PMI Online Business

For those not familiar with the Internet, WordPress is a content management system used mostly to publish blogs. It’s made available at both WordPress.com and WordPress.org, although its functionality is different at each site.

At WordPress.com, anyone can sign up for a free blog and receive a personalized domain (example.wordpress.com). This blog is then somewhat customizable, allowing the user to create the kind of blog they want. This option is great for someone who is just starting out with blogging. WordPress.com takes care of setup, security, spam, upgrades, and more. All the user has to do is blog.

However, for people who want a completely customizable experience – including the ability to have specific advertisements on their blog – WordPress.com falls short. While the user has options, they are unable to edit any of the code on their blog, import or use custom themes, install specific plugins, or run ads on their site. Some of these features become accessible with a paid upgrade.

At WordPress.org, anyone can download the WordPress software for free and then pay to have it hosted. Doing so allows them to use their own domain name, fully customize anything, and generally have more control. However, this also means the user is responsible for blocking spam and backing up their website, and the whole experience may require a bit more knowledge and expertise.

While WordPress.org will host your site for a fee, most web hosting sites will include the option to install WordPress on your website as well, often in just a few easy steps. This will allow your site to run off the WordPress software, with which you can create pages, design sidebars, add widgets, and do anything else you need.

For both WordPress.com and WordPress.org, there is WordPress MU. Previously a project in development and now a standard feature, WordPress MU (now called multi-site or MS) allows more than one blog to be supported with each installation. This means that one individual can moderate and control all of their blogs from one dashboard.

So study the different options and decide which, if either, is best for you.

There are lots of factors to consider when deciding on a credit card merchant account for your business. One issue that may surprise you – depending on how much experience you have with the business world – is the potential amount and variety of fees involved.

Merchant account fees come in three main types – initial fees, recurring fees, and transaction fees. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some fees you may encounter.

• Discount Rate The discount rate may be, in the long run, the highest cost associated with a merchant account. With every transaction processed, a percentage of the total cost makes up the discount rate. If taking orders online, this percentage will likely be a little higher due to the associated risk of Internet sales.
• Cancellation Penalties Because there is cost involved with setting up and maintaining a merchant account, if a business cancels their account there is almost always a fee involved. Be sure to select a merchant provider with a fixed cancelation fee – as opposed to a variable one – as this will provide you more security if you do end up cancelling. Also, if you’re canceling because of a problem or concern, discuss it with the merchant provider and they may waive all or part of the fee.
• Application and Setup Fees When first getting started, there will likely be a fee to process your application and activate your account, although this is becoming less common.
• Monthly Fee The merchant provider will charge a flat fee each month which may include sending you a monthly paper statement, customer support you may need, or other general service. This is usually between $10 and $15 per month.
• Chargeback or Retrieval Fees If a customer takes issue with a charge – questions the amount or doesn’t recognize the charge – they may dispute it. The merchant provider handles any disputes and will charge you about $25 if the charge ends up getting reversed.
• Annual Fee Not all providers charge an annual fee, but it is just a fee charged each year to maintain your account.

These are by no means all of the fees you may encounter when setting up a credit card merchant account; however, it should give you a good idea of the kind of budgeting you’ll need to consider when using a merchant provider. As always, shop around to several different providers to see which one will work best for you.

One of the biggest parts of an online business is getting traffic to your site. Once you have a good product and an effective website, the higher volume of traffic you can get to your site, the better.

You may be on Twitter and Facebook, have PPC ads coming out your ears, have a popular YouTube channel, and come up on the first page of various search engines. But to bring in more traffic, more customers, and more revenue, you may want to consider starting a podcast.

A podcast is an audio file you record in advance and allow people to download. It can be long or short, and talk about whatever you want to talk about. By regularly updating your podcast with new episodes, you’re able to consistently provide your listeners with the latest on your business, the industry, or just your life.

Here are some tips to consider for your podcast:

• Make It A Revenue Source While there’s nothing wrong with just chatting up your listeners each week, there’s no reason not to make your podcast a source of revenue. Talk to other businesses to see if any would be interested in sponsoring an episode.
• Make It A Resource For Your Listeners Your podcast is a chance for you to talk to your customers about your product, what it can do, and how it can help their lives. A podcast isn’t a sales pitch; it should be more casual than that. But you want to be providing your listeners with valuable information.
• Make It Consistent Both in frequency (once a week is usually good) and in length (anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour).
• Make It Easy iTunes is probably the most popular way to submit your podcast, making it instantly available to your listeners whenever you update.
• Make It Unique Occasionally, have a promotional offer or give out a coupon code on your podcast and nowhere else. This will give others the incentive to tell others about your podcast and help it grow.

Podcasts can be a great way to expand your business and bring in more revenue. With a minimal up-front investment and almost no ongoing costs (other than your time), there’s no reason you shouldn’t start your podcast today.

The evolution of technology in recent years has meant more people are using their mobile phones to access the internet. Accordingly in 2005, the .mobi domain – a domain designed specifically for access by mobile devices – was approved. So what does this mean for your business? What exactly is a .mobi domain? And do you need one?

            The idea behind a .mobi domain is to create a website that can be easily accessed and viewed by a mobile device. If you already own a phone with internet access, you know that you can already view pretty much any website on your phone (.com, .net, .org, etc.) regardless of the domain. A properly-designed .mobi site simply makes the site easier to use and navigate; the site is intended to be viewed on a smaller screen with a mobile connection.

Once advantage to .mobi sites is that search engines know if you’re searching on a mobile phone, and will give preference to sites using the .mobi domain. This means the search results are more likely to include a .mobi site than a non-.mobi site.

So do you need a .mobi site? It depends on your current website and your business, and will take some research to figure out.

First, try visiting your current website from a mobile device. How is the experience? Is it difficult to navigate? Are you able to see things clearly enough? If it’s an awkward experience (and feel free to enlist friends to do the same thing) you have a few different options.

1. Maybe you don’t do anything. Look at your target demographic; are a significant portion of them using mobile devices to access your website? How much revenue do you think you’re losing by not having a mobile-friendly site? If you’re not alienating a key demographic, you probably shouldn’t worry about it.
2. Maybe you try to improve your current site. Like was mentioned, mobile devices can already access your .com site, but maybe it’s just a little cluttered. Try some design changes, or have contact information prevalent so they can call you (you know, use the “talky” part of their phone) if they have questions. But keep track of the data; if the changes don’t bring greater revenue, you may want to stick with what you had before.
3. Maybe you invest in a good .mobi site. If your customers need a better experience when visiting your site on their mobile devices, and your current site is hurting the bottom line, you should probably make the investment. Plus, this may give you an advantage on your competition when people search for your product on their phones.

Weigh the pros and cons, then make an educated decision about creating a .mobi site. If it’s not going to directly help build your business, there’s likely not a pressing need to create one.

If you don’t have an email list for your online business, it’s like someone taking the time to build a beautiful brick and mortar store and then not having a cash register. A solid email list is an incredible asset that helps your sales go through the roof! Did you know that most people don’t make a purchase from a website until they’ve visited it at least five times? This means that when a potential customer visits your site, it is likely that no matter how long they spend, they are not going to make a purchase during that visit. By collecting their email you have the opportunity to stay in contact with them and market to them in the future. If they visit your website once and then leave, they may never return again. In that case, you’ve not only lost a sale, but the potential of continued business from that customer. This is why an email list is so crucial. You simply can’t effectively market without it!

Every person on your email list is a potential customer. You need to tell them why they need your emails and how it will benefit them. Doing so will help you build a loyal email list of people who understand who you are and what you will be providing them. A huge benefit of having an email list is that you can be proactive with information. For example, you can send out an email to new signups that answers a handful of frequently asked questions. This allows you to give them the information they may have been wondering about and also answers questions they didn’t even know they had! Taking this approach provides them with helpful information and drastically cuts down on your incoming calls and emails.

When it comes to their personal information, most people are understandably protective and wary of giving it out unnecessarily. Be absolutely certain that you clearly state your privacy policy. Everyone hates spam. In fact, many people are actually afraid of it, because it can be accompanied by viruses and other nasty things. Let your subscribers know from the get-go that their information is safe with you. Your policy could state something like this, “We will never sell, trade or share your email with a third party.” Make your privacy policy easy to see – people shouldn’t have to click a link to see it. For one thing, linking to it may lead people to think that you have something to hide. Additionally, some states actually require you to put include your privacy policy right at the point of opt-in, so you should stay on the safe side and make it obvious. This transparency and openness will help people trust you and boosts your email marketing success!