It’s time to dispel some of the myths that surround the issue of joint ventures. JVs are in fact a highly sought after form of business that can create great success and even wealth for those involved. However, as with any unfamiliar business venture, JVs sometimes get an undeserving bad rap. Let’s look at the most common myths of JVs.

Myth 1: JVs Are Complicated

If you were a top market share technology company trying to form a JV in another continent with another top communication company to develop a new cell phone and wireless technology, then yes, a JV could get complicated. But that type of JV is very rare.  Let’s face it – you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur who’s just trying to expand your business or business idea. 

JVs do not have to be complicated. You could form a JV where you simply perform cross marketing of each other’s products.  Or perhaps you share office or production facilities.  The fact is that JVs can be simple and take little effort.

Myth 2: JVs Require All My Time and Effort

Actually, a JV may take less time and effort than you put into your own business. A simple JV agreement may require a once-a-month sales letter mailing, or simply displaying your JV’s products in your store. The point of sharing customer contacts and mailing lists is to get more sales than doing it alone, right?

Also, your JV partner may have complementary strengths that make the entire process easier.  You may focus on the marketing and accounting functions while your JV partner does the production, packaging and distribution. How much more time would it take if you did all that yourself?

Myth 3: JVs Are High Risk and a Money Losing Prospect

A simple JV agreement where you earn a small portion of a sale of your JV partner’s product is virtually no risk.  In an affiliate type JV, you only make money at the time of sale and do not put any of your own money on the line. This is a simple example of a low risk JV, but the fact is when you form a JV, you agree to share the financial risk with your JV partner. You take a financial risk every day when you open your business doors, right?  The key is to control the risk.  JVs are a good way to control the risk and share the expenses.

Myth 4: You Will Lose Customers

If you are recommending products and services that are beneficial to your customers, doesn’t that create customer loyalty?  Your customers are not going to buy from you every time they go shopping or need your service. But by forming a JV that presents additional and quality services and products to your current customers, you have given them added value. Customers appreciate that and will reward you with return business.

JVs are one of the easiest and most successful forms of business partnership. When two businesses enter a JV agreement and agree to prudently control the financial risks and share resources, there is a high risk of success. Go get yours today!

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

I use videos like the one above (took about an hour to produce) to help people using my low cost alternative to small business accounting software i.e. Quickbooks quickly learn new skills and techniques they can immediately use to improve their business. I think everyone with a skill should have the opportunity to sell their knowledge online, se here I am going to walk you through how to turn what you know into digital content and sell it to a worldwide audience. The great thing about creating your own digital information product is that you make higher margins when you sell it and if you listen to why customers buy it then you can use these reasons too improve on what you have done and as messages to sell it to other customers.

Online video as popularised by YouTube and Podcasting is central to the method I will share with you for delivering your expertise and knowledge to your target audience. I regularly sell and give away videos that end up being played on all of the above platforms and help small business owners (a vast market) learn new skills to help them improve their business or do more with our system (a replacement for small business accounting software).

To do this properly you have to begin with the end in mind so you need to think carefully about what you are going to share with your target audience and for this you need to create what I call a storyboard. If you have ever given a presentation or a talk using slides made by microsoft powerpoint or apple keynote then you are off to a great start to storyboard your video. In case you are wondering how much this is going to cost I should say that you can create your storyboard, produce your video and get it to your target market without spending any money what so ever.

I have been creating my videos in Podcast, YouTube and downloadable video format for over two years now using a really fantastic tool called Camtasia Studio which is developed by TechSmith a US company, whatever you do watch all of the tutorials before downloading the thirty day fully functional trial. I said don’t download Camtasia yet as soon as it is installed the thirty day clock starts ticking and you need as much time as possible to get familiar with it and produce and refine your first video.

OK now you have to do the homework I have set you in learning some of the tools I have mentioned above and in the next couple of days I will be publishing to this blog (owners permitting) a detailed set of instructions on how I create small business accounting software videos.

The World Wide Web started in 1991 and was mainly used to gain text-based information. Through the years the Internet has developed and now 2/3 of households in the developed world have Internet access. Since television became popular it has been advertisings main outlet. But now in 2008 the Internet has overtaken Television in terms of advertising revenue.

Television networks like ITV have had to make large cutbacks the latest being the Jeremy Kyle show. This is because less profit is being generated from ad income. The Internet has proven more popular to companies, to show their products because of the more practical targeting of audience are the Internet offers. Such as banners that can be applied to a very specific website that only a certain type of people go on that matches who the company want to know about their product or service.

Streaming video on the Internet has taken off massively in recent years, as the Internet became more of a past time as well as a valuable source for information. The main type of web video ad advertising is to put a 10 second add at the start of a popular video. For example at start of a sky sports highlights video there might be an advert for beer or a new car.

Web presenters are often you’d to keep people on a site and usually give some kind of information or tutorial of have to use a service or even the website itself, this may help people stay on a complexly structured website rather than leaving it after 20-30 seconds.

Sites like YouTube have taken off because it has brought all videos from different areas such as music videos, trailers, instructional videos and live performances. Previously you would have to visit separate sites to view the videos you wanted to watch but now it’s all under one roof. The problem with these operations is copyright which is now being cracked down on by YouTube and similar sites.

Attention Smart Copywriters: How to Double Your Sales By Changing Only ONE Word…

Quick question. Which Adwords ad out-pulled the other by almost

double?

1: Easy Self-Defense
For Ordinary People
Fast Personal Protection Training

2: Simple Self-Defense
For Ordinary People
Fast Personal Protection Training

If you look close you’ll see the ads are exact - except for the word “easy” and

“simple”.

So which one is the winner? More importantly why did it win? Go ahead - take

a minute to think about it - I’ll wait.

Drum roll please………..

THE RESPONSE RATE:

1: 0.6% Click Thru Rate

2: 1.1% Click Thru Rate — almost double!

“Easy” Self-Defense, to “Simple” Self-Defense.

So what’s the difference?

Rhythm and Cadence. Read this out loud and you‘ll hear the difference.

Simple Self-Defense
For Ordinary People
Fast Personal Protection Training

Hear the “Simple” with “Self”.

Not only is this important in getting more click thru’s but absolutely vital

in your long copy ads!

It’s not enough to get people to read our entire letter… we want them

to get lost in it. Be excited -enriched - eager to take in everything

we say and buy now!

In my copy - people tell me all the time, “Shaune, it just didn’t ‘feel’ like I

read 8 pages of copy” - but they do… sometimes it’s a lot more.

That’s what copywriters mean when they talk about the “grease-slide”. Sadly

they never really tell you how to accomplish it.

But fear not, because I’m about to show you with this example…

Here’s how to combine 3 or 4 elements and accomplish a fast and furious

greased-slide in your own copy…

This is part of a headline triad. Written by a student in one of my past copywriting
coaching programs. It uses:

- Rhythm and Cadence -
- Power of 3 -
- Ellipses with a Crescendo -

This is for a Fertility Doctor. Keep in mind you CAN’T use hype in
this market. You have to be sensitive and use gentle persuasion - or what

I call Indirect Persuasion.

               There is A Doctor Who Will Listen. Dr Tina Will…
                Hear Your Concerns - Answer Your Questions
                             And Help You Become Pregnant.

Can you hear the rhythm in that?

It’s short - crisp and helps with what I call
“The Speed of The Read”.

The reason?

- The “ear” and “er” and the end of “Hear” and “Answer”.

- “Your” in the middle of both phrases in the middle line.

- “ns”: at the end of “Concerns” and “Questions”.

It gives it a really nice rhythm don‘t it?

One word of warning: If you do this too much, it’ll sound like poetry.

As you know we are NOT writing poetry!

All we are doing is increasing the “Speed of The Read”. So
people will actually read - get - and take immediate action in

our sales messages.

So use this technique “sparingly” throughout your copy and watch

your response and profits soar!

I use many other unique techniques that nobody else teaches in my 12 week copy coaching program. You can get a taste with this free upcoming teleseminarand find out what it takes to be a copywriter in these tough economical times.

Nobody talks about it. Yet it’s a must for boosting response and should be the “Primary Purpose” of all your Sales Copy…

A lot of master copywriters will say the “Primary Purpose” of your ad is to:

 ”Grab attention.” They are dead wrong!

First, grabbing attention is only good if you grab the right attention

from the real buyers that make up your market.

Then at best - it’s only “a” reason. It is NOT the “Primary Purpose”.

Neither is “Offering a solution“.

Or educating the reader with all the reasons they should choose you

over the competition.

Even proving all your claims falls short of this primary purpose.

Now don’t get me wrong - all are incredibly important.

But I have proven time after time - test after test - your “Primary Purpose”

is to…

Understand - Empathize - and Emotionally Connect.

In this day in age we are all so jaded by the standard sales message that tells
us how great we are.

We need to FEEL it - your prospects need to FEEL it!

This is the MOST important element to thread through your sales copy.

I know for sure that when your prospect “feels” it, they BUY.

This goes beyond the traditional sales message… past the building of rapport.

It’s deeper - much deeper.

Although there are many ways to accomplish this, here are two tips:

1) Stop trying to solve people’s problems in your day to day life. Listen -

just listen! Be with them - be “in the moment.”

Let them know they’re heard - understood. Doing so will internalize what

true empathy means. Do it long enough and you’ll begin to write with

true empathy.

Quick note: True empathy is a matter of feeling how other people feel without

actually going through the problem/situation yourself.

2) Get your hands on every ad you can from Brian Keith Voiles… he’s brilliant

at threading empathy throughout his letters.

In fact, Brian and I are the only two that talk about empathy. In my 12 week copy coaching  program I spend a great deal of time explaining how to use this valuable tool to emotionally connect with anybody you choose.

Get your chance to be part of a free upcoming teleseminar where I discuss with John Manley the importance of being ‘unique’ as a copywriter — and how this can assure you a steady income. Even through this ‘recession’.  

In the world of competitive business, you have to do whatever you can so you won’t be left behind.

If you are not making enough moves to aggressively promote your business, the business that you have established with your blood and sweat may just be eliminated in business competition. You need to have the proper marketing strategy to attract customers to your business.

But what comprises a top and well-known business?  Aren’t they the businesses that are seen on business cards and freebies such as pens, umbrellas, etc.?  But these are real materials, what about internet promotion?

Well, of course, you can give free business promotional materials online.

You can try giving free ebooks.  Ebooks would go well if you are selling electronic gadgets such as computers and mobile phones.  Because of a lot of competitions, selling electronic gadgets is hard but by adding ebooks as freebies, customers might get interested in buying  your products.

These ebooks may be something that your customers can use to compare the products.  For example, the ebook will contain information on the different features of the electornic gadgets, and also the advantages and disadvantages. This business promotional material will give a plus factor to the customers and also it will testify that you really know your product line that can help attract customers to do business transaction with you.

Another example of promoting your business online is by sending free online newsletter.  This would attract a number of customers by sending updates and articles about your products.

Once they found out that your business is beneficial, there is a tendency that they will refer your business to their other friends.  Your newsletter’s main goal is to attract a number of customers and to tell them about your business.

You may find this a bit odd but brochures will also do the trick in promoting your business.  You can add on to your site an online brochure ready to be downloaded by your visitors.  You can ask a professional graphic designer to do the brochure os you can even try doing it by yourself.

The brochure will comprise of your business attention-getting logo and maybe some freebies from your business.  For example, your business is connected with food then adding a sample recipe would attract the customers to try out your business.  This again can have a submininal effect on your customers thus reminding them if your business everytime they see your brochure.

The key here is doing the proper strategy.  You can spend money to invest on properly promoting your product.  But because of this good business promotional material, your customers will always remember you.

Article by Van T and read more about him here

Does your local business need to find new customers?

Then you need to advertise your business online if you are going to be discovered in local search listings.

Did you think the internet buzz is way overblown? Think again.  Times have changed since the “bubble burst” of the 80’s and 90’s.  Companies were ahead of their time then.  Now in 2009 there are WAY more users online and it’s growing by the minute never to stop.

The late, great Cory Rudl (founder of IMC) once said:

“…the biggest change I see heading our way is a shift from the global market to the local market….the Internet is going local! Here is the secret: If you realize this and the power it will have on society… can you find a way to capitalize on this? If you have ideas and position yourself now, you will be an incredibly wealthy person!” (excerpt from The Internet Global).

Cory’s prediction has come true — the Internet IS going local. The question is, when will small business owners realize it?

According to The Kelsey Group, “70% of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping LOCALLY for products and services… Findings also suggest the Internet is poised to surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource.”

Did you know that internet is also now taking over TV as far as how much time spent in front of it? And it’s not just youth online now. One of the fastest growing segments of internet users are seniors!  Times are changing.Local businesses that survive are the ones that know not only WHAT their customers are looking for, but HOW.  Are you?

The search engines have laid the groundwork and put some incredible tools in place. Google Local Business Center lets business owners add or edit their company information to Google Local. MSN & Yahoo have their own Local Search offerings. Most of them are free (for now), just there for the taking.

If you are a small business owner without a web presence right now, or you tried it once, you may be thinking:

- “Oh yeah, the Internet. That’s for selling stuff to the world, but all of my customers live here.”
- “I tried the Internet, it didn’t work for my business.”
- “I have a website but it gets no traffic - what a waste of money!”
- “The Internet is for products - I have a service business.”

…and so on. It may be hard to believe, but nowadays if you are without a web presence that is found in local search results, you are leaving customers and money behind.  Simple as that.  You are losing money.

Yet you might be ready to pay enormous prices to advertise in those outdated heavy books called the Yellow Pages

If you think about it, Yellow Pages are ridiculous: a teeny tiny rectangle’s worth of information that you can’t change for a year, on the SAME page as your competitors’ ads. And for that they charge you hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year.

But the Yellow Pages are familiar, so small business owners stick to it. And since most of the Yellow Pages are online now, many will get basic online listings by default.

Still, it’s a shame that so many small business owners have such misconceptions about the Internet. A lot of that is a due to all the hype and craziness of the early Internet days, when they got sucked into paying huge sums of money for worthless websites that they thought would magically bring customers through their doors. Those experiences left a bitter taste in many a business owner’s mouth, which still lingers today.

Okay, well that was then. It’s time to turn the page and move forward. How can we help you, the small business owner, wake up and smell the coffee?

The internet is changing many people’s lives.  There are teenagers making money from blogs.  There are innumerable ways even for the "non-business" person to benefit financially from an online presence.  Those who know how to get their page ranked high in search results are making a killing.

But how does this help my local company get more business?

Let’s go into the mind of the average internet user.  Many may be YOUR potential clients

Let’s say you are offering a backhoe service in Seattle area. You have no web presence (or some site your niece made for you that hardly get’s found). You have word-of-mouth customers, which is great, but times are hard - you need to find more local business customers.  How will they find you?

In 2009, the typical person will now skip looking for that big yellow book and instead type “backhoe service Seattle” in the web browser.  The first thing that pops up in Google is a handy map with stars showing a local listing of some business names, and their phone numbers.  Yahoo has a local search feature by clicking on their “local” tab, and MSN by clicking on “Maps” to see local listings.

Most will find one close to them and start calling without even looking further.  Some will go down the page and keep looking, or write down several names and phone numbers.  If they find enough, they won’t bother even going to page two of local search results.

Try it yourself - type in a phrase someone would use who is searching for YOUR kind of business, followed by your city.  Is your company there?  Are your competitors listed right up front on the handy map?What if YOUR company was listed in the local search results on the first page? Would you get more business?

Well you can, and must.  It’s not a matter of preference anymore.If you are not found on the internet, you are throwing away money.  Period.

You need a little more than just a glorified brochure online - though that is better than nothing.  You need something that helps you to connect and build relationships with visitors and customers.  How about a video - showing your work?  How about some coupons for those who give you feedback on what they’re looking for in your type of business?

Maybe you say, “I can’t do websites” or “we tried a website but nothing came of it”  You may have already discovered that just having a website doesn’t automatically get your site found.  There are several factors that get your site ranked higher in the local search engine results. Your site needs to be “optimized” and considered important by the search engines (by having links pointing to your site).

You can learn SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques yourself, but there is a much easier solution for you - and it’s cheaper and more lasting than a spot in the yellow pages.  Grab your free report from www.MoreLocalBusiness.com

If you search for web design services and SEO services, you will discover very high prices.  It’s in great demand right now.

There are alternatives to those elite services which seem to be affordable only to big companies. Search for complete online marketing packages designed for small business.  Search with terms like, “local search consultants” and see if any offer free consultations.

It’s time to be discovered again, find new customers, and get more business by giving your local business an online presence as your least expensive, lasting, and most effective form of local advertising.

D. Palmer
MoreLocalBusiness.com

Remember that your business stationery is always working for you or against you! Your stationery, compliments slips, invoices and letterhead generally are in constant sight with someone every single day. It may be in a government office, a competitor, an existing client, a prospect, member of the press or media or the general public. More than this, stationery has a long shelf life and can be looked at years from now.

What your business stationery says about you is absolutely vital. Of all of the items in your stationery kit, the most important are your business cards because they are going to be the front line troops for your business identity, handed out and passed around in volumes by sales staff, executives, administrators and not forgetting the CEO! Your business card can articulate more about you than merely the information printed on it. Getting the perfect business card design will take time and energy.

You can look at the same boring corporate design business card if you like but try some of these suggestions and see what you take away from them.

Make Your Card Look Like Something it Isn’t

Try a card that has all of your information and contact details on it but turn the card into something else such as a cinema ticket, grocery coupon or luggage tag. This makes them stand out because they are looking like something they are not but they perform exactly the same function and as many business cards are never going to become a talking point at the water cooler, these certainly will.

Use Vibrant Color Images

If you have a drawer full of white, plain looking cards you are going to have a very hard time standing out from the crowd if your business card is also a plain, white card - here’s an opportunity to stand out by using a vibrant color set and better, a really good image that dominates the card such as a tropical sea blue or foliage green as backdrops to the card itself.

Don’t Use Paper

There are other materials you can use instead of simply card stock; the issue becomes the cost involved when you are using non-standard materials however, these really do stand out from the crowd and are likely to be kept forever instead of being lost in an office desk drawer. Check with a printing company to see what alternatives they offer.

Embossed metal really makes a statement and if you combine the metal card with something functional such as a letter opener, they’ll have something unique and practical. You can make a business card with a clear, see through “card” and your contact information embossed or printed over it using Perspex.

Opt for an Alternative Shape

You don’t have to be square with your business cards; you can opt for different shapes for your business cards as they are primarily used to provide a permanent aide memoire for your business information. You can use circular or odd outline shaped cards but remember they must be able to be kept in a wallet easily enough - there is no point in making a statement that becomes simply inconvenient.

The clock is ticking down, your team is down by 6 and a tense silence has fallen over the field. Then you hear it…”We want to see our team put some points up! We want to see our team put some points up!” The cheerleaders have taken hold and start to jump around, clap and scream. Everybody is standing and screaming along with them. The bleachers start to rumble with excitement. The players get juiced thanks to the cheerleaders. The ball is snapped…its in the air…the receiver catches the ball…breaks one tackle…then another…he clears the goal line…TOUCHDOWN!!!  The crowd goes crazy; the cheerleaders start their dance and lead the crowd in the victory song.

What would a football game be without the cheerleaders? They aren’t necessary to the game but they add a level of excitement that no one else could bring. So, why are the girls who grace us with their presence at trade shows often looked upon as tacky or a gimmick? They have the same job to do as cheerleaders. They are there to get customers excited about a product, get them interested and eventually to hopefully open their wallets.

The days of “booth babes” seem to be slowing exponentially. Women empowerment is on the move again and society is focusing more on ‘real beauty’ rather than superficial standards. This is not good news for the scantily clad babes of auto and gaming trade shows. There are always going to be women in this world who are going to make their living off their looks but their employment opportunities are being seriously limited. What better way to attract people’s attention to your product than with beautiful smiling women ready and willing to flatter your potential customers at the drop of a dime?

Think of all the chicks at car shows around the world. The world of fast cars wouldn't be the same without beautiful women. Call it a stereotype, sexist or whatever you wish, but these shows are generally geared towards a male audience. There is no better way to get these testosterone pumping men to open their wallets than to have gorgeous girls flatter them. Think about this for a minute…how empty would photos of bright, shiny sports cars be without a beautiful woman dressed in a bikini sprawled out on the hood? Very, very empty.

Let’s switch gears now and think about gaming trade shows. What video game doesn't have a sexy woman in it these days. Again, these shows and the games are aimed at a mostly male audience. Most of the guys attending these shows are geeky (at least by our typical societal standards) who only dream of having a scantily clad model as their very own. Bring in the booth babes. Many of these girls dress up like the characters in the video game they are promoting. Real life girls as video game vixens is every gamer’s fantasy. These girls make the guys feel good, tell them about a new game and hopefully in the end get the company a loyal new customer.

During such hard economic times, companies need to get creative in order to let their product stand out among the crowd. Some people deem booth babes as a gimmick and claim that their use degrades the reputation of the company. I think gimmick is a harsh word. Booth babes are just another marketing strategy used to appeal to a specific audience. So I say let these girls don their short shorts, fishnets and knee high boots. Let them loose in the trade show arena and sell their little hearts out. In the end, you walk away with higher sales and they can walk away knowing that somewhere, they are the focus of a guy’s dream and all they had to do was collect a paycheck.

People are making money on the internet every day If you know a little bit about how the internet works, you too can make money online. Making money on the internet is just not for professionals that know everything about a computer, but regular people can also make a decent living everyday by using the internet. If you have always wanted to work on your own terms, in your home and be your own boss, then this article is for you.

The way this works is that you get people to buy your product or service through advertising. Every time you make a sale you earn commissions from the sale. You can advertise online by providing a website link given to you by the company. You can also advertise your website link through search engines and other places such as free online classifieds. If you prefer to promote your business offline you can advertise in newspapers and other places of interest.

Other ways to make money on the internet are with eBooks and survey companies. You can make up your own eBook with your own ideas to sell and make a profit. Or you can get a free eBook from an online company to sell. there are more opportunities to get paid and to showcase their talent.

Your eBook is now complete and ready to be sold, so lets move on to how you can do that. Put up a minisite, also known as a squeeze page. This page will have your sales letter. As you know the sales letter is what is going to get people to want to buy your book. Make it engaging and emotional. You should do some research to find out which survey companies are paying the most and find survey companies that are reliable with a good reputation.

Online cash payment services like Paypal. You will need to advertise your squeeze page. There are many ways to do this, write articles and submit them to an article site, buy ads, PPC, AdWords. (Read up on getting traffic to your site).

In order to leverage your ways to make money on the internet, it would be a good idea to venture into all of these suggested ways. However, it is not advisable to start all of them at once. The buyer gets an email confirmation and a link for downloading the eBook. So now you are an author and hopefully with some work a paid author. You can then do it all over again with another topic/niche and can make money at home.

Resource Author Francisco Rodriguez Higueras work at home trabajo