Be realistic about your online business

Posted on September 14, 2008

Someone wrote to ask me if we can actually make a living off blogging alone. If we could, that would be a dream come true for many of us who work from home.

The people who have made it big in the online business are the exception rather than the rule. I think we all pretty much know that. The rest are either competing for limited freelance jobs in business or commissions from affiliate programs.

I’m not trying to paint a picture of gloom and doom here. Yes, you can make some money online but if you’re expecting instant riches, then I think it’s time to be a little more realistic.

• Dare to be different, wear your ad
• Bear with the ups and downs of the business cycle
• Looking for a job in retail?
• How to find a job that fits your schedule
• Pepperjam launches new affiliate network

Value your repeat customers

Posted on September 13, 2008

It looks like I rant more than I rave on this blog about customer service. Indeed good customer service is sometimes a little elusive, and encountering a case of great customer service puts a smile on my face.

Like this morning, when I stepped into my regular deli section at the grocery store to pick up some ham. I’d bought some yesterday but because it tastes so good, I just had to go back there again today.

Unfortunately though the ham is no longer on promotion so I’d have to pay a higher price today. The staff was trying to explain to me that they have a different item on promo each day.

The manager must’ve heard us talking. He walked up and explained. I told him I’m a regular and that I really love the ham I bought yesterday. I mean, I was going to buy some today anyways whatever the price.

After I went through checkout with my ham, the manager came up to me again and said he’d asked the clerk to give me yesterday’s price since I’m a regular customer. How cool is that!!

Now that’s what I call great customer service. Repeat customers should be your most valued customers simply by virtue of the fact that they already like your product or service enough to come back again.. and again.

They are the people most likely to recommend your business to someone else, hence more customers and sales for you. These are the customers you want to keep.

You don’t want people making excuses that they can’t find their car keys or are still waiting for their english saddles to be shipped in, so they can’t come to your store. If people are not coming back, maybe it’s time to up your customer service one notch.

• It’s not the price, it’s the customer service
• Making your customers look stupid
• Customer service and Culture - Where the twain shall meet
• How to Chase your Customers Away
• Giving a customer the runaround

Where color takes precedence

Posted on September 9, 2008

There’s a place in town here where we can get a very economical breakfast every morning. I’m not going to name the place because I don’t want to give them any publicity.

Cheap is one thing, being racist when serving food is quite another and quite frankly, I think it’s the worst thing a business can do to tarnish its reputation.

I don’t know if their management is aware of what their staff are doing. But the staff will give bigger portions to people of their own color and be pretty rude to the rest of us too. We get much smaller portions and we’re paying the same price.

It’s a good thing there aren’t many of such businesses around. But yes, their customer service stinks and I do my best to avoid that place. After all, I’m paying good money. I can always take my business someplace else.

• Value your repeat customers
• Do you inconvenience your customer?
• If only their bosses could see them
• Misled and overcharged
• Customer service and Culture - Where the twain shall meet

Pushing ahead into the new business season

Posted on September 7, 2008

After the lull of summer, it’s the start of another new business season as we head into the end of the year. I’m not sure about you, but with the weakening global economy, it seems like businesses will have a more difficult time ahead than before.

No doubt many business owners are or will be feeling the crunch of consumers tightening their belts and business owners cutting back in order to increase their profit margins.

But I guess we have no choice but to keep pushing ahead and hope that sales pick up as we approach the holiday season. I’ve just spent the weekend clearing up some of the backlog I’ve been procrastinating on.

At least I’m happy I got some work done. I even managed to tidy up my home office and get my custom picture frames up on the wall like I was supposed to have months ago.

• What affects a store’s business?
• My new computer
• Happy New Year 2008
• What to do when business is slow
• Have you listed your holiday items?

Make money writing blog reviews

Posted on September 5, 2008

If you have a blog, you probably already know you can make some money with Google Adsense.

Another way is to write blog reviews which is an increasingly popular way for people to advertise their products.

I guess it’s more effective because it’s a less direct way of promoting your product if you can get someone to actually use it and write about their experience with it.

Many people do their research online before purchasing a product. For instance, if they want to know if a particular weight loss product works, they look up diet pill reviews to find out other people’s experience with the product.

I do that too. It makes sense because that’s what we would normally do anyhow, i.e. ask around our friends to find out what they have to say about a product we’re interested in.

So if you have a blog, you could make money from writing reviews. The downside though is that Goog is out to get those who sell links on their sites and reward them with a big fat zero for pagerank.

The choice is yours though - pagerank or income.

• Check a trusted source before buying
• Save when you take up paid hosting
• Better returns from selling your endowment
• Can you keep up with your blog?
• A home to sell

Time to tighten our belts

Posted on August 26, 2008

I’ve been reading that many businesses are suffering because of the weak economy. It’s both shocking and sad to find a store or a restaurant there one day and gone the next.

One of my favorite restaurants is now charging 2 bucks for extra barbecue sauce. The price of a dozen of my children’s favorite donuts has shot up 25%.

Slowly but surely the prices of grocery items are inching up or the quality or quantity is diminishing. At the rate we’re going, who needs exercise and diet pills?

• Business can wait, get healthy first
• Down, not up?
• Fitness and business can go hand-in-hand
• Two ways to save money on your home business
• Getting around to the stuff on the backburner

Pets are big business

Posted on August 26, 2008

Every week, on the way to pick up my kids, I pass by a pet hotel. Who would’ve thought? A hotel for pets when their owners are away! Not too long ago, almost the only businesses involving pets were animal clinics and stores retailing pet supplies.

I think I might have mentioned here before that the pet business is an increasingly up and coming industry. In Japan, most notably, there are even beauty salons for pets to pampered get their fur done.

In the US, pets are enjoying birthday parties like never before. This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you are looking for a business idea, pets might be it!

• Pet-sitting as a business
• Furniture store for pets?
• Businesses should also give back
• Hot new business idea - Pet Sitting
• Start an online children’s store

Get set to capitalize on making more money

Posted on August 23, 2008

Well, it looks summer is almost over and the kids are going back to school for many of you work-at-home parents. Summer can be quite disruptive for business as our focus shifts to non-business activities.

So maybe it’s a relief to finally have more time to spend on building your business. This second half of the business year is usually the busiest in terms of web traffic and sales.

So are you all geared up with your marketing strategies? If not, it’s time to start identifying your new products and money-making opportunities, laying out your advertising campaigns, deciding when to start that wine of the month club or whatever membership drives you have in mind, and what have you.

The mistake I always make is waiting till the last minute and then finding out that all the prime advertising spots have been taken up by the early birds and I can’t get my ad out in time for my promotion.

The thing is to first map out the dates on your calendar for the important business days like Halloween’s, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and then work backwards giving yourself sufficient time for each advertising campaign you  plan to hold.

Put your map up someplace in your home office where you can clearly see it and be able to update it with your targets and results. Trust me, if you organize things early from the very beginning, you’ll be much more focused and better poised to capitalize on making money during the peak business season.

• Wake-up call for holiday promotional campaigns
• Plan your advertising
• Start thinking Christmas
• Moving forward
• How to plan for the coming business peak

Mulling over a new income stream

Posted on August 18, 2008

A couple of posts back, I was talking about topping up my car insurance with all the crazy drivers out there. It’s a good thing I don’t travel much since I work at home and so there are only that many trips I need to make outside home.

I really appreciate that because I used to travel much more when I was working in Corporate Tower and that can really wear you out both mentally and physically.

I’ve been contemplating setting up an eBay store but then again, when I think about having to get out and get stuff shipped off, I just have to think twice.

On top of that, with current gas prices, I may end up making barely enough to cover the cost of my sales. It’s an extra income stream but I must think about it carefully before I jump in.

• Wirefly on eBay
• In the face of the rising cost of living
• Destress, take a swing at the B
• Affordable telecommunications equipment
• Weekday traffic

Taking weekends easy is rejuvenating

Posted on August 17, 2008

These have been busy weeks for me hence my somewhat irregular posting. In business, busy can be considered a good sign since it means I’ve got plenty of orders to keep me going .

While I work very hard during the weekdays balancing family and business, I’m trying to work less during the weekends. By taking things easy on weekends, I find I’m more refreshed and ready to go on the weekends.

This weekend, I took time off to watch two movies. Since I don’t have the luxury of a home entertainment center complete with home theater seating so I can hang my feet up, I have to spend more out of pocket to go to the cinema. But hey, if it helps me de-stress, I guess it’s worth every cent.

• Where do you blog?
• Take time out from business
• Timeout without going offline
• Do I ever get tired?
• Such a quiet weekend