Tag Archives: seo expert

Things That Need to be Considered Prior to Setting Up an Online Business

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During this post, we will look at things that you need to consider before you actually set up your online business.

What product or service will you want to provide?

For many people, they will start an online business based on knowledge and experience that they have already, while others may spot a gap in the market.  But the most important thing that you can do is carry out research with companies and individuals that you do not know in order to get a more unbiased view.

Also, do as much reading and research on everything you can about particular areas of interest, as well as studying the pros and cons that this will have in relation to your overall goals.  Plus, make yourself familiar with your competitors, as this will boost your confidence and enthusiasm for setting up an online business.

Where to work from?

You do not need to work from home, but this is an option that many online business people prefer.  But others prefer to have an office away from the home, as they find it difficult to focus, as well as feeling isolated.

How to market the business?

It is important, if you want your online business to thrive, to ensure that you establish a web presence.  The best way of doing this is by direct mail, networking, display advertising etc.  But what approach works best for you will depend on the product that you are selling.  The best way of finding out what will work, is by trying a different number of methods initially, and then go for it once you know which one is best.  However, if you are unsure where to start, then look at how your competition is marketing their goods…if it works for them, it may work for you also.

 

Develop a Plan.

Without having a blueprint on how to reach your goals, you may find that not just your efforts, but the resources may well be squandered.  Having a plan provides you with focus, direction and momentum to keep the business on track.  We will look further at setting up a business plan in the next chapter.

Check Laws and Regulations

It is important that you check to see if there are any local laws or regulations in relation to setting up an online business from home.  Also, you will need to get laws and regulations in regard to being self employed.

Setting up the Office

More often than not, an online business will be conducted from the person’s home.  So it is important that you set up a home office prior to starting up the business.  You should arrange to have all the necessary equipment that you will need such as computer, internet connection, printer, fax machine (but not essential) are just a few things that you will need if you want to be successful with your online business.

3 Major Reasons to Starting an Online Business

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There are plenty of reasons as to why many people start an online business, and below we will provide you with just a few of them.

For many people, the main reason that they decide to start an online business is to earn an extra income.  Usually, this is in addition to the income that they are already earning.  However for others, what starts as a part time venture, soon becomes a full time one.

Another reason that people decide to start up an online business is that they have more control over their working life.

Also, it provides them with a chance to spend more time with their family and friends.  Today much too much time is spent working, and many people find that they have little or no time to spend with those that they love.

Furthermore, there are other reasons as to why so many people now choose to set up an online business.

Reason 1: What rush hour?

No longer do they need to get up in the morning to rush off to work and get caught up in all that traffic.  Now that time which would normally be wasted sitting in traffic can be used to their advantage.  Plus, it is up to you when you work, so if you don’t want to start until late in the morning, you do not need to.

Reason 2: Prosperity

Because of the rapid advance in technology, many online businesses today tend be prosperous, and so getting involved in this type of business is a good way to make some money.

Reason 3: Costs of Starting Up

This is probably one of the biggest reasons as to why many people choose to start an online business.  As many of the transactions are completed online, there is little or no need for lots of paper and documents.  What one really needs in order to get an online business going is a computer, a high speed internet connection (ADSL), printer, fax machine and few other essentials that an office may need.

As you can see, these are just a few good reasons for why setting up an online business might be the ideal choice for you.

21 Social Media Marketing and Advertising Stats and Facts

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  1. The share of marketing budgets spent on social media is expected to more than double over the next five years, from 11% today to 24% by 2020. (The CMO Survey)
  2. Another survey predicted the share of overall digital marketing budgets devoted to social media marketing will increase from 9.9% today to 22.5% within five years. (Dazeinfo)
  3. Social media advertising revenue will reach $9.8 billion in 2016. (Link Humans)
  4. 22% of social media marketing activities are performed by outside agencies. (The CMO Survey)
  5. Developing a social media strategy is a more common challenge among small businesses (55%) than enterprises (34%), while securing enough internal resources is a more common problem in larger companies (47%) than in SMBs (33%). (Simply Measured)
  6. 33% of millennials identify social media as one of their preferred channels for communicating with businesses. Less then 5% of those 55 and older agree. (MarketingSherpa)
  7. 74% of salespeople who beat their 2014 quota by 10% or more say they have an excellent understanding about the use of social media for prospecting, nurturing relationships and closing deals. They were over 6x as likely to exceed their quota than sales peers with rudimentary or no social media skills. (Forbes)
  8. 64% of sales professionals reported closing at least one deal in 2014 as a direct result of using social media. (Forbes)
  9. More than half (52%) of marketers say Facebook is “the most important social network they use to grow and market their business.” LinkedIn came in second place with 21%, followed by Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus. (V3B Blog)
  10. 96% of small business owners/marketers use social media marketing, and 92% of those agree or strongly agree with the phrase, “Social media marketing is important for my business.” (Social Media Examiner)
  11. The top three goals for SMB social media marketing programs are brand awareness (74%), website traffic (53%), and lead generaiton (41%). (Simply Measured)
  12. 61% of startups use social media for marketing. (TNW News)
  13. 43% of digital marketers say social media is one of their most effective tactics, but 49% call it one of the most difficult. (TNW News)
  14. Social media is viewed as the second-most effective digital marketing tactic for customer retention purposes, behind only email. (TNW News)
  15. The three characteristics of brand social media posting most important to consumers, in order, are 1) the brand shares new content; 2) the content is relevant to the brand; and 3) the brand engages with its followers. (SocialTimes)
  16. 57% of consumers say they’d be somewhat or very influenced to think more highly of a business after seeing positive comments or praise online, and 16% say they only share positive reviews on social media. (Direct Marketing)
  17. And yet–34% of small businesses have no social media presence at all, and 36% of those who do never respond to customer comments online. (Direct Marketing)
  18. For 2016, Instagram is the top social channel marketers plan to invest more advertising in (72%), followed by Facebook (61%), Pinterest (41%), Snapchat (36%) and Amazon (34%). (MediaPost)
  19. Tumblr has 230 million active monthly users worldwide, and is adding 120,000 new userseach day. (Infini Datum)
  20. And yet–Tumblr remains one of the least exploited social networks by marketers and also advertisers, of which there are currently only 150(!) as of December 2015. (Our Social Times)
  21. The top two uses of Twitter and Facebook by journalists are marketing and promotion of their stories and relationship building. 78% use Twitter for marketing; 74% use Facebook. 62% use Twitter to build relationships. (MediaPost)

6 Stats and Facts About Digital Marketing Budgets and Spending

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  1. CMOs plan to increase their spending on digital marketing in general by 14.7% over the next year, and to raise social media’s share of total marketing spending from 9.9% currently to 13.5% in the next twelve months, and 22.4% five years from now. (MediaPost)
  2. Spending on digital marketing is predicted to grow 12% in the next year, while budgets for traditional (non-Internet) advertising will fall 2%. (The CMO Survey)
  3. B2B digital ad spending increased 15% to $5.8 billion in 2014 — due largely to growth in native advertising — while display advertising is becoming less important. (MediaPost)
  4. Digital marketing spend is forecasted to account for 35% of total budgets in 2016. (Business2Community)
  5. After SEM at 47% of total digital marketing spend, online display advertising (banner ads, re-marketing, and re-targeting) is expected to capture the next biggest share of the online spend at about 34% of total online spend and about 10% of the total marketing budget. (Business2Community)
  6. The top four channels for increases in digital marketing spend last year were email marketing (61% of marketers increasing spending on this channel), social media (49%), mobile marketing (40%), and SEO/PPC (38%). (Relevate)

5 General Digital Marketing Stats

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  1. The average person now spends more time online than with TV and all other media (newspapers, magazines, etc.) combined. (Branding Bricks)
  2. Total spending on Internet advertising is predicted to grow 12.9% next year. The Internet will become the largest medium for advertising in 2016 (ahead of TV). (MediaPost)
  3. Less than 8% of total B2B product sales are closed directly through the Internet, versus 15% for B2C products. (The CMO Survey)
  4. Social ad spending has doubled over the past two years. (iMedia Connection)
  5. By 2019 mobile advertising will represent 72%  of all US digital ad spending. (Payfirma)