Mobile document shredding service companies come to the physical location of your business and take care document disposal for you. These services typically use a medium size truck with the shedding device built into the back of the vehicle. This is so the shredder can go to the company location and shred all the documents on site before taking the particles to the dumping area for final disposal.
What are the benefits of mobile shredding service?
* Containers: Many shredding companies furnish nice looking steel locking containers for use in your office. These containers can be emptied on schedule, or whenever they get full. Many mobile shredding companies offer flexible scheduling.
* Certification: You may get a “Certificate of Destruction”. While this certificate doesn’t totally absolve the business of responsibility for the document security, it does help.
* Ease Of Use: Why risk transporting tons of documents off-site when you can witness the document destruction in the back of the truck right outside your office!
* Unrecoverable: The professional process used by mobile shredding companies makes it impossible to reconstruct documents.
* Affordable: It can cost only pennies per pound to shred business documents.
* Verified Firsthand: Company personnel can witness the shredding is done on-site. You don’t have to entrust the drivers and a chain of people to destroy your documents…you can witness it firsthand without leaving your office parking lot!
* Less time consuming: Shredding these documents by hand would waste valuable employee-hours. With a mobile shredding service, huge piles of documents can be shredded in a fraction of the time.
Mobile shredding is probably the easiest, most secure, and most rest freeway of disposing of documents.
Some of the service options frequently offered by mobile document shredding companies:
Ongoing scheduled service
One time bulk shredding.
Onsite shredding
Offsite plant based shredding
One time purges
Electronic destruction / Recycling
Daily, weekly, monthly, and semimonthly (or, biweekly) schedule
For a company, it can be a good investment to hire a mobile shredder to come to the site regularly and dispose of sensitive documents. After all it can cost a lot of money to warehouse this type of data. Instead of documents sitting around collecting dust, a mobile shredder can make mincemeat of them with minimum hassle and clear the clutter.
You can find more information about certified http://www.document-shredding.biz mobile document shredding and paper shredding in general at our website.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Cons of a 50/50 Equity Business Partnership
This article could have been titled “The Pros and Cons of a 50/50 Equity 
Partnership”, but the cons far outweigh the pros. When partnerships are formed, the obvious concerns are addressed. How do each partner’s skills-set and experience complement each other? How much will each partner contribute to get the business going? How long will they grow the business until they entertain selling it? Is that it? … hardly.
Once the business gets going no doubt economic and industry variables change which affect the business. Each partner’s perception of the direction the business should go changes as well. There are constant decisions with regards to the mixture of product and service offerings … the decision to get into another line of business or get out of one. Should the focus be on a higher volume, lower profit margin
business model or vice versa? What about a shift to a more capital intensive model. If the business becomes a success, many times potential investors creep in, whether an angel investor or venture capitalist. Both partners need to agree on the investment proposal.
What if one of the partners acquires an asset for the business whether it’s land, a building, a small data center, a thousand servers, or to complicate things further contributes an intellectual asset of some sort. When the company is going to be sold, what is the value of the partner’s contributed asset? Who is supposed to value it? This can become an insurmountable hurdle. Most buyers know not to value any one piece near what it’s worth by itself.
When it’s time to sell the company, the financial situation of each partner has no doubt changed since the company was founded. The consideration for the company could be all cash, all stock or a combination of cash and stock
. The tax implications of each of the three scenarios are different for each partner. I have seen the process of divesting a company go up in smoke too many times because the partners didn’t agree on the proposed deal. They spent years growing the business then totally disagree about when to sell, who to sell to, and/or how much to sell it for.
Business is about return on equity, not “all for one and one for all”. My suggestion … one ship, one captain.
Partnership”, but the cons far outweigh the pros. When partnerships are formed, the obvious concerns are addressed. How do each partner’s skills-set and experience complement each other? How much will each partner contribute to get the business going? How long will they grow the business until they entertain selling it? Is that it? … hardly. Once the business gets going no doubt economic and industry variables change which affect the business. Each partner’s perception of the direction the business should go changes as well. There are constant decisions with regards to the mixture of product and service offerings … the decision to get into another line of business or get out of one. Should the focus be on a higher volume, lower profit margin
business model or vice versa? What about a shift to a more capital intensive model. If the business becomes a success, many times potential investors creep in, whether an angel investor or venture capitalist. Both partners need to agree on the investment proposal. What if one of the partners acquires an asset for the business whether it’s land, a building, a small data center, a thousand servers, or to complicate things further contributes an intellectual asset of some sort. When the company is going to be sold, what is the value of the partner’s contributed asset? Who is supposed to value it? This can become an insurmountable hurdle. Most buyers know not to value any one piece near what it’s worth by itself.
When it’s time to sell the company, the financial situation of each partner has no doubt changed since the company was founded. The consideration for the company could be all cash, all stock or a combination of cash and stock
. The tax implications of each of the three scenarios are different for each partner. I have seen the process of divesting a company go up in smoke too many times because the partners didn’t agree on the proposed deal. They spent years growing the business then totally disagree about when to sell, who to sell to, and/or how much to sell it for. Business is about return on equity, not “all for one and one for all”. My suggestion … one ship, one captain.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
6 Ways To Fund Your New Business
I’m often asked: what is the best way to finance a new business venture
. This question is usually followed by "So, do you ever invest in new business ventures?"
The answers, respectively, are: 1. there is no "best" way to fund a new business; and 2. I do invest in new business ventures, but darn it I can’t today because I left my checkbook in my other suit.
The truth is there are a variety of ways to finance
a new business and which way is best for you depends totally on your product, your market, your financial requirements, your burn rate, and most importantly, your personal and financial situation.
So with that in mind, here are a few of the most common ways to finance a new business without hitting old Tim up for a loan. Keep in mind that all methods have pros and cons and some (or most) may not work for your specific situation. No matter what financing method you choose thoroughly investigate the ups and downs and don’t jump in with both feet until you’re sure you’ll land on solid ground.
Savings and Investments
The first source you should consider tapping is your own savings and investments. I’m a huge fan of self-financing when it comes to business because it doesn’t make you responsible to others should the business fail. The bad thing is that it if things do go under, it will be your money that goes down with the ship. If you’re not willing to risk your own capital you certainly shouldn’t be willing to risk anyone else’s.
Friends and Family
After tapping their own savings and investments
, many entrepreneurs 
turn to friends and family for help. This works well for some, but here’s the creed I live by: NEVER borrow money from anyone you have to eat Thanksgiving dinner with. Nothing causes tension in a family like lending money that is never paid back. And notice I say "lending money" rather than investing money. Venture capitalists invest money. Your relatives lend you money. They will expect it back someday even if they say they won’t. Remember, when a loved one invests in your business they are emotionally investing in you. It would be tough to tell mom and dad that their favorite son lost their life savings because his business went down the drain.
Credit Cards
I financed my first business on credit cards, which was an incredibly stupid thing to do given the fact that my business could have failed and left me with thousands of dollars in credit card debt that would have taken until the year 2099 to pay off. It worked out in the end for me, but if you decide to finance your business on plastic keep in mind that you will be paying extremely high interest rates on the money you’ve borrowed and unless you hit it big you will be paying for that money for many years to come.
Mortgage
The Farm
Bank loans are next to impossible to get if you don’t have collateral and a track record of business success
, which is why many entrepreneurs use the equity in their homes to finance their business after being turned down for a bank loan. While this makes more sense than building a business on a deck of credit cards, the financial risks are no less abundant. You must pay this money back whether your business succeeds or not, but it is a good source of low interest money to get you started and the interest may be tax deductible (check with your accountant to make sure).
Angel Investors
An angel investor is typically a wealthy individual who invests in start up ventures for a share of the ownership. Angel investors are usually the first formal investors in a business and provide the seed money to get the business up and running. Some angel investors will write you a check and leave you alone to run your business while others consider their investment a license to "help you" manage and make decisions. If you do accept angel money make sure the terms are clearly defined on both sides. Angel money always comes with strings. Make sure you know whether those strings come in the form of a bow or a noose before you accept an angel’s check.
Venture Capitalists
Venture capitalists are to angel investors as pit bulls are to Chihuahuas. That’s not to say all VC are big, bad dogs, but they do have powerful jaws that can chew up your business and spit it out if things don’t go their way. VC money doesn’t come with strings, it comes with chains and locks and lots of legal documents. VC always have the upper hand in any deal they invest in. That’s just how it works and that’s the price you pay to get access to VC money.
If your business gets to the level that VC money becomes a viable option, don’t jump at the first bone a VC dangles before your eyes. If one VC likes your idea, others will, too. Present to multiple VC and carefully consider each offer before you accept the check.
Just remember, no matter how you finance your business, use the money
wisely. Don’t buy $1,500 plasma monitors and $1,000 Hermann Miller chairs.
Have a very clear plan of how the money will be used and how it will be paid back.
And remember this, the more you can shoestring the business, but more of the business you will own in the end.
. This question is usually followed by "So, do you ever invest in new business ventures?"The answers, respectively, are: 1. there is no "best" way to fund a new business; and 2. I do invest in new business ventures, but darn it I can’t today because I left my checkbook in my other suit.
The truth is there are a variety of ways to finance
a new business and which way is best for you depends totally on your product, your market, your financial requirements, your burn rate, and most importantly, your personal and financial situation.So with that in mind, here are a few of the most common ways to finance a new business without hitting old Tim up for a loan. Keep in mind that all methods have pros and cons and some (or most) may not work for your specific situation. No matter what financing method you choose thoroughly investigate the ups and downs and don’t jump in with both feet until you’re sure you’ll land on solid ground.
Savings and Investments
The first source you should consider tapping is your own savings and investments. I’m a huge fan of self-financing when it comes to business because it doesn’t make you responsible to others should the business fail. The bad thing is that it if things do go under, it will be your money that goes down with the ship. If you’re not willing to risk your own capital you certainly shouldn’t be willing to risk anyone else’s.
Friends and Family
After tapping their own savings and investments
, many entrepreneurs turn to friends and family for help. This works well for some, but here’s the creed I live by: NEVER borrow money from anyone you have to eat Thanksgiving dinner with. Nothing causes tension in a family like lending money that is never paid back. And notice I say "lending money" rather than investing money. Venture capitalists invest money. Your relatives lend you money. They will expect it back someday even if they say they won’t. Remember, when a loved one invests in your business they are emotionally investing in you. It would be tough to tell mom and dad that their favorite son lost their life savings because his business went down the drain.Credit Cards
I financed my first business on credit cards, which was an incredibly stupid thing to do given the fact that my business could have failed and left me with thousands of dollars in credit card debt that would have taken until the year 2099 to pay off. It worked out in the end for me, but if you decide to finance your business on plastic keep in mind that you will be paying extremely high interest rates on the money you’ve borrowed and unless you hit it big you will be paying for that money for many years to come.
Mortgage
The FarmBank loans are next to impossible to get if you don’t have collateral and a track record of business success
, which is why many entrepreneurs use the equity in their homes to finance their business after being turned down for a bank loan. While this makes more sense than building a business on a deck of credit cards, the financial risks are no less abundant. You must pay this money back whether your business succeeds or not, but it is a good source of low interest money to get you started and the interest may be tax deductible (check with your accountant to make sure).Angel Investors
An angel investor is typically a wealthy individual who invests in start up ventures for a share of the ownership. Angel investors are usually the first formal investors in a business and provide the seed money to get the business up and running. Some angel investors will write you a check and leave you alone to run your business while others consider their investment a license to "help you" manage and make decisions. If you do accept angel money make sure the terms are clearly defined on both sides. Angel money always comes with strings. Make sure you know whether those strings come in the form of a bow or a noose before you accept an angel’s check.
Venture Capitalists
Venture capitalists are to angel investors as pit bulls are to Chihuahuas. That’s not to say all VC are big, bad dogs, but they do have powerful jaws that can chew up your business and spit it out if things don’t go their way. VC money doesn’t come with strings, it comes with chains and locks and lots of legal documents. VC always have the upper hand in any deal they invest in. That’s just how it works and that’s the price you pay to get access to VC money.
If your business gets to the level that VC money becomes a viable option, don’t jump at the first bone a VC dangles before your eyes. If one VC likes your idea, others will, too. Present to multiple VC and carefully consider each offer before you accept the check.
Just remember, no matter how you finance your business, use the money
wisely. Don’t buy $1,500 plasma monitors and $1,000 Hermann Miller chairs.Have a very clear plan of how the money will be used and how it will be paid back.
And remember this, the more you can shoestring the business, but more of the business you will own in the end.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
3 Easy Ways To Make More Money This Year
Successful business 
owners all have one thing in common, they are never satisfied with sales levels. Whether you are making $10,000 a year or $1 million a year, there is always a possibility for growth.
Growth only comes when you realize it can happen. You will not grow if you are content or can't see the future possibilities for growth.
Here are three easy ways that you can transform your business from the level it is at, into a profit
making machine.
1. Always track statistics
This may seem obvious, but most people never do it. You should always track and gather as much information as possible. Track walk in customers, track purchases, evaluate marketing
, monitor amount of purchases, frequent visitors, non-buying prospects, etc.
With this knowledge you will be more informed as to how you marketing dollars
are doing and where you can increase production
.
2. Find people you can trust
For my websites I have one person that writes nearly full time for me. I can send her topics for articles or websites, and she does the research and writes well thought out articles. I can pay her in advance and know that she is going to be there when I need writing at the last minute.
You definitely need people you can trust as well. These people may be your managers, family members, or just friends who can help in a pinch.
3. Develop your passion
Sometimes I need to take a drive through the country to remember why I love what I am doing. It is easy to get caught up in the fray of customer service
and deadlines, but for me the most productive time is always when I am out of my business element. Use this time away to revive your passion.
Next time you are thinking that it is not possible for your business to make money, remember and put these 3 easy tips into practice!
owners all have one thing in common, they are never satisfied with sales levels. Whether you are making $10,000 a year or $1 million a year, there is always a possibility for growth.Growth only comes when you realize it can happen. You will not grow if you are content or can't see the future possibilities for growth.
Here are three easy ways that you can transform your business from the level it is at, into a profit
making machine.1. Always track statistics
This may seem obvious, but most people never do it. You should always track and gather as much information as possible. Track walk in customers, track purchases, evaluate marketing
, monitor amount of purchases, frequent visitors, non-buying prospects, etc.With this knowledge you will be more informed as to how you marketing dollars
are doing and where you can increase production.2. Find people you can trust
For my websites I have one person that writes nearly full time for me. I can send her topics for articles or websites, and she does the research and writes well thought out articles. I can pay her in advance and know that she is going to be there when I need writing at the last minute.
You definitely need people you can trust as well. These people may be your managers, family members, or just friends who can help in a pinch.
3. Develop your passion
Sometimes I need to take a drive through the country to remember why I love what I am doing. It is easy to get caught up in the fray of customer service
and deadlines, but for me the most productive time is always when I am out of my business element. Use this time away to revive your passion.Next time you are thinking that it is not possible for your business to make money, remember and put these 3 easy tips into practice!
Friday, January 21, 2011
'Shifts' to Help You in Times Good or Bad
Six months ago, the economy was roaring. Stock
prices were going up, interest rates were staying low, unemployment was down. A few months later, those indicators all were going in opposite directions. Now, it's hard to tell from day to day where we stand.
I'm optimistic that the current situation is a short-term one, and that long-term prospects are for growth and good times. But that doesn't mean that there won't be dips, sometimes deep, along the way. The question is: Are you positioned to take advantage of the good times and navigate the bad?
You have to expect one as well as the other. Fortunately, there are "shifts" you can take that will serve you well during both.
1. Get out of debt. The quicker the better. You can't take advantage of opportunities
when you're mired in debt. And there are opportunities in both good times and in bad. In both, debt keeps you from profiting from the opportunities that present themselves. In bad, it magnifies the negative, as the cost of money increases and debt service becomes an ever-increasing portion of your expenses.
2. Think globally. No longer can we afford to think and act locally. We must have a broader
vision. We must think about how our vocation, our business and our industry will operate in a global economy
- because it already does.
3. Be entrepreneurial
. This is the age of the free agent. Even if we are and plan to continue working in a larger company or organization, we must at least think like an entrepreneur. We need to be "in-trepreneurs." Seniority and experience does not have the value that it did. Producing results - and profits - is what matters.
4. Become a capitalist. The wealthy own assets, the rest own liabilities - things that cost money to own and maintain. Capitalism
is not a dirty word. A capitalist, by definition, is someone who owns assets - assets that produce income. Stock, equipment and businesses are assets that generate income. In America, 80 percent of all millionaires 
are self-made. Be one of them.
5. Be flexible. Things are moving at a rapid pace. This demands
adaptability. Things will not remain the same, nor will they go back to the way they used to be. We must be willing to change directions quickly. It's dodge and weave time. It is time to embrace change. Shift happens!
prices were going up, interest rates were staying low, unemployment was down. A few months later, those indicators all were going in opposite directions. Now, it's hard to tell from day to day where we stand.I'm optimistic that the current situation is a short-term one, and that long-term prospects are for growth and good times. But that doesn't mean that there won't be dips, sometimes deep, along the way. The question is: Are you positioned to take advantage of the good times and navigate the bad?
You have to expect one as well as the other. Fortunately, there are "shifts" you can take that will serve you well during both.
1. Get out of debt. The quicker the better. You can't take advantage of opportunities
when you're mired in debt. And there are opportunities in both good times and in bad. In both, debt keeps you from profiting from the opportunities that present themselves. In bad, it magnifies the negative, as the cost of money increases and debt service becomes an ever-increasing portion of your expenses.2. Think globally. No longer can we afford to think and act locally. We must have a broader
vision. We must think about how our vocation, our business and our industry will operate in a global economy
- because it already does.3. Be entrepreneurial
. This is the age of the free agent. Even if we are and plan to continue working in a larger company or organization, we must at least think like an entrepreneur. We need to be "in-trepreneurs." Seniority and experience does not have the value that it did. Producing results - and profits - is what matters.4. Become a capitalist. The wealthy own assets, the rest own liabilities - things that cost money to own and maintain. Capitalism
is not a dirty word. A capitalist, by definition, is someone who owns assets - assets that produce income. Stock, equipment and businesses are assets that generate income. In America, 80 percent of all millionaires are self-made. Be one of them.5. Be flexible. Things are moving at a rapid pace. This demands
adaptability. Things will not remain the same, nor will they go back to the way they used to be. We must be willing to change directions quickly. It's dodge and weave time. It is time to embrace change. Shift happens!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Stop the Stupid Stuff' In Your Business
We are living in a world of change. Shift happens! Competition
comes from all over the world, which means that many American businesses are in trouble.
Many decisions are being made that are contrary to both good business sense and building customer loyalty.
Most organizations' marketing is usually an exercise in figuring out what to do to get current or potential customers to spend more dollars with them.
I'm suggesting that instead of thinking about what to do, figure out what to stop doing. In other words, stop doing the "stupid stuff."
Not doing the stupid stuff means finding out what prevents customers from spending money with you and making sure that that action or reaction never happens again.
Here's an example of what I call "stupid stuff." Some airlines now want to charge customers who want to speak to a live agent.
That's stupid stuff in two ways. First, they've chosen to penalize customers who want to continue getting what they've always gotten - one-on-one attention. Worse, they've done it by saying they will charge more for this previously standard level of service. How many customers will they lose because of this decision? I know of at least one.
There are more subtle, but no less damaging, stupid things businesses need to stop doing.
Take, for example, the new Wheaties boxes. General Mills recently introduced Wheaties boxes with photos of the U.S. Olympic gold medalists. One was missing: Paul Hamm. Why?
This was General Mills' response to my inquiry:
"Selecting a Wheaties Champion has never been an easy task, especially when we have witnessed so many outstanding performances by so many championship athletes. But it simply isn't possible to honor every champion on the Wheaties box."
So they leave off the first U.S. man to win the Olympics
all-around gymnastics championship in one of the sport's greatest comebacks? His return from a disastrous fall to a near-perfect high-bar routine won near-universal praise and, for most of us, defined the word "champion."
But there was controversy. As most of you know, a South Korean gymnast claimed that a scoring error cost him the gold and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for sport. The court recently ruled that Hamm can keep the gold medal.
Even though the medal was disputed, it was not because of anything Hamm did or did not do. Still, General Mills decided to do the "safe" thing. But by being safe and leaving out Hamm, Wheaties is alienating the millions of customers who see him not as controversial, but as a hero, and losing customers in the process. Now that's "stupid stuff."
So start stopping! Stop saying "No" and start using the word "Yes." Stop charging for services
that most of us think are free.
Find out what exasperates, discourages, hassles or confuses your customers and stop it.
comes from all over the world, which means that many American businesses are in trouble. Many decisions are being made that are contrary to both good business sense and building customer loyalty.
Most organizations' marketing
is usually an exercise in figuring out what to do to get current or potential customers to spend more dollars with them. I'm suggesting that instead of thinking about what to do, figure out what to stop doing. In other words, stop doing the "stupid stuff."
Not doing the stupid stuff means finding out what prevents customers from spending money with you and making sure that that action or reaction never happens again.
Here's an example of what I call "stupid stuff." Some airlines now want to charge customers who want to speak to a live agent.
That's stupid stuff in two ways. First, they've chosen to penalize customers who want to continue getting what they've always gotten - one-on-one attention. Worse, they've done it by saying they will charge more for this previously standard level of service. How many customers will they lose because of this decision? I know of at least one.
There are more subtle, but no less damaging, stupid things businesses need to stop doing.
Take, for example, the new Wheaties boxes. General Mills recently introduced Wheaties boxes with photos of the U.S. Olympic gold medalists. One was missing: Paul Hamm. Why?
This was General Mills' response to my inquiry:
"Selecting a Wheaties Champion has never been an easy task, especially when we have witnessed so many outstanding performances by so many championship athletes. But it simply isn't possible to honor every champion on the Wheaties box."
So they leave off the first U.S. man to win the Olympics
all-around gymnastics championship in one of the sport's greatest comebacks? His return from a disastrous fall to a near-perfect high-bar routine won near-universal praise and, for most of us, defined the word "champion."But there was controversy. As most of you know, a South Korean gymnast claimed that a scoring error cost him the gold and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for sport. The court recently ruled that Hamm can keep the gold medal.
Even though the medal was disputed, it was not because of anything Hamm did or did not do. Still, General Mills decided to do the "safe" thing. But by being safe and leaving out Hamm, Wheaties is alienating the millions of customers who see him not as controversial, but as a hero, and losing customers in the process. Now that's "stupid stuff."
So start stopping! Stop saying "No" and start using the word "Yes." Stop charging for services
that most of us think are free.Find out what exasperates, discourages, hassles or confuses your customers and stop it.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
$3 Million in 6 Months With Adsense!
Source: www.hazstore.info (( articles.hazstore.info ))
The Power Play Interviews: Markus Frind- $3 Million in 6 Months
This is the first in a series of Internet Success Stories that you will begin to see on the Power Play Blog. Hope you enjoy them!
Markus Frind, the creator of Plentyoffish.com is a success story worth noting, as he has managed to take a niche formerly ruled by giant corporations and give it his own brand of marketing savvy. A case of David vs. Goliath, where the little guy comes out on top in the end. Markus is the top "individual" adsense publisher in terms of pageviews. Lets find out what some of his secrets are as he shares some advice with our readers. Feel free to comment!
Markus, what is your experience in computer programming and how did it prepare you for becoming a webmaster?
The average pageviews a day is around 14 million for the last week. I'm getting another 80 million pageviews a day from users polling the site to see if they have new messages. Really intensive bandwidth wise!
When I go to your website, I notice that the ads are targeted to my region, yet I have not even registered- can you explain to our readers how you accomplish this feat?
I'm just using ip2location.com- Basically i take your IP, look it up in the database and it tells me what your city is. I then bring up a list of users in your city, nothing magical about it at all.
Are most of your visitors coming primarily from search engines (SERPS), or are you finding that they come from other avenues? Do you actively advertise in the media?
Search engines account for something like 2% of my traffic. The vast majority of my traffic, like any other site with over 5 million pageviews a day comes from word of mouth, and repeat visitors.
The services on your site seem to be offered at no cost to the registrants. Is there some advantage you have over your competitors that allows you to do this?
I've developed new algorithms that allow me to create a mega site for next to no cost. Several years ago I created algorithm that was thousands of times faster then the algorithm used in the 1990's to find a string of 22 prime numbers. At the time a professor used several super computers and hundreds of regular computers over the course of several years to find a record. I did the same thing on 1 computer in 2 weeks.
Fascinating! Are there any other sites you currently maintain, or is plentyoffish.com the only one?
Its the only site at the moment. I've got a few other sites I registered for friends so they could learn to do marketing/affiliate stuff. At this point i think 1 site is enough.
Any tips for those looking to create a profitable endeavor on the internet?
IF someone else thinks what you are doing is a cool idea I'd say it isn't... Find something no one else thinks is important and build up a site with big traffic in that area. Also keep in mind, sites that have low monetization today but have traffic may be the gold mines of tomorrow. In the internet world anything and everything will be monetized at some point and traffic is king.
Traffic is King- very wise advice, Markus. One last question- How do you find the time to maintain such a large commodity on the internet? Surely you must have some other interests in life besides programming and website monitoring?
It only takes a hour a day on average, but its very tiring work. I spend the other couple of hours reading and seeing what is going on.
The Power Play Interviews: Markus Frind- $3 Million in 6 Months
This is the first in a series of Internet Success Stories that you will begin to see on the Power Play Blog. Hope you enjoy them!
Markus Frind, the creator of Plentyoffish.com is a success story worth noting, as he has managed to take a niche formerly ruled by giant corporations and give it his own brand of marketing savvy. A case of David vs. Goliath, where the little guy comes out on top in the end. Markus is the top "individual" adsense publisher in terms of pageviews. Lets find out what some of his secrets are as he shares some advice with our readers. Feel free to comment!
Markus, what is your experience in computer programming and how did it prepare you for becoming a webmaster?
The average pageviews a day is around 14 million for the last week. I'm getting another 80 million pageviews a day from users polling the site to see if they have new messages. Really intensive bandwidth wise!
When I go to your website, I notice that the ads are targeted to my region, yet I have not even registered- can you explain to our readers how you accomplish this feat?
I'm just using ip2location.com- Basically i take your IP, look it up in the database and it tells me what your city is. I then bring up a list of users in your city, nothing magical about it at all.
Are most of your visitors coming primarily from search engines (SERPS), or are you finding that they come from other avenues? Do you actively advertise in the media?
Search engines account for something like 2% of my traffic. The vast majority of my traffic, like any other site with over 5 million pageviews a day comes from word of mouth, and repeat visitors.
The services on your site seem to be offered at no cost to the registrants. Is there some advantage you have over your competitors that allows you to do this?
I've developed new algorithms that allow me to create a mega site for next to no cost. Several years ago I created algorithm that was thousands of times faster then the algorithm used in the 1990's to find a string of 22 prime numbers. At the time a professor used several super computers and hundreds of regular computers over the course of several years to find a record. I did the same thing on 1 computer in 2 weeks.
Fascinating! Are there any other sites you currently maintain, or is plentyoffish.com the only one?
Its the only site at the moment. I've got a few other sites I registered for friends so they could learn to do marketing/affiliate stuff. At this point i think 1 site is enough.
Any tips for those looking to create a profitable endeavor on the internet?
IF someone else thinks what you are doing is a cool idea I'd say it isn't... Find something no one else thinks is important and build up a site with big traffic in that area. Also keep in mind, sites that have low monetization today but have traffic may be the gold mines of tomorrow. In the internet world anything and everything will be monetized at some point and traffic is king.
Traffic is King- very wise advice, Markus. One last question- How do you find the time to maintain such a large commodity on the internet? Surely you must have some other interests in life besides programming and website monitoring?
It only takes a hour a day on average, but its very tiring work. I spend the other couple of hours reading and seeing what is going on.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
9 Ways to Increase Business Profits Quickly and Easily
Many business owners who operate a business want as many clients as possible, both those who have just started their business and those who have owned one for a long time. They are, however, not fully utilizing all of their assets as they could be in order to achieve their desired results.
The objective of increasing business profits isn’t only met by attracting more clients. There are several other reasons why a business doesn't make as much money as it should besides not having enough clients.
Here are a few simple, yet effective business coaching ideas that will help you unlock the hidden profits in business and also some reasons why things aren't operating at full potential as they should:
1) Focus more time on the important matters - you may not have enough time available to boost your business, especially if you are the one who is serving clients on a regular basis. In this case, you should consider hiring somebody to help. Running a business takes a lot of work, so let the employees handle the day-to-day issues, while you take care of the important ones such as developing strategies for present and future growth. Set aside an hour each week to brainstorm ideas, implement strategies and nurture key business relationships.
2) Carry out competitive intelligence on other businesses, especially the ones that are successful and emulate them. This doesn’t mean copying whatever they do. Take the best parts of your competitor’s business and apply them to your own. It is also very important to keep a close eye on the competition, regardless of the nature of your business. If you are running a restaurant, for example, you should inspect the services, the offers and the prices of the competition. By doing a little research on other businesses, you will be able to reorganize, improve your services, adjust the prices depending on the competition, as well as introduce new offers to your clients. By knowing what your competitors are up to, you will always be one step ahead of them.
3) Spend less of your gross profit on overhead and ineffective marketing. Lease unused space in your office or warehouse. Track sales as a result of expense. Employ salespeople on a higher commission scale rather than a high base salary. Test and measure for effective marketing campaigns before dumping a ton of money on any marketing campaign that is doomed to fail from the start.
4) Instead of competing on price, develop an ultimate strategic advantage. Emphasize the qualities that make your business stand out and create a whole new positioning in the industry. Find out what really matters to your clients by surveying them and give it to them.
5) Talk with clients and find out if they are delighted or not. Ask for suggestions. Dissatisfied customers will not return, while a delighted client will refer others.
6) Nurture existing clients. Instead of focusing on acquiring new customers, concentrate on nurturing and maintaining the clients that you already have! Make sure they are pleased with the services you provide for them and pay attention to their needs, desires and complaints. It is very important to establish and maintain good relations with your clients, as they are the ones who keep your business running. Many business coaching companies encourage selling more to existing clients because it improves a business bottom line by increasing the lifetime value of a client. It also brings new clients, attracted by positive experiences from your delighted clients. Referrals lower your acquisition cost through word-of-mouth marketing and this also adds to business profits.
7) Up sell other products/services. Selling extras is known to be a great method of increasing profits. For example, grocery stores strategically place many magazines and snacks near the checkout. People browse and buy these while waiting in line raising the average dollar sale with these extras. McDonald’s is well-known for its up sell before a sale is completed by simply asking a simple question to add on more products (complete meal, fries, sundae, or apple pie).
8) Increase your advertising - advertising is expensive but if things work well, the money will definitely return to you. You can also try to make the best use you can out of free advertising. Get the most out of promotions and limited offers, especially around holidays.
9) Seek out business coaching advice. Having a comprehensive set of business strategies can help you further, by providing you with new efficient methods of increasing the profits of your business. To operate a business effectively long-term, most businesses will have to deploy several strategies in order to diversify their sources of leads and maximize their profitability through smart marketing, team building, and business process management.
The objective of increasing business profits isn’t only met by attracting more clients. There are several other reasons why a business doesn't make as much money as it should besides not having enough clients.
Here are a few simple, yet effective business coaching ideas that will help you unlock the hidden profits in business and also some reasons why things aren't operating at full potential as they should:
1) Focus more time on the important matters - you may not have enough time available to boost your business, especially if you are the one who is serving clients on a regular basis. In this case, you should consider hiring somebody to help. Running a business takes a lot of work, so let the employees handle the day-to-day issues, while you take care of the important ones such as developing strategies for present and future growth. Set aside an hour each week to brainstorm ideas, implement strategies and nurture key business relationships.
2) Carry out competitive intelligence on other businesses, especially the ones that are successful and emulate them. This doesn’t mean copying whatever they do. Take the best parts of your competitor’s business and apply them to your own. It is also very important to keep a close eye on the competition, regardless of the nature of your business. If you are running a restaurant, for example, you should inspect the services, the offers and the prices of the competition. By doing a little research on other businesses, you will be able to reorganize, improve your services, adjust the prices depending on the competition, as well as introduce new offers to your clients. By knowing what your competitors are up to, you will always be one step ahead of them.
3) Spend less of your gross profit on overhead and ineffective marketing. Lease unused space in your office or warehouse. Track sales as a result of expense. Employ salespeople on a higher commission scale rather than a high base salary. Test and measure for effective marketing campaigns before dumping a ton of money on any marketing campaign that is doomed to fail from the start.
4) Instead of competing on price, develop an ultimate strategic advantage. Emphasize the qualities that make your business stand out and create a whole new positioning in the industry. Find out what really matters to your clients by surveying them and give it to them.
5) Talk with clients and find out if they are delighted or not. Ask for suggestions. Dissatisfied customers will not return, while a delighted client will refer others.
6) Nurture existing clients. Instead of focusing on acquiring new customers, concentrate on nurturing and maintaining the clients that you already have! Make sure they are pleased with the services you provide for them and pay attention to their needs, desires and complaints. It is very important to establish and maintain good relations with your clients, as they are the ones who keep your business running. Many business coaching companies encourage selling more to existing clients because it improves a business bottom line by increasing the lifetime value of a client. It also brings new clients, attracted by positive experiences from your delighted clients. Referrals lower your acquisition cost through word-of-mouth marketing and this also adds to business profits.
7) Up sell other products/services. Selling extras is known to be a great method of increasing profits. For example, grocery stores strategically place many magazines and snacks near the checkout. People browse and buy these while waiting in line raising the average dollar sale with these extras. McDonald’s is well-known for its up sell before a sale is completed by simply asking a simple question to add on more products (complete meal, fries, sundae, or apple pie).
8) Increase your advertising - advertising is expensive but if things work well, the money will definitely return to you. You can also try to make the best use you can out of free advertising. Get the most out of promotions and limited offers, especially around holidays.
9) Seek out business coaching advice. Having a comprehensive set of business strategies can help you further, by providing you with new efficient methods of increasing the profits of your business. To operate a business effectively long-term, most businesses will have to deploy several strategies in order to diversify their sources of leads and maximize their profitability through smart marketing, team building, and business process management.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)