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How To Pick Target Market For Your Product

On e of the successful way to make money is to create a product or service that people want and need. Second most important thing is to find and target those people who might be right customer for your offering. Not easy, but here are some ways to target these customers who are potential buyers for your product.

How to Select Target Market For Your Product:

Successful marketing is the combined result of a number of clearly spelt-out strategies for identifying the target market, apart from other niche segments,  and implementing them with conviction and commitment to both these steps, and the constituents of the market itself. The term target does specify the thrust areas to focus one’s marketing efforts, but does not exclude others. The pattern or sequence of the thrust, applied one at a time, does perhaps ensure concentration of efforts and the feasibility to see positive results, for review and modification in the next target area.

One added advantage is that, the marketing team can study in depth, the intrinsic structure, language and specific features of the target  market and decide on individually suited actions and thus maximize the returns. However this ten step ladder to success is a compilation of simple down-to earth basics, in the definition and identification of the target and its features.

Identify problems specific to the target group: Each target group is bound to have some specific issues, and hence it is all the more necessary to address the thrust efforts on that. In this way the positive multiplier effect could prove extremely beneficial to the marketing team’s objectives.

Study the Structure: Each target group possesses a pattern, and the marketing team should know the composition of the people, their ages, earning capacities and working preferences, to be able to apply the proper marketing tools and techniques.

Identify the sub-groups: Within the main group, a number of sub-groups could exist and it is imperative for the marketing efforts to be aligned to suit such sub targets, examples are high percentage of skiers, pop music enthusiasts, farmers and so on.

Familiarity of the product specific to the group: How much or less informed, the target group is about the marketed product or service plays an important role in the marketing team’s efforts to target the group.

Connected organizations: The presence of connected organizations who could impact on the buying practices of the members of the target group is a key factor, which needs to be taken cognizance of, in determining the applicability of certain marketing strategies, to that group.

Matching between target group and marketing team:  How familiar is one’s team with reference to the target group, in respect of marketing this or that product/service, and how past experiences  can throw light on the need for specific steps within the thrust.

Role of media: What are the specific roles played by different media segments, newspapers, weeklies, websites and the nuances of each one of them within the target group.

Operating Pulse: Each target group has a natural frequency, what is it or what is the range, so that the marketing teams’ efforts will gel with that of the group.

Extraneous Influences: Outside influencing agents can exist, and it would be worth everything to know who they are, and what is their level of expertise or skills, such that suitable marketing strategies can be realigned.

Specific Idiosyncrasies: Each target has some unique features, and the marketing team would be greatly benefited to know how well they would be liked or equipped to deal with the group in all their activities.

The big question is still how to identify the target group, and after that the bigger question is how to effectively combine and apply these steps for successful marketing overall.

Email Marketing Tip: Make Money With Second Wave Of Sales

Email Markting Tips: How to Open the Door to a Second Wave of Sales

By Amanda Gagnon

Click. Creeeaaak!

That’s the sound of a subscriber opening your last marketing email – and opening a mental door to more information on that particular subject.

Then there’s that other sound: the silence. That’s a subscriber who didn’t open their door this time.

In one scenario, you got to share some information. In the other, you didn’t. But in both, you’re still standing on the doorstep. So what to do next?

Make the Most of Your Doorstep Status

In either case, if you shrug and walk away, you’ve given up. Stick around and follow up. Sending a second email based on who opened and who didn’t can prompt a second wave of purchases.

This is called behavioral targeting: responding to subscribers’ behavior to get more response from the list and promotions you already have in place. It’s so effective, 71% of our customers report that they plan to do more of it in upcoming months.

And it’s easy as 1-2-3 clicks. AWeber’s new QuickStats show you just who did and didn’t open each email. Follow up with each group with the steps outlined here.

Don’t Just Stand There – Go In!

Your marketing emails probably cover a myriad of topics. For example, if you own a restaurant, you might promote your menu, your wine selection and your catering service.

When you see people consistently open messages about one of these things, you’ve found your niche for that particular topic. Follow up with them!

Source: Aweber Open door tips

  • If they’ve shown interest in a product you’re advertising, put together a compelling reason to purchase with a call to take the next step.
  • If they usually open the emails you send about a particular topic, go more in-depth. Provide helpful details, tell background stories.
  • Explain where you hope to take things, and ask questions. These are your interested customers. These are the people who know most about the topic and will have the most helpful feedback to give.

How to Knock at the Unopened Doors

Sometimes, it’s not anything you did. Your readers are swamped with work or on vacation or their lives have changed and they’re no longer interested.

And sometimes they just aren’t gripped by what they see in the inbox.

So try again. Let a little time go by to make sure you aren’t sending into the same circumstances. Then change the way you present the content and resend it to just the people who didn’t open it.

Here are some suggestions for changing the presentation:

  • If your email is a newsletter that covers several topics, the one your subject line mentioned the first time might not be the most interesting to your readers. Choose a different subject as the primary content and change your subject line accordingly.
  • If your email covers just one topic, try changing the subject line. Think about what problem or question someone might have that your email answers, and highlight that.

If Knocking Doesn’t Work, Ring the Doorbell

You might notice that some of your subscribers haven’t opened a message in a long time. These are fatigued subscribers. They’ve checked out, but they haven’t left the building yet.

Ask them to stay by sending them emails designed for reactivation.

Knocking Around the Block

There are also messages you could send to follow up with subscribers who clicked (or didn’t click) on your links and who purchased (or didn’t purchase) from your emails. We’ll be talking about those in the next few weeks, so keep your eyes open!

Do you send messages to subscribers based on whether or not they opened previous emails? What do you send them?

Click here to try Aweber Risk Free for $1

How To Split Testing: More Sales

Every marketer knows tricks to generate more sale is to do split testing. How does one do it and what does it involve. Here we will take a look at the 3 steps to generate more sales by split testing and how to steps.  Email marketing it finest when it done right.

eMail Marketing: 3 Steps to More Sales By Split Testing

By Amanda Gagnon

Take a look at that last promotion you sent. Go ahead, open it up.

How is your subject? Interesting enough to open? How about your call to action? So intriguing that you want to click it?

Good! But opens and clicks only measure interest. They’re not your end goal.

Your goal is to make sales. It’s the revenue from customer purchases that keeps you afloat. So a broadcast’s true worth can be measured in the sales it generates.

The trick is finding out how to put the message together in a way that prompts the most purchases. With a little setup, you can do this right in your AWeber account.

Step 1: Set Up Sales Tracking

First, you’ll need to make sure you’re tracking the purchases subscribers are making in response to each broadcast.

You can do this with sales tracking. If you’ve already set this up, skip to step 2. If you haven’t yet, head over to our Knowledge Base and follow these steps.

Once you’re ready, it’s time for…

Step 2: Tweak Your Promotional Broadcast

Start with your original broadcast design. The goal is to see if a different version will sell more, so you’ll need to create that other version.

To get started, take a look at:

  • Your call to action. Is your design eye-catching enough? Would different words be more compelling? Should it move above the fold (the point where readers need to scroll to see more)?
  • Your text-to-image ratio. Experts recommend a blend of 60% text to 40% images to illustrate your message while avoiding spam traps.
  • Your preheader. Do you have a whitelisting request? A link to your newsletter online? An unsubscribe link?
  • Your format. Are you using the best layout for your content? Or should you try one of these options instead?
  • Your images and copy. Are you presenting your product or service in the best possible light? Or would your readers respond better to something else?

Step 3: Split Test For the Winning Design

To figure out which design will generate more sales, use the broadcast split testing feature in your account. This sends each version to a randomly selected, equally sized audience so you’ll get the most accurate results.

After the broadcasts go out, follow the QuickStats for each version to keep track of sales. (Just click on the subject on the Broadcast page to see how they’re doing.)

Once you have the winning version, you know what design to use for future promotions!

How Likely Are You to Follow These Steps?

Does setting up sales tracking and a split test sound like something you’re likely to do?

If it does, what changes do you think you’ll test? We’d love to hear about your results!

If not, what’s standing in your way?

Want to try email marketing: Try Aweber for $1 right now.

Free Blogging Tools

When you are starting out on blogging, many of us are short on money. It is said we need to spend money to make money and it is true to certain degree as having right web tools and blog software can sure enhances chances of success with hard work. You can start off with free resources at first and add right tools as you see fit to make your blog successful.

Free Blog Platform:

We started on free blog platform and can tell you from experience that hosting you own site is best way in long run. Most hosting cost $7 or less and worth it. However, we wanted to pointed out a few free ways to get you started blogging.

  • Free Blogger : Starting a blog on blogger platform is very easy, all you will need is a gmail account and you are way.
  • WordPress.com : This free wordpress platform is great but does not let you add any advertisements

Free Blog Tool:

  • Feedburner.com : Feedburner is a Free tool to manage your RSS and email Subscribers
  • Google Analytics : Google Analytic is Free service to monitor your traffic and visitor statistics to your blog or website.

Free Video and Audio Tutorial:

Note: Some videos may or may not be available to view. As it is not on my site, I can not control it. However, there is a transcript of the video still available to read, so check it out.

Free Plugins:

Free Plugins : Part 1
Free Plugins : Part 2
Free WordPress Plugins

Free Themes:

Blog Related Services for Free

If you want to promote any products and make an affiliate commission, you can use

  • E-junkie Shopping Cart and Digital Delivery> for Free.
  • Join shareasale.com, Earn Cash!

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Make Money With Email List: How to Use Words Properly

As a website owner or blogger, you may decide one that having a email list is best way to generate an income. Perhaps, you have decided to give away free ebooks or create a landing page for your product and wondering why sales are not impressive or no one is signing up for you newsletter. It could be your words. below are some tips if you are using aweber email list.

aweber2Try Aweber Email Marketing Risk Free

How To Use Words Properly in email List:

You write words in your marketing emails. Many or few, you use them to communicate your ideas.

But you don’t write words to communicate alone. You write them to request an action. Sometimes it’s subscribing, responding, purchasing – whatever you want readers to do.

The words that carry most of the weight of the request are the few at the end, where you normally provide a link to proceed: your call to action. This is the decision point. The words you use here could sway readers either way.

So how can you know which ones to use? You can guess, based on your own preferences. Or you can know for sure by running a split test.

A Case of Textual Turn-Off

The Cabot Heritage Corporation, a stock advisory, ran a split test on two opt-in buttons. The buttons were identical in design and location. The difference was in the wording: one read “Send My Free Report”; the other, “Start My Free Subscription.”

Just two words changed, but that change had a powerful effect. The “subscription” button decreased conversions by 22.9% in the span of just two days.

What Happened Here?

Different words trigger different associations, and those can make or break the response.

In the above case, it looks like readers associated “send my report” with a single contact and “subscription” with regular communication, requiring more commitment.

But your readers’ responses will partly depend on your subject and the relationship you already have. The phrase that crashed and burned for Cabot Heritage might take your opt-in rate soaring.

That’s why you need to test for yourself. But when you do, don’t forget to…

Think About the Long Run

In Cabot Heritage’s test, it looks like people preferred the idea of one mailing to regular updates. But whichever button they pushed, they were added to the same mailing list.

It would be interesting to see how people who didn’t expect regular mailings reacted when they started getting them. Did the unsubscribe and spam report rates go up with the opt-in rate?

When choosing the words you want to test, keep in mind that you need to set correct expectations. A well-informed subscriber is a happy subscriber.

How To Test Your Call to Action

Your first step is to write several options that set those expectations and fit the usual “voice” of your brand – how you usually represent your brand in writing.

There are several approaches you could take:

You could go with a simple directive.
You could put words in the subscriber’s mouth.
You could restate the benefits that the subscriber will get.

Once you’ve designed a few options, split test them against each other. (If you use AWeber, here’s how to test your web forms and your broadcasts.) Soon you’ll know just what phrase calls your audience to action best.

Who Answers When You Call?

Are you getting the response you want from your calls to action? Are the subscribers you collect interested and engaged? Do they click and purchase?

Have you split test your call to action in the past? How could you test it now for an even better response?

Share your thoughts below!

By Amanda Gagnon Source:  Do your Words scare people?

How To Make Money: 50 Great Ideas

Ways to Make Money

Many of us are working at a job for pay bills and save money for the retirement. However, after paying bills, insurance and daily spending very little is left for many people. Right now with economy being down, many people are laid off, or getting paid less in their current job.

Many of us are looking for ways to make money on side to boost our income a little or a lot. There are a few ways which are relatively easy for any of us to make extra money. Now, none of us will be able to retire with these ideas or be a millionaire, but it will sure increase a nice boost to your income. Check it out, many are easy to do for any of us.

Ways to Make Money In Hurry

50 Ways to Make Money

Here are 50 ways to make money and boost your earning income to comfortable level.

  1. Do online surveys. Many online surveys pays as little as 10 cents to 5 dollars. There are many surveys are out there to try it out. Beware of the one that asks for fee, try only free surveys sites. You can do surveys online or via email.
  2. Sell things from home which are not using. You can sell your stuff on craigslist, ebay or amazon. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. You can make good amount depending on type of stuff you have. If you have any collectibles items, you can make good money. A friend of mine sold his baseball cards to make $950, not bad for something sitting in his closet. Sell only things you do not care for or not interested in.
  3. Offer to drive someone around for little pay. Sometimes you can drop off people to airport, or pick up groceries for them and some of them will pay you $5-$20 for it.
  4. Lawn mowing: Go around in neighborhood and ask them if the need lawn mowing done. You can go with a buddy and clean up yard for $20-$50 per yard.
  5. Have a garage sale for unwanted items, specially in spring and summer month. You will get rid of clutter at home and make money at the same time.
  6. Clean houses, sure it is not glamorous but cleaning house for a couple hours can make you $70-$150. Most of the area people need cleaned are bathroom and kitchen. If the house is super messy, you can ask for more money for it.
  7. Give Blood, many blood banks are always looking for blood donation. It can be helpful to someone and you can make some money out of it. Check out everything before you donate your blood.
  8. Write for online places such as hubpages or squidoo. You can make some money while writing about things you know. You do not need to be a great writer, good enough writer will do. Click here to join HubPages and Squidoo here. It is free to join.
  9. Baby sit your neighbor or relative’s kids. If you like kids that is the great job to do. If you get a babysitter license, you can watch kids at your home and make a good full time income from watching 2-5 kids at home at once. Not bad.
  10. Pick up service: Pick up children from school service is great as many parents are still at work when kids gets off the school. Parents need someone to pick up kids from school, and drive them home and spend couple of hours with them until they get home. These kids are usually older and can take care of themselves so it is good potential of making extra money.
  11. Start blogging, you will not make money right away as it takes sometimes but blogging can be a good income source for many if done right.
  12. Rent a room in your house, if you have an extra room that you are not using. That is great way to have income coming in without doing much work. You can set some rules as you see fit for your lifestyle such as no smoking inside the house, no late parties and so on. You can rent room for $200 to $700 per month, depending on where you live.
  13. Teach English to adults and kids. Many times people want to learn proper English and you can teach them and it is a good way to supplement your income.
  14. Paint street and house numbers: These painters have a block to paint numbers for street or house number and you can make $10 or more for painting each house on curb side. I recently paid someone $15 for my place and found out this can be done by anyone.
  15. Recycle metal, cans and make extra money. If you are using lot of cans and metals, you can take it to recycle and make some money by doing it.
  16. Paint houses, lot of people are looking for someone to do the work of painting the house. Painting house is relatively easy once you move the furniture and have supply at hand. It can be a great boost for additional income when money is tight.
  17. Upload Pictures: If you love taking pictures, put your pictures in photo sharing sites, some of them you can earn money if someone decides to download it and use it for their website or print media.
  18. Write for others: Many people are not great writers and looking to buy articles they need in specific niche subject, you can earn money by writing for demand studios or about.com.
  19. Freelance your Talent: You can always look for odesk, freelancer sites to see what are people looking in services, if you can provide those services that is a great way to make easy cash money.
  20. Sell your hair for cash. Many people need real human for making wigs. If you have a long hair you can sell it for money, and your hair eventually will grow again in no time.
  21. Take dogs for walk services. Many people are too busy to take their dogs for walk, if you have time and like being with dogs, then this is a great way to get outdoor and make some money along with it.
  22. Deliver newspapers: There are still many people who are getting newspaper delivered to their homes. You can do small or large route and make money delivering newspaper as an adult too.
  23. Fix computers for others: If you are computer savvy and know lot of installing and fixing minor computer problems, this has a great potential as many people are looking for ways to get help for computer related problems.
  24. Invest in stocks: If you know what you are doing and know your stuff well with help for right people, tools, you can make good money in stocks. I am still learning but I know a friend who has made a good profit playing the stock market wave.
  25. Sell your gold and Jewelry: Many of us have gold stuff that we do not use or care for, selling it to a reputable company can bring some cash to you. Do research before sending your gold anywhere.
  26. Land your voice: If you have a great radio voice, you can do voice over for many companies or individuals. Good and easy way to make extra income.
  27. Odd jobs as needed: One can shovel the snow, washing a car, cleaning a rain gutter, small handyman type of job will help make extra income in short amount of time on side.
  28. Help people move: If you have a van or truck, you can be hired locally to move stuff for people and you can charge people by mile or amount of stuff they have.
  29. Become a mystery shopper: Mystery shopping can be fun, as you can shop or dine to check out the services and file a report. Generally you do not get paid for items unless they are food in restaurant. Generally you will get paid $10-$20 per project. Look for mystery shopping opportunity near you.
  30. Deliver Phone Books: You can deliver phone books to various neighborhood to supplement your income.
  31. Start a small business from home: If you have some ideas for a business, start one from home, alone or with a friend. There are many business ideas to choose from, go with what you know.
  32. Savings account: Put your saving goals in high interest yielding account to make easy passive money.
  33. Create a CD ladder: Here is a idea on how to create a CD ladder to earn more money from your interest on your savings.
  34. Reward Card to earn extra: If you use credit card, use reward cards that gives back percentage of spent amount of mileage for traveling, it is a great way to earn money from something you use anyways.
  35. Tutoring kids for various subject such as math, science, reading or something you know.
  36. Teach music: if you know how to play piano or how to play guitar, giving lessons from home can boost earning for you.
  37. Search for bonus and freebies for signing up. Many times, banks and other companies may offer some bonus or freebie to open up an account for you, some time as high as $100, look for these deals.
  38. Write an ebook on subject your know well of and sell it online.
  39. Look for missing money and where is my refund sites to check if you have any money in it that you can claim.
  40. Deliver Pizza; Most people order pizzas Fridays and in weekend, so if you get a part time job during that time, you can earn some money plus make some extra on tips as well.
  41. Do car valet services: you can offer to park cars for popular restaurants, hotels or resort and make good money on income and tips.
  42. Sell bottled water and cookies during fair and cultural event for profit.
  43. Sell your nicer stuff on consignment stores; Nicer clothes or nice stuff can be sold for higher prices at consignment store.
  44. Use cashCrate for making some extra money.
  45. Become a reseller: Get free or cheap stuff from friends and resell it at higher price, after repairing and updating the pieces.
  46. House sitting: Taking care of house related stuff while owners are short or long term vacation can be a great boost of income as well it can be free rent for you.
  47. Be a guinea pig: Many times when new drug or product comes out, the pharmaceutical companies need to test the outcome, so if you are brave enough you can check out these opportunities for easy money for a few hours or long term work.
  48. Sewing and alterations services: If you know how to sew and have a sewing machine at home, you can do small to big job or sewing new clothes, pillow cases, curtains and so on and you can make money doing alterations for expensive clothing for many people.
  49. Be a Nanny: Nanny job is different than babysitting, as you will be watching only one family kids either at their home or yours. Many times, these nanny job comes with free rent, food and income to stay with the family.
  50. Adult Daycare services: Many times elderly people or people who are sick need looking after and there are many opportunity out there for adult day care service jobs.

Check out more money making ideas and how to implement it in your life by check out our Home Business Blog and Starting a Website step by step instruction.

Turbo Tax For Home and Business + Efile + State 2013 + Bonus Offer

turbotaxTurboTax Home and Business Fed + Efile + State

I have been using turbo tax for many years. It is the Best product on the market and makes doing taxes a jiffy. Whether you’re doing a simple return or a complicated one with real estate, business, and stock sake transactions Turbo Tax makes it simple.
Why pay an accountant to do your taxes when they will just use this product to do your returns and not spend as much time and save money in process. This version has new updated new tax and health care laws updated behind the scenes so you do not have to worry.

State preparation and printing is included in this version. State E-File is available at an additional charge. According to TurboTax’s website, you can do following for your home business taxes for 2013.

Get Your Taxes Done Right with TurboTax

TurboTax coaches you every step of the way, double checks your return and answers any questions you may have, so you can be confident you’re getting your maximum refund.

  • Customized to your situation. TurboTax treats you as an individual and provides an experience tailored to you by searching for the latest deductions and credits based on your job, family, and life.
  • Up-to-date with the latest tax and healthcare laws, so you know you’re covered and won’t miss a thing.
  • TurboTax has experts to help and support you, so you know you won’t get stuck if you have a question.
  • TurboTax helps keep your return safe by flagging areas that might trigger an audit. If anything does come up, TurboTax tells you how to fix it. Plus, audit support tools give you access to step-by-step guidance on what to do if the IRS contacts you.

Everything You Need to Easily Do Your Personal and Business Taxes

  • Extra guidance for new businesses – shows startup tax deductions new businesses can take.
  • Customizes questions and provides guidance based on your business profile (sole-proprietor, consultant, 1099 contractor, and single-owner LLC).
  • Helps find all small business tax deductions and shows you which expenses you can deduct for your vehicle, supplies, utilities, home office expenses, and more.
  • Walks you through industry-specific tax write-offs to help you spot commonly-overlooked deductions.
  • Finds your biggest vehicle deduction by showing whether you’ll get a bigger deduction using actual expenses or the standard mileage rate.
  • Extra help for splitting vehicle expenses between business and personal use.
  • Shows you all business income types on a single page so you know you’ve covered all sources of business income reported on Schedule K-1, Schedule Q, and Schedule C.
  • Helps you prepare unlimited W-2 and 1099 forms for employees and contractors. Does all calculations and prints on plain paper with no special forms needed. Mac users must have Internet access to create W-2 and 1099 forms.
  • Simplifies asset depreciation and helps you determine which depreciation method will get you your biggest deduction. TurboTax Home & Business + Federal E-file + State includes all the great features of TurboTax Premier plus a download of one TurboTax State Product. State E-filing extra.

No Tax Knowledge Needed

  • Guides you step by step, asks you simple questions about your life and business and puts this information in the right place for you.
  • Accurately transfers last year’s tax info so no retyping is necessary. You can also import from other tax stores and software including TaxACT and H&R Block at Home (Windows via .tax and .pdf; MAC via .pdf).
  • Up-to-date on all tax-related laws and automatically updates to reflect changes, including the new healthcare laws.

Get Back All the Money You Deserve

  • The Deduction Maximizer searches over 400 deductions and credits and finds those that apply to you based on your unique situation or business.
  • Extra guidance for homeowners for things like: mortgage interest, property taxes, refinancing fees, points, and improvements to your home’s energy efficiency.
  • Its Deductible (included) helps you accurately value items donated to charity. Plus, it tracks other donations such as cash, mileage, and stocks, to help you get every tax deduction you’re entitled to.
  • Five free Federal E-Files are included. Returning users can transfer their tax information from their previous year’s return.

Your taxes, Done Right

  • Automatically double checks your return for errors so you can be confident your taxes are done right.
  • TurboTax shows your tax refund in real time. The Dual Refund Monitor constantly displays and updates both your federal and state refunds (or taxes due) as you complete your federal return.
  • Receive email confirmation once your return has been accepted by the IRS.
  • TurboTax is so confident your return will be accurate, they guarantee it1.

There to Back You Up

  • TurboTax experts are standing by to help if you need it, so you can be confident your taxes are done right.
  • Free product help from TurboTax Agents available via phone or live chat2.
  • TurboTax CPAs and EAs are ready to answer your toughest tax questions by phone (fees may apply).2
  • Free online audit support tools provide you extra assistance.
  • The Audit Risk Meter checks your tax return for common audit triggers and provides tips to help you reduce your chance of an audit.

TurboTax Home & Business was designed to help you take full advantage of your personal and business deductions so you get your biggest tax refund possible.

Choose TurboTax Home & Business if any of the following apply to you:

  • You are a sole proprietor, consultant, 1099 contractor, or single-owner LLC
  • You receive income from a side job or self-employment
  • You prepare W-2 and 1099-MISC forms for employees or contractors
  • You file your personal and business taxes together

If you prepare an S Corp, partnership, C Corp, Fiduciary, or multiple-owner LLC return, choose TurboTax Business.

Click here to download:  TurboTax Home and Business Fed + Efile + State           

Freelancing: How to start a Web Designer Gig

Laid off? Can Not find a job?

I have a good friend, who lost his job in dot com bust in silicon valley and then again in 2009 down economy. Steve is great at technical stuff and overall smart and hardworking guy in real life like many who got laid off around that time.

No matter how hard he worked to send resumes and phone interviews, he was unlucky to find a job. He was simply unlucky, after 3 months of not having an income , he was bored and frustrated to say the least.

Steve designed a website for me in his free time and he did a great job that other people started to like these simple jobs and now he is working from home, making websites and web designs for others. When you have driven past Steve’s apartment, the last few months, you may have noticed that his Honda Civic is usually in the driveway. That is because Steve now works at home with some of his friends and they are freelancer for anyone who may need web design work, logo work and so on.

How to be a Web Designer Freelancer

If you love web design and are technical savvy, you might just be perfect for web designer jobs at big companies as a staff designer like many people. However, if you like to be your own boss or not finding a job like my friend, you may want to look in to freelancing web design jobs.

Now with web presence for everything, web design is key ingredient for many big, small business to have a web presence. It is not only lucrative, but it also gives you freedom of starting your own small web design business. I am simply not good at web design, creating custom logo, coding css and html codes, I know little stuff but when it comes to big issues, I call my friend to help me. Two of my sites are designed by him and you can check out his company with his other friends at .

There are a few Benefits of Web Designer Freelancing

  1. Freedom to work from home
  2. Freedom to work anytime, as web design can be done at anytime.
  3. You can be your own boss or work for big Company as a web designer.
  4. Once you make name for yourself, business will be word of mouth and keep coming
  5. You can set your own rate for charging the web design fees as long as they are reasonable.
  6. Flexible work hours, waking up late can be okay

Possible downside of Freelancing:

  1. Until you established your self there might be no income coming in
  2. Even if you get a project, it might not be steady income
  3. Sometimes you need to do rush project, working 80 hours a week
  4. Self discipline is needed to be motivated when working from home.
  5. Social life can be lonely being working from home

What are Available Resources for Web Designer Freelancing?

So, if you decided that you want to start a freelancing job, what are the resources available to you? Some sites can bring you lot of potential clients and opportunities.

Some of the best sites you can find potential clients and advertise your services are;

elance.com

freelancer.com

Some sites may charge to place your ads in it, some are free. I have not tried it but I see some advertisement on craigslist.com for web designer, so you may want to look in to it.

When is a good time to start?

Good time to get started is now, the sooner you will start, the sooner it will start to work for you. Remember Rome was not build in a day so do not expect immediate success right away. As a freelancer writer I know it takes time. Good luck.

How to Achieve Your Goals

Importance of Goal Setting

Everyone has goals in life. Sometimes we have single goal, sometimes we have many goals and do not know where to start and how to maintain the enthusiasm for reaching our goals.

Goals can come in small and big size both, short terms goals are as important as long term goals and we need to choose both types of goal in our life. For example, short term goal would be save money for bills next month and long term goal could be saving for retirement funds.

I have goals and given up many times, I have found three ways to be motivated to keep going until I reach my final goal and maintain it and I thought of sharing it here for all of you so we can all achieve the final result and be successful at reaching the goal.

If You Could Achieve One Goal in 24 Hours

3 Tips to Achieve and Maintaining your Goals

Before you set a time to set your goals for your life, you should also check to see if going after that goal is current time is worth the effort. Making choices for goals can be time consuming but it sure saves headache and time later on to make sure your goals are fit for the lifestyleyou are going after.

1.Set Target for Your Goal:

Having a goal that is measurable, specific and realistic makes a difference. We can have short term and long term goals. Long terms goals can be broken down in to a smaller chunks to make it easier to achieve.

For example, losing weight is a general goal that is not specific. You want to have a goal such as losing 30 lbs in 12 months is measurable, specific and realistic. That yearly goal can be broken in to monthly or weekly tasks that will help you keep motivated throughout the year to keep working on the goal and maintain it once you achieve it.
2. See final results and Benefits of the Goal

Many of us make goals and resolutions but give up on half way through. It is because we do not see the final end result or benefits of reaching that goal. It could be losing weight goal, final result could be looking great in any outfit, beautiful for girls and handsome for men. Being attractive to opposite sex is a great confidence booster for any of us, keeping that in mind, we should continue to work on the goal, when going gets tough.

When things are hard, think of the final results and benefit of reaching that goal to keep focus until we reach the goal.

3. List the Goal Obstacles

Many times, reaching goals can be tough as people do not think of any possible setbacks or obstacles that can come between reaching the goal. Nothing is easy in life, at least not so much cakewalk. Having a right expectations and back up plans always helps when obstacles come in between you and your goal to make you successful or looking beautiful.

Keeping commitment and focus to keep going to reach the final results is necessary to reach any goal for most of us. Sometimes we want results overnight, losing weight, becoming financially free or getting success can take time sometimes and patience is a great virtue for it. Once you finally reach your goal through obstacles and issues, your confidence and self esteem will soar and you will be able to tackle more goals to make your self more successful at whatever you desire.

Good luck.

Does Commision Junction Affiliate Work For You?

Today as I was talking with a friend who recently got started with internet marketing, she told me that she started with Commision Junction (CJ) and she hardly makes any sales. While, I am doing IM for a few years, I have yet to make good money with CJ.

I do better with Amazon (not this site) and adsense (again not this site) but I use CJ primarily with this site except for a few exception but my CJ affiliate income is nothing to write home about. I think 1 to 3% is return on affiliate is reasonable but it is not the case with CJ. So, I could not tell my friend what to do to improve the percentage as I am stumped myself. I have called CJ and vendors without much help.

Very few people I know who are in IM are in same boat as my friend or have crazy traffic in order for them to work. Do you work with CJ? Are you getting good earning from it? How to improve your affiliates from it?

I am curious for those of you who are good at earning from CJ, do you have any recommendation on how to work best with Commision Junction Affiliates?