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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Online Business


When looking at any successful business organization, one will find people with various skills, education and experience. Each person contributes something different to make the business a success. Companies face greater challenges today with the ups and downs of the economic market as well as the challenges of competing in the global economy.

An online degree or online certificate in business, accounting, management or many other areas can get you started in an exciting new career, or upgrade your existing skills to advance in your current career.

Determine your Business ModelJust as in an offline business, you’ll have to figure out how to make money. It will help if you create a business plan, and consider what other successful online businesses are doing. Some options include:
extend your existing “brick-and-mortar” business online
sell products
sell services
sell information
sell advertising
become a reseller

Podcasting For Business
If you publish or plan to publish any type of audio file for your customers whether audio newsletters, teleconference calls, interviews, lectures, etc., podcasting simplifies everything for both you and your customers. Once customers subscribe to your podcast, you won't have to worry about sending them an email to download a new MP3. Instead, your message will land directly on your customers desktops or MP3 device every time you create a new podcast.

Some Drop Shipping Details
Drop shipping is a great solution for many small online businesses. But even if you think you've found the perfect dropship supplier, there are a few details to work out in practice.

* How long will it take the dropshipper to fulfill your order?
* What is the ordering process? Online, via e-mail, or some other method?
* Do they confirm orders and shipping promptly via e-mail?
* Will they include your letterhead invoice with the shipment?
* How are returns handled?
* How will you stay current with the dropshipper's inventory?

A good practice is to order a few items as if you were the final customer. What was the experience like for you as the middleman and as the consumer?

Affordable eMail Marketing

For those of you that don't like monthly subscription services, TemplateZone offers two email marketing software programs that look pretty nice. High Impact eMail Basic ($69.95) and High Impact eMail Professional ($99.95). Both have lots of HTML email templates, a built-in photo editor, email editor, and Web storage space. The Pro version adds another 600 templates, an eMail scheduler, and inSync technology. It also imports lists from Access, QuickBooks or ACT! Database, and personalizes email with your contacts' information.