Oftentimes, it’s so easy to get caught up working in your business that you forget to work on your business. Sound familiar? We’re all guilty of it, but when it comes down to it, the foundation of any business is sales, which makes a sales training program a great investment.

Unfortunately, for many companies, it’s often the last thing on the priority list. Weak sales make for a weak company, but the reverse is also true: Investing in good sales training can only make your company stronger. Here’s what to look for in order to find an investment that’s worth your while.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

With the abundance of sales consultants and programs in the marketplace today, it can be difficult to distinguish the good from the bad. Here are the basics:

• The Good: Trainers with real-world experience are the best. My preference is to seek out people with high-end sales experience. Even if you have to pay a bit more, it’s an invaluable investment to learn from the best of the best; people who have really rocked the marketplace. If they’re out there right now, keeping up with what’s going on in the sales world, they can blend fresh, new techniques with their real-world experience. This is a dynamite combination in a sales education for your employees.

• The Bad: Avoid online sales training programs in which the salespeople have to take themselves through a curriculum at their own pace. You don’t want trained trainers educating your employees; rather, you want people with successful track records of real-world sales experience. (The saying “Those who can’t, teach” isn’t true – lots of great salespeople are also teachers. Seek them out!)

• The Ugly: Any kind of “special technique” is a red flag. Make sure you’re seeking out ethical sales training; anything that promises results from gimmicks or tricks is not what you – or your customers – want.

Find a Good Fit

The key to a successful training program is to first understand what your company’s needs are, and then find a program that meets them. Do your research to determine where your company needs improvement, and seek out an organization that specializes in those problem areas. Do background checks on your top choices, and ask for references. Remember, this is an investment, and it’s important to make it count. You wouldn’t hire an untested person to watch your children, and you shouldn’t hire unproven experts to train your sales staff.

Key Components

Different programs obviously have different methods of sales training, but the following are the top three things I believe any good one will include:

1. The art of conversation. Successful sales involve the art of listening, as well as the art of speaking; a good sales training will teach your employees to do both. Sales rhetoric (“canned” sales pitches) is old news, and they don’t work. Customers today are savvy, and there’s no place for these outdated practices.
2. Real-world, real-time solutions. Make sure your program has a successful track record right now. You don’t want your employees to learn methods that were effective 30 years ago – you want them to learn what’s working now.
3. Proper negotiation skills. This is a key component in closing a sale, and it’s important that your program covers this to make it worth your time. There’s no point in racking up sales if you end up leaving half your value on the negotiating table.

It’s time to take your company’s sales training goals off the back burner. A training program is a great investment for your business, and taking the time to assess your company’s needs and find a good fit will only multiply your ROI.

Photo credit: meetadamchandler.com

DavidNeagle is The Million Dollar Income Acceleration Coach, and President of LifeIsNow, Inc. He mentors entrepreneurs in over 7 countries to quantum leap their current businesses past the 7-figure sales mark in just 12 months. For more information on how David can help you achieve your goals in life, contact him here.

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A competitive small business environment coupled with what seems like an avalanche of new technology products and services can make any small business owner feel overwhelmed. Which types of new hardware or new apps are game-changing enough to purchase right now, and which can wait till the technology matures a bit?

It isn’t easy for a small business owner to know which new tech provides a return on investment and which falls into the category of “nice, but not necessary.” We spoke with Brian Jackson of ITBusiness.ca about the best ways for small business owners to keep up with new technology without feeling like they have to hop on every tech trend bandwagon.

Tech news and non-tech news have both given heavy coverage to “the cloud” and how it can help businesses of every size. Is it time for small business owners to make that switch to cloud-based storage and applications, or can this wait until the business’s existing hardware needs to be updated?

Whether a small business switches to a cloud-based technology or not is still best evaluated on a case-by-case basis. It’s one more option that businesses should be aware of and evaluate. The advantage of cloud services for a small business is they don’t require any upfront capital costs for buying hardware, and are also very easy to maintain. Most cloud services require paying a monthly subscription fee. There may be some cases where a business wants to maintain total ownership over their own data locally, or could save money from a total cost of ownership perspective by doing an on-premises solution.

Since the Great Recession, the United States has produced a large number of what are called “accidental entrepreneurs.” These are the people who started working as freelancers or contractors out of necessity and have found they don’t want to go back to being on a corporate payroll. How can these approximately 19 million new entrepreneurs find the tech solutions that will help them the most as they go it alone?

There’s never been more Web services and software solutions that cater to personal productivity needs and small business challenges. Look to tech-focused B2B publications to get an objective assessment of what technology can help – or hurt – your business and what trends you should be aware of.

With some small businesses, it is the customer’s technical inclination that prompts them to try new technology rather than the business’s need for something faster or something new. How can the small business owner gauge what customers are using and what their business should adopt to better serve tech-savvy customers?

Talk to your customers and get feedback about what you’re doing. Don’t be afraid to experiment with new technologies, but constantly track their adoption and ask customers what they think of them. If there’s an opportunity to test something before rolling it out as a new standard for your business, take it. Look at how your customers are behaving and adapt to their needs, rather than expecting they will adapt to the methods you give them to use.

How can small businesses avoid wasting time on tech that may be a passing fad? For instance, in June, Businessweek.com had an article about QR code fatigue. A few years ago, people frequently scanned QR codes out of curiosity. But after discovering that most QR codes simply go to a brand’s website, a lot of people decided that scanning a QR code isn’t worth getting the phone out of their pocket for. Is there a good way for business owners to separate fleeting fads from genuine tech trends?

Think about what your core business competency is and what your main value as a product or service to customers is. If a technology doesn’t help in that mission, then you can probably ignore it safely. It can be hard to predict what tech trends are fads or here to stay, but you know your business and you know what will add value for your customers.

Right now, the three hottest tech areas are social networking, mobile applications, and cloud-based solutions. Do you have any predictions or see any “game-changers” on the horizon that everyone will be talking about in a couple of years?

One trend that’s being discussed more often now is “big data”. This refers to looking to a large data set involving millions of information points and extracting some intelligence out of it to make business decisions. Thanks to more data being created in digital customer transactions and more available computer power to analyze them, businesses can now analyze behavior on a mass scale and adapt their practices based on the results.

New technology is more available and affordable for small start-ups than ever before. From check-in apps to mobile VoIP, businesses have almost unlimited ways to connect with customers and empower employees. When faced with an enormous tech buffet, it’s easy to succumb and buy tech products and services you don’t really need. Taking a long view when it comes to tech will help you keep the impulse expenditures to a minimum and focus your attention on tech that actually pays off for your business.

Photo credit: Clevercupcakes

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“Do more with less” seems to be the new commandment handed down to IT departments everywhere. Fulfilling that can feel like a Herculean task, but cloud-based server monitoring offers struggling administrators a viable solution. You can actually demonstrate a solid return on investment (ROI) and minimize the total cost of ownership (TCO). But, how can cloud-based server monitoring manage that? Read on to find out three ways this solution can help you do more with less.

What is it?

Cloud-based server monitoring is a service that gives you an extra IT technician on your staff at a fraction of the cost. This service can monitor your server and workstations:

• Notify you of critical events
• Detect Windows services disruptions
• Help you keep your antivirus software updated
• Check available disk space and performance of any hard disks
• Check that your backup’s completed correctly
• Alert you about potential issues, preventing them from turning into large problems that could cause downtime

Even better, cloud-based server monitoring is scalable as your organization grows and can be accessed by system administrators remotely, wherever there is an internet connection. In addition, there are no patches or upgrades for the IT administrator to install.

Finally, it can save you money too. How? Here are three ways:

Deploy services cost effectively

Many people still think of computing as something that is purchased, installed and yours to keep. You must buy something, or employ someone, to have an IT department. While that is still true to an extent, the concept of computing as a service, just like gas, electricity or water, is gradually gaining ground.

Cloud-based server monitoring gives you freedom from infrastructure costs, allowing you to deploy its powerful analytics and tools quickly and cheaply. Additional licenses can be quickly added without complex processes making it easy for the software to grow with your business; as your network expands, you simply add new workstations to the cloud-based server monitoring solution.

No hardware investment

Because you are using a cloud solution, there is no additional hardware investment. You do not have to buy new equipment to run this service, nor upgrade your infrastructure to be able to use the latest version. There are also no expensive staff resource allocations to get everything up and running.

Redeployment of key personnel

By freeing up the time of your key personnel using cloud-based server monitoring, you can redeploy key personnel to higher-value tasks, such as development, testing and infrastructure renewal. Rather than reducing your IT staffing levels, this solution gives you the freedom to use them for more important business tasks.

Photo credit: flickr.com

This guest post was provided by Mark Williams on behalf of GFI Software Ltd. If you want to find out more facts, tips and expert insights on cloud-based server monitoring, get your free eBook here: http://landnsmcd.gficloud.com/ebook-download-cloud-network-monitoring/

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Debit and Credit Card Use on the Rise

Despite the recession, credit and debit card use is growing … and is expected to continue to grow, according to ResourceNation.com. In 2008, 176 million Americans owned credit cards and 181 million had debit cards, according to the U.S. Census Bureau,.

And while credit card use has been down in recent months because of slow job growth, according to the HuffingtonPost.com, debit card use is becoming the dominant form of payment for many consumers.

According to a study by the Federal Reserve, between 1996 and 2006, debit card use grew 20 percent per year and has now exceed credit card transactions. At the same time, the number of checks written each year is dropping steadily and cash transactions are leveling out.

More than ever, Americans are accustomed to paying with plastic over paper. And as smartphone use increases, the newest trend will be virtual wallets — consumers using their phones to make purchases at major retailers.

The cost of scanning devices and processing fees have made some small businesses shy away from offering credit card payments. But the advent of card readers that attach to mobile phones means that even the small and mobile businesses (i.e. food trucks, landscapers, pizza delivery, contractors, etc.) can accept credit cards at a low cost.

Businesses that don’t accept credit cards potentially inconvenience customers (and in the worst case, lose customers who don’t have another form of payment), limit their ability to sell products via the internet, and appear less savvy than competitors.

Types of Credit Card Processing

It is imperative that small business owners not only accept debit and credit cards, but that also make processing such transactions easy and efficient. Here are the primary outlets for accepting credit card payments:

• Dial Up Terminal: Connects through a phone line, one of the oldest and most common forms of credit card processing.
• IP-based Terminal: Connects through the internet instead of a phone line and offers faster processing.
• Wireless Credit Card Terminal: Connects through a wireless network; best for mobile businesses.
• Computer Software: Less common; allows you to process transactions via a computer.

Finally, mobile processing is becoming an increasingly popular option for both businesses and consumers.

Mobile Processing Companies Compete for Small Businesses

Startups are currently developing smart-phone-compatible credit card readers. These readers charge less than the 3 percent that large credit card processing companies collect each time a consumer uses a credit, debit, or gift card, according to a recent Washington Post article.

In addition, earlier this year, PayPal launched PayPal Here, a mobile card reader that charges 2.75 percent per swipe and accepts PayPal payments in addition to credit and debit cards. Square Inc. charges customers a flat rate of $275 a month to process up to $250,000 in sales using its credit card reader.

And another entry into the field, Level Up, doesn’t charge a fee for processing, but requires both the business and customer to download a smartphone app to complete a transaction (the customer’s credit card is linked to the app; in order to pay for an item the customer uses their smartphone to scan a QR code located on the item).

It could be that in the not-too-distant future, consumers will ditch their wallets in favor of their phones. Is your small business prepared?

Learn more about credit card processing for your small business on Business.com.

Image courtesy of SquareInc.com 

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One of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to market your business online is by starting a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign.

A PPC campaign is a technique used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher (typically a website owner) when the ad is clicked. It allows you to reach millions of potential customers, targeting your ads to the people who are most interested in your product or service.

Beginners can launch a small-scale PPC campaign but for larger efforts, hiring a consultant or agency is recommended.

We recently caught up with pay-per-click expert Robert Brady to get his take on how to improve your advertising results.

Brady has a degree in business management from the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University.

In addition to dabbling in farming and irreverent T-shirt making, He’s a Google AdWords Certified Partner and a PPC management services consultant who can help businesses with everything from a one-time audit to ongoing management and optimization.

Here’s what he had to say about maximizing your pay per click performance:

How did you become interested in PPC?

While taking an internet marketing class in college my group was given a $500 Amex gift card and we set up and ran an account for a local business. Looking back, we didn’t do a great job, but it started me on the path.

I’m a small business owner who’s never done a PPC campaign, why should I try it out? At minimum, how will I benefit?

SMBs should try PPC because it allows you to only advertise when someone has expressed a need and is currently looking for a solution. On top of that, you only pay for clicks. Add in the conversion tracking and you’ll know quickly if the channel is profitable and at what level.

Where’s the best place to find a PPC consultant?

Getting a referral from someone you trust with a successful program is the best place to start. Also consider looking at the AdWords Certified Partner directory or the Microsoft Accredited Professional directory.

What questions should you ask the consultant before hiring him?

Ask a few questions to validate their subject knowledge. If they use too many buzz words or don’t explain it so that you can understand, that’s a good sign that you’ll have communication issues down the road. Also ask them if they’ve managed accounts in your industry before, if they’re currently managing accounts in your industry (you don’t want a conflict of interest), and ultimately ask for references that will vouch for their work.

What’s the best way to optimize the landing page?

Test, test, test. Use your existing page as the control and then design a new landing page with a hypothesis in mind. Don’t just change the button color and see if one gets a better conversion rate. Test having an image vs. no image to find if the image is distracting or beneficial. Then, when the test is over, you’ve learned something about your users that you can implement other places on your site.

What are some tools you can use to measure your ROI?

A calculator. Maybe even a pencil and paper if you don’t have a calculator. In all seriousness, though, once you have the data, ROI is just a simple calculation away. The hardest part for most businesses is having their analytics set up to track revenue and costs by channel to get more granular ROI.

Additional tips for maximizing campaign performance?

Test, test, test. Going with your gut may be great, but with PPC you have all the metrics you need to test that gut feeling and either validate or invalidate it with real data. Once you’ve found something that works, expand on it and test some more. Never stop testing!

Read more about Brady’s take on pay per click marketing on his blog RighteousMarketing.com  and follow him on Twitter @Robert_Brady.

Learn more about PPC marketing on Business.com.

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The website for your small business plays an essential role in building your brand and in your marketing efforts. Website design should be much more than just an afterthought.

A great website design adds professionalism to your online presence and connects you with customers (and potential customers) around the clock, 365 days a year. Here are 10 common mistakes to avoid with your website design.

1. Not understanding your target demographic. Rather than designing a website then retrofitting it to your target customers, you should first thoroughly research your target demographic and have your website designed based on this research. For example, if you target younger consumers, you want a site that works well on a phone or other mobile device.

2. Too much flash. You don’t want to take your website visitors on a one-way tour back to 1997 with an eyesore website full of flash and garish color combinations. Just because you can do certain things with design, doesn’t mean you should.

3. A wall of text without photos or videos. Of course your website should be rich in great content, but even the most cerebral website visitors will be put off by a wall of text. Breaking up the design with terrific photos or graphics help your visitors catch their breath occasionally as they take in the content.

4. Being penny wise and pound foolish with website design. Look for a website design firm that caters to businesses of your size, and don’t choose based solely on cost. Investing a bit more up front can get you a site that functions properly, looks great, and that visitors love. For businesses with enough IT skills on hand, off-the-shelf website design can work fine, but otherwise, budget-basement website design often looks the part.

5. Stale content. If visitors come back to your site a week after their first visit and all the content is the same, they may not bother coming back. Dynamic content is one of the best things about the web. You don’t have to go overboard and have an unrealistic schedule for adding new content, but letting content sit for a week or two is a sure way to discourage repeat visitors.

6. Trying to appeal to everyone, everywhere. If you try to do this, the likely result is that you’ll appeal to nobody. Your website can’t bring in every demographic group, so you might as well focus on your bread and butter customers and cater to them. This doesn’t mean you don’t try new things occasionally, or aren’t welcoming to others. It just means you’re realistic about who your website needs to attract to boost your success.

7. Spelling and grammar problems. If your site is riddled with misspellings. or if the content uses “you’re” and “your” interchangeably, the professionalism of your site automatically drops. There are plenty of people besides English teachers who expect proper spelling, grammar, and usage, and it’s not that hard to give them what they want.

8. Poor navigation and internal linking. Have you ever visited a website and had to count back-clicks to get back to a menu allowing you to find another page you need? Poor navigation frustrates users and may cause some of them to abandon your site altogether. Work with your website designer to achieve a navigation flow that is intuitive and obvious.

9. No social media sharing or “Contact Us” buttons. You don’t want half of each page filled up with social media sharing buttons, but you should still have them, because you never know who might find your site based on a Tweet or a Facebook “Like.” Additionally, you should make it easy for visitors to find out how to contact you by email and phone. If you run a physical retail facility or have an office, posting your hours is a huge help and will keep readers from having to call you to find out this information.

10. No call to action. Chances are you have designed your website for the purpose of informing customers and priming them for purchasing products or services. After you’ve done all that, why would you not place a call to action on your page? In many cases, a simple “Click here to order” link is all it takes.

Even if you don’t sell products or services on the internet, web design needs to be part of your business plan. If your website design is done poorly or as an afterthought, your professional reputation could suffer. However, when website design is done well, it can build your brand, generate buzz, and significantly raise your profile in the marketplace.

Photo Credit: Guttorm Flatabø

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One of the most important aspects of staring a restaurant is utilizing the right software to make sure orders are placed and customers are checked out efficiently and correctly. Although this might not be quite as glamorous as creating a menu or designing the décor of your new place, it’s the job of the restaurant owners to make sure that the right POS systems, or point-of-sale systems, are in place.

Finding the right POS system is actually not as simple as walking into a store and picking out the most affordable option. There are many different types of POS systems and different features available, so making the right choice really depends upon the size of your company and the goals of your business.

Top 5 Things to Look for in a Great POS System

The majority of new restaurants need to buy computers for the servers to use, a control unit for the computers, POS software, and a server station or place to put all of these components. Below are a few things to keep in mind when you set out to buy these products:

• Decide whether you want a keyboard or touchscreen technology.

Touchscreen POS systems are quickly becoming the most popular option for restaurants because they are newer. They take up less space and are easy to use; however they are the most expensive option. Some restaurants opt for the keyboard route because they are most cost efficient. If you run a restaurant where you just have one counter where people order, a keyword would work just fine.

• Consider the features you want in a system, and then choose your software accordingly.

Although POS software might seem overwhelming at first, the choice really comes down to the features that you want to include in your restaurant plan. Some POS software is designed for specific types of businesses, so be sure you really do your research before making a decision. You can visit Top Ten Reviews to learn more about some of the software available.

• Make sure that your POS system is compatible with your merchant account.

One of the biggest reasons that people utilize POS systems is to be able to process credit cards of the customers easily and quickly. However, not all POS systems are compatible with your current merchant account. You’ll want to make sure that you don’t have to change your account provider because it usually comes at a cost.

• Make sure the system has a good customer service and maintenance policy.

Difference vendors offer different maintenance policies. It’s important that you find a vendor who is willing to help you should something happen to one of your POS systems. Anyone who has worked in a restaurant will tell you that POS systems have a habit of breaking down at the worst times, so a good maintenance policy is worth the extra research.

• Consider how many POS systems you will need to run your restaurant.

Believe it or not, this aspect slips the mind of many restaurant owners. You’ll want to consider how many POS systems you will need in case you can find a bulk purchasing deal. The general rule of thumb is one POS systems for every five to seven employees.

Many POS systems will come as a package deal, so you won’t need to buy everything separately. Ask yourself what components of the system are most important to you, and then consider finding a packaged deal.

Do you have any advice about POS systems? Have you ever had a bad experience with a certain type of POS system? Let us know in the comments below!

Photo Credit: unrealstudio.com

Kimberly Austin is a professional blogger that writes on a variety of topics including Boston restaurants. She writes for Restaurants.com, a leading directory of restaurant reviews.

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Cutting down on expenses is becoming increasingly important to companies everywhere. At the same time, most businesses are becoming more aware of the need to reduce their carbon footprint.

One way to efficiently save on overheads and reduce carbon footprints at the same time is to have a virtual office. Instead of having to pay out on rent, electricity, etc for a physical building, companies take advantage of this technology to allow their employees to work from home, or wherever else they happen to be.

This not only reduces the cost incurred through having an actual office complex, it allows for substantial savings on commuting. While this may not save the company much or anything, as commuting costs are typically born by employees, it does reduce a company’s carbon footprint.

Simply suggesting the use the use of a virtual office typically results in around a quarter of employees taking advantage of this facility, while making it mandatory has shown a 36 per cent increase in telecommuters, subsequently having a much more significant effect on carbon footprint reduction.

Related technologies

Having a virtual office does not only cut down on general overheads and commuting to and from work. Thanks to related technologies, it is also possible to make significant savings, as well as further reducing carbon footprints, through unified collaboration and communication, video conferencing, mobility and overall presence.

Major conferences used to involve a lot of planning in order to allow all required attendees to be at the conference in time. This often involved air travel, hotel bookings, and so on, as well as making it necessary for all individuals to be available.

Video conferencing, on the other hand, allows company members to participate in conferences from anywhere in the world, without air fares or hotel rooms having to be paid for. Even individuals on holiday or sick leave are able to attend from their location. Naturally, the removed need for air travel will again cut down significantly on the company’s carbon footprint.

Increasing efficiency and productivity

Unified collaboration and communication increases employee efficiency, as decisions can be made quicker and in a more informed manner. By creating a virtual presence, companies can be reached by clients and suppliers at all times, further increasing productivity and efficiency.

Because the need to commute, and thereby the time used to get to and from work, is removed, employees are able to make better use of their time. Rather than spending hours stuck in rush-hour traffic, they are able to get on with their duties as and when required.

This, of course, is of advantage not only for the company, but also for the employees, who no longer have to deal with the stress of commuting. They will be fresh, alert and ready to take on their duties and still have more time to spend with their families or indulging in their favorite leisure activities.

Overall advantages of virtual office technology

In short, introducing virtual technology into the infrastructure of a company, including cloud computing, web conferencing, establishing of a virtual presence, and so on, can effectively save between 20 and 25 per cent on energy costs; substantially reduce travel time and costs for employees and company alike, and significantly reduce cost on supplies, required hardware, software and maintenance.

As a result, a company’s carbon footprint is dramatically reduced, especially if virtual technology is combined with environmentally friendly energy supplies, such as solar panels or other green energy sources for example.

In addition, improved flexibility, shared applications, ease of communication and collaboration reduces stress and increases efficiency and productivity among the work force.

Photo credit: searchofficespace.com

Bio: Servcorp offers the world’s finest serviced and virtual office solutions. Founded in Sydney in 1978, Servcorp now operates an international network of prime city locations including our virtual office in London.

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Most entrepreneurial types — at some point — consider ways they can make money online.

For example, have you ever wondered whether people actually make money from the Google advertisements on their websites? If so, you have probably thought on some level that you’d like to get in on the action yourself. Here is some information that could help you build your own AdSense empire.

What is Google AdSense?

Google AdSense allows people and businesses to display Google advertisements on their websites. Website owners earn money from clicks on those ads. Businesses of all sizes and in places around the world buy Google ads, and Google places targeted ads on participants’ websites. Website owners can also place Google search boxes on their web pages. When visitors use the search box, Google can more accurately place ads based on visitor search terms.

Google’s proprietary algorithm interprets site content so that irrelevant ads are not used, and only the ads most likely to generate revenue are placed on a given website. For example, if you run a travel-based website, the Google ads that show up on your site will likely be promoting travel-related services. Before posting an ad on a third-party site, Google reviews it with language filters and professional reviewers to prevent accidentally placing inappropriate ad content on websites. They also make sure that ads they place on websites conform to professional, editorial and ethical guidelines.

How Do People Use AdSense to Generate Income?

A small minority of website owners achieve quick and impressive traffic levels and “go viral.” The more people who visit a site, the more likely the website owner is to get clicks on Google ads and build up AdSense income. Most people are not fortunate enough to achieve huge traffic levels overnight, and so they use a different strategy.

Website owners who want to build an AdSense empire start out by buying several domain names and hosting services for them. They then build sites and place AdSense ads on them. These website owners then have to wait two months before even seeing a penny: one month earning AdSense revenue and then another month waiting for a check (Google pays out one month later). The next step is reinvesting part of the AdSense earnings into buying more domain names, which helps them earn more AdSense money.

How to Start Your Own AdSense Empire

Justin Cooke of AdSenseflippers.com is an expert at generating income from AdSense ads. We interviewed Justin about how a motivated person can learn to use AdSense for a steady income stream.

Q. How did you get started building your AdSense empire?

A. My business partner and I run an outsourcing company in Davao City, Philippines.  At the end of 2010 we had lost one of our major clients in the US and we were left with some great, well-trained employees without jobs.  The idea was to come up with a process that they could work on as a stop-gap solution until we could get them placed with new clients.

After reviewing several different solutions, we decided to try out creating niche informational websites that were highly targeted around specific keywords and monetized via AdSense.  After testing through the process ourselves with about a dozen sites, we wrote up the process and started to turn the work over to our agents.

It was slow going our first month…we spent around $2,000 in December 2010 and made a grand total of $32.89…ouch!  A few months later and we realized we were on to something that would be a profitable project for us.  We started to sell off some of our niche sites to fund increased growth and, in 2012, we’ve grown the revenue to just over 20K per month on average.

Q. Can you share a couple of your secrets to success with our readers?

A. We’re not shy about laying out our exact process, step-by-step on our blog and in our guide, “Building A Niche Site Empire,” but here are a few key points:

1. Keyword research is critical.  We spend more time, effort, and energy on keyword research than just about any other part of the process, and for good reason.  Keyword research is the cornerstone of success in targeting search engine traffic, and if your keywords aren’t selected properly in the beginning all of your other efforts in site building, backlinking, etc. will go to waste.  Rather than targeting the really profitable keywords to start, focus on the keywords that have less searches…the long tail phrases.  You’ll have a higher chance for success early and you can piggyback on that success to go after more aggressive niches.

We send out a free weekly newsletter at NicheSiteGold.com where we show you, week after week, the exact keywords we target and explain exactly why it is those keywords match our criteria.

2. Learn it yourself first.  Ultimately, you don’t want to be spending all of your time building niche sites (as it takes a LOT of effort), but you won’t be able to outsource the work until you understand it yourself.  Once you’ve built a few sites yourself, you can start to outsources pieces of the process that are really time-intensive.  Document it well (written documentation, screencasts, etc.) and then look for offshore assistants that you can build your team around.  This is something we cover in-depth in the AdSense Flippers Podcast on iTunes.

3. Stop chasing shiny new objects.  We all do this at times, but stay away from most of the automated programs, ebooks that promise the moon and stars, etc.  Once you have a profitable process going you’ll KNOW the tools you need to purchase to make your life easier.  Rather than looking for something that will tell you how to make money…start making money and buy tools that help you make more of it!

Q. How much can a motivated person make from AdSense ads placed on their sites (say in a year)?

A. Lots of bloggers look to AdSense to monetize their sites, but that’s usually a bad idea.  Personal blogs are not normally targeted towards keywords that are profitable with AdSense, and bloggers often disappointed with their lack of earnings with AdSense.  Instead, create niche sites or blogs that are specifically built with AdSense in mind and targeted around profitable AdSense keywords.  You’ll find a much higher Cost Per Click (CPC) with this micro-targeting.

That being said, AdSense can be extremely profitable.  After only earning around $33 in December, 2010, we were able to bring in over $100K in 2011 and we’re on track to earn more than $250K in 2012 with our process.  It did take quite a bit of work, though, and we did invest nearly $10K in the first few months before we started to turn a profit.

Q. Would you share an example success story with us?

A. There are others that have followed our process and have found success.  Take a look at MikeFromMaine.com who recently broke $10K in revenue with his niche sites.

I’d also take a look at the following auction on Flippa:

https://flippa.com/2792355-41-01-last-30-days-1-adsense-site-1-173-uniques-1-no-reserve

This is someone who had purchased a site from us, collected the revenue for a few months, added a little content, and was then able to sell the site for a profit.  We often offer websites for sale via Flippa or through our Buy Our Sites page:

http://adsenseflippers.com/buy-our-sites/

Q. What would be your primary advice to someone who wants to create their own AdSense empire?

A. It’s important to know that you’re not going to be able to get started without some risk.  You’re going to have to invest some time and some money to test things out, get your process worked out, etc.  I’d point out that for everyone we’ve talked to that’s making a full-time living from niche sites and AdSense, it took them approximately 4-6 months and $8K-12K invested before they were able to start seeing a return.

Still, not everyone needs to go at it so aggressively or expects that level of income within that timeframe. Our best advice is to get started NOW so that you can make your mistakes early, get through them, and get to the point where you’re starting to see some success.  For a bit more research, check out our guide, “Building A Niche Site Empire” here:

http://adsenseflippers.com/all-posts/building-a-niche-site-empire-guide/

It’s free and explains EXACTLY what we do to build profitable niche sites.  Feel free to copy our process, but don’t be afraid to explore or add your own changes to improve the process for you.  Best of luck to you with your niche site journey!

Photo Credit: Victor1558

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You know you have to incorporate. What you’re not sure is exactly how to do it without investing a great deal of time and money.

Perhaps the main advantage to incorporating is that it limits your personal liability for negligence or breach of contract. If your business is incorporated and you maintain the documentation and separation of personal and corporate finances as you should, then you may significantly reduce your personal financial risk if you are sued for breach of contract or some other liability.

Here’s what you need to know about the simplest, easiest (and cheapest) ways to incorporate your new business, from least expensive to most expensive.

The DIY Approach to Incorporation

This method has the advantage of being the least expensive, but it also requires you to personally do the most work. You will have to…

• Choose which state you want to incorporate in
• Create and register a business name with that state
• Determine for yourself which type of corporation you want your business to be
• Register with the Internal Revenue Service as well as state and local revenue agencies in order to obtain a tax ID and all necessary permits and licenses
• Complete the articles of incorporation documents yourself and file them with your state’s Secretary of State Office
• Prepare your corporate bylaws, record minutes from your first Board of Directors’ meeting, and issue stock yourself

Incorporation Services

Incorporation services are able to explain the different types of corporations (such as LLCs, S-corporations, and C-corporations) to help you determine the best type of incorporation for your needs. These services generally offer affordable packages of services for small or mid-sized businesses to help them incorporate. Costs range from under $100 to near $1,000. Services performed by incorporation services include:

• Name availability search
• Preparation and filing of formation documents
• Preparation and filing of your Tax ID number
• Obtaining certified copies of state-filed documents
• Creating LLC Announcements and certificates of publication
• Preparing and filing state sales tax applications

Incorporating by Working with a Small Business Lawyer

Hiring a start-up or small business lawyer is the traditional method of incorporation, and it usually costs more than using an incorporation service. Your small business lawyer will register your business name, ensure that you have all necessary permits, and generally keep you on the right side of the law.

An advantage of incorporating with the help of a small business attorney would be his or her expertise about the law and your risks if your business is in a high-profile or high-risk industry. With businesses that have multiple founders, hiring a small business lawyer for incorporating is a good way of making sure that each of the founders has the appropriate agreements between himself or herself and the corporation.

Recommendations

Once you’ve determined that incorporation would benefit your business, using an incorporation service is something you should strongly consider. You will save money over the cost of hiring a small business lawyer, and you save time over doing the incorporation yourself.

Of course, there are exceptions. Someone with a business in an industry where liability can be high will probably find the greatest peace of mind by working with a small business lawyer, particularly one who is experienced in that industry. On the other hand, a business owner with a legal background may not find the do-it-yourself approach to be overwhelming at all.

For a large number of business owners, however, using an incorporation service provides the best combination of affordability and simplicity, so if you’re considering incorporating, you should definitely check out incorporation services and see if they’re a good choice for you.

Photo Credit: Victor1558

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