There are so many ways to run a home business and so many
people telling which way is the right way, sometimes you
just get lost. Here are some simple suggestions that
continue to help me build my home business.
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Suggestion #1
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I'm a big fan of pay per click advertising. And Google
AdWords is my favorite PPC search engine. The reason is
simply that I can often get lots of traffic for a
reasonable price.
Too many people think that free traffic through search
engine optimization is the only way to go. And
alternatively, too many people think that PPC traffic is
the only way to go.
Well, there's nothing wrong with using both. By all means,
if you can get free traffic from search engines, then do
it. Nothing beats that. But you probably won't get all
the traffic you could get that way. There will probably
still be relevant keywords for which you're not getting
traffic.
PPC advertising will let you get traffic for any keywords
that are relevant to what you're advertising. And if I
can pay someone $1 and they'll pay me more than $1 in
return, then I consider that to be a good deal.
Download a free copy of my Google AdWords Checklist. If
you're not already a PPC wizard, then it will help you
streamline your PPC strategy. And I continue to update
it.
http://www.dave-brown.com/rawc.htmlOnce you have a Google AdWords campaign that's making
money, then you'll probably want to try it out on other
PPC search engines. Sometimes it will work out, and other
times it won't. But it's worth spending a few bucks to
give it a shot.
Kanoodle is one of fastest growing smaller PPC search
engines (Google and Overture are the two big ones). They
aren't competing with Google, but they're gaining ground
and adding more features to their system. I think they're
worth checking out. In fact, I have used them myself.
If you're ready to branch out, then you can get $5 of
clicks from Kanoodle at absolutely no cost. You can try
them out before you even get out your wallet. Just click
the link below to give 'em a whirl.
http://www.dave-brown.com/rkanoodle.html----------
Suggestion #2
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The biggest obstacle for me in doing business online has
been, and probably always will be, coming up with ideas
for what to do. What can I offer people that they will be
willing to pay me for? That's always the question on my
mind. As time goes on, I come up with more and more
answers, but it's never easy.
And I know that this is the major problem that many other
people face because I'm constantly hearing people talk
about it.
Perhaps the thing that's helped me answer this question
the most is going to conferences and seminars. I think
I've benefited from this more than anything else I've
spent money on.
Conferences help because each speaker usually talks for an
hour or more about something that they do. Granted,
sometimes a speaker just pitches you for an hour. But
usually a speaker offers at least one good idea. But this
is probably the least important aspect of conferences.
Conferences help because you actually have the opportunity
to talk with the speakers and ask them questions. You
might have to be persistent to get your chance at a large
conference. But if you have specific questions, these are
usually the people to answer them.
Conferences help because you have the opportunity to speak
with all of the other attendees. Sometimes this might be
25 people, and sometimes it might be several hundred.
These are good people to talk with. They paid good money
to be there, so they're probably pretty serious about what
they do. You can learn from them. You can come up with
new ideas by talking with them. Sometimes you can even
form a profitable partnership.
Conferences help because you get to meet people who are
doing what you want to do. Assuming you haven't hit the
big time yet, you'll meet people at conferences who have.
And you'll find out that it really is possible. And
they're just regular people like you. There's nothing more
motivating.
Conferences help because they get your brain going in
overdrive. Without exception, every time I come home from
a conference, I have 1001 thoughts racing through my
head. It's often the time that I come up with my best
ideas. I can't explain exactly why this happens, but the
atmosphere just does it to you.
Of course, not everyone should attend a conference. I
believe you have to be in the right frame of mind. You
have to be eager to succeed and hungry for ideas. If
that's not where you are right now, then right now is not
the right time.
But there are plenty of conferences continually happening,
so you'll always have the chance when you're ready.
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Suggestion #3
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Still on the topic of coming up with profitable ideas,
there are less expensive ways than attending conferences.
Something that never fails to get my mind going is a
membership site that I've subscribed to for probably nine
months or so. Corey Rudl's Secrets To Their Success.
http://www.dave-brown.com/rstts.htmlIn case you're not familiar with it, Corey interviews
people who have achieved success online, and he posts
these very extensive interviews to the site. Two new
interviews each month. But you also get access to all of
the previous interviews, and there are tons of them.
Honestly, I still haven't read them all as long as I've
been a member.
This is one of the very best sites where you can see just
how many different ways people are doing business online.
There are people doing things that you would never
imagine. And when I read these interviews, I always start
thinking about things that I probably wouldn't have ever
thought of otherwise.
So if you want to expand your thinking, then check it out.
http://www.dave-brown.com/rstts.htmlIf you're serious about building a successful business
online but you're still having trouble getting off the
launching pad, then you should have at least one more good
idea now than you did 10 minutes ago.
About the Author
Dave Brown is a self-taught marketer and software developer. He also publishes the uncommon and uniquely original newsletter on making the most of your life - A Fresh Perspective. You can learn more at
http://www.dave-brown.com
