7 Quick Tips for a More Profitable Internet Business by Online Business Basics

With billions of web pages and countless email messages --a good percentage of which are spam -- building a successfulbusiness on the Internet is hard work. Many entrepreneurs seek to create a 'full-time' income (whatever that may mean to each individual) yet find that making just a few sales is still a struggle.Have you ever looked at your online earnings and wishedyou could do better? If so, then it's time for a change.Doing the same things will give the same results! Here are just a few suggestions for building your online business:~1. Give your website and/or sales letter a makeover. For example, some sites offer lots of free content, as a way to help people while building credibility. Others are much more direct: the entire website consists of a single sales letter. Many argue that these 'mini-sites' are far more effective in generating sales because they don't have any distractions - the visitor can focus on what you have to say. That doesn't mean you have to give up your content site ... but consider creating a mini-site to help drive sales.As for the sales letter, if copywriting isn't yourstrength, then hire someone to do it for you. Sure,it costs money -- but a good sales letter can pay foritself many times over.Things don't stay the same online for very long! Don'tbe afraid to experiment. Just remember to keep backupsso that you can always revert to the old version if your experiment doesn't produce the results you want.~2. Don't forget about the 'real world'. There's life outside of cyberspace! Many people prefer to be contacted by postal mail. Email has become so cloggedwith spam that it can be very difficult to get people to read (or even SEE) your message! Ideas on how to promote your business offline are available at http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/articles/checklist3.html ~3. Evaluate your income stream. How stable is your income?Are you protected against income fluctuations? Will yoube okay if one of your income streams disappears, andhow long will it take to recover?You can also 'widen' your income stream by creatingadditional sources of revenue. For example, someone who sells a cookbook or recipes can also offer their services as a 'menu planner': working within a set of guidelines (time, budget, cooking skills, dietaryrestrictions...), the menu planner can create 'custom'recipes for her customers. Whatever you choose to do,find other opportunities to add to your bottom line.~4. Read, read, read. Education never stops! There's alwayssomething new to learn, and even one golden nugget ofinformation or inspiration could be responsible for asignificant boost in your business!There are countless manuals available to show you how to market your business... but realistically, you onlyhave a limited amount of time you can devote to really reading and absorbing the information. You might chooseto purchase a number of manuals, but select one of themand resolve to seriously study the material -- then take *action* on what you learn.~5. Try to turn customers into *repeat* customers. What ideas do you have for a complementary product? It'seasier to sell to a happy customer than it is to sellto someone who's never had any experience with yourproducts before. Let your existing customers know about your new products.If you sell services, be sure to touch base with yourcustomers every so often -- remind them that you'restill around and available for work. You can even offer incentives or discounts for the next time theyuse your services.Keeping customers happy is obviously important if you'replanning on building a viable long-term business. Happycustomers can turn into both repeat customers as well as a source of referral business. But no matter how hard you try, you will never make everyone happy -- so don't fall into the trap of spending so much time and effort with one customer that you alienate or ignore the rest.~6. Form new partnerships in areas you've never considered before. Perhaps you've always targeted a certain type of business with which to form joint ventures. For example, someone who sells a fitness tape might have always approached weight-loss sites with partnershipproposals.Instead, try to think of other markets that could also use your product. In the above example, new momswho are trying to become active again might appreciatea fitness tape. Or how about stressed-out corporate'worker bees' who need a way to relax?~7. Build for the future. How can you attract more customers? Is your customer service up to par? Howcan you use your current customer base to expand yourprofits? Concentrate on methods that allow you to builda business relationship with your customers -- a commonexample is to publish a quality newsletter to help youstay in touch, build credibility, and help to keep your business near the forefront of your readers' thoughts.Vincent Van Gogh once said, "Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." Keep working towards your business goals, little by little.It's the only way to get there!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practicalguide for beginners to the 'net. Packed with instantly usable tips, you'll love its focus on effective fr*e and low-cost marketing methods, specifically chosen for people operating on shoestring budgets! Get the details here:http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/article.html