Ten Online Tools Your Business Should Be Using

There are new and exciting business tools being developed every day. These can help you improve your productivity and open up entirely new channels for your business to thrive online. While there are hundreds of these kinds of applications available, I’ve handpicked for you my top ten favorites:

1. Exploratree: http://www.exploratree.org.uk/

Mind mapping is a technique for developing new ideas based on non-linear thinking. It allows you to solve problems by encouraging your brain to think creatively and explore outside of traditional project planning guidelines. This is a free tool, and you can not only save your own mind maps, but you can check out other members’ saved maps for a community database of problem solving ideas.

2. Text the Mob: http://www.textthemob.com/

This is a business version of American Idol’s audience vote! You can create polls or message boards online, project them on a screen during a presentation, and then have audience members text in their votes and comments to share with everyone. An amazing way to get people involved at your speaking engagements, sales presentations, and training seminars.

3. Zen Desk: http://www.zendesk.com/

By far the best of the web-based helpdesk applications out there; Zen Desk has clients like Twitter and MSNBC, but don’t let that fool you—it is simple to install and use even for a small business like yours.

4. Start PR: http://startpr.com/

This application helps you monitor your company’s reputation by skimming through social media sites and looking for user feedback about you and compiling it into one place. It’s a great way to manage all your Web 2.0 accounts and find out where your business is thriving online.

5. LItmos: http://www.litmos.com/

This is an online training tool which allows you to create videos, powerpoint slides, and instructional documents to give your clients or employees the training they need—even if they are thousands of miles away. As more and more businesses begin to work ‘virtually’, tools like this will be the office space of the future.

6. Clarity Accounting: http://www.clarityaccounting.com/

One of the most comprehensive and easy-to-use accounting applications (yes, it can be both!), Clarity lets you access your account from any location, provides reporting tools, and supports multiple users.

7. My Client Spot: http://www.myclientspot.com/index2/

Allows freelancers and independent contractors to manage their clients and projects online—giving access to everyone 24/7 and making it easy to manage multiple sources of revenue.

8. Skype: http://www.skype.com/

It’s an instant messenger. It’s a VOIP phone service. It’s a Video Conference host. It’s a file sharing tool. Skype does lots of things very well; and it is one of the most widely used applications in the world. Your clients probably use Skype—so why wouldn’t you?

9. Lattiss: http://www.lattiss.com/

A local directory/scheduling application that lets new and existing clients find you and schedule their own appointments at their convenience. Whether you are a masseuse or a Realtor, you can make use of this great product.

10. DocLanding: http://www.doclanding.com/

There are lots of online document sharing sites, but DocLanding is an entire file management system, and it is HIPAA and financial standard compliant for the highest level of security you’ll find online.

Here is an additional resource if you’re looking to compare credit card processing rates and reviews.

Are you using any online tools that you think make a huge difference in the way you run your business? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Boost Your Blog Traffic Today

If you have any desire to make your blog profitable, traffic is the name of the game. But for a new blogger the task of bringing thousands of people to your site each day seems almost impossible. You write great posts, you send your links out on Twitter, and you exchange links with a few other blogs; but still it seems you are not getting the attention you deserve.

There are many ways to boost your blog traffic, but I’ll briefly discuss some of the most important here.

Be topical.

People are on the hunt online every day for information. If you have a track record of providing up-to-date content about topical issues, you’ll be part of the daily routine for thousands of people. Find ways to incorporate current events into your blogging, even if you don’t specifically write about politics or business. Subscribe to major news sites and power bloggers so that when news breaks, you hear it right away; then as soon as possible afterward write a post. You will find that you draw in a wide range of people who may not have initially been attracted to your blog simply by writing your opinion on the day’s news.

Anticipate high traffic days.

Some days are going to be busier than others: Election day, the day of the Oscars, New York Fashion Week and the season premiere of American Idol are just a few examples of times that you know in advance internet use will be high. Plan around those dates (and other dates that are pertinent to your blog’s main subject matter) by preparing posts in advance, or making sure you have time open on your calendar to blog as events occur.

Participate in online communities.

Blogs, message boards, forums, and social media sites like Facebook are excellent ways to stay connected to people and alert them when you have fresh content up. It also exposes you to thousands of other potential readers who happen to be ‘friends of a friend’. Make sure that any site you participate has a complete profile filled out, linking people back to your blog.

Use regular features to keep them coming back.

Regular posts such as a monthly book review or a daily “top ten” list is a great way to get people coming back to your site again and again. They’ll be more likely to link to your blog, and refer friends to it and make it a part of their regular online reading if they have something enjoyable to anticipate.

Learn to Read Your Analytics.

These programs help you track your traffic. They can tell you everything from which site referred each reader, to how long a particular visitor spent on your blog and how many pages they viewed while they were there. You will be able to tell which efforts in marketing your blog are most effective this way, and you’ll have a concrete way of knowing which topics you write about get the most attention.
Free traffic tracking apps:

• Site Meter http://www.sitemeter.com
• Stat Counter: http://www.statcounter.com/
• ShineyStat: http://www.shinystat.com/
• GoStats: http://gostats.com/
• GoogleAnalytics: http://www.google.com/analytics/
• FreeStats: http://www.freestats.com/
• OneStat: http://www.onestat.com/

I would love to hear from you if you’ve got personal experiences you would like to share in boosting your site traffic.

16 Ways to Make Money Online

The internet is not just good for reading The Onion and posting pictures of your pet hamster to your social networking sites.  If you spend any amount of time online, you know that there is money to be made out here in cyberspace; and many of the pioneers in this still vastly uncharted territory have struck it rich with little more than their personal computers and an eye for opportunity.  So, how can you get in on the action?  Here’s 16 ways that just about anyone (not just geeks) can use to make money online:

1.     PPC and CPM Advertising

PPC (Pay Per Click) and CPM (Cost Per Mille) advertising are similar animals.  Both require that you place a small bit of code on your site which automatically generates ads of various shapes and sizes (usually depending on your preferences).  PPC ads pay you per number of time someone actually clicks on the ad; CPM pays you per number of impressions that their ads get on your site.  The amount of the payout is very small—often a fraction of a cent per click or impression–but if you have a large volume of traffic to your site, it can add up quickly.

Learn More:  http://www.payperclickuniverse.com/

2.    Affiliate Marketing (a/k/a CPA)

Affiliate Marketing requires that apply for membership in an ‘affiliate network.’  That is, an agency that maintains and monitors accounts for various companies who are willing to pay individuals for sales generated through their websites.  Again, a small bit of code is placed on your site to generate ads; and when someone clicks on the ad, your unique affiliate number is automatically associated with that person’s IP address.  If that individual buys a product from the advertiser, you receive a commission on the sale.  Commissions can range between 5-20%, or they can be a flat fee per sale.

Learn More:  http://www.affiliatetips.com/

3.    Banner Advertising

Banner advertising is used along with PPC, CPM, and Affiliate marketing.  A banner is simply a graphic ad that you can sell in any size or shape you wish.  Banner ads can be animated, they can rotate through a series of images, or they can be static.  In addition to being used with other types of advertising, individual website owners can simply sell banner space at a flat fee or negotiate their own PPC/CPM with independent advertisers which don’t belong to an affiliate network.

Learn More:  http://www.davesite.com/internet/webads.shtml

4.    Audio Ads

Audio ads begin playing as soon as you land on a website where they are installed.  This is a relatively new development in the world of online advertising, and there is some debate about whether or not these are effective or annoying.  Audio ad pioneers say they are incredibly effective in getting the user to respond to the ad.   Like other ads, you get paid per play or per impression, depending on the advertiser.

Learn More:  http://mashable.com/2008/10/03/audio-ad-networks/

5.    In-Text Advertising

In-Text advertising is one of the least obtrusive internet advertising techniques.  Basically, hyperlinks are placed within relevant text on your website and distinguished from regular links by a double underline.   When you place your mouse cursor over the text, a small box appears with additional information on the product or service being advertised.  There are advertising services which, when installed, will automatically place the links for you and will even allow you to set parameters for the products you allow to be sold through your site.

Learn More:  http://www.wiliam.com.au/wiliam-blog/considering-in-text-ppc-advertising

6.    RSS Feed Ads

RSS Feeds are incredibly convenient for websites that update content frequently.  The feeds deliver all the new content from websites that the reader subscribes to; making it possible to stay updated on news and information on multiple websites without having to visit each one.  That’s great for the reader, but not so much for you if you rely on fresh eyes for your advertising revenues.  Thankfully RSS Feed Ads are now available.  These allow you to place both graphic and text ads within your RSS feeds so that they are visible to all your subscribers.

Learn More:  http://www.doshdosh.com/monetize-rss-feed-advertising/

7.    Popups

Popup ads were, at one time, all the rage with online advertisers.  When you visited a site, a box would immediately pop up (hence the name), preventing you from seeing the information you needed until you either entered the information required by the advertiser or at the very least, read through the ad inside.  Then, tragedy struck!  Someone invented the popup blocker.  To be fair, pop ups are pretty annoying; but they are still fairly popular with online advertisers.  They are especially useful for capturing bits of information for PPA (pay per action) ad campaigns where you are paid for capturing email addresses or other pieces of information from the user.

8.    Sponsored Reviews

A sponsored review is basically an advertiser paying a blogger to write about their product or service.  This can either be done through a ‘review site’ which facilitates the meet ups between bloggers and advertisers; or it can be done by individual bloggers who offer the service to advertisers for a flat fee.

Learn More:  http://weblogs.about.com/od/monetizingablog/p/SponsoredReview.htm

9.    Paid Surveys and Polls

You get paid when someone takes the poll that you place on your site on behalf of an advertiser.  Polls encourage people to interact with them, and they can be a lot more engaging than regular old banner ads.

Learn More:  http://www.vizu.com/index.htm

10.    Private Forums

A lot of popular websites will incorporate a message board or forum for their readers to interact with one another.  You can generate revenues by charging a small fee for membership on the board, or for access to special sections of the board.  This creates a sort of ‘exclusive club’ where members can talk about industry-related topics, exchange valuable information, and socialize.  Charging $5-10 a year per user can add up after membership starts to grow.

11.    Donations

Don’t laugh.  This actually works.  If you have valuable content on your site that you are offering for free, it doesn’t hurt to put up a donation link and point people to it once in a while.

12.    Ebook Sales

If you’ve got a blog or website about a particular niche, why not capitalize on it by writing an ebook?  Believe it or not, you don’t have to be a brilliant writer to create a useful handbook on a subject that you are familiar with.  If you write a blog, you can write a decent ebook.  However, if you don’t have the time or the energy to write one you can hire a ghostwriter and then all you need to do is worry about marketing and selling it.

Learn More:  http://www.zizzoo.com/guides/ebook/index.php

13.    Sell Your Website

Some people live for the thrill of a new project.  If this sounds like you, then you may want to consider earning money by starting up and establishing new websites and then selling them off for profit.

Learn More:  http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/266/how-to-sell-a-website-how-much-is-your-website-worth/

14.    Sponsored columns, events, or posts

This is a simple idea that gets back to basics.  Simply having a sponsor for regular columns or posts on your site is a great way to earn money.  “The Weekly So-and-So brought to you by…” not only earns you money from your sponsor, but it builds a steady readership as people come back week after week for your special content.

15.    Premium Content

If you’ve built up a solid website with some really excellent resources, you may consider charging people for access to your premium content.  That means creating an area that non-members cannot access unless they pay a small fee.  For people who are able to offer readers valuable information, this is a great way to generate some income and help your readers appreciate your content more.

16.    Job Listing Bulletin Boards

If you’re involved in a specific market, you may consider creating a job listing board and either charging employers to place ads there, or charging job seekers to access it.  (Or both).  This may take a little time to maintain and will require special software, but if you’ve got a loyal following it can definitely bring in revenues.

Learn More:  http://www.jobcoin.com/