Small Office, Home Office Information

Last night we were down having dinner at our favourite Italian restaurant. Not only is it our favourite Italian restaurant but it has our favourite waitress working there. Nikky is one of those incredible people who has the ability to make everyone happy even when things get hectic.

Last night she and her staff were having trouble keeping up with all the work coming through the door - it’s a very popular place and bookings are definitely essential but people who haven’t booked still keep coming in the hope they’ll get a table.

Somehow Nikky was managing to keep all the balls in the air as she juggled bookings, non-bookings, take-aways and everything else. We had a laugh about it with her when we were paying the bill and she quipped that things could only get worse as the night wore on.

We had a laugh about that too and then, as we walked out the door … the lights went out.

They stayed out for over 90 minutes.

Many small businesses - and especially home office type small business - are built on the online affiliate marketing model. These small businesses make their money from commissions earned on sales when buyers hit a merchant’s website after coming from the affiliate’s website.

Lots of people outside the industry see it as an easy way of making money but a press release I was reading today puts it all in perspective. If you’re thinking of moving into affiliate marketing then perhaps you should heed these words:

Affiliate marketing is a fine art and though many are called, few are chosen.

Lately I’ve been trying to help a small business person with a website that is the very foundation of their business. Unfortunately we don’t seem to be getting too far because … well because the need to turn that website into a sales tool as well as make it attractive to the search engines seems to be beyond their ability to understand.

The fact is that if your small business or home office business depends on a website for its success then you need to be aware of something very important and this point needs to be embedded in your brain as you go about designing and building your website.

If your customer refused to take the next click on your Website, walks out the door, or forwards past your advertisment, your dialog is over. It is essential to understand that in a world full of options, you are always the equivalent of “one click” away from goodbye.

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing by Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg with Lisa T Davis