I know I’ve been talking your ear off about outsourcing here, on Product Seller’s Talk Radio and in my mailing list. I just feel strongly that no one online business owner should be working themselves to the detriment of their family or worse yet, an early grave. I do hope the tips and strategies Alice Seba has been providing have allowed you to move even closer to a business that YOU control, instead of a business that controls you.

At long last, Alice has released a BETA version of the Official Outsourcing Sweetie Members Area and I jumped all over it. At this price, there was NO way I could resist!

Grab your spot at:
=> Outsourcing Sweetie

If it’s time to stop slaving endlessly for your business, I’ll see you on the inside.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Those of you who know me and have worked with me, may be wondering why I’m recommending greeting cards and postcards to my online product selling clients. You’re probably wondering why an online business would want to spend extra money sending cards to people when they have a perfectly good website.

well, here are some reasons:

• Businesses tend to lose 10-17% of their customers every year.
• 62% of your customers aren’t taking advantage of all of your products.
• You lose 10% of your influence for every month that you don’t have contact with your customer.
• A 5% increase in customer loyalty could add 20-80% to your bottom line.
• Studies show that an average prospect won’t do business with you until they’ve seen or heard from you or your message at least 7 times.
• 79% of all trade show leads aren’t followed up. Ouch!
• 66% of your business within the next year will come from your sphere of influence — the people who know, like and trust you.
• Only 3% of the mail we receive is personal

If you’d like to improve your odds for success, request a free gift account and let me show you how to reach out and keep in touch with your customers.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Chances are, you spend a lot of time in the house.

If your kids are older, you take them to school and pick them up. You run errands to the grocery store, post office and the bank.

You’re probably starving for some adult-level interaction. Conversation about something other than Hotwheels, dolls, snot and “He hit me!”

So step outside. Join a group. Take some time to talk to people.

I took my own advice last night and today — and have had the most awesome 24 hours, or so.

First, my husband, kids and I went out to eat with people from our church. Three adults and five kids. We talked, the kids played. No one got hurt, pandemonium did not erupt and I actually had fun. Of course, it helps that we were in good, fun-loving company.

Then today, I opened a new bank account with the help of a woman who is a member of the same local Chamber of Commerce I joined recently.

On the way out, I ran into someone else from church.

Dropped my daughter off at school and headed for a Chamber meeting, and ran into my son’s baseball coach’s wife on the way.

A few hours later, after picking up the kids from school, we headed to McDonald’s, where CW’s teachers were searching dinner for a school fundraiser. Met more people from church and got to eat with them.

I’m pretty sure I met more people I know today than I did all last year. LOL!

I think I’m going to get out of the house tomorrow too. Who’s with me!?

Popularity: 15% [?]

Your website is one of the most important parts of your business. In many cases, your website will serve as the first impression you make upon your customers. In order to make the best impression possible, you will want your website to look professional and visually appealing. If your website is not visually appealing, your visitors will not stay on your site for long. The following are some tips to make your website more appealing.

The color scheme of your website should be kept to complementary color tones that are easy on the eyes. If the colors you choose are too bright or garish, people may have a hard time looking at your site. Likewise, if the colors you choose clash with each other, it could give your visitors a headache.

The fonts that you choose should be easy to read. You can certainly find some very decorative fonts, but if they have too many curly cues or other flourishes, it will be difficult to decipher some of the letters.

Another thing to consider is the font size. You will want to vary the size of your headings as well as the body of your content. Having various font sizes on your page will stimulate your visitors’ eyes. If everything was the same, your page would look rather boring. However, you don’t want to take it too far and make every single line a different font size, as that would be too distracting.

Many people simply scan the websites that they visit, rather than read every sentence. Using bulleted lists helps your visitors see the important information right away. This also creates space around the text. When people see space around text, they are more attracted to it.

Adding some graphics to your site will greatly increase your site’s appeal. At the very least, you will want to have a heading graphic at the top of your website. If you are not artistically gifted, you can outsource this to a graphic designer. In addition to your heading, ask them to create a banner and a button logo. This way, if someone asks you for a link exchange, or if you choose to advertise on someone else’s site, you will have the graphics available.

You can also use graphics on various places on your site. This will help break up the content and increase the space around the text. You will want to make sure that the graphics you use on your site are not copyrighted. You can sign up for an account at www.istockphoto.com and find photos, illustrations, videos, and more to use on your site for as little as $1 each.

Making these small changes to your website can entice your visitors to stay on your website and explore the various pages and links. As you know, the longer someone stays on your website, the more likely it is that they will become your customer.

Popularity: 13% [?]

As you may know, the size of your mailing list can reflect the size of your profits. Your “mailing list” is the group of people that have signed up to receive your mailings, which can be a newsletter, e-course, or any other email.

You can set up a mailing list through an autoresponder service, such as Aweber. Once you register for the service, you can set up a mailing list and preload various emails that will be sent to the people that sign up to receive them. Your autoresponder service will give you a bit of HTML that you can add to your website or blog. When people click the link, they will be added to your list. As soon as they are added, they will start to receive your mailings.

To maximize your profits, you will want to have several different lists, and you will want to stay in touch with the people on your lists regularly. For instance, you may have a general newsletter list for your website, as well as lists set up for the specific sections of your website.

If your website focuses on children’s products, you may have a section devoted to toddler-sized clothes, a separate section devoted to early elementary age children’s clothing, and another section devoted to tween clothing. Set up a mailing list for each separate section. You don’t need to have a separate newsletter for each age bracket; however, having these separate mailing lists will allow you to send news and advertisements that each list would be interested in.

For example, if you are a retailer for various products relating to children, you can send an email with some information about toddlers directly to your toddler list. Include your link for a product that they may be interested in. You may notice that your conversions go up, as you are no longer sending parents of older children links to products focused on toddlers. You will be able to send each specific group links to products that they will find most helpful.

The time frame that you use to stay in contact with each list may vary. If someone signs up for your general newsletter list, they may expect to receive a newsletter each week or month. However, if someone only signs up to receive updates for a specific section on your website, they may get irritated if you send them an email every single day.

Use your best judgment when setting up your emails. You will want to stay in contact with them regularly enough so that they do not forget you, but you don’t want them to feel harassed, either.

If you are sending your mailing list regular updates about your site, and including helpful information, you will see that your profits will increase.

Popularity: 32% [?]