Small Office, Home Office Information

Well it’s now 1.40pm on New Year’s Eve here in Australia so I’ll share something with you for the last time in 2005.

Here is a thought from the Web Professor

There is always a guru willing to sell you a product to solve your problems

I met a couple of those this past week or so and you probably did too - unfortunately there are plenty of them out there. They’re quite similar to weeds - they spring up all over the place.

2005 has been good to us and alreay 2006 is shaping up to be even better, only this week - only this week we picked up a new client in the US - and Toni and I hope that 2006 is going to be a successful year for you too.

We’ll be back in 2006

Small businesses are often involved in one way or another with pay per click advertising. There are some of us who make a sizeable proportion of our income as publishers - showing pay per click advertising on our websites via Google Adsense, or buy actually advertising with Adwords.

Sadly, it’s been known for many years now that pay per click advertising is open to fraud on a number of levels and no matter what companies like Google and Yahoo! do fraud will always be a problem.

Of course, if you ask Google or Yahoo! they will try and tell you that pay per click fraud really is a recent phenomena but if you ask anyone who has been marketing in the adult industry for some years they will tell you that pay per click disappeared from adult back before 2000 simply because fraud was just as rampant then in adult as it is now in mainstream.

So I would suggest to you that if you are publisher and you’re relying on pay per click advertising for your income then you start developing other income streams as soon as possible. If you’re a merchant or a service provider and you use pay per click advertising then you watch it very closely and at the first sign of fraud you drop pay per click like a hot potato.

But don’t just take my word that fraud is rampant in pay per click advertising. Do a little research for yourself and a good place to start is this article over on Wired Magazine.

For us here in Australia there are just two more sleeps till 2005 turns into 2006 so I thought I would share these two posts from Duct Tape Marketing that you should find interesting and helpful.

The first one offers an interesting suggestion on how to give your marketing a real boost and you will find it here.

The second post offers some suggestions on how to turn 2006 into your least annoying year of al. You will find that post here.

Daring to call someone who was peddling this sort of crap software a snake oil salesman made for a rather amusing week last week.

So it was interesting to see that Bruce Cramer from Cramer’s Computer Services in San Antonio had a similar view to my own. Here is what Bruce has to say:

With the proliferation of spyware, or malware there has also been a proliferation of applications claiming to be your partner in fighting the problem.

Many folks get into a jam worse than they were in before they started using what they thought was a legitimate antispyware program. Rogue antispyware programs usually start out by alerting an individual in some unambiguous way, perhaps through a pop-up or unsolicited email (spam), that they have a spyware and or virus problem.

They will urge the person to buy or use their product. It may even tell them that they that it has already found (through osmosis I guess) a large amount of spyware and that by purchasing their product you will be free of the ugly vermin once and for all.

Not only are these programs digital snake oil serving no useful purpose and charging $30 and up, but it is like having a mole or insider infiltrate your computer. Once the rogue program is in your system it opens the door for other malicious programs to come in and wreck havoc on the computer.

Most of these programs go by heroic names such as Error Guard and WinFixer, or other names that sound very similar to reputable, well established antispyware programs. The user should not be fooled by the name or its claim or you could be in for a long ride.

Once the seed is planted and the rogue program has opened the door for his partners in mischief the programs will work together try to ensure their survival so it is not as easy as terminating a singal piece of spyware. After one is gone another one will take his job sometimes even regenerating the one that was just terminated. Once these guys have enough for a full team it can be an uphill battle unless the user has some experience in dealing with the tactics they employ.

What the user can do to protect themselves: First of all, be wary of any antispyware application that does not offer a free, fully functional, trial of their product. If it can’t be driven it around, kick the tires and ask some questions through tech support, either by phone, email or website because it might not be the real deal. Don’t buy from a pushy salesman, meaning don’t buy from spam and pop-ups.

Don’t be fooled by the fools.

Stay safe and happy computing.

Cramer’s Computer Services provides In home, on site computer service in the San Antonio area. Specializing in virus and spyware removal, upgrades networking and more.

Cramer’s Computer Services
210-865-2933
http://www.mysahomes.com

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we had been approached by a local resort to build a website for them. Well today was the big day that the quote was written up and sent off to the client.

We had already met with the client to get a feel for what they wanted from their site and how they expected their site to look and, because they are complete novices when it comes to websites, we walked them through some of the quirky ways of website design and search engine optimisation.

But we still included some notes with the quote to explain some of the more obscure points just in case they had missed the explanations during our meeting.

As soon was it all bundled up complete with a covering letter and sent off I came across this post on John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marekting blog. He asks his readers to think about what to do when a prospect says yes and it is a very worthwhile read.

This is just a minor point of clarification.

After I posted my thoughts about business coaches someone wrote to me and asked me where our recommendations from satisfied customers where and implied that we should have some because we were trying to sell ourselves as something - although what that something might be was not made clear.

Well I suppose that if we were trying to sell our services on this site then maybe we should have some recommendations somewhere. However, if you have been reading this blog for any length of time you would have realised that we are not selling our services here at all. In fact, apart from some advertising from Google and several other places we’re not selling anything.

Instead we’re just sharing our small business experiences, both good and bad, and that doesn’t require recommendations from anyone.

I regularly receive an interesting ezine from Robert Middleton, a marketing specialist in the US. I have to admit that there are times when there is some divergence between what he suggests and what we have found works for us but it is still interesting and challenging to read another person’s point of view and so I read Robert’s ezine.

This last week he wrote something quite interesting about interpersonal relationships and the effect they can have on your business. Here is part of what he had to say.

So what do you really want (for Christmas or any other time)?

The best I’ve been able to figure out is that people want, more
than anything else, to make a difference, to make a contribution to
others (family, friends, clients, anyone and everyone).

In other words, to give fully of ourselves. But what can we give
that will make that difference? What will make the biggest
possible contribution to others?

If you get this one, you not only get to fulfill your greatest desire
but the greatest desire of others. And the best thing about it is
that it costs nothing, takes little time, and has long-lasting
benefits. It works any time and in any place.

The funny thing is that we have a terrible time giving it.

And no, it’s not love, compassion, friendship, etc. Those are
wonderful gifts as well. But they are not the ultimate
contribution. They really pale in comparison.

And one of the saddest things is that if you fail to give this you
can trigger a lot of misery, resentment, frustration and
misunderstanding. The inability to give this causes alienation,
divorce and wars. And yet it’s so simple to give.

Are you ready for the answer?

The greatest contribution

you can make to another

is to let them contribute…

to YOU.

Since what we want most of all is to contribute, if you fully
receive that contribution (whatever it is), you’re making the
ultimate contribution to another.

When someone wants to help you - let them. When you get a
compliment - receive it graciously. When someone has an idea or
resource for you - show your thanks. Whenever a loved one tries to
share something with you - listen attentively.

When you accept a contribution, another wonderful thing happens -
you pave the way for more contributions. It can be a never-ending
upward spiral. And it feels wonderful.

Now don’t mess this up by waiting for others to accept your
contributions with open arms. They might not. Turn it around. Put
your attention on accepting their contributions in the most
expansive way you can imagine.

I hope you realize that applying this to your business could add
a whole new dimension of fun and fulfillment. It just might
transform the way you do business and enrich you in the process.

If you want to read more of what Robert has to say about marketing or to sign up for his ezine you should head over to http://www.actionplan.com

A lone eagle soars over the beach at sunset

In the build up to Christmas here in our house I was absolutely remiss in not wishing all our readers a very merry Christmas. We certainly hope that you had a great time with your loved ones on Christmas Day and that the gifts you received were just what you wanted.

This year one of our daughters gave us gift certificate for a well-known chain of bookstores and, after reading some comments on Darren Rowse’s blog we’ve already decided on one of the books that we’ll be buying.

Darren commented on a book by Richard Koch – 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less – and it immediately interested us because the 80/20 rule is something that is well known in affiliate marketing.

For anyone who uses the affiliate model to sell their products this principle means that 80% of all sales will be generated by just 20% of all your affiliates. Once you understand that principle then you know which affiliates you need to focus on to help them make even more sales.

Richard Koch applies that principle to wealth generation. His argument is that 80% of your income will be generated by just 20% of your effort and he encourages people to identify that important 20% and focus on it to generate even more income.

It’s an interesting concept and one that all of us need to look at.

During this week I/we came under some criticism for being involved in a small business that dared to have a cashflow problem.

I didn’t allow that criticism to appear here, not because I can’t handle criticism, but because that criticism was entwined in some rather unpleasant comments that had absolutely nothing to do with this blog.

Ultimately it seemed that because I dared speak my mind in another forum I attracted what amounted to be a stalker. Fortunately there are ways of dealing with people like that and I wasn’t slow to use them.

But it did raise in my mind the question of whether or not small businesses should be using a business coach. If you do a search in Google you will find that there are plenty out there and if you follow any of the links to their websites you will see that they seem to have plenty of satisfied customers.

But do they work for every small business? Does one size fit all or are some business coaches more suitable for your small business than others?

I don’t know the answers to that but I sometimes have difficulty in accepting that a small business coach who has a background in banking for example would really have much understanding of the finer points of running a small business that was involved in copywriting.

Would someone who has a white collar boardroom type background really be able to understand the difficulties faced by a small business that deals with farmers and others who are governed by the weather?

Sure there are fundamentals that should be the same across every small business but so often those fundamentals are heavily influenced by the fine detail of each small business and home business.

Still, your small business just might benefit from some input from a business coach but take care in choosing which one is right for you. Sometimes those glowing recommendations can be nothing more than fairy tales.

Before you sign on the dotted line and start taking advice ask to speak to the people who made those glowing recommendations and if you cant’ speak to them then go looking for another coach who has real people to back up what appears on his or her website.

And for those who did wonder about our cash flow - well the problems are solved and Toni is recovering from a medical condition that almost killed her - and that was what was a major contributor to our cashflow problem - it’s hard to work when the one you love is so ill.

This has been a rather odd week so far. Lots of positive things have been happening in our small business, we’re coming up to Christmas and the kids are beginning to arrive from far and wide so the excitement is building and yet here on the blog things have been rather negative.

And they’re going to stay that way today too because today I want to say a little bit about the dangers that are out there on the Net.

The Net really is a rich hunting ground for con men and those who want to make money at your expense. There is certainly nothing wrong with selling goods and services on the Net but not everyone is trying to sell a quality product.

Quite often the amount of commission a sale will bring in for a website is the only thing that matters to the person running the site and you will have no way of knowing just what the true situation really is. You might see a glowing recommendation on the site for some particular item but is it really as good as they say or does it just pay a good commission?

You won’t know unless you do a little research. If you see some item advertised on a website that you think you might need don’t rush in and make the purchase before you have done a little research. Spend some time searching through Google for what other people say about the product and only spend your money if you’re completely satisfied that what you are buying is a genuine product.

I guess that you could be thinking that these comments would be better aimed at consumers rather than savvy small business people but all of us are consumers and all of us can be swayed by a good sales pitch so taking precautions is always going to pay off in the end.