TinyLetter is really quick and simple to use. And even though you can customize it a bit, it’s pretty bare bones because it wants to make it easy for you to start writing your newsletter and get subscribers. It even has a feature that lets you charge money for your subscriptions, if you so desire, but that’s totally optional. You can also have an unlimited number of subscribers. And best of all, TinyLetter is free! It also just happens to be brought to you by the same people that own MailChimp.

Just click on the TinyLetter logo (above) to visit their website and sign up. It’s that simple. If you don’t like it, it was free, so don’t use it! TinyLetter may not be for everyone, but for its simplicity and ease of use, and the no-cost-factor, it gets a recommendation from me.

]]> http://www.onlinebusinessjunction.com/2012/02/tiny-letter/feed/ 0 http://www.onlinebusinessjunction.com/2012/02/copyblogger/ http://www.onlinebusinessjunction.com/2012/02/copyblogger/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:13:00 +0000 admin http://www.onlinebusinessjunction.com/?p=1026 I just found another great Free eCourse to help anyone who needs marketing assistance. It’s an ongoing eCourse over at the Copyblogger blog.

They provide you with a simple way to implement effective online marketing using a tutorial approach that is easy to understand. And speaking of tutorials, they have lots of those too! Everything from Copywriting to Email Marketing to SEO and more. There is a whole lot of useful information on their blog! A lot of it is geared toward bloggers, but their information is applicable to online business owners, even if you don’t have a blog (but if you don’t, why not?!).

So hop on over to their blog and check out all of their information. I recommend you subscribe today! Just click on the image (above) and that will take you directly to the Copyblogger blog.

The guide includes two parts. Part 1 is all about Wholesaling, including info on pricing, choosing products, developing your wholesale terms and so on. Part 2 focuses on Trade Shows, everything from choosing shows and applying, promotion, and what to do while you’re there.

Click on the guide cover image above to go to Megan’s blog to purchase your guide. It costs $39 and you can pay with Pay Pal or credit card.

From her ABOUT page:

At crafting an MBA, the goal is to help you polish those basic skills (like business planning and bookkeeping), develop a marketing plan (online and off), and help keep you up to date with trends in the business world – while also helping develop skills specific to a craft based business (selling online, craft shows, trade shows, and promoting your portfolio).

She also has a free eBook, The Best of Crafting an MBA, available via email, along with many wonderful tips and information on her blog for the creative-minded business owner. Just click on the image above to be taken to the CMBA blog. I guarantee you it will be difficult to not find helpful information there for your business.

IttyBiz offers several free eCourses on Marketing that are available via email. Just click the image above to be taken to their eCourses page and from there you can sign up. Be sure to check around their blog while you’re there. They have some really helpful blog posts and tips for anyone who runs a small business, be it online or off!

I just wanted to share an advertising opportunity for those of you who make or sell creative items, handmades, and/or primitives on your website. Creative Times Magazine is currently running a sale on two of their regular advertising spots: 125×125 Website Ads, and 150×150 Issue Ads. Both of these ad spots are on sale right now for $5. These ads sell regularly for $10 each, so that’s a great 50% savings for you. This is a limited time offer, so if you are interested in this affordable advertising, act now! Their eZine is downloaded by thousands of people for every issue–so you can reach a lot of people for a very little amount of money.

Just click on the image above to go directly to CT’s advertising page, where you can find all the details.

Are you looking for an interactive calendar to use on your business website or blog? If so I’ve found a couple of sites that may have what you need. Interactive calendars can be a great marketing tool, and a great way to keep your customers informed and up-to-date about your business and/or website.  Here are some ideas for using interactive calendars.

• Announcing special Sales and Promotions
• Feature arrival dates of New Products
• Link to specific posts on your Blog
• Announce Contests
• Announce Classes you might be offering
• Some will let you display Twitter streams

Here are a couple of resources for interactive calendars, if you’re looking for one:

Calendars.net

InstantCal

We use the Google Friend Connect gadget here at OBJ. You can see it on the right side of the blog. If you click on any photo icon you see in our Followers list, a window will open that shows you a brief profile of the follower, along with the other blogs they follow, and their own website information (if applicable).  You can click on any of those links to visit those blogs and/or websites. You can add followers as friends, and you can also send them a message, if you like.

Google Friend Connect is a wonderful marketing and social networking tool. I highly recommend it! If you’d like more info, just follow the link below.

Google Friend Connect

Enjoy your Autumn, everyone…before you know it, Old Man Winter will be rearing his frosty head!

* The “We’re Open, Show Me the Money” Syndrome: If you think that simply opening an online store is going to have money rolling into your bank account, you’re only fooling yourself. It just doesn’t work that way. Sadly, too many would-be business owners think that’s all there is to it. What do you have to offer your customers that the other stores do not? What is going to get the customer to your store rather than someone else’s? What sets your store apart? If you can’t answer these questions, you have a little work to do.

* Lack of Marketing: Just because your site is open, it doesn’t mean customers can find you. Launching your online store simply means you exist and you’re open for business. Now the REAL job begins: marketing.

* Only Offering Pay Pal as a Means of Credit Card Payments: Pay Pal is a great, convenient payment service, but if it’s the only means you offer for accepting credit card payments, then you’re going to lose out on lots of potential sales. A lot of folks simply do not trust Pay Pal, even though it’s far more secure for them to keep their credit card information on file there, in one secure location, than to enter it into a multitude of sites all over the Internet as they shop. For some reason though, many people do not want to use Pay Pal. What I can attest to is that my sales more than doubled when I acquired a merchant account for processing credit card payments. And after over a year of having the merchant account, more than 90% of my sales are paid for via credit card through that account. And many other primitive business owners that I know have had similar experiences with regard to Pay Pal and merchant accounts.

* Your Website is Confusing or Difficult to Navigate: People will leave your site if it’s too difficult to get around or find things. Your category links and menus should be organized in a logical manner that is easy to navigate. Ordering Info and Products should be easy to locate. And your shopping cart should be easy to use.

* Your Website is Full of Typos and/or Grammatical Errors: If you can’t spell, find someone who can to proofread your site’s content. I personally exit a site quickly quickly when it’s full of errors. These kinds of mistakes make you look unprofessional and lazy…and how is that going to entice shoppers to make a purchase?

* Too Many Bells and Whistles: The best way to annoy your shoppers is to provide cursor trailers, music, slideshows, talking characters, excessive blinking or scrolling text, or any combination thereof. You really don’t need all the bells and whistles…and your products should speak for themselves.

* Too Much Unscannable Text on the Home Page or Too Many Banners and Ads: Text should be scannable on your home page–that is, easily scanned for key content and words. People aren’t going to your online store to read a book (you can create a blog for that), so the focus should be on your products. If you want to offer articles and such, that’s great. But put them on a separate page instead of bombarding the shopper with information on the home page. And avoid all the ads and clickable images on the home page that lead to other folks’ sites. Do you really want to send your customers to other folks’ websites so quickly?

* Inadequate Product Descriptions: Many folks leave out important information about their products. Give as much information as you can, and don’t forget to include dimensions/sizes, as photos don’t always reflect the actual size of the products.

*Ever-Changing Graphics: Maintaining your site’s recognition factor is an important part of establishing your identity and/or brand. If you change your web graphics or look too often, you are lessening that recognition factor you want your customers to have. The biggest change to avoid is the change that is done with each season; this is considered too excessive.

* Poor Quality Photographs: Customers need to see clear, crisp product photos. Invest in a good digital camera and learn how to use it. Then Google yourself a search on how to take quality photographs!

* Photos That are Too Large in File Size: If the file size of your photos is too large, it slows down the page load time on your site. The more photos you have, the longer it can take the pages to load. And for the customers who are still on dial-up (they ARE out there!), you are simply inviting them to leave as they grow impatient waiting for your site to load. So optimize every single one of your images before uploading them to your website.

*Lack of SEO: If you don’t know what SEO means, then you’re already at a huge disadvantage. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and this involves everything you must do to optimize your website to enable the search engines to find you and include you in their index. There is a lot involved in SEO.

* Impatience (Giving Up Too Soon): Creating a successful online business, as with ANY business, does not happen overnight. It takes hard work, and lots of it! It can take 2-3 years in business before you even turn a profit. Giving up too soon is often the result of ignorance about what is really involved in creating a successful online business. So educate yourself as much as you can in this regard.

These are just some of the reasons why online businesses fail. There are, of course, others. But hopefully these can offer some insights that can help guide you on the path to success in the primitive business world.