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Guest Blogger Nicola Cairncross says: Welcome back to Day 6 of my Quick Tips – how I would get started from scratch, taking my business online or starting a business online, knowing what I know now.

The next thing I would do, having done all of the steps outline in my previous tips in this series is….

….Learn how to use Google Website Optimizer.

This is really the one thing I wish I’d learned how to do earlier. All those millions of variations of our website, all those changes, none of them tracked for effectiveness – what a waste of time and effort.

Essentially, if you are using it with a squeeze page, you simply set up an “experiment” within Google Optimizer, called an A/B Experiment.

Then Google gives you some code – two bits of code which you drop into the source / HTML code of your squeeze page, and then you create a second version of your page with, say, a different headline, and add another bit of code to the source code of that page.

Then you create one “thank you” page and put a fourth bit of code in the source code of that page.

Then you send all your traffic to your main URL, and Google sends half of it to one version of the page, and half to the other version, and the bit of code on the thank you page tracks which headline was most effective.

Devastatingly simple to use, and you will never have to guess about anything on your site again.

You can split test headlines, or colours of headline, or sub-heads, or calls to action, or the colour of your buy now button.

If you get enough traffic, you can even do something called multi-variate testing. You can test many different versions of your page at once.

Wow!

But be ready for the results – the customers always love the versions you hate!

Can you see how powerful that is? So many people agonise about what to put on their pages… now you don’t have to.

Just test and measure, test and measure.

If you enjoyed this article Nicola has written a more extensive article on Split Testing For Beginners over at her own blog and you can read that here >>>

Nicola Cairncross specialises in Internet Marketing and enabling SME’s to take their business online and generate more leads and more sales. She can show you how to make more money, attract new sales leads, create abundance via passive income flows using business, property and by harnessing the power of the internet to reach the millions of people on broadband right now!

If you are in business or offering a service, you can claim your free “Marketing MOT” at Business Success Factory.

Or visit Nicola at her blog http://www.NicolaCairncross.com to find out how Nicola can help you, your money and your business become even more successful.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicola_Cairncross

One of the great things about a VA business is that it’s easy to start. You really don’t need much to launch a successful business. That being said, there are some steps you’ll want to take before you hang up your “open for business” sign.

Office Equipment

You’re a virtual assistant which means you’ll need equipment to help you work virtually. This means a:

* Computer
* Backup storage or system – you can backup files online so an external drive isn’t necessary.
* Copier/scanner/fax
* Internet connection
* Desk and chair
* File cabinet/file system
* Transcription software and equipment if you’re offering transcription
* Telephone and related equipment like a headset so you can talk hands free

You likely already have much of that equipment. If not, you don’t have to spend a fortune. Take a look at flea markets and resale stores for some of the furniture. If you don’t have a computer, most experts recommend buying the best you can afford. Your business will be based on your computer so a good one helps.

Business Equipment

You’re going to want a few basics to help you market and manage your business. These include but are not limited to:

• Business Plan – this is most important! It should include your budget, goals, marketing strategy, operations, policies and procedures and so on. Create a plan so you succeed!
• Website and/or blog
• Social networking profile
• Email account for business
• Telephone number for business
• Invoicing system
• Bookkeeping software (don’t get in the same mess I did early on in my business – make sure you keep your books up to date so there’s no scrambling involved at tax time!)
• Content management system or delivery system.
• How will you deliver client work to them? Services agreement/Work for hire agreement
• Personal insurance: health, dental, life etc. When you’re self-employed insurance is your responsibility.
• Bank account for business
• Organization tools: calendar, notebooks, whatever helps you get and stay organized
• Business services software. What software do you need to provide your services? For example, if you offer transcription you’ll need transcription software.

Again, you may have much of this already. And most of these basics don’t cost much. You can spend a lot on software so be careful. Only buy what you really need.

Personal Equipment

Okay, so your home office is set and you have a solid business plan. What else do you need to get started?

• Enthusiasm
• Motivation
• Positive Mindset
• Entrepreneurial Mindset (this one’s a BIGGIE – move yourself as quickly as possible out of the employee mindset and into the business owner’s)
• Administrative skills
• Marketing knowledge (Read a few good books on marketing your business, you’ll be set.)

Not bad, right? If you already have a computer you can likely start your VA business for just a few hundred dollars. Many have started with nothing at all and made a huge success of their VA skills. Create a checklist. Create a plan. Create the success you desire.

Pam Ivey is founder of VA Training Academy and is a 10 year virtual assistant veteran, author, speaker and trainer. Visit http://www.virtualassistanttrainingacademy.com to pick up your free business reports:
* Learn Photoshop,
* Build Your List,
* Get ‘Em To Buy,
* Action Unleashed,
* EBook Promotion, and the
* Tools Directory.

Guest Blogger: Pam Ivey.  The VA Training Academy also offers a stellar program on starting or bettering your VA business called, the “Virtual Assistant Business Success Blueprint”. Learn more about Pam and her companies at http://www.pamivey.com

The beginning of a new year can mean a new start for many of us and a great way to create a new start is to bring to life one or more new start up business ideas.

There’s numerous opportunities around for new businesses at the moment so I’ve created my own top 7 list for 2011.

Whether you use a start up business idea from this list or think of one of your own it doesn’t matter. The intention is to inspire you to create something new…

Sports Nutrition – as people become more health conscious sports nutrition is becoming more and more popular. It’s ideal to sell online and it’s consumable so your customers will repeat buy from you over and over.

Accounting Services – many small businesses are expected to start in 2011 so why not cater for them. They’ll all need part time accounting and bookkeeping services from someone, it may as well be you.

Virtual Assistant – this is ideal as a home based start up business idea. Small businesses like to outsource some of their day to day tasks and they’re doing it more and more. Why not work from home doing these tasks for a number of different businesses.

Online Retail – this has been a massive growth area for the last few years now and 2011 will be no different. Requiring little initial investment it’s one of my favourite start up business ideas for 2011.

House Building – in the UK at least there’s been a shortage of housing for years now. With the housing crash last year not nearly enough houses were built making the problem worse. People still need new houses and 2011 could be the year to start building.

Solar Equipment – with energy prices rising yet again more people than ever are purchasing their own solar panels, usually to heat their water. In the UK people are even being paid around twice the going rate to put electricity back into the grid. This could be a big growth area for 2011.

Event Planning – if you have a talent or passion for organising weddings or parties then this could for you. With the average wedding cost in the UK being about £23,000 we’re not shy in spending a lot of money on events. This is another potential home based business idea too.

Ok so that was definitely a diverse range of start up business ideas if I ever saw one. I hope it helped inspire you a little to create something new in 2011. Why not add these ideas to a mind map and start brainstorming your own start up business ideas.

Guest blogger Jason King is a freelance Software Engineer who is a keen blogger, has run a number of online businesses and is also in the property letting business. His interests include researching and teaching the business mindset, his goal being to learn all there is to know about how to be a successful entrepreneur and to pass this information on to others. For more information visit: http://www.BusinessMindsetExpert.com or follow him at http://Twitter.com/JRKtm

Small Business Success doesn’t have to involve a lot of additional strategic planning, huge budgets, and loads of additional time. Let’s face it, as a small business entrepreneur you already have enough to think about without adding additional work and responsibility.

In this article you will find 6 SIMPLE, yet powerful success strategies to improve your business from idea conception all the way to completion of the exit strategy.

1. Go where others do not.

Seek out a niche that enables you to provide significant value with reduced competition. There will always be someone who will attempt to enter the market and sell at a lower price – don’t compete with them. Let the low price providers beat each other up over the low price shoppers. Instead look for what makes your product or service better than the competition and find ways to express its value – and charge for it.

2. Systematize your business.

Develop repeatable business processes that can be documented and performed with consistency. All successful businesses identify what is unique about their product and service as part of their niche marketing and then find ways to deliver that product or service utilizing existing efficient business practices. Don’t attempt to reinvent the wheel. Look at how other successful companies handle finance, sales, marketing, human resources, logistics, etc. and begin to implement similar systems across the board throughout your business.

Find ways to automate as much of the repeatable tasks as possible. Though necessary at many steps throughout the business process, identify where human intervention is unnecessary or potentially destructive and invest in the technology and procedures that will ultimately lead to more efficient and effective outcomes.

3. Implement Guerrilla Marketing Tactics.

A great marketing plan doesn’t have to cost a fortune. With the recent advances in social media networking and the ease that buyers can now access information from the internet, marketing doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to be effective. A huge budget is no longer essential in reaching large groups of interested prospects. What is important is identifying your target niche market and making sure you deliver the appropriate message to those people. Spend a considerable amount of time thinking about who is most likely to buy from you and why. Identify all the objections and potential reservations and then specifically attack those hesitations when approaching your niche. Clearing the air upfront enables the prospect to make an informed buying decision focused more on the value of what you have to offer then on the objections their mind my point out.

4. Create and share your vision for the company.

Spend time envisioning what your company will look like in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years. Ultimately what do you want to accomplish in your business and who will that affect? What does your business success look like and how is it measured? Who will benefit from your business success and how will it impact the lives of those around you? Why is this so important to you? Once you have answered these questions formulate a clear and concise vision of what this all looks like in your mind. From there begin to communicate that orally and in writing to those around you, continually expanding the vision and the audience. As you continually share your company vision people and opportunities will begin to pop up that will share and support your quest for success.

5. Identify opportunities and build relationships.

Continually be open to new opportunities and relationships. Talk to others and stay open to changes in the marketplace. Specifically look for places of uncertainty, upheaval, and pending change. These are the areas most likely to produce an opportunity for significant advancement.

Pay attention to new people you meet and focus on how you can help them excel in their business. By helping them you will in turn be planting a seed for future harvest. The human mind has been conditioned traditionally to repay debt and favors. Seeds of good deed planted now will yield results down the road as more and more people look to repay the favor.

6. Begin with the end in mind.

Many people start with a dream of being in business for themselves without clear vision or direction. Often times these people will find themselves 5 years in to a venture that just doesn’t fulfill the entrepreneurial spirit. Consumed and exhausted the business may begin to falter.

Instead, clarify what your business will look like in 25 years. Where do you want to be, how do you want your business to look, who does your business serve? Take the vision you clarified in step 4 and work backwards from the end all the way to the day your business idea was first conceived. What has to happen and who to you have to meet now that will move you towards the end? What skills must be learned, what habits formed, what relationships maximized to ensure your business success? By beginning with the end in mind you will ensure the plan you chart will ultimately get you to the final destination.

http://encompass-management.com | Kevin Aubrey is an accomplished entrepreneur leading one of his current companies to consecutive Inc. 5000 awards (2006 2007) for the fastest growing privately held companies in America. Having worked with (2) different Fortune 100 companies early in his career, and currently operating a half dozen small businesses, Kevin shares his business insight as a consultant, author, and speaker. Kevin’s blog can be found at http://kevinaubreytoday.com.

Nicola Cairncross says: Welcome back to my quick tips on how I would go about it, if I was starting again, from scratch, starting a business online or taking my existing business online.

Due to lack of space, I can’t even begin to go into why WordPress is the way to go when creating your first website (a blog is actually just an interactive website and it can look just like an old style website too) but just take it from me, it is.

I’m sure if you Google it you will find endless arguments for and against, but I use WordPress now and while it took me a while to get used to it, having used Typepad and plain HTML pages before, I love it now.

I’ll never forget when online audio & video guru Mike Stewart told me at the World Internet Summit 2008, I think it was (I’ve never missed one!), that he had swapped to using a self-hosted WordPress blog on his domain name.

“Why?” I asked. “Because Armand Morin told me to!” Mike replied.

Armand Morin (Google him!) is one of the most successful internet marketers of all time, and founder of the BIG Seminar, one of the best annual seminars in the internet marketing space. He is an internet marketing genius and is surrounded by geniuses at his company too and if Armand is doing something one way, you had better know there is a darn fine reason for it.

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Paul says: I’ve been a bit busy this week to blog so I’ve asked a business acquaintance of mine, Business Internet Marketing Expert, Nicola Cairncross, to step into the breach.

Nicola says “As an experienced business internet marketer & mentor, I often get asked “If I was starting to market my business online again from scratch, what would I do first?” Great question and a variation on one you should always ask any successful business person “If you were starting again and knew then what you know now……”

So, if I was starting again from scratch, or even just looking to expand my business online, the first thing I would do is put myself in danger of making some money from Day One! It never fails to amaze me that people don’t do this, then they complain “my website isn’t working!”.

I would identify my “lead product” which is the product I want to sell any new customer first- this should be under £50 or $100 as it’s not such a big jump from the Free Gift I’m giving away (you are giving your potential futures customers free gifts aren’t you?)

OR if I didn’t have one at the right price point, I would go and find a complementary product that any potential customer of mine would get value from – perhaps an information product to help them succeed in their business or get better at their passion (golf swing anyone?).

If they had an affiliate scheme I would join it, and then go to a site like TinyURL or Bit.ly and shorten my affiliate link.

I would then go to my Outlook or Gmail account, add an email signature automatically to each email I send, from now on, and add a P.S to all my emails, with a link inviting people to download my free gift or buy my lead product OR endorsing and promoting that complementary product.

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