digital media strategy blog

One of the quickest ways of building your customer base is to find mutually-beneficial joint ventures. The key words here are’mutually-beneficial.’ Find marketers and entrepreneurs who already have large’responsive’ mail lists and make them an offer they can’t refuse.

Many people have tried using this technique but have failed totally. I can tell you why.

The issue with many folks is that they are only targeted on what they can get out of the deal. You can never get it if that is what your focus is on.

When you are trying to form joint ventures, target the other party and ask,’What do they need? What can I offer them that will be valuable to them?’

Sure, you can just offer the other person a piece of the profits if they agree to endorse your product/service to their list, but that is what everybody does! And nowadays, that isn’t tempting enough. How is your offer unique?

Apply the USP - the’twist.’ Be unique! Create worth for them! Make it worth their while. Make them an offer they cannot refuse!

When I send out an offer for a joint venture I simply tell them I would like to plug their product/business/service for them and not be paid for it. Instead of receiving 40 percent commission as an affiliate I offer them to keep 70+% of the profit. All they have to do is let me use their service just once ( considering that they are an ezine, newsletter or business with a giant opt in list ). I assure them that a singular page will be created and payments will be made right to the partner.

Think about it!

You will be giving the partner further exposure, higher profits and security of their business. In doing so, you will be in a position to provide discount advertising/products/services to your members or visitors giving YOUR business more value. Because now, folk will know to come to you for deductions on products and services they need!

With this concept to mind , go out there and seek for some enterprises who have already got a massive list or some high traffic.

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Original article was written by Kevin Lam from www.TexasSEO.com - Texas SEO is a Dallas-based web marketing and consulting firm specializing in SEO & SEM, PPC, copywriting, web designing and more.

Efficient human resource management techniques are crucial for business success. People management can be improved and learned. Having a natural skill for getting along with people and forming relationships is a plus, but you can do numerous things to help the process.

Build relationships: Begin by memorizing the names of the workforce. Talk to people; look co-workers in the eye as you are speaking. Develop a respectful attitude, and be sure to listen to the other person’s opinion, even if you disagree or have a different opinion. The development of listening skills is one of the best things you can do to develop your talent management skills. Be sure to exhibit interest in what people can offer the business organization.

Show integrity: Do not give promises you will not keep. If you can’t keep your word, the fragile bond of trust is violated, and no-one will offer you their best without trust. Everytime you make a statement or make a promise, make sure that you can keep your promises or it would be more sensible not to give your word at all. The truth is, when you can’t be depended on, your team will not be available when they are most needed. Encourage feedback: It’s a two-way street. Talent management skills mean being open to all feedback. If you are willing to prove that you are accessible and receptive, you establish that you want to hear your co-worker’s feedback, and they should listen to your ideas. Bona Fide discourse in addition encourages creative problem solving, new ways of achieving goals, and strengthens the bonds of an excellent team. When team members are given a voice, each team member takes an interest in the outcome of the project.

Communication is fundamental: Communication is central to managing staff with skill. Be approachable, listen attentively to people, encourage all sorts of feedback, and allow team members an equal voice. Inspire staff not only to communicate to you, but to speak to each other. The growth of a business relies a great deal on the open exchange of opinions, and when the team communicate effectively, it becomes simple to find any issues before they may become problems, allowing corrective action to be put in place to prevent further problems.

Acquiring these skills will require some work, nevertheless the payoff is worthwhile. By establishing the bonds of a good team and demonstrating effective listening techniques, you can easily achieve a successful business.

Numerous companies feel that, as long as each member of staff has decent health and safety education, they are adequately prepared to manage any situation. The truth is however, employees require more than basic education in health and safety legislation. Equipping your staff, hiring an enthusiastic supervisior and coordinating regular drills are all important factors. An individual in a supervisory capacity has a greater purpose to carry out than simply managing the floor. A supervisor has to be a skilled communicator, they should also think that training is great. On top of following any relevant legislation, a supervisor’s role includes overseeing employee performance too. Naturally it’s difficult to accomplish all this at once. A good standard product knowledge is crucial for a supervisory role not to mention a high level of understanding of safety laws, risk assessment, and CPR.

Simply having basic training in health and safety isn’t enough for your staff. To successfully find a hazard they need to put their newly accquired knowledge into practise. Employees must know how to eradicate safety hazards and also understanding what to do if disaster strikes. Not until these procedures become a routine are staff properly prepared.

Education is in reality useless if you don’t supply safety gear. If they are lacking the equipment they need, or even find that some of the items are not working correctly only after something has occurred, the training your staff have completed will have been in vain. Maintaining your equipment on a regular basis is invaluable. If your equipment doesn’t come up to the relevant legislation, be sure to have it remedied ASAP and returned to the right location.

Be sure to surf to our vast page for health safety risk assessment pointers.

Health and safety instruction is essential to the safety of your staff, but in addition they must have decent equipment, scheduled practise sessions, and a knowledgeable supervisor who gets everyone to be enthusiastic about working safely. When you implement these steps you should see that the safety regulations soon become a part of the staff’s working habits not an inconvenience for employees to remember.

The techonology sector has always been a prosperous industry.The industry has been readily active developing faster, easier, and more efficient solutions to many business issues. This includes simplifying the employment hiring process. Technological advances have led to the invention of a better solution for Employment Verification. This allows for safer, faster, and more effective verification. Gone are the days of placing dozens of phone calls, typing or emailing requests, and waiting to hear back from previous employers simply to verify the job history of a potential employee. Verification using a reputable employment verification service takes care of all the hard work and sends you a detailed report of the findings.

As soon as you submit the information, the previous employer should receive a fax or an email giving notice of your request. The prior employer should then respond to your inquiry. The previous boss also has the option to rate the employee based on particular categories such as job performance and attendance. This is nonobligatory and not required of the previous employer. Once the query has been executed, you will receive an email notification. Once you receive the notification, you will be able to log into your online account, view the information and print it out if you need to.

Many corporations are moving to this method of Employment Verification. Outsourcing is much easier and you have the ability to verify many more applicants than if you were to call or fax all the employers from a resume by yourself. This new process of employment verificaiton is popular not just because of the time saved but because it keeps the other employment information confidential. You have the ability to save your company time and money while assuring all of the files are secure. Signing up for this revolutionary way of doing Employment Verification ensures that you are getting the best candidates in a timely fashion.

Effective people management is crucial in order to achieve the best in your business success. With a little effort you can gain and develop these techniques. Having a intuitive skill for getting along with people is an advantage, all the same you can do numerous things to make this process simple. Forging relationships: Addressing co-workers by name is a beginning. Engage in conversation; get eye contact when you’re speaking. Show respect, and do pay attention to the other person’s opinion, regardless of whether you agree with them. Developing listening skills is among the greatest things you may do to develop your talent management skills. Be sure to receive any input from team members. Exhibit integrity: Keeping your promises is fundamental. When a promise is not kept, it can damage trust, and if they don’t trust you your staff certainly won’t offer their best. Each time you make a statement or give a promise, make sure you can follow through or don’t bother giving your word at all. You will discover, when your people can’t depend on you, you can be sure they will behave in the same way.

Be open to feedback: It’s a two-way street. Maintaining an open mind with regard to other’s opinions is an important skill in effective people management. If you can establish accessibility and openness, you prove that you respect other’s ideas, your thoughts will be valued in the same way. Welcoming open conversation also promotes original ways of thinking, ways of accomplishing the goals of the company, and strengthens the team. By allowing the employees a voice, each employee takes an interest in the results.

Promote all sorts of communication: Dealing with your team comes down to one thing - communication. Keeping an open door policy, listen attentively to other people, encourage employees to share ideas, and allow each of your staff to express themselves. Encourage team members not only to speak with you, but also with each other. The exchange of thoughts is necessary in the creative process, and if the staff communicate efficiently, it is simple to root out problems early, and corrections may be applied before things get out of hand. Acquiring these skills can require time, nevertheless the payoff is worth it. By encouraging a good team dynamic and demonstrating good listening techniques, a flourishing business will be yours.

Nowadays some managers think that, as long as every employee has adequate health and safety instruction, they now have everything necessary to prevent an incident. Realistically however, basic training in health and safety legislation and risk asessment simply isn’t enough. You must supply your staff with adequate supervision, the right equipment, and last but not least regular practice.

Someone in a supervisory capacity has a greater role to carry out than just general supervision. The supervisor you employ should express enthusiasm and consider safety instruction important. In addition to following all of the rules and laws, the task of a supervisor also includes checking up on staff performance. This isn’t a simple undertaking. Excellent business knowledge is a necessity in a supervisory role in addition to an extensive comprehension of up-to-date regulations involving safety, risk appraisal and first aid. It’s just not sufficient to simply send any employees on a health and safety course. To positively spot a problem area they must have practical experience. They need to know how to eradicate hazards and understanding what to do when the worst happens. Your staff are only protected when their training and procedures have become a habit.

Safety equipment is equally as critical to the your staff’s well-being as training. When they discover they don’t have gear that is needed, or find out that equipment is broken only after something has happened, the training they have completed will have been in vain.

It is crucial to perform thorough checks regularly to verify that you have all of the essential gear and that it’s all in good working order. When your equipment will not meet the relevant standards, be certain to have it fixed as rapidly as you can and put it back in the proper location.

Your employees must get good health & safety training, but in addition they require good quality equipment, the opportunity to practise, and a supervisor with infectious enthusiasm. When you take this advice you should find that health and safety legislation will soon become a natural component of life in the workplace not something challenging for staff to remember all the time.

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.

There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.

Feasibility

Task feasibility is also a part of the motivation equation.

If a task if feasible, then motivation increases. And if a task is out of reach, then motivation decreases. This is encompassed in the philosophy of incremental production and structure - large, complex and impossible tasks are split into smaller more manageable ones.

But the above goes against the philosophy of competency expansion - if a task is too easy, then challenge is reduced and motivational effort is reduced. So making a task slightly out of reach optimises motivation.

There have been situations where impossible tasks have created exceptional motivation (the Apollo 11 fiasco), but there, arguably, only the technical challenge seemed out of reach. The possibility of the task was demonstrated in that the problem was solved. The block was the illusion of difficulty and not the unfeasibility of the task itself.

These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com/

If you are running or plan to run a business, there are
two big things you should consider about your internet
access.

1. The safety of your internet access and,
2. The speed of your internet access

Safety

You need to apply the same care to your internet access as you do the rest of your business. In fact, if poorly done your days can become very frustrating and your business and reputation can become badly tarnished.

Why do I sound so alarmist about this? Because I see so many people take a careless attitude about their internet access and leave their computers open to viruses and Trojan horses. This is a whole major subject that I will address on my website and in articles but in short, here is what can happen to you if you do not take the right actions:

* Hackers can steal your financial information.
* Hackers can steal your identity
* Hackers can use your computer to launch viruses and Trojan horses.
* Hackers can use your computer to spam others
* Your ISP can shut you down
* You can become black listed on the internet

To minimize the risk of this happening, you need to have a good firewall and antivirus program. You should also take responsibility for maintaining your firewall and for running your anti-virus program at least once a week - preferably more often. If you do these things your computer should be pretty safe.

Speed

The next thing you will need is high speed internet access. By high speed internet access, I mean, in the following order of importance: cable, DSL, or satellite. Forget dial-up unless you are on the road and there is absolutely no availability of the other three because it is generally too slow.

“But I live where there is no cable or DSL and satellite is expensive,” you say. “My dial-up provider says they have accelerators that give me five times the speed.” To be frank, that is flim-flam. They are using a compression technique that is too slow.

If you can’t get cable or DSL, a decent satellite internet access will probably cost you about $90.00 a month. Consider that a cost of living where you want to live. If you want to be in business, you need to do the things that keep you in business.

The primary reason that you will need high speed internet access is you are going to need to make changes to your web pages. If you have dial access, an upload can take an hour compared to 3 minutes with high speed. Many times you are going to find that what you uploaded isn’t what you thought it would be so now, after you correct the problem, you will have to wait another hour.

That doesn’t sound like fun to me.

If you follow these recommendations, you will have your happiest and safest experience on the internet.

Start your Internet Business/Home Business the right way and save $3000, $4000 or more. Get a FREE no nonsense 6 part mini-course here: daily-results.com/start-a-home-business.html VISIT our site: www.daily-results.com

You know the drill - the ridiculous deadlines, the relentless barrage of email, voicemail, phone calls, all those “got a minute” interruptions, the constant worrying that one of those many balls you’re juggling is going to unexpectedly drop.

When you’re on total overload, all you want is relief - preferably the fast and easy kind. So you try the latest organizing software or gadget. Or maybe you read another book, take another course on time management or listen to a tape by the latest time management guru. Things might go pretty well for a couple of days. But before long you’re right back where you were - snowed under with no realistic way to dig out.

WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE SKY
Lots of things work - in theory. Take the “handle each piece of paper only once” technique. The idea is basically a good one. But practically speaking, how many people are really able to do it on any consistent basis? Suggestions to have your secretary screen your calls or to close your office door to discourage interruptions leave secretary-less cubicle dwellers everywhere scrambling to add “get secretary” and ” get door” to their To-Do lists!

Then there is the traditional three-step system to planning and managing your day:

Step 1: Take out your calendar and make a list of want you want to accomplish.

Step 2: Use the ABC designation to prioritize each activity.

Step 3: Start with your most high priority tasks.

Complete all of these before moving on to your lower priority tasks. Cross-off completed tasks as you go until you’ve accomplished everything on your list. Tidy up your desk and leave your office with that warm, satisfying feeling of knowing you have successfully managed your time.

That’s how it works for you, right? Get real!

WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD
Let’s review the traditional “calendarizing” approach. Is it a good idea to plan your day? Yes. Should you write things down? Absolutely. Is prioritizing essential? Clearly. Ideally then, the three-step process should work. And, in simpler times, it no doubt did. In today’s jam-packed world however, even with the clearest of values, this formulaic approach is in many ways more idealistic than realistic.

A more realistic approach is one that takes into account the reality that you have to juggle a lot more than a To-Do list. In fact, there are three things that must be first organized and then managed:

1. Commitments (to yourself, to others, and others to you),
2. Communication
3. Information.

Staying on top of commitments, communication and information is no easy task either. That’s where the realistic part comes in.

If you want to effectively manage your time you need to get real. Workable solutions are those that are firmly grounded in reality. Whose reality? Preferably yours. Take a look at these 5 Work/Life Reality Checks. If you find that you share a similar view of what it’s really like to try to manage a too full work and personal life, take advantage of some real tips for real people.

REALITY CHECK 1: Most interruptions are in your mind.
It’s not easy getting things done when you’re contantly being interrupted. But, guess who interrupts you more than anyone else? If you came up with anyone other than YOURSELF, it’s time for a reality check! In fact, the average person talks to him/herself up to 50,000 times a day!

That’s because your subconscious tries to act like the RAM, or Random Access Memory, on a computer - the place where current work is being handled. But unlike a computer, your brain doesn’t know it should store all the other “incompletes” - plan meeting agenda, write report, buy cat food - elsewhere until those reminders are needed. That’s why, while you’re in the middle of one thing, like talking on the phone - your subconscious breaks in to remind you to pick up your dry cleaning. All these self-interruptions can make you feel overwhelmed and scattered. And, that’s not all. These mental distractions make it hard to stay focused on the task at hand.

Real Tip:
To start, do what you’d do with a too full computer - but instead of downloading files off your hard drive, “download” all those To-Do items off your mind into one big list. From here you can begin organizing your commitments into the appropriate “files.”

Use your calendar for date-specific commitments only. For everything else, create lists based on logical categories. For example, you’ll want a list called Current Goals and Projects to help you stay focused on your most high-impact activities such as create new training program, plan office relocation, or research MBA programs.

REALITY CHECK 2: If you want the right picture, you need the right lens.
The download exercise gives you perspective on all of the things you need or want to do. Now it’s time to get perspective on those commitments that have defined due dates. When it comes to getting perspective on time-specific commitments, it is useful to think of a camera. If you want to get a broader picture, you’d use a wide-angle lens.

To see more detail, you’d want to zoom in for a close-up view.

Sometimes you need to plan for the next few days or weeks. Other times you need to look out a few months by doing some mid-range planning. Still other times you need to look further down the road by doing some long-range planning. Depending on what type of planning you’re doing, you need to adjust your view of time accordingly.

To differentiate the forest from the trees is to clearly separate the big picture from the details. If your organizer - whether paper or electronic - consists of 365 daily pages, you’re trying to see the forest by looking at 365 “trees.” Without a useful way of seeing a broader picture of time, you can end up reacting day-to-day. Getting that wider view helps you see what’s coming. That way you can take a more planned and proactive approach which will save you a lot of time, not to mention headaches.

Real Tip:
If you need to do short, mid and long-range planning, don’t rely on a daily calendar alone. Instead, make sure you have the right view for the job. A daily or weekly calendar is great for short-term planning. For mid-range planning, widen the lens with a monthly view and use a yearly view to get a really big picture of time.

REALITY CHECK 3: Most things do not need to be done today.
Once you’ve identified your next actions, the traditional approach to time management would have you write these on your daily calendar. At first glance this sounds logical, especially when you consider Benjamin Franklin’s advice to, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

Yet, let’s put Franklin’s wise words into their real life context. Franklin may have been a busy man, but unlike you, he did not have to contend with voicemail, email, faxes, or pagers. He and the other Founding Fathers had the luxury of spending four months framing the Declaration of Independence. When was the last time you had four months to concentrate on a single project? Life was a whole lot simpler in the 18th century. Things were even simpler 10 years ago! At the time, Franklin’s idea of never putting things off was a simple solution to what was a simple challenge.

But with so much more to do today, it’s not always possible - or wise - to follow Franklin’s advice. Let’s say that on Monday, Sam asks you to give him a call sometime this week. You turn to Tuesday’s calendar page and write, “call Sam.” Tuesday ends and you didn’t have a chance to call Sam. So you roll the reminder to the Wednesday page. The next day, the same thing happens and on through the week. Sound like your reality?

In the real world, most things do not need to be done on a specific day. That phone call to Sam may be “due” by Friday but you have a number of days in which to “do” it. This distinction is important because most systems - whether paper or electronic - are calendar-driven. Therefore, they recommend each day begin with a review of yesterday’s calendar page to see what did not get done and then transfer these items to today’s calendar page. What this system forces you to do, is to start your day with a reminder of how much you failed to accomplish.

Real Tip:
Abandon the needless, frustrating and de-motivating ritual of rolling over unfinished tasks by differentiating between those activities you have to do on a specific date from those that are due by a date. If Sam had asked you to call him on Thursday morning, put it on your calendar. Otherwise dedicate a separate page for your next actions list and add a note to call Sam with a due date of Friday. You can call Sam any day before then as your time or mood allows. That way you’ll have a system that allows you to begin your day focusing not on what you failed to do, but on what you have accomplished.

Non-date specific commitments aren’t the only thing you’ll want to keep off your calendar pages. Instead of writing messages from voicemail on your calendar, dedicate a section of your organizer for this information. That way you won’t have to flip through months of old calendar pages in search of a name or number.

REALITY CHECK 4: Count on others but trust yourself.
The successful completion of your commitments often depends on others following through on their commitments to you. In fact, you probably rely on other people dozens of times a day - to return your phone calls, respond to your email messages, give you the go-ahead, provide needed information, handle what they said they would, etc.

Once you make a request, or are promised something, you’ve just passed that person the proverbial ball. Most of time they handle the play without a hitch. But do others - people and businesses - sometimes drop the ball?

Even if a person reports to you, you can’t make them deliver on their commitments. You can’t force someone to return your call or email or forward information requested. You can’t make a business send you that rebate or refund check or a friend return a borrowed item. What you can do though, is follow-up.

Real Tip:
Be sure your organizing system includes an early warning system in the form of a list of pending items. Call it your Waiting For page. For example if you’re expecting the travel agent to mail your ticket no later than the 10th, add this to your page. That’s your prompt to follow up before someone drops the ball.

REALITY CHECK 5: There will always be more to do than time to do it.
A real tip for managing mental interruptions is to do a mental download of all the things you need or want to do in every aspect of your life. Combine this with the reality that “most things do not need to be done today,” and you’ll see that not only do you have a pretty long list, but many of the things on your list will have to wait weeks, months, or even years. Does that mean you should just forget about them?

Even if you wanted to forget some of the less fun tasks like painting the house or reorganizing your files, realistically speaking, your mind won’t let you. The task will keep popping up on your mental screen until you either decide not do it or capture it somewhere other than on your mental hard drive!

Real Tip:
Reduce mental clutter and free yourself to focus on the present by capturing and categorizing future activities into one or more Future lists. Committing your future dreams to writing has the added benefit of providing you with the motivation you need to ultimately act on them.

No time management or Focus Management technique or practice will work if it flies in the face of your real life challenges. When creating an effective time management system, be sure to take reality into account. If your current system is one that sounds good in theory but doesn’t work very well in practice, maybe it’s time for a reality check!

You are welcome to reprint this or any of our productivity-enhancing articles in your organization’s newsletter or on your web site providing the following attribution and hyperlink appear with each article.

2002/4 Time/Design.

To learn more about Time/Design’s Focus Management tools, training, and coaching call 800-637-9942 or visit www.timedesign.com.

Time/Design is a leading provider of time management training and tools offering practical and realistic strategies for managing commitments, communications and information.

Drop shipping is one of the fastest and easiest ways to start a business on the internet. The startup costs are low, the risk is low and it is very easy to find products that sell well. Because it is so easy, many people try drop shipping on the web.

Like any business, however, drop shipping is not the whole solution to success. A drop shipping business has to be built on a solid foundation and it must be properly promoted.

Starting your drop shipping business should include preparation of a detailed advertising plan as one of the first things on your schedule. Using an advertising plan will separate you from most of your competition because most people simply ignore writing an advertising plan. Getting products to drop ship is easy, so most people rush forward, helter skelter and sell little or nothing. But those who write and advertising plan and follow their plan are most likely to succeed.

Your success wiht drop shipping, in fact, depends mostly on your advertising plan. As a drop shipper you know that you can change your product offering very quickly without regard to inventory and stocking considerations. So it is not so much as to what you are selling by drop shipping but how you are finding customers. So critical in your planning process for your drop shipping business you must set up a detailed advertising plan.

If you are operating a drop shipping business on a limited budget, you are best advised to spend most of your money on your advertising plan rather than spending it on a complex or fancy web site. A well advertised simple web site that is only a couple pages deep will make you a lot more money than a beautiful, complex web site that no one visits. Your goal should be to get customers to your store and to get them to contact you. Then you can sell them. You do this by advertising.

Search engines are the main source of customers that most people running drop shipping businesses consider. And it is the first thing to which you should pay attention for your advertising. It is extremely important that you get your company name into the search engines, in particular the Google search engine, to start the aging process. This is important because your web site may not be shown in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) for up to a year after you put it into the search engine.

Why a year? A new web site has to age before some of the search engines consider that it is real and not a spam site of some sort. The search engines do this by putting your web site into what is euphemistically called the sandbox.” Your web site will not come out of the sand box until it is properly aged. So for all practical purposes, your drop shipping web site may as well not be effective for you to find clients during your startup period unless you understand that the sandbox exists and do something to work around it. (You can find a lot about the sandbox by searching the web using sandbox as your search word.)

The solution to your drop shipping business not being visible in the search engines lies with pay per click advertising. With pay per click advertising you can have information about your company displayed in the search engines within about 15 minutes of the time that you place your advertisment. And with pay per click advertising you can pay as little as $.01 per person that clicks on your advertisement and who visits your web site.

So in your first year of business, you are likely to be reliant on pay per click advertising to find customers. Those who learn to use it step way out in front of the competition.

You should also consider other very effective ways to advertise. Ezines are good places from which you can get customers. There are many that you can find that will have customers for your niche.

Beyond the ezines, however, advertise in the small consumer newspapers that deliver hundreds of thousands of copies of newspapers filled with classified advertisements. These small newspapers can not only attract people to your web site, they can attract people to your off line shop. When you consider that almost two thirds of all buyers look at products off line before they buy, you will have the advantage of building personal relationships that overcome the typical fear of buying from someone on the internet.

As you do your research into how it is best to advertise for your special situation you will find other channels, like post card marketing, home parties, telemarketing and more. You should look at all of these and set up a priority list through which you will march.

In all, as you move forward with your business, you will soon see why the key to drop shipping success is how well you promote your business as compared to everyone else, commonly called your competition. So start early and make a drop shipping advertising plan.

You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give proper author credit by including the information about the author as shown in this page and follow all of the Ezine Articles Guidelines For Publishers

© 2005 Gary Granai. You are free to use material from this article in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. The attribution should read: “By Gary Granai. Please visit Gary’s web site at http://www.masterpage.com.pl/ for additional information and resources on drop shipping.” (Make sure the link is live if placed in an eZine or in a web site.)

Gary Granai works with small and medium businesses to help them achieve realistic growth targets. You may get free tutorials and more information about successful internet business startup and growth at http://www.polandbusiness.com.pl/