Doing business online is indeed a cost-effective way to promote and expand one’s business. At the same time, doing business through the Internet is not one of the safest ways if you are not careful enough. Occasionally newspapers flash stories of people getting duped while doing business on the internet. Recently a well-known website was accused of alleged fraudulent practices to promote companies which otherwise were not worthy of doing business.

Hence, there are both advantages and disadvantages of operating in a virtual world. Without doubt, the internet has turned the world into a virtual global marketplace which can be accessed with just a click of the mouse. It not only saves time, and money, but also one’s efforts that generally go into promoting and selling one’s products traditionally. Having said that, you are also faced with risks of getting duped, doing business with non-existent companies, getting sub-standard products after making payment, etc.

So what should one do before taking one’s business online or rather what steps one should follow while dealing with companies online? Below are some tips that can help you in doing business online, safely:

1. Always check the credibility and financial status of the company before doing any business or making any transaction.

2. Check the company’s infrastructure before placing orders and make sure whether they are capable of fulfilling your requirements or not.

3. Search the company name in search engines. You never know you may find some negative or positive review posted about the company, which may be of help to you.

4. Look for any certification that the company has. Certified companies signify that they are verified by third party agencies and have good infrastructure.

5. Do not make any kind of payment online using escrow, W- Union, et al. Always work in payment mode like irrevocable LC, LC at sight.

6. Ask for product samples and take reference from buyers with whom they have done business.

7. Correspond with the company representatives on phone and email before giving any order and making payment. You should verify the company’s official email address, phone numbers and all contact details.

8. Cross check with other sources even in case of verified companies listed on any B2B portal or any other website.

9. If you have doubts, do not shy away from approaching the embassy of the country from where the supplier/ buyer belongs. Most embassies have a trade wing and can help you out.

10. Ask for their past business partners and contact them and know their experience of working with the company in question. Be alert, careful and always do some research beforehand.

While many people take their business online thinking it will be an easy way to bring in revenue, in actuality like any other business, it requires hard work and know-how. Taking one’s business online has numerous advantages. Having said that, bringing down the risks involved in online business to the minimal level should be the foremost area which one should look into to remain successful.

Starting and running a successful Online Business requires a proven strategy that will create the foundation necessary for success.

When I first started online I spent endless hours trying to understand the strategy that successful online business entrepreneurs were using to achieve amazing results.

I didn’t understand landing pages and what they were intended for, I wasn’t sure how or why to create an authority site and I wasn’t sure when and where to use sales pages…

The foundation of all online businesses.

Traffic… Leads… Sales.

Online Strategy Begins with 3 Types of Concepts…

All successful online business have 3 types of methods to interact with their potential customers or target readers.

Authority Site (blog): This is your website that providers readers with the confidence that you are who you say you are and the knowledge to understand what you are all about.
In summary, your authority site’s design is to build a relationship with your readers.

Landing Page: This can be called many things; squeeze page, capture page or landing page as I prefer. This is the place in which you offer value to people by asking for their email address in order to send them a free gift.

Sales Page: This is where you offer your products and services and give people the opportunity to buy.

The mistake that most new online entrepreneurs or quite frankly anyone working an online business and not making money, is which page to send your traffic.

What strategy should you use to successfully achieve your desired results in your online business?
The Online Business Strategies Proven…

Here’s the formula used by ALL successful online businesses and we’ll explain why?

Online Business Strategy

Drive Traffic: There are many ways to drive traffic and feel free to Click Here for a few proven strategies to get you started; however where should you drive that traffic.

Answer: Landing Page.

Main reason is because this is the first process in your funnel and gives you multiple chances to interact with your potential customer if they don’t purchase on the first go around.

Your landing page is also designed to PROVIDE INCREDIBLE VALUE for free which helps you build trust and an ongoing relationship with people.

Organic Traffic: This is traffic that comes to you first all for free; from search engines, retweets, social media sharing… really any traffic that you yourself didn’t control or direct. This is the beauty of SEO…

Building Relationships is the KEY to Building and Maintaining a Successful Online Business

Give Value… then Sell!

After someone has inputted their email address in order to receive your free gift, they are potentially now open to building a relationship with you through the additional value you will be providing.

It’s critical to build a relationship first and then offer them an opportunity to buy what you have to offer.

Why?

Because people are intelligent and have value; therefore they need to trust and learn from you in order to want to follow you or buy what you have to offer.

I remember a time when I was shopping for a stove… yes just a simple stove but I was young at the time and didn’t really know what I was doing.

I went to the first place and the person helping me literally showed no interest to the point that I wondered if I was bugging them… they told me a few things I asked and then suggested I buy it!

Well, I sure didn’t and not because the stove wasn’t good – it was simply because I didn’t trust him and so had no idea if what he was selling was the true thing.

I then drove 15 minutes across town to another store and spoke with a person who was kind and incredibly informative. He asked me a few questions like what I was looking for, what I thought I wanted and then taught me (provided Value in the online world) and so I really understood the differences between stoves and why I would spend more or less. Well, I bought a lovely stove and felt just great about this purchase – truly it was a stove however the experience gave me confidence and I would buy again from that person any day!

To summarize the successful online business strategies used by successful online entrepreneurs is this:

• Drive Traffic to your landing page
• Provide incredible value to start building your relationship
• Build your reputation and authority site at the same time
• Send emails to your list (from the people who signed up through your landing page) in order to build a relationship.
• Every 10 emails you send – 7 go to value written on your authority site or blog and 3 can go to your sales page.

VALUE and BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS are the key cornerstones for any Successful Online Business.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

Isaiaha

Pulling out your business card during a meeting shows professionalism and eagerness in creating further business relationships with a colleague. A business card serves as a valuable asset for companies and for every person practicing their field of expertise. If you want to continue promoting yourself and your line of business, continuous giving of identity cards should be done. This means that, you will need more cards and what better way to have them produced than to get them in bulk. There are a lot of printing agencies that can produce identity cards. With this modern world of technology, online business cards printing are making a huge break in the market. Although this type of business is making huge waves in the industry, there are still a numbers of people who find it risky to rely on the online market. They are hesitant to have their identity and company cards ordered through the internet since they have less control on the outcome. But contrary to this common way of thinking, there is actually a long list of websites for credible online printing companies.

Availing the services of online business cards printing companies has some perks. First of all, it is more convenient and cost saving. Printing facilities are not always readily available in all locations. Having your business cards printed online makes things a lot easier by allowing you to stay at home and look for printing companies by just browsing through the internet. It can also give you the opportunity to easily compare one printing company to another. Online printing can help save money. Online companies, including the printing industries, offer lots of incredible deals and price cut-offs. In addition to this, ordering your cards in bulk from online printing companies will cost less than the price per card compared to small printings. Another reason for having your cards done online is that you are given a wide range of templates and designs to choose from. If you wanted to create your own layout, there are some companies that enable you to pick the colours, fonts, and styles you wanted for you card. With these applications on hand in their websites, there is no need for you to hire a graphic designer to design your business card.

One final thing to remember in printing business cards online is that most internet printing services have a history with the traditional ways of printing which reassure you that the quality of your business cards is of top quality. In addition to this, some websites contain testimonies from their previous customers regarding their works. By going through them, you will be able to judge if they are worthy to render their services to you.