10 Tips To Get High Quality Traffic

If you're trying to sell something that lots of other people are also trying to sell, you're facing competition two ways. First, it's going to be a lot harder to get noticed on the search engines, and second, the competition is going to eat away at the profits it's that simple.  

 

Promoting your site can be some what difficult when you are just starting. It takes a bit of effort, thought, and a fair amount of patience.
It is crucial to understand that site promotion is a long-term, low-intensity effort. So don't be overwhelmed by all the tutorials and tips on this site; you don't have to do all of it overnight. The No.1 mistake many people make is rushing!

Take your time, slow down, read the articles carefully and think about how they apply to your website, then you can proceed!

1. If you're selling something, make sure you're selling the right thing.
The internet is a great tool for selling things, but there's a big gotcha. 

The real secret to making money online is to sell something that nobody else is selling.
Even if the market is tiny and obscure, if you're the only maker, the internet will bring you and your customers together. If you sell cowboy boots, you might have problems getting noticed, but if you specialize in cowboy boots for people with long feet, you'll then should make money.
 

Furthermore, if you're trying to make money with an affiliate program, in particular those that automatically generate a "virtual" website for you, you should know that in almost all cases, it may be a waste of time, resources and money. I have read many times about people who have wasted hundreds of dollars on these schemes.
 

Please do not be one of them. Google usually considers many of these pages to be spam, but I think in a lot of cases, that's a spelling error; the correct spelling is scam.
 

2. Get your site working properly.
It doesn't matter how many people you attract to your website if,  once they get there, they immediately get turned off by an unattractive presentation or a half-built website.
 

I assume you are already happy Like Me, with how your site looks, but you may want to read my article on Basics of a website, which contains a list of website mistakes you should try to avoid.
 

At the same time, you don't have to get too fancy; simple, straight forward sites work fine, you don't need to pay a web-designer to develop a site that's incredibly fancy.
 

3. Choose keywords and tweak your site for the search engines Regularly.
Once your site looks good to humans, the next step is to try to make it look good to the search engines, so you get the high rankings.
 

This involves choosing the right keywords and adjusting your page title, meta tags and first paragraph to showcase them. This is where most webmasters  sometimes Fumble and screw up.
 

They choose the wrong keywords because they don't spend enough time thinking about how people are going to try to find them. My article on search engine optimization  can help you step-by-step through this process.
 

4. Submit to the major search engines.
Now that your site is all ready, you next submit to all the major search engines.
 

In recent years, auto submission has become less useful because the some important search engines no longer permit it. Google held out the longest, and disabled automatic submission back in 2012.

But you can ping them to crawl your site later, Also the Last time they Updated Page Rank Till Now.
So start the long-term process of improving your rankings which is where the real work is these days.
 

   Before, it would often take weeks or even months to get listed by a search engine and many new sites or blogs would often get penalized as a spam-prevention technique. Today, it's often faster as sites can sometimes get listed in few days. 

 

But in both cases, the lesson is the same: don't worry about short-term changes in your rankings; concentrate on long-term improvements to your site to make it more useful to your visitors in the long-run, the search engines will notice and reward you for being helpful.
 

5. Submit to the major indexes.
 While you can automatically submit your site to a lot of places, it does not auto submit to some major index. The reason is that listings in these indexes are sufficiently valuable that a hand-done, optimized submission is worth taking the time to craft. Next to Google, is Bing.com, Yahoo search Ask and Aol are also some of the most important place to have your site listed on the Internet.
 

 Once you understand how to craft a proper submission, you'll not only greatly increase your chances of getting in, but you'll get many more hits than you would otherwise.
You can make some of these all-important submissions with some sites tools provided here.
 

Writing the site description you submit, is the single most important step you will ever take during site promotion, so spending some extra time on this step is highly recommended.
 

Curiously, even if you decide you shouldn't submit, thinking about what you'd do if you did submit is time well spent, because it will help you refine and boil down a good description of your site.
You'll end up using that description over and over, in other submissions, in your meta tags, and in your page copy!
 

6.  Submit to the general indexes.
There are many "2nd-tier" indexes that are worth submitting to, though not worth crafting a specially optimized listing for (although the advice in the previous step is still valid).
 

 Idearules.Blogspot.com is a site that has some tools that can also auto submit to many of these, and provides manual links to hundreds more (mostly the special-purpose and international/foreign- language ones). 

 

Once you've read the search engine submission tool tutorial you'll understand how to do this. You can also look at the list of search engines if you so desire.

7. Consider paying for hits.
The good news about listing in the search engines and indexes is that it's free. The bad news is that you don't have much control. While it is certainly worthwhile to tweak your pages in search of high rankings, it's not always possible to get the ones you want
 There are, however, several places that can provide you with well-targeted traffic for pennies a visitor, e.g Yahoo Ad and Search Marketing and Google Adwords, Chikita, Bidvertiser e.t.c.
 

8.  Learn more about sales and promotion.
After all, if you're selling on the web, it's not how many hits you get, it's how many sales you make.

If your wonderful widget website doesn't do a good job of selling widgets, then all the search engine traffic in the world isn't going to do you much good and it's much easier to double your site's effectiveness than it is to double its traffic (even better, of course, is to do both!).

Next, since knowing who is visiting your site and how they got there is very useful, you should consider tracking your visitors. If you have access to your web server logs, consider using the free Analog web-analysis software (available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and more). 

 

 If not, consider a web-based service like Web-Stat, Scrub the web or Site Build it. I have a well-stocked Links of Interest page that contains listings of other great promotion and webmaster resource sites
 

9.  Do your research before hiring anyone to do promotion for you.
 While my sites and blog is aimed at do it yourself,  some people may be more comfortable hiring a consultant to do site tweaking and search engine Optimization Job.

Even so, it's important to understand the basics before doing so; there are a lot of snake-oil salesmen out there, and a little knowledge is an effective "bull$h1t detector".
 

For example, if someone promises to put you on page 1 of the search engines in 2 days, run away as fast as you can! Getting on page 1 for relevant keywords takes hard work and patience, and is not something that any reputable consultant will ever promise (a common scam is promising you page 1 results and delivering them for irrelevant or hyper-specific phrases that will never generate any meaningful traffic).
 

It's important to understand what you're buying, so take your time, read around the site, and get an education before you hire someone ( Or you can email me for this kind of consulting, though it takes time to see the effects!)
 

10. Go get some quality links!
An important component of your search engine ranking is determined by what sites link to you; when an important site gives you a link,it's like a vote of confidence for your site. Have a wonderful day.

The Benefits Of Search Engine Optimization Explained

Search Engine Optimization is a process of choosing the most appropriate targeted keyword phrases related to your site and ensuring that this ranks your site highly in search engines so that when someone searches for specific phrases it returns your site on tops. 
 
It basically involves fine tuning the content of your site along with the HTML and Meta tags and also involves appropriate link building process.

The most popular search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN Search (Bing), AOL and Ask.
Search engines keep their methods and ranking algorithms secret, to get credit for finding the most valuable search-results and to deter spam pages from clogging those results.

 A search engine may use hundreds of factors while ranking the listings where the factors themselves and the weight each carries may change continually. 

Algorithms can differ so widely that a webpage that ranks #1 in a particular search engine could rank #200 in another search engine. 
E-commerce is a cut throat business. You have to arm yourself with the proper know-how and the tools 

to make your site a cut above the rest. 

Each day, more and more sites are clambering to optimize their rankings in websites and if you lose your guard, you may just get trampled on and be left in the abyss filled with so many failed e-commerce sites.
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a term widely used today by many e-commerce sites.  

For the past few years and the next ten years or so, search engines would be the most widely used internet tool to find the sites that they need to go to or the product or information they need.

Most people that use search engines use only the ten top search results in the first page. 

Making it to the first page, more so to the top three is a barometer of a sites success in search engine optimization.
You will get a higher ratio of probability in being clicked on when you rank high. The more traffic for your site, the more business you rake in.

But, it is essential to grab a hold of that spot or make your ranking even better. 

As I aforementioned, each day is a new day for all e-commerce sites to make them selves rank higher using search engine optimization.

New sites need not be "submitted" to search engines to be listed. A simple link from a well established site will get the search engines to visit the new site and begin to spider its contents.

 It can take a few days to even weeks from the referring of a link from such an established site for all the main search engine spiders to commence visiting and indexing the new site.

If you are unable to research and choose keywords and work on your own search engine ranking, you may want to hire someone to work with you on these issues.

Search engine marketing and promotion companies, will look at the plan for your site and make recommendations to increase your search engine ranking and website traffic.

 If you wish, they will also provide ongoing consultation and reporting to monitor your website and make recommendations for editing and improvements to keep your site traffic flow and your search engine ranking high.

Normally your search engine optimization experts work with your web designer to build an integrated plan right away so that all aspects of design are considered at the same time.

 
 It is imperative to make your site better and better everyday.
So just what is search engine optimization and do you have to use it? The answer to why you have to use it is an easy one. 

You need search engine optimization to maybe at least make your site income generating.
With search engine optimization you can get the benefit of generating a high traffic volume.
 Let’s just say you get only a turn out of successful sales with 10 to 20 percent of your traffic.

 If you get a hundred hits or more a day, you get a good turn out of sales already. 

If you get only twenty to ten hits a day, you only get one or two if not any at all.

So once again, what is search engine optimization? Search engine optimization is utilizing tools and methods in making your site top ranking in the results of search engines. 

Getting yourself in the first page and better yet in the top half of the page will ensure that your site will generate public awareness of your site’s existence and subsequently generate more traffic, traffic that could lead to potential income and business.

Search engine optimization requires a some work to be fully realized.
There are many aspects you have to change in your site or add as well to get search engine optimization. 

These will include getting lots of information about the keyword phrases that are popular in regards to your sites niche or theme.
You may also need to rewrite your sites contents so that you could get the right keyword phrases in your site without making it too commercial but light and informative. 

There are certain rules and guidelines to be followed with making your site’s content applicable and conducive to search engine optimization.

You will also need to collaborate with many other sites so that you could get link exchanges and page transfers. The more inbound and outbound traffics generated by sites among others are one of the components search engines uses to rank sites.

Try to search the internet for many useful help. Tips, guidelines and methods for search engine optimization are plenty to be found. 

Read many articles that can help you optimize your site in search engine results.
The more knowledge and information you gather the better. This will all help you in getting those high rankings. 

This may require a little time and effort in your part but the benefits will be astounding.
If you can part with some money, there are many sites in the internet that can help you in search engine optimization. 

There are many sites that help in tracking keyword phrases that can help your site.
There are also some content writers that have lots of experience in making good keyword laden content for your sites that have good quality.

Act now and see the benefits garner with search engine optimization.
All of these will result to better traffic and more business for your site and company. 

Have a nice day.

The Importance Of Headlines

Have you ever wondered why some marketing tactics just don’t seem to work for your business? You sit and watch a competitor’s website grow and business soar and you’re just not quite sure how they do it. 

After all, aren’t all marketing tactics pretty much the same? The answer is a resounding “NO”!

Marketing tactics that work are not about rocket science. They are often very simple concepts but many online marketers fail to recognize them for the value they can bring to a business. 

Focusing on a business that brings high conversion rates and plenty of sales is a marketer’s dream. 

But it will only materialize when marketing tactics are successfully deployed. First of all, people want to find a solution to a problem. 

That’s why they’re searching for a particular product or benefit to begin with. So what do you have to offer?

Headlines say it all

Don’t wait to tell them what’s in it for them. Tell them right away with your headline. 

Headlines can be one of the most effective marketing tactics you have to offer. 

The headline should always include valuable benefits for the customer. 

With recent studies indicating that users decide whether or not to stay or leave a site within 8 seconds or less, well-written headlines are critical.

Using a headline to grab attention is one of the simplest, yet most effective marketing tactics available. 

People have a chance to quickly understand why they need to read further than the headline.

 Instead of clicking away from your site, they’ll be clicking through your information to find out more.

Always follow-up a headline with some other compelling fact or value-added benefit of the product or service. 

Keep website visitors moving through your content by including one bit of important information after another in every sentence. 

Don’t use teasers that make them feel they have to keep searching for what’s important but be up-front and direct about the product’s value and benefits with each sentence.

Market the benefits and value

The headline is the best place to start marketing the benefits of the product. It’s also the best way to attract search engines that are seeking websites based on keywords used by online users. 

When the headline includes the words that potential customers are most likely to search for, the search engines will reward you by bringing more visitors to your website.

Facts, statistics, and data that substantiate your claims of value are also important ways to increase the effectiveness of headlines. “48% reduction in costs with X product….” can be a real attention grabber. 

Don’t hesitate to use data to support your benefit claims.

Advanced marketing tactics

Headlines are just the beginning with marketing tactics. 

There are many more advanced marketing tactics that can make a substantial difference in conversion rates and sales.

 Knowing and integrating advanced marketing tactics into the overall marketing plan for your website and business can make a huge difference in your profits.

Evaluate your current marketing tactics and make necessary adjustments by utilizing advanced tactics to support and grow your business. 

Time spent preparing effective marketing goals and strategies, supported with effective tactics, is time that will result in higher profits and a thriving business.

And always remember – success starts with your headline! Have a wonderful day.

3 Ways To Overcome The Fear Of Starting An Online Business

Would you love to start or re-start an online business but afraid to? If yes, then its time to overcome and put those fears behind you. let’s proceed with this common question: Can you really make money online legitimately? 

YES, You can ! But let’s take the emphasis off the word ‘REALLY’ and place it where it belongs – on YOU.

Can YOU really make money online?
Sure you can! IF you REALLY want to.
Desire is the first key to success.

But here’s where it gets a little tricky.
If your desire is for money alone rather than what money can buy, your work will be made much harder, if not impossible because Money is only a Tool and so you should focus on the good that money will bring to your life, such as free time and all the fun ways to spend it, then you’ll give positive direction to your efforts.

Think about it. What can that money buy you? A new car, your kids’ education, a new land, a second honey mooon … how about living in an island working from there? 

Are these really possible for you? YES! So dream a little – dream a LOT, but create some desire, and a REASON to work hard for what you want to achieve. And these brings me to the Fears many people have about owning an online business and how to overcome them:

Fear #1: The Fear of I Don’t know where to Start.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “I want to start my own business, but…”  Typical responses are “I don’t know what to sell”, “I don’t know how to set up a website”, “I don’t know which step to take” etc. Fear is paralyzing and it STOPS great ideas and great business without ever seeing daylight of commencing. The reasons are above are genuine hurdles people face, but what matters is how you turn around these fears to your advantage.

ACTION: To overcome the fear of not knowing where to start or what to do, you need a COACH or MENTOR. Every BIG time player in ALL fields of life have a coach or mentor. Some have the coaches as personal coaches and others, distant coaches. Anybody, anywhere can teach you how to do something, but not everybody is a coach or let's say a good one. 

By coach I mean someone whom you can run to anytime you hit a problem in that particular field. Someone who will train you for some time or a Mentor you can Imitate. For example, one common thing that happens online is that people sell you all manners of ebooks, but once you go through and get stuck, you can hardly find them or anyone who can help you overcome those hurdles. 

A good mentor will help you get over your hurdles and overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Nearly every successful guru has their own coaching program, where you can register.

Fear #2: The Fear of being Scammed Online
Now this fear is a real BIG online business Killer! The truth is, who has not been scammed online before? Maybe a Newbie ...;) What most people refer to as a scam is that, they bought someone’s product but they never got the product or they got the product, but never made any money from it.

 Note that even the most successful online business men and women have experienced one scam or the other. What is it you fear the most? I want you to imagine the worst case scenario. Is it losing all your money?  Is it having to tell your family and friends you failed?

ACTION: If you lost your money to a scam, then pick yourself up and start again, but this time put precautions in place such as researching, Find out, Test and Confirm a person or product online before ever purchasing. To research, use search engines such as Google.com, Bing.com, ask.com etc.

But if you bought a product and you did not make money from it, YOU also have a part to play, and questions you should ask yourself, Did you follow all the steps? 

Did you give up on the business once you had one or two problems? Did you contact the product owner consistently to get a solution to the hurdles you faced? If not, then DO them and see if there is a better outcome or Result.

Fear #3: The Fear of I Won’t Succeed or Fear of Failure
It’s THIS fear of failure that holds a lot of us back. What if it doesn’t work? I tried something like this online business before and it didn’t work.

 
I can’t take one more failure.
You know what’s interesting? Is that some of the most amazing successes of all time were born out of the ashes of failure. Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and countless others experienced serious failures in their lives…and then, they succeeded. How about our Nigerian successes like Dangote. 

So what is your worst fear? Is it having to tell your family and friends you failed? Is it having to look for a new job? Is it having wasted all your money? I want you to imagine your worst fears coming true. The goal here is to turn the light on and face whatever monster is under the bed.

ACTION: Take away the power of your fears. Reality probably isn’t as bad as your worst fears.
 Most people underestimate their ability to pick themselves back up.

If you started your own online business and it failed, how hard would it be recover?
The answer is probably easier than you think it would be.

  How hard would it really be to find another genuine online business to start? Are these fears strong enough to hold you back from living the kind of life you always wanted to?

You can also take precautions and take the necessary steps to minimize the possible downsides.
You can build up your emergency fund before you start. You can keep your day job until you’re sure your new online business is already successful.

 
Just Dive In Headfirst and be Persistent! Persistence is perhaps the MOST important quality shared by all entrepreneurs. That’s why you hear about those who make a million, lose a million and then make another million. 

They go up, then down, then up again, but they never gave up. You can’t let the ups and downs get to you. Not everything is will go your way all of the time. 

You’ll have to make some effort and it won’t always be easy. But, if you keep your goals foremost in your mind, learn what you need to know and invest your resources wisely and with persistence, you virtually can’t help but succeed.

That’s how you REALLY make money online! History tell us that the Greeks were some of the fiercest warriors because when they got to do battle, they first burned their own boats so the only option they had is to strengthen their resolve to win the battle at all costs. When failure is NOT an option, you have no choice but to succeed. 

You too can burn the boats by doing something that will force yourself into action. Sign up for a coaching program. Order that info product. Register a domain name. Don’t let your fear hold you back any longer, jump right into get started. 

Every entrepreneur gets some anxiety over their next adventure. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t have at least a little bit of fear. How you handle your fears is what will set you apart from the rest. Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise!

Choose Face Everything And Rise!
If you’ve enjoyed it or learnt something new and beneficial, then join my FREE online business newsletter so you can get tips and updates of new posts right inside your email box about smart and Better ways to start a Small Business and make more money. Have a good day.

How To Be Successful With A Simple Blogging Business

Experience has shown that one of the best ways to start blogging is to take it as a simple business. Every business must involve some financial commitment, so also should a blogging.

 The assumption that you can make money online without much investment is slightly true but will require a lot of work, Effort and time before you can succeed.

 You will get results fast and start getting returns on your investments, if you put in some funds at the initial start up. But if you want to do everything with no money at all then you will have to pay the price with your time and wait patiently for a longer time before you start to see significant and meaningful results.

 While a person that invested little capital may start to get good returns in about six months of start,  It may take up to 18 months or even years before a person who didn’t put in money starts to get reward for his hard work.

The first prerequisite for blogging business is to have strong determination, right mindset back up with great passion. Blogging is not a get rich quick business; it takes time to yield money that can give you affluence, But you van get Happiness from it all the time.

Therefore, you must be ready to work hard, be patient, and consistent with what you are doing. Once you establish your blogging business, it becomes a source of passive income forever.

Having known the most important thing required of you, the following are other

things you need to kick start you blogging business.

    A computer and Regular/Reliable internet access. A website or Blog/ Domain name and Host.

That’s all, you don’t need more than that and once you get them ready. The cost of starting a simple Blogging Business

Blogging can be started with no capital, but It is highly recommend you make some financial commitments, as this will make you to remain focus and will not allow you to abandon the business should any challenge arises until the business becomes successful.

 Also it will make your money making effort to be highly rewarded within a short time.

The start up cost for blogging business for those who want to invest some money is between $70 and $100.

start up capital will go into buying a domain name and a hosting account and designing a website and Initial Site Promotion.

Creating a Website or a Blog

You can create a website completely free without spending a dime by using blogger.com or wordpress.com but you will end up getting a sub domain name such as idearules.blogspot.com or ayojideonline.wordpress.com

which is highly unprofessional. This type of domain names is still in use by some online successful marketers but they have established themselves and many of them are regretting that action till today.

This is because sub domain name will give the visitors bad impression that the site owner is not serious about business and they may likely not visit the website, meaning the blogger is losing some money due to his unprofessional domain name.

If you plan to start blogging without much investment, I can always recommend you go for either blogger or wordpress, because you can buy a custom domain name through the site third party company (Godaddy) and have a domain that looks like Facebook.com or Google.com which is completely professional. If you have some money to invest, I will suggest you buy a domain name that shouldn’t cost you more than $15 per year and buy a hosting account of about $50 a year or less, Depending on the site Traffic or capacity.

There are so many hosting companies across the internet, For example, You can use Hostgator, which is cheap and has a great customer support, plus excellent service.

You can buy a hosting account that will cost around $4 dollars per month that can host a domain name . I suggest you go for the baby plan because you can host unlimited domain name on it and it may cost only about $10 per month.

After getting the both your domain name and hosting account, you can login to your hosting account and If you use WordPress.org, install WordPress software to create your website.

WordPress gives the opportunity of creating a website without the need to go through the stress of writing codes and Website Programming.  

If you are a complete beginner, you may need to search for some materials on this blog or the internet or simply use Blogger or Wordpress. Have a great day. Stay Healthy and Safe.

10 Important Questions To Ask Oneself Daily

Be all you can be, but it's not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it's hard to think of anything else when where are real issues to be discussed. Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful.
So we're all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn't even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be.

Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream.
They say you can't teach an old dog new trick or can you?
1. What do I really want?

The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day.
Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is worth it.
2. Should I really change?
Today's generation has taken another level of redefining 'self', or at least that's what the kids are saying.
Having teenage nieces and nephews has taught me that there are far worse things that they could have had than acne or maybe even promiscuity. So how does that fit into your lifestyle?
If history has taught us one thing, it's the life that we have gone through.
Try to see if partying in the nineties style wouldn't appeal to the younger generation, but dancing is part of partying. Watch them applaud after showing them how to really dance than break their bones in break-dancing.

3. What's the bright side in all of this?
With so much is happening around us there seem to be no room for even considering that light at the end of the tunnel. We can still see it as something positive without undergoing so much scrutiny. And if it's a train at the end of the tunnel, take it for a ride and see what makes the world go round!

4. Am I comfortable with what I'm doing?
There's always the easy way and the right way when it comes to deciding what goes with which shoes, or purse, shirt and whatnot. It doesn't take a genius to see yourself as someone unique, or else we'll all be equally the same in everything we do. Variety brings in very interesting and exciting questions to be experimented.

5. Have I done enough for myself?
Have you, or is there something more you want to do? Discontentment in every aspect can be dangerous in large doses, but in small amounts you'll be able to see and do stuff you could never imagine doing.

6. Am I happy at where I am today?
It's an unfair question so let it be an answer! You love being a good and loving mom or dad to your kids, then take it up a notch! Your kids will love you forever. The same goes with everyday life!

7. Am I appealing to the opposite sex?
So maybe I don't have an answer to that, but that doesn't mean I can't try it, though. Whether you shape-up, change the way you wear your clothes or hair, or even your attitude towards people, you should always remember it will always be for your own benefit.

8. How much could I have?
I suppose in this case there is no such things on having things too much or too little, but it's more on how badly you really need it. I'd like to have lots of money, no denying that, but the question is that how much are you willing to work for it?

9. What motivates me?
What motivates you? It's an answer you have to find out for yourself.
There are so many things that can make everyone happy, but to choose one of the may be the hardest part. It's not like you can't have one serving of your favorite food in a buffet and that's it. Just try it piece by piece.

10. What Really Makes You Tick?

So? What really makes you tick?
You can be just about anything you always wanted to be, but to realize that attaining something that may seem very difficult is already giving up before you even start that journey. Always remember, that self-improvement is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it's something that you really want.

Have a great day.

What Innovation Can Do To Your Life

It's a talent that everyone has, yet they think they don't. The power of innovation. 

If you've ever marveled at somebody's creative prowess, guess what, you can create and innovate too.

 It just takes time. Everyone is born creative. The box of crayons in kindergarten were not limited to those who possessed potential; because the truth is, everybody has potential.

You know how long it took to learn to ride a bike or drive or to never commit the same mistake again? It's the same with innovation. 

It takes a  bit of practice and a lot of time before this mind function comes easily  when called.

 You Don't have to listen to what other people say. Follow the beat of your own drum. 

Allowing for the input of other people will only bring cacophony to the music you are trying to make. 

If you have an original idea, don't waste your time and effort trying to make people understand.

 They won't. And the help you will probably get comes in the form of negative feedback. 

If all those geniuses listened to their peers, we would probably still be living in the middle ages.

Spend time on it. I cannot stress that enough, although, please do not mistake this tip to tell you to quit your day job entirely. Do not. 

This involves some tricky time management but with a little discipline you'll be able to squeeze both in.

Exercise. Take a walk. Run a mile or two. Send all those endorphins coursing through your veins. Exercising certainly clears and relaxes your mind and allows for anything to pop up.

Record your dreams. Aren't some of them just the craziest things that your conscious mind would never have thought of?

 If you've had these dreams before, and I'm sure have, this only shows you the untapped innovative power you have lying within. So jot down those notes. 

Those dreams may just create an innovative spark in you.

Find your own style. You can always tell a Van Gogh from a Matisse. 

You'll know Hemingway wrote something by the choice of words on the paper. So it is the same with you. 

People will appreciate your innovation more because it is uniquely yours and that no one else would have thought of what you were thinking. 

That will let people see how valuable an asset you are.

Don't hide behind nifty gadgets or tools. You don't need the most expensive set of paints to produce a masterpiece. 

The same way with writing. You don't need some expensive fountain pen and really smooth paper for a bestseller. 

In fact, J.K. Rowling wrote the first book of the Harry Potter Series on bits of tissue. So what if you've got an expensive SLR camera if you're a crappy photographer? 

Who cares if you've got a blinging laptop if you can't write at all? The artist actually reduces the number of tools he has as he gets better at his craft: he knows what works and what doesn't.

Nothing will work without passion. What wakes you up in the mornings? What keeps the flame burning? What is the one thing that you'll die if you don't do? 

Sometimes people with talent are overtaken by the people who want it more. Think the hare and the tortoise.

 Ellen Degeneres once said that if you're not doing something that you want to do, then you don't really want to do it. And that's true. 

Sometimes you just want something so bad you become a virtual unstoppable. And that is passion. Passion will keep you going.

Don't worry about inspiration. You can't force it; inspiration hits when you least expect it to, for those unpredictable yet inevitable moments you should prepare. 

An idea could strike you on the subway, yet alas, you poor unfortunate soul; you have no sheet of paper to scribble down a thought that could change the world. 

Avoid these disasters. Have a pen and paper within your arm's reach at all times. I hope this article has helped you bring more innovation into your life. 

Keep in mind that you're doing these things for your own satisfaction and not anybody else. 

But soon enough they will notice, and everything should snowball from there.

10 Effective Tips To Keep Your Business Flying High

If this is your first time venturing into business, it is most times advisable that you start small first, so you can acquire experience. Do not jump ahead into making very big investments. This is because you are still learning.

1.  Stay updated in your line of business
Let's say for example that you sell computers online. In which case, you should keep yourself updated about the latest in the world of computers. 

You should know the latest Operating Systems like Windows 10, Mac OS, Ubuntu LINUX...etc. You should know the latest hardware products, the latest software products, and such. But more than anything else, you should know which products are trending the most – those that people want the most. 

This way, you will be able to update your line of products and make sure that you always offer the latest in the market. You will not be left out.

2. Offer obsolete products at a discount
Another way to dispose obsolete products and products that do not sell is to offer them at a discount. 

If a product is really terrible, you can sell it at a big discount (50% off or 70% off). It does not matter if you will no longer be able to profit from those items. 

What is important at this point is to get back a portion if not all of the investment you made on those failed products. When you see shops offering big discounts up to 80% off, it is likely because they are trying to dispose obsolete merchandise. 

This is a method that has been in use by businesses for a long time already.

3. Include obsolete products in ‘package deals’
Let us take again the example of the camera and the memory cards that won’t get sold. One solution is to offer the two products in bundle. So to say, you are including a memory card in the package of the camera.  

Of course, you would have to add up the price (ex. Camera price is $100 and the memory card is 20% so the price of the bundle is $120). This way, customers that want to buy your camera will have no choice but to also pay for the memory card. 

But this is a risky take. You have to make sure that your customers want the main product badly enough so as to be willing to pay for the bundled secondary item as well. However, good entrepreneurs can make the bundle less noticeable.

4. Include contingency for losses when pricing items
An entrepreneur always assumes that a portion of his/her products will not get sold due to a number of factors (ex. Factory defect, damage from nature, seasonal items, etc.). So when pricing your item, you should include a contingency for losses. 

So if you originally planned to sell your product at $120 for example, maybe you should sell it at $121 or $122 dollars instead. The additional $1 or $2 dollars is for the possible losses. Of course, this step is not necessary to products that proved to be a ‘sold out’ all the time.

Applying this concept is especially useful when introducing a new product. This is because you still cannot say for sure if the new product will sell or not.

5. Do what you can on your own

As an entrepreneur, you will definitely hire people to run your business. But if you can conveniently do some of the tasks, maybe you should shoulder those tasks yourself. This will save you salary costs. 

For example, if you think that paying for a manager is too costly for you at the moment, you can simply take up the responsibility yourself. And some time in the future when your business becomes more profitable, maybe you can already hire a manager to take the task off your shoulders. Until then, you should do what you can on your own.

6. Outsource tasks instead of hiring new employees

Some tasks are seasonal (done only occasionally). Examples include website maintenance graphics design for webpages, article writing, etc. 

For such tasks, it is best to just outsource the task. This way, you can avoid additional costs that come with hiring new employees (bonuses, 13th month pay, government contributions, tax, etc.).

7.  Offer obsolete products as freebies

Despite precautions, you will still experience some failures. For example, you might have ended up ordering a batch of items that did not get sold. So what do you do? You can use these unsold merchandise to fuel your promotional activities. 

Why not offer those unsold items for free? Customers love freebies and they dig it. You can also offer unsold items as a Buy 1 Take 1 item for some of your products (ex. You are a seller of cameras. However, there is batch of tripods you ordered that is not selling.

Therefore, you decided to offer the tripods as a Buy 1 Take 1 item for your cameras).

8. Always be aware of changes that will affect your business
External changes will sometimes have an effect on businesses. This is especially true concerning economic changes. For instance, the recent economic problem faced by the US caused many businesses to suffer. 

Also, the decree in the Philippines that banned the use of plastic bags caused bankruptcy on many businesses that deal with plastic products. Always be aware of such changes. It is better if you learn about them even before they occur. This way, you will be able to make necessary steps to lessen the effects on your business. 

Of course, you also have to keep your eyes open for changes that will open new opportunities for your business.

9. Keep watch of your competitors

Always keep an eye on the activities of your competitors. Check out the promotional activities that they are doing. Check out their growth. Also, check out their prices. 

Then ask questions. Do I still have the edge to compete with them? What can I do to top their performance? What changes should I do to keep my place in the market?

10. Protect your business secrets

Let us say for example that your prices are lower than the prices of your competitors. This is your competitive edge. You managed to offer lower prices because you found a supplier that offers very low prices. But what do you think will happen if your competitors learn about your supplier? 

If they manage to get your supplier, they will also be able to lower their prices. It is these kinds of business secrets that you must protect no matter what. Also, make sure that your employees are sworn to the same degree of secrecy. Have a wonderful day.