Tag: advertising

Top 10 things every seller should consider.

Sellers often get a bad rap. Lately, I’ve been asking myself why that is. We all have to buy things, but sometimes we don’t like it when people try to sell to us, and practically no one likes advertising. I put together a few touch points that I think might improve a seller’s long-term success.

TOP 10 THINGS EVERY SELLER SHOULD CONSIDER
  1. Pick a safe product. Take steps to verify that the product is safe for the intended use. You don’t want to get sued when someone’s hair falls out after using the shampoo you sold them. Also, read the product reviews, and pay special attention to those who rated it badly.
  2. Pick a product you would actually buy. If you wouldn’t even buy the product, it’s going to be hard to sell it to someone else. You haven’t even made your own mind up about it, and you are trying to make their mind up about it. It’s going to be a hard sell.
  3. Determine who your customers are. If you don’t know who you are selling to, you won’t be able to pick the best products to sell to them. Some customers might stumble upon you, but targeted advertising might come into the picture at some point. It’s helpful to know where to send the ads.
  4. Understand your customer’s needs. You are not going to sell me a brassiere. I’d never be able to fill it out properly and I’m not sure I’m qualified to pick the best one out for someone else. If you have a customer base, think in terms of what they actually need.
  5. Don’t be the pushy salesperson type. It does sometimes work, but customers walk away with a bad feeling afterwards, and probably won’t be coming back. You will be that person they avoid eye contact with and unfollow because they get tired of being hit up. Take no for an answer.
  6. Conduct market research. If you are going to sell books for example, recognize that you are going up against Barnes & Noble and Amazon. This will be a hard sell unless you have something that they don’t offer already. Finding a niche market will probably improve your chances of success.
  7. Don’t forget the customer after the sale. If you really believe in the product, consider offering a full refund for dissatisfied customers. It’s really expected these days. Also, some products may need some form of customer service after the sale.
  8. Strengthen customer relationships. Do as much as possible to strengthen the tie that customers have with your business. If you treat your customers right, they are more likely to make future purchases, and your business will be spread through word of mouth.
  9. Take care of your reputation. No one wants to buy from a shady dealer. Keep your own reputation clean and make sure your business has a good public image. Seek to maintain good PR and quickly fix any customer problems that become publicized. Become someone they trust.
  10. Don’t involve your personal politics in your business. It does get you noticed in the news sometimes, but frankly it looks bad and drives some customers away. They might even boycott you. Your business is about the products and services you sell, not who you vote for in the election.

Possible discussion ideas.

  1. Do you know a pushy salesman?
  2. Have you bought any products you totally regret?
  3. Have you ever owned a shop or business?
  4. What products or services do you believe in?
  5. Have you ever been injured by a bad product?
  6. Ever feel like you are buying from an unscrupulous person?
  7. What type of products and services work best for bloggers?
  8. Do you think businesses should get involved in politics?

Thanks for being here! Let’s hear what you have to say in the comments! Subscribe if haven’t already, and please like and share!

I found an uninteresting news story on MSN.

I found an news post on MSN that didn’t seem interesting to me. It was called 11 Legal Things That Are Expected To Be Banned in the Next 20 Years – Are You Ready? I clicked on the link and it took me to a slideshow list, which I don’t really like. Maybe it gives them the chance to keep me on the page long enough to throw one more ad at me, but I’m a fast reader. Just give me the whole list.

Let’s go through the list and see how it affects me. Maybe I might be losing some freedom I currently have. I mean, that’s what making something illegal does. It diminishes someone’s freedom. In some cases, as in criminal acts, that makes sense, but you can make way too many laws, and that ship sailed a long time ago.

  1. Telemarketing. No reason to make it illegal. Just set you phone to not accept phone calls from anyone not in your contacts. Everyone else can leave a voice message, and you can get back to them if you like. My phone even says telemarker when I get the call. It’s just not worth the effort to make this illegal and it’s vague sometimes. Of course, lawyers will love making this illegal, because they will get more work, another good reason to not make things illegal. In short, don’t feel even the slightest bit obligated to answer a phone call from a questionable source.
  2. Multi-level marketing. I have no idea what this is really. Someone is peeved by it though, so let’s make it illegal. Seems like some sort of money making scheme, so savvy people will just avoid it. Also seems vaguely defined, as they are saying some charities are MLM. This leads to more legal and court costs to determine if it qualifies. If it sounds too good to be true, dig a little deeper, and make sound decisions.
  3. Microtransactions. Basically, kids shouldn’t spend their parents money in game apps. Seems legit. Why not ban that for adults too. I hate downloading an app to find that it doesn’t work as expected without additional costs.
  4. Beauty contests. This doesn’t affect me at all, so I have very little to offer. I do know a girl who grew up in pageants and it seemed to have little affect on her. If anything, it was a fun memory. I guess it depends on how seriously you take it. My view of this is it has a lot to do with the parents. I guess it shows they have good genes. The dumb thing to me is that we believe beauty is not supposed to be a valuable trait, but it is a very valuable trait. I wish I had more of it. Honestly, I think these are harmless and make the parents and kids happy, under most circumstances. Making them illegal is an extreme measure.
  5. Data privacy. I think rather than making it illegal there should be a disclamier that pops up every time you connect your computer to the Internet. It should say, anything you do on the Internet is being tracked by someone. I really don’t care too much about what advertisers do honestly. The ad systems are really just trying to get the right product to the right people. Big brother is really the only privacy violator we should be concerned about.
  6. Single-Use Plastic. If there is a demand for a product, it will continue to be used. People don’t have time to wash every single item they use and reuse it. People dream of going back to milk bottle refilling days. Good luck. Our world moves way to fast to support that method. Here’s a solution, make all plastic biodegradable.
  7. Subscription Services. This is definitely a problem, but it makes too much money to stop. When someone is getting rich off of something, they will lobby congress if they have to. The problem with making everything a subscription is that you never actually own anything. It’s a bad model for personal property, but fine for actual services.
  8. Skipping ads. I do it on YouTube. I didn’t go there to see that content. I’m almost never interested in the particular product they are selling either. Maybe they aren’t tracking my preferences well enough? It’s more likely that it should be illegal to force someone to watch something they don’t want to watch. I just pictured a future where people are chained to a chair with some mechanical device that doesn’t let them turn their head away from the video and wiry things forcing their eyelids open. Is this where we are heading? Honestly truth, if someone clicks skip, they were presented with an ad that wasn’t going to make a sale anyway. They are not interested in that product. Consider the skip to be good feedback on which ads are a total failure.
  9. Fireworks. They are exciting and beautiful and I like them. Some of the best things in life are a little dangerous. Let’s not be fraidy cats about everything.
  10. Selling cigarettes. Doesn’t affect me too much, but I watched my dad die from them. I honestly hate the way they smell, except for maybe cigars or pipes. I think smoking is bad for your health, and really not a cool thing to do, but I also think adults should be able to make up their own minds about what the take into their bodies. It’s another one of those nanny state things, and I don’t support a nanny state.
  11. Online Tracking. Like I said earlier, use of the Internet should come with a disclaimer. Someone is logging what you do for their own protection, and to connect you with the things you are searching for, or wanting to buy. I do support the idea of anonymity. It’s just very hard to manage this on the public internet, but there are ways that don’t involve the legal system.

What are your thoughts on this article? Do any of these things peeve you enough to make them illegal? Do you think we have too many or too few laws? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

How to Blog for Profit

How To Blog For Profit

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Summary

Your online business is waiting…

Ever wondered what it takes to create and grow a successful online business? Your step-by-step guide is here! Whether you’re an author, blogger, podcaster, business owner, or maybe, just want to know how to get started, How to Blog for Profit is for you. It is jam-packed with easy-to-implement advice for creating an authentic, successful, and profitable online business.

With wit, wisdom, and the insight of someone who’s been there, The New York Times best-selling author Ruth Soukup shares how she grew her own blog-based business into a seven-figure media empire.

In this completely revised third edition of How to Blog for Profit, you’ll discover why blogging’s not dead and how you can harness the power of content marketing to grow any type of business.

Master the art of creating compelling content that naturally attracts your own tribe of raving fans and loyal customers. Grow your audience faster by learning how to focus on the proven traffic strategies that actually work. Gain a clear understanding of all the options for monetizing your platform as well as which revenue streams offer the best ROI. Improve your productivity, learning to work smarter not harder, and take concrete steps to transform your blog into a business. Learn what the most successful bloggers and online business owners are doing differently than everyone else so that you can, too.

Get the book that transformed blogging and has sold nearly 500,000 copies in 10 different languages, worldwide. 

Now in its third edition and completely updated for 2020.

I just finished this book by Ruth Soukup. It had some good ideas for entry level bloggers. Being new to blogging, I gained quite a lot from it. One of the eye-opening things I learned from this book is you really need a product to sell if you want to make money. She basically says outright that she makes money the same way all businesses make money, by selling things, and also says that follower numbers are just vanity metrics. It does make sense. I believe you would need tons of views to make anything off ads. I recommend this book to anyone starting out.

I read a lot of books, not as much as I used to, but I’m starting pick back up. If you have read this book already, or read it later, please let me know your thoughts on it in the comments!

It wasn’t for me.

I remember there used to be a time when there wasn’t an internet, but I honestly don’t like to think about it. It was a time when everyone was expected to do everything in person or through paper. It was a time when people couldn’t work from home very easily. It was an era that predates blogging and many forms of self-publication. It was really not for me. I was born for the internet, and I spend a ridiculous amount of time there.

Some people like to blame the internet for everything, and there are some negative aspects, but if you really think about it, it has made the world a better place. Here are some things it has added.

  • Better connection to other people. Before the internet, it really wasn’t that easy to keep up with people you went to school with, or family that moved out of state. I remember my grandmother actually had to write to her cousins on paper and use snail mail. That definitely wasn’t optimal, though it did build anticipation and teach patience.
  • The internet allows for anonymity. Some people see this as an evil aspect of the internet, but I think it is absolutely critical. Societies and governments tend to silence and chastise people who criticize them out of fear that if enough people gather together, they will overthrow them. Without anonymity, those people would not be able to state the truth about their society or government.
  • It is more inclusive. The internet is pretty much everywhere now. Before it, you had to really work hard to connect with people outside your local community or state. The world has become much smaller and striking up a conversation with someone across the globe is trivial now.
  • The information age opened up tons of jobs that allow you to work from home, or anywhere there is an internet connection. You can literally work from the beach if you like. You can travel the world if you like, taking your work with you. You also don’t have to worry about that dreaded commute anymore. The only highway you have to be on is the information superhighway.
  • It provided an outlet for tons of creative minds. There are so many creators out there now. It’s almost becoming an expectation in our society. Without the ability to self-publish, you would have to get everything approved by a bureaucratic publishing system and advertising was pretty slow and expensive. Now, you just create an account on social media and start sharing.
  • Of course, the best part of having the internet is that you get to read this amazing blog. 🙂

So, what’s your favorite thing about the internet? Could you live without it? Tell me about it in the comments, and don’t forget to like and subscribe.