I’m in the process of completely rethinking my business model, and that will be my primary focus as I plan this year’s business retreat for myself. Your business model doesn’t have to be at all complex, but should provide the guiding force for all that you do, like guiding you to the opportunities to accept (and those to decline), the joint ventures and strategic alliances to pursue, and the new ideas you should retain and develop, as well as those to let go of.

Here’s are the 4 steps I’m following as I create the blueprint for my business model:

1. Make clients pay well for your most valuable commodity — your time. I see many service business owners tying themselves up with (and tying themselves down to) far too many 1:1 clients. You have only so many hours in the day, and at some point you’ll hit the wall and not be able to expand the number of 1:1 clients you see. Sure, you can hire and train additional staff to handle the overflow, but in many cases, you make less money in this model while tripling your headaches. Make your 1:1 time with clients your highest-fee service, charging a premium fee to dispense your expertise.

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In this article I wanted to share with you what I have found from consulting with dozens of small business owners on Google Adwords.

During the last 6 years, we have consulted with small businesses routinely who have set up an Adwords campaign and have just about given up on this medium. Usually the complaints include things like:

• I receive lots of clicks (which costs tons of cash), with very little to show for it.
• I really have no clue what I am doing on Adwords – it is too complicated.
• I do not understand how to set up Analytics or conversion
• I have a good set of keywords in my campaigns, but I seem to get too many clicks, for no leads.
• I have set everything up, but I don’t see my ads anywhere.

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Do you feel like you are spending a lot of money on PPC but that you are getting little in return? For small business owners and internet entrepreneurs, spending even a couple thousand dollars on PPC can feel like an incredible amount of money. To ensure that your ads actually bring your business results and to make the most out of your PPC investment, implement some of these money-saving tips.

1. Make sure your ads are geographically targeted. If you are a dry cleaner in Brooklyn, only place ads for people in your local area. This will help to lower ad impression, raise CTR, and give you better ROI and a higher quality score.
2. Use the negative keywords match feature to your advantage. When you use the negative keywords match feature, you can filter out keywords for which you do not want your ads to show. The words “free” and “cheap” are common elements of negative keyword phrases. For example, if you sell web templates, surely you don’t want people searching for “free web templates” to click on your ad. You will have to pay for those extra clicks and all of those unwanted impressions will lower your CTR. Use the negative keywords match feature to filter out such negative keywords. However, you may find that some negative keywords would be of benefit to your campaign. Go to the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, choose “negative” in the drop down menu under Match Type, and determine which negative keywords may serve you.
3. Create separate ad groups, ads, and landing pages. Rather than targeting a slew of keywords with one ad and one landing page, group similar keywords in individual ad groups, create individual ads for them, and then point them to your designated landing pages. By doing so, you can improve your CTR and conversion rates because the landing pages will be more relevant to the terms that users are searching for.
4. Use ad scheduling. Ad scheduling allows you to control the day and time that your ads appear. For example, if your business offers a special Tuesday deal, you can schedule your ad campaign so that your ads promoting the Tuesday deal only show on Tuesdays. Or if you are running your ads 24 hours a day, you might find that by running them only during a certain time frame of the day instead, you get better conversions. Let’s say you have a health website. You will probably get more clicks and conversions in the morning for keywords like, “morning after pill,” “morning sickness,” “morning headache,” and “hangover.”

Don’t use broad match. Many people are simply unaware of the different keyword match features that are available in Adwords. By default in an Adwords campaign, your keywords are set as a “broad match.” The problem with broad match is that your ads will show up when people search for different variations of your keywords, even if they are not on your keyword list. Google is likely to consider many words as relevant when they are really not. Use the “phrase” keyword match type to ensure that your ads only show up when people search for the exact keywords on your list.

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NOTE:  The following is a guest post from one of my favorite internet marketing mentors.

Why I Love Affiliate Marketing – Part 4
By Jimmy D. Brown of “Affiliatenaire”

I’m sure by now you are well aware that there are those who have reported HUGE amounts of money being made with their online businesses.  What you may not be aware of is the amount of work involved in generating those “sales” (not always net profit, mind you … this isn’t “spendable”
income in a lot of cases.)

That brings me to the fourth reason why I love affiliate marketing…

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You know how often I get asked about how effective social networking is for someone’s business, from my clients or when I’m out networking from random business owners?? Hundreds a month.

It’s amazing. It’s amazing how many of us are on the social sites but also how many are not!

I think if you’re an entrepreneur, no matter whether you do business locally or globally, you should be doing some amount of social networking as ONE source of lead generation in your business.

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Recently I was asked to imagine that I was starting all over again, and as a newbie, how I would fill my business in 60 days. Things have changed tremendously since I began my online business in 2005, mostly for the better. Most of the steps, however remain the same. Best of all, the strategies I recommend to fill your business are the same ones that can be applied to any business, and then applied again and again to other online ventures. Here are 8 secrets to filling the prospect funnel in your business in 60 days:

1. Success mind set.

Don’t gloss over this strategy — it may be the most important of all. If you truly want to succeed in your business and are passionate about what you do, nothing will hold you back. This often means that you have to step out in faith that you’ll succeed, and most importantly, believe in yourself as a success. Sure, you may stumble, or even fall, but you must be willing to pick yourself back up and persevere — even without a safety net hanging under you.

2. Target market.

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Are you looking online for a possible MLM business avenue of creating income and relieving you of your present burdens?

You are not alone. Many individuals see the potential for building their own business from wherever they are on this globe by means of the Internet. The online MLM business provides a level playing field and appeals to men and women of all ages as a prospective means of conducting business from the comfort of home.

However, despite the fact that running a business through the Internet can often be less expensive than a traditional business and allows you access to a worldwide market at any time of the day, the truth behind starting an MLM business online is that it can be as stressful as any other business. How can you prepare yourself for this obstacle?

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I am certain that, as a business owner, you have often entertained the question as to how much to spend and where to spend your advertising dollars. For most small business owners, these questions can add to the headaches suffered in the course of normal everyday operations of their business.

THERE ARE NO SIMPLE ANSWERS

The how much to spend and where to spend it questions have no easy answers.

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No business can survive the long run without some form of consistent advertising. As a result, most business owners will eventually consider using advertising to promote their business.

The toughest part of the advertising equation is in determining where and how to spend your advertising dollars. If you do it wrong, you could plunk down your entire advertising budget and receive absolutely no return on your investment. But, if you do it right, your advertising could continue to bring a nice return for years to come.

HOW DO I MAKE THE RIGHT ADVERTISING DECISIONS

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Whether seeking a supplemental income or a full-time income, many folks have undertaken the task to discover a viable home based business solution to meet their personal needs.

For most folks who contemplate a home business, a low-cost or no-cost solution is not only nice, but also very necessary. Many also seek to find a home business that will permit them to maintain their regular day job in order to protect their base income.

Taking the cautious approach to a home based business and keeping one`s job during the start-up period is often a very good decision. By maintaining one`s job, one can maintain the health of their personal finances while permitting their home business grow healthy and strong.

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How I stopped my friends from pestering me!

I’m at the age where is seems as though everyone I hang out with day to day is either about to have kids, or has just had them. It’s an interesting life change.

No longer do I instantly assume my bleary eyed friend has been partying all night. I now just know that his 3-month-old daughter doesn’t have the whole “sleep through the night” thing wired yet.

Having kids has changed more than just our social lives. Most of my friends and their partners have worked corporate jobs and have had good sized disposable incomes. Going down to one income changes things. Things get tighter.

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The use of Google Adwords can be beneficial to your business enterprise ? provided that you utilize Google Adwords in a proper manner and provided that you utilize a strategy for the effective placement of Google Adwords.

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