masha E. Geller http://www.mediapost.com

Sounds like a great idea to me - if you read this week's Quick tip, you'll notice that it focuses on the same thing - taking control of your own success and happiness. C'mon everyone, let's all do something for ourselves and spread the word about "Take Back the Net" Day on April 3. Forward this newsletter to your friends and tell them about how we can all save the day :)

Regards,

Jennifer 

~ * ~

(value over $2,000)

How to Succeed in Business

By Jennifer Stewart 

A few years back, there was a musical and then a movie called, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – it was, of course, fiction, because to succeed in business, or anything else for that matter, you do have to try.

You have to try, you have to plan and you have to work. But when you’re doing it for yourself, it’s more like fun than work. Ask anyone who has built a successful business and you’ll hear the same response, "I do it because I love it!" The money, the prestige, the material trappings are bonuses.

All the experts agree that to succeed on the Web there are three key areas you have to address:

You need a product that people want, that people need and that exceeds their expectations.

You need a site that tells customers what they want to hear, not what you want them to know.

You need to attract those visitors who want your product.

Let’s take a quick look to see how you can develop (or acquire) a product that meets the needs of a significant market; build a site that helps visitors decide they must have your product and then attract hordes of potential customers who are begging you to take their money!

Surveys of online behaviour have consistently shown that the ten most popular activities on the Web are (in order):

1. searching for information on the search engines
2. reading news and sport
3. finding work
4. learning something new
5. downloading software
6. finding out about travel
7. chatting
8. investing and making money
9. playing games
10. shopping

These same surveys have also revealed that the most bought products are hardware and software, books and magazines, travel, music, and investment choices (i.e. advice and information).

When asked why they shopped online, customers cited the following:

• convenience
• no pressure from sales representatives
• quick
• ease of access to information
• availability of reviews of products and recommendations.

Armed with this knowledge, you can now look for a product that you know people want – and what do they want more than anything else?

Information!

People want to find out how to build a website, a boat, a dolls’ house; they want to know how to make candles from beeswax, how to fix their lawn mower, how to buy a diamond. They’re interested in knowing how to tell a fake piece of art from the real thing, what to look for when buying a used car and how far it is to the moon.

In other words, no matter what you know, you can guarantee that someone, somewhere would love to learn from you.

Information sells on the Web and there are some excellent books and programs that will help you unlock your knowledge and make it accessible to others.

Look back at the five reasons why people buy online ... then make sure your site offers each.

Convenience: that means your site must be easy to navigate – most good programs have something similar to the Shared Borders feature in FrontPage to allow you to have the same nav bars on every page. Don’t change the order of links, this just confuses your visitors and makes them angry.

If your visitors have arrived at your page from a link that promises them a free report on What to See in Kakadu National Park, make sure the report is there. Don’t make them click on three more links to find it and don’t make them search up and down your page to find the link – use a bookmark to send them directly to the spot.

No Pressure: we all know how annoying it is to be pestered by an over-eager sales rep when we’re still "just looking;" his/her counterpart on the Web is the pop-up window that demands we subscribe to a newsletter, download a trial program, visit another site etc etc.

Forms that require in-depth information about our income, address, occupation and so on also fall into this category. If you’re offering a free report, newsletter subscription etc, all you need is an email address and possibly the person’s name. Once you have these, you can build up a rapport over time and then request more details if absolutely necessary.

Quick: the great thing about shopping online is that you don’t have to waste time travelling to the shops, finding a parking spot and standing in lines. It’s a time saver.

So make sure your page loads quickly – there are numerous articles which outline the do’s and don’ts of web page design.

Ease of access to information: the Internet allows you to put up unlimited information about your product – make sure you have enough to cater for all interest levels. Some would-be buyers just want to know how big and how much; others will want to know all the specifications – have this information available.

Put the basic details on the main page with links to the extra information (include photos, diagrams etc) – whatever is appropriate for your particular product.

Include a Frequently Asked Questions page, where you can give answers to all those typical questions people ask and satisfy your customer’s concerns immediately.

Reviews and recommendations: everyone feels more comfortable about buying something that’s been recommended, so include a page of testimonials from real past customers (include full names, company names, location etc). You can include links to that past customer’s website if you wish but don’t include email addresses.

If your product has been reviewed by an independent person, include the comments – this adds a great deal of credibility to your product.

Have short extracts to each of these on your main page, with links to the full review or testimonial.

Building a site like this will help your business succeed; the third area involves attracting targeted buyers to your site once you’ve built it and the best way to do this is through listing with the search engines.

You can read more about how to make the search engines love your site and the best ways to utilise this traffic building bargain of the millennium by clicking here: http://www.write101.com/letters/site.htm

P.S. If the spelling of words like ‘utilise’ in this article worried you, please read this: http://www.write101.com/aus.htm

Jennifer Stewart is a professional writer who offers copy writing, proof reading and editing services for businesses and individuals. She has undertaken a variety of assignments - writing articles for ezines and the print media; preparing award submissions for business clients; copy writing and proof reading works of non-fiction; editing web pages and ebooks, and much more. Get help with writing your sales letters here: http://www.write101.com/letters/sales.htm Subscribe to FREE, weekly Writing Tips to improve your writing: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

~ * ~

Don't click here if you always get swamped with replies to your sales letters http://www.write101.com/letters/sales.htm 

Quick Tip (sent in by Sara)

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say: When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today.

"You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.

"I choose to be in a good mood.

"Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

"Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter, " Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'he's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 

"Yes, I replied." The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity."

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." 

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

_________

And isn't that the truth?

First impressions are important - your website must present a professional image if your visitors are going to stay long enough to explore what you have to offer. You can have your site professionally edited (for spelling, punctuation and grammar), while you get on with what you do best - taking care of business! Click now for details: http://www.write101.com/webit.htm

~ * ~

To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to Specials3-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com or go to the  web site, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Specials3 This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode.

Home | Contact | Order | Site Map |Subscribe   

Copyright 2006 Jennifer Stewart Write101.com