Take a moment to think about how you would really answer this question. If given enough thought just about any business owner who utilizes the Internet for any purpose will likely find that whether or not they intentionally organized an Internet marketing campaign, they may already be marketing their products and services on the Internet. Let’s look at some subtle ways business owners may already be marketing their business on the Internet.

Do you have a website for your business? Business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their products or services online just by virtue of the fact that they have a website online. Having a live website means there is the potential for curious Internet users to access your website. You may not be actively promoting your website but you may still find that your website generates interest in your products despite the lack of promotional endeavors; this is a form of passive marketing.

Do you participate in message boards and include a link to your website in your signature? Again business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their website online. Savvy business owners realize the importance of participation in industry related message boards to create an interest in their products and services, establish themselves as knowledgeable about the industry and offer a link to their own website even if it is in the signature line of their posts. However, even those who don’t realize this, may already be inadvertently enjoying the benefits of Internet marketing just by doing something they enjoy.

Do you include keywords which are relevant to your business in the content of your website? Business owners who answer yes to this question are also already marketing on the Internet by optimizing their website for these keywords. These search engine optimization (SEO) affects the websites whether or not they were even aware of the concept of keyword density and how it can help to SEO a website. Business owners will likely use certain words often depending on the type of products and services they offer just because it is natural and logical to do so. This tendency, however, can result in search engines boosting your website rankings for these particular keywords. The concept of SEO is much more involved and complex than simply using keywords frequently but business owners can gain some benefit just by naturally applying relevant keywords to their website. A great free resource is Free Keywords Suggestion Tool from WordTracker.

Do you solicit feedback from your customers online? This is yet another example of how business owners may be accidentally marketing their business on the Internet. Most business owners realize the importance of soliciting feedback from customers and those who offer products online might solicit feedback in the form of online surveys and polls. Although the business owners may be doing this simply for a business purpose, the fact that it is done online makes it fall into the category of Internet marketing.

We’ve discussed several ways business owners may already be marketing online but what about business owners who want to have an increased online presence? For those who may already be marketing online accidentally, they may wish to launch a full scale Internet marketing campaign. The best way to do this is to hire a consultant with experience in Internet marketing and social media marketing, to assist in creating a campaign which is effective for your target audience. Tasting The Internet, can help develop a successful campaign for your online marketing success!

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What is “data” in our lives today? Its documents from work, tax returns from last year, credit card statements with sensitive data, pictures from the summer vacation, rare MP3s you have collected, home videos i.e. our memories, identity, and assets. All these are our “data”, electronically stored in our desktops, laptops, PDAs, Servers and at the mercy of software and hardware glitches that can wipe out everything in a second. Do you have insurance on your data?

Most people don’t give data backup much thought until they actually lose everything to some technical failure. Unfortunately, no matter how much you think you can avoid it, the truth is that your laptops, desktops or servers are all machines and they will wear down one day. Even if your hard drive does not fail and motherboard does not short out, you can still have erased all your data by pressing the wrong key or downloading corrupt files into your computer by mistake. Worst of it is, even with expensive hardware and careful maintenance it only takes a power surge to fry your computer.

Apart from hardware failure, corrupt software and virus attacks are the most common causes for data loss. Unfortunately, the most common forms of data backup like USB drives, external hard drives and DVD/CDs are just as vulnerable. USB drives and external hard drives can become corrupt while CD/DVDs tend to get scratches that make then unplayable. Therefore, if you think you have fool proof backup in these— think again.

We don’t realize the cost of not taking backups until we lose the data we had so carefully stored in our hard drives. It is similar to losing your home to a fire or a natural disaster. You suddenly find that you have lost names, addresses, phone numbers, letters, and photos – things that are important and precious to you. But thankfully most people have insurance for their home and belongings.

Data backup is even more important for people who work from home. These days home based businesses are a rage and the accounts, tenders, agreements, vouchers – everything is probably stored in a system at your home and you take regular backup in an external hard drive. All it will take is a power surge or glitch during the backup process to corrupt the data on both your computer and external hard drive at the same time and you could lose everything pertaining to your business transactions in the blink of an eye.

The one and only way to avoid these mistakes is to keep your files backed up with a third party provider like Carbonite. For a fee of $54.95/ year, Carbonite can store unlimited data in its secure servers, with encryption for double security. Even if your computer crashes, you can login from any another computer to access all your data instantly. Make a smart decision, get some data insurance and back it up with Carbonite now to crash proof your life!

For many parents, being able to hold down a good job and still have all the time for their kids and then, for themselves, may seem like a fantasy. But many people (both men and women) have successfully melded their home and work life, and have found fulfillment in their work, spend time with their families and make enough money. These people quit their nine-to-five jobs and started their own business right out of their homes, doing what they love.

So you’ve probably thought at one time or another of leaving your desk job and just starting your own business. Why not? It’s time to stop dreaming and get off your butt and start taking action. So here are some tips to get you started:

Find your passion

Very few people when they were growing up thought to themselves, “Someday, I want to be an accountant!” or “I want to market ballpoint pens for small to medium sized companies!” So, if you’re starting your own business, why would you do something you don’t like? Do you like dogs? Why not start a pet-sitting or dog grooming business? Or perhaps everyone at the last pot luck dinner LOVED your cupcakes – why not start baking for profit? Of course, it’s much easier said than done, but eventually, you’ll find what you want. Doing something you love assures you of one thing – you’ll wake up each morning wanting to go to work, not dreading it.

It’s not all play

Just because you don’t have an office or a boss doesn’t mean you can goof off all the time. Starting your home-based business is HARD! Unlike working for a company or corporation, you’ll have to start from scratch and most likely will have to do everything by yourself. Sticking to a regular schedule will help you keep things sane, but at the beginning, expect to put in a lot of hours to help you get off the ground (sneaking away to watch a bit of daytime TV is acceptable, and a perk, of course!)

Make your space

The best part of being based at home is seeing the kids all the time. The worst? Seeing the kids all the time! You do your best to concentrate and your little ones keep interrupting. Much like making your own time, try to set aside some space of your own (like a home office) where you can do your work and get some peace and quiet.

Act Like a Business

So many people when they decide to start a home-based business look for the quickest, and sometimes cheapest, ways to get started.  (that’s not a bad thing, we all have done it) But one thing you should strongly consider is purchasing your own domain name through GoDaddy.com – World’s No.1 Domain Name Registrar .  If you are going to have a business, you need to act like a business and having your own professional domain name is a must.  Also, you should purchase email hosting so that when you communicate, it will be sent from yourname@yourbusiness.com.  It just makes you look more professional and people will take you more seriously.

Automate!

This is the age of computers and why shouldn’t you take advantage of that? Everyone uses the web these days, so having a website (or even a Facebook fan page) where your customers can contact you and get the latest news is a must! If you sell products over the web, then you’ll not only have to figure out a payment method, but how you can process the orders over the Internet. Get some help if you can but there are thousands of solutions out there that will help you. Wahmcart, for example, is ready-made shopping cart solution for your website. They offer the secure shopping cart software, plus a management and tracking solution, making the buying experience for your customers as easy as possible and they are very affordable for the new business just starting out.

Another great solution for your ecommerce needs is 1ShoppingCart.  With this system you can do all of the same things as above, and much more.  Of course, this system is a bit more pricey, but you can run your entire business from product sales, to lead capture to autoresponders and finally to your online newsletter.

There are lots of opportunities out there and there has never been a better time to go than today! Start brainstorming ideas today and you’ll be on your way to a successful home business!

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and finding that right image can sometimes be crucial. Whether you’re illustrating a book or reporting on a breaking news event, capturing the essence of written words in one picture can be difficult. It’s easy enough to go to Google and type in what you need, but just because you find something on Google Images, doesn’t mean you can use it. Google pulls photos from various websites, and many of these photos are copyrighted and belong to someone else, who may not appreciate you taking their photos and “borrowing” them for your blog. Since not everyone has access to a professional photographer and a studio, does this mean you can’t have photos on your site at all? Of course not, as there are many options for bloggers and webmasters to acquire images for their sites.

Free

The best things in life are free, right? Perhaps. There are sites out there like MorgueFile.com, that provides images (some from professional photographers) for free. Public domain images are another source for free photos. These images are basically pictures whose copyrights have lapsed or expired, because their original owners have not opted to renew their licenses. Keep in mind that, unless the author specified that his or her work is “public domain”, in the United States, copyrights can remain in effect for up to 120 years.

Other options are works published under the Creative Commons (CC) License. Creative Commons is a non-profit organization created specifically for artists to be able to share their works with others for free, without the need for lawyers and legal documents. Depending on the terms of the licenses, a work can be used for various purposes. The most liberal licenses allow you to modify and distribute their photos for any purpose, but most will ask for the very least: a) attribution (giving credit to the original artist) and/or b) non-commercial use (you can’t make money off the image.) While this may seem like a good idea, if your website makes money or if you have Adsense on your blog, you may not be able to use images with CC licenses.

Commercial/Paid

If you’re planning to have a very specialized, high-end website that will make you thousands of dollars a month, then there’s no need to skimp on photography! Many artists and photographers sell their images (or their services) for a fee, and you can be guaranteed you’ll have a one-of-a-kind picture.

However, for most people this may not be the case. There are websites out there that own images (or allow people to sell their images) at affordable prices. Royalty-free images are the most common among these and can be quite inexpensive. When you purchase royalty-free images, you can use it for an unlimited amount of time, make as many copies as you need (and as often as you want) and the images can be distributed all over the world. Best of all, the images can be suitable for all mediums – whether you need high-resolution billboard photos or small, web-safe graphics.

One such website is Fotolia, where they offer royalty-free images for as little as $0.75 per image! There are millions of pictures available today, so head over to Fotolia now and find that perfect image!

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With the job market being tough and cruel these days, many people think that there’s no way they’ll be able to compete in such conditions. Hiring Managers and Human Resources Professionals are stunned that sometimes, a part-time receptionist position (with no benefits) can garner hundreds of responses. And with the economy making a steady, but slow recovery, there seems to be no relief in sight for many of the unemployed. What are these people to do, when unemployment runs out and there’s just not enough work? Why look for other means to make money.

Perhaps you’ve seen the ads – work from home, stuffing envelopes, making crafts, etc.? More often than not, these are scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But not all online jobs are bogus. Many people are now joining the virtual workforce – thousands of skilled, willing and able people hiring themselves out to companies and individuals on a freelance basis. It used to be, you had to have some kind of skill – computer programming, graphics and design training – to be self-employed. But now, with the convenience of the internet and technology, people are actually hiring their own assistants – workers who may be located in another city, state or even county, who can perform basic tasks. These people set their own hours, their own rates based on their skills and do work for other busy professionals. Being a personal assistant has its perks, but it is a job like any other.

So how does one start? Of course, if you’ve had any experience in this field, then you’ve got an edge over other people. If not, then you can get training from some schools and even online schools.

Finding jobs can be a bit tricky, but sites like Elance, Guru, Two Minute Commute and Odesk has hundreds of job postings for virtual assistants. Just like any job, you’ll have to put your best foot forward – put together your resume, references etc. You’ll most likely have to put up a profile that lists all your experiences, skills and educational information. Competition can be tough, but you’ll have to persevere.

What kinds of work can you expect to get? Really, anything! Some people may want some simple, basic tasks – checking email, compiling lists, and organizing address books, research. Placing phone calls and scheduling appointments are a common task. AJ Jacobs, editor-at-large at Esquire magazine (via Tim Ferris’ The Four Hour Workweek website) recounts his experience of hiring a virtual assistant, who he had do everything from paying his bills to, “finding my son a Tickle Me Elmo.” Many companies also hire virtual assistants to do tasks which take too much time and resources of their on-site employees, such as creating labels for mailing, scheduling meetings, sending out marketing emails – there is a virtual buffet of work for virtual professionals!

Of course, you’ll want to stand out from other applicants – anyone can type into an excel spreadsheet or pick up a phone. One surefire way to do this is to find your own niche – a corner where you and only you rule this market. For example, if you have any medical background, you can do work with patient’s records or doctor’s offices. One hot niche is Internet Marketing and many businesses are clamoring for well-trained marketing assistants. Online marketing has grown exponentially in the past few years, and thus, these skill sets are becoming much more important than ever. Many of the earlier marketers learned on the job, but now many companies cannot afford to pay for their employees’ learning curve, which is why people who possess skills such as blogging, article submission, social networking, affiliate marketing, video editing and marketing support are in demand. Which is why many training centers offer such courses. VAClassroom.com offers one of the most comprehensive online courses, and is recommended by many professionals, both by virtual assistants and the companies that hire them. The course they offer is comprehensive and offers more than just reading materials – you get full access to their site, which includes a FREE 60-Day Trial to the popular VAClassroom Training Membership Program. Members can attend monthly meetings, participate in the discussion forums, watch videos and even join the virtual marketplace where they can network and possibly find jobs.

Another great resource is VAnetworking.com.  This is a community online for virtual assistants and virtual entrepreneurs to connect, share, discuss, promote & network their businesses.  They offer a free membership, discounts on virtual assistant business products and services , an RFP system for both Virtual Assistant and potential Virtual Assistant clients through their VAInsider club,  weekly online, live seminars with industry experts who’ve “been there, done that,” inclusion in the largest Virtual Assistant Article Directory online to help prospective clients find you faster and many other features.

So, check out VAClassroom.com and VAnetworking.com today and see how you can take full advantage of your full potential!

I attended the first Social Media Summit in Knoxville, TN yesterday.  This was a collaboration between the Knoxville Social Media Club and the Knoxville Social Media Association.  The room was packed with healthcare professionals, journalists, social media gurus, business owners and professionals, all hungry for more information about this new and exciting media that will increase their brand awareness and give them the opportunity to be in the same space as their customers.

The first panel was made up of healthcare professionals.  Some of the topic discussions included:

• Creating better access for patients such as the ability to make appointments online (wouldn’t that be great!)
• Better interaction with the physician (through Twitter and Facebook and possibly even a forum or chat)
• Live Tweeting during surgeries (this one didn’t get a lot of positive comments)
• eVisits, giving the patient the ability to pay online for a consultation or visit with their physician online.  (now that would be innovative!)

The next panel discussion was on journalism and social media and the panel was made of – journalist, naturally.  Here’s some of the things they talked about:

• Radio and print media panelists decided to change with the technology rather than being left behind
• They don’t support tweeting commentary while covering a story
• They look at Twitter posting as more of a communication tool and less as a reporting tool
• Blogger accreditation was discussed but not all were in favor
• And they questioned whether a basic journalism class should be required for bloggers
• Aspiring journalists need to build their own brands. Start a blog, and freelance. Writers are needed now more than ever before

The the third and final panel was my favorite.  It was made up of people actually using social media regularly to promote their business and services and to build brand awareness.  Some of the comments included:

• They use social media because their clients are in the space, they have to use it to connect with their customers. They want to know their customer better and get the word out about their company, they want to meet consumers where they are having conversations and social media offsets marketing costs and provides better data collection
• Most of them allow and expect their employees to be on social media to help promote the company.
• Some do have social media policies in place and some don’t
• They have monitoring in place such as Google Alerts to mine for data and see who is talking about their brand or product
• Many of them read other blogs to find out what people are saying about them and to look for relevant industry information
• One panelist uses couponing on their Facebook Fan Page to drive traffic back in the doors.  They promoted it within the stores which increased their traffic to the page and in return, sent them back to the store for more purchases.
• Always be aware that you represent the company you work for. Leaving the job doesn’t mean you leave social responsibility
• Have a filter, don’t use social media to complain about your work, the company may be monitoring
• Social media is global, discoverable and permanent
• Be careful who is in charge of Social Media…..protect the brand.

After the panel discussions were finished, we all gathered for a mixer and I met some new friends.  Here are a couple of videos where I asked them how they were using social media for their business.

Lisa Mueller with Sassy Glass Studio and ALM Photo

Danae Miley with Open Hands Musculotherapy

How are YOU using social media for your business?  I’d love to hear your comments below.

First it was the PC, then the laptop and now with iPhones and Blackberries, it seems we all can’t live without emails. What began as a way to send digital messages across computers has now become something much more – it is a way anyone can reach out to their friends and loved ones from across the globe, just to say “hello.” Email is cheap and easy. Almost everyone has an email address, from Uncle Leo in Ohio to Grandma Joan in Alaska. Thus, email has become a target for many marketers as well, in order to reach out to as many people in a click of a button through the art of email marketing.

Creating email campaigns can be easy and inexpensive, especially for those on a tight budget. This is a powerful medium, because it can reach thousands of people in an instant. There are a few simple guidelines when creating any email marketing campaign. Follow them and your efforts are sure to be a success.

The right message

There are many ways to go about creating an email campaign and what you say is just as important. After you decide who your target market is, make sure your message is appropriate and tailored to their needs.

Brand it!

With any marketing effort, branding is important. It will help your audience recognize you with a single look (at your logo or colors) and, eventually, keeps your company at the top of mind.

Organize your list

Next, you’ll have to compile a mailing list of people you’ll be sending your message to. The best type of list to make is one that is “opt-in” or permission-based, meaning that the people you are contacting have agreed to be contacted. This can be time-consuming but well worth it; after all, it will be the basis of your campaign! There are many ways of (legitimately) collecting email addresses. First, have a sign-up form on your website, where people can easily see it. If you do social networking (and if you haven’t, you really should!), promote your mailing list via your facebook account, fan page, twitter account, etc. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, encourage your customers to fill out a form or guest book to opt in. Aside from adding to your list, make sure you continually update old email addresses, deleting those that don’t work and removing people from your list who have asked to be removed.

Keep track of results

Sending out emails blindly (even if your list is targeted) can be like sending out messages in a bottle – you never know who reads them and who just tosses them into the trash. Invest in some software which will let you know who opens your messages in real time! Aside from this, you can find out how many people and who clicks on your email, when they go to your website and other important information like bounce rate, traffic statistics and even if they forwarded your email to their friends.

With a lot of work, you can successfully put on your email marketing campaign. But, there’s no need to do all of the work yourself. All of these steps can be done with some help from professionals. Here are two services I like and use for my email marketing.

Constant Contact has been helping all types of businesses and organizations reach out to their audience through email and online marketing for over 12 years. Why not drop them a line and ask them how they can help you?

Have you heard the phrase keyword rich content or content rich blogs?

It’s funny how one thing on the Internet leads you to something else and then something else.  Yesterday, I received an email from my favorite platform for managing social media sites, HootSuite, about some awesome upgrades they just launched.  And as all good little online business owners should do, I posted a comment on their blog.  Then I saw a small little icon that said “reblog.”  Of course, I know what re-tweet is but didn’t know about the “reblogging.”

I clicked the icon and found that through that quick link, I could re-post or “reblog”  their information directly to my blog…without re-typing it!!!  Now that’s some kind of technology!  (you can check out yesterday’s post “reBlog from HootSuite …”)  I didn’t type any of that!  Sweet!

Image via CrunchBase

The program that allowed me to make this magic happen is called Zemanta. And the features this free browser add-on offers is way too cool.  As I’m writing this post now, Zemanta is looking up links, photos and reference material for this post.  All I have to do is click the links in the sidebar of my blog dashboard and I have filled my blog post with rich content for my readers, including links and photos. (notice the little “reblog” icon at the end of this post.  Click it for me!!)

Needless to say, I am a very happy blogger today with the treasure that I just found through Zemanta.  Oh and did I mention it will also recommend keywords for you?  Go grab your version of Zemanta and make your blog posts content rich with just the click of your mouse!

And let me know what you think of the platform…I’m lovin’ it!

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I found this fascinating quote today:

The good news continues from HootSuite HQ with the release of “Barn Owl” – the new iteration of our beloved (and award-winning) social media dashboard. This release includes tools which will delight marketing departments, customer support teams and anyone who seeks to understand their audience plus track what’s working.hootsuite.com, HootSuite blog – Social Media Dashboard, Feb 2010

You should read the whole article.