by Angie Wenke

So you just spent a fortune opening your website and designing it, then countless hours adding your products and tweaking the site to make sure it is user friendly. Now the big question where are the sales? How many times have I been asked this question over the years?

This when I have to lay the unfortunate reality check on them. A good online business with a reputable reputation may take 2-5 years to develop a good customer base. This may be harsh reality for a lot of people, but it is better to be upfront and honest and realize even though your website may be awesome, and you may offer wonderful unique products. In a sea of Primitive and Country Craft websites yours may just be flopping out there hidden amongst them until your site is recognized.

Designing your website, picking out your domain name and adding your products are simply the beginning. You will need to look at your online business as a baby. A baby yes you heard me correctly. Over the next few months you will need to nurture and care for your website in order to see it grow. Meaning lots of hard work and advertising to obtain a good customer base. Let’s take the reality in that with a lot of love, hard work and determination your business will be huge success, just don’t expect it to take off overnight or you business will surely fail.

by Tessa Stowe

Have you ever had a potential client ask you to write a proposal or give a presentation only to respond with "Thank you for doing this and we'll get back to you at some time in the future if we decide to do something"? All that wasted time for nothing.

If only you'd known they were going to say that before you wasted all that time writing the proposal. If you knew they were going to say this, would you have written the proposal? So how do you find out what they are going to say? The way to find out what they are going to say after you have given them your proposal is to ask them the 'magic question' before you have spent time and money preparing the proposal. Simple really.

The 'magic question' is magical for two reasons. It's magical as it transports you both into the future (to the time when they have received the proposal you have yet to write) and it's also magical because much of the need for writing the proposal will vanish after you have asked this question.

by Tina Wells

Yep, you read it right! Stop promoting your business. How many times a day do you surf the net and see ad after ad full of hype. You just roll your eyes and go on about your day totally forgetting that you even saw those type ads. I know we all get so tired of flashy, big promise making, ads. Who are they kidding? I don’t know about you but I can’t seem to take those seriously.

On the other hand you see an ad that doesn’t appear to be promising the farm and has that “down home” appeal. You immediately click on it and see a “real” person’s site with “real” information that appeals to you. Wow the whole story about where they are from, how they got started, their family life- it’s all there in black and white. This immediately sets this person apart from all the internet hype. You read on and they even have a phone number where you can actually “reach” them! Now you’re really excited. You just don’t see it in that fashion these days.

by Barbara Ryan

So many marketing tactics, so little time! It can be overwhelming to accomplish all the marketing tasks in your business, but take notice of this high profile tactic to get your product noticed fast!

Entrepreneur moms who want to get noticed fast and make a lasting impression have a little trick up their sleeves: Product placement.

What is product placement? It is simply getting your product into the right person’s hands. Whose hands? Why, celebrities and industry leaders of course. Hollywood celebrities or so called celebrities or high profile people in your industry. These are the people who generate the buzz, start the trends, and influence the general population.

by S McIntyre

How you conduct yourself online can adversely affect you as a business person, professional or employee/employer. No one wants to be seen in a negative light so how you handle yourself online is very important.

Your words on screen can be seen by thousands of people every day. Search engines crawl and spider everything or almost everything. Even if you went back to edit your posts days later, it's possible search engines have already cached the pages that can be viewed like archives. The damage is done.

Lately, I've seen way too many topics on work at home forums become personal and heated debates. Angry words attacking the person's character and rebuttals injecting just as much sting like two children fighting on a playground. Many of us can get caught up in our emotions without thinking twice and without thinking about the repercussions. This is ill behaviour and it will hurt you and/or your business. What would this look like to your potential customers, business partners or employees/employers? Would you want to do business, employ/work for this person/company?

by Teresa Carnes

I remember the days before cheerleading uniforms and karate tournaments consumed a large portion of my expendable income - you know the days when you could afford to purchase your wardrobe and makeup from department stores like Macy‘s, Dillard‘s, or Foley‘s. It was at that time that I became Dillard’s Department Store’s number one fan! I was a firm believer that there was no better mascara than Estee Lauder’s More than Mascara, which I faithfully purchased from Dillard’s every few months, and that you could not find a more fashionable, classy, and high quality suit anywhere other than Dillard’s. So, when Dillard’s was included in an upcoming career fair in Tulsa, I was certain a career with Dillard’s was in my near future. I was teaching Business English and Professional Development courses at a small business college, and because I was working evenings, decided a change of pace was just what I needed.

The day of the fair arrived, and I donned my smart, navy suit (purchased from Dillard’s of course), updated my resume, and drove to the career fair. Smart move I thought since Dillard’s associates all wore navy! Once there, I landed an interview with the hiring manager and proceeded to explain to her that I was a Dillard’s fan through and through and accordingly believed a career with Dillard’s was my calling in life. You would have thought I was describing my favorite charity or NFL team by the way I talked! Even though I had absolutely no retail sales experience - or any sales experience for that matter - she hired me on the spot, embarking my short career with Dillard’s. That career was short lived because everyone, regardless of education or experience, begins on the floor, and standing for eight + hours a day was not for me.