Writing Your Own Entrepreneur Success Story

Writen by Jon Evans

The world of entrepreneurship is a difficult one full of ups and downs. In order to rise about your struggles and survive amidst the headaches and heartaches, you will need to learn the key to entrepreneur success. Everyone has heard of famous entrepreneurs who have taken the internet by storm and pocketed millions in the process. Not every company will be the next eBay, Amazon.com, or Google, but the successful ones will have their story written. This article will deal with the keys to writing you own entrepreneur success story.

Entrepreneurs are hard working individuals dedicated to building their business from the ground up. Whether you are selling cookies in Colorado, furniture in Florida, or neckties in New York, the same business key points will apply. Individuals from all educational and economic backgrounds have gone to enjoy success in a variety of businesses based on the internet. Beginning an e-business will allow you a great amount of flexibility and the ability to work out of the comfort of your own home. If you have ever been interested in starting your own business but do not have the funds to incur the necessary start-up costs, consider an e-business. With an e-business, you will not have the same costly fees as with a traditional brick and mortar business since you the internet will become your storefront. If you are apprehensive of starting your own business, take a look at these entrepreneur success stories to get you in the mindset that anyone of any background can successfully start and run a business.

Durant Imboden left his life as a literary agent and freelance writer to enter the world of travel writing. Always having a passion for new places and friendly faces, Imboden decided to develop a website based on this travels to Europe for anyone interested in travelling to the "Old World." EuropeforVisitors.com immediately became a wildly successful resource for travellers all over the world. With over 3,500 original articles on every European destination imaginable, Imboden's website boasts over 300,000 visits each month. Through transferring his passion for writing and travel into a marketable web-based business, Imboden is an inspiration for entrepreneurs everywhere. Knowing he had to experience and technical know-how to launch a website of this stature, Imboden began his career working on sites that were never meant to be profitable. Refusing to sell advertising space, Imboden maintains a certain level of professionalism by refusing to sacrifice his brainchild for a buck. Making money solely from affiliate commissions, referral fees, and Google's AdSense text advertisements, Imboden shows it is completely possible to receive revenue from a website without stooping to selling space to annoying pop ups or potential scams. Imboden is more concerned about the quality of the website and its information than making money off his visitors. Quite often he sacrifices content for cash by publishing informative and interesting articles that have no potential money-making potential. Even though all aspects of his website do not generate revenue, he is by no means hurting for cash. Additionally, his dedication to provide quality information to his clientele has made EuropeforVisitor.com a tremendously popular travel resource. Keeping this high level of quality, Imboden is able to gain the trust of his clients, thus resulting in repeat customers.

Using Imboden's story, it is completely possible for entrepreneurs to develop a successful business without compromising their morals or integrity. Even though your business may make money, if you are doing so by scamming or tricking your clientele, not only will you lose any possibility of repeat customers, you will lose the trust and respect of your customers. The point of owning your own business is not to make money at all costs, but develop a business you are proud to be associated with and that provides you and your family with an income.

Jon Evans runs http://www.SuccessAlert.net and has written the book Success Alert - Conversations with Successful Internet Entrepreneurs which has been widely acclaimed in a variety of online and print media. If you're interested to find entrepreneur success stories this book is an absolute must-read!

How To Build A Successful Online Reputation

Writen by Herman Drost

After running an online business (web site design) for a number of years I built a reputation online that helps me to gain and retain a continuous flow of customers. I had no online reputation when beginning my business, but was able to build it up step by step over the last few years.

Why is building your reputation important for your online business?

People tend to purchase services or products only from people they trust. For example you may have hired a contractor do a repair on your house, that did not deliver on what was promised leaving you very disappointed in his service.

So how can you build a reputation online which creates trust between you and your customers providing you with repeat business?

10 effective ways to build your reputation online

1. Provide courteous customer service - always be polite with each customer, greeting them (ie Hi, Hello, Dear) first and ending your communication appropriately (ie Best Regards, Sincerely, All the Best). I always try to do this in my email communication and postings in online forums.

2. Over deliver on your products - this is a great way to gain extra credit with your customers. People often take short cuts due to lack of time or impatience and therefore under deliver on their service, leaving the customer unhappy. A good example of over delivering is to provide quality bonus products when a customer purchases your e-book. Another effective way is to offer extra quality advice even after the client has purchased your service or product.

3. Become an expert - writing articles about my business and publishing it on the Web has been a very successful way to build trust and loyalty. I try to make the information easy to read, and provide the necessary steps to put the knowledge into practice. This saves a lot of time and frustration for people who want to find quality information quickly.

4. Display your full name, company name and contact information - when I visit a web site I want to know who is behind it and what they have to offer before I will make a purchase. Within your web site, include your full name, a picture of yourself, and contact information. Include a telephone number as well. I often have customers who call me instead of using email. They want to be sure there is a live person behind the web site (not just an autoresponder) that they can talk to personally. This helps build trust immediately by clarifying customers questions who may have hesitated to communicate with email.

5. Create a clean, navigable, and fast loading web site. You only have 10-20 seconds to get the attention of your web site visitors. Create a design that is easy to read with web copy focused on the benefits of your business. Don't try to wow them with a flashy design. Most visitors are simply looking for targeted information.

6. Be an active web participant - participate in online forums by offering quality advice, asking questions, giving testimonials and being courteous. When people see that you frequently help others in the forum, they will visit your own site (you can leave a link to your site at the bottom of each post, if they wish to contact you).

You may even want to create your own online discussion forum. This creates a supportive environment for people to share ideas and ask questions related to your business. This helps you to gain a lot of repeat customers.

7. Provide testimonials - ask for testimonies from satisfied customers and put them on your web site. Visitors are more apt to buy from you, if they can read about others' experiences that worked with you. Be sure to include their email and/or web site address so the testimony is believable. Don't create false testimonies (with no qualifying email or web site address). It only reduces your credibility.

8. Provide quality products and services - if you offer a high quality product or service, your customers are more likely to return in the future to do more business with you.

9. Keep in constant contact with your customers - send out a bi-weekly newsletter, create an online forum, use autoresponders, or other methods to stay in touch with your customers. Most people these days are simply too busy to remember to return to your web site for the new information you wish to share with them. Constant communication with your customers creates long term relationships that leads to building a strong reputation.

10. Be personable - be interested in what your customer is trying to achieve with your service or product. Don't try to take advantage of their inexperience and just sell them something. That action will come back to bite you later. Always be honest and upfront with your customers and you will reap many rewards.

Building your reputation online doesn't happen overnight. Therefore be consistent and patient in your efforts. This will create a solid pillar for establishing a successful business online for years to come.

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and author of http://www.iSiteBuild.com Affordable Web Site Design and Web Hosting. Subscribe to his "Marketing Tips" newsletter for more original articles at subscribe@isitebuild.com. You can read more of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles

Harness The Power Of The Internet

Writen by Wendy Maynard

Whether you're a service business working to obtain clients, a manufacturer selling products, or a non-profit organization selling your good works, you must spread the word. You must speak up to be heard. Getting a response requires consistent and persistent self-promotion. It is a simple formula: Commit to marketing your services, and business will grow.

As part of your overall strategy, your website is a powerful tool to increase your visibility. Your prospects can immediately access information about your organization – instant gratification! A website gives your organization the ability to provide a comprehensive explanation of your services, products, or programs. It can add credibility by listing your clients and their testimonials. Visitors can learn about your staff, and even see pictures of them.

You can draw prospects in with compelling and pertinent content. Articles, tips, and quizzes not only show off your company's expertise and skills, but they are interesting and can educate people about a wide variety of topics.

Your website is a versatile tool, with almost endless potential to be a powerful outreach and promotion workhorse for your organization. Here are just a few examples of ways a website can help you:

* Non-profit organizations can use the website to fundraise, increase membership, solicit volunteers, and encourage people to join in political activism. Online forms allow people to respond immediately.

* Retail businesses can include online catalogs with pictures of their products and online order forms.

* Creative businesses can include online portfolios to show examples of their work.

* Extend the reach of your website by linking to other websites and listing your site with search engines.

* Make the most of meta tags and keywords (you'll probably have to ask a website programmer to help you with this one!)

Copyright © 2002, Wendy Gray Maynard, Kinesis

Wendy Gray Maynard is the co-owner of Kinesis. Kinesis specializes in marketing, graphic design, and business writing.

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